Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

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

Publisher: GLENN LALL Editor: ADAM HARRIS Tel: 225-8491, 225-8458, 225-8465 Fax: 225-8473 or 226-8210

Editorial

We need Divine intervention During the past fifteen years, the former PPP administration has failed to maximize the full potential of the people and has handed over a country that slid from spiritual guidance, fellowship and prosperity into the gutters of corruption, crime, violence, greed, selfishness and vindictiveness.

Almost everyone knows that Guyana has the resources to become a developed country and the breadbasket of the Caribbean, but the former PPP administration has used the resources to their benefit. They did not understand the true value of spirituality, fellowship and prosperity as well as the fundamental truths of good governance, unity and the need for divine intervention into the affairs of the country.

Many believed that it was divine intervention that led to a change of government on May 11, 2015 in one of the closest elections in the history of the country.

We need divine intervention to heal our wounds and move the country forward. Over the years, Guyana has been producing a proliferation of smart minds with the competence and skills to advance the development of the country and improve the welfare of its citizens. However, due to selfishness, the practice of nepotism and the failure to utilize the intellectuals, there have been the migration of some of the brightest and best minds.

This has translated into the loss of considerable human resources to the detriment of the development of the country. The end result was that Guyana remained stuck in a Third World underdeveloped/developed country mode.

But the Coalition Government has promised to unite the people,mend the political divides and promised to be selfless in their service to the people in order to move Guyana forward.

The election is over; now is the time for a new beginning under a new government and for the people to work tenaciously and assiduously for the betterment of themselves and the country. They must rise up and take their rightful place in society, control their destiny and be the best that they can be.

The answers to Guyana’s economic woes, poverty, crime and violence, among others, lie on the shoulders of everyone. The Granger-led Coalition government does not have all the solutions but it will overcome the obstacles in its way. The views and ideas of the people relating to nation-building have been for too long ignored by the previous administration.

It is time for the new government to uncover and implement these views and plans and see how best it can use them to its advantage. The government must reach out to the people and listen to their ideas to rectify our country’s deteriorating economy and reduce poverty and crime. It is time for us to stop the fussing and fighting and unite and be merciful to one another.

We must help each other to grow and advance the economy and solve our problems. There is a lot of work to be done and we can only accomplish it together. Let us join forces to maximize our potential to build a prosperous Guyana for our children and our children’s children.

If we, as a nation, pause for a moment and do some stocktaking, we will see that we all have a meaningful role to play in the building of a new Guyana. Together we can chart the way of success into the 21st century.

Let the familiar adage of “one hand washes the other” continue to ring true. Gay man, straight man, every man, every woman and child from every race or ethnicity; let us unite like we do in times of disaster and pray for our leaders to lead the country in the right path. Young people, take a stand and showcase your talents and creativity. Politicians, recognize the value and input of the people concerning the affairs of the country; do not ignore their wishes.

Sunday June 28, 2015

Kaieteur M@ilbox Send your letters to Kaieteur News 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown or email us kaieteurnews@yahoo.com

This immoral transfer of state assets suggests that some in the PPP knew they had lost the elections DEAR EDITOR, It is quite clear from the revelations of impropriety committed by ministers and other senior functionaries of the former government that the majority of them knew that the PPP/C had lost the elections. That is the only explanation for the indecent, immoral, and decidedly unlawful transfer of state assets to these private individuals.

These acts rank among the most reprehensible of crimes against the State. As a matter of fact it is quite possible that the only reason that the PSM scam came to light is because of inter-party personality conflicts with a strong ethnic bias.

I have argued elsewhere that the retention of certain politically aligned persons in senior functionaries in sensitive positions of trust will cause irreparable harm, and will come back to haunt the government at the most

inconvenient moment.If the GRA is shown to have been complicit inthe illegal transfers of state assets, then the officer who facilitated such acts must be shown the door and be made to face all applicable sanctions.

On another note I am appreciative of the utterances by the Minister of Public Security but as I stated before he can only do so much when he is forced to rely on the same persons in the same positions doing the samethings to achieve different results in an archaic structure. Some schools of thought refer to that condition as insanity.

Maybe Mr. Ramjattan should commission a human resource audit within all entities under his purview to get a sense of who is doing what and how effective and efficiently they are doing what they are supposed to be doing. The number of permanent secretaries who can be counted on to

provide sound technical advice to the current crop of ministers is limited to a few and ministers will be expected to conduct some sort of survey to determine whether some of them should be retained. From where I stand there should be a reshuffling of permanent secretaries or demotion as the case merits. Some of these people have sat idly by and remained silent in the face of the most tyrannical abuse of authority on the part of the former administration.

To expect them to suddenly transform themselves into professionals is really asking too much. Some of these people lack the guts to speak up even when the success of progressive initiatives is at stake, but seek refuge in the path of least resistance.

The time has come to separate the wheat from the chaff and reap a harvest of prosperity for this nation.

Edmund Syfox

Sunday June 28, 2015

Kaieteur News

Kaieteur M@ilbox

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Kaieteur M@ilbox

Community Policing Groups Must All of our Chancellors and Chief Justices Work Hand In Hand With Police have come from our own legal system DEAR EDITOR, Please allow to share my frustration on a situation that occured on Tuesday 24th June, 2015 in Region 5 concerning the security sector.

I was and am very upset as to the way the Community Policing Liaison Officer attached to the now Ministry of Public Security is behaving regarding assisting the Police at Fort Wellington, West Coast Berbice.

Like every organization, things change when a new body of executives take over.

But it does not seem like this liaison officer realizes that the PPP\C and Rohee are out of power and things will be done accordingly and not politically under this new administration.

It is my understanding that the various Community Policing Groups (CPG’S) ought to work hand in hand with the police in stopping crime and criminal activities.

But in Region 5 this does not seem to be the aim of the community policing groups.

On the said date mentioned above, I was informed that the Police at Fort Wellington Police Station had no vehicles to patrol and take prisoners to court. However, upon enquiring, all the police vehicles were at a mechanic shop in Bath Settlement waiting to be repaired.

So I was asked to intervene by one of my party members in making sure that the police have a vehicle for the day to use and also if there is an emergency in the region they can respond. I then went in search of the this CPG official, but he could not be reached on phone or be found at the time(around 09.00 hrs). So I went and asked a rice farmer in Bath Settlement

to borrow his pick up and he immediately loaned the vehicle.

Later that day around 13:00hrs, I eventually made contact with the then CPG official attached to the Ministry of Public Security, and asked him to assist the police by providing the CPG vehicle so that the police can carry out their work in case of an emergency in the region during the day.

Lo and behold, I had one of the most distasteful response from this man.

The official said that under the previous administration the then Minister Rohee made an order that no policing group vehicle should be used by the Police in uniform and that the vehicles should not be left at a police station and he has to abide by that order. I tried to explain to this man who still seems to work under Rohee that I have to inform those in authority that there is no vehicle at the station at the time and also the Minister of Public Security will be visiting the said station the following day. But still this man continued to tell me that Rohee passed that order and he will obey that.

After I insisted, he gave me a number to call for a man at Bush Lot, who had access to the vehicle. I called the number but was told by a female that the man was in the backdam and the vehicle is not there.

I was amazed the following day when the Public Security Minister visited the region and met with the CPGs and heard that former Minister Rohee had told the CPG’s that they cannot use private vehicles to patrol their communities.

Thanks to the Hon. Khemraj Ramjattan for responding by changing Rohee’s order, and telling the CPG members they can use private vehicles as long as it is being reported to the police.

I heard the chairman of the CPG in West Berbice asking the Minister of Public Security for more vehicles for the CPG. But I will suggest that if the Minister is giving these CPGs vehicles, then make an order that during the day the vehicles be lodge at the Police station within the district so the police can have access to it during the nights.

The CPG are using the vehicles as if these vehicles are theirs.

Sometimes I see the vehicle carrying benches, tables, paddy, children, family, relatives’ and friends.

The vehicle is also being used sometimes by members of the CPG’s to go on outings and fishing during the day.

This must stop.

Abel Seetaram

DEAR EDITOR, Please allow me to make a small comment on an article that appeared in the Stabroek News and which was headed, ‘’Gov’t to advertise top judicial positions in the region’’.

In my opinion this is a very bad move. ALL of our Chancellors and Chief Justices have ALWAYS come from our own legal system.

It is the essence of nation building in fledgling societies such as ours and especially where our legal system is not the same as any other in the Caribbean region.

Further, under our public service systems the issues of seniority and experience are legitimate and legal expectations of the terms and conditions of employment of persons in these and other positions.

This move, in my mind, smacks of a ‘’colonial’’ mentality and is a retrograde step ... that our own is NOT good enough.

It is a very weak move and

Mr. Veecock sounds like a fashion writer and critic DEAR EDITOR, I refer to a letter written

by Mr. Carl Veecock (15.06.2015) in which he expressed disappointment with the president when meeting with foreign dignitaries. The Nehru suits are a thing of the past. Ties and jackets are back in vogue and are an excellent visual presentation at photo shoots with visiting dignitaries in his office and at public functions.

Mr. Veecock sounds like a fashion writer and critic. Mr. Granger certainly is not. After India’s independence from

Great Britain, Mr. Nehru wore his Nehru collar. Kwamy Nkrumah went back to his traditional African dress.

Forbes Burnham and the other West Indian leaders wore the shirt jack.

These were not fashion statements, these were revolutionary statements.

Burnham referred to the tie as the colonial knot with which he had to dispense.

Without even thinking the honourable Brigadier President David Granger is making the same statement.

Wilfred George Walcott

does not take into account the particular prejudices of particular individuals that can actually cause more harm than good, as was evidenced recently in the Rodney Commission.

I must say that I am totally disappointed in the Coalition Government for going this route. There are other options.

In particular I had questioned the wisdom of delinking the terms and conditions of the two (2) top

positions in the judiciary from the rest of the judgeship.

I could not see the point of it. Now it has become almost political.

The move should be to unify the entire judicial system as one unit of seniority etc, once again and for the positions to be occupied mostly, and especially our top positions,

by Guyanese.

Juliet Holder-Allen Attorney At Law

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Kaieteur News

Sunday June 28, 2015

STARR Computer enhances GTI Tech Dept.

General Manager of STARR Computer Rehman Majeed (2nd from left) hands over one of the many items to Revon Thormon and Mikkel Zephyr of GTI, in the presence of company representatives.

Starr Computer Inc. donated a quantity of computer equipment to the Government Technical Institute (GTI) recently as part of the company’s annual investment in the technology sector. Speaking at the presentation, General

Manager Rehman Majeed said the company has always partnered with the technical institutes in Guyana, offering seminars on Renewable Energy, Security and other ITrelated topics.

It was emphasised that STARR Computer has been

using renewable energy for over six years and harnesses its energy needs from the sun. Students from the educational institutions are presented on the workings of a solar installation and given a tour of the installation. Also mentioned was STARR Computer’s Smart Lab that allows IT labs consisting of up to 30 monitors to be powered by one computer. It was explained that his saves on initial costs, electricity and technical support.

There are over 50,000 installations of this technology throughout the world. The Government Technical Institute is one such location that utilizes this cost saving technology.

Majeed said STARR Computer is committed to continue working with the educational sector and looks forward to strengthening its partnership with the Technical Institutes in the future.

Starr has customarily provided field trips and demonstrations on renewable energy. These sessions have covered topics such as Global Warming and its impact on Guyana, the Low Carbon Development Strategy, Alternative Energy Solutions, Solar Installation Model, Demonstration of Solar and Wind Installation, and Green PC – a low wattage computer designed specifically for schools and cafes.

Barber nabbed with 12 kilos of coke in milk, suitcase Ranks from the Customs Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU) on Friday nabbed a 33-yearold man with 12.2 kilogrammes of cocaine at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.

The suspect, a barber from Canje, Berbice, was booked to travel to the John F. Kennedy International Airport on a Dynamic Airways flight the ranks intercepted him.

A search revealed that he had 12.2 kilos of the drug concealed in a container of

milk powder.

Some of the drug was also stashed in the false wall of a suitcase. And around 14.35hrs yesterday, ranks from the Police Narcotics Unit arrested a woman on an outgoing flight at the Ogle Airport after 810 grams of cocaine was found strapped around her waist.

This comes just a week after drug enforcement ranks in the United States intercepted a shipment of shrimp from Guyana with 268 kilos of cocaine.

Cigarette burglar remanded on robbery charge …court hears he bound and gagged his victim A fisherman, who allegedly carted off a quantity of cigarettes from his acquaintance’s shop, was remanded to prison on a robbery charge on Wednesday.

Zahir Mohamed is accused of robbing Indroutie Narine, of $168,000 cash and three cartons of cigarettes on June 21, at Mahaica. It was also alleged that during the time of the robbery he made use of personal violence against the woman.

Mohamed, who was unrepresented, pleaded not guilty to the charge after it was read to him by Chief Magistrate Priya SewnarineBeharry.

Police Corporal, Bharrat Mangru, informed the court that the defendant and the victim are known to each other.

Mangru told the court that on the day in question, Mohamed went to the woman’s shop to purchase

two cigarettes.

When the woman turned her back the defendant held on to her, dealt her several cuffs to the face and demanded that she hand over cash. He bound and gagged the woman before ransacking her shop. He then made good his escape with the items.

Narine reported the matter to the Police Station and the defendant was subsequently arrested and charged.

The Prosecutor objected to bail citing the seriousness and prevalence of the offence.

He noted that the defendant may tamper with the prosecution’s witness (Narine) since they are known to each other.

Mangru added that investigations are still ongoing and there is likelihood that other charges may be instituted against the defendant.

This matter was transferred to the Mahaica Magistrate’s Court for Friday.

Sunday June 28, 2015

Kaieteur News

Former ILP deputy joins UNC, slams Warner Trinidad Express Corruption-accused Jack Warner was Friday night described as the “greatest political con job” by former deputy leader of the Independent Liberal Party (ILP) Anna Deonarine, who said she was ashamed to have been close to him.

Deonarine made a surprise debut on the United National Congress (UNC) platform Friday night at the St Helena Hindu School.

Deonarine was one of the frontline speakers when the ILP was born in 2013 and she campaigned aggressively with Warner for the Chaguanas West by-election where he emerged victorious.

She was subject to attacks from the UNC during her days of loyalty to Warner.

Former AG Anand Ramlogan had claimed that Deonarine’s Range Rover was a stolen vehicle.

Deonarine’s luxury Range Rover Sport HSE, valued at about $500,000, which was bought from an agent in England, was seized by local police after it was reported as a stolen vehicle by British police.

Ramlogan had also said that Deonarine was the major beneficiary of the sale of 20 acres of land, bought by her

Jack Warner

Anna Deonarine

parents from Dole Chadee’s brother, Thackoor Boodram, in 1997, for $225,000 and then sold by them to CLICO for $13 million. The $13 million was credited to a CLICO policy in Anna Deonarine’s name on March 29, 2005.

Warner had defended Deonarine who was then forced to flee her home with her children for fear of being harassed.

Clearly putting all animosity aside, Deonarine graced the UNC platform in defence of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar who has been the subject of attacks by Warner.

“I admit that I assisted the

man, one who can be described as the greatest political con job against the UNC and the Partnership,” said Deonarine.

She said when Warner asked her to assist him in the Chaguanas West by-election, she agreed to do so because she believed him when he said that the Sir David Simmons report against him was a “concoction of lies”.

The report from the FIFA Ethics committee found Warner was involved in financial impropriety during his tenure at FIFA. Deonarine said as a “gullible child” she believed everything that Warner fed to her.

Dominican Republic certifies citizenship of 55,000 SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — The Dominican Republic announced Friday that it has certified the nationality of about 55,000 people who had spent eight years in bureaucratic limbo because their citizenship was in doubt.

The locally born descendants of Haitian immigrants had been on the point of losing their citizenship because the government and courts argued their parents had been in the country illegally. Tens of thousands had trouble enrolling in school, travelling, getting formal work, marrying or registering children for lack of residence documents.

Under a ruling by the Constitutional Tribunal, the measure affected offspring of undocumented immigrants born between 1929 and 2007, leading to an outcry by human rights advocates.

President Danilo Medina announced the certification Friday at a summit in Guatemala. “It will be good news when the 55,000, to the last person among them, can

Dominican Republic’s President Danilo Medina, left, and El Salvador’s President Salvador Sanchez ceren talk during a photo opportunity at the XLV Central America Integration System, SICA, summit in Antigua, Guatemala, Friday. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo) effectively get all their documents and at last register their children,” said Robin Guittard, head of campaigns in the Caribbean for Amnesty International.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Haitian immigrants are at risk of being deported under a government crackdown on undocumented immigrants.

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Sunday June 28, 2015

Sunday June 28, 2015

Kaieteur News

$$B judicial debt….

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Dem boys seh...

Rohee coming Guyana is liable to face more lawsuits for violation of the revised fuh teach de Treaty of Chaguaramas - Nandlall government Guyana is bound to face a number of lawsuits given that the country remains in violation of the revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.

Former Attorney General, (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall expressed this view, in light of disclosures made by the country’s current AG, Basil Williams.

While addressing the National Assembly on Friday, Williams told the House of yet another financial obligation which the PPP administration did not honour, leaving the country in an awful state of economic disrepair.

Williams said that the discovery was made during a recent visit to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). The AG said that he was informed that Guyana is yet to honor its financial obligation as it relates to the outcome of a matter with the Suriname Company Rudisa Beverage Company. The Court awarded the Suriname Company some $1.2B (US$6M) which had been collected as an environmental tax in contravention of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas which requires equal treatment of products and services from all Caricom member countries. But the PPP, two years later, never honoured the obligation.

Williams also revealed that $57M which was judiciously awarded to Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL) when it won a case against the PPP government is also yet to be paid. He questioned whether the former AG (Anil Nandlall) can provide an answer as to why

Former Attorney General Anil Nandlall his government did not pay the sums.

Responding to the allegations yesterday Nandlall issued a statement which noted that the matter between the Caribbean Court of Justice in a case filed against the State of Guyana by Rudisa Beverage Company of Suriname has been in the public domain, even as it unfolded before the court.

“It boggles the mind that the Attorney General made this “discovery” by chance when I repeatedly and ad nauseam made this information public, both when the judgement was awarded, as well as on numerable times thereafter,” Nandlall stressed.

The former AG noted that he sought to have the matter addressed on numerous occasions. He said that as he spoke on the matter, “I explained why, and on what basis, this judgment was

Attorney General, Basil Williams

granted.”

Nandlall claims that during the hearing of the case, the Rudisa Company undertook before the CCJ, that were Guyana to remove from its laws, the offensive provisions, they would withdraw their case.

As a result, he said that the necessary amendments to the Customs Act were tabled in the National Assembly, by the then Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, on two occasions, but both times, the joint opposition, which held a majority in the National Assembly, voted against the amendments.

Nandlall pointed out that it was, in fact Williams, Khemraj Ramjattan and Carl Greenidge, who addressed the House emphatically against the amendments, on both occasions.

“In both instances, I explained to the House that the case is pending at the CCJ, and if the amendments

are not passed, judgement will be granted against Guyana. My appeals fell on deaf ears.” he added.

According to Nandlall the truth is that Guyana is liable to face many more lawsuits once the country remains in violation of the revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.

He said that it would therefore be prudent if the current AG could ensure that Guyana complies with its Treaty obligations, rather than engage in political ramblings on this issue.

Nandlall also claims no award was made by the CCJ with regard to “the second “debt” referred to by Williams.

In relation to 57 million Guyana dollars which was awarded against the State in a matter brought by Trinidad Cement Limited, the former AG explained that the only monetary order made in that matter relates to costs and it is nothing close to that amount.

When li’l children behave bad big people does tell dem how dem gun teach dem children a lesson. From de time a child hear that he know is a warm behind or couple box round de ears.

Rohee use to get plenty of that suh when he get big all he could talk about was teaching people a lesson.

De other day he tell dem boys how he party retooling.

Of course dem boys know that de party got nuff men but it didn’t know that dem had tool problem although some of dem use to behave like that. Anyhow, Rohee seh that de party retooling suh that it can come as a powerful opposition.

When dem boys been to Freedom House de other day dem did see some strange things hanging pun a wall and dem hear like when grindstone working. Dem hear Donald hollering last week and when dem ask wha happening, somebody tell dem that he was getting retool.

De Secretary seh that it not as bad as when a ball knock you below you waist.

Soulja Bai hear how Rohee coming fuh teach he government some lesson but first he must retool all de people. Soulja Bai believe that Rohee was bringing people to do bad things to he people. He call Moses fuh tell he wha he suspect and is Moses who set de record straight.

He tell Soulja Bai that Rohee coming fuh teach de government how to thief, how to grab and how to lie.

Rohee know how to duck and hide and how to dodge question. He know how to seh he forget when people corner him wid hard question. He know how to hide behind women skirt and he know fuh sure how to prepare fuh jail.

He teach that trick to Brassington and now de man deh in Florida. He frighten to come home. De other day dem boys ketch he talking to Jagdeo pun Skype just like how de Easy Come Easy Go man did talking to Rosalinda pun Skype when de Feds ketch him.

Rohee can teach people to hide. That is wha he coming to do.

Talk half and avoid a Rohee who retool.

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Sunday June 28, 2015

Former OP was overstaffed by UG Vice Chancellor silences opposing Unions with injunction 200 persons - says Harmon: Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Professor Jacob Opadeyi, has resorted to legal action to silence the Unions of the University of Guyana (UG). In essence the Vice Chancellor has not only been able to secure an injunction that will afford him just this but he is also suing President of the University of Guyana Senior Staff Association (UGSSA), Dr. Mellissa Ifill, for libel.

The basis of the court action is that Dr. Ifill earlier this week disseminated an email to dozens of persons, including junior and senior staff at the University of Guyana, students and others, which contained a document titled, “Petition of No Confidence in University of Guyana’s Vice Chancellor Professor Jacob Opadeyi.”

It is claimed that in the said document Dr. Ifill (the defendant), “falsely and maliciously published the following defamatory words of and concerning the plaintiff (Professor Opadeyi) including: …failure to honour contracts with employees including illegally withholding legitimate payments due to staff; circumvention and breach of University financial systems, practices and procedures; financial mismanagement and impropriety including but not limited to system override at the bursary and repeated failure to meet legal obligations to transfer deductions from worker’s salaries to various bodies…”

Professor Opadeyi, who is convinced that “the said words and publications were

- files $10 million lawsuit against UGSSA President

UG Vice Chancellor, Professor Opadeyi

UGSSA President, Dr. Mellissa Ifill

calculated and intended to disparage his character, standing and reputation,” is claiming damages in excess of $10 million for the libellous publication of the No Confidence petition.

The lawsuit was filed by a battery of lawyers representing Professor Opadeyi. They included former Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, Euclin Gomes, Sase Gunraj, Ganesh Hira and Manoj Narayan.

They were able to secure an injunction from Acting Chief Justice Ian Chang restraining Dr. Ifill or her colleagues from further publishing, or causing to be published, the contentious phrases as outlined.

The associated court documents outline that the UG Vice Chancellor’s role and functional responsibilities as Vice Chancellor and Principal of the University of Guyana

are clearly and expressly set out in the statutes made under the University of Guyana Act, Chapter 39:02, and are confined to the exercise of general supervision over the educational arrangements of the University; the supervision of admission of students; ex officio Chairman of the Academic Board; general administration of University and a responsibility to report to the Council of the University of Guyana.

“The Plaintiff (Opadeyi) has no responsibility in relation to financial matters and no dealing in finance and payments to staff; these areas fall strictly within the domain of the Bursar of the University of Guyana.”

With regard to the matter Dr. Ifill has 10 days in which to respond and the matter is slated to be heard by Chang on Tuesday July 7, 2015.

The Ministry of the Presidency, which houses the offices of Head of State, David Granger, was overstaffed by almost 200 persons.

The new administration has started to trim the new ministry. Several of the ‘useless staff ’ are gone, including advisors to the former President, Donald Ramotar, and “research” personnel.

Questioned Wednesday about reports that an entire department has been axed, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, made it clear that his Government does not lay off entire departments.

A recent report on personnel in the public service submitted by former head, Hydar Ally, indicated a startling 200 persons working there at the President’s offices, Harmon said.

The ministry was “grossly overstaffed”.

The Minister said that the issue of staffers will surface when it comes to budget debate in the National Assembly.

Questions would be asked about certain employees, their functions and salaries.

“I will have to answer to that when we go into Parliament. When the Opposition started shooting bullets across the floor, I will have to answer for it.”

Shortly after taking office, following their victory at the May 11 General Elections, the coalition Government found evidence of scores of staffers at what was once known as the Office of the President.

While a few have

- Hydar Ally set to go, Lumumba gone

Head of the Public Service Ministry, Hydar Ally

Commissioner of Information, Charles Ramson

remained on the job, many of them including relatives of former senior Government officials were not even reporting to the compound.

Several of them were reportedly being paid by the state-owned National Communication Network to mask their true salaries.

The NCN management later claimed that the company was ordered by the NCN Board of Directors to pay the persons. They had never worked a day at NCN. It came to light, later, that quite a few of them were actually doing political work for the previous Government of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).

The work included monitoring letters to the editors in the newspaper and Facebook and responding to the critics.

Several Presidential Advisors, people like Odinga

Lumumba, who had responsibilities for “Youth Empowerment” are also reportedly gone.

With regards to Hydar Ally, a senior figure of the former Government, he was asked to stay on for the rest of the month, to complete his work, Harmon revealed.

Meanwhile, another senior functionary who was supposed to be independent and who still has his offices at the Ministry is Charles Ramson Snr. Ramson is the Commissioner of Information.

Minister Harmon, when questioned, disclosed that Commissioner Ramson is a constitutional appointee whose presence at the Ministry of the Presidency may not be such a good idea.

Harmon said that moves are underway to have Ramson established in an independent office elsewhere.

Sunday June 28, 2015

Kaieteur News

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Guyana’s external debt stands Dead miner’s family frustrated at US$1.6B - Finance Minister at sloth of investigation …domestic debt has “risen appreciably” Stabbing of 18-year-old miner…

Family members of 18year-old miner, Keith Daniels, who was fatally stabbed during a robbery, on June 8 are now calling on the police to be swifter with their investigation.

More than a month after his death, a family member said that they have not received any new information from officers at Kitty Police Station.

The family member explained that after the young man died the police had arrested seven persons. She said that she is unaware if the suspects are still in custody.

She added that the family has been making numerous phone calls to the station and are being advised to “hold on”.

The woman recalled that two weeks ago she received a phone call from a policeman informing her that she should visit the station to identify a suspect in the robbery/ murder. However, the woman said that she told the officer that she would not be able to do so, since she is unaware of the identity of Daniel’s killers.

The relative said that she made another call to the police station on Thursday and an officer informed her that they need to do a little more investigation. She was told to wait until they (the police) call.

Nevertheless, the relative remains hopeful that the police will bring her relative’s killer (s) to justice.

Daniels was stabbed to death during a robbery that saw him relieved of his

Keith Daniels (right) with his brother Neil. cellular phone and a small amount of cash.

The incident occurred around 02:00 hours, less than a one-minute walk from Daniels’ 42 Public Road, Kitty home.

According to reports, Keith and his brother, Neil Daniels, noticed three young men standing near the head of the alleyway that led to their aunt’s house.

Since they felt safe in each other’s company, the two brothers continued towards their house with the older sibling leading the way.

The older Daniels (Neil) recalled walking on the outside of the road as his smaller brother walked close to the men. He recalled that just as they passed the men, he heard one of them hail “Yo, yo, yo”.

Neil Daniels said that his

brother, in response to the common street call, spun around and one of the men grabbed him by his jersey collar before reaching to his side and pulling out a knife.

Daniels said he immediately realized that the men were about to rob his brother.

He quickly ran home for help, but by the time he managed to awake other family members and return to the scene, his brother was lying motionless on his back on the ground with stab wounds about his body.

Keith Daniels received two stabs, not too far apart in the middle of his chest and another one just beneath his left side breast.

The badly injured youth was rushed to the Woodlands Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.

As he delivered his maiden address to the National Assembly on Friday, Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, brought his colleagues and the rest of the nation up to date on the external debt incurred by Guyana—US$1.6B. He also noted that the treasury is in a $60B deficit.

It was the occasion of the third House sitting since the convening of the 11th Parliament. Jordan, was speaking to a motion which sought to have the House approve polices of the new government as outlined by President David Granger during his address at the convening of the Eleventh Parliament.

This motion, which was taken to the House by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, was eventually approved.

While several other Ministers spoke to the Motion on the previous day, (Thursday) Jordan was among those whose speech came just before the Motion was passed.

As he rose to make his contribution, the first time Minister noted the danger of the growing foreign debt and pledged to vigorously attack it during his tenure.

He said that Guyana has been the recipient of generous debt write-offs from bilateral and multilateral agencies but such cancellations have had spin-off implications for the country’s debt-management.

Jordan said that as a result of the write-offs, close attention must now be paid to what Guyana borrows, how Guyana borrows and for

what reason sums are being borrowed. “Because the mix, the blend is a bit harder now than the soft resources that we were so accustomed to.”

While he did not have the domestic debt figure at the time, Jordan said that that debt, as well, has “risen appreciably.” The Minister told the House to look out for the strengthening of institutions and the legal framework for public debt and public debt management.

Jordan said that Guyana’s economy has not achieved any significant amount of growth as the People’s Progressive Party/Civic has led the nation to believe.

“The economy has been up and down and playing catch up over the last two decades,” said the Finance Minister While in government the PPP/C boasted of “sustained economic growth.”

(Abena Rockcliffe)

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Kaieteur News

Sunday June 28, 2015

Govt. will not be sidetracked by cries of witch hunting

By Abena Rockcliffe Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan recently told the National Assembly that there is a relative link between corruption and poverty. He said that unless corruption is at its minimum in Guyana, the dream of the elimination of extreme poverty will remain just a mere delusion.

On Friday Jordan stood to address the National

…will attack corruption from level of thieving gas to thieving vehicles - House hears Assembly for the first time.

He was speaking to a motion for the adoption of government polices as outlined by President David Granger. During his speech, Jordan said that poverty goes hand in hand with corruption, and one cannot be dealt with

without looking at the other.

Minister Jordan, who expressed optimism that he is up to the task, pledged to weed out corruption in state agencies. He vowed that the government will not be sidetracked by cries of witchhunting but will go after persons fingered in corrupt practices in its quest to make Guyana a brighter nation.

“To tackle poverty we also have to root out corruption, we must go after this scourge wherever it

exists.

Whether big corruption or small, we will go after those who will transfer vehicles illegally and those who will get free gas, it is still corruption,” said Jordan.

In listing some measures already taken to weed out corruption, and strengthen accountability, Jordan said that the government has closed several dormant government bank accounts and placed the monies from those accounts into the consolidated fund. He said

that in that way, the state funds will be better protected against theft.

Additionally, he referenced the forensic audits at state agencies and said that “despite the hot air being blown, the government will not be moved.”

He explained that “the audits are not only to find whether misuse or misallocation occurred but any government worth its salt would be foolish not to do this to know what they have and what they don’t.”

Further, Minister Jordan said that the coalition government has no intention to renege on its promise to establish the Public Procurement Commission, which is a tool to root out corruption. In this regard, the Minister called on the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic to take up its seats in the National Assembly since the Commission would need that Party’s submission of members before it can be established.

He said that in the meantime, the new government will be tackling procurement corruption

Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan where it has control.

Jordan said, “We are going to be reforming the procurement system. Of course, we will start where we have some control and that is the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board.

A new board will be in place by next week and some of the practices reviewed.”

The Finance Minister and a delegation left Guyana yesterday for Venezuela to discuss the PetroCaribe deal.

Unity assault, accident victims call for justice Following an assault and accident at Unity Public Road on May 21, 2015, Mohan Rampersaud and his wife, Bhanmattie Totaram, are puzzled why the men who had allegedly assaulted them after reversing into their truck, have not been arrested and charged.

The couple is contending that Vickram Ramrattan, the driver of the car, and his brother, Puran Sugrim, are familiar with ranks at the Mahaica Police Station, and this has been the reason for them not being taken before the court.

Totaram said that she and her husband have been keeping in contact with ranks at the Mahaica Station, but after more than a month nothing has been done about the matter. They noted that the car that Ramrattan was driving, has been removed from the station.

Ramrattan, after escaping from the scene of the collision and assault, ended up into another collision which landed him and Sugrim in the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.

The two other occupants, Sharon Harry and her 16 yearold son, Gavin Harry, were treated and sent away According to reports, the brothers were allegedly given a sound thrashing by the truck driver and his wife before they were able to escape in their car. According to the older

Harry, with the alleged attackers in hot pursuit, Ramrattan was not able to escape successfully, as he ended up in an accident.

The woman claimed that Ramrattan, in a panic state, after realizing the danger posed by his attackers who were giving them a good chase “stepped on the gas” accelerating the car but lost control in the vicinity of the Gibson Primary School, on Unity Old Road. Kaieteur News understands that the car toppled a few times before coming to a halt.

“Even though Puran was badly injured and was sitting on the ground the truck driver still continued to beat him. He was kicking him in his back and I had to “pull him off”, said Harry.

However, Rampersaud and his wife gave a contrasting side of the story.

They claimed to have been the victims of assault, and presented a police medical report. The medical stated that Rampersaud suffered trauma to his head, shoulder and upper back while Totaram suffered almost the same injuries; trauma to her left side face, shoulder, upper back and head. The examination was done at a private institution.

They are calling on the police to handle the matter professionally by bringing the two parties together and sending the matter to court.

Sunday June 28, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 13

Seven years later…

Mother of Lindo Creek massacre victim calls for Commission of Inquiry

By Dale Andrews Every year the nation remembers the Enmore Martyrs, the Ballot Box Martyrs, the victims of the Lusignan and Bartica massacres, with some sort of ceremony. Even we at the Kaieteur News remember in some way our six colleagues who were slaughtered during the dreaded crime wave of 2002-2008.

But for the eight gold miners, slaughtered at Lindo Creek, Berbice River, only their families seem to care whenever this time of the year comes around.

Maybe this is because there was precious little in terms of remains for them to remember; as a matter of fact, only one family turned up when the remains were entered into their final resting place in the Le Repentir Cemetery three years ago.

At least one woman will forever remember June 21; it was on that day seven years ago that the unidentified remains, inclusive of feet, bones and skulls among other body parts, of Nigel Torres, Bunny Harry, Clifton Wong, Dax Arokium, his uncle Cedric, Compton Speirs, Horace Drakes and Lancelot Lee were discovered

The eight miners killed at Lindo Creek. in their camp at Lindo Creek, Berbice River.

That date is close to the birthday of Jackie Arokium, who lost her son Dax and her brother in law Cedric, in that mayhem which to date is still being considered as one of the major mysteries of the crime wave.

For the police the case died with the notorious gang

leader Rondell ‘Fineman’ Rawlins who along with members of his organization was blamed for the gruesome killings.

They say their claims are being supported by the evidence of an eyewitness to the crime, who happened to be a member of the same notorious gang which had its roots in Buxton and Agricola.

That eyewitness happens to be a youth who was found in a trail days after the ‘Fineman’ gang was uprooted from its hideout at Christmas Falls, Upper Berbice River.

“It was a good thing we caught him because we would not have been able to gather the information we have, and the public would have been on our backs,” said a senior

police official.

But the police account of what transpired has not been accepted by the majority of the population. They strongly believe that the joint services were responsible.

“This is a mystery that would not go away. It follows me everywhere I go. I kept my son alive by writing all thoughts that would cross my

mind in my book called ‘A mother’s diary’,” said Jackie Arokium.

Last year, for the first time, she visited the tombs in Le Repentir Cemetery, where the remains of her son and his other mining colleagues were interred.

She recently travelled from the United States of America to celebrate her birthday, which incidentally coincided with the anniversary of the massacre.

She held a thanksgiving service to commemorate both events, and on Friday last she placed flowers at the two tombs in Le Repentir Cemetery where the remains of her son, brother in law and the other miners who were slaughtered, are interred.

This year, Arokuim who resides in the USA, has decided to stay home, instead of coming to Guyana, where she might be overcome with too much emotion.

She is one of those persons who believe that the matter should not be classified as closed; and she has good reason to be optimistic, since she believes that there is the likelihood that the new government would hold an inquiry that will put to rest all the speculations Continued on page 64

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Kaieteur News

Sunday June 28, 2015

Over 2,000 case dockets missing from Magistrates’ Court - Auditor General’s report Over the last two years, 2,080 case dockets have gone missing in the Magistrates’ Court located on East Demerara, West Demerara and Georgetown, a figure which has once again prompted recommendations for rectifications from Auditor General, Deodat Sharma.

As a matter of fact, in the Auditor General’s Report for 2013 shows that a whopping 1,238 case dockets were listed as misplaced for Criminal Cases alone from the Georgetown Magisterial District between 2012 and 2013.

The Report, which was made public after being laid in the National Assembly last week, revealed that the filing of affiliation, criminal and civil case dockets at the main Magisterial Districts continue to be disorganized with a number of case dockets being misplaced or misfiled at the different locations.

It was further stated that

this was compounded by the fact that the register of case dockets did not contain information on the movement of the files.

In 2012, a total of 959 such dockets were listed as missing while 2013 recorded 1121.

Over the two year period,

a total of 186 case dockets were misplaced in the East Demerara Magisterial District while in the West Demerara Magisterial District, a total of 535 are recorded as outstanding for the same period.

In addition, 1359 cases filed were noted to be

misplaced during the same period in the Georgetown Magisterial District. Seven hundred and seventy one (771) were reported missing for 2013 alone, the Report stated.

It was also noted that 2013 recorded 162 more missing dockets than the year before,

despite a 100% drop for civil cases in the East Demerara Magisterial District and 16.2% drop in criminal cases for the West Demerara Magisterial District.

In light of this, the Report documents that the Head of the Budget Agency explained that the case dockets at the

districts audited are filed away in yearly order but “not sequentially, while in the case of pending matters, these jackets are presented as per courts’ fixtures regardless of years of filing.”

“The matters before the Court are not in any yearly order. Some matters are filed and disposed of within a particular year while orders may take a longer time. In relation to the comment on the movement of file registers, efforts are in place to have this rectified,” the agency head noted.

Further, it was stated that an exercise is ongoing to have case jackets for matters that are concluded filed in sequential order.

As such, the Audit Office recommends that the department re-examines its system of filing case jackets in order to ensure that all files are presented for audit in a timely manner.

Sunday June 28, 2015

Kaieteur News

Taxi drivers to be relocated

Move due to East Bank road construction

Diamond car park

“Is like them ain’t got no way to put we on de road fuh mek lil money,” cried one distressed taxi driver following the relocation of the Diamond Housing Scheme car park.

The drivers are being forced to relocate for the fourth time to facilitate road widening works from the ‘high bridge’ at Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL).

While the contractor, BK International, executed works in the area, the park was situated on the eastern shoulder of the East Bank Public Road, in front of one of the commercial banks in Diamond.

According to one driver, following the completion of the stretch into a four-lane roadway, the drivers were asked to move to another location.

They lamented, yesterday, that the Ministry of Communities, formerly the Ministry of Local Government, should have some sort of arrangement put in place to regularise this situation.

They even added that the roadside vendors would be relocated to the same area where the car park is to be permanently placed.

The car park is situated near DDL ‘high bridge’- a spot many deem dangerous.

In fact, many persons had complained of the taxis obstructing the smooth flow of traffic. One resident, who requested anonymity, lives not too far from the “moving car park”. He said that the taxi drivers were removed from two previous locations.

One driver said that the park was first located inside

the Diamond Housing Scheme near the entrance but they were forced to remove and the spot was taken over by the M&M Snackette. The drivers were then forced to establish a new park along the roadway but were once more forced to relocate to DDL. Some drivers said that the government has two areas for the possible location of the park and the roadside vendors. The first option is inside the Diamond Housing Scheme next to the M&M Snackette, which is not being utilised at the moment.

The other option revealed by a driver is the establishment of a facility near to the area where a second entrance to Diamond Housing Scheme should be constructed. This option will also accommodate the roadside vendors.

Page 15

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Kaieteur News

Sunday June 28, 2015

Tenders to open shortly for outfalls work The Ministry of Public Infrastructure has revealed that tenders for work on outfall channels are expected to be advertised soon.

According to Coordinator of the Work Services Group (WSG) Geoffrey Vaughn, the works will be conducted at a number of outfall channels including Kingston, Lamaha Street, Sussex Street and Meadowbank.

These tenders will open on July 14, right at the Ministry, he added.

Work is expected to come on stream soon afterwards.

“Once all of these tenders have been opened, we expect that within a week the works will be assessed in terms of the tenders then we’ll have contractors mobilized to execute works,” Vaughn said.

He continued, “Most of these

works would take about 2 to 3 weeks in terms of completing the outfalls.”

When questioned on a projected figure for the job, Vaughn indicated that there was no ideal figure in mind.

However, he said, the Ministry has $75M at its disposal for the cleanup and restoration efforts.

Meanwhile, the sluice at Sussex Street has been an area

of difficulty.

According to Minister David Patterson, the problem is already being addressed and measures will soon be put in place. These efforts, he added, commenced yesterday. These efforts included a visit to assess the structural defects on the sluice.

The sluice is reportedly causing heavy flow into surrounding areas from the Demerara River.

The defective sluice has particularly been difficult for the residents of

Albouystown. Over the past few days, the community has been inundated with floodwater.

It was noted that the issue of getting the water cleared off was paramount as it posed as a health hazard.

According to Communities Coordinator Nielson McKenzie, a team has been meeting with the area’s Community Development Committees and other groups with the aim of arriving at a greater understanding of the real problems there in regards to the flooding and

blockages.

“And then, we are working out step by step solutions,” McKenzie said. He said that at the peak of the flooding last week, a team visited and decided to extend its reach to the entire community.

“We’re going to see how we can work out a package of measures to alleviate their suffering and see what we can do in terms of reducing levels of flooding,” he added.

In the meantime, measures will be put in place to either stop or significantly reduce the in-flow.

Work has been conducted on the Sussex Street outfall on a number of occasions

Sunday June 28, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 25

Sleep Apnea: A silent killer

By Dr. Zulfikar Bux, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine I have seen a few patients who wake up more tired than when they went into bed.

Some develop unexplained medical conditions and struggle to find answers.

Their problems occur in the silence of the night when they are asleep.

A condition called sleep apnea is responsible for this and it is a potentially serious disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts while sleeping. You may have sleep apnea if you snore loudly and you feel tired even after a full night’s sleep.

There are two main types of sleep apnea: Obstructive sleep apnea, the more common form that occurs when throat muscles relax Central sleep apnea, which occurs when your brain doesn’t send proper signals to the muscles that control breathing SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS The most common signs and symptoms of obstructive and central sleep apneas include: · Excessive daytime sleepiness (hypersomnia) · Loud snoring, which is usually more prominent in obstructive sleep apnea · Episodes of breathing cessation during sleep

Just when the nation would believe that miners would take extra precaution with their land activities, there is going to be another disaster. Another pit is going to cave in because the workers would be following a vein of gold and would not see a crack develop over their heads. Most will escape the ensuing disaster. ************* The aim to make quick and easy money but this has severe risks. The gunmen are many and

witnessed by another person (they would say it sounds like you’re suffocating during your sleep) · Abrupt awakenings accompanied by shortness of breath, which more likely indicates central sleep apnea · Awakening with a dry mouth or sore throat · Morning headache · Difficulty staying asleep (insomnia) · Attention problems WHO’S AT RISK? The following persons are more at risk of developing sleep apnea · Excess weight. Fat deposits around your upper airway may obstruct your breathing. However, not everyone who has sleep apnea is overweight. · A narrowed airway. You may have inherited a naturally narrow throat. Or, your tonsils or adenoids may become enlarged, which can block your airway. · Being male. Men are twice as likely to have sleep apnea. However, women increase their risk if they’re overweight, and their risk also appears to rise after menopause. · Being older. Sleep apnea occurs significantly more often in adults older than 60. · Family history. If you have family members with sleep apnea, you may be at increased risk. · Use of alcohol, sedatives

although the police are picking them one by one, there are those who believe that they will not be caught.

The result is that another group is going to target what they see as easy money and

or tranquilizers. These substances relax the muscles in your throat. · Smoking. Smokers are three times more likely to have obstructive sleep apnea than are people who’ve never smoked. · Nasal congestion. If you have difficulty breathing through your nose — whether it’s from an anatomical problem or allergies — you’re more likely to develop obstructive sleep apnea. · Heart disorders. People with heart failure or irregularly beating heart are more at risk of central sleep apnea. · Stroke or brain tumour. These conditions can impair the brain’s ability to regulate breathing.

COMPLICATIONS · High blood pressure or heart problems. Sudden drops in blood oxygen levels that occur during sleep apnea increase blood pressure and strain your heart and blood vessels. The more severe your sleep apnea, the greater the risk of high blood pressure.

However, obstructive sleep apnea increases the risk of stroke, regardless of whether or not you have high blood pressure · Daytime fatigue. The repeated awakenings associated with sleep apnea make normal, restorative sleep impossible. People with sleep

herein lies the problem. A private citizen is going to react. ************* It would seem as if there could be no end to road accidents. This time around some young men on a joyride would cause a collision with another vehicle in which there will be children.

The unfortunate part is that these young men with enough money to pay their way will cause the system to work in their favour.

apnea often experience severe daytime drowsiness, fatigue and irritability. You may have difficulty concentrating and find yourself falling asleep at work, while watching TV or even when driving. You may also feel irritable, moody or depressed. Children and adolescents with sleep apnea may do poorly in school or have behaviour problems. · Liver problems. People with sleep apnea are more likely to have abnormal results on liver function tests, and their livers are more likely to show signs of scarring.

· Sleep-deprived partners. Loud snoring can keep those around you from getting good rest and eventually disrupt your relationships. It’s not uncommon for a partner to go to another room, or even on another floor of the house, to be able to sleep. · Seizures. Due to lack of oxygen some persons can end up seizing in their sleep and can even suffocate and die.

If you feel that you are at risk or are having symptoms of sleep apnea, do not hesitate to visit your doctor.

Dr. Zulfikar Bux Treatment options vary according to the cause. You should not have to suffer from the symptoms of sleep apnea.

Visiting your doctor is the first step in ensuring this becomes a reality.

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Kaieteur News

Sunday June 28, 2015

The dead woman in the locked house

Sirmattie Ramnaress

By Michael Jordan The teenage boy who did odd-jobs for Sirmattie Ramnaress didn’t see the body right away.

He arrived at the spacious Diamond Housing Scheme residence at around eight o’clock on Saturday, August 31, 2013, found the gates locked, and observed that the bonnet of one of the vehicles in the compound was up. He pressed the gate buzzer, got no response, and left.

According to one report, when the lad was some distance away, he saw the same vehicle racing away from the businesswoman’s 21st Avenue home. He reportedly concluded that ‘Auntie Sabo’ as the woman was also known, was the driver.

Sirmattie Ramnaress’ home: How did the killer get inside?

The teen returned about an hour later. Standing outside the locked gates, he observed that the garage door was now half-open, and lying on the ground, near the entrance, was the motionless body of Sirmattie Ramnaress.

He rushed over to a neighbour and related what he had seen. At the same time, the neighbour observed smoke rising from a bond behind the businesswoman’s premises.

Firefighters arrived soon after. They were forced to cut through a padlock on one of the front gates to gain entry to the compound. But all their

efforts could not prevent the well-stocked bond from being completely razed. Practically nothing inside was saved.

A post mortem would later reveal that someone had clubbed the 46-year-old businesswoman repeatedly to the head and body, and had also tried to strangle her. The murder, it is believed, occurred around the time when the teenager had first checked on Ramnaress.

It is even believed that the killer or killers were still in the house.

A bloodstained length of wood appeared to be the murder weapon.

A clown had reportedly used that same piece of wood as a prop at the victim’s birthday party, held just five days prior to her death.

Investigators also observed a trail of blood leading from the smoldering

storage bond to the garage.

This suggested that someone had attacked Ramnaress in the bond then dragged her, feet first, to the garage. A brother of the victim believes that his terrified sister tried to secure herself in a nearby washroom, but that the killers forced the door open and dragged her out. But he doesn’t believe that Ramnaress died immediately.

According to the brother, his sister ’s killers, for some reason, picked up a phone in the bottom flat and left a partial recording of their deed.

Checking the phone after the murder, the brother said that he heard a recorded voice say ‘You supposed to be looking outside.’ This is followed by the sound of someone groaning and a glass door being pulled.

Police reportedly have this recording, but have suggested that this was merely an incoming call being recorded.

Relatives and detectives also surmised that Ramnaress had known her killers and had let them in. Intensely security-conscious, the businesswoman had installed several security cameras in practically every area in and around her premises. The building also had an alarm system. From what relatives said, Ramnaress would only allow very close associates into her home.

The system was even set up to allow Ms. Ramnaress to view her premises while she was abroad.

It should therefore have been easy to identify the businesswoman’s last visitors. But someone had removed many of the surveillance cameras and devices for the security system. Even the digital video recorder which Ms. Ramnaress had concealed in a karaoke machine for the surveillance system was missing.

Detectives found that the

home was ransacked and according to relatives, a handbag, believed to have contained foreign and other currency, was missing.

Ramnaress’ siblings also claimed that someone had carted off several microwave ovens that were stored in the bond.

As the handyman had related, someone had also made off with one of the slain woman’s cars. The vehicle was found some hours later on the Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara public road.

But the investigators didn’t think that robbery was the primary motive. They felt that someone had tumbled things about the premises to give the appearance of a robbery. They believed that the individual or individuals had even left some beer bottles in the kitchen, to suggest that the killers had consumed the beverages.

The investigators were also baffled as to why the killers had set the bond on fire and also doused sections of the house with diesel fuel.

Some surmised that someone had attempted to conceal crucial evidence about the murder.

But who would have wanted to murder Sirmattie Ramnaress? Who was this cunning and brazen individual who had apparently gained access to her home and committed murder in broad daylight?

Why had he or she come to the scene without a weapon?

Ms. Ramnaress, an importer and distributor, had celebrated her 46th birthday just five days prior to her murder. She and her overseasbased fiancé were planning to get married in September 2013.

Among the first people at the murder scene was Ramnaress’ former boyfriend, Sergeant Collin Bailey.

They’d had an approximately six-year relationship. Understandably, he came under scrutiny of the investigators.

They questioned their colleague about his movements at the time of the murder and reportedly took DNA samples from him. He was never detained.

Ramnaress’ siblings were upset that Bailey repeatedly described himself as her reputed husband, particularly when, according to them, the relationship had long ended.

They were also upset that he was given access to the crime scene, even before they themselves knew of their sister’s death.

But Sergeant Bailey insists that he and Ramnaress were still together. He said that he had slept at her home the night after her birthday party. He said that he had extra keys to Ramnaress’ home and he gave the relatives these keys, because the ones Ramnaress had could not be found.

Bailey said that he was aware that his ‘reputed wife’ had a fiancé. According to him, she had always insisted that the man, whom he described as a retired policeman, was merely a business partner.

“I’m cooperating with the investigation; I want to ensure that this crime is solved.

Despite the understanding that the husband should be the prime suspect, my conscience is clear, my whereabouts are known. “I don’t intend for my wife’s death to go just like that.”

Ramnaress’ close relatives insist that they know who killed her, and why.

They believe that all the evidence points to this individual, whom they believe wanted to get his hands on her assets. They claimed that their sister had been in an abusive relationship and that she had documented this physical abuse in two diaries. They claim that even after her death, the individual continues to attempt to try to have access to her assets.

Some of the relatives feel that police have failed to put this individual under intense questioning. The brother also feels that detectives also overlooked possible DNA evidence at the crime scene, such as a cigarette butt that was reportedly found in a washroom in the bottom flat.

It is also his view that a male associate of their prime suspect and a female friend of his murdered sister may have assisted in her demise.

Detectives insist that they are still working the case and that they haven’t given up on finding Sirmattie Ramnaress’ killer.

If you have any further information on this or any other case, please contact us at our Lot 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown office. We can also be reached on telephone numbers 22-58473, 2258458, 22-58465, or 2258491. You need not disclose your identity.

You can also contact Michael Jordan at his email address mjdragon@ hotmail.co

Sunday June 28, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 27

== THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN ==

I am ashamed at the way Guyanese East Indians behaved During the 2015 election campaign, I did journey with the Alliance For Change but technically and legally, I campaigned for the APNU-AFC coalition. Realistically, you had to belong to one of the six units that made up APNU or the AFC. I am not a member of any party, but I did battle from within the AFC. One day during the early period of the campaign, Leonard Craig, the AFC logistics officer, asked me into his office.

Former AFC parliamentarian Trevor Williams was there in the room. Craig said there was a problem with my geographical placement at public meetings in certain parts of Region Four.

He said that a certain Region Four AFC campaign manager did not want me to speak in Indian areas because I would be too harsh on Indians and that may not be strategically wise. He said she would prefer me to address African villages in her sphere of operations.

Trevor Williams intervened and argued that the AFC had three top Indian speakers – me, Moses

Nagamootoo and Khemraj Ramjattan – and it was imperative that we speak to Indians all over Guyana. Craig agreed.

I couldn’t understand the lady’s analysis because outside of her geographical sphere, elsewhere in Region Four, Indians were very warm towards me. Up the East Bank, in Berbice and Region Three, Indian people were very receptive of me. The villages are too numerous to mention. But in four places in particular - Black Bush Polder, Strathavon, Sarah Johanna, Goed Bananen Land – I had fantastic interactions with Indians.

Too many times middle class Georgetowners view the rural folks with urban lenses.

We tend to make interpretations of the countryside without actually studying how those people think. I never encountered a pugilistic attitude to me among Indians anywhere in Guyana.

The label of me being hostile to Indian Guyanese began among certain Georgetown Indian racists and the PPP for obvious reasons.

It began during the 2006 election season. Ravi Dev made that into his mantra. At the time he wrote for the Kaieteur News. He is now a policy-maker at the Guyana Times.

After the results of the 2006 elections, in one of my columns I wrote that I was ashamed to be East Indian after the way Indians voted for the reelection of Bharrat Jagdeo. In 2006, as an Indian, you could have been justified in your criticism of many African leaders in the PNC in the past, but you could not justify Jagdeo’s continuation after 2006.

Mr. Jagdeo, from 1999 to 2006 when the election was due, had exhibited frightening traits that were ominous for Guyana’s future.

He was given five more years.

By 2011, Guyana was in a vortex of moral and legal decline. Berbicians redeemed themselves by the way they voted in 2011.

Then came 2015 and Jagdeo returned. He took over the strategy and rhetoric of the PPP campaign and the beast that resides so

closely next to the human heart in Homo sapiens flowed freely in the 2015 elections. If in 2006 I wrote that I was ashamed to be East Indian, then I feel the same way now that I have the station by station results in front of me for the 2015 poll.

I would like to ask that lady in the AFC if I caused Indians to vote the way they did in May 2015 or if I didn’t exi s t w o u l d t h e r e s u l t s have been different? Political analysts have found a gold mine with the 2015 election results.

The PPP lost the election because a small percentage of Indians made the difference. The APNU-AFC coalition won by just one percent.

The PPP picked up 38,000

more votes than in 2011. In Regions One, Eight and Nine the PPP received 6,167 more Amerindian votes than in 2001. That leaves 32,000 votes to account for.

Let us be generous and say the PPP got 3000 more African Guyanese votes than in 2001.

It means 29,000 more Indians voted for the PPP. Why is this a scary situation? Two reasons can be offered. One is very fundamental. The PPP had five consecutive victories and after twentythree years, poor Indians, a majority of rural Indians were not socially elevated. Add this to a terrible crime pandemic.

Add further the horrible character of the leaders and you have a simple reason for

Frederick Kissoon voting them by a landslide.

The second reason was that Moses Nagamootoo was in the race and none of the PPP leaders could have matched his integrity.

In 2015, Indians chose to vote self-destructively. It cannot be justified.

On May 12, I was ashamed to be an East Indian.

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Kaieteur News

Sunday June 28, 2015

CHANGE IS INEVITABLE

Whether it is the advent of a new government or new management for a privatelyheld company, change is inevitable to address current problems and to remove the elements most contributable to the circumstances that led to the need for change in the first place.

Change in and of itself is a continuous process that is subject to constant evaluation. The change agent, in this case the recently elected APNU+AFC Coalition, is in the process of implementing strategies to improve productivity and enhance the quality, direction and performance of the Public Service. Continuous evaluation of these new strategies then becomes critical to ensuring that the services received by the people of Guyana remain affordable and accessible.

There is no shortcut to good public service. A sound

management strategy ensures that every element in every department of government must be assessed to determine its purposes and effectiveness, and then re-shaped to ensure that each department functions at optimum capacity.

“Governance and diffusion of political power (read decentralization) in particular remain critical pillars for effecting changes in the public sector. The Guiding Principles for process change are centered on politics, systems, coalitions, culture and communication.” - Margaret Chemingich.

Even prior to the 2015 general elections, the Coalition had emphatically stated that there is a crying need to inject life into our mismanaged, decaying public service in order to lift this nation out of its stagnation and make it attractive to investors, home-

grown or foreign. The Coalition’s unified prescription was and still is to eradicate entrenched cronyism, nepotism and favouritism which together had literally drained our treasury. The previous government’s mismanagement had blocked real development, and that led to spiraling crime, high costs for every consumable and service et al which scared investors away.

This new government’s main priorities are embedded in prudent monetary and fiscal administration and strict accountability, while eliminating waste and extravagance.

It also bears repeating that the administration intends to sustain zero tolerance for corruption of any hue.

We could now place the foregoing in the context of the PPP/C’s constant accusations of political witch-hunting. This term has its genesis

in the witch-hunts in 17thcentury Salem, Massachusetts, where many innocent women who were accused of witchcraft were burned at the stake or drowned.

The Collins Complete and Unabridged English Dictionary defines a political witchhunt as the searching out and harassment of dissenters, or unscrupulously accusing people of disloyalty. Taegan Goddard’s Political Dictionary defines the term as a politically-motivated, often vindictive investigation that feeds on public fears.

The fact is the opposite is true. The administration is being as scrupulous as it could to ensure that the public servants that Guyana deserves are qualified and committed to delivering a peopleoriented service across the board. They are required to be respectful without exception. They each should have a personal/professional history that could not be impugned by accusations of theft of the nation’s financial resources, gross incompetence, mismanagement of projects and project funds, or of receiving salaries from the national coffers under false pretence, i.e. for working against the state instead of for it.

In addition, the Laws governing the public sector in Guyana outline the precepts regarding the direct involvement of any public servant in political campaigns. Among other things, they are required to officially resign their positions which, for those who did prior to the 2015 General Elections, signaled their personal preference that was deemed to have taken priority over their jobs, over their responsibilities to the public.

Vindictiveness and harassment as defined by the dictionaries do not factor into the Guyana equation. The intent of the Coalition could not be clearer, i.e. to mould a cadre of committed public servants whose primary responsibility is to deliver the best service irrespective of political affiliation or affinity.

There are quite a number of people who currently hold high offices in the public sector who are still active members of the PPP/C. They chose to retain their professional integrity over the years. This is the sum of what the Coalition government requires from any public servant.

Now the focus has been placed on rebuilding and strengthening the capacity of the public service, creating an enabling environment that encourages our qualified and institutional skills to remain here to re-build this nation, to improve the quality of their own lives and pursue higher education.

Over the past two decades, Guyana had been reeling from the effects of a crippling loss of both experienced and newly graduated skills.

The long-running “brain drain” is one explanation for Guyana’s previous failure to prosper, even with the plethora of natural wealth on land and undersea.

Now the Coalition government has launched a sustained come-back from mediocrity with an all-encompassing programme, beginning with a revamp of the entire Education system. The shortterm goals are to create our own skill pool for the production sectors and to raise the levels of literacy and numeracy, especially among

youths and women. Guyana will be made whole and relevant again.

Just recently the Foreign Affairs Minister, Carl B. Greenidge was heard lamenting the dearth of skills in the Guyanese Diplomatic Corps, the absence of qualified and distinguished career diplomats who could adequately represent Guyana’s interests in our overseas missions. He floated the idea of recruiting representatives from the diaspora while young wouldbe diplomats would enter a sustained intensive training programme at home and abroad.

We recall the pre-1992 era when Guyanese were so highly regarded on the international stage that some were courted to take up lofty positions in the World Bank, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the United Nations, the Organization of American States and other global institutions.

They all contributed to raising and sustaining Guyana’s global profile over several decades through intense networking combined with their charm, wit, tact, impressive command of the English language and deep knowledge of world affairs.

These men and women maneouvred our young nation into a position that commanded the respect of the world.

Today 20 years on, Guyana is known only for the role it plays in the global drug trade and the hard-to-explain high rate of crime per capita.

This nation state will only move forward with a reclaimed reputation for moulding people of high intellect and personal and professional integrity.

Sunday June 28, 2015

Kaieteur News

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MY COLUMN

Sex - the miracle drug It is amazing at what people study and the findings they produce. This past week I found an interesting article on prostate cancer. As fate would have it, I am always provided with headlines and stories carried by Yahoo.

Some of these stories actually end up on the news networks in the United States.

For example, there was this vignette about a rabbit taking on a snake that would normally make a meal of the rabbit. This rabbit, a doe, had some young ones when the snake came along. People often say that mothers can be extremely dangerous when it comes to protecting their young ones. Perhaps it is this realization that makes all of us love our mothers to death.

The rabbit fought the snake, even using what we would say were karate moves and caused the snake to slither away. Of course the story does not have a happy ending, because the snake had already killed two of the babies.

Another story I found had to do with a man who walked at least 21 miles each day to and from work. He couldn’t afford a car so he walked and he did this for years. He barely had time to sleep before he would be up and off to work again. Rain and snow did not deter him.

When I read that story I thought about us here in Guyana who not only stayed at home when there was the slightest shower, I thought about those who would not walk two miles to get to work.

I could empathise with this man because I had to do the

same way back in the 1980s. I walked with my children two miles each way five days a week.

They were going to St Mary’s on Brickdam and I worked a block away at the Ministry of Information. We just did not have money for bus fare and that was cheap—a mere fifty cents one way. Children were afforded tickets that cost five cents.

To think that this man recognized the importance of his job to the extent that he would put his body through such a beating was astonishing to say the least. The news media got hold of the story and before long the man got a car.

Strange, but true, his boss did not even know how his worker managed to be early at work each day.

There was a funny side to this story. The man had a woman somewhere and she had the gumption to make a claim on some of the money the man collected by way of donations. I know many women like that in Guyana.

Then there was the story about twin sisters—one black and one white. That story kept the networks alive for a long time. And so it was that I

came across this story on prostate cancer. It said that one way to avoid prostate cancer was to ejaculate at least five times a week.

For some of us in our 20s and 30s that is possible but for people my age, that is an impossibility because in the first instance, there is not the all-powerful urge to have sex every day. I am happy if I could get any twice a week.

Does this mean that I am a candidate for prostate cancer? Perhaps.

Perhaps the people who made this ‘discovery’ are saying to me that I should masturbate frequently. I would think that this is a cheap way to avoid prostate cancer but for a lot of men, this could become a chore like heading to the gym daily.

There was another story that said that people who have sex regularly (it did not say what regularly was) end up looking ten years younger than they actually are. This could put many plastic surgeons out of business.

But the best of them all was about penis size. From small, boys had an obsession with penis size. People spread rumours about others. There

was always fantasizing. Fantasy surrounded Black men who are touted to be more gifted than men of any other ethnic group.

So there was this survey that examined the members of men in a number of countries.

It concluded that the standard penis size was just over six inches and that most men were just over five inches. I am not sure how this went down, but I can bet that many men went racing for a ruler.

Some would have come away disappointed.

Perhaps a few would have headed to the bathroom where someone would have posted a sign that read, ‘Go closer. It’s shorter than you think.’ There must be something to all these scientists chasing

after things sexual. There was one joke I read somewhere. It stated that a group of scientists were in this laboratory when one of them pulled out a gun and shot the other. This act shocked the others until the killer explained, “He found a substitute for sex.”

Now why did these things catch my eye? Look at it this way; we are all captivated by this thing called sex which is used to advertise everything under the sun, from energy drinks to alcohol, to cars and even to aircraft seats.

There was a time when sex was used to sell cigarettes and not in the manner I saw some women using cigarettes in strip clubs. For some it is a spectator sport, hence the multitude of voyeurs. And

Adam Harris these days it is not only confined to heterosexual activity. The United States opted to broaden the net, much to the consternation of many. Gay unions are now perfectly legal. To each his or her own.

I wouldn’t be surprised if there is another mad rush for visas.

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Kaieteur News

Sunday June 28, 2015

ICT - Telecoms Liberalisation…Now

By Lance Hinds In 1990, the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) was granted an exclusive licence to provide: 1) public, radio, and pay station telephone, national and international voice and international data transmission, 2) sale of advertising in any directories of telephone numbers, and 3) switched or non-switched private line service supported by facilities constructed over public right of way.

This licence was for twenty years in the first instance with an option for automatic renewal for another twenty years.

In 2007, when the monopoly once again attracted a lot of attention and comment, GT&T, in an article called “GT&T Operating Licence: Putting Monopoly Service Provision into Perspective”, observed the following: “When the Government of Guyana in 1990 moved to

privatize the then stateowned monopoly Guyana Te l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s Corporation (GTC), given the abysmal state of the telecommunications infrastructure in Guyana, as well as the small population size and low per-capita income levels, it was rational, indeed necessary, to agree to grant the new company, Guyana Telephone & Telegraph (GT&T), a monopoly licence.”

Given the limited interest shown in the privatization at the time, it is clear that investors would have deemed the investment opportunity unattractive had the Government sought to split company along geographic and/or service lines, or otherwise acted to limit reasonable investment returns by implementing an open-entry policy on a “flashcut” basis.”

GT&T’s operating licence did not provide exclusivity for the entire range of telecommunication services.

One exception was cellular networks, hence the arrival of telecommunication giant Digicel and others, albeit temporarily, into the local market.

Another exception was the establishment of private data networks, although this would require permission from the relevant authority.

A prime example of this is the Guyana Sugar Corporation, which uses a private data network with their own equipment, to make their information systems available to all their estates.

Individuals were also allowed to import Satellite dishes once it was only for individual use and not for the sale and distribution of communication and datarelated services.

Over the years GT&T has defended its monopoly by reminding us constantly about the state of the communications structure it inherited in 1990, the growth of fixed access lines, the over US$200 million it invested to

improve same, the amount of cellular subscribers currently and the digitalization of the national network with full international and broadband connectivity.

GT&T, of course, never addresses the revenue received based on its magnificent investment.

Some of us remember in trade journals where GT&T was described as the ‘flagship’ company of its owners, Atlantic Tele-Network (ATN).

Let us however, move on.

No one is arguing about the contribution that GT&T has made to the national telecommunication infrastructure. But this at the end of the day was a business venture that was expected to generate and still continues to generate revenue.

It is however an undisputable fact that over the last 10-15 years, while our sister Caricom countries were liberalising their telecommunication sectors and beginning to benefit from competitive pricing, we in Guyana have been stuck in an uncompetitive, stifling environment.

This monopoly has hindered Information Technology from making the kinds of contributions to Guyana’s economy that has been made in other economies.

This environment has resulted in Guyana having one the most expensive rates in the Caribbean with the slowest access speeds.

Again there is no difficulty here with GT&T. It is responsible primarily to its Board of Directors. I f it cannot, or will not provide the highest levels of services within the current dispensation, that ultimately is its prerogative.

The liberalisation process must involve all stakeholders but is the primary responsibility of Government.

To this end, Guyana certainly appeared to recognize the importance of ICT and need for telecommunications liberalisation. In 2002, the then president joined fellow Caricom Heads in launching the Caricom Agenda and Platform for Action. In the executive summary it states clearly that the heads: “Recognised the potential of Information & Communication Technology (ICT) for enhancing and integrating our societies in areas such as education, health, poverty reduction, delivery of public information and governance – all objectives well articulated in the Caricom Charter of Civil Society” The agenda goes on to stress the need to establish a modern national regulatory framework that plays a key role to support and sustain a national effort for effective connectivity, and that it should be based on principles like equitable, universal, affordable access to education; a competitive ICT industry; information protection mechanisms, and last but certainly not least, the coordination of legislation governing the information and communication sectors.

Since this initiative, the Government of Guyana has signed on to every other initiative launched by the CARICOM region to promulgate the effective use of ICT in our respective societies.

It was therefore quite inexplicable when in 2011 the Government of Guyana, with little explanation, deferred the passage of new telecommunications legislation until after the 2011 regional and general elections. Some of us wondered whether the needs of ATN/GT&T took precedence over the needs of

Lance Hinds the public.

After a few years of political gamesmanship, the legislation went back to the Select Committee in the 10th Parliament, but was once again derailed by the prorogation of parliament in 2014 and the eventual national and regional elections in 2015.

We now have a new dispensation under which we have been promised that liberalisation will be one of the first legislative items on the agenda. It is important the public understands that this is not going to be a walk in the park.

There are some complicated negotiations that must begin with GT&T soonest. This company is being asked to give up its monopoly fifteen years before its expiration. Issues of compensation and related financial matters will be difficult hurdles that must be overcome.

It is unfortunate that this country’s potential is held hostage by this state of affairs and stifled by an a n a c h r o n i s t i c telecommunications environment that simply has no place in the development of an information society.

The economic possibility of the ICT sector in an enabling environment, in terms of new businesses and innovation, are endless. This is especially critical when one takes into account the challenges being faced by the other productive sectors.

As the opening statement of the Terms of Reference of the Caricom Regional ICT Steering Committee states most appropriately: “The Caricom Region is faced with a growing digital divide and the need to improve efficiency and marketability in all sectors if it is to compete globally.

The strategic application and use of Information and C o m m u n i c a t i o n Technologies (ICT) is one of the vehicles to economic and social stability.”

We all have a responsibility therefore to ensure that this legislation moves forward.

Lance Hinds is the current President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce. He is also the Chief Executive Officer of the BrainStreet Group, an ICT consulting and information services company.

Sunday June 28, 2015

SUNDAY SPECIAL MASSIVE CUSTOMS FRAUD TAKING PLACE WITH BAI SHAN LIN’S WAMARA LOGS EXPORT –BULKAN A prominent forestry expert has warned of a massive Customs fraud taking place in exports of Wamara logs to China.

In a letter published last weekSaturday in Kaieteur News, Janette Bulkan said that public records available indicate systematic under-invoicing when it comes to shipping of the logs to especially China.

An Assistant Professor at a Canadian university, Bulkan is now urging for a forensic audit to be carried out in the natural resources sector.

Guyana learnt about Wamara logs last year after it was disclosed that one company, Bai Shan Lin, was shipping container loads of it out of Guyana every month.

It sparked an investigation by Kaieteur News which found a huge log yard in the area east of Kwakwani, Berbice River and the company benefitting from significant tax and other concessions.

According to Bulkan, Bai Shan Lin was under-valuing its Wamara log exports by almost US$500 ($100,000) per cubic metre, according to a Market Export Report of the Forest Products Development & Marketing Council (FPDMC).

Bulkan explained that the price range for exported Wamara logs for January to March 2015 was between US$200 and $220 per cubic metre. However, the Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF) import price for Wamara logs into China was US$760 per cubic metre. This can be verified in the latest edition of the Tropical Timber Market Report of the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), Bulkan said.

MONDAY EDITION PROFESSOR DR. CLIVE THOMAS APPOINTED PRESIDENTIALADVISOR ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT -TO ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE STATE ASSET RECOVERY PROGRAMME Respected local Economist, Dr. Clive Yolande Thomas has been appointed Presidential Advisor on sustainable development. According to the new administration, Dr. Thomas will assume responsibility for economic matters and the State

Kaieteur News

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Assets Recovery Programme.

In a brief telephone interview, Dr. Thomas said that he is elated to serve in the position and intends to do so with “honour and integrity.”

He believes that he will make his country proud and is excited to get to work on the State Assets Recovery Programme, which he spoke to in some of his relatively recent columns.

BARTICA TO OFFICIALLYSECURE TOWNSHIP STATUS ON APRIL 23 2016 PRESIDENT GRANGER Come April 23, 2016, Bartica will attain the status of township in keeping with a promise made by President David Granger during his election campaign, and also in keeping with an ordinance made by the British government some 178 years ago.

The Head of State, during a public meeting at the Bartica Secondary School made the announcement last Sunday.

Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton and Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection Simona Broomes were also present at the meeting.

“I made a promise when I was campaigning and I promised that Bartica will become a town before the 26 May, 2016, the 50th Independence anniversary. In fact Bartica will be a town on the 23rd April 2016.”

Speaking to the significance of the date set, the President told the gathering that it was on April 23, 178 years ago that the ordinance was made by the colonial government and his government will make that ordinance into a reality.

TUESDAY EDITION JOYRIDE IN ‘STOLEN’ CAR KILLS THREE ..AS VEHICLE PLUNGES INTO BELLE WEST CANAL A late night escapade, ended tragically for three friends of Belle West, Canal No. 2 Polder, West Bank Demerara, (WBD) after the car they occupied ended up in a nearby trench.

The incident is said to have occurred at around 12:30 am Monday.

Dead are Premraj Bhola, called “Bhola,” 20, and Aleem Solomon, called “Pall Mall”, 19, of Belle West, Canal No. 2 Polder WBD. Their friend, Ganesh Sookcharan, is suspected to have perished in the accident; his body was not recovered immediately.

Reports are that the three friends met their demise after the motor car they occupied,

President David Granger adressing the gathering at Bartica Secondary School

skidded off the road and into the canal. The driver of the vehicle is said to have lost control after he attempted to avoid a collision with an animal on the road.

Residents along the Public Road related that there was a loud noise at around midnight but no-one suspected that there was an accident.

Residents reportedly combed the area for the third victim, Ganesh Sookcharan, but their search was in vain.

Sookcharan was said to be the driver of the vehicle at the time of the mishap. He reportedly stole the car from his stepfather, on Sunday night.

JAGDEO TENDERS MEDICALCERTIFICATE TO AVOID COURT APPEARANCE …DOCTOR ORDERED TWO WEEKS BED REST Former President Bharrat Jagdeo was a no-show at a Berbice court Monday. His lawyers reported him sick, during the continuation of the high profile case.

Dr. Kailasam Kumar reportedly issued a medical letter, ordering two weeks’ bed rest for pains to his back and other parts of his body. Dr. Kumar reportedly shares a medical practice with Dr. Vindhya Persaud, a Parliamentarian for Jagdeo’s party in the last Government.

Jagdeo is facing a private criminal charge, filed by local accountant/lawyer Christopher Ram, accusing him of allegedly making racially charged statements during a public meeting in Berbice earlier this year.

The former President appeared on May 25, at the Whim Magistrate’s Court and was made to stand in the prisoners’ dock before being placed on self bail and barred from leaving the country without the permission of the court.

The travel restrictions were later lifted after his lawyers applied to the High Court.

On Monday, Murseline Bacchus, one of the several lawyers for Jagdeo, requested that Ram’s side make disclosures of the evidence in their possession. He said that the disclosures would include transcripts of the recording of Jagdeo’s statements made on March 8 at Babu Jaan, Corentyne, Berbice, statements from witnesses and other materials.

The closely watched case was not without its expected drama with Magistrate Charlyn Artiga on Monday warning that she will not tolerate inference from either side on the matter.

She disclosed that she had received an oral application from Jagdeo’s lawyer and later a telephone conversation from the informant last week.

She criticised both Jagdeo’s lawyer and the informant for their approach to her outside of the proper framework.

WEDNESDAY EDITION FORMER MINISTER GIVES POLICE STATEMENT, RETURNS STATE VEHICLES Former Minister of Public Service, Dr. Jennifer Westford, has reportedly returned six vehicles to the Ministry of the Presidency, and is cooperating with investigations into the suspicious transfer of state assets into private hands.

According to sources close to the investigation, the former Minister of Public Service has submitted a statement to the police. She has publicly denied any wrongdoing and said the transfers occurred since around 2010 and

not recently.

The vehicles were taken late last week to the Ministry of the Presidency.

The former minister also met last week with senior officials of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) including former President Bharrat Jagdeo and General Secretary Clement Rohee, at Freedom House, to discuss the matter which has already implicated several top names.

Rohee this week said Westford was advised on the course of action to take.

The transfer of 28 state vehicles shortly after the May 11 elections came to light after the coalition government took office.

The matter was handed over to the police, with the Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, urging for the (Continued on page 41)

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(Excerpts from speech delivered in the National Assembly on Wednesday 25th June 2015, by Hon Minister of Citizenship Winston Felix DSM, MP) The word ‘Citizenship’ refers to the status of a person recognized by custom or law as being a member of a state.

A person may have dual citizenship, which Guyana recognises under its constitution and ordinary legislation.

The Ministry of Citizenship has been created with the purpose of regularizing, streamlining and formalizing the structures and systems that regulate citizenship.

These structures and systems have until now been functioning as disparate units

Kaieteur News

Citizenship unable to share information and therefore not being fully able to serve the purpose for which they were designed.

Under the new Ministry there will be a review of the existing system and structures and the formulation of a strategic plan to integrate these systems, and to achieve the following; • the development of a comprehensive Citizenship Policy for presentation to the National Assembly; • engagement of the requisite stakeholders;

• decentralization of National Registration, Immigration and Border Policy Reform and the; • development of a National Development Model that includes civic education to transform the sector for the realization of the full potential of our citizenry.

It is proposed that the Ministry of Citizenship will comprise two divisions; one involved in the registration of births, deaths and marriages while the other would be engaged with the registration of

citizens, Naturalization, Visas, extension of stays, passport application and other related matters. The effective coordination of activities flowing from both systems will require a clear and well defined structure which is still in the developmental stages.

The Ministry intends to register at birth or soon thereafter all persons born in Guyana, and a unique number given to the newborn which will remain with that person until death. A database must be developed of all registered persons that can be accessed by stakeholders, like the National Registration System.

When a citizen attains the age of fourteen and is eligible to acquire an Identification Card, information will be readily available and the number issued at birth transferred to the ID Card. Similarly agencies such as the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Immigration Services and the Ministry of Education, Health etc. all must have access to the central database, where reliable information on Guyanese citizens is available. This will ensure that citizens use the names with which they were registered at birth and that wherever a Guyanese goes their identities could be established by referring to the database.

A birth certificate is a ba-

Sunday June 28, 2015

sic document which must be based on reliable data when required to be used to verify identity. Every citizen must possess a birth certificate. In Guyana the culture seems to suggest that this document is not properly valued, necessitating several replacements by one individual, while others cannot acquire one because of lack of information like place of birth or some other source information.

This is an unsatisfactory situation which a secure and reliable database will remedy.

At fourteen, when ID Cards are issued, biometrics can be taken, which is another feature that can aid in the identification of citizens.

The use of such scientific methods, along with the relevant information technology to share data globally, would be a useful aid in the decentralization of services. There is no reason why a Citizen should have to travel from Corriverton to New Amsterdam and Georgetown to acquire a passport or a birth certificate. With decentralization, these services will be made available in every Municipality to ease the inconvenience to Citizens.

A foreign national, not from a Commonwealth country, having lived in Guyana between five and seven years can apply for Naturalization and succeed. This process happens without any test to demonstrate reasonable knowledge of the language, (where English is not spoken), our history, and our way of life. Examples from other

Winston Felix countries suggest that apart from residency in the country for five years or more, there is need to write and pass a written examination and submit oneself for an interview and background check.

A review of Chapter 14:01 to correct these shortcomings may be necessary.

Guyana is a developing country with a small population and a high rate of unemployment, therefore jobs for Guyanese must be protected.

Foreign investors who enter Guyana to generate wealth must be cognizant of this fact, and consideration must be given to the employment of Guyanese labour.

A Partnership for National Unity had cause to protest a foreign company that was allowed to exclusively employ foreign nationals; even for unskilled positions.

Our laws permitted this situation, but we must ensure that the requisite laws are changed so that our citizens are protected. This must never happen again.

The aforementioned measures require amendments to our laws, to include new initiatives and to alter old legislation…. Guyana must look to the developed world for best practices to guide our way forward, so that we can move in the right direction.

Sunday June 28, 2015

Kaieteur News

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(From page 31) vehicles to be returned.

THURSDAY EDITION GUYOIL PUMPS “FREE” GAS FOR FORMER GOVT. OFFICIALS, FAMILIES – ENTIRE BOARD, HEAD TO BE REPLACED The state-owned Guyana Oil Company (GuyOil) has been instructed to turn off its pumps for several former Government officials who have been filling up their tanks and those of families without authorization.

According to Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, there is enough evidence to suggest that the credit facilities at GuyOil for authorized vehicles have been heavily abused.

The Ministry of the Presidency has since asked GuyOil to submit its invoices along with statements. Persons found guilty will have to pay.

The abuse of the credit facility would have run into the millions.

While not naming the persons, Harmon during his weekly press briefings, made it clear Wednesday that the issue is a matter that is being addressed and falls into a pattern of abuse, of “serious abuse by the previous administration.”

It appeared that the former Government officials even allowed family members to fill up on gas. It is simple, he said…The monies will have to be paid by the guilty persons.

GuyOil is a not private company…it belongs to the people…”It is our money”.

The various ministries are now handling the issue and have been advised on how to proceed, Harmon disclosed.

Government is not leaving GuyOil and its management without some of the blame for the abuse.

The entity is handling billions of dollars in gas sales and distribution but there have been accusations of smuggling and wrongdoings in its operations over the years.

With the life of the Board of Directors expected to expire at the end of the month, the new administration will likely not be looking to sack the members and its chairman.

28 GOVT VEHICLES TRANSFERRED IN ONE DAY - HARMON – STATE GOING AFTER ADDITIONAL OUTSTANDING VEHICLES As police investigations

A GuyOil Service Station

continue into the alleged illegal transfer of state-owned vehicles from the Public Service Ministry, eight of which have been returned to the Ministry of the Presid e n c y, M i n i s t e r o f t h e Presidency Joseph Harmon revealed that on May 7, as many as 28 vehicles were transferred, all within one day.

Harmon also made it clear that the government would be coming after anyone else with state vehicles transferred illegally.

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Wednesday made it clear that wherever the investigation went against former PPP/C MP Dr. Jennifer Westford and PPP/C candidate Hydar Ally, as well as the other accused co- conspirators, the law must take its course.

According to Harmon, at a post cabinet briefing, Wednesday at the Ministry of the Presidency, between June 19 and June 20, five vehicles were returned, “all except one driving in on their own steam”.

Three vehicles were returned before June 19.

The vehicles were reportedly transferred in the waning days of the previous administration.

Minister Harmon, who is also Head of the Presidential Secretariat, opined that the persons who returned the vehicles probably took the opportunity to take advantage of the limited amnesty offered by government, to have persons return state assets before they are prosecuted.

“I don’t want to come after you because I want to look forward.” “I believe some per-

sons took that very seriously and decided to bring them in”.

FRIDAY EDITION COPS MAKE BREAKTHROUGH IN RUBIS EXECUTIVE’S MURDER – THREE HELD, SLAIN MAN’S PHONE RECOVERED It appears to have taken detectives just a little over one week to track down the gunmen who killed Rubis account executive Jason Cort in his Jamoon Drive, Meadow Brook home.

Sources at CID Headquarters, Eve Leary confirmed Thursday that investigators have detained three men who appear to be linked to Cort’s murder, which occurred two Wednesdays ago. They have also recovered the slain man’s mobile phone.

Kaieteur News understands that two of the suspects are Tucville residents and the third is from Stevedore Housing Scheme.

Cort, a 27-year-old account executive, was shot in the chest at around 22.30 hrs two Wednesdays ago, shortly after he had arrived home with his fiancée, Shauna Garraway. He died subsequently at the Balwant Singh Hospital.

The killers took Cort’s licenced firearm, gold band, chain and ring, mobile phone and an Xbox console.

SATURDAY EDITION HOUSE PASSES ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING BILL After a tumultuous past, the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financ-

ing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) (Amendment) Bill, was passed in Parliament on Friday evening.

The passage of the Bill will strengthen the Government’s capacity to fight money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

As the Opposition People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) was absent from the National Assembly, the passage of the Bill was met with no resistance.

Presenting the Bill was Attorney General Basil Williams.

He was the first to acknowledge the controversial

past of the Bill.

Williams said that despite the passage of an AntiMoney Laundering Act in 2000 and the CFT Bill in 2009, respectively, no one was e v e r i n v e s t i g a t e d , charged or committed under the previous administration.

The AML/CFT (Amendment) Bill was not passed in previous House sittings under the 10th Parliament due to a lack of consensus in the House, which led to Guyana’s being “grey listed” on the global market.

Williams lauded the legislature for its amendments which would ensure trans-

parency at all levels of its enactment.

Among the amendments were some major changes to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).

In accordance with the Act, the AML/CFT Authority and the FIU will have to liaise to attain “maximum coordination” to achieve the objectives of the Act. He said that with the amendments to the Bill the National Assembly will, by a majority; and on the recommendation of the Parliamentary Committee on Appointments, appoint the AML/CFT Authority which will have 10 members.

“They will be appointed by a transparent process that is by the Parliamentary Committee of the National Assembly of Guyana, after which they will come to the House for application and approval,” said Williams.

He added that when the positions are operational they would have gone through the right consultations and be advertised.

The Attorney General said that the AML/CFT Authority will in no way rob the FIU of its independence.

In fact, Williams said that provisions clearly state that the Authority will not interfere with the daily operations of the FIU. “They are merely for policy guidelines to give policy guidance for the FIU,” added the Attorney General.

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Kaieteur News

Sunday June 28, 2015

Blind Society helping to improve lives of sightless and visually impaired

By Sharmain Grainger Not only is being blind a condition that attracts some amount of stigma and discrimination, but President of the Guyana Society for the Blind, Mr Cecil Morris, is of the firm opinion that ignorance about the condition has in some instances resulted in some visually impaired persons being taken advantage of.

“Probably lots of the people who take advantage of persons who have lost their sight don’t even realise that they are taking advantage of them. They think that they are helping them, but really they are not,” Morris asserted.

He related a quite common anecdote to justify belief. “I am here and I am going to do something and somebody say ‘man don’t do it, remember that you’re blind’...You don’t have to remind me that I’m blind! I know that I am blind!”

It is Morris’ view that instead of discouraging the visually impaired, attempts should instead be made to be supportive.

“See what I am going to do and perhaps assist me; not do it for me, because you are not going to be there all the time...as the Chinese proverb says ‘don’t give a man a fish, teach him to fish,” said Morris as he emphasised the need for society to modify its view of visually impaired and blind people.

For this reason, he amplified the need for countrywide outreaches aimed at raising awareness about such issues.

He noted that while the media has been playing a commendable role in this regard, there is need for the Society to take action on its own behalf.

Outreach efforts, according to Morris, will help to inform persons that there is

The 44 High Street Office of the Guyana Society for the Blind hope after becoming visually impaired or even blind.

“What we have is a situation of persons losing their sight and not wanting to accept that their sight is really gone, so there is need to interact with those persons and get them more au fait with what blind people can do and what can be done for them so that they can make a meaningful contribution to the society that we live in,” Morris said.

Thirty-one-year-old Ganesh Singh, an Executive Member of the Society for the Blind, understands all too well the transition from having sight to being completely sightless.

He remembered he was just 17 years old when he lost his sight. His interactions with young people at the Society recognised that having CXC subjects were an important asset. Driven by a passion to address the evident short-

coming, Singh started to conceptualise a plan.

“Working in the disability movement since 2006, I worked with a number of young persons who were blind and visually impaired and I saw the potential, but some of them didn’t have the opportunity. Some of them went to school, but the teachers, because of the lack of skills to teach these persons, the lack of innovation and of course the lack of interest, these children just went through the paces and they came out without any qualifications,” Singh recounted.

His ambitious plan was engaged in January 2013 with the implementation of the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) curriculum for persons who are blind and visually impaired. The programme, he disclosed, was born out of the One Laptop per Family (OLPF) Programme.

Through this programme, which was introduced by the former ruling administration, Singh, in 2012, was able to teach a number of visually impaired young people computer skills using special software.

The intent of this programme, he disclosed, was to help harness the potential of visually impaired young people with the aid of technology.

Incorporating the principles of that programme into the one offered by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), Singh said that the initiative took off with 12 young people on board. Ten of them were able to write the May/ June CSEC examinations last year and according to Singh, when the results came out, the Blind Society recorded an 82.2 per cent pass rate in five subject areas.

The top student – Rosemary Ramit – secured five grade one passes; following her in terms of performance was Odessa Blair who achieved five grade two passes.

The second batch of students, who wrote CSEC this year, will know their fate in a matter of months. Singh is optimistic that the results will again be laudable.

“It has been a very successful programme and it is something that brings a lot of satisfaction to us to see the

Cecil Morris

Ganesh Singh

success of these people, because looking at the situation of persons with disabilities, moreso persons who are blind in Guyana, little existed for them to have some upward mobility, academically, and now with this programme they can get CXCs and that can push them further into tertiary level education.”

Currently Ramit is furthering her studies at the Cyril Potter College of Education, while Blair and another candidate of the programme are attending the University of Guyana (UG).

Singh is hopeful that another five will be accepted into UG in September.

“It shows that once given an opportunity, persons can really excel,” Singh asserted as he acknowledged that while there are challenges associated with offering the programme, the teachers are able to make the outcome a success.

In addition to Singh teaching Social Studies and Office Administration, there is Ms Mayanna Francis teaching Human and Social Biology.

Francis, a Jamaican National, is the holder of a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, and is currently pursuing a degree in Optometry. Also teaching English and Principles of Busi-

ness is Ms Vanessa Lowchee.

“Persons are pretty much competent in the various skill areas and the teachers are very open-minded to learn how to teach each individual, and now I think we are all pretty good in delivering the curriculum effectively to persons who are blind,” Singh said.

He emphasised that the task is not limited to merely teaching, as there is also need for a great deal of empowerment, capacity and self-confidence building and motivational sessions. This, he said, is particularly important because “some of these persons are coming from a very low level of self confidence...so we have to let them understand that they have it within them... the power to excel and do well.”

The Blind Society is currently calling on new applicants to pursue CSEC classes set to commence on Monday. Visually impaired persons who desire to be a part of the programme can do so by visiting the 44 High Street Werk-en-Rust, Georgetown office of the Blind Society, between the 08:00 hours and 17:00hrs (8am and 5 pm) or calling on telephone numbers 226-4496 or 231-7976 for assistance.

Sunday June 28, 2015

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Sunday June 28, 2015

Kaieteur News

Further GuySuCo bailout not the answer - Robert Badal Further bailout of Guysuco is not the answer.

Lenders must take a deep haircut followed by private sector led diversification.

From all information in the public domain any further taxpayers support is throwing scarce money to bad uses.

With a debt overhang of over $90B and a cost of production that more than double the world market price of sugar there is absolutely no future viability for sugar production in its current form in Guyanaý. Any cost-saving initiative is limited as its direct labour cost exceeds the world market price of sugar.

Even with preferential prices from Caricom countries which attract 40 per cent tarriff our cost of production still exceeds the selling price of sugar.

The debt overhang shows clearly that the previous PPP administration had effectively closed Guysuco because the corporation is turning in no contribution from its sale of sugar ýto cover even its interest cost and certainly has no reserves to make capital payments.

A combination of poor investments in the case of the Skeldon Sugar Factory, corruption by ýhigh level former Ministers of Government in cases like the Enmore Packaging Plant and procurement of pumps, political direction with “square pegs in round holes” through political appointments and depletion of skills in plant husbandry and all technical areas, are among the failures and acute display of incompetence and deception of the leaders of the former administration.

The workers and their families within the sugar belt fell for this massive deception.

They returned the PPP repeatedly to office until it destroyed this once highly profitable business to the point of no turnaround.

The Unions, both GAWU and NACCIE, are equally ýresponsible for their complicity with the previous administration and their failure to condemn the open misuse of GuySuCo’s cash resources on unprofitable investments, selection of contractors, and political appointments. It is for the workers now in their own

interest to demand changes in the leadership of both GAWU and NACCIE. The current APNU/AFC administration is now saddled with the almost impossible task of protecting jobs in an industry that would need continuous bailout which our economy cannot afford.

As a first step the interim management must request creditors of the $90B in loans to take a deep “haircut”ý in bringing the Corporation’s loans to a more manageable level as GuySuCo is unable to make any repayment from its cash flows.

This should be followed by a private sector led five year diversification plan to increase the value added from sugar but most importantly to gradually diversify away from sugar which would transfer some of its current workers to higher paying jobs in the process. A number of diversification options are available but would require the political will and leadership to address a highly sensitive matter.

Perhaps such diversification should start with the higher cost Demerara Sugar Estates.

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Abducted and shot carwash owner…

Cops detain two, seek prime suspect Police have detained a man and a woman from a Sophia residence in connection with last Friday’s bizarre abducting and shooting of carwash owner Devon Chung. They are seeking a third Sophia resident who a source described as the prime suspect.

Chung, 37, of Lot 142 Guyhoc Park, was shot in the chest and back at around 19.10 hrs, allegedly by two men who had abducted him from his wash bay at D’Urban Street and Vlissengen Road.

The men then dumped Chung in Plum Park, Sophia, after abandoning their vehicle, which ended up in a trench.

Kaieteur News understands that one of Chung’s abductors had a submachine gun. A member of the Customs Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU) was conversing

with Chung when the gunmen attacked and he was relieved of his firearm.

A police release said that Chung was in conversation with another man, when two men who had firearms approached and held them up.

“The man with Devon Chung was placed to lie on the ground and his licensed pistol and ammunition taken away and Devon Chung was forced into a waiting motor car. He was taken into Sophia where he was shot to his chest and back and thrown out of the vehicle and the perpetrators escaped. The motor vehicle was found overboard in a trench in the area.

Devon Chung was taken to a hospital where he has been admitted for medical treatment,” the release stated.

“Investigations led to a search on a house at South Sophia where a .32 round was

found. A man and a woman have been arrested and are in police custody assisting with investigations.”

Kaieteur News understands that the prime suspect lives at the same house but police failed to locate him. A police official said that investigators are examining various reports pertaining to the motive for the abduction.

The shooting and abduction comes just a week after the drug enforcement officers in the United States busted a shipment of shrimp with 268 kilos of cocaine. The estimated value of that cocaine in the United States was US$12 million.

The police also arrested 59-year-old Heeralall Sukdeo, of Sukdeo and Sons Fishing, a shipping company based in Queens, New York. Sukdeo often went by the name Randolph Fraser.

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Sunday June 28, 2015

Symposium 2015 commemorates Rodney’s 35th death anniversary The Dr. Walter Rodney symposium 2015 held recentlyat the National Library Conference room by the Walter Rodney Youth Movement (WRYM) Working People’s Alliance (WPA) was intended to commemorate the life of the late activist. Rodney died in an explosion on June 13, 1980.

The symposium was chaired by Tabitha SaraboHalley, an Executive Member of the WRYM- WPA. She introduced four panellists to give brief presentations, each on the life of the late Rodney, and other current issues.

“Indeed we have a new administration who gives us a sense of hope and a sense that there is much to be done, much to be accomplished by the new government. As we move forward we have to continue to analyse who we are. “We must think critically about the political and economic decisions that

The late Dr. Walter Rodney have to be made, finding of course solutions”, said Sarabo-Halley.

Dr. Turhane Doerga gave a critical speech on Walter Rodney and other economic issues in the agricultural sector in Guyana speaking from the stand point of a businessman.

“Walter Rodney was a working class

The audience at the recently held symposium

activist. I also understood that he was an international historian who fought against racism and political discrimination… Many political movements at that time could not understand his deep quest to achieve national

racial unity and prosperity.

He continued his presentation tackling the agricultural sector, not concentrating only on the rice and sugar industries. He decided to approach the issue of development. He spoke about the position of Guyana as a major player in Caricom because of its resources of minerals, fossil fuel potential, renewable fossil fuel, the country with the most areable lands in Caricom, its

connections with neighbouring countries and having the Caricom secretariat making way for access to other countries.

Dr. Rishi Thakur, a former lecturer at the University of Guyana Tain Campus; Dr. Maurice Odle and Prof Clive Thomas all gave critical presentations on the Economic strategies that can be taken by the new Government to help the Agricultural sector in Guyana.

The youth of the WRYMWPA believe that Dr. Walter Rodney represents the aspirations of youths and that he was an ideal role model.

Pertaining to the erection of a monument in his honour, all the participants at the symposium said they would like to see this happen but that the membership of the WPA is focused more on the preservation of the current memorial site on Hadfield Street.

Sunday June 28, 2015

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Youthful humanitarian, Onica Charles, is a...

From page 18 acquired a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Nova Southeastern University.

Although efforts to fulfill her career and academic goals occupied most of her time, Charles said that she never gave up on her philanthropic ambitions.

After completing her studies, she worked to get the idea for the organisation off the ground.

“I had no idea, what I was doing, but I went online and did my research,” she said By this time she was a budding 25-year-old career woman, who had her first internship in the suburban city of Miami Gardens. She thereafter acquired a job in Sunrise, Florida.

Speaking about her work in government, Charles said “I was actually the youngest black woman to be hired as a management person at the City and I was actually the first intern to ever get hired permanently.”

HER OWN PRIVATE SCHOOL After a few years of working with the City, Charles established her very own private school, the Little Masters Academy.

The establishment, which is located in Fort Lauderdale and Miami, caters for persons from the lower socioeconomic environment. She said that she wanted to able to give children in the inner city the opportunity and strong academic foundation that she received as a child.

Charles said that in just four years the school has evolved, with over 300 children in attendance.

“We just try to give them a rounded education. Besides the regular school work, we do pilates, yoga, dance, and karate. We also have tutoring for the older kids.”

The school is under the supervision of her younger brother. “Without my brother I don't think any of this would be possible. He's the Chief Operating Officer and he's really hands-on. He knows the children by name - their

A group of ICO volunteers hard at work. parents and grandparents… he's just been doing a really great job.”

For some time, the young entrepreneur juggled working at the city, overseeing the operations at the school and managing the Alternative Breaks Programme with ICO. “I would use my vacation periods to host the college students and we would go to Jamaica, Guyana or St Lucia and conduct community service learning projects, to assist those in need.”

Looking back, she credits her work ethic and sense of independence to her mother, whom she said worked tirelessly and sacrificed to maintain the household, run a shop and ensure that she and her brother were taken care of, while their father was at work, overseas.

DEFINING MOMENT But there was that defining moment. Charles said that she saw persons waiting for retirement to start living their lives and she decided that she didn't want to be like that.”

So with “just a little faith and a drive to help others”, Charles said that she decided to quit her job at the City to focus on her work in Philanthropy.

“Everybody thought I was

crazy to give up a job in corporate America. Almost everyone, who knew me tried to convince me to keep my job. They were like, 'you have security and an entire retirement package to look forward to, and you're going to give all that up?'”

But the young philanthropist was unfazed by this prospect. After eight years of working in government, she resigned last November to follow her passion.

Since then, the ICO founder has hosted thousands of college students from across the United States; FIU,

University of California, University of Michigan, University of Miami, just to name a few.

ICO volunteers have since used their “Alternative Breaks”, to move away from the usual party atmosphere during the summer and spring time and travelled to various parts of the world to conduct outreaches which will benefit children.

Charles said that it is through her humanitarian efforts that she has been afforded the opportunity to meet people she never thought possible.

“Those persons came into my life for one reason or

another and I owe all that I have to God and to my beliefs.”

Her organisation primarily functions through fund-raising ventures and generous donations from private individuals and companies.

“People donate money and other resources including books, other useful items that we can give to families,” she explained.

ICO volunteers have conducted outreach work in Jamaica, Miami, south Florida, Guyana, the Dominican Republican, and throughout the Caribbean, South America and South Africa. As she plans to expand her outreach, Charles remains focused for now on the Caribbean, Africa, and South America.

“My plan is not just to have students from the United States come to Guyana, but to create a programme, where students from Guyana and the Caribbean can volunteer and be exposed through ICO. That, through ICO, they would get the opportunity to be able to travel the Caribbean and even to the United States to help others, because the need is everywhere.”

NOT ALL WORK AND NO PLAY But it's not all work and no play. When she's not engrossed in volunteer work or working at her school, Charles travels extensively and indulges in a host of outdoor activities. She enjoys kayaking, hiking and like most young women, shopping.

Given her hectic schedule, Charles noted that she had to learn to take time off for herself.

“I started with four hours.

I would turn off my phones, computers and just zone out … I would take mini vacations to just clear my thoughts and recoup.”

Charles is currently constructing a Children Aid Centre at Craig Village on the East Bank. She counts it an honour to be able to give back to the community in which she grew up.

Every year she hosts a back-to-school event in Guyana where donations are made to hundreds of children.

Charles believes that American writer, Frederick Douglass, said it best when he opined 'It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men”.

When we pause and experience silence, we discover answers that activity does not have time to reveal. During your day, take three-minute “vacations”. Relax and re-energise. Take time out to feel the peace of silence.

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Sunday June 28, 2015

Shipping Association hosts annual award ceremony A sterling speech delivered on Friday evening

by Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, at the Shipping Association’s (SAG) annual awards and dinner, clearly reflected the importance, which the government has attached to the transportation sector.

President David Granger also graced the occasion at the Pegasus Hotel on Friday evening.

SAG, on the occasion presented awards to Mr. Bernard Fernandes, Frankie Camacho, Clinton Williams and Desmond Sears, all for 25 years or more service to the shipping industry.

The Chairman’s award for consistency in advocating for the development of the shipping industry went to Mr. Ivor English and the SAG Trustees awards for contribution to the Maritime Industry in relation to the Shipping Act of 1998 went to Dr. Barton Scotland and Mr. Stephen Fraser.

Mr. Jordan congratulated the executives of SAG for their vibrancy and dynamism in representing the wideranging interests of the organisation’s constituents.

Speaking to the issue of port development and its implications, the Minister said

…port development, trade underscored that Guyana, being a land of many waters, is remiss for its lack of greater use of maritime transportation as the dominant conduit for the flow of goods and passengers within borders and into and out of the country.

“This absence is brought into sharp focus when one considers a country like Japan, for example, which can hardly claim to boast the water resources of our country, yet, in that country, seaports function as a lifeline.”

In that country, the Minister said, the volume of international trade has grown steadily in recent years and the competition among seaports of neighbouring Asian countries has become intense in the international transportation market.

Mr. Jordan said that it is his belief that there isn’t any serious debate about the relevance of ports in the context of Guyana’s national development.

“Indeed, it is taken as a given, that the importance of these infrastructural facilities lies in their ability to provide a fast, safe and relatively cheap conduit for goods and

people.”

He added that some larger ports also serve as hubs for connection and transshipment, allowing cargo on different long-haul routes to be served more efficiently by several ships.

The Minister spoke on the importance of trade to Guyana stating that since the beginning of the 1990s, interregional and intra- regional trade have gained extraordinary strength and importance in Guyana.

“No doubt, underpinned by a conscious development strategy, imports and exports have significantly influenced the level of economic growth, employment, the balance of payments and the country’s international reserves.”

Minister Jordan said that in 2014 export of goods and services accounted for 43% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) while imports as a percent of GDP was 66 %, both ratios attesting to the highly open nature of the economy, and its dependence on trade for growth and development.

He added that these ratios are projected to remain

high in the medium to longer term, as investments in areas such as petroleum, bauxite, timber and gold begin to materialise.

“A key area of economic policy discussion outlined in Guyana’s National Competitiveness Strategy Document is trade policy and export promotion with specific reference to the adequacy of ports to facilitate buoyant trade volumes.”

Minister Jordan said the new government has a vision of comprehensive infrastructural connectivity and reform that would include aligning the maritime sector with international standards and best practices.

To this end, dredging to create deep water channels will be undertaken, in addition to t h e m a i n t e n a n c e o f Guyana’s ports, harbours and rivers in an effort to make maritime transportation safe, less costly and more reliable.

In concluding, he stated that trade is taking on heightened importance in the drive to grow the economy and in the development of the country and therefore, adequate infrastructure must

His Excellency David Granger (left) presenting Mr. Stephen Fraser with an award from the Shipping Association of Guyana, for his contribution to the Maritime Industry. be put in place to handle the higher volume of activities at Guyana’s ports.

Failure to do so, he said, will continue to have a severe impact on the competitiveness of, and by extension, the economic performance of the country.

“I want to applaud the Shipping Association of Guyana and its affiliated

organisations for their contribution in bringing Port Georgetown in line with International Standards. I implore you to develop a coordinated framework that will ensure that Guyana’s port system can effectively and efficiently respond to the challenges of future growth in the maritime transportation sector.”

Sunday June 28, 2015

By Pat Dial Over the last few months, one of the major consumer concerns has been the flooding of the city of Georgetown and the farmlands over the Coastal regions. These disastrous floods have been occurring annually and the media and leaders of public opinion, have, in one way or another, been saying that the remedy lies in expending a great deal of scarcely available funds on pumps and other costly infrastructure.

Older folk remember when Georgetown and most of the Coast rarely ever flooded despite torrential rains.

The drainage system bequeathed by the Dutch served Guyana very well until it began to be neglected over many years and the neglect has had a direct relationship to the flooding.

Most who speak about

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Consumer Concerns

BEATING THE FLOODS flooding never mention the suffering and loss communities and individuals suffer: House foundations become weakened or are destroyed; homes are flooded, sometimes for days, destroying furniture and equipment and valuable and unique books and personal records; the roads deteriorate; gardens are destroyed and to-day, there are no well-kept gardens in Georgetown and environs.

The poor, the old and the sick suffer terribly since they are unable to move about or to cook or to buy food and often go hungry.

And the floods bring diseases and ailments which particularly affect these vulnerable groups.

From time to time over the last several years, there have been clean-up campaigns, especially in Georgetown.

At present, there is an ongoing one. Many of the canals in the city have been desilted but the flooding still persists because the smaller feeder drains are still silted up and the culverts are all damaged or choked. These smaller drains have to be cleaned if any relief is to be brought to citizens.

Over the years, the Guyana Consumers Association has been advocating the following prescriptions which cost very little money:(1) The persons who man the kokers should always be on duty. Of recent times, the

City has been seriously flooded because of the negligence of koker attendants.

(2) The koker outfalls must be methodically and periodically dredged.

(3) When the canals and drains are desilted, paal-offs of various kinds could be used to prevent slippage.

Waste slabs from the sawmills could be used to provide cheap paals and trees should be planted along the banks of the cleaned drains and canals so that the roots could compact the soils.

(4) The mud dug out from the canals could be used to build up the road shoulders.

Many roads have no shoulders resulting in their being broken up from the sides. Upper Brickdam is an example of this.

(5) The mud could also be used to build up the low street parapets to prevent the drains overflowing to the roads.

(6) Either ban the imports of styrofoam containers and plastic bags or have them recycled. Over the years, we depended on private industry establishing such recycling plants and several false starts were made. Government will have to initiate such plant or plants.

(7) Ban the imports of used motor vehicle tyres.

These tyres proliferate everywhere and are disposed of by people throwing them into the drains and canals, exacerbating drainage problems.

(8) Consistently educate the public as to why and how to play their part in keeping the drainage system functional. Such education has to begin from the primary school level.

(9) A strict regime of maintenance must be enforced to preserve the gains made.

The Ministry responsible for Local Government could have the responsibility for such enforcement.

The prescriptions do not require much money. They require employees doing their duty, human effort and commitment, and the will, all of which are available.

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Sunday June 28, 2015

Cummingsburg accord unravelling

By Ralph Seeram “We are not say this to big-up ourselves, we are not saying this as a threat, but we are saying this, that we hold a guarantee that if things don’t go well, David, and you and I have to file legal proceeding for a divorce; I am

taking up my property with me, twelve seats and when you end up in a minority I go over to the other side and you getting the no-confidence motion all over again.”

That was Moses Nagamootoo, addressing a meeting of mainly PPP supporters in Queens, New York, a few weeks before the

May 11, election last month.

Fast forward to last Sunday night on local Radio programme, Hard Talk, “Things are going to be dynamic as we go along, and we have to look at the dynamics of the situation. I cannot allow myself to fall into a modus of pettiness, where I just say, “Oh, I was promised this, and I was promised that and the other thing I didn’t get it” Two different Moses Nagamootoos, one before election, one after election.

In Guyanese parlance some would say “Moses taking shame out he eye .He shame”.

Well folks the Cummingsburg Accord is in serious trouble, as much as both parties are playing down the issue, there are serious “grumblings” about how it is being implemented.

From the time the Accord was announced, from the time those “weddings vows” were said on Valentine’s Day this year, I said that those vows at the altar were meaningless, will not stop the Groom (Granger) from cheating. Like most marriages the vows were meaningless and to a large extent had no legal effect.

I warned that the AFC will

be out maneuvered by the PNC led APNU, just as the United Force was disposed of in the country’s first coalition government in the 1960s.

Why was Nagamootoo forced to say, “I am not a ceremonial Prime Minister. I am a politician.”

Folks a politician’s first job is to get elected, so they tell you anything, make any promise, to get there.

Moses Nagamootoo’s ambition was to be President of Guyana. While he was with the PPP he stated very clearly he will never join the opposition AFC. He said they were begging him to join.

After failing to get nominated as the PPP presidential candidate, he quickly turned to the AFC with the promise to be their Presidential candidate. There he swore he will never join with the PNCled APNU (APNU supporters hate me for using that term).

Remember he fought against the PNC all his political life.

Enter the Valentine’s Day wedding, with these weddings vows.

Moses to be Prime Minister, Moses to be responsible for chairing the Cabinet (not happening).

Here was what he was promised at the altar.

Responsibility for Domestic Affairs and chairing the Cabinet, Recommending Ministerial appointments and providing organizational structures of Ministries for the approval of the President, appointing Heads of Agencies and NonConstitutional commissions, subject to the agreed and democratic mechanisms of consultation and appointment and domestic security.

From the onset I pointed out that Constitutionally only the President can Chair the Cabinet. Well the President is chairing Cabinet, and what does President Granger say, well we can’t do things that are unconstitutional.

Now I can excuse President Granger pleading ignorance of the constitution when the agreement was drawn up. But Moses Nagamootoo is a lawyer, so is Nigel Hughes and Khemraj Ramjattan all top leaders of AFC. Here is Nagamootoo’s excuse for being sidelined by Granger and APNU— he was not part of the negotiations, and the negotiators were just trying to make him look good.

Moses is a lawyer and a politician. One of the main

skills politicians and lawyers must possess is negotiating skill. If I have to go by his pronouncements he must be a poor lawyer but I, must say he is a good politician; he got what he always wanted.

The Prime Minister says he is not a ceremonial Prime Minister, so I will pose this question, who has more power? Moses Nagamootoo or Joe Harmon? Who has the President’s ear? Nagamootoo or Joe Harmon, I leave it for you readers to decide, you know the answer.

So according to the Prime Minister a bi-partisan team is reviewing the Accord to see implementation of the agreement. The Chairing of the Cabinet, according Nagamootoo “is not a contentious one”.

AFC Chairman Nigel Hughes will lead the AFC team while Joe Harmon will lead APNU’s team. There will be two arbitrators.

So if things don’t go well with the review for AFC, will Moses go through with his divorce threat? Can he really walk? He has flip flopped before on his statements. I doubt he will walk. Ralph Seeram can be reached at email: ralph365@hotmail.com and Facebook

Sunday June 28, 2015

Kaieteur News

SERVICES

WANTED

PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION,WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARY, ETC. – CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 216-1043; 677-6620 Visa Application: U.S.A, Canada & UK; Guyana Passport application.

Graphics design, Advertisement. Tel: 6267040; 265-4535.

Female domestic to work in Trinidad, must have education, age 25-35 – Call: 1868-683-1528

Repairs & spare, fridge, freezer, A/C, washers, stoves. Contact Nick: 6831312, 627-3206 Balloon decorating for birthdays, weddings, anniversary etc, make your event extra special! Tel Maya: 642-6664 REPAIRS AT LOW COST: FRIDGES, AIRCONDITIONERS, WASHING MACHINES, TVS, MICROWAVES, FREEZERS - CALL:6294946 OR 225-4822 Permanent & Visitors Visa Applications, Professional Immigration Consultant Room D5 Maraj Building, visadocumentsgy@yahoo.comCall: 225-6496, 662-6045 Mahadeo Construction for all construction, carpentry, masonry, pluming, painting etc. Free estimates and plan Contact # 669-7376 Washer/Dryer, Pump/motor repairs, plumbing and house wiring –Call Amos: 627-7343 or Adrian 673-7283 K. Lakeram, building contractor: carpentry, masonry, drawings of plans, general maintenance –Call: 216-0671, 622-0267, 6928 4 6 4 / klakeram.construction@ g m a i l . c o m Brian Moe @642-3543: Computer Technician: FB/ Brian.Moe.165: Home and office visits at your comfort!!

Hairdresser, nail technician, tattoo artist, pedicure/manicure Tel: 613-8710/ 680-7813 Farm worker & time clerk; call office Monday – Friday with 7am-4pm. Tel: 265-3586 One live-in maid must know to cook, age: 25-45 – Contact: 691-6260 1 Confidential Secretary must have excellent communication & writing skills, able to multitask, accounts knowledge is an asset. Tel: 223-9888 Contract cars & experienced drivers –Contact: 227-1721, 227-1720 or 660-6102 Ten years plus, experienced driver/mechanic, live in domestic, light duties, good rates - Tel: 227-1830 1- Salesboy & girl to work in a provision shop, knowledge of weight on metric scale & calculation –Tel: 669-5335 One live in maid –Tel:675-5256 One experienced Head Teacher to oversee setting up of New School details. Email:mozatart@yahoo.com

VEHICLE FOR SALE

VEHICLE FOR SALE

FOR SALE

Make Up Courses with Mac, Bare Minerals, Black Opal and Sacha cosmetics. Call: 647-1773/660-5257

Sale on new model Allion, TV Reverse camera, low mileage, Honda Fit - PLL Spacio - PTT Tel: 697-0294 Honda 600 RR, Toyota AT212, AT192, Rush, BB, RZ-Bus Tundra & 150CC motorbike –Tel: 644-5096; 697-1453 One Toyota Allion PNN SERIES & 1 new & unregistered Mazda Axela, excellent condition -Tel: 649-0956

1 Toyota Raum HB series, price -$750,000 –Contact: 642-4779 owner leaving country.

LARGE QUANTITIES OF HIGH PURITY MERCURY (QUICK SILVER) 99.99995% PURITY$19,000 PER POUND CALL: 592-227-4754.

LAND FOR SALE 144X37.4ft house lot, available at Buxton -$3.2M – Call: 696-8391 Parfaite Harmonie -$1.5M, Tuschen -$1.6M, Long creek Linden/Soesdyke Highway with creek, 30 acres -$9M – Tel:611-7223, 675-7292 3 Large house lots @ back of B/Burg gas station -$15M for all 3 –Call: 650-0402 House lot for sale at Grove/ Diamond, 2nd Bridge area, serious enquiries only –Call: 624-2857 1500 acres transported land 4½ miles from Bartica Rock, Quarry, Forestry, Agriculture.

Contact Mark: 603-1266; 625-9788 Bartica, Westerbeck lies between, Mazaruni & Cuyuni, 7 acres of cleared land (rich land) -$5M, Diamond - $2.5M –Tel: 2312199; 618-7483 Professional Realty: we buy/ sell/rent/value your real estate –Call:694-3875; 6490535; 654-6198

1 RZ EFI minibus. BKK 7634Call: 226-9530, 651-2274 1 Beige Toyota Spacio 2003 model, PMM lady driven -1st owner, excellent condition – Tel: 628-5828 Toyota Prado, Price$4.4M Neg. Call: 643-2403 3000GT sports car, 3000cc 5 speed, 18 mag wheel & alarm.

All $1,050,000 cash- Call: 6392000 Nissan Titan for sale, immaculate condition – Contact: 647-3924 1-Toyota 4WD extra cab, pickup LH drive -price $1.5M negotiable –Tel: 668-8431 1 Noah BSS 1650, excellent condition. Tel: 652-0709 Fantasy Auto Sales: 38 Alexander Street Kitty. Get $100,000 discount on perorders- Tel: 611-1833 2 Ford F350 Pickup, extended cab, 4X4 Diesel, excellent condition, fully loaded, 6" lift kit – Call: 610-5370 Smart Choice Auto: Premio, Allion, Spacio, Fielder, Bluebird, Carina 212, ISTCall: 652-3820, 665-4529

Security guards to work in the interior with mining firm must have military experienced –Contact: 2269768; 642-7963

First Class Auto in Stock: 09 Allion, 08 Premio, Carina 212, Spacio, Runx, IST, Mark 2, Axio, 06 Premio –Call: 6098188; 638-3045

Salesman and drivers – Call: 661-9809 One experienced pastry maker –Call: 266-5845 We buy residential house lots in Parfaite Harmonie, Eccles, Herstelling, Farm, and elsewhere –Tel: 611-7223; 675-7292 1 Cleaner, apply @ 19 Middle St C/Ville G/town, closing date June 30th 2015 - Call: 219-4683, for information (must work Saturday).

Attractive Live in waitress –Call: 228-5129; 604-8277

One maid to work in Boodhoo Housing Scheme, West Bank Demerara.

Attractive salary. Phone 6227933 or 600-5775

Relief drivers for weekends living in Georgetown-Tel: 687-8728

(2) General manager for a seafood company. Serious interest only. Send message to 644-4286

WANTED

SALON

Mature female to live in for two weeks and take care of a elderly person –Contact: 6921300

Single, honest & reliable live in domestic, 35-55yrs - Call: 646-1758 (9am-7pm)

Page 63

EDUCATION Summer Classes: Phonics, Reading, Language, Mathematics, Art & Craft & fun day (4-12yrs) July 13thAugust 13th @ Roxanne Burnham Gardens-Tel:2182076; 619-4355 Lessons: Maths, English, Accounts, Physics, Social Studies and office Administration, Location: Campbellville –Contact: 6106087

EP 82 Starlet, AC 4 Doors, working standard rims, lady driven – good condition $550,000 –Call: 662-5052 SALE! New model Allion $3.2M, Bluebird Sylphy $2.5M, Loaded Belta $2.5M, Tacoma – $3.7M – Tel:621-4190, 639-7101 AT170 Corona EFI, PGG 4289 -$250,000 – Tel: 685-5298 One G-Touring, in excellent condition –Tel: 650-8187 One Toyota Celica convertible customizes (high performance set up). One Toyota Ipsum (new model) going cheap.

Contact: 629-5414 Dodge stealth sports car, 3000cc, automatic, fully powered $875,000- Call: 6392000 Blow Out Sale!!! Unregistered Toyota IST - $2,100,000Bodykit, TV, Spoiler, Fogs, Alloy Wheels, Crystal Lights & Alarm – Call: 643-6565, 2269931 Toyota AT150, excellent condition, price negotiableCall: 226-1751 1 Mazda Axela, PNN Series, Flair Kit, 17" mags, etc, price negotiable –Tel:616-9081 Unregistered Corolla Fielder 2003, body kit, fog, rear spoiler, dark interior, roof rack Call: 617-5536 1RZ Minibus, fully loaded, USB Deck, A/C, Excellent condition. Price $2.1M negotiable. Phone Andy: 617-9143 or Darius: 660-8160

We buy & sell vehicles for cash, also parts available & 30 seater buses; Extra Cab pickups; 2006 Tacoma- Call: 680-3154 AT192, 212, Allion, unregistered Premio, Hilux Surf, BNN, RZ & Pit-bull, 7 seater super custom. Cash / terms- Call: 680-3154 Mazda Hatch back, full body kit, rims, crystal lights on, in good condition -Tel: 691-5485

ACCOMODATION Aracari Resort –Tel: 2642946: Rooms from $45USD, double occupancy, fully air conditioned, hot & cold bath, WiFi, breakfast.

Harmony Inn: furnished, airconditioned apartment & rooms, suitable for local & overseas guest -$20USD, $30USD, $35USD –Tel: 6680306; 694-7817, 218-1400

AE100 Toyota Corolla PHH 7796 – Call: 670-1375

Just Arrived! TM Trucks from UK, excellent condition Tel: 679-7587; 695-3188 Toyota BB 2007, 40,000km only, auto start, 18" rims, triple TV system, back-up camera $2.1M- Call:639-2000 Mercedes Benz S300, fully armored, fully powered, leather, 19"rims & more $1.1M- Call: 639-2000 One yellow cab HB9604 – Call: 223-5615

TO LET Space suitable for salon/ massage parlor/beauty service to co-exist with other business –Call: 647-1773 Newly built 2 bedrooms house & apartment on W.C.D - Call: 698-6496

Wild caught fresh fish depot @ Meadow Bank Wharf, E.B.D –Tel: (592) 628-1200, 619-6601, 619-7777. For your seafood needs!

Double lots (corner) in secure, gated community @ Land of Canaan, light, water, roads -$15M –Tel:668-0306 600AMPS, 200AMPS, transfer switches, exhaust box 6"-Tel: 627-7835 Pure breed Rottweiler pups, male & female, vaccinated, first litter-Tel: 225-8172, 6527647 1 Lincoln arc welder with Perkins engine on wheels – Call: 609-5672 Inboard marine parts, all type of engine, transmission, shaft, gland, propellers & all electronics, etc –Tel: 6528970, 674-3735 Hair sale -20" to 30" Brazilian, Indian & Cambodian; free gifts with purchase –Tel: 644-6028 Sharp 80" LED Aqua Smart TV, almost new, 6" thick -$1M negotiable –Call: 639-2000 Concrete house, 3 bedrooms, drive in garage, laundry room, 2 bathrooms @ Diamond-asking price $28,000,000 negotiable.

Tel:645-6498 One stall at Stabroek Market, 37.5 Acres farm land, Highway, Linden/SoesdykeCall: 679-1151, 225-7794 Canter Truck 2 Ton, Mitsubishi, GLL series $1.9M –Call: 223-6236 House and land - Call: 265-3586 Adults Only: female enhancers and novelties – Tel: 644-6077 Spare for washing machine, microwaves, fridges, stoves, timers, gearbox, motors, etc call:225-9032, 647-2943 Pure Breed pit-bull pups, dewormed and vaccinated – Call: 661-1715/ 669-2434 Pure breed Rottweiler pups, fully de-wormed & vaccinated - Tel: 220-2277, 220-8904; 629-1471

Fully furnished (2) bedroom apartment in South: TV, AirConditioned, Hot & Cold, Cable and washing machine Tel: 689-5877

Pools table, cloth, balls, pocket, cue stick, rubber, coin Shute, spring coin, chalk holder –Tel: 669-9927 One wall divider (2Pcs), good condition-$40,000.

Contact: 682-2428

3 Bedrooms bottom flat situated @ ECD, fully fenced, grilled & meshed. Large bedrooms, kitchen & bathroom, parking optional.

Contact: 234-1330; 652-4304

Large 65FT, red snapper fishing boat, 3yrs old, including 100 traps, ropes, all licenses -15M –Tel: 6528970, 674-3735 Continued on page 64

Page 64

Kaieteur News

Sunday June 28, 2015

Mother of Lindo...

FOR RENT GT TOOL RENTALS: COMPACTOR; CHIPPING HAMMER RANSOM & FLOOR SANDER, JACK HAMMER, CONCRETE SAW & MORE- CALL: 675-0767, 627-5098 Charlotte St/Orange Wa l k : l a rg e b e d r o o m house, no parking -Tel: 652-8970; 674-3735 3 Bedrooms apartment, Kitty, fully furnished with A/C, only have to pay for light$190,000 negotiable – Contact: 645-6498 PRIME SPACE to Rent in Regent Street. Property for Business. Very Affordable.

Call 678-9558.

WANTED Driver or driver with conductor for RZ minibus, Route 42. Tel: 6806582 / 6623073

VEHICLE FOR SALE 1-AT192 Carina (private), automatic, fully powered, A/ C, mags, CD Player, price $850,000 Contact Rocky 2251400,621-5902 1 Isuzu canter open back (diesel engine), manual, short base, price $1.3MExcellent condition- Contact Rocky 225-1400,621-5902 1- Toyota RZ (excellent condition) manual, CD player, mags, 15 seater, price -$1.450M– Contact Rocky: 225-1400, 621-5902 1-AT212 Carina (private new model), automatic, fully powered, A/C, mags, CD, alarm, Price $1.350M Contact Rocky 225-1400,621-5902 1- Toyota Land Rover (Discovery) manual , fully powered, alarm , 4X4 Diesel (2700 cc) Price -$6.7M Contact Rocky: 225-1400, 621-5902 1- Toyota Picnic (7 Seater) 4 doors, automatic, fully powered, A/C, mags, alarm CD –Price -$2.3M –Contact: Rocky: 225-1400, 621-5902 1- Toyota Raum (PPP series) automatic, fully powered, AC, alarm –price -$1.3M Contact Rocky: 225-1400, 621-5902 1-Toyota Caldina Wagon, automatic, fully powered, A/ C, mags, price -$1.3M – Contact: Rocky 621-5902 1-Toyota Ipsum (7Seater) automatic, fully powered, A/ C, mags, sunroof, price $1.3M –Contact: Rocky 6215902

VACANCY Female accounts clerk, four years experienced. Apply Alabama Trading Georgetown, Ferry Stelling, Stabroek.

From page 63

Security officers wanted at a security company –Contact: 672-1920

FOR SALE

Work from home, earn $5,000$20,000 daily Call MondayFriday 9am-5pm #233-6517, 638-0595 www.job fairworldwide.com

Diesel Engines: 1-Perkins 6354 with irrigation pump 6in 60wt, 1-Perkins 4-108 complete bedded, for mining Call: 696-1439; 602-3906

Live in housekeeper to care for infant, long term employment –Tel: 697-8797

Tractor Driven 16c bore pump on trailer, long connections, new $1,200,000 new -Tel: 227-1830

Vacancy for a full time maid should be good in Indian cooking. Call 2274799, 618-1853 DRIVER-LORRY LICENCE REQUIRED, SALESMAN TO SELLCOOKINGGAS.6766700 SECURITY GUARDS WORKING 12 HRS FOR UP TO $4,000 PER NIGHT, PART TIMEWELDER,CARPENTER/ MASON, GARDENER. 676 6700 I N T E R N AT I O N A L EMPLOYMENT: NURSE, TEACHERS, CARPENTERS, ELECTRICIANS, COOK, WAITERS, BELL BOYS, HOUSEKEEPERS, STOREKEEPERS, SECURITIES. CONTACT: 231-6296; 650-9880/ www.plzrecruitme.com One handyman / gardener contact 223-5273/4 Dagger operator contact: 223-5273/4 Vacancy exists for one certified hairdresser, who knows to do everything. One nails station to rent –Contact Melissa: 610-1941; 225-1037

TWO STOREY 3 BEDROOMS, 3 BATHS @CHARLOTTE ST. GARAGE, BUSINESS DOWNSTAIRS. NO AGENTS PLEASE. $3200 USD/ MONTH- CALL: 6951138 Pure breed German shepherd puppies – Contact: 615-0513 (afternoons) WOOD- USED T-SHORE AND 3/8 PLYWOOD, TO CAST DECKING, ONLY USED ONCE @ HALF PRICE- CALL:695-1138

PROPERTY FOR SALE Property for sale, Grove $18M neg. Tel: 625-5461.

2 Storey property for sale @ 19th Avenue Sec ‘C’ Diamond Scheme-$18M negotiable –Tel: 622-9916 Lot 23, Area F Zeeburg, South, old gas station road, West Coast DemeraraContact: 621-8386 (Brodo) Two executive houses in gated compound at Oceanicvillas -$58M eachTel Shiv: 600-6681 2 Storey concrete building, partially completed 20X50, located at Leonora –W.C.D $16M neg. Call: 622-4490 Prime commercial property @ Cummings & Middle Sts, Alberttown, Georgetown, 3 Lots, 2 Buildings - $110M negotiable – Phone: 6392000

GENERATOR 30KVA, BRAND NEW, AUTO TRANSFER SWITCH, DIESEL. SUPER SILENT, SINGLE PHASE. FROM USA, SIGMA. $3M- CALL: 695-1138

TWO STOREY 3 BEDROOMS, 3 BATHS @CHARLOTTE ST. GARAGE, BUSINESS DOWNSTAIRS. NO AGENTS PLEASE. $80M NON-NEGOTIABLECALL: 695-1138

One Toyota Truck, sold as is -$150,000. Contact Patricia: 626-5317-227-0501

One property at Mon Repos and two at Camp StreetContact: 611-9297

One experienced hairdresser magic touch beauty salon – Tel: 225-6492.

1 Crankshaft grinder and machinist to bore engine block-Apply @ Technical Service -18-23 Industrial Site, Eccles.

Cutter/straight stitch/button tack/hole operators. Call: 222-2541 (8:00am-4:00pm Mon-Fri) Cashier to work in Super betCall: 625-5322 Male receptionist, to work shift 11pm-7am, bartender cook and entertainment supervisor –Call:626-5317/ 227-0501

CAR RENTAL

HEALTH

PROGRESSIVE AUTO RENTAL:CARS&SUV FOR RENTAL- $4,000 & UP PER DAY- CALL: 643-5122, 2193900, EMAIL: PRO_AUTO RENTAL@YAHOO.COM

Follow-me male enhancers, diabetic, hypertension and more. Sickness free sample treatment- Tel: 696-2957

DOLLY’SCARRENTAL-CALL: 225-7126/226-3693 DOLLYSAUTORENTAL@ YA H O O . C O M / W W W. DOLLYSAUTORENTAL.COM Aidan’s Car & Pickup rental, cheap rate, low security – Tel:698-7807

Waitress to live in or out – Contact: 612-2522 One domestic -$22,000 weekly and one cook -$25,000 weekly- Contact: 220-4031 FOR RENT Vacation Rental: cool and comfortable fully-furnished 2 bedroom vacation apartment.

Call: 678-6690; 687-3365

CAKES & PASTRIES Enroll Now! Classes start 13 July: floral arrangement, cake decoration, cakes & pastries, bridal accessories – Contact: 223-3303; 612-4193; 672-8768

FOR RENT PLANNING AN EVENT? BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRADUATION,WEDDINGS, ANNIVERSARY, ETC. CALL DIAMOND TENTS: 216-1043; 677-6620 Oceanicvillas air conditioned, apartments/ fridge/stove/washer/dryer/ microwave-Contact Shiv: 678-6887 or email: oceanicvillas@yahoo.ca Property for rent @ Matthew’s Ridge, ideal for business and live in–price $50,000-Call:691-2727

From page 13 that are being circulated.

“For me the month of May has heralded a new beginning and hope has been resurrected for justice to be served to those who are responsible for taking my son from me. There were so many leads and tips and yet there was no help from the former administration,” she said.

For instance, she pointed to the person who was in possession of her son’s cellular phone. That person was locked up and released on $10,000bail.

“The late Henry Greene had said that there was an eyewitness and also that army guy who is now on death row (Sherwin Hart). According to Kaieteur News, he said he was at Lindo Creek and was transferred to the Coast Guard,” For Arokium, all of these things raise eyebrows.

Efforts to ascertain from the police the status of the case have been futile so far.

“The question is why no help from the previous administration? So after seven years have passed, May 2015, I have created my motto ‘HOPE HAS BEEN RESURRECTED ‘,” Mrs. Arokium said.

She still remembers that fateful telephone call she received in June 21, 2008.

It was a Saturday and she was at work in New York.

She knew it was an overseas call and was anxious to answer it. After all, most of her family members were back in Guyana and like many other persons in the diaspora, she longed to hear from them whenever the opportunity presented itself.

But the caller at the other end of the line said nothing and the call eventually went dead.

Minutes later, her phone rang again but this time it was her daughter who was also living in the United States of America–the news had travelled fast.

“I just had this bad feeling because I had missed a call from overseas and now my daughter was calling me…When she called she said, ‘Mommy’ and when I said ‘Yes’, she did not say another word for a while.”

Anxiety was building. “I said to her, ‘what happen…

Something happened?’ and she said ‘Yes mom, Dax and Uncle Whitey died’,” Mrs. Arokium recalled.

Even a Guyanese neighbour, who was also in the United States, contacted her with a report about the tragedy.

She was not told of the circumstances under which her son and his uncle met their demise, but at the time, Guyana was in the midst of a crime wave with the notorious wanted man Rondell Rawlins

running wild.

Mrs. Arokium was fully aware of the spiraling crime rate in her home country where she had left her husband and sons behind but she never anticipated that it would affect her family.

“I really didn’t know what happened but the thought that somebody killed them, that did cross my mind,” she said.

“When my daughter called with the news, I thought I was dreaming but when the neighbour called, that’s when I exploded in tears.”

Mrs. Arokium said that her employers recognised her grief and mercifully sent her home. It was only then she learnt something about how her son and his uncle met their deaths.

“My eldest daughter told me about this incident with the army killing and burning them and these sort of things.”

Mrs. Arokium explained that at first there was some doubt about the circumstances of the incident as it was reported to her. Then there was denial. “This can’t be true.”

Eventually reality stepped in; there were numerous media reports of how her son and his other crew members met their deaths, each detailing a gruesome scenario.

According to Mrs. Arokium, she never sat down and properly digested what she had heard; she tried desperately to bar it from her thoughts, but of course that was mission impossible.

“I did not want to feel the pain, so for a long period of time I didn’t want to know that part.”

Now, seven years later she can think about it, although it does not feel good at all.

“I try to envision what was taking place with my son; the fear. Maybe he was begging for his life. I can talk to you about it now but at that time I didn’t even want to even think about it,” Mrs. Arokium said.

She recalled speaking to her husband a few days after the incident and asking him, “How did Dax look? Is he peaceful?”

But the answer from her husband was “Dax? You can’t know Dax anymore because he was badly burnt.”

“Of course!” she exclaimed when asked if she would like to see a Commission of Inquiry similar to the one now being held to probe the death of Dr. Walter Rodney.

“I would really love for them to hold a Commission of Inquiry,” Mrs. Arokium said. “This must not be forgotten just like that,” she had stated.

Sunday June 28, 2015

Kaieteur News

PM: Jamaica’s economic, industrial CLIMATE IN ‘DELICATE SITUATION’ The Gleaner - Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller says Jamaica’s economic and industrial environment is in a very delicate situation.

She made the assertion last week during her opening remarks at a meeting of the multi-sector Partnership for Jamaica Council.

Public sector unions and the government are at a stand-off in their negotiations to settle on a wage deal for the 2015- 2017 period.

The unions have rejected the latest offer but the government is insisting any further increases could derail Jamaica’s economic reforms under its programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The Prime Minister says all persons and groups in Jamaica have to make up their minds and choose what makes sense at this critical point. She says there is need

Portia Simpson Miller for more patience and understanding from Jamaicans in order to achieve sustainable economic and social gains.

Simpson Miller is questioning the wisdom of making decisions that could result in past sacrifices amounting to nothing.

The Prime Minister adds that every sector has to agree to protect the improvements over the past two-and-a-half

to three years, and create an environment for accelerating growth and employment in the short and medium term.

Under the economic reform programme, Jamaica has so far successfully passed eight consecutive performance assessments by the IMF Board.

Jamaica has also had average GDP growth of approximately one per cent over the period.

Thousands in anti-corruption march against Honduras President Tegucigalpa (AFP) - Tens of thousands of Hondurans marched Friday in Tegucigalpa, many with torches in hand, as they demanded the resignation of President Juan Orlando Hernandez over an ongoing corruption scandal.

The crowd, which organizers estimated to number around 50,000 people, sounded horns and carried candle-lit torches, demanding the creation of an anti-corruption commission and rejecting dialogue with the president.

Many of the protesters carried banners and held anti-government signs with slogans such as “Honduras is ours” and “This is no president, he’s a criminal.”

The protesters crowded onto the city’s Suyapa Boulevard for more than a kilometer, marching to the presidential palace, which was

guarded by police and soldiers.

The demonstration marked the fifth Friday in which protesters have hit the streets calling for Hernandez to go. The opposition charge that the president received about $90 million out of more than $300 million they say was skimmed from poverty-wracked Honduras’s public health system for his 2013 election campaign.

Hernandez has denied wrongdoing and drastically played down the amount.

On Tuesday the president called for a dialogue on forming an organization to combat corruption and impunity, but the protesters have rejected the proposal.

Hernandez was not in the country for the march, but was instead in Guatemala for a meeting of Central American leaders.

Argentine judge orders seizure of Falklands drillers’ assets

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - An Argentine judge ordered the seizure of assets of oil drilling companies operating in the disputed Falklands Islands yesterday, as rhetoric heats up before October elections.

Lilian Herraez, a federal judge in Tierra del Fuego, ordered the seizure of $156 million, boats and other property, Argentina’s state news agency Telam reported.

The companies named in the demand were Premier Oil Plc, Falkland Oil and Gas Ltd, Rockhopper Exploration Plc, Noble Energy Inc and Edison International Spa. It was not clear what Argentina would do to enforce the ruling and, as companies generally avoid Argentine territory, it is likely to prove largely symbolic.

Argentina claims sovereignty over the South Atlantic islands which it calls the Malvinas, located about 700km (450 miles) off the coast

of Tierra del Fuego and occupied by around 3,000 people who mostly say they wish them to remain a British overseas territory.

Page 65

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Kaieteur News

Sunday June 28, 2015

CARICOM heads to continue pushing reparations agenda BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - When Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of Government meet next month for their annual summit, they will be pressing ahead with their fight for reparations.

Host prime minister Freundel Stuart said progress was being made towards Reparations for Native Genocide and Slavery and the leaders would continue “fleshing out” the required initiatives. The Barbadian leader, who chairs CARICOM’s Reparations Sub-committee, said they believe it is necessary to have talks with former slave trading countries, England, France and Holland.

“This is not a diplomacy of protest; it is a diplomacy of engagement, because most of those countries are now our friends and who better to discuss issues like this with than friends,” he said.

“There are some developmental, educational and health issues that we face that we think these countries can contribute a lot more to.

So, we are not in a position where we are looking to quantify damages and say you owe this amount of money; that is for the law

Freundel Stuart

courts . . . What we want is to sit and discuss a way forward in terms of the development of this region in the context of an underdevelopment that has resulted from slavery itself.”

At the same time, Stuart said, it was not fair to say that those countries had not contributed to the region in significant ways.

“The European Union, through its series of development funds, has been contributing significantly to countries in the Caribbean.

The British has its own aid packages for these countries.

But we are saying you can do better and that a lot of what you need to do needs to be more targeted,” he explained.

Stuart contended that the

effects of slavery continue to be felt in the region and it had affected the economies and societies.

“The configuration of slavery is still evident in a few Caribbean countries, where you have a sociological minority being at the same time an economic majority and the numerical majority being an economic minority.

These are facts that result from slavery and colonialism,” the Barbados prime minister said. Although expressing the view that the region had done well in trying to bounce back from slavery and colonialism, he said there was some “unfinished business” in relation to how black people had been affected by the slave experience.

St Kitts-Nevis PM champions reform for good governance in CARICOM BASSETERRE, St Kitts (SKNIS) — Some of the major challenges confronting Caribbean governments in relation to good governance and electoral reform, were placed in context by St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr Timothy Harris at a recent regional forum in Antigua and Barbuda.

The multifaceted issues surrounding good governance touched on the move by some administrations to operate outside of the constitution as well as the ability of citizens to question and challenge representatives for “unseemly behaviour.”

Motions of no confidence, integrity in public life, tenders boards and freedom of information legislation were highlighted as instruments to promote transparency, true democracy and were described as “hallmarks of good governance.”

In the case of electoral reforms, the voters’ list was described as “the heart of the electoral process.” The importance of cleaning the list periodically to remove names

Dr. Timothy Harris of the deceased, campaign finance rules, the rights of voters residing abroad and support for the Electoral Commission were all mentioned.

“These are some of the issues which we in St Kitts and Nevis have to place before our citizens for their consideration and input,” Harris revealed, while addressing delegates at the one-day forum dubbed CARICOM Overcoming Challenges: Pathway to Development.

“We the servants of the

people must have a clear sense of the reform in which we must engage and plan the way forward to guarantee a true democracy,” he said.

Ambassador Dr Clarence Henry of Antigua and Barbuda played a key role in the forum’s staging. He praised Harris for “capturing the imagination of persons regarding his vision of CARICOM (Caribbean Community) today and beyond.”

“He was often passionate, stirred and excited a grateful audience who applauded his powerful statements…,” Henry stated. “…I am grateful that the prime minister came and shared with the people of Antigua and Barbuda and by extension the entire region. Both he and [host] Prime Minister Gaston Browne make a powerful force as demonstrated during the opening ceremony and will continue their collaboration during the forthcoming meeting of the regular conference of CARICOM heads of government ...”

The meeting is scheduled for July 2 to 4 in Barbados.

Sunday June 28, 2015

Kaieteur News

European tour operators evacuate thousands from Tunisia after attack Tour companies were evacuating thousands of foreign holidaymakers from Tunisia on Saturday, a day after a gunman killed 39 people at a beach hotel in an attack claimed by Islamic State.

Tunisia’s Prime Minister Habib Essid said most of the dead were British, and Britain’s foreign office said 15 Britons had been confirmed killed in the attack in the resort town of Sousse, 140 km (90 miles) south of the capital Tunis.

A German, a Belgian and an Irish woman have also been identified, foreign and Tunisian officials said.

It was the second major attack in the North African country this year, following an Islamist militant assault on the Bardo Museum in Tunis in March when gunmen killed a group of foreign visitors as they arrived by bus.

Tunisia has undergone a largely peaceful transition to democracy since its 2011 Arab Spring uprising, but its army has been fighting a rise in Islamist militancy.

Tunisia’s tourism minister called Friday’s attack in one of the country’s most popular resorts for Europeans a “catastrophe” and authorities vowed to toughen security, drafting in army reserves and arming tourism police at beaches and hotels.

Saloua Kadri, Sousse tourism commissioner, said more than 3,000 foreign tourists had fled the town on Saturday, including around

2,200 British and nearly 600 Belgians. Dozens of tourists were waiting to take flights out from the nearby Ennfida airport.

“We don’t want to stay any longer, we just want to see our family, parents ... so leaving as soon as possible,” said Hannah Russel, an British tourist.

Sarah Maeson, another Briton flying back to Manchester, said: “We don’t feel safe. Constantly hearing sirens and helicopters is not really helping your nerves.”

EXTRA FLIGHTS Tunisian authorities named the gunman as Saif Rezgui, a student who they say was not known to them.

Dressed in shorts and T-shirt, Rezgui opened fire on the beach of the Imperial Marhaba hotel on Friday, picking out foreigners and leaving Tunisians alive.

Witnesses said he made his way to the pool and hotel, his killing spree ending only when he was shot dead by police.

Tour operators Thomson and First Choice, which are owned by German travel group TUI, said they had about 6,400 customers across Tunisia at the time of the attack, including several of the people killed and injured.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier confirmed one German had been killed, but said there may be others.

Tobias Ellwood, a junior

minister at Britain’s foreign office, told reporters in London the British death toll could rise as there were several who had been seriously wounded.

“This is the most significant terrorist attack on British people since 7/7,” he said, referring to attacks on the London transport system on July 7, 2005, that killed 52 people.

NOT ON WATCHLIST Tunisian authorities said the gunman was not on any watchlist of known potential militants. But one source said Rezgui appeared to have been radicalised over the last six months by Islamist militant recruiters.

As one countermeasure, Prime Minister Essid said that Tunisia planned within a week to close down 80 mosques that remain outside state control for inciting violence.

Several thousand Tunisian jihadists have gone to fight in Syria, Iraq and neighbouring Libya, where some have set up training camps and vowed to return to attack their homeland.

The attack took place during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan and was one of three linked to Islamist militants on three different continents on Friday.

In France, a decapitated body daubed with Arabic writing was found, and in Kuwait a suicide bomber killed two dozen people at a mosque in Kuwait.

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Suicide bombers kill at least three in northeast Nigeria Two suicide bombers killed at least three people and injured 16 in the capital of the northeastern Nigerian state of Borno on Saturday, the latest in a string of deadly attacks by suspected Islamist militants.

The two women tried to get into a hospital but were stopped by security guards at the gate and blew themselves up, witnesses said. “We evacuated the charred bodies of the two security guards, another civilian and the two bombers,” said Auwal Mohammed, a member of the community in Molai, where the hospital is situated.

Muhammadu Buhari, the new president of Africa’s most populous nation and biggest economy, made Maiduguri the command center for the military campaign against Islamist militant group Boko Haram after being inaugurated last month.

More than 100 people have been killed in northeast Nigeria in the past few weeks in a spate of bombings, mostly in Maiduguri.

A source at the mortuary of Borno State hospital in Maiduguri confirmed it had received three corpses after the blast.

Another hospital source said 16 people injured in the attack had been brought in.

Buhari has held talks with counterparts in neighboring countries to set up a joint force to tackle the insurgents and he is planning to visit Cameroon later this month to

discuss deeper collaboration.

Buhari is also due to visit U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington on July 20 and the fight against Boko Haram is likely to be high on the agenda. Boko Haram controlled territory the size of Belgium in the northeast at the start of the year but has been pushed out of most of it by the Nigerian army, backed by troops from Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

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Kaieteur News

Sunday June 28, 2015

Sunday June 28, 2015

Kaieteur News

Roshandin underlines irrefutable ability with scorching display in T&T Despite missing the opening leg of the Caribbean MotorRacing Association (CMRA) 2015 Championship, Guyana’s Mohamed ‘Shairaz’ Roshandin underlined his irrefutable ability during the staging of the second leg in Trinidad and Tobago last weekend.

Roshandin driving in the Group 2 category finished the

day with 61 points which places him in third position in the overall points standing in the Group.

Speaking with Kaieteur Sport on Friday, Roshandin said his performance allowed him to accumulate the highest points in a single group for the day, adding that he is now nicely poised just behind group leader Marc Gill of

Trinidad and Tobago on 96 points and Jamaica’s Jordan Powell on 75 heading into the third leg in September 12-13, at Bushy Park in Barbados.

He extended thanks to his sponsors Rubis Guyana Inc, Total Lubricants, M.S. Roshandin Professional Diesel Injection Services and Seaboard Marine.

GOA Olympic day future badminton...

(From page 73) Nicholas Ali defeated Jonathan Mangra/Avinash odit: 21-15, 9-21, 21-15 Third Place went to William Holder/Haymant Ramdhani who defeated Gokarn Ramdhani/Grandison Robinson: 21-9, 21-10 Ladies Doubles Finals: Priyanna Ramdhani/ Abosaide Cadogan defeated

Siya Persaud/Kara Abrams: 21-9, 21-14 Third Place went to Emelia Ramdhani/Ayana WickhamWatson who defeated Andrea Bernard/Amanda Daniels: 2113, 21-11 The presentation was made by members of the Guyana Badminton Association to the winners in the OPEN Tournament and also to

Boys Under-11 Champion Zackary Persaud as he was scheduled to travel overseas and will not be at the Under11 presentation scheduled to take place on Tuesday 30th of June at 9:45am at The Marian Academy School.

The GBA would like to thank The GOA for making this tournament possible once again.

Sunday June 28, 2015 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) Slow down the pace today, Aries. This is a day to sit back and observe and contemplate.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) You may have to make some serious adjustments to your approach today in order to chime in with the energy of the group, Libra.

TAURUS (Apr. 20–May 20) Your nurturing instincts are strong today, Taurus. This is an excellent day to reveal your opinions. You've probably been sitting in the background, quietly observing and collecting data for quite some time.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) You should feel a renewed sense of confidence today that will help anchor your emotions and give strength to your thoughts and ideas, Scorpio.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) Things aren't necessarily going to go well today, Gemini. There is the potential for conflict. You may feel a bit lost in the fog. Strap on your compass and you will be fine.

SAGIT(Nov.22–Dec.21) Many people spend their whole adult lives trying to discover their true self, Sagittarius. A great deal of social conditioning by parents and our environment plays a role in shaping our minds.

CANCER (June 21–July 22) Today is a day of reckoning in some ways, Cancer. Attention to detail is important, but make sure it doesn't become your only focus.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) Be more sensitive to other people's space today, Leo. Respect their feelings and give them room to breathe. This is a great day to pursue creative projects.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) Think about old times and people with whom you've had strong connections, Virgo.

Remember the good times you shared with people of common interests and similar hobbies.

CAPRI(Dec.22–Jan.19) Tod a y i s a n e x t r e m e l y creative day for you, Capricorn. You should allot time and space to pursuing an artistic goal.

AQUARIUS(Jan.20–Feb.18) Make sure you have everything in line now so you don't get caught dealing with that one thing that ends up putting a monkey wrench in your plans later.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) Your intuitive side is aligning with your rational side today, Pisces. Listen to your emotions. Take a sensitive approach to all people and situations.

Page 69

East Coast Division Policing groups Domino competition In the ‘C’ Division Independence Champions Domino Competition which was played on Thursday 28th May at the Chateau Margot Community Policing Complex on the East Coast of Demerara, Phillip Dass emerged winner with 16 games. Lloyd Baithu and Joseph Azeez ended with twelve games each.

The Competition was sponsored by Payless Get More Varity Store and the presentation of the Championship Trophy and Medals was done by Sursatti Morgan, Divisional Secretary of CI Community Policing Division.

The CI Division Inter Divisional competition took place on Thursday June 25 at the same venue and Naitram

Chedi with 17 games piloted C2 Division to victory over C3 Division with 72 games and CI Division with 64 games.

The Competition was sponsored by Karim Electronics and was intended to develop and maintain the good relationship among the members of the Community Policing groups on the East Coast.

New boys Patriots stun...

(From page 72) that was never there to end a brilliant innings of 82 from 58 balls, including 5 sixes.

It had appeared as though the Patriots, put in to bat by Pollard, had not quite made enough runs in their innings, reaching 143-8 from their 20 overs with several batsmen getting themselves in but noone going on to make a big score.

Martin Guptill hit two enormous early sixes but the Tridents and their well-drilled attack were always in charge

and slightly behind the rate they w o u l d h a v e l i k e d , though Shahid Afridi and Carlos Brathwaite also hit two late maximums apiece to get them to a more defendable target.

And the Tridents, who usually have such a solid top order, started shambolically as Sohail Tanvir got rid of Dilshan Munaweera and the on-fire Sheldon Cottrell ran riot, sending off both Dwayne Smith and Jonathan Carter in the space of three balls with his famous ‘salute’.

Pollard and Shoaib Malik started to piece their innings together and they put on 93 runs, Malik smashing his Pakistan team-mate Afridi for a huge six before ‘Boom Boom’ took his revenge, getting his mate stumped after dancing down the track.

It went to the wire, and though Pollard clubbed some gigantic blows, it wasn’t quite enough as the new boys clung on and earned their first victory in the competition before the event moves to St Kitts next week!

Youth in Focus: Abosaide...

(From page 74) disciplines she will prioritise in secondary school, she bluntly said Badminton and Squash. “But I will still be going to table tennis practice at Malteenoes” she added where her Coach there is former national player, Idi Lewis.

“I am not done with athletics either, I will still try to participate when there is school sports,” she continued. Cadogan made it clear that she wants to compete in sports professionally. For her age, she clearly knows how to balance academia and sports.

“Before Common Entrance (NGSA), I had to ease off sports a little, so I can study; I know what it is to do both – it will go half and half in secondary school,” she asserted, before informing that she will be 12 years old on September 24, weeks after she is a first former at Saints.

Asked what advice she would give to those other aspiring student-athletes, Abosaide took a lengthy pause, obviously to gather her thoughts, before responding in a manner that belied her age. It was a moment that certified her apparent intellect.

“I would like to say that if you are in school, it does not mean that you cannot play sports. You need the relaxation; you should balance it.

Education is the key to success; study when you have

exams and practice when you have sports and you can be successful,” she counselled.

Abosaide indicated that

her favourite dishes are cookup rice and squash. In addition, she enjoys reading and spelling.

Page 70

Kaieteur News

Sunday June 28, 2015

“USACA suspended – Sometimes, cricket does not see the forest for the trees!”

Colin E. H. Croft “Not being able to see the forest for the trees” can be loosely translated to another idiom; “Not being aware of the bigger picture.” Cricket accommodates both!

So, news that USACA, United States Cricket Association, has been, again, for at least the third time, suspended by International Cricket Council, will have come as no surprise to anyone, if, like me, you had your ears to the ground as to what transpires perennially as organized cricket in USA. While we were completing assignments for ESPN International, covering ICC World T-20 Championships played in Bangladesh in early 2014, even then this suspension was on the cards, as confirmed by an associate who had inside, secure knowledge of this terrible situation.

Cricket in USA has been fractured into factions with no positively governing unit to sew it all up.

South/Central Florida faction, Washington/New York or Eastern USA faction, then those of middle-America – Pittsburgh, Minneapolis and Kansas etc. – along with Texas faction, and the Western USA faction, which includes Nevada and California,

are just a few such pieces.

Yes, distances are great, but the cricket-enjoying and game-playing population in USA, even with influences of descendants, probably third generation by now, of primarily Indians, Pakistanis, other Asian countries, West Indians, Australians, New Zealanders and Englishmen, could not be more than, being generous, 50 million, in this vast land whose population is nearing 400 million.

United Kingdom and especially India have way more than 50 million people, yet they manage to organize their cricket in a positively acceptable manner for their populace. Why is it not so for USA? Can ICC not be held somewhat responsible for this situation too?

I know David Richardson, whom I have great respect for, former South African wicketkeeper, now lawyer and ICC’s Chief Executive Officer, relatively well. Of course, because of his latter profession, he recognizes, understands and follows legal due process, as most legal minds do.

Sometimes, though, that process simply takes too damn long. Hopefully, this is final straw for USACA as the useless crab-in-a-barrel entity it has been for so long. It is time for vast changes!

Also noteworthy is that my old adversary, a wonderful batsman in his time, Pakistan’s Zaheer Abbas, a real legend, has been “promoted” to being ICC’s interim president for the next year.

Our sport needs two cricketers at the helm, real people with experiences of fighting in the trenches, not just pen pushers and accountants, who do also have their rightful places too.

But, reiterating rhetorically, how can ICC have allowed this unadulterated mess in USA’s cricket to continue in exactly the same fashion over so many years?

If you think that West Indies cricket has been badly run, you really have not seen or understood anything yet as to how terribly inefficiently cricket in United States of America has been run.

ICC should have enforced its accountability mandates ages ago. All that USACA has always been is a small fiefdom, an incompetent cabal!

There has always been that eternal wish that cricket would properly break into the psyche of sports in USA. Indeed, West Indies Cricket Board had been originally tasked at taking USA’s cricket to that next higher level. Unfortunately, that has never happened.

Coach Sheron Abrams for FIFA Women’s WC Symposium

By Franklin Wilson One of Guyana’s football heroine’s, Sheron Abrams who hails from the village of Buxton on the East Coast of Demerara will represent this nation at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Symposium that will take place in Vancouver, Canada from July 3-5 next, coinciding with the Women’s World Cup finals.

The current holder of CONCACAF and Guyana Football Federation C Licenses, Abrams, who was a former national Junior and Senior Badminton champion in the 80s and 90s said she is happy for the opportunity to represent Guyana and will not just absorb the information and keep it to herself, but will be imparting same with a view of lifting the sport on the distaff side in Guyana.

Abrams, who also did both Elite Courses hosted by the GFF, never played football but has been an active sportswoman, said she started her coaching career Buxton Stars in 2005 and still

Sheron Abrams holds that position currently.

She has the distinction of being the only female football coach attached to a male club in Guyana and has taken Buxton Stars to all the major football tournaments in Guyana.

The soft spoken but sociable Abrams, was appointed Assistant Coach to the 2009 National Team that toured Suriname. She also participated in two women’s programmes in Trinidad and Tobago and had the oppor-

tunity to witness the 2010 Female Under-17 World Cup that took place in the Twin Island Republic.

The former national Cricketer who played with the best team at the time, Buxton (19901997), was also a national volleyball player, playing with the likes of former FIFA Referee Diane Ferreira-James and the still active Abeina Klass, has also been very active as an administrator in the sport.

She is currently the First Vice President of the East Demerara Football Association, Secretary of the Guyana National Women’s Football Association and Treasurer of the Guyana Football Coaches Association.

With the Lady Jags currently in the preparation stages for the CFU leg of Olympic Qualifying, Abrams’ next appointment might very well be with this said team in an assistant capacity. If that challenge comes her way, Abrams said she would be happy to take it on.

Abrams leaves on Wednesday for Canada.

USA’s cricketing masses have been even more enlivened with the airing, on ESPN International’s platforms, of ICC World T-20 2014 and recent ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 from Australia and New Zealand, and the offerings have been rapturously received. Now this!

As the saying goes; “better late than never.” ICC must now, as never before, as main monitoring and governing body of cricket world-wide, make its full weight and office not only known, but wholly effective, leaving USACA no lee-way whatsoever. This mess must finally be cleaned up!

Since 1981, when I came to reside in South Florida, I have followed this situation, and as they say in Guyana; “it moves from pillar to post”, hitting every possible obstacle of bad management.

No-one seems to ever know

what is going on with USA cricket, not even those making decisions. USACA has been as closed a shop managerially as some middle-eastern countries have ever been, but those countries have one thing in their favor; continued upwards financial mobility, even if nepotism and lineage play out well too. USACA has always been clothed in sad incompetence!

I have had contacts and communications with several independent cricket entities in USA, and all, without exception, have had nothing but disparagingly bad reports about USACA. Yet, if you remember, it was not so long ago, in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, that USA and Canada were considered to be close to, if indeed not better than Bermuda, Scotland and Ireland in ICC ratings for Associate cricket countries.

Both Canada and USA had even teams come to the Caribbean to participate in our regional cricket competitions, so as to toughen them up for further climbs up ICC’s Associate ratings.

Recently, Canada was down-graded to No. 20 and USA a lowly No. 23. That is disgraceful!

We shall see how this goes, but thankfully, time is winding down on the present USACA! Enjoy!

E-mail address c.e.h.croft@gmail.com

HERO CPL TO HOST ALL STAR CHARITY MATCH Star-studded charity game set to mark the pinnacle of celebrations in St. Kitts and Nevis

CPL - Basseterre, St Kitts and Nevis: yesterday the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) has announced an all-star charity T20 game will take place at Warner Park, St Kitts on Thursday, July 2nd at 6pm (EST).

The match will bring together a host of cricketing legends and current stars to mark what promises to be an exhilarating two weeks in St. Kitts and Nevis where Warner Park will host ten Hero CPL matches from 30th June - 11th July.

The game between the Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis XI and cricketing legend Sir Vivian Richards XI, will boast an impressive list of all-star names including; former England fast-bowler Darren Gough; Indian spin legend, Murali Kartik; former West Indies batsman, Daren Ganga; Ashes winning Australian, Damian Martyn; former New Zealand cricketer and sports commentator, Danny Morrison and his fellow commentator and former West Indies paceman, Ian Bishop. The players will also be joined by three current CPL coaches; Simon Helmot, Eric Simons and Stuart Williams, alongside one of the best West Indies women’s cricketers in the

region, Stefanie Taylor.

All proceeds from the game will go to a local charity.

Last year, three charities including, Special Olympics St Kitts and Nevis, St Kitts and Nevis Association Of Persons with Disabilities and the Creative Youth Academy, benefitted from the proceeds.

This year’s chosen charity will be the St Kitts-Nevis National Education Foundation (SKNNEF), which is a non-profit organization that seeks to provide deserving disadvantaged students with an opportunity to receive an excellent education.

The Foundation’s goal is to award 30 scholarships to disadvantaged students in the Federation.

Damien O’Donohoe, CEO of the Hero Caribbean Premier League commented; “We’ve got some fantastic names from the worlds of cricket and entertainment due to take part in the charity match. With more names being announced over the coming days, the event is set to mark the pinnacle of celebrations in St. Kitts and Nevis. The Hero CPL is the Biggest Party in Sport, so we’re expecting a fun and colourful evening of entertaining cricket, whilst raising money for a worthy cause”. Sir Viv Richards

said; “St. Kitts and Nevis is a beautiful island and home to some of the most passionate cricket fans in the Caribbean, so I hope the fans will be out to support us!”

St. Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister, Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, stated; “I am particularly looking forward to being part of this Hero CPL all-star charity T20 match that brings together celebrities, cricket legends and current stars of the game, for a noble cause, during an exhilarating week of what is called the ‘Biggest Party in Sport’, at the most romantic cricket venue in the Caribbean, in the twinisland paradise of St. Kitts and Nevis...nothing could be better! I invite all to come out and enjoy this exciting event on the CPL calendar and by doing so give support to the St. Kitts-Nevis National Education Foundation (SKNNEF), a non-profit organization that gives our disadvantaged students an opportunity to receive an excellent education, a fair chance and a fair share of the good things in life.”

The CPL charity match takes place on Thursday July 2nd at 6:00pm. Tickets are already selling fast, so fans are urged to log onto CPLT20.com or visit the Warner Park box office.

Sunday June 28, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 71

Young Jags given tough lesson!

By Santokie Nagulendran This week has seen the spotlight of International football turn to the next generation of Guyanese stars: the under-23 team, who are taking part in regional qualifiers for next year’s Olympics, to be held in Brazil.

The squad Guyana sent to take part in the qualifiers, held in Antigua, have lost their first two games and been eliminated with a game to spare. Despite being a talented group of players, the odds were always stacked against the team, as scarce resources and no time to play as a unit have been afforded to them.

The squad chosen by Coach Jamaal Shabazz contained a few players who have experience of Senior International football, such as Trayon Bobb, Daniel Wilson and Pernell Schultz, as well as 19 year-old goal-keeper Anthony Whyte, who featured in Guyana’s friendly against Grenada in March. In addition, Kadell Daniel, a talented youngster who plays in En-

Guyana’s Under-23 squad.

gland, was also added to the squad, so this is a team with a lot of raw talent and wealth of experience.

Marcel Barrington, a tall, talented striker who also plays in England and featured briefly in Guyana’s 4-4 World Cup draw against St Vincent two weeks ago was called up to the squad, but had to return to England in order to take part in club trials.

However, this is also a

team whereby many of the players have been without regular football for over a year, and before their first game on Wednesday, had never played a competitive game together as a team.

Jamaal Shabazz used to have a Guyana ‘B’ team in 2011/12 containing younger players that regularly toured the region in order to gain match experience. Since 2012 however, as with Men’s senior

football, there has been no development of that concept, and the results this week in Olympic qualifiers merely demonstrate how much of a detrimental effect this has had on the nation’s brightest prospects.

The problem is therefore a long-term issue and not one single person can be blamed, rather it is the culmination of nearly four years of administrative failings that have led

to the poor results of recent weeks in Guyanese football at both Senior and Under-23 level. Without a league system in place, the players have not had the chance to develop in such a manner as Cuba and Antigua’s Under-23 teams have, and lack of finances meant that the under23 squad were unable to arrange any practice games beforehand.

As with the Senior games

against St Vincent, the Olympic qualifying games have shown Guyana what level the standard of football is at the moment, and what needs to be done in order for players at all levels to develop.

The u-23s play Aruba today in what is a match with only pride at stake, but hopefully lessons have been learned by the football fraternity and in four years, after a lot of hard work and investment, we will be able to say Guyanese football has developed to a point whereby t h e N a t i o n ’s t e a m s c a n put up more competitive showings on the International stage.

Is Chanderpaul a square peg in a round hole?

Asks Sean Devers I was one of those who wrote in support of veteran left-handed Test batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul when I felt he was unfairly dumped by the Clive Lloyd led West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) selection panel after his 164th Test in Barbados against England.

The 40-year-old Guyanese was 86 runs short of Brian Lara’s most Test runs by a West Indian (11,953) from 131 Tests. Chanderpaul’s 30 tons was also second most among West Indians to Lara’s 34, while when his Test career came to a screeching halt no West Indian in the history of Test cricket had played more Tests than him.

Chanderpaul claims he was only told that the Barbados Test would be his last after the game was completed denying him to chance to play against Australia and raise his bat to bid farewell to his fans, especially since the first Test of the Australian series was set for Dominica where he was afforded Honorary Citizen status after scoring the first ever Test Century on that Island.

He should have been treated in a much better manner than he was as recognition for his outstanding and

dedicated service to West Indies for over two decades since he made his Test debut on home soil at Bourda in 1994 against England when he made the first of his 66 fifties.

Chanderpaul has made it clear that he is not retiring and went as far as saying he was available for the next Regional First Class tournament to try and bat his way back into the West Indies team as farfetched as it sounds.

Many, including former England batsman Kevin Pietersen have described Chanderpaul as selfish but to accept a salary of US$10,000 to play in a format in which is not expected to suit him just to prove a point without regards for the success of the team in addition to keeping a younger player like Leon Johnson, Steven Jacobs, Ricardo Adams or Robin Bacchus out, could lead one to assume that Chanderpaul is indeed selfish.

Against Barbados Tridents Chanderpaul faced five balls for his four runs while against St Lucia Zouks the left-hander known for his solid but slow batting without taking too many risks, wasted 14 dot balls in a 17-ball seven in a game the Warriors lost by two runs off the final ball of the 18-over per side game.

After the game Skipper

Denish Ramdin lamented that there were too many dot balls in the middle overs, no doubt referring to Chanderpaul’s inability to get the ball off the square.

From 22 t20 Internationals Chanderpaul averages 20.7, has a strike rate of 98.84 and has never made a half-century and in 81 t20s overall his average is 23.2 and his strike rate is a disappointing 105.77.

His poor t20 record contrast with his Test average of 43.31 and his First-Class average of 54.48 and he has never played in a championship winning t20 team for Guyana.

Chanderpaul looked out of sorts in his last few Test innings and was never seen as a t20 player in his best days so I wonder what would have influenced him into thinking that at 40 he could develop into an attacking batsman with a positive mind-set that would make him well suited for the game’s shortest version.

When Guyana won the inaugural t20 Stanford tournament in 2006 and the WICB t20 competition in 2010 to qualify for the Champions League in South Africa, Chanderpaul was not a part of the team.

In 2008 Guyana were picking their team for that year’s Stanford t20 and Chanderpaul

said he was available for selection. I told the then Coach of the team Albert Smith, who was also a selector, that once they included Chanderpaul the team would be hard pressed to win again. I remember in the game against Antigua when Chanderpaul batted at pedestrian pace and Guyana failed to win back-toback tournaments.

Chanderpaul’s eyesight is not what it was at 25 and his movements have gotten slower which means more times than not he plays late especially to fast bowlers on

a track with bounce.

Chanderpaul must be big enough to let Head Coach Carl Hooper, the person mainly responsible for Chanderpaul’s surprising selection in this team that he can no longer take up space in a team which can still reach the semis of the 2015 CLP. If like past greats like boxing legend Mohamed Ali, Chanderpaul does not want to quit he should be dropped since the team is more important than his desire to play in a format in which he makes no meaningful con-

tribution.

Chanderpaul’s insistence to again play for Guyana at the First-Class level to prove a point to the selectors, should be carefully assessed by those in charge of Guyana’s cricket since he could prevent younger players, including his son from playing.

Especially if he is not opening in T20 cricket, Chanderpaul is a square peg in a round hole in any t20 team and has to be dropped if Hooper feels the team’s winning is more important than Chanderpaul playing.

Kennard’s Memorial Emancipation Race Meeting set for August 2 August 2 at Bush Lot Farm in Corentyne Berbice and entries for this event close on Sunday July 26. No late entries will be accepted.

The races are being run under the rules of the Guyana Horse Racing Authority and if less than five Horses are entered for any event the Club reserves to right to Cancel or reframe the event or reduce the prize money after consulting with the owners.

Owners must pay at least $5,000 at the time of entry and if not paid the Horses names will not appear on the official programme and the Horse will

not be permitted to run. Five Horses must start for a 3rd prize to be paid, seven for a 4th prize to be paid.

Horses can be entered with Roopnarine Matadial (325-3192), Ivan Dipnarine (331-0316), Justice Kennard (623-7609), Isabella Beaton (693- 7812), Dennis Deroop ( 609-9143) or Compton Sancho (690-0569) The first prize for the KI

& Lower W/A over 5 furlongs is $140, 000, the first prize for E & Lower is $500,000, the first prize for 2years Guyana bred is $240,000, the winner of the H1&Lower /3 years West Indies bred will get $250,000, the first prize for the J1 &Lower is 180,000, the winner of the main event, the A & Lower will pocket $1 Million and the GI & Lower will take home $300,000.

A mini health check is the first step to donating blood

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Kaieteur News

GCF National C/ships 2015 Time Trials

Fraser-Green, Anthony, Jamal, Brighton John and Sukhai are champs

By Franklin Wilson United Kingdom based female Claire Fraser-Green repeated for the third straight year as Guyana Cycling Federation (GCF) Female Time Trial winner yesterday as the 2015 edition of the Time Trial took place on the East Coast of Demerara.

It was the first time in the history of the local federation that the Time Trials was such a short event, a mere four miles as compared to last year’s 16 miles for seniors and juniors and 10 miles for juveniles, veterans and females; on the Linden Soesdyke Highway.

New GCF President Horace Burrowes apologized to the riders for the shortened Time Trials stating that it was as a result of some administrative glitches.

He promised a much more efficient day today when the Road Race will take place.

Last year’s junior winner who has graduated to the seniors ranks, Michael Anthony was unstoppable in this category whilst the other category winners for yesterday’s event which took place from Chateau Margot to the Rubis Gas Station before Conversation Tree, East Coast Demerara were Jamal John (junior), Jaikarran Sookhai (veteran)

and Brighton John (juvenile).

Meanwhile, today’s Road Race will also be contested in five categories pedaling off from the Ocean View International Hotel, East Coast Demerara, proceeding to Celina’s Resort (Kitty) after passing the Russian Embassy and returning to Sparendaam to complete one circuit.

These five categories of cyclists will have to go around the same circuit three more times to complete 21.7 miles before the winner is decided.

The veterans will wheel off at 08:45hrs and will do seven laps around the same

Sunday June 28, 2015

Brazil beaten by Paraguay in shootout

course (50 miles) while the juniors, who will be sent on their way at the same time as the veterans, will do six laps, a distance of 42 miles.

The seniors, on the other hand, will contest a 92.86-mile event or 13 laps around the same circuit and they will be sent on their way at 11:30hrs.

Defending senior champion is Pro rider based in the USA, Geron Williams, while Andrew Hicks (juvenile), Stephano Husbands (junior), Raymond Newton (veteran) and Claire Fraser-Green (female) were last year’s winners.

Following are the full Time Trial results:

Paraguay players celebrate as they seal a place in the last-four with victory against Brazil in the shoot-out. (AFP/Getty Images)

New boys Patriots stun champions Tridents!

Patriots players celebrate their last ball triumph.

(CPL)

BBC Sport - Paraguay repeated their 2011 Copa America penalty shootout win over Brazil to set up a semi-final meeting with Argentina.

Former Manchester City striker Robinho scored on his 99th appearance to give Brazil a 15th-minute lead as he tucked away a Dani Alves cross. But Thiago Silva’s second-half handball allowed Derlis Gonzalez to equalise from the spot and force the shootout. Brazil then missed two attempts and went out as Gonzalez again converted.

The defeat curtailed Brazil’s revival under Dunga following their 7-1 semi-final defeat by Germany in last summer’s World Cup finals in their own country.

The eight-times winners

have not won the Copa America since 2007, while Paraguay now have the chance to go on lift the trophy for the first time since 1979. They play Argentina in Concepcion on 1 July with the other semi-final seeing host country Chile meet Peru ahead of the final in Santiago on 4 July.

Brazil were unable to build on the perfect start given to them by Robinho - playing in place of the suspended Neymar - as the 31-year-old scored his first competitive goal for his country since 2010. Robinho was helped by clever movement from Roberto Firmino, although that was virtually the only major contribution Liverpool’s new £29m signing from Hoffenheim made before being replaced

in the second half.

Brazil barely created another chance, while Paraguay gradually stepped up the pressure in the second half.

Defender Paulo da Silva was denied by Jefferson’s save as he headed goalwards following a corner.

But an error of judgement from Paris St-Germain defender Silva gifted a deserved equaliser and Paraguay then held their nerve to progress with the tie going straight to penalties after 90 minutes.

Brazil did better than in 2011 when they failed to score a single penalty in the shootout but Paraguay could even afford a miss from former Manchester City and Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz as they recorded a memorable win.

DIGICEL SENIOR NATIONAL SQUASH CHAMPIONSHIPS

Veteran Callendar extends unbeaten streak

CPL - The final 2015 Hero Caribbean Premier League match in Barbados produced a last-ball thriller as the new boys St Kitts & Nevis Patriots stunned defending champions Barbados Tridents to win their first

ever CPL game!

A sensational contest went down to the final ball, with the Tridents - who had won all three of their previous games in the 2015 CPL needing three to win and two to tie, but Navin Stewart could

only manage a single off Orlando Peters, who held his nerve.

Tridents captain Kieron Pollard was left frustrated at the other end, run out off the final ball going for a second (Continued on page 69)

Right handed veteran Alwyn Callendar continued his dominant run in the Digicel Senior National Squash Championships on Friday at the Georgetown club, beating Joe Mekdeci 31 in another impressive showing. Also outstanding on Friday was Jonathan Hohenkirk, who beat Hapoei Yang and Jonathan Antczak, dropping only one game along the way.

Taylor Fernandes, recovering from an ankle injury that ruled her out of the recently concluded Junior competition, returned to form with a 3-0 sweep of Rebecca Low, while Larissa Wiltshire was dominant in a straight game victory over Makeda Harding.

Daniel Islam continued to

show what is becoming characteristic fight as he narrowly missed out on a victory over Joshua Abdool, who prevailed 3-2. Anthony Islam had better fortune as he defeated Ingram Edwards 3-1, and Reagan Pollard emerged victorious in a marathon five game match against Robert

Fernandes.

In other results, JasonRay Khalil walked away with a 3-0 win over Alec Melville, while Nyron Joseph recovered from being 1-0 down after the first game to hold on to a 3-2 victory over Deje Dias. The tournament concludes today.

Sunday June 28, 2015

Kaieteur News

GOA Olympic day future badminton tournament 2015 concludes

The respective winners take time out for a photo following the presentation.

The Annual Guyana Olympic Association Olympic Day Future OPEN Badminton Tournament concluded last Thursday evening with some very exciting matches which once again brought out the best of G u y a n a ’s B a d m i n t o n Champions Narayan Ramdhani & Priyanna Ramdhani who both won their Singles & Doubles matches with ease.

THE OVERALL WINNERS ARE: Men’s Singles: 1- Narayan Ramdhani 2- Nicholas Ali 3- Jonathan Mangra

Ladies Singles: 1- Priyanna Ramdhani 2-Kara Abrams 3-Abosaide Cadogan Men’s Doubles: 1-Narayan Ramdhani & Nicholas Ali 2-Jonathan Mangra & Avinash Odit 3-William Holder & Haymant Ramdhani Ladies Doubles: 1Priyanna Ramdhani & Abosaide Cadogan 2-Kara Abrams & Siya Persaud 3-Emelia Ramdhani & Ayanna Wickham-Watson Results of the matches played on the finals Night were:

Men Singles Semi-Finals: Nicholas Ali defeated Jonathan Mangra: 21-15, 21-13 Men Singles Finals: Narayan Ramdhani defeated Nicholas Ali: 21-6, 21-11 Third Place went to Jonathan Mangra who defeated Avinash Odit: 2114, 9-21, 13-21 Ladies Singles Finals: Priyanna Ramdhani defeated Kara Abrams: 21-3, 21-4 Men Doubles Finals: Narayan Ramdhani & (Continued on page 69)

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Kaieteur News

Sunday June 28, 2015

Youth in Focus: Abosaide Guyana close out CFU Men’s Olympic Qualifying Cadogan is multi-talented against Aruba today

By Edison Jefford

Guyana’s young Golden Jaguars will close out their campaign in the CFU Men’s Olympic Qualifying competition today against Aruba from 15:30hrs at the Antigua Recreation ground., Antigua and Barbuda having lost both games to the host nation and Cuba by similar 2-0 margins.

The Jaguars and Aruba which also lost both their matches to Cuba (11-1) and Antigua (7-0) will be hoping to end on a high but given the form Aruba has displayed, the Golden Jaguars are tipped to end with a win today.

Head Coach Jamaal Shabazz in an invited comment stated that the players are obviously disappointed to have lost both games having played hard but noted that the reality is that Guyana is two to three steps behind Cuba and the Benna Boys, Antigua & Barbuda. ”We can be comforted in the fact that we competed for long periods against teams whose overall programmes are superior to ours at this stage.

Head Coach Jamaal Shabazz and Assistant Wayne Dover.

We have finished strong in the second half of both matches after giving up two first half goals, but I am satisfied with the strides this team have made in the last six weeks. In the long term they will serve our football well.”

A few changes might be made to the starting lineup Shabazz noted as the Technical Staff seeks to give a couple of the players a taste of the international play.

Meanwhile, in other results, hosts Haiti defeated

the Cayman Islands 4-0, while St Kitts and Nevis beat Barbados 2-1 in Group 1 play at the Stade Sylvio Cator in Haiti on Friday.

In Group 3, the Dominican Republic outplayed St Lucia 3-0 at the Estadio Felix Sanchez in Dominican Republic.

Last night, St Vincent and the Grenadines were scheduled to meet Trinidad and Tobago at the Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel in Puerto Rico.

(Franklin Wilson)

At age 11, she has already excelled in four sport disciplines, succeeded at the renowned National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) examinations, where she will attend Saint Stanislaus College in September, and has plans to become the quintessential student-athlete.

Abosaide Cadogan is multi-talented. The plain, well-spoken athlete started playing Lawn Tennis when she was eight years old. A year later, she began competing in the discipline where she has had most of her success in sports to-date, Badminton.

“My dad and Coach are friends from school days,” Cadogan said when asked who introduced her to Badminton. Gokarn Ramdhani is Cadogan’s coach at Yonex Badminton Club, from which she has since emerged to represent Guyana in Puerto Rico and Jamaica.

Cadogan’s father, Neil Cadogan, more popularly known as ‘Cody’ of Ruff Kut TV and Productions fame, went to Queen’s College with Ramdhani, who is also

Abosaide Cadogan poses with some of her trophies and medals at home.

Guyana Badminton Association President.

The younger Cadogan is t h e c u r r e n t U n d e r- 1 3 National Badminton Champion, and won an U-11 doubles gold medal at the 2013 Caribbean Regional Badminton Confederation (CAREBACO) in Puerto Rico. She won gold and bronze medals last year in

Jamaica.

In addition, Abosaide started playing Table Tennis and Squash last year and went to the National Schools’ Championships to compete in the 400m and 800m in the U-12 category.

She is a former student of St. Gabriel’s Primary School.

Asked which sport (Continued on page 69)

Sunday June 28, 2015

Kaieteur News

VALUE FOR TAX PAYERS’ MONEY

Page 75

Digicel Schools football hits Region 2, Oreala, St. Cuthbert Mission today Play in the Digicel Nationwide Schools Football Competition continues today with matches in Region 2, St. Cuthbert Mission and Orealla.

Over in Region 2 at the New Opportunity Corps (NOC) ground where a double header is slated, NOC host Anna Regina Secondary

and that will be followed by the c l a s h b e t w e e n Aurora and Eight of May. At Orealla, they play host to Siparuta and in the other game at St. Cuthbert Mission, they host Canadian Arts and Science School.

The competition resumes on Monday with more matches at different venues.

CARICOM Relay Meet set for Sunday

IS THIS VALUE FOR TAX PAYERS’ MONEY? With close to US$5 Million spent on the National Track and Field Centre ($1.084 billion to be exact), athletes were forced to take out their umbrellas under the pavilion when the rains came last weekend. Obviously the contractors did not take into consideration the direction of the rain to appropriately locate the stands; instead rain almost swamped everyone in the stands. Added to that, there are some leaks in the roof already. The venue was officially opened just before the May 11 General and Regional Elections.

The Ministry of Education Department of Culture Youth and Sports in collaboration with the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) will be hosting a CARICOM Relay Athletics Meet at the National Park this coming Sunday at 4pm.

This is according to one of the organisers, Rajan Tiwari, who also said that the categories that will be contested include junior male and female and over-50

with five persons per team allowed to compete.

First to third places will be awarded prizes. There will also be individual and special prizes up for grabs.

For more information, interested persons can contact Leslie Blacks on 673 8829 or Tiwari on 652 9570.

Banks DIH Limited, Payless Variety Store, Mohabeer Cambio, Starr Party Rentals, Fullworks Seasoning and Blue Spring Water are the sponsors.

t r o Sp

Brazil beaten by Paraguay in shootout Derlis Gonzalez makes no mistake from the penalty spot to equalise for Paraguay in the second half. (AFP/Getty Images)

New boys Patriots stun champions Tridents!

Coach Sheron Abrams for FIFA Women’s WC Symposium DIGICEL SENIOR NATIONAL SQUASH CHAMPIONSHIPS

Veteran Callendar extendsunbeaten streak Roshandin underlines irrefutable ability with scorching display in T&T Guyana’s Mohamed ‘Shairaz’ Roshandin leads the field in one of the recaes in Trinidad and Tobago last weekend.

GCF National C/ships 2015 Time Trials

FraserGreen, Anthony, Jamal, Brighton John and Sukhai are champs

Claire Fraser-Green powers to victory in yesterday’s Time Trials.

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