Kaieteur News

Saturday Edition

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December 01, 2012 - Vol. 6 No. 45 - Price $80 kaieteurnews@yahoo.com Website:http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com Guyana’s largest selling daily & New York’s most popular weekly

US$840M Amaila Falls hydro…

IMF warns govt. to ensure - wants “careful project makes considerations” of risks, contingent economic sense liabilities FIRE RAVAGES LUSIGNAN PROPERTY

9-mth-old Curacao 'cops’ snatch GRA gears baby eats US$11.5M in gold to pay tax cocaine from Guyanese boat refunds

Kaieteur News

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Saturday December 01, 2012

Fire ravages Lusignan a month after owner property - almost freed of wife's murder Fire of unknown origin yesterday destroyed the Lusignan Public Road, East Coast Demerara home of popular furniture owner and grass track racer, Dwarka Gangadin.

Eyewitnesses said that the fire started around 17:00 hrs in the western section of the two-storey structure.

One report stated that the building was unoccupied at the time, while another resident said that two children were in the eastern section of the building.

Fire tenders from the Campbellville, Alberttown and the Central Fire Station in Georgetown responded but arrived too late to save the building.

However, the firefighters prevented the blaze from spreading to the furniture store, located to the eastern side of the gutted house.

A neighbour of Gangadin's told Kaieteur News that he was at home when he saw flames coming from the western side of the house. He raised an alarm and some of the employees from G a n g a d i n ' s f u r n i t u r e store rushed over and tried in vain to gain access to the heavilygrilled building.

The neighbour said that he

summoned the fire service; then with water from tanks in the premises, attempted to douse the flames.

Residents alleged that the first fire tender arrived some 45 minutes later. By the time the other fire tenders arrived the western side of the building was already destroyed.

Gangadin also clambered to the top of the two-storey structure in a vain attempt to assist the firefighters, who took over an hour to get the blaze under control.

Workers and neighbours managed to remove some furniture and other items from the bottom flat and compound.

Gangadin was charged in 2010 for the murder of his wife, Bridgette, whose body was found near Vigilance, on the East Coast Demerara public road.

The grass track racer had told police that his wife had jumped from his truck and he accidentally drove over her body.

An autopsy performed by Government pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh indicated that the 29-year-old woman died from a fractured skull.

However, a second postmortem by Trinidadian pathologist Professor Hubert

Daisley suggested that Mrs. Gangadin was strangled.

Dwarka Gangadin was charged

and committed to stand trial, but was freed almost a month ago after the Director of Public Prosecutions

(DPP) reviewed the evidence and ruled that there was not enough evidence against the accused.

Saturday December 01, 2012

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Kaieteur News

Curacao 'cops' snatch US$11.5M in gold from Guyanese boat Masked gunmen, disguised as policemen, yesterday raided a fishing boat in Curacao and escaped with over US$11.5M in gold believed to have been smuggled through Guyana.

The boat captain, a Guyanese, was struck in the head in the early-morning assault before the thieves made off with the gold in three cars, Curacao's police spokesman Reggie Huggins said. Authorities believe there were at least six men involved in the heist. No suspects were in custody, an Associated Press (AP) story said yesterday.

Curacao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast.

The news would confirm the widespread belief of gold being smuggled from Guyana, to escape taxes, as the Guyanese authorities are denying permission was given recently to have gold transported via sea from Guyana.

High prices in recent years have made gold in high demand with the shiny metal being Guyana's biggest earner now.

According to the AP story, the captain and three crew members were from Guyana.

The boat, by its appearance, would seem an unlikely place to stash the 70 gold bars which weighed approximately 216 kilograms (476 pounds).

A senior official from the Guyana Gold Board, the government state agency charged with buying gold, said that they have received reports of the attack.

However, the official made it clear that no permission was given in recent times to have gold transported via sea out of Guyana.

According to Colin Sparman, an executive of the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA), permission is generally not granted for gold to be transported in this manner.

Rather, this is usually done, under heavy security, via air.

According to the AP story, Huggins declined to say who owned the approximately 216 kilograms (476 pounds) of gold.

The "Summer Bliss" is a fishing boat with rust streaks on its white cabin and no visible security. Huggins said it was a legal shipment that was being transshipped through Curacao and officials in the island had been advised in advance that it was coming as part of normal security protocols.

He declined to disclose the eventual destination of the metal.

"Authorities knew of the shipment because the official procedure was followed," the spokesman said. Huggins said that

The "Summer Bliss" fishing boat sits docked at the Willemstad Port in Curacao, on Friday. guards to the port area let the assailants inside a restricted area in the mistaken belief that they were customs officials. The men's jackets had the word "police" in English but in Curacao the word would be written in Papiamento, one of the is lan d ' s th r ee o ff icial languages, as "polis."

During the robbery, crew members said they wore hoods and masks and made off with the gold in a matter of minutes. "The crew said it was like a movie operation, very fast," Huggins said.

A crew member who gave his name as Raymond Emmanuel told the Associated Press that they

left Guyana four days ago and arrived early Friday in Curacao.

Contradicting police, he said they were delivering the gold to a company in Curacao but said he did not know the name of the business.

He referred questions

about the source of the gold to the captain, who was meeting with authorities on the Dutch Caribbean Island and not immediately available.

Emmanuel said the gold was locked away when the thieves boarded the vessel.

"They took everything," he

said.

The crew member said neither he nor anyone else on the vessel was armed. "This is normal," he said. "We never carry arms. Since I started working here, I've transported gold once before, and this is the system."

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Kaieteur News

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

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

EDITORIAL

Fighting the journalist The life of a journalist is perhaps the most hazardous when one considers that the journalist has to go behind the scenes to bring the stories that help fashion a country and keep the various governments in check. It is common knowledge that governments resent the exposure journalists give them unless the exposure is about those things that the governments want highlighted.

Even in the most democratic of countries, there are issues that governments would want to keep hidden. For example, there was the planned invasion of Cuba back in 1961, with support from the United States government under President John Kennedy, a group of Cuban exiles decided that they were going to invade Cuba.

History would record that it was doomed to failure. A reporter got wind of the planned invasion and of some of the details that involved both the United States and Nicaragua. The reporter was told that while the authorities could not stop him from publishing his story, he could cooperate by not going to press. The reporter chose the latter. The government was happy then but later, President Kennedy was to say that he regretted seeking the nonpublication of the information.

The reporter has often been the one to report on subversive acts by their governments and in the process, many were killed or jailed for long periods. In the United States, when two reporters with the Washington Post got wind of actions by the Richard Nixon Government, they broke what later became known as the Watergate Scandal. The actions by these reporters forced President Nixon out of office.

In Guyana, reporters broke the lid on what turned out to be corruption of gargantuan proportions. Needless to say, the government was not and still remains unhappy at the exposures.

Fortunately for the journalists in this country, they are not hounded by the state or killed in the execution of their duties.

It is this determination to expose those things that governments wish to hide that led a group to the Central Intelligence Unit set up by the government. This unit has been in the air for a long time. It was supposed to be the repository of the video footage provided by the cameras installed across the city.

The nation was told that the government and the law enforcement authorities would have been able to trace hijacked vehicles because in real time they would know whether it left the city. The nation was also told that these cameras would help detect criminal activities in and around the city. But this has not been the case.

Reporters investigating the Unit managed to walk all the way into the heart of the Unit, to the embarrassment of the government.

The result is that the government has called in the police. This has happened before during a previous administration. When a group of reporters entered a Guyana Sugar Corporation facility to investigate storage of what was deemed to be a dangerous drug, thallium sulphate, they managed to breach the security.

This was not a criminal act because there was nothing to prevent admission and the courts duly freed the reporters. Similarly, when some reporters happened to enter an unprotected crime scene the police decided to charge them for their (the police) own lack of proper measures. Again the courts let the reporters go.

The harsh reality is that the reporter is the most visible person in the society, even more than the politician. He is also the most feared and often the most disliked, sometimes by the very people in whose interest he works.

Many have been banned from certain institutions because they dared to be fearless. This is going to continue for as long as there are reporters and governments. On this occasion, the government is contending that its investigation hinges on the fact that the reporters allegedly told someone that they were entering the compound with the permission of the Home Affairs Minister.

Even if they lied, lying is not a crime except in certain conditions. For the government to seek to have the reporters placed in police custody is surely a case of excessive authority.

We know of extreme cases where governments shut down media houses because the reports do not coincide with the likes and dislikes of the government. Guyana should not sit by and allow any effort to silence the journalist.

This attempt to have the police investigate them is threatening.

Saturday December 01, 2012

Letters... Where your views make the news

WPO has the capacity to lead the struggle for women’s empowerment in Guyana DEAR EDITOR, The WPO is undoubtedly the largest, oldest and most militant women’s organization in Guyana, if not in the wider Caribbean.

Formed some 60 years ago under the dynamic leadership of Mrs. Janet Jagan, the organization has become synonymous with women’s struggle for a better and dignified existence.

That organization held its Congress on Saturday and Sunday last and as is now typical of all Congresses held by the WPO, it has once again served to re-energize its membership and infuse some new and younger blood into the organization.

The WPO has always been in the forefront in the struggle for women’s rights in Guyana. I recall the battle waged by the WPO during the days of indiscriminate bans on essential food items by the PNC regime.

Women were mostly affected since they are the ones primarily responsible for ensuring that there is food on the table.

The banning of wheaten flour, peas, milk and other items touched at the very core of a woman’s instinct to provide for her family, and the WPO as the premier women’s organization was understandably outraged by such assault on the people of Guyana, in particular women and children.

Then there was the struggle waged by the WPO to bring an end to compulsory National Service introduced

by the PNC which effectively prevented many women from acquiring higher education.

Those were the days when in order to complete University education or other tertiary education such as the Teachers’ Training College, it was compulsory to do a stint of paramilitary service in one or more of the several hinterland locations.

Many parents, in particular Indo-Guyanese, found this objectionable on cultural and other grounds and as a consequence, many young girls did not pursue higher education or had their programmes aborted prematurely.

I have vivid recollections of those days having completed a stint of National Service myself as a University student.

I am still to see the logic in putting students through the rigours of the drill square which has nothing to do with their academic or intellectual development.

I cannot say that I have benefitted in any significant way from such s e r v i c e which, in my opinion, was a waste of time and resources which could have been better spent.

The WPO has also played an integral role in the wider struggle for independence from colonial rule, and later on when the democratic rights of the Guyanese people were taken away by the PNC it played an active role along with that of its parent body, the PPP, for the restoration of democracy

in Guyana.

The organization has been a close and reliable ally in the struggle for the advancement and protection not only of women’s rights, but that of Guyanese as a whole.

This is the only Congress since the formation of the WPO some 60 years ago that the physical presence of former President and founder-leader of the WPO, Mrs. Janet Jagan, was not there. Mrs. Jagan had been a tower of strength and a source of inspiration for so many women who are today taking on the mantle of leadership of that organization.

These included persons such as Indra Chandarpal, who took over from Mrs. Jagan as General Secretary of the WPO and remained in that position until the recently held Congress when she was elected as President of that Organization. Ms. Sheila Verasammy has replaced her as the new General Secretary after having served as the Assistant General Secretary for a number of years.

The WPO as a women’s organization has come a long way since the 1950s when the country was still under colonial rule and later under dictatorial rule.

The WPO was actively involved in the liberation struggle of Guyana against colonialism, neo-colonialism and for the restoration of democratic rights.

As President Ramotar pointed out during his charge

to delegates and observers at the recently held Congress at the Diamond Secondary School, the organization must continue to be vigilant and mobilized, especially in the face of opposition attempts to derail the democratic process which the organization, along with the PPP, fought so hard and bitter to restore and consolidate.

The WPO over the years had produced some outstanding women who have served in senior positions in both party and government.

These included women such as Gail Teixeira, Indra Chandarpal, both of whom served as Ministers of Government, Philomena Sahoye-Shury, Patricia Benn, Shiela Verasammy Shirley Edwards, Christna Ramjattan, Mitra Devi Ali, Merlin Oudho, Rosanna Campbell, Sabra Basir, Bijuli Moti, A Veeren, Sandra Baldeo and so many others.

The WPO has demonstrated that it has the capacity to lead the struggle for women’s empowerment in Guyana.

This Congress will certainly serve to give further impetus to the organization in its mission to help create that environment in Guyana where there is genuine gender equality and where women would be provided with the opportunity to realize their full potential both as women and as active participants in the exciting task of nationbuilding.

Hydar Ally

Saturday December 01, 2012

Kaieteur News

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

Mr. Gill has missed the thrust of our letter DEAR EDITOR, We appreciate the reply of Mr. Harry Gill to our letter (The opposition remains conspicuously silent on City Hall’s incompetence KN/29/ 11/2012).

Unhappily, Mr. Gill has missed the thrust of our letter (The problem of improper disposal of waste is national KN/26/11/2012).

We have noticed the subtle political undertone of his reply. We do not mind that, but we are particularly concerned with those aspects of his letter that are more immediate to the work of the Mayor and City Council. It is here, we believe, that three points need to be made: 1. Mr. Harry Gill seems to have made up his mind about Council. It is unfortunate because he cannot be objective and reasonable in his approach to matters he is attempting to ventilate in the press.

This has been borne out in his letters on the council.

Therefore, further correspondence with Mr. Gill on the challenges we face as a city would be of little benefit to him. As a result, this would be our last reply to any letter on the council written by Mr. Gill.

2. Mr. Gill posited the need for an Interim Management Committee “…to manage the affairs of the city and to restore the pride we once had as Guyanese.” An Interim Management Committee is not the Holy Grail to the development and progress of the city.

We continue to insist that the problems of the city are wider than the Mayor and City Council. Many of the events and incidents affecting the interests of the city are beyond the control of the municipality. It is not an excuse; it is the current reality of the city.

In 1994, the Interim Management Committee headed by Dr. James Rose said that the city required a broader revenue base to fulfill its responsibility to the citizens of Georgetown. They engaged stakeholders in discussions and sought their cooperation and support to clean up Georgetown.

Eighteen years after, we have not been able to improve our revenue base. With a shallow treasury we are severely constrained in our efforts to provide core services for the city of Georgetown.

It is clear that we must

DEAR EDITOR, It is now one year since the election of President Ramotar, but after a most careful and comprehensive analysis of his performance to date, it is absolutely clear that he has under-performed.

His party’s entire strategy to rule over the people of Guyana rests on three facets; · A willingness to service their vested business interests at the expense of the economic and social interest of the poor and the working class.

That is why an illegality can be legalized retroactively and errant contractor on the Amaila Falls road can benefit millions. It is all about the Ponzi schemes that fettered away billions of dollars of the people’s money into the pockets of their close business buddies and family members; · A willingness to break any rule of law to entrench their perceived majority when the reality as instructed by the people is that they are a minority Government. To allow these acts of political shoplifting to continue will result in their attempts to impose their way on the 10th Parliament,

despite the direct wishes of the people. · Continuing to use the race card and individual fear to reward those in their favour and punish those who oppose them.

It is these three selfish acts that constitute the sum total of why the Jagdeo/ Ramotar regime cannot and will not do what Cheddi Jagan has set out to do, that is, to serve and protect the poor and the working class.

History has taught us that the business class is strong enough to take care of its interest but the poor and the working class need the protection and support of a Government as a facilitator to make their migration into the middle and upper class a reality. The evidence over the last decade reveals that this administration has ignored their calls for fairness and the equitable distribution of the state resources.

2012 is about to end and after one year in office, Ramotar has earned the title as the undisputed ‘do nothing president’. We remain hopeful that he will give up that title in 2013.

Dr Asquith Rose and Harish S. Singh

President Ramotar has an undisputed title he needs to give up

solicit the cooperation of stakeholders to advance the capital. We need a strategic partnership to account for the shortfall in revenue and to allow stakeholders to play their part in keeping the city clean and tidy at all times.

This would help us to reverse the negative trends, which have been gradually gaining ground in all local communities.

Yet, garbage is increasingly demanding more of our resources and affecting the way the city develops.

We pointed out that the current landfill site at Haags Bosch, seven miles from Georgetown, has restricted hours of operation and the delay in the turnaround time of our collection trucks and its rippling effects in local communities continue to contribute to illegal dumping in different sections of the city.

Also, we have shown that the vendors alone cannot be blamed for the disgustingly ugly state of the city; some big businesses are heavy

contributors to heaps of garbage in central Georgetown.

Wrappings and other packaging materials of popular brands are among the piles of garbage in the city.

Therefore, it would be unfair for any one, including Mr. Gill, to attempt to single out the vendors as the ones littering the city.

The city is fulfilling its mandate in the area of garbage collection. We collect garbage from households, parapets and roadsides in

communities in the capital.

For this year, for solid waste management, we budgeted 154 million dollars. So far, we have expended more than 100 million dollars of the budgeted sum.

Our challenge is to keep the city clean. This has to do with the attitudes and actions of citizens towards the environment. Most of our citizens are law-abiding and decent, but there are a few who are unfriendly towards the environment. Those are Continued on page 6

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Saturday December 01, 2012

Letters... Where your views make the news Letters... Where your views make the news Mr. Gill has missed the thrust... The shocking extent of our indecency and

From page 5 the ones who are hurting the city and causing the council to spend money to clean up instead of doing other developmental works.

3. Mr. Gill has included in his reply a newspaper article: “Massive fraud uncovered at M&CC- report (Kaieteur News, June 16, 2012).” We wish to admonish Mr. Gill not to be carried away by sensational newspaper headlines. We do not know for a fact that all the things stated in that report are accurate.

Precisely why the authorities had requested further investigations into that report. We await the final

outcome of those investigations. Therefore, it was wrong for Mr. Gill to use that report to comment on the performance of the council.

We make no further comment except this, that the council, the government, the private sector, religious organizations, community groups and citizens must work in a strong partnership to change the fortunes of this beloved city of ours. There is neither a shortcut nor a substitute to this approach.

We need to work together for a better, healthier Georgetown.

Royston King Public Relations Officer Mayor and City Council

desecration of the city of Georgetown

DEAR EDITOR, Another year will soon be gone and Guyanese are still left with the burdens of immorality, lawlessness, clogged drains, vagrants, junkies, flooding and tons of garbage in the once-upon-atime Garden City of Georgetown and across the land of many waters. The extent of our indecency has reached so high that every moment of the day someone can be seen either defecating of urinating publicly.

Over the past decade this situation has been nurtured by prominent individuals whose objectives are politically aligned and selfadvanced while property owners, businessmen and businesswomen, and conscious-minded persons strive to curb this appalling reality by expending billions of dollars, time and energy.

We all have travelled overseas and I have personally visited numerous cities in all of the continents of this world; however it is unfortunate for me to classify Georgetown, Guyana, South America as the most awful of all.

In this struggle, we must acknowledge and be very thankful to H.E. Brent Hardt, Ambassador of the United States of America, for initiating and sustaining the “Pick It Up Campaign” in an effort to return the capital city to a state of pride. I urge each Guyanese to support this initiative.

Nevertheless, each year property owners and business establishments are forced to remit to City Hall large sums of money in dues, rates and taxes, while most of us would never witness our garbage or drains being cleared by employees of City Hall. Instead, we would only hear of millions of dollars in budgetary shortfall, employees’ strikes and nonpayment of salaries, accusations of corruption and the demand of more government subventions.

The time has come for property owners, businessmen and businesswomen, and conscious-minded persons to join in the call for Local Government Elections and endeavour to put in office and authority persons whose

intentions and objectives are focused on accountability, justice, real development of a City and improving the sanitation in Georgetown.

Additionally, I am appealing for the immediate response from the Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown and the Ministry of Local Government for the removal of garbage, coconut shells and filth which continues to be dumped along Lombard, and in Bugle Street, Werk-en-Rust, (behind the former Guyana National Cooperative Bank building), and the de-silting of the drains along Lombard Street, Werk-en-Rust, and the City of Georgetown at large. This area, along with the entire capital, continues to be flooded with the minimum amount of rainfall, thus causing great inconvenience, loss of business, chaos and confusion to entrepreneurs, pedestrians, and hindered movement for school children, as well as shutting down of Schools, Government Ministries and Agencies.

I have made endless phone calls and sent

countless letters since 2005 on this escalating situation and continue to appeal for a sustainable mechanism to be implemented to curb this atrocious act exercised by the coconut vendors, their helpers and staff from the Cleansing Department of City Hall.

Unfortunately, to-date very little has been done. In the interim, many business owners and residents continue to bear the burdensome expenses to maintain the state of cleanliness around their respective premises.

I reiterate my appeal to the Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown and the Ministry of Local Government to be accountable to taxpayers, exercise justice and clean the areas as emphasized above, while implementing an effective, sustainable and efficient way in dealing with the coconut vendors and the villains who continue to violate the Laws of Guyana and desecrate the city of Georgetown.

Nazar Mohamed Managing Director Mohamed’s Enterprise

Saturday December 01, 2012

Kaieteur News

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Saturday December 01, 2012

Contractor abandons clearing back dam after five weeks Disgusted at the way contractors are executing works at the Backlands of La Harmonie, West Bank Demerara, residents say that it is becoming unbearable the way money is being spent by the government to only fill contractors’ pockets for minimal work.

“Now a contractor get $8M to clear and shape a dam that is 2,350 rods; they start six weeks ago and done already.

They only do 45 rods and all their machines are gone and we ain’t seeing nobody.”

Every year we go into Region Three and ask for them to get money to bulldoze the dam and clear it because the school children have to use it to go to La Harmonie Primary School.

- “People getting free money”La Harmonie residents La Harmonie is a farming community which has over 80 households. Thus, the dam is essential to access farming lands and the Primary School.

“If tractors or any vehicle go into there the overhead shrubs and bamboo with the overgrowth prevent anyone from reaching where they want to go, especially when it rains…this caused people to start using boat.”

A Hymac was used to clear a part of the area.

Residents said that the machine just parted some of the bushes and did nothing much to penetrate the real area

that needs to be cleared.

“When we went into the regional office and ask what is the specification of the area which is supposed to be cleared they (regional office) said that they can’t give we that. Some of them say the money wasn’t enough and the contractor could not have cleared the entire area!

“So is only the contractor benefits with money in he pocket; not the people that live here. If they don’t have all the money why put out a contract to do anything at all?

The place aint even do properly!”

Part of the dam which was haphazardly done.

Regional Chairman Julius Faerber visited the area and noted the sloppy work done.

Residents said that the

chairman even acknowledged that a bulldozer was supposed to be used but that the region doesn’t have the machine.

“How can the Government hire a contractor that doesn’t have the right equipment?” residents questioned. “Imagine is a Hymac they used instead and it look like the operator can’t even use it properly. The government say, report when we see thing ain’t going right and when we report is another thing altogether.”

Another issue raised was

the sea defence that is being done by another contractor.

Residents noted that the contractor is building a fourfoot wall to keep out the sea.

However, it appeared as if the contractor left the project 70 per cent completed.

When Chairman Faerber was contacted he recommended that a comment should be sourced from the Regional Executive Officer, Donald Gajraj. Gajraj was not in office for the entire day and was said to be at a meeting in the city.

Bel Air heist…

Defence grills state witness about phone call Defence Attorney Michael Somersall yesterday continued his cross-examination of Angela McPherson, who is a state witness in the trial of Bel Air robbery accused Chandrada Rampersaud.

The witness was asked how she recognized the person who made a call to the phone of Rampersaud’s daughter, Annie Ramsood, about half an hour before the robbery was committed.

Mc Pherson told the court that she is familiar with Rampersaud’s voice because she and the accused had worked together at Mr. Panday’s residence for about eight years.

The defense lawyer suggested to Mc Pherson that a person’s voice on the phone differs from how it sounds when the person is present.

She agreed with Mr. Somersall but said she is familiar with Rampersaud’s voice, as she usually calls for his daughter, Annie, at least once per week and she usually chats with Rampersaud.

She said that she saw the accused prior to the robbery in 2011 as she had lived in close proximity to Rampersaud and would often travel in the same bus to Georgetown.

Ms. McPherson said that one of the robbers had asked for a “boy cut hair lady” and she thought of Annie Ramsood’s mother, since she was

Chandrada Rampersaud the only person connected to the home with “boy cut hair”.

But Mc Pherson agreed when attorney-at-law Somersall suggested that she did not know if Chandrada Rampersaud had “boy cut hair” at that time since she was not employed at the Panday’s home then. Ms. Shaleta Lall, who was cross-examined after McPherson left the stand, and who stated that she was present when the robbery occurred, also stated that one of the robbers had asked for the “boy cut hair lady”.

She also said at that time the only “boy cut hair lady” she thought about was Chandrada Rampersaud.

The defence then sought permission from Magistrate Priya Sewnarine Beharry to continue cross examination at another date. The matter continues in January 2013.

Saturday December 01, 2012

Kaieteur News

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IT WAS BEING SAID ALL ALONG BY THIS NEWSPAPER We did not need the International Monetary Fund to express the hope that steps are taken to ensure that the Amaila Falls Hydropower project is viable.

Glenn Lall has been saying this for a long time now and has gone as far as saying that it is overpriced.

It was expected that the opposition parties would have heeded his warning and taken steps to ensure that the price tag for this project was reasonable and would have justified the returns that are expected from the facility when completed.

The opposition, however, seems more interested in the much lower-cost Marriott Hotel rather than the Amaila Falls Hydroelectric Project which is expected to be the largest investment ever made in Guyana.

Over the years, the decision of government to undertake certain projects has raised suspicion, particularly since with each major project there have been controversies about whether the project is another milking cow and questions about just whose interests these projects are serving.

The PPP in recent years has been undertaking large scale projects but these projects have not served the interests of the people of

Guyana. Instead, they have fattened a goose that was already fat. The Berbice River Bridge is a prime example of a project which promised to improve the lives of the people of Berbice but which has failed to do so. In fact for the vast majority of the people of Berbice, the bridge is much too expensive to use.

It is the same thing with the multi-million-dollar Skeldon Sugar Factory. That factory was supposed to be part of the efforts to turn around the sugar industry.

Instead, it has become a huge burden to the taxpayers of this country with the government having to bail the industry out when for years, it was the levy that was imposed on the sugar industry that helped to keep the economy afloat.

No one therefore needs the IMF to signal concern about the need for those behind these projects to prove that they are viable. This newspaper, led by Glenn Lall, has been single-handedly doing this.

The opposition parties need to now state where they stand on this project because it seems that ever since the government arranged that confidential briefing for them, they have gone silent on Amaila Falls. They need to say whether they will support

Dem boys seh ...

Some of dem ain’t getting nutten fuh Christmas The Christmas season really begin but some people wouldn’t have a good Christmas. Just like de song seh, you better do good because Santa Claus coming to town. Well whole year dem do bad things. Dem fool people how dem close to sealing de hydro deal; how dem clearing dem canal suh when de rains come de place wouldn’t flood; and how dem improve de medical facility.

Instead, dem hustle de money fuh buy de drugs fuh de hospital. One man tek money and he didn’t supply no drugs and de government tun a blind eye. Dem boys seh that was de same time Uncle Donald glasses get fog up.

Then dem had de others who set up an airline that offer cheap flight. Dem fly like if dem own de skies and when enough people pay dem lock off de money and shut down de airline. Is only because de States suh big that dem ain’t sleeping in jail wheh Christmas is one time when you got to tek wha you get and not wha you can afford.

That is only part. Some of dem do other things like molest people young children. Dem in Santa bad books like de one who stand up and lie how he love Guyana. Well dem boys seh that just like how flea love dog, de king Bee really love Guyana. De flea does feed off de dog and de king Bee feeding off Guyana.

This is a man who start wid nutten now he is one if not de richest man in de whole Caribbean. He sell house that nobody ain’t really buy; he build a house that bigger than most in Guyana and he now building de biggest office anybody own in this country.

He really don’t want nutten fuh Christmas because he done tek everything fuh 100 Christmas to come. But still, Santa don’t like dishonesty. And all of dem who do bad wid he don’t really want nutten but dem greedy and dem would tek even dem mother share.

Talk half and wait fuh de backlash

this project or not and whether they feel that the price tag justifies the eventual cost for which power will be sold to the national grid.

It can no longer be assumed that those who are pushing this project have the interest of the people of Guyana at heart. If they did, then the Berbice River Bridge would have been built ten years before it was and it would have been built using a different model.

It seems shocking that the government is putting US$20M into a hotel project

that will compete with the private sector and which could very well end up being a white elephant with taxpayers holding worthless paper, at yet the government could not ensure that the bridge that was built across the river provides cheaper service to commuters.

It is nonsense to compare the tariffs with an inefficient and costly ferry service. The very reason why the bridge was built was because of the inefficient ferry crossing.

Therefore, the tariffs to traverse the bridge cannot and

should not be compared with that of the ferry.

But since the bridge is virtually privately owned, there is little that can be done.

And this is the problem with large scale investments that the government has lined up.

It is primarily serving private interests.

This, of course, is something that the IMF supports. The body would love nothing better than for all major projects to not involve the government. But even with private participation in the Amaila Falls

Hydroelectric facility, the IMF has still seen it fit to raise implied concerns about the viability of the project.

And while the IMF was very guarded in its language, it has vindicated what was being said all along by the publisher of this newspaper.

Their concerns should be a warning to all, especially those who feel that these projects should be about partnering with the private sector.

Page 10

Kaieteur News

Saturday December 01, 2012

Cabinet alarmed over maternal deaths - Health Minister tells Midwives’ Conference The issue of maternal and infant mortality has been gaining the attention of Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon. At least this is according to Minister of Health, Dr. Bheri Ramsaran, who said, yesterday, that the matter has even been up for intense discussion at the level of Cabinet.

He said, “We are somewhat alarmed at the level of Cabinet about the maternal mortality deaths...We have been agitated by this since around November 2010 when there were two consecutive media reports of maternal deaths....”

The Minister who was at the time addressing the 2012 Midwives Association conference at the Regency Suites/Hotel, Hadfield Street, Georgetown, yesterday was at pains to highlight that “...Cabinet and I am displeased that since June of this year I have not received a single r e p o r t c o n c e r n i n g even those high profile maternal deaths.”

At the moment there are laws, according to the Minister, which require that certain officers do certain things when there is a maternal

death. However, even outside of this mandate, he stressed that there should have been moves by midwives to “want to know what the analyses of such cases are...”

“How could you speak of changing and tweaking legislations when you do not know of the basic legislations that have existed for many years?” asked the Minister as he adopted a defensive stance which saw him lashing out at the inaction of the Association to complete a refined draft of legislations which speaks to the issues of maternal mortality as well as that of under five mortality.

The Minister said, yesterday, to the gathering of midwives, that he is now under pressure to put punitive measures in place because of the failure on the part of health officials to provide him with needful reports.

“I have been writing around to find out where are the reports because it is looking like I am soft and I don’t like that,” warned the evidently incensed Minister.

He added that the unfortunate instances of maternal deaths are in fact

prevalent at tertiary institutions rather than in hinterland locations. “I don’t remember when last I lost a woman in the bush (hinterland).”

Against this background the Minister said that efforts should have long been made to adopt a problem-based learning approach rather than ignoring the existing problems.

He further alluded to instances where the ideal mode of operation was not utilised leaving much to be desired in the health sector.

Turning his attention to the Association members in attendance yesterday, the Minister posited that “your leadership should be thirsty to review these cases at Continuous Medical Education (CME) sessions.”

Minister Ramsaran in his tactical presentation contended, “There are lots of tidying-up that needs to be done but still for a protracted period I have been advising your leadership to get to you copies of legislations....I have spoken of this with your leadership cadre not once but several times to get it done...that is basic, is it not?”

A section of the midwives in attendance yesterday he questioned the gathering.

It is the Minister’s belief that members of the Association should seek to be armed with relevant legislations, adding that in some cases where there are contentious issues in Parliament such as those dealing with abortion and teenage pregnancy, midwives should in fact flock to the galleries of the decision making House.

This practice, he claims, is currently non-existent. “We need to be good citizens; we need to know our legislations and have continuous working

groups as it relates to legislative reform,” urged the Minister.

The midwives’ conference which was held under the theme “Improving Women’s Health in Guyana” saw representation from a number of organisations including the International Confederation of Midwives in the person of Ms. Frances Ganges; the United Nation Population Fund in the person of Mr. Derven Patrick.

Also in attendance were Acting Director of the Ministry of Health’s Health Sciences Education Division, Mr. Wilton Benn and Director

of Maternal and Child Health, Dr. Janice Woolford.

The Midwives Association of Guyana was formed out of the need for midwives to take responsibility for the development of the profession and the provision of quality midwifery services.

On May 6, 2009, the body was officially launched and since then midwives have organised and conducted continuing education sessions and held yearly conferences which also provides an environment for fostering unity and networking.

Saturday December 01, 2012

Kaieteur News

Rohee to sit on Privileges Committee Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee will form part of the government team in the committee of privileges which will determine if the House can sanction him, Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon said yesterday.

Last week, Speaker of the House, Raphael Trotman, ruled that Minister Rohee would not be allowed to introduce legislation in the House until the Committee decides if the House has the power to sanction him.

But Trotman made it clear that Rohee was not being

silenced, or gagged, as is being claimed by the government. Trotman said that if Rohee wants to speak on any matter before the House he would be allowed to, and that the restriction is merely confined to the introduction of legislation until the Committee of Privileges comes to a decision.

But the government is holding on to its claim, with Dr Luncheon yesterday calling the decision “gross.”

As far as the government was concerned, the Speaker’s ruling was that “the House could and would and did silence a

Nine-month-old baby eats cocaine Police have mounted an investigation as to how a ninemonth-old baby from Buxton, East Coast Demerara ate cocaine.

According to reports the child was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) around 10:00hrs yesterday after her mother realized that the child was ‘acting strange’. The Buxton resident also saw a portion of “white” substance coming out from her child’s mouth. Upon

examination it was discovered that the infant had chewed a small portion of the cocaine. She is now at the hospital’s Pediatric Ward.

A source from the hospital told this publication that the child’s mother had gone somewhere when the infant reportedly crept and found the cocaine. It was also reported that the substance belonged to a family member. The police are conducting their investigation.

member,” namely Rohee.

With the government refusing to budge on the vote of no confidence against Minister Rohee, the opposition had moved to the House seeking to have the Minister barred from speaking.

Opposition Leader, David Granger, took a motion to the National Assembly stating that the National Assembly has the power to sanction a member and those powers should be invoked against Minister Rohee against whom the opposition-led National Assembly has voted “no confidence.”

After a lengthy debate, the Speaker ruled that Standing Order 91 deals with matters which appear to affect the power or privileges of the Assembly and as such a Committee of Privileges would be best to determine if the Assembly has the power to restrict the privilege of any member. The committee would be convened with the Speaker as Chairman along with five members from the opposition and four members from the government side of the House.

The government has moved to the court to quash Trotman’s decision.

Page 11

Hurricane Sandy had little or no effect on shipping industry - GM Christmas barrels

For the past few days things have been “hectic” down at the Laparkan Freight Forwarding Division, Georgetown, and according to the company’s General Manager, Oscar Phillips, things will get busier in the coming weeks.

According to the General Manager, Christmas is a few weeks away and everyone wants to get barrels or packages as soon as possible.

He added that whenever there is a delay in shipment, there is a rush at the company.

For this week, more than 200 barrels have arrived in Guyana.

He added that his

company is aware of the increase in volume and everything is under control.

“Most of the commercial goods has arrived already and have been cleared”.When asked whether Hurricane Sandy affected the volume of goods arriving from North America, he said “I don’t know how much impact the hurricane had but in my mind, it would not have much impact because there is still the same volume of goods coming in from North America.”

According to Phillips, the cut-off point for shipment of goods leaving New York is this week. But for customers who like to shop late, there is

another service available. It’s the “Await Cargo Service.”

This allows people to shop late and still get their cargo shipped to their family.

He added that Laparkan provides a new service which allows a person to purchase items online. “You can purchase online on your private mailbox at Laparkan and when the cargo gets here we clear and deliver it to you.”

The General Manager said that the online service was introduced a while back but it is now becoming “effective.”

Kaieteur News understands that the system has been in place to combat the Christmas season rush.

Page 12

Kaieteur News

MUSE or AMUSE

The sickness of Health & Becky’s Internationale A year of this Government has passed by without fanfare – simply because there is nothing to be proud about. A couple of weeks ago our column was not amused at the poor performance of the President. As we start to examine the Cabinet and the various ministries, we will provide their scorecard to you the readers. Today let’s look at health and the Minister of Health.

One year as senior Minister of Health - zero progress, no change in procurement deals, no improvement in health care across the country.

Scorecard: ZERO. In fact, let’s correct that to read scorecard: MINUS 50.

The negative score stems from the distasteful success in creating an atmosphere of fear and ill-will at the MoH, resulting in numerous persons leaving the job over the year.

Ladies and Gentlemen, if we have to, we would recognize Best Health Minister of Guyana as Gail Teixeira. Gail was the MoH who, not only led from the front, but took over the Ministry from the long PNC rule and so faced huge challenges.

Past Minister of Health

Ramsammy’s long tenure has now been exposed as a failure in his inability to provide leadership as Minister of Agriculture. In fact, Leslie seems to be lost in the forests, the cane or weeds or something. But out of the forest and back to our failing health.

There is a deep sickness, a sore, a cancer in the entire health system. It is eating away at the procurement process, eating away at the hospitals and is affecting the performance and attitude of the health workers.

Pride, professionalism, ethics – these are qualities that are evaporating from the health sector. The Minister could not “shake a pilot out of a tree” to medivac a needed case to Georgetown, but could have done so at another instance when it suited him.

Health Institutions across the country are undermanned, improperly managed and underutilized – while the poor people of this country continue to suffer.

This sickness must be identified. As the saying goes, “fish rots from the head” and so, the Minister must take responsibility for the rot at the top that has infected the

system. Unless the President of Guyana becomes proactive in some of these areas, there will be total collapse of the already ailing systems.

And, as we are on the topic of health, the waiting times for medical attention continue to increase, notwithstanding the increasing numbers of medical doctors in the system. Either the system is really ailing or the doctors are not performing. And, when they do perform, some of them treat the poor patients worse than some vets treat their patients.

“Fail” is the grade for the entire Health Ministry.

Obviously the man who runs the “getting it right” programme on TV simply cannot get it right with his job. Mr. President is this the best you can do? We are not amused!

On to another episode and encounter with Rebecca.

I met Rebecca again (remember the ‘sanders’ story?). This time Becky was singing the Internationale. Her words were totally incorrect but totally befitting to the Guyana scenario. Becky was singing, “Arise ye stalwarts from your slumbers….”

You know I am amused.

Saturday December 01, 2012

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

Question #1: I was in removal proceedings in the U.S. and took voluntary departure but never left the U.S. I am currently married to a U.S. citizen. Can I apply for a green card?

Answer #1: T h e answer to your question depends on when your voluntary departure order was issued.

However, in general, if you agree to voluntary departure and do not leave the U.S. within the specified time, then the voluntary departure order automatically turns into a removal order.

You will not be eligible for adjustment of status or to apply for a green card in the U.S. once the removal order is active. A possible option is filing a motion to reopen your prior case and rescinding the removal order.

Question #2: I lost my

wallet with my green card, driver’s license and social security card. How do I apply for a new green card?

Answer #2: It is good practice to copy your green card (front and back) and keep it in a safe deposit box.

It is the law to carry your green card with you at all times so don’t think about leaving it at home or in a safe deposit box.

Once you have your alien number, you can apply for a replacement green card.

The process can take three to six months and the filing fee is $450.

Question #3: I am a green card holder and every time I enter the U.S. the officer takes me into a room for secondary inspection where they ask me questions and look at the computer?

Answer #3: S e c o n d inspection is conducted when the U.S. Custom and Border Protection officer sees something in your alien file that indicates that you may be inadmissible into the U.S. or the officer has questions about a note in your file.

If you believe there is an error in your alien file and you would like it corrected then file a redress claim by visiting

Gail S. Seeram www.dhs.gov/trip.

Question #4: I am married and living with a U.S. citizen and he has not filed a sponsorship petition for me?

We have two children together who are U.S. citizens.

I entered the U.S. with a visitor’s visa but overstayed and have no status. My husband is verbally and physically abusive to me and the children. Do I have any options to self-petition on my own?

Answer #4: Yes, under the Violence Against Women Act, an abusive spouse can self-petition for a green card.

Note, you will be required to provide the abuse and submit evidence to document the abuse.

It is not required that you have a petition pending or that your spouse filed a sponsorship petition for you.

Contact our office for a consultation.

Saturday December 01, 2012

Kaieteur News

Polygraph test for OLPF staffers - Luncheon

Several staff members from the One Laptop Per Family who were “implicated” in the disappearance of more than a hundred laptops, will have to undergo a “polygraph” test to determine who had knowledge about the missing items.

The announcement was made yesterday by Head of the Presidential S e c r e t a r i a t , D r. R o g e r Luncheon, at his weekly press briefing at the Office of the President. According to Dr. Luncheon, the staff members who are implicated

in the scandal were notified about government’s intention of conducting the “integrity testing”.

He told the media that they had used the conventional method, but were unable to ascertain who were culpable.

He said that Government believes that the polygraph test would assist in locating the persons responsible.

Luncheon further noted that the examination would be done before year end.

Some six staffers were sent home back in August after the laptops disappeared. The

police were called in, but no arrests were made. The OLPF programme is facilitating the distribution of 90,000 computers to poor families.

Margo Boyce, who has been associated with the OLPF and has been working from the Office of the President, was appointed as Project M a n a g e r t h r e e Wednesdays ago.

Her appointment came five months after “tensions” forced out Sesh Sukhdeo, who had a similar contract at the Office of the President.

Guyanese nationals in Antigua scoff at plans to lure them home (AntiguaObserver) – Guyanese living here say they’re not budging from Antigua and Barbuda unless the government in Georgetown provides them with proper incentives to woo them back to their homeland.

That was the general consensus of the many nationals of the South American country who attended a meeting on Wednesday night, chaired

by Director General of Guyana’s Foreign Affairs M i n i s t r y, A m b a s s a d o r Elizabeth Harper.

That ministry, in collaboration with the International Office of Migration (IOM), is seeking to garner the interest of the Guyana diaspora to contribute to the economic development of the country in whatever way possible.

But the nationals in attendance at the Halcyon by Rex Resort on Wednesday failed to buy into the concept presented. Instead they had many questions as to what perks or incentives would be implemented for their return.

“I have listened and recorded both presentations

Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Elisabeth Harper and there was absolutely nothing that will entice those of us who’ve left Guyana for various reasons to go back; I was very disappointed that after both presentations I did not hear anything in that light,” an individual said.

Another national demanded numbers to indicate how many jobs will be available to returning

citizens.

“We are all Guyanese; we want to see numbers, for example, whether or not you’re looking to hire 100 masons, 200 carpenters. We want to see specifics so that we can act; we don’t want to go through the fact-finding missions.”

By the end of the evening, most of the participants left the room with a sense of displeasure on their faces.

However, Ambassador Harper sought to clarify the programme saying attendees clearly misunderstood the concept.

“We said we were launching a Guyana Diaspora Project (GUYD) and we explained what it is. Some people felt that we were here to say we have some jobs back home come now, I guess it’s just the way people understand things,” Ambassador Harper said.

The Guyanese government hopes the project will engage the Guyana Diaspora all over the world. It involves collecting data relating to skills, experiences, return interest and plans of nationals living overseas.

Page 13

Kaieteur News

Page 14

Saturday December 01, 2012

IMF warns govt. to ensure project makes economic sense

US$840M Amaila Falls hydro…

- wants “careful considerations” of risks, contingent liabilities

T

he International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called on Government to take steps to ensure the economic viability of the multimillion-dollar Amaila Falls hydro-power project.

The recommendations were noted in a statement from the fund yesterday on the recently concluded Article IV consultations with Guyana, a member

state.

IMF’s examinations are carried out primarily through annual consultations between Fund staff and member governments and central banks.

These meetings are known as Article IV consultations, as they form part of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement. On November 9, IMF’s Executive Board

concluded these negotiations with Guyana.

Speaking on the Amaila Falls project which is expected to cost upwards of US$840M and will become Guyana’s most expensive project ever, IMF said that based on findings they are recommending “steps to ensure that the Amaila Falls Hydropower project is economically viable.”

For an operation to be

economically viable, it simply means that it must be able to earn enough revenues to meet its expenditure.

IMF’s Executive Board also “recommended careful consideration of the risks and contingent liabilities arising from that project, and welcomed the authorities’ efforts to pursue international best practices in its management.”

There have been critical concerns over the costs of the Amaila Falls project, set to be built in Region Eight.

The project which will include creating reservoir, building a station and running transmission lines to the coast, has been described as a key project, by government, to help reduce electricity costs and ensure a stable supply.

The peak demand in Demerara for power is around 80 megawatts.

Of special concern also is whether the costs of the project and the terms of repayment of the loans that would be financing it, would not see electricity costs soaring in Guyana… never mind the savings on imported fossil fuel for generators that would be made with the advent of the hydro.

Costs for financing the loans, interests and insurance take a significant portion of loans pushing the final figure now around US$840M. Fluctuations of the dollar could see the costs rising even more.

The 165-megawatt project is to be built in Region Eight and according to Sithe Global, the USbased developer; IDB will be plugging in US$175M, from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Funding for the project is coming from a number of sources including US$100M

in equity from the Guyana Government.

The project has been dogged by delays ranging from financial closure to the completion of the roads leading to the project site at Amaila Falls.

It will be recalled that in J a n u a r y, G o v e r n m e n t dismissed the contractor, Synergy Holdings, after delays and failure to acquire a performance bond in time.

Government had to re-issue the road projects in four separate contracts. It is unlikely, given the weather and harsh terrain, that the mid-2013 deadline for the hydro project to start, will be met.

China Development Bank will be providing US$413.2M. Sithe Global will be providing US$152.1M. The total capital costs for the project, according to the Sithe Global officials earlier this year, will be US$652.5M, taking into consideration additional construction, development, start-up, as well as a contingency.

The remaining US$187.8M will go towards financing costs which include interest during construction (US$97.1M), lenders fee and advisory cost (US$34.9M), and debt political risk insurance (US$55.7M).

The plant is expected to cost US$314M, with the transmission lines demanding some US$126M. The additional US$79M is for currency adjustments.

At a projected average tariff of US$101M, the plant is expected to rake in more than US$2B over the 20year period on the Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) life of the project.

The plant is slated to last for at least 75 years.

Saturday December 01, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 15

South Ruimveldt man jailed after OP, Luncheon controls John Fernandes cocaine bust Intelligence Agency Dennis Jones, 58, of Lot 239 Cane View Avenue, South Ruimveldt, Georgetown, was yesterday jailed for attempting to smuggle a quantity of cocaine found in a shipment of soap powder bound for Africa last Thursday.

Jones appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry and admitted to his involvement in the recent drug bust at the John Fernandes wharf. Jones pleaded guilty, to attempting to traffic in 327.780 kilograms of cocaine.

Customs Anti Narcotics Unit Prosecutor, (CANU) Oswald Massiah, told the court that the discovery was made after the accused went to the John Fernandes Wharf to ship a container of laundry detergent to the Niger Republic, Africa. The

Dennis Jones prosecutor said that the container was booked for the usual examination by workers of the Customs Unit.

On Thursday as the Customs Officers were going through the Breeze Multi Active and Breeze with Comfort Aloe Vera packages

of soap powder, they found a sack of breeze laundry detergent that felt unusually heavy.

Upon checking the packet a transparent plastic bag containing a white powdery substance was unearthed.

The substance was examined and later tested positive for cocaine. CANU officers were called in and at least six more packets containing the narcotics were found. The drugs amounted to 327.780 kilos of cocaine.

In a statement to the press yesterday, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) estimated street value of the drugs to be at least US$10M. Further investigations by the income tax authority revealed that the commodity was purchased from Bryden and Fernandes Limited and delivered to Mr. Dennis Jones’s residence and later (continued on page 16)

Overseas-based Guyanese reaches out to St. Francis Developers Mr. Sahaboob Yassin and wife Rameeza as they present the IPods to SFCD President Alex Foster

Days after doling out more than $1M and presenting a number of desktop and laptop computers and other accessories to the people of Linden, New York-based Guyanese Sahaboob Yassin, has followed up on another promise.

He has donated 10 IPods and one mini IPad to St. Francis Community Developers (SFCD) organisation.

The simple presentation ceremony was held last Saturday at the newly commissioned SFCD state of the art multimillion-dollar headquarters at Portuguese Quarters, Corentyne, Berbice.

Yassin, who hails from East Bank Berbice, presented the Ipods to President of the SFCD Alex Foster.

Accompanying Yassin was his wife, Rameeza.

The man who was a

school teacher before migrating to the USA is still a member of the United Nations Association of Guyana.

Yassin stated that he always has the penchant to assist and to give back, especially to his country. He said that he prefers to remain a member of the Guyanese chapter instead of joining the USA section of the organisation.

He is currently assisting with about five projects in Guyana including projects in Linden, Agricola, East Bank Berbice and the Transport Sports Club in Georgetown and the Youth Coalition for Transformation (YTC) and is on the verge of a few more.

He is willing to continue his benevolence, but wants to work with reputable organisations.

Yassin stated that he visited the SFCD a few

months ago and was overwhelmed, thus his willingness to work with the SFCD. He said that it is a privilege and an honour to work with organisations such as the SFCD and is willing to foster more projects with the august body.

Foster expressed appreciation and heartfelt thanks to Mr. Yassin for responding so quickly. Foster stated that Yassin is one of few Guyanese who would have kept a promise to the Organisation. He expressed the hope that Yassin’s generosity and compassion can rub off on many other Guyanese in the diaspora in their quest to assist their brothers and sisters in need back home.

A plaque was presented to Mr. Yassin and his wife on behalf of The SFCD organisation.

The Office of the President and Dr. Roger Luncheon manages the National Intelligence Unit, it was announced yesterday by Dr. Luncheon himself. Dr. Luncheon chairs the Central Intelligence Committee.

He said that no head has been yet identified for the National Intelligence Agency and as such, authority for the managing of the agency is reposed in the Office of the President and him, Luncheon.

The Cabinet Secretary said that due to budgetary constraints, certain “developments” slated for the agency have been delayed.

The issue as to who heads the Agency came into focus this week when Police, acting on a complaint by Dr. Luncheon, launched an investigation into how reporters of the independent daily Stabroek News gained access to the agency’s building The Guyana Press Association (GPA) said that the move was an attempt to intimidate journalists.

Police questioned the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Anand Persaud, and asked for statements from the two reporters. In addition, the

- Luncheon says Stabroek News reporters lied to get in

Dr. Roger Luncheon newspaper’s driver was held briefly and his car was also impounded at the headquarters of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID).

The agency building is located in the compound of Castellani House, which houses the National Art Gallery. The entrance to the agency is the same entrance to the Art Gallery.

Dr. Luncheon said that on

arriving at the facility, the reporters said that they gained approval from Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee, but Rohee denied that he approved any such visit.

“Our investigations have established beyond any doubt on our side that indeed they did say that the minister sent them,” Luncheon stated.

He said that the Police involvement in the matter has to do with the “the very critical importance” of the unit and “to disabuse minds out there that they indeed can undertake a simple jaunt into the NIC, and use the minister’s name at will for purposes unclear and unknown to us.”

However, Luncheon said that no law was broken.

“Anywhere else in the world where the headquarters of the intelligence centre of a nation is approached under such circumstances it would be most unlikely that the authorities would baptise, condone, ignore such an event.”

Page 16

Kaieteur News

Saturday December 01, 2012

Newspaper vendor, farmer honoured by New Amsterdam Rotary Club …doctor inducted

By Samuel Whyte Over the years the Rotary Club of New Amsterdam has, each year, been recognising citizens who have shown exceptional dedication to their profession or vocation. These awardees are presented with the Rotary Club’s Vocational Service awards.

This year the club honoured two people, a newspaper vendor and a farmer. It also inducted a doctor into the fold.

The two men honoured were (Kaieteur) Newspaper vendor, Omkardath Seenauth, 52, of Ankerville, Port Mourant, Corentyne. He has been in the newspaper business for over 33 years. The other awardee was farmer Durjodhan Seokaran, 59, of Mara, East Bank Berbice.

Seokaran has been into farming for over 45 years.

Omkardath Seenauth receiving his award from President Rabindra Sookraj The two were recently recognised by the Rotary Club of New Amsterdam for their long and dedicated service in newspaper vending and farming in Guyana.

The ceremony was held at

State House, in New Amsterdam. Presiding over the function was President of the New Amsterdam Rotary Club, Robindra Sookraj.

Seenauth took to the newspaper business because

South Ruimveldt man jailed after ...

From page 21 transshipped to the John Fernandes Limited Terminal for packing into the container.

The consignee was Mr. Okeke Michael Okwudili, 26 Nacho Shed, Maladi, Niger.

In response to the charge, a composed Jones stated that he accepted what the prosecutor said and took full

responsibility for his actions.

He was represented by Attorney–at-Law Mark Waldron who asked the court for leniency.

The court also learnt that the defendant had served time in the United States after he was found guilty of conspiracy to traffic in narcotics. As a result of that conviction Jones was

deported to Guyana. The Magistrate sentenced Jones to four years’ imprisonment together with a fine of $30,000.

This incident follows close on the heels of one man being jailed and another being remanded in connection with a shipment of cocaine in coconut milk which left Guyana and was intercepted

Dorjodhan Seokran receiving his award he wanted to be independent and have more time for himself. The father of two attended the Central Corentyne High School where he obtained passes in six subjects at the GCE O Levels in 1978.

He stated that he had many offers to work but refused. He in Malaysia. On Thursday Luknauth Danesar, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment and fined $30,000. Danesar of 1 Coldingen, East Coast Demerara was jointly charged with Vijay Bisraj of 57 First Street Section B, Non Pareil, East Coast Demerara, was charged with trafficking an unknown amount of cocaine. Bisraj pleaded not guilty and was remanded to prison.

was offered a job at Guysuco in 1980, but declined “It would have tied me down, kept me confined to this seven to four thing daily and I didn’t want that. “ He operates mainly between Williamsburg and Bloomfield on the Corentyne.

He stated that he was able to maintain his family and educate his two children by selling newspapers. His daughter is currently overseas pursuing studies to become a doctor while his son is a teacher at Lower Corentyne High School.

Seokaran has been a farmer all of his life. He was born into farming. His parents were farmers. His wife’s family

members are also into farming.

Born at Huntley, Mahaicony, the cash crop farmer moved with his father to Berbice when he was 11 years old. He attended the Schepmoed Primary school in the Mara area. The father of four stated that he has been with farming through the good and bad times and will continue for as long as he could go.

He established his own farm and continued with his wife. He was able to support his family from his earnings.

His children are all grown and some are now into farming.

He wants more support from the government and a more structured programme to be put in place so that farmers can benefit, especially when you suffer losses.

The club also inducted eye specialist Dr. Rishi Ramharack as a member. Dr. Ramharack, who hails from West Demerara and has been living in Berbice for a number of years, has had a long and distinguished service in his field of work.

Among those gracing the auspicious occasion were Regional Chairman David Armogan a Rotary member himself; Vice Chairman Bhopal Jagroop, and New Amsterdam Deputy Mayor Harold Dabydeen.

Saturday December 01, 2012

Kaieteur News

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Apsara responds to Kaieteur News’ ‘Scandal’ article An article published in Kaieteur News (Friday, November 16, 2012), entitled “Scandal – Will the real Alana Seebarran please stand up!” is based on a video featuring former Miss India Guyana, Lucria Rambalak, being interviewed on her experiences as a beauty queen and her plans to enter Bollywood.

Reigning Miss India Guyana and Miss India Worldwide, Alana Seebarran’s comments implied that Lucria was claiming her achievement, and includes (almost tangentially) my explanation that it was in error.

As founder and principal of Apsara Entertainment, the local franchise holder for Miss India Worldwide, I find not only the sensationalism bent on the article as scandalous in itself, but the entire premise upon which the article was written as completely absurd.

The publisher of the Youtube video labeled “Miss India [sic] Guyana Exclusive Interview” put up what was clearly an unedited and uncaptioned video, with a description containing the words: “Alana Seebarran of Guyana was crowned Miss India Worldwide 2012 during a glittering beauty pageant held in Paramaribo, the capital city of Suriname...” et al, taken verbatim from the Indian Festival Committee (IFC) official website, WorldWidePageants.com.

It should be noted that the publisher of that video, listed simply

as “India Today” – and with no clear association to the actual India Today media group – has a total of five videos uploaded, all around the same date as the videos in question, none of which are original and the rest of which have a combined total of about 2100 views at the time of the release, compared to the 1800 views of the video featuring Lucria labeled as “Alana Seebarran.

At no point in the interview did Lucria Rambalak claim to be or to even be representing Ms. Seebarran, nor was she wearing any label, tag, or paraphernalia to suggest as much.

When she answered questions with regard to a contest and competition, albeit somewhat interchangeably, it was on her pageant experience as Miss India Guyana and a Miss Guyana second runner up prizewinner.

In contrast, there is a video on the Miss India Magazine Youtube channeling, professionally edited, well-captioned, featuring Miss Seebarran as interviewed by photographer Raj Suri - as franchise-holder, this is a video I fully endorse.

The accusation of a conspiracy loses further credence by the fact that Lucria undertook several interviews and accompanying photoshoots as Lucria Rambalak, former Miss India Guyana and Miss Guyana runner up, like the one available

on MissMalini.com and http:// frontierindia.org for example. It therefore defies logic and basic common sense that Apsara would fraudulently represent Ms. Rambalak as Ms. Seebarran, and in the public domain of all places, when such a misrepresentation would inevitably cast a shadow upon our enterprise, as even this mistaken misrepresentation has.

Apsara Entertainment group as another achievement after successfully bringing the first international queen title home to Guyana was critically involved in negotiating for a chance of a Guyanese queen to make an entrance into Bollywood, this however became a reality with a Private Company of Guyana and India.

The first candidate who was selected and offered the opportunity was the current Miss India Worldwide 2012 Alana Seebarran.

However, she declined and rejected the offer, because of the terms and conditions of the contract.

The next person, based on credentials who was approached and offered was Miss India Guyana 2010 and second runner up Miss Guyana Lucria Rambalak who agreed and accepted the terms and conditions of the contract, hence, signing it.

It should be made clear that this opportunity was made possible because of Apsara Entertainment and A Private Company as a separate project and

is not in ANYWAY related to the Miss India Worldwide title or committee.

Apart from that project, the prizes awarded including a trip to India and a television interview, in which she recently executed, was also locally sponsored.

Contrary to what the Kaieteur article a s s e r t s , t h e A p s a r a contingent’s trip to India was a multipurpose visit, one of which was Ms. Seebaran’s trip as part of the package provided by a private sponsor, as negotiated by Apsara Entertainment. Franchise holder and CEO of APSARA as a

kind gesture decided to extend their stay in India to accompany Miss Seebarran on her trip, since it was her first time to India.

Ms. Seebarra n cannot therefore imply that Rambalak’s presence on that trip either infringed upon or usurped her own entitlements, all of which she has received in full.

Ms. Seebarran’s activities as Miss India Guyana/Miss India Worldwide come under the aegis of Apsara Entertainment, and not vice versa.

(Chandini Ramnarain, APSARA Entertainment).

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Saturday December 01, 2012

Shooting suspect remanded

O

smond Pierre of Lot 1063 Aubrey Barker Road S o u t h Ruimveldt was yesterday remanded to prison on a charge of unlawful wounding with the intent to commit murder. The accused allegedly shot Rawley Smith with the intent to kill him.

According to reports, Pierre discharged a loaded firearm at Rawley Smith after they had a disagreement over US$200 which he claimed the victim owed him.

Smith said that he was sitting in front of a variety store in South Ruimveldt when the accused came up with a gun and shouted that “he gun settle de matter right here.”

T h e a c c u s e d subsequently shot him in the face.

The bullet is said to have entered the man’s left side jaw and is lodged at the back of his neck. Smith was rushed to the Balwant Singh Hospital for treatment.

A police report was made and the suspect was later apprehended in the Moleson Creek area.

Pierre was not required to plead to the indictable charge.

However his Attorney Basil Williams requested bail.

Williams argued that the victim did not identify his client as the person who shot him adding, that rather it was the victim’s brother who went after his client causing him to flee to Moleson Creek.

Nonetheless Pierre was refused bail and ordered to return to court on December 17.

Osmond Pierre

Still no sign of missing Mocha woman

I

t has been 14 days since 81-year-old Mocha broom vendor, Margaret Harris, disappeared, and her family members are expressing dissatisfaction with efforts by the police to locate her.

Harris, of Lot 274 Cemetery Road, Mocha, left her East Bank Demerara home at around 13:30hrs on November 16, to visit her farm, which is located at the back of her village, but never returned.

Yesterday, the woman's daughter, Lynette Gilbert, said that since they made the missing person's report, the police only visited the farm once and that was on November 17.

The woman also explained that whenever her mother left for her farm, she would normally take two of her dogs with her.

Three days after the woman disappeared, one of the dogs returned to a relative's home.

The other one returned last Saturday.

She claimed that her mother never disappeared from her home before.

The broom vendor has lived with her granddaughter and great grandchildren for years.

Gilbert said she as well as her other relatives believe that Harris is out there somewhere and they are trying their best to locate her.

The missing broom vendor The 81-year-old was last seen wearing a blue floral top with a straw hat.

Anyone who may have some information about the woman's whereabouts can contact her family on 2332000, 677-0680, 699-8764, 217-0338 or call the nearest police station.

Caricom’s World AIDS Day message Today I join the global community in recognizing the millions of persons living with HIV and those affected by this disease.

The world rejoices at the tantalizing prospects of an AIDS Free Generation that was unimaginable a generation ago. At the same time the recently released UNAIDS 2012 Report portrays relatively optimistic trends for the Caribbean.

Yet we are cautioned by the reality that biomedical and behavioural tools still have to be brought to scale and that scarce resources and the persistence of stigma and discrimination are impediments to this dream.

There is therefore need to redouble our efforts to strengthen the health system’s response, advance treatment to prevent AIDS, embed sexual and reproductive health and rights into the human rights agenda and eliminate mother to child transmission.

These require creative and collective leadership, shared responsibility in public/private partnerships, and the engagement of all stakeholders— advocates, scientists, policy makers, celebrities, philanthropists, parliamentarians, faith leaders, media workers and youth — as champions for change. Herein lies the hope of truly getting to Zero Edward Greene UN Secretary General Special Envoy for HIV in the Caribbean

Saturday December 1, 2012

Kaieteur News

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Haiti seeks to fix broken adoption system PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti is overhauling its adoption laws for the first time in nearly 40 years in an attempt to end practices that have allowed thousands of children to be trafficked out of the country or suffer from neglect as they languish in squalid orphanages.

The proposed legislation is meant to bring Haiti in line with international laws that seek to protect children under consideration for overseas adoptions, said Arielle Jeanty Villedrouin, general director of the government’s social welfare agency.

The

legislation has gone before the Senate for review and awaits approval from both houses of Parliament.

The proposal includes a requirement that both biological parents give informed consent for adoptions. It also establishes Villedrouin’s office as the “central authority” for all overseas adoptions, which is a requirement of the Hague Adoption Convention, and prohibits adoptions that aren’t authorized by the government.

“A parent who wants to adopt a child can’t just go to a website and say, ‘This is a

child I want.’ The children aren’t merchandise or cars,” Villedrouin said in an interview.

Other reforms hope to help the child land in a stable home, including requirements that couples adopting a child must be married for five years, with one spouse at least 30 years old. A single person filing for adoption must be at least 35.

Adoptions will also only be permitted once all other forms of support for the child have been exhausted.

Ann Linnarsson, a Haitibased child protection specialist with the UN

Jamaica hoping for re-opening of Russian funded bauxite company

KINGSTON, Jamaica CMC - Jamaica says it is confident that the Russianowned Alpart bauxite and alumina plant at Nain will reopen soon.

Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Minister Phillip Paulwell discussions with U C Rusal, the majority share- holders and operators of the plant, are going well.

He said another round of talks is scheduled for the near future.

“We have to get Alpart reopened, we have to get our bauxite/alumina back to where it was, and we have to get employment going. I have said to the representatives of UC Rusal, what you have there is precious to us, you have good reserves, and we cannot afford to keep the place locked down,” he said.

The parish of St. Elizabeth has been affected economically, since the closure of the processing plant in 2009 and Paulwell emphasised that before the end of this year, a date and schedule for the re-opening of the plant must be established.

“I have said to them (U C Rusal) that before this year is out, we are going to have to come and tell the people of St. Elizabeth the date and schedule for the re-opening. The good news is that they continue to maintain the plant, even though it is closed,” he said.

Paulwell said that energy generation is playing an important role in the reopening of the plant, and that as soon as a solution is found to the energy issue, and that is expected by the end of December, then there will be a move to have the plant reopened for business, which should lead to the generation of employment in the area.

Meanwhile, the Jamaica M a n u f a c t u r e r s ’

Phillip Paulwell Association (JMA) is expressing concern that the island could possibly abandon its pursuit of a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) deal with Trinidad & Tobago.

In 2004, Trinidad and Jamaica agreed on an arrangement that would have allowed Port of Spain to provide an estimated 1.1 million tonnes of LNG per year into Jamaica, beginning in 2009.

But the agreement never materialised and Paulwell was asked in Parliament whether the Portia Simpson-Miller government would re-engage Trinidad and Tobago on the matter.

“The supply of LNG from Trinidad was a key strategy in the provision of a cheaper source of energy from the Jamaica Public Service. In light of talks that Jamaica may no longer be pursuing LNG from Trinidad, the JMA is

demanding answers from the Government. Is it a done deal?” the JMA asked.

The JMA said it wants to know from the government whether another source has been identified to supply cheaper energy and what is the plan to enable manufacturers to compete with goods coming in from Trinidad produced at lower energy costs.

“We are disappointed that there have been no discussions with the JMA, as the advocacy body on the LNG issue, and await a response from the Government, which will make sense to the manufacturing sector and the citizens of Jamaica.

“We supported the Government when they signed a memorandum of understanding with Trinidad for the supply of 1.1 million tonnes of LNG and came out against Trinidad when they reneged on the deal,” said the JMA. “Since then, we have been in discussions with three different industry ministers, from Karl Samuda to Christopher Tufton and to Anthony Hylton in a bid to reduce the cost of energy,” it added. Late last week, it was announced that investors in renewable-energy projects would be able to bid for up to 115MW of electricitygenerating capacity through a request for proposals.

children’s agency UNICEF, welcomed the proposed changes.

“It will mean that the child being adopted needs a new family and that you will know this child has been screened,” Linnarsson said. “There will be some accountability. ...

The adopting parents will know that their child has not been trafficked or stolen.”

The need for new legislation is acute in Haiti, where an estimated 50,000 children live in orphanages in part because many parents give up their children because they can’t afford to take care of them.

Many orphanages are poorly run and have little oversight. U.S. missionaries managed to get the government to close one home last year in Carrefour, one of the cities that make up the Haitian capital region, after they noted that several children disappeared and the operators didn’t offer credible explanations for what happened.

It’s not entirely known how many Haitian children are trafficked into neighboring Dominican

Republic or elsewhere. But UNICEF recently estimated that at least 2,000 children were smuggled across the border in 2009.

The changes were welcome news to Shasta Grimes and her husband, who have been waiting for more than two years to adopt a Haitian boy who’s 5 years old.

“The laws they’ve had — they’ve been up to interpretation,” the 32-yearold woman said by phone from her home in Arcadia, Florida. “It’s been really difficult for anyone to know what the standard is or the correct procedure is. With legislation in place it’s going to really set in place an international standard.”

The vulnerability of Haiti’s children was dramatized in the weeks after the January 2010 earthquake when Baptist missionaries from Idaho tried to take 33 children they believed were orphans to the Dominican Republic. Police arrested the Americans for lacking the proper documents to take the kids, all of whom turned out had living parents and had been voluntarily turned over

to the missionaries.

Even if the new legislation passes, enforcement may prove tricky. Officials have long complained that child welfare workers lack the resources and training to investigate allegations of criminal behavior.

Over the past year, Villedrouin said, the government has closed 26 orphanages for operating in substandard conditions. She said under the new law, more “sanctions will be taken.”

Absent from the legislation is any reference to Haiti’s informal internal adoption system, in which parents hand over their children to other families to clean homes and do other chores in exchange for money or school tuition. Between 250,000 and 500,000 children in Haiti are forced to work as domestic servants known as “restaveks,” Haitian Creole for “stay with,” according to the International Organization for Migration.

The government has created a “restavek” hotline for people to call and report cases of abuse, Villedrouin said.

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Opposition wants update on multimillion dollar oil arbitration matter CASTRIES, St. Lucia CMC - The main opposition United Workers Party (UWP) yesterday called on Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony to update the nation regarding the arbitration initiated by US-based oil magnate Jack Grynberg for breach of a multimillion dollar contract.

The Colorado-based RSM Production Corporation, the company owned by Grynbery, has instituted arbitration proceedings against the government in respect of the exploration licence which his company was granted several years ago to undertake exploration for oil over a specified area of water offshore of the coast of St Lucia.

Opposition Leader Stephenson King said that the government had announced in May this year that Grynberg had filed a US$500 million claim against St. Lucia.

But he said that since the initial announcement by the government, there has been a deafening silence from Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony

Dr. Kenny Anthony despite calls from the opposition and the general public for clarification on the status of the proceedings.

“This matter has serious implications for the control of our offshore resources and our sovereignty as a people,” King said, noting that the agreement was initially signed by Anthony during his first term in office in March, 2000.

“Now that Dr. Anthony is back at the helm of the government as Prime Minister and given his direct

involvement in giving life to the now controversial agreement, it is now vital that the current Prime Minister answers some burning questions which continue to linger on what some now refer to as “The Grynberg Affair”,” King said.

He said responses to the questions would no doubt help to influence the legacy he leaves behind after he eventually demits office and political life.

The Opposition Leader said bearing in mind Prime Minister Anthony’s pronouncements for transparency and accountability and his aggressive posture in advocating on matters of national importance, why has he remained so low-keyed and withdrawn in providing disclosure on the matter.

King said that given the Prime Minister’s “privileged position” now that he is in office, he should also inform St. Lucians as to whether or not the former government signed an “extension to the exploration agreement with RSM Productions/Jack Grynberg”.

The arbitration proceedings have been filed with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (“ICSID”) and a earlier government statement said that it would vigorously dispute and contest the proceedings.

It said the Attorney General Office was in the process of assessing the claim and securing attorneys to represent the interests of the island.

The government said that RSM was basing its claim on two grounds including the argument that it could not complete its exploration because of the failure to resolve the boundary disputes between St. Lucia and neighbouring states.

RSM is also alleging by letter dated April 10, 2008, the Stephenson King government “took the position that the agreement had expired.”

“By claiming that the agreement has expired, and threatening to place exploration rights in the subject area out to competitive bid, St Lucia has breached the agreement.”

Saturday December 1, 2012

Foreign Affairs Minister appeals for compassion

Winston Dookeran Trinidad Express Foreign Affairs Minister Wi n s t o n Dookeran Thursday “appealed” to the Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar for compassion in the Dr Wayne Kublalsingh issue.

Dookeran is currently in Santo Domingo attending a CARIFORUM meeting but issued a release saying there “must be compassion and compromise” in dealing with this situation.

“In all aspects of public policy, there must be compassion and compromise and that Trinidad and Tobago must not be seen in the eyes of the international community as a decadent society,” he said.

Dookeran said while there were pros and cons surrounding the issue of the highway, the nation should recognise Kublalsingh’s actions.

“Whether right or wrong, (it) stems from a deep conviction of a case for which he seems prepared to die.

As a government, we must understand that such a fast emanates from deep spirituality and as such represents the soul of human end e a v o u r, ” D o o k e r a n said.

Dookeran said now that the matter is receiving international attention from the BBC, the government must engage in “meaningful conversations to ensure that Trinidad and Tobago is not paraded as an uncaring society in the eyes of the world”.

It is understood that coalition partner National Joint Action Committee (NJAC) political leader Makandal Daaga met with the Prime Minister Tuesday to further discuss the matter.

T he outcome of that meeting however is not known.

Saturday December 1, 2012

Kaieteur News

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IMF delegation holding Suriname carries out public talks with Government expenditure reform with IDB loan CASTRIES, St. Lucia CMC - A delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is here holding talks with government and other stakeholders on the economic developments in the country.

A government statement said that the visit of the team is part “of the annual Article IV discussions on economic developments and macroeconomic policies of the government”.

The mission ends its visit here on December 7.

In its last report on St. Lucia in August last year, the Washington-based financial institution said that the implementation of the ValueAdded Tax (VAT) by April 2012 would be a critical pillar of the fiscal adjustment, supported by efforts to contain public sector wage growth, reform the public pension system, streamline tax incentives and exemptions.

The Kenny Anthony government which implemented the VAT in October said that the IMF has repeatedly advised the St. Lucia government on the need for fiscal consolidation.

It recalled that in 2008, the IMF had expressed concern regarding the effects on competitiveness of excessive wage increases as the government began wage negotiations for public servants.

The IMF had indicated the importance of limiting wage increases to facilitate fiscal consolidation and dampen second round increases in inflation, particularly as the authorities do not have an independent monetary policy that can be used to achieve these goals.

In addition, civil service reforms should be undertaken, which would offer some scope for savings while providing greater differentiation in the pay scale between higher- and lower-skilled workers.

The government said “this issue will undoubtedly, once again, be high on the agenda for discussions with the IMF”.

The Anthony government said that the challenge for the island, “which it will share with the IMF during the Article IV consultations, is to facilitate sustained growth i n t h e economy through strategic investments in key areas, some traditional like tourism, agriculture, construction and public infrastructure rehabilitation, and some new or emerging such as the creative industries, renewable energy, and information and communications technology (ICT). “ M o r e o v e r, t h e Government has to ensure that the revenue base grows at a quick enough p a c e t o sustain muchneeded investments in education at the early childhood and post-

Belize Govt. rejects counter proposal from external creditors

Dean Barrow BELMOPAN, Belize CMC - The Belize government has rejected a counter proposal from external creditors who collectively own US$544 million in bonds, referred to as “sup[er bonds” scheduled

for maturity in 2029.

The Dean Barrow government’s position submitted earlier this week is included in a statement published on the Central Bank of Belize’s website.

In September, Belize won a 60-day reprieve from bondholders after paying half of an overdue interest payment, delaying any potential legal action under the specter of a full-blown default.

The reprieve ends on December 1.

According to the official statement, the counterproposal puts forward alternative scenarios all of which the government says offers only “temporary reductions in the current coupon rate with modest extensions in average life”.

secondary levels, health care, national security and social safety nets.

“Therefore, a critical imperative for the Government, over the short to medium term, will be to exercise wage restraint and discipline in order to prevent a deterioration of the fiscal position to a point where the aforementioned urgent development needs cannot be met,” the statement said.

WASHINGTON - CMC The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved a $20 million policybased loan for Suriname to support public expenditure management reforms that aim to diversify the country’s economic base, raise growth potential and alleviate poverty.

The IDB said that in order to achieve these goals effective planning, managing, executing and monitoring of public resources are needed

to create the infrastructure for a modern, inclusive and competitive economy.

“This programme is expected to improve the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of public expenditure management systems such as public investment, public procurement, public financial management and audit and control.”

The IDB said that in the area of public investment, the programme aims to improve

the growth contribution of capital spending in line with policy goals, while maintaining fiscal and debt sustainability. This will include a stronger regulatory framework, modern tools for the public investment cycle, and training of public investment officials.

In public procurement, the programme will generate greater value for money, quality of spending, competition and transparency in the procurement cycle.

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Saturday December 1, 2012

Egyptians protest after draft constitution raced through CAIRO (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Egyptians protested against President Mohamed Mursi yesterday after an Islamist-led assembly raced through approval of a new constitution in a bid to end a crisis over the Islamist leader ’s newly expanded powers.

“The people want to bring down the regime,” they chanted in Tahrir Square, echoing the chants that rang out in the same place less than two years ago and brought down Hosni Mubarak.

Mursi said a decree halting court challenges to his decisions, which sparked eight days of protests and violence by Egyptians calling him a new dictator, was “for an exceptional stage” and aimed to speed up the democratic transition.

“It will end as soon as the people vote on a constitution,” he told state television while the constituent assembly was still voting on a draft, which the Islamists say reflect Egypt’s new freedoms. “There is no place for dictatorship.”

But the opposition cried foul. Liberals, leftists, Christians, more moderate Muslims and others had

Egyptian protesters chant anti-Muslim Brotherhood slogans as they attend a rally in Tahrir Square, yesterday. 0(AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) withdrawn from the assembly, saying their voices were not being heard.

Even in the mosque where Mursi said Friday prayers some opponents chanted “Mursi: void” before sympathizers surrounded him shouting in support, journalists and a security source said.

Tens of thousands

gathered across the country, filling Tahrir Square and hitting the streets in Alexandria and cities on the Suez Canal, in the Nile Delta and south of Cairo, responding to opposition calls for a big turnout.

An opposition leaflet distributed in Tahrir urged protesters to stay overnight before Saturday’s rallies by

Islamists; the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies said they would avoid the square during their demonstrations backing Mursi.

The disparate opposition, which has struggled to compete with well-organized Islamists, has been drawn together and reinvigorated by the crisis. Tens of thousands

had also protested on Tuesday, showing the breadth of public anger.

But Islamists have a potent political machine and the United States has looked on warily at the rising power of a group it once kept at arms length now ruling a nation that has a peace treaty with Israel and is at the heart of the Arab Spring.

Protesters said they would push for a ‘no’ vote in a constitutional referendum, which could happen as early as mid-December. If the new basic law were approved, it would immediately cancel the president’s decree.

“We fundamentally reject the referendum and constituent assembly because the assembly does not represent all sections of society,” said Sayed el-Erian, 43, a protester in Tahrir and member of a party set up by opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei.

ElBaradei said in a statement the constitution had “lost legitimacy” and called for ending the polarization of Egypt.

The plebiscite on the constitution is a gamble based on the Islamists’ belief they can mobilize voters again

after winning every election held since Mubarak was toppled in February 2011.

Despite the big numbers opposed to him, Mursi can count on backing from the disciplined Brotherhood and Islamist allies, as well as many Egyptians who are simply exhausted by the turmoil.

“He just wants us to move on and not waste time in conflicts,” said 33-year-old Cairo shopkeeper Abdel Nasser Marie. “Give the man a chance and Egypt a break.”

But Mursi needs the cooperation of judges to oversee the vote, and many have been angered by a decree from Mursi they said undermined the judiciary.

Some judges are on strike.

The assembly concluded the vote after a 19-hour session, faster than many expected, approving all 234 articles of the draft, covering presidential powers, the status of Islam, the military’s role and human rights.

It introduces a presidential term limit of eight years - Mubarak served for 30. It also bring in a degree of civilian oversight over the military - though not enough for critics.

Saturday December 1, 2012

Kaieteur News

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Brazil’s Rousseff vetoes parts of oil royalties bill (Reuters) - President Dilma Rousseff yesterday vetoed parts of a controversial royalties bill that pit Brazil’s oil-producing states against the rest of the country in a battle over future oil wealth.

Seeking a compromise on perhaps the most divisive issues to arise during her nearly two-year-old presidency, Rousseff vetoed clauses that would slash income for Brazil’s main oil states, including Rio de Janeiro.

Her veto changes the bill so that producer states continue to receive royalties on output from existing oil concessions. She signed most of the rest of the bill as passed earlier this month by Congress, redistributing royalties from all future oil concessions so that nonproducing states get a greater share.

Announcing the veto yesterday afternoon, Gleisi Hoffmann, Rousseff’s chief of staff, said the president’s veto sought to “fully protect existing contracts” while

ensuring the bill’s intent to redistribute Brazil’s growing oil wealth.

The legislation, approved with the overwhelming support of states with no oil production, is an effort to spread oil revenues more evenly nationwide as massive new offshore oil discoveries near Rio de Janeiro and other south-eastern states begin producing in the coming years. The new discoveries, if developed successfully, could catapult Brazil into the ranks of the world’s top petroleum producers.

Rousseff’s changes also mandate that all royalties from future production contracts be used to fund educational programs. The shift, which wrests funds away from local politicians and their pet projects in producer states, is important for a left-leaning Rousseff administration focused on continued efforts to eradicate poverty across Latin America’s biggest country. The new law is also crucial for Brazil’s oil industry, which has been hobbled in recent years by regulatory

uncertainty surrounding the new discoveries.

Auctions for new oil concessions, for instance, have been on hold until a new royalty framework is decided.

The concessions are necessary for Brazil to develop new discoveries as quickly as possible, especially at a time when state-run oil company Petrobras, a mandatory partner in the big new fields, is struggling to meet existing production targets. But a provision in the original bill to change royalties on existing concessions met stiff opposition in Rio, responsible for three-quarters of Brazil’s current oil production, and the other producer states of Espirito Santo and Sao Paulo.

On Monday, thousands of demonstrators joined a Rio protest staged by the state government to urge Rousseff to veto the bill.

The revised law, then, marks a victory for producer states.

Renato Casagrande, the governor of Espirito Santo, late Friday said Rousseff with

Syrian conflict reaching ‘appalling heights of brutality,’ says U.N.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The 20-month conflict in Syria has reached “new and appalling heights of brutality and violence” as the government steps up its shelling and air strikes and rebels boost their attacks, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said yesterday.

Ban and international Syria mediator Lakhdar Brahimi addressed the 193member U.N. General Assembly on the revolt against Syrian President Bashir al-Assad, which began as peaceful rallies calling for democracy but grew to an armed struggle after the military cracked down on protesters.

The fighting has killed about 40,000 people, making it the bloodiest of Arab uprisings that have ousted entrenched leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen since early last year.

“The government has intensified its campaigns to root out opposition strongholds and has increased shelling and air strikes,” Ban said.

“Opposition elements also have stepped up their attacks. I am horrified and saddened and condemn the seemingly daily massacres of civilians.”

Syrian air force jets bombarded rebel targets on Friday close to the Damascus airport road and a regional airline said the violence had halted international flights.

The Internet and most

Ban Ki-moon and Syria mediator Lakhdar Brahimi telephone lines also were down for a second day in the worst communications outage of the conflict. Ban said with the onset of winter, up to 4 million people in Syria would be in need and that he expected to number of refugees - currently about 480,000 - to hit 700,000 by early next year. He appealed for more humanitarian aid and said he would soon visit refugee camps in Jordan and Turkey to assess the situation. Brahimi said rebel forces had made gains on the ground in the past few weeks, but the government remained confident that it has the upper hand.

“The areas of territory that they (the rebels) control are expanding, and with strategic value in some cases,” Brahimi said. “In Syria itself, there is no trust between the parties.

They do not even define the problem in the same terms.”

Brahimi told the General Assembly that Syria was in danger of becoming a failed state and stepped up his pressure on the Security Council, which is deadlocked over taking stronger action on Assad, to adopt a resolution backing his peace bid.

The United States and European council members blame Russia, a staunch ally and key arms supplier for Assad’s government, and China for the council’s inaction on the conflict.

Moscow and Beijing have vetoed three resolutions condemning Assad and reject the idea of sanctions.

Diplomats say nothing has changed.

“Any peace process must include ... a binding agreement on the cessation of all forms of violence,” Brahimi said.

“For the fighting to stop, a strong, well planned observation system must be put in place,” he said. “Such observation can best be organized through a large, robust peacekeeping force and, naturally, that cannot be envisaged without a Security Council resolution.”

If there were a more sustained ceasefire, the U.N. Department of Peacekeeping Operations has told Brahimi it could put together a force of up to 3,000 monitors to keep fighters separated and maintain the truce, diplomats say.

her veto “acted coherently and courageously,” preserving “judicial security” in Brazil.

“Rio thanks President Dilma,” Rio’s Governor Sergio Cabral said in a statement.

Rio was especially concerned it would lose crucial revenue as it invests tens of billions of dollars to host the World Cup of soccer in 2014 and the Summer Olympics two years later.

The state would have forgone $39 billion (24.3 billion pounds) in revenue by 2020 under the original bill, Cabral said, warning that Rio “would have to close its doors.” “There would be no Olympics, no World Cup, no payments for retirees and pensioners,” he added at the time. R o u s s e f f h e r s e l f opposed the original bill, in part because the oil producing states had

threatened to go to the country’s Supreme Court to contest any altering of existing contracts. A drawn out legal battle would have created legal risks for the oil industry and hindered plans to hold new auctions next year. That, in turn, would further delay the oil bonanza expectedfromthebignew“sub-salt” reserves, known as such because they lie beneath layers of salt deep under the Atlantic seabed.

holding up legislation to extend tax cuts for middleclass Americans in order to try to preserve them for the wealthy.

Facing a year-end fiscal

crunch, Obama used a visit to a toy factory to try to drum up support among Americans and pressure Republicans in Congress to agree to his proposal to let the tax cuts expire for Americans who make more than $250,000 a year.

Obama blamed Republicans who control the House of holding up a deal.

“It’s not acceptable to me and I don’t think it’s acceptable to you for just a handful of Republicans in Congress to hold middleclass tax cuts hostage simply because they don’t want tax rates on upper income folks to go up,” Obama said.

Obama says not acceptable for “handful of Republicans” to block fiscal deal

H A T F I E L D , Pennsylvania (Reuters) President Barack Obama accused a “handful of Republicans” in the House of Representatives yesterday of

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Kaieteur News

Saturday December 1, 2012

Gushing papers laud Cameron’s stance on press law LONDON (Reuters) Prime Minister David Cameron woke yesterday to find usually hostile newspapers gushing about his statesman-like qualities after he signalled his opposition to a new law governing the press.

After his party suffered a night of humiliation in three parliamentary elections, instead of facing questions over his leadership, he was cheered for rejecting the main plank of proposals from a public inquiry he set up in the wake of outrage at the excesses of tabloid newspapers.

Under a headline over two pages lauding “Cameron’s Stand for Freedom”, the rightwing Daily Mail said a “Defiant PM” had refused to accept the call for laws to control the press.

“To his enormous credit, however, David Cameron sees this report for what it is a mortal threat to the British people’s historic right to know,” it said in its editorial.

“If he prevails in protecting that right, with the help of like-minded freedom

lovers in the Commons and Lords, he will earn a place of honour in our history.”

The Daily Telegraph, another right-leaning newspaper that has been far from fulsome in its support for Cameron, said the unexpected decision had revealed his leadership and acceptance that press freedom was “a constitutional necessity”.

“His decision tells us also something about Mr Cameron’s capacity for statesmanship,” the paper said in a commentary piece on its front page. “He appreciates the need for decisions that are unfashionable or unpopular.

“He has answered the hopes of a Conservative Party that sometimes wonders what he stands for,” it said, under a cartoon mocking the inquiry with the line: (Caption to be supplied by cross-party committee of MPs).

Cameron’s clear sign he would reject the main recommendation of the report from Lord Justice Brian Leveson followed a year-long inquiry that heard in unflinching detail from

David Cameron celebrities, victims of crime and others who said the notoriously aggressive press had ruined their lives.

It also followed weeks of frantic lobbying by the newspapers within Westminster, who argued any involvement of the law in press regulation would amount to state control and an attack on free speech, putting Britain on a par with Zimbabwe.

Critically, Cameron’s stance also puts him on the same side as the majority of

his senior Conservative ministers who had openly opposed legislation, and in alliance with Boris Johnson, a former journalist and London mayor who is cheered by the press and seen as a possible challenger to Cameron in the future.

While it will bolster his position in the eyes of press barons ahead of a 2015 election, it is not without risk.

It puts him in clear opposition to Nick Clegg, leader of the junior Liberal Democrat party in the coalition, and vulnerable to defeat in parliament if the opposition force a vote.

It also earned him the condemnation of those who spoke out against the press, including the families of murder victims, who accused the prime minister of betrayal.

Both the politicians who oppose Cameron and the press victims plan to keep up the pressure as MPs try to find a consensus.

Malcolm Rifkind, a Conservative party grandee and former foreign secretary, told Reuters the pressure applied by senior members of

the cabinet had meant Cameron could not simply accept the Leveson recommendations in full.

He had previously given his backing to statutory regulation.

He also described the lavish praise from the country’s press as a “mixed blessing” that should prompt caution in the party.

“Governments normally like press support but when it’s press support because you’re not responding to what many people would have liked but the press didn’t want, then obviously you’ve got to be careful,” he said.

Commentators on the popular ConservativeHome website mostly backed Cameron for showing backbone over the issue but even they warned he should not get used to the adulation.

Rupert Murdoch’s Sun tabloid, which has been particularly tough on Cameron’s government and would typically oppose any apparent attack on the press, joined his Times paper in being conciliatory towards Leveson and less exuberant

about Cameron.

The 4 million pound ($6 million) inquiry was ordered after the Sun’s sister title the News of the World admitted hacking into phone messages on an industrial scale to generate ever more salacious stories. “Much of Lord Leveson’s report on the press makes sense,” the Sun said in its editorial, adding it applauded Cameron’s decision to oppose any legal basis for a new watchdog.

The only major newspaper to question Cameron’s decision was the left-leaning Guardian, which led much of the coverage of the phone hacking scandal last year.

“The prime minister has surprised many, especially the victims, with his multilevelled concerns about statute,” it said. “It is not clear if this is a position of principle, or to win friends on the Tory benches and in Fleet Street. “Leveson was the seventh occasion in as many decades that an inquiry has been commissioned into the behaviour of the press.

It’s time to get it right.”

Saturday December 1, 2012

DTV CHANNEL 8 08:55 hrs. Sign On 09:00 hrs. Power Ranger Super Samurai 10:00 hrs. Supah Ninjas 11:00 hrs. Saved by the Bell 12:00 hrs. Prime News 12:30 hrs. Saved By the Bell 13:00 hrs. Movie: Confined 15:00 hrs. Move: Cyberstalker

Kaieteur News

17:00 hrs. The Baptist Hour 18:00 hrs. World News 18:30 hrs. Nightly News 19:00 hrs. Greetings and Announcements 20:00 hrs. Issues of the People (Live) 21:00 hrs. DTV’s Christmas Spectacular 00:00 hrs. Sign Off

NCN CHANNEL 11 07:00 hrs – Ebenezer Praise Time 07:30 hrs – BBC 08:00 hrs – Pulse Beat 08:30 hrs – Weekly Digest 09:00 hrs – Cartoons 10:00 hrs – Youth Expression 11:00 hrs – Cartoons 12:00 hrs – CNN

Saturday December 1, 2012 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) There is an upbeat energy to the day, yet you might periodically sink into the cold waters of isolation. However, between these bouts of discouragement your enthusiasm level is high, so make the most of feeling optimistic while it lasts.

TAURUS (Apr. 20–May 20) You might worry others now as you jump into the open seas of spontaneous actions.

Luckily, you probably put on a life jacket when no one was looking. Accordingly, just make sure to reassure everyone you’re prepared for nearly anything that comes your way.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) You could easily set the world afire today with your clever thoughts and easy charm. Sometimes your willingness to adapt to the needs of others works well for you, but now it may not. Stay conscious of your intentions or you might get sidetracked by someone else’s agenda.

CANCER (June 21–July 22) An emotional encounter could stir up buried feelings today with the Moon in your sign. Still, you’re not inclined to withdraw from interpersonal engagements; you have things to do and people to see.

But your day may not go according to plan, so don’t try to adhere to your original schedule.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) You might consider treading lightly now, yet whatever you do will likely have a lasting impact on others.

Unconscious patterns can overtake your day and circumstances may grow out of control pretty quickly.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) Your plans might appear to be unfolding on schedule today, but ultimately it won’t be that simple. There is too much random energy floating around now and the intensity needs somewhere to go.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Grandiose thinking has driven you to make your plans bigger and bigger. Although you’re still psyched for whatever comes your way, consciously scaling back your goals now is a smart strategy.

It’s amazing that you can be so practical even when you’re feeling highly strung.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) Although you may not feel very stable today, you have a sense of inner peace from knowing that you are free enough from tradition to embrace your own idea of the future.

SAGIT (Nov. 22–Dec. 21) Practical concerns require you to de-emphasize your craziest ideas, while still acknowledging that the wild dreams are not going away. You may talk about your fantasies today as you imagine your life unfolding, but it’s not wise to place too much stock in anything that lacks a solid foundation.

CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) You are wise to share your feelings today to prevent relationship dynamics from becoming imbalanced. If you are experiencing problems with a friend or partner it’s probably best now to roll with the punches instead of fighting back. Something is about to change, and it will alter the way others see you.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20–Feb. 18) There is a lot going on at work today and it may prove to be a bit too much to integrate all at once. Nevertheless, you still might enjoy the mental stimulation as magnetic Venus activates your key planet Uranus.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) Even if you would prefer to be invisible today, people will still notice you because they can’t help but see you as more exciting and upbeat than you actually feel. You’re running on intuitive energy and there’s no limit to what’s possible as long as you can imagine it.

12:30 hrs – Close Up 13:00 hrs – Epic Hype 13:30 hrs – Feature 14:00 hrs – Save the Children 14:30 hrs – Feature 15:00 hrs – Revelation & Power 16:00 hrs – Bollywood 60 mins 17:00 hrs – Cricket Info and Quiz 17:30 hrs – Choices 18:00 hrs – NCN News Magazine – Live 18:30 hrs – Feature 19:00 hrs – Let’s Talk Tax 19:30 hrs – President’s Diary 20:00 hrs – 3d/daily millions/ play de dream/lotto draw 20:05 hrs – Video Hit List 21:00 hrs – Bollywood Hits 22:00 hrs – Feature 23:00 hrs – Second ODI NTN CHANNEL 18/ CABLE 69 0500h - Sign on with the Mahamrtunjaya Mantra 0515h - Timehri Maha Kali Shakti Devi Mandir Presents Hanuman Bhajans 0530h - Queenstown Masjid Presents Quran This Morning 0600h - R. Gossai General Store Presents Hanuman Bhajans 0615h - Jettoo’s Lumber Yard Presents Hanuman Bhajans 0630h - Muneshwar Limited Presents Hanuman Bhajans 0645h - Double Standard Taxi Presents Hanuman Bhajans 0700h - Teaching of Islam by Brother Roshan Khan 0730h - The Family of the Late Leila & David Persaud Presents Hanuman Bhajans 0745h - Sankar Auto Works Presents Hanuman Bhajans 0800h - Dr. Balwant Singh’s Hospital Inc Presents Hanuman Bhajans 0815h - RRT Enterprise Presents Hanuman Bhajans 0830h - AL-INSAAN 0900h - DVD Movie: YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE *ing Sean Connery 1100h - National Geographic 1200h - Getting It Right 1300h - Motor Car / Bike Race Sponsor by GUYOIL 1400h - Inside Parliament with Hon: Anil Nandlall 1500h - DVD Movie:- FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE *ing Sean Connery 1700h - Assembly of Prayer 1730h - Expressions of Richard Naraine 1800h - Ganesh Parts Presents - BHAGAVAD GITA 1815h - Drying Tears Live with

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Pastor Edson 1845h - Birthday Greetings / Anniversary / Congratulations / Deaths Announcement & In Memoriam 1900h - DDL HOUR Live with Joel 2000h - Chitrahaar with Aarya 2030h - DVD MOVIE :- RUSH (Eng: Sub:) *ing Emraan Hashmi & Sagrikra Ghatge 2230h - DVD Movie:- WHEN THE LIGHTS WENT OUT 0100h - Sign Off with the GAYATRI MANTRA MTV CHANNEL 14/ CABLE 65 Sign on 06:30 hrs - Peace Love & Harmony (live) 07:00 hrs - Dabi’s bhajan Hour 07:30 hrs - Times of Refreshing (live) 08:00 hrs - Full Life Broadcast with Pastor Findlay 08:30 hrs - Cartoons 09:30 hrs - Living the Life 10:00 hrs - Camille’s Institute Presentation

10:30 hrs - Children Movie: Kung Fu Panda 12:30 hrs - National Geographic: Test Your Brain 1 13:30 hrs - Cartoons 14:00 hrs - National Geographic: Steve and the Dragon 15:00 hrs - Spotlight on Christmas 16:00 hrs - GINA programme 16:30 hrs - Alabama Trading Music break 17:00 hrs - Birthdays & other Greetings 17:15 hrs - Death Announcements/ In Memoriam 17:30 hrs - Sitcom 18:00 hrs - Searching the Scriptures with Pastor Floyd 18:30 hrs - Cabinet Briefing 19:00 hrs - Apex Forum (Live) 20:15 hrs - MTV music break 20:30 hrs - Christmas Movie: Home Alone: The Holiday Heist 23:00 hrs - English Movie: Ted Sign off

Guides are subjected to change without notice

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Kaieteur News

Saturday December 01, 2012

Saturday December 01, 2012

Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

Saturday December 01, 2012

Saturday December 01, 2012

Kaieteur News

Investor interest remains strong in Guyana - IMF - warns of too much lending

Guyana’s economy is set to grow 3.7% this year.

Large scale gold mining operations Guyana’s economy is expected to grow 3.7 per cent this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected.

According to a statement from the fund yesterday, the 3.7 percent is roughly in line with what was envisaged in the 2012 budget…4.1 percent but lower than the 5.4 per cent last year.

“This expected outturn builds on strength in the gold, agriculture (rice) and services (construction and transportation) sectors, which should offset any expected falloff in sugar production.

Inflation is projected to pick up to about 4.6 percent by year-end, from 3.3 percent in 2011, reflecting higher energy and food prices,” IMF said in a statement on its recently concluded assessments on Guyana’s economy.

The meetings between IMF, Central Bank and government ended early November.

IMF routinely carries out what it calls Article IV consultations with its member states. Guyana is a member of the fund. IMF noted that following general elections in November 2011, the political situation in Guyana, though largely stable, became more complicated, but investor interest has remained strong and confidence generally positive.

“In 2011, output expanded by 5.4 percent, buoyed by increased activity in the gold, agriculture and services sectors. Twelvemonth inflation was 3.3 percent in 2011, reflecting pressures from higher food prices later in the year.”

Meanwhile, prudential indicators through endMarch 2012, continue to improve, with rising capital asset ratios and falling non

performing loans (NPLs).

“Banking system liquidity remains ample. Steady progress has been made in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The macroeconomic outlook for 2012 and the medium term remain generally positive.”

The increase in imports would cause gross reserves to fall to just under four months of imports.

According to IMF’s Executive Directors, the Guyana government should be commended for its policies that have supported macroeconomic resilience and sustained growth.

“Nonetheless, Directors noted that policy challenges remain for the near and the medium term, and encouraged the authorities to persevere with fiscal consolidation and structural reforms to strengthen debt sustainability and make growth more inclusive.”

The IMF lauded Guyana’s “continued commitment to fiscal prudence.

They concurred that sustained budgetary adjustment is needed to avoid policy pro-cyclicality and rebuild buffers. While a number of Directors recommended a more ambitious fiscal effort for the period ahead, a few other Directors stressed the importance of better balancing medium-term fiscal objectives with the need to support growth in the near term.”

Guyana’s banks, IMF said, remain liquid and prudential indicators have been strengthening. “Against this backdrop, Directors encouraged the authorities to act preemptively should rapid credit growth undermine asset quality and inflation risks mount.”

IMF said it supported ongoing efforts to modernize the traditional sectors, notably sugarcane cultivation, and improve the business climate.

“They also recommended putting in place an effective and transparent fiscal framework for the extractive industries, including the establishment of a sovereign wealth fund and adherence to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.”

Under Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, the IMF holds bilateral discussions with members, usually every year. A staff team visits the country, collects economic and financial information, and discusses with officials the country’s economic developments and policies.

On return to headquarters, the staff prepares a report, which forms the basis for discussion by the Executive Board. At the conclusion of the discussion, the Managing Director, as Chairman of the Board, summarizes the views of Executive Directors, and this summary is transmitted to the country’s authorities.

Page 29

Guinness ‘Greatest of de Streets’ quarter-finals pushed back one day Organisers of the Banks DIH-sponsored Guinness ‘Greatest of de Streets’ Futsal Competition announced yesterday that the tonight’s quarter-final games which was scheduled to be played at the Banks DIH Car Park has been rescheduled to tomorrow evening, at the same venue.

According to the Organisers, due to unforseen circumstances, the matches have been pushed back, but the fixtures remain the same. The fixtures are as follows:

19:30 hrs Oasis v/s Media 20:00 hrs Sweet Hand v/s YMCA 20:30 hrs Upper Level v/s Banks DIH Ltd 21:00 hrs Guinness Bar v/s Clippers Barber Shop 21:15 hrs Leopold Street v/s Hope Street Tiger Bay 21:45 hrs Sophia B v/s Broad Street B 22:15 hrs East Front Road v/s Back Circle 21:45 hrs West Front Road v/s Queen Street Tiger Bay

GFSCA Softball Finals rescheduled to tomorrow

The Guyana Floodlight Softball Cricket Association Nationwide Male\Female Softball Tournament Finals have been rescheduled to tomorrow at the Everest Cricket Ground.

These matches are rescheduling from tonight because of the inclement weather.

The first final will be the Male Masters 20/20 which starts at 9:30AM between Floodlights and Regal Seniors. This will be followed by the Female 10/10 final between Trophy Stall Angels and Mike’s Wellwoman.

The third final will be the

Male Open 15/15 between Herstelling and Regal.

Winning Prizes in each category is Trophy + $100,000, Runner-Up $50,000 + Trophy, Player of the match is Trophy + $5000. Players of the Tournament will each

receive $5000 + Trophy.

This tournament started August 27th 2012 and is sponsored by Mike’s Pharmacy, Survival, Ramchand Auto Spares, Ariel Enterprise, Petama Enterprise, Motor Trend and the Trophy Stall.

Faye and Jumbie Dominoes competition set for tomorrow The Faye and Jumbie 20\20 4 game Dominoes competition will take place tomorrow at Transport Sports Club starting at 02:30 hrs.

Trophies and cash prizes will

be handed out to the first, second and third place finishers. Teams expected to take part are Wild Bunch, Speed and F and H. Entrance fee is $9,000.

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Kaieteur News

Saturday December 01, 2012

All systems in place for Bush Lot United Turf Club horserace extravaganza It’s just over one week prior to the action in the Bush Lot United Turf Club (BLUTC), Young Achievers Sports and Entertainment Group one day horserace meet slated for Sunday December 9 at the club’s facilities, Sea View Park, Bush Lot, West Coast Berbice and members of the business community continue to render valuable support in what is expected to be a day of fun and frolic.

Businessman and farmer, Inshan Bacchus, of Bacchus Construction, Trucking Services, Bush Lot West Coast Berbice, was the latest to contribute and donated a substantial amount to the success of the event.

He made the donation to President of the BLUTC Rooparam Jagit at his office yesterday morning. The latter individual collected the donation on behalf of the club and expressed deep gratitude to his benefactor.

Mr. Bacchus joins a host of other entities that have donated towards the success of the occasion including Banks DIH Ltd, Digicel, Mohammed ‘Nankoo’ Shariff , Rommel Jagroop, Trophy Stall, Jumbo Jet Auto Sales, Lakeram Sukdeo, Inshan Bacchus, Phagoo General Store, Papie Supermarket, Guyana Tourism Authority, Shano Business Establishment, Buddy

Shivraj, Balwant and Lenny Singh among others. Jockeys and their mounts will contest in eight races for over $7M in cash and trophies as well as two Black Berry Cell Phones compliments of Digicel. Marathon Man of The Jumbo Jet Stable will join more than 60 other horses for what is expected to be a scorching day on the tracks. The other thoroughbreds on show include Got To Go and Grande De Roja, all entrants in the feature race, the ‘B & Lower over 1500M. This event has already caught the imagination of turfites as some of the best horses in Guyana are scheduled to grace the starting lineup with the winning jockey carting off $1M and a trophy.

The 2nd – 4th places share the remaining million dollars of the $2M total. This prize was donated by Banks DIH Limited.

Several other top horses will be on show including ‘Score is Even,’ ‘Who so Ever,’ ‘The Message,’ ‘Mission King,’ ‘Do Nut Prince,’ ‘Diamond Dazzle’ and ‘California Strike.’ Several relatively new entrants will also be in the fray including ‘War Craft,’ ‘The Bailiff’ and ‘Gold Plated.’

The other races to be contested are ‘D3 and Lower’ over 1200M for a winning purse of $450,000 and

trophy. The race among the three year old race horses over 1500m will feature horses bred in Guyana and West Indies and carries a winning purse of $450,000 and trophy.

Then there is the G Class event over 1000M for a pole position taking of $300,000 and trophy and the race between the two year olds over 1000m. These horses are also bred in Guyana and West Indies and the winner receives $350,000 and trophy. The race for Two year old Guyana bred horses over 1000M nets the winner $200,000 and a trophy, while the 1000 M race for horses in the ‘I’ and Lower category nets the winner $170,000 and trophy.

The day’s final event pits the skills of the animals in the J &K and Lower, over 1400M and for a first place purse of the $150,000 and trophy.

There are also special prizes for top individual performances including the top jockey, stable and trainer. This group will win trophies donated by Trophy Stall of Bourda Market. Interested persons can make enquiries with coordinator and Treasurer Lakeram .B. Sukhdeo (2320558/ 672-0810) or President Rooparam Jagit (232-0231), Dennis De Roop (609-9143), Annie (6131884) or Compton (690-0569). Race time is 12:30 hrs.

Ameera Bacchus, daughter of Inshan Bacchus, hands over cheque to president of the BLUTC Mr. Rooparam Jagit.

Treasurer and coordinator Lakeram Sukdeo stands at centre.

Saturday December 01, 2012

Kaieteur News

Kashif and Shanghai team briefing today Participating teams of this year’s Kashif and Shanghai football tournament will meet with the organisors today at the Princes Hotel and Casino for the official team briefing.

According to the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation, teams should make a special effort to attend, since any issues pertaining to the tournament will be dealt with at the briefing and representatives are asked to be on time for the 11:00 AM start. Sixteen of the country’s best teams will be vying for supremacy in the 23rd hosting of the tournament which kicks off on Sunday December 16 at the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) Ground and concludes on New Years Day (January1) at the Guyana National Stadium. Unlike last year, only local teams will contend for the title with Guyana’s #1 club Alpha ‘The Hammer’ United making a return after missing the previous tournament as well as last year’s finalist Pele and former champions Western Tigers leading the charges for teams out of Georgetown.

Fourth place finishers in the 2011/12 competition, Amelia’s Ward United will field a revamped team as they join Milerock, Winners Connection and Silver Shattas as the teams

from Linden. Timehri Panthers and Grove HiTech (East Bank), Bakewell Buxton Stars, Buxton United, BV/Triumph United (East Coast), Den Amstel, Uitvlugt (West Bank) and Mill Ballers from Bartica are the other teams competing this year. The winning team this year will take home $4M, with the Most Valuable Player (MVP) will drive away with a brand new motor car. $1M will be awarded to the runners up, third $750,000 and fourth $500,000.

GCA postpones weekend matches due to weather All cricket matches in the Georgetown Cricket Association’s Hadi’s World Incorporated - City Mall 1st Division (2-Day) and Noble House Seafoods 2nd Division (2-Day) Cricket Competitions scheduled for today and tomorrow have been postponed due to the inclement weather.

New footage proves green flag during Vettel overtake

New footage from Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull car shows him in the green zone BBC Sport - New footage from Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull car shows the German did not commit an offence while passing JeanEric Vergne during the Brazilian GP. Ferrari had asked for clarification from the FIA over whether the new world champion had passed the Frenchman’s Toro Rosso in a no-overtaking zone.

The retrospective 20-second penalty for any offence would have seen Vettel lose his world title to Fernando Alonso.

Vettel won his third consecutive F1 drivers’ title at Interlagos on Sunday.

Ferrari’s request for clarification arose after videos had appeared on the internet which appeared to show Vettel still under yellow flags when he made the overtaking manoeuvre.

But the previously unavailable in-car feed has revealed a marshal waving a green flag showing overtaking was allowed - that had been obscured until now by television graphics.

Although the dashboard display on the German’s car still shows he is in a yellow-flag

caution zone - in which overtaking is forbidden - drivers have been told by the sport’s governing body, the FIA, to respond to the most recent change in trackside indication they have seen.

A 20-second punishment would have seen Vettel demoted to eighth place at Interlagos and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso clinch the world championship by one point. The footage from Vettel’s car was not broadcast on television during the race.

It was one of the video feeds made available to the BBC at the race, but was not available until now as it was in transit back from Brazil.

At full speed, the footage is still difficult to interpret, but slowed down, the marshal, situated shortly before the bridge, with the green flag is now clearly visible.

The FIA was aware of the green flag, so did not investigate the manoeuvre during the race. After receiving a response from the FIA detailing the events, Ferrari said on Friday that it “considers the matter closed”.

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Kaieteur News

Saturday December 01, 2012

=== Letters to the Sports Editor ===

From all indications Shawn Collins fails to fully comprehend the administration of association football DEAR SIR, Editor, kindly permit me the space to respond to a letter published in K.N. 13.11.12 captioned “A desperate attempt at recapturing support for Kashif and Shanghai” by Shawn Collins. Wherein the individual’s intended tone of content, in his opening paragraph remains pellucidly clear of an ulterior motive.

This in actuality translates to attacking the messenger and not the message.

Quote. “It is clear as day that the Letter Factory which has firmly implanted

its tentacles in our nation’s newspapers, via relentless operatives, has begun to whip up what would soon be revealed as a boldfaced attempt by a concealing outfit to recapture support for the Kashif and Shanghai Football Tournament.”

Apart from being illogical in his comments, I can’t envisage no plausible reason as to why the publication of two letters side by side in Kaieteur News - Sports pages, can be construed as” A desperate attempt at recapturing support for

Kashif & Shanghai.”

Upon examining the contents of both letters, they both clearly outline two completely different subjects.

My letter captioned “GFA executive overstepping its boundary”, in no way attempts to recapture support for Kashif and Shanghai.

But rather outlines the rules of engagement for the association, of which sad to say, the GFA executive, remains oblivious to the facts.

Is Shawn Collins prone to defend the indefensible, to the extent that the GFA’s

President cannot differentiate the difference between the Upper Demerara Football Association and the nonexistent Linden Football Association?

Is Mr. Collins also saying that it is right for GFA executive to breach the norms of procedure by inviting teams from outside of Georgetown, to compete and be sanctioned by the GFF thereafter?

Sir, the other letter ‘’what is Banks DIH interest” was written by a Shareholder of the Company, who is also a businessman. And again the content in no way is bent on “A desperate attempt at recapturing support for

Kashif and Shanghai”. But rather is an expression of the dogfight, with its main rival Ansa McAl. The shareholder in my estimation as he puts it, isn’t against Banks providing sponsorship, “but not at that magnitude”.

He feels the $9,000,000 can be better spent towards creating a proper facility where International Football could be played. Isn’t he free to express his opinion, likewise Mr. Collins? With the difference being Collins’ comments is far from reality.

In the final analysis it was a political overtone that called for the boycott of last year’s K & S Tournament, due to

Kashif ’s endorsement of PPP/C government at the last National Elections. While I have different views politically, with my choice the AFC, at the end of the day I still have to respect his democratic choice. Would it be prudent for me to say publicly boycott products of Banks DIH, since they are supporting a colossal failure in the GFA President, and a Secretary, who was banned from football due to financial misappropriation of funds from the very coffers of Banks DIH? Maybe the shareholder should also comment on this malpractice.

Orin Davis

Dr. George Norton was never a GFA President DEAR SIR, Reference is hereby made to the above caption as it relates to the publication of an article in SN 15.11.12 captioned “GFA invites GFF to meet to resolve impasse”

by Iva Wharton. Editor, I must express my profound disappointment publicly, suffice it to say that the GFA executive in its infinite wisdom can attempt to mislead the public with two erroneous statements, in the article. “The constitutional

voting rights of the GFA have been an issue throughout the Presidency of Oliver Hinckson, Christopher Matthias, Dr. George Norton, Odinga Lumumba, Troy Mendonca and Vernon Burnett a period in excess of fifteen (15) years”.

In setting the records straight, I must remonstrate that “falsification and misrepresentation of facts’’, will do more harm than good to the already battered image of football, moreover in the largest association, Georgetown. What

good does it serve the mindset of black consciousness? I must reiterate that Dr. George Norton was the Chairman, of an Interim Management Committee, which consisted of Clement Henry, Adepemo Peters, Maurice Cato and I. Further in February, 1999 Georgetown had voting rights which by my mental calculation would be 13 years, and definitely not in excess of 13 years! So, would the GFA executive do the honorable thing, and offer the relevant apology and retraction!

Lester Sealey

Football Confusion needs fixing now DEAR EDITOR, After 1 and a 1/2 year, why can some big men (GFF & GFA) with all their intelligence, ego & the “I love the game” attitude can’t fix something as simple as what is going on in football in Guyana bewilders me.

I was not around for a while but technology allows you to be here and still not here. My little knowledge of what is going on is the GFA wants there voting rights in excess of about a decade ago. Why? Why? Why? Is the present executive having something to hide? Are they

afraid that the GFA “bright boys” will get into the executive and skin up all the alleged skullduggery that they are embroiled in.

Did the President (CK) who is on suspension afraid that he would get vote out, so what? It is not his legacy, he don’t own football, he was suspended by the bigger bosses (FIFA) and football still playing and better than ever. I hope and wish that they increase the suspension so he can stay put outside for eternity. I observe that some players are asking that the

two (2) senior citizens that are working at the office be sent packing. That will be hallelujah when that day comes. These men are ‘oldtimish’, operate like hardliners, has no vision of how modern sports is run, they have paid their dues, why do you think that the retirement age in the public sector is 55?

Because they want young and vibrant minds running the show.

They are responsible for the quandary that the GFF is in, they should do the next honorable and blessed thing, resign and go home into their rocking chair so that football can be saved by their departure.

Theresa

Sammy unhappy with loss From page 37 bat and ball. However, the all-rounder praised the effort shown by the hosts in the first ODI. “I am sure we can come back. We didn’t bat as well as we can, some of the guys got starts but didn’t go on. Our bowling was not as good as it could have been,” said the West Indies captain. “Credit to Bangladesh, they had a plan, they stuck to it, and they deserved to win.”On the other side of the coin, Mushfiqur

Rahim, the Bangladesh skipper, is delighted with his side’s performance and said that the whole side contributed to the team’s cause, which was not the case in the two-match Test series. “Our quicks set the platform, the spinners backed them up. The Test there was a couple of individual performances but not combined. Today we played as a team, so I am happy. We know they will come back hard in the next match,” he added.

Saturday December 01, 2012

FIFA Ballon d’Or 2012 The contenders for this year’s FIFA Ballon d’Or award for the best player of 2012 and for the FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year 2012 award were announced yesterday at a press conference held at the Anhembi Convention Center in São Paulo attended by FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke, L’Equipe and France Football CEO François Morinière, and legendary Brazilian players Ronaldo and Marta, who won the FIFA player of the year award three

Kaieteur News

Cristiano Ronaldo, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi are the three nominees

Lionel Messi

Andres Iniesta

Enterprise\ Busta T\20 cricket...

Lusignan are 1st division champs; Bravados take 2nd division title Lusignan overcame Enterprise by 6 wickets and Bravados got the better of Golden Grove by 58 runs when the Enterprise\ Busta Twenty\20 competitions finished recently at the Enterprise ground, East Coast Demerara.

In the first division final which started at 09:30 hrs, the host batted first and posted 1056 after the game was reduced to 17 overs due to rain. Zaheer Mohamed led with 60 and got support from Parmanand Dindyal 36 as P. Ganpat took 2-14. Lusignan then responded with 106-4 in 15.4 overs with S. Deosarran scoring 47; V. Lall picked up 2-21.

Mohamed was given the man-of-the-match award, while Lusignan collected $50,000 and a trophy, and Enterprise received the runner up trophy and $20,000.

In the second division final which followed, Anthony Ifill led Bravados to 132-4 after they took first strike in a match which was reduced to 12 overs, with a top score of

51. S. Sampson bagged 5-19.

Golden Grove in reply never threatened and fell for 74 in 11 overs. W. Henry was their leading run getter with 27; W. London captured 3-4. Bravados collected $30,000 and a trophy while Golden Grove took home a trophy and $10,000.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony which followed, Marketing Manager of Guyana Beverage inc. Shameeza Yadram congratulated the winners and thanked the club for organising the competitions.

She stated that the company will continue to support the game in the area.

Meanwhile, the club also honoured Rajendra Chandreka, Kamesh Yadram and Bhaskar Yadram for their achievement in the game. Chandreka represented the West Indies A team, while Kamesh and Bhaskar represented Guyana in regional the U-19 and U-15 tournaments respectively earlier in 2012.

They were presented with plaques.

‘Judgment Day’ is Nigh GAPF Seniors set for tomorrow It is time for the icing to be placed on the cake and what better stage than that of the Senior championships.

Come tomorrow at the Saint Stanislaus College Auditorium, Brickdam, Georgetown, the cream of Guyana’s powerlifters from the junior to the senior levels will be seeking to out-duel each other when the Guyana Amateur Powerlifting Federation (GAPF) brings off their Senior National Championships, dubbed ‘Judgment Day’.

Reports emanating from the various gyms around are that the athletes are all hyped up to blow away whatever competition

Page 33

comes in their way cognizant of the fact that the selectors are looking out for persons to make the various national teams in 2013.

Those gyms fielding athletes with an eye also on the prize and title for the champion gym are Total Fitness and Power House Gyms of East Coast and East Bank, Total Fitness of Corriverton, Kingsrow Barbel Club, Hard Core Gyms of Berbice, GMR&SC of Georgetown, Fitrev, Buddies, Zahiff’s, and Upper Demerara Barbell Gym of Linden among others.

Those expected to be in contention for top honours; Anis Ade Thomas, Vijai Rahim, Winston Stoby, Randolph Morgan, Kimberly Loncke, 17 year-olds Kevin

Brijlall, Sohail Hussain and Suraj Shewdas; Thyron Eusibio and Colin ‘Mr. Clean’ Chesney among others.

Weigh in time tomorrow is 09:30hrs, while lifting time is 11:00hrs. Admission is $500 which will go towards the GAPF’s team’s participation at International competitions in 2013.

Lifters were expected to adhere to the deadline for registration which was before December 1. This requirement by the GAPF is to facilitate the efficient scoring of the competition as the system being used is fully computerized and the relevant information has to be entered ahead of tomorrow’s competition.

Late nominations will not be entertained.

Cristiano Ronaldo and five times respectively.

In alphabetical order, the FIFA Ballon d’Or nominees are: Cristiano RONALDO, Portugal, Andres INIESTA, Spain and Lionel MESSI, Argentina, while MARTA, Brazil, Alex MORGAN, USA and Abby WAMBACH, USA will contest the women’s award.

The candidates for the FIFA World Coach of the Year

for Men’s Football and FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women’s Football awards were also announced. In alphabetical order, the contenders are: Vicente DEL BOSQUE, Spain (Spain), Pep GUARDIOLA, Spain (FC Barcelona) and Jose MOURINHO, Portugal (Real Madrid) for the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men’s Football award and Bruno BINI, France (France), Norio SASAKI, Japan (Japan) and Pia SUNDHAGE, Sweden (USA) for the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women’s Football award.

All the nominees were confirmed after a poll in which the captains and head coaches of the men’s and women’s national teams as well as international media representatives selected by France Football voted for candidates.

The shortlist of 15 forwards for the FIFA FIFPro World XI was also announced, completing the

final shortlist of 55 players featuring five goalkeepers, 20 defenders and 15 midfielders.

See the full list on FIFA.com: http:// www.fifa.com/ballondor/ world11/index.html In addition, the three nominees for the FIFA Puskás award for the “most beautiful goal of the year” were announced. They are: FALCAO (América de Cali Atletico Madrid, 19 May 2012), NEYMAR (Santos Internacional, 7 March 2012) and Miroslav STOCH (Fenerbahçe - Gençlerbirliði, 3 March 2012).

All the awards will be presented at the FIFA Ballon d’Or gala at the Kongresshaus in Zurich on 7 January 2013 during a televised show to be streamed live on FIFA.com and FIFA on YouTube. In addition to the above awards, the recipient of the FIFA Presidential Award and the FIFA Fair Play award will also be revealed during the gala.

Page 34

Kaieteur News

Saturday December 01, 2012

Manaus stadium may not be ready for World Cup, warns FIFA SAO PAULO (Reuters) - FIFA fired off a warning to the Brazilian city of Manaus on Friday, telling the Amazonian capital it must speed up construction work on its stadium or risk being cut from the 2014 World Cup. “The only one city where they have really to speed up and to work on different contractors and the different agreements they have to sign to be ready on time, which is December 2013, is Manaus,” Jerome Valcke, secretary general of football’s governing body, told reporters.

Valcke said he was concerned that construction of the 44,000-seat Amazonia Arena was not happening quickly enough.

The stadium is less than 50 percent ready, according to official figures.

FIFA’s guidelines say the stadiums in the 12 host cities must be ready at least six months in advance because

the World Cup fixture draw takes place in December 2013 and competing nations need to plan issues such as their team bases.

“For the World Cup we need the stadium in advance, we need three test events,” Valcke said on the eve of the draw for next June’s Confederations Cup, a tournament designed as a dress rehearsal.

“You cannot have the stadium six weeks in advance, that is technically impossible.

“There is no plan B, you can always decide to take one stadium off. We did it in Germany for the Confederations Cup and South Africa for the Confederations Cup. It works.

To be clear, you need a certain time to deliver a certain work.”

Although Valcke did not mention Manaus’s accompanying infrastructure projects, they are also causing concern in the Brazilian media.

A recent report from

An aerial view shows the construction site of the Arena da Amazonia, or Vivaldo Lima Stadium, as it is rebuilt to host the 2014 World Cup, in Manaus October 18, 2012. REUTERS/Bruno Kelly Brazil’s Audits Court said a $650 million (406 million pounds) light railway project would not be ready in time.

A proposed new system of rapid bus lanes is also behind scheduled and unlikely to be ready for the June 2014 World Cup, the court said.

Proteas strike back after being dismissed for 225 PERTH (Reuters) - Australia dismissed South Africa for 225 despite another dogged rearguard action from Faf du Plessis before moving nervously to 33-2 at the close of play on a thrilling first day of the third test at the WACA on Friday.

The overhauled Australian pace bowling unit had reduced the tourists to 6-75 with five quick wickets around the lunch break but du Plessis once again proved unmovable until he ran out of tailend partners when unbeaten on 78.

Dale Steyn gave the tourists a quick boost in the late afternoon light when he had opener Ed Cowan caught for a golden duck with his third ball before Vernon Philander removed Shane Watson lbw for 10 after an appeal to the TV umpire.

Opener David Warner, who was unbeaten on 12, and nightwatchman Nathan Lyon, who had made seven, will resume on day two of a test which will decide which of the countries will be number one in the test rankings.

“Faf’s in pretty good form and he’s proving pretty difficult to get out at this stage,” debutant Australian seamer John Hastings told reporters. “We were close but probably let it slip a bit, but I think 225 is still a pretty good effort to bowl them out. “I think the wicket will get better and better (and) if we can bat well for a half hour, an hour, in the morning, it’s going to flatten out nicely.”

Australia’s selectors had earlier been vindicated in their decision to rest Ben Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle after the pacemen had run themselves into the ground in Adelaide in the wake of a series-ending injury to James Pattinson.

Recalled seamers Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson and Hastings all got among the wickets to leave South Africa perhaps ruing the decision to bat first on a bouncy WACA track. “I think we’ve got to make it a good score now,” said South African spinner Robin Peterson. “We’d have liked to be up 300 after batting first but after being 6-75, if we can take a couple more wickets in the morning, 225 might end up being a good score.”

All rounder Watson, who missed the two drawn tests in Brisbane and Adelaide with a calf injury, made the first breakthrough with 38 runs on the board when he had Graeme Smith caught in the slips by Michael Clarke

for 16. The South Africans were looking like they might just survive until lunch, albeit with a modest total, before the intervention of leftarm quick Starc. Two full, late-swinging deliveries in six balls fooled first opener Alviro Petersen (30) and then all rounder Jacques Kallis (2) and ripped through the gate to make a mess of the stumps.

There was to be no respite after lunch and Hashim Amla had already been dropped by Cowan when he was run out by Warner’s direct hit without adding to his tally of 11. Cowan’s spill deprived Hastings of his first test wicket but the bowler did not have to wait long to claim it as he found some late movement to have AB de Villiers caught in the slips for four.

South Africa were now well and truly on the rack and it got worse when Johnson finally got some reward for some fine swing bowling with the first of his two wickets.

Dean Elgar’s first test innings lasted just 18 minutes and 12 balls before he caught a top edge with an attempted pull and Matthew Wade took the catch behind the stumps to hand the debutant a duck.

TALLY TRIPLED India collapsed from a similar position here last year and Warner had scored a 69-ball century by the end of the first day’s play with Australia winning inside three days.

South Africa are made of sterner stuff, however, and du Plessis anchored a stand of 57 with Robin Peterson, 64 with Vernon Philander and 19 with Morne Morkel to triple his country’s tally for the last four wickets.

Coming after the 78 and unbeaten 110 he scored to save a draw on his test debut in Adelaide, the 28-year-old now boasts a test batting average of 266. “There were always people doubting him but I think those doubts have been thrown out of the window,” said Peterson.

Lyon broke up all three of du Plessis’s big partnerships to finish with figures of 3-41, ending South Africa’s innings when he had Morkel caught by Hastings. Lyon was facing the South Africans again with bat in hand sooner than he would have liked, however, in a bid to protect the wicket of Ricky Ponting, who is playing his 168th and final test in Perth.

Scores: Australia 2 for 33 trail South Africa 225 (Du Plessis 78*, Lyon 3-41) by 192 runs.

Saturday December 01, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 35

Pollard confident Windies can rebound KHULNA, Bangladesh – Kieron Pollard said West Indies had the ability to regroup and rebound from defeat in the first One-day International against Bangladesh.

The Windies vice captain said his teammates have shown in the past that they can cope with the slow, low pitches that are typical in the Asian sub-continent and which helped to set them back on Friday, when they stumbled to a seven-wicket defeat against the hosts at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium here. “At the end of the day, we have to accept where we went wrong and we can’t look for excuses,” he said. “It is about regrouping.

“This is international cricket and we, as batsmen, have to take it upon ourselves to bat 50 overs and not let the tail bat for 10 to 15 overs like they did here.”

He added: “We didn’t turn up as we would have liked to start this ODI series, but there are four more games to go and there is a lot of cricket left to be played.

“It is a matter of us

regrouping as international cricketers – and professionals – and giving a good account of ourselves and winning in these conditions because we have done it before.”

Several of batsmen got starts, but failed to carry on, as West Indies were dismissed for 199 in 46.5 overs, after choosing to bat.

Sunil Narine led the way with a career-best 36, Chris Gayle made 35, Darren Bravo got 35 and Ravi Rampaul added 25, as the Windies batting was undermined by ODI newcomer, off-spinner Sohag Gazi with 4-29 from 9.5 overs and left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak with 3-39 from 10 overs.

By the time it was the visitors’ turn to field, the pitch had become a batting paradise, and Tamim Iqbal gave Bangladesh a flying start with 58 from 51 balls in his typical belligerent style before Naeem Islam arrived to nurse them over the threshold with an unbeaten 50 off 79 balls.

“We did not get many runs on the board and Bangladesh showed us how

we should have batted on that pitch,” Pollard said.

“They played better than us and we gifted our wickets away, and they gladly accepted.

“Bangladesh had a very good day. We gifted our wickets away. They weren’t bowling anything magical. I think we have to blame ourselves for the way we batted.”

Pollard laid out a gameplan for West Indies which he felt could turn their performance around in the second ODI on Sunday at the same venue.

“I think it is a matter of patience and a matter of playing each ball on its merit,” he said. “We did not do enough of it in this match.

“We played injudicious strokes at times when we needed to buckle down and build partnerships and when we were able to build partnerships we gave it away.”

He continued: “We also need our bowlers to hit the right areas consistently and not concede that bad ball in each over, and it is about

Sharp fielding by Darren Bravo and Kieron Pollard (WICB) doing the basics right.

“We can also be a little sharper in the field, so I think it is an all-round effort we have to make, and not a case

of this and that. We have one day to do it and we have to see if have learnt anything from this match.”

Pollard concluded that the

Windies now had clear evidence that if they played badly, Bangladesh had the resources to take the initiative and win.

Page 36

Kaieteur News

Flex Night Int. promises to sizzle

Saturday December 01, 2012

Davis, Booker, Gardner, Clarke to lead battle against Brazil & Suriname

(From L - R): Devon Davis, Sylvan Gardner, Royston Booker, Rawle Green, Alisha Fortune and Nadina Taharally Bodybuilding fans and lovers are bracing for what is anticipated to be a night of sizzling competition when the inaugural Flex Night International Bodybuilding event comes off next Saturday, December 8 at the National Cultural Centre.

It promises to be a grand event where the best athletes (male & female) in Guyana will

be tested by their Surinamese and Brazilian counterparts and only the best chiseled, balanced and appealing of the lot will in the first instance win their respective categories before going on to clash for the title of Mr. Flex Night 2012. Close to 40 athletes including those from Suriname and Brazil will be on show. The Surinamese are

holding their Mr. Suriname Show today and the winner in each of the Flex Night Categories will be coming to Guyana for next Saturday’s event.

Flex Night Inc. and Fitness Paradise Gym are being well represented in Suriname; the team arrived in the Dutch speaking country yesterday afternoon. Suriname will be

reciprocating by sending at least 20 supporters to represent their countrymen and women.

Rivalry among the male athletes will no doubt be fierce with the returning multiple CAC Gold medalist Sylvan Gardner (Buddy’s Gym), former Guyanese sprint sensation Rawle Green who now resides in the USA, reigning Mr. Guyana Devon Davis (GDF Gym) - also a CAC gold medalist (featherweight), reigning Mr. HRC Kerwin Clarke (Buddy’s Gym), Mr. HRC 2010 Royston Booker, Donnel Perry (Buddy’s Gym) 2012 Novice champion and the exciting new find Orlando Dublin (Fitness Paradise Gym) among others will all in the reckoning.

Male competition will be in the following categories; 154 pounds (69.8kgs) & under, 155 (70.3kgs) – 165 pounds (74.8kgs), 166 (75.3kgs) – 176 pounds (79.8kgs) and Over 176 pounds (79.8kgs).

On the distaff side it is also anticipated to be breathtaking with the ladies showing off their qualities in the Miss Flex Night, Miss Flex Night Bikini and Miss Flex Night Best Legs.

Patrons can look forward to a number of newcomers gracing the Cultural Centre stage with their bodies competing for the top

accolades and titles in the aforementioned categories.

Apart from seasoned campaigners, reigning Ms. Guyana Alisha Fortune and Ms. Nadina Taharally, all the other females will be making their respective debuts.

Fitness Paradise Gym will be introducing four of them – Chelan Yhap, Stacy Small and Shawnell Warner (all participating in the Bikini and Best Legs), and Marissa Lowden (competing in the Best Legs).

Representing the Ancient County of Berbice from the Windero Gym located at New Amsterdam will be Candace Lynch the reigning Miss Flex Night, Berbice.

Meanwhile, from the State of Roraima in Brazil, Eluana Sousa, hard and graceful, will be a tough competitor in the Miss Flex Night.

While individual glory will be sought after in the first instance the athletes will also be mindful that the country amassing the most points will win the trophy that is at stake for the best country.

THE HEALTHAND FITNESS EXPO While lots of focus will be placed on the on stage competition, Flex Night Inc. in association with numerous business entities will be hosting a Health and Fitness Expo which will commence at 13:00hrs at the National

Unity\ Lancaster SC will honour Chanderpaul on Saturday December 8 The Unity\Lancaster Sports Club will now honour West Indies star batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul on Saturday December 8 at a ceremony which will be held at the club’s center ground starting at 04:30hrs.

The ceremony was scheduled for today but due to the inclement weather it will now be held on the above mentioned date. The ground is currently water logged and the specially will arranged Twenty\20 match will be played as part of the proceedings.

Kerwin Clarke Cultural Centre.

This event will be declared open by Hon. Prime Minister, Mr. Samuel Hinds. The Expo, located in the lower and upper lobbies of the National Cultural Centre, features 24 exhibitors offering a range of health and fitness products and services – sports attire, exercise equipment, sports beverages and bodybuilding supplements, massages, spa treatments, general health information, fitness and exercise classes, mixed martial arts and a recorded talk by Dr. Stan Horne.

Exhibitors include Arrowpoint Resort, Bag Bay Inc., the Gift Centre, Giftland Office Max, Spice Garden Poolside Restaurant and Bar, Interline Fitness Equipment and Gym, Digicel, Fitness Paradise Gym, Flex Night Incorporated, IPA, Fitness Express, Planet Fitness Pro, Curtis Workout, Alter Body, Fusion Fitness, Genesis Fitness, V-Fitness, Geddes Grant, B’s Beauty Circle and Spa, Divine Spa, Jiva Spa, Indra Mekdeci, Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and NAPS. The Fitness Expo lasts for the duration of the Flex Night event.

Saturday December 01, 2012

2012 Carib Beer First Division T/20 Cricket Competition in Berbice...

The 2012 Carib Beer First Division T/20 Cricket Competition organised by the Berbice Cricket Board continued recently with some more second round matches.

Former Guyana T/20 batting sensation Jonathan Foo scored 69 which included 7 fours and 2 sixes and which together with 48 (4 fours) from former Guyana Under-19 opening batsman Kandasammy Surujnarine paced Albion Community Centre to 157 for 3 in their 20

Kaieteur News

Page 37

Crandon slams 81 for Rose Hall Town, but Foo’s 69 good enough for Albion overs against Rose Hall Town Gizmos & Gadgets, who in their response had national batsman Royston Crandon slamming 81 (6 fours and 3 sixes) and Berbice allrounder Ivan Rajiv 35, but still fell 7 runs short of Albion’s score.

Martin Singh’s even 50 (7 fours and 1 six) helped Police to a decent 155 for 8 against Edinburgh who nevertheless attained victory in 19.1 overs thanks mainly to the 62 (5 fours and 1 six) coming from Denny David despite

The points standing after the second round matches: Zone A: (West Berbice) Blairmont Community Centre 2 points from 2 matches Cotton Tree Die Hard 2 points from 2 matches West Berbice 2 points from 2 matches Bush Lot United Rising Star 2 points from 2 matches Zone B: (East Bank, New Amsterdam/Canje) Young Warriors Universal DVD 4 points from 2 matches Bermine 2 points from 2 matches Edinburgh 2 points from 2 matches Police 0 point from 3 matches Zone C: (Corentyne) Rose Hall Town Gizmos & Gadgets 2 points from 2 matches Skeldon Community Centre 2 points from 2 matches Port Mourant Karibee Rice 2 points from 2 matches Albion Community Centre 2 points from 2 matches

offspinners Albert Sinclair and Andel Doris picking up 4 for 19 from 4 overs and 3 for 28 from 4 overs respectively.

Even though Sherwin Murray made 44 (1 four and 3 sixes) and Gary Phillips 42 (3 fours and 1six) Skeldon Community Centre still fell short of the 150 made by Port Mourant Karibee Rice.

In scores from the matches played: 1. At Albion, Albion Community Centre beat Rose Hall Town Gizmos & Gadgets by 7 runs. Albion Community Centre winning the toss and batting first made 157 for 3 in 20 overs with Jonathan Foo 69, Kandasammy Surujnarine 48, Devendra Bishoo 22 N.O. Rose Hall Town Gizmos & Gadgets 150 for 7 in 20 overs with Royston Crandon 81, Rajiv Ivan 35, Devendra Bishoo 3 for 37 from 4 overs; Veerapen Permaul 2 for 6 from 2 overs.

2.

At Edinburgh, Edinburgh beat Police by 2 wickets. Police choosing to bat first made 155 for 8 in 20

overs with Martin Singh 50, Kwesi Mickle 27, Shafiq Khan 4 for 37 from 4 overs, Shazan Azeez 3 for 18 from 4 overs. Ralph Chakalall 2 for 22. Edinburgh 157 for 8 in 19.1 overs with Denny David 69, Zaheer Hussain 35, Albert Sinclair 4 for 19, Andel Doris 3 for 28.

3. At Skeldon, Port Mourant Karibee Rice beat Skeldon Community Centre

by 12 runs. Port Mourant Karibee Rice sent in to bat first made 150 for 7 in 20 overs with Boughnarine Persaud 30, Andre Percival 30, Zamal Khan 26; Victor Pedro 3 for 20 from 4 overs.

Skeldon Community Centre 138 for 6 in 20 overs with Sherwin Murray 44, Gary Phillips 42, Harrinarine Chattergoon 2 for 12 from 4 overs, Yudendra Harrinarine

Martin Singh 2 for 26 from 4 overs, Devendra Thakurdeen 2 for 27 from 4 overs.

Sammy unhappy with loss K H U L N A , BANGLADESH - Darren Sammy, the West Indies captain, is disappointed after losing the first One Day International (ODI) of the five-match series against Bangladesh at Khulna but vows to make a comeback in the remaining four encounters. The visitors won the toss and elected to bat first on a surface, which was expected to help the slow bowlers. The Caribbean men,

who possess one of the finest limited-over batting line-up of the world, failed to live up to the expectations and were bowled out for merely 199 runs in the 47th over of the innings.

Chris Gayle and Darren Bravo were off to promising starts but both the lefthanders failed to convert their starts into big knocks. Sunil Narine, the off-spinner, contributed with important 36 runs at the end of the innings.

Chasing a mediocre score, the home team were off to a flying start through Tamim Iqbal, who scored a 51-ball 58, with the help of eight fours and a couple of sixes. Naeem Islam also smashed a fighting half-century to help his team win the match by seven wickets.

In the post-match presentation ceremony, Sammy criticised his team’s lacklustre approach with both (Continued on page 32)

t r o Sp

WI stumble in first ODI

Tamim Iqbal and Anamul Haque added 88 for the opening wicket (AP).

KHULNA, Bangladesh – West Indies’ failed to fire, and Tamim Iqbal and Naeem Islam followed the cue of their bowlers to lead Bangladesh to a sevenwicket victory in the first One-day International on Friday here.

Several batsmen got starts, but failed to carry on, a s t h e Wi n d i e s w e r e dismissed for 199 in 46.5 overs, after choosing to bat in the match at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium.

Sunil Narine led the way with a career-best 36, Chris Gayle made 35, Darren Bravo got 35 and Ravi Rampaul added 25, as the

West Indies batting was undermined by ODI newcomer, off-spinner Sohag Gazi with 4-29 from 9.5 overs and left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak with 3-39 from 10 overs.

By the time it was the Windies’ turn to field, the pitch had become a batsman’s paradise, and Tamim gave Bangladesh a flying start with 58 from 51 balls in his typical belligerent style before Naeem arrived to nurse them over the threshold with an unbeaten 50 off 79 balls.

Before a sold-out crowd, the victory was formalised with 19 balls remaining,

Sohag Gazi took four wickets on debut (AP). when a short ball from Ravi Rampaul was fittingly pulled by Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim to the wide long-on boundary for four.

The result meant that the Caribbean side now trail 0-1 in the five-match series, which continues on Sunday at the same venue before switching next week to the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka for the last three matches and a Twenty20 International.

Narine and Rampaul mixed resolute batting with a few crisp strokes, adding 57 for the ninth wicket to give

Sunil Narine cuts hard watched

by Mushfiqur Rahim (WICB).

West Indies a respectable total, after they slumped to 133 for eight in the 34th over.

Rampaul was caught behind from a top-edged sweep off Razzak in the 43rd over before Narine was lbw essaying a sweep off Gazi almost four overs later to bring the innings to a close.

Gayle and Lendl Simmons had given the Windies a steady, if not spectacular start of 48, but the two openers and Marlon Samuels fell for the addition of just two runs in the space of 21 balls, leaving the visitors 50 for three in the 14th over. The visitors’ new vice captain Kieron Pollard

came to the crease and put on an even 50 for the fourth wicket with Darren Bravo before he was caught at short mid-wicket off Razzak and his left-handed compatriot was run out four balls later, backing up too far, sinking West Indies to 102 for five in the 24th over.

West Indies captain Darren Sammy temporarily stemmed the flow of wickets with Devon Thomas, but the two of them and Andre Russell fell essaying illadvised strokes before Narine and Rampaul beefedup the total. The Windies hunted early wickets to put Bangladesh under pressure,

opening the bowling with Marlon Samuels opposite Rampaul, but they never came, as Tamim and Anamul Haque shared 88 for the first wicket. Narine made the breakthrough for West Indies in the 16th over, when Tamim was caught at backward point, but there was no scoreboard pressure on the Bangladeshis, and though they lost Haque for 41 and Nasir Hossain for 28, they coasted to victory much to the delight of the crowd.

Scores: Bangladesh 201 for 3 (Tamim 58, Naeem 50*) beat West Indies 199 (Narine 36, Gazi 4-29, Razzak 3-39) by seven wickets.

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