Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

Friday August 31, 2012

Friday August 31, 2012

Kaieteur News

No beef…

Work at City Abattoir at standstill amidst bulls’ shortage

Some of the cattle that cannot be slaughtered The country is likely to be faced with further scarcity of beef on the market with workers at the City’s Abattoir complaining of a shortage of bulls.

The fact that the laws do not allow the slaughter of cows is not helping the situation at all.

It is stated in the act titled, “Slaughter of Cattle (Control)” that “no person shall, without the permission in writing of a veterinary officer slaughter or cause to be slaughtered any cattle with less than one permanent incisor tooth; or any cattle of female sex.”

Reports are that one veterinary officer told the workers at the abattoir that instructions came from the Minister of Agriculture that no cow should be killed.

“Duh is all he tell we… nothing more, nothing less,” said one slaughterer.

Workers at the Abattoir said that the shortage has been going on for some time now. Cattle farmers at the facility admitted that there is a shortage of bulls in the country. This newspaper understands that while the Abattoir has approximately over 130 heads of cattle, only about five are bulls.

However, when contacted yesterday, the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy was firm in his position not to slaughter any cows.

He said that he is not aware that there is a shortage of bulls.

“I have a responsibility to ensure long term supply of meat is guaranteed”.

The situation has to be

examined and assessed carefully, he said.

“If we kill all the females in Guyana what will happen to our population? Well it is the same situation for cattle.”

Ramsammy stated that unless it can be proven that the cows cannot reproduce, “or there is a definite shortage of bulls, we have to enforce the law.”

The officials also noted that he has an obligation to the public to ensure that “safety of consumers is met.”

Workers at the abattoir, explained that there was no work for the week until yesterday. “.. .and after today (yesterday) we don’t know when again,” one worker said. Despite the ban on the slaughter of cows, farmers are still taking them to the abattoir.

“It makes no sense, and we don’t have enough grass here to feed these animals… they will die,” explained an employee.

He further stated that all the animals taken to the slaughter house are usually from the savannah and “they are wild, is nuff session we got here pon a day.”

Cattle farmers also claiming that they are suffering great losses as the certification process is exhausting.

Cattle farmer, Kamar Abjal, said that the system is frustrating him where animals are to be brought to the abattoir for certification and if not certified for slaughter, they have to be taken back to Wakenaam where he resides.

According to the man, upon realizing that most times

after inspection the cattle die, he asked Minister within the Ministry of Agriculture to put a system in place where the animals can be certified in Wakenaam and just come to be slaughtered in town.

“It work for two mornings, and we back to square one. Once dem veterinarian put dem hand up the cow it make it likely for dem to die on the way back so we lose a set money.”

Another farmer said that yesterday he had to take back 20 cows as a result of “the situation.”

The situation seems to be having a domino effect as butchers yesterday complained of a vast shortage and rise in cost for beef. One butcher at the La Penitence market showed that she had no beef available yesterday for sale.

However, Ramsammy stated yesterday that “I can assure you that the stand we are taking is not to make life hard for anyone, it is the law in any country.”

Earlier this year, government allocated several millions for the importation of breeding bulls from the US. Several have already been shipped in.

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Boyfriend remanded for Sophia woman’s murder The boyfriend of strangled 23-year-old ‘E’ Field Sophia resident, Shoala Gilgeous, was yesterday remanded to jail after being charged with her murder.

Paul Anthony Luhing, who reportedly had a one year-old relationship with Gilgeous, appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court before Magistrate Hazel Octive- Hamilton.

He was told that on August 26, at ‘E’ Field Sophia, he murdered Gilgeous. He was not required to plead to the offence.

Luhing stood silently as his lawyer, Trenton Lake, made a special request for an early date for the preliminary inquiry into the matter. Lake also inquired whether the police had concluded their investigations and was in possession of a case file. He was informed that the police had not.

Court Prosecutor, Terry

Bostwick, requested that Luhing be remanded to state custody, since the offence of murder does not permit bail.

He will have to return to court on October 5.

According to reports, the body of the 23-year-old woman was found in her apartment after the family went to check on her. It is alleged that the accused called one of the dead woman’s sisters and asked that she go check on the woman.

A police press release had stated that Gilgeous was frothing from the mouth when she was found. A post mortem examination later revealed that the 23-year-old victim was manually strangled to death.

Further reports stated that Gilgeous and the suspect, known only as ‘Paul’, had a turbulent one-year relationship. A female neighbour had said that on

Murder accused: Paul Anthony Luhing the day in question she heard the deceased and the accused arguing.

She said she had gone out and heard nothing further upon her return and that she presumed that the argument had ended.

E’bo fishermen suffer losses over unavailability of ice Essequibo fishermen are complaining of problems to access ice for their catch despite a fisheries complex that had been built at Lima.

The issue was one of many raised yesterday at Lima when over 20 fishermen met with Chief Fisheries Officer, Denzel Roberts at Lima, Essequibo coast.

The complex was reportedly leased to a private businessman with the understanding that he would make ice available to fishermen. According to Haresh Singh, a seasoned fisherman, for the past decade, it has been a fight.

He said that the problem is a serious one that involves over 80 fishing boat operators who would require up to 16,000 pounds of ice in a month.

The fisherman explained that the only option available to fishermen between Better

Essequibo fisherman, Haresh Singh Success and Lima is another complex at Zorg, on the Essequibo.

Singh stressed that

fishermen are forced to transport the ice over distances, causing tremendous losses. “By the time we reach home, pounds of ice have already melted.”

Debonairness Singh, another fisherman, said each day he has to purchase ice at a cost of six dollars per a pound. Yesterday he lost, over 50 pounds of fish.

“These people only promise fishermen…its promises and more promises.”

Roberts, who was on hand to listen to the fishermen’s complaints, told them that the complex has been leased to a businessman but efforts to address the issue would be looked into.

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Kaieteur News

Friday August 31, 2012

Letters... Where your views make the 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

Sharing the Pie: Sustainably As the major economies of the west continue to grind along on their bearings, not surprisingly investors and speculators agonise about the stability of their countries.

Also not surprisingly, the latter have taken refuge in gold – the tradition haven in times of uncertainty. There is even talk in the present US presidential campaign of that country reverting to the gold standard which President Nixon effectively scuttled in 1970 when he sundered its linkage with the US greenback.

So gold has continued its inexorable upwards climb; increasing in value by more than five and a half times over the past decade. In Guyana this surge in the price of gold has witnessed a commensurate gold rush in our interior.

Brazilian garimpeiros, North American mining corporations, local porknockers and the old-line gold miners – and their attendant retinues, legal and illegal - all descended into the gold fields to find their fortunes.

Simultaneously, we saw FDI’s plucking up the old bauxite mines with new areas also identified for exploitation.

Manganese in the North West District and uranium in the Pakaraimas also received attention. A flurry of oil rigs are drilling industriously off shore and inland for the petroleum that geographical surveys assure us exist in gargantuan quantities. It was inevitable that this increased exploitation of our mineral resources would generate some tensions, some of which have hit the press in recent months.

Earlier this month, the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) took out full-page ads in the newspapers and lodged a formal complaint to the UNDP against the project underway that seeks to demarcate Amerindian lands. The UNDP is facilitating the flow of the Norway pact moneys identified by the Government of Guyana for this exercise. The GGDMA claimed that the demarcation would include an extension of the 14% of Guyana already titled to Amerindians, who are merely 10% of the Guyanese population, up to 35%. The GGDMA’s concern stemmed from their conclusion that mining opportunities would be diminished if the extensions were to be entrenched.

There have also been complaints by the mining bodies and mining interests about the bidding process for the allocation of mining rights in gold. While there has not been at this time conflicts in other mining areas, save for some leaders in Linden complaining about the practices of Bosai, it would be prudent to anticipate such eruptions as activities move from the exploratory to the exploitation stage. But, in addition to the competition between economic interests the result of all this heightened activity has also precipitated concerns about the environmental impact on the biosphere.

With the closure of the Omai operations, which used cyanide in their gold extraction, the environmental concerns have shifted to the widespread use of mercury which then adsorbs and absorbs (“sorbtion”) into the soils and water.

There has also been the huge increase in sediment content of river waters. The last few years have seen commensurate dramatic developments in the policies related to the management of industrial and mining development as well as the environment in Guyana. These have been set out within the overarching Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).

In many ways we are still to experience the full impact of these changes in the policies in that they have not been under implementation for long enough for us to judge their synergies and impacts on the environment and especially the socio-economic status of the poorer sections of our society.

Nevertheless, some of what we have seen may not augur well for the future of either the nation’s environmental health and ecological security or for the livelihoods and well being of Amerindians. 2012 promises to be an interesting year as the various players jostle for access and control over natural resources (especially land, minerals and water) as the implementation of the new policies commence, especially the demarcation of Amerindian lands.

While the administration has created a new Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment to deal with the above-mentioned conflicts, maybe we need to amend our LCDS road map.

We need statesmanship and sincerity on all sides DEAR EDITOR, “The dismemberment of the Local Government system including the murder of the Capital City Georgetown - by the State is now crystal clear.”

Thanks to the micro management of the City by Government Ministers, financial strangulation, and the venality of some senior officers, who the Mayor and Councillors are not allowed to discipline or appoint, the citizens of our Capital must endure poor services in almost every area of the Municipality.

By way of example, it has for some time been the pattern for the Local Government Minister to engage the top officers without the knowledge of the Mayor and Council – but when officers falter, and do foul things, the State propaganda blame the Mayor et al.

This is the height of dishonesty and deceit. It is the State which exercises control over the City Managers. Additionally, for years the Mayor and City Council was denied the opportunity to expand its revenue base.

Editorials and commentaries have dealt with this on many occasions – recall the PPP Government’s

refusal to allow Parking Meters; denial of Le Repentir dumpsite project to produce electricity (waste to energy); the Lotto deception; seizing of our Stabroek Market Car Park and ferry-landing facilities; refusal to expedite the revaluation of properties in the City (a legal requirement every five years) a loss of many millions annually; failure to establish a Municipal Court or to allow us to issue tickets to offenders.

The list is long. All proposals made over the years to help the Municipality were refused.

Along with other issues, it is now obvious that unless the PPP Government can exercise absolute control over an individual or an entity, their job is to frustrate.

It is simple, we see the innate PPP Stalin-like, communist philosophy of dictatorship at work - those communities and heads of local authorities that did not vote PPP must be axed, hence the slew of IMCs. At all times, the Mayor and Councillors have sought to secure the cooperation of Central Government, convinced that any rightthinking government will ensure that the Capital is given appropriate support to

secure its integrity and viability.

Sadly we see a shortsighted political agenda punish those who do not vote PPP or are not surrogates. This allows me to comment on the letter by the President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry – titled “Local Government Elections need to be held without undue delay” K.N August 29, 2012. Like every right-thinking Guyanese I agree totally.

The assumption is this – a vibrant, responsible Local Government system is a vital component of a true democracy. Some urge the need for shared governance.

Local Government offers an excellent opportunity for genuine sharing for the common good.

If Mr. Urling and the Chamber are serious, they must come out openly and inveigh against the present strangulations of Local Authorities, and lean on the Parliament to hasten provisions for genuine Local Government Reform. Not an appeasement package or simple fiscal transfers, but serious legislation or reform.

Many believe that the major hurdle for those who are unappreciative of the

message from the electorate in November 2011 is the word reform.

Reform is not to simply amend certain provisions while retaining massive imperial-type control – the cheapest dictionary will tell us reform means “To change, to make better by removing abuses, to truly improve.”

The Chamber ought to be the main advocate for real reform. Stand up like men and say to the Government that the changes must be to allow a Local Authority the chance to exhale. Such a system will benefit both Industry and Commerce, since it will provide stimulation at the level where business can avoid the stress and tedium of an overbearing bureaucracy.

The Chamber must not fail their members and future generations. Today is the day they must be ready to deal with the real and fundamental issues. Speaking for myself, with others we are prepared to engage the Chamber openly, fearlessly.

For instance do not accept this clever crap about corruption, or incompetence - perhaps some folks are merely taking lessons from the top.

At an engagement with (Continued on page 5)

A question no journalist would think of asking protesters elsewhere DEAR EDITOR, On Friday 24th August, about 7:30 p.m., I watched a Call-In Programme aired on RCA 8 called ‘Let’s Talk Essequibo’ and hosted by Mr. Romel Roopnarine. I would be surprised if that programme is being paid for by taxpayers’ money, because if you are going to have person or persons hosting programmes of such nature and those that are similar in style - where the host is clearly doing the bidding of a particular political party - then the airtime and all other expenses that are incurred must be borne by that party.

However, I met Mr. Roopnarine the following morning at Supenaam, and I reminded him of a request I made to have me as a guest on one of his programmes, because I believe that I know the arithmetic of Region Two, far more than he does, and have the experience of being a second-term Councillor representing the Alliance for Change at what is supposed to be the highest decision-making forum for the region, the Regional Democratic Council.

I can be of great assistance to him (Mr. Roopnarine) the host, and also the viewers and callers,

but from his utterances my request may not be granted.

He also indicated to me that the programme and also other expenses this are associated with same are borne by him.

Well at the time of writing I am not in a position to dispute that.

Mr. Roopnarine spent more than three quarters of his time talking about the Linden protest and the protesters, and the Opposition Parties whom he tried to demonize, but was misguided enough not to have said a word indicating to viewers that during that protest three protesters, namely Ron Somerset, Shemroy Bouyea and Allan Lewis, were shot and killed and more than twenty others wounded, while they were exercising their constitutional rights.

He was critical of the A.F.C. Leader Mr. Ramjattan, whom he felt should not have gone to Linden before, during or after the protest. Well the A.F.C. has a history of being in solidarity with any group of protesters in any region once we are convinced that the protest is legal, peaceful and that it is for a just cause.

I can remember that after the shooting to death and injuries to several persons, there were some incidents that

were totally uncalled for, including the burning of the school which, according to Mr. Sharma Solomon on Plain Talk (Sunday 28.08.2012) were done by rogue elements who were identified and handed over to the Police The A.F.C. Leader, along with senior party officials, visited Linden and condemned those actions of destruction to property using strong language - and denounced any illegal action.

This and similar actions by the combined opposition were never mentioned.

All Mr. Roopnarine was stressing was that the protesters were ill-advised by

certain persons, and that the protest should not have been. And then as if to rub salt into the wounds of the people of Linden, the question he has for them is, if they are better off now than before the protest began.

Well he could not have insulted them more than that.

I have followed the events as they unfold in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya and many other countries, mainly in Europe, and such a question, no reporter or journalist would think of asking protesters.

Archie Cordis A.F.C. Councillor Region 2

Advice for the Bureau of Statistics DEAR EDITOR, The nation will start its census-taking next month.

This involves field workers asking members of the public questions and filling out questionnaires.

I would like to know if the Bureau of Statistics (BoS) has made provisions for deaf and hard of hearing persons.

Asking them to read for themselves is out of the question, as the vast majority

of deaf persons are unable to read due to the shortcomings of deaf education in Guyana.

I would like to advise the BoS that it is not too late as there are Sign language interpreters available.

For more information the BoS can contact the National Commission on Disability and/or The Deaf Support group on 2262880.

M. Chester

Friday August 31, 2012

Kaieteur News

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

We need statesmanship and sincerity...

From page 4 business leaders, they stated, and I agree, that not much can be achieved without Money, good Manpower and Government support.

As recent as Tuesday July 14, 2012, at the instance of the Mayor and City Council, a gathering of citizens, the media, the business community, religious bodies, youth, political and other representatives, was held at De Impeccable Conference Room, Brickdam. Sadly, no State or PPP official turned up.

Nevertheless, ways to deal with the woes of the City were ventilated.

One leading member of the business community cautioned that in Guyana’s environment, the project was not likely to succeed without government’s full involvement.

With this in mind, the meeting agreed that we should write to the Head of State and the two Ministers of Local Government.

A letter signed by the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Chairman of the Personnel & Training Committee Mr. Oscar E. Clarke was dispatched on July 17, 2012, to His Excellency the President.

The final paragraphs are repeated here: “The gathering expressed a confidence that whatever fiscal adjustments may be necessary to Budget 2012, the Government can be assured of the full support of the Opposition in Parliament and citizens in general.”

It continued “Consequent to the above, this letter seeks your Excellency’s immediate intervention to host a meeting of the major stakeholders to chart a feasible course.”

It concluded with this

plea: “Please treat as urgent since we can ill afford to repeat the follow of Nero fiddling while Rome was burning.”

To date we’ve had neither an acknowledgement nor a reply.

Interestingly, we are now involved in a clean-up exercise headed by Mr. Keith Burrowes. We welcome the clean-up, indeed every citizen will be happy as I will be to see the mountains of garbage removed from around the City - they are ugly, unhealthy and could do nothing to help Tourism being promoted by the Government.

But is this the appropriate way to go? I have the highest regard for Mr. Burrowes as a Guyanese, it is my belief his heart is in the right place, however what we see is yet another subtle P.R. exercise.

The old adage is relevant “don’t give a man some fish, but teach him to fish, and he’ll feed himself always”.

Mr. Burrowes’s performance as Presidential Advisor, of course in the present troubling political environment, can prevent a new picture of his involvement.

In the circumstances, allow the Mayor and Councillors to obtain workshop facilities and retain staff. All of this calls for money and imaginative, progressive managers. You

ask a short-staffed underequipped Constabulary to monitor this whole City, and when they take people to Court, much time is wasted – we did ask for a Municipal Court or the ticket system.

Mobility and training, all cost money.

Allow the Mayor and Councillors to dispense justice and grant incentives.

Citizens’ education all requires money and legislation. An overall plan is vital; a plan prepared 13 years ago is gathering dust - the Government has failed to trigger action on a plan which the Cabinet accepted.

Welcome as this Burrowes-led clean-up is, and I am ensuring maximum cooperation, we are looking at a band aid being placed on a festering sore.

We need changes to allow the Mayor and Councillors of the City to do what we are quite capable of doing, given the necessary tools.

Threats – statements about being glad if there is a health crisis in the City are not helpful; we need statesmanship and sincerity on all sides.

As always I stand ready to be a partner to our development. Our ancestors suffered enough for us to demand real partnership for national unity and development.

Hamilton Green, J.P

Close election contest in the US

DEAR EDITOR, Much attention has been focused by Guyanese Americans and others on the two major political parties in America that are holding their national conventions to officially choose their Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates.

Several Guyanese have been chosen by the two parties to attend both conventions – Republican in Tampa and Democratic in Charlotte – showing Guyanese Americans are interested in the contest and are getting more involved in politics.

Most Guyanese are Democrats, although many have been disappointed in President Barack Obama’s policy on several issues. I, for example, am very disappointed on Obama’s educational policy, which is a continuation of Bush’s failed policy.

Guyanese, like other immigrant groups, are keenly following the Republican convention and plan to do same for the Democratic convention, so as to make a wise decision on how they vote. Opinions may change as a result of the conventions.

The parties hold conventions with the expectation of getting a bounce for their candidate in opinion polls for the November general elections. And Guyanese, like

others, may change their vote.

Sure enough, with all the media attention this week, the Republican Party is expected to get a bounce in support, only to be neutralized next week after the Democrats hold their convention. I expect opinion polls to shift by weekend.

So far, opinion polls (dozens of them) show a close contest between Mitt Romney (Republican) and Barack Obama (Democrat) for President. The race is a dead heat, although more analysts feel Obama will prevail and an assessment of all the polls shows Obama ahead.

However, a social and economic predictive model, conducted by two University of Colorado Professors, shows a victory for Romney. This model has never been wrong since it first began forecasting elections in 1980. In 2008, the Colorado Professors’ model showed a lopsided victory for Obama although analysts felt the election would be much closer.

Obama trounced John McCain 52% to 48% in popular votes, but had a landslide in electoral votes.

The Colorado Professors are predicting a similar outcome for Romney this time around.

I think the election will be much closer, as indeed is being shown by all opinion polls, save the Colorado

model. I don’t think an Obama victory can be ruled out, especially that the election is two months away. However, what is surprising is the number of people who have turned against Obama and the democrats.

In terms of electoral votes, polls have Obama way ahead although he has not sealed the deal as yet.

The Colorado Professors’ model shows a very different picture than what current polling data suggest – 320 to 218 electoral votes with Romney winning all close state contests.

But the Huffington Post analysis of several polls shows Obama with 257 electoral votes to Romney’s 191 with only six “tossup” states deciding the outcome: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia. According to the Huffington analysis, Obama needs to win only one of the six states, while Romney needs to win all of them to win the Presidency.

I think the election will remain close till the end and I believe Ohio and Florida will decide the outcome.

Vishnu Bisram

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Kaieteur News

Friday August 31, 2012

Police continues hunt for second Bosai’s 2012 bauxite production target badly affected by Linden protests suspect in Berbice joiner’s murder Police are continuing their hunt for a second person who may have been involved in the murder of a Yacoob Street, Corriverton joiner.

The body of Kumar ‘Brother’ Singh was discovered by his nephew, Radhakrishna Singh, a fisherman, in their home on August 21st.

Yesterday, a Corriverton labourer, Robert Rawlins called ‘Dagalulu’, 35, of No. 79 Village, made his second court appearance before Magistrate Khrisendat Persaud at the Springlands Magistrate’s Court.

Rawlins was picked up on August 22nd after police conducted a diligent investigation, leading to his arrest. At his first appearance

Murdered joiner: Kumar Singh at the Whim Magistrate’s Court he was kept under tight security because of his erratic behaviour.

Singh, 50, was found dead

in his home with blood oozing from his nose and scratches on his back.

His nephew, who was initially held by police, said that he returned home around 05:00hrs on August 21st, and found the fence to the yard and the door to his uncle’s apartment broken. Upon investigating, he stumbled on the body.

A relative disclosed that Singh who lives alone, was a heavy drinker and had recently received a sum of foreign currency. His wallet was missing.

A post mortem examination gave the cause of death as strangulation.

Rawlins will make another court appearance on September 21st.

Grove woman charged with stealing $4M from grandparents A woman is on $150,000 bail after she was accused of stealing $4M in local and foreign currencies from her grandparents’ home.

Shabana Juman called ‘Natasha’ of 26 North East Grove, East Bank Demerara, was said to be living with her elder relatives at the time of the incident.

She appeared before Magistrate Hazel OctiveHamilton.

According to the charges, between September 1, 2011 and February 1, 2012, she stole US$10,000 ($2M) and $2M in local currency belonging to Jairam Narine.

Attorney-at-law, Adrian Thompson, who represented Juman, argued that the sum for which his client was charged is inaccurate.

It was pointed out that the total sum on the charge sheet was not written making

it difficult to determine whether the police had made a mistake in writing up the report. The prosecution, too, was also unable to shed any light on the issue.

Thompson told the court that his client lived with her grandparents until February of this year.

He said that Juman moved out of her grandparent’s home and went to live with an aunt.

The lawyer claimed that it was following the move that the woman’s grandparents made the “malicious” allegations against her.

Thompson argued that at the time, his client was not the only one living with the seniors in their home; but that several other relatives were also staying there.

Thompson told that court that his client was arrested since Saturday and she was

Shabana Juman willing to report to any police station if necessary.

Prosecutor Terry Bostwick objected to bail for Juman on the grounds that the woman had reportedly admitted to stealing the $2M local currency, but not the US dollars.

Thompson refuted the police’s claim.

Juman was later granted bail. She will return to the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court on October 5th.

President Donald Ramotar during a visit to Bosai earlier this month.

It has been two weeks since Linden, a crucial bauxite mining town in Region 10, returned to some normality, after a month-long protest over a hike in electricity rates.

Major businesses, including the commercial banks, and the Bosai Minerals Guyana Inc. have since resumed full operations but it will take some time before the area returns to ‘business as usual’, a senior official of that bauxite company has said.

The company was badly affected with the shutdown of the town with workers staying away from their jobs.

Three persons were killed and several injured in police clashes before a deal between government and the town’s leaders managed to see some level of peace and the re-opening of blocked roads. The roads are the main access to the hinterland areas, home to many Amerindian communities and logging and mining operations.

Bosai Minerals, which employs over 600 workers, was forced to halt its operation since July 18, and

was unable to meet its targeted figure of 20,000 metric tonnes of bauxite ore (RASC) and Specific Chemical Grade Bauxite (SCGB) 15,000 metric tonnes.

The production target for the company for 2012 is 250,000 metric tonnes (RASC) and 150,000.metric tonnes (SCGB).

However, according to a senior official of that Chineseowned company, due to the fact that stripping and mining were affected, as a result of the halt in operations, reaching the projected target will be difficult.

Monthly, Bosai targets up to three RASC and two SCGB shipments per month, depending on demands.

The Bosai official admitted that the company has lost some of its clients who were forced to take from other suppliers right in China.

Bosai is currently working towards reassuring their lost customers that the company

is still their number one supplier, the official disclosed.

Apart from losing buyers, the company also reportedly faced huge demurrage fees for shipping vessels that could not have been loaded on time and compensation for those that had to be cancelled.

Bosai, the official assures, is on stream with its planned investments for expansion of over US$100M. The Chinese company, the main employer in Linden, had threatened to pullout during the strike, as residents directed their anger towards the entity which it blamed partially for triggering the decision to raise electricity rates.

Bosai produces the electricity for that Region 10 community.

President Donald Ramotar had visited the community earlier this month and was briefed by Bosai officials.

Friday August 31, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 7

Opposition calls for greater Warner insists: No negotiation oversight of stimulus package with gang leaders CASTRIES, St. Lucia CMC - The opposition United Workers Party (UWP) Wednesday expressed concerned at the absence of regulatory mechanisms for the government’s recently launched economic package aimed at stimulating the local sluggish economy.

“The absence of such mechanisms creates the potential for the programme to be manipulated and we consider the absence of such mechanisms as grossly irresponsible on the part of the government,” said Opposition Leader Stephenson King.

Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony said the construction stimulus programme would help address some of the worst financial conditions now being experienced here in recent years and praised the private sector for contributing towards the reality of the fiscal package.

“If we are going to cause the turnaround in the economy, then every single one of us has to make a sacrifice. We need each other and we need each other badly.

“While government is taking the lead to forego over EC$45 million (One EC dollar = US$0.37 cents) in revenue to execute this programme, I am heartened at the response and eagerness that has been demonstrated in particular by the banking sector, the Chamber of Commerce and the Bar Association.”

He said the measure first announced in the 2012/2013 national budget is the first of a series of measures that his administration would adopt to reduce unemployment and to stimulate the economy.

King said while the opposition welcomed the initiative, it is of the view that such massive concessions by

New trial date for Vybz Kartel KINGSTON, Jamaica – A new trail date has been set for popular dancehall entertainer, Vybz Kartel who appeared in a Corporate area court along with his co-accused on Wednesday.

His trial was once again delayed due to the absence of the presiding judge and the non-disclosure of statements to the defence.

Kartel and his co-accused are to return to court on November 12.

Kartel, whose real name is Adidja Palmer, is facing the charge of perverting the course of justice.

He is jointly charged with Andre Henry alias ‘Pim Pim’ and fellow entertainer Vanessa Saddler, more popularly known as Gaza Slim.

Henry and Saddler are out on bail, while Kartel remains in police custody on a murder charge.

It’s alleged that Kartel and his co-accused were a part of a plot to undermine a police investigation into the murder of Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams.

Kartel and four other men are before the Home Circuit Court on a charge of murder in relation to the death of Williams.

the government without any assurances were ill advised and risky.

“The UWP is of the view that the implementation of the stimulus package needs to be accompanied by appropriate mechanisms for monitoring to ensure that such a programme is not manipulated,” King said, recommending that a mechanism to control the quantities of materials being imported should be instituted based on importation patterns over the past 12 months.

King, a former finance minister, is also recommending that dealers should be barred from using materials imported during the 18 month period of the programme or existing stock assessed for discount sale in any current or new construction project that is not directly related to their dealership.

“Regulatory mechanisms should be developed and put in place as a matter of urgency to manage the implementation of the program. This is especially crucial given the fact that the state is foregoing the benefit of millions of dollars in revenue. Such mechanisms should have been put in place before the programme was actually launched,” he added.

He said the government must assure tax payers that the construction stimulus package “will not be used to compensate and reward failed and aspiring politicians who have direct interest in the construction sector and as building supply dealers.

Trinidad Guardian National Security Minister Jack Warner is insisting there will be no negotiation with gang leaders.

He gave that assurance during Wednesday’s news conference at his Abercromby Street office in Port -of-Spain.

Warner said he received a report on the recent controversial meeting at St Paul’s Street, Laventille last week where alleged gang leaders were said to be in attendance.

Warner said the report was submitted to him “a couple days ago” and among the demands of the alleged gang leaders were provision of “sustainable jobs, a better

understanding with the police and attention to be paid to their infrastructure.

Those are the kind of things they ask for and they said they were desirous of putting down their arms.”

Warner said the Government was not going to negotiate with gang leaders in order to get peace. “They could put down their arms but we’re not negotiating with them.

If you want peace put down your arms, go to the police and so on but we shall not negotiate, we will not do that and that is the end of the matter,” Warner said. “We won’t say we giving you a job so put down a firearm...we giving you two jobs so put

Jack Warner down two firearms, we won’t say that, “Warner added.

Warner said about 40 or 50 people attended the Laventille meeting. Asked if the attendees were gang leaders, Warner said he could not say as he was not present.

Government’s oil refinery under pressure to reveal pricing mechanism KINGSTON, Jamaica CMC - In the wake of concerns about the rising cost of petrol, the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (Petrojam) is again being pressured to make public pricing mechanism.

The latest appeal has come from the Micro, Small and Medium Sized Enterprise, (MSME) Alliance which says for many of its members, especially taxi drivers, the impact has been devastating and concerns are mounting in the face of persistent questions about the pricing mechanism used by Petrojam.

President of the Jamaica Solar Energy Association and member of the MSME Alliance, Roger Chang says the information should be made available to dispel doubts that the public is

being cheated.

Mr. Chang told the RJR Communications Group that he is now waiting on the outcome of a request for the pricing formula through the Access to Information Act. This latest appeal follows several from Opposition Spokesman on Energy, Gregory Mair who has been strident in his criticisms of the pricing mechanism, labeling it as deeply flawed.

However, despite calls for Petrojam to open up to public scrutiny it has steadfastly remained silent.

According to Chang, the MSME Alliance is also

questioning whether the concerns raised in two audit reports of Petrojam in 2008 and 2009 have been addressed. He says among other things the audits said Petrojam’s pricing mechanism is being administered with limited oversight.

The audit pointed out that with Petrojam being one of the market participants it was improper for it to administer the pricing system.

On Wednesday it was announced that motorists would have to pay more for petrol for a ninth straight week as Petrojam hiked prices to just below record levels.

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Kaieteur News

Friday August 31, 2012

CJIA US$150M expansion…

The almost forgotten ‘jungle’ school in Moleson Creek Legal fight looms over

School reopens in a few days, but the question on the lips of residents of Moleson Creek is, will the students be able to attend?

The Moleson Creek Primary School currently sits in the middle of a virtual jungle and access to the learning institution at this time is almost impassable/ impossible.

Moleson Creek is one of the nearest points between Guyana and neighbouring Suriname.

Apart from the jungle, access to the school is treacherous, due to the state of the road. The school is surrounded by big bushes; the compound is also overcome with tall grasses which practically cover the school.

Residents say that the school and compound presently pose a danger to students as the entire area is infested with snakes, wasps, bats and mosquitoes.

The students cannot use the road which is badly damaged and is now practically a swamp.

To get to school, the students will have to wade through waist-deep slush and compete with the big John Deere tractors that are the only means of transportation

in the area at this time.

The distance from the main Corentyne highway to the Orealla Primary school is a mere two miles, but to travel from the main road to the school will take virtually two hours.

The school is the last building in the area and about one mile away from the closest resident.

The residents are not too sure why the government decided to build the school so far away from the residential area.

According to a number of angry residents, when the children have to attend school, they are forced to trudge alone through the “jungle” and the mud.

What is ironic is that from where the centre of the population lives to the school, the road is even worse.

One resident commented: “While you can travel with these small tractors up to here, it is worse going further down. The only means of reaching by the school is by the big tractors.”

The ride to the school was a rock and roll affair. By the time it was over, the media team was all soiled, muddy and bruised. Some members even suffered upset

stomachs.

According to residents, when school closed for the August holidays, there were about 60 students registered.

There was one part time teacher.

Residents of the Moleson Creek community are not certain what will happen when school is officially opened for the commencement of classes for the new school year. The school does not have a permanent teacher and the person that was in charge last term is a retiree from Orealla.

There is also a house for the teacher but the place is lonely and is devoid of comforts.

During the visit, the residents of Moleson Creek called on Education Minister, Priya Manickchand to intervene.

Thieves have taken away four water tanks that were once installed at the school.

Now, whenever school closes management is forced to remove the tanks to a resident’s house.

They said that Regional E d u c a t i o n O ff i c e r, M s .

Shafiran Bhajan, does not help them and their many pleas have fallen on deaf ears as she usually brushes them off with a promise.

Miners charged in deaths of 34 killed by police JOHANNESBURG (AP) — About 270 miners were charged yesterday with the murders of 34 striking colleagues who were shot by South African police officers, authorities said, a development that could further infuriate South Africans already shocked and angered by the police action.

The decision to charge the miners comes under an arcane Roman-Dutch common purpose law used under the apartheid regime, and it suggests President Jacob Zuma’s government wants to shift blame for the killings from police to the striking miners.

Firebrand politician Julius Malema, who has seized on the shootings to score political points, told supporters of miners outside the courthouse that the charges were “madness.”

“The policemen who killed those people are not in custody, not even one of them. This is madness,” said Malema, who was expelled from the governing African National Congress in April. “The whole world saw the policemen kill those people.”

The Mail and Guardian newspaper quoted constitutional law expert Pierre de Vos as

saying the decision to charge the miners with the murders was “bizarre and shocking and represents a flagrant abuse of the criminal justice system in an effort to protect the police and/or politicians like Jacob Zuma and (Police Minister) Nathi Mthethwa.”

National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Frank Lesenyego told The Associated Press that “It’s the police who were shooting, but they were under attack by the protesters, who were armed, so today the 270 accused are charged with the murders” of those who were shot.

More than 150 of the arrested miners have filed complaints that they have been beaten up in police cells by officers, the Independent Police Complaints Directorate reported earlier this week.

Directorate spokesman Moses Dlamini said the complainants accused police of beating them with batons and fists and kicking and slapping them to force them to give the names of miners who hacked two police officers to death in a week of violence preceding the shootings.

removal of residents

Executive Members of Timehri North Community Development Council during a press conference yesterday at the Sidewalk Café.

Timehri North residents are contemplating legal and civil actions, such as protest, to fight for their land rights but first they are affording Government the opportunity to do the “right thing”.

This was revealed during a press conference hosted by Executive members of The Timehri North Community Development Council (TNCDC) and their lawyer, Nigel Hughes, yesterday at the Sidewalk Café, Georgetown.

Though Timehri North occupants do not possess any legal documentation binding them to the land, Hughes said the occupants are not squatters because of the expectation given to citizens when Government approached them to regularize the community.

According to TNCDC Chairman, Daniel Fraser: “In 1997, or thereabouts, the honourable Philomena Sahoye-Shury… in an ongoing discussion with settlers of different parts of Timehri and Hyde Park, embarked on a regularization process.” “…An occupation survey was conducted; we were instructed to pool our resources to facilitate the upgrade of utilities and other essential services. We were also instructed to apply to that Ministry (Housing) for the house lots we occupied and have $75,000 at hand for when the officers initiated the final processing. This was also done,” he added.

He noted that currently persons do not possess land titles but in the past, persons had leases for their plots.

As such, he has

challenged Enrique Monize, Manager of the Land Administration Division, to prove that lands were never leased to occupants of Timehri North.

“We know that years ago before it was a commission, it was a department and we know there were several persons who were given leases to one plot of land in this country,” Fraser said.

Having no details of Government’s relocation plan for the community, which was mentioned for the first time to the public during the National Communication Networks (NCN) Corruption Debates aired last Sunday, the residents are determined not to relocate.

According to Hughes, “before accepting relocation, residents need to know what the relocation plan is…nobody knows the details… the offer. So long before the community can respond favourably or unfavourably to any resettlement plan, they first have to know about it.”

The future of the expansion of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport runway seems uncertain as Hughes hinted that current works being executed in that area may stall.

“Government is going through the motion as if they think they are going ahead with the project what is going to have to happen on several fronts. On the legal front we will see if the judiciary is really in the position to protect the rights of poor, innocent powerless people. On the basis of civil actions, there clearly will be protests. The protests will not be limited to

the people of Timehri North,” he warned.

Hughes is also the Chairman of the Alliance For Change, an opposition party which has seven seats in the National Assembly.

According to the group’s Public Relations Officer, Sherlander Daniels, residents of Timehri North have not forgotten the horrifying ordeal they experienced when they were “bulldozed” from their homes in Timehri Public Road/Base Road and driven into a garbage-infested area.

The many developments in the area could attest to numerous years residents have been residing in Timehri North, she said.

Similarly, years ago when the Ogle Airport was being developed residents were relocated and years later Pradoville, a residential community with posh houses, was created.

According to Fraser, residents are being advised that their relocation is for their own safety.

However, Housing Minister, Irfaan Ali, had mentioned that persons have expressed interests in building airport hotels.

Lingering on the irony in the Government’s proposal, Fraser pointed out that the Timehri Prison is also within the vicinity of the airport.

He also rejected talks that residents were consulted on numerous occasions about their relocation.

Fraser said that a letter to Transport Minister, Robeson Benn seeking an audience with him went unanswered while a letter to the Chief Executive Officer of the airport was resent with a stamp of receipt weeks after.

Government last year announced a major project to rebuild the entire CJIA with a US$138M loan from the Chinese. It will include a larger terminal building, longer runways, more concessions and the removal of almost 1,800 residents immediately north of the area.

Some of them, which include staffers from CJIA, have been living there for more than 30 years.

Friday August 31, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 9

Press freedom carries no licence to be disrespectful No journalist has a right to tell the host of a press conference that he, the journalist, is not going to listen to what is being said at the press conference if the host will not take questions.

To go to a press conference with such an attitude is presumptuous.

The journalist is there to cover what is being said. The journalist is not there on condition that he or she would only listen to what is said providing that questions are allowed. That is not and has never been a precondition for covering an event.

When a journalist leaves to cover a briefing or a press conference he or she does so under the assumption that something is likely to be said that will be of public interest.

The journalist is there to capture that which is of public interest so that it can be communicated to the public.

At most press briefings and press conferences, questions are usually entertained. This is done for the purpose to allow for clarifications or to provide additional information.

However, some journalists legitimately use the question period to elicit answers and comments from the host on matters unrelated to the subject of the press conference.

In this regard, it is for the host to decide whether he or she will answer what is put to him or her. Reporters must

never get carried away with the belief that they are the central figures at events they are covering. They must understand their role and more importantly they must know their place.

Some reporters do not seem to understand either.

Some of them do not seem to understand that they are reporters and not politicians.

Their job is not to get into a debate with the host of the press conference but only to report on what was said and to seek answers and questions on matters of public interest.

However, the way some reporters behave would make you wonder whether they are in the right profession.

Sometimes, you want to ask whether they should not be in parliament rather than in the pressroom.

The job of the reporter is not to debate the hosts. The job of a reporter is not to argue issues. That task should be left to the politicians.

During the Watergate scandal, there were memorable exchanges between the then CBS White House Correspondent, Dan Rather and President Nixon.

Dan Rather had as the White House correspondent for CBS developed a reputation for asking tough questions. At one press conference he asked the president what went through his mind when he heard people say that perhaps he,

the president, should resign.

President Nixon did not lose his cool or self- control.

He simply said, “Well, I am glad we don’t have to take the vote in this room…”

Having developed a reputation for his tough questions, Rather rose at another press conference to ask a question. With the reputation as a tough questioner behind him, he was greeted by loud jeers as he identified himself and the news corporation that he represented.

Before Rather could go further, President Nixon asked, “Are you running for something?”

Rather ’s now famous reply was, “No, Mr. President, are you?”

Rather never, however, showed disrespect to the President. And this is something that reporters despite how they are treated have to understand.

They have to respect the offices of public officials.

They may disagree or find what is being said evasive or contemptuous, but they should not respond by being disrespectful.

A few years ago there was an incident involving Julius Malema, then the head of the youth arm of the African National Congress of South Africa. Malema had a BBC journalist escorted out of his press conference after hurling insults at the reporter.

Malema came under heavy criticism over his

Health sector expands training to arrest impact of TB In an attempt to address the surging impact of tuberculosis (TB), the Ministry of Health has been seeking to expand its TB centres across Guyana.

This is according to Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud. He revealed that most of the country’s middle level district hospitals and regional hospitals are all furnished with TB clinics which are easily accessible to the public.

“We have done a lot of work with training health professionals...in fact we have training which is integrated into all our professional programmes including medicine.”

Medical students, he said, currently must subject themselves to lessons on TB and undergo rotations at the country’s TB centres.

Nursing as well as Community Health Workers, Medexes, Dental and Pharmacy programmes all have a component which now addresses TB, Dr. Persaud underscored.

This move however does not in any way diminish the Directly Observed Treatment Short-Course (DOTS) programme where persons are specially trained to ensure that TB patients adhere to their medication regimen.

“Part of their task is to go to the (patients’) homes where they actually talk with patients, their family members and friends so lots of the education work is done through this avenue.”

Additionally, Dr. Persaud said that the National TB programme through support from the Global Fund has also been developing peer education programmes where teens are identified and other vulnerable groups through their advocacies and communication strategies.

The Guyana Chest Clinic has already embraced such a programme and according to Dr. Persaud “our focus for the Chest Society is on two main groups – Sports and Faithbased organisations – so we are kind of working on those.

We hope to expose them to

basic principles on TB and get their own take on TB.” Dr. Persaud, during a recent interview with this publication, revealed that there are currently a large number of persons infected with tuberculosis (TB) with some 800 cases being identified annually. This state of affairs he has described as “a little frightening” even as he alluded to TB being perhaps the only opportunistic disease contracted by persons infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Syndrome without any sexual contact.

As such the measures have been implemented to address the impact of the disease, Dr. Persaud said.

In this regard the National TB Programme through the Guyana Chest Society commenced an initiative intended to improve knowledge, attitudes and to modify behaviours relating to risk and control of the disease among members of the public.

A forum was held at Project (Continued on page 11)

expulsion and abuse of the journalist who he called a “bastard” and an “agent”.

But if you listen to what actually was said it was clear that the journalist had provoked the outburst from Malema by interrupting him with a rude comment while Malema was speaking.

Using strong language, Malema reminded the journalist that he needed to show respect because he was not in the newsroom, but in a revolutionary house.

Malema may have been harsh and deserving of rebuke for the stern stance he took, but the journalist surely ought not to have been trying to engage in a debate with the host of the press conference or to interrupt him when he was speaking.

It is unacceptable for any minister to tell a reporter to

“Shut Up!”. But reporters also cannot be allowed to be disrespectful and try to dictate the pattern of a press conference. They are not there for that.

At press conferences, reporters are usually allowed a lead question and then a follow-up. But some of our reporters seem to want to use this facility to debate officials at press conferences.

If journalists want to be respected, they must show respect. If they cannot be respectful, then the host has every right to ask them to leave or to demand an apology.

In February of this year, a reporter from The Australian was forced to apologize to the Prime Minister of Australia for asking her a rude question.

While journalists play an important role in our country,

they must not allow themselves to become the subject of the news. By sticking to their role as journalists, by being forceful but respectful, they can avoid being publicly embarrassed or rebuked.

Freedom of the press does not carry with it the licence to be disrespectful. And when public officials justifiably find that journalists are disrespectful, they have every right to ask them to behave properly and if needs be to leave the press conference. But they certainly should not tell them to “shut up!”

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Kaieteur News

Friday August 31, 2012

THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN

The Kafkaesque land: Power and small things The greatest fear this nation has about its future is the almost complete shutting out of reality by its rulers who are completely enmeshed in the old culture of their party, an organization born more than sixty years ago. Try as hard as he wanted to, then President Forbes Burnham knew that he could not have taken Guyana into a settled future if he didn’t settle with his political opponent - the PPP. The PPP was a strong, well-oiled machinery that could not be defeated both militarily and politically. Even after the death of Walter Rodney, Burnham had to contend with a relentless PPP. At the end of 1984, Mr. Burnham decided to succumb

to fate. He shaped a covenant with the PPP that had at its centre-piece… powersharing.

When Desmond Hoyte succeeded Mr. Burnham, he conceded to the relentlessness of the Guyana reality. He could not have continued on a path of authoritarian power. Mr. Hoyte knew that even if he didn’t want to conciliate with the PPP, he had to do so with the Guyanese population.

The most graphic example of Hoyte’s acceptance of the Guyana reality in the late eighties was his permit for the birth of a newspaper owned by people that he, Hoyte, knew were not supporters of his Government.

Both Burnham and Hoyte accepted that under their rule Guyana was changing and they had to change with it. In the case of President Janet Jagan, though, facing a different situation, she too acknowledged that time was not on her side and that she had to either obliterate the opposition or offer compromises.

In the end, facing inexorable pressure from an angry PNC opposition that

was undermining her health, she resigned.

The tragedy that will befall the Ramotar administration is that he and the PPP refuse to see that they are facing identical situations that confronted Presidents Burnham, Hoyte and Mrs. Jagan. The country under Mr. Ramotar has changed since the PPP won the plurality of votes at the last general elections.

There are two well grounded opposition parties - the Indian vote is no longer guaranteed, and Linden has taught the country the lesson that oppression cannot last forever. They are bound to be unpleasant consequences from nasty policies, no matter how long they take to germinate.

Perhaps the most frightening thing about the new PPP Government is its complete refusal to concede any small territory to a changing Guyana. Even the most infinitesimal decimals are jealously guarded. There are no small parts and big pieces. For the post-2011 Government, everything big and small must be possessed. It begs the

question how long will the anachronism of jaded, faded power last.

With each passing day, there is the collapse of the small things into the big things. It made no sense in the new configuration to request the Government of Italy to cancel the honorary consulate of attorney Nigel Hughes.

It happened because he is an opposition figure, and that is a problem for the PPP. Why contact the workplace of Dr. David Hinds and scandalize his name?

How stupid! It made no sense to go breaking up the tents of a group of mostly women on a nightly vigil outside Parliament on High Street. These women are not affiliated to any political party Against this background, one has to anticipate the stubborn rejection of motions, notices and Bills of APNU and the AFC in an opposition-controlled Parliament.

But where will this leave such an opposition? At some point, the parliamentary opposition will have to take a hard look at its balance sheet.

If we reach two years of

opposition activism in Parliament and the ruling party does not concede territory then in a changing Guyana, there may be too many cul-de-sacs for the opposition to accept and tolerate What is the way out?

President Ramotar has to learn the lessons that three past Presidents had to live with.

It was Henry Kissinger, in an international context during the Vietnam War who remarked; “Power has never been so great yet never so useless”.

Mr. Ramotar acquired a vast power machine constitutionally engineered by a president who died since 1985. This power is extensive and coterminous with society. But Ramotar is facing

Frederick Kissoon the dilemma of Henry Kissinger Mr. Ramotar is facing two pathways. The Kafkaesque garden where dark forces trample on a hapless land and angst replaces optimism.

Or the entry into a modern world where reality teaches that old habits, old eras are long gone and Guyana has changed from the time when PNC and PPP fought each other.

Dem boys seh...

Wake up Uncle Donald Dem seh that all that glitters is not gold. Some man does see woman pun de road wid nice, nice face and fancy clothes. But when yuh peep under dem dress, things does be dirty.

When people see Barbie Jagdeo and Bharat Ramroop along wid Brazzy dress up wid dem fancy suits, people does think dem is gentlemen but de truth is something else.

Dem dirty, nasty and stink inside and underneath but dem does still present a good face. Is under Bharrat Ramroop watch that dem renovate de NIS building pun de Corentyne that dem seh cost $69M. When dem boys guh fuh check, Bharat Ramroop call he security and order he lock dem up.

Dem boys coulda build de same building fuh $10M. Is de same people build de sugar plant pun de East Coast fuh US$12.5M when dem boys coulda build it fuh less than US$4M. Is de same thing dem do again. When dem boys go to visit dem block dem from going in. Soon dem gun stop people from mekking children. Dem want control everything.

Everything look like state secret fuh dem and under Bharat Ramroop was state secret. De Amaila Falls road project was a state secret. De contract was a secret and de falls project is still a secret.

De airport expansion was a secret. De Marriott is a secret.

De GPL project is a secret and de tender board people is secret people. De arrangement between Bharat Ramroop and Barbie Jagdeo is a secret and Uncle Donald ain’t changing one SK...!

Guyana getting to be a Kremlin. That is wha dem boys seh. Jagdeo lef office secretly and he think he gun go back secretly. But dem boys had enough of he and he scampishness. If he think he going back, he lie. And Uncle Donald got to be a fool fuh just sit down and warm de seat without trying fuh mek any change.

De way how dem behaving is like if dem own de country.

Dem boys know dem thief half of Guyana already. Beri Beri got de nerve fuh tell a reporter fuh shut up. Dem boys want to know since when de state property belong to de Pee Pee Pee. Talk half and wake up Uncle Donald

Friday August 31, 2012

Kaieteur News

Mon Repos couple living in fear as second arson attempt fails

The bus with badly scorched front.

The alertness of neigh b o u r s saved a minibus from complete destruction by fire set by unknown persons in the village of Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara, early yesterday morning.

The bus, which is owned

by Daramattie Ramsahoye and her husband of 165 Mon Repos Pasture, was partially damaged as neighbours and the owners reacted quickly to put out the fire set and the f r o n t a n d b a c k o f t he vehicle.

Yesterday’s arson attempt was the second time this year that the young couple, who operate a grocery stall in the Mon Repos Market, a similar attack. Earlier this year, unknown persons set fire to a little grocery shop situated at the front of their yard and again it was the neighbours who alerted them, saving them what would have turned out to be significant losses.

Ramsahoye said that it was around 01:30 hours that she heard her dogs barking. She said that simultaneously, her telephone was activated.

“My husband get up to

answer the phone and was the opposite neighbour who said that the bridge was on fire. So we get up and open the door and when we come out, we saw fire on the bus,” Ramsahoye related.

The bus is normally parked on the road in front of her yard providing the arsonists with unhindered access to it.

After putting out the small blaze with the assistance of neighbours, they recovered what appeared to be a molten plastic bottle that they suspected contained gasoline used to set the fire.

This was handed over to the police who are carrying out their investigations.

The woman said that although they heard footsteps running away from the scene, no one was able to see or identify the perpetrators.

In February/March this year, an attempt to burn their shop failed thanks to the alert neighbours.

Ironically, according to Ramsahoye, that attempt was also carried out around the same time on a Thursday morning.

“That time too, a neighbour…they watched through their window and see smoke. They ask we what we lighting so early in de morning. When we come out we see the fire.”

She said that on that occasion gasoline was also used and the perpetrators were not identified.

“I don’t know…I don’t know is who, I don’t know what they want. I haven’t wronged anybody. We’re just a young family trying to make a living,” Ramsahoye said. She is now fearful for her life and that of her 21month old baby as well as that of her husband who she said is a real estate agent.

“We have no enemy. I don’t know what to do next because our lives are in danger because we have a car here and the next time they could throw it on the car or the house, so we’re afraid,” the woman said, adding that she is hopeful that the police could come up with something tangible in their investigations.

She is convinced that the perpetrators are from the Mon Repos area.

Health sector expands training...

(From page 9) Dawn, Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown, last week to target members of the sports fraternity and those drawn from Faith-Based Organisations. Similar sessions were held in Mabaruma, Region One and were slated for Bartica this week.

“The effort that we are making with the Guyana Chest Society is to really get the public involved because one of the gaps that we found is that because TB requires intensive and dedicated efforts to treatment, lots of

support is needed from the home, the family and the communities,” Dr. Persaud noted. He pointed out that unless the public is sensitised about the disease, the health sector would only be able to provide a partial solution to the problem.

With support from Global Fund, the CMO said that efforts are being made to first address stigma and discrimination directed to people with the disease and to help to build communities’ capacity in terms of knowledge of what they can do to help those infected.

Page 11

Man ‘cusses’ Magistrate, gets seven days in jail A 49-year-old man was jailed for seven days on Wednesday last for “cussing out” a Magistrate.

Richard Bennette, who had no fixed place of abode, was charged with using abusive language and escaping lawful custody when he faced Magistrate Hazel Octive- Hamilton at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.

The man pleaded guilty to, earlier in the day, verbally abusing the Court Six Magistrate, Haymant Ramdhani. He, however, proclaimed his innocence in the escape matter.

It is alleged that on Wednesday, Bennette escaped from police officers while in custody at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, Croal Street, waiting to be charged for cussing the Magistrate.

According to the facts of the matter, Bennette was earlier in the day charged for littering. The man was

arrested by City Constables and taken to Court Six, after he committed the act in the vicinity of the Stabroek Market.

The defendant had pleaded guilty to the littering charge, but after receiving the sentence handed down by Magistrate Ramdani, Bennette became annoyed and verbally expressed his dissatisfaction with the Magistrate’s ruling. The defendant told the Magistrate that he is “f...ing biased”.

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Ramdani ordered his Court Prosecutor to have the defendant charged for his disrespect. Bennette was later taken over to Court 10 where he was placed on a bench, waiting to be charged.

Bennette reportedly made a run for it when he saw the chance.

The man was nowhere to be found when officers were ready to charge him. Bennette was, however, captured in

close proximity of the Court, hours after police officers went looking for him.

The defendant had nothing to say when Magistrate Octive Hamilton asked. She ordered Bennette to pay $5,000 fine or face seven days in the lock ups.

For escaping from custody, he was placed on $25,000 bail.

Bennette will reappear in court on September 4th. In the meantime, he will remain a guest of the state since he paid neither the bail nor the fine.

Page 12

Kaieteur News

Friday August 31, 2012

Workers must resist GuySuCo’s privatization - GAWU President President of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU), Komal Chand, has charged union members to help rebuild the ailing sugar industry so that they can resist any acts to privatize it.

Chand delivered the charge at last Tuesday’s conclusion of GAWU’s 20th Delegates’ Congress, which was held over three days at the Bath Primary School, West Coast Berbice, under the theme “Promoting Workers Interests to Advance Economic and Social Development”.

Almost 500 delegates and observers of the Union’s membership from its 14 bargaining units attended the congress which was deemed extremely successful.

Chand, in his charge to the delegates, took cognizance of the massive resistance and fight back taking place in many countries against the capitalist system.

He spoke to the need for support and co-operation to rebuild the important sugar industry and in so doing it would be possible to resist strongly any act to privatize it.

He called for workers to continue to defend their gains and stressed the importance of their unity in these times.

He also stressed the need for union members to make full use of the union’s educational programme and for them to be more committed to the union as it pursues and grapples with

Komal Chand, GAWU’s President the various challenges.

The Congress was officially opened last Saturday at the Guyana International Conference Centre while the Business Session was convened at the Bath Primary School.

President Donald Ramotar, who delivered the feature address, spoke to the tangible support his Government has been providing to the sugar industry at this critical period.

He reminded the union members of the importance of the industry and its huge contribution to the economy.

He spoke to the efforts of the Government to retain the industry as state-owned. He also referred to those sugar industries in the Caribbean which chose the path of closure less than five years ago when the European Union (EU) reduced the price it was paying ACP sugar-

A section of the large gathering of delegates at the recently held GAWU conference. producing countries for sugar.

Chand in his address at the opening ceremony, noted that in the last three years leading up to the Union’s 20th Congress, GAWU was confronted with a fair share of challenges but was able to adequately and appropriately defend its membership and was able to score many victories and achievements.

He advised union members to remain united behind the Union noting that there are elements seeking to undermine their unity.

On the sugar industry, the union official, also reminded delegates, observers and special invitees of the industry’s importance to the nation.

He lamented the industry’s poor sugar production performance over the last few years and the financial predicament which

GuySuCo now finds itself in.

The cooperative effort of all, he insisted, could contribute to the industry’s return to sustainability in light of the favourable world sugar price.

The Union’s President reiterated the view that with sugar production reaching a level of 300,000 tonnes and then continuing to climb, the industry can once again become sustainable.

Congress also unanimously approved nine resolutions on Tax Reform, Local Government Elections, EU Accompanying Measures, Annual Production Incentive (API) and Weekly Production Incentive (WPI), the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), Education and Training, the Sugar Industry, Ex-Gratia Pension and Unity of the Working Class.

The

resolutions will now be sent to different agencies and bodies for their attention.

Delegates also elected a 53-member General Council, which is charged with managing the affairs of the Union until its next Congress.

Members of the General Council at their first meeting of the Council will elect the officials of the Union in keeping with the Union’s Constitution.

Health Ministry to take mosquito fogging exercise to West Demerara In an attempt to control the presence of vectors in some densely populated areas, the Ministry of Health has assumed the mandate of fogging in sections of Region Four.

In fact, according to Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, since the 2005 floods which left a number of East Coast Demerara communities inundated for several days, the Health Ministry has opted to start earnestly supporting vector control efforts in the Region.

With specific cycles of fogging, one of which recently started, Dr. Persaud said that the aim is to get the task done before the rainy season steps in. This has, however, become quite an unpredictable task, he noted.

“It is very difficult with the very bizarre weather patterns we see these days.

Usually we would not fog when it is raining because it makes very little sense to fog and then there is a big shower. Usually we would have to wait 24 hours for the place to dry off before we are able to resume.”

Precautionary measures are taken, he disclosed, to ensure that water supplies are not contaminated since several persons are known to collect rain water. “So we really don’t want to fog when

it is raining because it can wash off into people’s domestic water supplies...”

He assured that the chemical used by the Ministry to conduct the fogging exercise is really not potent enough to cause harm to residents. The chemical is formulated in an oil-base so that it remains on the surface of water. Nevertheless, the public is usually reminded of the precautions to be taken ahead of each fogging cycle, Dr. Persaud said.

“We advise residents of what measures to take such as protecting all foods, covering water supplies and so on during the actual fogging exercise...if you have pets you should also ensure that they are indoors,” he noted. Additionally, persons who may be sensitive to certain chemicals should seek to leave the location of fogging for a little while to prevent any possible adverse side effects. Any potential impact of the chemical used is reduced in a short while since according to Dr. Persaud “it doesn’t take long for the chemicals to dissipate from the environment.”

Recent fogging works by the Ministry commenced in the vicinity of Providence, East Bank Demerara, and are expected to culminate in the more heavily populated areas

of the East Coast of Demerara, Dr. Persaud said. Sections of Georgetown will also benefit from this exercise, he noted, adding that the Ministry usually collaborates with the Georgetown Municipality to undertake such works in the capital city.

“The City Council would usually get involved once we get to the perimeters and the wards of the city and they would usually provide some staff...We have all the equipment and provide most of the chemicals needed but it is an ongoing exercise that is really demanding at times.”

It is expected that fogging works in the designated areas will be completed by early next month. However, there are plans to extend the exercise to the Diamond, East Bank Demerara, area since, according to Dr. Persaud, the population volume there has reached peri-urban status.

Also, there are foreseen plans to include the West Demerara area which is known to have heavily-dense residential areas that are currently developing, Dr. Persaud said.

“We intend to work with the local sanitary authority such as the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils and the Regions to try and put some programmes in place,” he added.

Friday August 31, 2012

Kaieteur News

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Financial management training for NDCs…

NDCs’ overseers warned to shape up…or leave Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Ganga Persaud, is calling for more consistency and commonality with regards to how business is done at the level of the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) and Local Government departments.

The Minister was, on Wednesday, addressing NDC overseers and assistant overseers, from around the country, at a workshop focusing on financial management, at the Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC), Liliendaal.

“This is not the first intervention of this nature, however, this will be the last time that we will seek to ensure that the environment which exists with regards to records keeping and financial management are adhered to, and persons who fail to do so will have to exit the system,” the Minister warned the overseers.

He explained that in every sphere of human activity there rests some system of governance, some more orderly and structured than others.

“So when a system in itself fails, becomes nonresponsive, less than effective… the weaknesses are often not inherent in the laws and principles, they are more often inherent in us (humans)…. it is for that reason that we recognise that accountability and transparency at the level of local government must be righted, boosted and consistent across the country,” the official noted.

In this regard, Minister Persaud urged all overseers and assistant overseers to not find themselves in a

Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Ganga Persaud position where they are labelled or stigmatised as impediments to the systems which are adumbrated in the local government laws.

“We can all have and continue to have a happy life as local government officials if we ensure that the system, laws, rules, principles and regulations are adhered to and that the citizens who are our major stakeholders are aware of our operational principles,” Minister Persaud said.

He added that failing to so indicates that some people are playing their retirement or termination card whether consciously or unconsciously. The Minister pointed out that some NDC officers should be chastised because they believe that they have modified and adopted the system to operate in the manner they want it to.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, Collin Croal noted that the session was planned two months ago and is timely since the Ministry has employed

Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) Overseers and Assistants gathered at the Guyana International Conference Center (GICC) for a workshop focusing on financial management. over 20 new overseers and assistants.

Croal emphasised that human resource development is an important component in the functioning of the Ministry.

He stated that it is expected that with this training, all the NDCs by January 31, 2013 should be able to submit, to the Ministry, their financial statements for 2012.

The Ministry is required to present those statements to the Office of the Auditor General by April 30 for auditing.

“While requests have been made by the overseers for interventions, since they are new recruits, we at the

A mini health check is the first step to donating blood

Ministry are disappointed in the lack of and sometimes non-existent record,” he added.

Throughout the day there were interactive presentations covering areas such as standardization of forms, monthly financial statements, annual financial statements, and budget

estimates.

With local government elections last held since the 90’s, there have been numerous, increasing complaints of the operations of NDCs and Town Councils.

These bodies, which manage their respective districts, are facing corruption allegations, tardiness and

neglect by especially residents.

Recently, government has been on a campaign to replace non-functioning NDCs with Interim Management Committees.

At least one overseer is paying back monies he admitted taking from an East Bank Demerara NDC.

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Friday August 31, 2012

Specialty hospital hits snag…

A major fight is looming between two Indian contractors and the government over an US$18M contract to build a specialty hospital at Turkeyen.

Construction firm, Fedders-Lloyd, is asking the Guyana Government to reverse a decision taken to award the contract to Surendra Engineering Corporation Limited of India.

Fedders-Lloyd, which says Surendra should have been disqualified as a bidder, wants the contract.

The firm, which submitted one of the lowest bids, said that a Government statement which termed them as an “air conditioning sales agent, and “an over the counter drug salesman,” has undermined its stature.

The hospital is being funded with a line of credit from India of US$18 million.

The government here intends to staff the hospital with specialists from India to do complicated surgeries, ranging from heart operations and organ transplants to cosmetic surgery.

Preliminary works have begun at Turkeyen, East Coast Demerara where the specialty hospital is intended to be built.

The announcement for construction was made in February 2011 by former President Bharrat Jagdeo when he returned from India after securing a US$18M line of credit.

Government had budgeted $150 million to commence the preparatory work. Cabinet awarded $97M to G. Bovell Construction

Services in January 2012 to commence those works which included the construction of a fence, bridges and gateways.

Fedders Lloyd, in a released letter sent yesterday to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health which is handling the project, said that the pre bid meeting was held on April 23, 2012 at the Ministry of Health, Guyana.

Mr. N. C. Soral, Sr. Vice President and Representative, Mr. Ajay Jha attended the meeting. As part of the meeting they visited the site and the clarifications pertaining to the tender were issued during their stay, before they left Guyana.

It was noted that the date was extended for submission of the bid documents extended from March 20th, April 17th, to May 15th and then June 26th, 2012.

The company said finally on 26th June, 2012 the bid documents were submitted by Mr. Ajay Jha. Subsequently, Fedders and Lloyd said that the bid prices were opened the same day and it came to light that a total of five companies had participated in the tender.

The company explained that the bid documents of all the parties were sent for evaluation to the Tender Evaluation Committee, and later it was learnt that the contract was awarded to Surendra Engineering Corporation Limited.

In light of that the company sought to submit their assessment of the entire bidding and the evaluation process, since the time of

tender announcement till the press release announcing the news of Surendra Engineering being awarded the contract.

DOUBLE STANDARDS… Fedders- Lloyd said that a letter from the High Commission of the Republic of Guyana made it clear that there would not be any further extension in the bid opening date of the tender. However, through the message dated May 4th, 2012, the Ministry of Health announced that an extension for bids to come in was okayed until June 26th.

The company insisted that the extension violates the stipulation of International Competitive Bidding process.

The company also said that contrary to norms, the Ministry made critical additions, almost 20-25 pages to the tender documents, which is not a standard practice in international tenders all over the globe, and that it “was issued only five days prior to the tender opening date”.

The company said they, however, still adhered to their policy of giving its best techno-commercial offer to the client and abided by this anomaly also, though it was not as per the tender conditions.

Fedders-Lloyd also pointed out that in the prebid meeting clarifications, it

was mentioned that the Bank Guarantee has to be submitted by an Indian bank but has to have a corresponding financial institution located in the employer’s country (namely Guyana) to make it enforceable.

The company insisted that if the bidder does not satisfy this requirement, the bid documents made it clear that the bid security requirements are not met, it “shall be rejected”.

Fedders-Lloyd said they abided by both the clauses and submitted the Bank Guarantee from Axis Bank of India for USD 500,000 and it was confirmed by the local bank in Guyana, Nova Scotia Bank, also.

DISQUALIFICATION “However, as per the bid opening readouts, we noticed that the Bank Guarantee submitted by Surendra Engineering was on the Indian bank letterhead and it was never confirmed by any local bank in Guyana… This outrightly disqualifies Surendra Engineering and makes them a non-responsive bidder in the first place.”

When the bids were opened on June 26th, the bids that came in were: Surendra Engineering-US$18,180,000 (submitted with design); Fedders Lloyd US$17,679,000 (submitted with design after a discount of 23%, discount

letter provided); Shapoorji Pallonji -US$42,473,600 (submitted with design); Jaguar Overseas Limited US$18,650,000 submitted with CD; Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences and Research of India, US$19,500,000 (no design submitted).

During the bid opening, the company said that they observed that despite their discount letter being attached in the financial bid, the Chairman of the Tender Committee refused to announce the discount letter.

“It was only on the repeated insistence of our representative Mr. Ajay Jha, that the discount letter was finally read out and the discount announced as 23% quoted price, thus making our final price as US$ 17,679,000.”

The Delhi-based company said they have noticed that in various press reports during the last one week, various officials in the Ministry and Tender Committee are claiming that Fedders-Lloyd had quoted two prices. “…but as a matter of fact, and contrary to the claims during the tender opening, at the same time and moment, both our total price and the discount letter were readout, which clearly makes our price as a single financial bid and the lowest priced bid i.e US$ 17,679,000.”

The company also insisted that it is unaware what government is talking about when it said FeddersLloyd has been rejected on ‘Administrative Grounds’.

They said that disqualification was always the technical aspect or the financial aspect, and on both grounds, Fedders-Lloyd was ahead of Surendra Engineering. Fedders-Lloyd said it participated in the tender process by forming a consortium with NOUS Hospital Consultants, which has expertise in building and commissioning specialized hospitals and which has already commissioned more than 90 hospitals in India and abroad.

Furthermore, FeddersLloyd said it has experience in almost 30 countries around the globe in the sectors of education, health, agriculture and power, and with an annual turnover of around U.S. $700M. “This consortium is definitely a name to reckon with and clearly has enough expertise and experience to fulfill a contract of this magnitude to the complete satisfaction of all. Moreover, Fedders-Lloyd is a public limited company listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange of India having 17 plants/ factories in India & abroad carrying a famous “Lloyd” brand since 1943.”

Police investigating city’s ‘not working’ garbage trucks As investigations continue at the Mayor and City Council (M&CC), police are now turning their attention to six garbage trucks given to the council last year by the Ministry of Local Government but are not working.

The council reportedly has only one working garbage truck and a tractor to fulfill its mandate to maintain a garbage free Georgetown while the six trucks are parked. A probe which was launched into the affairs of the council in March of this year, by Ramon Gaskin, on behalf of a special committee appointed by government, revealed that the trucks were “deliberately” parked so that private companies could be contracted for jobs.

It is believed senior members of the Council were receiving a kick back.

Two of the six garbage trucks handed over to the M&CC by government are now parked under questionable circumstances.

A section of the report that came from the Gaskin report said that many of the

documents in relation to the payments for services of private trucks were

“unavailable for inspection.”

Further the report stated (Continued on page 25)

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A strange case…

Businessman’s extradition to Brazil hangs in balance Attorney-at-law, Peter Hugh, who is looking into the interest of Guyanese businessman, Euclid Da Silva also known as Euclid Saigo, has moved to the High Court to prevent yet another extradition of his client by local authorities.

Contacted yesterday, Hugh told this publication that his client was still in police custody and he is being accused of illegally entering Guyana.

Da Silva was held by police on Wednesday and he was accused of pulling a gun on a patron at a nightclub.

He denied the allegation and the question of how he re-entered Guyana came up.

According to the lawyer, his client is being held at the Brickdam Police Station lockups in shackles.

Meanwhile, the matter will be called before Chief Justice (ag) Ian Chang sometime later today.

Relatives and concerned residents of Lethem have since expressed disgust over what they see as constant

police harassment of Da Silva.

This publication was told that Da Silva only returned to Guyana two weeks ago after being released by law enforcement officials in neighbouring Brazil.

Back in August 2010, the man, who operated a business in Hadfield Street, Georgetown, was arrested and handed over to Brazilian authorities by the local police.

It was claimed that he was wanted by the Brazilian authorities for unlawfully escaping from custody while serving a lengthy prison

sentence.

However, according to Da Silva’s brother, Guy Saigo, his brother was released by Brazilian authorities without being charged for any offence and was sent back to Guyana where he is a citizen. Saigo told this publication that he was informed that his brother had been arrested early Wednesday morning.

Back in 2010, Da Silva was arrested and subsequently released on $100,000 station bail.

Having learnt of the police’s intention to extradite Da Silva to Brazil, his lawyer had moved to the High Court to block the expulsion.

However, despite a favourable ruling by Chang, the local law enforcement authorities released Da Silva into the custody of the Brazilian Federal Police.

Further, while all this was being done, relatives have produced documentation which showed that Da Silva is a Guyanese citizen by birth.

Up to press time yesterday, Da Silva was still being held at the Brickdam Police Station.

Ramnarine, warned the new interns that their tasks will be challenging and must be exercised with full commitment, dedication and respect for the people that they will be dealing with.

Region Two Chairman, Parmanand Persaud, during a small ceremony on Monday to welcome the students, reminded them that this phase of the journey is not the end.

Euclid Da Silva

Suddie Hospital gets 20 Cuban-trained interns

Tw e n t y medical students, who have returned to Guyana after four years of studies in Cuba, will be completing their course by spending the next 12 months at the Suddie Public Hospital, Essequibo Coast, as interns.

Some of the students hail from as far as Berbice.

Administrator at the Suddie Hospital, Boodnarine

Page 19

Audit ordered into army’s credit union, two officers on leave Government has ordered an investigation into the operations of the army’s credit union and two top-ranking officers have since been sent on administrative leave.

The probe was ordered by the Chief Cooperative Development Officer.

The audit, according to a statement issued by the army, stated that audit was ordered based on reported breach of Credit Union’s rules governing the acquisition of vehicles.

The current Secretary/ Manager and a past Secretary/Manager are the two persons who have been sent on leave to facilitate the audit.

Meanwhile, this publication was told that the audit is a “vindictive” move against the two officers who were simply trying to put proper systems in place. They reportedly unearthed some major discrepancies involving a senior army official.

An army source revealed that close to a year ago, a new head was appointed to the credit union. This publication was told that during his tenure there, the officer began

making some startling discoveries relating to monies being withdrawn from the credit union and not being repaid. Having made the discovery, the officer did not seek to cover up but instead was very vocal and this did not go down well with other senior officers.

Further, this publication was told that funds were withdrawn from the credit union for two major projects through the Chief of Staff’s office. These projects include the rehabilitation of a recreational park and the setting up of a salon in Base Camp Ayangana compound.

The source said, the Army continuously used the services of the credit union but was delinquent in

repayment, blaming their nonpayment on the government’s system.

According to another inside source, as it is now, there is no proper procedure for the acquisition of vehicles for army ranks. One of the officers sent on leave, the source said, was trying to put systems in place to ensure better accountability of the union’s fund.

However because of his outspokenness on the issue he was removed from the credit union. Further, having realized that the officers were not pleased with the operation, this publication was reliably informed that the Chief of Staff held an emergency meeting where it (Continued on page 24)

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Minister vows to ‘deal with’ any staffer if abuse at NOC unearthed - says selection of COI members almost complete

Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony, promised yesterday to “deal with” any staffer from the New Opportunity Corps (NOC) if the Commission of Inquiry unearths any incidents of abuse.

The Minister made the comments while disclosing that the Ministry has begun selecting members who will sit on the Commission that will investigate the circumstances that triggered the recent unrest at the juvenile detention centre.

He also disclosed that the Terms of Reference for the Commission are ready and will be released today.

Dr. Anthony said that even before the passing in 2010 of the Juvenile Offenders

Minister Frank Anthony Amendment Act and the Training School Amendment Acts which prohibit corporal punishment, “there was a

One of the burnt buildings at the New Opportunity Corps, Onderneeming, Essequibo Coast. policy not to allow corporal punishment at the NOC.” “When this Commission is put in place, if there are any

such allegations (of abuse) and they are proven, then we will deal with those persons…whatever the findings we will abide by them,” Dr. Anthony told Kaieteur News.

Kaieteur News has been told that some of the escapees alleged that they were physically abused, though a senior Ministry of Culture official said that none of the juveniles made such allegations to the team that visited the detention centre.

During his recent visit to the facility, Dr. Anthony had told reporters that from initial statements of NOC staffers, it was suggested that inmates of the facility had become hard to control since the banning of corporal punishment.

Concerning the Commission of Inquiry (COI), Minister Anthony said that his Ministry has been speaking with a number of people whom they were selecting to be on the Commission.

“Some had to check their time schedules. They will have to go to Essequibo to spend time, and by tomorrow (today) we will be able to finalise members.”

The members of the Commission are likely to

include officials from the Ministry of Human Services’ Probation Department, and the Guyana Police Force. Dr. Anthony indicated that no international institutions would be involved, although a source had suggested that personnel from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) may be approached to participate.

Some Opposition parties and organizations have expressed doubt that the Commission of Inquiry will solve the issues that caused the unrest. The PNCR has called for an independent Commission, while asking the Ministries of Human Services and Home Affairs to respond “promptly and sympathetically” to the needs of the young students, with the aim of preventing a recurrence.

In a recent party statement, the PNCR also said that youths at the NOC “should not be treated or housed like prison inmates, since the Corps “is meant to provide full-time vocational training in a correctional setting for young people to allow students to pursue fulfilling careers.”

And a group of individuals known for championing children’s rights

called on those in authority to ensure that the juveniles who were charged to be allowed immediate access to independent legal representation in keeping with their rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Guyana is a signatory.

The group also suggested that the NOC to be placed “under an independent management committee comprising individuals with the necessary expertise, experience, interest and knowledge of human rights law and practice to run a successful juvenile rehabilitation centre.”

It was on Wednesday August 22, that 120 NOC inmates staged a daring escape from the detention centre.

The police were successful in recapturing some, while the others turned themselves in the following day.

At around 19:45hrs on Thursday, August 23, some of the juveniles set fire to the tailor shop and the female dormitory.

Forty-eight youths have since been charged with arson and escaping from a training facility.

Audit ordered into army’s credit...

(From page 19) was pointed out that the Committee of Management which runs the credit union was suspended.

“At the meeting when an officer enquired why the committee was suspended the Chief of Staff denied this although he had announced it at another forum mere days before the emergency meeting,” the source

pointed out.

It was also brought up at the said meeting that persons had seen a correspondence about the suspension of the management committee.

Further, this publication was told that the credit union’s records as it relates to documenting the acquisition of vehicles were poor. “When the union buys a vehicle, sometimes you get

the vehicle before you even work out a verbal agreement on paying back. All they ask for is a copy of the registration… there is no proper system and what the officer was trying to do was put systems in place. But because of what was discovered and it involved high ranking people, he was removed,” one source told this publication.

Friday August 31, 2012

Kaieteur News

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Friday August 31, 2012 ARIES (March 21 - April 19): When someone asks you what you want today, you may surprise yourself when you can't come up with an answer. It's not that you have everything you need, it's that you really haven't given enough thought to what you want -- and that is a real problem. ******************* TAURUS (April 20 - May 20): Don't hesitate to act from your gut when you see something strange, today. You won't know what to make of the episode as it's happening, but shortly thereafter you will get a strong sense of what to do. ****************** GEMINI (May 21 - June 20): Today, you won't have to worry about your friends misinterpreting you -- they always know right where you are coming from. However, you do need to watch out for a new person on the scene. ******************** CANCER (June 21 - July 22): Perfection just doesn't exist -- even those perfectlooking celebrities you see in magazines have been airbrushed by professionals! ********************* LEO (July 23 - Aug. 22): Today, someone's honest assessment of your work might sting a little bit, but you need to take their criticism and learn from it -- even if what you learn is that you should never ask this person for their feedback, again! ******************* VIRGO (Aug. 23 - Sept.

22): Starting new projects is not advised right now -- they will have more of a confusing effect on your life than you think. Plus, as soon as you get into your day, you

will probably start to feel foggy or unclear about things. ********************* LIBRA (Sept. 23 - Oct. 22): It's a good thing that your flexibility muscles are stronger and more lithe than ever, because today, they are certainly going to get a workout! ********************* SCORPIO (Oct. 23 - Nov. 21): Today is a great day to contact a friend who owes you one or two favors -- they are in an excellent position to help you reach an important goal. ******************** SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 - Dec. 21): Your bright smile will be your most useful tool today -- so shine it wherever you go and watch the doors of opportunity fly right open!

When an unsympathetic person stands between you and where you want to be, show 'em those pearly whites and toss them a genuine compliment and watch them transform in front of your eyes. .********************* CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 Jan. 19): You are going to feel a lot of sympathy for someone today -- your compassionate side has been drawn out a lot lately, and you're seeing the problems people are having in a new light. ******************** AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 Feb. 18): It's time for you to get a handle on where you spend your money, especially in terms of your social life. ********************* PISCE S ( F e b . 1 9 March 20): Getting along well with others might be an unrealistic goal for you today, but that doesn't mean your day will be full of conflict.

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Life (Live) 19:00h - Indian Soap - Pavitra Rishta 19:30h -Timeless Melodies Live with Frederick Rampersaud 20:30h - New Life World Outreach 20:45h - 15 Minutes for Allah 21:00h - The Family Album Live with Frederick Rampersaud 22:00h - Forgotten Melodies Live with Frederick Rampersaud 23:30h - Sign Off with the Gayatri Mantra NCN CHANNEL 11 02:00h – NCN Late Edition (R/ B) 02:30h – Late Nite with GINA 03:00h – Movie 05:00h – Inspiration 05:30h – Newtown Gospel 06:00h – NCN Late Edition News (R/B) 06:30h – Feature 07:00h – Guyana Today 08:00h – Bollywood Hits (R/ B) 09:00h – Stop the Suffering 10:00h – CCTV 11:00h – History 12:00h – CNN 12:30h – NCN Newsbreak 12:35h – Oral Tradition (R/B) 13:05h – Movie 15:00h – Miss Guyana African Queen 2012 (R/B) 16:00h – Cartoons 17:00h – Anderson 18:00h – NCN News Magazine – Live 18:30h – Pulse Beat 19:00h – Al Jazeera 19:30h – El Dorado Shines 20:00h – 3d/daily millions/play de dream/lotto draw 20:05h – Grow with IPED 20:30h – Close up 21:00h – Between the Sticks

with the GCA 22:05h – NCN News Late Edition 22:35h – Caribbean Newsline 23:00h – Fight Night Guyana MTV CHANNEL 14/ CABLE 65 06:00h Islamic perspective (Quran) 06:30h News Update 07:00h DAYBREAK – (live) 08:00h Dabi’s Variety music break 08:30h Avon Video & DVD: Suite Life of Zack and Cody 09:00h BBC World News 09:15h Top Notch music Break 09:30h Caribbean temptation Music Mix 10:00h Amanda’s Costume jewellery Music mix 10:30h H Persaud (Crown Chowmein) music break 11:00h The View 12:00h Village Talk

12:30h The Young and the Restless 13:30h Days of our lives 14:00h National Geographic 15:00h General Hospital 16:00h The Bold and the Beautiful 16:30h Cartoons 17:00h Birthdays and other greetings 17:15h Death Announcement/ In Memoriam 17:30h Sitcom 18:00h Charran’s Radiator Video Hits 18:30h Kingdom Voice 19:00h Al Jazeera News 19:14h Slim Jet infomercial 19:30h News Update 20:30h Clear Water Music Hour 21:30h Music Request Hour 22:30h Sitcom 23:00h News Update 23:30h Movie ONG BAK Sign off

Police investigating city’s...

(From page 14) that “many payments were made in January 2012 in respect of payments for the rental of trucks in July and August 2011. It is not clear why a contractor would provide a service in July 2011 and be paid in January 2012.”

Gaskin went further to report that “It is also not absolutely certain that such

a service was ever provided.

There is no way of knowing in 2012 what truck was rented in 2011.”

Over a month ago, six senior officials were sent on vacation leave to facilitate investigations into the allegation made in Gaskin’s report.

The report stemmed from a request made by Keith

Burrowes, head of the investigating committee, to enquire into the state of implementation of the various recommendations made almost three years ago.

Meanwhile, the implementation committee in collaboration with M&CC has, last Saturday, launched a cleanup campaign around the city.

Page 26

Kaieteur News

CAKES & PASTRIES Courses in cake decoration, pastry making & cookery, tel: 670-0798. Also Wedding dresses for sale.

WANTED Contract vehicle with drivers and experienced dispatchers to work for a Reputable Transportation Service Call: 645-0025 Experience males to pluck chicken, attractive salary Call: 628-6160, 227-8998 Porters, Apply Wieting & Richter Ltd

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Experienced sales representatives, Apply Wieting & Richter Ltd

Live in couple, husbandcaretaking, wife-domestic, good accommodation, high rates. Call: 227-1830 Skilled carpenters and mason Call: 615-7526 1 General domestic t work in Georgetown Call: 696-1310 or 614-7267 Assistant pastry maker , counter persons. Apply in person @ Shanta’s ,225 Camp & New Market Sts. Live in/live out domestic Call: 668-3985, 264-3356, 253-3149 1 Experience person to look after layer birds in interior Call: 677-0610 Live in/ Live out Babysitter/ Domestic Call: 225-0188, 2256070 1 Experience cook to cook for family in interior Call: 6770610 Painters/Carpenters to work with limited supervision with own tools Call:225-0188/ 225-6070 Live in waitress Call: 3320845 Salesgirls; call: 225-6137 Security/ Watchman Call: 225-6070, 225-0188 One minibus driver Call: 664-4945

Urgently needed live in waitress to work in bar, reasonable salary offered Call: 259-0574 Sewing machines operators, clippers/pressers/porters Call: 222-2541 Salesgirls salary $9000 weekly Call: 621-7862 Workers needed for mining in Bartica Call: 667-8188 Part Time security to work (1) night per week in Georgetown. Call 628 – 2388, 643-3903 between 13:00 – 15:00hrs daily

Prepare your child for the National Exams: Grades 4, 5, 6. After school classes & adult evening tutoring, Queenstown, tel: 684 7403 CXC Physics Lessons. Call: 615 – 2881

Experienced upholster to work in Trinidad. Ravi 868753-3582 or 356-2015

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Part-time handyman/ gardener to work 3 days per week Call: 227-3968 during working hours. Must handle brushcutter.

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Labourers for wood concession 4,000 per day, accommodation provided, call: 653 – 6236

1 carnegie trained cook, age 18-45 Call: 614-4358

1-Accounts clerk, experience: VAT,NIS & PAYE Call: 614-4358 T.S.I, Eccles Industrial Site.

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CAR RENTAL

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Driver /salesman with clean lorry driving record, security guards. Call: 2664427

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Reputable Taxi Service seeks dispatchers and contract cars Call: 6585402,670-8469,226-1542

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Call: 600-3775

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FOR SALE

FOR SALE

Fishing boat with 4000 lb ice box included.

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Tel: 669-8374.

Massey Ferguson Tractor 290. Full working condition.

Just overhauled & sprayed; tel # 618 – 7530.

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

Rosetta stone language software. Call: 695-7595

Mahadoe’s Construction, reliable services for your building, contact Tony Tel 618-3523, 669-7376. For free estimates and plans.

DVDs: Classic Indian & English, Olympics 2012, Usain Bolt, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates Call: 675-3489,6832714

HOUSE PLAN DRAFTING FOR ONLY $10,000 CALL: 694-9843, 227-2766

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

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Call Junior : 621-4568,3282205 School bus service to and from school Call: 688-6566

Dachshund with Terrier mix, call: 680 – 0192, 216 -3408 Live chickens for sale at E.C.D $ 220 lb, call 691 – 8021 One 225 HP $1.1M & 150 HP $950,000, Yamaha outboard engines, many more small outboard engines available Call: 699-1711 Games for PS2 $900, PSP $900, Xbox 360 $2,600, PS3 $2,600 Call: 265-3231, 672-2566 New Generac 2700 PSI & Honda 3100 PSI Power pressure washer Call: 6148564, 680-0862

Repairs to gas stoves, washing machines, electric stoves Call: 686-6209

Massey Ferguson tractors model 188, Honda ATVS model 500,2012 Call: 6886274 or 691-3851

Selling your home, land or renting, then call Shawn at GME Realty 231-2200, 6187483 anytime.

4 Ton portable puller craftman power tools, energy saver bulbs Call: 641-1127 Pallet jacks 2.5 ton, power tools, car mats, car seat covers etc wholesale & retail Call: 614-8564, 680-0862 New Sony 1-7 DVD/CD duplicator $100,000, used laptops $80,000 Tel: 2341473,621-7497

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Chain saw operators, call: 653 - 6236 Office clerk, CXC English/ Mathematics, computer knowledge an asset. Call: 225-4492,225-9404

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

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

Princeton College, Forms 15, CXC adults classes for slow learners, reading classes for children Call: 6905008, 611-3793

1- Cook (Georgetown Area) Call: 600-3838

Friday August 31, 2012

MASSAGE

Office space South Rd $3500US, Town to country 627-7390,225-0843

American style massage service Call: 609-4036

One business Place and House, tel: 276- 0818

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1 225 KVA Generator, 1 Hiace Canter, Premio, 3 light towers, car batteries Call:624-2000 Bridal accessories for sale or rental. Printing ribbons and making favours, call: 2258133 One horse & cart Call: 6504421 Toyota Starlet EP71 Call:6482075 Imported Umbrellas 10ft & 12ft Call: 645-0870 MAC STUDIO FIX POWDERS $7,900, SACHA 2in1 $2,000 MAKE UP – top Brands, BLACK OPAL $2,700 Tel :647 -1773 1 Gas stove $45,000, 1 bed frame $15,000 Call: 615-7132 16" Bore pump, rice field type. Utility four wheel trailer Call: 227-1830 Male enhancer Viagra $4,000, 4 in pack Call: 638-1627 Sale!! Sale !! Jettoo’s Lumber yard & Sawmill, Coverden Public Road EBD, B & C Grade lumber. Price negotiable..

Call: 261-5041, 261-5042 17 INCH RIMS & TYRES (USED) CALL: 622-0108 RABBITS FOR SALE CALL: 600-0814 One Cargo vessel in working condition, 450 tons Call: 774-5463 or 678-6024 1 400lb Ice machine, 2 polar freezers, 1 complete music set Call: 609-8260, 690-1864 Household items, LG Refrigerator, LG stereo set, LG DVD Player & other items Call: 221-2737 275 Massey Ferguson tractor $2.8M, Four 3 dish plows stools, Scaffle $500,000 Call Julie @ 6699891 Leading Technology, Toshiba Laptop-wholesale & retail Call:648-6600

65 kVA, 1 ph Deutz air cool gen set. Tel 622-3940 12000 BTU A/C , stoves Call: 675-3093 Solar lights & herbal products, tel: 641 – 5948, 688 -2592 Xbox 360 controllers, games Call: 639-7114,674-5625 Spares for washer, microwaves, fridges, stove timers, gear boxes, pumps etc Call: 225-9032, 647-2943

TOURS 2 Tour/ price, White Water Fort Island $9000 per person Joy: 218-1285,649-9059,6923114 Sean 657-0825 LIBRARY Sale! Novels, Texts, UG, others from $100 to $3,000 Call: 223-8237 (Continued on page 27)

Friday August 31, 2012

Kaieteur News

Talk about future plans must be construed as survival maneuver

By Rawle Welch After publicly announcing his full backing and support for most sport associations in a recent press briefing it is difficult to see how an anticipated assembly between Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) President K. Juman Yassin and the administrators of sport here could genuinely yield the kind of results to effect a transformation of the current landscape.

The reality is that a large percentage of officials over the past 15-20 years have either demonstrated a lack of will to advance sports for reasons known only to them or they are clearly devoid of ideas to take us out of the present predicament.

This noticeable failure has helped destroy the dreams and aspirations of many of our athletes who sacrificed so much to make it to the top only to have to let go due to the uncaring and duplicitous conduct of officials.

Reeling from a recent spate of articles lamenting the poor showing of our Olympians as well as calls for the support of a new breed of administrators to emerge and take the place of these aging officials and abandon their antiquated policies, this disingenuous band of overseers of sport are still hell bent on holding on to office despite their abysmal record after many years at the helm.

The real stakeholders in sport such as the man in the street, corporate community, our sportsmen and women and of course the

Government must see it as imperative to be engaged in a National Consultation to plot the way forward and not allow the tested and failed policies of a few to hold us ransom anymore.

What is needed is a Forum where Guyanese from all walks of life with a fair knowledge of sports could participate in a serious discussion to take us out of the present dilemma we find ourselves in.

The lack of international sporting success has hurt not only our athletes, but the country at large and for us to continue along the current path will not only cause us more heartache in the case of our athletes, but further embarrassment as a nation.

There should be no avenue of escape for these officials who for nearly two decades hoodwinked the nation using the blame game trick to sidetrack our focus.

We have awakened from our protracted comatose and now demand real answers to all the lingering questions as to why Guyana that previously dominated the Caribbean region in many sports has undoubtedly been left behind in the global arena.

To come to us now and talk about plans for the future is a well recited pretext that should not be allowed any foothold simply because it must be construed as a survival maneuver offered many times in the past.

National Consultations and personnel adjustments should be the two most important issues to dominate any immediate or future plan.

Bolt and Blake cruise to victory...

From page 29 get motivation,” said the Dominican Republic sprinter who won his second Olympic gold in the event this month.

“I still need to come down from all the excitement in London.

Olympic champion Sanya Richards-Ross won the women’s 400 metres in 50.21 seconds ahead of Botswana’s Amantle Montsho.

Croatia’s Olympic gold medallist Sandra Perkovic won the women’s discus but

Olympic long jump champion Brittney Reese retired injured In her event, saying she had aggravated a stress fracture in her left ankle.

success.

Cadogan benefited from a fundamental training stint in Hungary in 2001 then High Performance training in Mexico in 2009, both owed to Olympic Solidarity Scholarships.

He has the support of other technical persons, including former Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) Technical Director, Cecil Chin and junior national coach, Mark Agard.

The Afterschool Basketball Programme is aimed at ensuring that the future of the sport is more secured following the rapid decline of basketball at the junior level over the last three years with Guyana failing, for instance, to retain and reclaim the Inter-Guiana Games (IGG) title; females in the sport has also been a sore point that needed remedy in recent years.

Cadogan confirmed that he has managed to get the corporate support of Neal & Massy Group for the upcoming commencement of his Afterschool Programme.

(Edison Jefford)

(From page 26)

TO LET One 2 bedrooms furnished apartment, parking & Wifi, for foreign guests Call: 2227891, 609-9202 Fully furnished 1 & 2 bedrooms apartments AC, Hot water, internet US$40 nightly. Contact 231-6721 & 674-8300. Long & short term Diamond two storey apartment with 4 bedrooms, 2 sitting rooms, grill etc Call: 650-5613 Apartments from $45000, furnished house $80,000,Bel Air US$800, Subryanville US$ 1500 Diana 2272256,626-9382

PROPERTY FOR SALE 1 two storey concrete building, 34 Durban Street Wortmanville Call: 609-8260, 690-1864 Diamond $5M, Friendship $15.5M, Albertown $19M, Prashad Nagar $30M Diana 227-2256,626-9382 Beautiful middle income ranch style home in LaParfaite Harmonie W.B.D $16M, Has chicken pen Call: 682-1256, 622-8409, 611-3674 79 William Street, Kitty, price negotiable Call: 662-5114 Property at Diamond, New Scheme, price $30 million negotiable Call: 612-2697 98 N/E Grove Post Office St. Contact : 625-6357 price 10M neg.

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South Ruimveldt 3 bedroom $19M, Robb St. business property $58M Town to country 672-7390,225-0843

Canter for sale GPP Series, very good condition Call: 682-4224 Unregistered Allion, IST & PLL 212 Call: 609-8188 1 Allion, 1 IST, 1 Rav4, 1 45150 Leyland Daff, 1 55-210 Leyland HIAB Call Archie 624-1343, 664-2755 Unregistered Tundra tt 100 and Tacoma Call: 265-2103, 645-9860 One Mitsubishi 2 ton canter truck, body needs some work Call: 694-1150 One IRZ long base, 2003 EFI, AT, Bus, Unregistered Call: 647-1729 602-9167 ACURA RL top of the line luxury car, 3500CC. V6 engine, owner leaving country . Call: 693-9455 Honda Civic 2003, 17" rims, HID, TV/DVD, reverse camera $1.9M Call: 652-5668 1 Mitsubishi Lancer, 3.5 ton open back canter Call: 6269254, 264-2582

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VEHICLES FOR SALE Spacio New Model, unregistered, $2.5M Call: 621-0956

LAND FOR SALE 1 ½ acre, 48ftx1300ft V/ Hoop Call: 627-9351 Vreed-en-Hoop House Lots, Call: 658-0115 Roraima Housing Scheme (Gate Community), Plantation Versailles, West Bank Demerara. Lot 7 12,596 sq ft $18M Negotiable Call: 618-5070 Roraima Housing Scheme (Gate Community), Plantation Versailles, West Bank Demerara. Lot 146 27,775 sq ft $38M Negotiable Call: 618-5070 17,500 sq ft land Blankenburg Fellowship area suitable for business development $22M Price negotiable Call: 718-7571106, 675-8941, 265-6019 Potaro-Tiboku, Kurubrong, MazaruniPeima, Cuyuni Aurora, Parish Hill- 10 Blocks & River (20) Claim Call Shawn 2312199, 618-7483 anytime Nandy Park 60x100 $12M, Diamond land with foundation $5.5M,$3.5M Town to country 6727390,225-0843 Diamond 17St. corner lot $4.5M, Diamond $4.8M,$3M, $8M Town to country 6727390,225-0843

Leading Auto Unregistered, Toyota Tundra 2004 Loaded Call: 677-7666/610-7666

One EP71 Starlet, 1- Toyota Ceres,212 Carina, AT150 Corona, 1- G Touring Wagon, Alteeza PMM, Call: 6445096,697-1453

Apartments, tel: 667 1549

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One enclosed Mitsubishi Canter, excellent condition, price $1.4 M negotiable, call: 253- 3349, 695- 6945

Robb St. Business property $40M, Durban St. 3 bedroom $21M Town to country 6727390,225-0843

Fully furnished short term apartments, Eccles Call: 6797139 Newly built 2 bedroom house on West Coast Demerara, call: 610 – 4436

VEHICLES FOR SALE Just arrived: Allion and Premio, tel: 624-2000, 622-1610 One AE 140 Toyota Corona working condition. call 2222514

Happy Acre luxury home $55.5M, South Ruimveldt 2 storey $10M Town to country 672-7390,225-0843

Bobby’s Afterschool...

From page 31 week. The scheduled days for sessions will be Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 3:30pm-5pm daily and attracts both male and female players ages 9-15. Cadogan said that he was enthused with the participation and support in the last term hence the recommencement.

“This is a nursery for the game and an effort to keep the sport alive. There are not many of these programmes for players and basketball is still a popular sport despite administration issues that’s a distraction, but the sport in general needs to move forward,” Cadogan said yesterday, in a brief interview with Kaieteur Sport.

“You never know what these players may grow up to become in the sport. Many scholarship and professional hopefuls are born right here at these primary programmes.

I am the National Coach, I can’t drop to sleep on youths,” he continued, adding that corporate support for the event was an important aspect of the Programme’s

Page 27

One Nissan Laurel car $400,000, one Bedford Lorry $500,000 Call: 677-3406 1- Noah, unregistered $2.5M negotiable , 1- Toyota Wish $2.850 Tel: 648-6869

VACANCY Hire Car Drivers wanted preferably from E.C.D Contact A-1 Taxi: 220-1000.

Yellow cars with drivers wanted Survival Shopping Complex, 173 Sheriff Street needs supervisors, evening cashiers and cleaners Call: 227-5286-90 Driver for party rental service, within the vicinity of Parka to V/Hoop, must be able to work flexible hours.

Tel # 638-1627 Be part of our world class customer care team . Phone: 220-0401-3 or email: recruitmentguyana@ qualfon.com One trainee/refrigeration technician Call: 2310655,683-8734 1 Male cook for interior, 1 gardener, 1 whole day domestic Call: 667-5717 or 650-4761 One experienced hair dresser contact Magic Touch Beauty Salon. Tel 225- 6492

Page 28

Kaieteur News

Friday August 31, 2012

===Letters to the Sports Editor === ===Letters to the Sports Editor === Pragmatism, rhetoric Response to letters questioning location and a lack of vision of all-weather synthetic athletics track

By Nigel McKenzie

Pragmatism engenders proper perspective. In Guyana as a whole, but more particularly as it relates to sport, being pragmatic often leads to one being ostracized. How dare you not dream the impossible dream?

Being realistic doesn’t fit into the grand scheme of things.

It’s all about dreams. Yesterday, it was Olympic dreams…more of them. The persistent rhetoric about developmental plans and milestones has created a profound disinterest. There is apathy.

And that is exactly what pays off for the perennial sports administrators in this country, because there aren’t many probing questions coming from far and wide. Very few people care anymore. There’s too much insincerity.

To not have been part of any noteworthy achievement for such a long time—in some cases 15-20 years—and still try to convince the public about some master plan for many years to come, is nothing less than disingenuous.

Some of these clearly tired and uninspiring officials need to allow younger people (and there are many) with fresher ideas, more innovative thinking, energetic approaches and greater appeal, to assume these pivotal roles. They must admit, or have to be told, that they are not sports-inclined.

They must pass the baton to those who really know.

Some media operatives have been accused of ingratiating themselves with officialdom and quite honestly, this has facilitated the mediocrity.

We must embrace the common sense approach. Proper perspective is essential in any meaningful pursuit. In life, there are dreams, schemes and then there is reality – something that Guyanese receive in healthy doses on a daily basis.

Here’s a reality check.

Last Tuesday, August 28, 2012, marked 53 years since George De Peana ran 10,000 metres in a national record-setting time of 31 minutes, 16.24 seconds (31:16.24). Fifty-three years!

It was Friday, August 28, 1959.

Has any one of our administrators who claim to care so dearly about sport ever given things such as this even the slightest thought? A record set in the middle of the 20th century still reigns supreme in the second decade of the 21st.

When last would any of them have even checked the national records? Do they mean anything to them? If so, have they ever seriously questioned what may be lacking?

September 12, two Wednesdays from now, will be 34 years since James Wren Gilkes set the 100 (10.19) and 200-metre (20.14) records. Over twenty-eight years ago (July 15, 1984), Jennifer Innis set the standard for the Women’s 100 (11.26).

She also holds the long jump mark (6.82 metres) which was established on August 14, 1982 – three decades back. Oslen Barr’s 800m effort (1:45.92), in 1988, remains intact. Harry Prowell (2:39:11) still has the time to beat in the Marathon since posting it 44 years ago, on February 4, 1968.

Suffice it to say that none of our national records are even remotely close to the current world marks. Thus, some may ask why present us with these meaningless figures.

Therein lies the problem. If we’re not apprised of and target meaningfully what we are yet to surpass locally, the requisite dimensions of the international task cannot be appreciated.

There is talk about the lack of elite coaches, equipment and facilities being major hindrances, but all that would be pointless without vision.

For example, $584 million is expended on a National Aquatic Centre, complete with an Olympic-size (50m) swimming pool. There is your facility. But amazingly, there’s no electronic timing device. We’re still leaning over the edge of the pool and depending on our eye–hand coordination to determine those hundredths of a second between competitors.

Our swimmers get to London rearing to go and then have their muscles tighten up because the pool is too cold. How about installing facilities here to simulate such conditions?

By the way, we’re now considering a warm-up/warm-down pool. More drama.

Where did that entire venture go wrong? Well, the National Swimming Association, with all its expertise, was more than likely not as involved as it should have been in the planning for and construction of the facility - a familiar theme in all facets of our society.

All of which supports the insistence by many who are tired of the fooling around that those who have wasted available funding, not consulted with knowledgeable persons in the various disciplines, failed to treat our athletes with the respect they deserve, and who want to appear dutiful every time inadequacies are exposed or highlighted, must go.

DEAR EDITOR, Letters recently appeared in the local media, under the name of a Claudius Prince, still questioning the choice and wisdom of locating the national, all weather synthetic athletic track in the vicinity of Leonora, West Coast Demerara.

Even as the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport recognizes and fully respects Mr. Prince’s democratic right to express his opinions, it tires of having to repeatedly explain and defend its reasoned and well intentioned decisions and actions.

Especially, as in Prince’s correspondence, when the various writers’ views and conclusions are clothed in racial innuendo and accusations of ethnic biases of some sort.

The Ministry of Sport, granted certain budgetary allocations, over the years to provide much needed sports infrastructure for our athletes, always has national considerations in mind when approaching such projects.

Never do we think of which race or political group resides in some area or would probably stand to benefit from such facilities. These NATIONAL facilities are constructed for the benefit of ALL. Mr. Claudius Prince, if he is the person who was once associated with us, would be aware of certain basic, but compulsory, criteria which must govern the location and construction of a facility, such as an all-weather synthetic track.

Prince and other interested citizens, biased or not, must know that among

those desirable conditions are: availability of adequate land (space) for construction of the facility (after cadastral surveys); additional reserved space to accommodate vehicle parking and future related facilities; environmental and health related surveys and permits to ensure safety standards; allowance for the space to construct separate water and sewerage treatment facilities, if necessary.

All this is in addition to the suitability of the soil (nonlandfill), tolerance for gradients and flatness of the finished surfaces, weathering plant loads; effects of ground water and sub soil ground movement; a porosity to allow free drainage into sub soil or drainage systems for a 580ft by 304ft track, in keeping with the UK’s National Athletics Facilities Strategy 2007-2012 Design Guidance Note Guidelines.

Initially the Design and Construction Consultants were requested to investigate seven (7) sites from Bourda and D’Urban Park in Georgetown to three on the West Coast Demerara to two on the East Coast of Demerara.

In summary, only three sites Bourda (Guyana Football Club and Georgetown Cricket Club) D’Urban Park Ground and Leonora, met the minimum required size with the latter being found to be the most suitable, given cost for civil works and the other wide array of varied, required facilities.

The Ministry of Sport will

not bother to detail all the other consultations and considerations entered into before the Uitvlugt Leonora site was finally decided upon.

However, there is one fact we’ll now make known to Mr. Prince: the Ministry of Sport earnestly wished that either Bourda or D’Urban Park would have been available and appropriate but that was not to be. It might still be useful, for near future consideration, if Mr. Prince could assist in the identification of two or three sites suitable for such a Synthetic Track facility, which fall within the Georgetown vicinity.

The Ministry has noted the quotes used “Substantiate” the letter writer’s views; it has red herrings about Hindu and Cattle farmers’ protests, as well as the potential challenges likely to be faced

Nigeria ousts Mexico from U-20 Women’s WC Play in the Nigeria vs Mexico match

Tokyo Desire Oparanozie scored in the 109th minute and Nigeria eliminated Mexico from the quarterfinals of the Under-20 Women’s

Mr K. Juman Yassin; cut your losses and move on DEAR EDITOR, It is now evident and clear as crystal that apparently the National Sports Commission headed by Director of Sports, Mr. Neil Kumar is definitely not happy and satisfied with the leadership of the President of the Guyana Olympic Association, Mr. K. Juman Yassin.

This is with reference to his years serving the different sports fraternities and this comes from reading the GC dated Sunday, August 26, 2012.

I am also wondering if the Minister of Sport and The Permanent Secretary shares the same or similar views like the Director of Sports in the above mentioned article towards Mr. K. Juman Yassin.

Some allegations were made towards the President of the GOA and in the best interest of all, I honestly believe that Mr. K. Juman Yassin as a responsible sports official should take the route of the dailies and have those allegations addressed.

Failing to address those issues, it is my opinion that it could be detrimental towards sports development and for the office of the GOA. Currently based in the fields and communicating with others from the business community and ordinary sports enthusiasts, quite a lot of damages could be seen.

Mr. K. Juman Yassin, recently you have scored wonderfully and in my books.

by those athletes who will be desirous of using the facility.

Our response to all those is simply that the Synthetic Track will be efficiently completed and made quite accessible to all who can benefit from it.

This facility will most certainly be found to be a boom to the nation’s athletes, fulfilling many obvious objectives.

This seems to be a good season for public mischief, no matter how disguised it is, by way of debate, academic discourse or advocacy on behalf of some imagined greater good.

To accuse the government of some form of political or race based discrimination in the choice of the Leonora Location, smacks of such mischief.

We expect much better from the real Mr. Claudius Prince.

David Stoby.

That is to say, you are the only sports official to date who is above board when you used the dailies to clear the air on accountability. So, I am kindly asking that you do the same once again.

Respectfully to the current Pres. of the GOA, Mr. K. Juman Yassin, I am also suggesting that you consider relinquishing your post soon or don’t run for re-election as head of the GOA in the next round. Perhaps this is the ideal period for you to do so.

I was thought the following by a business associate sometime ago and it reads: In the business world, there will be times when you have got to cut your losses and move on.

T. Pemberton.

World Cup with a 1-0 victory on Thursday.

Despite being outshot 3317 for the 120 minutes, Mexico had chances to win the match, putting a corner kick off the crossbar in the first minute of second-half injury time and Yamile Franco hitting the frame with a free kick in the 99th.

Nigeria finally scored the goahead goal with Oparanozie arcing a header from Ugo Njoku’s cross over Mexican goalkeeper Cecilia Santiago.

This was the second consecutive time Mexico has been eliminated in the quarterfinals, having been beaten by South Korea 3-1 two years ago. It also was the second straight time Nigeria has eliminated a CONCACAF opponent in the first knockout round. It needed penalties to subdue the United States in 2010.

The result leaves only one CONCACAF team remaining in the U-20 Women’s World Cup. The United States will face North Korea on Friday (today), with the winner to face Nigeria.

Friday August 31, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 29

National female Lawn Tennis Fifth seed Tsonga dumped out of US champion, conducting coaching Open as draw opens up for Murray sessions in New Amsterdam Lawn tennis, a sport that is popular in Berbice and has produced many stalwarts, the likes of Trevor Isaacs, Godfrey Lowden, Mario Amerally, Edmond Plass and Ms. Carol Humphrey, has been undergoing a plethora of challenges including the absence of proper playing facilities coupled with the high cost of gears and requisite equipment.

The sport might have become extinct had it not been for the efforts of national female champion, Carol Humphrey, who has defied the vicissitudes and continues to work ardently to keep the sport alive.

Towards this end, Ms. Humphrey has been conducting training sessions on a daily basis at the Republic Bank Courts, Strand and New Streets, New Amsterdam. The sessions commence at around 17:00hrs and facilitates those interested in honing their skills in the sport.

Carol Humphrey Speaking with this newspaper recently, Humphrey said that she had conducted several sessions during the August holidays and just about 20 persons were in attendance. This is a special session and when school reopens she will resume normal activities during the week while arrangements for Saturdays and Sundays sessions will be announced soon.

The sessions are geared to expose the players to the

intricacies of the sport while enabling them to improve their skills and techniques.

Apart from her lawn tennis skills, Humphrey is also a qualified Coach and she said that that she is eager to impart her knowledge, garnered over years of involvement in the sport which she describes as “one of her primary goals in her continued crusade.”

Ms. Humphrey is optimistic that with the right attitude, Berbice can return to its glory days. She stated that the participants have been adapting to the drills nicely and are willing to learn.

She is also positive that that the sessions will produce a few champions.

The players are taught the basics of the game including fitness drills, forehand and backhand skills, serving and the multiball drill. The sessions are conducted in an environment that is conducive to learning.

(Samuel Whyte)

Bolt and Blake cruise to victory in Zurich as Jamaican duo set meeting records (Reuters) - Olympic 800 metres champion David Rudisha suffered a shock defeat at the Weltklasse diamond league meeting on Thursday but Usain Bolt braved the cold to win the 200 in a meeting record time.

Kenyan Rudisha, who set a world record to win gold in London, lost out to Ethiopian teenager Mohammed Aman on a chilly wet evening at Zurich’s Letzigrund.

Double Olympic silver medallist Yohan Blake refused to be daunted by the conditions as he ran another fast time to win the 100 in 9.76 seconds, while Olympic 400 metres hurdles champion Felix Sanchez said he just wanted to lie on the beach after finishing fourth on his 35th birthday.

Rudisha, assisted by a pacemaker, sped away on the first lap but clearly went too early as the pack caught up with him around 200 metres from the end and Aman passed him on the curve to win in one minute 42.53.

Double Olympic champion Bolt had no such problems as he won the 200 in a very respectable 19.66 seconds, again making it look easy as he powered ahead of fellow Jamaicans Nickel Ashmeade and Jason Young.

Bolt jokingly made

Winner again: Usain Bolt celebrates after winning the men’s 200m at the Diamond League in Zurich shivering gestures before leaving the opposition in his wake in familiar style.

“I’m happy to run a sub20 time but I did not want to push my body,” said Bolt. “It is the end of the of the season and I have to be careful.”

Former world champion Tyson Gay was disqualified for a false start as Blake, who ran the joint third-fastest time in history in Lausanne last week, won the 100 metres in another impressive time.

His fellow Jamaican Nesta Carter was second in 9.95 and American Ryan Bailey third in 9.97.

“I am not at all surprised that after the Olympics I am coming out so strong and so

fast because my coach has a plan for me,” said Blake. “Next year I can even be better.

“And I am not surprised that I can run so fast in bad weather because I am a beast, bad weather cannot stop me.”

SILVER MEDALLIST Olympic champion ShellyAnn Fraser-Pryce easily won women’s 100 metres, beating Carmelita Jeter into second place after losing out to the American silver medallist in Lausanne and Birmingham.

Sanchez was beaten into fourth place despite a late charge in the 400 metres hurdles, won by American Angelo Taylor in 48.29.

“Now, it is hard for me to (Continued on page 27)

Martin Klizan

Seren Williams

Unheralded Slovakian Martin Klizan caused the shock of the tournament as he knocked out fifth seed JoWilfried Tsonga in the second round of the US Open. The Frenchman, who had been seeded to meet Olympic champion Andy Murray in the quarter-finals, was horribly out of sorts and crashed out 6-4 1-6 6-1 6-3.

Tsonga, a quarter-finalist here last year and a semifinalist at Wimbledon last month, looked like he had turned things around in the second set but instead Klizan pulled away again in the third.

The Slovakian then opened up a 4-0 lead in the fourth set and, although Tsonga responded to reduce the deficit to 4-3, it was not good enough.

Klizan, ranked 52nd in the world, has had a good season but had never beaten anyone close to the calibre of Tsonga before and lost to Britain’s Dan Evans in the Davis Cup earlier this year.

Eleventh seed Nicolas Almagro had to fight back from two sets to one down to defeat German Philipp Petzschner 6-3 5-7 5-7 6-4 6-4 while 17th seed Kei Nishikori beat Tim Smyczek of the US 6-2 6-2 6-4.

It was Tsonga’s earliest exit at a grand slam since the Australian Open in 2007, and he did not have much of an explanation for his poor performance. The Frenchman said: ‘In the second set I played well. But at the beginning of the second set also it was dangerous for me, and finally I came back.

‘Today I was not in good shape. I didn’t play good tennis. It seemed like I couldn’t hit the ball hard enough to put my opponent out of position. I don’t really know why it was like this today, but sometimes it happens with me.

‘I’m disappointed but its tennis. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Of course, it’s always sad when

you lose but I will wait for another good moment. I will forget it.’

Tsonga denied he was carrying any injuries, although fatigue is clearly taking its toll on a lot of players, while he admitted the dominance of the top four in men’s tennis can be dispiriting.

He said: ‘We have to play every week. I’m not a machine. Sometimes I’m tired, sometimes not. Sometimes in good shape, sometimes not.

That’s it.

‘I work hard every week. I give a lot of myself every day.

I never get rewards. That’s why sometimes it’s tough.’

Klizan, who is likely to face another Frenchman, 32nd seed Jeremy Chardy, in the next round, was understandably thrilled with his breakthrough victory.

The 23-year-old said: “He’s number six in the world and I beat him.

‘I feel great. I’m very happy. I think it’s my best result in my career and I’m looking forward to playing Saturday in the third round.

There is a chance to win again.’

American Mardy Fish, the 23rd seed, became the 10th player to recover from two sets down to win against Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko, a new record for the US Open.

Fish proved the tougher in sweltering conditions on Arthur Ashe Stadium to win 4-6 6-7 (4/7) 6-2 6-1 6-2 while 30th seed Feliciano Lopez narrowly avoided the same fate, beating fellow Spaniard Pablo Andujar 6-4 6-1 6-7 (5/ 7) 3-6 7-5.

Almagro, meanwhile, will meet American teenager Jack Sock after he reached round three at a grand slam for the first time with a 6-2 6-2 6-4 victory over Flavio Cipolla of Italy.

Open Men’s Singles Round 2 matches on Thursday Milos Raonic (Canada) beat Paul-Henri Mathieu

(France) 7-5 6-4 7-6(4) Jeremy Chardy (France) beat Matthew Ebden (Australia) 6-4 6-2 6-2 Marin Cilic (Croatia) beat Daniel Brands (Germany) 6-3 6-2 5-7 4-6 7-5 Mardy Fish (U.S.) beat Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) 4-6 6-7(4) 6-2 6-1 6-2 Jack Sock (U.S.) beat Flavio Cipolla (Italy) 6-2 6-2 6-4 Feliciano Lopez (Spain) beat Pablo Andujar (Spain) 64 6-1 6-7(5) 3-6 7-5 Martin Klizan (Slovakia) beat 5-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) 6-4 1-6 6-1 6-3 Nicolas Almagro (Spain) beat Philipp Petzschner (Germany) 6-3 5-7 5-7 6-4 6-4 Kei Nishikori (Japan) beat Tim Smyczek (U.S.) 6-2 6-2 6-4 Open women’s singles round 2 results Thursday Serena Williams (U.S.) beat Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (Spain) 6-2 6-4 Sloane Stephens (U.S.) beat Tatjana Malek (Germany) 5-7 6-4 6-2 Roberta Vinci (Italy) beat Yaroslava Shvedova (Kazakhstan) 3-6 7-5 7-5 gnieszka Radwanska (Poland) beat Carla Suarez Navarro (Spain) 4-6 6-3 6-0 Silvia Soler Espinosa (Spain) beat Irina Begu (Romania) 6-4 7-6(5) Ekaterina Makarova (Russia) beat Elena Vesnina (Russia) 6-3 6-4 Tsvetana Pironkova (Bulgaria) beat Ayumi Morita (Japan) 7-5 6-2 Andrea Hlavackova (Czech Republic) beat Galina Voskoboeva (Kazakhstan) 62 6-7(3) 6-3 Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) beat Bojana Jovanovski (Serbia) 7-6(3) 76(3) Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) beat Lara Arruabarrena Vecino (Spain) 6-4 6-2 Maria Kirilenko (Russia) beat Greta Arn (Hungary) 6-3 6-2 Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) beat Sofia Arvidsson (Sweden) 6-2 6-2

Page 30

Kaieteur News

BCB school bags for Sports Project

The recipients display their bags along with representatives of the donors.

The Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) on Tuesday last assisted 24 young cricketers with school bags under its Annual School bags for Sports Project.

The cricketers were drawn from clubs in Berbice and those receiving were from the Bush Lot United, Blairmont, Bermine, Albion, Young Warriors, Edinburgh and Police Cricket Clubs.

Sadly, no one from the Skeldon, Port Mourant or West Berbice clubs turned up to receive their bags despite being invited.

Chairman of the BCB Competitions Committee Carl Moore at the simple presentation ceremony urged the attentive players to stay in school and obtain a solid educational background since it is the key to success.

The Board, Moore stated was investing heavily in the personal development of the

youngsters since they would like to see them excel on and off the field while at the same time being proper Sports Ambassadors for Berbice and Guyana.

The game of cricket, Moore advised the youths that it is no longer about talent alone. He told them that an educated mind would achieve success on the cricket field.

Moore expressed gratitude to the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club and Dave Television Station (DTV-8) for their sponsorship of the project and described the donors as friends of Berbice cricket.

Secretary/CEO of the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club and Chairman of the BCB Special Events Committee Hilbert Foster stated that unlike the past when all the Board did was about cricket on the field, it is now investing into the development of education,

culture, social skills, youth development and cricket coaching.

The Board in 2012 has completed a total of 136 programmes/activities and Foster disclosed that several major projects would be unveiled shortly as they strive to maintain the high standards of the game.

Foster also stated that they would be placing special emphasis on the educational career of every player in the Ancient County, assisting when possible.

Keanu Adonis of the Bermine Cricket Club expressed profound gratitude to the BCB on behalf of his fellow recipients and praised the administration for looking after the welfare of its young players.

He pledged that they would continue to make education a key goal in life and would make the Berbice Board proud.

Golfers set to tee off in Unique Group tourney

Guyana’s best golfers are expected to come out in force this Saturday (tomorrow) from 12:30hrs for the Unique Group Golf Tournament sponsored by one of the country’s premiere importers of vehicles.

The dry weather has transformed the strategies of many of the top players who now have to approach the far harder greens with caution, while also enjoying greater distance off the tees.

Favourites to watch are Alfred Mentore who has vastly improved his accuracy off the tees, and Chatterpaul Deo who is on a winning streak and playing well below his 13 handicap.

And one can never rule out Mohan Dinanauth whose ability on the long drives gives him a great advantage.

This tournament begins what will be a packed calendar

for the month of September and October as players prepare for the marquee twoday events sponsored by Digicel and the biggest prize of all, the Guyana Open sponsored by Banks DIH. At the end of September a large group will travel to Suriname to play in the Paramaribo club’s invitational and it is hoped that Guyana will bring home some trophies competing on what is always a tricky course.

INIESTA WINS UEFA’S BEST PLAYER IN EUROPE AWARD (Reuters) - Andres Iniesta of Barcelona beat off a strong challenge from club mate Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid to be named on Thursday as UEFA’s Best Player in Europe last season.

Iniesta, 28, won the live poll, conducted by journalists from each of UEFA’s 53 member countries during the Champions League draw ceremony, to take the award that Messi won in its inaugural season last year.

The midfielder was also named as the Player of the Tournament following Spain’s victory in Euro 2012.

Barcelona’s Andres Iniesta (L) of Spain receives the Best Player UEFA 2012 award from UEFA President Michel Platini.

Friday August 31, 2012

RAF’S/MYO T10 Inter-Jamaat countrywide Softball Cricket....

2nd annual tourney starts Sunday The second annual RAF’s Variety Store sponsored Muslim Youth Organisation of Guyana organised Hajjin Zeleena Rafeek Memorial countrywide Inter-Jamaat Ten10 knock-out Softball Cricket tournament is set to bowl off on Sunday September 2 at two venues across Guyana.

In its inaugural year (2011) a total of 46 Masjids participated in a successful tournament that has been deemed the largest Inter Jamaat tournament of in Guyana.

Sponsor Br. Fazal Rafeek, has noted the enthusiasm that the competition has generated among the Masjids and this has motivated him to boost the prizes this year.

Defending champions, Adventure/JC Masjid captured the inaugural title having defeated Enmore by 32 runs and they will be aiming to go all the way again this year but will have to come with their A-Game consistently

as the other Masjids will also be eying the top prize.

THIS YEAR’S PRIZES ARE AS FOLLOWS: 1st Place- $300,000 + trophy; 2nd Place- $200,000 + trophy; 3rd Place- $ 100,000 + trophy; 4th Place- $ 50,000 + trophy; Man of the match (finals); Man of the match (3rd place); Man of the match (in all four quarter final matches)- trophy; Most wickets of the tournament;

Most runs of the tournament; Highest Individual Score; Best bowling figures.

Medals will also be presented to the teams reaching the finals which will be played under lights at the MYO Ground, Woolford Avenue, Thomas Lands.

Prior to the start of the tournament at the MYO Ground, sponsor Br. Fazal Rafeek will give brief remarks at the opening ceremony on Sunday.

FIXTURES FOR THIS WEEKEND’S MATCHES: Week 1- September 2 Zone C (Georgetown/East Coast) - MYO Ground 09:00hrs Ogle A vs Success 10:30hrs MYO vs Triumph Zone D (West Bank/West Coast/East Bank) - MYO Ground 12:00hrs Versailles vs Sisters Jamaat 13:30hrs Farm A vs Leonora 15:00hrs Old Mosque vs Lusignan Zone B (Berbice) - Chesney Ground 09:00hrs Fyrish A vs Albion B 11:00hrs Belvedere vs Fyrish Small Masjid 13:00hrs Canefield vs Rose Hall 15:00hrs Cotton Tree vs Albion A

NCN/BCB Inter Zone U-15 cricket tournament bowls off tomorrow After a prolonged delay due to the extended rainy season, the long awaited National Communication Network (NCN) sponsored, Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) Inter Zone Under–15 tournament will commence tomorrow.

In the opening fixture New Amsterdam/ Canje will clash with West Berbice at Blairmont Ground with Upper Corentyne taking on Lower Corentyne at the Area ‘H’ Ground.

For players to be eligible they must be born on or after September 1, 1996. National Under-19 opener Shimron Hetmeyer will lead the New Amsterdam/Canje team with support from Leon Andrews, Joseph Giddings and Kassim Khan.

The West Berbice team line-up will include Grieson Grant, Jason Johansen and Parmanand Ramdhan. A powerful Lower Corentyne team will be led by Daniel Lewis, Brandon Prashad, Balchand Baldeo and Tyrone Poornauth. Upper Corentyne’s challenge will centre around skipper Deon Esau, Jameel Jackman and Joshua Rawlins.

Both games will commence at 09:00hrs with the first innings being limited to 55 overs per side. The winners will clash in the finals next weekend while the losers will battle in the third place encounter.

TEAMS: New Amsterdam/Canje: Shimron Hetmeyer (Captain), Leon Andrews (Vice Captain), Kierre Henry, Enoch Carmichael, Joshua Giddings, Clifton Lindie, Robert Barrington, Omar Weatherspoon, Kevin Sinclair, Vedeshwar Mangra, Richard Henry, Gavin Moriah, Kassim Khan, Renaldo Adams, Ameer Khan, Jaleel Jaffar.

West Berbice: Parmanand Ramdhan (Captain), Grisean Grant (Vice Captain), Akeem Miller, Jason Johashen, Randy Wade, Kris Ramnarine, Adrian Singh, Navendra Singh, Bramdat Singh, Shazad Baig, Mohan Deodat, Mohamed Sibdhanie, Ramesar Somwaru, Randy Singh, Kendy Dhanraj.

Lower Corentyne: Daniel Lewis (Captain), Brandon Persaud (Vice Captain), Bachan Baldeo, Karran Singh, Javed Seecharran, Tyrone Pooranauth, Jason Anderson, Daniel Samaroo, Haresh Jaipaul, Joshua Harrichand, Veren Ramoo, Retesh Umrao, Kevindra Persaud, Azam Khan.

Upper Corentyne: Deon Esau (Captain), Rabindranauth Roopchand, Totaram Rajaram, Mohamed Deochan, Jaleel Jackman, Vadanand Sugrim, Yusuf Nicholson, Aleem Baksh, Rajiv Bickram, Javed Arichalaram, Whitney Fraser, Joshua Rollins.

Narine up for ICC award Colombo, Sri Lanka, CMCWest Indies off spinner Sunil Narine is among four cricketers shortlisted for the International Cricket Council emerging player of the year award, the ICC announced on Thursday.

The 24-year-old Trinidadian who made his test debut in June this year has been named with three other shortlisted nominees -New Zealand’s Doug Bracewell, Sri Lanka’s Dinesh Chandimal, and Australia’s James Pattinson.

In July, Narine claimed a career best haul of 5-27 to bowl

the West Indies to a 20-run victory over New Zealand in the fifth and final one-day international at Warner Park.

To qualify for the Emerging Player of the Year award a player must be under the age of 26 at the start of the observation period and have played fewer than five Tests, 10 ODIs or five T20Is at the start of the voting period.

Last year’s winner was West Indies leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo who took 40 wickets in his first year of Test cricket.

Sunil Narine

Friday August 31, 2012

Kaieteur News

Bobby’s Afterschool Programme gearing for return

O

ne of the main pilot projects for the development of basketball in Guyana, Bobby’s Afterschool Programme, which is still in its infancy after being birthed earlier this year, will return in the new school term at the Burnham Basketball Court.

The Programme, according to Coordinator, National Coach, Robert ‘Bobby’ Cadogan has shown steady growth and has gained momentum for its first seven weeks in the last school term and will return

Robert Cadogan on September 10 for instruction three days per (Continued on page 27)

Former WI Captain Lloyd turns 68 today - BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS ON AT DCC

F

ormer West Indies (WI) Cricket Captain Clive Lloyd will be celebrating his 68th birth anniversary today, during a ‘Club Nite’ hosted by Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) which will also use the occasion to continue its Centennial celebrations.

According to a source close to the club, Lloyd’s birth anniversary will headline the event and all are invited to come down to the venue to mingle with West Indies most successful Captain, who started his cricket career at the club.

DCC has a proud history of producing some of the most exciting cricketers who’ve gone on to represent Guyana and the West Indies among them being Lance Gibbs, Roy Fredericks, Mark and Roger Harper, Andrew Lyght and Lyndon Joseph. The club has also produced a number of junior

Clive Lloyd players who’ve represented Guyana and the West Indies as well and currently has a cadre of promising young players with immense talent.

The source added that in addition to meeting and chatting with the illustrious cricketer, fans and well wishers will also have the opportunity to partake in the food and drinks that will be provided for some period and enjoy the music available.

Page 31

t r o Sp

Shiv named Moleson Creek residents appeal for in ICC Test XI restoration of community playfield

Shivnarine Chanderpaul

The Moleson Creek Playfield.

D

ubai, United Arab Emirates, CMC – Veteran lefthander Shiv Chanderpaul has been named in the International Cricket Council’s Test Team of the Year, the only West Indies player included in the 12-man squad.

The 38-year-old, who averages 50 from 144 Tests, was included following a purple patch of form that saw culminated in his rise to the number one batsman in the ICC rankings back inApril.

The squad is captained by Australian Michael Clarke and also comprises the SouthAfrican pair of HashimAmla and Jacques Kallis, and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara for the third straight year.

“The team once again has a strong batting line-up, while the bowlers are a tough combination of pace and spin who could dismiss any line-up on any surface,” said legendary former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd, who chaired the selection committee.

“The process of selection was a difficult one, with a lengthy debate between the panel on all the top performances during the voting period and various combinations were considered.

“In the panel’s expert opinion, it has selected the best team based on performances over the past 12 months.”

The panel also included former Windies captain and stylish batsman Carl Hooper. During the period under preview – August 4, 2011 to August 6, 2012 – Chanderpaul scored 975 runs in 11 Tests at an average of 65 and struck two centuries.

During Australia’s tour of the Caribbean earlier this year, he went past 10 000 runs in Tests, only the second Windies player and the 10th in history to reach that mark.

He is only behind the prodigious Brian Lara who tops the list of Windies run-getters with 11 953.

Chanderpaul has 25 Test centuries, one behind the incomparable Sir Garry Sobers and nine adrift of Lara.

SQUAD – Michael Clarke (Aus, captain), Alastair Cook (Eng), Hashim Amla (SA), Kumar Sangakkara (SL), Jacques Kallis (SA), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI), Matt Prior (Eng – wicketkeeper), Stuart Broad (Eng), Saeed Ajmal (Pak), Vernon Philander (SA), Dale Steyn (SA), 12th Man – AB de Villiers (SA).

Road leading to the Moleson Creek Playfield.

R

esidents of Moleson Creek are calling on Government authorities to restore the playground which over the past months has been neglected.

Media operatives were recently taken on an escorted tour of the area where the residents pointed out the

improper management of infrastructure in the area.

The playfield is overtaken with dense foliage and is unfit for playing purposes.

This 2 acre plot of land once entertained a hob of sports activity the likes of football, volleyball and circle tennis among other disciplines had also sported a

400M track.

Sports officials had in the past hosted teams from Suriname, French Guiana, New Amsterdam and Georgetown but all of this is now fond memories. The ground is now swamped and covered with the tall grass while the pitch is hardly recognizable.

The new school term will

soon commence and athletes of those institutions will be preparing for the athletics season. Naturally, these students as well as residents of the community are optimistic that the relevant authorities would institute the necessary works to restore the field to a semblance of its former self.

Bolt and Blake cruise National female Lawn Tennis champion, to victory in Zurich conducting coaching as Jamaican duo set sessions in P. 29 P. meeting records 29 New Amsterdam

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