Kaieteur News

Wednesday June 06, 2012

Kaieteur News

Canadian tertiary institutions offer oil, gas and mining help

President Donald Ramotar with President of the College of the North Atlantic Ann Marie Vaughan (fourth from right) and other officials. Canadian High Commissioner David Divine (fourth from left) is also present (GINA photo) Reputable tertiary institutions in Canada are willing to supplement the oil and gas industry Guyana is pursuing by sharing the wealth of knowledge and expertise they have accrued in the oil, gas and mining.

According to the Government Information Agency (GINA), the two institutions, College of the North Atlantic and The Marine Institute of Memorial University made the pitch to the Guyana Government at the invitation of the C a n a dian High Commissioner Mr. David Divine.

President of the College of the North Atlantic Ann Marie Vaughan and other officials from the other institution met the Guyanese Head of State Donald Ramotar yesterday in the company of High Commissioner Divine, exchanging views and information in the natural resources sector.

Both institutions, based in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador worked collaboratively to develop an oil and gas industry over the last 25 years, leading to a transformed Canadian economy.

Vaughan, in an invited comment to GINA, said the development has seen the Province moving from one

titled “A have not Province” to a leader of economic growth within Canada.

She believes the potential is there for oil and gas development in Guyana but even though a discovery has not yet been made, investors are still keeping fingers crossed and holding to the potential of the Guyana offshore basin as a vastly underexplored area.

High Commissioner Divine said the prospect is favourable, pointing to the recent discovery in French Guiana and highlighted the importance of planning ahead by passing on the requisite knowledge about the industry to the right stakeholders.

The team’s working visit to Guyana included meetings with officials of the government, education and training institutions.

College of the North Atlantic is one of the largest post-secondary educational and skills training centres in Canada and the Marine Institute of Memorial University is considered a centre of excellence in advanced fisheries and marine technology

encompassing education and training, applied research and technology transfer.

“We really do wish all the benefits to be for the Guyanese people and it’s similar to what we want for in Newfoundland and Labrador as well,” Vaughan said.

Within a week, another team from Newfoundland is expected in Guyana under the auspices of the Canadian High Commissioner to engage the private sector on exploring the possibilities of companies and key stakeholders from Guyana visiting Newfoundland and engaging in meaningful interaction with their overseas counterparts on the growth, development and partnerships in the oil and gas sector.

At present several reputable oil exploration companies are in pursuit of oil in the Guyana offshore area among them are REPSOL, Tullow Oil, YPF CGX and ExxonMobil.

CGX recently announced plans to shift drilling operations to a different location in the Corentyne after coming up empty in the eagle one location.

Page 3

NICIL’s coffers drained to make Marriott Deposit

The Guyana Government has essentially drained the accounts of NICIL in order to ensure and make its deposit for the Georgetown Marriott Hotel. This is despite not securing any of the private investors required for the construction of the Hotel.

The Government has already removed US$19M from the accounts of NICIL and has deposited with the hotel owners, Atlantic Hotel Inc. AHI is the Special Purpose Company established for the Construction of the Hotel and is headed by Winston

Brassington, who also heads NICIL. Brassington appeared on television recently and told the public that the holding company only has US$3.5M left in its bank accounts. This, he said, is after the Government would have removed the US$19M from the NICIL accounts and deposited it with AHI. But the total money required for the project is yet to be realized.

Brassington himself told the general public that “We are still looking for US$8M of that $58M.”

This US$8M that Brassington is currently looking for has so far not been secured by NICIL for the project, but this has not deterred the transfer of US$19M for the project, leaving NICIL accounts with only US$3.5M. There has also been no word from the administration as it relates to the remainder of the finances for the project to be sourced from Republic Bank.

There are several sources of the money for the project, with Government injecting a third of the US$58M.

Two wife killers die hours apart The second man who killed his wife before attempting suicide has succumbed. Hours after another man who killed his spouse met a similar fate. The man, Ramesh Sattaur, of Parika, East Bank Essequibo, died late Monday evening while receiving medical attention at the West Demerara Regional Hospital.

Early Monday morning Sattaur and his reputed wife Mohanie Gobin were involved in a heated argument about infidelity and

a cellular phone. At some point, Sattaur viciously clubbed the mother of four with a metal pipe to the head.

The woman was rushed to the Leonora Cottage Hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival. After the act, Sattaur ingested a poisonous substance and was rushed for medical attention.

The incident was the second of its kind for the week which occurred mere hours apart. The first incident occurred on Sunday evening when Rhonda Thompson, a

hairdresser was found in a pool of blood in her living room at Onderneeming, West Coast Berbice, with her throat slit. Her husband was found early Monday morning with what is believed to be self inflicted wounds to his neck and body. He succumbed later in the day.

Page 4

Kaieteur News

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

Publisher: GLENN LALL Editor: ADAM HARRIS Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491 Fax: 225-8473, 226-8210

Editorial

Men beating women This newspaper has taken some flak for publishing graphic photos on its front page of a man beating a woman, his wife. The woman had evidently indicated to the man that she wanted to leave the relationship.

Over the years there has been much noise made about the issue of ‘domestic violence’ in general, and of ‘wife beating” in particular. But even though new laws have been enacted and sensitivity training given to all and sundry, the phenomenon keeps growing.

In publishing the pictures, intention was to bring home the seriousness of the disorder: it was not something that we should read about and then mutter “Tsk!Tsk!” Something has to be done.

We hope that all those goodly citizens who have taken time to write letters reproving us would now at least write letters to the press denouncing their neighbours or even their own spouses for brutalising women. They cannot escape responsibility by merely seeking to silence the messenger.

Better yet, we hope they have become motivated enough to perhaps join or form a group that would assist battered women to escape their humiliation and also to take action against their tormentors.

We would then not mind the opprobrium. The issue of wife beating knows no boundary of race, class or geographical location: all wives are involved, all are consumed. It is just that so many have no room to turn.

Only in the last few days, the violence reached its denouement with two husbands murdering their wives and then committing suicide.

In both cases the husbands feared that their wives ‘would not be theirs” any longer. These two gruesome incidents illustrate two important facets in the specific instance of women being harmed by their husbands/lovers/ companions.

It appears these acts of violence are quite akin to the ‘honour killings’ we see in some societies. The woman seeking to act in accordance with her own will is considered to be in some way violating the ‘honour’ of her husband – and in the most extreme cases, other males in her family. In these instances, the woman is seen to be merely an extension of the male will and any action not in accordance with that will is considered an affront.

The male has been ‘shamed’ and the woman must receive an appropriate punishment – in the extreme, death. Let us look at the situation presented by the two recent murders. The first woman wanted to go to Barbados to work. She had already tested this water and the husband probably concluded that ‘out of sight’ might cause him to be ‘out of mind’.

It all had to do with the male and his ego. That the woman had a right to make her own decisions did not enter the picture. In the second murder, the same syndrome played out more starkly: the man felt his lover was seeing someone else. His “honour” was wounded.

The suicides by the two murderers show that somewhere in the minds of these men, they were remorseful. This is the case with most of these wife beaters: after less final actions, they would generally most tearfully confess to the women they have battered how much they ‘loved’ them.

The men therefore didn’t want the women to leave and felt that even if they remained under physical duress – in fear – they would be satisfied. Unless such men are sadists – and there would be some – to have women remain with them in such circumstances reveals that it is more a case of not being ‘shamed’ in the eyes of society. It all has to do with the male ego again.

In our estimation, this problem will not even be reduced, much less eradicated, unless we start teaching from kindergarten that no one can own another human being. Females and males are all equal and must be given the autonomy to make their own decisions.

Wednesday June 06, 2012

Letters... Where your views make the news

A pattern of loose and irresponsible dealings DEAR EDITOR, On November 23, last year, I submitted the results of an investigation into the business practices of the China Communications Construction Company, known as CCCC, the parent company of China Harbour Engineering Company, known as CHEC. In that piece, I adverted to the reaction of the then Jagdeo administration to the disclosure of the details of this deal in the Jamaican press, the deep secrecy with which this deal was concluded by the PPP government, and that despite its vehement declarations in the past that the PPP government/Cabinet does not approve contracts, that it had in fact done so, and that, without subjecting this deal to either parliamentary scrutiny or the tender process.

I am submitting the same piece with minor

modifications in the hope that it will appear in your letters column.

Guyanese need to know that the China Communications Construction Company, the parent company of China Harbour Engineering Company has had a checkered history, particularly in its dealings with projects in developing countries as these two examples illustrate.

PHILIPPINES On January 12, 2009 the China Road and Bridge Company, a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company was debarred by the World Bank for a period of eight years from participating in any project financed by that institution.

This unprecedented action was taken based on the World Bank’s Integrity Vice Presidency investigation of the Philippines National

Roads Improvement and Management Project, Phase I case.

The World Bank Sanctions Board made up of senior bank officials and external legal experts decided that the entities had participated in a collusive scheme designed to establish bid prices at artificial noncompetitive levels and to deprive the borrowers of the benefits of free and open competition.

The World Bank found that this scheme constituted fraudulent practices under the rules applying to the Philippines National Roads Improvement and Management Project, Phase I. As a result of the foregoing, the World Bank recently clarified its sanctions regime to ensure that successor organizations— through purchase or reorganization—will be subject to the same sanctions applied to the original firm.

The World Bank sanctions regime applies to both parent and subsidiary companies.

UGANDA During 2010 the Uganda National Road Authority invited tenders to the design and construction of the Mbarana-Khagati-Murongo Road. Tenders were received from the China Road and Bridge Company, another subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company, and Hawk International Financial and Construction Co. Ltd. China Road and Bridge Company was awarded the contract by the Uganda National Roads Authority.

Hawk International appealed the award of this contract, and the Uganda Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority which entertained this appeal found sufficient grounds to reverse the decision Uganda Continued on page 23

Supporting Winston Brassington’s actions DEAR EDITOR, I want to say that, in my opinion, your newspaper serves an important role as purporting to give the ordinary Guyanese a voice and one that is fearless of government intimidation. I congratulate you on this.

This role is even more important as Guyana gets underway with its ‘new dispensation’. But with this role, comes great responsibility.

This is why I am disappointed at the obvious lack of proper research carried out by your newspaper when it comes to sensitive and business matters.

I am a Guyanese living in New York, on holiday here looking for some opportunities, and I have been reading about the Brassington-Hand -in-Hand affair. At first, it looked interesting so I decided to do a little internet research of my own.

One view, which is overwhelmingly supported by your newspaper, is that Winston Brassington was in a conflict of interest when his brother bought Hand-inHand Trust shares some seven years after the privatization. We have the much-touted opinion that Winston Brassington was somehow privy to “insider” information, hence his recommendation to his brother to buy the shares.

Now this all seems alarming to the unenlightened public; except, that in your obvious witch-hunt you chose to leave out some very pertinent facts that anyone with internet access could find.

First, NICIL is the government’s vehicle for selling government-owned property and businesses, not for buying, so I doubt Winston Brassington could have bought any shares for NICIL even if Hand-in-Hand wished to sell them (which they apparently did not). As I understand it, government has to get out of business in order to create a market economy and to qualify for structural reform facilities.

Looking at Hand-in-Hand Trust’s current shareholding, the NICIL shares were increased in number but the NICIL percentage of ownership substantially reduced when Brassington’s brother became a shareholder. This could hardly have been a sale of shares to NICIL. It looks more like a NICIL was given some more shares as part of a new distribution that would mathematically balance the earlier shareholding after bringing in Brassington’s 30 percent. Hand-in-Hand should clarify this.

Second, the Hand-inHand shares seemed to have had little value, as a result of the Stanford loss, when Jonathan Brassington bought them. He was obviously buying goodwill in the company. Well done, Hand-in-Hand, you obviously capitalized on your reputation when the ‘chips were down’.

Third, Hand-in-Hand Trust is, according to their website, a private company.

This means that it can lawfully sell shares to whomsoever it wished, and give out whatever investor information they wished to

whomever they wished, of course, except for the confidential client information. The company’s website says that The Bank of Guyana approved the sale to Brassington. Does your paper suggest that the Bank of Guyana did not scrutinize the sale?

In any event, investors in private companies are considered sufficiently wellinformed to make their own investment decisions.

Fourth, Guyanese should have been informed by your newspaper that insider trading and insider information, in this connection, have to do with publicly traded companies, for example, those on the stock exchanges in the USA or in Guyana’s case, those listed on the Guyana Securities Exchange. This is

not the case for private companies.

If Kaieteur News were a private company, it could choose to sell shares to any new partner it wished, without going public. This is another fact your reporters either chose to omit, or they really shouldn’t be writing about business.

Fifth, Mr. Jonathan Brassington is obviously an extremely successful Guyanese. For example, being honoured as one of Philadelphia’s Most Innovative Executives in 2005 is no ordinary achievement (Liquidhub website).

Moreover, his company, Liquid Hub, according to its website, has consistently been named one of the Philly 100 Fastest Growing Privately-held Companies; Continued on page 23

KN Editor decides when to apologize

DEAR EDITOR, On the controversy surrounding the report of Minister Manikchand’s speech, on what was said and whether it was accurately reported, the editor in chief is the final arbiter on the matter. He or she is in the best position to determine what is the best course of action - in the interest of the paper and in the interest of fair, balanced reporting.

If evidence existed to support the reporter, the editor should back the reporter to the end. Otherwise, the editor has to capitulate to save face and credibility of the paper. Those who were present at the event, apart from the copy of the recording, would be in the best position to determine whether what was said by the Minister was accurately reported by the journalist.

The editor, using his discretion, chose what he thought was the best course. On the subject of apology, Mr. Frederick Kissoon, who reprimanded editor Adam Harris (KN Jun 4), has repeatedly been shown to be inaccurate in his reporting, comments, analyses, etc., most recently last week in his Jesus Superstar movie comment. He is yet to apologize for them or show regrets.

Vishnu Bisram

Wednesday June 06, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 5

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

Pleasures and pains of pay determination DEAR EDITOR, Decades spent as a Human Resource Management practitioner have provided me countless opportunities locally and abroad to experience many ironic parallels and combinations of pleasure and pain, elation and deflation, soaring (even if ephemeral!) motivation and dampening (if not damaging!) demotivation among employees as they feel the effects of pay progression, stagnation or, alas, deterioration.

I believe there is a strong case for employers and employers’ organizations, trade unions and employees’ organizations, the Ministry of Labour as well as educational institutions to discuss o b j e c t i v e l y, dispassionately and away from the typical ‘negotiations arena, the underlying principles of compensation management, with particular reference to pay determination.

This belief has been fortified by recent media reports. Few of these have been as poignant as the reported two-year wage freeze agreed to by the Jamaica

Confederation of Trade Unions representing public sector workers of Jamaica (see SN of 2/6/12) on the grounds of ‘affordability’.

This came on the heels of widespread reports regarding pressing demands by the union representing the majority of workers of the State-owned, faltering GUYSUCO fighting unrelentingly for one or other financial benefit in the face of pleas from the management for some respite in view of the corporation’s cash-flow difficulties.

Without wishing in any way to state, suggest or imply any pros or cons, merits or demerits, support for or against any of the foregoing (although I do have my own researched/well considered views on such matters), let me emphasize that my only interest at this stage is to recommend that strenuous efforts be made by all the stakeholders identified above to openly, objectively and collaboratively discuss/ debate the principles, objectives, strengths and limitations of the many factors that individually and collectively influence the

compensation package including the contextual variables.

I have reasons to believe that even our ‘managerial cadre’ includes many who are befuddled about these issues.

Hopefully, widespread educational/informational sessions aimed at demystifying the principles and practices of compensation management including Job Evaluation, Performance Evaluation, Performance-related Pay, Incentive Payments & Bonuses, Negotiations, Market Surveys, Ability to Pay paradigms etc. etc. which separately and together influence the compensation package will result in less of the controversies which currently overshadow our inescapable world of work.

And as we are all so critically ‘involved’ in that world, it behooves us to do all we can to reduce the recriminations and lighten the atmosphere with knowledge and information even if we are unable to expand or sweeten the package.

Nowrang Persaud

A society in destruction mode DEAR EDITOR, I’ve been silent way too long due to other commitments of mine, but the pain, sorrow and grief is overwhelming, so I must speak. Guyana has been slowly deteriorating over the years since independence, and that fact is reflected in the many gaps in all sectors of the country and society.

Case in point, over the past five years or so, I’ve noticed an ever increasing number of violent homicides carried out by men on women/children.

Every week there is at least one who meets her demise in a most horrible fashion. For this week alone there have been two in two days! If this doesn’t anger us Guyanese then I don’t know what will!

I have a habit of reading someone’s story and imagining what went on. I cringe while reading every article because the thought of being battered or stabbed repetitively, or drowning in my own blood after having my throat slit haunts me.

To imagine the innocent child seeing his father coming at him or his mother with a knife is insufferable!

To imagine the last suffering breath of these women and children and not get ANGRY is the greatest fright of all!

We as a people need to

get angry, need to force the issue on this topic. Not only did we lose a valuable part of society, but we’ll now have more orphans, traumatized to say the least. We may have little boys of the bunch with an increased chance of hitting his wife and the little girl with increased chance of thinking that it’s ‘OK’ to be beaten.

I congratulate programmes such as Murundoi and those organizations that are carrying out priceless sensitization programmes that I think will help in our cause.

I think that the issue with women in abusive relationships is that they fail to see the commonality between their situation and the one where the woman was murdered. They think to themselves that ‘He’s not that crazy’ or ‘he’s not a murderer’. Most don’t see the signs until it’s too late.

Murundoi is bringing out that point, beautifully.

I encourage all Guyanese to listen. However, more needs to be done. More social workers should be deployed into troubled communities; programmes where females that ‘made it out’ can interact with those that are still in it should be set up.

Neighbours should get involved more in the issue of abusive relationships; policemen should be more stern and most importantly, the law should be unforgiving!

I’m a firm believer in corporal and capital punishment, but those are topics for another discussion.

Garfield Parker

Jonathan Brassington and no dividends

DEAR EDITOR, The claim by Winston Brassington referenced in June 3, 2012 Kaieteur News that his “brother” has not received any dividends from Hand-in-Hand Trust Corporation (HHTC) speaks to his duplicity, or as William F. Buckley Jr. puts it “I will not insult your intelligence by suggesting you actually believed what your just said”.

Apple Inc.; the most profitable and largest technology corporation in the world has not paid dividends since 1995, yet shareholder benefits have far exceeded large corporations that pay dividends.

The returns to shareholders from both dividends on ordinary shares and capital gains for their investments in blue chip giants like Exxon, IBM, WalMart and General Electric combined, pales in comparison to the gains Apple Shareholders have enjoyed over the last seven years without Apple shareholders receiving any dividends.

It is thoughtless to limit return on investment to dividends paid. The focus should be on the value of HHTC from the period Jonathan/Winston Brassington bought HHTC shares in 2009 to the value of HHTC at the end of 2011.

Winston persists in attempting to “call a diamond a spade” even with the abundance of evidence to the contrary, this persistence is an insult to the intelligence of Guyanese.

Some of the valuation and investment information should be accessible in the Audited Financial Statements of HHTC which are now available as indicated by

Christopher Ram in Stabroek News dated June 3, 2012. From the Audited Financials we can determine 1) the change in valuation of HHTC from 2009 – 2011; 2) HHTC returns on Investment in Preferred Shares of the Berbice River Bridge; 3) Large shareholders of HHTC – HHTC is a transformed corporation after NICIL virtually gifted GNCB Trust.

HHTC appears to be another tentacle of the PPP devised by NICIL to create prodigious returns on investment for favoured cronies.

I do hope that the opposition’s request to defer the sitting of the National Assembly is to properly prepare for the necessary review, exposure and restructuring of NICL, accompanied by charges being brought against the architects of the illegal sale and misuse of state funds.

The Guyanese people, both political and nonpolitical, have voiced their concerns over the shocking malfeasance of NICIL; currently culminating in the tainted exposure of the 2009 investment in HHTC by Jonathan Brassington the brother of NICIL then CEO Winston Brassington.

Conflict of interest is but a splinter from the hidden

violations of NICIL. In my opinion the representation of Jonathan Brassington as a compromised investor is just a red herring and the investment more likely represents funds from PPP insiders who are benefiting from the growth in HHTC and other tentacles of NICIL. What more is hidden from the public by the NICIL squid? Hopefully we do not have to spend more time pleading for opposition leaders to take action - with our relentless letters to the editors of the Kaieteur News and Stabroek News.

Let the next meeting of our Members of Parliament bring the principals of NICIL before the National Assembly and let the full lunacy of NICIL actions become public.

Debates are useful; however when one side has all the facts and the other side is using extrapolations and guesstimates; the purpose of the debate is not only undermined but also allows NICIL principals to control the debate and continue to hide the excesses of NICIL and its multiple tentacles in the form of Hand-in-Hand Trust Corporation (HHTC) and Atlantic Investment Inc., among others.

Nigel Hinds

Page 6

The government, through Cabinet Secretary Dr. Roger Luncheon, has moved to the High Court by way of an exparte motion, which seeks to state that the National Assembly has no power to cut the annual budget. It is seeking an order that the $20.9B in cuts be set aside.

Opposition Leader David Granger, Speaker of the National Assembly Raphael Trotman and Dr. Ashni Singh are commanded within ten days to appear before Chief Justice. Dr. Luncheon in his affidavit in support of the motion stated that it is the exclusive responsibility of the Executive to prepare and lay before the National Assembly the Annual Estimates of Revenues and Expenditure for each financial year.

He said that no power resides in the National Assembly, either in the Committee of Supply, or at all, to move an amendment to reduce any aspect of the Annual Estimates of Revenues and Expenditure laid by the Minister of Finance, and certainly, the National Assembly has no power whatsoever, in proposing a new or different sum, or any sum at all.

According to Dr. Luncheon the two motions moved by Mr. Ramjattan and Mr. Greenidge, which sought to “reduce the Estimates of Revenues and Expenditure laid by the Honourable Minister of Finance, and the proposals of different sums instead, amounted not only to an arrogation of powers which the Constitution does not confer upon them, but was also a usurpation of a function which the Constitution exclusively resides in the Executive, thereby, abrogating the doctrine of separation of powers.” Dr. Luncheon said that in respect of the affected agencies, the National Assembly, and not the Executive, presented the

Kaieteur News

Annual Estimates of Revenues and Expenditure for the year 2012, a situation not provided for, nor contemplated by the Constitution in any form or fashion. He went on to note that indeed, and admittedly, the National Assembly has an additional financial responsibility to approve expenditure as provided for in Article 120, but the same relates and is confined to expenditure connected with future offices to be constituted by the President.

The Cabinet Secretary said that none of the offices and entities which formed the subject of these proceedings are new offices; they are all existing offices; indeed, the express confinement of the power of approval to future offices fortifies the contention that no power is vested in the National Assembly by the Constitution to affect funding to existing offices, save and except, a power of complete disapproval as contemplated

by Article 218.

Therefore, all reductions of the Annual Estimates of Revenues and Expenditure purportedly affected by the Committee of Supply of the National Assembly were ultra vires the Constitution and the jurisdiction and authority of the National Assembly.

Perhaps, the most pellucid exemplification of unconstitutional nature and the unlawful magnitude of the National Assembly’s actions in respect of the reduction of the said Annual Estimates, is the Ethnic Relations Commission, a body which is not only established by the Constitution itself, but one whose financial autonomy the Constitution protects by, inter alia, making its expenditure financeable as a direct charge on the Consolidated Fund.

Dr. Luncheon is seeking the third-named defendant, Dr. Ashni Singh, to be at

liberty to make advances/ withdrawals from the Contingencies Fund, pursuant to Article 220 of the Constitution, for the purpose of restoring the funds to the Agencies listed, as originally budgeted in the Estimates of the Revenues and Expenditure of Guyana for the year 2012. He said that unless the “Orders sought herein are granted, the offices and entities affected would be unable to, or severely and irreversibly prevented from, discharging their functions in the manner provided for and contemplated by the Constitution, and/or legislation, resulting not only in constitutional chaos, but the Executive’s inability to govern and administer the affairs of this nation in accordance with the provisions of and the manner contemplated by the Constitution”. More so, Dr. Luncheon said that the balance of convenience, justice and national interest weighs heavily in favour of the grant of the Orders sought. He said that he was advised by the Attorney General and verily believes that, there is no harm, damage or injustice which will accrue if the Order sought herein is granted, and on the other hand, if they are refused, constitutional chaos, which jeopardizes the nation’s interest, is a likely consequence.

The matter is returnable tomorrow before Chief Justice Ian Chang.

Wednesday June 06, 2012

Digicel Group’s earnings surpass US$1B mark - company now has 12.8M subscribers Digicel Group Limited, which has operations in Guyana and 29 other markets around the world, has announced notable results in its financial year ended March 31st with its subscriber base increasing 27% to 12.8M. The group’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) amount to US$1.082B– up from US$954 million in the previous year – representing a year on year increase of 13%.

According to a statement from the group yesterday, revenues have improved significantly by 14% to US$2.54B. Digicel Group Limited comprises 30 markets in the Caribbean, Central America and the Pacific.

“Value added services and data revenues were up an impressive 47% year on year and now account for 20% of overall service revenues. This growth was supported in part by Digicel’s 4G Mobile offering which is now available in 14 markets across the globe (with further rollouts planned) and by the rise in smartphone usage.

The Diaspora business meanwhile saw its revenues grow by 28% year on year.”

Digicel also said that its balance sheet and liquidity position has continued to

Digicel Group CEO, Colm Delves

Chairman and Founder, Denis O’Brien

improve, with cash reserves of over US$657 million at 31 March 2012.

“The group’s strong financial performance has been endorsed by ratings agency, Fitch, which in May reaffirmed the Group’s debt rating citing its “strong operational performance”.”

Commenting on the performance, Digicel Group CEO, Colm Delves, said; “I am pleased to report that Digicel has closed out another strong year in which, for the first time in our 11 year history, our annual EBITDA was over US$1 billion. With 12.8 million subscribers across 30 markets, Digicel has delivered 14% revenue growth placing us at the leading edge of performance amongst

telecoms operators worldwide.”

He continued; “I would like to take this opportunity to thank our customers for their loyalty to Digicel and our partners and staff who always go the extra mile to ensure that our customers benefit from what we do and how we do it.” Denis O’Brien, Chairman and Founder of Digicel Group, commented, “The results announced today reflect the continued growth and development of Digicel in the Caribbean, Central America and Asia Pacific.”

Digicel said its investments across its 30 markets worldwide total US$4.5 billion with the company employing over 4,700 people.

Guyanese among Canada’s five most wanted The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has added five new names to its most wanted list and just days ago gave the boot to criminal Damion Rami Butler, more than four months after he was apprehended in Toronto.

The latest additions include Ibrahima Isse, 46, of Senegal, who is wanted for war crimes and Patrick Octaves de Florimonte, 34, of Guyana, who is considered

inadmissible due to a slew of assault, dangerous driving and drug trafficking convictions in Canada.

Also added to the list are Kemford Sebastian Durrant, 32, of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, who is inadmissible due to convictions for theft, mischief, possession of a narcotic substance, assault with intent to resist arrest, uttering threats and failure to comply with recognizance; Otto Horvath Bors, 43, of

Hungary, who is inadmissible for failing to comply with the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Media reports have indicated he (Bors) took off from Toronto’s Pearson Airport when he was being deported to face fraud charges in his homeland; Homayoon Pooli, 36, of Iran who is considered inadmissible having been convicted of kidnapping, assault with a weapon and uttering threats. Butler was

arrested in January by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He’d been convicted of drug trafficking and mischief over $5,000, among other run-ins with the law, and was finally deported last Thursday. According to the Canada Border Services Agency, Canadians have so far helped locate 25 individuals in Canada, 19 of whom have been removed.

Five others were located abroad.

Wednesday June 06, 2012

Kaieteur News

Syria bars diplomats, gunships in action

Demonstrators protest against Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad. (REUTERS/Shaam News Network/Handout) BEIRUT (Reuters) Syria’s government banned 17 Western diplomats and its helicopter gunships pounded rebels in a coastal province yesterday as President Bashar al-Assad defied international pressure to halt his campaign to crush the uprising against his rule.

The declaration that ambassadors from the United States, Canada, Turkey and several European countries were unwelcome was retaliation for the expulsion of Syrian envoys from their capitals last week, following the massacre of more than 100 civilians by suspected Assad loyalists.

On the battlefront, rebels fought with government forces backed by helicopter gunships in the heaviest clashes in coastal Latakia province since the revolt against Assad’s rule broke out 15 months ago.

The clashes in Latakia province were a rare surge of violence in a province outside Syria’s usual trail of bloodshed.

Latakia province is home to several towns inhabited by members of the minority Alawite sect, a Shi’ite offshoot to which Assad himself belongs and which has been wary of the mostly Sunni-led uprising.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the fighting was in mostly Sunni areas in and around the city of Haffeh.

It was the second day of combat since the rebels declared they would no longer abide by an internationally brokered ceasefire, saying that the government had continued the repression in defiance of United Nations peace observers.

Rebel fighters said nine of their comrades were killed, while the Observatory said two civilians and 22 soldiers were killed.

Activists also reported heavy fire by government forces on the city of Homs, a focal point of the uprising that endured a bloody siege for weeks earlier this year.

The latest developments emphasized the precarious state of a peace plan brokered

by Nobel Peace laureate Kofi Annan, who has shuttled between Damascus and other capitals on behalf of the United Nations and Arab League.

Foreign governments are still clinging to the plan as the only option for finding a political solution and preventing a wider and bloodier conflict. But with the failure of the ceasefire and Assad’s intransigence, it is all but in tatters.

In Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said Gulf Arab states had begun to lose hope that the peace plan would find a solution.

The comments are significant as Sunni-ruled Gulf countries have led international efforts to oust Assad, who is allied to their main rival Shi’ite Iran, and have hinted in the past they were willing to arm the rebels.

Nevertheless, Russia and China, Assad’s principal defenders on the diplomatic front, said on Tuesday that Annan’s efforts should not be abandoned.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, meeting in Beijing, urged international support for the plan despite calls from Arab and Western states for a tougher response to the bloodshed.

The two countries, permanent members of the U.N. Security Council with the power to veto resolutions, have stymied efforts by Western powers to condemn or call for the removal of Assad.

Page 7

Panetta to encourage India for larger role in war NEW DELHI (AP) — Defence Secretary Leon Panetta is urging leaders of India to play a more robust role in Afghanistan, as U.S. tensions with Pakistan, India’s arch-rival, continue to churn.

India has not been a major military player in the war, largely focusing on economic development and reconstruction in Afghanistan. But U.S. defense officials say Panetta will talk with Indian leaders about possibly helping to train the Afghan army and police.

Such discussions, however, come at a particularly fragile time and risk further roiling U.S. relations with Pakistan.

On Monday, a CIA drone strike targeted a top al-Qaida leader inside Pakistan. Also on Monday, NATO reached an agreement with other Central Asia nations that would bypass Pakistan to move military equipment in and out of Afghanistan.

Washington and Islamabad have been deadlocked over negotiations to re-open ground supply routes into Afghanistan that were shut down late last year after a U.S. airstrike killed two dozen Pakistani soldiers.

It’s not clear whether the new NATO accord could be used to pressure Pakistan into reaching an agreement on its ground routes, or whether Panetta’s visit to India at this time would help or hinder that effort.

Leon Panetta Senior defense officials traveling with Panetta said the U.S. would like India and Pakistan to work in concert to help stabilize Afghanistan, despite their long, historical conflicts and lack of trust.

Both countries, they said, would benefit from a more stable and secure Afghanistan.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the meetings, said the U.S. has also talked to Pakistan about its role in the future of Afghanistan, so Islamabad should have nothing to fear.

Pakistan, however, is likely to view any increased Indian role in Afghanistan with suspicion and worry that

it may dilute Islamabad’s influence on the Afghans’ future.

While the defense officials acknowledged the historical tension between India and Pakistan, they said the two countries have taken some steps, particularly this year, to repair the fractures.

Still, Panetta’s two-day stop here in New Delhi will gain attention in Islamabad, particularly since in his previous job as CIA chief he directed many of the drone attacks on insurgents in Pakistan that raised the ire of officials there.

Panetta, who has been Pentagon chief for nearly a year, has yet to visit Pakistan, leaving much of the ongoing negotiations to his top military commanders and U.S. diplomats.

India plays a central role in the Pentagon’s new defense strategy that puts greater focus on the AsiaPacific. It was singled out for a mention in the strategy document, in part because of India’s strategic location at the crossroads between East and West Asia.

Panetta met yesterday with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Shiv Shankar Menon, the national security adviser.

Page 8

Kaieteur News

Wednesday June 06, 2012

Jamaican woman seeking significant PSC to write top cop on damages from Barbados Warner bribery allegation issue Jamaican Shanique Myrie, who accused immigration officials of indecently and verbally abusing her when she tried to get into the country last year, wants Barbados to pay – in dollars and cents – for the humiliation and prejudice she said she suffered.

She also wants further investigations to identify the individuals who she said assaulted and unlawfully detained her and have them prosecuted and punished in criminal proceedings; and she has gone to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) to get all that and more.

Myrie’s demands for JAM$118 000 (BDS$2 709) in special damages, including the cost of her ticket, medical expenses to date, medical

report, slippers, and interest; as well as unspecified amounts in moral damages, exemplary damages and aggravated damages are contained in a Notice of Filing of Originating Application, dated May 23 and posted on the CCJ website six days later.

In addition to the damages and investigation, she has asked the court to issue an order that denying her entry on March 14, 2011 was “unlawful” and that the “Cancelled” entry stamp in her passport is null and void.

According to the document, Myrie is also seeking an apology for the officials “violating her fundamental human rights and freedom, in particular, by treating her in a discriminatory manner, conducting an

Shanique Myrie unlawful body search, conducting an unlawful cavity search, arbitrarily and unlawfully detaining . . . and verbally abusing” her.

The Jamaican was granted leave to file a case against Barbados when the CCJ sat for the first time in Barbados in April.

(Barbados Nation)

Govt. urged to collect import duties from CARICOM states Political commentator, Kevin O’Brien Chang, says the Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller still has a chance to rekindle confidence in the administration amid the criticisms of the tax measures.

He is urging the government to give serious consideration to the Private Sector Working Group’s proposal put forward Monday.

Monday, the PSWG put forward proposals it says would yield more revenues than the $19 billion projected

in the tax package presented

by Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips.

Chang said he believes those proposals would create far less hardships and would be a more logical approach for the government.

The Private Sector Working Group, the PSWG, estimates that the Jamaican Government is giving up close to $9.4 billion annually in import duties from other CARICOM States and says the country can no longer afford to do this.

In a statement last evening, the PSWG said given the current economic situation, Jamaica can no longer afford to forego the billions of dollars it gives up annually through import duties.

The group said collecting the import duties would also help to counteract the competitive disadvantages facing Jamaican companies when compared to their counterparts in the region.

This was in reference to manufacturers in Trinidad and Tobago who enjoy billions of dollars in government subsidies.

It’s also proposing the National Housing Trust (NHT), give what the group describes as a contribution holiday to employers who would then have to fork out more in education tax.

The PSWG said this measure would raise an additional $12 billion and would not affect the NHT’s resources.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - CMC - The Police Service Commission (PSC) says it will be writing Police Commissioner Dwayne Gibbs as it investigates conflicting statements made by the top cop and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Roger Garpard, regarding the bribery allegations against the former vice president of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) Austin Jack Warner.

In a statement issued after its monthly statutory meeting on Monday, the PSC said that the decision to end the investigation into bribery allegations against Warner, a senior Trinidad and Tobago government minister, was within the prerogative of the Police Service.

But it noted that it has a role to monitor the efficiency and effectiveness of the discharge of the functions Gibbs and “in this regard, this matter (involving the handling of the probe into the bribery allegations) would be viewed against the backdrop of the general efficiency and effectiveness of the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioners in managing investigations of alleged offences…”

The PSC said that the “statistics and results generally, will form a part of the performance appraisal of the Commissioner of Police and Deputy Commissioners of Police in the discharge of their functions”.

The PSC said that it would investigate “in the meantime” any alleged discrepancies in the Police Commissioner’s letter dated March 21, 2012 and the public statements of the DPP which appear to shed a different light.

“We shall be writing the Commissioner of Police on this matter,” the Commission said.

Last week, Gaspard told the Caribbean Media

Corporation (CMC) that he had informed the police that based on the “thread bare information and material” submitted to him he could not determine that any law was broken.

Media reports last week quoted Gibbs as having informed the PSC that “on the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), no further action can be taken in this matter”.

Last May, Warner invited the heads of various Caribbean football associations to meet with FIFA presidential candidate Mohammed Bin Hammam here and at that meeting several of the delegates reported that over one million (US) dollars had been distributed to them in brown envelopes.

A secret report by FIFA’s

Austin Jack Warner Ethics Committee, which was published in England’s Daily Telegraph newspaper, noted there was “comprehensive, convincing and overwhelming evidence” to support claims that Warner and Bin Hammam colluded to pay the bribes.

Finance Minister denies T&T in economic slump PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - CMC - Finance Minister Winston Dookeran has dismissed suggestions that Trinidad and Tobago is an en economic slump or recession and blasted the “sensational press” for mis-interpreting the words of Central Bank Governor Ewart Williams recently.

Late last month, Williams told reporters “we’ve had negative growth for three years. That’s our challenge, how do we get out of that slump....The economy has been in a slump. We are waiting on the recovery and the recovery is a bit delayed, let’s put it like that.”

But as he tabled a bill for supplementary budgetary funding of TT$1.5 billion (US$250 million), on Monday, Dookeran, a former central bank governor told legislators “there were strong headlines that were put out on the newspapers about recession. “I say here today, based on the information we have at the Finance Ministry, Trinidad and Tobago is not in any slump”.

Dookeran blamed the “sensational press” for “taking out of context” Williams’ statements and “placing strong headlines about recession and slump”.

The Finance Minister said there has been a revision of growth rates in all the major economies and to prove his point, cited Brazil, China, India, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States, Singapore, Germany, France, Canada and the Eurozone areas.

He told legislators that Trinidad and Tobago had turned the corner but its projections had to be revised downward from 1.5 per cent to one per cent in the light of the slowdown in the energy sector. He said in the context of what was happening worldwide, this country could feel “a sense of comfort”.

Wednesday June 06, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 9

Time for Uncle Donald to take charge!

A President’s job is never easy and President Ramotar should never have expected his tenure to be without its difficulties. He should expect a deluge of problems. He faces an opposition notorious for making a drizzle seem like a tornado and in Guyana, controversies rain down like monsoons.

President Ramotar has had his probationary period, one that is granted by the public to all presidents. This period is one of great tolerance, in which the public gives the president a chance to get familiar with the seat of executive authority.

That probationary period is over. The President has to understand now that he is the holder of executive authority.

This authority resides exclusively with him. His ministers are, constitutionally, merely his assistants. The buck stops at his desk. He is the one who is going to be held accountable for the performance of his government, including the way in which controversies are dealt with.

The President has inherited many controversies, but the fact

that they were not of his making does not absolve him of responsibility of resolving them.

One of these controversies concerns the operations of NICIL. There are now, in the public domain, questions about a possible conflict of interest involving the executive director of NICIL. The president has to address this issue in a way that brings quick closure to the matter.

There is no need for a commission of inquiry to investigate whether there was any conflict of interest involved in the various scenarios involving the director and his dealings with shares in Hand in Hand Trust and in NICIL’s role in a road contract in which the said Hand in Hand Trust issued a performance bond.

Conflicts of interest are not criminal offences but are improper. The President needs to assure the nation that in keeping with his stated commitment to transparency that he will deal decisively with this issue and thereby end the raging controversy.

He should consider appointing a single

individual, with no ties to Guyana, to investigate the issue of possible conflict of interest involving the said director and his dealings with shares in Hand in Hand Trust held by his brother. He should ask the Commonwealth to send someone to undertake the investigation into any possible conflicts of interest.

This investigation should only take a few days.

The second controversy is not going to be mended that easily. It concerns the company that has been awarded a contract to rebuild the country’s main airport to bring it up to a category one facility.

Kaieteur News is reporting that the parent company of the company awarded the contract to do the work in a secretive signing just before the elections last year was debarred by the World Bank from undertaking any work.

The World Bank in fact had announced since January 2009 that following investigations by its integrity unit, it was debarring the parent company and all its subsidiaries for a specified

Dem boys seh

B is fuh Kwame and B is fuh de birds Birds of a feather does flock together. Guyana got nuff birds. Dem got Jagdeo, Brazzy, Bobby, Irfaat. Rob Earth, Eddie and all dem Bees, including de blue sackies.

Now dem have de Chinee birds.

When this Chinee man come and wave he hand, Jagdeo, Brazzy and Benn bend over and wave. That is how de scampish, cockish and rattish airport deal come into being.

All de rest of projects that dem same Chinee do in Guyana came to light same way. And that happen because Jagdeo never trust de Yankee people. He know that he couldn’t get kickback

from dem. He woulda get kick into de pumpkin jumpsuit just like dem officials wid de Trinidad airport scandal.

If you don’t know, some senior government officials get jail in Miami fuh that new Trinidad airport. Was big kickback—millions of US dollars in kickback. That is wha dem get ketch wid.

Jagdeo and Brazzy and dem kavakamites learn ‘bout de kickback and jail in Trinidad and that is how dem end up up wid de Chinee.

Dem boys seh that Chinee don’t only kickback. Dem does kick you in front, and de side too, and no jail.

Dem is de biggest scamps and liars that de world

produce. Is dem who train we leaders fuh lie.

Jagdeo lie suh much that he stop talk. He sign in secret and he gone and lef Brazzy fuh face de music.

When people watch Brazzy face dem not only see lie. Dem see nuff worries. He voice use to be thin. Now it thinner. And all because he continuing to lie and lie and lie.

He seh he nah know Jonathan, Keith Evelyn, and Bobby and Gerry, but all of dem is one bunch of feather that does do a lot of things together, including B together. De B is fuh Kwame.

Talk half and flock together fuh B.

period of time from undertaking work related to funds from the World Bank.

In short, the company has been blacklisted for a number of years.

Did the previous government know this when they secretly signed a contract with a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company Limited? If they did not know, it was their duty to find out.

But then again the previous government had a strange manner of undertaking due diligence.

When this newspaper questioned the previous administration about the due diligence that was done as regards the contract to build the Amalia Falls Road, the explanation was given that it was the IDB that did the due diligence.

So who did the due diligence on the company that is supposed to construct the airport and how come the blacklisting fell off the radar during that due diligence?

Glenn Lall warned the

previous government about the road project. His words were prophetic and now the Donald Ramotar administration has to devote billion of dollars and a great deal of time to complete the road. Had they followed the advice of Lall, the government would not have been in this dilemma.

They now face another dilemma. They have to decide in the face of the reports that have surfaced within the World Bank concerning a contract in the Philippines, whether to go ahead with this airport contract.

They should abort this contract immediately. Apart from the fact that they are now dealing with a company on which greater due diligence is now needed, there is no need at all for Guyana to be contracting such a horrendous debt which cannot repay itself.

This contract must now be revisited, not just on the basis of its economic viability, but because of the serious concerns which have been

raised about the integrity of the contractor.

The third controversy that should be settled immediately concerns the building of the Marriotbranded hotel.

This newspaper reported that the land in question is being leased for $25,000 per month with an option to buy after two years.

If this is true it constitutes a repeat of the Sanata deal where there was a similar clause. The Donald Ramotar administration should not be proud of having on its record a repeat of that aspect of the Sanata deal.

Glenn Lall is now placing an offer on the table. He is saying that instead of $25,000 per month, he will pay $100,000 per month. And he wants an option to buy within two years.

Page 10

Kaieteur News

Wednesday June 06, 2012

THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN

Taylor, Blair and Mrs. Espin: Crazy people, crazy world Mark Benschop publicly asked me on his internet radio programme how I would vote on same-sex marriage. I don’t believe in same-sex marriage, but have no objection to the legalization of homosexual relationships. I can’t imagine giving a yes ballot for homosexual marriage but deep in my philosophical mind, I don’t think I can cast a vote against it. I am too driven by the anarchist dream of the overflow of freedoms to human beings to vote against same-sex marriage.

I think I will abstain. I know I will abstain if the referendum comes to Guyana.

I am still open to the arguments as to why we should legalize it here and can be persuaded to vote for it. I will never vote against it.

Most definitely, I will either go for an approval or abstain.

When it comes to the death penalty, my mind is made up.

In a referendum, I will cast an abolition ballot.

But I honestly believe that for uncivilized humans who are guilty of war crimes, they should be executed. You can call my attitude a contradiction, and maybe it is in fact indefensible. But I will stand by what I believe in.

I repeat; men and women who commit horrible war crimes as what we saw in Nazi Germany, Kampuchea, Bosnia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone, should be shot if found guilty.

I wrote on this page before and I will write it again – I endorsed the verdict to hang Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi President was an inhuman

character who was fascinated by putting people to death.

The news last week that Liberian President Charles Taylor was sentenced to fifty years for war crimes in The Hague is a miscarriage of justice. Taylor financed the rebels in Sierra Leone, and those insurgents made the Nazi killers look like priests in angels’ clothing.

I would warn anyone who wants to see a film on the terror carried out by Taylor’s armed gangs not do so. You will experience serious mental traumas. Killers as young as nine, ten and twelve went on a chopping spree in that country. The preferred method of killing people was to chop them up or take off either their upper or lower limbs.

These child soldiers

actually forced children to murder their parents in front of them. What happened in Sierra Leone with these child killers has outdone the murderous acts of Nazi Germany.

It is a crazy world in which we live; Charles Taylor who murdered thousands, fought for his life at his trial and got it. It is a crazy world indeed when you read what Tony Blair told the Leveson Inquiry last week in the UK. It is a judicial commission into the phone-hacking scandal by the newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch.

The former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, acknowledged to the commission that he developed a friendship with the media mogul while he, (Blair) was Prime Minister, but he never extended favours to Murdoch, neither did Murdock ask for any.

Does Blair expect anyone in this world to believe him?

The columnists have had a field day with Blair’s deceit.

Long before Blair became Prime Minister, the volumes on Murdoch’s zest, flair and appetite for control of the seat of power in the UK were mountainous. Mr. Murdoch has failed to come out favourably in any biography written on him. You have to look real hard to find a book, article in a journal or magazine, or newspaper commentary over the past thirty years that painted Murdoch in a positive light.

Blair admitted after he left office, that he became godfather to Murdoch’s baby daughter. Tony Blair must be admired for his courage. After being exposed for his surreptitious involvement in taking his country to war with Iraq, Blair was not afraid to tell the world something that perhaps only he and Murdoch believed.

Finally, this week, the daughter of the President of Cuba, Raul Castro, Mariella Castro-Espin gave an interview to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in the US. After

Frederick Kissoon endorsing Obama for a second term, the President’s daughter made herself a complete fool by telling Amanpour that Cubans are free to dissent and they will not be arrested.

This is a country where it is illegal to protest or picket and the consequences are mandatory jail. Cuba to date has the largest number of political prisoners anywhere in the world. Castro-Espin got an American visa to travel.

Last year, Che Guevara’s daughter got an EU visa to speak in London. But the average Cubans are not allowed to leave.

Castro-Espin was apologizing for fascism in Cuba.

Relatives still looking for Crane woman not seen since January The family of 24-year-old Abiola Butters, also known as ‘Angel’, is still searching for the young woman, months after her mysterious disappearance from her reputed husband’s home at Crane Housing Scheme, West Bank Demerara.

Hyacinth Stoby, Butters’ mother, told this newspaper that her daughter celebrated her 24th birthday on January 19, last, and went missing two days later.

Stoby was working in the interior at that time and was not aware that her daughter was missing until later that month when she returned to her home, also on the West Bank.

“I live at Vreed-en-Hoop, but was not home because I was working in the interior when my daughter went missing. When I came out and learnt of this, I made a report at the Vreed-en-Hoop station, but to date nobody has heard from or seen my daughter. The thing that has me suspicious is that her husband said she left to go do trade… and she got a one-and-a-half year-old daughter, so she won’t up and leave like this without any contact,” Stoby stated.

The distraught mother said Butters’ reputed husband is working in the interior.

Missing: Abiola Butters According to Stoby, the man told her that Butters “wanted to do trading” and he gave the young woman enough money for her to travel and purchase items that she could return with and sell in Guyana.

She was puzzled at his attitude, as he did not appear too concerned over her daughter being gone for the past few months without contacting anyone.

“He told me she wanted to go do trading so he gave her money and he didn’t seem bothered about not hearing from her. He didn’t even say which country, or where she supposedly left for, but I know she and I would go to Suriname at certain places and I went and check and nobody has seen her. My

We are life savers, you should be one too! Donate blood today!!!

son is going every weekend to hangout spots and clubs and places she would go, but nobody has seen her,” the woman stated.

Kaieteur News understands that the woman’s reputed husband never made a report to any police station concerning the possible disappearance of his wife. He has returned to the interior and the couple’s infant is presently with Butters’ siblings.

According to the woman’s mother, they do not hear from him, but once in awhile he would send money for his daughter’s upkeep.

“Our family has the baby staying with us, but every time you call him his phone always going to voicemail and nobody sees him at all.

He doesn’t contact us or call to find out how the baby is, but he had sent some money a little while back for the baby and that was it. I honestly don’t know what happened; if they had a fight, if she was kidnapped or what, but she has a baby and would not go just like that,” Stoby stated emphatically.

Meanwhile, relatives and friends of Butters are still hoping that the woman can be located and return home safely.

Anyone knowing the whereabouts of Abiola Butters can contact her sister on 254-1441, her brother on 619-8473 or the nearest police station.

(Kristen Macklingam)

Wednesday June 06, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 11

One injured in Mandela Govt. to pay $30+ million to rent Avenue accident Bungled Amaila Falls Road

machinery to finish part of it

The truck veered off Mandela Avenue and struck the sign artist

Government is sourcing heavy duty machinery to rent, for the bungled Amaila Falls road project which was previously undertaken by Makeshwar ‘Fip’ Motilall back in March 2010.

Under the Ministry of Public Works, a lone bid (from SYMS General Contractors Inc.) was opened yesterday at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) for the hiring of trucks, excavator, roller, and a front end loader for Lot Two of the Amaila Falls access road.

With an estimate of $33,908,775 the lone bid submitted was:

The Amaila Falls contract was awarded on condition that Motilall would design and construct the road. And the contractor, who was said to have never built a road, but who sought to justify his being granted the contract, agreed to execute the project.

The terms of the contract stipulated that he would complete the works within 18 months of being awarded the contract. However, there were delays in the start up, first to allow Motilall to procure the equipment and then to secure a Performance Bond.

The government announced the award of the contract to Motilall on March 26, 2010.

Synergy Holdings was given the first notice to proceed on October 5, 2010 for some sections of the road, while the green light for the other section through virgin rainforest was given on January 11, last year.

The bidders for the contracts were asked to provide their experience in similar large scale projects together with references and credentials, and detail the equipment they own and would require to carry out the project.

Synergy Holdings came under the microscope over its experience, or lack thereof, in building roads and its ability to carry out the project. The company’s contract was for the upgrade of approximately 85 kilometres of existing roadway and the design and construction of approximately 110 kilometres of new road.

Motilall collected on a significant portion of the contract, before its termination. The government seized his equipment and fined him US$120,000 as liquidated damages for each day he failed to procure the Performance Bond.

The roads are a critical component of the Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Project which government is hoping to build.

Meanwhile, eight (8) bids were also submitted yesterday under the Ministry of Public Works for the Essequibo Coast Bridge rehabilitation, Better Success/Andrews Essequibo, Region Two. With an engineer’s estimate of $13,706,000 the bids are as follows:

Still in the public works sector, eight additional bids were also opened at NPTAB for the Essequibo Coast Bridge rehabilitation, Three Friends/Land of Plenty, Essequibo, Region Two. The engineers estimate for the project is $14,836,000 and the bids:

The Ministry of Education received bids for the procurement of goods in four lots; (1) one entails the procurement of notebooks, computers, printer, UPS, flash drives, CPU, scanners, external hard drives; (2) Digital Copier-printer. (3) Television, DVD player and lot (4) a portable projectors.

Three (3) bids were submitted for the procurement of one foreign, used Toyota Motor Car for the Ministry of Tourism. The bids:

One man was in an unconscious state up to press time following an accident on Mandela Avenue yesterday afternoon.

Sign artist Derwin Aldrich who is employed with the National Cultural Centre (NCC) was struck down after a timber truck veered off Mandela Av e n u e i n f r o n t o f t h e renowned edifice.

One eyewitness to the accident told Kaieteur News

that Aldrich was painting a sign outside of the NCC when the accident happened.

The eyewitness said that driver of the truck lost control of the vehicle and drove into the path of Aldrich. “ We s a w t h e t r u c k heading towards Aldrich and we started to shout…but by the time we did that it was too late” the eyewitness said.

The truck collided with a huge concrete structure

outside of the NCC, where Aldrich was working.

Kaieteur News was told that the man was momentarily pinned underneath the concrete after it collapsed. He was rushed to the Georgetown Hospital.

This newspaper was told that Aldrich recently lost his wife two months ago.

The driver of the truck fled the scene leaving a porter behind. Investigations into the incident are continuing.

Page 12

Kaieteur News

Demerara Criminal Assizes open - jury empanelled for two murder cases

Justice Roxanne George-Wiltshire inspecting the Guard of Honour yesterday Yesterday marked another opening of the Demerara Criminal Assizes.

Justice Roxanne GeorgeWiltshire took the salute and inspected the ceremonial Guard of Honour. Several top ranking police officials were present at yesterday’s parade including Divisional Commander George Vyphuis.

As the session opened two separate, mixed juries were empanelled. The first was in connection with the murder trial of Sherwin Barnwell. Barnwell called ‘Reeya’ is accused of murdering Nohar Bahadur, on

December 24, 2006 at Friendship EBD. He is being represented by attorney at law Norma Lewis. The matter is before Justice Franklyn Holder, and Prosecutor Diana Kowlessar is appearing for the state.

It is alleged that between December 24 and 25, 2006, at Friendship; EBD, Barnwell murdered Bahadur also known as ‘Bunty’. It was reported that Bahadur, 42, was robbed and beaten to death a few yards away from his home. Police patrolling the area found Bahadur, a Friendship resident, lying

dead on the Friendship Public Road. His face had been damaged beyond recognition and his body bore marks of violence.

It was stated that Bahadur had just left a barbeque where he had had an argument with a man and was heading home when two men on a bicycle confronted him. He was robbed of cash among other things and then his assailants inflicted a severe beating on him before fleeing.

A mixed jury was also empanelled in connection with the murder trial of Eon Williams. Williams is accused of murdering Quacy Wilson on April 10, 2007.

He is being represented by attorney at law Compton Richardson. Prosecutors Konyo Sandiford and Renita Singh are appearing for the state.

The matter is before Justice Roxanne GeorgeWiltshire. Both matters were adjourned for tomorrow.

Wednesday June 06, 2012

Five cases out of 234 completed in April Assizes Jail delivery was done on June 4, 2012 and it brought to an end the April 2012 Criminal Assizes in Demerara. The Assizes commenced on 3rd April, 2012.

There were 234 cases listed to be heard by two judges, but only five of these cases were completed during the period. The cases were divided between Madam Justice Roxanne GeorgeWiltshire and Justice Franklin Holder. Three matters were completed by Justice Holder.

Two were for the offence of Murder. In one of the murder cases the accused pleaded not guilty to Murder but guilty to the lesser offence of Manslaughter and was sentenced to eight years imprisonment.

In the other case, the trial

judge upheld a no case submission and thereafter directed the Jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty.

In the third matter, the accused was indicted for two offences, rape and robbery under Arms.

In this case, the jury returned a not guilty verdict against the accused. The victim positively identified the accused and an independent witness testified seeing the accused spring off from the victim during the course of the rape and two men who were in the car of this witness pursued the accused and caught him.

Despite this strong and compelling evidence the jury returned a verdict of not guilty.

Two matters were

completed by Justice GeorgeWiltshire. These matters were both for the offence of Murder. In one of the matters there were three accused.

Two of them pleaded not guilty of Murder and guilty to the lesser offence of Manslaughter and were each sentenced to 30 years imprisonment. A formal verdict of not guilty was returned by the Jury for the third accused. In the second case the trial judge upheld a no case submission and thereafter directed the Jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty.

The trial judge upheld a no case submission because of the poor investigations done by the police in relation to identification of the accused.

Accused in Bel Air heist changes plea The matter of those involved in the brazen multimillion-dollar heist at the Bel Air Park residence of businessman Malcolm Panday, took a surprising twist yesterday, when one of the accused who previously pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the alleged robbery, changed his plea once again, to reiterate his innocence of the charges laid against him.

On the last two occasions, Rabindra Seemangal had pleaded guilty to all the charges against him. All indications suggested that he would have been a potential witness for the prosecution.

But when the defendant made another appearance before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry yesterday, he informed the court that he was withdrawing his previous plea. This came after Attorney-at-law Vic Puran, who is representing

others charged with Seemangal, spoke on behalf of the accused. He made mention of the outcome for Seemangal seeing that he pleaded guilty to the charge.

Puran’s intervention came in relation to Seemangal’s sentencing.

It was understood that a plea bargain was not made with the accused; hence his sentencing could have been passed without provisions being made in light of his guilty plea. Seemangal told the court that while imprisoned he was contacted by an individual who had told him to plead guilty to the matter, implicate and state the actions of the other accused and his sentence would be lessened. But after learning that no such provisions were made for him, Seemangal then changed his plea.

The magistrate was however upset that certain measures had not been put in

place which would have caused the matter to commence. She spoke firmly about the matter being prolonged and receiving adjourned dates, because time was being requested to have measures put in place.

At the last hearing, Senior Counsel Bernard De Santos addressed the court and asked for a brief adjournment.

That application was granted.

The Senior Counsel stated to the court that at no time did he indicate anything about a plea bargain concerning the accused.

The matter was later put to rest when Seemangal’s new plea was accepted. Like the other accused he was granted bail. He indicated that the initial bail sum of $1M was difficult to pay, and after De Santos had no objection to a bail reduction, the sum was reduced to $600,000.

The matter was then set for June 22.

Wednesday June 06, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 13

Corruption revelations…

Pull back airport contract now - AFC Amidst revelations that the Chinese contractor involved in the US$150M Cheddi Jagan International Airport project has been banned by World Bank, government has come under pressure to immediately halt it.

Yesterday, Parliamentary Leader of the Alliance For Change, Khemraj Ramjattan, called for the contract to be “rescinded forthwith”.

Prominent attorney-atlaw, Vic Puran, who said he was speaking as a private citizen, also raised questions over due diligence that was conducted by the Guyana government on the firm, China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC). He is calling for the person(s) involved in this process to be named. Due diligence is basically a background check of a business entity or individual prior to signing a

Attorney-at-Law Vic Puran contract, thus ensuring their eligibility and credibility.

On Tuesday, Jamaica’s Contractor General, Greg Christie, revealed that China Communications Construction Company

Limited (CCCC), the parent company of CHEC’s parent company, was debarred by the World Bank in 2009 for eight years as a result of corruption. By extension, CHEC was also debarred.

The Contractor General had been investigating how CHEC was awarded the contract. In August 2009, CHEC was awarded a US$400 million contract, on a solesource basis, by the Government, to execute its Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme.

The loan agreement between the China Exim Bank, which financed $340 million of the contract sum, and the Government, was signed in February 2010. Both agreements were executed several months after CHEC had been debarred by the World Bank.

In November, Guyana was shocked to learn through

Opposition Leader denounces LCDS as “insufficient” Leader of the Parliamentary Opposition Brigadier (rtd) David Granger has called on the ruling People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) administration to promulgate a comprehensive national environment strategy in light of the adverse effects of climate change and manmade damage on this country.

As nations around the globe celebrated World Environment Day yesterday, Granger said that Guyana’s biggest problems are those of “solid waste management, coastal zone conservation, annual flooding, damage to rivers and forests by unregulated mining and logging practices and its excessive dependence on

A 27-year-old man was yesterday rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), minutes after he was struck to the head and back with a crowbar by his older brother.

The incident occurred sometime around 03:00hrs yesterday at the family’s Sixth Street, Success, East Coast Demerara home.

Injured is Sasenarine Jaikaran. Reports are that he was struck twice to the head and once on the back by his older brother, Rakesh.

According to their mother, Chandool, the two always used to argue over the

…as World Environment Day observed fossil fuels to the neglect of alternative energy such as wind, water and solargenerated electrical power.”

Granger called the government’s much vaunted Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) “ins u f f i c i e n t t o s u s t a i n development amidst this c o u n t r y ’s current environmental challenges.”

Granger asserted, also, that Guyana needs a coherent approach to what he called the five E’s – Environmental education; Enforcement of regulations; Ecological consciousness by all; Energy that is renewable and Economic exploitation of

mineral, timber and tourism resources in a sustainable manner.

The Opposition Leader called on the Ministries of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Environment to distribute plants and seeds to communities in all ten administrative regions to help to regenerate our depleted flora and forests.

He also called on the Government to open its eyes to the country’s predicament and promulgate a strategy to protect the population from hazards and to preserve the environment from further degradation.

- brother on the run sale of her property. She explained that her older son was residing in Trinidad and Tobago for a few years but came back to Guyana when his father died.

Chandool revealed that her older son is determined to sell her property, even if it means “sending her on the streets” while her smaller son refused.

She noted that yesterday, the two started to argue and her older son left and say he was “going to cool his mind off, but he suddenly come

back with the crowbar and start hitting Sasenarine.”

The mother said that her son even tried to hit her with the crowbar as she tried to save her smaller son.

“He just start knocking he in he head and he nah stop even after seeing so much blood,” the mother noted.

Up to press time yesterday, doctors were battling to save the life of Sasenarine Jaikaran, while his brother was said to be on the run.

Jamaica press that the then Bharrat Jagdeo-led administration signed a US$138M contract with CHEC to rebuild the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) at Timehri. Hundreds of residents and scores of businesses there are to be relocated. Government has defended the controversial project saying that it will be targeting Asia and Africa for passengers.

Ramjattan yesterday stressed that the signing of the contract was “…stealthily done. It was done in the 11th hour of the government term in the 9th Parliament. As a matter of fact it was done in the 11th day of the 11th month of 2011.”

He questioned the checks that were conducted on CHEC to ensure it was above board for what would be one of the country’s biggest projects after the US$200M Skeldon Factory.

“And a government that has not checked diligently the credentials of a company involved in a major construction and a major infrastructural work like this

is not worth the trust of the Guyanese people.”

With no transparent bidding process done to select CHEC, there could be accusations of kickbacks and bribes against the Guyana government, the Parliamentarian said.

“The parent company (CCCC) of China Harbour is a very corrupt company, according to the World Bank characterizations.”

Ramjattan likened the situation to former New York police commission, Bernard Kerik, who has been jailed on fraud and corruption charges in the US. Guyana had contemplated hiring him to help restructure the police force.

According to Ramjattan, it would be ludicrous to hear the government arguing that because Kerik was not jailed in Guyana that he would still be considered for the contract.

“Based on that, how the contract was entered into, we Guyanese must regard it as void ab initio (void from the beginning). Even before it was entered into, it was no

AFC’s Khemraj Ramjattan contract, and it should be rescinded forthwith.”

Yesterday also, Puran said “perhaps it is time the name of the person who did the due diligence of CHEC be made public. There must be no place for those who pillage the public purse to hide. For the time being, chastisement in the public court of opinion will have to take the place of punishment of the court of punishment.”

Page 14

Kaieteur News

Wednesday June 06, 2012

- escape with $$M in booty A woman who had been in the jewellery business for over 20 years got a shock of her life early yesterday morning when she turned up at her Stabroek Market stall to find that every valuable item in the stall was gone.

Owner of Cosmopolitan Jewellery, Radica Samuels, said she made the discovery at around 09:00 hours yesterday. Samuels said when she turned up at her stall and was opening the door she immediately realized that something was wrong.

The break-in occurred sometime on Monday night as the woman had secured her business that afternoon.

“Normally when we leaving the afternoon before we turn off all the lights, but as soon as we open the door we noticed that a light was on and we peep inside and then we see the safe wide open.”

The woman said after she got the door open she realized that her business place had been robbed of every possible valuable item.

A tearful Samuels said she had a large amount of cash as well as gold in the safe, along with all of the gold and diamond jewellery.

“Everything gone. Every piece of jewellery. Not even an earring I can find on the floor. They took everything.

Owner of Cosmopolitan Jewellery, Radica Samuels I don’t know how I can start back,” Samuels lamented.

The woman said about 15 years ago her business suffered a similar fate but at that is time she was able to rebuild her business.

“At this moment I don’t know what to do I don’t know what I will do. Starting over is hard now with the gold prices, and this now means that I’m in debt, because I had jewellery for people who brought their stuff to repair.”

The perpetrators reportedly made their way into the premises by cutting

through a metal roof and then through a wooden ceiling.

The businesswoman questioned whether the robbery was an inside job since, according to her, security guards responded to the alarm going off, but were told by City Constables that they could not enter the market.

“I can’t believe this, these people use a torch to cut the metal plate at the top. You mean to tell me the city constables didn’t hear the noise? And secondly, how these people enter the market with the equipment to cut?”

Samuels asked.

The woman said she was informed by MMC Security officials that the alarm to her stall went off and they responded promptly.

However, they were denied entry by the city constables on duty. When this publication visited the scene yesterday the market was shut tight and the gates guarded by armed constables.

This did not go down well with other stall owners who felt that this should have been the case before the robbery.

By noon yesterday, police had already taken fingerprints from the glass cases which were in the premises.

“Why they locking up now? What they hope to

One of the two safes which were cut open find? All this security should be at the market nighttime to protect people’s property.

We pay large fees and we get poor service,” one male stall owner lamented. Another questioned whose stall would be next since he feels their assets are not properly protected at night given the fact that a break-in of that magnitude occurred while city constables were on duty.

Kaieteur News understands that police officials are spearheading the investigation and are likely to question the city constables who were on duty Contacted yesterday, City Hall’s Public Relations Officer Royston King defended the on-duty constables.

According to King, preliminary investigations indicated that the burglary was an ‘inside job.’

“We suspect that what happened was done by

someone secluded inside the market. The thieves could have secluded themselves (overnight) in another stall and just waited for the market to open next day.

“We had situations where stallholders broke into the stalls of other stallholders.

This appears to be an inside job and we have called in the Guyana Police Force to assist with investigations.”

King said investigations also suggest that the thieves also hid their equipment overnight in the market.

“We have scoured the market and have not found the torch and other equipment…it may have been stashed away in another stall.”

He revealed that there was a similar burglary on Monday night at the Bourda Market, but that the items have been recovered. He added that investigators believe that they know who

the perpetrators are.

King also said he had not received any report that personnel from a security firm were denied entry to the market after turning up at the scene.

“We have no such information. The information that we have is that the security firm were not aware (of the burglary) until the next day.”

The City Hall spokesman explained that in the past, the city constables were posted inside the markets, but this ceased due to “all kinds of allegations” that were leveled against the constables.

On loiterers and criminal elements in the markets, King said that City hall had raised this issue “many statutory meetings ago.”

He said that the City Hall is “poorly resourced” but is trying its best despite the constraints.

The neatly cut hole in the ceiling through which the perpetrators gained entry to the business place

Wednesday June 06, 2012

Kaieteur News

Baby dies, starvation suspected - Mom in custody

The shack in which the family of seven lives Police, on Monday evening, detained a Sophia mother of six in relation to the death of her six-month-old baby boy. Ranks that launched an investigation into the matter are of the belief that the infant’s death most likely resulted from starvation and neglect.

The results of a post mortem are currently being awaited.

The dead child’s mother, Robin Moore, 30, was taken to the Turkeyen Police Station along with her 14year-old son around 19:00 hours Monday for questioning. Moore told investigating ranks that she left her ‘E’ Field Sophia home on Sunday last around 17:45 hours in search of money.

She said that she was forced to leave her children behind in the care of their eldest sibling, the 14 year-old.

She said that upon her return, 24 hours later, the baby, whose only name was given as “Two-Two”, was motionless. Moore said that as she returned home she had immediately gone to the baby - who she thought was asleep, and began her failed attempt to breastfeed him.

She said that she noticed the baby’s mouth was open, but that there were no other bodily movements. It was then she realized the baby was dead.

According to neighbours, Moore raised an alarm about 18:30 hours on Monday and they rushed to her aid only to be greeted by the sight of the dead infant in the arms of his mother. One neighbour said that the confused mother then shoved the baby in her arms “…and when I realize that de

baby dead I give she back and then she continue fuh cry and still try fuh feed de child”.

The commotion attracted a gathering and someone called the police who soon arrived and took statements from the neighbours before taking Moore and her eldest son to the station for further questioning.

Neighbours stated that Moore’s leaving her children under the supervision of their older sibling was a regular feature. “Sometimes she would lef dem in the house fuh days and is we does got to give them things.”

An immediate neighbour said that she suspected something was going on with the children, but her imagination did not go that far. According to the woman, quite early Monday morning, the children went over in her yard and told her that the mother had not yet returned since she left the previous day and the older brother, along with a cousin, went to the ‘blacka’ and left them home without anything to eat and that they were starving.

“I tell dem I ain’t had no tea, but I make bake and dem coulda get that. Me give them and dem went back over to the house. She added that about 10:00 hrs, the teenage boy went across to her yard and ask her if she had any “hot tea” to which she responded in the negative until he explained to her that all the baby had since his mother’s departure the previous day was water.

“I had to ask he, wait not another thing else? And he say no, so me had to go inside and make tea and I give he”.

She said that he later told her

that when the baby was given the tea he drank a little then regurgitated it “…and he look at me and tell me he drink de rest cause he thought de baby belly full, even though he know all de baby had was water.”

Another neighbour recalled that Sunday when Moore was leaving she called out to her and asked her to give food to the younger two, which she did. According to her, the children’s father, who works in the interior, sent money for the children two times last month. “One time he send $25,000 and a next time he send $10,000… I know ‘cause is I does collect it.”

The woman said that she told Moore not to spend lavishly as she usually does whenever she gets money but “she say is she own and I lef she.”

This newspaper understands that only one of three children of school age was in school.

“Lately, like two months now, she and all stop go to school ‘cause Robin seh she ain’t get money fuh send de lil girl to school and no snack fuh give she.

“I tell Robin fuh get she ready and I would a give she li’l a whatever me children carry, but not even dat she ain’t do”.

The Children are now said to be staying with a relative while Moore remains in police custody.

A mini health check is the first step to donating blood

Page 19

Pregnant 15-year-old threatens suicide if lover goes to jail A 15-year-old girl is threatening suicide if the law takes its course against her 23-year-old lover who impregnated her.

The girl, who hails from the Amerindian mission of Moraikobai, is five months pregnant.

She was rescued from a house at Wash Clothes, Mahaicony, and is presently being housed at the Amerindian Hostel in Mahaicony, while her lover is a guest of the police at the Mahaicony Station lock-ups.

Police are seeking the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions on how to proceed with the matter since although the girl has not reached the age of consent, the parents of the teenager and the man have reportedly agreed to the relationship.

Having sexual intercourse with a person under aged 16

is a criminal offence in Guyana.

Kaieteur News understands that the neighbours of the man had observed the teenager living at the man’s Wash Clothes, Mahaicony residence for a while and tried to contact the authorities since she appeared to be under the age of consent.

But their efforts paid little dividends. It was not until they noticed the girl’s stomach rising that they moved a step further and contacted the police.

When the police arrived they found the teenager living in the house with the 23-year old man.

They were both taken to the Mahaicony Station where they were questioned.

Police learnt that the teenager comes from an impoverished household and her mother reportedly cannot

afford to send her to school regularly.

Initially, the girl told police that she was 17 years old but later recanted and gave her true age when pressured by investigators.

The male suspect in his defence claimed that the girl had fooled him and his parents, too, claiming that she was 17 years old.

However, police believe that he and his parents were fully aware that the teenager was attending school when they took her into their home.

Officials at the Mahaicony Amerindian Hostel are keeping a close eye on the teen and are constantly monitoring the progress of her pregnancy.

Only last week, a 12-yearold gave birth to a baby boy, after she was reportedly raped by her stepfather. The stepfather is presently in custody.

Man found with gunshot wounds…

Relative says no signs of improvement The 46-year-old man who was found in his bathroom with two gunshot wounds to the abdomen three Mondays ago is still a patient at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC)’s Intensive Care Unit.

Kenneth Melville, a gold miner and a licensed firearm holder of 30 Tuschen Housing Scheme, East Bank Essequibo (EBE) is currently on life support at the hospital, battling for his life for almost three weeks.

According to the man’s sister, Maisey, since her brother was shot, he has not regained consciousness and

is not showing any signs of improvement.

She added that a few days after her brother was shot, one of her sisters received a text message from an unknown person. She explained that the text message was “threatening” and contained information concerning her brother’s shooting.

The family is now contemplating whether Melville’s injuries were selfinflicted or someone had shot him.

Kaieteur News was told that Melville has no problem with anyone but he was once

involved with a woman for about six months. According to relatives, the woman “made his life hell” and had threatened to harm him.

There has been no information of the woman’s whereabouts since Melville was shot.

On May 20, last, Melville was found in his bathroom by one of his sisters. It was reported that the man was bleeding profusely and the gun was found next to him.

He was rushed to the Leonora Cottage Hospital and was later transferred to GPHC, where he has remained a patient.

Page 20

Kaieteur News

Wednesday June 06, 2012

OAS member states agree steps must Granger criticises Trafficking in Persons efforts be taken to improve food security The member countries of the Organization of American States (OAS), meeting in Cochabamba, Bolivia, have underscored the need for action to improve food security in the Americas, including current and future proposals to provide their citizens with access to abundant, safe and nutritious food.

This was the consensus coming out of the second plenary of the forty-second OAS General Assembly. The plenary ran from Monday into yesterday.

The heads of delegation of Haiti, Nicaragua, United States, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, Honduras, Panama, St Kitts and Nevis, Dominican Republic, and Grenada gave an overview of existing obstacles to food security, noting steps taken by their countries to combat malnutrition and chronic hunger. The member state representatives also pledged to seek regional solutions, through the OAS. Guyana’s Foreign Minister, Carolyn RodriguesBirkett, warned that food insecurity represented “scary problems for humanity”, and could unfold more quickly than expected. Part of the problem she identified as a gap between food production and demand due to the nature of international food trade and price volatility.

She said her delegation had urged the OAS to strengthen coordination with IICA (InterAmerican Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture) to promote research and development, strengthen national capacities, and promote science, technology and innovation.

Ambassador Carmen Lomellin, permanent representative of the United States to the OAS, spoke about her country’s efforts to tackle world hunger, the obstacles that this challenge presents, and possible

Foreign Minister, Carolyn RodriguesBirkett avenues to solution in the Americas. She explained that the United States was deeply committed to food security, noting that, shortly after taking office, President Obama spoke about tackling global hunger and food security as one of the top priorities of his administration. Real food security, explained Lomellin, depends on eliminating barriers to trade in agricultural products. The United States representative concluded by expressing her hope that the Assembly would mark a turning point to guide member states to return to their core values and to work together.

Ambassador Neil Parsan, permanent representative of Trinidad and Tobago to the OAS, said that food security was ultimately the responsibility of each national government, and should be reflected as a priority in the budgets of each country. He said the issue of food security, combined with the intrinsic vulnerability of our region, constitutes a serious threat to the wellbeing of our peoples.

The envoy lamented his country’s high level of dependence on foreign food sources, but was optimistic about the future.

“Trinidad and Tobago

remains optimistic that, with national, hemispheric, and international action, we can ensure that our citizens have reliable access to the food they need,” Parsan stated.

The permanent representative of Suriname to the OAS, Niermala HindoriBadrising, said that the issue of food security and access to food should be a priority in national and international policies. In that regard, she said that food security in our region depended on prices and their impact on the accessibility to food, especially for the most vulnerable groups, which explains why our region was the most unequal in the world.

The Surinamese diplomat added that one measure to solve this problem was regional and international cooperation, and an obvious need to invest in agricultural technology. According to Hindori-Badrising, priority must be given to publicprivate partnership to promote these policies. She predicted that food securityrelated issues would continue to occupy the agenda of countries.

Ambassador Jacinth Henry-Martin of St Kitts and Nevis said that because of the impact of natural disasters on food production, her country has needed to seek international help to manage and mitigate the risks caused by natural disasters. Even amidst the growing uncertainty in the global food market characterized by natural disasters, reliance on biofuels, and escalating food prices, this hemisphere has been able to feed itself, she noted. Henry-Martin added that dialogue among the nations of the Americas should be the way to reconcile differences. “There is no cost whatsoever but, to the contrary, it is always worth the cost of investing in peace,” she said.

Opposition Leader David Granger, APNU MP Amna Ally and Annette Ferguson at the meeting with the delegation of the Women and Gender Equality Commission.

Brigadier (retd) David Granger, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, has criticised the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) administration’s failure to act decisively to stamp out the scourge of trafficking in persons.

Citing the US Department of State’s annual ‘Trafficking in Person’s Report’ which “usually gives Guyana an unfavourable ‘Tier 2’ ranking”, Granger called on the Government to reorganize the Guyana Police Force to enable it to enforce the law and comply with international conventions against trafficking.

“The Government must restructure the police in the hinterland and establish more

manageable divisions there.

More policemen and women must be recruited and equipment and resources must be provided since much of the trafficking occurs in the difficult terrain of mining and logging sites,” he advised.

Granger said that Guyana’s biggest problems with regard to human trafficking are those of poor enforcement by the police and the widespread perception by perpetrators that their crimes will go unpunished.

He pointed to reports in the press about under-age girls being lured into the interior to seek employment and others being found at ‘sex camps’ in the hinterland.

The Opposition Leader

recently met with members of the Women and Gender Equality Commission at his office and called on them to adopt an inter-party approach to human trafficking.

He said that it had become clear that, on its own, the government seemed unable to cope with the crime.

Granger warned that the virulence and persistence of the plague of trafficking in persons over the past two decades demands new official attitudes and approaches.

He called on the PPP/C administration to establish a special Commission to investigate human trafficking and to promulgate a comprehensive national counter-trafficking enforcement strategy.

Murder of US-based citizen…

Bulletin issued for suspect Police have issued a bulletin for Pooran Jaundoo who is wanted for questioning in relation to the murder of US- based Guyanese Abdul Majid.

Majid’s battered body, with scalp missing, was found on April 27 at the Number 56 Village, Corentyne Foreshore.

The remains were only identified on May 16, last, when a brother visited Guyana after becoming suspicious about his (Majid) wife’s behaviour.

The woman and two other persons have already been charged with his murder and were remanded to prison.

Police are convinced that Jaundoo played a role in the

murder and are eager to question him.

According to the bulletin issued yesterday, the suspect is 22 years old and his last known addresses are Lot 57 New Housing Scheme, Belvedere Settlement, Berbice; 2nd Street, Overwinning, Greater New Amsterdam and Lot 31 Section ‘B’, Cotton Tree, WCB. Anyone with information that may lead to the arrest of Pooran Jaundoo, is asked to contact the police on telephone numbers: 3333876, 333-2191, 333-2151, 2258196, 225-6411, 911 or the nearest police station.

All information will be treated with strict confidence.

Wanted: Pooran Jaundoo

Wednesday June 06, 2012

Kaieteur News

CARICOM tutors more environmental negotiators A five-day training intervention on negotiation skills for junior environmental negotiators ended in St Kitts and Nevis on Friday, last, with the consensus that negotiators play a vital role in the process of implementing Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs).

The workshop, which was organized by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat in collaboration with the Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development (FIELD) forms part of the Community’s thrust to build the capacity of Member States to comply with the several MEAs related to the Caribbean. The project is funded by the European Union, supported by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and implemented by the CARICOM Secretariat.

More than 35 participants received certificates on Friday, indicating their successful completion of a rather comprehensive intervention in which they acquired skills in preparing for negotiations; engaging in negotiations; interpreting negotiation texts and understanding MEAs. In underscoring the importance of negotiators in MEAs, Project Coordinator Dr. Therese Yarde stated that they were the people who represented the interests of the Community and the region.

“They help to see that our concerns are addressed, that our needs are met and that our particular situations as developing countries, and, for many of us, small island developing states, are taken into account,” she stated.

Dr. Yarde added that

negotiators were the ones who helped to broker and secure decisions that supported administrations in the drive for environmental sustainability, and facilitated compliance with MEA obligations.

In the closing ceremony, she told the participants that she was confident that the training they received would increase their understanding of MEA mechanisms, and enhance their ability to contribute to the goal of sustainable development and sound environmental management in the Caribbean.

She further urged participants to return to their respective countries and institutions, to share with their colleagues the knowledge and the resources they had acquired, noting that by transferring their skills to the wider Department or Ministry, they would help to build … continuity and strong institutional memory.

Mr. Randolph Edmead, Director of the Department of Physical Planning and Environment in the Ministry of Health and Environment, St Kitts and Nevis pointed to the timeliness of the training intervention, explaining that the 14 countries represented at the workshop were in the final stages of preparation for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, the RIO+20 Conference in Rio de Janeiro later this month.

He pointed out that many of the MEAs that were established to govern global environmental management had their genesis at the historic Rio Earth Summit 20 years ago. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Convention on Biodiversity

(CBD); and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) were all outcomes of that Summit, he explained.

“I can assure you that many of the skills you have garnered here will be put to use by many country delegations that will be present at Rio+ 20,” he added, and charged the trainees to seize and create opportunities to utilize the skills for sustainable development of the region.

Speaking on behalf of the trainees, Mr. Sean Sealy, Research Officer in the Ministry of Environment and Drainage, Barbados declared the workshop one of the best he had attended.

He singled out the facilitators, the training materials, the issues and topics addressed and the simulation exercises as some of the factors, which contributed to the success of the intervention. Noting that “generally it was felt that the workshop’s value was equal to a semester ’s worth of postgraduate classes,” he also pointed to the rich diversity of participants at the workshop.

“While we are all Caribbean neighbours, we represent various ministries…we also had diversity in language…and this diversity allowed us to bring our own unique perspectives and experiences to the table so we could better learn from each other.”

Facilitator Joy Hyvaerinen, Executive Director of FIELD said the workshop was indeed a phenomenal success and stated that she was most impressed with the CARICOM Secretariat’s management of the project and the workshop.

Page 21

Lands & Surveys employees honoured

Staffers of the Lands and Surveys Commission at the entity’s anniversary celebrations Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC) yesterday commemorated its 11th anniversary with a ceremony in recognition of its employees’ contribution towards the entity’s development.

Employees were bestowed with special prizes and certificates for their long service and punctuality in the presence of Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Robert Persaud and Permanent Secretary, Office of the President, Omar Shariff, at a special ceremony held on the lawns of the Commission in Durban Backlands.

Prime Minister Hinds in congratulating the commission outlined some of his continued expectations of the staff and the commission.

The staffers were urged that

as they participate in the process of service of the commission that they should ensure that all they do so is meaningful to the growth and development of Guyana, so as to accelerate this growth and development.

Staff, according to a government release, was also counseled to rise above the challenges of the job and issues of conflict and integrity, and to ensure that they keep abreast of and stay ahead of technology as it evolves with regards to the services provided by the commission.

Minister Persaud, in addressing the employees, spoke of how critical the commission is and the role it plays in the nation’s development embedded in the agency of managing, planning and ensuring the effective utilisation of the country’s land resources and

the commission’s potential to impact on other agencies and areas of development.

Minister Persaud said the agency is pivotal to economic growth and social development and it makes the lives of Guyanese easier.

Persaud applauded the substantial progress that the commission made over the years but called for building of the human capacity at the Commission.

Among some of the employees honoured for their long service to the commission are Florence Bart (for 32 years of service) and Jennifer Loncke and Carlotta Major, who received special prizes for being the most punctual. Special awards were also handed out to Tedwin Roach, David Cole and Rayburn Holder, among others.

Andre Mohamed was named Employee of the Year.

Page 22

Kaieteur News

WANTED Guards for Land of Canaan location, accommodation available Call: 676-6700

SALON Make up courses, artist trained & certified in Trinidad: 660-5257,647-1773

Wanted to buy, Washiba Squares & Logs. Call Jettoo’s Lumberyard & Sawmill @ 261-5041 or 2615042

Qualify yourself in Cosmetology or nails, make up, Register, Limited spaces.

Call Abby: 216-1950, 6197603, 666-5241

Office Clerk, CXC English/ mathematics. 225-0188, 2256070

Cosmetology courses Call: 225-6026,682-2604

1 Dispatcher, Classic Ride Taxi Service, EBD Call: 2335227 Experience Interior drivers Call Paul : 592-646-6730,592225-1939 Live-in attractive waitress.

Tel# 228-5129 East Coast Guyoil pump attendants wanted (day and night), wash man, office assistant & sales girls. 6842838, 602-5031

June offer, pedicure $2000, manicure $800, hand tips $2000, toe tips $700 Call Fiona: 651-9418 FOR SALE NARS lipgloss, eyeshadow & Clinique Chubby Stick. Tel: 669-8374.

WANTED

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

US & Canada VISA application services. Call 643-6630. Family discounts available.

We refill HP cartridges for $1,800. Call:650-7699 Visa and Immigration forms prepared for Canada, USA and UK. Also Passport forms. Call 626-9857 Repairs, sales & spares, air conditioning, microwaves, washer, fridges & Stoves.

Ultra Cool: 225-9032, 647-2943 ONLINE SHOPPING NO COMMISSION, WEEKLY S H I P M E N T S , AFFORDABLE RATES, FREE PRIVATE MAILBOX. TEL: 231-5789.

FREIGHTLINKEXPRESS@ GMAIL.COM WE FILL OUT PASSPORT & VISA FORMS: USA, UK & CANADA. TEL: 231-5789

Garden maintenance crew, no education needed. Neatness & hardworking is a must,1830 years Tel: 648-1821

Electrical installation domestic & commercial maintenance & repairs also AC installation , estimates , call Marlon Tel: 216-0934,626-6298 or 669-8992

Porters; male & female, to work in Grocery Shop, Stabroek Market. Call: 2269800

7:45am -5pm Salesperson + plant maintenance staff for #1 Plant Shop,70 Sheriff Street. Secondary education a must. Tel: 648-1821

HOUSEHOLD PLAN DRAFTING FOR ONLY $10,000 Call: 694-9843

Contract cars. Must be in Hire & Yellow. Base free. $3500 weekly. Call 660-9977

Live-in/Live-out babysitter/ clerk/domestic. 225-0188/ 225-6070

1- Male cleaner. Apply Technical Services Inc., Eccles 18-23 Industrial Site EBDem.

Two (2) experience block makers, Super concrete blocks, Eccles Industrial Estate Tel: 233-5517

Dredge workers Tel: 6232728,618-1967,667-5717

1 mechanic to work in the interior. 688-4905

Urgently needed, live-in waitresses to work in Bar. Attractive salary offer. Tel# 259-0574

Skilled Lathe Operator.

Excellent rates. Tel: 22-71830

Taxi drivers (yellow) Tel: 2253234 Tailors @ B. Paul Tailoring Establishment, 14 Lombard St. Tel: 223-8266, 680-8046

Male tool room clerk, computer literate. Apply Technical Services Inc. 1823 Eccles Industrial Site EBDem Call: 614-4358 Cashiers, porters, drivers and salesman. Lot10 Vlissengen Rd. Survival Wholesale Bond.

One experienced hire car driver Contact Mrs. Z.Marques at 11 Thomas St. Kitty Tel: 226-7948, 646-6000 Live in domestic Mon-Sat, no cooking, no washing Call: 639-7700 One experienced driver.

Apply Hack’s Halaal Restaurant, 5 Commerce St. Sales girls. 10 Bent and Camp Streets. Apply in person with written application. 227-7182.

1 kitchen assistant/cook to cook for family in the interior.

688-4905 1 Carnegie trained cook 2035yrs Call: 614-4358 1- Small engine mechanic,1handyman Call: 2332408,233-2631 General domestic age 2535yrs Call: 233-5450 Sawmill workers Call: 6539752,261-6412 Labourers to work on wood concession , accommodation provided $4000 per day Call: 653-6236 Wanted immediately (1) rip saw operator to work @ East Bank Sawmill, salary commensurate with experience. Call: 609-8727,6259475 Waitress & experienced cook @ Mambo’s Bar,93 Bar St. Kitty Call: 678-1481

Service and repairs to gasstoves, deep fryers, washing machines, electrical stoves Call: 686-6209 We repair fridge, freezer, AC ,washer, dryer Call: 231-0655, 683-8734 Omar.

Bulah Enterprise Inc. seeks interior charter Call: 592-6466730,5692-225-1939 Hello, the doctor is back!!

Have your gas stove repaired and serviced. Tel: 601-0595, 220-4073, 220-5785 Mining exploration, professional recruitment and business support services www.iksservices.com Tel: 223-1719 Do you need? Excavator operator, project manager, security officer, driver Call IKS Services 223-1719 Millennia Travel Service Agency, City Mall 6688000,669-0700. For all your travel arrangements.

Do you need a female bahir (cook) or bartender to work in interior? Call Andrea: 6921798,652-7355

MASSAGE American style massage service Call: 609-4036

Wednesday June 06, 2012

PROPERTY FOR SALE House & land, Diamond, E.B.D. Tel: 677-3472 Property for sale at EnmoreFoulis. Contact 2550584 or 696-3186 South $10M, Kitty $25M, Newtown $18M, Alberttown $21M,Church street $39M Call Diana 227-2256,626-9382 House at Friendship, double lot Neg. Tel: 270-4149,6478595 20x40 Two flat concrete building @ Kitty. All amenities. Price $23M to be seen. Call: 668-9512,223-2570

FOR SALE 6 brand new in box IPod touch. 8GB $60,000, 32GB $75,000. Price neg. Contact: 686-5004 Brand new American made Crosely 10.5 cu ft Refrigerator for sale $75,000.

626-4452/697-5677 Going cheap, foreign used Perkins Engines, pressure & clutch plates, hydraulic pumps. 661-3043 (2)60-180 Leyland DAF I working condition Call: 6281756,228-5655 1 Tundra, 1 Perkins engine & Welder 400 amps. Call: 6605462, 611-5114 Spares for washer, microwaves, fridges, stovetimers, gear boxes, pumps, etc. Contact 225-9032, 647-2943

LAND FOR SALE 95 acres, transported land, W.B.D, Maria Lodge, fully drainage and aggregation. $40 million. Contact 266-5447 1½ acre V/Hoop 48ft x 1300ft, housing, parking lot, work shop, lumber yard, etc. Call: 627-9351 5 Acres Enmore Public Rd. ideally suited for (mall, hospital, housing scheme etc) Richard 609-7675,2332614 Land V/Hoop 3 acres: school, housing. Factory etc. Call: 658-0115 Grove H/S 86’ X 50’ G$4.5m, Land of Canaan Wharf 140’ X 50’ on lot 11.88 acres US$2.5m, Adventure Linden highway 150 acres G$40m 609 2302/645 2580/233 5711 Brickdam 96’X 63’ G$82m, Forshaw Street 118’ X 62’ G$72m, Eping Ave B.A.P 150’ X 100" US$500,000, Carmichael Street 100" X 62" US$500,000 609 2302/645 2580/233 5711 Ogle Seawall Rd 140’ X 100’ G$45m, Sophia Seawall Road 130" X 86’ US$550,000, Ogle Railway Corner 200’ X 78’ US$750,000, 609 2302/645 2580/233 5711

EDUCATIONAL Learn to speak Spanish in 1 month. Call: 673-1232 Princeton College. CXC Adults/Students. Slow learner classes. Day & Evening. January/May June 2013. 690-5008, 611-3793 Practical Electrical Installation course $25,000 Call: 227-3091,622-7036,6610515

Games for PSP $900, PS2 $900, XBox 360 $2600, PS3 $2600, XBox, Wii. Junior 6722566, 265-3231 One ERF hauler and 45FT trailer in contact Call: 6534455 Pallet Wrap & Plastic Film.

Tel: 231-8819 Big blow out sale at Lot 29 Croal Street Enterprise, kids shoes $200 and lots more.

Call:664-2209 5 Acres fully developed farm Pearl, EBD,16000 chicken pens capacity, bearing fruit trees. Call: 689-9991, 2275362.

Property Lot8 Smyth Street (opposite License Office) Contact owner directly 6531015,665-1452 Complete floristry equipment & supplies, variety of paints, office chairs, one electric stove (GE) Call: 623-1575 Brand new Blackberry Torch 9800, under $100,000. Call: 676-7443 Pine lumber for sale @ River View Wood products Inc. Address: 164-165 Friendship EBD Call: 266-0296,639-2577 15" Celestion speakers 1600 watts, one complete stage, size 24ftx20ft Call: 644-3390 or 667-7511 Dell Computers, complete with LCD monitor, $59,000. Tel: 225-3709, 691-2077, 641-0537 Eight week old mixed breed Tibetan Terrier and Pekingese Tel: 644-1972,661-2837,6441965 Pitbull pups Tel:225-6137 Electric threadmill, no reasonable offer refused Tel: 662-7398,621-2453 Cricket bowling machine with automatic feeder and balls. Priced at $1.2Million for quick sale Call: 689-0305

VEHICLES FOR SALE Just arrived: Allion and Premio, tel: 624-2000, 622-1610 1 White Toyota Runx/Allex $2.1M neg. Fully loaded. Tel: 227-0568, 691-4897 Corolla Wagon, excellent condition Tel: 677-7666,6107666 International Tow Truck with flat aluminum bed; takes two vehicles. Call: 639-3900, 619-5400 1 2004 Honda Civic AT, music, excellent condition.

PMM series. One year in taxi, $1,750,000. Contact 6505567 PPP series Alteza, fully loaded. Tel: 677-7666, 6107666 Two (2) Nissan Titan; year 2004. LE and SE model; new tires $3.5M and $3.7M, price neg. Contact 681-3300.

Toyota RAUM, black, fully loaded, never register year 2000 Call: 269-0432,686-0323 3 Ton freezer canter, unregistered Call: 617-2891 First Class Auto. Allion, Premio, NZE, Fielder, AT212, Carina & Raum. Tel# 6098188, 602-6307 Two door Jeep with Toyota engine open/ closed back manual, cheap Call: 2690432,686-0323 GMC Tw truck, scrap 720 Nissan pick up,one industrial lathe Call Richard 609-7675,233-2614,610-2506 1 RZ minibus in excellent condition Call: 675-3093 2002 Toyota RAV 4 $3.7 Neg., fully loaded,2000 Toyota VITZ $1.9 Neg. ,PNN series Tel: 276-0229,641-0909 3 ton enclosed & open back canter, unregistered. 6172891 Toyota Prado, 2004 Prado, 2005 Mark II GX110, 2005 Tundra. All fully loaded.

Excellent condition. Call: 600-5759 Hummer H2 Sut Model 22" rims, DVD sound system Call: 639-7700 One EP 71 Starlet Auto, 1 Toyota Ceres, 212, 192, RZ minibus. 1- 2 seater Go Cart.

Tel: 644-5096, 697-1453.

1 Toyota RUNX gold, PMM, bodykit, AC, music, fully loaded, year 2001 asking price $2.3 Call: 615-4317 Leading Auto, unregistered Allion, Premio, Runx, Fielder, Raum,212, Verossa Call: 6777666,610-7666 2004 Mazda RX8, fully loaded, unregistered $2.9M 617-2891 (Continued on page 23)

Wednesday June 06, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 23

Letters... Where your views make the news

Brigadier Granger should not be leader of the PNCR DEAR EDITOR, In an article captioned “No Common view on who should lead the PNCR” in the June 3, 2012 edition of the Stabroek News, the author quoted Brigadier Granger as saying that he will be contesting the leadership of the People’s National Congress Reform at its 17th Biennial Congress scheduled for July 27 – July 28.

While I respect the goodly gentleman’s ambition to vie for the PNCR top post, I will urge him to rethink his candidature and at the same time, beseech the delegates to this congress not to make Brigadier Granger the next leader of the party.

I have nothing against Brigadier Granger since I view him as an honourable man but to me he has a number of

DEAR EDITOR, This letter is regarding the article that was published in the Kaieteur News on Sunday June 03, 2012 on page nine entitled “Female decomposed body found in home”.

I am highly annoyed at the manner in which the police force has acted toward the death of the woman who was found murdered in her house at Vergenoegen.

It has been established that the deceased woman has a mentally challenged daughter who was left alone to wander in the streets after the body of her mother was taken away.

A good spirited citizen saw the physically

challenged girl on the road and rendered assistance to her.

Surprisingly, this good spirited individual was arrested for questioning in relation to the murder of the woman whose body was discovered.

This is just a blatant waste of time! The police should be using this time to find the actual perpetrator instead of punishing an individual for doing what he thought was morally right.

If this is the message that the police want to send to persons who choose to be good Samaritans then the future does not bode well for Guyana.

D. Somwaru

The police send the wrong message

A pattern of loose and...

From page 4 National Road Authority and award the contract to Hawk International.

It is of interest to note that Hawk International’s bid was 86.8 billion Uganda shillings, while China Road and Bridge Company’s bid was 134.6 billion shillings, a difference of some 47.9 billion Uganda shillings.

Mr Edgar Agaba, head of the Uganda Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority discovered inconsistencies in the technical evaluation process and was concerned about price differences between China Communications Construction Company and Hawk International.

He stated that his review was carried out with a view to ensuring value for money in the procuring process.

Regarding these and similar practices, James Adams, World Bank Vice President for East Asia noted, “Misuse of public money is a problem for everyone. It deprives the poorest people of the development funds that are so vitally needed, and it undermines public confidence in public and private institutions”.

Perceptive Guyanese presented with the fiat accompli of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport project and the apparent lack of due diligence by the relevant authorities, are not surprised because what they see here conforms to a pattern of loose and irresponsible dealings that have characterized the tenure of the PPP administration.

F. A. Stephenson

fundamental shortcomings that makes him ineligible to be the next leader of the PNCR in this new dispensation.

At this junction of its history the People’s National Congress Reform needs a leader who can first reunite the party, then mobilise the resources – human and financial – to re-engineer the party from the bottom up.

Unfortunately, Brigadier Granger squandered an excellent opportunity to demonstrate this virtue when he was elected the presidential candidate for the PNCR and subsequently APNU. He failed to marshal the other presidential candidates – a task he committed to days after his election.

More recently with the open dissention in views Brigadier Granger adopted an acrimonious posture, called people names and used condescending terms to party members.

I have no doubt in my mind that if Brigadier Granger had the capacity to unite the party and mobilise the financial and human resources during his eightmonth tenure as the presidential candidate, APNU would have defeated the PPPC at those elections.

The PNCR needs a decisive but flexible leader who will demonstrate resoluteness on the bases of principles and not political convenience.

The PNCR needs a leader who can motivate and inspire a wide range of people to volunteer their services to restore the brilliance of the party, not a central command structure that will effectively convert the party in to a military style regiment. Since the party do not have financial resources to pay for these expertise.

Here again Brigadier Granger’s leadership lacked during the last election since

Supporting Winston...

From page 4 this, by any standard, is a huge company. These achievements should make the whole of Guyana proud, but did you mention them in your “fair and balanced” reporting?

No; apart from taking his picture from the website, you chose to say nothing about this. Anyone in the USA would know that given these achievements, Jonathan Brassington’s company should easily eclipse the whole of Hand-in-Hand, not just its Trust company. This, dear Editor, is relevant information.

My last point is that the sale of shares, seven years after the privatization, is by international standards an eternity after. If we put this sale in international business perspective, the sale from NICIL would be ancient history.

By the way, in the USA, even if Brassington was an insider and even if Hand-inHand Trust were a public company, the trade to his brother would not be illegal if all the necessary disclosures were made and processes

followed.

Every day we hear of merger and acquisition activity, this is how it happens.

In other words, we readers would think much more of your newspaper, and be better able to formulate an opinion on the matter, if you did a little research and presented a holistic picture.

Your failure to do so presents your esteemed newspaper as a politically one-sided front.

As for me, I see no conflict of interest, nor insider trading, because none existed.

Please continue the good work and try to present the full picture in future.

Deochand Bikram Richmond Hill, Queens, NY EDITOR’S NOTE: You fail to appreciate that NICIL did buy shares when the volume was increased. You also failed to accept that Winston Brassington actually signed on behalf of his brother during the purchase of the 235 million shares, even as he continued to head NICIL.

a lot of people with much needed talent become disillusioned with the militarization of the campaign structure leaving no room for expert opinion.

With all of these shortcomings, his own utterances of separation of office, during the campaign for the presidential candidate and the impending national political challenge, it is my fervent view that Brigadier Granger should concentrate on his role of Opposition Leader and chairman of the APNU and allow someone who is more politically endowed to take the mantle of leadership of our great party.

Paul Rodman

(From page 22) TO RENT Office space ideal for Doctor’s office etc. 2 Rooms & bathroom, Lower Carmicheal St. Tel: 226-2181

VEHICLES FOR SALE 1 Toyota 4x4, V6. Tele: 642-4779 2004 Mazda Axela with spoiler, body-kit, chrome rims etc. price $2.50 Call owner: 600-1898

TO LET Furnished 2 bedroom apartment with hot & cold water & internet in Amelia’s Ward Linden Call: 6144415,444-4704 Diamond “AA” Prime location. Newly built apartment 2 & 3 bedrooms with parking, $75,000 – negotiable. 682-3483 Short term apartments, Eccles. Call: 679-7139

2005 BMW 3201,2007-2005 Allions, 2004 Avensis L 1some with TV &backcam Tel: 615-4114,665-4480 Hilux Solid Axle Pick-up. Just arrived. Tel: 222-2662, 6912077 One Allion- female driver,1 year old- automatic $2.6M Negotiable Call: 618-3093 Guyana Auto Sale.

Unregistered 2007 Tacoma, Solid Def Pick-up, Raum, Refrigerated and Dump Isuzu Truck. 227-1737

Apartments. Tel: 667-1549 East Street US650,US750, Alberttown US750, Nandy Park US1200, US1700, Diana 227-2256,626-9382 2 Bedroom upper flat with toilet & bath,2 bedroom lower with toilet & bath, Meten Meer Zorg WCD Call: 227-3743,626-0150 Excellent spot for offices/ school or other business, Camp St area Call Richard 609-7675,233-2614,610-2506 Furnished studio apartment (third floor) Call: 233-2770 TOURS Suriname 4 days Caricom Holiday weekend return. Trip June29-July2 Call: 6392663,665-5171,644-0185,2278290

VACANCY Pump Attendants. Apply @ Shell Service Station, Ramsburg, Providence, East Bank Dem. Tel# 265-7305 One female clerk. Call: 2315171 One live-in nanny/maid.

Location Kuru Kururu, long term employment Tel: 6561284 One refrigeration, washing machine technician Call: 2310655, 683-8734 Attractive salary for bright, well spoken sales assistant with 5 CXC. Write to P.O. Box 101599 Georgetown.

CAR RENTAL Progressive auto rental, cars from $4,000 per day. Call: 6435122, 656-0087, www.progressiveautorental.com Al’s Car & Pick-up Rental.

Call: 698-7807 Premio, 110 Corolla. Call: 6797139

LEARN TO DRIVE Soman & Sons Driving School; First Federation Building Call: 225-4858,6445166, 622-2872, 615-0964 Prudential learning “ Training to Pass” automatic also stick/ manual 642-4827. We’re #1

Page 24

Kaieteur News

Wednesday June 06, 2012

The Abigail Column DTV CHANNEL 8 08:55hrs. Sign On 09:00hrs. Live! With Kelly 10:00hrs. The A-Team 11:00hrs. The View 12:00hrs. Prime News 12:30hrs. The Young and the Restless 13:30hrs. The Bold and the Beautiful 14:00hrs. The Talk 15:00hrs. Boy Meets World 16:00hrs. Beverly Hills, 90210 17:00hrs. The Wayans Brothers 18:00hrs. World News 18:30hrs. Nightly News 19:30hrs. Greetings and Announcements 20:00hrs. Channel 8 News 21:00hrs. DTV’s Summer Movie Fest 23:00hrs. Sign Off NTN CHANNEL 18/ CABLE 69 05:00hrs -Sign on with the Mahamrtunjaya Mantra 05:10hrs - Meditation 05:30hrs - Queenstown Masjid Presents Quran This Morning 06:00hrs - R. Gossai General Store Presents Ram Bhajans 06:15hrs - Jettoo’s Lumber Yard Presents Ram Bhajans 06:30hrs - Muneshwar

Limited Presents Ram Bhajans 06:45hrs - Double Standard Taxi Presents Ram Bhajans 07:00hrs - RRT Enterprise Presents Ram Bhajans 07:15hrs - M & M Snackette Presents Raja Yoga Discourses 07:30hrs - Dr. Balwant Singh’s Hospital Inc Presents 07:45hrs - The Family of the Late Leila & David Persaud Presents Ram Bhajans 08:00hrs - Timehri Maha Kali Shakti Devi Mandir Presents Ram Bhajans 08:15hrs - NTN This Morning Live with Reyaz Husein 09:30hrs - Indian Soap Yahaan Mein Ghar Ghar Kheli 10:00hrs - Indian Soap - Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke 10:30hrs - Indian Soap - Pavitra Rishta 11:00hrs - Indian Soap - Mrs. Kaushik Ki Paanch Bahuyien 11:30hrs - Indian Soap - Punar Vivaah 12:00hrs - DVD Movie: KAL HO NAA HO (Eng: Sub:) *ing Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta & Saif Ali Khan 15:00hrs - Sitcom FRINGE Season 1 Episode 3 16:00hrs - Devotional Times 17:00hrs - Drying Tears Live

Guides are subjected to change without notice

with Pastor Edson 17:30hrs - Kingdom Agenda Hosted by Bishop Dr. J. Edgehill 18:00hrs - Ganesh Parts Presents - BHAGAVAD GITA ( Discourses in English) Serial 18:15hrs - Birthday Greetings/ Deaths Announcement & In Memoriam 18:30hrs - Hare Krishna Today 19:00hrs - Music Fantasia with Asif Nawaz 20:00hrs - Ashmins Presents DANCE WITH ME with Joel 21:00hrs - Indian Soap Yahaan Mein Ghar Ghar Kheli 21:30hrs - Indian Soap - Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke 22:00hrs - Indian Soap Pavitra Rishta 22:30hrs - Indian Soap - Mrs. Kaushik Ki Paanch Bahuyien 23:00hrs - Sign Off with the Gayatri Mantra NCN CHANNEL 11 02:00hrs – NCN Late Edition (R/B) 02:30hrs – Late Nite with GINA 03:00hrs – Movie 05:00hrs – Inspiration 05:30hrs – Newtown Gospel 06:00hrs – NCN Late Edition News(r/b) 06:30hrs – Feature 07:00hrs – Guyana Today 08:00hrs – Guysuco Roundup (R/B) 08:30hrs – Feature 09:00hrs – Stop the Suffering 10:00hrs – CCTV 11:00hrs – History 12:00hrs – CNN 12:30hrs – NCN Newsbreak 12:35hrs – GRA IN FOCUS 13:05hrs – Your Health the Nations Wealth (R/B) 14:00hrs – African Moves (R/ B) 15:00hrs – Feature 16:00hrs – Round Table (R/B) 17:00hrs – Anderson 18:00hrs – NCN News Magazine – Live 18:30hrs – Feature 19:00hrs – Al Jazeera 19:30hrs – Inside the Government(R/B) 20:00hrs – 3d/daily millions/ play de dream/lotto draw 20:05hrs – GWI Alert 20:35hrs – Oral Tradition 21:05hrs – NCN Sports Magazine 22:05hrs – NCN News Late Edition 22:35hrs – Caribbean Newsline 23:00hrs – Movie

Girl who gave up virginity now feels used by a jerk Dear Abigail, I am a 17-year-old girl and have just gotten out of a seven-month relationship. I was a virgin until this relationship. I told my boyfriend, ‘Gavin’ that I was a virgin and wanted to wait until I trusted him and felt that I loved him.

Well, the time came that I felt I did love and trust him,

so I went ahead and had sex with him. After one month, Gavin decided he was sick of me! It seems like as soon as we started having sex, things started going downhill. I feel so hurt and used; I’m now starting to view sex negatively.

I know I’m young and have years of relationships in front of me. But are all men just out there for sex? If they are, it just doesn’t seem worth it.

Hurt Dear Hurt, You have my sympathy. It appears that Gavin was more interested in the challenge you presented than in a lasting relationship. Not all men are that way, but most in your age group are because they are not yet emotionally or financially ready for a marriage commitment.

Remember that, and you may avoid future heartache.

Wednesday June 06, 2012 ARIES (March 21 - April 19): If you've been seeking success and finding frustration, today is the day to consider a few new tactics. Look at all the possible ways you could handle this situation. ******************* TAURUS (April 20 - May 20): Sometimes the road you're traveling on gets shrouded in fog. If that happens today, don't pull over and wait for the weather to clear. Time is not to be wasted, so keep going, slowly but surely, on the same path. ****************** GEMINI (May 21 - June 20): Usually the deeper you delve into preliminary research, the more confident you feel in your eventual decisions. But sometimes, if you look too deeply, you will find out things that just confuse you further. ******************** CANCER (June 21 - July 22): The good news is that your career is about to take a very exciting turn -- the bad news is that it might also take up a lot more of your personal time, at least for a while. Your past problems at work are all water under the bridge, and you have learned some very valuable lessons. ********************* LEO (July 23 - Aug. 22): Whatever problems there are around your home can wait a few more days to be resolved -- focusing on them too hard right now will only put more pressure on the situation. ******************* VIRGO (Aug. 23 - Sept.

22): Keep a friendly, approachable smile on your face today -- you need to encourage some withdrawn folks to bring you the idea or solution you've been waiting for! soon. ********************* LIBRA (Sept. 23 - Oct.

22): Your engine is all revved up, but there's really no place for you to go today ... all projects are moving forward nicely, and the people in your life are doing well. There will be no frantic phone calls or calls for your sage advice. So what to do with all this energy and time? ********************* SCORPIO (Oct. 23 - Nov. 21): It's all about the finishing touches today. Pay careful attention to grooming in the morning, and make sure you're stepping out the door dressed in the perfect look. ******************** SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 Dec. 21): The very first step to getting what (or who) you've been wanting is to express it. Saying it out loud makes it real and lets the universe know that you've got some expectations it can help fill. **************** CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 Jan. 19): Exercise a little bit of your power today, and you might start to enjoy the autonomy you have! If you say what you mean and ask for you what want, your willful behavior won't ruffle any feathers. ******************** AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 - Feb. 18): Right now, moving through your life without thinking too hard about what you are doing might not be such a bad idea. You are used to thinking things through -and that is certainly wise. But moving forward on a project does not always required a detailed road map. ********************* PISCE S ( F e b . 1 9 March 20): It is all well and good for someone to say that they are all about big ideas and helping mankind, but at a certain point they have to stop talking and start acting.

Wednesday June 06, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 25

ICC cricket committee’s recommendations Bolt promises to ‘wow’ ICC’s mixed bag for bowlers world at Olympics LONDON, England (AFP) — Usain Bolt has promised to “wow” the world with his performances at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

The Jamaica sprinter is the reigning Olympic 100 metres and 200 metres champion after some dazzling displays in Beijing four years ago, where he also helped the Caribbean island in the 4x100m relay gold medal.

World record-holder in both individual sprint disciplines, Bolt endured a relatively modest start to the European track season, but was back into top form when winning the Rome Diamond League 100m in 9.76 seconds on Thursday.

“I know I can go faster because this is the start of the season. I have a long way to go,” Bolt said in London on Friday, where he was launching Jamaica’s Bob Marley-inspired kit.

“I’m really looking forward to competing here. I haven’t competed in London for a while so I’m really looking forward to it.”

Bolt said he would seek inspiration from London’s Jamaican community, adding: “I know all the Jamaicans living here are looking forward to it also so I’m just preparing to put on a great show.

“At the end of the day I just want to wow people after this Olympics so I’m looking forward to it.”

Asked whether he will

Usain Bolt need to improve on 9.76secs to win gold, and whether he can go faster, Bolt said: “That’s what I do. The season is still e a r l y. E v e r y b o d y i s running 9.8, so that’s good competition. 9.7 is also good for me.

“I’m happy with the way it is and just want to continue working hard and run faster so I’m looking forward to it.

I’m ready to go.”

Bolt ‘only’ managed a 10.04sec run in winning the 100m in Ostrava last week, but he said: “I never doubt my ability, never. People forget, and I keep explaining to people, that athletes have bad days.

“Every athlete can — cricket, football, any sport — you have bad days and that was just one of mine and I got past it and now I’m just moving forward.”

Bolt’s triple Olympic triumph in Beijing was powered on a diet of chicken nuggets — but there will be no repeat of that in London. “The good thing about the fact we are in London is there will be a lot of Jamaican food — the only thing I have to worry about is putting on weight,” he said.

“There will be no chicken nuggets this year.”

The Jamaican kit was designed by Cedella M a r l e y, who drew inspiration from her father and his music. “We took the fit of what my dad would wear and updated it to 2012,” Marley said.

“You have the Iron Lion military jacket, the Buffalo Soldier shirt. I tried to incorporate the Bob Marley fit in as many pieces as possible where we were able to accommodate that.

“You did see dad on the jacket, right? So that’s a little piece of him that’s going to be in London.”

GFF tournaments continue this weekend

The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) will this weekend continue a number of competitions including their flagship, ‘Super League’ which attracts the best clubs in Guyana.

Super League action will take place at the Blairmont Community Centre Ground on Sunday when home team Rosignol United entertains Milerock from 14:45hrs at the same time, the BV Ground on the East Coast of Demerara will host a match between BK Team Alpha W. Tigers A. Ward Rosignol Pele Den Amstel Milerock Buxton Seawall Victoria Kings

GP 7 7 8 8 9 8 6 9 8 8

W 6 5 5 4 4 3 2 2 1 1

International Western Tigers and Victoria Kings.

On Saturday, Inter Association Under-19 double header action is fixed for either the BV or Tucville Grounds. Berbice will face Upper Demerara from 13:45hrs with Georgetown set to come up against West Demerara in the feature encounter.

On Friday June 15, at the GFC Ground, defending Super League champions Alpha United will lock horns D 1 1 0 1 1 3 2 1 2 1

L 0 1 3 3 4 2 2 6 5 6

PTS 19 16 15 13 13 12 8 7 5 2

with Milerock from 19:00hrs, while a double header is slated for Sunday June 17 at a venue to be decided.

Alpha United will match skills with Seawall FC while Den Amstel will oppose Western Tigers.

Alpha’s Anthony Abrams and Rosignol’s Delroy Fraser are the joint leading goal scorers with 10 each. Pele’s Marvin Joseph has 5.

Following is the latest Super League points standings.

GS 22 13 16 19 14 14 8 7 8 9

GA 5 5 17 14 15 12 8 19 14 21

GD 17 8 (1) 5 (1) 2 (12) (6) (12)

Cricinfo ICC Site - With the 50-over format going through so many changes, it’s fair to assume it had holes that needed to be plugged. The biggest of those is the disparity between bat and ball. Matches in which 300plus totals are scored and chased successfully can work only as an aberration and not as a norm. The moment one-day cricket becomes a competition between the batsmen of two sides, it isn’t any different from an extended Twenty20 game.

In order to correct this imbalance, the ICC cricket committee recommended several changes. The ICC’s general manager Dave Richardson feels they will “help enhance what is still an exceptionally popular form of the game,” but a closer look at the changes makes his statement sound hollow.

The decision to allow two bouncers in an over instead of one empowers the fast bowlers. In the current scenario, once the bouncer is out of the way, the batsman is likely to come down the track or line up for a reversesweep for the remainder of the over. So thumbs up to the fast bowlers. But this arrangement comes with a rider: There can be only four fielders, as opposed to five, outside the 30-yard circle for the non-Powerplay overs, which means there can’t be more than four fielders outside the inner ring throughout the match.

I wonder how Ravi Shastri, a former spinner and member of the committee, agreed to recommend such a move? While the ICC has addressed fast bowlers’ woes, spinners have got a raw deal. A year ago the same committee introduced the rule to use two new balls in an ODI innings, one at each end, which meant that in the 50th over, the ball was only 25overs old. This has had a radical impact on the way spinners operate. To their credit, they managed to stay relevant by bowling flatter and focusing on line and length rather than on spinning the ball. Turning the ball may be a spinner’s main weapon but to expect a new ball to grip and turn on good batting surfaces is ambitious.

Now, reducing the number of fielders outside the circle by one is going to make it tougher for spinners. If the recommendation is passed, a spinner will have to bring the sweeper-cover or deep midwicket or long-leg inside the circle, unless he sacrifices

a long-on or long-off.

With shorter boundaries, flat pitches and two new balls, the spinners already have it tough. If they lose an outfielder as well, they won’t have a choice but to bowl wicket to wicket with very little variety with regards to spin.

Now, an offspinner ’s doosra or a legspinner’s googly will become opportunities to score, for there won’t be protection in the deep. While these are tools for deception, they do get picked and batsmen will go after them if there are more gaps in the outfield. And if the bowler chooses to have protection for these variations, he’ll be revealing his ploy.

Conversely, it will also encourage batsmen to try their hand at the switch-hit and reverse-sweep because not having anyone patrolling the square boundary makes it safer to play those shots.

The basic premise, and the reason for 50-over cricket’s popularity, was for the ODI to be played like a Test match, with bowlers and captains always trying to take wickets and the only difference being getting the result in a day.

As the format evolved, however, the organisers figured the crowd enjoys fours and sixes more than a battle of attrition. Hence, the rules and playing conditions were tweaked regularly to ensure high-scoring matches, which are not necessarily the most enjoyable contests.

While it worked for the

longest time, the advent of Twenty20 cricket has shaken the foundations of 50-over cricket. The new rules and recommendations have failed to address these issues successfully.

So how do you ensure balance between bat and ball? We can start by identifying the period during which an ODI becomes stale - the middle overs, when the fifth bowler, usually a parttimer, is operating with the sole aim of not conceding boundaries. The batsmen play along by taking the safe route, milking those overs and waiting for the end overs to accelerate.

How about taking away the part-timer’s 10 overs and increasing the maximum number of overs a bowler can bowl to 12? Two bowlers can be given the choice of bowling 13 overs each, which will ensure a better contest because a proper bowler is always in operation. The Powerplay can then go back to being 10 overs in the beginning and a five-over block each for the batting and bowling side. Those five-over blocks did bring a bit of excitement to those mundane middle overs and hence must be used judiciously.

And for the spinners’ sake, it will be just to allow five fielders outside the 30yard circle during nonPowerplay overs. Otherwise make it mandatory to have at least 75-yard boundaries on every ground.

In order to find the right balance, one must walk a tightrope.

Digicel Schools Football Launch set for today The launching ceremony of the Second Annual Digicel Schools Football Competition for secondary schools is schedule to take place today, at the Savannah Suite, Pegasus commencing at 15:30hrs.

Among those expected to attend the ceremony are Ministers of Sport and Education Dr. Frank Anthony and Priya Manickchand, Permanent Secretaries Alfred King and Olato Sam, Director of Sport Neil Kumar, representatives of inaugural champions Government Technical School among others.

Over 100 schools are expected to participate in this year’s competition with quite a few new entrants entered in the tournament which is anticipated to provide even more excitement than last year.

The competition is scheduled to commence on Friday, June 15, at the Georgetown Cricket Club ground, Bourda.

Page 26

Kaieteur News

Wednesday June 06, 2012

Rolling Thunder put Spurs’ Kumar gives ‘thumbs up’ for season on the brink Digicel Triple-Fiesta Sports event Director of Sport Neil Kumar has given this Saturday’s inaugural staging of the Digicel-sponsored Triple-Sports Fiesta event the ‘thumbs up’, pointing to it as a very good initiative that deserves support.

Speaking via telephone yesterday, the Director said it just shows the associations are working together and according to him, the fact that this is happening is commendable.

“I really appreciate the move that Digicel has made in organising the event and I hope it is a success which if it is could influence future support from Digicel,” Kumar stated.

He added that it is wish that other disciplines strive to duplicate the initiative so that the development of sports could continue.

Kumar even referred to a recent conversation he had with some officials shortly

Neil Kumar after the completion of the Independence HalfMarathon where a discussion on the possibility of hosting a triathlon (swimming, cycling and athletics) was held.

He informed that he is willing to meet with stakeholders sometime later

to discuss the prospects of hosting such an event.

The disciplines to be played are hockey, netball and volleyball and all the host associations have consented to provide the best teams so that spectators could witness a high standard of play.

Starting time is 18:00 hrs.

Meanwhile, Kumar gave a brief insight of discussions held recently with the President of the Guyana Hockey Board Philip Fernandes and though he did not elaborate much about the talk, he said it centred on improving the flooring at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

According to the Director, Fernandes seemed upbeat about the idea, adding that they’ve consented to call in their consultants to have a better understanding of what is required, before taking a definitive position.

Boxer Shane Mosley announces retirement on Twitter Boxer ‘’Sugar’’ Shane Mosley is retiring, ending a career in which he won titles in three different weight classes, beat Oscar De La Hoya twice and never was knocked out.

The 40-year-old announced on Twitter that he was hanging up his gloves, saying he ‘’loved every moment of it. Win, lose or draw.’’

Mosley lost three of his last four fights, including a dreary bout against Manny

Pacquiao in May 2011 in which he mostly seemed to be avoiding the Filipino star in the ring.

His last fight was May 5 on the undercard of the fight between Floyd Mayweather and Miguel Cotto. Mosley lost a lopsided decision to rising Mexican star Canelo Alvarez.

The loss dropped his record to 46-8-1.

Mosley began boxing at age 8 and wound up winning three U.S. Amateur titles and

a bronze medal at the 1990 Goodwill Games.

His professional career peaked when he won the WBC welterweight title by beating De La Hoya in 2000 before besting the popular fighter again in 2003 to claim the light middleweight title. Mosley also won the IBF lightweight belt in 1997 and was chosen fighter of the year by the Boxing Wr i t e r s A s s o c i a t i o n o f America.

Pujara’s unbeaten 96 spurs India ‘A’ to...

From back page Indies ‘A’ opening bowlers Delorn Johnson and Holder continued the good work from the third evening when they took three wickets in 10 overs to set up the final day beautifully. India ‘A’ had added only two to their 22 when left-arm quick Johnson broke through Shikhar Dhawan’s defence with a slower ball. Dhawan failed to add to his overnight 13.

Rohit Sharma and Pujara then fought through a testing period. Rohit was dropped on two by substitute Kyle Corbin when India were 28 for 4. Even before he had reached double figures, Rohit had played two edgy shots: a mishit that just cleared extra cover and another that just fell short. In the first hour only 20 runs came by. Johnson and Holder’s figures on the final morning at one point read 6-

2-9-1 and 6-2-9-0.

Rohit relieved a bit of pressure with a six over longoff and a four over mid-on.

However, just when he had begun to show signs of having overcome a shaky start, Rohit followed and edged a wide delivery from Jonathan Carter, who already had a five-for to his name in the first innings. In the minutes before lunch, Holder bowled Tiwary with an inswinger to make the session West Indies A’s.

During the lunch break, though, the clouds opened up, and you would wager that India ‘A’ were the happier side for it. About 45 minutes’ play was lost to rain, after which Pujara, 26 at lunch, counterattacked. He hit three fours in five deliveries to bring the target down to two figures, but playing at his home ground, Holder struck

soon.

It took a sharp low catch from Nkrumah Bonner to send Wriddhiman Saha back.

That was cue for Pujara to attack more, and he did so by hitting Johnson for back-toback fours to reach his halfcentury.

India had reached 115 when Holder pegged back Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s off stump, and West Indies were all but there. Holder followed it up with a bouncer that hit Pujara on the right hand.

Even as the physio made his way off the ground, rain made a second appearance, sending players in for an early tea break.

Rain in the final session was not enough to prevent enough time for India ‘A’ to go 1-up in the series which continues with the second Test which is slated for Jamaica from Saturday.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) Kevin Durant and the surging Oklahoma City Thunder are just one victory from the NBA finals. ‘’We never just thought we were supposed to wait our turn,’’ the 23-year-old Thunder star said following the biggest road win of his career Monday night. What little wait they’ve had could end Wednesday.

That’s when the Thunder can finish off the San Antonio Spurs back home in Oklahoma City - where they’re unbeaten in these playoffs - and complete a remarkable turnaround in the Western Conference finals after starting in an 0-2 hole and up against a 20-game Spurs winning streak that ranks among the longest in NBA history.

But look who’s unstoppable now.

Durant scored 27 points and the Thunder beat the Spurs 108-103 in Game 5, moving within a victory of a series knockout and the conference title after beating San Antonio for the third time in five days. ‘’We came here, we wanted to get a win on their home floor,’’ Durant said. ‘’That’s what it took for us to advance or to get to where we wanted to go.’’

Russell Westbrook added 23 and the Thunder took a 32 lead in a wildly entertaining series. Looking invincible while carrying a 20-game winning streak a week ago the fourth-longest in NBA history - the Spurs have lost three straight and are on the verge of a stunning collapse.

Manu Ginobili scored 34 in a smashing return to the starting lineup, and the switch showed just how much Spurs coach Gregg Popovich knew his team might be in trouble.

The only way the Spurs would have considered the move a success is if they had they won, and that chance went clanging off the back of the rim with 4.9 seconds left when Ginobili missed an offbalance 3.

Ginobili then walked to the scorer’s table, made a fist and hammered it down. ‘’It wasn’t a great shot, but it wasn’t a bad one,’’ Ginobili said. ‘’It just didn’t go in.’’ It was the Spurs’ first loss at home since April 11.

Popovich said he removed Danny Green from the starting lineup and plugged in Ginobili - who had started only seven previous times this season - to give the Spurs ‘’an energy boost.’’ But that didn’t solve a third straight uneven game for the Spurs, particularly another languid second quarter that

Kevin Durant #35 of the Oklahoma City Thunder shoot the ball over DeJuan Blair #45 and Daniel Green #4 of the San Antonio Spurs put them in a 14-point hole. ‘’If we don’t get that straight,’’ Popovich said, ‘’it’ll be over on Wednesday.’’

Oklahoma City, meanwhile, is bringing home just what it needed: the mustwin on the road. ‘’That was a total team effort,’’ Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. ‘’Everybody did their job. I thought we played as hard as we can play.’’

Oklahoma City pulled it off behind their stars. James Harden scored 20, joining Durant and Westbrook as the only Thunder players in double figures.

Harden hit the biggest shot, draining a 3-pointer with 28.8 seconds left that pushed Oklahoma City’s lead to five.

He admitted afterward that the ball was supposed to go to Durant but had no choice but to let go with the shot clock winding down and Spurs rookie Kawhi Leonard in his face. ‘’The shot clock was running down and I had to make a play,’’ Harden said. ‘’Leonard was playing great defense on me. I just shot it with confidence. West Conference finals - that’s a big shot.’’

Tony Parker had 20 points and Tim Duncan had 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Spurs.

After remaining unbeaten for 50 days before arriving in Oklahoma City, San Antonio has lost three games in five days. They now must win two straight to avoid seeing their last best chance to win in a title in the Duncan era end. ‘’Championship teams win on the road,’’ Popovich said.

‘’Oklahoma City just did that.’’

It’s the first time the Spurs have lost three in a row all season. Durant scored 22 of his points in the second half.

He dedicated the win to his uncle, whom Durant said was in the hospital.

Westbrook also had 12 assists.

Not wanting the series to slip away, Popovich moved Ginobili to the starting lineup in place of Green, who came in shooting a combined 8 of 28 in this series.

Green’s days as a starter began looking numbered after Game 3. He couldn’t save his job before leaving Oklahoma City - Green shot 4 of 12 in both losses combined - and Popovich couldn’t wait any longer with the series tied and the season in the balance.

Out with the undrafted swingman who barely made training camp, and in with the former All-Star. Pulling this big an adjustment this deep in the season likely didn’t come easy for the NBA coach of the year, and the gambit drew mixed results.

It looked like a no-brainer with Ginobili leading all scorers at halftime with 14, but new rotations for the Spurs made for rocky possessions.

None more so than in the second quarter, when the Spurs shot 38 percent.

Ginobili finished 11 of 21 and made half of his 10 3point attempts. But with the game and arguably San Antonio’s season on the line, his last one didn’t connect. ‘’It’s either win or go home,’’ Ginobili said. ‘’It’s our job. Nobody is going to feel sorry about ourselves.’’

Wednesday June 06, 2012

Kaieteur News

Amir Khan tells father of Danny Garcia he will “beat his son” BBC - Amir Khan has told Angel Garcia - the father of Danny Garcia - he “will beat his son” after Khan was taunted by him.

Khan and Garcia met in Los Angeles to officially announce their WBC lightwelterweight title fight on 14 July. But Garcia’s father, Angel, stole the limelight by accusing the 25-year-old of being overrated.

“Danny’s father does a lot of talking, but at the end of the day he’s not the one who’s going to be in the ring,” said Khan. “You can keep saying what you want - that I’m overrated and I’m no good - but when I beat your son, am I still going to be overrated?”

Khan’s words came after Angel Garcia opened the press conference with a series of negative remarks about the former champion.

“First of all, Khan is an overrated fighter,” said Garcia, who trains his son.

“There’s a lot of fighters out there who are rated and we are going to execute every single one of them. We’re coming out here to fight the best.”

Garcia Snr also interrupted Khan during his time with the microphone, not allowing the Bolton boxer to speak at times.

Khan was due to face Lamont Peterson in a rematch after the American’s controversial win last December, but the 19 May bout was cancelled after Peterson failed a drugs test.

With Khan’s promoter Golden Boy attempting to

President’s/Jefford Classic III succeeded on many levels - Jefford says goal is always to keep improving

Amir Khan (left) and Angel Garcia have the WBA and IBF lightwelterweight titles returned to their fighter, his fight with WBC title holder Garcia on 14 July at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, could be a unification bout.

Garcia, 24, defeated Mexican Erik Morales on points in March to capture his first world title, and Khan conceded he will be a tough opponent. Khan said: “He’s a champion; we know how good he is - he’s had a good win against Erik Morales, who I’m a big fan of when he was at his peak. This is going to be a big test for me.”

But Angel Garcia failed to reciprocate Khan’s respect, mocking him for his defeats to Breidis Prescott and Lamont Peterson. “First of all, Khan got knocked out in Europe. That happens, that happens to the best,” he said.

“Second of all, Peterson whooped him like an octopus, hit him from all kind of angles - and then he [Khan] blamed it on the

judges. “When Danny starts hitting you with these hammers, what are you going to start to blame it on? The gloves will have rocks in them? What are you going to do? One-two, roll out, all night?”

Danny Garcia, who is currently 23-0 having beaten Morales, as well as former world champions Nate Campbell and Kendall Holt, vowed to make his record 240 - but also spoke of his respect for Khan.

“Khan’s a great fighter; I’m a great fighter. When you put two great fighters together you get an awesome show - and that’s what I’m here, that’s why I signed up for boxing,” said the world champion.

“You know what I bring blood, sweat and tears. I just can’t wait to show the world what I’m about. You haven’t seen the best of Danny Garcia. “I let my dad do the talking - he’s the one who talks.”

Pele actually criticizes Neymar Following Brazil’s 2-0 loss to Mexico in a friendly on Sunday, Pele offered his critique of his country’s Olympic team and his favorite player not named Pele in particular.

From the AFP: “It is a good team, with good players but not yet ready to

Page 27

overcome difficulties” when they arise,” said Pele, who indicated he felt Neymar “has difficulty playing against a European or Latin American” defender - more so than against Brazilian league rivals.

“He stays stuck out there on the left but that doesn’t just happen in the national

U.S. midfielder Jermaine Jones (bottom) sends Neymar on a magical journey to Pain Town

side but also with Santos,” Pele charged, urging Neymar to move inside and become more involved in dictating the play.

So, Neymar has trouble against European and Latin American defenders — perfectly understandable for a 20-year-old who has decided to wait a while longer before joining a major European club.

Yet just two months ago Pele claimed that Neymar is better than Lionel Messi ... who had so little trouble against European defenders that he scored a record 73 goals last season.

And once again Pele proves that he will not conform to your silly concepts of logic or reason or saying things that aren’t intended to troll Maradona to the point where he mistakes a pelican for a smoothie machine. (Yahoo Sport – Dirty Tackle)

By Juanita Hooper The recently held President’s/Jefford Track and Field Classic III in the Bauxite Mining Town of Linden was one of many successes with the exception of the adverse weather, which did not at all affect the completion of the meet owed to the dedication of both athletes and officials.

Co-Coordinator of the President’s/Jefford Classic, Edison Jefford, a former National Schools’ Champion, stated in an exclusive interview with Kaieteur Sport that the Classic had more highs than lows.

“In fact, the only low would be that we did not have perfect weather to support the excellent systems we had set up. We had no control over the weather, but we still managed to pull off a remarkable meet in those circumstances,” he said.

The former athlete, who is also a Sports Journalist attached to this newspaper, related his view of the historic Classic.

“Overall, my view on the Classic is that we succeeded on many different levels; we created history with hosting the most international athletes at a single meet, we broke new ground with the increased interests of corporate Guyana and we made a statement in Linden with hundreds turning out to the event in not the best of conditions, which suggested that the President’s/Jefford Classic is becoming a household product in Guyana and in Linden,” he continued.

According to Jefford, the meet has seen major improvements especially in the monetary awards, which amounted to $1.2M in cash prizes. “We have improved the momentary awards from giving out a total of $850,000 in cash to giving out $1,200,000 in cash prizes.”

Jefford also noted that individual medals for each race, which was not in place in the first two years of the Classic was made available with the increased international athletes’ participation adding to major improvements, “We have systemised the various technical aspects necessary to make the meet reflect an international image and for the first time, we attracted the international media that will be profiling some of our athletes ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games. We forged local partnerships with corporate companies that

Edison Jefford could see local athletes becoming the face of products in new marketing initiatives.”

In addition to that, he said that athletes may be given one of the most important opportunities for next Classic as it relates to individual rewards of cash prizes for their outstanding performances. “We are looking at giving cash prizes to individual races in addition to medals. We have been giving cash prizes to just the international races, but we may extend that to every individual event. We may not be able to give the amount we give for the international races, but we are looking at what may be possible based on our projected budget,” he informed, adding that they are always looking at ways of improving the meet.

Jefford also highlighted that things will be put in place to allow the meet to be an established IAAF Calendar event.

Boldly stating that the Classic will not be moved from Linden, as the community has spoken and has established the meet as a signature event for them, Jefford disclosed that a feasible study have been launched to ascertain when is the best period in terms of weather, to host the meet, and that “most of the discussions now is surrounding July/ August.”

Questioning him about the meet being held twice a year (in Linden and at Leonora) as Guyana is expecting its first ever synthetic track, Jefford declared that the extended vision of the President’s/ Jefford Classic would be to see Linden benefit from its own synthetic facility as sport still has to be decentralised to give

communities equal opportunities.

“I think the purpose of the synthetic track is being misrepresented.

The synthetic track is being looked at as the ultimate Saviour for local athletics and that is not true. It is a facility being built to give local athletes a place to refine their abilities. It must be known that absolutely nothing is wrong with training and competing on grass surfaces. The world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt, trains on grass. I say that to indicate that one of the serious disadvantages the synthetic track could face is overuse. Remember, sport still has to be decentralised to give every community equal opportunities. I am sure that other meets will be created for the synthetic track, but the extended vision of the President’s/Jefford Classic is to see Linden benefit from its own synthetic facility,” Jefford posited.

Asking about the Classic being a two day meet to the ease the pressure from the athletes especially those competing in more than two events, which have preliminary rounds, Jefford disclosed that the issue is seriously on the mind of the President of Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG), Colin Boyce, “…however, we have to look at all the logistics, transportation and accommodation being the two major factors. It is important that we perfect the one day event before we experiment with two days and Mr. Boyce is very aware of that fact, but that is not to say that we won’t take the twoday event into consideration.”

Asked if there will be the possibility of an international field event athlete for the next Classic to compete against Guyana’s best long and triple jumpers, Jefford said “maybe Pan Am Junior bronze medallist, Rolyce Boston to compete against Winston Caesar, Leon Bishop and the others, but that is still in its infancy, we have not discussed that seriously.”

In closing, Jefford expressed his gratitude to Guyana’s Bigger, Better Network, Digicel, their primary sponsor, for their commitment toward the development of the meet and thanked all those who proved that the President’s/Jefford Classic has a permanent place.

Page 28

Kaieteur News

Wednesday June 06, 2012

GFF U-16 team selected CFU tourney Maria Thomas/Glenford Corlette cart off honours Under thefor guidance of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Topco Independence chess tournament

The respective winners display their prizes following the tournament.

DDL’s Alexis Langhorne (seated centre) enjoys the moment.

Senior chess player, Maria Thomas rebounded from a loss to her junior counterpart, Anthony Drayton, to amass 6 points and emerge victorious when 26 players convened at the KEI-SHAR’S Sports Club to contest the TOPCO Independence Anniversary one-day Rapid Chess tournament on Sunday June 3 last. Glenford Corlette ended the tournament just behind Thomas.

The tournament was closely contested and in most cases the respective places were separated by a mere point. University of Guyana student, Glenford Corlette scored 5 points to capture the 2nd place, while Tournament Director Irshad Mohamed showed some improvement after amassing 5 points to finish in the 3rd place. The two other senior players

Alexander Duncan and Alex Joseph occupied the 5th and 6th positions respectively after amassing 4.5 points and 4 points, respectively.

Hai Feng Su amassed 6 points to cart off the honours in the junior section while Anthony Drayton finished on 5 points. Winston Williams also scored 5 points but failed to clinch the second place spot by dint of the tie breaker.

The other scores in this category are Saeed Ali (4.5), Avinash Kishun, Roberto Neto, Darryl Calistro and Ryan McKay (4 apiece), Shane Singh, Khalid Gobin, Ethan Lee, Jeremy Sauers, Travis Whitehead and Sheriffa Ali (3 points each) while the remaining seven juniors ended on 2.5 points or less.

Meanwhile, several junior

Top Judokas outstanding at Nat’l Judo Championships Amir Eastman emerged as the top U-15 contestant and was duly rewarded with the gold medal when the Guyana Judo Association staged the National Judo Championships at the Marion Academy, Carifesta Avenue Sunday June 3 last. Kyle Archer copped the silver medal while Peter Robinson won the bronze.

In the U-17 category, Hamzan Eastman outlasted Andrew Edwards to take the gold and silver medals respectively, while Kelbert Archer earned the bronze medal.

Raul Lall won gold medal in the U-20, while Elimane Ba won silver. Jaime Jabar closed off the podium spots with the bronze medal. In the U-20 category of less than 90 kilos, Adacena Rodrigues prevailed to take the premiere prize, while Keymo Alleyne won the silver.

The seniors open championship saw Bruce Fraser carting off the gold medal with Hamzan Eastman taking the silver.

Keymo Alleyne had to be content with bronze.

Meanwhile, Amir Eastman distinguished himself among his peers when he was awarded a special medal after being adjudged player with the best technique.

players received special prizes including those that were engaged in a tournament under the auspices of the Guyana Chess Federation for the first time.

Three students of Marian Academy each received special prizes for outstanding performances in several departments including thirteen years old, Jeremy Sauers who received the Best Beginner Medal and 12 years old Travis Whitehead who copped the prize for the second best player in his category. Nine years old Ethan Lee was adjudged the

best U-10 chess player. The tournament attracted 26 chess players.

The cash prizes and medals were presented by DDL Sales Manager Alexis Langhorne who congratulated the respective winners even as she urged the members to influence more of their friends and relatives to get involved in the game. Shiv Nandalall, President of the Guyana Chess Federation advised the participants to continue practicing since tournaments are being organized regularly by the local body.

Nat’l Draughts Competition set for June 23 & 24 The Mindfield Draughts Club held a Draughts competition at its Aubrey Barker Street venue last Sunday.

Apart from club members, Chairman of the club Wayne Forde invited other guest players. Among them were President of the Guyana Draughts Association Mr Jairam, veteran Edgar Downer and newly appointed ‘A’ class player Godfrey George.

The winner of the competition was Jairam with 35 points while his closest rival was Shawn Weeks with 26 points. Edgar Downer took third place with 23 points.

Meanwhile, the Guyana Draughts Association will hold its National Draughts Championships on June 23 and 24 at the Mildred Mansfield Youth Club (Dorcas Club) Durban Street

Werk-en-Rust.

The game would take the format on the 64 square boards. On June 23 the ‘B’ and ‘C’ class games would be played while on June 24 the ‘A’ class players will compete.

Entrance fee is $300 per person for both days. At Stake are trophies donated by the National Sports Commission.

Registration starts at 10:00hrs and games begin at 10:30hrs. The ‘A’ and ‘C; class games would be played on a round robin system. The ‘B’ class however would be played on a six round Swiss System.

Players in the ‘B’ category are asked to be on time for the draw and starting time.

Late comers would lose points. Draughts players throughout Guyana are invited to participate.

Technical Development Officer Lyndon France, the GFF Under-16 team that will compete in the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) qualifying competition in July has already started preparations.

The squad was shortlisted on May 16 and a meeting with players and parents was held on May 25 when the players also underwent a physical/aerobic evaluation. Weekend camps have been held consistently ever since and will continue until the team leaves for the Twin Island Republic on July 1, 2012.

Following is the list of the 26 players and their Associations: Name Association Son Cromwell East Demerara Fernando Oliveria Georgetown Daniel English Upper Demerara Shawn Brower West Demerara Shamar Richards Berbice Julian Smith Upper Demerara Trevor Jones East Bank Rafael Noel Bartica Cedric Osborne Berbice Stefan Enoe Georgetown Troy Lewis Upper Demerara Paul Megins West Demerara Kelon Primo Upper Demerara Keiron Solomon Georgetown Mark Wronge Berbice Kereem Knight Georgetown Jermain Scott Georgetown Shamar Barrow Georgetown Romario Welcome East Demerara Nicosie Denny East Demerara Jermain Fletcher Georgetown Keno Washington Bartica Robert Christiani West Demerara Shane Luckie Upper Demerara Travis Stoby Essequibo Christopher Bacchus Essequibo

US-based Tennis player conducts coaching sessions at GBTI courts One of the top female players to come out of Guyana Avernelle Holder, now USA based, will be holding coaching sessions with the junior tennis players.

She will also educate them on careers and opportunities available to young players through scholarships etc.

Ms Holder herself was awarded a scholarship to the USA some eight years ago based on her tennis skills and went on to finish her studies. She is on a short visit to Guyana.

The sessions will be done at the GBTI’s courts on Wednesday and Thursday (today and tomorrow) from 46PM. A presentation will also

Avernelle Holder be done to GBTI from the Guyana Tennis Association.

Scotiabank/Pepsi School Football Academy Tournament resumes Lodge & Christ Church battle for semi-finals spot The Scotiabank/Pepsi School Football Academy will resume after a break due to the inclement weather and suitable ground availability along with CXC exams.

On Saturday 9th June, the semifinals are slated for Tucville Ground commencing at 09:00 hrs. In Game 1 – a Male encounter - Charlestown will come up against the Winner of Lodge and Christ Church game. That game is scheduled for tomorrow at the Tucville Ground.

In Game 2 – a Female clash - Tucville and Campbellville are slated to collide at 10:15 hrs. In Game 3 – another Female scrap North Georgetown and Tutorial are down to collide at 11:30 hrs and in the final game of the day – a Male encounter- East Ruimveldt and Tucville are scheduled to throw down the gauntlet.

The final is scheduled for Saturday 16th June at the Carifesta Sports Complex Ground commencing at 10:00 hrs with the Female Final and the Male Final following immediately.

Wednesday June 06, 2012

Kaieteur News

Sam Stosur & Sara Errani into semis BBC Sport - US Open champion Sam Stosur fought off Dominka Cibulkova to secure a place in the French Open semi-finals, where she will play Sara Errani of Italy.

The sixth seed won 6-4 61 to prevent Cibulkova causing another upset after she stunned world number one Victoria Azarenka in the previous round. Next up for Stosur is Errani, who beat 10th seed Angelique Kerber 6-3 7-6 to reach her first Grand Slam semi.

Petra Kvitova and Maria Sharapova play their quarterfinals today.

Stosur, who was a beaten finalist at Roland Garros in 2010, looks determined to go one better this time.

“The last few years have been very good to me here in Paris,” said the Brisbane right-hander, who has now made the last four at Roland Garros in three of the last four years.

“I love playing on this court - it doesn’t get much better than this. Sure [I’ll be the favourite against Errani], but that doesn’t mean too much. “I’m really pleased to play the way I did and get through, but Sara will be tough.”

Sam Stosur Stosur has yet to lose a set and soon got into her stride, breaking the erratic 15th seed in game five. The Australian survived a break point in the next game and a

deep forehand to the corner helped her move 5-2 up.

However, Stosur failed to serve out the set at the first time of asking as Cibulkova raised her game. Cibulkova almost drew level but her opponent saved three break points to eventually take the opener. Stosur wrapped up the second set with three breaks of serve to reach a third Roland Garros semi-final in four years.

Errani had already eliminated former champions Ana Ivanovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova before her meeting with Kerber. The Italian proved those wins were no fluke as she recorded a first victory over a top 10 player following 28 failed attempts.

Left-hander Kerber was bidding to become the first German woman to reach the semis since Steffi Graf in 1999, but she was outplayed.

Errani broke serve in game one with an off-forehand winner and maintained that advantage to take the 38minute first set.

The second featured six successive breaks, and eight in total, but Errani held her nerve to edge the tie-break with an unreturnable serve.

Exclusive: U.S. sprinter Tyson Gay to come back at New York GP (Reuters) - United States sprinter Tyson Gay will put aside the pain of a nagging hip injury and run his first race in nearly a year at this weekend’s Adidas Grand Prix in New York as he scrambles to be fit for Olympic trials, he told Reuters on Monday.

Gay will not race Jamaican world champion Yohan Blake in the featured 100 meters event, however, and will instead compete in a preliminary race at the Diamond League meeting.

“I still have a pain (in the hip area), but am managing it and I’ve got to get on with it,” Gay said in a telephone interview from Dallas, where he is currently training.

His Olympic trials are less than three weeks away, “and I’ve got to see where my body is,” Gay said.

Although a pre-Olympic showdown with Blake, one of the favorites for the London 2012 Games, would be ideal, it would not be helpful to Gay at this point, the sprinter and his agent said.

“I am running in the B section because, competition wise, I am not ready yet,” Gay said.

The separation will allow Gay to test himself without the pressure of racing the world champion, Gay’s agent, Mark Wetmore, said from New York. “It may not be ideal for everyone, with two athletes of that caliber in different races, but in an Olympic year we have to look after Tyson,” Wetmore said.

“Blake, under the right conditions, could run 9.7. We don’t know what Tyson can run. Hopefully he can have a great race and run 9.9.”

Jamaican triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt has the year’s fastest time at 9.76 seconds. His world record is 9.58 in 2009 with Gay the second fastest of all-time at 9.69 the same year.

The competition will be Gay’s only race before the June 21-July 1 Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon, where the 2007 double world champion will enter only the 100 meters.

“I am nervous (about New York) because I have high expectations for myself,” Gay said. “ I don’t know what I can run, but my sprint coach (Jon Drummond) told me today he thought I could open decently.”

Tyson Gay Gay has not competed since pulling out of the 100 meters semi-final of the U.S. world championships trials in Eugene last June. He later had surgery on the hip and another procedure in March.

The often-injured 2009 world silver medalist only began sprint training three weeks ago.

“I usually open my season at a small meeting, but I decided in the past 48 hours to run in New York,” he said.

Page 29

Djokovic survives quarter-final fright at French Open

Novak Djokovic plays a backhand drop shot during his exciting encounter with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

(Reuters) - Novak Djokovic came within one false step of losing his chance to hold all four grand slam titles as he saved not one, not two, not three but four match points before downing JoWilfried Tsonga 6-1 5-7 5-7 76 6-1 in the French Open quarter-finals on Tuesday.

Serbian world number one Djokovic, looking to become the first man in 43 years to win the four majors consecutively, kept cool under tremendous pressure to save the match points on his serve in the fourth set, forcing a tiebreak he won 8-6 before breaking decisively early in the fifth.

Djokovic, who will join American Don Budge and Australian Rod Laver as the only men to have held all four major titles at once if he lifts the Musketeers Cup, will now take on third seed Roger Federer in a re-match of last year’s epic semi-final won by the Swiss.

“Unfortunately there had to be a winner and a loser,” Djokovic, who applauded Tsonga as the distraught Frenchman left Court Philippe Chatrier, told a courtside interviewer. “He was the better player for most of the match. I was fortunate to come back from four match points. I don’t know how I came back from that.”

Tsonga, who was playing in his first French Open quarter-final, had pledged to fight and he duly delivered, only after being caught cold by a brilliant Djokovic.

The top seeded Serbian swallowed a one-sided opening set in just 21 minutes, conceding only nine points.

A red-faced Tsonga ended an 11-point streak by Djokovic in the third game of the second set before eventually finding his stride to stay in the match.

He broke back in the eighth game when Djokovic netted a backhand and, spurred on by a loud crowd, the Frenchman started to pound the ball to all corners of the court to bag the second set on Djokovic’s serve when the Serbian misfired a forehand.

AND NOW, ROGER The world number one, however, continued to force Tsonga to hit the extra shot and broke for 2-1, only for his opponent to break straight back as Djokovic looked up to his box with a disbelieving look on his face.

Another netted backhand earned Tsonga a set point and he had the hollering fans leaping out of their seats when he hit a running crosscourt forehand winner to go two-sets-to-one up.

Tsonga roared, too, his fists clenched, staring at the clay for a few seconds.

The 2008 Australian Open runner-up came a step closer in the fourth set when a Djokovic forehand clipped the net and bounced out to earn the Frenchman two match points at 5-4.

Djokovic saved the first one with a volley and on the second one, he stepped into the court to follow up on a big first serve to fire a forehand winner.

There was more to come.

At 6-5, Tsonga had two further match points. He netted a forehand on the first

one while Djokovic outplayed him on the second to finish off the exchange with a smash.

The Serbian went 4-2 down in the resulting tiebreak but once again kept his composure to take it 8-6 and, as Tsonga ran out of steam, opened a 3-0 lead in the decider.

Djokovic ended the contest after four hours and nine minutes with a backhand winner down the line.

“As I said before the match I gave everything,” Tsonga told a courtside interviewer.

“I would have loved to win this match but I had nothing left in my legs, I’m sorry for that,” he added with a stifled sob.

For Djokovic, who had also played five sets to see off Italian Andreas Seppi in the fourth round, the toughest part is yet to come as he will take on Federer before a potential final against the ultimate claycourt machine, six-times Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal.

“The good thing is that we both have two days off to rest,” he said, referring to Federer’s five-set victory against Argentine Juan Martin del Potro in the day’s other quarter-final.

“And I hope to have another great match like we had in 2011. It’s always a big challenge to play Roger.”

Page 30

Kaieteur News

RHTY&SC launches 6th Annual Republic Bank Grade 6 Students Summer Camp

RHTY&SC Treasurer, Dawn Hicks (right) collects the sponsorship from Mahendra Ramnauth of Republic Bank, while other staff members share the moment.

The Cricket Teams of the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club on Thursday last launched the 6th Annual Republic Bank Summer Camp for Grade 6 Students preparing for Secondary Schools. The Camp would be held at the Area “H” ground from the 9th July and last for five weeks.

Secretary/CEO of the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club, Hilbert Foster, stated that the main aims of the Republic Bank Summer Camp are to prepare the Grade 6 students for a successful transition to Secondary School, to instill the importance of discipline and to promote the value of education and sports for youths.

The five weeks camp would be conducted by senior teacher of the Port Mourant Secondary School, Mr. Rohan Etwaru and senior

executives of the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club.

Students would be taught Mathematics, English, Social Studies, Integrated Science and basic Spanish. They would also be lectured on several topics of importance including peer pressure, HIV/ AIDS, personal hygiene, drug abuse and general manners.

The sixty students would also benefit from coaching on ways to improve their cricketing skills. The veteran youth and sports administrator expressed confidence that the 2012 Summer Camp would be as successful as in the past and he expressed profound gratitude to the Management of Republic Bank for their continued confidence in Guyana’s leading youth and sports NGO. Republic Bank is

Berbice Cricket Board to host Guyoil/Castrol Training of Cricket Coaches Programme The Special Events Committee of the Berbice Cricket Board as part of its effort to strengthen the coaching capacity in the ancient county would be hosting a Training of Cricket Coaches Programme at the Albion Community Centre from June 15 to 17.

The training of the coaches would be organised as part of the historic Guyoil/Castrol Coaching Programmes.

The Chairman of the Berbice Cricket Board Special Events Committee, Hilbert Foster, stated that the three training programme would be conducted by Senior Cricket Coach Michael Franco Hyles and cater for 35 persons.

Clubs across Berbice would be invited to identify suitable persons to be trained as the Berbice Cricket Board strives to make sure that every club has a coach. Foster disclosed that participants would be exposed to all aspects of coaching and would receive Berbice Cricket Board Coaching Certificates at the end.

The main aim, Foster stated is to expand the pool of coaches across Berbice and also to make sure that every potential talent has access to coaching.

Interested clubs and individuals are invited to be a part of the three days clinic and are encouraged to register and to contact the Berbice Cricket Board Secretary on telephone number 333- 2375.

sponsoring the camp at the cost of $131,200 and outstanding students would be rewarded with trophies, educational packages and prizes.

The camp would be coordinated by the Rose Hall Town Farfan & Mendes Under-15, Pepsi Under-19, Bakewell Under-17 and Second Division and Metro Female Cricket Teams.

Parents who are interested in having their children registered with the 2012 Summer Camp can visit the Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club Area “H” Ground office or call 3374562.

Wednesday June 06, 2012

WI still afflicted by poor-decisions LEICESTER, England – Head coach Ottis Gibson says embattled West Indies have played well in patches on the England tour but were still being hampered by “poor decision making” at critical moments.

Speaking ahead of Thursday’s start of the final Test at Edgbaston, Gibson said while the young side had shown potential especially in unfamiliar and challenging English conditions, they needed to deliver more consistently if they were to cause England any major worries.

“Morale has been brilliant, considering that we have lost the two Test matches. If you look at how much work has gone into the two Test matches, how much good stuff we’ve done, one session or sometimes oneand-a-half session of poor decision-making by batsmen and bowlers sometimes as well, has cost us at crucial times,” Gibson assessed.

“Again when you look at the amount of people (Windies players) that haven’t played in these conditions before and you look at the challenge that we posed to England in the first Test especially. When you look at the way we bowled on the third day [of the second Test] at Trent Bridge to get eight wickets for 169 runs, [that was] was excellent.”

He continued: “But to challenge the number one

Ottis Gibson team in the world you have to deliver that excellence more consistently and that’s where we have been falling down.”

West Indies have shown flashes of brilliance throughout the series but have failed to string together consistently strong performances.

As a result, they lost the first Test by five wickets at Lord’s despite sending England tumbling to 57 for four in pursuit of 191 for victory.

In the second Test in Nottingham, they fell to a nine-wicket defeat even though they posted 370 in their first innings and limited England to 428 in response, a lead of just 58 runs.

West Indies have not won a Test in England in 12 years and Gibson said his side would head into the third encounter with the main

objective of avoiding a whitewash.

“We know where we are, we know we’re playing against the best team in the world and it would be very naive to think that we were going to come and win threenil and our job now is to try and make sure we don’t lose three-nil,” he stressed.

England have rested swing bowler and spearhead of their bowling attack Jimmy Anderson for the fixture, with seamers Steven Finn and Graham Onions expected to vie for the vacant spot.

Though Anderson will be missing, Gibson said West Indies did not expect a diminished challenge and still needed to conquer the XI England fielded.

“If they rest six players and we win a Test match, it’s still West Indies versus England so we don’t really care how many people they rest.

The more the merrier, if you like,” Gibson said candidly.

“They’ve got other priorities … and we’re just trying to play anybody that they put on the park. Steven Finn has had a very good stint in Test cricket so far since he’s come onboard. Graham Onions made his debut against West Indies in 2009 at Lord’s and got six wickets.

“They are fortunate to have such a good array of fast bowlers to choose from at the moment so whoever they bring in will still be tough [to play against].”

Duckworth-Lewis rival accuses ICC of bias AFP – An Indian civil engineer has complained about bias within cricket’s governing body after his rival method to the DuckworthLewis (D/L) system for rainaffected games was rejected.

V. Jayadevan, who invented the “VJD system” as a different way to calculate revised targets in truncated one-day and Twenty20 games, said the International Cricket Council (ICC) had failed to give his version a fair hearing.

The ICC on Friday announced it had considered Jayadevan’s method in detail but unanimously agreed to stick to the Duckworth-Lewis system as it had no obvious flaws and that VJD was not an improvement.

“That review was a very shallow and pre-meditated one,” Jayadevan wrote in a protest letter to outgoing ICC president Sharad Pawar that has been seen by AFP. Jayadevan accused an unnamed ICC expert of being biased against his system and he called on Pawar, a fellow Indian, to seek an

Jayadevan, creator of the VJD rain-rule system, has written a scathing letter to Sharad Pawar

independent review. “There was virtually no attempt to find out whether there were any shortcomings in the D/L system,” he wrote. “On the other hand, the expert deliberately exaggerated a few small and rectifiable shortcomings in the VJD system.

“I have no hesitation in saying that the said expert’s strong favouritism to the D/L system deprives the ICC from getting the best available method.”

Jayadevan received support from batting legend Sunil Gavaskar, on whose recommendation the VJD system has been used in Indian domestic cricket since 2007 — though not in the Indian Premier League.

“In all fairness ICC should have tried the Jayadevan method for a year, like they do with trial laws, and then decided,” the former India captain wrote in his syndicated column on

Sunday.

The D/L system, devised

by English statisticians Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis, was first introduced at the international level in 1996.

Some observers have suggested Jayadevan’s campaign represents the latest efforts of India — now cricket’s most influential country — to challenge England, the former colonial power and inventor of the game.