Kaieteur News

Wednesday August 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Linden killings…

Legal official says rank who gave order, shooters should be charged If it is established that the Linden shootings were unjustified, all of the policemen who opened fire, as well as the one who ordered his colleagues to shoot should be charged.

This is the view of one of the country’s most prominent legal officials, who told Kaieteur News yesterday that it is not necessary to ascertain which ranks fired the shots that killed the three protesters.

“Once the action is in consort…even if the bullet missed they should all be charged,” the legal official said.

“If an officer gave the order to shoot he should (also) be charged. He caused them to shoot. The whole issue is whether it (the shooting) was justified or not.”

The Force’s ballistics experts have established that the protesters were shot by ranks armed with shotguns.

Deputy Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud has said that four shotgun cartridges were unaccounted for from the ammunition the ranks at

Linden had in their possession.

He also said that investigators know the ranks who had shotguns and who discharged their firearms.

According to the Crime Chief, the investigators also have statements from these policemen.

But while ballistic experts can match the shotguns to the cartridges retrieved from the scene of the shooting, they cannot establish which ranks actually killed the three protesters.

A police official said that the Force’s ballistics experts are still checking firearms that have been submitted for testing.

While police sources have told Kaieteur News that copper-coated pellets were extracted from two of the slain men and some of the wounded, Crime Chief Persaud is quoted in a section of the state media as saying that the pellets are not “police issue” pellets, since members of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) do not use that type of “heavy cartridge.”

The Alliance For Change

(AFC) and other groups have expressed a lack of confidence in the police being able to conduct an impartial investigation into the tragedy.

The party hired the services of Trinidadian Professor Hubert Daisley to view the autopsies.

The AFC is also attempting to have United Kingdom ballistics expert, Dr. David Robinson view the ballistics tests conducted by the police.

On July 18th, three Linden protestors were shot dead and almost two dozen persons injured at the Kara Kara bridge in Linden, Region 10.

There were reports that the police had opened fire on a group of persons who had taken command of the bridge which is the main access into Linden.

Lindeners have been protesting a hike in electricity rates effective July 1st. That Region 10 area continues to remain a hot-bed with critical supplies to key hinterland mining and other communities areas locked off because of blocked roads.

The stress for the stranded hinterland truck drivers continued yesterday.

Yesterday, they claimed that they were refused crossing of the Demerara Harbour Bridge despite paying $600,000.

The six trucks which are loaded with rations and fuel have been stranded for more than 20 days due to the ongoing electricity protests in Linden. The drivers, porters and their trucks have been squatting at the parking lot of the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, East Bank Demerara.

They have been sleeping in hammocks between the trucks. On Monday, the group of truckers met with Natural Resources Minister asking for help.

“We met with the Minister and we told him that we want to cross the Harbour Bridge and he said that he will assist us with whatever means we chose. He even told us that he will talk with Minister Robeson Benn for us to cross the bridge,” one of the truck drivers, Tayon Junior, said.

He stated that when they returned from the Office of the

President, they met with one of the supervisors from Transport and explained their plight to him.

“He told us to bring the trucks and let him weigh it and see if it can be done on a pontoon. We carried two of the heaviest trucks and the weight was 33 and 29 tons (respectively). He told us that we can carry it on a pontoon so we rented one for $600,000 and we were told that two of the trucks would go over at 05:30 this morning (yesterday), 1pm and 2:30pm.” The frustrated truck drivers said that they sent off

The frustrated drivers and workers with their trucks at the Demerara Harbour Bridge yesterday.

Page 3

Captured suspect in insurance executive’s murder refused bail Clive Knight, the man fingered for the murder of insurance executive, Bert Whyte, was yesterday remanded to jail after making an appearance before Chief Magistrate, Priya SewnarineBeharry, at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.

Prosecutor Denise Griffith related that on May 14th around 19:25 hours, the accused and the deceased who were said to be friends were journeying to David Street, Kitty.

However, they ended up in a misunderstanding and Whyte was stabbed.

To escape his alleged assailant, Whyte took off running but later fell to the ground.

News reports had said that the incident occurred on Main Street in the vicinity of a popular hangout spot and restaurant.

Whyte was taken to a city hospital and was later pronounced dead.

The Preliminary Inquiry into the death of Whyte will commence on October 8 with the Prosecution planning to have 10 witnesses testify.

According to the Prosecutor, the state is all ready to proceed with the

the first two trucks and when they returned with the other two trucks, they were denied.

“When we ask for the reason, they told us that the trucks which weigh 28, 29, 30 and 31 tons are too heavy to cross and this morning (yesterday) the 29 and 33 tons go over without a problem.

The money that we paid will not be refunded.”

Kaieteur News was told that Lethem is in desperate need for the rations and the truck drivers are requesting the authorities to assist them.

Calls were made to the General Manager for Transport and Harbour for a comment, these went unanswered.

Charged: Clive Knight

Murdered: Bert Whyte

matter and is in possession of an alleged confession.

Knight had been on the run after the killing of the 45year-old Guyana and Trinidad Mutual Life (GTM) Insurance Company Limited employee.

Almost four months after the murder, Knight was captured earlier this week by police ranks after they stopped a minibus at Yarrowkabra, on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway.

The man reportedly gave the police a false name when questioned but was recognized by a police rank as a wanted person and taken into police custody.

In May, days after the murder, Knight reportedly narrowly escaped from police at New Amsterdam, Berbice.

At the time he was forced

to abandon his victim’s stolen car.

A police traffic rank was reportedly in the vicinity of Cow Dam, Angoy’s Avenue, New Amsterdam when he observed someone driving a Toyota Sprinter with cardboard number plates.

The traffic rank reportedly attempted to make the driver pull over, but the occupant drove further into Angoy’s Avenue. Kaieteur News understands that the rank was concerned for his safety and exited the crime– ridden area before radioing for a back-up patrol.

Police visited the scene and eventually found the vehicle near the Stanleytown, New Amsterdam foreshore.

But Knight, the suspected driver, had already fled.

Page 4

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

Guns and Hate Crimes Coming two weeks after James Holmes murdered 12 people and injured 51 others after opening fire in a cinema in Aurora, Colorado, US, during a screening of “The Dark Knight Rises”, the killing of six Sikhs and critical wounding three others in their Wisconsin temple is a grim reminder of the potential for gun-related murders in a land overrun with guns. There are approximately 270,000,000 guns in civilian hands in the US – 90 guns for every 100 persons.

Unlike the Colorado killings, the FBI has labelled this a ‘domestic terrorist’ crime which gives them access to a wider data base to determine Wade Michael Page’s motives for committing the heinous act.

The bare facts of his background, however, indicate strongly that it was a hate crime. Army veteran Page, 40, was washed out of the military in 1998 after a six-year hitch. The Southern Poverty Law Centre, a group that has studied hate crimes for decades, says on its website that Page was a frustrated neo-Nazi who had been the leader of a racist whitepower band known as End Apathy.

Heidi Beirich, director of the center’s intelligence project, noted that her group had been tracking Page since 2000, when he tried to purchase goods from the National Alliance, a well-known hate group.

Beirich says there was “no question” Page was an ardent follower and believer in the white supremacist movement.

This movement has grown exponentially since 9/11 as their xenophobia was spewed on immigrants and Muslims. She said her centre had evidence that he attended “hate events” around the country.

CBS reports that before his less-than-honourable discharge in October 1998, Page served at Fort Bliss, Texas, in the psychological operations unit in 1994, and was last stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., attached to the psychological operations there.

AP reports that such specialists are responsible for the analysis, development and distribution of intelligence used for influencing foreign populations. This leads one to ask what kind of information is disseminated by the US army to its operatives engaged on psych-ops. Significantly, Page had a “9/11” tattoo on his upper right arm.

One of the oldest Asian communities in North America, Sikhs faced prejudice and discrimination at the start of the 20th century before finally establishing themselves in different walks of life.

In the wake of 9/11, they found themselves targeted by racists who saw in their turbans a resemblance to Osama bin Laden and Muslim clerics. The sole victim of a hate killing after 9/11 was a Sikh petrol station owner in Mesa, Arizona. Ironically, the Sikh religion was founded in India by individuals opposing Muslim rule in that country. Their faith is a combination of beliefs drawn from Hinduism and Islam.

The lesson from the Sikh massacre is not, however, only about the threat to one particular religious community. Even the most hate-filled ideas, after all, cannot kill.

The underlying problem is America’s bizarre relationship with guns, which gives extremists the ability to vent their hatreds in the deadliest manner. The semi-automatic handgun used in the attack is the same type used in other recent mass shootings such as the one in Colorado, and the attack on a congresswoman in Arizona.

Page used a Springfield 9mm semi-automatic handgun which had been purchased legally, at a Milwaukee-area gun store. Officials said on Monday that Page emptied several magazines in the shooting, and several more unused magazines were found.

It has long been apparent almost nothing can push the U.S. to clamp down on the criminally-easy access its laws give to guns. While President Obama said the shootings were occurring with “too much regularity” and should prompt soul-searching by all Americans, he stopped short of calling for new gun-control laws. He also said if it turns out it was ethnically motivated, the American people would “immediately recoil.”

In view of the US stance on human rights violations elsewhere, the US should more than ‘recoil’. It should work to eliminate the sources of hate for the ‘other’ as well as tighten gun control laws.

Wednesday August 08, 2012

Letters... Where your views make the news

The 1911 “Battle” for Islam in British Guiana DEAR EDITOR, And yes, we won the “battle,” more than 174 years ago when British Missionaries in then British Guiana tried their hardest to convert as many East IndianMuslims to Christianity in the colony, despite the fact that they failed to do so during their reign in Hindustan.

The Muslims in Guyana ought to celebrate this year’s Eid (and every day for that matter) with much exuberance as they stood their grounds in the face of much cruelty, hardship and many adversities at the hands of their plantations owners. Had it not been for the adherence to the five pillars of Islam Tawheed (belief in one god), Namaz (prayers), Zakat (charity), Rozah (fasting during Ramadhan) and the Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca), Islam may have also suffered a slow ‘death’ in the same manner it was systematically eradicated amongst the enslaved African Muslims during the period of slavery.

The Second Missionary Conference, “On Behalf of the Mohammedan World,” was held on January 23- 28, 1911 in Lucknow, India. The Conference was called for two main reasons to: (a) address the growing fear of the Colonialists that the total Muslim population had surpassed the Christians by more than 5 million in the British Empire; and (b) review the progress made, if any, and if not why not, to convert the East Indians to Christianity by the Missionaries in the various colonies of the Empire.

Among the reports presented during the Conference was a section on British Guiana, Dutch Guiana and the West Indies detailing – (i) the ‘rebirth’ of Islam in the region with the introduction of East Indian indentured servants following the abolition of slavery; and (ii) the impact Islam had on the freed Africans in the region, but especially in British Guiana.

At the Conference, Evangelists expressed their deep concern regarding the spread of Islam, claiming that a century’s worth of missionary work in British Guiana will be wasted if drastic steps were not taken to stop the East Indian Muslims in their conversion of the Africans. They recognized the fact that the learned Muslims (like Gool Mohammed Khan) in British Guiana were “skillful debaters” who were wellversed in the Bible and were able to “shake the faith of the uneducated Christians.”

The Conference concluded that the struggle for the future in British Guiana will be a “battle between Christ and Mohammed.” The Evangelists regarded the

Muslims as a threat and a bad influence on “their people,” in referring to the freed Africans. They noted that in several cases African Christians had “forsaken Christ for the prophet of Mecca”, without any pressure from the East Indians as the Africans felt a greater affinity to Islam as many of them realized it was once their religion as well.

The Evangelists ‘discovered’ that Muslims on the whole resisted conversion to Christianity. Hence, in their annual assessment of Muslims in British Guiana, they labeled them as aggressive, stubborn and organized and that they were a hindrance in their (Evangelical) crusade to change the religious demographic of the West Indies.

The greatest shock for the Missionaries in British Guiana was the realization, as expressed

by Rev. J. B. Hill, of the aggressiveness of the “docile coolie Mohammedans” in their new ‘homeland.’

Case in point, two Muslim jahagis from Bihar who came on the Hesperus in 1838 Jumun (age 27) and Phultun (age 28) - were the first to rebel against the ‘slave-like’ conditions and ran away from Gladstone Estate just days after they were transplanted on the plantation.

While there were other instances of rebellion amongst the Indians, the one that many historians failed to acknowledge was the 1872 Devonshire Castle riots where about 300 sugar workers (Muslims and Hindus alike) downed tools and confronted their White masters demanding better working conditions and wages. In the ensuing ‘battle,’ five workers were gunned down by the colonial police – two of them were Muslims – Ackloo and Maxid Ally. Then in 1913,

there was the Rosehall uprising, where most of the protestors in the forefront ‘battling’ imperialism were Muslims - Moula Bux, Jahangir Khan, Dildar Khan, Chotey Khan, Aladi, and Amirbaksh – they all stood up against the injustices they were subjected to on the plantation.

Fast forward to the 1940s, when there was an increased demand by the Muslim leadership in British Guiana for funding of Islamic and Urdu Schools. These propositions and requests were articulated in several correspondences by the President of the Sadr Anjuman, Mr. R. B. Gajraj and Moulvi M. A Nasir to the British government but with little or no success, they were basically ignored.

Christian schools, on the other hand, were heavily funded by the British, whereas the British Government consistently “paid” only lip service to the concerns of the Muslims in British Guiana. On August 21, 1941, the British Guiana Islamic Association (BGIA) called a Special Conference on Education to discuss a uniform system of Muslim religious education in accordance with the requirements of the Education Code of British Guiana. The main speakers on the subject were: Messrs. M. A. Nasir (President) and Ayube M. Edun; also, present were - K. Ali, S. Shabratee, M.L. R Naboo, and S. M. Shakoor, the Urdu Secretary.

Sadly, the recommendations and resolutions which emanated from that conference and subsequent conferences fell on deaf ears – it was the British way of getting back at the “aggressive” Muslims – which ultimately contributed to the demise of the Urdu

language as the Muslims did not have the human or financial resources to fund the teaching of the language.

Muslims ‘fought’ hard to hold on to their religion and culture, despite the fact that a number of them converted to Christianity (including many Hindus). Those who converted were regarded as ‘civilized’ and rewarded with better and higher paying jobs in the public service. Many of them were also given scholarships to study in England as a bonus, while their children were admitted to the Christian schools. The ‘battle’ however, has not ended; much of the region still needs to embrace this multicultural history.

Muslims must not be seen as alien to the West Indies, nor should they be ashamed of their Islamic heritage given present day hysteria towards followers of the religion.

More can be done to educate and accept the long presence of the Muslims and their role in helping to shape the socioeconomic and political policies affecting the work/ lives of the peoples in the region.

Today, the younger generation needs to be educated on our history in Guyana, and appreciate the [righteous] path that their ancestors blazed for them to follow. We share an Islamic history that is rich in many spheres of - math, astronomy, physics, literature, architecture and culinary. In fact, many scholars agree that Islamic science and reason led to the revival of the European Renaissance, following the decline of the Roman Empire.

A blessed Eid Mubarak to all our Muslim brothers and sisters in Islam.

Shabnam Alli Raymond Chickrie

The buck stops at Rohee DEAR EDITOR, I read what Peeping Tom had to say about the inability to countermand an order that one does not know about and it just reinforced my conclusion the s/he is once again being an apologist for the authoritarian PPP executive.

To claim that Rohee did not know of what the police would have done in such a volatile situation is tantamount to abdication of power/neglect of duty on the part of Rohee.

Even if Rohee could not predict what a shooter will spontaneously do (if that was the case) he should have known, by continuous communication, how the police were equipped to deal with the situation—the types to crowd control gadgets/weapons they were carrying—and make a proactive decision. This should not be about countermanding, but effectively leading.

Why does not Peeping Tom address the ridiculous claim by Rohee that he could not communicate with the commanders at Linden due to radio problems? In this age of ubiquitous cell phones, people have to be completely naive and gullible government apologists to believe that. (Not to mention

the comedy it injects into a very tragic situation) Regardless of what happened in 1962, the buck stops at Rohee; he is ultimately responsible for the Linden fiasco. If this is not a Pontus Pilate, ostrich-like move to dissociate from the crimes and justify them, why has/ have the shooter/s not been charged with murder? Enough witnesses were there and this should not wait on a commission of inquiry.

In other instances when a murder is committed and the killer is known s/he is arrested and charged forthwith.

Why the exception here if there is no political interference and foot dragging? In the end this may well turn out that after a long time the killer/s cannot be found, as happened in the Walter Rodney assassination.

Do not let us lose focus here by comparing/juxtaposing this with what happened in the past; that is diversionary, redherring tactics. Pressure for action against Rohee and the killer/s have to continue or else this whole event will simmer down, blow over and die a natural death, only to become part of history.

Karan Chand

Wednesday August 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Letters... Where your views make the news

GGDMA objects to granting Amerindians rights to extensions to titled lands DEAR EDITOR, It was with great consternation, that I read a letter, in the media, penned by Mr. Ashton Simon. Firstly I am curious to know in what capacity is Mr. Simon writing, since he is an employee of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, a member of the GGMC Board of Directors and an Amerindian advocate. I think Mr. Simon firstly owes the public an explanation as to which hat he was wearing when he chose to attack the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association.

(GGDMA) Let me state that the GGDMA has never purported to represent any specific ethnic group in Guyana; we represent miners, both foreign and domestic, including those who are Amerindians.

We are not, nor ever have been, against Amerindians being given title to their ancestral lands; in fact we applaud the successive governments of Guyana for taking this initiative in ensuring that lands that are truly part of the Amerindian patronage be titled.

Some are playing on the ignorance of the rest or the population. As a result we feel compelled to clarify the issues for the truth.

We are objecting to the proposed and unverified extensions, which use the legal structure to claim additional lands, which are now more important for personal enrichment rather than ancestral patrimony.

This is largely happening in the mining districts, where Amerindian communities are actively involved in mining.

Despite what Mr. Simon would want the public to believe, that Amerindian communities are hapless victims in a large scheme of mining, this is far from the truth.

Amerindian communities are now one of the largest holders of mining properties, properties which they either

actively mine or lease out for hefty profits.

In fact, what many do not know is that if Amerindian communities are given all the extensions that they have applied for Amerindians will own, exclusively, approximately 35% of all lands in Guyana, an area that would be larger than the county of Demerara. This percentage excludes lands which they privately hold on the coast.

We are glad that Mr. Simon has called on members of the National Toshaos Council to look at the matter, since some of the members of the council are actively involved in the practice of mining and leasing both land and river rights to miners, both foreign and domestic, and receive handsome profits.

These members can certainly advise on the benefits of mining. The communities of Micobie (Cassava hill), Jawalla and Issenuru are just three examples of communities which have made significant strides in development through mining.

Amerindians like all of Guyana’s peoples have a right to make a living out of mining or any other means they find suitable. We salute these communities for not falling victim to those who would have them watch the trees and starve in pursuit of grand international ideals.

Amerindians are our brothers and sisters in mining, many have made their living from the extraction of Guyana’s minerals, a process which disturbs the environment, not destroys the environment. Mr. Simon would have us believe that all Amerindians are still “natives” who are confined to the forest and do not understand that they live in an ever expanding world.

I wonder if Mr. Simon speaks for those who have chosen to make their living from the extractive sector or would he have them all

kowtow to the international masters with begging bowl in hand? Amerindian brothers and sisters who have joined the extractive sector have chosen a path which now allows them to send their children to school and university, improve their homestead and meet their needs.

However, while we salute this drive for prosperity, we must recognise that Guyana belongs to all Guyanese and not one ethnic group. We want a level playing field in the extractive sector.

We find it difficult to accept, the arbitrary applications for extensions, particularly in areas where there were pre-existing mining and other forest productive operations.

We would like to clarify the issue we have about Amerindian lands; we have no problem with legally titled Amerindian lands and the payment of tribute (which is as much as 15%) to the titled village. This is in addition to the monies received through the Amerindian Development Fund which is garnered from mining royalties.

We are objecting to the additional applications for extensions, outside of the titled lands, unto lands that have active mining interest.

We are objecting to the fact that the GGMC, as soon as an extension to the titled land is filed for, stops mining in the area and proceeds to remove the existing miner off the land.

We have no say in the matter and it is our contention that this is illegal; as a result we have taken the matter to the courts.

Mining affects all of Guyana; the Mining sector contributed, last year, over 363,000 ounces of gold valued US$560 million to the national economy, allowing Guyana to stave off negative growth.

Miners have invested personal capital in developing interior infrastructure, transportation and communication, which benefit all those who use the forests and provide employment to many who would otherwise be isolated from the rest of Guyana.

Miners cannot work without land and the recent increase in the severity and volume of mining regulations is stifling the industry, not making it easier. A miner’s life is not easy, we do not walk into the bush and pick up gold, we invest in physical and human capital, and in many cases barely scrape out a living.

To all miners, including our Amerindian brothers and sisters, we remind you, we now stand together, one for all and all for one and we will not be bullied. We recognise the Amerindians’ right to their land, but we as other Guyanese also have a right to work and settle just as any other. Guyana is for all Guyanese.

Patrick E. Harding President, Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association

Page 5

Page 6

Kaieteur News

Kwame McCoy convicted for gun-butting man, fined $70,000 Information and Press Liaison to the President, Kwame McCoy, was yesterday found guilty of assault and threatening language after making an appearance before Chief Magistrate Priya SewnarineBeharry at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.

McCoy was charged after he assaulted and threatened an opposition party worker, Clifton Stewart, on November 12th last year, days before National Elections.

McCoy was fined $70,000- $20,000 for the offence of threatening language and $50,000 for the offence of assault. Failure by McCoy to pay the fine will result in him facing four weeks imprisonment; two weeks on each offence.

McCoy’s lawyer did not make an appearance and the court went ahead to sentence him.

The court said that Stewart was able to identify McCoy on the day in question. The Magistrate spoke about the number of times Stewart would have seen McCoy and the close proximity in which Stewart was in relation to getting a good view of McCoy’s face on the day of the incident.

McCoy was unable to present any witnesses in the matter with his defence only being that he had never seen Stewart before the court date and that the allegation against him was politically driven, as he described “a trail of political concoctions, lies and theatrics.”

The court, however, pondered on why McCoy never called any of the 20 persons he said was working with him on the day in question to prove his story that he never made contact with Stewart before the court hearing.

McCoy, in a statement

…AFC calls for his removal from OP, Rights of the Child Commission

Guilty: Kwame McCoy before he was sentenced, warned that he feared that the court was “setting a dangerous precedence where concoctions of lies from the police and persons could be made against someone.”

He was advised by the Magistrate that he had the option of appealing the matter in the High Court.

McCoy indicated his willingness to pay the fine but told the court that he did not have his bag with him. He was given a week to pay the fine to the state.

McCoy, no stranger to controversy, hurriedly left the courtroom.

Stewart, following the sentencing, was somewhat satisfied but believed that for a criminal offence committed with a gun, McCoy should have been imprisoned.

Stewart signaled a possibility of taking civil action against McCoy. McCoy is also facing another court matter involving Natalie Ross, the woman he reportedly hit with his Sports Utility Vehicle.

Meanwhile, the Alliance

Gun-butting victim, Clifton Stewart for Change (AFC) yesterday called for the immediate removal of McCoy from the Office of the President and the Rights of the Child Commission, as a result of judgment handed down by the Chief Magistrate.

According to the party, it is disappointed in the paltry sentence handed down to McCoy. However, the AFC said it is pleased that the official has been formally found guilty for his actions and behavior towards citizens of the country whom he ought to be serving, not assaulting.

In view of the verdict, the party believes that it is imperative that President Donald Ramotar act honourably and remove McCoy. “To continue to engage McCoy in an important position at OP will leave Guyanese with the view that His Excellency is harbouring and sheltering persons of unbecoming and divisive character within the highest office in the land. The party regrets that this exposure, necessarily, brings into focus the credibility of the Office of the President and how it is viewed by its counterparts in the region and internationally.”

Wednesday August 08, 2012

Teen with broken neck…

Family wants answers from Fort Wellington Hospital

By Leon Suseran A West Berbice family wants answers immediately from the health care practitioners and staff of the Fort Wellington Hospital concerning the mysterious and tragic death of 17-yearold Damion Kawall, a former employee of Jumbo Jet, of Plantation Bath, West Berbice.

Reports suggest that the boy had tried to jump the hospital fence and failed in the bid, lethally injuring himself by breaking his neck.

But his parents do not accept that and said that he was beaten and murdered in the facility, and want answers and a full report into the incident.

They questioned, too, the hospital’s “lax” supervision of patients, all of which have come under tight scrutiny at this point.

According to the boy’s mother, Lorna Singh, she took her son to the hospital two Mondays ago at 07:00 hrs “for cold and fever and they admitted him and up to Tuesday night 7pm, I left him there because he was so ill and he couldn’t do anything for himself.”

She made further checks with the boy from home later that evening and confirmed all was well “and that was the last I talked to my son and after then, around 11 in the night, the nurse called me at home and said my son is behaving bad and fifteen minutes after, they called back to say my son has died.”

The nurses, she said, told her that he wanted to “come home and when we went in to the room after his death, all his belongings, cell phones and all, were dismantled and scattered in the room, so I still want to know what was going on and even the cleaner in the hospital said she saw part of it and afterwards, she just left and went to sleep.”

She and her husband immediately left for the hospital, but due to lack of transportation, only her husband was able to reach the facility first.

“There was my son, lying on a trolley outside the hospital with his neck broken and they have him lying with his belly on the trolley and they were supposed to put him to lie on his back,” the mother said.

Upon her arrival, too, she recalled the security guard telling she and her husband “ya’ll just miss the big scene what we had there”.

“They didn’t have any porter to take him to the mortuary until after 4am in the morning and the next day I took him to Sandy’s Funeral Home around 1pm.”

There were “lots of bruises and scars on his skin and his neck break and on his knee there was a cut and that is why I want justice because I take my son there because he had a flu and a cough and I can’t expect my son to be murdered in a hospital and I took him for something else, so I need justice!”

She gave a statement to the police.

The woman is suspicious of how the boy could have run out of the hospital and jumped the fence “when my son couldn’t even walk— jump an eight feet fence and when I asked Dr. Whynn— the Chinese doctor— he said that he saw my son walk through the gate and I asked him why didn’t he stop my son and he said that there was no porter or male nurses at the hospital.”

She then made a report at the Fort Wellington Station and noted that police told her that “they saw him crawling in front of the hospital on his butt”.

Singh bemoaned that up to now a post mortem on the boy’s body was not performed, “so I keep calling and asking the police when they gonna do it and they refusing me all the time; I just don’t know why they refusing me; I want my son to postmortem very early because I don’t want him in that freezer so long”.

“They said he jumped the fence and my son cannot walk— he was so ill, we had to hoist him and put him on the bed; bathe him and put on his clothes, feed him and

A mini health check is the first step to donating blood

Damion Kawall there was no marks on his body. Where did the bruises come from? That is what I want to know— I need justice!”

Singh suspects that her son was beaten and murdered in the health care facility. “I have to blame the hospital, because I leave my son in the hospital lying on his bed, go back to the hospital and reached him outside, that is not fair! The people in the hospital, nurses, doctors and security have to give me answers!”

The boy’s father, lashed out angrily at the health care sector and how something like this could have been allowed to happen under the watch of medical staff. Bruce Singh believes that his son “was physically kicked, abused and probably ended up with a broken neck”. He is a “skinny little boy, not that strong— how can this happen in a country like Guyana where medical facilities should be safe for the public— the authorities are not functioning, the police are not functioning, the hospital is not functioning and those above are the ones that are responsible for this!!”

Efforts to contact the CEO of the Berbice Regional Health Authority, Dr. Vishwa Mahadeo, proved futile.

A post- mortem performed on the body on Monday at the New Amsterdam Hospital stated that Kawall died of asthma. “Me ain’t satisfied and me ain’t pleased with that [post- mortem] at all; this is totally out of order”, the boy’s mother said. She said that she saw her son’s neck and examined it and saw that it was broken, “leaning for one- side”. She also refuted contents of a newspaper article about the boy scaling the hospital fence and him having asthma.

Singh is planning her son’s burial after which she plans to take further action in this matter.

Wednesday August 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 7

Joint Services set up base at Rockstone to provide safe passage through Linden

“We are looking stupid. We know that the people will resist but we may have to use some force if necessary. We can’t allow this to go on all the time,” - Senior Joint Services official The Joint Services have established a base at Rockstone, Region 10, to ensure safe passage through the mining community of Linden in the wake of a three week-long protest that appears to have given way to criminal infiltration.

A senior Joint Services source in Linden told Kaieteur News that although the security forces are still working out a permanent solution to the situation, persons seeking passage through Linden are assured of some unhindered access to and from the interior.

“There is some amount of safe passage,” said the source, adding that the joint services has been providing escorts to several convoys, including those of several Amerindian delegations attending this year’s Toshaos’ Conference in Georgetown.

The assurance comes in the wake of blockages to the gateway to the interior regions including Regions

Eight and Nine by protestors protesting the hike in electricity tariffs imposed at the beginning of last month.

The protests led to the fatal shooting of three persons who were among demonstrators blocking the Wismar/McKenzie Bridge on July 18.

The shooting led to further protests which spread to include looting and sporadic attacks on vehicles with persons traversing the access road to and from the interior.

President Donald Ramotar has once again ordered the Joint Services to remove all blockages on the roads in and out of Linden.

A planned visit to the mining community by the Head-of-State a little over a week ago was cancelled after Lindeners defied ranks of the Joint Services who were deployed to clear the roads.

On one occasion, residents sat in front of heavy duty equipment daring the Joint Services operators to

Joint Services personnel will have a hard time clearing blockages like this one and maintaining clear passage through Linden. run them over. A senior police source has hinted that there will come a time when law and order will have to be restored, even if it means the use of some minimum force.

“We are looking stupid.

We know that the people will resist but we may have to use some force if necessary. We can’t allow this to go on all

the time,” a senior Joint Services official told Kaieteur News.

But given the soured relationship between the police and citizens over the fatal shooting, which has not yet been resolved, it is anyone’s guess how the security forces plan to go about using minimum force to

City Mayor vows to stand ground, fight possible IMC City Mayor, Hamilton Green, yesterday vowed to rebuff Government’s plan to install an Interim Management Committee (IMC) at City Hall.

He described the proposal as “another assault on democracy by the present administration.”

However, Minster of Local Government, Ganga Persuad, at a press conference yesterday dismissed allegations that the Government is bent on establishing an IMC at the moment.

He admitted that a court injunction is in place to block same and said that government is continuing to assess its options.

Green, speaking at a press conference, claimed that the Local Government Ministry had made yet another attempt to put into operation an IMC. “Speaking for myself, I

will not be removed from my office.”

Greene reiterated that the Council had decided at the last statutory meeting that it will not allow Government to implement an IMC to happen.

The move by government comes at a time when there are numerous IMC being established by the government throughout the country.

“This is not any little village… this is the capital city and there are serious issues involved here. Any attempt to remove a constitutionally elected council will not be easy sailing.”

He recommended that “the Government acquire a process of proper consultation before they embark on such an endeavor.”

The Mayor insisted that the Government is to

be answerable for countless operational flaws around the city. Scores of city workers and others gathered in the vicinity of City Hall to voice their concerns. “We want Hami… no IMC.” The gathering also called for the removal of the acting Town Clerk Carol Saboo.

Ranks of the Guyana Police Force were deployed to contain the crowd as it grew in numbers. Greene has been Mayor of Georgetown since 1996 after he served as Prime Minister under the PNC administration.

At the last statutory meeting in addition to a motion being passed against the most recent proposal for IMC, a recommendation was also made to have the Citizens of Georgetown mobilized to oppose any such effort.

Mention was also made of numerous failed attempts by the present government to replace the Mayor and City Council with an IMC.

prevent the determined protestors from blocking the main arteries to suffering communities such as Madhia and Lethem.

The official said that the security forces are fully aware that they may come in for some criticism from political and other human rights bodies, but they will not renege on the job that they are mandated to do and that is to ensure that the way is cleared for residents in other communities that are suffering as a result of the actions in Linden.

The officer said that what is transpiring in Linden is providing criminals with the opportunity to carry out their activities.

“We have found that even criminals from Georgetown have gone up to Linden to capitalize on the situation,” the officer said, referring to the capture of the suspect in the murder of GTM official

Bert Whyte.

So far the security forces have detained and charged five persons in connection with the looting of stores in Linden.

“This has gone past the lawful stage,” the Joint Service source declared.

However, the police were forced to release three persons who were arrested following the attack on a truck coming from the interior at Rockstone, after the noncooperation of the victims.

Police sources in the E&F Division have confirmed that although, the victims have reported the matter, they are refusing to give statements so that charges can be instituted.

Page 8

Kaieteur News

Wednesday August 08, 2012

Iran backs Assad as Syrian Caribbean countries urged to impose moratorium on death penalty forces choke off Aleppo ALEPPO, Syria ( R e u t e r s ) - S y r i a ’s President Bashar al-Assad won a pledge of support yesterday from regional ally Iran as his forces tried to choke off rebels in the northern city of Aleppo.

Seeking to restore his authority after suffering the gravest setbacks so far in the 17-month-old uprising, culminating in the defection of his prime minister on Monday, Assad was shown on television meeting a senior Iranian official.

It was the first footage broadcast of the 46-yearold leader for two weeks, and came a day after Syria’s new caretaker prime minister was televised chairing a hastily called cabinet session, possibly to rebut reports that other

Saeed Jalili ministers had deserted along with Riyad Hijab.

Saeed Jalili, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Iran would not let its close partnership with the Syrian leadership to be shaken by the uprising or external

foes.

“Iran will not allow the axis of resistance, of which it considers Syria to be an essential part, to be broken i n a n y w a y, ” S y r i a n television quoted Jalili as saying.

The “axis of resistance” refers to Shi’ite Iran’s antiIsrael alliance with Syria’s rulers - from the Alawite faith which is an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam - and the Lebanese Shi’ite militant group Hezbollah, which fought a month-long war with Israel in 2006, with Iranian and Syrian support.

Damascus and Tehran have held Sunni Muslim Gulf Arab states and Turkey, all allies of the United States and European powers, responsible for the bloodshed in Syria by supporting the overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim rebels. Western powers sympathetic to the rebels are concerned that antiWestern Sunni Islamists could benefit from a victory for the anti-Assad forces.

I r a n ’s F a r s n e w s agency said Jalili told Assad that Iran was prepared to provide humanitarian aid to Syria.

On a fence-mending visit to Turkey, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said he wanted to work with Ankara to resolve the crisis. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan described as “worrying” a comment on Monday by Tehran’s top general, who blamed Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar for bloodshed in Syria.

Iran has expressed fears for more than 40 Iranians it says are religious pilgrims kidnapped by rebels from a bus in Damascus while visiting Shi’ite shrines.

Salehi wrote to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Kimoon seeking his help to free them.

WASHINGTON - CMC The Inter American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has called on several Caribbean countries, including Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados, to impose a moratorium in the application of the death penalty.

In a statement to coincide with the release of its latest publication titled “The Death Penalty in the Inter-American Human Rights System: From Restrictions to Abolition”, the IACHR said that it had examined the death penalty situation in nine-member states during the last 15 years.

It said the countries involved are Barbados, Cuba, Guatemala, Guyana, Granada, Jamaica, Bahamas, Trinidad

and Tobago, and the United States.

“Taking into account these standards and developments in the region, and in light of the objective of gradually eliminating the death penalty in the interAmerican system, the Commission urges the OAS (Organisation of American States) member states that still have the death penalty to abolish it or, at least, to impose a moratorium to its application.

“In addition, the report recommends the States to ratify the Protocol to the American Convention to Abolish the Death Penalty; to refrain from any measure that would expand the application of the death penalty or reintroduce it (and) to take any measures necessary to

ensure compliance with the strictest standards of due process in capital cases”.

The IACHR is calling also on states to adopt any steps required to ensure that domestic legal standards conform to the heightened level of review applicable in death penalty cases, and to ensure full compliance with decisions of the InterAmerican Commission and Court, and specifically with decisions concerning individual death penalty cases and precautionary and provisional measures.

It said that the regional instruments of protection of human rights do not prohibit per se the imposition of the death penalty, but they establish restrictions and specific prohibitions regarding its application.

Jamaica to launch new food security policy next month

Portia Simpson-Miller KINGSTON, Jamaica CMC - The Jamaica government will launch next month the National Food and Nutrition Security Policy that outlines specific targets for food production to satisfy the nutritional needs of citizens, Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller has said.

She said that the policy will also ensure that school children have access to wholesome and nutritional

foods, necessary for their growth and development.

“The policy will also seek to reduce our food import bill.

As a government, we are prepared to use trade policy to discourage the importation of un-wholesome foods,”she said, noting however that the potential of the agricultural sector will never be fully realised without the tourism sector consuming more of the food produced in the country.

Figures released here show that the island’s annual food import bill stands at US$900 million.

“The Ministries of Tourism and Agriculture are now working with our hoteliers to put into effect specific programmes to increase consumption of local foods in our hotels. The manufacturing sector must also be encouraged to use more local agricultural raw material in their endeavours.

“We are divesting and restructuring the sugar, cocoa and coffee industries, to

increase value-added, and expand our reach to new markets. A new thrust is also underway for the development of our ginger, turmeric and other exotic spices,” Prime Minister Simpson Miller said, adding ‘were cognise that we can only build agriculture on the basis of a partnership with other sectors.

She said as a result, investments and production activities must therefore involve various stakeholders including farmers, processors, exporters and traders.

“To this end, the government will make available agricultural lands to enterprising entrepreneurs who want to engage in agriculture,” she said, adding “we will continue to provide critical postharvest infrastructure to the private sector.

Over the next two years, the government says it will be spending some J$750 million.

Wednesday August 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 9

WHO IS IN CHARGE OF THE PPP?

One is left at times with the distinct impression that the Government is being administered by one set of individuals and the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) by another.

One case in point is the recent unwarranted attack on the Speaker of the National Assembly by the ruling party.

This criticism of the Speaker is totally at odds with the more sober-headed approach that has come to characterize the Donald Ramotar Presidency.

If indeed, as is being speculated, there are forces who are absent from Government but who have a strong hold of the party machinery, it presents a serious dilemma for the Peoples Progressive Party because it would mean that the party and government could end up reading from different scripts.

In the end, the government boys will prevail over the party because the presidency is too powerful to allow for the party to dominate but the ensuing differences could seriously

weaken the party.

The attack by the Peoples Progressive Party on the Speaker was totally out of order. Once the party cannot point to a violation of the Standing Orders of Parliament or to a breach of precedent in its interpretation of these Standing Orders, then the Speaker cannot be blamed for the motion of “no confidence” that was recently entertained in the house.

The motion itself lacked credibility and was illconceived. It ought not to have been tabled at all. It has no effect since Parliament cannot and ought not to sanction the Minister of Home Affairs. Also, the purveyors of the motion had a flawed understanding of the principle basis on which their case rested: ministerial responsibility.

But the fact that the motion was premised on a fiction and in the view of the PPP flew in the face of the constitution of Guyana does not arrogate to the Speaker the right to not entertain it on the basis of its lack of constitutionality.

The responsibility for determining the constitutionality of legislation is in the remit of the courts.

As was explained by the previous Speaker to the former Leader of the Opposition during a sitting of the National Assembly, it is not the role of the Speaker to pronounce on the constitutionality of anything. That has to be done by the courts.

The role of the Speaker is to decide whether any Bill or motion meets the requirements of the Standing Orders of Parliament and once it does, then he is obligated to entertain it.

The fact that the ruling party would launch such a scathing attack on the ability of the Speaker is most unfortunate and regrettable and it is urged that they immediately issue a retraction and apology for that most disgusting accusation leveled against the Speaker.

The PPP cannot be serious in arguing that the Speaker ought not to have entertained the motion because of its lack of constitutionality. How can a

Dem boys seh

Kwame beg fuh go to jail In life, dem boys know that there are many choices.

You can choose to drink and drive den face de judge. You can choose to stay home and don’t wuk den beg people fuh a raise.

You can choose to show the ex-President yuh middle finger and seh yuh did testing out de wind. You can even choose to use the Hard Times newspaper fuh wrap fish guts or bun marabunta nest.

Tek labba lip Kwame fuh instance. He had two choices. He tek he gun last year and decide to knack a man pun he head wid it. Then he cuss de man when he doing it. De man was putting up posters fuh de opposition.

Well he end up in front de Magistrate. He longtime back-up, De Rat, wasn’t around fuh save he.

De magistrate find he guilty fuh de knackin’ and de cussin’. It gun cost he $70,000 in fine. But he vex. He did want $70 million, so dat de alternative would got to wuk….four weeks in jail.

Dem boys hear Kwame start wink he eye fuh de Magistrate send he to jail. He wan see wha jail feel like. He know wha he gun get in jail, he ain’t gat to pay for it or beg. It free and plenty. He does gat to pay for dat outside… wid cellphone and odder things.

Dem boys at Ohh Pee would glad fuh dat… four weeks without Kwame pun dey back.

Uncle Donald lean back in

he chair and smile. He remember wha Kwame use to do when he Uncle Donald wasn’t President. He proppa big up he self.

Dem boys remember too.

And they smile. Dem remember how Kwame only last week cuss de bank people when they come fuh seize he car. De whole baby party brukkin’ up.

And talkin’ bout baby

party, dem boys wan know wha dem bush truck man in de Stadium compound gun do when dem Jamzone man ready fuh keep dem party right deh.

Dat gun be a hard choice fuh de truck man dem mek, cause it ain’t easy leffin’ yuh bedroom fuh people sport up inside.

Talk half and think hard but all yuh choices.

motion be unconstitutional?

What will be unconstitutional is if through some law there is an attempt to give legal effect to the resolution of that motion. Further, laws are unconstitutional not motions. Motions reflect collective political opinions.

They are nothing more than that. They have no legal effect and the Opposition is simply wasting the time of the Parliament with all these motions that it is bringing to the House.

The statement condemning the Speaker may, however, have been a preemptive strike. While the subject of the recent Freedom House missive was the motion against Minister Rohee, the statement from the ruling may have actually been aimed at a future target of the opposition: the impending debate on the benefits paid to the former President.

This may be why these arguments about constitutionality of motions are being raised because the ruling party knows that despite many persons seeing the attempt to debate the benefits of the former president as nothing more than vengeful and petty on the part of the opposition, this debate will eventually be brought to the House.

It is clear that the former president’s benefits cannot be cut, it can only be capped.

The opposition parties know this too but since they had made the former president’s benefit’s a political campaign issue, they have to engage in their usual theatrics so as to show their supporters that they are doing something, even if it is another motion.

In the end it does not matter. The president’s benefits cannot be amended by any motion and the

government knows that under our parliamentary tradition laws have to be consistent with Executive policy. Any attempt by the Opposition to railroad any law through Parliament without the support of the government will be challenged and most likely struck down by the courts.

Since the Executive will not be inclined to cut or even cap the benefits of the former President, it means that all this fuss that the ruling party is making about the Speaker is really in preparation for its defense of that petty motion and not really about the motion against the Home Affairs Minister.

Page 10

Kaieteur News

Wednesday August 08, 2012

THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN

The Government will introduce a motion to recover the amount of money the Parliament took away when it rejected budgetary allocations in some areas. The Government is asking for restoration of NCN’s budget.

The first question that arises is: will this mean that NCN will now operate differently?

The opposition will not approve the money unless there are substantial changes in NCN’s operations.

It will not happen. The Government simply wants the funds to be allocated. The

Government will not change in even the most infinitesimal ways how NCN transmits the news. From the time the motion was composed to the time of voting, NCN will be the way it was under PPP rule since 1992.

What this country has to contend with is the fanatical obsession with power by the PPP. It may very well end in tragedy. And for one reason only; it is beyond the collective psychology of the PPP to move away even in diluted forms from its total obsession with power.

This mania has gone in weird directions that do not augur well for the future of Guyana. On the instruction of the Government, the Guyana Revenue Authority has bypassed the POO series and went to the PPP mode. There was absolutely no reason why the POO plates could not work. It was simply just another series. But the power madness took over. Freedom House wanted vehicles in Guyana to have the PPP series.

In such an inconsequential matter, the

PPP showed the extreme lust for power. What makes any human being on Planet Earth think that in areas of making concessions to the opposition, the PPP will be reasonable? It will not. The PPP cannot go beyond its narrow psychology of total control. The story of the PPP vehicular series tells the large tale of power madness in Guyana that this writer predicts will end in tragedy.

All the signs are there.

Not one inch of concession will be made to secure the NCN funds. The

expectation of Freedom House is that the Parliament must vote for the allocations.

There will not be any discipline applied to the Minister of Home Affairs and Commander Hicken over the Linden murders.

The University will get a new Vice Chancellor. He will be a supporter of the PPP and the Opposition will read about it in the newspapers. The Chronicle will become even nastier than under Jagdeo.

No motion passed in the House that does not meet with the approval of the PPP will be translated into policy.

There will no new ERC chairman unless it is someone that comes from the PPP. The PPP will not go beyond the list of applicants that were given radio licences. This means the Stabroek News, the Kaieteur News and others will not receive permits.

There will be maximum delay in the implementation of the Procurement Commission. The Human Rights Commission is not on the agenda.

There will be no appointment of an Ombudsman and it is wishful thinking to believe that the PPP will reintroduce the Public Service Appellate Tribunal. Movement against corruption will not take place.

Nadira Jagan can come home as often as she wants and denounce the corrupt ones that inherited her parents’ party.

The PPP cannot prosecute itself for corruption. The PPP hierarchy is a colossal

Frederick Kissoon recipient of graft.

The blueprint of governance in this country lies within the matrix of power domination. Within this psychological frame, the PPP does not recognize that it is a minority government, ignores the separation of powers and will not concede the right of Parliament to check the Executive.

The problem at the moment is not what happens with this type of rule. It began under Mr. Jagdeo and will continue under Mr. Ramotar.

The trouble that lies ahead has to do with the Opposition.

Armed with a majority in Parliament and saddled with huge expectations from its voters, the AFC and APNU are in a quagmire. When it was a minority in Parliament, the Opposition had no scope to pressure the Government.

Now it has that latitude but it is not delivering.

It has two options. It can continue on the parliamentary road but this is a precarious path, because if Parliament does not check the PPP, then the Opposition will be seen as a failure.

Opposed to this is what Roopnaraine from APNU calls extra-parliamentary struggle.

What the Opposition does will determine where Guyana goes.

It is not going to be easy, because it is dealing with a psychologically fixed cabal.

The PPP is not going to democratize or change. It has to be forced to.

Wednesday August 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 11

Bids opened for major works in new Herstelling Housing Scheme A major project to construct roads, drains, structures and install a pure water distribution network at the new housing scheme at Plantation Herstelling South, East Bank Demerara, has attracted 14 bidders.

The bids were opened yesterday at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) in the presence of personnel from the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA), under the Ministry of Housing and Water opened.

The bids were divided into four lots and the Engineers Estimates were: Lot (1) $232,137,124; Lot (2) $179,629,630; Lot (3) $217,438,895 and Lot (4) $126, 247, 000.

Further under the Finance Ministry, bids were opened for the painting of the interior of the top floor of the Ministry of Finance main building.

The Engineer’s Estimate was $1,535,490 while the bids are:

Caribbean countries encouraged to use UN prog. to help firms cut through red tape PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad — A major regional body, the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) on Monday encouraged its member countries to adopt a United Nations programme that would help them streamline trade and increase transparency in business procedures.

The Regulations programme, produced by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), provides step-bystep information on how to carry out government administrative procedures. For example, for entrepreneurs it simplifies business procedures such as registering companies, obtaining visas and licenses, and importing and exporting.

According to a news release issued by UNCTAD, during its annual meeting, the ACS called on countries to implement the programme, given the positive results it has yielded for the six member countries that have already adopted it: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.

In El Salvador, the programme has helped reduce obstacles to trade by allowing entrepreneurs to register their businesses

Under the Ministry of Finance, several bids were submitted for the supply of computers and accessories. The bids were divided into six lots and are as follow:

Also under the Ministry of Finance, bids were opened for the painting of the interior of offices, washrooms, and open area at the National Procurement and Tender Administration top floor at the Ministry of Finance Compound.

With an Engineer’s Estimate of $1, 260,105 the bids were:

In addition, the Ministry of Finance also opened bids for the painting of the exterior of the southern and western sides of the Finance Ministry’s main building.

With an Engineer’s Estimate of $2, 365,880 the bids are:

through an online system, which was implemented with the help of UNCTAD. In Nicaragua, the number of steps companies had to go through to obtain sanitary and security certificates was cut from 39 to four, and the number of days needed to carry out the procedure was reduced, from 12 - 49 days to 2 - 7 days.

UNCTAD noted that a presentation of the programme’s results during the ACS meeting raised enthusiasm among the 22 countries that have not yet adopted it, and led to its inclusion in the ACS action plan.

“Often, the results surprise government officials: they find out that procedures are more lengthy and complicated than they thought, involve numerous government departments, have redundant or unlawful demands, and mean so much time and confusion that entrepreneurs grow discouraged and operate their businesses informally rather than following the rules,” UNCTAD stated.

To date, the Regulations system has been introduced in 20 countries and four cities around the world. Some 22 other countries have officially requested its implementation.

Page 12

Kaieteur News

Wednesday August 08, 2012

President pleads to Lindeners for normalcy in open letter

President Donald Ramotar last night pleaded with Lindeners to return the bauxite mining town to a state of normalcy, as the community entered its fourth week of protest actions over electricity tariff hike.

In an unusual move, the Head of State issued an open letter to the people of Linden, insisting that the government has the mining town at heart, and blaming ‘desperate extremists’ for misleading them. Ramotar also touched briefly on the deaths and injuries to protesters, while expressing his commitment to a Commission of Inquiry into the tragedy.

“I am aware of the great hardships and difficulties that you people are facing as a result of the blockading of roads and bridges within your community,” the letter stated.

“Through no fault of yours, you are being subject to unnecessary and needless suffering. I also share in your pain and grief and the pain caused by the tragic incidents of July 18 when three of your citizens were killed and many others

- says future of mining town in jeopardy

President Donald Ramotar wounded.

“On that infamous day property was also destroyed in arson attacks, leaving many persons without jobs.

“I have committed to a comprehensive Commission of Inquiry into these incidents. Work is being finalised so as to have consensus on the terms of reference of the commission and its inquiry. I believe that justice will be achieved.”

Ramotar also stated that

as President, he has undertaken to have an inclusionary approach to deal with Lindeners’ concerns “including the electricity issue which precipitated the events of July 18, last.”

“I have put on hold the new electricity tariffs and will appoint a committee to review all dimensions of this issue and to recommend options for a resolution of the problem.”

According to Ramotar, the electricity woes Linden now face preceded the PPP/ C’s election to office in 1992.

“By then the bauxite industry was in dire straits.

In order to remove the financial burdens on the then bauxite company, the government was forced to assume responsibility for electricity and for the two hospitals. At the time also the price of fuel was below US$20 per barrel. These prices have since increased astronomically, at times peaking as high as US$140 per

barrel. It is because of the rise in fuel prices that the subsidy provided for electricity in Linden became unsustainable. As a result changes were necessary.”

“The Government never intended to remove the subsidy applied to electricity, and we are not removing the subsidy as was so dishonestly told to you. This was never our intention.”

Ramotar stated that Government had proposed a phased programme of reductions of the subsidy, which would have resulted in gradual increases in tariffs in a way that would have avoided hardships. He said that Government had also suggested other models to minimize the impact of the increases on the vulnerable, such as bauxite pensioners.

“At the same time we

aimed to encourage conservation. All of these things were not told to you because desperate ‘extremists’ wanted to use this issue to promote their personal agenda for power,” Ramotar charged.

“The organizers of the blockades are hurting Linden and causing deep suffering to interior communities in Regions 7, 8 and 9. The hurt is not just because of what is happening now, but also its likely effects on the future of Linden.

“Jobs of Lindeners are being placed in jeopardy. The call centre in Linden could face closure soon. Bosai is also being hurt. This can but only discourage that company from making the future investments that it had planned, investments that would have rebounded to the

benefit of the people of Linden.”

“The actions of the extremists are therefore jeopardizing the future of your community. Linden as a destination for future investments is being harmed by what is taking place at present. These actions must be halted before they inflict further harm to the future development of Linden.

I therefore urge a restoration to normalcy in the town for an end to unlawful actions.”

“Linden has never been neglected by the PPP/C Administrations. You are all, I am sure, well aware of the steps that we have taken over the years to support the community of Linden. We will continue to promote development in Linden.

“You have my solemn pledge that my government will never abandon you but will work with you to secure your well-being.”

Fire destroys soldiers’ quarters at Timehri An early morning fire yesterday gutted the living quarters of the Colonel Ulric Pilgrim Cadet School which was located at Base Camp Stephenson, Timehri.

According to a statement from the Guyana Defence

Force, the fire started at around 03:25 hours yesterday. At the time, no one was in the building which was being used to house cadets who are currently involved in the Standard Officer’s Course # 45. In a statement issued

by the army, it was noted that at the time of the fire the officers were engaged in a training exercise in the building.

All the officers were accounted for and there were no reports of injuries.

Further, the army has indicated that they will be replacing all military and personal items destroyed in the fire. Unfortunately, the course has been suspended.

Firefighters prevented the blaze from spreading to the nearby lecture and mess halls.

Reports revealed that the blaze started in the upper flat of the two-storey wooden building at the Camp Stephenson base.

Wednesday August 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 13

Page 14

Kaieteur News

Wednesday August 08, 2012

Wednesday August 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Ramkarran supportive of int’l component for Linden Inquiry Former Speaker of the National Assembly, Senior Counsel Ralph Ramkarran has for the first time, in a brief exclusive interview with this publication, weighed in on what he calls the tragic shooting to death of three Lindeners on July 18.

Ramkarran extended his condolences to the families of the victims and indicated that he is fully supportive of an Independent Commission of Inquiry.

Asked about some of the terms and conditions being requested as it relates to the inquiry, Ramkarran says that he is fully supportive of an international component to be attached to the panel when constituted.

He was adamant however that he would not fully support the Alliance for Change (AFC)’s position for the Commission to be exclusively overseas staffed.

Ramkarran noted that he is cognizant of the fact that the Government and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) are close to agreeing on the terms and conditions for the probe, and urges that this be done in a swift manner.

The Senior Counsel asserted that it would be in the best interest of all to have a full determination of what transpired on that fateful day.

Asked about the calls for Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee to resign,

Former Speaker of the National Assembly, Ralph Ramkarran given his role at the administrative helm of the Guyana Police Force, whose ranks are being implicated, Ramkarran told this publication that he has not addressed his mind to that issue.

The probe currently hinges on consensus among the stakeholders, namely APNU, AFC, Govt. and the Regional Administration.

Attorney-at-Law Nigel Hughes who has been tasked with the negotiations for the party which he has recently been elected Chairman, on Sunday told this publication that the AFC’s position is not ‘uncompromising.’

He is however adamant about the international components of the inquiry.

Hughes reiterated that the party is of the opinion that competent, impartial personnel are not available in Guyana.

He said that certainly the party will not have confidence in the local police expertise as it relates to ballistics and crowd control.

Hughes pointed, too, to the crowd control and human rights aspects of the inquiry and stressed that the AFC has no faith in the local personnel.

He noted that the Attorney General’s pronouncement in the House on the draft Terms of Reference was void of any international component.

On Thursday, last, AG Anil Nandlall announced what he called the agreed terms of Reference for the probe, but this was met with immediate condemnation from the Alliance for Change (AFC) and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU).

Moses Nagamootoo, the newly elected Vice Chairman of the AFC, had immediately informed the Speaker that Nandlall was being misleading when he announced what he called the “agreed ToRs.” APNU’s Leader Brigadier (ret.) David Granger also objected to the announcement, calling it a dangerous practice to have purported ‘consensual’ (Continued on page 21)

Page 19

Lethem forced to buy expensive fuel from Brazil - as Linden situation taking heavy toll on hinterland regions

Amerindian leaders at the National Toshaos Conference 2012.

Toshaos, particularly those from Regions Eight and Nine complained bitterly of the effects of the Linden unrest on economic activities in their villages.

In Region Nine, residents are forced to purchase fuel from Brazil, which is more expensive.

During the start of the National Toshaos Conference 2012 at the Guyana National Conference

Centre, Liliendaal on Monday, one Toshao reported that businesses in his community will be forced to send home workers if the situation persists. They also recalled their difficult journey to Georgetown, where despite being escorted by police ranks, they could not have come to Region Four via Linden.

Toshaos were forced to divert to Rockstone to the

Sharima Landing and subsequently back to Bartica in order to reach the city.

They expressed anger over the situation and reiterated their call to those responsible to resolve the situation expeditiously.

The session, according to a government release, closed with leaders discussing the adoption of a resolution calling for a speedy solution to the Linden issue.

Page 20

Kaieteur News

Wednesday August 08, 2012

Wednesday August 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 21

APNU vows Parliamentary boycott of Rohee

By Gary Eleazar Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee’s future contributions to the National Assembly appear to be heading for a road replete with confrontation, as A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) has declared that it has “no confidence” in the Minister and as such will be refusing to cooperate in future, Parliamentary or otherwise.

This declaration was made by APNU’s Leader, Brigadier (Ret.) David Granger who yesterday, during a media engagement,

- wants int’l pressure applied for his removal He says that the partnership is also currently garnering the support of Non-Governmental Organizations in the matter.

The APNU Leader recently successfully piloted a Parliamentary motion of no confidence against the Minister, but the Guyana Government has since indicated that there is no legal requirement to abide

The shooting is a serious matter…it is not something that could be easily swept under the carpet.” also informed that the coalition has commenced lobbying international support to bring pressure on the Guyana Government to have the minister removed.

with the Parliamentary Resolutions.

Granger promised massive pressure to bear on the government as he lobbies local and international

Ramkarran supportive...

(From page 19) agreements being prepared in isolation.

The Linden fallout has already triggered a successful ‘no confidence motion’ against Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee, but the Government has indicated that nothing compels adherence.

The ruling party has since indicated that it “stands solidly behind Rohee.”

The party has since denounced the recent “no confidence” motion which it says was improperly tabled and passed in the National Assembly.

support.

“We have already written to the Foreign Embassies in Guyana and sent copies of Resolution,” said Granger.

He said that the Partnership will continue to canvass the support of the local Non-Governmental Organizations which he said played a crucial role in the removal of former Minister of Home Affairs Ronald Gajraj.

He reminded that it was public pressure that eventually forced Gajraj out of Office and “we think the same will work here…APNU is not prepared to cooperate with Minister Rohee in the National Assembly.”

Reminded of a previous motion that the Guyana Government is yet to adhere to that was successfully approved by the combined Opposition as it relates to NICIL and State Assets, Granger emphasized “ In this instance the President is asked to revoke the appointment of Rohee ..This is much more serious than the NICIL issue.”

Asked about deadlines for the demand, Granger pointed to the fact that Parliament will this Friday head into a recess and resume in October, “so we have a two-month break, but we will continue to maintain pressure.”

The Opposition Leader was adamant that “the shooting is a serious matter” and added that NGOs have

APNU leaders during the press briefing yesterday already started to speak out.

“It is not something that could be easily swept under the carpet.”

Meanwhile, the party maintains that it has

consistently supported the legitimate demands of residents of Linden and the Upper Demerara-Berbice Region for a better quality of life.

The party leaders continue to lament the fact that “the PPP/C Administration ignored APNU’s advice to deal with the crisis”.

Page 22

Kaieteur News

PROPERTY FOR SALE

WANTED 1 Cook to cook for a family in the interior Call: 697-1513 Survival Shopping Complex, Sheriff Street, one driver (Lorry License), one inventory clerk Call: 227-5286-90.

Driver/ Salesman, Lorry Licence, Clean Driving Record. Call: 266- 4427 Experience driver, Apply in person with written application Hack’s Halaal Restaurant 5 Commerce Street.

Live in attractive waitress Call : 228-5129 Attractive Waitress to work @ Chilly’s Bar Call: 667-7380

EDUCATIONAL ACADEMIA: CXC lessons forms 1-5 & Adults. Only $1000 per subject per month.

Call: 600-3775 Princeton College, Forms 15, CXC adults classes for slow learners, reading classes for children Call: 6905008, 611-3793 Imperial College-Jan / June CXC 2013. Full time / Lessons /Adults classes.

Payment packages & discounts available. Call: 683-5742, 227-7627 Live and work in Canada, Get Canadian Certification as a Caregiver Call: 227-4881 or 416-674-7973

East Coast GUYOIL (day & night) pump attendants, sales girls, Managers, house keepers, Office assistants call: 684-2838, 680-5223.

2 Ranch hands, to work in the Abary Creek roping on horse back. Call: 232- 3295, 623- 4495 1 lumber yard labourer Call: 226-3736 Live in maid or live out Call: 668-3985, 264-3355-56 Experience security, porters & drivers Call: 223-5273, 2235274 2 Experience salesgirls & 1 handyman, 23 Lombard Street Werk-en-Rust Georgetown Call: 227-8529, 626-8003 Driver/Salesman with clean Lorry Driving Record Call: 266-4427 One cow minder, aged 40 & over, between Clonbrook Unity area Call: 623-3231, 259-0953, 225-3198

MASSAGE For Professional Massages Call Nicole 612-7209 Relaxing massage in and out, call: 622- 6256 American style massage service Call: 609-4036

1, 2 Storey wooden & concrete house situated at Bloomfield Public Road Berbice Call: 642-0110, 6906520 20X40 Two flat concrete building @ Kitty. Price $22M Negotiable to be seen Call: 668-9512, 223-2570 Bel Air Park $55M Negotiable Call: 619-4682 Bent Street $18M, Albertown $37M, Kitty $45M, Atlantic Garden $36M Diana 2272256, 626-9382

One yardman/gardener, Age 20-60 yrs Call: 223-5273-4 Accounts Clerk with CXC Accounts and/or knowledge of Peachtree or Quickbooks Call: 266-4427 Waitress for night shift @ Container Bar Vryheid’s Lust Public Road E.C.D Call: 2203810, 658-5357

100 Honda scrambler bike, Electric wheel chair, call: 2336161, 651- 8870 1 Bobcat & trailor Call:6460101 One Briggs & Stratton Generator 5000W $160,000, One Onan Generator 2400W $60,000 Call: 216-3287, 6517566

LAND FOR SALE

Doberman pups Call:6666714, 226-9548

1 ½ acre, 48ftx1300ft V/Hoop Call: 627-9351

1 Pool Table, call: 669-9927

Charlotte Street 35’’ x 110’’ $65M Call:619-4682 Big Hanover Timehri area 92 acres of transported land 1 mile x 420ft wide $40M negotiable. B&G’s Realty 2274125/617-9717 2 house lots at Blankenburg Public Road W.C.D, 39 x 150, 38 x 150, $16M each Call: 6580132

Toyota Starlet EP71 Call:6482075 2004 RAV4L PLL 8310, Excellent condition Call: 6666714, 226-9548 Assorted Green Heart and Hard Wood; suitable for fence and scaffolding.

Please contact: 641-4952 Racing Jet ski for sale with trailer, twin Carburetor price negotiable Call : 694-8735 Dell Computers, Price Negotiable Call: 680-4276 Puppies- Pekinese mix with Tibetian terrior Call: 6238811, 227-0945

LEARN TO DRIVE Soman & Sons Driving School, First Federation Building Call: 225-4858, 6445166, 622-2872, 615-0964 Prudential Learning ‘’ Training to Pass’’ automatic also stick/manual Call: 6424827, 661-5028. We ‘re # 1.

Security/ Watchman Call: 225-6070, 225-0188

General male receptionist shift work able body- Hilton Crest International Hotel Call: 223-6284

John Dickinson Exercise Books (Large Quantity) wholesale only Call:6191105,622-3766

Brandnew American made Crosely 10.5 cu ft Refridgerator for sale $75,000. #697-5677

SALON Make up courses, artist trained & certified in Trinidad: 660-5257,647-1773 FOR SALE/RENT American pool table 277-0578

WANTED 1 male sales clerk, 1 porter Call: 225-2313 Hire persons from IKS Recruitment Agency Bahir, security, drivers, maco man, excavator operators Call us 223-1719/ email: info@iksservices.com 1 Domestic Call: 648-5397 1 Nanny Call: 648-5397 3 persons to sew garments Call: 624-3797, 225-4673 between 10am-4pm New or used tyres 18.5x26 Call: 609-8727, 227-1088

Portable A/C $45,500, Treadmill $32,500, 26’’ stand fan $19,500, Xbox360 $45,500 Call: 639-7114, 674-5625 Games for PS2 $900, PSP $900, PS3 $2,600, Xbox 360 $2,600 Call: 672-2566, 2653231 6 cylinder Perkins engines (complete). Contact Mr.George 223-0847, 678-5333

Live in/ Live out Babysitter/ Domestic Call: 225-0188, 225-6070

One experience hauler driver.

Apply in person Alabama Trading, Georgetown Ferry Stelling, Stabroek.

FOR SALE 1 225 KVA Generator, 1 Hiace Canter, Premio, 3 light towers, car batteries Call:624-2000

TO LET Wash bay and canteen 15 Good Hope, East Bank Essequibo. Call: 680-4990, 277-3033 Furnished 2 bedrooms house Crane Housing Scheme W.C.D Call: 613-5715

5 acres farm on transported land, fully equipped, pens (16,000 capacity), bearing trees @ Pearl E.B.D Call: 6899991, 227-5362 ALL PURPOSE & STRAIGHT STITCH, Sewing machines from $15,000, Be early. Call:645-7243

Wednesday August 08, 2012

FOR SALE

One 15 HP Yamaha (long foot), Call: 689-5254, 643-0332

SERVICES Permanent &Visitors Visa Applications Professional Immigration Consultant Sabita - Room E-4 Maraj Building 225-6496/ 223-8115/662-6045.

2005 Tacoma 4 cylinder, call: 651-8870, 233-6161

We refill HP cartridges for $1800 Call: 650-7699

Diving Suit, call: 613- 5158, 265- 3449

We repair fridge, freezer, AC, washer, dryer Call:2310655,683-8734 Omar

Honda welder generator, 12002 Toyota Tundra Call: 2204203, 611-5114

Champion pure breed rottweilers pups, both parents imported, grandparents are international champions from dog show Call: 685-2584 2009 Seadoo Jetski, 18ft x 7ft fiberglass speed boat 175 YAMAHA, call: 233- 6161, 651- 8870 1 stainless steel meat saw, meat grinder, display freezer cold storage room, call: 6518870 Caterpiller backhoe model 426c. Call: 651- 8870, 233- 6161 Mix Breed puppies for sale.

Call: 253- 3114, 692- 0126 Pure breed German Shepherd and Rottweiler pups, vaccinated and dewormed also 2 adult Rottweiler dog Call: 220-6879 One 225 HP $1.1M & 150 HP $950,000, Yamaha outboard engines, many more small outboard engines available Call: 699-1711 One ERF Hauler & 40 foot trawler Call: 653-4455 (New) Air Brush Compressor for sale Call: 666-5276 New Blackberry (S), Bold 4 (9900) $95,000, Bold 3 (9780) $75,000, Torch (9800) $80,000.

All original accessories included Call: 680-1722 Set magrims 20’’, hot water pressure washer 3500 PSI, Sthil chainsaw, 1997 Ford Hauler Call Raj 686-7553 2000 Toyota Forklift, 600V Generator, Sets of trailer axle complete air breaks etc Call Raj 686-7553 Farm @ Yarrowkabra Soesdyke Linden Highway Call: 684-7957 Baby chicks available weekly, fully vaccinated, Mr.D.Lallbeharry 371 Craig Public Road E.B.D Call: 6269589

Male enhancer Viagra $4,000 Call: 638-1627

1 Bedroom apartment at Plantation Versailles W.B.D Call: 618-5070

Used Play Station 2 games, X-Box, 1 remotes $30,000 each Call: 652-6894

Fully furnished short term apartments, Eccles. Call: 6797139 Albertown US$650, Regent Street US$650, Nandy Park US$1,500, Campbellville US$1000 Diana 227-2256, 626-9382

GPS System Map, Gramin Brand $95,000. Call: 600-0036 One Honda Motorcycle 90cc $100,000 Call: 216-3287, 651-7566 Moulders, multirip saws, resaws, cross cut saw and genset Call Rodney 616-5595

Repairs to refridgerators, washing machines, gas stoves, A/C units Call Lindon 641-1086, 694-2202 ONLINE SHOPPING-NO COMMISSION, WEEKLY S H I P M E N T S , AFFORDABLE RATES, FREE PRIVATE MAILBOX, TEL # 231-5789, FREIGHTLINKEXPRESS@ GMAIL.COM SUMMER PROMO FREE SHIPPING ON ALL CLOTHING FOR J A M Z O N E - N O COMMISSION, FAST SHIPPING CALL: 2315789 PASSPORT & VISA FORMS : U.S.A, CANADA & U.K, TEL # 225-9030, (ONE MINUTE AWAY FROM PASSPORT OFFICE) Anand Melody Makers Band and PA Sound System for hire Call Anand 627-3075, 216-2330 HOUSE PLAN DRAFTING FOR ONLY $10,000 CALL: 694-9843 Call the USA for $3 per minute, Resellers wanted 50% commission Call: 6724090, 657-8380, 225-8061

VACANCY IT Manager must have degree in computer. Call: 220-0401- 3 or email: r e c u r u i t m e n t guyana@qualfon.com Vacancy exist for truck drivers with 5 years experience Call: 225-6158 or 223-6055 Bond Manager, Bill Clerk & Truck Drivers, Good Hope R.A Soda Factory Call: 3302399, 623-5920 Male & Female workers, Bond Clerk, Accountant & Drivers, Rosignol R.A Soda Factory Call: 330-2399, 6235920

DRESS MAKING

(Continued on page 23)

6-weeks course in designing/ dressmaking.

Call Sharmela: 225- 2598, 641- 0784

For our advertising rates call: 225-8491, 225-8465, 225-8458

Wednesday August 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 23

‘Colin Jones terror gang’ must face High Court trial - DPP orders Members of the “Colin Jones terror gang” have been committed to stand trial in the High Court on a charge that they fired at police officers at a Georgetown Police outpost.

This was after the Director of Public Prosecutions using the powers vested in her under Section 66 of the Criminal Procedures Act Chapter 10:01 of the constitution, instructed the Magistrate to commit them to a trial by jury.

The charge against Jones, Randy Mars, Jafar Simpson, Basil Morgan and Anthony Watson – was discharged last April by Magistrate Hazel Octive- Hamilton, but on Monday she informed the accused that she was ordered by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to send them to trial in the High Court.

The five men are facing various charges in several courts in and around the city for actions they reportedly committed during the alleged reign of terror on November 4, 2009.

However, the allegation that they fired at Police at the East La Penitence Outpost was the only charge to be dismissed.

Displeased by the court’s revelations, the accused questioned the grounds

Colin Jones

Randy Mars

under which the DPP could take such actions.

Magistrate Hamilton explained that she is obligated to follow the instructions of the DPP who by fiat declared that the accused must stand trial in the senior court.

The Magistrate said she had initially found that enough evidence was not led by the prosecution to warrant a trial by jury.

She however said that the DPP would have perused the case file and found that evidence does exist for the men to stand trial for the charge, and under the constitution, she can order that the accused persons be committed.

Morgan and Jones were

most vociferous as they vented their frustrations and disbelief at the court’s revelation.

Morgan asked about the powers that the DPP hold and was duly informed by the court that it was within the DPP’s jurisdiction to make such an order.

He subsequently asked the court to grant him bail in the matter.

Jones on the other hand requested to know whether he could plea to the offence and have it over with.

Jones was told by the court that he could not plead to the offence as the matter was only engaging the attention of the Magistrates’ Court to conduct the pre-trial hearing.

Attorney-at-law George

Thomas made an appearance for the five men. He requested bail for all of them except Jones who he said is arraigned on murder charges and would thus not be able to have his pre-trial liberty.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Fazil Karimbaksh who prosecuted the pre-trial matter against the accused objected to bail on the grounds of the nature and gravity of the alleged crime.

He said the accused persons are facing other matters such as attempted murder, discharging a loaded firearm and robbery under arms in other courts, and are also committed to stand trial at the High Court in some of those matters.

In light of the prosecutor’s information, the court denied bail for the men.

At least seven police officers secured the courtroom when the accused made their appearance yesterday; two on each side of the courtroom closest to the Magistrate and three other ranks manned the door.

The men who were both shackled to the legs and handcuffed were immediately taken to court on arrival and were immediately taken away after facing the Magistrate.

Two Wednesdays ago,

Armed bandits shoot, rob popular Canje contractor in early morning rampage A popular Canje contractor has been admitted into hospital after he was shot Tuesday night by heavily armed bandits who tracked him home.

In the New Amsterdam Hospital is Rishi Singh called “Singh Man”, of 5th Street, Fort Ordinance New Housing Scheme.

Stolen was $7,000 in cash, bank cards, jewelry and vehicle documents.

Kaieteur News was told that the contractor had arrived home around

midnight Monday and was bathing downstairs when he noticed masked men scaling his fence.

He ran upstairs and tried to close the door but one of the masked bandit opened fire with his shotgun shattering the glass door. The contractor was hit in the side and leg with the pellets.

The bandits gained entry to the home where they took the contractor’s wife to the bedroom at knife point; they struck her several times demanding her valuables. She

was forced to hand over her chain, three finger rings, her purse that had about $7000, cell phone and a digital camera.

They declined to take electrical appliances from the home when offered.

Although Singh was injured, the bandits continued to beat him using their guns and a cutlass.

He was relieved of his wedding ring, a silver band, and taken downstairs to his car where they took a pouch that had $7000 and

documents for his two cars and motorcycle. Also taken were his driver’s licence and bank cards.

Singh was said to have received over 32 pellets in his right leg and back.

Though injured, he managed to drive his car to a relative’s home at Sheet Anchor, Canje, where he was then taken to the New Amsterdam Hospital.

The police arrived later and were conducting investigations up to late yesterday.

Jones made two attempts to wrestle firearms from two police ranks.

The accused was subdued by a policeman to whom he indicated his intent to murder everyone seated in the Providence Magistrates’ Court, including the Magistrate. Officers took no chances yesterday and so made their way into the courtroom unarmed.

Jones and his co- accused are facing several charges which include setting fire to a building, attempted murder and discharging a loaded

firearm.

Jones faced additional charges of cannabis possession and cultivation to which he already pleaded and is serving time. He was further charged for escaping lawful custody, ammunition possession and gun possession.

Many of the charges have been thrown over to the High Court. At Providence, Jones is facing a preliminary inquiry into the murder of two of his alleged accomplices who it is said he murdered and buried aback of Linden.

(From page 22)

VEHICLES FOR SALE Toyota Hilux pick-up, solid DEF, 4X4 long base, diesel, excellent condition Call: 6230243 Canter for sale, (long base) series GPP excellent condition $3.6M NEG. Call: 682- 4224, 693- 8357

FOR RENT 2 Bedrooms furnished apartment Call:665-2548

One Leyland Daf Truck with atlas crane, one outboard engine 115 HP EVENRUDE Call: 614-2759

Diamond Scheme Furnished apartment for one female, call: 216- 2637, 685- 0205

Just arrived: Allion and Premio, tel: 624-2000, 622-1610

39 West Ruimveildt 5 minute to school also its 4 bedroom upstairs,master bedroom second wash room $70,000 Call: 694-5371 Business place to rent, situated at X Durban Street Wortmanville Call: 616-2445 between Aug 2nd to 12th

One Toyota Wish $3M, One Toyota Noah Unregistered $2.5M Call: 648-6869 Toyota Mark 2 PJJ Series Call Owner 644-6608 2003 Nissan X Trail PLL series, excellent condition $3.2M Negotiable Call:6233839

1-2 Bedrooms apartment overseas furnished, 266 Atlantic Gardens E.C.D Call: 220-3735

Nissan Xtrail white PMM series, low mileage $3.5M Negotiable Call:623-6071 or 233-2468

Booths for rent in hair salon $6,000 weekly Call: 227-3273 or 696-3037 in Albert town Georgetown.

Long & short base open back canter, call: 617- 2891

EAST STREET hospital vicinity bottom flat, suitable for doctor’s office.

B&G’s Realty 227-4125, 617-9717

AT 150 Carina, Price $350,000, working condition Call: 665-7013 1 Toyota Allion, 1 Toyota IST, 1 RAV4 Call: 624-1343, 664-2755 2 Leyland Daf Dump truck in working condition Call: 6281756, 228-5655 1 Mitsubishi mirage car $820,000 Call: 639-9528

CAR RENTAL Progressive auto rental, cars from $4,000 per day.

Call: 643-5122, 656-0087, www.progressiveautorental.com Al’s Car pick up, canter rental Call:698-7807 FABS RENTAL, cars & SUV rental, call: 600- 6890 or email fabsrental@yahoo.com Premio, Vitz Call: 679-7139

1 AT 192 yellow HB series very good condition owner leaving $750,000 Negotiable Call: 619-5854 Toyota IST, excellent condition, fully loaded Call: 691-0554 One Toyota Marino, excellent condition $850,000 Call:2563883 or 682-0567 QUANTUM AUTO – Toyota Premio, Dark Grey, Black & Silver, Spacio, Fielders & Raum, Fully Loaded Call: 6247684, 617-2378

Page 24

Kaieteur News

Wednesday August 08, 2012

City Hall workers protest delay of July salary In what has become a norm, workers of City Hall yesterday picketed the Mayor’s office demanding their July month salary.

Clarence Whitehead, Field Officer of the Guyana Labour Union, who was also present during the protest

exercise which was held on the compound of the City Hall building, said the situation with salary has become overbearing.

“We have an understanding that salaries are paid on the 25th of every month. However, if for some

reason this cannot be done the Council must by way of writing inform the union and its workers of same.”

Whitehead said it was only on Monday that a circular came out about the late salary.

“This is ridiculous with the current economic issues already facing persons.

These things are unfair and not to mention that a new school term is approaching and people need their money.” Whitehead said the workers do not intend to take the matter lightly.

“No pay no work,” Whitehead said. He further pointed out that earlier in the day he received word from the Town Clerk that she was awaiting a response from the Minister of Local Government. Meanwhile, at around 15:00 hours yesterday Mayor of Georgetown Hamilton Greene said that some workers did receive their salary as the Town Clerk was in the process of writing out cheques as fast as monies were available.

Over recent years, the cash-strapped City Hall has been experiencing difficulties paying workers for services already rendered. On a number of occasions waste disposal operators were forced to suspend their services over non-payment

by City Hall.

The council has also stated that all of their efforts to generate revenue have been frustrated by the government.

Wednesday August 08, 2012 ARIES (March 21 - April 19): It is a very good time for you to leap into the center of the action and grab your piece of the pie, today. Nothing and no one can stop you, once you set your sights on something. Remember that when you feel some competitors breathing down your neck. ******************* TAURUS (April 20 - May 20): New relationships are exciting, but right now you need to be careful not to get too swept up in the momentum of it all. You run the risk of losing your own identity in becoming half of a pair -that's not good. ****************** GEMINI (May 21 - June 20): You will be privy to information today that could spell trouble for one of your favorite people -- and you'll be stuck with the dilemma of whether to ruin their day by telling them what you know. ******************** CANCER (June 21 - July 22): Today, if you have a question or concern about what you're working on, go to the source. Asking someone for answers directly is the best way to get the clear, credible information you need. Now is not the time to be hesitant about things. ********************* LEO (July 23 - Aug. 22): You'll meet up with someone from a drastically different background today, and they will have something serious to say that you should pay attention to, even if no one else wants to. ******************* VIRGO (Aug. 23 - Sept.

22): Good manners are always appropriate, but sharing is not. Know the difference today, because you have to be careful about giving away too much to other people just for the sake of being nice. ********************* LIBRA (Sept. 23 - Oct. 22): If it's possible for you to get some one-on-one time

with someone who excites and intimidates you, today, you should go for it without any hesitation! Whether it's your latest crush, a famous celebrity, or the big boss, the person you're dying to meet will suddenly be right in front of you. ********************* SCORPIO (Oct. 23 - Nov. 21): If you are trying to get closer to someone right now, keep in mind that romance is supposed to be fun. Your heart may be pounding to a frightening extent every time you talk to them, but don't let that anxiety show! ******************** SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 Dec. 21): Today will be chock full of simple pleasures that remind you how life can be quite delightful and sweet sometimes! Right now, all you want is a good cup of coffee and a comfortable chair where you can sit and read a book. ments will inevitably result. **************** CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 Jan. 19): Today is about exploring your creative side, and music can be a terrific catalyst. Strap on your party shoes and head out to that hot new club, or just turn on your favorite tunes and tap into your inner rock-star. ******************** AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 - Feb. 18): Your recent attempts to catch the eye of that certain someone haven't been as successful as you had hoped they would be, and it's time to realize that you should move on.

The more energy you waste on someone who isn't responsive, the less energy you have to start discovering new interests. ********************* PISCE S ( F e b . 1 9 March 20): If you are in a quandary right now about how someone feels about you, turn to someone who has insight into this person's inner life. Ask them to act as a translator.

Wednesday August 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 25

Chanderpaul Hemraj registered ton # 53 for Guyana at the Regional Under-19 level since 1968 Chanderpaul Hemraj’ 102 against the Leeward Islands in the opening round of the 2012 Regional Under-19 cricket tournament in Barbados is the 53rd century by a Guyanese since the inaugural tournament in 1968.

The first Guyanese that scored a century at this Under-19 level was Port Mourant’s Gopie Beasmonie who fashioned a stylish 101 against Trinidad and Tobago at the Mackenzie Sports Club Ground in the opening match of the 1970 Benson & Hedges Championship.

Since then 52 other centuries were registered by Guyanese Under-19 batsmen.

The only double centurion is GCC’s flambouyant left hander Leon ‘LJ’ Johnson.

The former St. Rose’s High student unbeaten 200 against Barbados at Stubbs in 2005 in St. Vincent is still the highest score by a Guyanese Under-19 batsman at the Regional level. Strange enough, only four batsmen have double centuries at this level since 1968; Barbadian Leslie Reifer 265 vs Jamaica 1978; Leeward Islands Dave Joseph 249 vs Guyana 1989; Leon Johnson 200* vs Barbados 2005; and Jamaica’s Jermaine Blackwood 201 in St. Lucia.

Please find below Guyanese centurions at the Regional Under-19 level since 1970: Gopie Beasmonie 101 vs Trinidad and Tobago MSC Ground 1970

Colin Jackman 126 vs combined Island St. Lucia 1973 Faoud Bacchus 139 vs Barbados St. Lucia 1973 Timur Mohamed 104 vs Barbados Bourda 1974 Mark Harper 140 vs Windward Islands Gilbert park Trinidad 1975 Mark Harper 103 vs Trinidad Gilbert Park 1975 Timur Mohamed 158 and 103 not out vs Barbados Kensingston Oval 1975 Andrew Lyght 106 vs Jamaica Sabina Park 1976 Andrew Jackman 151 vs Barbados Kensington Oval 1980 Roger Harper 102 not out vs Barbados Kensington Oval 1980 Andrew Jackman 100 vs Barbados Camp Ayanganna 1981 Fasil Abdool Sattaru128 vs Trinidad & Tobago Bridgetown 1984 Carl Hooper 180 vs Leeward Islands Bourda 1985 Carl Hooper 120 vs Barbados Port Mourant 1985 Carl Hooper 173 vs Windward Islands Port of Spain 1986 Peter Persaud 102 vs Windward Islands Port of Spain 1986 Sudesh Dhaniram 163 vs Barbados Port of Spain 1986 Nolan Mc Kenzie 120 vs Windward Islands Barbados 1988 Nezam Hafeez 113 vs Leeward Islands Kensington Oval 1988 Keith Semple 101 vs

Chanderpaul Hemraj

Leon Johnson

Jmaaica at Everest 1989 Nyeem Baksh 154 vs Jamaica at Everest 1989 Nyeem Baksh 154 vs Jamaica at Everest 1989 Robin Browne 105 vs Trinidad & Tobago at Camp Ayanganna 1989 Budnarine Sumair 109 0n Debutt vs Barbados at Bourda 1989 Deryck Mc Donald 134 vs Trinidad & Tobago Port of Spain 1990 Shameer Sadloo 113 vs Windward Islands Port of Spain 1990 Arjune Nandu 126 vs Windward Islands Kingston Jamaica 1991 Shivnarine Chanderpaul 136 vs Trinidad & Tobago Bourda 1992 Sinvnarine Chanderpaul 139 vs Trinidad & Tobago St. Kitts 1993 Rohan Sarjoo 113 vs Barbados St. Kitts 1993 Nicholas Degroot 106 vs Barbados Bank’s Hall Ground Bridgetown 1994

Andre Percival 110 vs Trinidad & Tobago Wanderers Ground Bridgetown 1994 Mahendra Nagamootoo 108 not out vs Windward Islands at La Sagasse Grenville Grenada 1995 Hemnarine Chattergoon 128 vs Barbados on Debut Elleston Road Kingston Jamaica 1996 Hemnarine Chattergoon 110 vs Windward Islands Melbourne 1996 Azeemul Hnaiff 128 vs Windward Islands Melbourne 1996 Azeemul Haniff 139 vs Barbados at Everest 1997 Ramnaresh Sarwan 128 vs

Windward Islands at Enmore 1997 Narsingh Deonarine 142 vs Barbados Queens park Bridgetown 1999 Narsingh Deonarine 131 vs Trinidad & Tobago Queens Park Bridgetown 1999 Hemraj Garbarran 158 not out vs Canada Bourda 2000 Assaad Fudadin 103 vs Windward Islands Elleston Road Kingston Jamaica 2002 Assad Fudadin 127 vs Canada at Bourda 2003 Zamal Khan 154 vs Barbados Melbourne Jamaica 2004 Leon Johnson 200 not out vs Barbados Stubbs St Vincent 2005 Gajanand Singh 100 vs Windward Islands DCC 2006 Gajanand Singh 150 vs Jamaica Enmore 2006 Krishna Deosarran 115 vs Barbados Bourda 2006 Vishal Singh 124 vs Windward Islands St. Mary’s Park St. Kitts 2007

Rajendra Chandrika 110 vs Trinidad & Tobago Warner Park St. Kitts 2007 Seon Hetemiah 105 vs Trinidad & Tobago Lester Vaughn Ground Barbados 2008 Trevon Griffith 104 vs Leeward Islands Police Ground Kingston Jamaica 2009 Chanderpaul Hemraj 102 vs Leeward Islands St. Catherine Sports Club Barbados 2012 GCC’s flamboyant left hander Timur Mohamed is the only Guyanese Under-19 batsman to score centuries in each innings. Mohamed scored 158 and 103 not out vs Barbados during the Benson and Hedges finals 1975 at the Kensington Oval.

This feat was only emulated once when Barbadian Renaldo Parris scored centuries in each innings against Guyana 2004 in Jamaica.

(Charwayne Walker)

Page 26

Kaieteur News

BCB and RHTYSC launch ‘School bags for Sports’ Project The Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club (RHTY&SC) in association with the Special Events Committee of the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) has launched a new project named ‘School bags for Sports’ under its ProEducation and Anti-Drugs Campaign.

The two organisations with assistance from popular Berbice Television Station DTV-8 are seeking to assist scores of young sports persons in the Ancient County with school bags for the new school year in an effort to get them to stay in school and obtain a solid educational background.

RHTY&SC Secretary/CEO and Chairman of the Berbice Cricket Board Special Events Committee Hilbert Foster said that both organisations are concerned over the lack of interest when it comes to education by some young sports men and women; the main excuse being put forward is poverty.

Foster informed that when questioned,

most youths blame their parents inability to buy school items and as such the idea of the project was born with the main aim of cutting out those excuses.

The two organisations would work closely with schools in Berbice to identify the students who will benefit from the assistance.

Students would be drawn from cricket, football, cycling, basketball, volleyball and athletics. They must be disciplined, dedicated and have a 75% attendance rate at school.

Foster expressed confidence that the ‘Schoolbags for Sports’ Project is destined for success and would be expanded to include footwear.

The RHTY&SC and the BCB would like to encourage public minded individuals, corporations and NGOs to contribute to the success of the programme by donating schoolbags. The BCB can be contacted on telephone # 333-2375, while the RHTY&SC can be reached on 337-4562.

Wednesday August 08, 2012

Suriname beats Guyana in Draughts competition - Jairam senior, Heyliger junior are champs

Some of the top participants at the Goodwill Draughts tournament with Suriname display their rewards.

Guyana’s senior and junior team last weekend when down to their opponents, Suriname in a return encounter in Draughts at the National Stadium.

The competition, which started on Friday and concluded on Sunday, saw both teams going down to the Surinamese 2-1 and 3-0 respectively. Last October Guyana lost 3-1 in Paramaribo, Khemraj Pooranmall and Jairam were the only two to secure points for their country.

Mark Brathwaite, Wayne Forde and Floyd Cumberbatch were outplayed by the Suriname players.

Jairam proved to be too

strong for the Dutch and local players in the individual rapid competition which was played on Sunday after the conclusion of team games.

He, in all three rounds, outplayed his opponents to win the Champion’s trophy before being awarded with the 2012 International Draughts Tournament trophy (sponsored by B.B Trading in Suriname).

Another Guyanese, Q. Heyliger won the junior rapid competition.

Khemraj Pooranmall and Heyliger took top honours in the senior and junior division for Guyana.

Consular in the Suriname Embassy in Guyana, Tjark

Olivieira who was present at the competition urged the youths in Guyana to play the game more like that of their counterparts in Suriname.

Jairam, President of the Guyana Draughts Association (GDA), thanked all the participants for their efforts while addressing the gathering at the tournament.

He added, “These exchanges of games will help to foster closer ties with neighbouring countries.

Suriname’s Draughts Instructor, Basdewsing presented a game clock and other useful instruments for beginners to the President of GDA.

Teams named for Jamzone T20 Masters Cup Tournament A number of top West Indies players have been identified to participate in this year’s Jamzone T20 Masters Cup Tournament which will be played on August 18 and 19, at the Guyana National Stadium.

According to a release from the Organisers, the USD$10,000 prize will be contested for by: Game 1: Berbice Titans vs.

Georgetown Kings 11 Game 2: Hits and Jams Spartans vs. Demerara New Line Cavaliers Universal DVD Berbice Titans include: Davendra Bishoo Veerasammy Permaul Narsingh Deonarine Sewnarine Chattergoon Jonathon Foo

Hits and Jams Spartans Shivnarine Chanderpaul Andrew Lyght Sunil Narine Raj Nannan Elton Baker Anthony Adams Vishaul Singh Dwayne Brave Keiron Pollard Andre Russell Joshua Wade Jatendra Sookdeo Tyrell Tull (Capt) Robin Bacchus (Vice Capt) Chris Gayle Demerara New Line Cavaliers Gajanand Singh Andre Percival Paul Wintz Balram Samaroo Seon Hetemeyer Waheed Edwards

Rajendra Chandrika Clinton Pestano Anthony Ifill Troy Gonsalves Ishwar Singh Dyanand Roopnarine Cohen Ismond Budhan Baksh Steven Jacobs Lennox Cush Derwin Christian Shemroy Barrington Elton Baker Georgetown Kings 11have: Trevor Benn Christopher Barnwell Anthony King Deon Ferreira Kellon Carmichael Totaram Bishun Jamal Hinckson Dwayne Smith Sulieman Benn Travis Dowlin

Wednesday August 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 27

Massiah back as USA Berbice Basketball Summer camp captain for WCL Division 4 progressing well, event extended

USA News/Cricinfo Steve Massiah, who missed the World Twenty20 Qualifier in March after a legal battle starting late in 2011 forced him to surrender his passport to US federal authorities, has received a USA recall.

Massiah was named captain once again, in the 14-man USA squad selected for the ICC World Cricket League Division Four that will be played in Malaysia from September 3-10.

Massiah, 33, was arrested in November along with two other men in connection with an alleged $50 million dollar mortgage fraud scheme run

by New York real estate broker Ed Ahmad. Massiah’s arrest warrant was issued for allegedly defrauding banks and mortgage companies by falsifying mortgage loan applications. Such charges could have carried a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and bail for Massiah was set at $150,000. His travel was restricted to New York, although he received special permission to play at a cricket tournament in Florida in December.

Court documents show that Massiah’s attorney was engaged in plea negotiations for at least three months.

Massiah was never indicted and the federal complaint against him and his two codefendants was eventually dismissed on March 19.

Sources claim that attorneys for the three men completed a plea deal to avoid trial and potential jail time.

With Massiah’s case resolved, it opened the door for his return to the national team. According to sources, a USA Cricket Association board meeting was held last month to discuss whether or

Steve Massiah not he should be named captain again. The decision was made to restore him to the position, which had been filled by Sushil Nadkarni in March at the Twenty20 Qualifier in the UAE. Nadkarni, 36, will serve as the vice-captain on the tour to Malaysia.

Also returning to the squad are three other veterans who have missed recent tournaments either due to work obligations or injury - Timroy Allen, Rashard Marshall and Aditya Thyagarajan. Most notable among them is Thyagarajan, USA’s leading run-scorer in 2010. Thyagarajan, 33, has not played for USA since January 2011 when he suffered a severe right knee dislocation against Denmark at ICC World Cricket League Division Three in Hong Kong.

After a lengthy rehabilitation process, he has finally been declared fit to come back to the national team.

The return of such key veterans, particularly in the batting department, will be vital for USA in an evenlymatched tournament field that includes Denmark, Malaysia,

Nepal, Singapore and Tanzania.

The competition in Malaysia may actually prove to be more grueling than what lies ahead in Division Three.

The top two finishers from Division Four will be promoted to join Bermuda, Italy, Oman and Uganda in Division Three, which is scheduled to take place in Bermuda from April 28-May 5, 2013, according to a USACA press release.

Wicketkeeper Akeem Dodson is the other player earning a recall after missing out on selection for the Twenty20 Qualifier when USA opted to hand a new cap to Nauman Mustafa, 37, behind the stumps rather than persist with the still developing Dodson, 24.

However, Mustafa was stripped of the keeping duties one match into the tournament after a disastrous debut against Uganda. He was given an opportunity to atone later in the event but he never lived up to his domestic reputation with the bat, was sloppy with the gloves and as a result has been axed. Adil Bhatti, Asif Khan, Andy Mohammed, Japen Patel and Gowkaran Roopnarine are the others who have been dropped.

Dodson is one of five players in the squad to have represented USA at an ICC U19 World Cup and is also one of two America-born players in the squad along with Steven Taylor, 18. Taylor was impressive for USA on the tour to the UAE in March. He scored 40 off 30 balls in USA’s seven-wicket upset win over Scotland and finished second on the runs charts behind Nadkarni at the Twenty20 Qualifier.

The Basketball youth camp organized by the Berbice Basketball Association for youngsters in the East Berbice area is progressing well. This is according to coordinator and president of the association Kirk Fraser.

The sessions, which began on Monday 25th July, have been intense and have already gone past is stipulated two weeks period.

The sessions are being held Monday to Friday from 9am to 12pm at the Vryman’s Erven Basketball court. During the sessions so far the players had the opportunity to interact with former national player and overseas based Guyanese Sean Semple.

Semple has so far conducted many sessions with the youths whom he says have a

far way to go if they take the game seriously. He expressed satisfaction in seeing the youths coming out and encouraged them to do their best and make their county proud.

Players are also benefiting from the expertise of former national youth cricketer Anthony D’Andrade who is also an accomplished basketball player. D’Andrade, who recently qualified with a Bachelor in Sports Studies at the University of Trinidad and Tobago, took them through fitness exercises and agility routines and gave a lecture on Sports in Human Development.

During the first week of the camp the youths was also visited by former national Volleyball stalwart and

Basketball player Charles “Wheels” Henry.

A number of youngsters including both male and females are being taught at the sessions.

Apart from the extra sessions they have conducted, sessions in basic Basketball which includes passing, shooting, dribbling, intercepting and team building among other moves have been dealt with.

The participants are also expected to deal with social ills, health and Hygiene including lectures on HIV/ AIDS, Drug Abuse and delinquency.

Before the end of the camp they will be involved in community activities in and around the town of New Amsterdam. Certificates are also expected to be issued to the successful participants.

Grenada parties after Kirani James wins Olympic gold BBC - The Caribbean island nation of Grenada erupted in celebration after Kirani James stormed to victory in the men’s 400m at the London Olympics.

Grenadians danced, cheered and waved flags in the streets as James, 19, won the country’s first Olympic gold in a personal best of 43.94 seconds.

James was a “real good role model for our young people,” Grenada’s Prime Minister Tillman Thomas told the BBC. The government declared Tuesday afternoon a holiday.

James, already the world champion, became the first non-US athlete to run the distance in under 44 seconds.

Kirani James “My message to Kirani James is to continue doing what he’s been doing. He’s been a very good influence on our young people,” Mr

Thomas said. “He’s very disciplined, very organised and very focused.”

There were noisy celebrations in James’s home village of Gouyave. Local journalist Nicole Best told AFP news agency that most Grenadians thought he would leave his mark on the Games.

“Achieving gold went beyond our expectations”.

Grenadians are hoping the win by James will raise the profile of their nation, which has a population of just over 100,000 and is largely reliant on tourism.

“We expect more success from this and that many more people will be inquiring about Grenada.” banker Robert Frederick told AFP.

Page 28

Kaieteur News

Dramatic semis produce dream final

The Women’s Olympic Football Tournament 2012 on Thursday (tomorrow) August 9 at Wembley has the gold medal match fans the world over were hoping to see, a rerun of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011 final between Japan and USA. France and

Canada will do battle for bronze in Coventry earlier in the day.

In a thrilling clash oozing skill and quality, the Japanese edged out France in Monday’s first semi-final. The Nadeshiko thus become the second reigning world champions to reach the Olympic final in the year after triumphing at the FIFA Women’s World Cup, a feat previously achieved by USA at the 2000 Games in Sydney.

The second last-four

AFP - Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce stayed on track for an Olympic sprint double on Monday as fellow Jamaican Veronica Campbell-Brown took her first step towards a third consecutive 200m gold.

Fraser-Pryce, who successfully defended her 100m title in London, looked impressive in easing to victory in heat six of the first round of the women’s 200m in a time of 22.71sec.

Campbell-Brown timed 22.75sec in heat

five as American Sanya Richards-Ross, chasing a 200m-400m double after winning the one-lap sprint 24 hours earlier, topped the qualifying times with 22.48sec.

Three-time 200m world champion Allyson Felix of America, who finished second behind Campbell-Brown over 200m in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, ran 22.71sec.

Felix came into the event in superb form, having run a personal best and world leading time of 21.69 at the US Olympic trials, the fastest for 14 years.

Campbell-Brown ended Felix’s winning streak at last year’s world championships in Daegu, South Korea, last year.

Asked about the possibility of achieving a trio of titles, Campbell-Brown told BBC TV: “It is a great stiuation to be in, I am not going to let pressure overwhelm me or anything, I am just taking it step by step. “The objective is to get to the final and just run as best I can there.”

Carmelita Jeter, pipped to the 100m gold

by Fraser-Pryce, also qualified for Tuesday’s semi-finals.

Speaking about recovering after the women’s 100m, Felix said: “I am doing pretty good. I got some treatment. I am just excited about this race (the women’s 200m).”

The first woman to do the 100-200m double was legendary Dutch runner Fanny Blankers-Koen, who performed the feat in London in 1948.

Taoufik Makhloufi wins men’s 1500m gold Algeria’s Taoufik Makhloufi left the rest of the field trailing to win the first global title of his career.

Makhloufi, 24, finished in a time of three minutes 34.08 seconds, racing away from American Leonel Manzano who took silver in 3:47.79, with Moroccan Abdalaati Iguider in bronze.

Makhloufi was reinstated in the Games on Monday, having been disqualified for not trying in his 800m heat.

Defending champion Asbel Kiprop was last, apparently hampered by injury.

Makhloufi, a semi-finalist at last year’s World Championships in Daegu, set off quickly and led alongside Iguider after the first lap, before falling back to sixth

Taoufik Makhloufi after the second lap.

He was battling hard with Kenya’s Kiprop, but as the Beijing champion’s challenge faded, the Algerian positioned himself well to attack the

Pearson wins hurdles gold by a whisker

clash was an even more dramatic affair: in the allNorth American showdown against Canada, defending Olympic champions USA scored in time added on at the end of extra time to seal the narrowest of victories and book a place in the final of the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament for the fifth time in five editions of the tournament.

Results of the semi finals: France 1-2 Japan; Canada 3-4 USA.

Fraser-Pryce starts second leg of double bid

Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce competes in the women's 200m heats

Wednesday August 08, 2012

frontrunners in the closing stages. He took the lead in the back straight and, with around 200m to go, accelerated easily away from his nearest rivals to race unchallenged towards the finishing line.

Makhloufi, who won his 1500m semi-final impressively on Sunday, had been forced to race in the 800m after Algeria failed to withdraw him before the deadline. He jogged through about 200m of his heat before quitting, and was then excluded from the Games for “not providing a bona fide effort”.

However, after inspecting medical evidence, the International Association of Athletics Federations decided Makhloufi could race in the 1500m final.

Australia's Sally Pearson looks to her left as she crosses the finish line in the women's 100m hurdles final during the London 2012 Olympic Games.

(REUTERS LUCY NICHOLSON) LONDON (Reuters) - World champion Sally Pearson won the women’s 100 metres hurdles in a blanket finish to give Australia their first gold medal in athletics at the London Olympics on Tuesday.

The dominant sprint hurdler of the last two years, Pearson led from the start but Americans Dawn Harper and Kellie Wells pushed her all the way before the Australian

crossed the line in 12.35 seconds, an Olympic record.

Defending champion Harper took silver in 12.37 and Wells won bronze in 12.48, both athletes running personal bests.

The 25-year-old Pearson faced a nervous wait before her name flashed up on the scoreboard and she collapsed on the track in delight when her victory was confirmed.

China’s Liu limps out of Games

China’s Liu Xiang sits on the track after suffering an injury. (REUTERS/Eddie Keogh) (Reuters) - China’s Liu Xiang left the Olympic stadium in a wheelchair on Tuesday after hitting the first barrier in a 110 meter hurdles heat while Jamaican Usain Bolt breezed through an “easy” 200 qualifier in his favorite event.

The contrasting fates of two of the world’s most famous athletes made for a striking opening to the 11th full day of competition in London, where Britain celebrated more golds to make it the hosts’ most successful Olympics in 104 years.

Liu’s dreams of glory, however, were shattered in a cruel echo of his early exit from Beijing four years ago, and indications were that it was the same Achilles injury that led to his fall on a cool, cloudy morning in London.

China’s first male gold medalist on the Olympic track after triumphing in 2004, Liu

remains his country’s most popular sportsman alongside former basketball player Yao Ming.

Fans at home quickly took to social networking websites to voice their dismay. “My heart is broken,” wrote one on Chinese microblogging service Sina Weibo. “I had been awaiting this race with such expectation.”

Fellow athletes expressed their sympathy for Liu. “It is really hard for him because I think he is one of the best hands down,” Bolt told reporters. “He has shown the world he can do great things.

For him to push himself and come back last year ... for this to happen, this is really sad for any athlete.”

SOUR NOTES Elsewhere on Tuesday, Dutchman Dorian van Rijsselberghe became the last ever men’s RS:X windsurfing champion at the Olympics,

with the event being replaced by kiteboarding in 2016 at the Rio de Janeiro Games.

Marina Alabau Neira of Spain won the women’s title, while also on the water, but in a very different event, Italian kayaker Josefa Idem made the final aged 47.

The first woman to compete in eight Olympic Games is aiming to add to her gold from Sydney, two silvers from Beijing and Athens and bronzes from Atlanta and Los Angeles. “I don’t care about age,” a smiling Idem told reporters after powering past a field of 20 and 30-year-olds in the semi-final. “The stopwatch doesn’t ask.”

Canada’s women soccer players were less happy, accusing Norwegian referee Christiana Pedersen of bias towards the United States after their dramatic 4-3 extratime defeat in the tournament semi-final on Monday.

Pedersen took the rare step of penalising Canadian goalkeeper Erin McLeod for holding the ball too long.

“We feel like we got robbed in this game,” McLeod said.

Late on Monday, Cameroon’s ministry of sports and physical education said seven athletes had disappeared while in Britain for the Olympics. The five boxers, a swimmer and a soccer player may have vanished to seek a more prosperous life in Europe, but the International Olympic Committee said on Tuesday it was not aware of the

Wednesday August 08, 2012

Kaieteur News

The Bolt and Blake show dazzle Olympic Stadium again... this time in 200m heats

Daily Mail - Usain Bolt began his bid to add a second Olympic 200 metres crown to his two 100m titles with a hugely comfortable heat victory.

The Jamaican, who clocked an Olympic record 9.63 seconds to retain his 100m crown on Sunday, cruised to victory in 20.39secs.

Bolt has said he needs to win 200m gold again before he achieves his aim of becoming a ‘legend’.

‘It was an easy run, I’m enjoying it, it’s my favourite event,’ said Bolt. ‘It’s getting pretty chilly. They say the weather should be good on Thursday [for the final] so we’ll see.’

Asked what he did to celebrate his 100m success, he said: ‘Nothing. I just

chilled, met some friends and sat and talked.’

Bolt’s countryman and training partner Yohan Blake also breezed through, slowing down well before the line to clock 20.38s. Blake had to settle for silver in the 100m, but is out to deny Bolt a second gold, having beaten him over 200m at the Jamaican trials.

France’s Christophe Lemaitre went quicker than both Jamaicans in winning his heat in 20.34 and Bolt nodded in approval as he watched his rival’s run on a TV screen.

Blake, dubbed ‘The Beast’ because of his prodigious work ethic, said: ‘I did what my coach said and qualified.

I’m feeling good, that’s why they call me the beast. The track is fast. I appreciate anything is possible. ‘The 100m taught me a lot and it’s given me confidence. I love this event.’

Asked whether he could beat Bolt, he said: ‘I’m not really focusing on beating

him. I’m concentrating on running my race.’

Ecuador’s Alex Quinonez was in fact the fastest qualifier in a national record of 20.28.

World number one Aries Merritt qualified impressively in the 110m hurdles in 13.07 as China’s Liu Xiang crashed out injured at the first hurdle.

Merritt said: ‘The track is blisteringly fast. The time (in the final) is going to be extremely fast.’

World triple jump champion Christian Taylor took just one jump to book his place in the final, leaping 17.21m with his first effort.

Olympic champion and world record holder Barbora Spotakova topped qualifying in the javelin, the Czech throwing the spear out to 66.19m with her first throw.

Ethiopia’s Tirunesh Dibaba, the defending champion, qualified fastest for the final of the 5,000m in 14:58.48.

Dibaba retained her Olympic 10,000m crown on Friday.

Mexico comeback keeps dream alive

Mexico's Javier Cortes celebrates after scoring a goal against Japan during their men's semi-final soccer match at Wembley Stadium in London at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Mexico came storming back to reach their first final at the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament as Japan’s dreams of double football gold ended at Wembley.

The Blue Samurai looked set to join their women’s team in setting up a gold medal match at London 2012 when a superb third goal of the tournament from Yuki Otsu gave them an early lead.

However, Marco Fabian, Oribe Peralta and substitute Javier Cortes turned the game around as Mexico set up a final on Saturday against Brazil or Korea Republic and left their opponents playing for bronze.

Neither side had previously competed for gold and each had made the Olympic semis for only the second time, having last done so in 1968 when Japan went on to beat host nation Mexico in the bronze-medal match.

Despite some nervy defending early on, the Japanese were on course to emulate that result after 12 minutes thanks to a stunning strike from Otsu. Mexico goalkeeper Jose Corona, who had already tipped a Hiroshi Kiyotake 25-yard shot wide, was helpless as Otsu’s instant control from Keigo Higashi’s pass set up a 20yard half-volley which the forward crashed into the top

corner.

It was the first time El Tri had trailed at the Olympics and they now needed to become the first side to score against Japan. Fabian scuffed his finish after some poor defending and Giovani dos Santos drilled wide when the ball fell to him from a blocked shot. The pressure paid off in the 31st minute when Dos Santos’ corner was flicked on

by Jorge Enriquez and Fabian nodded home from close range.

Mexico continued to call the shots and completed their comeback in the 65th minute with a goal that was simply sublime. Peralta had just drilled too close to Shuichi Gonda, who rolled the ball out to Takahiro Ohgihara.

H o w e v e r , the midfielder took too long in possession and was robbed by Peralta, the striker still having plenty to do as he drove an unstoppable strike right into the top corner of the net.

Ohgihara almost made amends with a free-kick that was met by a looping back header from Kensuke Nagai and was tipped over by a backpedalling Corona.

Japan threw on Kenyu Sugimoto, Takashi Usami and Manabu Saito but they were unable to find a way through and were overcommitted in the final minute of stoppagetime as Cortes held off several weak challenges before firing the ball under Gonda.

Page 29

South Korea 0 Brazil 3: Neymar stars as Samba Boys close in on elusive gold

Damiao scored a brace for Brazil in the 3-0 win over South Korea on Tuesday night. (AP) Daily Mail - Brazil stayed on course for that elusive Olympic gold medal, ending South Korea’ s brave challenge in front of a full house at Old Trafford to set up a Wembley final against Mexico on Saturday.

Two goals from Leandro Damiao helped a Neymarinspired Brazil to keep up their impressive record of scoring three times in all five games at London 2012, but statistics will matter little to coach Mano Menezes and his players as they chase the only prize in football to elude their country.

The South Americans may have won the World Cup a record five times – at every age-group, outdoor, indoor and even on the beach – but until now Olympic gold has eluded them.

Brazil’s failure is all the more surprising considering the calibre of teams they have entered for the Olympics in the past; the list of star names who have tried and failed is long and illustrious.

Now the class of 2012 are just one game at the home of English football away from ending the wait, and what a class they are.

In Neymar, Lucas Moura and Oscar alone, they have three of the hottest young properties in world football.

The rest help make up the bulk of Brazil’s senior national team. No wonder Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini watched admiringly from the stands here.

For a while their place at Wembley looked under real threat. South Korea made by far the better start and Alex Sandro and Thiago Silva both had to clear the danger when goalkeeper Gabriel was beaten inside the opening quarter of an hour, while Sunderland striker Ji Dongwon sent a super effort inches over from 25 yards.

Lee Bumyoung, the second-choice goalkeeper who came off the bench to knock out Great Britain by saving Daniel Sturridge’s effort in a penalty shootout, had little to do until a poor backpass forced him to rush out and save at the feet of Leandro in the 20th minute, picking up a knock in the process.

He certainly looked out of sorts when Brazil took the lead seven minutes before halftime.

Neymar started it off by winning the ball near halfway and surging forward. He slipped a pass to Chelsea’s new £25milion signing Oscar who fed Romulo and the Spartak Moscow player was able to beat the Korean keeper all to easily at his near post.

Neymar was also involved in Leandro’s two goals as Brazil killed off the contest after half-time. The Santos star invited a finish by pulling the ball back from the byline after 57 minutes and although Marcelo completely missed his attempt Leandro did not, drilling it home from 12 yards.

And when Neymar teased Korea with another mazy run across the box in the 64th minute, Oscar’s pass was deflected to Leandro who somehow dug the ball out from under his feet and into the bottom corner.

In so doing, he became the top scorer in the tournament with six goals. By reaching the final, Brazil have now matched their achievement at Los Angeles 84 and Seoul 88. Their predecessors couldn’t finish the job. It’s hard to see this team falling short now.

Peerless Hoy delivers sixth gold From back page Dutchman Teun Mulder both took bronze after a photo finish could not separate them. It is the first time in Olympic history that four medals were awarded in a single cycling event.

It was Hoy’s seventh Games medal, which puts him ahead of Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins on ‘gold difference’ as Britain’s most decorated Olympian.

Wi g g i n s h a s f o u r Olympic titles to Hoy’s six after the Scot won the team sprint event with Philip Hindes and Jason Kenny last Thursday.

With his team sprint and keirin victories, Hoy has retained two of his three Beijing titles but could not defend the third after he was

omitted in favour of eventual champion Jason Kenny to represent Britain in the individual sprint.

“I’m in shock. I’m trying to take it all in, but this is surreal. It is what I always wanted - to win gold in front of my home crowd. I can’t express the feelings I’m having right now. It’s just the most amazing feeling,” Hoy added.

“This is the perfect end to my Olympic career. At Sydney (in 2000), I was just over the moon with a silver medal. If I’d have stopped then I would have been a happy boy, but to go on to Athens, Beijing and here, I can’t put it into words.”

Asked if he would compete in Rio in 2016, Hoy said it was highly unlikely.

“I’m 99.9 per cent sure

that I won’t be in Rio. Glasgow 2014 (for the Commonwealth Games), if I can keep going that would be the dream ending for me,” he said.

Tuesday’s performance, which helped him surpass rower Steve Redgrave’s British record of five Olympic gold medals, was nothing short of perfect.

Having advanced unchallenged from the first two rounds, Hoy had enough gas left in the tank to contain Levy.

The German went on the outside and gained a slight advantage on the last bend, but Hoy pushed harder on the pedals to win by a comfortable margin, punching the air in delight before bursting into tears on the podium.

Page 30

Kaieteur News

WICB U-19 Tournament round-up Following are the summarised closeof-play scores on the second day of the third round of matches in the WICB Regional Under-19 3-day Championship in Barbados. Play was extended to 6 pm at Weymouth because of a late start in the morning session.

At Pine Basin: Guyana trail T&T by 195 runs with six wickets intact.

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 375-7 decl.

(Jeremy Solozano 160 not out, Vikash Mohan 45, Nicholas Pooran 94; Mohan Ramdeen 131) GUYANA 180-4 (Ricardo Adams 53 not out, Mohan Ramdeen 47, Chanderpaul Hemraj 31, Tagenarine Chanderpaul 23 not out;

Philton Williams 2-38) At Weymouth: Barbados trail Jamaica by 141 runs.

BARBADOS 106 (Akeem Jordan 24, Darnell Greenidge 23; Christopher Powell 522) and 1-0. JAMAICA 248 (Aldaine Thomas 91, Delbert Gayle 29, Tristan Coleman 25, Raghni Francis 24; Marlon WelcomeGoodman 3-62, Chad Williams 2-35, Neil Persaud 2-35) At Carlton: No play due to rain LEEWARD ISLANDS 179 (Darren Hobson 69, Akeem Saunders 46; Preston McSween 450, Larry Edward 3-61) WINDWARD ISLANDS 25-0

Pathan bowls India to Twenty20 win

Virat Kohli made another half-century. (AFP)

(Reuters) - Indian fast bowler Irfan Pathan produced another match-winning performance as the visitors beat Sri Lanka by 39 runs in the one-off Twenty20 international at Pallakele on Tuesday.

Pathan, whose five for 61 helped India win the fifth oneday international on Saturday, took three for 27 runs to break the back of the Sri Lankan batting.

Sri Lanka never recovered from that early setback and were dismissed for a disappointing 116 runs in 18 overs in reply to India’s moderate total of 155 for three.

Pathan gave India the ideal start by shattering the stumps of Tillakaratne Dilshan for a duck and then went onto dismiss Upul Tharanga for five and Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene for 26.

Although Sri Lanka fought back through contributions from Lahiru Thirimanne (20) and Angelo Mathews (31), India kept

picking up wickets at regular intervals to peg their rivals down.

Fast bowler Ashok Dinda brought a swift end to the Sri Lankan innings by capturing three wickets in his third over to end with four for 19.

India’s batting was dominated again by the inform Virat Kohli who scored his maiden Twenty20 halfcentury.

Kohli’s exquisite batting brought him 68 runs off 48 balls including 11 fours and one six.

He shared a partnership of 74 with Ajinkya Rahane (21) and one of 48 with Suresh Raina who finished on 34 not out.

Shamind Eranga was Sri Lanka’s best bowler with two for 30. India also won the fivematch one-day series 4-1 to complete their short tour on a high note.

Scores: India 155 for 3 (Kohli 68, Raina 34*, Eranga 2-30) beat Sri Lanka 116 (Mathews 31, Dinda 419, Irfan 3-27) by 39 runs.

Agenda for rest of year set by BCB Special Events Committee The rainy weather has resulted in setbacks for the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) 2012 season as the Board has been unable to play any cricket on the field.

This has been most disappointing for all the BCB plans; having projected to host close to 25 tournaments at both the Countywide and Inter Zone levels. The Special Events Committee of the Board has however used the opportunity to complete a

record breaking 132 off the field activities/programmes.

The Committee at the start of 2012 had set itself a target of 75 activities/ programmes but has already surpassed that target and is now aiming to complete 175 in the year.

Chairman of the Special events Committee Hilbert Foster has disclosed that among the activities/ programmes planned for the remainder of 2012 are the

Annual Review Magazine, Tribute to Heroes, Tribute to Umpires, tribute to Retired Cricketers, Tribute to Coaches, Tribute to Groundsmen, Senior Cricketers Charity Programme, Grade 6 Students Awards Scheme, Outstanding CSEC Students Awards Scheme, Induction of six players into the BCB Hall of Fame, batting clinic, fast bowling clinic and a special clinic for female cricketers.

Barbados TT Club for exchange visit The Guyana Table Tennis Association will host a club from a Barbados Table Tennis (TT) Club, comprising cadet players at the beginners and intermediate levels. The players will be here from August 8-17 to engage in a developmental exchange programme.

The team comprising over 11 players and parents under the tutelage of G. Sobers will be arriving in Guyana today. This is the second exchange programme between regional table tennis counterparts that the GTTA has hosted.

Last year, the GTTA hosted a similar programme with players from Tobago where the players underwent a range of skills.

The Barbadians are expected to engage players from Guyana in competition in their respective categories. Linden Johnson, Sydney Christophe and Godfrey Munroe were among the coaches involved last year. Similar programmes are planned for this group utilising players from the respective summer programmes of the GTTA coaches.

Wednesday August 08, 2012

Media needs to act fearlessly to rid Sport of shameless officials

By Rawle Welch Shortly after watching the conclusion of the Women’s Olympic 100 metres final where Jamaican and defending champion Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce successfully retained her crown, a fellow employee, who was in the midst of a group of us viewing the race blurted out that Guyana’s best chance of winning a gold medal in the foreseeable future could only come from among the consistent assembly of officials that usually attend the Games.

This humorous claim must have been induced after watching the pathetic performances recorded by Guyana’s representatives, who should not be blamed for the dismal showing, but rather the Government and the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA), the two institutions that failed to provide the kind of support needed for them to perform satisfactorily at the elite level.

The top representatives of these two important institutions have so far displayed an inability to understand the kind of substantial support that is required for an athlete to win a medal at the elite competitions in sport or even recognize the important role sport can play in giving a country global recognition.

The host country of the 2012 Summer Olympics (Britain) since it won the bid to stage the Games immediately set about preparing its athletes to perform at their optimum for the big occasion and this was done through the infusion of millions of pounds to cover every aspect of their preparations through the provision of top flight coaches, ensuring that they competed regularly at most of the elite competitions as well as providing all the o t h e r r e l a ted support personnel to guarantee success and as we all know they have done so.

The Host Nation, though it was predicted that they will do well at home, have exceeded all expectations and this is simply because of the thorough preparations that their athletes were afforded which has evidently been manifested in the exceptional results to date.

Having athletes such as Winston George attend a training camp in Jamaica will not suffice unless he is consistently exposed to a higher level of competition

and not remain restricted to low tier Meets at home.

Imagine, South African O s c ar ‘blade runner’ Pistorius registered a faster time than George, while apart from the experienced middle distance a t h l e t e A l i a n n Pompey, who made it to the semi-finals of the 400 metres, sprinter Jeremy Bascom, swimmers Niall Roberts and Britany Van Lange and judoka Raul Lall, all looked out of sorts in their respective competitions.

All Guyanese should be disgusted and utterly dismayed that we haven’t been able to win another Olympic medal since boxer Michael Parris won a bronze at the 1980 Moscow Games, making it 32 years to date since we haven’t won another, while many of our small Caribbean counterparts have done so with home bred athletes.

W h e n G r e n a d a ’s 1 9 year-old sensation Kirani James won his country’s first ever Olympic medal on Sunday, a gold, the 214 square miles island situated in the Caribbean Sea must have erupted with wild celebration, understandably so since its native son had predominantly honed his skill at home, except for a couple of years at the University of Alabama in the USA. His prodigious talent was evident from an early age and it was augmented with support from the Government and the Athletic Association of the country, but in Guyana even when talent is spotted, the much needed support mechanisms are usually missing.

It is patently clear that the current crop of Sport Officials are either devoid of initiatives or even lack motivation to fast track the development of sports.

Many within the sports fraternity have even advocated that some officials are just intent on holding on to the reins of office for personal gains.

The society in which we live has condoned such practices where someone could hold office for 15 to 20 years with little or no positive results, but still shamelessly cling to power at the expense of many athletes whose careers are destroyed due to their selfish acts.

It is disgracefully mind boggling that officials could cleave to power for many years without one example of success, deceiving an entire nation in the process through the blame game.

The Government of Guyana and the GOA have failed our athletes’ aspirations to become worthy Olympians by their lack of a strategic plan to develop sports in an organized manner, while the nonappearance of the ‘National Sports Policy’ after several promises of its release is ample evidence of the lack of seriousness on the Government’s part.

The next Olympics will be held in neighbouring Brazil and just as this nation is experiencing a new dispensation in Parliament, strong actions should be taken to ensure that over the next four years as we prepare our athletes to participate at the Games, we do so without the company of many of those officials whose record of achievement is abysmal.

It is time for serious stakeholders to demand change and bring pressure on those who believe it is their right to continue to embarrass this nation.

It will require a fearless act from the media, while the corporate community and the athletes have to play their part.

It is time we start thinking about how proud we would feel as a nation if one of our Olympians duplicate the performance of Usain Bolt, Fraser-Pryce and James and be interviewed by the top broadcasting networks of this world.

What a day that will be to be Guyanese.

Senior GCF official allegedly...

From back page Tobago recently.

Upon the receipt of this information, the GCF official enquired from Trinidad and Tobago why a request was not made for her son among the two riders. The source said Trinidadian officials told the GCF official that her son could compete on his own funding.

That feedback did not sit well with the official, who allegedly purposely ducked the participation of Greaves and Persaud. The source mentioned this issue among allegations of financial mischief and as noted before, the absence of the AGM, which is now set for Saturday.

(Edison Jefford)