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Letters... Where your views make the news... Letters... Where your views make the news
A useless trade union at the City Council DEAR EDITOR, It is with sadness that I read the tales of the security guards employed by the City Council (KN/1/7/13). The unions representing workers at that organization are a waste of time; they are concerned about their own interests. It is clear that, the workers of the Mayor and City Council have been left on their own. The unions which are expected to represent them have not shown any care for their plight. The Guyana Labour Union headed by Mr. Carvil Duncan has not been paying any attention to the many woes and sufferings of poor workers, for obvious reasons. They are left to fend for themselves, in every way. During the tenure of former Town Clerks, that union was very active but with this government plant for
a Town Clerk, Mr. Duncan appears to be very comfortable with the sorry situation at the council. The executives of the Guyana Local Government Officers’ Union, headed by Mr. Dale Beresford, are more concerned with travelling to seminars than they are with the issues of workers welfare. Imagine, the government has imposed an incompetent person as the council’s Town Clerk. This individual has been subjecting employees to professional indignity. Refusing to pay overtime, for work done, deducting four per cent of officers’ salaries (no one knows what is happening with that money) and refusing to carry out lawful instructions of the council, yet the union does nothing about this situation. So, workers are really left to the mercies of
maladministration headed by a person who has no idea about what she is doing. As the slide continues union representatives are hardly seen. In some cases, they cannot be contacted by staff with issues. In several cases, this union had to be forced to take action in the interest of workers. What kind of union is that. Workers should demand proper representation by the unions or ask the City Treasurer stop deducting union dues from their wages and salaries. The leadership of the GLGOU should be changed immediately because it makes no sense having a union that is doing nothing about anything at the council. It is better not to have a union than to have one that continuously disappoints and neglects its workers. John Paterson
GPOC responds to Rhyaan Shah’s letter
DEAR EDITOR, The Guyana Post Office Corporation (GPOC) wishes to respond to the Kaieteur Newspaper’s June 26, 2013, letter that was published under the caption, ‘Thieving at the GPO’. We take objection to bold and misleading caption: ‘Thieving at the GPO,” in the letter without evidence being provided. We believe better editorial judgement should have prevailed. The Corporation would like to thank the writer for the opportunity to notify the general public that the GPOC investigates all complaints
received from the general public. We have noted that the complainant indicates that the particular mails were breached and resealed. While the Corporation is not in a habit of rescuing itself from its responsibilities, it is to be noted that certain mails identified by agencies, are sometimes subject to rigorous checks, prior to leaving Guyana, and this is particularly in the instances of sample checks for narcotics. This is out of the Corporation’s remit and control. The GPOC remains committed to service to all
our customers and to the protection of the integrity of all mails entering our system. The GPOC apologies to the writer and would be happy to meet with her, at her convenience, on any matter pertaining to her complaint and/or the postal services. Mr. Henry Dundas Postmaster General Guyana Post Office Corporation
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Letters... Where your views make the news... Letters... Where your views make the news
GWI Water system in Bartica needs urgent upgrading DEAR EDITOR, A number of residents of Bartica are very displeased with the Guyana Water Inc.(GWI) water system. At present GWI is carrying out a water disconnection exercise for residents whom the water company claimed did not pay for water for quite some time. Residents are not supportive of the action taken by GWI since a lot of them have said that they didn’t receive water from GWI since the year started. Some other resident said that they did not receive water from GWI for a number of years. Residents complain that the potable water
system is very poor and the water is unhealthy for drinking and even to wash white clothes. A lot of the resident that lives in the Four Miles Housing Scheme said that they have never received water from GWI since GWI installed its system. All they received are water bills and the pipeline that run to their home. The residents said they mainly depend on the rain to fill their black tanks. In the absence of the rain they would buy water from the fire truck. GWI does not even have a proper administrative system. Residents said that when they observer burst
pipelines on the roads and they call GWI office to make a report most times the repairs would come months later. Some residents of the housing scheme said that they spend their own money to run pipelines from the main road to their home, because when GWI was installing the pipelines in the area a lot remained. These are no where around which conforms the views that the pipelines ether went back to Georgetown or were converted to personal use. What did GWI do with the remainder of pipelines after the installation? Micah Williams
The Wakenaam police need transportation DEAR EDITOR, I have exhausted all options. I have spoken to the Station Sergeant, Inspector, Deputy Commander, Commander and Minister with reference to mobile transportation at Wakenaam Police Station. Wakenaam Police Station is located at San Souci on the far western side of the island. The furthest village that is densely populated is some 12 miles away from the station. On numerous occasions reports were made to the police station; reports such as robberies, physical assaults, abusive language, noise nuisances, among others and all the police
officers who answer the telephone will say, “We don’t have transportation to come at the moment”. This is absurdity in its entirety. There is a pick- up police vehicle at the station but that has been parked for over one year and no one seems to care about its condition. I personally called the Minister of Home Affairs some one year ago and brought this issue to his attention and he quickly dismissed me by saying it is the divisional commander’s responsibility. When I spoke to the commander he responded just like a politician, “I will look into it”.
Notwithstanding the above I must say that in recent times the Station Sergeant whom I was told was recently placed here at Wakenaam and his ranks have been traversing the entire island using motor cycles. However this does not solve the problem of not having a mobile vehicle to transport law breakers. This letter is primarily for the purpose of informing the public. There are many other issues that need urgent attention such as the behaviour of Neighbourhood Police Officers which I will bring to your attention in another letter. Ganesh Mahipaul
What a caring Govt. we have DEAR EDITOR, K indly permit me space in your letter column to highlight some of the developments that have taken place on the island of
Wakenaam. Over three years ago the government constructed a funeral parlour just in front of the Wakenaam Cottage Hospital at a cost of over forty
million dollars. This parlour is yet to be put into use and the tiles are falling from the walls. The doctor proceeded on maternity leave since last December and has not returned. The Medex also proceed on maternity leave in April and has not returned. There is no replacement. Thanks to the nurse in charge, Sister Jones, the hospital is still running. The roads on the island are made up of loam and sand. In some areas they are made up of bitumen. The government has now seen it fit to build a one hundred rods road running to a cremation site at a cost of thirteen million dollars, with asphalt all because the leader of a certain Mandir is the P P P Regional councilor. The thirteen million dollars could have been better utilized to purchase an X-ray machine and an Ultra Sound machine for the Wakenaam Hospital. Wakenaam has a cremation at the rate of one in a year, there is a very comfortable Crematorum situated at the Sans Souci burial ground, built by the Raviwar Sewa Satsang Mandir without any input from the government. It is open to all who are desirous of being cremated whether they be Hindu, Christian, Rastafari, Muslim or other wise The airstrip costing millions is yet to be put into use. This money could have been used to build better roads around the island. Recently millions have been spent on drilling a water well in Sans Souci. This too is also a failure and waste of money. I am hoping that someone will take note and stop this wanton waste of taxpayers’s money. R. Kumar
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A POTENTIALLY MESSY SITUATION If Guyana is serious about attracting tourism, it should phase out the departure and security taxes that are supposed to be paid by departing passengers. It is not a nice thing for a passenger’s final memory of visiting a country to be associated with paying US$ as a departure tax. Many countries which have millions of travellers going through their airports do not charge a head departure tax and there is no reason why passengers have to pay that tax, even if it does rake in substantial revenues for the government. It is not good for the image of the country and can hurt Guyana’s tourism prospects. The fact of the matter is that even the security tax should be dispensed with, because it is not a service that is being provided to passengers. Persons leaving Guyana do not request all the security checks to which they are subjected. So why should they have to pay for this tax. It should be borne by the State, and surely enough, the government can afford to pay.
After all, if they can afford to pay those astronomical sums for new toilets which we are told form part of a contract for the extension of the airport, they can certainly afford to waive the departure and security taxes. No one expects that in rebuilding the airport, the government will use those cheap toilet sets that are sold to the average citizen. Clearly good quality, marble toilets will have to be imported, but the price tag which we are told is being called for them is quite high and it is important that some explanation be offered for the recent expose which was just made public. I would expect that for close to half of a million dollars that toilet bowl would conduct a forensic examination of a person’s bowels, and even for an extra fee, a colonoscopy. Guyana needs a bigger airport. It needs to be able to attract bigger planes that would traverse new route such as flights to Africa. The Americans have only now begun to recognize how
important Africa will be in the future. The analysis clearly indicates that Africa will become a major market in the future and this is why the Americans, Brazil and China are investing heavily in Africa. They are all thinking long-term. Guyana was also thinking long-term when it contemplated becoming a transit route to Africa. With a new airport capable of handling larger planes and with modern in-transit facilities, Guya n a c a n prepare itself for the benefits that can come its ways when the developments in Africa lead to more persons wishing to go there, more goods being shuttled to Africa, and more Africans looking to explore new tourist areas outside of Europe and North America. The government is not, however, going to help its c a u s e o f convincing the opposition of the viability of the airport project, unless it answers the concerns about the
Dem boys seh...
De airport project mekking some people tun vampire People mekking a lot of noise about how expensive de airport toilet gun be. Dem also talking about the urinal and how it expensive more than similar urinal in Guyana. Dem same people got to keep abreast of technology. Dem boys seh that is no ordinary toilet. For starters, once people enter to use dem don’t have to do anything. De toilet does undress you and clean up after you in any way possible. Of course dem boys want to know if de toilet does provide a service fuh people who deh pun de other side. De urinals got to be special too. But dem boys shudder to think what else de urinal can do. Dem got to wonder who already got dem
in dem home and how dem using de urinal and de toilet. That is why dem boys trying to understand why dem don’t see certain people although these people got all de money in de world. These people get like vampire, hiding by day and coming out at night, but only going to special places. Is de toilet and de urinal in dem home. It got to be that these things giving dem de greatest pleasure. But all joke and fun aside; how people could try to mek a project more expensive that it really is? Guyana is a poor country that always begging people fuh help, yet it borrowing more than it want and then it gun ask people to help pay back even as de
people who borrowing skimming off de money fuh demself. That mean that dem tekking and de people paying. In nuff country that is enough fuh de authorities send dem to jail but in Guyana people ignoring all de corruption. Dem boys seh that all people got to do is look at de Marriott. From de start Jagdeo announce that foreign investors gun put in dem money. To this day not one foreign investor come and de hotel going up faster than a hot air balloon. It mean that de foreign investors live right here in Guyana. Talk half and brace youself fuh de toilet sensation.
contract that it has signed with a Chinese firm for the rebuilding of the airport. This problem of toilets seems to bedevil the ruling administration. A few years ago, it granted generous tax concessions (which were later discovered to be in conflict with legal guidelines) to a firm, and as part of those concessions there were tax rebates on a significant number of toilets. It called into question just why any firm would need so many toilets. Now once again we are faced with a messy accusation that the toilets to be installed under the proposed contract are very costly.
What should be the response of the government? The government has an obligation to address the concerns, not just about the toilets, but also about the alleged looseness of the language of the contract. The government has nothing to lose. If it can debunk those criticisms and accusations, it will discredit the source of those criticisms. If on the other hand the allegations are found to be meritorious, the government would have been able to be in a position to correct a mistake that was made. Therefore this is a no-lose situation for the government.
It wants the airport project badly. But is it willing to go the extra mile to demonstrate that it is willing to address concerns and allegations made? We shall have to wait and see, and perhaps while we do, test some of those locallysold toilet sets to see whether they are suitable for use outside of the home.
Caricom Heads meet to mull new direction for growth, development The effects of the current economic climate on Member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the framework within which the Community can achieve growth and development will be a major agenda item at the Thirty-fourth Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM. The forum begins tomorrow evening in Port-ofSpain, Trinidad and Tobago with an Opening Ceremony. Working sessions begin the next day and end on July 6. The Heads of Government are expected to lead that assessment and provide direction on a new approach during this meeting which is being held as the Community celebrates 40 years of integration in the country where the founding Treaty of Chaguaramas was signed in July 1973. The current economic scenario, including the slow recovery from the global financial and economic crises, heavy debt burdens, and other exogenous developments such as the policy of graduation by international financial institutions, have had debilitating effects on the economies of CARICOM. Dr. Kenny Anthony laid
out the situation starkly when he addressed the Board of Governors of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) a month ago. The Region’s vulnerabilities, he pointed out then, were fully exposed by a global economic climate that was “complex, uncertain and worrisome”. “The crisis that we face was not of our making. We did not precipitate it. What it did was to expose our weaknesses and vulnerabilities. What could well be our fault; is how we handle the aftermath of the crisis, how we re-position our economies in that elusive search for growth,” he said. While there is an optimistic prognosis for a resurgence of economic activity in developing countries in general, and while there has been growth in some areas in CARICOM, it has not at all been widespread and sustainability is a challenge. Several CARICOM Member States have had to approach the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) for support and the CDB has indicated that many Member States were carrying unsustainable debt. According to the CDB in its 2012 Annual Report, growth in the Region “is cautiously expected to be positive. Supported by stepped-up public sector investment and gains in agriculture, Guyana is forecast to lead the way with real GDP growth projected at around 5 percent. This is followed by Belize at 3.3 percent while the Region’s average output growth had slipped to 1.0 percent in 2012 compared with 1.2 percent a year earlier. Haiti is also expected to register strong growth on account of reconstruction efforts, together with improvements from gains in the manufacturing and agriculture. Moderate growth of about two percent is projected for most of the member countries of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), (continued on page 21)
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THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN
Mohammed Morsi, the PPP Government and golden toilets At the time of writing, it is unlikely that the legallyelected president of Egypt, Mohammed Morsi, will survive the social contract that he and the population of Egypt agreed to when he was voted in. It looks like he will have to go. The great social contract theorists in philosophy Thomas Hobbes, Jean Jacques Rousseau and John Locke - have differed in the latitude allowed to each
partner in the contract. Hobbes assigned more power to the leader whom he felt needed some form of maximum power. Rousseau took a more romantic but impractical road. He wanted the people to be directly involved in the delineation of policies. Locke felt that the leader must be subject to parliamentary oversight with more power being assigned to the judiciary.
There was, however, one gigantic, striking similarity between the three men – the social contract must never be one-sided. It must involve the agreement of both parties and if the leader cannot dispense justice to the other party, the other party is morally right to remove him. This was pellucid in the writing of all three philosophers. It means, then, that in the philosophy of the social contract, the leader has never been assigned unlimited, unaccountable power. It means then that in the philosophy of the social contract, a population has the right to demand the removal of the leader if he breaks the covenant. Morsi broke the social contract. He was foolish to do so. Had there been no revolution, there would have been no Morsi presidency. He took the people for granted. He assumed power and became like the Leviathan that Hobbes wrote about. But Morsi, if he had read Hobbes, would have seen that the great philosopher accepted the rebellion of the people
against the Leviathan. Not thankful that a revolution brought him to power, Morsi began to behave like Hosni Mubarak that the revolution toppled. His policies smacked of the authoritarian mentality. He ruled as if he was the president of his party not Egypt. Morsi began a creeping Islamization of Egypt that the people didn’t want. In no other country in the world at the moment is the Morsi error more graphic than Guyana. David Hinds said on television recently that rejection of the PPP hegemony does not have to involve violence. And it need not. But Hinds stressed that there must be demonstrative action. In no other country in the world has the social contract been so violated than in Guyana. Where to start in the enumeration of the PPP’s violations becomes a task as easy as looking at the palm of your hand. We can start three weeks ago with the dismissal of over a dozen workers for purportedly failing a lie
detector test. There is no law in Guyana that allows the State to dismiss an employee for failing a polygraph. But it happened three weeks ago at CANU and the Guyanese opposition and people accepted it. It happened three weeks ago again and it will continue to happen. From the polygraph abomination we can go straight into the era of golden toilets in Guyana. On Monday I dropped in at Kaieteur News and I was greeted with the comment; “Freddie yuh gat fuh write on dis.” A few of my KN colleagues showed me the front page for the Monday issue with the photograph of two toilet sets going respectively for $22,000 and $33,000 on the Guyana market. Leonard Gildarie swung around in his chair and asked me how much I paid for my toilet sets when I was building my home in 2007. I told him none cost more than twenty thousand dollars. I don’t think I am worth reading as a columnist if I did not print an opinion on the era of golden toilets in Guyana in my column. I don’t
Frederick Kissoon think any citizen of this country should remain silent on the toilet scandal where the Guyana Government has agreed to pay almost half million dollars for one set of toilet seats and is buying 69 of them. The question is why would any politician agree to such a contract? For me there is only one answer corruption. Where and when are these scandals going to end? My answer is that the violations of the social contract are going to continue if we do not bring the Arab Spring to this land. The nightmare has taken on macabre dimensions when you think that the social contract in Guyana is between the population and a minority government, a minority regime that behaves as if it won the last general elections. It did not!
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Bridge enhancements for Regions One and Two Under the Ministry of Public Works bids were opened for the rehabilitation of the Windsor Castle/ Hampton Court Bridge in Region Two. The bids were opened yesterday by the National Procurement and Tender Administration (NPTA), Ministry of Finance, Main Street.
Bids for the procurement of office dietary supplies were made for the Health Ministry.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labour received bids for the provision of security services. The Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development received bids for the construction of a bridge and revetment, at Whitewater, Mabaruma, Region One.
The Ministry of Home Affairs received bids for the procurement of vehicles. The bids were divided into three lots. Within the same sector, bids were also opened for the construction of Wauna Bridge, Mabaruma, Region One.
Further, bids for the procurement of equipment and furniture were also opened for the Home Affairs Ministry. The bids were divided into three lots.
Meanwhile, bids were opened for the procurement of equipment and supplies for the Ministry of Health.
Bids were also submitted for the procurement of stationery supplies for the Health Ministry.
Still within the health sector, bids were opened for the procurement of envelopes.
In addition, bids were opened for procurement of janitorial supplies for the Health Ministry.
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$4M Dental Clinic commissioned in Sophia Come August, residents of Sophia and its environs will receive high quality dental care, as a result of a $4M Clinic which was commissioned yesterday at the Community Centre at ‘B’ Field. The project which was spearheaded by the Rotary Club of Georgetown Central in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, along with funding by the United Insurance Company Ltd., will see a number of residents benefiting from dental care, especially children. Chief Executive Officer of United Insurance, Howard Hall, said that the company was honoured to be a part of the initiative and supported the efforts made by the Club to ensure improvements in the community. “When we were
approached by the club we decided to give full support, because we are more than an insurance company, we give to projects like these which will help better communities and people,” Hall said. He added, “This just goes to show what happens when we come together and make a difference in the lives of people”. Hall thanked John Fernandes Ltd., which was responsible for construction of the facility. Principal Dental Surgeon, Shameer Ali, remembered that a number of years ago a similar collaborative effort was done at the Cheddi Jagan Dental School to erect one of their now functioning departments. Among those who were a part of that initiative, according to Ali, were the
Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company and the Rotary Club of Georgetown Central. Ali said that he felt ecstatic about the new facility and urged residents of the community to make use of the opportunity which will be provided to them when the clinic is officially opened. “Decay is a big issue when it comes to dental health, which is more prevalent among children. I hope with the centre that number can decrease”, Ali said. He also spoke about the issue of Guyana having only about a total of 50 dentists practicing the profession in a country of over 700,000 persons. Colin Marks, Vice Chairman of the Pattensen Community Development Council, said that there is still more work to be done on the yet to be completed structure. He however thanked the labourers who worked throughout the nights to get it to its present state.
A young Sophia resident is assisted by a Rotarian with the cutting of the ceremonial ribbon at the new Dental Clinic.
Relatives fear foul play in farm labourer’s disappearance Relatives of Cove and John resident Sasenarine Seepersaud fear that he has fallen victim to foul play after he disappeared without a trace last month at Hog Island, Essequibo. Seepersaud, 35, called ‘Boyo’, reportedly went missing on June 25 and close relatives say that suggestions that he drowned after plunging overboard have further aroused their suspicions. Kaieteur News was told that Seepersaud had traveled to Hog Island on Tuesday, June 22, in the company of a Hog Island resident who wanted the man to work on his farm. Relatives said that they were told by Seepersaud’s employer that the farm-hand “worked good on Sunday and Monday, and then on Tuesday he run away.” “He (the employer) say that ‘Boyo’ disappear and that he drown.” The farmer reportedly informed police at Parika about the incident. The missing man’s relatives said that they were also told that ‘Boyo’ “trip out and run away because the place got nuff jumbie.” The
Sasenarine Seepersaud relative said that while ‘Boyo’ would talk a lot when he was under the influence of alcohol, he was “not a madman.” They also claimed that the missing man’s employer refused to accompany them to search for Seepersaud, since the farmer claimed that ‘Boyo’s body would eventually float up. The missing man’s relatives said that they searched the island and the river on Friday and last Sunday, but found no trace of the missing man. “We go with 15 men and we didn’t find any trace,” one worried relative said. The relatives said that they have since made a report at the Cove and John Police Station, and at Brickdam Police Station and Leonora.
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Ethical nursing crucial to good healthcare The importance of ethical nursing was recently emphasised as a crucial factor in the delivery of healthcare. In fact, according to Administrator of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), Michael Khan, nursing today “is not very correct in a sense in Guyana.” He was at the time referring to the attitude of some nurses at the public hospital which he manages. It is his belief that the some of these nurses have some way to go to improve their standard of nursing. “I’m not saying that our nursing schools don’t produce the same standards but they are far and few. We have to get them back into training to learn behaviour; the way they should talk to people,” Khan asserted. He alluded to the professionalism exhibited by some nurses of the St Joseph Mercy Hospital, for instance, as the classical standard of nurses, an observation he only recently made. He related that several complaints are levelled on a daily basis against the nurses of the GPHC to senior functionaries, which he attributed to the volume of patients seen at the facility. However, he highlighted that “I always say it doesn’t matter what you do, it doesn’t take anything, but rather it is
- Hospital Administrator free; we don’t say ‘oh that patient had cancer’... but when we have someone with mental illness we say that? No!” According to Khan, it is a known fact that mental illness is curable, whereby one day a patient can have a nervous breakdown and a couple of months later he/she is back
GPHC Administrator, Michael Khan free to be courteous and smile.” And even as he emphasised the need for professionalism at the medical institution, Khan recalled how he was approached by a seven-month pregnant patient recently who related how she was subjected to a bout of ridicule from a nurse because of a prior psychiatric condition. “You never talk about a patient, no matter what. They have a right to live just as we. If you want to make your comments you keep it aside...but that really isn’t your business. We all know that you could have cancer today, but then you are treated and five years later you are cancer-
Caricom Heads meet ... From page 9 reflecting ongoing efforts at fiscal consolidation. Marginal growth of less than one percent is projected for Barbados on the basis of an uptick in tourism based on anticipated growth in major markets, while in Jamaica, the outcome of IMF negotiations, which has the potential to release resources from other multilaterals, could boost output.” According to the CDB, in the Associate Members of CARICOM who are Overseas Territories of Great Britain, growth is also expected to be positive based on the projected sustained recovery in offshore business activity, together with a pickup in leisure activity in 2013.” The CDB pointed to the challenges the Region faced in key sectors such as tourism which is suffering as a result of multiple factors, including the adverse effects of the Air Passenger Duty (APD) on flights to the Caribbean from the United Kingdom, reduced airlift and the high cost of
intraregional travel. An assessment of the policies of the Community over the past five decades, and a thrust that involved thinking “outside of the box” are necessary, according to Prime Minister Anthony, in order to inform the decisions that had to be made, going forward, with respect to transforming regional economies. Prime Minister Anthony had honed in on the need for a new development thrust in February, at the opening of the Intercessional Meeting of the Heads of Government, where he called for a “big conversation” on the future of Caribbean economies, and had expressed the hope that conversation be held at the July summit. Such a discussion, he had said, would provide an opportunity to chart a new paradigm for growth, and review the role and performance of regional institutions to determine how they could better assist in the restoration of growth to regional economies.
to normal. “We have to be careful how we talk to our patients,” warned Khan, who was at the time delivering an address to the inaugural batch of the hospital’s Critical Care Nursing Programme. Seventeen nurses undertook the 15-month programme which according
Director of Nursing Services, Sister Audrey Corry, entailed a segment on nursing ethics. She explained that there are certain areas, such as ethics in the practice of nursing that are especially critical for the delivery of quality nursing care. “If you are dealing with patients, many of whom are not even aware of the nature of their illness, we have to be even more careful in how we
take care of them, because they themselves are not able to do anything much for themselves in most cases.” The Critical Care Nursing Programme was designed with a view to enhancing the skills of nurses to deal with patients in the Intensive Care Unit of hospitals. Moreover, Khan during his deliberations urged that “what you learn should be translated into your job.”
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Brazil’s Rousseff pushes political reform to quell discontent (Reuters) - President Dilma Rousseff sent Congress reform proposals yesterday intended to make Brazilian politics more representative in a bid to recoup popularity she lost in a wave of angry protests against the country’s political establishment. Making good on a promise in the wake of the protests that rocked Brazil in June, Rousseff asked Congress to hold a nonbinding national vote, or plebiscite, to see what Brazilians want changed. In the request, she listed broad themes that she wants to see addressed, including campaign finance reform, an end to anonymous votes by lawmakers in Congress, and a possible shift from proportional representation to district voting. Rousseff ’s approval ratings have declined by 27 percentage points in the past three weeks, showing that the recent wave of protests sweeping Brazil poses a serious threat to her likely reelection bid next year, according to a survey by pollster Datafolha published on Saturday. More than 1 million people took to the streets of Brazilian cities at the peak of last month’s protests, fueled by frustration with deplorable health, education and public transportation services, a high cost of living, and outrage at the $14 billion Brazil will spend to host the 2014
World Cup. The upheaval that paralyzed the country sent politicians a clear message that Brazilians want more effective and transparent government, with an end to corruption. While the protests were aimed at politicians of all stripes, Rousseff’s popularity took a beating and the president has insisted on holding a plebiscite to consult the people. “It’s a fight for more rights, more representation,” she said of the protests on Monday. “The people want to participate, that’s why we are proposing a popular vote. The people must be consulted,” Rousseff told reporters. Other issues she suggested the plebiscite address include abolishing unelected stand-ins for senators. Under the Brazilian system, all members of Congress have “substitutes” that can assume their seat if an elected congressman steps down for some reason, such as accepting a Cabinet post. Rousseff also wants the electorate to weigh in on rules that allow lawmakers to be elected with votes from supporters of other parties. Eighty-one percent of Brazilians supported the street demonstrations demanding changes, according to the Datafolha poll, which also showed that 68 percent of respondents back the idea of
Dilma Rousseff holding a plebiscite. Rousseff ’s political opponents, however, see the popular vote as a manoeuvre to distract the country from the real issues of lack of investment in roads, airports, schools and hospitals, and regain support before next year’s election. Senator Alvaro Dias, leader of the main opposition party in the Senate, PSDB, said most of Rousseff ’s reform proposals - such whether to have public instead of private campaign funding - are dealt with in existing congressional bills. He said a hastily called plebiscite is an unnecessary expense for the nation. “These are not the priority issues for Brazilians. This is a political distraction,” he told reporters. The plebiscite also poses a risk to Rousseff. The main ally in her Workers’ Party coalition government, the PMDB party, is balking at the
idea and would rather see reform drawn up in Congress, which it controls. “This could be a fiasco,” said Andre Cesar, a political analyst at Brasilia-based consultancy Prospectiva Consultoria. “There is a risk that the vote will not happen. Or worse, this could open a Pandora’s box and Congress could decide to debate ending the re-election of presidents,” Cesar said. Rousseff still has an approval rating just above 50 percent and remains the favourite to win the election in October 2014, though the race now looks more competitive. Some political analysts believe the plebiscite is not the way to recover lost ground. In their view, Rousseff should keep focus on curbing inflation and resurrecting Brazil’s economy, which has been largely stagnant for the last two years. Smaller protests continue around Brazil, but a catalyst for the massive demonstrations has gone. The Confederations Cup, a warm-up for next year’s football World Cup, ended on Sunday. Other challenges exist. Some of Brazil’s main labour unions, seeking to take advantage of the tense political climate, are planning a day of marches on July 11 to push their demands, such as a shorter work week.
Interpol-led Caribbean operation seizes US$822M in drugs KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — The international police agency Interpol has led an operation in the Caribbean and Central America that seized roughly US$822 million worth of cocaine and other drugs and led to 142 arrests, law enforcement authorities in Europe announced yesterday. The Europol police agency supported the Interpol-led initiative dubbed “Operation Lionfish” targeting maritime drug and gun smugglers across the two regions. It involved some 34 countries and territories, including some 20 Caribbean nations, as well as countries in Central America. The Netherlands-based Europol said coordination units were based at Interpol’s bureau in El Salvador and the
command center of the French West Indies Coast Guard on the island of Martinique. During the anti-smuggling operation between May 27 and June 10, authorities were able to share information and conduct speedy checks against the Interpol and Europol intelligence databases to crosscheck suspicious vessels and cargo containers and then select them as targets to be tracked and boarded. Patrols were conducted by land and sea. Regional police, customs, immigration and naval forces participated in the international effort to combat organissed crime groups behind narcotics and illicit weapons smuggling in the Caribbean and Central America. Besides confiscating drugs and making arrests, Interpol said the operation
targeting maritime smuggling by criminal networks also resulted in the seizure of 15 vessels, 42 guns, US$170,000 in cash and eight tons of chemical precursors used to manufacture cocaine. Michael O’Connell, Interpol’s director of operational support, said in a Tuesday statement that the initiative also focused on strengthening law enforcement cooperation in the region. He said Francebased Interpol’s global services are providing frontline officers with the “tools they need to do their job, which is to identify and arrest criminals.” Paul Noel of the St Luciaheadquartered Caribbean Customs Law Enforcement Council said the initiative helped speed up the process in identifying drug-and-gun traffickers because “we can
do the joint checks right here if there is a suspect target in the Caribbean.” The Caribbean council and the World Customs Organisation were partners in the anti-smuggling operation, which was also supported by the French Coast Guard and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. “Disrupting this activity is not only critical for the source and transit countries of these drugs and weapons, but also for the destination countries such as Canada,” Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Bob Paulson said in a statement from Ottawa.The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says that South American cocaine is typically smuggled to Europe by sea, most often in container shipments.
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PM wants full support for St. Lucia’s move to CCJ CASTRIES, St. Lucia – Prime Minister Dr Kenny Anthony says he expects opposition support when his government tables legislation allowing the island to move towards the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as its final court. In an exclusive interview with the Mirror newspaper here, Anthony, a former law lecturer at the U n i v e r s i t y o f t h e We s t Indies (UWI), said the recent “opinion” handed down by the OECS Court of Appeal means that “the government of St. Lucia will lay before parliament legislation to accede to the Caribbean Court of Justice. “Obviously, I would prefer if the legislation was supported by the opposition, given the fact that the former Prime M i n i s t e r, ( S i r ) J o h n Compton, made pronouncements supporting the Caribbean Court of Justice. Of course, there are people who are interested in invoking his (Compton’s) history for different purposes,’ Anthony said, although he gave no immediate time f r a m e f o r St . L u c i a ’s transition from the Londonbased Privy Council to the CCJ. But the government is anticipating challenges to the May 24 “opinion” by the OECS Court of Appeal, which effectively said St. Lucia does not need to have a national referendum to break with the Privy Council. Anthony told the Mirror newspaper that the responsibility of his government is to obey the Constitution by following the route prescribed for amending the Supreme Court Order. “If we can avoid a referendum, clearly it is in the interest of the country. A referendum is an expensive business and, a s y o u w e l l k n o w, o u r political parties, because of opportunism sometimes, do not all join hands on an issue of a referendum. The history of referenda in the Caribbean has not always been a good history.” But he made it clear that the government would respond to any challenge the OECS Court of Appeal ruling at their own financial expense. Prime Minister Anthony concedes that once the necessary legislation is enacted, it is possible for
Dr. Kenny Anthony the legislation to be contested. He said is possible that those who challenge the opinion will argue the legislation enacted by the government is unconstitutional, and return to the Court to get a declaration to that effect. “Obviously, if that is done, then the government would have to respond,” Anthony said, telling the newspaper that his government does not intend to go further with the Court of Appeal opinion “before all processes are completed”. The St. Lucia Bar Association said it has referred the Court’s opinion to “eminent counsel’ in Britain. Anthony said that the May 24 opinion of Appeal Court is an advisory opinion, which means that it is not a legally binding view of the court, not is it a judgment. “We use the route of an advisory opinion to generally get a point of view from the Court of what would happen if, of course, there is likely litigation. “The government can ask the courts, where there i s u n c e r t a i n t y, t h a t t h e government needs to have a reasonable assessment of the issues before it and the likely outcome, if the issues are contested,” he told the newspaper. The CCJ was established in 2001 to replace the Privy Council as the region’s final court. It has an appellate and original jurisdiction and also acts as an international tribunal interpreting the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas that governs the regional integration movement. While most of the CARICOM countries are signatories to the Original jurisdiction of the court, only Barbados, Belize and Guyana have signed on to t h e c o u r t ’s a p p e l l a t e jurisdiction.
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Kaieteur News
Strategic Action Security saga…
Police to send two files to DPP for advice The police are in the process of preparing two files to send to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for advice pertaining to the discovery of stolen items, worth millions of dollars, reportedly found in a Government security contractor’s building. The items including several Government’s One Laptop Per Family laptops (OLPF), speakers, several flat screen TVs, and even a plough were discovered in a secured building during a police raid on June 19. The owner of Strategic Action Security was taken into police custody the said night and was later released on bail. However, the length of time the police are taking with the matter has been worrying concerned observers. But, according to Police
Commissioner (ag.), Leroy Brumell, the police are trying to conduct thorough investigations to present proper files to the DDP so that the cases would not be thrown out. He noted that two investigations are ongoing one on the West Demerara and the other in Georgetown. According to a source, ranks of the Criminal Investigation Department of Leonora Police Station are compiling a file to be sent to the DPP. Residents who went to La Grange Police Station to verify if their items were among the loot, answered in the affirmative. And, officials attached to the OLPF programme have confirmed that the laptops were among the set stolen from the OLPF head office in Queenstown last August, the
source said. It is reported that Security Action Security was the firm contracted by Government to secure the OLPF building. Investigators were reportedly tipped off that several stolen items were sold to someone at the address of Strategic Action Security. Police ranks searched the security company’s offices and later moved over to a back building that is part of the compound. They reportedly forced open a secured area. It was there that they made the discoveries. Included in the haul was said to be a computer power backup system with a Ministry of Health marking on it. Apparently, police in the West Demerara area had arrested a number of persons for theft. Those arrested reportedly claimed they sold the items to a Queenstown businessman whom they named.
Cabinet ... From page 19 crash the insurance company was unknown. And, only in late May, GCAA's Director General, while not divulging the precise nature of the discussions, confirmed that the insurance company had been identified. Though the insurance company was later identified, many in the aviation sector were wondering why it took the regulatory body so long to locate the insurer when foreign aircraft entering Guyana are required to present pertinent documents, including insurance, to the GCAA. In fact, members of the local Aircraft Owners' Association had written to President Donald Ramotar on events surrounding the plane crash. The Association expressed concerns that the aircraft entered Guyana without proper due diligence being carried out by the GCAA. The letter pointed out that the Authority should not be the body conducting the investigations since they are the subject of investigation. And the regulations provide for the President to direct the investigations.
Wednesday July 03, 2013
Academics can be enhanced by the Arts In light of the need for more teachers of the Arts, Administrator of the Ministry of Education’s Allied Arts Unit, Ms Desiree WylesOgle, is advocating for more teachers and by extension more students, to gravitate towards subject areas that constitute the Arts. However, Wyles-Ogle during an interview with this publication recently disclosed that there are some teachers and even parents who are convinced that participation in the Arts could take away academics. “They don’t see it as enhancing the academics, but if you do literacy and drama you have to read and you have to read with understanding so that you can interpret, thereby it automatically enhances reading, literacy and one’s memory,” said Wyles-Ogle. C u r r e n t l y, f o r m s o f expressive arts available to secondary school students are Visual Arts, Dance, Drama, Music and Physical Education. And according to Wyles-Ogle, of the 101 secondary schools across the country, there are only 39 with Allied Arts Departments. A school is able to establish an Allied Arts Department if at least three of the Expressive Arts subject areas are offered. This year a total of 988 students from 25 schools undertook Physical Education at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) level. These students, according to Wyles-Ogle, were prepared by teachers with some expertise, although there is currently not a full complement of teachers. But despite the need for advocacy to encourage the Arts, Wyles-Ogle noted that Theatre Arts, which is offered by the Caribbean Examinations Council, has been proving to be an asset, since it complements the Allied Arts (various forms of
- Allied Arts Administrator
Ms Desiree Wyles-Ogle the art). Moreover, through the Allied Arts Unit, about 25 teaches have been trained in Theatre Arts. However, the need for more teachers of the Arts continues to be crucial, as according to Wyles-Ogle, “the Arts subject areas are extremely important in relation to having a balanced curriculum and a balanced education.” Wyles-Ogle stated that while the mainstream academic areas are very important, research has shown that exposure to the Arts and physical activities are known to enhance children’s physical, intellectual, social and emotional development. “There is no better way to do it than in the Arts, because when you are doing the Arts you are involved in all the various aspects of development and so I feel it is very important.” As such, Wyles-Ogle has been amplifying her belief that the Arts must be nurtured in the school system. “We need to nurture c r e a t i v i t y, b e c a u s e i t wouldn’t come just like that, you have to train and
give students the opportunities where they could be involved in activities to develop that creative aspect,” she asserted. And this has been the ongoing mission of the Allied Arts Unit, said Wyles-Ogle, who noted that “I am proud to say that over the years a lot of these students that take part in the Arts display a lot of self confidence and heightened self esteem.” She disclosed that a few years ago it was students of the Sophia Special School, who, because of their creative talents, were tasked with representing Guyana at the Caribbean Festival of Arts on two occasions. “I have seen tremendous improvem e n t s i n t h o s e children...the way they deliver themselves; the confidence they have after participating in these kinds of activities...and research has shown that children who feel good about themselves tend to do well academically too.” Wyles-Ogle had also disclosed plans for the Eighth Secondary Schools Drama Festival which is scheduled to commence today at the Theatre Guild, Parade Street, Georgetown. The biennial event will last for two days and will allow students from across the country to showcase their various dramatic talents. It will also set the stage for the participants from one school to represent Guyana at the Caribbean Secondary Schools’ Drama Festival. The Caribbean Festival is slated for later this year in Barbados. And from among the outstanding entries of the Secondary School Festival, a few will be selected to participate in the National Drama Festival which is organised by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport.
Wednesday July 03, 2013
Kaieteur News
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Empretec continues to aid small business owners after 10 years Commemorating a decade in the business, Empretec Guyana will be launching its anniversary activities on Friday. Empretec, a non-profit institution with a programme designed to help support and advance small business operators with entrepreneurial skills, was initiated in Guyana 10 years ago through the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). According to the institution’s Managing Director, Judy Semple-Joseph, research was conducted on key items that make entrepreneurs successful, regardless of their location. The research identified ten entrepreneurial competencies with three main behaviour patterns that, if practiced, will build the capacity of the entrepreneur to improve their businesses. “At the end of it, participants understand their personal strengths and weaknesses, what
Wednesday July 03, 2013 ARIES (Mar. 21- April 20) You have an inborn ability to guide and lead others through the hurdles of life. You could be very much in demand as a counselor--even if you are not a counselor. Solving problems in the workplace seems easier than usual. TAURUS (Apr. 21- may 21) There are many opportunities to make practical decisions today--you may need to give yourself a little time before responding in some cases. Your ideas run deeper than superficial issues in which an interest in depth psychology could evolve. GEMINI (May 22-June 21) This is a great time to be with others, in any sort of group situation. In the workplace, your day should move along quickly. You have a sense of true understanding and real sacrifice to devote toward worthwhile projects. CANCER (June 22-July 22) You feel understanding and accepting and are easily moved by the problems of others. An understanding into the needs of others and an appreciation for their frailties, as well as your own, make you cautious and conservative - pick your battles with care. LEO (July 23-Aug 22) Discovering what you truly believe in--fighting for it, even--is a high personal priority. You may decide to quietly create an opportunity to push a truthin-lending law or uncover the real story behind a story. VIRGO (Aug. 23 -Sept. 23) Things are happening and your career depends upon your own ambition and drive. You are able to use your good thinking process and you feel what is the right thing to do; you enjoy being in control.
LIBRA (Sept. 24 -Oct. 23) Your thoughts and ideas may not mesh with the plans and methods of someone you meet with today. You enjoy exploring and extreme sports; you can take advantage of these few weeks to improve the physical status. SCORPIO (Oct. 24 - Nov. 22) You may decide that this is the best time to buckle down and secure your career. Your organizational abilities and sense of responsibility guide you and prove successful. There is a special job that you would enjoy. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23 Dec. 21) You may find yourself very appreciative of your very own skills today. You might enjoy putting together facts, solving problems and finding solutions for others, etc. A renewed appreciation for your work may be apparent to your superiors and others. CAPRICORN (Dec 22.Jan. 20) Your presence is important in the workplace, particularly today when you are most tempted to stay home. You do tend to overwork and over worry about the people you help and today you are needed in a place similar to a courtroom. AQUARIUS (Jan. 21 -Feb. 19) You are able to draw a clear picture of your ideas and others will understand your meaning. This afternoon you are very outfront and candid. Your intensity and passionate approach to life are obvious to all who meet you. PISCES (Feb. 20-Mar. 20) Mental discipline should come easily for you. Problems and obstacles are easy to conquer. You know what you are doing so well that you could be chosen to help or teach others.
it is they need to do for themselves, and how they can achieve it,” Semple-Joseph explained. She said that the programme is not business skills training as some might have identified. Rather, it is about an attitude toward success. The Entrepreneurial Training Workshop (ETW), the key product of Empretec, is designed to afford budding entrepreneurs the opportunity to identify the entrepreneurial competencies within themselves and practice the behaviour. With six days of intense capacity-building, the workshop provides hands-on practical activities aimed at allowing entrepreneurs to assess their present position as business owners and their capacity to improve. Among the ten competencies that the workshop expounds on is the commitment to quality and efficiency, characteristics of successful businesses. Participants are enlightened on the importance of quality customer service, in their presentation, environment, and even in their personal dress. Taking risks, business planning, developing confidence, networking and continued research, are all entwined into the training programme that helps entrepreneurs to steer their business while taking it to the
next level. Participants of the practical training programme are placed in an environment where they essentially learn the secrets of being successful entrepreneurs; they cultivate the behaviour of successful entrepreneurs, and make decisions directed to reaching their goals. According to some, the workshop had resulted in a total ‘turnaround’ of their businesses and is seen, not only as an investment in their businesses, but as an investment in themselves as ambitious individuals. Shawn Benn, who is currently the owner and manager of Professional Auto Body Work Establishment, said that through the Empretec programme, that he had attended in 2005, he was exposed to some of the sciences and intricacies of business that he would not have previously stumbled upon. Benn said that from an early age he had been interested in the trade and wanted to operate his own business, which he started in 1994. He related that although he had been encountering success in his field, he was still interested in the “fineries” of the business world. Benn said that he personally benefitted from the entrepreneurial competencies which taught him to be persistent and to take risks. He added that
he was taught that “if you want anything badly enough, even the heavens will open up to allow you to pass”. This, he explained, was what he implemented when tragedy struck twice, with floods and a fire, resulting in losses, personally, and to his business. Benn was able to bounce back and rebuild his life and business using the skills and attitudes taught at the workshop. Currently, Benn is operating a flourishing business which he has even expanded to accommodate an Investment Agency. In addition, he collaborates with a Ministry of Labour apprenticeship programme, through the Board of Industrial Training, to teach his trade to young men. And Halema Rodrigues added that the Empretec programme benefitted her immensely, and like Shawn Benn, proved to be useful in times of adversity. Her business was broken into. “If it wasn’t for Empretec, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” she said. Halema attributes her success largely to the workshop and also to Republic Bank for sponsoring the Venture Out for Women programme, also hosted by Empretec. She is currently embarking on an additional location for her business.
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Kaieteur News
Free zone, policies recommended for sexual harassment in the workplace By Zena Henry The Women and Gender Equality Commission has viewed with concern the continued rise in domestic and gender-based violence. It says the matter, along with sexual harassment, “needs to be addressed in its entirety,” and thus focus has been centered on the workplace. Gillian Burton, who represents the labour section on the Commission, said that in many cases the problems of sexual harassment and violence in the workplace are not highlighted or reported. She said victims are left to fend for themselves, oftentimes not knowing where to go or who to talk to. Gradually, the labour representative said, complaints of sexual harassment and gender-based violence are increasing - according to reports received. She related that the Commission is thus calling for free zones and workplace policies that speak directly to violence and harassment on the job to be created. Burton explained that over the years, “the labour movement has acknowledged the upsurge of domestic violence and sexual harassment.” They have noted that these matters continue, despite a number of policies being put in place to address it. The Commission has thus agreed, “That now is the time to implore the leaders to import a policy that tackles the issue outside of the home.” Like a workplace policy for HIV and AIDS, the Commissioner
said, one must be implemented for sexual harassment, domestic violence and gender-based violence at work. She pointed out that the agency is concerned that the issues have escalated and are becoming more evident. Quite recently, she continued, the Commission met with the police force and the University of Guyana, expressing their concerns. The agencies were urged to put in place zero tolerance on domestic violence and sexual harassment. Further engagements sought collaboration for the installation of billboards and posters, while the free zones relating to sexual harassment and domestic violence are established. It was related that the framework for this policy is already being addressed and discourse is being held with stakeholders to aid in drafting exactly what is needed. The consideration of the Parliament, before making the document law, will be the next step. Burton however said that, “We know of issues where relationships develop in workplaces, since it is of a male and female environment. The fact that persons would have reported being sexually harassed over the years at workplaces; the fact that young persons might have their bosses making overtures, is just a tip of the problem. Things might have occurred and put on a down-low. Where will these people go to make complaints? How is it addressed?” she asked.
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In a meeting recently held with senior members of the police force, Renata Chuck-ASang, who represents the private sector, said that the Commission was told by Deputy Commissioner of Police Balram Persaud that the force has zero tolerance towards domestic violence. She said he pointed out that 60 percent of those cases make it to court, because for others, lack of evidence, the reluctance of the victim to testify in court or carrying on to pursue with the matter, are major challenges. According to the Commission, the police have however exposed new strategies to handle domestic violence. One of those, it was noted, is taking the accused to court without the victims. They said when a report of domestic violence or other is made, the victim is sent for a medical report and then they make the criminal report. This will however change, since the police will take the criminal report before the victim is sent to the hospital. That way, even if the victim does not return, the police would have the information to take the offender to court.
Wednesday July 03, 2013
Man, 73, remanded for alleged car theft A 73-year-old man who was described as a regular car thief and who was on the run for over eight months, was yesterday remanded to jail by Magistrate Rabindranauth Singh when he appeared before him at the Albion Magistrate’s Court on a charge of simple larceny. Peter Kissoon of Lot 47 Number 77 Village Corentyne, Berbice, is accused of stealing one Spacio Motor Car (HB 9021) valued at $2,650,000 the property of Seenarine Chetram of Tain Corentyne, Berbice - on November 1, 2012, at Tain, Corentyne, Berbice According to prosecutor Corporal Sherlock King, the accused and the virtual complainant know each other. On the day in question the two were together in the Central Corentyne area conducting business, when Chetram left Kissoon alone in the car and went into his home at Tain. Upon his return he did not see Kissoon or his vehicle. Checks were made even at Kissoon’s home, but there was no trace of the accused or the vehicle.
A report was made and the police started to conduct investigations. However Kissoon, who had allegedly slipped out of the country to Suriname with the car, returned secretly and was living at Rose Hall Town. He was nabbed by the police after they got word that he was in the area. In court, Kissoon asked the magistrate for bail, citing his age, the fact that he is a businessman and is the father of seven. However Prosecutor King objected strenuously citing the nature and gravity of the offence.
King also drew the court’s attention to the fact that the accused was jailed previously on a similar charge. The prosecutor further submitted that after committing this act the accused reportedly fled the country with the car. The car has not been recovered. He also mentioned that during the previous trial, the accused had stopped attending court and if granted bail he most likely will not attend his trial. Kissoon was refused bail and the matter was transferred to the Whim Magistrate’s court for July 13.
the hospital’s Board of Directors, representatives of the clergy and prominent members of the private sector. Making her remarks at the opening ceremony, the Hospital’s Chief Executive Officer, Helen Browman, recounted the events of that fateful morning when fire broke out in the original building of the hospital which was opened in 1945. She related that losses suffered included medical records, the admission and discharge offices, the chapel,
offices of 13 doctors, one of the operating rooms and the central supplies room. According to Ms. Browman, the damage was estimated just over $600M. She said that although the fire was tragic, it presented an opportunity to shape the future of the hospital, which was in dire need of extensive repairs, maintenance and retooling. Ms. Browman explained that based on the plans agreed upon by the Board of Directors, the rebuilding
process entailed two phases; phase one being what was witnessed at the ceremony. Phase one, completed in two parts, comprised a new building used as a transition space to house the staff and doctors when work was being done in sections of the North Wing; and the renovation of the North Wing which included the enhancement of patient rooms, expansion of the High Dependency Unit and upgraded equipment in the x-ray and laboratory (continued on page 29)
Alleged car thief Peter Kissoon, 73
St. Joseph Mercy Hospital’s North Wing officially reopened
By Tiffanne Ramphal The newly renovated North Wing of the St. Joseph Mercy Hospital was yesterday officially reopened and rededicated in the presence of Prime Minister Samuel Hinds; members of
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Kaieteur News
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Repairs, sales & spares air conditioning, microwaves, washer, fridges & stoves. Ultra Cool. Call: 225-9032, 647-2943 Repairs to Fridge, Freezer, AC, Washers, Stoves, TV: Call 683-1312,627-3206 (Nick) House Plans, estimates and construction- Contact T.Boodhoo 625-9883 / 6759296 We repair fridge, freezer, AC, washer, dryer. Call:2310655, 683-8734 Omar R o c o t s To o l R e n t a l : R a n s o m , Ta b l e S a w, Compactor, floor sander, Bobcat etc.- Call:675-0767 TransponderTV: No Monthly Fees, No Hidden Fees, No Additional Charges: 250 Channels + 50 HD Channels- Call: 675-3201 Permanent & Visitors Visa Applications, Professional Immigration Consultant Room D5 Maraj Building Call: 225-6496, 662-6045, 223-8115 We Refill HP cartridges for $1800 call: 650-7699
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Nail Plates & Anchor Seal: 4×6, 3×6, 4×8- Call: 265-3541/ 695-4785 1 PS3 for sale: $105,000 negotiable: 5 free gamesCall:682-0940 Used Massey Tractors- MF 165, 175, 275, 1100, 1130, Ford 5000, Yanmar Vegetable Tractors: Affordable PricesCall: 675-9314 6" & 8" Flood control pump with engine, tool sets, ploughs, chippers, slasher, massey ferguson loaderCall:675-9314
LAND FOR SALE House lot for sale: Friendship EBD & drafting of house plans. Call: 2230733, 223-0730 2- Acres cultivated, 2-1 Acres cultivated, 7 Acres cultivated, citrus, house, fish pond, storage at ParikaCall:226-7968 2 House Lots (39×150 & 38×150) $16M each: Blankenburg public road, W.C.D- Call:658-0132
Pure Bred Rottweiler puppies Call: 227-0828, 604-7105 155 Leyland DAF excellent working condition: Price $3.5M (negotiable)Call:656-8346
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CRV PMM series call:6925460 Daschund mixed with Pekingese pups six weeks old $15,000- Call:677-2476
SERVICES CITY TAXI SERVICE (SINCE 1968)- CALL:2256222/ 226-7150/ 2261088/ 225-8600/ 227-1101
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Empty Fuel Barrels (50 gal)Contact Nicky on 226-7948/ 646-6000/ 697-9610
LEARN TO DRIVE B & C Driving School: Lot 5 Hadfield Lodge- call:2250150,229-7258,680-6826
Wednesday July 03, 2013
Gowns, Shalwars, Khimar, Scarves, Khimar accessories and much more. Dates for Ramadaan available. Halaal Heaven. Call: 226-0311, 667-8141 Fluffy Dashund PuppiesCall:666-5199/ 669-8421
CAR RENTAL Progressive Auto Rental cars from $4000 per day. Call 643-5122, 225-8711; email www. progressive autorental. com Premio, Vitz call: 689-6668 Untouchable Car Rental: Low Rate , Low Deposit call:231-8653,621-6827 A i d a n ’s C a r R e n t a l & Pickup- Call: 645-7981/ 6987807
LEARN BALLROOM DANCING: 10 WKS, STARTING JULY 8, 2013 @ 5:30PM- CALL:6429053/ 617-0170 Austin’s Repairs & Services: We repair fridges, freezers, washers, A/C, dryers & House wiring etc.- Call:6852588/ 629-8136 Need a Babysitter/ Caregiver? Call:694-0689/ 691-8699 Professionally designed website at affordable prices: Get a free consultation & quoteEmail: trinidadbusiness@gmail.com or call:868-397-3589
VEHICLE FOR SALE We buy & sell vehicles for cash & we do trading-in of vehicles: 30 Seater Busescall:680-3154 Toyota Starlet Turbo: Working A/C, interior in excellent condition- Call:4446183 or 686-0910 1 Mitsubishi Lancer, excellent condition. Call: 677-9527 / 616-3802 / 222-4650 1 Toyota Tacoma 4x2 – 1997; $1.6 million; not registered Phone:265-2103, 611-0674 RZ mini-buses BMM & BNN series, AT192, 212, AT170, Tacoma, Canters, NZE & cheap cars- call:680-3154 1 Mercedes Benz C200: PNN 6967- Call: 680-4990 / 2773033 1 To y o t a R a u m , Vi t z , AT212, AT192, AT170, Ceres, Hilux Pickup Solid DEF, EP82 & 71 StarletCall: 644-5096 / 697-1453 Unregistered Solid DEF Hilux2005 Raum $2.150,000; Dump Truck $2.3m- Call: 227-1737/6411800: Annadale Public road Nissan Sentra, manufactured year 1999: Imported brand new: PGG series $1,000,000 (1M) NegCall:665-6151/ 233-5287 Toyota IST PLL 7683- Call: 639-9553 2 Ford F150: Price $4.5M & $3.5M- Call: 643-5249 / 2654979 2006 320i BMW- body kit, sports tuned, immaculate condition, low mileage: Price $4.8M negotiable- Call:6240371/629-6264 New canter truck and Verossa in immaculate condition- Call:692-5363 Toyota Hilux 4×4, A/C, auto, leather seats, 3RZ engine: Asking $2.7M- Call:225-0398/ 623-1299/ 658-5097
SALON
Toyota Fielder $2.1M, Premio $2.6M, Axio $2.9M: Vehicles fully loaded & unregisteredcall: 617-2891 Lexus, Pitbull never registered- Call:655-0800/ 263-5300 2- 07 Toyota AvensisCall:698-0674 1 Toyota Land-cruiser Prado PMM series- call:225-0188/ 225-6070
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Natural beauty salon & spa: Grove Market Street EBD tele:265-4138,6525800 specialized in everything for women & children
The Gent’s spa: Come be pampered by beautiful sophisticated masseuses four hands special. Call: 657-5979 (Continued on page 29)
Wednesday July 03, 2013
Kaieteur News
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Local Government reform Bills for parliamentary consideration in two weeks By Zena Henry The prospects of local government elections are looking even better, now that committee members have agreed to have four local government reform bills in parliament in two weeks’ time. Chairman of the local government reform select committee, Basil Williams said that the documents would be in parliament by July 18. Williams told Kaieteur News yesterday that the agreement was made on the 28th of June when members of the three major political parties came together in the vetting process. The last piece of the Local Government reform Bill was completed earlier in that month. The Fiscal Transfer Bill caused major upsets between the parties over the financial rights of the local government minister. It was finally closed off when matters of contention were revisited and agreed upon. Williams said that the Bills were, at the time, left to be vetted through the Attorney General’s office. The next steps entailed the documents going to the National
Chairman of the Local Govt. Select Committee, Basil Williams Assembly for considerations and then for presidential assent. The vetting process involves a type of background check and intelligence-gathering to fortify the contents of the reform Bills and determine its usefulness as it pertains to the issue; in this case local government. This is necessary before parliament considers the matter to be made law. Williams said that the
St. Joseph Mercy... From page 6 department of the hospital. Phase two, which is expected to commence soon, will involve the replacement of the building that was destroyed in the fire. Browman recounted that the day of the fire coincided with a workshop that was planned to determine what needed to be done to reverse the serious financial problems it was encountering. She noted that within a few short weeks following the fire, through the help of many, the operations of the hospital were resumed and the rebuilding process was started in record time. She said that although fund raising was a difficult task, with the help of local and overseas donors and the Government which allowed for VAT-free imported materials, they were able to overcome their hurdles. As part of the rededication yesterday, Bishop Francis Alleyne blessed the building after which the ceremonial ribbon was cut by Prime Minister Samuel Hinds.
representatives of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) were not too keen on stipulations that concerned the financial powers of the local government Minister and were accommodated by the opposition representatives. He said that the members of the Alliance for Change (AFC) and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) agreed that certain financial powers should remain with the Minister. The matter came up, he said, since on the completion of the Bills last month, the current local government minister, Ganga Persaud, was not in attendance and certain decisions were taken. Prior to that, Minister Persaud accused the opposition of randomly removing the existing powers of the Minister in relation to what he will retain and what will devolve to the Local Government Commission. Williams continued that the government representatives also sought, at the vetting process, to reexamine the composition of the Local Government Commission, but they were not having it. The Commission will be tasked with overseeing and regulating the functioning of the Local Democratic Organs (65 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils and five municipalities, outside of the city). The vetting process will however be completed next Friday when party representatives meet again. The holding of Local Government elections is a major issue now that several agencies and prominent independent persons have joined the bandwagon in urging and demanding local polls. Local government election was last held in 1994,
some 19 years ago. The diplomatic community, for the second time in about six months, called for early local government elections last Thursday. The inability to hold Local Government elections has been blamed for a structural breakdown of governance at the community level, while corruption and mismanagement have now become a major problem with development at risk, critics say. A joint statement from the diplomatic and business community noted that at the start of 2013, political party leaders, civil society, private sector representatives and members of the diplomatic community had all expressed confidence that this would be the year in which Guyana would move forward to ensure that its citizens benefit from strong and effective local governance. The government however threw blame at the opposition for “deliberately stymieing progress.” The statement was however issued by the local embassy of the US, the British High Commission, European Union and High Commission of Canada. It also listed the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Guyana Association of Women Lawyers, Guyana Bar Association, the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association, the Guyana Trades Union Congress, the Private Sector Commission and the Transparency Institute Guyana Inc. as the other concerned stakeholders. The US Embassy via the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has committed some US$300 for local polls, among other things.
(From page 28) VACANCY 24 hour East Coast Guyoil needs day & night pump attendants, sales girl, Experienced Fuel Tanker Driver Tele: 688-9611/ 684-2838 PROPERTY FOR SALE Tuschen Housing SchemeCall: 692-3454/616-7632
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1 Two Storey Business Property (Transported): Brickery Public Road, East Bank Demerara. Call: 660-8128
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Engine Room Operator: Apply in person with written application @ Wieting & Richter Ltd. 10-13 Water street, Georgetown
Parcel 877 of Block XXXIII, Bachelors Adventure public rd, E.C.D opposite Guywa:0.585 acre- call Pearl Realty:689-9991 House and Land @ D’Edward, W. C.B. Call: 6892973/698-3703 Going concern building: Prime area Sheriff street by owner- Call:682-7733 West Bank $18M, Bel-Air Park $45M, Campbellville $30M, AA Eccles $65M- Call Diana @ 227-2256/ 626-9382
TO LET Fully furnished short term apartments @ Eccles call: 689-6668 Secret Villa apartment, fully furnished apartments Landof-Canaan E.B.D- Call:2665243/266-5245 Harmony Inn: Fully furnished,air - conditioned apartments; Parfaite Harmonie, 5,000 Per night call:668-0306, 694-7817,602-8769 Furnished executive one or two bedroom suite in Diamond. Ideal for foreigners- Call 609-2466 Furnished apartments @ Diamond H/Scheme- Call: 628-1939 / 693-3902. Diamond $35,000; Eccles $55,000; Queenstown $140,000; Nandy Park US$1200- Call Diana @ 2272256/ 626-9382 One bedroom house @ Mon Repos, E.C.D- Call:698-6764
Clerical Staff (Computer Literate), Graphic Artist, Gardener & Handyman: Apply to Risan’s @ 51 Main Street, Georgetown Skilled carpenters: Apply in person at Alabama Trading, Ferry Stelling Georgetown Electrician, Welders & Fabricators (3 years experienced), Machinist: Apply @ Technical Services Inc. 18-23 Eccles Industrial Site, E.B.D 1- Road Foreman- Full timeCall:603-4524
FOR RENT Short Term Apartments/ Rooms Available- Call: 687-3017 Located at Enterprise road and railway embankmentCall: 677-9527/ 616-3802/ 222-4650 Fully furnished Salon to rent with A/C in GeorgetownCall: 686-8223 Fully furnished apartment for rent- Call:682-7733 Ideal business spot at 14 Peters Hall public road, E.B.D- Call:233-5110/ 6680309 Twoone bedroom apartments $30,000 and $35,000 @ South Ruimveldt Park- Call:627-7261 3,000 Sq.Ft. building prime location W.B.D public roadCall:610-2227
For the best rates, call us on 225-8458, 225-8465, 225-8491
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Wednesday July 03, 2013
Venezuela eyed as Snowden seeks asylum MOSCOW (AP) — NSA leaker Edward Snowden’s best chance of finding refuge outside the United States may hinge on the president of Venezuela, who was in Moscow yesterday meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. With a string of countries appearing to offer Snowden little hope, President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela told Russian reporters yesterday that his country has not received an application for asylum from Snowden and dodged the question of whether he would take Snowden with him when he left. But Maduro also defended the former National Security Agency systems analyst who released sensitive documents on U.S. intelligence-gathering
operations. “He did not kill anyone and did not plant a bomb,” Maduro said ahead of his meeting with Putin, the Interfax news agency reported. “What he did was tell a great truth in an effort to prevent wars. He deserves protection under international and humanitarian law.” During his Kremlin meeting with Putin, Maduro spoke about plans to build on the strong ties with Russia formed under his late predecessor, Hugo Chavez, but neither he nor Putin mentioned Snowden in their public statements. The Kremlin-friendly newspaper Izvestia reported Monday that the two presidents would discuss Snowden, adding to speculation that
arrangements would be made for him to travel to Venezuela. Snowden had initially booked flights to Havana, Cuba, and then on to Caracas, Venezuela, before becoming trapped in legal limbo, believed to be unable to leave a Moscow airport transit zone. Another option for Snowden may be Bolivia, whose president also met with Putin during a summit of major gas exporters in the Kremlin. President Evo Morales said in an interview with Russia Today television that Bolivia would be willing to consider granting asylum to Snowden. Yesterday evening, Maduro again spoke out in support of Snowden, without giving any more indication of whether he would help him leave Russia. “Who must protect Snowden? This is the question. This young man of 29 was brave enough to say that we need to protect the world from the American imperial elite, so who should protect him?” Maduro said in response to a question from
Edward Snowden journalists covering a ceremony to rename a Moscow street after Chavez. “All of mankind, people all over the world must protect him.” Maduro was scheduled to spend today in neighboring Belarus before returning to Venezuela. Snowden, who recently turned 30, withdrew a bid for asylum in Russia when he learned the terms Moscow had set out, according to Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Putin said on Monday that Russia was ready to shelter Snowden as long as he stopped leaking U.S. secrets. At the same time, Putin said he had no plans to turn over Snowden to the United States. Snowden has applied for asylum in Venezuela, Bolivia and 18 other countries, according to WikiLeaks, a secret spilling website that has been advising him. Many European countries on the list — including Austria, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and
Switzerland — said he would have to make his request on their soil. Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski, whose consent for asylum would be required, said in a message posted on Twitter that he would not grant the request. Germany’s Interior Ministry specifically ruled it out too, saying that “the conditions to take him in are not there.” WikiLeaks said requests have also been made to Brazil, China, Cuba, Ecuador, France, Iceland, India, Italy and Nicaragua. India’s External Affairs Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said Delhi has carefully examined the asylum request and decided to turn it down. And Brazil’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Tovar da Silva Nunes said the government “does not plan to respond” to the asylum request. WikiLeaks also posted a statement attributed to Snowden on its website late Monday, in which he slams President Barack Obama for “using citizenship as a weapon.” “Although I am convicted of nothing, (the United States) has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person,” Snowden says in the statement. “Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody. The right to seek asylum. “Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those who would come after me.”
The Russian government says that Snowden, who has been on the run since releasing the sensitive NSA documents, has remained in the transit zone of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport since his arrival from Hong Kong on June 23. Ecuador, where he had initially hoped to get asylum, has been giving mixed signals about offering him shelter. Britain’s Press Association news agency said it had obtained a letter from Snowden to Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa thanking him for considering his asylum request. “There are few world leaders who would risk standing for the human rights of an individual against the most powerful government on earth, and the bravery of Ecuador and its people is an example to the world,” PA quoted the letter as saying. The agency said it had obtained the Spanishlanguage letter from sources in Quito, the capital of Ecuador. Correa, however, appeared cool to Snowden in an interview with the Guardian newspaper. Asked whether he would like to meet Snowden, Correa was quoted as saying: “Not particularly. He’s a very complicated person. Strictly speaking, Mr. Snowden spied for some time.” He was quoted as saying that Ecuador would not consider an asylum request until Snowden was on its territory and his government would not help him travel to Ecuador.
Colombia’s FARC rebels call on government to bring ELN into talks HAVANA (Reuters) Colombia’s FARC rebels, the country’s biggest insurgent group, called yesterday for the government to broaden peace talks to include its smaller counterpart known as the ELN, a day after the two groups announced they would work more closely together. Colombia’s government has been in peace negotiations in Cuba with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, since November in the hope of ending five decades of war. The government has said it was willing to talk with the ELN, or National Liberation Army, but separately from the FARC. “We are talking about involving them in the dialogue and that they become part of the discussions,” said Pablo
Catatumbo, one of the FARC negotiators at the talks in Cuba’s capital, Havana. Catatumbo told reporters the ELN could join the FARC’s negotiations with the government which deal with issues including disarmament, land reform and political participation, or the ELN can pursue discussions of its own. The request comes a day after the two rebel groups announced that they held a secret meeting in Colombia last month in which they put past differences behind them and agreed all rebel groups should be involved in peace talks going forward. “We will do everything in our power so that the discussions between the sister organization and the Colombian government actually take place,” the
FARC said in a statement on Tuesday. The FARC and the ELN had fought each other for control of drug trafficking routes, but maintained a cordial distance in recent years. Involving another party now could slow progress in the already drawn-out talks and the request is likely to frustrate President Juan Manuel Santos, who has insisted that the FARC stick to conditions for talks agreed at the outset. Both the ELN and the FARC have battled a dozen governments since they were founded in 1964 and are considered terrorist groups by the United States and the European Union. The ELN was inspired by the Cuban revolution and established by radical Catholic priests.
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PM says former National Grenada: Electronic Security Minister under crime bill causes concern police probe here and abroad PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar says the ruling United National Congress (UNC) could not support the candidacy of her former national security minister Austin “Jack” Warner to contest an upcoming by-election in Trinidad and Tobago because of numerous factors including being investigated by law enforcement authorities both here and in the United States. Speaking at a public meeting of the UNC, the biggest party in the threemember coalition People’s Partnership government on Monday night, Prime Minister Persad Bissessar said also that Warner as a government minister “refused to travel on government business on several occasions.
Kamla Persad Bissessar “These Included, matters where the Minister of National Security would have been required to attend whether it be in Washington, Toronto, New York and even Haiti. “I am not prepared to burden you with a candidate with all these issues unresolved and in a situation where he had no reason to
resign as a Member of Parliament,” she told party supporters. Warner has been bypassed by the UNC to contest the July 29 Chaguanas West constituency which he represented in Parliament following the 2010 general election. He resigned both as parliamentarian and UNC chairman after the publication of a report by the CONCACAF Integrity Committee that had been very critical of the former international football boss. His removal from the Cabinet followed widespread calls for Persad Bissessar to act immediately on the contents of the report of the CONCACAF Integrity Committee that was released in Panama. Warner did not cooperate with the investigation.
Warner forms new political party PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - CMC – Former national security minister Austin “Jack” Warner will contest the July 29 by election in the Chaguanas West constituency on a likely ticket of his soon to be formed political party. Warner, who was bypassed by the ruling United National Congress (UNC) to contest the seat which he resigned in April following the publication of a damning report by the CONCACAF Integrity Committee, told supporters on Monday night that the colour of the new party would be “green”. “I have not decided if I would contest as an independent or form my own
party,” he told supporters, adding that as of tomorrow, he would no longer be wearing the “yellow” of the UNC, which has named 32year-old Khadijah Ameen as its candidate. Warner, 70, said he had decided to contest the byelection because he wanted to “show Trinidad and Tobago what good governance was about”. Last week, Warner visited the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) to review his papers and said everything was in order. He said he has chosen a symbol and the colour green and urged his supporters to replace their yellow jerseys with green for Friday when he
Minister Austin “Jack” Warner will hold a public meeting to announce officially the formation of his party. Warner, who received a record 18,000-plus votes in the 2010 general election, has described the candidates of the main opposition People’s National Movement (PNM) and the UNC as “little children in a big people race”.
ST. GEORGE’S. Grenada - CMC – The Grenada government yesterday said it had taken note of “some concerns” being raised by the public regarding the recently passed Electronic Crime Bill that provides for criminal charges to be brought against anyone sending offensive messages over the internet. In a statement, the Keith Mitchell government, which controls all 15 seats in the Parliament, said that it is “committed to looking at the segment to ensure that in no way free internet comment is either inhibited or by any slightest measure, threatened. “While the Government is committed to bringing modern legislation to deal with modern-day realities, it will in no way inhibit traditional old tenets that are the centre of any selfrespecting democracy. “Under the watch of this government, no law shall inhibit or threaten open debate in any form or fashion. That commitment of the current government is clear,” it said. A former candidate of the National Democratic Congress (UNC), who unsuccessfully contested the last general election, says he plans to stage a one-man protest against the recently passed legislation. “Any attempts to limit free speech in Grenada by any government will be met with resistance from me. I fully understand and appreciate that freedom of speech must be exercised responsibly and ought not to trample on the rights of others,” said Randall Robinson. “I appreciate that we are human and that we may go overboard from time to time and that we ought to be chastened for it, but speech, offensive or otherwise ought
Keith Mitchell not to be criminalized. We already have a remedy in the civil courts that adequately compensates offended parties where they sue and win,” he added. The government said contrary to media reports “the current proposal before the parliament is in no way law. “It is subject to an ongoing debate in the House of Representatives and subsequently the Senate.Given the ongoing debate, it is very likely that what passes finally into law will have adjustments, given both the concerns and government’s unambiguous commitment.” The statement said that Prime Minister Mitchell has asked his legislative team “to review all sections of the bill to ensure that it remains consistent with his commitment of not just protecting open debate and dialog, but to reflect the new commitment to broaden patterns of democracy that will be reflective in other upcoming legislation”. The statement quoted an official of the Prime Minister’s Office as calling on the Grenada Media Workers Association to discuss the clause that has raised some eyebrows. “We are confident that at the end of the process we will have legislation that will deal
with issue of cyber crime, identify theft, child pornography and electronic stalking without infringing, or undermining public debate or any matters attendant to an open, free and democratic society.” The Electronic Crimes Bill, which was passed on Friday, also makes it an offence to send offensive messages electronically via the various social media networks, such as Facebook and Twitter; engage in electronic identity theft; conduct and participate in the distribution of child pornography as well as engage in prank calls to the law enforcement. The bill also provides for measures against anyone participating in electronic stalking; involved or be responsible for spoof and spam emails and other electronic formats; engage in electronic fraud and forgery; participate in electronic terrorism and to violate another person’s privacy. The bill provides for fines ranging from EC$5, 000 to EC$300,000 (One EC dollar = US$0.37 cents) and jail terms from six months to 20 years and according to Information Communications and Telecommunications Minister Alvin Dabreo it is intended to deter persons from engaging in mischief to another or a country. Legal Affairs Minister Elvin Nimrod said that Grenada has finally decided to use technology to fight technology. Now the passage of the Electronic Crimes Bill a person will be (able) to take that evidence of the posting and use it as evidence in the court. People have to act responsible to others,” he said. The bill also provides for fines as much as EC$300,000 on anyone found guilty of using the internet to promote child pornography.
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NEARLY 50 KILLED IN IRAQ BOMBINGS (Reuters) - At least 45 people were killed in bomb attacks across Iraq yesterday, most of them in busy markets and commercial areas of the capital Baghdad, police and medics said. The deadliest assault took place in the predominantly Shi’ite Shaab neighbourhood of northern Baghdad, where two car bombs killed eight people. There were also explosions in the mainly Shi’ite districts of Abu Dsheer, Kamaliya, Tobchi and Shula. “A blast hit near a crowded market full of people shopping,” said Ali Sadoun, a policeman whose patrol was stationed in Shula. “When police and people gathered to help the wounded, a second bomb went off, tearing through bodies.” Sunni Muslims were the apparent targets of blasts in Amriya and Abu Ghraib, on the city’s western outskirts. A sustained campaign of attacks since the start of the year has increased fears of wider conflict in a country where ethnic Kurds, Shi’ite and Sunni Muslims have yet to find a stable power-sharing compromise. Insurgents including al Qaeda’s Iraqi affiliate have been recruiting from the country’s Sunni minority, which resents Shi’ite domination since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. Intercommunal tensions have been inflamed by the civil war in neighbouring Syria, which is increasingly been fought along sectarian lines, drawing in Shi’ite and Sunni fighters from Iraq and elsewhere to fight on opposite sides of the conflict. Outside Baghdad, a bomb blast near a funeral tent in the city of Baquba killed six people. Further south, a car bomb in Amara province killed four people and in the city of Basra, three blasts hit a hotel frequented by foreigners working in the oil industry, wounding three guards. Violence is still well below its height in 2006-07, but Sunni insurgents are striking on a daily basis, seeking to destabilise the Shi’ite-led government and provoke
further confrontation. On Monday, attacks targeting Shi’ites left at least
27 people dead. The number of people killed in militant attacks across Iraq in June
reached 761. Iraqi military forces are now better equipped and
trained, but lack the comprehensive intelligence resources and air cover to
track insurgents that they enjoyed before U.S. troops withdrew in December 2011.
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Zimbabwe PM’s party says Second ministerial resignation Mugabe allies trying to rig vote plunges Portugal into crisis
HARARE (Reuters) - The party of Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said thousands of dead people were still on the electoral roll only four weeks before a presidential election, accusing allies of President Robert Mugabe of trying to rig the outcome. The July 31 contest is Tsvangirai’s third attempt to unseat Mugabe, the 89-yearold veteran who has ruled since independence from Britain in 1980. The two were forced into a power sharing deal after the last, disputed polls in 2008. Another contested result could interrupt impoverished Zimbabwe’s recovery from a decade of economic decline that has prompted hundreds of thousands to flee the country. “Clearly the voters roll is a shambles. The registration is often chaotic and frustrating in urban areas and we see this as an attempt to rig the elections before voting has even started,” MDC spokesman Douglas Mwonzora said on Tuesday. Tsvangirai’s MDC wants to delay the election until midAugust to allow more time to prepare a smooth vote free of
Morgan Tsvangirai the deadly violence that marred the 2008 polls. But a court ruling is expected next week and there is no guarantee that judges will change the date, so the MDC and Mugabe’s ZANUPF party have swung into campaign mode. The state-owned Herald newspaper, tightly controlled by ZANU-PF, said the MDC had failed to substantiate its allegations, calling them a “frivolous and spurious” attempt to discredit the elections. MDC wants equal access to Zimbabwe’s only broadcaster, which is owned by the government and is in the grip of ZANU-PF.
It wants the military, which openly campaigns for Mugabe, to stay out of politics and sign an agreement to accept the result if Mugabe loses. Army commanders often say they would not salute Tsvangirai if he won an election. Election Commission Chairwoman Rita Makarau told reporters the body had received grievances from the MDC but expected to have the problems fixed before the polls. “(These are) issues that we are going to iron out,” Makarau said. Tsvangirai has asked the 15-nation Southern African Development Community to pressure Mugabe to delay the election until there is a chance it will be fair and credible. But analysts say the court may take a dim view of any outside interference given long-standing criticism of Mugabe and his allies for failing to respect the rule of law. MDC Finance Minister Tendai Biti has said uncertainty over the election date may have caused the economy to shrink by as much as 3 percent in the first quarter and was pushing it closer to recession.
(Reuters) - Portugal’s prime minister refused to accept the resignation of his foreign minister yesterday, raising the stakes in a political crisis that could derail Lisbon’s plan to exit an international bailout. Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho told the nation that he would continue to head the government to ensure political stability and would work in coming hours to overcome the crisis sparked by the resignation of Foreign Minister Paulo Portas. “With me, the country will not choose political, economic and social collapse,” Passos Coelho said in a televised address. “There is a lot of work to be done and we have to reap the fruit of what we sowed with so much effort,” he said, referring to the swingeing austerity measures implemented under the bailout. Under Portuguese law, the prime minister can refuse to accept the resignation of a minister. Coelho’s decision puts the responsibility for the government’s survival squarely on the shoulders of Portas, who now has to decide whether to stay in his post or pull his rightist CDSPP party out of the coalition. Without the CDS-PP, the centre-right government would lose its majority. Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar, the architect of a programme of spending cuts and tax hikes required by foreign lenders as a condition of their support, resigned a day earlier, citing an erosion in support for the bailout. Passos Coelho has fought tooth and nail to keep his country on a trajectory to exit
its 78 billion euro (67 billion pounds) bailout next year as scheduled, but the measures have pushed Portugal deeper into its worst economic crisis since the 1970s. “It would be a rushed move to accept this resignation request,” said Passos Coelho. “I have not asked the president to remove the foreign minister ... a coalition government cannot be put in jeopardy unless there are enormously serious divergences.” Portas said he was resigning because he objected to the appointment of Treasury Secretary Maria Luis Albuquerque to replace Gaspar. “The government has fallen apart,” said Antonio Jose Seguro, head of the opposition Socialists. “The prime minister has lost all legitimacy to govern.” Portuguese bond prices fell sharply after Portas’s announcement, with the returns investors demand to hold 10-year bonds rising 35 basis points. The news weighed on the euro. “There are increasing reasons to be concerned about developments in Portugal, which has been the ‘forgotten country’ for much of the (euro zone) crisis,” said Alex White, an analyst at J.P. Morgan, in a research report. “The rug is being pulled out from under the Passos Coelho government and Portugal is now staring at the prospect of early elections,” said Nicolas Spiro, managing director at Spiro Sovereign Strategy. “The back-to-back resignations throw the political opposition to reform in Portugal into sharp relief and pose serious questions about the country’s ability to
Paulo Portas push ahead, let alone exit, its troubled bailout programme.” Lefteris Farmakis, an economist at Nomura Securities, said he did not expect a Greek-style political crisis with radical parties gaining importance. “The (opposition) Socialists are a mainstream party and they have a strong lead in opinion polls. The outcome of any election would be within the previous political spectrum, not like in Greece, where new forces emerged,” he said. Opposition to austerity has risen steadily this year since the sharpest tax hikes in living memory. There was a general strike last week and leading business confederations have also called for an easing of austerity. Officials from Portugal’s ‘troika’ of international lenders - the European Union, IMF and ECB - are due to start their next review of the economy on July 15. Portugal has struggled to meet the terms of its bailout as the recession has deepened, and Coelho has said he may seek a further relaxation of budget deficit limits if the economy worsens further.
Saudi Arabia calls on EU to arm Syrian rebels DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia, a foe of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has urged the European Union to arm Syrian rebels without delay, following similar action by the United States. The European Union lifted restrictions on arming the rebels in May when it failed to renew a weapons arms embargo before it expired on June 1. But Britain and France, which had advocated lifting the ban, said they would not send weapons before August 1. “The Syrian opposition is not only fighting an illegitimate regime, but also fighting a foreign occupier,” Saudi state news agency SPA quoted Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal as telling an EU-GCC ministerial meeting in Bahrain on Sunday. He was referring to Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah forces that have joined
in recent fighting alongside Assad’s military, notably spearheading the capture of the border town of Qusair. “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ... refers to the EU resolution to lift the ban on arming the Syrian opposition, and calls for the implementation of this resolution in light of the grievous realities on the ground in Syria,” Prince Saud said. Gains by Assad’s forces and Hezbollah’s involvement have prompted the United States to promise the rebels military aid beyond the non-lethal equipment it had previously supplied. The New York Times reported in June that the supplies, to be coordinated by the CIA, might include anti-tank weapons. Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been the most active Arab nations in backing the mostly Sunni Muslim Syrian rebels.
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Egypt army plans for after Mursi as clock ticks (Reuters) - Egypt’s army has plans to push Mohamed Mursi aside and suspend the constitution after an all but impossible ultimatum it has given the Islamist president expires in less than 24 hours, military sources told Reuters yesterday. Condemning a coup against their first freely elected leader, tens of thousands of Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood supporters took to the streets, clashing with opponents in several towns. But they appeared to be dwarfed by anti-government protesters who turned out in their hundreds of thousands across the nation. Troops were on alert after warnings of a potential civil war. Seven people died in fighting in Cairo suburbs and hundreds were wounded in the provinces. Mursi defied a demand by the armed forces chief on Monday that he agree to share power with his opponents within 48 hours or have the generals take charge. Calling the army statement misleading and divisive, he said he would stick to his own plan. But time has all but run out for Mursi, as liberal leaders are refusing to talk to him. Opponents have been dancing in the streets since the intervention by General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Military sources told Reuters that, assuming the politicians failed to end a year of deadlock under Mursi before today’s 5 p.m. (1500 GMT) deadline, the generals had their own draft programme ready to implement - though it could be fine-tuned in consultation with willing political parties. Under the roadmap, the military would install an interim council, composed mainly of civilians from different political groups and experienced technocrats, to run the country until an amended constitution was drafted within months. That would be followed by a new presidential election, but parliamentary polls would be delayed until strict conditions for selecting candidates were in force, the sources said. They would not say how the military intended to deal with Mursi if he refused to go quietly. One power he might seek to exercise would be to call a referendum on continuing his term. Some of his Islamist supporters have vowed to defend what they see as the legitimate, democratic order, even if it means dying as martyrs. And some have a history of armed struggle against the state.
The confrontation has pushed the most populous Arab nation closer to the brink of chaos amid a deepening economic crisis two years after the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak, raising concern in Washington, Europe and neighbouring Israel. Troops intervened to break up clashes in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria. They were also out on the streets of Suez and Port Said, at either end of the Suez Canal. The waterway is vital to world trade and to Egypt’s struggling economy. Mursi was looking increasingly isolated as ministers and officials who are not members of his Muslim Brotherhood resigned. He also lost a judicial battle when a court evicted his prosecutorgeneral and reinstated a Mubarak appointee. Egypt’s Coptic Pope, spiritual leader of the country’s 10 percent Christian minority, expressed open support for the antiMursi Tamarud (Rebel) movement in a tweet, voicing support for the trio of people, army and youth. The leading Muslim religious authority, Al-Azhar, called for the will of the people to prevail peacefully. Mursi met Sisi for a second day, his office said, along with Prime Minister Hisham Kandil. A presidential aide told the state news agency there had been no “disagreements” but there was no outward sign of a meeting of minds. Though Mursi has held out repeated offers of dialogue, liberal opponents accuse him and the Brotherhood of bad faith and have ruled out starting talks with him before the deadline. After that, former U.N. nuclear agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei will deal directly with the military on behalf of the main coalition of liberal parties. Also planning to take part are leaders of the Tamarud youth movement, which initiated mass rallies on Sunday that the army says prompted it to act. Military sources said the armed forces would talk with the opposition National Salvation Front and other political, religious and youth organisations after the deadline. Among figures being considered as an interim head of state was the new president of the constitutional court, Adli Mansour. The new transition arrangements would be entirely different from the military rule that followed Mubarak’s fall and more
Mohamed Mursi politically inclusive, the sources said. Then, the ruling armed forces’ council was widely criticised by liberal and leftwing politicians for failing to enact vital economic and political reforms - and for siding with the Brotherhood. Fighting between Mursi supporters and opponents broke out in the Cairo suburb of Giza, in Alexandria and in the town of Qalyubia, north of Cairo, security sources said. Protesters thronged Cairo’s Tahrir Square, where hovering military helicopters got loud cheers. A quarter of a million packed the square after work, celebrating wildly what they believe is Mursi’s impending departure. Senior Muslim Brotherhood leaders branded the military ultimatum a “coup”, backed by a threat that the generals will otherwise impose their own road map for the nation. The Brotherhood’s political wing called for mass counter- demonstrations to “defend constitutional legitimacy and express their refusal of any coup”, raising fears of violence. But the biggest pro-Mursi rally in the a Cairo suburb appeared to attract around 100,000 supporters, Reuters witnesses said. The Brotherhood long avoided direct confrontation with the security forces despite suffering oppression under Mubarak. After millions protested on Sunday, Sisi delighted Mursi’s opponents by effectively ordering the president to heed the demands of the street. It took the president’s office nine hours to respond with a statement indicating he would go his own way. “The president of the republic was not consulted about the statement issued by the armed forces,” it said. “The presidency confirms that it is going forward on its previously plotted path to promote comprehensive national reconciliation ... regardless of any statements that deepen divisions
General Abdel Fattah al Sisi between citizens.” Describing civilian rule as a great gain from the revolution of 2011, Mursi said he would not let the clock be turned back. The United States, which has previously defended Mursi’s legitimacy as a democratically elected leader, stepped up pressure on him to heed the mass protests but stopped short of saying he should step down. President Barack Obama told Mursi in a phone call late on Monday that the political crisis could only be solved by talks with his opponents, the White House said. Secretary
of State John Kerry hammered home the message in a call to his outgoing Egyptian colleague yesterday. At least six ministers who are not Brotherhood members have tendered their resignations since Sunday, including Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr. The president’s two spokesmen and the cabinet spokesman also quit yesterday and nearly 150 Egyptian diplomats signed a petition urging Mursi to go. Senior Brotherhood politician Mohamed ElBeltagy denounced what he called a creeping coup. He said he expected the High Committee for Elections to meet within hours to consider annulling the 2012 presidential election. The United States has long funded the Egyptian army as a key component in the security of Washington’s ally Israel. General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke to his Egyptian counterpart on Monday. It is unclear how far the military has informed, or coordinated with, its U.S.
sponsors but an Egyptian official said a coup could not succeed without U.S. approval. The United Nations Human Rights office called on Mursi to listen to the demands of the people and engage in a “serious national dialogue” but also said: “Nothing should be done that would undermine democratic processes.” A senior European diplomat said that if the army were to remove the elected president, the international community would have no alternative but to condemn it. Yasser El-Shimy, Egypt analyst at the International Crisis Group, said the army ultimatum had hardened positions, making it very difficult to find a constitutional way out of the crisis. “Things could deteriorate very rapidly from there, either through confrontations on the street, or international sanctions,” he said. “Mursi is calling their bluff, saying to them, ‘if you are going to do this, you will have to do it over my dead body’.”
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North Korea seeks talks with US to ease tensions BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei (AP) — North Korea’s top diplomat said yesterday that the U.S. must accept its offer for dialogue without preconditions if it wants to ease tensions on the divided Korean Peninsula. He drew a quick rebuttal from his South Korean counterpart, who said the international community has made clear that Pyongyang must give up its nuclear ambitions if it wants better relations. The Koreas were among 27 nations at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum in Brunei, where the North’s nuclear weapons program was a key topic, along with other hotbutton regional issues such as South China Sea territorial disputes. Asia’s largest security forum includes the U.S., North Korea and the four other countries involved in long-stalled nuclear talks on ending North Korea’s nuclear ambitions in return for aid. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday that the U.S., South Korea, Japan and China — North Korea’s chief ally — were “absolutely united” in their insistence on a denuclearized North Korea. Washington says
Pyongyang must move in that direction before it will agree to talks, but North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun said during the conference yesterday that it is America that must act. “The U.S. must positively respond to our sincere and courageous decision (to offer talks) without preconditions if it is truly interested in ending the vicious circle of intensifying tension on the Korean Peninsula and safeguarding peace and stability,” Pak said, according to North Korean delegation official Choe Myong Nam. Pak said that “a touchand-go situation in which a war can break out anytime is fostered” on the Korean Peninsula, and that U.S. hostility against the North was primarily responsible for that, Choe told reporters. Pak said the U.S. must sign a peace treaty with North Korea to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War and lift sanctions against the country, saying the North Korean nuclear standoff won’t be resolved unless the U.S. changes its tone, according to Choe. The war ended with a cease-fire, not a peace treaty. Shortly after Choe spoke,
South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se told reporters that most diplomats at the forum expressed a “very strong message” to the North Korean delegation that Pyongyang must scrap its nuclear program and refrain from launching another provocation. “So they must have listened to this message very, very seriously,” he said. After the conference ended Tuesday, a statement by the forum chairman said ministers had reiterated their support for efforts to realize the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula peacefully. It said most ministers had “encouraged” North Korea to honor past disarmament pledges. North Korea surprisingly offered to talk with the U.S. and rejoin long-stalled international nuclear disarmament talks last month after weeks of tension following its February nuclear test. The country also recently eased its warlike rhetoric, but has still vowed to bolster its nuclear arsenal, citing what it calls U.S. military threats. U.S. officials have responded coolly to North Korea’s overtures, and analysts say the impoverished country often calls for talks after raising tensions
with provocative behavior in order to win outside concessions. Kerry on Monday stepped up pressure on the North to abandon its atomic ambitions after meeting with his counterparts from China, South Korea and Japan. He emphasized Washington’s common cause with Beijing, which is North Korea’s longtime ally and main aid provider but has been angered by Pyongyang’s ramping up of tensions. China has supported tightening U.N. sanctions and cracked down on North Korean banking activity. “China made clear to me they have made very firm statements and very firm steps that they have taken with respect to the implementation of that policy,” Kerry told reporters. The nuclear disarmament talks — which involve the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia — have been stalled since North Korea quit the negotiations in 2009 to protest international condemnation over a rocket launch. Yun’s office said Russia’s foreign minister also expressed his opposition to North Korea possessing nuclear weapons when he met with his South Korean counterpart on Monday. Yesterday, senior North Korean nuclear strategist and First Vice Foreign Minister Kim
Kim Kye-gwan Kye Gwan left for Russia. Russia’s Interfax news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov as saying he’ll meet with Kim in Moscow tomorrow to discuss the possibility of resuming the sixparty talks. Since the ASEAN security forum includes all members of the six-party talks, it has previously provided a chance to use informal discussions to break stalemates over the nuclear standoff. In 2011, top nuclear envoys from the two Koreas met on the sidelines of the forum in Bali, Indonesia, and agreed to work toward a resumption of the six-nation talks. But there have been no reports that North Korea had similar talks with the U.S. or South Korea in Brunei. U.S. and South Korean officials have said they have no plans to meet privately with North
Korea. Choe said North Korean and U.S. delegates stayed at the same hotel in Brunei but didn’t encounter each other there. Last month, government delegates of the two Koreas met and agreed to hold seniorlevel talks on non-nuclear issues, but the plan collapsed due to a dispute who would head each other’s delegation. The U.S. keeps 28,500 troops in South Korea as deterrence against potential aggression from North Korea. On South China Sea disputes, meanwhile, the forum chairman’s statement said Chinese and Southeast Asian diplomats would meet in China in September to start official consultations on a proposed legally binding “code of conduct” aimed at preventing armed clashes over long-simmering territorial disputes in the area. The step, however feeble, represented progress toward a longstanding call for China and the 10-nation ASEAN bloc to negotiate a nonaggression pact to prevent the disputes from turning violent. China, Taiwan and four ASEAN member countries — Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam — have overlapping territorial claims over resource-rich islands, islets and reefs and surrounding waters in the busy South China Sea.
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Tour de France 2013:
Simon Gerrans takes yellow jersey
Orica GreenEdge took the honours ahead of Omega Pharma-Quick Step and Team Sky Australian Simon Gerrans took the leader’s yellow jersey after his Orica GreenEdge squad won the team time trial on day four of the Tour de France. Orica GreenEdge rode the 25km course in Nice in 25 minutes 56 seconds to edge Mark Cavendish’s Omega Pharma-QuickStep outfit by 0.75 of a second. Britain’s Team Sky, including Geraint Thomas, who is riding with a broken pelvis, were three seconds adrift. “It’s the pinnacle of the sport,” said Gerrans, 33, the stage three winner. Despite being in pain because of his injury, Thomas took his turn at the front and stayed with his team-mates until the final kilometre. “My race was to get to the promenade after a kilometre and then when I made it there with the team I was buzzing off that and managed to give it what I had,” he said afterwards. “I was shouting at a lot of my team-mates at the end, we just had to give it everything, we were all full gas trying to encourage each other at the end, and I think we can be proud of that.” A Team Sky win would have put Norway’s Edvald Boasson Hagen, their highest ranked rider, into yellow but the day still went well for their British leader Chris Froome. The pre-race favourite gained time on his main rivals in the general classification - making six seconds on Spain’s Alberto Contador and 23 seconds on Australia’s Cadel Evans. Froome, who rode strongly in the closing stages, moved up to seventh overall and sits three seconds behind Gerrans - who is not considered a Tour contender - without having the pressure of defending the yellow jersey so early in the race.
“If we were in the yellow jersey it would mean that on Wednesday, and the next couple of days, which are predominantly flat, we would do a lot of work which I think would be a bit of unnecessary extra work at the moment for such a small advantage,” Froome explained. “Personally I felt really good, I was able to do longer pulls on the front. I’m feeling like I’m coming into good form before the mountains.” Froome did not want the yellow jersey but, with 71 of the 195 remaining riders only a second behind race leader Jan Bakelants at the start of the day, several riders were eyeing that prize. Garmin-Sharp, winners of the team time trial when it was last held in the Tour in 2011, were again among the favourites and set off with high hopes of placing Britain’s David Millar in the yellow jersey. But they could only finish sixth, 17 seconds behind Orica, and Millar blamed himself. “I wasn’t in good form but the team was very, very strong,’’ the 36year-old Millar said. “I think it was me who was missing the seconds.” Cavendish’s Omega Pharma-QuickStep came closest to victory. The Manxman has been suffering from bronchitis and completed a course of antibiotics on Sunday, but he showed no ill-effects as helped his team set a time that led the way for much of the day. Cavendish will hope for an individual win of his own on Wednesday (today), with stage five following a 219km route from Cagnes-Sur-Mer to Marseille that contains no major climbs and offers him a chance for his first stage win of this year’s Tour.
For now, however, it is Orica and Gerrans who are celebrating. Following Gerrans’s dramatic individual stage win on Monday, Orica’s latest success means they continue to make the headlines for the right reasons following the embarrassment of seeing their team bus get stuck under the finish gantry on Saturday’s opening stage. Gerrans, 33, took the overall lead from Belgian rider Bakelants and leads the standings ahead of teammates Daryl Impey of South Africa and Michael Albasini of Switzerland. “I couldn’t have imagined this would happen. It’s a dream for me, my team and a lot of people in Australia as well,” said Gerrans. “My first coach was Phil Anderson, who was the first Australian to wear the yellow jersey. So to do that as well is something special. “I knew there were some special stages for me in the first week. It’s a huge satisfaction to win the stage and take the yellow jersey. We’ll try and hold it for a couple of days now.” Stage four results: 1. Orica (Aus) 25:56" 2. Omega Pharma-QuickStep (Bel) +1" 3. Team Sky (GB) +3" 4. Saxo - Tinkoff (Den) +9" 5. Lotto (Bel) +17" Overall standings after stage four: 1. Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica 12:47:24" 2. Daryl Impey (SA) Orica SAME TIME 3. Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica 4. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega PharmaQuickStep +1" 5. Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-QuickStep SAME TIME
Wednesday July 03, 2013
El Dorado joins CPL as official league partner By Sean Devers Marketing Director of the Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) Sharda Veeren-Chand yesterday announced that El Dorado Rum had signed on as Official Partner for the Limacol Caribbean Premier League T20 cricket tournament which commences on July 30 in Barbados. “El Dorado brings its distinctive taste and spirit to the tournament and guarantees an unforgettable and fun experience for cricket lovers” Veeren-Chand noted. “Produced by DDL, El Dorado will not only be the rum of choice for this landmark event, but will also sponsor the tournament’s Catch of the Match award. This Award will go to one player in each of the 24 matches who pulls off a thrilling catch in the game, demonstrating the spirit of the tournament and the El Dorado brand” the executive explained. DDL Vice-President for International Marketing, Komal Samaroo, explained that the El Dorado Rum brand embodies the spirit of Guyana and the Caribbeancompetitiveness and fun, hard work and enjoyment – all at the same time. This is the spirit of the CPL league, styled Carnival T20, making both a perfect match for each other. “The growing appreciation and following of El Dorado Rum around the
world and the global viewership of CPL T20 presents to the world the best Guyana and the Caribbean have to offer” the DDL represent informed. The first match in Guyana is slated for July 31 when Guyana Amazon Warriors face defending Regional T20 Champions Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel at the Providence Stadium and CPL’s Commercial Director and Consultant Jamie Stewart said CPL was delighted the El Dorado brand is now a part the sponsor’s family. “The company’s reputation for producing quality, award winning top shelf products that are world renowned for their distinctive flavor means that we can offer the best to our patrons” said Stewart. “Both El Dorado and CPL share similar values and aspirations; both proudly Caribbean yet with global ambitions. Both of us seek to delight cricket followers all over the world” Stewart concluded. Meanwhile, Alex Graham, the Event Operations Officer of the Guyana leg of the competition, revealed that former West Indies skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan who led Guyana to both of their Regional T20 titles, was appointed Captain of the Guyana Amazon Warriors. Sarwan, who last played a T20 for West Indies in 2010 and had a poor run of form in
the this year’s Caribbean T20, said anyone would want to play for the West Indies and is planning to try and regain his place in the regional team with an outstanding performance with the bat and as leader in the inaugural CPL. The 33-year-old who despite his recent bad form averages above 40 in both Tests and ODIs, disclosed that the Guyana based players began gym sessions yesterday under the watchful eyes of Head Coach Roger Harper. “I began my career with Harper as a teammate while he was my Coach in the West Indies team. Along with assistant Coach Curtly Ambrose I think we have an excellent Coaching staff since they have played at the highest level. I hope to provide inspiring leadership and the lead from the front with plenty of runs” the former ICC number one raked ODI batsman said. Sarwan, who made his Regional T20 debut in Antigua when he led Guyana to championship honors in the first ever Stanford T20 tournament in 2006, said he felt that on paper, the Guyana franchise, which include Pakistan T20 Captain Mohammed Hafeez, Sunil Narine and Chris Barnwell who both played in the just concluded IPL in India, had as good a chance as any of the other five teams.
GSCL tourney
Regal duplicate Affirm triple crown Regal XI won the Male open Over-35 and the Female categories when the Georgetown Softball Cricket League/Regal Stationery and Computer Centre/Trophy Stall/Mike’s Copy Centre/Star Party Rentals and Salod Marketing Agency tournament concluded on Monday at the Everest Cricket Club Ground. The played like through champions and reminded many of the famous horse ‘Affirm’ who won triple titles in the 70s namely the Belmont Stakes, Kentucky Derby and Peakness. Playing in front of a fair size crowd, Regal Champs defeated Aroarima Rusal Warriors by 8 wickets in a 12 over Female affair. The Warriors batted first, posting 76 before they were bowled out in 10 overs. Selena Alexander stroked 30 (1x4) while Tracy Hartman made 22 as Nalini Sumintra, Vanetta Chonoo and Monique Benn grabbed 2 wickets each. Regal then replied with 78-2 in 7 overs, skipper Chonoo top scoring with 32 and Natasha Daniels, 16. In the Male Over-35 contest, Regal overpowered Park Rangers by 6 wickets. Park Rangers took first strike and posted 133-8 in their allotted 20 overs. Mark Fung 28 (2x4), Eon Abel 24 (3x4) and Ramjit Singh 15 were their main batters as Mahendra Arjune claimed 2-27. Regal then responded with 134-4 in 19
overs. Eon Thomas led with 24(2x4 1x6) while Anil Hardyal supported with 21 (1x4) and Mahendra Chunilall 20. Fung took 3-23 for the runner up team. Regal then overcame Wolf’s Warriors by 5 wickets in the open competition. Wolf Warriors took first strike and managed 91-8 off their allotted 12 overs. Ameer Nizamuddeen made 21 while Amrit Rai and Safraz Karim contributed 17 and 16 respectively. Safraz Esau captured 2-6 and Troy Kippins 2-17. Esau then returned to stroke 30 (2x6) while Richard Latiff made 26 (1x4 1x6) as Regal won the game in 10.4 overs finishing on 92-5. Narine Bailey and Vishnu Tannechandra had 2 wickets apiece. Female winners Regal Champs received $100,000 and a trophy while Aroarima Rusal Warriors collected $50,000 and a trophy. Chonoo was given the player-of-the-match prize. The Over-35 winners (Regal) took home $100,000 and a trophy while Park Rangers received the runner-up prize of $50,000 and a trophy. Mahendra Chunilall and Anil Hardyal shared the man-of-the match title. Regal then collected $200,000 and a trophy while Wolf Warriors were given $100,000 and a trophy. Safraz Esau was adjudged the man-of-thematch. (Zaheer Mohamed)
Wednesday July 03, 2013
Kaieteur News
Sabine Lisicki to face Agnieszka Radwanska in Wimbledon semis Germany’s Sabine Lisicki backed up her stunning win over Serena Williams by beating Kaia Kanepi to reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon. The 23-year-old, seeded 23, won 6-3 6-3 on Court One to secure a place in the last four at the All England Club for the second time. There she will face Polish fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, last year’s runner-up, who beat Chinese sixth seed Li Na, 7-6 (7-5) 46 6-2 on Centre Court. In the other half of the draw, France’s 15th seed Marion Bartoli beat Sloane Stephens 6-4 6-4, and Belgian 20th seed Kirsten Flipkens upset 2011 champion Petra Kvitova 6-4 3-6 6-4. Kvitova’s defeat means there will be a new name on the women’s trophy on Saturday. Lisicki had caused arguably the shock of a tournament characterised by upsets when she beat defending champion Williams on Monday, and she suffered no comedown 24 hours later. It was the German’s returning, rather than her big serve, that proved the difference in the first set as she broke in a lengthy opening game and again to take the set. Kanepi, who beat Laura Robson in round four, edged ahead in the second when Lisicki double-faulted twice. The German responded immediately though, reeling off four straight games and closing out the match, rather nervily, on her third match point. “I am very happy,” Lisicki told BBC Sport. “It was an amazing match yesterday (Monday) and I had to calm myself down, but I think the experience that I got from three previous quarter-finals here helped me. Radwanska, 24, demonstrated why she has become a fixture in the world’s top four over the last year, despite lacking the stature and power of her leading rivals. Battling with a thigh problem and a more powerful opponent, the Pole sealed victory in a dramatic final game on her eighth match point after two hours and 43 minutes. She had fended off four set points with some superb returning and recovered from 53 down in the tie-break to win the first. Li hit back with four games in a row to take the second, at which point Radwanska had a medical timeout to get her thigh strapped, and the Pole promptly broke at the start of the decider. A second burst of rain caused a delay as the Centre Court roof was brought across, but the momentum stayed with Radwanska on the resumption and she clinched victory in a dramatic service game. Bartoli, 28, remains on course to reach a second Wimbledon final after coming through a rain-interrupted match against American 17th seed Stephens. The Frenchwoman moved ahead with the only break of the first set in
Marion Bartoli
Great benefits in store as new form of Martial Arts introduced locally On the Saturday June 29 last fans trooped to the Hotel Tower, Main Street, Georgetown where they were treated to a display of Canoeira when the Capoeira Mesticagem Guyana held its first Batizado (grading ceremony) and Cultural exchange in Guyana. The students were tested in movement, kicks and evading tactics before being promoted to the next level. These movements are combined to create the complete individual, physically and psychologically. The ceremony was graced by several specially invited guests including one Professor and two Graduados from Brazil, two invitees from French Guyana and another Professor and Monitor from Suriname. Twenty-one (21) Guyanese practitioners successfully completed the course at different levels including Gustave Gream,
Vandyke David, Gabriel Thiis and Aziza De Mendonca also doubled as organisers of the Tower hotel event. Canoeira was developed many years ago in Brazil by Afro-Brazilian slaves as a form of resistance and is a Brazilian Martial Arts form which involves music, dance and self-defense. The sport is currently practiced worldwide and now an enthusiastic group, including the above mentioned practitioners, is working assiduously to popularize the event locally. “The objective is to introduce Capoeira throughout Guyana and to strengthen relations with neighboring countries, the likes of Suriname and Brazil among others. Mr. Mendonza spoke with Kaieteur Sport yesterday afternoon and explained that Capoiera practitioners are graded at three stages, Angola, which involves slow paced activity with all moves administrated
at the ground level while the second stage, Benguela is for practitioners at the intermediate level. All activity is practiced at a moderate or medium pace. Regional is the final stage and involves fast paced acrobatic movements and kicks. Students graduating from stage one to two must be proficient in the intricacies of the first stage and those moving up to the third stage must have in depth knowledge of the other two stages. Meanwhile, Mr. Mendonca is the President of the local group while the Secretary is Gustava Gream. Two other graduands, Van dyke Davids and Gabriel Thiis complete the executive committee. More than 30 students attend training sessions which are conducted Tuesday, Wednesdays and Fridays at the Transport Sports Club, Thomaslands, under the tutelage of Mendonza.
Djokovic, Murray head Wimbledon cast for quarters today
Sabine Lisicki game 10, and edged a second that saw 10 breaks as Stephens won just five points on her own serve. In an unexpected semi-final line-up, Flipkens is the most surprising name after seeing off eighth seed Kvitova in her first major quarter-final. The Belgian, who was ranked 262 in the world last year after suffering blood clots in her calf, played a terrific final set. Kvitova was feeling unwell in the latter stages and required treatment from the doctor, but despite pushing hard the Czech could not recover the solitary break in the decider. “It’s amazing, more than a dream coming true,” said Flipkens. “Semi-finals of a Grand Slam, ridiculous. Last year I didn’t get into qualifying of Wimbledon.” (BBC Sport)
Permaul to lead Guyana in warm-up match against Pakistan
Veersammy Permaul
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Veersammy Permaul has been named Captain of the Guyana team that will face Pakistan in a limited overs warm up game on July 11 at the Georgetown Cricket Club ground, Bourda. The 14-member squad reads: Veersammy Permaul (Captain), Christopher Barnwell (Vice Captain), Trevon Griffith, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Assad Fudadin, Leon Johnson, Narsingh Deonarine, Anthony Bramble, Steven Jacobs, Devendra Bishoo, Rajiv Ivan, Zaheer Mohamed, Paul Wintz, and Keon Joseph. The Manager is Alvin Johnson and the Coach is Esau Crandon. The match will give the tourists some practice ahead of their two One Day Internationals against the West Indies on July 14 and 16, at the National Stadium in Providence.
London (AP) - No. 1seeded Novak Djokovic and No. 2 Andy Murray have yet to lose a set, let alone a match, so far at Wimbledon. The way things have been going at the All England Club this fortnight, that’s quite an accomplishment. Rafael Nadal, a 12-time Grand Slam champion, was beaten in the first round. Roger Federer, owner of a record 17 major titles, went out in the second, as did fourtime major champ Maria Sharapova. Five-time Wimbledon winner Serena Williams’ 34-match winning streak ended in the fourth round. And on and on it’s gone, with no top-20 player other than Murray left on his side of the draw, and a recordequaling number of withdrawals or mid-match retirements because of health problems. ‘’Everyone was a bit on edge, a little bit uptight,’’ reigning U.S. Open champion Murray acknowledged, ‘’because of what was happening with the injuries, withdrawals, upsets and stuff.’’ He and Djokovic have made it all look so routine, though, heading into the men’s quarterfinals Wednesday (today). On the top half of the bracket, Djokovic - a six-time Grand Slam titlist and the only remaining past Wimbledon winner - will face No. 7 Tomas Berdych of the Czech
Republic, the 2010 runner-up. No. 4 David Ferrer of Spain plays No. 8 Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, the 2009 U.S. Open champion and the third man who hasn’t dropped a set through four matches. On the bottom half, it will be Murray against 54thranked Fernando Verdasco of Spain, and No. 24 Jerzy Janowicz against his Davis Cup teammate and pal, 130thranked Lukasz Kubot, in a match between the first two Polish men to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal since 1980. ‘’Magical,’’ Janowicz said. In keeping with the unpredictable nature of the tournament, whoever wins the women’s title will be a first-time Grand Slam champion. Thursday’s semifinals are 2012 runner-up Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland against 23rd-seeded Sabine Lisicki of Germany
(who beat Williams on Monday), and 2007 runner-up Marion Bartoli of France against 20th-seeded Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium. Janowicz and Kubot will be playing in the quarterfinals at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament for the first time, as will Verdasco and del Potro. Ferrer lost at that stage last year. The other three have much more solid Wimbledon bona fides: Murray (2012) and Berdych (2010) have been the runner-up, while Djokovic won the title in 2011. He is bidding to reach the semifinals for a 13th consecutive Slam, the second-longest streak in men’s tennis history, behind only Federer’s 23-semifinal run. Djokovic has played in seven of the last 10 major finals, and he’s combined with Federer and Nadal to win 31 of the past 33 trophies.
Regional U-17 tourney continues today Round two matches in the Regional Under-17 One-Day tournament is set to continue today with three matches. Guyana will be seeking to rebound from their first round loss to the Winwards Islands when they come up against Barbados who had defeated Jamaica. Schedule Barbados Vs Guyana Venue: Shaw Park Windward Islands Vs Trinidad & Tobago Venue: Louidore Jamaica Vs Leeward Islands Venue: Bon Accord
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Kaieteur News
UNDER-15 TOURNEY BOWLS OFF JULY 12 St John’s, Antigua – The 18th edition of the West Indies Cricket Board Regional Under-15 Tournament will bowl off next week in Jamaica. Round one of the round robin tournament will commence on Friday July 12 with three matches: · Jamaica v Barbados at St Elizabeth Technical High Schools Ground · Guyana v Leewards at ALPART · Trinidad & Tobago v Windwards at Treasure Beach The tournament consists of fifteen matches played over five rounds with each of the six teams (Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Trinidad & Tobago and Windward Islands) playing five matches. The matches, as usual, will be over two days and will be played under tailor-made rules for Under 15 cricket. In the first innings teams will bat for two and a half hours during which a
minimum of 37 overs must be bowled. Also as part of the regulations no fast bowler or medium fast bowler will be allowed to bowl more than six overs in one spell and once the players complete a spell they must rest for a mandatory period of 40 minutes before resuming bowling. The WICB Regional Under-15 Tournament commenced in 1996 with host Trinidad and Tobago taking the inaugural title at home. Barbados are reigning champions, having won in 2012 when the tournament was played in St Kitts. They previously won in 1997 and 2004. The Trinidadians have won the most Under-15 Regional titles with six (1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2010). Hosts Jamaica have won the title on four occasions (2006, 2008, 2009, 2011). Guyana won back-to-back titles in 1998 and 1999 while Windwards emerged victors
in 2007. Leeward Islands are yet to win a regional Under 15 title. Regional Under-15 Tournament Winners (Host in brackets) 1996 – Trinidad and Tobago (Trinidad and Tobago), 1997 – Barbados (St Lucia), 1998 – Guyana (Jamaica), 1999 – Guyana (Guyana), 2000 – Trinidad and Tobago (Trinidad and Tobago), 2001 – Trinidad and Tobago (Trinidad and Tobago), 2002 – Trinidad and Tobago (Trinidad and Tobago), 2003 – No winner (Jamaica), 2004 – Barbados (St Vincent), 2005 – Trinidad and Tobago (Trinidad and Tobago), 2006 – Jamaica (Antigua), 2007 – Windward Islands (Trinidad and Tobago), 2008 – Jamaica (Dominica), 2009 – Jamaica (Trinidad and Tobago), 2010 – Trinidad and Tobago (Trinidad and Tobago), 2011 – Jamaica (Trinidad and Tobago), 2012 – Barbados (St Kitts and Nevis), 2013 – TBC (Jamaica).
Injured Rampaul replaced by Holder Fast bowler Ravi Rampaul, who sprained his ankle during West Indies’ opening game of the tri-series, has been left out of the squad for the second half of the tournament. He has been replaced by Jason Holder. Rampaul had a scan following West Indies’ win against Sri Lanka that revealed the extent of his injury, and subsequently did not play their second match, against India. Captain Dwayne Bravo had also missed that game, due to a
groin strain, but his injury was not severe and he is likely to be fit for the remainder of the series. Holder, who debuted for West Indies on their limitedovers tour of Australia earlier this year, was also part of their Champions Trophy squad but did not get a game in the tournament. He had impressed for Chennai Super Kings in the limited opportunities he was given in IPL 2013. West Indies won both their games in the Jamaica-leg of the series, and will now
Jason Holder travel to Port of Spain - where the remaining league games and the final will be played as the current table-toppers.
Nelson takes Min. of Home Affairs Dominoes title
Patrick Nelson was crowned King when the Ministry of Home Affairs CARICOM Champion Dominoes Competition was held on Thursday June 28 last at the Ministry in Brickdam. The competition attracted players from the Administrative Section, Finance, Immigration, Liaison Officers Unit and the Driver’s Pool. Last year’s Champion Khain Singh of Liaison Unit did not stand a chance of a repeat as he was floored in the first round. In the final, Nelson did battle with Junior Maynard of the Stray Catching Unit and
Patrick Nelson Carl Ageday of the Finance section.
Ageday concluded the tournament as the lone love bird. Maynard escaped with one game, allowing Nelson to finish with six games. The competition was sponsored by Mr. Dexter Lawrence a former member of the Guyana Fire Service. The presentation ceremony is scheduled for today at the Ministry beginning at 16:30hrs. The next competition, which will be contested for the Emancipation trophy will be held in August while the final programme will be in September for the Ministry’s King and Queen trophies.
Wednesday July 03, 2013
Tharanga, Jayawardene cane India
Mahela Jayawardene sweeps towards square leg. “Can’t seem to win a toss,” Angelo Mathews said suggesting he can’t catch a break nowadays when Sri Lanka were inserted on a track that has responded to West Indies quicks better than best of butlers. Four hours later, we had the first instance of an innings in a 50-over International ending with just one wicket down. Upul Tharanga and Mahela Jayawardene made a mockery of the teams’ suspicion of the damp surface with their 213run opening, Sri Lanka’s second-best stand against India. Under the pressure of the mountain of runs, India huffed and puffed past… Upul Tharanga’s score of 174. This was Jayawardene’s first ODI century in two years and 50 innings, but it was Tharanga who claimed an illustrious record en route his highest ODI score. This was the seventh time he was involved in a double-century partnership, joint-highest along with Ricky Ponting. Tharanga’s was the thirdhighest individual score against India; four out of the best five individual efforts against India have come from Sri Lanka. Both, though, benefitted from some generous Indian fielding and bowling: Jayawardene was dropped on 25, Tharanga was missed on 2 and 91. Generally, too, India missing the injured MS Dhoni - lacked the edge both with the ball and in the field. Apart from not being able to take wickets, India were pretty loose with the ball. At the death, they kept bowling length, went for at least one boundary in every over since the Powerplay was taken in the 35th over, and conceded 180 in the last 16 overs. Tharanga’s acceleration was stark: from 72 off 105 to the eventual 174 off 159. Captaining India for the first time, Virat Kohli brought in
Shami Ahmed ahead of Buvneshwar Kumar, a move that will be debated. Bhuvneshwar gave India breakthroughs with the new ball in most of the matches he played, but Shami didn’t pose any threat. Another man coming in, M Vijay, dropped Jayawardene. The Sri Lanka openers gave the pitch the respect the first two low-scoring matches have accorded it, but it was obvious that either the track was much drier or it was the West Indies fast bowlers who exploited the moisture much better. Of the three quicks, only Umesh Yadav extracted some help from the pitch, but he too strayed with his length, allowing Tharanga to play his favourite cut shot often. The innings’ first boundary came through that cut. Ishant Sharma, at third man, made an equal contribution by letting the ball through. By then, Rohit Sharma had missed a half chance when he failed to hit the only stump visible from point. Tharanga was only 2 then. The first five overs brought only 16 runs, but soon the batsmen shed caution. Yadav’s pace was used well when lofted over the infield. And Ishant drew no respect. Jayawardene walked down the wicket to loft him over long-on, and in the same over Yadav misfielded at fine leg to return the favour to the bowler. Ravindra Jadeja was the first to draw a risky approach from Sri Lanka, but Vijay dropped the reverse hit at shortish backward point. Jayawardene rubbed it in when he reversed Jadeja emphatically for a four later, but it was his chips over extra cover off both the spinners that were delightful. Tharanga, meanwhile, was happy to be inconspicuous. It was perplexing that India introduced R Ashwin in
the 20th over, and by then Sri Lanka had reached 90 without much trouble. Jayawardene was 49 off 58 then, and Tharanga 36 off 56. The same trend continued as Jayawardene kept hitting the odd boundary in the middle overs and almost on autopilot they had strolled to 168 in 34 overs. Sri Lanka now asked for the field to come up, and Tharanga opened up. He went after both Ashwin and Ishant, and by the time Jayawardene fell for 107 he was ready to take control. Just before that, he had been dropped by Yadav at third man, again off Ishant. Almost without taking a risk, Tharanga kept getting inside the line and carting the Indian bowlers. The 49th over, bowled by Yadav, was a complete bowling meltdown. Yadav began with a low full toss, which was sliced for a flat six over point. Then he saw Mathews back away, and bowled five wides. Two fours later, he had conceded 22 to finish with the worst economy rate of the innings. Tharanga was not done yet, and hit another six over extra cover, this time off Shami. Tharanga was so dominant that Mathews scored only 44 off the 135-run stand between them. Mathews was in his element in the field. He surprised India by taking one of the new balls, and began with the first maiden of the match. Rohit was soon caught at short midwicket, and Mathews didn’t allow India any pace to work with. Both the spinners were introduced within the mandatory Powerplay, by the end of which India had only 28 runs. Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli fell to that pressure, and M Vijay followed soon. The rest was merely an official stamp on India’s biggest defeat after putting a side in.