Kaieteur News

Saturday June 01, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 3

Tragedy as woman robbed, then dies in road accident The damaged taxi.

Feng’s distraught mother

A Chinese restaurant owner, attacked and robbed on Thursday night, was yesterday killed after she was struck down by a taxi while crossing Mandela Avenue, a few doors from her home.

Dead is 43 year-old Xue Fang Feng of Lot 195 Mandela Avenue. She is the mother of two sons and the owner of the Lotus Restaurant.

According to reports,

Feng was returning home and was about to cross the second half of Mandela Avenue when she was struck by the taxi and thrown several feet away.

The driver of taxi has been

Three women “trafficked’ in Barbados return home Three of the five Guyanese women held in Barbados, after authorities allegedly cracked a human trafficking ring, have returned to Guyana.

According to reports, the women came into the country on Thursday evening.

Kaieteur News was told that the women have reported to the Ministry of Human Services.

The women reportedly told relatives that the Barbadian authorities have asked that they return to Barbados on June 11. Two of the girls who remained in Barbados are now making allegations that one of the persons chargedAmelia Joseph- owes her money.

Kaieteur News was further told that both girls made similar allegations against relatives here in Guyana. Efforts yesterday to contact the Minister of Human Services for a comment proved futile.

Last week, three Guyanese women who had once worked with two Barbadian nationals ensnared in a trafficking-in-persons probe there, claimed that they have been receiving numerous calls from persons offering to pay them to give statements against the accused.

One of the women told Kaieteur News that she was at work some two weeks ago when she received the first call. The woman explained that the male voice on the

other end of the call asked if she had known the male and female accused.

The woman claimed that after confirming that she knew the two Barbadian nationals, the caller offered her some Bds $2000 to say that she was trafficked by the two persons and she had escaped.

The woman said she was somewhat dumbfounded by the call.

She said that she started questioning the person about the motive behind the call.

The second woman told Kaieteur News that she received a call last week from a man who said he was in Barbados.

Days after the five Guyanese women alleged that they were trafficked in Barbados; relatives of the alleged victims in Guyana claimed that the girls were lying.

According to relatives, all of the alleged victims were in contact with them regularly and no one said that they were being held against their

will. The aunt of one 19-yearold ‘victim’ had stated that her niece had made the same allegations against orphanage directors where she grew up.

The aunt of another 19year-old stated that her niece made similar allegations last year against another aunt.

The woman told Kaieteur News that her niece has implicated three persons who have no knowledge about “trafficking her”.

The aunt also told Kaieteur News that her niece was in Barbados for over six months.

The woman said that her niece would call, text and send money to her from Barbados.

“She used to call her family, send money and everything…She never one day said anybody was keeping her against her will.”

The five women were caught in bathing suits in Nelson Street, Barbados after a raid led by the police Sex Crimes and Trafficking Unit.

taken into custody.

When Kaieteur News arrived at the scene of the accident, the mangled body of Feng was lying on the road covered with a white, bloodstained sheet as police officers tried to clear the backed-up traffic.

Steve Khan, an eyewitness, said that about 14:30hrs, the silver Toyota Allex, bearing number plates, HC 2408, had just turned the corner heading in the eastern direction when it struck the woman.

“I been driving behind him and saying to meself all the time this man gon knock somebody with all the speed he going with. When I turn the car all I see is the car park in the corner and a Chinee woman bruk up pon de road,” Khan said.

He added that the scores of persons who were in the area converged on the scene.

Another eyewitness, Joyce Phillips, said that she was downstairs in her yard when she was startled with the sound of a “scream” then a loud “boom”.

“When I run outside all I see is the lady from the Chinee shop lay down pon de road all she foot bend up… I wonder why these taxi drivers don’t slow down… all you need to do is slow down,”

Dead: Xue Fang Feng Phillips lamented.

Reports reaching this publication stated that Feng and her mother were robbed and beaten on Thursday night. A source related that about 10:45 pm, Feng was at the counter of the restaurant when three men, one of whom was armed with a gun,

demanded cash and threatened to kill her.

The source added that the men then called the two women out along with other men (cooks) and began to beat them.

After the robbery, the men sped off in a motorcar. The restaurant had remained closed yesterday.

It is believed that the woman had gone to the police station in the morning and was returning home after giving a statement. The mother of the dead woman after hearing the disturbing news about her daughter’s demise broke down in tears and was consoled by neighbours and friends.

According to a relative, Feng moved to Guyana about 12 years ago from Suriname.

She has left her two sons, ages 6 and 12, her husband and her mother.

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

DECISION TIME FOR SUGAR There is to be yet another shake-up in the administration of the Guyana Sugar Corporation. The Board of Directors is to be revamped and there is every likelihood that one could see the Chief Executive Officer being removed or some of his underlings being sent to work in other locations or simply being paid off.

There have been so many changes in the administration of the sugar industry that one wonders whether the time has not come for Guyana to import the requisite leaders once more as it did when the view was that Guyanese were incapable of managing the industry, given the loss of skills. We had Booker Tate which charged a lot of money merely to administer the industry.

It is no secret that the much-touted Skeldon sugar factory has not lived up to expectation.

Even when there was the prevailing view that Guyana should get out of sugar as the rest of the region was doing, Guyana forged ahead with its largest-ever investment. That investment was supposed to make Guyana more competitive since the new factory would have helped lower the cost of production. In addition, this mill would have churned out sugar in such volumes that Guyana would have more than compensated for the price cuts imposed by the European Union.

But it seemed that from the inception, this factory would have been the millstone around the country. Such was the case that the government wanted blood out of stone. Booker Tate could not deliver so the government ended the contract.

It hired Errol Hanoman who worked with Booker Tate.

Hanoman was subsequently released when the factory could not live up to expectation.

With President Bharrat Jagdeo facing continued embarrassment at the failure of one of his investments, he kept making promise after promise. The management unit, however, could not deliver. Soon, it became clear that the message was “make the thing work at all costs or get out.”

The Skeldon sugar factory did not work when Donald Ramotar was a Director of the Board. Now that he is President, it is unlikely that he can make it work.

The government has been going to Parliament repeatedly for money to keep the Skeldon factory operational. With its Parliamentary majority at the time, it had no problem getting the funds. It was also able to hide the naked truth. Now that it has a Parliamentary minority, the entire issue of the poor performance must come out. The Members of Parliament cannot risk lying.

Guyana recorded its worst sugar production in more than two decades despite the huge sums spent on the new factory.

Now we have the Parliamentary Opposition demanding a radical revamp of the sugar industry before it agrees to release money. There are other things wrong with sugar.

Indeed, the government recognizes that the bulk of workers in the sugar industry are supporters of the ruling party. This fact limits the extent of harsh action to revamp the industry.

It has not escaped notice that the government is firm in the opinion that any action it takes has nothing to do with calls by A Partnership for National Unity and the Alliance for Change, for a revamped sugar industry.

But we all know that the situation is not likely to change. Too much has been allowed to happen. Political considerations abound to the point where that is more important than the flaws.

There are harsh questions that have to be answered.

Would a shakeup of management address the deeper problems that have been pulling this industry down?

It will have to include more serious actions that tackle the shortage of cane, the unpredictable weather, the move to introduce more mechanized labour and the speedy conversion of the fields to meet some of these needs.

The irony of the entire situation is that sugar prices have been better within the last couple of years.

Whether the administration will have to bite the bullet and make some harsh decisions that at first glance will have political implications, the reality is that these have to be made sooner than later. The Opposition, the unions and other stakeholders will have to be part of the decisionmaking process. It will be a time for Guyana to put aside partisan interests and work to rescue this industry. Too much has been spent; far too much time has been lost. The bleeding must stop.

Saturday June 01, 2013

Letters... Where your views make the news

Foundations for an economic take-off are firmly laid DEAR EDITOR, Guyana’s economy can be described as tri-sectoral.

We have an economy that is buttressed by three sectors the public sector, the private sector and to a smaller extent, the co-operative sector.

There was a time when the public sector was the dominant sector.

This resulted mainly from the nationalization programme of the Burnham regime which saw roughly 80% of the economy under state control, including the key industries of sugar and bauxite.

Several commercial entities including banks, insurance, shipping and telecommunication services were owned and controlled by the state.

Most, if not all of these nationalized entities were performing at sub-optimal levels, due mainly to bureaucratic mismanagement and the politics of patrimony practiced by the PNC regime.

Appointments to managerial positions were made not on the basis of qualifications or competence, but on the basis of party loyalty. The concept of ‘party paramountcy’ was very much in evidence in the

appointment of all key public officials, including that of judges and magistrates.

That state of affairs continued well into the 1980s.

It was not until the death of Forbes Burnham in August 1985 that some changes in terms of economic liberalism took place.

Expectations ran high that Hoyte, who took over as Executive President from Burnham, would have matched economic liberalism with democratic reforms, but all hopes were dashed when during the same year he took over, elections were held which were massively rigged in favour of the PNC, despite an assurance given by Hoyte that the elections processes would be “above board.”

In fact, the elections of 1985 saw the PNC returned to power with an even bigger majority, despite seething discontent by the population as a whole.

By the latter part of the 1980s, both the objective and subjective conditions for democratic renewal were becoming more assertive. At the international level, the world socialist system had virtually collapsed, which effectively brought an end to

the Cold War. The fear of communism was not as intense as during the 1960s and the 1970s, and the United States and the western powers began to play greater attention to issues of democracy and human rights, especially in countries which they considered to be of geo-political and strategic interest.

It was no secret that both the United States and Britain favoured a PNC/UF government in the 1964 elections and turned a blind eye to rigged elections in subsequent elections, because of a perception that the PNC was the “lesser of the evils”, basically from an ideological perspective.

That perception however changed, as mentioned before, with the collapse of the Soviet Union in the latter part of the 1980s and the destruction of the Berlin Wall, which symbolically and physically served as a divide between the East and the West.

At the national level, the struggle for free and fair elections was picking up momentum with the formation of the GUARD movement which brought together a number of political parties,

trade unions and other civic organizations under one umbrella with one common objective, namely to bring an end to rigged elections and restore democratic rule.

Pressure also mounted from external agencies and donor support groups, more particularly from the United States of America which, through the Carter Centre, applied pressure on the Hoyte administration to agree to democratic reforms.

Among the reforms were a new voters’ list, an independent and balanced elections commission, and the counting of the votes at the place of poll. Hoyte, after much arm-twisting from the Carter Centre, reluctantly agreed to the reforms.

Elections, due constitutionally in 1990, were postponed to October 1992, in order to facilitate the reforms.

As expected, the new and transparent electoral process saw the election to office of the PPP/C administration, and Dr. Cheddi Jagan became Executive President of Guyana. Among the several measures taken by his government was to blaze a new development path based (Continued on page 26)

The O.R. Tambo Award: Would President Burnham and Dr. Rodney qualify?

DEAR EDITOR, Much has been said by many about whether or not the South African Government should confer the O.R. Tambo Award on the late President of Guyana, Mr. L.F.S. Burnham.

Not surprisingly, the debate has been both enlightening and polarizing, given the life and contributions of both President Burnham and Dr. Walter Rodney.

Moreover, the debate on the interplay these men had will continue for many decades to come, with my prediction being that no conclusive position will be reached as the views expressed by many will just be divergent opinions.

Specifically, what would continue to be absent in the debate would be a comprehensive list of the facts, the evidence, and an appropriate forum to test the many issues raised on the circumstances that resulted in the death of Dr. Walter Rodney.

Moreover, noting that we have already lost many of those who were directly or tangentially involved and with no mechanism in place to get the testimony under oath of those who are still around, it is clear that Guyanese will be locked in an unending downward spiral

with no acceptable outcome for all parties.

Meanwhile, I examined the criteria used by the South African Government to confer the O.R. Tambo Award; and I will argue that if Wikipedia is accurate, then we can all make a determination as to whether or not President Burnham or Dr. Walter Rodney would qualify for the Award.

This is what Wikipedia provides (http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/ Order_ of_the_ Companions_ of_O._R._ Tambo) on the Award Criteria: The Order of the Companions of O. R. Tambo is a South African honour. It

was instituted on 6 December 2002, and is granted by the president of South Africa, to foreign citizens who have promoted South African interests and aspirations through co-operation, solidarity, and support. The order has three classes: • Supreme Companion of OR Tambo (Gold), for heads of state and, in special cases, heads of government, • Grand Companion of OR Tambo (Silver), for heads of government, ministers of state, supreme court judges, presidents of legislatures, secretaries of state, ambassadors, commanders-

in-chief et al., • Companion of OR Tambo (Bronze), for legislators, envoys, senior military officers et al.

Given that the criteria listed above are accurate and cover all eligibility requirements, then I believe that Guyanese can agree on whether or not President Burnham or Dr. Walter Rodney can be conferred with the Award. Put differently, I would be surprised if the Government and people of Guyana and the Government and people of South Africa cannot make this determination.

C. Kenrick Hunte

The interests of thousands of domestic workers will be served DEAR EDITOR, Yesterday, May 31, 2013, a small contingent from Red Thread and one of our networks, Grassroots Women Across Race, handed over a petition with three thousand and sixty nine (3,069) signatures to the Minister of Labour at his office.

These signatures were collected during the months of April and May, 2013, in support of a call for Caricom Governments to support domestic workers in their search for a better life, through the ratification of International Labour

Organisation Convention # 189. This call is being made by the Caribbean Domestic Wo r k e r s N e t w o r k , o n whose Steering Committee we sit.

At the handing over of the petition, Minister Gopaul said that he had seen our statements on this issue in two daily newspapers and assured us that the government has already decided to ratify the Convention.

He further said that his Ministry is committed to working with us to ensure that the rights of domestic workers

are protected.

We welcome the commitments of the Minister of Labour and look forward to a working relationship which will truly serve the interests of the many thousands of mainly women who work as part-time or fulltime domestic workers in Guyana, often under very terrible conditions.

Joycelyn Bacchus Halima Khan Joy Marcus Red Thread & Norma Adrian Grassroots Women across Race

Saturday June 01, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 5

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

The only things worse than government corruption are government defenders of the corruption!

DEAR EDITOR, The writer of the Peeping Tom article, “The Public Procurement Commission will solve nothing,” (KN, May 28) deserves to remain anonymous given the absurdity of his or her arguments against the establishment of the constitutionally-mandated commission, recommending instead that there be lawbased systems with a recourse to the courts in event of violations.

We have had scores of violations related to government contracts and involving billions of taxpayers’ money, as reported by the Auditor-General and exposed chiefly by Kaieteur News, and not once has the corrupt PPP regime seen it fit to take court action against its beneficiaries.

Even the former PPP House Speaker irked some of his former party comrades when he urged steps be taken to tackle what he deemed ‘pervasive corruption’ in government.

It is precisely because some people like Peeping Tom completely ignored the billions of dollars ripped off by government officials and their private sector buddies in the absence of a Procurement Commission that the corrupt cabal felt emboldened to go on a rampage pillaging and plundering public funds and assets. These Peeping Tom types just don’t care about Guyana or other Guyanese, as long as the big time thieves can steal large enough pieces of ‘bread’ so that crumbs can fall onto the ground and allow the bottom feeders to get enough to live better than most.

Consider, also, the writer’s assertion that it is an illusion that the “government of Guyana is unwilling to appoint this commission because this body will

interfere with the many acts of malfeasance in the awards of public contracts which the Opposition alleges exist.”

Listen up: The Opposition is not alleging malfeasance in the awarding of contracts exists; it has been proven again and again. Read the Auditor-General’s annual reports and note the litany of incidents!

Then s/he has the temerity to demand the “opposition change its attitude towards the ruling party. It has to accept that it cannot hope to bulldoze the government because this would not allow for consensus to be reached.”

Excuse me?

After years of organized criminality in the government, this bottom-feeding defender of corruption has the nerve to call for the Opposition to change its attitude to the ruling party, which looked the other way while the Jagdeo cabal bulldozed public funds and assets to enrich themselves?

Then s/he ventures overseas by claiming that “constitutional creatures such as service commissions, the office of the Ombudsman, Integrity Commissions and the likes do not work effectively in these parts,” and settles on Trinidad & Tobago as his/her sole frame of reference, while ignoring other Commonwealth countries with similarly working commissions or institutions.

I am not going to even address the other service commissions, Ombudsman and Integrity Commission s/he referenced, because if the corrupt PPP government can deliberately ignore the role of the Procurement Commission in order to engage in pervasive corruption, then the other commissions and statutory bodies have no relevance to the

government!

We haven’t had an Ombudsman for so long, we probably don’t know what the appointee’s actual role is! Let me close by addressing the Peeper ’s mistaken belief that if the Procurement Commission becomes fully manned, it “will in effect be a monitoring and oversight body that can review and entertain complaints but is only empowered to propose what remedial action needs to be taken,” simply because “the National Procurement and Tender Board will maintain jurisdiction over tenders above a certain value and will maintain responsibility for the appointment of a pool of evaluators.” Well, let me go with Mr. Ralph Ramkarran’s take, as per his January 27, 2013 Stabroek News column, “The Public Procurement Commission.”

“The Public Procurement Commission,” he began, “was recommended by the Constitution Reform Commission (CRC) in 2000 as a constitutional commission. Its objective was to reduce or prevent corruption in procurement if the growing allegations were to be believed. The charges of general, widespread corruption in other areas had not yet become prominent. The CRC felt that it was necessary to have a constitutional commission so that its provisions would be entrenched and difficult to change. The amendments to the Constitution were made in 2002.” ”Article 212W of the Constitution,” he continued “provides that the purpose of the Commission is to monitor procurement and the procedure to ensure that the procurement of goods, services and the execution of works are conducted in a fair, equitable, transparent and cost effective manner. Its functions are

widespread.”

He added that “They include monitoring and reviewing all procurement systems; procedures of ministerial, regional and national procurement entities and project execution units; monitor performance with respect to adherence of regulations and efficiency in procuring goods and services and execution or works; investigate complaints; investigate irregularities; initiate investigations and more…

“Article 212X provides that the Commission shall have five members with expertise in procurement, legal, financial and administrative matters,” he also noted.

Now, I doubt whether Peeping Tom sincerely thinks the Procurement Commission is nothing more than a paper tiger with no claws or teeth; I think s/he deliberately wants the commission to be seen that way and, if possible, gotten rid of and let governmentappointed judges be the ones to make decisions about how public funds should be spent or assets dispensed.

And since, in his or her opinion, the government, not the commission, will be the one to take punitive action in event of violations, government will then decide which case should be sent to the DPP. But if we want to know what that picture will look like, all we have to do is consider the NCN felonious stealing report sitting on the President’s desk for eight months instead of being sent to the DPP for action.

The only things worse than government corruption are government defenders of the corruption!

Emile Mervin

Page 6

Kaieteur News

JFK bomb plot…

Court upholds life sentence convictions of Kadir, DeFreitas New York (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Friday upheld the convictions of two Islamic militants charged with participating in a plot to bomb New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.

The second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York declined to throw out a 2010 jury verdict against Russell DeFreitas, 69, and Abdul Kadir, 61, who were found guilty of conspiracy to carry out acts of terrorism.

The court also upheld the life sentences for the men, both from Guyana, saying neither provided a persuasive argument the prison terms were unreasonable in light of their convictions of conspiring to explode pipelines and jet fuel tanks at the airport. “The gravity of the crimes for which they were convicted easily justifies the life sentences that were imposed,” Judge John Walker wrote for a three-judge panel.

Lawyers for the defendants did not comment on the ruling.

Prosecutors say the conspiracy to blow up the

Saturday June 01, 2013

Response to disability challenged by neglect – UNICEF’s Report

Russell DeFreitas

Abdul Kadir airport began in 2005 or 2006.

Much of the evidence was gathered by an informant who was recruited into the conspiracy after meeting DeFreitas, who had worked at the airport as a cargo handler.

Authorities say the idea to attack Kennedy airport originated with DeFreitas. He conducted surveillance in January 2007 and videotaped potential targets, prosecutors say. In a recorded telephone call, DeFreitas said the attacks would be “worse than the

World Trade Center,” a comparison to the attacks of September 11, 2001.

DeFreitas, Kadir and two other defendants, Abdel Nur and Kareem Ibrahim Ibrahim, were arrested in June 2007.

Nur pleaded guilty before trial, while Ibrahim was convicted and received a life sentence in January 2012.

On appeal, DeFreitas and Kadir challenged the use of an anonymous jury. Kadir, a Lindener, was a former, wellknown Member of Parliament in Guyana.

The 2nd Circuit found no fault in the district judge’s decision to allow for an anonymous jury, noting they were charged in a plot that “had the potential to kill hundreds or thousands of people.” The appeals court panel also upheld decisions to allow prosecutors to introduce photos of Kadir posing with machine guns and allowing a government expert to testify about the activities of militant Islamic groups in South America. The Second Circuit dismissed a separate appeal

by Nur, saying his guilty plea was “knowing and voluntary.”

Children of the Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Centre perform a dance at the ceremony to launch the State of the World’s Children 2013 Report “Children with disabilities encounter different forms of exclusion and are affected to varying degrees.” This is the conclusion of the 2013 Edition of the State of the World’s Children Report.

This state of affairs, the Report adds, is allowed to prevail in many territories primarily because of neglect.

The Report, which is recognised as the United Nations Children’s Fund’s (UNICEF) flagship publication, is one that usually seeks to zero-in on various issues affecting the lives of children across the world. This year the focus of the Report is on disability with a view to examine how this issue affects children.

The Report was officially launched by Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, on Thursday, an undertaking that was done simultaneously with the rededication of a playground at the National Park which is now deemed disability friendly. The 2013 State of the World’s Children Report is expected to guide the way forward for countries around the world to deal with the problem of disability as it scrutinises the barriers that affect disabled children.

These barriers that it outlines could range from inaccessibility to buildings and dismissive attitudes to invisibility in official statistics and vicious discrimination.

The factors detailed, the Report emphasises, can

effectively deprive children with disabilities of their rights and keep them from participating fully in society.

Moreover, the publication, which has been regarded as timely by Minister Manickchand, also lay out some of the key elements of inclusive societies that not only respect but protect the rights of children with disabilities. The need for adequate support to disabled children and their families is also outlined as a paramount support feature even as moves are made to nurture their abilities so that they can take advantage of opportunities and make their contribution to the world.

The Report also emphasised that “children with disabilities are not problems” but rather are individuals who should be given opportunities to flourish much the same as others. In fact, “Children with disabilities have the potential to lead fulfilling lives and to contribute to the social, cultural and economic vitality of their communities...” if given the chance.

However, thriving and surviving for children with varying forms of disabilities can be especially difficult as they are at greater risk of being poor than peers without disabilities, the UNICEF publication states. “Even where children share the same disadvantages – of poverty or membership in a minority

group – those with disabilities confront additional challenges as a result of their impairments and the many barriers that society throws in their way,” the Report underscores. Moreover, the Report examines that while children living in poverty are among the least likely to enjoy the benefits of education and health care, it is observed that children who live in poverty and have a disability are even less likely to attend their local school or clinic.

According to Planning Officer within the local Education Ministry, Evelyn Hamilton, while there have been some deliberations under which entity the care of disabled persons fall, there are two factors that are uppermost in the minds of such persons and their families. These, she said, are education and being able to access a job, adding that one in a sense is very dependent on the other. It was against this very background that Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, has taken proactive steps to shortly put in place a five-year Action Plan to address disability as it relates to education.

But according to the Report, in many countries, responses to the situation of children with disabilities are largely limited to institutionalisation, abandonment or neglect.

“These responses are the problem, and they are rooted in negative or paternalistic assumptions of incapacity, dependency and difference that are perpetuated by ignorance,” the Report added.

It was noted too that “unless this change, children with disabilities will continue to have their rights neglected; to experience discrimination, violence and abuse; to have their opportunities restricted; to be excluded from society.”

It was therefore highlighted that commitment is the needful element to ensure that the future of children plagued with disabilities are given priority as a matter of equity and for all to benefit.

Saturday June 01, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 7

Page 8

Kaieteur News

Saturday June 01, 2013

Saturday June 01, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 9

WE NEED TO DEBATE OUR LITERARY HERITAGE A splendid book invariably begins with a brilliant opening. And there is no better example of this than Jane Austin’s magisterial work, Pride and Prejudice, which begins with the line, “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” Last evening, there was an unexpected surprise on local radio. NCN featured a programme to mark the 200th anniversary of Pride and Prejudice. On the show, a panel was discussing the book and fielding questions that were sent in to the show.

By now it should be clear that this was a foreign produced radio programme which was being either rebroadcasted on local radio or being fed live to local listeners. Either way, it was a rare delight considering the trash that is often heard on local radio and the limited

programmes of this genre that are aired locally.

The show being aired was in fact a BBC special of World Book Club. One of the questions asked on the show was whether the panel thinks that the statement “A single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a good wife” still held true. One member of the panel with wit answered, “Yes, unless he is gay!” It was a real pleasure listening to this special edition of World Book Club. NCN must be congratulated for breaking the monotony of listless programming on radio.

In fact, over the past few days, there has been some very good programming on FM102.5, most of which have been rebroadcasts of BBC radio shows. These particular broadcasts point to the direction in which local radio programming should be going. These radio features

will certainly bring back to life local radio, that is state radio, because the private radio stations do not seem inclined at this stage of their existence to invest in these sort of features which require research, time and of course money. This type of genre is not commercially attractive.

Therefore, it will be left to state radio to bring these programs. Similar programs to the World Book Club can be produced to discuss our own literary heritage.

We were this past week reminded that we do have such a heritage having produced writers such as Edgar Mittelholzer, Wilson Harris and outstanding poets such as John Agard. We did have Martin Carter, a poet whose early poems were very good but whose later works were not of the same texture as his earlier ones and which in fact are not noteworthy at

By Keeran Danny

its second to last tier of housing development.

Ali said, “So after this, you have one more tier of development for housing.

That is about maybe another 8,000 house lots, so that it is not something that would stare us in the face another two or three years. The speed at which the Ministry works, we are going to finish that 10,000 this year.”

Establishing housing areas on the highway is not new. Ali referred to a private housing developmentMadewini Villas, which is located on the highway. He mentioned that Madewini Villas, which has about 40 houses, is one of the most beautiful gated communities of all the Caribbean. It is located in the Splashmins Resort. The Ministry has also taken on the responsibility to build affordable houses using economies of scale and the benefits of reduced prices.

This initiative started this February as a pilot project and saw the erection of 55 houses for young professionals. In less than two weeks, all the houses were sold.

According to Ali, the aim was to have young professionals build their future in Guyana. This initiative seems to have gained momentum since over 200 young professionals are awaiting the second round of development to begin.

The Minister related that the houses developed are 1,600 square foot to 1,700 square foot and cost $13.5M. When the first house was completed, the bank valued it for in excess of $20M. While the erection of houses sees the dreams of Guyanese being fulfilled to own their own homes, the investments made contribute

significantly to the building and construction sector and by extension the economy, he said. According to Ronald Webster, Chairman of the Private Sector Commission, the building and construction sector is of critical importance to Guyana’s economy and contributed 11 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

He added that this sector could be better appreciated if it was better known that in 2012 construction and real estate ranked number four to the economy behind agriculture and forestry; mining; and wholesale and retail businesses. The Chairman recognized the need for new projects to come on stream since construction has a huge impact on the economy.

Construction is the best stimulant to any economy since stimulus spending stays within the country, he said. The sector

all. It would make for an interesting panel discussionthat is if a competent local panel can be assembled- to see how Mittelholzer and Carter are assessed. Mittelholzer remains, in this writer’s opinion, Guyana’s most brilliant and controversial writer.

On the other hand, Carter’s own poetry, which is so admired in local middle class circles, more or less reflects the changing political allegiance of the man: from the firebrand radical of the fifties, to the bitterness of the sixties, the reborn but distant social observer of the seventies, to the recluse of later years. In that regard, Carter’s poetry mirrors his own personal political odyssey.

Mittelholzer was the most prolific of our writers. He produced a great number of works in a very short period of time. He will eventually be bettered in terms of the number

of books written but the quality of his writing is simply unsurpassable.

We have had a great deal of debates within the letter pages of our newspapers about the quality of local writers and poets. Some of the material produced locally has been described as being of very poor quality. But while much criticism is lavished, very little is suggested about how the quality of local writing can be improved.

Instead other issues are dominating the literary debates in Guyana. The issue of the criteria used by the Caribbean Press needs to be settled. But what good is it if this issue is settled but there are no quality books to be published. This is why there should be an ongoing debate about how to improve the standard of local writers and poets. In addressing this concern, Guyana needs to

return to its heritage. Many years ago, it was distressing to hear one of the best writers to have emerged from the Caribbean say that in Trinidad and Tobago there were no literary circles in the preWorld War 2 era. That is far from the truth and is an attempt to put down the rich literary history of the Caribbean, including Guyana which produced Mittelholzer.

Guyana therefore needs to begin a new debate about our literary heritage. Certainly Mittelholzer and Harris will feature here. Whether Carter will be featured is questionable.

Silica City: Housing goes to higher grounds as lands run scarce

With limited state land available on the coastland for additional housing development, the Ministry of Housing is eyeing the establishment of industrial, commercial and residential housing on higher grounds.

“Silica City” is to be situated on the Soesdyke/ Linden Highway and will be launched at this year’s International Building Expo slated for July 5 to July 7 at the National Stadium, Providence.

Over that period, the Housing Ministry will sell its idea of a sustainable community along the highway that would initially see the development of 500 acres of land into houselots and other developments.

This is according to Housing Minister, Irfaan Ali, who was delivering remarks at the launch of Guyana’s Fourth Edition of the International Building Expo at the Princess International Hotel, Providence last evening. He urged all potential investors, bankers, buyers and sellers to register with Silica City.

As an incentive to entice potential homeowners into buying into the idea, Ali said that the Ministry is offering “all those persons who would have applied for houselots and you have acknowledgment letters and you are willing to accept a houselot along the highway at Silica City your application would be processed immediately.”

Explaining the importance of taking this opportunity, the Minister said that there are no more public lands available on the East Coast of Demerara for housing developments. In addition, on the East Bank Demerara, the Ministry is on

Section of the gathering at the launching of International Building Expo also provides employment for the skilled and unskilled. In addition, the end products such as roads, bridges and houses are long lasting and are an asset to the economy.

As such, the Private Sector supports this exposition 100

percent. The theme for this year’s expo is “Consolidating Partnerships for Sustainable Development”. This expo is a unique partnership between the Government of Guyana, Private Sector and stakeholders in the housing,

construction and other sectors related to housing and urban development, the Housing Ministry has said.

Almost 100 exhibitors have indicated participation in the expo this year, from the 80plus booths last year.

Page 10

Kaieteur News

Saturday June 01, 2013

Saturday June 01, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 11

US announces $300M project to strengthen Parliament, Local Governance

Leader of the Opposition, Brigadier (Ret’d) David Granger

US Ambassador, D. Brent Hardt

The US Government has signaled its intentions to establish a $300M (US$1.5M) project that targets the strengthening of the National Parliament and the system of Local Governance.

The disclosure was made Thursday at the Office of the Opposition Leader, Hadfield Street, during a meeting between officials of the US Embassy and the representatives of A Partnership For National Unity (APNU).

According to the 10-party coalition, Ambassador D. Brent Hardt explained that this new project focuses on strengthening the role and effectiveness of Parliament, public education and information for Local Government and engagement and involvement of young people in the political system.

The project will be handled by

United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Leader of the Opposition, Brigadier (Ret’d) David Granger, was accompanied

by Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, Ronald Bulkan, MP, Finance and Development, Carl Greenidge, MP, and Legal Affairs, Attorney General and Labour, Basil Williams, MP, along with the Policy Advisor, Lance Carberry.

The US Ambassador was accompanied by Humberto A. Collado, Programme Officer, Latin America and the Caribbean, Michael Fraser, Political and Economic Chief, US Embassy, Michael Murphy, IRI Project Advisor; and Cloe Noble, Programme Management Specialist, USAID. A few months ago, the US Embassy, British and Canadian High Commissions

and EU Delegation, in a joint statement, called for the holding of early Local Government Elections.

The last one was in the 90’s with any new elections hinging on the passage of new Local Government legislations.

APNU yesterday said that during the meeting, a number of critical issues were also raised.

These include the need for strengthening of the National Assembly to ensure that it is equipped to effectively ensure that the Executive is accountable to the people through their representatives in the National Assembly; technical and analytical support for the work of the National Assembly, including the establishment of a Budget Office.

Also raised was the need for the Opposition to be assisted in improving its capacity to Legislative Drafting assistance for the Opposition and professional research support for the work of committees.

APNU said that it also voiced its concerns over the lack of adequate resources to ensure the effective functioning of the Office of the Leader of the Opposition; the challenges to part-time MPs especially with the increasing demands of the Committee system; the need to guarantee the independence and autonomy of Constitutional Offices and

President Ramotar to hold bilateral talks with China’s President - during meeting in Trinidad and Tobago President Donald Ramotar is expected to hold bilateral talks with China’s President Xi Jinping who arrived in Trinidad and Tobago yesterday for an important meeting with Heads of State in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

President Ramotar will lead a delegation that includes Foreign Affairs Minister, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, and Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, for the engagement over the weekend that seeks to strengthen the China-Caribbean relations.

Guyana is the first English-speaking Caribbean country to establish bilateral ties with China, and has maintained those relations for the last 40 years. Both countries have enjoyed frequent high-level exchanges at the political, diplomatic, economic and cultural levels.

According to a government statement, the

President Donald Ramotar

China’s President, Xi Jinping

relations have benefitted Guyana socially and economically with a number of key projects, like the One Laptop Per Family, (OLPF), Amaila Falls Hydro project, the expansion of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport and the construction of the Marriott hotel.

China has also supported

Guyana in the health and security fields with roving medical missions and the donation of fire-fighting equipment from the Chinese government.

President Xi Jinping’s agenda includes a meeting with Trinidad’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissesar and her Cabinet.

institutions; the implications of the proliferation of “acting” appointments; the status of Local Government reform as a precondition for the holding of Local Government Elections and the removal of the heavy hand of Ministerial manipulation of the Local Government system.

The coalition said that it

called for comprehensive Public Education programmes to ensure that the new Local Government system is understood; the need for “civic” education for encouraging young people to become actively involved in the political system must also be widespread; the challenge of independent

“funding” for the Local Government system; and the implications of the refusal of the President to give his assent to Opposition bills.

“It was evident that the new USAID project could make a valuable contribution for advancing the evolution of a truly democratic culture in Guyana,” APNU said.

Page 12

Kaieteur News

Saturday June 01, 2013

Chief Justice unaware Jagdeo granted radio licences The case of new radio stations became a bit more curious yesterday when Chief Justice (ag) Ian Chang said he was unaware that any licences were granted by former President Bharrat Jagdeo. At least one of those persons touted as receiving a licence has said he has none, but rather what he has is document from the Office of the President.

Chang will on July 15, begin hearing arguments in

the legal challenge filed by the publisher of Kaieteur News Glenn Lall and the Guyana Media Proprietors Association (GMPA). The parties want the court to quash the decision by former President Bharrat Jagdeo to hand out 11 radio and two cable licences.

When the matter came up before the Chief Justice yesterday, Attorney General Anil Nandlall begged the court for a month to file an

- case for “quashing” Jagdeo’s decision starts July 15 affidavit in response to the challenge filed by Kaieteur News and the private media houses which make up the GMPA. The respondents in the case asked for a further 14 days to reply, if this is needed, putting the case to July 15.

One of the Attorneys for

the applicants, Roysdale Forde, was seeking interim relief by way of an order that the National Frequency Management Unit (NFMU) be prevented from issuing any new licences until the determination of the case.

It was at this point that the Chief Justice said he was unaware if indeed any licences were granted.

One of the persons listed by the Prime Minister as having received a licence said he in fact did not receive a licence, but what he received was a document from the Office of the President allowing him to broadcast.

This document, he said, included the frequency on which he could broadcast.

However, he said he is yet to receive a licence.

Jagdeo issued permission for 11 new radio stations the very month he left office – November 2011. That permission was granted under the Postal and Telegraphy Act. The Chief Justice said that under that Act no one should have operated without a licence.

Forde however proceeded

with his request for interim relief, mainly that the NFMU be prohibited from issuing new licences.

The Attorney General argued that under the current Broadcasting Act, which replaced the Post Telegraphy Act, the NFMU does not grant licences, but it is the Broadcasting Authority which does so.

However, Forde argued that the ultimate power still resides in the NFMU, since the Broadcasting Authority would not be able to issue a licence to broadcast if the NFMU does not assign a frequency.

After some amount of back and forth, Forde withdrew his application for temporary relief and begged that the court proceed on the main case.

Jagdeo had signed an agreement with then Opposition Leader Robert Corbin in May 2003, saying that no broadcast licences would be issued until the new broadcasting legislation comes into effect.

However, Jagdeo went ahead and granted permission for those new radio stations to be set up almost one year before the Broadcasting Act came into being at the end of August,

2012.

The parties are asking the High Court to declare that Jagdeo’s granting of radio licences was “arbitrary, unconstitutional, unlawful, unfair, unreasonable, capricious, irrational, procedurally improper, ultra vires, null, void and of no legal effect.”

Respondents in the case are the Attorney General, the Minister of Broadcasting, National Frequency Management Unit (NFMU), Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA) and the twelve recipients that were granted permission to broadcast.

All of the respondents, except Hits and Jams, were represented in court yesterday.

Among the companies granted permission to broadcast were TVG, which is owned by Jagdeo’s best friend Dr. Ranjisinghi Ramroop, Telcor and Cultural Broadcasting which has links to Jagdeo’s niece Kamini Persaud and her husband Mr. Robert Persaud, the Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment and Mirror newspaper, which is owned by the ruling PPP. All of these companies were granted five radio frequencies each.

Transport Ministers want return of Cricket World Cup hassle-free travel

In recognition of the benefits derived from the Single Domestic Space (SDS) during the International Cricket Conference Cricket World Cup in 2007, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Ministers of Transport are recommending its reintroduction.

The Ministers made the recommendation at their justconcluded one-day Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on Transportation held in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Wednesday, according to CARICOM. Recommendations from the meeting will be presented to Heads of Government at their upcoming 34th Regular Meeting to be held in Trinidad and Tobago from 4-6 July (Continued on page 21)

Saturday June 01, 2013

Kaieteur News

Region Four troubles ...

REO refutes allegation, will provide evidence to Minister

Regional Executive Officer, Deolall Rooplall Region Four Executive Officer (REO), Deolall Rooplall, has refuted allegations of failure or refusal to carry out decisions. He is also accused of refusing to execute orders of the Council and for this. The council wants him dismissed.

According to Rooplall, he will provide the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development with the necessary information supporting his claims that the statements by the Council are false.

He emphasized that even though the Council wants him dismissed that final say is with the Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Ganga Persaud.

However, the Council is hoping that Persaud would comply with its request to dismiss the Government appointed REO. During an interview with Region Four Chairman, Clement Corlette, on Thursday, this publication was informed that a letter requesting the dismissal of Rooplall would have been dispatched to the Minister yesterday.

This letter was expected to highlight several instances where the REO did not follow instructions. Corlette said that the REO failed to account to the RDC for over $126M in savings on a 2012 approved work plan. “And he refused to provide details on what the savings were eventually used for,” Corlette said.

He added that in 2012 the Council was given money to purchase two vehicles. The REO was tasked with purchasing the vehicles.

Instead of registering it under the RDC, they were registered under the Ministry of Local

Regional Chairman, Clement Corlette

Minister of Local Govt. and Reg. Development, Ganga Persaud Government.

According to Corlette, in response to this act, Deolall said he needed a letter to have tax waivers for the vehicles and so he approached the Ministry for assistance, hence the status of the registration.

The Chairman said that such a letter could have been uplifted from the Council.

Another matter of contention is the persistent failure to submit a plan to repair broken school furniture. This plan has been outstanding since May 2012.

Corlette stated that there were many pieces of furniture in a school that needed repairing. The RDC had decided to give the project to one of the Technical Institutes and the REO was informed.

However, the REO gave the project to a contractor, without the RDC’s knowledge.

The Chairman also accused the REO of suppressing officers who are in charge of different (continued on page 25)

Page 13

Page 14

Kaieteur News

Cuyuni River tragedy…

By Michael Jordan The vessel that capsized at Cuyuni two Saturdays ago had an unlicensed 19-year-old as its captain. It was heading to an area considered to be so treacherous that operators are prohibited from taking passengers there.

This was revealed yesterday by Director of Maritime Safety, Stephen Thomas, who also confirmed that Maritime officials have prohibited vessels from traversing the dangerous Matuk Falls with passengers.

“It is illegal to transport passengers (through this area). It is a very treacherous area,” he told Kaieteur News.

Thomas stressed that the vessel had not yet approached the restricted area, also called the ‘stop-off area’, when it capsized.

However, from interviews with the captain and a survivor, it was confirmed that the captain had intended to

Saturday June 01, 2013

Unlicenced teen ‘captain’ was heading for restricted area

traverse the falls without first offloading his passengers, as is required.

“They had no intention of stopping. Many try to do it (traverse the area). The requirement is that all boats going into that area should have two engines. The boat had two engines (but) some think that because they have two engines they can go through.”

He explained that during their training as boat pilots, operators are notified that passengers must disembark before the vessel reaches the restricted point. He also confirmed that the individual manning the ill-fated boat was not licenced.

“He was only 19 years old…the main causes of the accident were carelessness, negligence and lack of experience on the part of the captain. He will almost certainly be charged.”

Thomas said that Maritime officials are

contemplating erecting warning signs at the restricted point.

Veteran miner Charles Da Silva told Kaieteur News that the Matuk Falls has been prohibited to vessels since the colonial era.

“At the bottom (of the falls) is a skull and crossbones sign placed there since the colonial times, but the locals go through when they have

plenty of horsepower,” Mr. Da Silva said.

He explained that passengers would first disembark and take a long land route around the falls. But he said that this route was about an hour longer than the river route, and some captains would sometimes brave the falls to save time.

“If you have a big boat with two 75-horsepower

engines and a good captain you are alright, but the minute your motor collapses, is gone you are gone.”

Mr. Da Silva said that insurance companies would refuse to reimburse clients whose vessels were damaged in this area.

According to reports, the teen implicated in the recent tragedy was attempting to negotiate the rapids in the

Cuyuni River when his boat struck a rock and developed engine trouble a short distance from Matuk Falls.

Those that perished are Junior Bandhu, 35, of Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo, William Patoir of New Amsterdam, Berbice, Clive Welcome, 19, of First Avenue, Bartica and Seon Robertson, 39, of Angoy’s Avenue, New Amsterdam.

U.S. Ambassador funds ambulance for Region 10 U.S. Ambassador, D. Brent Hardt, handed over a cheque for $8,967,387 to Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh to boost emergency services.

At the Ministry’s request and by agreement between the Guyana and U.S. Governments, these funds will be used to assist with the purchase of an ambulance for

Region Ten, which the government made provision for in its 2013 National Budget.

The ambulance will be deployed to provide public health services in the outlying areas of the region including Great Falls, Number 48 Miles, Number 58 Miles and Mabura Hill.

At the handing over ceremony on May 29, 2013, Ambassador Hardt noted that this contribution complements ongoing U.S. development

assistance provided to Guyana’s health sector, including HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment.

This support, while targeted primarily at combating HIV and AIDS helps strengthen the entire health sector, including supply chain management for drugs and other health care commodities, blood safety, injection safety, and laboratory improvements.

The donation precedes a

medical outreach to Region 10, coordinated through the U.S. Humanitarian Assistance Program (HAP) that will provide general medical assistance to individuals in that region.

The funding for the ambulance was made available through USAID. The Ministry of Finance will finalize arrangements for the purchase of the ambulance and its handover to the Region Ten administration.

Management Committee plans Essequibo town day The Interim Management Committee, of the Anna Regina Town Council has been engaged in a number of intense discussions as plans are tabled for the hosting of Essequibo’s first town day, billed for August 23 to August 25.

The eleven-member committee has highlighted a massive exhibition, and concert, to be held under the theme “Essequibo in Concert,” as well as a cultural evening, street football, history talks of the Town, guided tours to historical sites, pageant show, a sports

day and an evening to socialize.

According to reports, most of the above mentioned slated activities are scheduled to be held on the tarmac of the Anna Regina Car Park.

Request from the traffic Department at Anna Regina i s t o b e sought by the Planning Committee to request the availability of a section of the road, earmarking the beginning of Cotton Field, where Republic Bank is to the Anna Regina Station, to be cordoned off to allow the smooth flow of activities of

the street lime billed for the evening of August 23.

A best Village competition is also engaging the attention of members of the IMC Management Committee to be included as part of the proposed Town Day celebrations, which will be held before the actual Town Day. Meanwhile, business entities as well as business personnel will have another opportunity to showcase their various products during the activity. Essequibo Coast is approximately 38 square miles.

Saturday June 01, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 17

Saturday June 01, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 19

29 graduate from work-study programme at Republic Bank Twenty-nine teens graduated from the Republic Bank’s Youth Link Apprenticeship Programme for 2012 to 2013.

A simple graduation ceremony was held at the Pegasus Hotel yesterday.

The participants, work study students who are awaiting their Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) results, were awarded certificates for their participation in the seven months long programme.

Those who excelled received additional awards.

Nicola John received an award for being the best all rounder. Kemo Paul received two awards- one for the best business proposal, and the other for being the most disciplined apprentice.

The most improved apprentice award was given to Rowlon Wright, while Kerian Allen copped the award for the most effective presentation.

It was noted that unlike the last five years, the males dominated the special awards.

The participants, who were chosen by their respective teachers and headmistresses, were trained in the area of Banking and Financing. Delivering his remarks, Managing Director of Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited, John Alves, explained that Youth LinkApprenticeship Programme forms an integral part in the company’s community investment initiative.

He added that the objective is to guide a group of Guyana’s youths for future career options, with the view of supporting national professional development.

Hence, he said, the bank sought to equip the apprentices with the necessary skills- level of aware, knowledge and etiquette to propel their careers in a positive direction.

It was explained at the function that each participant was exposed to the day-to-day banking processes, with the key target areas being effective

Minister of Labour-Nanda Gopaul and Managing Director of Republic Bank Guyana Limited (centre), John Alves, flanked by graduates of the apprenticeship programme customer service, attendance and punctuality and a professional attitude.

He noted that the programme is carried out each year with the hope that at the end of it, school leavers would develop into more rounded individuals who are exposed and have the opportunity to grasp some key banking knowledge, as well as the concept of teamwork and social awareness.

Alves announced that he was pleased with the collective response portrayed by the students towards those values.

“Your general conduct during the programme is a resounding statement of your commitment to excellence, and this assured the success,” Alves told the graduates, applauding them for their contribution towards the company’s social activities.

Apart from learning the banking and financing aspects, the participants were able to experience what many of them described as one of the best field trips they have ever had. They were afforded a stay at the Baganara Island Resort, with the opportunity to a guided tour of Fort Island and Bartica, places that many of them had never gone to before.

Alves told the graduates that “while one part of your journey ends here today, there

are many more experiences and challenges to discover. As you continue in your life’s pursuits, we encourage you to remain focused on your goals, work hard, maximize every opportunity afforded you and remain committed.”

He added that “Individual commitment to a group effortthat is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.”

Meanwhile, making the feature address was Minister of Labour, Dr. Nanda Gopaul.

He commended Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited for undertaking the fifth annual challenge of helping a batch of students successfully transition themselves from secondary school life, to the adult world of work.

Gopaul advised that should the company apply for national accreditation to conduct their training, he would be the first to ensure that it gets it.

He also made the call for employers to invest in training their workforce, as money spent will only reveal beneficial results.

In closing, the Minister advised the graduates to dream big and stay focused on going after their dreams. He also advised them to pursue higher education, as it is invaluable compared to making a quick dollar.

Page 20

Kaieteur News

Saturday June 01, 2013

Gold miners question cash Crucial interventions in place to tackle infant and remittances for silver maternal mortality - PS

The GGDMA yesterday voiced its “growing dissatisfaction” over the failure of the Guyana Gold Board (GGB) to give the Association information which can explain an almost 50 per cent drop in monies members have received from the sale of silver in the last six months of 2012.

A senior official of the GGDMA explained that gold sold to the GGB by miners is smelted when it is received overseas and the silver content is removed and sold separately. This is treated as a bonus.

The proceeds from the sale of the silver extracted are remitted to the GGB and in a standing arrangement the Board keeps 50 per cent. The remainder is handed over to the miners.

Miners have agreed that their portion be remitted to the GGDMA and this arrangement has been in place for several years.

The GGDMA uses this income to finance its field and administrativ e activities.

The Officer said that the GGDMA was d i s m a y ed to receive a report from the GGB indicating that 50 per cent of the sales of silver sold in the last six months of 2012 amounted to a mere $3.5 M. T h e d ismay, he said, was due to the fact that monies received from the sale of silver for the corresponding period in 2011 had amounted to $6.6M, almost 50% more although production had been less when compared to last year.

He said:”We all know that 2012 was a year of record gold production.

The more gold sold and smelted, the more silver is expected from the extraction process.”

“The GGDMA

accordingly expected more in payments from silver, yet here it is that we are getting almost 50 per cent less when compared with what we received for the same period in 2011.”

He added: “ We h a v e top producing miners on t h a t l i s t . Ye t a l o n g s i d e their names we see no payments for silver. This suggests quite i n c o n g r u o u s l y, t h a t t h e gold they sold to the Gold Board had no silver content. That doesn’t happen. Something is definitely wrong.”

He added that the most disturbing and now frustrating, part of the entire situation is that the Association has been asking the GGB to release a list of names of the producers for 2012 along with their production – a list which would serve as a means of estimating the possible silver content.

A number of crucial interventions undertaken by the Ministry of Health have been instrumental in what has been described as a “rapid decline” in the child and infant mortality rates over the past year.

This assertion was made

by Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Leslie Cadogan, who revealed that the interventions include Integrated Management of Childhood Strategy which encompasses a holistic approach to child health in the identification and classification of common childhood diseases.

Interventions, according to Cadogan, have also included immunisation programmes which, he said, have been successful as there has been over 90 per cent coverage in vaccine preventable diseases in children under one year of age.

Additionally, he disclosed that the Health Ministry had in the past two years introduced new vaccines to combat retrovirus and diarrhoea which also saw 90 per cent coverage being achieved.

Further Cadogan noted that the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission Programme has seen a notable decline in the Human

Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) prevalence even as he noted that there has been improved child survival.

In terms of training for health workers, the Permanent Secretary spoke of moves to introduce a residency programme in paediatrics at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation which targets a number of young local doctors.

There has also been training for health care workers in neonatal resuscitation even as moves were made to open intensive care units at two public hospitals, Cadogan disclosed.

The Permanent Secretary said too that there have been achievements in areas such as the residency programme in Obstetrics which was initiated one year ago and he noted that just recently the GPHC was able to enrol a new batch of doctors to the programme.

“We are continuing to train health care providers in emergency obstetric care programme with collaboration from our United Nations agencies like PAHO, UNICEF and UNFPA...” added Cadogan.

And as part of the moves to ensure that a reduction in maternal mortality is sustained, he sought to highlight the introduction of two

maternity waiting homes so that mothers who live in remote areas can stay close to hospitals.

He disclosed too that “in case there is need for emergency care stringent measures have been put in place on reporting of maternal deaths in the country.”

Nevertheless, Cadogan reported that there are yet some existing challenges in terms of human resources and remoteness of communities to access care on a timely basis.

There is also a dire need for enhancement of communities’ support and moves to advocate for early enrolment in antenatal care and also to ensure that communities understand their role in the support of mothers.

Moreover, he disclosed that there has been a marginal decline in maternal mortality although not at the rate that was anticipated in order to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) target timeline of 2015.

As such, Cadogan noted that the Government of Guyana has recognised MDGs Four and Five, which speaks to the reduction of infant and maternal mortality, as the goals for prioritisation.

Towards this end, he said that the Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health Strategy 2011-2020 had been developed.

This plan, according to Cadogan, outlines the goals and objectives that Guyana must take in order to achieve the MDGs within the specified timeframe.

And since there are challenges and gaps that are currently confronting the country as it relates to the attainment of the target MDGs, a stakeholders’ forum was recently held to plot an effective way forward.

This strategic move, Cadogan said, would “provide the basis for partnership and consultation with organisations in order for us as a country to reduce maternal and infant mortality and improve the quality of health care offered to women and children in Guyana.”

Saturday June 01, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 21

Prosecution closes case in Angoy’s Avenue rape trial The trial of rape accused, Leon Mickle, called “Eon”, 23, of Angoy’s Avenue, New Amsterdam Berbice is continuing in the Berbice High Court, before Justice Dawn Gregory and a mixed jury.

The media has not been privy to the full trial since the prosecution has requested that the matter be held in camera. This request was granted by the judge.

So far four witnesses testified on behalf of the prosecution while Mickle took the witness stand in his own defense. Mickle is on trial for the offence which he allegedly committed on July 15, 2007 at Angoy’s Avenue, New Amsterdam where he allegedly engaged in sexual activity with a minor under the age of 15. The girl, who was said to be 12 at the time, was at home in the bedroom sleeping when she was awakened by Mickle who then had sex with her.

Addressing the jury, prosecutor Dionne Mc

Accused takes witness stand give sworn statement Cammon asserted that the state only has to prove penetration. She said that the girl could not give consent because she was not of age.

Detective Corporal Chaitanand Singh in his evidence had testified that the virtual complainant and the accused who was 17 at the time were known to each other. He told the court that on July 16, he held a confrontation between the accused and the virtual complainant during which the girl repeated her story. The man had pushed her on the bed and forcefully had sex with her.

The matter was reported to the police and the accused was arrested and charged.

He was cross-examined by defence counsel, Sasha Roberts, of the legal aid clinic who is representing the accused. Attorney Roberts

grilled the policeman on the part he played during the investigation.

Next on the witness stand was woman Detective Corporal, Daniel Blair, who testified of accompanying the girl and her mother to the New Amsterdam Hospital where a medical examination was conducted. She uplifted same which was presented in court.

She was also cross examined by defence attorney Roberts.

The next witness was the virtual complainant who was 12 at the time. However, at the stage the prosecution requested that the matter be held in camera and asked that the media be excused from the court room. This request was granted by the judge.

The virtual complainant’s mother took the witness stand. She related the events, the day in question she accompanied her daughter

along with a police woman to the New Amsterdam hospital where she was examined.

Under cross examination

by Defense attorney Roberts, the woman stated that she did not see anyone enter or leave the house. She said that she heard knocking and her daughter crying. She denied that she is acting spitefully against the accused. The prosecution then closed its case.

The accused then took the witness stand as part of his defense and was led in his evidence by attorney at law Sasha Roberts. The accused told the court that back in 2007 he only knew the accused for a few weeks by seeing her around. He and the accused were not friends and he had never spoken to her.

He said on the day in question he was by Coach Man’s Bar at the Stelling Road with some friends drinking. He mentioned that he left to go home around after 03:00 hrs on that morning. He went

Schools warned about soliciting monies from parents The Ministry of Education has received numerous complaints from parents regarding the amount of money requested by teachers and Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) for various school activities.

The Ministry has issued a circular to all schools in Guyana. It is signed by the Chief Education Officer (CEO), Mr. Olato Sam, requiring teachers to read and affix their signatures to the document, which states clearly the policy of the MOE regarding the soliciting of monies from parents and students.

Parents, the MOE stated, are requested from time to time to supp l y s c h o o l s with toilet paper, soap, hand towels, paper for typing and printing exam p a p ers, etc.

Parents especially those who have more than one child attending schools are of the view that the demands are unrealistic and also add to their financial burdens.

The MOE was informed that some school administrators are denying students their legitimate right to write End-of-Term exams, National Grade Nine Assessment Exams and Regional Exams because the students did not contribute cash.

The MOE, in a strongly worded circular, stated that “No head teacher, member of the staff or PTA is authorized to charge parents specific sums for any test or end-ofterm examination papers. Such funds, it stated, can be raised

through various fundraising activities, for example, cake sales and fairs, but should not be solicited directly from the parents.

Also the MOE, added that no head teacher or member of staff is authorized to request parents to supply schools with toilet tissue, soap, paper for printing, etc. and that donations to the school whether cash or kind must be entered in the school’s inventory or stock book, whichever is appropriate.

Kaieteur News understands that schools are supplied by their respective Regional Democratic Councils with those materials on a term basis.

Head teachers indulging

in acts that contravene the MOE policy will be placed before the Disciplinary Committee of the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) and any Education Officer found guilty of condoning the head teachers’ illegal behaviour will also face disciplinary action by the Public Service Commission (PSC).

Additionally, the MOE is also warning schools against overcharging parents for graduation fees and gowns during graduation exercises.

“The MOE has received numerous complaints from parents, regarding the amount of money requested by teachers and PTAs for various school- based activities,

specifically the cost of graduation exercises.”

Students, who do not pay, it stated, are barred from participating in the exercise in some schools.

Schools should not charge in excess of $3,000 and the MOE even encouraged that the amount be lowered.

Students are also encouraged to wear their respective uniforms for the graduation and that no student is required to rent or pay for caps, gowns for the event. If so, the costs should be borne by the schools.

No student, it stated, should be barred from graduating because he or she did not pay money for gowns, or caps.

straight to his home.

Later during the morning the police came to his home and arrested him. He was taken to the police station and to the New Amsterdam hospital. No confrontation was held between him and the virtual complainant.

He denied having sex with the virtual complainant and ever visiting her home. He said

that he knew the mother and had spoken to her before but they had a misunderstanding which ended in a confrontation.

He was then cross examined by prosecutor Dionne Mc Cammon The matter is continuing, but the media has since been reminded that the matter will be held in camera.

Transport Ministers...

From page 11 at which transportation will receive special attention.

The Ministers lamented that CARICOM nationals encountered unnecessary problems as they travelled across the region and this was not only limited to scant regard paid to the CARICOM Passport which entitles holders to an automatic six-month stay in member states.

“The meeting recognized that there were challenges with respect to frequent security checks and co-operation between the regional airlines, among other things, which negatively affected the travelling public and had repercussions for business and tourism as well. The ministers also agreed that

much work had to be done to improve customer service among Border Control officers in the region.”

It was also agreed that the Conference of Heads of Government should be asked to revisit its decision to discontinue the inexpensive arm band system which facilitated hassle free regional travel during the World Cup. Among the features of the SDS were, freedom of movement for all domestic travellers and a Special Visa stamped at the first port of entry for travellers from outside the region to allow hassle free movement among the participating SDS states.

Measures to support the initiative included an Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS).

Page 22

Kaieteur News

Saturday June 01, 2013

Saturday June 01, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 23

Local nurses benefited from overseas training

The nurses, the instructor, GPHC’s CEO and Mrs. Harakh GPHC’s CEO presenting the certificate to one of the participants Nineteen nurses countrywide benefited from a one-week training programme in Neonatal Resuscitation hosted by representatives from a Canadian charitable organization, Guyana Burn and Health Care (GB&HC).

The training which was held at Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation started last year. This was the first time the examination was done

online.

Those who benefited are Charlene Sampson, Deborah Campbell, Abbilisia Stephens, Kim Dennis, Wilma Arthur, Annette Johnson, Jacqueline David, Aaromie Semple, Locrecia Inniss, Virginie Lord, Marva Fransia, Anesha Dutchin, Dawn Stuart, Yolanda Renville, Natoya Munroe, Shiann Bagot, Gaitnee Surujpaul and Shanti

Sukhra. The nurses, some of whom are midwives at various hospitals such as the West Demerara Regional Hospital, Linden Hospital Complex, Kwakwani Hospital, GPHC, New Amsterdam Hospital and Suddie Hospital were successful at the course and were presented with their certificates yesterday by GPHC’s Chief Executive; Michael Khan.

The main aim of the program which will be an annual event is to educate the

Suspect in sawmill supervisor’s murder denies killing ‘rival’ - during phone conversations with reporters The prime suspect in the murder of sawmill supervisor, Kemraj Singh, is proclaiming his innocence, even as he continues to elude police who believe that he slashed and battered his alleged rival in a dispute over a teenage girl. Kaieteur News managed to contact the suspect on his mobile phone on Thursday and again yesterday.

During brief conversations with two Kaieteur News reporters, the suspect, who confirmed his identity, stated that he “is innocent,” but also indicated his unwillingness to turn himself over to the police.

The man claimed that he was staying at an East Bank Essequibo address. He initially agreed to meet with a reporter and give his side of the story but then changed his mind.

Kaieteur News was told that police, acting on information, searched the East Bank Essequibo residence yesterday, but failed to locate the suspect.

According to a police official, the man’s relatives have suggested that he was attending a wedding at Leguan, Essequibo, at the time his alleged rival was slain. However, police have reportedly received information that the suspect

Dead: Kemraj Singh was in Land-of-Canaan around the time that the murder is believed to have occurred. Meanwhile, a post mortem examination conducted yesterday revealed that 22-year-old Singh was struck at least five times in the head with a heavy object and his neck was slashed from right to left.

Police believe that the sawmill employee was battered with a hammer, which was left at the scene.

Singh’s mutilated body was found on Tuesday in a shack at his employer’s Land of Canaan, East Bank Demerara sawmill. His throat had a gaping wound and it appeared that he had been struck repeatedly to the head.

A bloody hammer was found

at the scene.

Information provided to detectives has led them to believe that Singh was killed by a young man with whom he had a bitter dispute over a 17-year-old woman that both youths wanted to marry.

Kaieteur News was told that the young woman had eloped with Singh and the two were planning to get married next Monday.

Kaieteur News understands that Singh is from Airy Hall, Essequibo, but has been staying at his mother’s home on the East Bank of Demerara and at the shack located at the sawmill compound. This newspaper understands that the parents of the girl at the centre of the dispute had intended that she marry a young man from a wealthy family. However, the girl started a relationship with Singh. The two men reportedly almost came to blows some two months ago.

Nevertheless, Singh and the young woman reportedly continued the relationship and the sawmill supervisor allegedly took his girlfriend from her parent’s home a few days ago, with the intention of marrying her next Monday.

After the teen left her Land of Canaan home, her parents reluctantly accepted her decision to be with Singh.

nurses on basic resuscitation skills for newly born infants.

Vernie Ally, a Canadian instructor told Kaieteur News that the programme is for nurses, doctors, therapists and anyone who has access to resuscitate a baby.

She said this year the programme was a “success” and all the participants did “great” although there were a few nurses who were not familiar with computers. They had to use the computer to do their exams.

Pamela Harakh, Vice President for the GB&HC said that the programme was overwhelming. She explained that the next step of this program will be to teach this year ’s participants to be instructors so they

themselves will be able to teach others and eventually, there will not be a need for an overseas instructor.

Mrs. Harakh explained that her organization has been in existence for 15 years and started helping the GPHC in 2002 by opening a Burn Care Unit. She stressed that when she visited the hospital 11 years back, the facility did not have wards for the burn patients. “I remember seeing a room with the label “Burn Care” and when we opened it, there were furniture and other items and when we enquired, we were told that the burn patients are being placed in the wards with other patients so, since then we decided to help,” the Vice President of the NGO added. Meanwhile, the

nurses thanked the NGO for hosting the event. Kim Dennis from Kwakwani Hospital said “This program is very beneficial to me because our hospital doesn’t have a Neonatal Unit but a maternity ward where we do all our resuscitation.”

“At the Suddie Hospital, the midwives have to do everything, only if there is an emergency then the pediatrician would come. With the program I did, I will know what to do until the pediatrician comes,” Locrecia Inniss noted. The GPHC’s CEO told the nurses that his hospital will be offering a crash- course in computer skills in November and nurses from various hospitals across Guyana will be invited.

MACORP working with miners to improve efficiency of excavators

MACORP’s CEO, Jorge Medina (left) and GGDMA President, Patrick Harding, during the engagements.

Amid concerns raised regarding the effect that the recent slide in gold prices would have on Guyana’s economy, MACORP and the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) are aiming to improve the management of

the equipment being used in the gold industry.

During a meeting of the two entities, discussions were led on measures to be taken in order to reduce operating costs for all Caterpillar equipment used in the industry. Commitments

were also made towards enhancing skills training with focus on equipment and maintenance operation.

MACORP also facilitated a tour of its new practice ground which provides training on excavator operation.

Page 24

Kaieteur News

Saturday June 01, 2013

Page 26

Kaieteur News

Saturday June 01, 2013

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

If Burnham did not plan Rodney’s murder, was he an accessory after the fact?

DEAR EDITOR, The reluctance of the PNC and PPP governments to conduct a formal inquiry into Walter Rodney’s assassination obligates the nation’s independent newspapers (Kaieteur News and Stabroek News) to fully ventilate the facts and opinions on this provocative scar still searing the consciousness of this country.

If political self-interest by abject political parties denies the nation the opportunity of a proper inquiry into the death of one of its greatest sons and the very man who most promised deliverance from our sorry paralysis of broken dreams and ethnic

cleavages, then these two defenders of free speech and original thought must be the avenue for full discussion and investigative journalism on this issue.

After 47 years of failed PNC and PPP rule, the story of Walter Rodney and the moral significance of that tale is a critical one for the youths of this nation, trapped in the morass of a morally shipwrecked country and desperately in need of moral, philosophical and intellectual direction.

This letter took a lot of investigative work on Rodney’s murder and it responds in some ways to Minette Bacchus’ letter titled “The facts do not support

Burnham killing Rodney” (KN, May 29, 2013) responding to mine titled “Posterity is always painfully cruel to dictators” (May 25, 2013). I will address Bacchus’ letter in a separate correspondence.

Wesley Kirton’s letter in the May 11, 2013 Kaieteur News edition titled “Guyana has never had and hopefully will never have an illegal government” opens an inferno that Minette Bacchus and her ilk are deathly afraid of confronting.

Kirton states Burnham told him in a face to face conversation that he (Burnham) was not responsible for Walter

Rodney’s assassination.

According to Kirton, Burnham invoked the Queen’s College bond shared by him and Rodney as his justification for not being involved in Rodney’s assassination.

He (Burnham) named six conspirators in the Rodney assassination. Kirton states that Burnham was upset with some of these individuals because they too were QC boys like Rodney and Burnham.

Let us for the purpose of analysis assume Kirton’s tale as truthful. If we do so, then Burnham’s admission to Kirton unequivocally confirms that Rodney was (Continued on page 31)

Is there a maintenance programme for our road lights?

DEAR EDITOR, A few years ago the Western section of the East Coast corridor was a very picturesque scene at nights as all of the road’s lights were in working condition and there seemed to be a maintenance programme in place to replace any defective or damaged units.

Much comfort was derived from the installation of these lights as security, road safety, and night v i s i b i l i t y w e r e appreciated by the road

users who plied this route.

However, over the last eighteen months there seems to have been a total neglect of a maintenance schedule, as there now seems to be as many non-working lights as the ones that are actually operational.

I have not to date seen any evidence that suggests that the recent budget cuts have curtailed any such activity, so I am humbly appealing to the relevant authorities to have our lights restored.

Alex Edwards

Foundations for...

From page 4 on a profound analysis of the current situation. The way forward for the new administration was the creation of a national democratic state based on social and economic justice, a state that represented the interests of all classes, groups and social strata.

The private sector was considered as the leading engine of growth with the state providing a facilitating role, in addition to ensuring that there were adequate provisions in law to protect workers from exploitation by employers.

Regrettably, the years between the granting of

independence and the restoration of democracy in 1992 could be described as “lost years”. Missed were the opportunities to build a strong economic, social and political foundation to ensure steady and continued allround development of the country.

Today, we are once again a proud and democratic nation, well on the road to sustained development and economic and social progress.

The foundations for economic take-off are firmly laid, thanks to visionary leadership from the PPP/C administration.

Hydar Ally

Saturday June 01, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 27

EU exit would put Britain on par NATO to hold 2014 summit on with Norway - Danny Alexander Afghanistan troop withdrawal (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron’s promise of a referendum on his country’s membership of the European Union is a “huge distraction” that risks reducing Britain’s influence in the bloc to that of Norway, Danny Alexander warned.

In an interview that highlights deep divisions within Britain’s two-party coalition over Europe, Alexander, the number two at Britain’s finance ministry and a member of the Liberal Democrat party, the junior coalition partner, said a British EU exit would be “catastrophic at every level”.

Losing a say over how the world’s largest single market is regulated would be particularly damaging, he warned.

“Look at the Norwegians for example, where in order to maintain access to the single market they basically receive the new rules on the fax machine from Brussels and they have to implement them without changing them,” Alexander told Reuters.

Norway is not an EU member but has access to the bloc’s single market in return for adopting most laws related to it.

“For a country that values its international influence and leadership and wants to maintain its trading position receiving a large chunk of our laws on the fax from Brussels rather than being able to shape them would be very bad for Britain,” said Alexander.

Cameron promised in January to try to renegotiate Britain’s membership of the EU and to hold an in/out referendum on the issue if he wins the next national election in 2015, a pledge that has sparked lively debate about Britain’s role in the bloc.

His strategy has divided public opinion and the business community and

Danny Alexander caused tensions within the ruling coalition with the Lib Dems refusing to match his promise of a membership referendum, saying they would only hold such a vote if there was a further major change in British-EU relations.

But opinion polls show many Britons back Cameron on Europe. So do many MPs in his ruling Conservative party, as well as the predominantly eurosceptic press. The surging anti-EU UK Independence Party, whose poll rating has gone from single digits to 19 percent in some polls, wants Cameron to go further and hold a referendum immediately in which it hopes people would vote to leave the 27-nation bloc.

But Alexander said it was the wrong time for such a debate, arguing that change in the euro zone spurred by the currency bloc’s debt crisis meant that Britain had a unique chance to reshape and lead the EU rather than leave it. “It’s not only irresponsible it is completely wrong to be saying actually of all times now is the time to be contemplating leaving Europe when we’ve got this wonderful opportunity to lead in Europe.

“Arguments about calling a referendum on British withdrawal, sort of apropos of

nothing, are a huge distraction. Britain leaving the EU would be catastrophic at every level - for our economy, for our ability to attract investment, for trade, for jobs and for political influence.”

Cameron has said he doesn’t want Britain to exit the EU, a scenario dubbed “a Brexit”, saying he wants it to remain inside a reformed EU where nation states have more say over their own affairs.

But critics warn that his attempts to renegotiate British-EU relations could undermine Britain’s influence inside the bloc and risk triggering an unpredictable process that could see it abruptly pushed or forced to jump out of the EU. The United States, Britain’s closest ally on the world stage, has already said it would prefer Britain to stay in.

WA S H I N G T O N (Reuters) - NATO countries will hold a summit next year to discuss troop withdrawals from Afghanistan, U.S. President Barack Obama said yesterday after a meeting with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

The United States and its 28 NATO allies have been working toward withdrawing combat troops in 2014, a milestone Rasmussen said is in sight.

There are 62,000 U.S. troops and 34,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan.

Obama and Rasmussen did not say how many would remain in the country to help support the Afghan government as it takes responsibility for its own security.

Rasmussen said NATO is preparing a training mission for Afghanistan in 2015. “It will be a very different

Barack Obama mission. A non-combat mission with a significantly lower number of troops,” he said.

The leaders also discussed their vision for NATO’s future role in global security, including how to combat emerging threats like cyber security, Obama said.

Obama said Rasmussen would identify the host

country for the 2014 summit, which will look at building up NATO’s ability to address cyber threats and “lock in” commitments by members.

“That requires burdensharing on the part of all NATO members. It means that even during times of austerity, that we work smarter together to ensure that we can meet and are prepared for any threats that may arise,” Obama said.

The United States has been urging European allies for years to increase their financial support for NATO, a difficult case to make during the recent economic crisis.

The Afghanistan war started in 2001 after the September 11 attacks on the United States. U.S.-led forces toppled Afghanistan’s Taliban leaders who had harbored the al Qaeda network responsible for the hijacked airliner attacks.

After news editor boycott, U.S. attorney general loosens rules (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder loosened his rules for speaking with media editors yesterday during a second day of meetings with them about his Justice Department’s handling of investigations that involve reporters, the editors said.

Representatives from Reuters and ABC News met with Holder, the chief U.S. law enforcement officer, and his staff following recent disclosures that federal prosecutors seized records from two other media outlets without advance notice.

A Reuters spokeswoman had said on Thursday that the news agency would not take part in any discussion that was “off the record,” meaning its contents could not be recorded or reported.

Reuters and some news organizations, including The New York Times and CNN, said they would not attend, but representatives of other news organizations met with Holder on Thursday.

Another meeting went ahead yesterday after Holder agreed its contents would be largely for publication, Reuters Chief Operating Officer Stuart Karle told reporters outside Justice Department headquarters.

Karle attended with Marilyn Thompson, the Reuters bureau chief in Washington.

He said that department officials showed an interest in making changes to investigative guidelines on access to media records, but he said it was premature to draw conclusions.

“Long-term, I think

they’re looking for changes in how the rules operate and regard this as an opportunity to make sure that happens,” Karle said.

The meetings were part of a 45-day review of Justice Department guidelines ordered by President Barack Obama after an outcry from journalists that the seizure of records from the Associated Press and Fox News compromised press freedom.

Prosecutors say they want to know who, in speaking to the Associated Press in 2012, exposed a covert agent helping U.S. forces against al Qaeda in Yemen.

An analyst who worked at the State Department, Stephen Kim, faces trial as early as next year on charges that he leaked to Fox News a

Eric Holder story in 2009 that described the thinking of U.S. intelligence officials about North Korea.

As part of the investigation into Kim, the FBI obtained the emails of Fox News reporter James Rosen and described Rosen in a search warrant affidavit as a possible criminal coconspirator. Rosen was never charged and the Justice Department said there were no plans to charge him.

Page 28

Kaieteur News

Saturday June 01, 2013

Govt. still on track to auction 700MHz licences - Phillip Paulwell Jamaica Gleaner - After hitting a snag in the auction of the 700MHz band, Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Minister Phillip Paulwell has said the process is back on track.

Paulwell gave the assurance on Wednesday after West Portland Member of Parliament Daryl Vaz questioned whether the auction was still on the table.

“The 700MHz spectrum auction process commenced in April. However, we have been advised that the auction process has been postponed indefinitely. Is it that the reserve price tag is out of the reach of an existing operator and not attractive enough for a new entrant?” Vaz questioned.

Paulwell, in late March, announced that the Government is to auction two licences for use of the 700MHz band, with a view to attracting new entrants to the mobile telecommunications market. He said the Government hopes to issue the licences by July 15.

Phillip Paulwell Paulwell, while not disclosing reasons for the delay in the auction, said “the process for the conduct of the auction is back on the original timetable”.

He said the response from potential investors in China for the auction of the band has been positive.

“Now is the best time to get a third player,” Paulwell told The Gleaner.

He said the Government is auctioning two licences, one with reserved price at US$45 million, and the other at US$40 million.

In the meantime, Vaz said the Opposition is not in support of the sale of the spectrum.

“The Opposition is of the opinion and recommends that it is best that the Government should not sell this national asset now until datapenetration of existing technology is much higher and there is actually a demand for greater data services which cannot be provided by old technology,” Vaz said.

He added: “Selling the licences now will only give a windfall to the early buyer, and not necessarily the best buyer, who is willing to hold this licence.”

But Paulwell said the Government will not be changing course on this decision to auction the frequency.

“In 1999, when we did a similar auction, many thought it was a pipe dream, yet we earned just under US$100 million. Though our voice penetration rate is high, our wireless broadband roll-out is low and expensive. There is a clear opportunity in this segment of the market. We are proceeding,” Paulwell said.

PM Gonsalves wants 90-minute talks with Trinidad PM on fuel subsidy KINGSTOWN, St Vincent - CMC – Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves says he has requested a 90minute meeting with his Trinidadian counterpart, Kamla Persad Bissessar, this month to discuss the Caribbean Air Navigation and Advisory Services (CANAS) and regional airline, LIAT. Gonsalves said when he was in Port of Spain on Tuesday for talks with United States Vice President Joe Biden “I spoke to the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago and I suggested to her that when we have the Heads of Government meeting in July, I asked her if she could put aside about 90 minutes (so) that we can talk”.

Gonsalves said the talks will be “at a political level” because both the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) have mandated him to talk to Port-of-Spain about the operations of CANAS and shareholders governments of LIAT have empowered him to speak to Trinidad and Tobago on those issues.

He further said that Barbados has also authorized him to speak on their behalf “on the issue of the airspace”.

Gonsalves is the Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM) lead prime

Dr Ralph Gonsalves minister of regional transportation and chairman of LIAT shareholder governments.

LIAT shareholder governments have complained about the fuel subsidy that Port-of-Spain gives to Caribbean Airlines (CAL), and OECS governments have expressed concerns about the operations of CANAS. “We have to be on the board, and we have to know what is going on, how much money you are collecting and how much money you are spending,” Gonsalves said in relation to CANAS. “It is a simple issue of accounting and transparency.

I don’t see there can be any quarrel about that. And LIAT has raised the issue in relation

o fuel subsidies. It is not only in relation to LIAT; there are other knock-on effects with other airlines outside of the region.”

“And the Prime Minister said when we are meeting, the technical people can be meeting and then we join them at some point,” Gonsalves said in reference to Persad Bissessar’s response to his request.

Early last month, the LIAT shareholder governments – Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines – said that the Port of Spain subsidy to CAL is also a violation of the Common Air Services Agreement among Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member countries, resulting in substantial losses to LIAT. Gonsalves said for the period 2008 to 2012, LIAT expended on fuel US $106.1 million while CAL paid US $43.64 million.

“In other words we have spent US $62.4 million on the fuel bill over this period more than we would have spent if we got the subsidy similar to CAL.” Trinidad and Tobago Finance Minister Larry Howai said the subsidy to the CAL last year totalled US $40 million.

Saturday June 01, 2013

Kaieteur News

Biden says U.S. and Brazil ready for deeper relationship

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (R) speaks to Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff during a meeting on his visit to Brazil, at the Planalto Palace yesterday. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino BRASILIA (Reuters) U.S. Vice President Joe Biden wound up a visit to Brazil yesterday saying it was high time the two largest economies in the Americas became closer partners in trade, investment and energy.

“We’re ready for a deeper, broader relationship across the board on everything from the military to education, trade and investment,” Biden told reporters after meeting with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.

The White House announced on Wednesday that Rousseff will make a state visit to Washington on October 23, the only one that President Barack Obama is offering a foreign head of state this year, indicating the importance his administration is placing on closer ties with Latin America’s largest nation.

Biden praised Brazil for recently writing off $900 million in African debt, saying it showed the emergence of Brazil as a “responsible” nation on the world stage.

During his three-day visit, Biden also commended Brazil for lifting millions of people from poverty over the last decade and showing the world that development and democracy are not

incompatible. However, he also urged Brazil to open its economy more to foreign bushiness and to be more vocal in defense of democracy and free-market values.

Relations between Washington and Brasilia have improved since Rousseff took office in 2011 and adopted a less ideological foreign policy than her predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who befriended Iran and drew Brazil closer to Venezuela’s anti-U.S. government under the late Hugo Chavez.

As the Brazilian economy surged on a commodity boom in the last decade, China displaced the United States as Brazil’s largest trading partner due to its massive purchases of Brazilian iron ore and soy.

Perceiving the advent of better ties between Brasilia and Washington, U.S. and Brazilian businesses are actively pushing for a strategic partnership between their countries that would allow for more flexible investment rules, a treaty to eliminate double taxation and a visa waiver program to make travel easier for tourists and executives.

“The atmospherics are improving rapidly, in part

because Brazil has taken a lower profile on some contentious global political issues like Iran,” said Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Americas Society, a business forum dedicated to fostering ties between the United States and Latin America.

Brazil is also beginning to understand that China and other leading emerging nations are not yet substitutes for economic ties with the United States. While the so-called BRIC countries have rapidly gained a greater share of the global economy, they still are no match for American businesses in terms of providing the investment and technology Brazil needs, Farnsworth said.

“There seems to be a growing sense that the United States may unnecessarily and gratuitously have been pushed away by the previous government, particularly as China slows and commodities markets soften,” he said.

Much of the future relationship with the United States will depend on whether Brazil, whose economy still remains relatively protected by high tariffs and other barriers, can make trade easier, Biden said in a speech in Rio de Janeiro.

China president shopping for natural gas in Trinidad PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping is shopping in the Caribbean for new sources of energy for his growing country.

President Xi was due to arrive yesterday for a state visit to the twin-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago, a leading supplier of natural gas. The Chinese embassy says in a statement that Xi will seek to deepen trade and investment in energy when he meets with

Trinidadian Prime Minister Kamla PersadBissessar.

He’ll also attend a groundbreaking today for a hospital funded in part by China.

Trinidad has long been a major exporter of natural gas to the United States. But that has dropped as US fuel production surges thanks to new exploration and drilling technology.

Xi is also visiting Costa Rica, Mexico and the US on this trip.

Page 29

Page 30

WANTED Business property for rent in Central Mackenzie- Tele: 444-5883/687-9992 One live-in maid to work in Georgetown- Call: 697-6747 One female experienced cook and kitchen assistant to work in home in InteriorCall: 697-6747

Kaieteur News

WANTED Barber to work at Grove E.B.D- Call: 609-6952 1 Nail Technician, 2 Barbers: Address: 1 Smyth & Durban Street, Werk-en-Rust. Call: 674-8555 Attractive live in waitress.

Call: 327-0252/ 674-4665

One Live-in Babysitter for Georgetown age 18-30- call: 697-6747

Do you need an excavator operator? 12 yrs experience in mining. Call: 254-0624 / 6554440

Contract Cars wanted: City Taxi Service- call: 660-1100

1 General Domestic for East Bank area- call: 614-4358

Live In Live Out Babysitter Domestic - Call: 225-6070

1 Live- in maid to do general house chores- Call: 626-7040

Wanted!

Experienced salesgirls: Visit 140 Regent Street with written application One Office Worker: Computer Research skills, excellent customer service: Inquire at 223-1233 or 6422028: Deadline June 3rd.

Experienced and Reliable assistant cook, Bar attendant, WaitressContact: 223-6284 Leisure Air Restaurant One Bus Driver: Route 44 zone: Contact number: Home 220-5916/ Cell 698-4102 Ford Ice Crème Van Driver: Ages 40yrs-50yrs: Over 10yrs experienced & recent police clearance: Serious calls: contact 218-3021 Sales girls apply in person with written application @ Best Buy Food Supplies: Middleton & Dennis St. Campbellville One experienced general domestic, must be honest & know to cook tasty Indian & Creole dishes- Call:656-6388 Handy Boys: Apply to Shanta’s @ 225 Camp & New Market Streets Office Clerk: CXC English/ Mathematics- Call:225-0188/ 225-6070

Land to buy in Parfaite Harmony. globonetinfo @yahoo.com, call: 672-9292 1 Experienced Hair Dresser and 1 Nail Technician to rent station at Alicia Hair Expose Beauty Salon - Call: 681-1685/ 614-6869 1 Welder Fabricator. Call: 668-1319 One Male Shop Assistant to work in Interior- Call: 697-6747 Guards, Males & Females, Land of Canaan: Accommodation Available for Males. Salary $15,000+ per 6 day week- Call: 266 4427

TO LET Four Bedrooms, fully furnished: Situated in Central Amelia’s Ward, Linden- Call: 649-6837 Fully furnished short term apartments, Eccles. Call: 6896668 One bedroom apartment in Parfaite Harmony. Call: 6680306/694-7817

Urgently wanted 1 house lot to buy in Parfaite HarmonyCall: 615-5566

Two Bedrooms Apartment to Rent in Alexander VillageCall: 689-7708

Are you selling your land in Parfaite Harmony or Schoonord? globonetinfo @yahoo.com Call: 675-7292

Two bedrooms apartment @ South Ruimveldt- call: 6956499/671-2018

One experience Driver, gear & automatic: Apply @ Hack’s Halaal 5 Commerce Street.

MATURE SALES GIRL FOR A BUILDING MATERIAL COMPANY: EXPERIENCED ONLYAND POLICE CLEARANCE CALL: 231-8529

Diamond $45,000-$75,000: Have Properties to rent or sell? Contact Diana 2272256/ 626-9382 CAR RENTAL Premio, Vitz call: 689-6668 FOR SALE/RENT American Pool Table - Call: 277-0578

Saturday June 01, 2013

FOR SALE

LAND FOR SALE

LARGE QUANTITIES OF HIGH PURITY M E R C U R Y (QUICK SILVER) 9 9 . 9 9 9 9 5 % PURITY - $20,000 PER POUND CALL:604-6108

Are you living overseas and want properties to buy? Call Ron’s Real Estate. globonetinfo@yahoo.com.

Call: 675-7292

RABBITS $2,000 EACHCALL: 650-0814 15-15-15 Fertilizer in damaged bags, large quantity available- call: 266-2711/609-4594 Games for PS 2, $900,PSP $900, Xbox360 $2600, PS 3 $2600, call:672-2566 2 Air Conditions- Call: 6956499/671-2018 Pig feed, Duck feed & Shrimp meal- call:266-2711/ 609-4594 Spare for washing machine, microwaves, fridges, stoves, timers, gearbox, pumps, etc call: 225-9032, 647-2943 Uniden cordless phones, single & double: Caller’s ID: Speakerphone: Personalized ringers: Answering system: Price $9,000 & $13,000Call:226-0765 Dell laptops & desktops complete computers from $55,000 Futuretech call: 2312206 1- 4 inch Chine Land Dredge and all of its components: Price $900,000- Contact: 2653586

7 Acres cultivated with house, 2 Acres cultivated, 2-1 Acres cultivated. Contact: 226-7968 House lot for sale: Friendship EBD & drafting of house plans. Call: 223-0733, 223-0730 Garnett Street, Newtown Kitty: 4,588 sq foot -Call: 6471569 House lots 50’×118’ New Hope E.B.D: Negotiable prices- - call: 266-2711/ 6094594 Parfaite Harmony $1.3M. globonetinfo @yahoo.com.

Call: 675-7292 Prime Residential Land, Schoonord Garden $2.8M, $3.2M. globonetinfo @yahoo.com. Call:675-7292 Soesdyke- Land 166.00’X 131.98’ $4M neg: B & G’s Realty- 227-4125/ 617-9717 Grove/ Diamond $5M, $5.5M, $4M, $6.5M, $3.5M672-7390, 225-0854, 2250843 Eccles New Scheme 50 x 100 $5.5M- 6727390, 2250854, 2250843 Double Lot 35 x 140 (Da Silva St)- 672-7390, 225-0854, 2250843

SERVICES Repairs, sales & spares air conditioning, microwaves, washer, fridges & stoves. Ultra Cool. Call:225-9032,647-2943 We repair fridge, freezer, AC, washer, dryer call:2310655,683-8734 Omar We Refill HP cartridges for $1800 call: 650-7699 Repairs to Refrigerators, Washing machines, Gas Stoves, A/C Units- Call Lindon: 641-1086 or 694-2202 House plans & estimatescontact T. Boodhoo: 6259883/675-9296 Service & Repairs for Jet Skis, Jet Boats, ATVs, Inboard & Outboard (2 & 4 strokes) engine- call:694-7949

LEYLAND DAF single axle, new gear box and new engine. Call: 613-6615/ 2161315

Technician specialized in repairs & servicing to washers, dryers, fridges, A/C units & stoves: Home Servicing available. Call: 661-5099

Toyota Vitz 1300cc, 4 Disc Brakes, Mags, Fogs, Black Interior- Call: 269-0432/6860323

Asphalt Roofing Shinglescall:266-2711/609-4594

1- Used M.F 285 Tractor, 1Used JCB Back Hoe, 1Concrete Ransom ½ cubic yards- Contact: 670-7235/ 697-7967

Precision built 16" Bore Trailer Pump: New- Call: 2271830 1 Flock sheep and goats and flock Rams- Call:696-8103

Electric Snow cone machines- call:266-2711/6094594

1- 500 Ton Cargo Ship with contract- call:687-6174

Male Enhancement Viagra: 4 in a Pack For $3000- Call: 6426664/ 638-1627

PLAYSTATION 2 & 3 SYSTEMS, Games, Memory Cards, Controllers etc. Call: 609-8132/672-8569

Used Massey Tractors- MF 165, 175, 275, 1100, 1130, Ford 500, Yanmar Vegetable Tractors: Affordable PricesCall: 675-9314

Live Ducks in large quantities.

Call: 691-5851 or 671-2008 Terrier Puppies for sale- Call: 649-4247

Honda ATV 500 4×4: New $2.6M- Call: 624-5000

Unregistered Toyota Sienta 1500cc: 7 Seats- Call:6175536 Toyota- 4 Runner Surf, AT192, AT212, AT170, Ceres, EP82 & 71 Starlet, Solid DEF pickup, Nissan E24 van- call: 644-5096 1-2005 Nissan Titan $3.5M negotiable- Call: 622-1957 Anthony 2 New shape Avensiscall:698-0674

Riding Mower, 6500 watts Honda generator, large refrigerator & tools- call: 2612988

Live/pluck chicken call:6504421,220-9203

Axio, Blue Bird, Pitbull: Going cheap- Call:697-0294

Permanent & Visitors Visa Applications, Professional Immigration Consultant Room D5 Maraj Building Call: 225-6496, 662-6045, 223-8115

Original games for sale call:265-3232

1 Toyota Hilux Surf: 20" Rims, Crystal lights, Sunroof ect.

Contact: 220-7922 and 6256303

First Class Auto (03 & 06) Allion, (03 & 04) Spacio, (01) Carina, (07) Axio, VerossaCall:609-8188/226-2689

Massey Ferguson 6140: 4×4 Turbo: $3.2M negotiableCall: 688-6274 or 691-3851

New classes -Cosmetology , Nails, Wigs, Designs, MakeUp, Hair-Styling; call Abby 216-1950, 666-5241, 619-7603

Brand new Asus desktop computers for just $100,000call: 645-9459

1 Toyota Land-cruiser Prado PMM series- call:225-0188/ 225-6070

Ribbon printing and favors for any occasion- call:6169201/227-2766

3 Tons Bedford dump-truck, Scania long wheel base with Hyab and drop-tail- Call:2704485

Rottweiler, Brazilian, German Shepherd puppies: Hunting dogs (Pointers) fully vaccinated- Call: 682-2148/ 655-8674

Cruiser Auto Sales: Unregistered: Toyota Fielder, New Raum, Noah, Mazda, Axela- call:603-9700

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

Purpleheart panel doors $28,000: Sizes (30", 32", 34", 36") × 80- call: 688-9712/ 6390501

Pure Rottweiler pupscall:220-6879

2002 FORD E350 VAN, FULLYLOADEDWITHA/C &OFFROADSUSPENSION: UNREGISTERED- CALL SAMMY 604-0020

Leading AutoUnregistered: Allex, Runx, Spacio, IST, Allion, Premio, Tacoma (06), F150 (06)- Tele: 677-7666/ 610-7666

Payroll, Data Entry, Purchasing (Interior & within Hometown) – Call:679-3662, shexpeditors@gmail.com SALON

FOR SALE

VEHICLE FOR SALE

VEHICLE FOR SALE 1-55-210 DAF Lorry GPP 2673: In excellent condition: 1 yr old: Owner leaving country.

Call: 680-2095/261-5401 Mini bus RZ BLL Series: Excellent work conditionTele:622-3384/223-9955 HILUX SOLID DIFF Pickups, AC, 33×12.50 MT tyres, Unregistered, Excellent Condition- Call: 691-2077 Toyota Alex & Fielder: Never registered- Call: 269-0432/ 686-0323 We buy & sell vehicles for cash & we also do trading-in of vehicles- call:680-3154 1 Honda CRV 2004: PMM series- Call: 681-8378/6238174

RZ mini-buses BMM & BNN series, AT192, 212, AT170, Tacoma, Canters, NZE & cheap cars- call:680-3154 1992 Toyota Camry- Call: 657-4114 AT 212 New model: Private, fully powered, mag, CD player, Alarm system, AC: Price negotiable: Call: 6212215/674-7828 Unregistered Tundra 4×4 fully loaded $2.750- Call: 615-9314 1- New Model 212: Excellent condition, Alloy rims, CD player: Price $1.550M negcall: 601-0706/656-9990 1- Unregistered 2003 Toyota Tundra: Fully accessorized, Crash Bar, Steps, Alloy Rims: Price $3.150M neg- call: 6010706/656-9990 (Continued on page 31)

Saturday June 01, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 31

Letters... Where your views make the news

If Burnham did not plan Rodney’s...

From page 5 assassinated (murdered by a conspiracy).

That confirmation came from the mouth of Burnham himself. It completely destroys the absurd killed-byaccident lie fabricated by the PNC and by Burnham himself (see Burnham’s statement from 2.46 to 3.22 of the You Tube video titled ‘War Stories Trailers’ posted by Mykal Cushnie).

If we are to believe Wesley Kirton, then that video proves Burnham was a blatant liar on the Rodney assassination and that the pamphlets dropped in front of Rodney’s home minutes after his death were proof of the Burnham PNC’s abominable and macabre heinousness.

It also undermines everything the PNC and Burnham claim with respect to their non-involvement in Rodney’s murder.

What Wesley Kirton has done in his letter is to deliver a ‘shock and awe’ bombing campaign on those treading on the ground of fabrication in trying to alienate Burnham from blame for Rodney’s murder.

If we are to believe Wesley Kirton, in light of that You Tube video, then the PNC and Burnham blatantly lied about how Rodney died.

Forbes Burnham as absolute president, head of government, and chief upholder of the rule of law and defender of the constitution did nothing to prosecute the murder of his QC brother, Rodney.

In fact, Burnham is on the video referenced above strongly suggesting Rodney bombed himself to death.

Even when his own police force launched an investigation into Rodney’s death, Burnham protected Rodney’s murderers from prosecution.

Minette Bacchus and other Burnham defenders are allergic to the facts and evidence, trying to soil history’s truth with repugnant fabrications and twisted logic These are facts that form part of the indisputable and insurmountable historical record. Guyana was a police state, no matter how vigorously Bacchus and her pals protesteth.

Burnham controlled the GDF. There is no greater proof of this than in July 1979 exactly the same month the WPA became a political party - when Forbes Burnham as commander of the GDF replaced the existing top GDF leadership with his loyalists.

One such appointment shamed and shocked even the most resolute Burnham’s backers. On October 24, 1979, PNC minister Vincent Teekah was killed. On November 18,

1979, WPA activitist, Ohene Koama, was shot dead by the GDF. On November 18, 1979, Claude Bovell, WPA activitist, was killed by a joint forces patrol. On February 29, 1980, Walter Rodney’s bodyguard, 32-year old Edward Dublin, was shot dead by the armed forces in Linden.

On June 13, 1980, Guyana lost one of its greatest patriots and sons of the soil when Walter Rodney was assassinated.

Gregory Smith, the man accused of planting the bomb on Rodney, was immediately flown to Kwakwani after Walter Rodney’s brother, Donald Rodney, identified Smith.

Even Gregory Smith confirms he was immediately flown to Kwakwani, at page 38 in his salaciously fraudulent tell-all book ‘Assassination Cry of a Failed Revolution: The Truth About Dr. Walter Rodney’ written by Gregory Smith and Anne R. Wagner.

The ludicrousness of Smith’s infantile attempts at deceit in that book literally leaps off the page.

Smith was provided a false passport with an assumed name and special immigration letter and was secretly flown to French Guiana shortly after Rodney’s murder.

Conveniently, French Guiana had no extradition treaty with Guyana at that time. After her connection to Gregory Smith was revealed, Joan Melville was smuggled out of Guyana on July 6, 1980, to work in the Guyana High Commission in Ottawa.

Exposing the PNC’s denials, Smith was identified as a GDF Sergeant with badge number 4141 by Crime Chief Roberts and by Smith’s neighbour, Pamela Beharry.

Smith’s home at 50 Russell Street, Georgetown, was empty and locked since the night of Rodney’s assassination.

Within minutes after Rodney’s assassination, pamphlets were dropped in front of Rodney’s house saying that he blew himself up while trying to blow up the Georgetown prison. Rodney was almost one block from the prison when killed.

The 1980 US State Department review on Guyana states “available information indicates that the government was implicated in the June 13 death of WPA activist Walter Rodney and the subsequent removal of key witnesses from the country.”

Wesley Kirton states Burnham said he (Burnham) claimed he was not a conspirator to Rodney’s murder. The video mentioned above, the actions of the state machinery he controlled, and the evidence frolic differently and oppositely to his earnest self-serving claims.

Forbes Burnham

undermined his own police force investigation.

If as a brilliant legal mind, Burnham was convinced that Rodney killed himself in an accident as he asserted on video, why did he not allow Gregory Smith to be tried and exonerated on this compelling evidence?

Why were the reports of British bomb forensic analysts never publicly released?

Burnham was head of the military which plane flew Gregory Smith to safety, as he was head of the government which embassy employed a fleeing Joan Melville. He was commander of the armed forces that killed leading WPA activists in the lead-up to Rodney’s death.

The video referred to above has already made Burnham out to be a liar if Kirton’s tale is accepted. The Guyana Criminal Law (Offences) Act sections 24 and 25 deal with accessory before the fact and sections 26 and 27 deal with accessory after the fact. On the evidence, it is hard for Burnham to escape from either.

M. Maxwell

CAR RENTAL Progressive Auto Rental cars from $4000 per day. Call 643-5122, 225-8711; email www.progressiveauto rental. com

VACANCY 1- Hairdresser who knows to do everything, fully certified: 1- Nail Technician: 1- Tattoo Artist: Contact Odessa: 6136068

2 Storey concrete 5 bedrooms with A/C, hot & cold, generator @ Happy Acre E.C.D call: 647-1569

Career Opportunity: Exciting Career Opportunity exists for 1 Hotel Manager: Accommodation ProvidedContact: 226-9768/ 642-7963

Rooms /Apartments available: Furnished - Call: 646-5147 House to rent in FriendshipCall: 266-0163 Space to Rent: Internet purpose: Diamond H/S, Main road- Tel: 697-5566

SALON Make Up Courses, Artist Trained & Certified in Trinidad. Call: 660-5257, 6471773

Pump Attendant @ Shell Service Station Providence E.B.D: Must be able to work shift: Email: shellramsburg@ gmail.com, Tele:265-7305 Vacancy exists for carpenters and porters: Apply at Alabama Trading Georgetown ferry stelling Stabroek Vacancy exists for 1 Driver for Tristar motorcycle- Call: 662-3415/626-2360/231-4832 Receptionist: Must be computer literate with minimum of 1 year experience.

Call: 672-1239 Immediate Vacancies: Security Officers/ Drivers: Apply Monday- Friday: Security Alliance: Barrack street, Kingston (upstairs FedEx)

MASSAGE American Style massage services- Call:609-4036 The Gent’s spa: Come be pampered by beautiful sophisticated masseuses four hands special - call: 657-5979 Get help: Muscle Pain, Stiffness, Circulation, Swelling, Diabetes, Numbness & Cramps. Call: Sally, Qualified Therapist @649-4227

Imperial College- Register Now: CXC 2014 fulltime/ lessons/adults classes: Excellent results-call: 6835742/227-7627 Learn to bake and icing cakescall: 231-1360/ 681-9461

Diamond/Grove 2 Stories Concrete Newly Built, Automatic Gate/ Garage:Spacious Kitchen& 4 Bedrooms $36M- 6727390, 2250854, 225-0843 4 Land Together, 2 House: Concrete 2 Storey fence 1 Land 50 x 90 for parking: Must be sold $148M6727390, 2250854, 2250843 Flat House,2 Bedroom $8M Neg (Mon Repos)- 6727390,225-0854,225-08433 Newly Built 5 Bedroom Selfcontain: Double Garage, New Kitchen, Super Condition W/C/D $69M6727390, 2250854, 2250843 2 Storey Concrete House, Alexander St Kitty 60x80 Land $47M- 6727390, 2250854, 2250843

LEARN TO DRIVE B & C Driving School, pick up & drop off, call:2250150,229-7258,680-6826 Soman & Sons Driving School , First Federation Building Call 225-4858, 6445166,622-2872,615-0964

Norton Street, Wortmanville- 2 flat 5 bedrooms front bldg $19.5M neg: B & G’s Realty- 2274125/ 617-9717/682-4094

Two business properties @ Whim public road; 1 House & Land 4th street Whim, Corentyne: Price negotiablecontact: 231-5171/ 619-7134 Property for sale. Contact: 699-9926 Lot 39 West Ruimveldt: Seven Bedrooms $26Mcall:694-5371 House and Land @ D’Edward- Call: 689-2973/ 698-3703 B & G’s Realty- 227-4125/ 617-9717/682-4094

PROPERTY FOR SALE

EDUCATIONAL

At Clifton Port Mourant: Prime location on public road- Contact:905-970-0210/ 613-6795 or /624-8799

202 Camp Street, formerly Club Blue Note: Size of land 232×76- Call: 647-1626 or 227-4921

Fish Cleaners: Eccles- Call: 233-2546

Rooms - Call: 225-3234 Farm with house at Yarrowkabra, Linden Highway: Water, light, chicken & pig pens: fully fenced- call: 686-7180

PROPERTY FOR SALE

Female to work in Internet Café in Kitty: 18-28 years oldCall: 696-0298 (8am-6pm)

Electronic Course- PracticalBeginning 3rd June: Limited space available: Abdul Electronic, 226-6551/ 225-0391

FOR RENT

(From page 30)

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

Wash Bay attendant for Bel Air Service station- Call: 6803863

First Choice Car Rental: Cars from $5,000 per day- Call: 694-7817/668-0306 Adian’s car Rental/PickupTele:698-7807

CAKES & PASTRIES

Huge House/Huge Land Facing seawall, Subryanville, Super location: Concrete downstairs, wood upstairs $US750,000- 6727390, 2250854, 2250843 Diamond Flat House Newly Built $17.5M- 672-7390, 2250854, 2250843

Corner lot House and Land: 54 Stanley Town New Amsterdam, Berbice: Seven Million, Non-negotiableCall: 223-5641 South Ruimveldt Gardens 5 bedrooms concrete 2 stories $35M- 225-0853, 225-0854, 672-7390 2 House in yard, 4 bedrooms Good location on Ben St, $27M neg- 250853, 225-0854, 672-7390 Diamond/ Grove: Newly Built 3 bedroom, First Bridge Big Yard- 6727390, 2250843, 225-0854 Newly built 5 bedrooms, house in Eccles and land $35M and $17M- 6727390, 2250843, 225-0854 Newly built concrete 3 bedrooms house in Parfaite Harmonie $19M, $17M, $8M- 672-7390, 225-0854, 225-0843 Diamond main road property 5 bedrooms flat house $37M -225-0853, 225-0854, 6727390 Hugh Factory E/C US $700 Neg- 672-7390, 2250854,2250843 Lodge H/S 2 Stories Concrete (needs repairs) $14M neg- 672-7390, 2250854, 2250843

Page 32

Kaieteur News

Saturday June 01, 2013

Saturday June 01, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 33

Hamilton focused on performance... Fifa racism measures...

From page 34 to improve my game a bit more.

“I took what I learnt during my stay at the Sagicor WIHPC into the Regional 4Day and stuck to the basics which I knew would take me through.

He added: “The Sagicor WIHPC also taught me a lot about life and how to manage myself and various situations, apart from how to look into my game a lot more.

“It was not just about going to park and doing

things one way. It was broken down into detail and worked on different things, there was video analysis and all of this combined to make it a very special experience at the Sagicor WIHPC.” Squad: Kraigg Brathwaite, Jonathan Carter, Sheldon Cotterell, Miguel Cummins, Narsingh Deonarine, Kirk Edwards, Assad Fudadin, Shannon Gabriel, Jahmar Hamilton, Leon Johnson, Nikita Miller, Veerasammy Permaul and Chadwick Walton.

SCHEDULE OF MATCHES

June Wed 5 to Sat 8: 1st “Test” – Warner Park, St. Kitts Wed 12 to Sat 15: 2nd “Test” – Arnos Vale Multiplex, St. Vincent Tue 18: 1st Twenty20 match – Arnos Vale Multiplex Wed 19: 2nd Twenty20 match – Arnos Vale Multiplex Sun 23: 1st One-day match – Grenada National Stadium, Grenada Tue 25: 2nd One-day match – Grenada National Stadium Thu 27: 3rd One-day match – Grenada National Stadium

Saturday June 01, 2013 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19): Hiding out sounds like a great plan for the day, especially if you’ve been burning the candle at both ends. Fortunately, you won’t have to worry about being alone for long because you are never too far from the action.

TAURUS (Apr. 20–May 20): You aren’t interested in agreeing to everything that’s asked of you today, especially since you don’t like to waste energy jumping from one project to another.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20): Paying extra attention to career matters is a smart plan now that the Moon is visiting your 10th House of Public Responsibility. However, your dreams can overtake reality when you’re thinking about your professional objectives.

CANCER (June 21–July 22): Your emotional involvement in setting long-term goals makes it challenging today to separate your desires from reality.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22): Your intuitive sense is functioning very well today, enabling you to know what’s going on beneath the surface.

You don’t need anyone to tell you the details, but you should be careful because your perspective may be warped by an old fear that now comes back to haunt you.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22): You may be concerned that you’re too busy today, but you don’t see any way to cut back on your activities.

You’re known for your reliability and typically do as others expect, but your dreams can be more pressing now than your current responsibilities.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22): You can’t seem to make much progress today because your idealism is fueling your strategy and your plans may not be concrete enough.

Unfortunately, your grand ideas won’t fit into the narrow confines of a calendar or a spread sheet.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21): A creative stream of images flood into your awareness now, but you might have a tricky time expressing your ideas.

Although you may have a very clear picture established in your mind, it fades as your day unfolds.

SAGIT (Nov. 22–Dec. 21): Today’s Pisces Moon may feel like the beginning of an end because you think you’re ready to call it quits. You want to start something new, but you could be jumping the gun.

CAPRICORN(Dec.22–Jan.19): It seems as if social rules have been rewritten, allowing you to say what you mean today without having to worry about what other people think. Hiding your feelings won’t bring you what you want.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20–Feb. 18): A full-on effort to demonstrate how important your values are won’t stop others from ignoring you if they disagree with your ideas.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20): The Moon’s monthly visit to your sign usually intensifies the colors of your dreams. However, the edges of reality are softened now, luring you into believing something that may be quite irrational.

From page 37 that relate to clubs or international teams, the new measures will see any individual who commits a racist offence banned from stadiums for a minimum of five matches.

The five-match suspension is one that has been introduced by the Football Association, whose chairman David Bernstein sat on the task force in Mauritius. Also on the task force was Kevin-Prince Boateng, the AC Milan player who led the walk-off in the game against Pro Patria in January.

Former England international striker Luther Blissett, an ambassador for anti-racism charity Show Racism The Red Card, admitted to reservations about the new measures.

“You’ve got to applaud them for doing something about it, my thing is when they talk about the ‘level’ of racism,” he told Radio 5 live.

“To me, racism is racism.

“Fifa have to let it be known where they are going to start this from.

Any form of racism is serious enough for the bans to start, they should hit people hard straight away.”

Page 34

Kaieteur News

Saturday June 01, 2013

New IOC president to remain NO INFORMATION ON ICC unpaid volunteer - Rogge WARNING - SRINIVASAN

ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) - The successor to International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge will remain an unpaid volunteer after all six presidential hopefuls turned down the idea of a salary, Rogge said yesterday.

Rogge, who steps down in September after 12 years in charge, had recently suggested that the IOC Presidency should be a paid position as the duties of leading the world’s biggest multi-sports organization amounted to a full-time job.

Six candidates have stepped forward to succeed the Belgian with elections set for September 10 at the IOC session in Buenos Aires.

“We discussed the issue of remuneration and I

explained why I launched the idea,” Rogge told reporters after an executive board meeting.

“There could be a circumstance that the candidate is of a young age and would have to take care of his family,” Rogge, a surgeon by profession, said.

“All six of them said they did not want to be remunerated, so that settles the matter for these elections.”

IOC Vice Presidents Thomas Bach of Germany and Singaporean Ng Ser Miang are running for the top job, along with Puerto Rican Richard Carrion, who heads the IOC finance commission, former Olympic pole vault champion Sergei Bubka, international boxing

federation chief C.K. Wu and rowing chief Denis Oswald.

“I am definitely in my last stretch (of the presidency) and I can see the finish line and the ribbon which says September 10,” Rogge said.

“I hope to cross it in good shape...and that I will have fulfilled my duty. I have no concerns. I rejoice that any of the six would be very good presidents.”

The executive board agreed on Friday to allow candidates to present their plans to IOC members on the sidelines of a session in Lausanne in July, before the vote in September.

“There will be a presentation of the six candidates. “There they will present their manifesto to the members,” Rogge said.

Guyanese swimmers experience mixed fortunes in Barbados The 5 swimmers that participated in the 22nd Barbados Annual Independence Swimming Competition from May 24-26 last at the Garfield Sobers Aquatic Centre, Barbados, returned home with one silver and 3 bronze medals and one of the coaches that accompanied the team Sean Baksh, said that despite the team’s inability to procure gold, he is extremely pleased with their performance. Mr. Baksh was accompanied by another coach, Cuban, Isabel Maria Couso Fals.

Onika George earned a silver medal after placing second in the 50 meters backstroke event. She also shaved off some time from her personal best in the 100 meters freestyle (108.66 to 106.89), albeit in a losing cause. Joseph Seguina competed in the over-15 category in the 50 meters freestyle as well as the 50 meters backstroke but won

the bronze in the 50 meters butterfly. He also bettered his time after commencing the race with a best time of 29:25secs and registering a new time of 29:22secs.

Leon Seaton also copped a bronze in the 8 years and under, 100m freestyle race. He also smashed his previous best time after entering the race with 129:60sec and exiting with a fresh time of 123:16. He swam in several other events including the 50 meters backstroke (4th), 50 meters breaststroke (5th), and the 50 meters freestyle (6th).

Joseph DeNobrega swam in the 13-14 years category in the 100 meters freestyle, the 50 meters freestyle and the 50 meters butterfly events.

Though he failed to win a medal, Mr. Baksh said that DeNobrega’s performance was satisfying. The young swimmer ended the 50 meters freestyle in the 18th position out of 37 swimmers, while he placed 17th of 29 participants

in the 50 meters butterfly events.

Accalia Khan competed in the 13-14 years category and placed 10th in the 100 meters freestyle while finishing 5th in the 50 meters breaststroke.

She managed to eclipse her personal best record in the 50 meters freestyle and shave off some precious seconds from her overall best time, from 37:49secs to 37:35secs.

Meanwhile, Mr. Baksh lauded the performance of his charges and feels that even though they did not procure gold medals, their performances were commendable.

He said that the meet attracted several Caricom countries and even so, many countries fielded more than one team. Among the participating countries were Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, St Lucia and Grenada. The swimmers returned home earlier in the week.

GCA\NBS 40 over second division tourney

MYO beat Everest by 4 wkts in latest action Muslim Youth Organisation (MYO) defeated Everest Cricket Club by 4 wickets when play in the Georgetown Cricket Association\ New Building Society 40-over second division competition continued last Monday.

Host Everest batted first after the game was reduced to 28 overs due to rain and were bowled out for 97 in 23.5 overs.

Christopher Surat hit four fours in a top score of 30, while Shaheed Mohamed made 25(5x4). Richard Latiff grabbed 3-8, Shafeek Ishmeil 3-13 and Chien Gittens 2-21.

MYO responded with 996 in 22 overs. Zulfikar Ali led with 25 (6x4) while Gittens made 21(4x4) not out, Zamal Khan and Ishmeil 15 each.

Deon Thomas had 2-37 for Everest.

Richard Latiff

ESPNcricinfo - BCCI president N Srinivasan has denied knowledge of a reported ICC warning to the board about his son-in-law and top Chennai Super Kings official Gurunath Meiyappan, who is now under arrest on charges of betting.

“I have no information on the ICC warning about Gurunath Meiyappan,” Srinivasan told NDTV. He also told PTI that he had checked with other BCCI officials and no such warning had been received.

Srinivasan’s response was in reaction to widespread television reports in India that, in a transcript of a recorded conversation, Gurunath had told Vindoo Dara Singh, an actor also arrested for alleged contact with bookies, that the ICC had warned the BCCI about his activities at the start of IPL 2013.

On Friday, before reports of the ICC warning emerged, a Mumbai court ruled, for the second time since their arrest, that Gurunath and Vindoo would have to remain in police custody until June 3. That news came after a third suspect with alleged links to Gurunath and Vindoo - a Chennai hotelier who had been summoned by police -

Gurunath Meiyappan will remain in police custody till June 3 (Hindustan Times) appeared before the Mumbai Police on Friday.

Gurunath was arrested by Mumbai Police on charges of cheating, forgery and fraud on May 24, after being summoned to Mumbai for questioning over alleged betting and links to bookies.

Police investigations suggested that Vindoo and Gurunath were in frequent telephonic contact. Vindoo was also seen in the CSK box at IPL matches.

Gurunath’s arrest heaped plenty of pressure on his father-in-law Srinivasan to step down as BCCI president.

Srinivasan has so far insisted that he won’t quit as he had personally done nothing

wrong.

The Chennai Super Kings has also tried to distance itself from Gurunath, who was pretty much the face of the franchise till his arrest.

Gurunath was suspended by the BCCI “from any involvement in the sport of cricket and in particular from any involvement with the Chennai Super Kings team” pending further investigations.

The IPL governing council had also appointed a three-member committee, including two independents, to look into the complaints against Gurunath and India Cements, the owner of the Super Kings franchise.

Hamilton focused on performance during A-Team series THE VALLEY, Anguilla – Jahmar Hamilton said he was approaching the home series between West Indies-A and Sri Lanka-A with a clear mind and a focus on improving his individual game.

The 22-year-old Hamilton was chosen in a 13-member squad for the first four-day “Test” between the two sides, starting next Wednesday at Warner Park in St. Kitts.

Hamilton said he will not get carried away by his selection to the A-Team, but would use the opportunity to further enhance his skills and his experience.

“I know this means I stand a chance of making it to the next level, but I am not really focussed on the position, it’s more about playing much better right now,” Hamilton told WICB Media.

“I do not want anything to go to my head. I just want to stay down-to-earth and work on my skills. This is far more important than thinking about playing for West Indies.

“Of course, I want to play for West Indies, but I do not want that to consume me. I just want to play the game,

do well and be consistent, which has been a problem in the Caribbean for wicketkeeper/batsmen, so I am looking to take up that challenge.”

Hamilton finished this year ’s Regional 4-Day Tournament with 297 runs – the second highest aggregate for bottom-placed Leeward Islands – with an average of 29.70 and a maiden first-class hundred of 106. He also held 12 catches behind the stumps.

He said this was only a start and he would like to build on that platform during the series against the Sri Lankans. “I am looking to transport some of the form that I had during the Regional 4-Day into this series against the Sri Lankans,” he said.

“I’ve ramped up training in the last few weeks once I knew I was selected for the A-Team and doing some work at home with some of the senior players here in Anguilla.

“I have also been playing in our local league tournament, so I have been working on my keeping and my batting in an effort to

Jahmar Hamilton improve.”

Hamilton, left-arm fast bowler Sheldon Cottrell and fellow fast bowler Miguel Cummins are the only three players in the squad that have never appeared in an international fixture for West Indies nor played for West Indies-A previously.

All three were part of the second cohort that attended the Sagicor West Indies High Performance Centre in Barbados, which he credited for helping him to understand his game better.

“I must thank Sagicor WIHPC coach Graeme West for the work he did with me,” said Hamilton. “I spent about seven months at the Sagicor WIHPC and it has helped me (Continued on page 33)

Saturday June 01, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 35

Gayle launches Who will step up to the Sparta Bosses? Wallington academy ‘Keep Your Five Alive’ Finale tonight...

Sparta Boss, the only team in the 2013 Mackeson ‘Keep Your Five Alive’ Futsal Football contest to win all their games via regulation goals, are heavily favoured to win tonight’s final at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall tarmac, which begins from 7pm.

Sparta Boss will face stern competition from Festival City and West Front Road (WFR), who all advanced to tonight’s final last week. The teams and organiser will decide the format of the final tonight.

Coordinator, Kevin Adonis told Kaieteur Sport yesterday that all systems are in place for a grand final tonight. He said that the word in the streets is to topple the prowess of Sparta Boss and their goal scoring duo, Dennis Edwards and Devon Millington.

“Preparations have been good and everything is in place. I am hearing that the other teams want to beat Sparta Boss bad, so I expect

Kevin Adonis

Jamaal Douglas

an intense contest among them,” Adonis said, adding that he is hoping that all the respective communities come out and support their teams.

In addition, he said that there will be exhibition grudge games including Albouystown against Tiger Bay and East versus West.

Mackeson Brand Coordinator, Jamaal Douglas informed that the brand will

be bringing the vibes tonight at the Homestretch Avenue venue.

Fans of pre-tournament favorites, Albouystown ‘B’, came out in large numbers last week at Punt Trench and School Street to give the home side every bit of encouragement.

But that was not to be owed to a dismal performance before their home crowd,

which led to a shocking 3-4 defeat against Festival City on penalty kicks.

Sparta Boss, the other overwhelming favorites and WFR, who both recorded 1-0 victories over River View and Alexander Village respectively, will clash. WFR Nathaniel Nagaloo got them to the final and will be a key player for them tonight.

Against Albouystown ‘B’, droves came from the Festival City area to back their team. They will need such support tonight again. The Festival City lineup, which included Odell Williams, Adell Bailey, Mark Williams and Paul Bobb are certainly stubborn.

Fans are throwing their support behind Sparta Boss, the North East-based team, in a clear indication of choice over the North Georgetownbased Festival City and West-based, WFR in the final hurrah of the Mackeson ‘Keep Your Five Alive’ tournament.

LeBron James explodes as Heat rout Pacers in Game 5 MIAMI — You could sense the LeBron James power surge coming in South Florida.

As soon as the Miami Heat MVP fouled out at the end of the Indiana Pacers’ Game 4 victory, you could feel him planning to unleash the full extent of his talents the next time out.

James delivered a masterful performance — his brilliance in the third quarter overwhelmed the Pacers — and Miami defeated Indiana 90-79 in Game 5 on Thursday.

James had 30 points, eight rebounds , six assists, two steals and one block and gave the Heat a 3-2 series lead in

the Eastern Conference finals.

In the decisive third quarter, James had 16 points, four rebounds, four assists and accounted for 25 of Miami’s points in a 30-13 quarter.

In a back-and-forth series in which each team has made the right adjustments after a loss, Miami responded successfully to their Game 4 deficiencies with improved defense, better offense — strong three-point shooting — a commitment to rebounding and a determined James.

Now the defending champions are one win from third consecutive appearance

TT Karate Federation not surprised at IOC rejection Karate was rejected for the third time from Olympic recognition. In 2005 and 2009 it came close. Four times before karate was considered but got nowhere.

The position of the Trinidad and Tobago Karate Federation (TTKF) is that karate was never truly represented at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) level. With not including the World United Karate Organization (WUKO) the World Karate Federation (WKF) was excluding more than half of the planet’s karatekas.

TTKF Karate will maintain

their commitment to their athletes at all levels, the organisation said in a statement.

Our athletes are our number one priority. We will continue to train and develop officials and coaches and work with the Ministry of Sport towards this goal, the release stated.

In our country and the wider Caribbean, karate will continue to grow. We hope that we can all build on similarities and that some form of unification can be achieved. TTKF is always open to all, the release concluded.

in the NBA Finals, and the young Pacers face a mountainous task: win consecutive games, which no team has done yet in the series, and do it against a team that hasn’t lost two consecutive games since January.

Game 6 is today in Indianapolis (8:30 p.m. ET, TNT).

Miami rolled out its fast and furious offense in the final six minutes of the third quarter. Indiana led 51-49 midway through the third quarter, but the Heat outscored the Pacers 21-16 in the final 6:04. James scored 12 of those points, including a three-pointer with 16.1 seconds left in the third, giving Miami a 70-56 lead.

Several times throughout the series, Vogel has said it is near-impossible to defend James.

The game turned into James against Pacers forwards Paul George and David West and center Roy Hibbert. George and Hibbert scored Indiana’s first 29 points and at one point in the third quarter, George, Hibbert and West combined for 49 of Indiana’s 55 points.

Ultimately, James had more help, but not from the other two-thirds of the Big 3, as guard Dwyane Wade (10 points) and forward Chris Bosh (seven points) were limited.

Heat forward Udonis

Haslem, the second star in Game 3, had 16 points, and Mario Chalmers followed up a fine Game 4 with 12 points and six assists.

Haslem made 8-for-9 shots, and after his 8-for-9 effort in Game 3, Vogel said it would be a long series if Haslem continued to make shots at that rate. Haslem made four shots from the left baseline and four shots at the rim.

Indiana’s guards were unproductive.

Starters George Hill and Lance Stephenson and backup D.J. Augustin were 2-for-13 from the field and combined for five points. George finished with 27 points, Hibbert had 22 and West had 17.

This testy, physical series — Pacers players have accused Shane Battier of playing dirty — turned more intense when Chris “Birdman” Andersen shoved Indiana’s Tyler Hansbrough with 9:02 left in the second quarter. Referees called Andersen for a flagrant foul one and a double technical foul on both.

Referee Marc Davis had to restrain and push Andersen back toward Miami’s bench.

The NBA will review the incident — as it does on all such plays — and could upgrade Andersen to a flagrant foul two. But that does not mean an automatic suspension for Game 6.

Chris Gayle

WA L L I N G T O N , ENGLAND - A recordbreaking cricket star launched a new initiative to inspire young sports-fans.

West Indies all-rounder Chris Gayle, fresh from breaking the record for the fastest century in cricket last month, came to Wallington Thursday to launch the Chris Gayle Academy at the Cricket for Change (C4C) Cricket Centre in Plough Lane.

Gayle’s project and its sister academy in Kingston, Jamaica, is part of the C4C initiative which aims to give disadvantaged young people the chance to change their lives through the sport.

Gayle said: “Cricket is indeed a powerful tool. It has certainly changed my life and I hope that my involvement with this academy will help to change the lives of others in a positive way as well.”

Joining Gayle at the launch was Carshalton and

Wallington MP, and cricket fan, Tom Brake. Mr Brake, who is fundraising for C4C, said: “The Chris Gayle Academy is yet another outstanding initiative which C4C is championing. It offers young disadvantaged people exactly what they need – a spark and inspiration and not charity.

“I am privileged to have met the first squad of the Chris Gayle Academy. I wish them best luck both on the cricket field and in life.”

L o n d o n - b a s e d participants in the Chris Gayle Academy will be based at the Wallington centre for a year and will have the opportunity to take part in an exchange programme with the Kingston academy.

All participants will draw up personal development plans with their coaches that cover their cricket training as well as life skills.

Rain forces postponement of Wartsila Golf Tourney The current inclement weather has forced executives of the Lusignan Golf Club to call off today’s planned Wartsila Golf tournament at the Lusignan Club.

Rain throughout the week has left the golf course at Lusignan waterlogged.

Last weekend’s Safeway Security ProAm Tournament was also postponed due to the prevailing weather conditions.

LGC Vice President David Mohamed said should there be a break in the weather, a double header will be planned for next weekend with the Wartsila tournament to be played on the Saturday and Safeway Security Classic the following day.

The LGC has managed to run off most of the scheduled tournaments for 2013 as local golfers enjoy a hectic season.

Page 36

Kaieteur News

Former world contender, Raul Frank’s father/trainer takes the final count

Richard Frank Former world rater, Raul Frank and his siblings were thrown into grief following the death of their father, Richard, who succumbed to the dreaded cancer disease Thursday morning last. He was 71 years old.

Mr. Frank has fathered several children and most of them have entered the ‘square jungle’ albeit with varying successes. Despite being the most recognized of the lot, Raul is not the only one to have made a name for himself in the fistic game. His brother Stephen was one of Guyana’s leading amateur boxers up to the time of his migration to the USA. He then enjoyed some successes before clinching the UBF crown, a little known world title, shortly before quitting the sport.

Another Frank, Ronson, recently came out of a two year from the ring hiatus two months ago and pounded American, Sharif Kemp on his way to a 2nd round knockout victory on a card promoted by the Franks, under the Frank’s Uprising Promotions, to continue the Frank legacy.

But even before Ronson had etched his name in the boxing annuls, Raul had established himself and after unsuccessfully challenging former IBF welterweight champion, the late, Vernon Forest, for his title, Frank dropped out of the ratings. He was to fight 6 more times winning four of them while drawing one bout and losing the other to American, Rodney Jones. Raul’s last two bouts occurred in Guyana and

he forced Winston Pompey to retire in the 5th round in October 2008 while defeating Denny Dalton on points in November 2010. He has not fought since.

Meanwhile, Kaieteur Sport spoke with Raul moments after his father succumbed and he explained that the elder Frank became stricken with the disease about 4 years ago while holidaying in Guyana. The former world rater accredited his phenomenal rise to the top of the sport to the hard work and dedication of his father who spent endless hours imparting valuable knowledge to him in the gym and on the road during training sessions. “He was the lynchpin of my boxing career,” declared Raul.

Raul also disclosed that the family is planning an early funeral for their dad in New York on Saturday and will be making arrangement to have the proceedings streamed through the internet so that Guyanese may be able to have a final viewing of the man who had contributed to the rich boxing legacy through the input of his children. Richard leaves his wife, also in New York, to mourn along with several other children including Nicholas, Rory, Ronson, Steve, Lindsley and daughters Shaun and June.

Kaieteur Sports extends heartfelt sympathy to the boxing community, relatives and friends of the late Richard Frank. May his soul rest in peace!

Banks DIH\Cloud Nine cup set to start on June 19 The Banks DIH\Cloud Nine 8 over softball cricket competition is schedule to start on June 19 at the Banks DIH ground. Organizer Samuel Kingston told Kaieteur Sport yesterday that the first place team will take home $240,000 and the runner up $100,000 while the best batsman and bowler will receive $5,000 each.

He said that matches will be played on 21st, 26th, 28thwhile the final will take place on June 29, and action on each day starts at 18:00hrs. Entrance fee is $30,000. Interested teams can contact Kingston on 614-9536.

Saturday June 01, 2013

Proper Club Structure & Marketing of Rifle Shooting needed in the C’bean

By Franklin Wilson A concerted effort to implement potent club structures, strategic marketing of rifle shooting and developing plans to attract young people should be among the main focus of the rifle shooting associations in the Caribbean, these suggestions were made

by Phil Harrison, General Secretary of the International Confederation of Fullbore Rifle Associations (ICFRA).

Harrison, who was on his fourth visit to the Caribbean, took time out to share his views on the rise and challenges the sport is facing in the region while he was at the 2013 edition of the West Indies Fullbore Rifle Shooting Championships at The Paragon Ranges in Barbados, May 11-19, 2013.

An experienced and successful marksman for Great Britain before taking over as ICFRA GS, Harrison informed that he has shot everywhere in the Commonwealth before setting foot in the Caribbean; always having a great desire to come to these parts.

“I have to say that I’ve had the most marvelous time in all five shooting territories here, we love coming here and I believe that Caribbean shooting is quite lively.”

But while that might be so, the ICFRA GS pointed out that the level of competiveness in the sport has been on the decline, unfortunately, but was also swift to share the reasons why he is of that view.

“It is proving very difficult for West Indian territories to bring young shooters into shooting and that is something which disappoints me. Against that, we can report the fact that we have helped to bring Antigua & Barbuda into shooting over the last five years.”

The five shooting territories, Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Antigua & Barbuda, Harrison noted have excellent Ranges. He pointed out that the Paragon Ranges (Barbados) has been wonderful as it hosted the prestigious Australia Match that saw Team Great Britain shooting their way to the Australia Trophy.

Here are some of Mr. Harrison’s thoughts on the way forward for the sport: “Firstly, people must know that they are able to shoot and of course that will vary from territory to territory.

According to what the laws

...so says, ICFRA GS & VP

ICFRA General Secretary Phil Harrison (left) and Vice President Collin Cheshira relaxing at the Paragon Ranges in Barbados. are. In Barbados I know that in recent years the Cadets have been able to shoot and having this kind of thing is one good way of getting youngsters into shooting.

The other thing I’m afraid for the rifle associations themselves have to produce a programme which is attractive and have to market it to the younger shooters.”

Harrison more or less supports the view that opening up rifle shooting to the Disciplined Services would be a plus for the continued development and expanding of the sport.

Touching on the area of female shooters, Harrison quickly pointed out that there are a number of fine female shooters including Jennifer George-Husbands of Barbados who went to the last Commonwealth Games hosted in Delhi, India.

“So you are not bereft of good female shooters. It is one of the features of the shooting that we do that the women

take part on exactly equal terms as men and the reason for that is, because women can shoot just as well as men.”

Reference was made to the British team which is made up of some top women shooters who in many instances out shoot their male counterparts. One of the attractions he noted for women in England is the fact that they might have brothers, husbands and fathers who are involved in the sport so they naturally gravitate towards the sport and does very well.

Still in the mode of recommending, Harrison posited that it would be good if schools in the Caribbean were allowed to get into .22 shooting.

This avenue he said might be easier given the various legislations in the territories and it is also a way to fullbore shooting.

“Almost all countries do have .22 shooting for their schools and produces some

shooters.”

On this note, ICFRA Vice President Collin Cheshira joined in and suggested that it is very important that all clubs have facilities where young people can have access to rifles.

“If you have that facility you can have people go on a daily basis and learn the game and in some countries where the club system is very good so get a lot of youngsters. In countries where the club system isn’t very good you don’t have as many people; so it is important that clubs must have equipment.”

Cheshira, who was the previous General Secretary of ICFRA before passing in on to Harrison, pointed out that in the UK they’ve got youngsters starting to shoot at ages 13 and 14 at fullbore having done .22 at school.

At present, there are 33 countries that are affiliated to ICFRA and their aim is to encourage fullbore shooting around the globe.

Jumbo Jet Horserace meet called off The organisers of the Port Mourant Turf Club/ Jumbo Jet horserace meet has decided that it is too risky to push on with plans for their Sunday 16th June horserace meet and has decided to take the early decision to call the event off.

According to the organisers the incessant rain fall have left the Port Mourant Turf Club in a bad state. Also most of the racetracks in Guyana and other areas where the horses train are in very soggy conditions, thus the animals have been unable to exercise and train. Even if the weather improves it would be very risky to allow the animals to compete

without adequate preparation thus risking injuries. Eight races were carded for the day, while over $8M was at stake.

The feature event was for horses classified C and lower event over a distance of 1600 M with the winner’s money of $1M and trophy. The other races were for animals classified- three years old horses bred and born in Guyana and the West Indies.

One race for E & Lower horses and another for those classified G and lower. A race for three year old Guyana bred horses.

One race was for two year old animals which would have competed for the first

time, while the final two events were the ‘I’ class gallop and one for the J and lower horses. The organisers will be looking at a possible date later in the year to organise their activity.

The next event planned

by Jumbo Jet is the annual Guyana Cup Horses race meet set for Sunday 25th August 2013 at the Port Mourant Race track.

For more information persons can contact Chandu Ramkissoon (624-9063 or 2320633), Kris Jagdeo (624-6123; 322-0369), Rajendra 618-7278, Ramnauth 337-5311, Romel Jagroop (624-1798) and Sancho 690-0569.

Saturday June 01, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 37

Edwards to captain A-Team Heat-Pacers was angry before Kirk Edwards (WICB)

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – Kirk Edwards will captain the West Indies A-Team when they face Sri Lanka-A in the first four-day “Test”, starting next Wednesday at Warner Park in St. Kitts.

The 28-year-old Edwards led Barbados, when they won the recent Regional 4-Day title, claiming their 21st regional first-class title.

Edwards has played nine Tests and nine One-day Internationals for the senior West Indies team between 2011 and last year.

Guyana captain Veerasammy Permaul has been named his deputy. The 23-year-old Permaul was captain of the A-Team last year, when they prevailed over India-A in the corresponding home series last year.

The left-arm spinner has appeared in two Tests and four ODIs for the senior West Indies side between last year and this year.

Jamaican Junior Bennett will be head

coach for the side with Stuart Williams, the former Leeward Islands captain and West Indies opener, as his deputy.

Lockhart Sebastien, the former Windward Islands batsman and current manager of the Windwards side, will be team operations manager for the series.

Squads: WEST INDIES-A: Kirk Edwards (captain), Veerasammy Permaul (vice captain), Kraigg Brathwaite, Jonathan Carter, Sheldon Cotterell, Miguel Cummins, Narsingh Deonarine, Assad Fudadin, Shannon Gabriel, Jahmar Hamilton, Leon Johnson, Nikita Miller, Chadwick Walton; Team management unit: Junior Bennett (head coach), Lockhart Sebastien (manager), Stuart Williams (assistant manager), Oba Gulston (physiotherapist), Dexter Augustus (video analyst) SRI LANKA-A: Dimuth Karunarathne (captain), Angelo Perera (vice captain), Chathuranga de Silva, Niroshan Dickwella, Lahiru Gamage, Ishan Jayaratne, Udara Jayasundera, Tharindu Kaushal, Madura Lakmal, Suranga Lakmal, Vimukthi Perera, Ashan Priyanjana, Malinda Pushpakumara, Kaushal Silva, Kithruwan Withanage; Team management unit: Romesh Kaluwitharana (head coach), Jayantha Seneviratne (manager), Champaka Ramanayake (fast bowling coach), Manoj Abeywickrema (fielding coach), Ranjith Nanayakkarawasam (physiotherapist), Mario Wellawarayan (fitness trainer), Dulip Samarasekera (video analyst), Lal Thamel (massage therapist), Hashan Thilakaratne (selector)

Fifa racism measures could see teams expelled or relegated BBC Sport - Teams could be relegated or expelled from competitions for serious incidents of racism after tough new powers were voted in by Fifa.

First or minor offences will result in either a warning, fine or order for a match to be played behind closed doors.

Serious or repeat offences can now be punished by a points deduction, expulsion or relegation.

Jeffrey Webb, head of Fifa’s anti-racism task force, said the decision was “a defining moment”.

He added: “Our football family is fully aware that what is reported in the media is actually less than 1% of the incidents that happen around the world.

“We’ve got to take action so that when we look to the next 20 or 50 years this will be the defining time that we took action against racism and discrimination.”

Fifa, world football’s governing body, passed the anti-racism resolution with a 99% majority at its congress in Mauritius.

Richard Conway, reporting for BBC Sport at the congress, said a concern was raised over those who voted against the tougher racism measures.

Sepp Blatter FIFA President

“Former South African apartheid prisoner Tokyo Sexwale, now a Fifa member, urged congress to check cameras to see who voted against racism rules,” he said.

“Sexwale says (the) 1% vote against demonstrates how football still has to fight against racism.”

Webb said of the vote against the measures: “I would like to think it was a mistake but I’m glad it wasn’t the other way. I’m glad only 1% went that way.”

Nonetheless, Fifa president Blatter accepted more must be done to eradicate racism. He said: “We need zero tolerance and strict punishments everywhere. We must lead.

We must set a tough,

uncompromising example.

“We can make a difference.

We can send a strong signal to the racists that their time is up.”

Fifa commissioned a task force to address the issue of racism after a friendly game between AC Milan and Pro Patria was abandoned due to racist chanting.

Their verdict includes putting an official inside the stadium to identify potential acts of racism and ease the pressure on the match referee.

The new rulings standardise punishment across the members, meaning federations will lose the power to impose their own judgements.

Further to the regulations (Continued on page 33)

Birdman-Hansbrough fight MIAMI — These Eastern Conference finals were already marked by physical play, even before Chris “Birdman” Andersen got involved Thursday night.

Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert had called out Miami Heat forward Shane Battier for below-the-belt play. LeBron James had fouled out in Game 4, his fifth foul-out in 10 NBA seasons. Players on both sides had landed fines for flopping.

Players have described the rough-and-tumble environment as unsurprising;

by Game 5 in a playoff series that sends the winner to the NBA Finals, of course both teams are doing whatever it takes to gain any advantage.

“Just two extremely physical basketball teams,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel had said before Game 5, proving prophetic. “When you have teams like that collide, that’s what this series looks like.”

With just over nine minutes left in the second quarter of Thursday’s Game 5, which the Heat won 90-79, the physicality came to a boiling point as Andersen lowered his right shoulder to body check Pacers forward Tyler Hansbrough. After Hansbrough got up and faced him, Andersen approached him, bumped him in the chest then shoved him. An official rushed over to separate the two, who each received a technical foul.

Hansbrough said after the game he had no idea what prompted the play.

“I don’t know what his deal is,” Hansbrough said.

“Was I surprised? No, I wasn’t surprised. I was caught off-guard.”

The incident was reviewed by the officials, and Andersen was assessed a Flagrant 1 foul for unnecessary contact.

Hansbrough hit one of two free throws, at the time the Pacers’ first points from a player not named Paul George or Roy Hibbert. Shortly after the altercation, Andersen flew in to block a Hansbrough layup attempt. He finished the night with four points, four rebounds and two blocks and extended his streak of 18 consecutive made field goals, hitting every shot he’s taken this series.

But should Andersen have even remained in the game? That’s a question the NBA will likely consider over the next 48 hours, when it reviews the play to decide whether it merits further punishment.

Earlier Thursday, the league stepped in to fine three players —

Heat forward Chris Andersen charges after Pacers forward Tyler Hansbrough (not pictured) but is restrained by official Marc Davis and coach Erik Spoelstra.

(Photo: Robert Mayer, USA TODAY Sports) James, David West and Lance Stephenson — for flopping in Game 4, a gesture that shows the NBA isn’t hesitant to intervene in this series.

“I didn’t see it, so I’m going to have to see the film on it. It’s a physical series, but nobody wants to take it over the top,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Andersen’s shove. “I don’t think anybody on either side feels that this is a series that needs to be taken control of. It’s just very competitive. Good, clean, physical basketball.”

The sequence was eerily reminiscent of one in Game 3 of the East semifinals between the Heat and Chicago Bulls.

Bulls center Nazr Mohammed fouled James. James reacted in outrage by swinging his arm around to knock Mohammed down, which prompted a technical foul.

Mohammed jumped to his feet and shoved James with both arms — and was ejected from the game.

When asked after the game if he thought Andersen’s actions warranted a suspension, Hansbrough said he didn’t know. “I wouldn’t know what (does warrant a suspension),” Hansbrough

said. “I know it wasn’t a basketball play.” Andersen didn’t make himself available to the media after the game.

The AndersenHansbrough brouhaha wasn’t the only moment that showcased the growing tension between Miami and Indiana. Later in Thursday’s game, three players were given technicals after jawing with one another: Mario Chalmers and Udonis Haslem of the Heat and David West of the Pacers.

“I got cheap-shotted,” West said after the game, referring to Chalmers. “He gave me a shot in my back.

It’s nothing. I take care of myself.”

Haslem added, “I was just protecting my point guard. It was kind of a mismatch, Mario against David West. So when I saw the situation, I just tried to step in and protect Mario.”

West said none of the physicality in Game 5 shocked him.

“We’ve got two highly competitive basketball teams,” West said. “Guys who hate to lose. Guys who are going to take whatever measures they have to take to try to get an advantage.”

Page 38

Kaieteur News

Saturday June 01, 2013

Courts offer exclusive sponsorship as National Scrabble Championships loom As the executives of the Guyana Association of Scrabble Players (GASP) continue to prepare for the National Scrabble Championships, slated for June 29-July 1, Courts (Guyana) Ltd has acquiesced to provide exclusive sponsorship and yesterday morning, several representatives of that organization including, Public Relations Officer, Kester Abraham and Marketing Manager, Pernel Cummings, convened at the Courts Main Street office and handed over a cheque of more than $250,000 to President of GASP, Leon Belony.

GASP Vice President, Abigail McDonald and Public Relations Officer (PRO), Moen Gafoor, were also present at the function.

“Scrabble is an educational game that involves families and since

Courts regard the value of the family in the Guyanese society, we unhesitatingly agreed to come on board,” exhorted Mr. Abraham.

In response, Mr. Belony assured the PRO that his executives were truly grateful for the support. “And we trust that this is the beginning of a beautiful, productive and lasting relationship,” he concluded.

The nation’s top word formers will convene at the Bank of Guyana Sports Club to compete for honours during the three days whereupon, the two top players will engage in a 3 best of 5 competition to decide the national champion. Several of the highly ranked seeds have already earned automatic places for the nationals but the others will compete in a one day tournament at the Malteenoes Sports Club on June 9 next to earn

Yadram named Guyana captain in WICB Regional U-15 tourney Demerara opener Bhaskar Yadram has been named captain of the Guyana U-15 team for the upcoming West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) tournament which is slated for Jamaica from the 10th to the 26th of July.

Georgetown Cricket Club fast bowling all-rounder Ronaldo Mohamed will serve as his deputy. The team also includes Raymond Perez, wicketkeeper Adrian Sukwah and spinner Sagar Hetheramani. Essequibo leg spinner Beesham Moses has been surprisingly omitted from the team despite being one of the leading wicket takers in the 2013 inter county tournament. Moses who hails from Wakenaam was not even included in the stand by list although he troubled most of the batsmen that faced him in the competition.

The coach is Julian Moore and the manager is

Verendra Chintamani.

The squad reads; Bhaskar Yadram ( Captain), Adrian Sukwah (W- Keeper), Raymond Perez, Darshan Persaud, Richie Lucknauth, Ronaldo Mohamed (Vice Captain), Timothy Mc Almont, Mark Williams, Sagar Hetheramani, Ashmead Nedd, Matthew Hardial, Vickram Talmuckund , Christopher Latchman and Sylus Tyndall.

Julian Moore (Coach), Virendra Chintamani (Manager).

Standbys; Joel Seetaram, Judell McAlister, Kelvin Shewpersaud, Andrew Clifford, Steve Deonarine, Joshua Harrichand.

All members are asked to start preparation for the encampment. Meanwhile the Guyana Cricket Board in a release stated that Gavin Nedd, who coached the team last year has been elevated to the Under-17 squad.

Leon Belony (3rd left) accepts the gift from Pernel Cummings in the company of Moen Gafoor (extreme left), Abigail McDonald (2nd left) and Kester Abraham (extreme right)

qualification.

The automatic qualifiers are Abigail McDonald, Leon Belony, James Krakowsky, Moen Gafoor, Fredrick Collins, Colin Chichester, Orlando Michael, Yvonne Murray, Ruby Cummings, Wayne Cave, Devraj Deonarine, Maurice Munro,

Julian Skeete, Anand Mohabir and Robert Williams.

Abigail McDonald had dethroned Fred Collins some two years ago and successfully defended against Leon Belony last year.

During last year’s nationals both McDonald and Belony had amassed 17 games apiece

but it was McDonald with a higher spread of 2013 as against Belony’s 1728 that topped the averages at that tournament. The two then proceeded to battle for the top prize with fortunes swaying like a pendulum, from one way to the other, before McDonald eventually

prevailed by a mere 7 points to retain the accolade 3-2.

This year’s competition promises similar action especially since Collins will be back in the fray. Add Belony, Gafoor, James Krakowsky and Colin Chichester and McDonald will have her work cut out to retain the crown.

Bravo says Gayle, Narine trump cards for Windies CARDIFF, Wales (CMC) — West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo has pointed to big-hitting opener Chris Gayle and mystery off-spinner Sunil Narine as key weapons in the team’s arsenal for the Champions Trophy starting next week.

Speaking to media here Thursday, Bravo said both players possessed outstanding qualities which would augur well for the squad in their June 6-23 campaign.

Narine, with only two years of international cricket behind him, has emerged as an exciting prospect, and Bravo said he had added something special to the West Indies attack.

“He has done a great job for himself and for us as a team, but also for other teams he’s played for around the world,” said Bravo.

“He’s still learning his trade. He still has a lot to learn and every day by day he practices well, and I think that he’s going to be a main player and will always be a main player in our set-up.”

The 25-year-old, known more for his Twenty20 exploits, has already taken 47 wickets from 28 ODIs at an average of 21.68 and an economy rate of under four runs per over.

However, he struggled on

the tour of England last year, failing to impress on Test debut at Edgbaston and also in the two ODIs at the Rose Bowl and the Oval. He returned to the Caribbean to bamboozle New Zealand, snapping up seven wickets in two Twenty20s, 13 wickets in five ODIs and another 12 scalps in the two-Test series.

Bravo said while Narine was considered the Windies strike bowler, he would not be placed under any undue pressure to perform.

“We’ve got to give him that assurance that he’s our key player, not put too much pressure on him. Obviously playing in England before did not have much success and teams tend to say okay, he can’t bowl outside of the Caribbean, outside of the subcontinent, but he’s a world-class player,” Bravo explained.

“He’s very young and he has achieved a lot in international cricket for the short time he has been there, so now is a good opportunity for him again to actually do well. We’re going to use him.

Yes, he’s our trump player, our marquee player, but he’s not under any pressure to perform for us.

“If he does well, it’s a bonus, but we’re going to let Sunil just relax and enjoy his cricket and enjoy the

competition ahead of him. It’s a great tournament for him.

It’s his first ICC Champions Trophy and I’m sure he wants to go out.”

Gayle, meanwhile, a former West Indies captain, has been a dominant force in onedayers, scoring 8442 from 242 matches, with 20 centuries.

Bravo noted, however, that Gayle was not only a devastating batsman but a great presence in the dressing room. “He is the most dangerous player (in the world), and I think he will be until he decides to finish the

game,” Bravo said.

“But he’s a guy that’s easy to captain. Chris doesn’t say much. He shares his knowledge. He’s very approachable, a good team man, and to have someone like him in the team is always an asset.

“For me as captain, I can’t explain how I feel. I’m very happy to have him available and fit and playing. He has done a lot of great things for cricket over the years, and I know he still has a lot of desire and passion to represent the West Indies team.”

Troy and Wiltshire Dominoes set for June 2 Troy Archibald and Mark Wiltshire Dominoes organised Domino competition is set for Sunday June 2 at Archibald residence Best Road West Coast Demerara. The tournament will be played on 20\20 2 in 1out (4 games) basis.

Entrance fee is $9,000 and action is expected to start at 14:00 hrs.

According to Wiltshire the prizes will depend on the number of teams participating. He said the winning team is likely to take home $100,000, the runner up $50,000 and third place

Mark Wiltshire $20,000.

Outstanding individual players will also be rewarded and teams are asked to take along a pack of dominoes.