Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

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

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

EDITORIAL

The presence of the opposition is needed The People’s Progressive Party seems heading to Parliament. In fact, its General Secretary has so confirmed but the actual date of entry is a closely guarded secret although there is the belief that the party is going to enter parliament on July 30, 2015.

The absence of the party from the National Assembly was supposed to signal that party’s disapproval with the result of the May 11, 2015 elections that brought an end to the 23-year reign of the government. Of course the margin of victory was very close—less than one per cent and a mere 4,500 votes.

The shock of such a defeat is bound to have an impact on any political party and it did have such an impact on the PPP. It saw the party nearly ripping itself apart, trying to apportion blame for the defeat at the polls. The most high profile casualty has been former President Donald Ramotar. There were recriminations.

Some blamed former President Bharrat Jagdeo for the loss. He was blamed for the party losing its majority after the 2011 elections. Some blamed the loss altogether on his involvement in the PPP election campaign.

But there were those who found Ramotar an unattractive leader who failed to inspire the voters.

Whatever the case, the party now appears to be on the rebound and one can expect that the government is not going to find it easy going. As became the norm when the People’s National Congress was voted out of office the press conference became the forum through which the party could make its voice heard.

The party newspaper is no longer the sought after medium as it once was in the days gone by. There are too many media houses, each competing for the news so political parties have more than a willing outlet. And the PPP is already making maximum use of these outlets.

From the available evidence, like any good opposition, the PPP is targeting every move that the government makes, right down to simple details of the ministers.

Already, the PPP is accusing the government of not knowing what it is about. With each passing day its contention seems to be gaining credibility. Given the brouhaha from the coalition when it was in opposition about the extent of corruption one would have expected arrests and prosecutions now, two months after the government acceded to office. There has been none.

Of course, it has been plain sailing when the government proposed and passed the anti-money laundering legislation. This was a piece of legislation that the previous government tried and failed to pass. The fact that there was no opposition in parliament might have denied the public a chance to see the suspected defects in the legislation.

Other laws were passed and again the public, because of the absence of the opposition the public is none the wiser about the possible flaws or objections.

The upshot is that in the absence of an opposition the parliamentary democracy becomes a farce. For this reason, there is the race for the leadership of a country. When that is achieved there is the similar desperate drive for an opposition. There is to be the presentation of a national budget within weeks. The budget is always a contentious issue. It is about a government seeking to spend to its maximum in an unchallenged manner. The parliamentary opposition in the last parliament opposed numerous aspects of the budget. This did not stall spending because the government had other sources of funding.

That cannot be the case today. To find hidden sources of spending is to be doing exactly what the predecessors did.

This is where the debate lies; this is where one is going to appreciate or curse the change in government.

And above all, this is where the voice of the entire country would be heard.

Thursday July 23, 2015

Letters... Where your views make the news

It will take more than a 100-day ‘domestic war’ plan to clean up this mess DEAR EDITOR, At Stabroek Market square on Thursday, April 30, last, APNU+AFC launched its manifesto, which contained a six-point 100-day ‘domestic war’ plan as part of a fiveyear national strategy. The six points were: 1) war against crime, 2) war against corruption, 3) war against cronyism, 4) war against poverty, 5) war against disunity and 6) war against dictatorship.

That was assuming it won the May 11 elections, which it eventually did.

But along the campaign trail, it hammered home rosy promises like increasing salaries for public servants, increasing pensioners’ income, reducing VAT, lowering the Berbice Bridge toll, constitutional reform, and so on.

I cautioned very early on in a few blogs against it making nebulous financial-related promises or pushing to have the PPP enter Parliament to support the coalition regime’s endeavours, until it knew what exactly it inherited in terms of government’s

finances and the national economy.

Audits were the way to go.

For the PPP regime, it was never a case, as with other law-abiding democracies, of adhering to laws or government operating systems, including the twin cardinal principles of accountability and responsibility, so any attempt by this new regime to obtain information, identify problems areas and take remedial action was bound to present a unique set of problems.

One has to be a miracle worker, therefore, to undo in 100 days, and even on an elementary level, what took over two decades to meticulously establish as a politically-inspired crime syndicate in government, because while government corruption pre-dated the PPP’s advent to office in 1992, it simply spiraled out of control, and in what appeared to be a top-down orchestrated manner after 1999.

In fact, some have argued that the PPPs knowledge of the PNC’s past corruption in government was deliberately exploited to allow corruption to explode exponentially

under the PPP, and were the PNC to cry foul then the PPP had the ‘goods’ on certain PNC players.

But in a country where government is the biggest employer and has exerted tremendous influence over the private sector, cronyism is going to be the toughest war to fight, because it is not limited to government. And while it will take more than 100 days to even start making a noticeable dent in crime and corruption in both the government and communities, let alone going after poverty, disunity and dictatorship, it literally had to take mounting public pressure, after two recent high-profile crimes on the West Coast and East Coast Demerara, for this government to come up with a five-point crime fighting strategy. It also did not help this new regime that its ‘domestic war’ agenda was compounded by external saberrattling from Venezuela.

Still, after two-thirds the journey in its 100-day plan drive, some started questioning whether the plan was achievable, given the government has (Continued on page 23)

The Caribbean Premier League has to get competent radio announcers DEAR EDITOR I haven’t listened to cricket on the radio since I was a little boy.

After many decades I decided to listen to the Amazon Warriors versus the Red Steel. It is the only cricket match to date that I have listened to after such a long time. I did not tune in to the other matches in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) at the Stadium here in Guyana.

If people outside of Guyana were tuned in to the radio then Guyana’s image certainly took a battering.

The radio announcers were far from plausible.

Throughout that match, the announcers misidentified the batsmen. What was shocking was on many occasions the two batsmen were as dissimilar as a plate from a cup. Many times a white, foreign batsman was referred to as the Caribbean darkskinned batsman at the other end of the pitch. Surely if the CPL is going to continue with those announcers then a telescope will have to be fitted out in the commentary box. Twice the Red Steel was referred to as the Tridents But the one that took the cake was when one of the commentators confused two vastly different nouns – duplicity and duplication.

My daughter was passing by the study door and I called her in immediately to tell her to listen, because the guy

repeated his semantic nightmare. Here is what happened. The Warriors’ captain, Denesh Ramdin, put a fielder at silly mid off to take a catch when the batsman prods forward to a spinner. For those not familiar with field placements, that is when the fielder is right in front of the batsman.

He can get hurt, so he dons a helmet. What the Warriors’ captain did, he duplicated the silly mid off position by putting a silly mid on position. It means there were two fielders very close to the batsman; one on his left, the other on the right.

In referring to the duplication process, the commentator said Ramdin was now trying duplicity on both sides of the wicket. He meant Ramdin duplicated silly mid on with silly mid off. And that announcer repeated his grammatical contortion three times. That was certainly a silly mistake.

The two words have nothing in common.

Finally, I don’t look at cricket on the television when Darren Gough is commentating. That man knows only one word, “fantastic.” Once Gough is on the mike, every description, whether it is a

catch, a stroke from a batsman, an unplayable ball from a bowler, a scene from the ground, a scene from the country, Gough uses one word only for his description – “fantastic.”

Can the owners and controllers of the CPL please give Mr. Gough a thesaurus?

He will find dozens of synonyms for “fantastic.” I would offer a few – superb, phenomenal, elegant, extraordinary, magnificent, par excellence, brilliant, coruscating, incredible, pyrotechnical, mesmerizing, magical, unbelievable, unimaginable.

Frederick Kissoon

Is Peeping Tom out to lunch?

DEAR EDITOR, Is Peeping Tom [PT] out to lunch?

Something is clearly amiss in the commentary on “The Missing Assets” in your July 20th 2015 publication. PT seems to think that it is more going after individuals than missing property. Totally askew!

The setting up of a ‘State Assets Recovery Unit’ is not an unusual occurrence when there is a change in government, the moreso in Guyana which has a high rating on the corruption scale published worldwide.

This Unit has started off with a good sincere serious request with open amnesty.

PT scoffs at this act and at the Unit…..”Why was it necessary to offer an amnesty?” “What assets is the Unit going after?”, “Who are the persons working in this unit’. “The Unit is based on an assumption”.

Pure empty mouthings.

The amnesty offer has strong attributes: own up now or face the consequences later.

The Unit has an unenviable job that can go on for a long time, as they are an extension of the forensic audits going on. As acquisitions of assets are identified, utilization and maintenance can be traced and if no longer in use or existence, circumstances of disposition can be examined. The lead personnel in this are the forensic auditors with the Unit wrapping up the search and identification. In my opinion PT does not understand this process.

Next PT rambles on to bribery and a whole diatribe of a bribe not being a recoverable asset of the state. Who does not understand what a bribe is? Why does PT think that part of the Unit’s work is to recover bribes?

As I said above, something is clearly amiss in PT’s commentary on “The Missing Assets”.

Maybe lunch was not satisfying.

Carl Veecock

Thursday July 23, 2015

Kaieteur News

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

The judiciary is not the place for St. Lucia awaiting greenlight from defining broad constitutional ideals the UK to delink from Privy Council DEAR EDITOR, Mr Maxwell Edwards has thrown into the works of the Chief Justice’s ruling on term limits two additional legal spanners (SN, 21 July).

First, he argues that Article 1 of the Guyana Constitution is so broadly and vaguely written as to be u n e n f o r c e a b l e (nonjusticiable).

I would add that even if a court bravely takes up the interpretation challenge, the element of doubt would still be significant enough to allow the constitutionality of the statute to stand as a reasonable interpretation.

Secondly, Mr Edwards points to Article 177(4), which states that on questions

linked to the election of our president, the Court of Appeal, not the High Court, has primary and final jurisdiction. I am not sure the ruling can now survive this mechanical damage.

I write mostly to respond to Mr Edwards for gently rapping my knuckles for purportedly suggesting (in SN and KN, July 12) that the constitution reform process in 1999 amounted to a referendum. That was definitely not my intention. I was emphasizing that, even on the very terms of the ruling, given that the referendum (or entrenchment) test depends on whether Act 17 of 2001 promotes or undermines democracy, then the

amendment should pass, as the people did indicate during the 1999 reform process (inclusive of a 2/3 parliamentary vote) that the idea of term limits promotes democracy.

The court therefore erred to overlook and overturn the clear will of the people with its own opinion of what hurts or helps democracy.

Thus, to use Mr Edwards’ terms, the “desirability” of term limits (formally and properly expressed in the legislature during the CRC process) makes the amendment constitutionally valid, following the structure of the court’s logic.

Mr Edwards in his letter (Continued on page 23)

Boost our economy through policy and not spending DEAR EDITOR, There has been lots of talk about how the economy appears sluggish.

One newspaper commentator described his tour around the city, noting the slothfulness of some businesses; the opposition bemoans that it is fact the economy has slowed after the May 11 elections.

I don’t know whether the view of slothfulness is true, but I do recall Minister Trotman speaking about boosting the sectors where some decline is evident.

This tells me that government is taking notice of what people are saying and also possibly sharing similar concerns. The Minister said that government stood ready to help with cash injection into the relevant sectors.

I would like to caution government here. Throwing money after bad or declining industries may be a bad idea.

No one would take their savings and invest it into

sectors that are declining, so the same should apply to the government coffers.

I know that some economic theories do advocate this, but this thinking did not take into consideration the strengths of institutions available to accommodate and ensure that funds are used efficiently to regenerate an economy that is in decline.

Spending in a decline may have a place in government policy, but of equal and more importance is policy that enables economic investment.

One example, where this can work perfectly for government, is the mining sector. If government were to introduce a ‘use it or lose it’ policy, as it relates to land holdings, the future would be tremendous in that sector. To see how this would work, government should review the Obama policy in the domestic oil and gas sector in the USA. Lessons learnt from such a

review will inform government about the tangible benefits of policymaking over cash injection, which can ultimately lead to more debts.

A policy of ‘use it or lose it’ will likely see land hoarders, called landlords, pump investment into their operations for fear that their land would be repossessed.

This investment will likely cause gold and diamond production to increase and with it jobs. Financial transactions for ancillary products, such as groceries, oil and transport, will also increase. Land hoarders who can’t effectively use their lands will have to give them up. This freeing of lands will give the small miners an opportunity to invest and to use these lands more effectively.

The overall impact on this sector can only be positive.

Government, if you are listening please do act.

Malachi James

The Coalition Govt. cannot go down this path DEAR EDITOR, In your July 20th edition you published a report on an interview with Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan. It was reported that the Minister said there was likely not enough time to consult with the PPP on the budget.

The PPP talked inclusion but did not practice it. The Coalition government cannot go down that path.

The PPP represents almost half of Guyana’s population and though they have

been absent from Parliament for no valid reason, their input into the budgetary process should at least be solicited.

The government can reach out selectively to PPP members if official outreach is met by the current childishness of the PPP hierarchy.

The attempts at getting PPP input need to be well publicised so that all of Guyana can see who is really interested in inclusive governance for national progress.

Fitzgerald Yaw

DEAR EDITOR, While the St. Lucia Government is awaiting the greenlight from the UK to delink from the Privy Council in order to join the appellate jurisdiction of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), former Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur, has blasted governments from the countries which have not yet abolished appeals to the Privy Council..

Arthur’s recent comments were in Jamaica at the Gleaner Editors’ Forum over the weekend.

His criticism was severe on the government of Trinidad and Tobago, which he said fought for the regional court to be headquartered in that country and to date it has not yet joined the appellate division of the court. He

pointed out maybe the twinisland republic is the only country on the planet in which a court is located and it is not a member. Jamaica, the other big state in the region, was also criticized for the delay.

The Heads of Government in the region took a decision since 1988 to establish the regional court and I recall the Edward Seaga JLP government was in the forefront with Trinidad and Tobago, urging countries to join the regional court.

It took 17 years for the Court to be established on April 6, 2005, and now ten years after inauguration, only four countries - Guyana, Barbados, Belize, and recently Dominica - have severed ties with the London-based Privy Council. St. Lucia, which recently successfully sought

an opinion from the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal for that country to join the regional court without a referendum, will seek approval from Parliament after receiving formal blessings from the British government.

Approval from the St. Lucia Parliament will take some time, because there is a 90-day laying and debating period before a vote is taken and it requires 2/3 majority of the lawmakers The process is slow and the governments are not in a hurry, but nevertheless the President of the Court CCJ Sir Denis Byron is optimistic that before the end of next year the two big countries, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, will be on board and most of the Eastern Caribbean countries.

Oscar Ramjeet

This Unit should investigate the land deals/grants by the PPP administration DEAR EDITOR, Please permit me to address two issues raised by your publication.

The first refers to Peeping Tom’s column about a State Asset Recovery Unit having been set up to recover stolen assets by the previous administration.

This Unit should investigate the land deals/ grants by the PPP administration.

I will point out two questionable transactions and open the door for others to respond with similar shenanigans in other communities.

The previous Leonora Senior Staff compound consisting of a sizable plot of prime real estate was zoned as an industrial site.

This land was ostensibly “sold” to the infamous Ed Ahmad and has since been converted to a housing project. All work at this site should be put on hold and quickly investigated to ascertain compliance with the laws of Guyana.

The former Leonora Estate guest house was

similarly “sold” to a high ranking government official.

I know that when this property was put up for bid, the highest bidder was a gentleman from Leonora who resides in England. The bidding was quashed and the government official ended up with this property.

My second comment concerns the tourism industry. I have travelled throughout the world and I can tell you that Guyana is not ready for the European and North American tourists.

Rather, the government should court the multitude of the diaspora from America and Canada.

I know of many more who would make the trip to your shores if the price of the plane ticket was lowered.

Government should encourage other airlines to ply this route rather than the monopolistic and parasitic Caribbean Airlines.

Another option is to lower the taxes imposed on airline tickets to drive down this cost. I know many would think that the taxes are needed to maintain the viability of the airport. Increasing the volume of tourists would more than compensate for this lost revenue in the increased economic activities that are generated.

To gauge the response, the Government can offer this as an incentive on a onemonth trial basis.

I know that they will be pleasantly surprised by the outcome.

Ali Hussain

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Kaieteur News

Thursday July 23, 2015

US$150M airport project suspended ... govt. to discuss escalating costs with contractor Government has suspended the US$150M Timehri airport project, summoning principals of the Contractor from China to discuss the escalating costs.

Confirming that China Harbour Engineering Company Limited (CHEC) was instructed to halt work last week, Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, was yesterday confident that the matter could be resolved amicably with normalcy expected within a week, if all goes well.

CHEC has reportedly filed claims for some US$46M for works done. Such costs would put the runway extension at US$120M. According to the original contract signed between the Government of Guyana and CHEC back in 2011, the runway extension by just over 1,000 meters was pegged at US$58M. The David Granger administration since taking office in May, had vowed, during the lead-up to the May 11 General and Regional Elections, to review the project after becoming convinced that it was costing taxpayers too much…the project is the second largest one after the US$200M Skeldon sugar factory.

The proposed CJIA expansion.

Minister David Patterson The new Government insists that it will not spend more than the US$150M budgeted for the project.

However, an assessment recently found that other costs, including a car park, would have placed the final figure beyond the US$200M mark.

According to Patterson yesterday, his initial assessment of the actual contract inked under the Bharrat Jagdeo administration in 2011, concluded that not much thought was put into the

project and it appeared that it was written at the “back of a postage stamp”.

The Minister argued that it would have been difficult for the Chinese to start engaging the Government in August 2011 and then have a contract prepared and signed by November of that year.

He said that no one has been able to say what were the terms of reference given to the Chinese to prepare the tender that led to the eventual award of the contract to CHEC. The Chinese government had granted Guyana a loan for US$138M with the

remaining US$12M coming from the local treasury.

Patterson claimed that the Chinese are claiming that they were not provided enough information.

As a matter of fact, there is little information to suggest who negotiated the deal on behalf of the Government of Guyana.

The project appeared to have been put together, with contracts signed and works starting in less than 18 months.

Minister Patterson was critical of “ridiculous” aspects of the contract including one

clause which mandates the Government of Guyana to guarantee CHEC some 10hour work per day.

Patterson said that the initial thinking is to ensure a cap on the cost of the actual runway to ensure other aspects of the project are completed within budget.

There have been other questionable expenses like toilets sets which cost in excess of $400,000 apiece.

The contract had committed Guyana to providing filling materials like sand for the building of the

runway.

Critics have been lambasting the project, saying it was too expensive and the circumstances of the award of the contract to CHEC remains at best, blurry.

The former administration, in pushing for the new airport, had argued that the country’s location makes it ideal as a South American hub from Africa.

The limitations of the runway and terminal were also factors cited in need of expansion to allow for bigger aircraft and a growing tourism market.

Suriname coy agrees to accept reduced settlement - Minister of State Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, revealed yesterday that Government was able to reach an agreement with Surinamese Beverage Company, RUDISA International NV, to have a reduction in the repayment of a judgment of US$7.72M in keeping with a ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

He made this disclosure during a press conference yesterday at the Ministry of the Presidency.

Initially, the CCJ judgment in favour of Rudisa Beverages stood at US$6.5M. Harmon noted however that it had increased due to interest rates incurred over the years and legal fees.

The company had taken Guyana to the CCJ because it felt that the $10 per bottle environmental tax that it was being charged when importing its soft drinks (Thrill) to Guyana, was in contravention of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (RTC) which outlines free trade to signatory countries.

The company had argued that the tax was discriminatory since local importers didn’t have to pay

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon it.

The CCJ had ruled in Rudisa’s favour, citing that Guyana had to honour its treaty obligations and ordered that the claimants are entitled to repayment.

The Minister said that the matter is scheduled to come up again in the CCJ today and reiterated Government’s commitment to respecting the decisions of the court.

Through a missive to the media yesterday, Government indicated that RUDISA’s

owner, Rudi Sardjoe, met with the President of Guyana, David Granger and Harmon, at the Ministry of the Presidency to iron out issues relating to the repayment.

Harmon said that RUDISA has agreed to a smaller sum and Government welcomes this. He said that it is important that there is good cooperation between investors and the Government of Guyana. He added that the agreement bodes well for the relationship between Guyana and Suriname.

“When Guyana has to fork out money to pay for anything, it is the people of the country that actually have to do without and so Mr. Sardjoe’s generosity is something we really appreciate. He has actually given us a package which gives us some breathing room,” the Minister of State said.

RUDISA’s owner, Rudi Sardjoe said, “It is not about the money... We are a company working in Guyana a lot and we want to maintain the close relations that we have with the people of Guyana.”

Thursday July 23, 2015

Kaieteur News

Citizenship programme critical to St Kitts-Nevis, says PM BASSETERRE, St Kitts (SKNIS) — The government of St Kitts and Nevis has taken firm steps to address concerns about the citizenship by investment (CBI) programme, which upon assuming office, faced challenges described by prime minister and minister of finance, Dr Timothy Harris, as a “real and present threat to the prosperity agenda for our nation.”

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) noted value of the CBI, which contributes 30 percent of annual revenue to the twin island federation.

“In charting a way forward to comprehensively address the challenges, since assuming office as prime minister, I have spent the first five months building closer links with governments of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union, as well as the International Monetary Fund (IMF),” he said, while continuing to build relations with international partners in order to bolster the longevity and integrity of the CBI programme.

A number of activities have been put in place to better assist persons involved with the CBI. These include the implementation of the 20 recommendations adopted by Cabinet as submitted by IPSA; the international company that has been supporting the government in the reform process over the last several months. In addition, training is ongoing for the Citizenship

by Investment Unit (CIU) staff. The course is sponsored by the United States

Dr. Timothy Harris government. Further, the CBI programme has recently seen the implementation of a document management system, which is designed to improve on the processing of applications and overall efficiency.

“The benefits to be derived from this system include: increase in staff productivity and accountability, reduced processing time for clients’ applications and strengthening of the CIU’s capacity to be more responsive to their clients,” Harris emphasized and stressed that this is an integrated system which will enable service providers to submit applications electronically to the CIU office.

The prime minister said that the “confidentiality of applicants’ information is always a priority and as such, the government have ensured that enhanced

security is embedded at all levels in the software and network.”

A consultative meeting is being planned to invite dialogue between the government, service providers and developers and other key stakeholders in the programme, before the end of July 2015.

Harris echoed that “in facing the reality of circumstances in the federation, a lot of work needs to get done and we cannot afford to maintain the status quo in many aspects of operations”.

“We have to find ways to become more proactive and productive, even given the limited access to resources,” he stressed.

The prime minister encouraged all to stay engaged and said his government is committed to building a long-lasting partnership with the private sector and civil society.

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Thursday July 23, 2015

Thursday July 23, 2015

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RESCHEDULE SCHOOL SPORTS The small things can mean a lot when it comes to education. As such, the Ministry of Education needs to devote less time to the larger issues of curricula reform, teaching training and infrastructure development, and use some of that time to ensure that students spend more time in the classroom and that time is better utilised.

A few years ago, the Ministry of Education indicated that it may re-examine the timing of school sports.

The holding of these school sports takes up valuable time during the school term, because first there has to be House Sports, then from these House Sports the better athletes are selected to compete in the schools’ athletic competition. This takes at least three weeks.

When this is finished there is time taken off for the students to attend and participate in the inter-school championships which begins with the division championships, going all the way to the National Schools’ Championships which are hosted by the Guyana Teachers’ Union.

When all of that is

completed, half the term would have been completed, and the children have to then begin preparing for examinations.

These examinations usually go to the last week of school and, therefore, school sports does deny the children adequate time for their studies.

But the problem with extracurricular activities does not end there. No sooner are the students settling in for the first term, the extracurricular activities take over with preparations for Mashramani. Another three weeks are lost here again.

When all of these things are added up it means that our school kids can end up being robbed of a whole term’s work simply because of the extracurricular activities in which they are required to participate.

It is not healthy for school sports to be held in the first term when children are now settling in either a new school or a new grade class. Too much time is taken away for school sports and divisional and national schools’ championships, which we know have been plagued by controversies.

Dem boys seh ...

Commander can’t tell truth even if he try One of dem boys old buddy friend been watching a police commander a long time now. Dem boys ask him why you watching de man so much? Is because he shaat and he wearing Khaki uniform?

De buddy friend reply, “Eh, eh. He is not only dull, himself, he is de cause of dullness in others.” Dem boys agree because dem know and can remember nuff things.

Dem boys remember this man jump in a trench in Buxton and after two duck he bring up a gun wha none body couldn’t find. Soulja search and police search and couldn’t find that gun.Everybody know that he jump in de trench wid de gun in he bukta. He do this because he want to live nice wid de man who look like de devil. He dance Dhaka Dhalay, Khanchan and even Luncheon fuh de administration fuh love him.

Dem boys got other things to expose. He is a man who does send people pun patrol and demand he share. Dem boys got other things to talk about. Dem, get really upset wid him Saturday night. Is then dem boys confirm how scampish he is and that he firmly in de skullduggery gang.

At de cricket ground in de midst of de traffic congestion he tun up to hear a complaint from one of he ranks about an assault by a Customs officer. He order an arrest and mek de Customs officer who de rank seh assault him get handcuff and throw in de back of a police jeep.

He put on he siren and go to Providence station to mek sure that dem lock up de Customs officer. He de khaki shaat man, do more than that. He report to he bass, Mr See-all how he had to lock up a Customs officer because de man slap up he officer.

Dem boys hear that he even tell de Minister de same thing.

Is when dem boys get a copy of de statement from de rank wha he seh de Customs officer slap up, that dem see how dangerous this senior police officer—a commander at that— can be. There was no slapping and the police in he statement never mention slapping. This is a man who could send somebody to de gallows fuh no reason. He can lie and get a national award. De way dem boys see it, he can thief and become commissioner tomorrow morning.

People like him, dem boys got a message for. Keep clean because anything he do gun get skin up.

Talk half and find out how many people get rob when he was checking pun some assault.

Students have been known to have been relieved of their cellular phones and there are grown men who turn up at these school sports with the sole intention of interfering with schoolgirls.

The music that is often played at these school sports leaves much to be desired and some of the gyrations for other extracurricular activities are downright disgraceful.

The Ministry of Education should therefore consider holding school sports during the Easter vacation and the inter-school championships during the August vacation. It should also ask that the other events

for Mashramani be held on weekends, so as not to take away from the time spent in the classroom.

Relieving more time for children to spend in the classroom does not, however, mean that the teachers are going to put in more school work. This is where what is needed are school administrators as distinct from head teachers.

The head teachers should be responsible for ensuring that teachers complete the work that is supposed to be completed.

The administrators should be responsible for the nonacademic administration of the school. This simple

change will ensure that head teachers’ pay more attention to what teachers are doing, thereby making sure that the students are not given “a six for a nine”.

Our children also spend two whole months at home during the August holiday.

This is too long and should be reduced by two weeks.

This will allow for two additional weeks for studies.

Also, the Christmas vacation and Easter vacation can be better utilized for extracurricular activities, thereby ensuring that during the actual term there are limited interruptions.

Parents must support

these changes, because the Ministry alone will not be able to push through these changes in an educational system that is still strongly resistant to change.

These small changes will make a great difference and do far more than some of the big plans that the Ministry has had over the years but has never really fully delivered.

We need to ask Sean Hinds some more questions - Harmon - rules out amnesty in exchange for info

Minister of State Joseph Harmon, says that self confessed death squad member, Sean Hinds, should turn himself in to the police and provide details of what he knows about the crime situation in the country.

Speaking to the media during a post-Cabinet press conference, Harmon said that the state apparatus would definitely be interested in following up more aggressively, the leads provided by Hinds during an explosive recorded television interview.

Hinds, who police say is wanted for questioning into some “serious crimes”, recently confessed that he was a member of a death squad headed by the late Axel Williams.

The squad received instructions and weapons from officials at the CID, during the 2002-2006 crime wave. Harmon said that the state law enforcement agency would certainly like to ask Hinds some additional questions.

Hinds has claimed that he was wrongfully being fingered in the execution-style killing of activist Courtney Crum-Ewing and used the interview in an attempt to clear his name.

Senior police officials have said that Hinds was wanted for questioning since last week but it is not in connection with the Crum-Ewing killing.

In the interview, Sean Hinds detailed his connection to the established law enforcement agency back in the mid 2000s when the bullet-riddled bodies of criminal suspects began turning up in various locations in the city and its environs.

“I was in a death squad. De boss was a man named Axel Williams, who I work under. If I wasn’t a part of this killing squad, this country wouldn’t have gat law and order…because there was Shawn Brown and Dale

Sean Hinds Moore…and Chip Teeth and all these guys,” Hinds said, referring to some of the notorious criminals who created a reign of terror between 2002 and 2006.

He revealed, however, that the death squad was not

that he was the security guard for the former Town Clerk (Carol Sooba) and that he was in the security detail of a former presidential candidate…as to whether those persons to whom he had provided his services were aware of that background he disclosed to the reporter,” Harmon said.

Responding to a question of an independent investigation into the revelations made by Hinds with specific reference on whether the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Guyana Police Force will be conducting the probe, Harmon said, “You don’t try the devil in hell.”

Minister Harmon however cautioned that, with the passage of time, the new operatives at the CID might not be tainted with the history that is being referred to.

“But what I can say is that the allegations being made are

“We are more interested in what is happening now and I believe that Mr. Hinds can provide us with some linkages, some further information that could show us why these crimes that took place recently did take place and who are the persons who actually gave the directions.” operating in isolation, explaining that some members of the regular police force were also a part of their operations.

“We used to get guns from the police. I used to go and uplift a gun from CID headquarters— a machine gun. So this thing was not no one-sided affair… like if I was operating pon me own, or me and Axel Williams operating pon we own,” Hinds declared.

“We were guided and been in communication with senior people from CID headquarters,” he added. Yesterday, Minister Harmon said that the explosive allegations made by Hinds are serious enough to warrant an independent investigation.

“It is common knowledge

serious enough for us to launch an independent investigation…independent of the entities that have been named in his statements,” Harmon told the media.

He described Hinds’ revelations as “very interesting” because of the implications of what he reported.

Harmon reminded that two weeks ago, while addressing the current spike in crime and Government’s response to it, he had alluded to the “intellectual authors” of crime, the people behind the scenes who direct the activities.

He announced that as a result of the charge given by the government, the Guyana

Police Force has been doing exceptional work in coordinating and collaborating with intelligence and operations.

“Mr. Hinds’ revelations fit into the mould that says there are intellectual authors of crime, and as Mr. Hinds said, he had some linkages higher up and definitely as a government we will have to pursue those statements that have been made by Mr. Hinds,” Harmon stated.

“We are more interested in what is happening now and I believe that Mr. Hinds can provide us with some linkages, some further information that could show us why these crimes that took place recently did take place and who are the persons who actually gave the directions,” Harmon added.

He said that the most effective way to fight crime is to get to the higher links, the intellectual authors and the providers of the “instruments of death”.

When asked if Hinds will be given official whistleblower status and provided security, Harmon said, “Mr. Hinds is known for protecting himself…Mr. Hinds is welcomed to go into the police if he feels otherwise and he needs some other kind of protection for what he has.”

However Harmon said that he should expect some period of incarceration if he discloses his connections to criminal activities.

Harmon said that he is not offering any amnesty whatsoever to anybody who admittedly is involved in a criminal act or criminal activities and then expect to be exempted from prosecution by offering information.

“Any such arrangement (continued on page 24)

Page 10

Kaieteur News

Thursday July 23, 2015

=== The Freddie Kissoon column ===

President Granger must turn Sean Hinds into Sammy Gravano Sammy Gravano was the right hand man of the Gambino crime boss, John Gotti. To get Gotti, the FBI had to settle with Gravano despite the fact that he had killed more people than your average mob boss. Gravano confessed to 19 murders but most mafia analysts believe that the figure was way beyond that number.

To get Gotti, the FBI had to make a plea bargain with Gravano. The deal was that in exchange for testifying against Gotti, he would only get five years. For a man to serve five years for killing nineteen people was extraordinary. But for the FBI,

Gravano was a small fish; he was simply a killer. The FBI wanted the head of a global mafia operation and that fish, for the FBI, was more important than Gravano.

As accusations swirl around Sean Hinds for involvement in the assassination of Courtney Crum-Ewing, Hinds has given an intriguing interview to Travis Chase of HGP television in which some shocking details are revealed.

During the 2011 election campaign, Hinds was charged along with six others for robbery against prominent businessman, Malcolm Panday, at his home

in Bel Air Park, next to the Guyana Chronicle.

While on bail, Hinds secured a job with a Government Ministry as a driver and was seen to be active in the election campaign. Complaints were made against him that he destroyed an AFC banner that was hung across the seawall highway at Ogle.

One of Guyana’s most recognized journalists has a video of Hinds on the lawns of State House when Donald Ramotar was sworn in as President. One week after Ramotar became President, the robbery charge against Hinds was withdrawn on the advice of the DPP. The six others were later convicted.

Any media operative who did journalistic investigations into the crime vortex, 2001-2005 would know that Hinds’s name popped up frequently.

Different journalists have different stories about Hinds but one thing is undeniable – Sean Hinds has been accused of doing dirty work for the PPP Government.

Media

operatives would want to hide under the umbrella of bravado by denying that they were not afraid of reporting on Hinds but many were, including this columnist.

One evening around 9 pm, I was bracing on my car after buying pastries from Federal Management cafeteria on Peter Rose Street, talking with Dale Andrews when Sean Hinds passed and slowed down close to us. I didn’t know if he slowed down naturally because of the junction or otherwise, but I told Dale that we should leave immediately. Dale laughed and told me I was too scared but I admitted I was.

Until he gave the interview to Travis Chase, there were just accusations against Hinds. Accusations have become confessions.

Hinds has admitted to being part of a death squad during the crime wave, 2001-2005. In the interview, Hinds did not say, “I killed people,” but different words can convey the same meaning as any school boy who learned grammar would know. My

own thinking on the Hinds interview is that he has come out into the open because he feels he will be linked to the Crum-Ewing assassination.

What Hinds may be doing is signaling to the Granger Government that he wants a Sammy Gravano deal.

If that is so, the Granger Government should offer him that arrangement.

Hit men are small fishes that come dime a dozen. It is their intellectual patrons who are more dangerous. A ruling politician can order a murder on an anti-dictatorship activist, the hit is done, the killer takes his money and moves on. But the politician can go on killing more activists. That politician should be prosecuted using harsher penalties than what the hit man got.

In a column a few months back, I offered my beliefs on a wide array of philosophical subjects including the death penalty. I would vote against the death penalty but I believe, as I wrote in that column, it should be retained for powerful rulers who

Frederick Kissoon murder their critics.

Give Hinds immunity so he can begin to expose powerful politicians who once dominated Guyana.

The former ruling cabal denied any participation in extra-judicial killings during the crime syndrome. In the face of the most hardened evidence, they denied it. Hard evidence exists that Leslie Ramsammy was instrumental in the purchase of spy equipment that was made available to Roger Khan.

None of Jagdeo’s Cabinet members said that they personally know or ever met Roger Khan. That is hard to believe.

The former hegemonic dictators of Guyana were untouchables when they ruled Guyana.

They have been dethroned.

The day of reckoning has come. It begins with Sean Hinds.

Thursday July 23, 2015

Kaieteur News

Alberttown blaze...

Nearby fire station not a capable “standalone” responder - Fire Chief Stern action threatened

by Fire Chief Marlon Gentle into the reported inaction of firemen of the Alberttown Fire Station who reportedly failed to tackle a fire that erupted and destroyed a house a few meters away, may not be warranted.

Initial reports following the fire which occurred in the wee hours of July 6, 2015 suggest that since the driver that should have been on duty at the time of the fire had reported sick there was no one to operate a fire tender.

However, this publication was reliably informed that sometime after the driver reported sick, which was in fact the evening before the fire, the lone working fire tender was removed from the Alberttown location and parked at the Central Fire Station at Stabroek, Georgetown.

Another fire tender parked in the compound of the Fire Station at the time of the fire was not operational, this publication was told.

Moreover, a source close to the operation of the Fire Service informed that essentially, the Fire Station was closed, a state of affairs that has occurred on previous occasions.

The reliable source disclosed that while a decision to halt the operations of any Fire Station is made by Fire Chief Marlon Gentle, in this case, another senior officer had reportedly made the decision.

The Fire Station’s nonresponse to the fire has reportedly resulted in a “blame shifting” state of affairs among senior officers within the Fire Service.

The source is adamant that the administrators of the Fire Service had more than enough time to post another driver at the Alberttown Fire Station to ensure its capable operation.

According to the source too, the Fire Station in question is one that is not treated as a significant arm of the Fire Service in spite of its stated mandate to serve as the first responder to fires in the areas of Alberttown and Queenstown, and as back-up responder to areas including: Campbellville, Sophia and as far as Melanie on the East Coast of Demerara. “If another location is short of a driver they would close Alberttown and make up staff.

For example, if Campbellville needs a driver the (Alberttown) driver would have to go there,” the source informed.

The Alberttown Fire Station is usually manned by a leading fireman who is supported by three other firemen.

Fire Chief Gentle in responding to questions about the operational capability of the Fire Station at the time of the fire, yesterday admitted that a fire tender parked in the compound of the fire station was inoperable. “It was down for the want of spares,” he said as he also confirmed that the only working tender was relocated to the Central Fire Station.

Another interesting admission by Gentle was that the Alberttown Fire Station as a “standalone” response would not have been able to effectively tackle the fire on its own. “This is obviously

Fire Chief Marlon Gentle what happened because the other station had to back it up,” asserted Gentle.

He nevertheless noted that the firemen on duty at the Fire Station were able to do what they could after becoming aware of the fire that was already in raging progress.

“The men did what they could...they ensured that the children were out (of) the house. The Unit that responded took five minutes to get there and when the guys (at Alberttown) saw the fire the roof was already caving...the people in there were lucky they are alive,” said Gentle of the severity of the fire when the nearby ranks were alerted. Reports are that at least two occupants of the now destroyed house were at home at the time of the fire.

Owner of the destroyed property, Rafeek Khan, and his family have called for a thorough investigation into the fiery incident.

Page 11

Page 12

Kaieteur News

Male sex worker shot dead by angry client The life of a 20-year-old male commercial sex worker was cut short Tuesday night after a scuffle with a client ended with a fatal shot to his chest.

Nephi Noel “Luthers” of D’Urban Street, Georgetown, was out doing his line of work when two men in a red CR-V enquired about his whereabouts at the corner of Quamina and Carmichael Streets. The enquiry eventually led to an argument between Noel and the men.

That resulted in the sex worker’s death after a shot was fired in the vicinity.

Speaking to some of Noel’s colleagues, Kaieteur News understands that one of the men is a prominent city businessman, who was a “regular” in the area. The

second, according to witnesses, was an accomplice of the businessman who some believe, was brought to the street to assault Noel.

According to reports, the businessman had solicited the services of Noel, a transgender worker, earlier that Tuesday evening.

However, Noel’s “client” was not satisfied with the services provided by the transgender and so revisited the Carmichael Street location, once again soliciting the services of another sex worker.

The client had requested that the new worker perform oral sex for $5000. Further, it was related that he specifically requested the worker not be transgender as he accused Noel of trying to

“rob” him.

However, upon realising that his second pick up was in fact transgender, the businessman again dropped off the person, after which an argument ensued as the two “had it out on the road”.

The argument escalated to a point where the businessman, shouting that the person who robbed him was in the vicinity, grabbed the transgender.

At this point, two others who were around the corner from the argument rushed to rescue the transgender from the businessman’s assault. It was during this scuffle that Noel returned to the location, and attracted the attention of the businessman who shouted, “This is the one that rob me!”

Noel responded to the businessman’s accusation with “I rob you? I rob you?” and proceeded to hand over his cell phone to a nearby colleague, instructing them to record the confrontation.

As agitated as the businessman appeared, witnesses say that he “did

not do anything as yet” choosing instead to return to his vehicle and drive off.

Later that night, as Noel was back on Quamina and Carmichael Streets, the businessman returned, this time with another man known as “Black Assassin”.

It was at this point that Noel and the businessman resumed their argument where accusations of thievery were once again thrown at the transgender.

Suddenly, according to one witness, a gunshot was fired and someone shouted, “Murder! Murder,” from the dark city street. The businessman and his accomplice ran to a red CR-V and drove off.

Rushing to the scene other commercial sex workers related that Noel was lying on the ground, breathing heavily and bleeding profusely. It became apparent that he sustained a bullet wound to the chest.

Not long after, the police officers arrived on the scene and assisted in transporting Noel to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

Noel was described as a caring and friendly individual,

Thursday July 23, 2015

Nephi Noel

which is why the news of his death surprised many of his relatives, friends and colleagues.

“He wasn’t a person to be in any bribe or underhanded business,” related a colleague, who said Noel had only been in commercial sex work for about eight or nine months.

Another friend described the 20-year-old as helpful, sociable and didn’t allow his sexual orientation to make others feel uncomfortable.

However, the friend did share that Noel complained of instances whereby men would refuse to pay him for

the services he performed.

Despite his friendly disposition Noel’s mother, Joy Noel, said she always warned her son about his line of work. “I used to tell him that out there it’s every man for himself, despite you feel they looking out for you,” said an emotional Joy. She said that she had tried her best to get her son into the Carnegie School of Home Economics, as he proved himself to be a talented cook.

She last saw her son Tuesday evening. She said that she can’t explain the feeling she has knowing that she won’t see him again.

Colombian caught trying to rob ATM with fake cards Local police have held a Colombian national who they believe is the mastermind of a scheme targeting Automated Teller Machines in the city.

The man was held yesterday when he turned up at one of the ATMs that were being staked out by law enforcement authorities, after they had gotten wind of the scheme.

According to a police official, on Wednesday they received information that the Colombian, who arrived in Guyana five days ago, was

targeting ATM machines, illegally withdrawing large amounts of cash.

The lawmen managed to review surveillance camera footage to identify the suspect. The image obtained was provided to security personnel who were manning the ATMs. Sure enough the man fitting the image turned up and just as he was withdrawing cash, the security personnel detained him and the informed the police who arrived to take him into

custody.

A search of his person unearthed 80 fake ATM cards, and close to $500,000 in cash.

Investigators are now checking to see if the man has any connection to the recent bust at a house in good hope East Coast Demerara a few weeks ago, where a number of similar cards were found along with an illegal firearm and drugs. “The cards are similar but the ones found on the Colombian appear to be more authentic,” a police source said.

Thursday July 23, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 21

Guyanese-born operator awaits sentencing in building collapse PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A heavy equipment operator charged in a building collapse that killed six people and injured 12 during a demolition project in downtown Philadelphia, pleaded guilty Tuesday to manslaughter and other charges.

Prosecutors have agreed to recommend no more than 10 to 20 years when 44-year-old Sean Benschop is sentenced in October.

Authorities say Benschop had previously been warned not to use machinery to demolish an unsupported brick wall.

Investigators believe the vibration from his excavator caused a four-storey brick wall to collapse onto an adjacent one-story Salvation Army thrift store, burying shoppers and employees in debris. One woman lost both legs after spending nearly 13 hours in the rubble.

Benschop was also operating the machinery with a cast on his right hand after taking the painkiller Percocet for the injury and using marijuana the day of the June 2013 collapse, authorities have said.

He was working for a cutrate demolition contractor, Griffin Campbell. Both men had been charged with six counts of thirddegree murder.

Benschop, speaking softly,

instead pleaded guilty to six counts of involuntary manslaughter, 12 counts of reckless endangerment, conspiracy and causing a catastrophe.

Campbell’s lawyer said that his client will fight the charges at trial.

“There are many, many parties much higher on the economic food chain and the political power chain and the money chain that are not ... charged with this tragic, epic accident,” his lawyer, William Hobson, said Tuesday.

Private building owners seeking demolition permits at the time did not have to file demolition plans, prove their workers were qualified or show that their taxes had been paid, according to testimony at city council hearings held in the wake of the collapse. A city building inspector, who once inspected the site, killed himself days after the collapse.

The city has since upgraded its permit requirements.

Building owner Richard Basciano — who hired Campbell for $10,000, a fraction of the other bids — has not been charged, but prosecutors said the case remains active. Basciano, once known as the porn king of Times Square, was demolishing three attached buildings on a seedy stretch of downtown that was ripe for redevelopment.

The six killed include a pair

of 24-year-old artist friends shopping at the store and a newly engaged woman working her first day there. Their families have worked to get a park built at the site in their memory.

Benschop’s common-law wife of 20 years said that his plea “shows he’s remorseful for whatever part it’s believed he played.” Tynisha Gregory described Benshop as a hardworking family man.

“He went out to work one day and didn’t come home because of an accident,” she said, referring to his arrest and incarceration.

“Unfortunately, people were killed, so I understand their pain.

They want justice, and Sean’s taking responsibility.”

Benschop, who also goes by the name Kary Roberts, had been arrested nearly a dozen times since 1994 on drug, weapons and other charges. The native of Guyana has six children and an eighth-grade education.

Many of the collapse victims and their families have filed civil lawsuits against the defendants, Basciano, the Salvation Army and others.

“Sean Benschop’s conduct was unforgivable.

But others played a role in killing our daughter and have yet to be held accountable,” city treasurer Nancy Winkler and her husband, Jay Bryan, said in a statement about the

Kwakwani woman freed on drug possession charge Nicole Sawyer, 35, of Kwakwani, was given a second chance on Tuesday after she pleaded guilty to a drug possession charge.

Sawyer had in her possession four grams of cannabis on July 20, last.

Police Corporal, Deniro Jones, informed the court that on the day in question, ranks from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) acting on information, went to the home of the defendant and conducted a search in her presence and

found the articles on her. The defendant was then taken to the Kwakwani Police Station where her particles were weighed.

Sawyer told the Police that the cannabis was hers; she was then cautioned about the dangers of the drug and was arrested.

During the brief court hearing, Magistrate Ann McLennan asked her what she had to say for herself. The young woman pleaded with the Magistrate for leniency. She said that she was sorry for her

mistakes, had learnt from her experiences and would go forward in the future to respect the laws of the land.

Sawyer also stated that her “child father” put the stuff in her hand and she hid it in her waist after hearing the voice of the Sergeant. “Then they come in de room and found it on me.”

Initially, the defendant was fined $15,000 and two weeks of community service at the Kwakwani Police Station.

Magistrate Ann McLennan eventually dismissed the case.

Surinamese national nabbed with ganja jailed for three years A Surinamese national who was nabbed last Saturday with a quantity of marijuana, has been jailed for the crime.

Surinamese national, Keon Stephen Allicock, 22, of Timmers Dam, Angoy’s Avenue, New Amsterdam, and of Santo Derp-vegParamaribo, Suriname, who told the court that he is a musician, has been jailed for three years. The man appeared on Tuesday before

Magistrate Rabindranauth Singh at the Springlands Magistrate’s Court, on the charge of being in possession for the purpose for trafficking.

He pleaded guilty to the charge which states that on Saturday July 18 at the Number 79 Foreshore, Corentyne, he had in his possession 8.217 kilograms of cannabis in his possession.

According to information,

the police went to the area around 07:30 hrs and saw the individual acting in a suspicious manner. He was challenged and taken into custody where the police found a parcel containing what was suspected to be leaves, seeds and stems of the marijuana plant.

The suspect and the drugs were taken into custody where the contents were tested, checked and found to be eight kilograms of marijuana.

loss of their art-student daughter, Anne Bryan. “We continue to wait for all those responsible to break their

silence and answer questions about their outrageous conduct leading up to the fatal building collapse.”

Guilty: Sean Benschop

Page 22

Kaieteur News

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Also sewing classes –Call: 626-2629; 676-6312 Continued on page 23

Thursday July 23, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 23

Letters... Where your views make the news

The judiciary is not the place for defining...

From page 5 alerts us that different judges may have different notions about the width and generality of “democratic” in Article 1.

I contend that enough doubt accompanies these subjective and value-laden ideals that courts should avoid adjudication altogether, either for the unenforceability of these ideals (Mr Edwards’ point) or for their constitutional ambiguity (should the accepted doctrine of “constitutional doubt” apply

in our jurisprudence).

For clarity and safety, what is meant by democracy and the other sweeping constitionalized goals and ideals (such as those in the preamble and in Articles 13 to 15) is a matter wisely and correctly thrown back into the political process.

The judiciary should not be duped into believing that while some basic democratic norms (such as an independent judiciary and a free press) are widely accepted, this consensus permeates the debate over

more nuanced and complex issues.

In closing, I wish to touch on a point peripheral to the validity of the ruling. It concerns the sequential words “democratic” and “sovereign” that come before “state” in Article 1.

I have to side with Professor Justice Duke Pollard, in that the words may not be intended to refer to “democratic sovereignty” or “democratic sovereign”, even if such a concept existed.

The words, in my view, are separate adjectives

describing state, so that Guyana is a democratic and a sovereign state.

Sure, the possibility exists that “democratic sovereign” is being used synonymously with popular sovereignty (ultimate authority to the people), an idea captured in Article 9.

But the text more likely suggests the meaning to be national sovereignty (boss on one’s own turf), an ideal of such great importance that Article 1 would be the place for it.

Sherwood Lowe

It will take more than a 100-day ‘domestic...

From page 4 expended a tremendous amount of time trying to get a firm grasp on state agencies and their financial affairs, which meant the removal of certain key players who served as political appointees to help the previous regime execute its corrupt agenda.

To the corrupt PPP and its minions, these removals are being dubbed a ‘witch-hunting’ exercise that targets PPP supporters and especially Indian Guyanese, but to others, this is the price to pay when persons are political appointees in public sector professional jobs, and this is what also happens to professionals who compromise their professionalism at the altar of political expediency to either feed at the trough of corruption or hang on to their jobs.

One of those who offered a balanced perspective on the status of the 100-day plan was former House Speaker, Mr. Ralph Ramkarran, (‘Things to do on your honeymoon’, SN July 19). He basically suggested, among other things, that the coalition regime actively considers allowing Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo to spearhead certain agenda items in the homestretch towards the 100day mark.

But after all we have discovered over the last nine weeks, we should temper our expectations about government achieving all six of the points enumerated at the top, because reality says the coalition group inherited a government that was built on systemic corruption, deceit and a dual economy.

The PetroCaribe Fund is broke. Venezuela told the PPP regime to look for new rice markets, but it took the new regime to break the news to Guyanese.

The rice industry is now in trouble as government has to find hundreds of millions of dollars to pay rice farmers.

The sugar industry has long been in trouble, starting with the US$200M Skeldon Modernization debacle and

billions in subventions.

While gold prices were plummeting the PPP government tapped into the Consolidated Fund to pay inordinately high prices to miners.

Bauxite, controlled by the Russians and Chinese, is yet to be assessed to determine its true contributions to the nation’s coffers. GPL, which has been bailed out many times and benefited from Chinese loans, is yet to be audited. Billions were borrowed from the Chinese for several projects, including CJIA. Baishanlin wants more trees.

This new government is trying to negotiate a settlement after a 2014 CCJ ruling against the PPP regime. Un-

named bank accounts with millions of dollars had to be closed.

The US$32M Fibre-Optic Cable project was a costly failure. The US$58M unfinished Marriott awaits buyers as government says it is not in the hotel business.

And as we go down the list of problem areas this new regime struggles to come to grips with, thereby making the 100-day plan difficult to execute, we find ourselves trying to figure out how the economy, which has been doing swell before May 11, suddenly started slowing down, according to a few reports, including a survey that said 9 out of 10 business owners feel

this way.

Was the PPP practicing ‘zombie economics’ with a formal economy that was deliberately undergirded by an informal economy fueled by the illicit narcotics industry?

Do many businesses, whether backed by illicit proceeds or those run by the Chinese, feel threatened by the new regime, which plans to play by the rules and demand such businesses finally file taxes? Uh-oh, is the slow down deliberate?

From all appearances, it will take more than a 100-day ‘domestic war’ plan to make significant headway in cleaning up this mess.

Emile Mervin

From page 22

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Page 24

Kaieteur News

Thursday July 23, 2015

‘We must unite to Energy and Sustainable maintain our territorial Development can eliminate poverty integrity’- M&CC

By Shyon Hoppie The Mayor and Councillors of Georgetown recently held a statutory meeting at which Councillor Gregory Fraser passed a motion addressing Venezuela’s claim to Guyana territory.

His motion stated that the border between Guyana and Venezuela was settled by treaty of 1897 in which Venezuela accepted the Arbitral Award of 1899 as a full, final and perfect settlement.

This was noted that by accepting this Arbitral Award of 1899, Venezuela accepted the final and perfect settlement of the boundaries and whereas the borders were officially demarcated by Brazil, British Guiana and Venezuela in 1905. The motion was seconded by Councillor Hector Stoute and supported by full Council.

The government denounced the aggressive and reckless claim of Guyana’s maritime and territorial space expressed in decree 1787 and modified by decree 1859.

The Mayor and Councillors who are representatives of more than 200,000 people in Georgetown assembled at this statutory meeting to fully support the position of the Government of Guyana, and encourage it to use all means necessary to defend the territorial integrity including the maritime space of Guyana and support its efforts to find a peaceful resolution of the matter.

They also denounced the unjustified claim of Venezuela against the territory and maritime space of Guyana.

Council encourages its administration and other

related agencies to design and implement activities to raise public awareness and to promote education on the issue in City of Georgetown.

M&CC is calling on Venezuela to respect this existing mechanism for resolving disputes and controversy mainly the International Court of Justice and the convention on the Law of the Sea. Councillor Oscar Clarke in his presentation on the motion stated that Guyana attained independence and sparked and the Venezuelan President to claim two-thirds of Guyana’s territory.

However, Guyana was able to strongly reject these claims.

He added that Guyanese have no choice but to reject this bizarre claim with an iron fist. “We must unite to maintain our territorial integrity,” the councillor said.

He reiterated that every time Guyana moves forward to explore it economic capabilities, Venezuelan claims emerge. Therefore, every one must unite and raise their voices against this unjust claim, he said.

Mayor Hamilton Green stated in his presentation that it is imperative that, “The young people of this nation be educated on this matter. He additionally recalled that when Guyana was about to gain Independence, Venezuela raised this same rhetoric.”

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, on May 27, last, issued a decree, extending Venezuela’s claim to Guyana’s territorial waters.

A map which was issued, accompanying the decree, shows that the claim includes the area where the US giant oil

company, ExxonMobil, is currently drilling for oil.

While Venezuela maintains a position seeking to deprive Guyana of a significant portion of its territory, the Bolivarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a statement saying that it wants peace.

In the statement, Venezuela asserted that Guyana is somewhat overreacting in its issuance of statements saying that it will use all means necessary to firmly reject Venezuela’s latest threat to its sovereignty.

Venezuela made reference to initiatives it has with Guyana to promote “solidarity and brotherhood” such as the PetroCaribe deal. It was said that despite such assistance offered to Guyana, the new government seems “unfriendly.”

According to Venezuela, the David Granger-led Administration is exhibiting a dangerous policy of provocation against the Bolivarian Venezuela of peace, “supported by the imperial power of a US multinational, Exxon Mobil, which must be rectified in the short term.

“This unfriendly policy of provocation will be defeated by the force of reality imposed by the foreign policy of peace and friendship between Venezuela and the people of Guyana itself.”

Dhanraj, who suffered a stroke two years earlier, was showing signs of progress in his health. His son explained that his dead father walked with the aid of a crutch but on the day of the accident he was using a cane.

The upset man related that his father would usually walk twice daily in the street where he resided as a means of exercise.

The man explained that his father was walking in the street on Saturday afternoon when he was struck down by a drunken driver and fell face down.

The man added that his father sustained serious head injuries. He also suffered a

on Sustainable Development, the High-level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, and the thematic debate of the General Assembly on “Water, Sanitation and Sustainable Energy in the Post-2015 Development Agenda.”

Nevertheless, 1.3 billion people, or nearly one in five globally, continue to lack electricity. Twice as many still rely on wood, charcoal, animal or crop waste or other solid fuels to cook their food and heat their homes.

The “energy-poor” suffer the health consequences of inefficient combustion of solid fuels in inadequately ventilated buildings, which kills around four million people a year, most of them women and children, as well as the economic consequences of insufficient power for productive incomegenerating activities and for other basic services, such as health and education.

In particular, women and girls in the developing world are disproportionately affected in that regard according to the United Nations.

Where modern energy services are abundant, there are different challenges.

Emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from fossil fuels are

contributing to changes in the Earth’s climate, to the detriment of those who depend on the planet’s natural systems for survival.

Climate change threatens food and water security for hundreds of millions of people, undermining the most essential foundations of local, national and global stability.

Competition for scarce resources is increasing, exacerbating old conflicts and creating new ones. As lands degrade, forests are felled and sea levels rise, the movement of people who have been driven from their homes by environmental change may reshape the human geography of the planet.

The transition to sustainable energy systems provides perhaps one of the largest global economic opportunities of the twenty-first century, which is particularly important at a time when countries are looking to improve economic performance and create sustainable jobs and employment opportunities.

Despite tremendous progress, barriers still exist to promoting sustainable energy solutions, especially given the need for a dramatic change in the pace and scale of how this issue is addressed on the ground.

“Action is needed in areas such as finance, technology development, policy and regulatory innovation and improved business models and governance structures,” United Nations.

We need to ask Sean Hinds ...

From page 9 will have to be made with the police and the relevant authority…but what I can say to you is that the intelligence arrangements that are in place now are basically working independently of statements

Anger flares after disabled man struck down, dies Gangaram Dhanraj, 58, formerly of Anna Regina Squatting Area, was struck down and subsequently died several days after while receiving medical attention at the Georgetown Public Hospital. The relatives of the deceased are however upset with what they are describing as sloppy police work.

They indicated that the accident, resulting in the death of Dhanraj, occurred Saturday afternoon around 17:30 hours, and it was only Monday when the police visited the accident scene and took measurements.

Even further, the relatives argued that the police failed to measure the correct spot.

Poverty eradication is one of the greatest global challenges facing the world today and a crucial requirement for sustainable development.

It is believed that energy helps to eliminate poverty, increase food production, provide clean water, improve public health, enhance education, address climate change, create economic opportunity and empower young people.

Poverty and hunger are first Millennium Development Goal and two years from the target date millions are still suffering from poverty, inequality within and between countries are increasing rather than declining. Even though they are advancement in the economic growth and progress in technology, health and education, eradicating poverty remains the greatest global challenge.

On the other hand Energy is intimately linked to most global challenges. Access to energy sources has been a major driver of development in industrialized countries and emerging economies.

Although there was no specific Millennium Development Goal relating to energy, it is widely recognized as a condition to the achievement of the Goals and sustainable development, as emphasized by numerous international debates, including the World Summit

fractured rib and hip.

The man who also vented his frustration with the person, who struck down and killed his father, said that he is afraid that his family would not receive any justice, since the man in question is wealthy and is indicating to render financial settlement.

He said that people in the Anna Regina Squatting area have knowledge of the accident but are afraid to lodge statements with the police, since they would be coming against a wealthy Essequibian.

A post mortem is scheduled to be performed tomorrow on Dhanraj’s remains.

made by Sean Hinds,” Harmon explained.

Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum declined to comment on Hinds’ revelation.

“Unless I see the video (interview) I cannot comment. I made a request to HGP Channel 67 and they have promised to provide me with a copy of the interview,” Blanhum explained.

Meanwhile, the PPP reacted to the recent developments,

accusing the GrangerAdministration and others of seeking to implicate the Party in the murder of Crum-Ewing.

The PPP noted that the investigations into that murder are still ongoing and, “Characteristically, the APNU/ AFC has already determined the outcome, prejudicing the results with their hostile anti-PPP statements.”

The PPP said in a statement issued last evening that Leader

Grandfather before court for assaulting grandson A 67-year-old man appeared before Magistrate Ann McLennan Tuesday on a charge of allegedly wounding his grandson.

Morris ‘Kitchen Police’ Barker is accused of unlawfully and maliciously wounding his grandson, Kefa Rose, on June 27, last, at Sulphur Rose Backdam, Essequibo.

Barker pleaded not guilty to the charge after it was read to him at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.

Barker, who resides at

Supply, Mahaica, informed the court that he is a vendor in the interior and that he has no pending or previous matters.

Police Corporal, Deniro Jones, did not oppose bail but asked that it be set in a substantial amount. He informed the court that the virtual complaint is the defendant’s grandson. ‘Kitchen Police’, was placed on $30,000 bail and was asked to keep the peace.

He will be making his next court appearance at the Bartica Magistrate’s Court, on July 27.

of the AFC and Ministers of the APNU/AFC Government have already discovered PPP/C involvement from the very evening of the execution of CrumEwing and publicly proclaimed the direction that the investigation must take in establishing the political connection, the political intellectual authors, the PPP, of his murder.

According to the opposition party, it is worthy to note that at no time did Sean Hinds mention Ministerial involvement.

“The plot involving Sean Hinds incriminating PPP/C Ministers and Members must be exposed for what it is, designed by the Granger Government to tarnish the image of the PPP with accusations of murder and directing the investigations to prove PPP/C involvement.

“The PPP/C rejects any involvement in Crum-Ewing’s murder. The PPP/C rejects the vile attempts by the Government to link it with the killing. The PPP/C calls on the Guyana Police Force to disclose the results of their investigations into the murder. The PPP is confident that this disclosure will exonerate the PPP/C fully.”

Thursday July 23, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 25

South Carolina church shooting suspect to face federal hate crime charges

Dylann Roof (R), listens to the proceedings with assistant defense attorney William Maguire during a hearing at the Judicial Center in Charleston, South Carolina (REUTERS/RANDALL HILL)

The white man charged in South Carolina with killing nine blacks at a Charleston church faces federal hate crimes and firearms charges that could lead to the death penalty or life in prison, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said yesterday.

A federal grand jury in South Carolina returned a 33count indictment against Dylann Roof, accused of a deadly shooting spree during Bible study at a historic black church last month, Lynch said.

The federal government has not decided if it will seek the death penalty if Roof is convicted, she said.

South Carolina is one of the few U.S. states that does not have a hate crimes statute.

So the charges in the federal hate crime that Roof targeted the victims “because of their race and in order to interfere with their exercise of religion” are part of the federal indictment, Lynch said.

“The parishioners had Bibles. Dylann Roof had his

.45 caliber Glock pistol and eight magazines loaded with hollow point bullets,” Lynch said.

She noted that Roof had singled out the nearly 200year-old Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church because of its historical significance in the AfricanAmerican community. She said he had been planning the attack for several months.

Roof, 21, has already been

charged with nine counts of murder in state court in Charleston in the June 17 shooting. If found guilty, he could face the death penalty.

He also faces three counts of attempted murder.

Following the massacre, a website linked to Roof surfaced containing a racist manifesto, showing him in photos posing with a Confederate flag, viewed by many as a symbol of racism.

Page 26

Kaieteur News

Thursday July 23, 2015

Suspicious powder mailed to union leader in Barbados turns out to be pesticide BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – Workers and members of Barbados’ largest trade union have been given the all-clear to return to their headquarters after it was confirmed that a powder sent in a package with threatening messages was a pesticide.

That’s according to acting general secretary of the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) Roslyn Smith.

She told the Nation newspaper that police had informed her of the results of the analysis, but did not say exactly which pesticide it was.

Smith said the office cleaned yesterday so that work could resume as normal from today – exactly a week after the package was delivered.

Emergency personnel were called in and executive and administrative staff quarantined after the powdery substance, wrapped in newspaper pages that featured stories about protest action the NUPW led four days earlier, was found in an envelope addressed to Smith.

Union officials said they believed someone was trying to intimidate the NUPW.

Roslyn Smith

However, they insisted they would not be moved as they fought on behalf of workers.

The NUPW has been at odds with government in recent weeks – supporting strike action by Sanitation Service Authority workers and employees of the customs and immigration departments, and last week threatening a national shutdown sparked by the Barbados Investment and Development Corporation (BIDC) forcing seven employees who had reached the age of 60 into retirement.

That major strike was averted, following a meeting

of the sub-committee of the Social Partnership.

Both the workers and the BIDC have since taken the matter to court.

The seven are seeking an injunction restraining the BIDC from acting on the decision to retire them, and an order that they be allowed to continue working until the court makes a determination on the matter.

The BIDC, which had argued it had the right to retire officers reaching the age of 60, under the Statutory Boards (Pensions) Act, is seeking the court’s opinion of the legality of that decision.

Money paid, says Sinckler

Daily Nation - Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler has dismissed Opposition claims that Barbados defaulted on a major international loan, lamenting that the accusation had investors concerned.

On June 28 at a political meeting, Opposition Leader Mia Mottley asserted: “Information is being hidden from you in this country and . . . if the Budget was called one month later, [Sinckler] would not report to you

that the foreign reserves are in the good condition, because the Credit Suisse loan has to be paid on the June 18 and as of Friday, it still was not paid and that is $88 million.”

But delivering a Ministerial Statement on the issue yesterday in the House of Assembly, Sinckler said that on June 18, Government repaid $41.23 million of the US$225 million loan it borrowed from Credit Suisse LLC more than a year ago. (SC/GE)

Canada announces new entry requirements for nationals of visa-exempt countries ONTARIO, Canada – From March next year, Caribbean nationals who don’t need a visa to get into Canada will face new entry requirements.

They will have to obtain an Electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA) before entering that North American country by air, effective March 15, 2016, under revised requirements for all visitors from visa-exempt countries.

The application, which carries a fee of CDN$7 (US$12) and must be submitted online, will be available from August 1, 2015.

The Canadian government said the move

was due to its “limited capacity to identify and screen foreign nationals who do not require a temporary resident visa to travel to Canada.”

It is similar to the US Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) or Australian Electronic Travel Authority (eTA).

People passing through Canada in transit will also be required to have an eTA prior to travelling.

Only holders of diplomatic and official passports who are accredited to Canada, and students with the relevant student visa will be exempted.

Applications for a work or

study permit would constitute an eTA application and a separate application would therefore not be required. The Canadian government said the vast majority of eTA applications will be auto-granted by an electronic system, and will be valid for five years, or until the traveller ’s passport expires or whichever comes first.

It made it clear that visitors who arrive with an eTA will still have be interviewed by Canada Border Service Agency officials, who will determine final eligibility for entry to the country.

Thursday July 23, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 27

Myanmar gives 153 Chinese Iran pushes nuclear deal as life in jail for illegal logging U.S. lawmaker aims to stop it YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — A court in northern Myanmar sentenced 153 Chinese nationals to life in prison yesterday after convicting them of illegal logging in a case that has already strained relations with Beijing.

Two Chinese minors received 10-year sentences for the same offence, while a woman in the group received an additional 15 years on a drug charge, said Khin Maung, the lawyer for the defendants. Life terms are generally treated as 20 years in Myanmar’s judicial system.

Myanmar ’s army in January arrested the Chinese and some Myanmar nationals in Kachin state near the Chinese border, also seizing 436 logging trucks.

Chinese loggers in Myanmar send wood to China even though timber exports were banned in 2014.

Analysts say the timber can be exported because the loggers make deals with local ethnic minority warlords and, according to some critics, local Myanmar military officers. “As China has risen to become the world’s biggest importer of timber products, it has also emerged as the leading destination for

illegally logged timber, especially logs and lumber,” the British non-profit researcher, the Environmental Investigation Agency, noted in a 2012 report. It said the quantity of timber shipped from Myanmar to China had declined over recent years, but smuggling was continuing and still a threat to Myanmar’s forests, among the richest in Southeast Asia.

The loggers were sentenced under a 1963 law calling for jail terms of 10 years to life for anyone who steals or otherwise misuses or abuses public property. Khin Maung said one of the two judges in the court in the Kachin state capital of Myitkyina announced that the maximum penalty was being applied because “he deemed effective punishment should be meted out.”

He said his clients have 60 days to consider an appeal.

The verdict quickly attracted attention in China, where the defendants have been a cause celebre since their arrests, with calls for the Chinese government to apply pressure for their release.

The Chinese Embassy in Myanmar told the state-run Beijing Times that it protested the sentences as too severe

and that it had made solemn presentations with Myanmar over the matter.

The embassy said the workers had been deceived by criminals from both China and Myanmar to engage in illegal logging.

China is Myanmar’s closest political and economic ally, but significant tensions exist between the two nations.

Chinese economic penetration is big and highly visible in northern Myanmar, and some large infrastructure and mining projects have drawn charges of being insensitive to environmental issue and local residents’ concerns.

China is also seen as providing a safe haven for some Myanmar ethnic rebel groups with which Myanmar ’s government would like to reach cease-fire agreements. Fighting with the Kokang minority, who are ethnic Chinese, flared up this past year and sent waves of refugees and Chinese workers fleeing for safety in China. What was said to be accidental bombing by Myanmar air force planes just inside Chinese territory made an uneasy situation worse, and led to an apology from the Myanmar side.

White House says it is drafting plan to close Guantanamo The White House said yesterday it was in the final stages of drafting a plan to close the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the widely criticized detention center for foreign terrorism suspects.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the administration hoped to “short circuit” opposition from Republicans in Congress who have blocked President Barack Obama from closing the prison, one of his top goals when he took office in 2009.

The prison has been the source of alleged abuses, including the waterboarding of prisoners under interrogation, and the White House says it is used as a propaganda tool for militant groups recruiting supporters to fight America.

The New York Times reported yesterday that White House national security adviser Susan Rice had recently met with Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and presented him with a memo that said he would

have 30 days to make decisions on transferring the prisoners away from Guantanamo.

But the newspaper said Carter had not made a commitment to moving the prisoners by a particular date.

There are currently 116 detainees at the prison.

Clifford Sloan, Obama’s former envoy charged with closing the prison, told reporters on Tuesday that it was time to remove restrictions under current law that keep the prison from being closed.

“I think we need to finish the job of removing the very irrational restrictions that are in current law,” Sloan said

in a briefing on the issue at a Washington law firm.

“It’s very unfortunate, I think, that closing Guantanamo has become a partisan issue for the most part.”

Republican lawmakers have argued that transferring Guantanamo prisoners to other countries may eventually lead to their freedom and that they could become a threat to the United States. The Republican lawmakers have also taken steps to prevent the men from being transferred to prisons in the United States.

Earnest said the White House would share the closure plan with lawmakers once it was completed.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif (R) listens to questions from journalists as he stands next to Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi (L) and Hossein Fereydoon (2nd L), brother and close aide to President Hassan Rouhani, on the balcony of Palais Coburg (REUTERS/LEONHARD FOEGER) Iran’s pragmatist government tried yesterday to sell its nuclear agreement with world powers to hardliners at home, just as a U.S. Congressional leader promised to do “everything possible” to sink the deal.

With both Tehran and Washington facing stiff opposition to the accord, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter arrived in Saudi Arabia in the hope of reassuring leaders there who fear their arch-rival Iran will make major mischief in the region.

Last week’s agreement was a big success for both U.S. President Barack Obama and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. But both have to promote it to influential hardliners in countries that have been enemies for decades.

In Washington, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, was deeply skeptical.

“Members of Congress will ask much tougher questions this afternoon when we meet with the president’s team, and because a bad deal threatens the security of the American people, we’re going to do everything possible to stop it,” Boehner said.

Secretary of State John Kerry, Treasury Secretary

Jack Lew and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz were scheduled to hold briefings for lawmakers in the U.S. Capitol. House and Senate debates and votes to approve or reject the nuclear agreement are expected in September.

A warm glow following the Vienna agreement - under which Iran accepted curbs on it nuclear program in return for an easing of sanctions that have crippled its economy is fading.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the highest authority in Iran, told supporters on Saturday that U.S. policies in the region were “180 degrees” opposed to Tehran’s, in a speech punctuated by chants of “Death to America” and “Death to Israel”.

The government that negotiated the deal also talked tough on Wednesday in an apparent attempt to blunt attacks from opponents, including in the powerful Republican Guards.

Abbas Araqchi, a deputy foreign minister, said Iran would do “anything” to help allies in the Middle East,

Republican speaker, John Boehner underlining Tehran’s message that the deal will not change its anti-Western foreign policy.

Araqchi, Iran’s senior nuclear negotiator, also told a news conference that any attempt to re-impose sanctions after they expired in 10 years would breach the deal. He was referring to a resolution endorsing the deal passed by the United Nations Security Council on Monday.

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Kaieteur News

Thursday July 23, 2015

IDB approves US$100 million Bill Clinton Helping Jamaica Former US for Caribbean energy facility President’s Climate initiative pushing cheaper renewable enery programmes proposed by Trinidad PM PORT OFSPAIN, Trinidad — The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has said it will support a proposal by Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla PersadBissessar to establish a multidonor energy facility for Caribbean sustainability.

The prime minister made the announcement on Monday night at a political meeting of her United National Congress (UNC) party.

She said the bank has agreed to provide US$100 million to co-finance projects in the energy sector over the next six years.

“This will enable pro-

motion of energy diversification, energy efficiency and a reliable supply of alternative fuels at a reduced cost in the Caribbean. It is very exciting because it will bring stability, security and sustainability to our region,” PersadBissessar said.

She added that it would help Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean.

“Recently CARICOM declared its unequivocal support for the initiative.

So you see with my government, Trinidad and To b a g o i s l e a d i n g a n d energising the region,” she said.

Kamla Persad-Bissessar

T&T Muslim leader released from police custody PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – Police have released the leader of the Jamaat Al Muslimeen group, Yasin Abu Bakr, three days after he was detained for questioning in the murder of the prominent former State prosecutor Dana Seeathal, who was gunned down in 2014 as she left a casino.

Bakr, who led an unsuccessful coup against the former ANR Robinson Government in 1990, was among 11 people including a woman, detained by the police following a pre-dawn raid on Monday.As he emerged from

the Central police Station in the capital, Bakr, 74, thanked Allah for his release, “I wish to thank Allah for my release. He is the one who is the final determiner in all affairs. I also wish to thank my immediate family, my wives and children, and more than anything else, all the people who braved the weather night and day, all the Muslims who braved the weather night and day for my release.”He said Acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams and other officers had dealt with him professionally.“I wish to

thank the police, the commissioner of police and all the officers who I dealt with during my incarceration for their professionalism and the way they dealt with me. I wish to thank them for that and also to clarify that the lead investigator was Mr Rampersad and not Mr Jacob who also went to a funeral. He was not the lead investigator so he did not abdicate his duty,” Bakr told reporters.Members of the Jamat Al Muslimeen group had staged an all-night vigil outside the Central Police station and Bakr’s son Fuad, had described his father’s detention as “unfair”.Fuad Bakr also downplayed a statement made by a high-ranking member of the Muslimeen group that if after 72 hours, and the leader is not released “we will have to go and get him”.

“I know we like bacchanal in Trinidad and Tobago…but let us not put the population of Trinidad and Tobago into any mode of panic,” he said.

Seeathal was gunned down as she left a casino on May 4 last year and despite more than a million dollar (One EC dollar =US$0.16 cents) in reward, no one has been officially charged with her death.

Former United States President Bill Clinton’s Foundation is working witha Jamaican entity, Wigton Windfarm, to promote greater use of wind and solar energy here, as part of a wider effort to force down exorbitant energy costs in island nations.

The Climate Change Initiative (CCI) and its companion Rocky Mountain Institute-Carbon War Room (RMICWR) — both of which operate under the Foundation — believe that Jamaica could become more independent of the more costly traditional energy sources by reducing energy costs through renewable energy.

“This high cost puts stress on the Government by increasing the trade imbalance and discouraging foreign investment, as well as on individual households who have to pay high prices for the power they receive,” the CCI said in an article written exclusively for the Jamaica Observer and published on page 14 of yesterday’s edition.

The CCI pointed to new initiatives in Jamaica which are addressing renewable energy transitions from a variety of angles, including the

Bill Clinton Wigton Windfarm which uses wind to generate electricity and which has recently expanded its energy capacity to 38.7 megawatts.

CCI also said it was working on innovative solar PV programmes in Jamaica.

“Jamaica can significantly reduce energy costs by becoming more independent, which will benefit the country as a whole... These projects are a great first step in transitioning to sustainable energy systems, but more work can be done,” it said.

The Clinton Foundation suggested that there was a

link between climate change and energy, and that the threats of rising sea levels, freak weather patterns, and dying ecosystems had become part of the daily conversation, yet the international response was yet to catch up.

But it praised island nations like Jamaica for having taken “admirable steps towards transitioning to renewable energy”. “Island nations like Jamaica will benefit economically if there is a systematic transition away from traditional sources of energy.

Because of their dependence on importing diesel and petroleum, these nations are susceptible to global market fluctuations and have to pay high premiums on transport of fuel. For instance, the price of energy for some island nations has reached almost 500 per cent the typical US average In Jamaica, 11.46 per cent of the country’s GDP is spent on energy. “Compared with non-island nations, whose energy expenditure only represents a small percentage of GDP, this high price causes a significant economic burden for the people of Jamaica and their families,” CCI said.

Brazil Govt. must explain accounting methods to court SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has been given until the end of yesterday to provide the Federal Audit Court with her written explanation for alleged irregularities in accounting methods her government used in 2014.

The audit court analyzes the Executive Branch’s accounts annually and decides whether to approve them.

They then go to Congress, which can decide whether to approve the administration’s finances for the previous year. The court has never rejected them.

The court’s press office said it should take a few weeks

Dilma Rousseff before the final ruling is handed down.

Analysts have said that if the court and Congress re-

ject the administration’s finances, Rousseff could face charges of administrative dishonesty that could result in her impeachment and the loss of her right to run for public office.

Earlier this year, the audit court found delays in the transfer of Treasury funds to public banks to pay for the government’s social programs, social security payments and unemployment benefits.

Auditors have said that the delays resulted in the banks making upfront payments for the programs in violation of the country’s fiscal responsibility law.

Thursday July 23, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 29

Tamim, Mahmudullah lift... TCL/RHTY&SC Cricket Academy...

From page 32 enough to make them uncomfortable.

JP Duminy was not used at all, and it was up to the sole specialist spinner, Simon Harmer, and the part-timers, Stiaan van Zyl and Dean Elgar, to break through.

Van Zyl was a surprise move, brought on after an eight-over period when Morkel and Harmer had kept Bangladesh to only 19 runs, and he got the result. Van Zyl found the movement Steyn could not and even though it was only slight swing, it enticed Imrul Kayes out of his crease after the opener had seen off a testing period.

Imrul overbalanced as he tried to flick it away and Quinton de Kock pulled off a nimble stumping. Mominul Haque was dismissed three overs later when he went back to cut Harmer but was late on the shot and the ball found the off stump instead of the bat.

Those two wickets gave South Africa an opening and Amla hoped to widen it with bursts from Steyn before and after lunch.

Tamim, however, gave nothing away.

The closest Steyn got to success was when he induced an edge from Tamim in the first over after the lunch break but the ball skittled through the vacant second-slip region. Philander got a little closer when he also drew the edge, from Mahmudullah, but it dropped short of Amla at first slip.

Harmer invited the batsmen to take him on, offering loopy, flighted deliveries but the pair were not tempted. Both Tamim and Mahmudullah swept with caution and rarely

charged at the spinner, instead poking at gaps in the field. Tamim’s fifty came up off 119 deliveries with a delicate dab to the cover region. With Bangladesh settling in, and in no obvious hurry, Amla had to do something.

He brought on Elgar with tea approaching and again, his intuition paid off.

Elgar also offered flight and Tamim, who had been patient for so long, could not resist a low full toss. He went down to sweep but missed, the ball dipped in and took out leg stump.

Immediately, Steyn was brought back to try and create a collapse but Mahmudullah had settled down well enough to handle it.

In fact, he was so comfortable he glanced Steyn down the leg side for four to bring up his half-century, off 109 balls, and see the innings through to tea.

Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim were more positive at the start of the third session.

Mushfiqur took Harmer on and seemed to be scoring more freely than batsmen on either side had done over the first two days.

Before he could get too far ahead, however, Bangladesh were pegged back again. Philander rapped Mahmudullah on the pad and he was given out.

He pondered over the review but chose not to take it; replays showed the ball was clipping leg stump and the decision would have remained out on umpire’s call.

Scores: Bangladesh 179 for 4 (Mahmudullah 67, Tamim 57) trail South Africa 248 by 69 runs.

Thursday July 23, 2015 ARIES (MAR. 21APRIL 20) You must avoid gossip and focus on what you have to do. You may find it difficult to discuss personal matters with family members.

TAURUS (APR. 21MAY 21) You will have a greater involvement in groups; however, they may not be to your advantage.

Travel or short trips will probably be your best outlet.

GEMINI (MAY22-JUNE 21) Think twice before you volunteer information. You must watch your tendency to spend whatever you make.

CANCER (JUNE 22JULY 22) Try out for a local sports team such as volleyball, tennis, lawn bowling, or whatever interests you. Your loved ones could set you off.

LEO (JULY 23-AUG 22) You're best not to get involved in joint financial ventures. Opportunities to get together with people in powerful positions could help you get ahead.

VIRGO (AUG. 23 -SEPT. 23) Make sure that you take time to remember those you love. Your depressed mood has been hard to shake. Lighten up your serious attitude

LIBRA (SEPT. 24 -OCT. 23) Watch your tendency to live for the day and to spend too much on entertainment and children; it could set you back.

SCORPIO (OCT. 24 NOV. 22) Anger may cause you grief; control your temper and try to sit back and calm down. Be on your best behavior.

SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 23 -DEC. 21) Your best results will come through business trips. Try a barbecue or a day at the beach. A change of attitude has probably disrupted your home environment.

CAPRICORN (DEC 22.- JAN. 20) Secret enemies will be eager to spread rumors about you. This will not be the best day to make changes or renovations to your residence.

AQUARIUS (JAN. 21 FEB. 19) You may have a problem at work with a female coworker. You may have major blowups with someone you love if you don't back down.

PISCES (FEB. 20-MAR. 20) Your boss won't be too thrilled if you leave things unfinished.

From page 33 advice from well meaning seniors. He committed the Club to assist each of the young players to fulfill their true potential and providing the necessary tools for them to do so. Minister of Education with responsibility for Youth, Sports and Culture, Dr. Rupert Roopnarine spoke widely on the importance of education and discipline.

He told the attentive youths that without discipline they would be unable to fulfill their true potential.

D r. R o o p n a r i n e a l s o stated that the education sector would be reformed to make sure that it fulfills the objective of producing all rounded persons who can assist to move Guyana forward.

The RHTY&SC came in for high praise from Minister Roopnarine who noted that

U.N. sports adviser says nonEuropean should...

From page 30 worst crisis in its 111-year history. The organization will appoint a new head in February to replace Blatter who denies any involvement in corruption.

Wilfried Lemke, Special Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace, said reforms should include limiting the terms of top FIFA officials and changing the bidding process for World Cup host countries to ensure a balance of power between the continents; but most of all FIFA needed transparency.

“And from my personal point of view, it would be good if he (the person chairing the reform task force) is not from Europe,” he said.

“Everyone must have the feeling that we stay altogether in a big, big organization as FIFA.” Some national soccer federations complain of a historically entrenched European domination of world soccer governance.

For real change at FIFA, the successor of Blatter, a Swiss national, should be a woman, he said.

“Why not a woman, this would be a fantastic thing, to have the leader of the biggest sports federation as a woman? This would be very smart.”

they are a role model club and should be emulated by every other organisation in Guyana.

Director of Sports Christopher Jones congratulated the young players and praised the Club for investing in their future.

He has committed the National Sports Commission to assist in the work of the Club in the future as he was impressed by its work.

Nine year-old Matthew Pattaya of Albion was named Cricketer-of-the-Academy and received a cricket bat valued at $25,000 along with a collection of gifts.

Shaneeta Grimmond won the Best Female Award and received a pair of batting pads while Tyrese Park was named Best Batsman, Brandon Pydana best bowler, Anthony Harry most discipline player and Chandrapaul Govinda Most Committed Player.

The runner-up Most Committed Player was Sequan Cox and runner-up Batsman, Joshua Gobin. They each received a supply of

educational materials and trophy while 10 other members received school bags for their outstanding performances at the Academy.

Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club members Joel Pike and Clement King Jnr. also received a cricket bat and a pair of batting pads respectively for their hard work.

Each member also received a Youth information booklet.

The Club’s Management expresses gratitude to Mr. Mark Bender, Eric Whaul and the Management of TCL (Guy) for their sponsorship of the 2015 Academy.

Thanks were also extended to the Guyana Beverage Company, Beharry’s, DDL, Ansa McAl, H.A. Snacks Co. Ltd, Candy Shop, Bermudez, De Sinco Trading, F&H Printery, Len’s Craft Optical, Food-for-the-Poor, Tiger’s Sports, National Sports Commission, DTV-8 and LRTVS-CH10 for their contributions that collectively ensured the success of the Academy.

Page 30

Kaieteur News

Persaud is top C’bean marksman Guyana National Rifle Association (Guyana NRA) Fullbore Captain Mahendra Persaud ended the 146th Imperial Meeting held at Bisley Shooting Centre, Surrey, as the top Caribbean shooter.

Hosted by The National Rifle Association of the United Kingdom (NRA) which is the governing body of fullbore rifle and pistol shooting sports in the United Kingdom, the championships was held from June 18 to July 18, 2015.

The second best Caribbean shooter was Trinidad and Tobago’s Norris Gomez, who is also the President of the West Indies Fullbore Shooting Council and a member of the West Indies team that will contest this year’s world championships set for Ohio, next month.

Persaud ended with and Grand Aggregate of 683.66v while Gomez recorded 654.52v.

The Grand

Aggregate is a total of all the matches contested. He described this year’s performance as one of his best performances ever if not the best in the 12 years he has been competing at Bisely.

Persaud noted that conditions were very challenging with winds up to 25MPH at times, changing swiftly at times during competition. Following is the list of times that Persaud made the Prize List.

Competition Total Admiral Campbell Clementini Smith Daily Telegraph Donaldson Memorial Donaldson Memorial final Duke of Campbridge Elkington Falklands Faunthorpe Foster Kenya Loder Monro Memorial OTF LONG Range Palma Aggregate Pavey Police Rifle Saturday Aggregate Stickledown Aggregate Sudan Tucker Aggregate Weekend Aggregate Grand Aggregate

102.10v 169.21v 72.11v 191.18v 70.7v 49.6v 145.15v 73.6v 102.10v 73.6v 683.66v 102.10v 72.7v 169.18v 191.18v 921.87v 121.9v 166.19v 238.23v 145.15v 238.21v 336.34v 683.66v

Guyana Police Force to hold Annual Athletics and Swimming Championships The Guyana Police Force will be holding its Annual Athletics and Swimming Championships under the theme “Integrating professionalism and social cohesion through sport” between Saturday July 25 and Friday July 31, 2015. The activities are as follows: Swimming - Saturday July 25, 2015, commencing at 1000hrs at the National Aquatic Centre, Liliendaal, ECD. Road Relay - Sunday July 26, 2015, commencing at 0600hrs on Young Street outside of the Police Officers’ Mess, Eve Leary, and returning to that point.

Heats - Tuesday July 28 and Wednesday July 29, 2015, commencing at 1030hrs each day at the National Athletics Centre, Leonora, WCD. Finals - Friday July 31, 2015, commencing at 1000hrs at the National Athletics Centre.

There will be a march past of the athletes prior to the commencement of the finals.

Police athletes from St. Vincent, Grenada, Trinidad and Suriname are expected to participate in the Championships.

Police Headquarters is the defending champion.

Thursday July 23, 2015

Another successful P&P Insurance Brokers Tennis Camp held The P&P Brokers Insurance Tennis Camp came to a conclusion with its closing ceremony at the National Gymnasium last weekend. Proud parents and excited young players gathered to bask in their moment of a first tennis spotlight.

The Secretary of the Guyana Tennis Association (GLTA), Elizabeth Persaud, in her remarks mentioned that this camp, “Is significant to the GLTA, and we applaud Mr. Bish Panday, CEO of P&P Insurance Brokers for his resolute dedication to the sport of (lawn) tennis. Additionally, it highlights his recognition of the importance and contribution that tennis has in the lives of our youths in Guyana.”

Varsha Panday represented the company and handed out certificates and prizes to the winners of the different categories.

Ms. Panday pointed out the 11 years of commitment to the sport and pledged continued support for the years to come. This year the camp attracted 61 participants who

benefited from the two weeks of training to jump start their interest in the game.

The sessions were split into two periods.

The mornings at the National Gymnasium had the younger children training, while the older ones were accommodated in the afternoons at the National Racquet Centre.

Competition was divided into three levels of play based on ball types. In the morning sessions the Red Ball winner was Lee Choo See Nam and runner-up, Daniel Prince, the Orange Ball the winner was Menikshi Jiakissoon and runner-up, Makaila Henry.

The Special Kiddie competition had Darren Todd as the winner and Ameila Hassan as runner-up. In the afternoon sessions of the Orange Ball competition Dwight George emerged as the winner and Tiffon MacRae the runner-up. The Green Ball winner was Shimron Lewis and Runner-up was Deina Santbeharry.

The Advanced Players in the Yellow Ball division which had Keenan Persaud as the winner and Arav Jagroop as the runner-up.

Venus comes crashing to earth against Bondarenko

Istanbul (AFP) - Top seed Venus Williams’s bid to win the WTA Istanbul Cup ended at the first hurdle on Tuesday as the American icon lost 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) to Ukrainian qualifier Kateryna Bondarenko.

Williams, ranked 14 in the world, is no stranger to being upset by Bondarenko — the 28-year-old Ukrainian having beaten her when the American was third in the world in Toronto in 2009.

Bondarenko — who retired from the circuit at the end of 2012 before returning two years later — looked to be cruising at 6-4, 5-2 before 35-year-old Williams rediscovered her touch and fighting spirit and battled back to even serve for the set.

However, Bondarenko — a highest ranked 29 in 2009 — woke up from her mini slump and won 11 of the last 15 points to take the match.

“I gave my best efforts

today,” Williams said after the match. “Your first match is never perfect. She’s played matches in the qualication and just never missed today, making great shots all game long. “I’m really sad. I came here to play and to win but I

ran into an opponent that was just too hot today. On a day like today I’m upset - it’s normal, it’s human. I calm myself down and focus and come back.

“That moment is that moment. We move on.”

U.N. sports adviser says nonEuropean should lead FIFA reform GENEVA (Reuters) U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon’s sports adviser said on Wednesday he felt the person charged with chairing the reform of FIFA should come from outside Europe, while it would be “fantastic” if the successor of President Sepp Blatter, stepping down amid a graft scandal at world soccer’s governing body, was a woman.

FIFA announced on Monday it would form a task force to propose reforms aimed at cleaning itself up, a move critics said was an inadequate response to the (Continued on page 25)

The empty seat of FIFA President Sepp Blatter is pictured before a news conference after the Extraordinary FIFA Executive Committee Meeting at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland July 20, 2015. (Reuters/Arnd Wiegmann)

Thursday July 23, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 31

Froome in control Jamaica stun US with two gorgeous first half goals in Gold Cup semifinal win as Contador drifts, Yahoo Sports - For the first time in six editions of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the United States men’s national team will not appear in the final. An unexpected 2-1 loss in yesterday’s semifinals to Jamaica, which had styled itself as David facing the regional Goliath, saw to it that the Yanks will miss their first title game since 2003 of this biennial tournament.

In 22 previous matchups, the Reggae Boyz had beaten the United States just once, even if many of the games were closely fought.

This time around, the Americans were unable to recover from the two-goal deficit they entered the locker room with at halftime.In truth, they were unlucky to lose this game.

It was arguably their best game of the tournament – the non-contest with Cuba, a 6-0 walkover, in the quarterfinals excepted. Save for a single lapse, the defence was on point. And while distribution in midfield was still problematic, the Americans were finally dynamic and threatening up front, piecing together the bulk of their best attacks of the month on this lone night.

That their best game

should become their only loss of the tournament was a searing bit of irony.

Jamaica, as expected, was well organized, keeping its banks condensed and the spaces so tight early on that the U.S. forwards were probably gasping for oxygen – not to mention required to drop off too far off the front line to see any of the ball.

And the islanders moved forward as a carefully orchestrated collective, attempting to answer the USA’s many short jabs and barrages of punches with big haymakers.

After struggling to get much going, the Americans forged a flurry of big chances after the 20-minute mark.

Fabian Johnson overlapped well from left back but saw a defender deal with his cross from deep in the box.

Then Alejandro Bedoya found Aron Johannsson on a near-post run, but he too was foiled. Jamaica goalkeeper Ryan Thompson tried to dribble around Johannsson on a back-pass deep in his box. The Icelandic-American stabbed at the ball between the goalie’s feet and nearly redirected it into the goal.

Thompson then redeemed himself and denied a splendid

Johnson move and curling shot with a sprawling save.

And that’s when Jamaica finally landed its counterpunches. In the 31st minute, Darren Mattocks snuck in front of his marker, John Brooks, on a long Kemar Lawrence throw-in.

He then rose higher than Brooks and sent a backwards header arcing over goalkeeper Brad Guzan. It dinked off the top of the far post, bounced back across goal and nicked low off the other post and in.

Two fortuitous bounces and a Jamaican lead that they would soon double.

In the 36th minute, Guzan was whistled for throwing the ball upfield from just outside of his box. It was a rare yet correct call, as his arm did indeed stray over the line as he delivered the ball.

Giles Barnes swung the free kick into the net from a difficult spot to make it 2-0 Jamaica.

From the looks of it, the Yanks would be staging a furious comeback in the second half. Not three minutes after the break, Johannsson swiveled at the top of the box and zipped a low shot at Thompson, who bobbled the ball. Dempsey

went in hard for the rebound.

The ensuing collision sent the ball rolling free to Bradley, who slid it home with his left foot to cut the deficit in half.

But after they were initially overrun, the Jamaicans ably set about smothering the game. They slowed the pace and dropped deeper, limiting considerably the Americans’ ability to run at them and thread balls through the seams.

There were still chances for the USA. Johannsson nodded a bouncing ball just over on a Johnson free kick.

Bradley’s unexpected shot swerved off Thompson’s chest and pinged off the near post. Brooks rammed a header right at Thompson. Bradley, playing like a man possessed, had a few more dangerous attempts. And Alan Gordon had a look as well.

The equalizer, however, never came.

And so the United States fell two wins short of its stated objective: lifting a sixth Gold Cup. After Saturday’s destruction of a fetid Cuba, U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann had declared his charges “the team to beat” in this tournament.

On Wednesday, the team to beat was beaten.

Clash in dates forces Grenville Felix Memorial cycle race to Sunday in Berbice With the cycling season well and thoroughly on there is intense competition for dates by cycling clubs and organizers.

A clash of dates by rival clubs and organizers in Demerara and Berbice as forced the organizers of the second annual Grenville Felix Memorial Cycle road to reschedule the event once again to its original date of Sunday 26th July.

According to race organizers Randolph Roberts of The Flying Ace Cycle Club after he had scheduled the race for Sunday 26th and gotten all system in place he was told that another race was scheduled for Georgetown for the same day.

He was advised to reschedule his event which he brought forward by one day.

However on Tuesday he was told that there is some mix up with the dates and he should reschedule his event again.

He is calling on the officials of the Guyana Cycling Federation to get their act together and stop showing favoritism, so that cyclists in the entire country

could benefit.

Sunday’s event starts at 14:00 hrs. Roberts is hoping that there are no further changes.

The race which is open to cyclists throughout the country will see the first six finishers receiving prizes in the 60 miles affair.

Prizes will also be awarded to the first three juniors and first three females and the first three veterans open. A total of 10 sprint point prizes will also be awarded.

The riders are expected to pedal off from in front of the Felix Residence at Canefield East Canje, Berbice proceed

to No 43 Bridge before turning back to finish at its point of origin.

All the top cyclists in the country are expected to be on show since the rewards will be lucrative.

The event which is organised by the (FACC) is being held in honour of the late engineer who passed away two years ago at the age of 96. Felix, who was one of Guyana’s first and oldest engineers, worked with Bookers and Guyana Sugar Corporation in Guyana and various parts of the world.

According to race coordinator cycling coach

Randolph Roberts the event this year is expected to be bigger. The Grenville Felix Memorial Trophy lien trophy and will be given to the first person who gets their name on it three times. The race is being sponsored by the Felix family.

The event was first held in honour of Felix Birthday and was for Berbice cyclists only. Andrew Hicks rode away with the first edition with Neil Reece etching his name on the winner’s board on the second occasion.

The current defending champion is Mario King.

(Samuel Whyte)

Digicel Nationwide Schools Football Competition...

Minnows gone, big guns on show in quarter-finals this Saturday With the minnows now separated from the top teams, the business end of the Digicel Nationwide Schools Football Competition will commence this Saturday with quarter-final action, at various venues. Over in Linden at the

Wisburg ground, defending champions Christianburg / Wismar play hosts to Annandale at 16:00 hrs.

Last year’s beaten finalist Waramadong travel to Burnham Park in Berbice to take on Berbice High School

also from 16:00 hrs.

The other two matches will see Chase Academy tackle Charity at a venue to be announced, while Dolphin, who has replaced Sir Leon Lessons, oppose Annai also at a venue to be named.

Van Garderen out

Team Sky rider Chris Froome of Britain wears the race leader’s yellow jersey on the podium after the 161-km (100 miles) 17th stage of the 102nd Tour de France cycling race from Digne-les-Bains to Pra Loup in the French Alps mountains, France, July 22, 2015. (Reuters/Stefano Rellandini) PRA LOUP, France (Reuters) Chris Froome emerged unscathed from a treacherous 17th stage of the Tour de France on Wednesday, retaining his lead while Alberto Contador lost a lot of ground and Tejay van Garderen abandoned the race.

American Van Garderen, who was third overall at the start of the 161-km trek from Digne les Bains, pulled out because of sickness with the day’s laurels going to German Simon Geschke after a brave solo raid.

“It’s the most beautiful day of my life as a professional rider, it’s surreal,” said Geschke.

Spaniard Contador’s hopes of achieving a rare Giro d’Italia/Tour double suffered another major knock when he lost touch with the group of top guns after crashing in the dangerous descent from the col d’Allos.

The Tinkoff-Saxo rider lost over two minutes on Froome and Colombian Nairo Quintana, who finished together after the final ascent to Pra Loup, a 6.2-km climb at an average gradient of 6.5 percent. Froome summed up the stage by saying: “It was a crazy day.”

Froome leads Quintana, who attacked him several times in the climbs, by three minutes and 10 seconds and his Movistar team mate Alejandro Valverde of Spain by 4:09. Contador is now fifth overall 6:40 off the pace, six seconds behind Froome’s compatriot and team mate Geraint Thomas.

In 1975, Frenchman Bernard Thevenet snatched the yellow jersey from the great Eddy Merckx in a stage

finishing in Pra Loup, but Froome was not to be overthrown on Wednesday.

The Briton showed fine descending skills and his usual power in the climbs to stay in control on another searing hot day on the Tour.

Peter Sagan was again in the day’s breakaway as part of a group of 28 that also featured France’s Thibaut Pinot and American Andrew Talansky.

In a nervous start to the stage, Van Garderen dropped out of the main pack early on suffering from a headache.

Shortly after making contact with the peloton again, he stepped off his bike and abandoned the race about 73km from the finish.

World champion Michal Kwiatkovski of Poland also abandoned the Tour later in the stage.

Contador jumped away from the peloton with team mate Michael Rogers in the ascent to the Col de la Colle St Michel but was quickly reined in and the Team Skyled pack let the breakaway build a nine-minute lead.

Geschke powered away from that leading group before the tough ascent to the Col d’Allos — at 2,250 meters the highest point of this year’s Tour.

Lagging two minutes behind, Pinot launched the chase and at the top of the Col d’Allos had halved the deficit.

But in the descent the Frenchman skidded off and crashed.

He quickly remounted but had cut his legs and only managed fourth behind Talansky and Colombian Rigoberto Uran respectively.

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Kaieteur News

Thursday July 23, 2015

Shehzad sizzles, bowlers shine Tamim, Mahmudullah lift as Pakistan win Lanka series Bangladesh on rain-hit day COLOMBO (Reuters) A brisk 95 from opening batsman Ahmed Shehzad after a fine display from the bowlers gave Pakistan an emphatic seven-wicket win and their first one-day international series win against Sri Lanka in nine years on Wednesday.

Paceman Mohammad Irfan led Pakistan’s bowling attack with three wickets as the tourists restricted Sri Lanka to 256 for nine in 50 overs after captain Angelo Mathews won the toss and opted to bat first in the fourth ODI. Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez (70) then struck halfcenturies as Pakistan chased down the target with more than nine overs to spare to take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series with a game to spare.

Shehzad and captain Azhar Ali (33) gave Pakistan a rollicking start in their chase with a 75-run stand in 11 overs before the latter fell to Sri Lanka’s pace spearhead Lasith Malinga.

The experienced Malinga was unlucky not to have Shehzad out caught at slip in

Pakistan’s Ahmed Shehzad runs between wickets during their fourth one-day international cricket match against Sri Lanka in Colombo July 22, 2015.

(Reuters/Dinuka Liyanawatte) Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah complete a run, Bangladesh v South Africa, 1st Test, Chittagong, 2nd day, July 22, 2015 ©AFP

his next over as the fielder allowed the ball to go through his hands for a four, which also brought up Shehzad’s fifty.

Shehzad then added 115 for the second wicket with Hafeez to take Pakistan closer to the target before he got out to a brilliant diving catch by Kusal Perera at third man off paceman Suranga Lakmal.

Shehzad hit 12 boundaries and a six in his 90-ball knock.

Earlier, Sri Lanka looked on course to set a challenging total after a 109-run partnership for the second wicket between Tillakaratne Dilshan (50) and Lahiru Thirimanne (90).

But the hosts kept losing wickets at regular intervals

which robbed them of their momentum and their innings disintegrated from 109 for two in the 23rd over to 256 for nine when Pakistan completed bowling their 50 overs.

Thirimanne tried to hold the innings together initially but fell trying to look for boundaries and was caught at deep square-leg by a diving Shehzad off legspinner Yasir Shah.

The fifth and final ODI will be played at Hambantota on Sunday before the two sides take part in a two-match Twenty20 international series.

Scores: Pakistan 257 for 3 (Shehzad 95, Hafeez 70) beat Sri Lanka 256 for 9 (Thirmanne 90, Dilshan 50) by 7 wickets.

ESPNcricinfo - Half-centuries from Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah, who shared in a third-wicket stand of 89, took Bangladesh to less than 100 runs of South Africa’s firstinnings total before rain ruined their chances of pressing towards a lead.

Only 42 minutes of play were possible in the third session after a heavy shower, which abated long enough for South Africa to bowl a ball, forced an early end to the day.

Neither side will mind the break, although South Africa may have appreciated it more since it would have allowed them to rethink their tactics on a slow pitch.

Run-scoring was a struggle but Bangladesh, unlike South Africa yesterday, fought through the frustration.

They blunted South Africa’s premier pace pack for the bulk of the day but lost three of their four wickets to the lesser-knowns to leave the match balanced.

Tamim and Mahmudullah both showed the technique and temperament to chip away at South Africa’s lead. They saw off the seamers and asserted themselves slightly more over

the slower bowlers but, overall, paid attention to not taking undue risks and not forcing strike rotation.

Tamim’s maturity was particularly impressive. He kept his cool even as an increasingly annoyed Dale Steyn tried to turn on the heat with some conversation, after all his huffing and puffing did not succeed in blowing the Bangladesh house down.

Steyn’s new accessory - a Dennis Lilleestyle headband - was perhaps the scariest thing about him. He did not look like a bowler going in search of his 400th Test wicket (and he remains four away from the milestone) as he offered up too many full deliveries and too few short ones. He found neither swing nor reverse-swing on a day where South Africa’s frontline bowlers seemed flat.

Vernon Philander could not make the ball talk off the seam although he held his end with a tight line outside off. Morne Morkel made conservative use of aggression when more was needed. He barely aimed for the body and did not push Bangladesh back (Continued on page 29)

Thursday July 23, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 33

RHTY&SC supports BCB Caricom championship 2015 fundraiser

T

he Pepsi Under19 team of the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club has provided trophies and medals which will be used as tokens for outstanding players in the highly anticipated Berbice Cricket Board Fundraiser, “Caricom Championship 2015”.

After two postponements due to the inclement weather, the tournament will now be played on Saturday August 1, 2015, a national holiday at the Albion Sports Complex.

Proceeds from this event will be used mainly to organise a three day first division cricket competition for teams in Berbice.

At the presentation ceremony held recently, Sohan Harry, representing one of the most progressive youth clubs in Guyana and arguably the Caribbean, said that the clubs under 19 team believes in giving and is happy to be part of this mega event fundraiser. He added that the same way the club

receives help from Corporate Guyana and private individuals, the same way they teach their members to give back to charities.

Receiving the cheque on behalf of the Berbice Cricket Board was Mahendra Ramdihall. He thanked the RHTY&SC for their kind gesture and commended them for helping to make a difference in the lives of many. He called on other businesses and private individuals to come on board to help the return of three day first division cricket in the county.

Contact can be made as follows: telephone numbers 333-2375, 655-4140 and 623-6875. Emails can also be sent to abeharry1970@ yahoo.com and ros_haniff 2001@yahoo.com.

T h e C a r i c o m Championship will see eight top first division teams in Berbice taking part in a ten over knockout competition with the final of 20 overs to be played under lights for a

top prize of $80,000 and trophy. The runner up will receive $40,000 and trophy with the losing finalists $15,000 each. Man of the match in every game will be rewarded. The teams will don coloured clothing and white balls will be used.

Action begins at 10am sharp with the top Berbice cricketers on show.

Young Warriors/Rose Hall CC/Edinburgh Combined will tackle Upper Corentyne/Skeldon Combined in the opening.

Game two will see Albion CC taking on Bermine/ Police Combined. Game 3 is Port Mourant vs Bush Lot/D’Edward Combined Game 4 will see Blairmont/West Berbice Combined vs Rose Hall Town.

The preliminary games will play in a festival format to create nonstop action.

The winner of game 1 and 2 play in the first seminal and the winner of game 3 and 4 play in the other.

The BCB would like to thank the following sponsors

Sohan Harry (left) of RHTY&SC and Mahendra Ramdihall of BCB pose with tokens for outstanding players. so far: ANSA MCAL under the Carib Brand, Sentinel Security, East Coast Cricket Board/Georgetown Cricket Association, Republic Bank Berbice Branches, P&P Insurance Brokers and Consultants Limited, Massy Industries, Raffik and Sons Construction Services of Williamsburg, B Debydeen, Caterer of Albion Estate Road, Corentyne, New Building Society Ltd, Balram Shane of Rose Hall

Town, Sunshine Supermarket, Ronald Williams of Apex Insurance Brokers Inc, Sandeep Ramdass of Ishmail Poultry, popularly known as Pampey, Asheik and Sons Motor Spares and Auto Sale, Safraz Photo Studio, Rocky of P a l a c e Ta x i S e r v i c e , Restaurant and Bar, D Harricharran of Beauty and Home Design, Sheik Mohamed of Tiger Sports Club, Office Express,

Trophy Stall of Bourda Market, Price is Right Supermarket of No 79 Corriverton, Venu Shopping Center and Beauty Saloon.

In the meantime, clubs affiliated to the Berbice Cricket Board are asked to get their grounds ready for the resumption of the cricket season.

Several gate prizes will be up for grabs at the event.

Entrance is $300 for adults, children under 12 free.

TCL/RHTY&SC Cricket Academy concludes 9 year-old Matthew Pattaya cops top award as 97 graduate The 2015 edition of the Trinidad Cement Ltd. (TCL) sponsored Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club (RHTY&SC) Cricket Academy concluded on Friday last and has been described as the best ever since it started in 1994.

This year’s two-week academy attracted some 97 youths, both male and females coming from as far as Skeldon and New Amsterdam. It was facilitated by Coaches Winston Smith, Delbert Hicks and Eon Hooper with assistance from national female cricketer, Plaffiana Millington.

RHTY&SC Secretary/ CEO Hilbert Foster informed that the Academy as a huge success which fulfilled its objectives. The young cricketers, he noted displayed a remarkable trait for hard work, discipline, a willingness to learn and dedication.

Foster also praised the coaches for working beyond the call of duty to make sure that every academy member

Minister, Dr. Rupert Roopnarine, Director of Sport Christopher Jones pose with the top 17 TCL Academy Members. improved as a player and a sport ambassador over the course of the two weeks. The attendees were exposed to basic coaching in batting, bowling, fielding and

physical fitness. They were also exposed to video presentations, practice cricket matches and numerous lectures on topics of importance including

D r u g A b u s e , Te e n a g e Pregnancy, Captaincy, Field Placement, History of Cricket, Public Manners, Role of a Sports Ambassador and Personal Hygiene.

Special quiz sessions were also held where special prizes were at stake.

At the closing ceremony, F os ter challenged the students to put into practice

what they learnt from the coaches and to develop a p er man en t attitu d e o f discipline, hard work and most importantly to listen to (Continued on page 25)

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Kaieteur News

Thursday July 23, 2015

Lady Jags pays courtesy call on Director of Sports G u y a n a ’s f e m a l e National Football team; the ‘Lady Jags’, yesterday made a courtesy call on Director of Sports Christopher Jones at his Homestretch Avenue office. The team, in full preparation mode for the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) 2016 Olympic Qualifiers in the Dominican Republic next month, were told of how much the people of Guyana are rallying behind them, just like they did for the ‘Golden Jaguars’.

Jones, said the he’s “expecting the Lady Jags to do well and you’re going with the blessing from the Government of Guyana.”

The Director of Sports extended an arm of gratitude to the ladies, stating that through his office, “the government will do whatever we can do to assist.

Our doors are open, just for the calling we are prepared to represent Guyana.”

Head Coach Mark Rodrigues thanked Jones for entertaining his team and stated that the ‘Lady Jags’ are being used as the machine to kick start awareness towards women’s football in Guyana.

Director of Sports Christopher Jones sharing a light moment with the ‘Lady Jags’ during their visit.

Rodrigues pointed out that the ladies, unlike most other national teams do not desire remuneration from the

Guyana Football Federation (GFF), but rather have the resources spent in other areas of development of the

game locally.

Guyana will play St Kitts and Nevis on August 21 and Cuba two days later with the

winner from the Group advancing to the next round of the qualifier. The ‘Lady Jags’ are hoping to become

the first football team from Guyana to play at the Olympic Games which will be held in Brazil.

National Junior Men for Players Tournament in T&T

A

strong national j u n i o r m e n ’s hockey team is scheduled to depart Guyana on July 30 to participate in the Players Tournament in Trinidad & Tobago (T&T) which will run from August 1-8.

According to the team’s management this is the second phase in the team’s preparations for the Junior P a n A m e r i c a n Championships scheduled for Toronto, Canada in June of 2016.

The team which has been in training for approximately one year, ended its first phase of preparation in December 2014 with a successful developmental tour of the Twin Island republic, where they won three of four matches played.

According to the team’s coaching staff, during that initial tour the players were able to train and compete on artificial turf, many for the first time. Coaching sessions were also conducted by some of Trinidad’s most senior national players as they shared their experiences and techniques with the juniors. The coaches also

Members of the national junior men’s hockey team pose for a photo op. indicated they were pleased with the Guyanese youngsters’ performances and ability to match skills with the higher ranked Trinidadian National Squad in their 3-match series.

The team’s participation in this Players Tournament will present a new challenge for the squad with the team required to play two matches per day on some occasions.

Head coach Robert Fernandes expressed his disappointment that the

teams from Pakistan and Mexico, who where originally scheduled to participate have since withdrawn and the tournament will now feature exclusively Trinidadian Clubs.

Fernandes remarked, “I was hoping that the boys would get to experience the intensity and creativity that teams from those countries bring to the game, it would have contributed greatly to their development and helped to prepare them for

the tough task we face next year of competing against the Pan American region’s best. This tournament will however allow us to assess players’ ability to perform under the significant pressure and physical demands this tournament will create”.

According the tournament’s current format, Guyana will play Trinidadian clubs Fatima, Queen’s Park, Malvern and Paragon twice in the round

robin phase to qualify for the semifinal round. The team’s management is also working towards arranging a match against Trinidad’s junior national side on the tournament rest day.

Meanwhile, Meshach Sargeant, Eleomar Silva and Troy Hodge are the three new comers to the team which will be led by experienced captain Mark Sargeant.

The 18 man team also features three players who

were part of Guyana’s bronze medal winning men’s squad that participated in the Indoor Pan American Cup in Uruguay in 2014, in Andrew Stewart, Aroydy Branford and Sargeant.

Shaquille Leung who was originally selected for the tour had the misfortune of having to undergo an appendectomy recently which ruled him out of the team.

The team has been fortunate to be partly funded by an Olympic Solidarity team preparation grant thanks to the Guyana Olympic Association.

The squad is: Mark Sargeant (Captain), Medroy Scotland, Kareem McKenzie, Keon McKenzie, Daniel Hooper, Meshach Sargeant, Rosario Ramsammy, Eleomar Silva, Aroydy Branford, Andrew Stewart, Leon Bacchus, Stephon Sprosta, Deheron Wilkinson, Hilton Chester, Paramanand Dindial, Shemar Boston, Ato Greene and Troy Hodge.

Manager - Devin Hooper Coaches - Dwayne Alleyne and Robert Fernandes

Thursday July 23, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 35

Jamaica Tallawahs battle T&T Red Steel WINNER TO FACE GUYANA AMAZON WARRIORS ON SATURDAY

By Sean Devers in Trinidad In association with Stag Beer, Bounty Supermarket, Noble House Seafoods, Leisure Inn & Payless Varity Store The Jamaica Tallawahs beat the Guyana Amazon

Warriors in Port-of-Spain to take the inaugural Caribbean Premier League (CPL) t20 cricket title in 2013 and tonight at the Queens Park Oval they face the T&T Red Steel for a chance to meet the Warriors in the second semifinal on Saturday.

The winner of Saturday’s game will take on defending Champions Barbados Tridents in Sunday’s CPL finale.

Urged on by what is anticipated to be a full house of close to 20,000 fans, the boys in Red will be wary of

Rafman Alli

GSCL Inc softball festival set for Sunday

T

he Georgetown Softball Cricket League (GSCL) Inc will be hosting a softball festival on Sunday at the Everest Cricket Club starting at 09:00 hrs.

The competition will be played in the Open and Over40 categories. Fours teams will be accepted in the Open segment with an entrance fee of $25,000, however teams are asked to note that the umpires’ fees will be taken from the winning purse of $100,000.

Teams competing in the Over-40 division will not be required to pay an entrance payment, but will have to off set the umpires payment. The winning team in this segment will receive a trophy.

For more information teams can contact the assistant organizing secretary of the GSCL Inc Rafman Alli on 654-2233 or 219-4007.

the Gayle factor in this important game scheduled to commence at 18:00hrs Eastern Caribbean time.

The Tallawahs finished on nine points and just sneaked into the semi-finals ahead of the St Lucia Zouks due to a better net run rate, while the Red Steel’s victory when their two teams last met in the preliminary round in Trinidad, took 11 points and third place and tonight the battle should be riveting.

The two teams are locked 1-1 in this year’s tournament after the Tallawahs’ 50-run win in Jamaica when the Gayle Force blew the Red

Steel away with a destructive 105 from just 57 balls and that will surely be in the back of the Red Steel bowlers tonight. However, when the teams met again in Carnival Country Jacques Kallis made a responsible unbeaten 61 and Skipper Dwayne Bravo rattled up a 30-ball undefeated 49 to see the Red Steel to 145-3 from 20 overs.

When the Jamaican Franchise replied they lost Gayle for 27. Twenty-six of those runs came in the first over bowled by leg-spinner Samuel Badree, while Andre Russell with 30 from 22 balls was the only other batsman

to reach 15 as the Tallawahs crashed to 139-9.

But the Red Steel fans will know that if they can get Gayle, who has the most runs in this year’s CPL (400), early the rest of the batting is likely to crumble.

They should have also learned that you don’t bowl spinners who turn the ball into the big-hitting lefthander, who also has the most sixes in the 2015 competition, since although he is vulnerable to balls turning away from him, legspinners bowling to Gayle will disappear into the stands. Suleiman Benn,

Badree and Deron Davis all turn the ball into Gayle while in off-spinner Johan Botha, veteran Kallis and Dwayne Bravo, who has the most wickets (21) they have bowlers capable of restricting Gayle.

But as Gayle himself says it should not be all about Chris Gayle and the others need to step up if he fails.

Chadwick Walton, Jermaine Blackwood, Chris Lynn and Narsingh Deonarine are all capable of contributing with the bat while Rusty Theron, Daniel Vettori, Jerome Taylor, Krishmar Santokie and Andre Russell are all competent with the ball.

The Red Steel’s batting rests heavily on the experience of the 38-year Kallis, the talented but inconsistent Darren Bravo, his brother Dwayne, Cameron Delport, Kamran Akmal and Botha.

Yesterday it was hot and sunny and the pitch should be much better for stroke play than the one at Providence while the toss could also be important.

t r o Sp

Another successful P&P Insurance Persaud is Brokers Tennis Camp held top C’bean The top performers in the various competitions during the camp display their prizes.

marksman

Jamaica stun US with two gorgeous first half goals in Gold Cup semifinal win Jamaica goal keeper Ryan Thompson makes a save and collides with United States forward Clint Dempsey and Alejandro Bedoya in the first half Jason Getz, (USA TODAY Sports) Mahendra Persaud at the National Championships November 2014.

Shehzad sizzles, bowlers shine as Pakistan win Lanka series

Froome in control as Contador drifts, Van Garderen out Printed and published by National Media & Publishing Company Limited, 24 Saffon St.Charlestown, Georgetown.Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491 or Fax: 225-8473/ 226-8210