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March 10, 2013

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Smoking St. Maarten's US$117M new homeowner airport vs. Guyana's US$150M burns down house twice within mths.

St. Maarten's new US$117M airport

Traffic congestion on East Bank due to poor planning - Transportation Consultant

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Lilowtie Bhookmohan is a 'Special Person’

An artist’s impression of Guyana's new US$150M airport

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Kaieteur News

Sunday March 10, 2013

Government will not budge on compensation award While both parliamentary opposition parties have signaled disapproval regarding the monies awarded to Lindeners by the Commission of Inquiry (COI); and while Region Ten Chairman, Sharma Solomon, has dubbed the compensation “woefully inadequate,” the government is saying that increased compensation is not an option for consideration.

The Commission of Inquiry, launched to bring closure to the shooting death of three Lindeners and the wounding of many others which resulted in a month of unrest, was recently concluded.

Commissioners were Justice Lensley Wolfe and Senior Counsel Keith. D Knight of Jamaica and Senior Counsel Dana Seetahal of Trinidad and Tobago all of whom were nominated by the CARICOM Secretariat, and from Guyana, Justices Claudette Singh and Cecil Kennard.

In total, a little over $33.8 in compensation was awarded to those affected during the

protest. Of that, $8M went to relatives of the three slain Lindeners. Relatives of Shemroy Bouyea will receive $3M, the relatives of Allan Lewis will also receive $3M while the relatives of Ron Somerset have been awarded $2M. Solomon, speaking at a press conference on Thursday at the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) said that the commission, headed by retired Jamaican Chief Justice Lensley Wolfe, should reveal the criteria used to arrive at the compensation.

He said, “While we welcome the general outcome of the CoI, we are convinced that the criteria used by the CoI to assess compensation for death is clearly flawed.”

However, government made its position clear that it will not budge to increase compensations.

Attorney General Anil Nandlall, on an NCN programme last Friday, said that he will not second judge the compensatory awards made by the Linden Commission of Inquiry.

He explained the legal

principles which guided the commissioners in arriving at their decision and questioned Sharma’s credentials to query the decision.

“These Commissioners include a former Chancellor of the Judiciary of Guyana, a former Chief Justice of Jamaica, and a Justice of Appeal of Guyana to name only three; these eminent jurists would have together heard and determined hundreds of cases of this type during their careers and would have done so with distinction.

It is simply presumptuous for Solomon and others to advance such a contention,” the Legal Affairs Minister said.

“What qualifies Sharma Solomon, to second guess the competence of a former Chancellor? Who is Sharma in relation to those gentlemen and their career and experience?”

He then admitted, “It is impossible for anyone to contend that human life has a particular monetary value” and said that that’s the reason legal principles guided this process over

the years.”

Nandlall said that those principles presumably were employed by the commissioners.

“The Government did not hand-pick these people. We engaged in a process which involved CARICOM … and they were selected after dialogue with the Opposition.

So as far as possible, we tried at both the embryonic stages as well as when we were actually bringing the Commission into being …to ensure that all the political parties had an input,” the AG explained.

The AG said that one cannot disregard the individual and collective experience of the people who constituted the Commission, which was appointed by no less a person that the Head of State himself.

As such, it is incumbent on the President and his Government to comply with the report in every respect.

He added that the lawyers who represented the families of the deceased persons and others who claimed compensation had ample

opportunities to adduce evidence relevant to the issue of compensation.

“In any inquiry, decisions are arrived at based on existing evidence.

It is impossible for anyone to contend that human life has a particular monetary value…over the years, legal principles had to have been evolved which are normally employed in assessing compensation when death, destruction to properties and personal injuries result.

These principles are wellknown to people in the legal profession,” the Legal Affairs Minister said.

He said that the compensatory awards were not made in isolation; but rather, they were made in relation to particular facts and circumstances.

Protest organizers should compensate “Sharma Solomon should pay attention to the part of the report where it states that the organisers of this event must bear some responsibility for what transpired…this compensation will be paid

using taxpayers’ dollars, which could have been used in the education and health sectors.

The Government now has to divert this money away from such important projects to pay for compensation for something it did not organize,” he emphasized.

The AG explained that in addition to the compensation which has to be paid for those who died, the State is also burdened with the obligation to pay millions of dollars to those whose private properties were destroyed and will have to bear the cost to rebuild the State properties which were burnt and destroyed by the protestors. All of this is in addition to the huge cost the State had to endure for the Commission itself.

“Is this fair for the taxpayers who had nothing to do with this protest and may not have even supported it… their monies to be paid as compensation for the recklessness of the organizers of this event?” he questioned.

DO YOU KNOW THAT JAGDEO’S BEST FRIEND IS THE ONLY PERSON IN GUYANA TO OWN THREE MEDIA HOUSES ...

Radio, Television and Newspaper?

1) Channel 28 now TVG 28 2) A radio station - 89.5FM 3) Guyana Times newspaper Dr. Bobby Ramroop

Former President Bharrat Jagdeo

Sunday March 10, 2013

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St. Maarten’s US$117M airport vs. Guyana’s US$150M In less than four months, Guyana will more than likely start construction on a brand new airport and runway at a cost of US$150M. With the US$840M Amaila Falls hydro falls project to be the most expensive project ever in Guyana, the expansion of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) is set to be third on the list after the US$200M Skeldon factory and modernization project.

It will see longer runways, a two-storey terminal building, passenger loading bridges, more check-in counters and concession spaces.

The project, the construction of which is set to last for 32 months, will also allow for a larger apron to park planes and be fully equipped with close circuit television (CCTV), building automation system and several large screen TVs displaying flight information.

But there have been questions as to the costs.

CARIBBEAN AIRPORTS: There are many competing tourism destinations in the Caribbean.

This article will only delve into one…St. Maarten. In the region, within recent years, there have been projects to improve airports.

Perhaps the most fascinating and challenging is the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) of St. Maarten which cost that government US$117M to build.

St. Maarten, just 37square miles, is one of the smallest islands in the world to be divided and ruled by two nations, France and Holland, and has an overall population of around 80,000. It does not manufacture anything and is solely dependent on tourism.

The airport has made headlines because of its nearness to the sea and is known for images of tourists standing under the planes’ landing wheels at the nearby Maho beach.

This was an ambitious project that included reclaiming land from water (a lagoon), new roadways, a brand new, fully airconditioned terminal building, new fuel tanks and a new control tower. A new radar system to control flights was also installed.

St. Maarten is targeting 2.5 million tourists to pass through the airport. In 2007, 1.85 million tourists were processed.

The airport is one of the busiest in the region serving as a hub to especially the Eastern Caribbean area.

Daily, there are six American Airlines landings, with flights also being conducted by Delta, Corsair, KLM, Caribbean Airways,

The proposed terminal building for Guyana.

The new Princess Juliana International Airport, St. Maarten.

Winair and LIAT. On weekends there are numerous charter flights bringing tourists from North America, South America and Europe.

There is hardly space in the peak periods when several private jets would park for days. In fact, private jets are sometimes parked “wing-tips to wing-tips”.

The airport is serviced by 18 airlines, and there is direct service to close to 30 major cities in the US, Europe, Canada and the Caribbean.

There are several other charters from Canada and other travel companies doing business in St. Maarten.

Its new terminal building offers 27,000 square metres (290,000 sq ft) of floor space and is fully air-conditioned.

Available facilities include 42 check-in desks, eight transit desks and eleven boarding gates. There are ten immigration booths for arriving passengers and five exit-control booths for departing passengers. The building also features 40 shops and food and beverage units.

PJIA’s background A master plan was started in 1997. It required that the airport be developed in three phases to accommodate new traffic and improve facilities.

Consultants for financing (debt and bonds) and overseeing the instigation of the project involved Standard International Group, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

and Berger Group. Investment for the entire project will total US$117M. The first phase began in 1997 and involved a general refurbishment of the existing terminal and remedial work at the airport. This lasted until 2001.

In 2004, Phase II of the master plan came into action with 98,000m² of land being reclaimed in the Simpson Bay Lagoon.

The additional land was required for the construction of the new terminal building, a new air traffic control tower and radar facility… (there are 90,000 aircraft movements a year to monitor), a new parking structure and the construction of runway extension safety areas of

150m at each end and also new access roads.

Phase II was completed in 2006 with the opening of the new terminal.

The terminal has four jet bridges for easy access from the gate area (11 boarding gates) to departing aircraft.

The security area has stateof-the-art explosive screening systems for baggage checks.

The terminal also required the construction of 72,500m² of apron space, enough to park nine wide-bodied aircraft.

CJIA’s expansion In Guyana, according to the CJIA contract, on November 11, 2011, the Ministry of Public Works and Communications and the contractor, China Harbour Engineering Company

(CHEC) Limited of Beijing, China, inked the agreement for a Design and Build project to the tune of US$138M. The money is a loan from China’s Export/Import Bank. Guyana will be plugging at least another US$12M to make US$150M. Under the contract, the primary runway is to be extended 1,066.8 meters, to reach a total length of 3,336.8 meters in order to satisfy the operational requirements of wide-body aircraft. A turning area is to be provided at the end of the extension.

Navigation facilities such as lighting are to be installed and a service vehicle lane is to be provided as well as emergency facilities (Continued on page 29)

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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

Right to Public Services India has an unenviable reputation for sloth and corruption in the delivery of government service. The term ‘red-tape’ might have been invented by the bureaucrats in England but it was taken to its ultimate labyrinthine deadend in its then colony of India. Independence did not do much to cut the Gordian knot but corruption became endemic to loosen it up a bit. Woe be it to the bold individual or company attempting to secure a service but without the funds to grease the ‘invisible hand’ under the table. India, in addition to its twin, Pakistan, was routinely listed as among the most corrupt and inefficient provider of services on the planet.

Starting two years ago, however, reacting to the rising crescendo of criticism from the growing middle class created by its economic success, several states, beginning with Madhya Pradesh in 2010, began introducing “Right to Public Services” legislation. Basically, this comprises of statutory laws which guarantee time bound delivery of services for various public services rendered by the Government to citizen and provides mechanism for punishing the errant public servant who is deficient in providing the service stipulated under the statute.

Finally, last week the central, federal government Cabinet, decided it had better follow suit and the Cabinet under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved the ”Right of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, 2011". It would provide time-bound delivery of services like passports, pensions and birth and death certificates, land and property records among others, to citizens.

As with the State enactments, the major innovation of the bill envisages penalty of up to Rs. 50,000 (US$1000) against any government official failing to provide his or her duties. It lays down an obligation upon every public authority to publish citizen’s charter, stating the time within which specified goods shall be supplied and services be rendered and provides for a grievance redressal mechanism for non-compliance of its provisions. The appellate authorities has been granted certain powers of a Civil Court while trying a suit under the Code of Civil Procedure, like production of documents and issuance of summon to the Designated officers and appellants.

The public services which are to be granted as a right under the legislations are generally notified separately through Gazette notification.

The proposed legislation, spearheaded by Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, also mandates a public authority to establish a call centre, customer care centre, help desk and people’s support system to ensure time-bound delivery of services. It also seeks establishment of public grievance redressal commissions at the Centre and in every State.

According to its provisions, a person aggrieved by the decision of the commission may prefer an appeal before the Ombudsman at the Centre (in case of decision by the Centre’s public grievances redressal commission) and the Ombudsmen in the States. There are Appellate authorities at state and federal levels to handle all disputes. All services provided by both the Centre and the State governments will be extended to citizens in a time-bound manner under the bill. In Guyana, we have also been saddled with an inefficient and corrupt system in the provision of public services, such as in obtaining transports. Just as in India, the corruption has percolated into higher reaches of governmental officialdom.

This has been acknowledged by the President in the awarding of and performance on contracts. While the Right To Public Services Legislation might address official corruption and laxity at the bottom, we have to start somewhere.

We have also been engaged in a war of attrition between the Public Service Union and the government for increased wages for Public Servants, which has not gained much sympathy among the populace.

It is quite possible that if the general public receives a higher and less costly provision of services, which is their right to begin with, they might look more favourably to calls for higher remuneration. The time-bound public services would also offer a metric to measure efficiency of the Public Service.

Sunday March 10, 2013

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

The ethnic supremacists are going to maul Bhagwan over his admission DEAR EDITOR, My incessant advocacy was that we must reply to people like Ravi Dev and other supremacist who desperately want ethnic balance in the police force but is euphorically pleased with frightening ethnic imbalance in commerce, business, land ownership, property ownership, construction industry, import-export trade, agriculture. My point was that we must educate those who need to know about the abominable ethnic imbalances in this country. We are

replying and we are seeing some back-pedaling.

First, Dev is silent about his perpetual cry of ethnic imbalance in the police force.

Dev knows we are going to ask him why would an ethnic mix in the police force help stabilize Guyana and not in other areas like wealth possession? Then there is Devanand Bhagwan who threatened to sue for libel because he claimed I misrepresented him when I substituted the word “they” for “Indian.” Bhagwan was only making himself a fool.

With replies by Leonard Craig (from the People’s Parliament) and Barrington Braithwaite (of ACDA), Bhagwan now admits that by “they” he meant “Indian.” Let’s trace his dishonesty.

Bhagwan wrote; “Why have East Indians become more successful in business and Guyana and elsewhere?

Whether it is in Trinidad, US, UK, Canada…the Indians have made their mark…the eminent (sic) and consummate business acumen of Indians are universally known…their hard wuk is reason for their

success…while others are asleep from their late night dance THEY (emphasis mine) get up early in the morning and start to work,” (end of quote). Here is Bhagwan in his own words when I wrote that

by THEY he meant INDIANS; “Mr. Kissoon is well versed in the world of libel and so he should know that he is sitting on dangerous ground to so misquote a person…Mr. Kissoon substituted the word “THEY with INDIAN…such dishonesty is defamatory and libelous.” (end of quote).

Continued on page 7

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Great Leader Dr. Cheddi Jagan a true son of Guyana soil

I am blessed with the knowledge of traditional medical treatment for various illnesses

DEAR EDITOR, On December 18, 1947 at age 29, Dr. Jagan took his seat in the legislative Council in which for the first time since 1928 the elected members were in the majority. The history of Guyana over the last 60 years is largely a record of the birth, growth and decay of a national movement. For purposes of convenience, this record can be divided into six periods: 1) From 1947 (the formation of the Political Affairs Committee, the precursor of the PPP) to the suspension of the constitution in 1953; 2) From 1953 to the 1957 elections; 3) From 1957 to the 1962 riots; 4) From 1962 to the 1964 elections; 5) From December 1964 to independence; and 6) First free and fair elections in 1992.

We have remember our history cannot remove just like that or sideline they were three trade unions who joint with Dr. Jagan on October 5, 1992 General Electionsthere was the Clerical & Commercial Workers’ Union, Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union and National Association of Agricultural Commercial and Industrial Employees. The Civic

component was the PPP’s response. A PPP/Civic combination was engineered to produce what may be described as a broad based, multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-ideological political force that combined that best of both worlds but projected the dominance of the free market over the command type economy. Dr. Jagan, as Presidential candidate, wasstrengthened by newcomer, Mr. Samuel A. Hinds an engineer of African extraction from the bauxite town, as the Prime Ministerial candidate. Mr. Hinds was his running mate.

The working class and peasantry following became added a range of professional persons drawn from various strata of the society, and patriotic members of the middle and upper classes, including very wealthy businessmen. They brought new luster to the PPP. The 1992 elections, the PPP published a Manifesto which amplified a broad spectrum of the fundamental issues that constituted the platform its election campaign.

The Manifesto bore the slogan, considered very fitting to Guyana’s circumstances, “Time for Change, Time to rebuild”.

Thanks to the Great Leader Dr. Cheddi Jagan said

About Cheddi Jagan’s legacy DEAR EDITOR, The dictionary I use defines ‘legacy’ as ‘Thing handed down to a successor’. Cheddi Jagan certainly did not hand down the idea of corruption, dishonesty and racism to his successors. He just happened to be a dedicated politician and tenacious operator and, in the field of politics, one cannot please all the people all the time, and when one is no longer around, the successors feel free to do as they please.

I often think that CBJ intended to build a political dynasty, hoping his good intentions, honesty and integrity would be carried forward, but, alas, that was not to be.

At least his daughter seems to be aware of the party’s departure from her parents’ philosophy of “concern with the welfare of the poorer classes”. I think her father had hoped that both his children shared this concern enough to pass on his ideals to future generations. What the party he founded has become today is not his fault - one cannot legislate against what is in a

person’s heart. Some people are naturally greedy, selfish and cunning, irrespective of race, colour or creed.

About the so-called ‘Enmore Martyrs’. I wince whenever I hear that description. I happened to be working in my very first job as a pupil teacher on the Enmore estate at the time, and for more than a week I walked from the train station to the school building in fear and trembling.

The strikers ominously lined the pathway, muttering threats - until their womenfolk took up positions and sat in clusters alongside the men, wailing, chanting, solemnly advising us not to punish ‘them picknee’, because the fathers were ‘in a bad mood’.

The men then moved to the backdam.

The rest is history, a subject for some other time.

What is happening in Guyana today is not ‘Jagan’s legacy’: it is a culture that has taken on a life of its own, birthed sometime after Independence and seriously nurtured from then on. Now there seems to be no turning back.

Geralda Dennison

“Now, all of us together, whatever our party, political affiliation, whatever our race or ethnicity, whatever our creed, we must put our shoulders to the wheel. It time to embrace each other and work arm in arm to rebuild our beloved Guyana”.

We must move forward together and make into reality our motto one people, one Nation, one Destiny.

Sherwood Clarke Field Secretary - CCWU

DEAR EDITOR, I have read with amazement the story about me on page 12 of your Saturday 9th March, 2013 edition. In light of what has been said it is important that the public get a true picture of what took place.

First I would like to say that every story got three sides. In this case the complainant’s story, my story and the truth. My story covers the second and third.

Having read this lady’s story it is clear that her son had a problem which caused her to

consult five different doctors over a period of time, and it is clear she was not satisfied.

Therefore she came to me.

Secondly she spoke about her son vomiting blood, but she hasn’t complained whether or not he was hospitalized or was left with any serious implications.

Thirdly, her main complaint is about the money she paid.

Nothing was said about her son’s ailment. Apart from stating that her son was examined and did not have skin cancer.

How many times in medical treatment one examination would

say one thing and another something else. So what is wrong with her saying that I have alleged to have told her. The truth of the matter is that I told her the infection her son was having was serious and could result in skin cancer. I did not tell her that her that son had skin cancer.

I must say that I am an Amerindian and have,,instilled and am blessed with the knowledge of traditional medical treatment for various illnesses used by Amerindian over the years. This is what I practice.

Sister Lyn

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Things have been wrong for so long that what is right now seems wrong DEAR EDITOR, It is with grave concern about what passes as logic or logical thinking in what I consider as a decadent Guyanese society that I have decided to submit this letter for your publication.

To wit I am referring to the article which appeared in the Stabroek News front page of 15th February 2013 with regard to the Bill passed in Parliament attached to the furtherance, and contribution to the independence of a number of Commissions in their performance in the public interest. I am appalled at the misplaced logic voiced in opposition to the passage of the said Bill.

Mr. Editor a learned relative of mine continues to quote – thus ‘that things have been wrong for so long that what is right now seems wrong’ and I ask what in God’s name is the reason for the opposition to the intent of the Bill by any decent logical thinking individual.

Mr. Editor, I would have liked to hear what my

esteemed English teacher Mr. RE Cheeks and a former member of Parliament would have pronounced about the sordid level of debate in opposition to the passing of the Bill apart from such being a good example of gobbledygook.

In my attempt to analyze the mood of the House on a Bill which should have attracted and justified bipartisan support, I am reminded of statement made

by Sir Donald Jackson in May 1961 when in a conversation he remarked that ‘Parliament (Guyana) would be poorer when people like Mr. Balram Singh Rai would not be seen on its benches as they represent what was best in parliament democracy, decency, good governance and government’-`Against the grain Balram Singh Rai and the Politics of Guyana ‘

by Dr. B. Ramharack. Mr. Editor, I wish to use the analogy of blatant mediocrity which pervades our society. I make reference to the hullabaloo being made about

a four-lane highway on the East Bank of Demerara. Where is the road/highway being made wider at the concentration of communities as at Diamond to allow for service roads and differently black topped dedicated entrance and exit lanes?

These lanes when established and properly marked would allow throughtraffic to move unhindered from diverting traffic even if the law of Imminent Domain has to be implemented.

Secondly, could you imagine the President and First Lady traveling to an international forum in the company of other dignitaries and are intransit at a Five Star Hotel where at the sign-in desk the clerk greets our President and First lady as uncle and auntie or grandfather and mother while addressing the other dignitaries as Sir or Madam as appropriate. Would my President take offence at the greeting? After, all it is the norm for sometime now at home. For Guyanese the

words Mister/Sir, Madam/lady have been conveniently eradicated from the spoken language.

Mr. Editor, Guyana ‘Quo Vadis’-’Whither goest thou’.

If the Administration in Georgetown and elsewhere in Guyana has to impose and enforce Draconian laws akin to those implemented by a former Prime Minister of Singapore to sensitize its citizens of that city about maintaining a clean environment, then so be it.

Albeit provided that the requisite infrastructure and support is in place. I would find it difficult to accept as normal the grossly untidy condition and the smelly gutters bordering a once pleasant Bourda Green and Market to be able to comfortably sit a stone’s throw on the Mall opposite a Church and get involved in the revelry of Mash. Just observe the lack of symmetry on the lateral axis of speed bumps which tells you how opposed we are to things which are basic and pleasant

to the eye. With all the accidents on the Linden Highway and interior roads there is no requirement put in place for vehicles to be equipped with emergency traffic cones to function as warning signals when a vehicle breaks down and constitutes a hazard. Why? With regard to the number of accidents in our riverain areas there was a time when Sub-Wardens attached to the Lands and Mines Department, chaired examinations attached to adherence to the River Navigation Act to test the knowledge of the regulations and the navigation skills of prospective river captains.

Moreso, there has been the need for years to put a mechanism in place to ensure that boats are equipped with adequate approved flotation devices, and monitored for compliance. This has not garnered any urgency by the authorities.

Mr. Editor, the importance of the mandatory Annual Confidential Report (ACR) to

be completed in years gone by in respect of every public servant was relevant to the upward climb in a public servant’s career. From being able to write a concise minute, then a memorandum and finally a cabinet paper tested the educational background and promotional qualification for career success. But the legacies of Messers Martin De Abreu or Fitz Dorway and Barry Vigilance Permanent Secretaries among others, who had set a standard for overall conduct in a professional civil service has been diluted and tainted. Yes, tainted to the extent where a Public Servant could be overheard asking for a raise to buy ‘a food’- not a meal or a lunch. It is very exasperating when one has grown accustomed to a superior environment.

The vulgarity is continually starting from the cradle. The little boy wending his way to kindergarten school and whose hand was being held by an adult or Continued on page 7

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The ethnic supremacists are going to maul Bhagwan ...

From page 4 I responded to this sickening nonsense of Bhagwan by openly stating that any jackass, imbecile, moron would know that by THEY he meant INDIANS. In other words, I reasserted myself. All of a sudden, we are not hearing about libel and defamation any longer. Mr. Bhagwan looked like a total fool, a complete idiot by denying that by THEY, he didn’t mean INDIANS. Mr. Bhagwan wants to save what he doesn’t have –credibility.

Here is his new explanation of what THEY and INDIAN mean. I quote from his most recent missive in KN of March 5. He wrote: “The sentence was never meant to offend, cause consternation, or cast aspirations on any ethnic group… there is a wide range of nuances in that sentence and one can make mincemeat out of it…”

I didn’t make mincemeat of the sentence at all. What I did

was to substitute INDIANS for THEY, which is what Bhagwan meant. And Bhagwan shouted libel and defamation. Now we are told that the sentences have many nuances and we can grind it like beef into mince.

Of course we will avoid grinding it into mince because Bhagwan may resurrect his libel threat (he will have to journey from India to Guyana for the case) if we do so. If we correctly wrote that by THEY he meant INDIAN and he wanted to sue over a colossal truth, what will he do if we make mincemeat out of his racist rant that while others in Guyana are asleep from their late night dancing, Indians are up early to go to work The reason why Bagwan backed down from his THEY versus INDIAN libel threat is because Craig and Braithwaite exposed him for his racist outpourings.

Poor Bhagwan, he dug his grave with his letter of March

From page 6 looking back at a waste removal truck was advised by the elder that the truck was pumping ‘sh*t’ not waste matter or faeces. There is a marked absence of finesse and elegance in the society.

Money doesn’t buy it.

Mr. Editor, there are issues which we must face up to like the social fallout of 3000 female school students dropping out of school annually because they become pregnant, even though a number of them will eventually be trained to become another generation of pavement entrepreneurs.

When are we going to conduct a survey to determine how many male school dropouts, say, in the last five to ten years, have come afoul of the criminal law. There was a time when there was a stigma attached to children born out of wedlock when they could not have been considered for the award of a County Scholarship. We may frown on these antediluvian days but can we honestly accept a TV station advertising a social affair with the violent vibration of a woman’s’ derriere as an attraction. But

there was the time in this country when a lady rode a Velocette motorcycle and had a weighted butterfly to keep the front of her skirt down.

How can members of a Discipline Force charged with involvement in a serious or a capital offence, even though found not guilty, be not retired in the public interest with the bare minimum of benefits. Is it because there is widespread white colour crime where the offenders go unpunished or just let off due to the proverbial ‘not enough evidence found’. Are they not shunned by those who are beyond reproach. Oh for those days when we could have listened to Honest John on Sundays of 11:00am or ZFY/Radio Demerara extolling the virtues of honesty and integrity within our society.

The statement by an esteemed gentleman that there is inelegance even in the Court environment took a lot of guts by one who would know what existed in decades gone by.

The slide has continued and the gutter continues to be filled with trench mud mixed with fresh cow dung.

Aubrey Alexander

Things have been wrong...

5. Ravi Dev, Vassan Ramracha, the PPP, and all their stooges will be out for his blood. It will be a massacre. Here is the selfdestruction rant from Bhagwan that got him into trouble. Every Indian supremacist must be looking for Bhagwan. Here goes; “When you consider that Indians comprise 43% of the population (compared to 33% for Africans), one can apprehend the ethnic equation imbalance better.” (end of quote) The difference is only ten

percent between Africans and Indians but look at the imbalance. Almost 90% of downtown businesses are owned by Indians. Almost 99% percent of contracts from the State go to Indians.

Almost 90% of private lands are owned by Indians. Almost 98% of properties valued over forty million Guyana dollars are owned by Indians. Almost 99% of expensive SUVs in Guyana are owned by Indians.

Almost 90% of the importexport trade is controlled by Indians. Almost 90% of

commercial transactions in Guyana are done by Indians.

Almost 99% of large scale, private agricultural production is in the hands of Indians. Almost 99% of construction going on in Guyana in the area of commercial structures and expensive homes is in the hands of Indians. Almost 99% of private financial houses are in the bosom of Indians.

Almost 90% of liquid cash holdings in Guyana are in the repositories of Indians Bhagwan’s supremacist

colleagues must be mad at him for giving us a chance to advance our case. We can now use Bhagwan’s 43 percent versus 33 percent model to argue and demand that there must be ethnic balance in Guyana in all social and economic spheres. But what about the security forces and the wider public sector? Of course! Yes! By all means there must be ethnic balance in those areas too. I end by stressing the words. “We must demand.”

Frederick Kissoon

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Kaieteur News

Sunday March 10, 2013

49,298 illegal connections removed over a five-year period-GPL

By Rabindra Rooplall The Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) has intensified its campaign against electricity theft, countrywide as fines and imprisonment have been cited as an issue for the power company since 1,248 cases are pending before the courts, according to statistics.

The penalty for stealing electricity is a fine of $50,000 and a mandatory sentence of one year imprisonment.

Statistics fingered the East Coast of Demerara as having the highest number of cases at Sparendaam Court with 360 pending cases. This was followed by Georgetown with 345 cases and 236 for Berbice.

Statistics reveal that from 2007 to 2012 there were 2,490 arrests with 541 convictions.

For the same period 1005 raids were carried out with 49,298 illegal connections removed.

During this time 7981 complaints were also recorded.

According to Field Services Manager, Looknauth Singh, the power company continues to seek persons and business entities that are deceitful with illegal connections being responsible for 22 percent of the company’s losses. This, he said, was also due to nontechnical losses in nature and is largely as a result of electricity theft, faulty meters and deficiencies in the billing system.

Approximately 30 per cent of the population is illegally connected and this has caused GPL commercial losses estimated at $2 billion annually.

The managers also noted that many persons are being duped by some GPL meter readers, ex-employee and other employees who are not authorized to “test a meter and to identify an illegality.” Only the loss reduction operation section is so authorized.

“When meter readers visit a premises they have a hand held instrument that can read your meter from your gate.”

Chief Executive Officer, Bharat Dindyal, recently noted that in an attempt to further reduce the incidence of electricity theft, the power company has launched a pilot programme financed by the Inter-American Development Bank. This proposed programme, he said, is expected to target areas with high electricity theft and will be characterised by the introduction of new designs to curb such practices.

“This will not only look at the network design using a more secure network sometimes called a fraudproof network, but we are looking at introducing the latest in metering technology, something called an Automatic Metering Infrastructure, which is more advanced than the prepaid that we are using,” Dindyal explained.

Electricity theft in Guyana “The experience, internationally, no matter which country you are in, is that pleading with people doesn’t work. They think you can’t do anything different when you plead and jailing them makes them your enemy.

So you have to introduce technology in a coordinated manner that allows you to get the intelligence to act on,” he added.

Once the Automatic Metering Infrastructure is installed it will be connected to the GPL’s Billing

Department via wireless control. This technology, according to Dindyal, would allow GPL officials to literally speak to the meter whenever the need arises.

“So what happens is that there is a platform there with a server that is running and that is tracking the meter all the time,” he expounded.

He noted too that the transformer that is serving the area will be metered as well as the customers connected to that transformer will be metered and its software will

Online UG courses, revamp of NIS, among plans in 2013 budget- Ramotar

By Leon Suseran Revamping the cashstrapped National Insurance Scheme (NIS); re-launching Central Recruitment and Manpower Agency (CR&MA); online courses for the University of Guyana (UG) and lights for night cricket at the Albion Sports Complex were some of the plans to be announced in this year ’s budget according to President Donald Ramotar The budget, he told Berbicians, will be aimed at advancing and strengthening the welfare of all Guyanese.

The 2013 National Budget is due to be presented soon in the National Assembly.

“A labour market clearinghouse; revamp and re- launch of the Central Recruitment and Manpower Agency with a mandate to reach out to more job-seekers and employers will be on the cards.”

“We would partner with the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) through its apprenticeship programme and improve its efficiency in

the market,” Ramotar stated.

“We know that there are lots of problems with the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) and we will look again at the NIS. (We will) unveil a programme to increase coverage, improve compliance and raise the administrative efficiency of the NIS as a means of improving the financial health and effectiveness of the scheme, but not to substitute the reforms to emerge from the recommendations in the Actuarial Report”.

He stated that a programme for young professionals will aim “to give them adequate housing, development of special housing scheme for them including special incentives for them to own their own homes.”

At the level of the University of Guyana, “we want to use information technology to take university education to put it online so that people in the remote areas….can also earn a higher education.” And for farmers,

he added that the government wants to launch a “farmers fertilizer and plant material scheme and facility under wither financial support, credit is provided …and other critical inputs or the procurement of these inputs is done centrally by the new Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) will…to try to bring down the cost of our farmers…and not to make huge profits.”

The sugar industry, he stated, will have to be relooked at. “We have to look again at the sugar industry and revamp plans to transform the industry to make it efficient and effective and to allow it to continue to make the tremendous contribution that it has made in the development of Guyana.”

The government is also looking at creating an Amerindian Youth Apprentice and Entrepreneurial Scheme to give Amerindians an opportunity to improve the economic circumstances.

“We want to develop

projects for the Diaspora to encourage them to come to make a contribution to invest in our country. We want to reduce the bureaucracy in government services”, the Guyanese leader mentioned.

Police reforms, plans “to train them and make them more effective, re -organize the prisons and increase work on reforming prisoners”, will also be worked into the budget this year.

“We are reorganizing even our fire service. We want to use reform also our tax system to ensure it is more efficient and not burdensome and makes a bigger contribution to the development of our country”.

The budget will also focus on expanding sports facilities, he hinted.

The government will be installing lights at the Albion Sports Complex in Berbice so that you can have 20/20 cricket at nights, to produce more Basil Butchers, Rohan Kanhais and Kallicharrans.

This venture will cost over US$200,000.

be tasked with looking at the amount of power that is going in while simultaneously recording how much is actually going to each customer. Moreover, the system would be able to develop intelligence on each customer, thus it would be able to flag a particular customer when something is

happening, hence an alert will be sent to GPL to check on this customer.

“In future we are looking to introduce this in a big way.

We are hoping we can go to this technology totally, so that when we come to your house we know exactly why we are coming there,” Dindyal asserted.

NGOs protest lack of implementation of the Sexual Offences Act In observance of International Women’s Day on Friday, representatives from several of the local Non Governmental Organizations, gathered in front of the Office of the President on Vlissingen Road to protest the lack of proper implementations of the Sexual Offences Act. They include members of Help and Shelter, the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination, the People’s Parliament, Child Link and Red Thread.

According to Help and Shelter representative, Danuta Radzik, while the Sexual Offences Act which was amended in the National Assembly in January last is currently “functioning”, it has not yet been fully implemented.

Radzik also pointed to the fact that there are too many pending sexual offences cases.

“It is now functioning, but within that period from May 2010, to date, there has been a huge backlog of sexual offences cases which could not be heard, because all of these problems associated

with getting it implemented continues to surface,” Danuta Radzik said that the issue where such cases are prolonged for years is just unacceptable, especially since it was accented to some three years ago.

She particularly pointed out that cases of child abuse should not continue onto when the children become teenagers.

Coordinator of Red Thread, Karen De Souza, explained that the people definitely need a little bit more than just nice words from the government regarding how serious they are about the access to justice of the Guyanese population.

She also pointed out that there are no visible measures in terms of training the police and making court arrangements for using the law as it should be used.

The Amendment of the Sexual Offences Act entails that accused persons be given equal rights as the prosecution, to present evidence or written statements at the preliminary inquiries.

Sunday March 10, 2013

Kaieteur News

Smoking homeowner burns down house twice within months

The burnt out remains of the wooden structure at lot 399 ‘B’ Field Sophia.

A one-flat one-bedroom house located at lot 399 ‘B’ Field Sophia was early yesterday morning destroyed by fire. The house was occupied by a man identified as Jeffrey McEwan.

Reports are that the fire started around 02:00 hours yesterday. At the time the owner of the house was at home. This publication was told that this is the second time in a matter of months that the building was completely destroyed by fire.

Sources told this

publication that McEwan who is always under the influence of alcohol came home smoking a cigarette in his drunken state.

It is believed that the cigarette fell out of the man’s hand and started the fire.

Shortly after the fire was seen in the house McEwan exited the house and stood watching on as his house went up in flames.

It was other residents in the area who alerted the fire service. But by the time the fire tender arrived the wooded

structure was completely gutted. Fortunately no other nearby structures were destroyed by tree in nearby yards were scotched.

Reports are that at dawn, yesterday, police were seen escorting McEwan out of his yard. It is not clear if the man was being detained to assist with investigation. Further there are reports that a few months ago another structure on the same plot of land was destroyed by fire reportedly under the same circumstances.

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Immigration INFO Immigration News For Our Community

Common Visa Questions The United States issues various non-immigrant and immigrant visas granting permission for applicants to enter the United States. A visa does not guarantee entry into the U.S. A visa allows a foreign citizen to travel to the U.S. port-of-entry, and the Department of Homeland Security U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) immigration inspector authorizes or denies admission to the United States.

Why does my visa expire in five years?

A visa must be valid at the time a traveler seeks admission to the U.S., but the expiration date of the visa has no relation to the length of time a temporary visitor may be authorized by the Department of Homeland Security to remain in the United States.

Persons holding visas valid for multiple entries may make repeated trips to the U.S., for travel for the same purpose, as long as the visa has not expired, and the traveler has done nothing to become ineligible to enter the U.S., at port of entry.

What should I do if my valid visa is in an expired passport? Do I need to apply for a new visa with my new passport?

No. If your visa is still valid you can travel to the United States with your two passports, as long as the visa is valid, not damaged, and is the appropriate type of visa required for your principal purpose of travel.

Both passports (the valid and the expired one with the visa) should be from the same country and type. When you arrive at the United States port of entry (POE) the Customs and Border Protection Immigration Officer will check your visa in the old passport and if s/he decides to admit you into the United States they will stamp your new passport with an admission stamp along with the annotation “VIOPP” (visa in other passport).

Do not try to remove the visa from your old passport and stick it into the new valid passport. If you do so, your visa will no longer be valid.

How long am I authorized to stay in the U.S.?

At the port of entry, upon granting entry to the U.S., the Department of Homeland Security, US immigration inspector, provides you a small white card, Form I-94, Arrival-Departure Record in your passport. Visa Waiver

Attorney Gail S. Seeram, Program travelers receive Form 1-94W. On this form, the U.S. immigration inspector records either a date or “D/S” (duration of status). If your I94 contains a specific date, then that is the date by which you must leave the United States. Your Form I-94, or I94W is a very important document to keep in your passport, since it shows your permission to be in the U.S. If I have dual citizenship, which passport should I use for travel to the U.S.?

All U.S. citizens, even dual citizens/nationals, must enter and depart the United States using his/her U.S. passport.

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Kaieteur News

Sunday March 10, 2013

COI came very close to a waste of time Leader of the Opposition David Granger has expressed disappointment in the conclusion of the Commission of Inquiry into the Linden shooting; describing the whole episode as coming, “close to a waste of time.”

Granger is of the view that the COI report lacks a penetrative analysis of the police performance since they have now been held culpable for the shootings that occurred in Linden on July 18, last year.

The Opposition leader believes that the report offered by the five-member team was inadequate and did not reach the mandate that the Commission had set out for its self. “The report as a whole is inadequate,” he said. “It did not investigate thoroughly its own mandate.”

Granger said that what was most striking is that the report came to the conclusion that the police were responsible for the shootings, but no connect was made in relation to that.

He argued that the police said that they were aware that a crowd of 800 had assembled, but they sent 16 policemen.

What that meant, Granger opined, is that “there were simply not enough policemen to deal with the large crowd.”

Granger noted that half of the half unit sent to Linden by the police force was made up of Special Constables who he insisted, “did not have sufficient training in dispersing such a large crowd.”

Granger said that the Commission of Inquiry was very weak. “It simply did not have a penetrative analysis of the performance of the police force. Now if they know that the police force was the agency that did the shooting, there is no report indicating how many rounds of

…report lacks penetrative analysis of police performance-Granger

Luncheon -Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon ammunition were discharged, how many canisters of tear smoke were discharged and whether the police could account for all of the ammunition that was discharged.”

“I am very dissatisfied with the report; it was extremely weak,” he reiterated. “It did not provide the quality of analysis that we require.

The compensation was another scandal. I was horrified at the low level of compensation which was offered.” Granger continued that, “It seemed as if they (Commissioners) were doing these victims a favour.

“Once the COI had come to the conclusion that the police were responsible, there should have been a more intensive determination of which police were actually responsible, how much ammunition was used, where the ammunition came from and the victims should not have been made to suffer twice.”

Jamaican born, Justice Lensley Wolfe O.J., Mr. K.D. Knight S.C, Trinidad and Tobago national Ms. Dana

Solomon -Region 10 Chairman Sharma Solomon Seetahal S.C. along with Guyana’s former Court of Appeal Judge, Claudette Singh and former Chancellor of the Judiciary and current Chairman of the Police Complaints Authority Cecil Kennard and Justice Claudette Singh conducted the Inquiry into the Linden shooting.

The report from the Commissioners which was recently handed over to President Donald Ramotar, exonerated Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee, who was initially accused of giving orders to shoot protestors. The police were found to have acted on their own, shooting to death three protestors and injuring several others with tear gas, live rounds and rubber bullets.

The organizers of the community’s intended fiveday protest were also criticized by the Commissioners who indicated that had the protest organizers acted differently towards the

Granger- Opposition Leader David Granger blocking of the Mackenzie / Wismar Bridge, the incident may have been avoided.

Chairman of the Linden community, Sharma Solomon, on Thursday expressed his

disappointment with the COI compensation suggested for the family of the deceased and injured persons. Solomon charged that the compensation recommended was “unjust and disrespectful”. He highlighted his intention to seek legal advice on the matter.

He also asked the police to apprehend and lay criminal charges against those officers who may be responsible for the events of July 18.

Head of the Presidential S e c r e t a r i a t , D r. R o g e r Luncheon, has since said that the government is likely to award compensation only as dictated by the Commission of Inquiry. According to Luncheon, the administration would not bow to criticism of the compensation package, but would award it as written by the Commissioners.

Luncheon said that the government also accepted,

though grudgingly and “with a drop of salt”, the conclusion of the Commission that the shooting was done by the Police.

He said that it was a case of the Commissioners saying “We don’t have anyone else to blame, so let’s blame you, the Police.”

Seventy-one witnesses including Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee; Top Cop, Leroy Brumell; families of the victims, Members of Parliament and even Head of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), Winston Brassington had testified.

Justice Lensley Wolfe, in his capacity as chairman of the Commission said that, “267 paragraphs could by no means be daunting for any reader because (the report) is “well written”.

He urged that, the recommendations be given the “consideration it deserves”.

Celebrating the Women of Guyana!

By Cathy Hughes, M.P. As we celebrated “International Women’s Day 2013" I stood proud of the many achievements the women of Guyana have made to our country for decades.

Guyana’s rich history highlights the valuable contributions of our women, who in all spheres of life and in an array of professions have toiled and built a nation we can be proud of.

As far back as 1948, Kowsilla was killed while struggling for better wages. In the early 1950s we remember that in the struggle for Universal Adult Suffrage, the women of Guyana stood tall and were amongst the first to secure the right to vote in the Caribbean.

Our Women of Excellence then like Winifred Gaskin and Janet Jagan in these early days, went on to form the Women’s Economic Organisation, which later became the Women’s Progressive Organisation, promoting the development of women in our society and their empowerment.

Today we recognize the contributions of thousands of Guyanese women who toil for long hours, often at wage levels lower than their male counterparts, to support their families and to build the numerous successful small businesses they operate today. They are the important caregivers who build our community and volunteer as members of numerous non-governmental organisations which play an integral role in shaping our country.

Today we salute them all and recognize that despite these achievements there is much still to be done as Guyanese women face the scourge of rising domestic violence and the resulting loss of life which continues to impact adversely on our families. We must find urgent solutions to these issues as we move forward.

As we reflect on our progress, we are justified in celebrating our women.

Few places in the world can boast a former

Cathy Hughes female President, Vice President, Chief Justice and a Chancellor of the Judiciary who went on to become the first female Judge at the Caribbean Court of Justice!

With an array of competent female judges and magistrates, we are confident that the focus on socially conscious legislation will ensure higher moral and ethical standards.

Traditionally, women have a greater degree of tolerance and understanding, which persists even in the most difficult of times.

The ability to hold on to hope, to transcend political differences, to shape peace agreements, and to do what is right for the greater good of our Nation, are all the qualities we celebrate in our women today.

Now more than ever we recognize the important role Guyanese women must play as we seek to promote fairness, justice and compromise instead of perpetual conflict.

Let your voices be heard, Ladies! Be proud. We have much to celebrate and still much more work to be done!

Sunday March 10, 2013

Kaieteur News

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SUNDAY SPECIAL US$24M IN MARRIOTT CAN PAY 8% INCREASE TO GPL WORKERS UNTIL 2053 While the government is unable to find $120 million more to meet salary increases for workers of Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL), it is finding billions of dollars to plug into a Marriott hotel it has failed to justify.

It is a situation that Parliamentarian Joseph Harmon calls criminal, and wants Winston Brassington, the man who presides over both GPL and the Marriott project, to “go to jail.”

Brassington is chairman of the board of GPL) and also head of Atlantic Hotels Incorporated, the company he created to build the Marriott.

On Thursday, Brassington said that GPL is broke, and cannot pay even a five percent increase in salaries.

“This is the same man who is spending billions of dollars in taxpayers’ money in a hotel that we don’t have any use for? This is craziness. This man should go to jail!”

Harmon declared.

The pay sheet for the 700 workers on strike adds up to G$1.5 billion. If the government would use the US$24 million it is spending on the Marriott to pay GPL workers, it would be able to do so for the next 40 years.

GOVT. RETAINS MINIMAL SHARES IN NEW GPC, HAND IN HAND TRUST Government may have been in a serious conflict of interest situation when it retained shares in two companies it privatized and

Kaieteur News

afterwards doled out contracts to them to the tune of billions of dollars. The two companies are Hand In Hand Trust Corporation Inc. and New GPC Inc. In the case of New GPC, a company that has been under scrutiny over the billions of dollars it received to deliver pharmaceuticals and other related supplies to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) and Ministry of Health, Government retained 10 per cent of the company…shares that were worth $76M. In Hand In Hand Trust, the 10 per cent shares were worth $25M, according to the 2010 report of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Inc. (NICIL), a state-owned company that manages Government assets and which has been under fire for some questionable deals.

Several senior government officials, including the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, and Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon, sit on NICIL’s board. Both are also part of the Cabinet of Ministers which approves government contracts.

MONDAY EDITION BEATING OF CIVILIANS AT MARUDI… TOP COP ORDERS ‘IMMEDIATE INVESTIGATION’, VOWS ACTION Commissioner of Police Leroy Brumell has ordered an immediate investigation into the beating of civilians by policemen at Marudi and vowed that action will be taken against the ranks who have already been identified.

“I have ordered the Commander of F Division to conduct an inquiry. I want a proper investigation. I can’t let that go down the drain,” a clearly upset Brumell told Kaieteur News last Sunday.

“We know who the ranks are. They are coming out tomorrow (Monday). I told the Commander that I want an investigation and that we will take action, I can assure you.”

Brumell was particularly concerned about reports that a child was among those assaulted. The incident occurred on Saturday when police ranks accompanied officials from the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) to clear several illegal miners from the Marudi mining district.

A photograph published in the Kaieteur News Sunday Special showed a police corporal inflicting blows on civilians who were lying on the trail to protest their removal. A woman and her sons were reportedly among those beaten. An even more graphic video, posted on YouTube, shows the cursing policeman clubbing and dragging the civilians, while some of his colleagues, and other men in plainclothes, stood with guns at the ready.

GUYANA’S CORRUPTION ANATTRACTIVE OPPORTUNITY FOR FOREIGN MINING FIRMS – COHA A major international think tank is claiming that Canadian mining companies not only exploit “large stock of natural resources” in Guyana but they also bring “waves of unwelcomed

corruption.”

The heavy interest of foreign multinationals in Guyana’s natural resources is not surprising, as the unstable and corrupt political environment presents an attractive opportunity for foreign firms looking to take advantage of the country’s rotting political and economic institutions,” said the Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) in a statement.

“The majority of this corruption is the product of decades-long dependence on foreign capital and restrictive macroeconomic policies, as well as governmental inefficiencies and an ethnically-divided society,” it added. COHA claimed that alleged corruption in the mining industry is not simply restricted to Guyana’s borders but is also present on Canadian soil.

It pointed to “multiple obstacles foreigners face” in the Canadian legal system, “where it is nearly impossible for foreign citizens to bring lawsuits involving egregious environmental and human rights violations in Canadian courts.

TUESDAY EDITION $200M REPORTEDLY DOLED OUT FOR MARRIOTT’S SUPERVISION Government is reportedly paying more than US$1M ($200M) for the supervision of the Marriott-branded hotel that it is building at Kingston.

The US$51M project has been generating controversy and although in full construction mode at its Kingston location, the many burning questions have been keeping government on the back foot.

It is the norm that large projects of the state would be supervised by either Government engineers or a firm hired for this specific purpose. This is so for the $3B relief canal that is built at Hope, East Coast Demerara,

Sunday March 10, 2013

and the access roads to the Amaila Falls hydro project.

The lucrative US$1M contract to supervise the hotel’s construction was reportedly awarded to one Romesh Budhram, who is reportedly based in the US. GPL STRIKE OFF, MATTER TO GO TO ARBITRATION Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) employees who were on strike for six days returned to work on Tuesday.

The National Association of Agricultural Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) will move swiftly to have the matter adjudicated. The Union representing hundreds of employees, and the GPL management, were unable to come to a compromise for the benefit of the workers.

Labour Minister Dr. Nanda Gopaul instructed that the employees end their strike and return to work Tuesday so that the matter could be sent to arbitration. The strike saw the closure of the power company’s commercial offices.

According to General Secretary of NAACIE, Kenneth Joseph, the Minister’s decision is law, so the Union has no say in accepting or rejecting this decision. Two Wednesdays ago, employees, with guidance from the Union, downed tools over a five percent across the board allinclusive package. This included a one percent across the board increase. This was rejected by the Union which is demanding an eight percent across the board increase.

But, GPL is adamant in its position claiming that it cannot afford the five percent package being offered much less the eight percent. It claims that high fuel price is a burden. In addition, it may have to increase its contribution to the employees’ pension fund with the Hand In

Hand Trust Company. However, the Union is of a different contention.

NAACIE believes that the company could afford to pay the demanded increase because it recently accessed an $11B loan.

WEDNESDAY EDITION HUGO CHAVEZ DIES AT 58 President Hugo Chavez was a fighter. The former paratroop commander and fiery populist waged continual battle for his socialist ideals and outsmarted his rivals time and again, defeating a coup attempt, winning re-election three times and using his country’s vast oil wealth to his political advantage. A selfdescribed “subversive,” Chavez fashioned himself after the 19th Century independence leader Simon Bolivar and renamed his country the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

He called himself a “humble soldier” in a battle for socialism and against U.S. hegemony. He thrived on confrontation with Washington and his political opponents at home, and used those conflicts to rally his followers. Almost the only adversary it seemed he couldn’t beat was cancer.

He died Tuesday in Caracas at 4:25 local time after his prolonged illness. He was 58. During more than 14 years in office, his leftist politics and grandiose style polarized Venezuelans. The barrelchested leader electrified crowds with his booming voice, and won admiration among the poor with government social programs and a folksy, nationalistic style.

FARMERS TO RECEIVE $53M OWED BY MAHAICONY RICE MILLS Farmers owed by Mahaicony Rice Mills Limited for paddy at Village (Continued on page 16)

Hugo Chavez

Sunday March 10, 2013

Kaieteur News

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OPPOSITION INPUT IN THE BUDGET IS A GOODWILL GESTURE If both the opposition and the government understood where each other was coming from, it would reduce the level of political antagonism between the two sides.

The political temperature is likely to increase in the weeks ahead as we approach that dreaded national Budget which the government - with justification - believes it has a right to develop and over which the opposition feel they have the final say.

Both sides cannot have it their own way. If protracted differences are to be avoided, there has to be better understanding of each other’s role.

The opposition may feel that the only real parliamentary weapon that is at their disposal in order to extract concessions from the government has to do with the exercise of their majority of one which is required to pass the Budget Appropriations Bill. But this does not give the opposition the right to be involved in developing the Budget.

Having the opposition’s input in the Budget is a gesture of goodwill on the part of government. The opposition, however, tends to feel that they have a right, because of their majority of one, to set terms and to make threats about what is likely to

happen should those terms not be obeyed.

The opposition thinks in terms of exercising power and not in terms of being the alternative government and of exercising political oversight, which is really the true role of the opposition in a parliamentary democracy.

Unfortunately, the opposition has problems accepting this and more so since they feel that a minority government gives them the right to decide how the affairs of State should be run.

They do not understand that in Westminster systems of parliamentary democracy the affairs of State are run by the government and never by the opposition. This is where the problem lies, because the opposition is trying to dictate government policy rather than exercising oversight and offering alternatives to government’s policies.

This approach represents a misapplication of the role of the opposition.

The opposition is not the government and should not try to run the government from their legislative benches.

The tripartite talks are about to resume - and not surprisingly so, since there is need for some agreement to be reached on the Budget.

The opposition wanted to be involved in drafting the

Dem boys seh...

Money does disappear in Guyana Donald cry de other day when he go to Chavez funeral.

When de water run down he face de whole of Venezuela claim how he did really like Chavez and because of that he can keep Essequibo. That is when de new president mek de statement that he country don’t believe in war and because it believe in peace he see Donald presence as proof.

He seh that he country gun always help Guyana but that he got to stop giving money because he sure that something does happen to de money.

Dem boys seh that if he only know he would mek some people in Guyana show he dem bank account. De new man name Maduro and he and Jagdeo is bout de same age. But that is wheh de similarity end.

Guyana building an airport but fuh some reason everything in Guyana does cost more than anywhere else. St Maarten had to full in piece of de Atlantic fuh get space. Then dem had to build a big apron fuh park nine big jet. De airport does handle eighteen jets every day and dem airport cost US$117 million.

Guyana ain’t got to full in any water and dem apron can only park five jets and besides de airport gun only tek about five jets every day but de airport gun cost US$150 million.

De hotel that gun cost US$50 million only cost US$27 million in Jamaica and de Jamaica hotel gun have more room.

That is why dem boys seh that Guyana is a problem when it come to money. Dem want to believe that de politicians honest but is de contractor who causing all de problem. Is dem does fix de price and de government does run fuh pay.

Maduro smile when he hear that. He know different because he got a big country and he got more money that Guyana can even dream about. He even seh that if some of dem Guyana politicians was in he Cabinet he country woulda be more poor than Guyana because de money woulda disappear.

Uncle Sam does mark every dollar it give to Guyana suh that it can trace de money. Is only China and India don’t worry wid small things like that because dem know that some of de money does come back.

Talk half and watch dem prices.

Budget. Fearful of what this example can do in the name of shared governance, the government was quick to indicate that it holds the right to prepare its own Budget, after consultations with various stakeholders.

The opposition is not interested in consultations.

They feel that they should be part of preparing the Budget.

There is no reason, however, why the two distinct postures - on the one hand by government in wanting to go it alone, and on the other hand the opposition in wanting to be part of the preparation of the Budget - should lead to the sort of antagonisms that we had last year.

One opposition party, the AFC, has submitted its Budget proposals and the response has been to the effect that the government will see if it can accommodate

any of these proposals in the Budget. As bad as the opposition has been in this country, this dismissive attitude by the government will only lead to further problems.

The AFC’s proposals are not feasible, but this does not mean that the government should simply say that they will see whether any of these proposals can be incorporated.

The government knows that none of the AFC’s Budget proposals will ever see the light of day, because they are not workable, or simply because the government believes that the AFC is using the Budget proposals to see if they can have some of their manifesto promises implemented.

Whichever way you twist it, the government needs the support of the opposition to ensure that this year’s

Budget is smoothly passed.

As such, it should make a more serious attempt to hammer out an agreement with the parliamentary opposition after the Budget is read. It is clear that the government will not entertain any serious pre-Budget consultations with the opposition, because it does not wish to impugn what it believes to be the government’s inherent right to table a PPP/C Budget.

The opposition should therefore relax until after the Budget speech is read and then make their demands. The government will be willing to talk then, not just because it has to, but also because this is the way it prefers these matters to proceed. It wants to table its own Budget.

This is how the government is thinking. It is not opposed to talks or negotiations; it just wants its

right to table its own Budget to be respected. After then it will talk!

If each side therefore makes a better effort to understand how the other is thinking and if each side accepts its defined role, then the public will not have to be placed under duress, wondering whether the opposition and government’s antics in the National Assembly will lead to new elections and all the nonsense that follows.

Page 14

Kaieteur News

Sunday March 10, 2013

The market vendor murders

By Michael Jordan Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that these two cases are connected. But some would say that it must be more than coincidence that two men, with pretty much the same backgrounds, ended up being murdered in the same way, two months apart, and being dumped in similar locations.

On November 25, 2009, a group of joggers running at the back of the Ocean View International Hotel, Liliendaal, spotted the body of a man lying on the seawall.

The victim was clad in his underpants and a t-shirt. He was also wearing a pair of slippers. A bag containing another pair of footwear and a cellular phone was near the body. Someone had slit his throat, and that person had also stabbed him in the face several times.

Police who visited the scene found a bloodstained rock nearby.

The victim was quickly identified as 39-year-old stage actor and Bourda Market vendor Joel Fraser, of 27 Laing Avenue, West Ruimveldt.

According to reports,

Joel Fraser

Elton Campbell

Fraser, called ‘Sweets,’ was last seen in the vicinity of Bourda Market just before midnight the day before. An associate in the acting fraternity had reportedly dropped him off there at around 23:00 hrs.

According to other reports, earlier that same night, Fraser had attended rehearsals for the comedy production “Nothing to Laugh About.” He had then left to attend the Mori J’von Comedy Jam rehearsals, a production in which he was playing an integral role Shortly after midnight, he reportedly called a female

friend and said that he was at the Bourda Market.

The motive, too, seemed unclear.

Some clues suggested robbery.

According to reports, the actor had a laptop computer and production material for the premiere of the Mori J’von Comedy Jam. The computer and material were missing.

But the ferocity of the attack on the victim, particularly the wounds to the face, seemed to suggest that revenge could be a motive. However, Fraser’s relatives and close friends all indicated that he had no enemies. Those who saw him

shortly before his demise said that he did not seem to be upset about anything. The whereabouts of the victim’s trousers also presented a mystery. Police would question two female associates of Fraser’s, but never came close to solving the case. Then two months later, on January 18, 2010, a man living in a shack near the Kingston seawall was strolling in the area when he spotted a body lying under a coconut tree.

The victim, a man of mixed ancestry, was clad in long khaki pants, brown striped shirt and a pair of black sandals. Both of his ears were pierced. The body had a gaping wound to the neck and multiple chop wounds to the hands. Police would surmise that the victim sustained the injuries to the hands while trying to ward off the attacker.

Detectives retrieved a cutlass a short distance from the corpse. The following day, relatives of the victim identified the slain man as 44year-old Elton Campbell, also

called Llewellyn Fitzgerald Campbell, of Lamaha Street, Kitty.

Like Joel Fraser, he was also a Bourda Market vendor.

One relative said that she had seen Campbell about a week before, at a relative’s birthday party at Plaisance, East Coast Demerara.

One vendor remembered seeing Campbell about three days before his murder.

According to the individual, the man had appeared to be in good spirits.

Some ranks remembered the murder of Joel Fraser and speculated whether there was a connection between the two cases.

The fact that Campbell’s trouser pockets were turned outwards when he was found also gave rise to speculation that he was robbed and slain.

But what was the victim doing in that dismal area?

There was talk that detectives were looking at the fact that one of the man’s close associates lives a short distance from where the body was found.

But, as in Joel Fraser’s case, no arrests were made.

Both cases remain unsolved.

If you have any information about this or any other unusual case, please contact Kaieteur News by letter or telephone at our Lot 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown offices. Our numbers are 22-58465, 2258458 and 22-58473. You need not disclose your identity.

You can also contact Michael Jordan at his email a d d r e s s mjdragon@hotmail.com.

The Hindu community will today be observing the festival of Maha Shiv Raatri.

Maha Shiv Raatri is said to be a deeply spiritual occasion for Hindus. The occasion is being celebrated on the 14th day in the Hindu month of Phalgun called Chaturdasi. It is a day consecrated for the worship of ‘Bhagwan Shiva’.

On a day like today, hundreds, if not thousands, would flock Mandirs all across the country for its services. Many also travel from far off parts of the country to visit particularly, the Cove and John Ashram.

In explaining the features of this occasion, President of the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha, Pandit Reepu Daman Persaud, has said that on this day, devotees will be performing a ‘Puja’ to Bhagwan Shankar starting from 6:00 a.m. and every ‘prahar’ thereafter until the day is completed. Maha Shiv Raatri is believed to be an opportunity for aspirants to do homage to Shankar Bhagwan both in His Sakaar and Nirakaar roop – personal and impersonal; form and formless.

Large numbers of devotes worship Shiva through the

medium of the Murti and the Lingam. The Lingam connotes Formlessness while the Murti has a Form and features symbolically many aspects of Shiva Shakti.

“Shiva is unchanging consciousness. He is the destructive aspect of the Trinity.

In destruction there is automatic re-creation. He is the Supreme reality. He is eternal, formless, omnipresent, one without a second. He is not limited by time.

Shiva is infinite bliss and infinite intelligence. Shiv Raatri emphasizes the omniscience of God and the Shiva Lingam or the shapeless stone used in His worship connotes his formlessness.

“The Lingam, unlike other images, has neither head nor limb. The symbol denotes something which has neither beginning nor end. The symbol is used as an aid to bring together our mental comprehension of Shiva who is the motive power within.

This symbol like others used in our puja is simply the means not the end. It will be recalled that Lord Rama consecrated the Lingam and did puja before he crossed to Lanka for the combat with Ravan. He sits on a tiger’s skin symbolic

that he has conquered anger.

The snake around his neck is a reflection of the Kundalini Shakti (power). From the Damaru Lord Shiva has produced the Sanskrit language.

The threestreamed chandan on his forehead reminds of the Trimurti – Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. Devotees are absorbed during the day of Shiv Raatri in vigorous fasting and Meditation.”

Persaud added that in the Maha Shiv Puran, the Panch Akshara Mantra are provided for chanting and it is done in the form of Akhand (incessant) Kirtan and thus all the devotees will be absorbed in the chanting of Om Namaha Shivaya. Bramha, Vishnu, and Mahesh constitute the Trinity – God’s creation, sustenance, and dissolution. Shri Ram in his seventh incarnation of Bhagwan Vishnu and so as Shri Krishna both worshipped Shiva Bhagwan during their sojourn on this earth.”

The Guyana Hindu Sabha is calling on all affiliates and Mandirs to organize appropriate Satsangh to commemorate the deeply spiritual day.

Satsangh will be held at Dharmic Rama Krishna Mandir, Barr Street, Kitty at 8:00 a.m. and Shri Krishna Mandir, Campbellville at 7:00 p.m Puja will be conducted

by Pandit Reepu Daman Persaud who will be by Pandit Jagmohan Persaud and Pandit Bramanand Prashad.

Hindus to observe Maha Shiv Raatri today

Sunday March 10, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 15

Ravi Dev Column

Corporal Punishment?

The Parliamentary Special Select Committee tasked with undertaking consultations on the abolishment of the death penalty and corporal punishment, and with decriminalising of lesbian, gay and transgender behaviours, has begun work on its agenda.

It has begun its work in what it probably thought was the least contentious area: advertisements have appeared asking for submissions to ascertain, “the attitude of Guyanese, especially parents and children, to corporal punishment and its possible abolition”.

As one who (yes, yes) was once a child exposed to corporal punishment in schools during the fifties and sixties when ‘spare the rod, spoil the child’ was the guiding mantra, I have some thoughts on the matter.

As a parent of two sets of children - one in the States and one here - that also gave me a

When people talk about bad luck they are merely trying to explain that which they cannot understand.

For example, when a fire strikes, then people would look for a reason. They cannot understand that each has a role to play in the scheme of things.

The river disaster that is going to affect the lives of some school children is merely the offshoot of the thing that seems to be affecting children across the country.

It is merely the mind of one child who has a weak personality affecting the life

perspective that I can share.

I attended the Uitvlugt Church of Scotland School when it was still a ‘church’ school.

Whipping was mandatory and very public: the cane was used on the hands for minor infractions while ‘benching’ (boys) and ‘spanning’ (of the skirts, for girls) was applied for more ‘egregious’ ones.

When in line to get one’s dose, sniffling bursting into wails moved downstream like a Mexican wave.

For really stepping over the line (like ‘skulking’ or ‘playing hooky’) the headmaster would pull all the blackboards aside and have the whole school enjoy the spectacle. The scene was reminiscent of the public hangings that I saw in the ‘cowboy’ movies.

As one who was considered ‘bright’ - and more to the point, who also stuck to the straight and narrow, I was spared a whipping until Second Standard (now Grade

4). There was a subject called “Mental” where the teacher would pose ‘arithmetic’ questions that had to be answered by computing them “in the head” within a set number of seconds.

For reasons that I still cannot fathom, I got ten out of ten wrong. The teacher (Miss July, I still remember) took this as a personal affront on her teaching prowess, flew into a towering rage, and gave me such a hiding that even my battle-hardened friends were agog.

She actually jumped on the bench to apply some blows to my head. I never lived that down for the rest of my days at primary school: the ‘whiz’ had gotten a taste of the medicine.

I still remember the feeling of dread at the randomness and viciousness of the beatings that my friends endured. But they became physically immune to the whippings. I am sure that most were scarred for life. Sadly

of the others. ***** A group of young criminals will pose problems for the rest of a small community just outside the city. A lack of parental supervision will see one young man stabbing his

colleague.

At the intervention of the police there will be those who will argue that these are children.

However caterpillars do become large insects.

A juvenile detention centre beckons. ***** People will say that there are too many vehicles on the streets. What they will ignore is the fact that indiscipline rules the land.

A smash-up is going to not only cost the owners of the vehicles, it will cause pain for two East Demerara families.

Colleague stabs boat captain An argument between two boat captions plying trade from between the Vreed-enHoop and Stabroek Market wharf ended in a brutal fashion on Friday with one of them nursing three stab wounds to his body.

Injured is 43-year-old Nawab Mohamed of Lot 10 Sea View, Cornelia Ida, West Coast Demerara.

According to reports, passengers had just disembarked from Mohamed’s boat at the Stabroek Market Stelling when he (Mohamed) and his bowman had a little conversation as to where they should moor the boat because there was no space available.

“Me and my bowman were talking and the captain, Richard, for the boat which

Mohamed was next to me start cursing and telling me we talking his name and we had a little argument. When I turn he jump into my boat with a knife and start firing stabs,” the boat captains of five years noted.

He explained that he tried to avoid getting injured by the aggressive man by using his hands as a barrier. He sustained two stab wounds to his left hand and one to his right foot.

He was eventually taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation and was treated for his wounds.

Yesterday, an upset Mohamed said that while his colleague was inflicting the wounds “he was saying ‘you know how long I got you in my mind.’”

Kaieteur News was told that the man accused of wounding Mohamed had injured two other persons before. “This morning (yesterday) I see him and he tell me them police can’t do him anything.”

most grew up to become “beaters” - of their children for sure - and probably of their wives; beating was the way to instil ‘discipline’.

My father used the technique (sparingly, but the threat was always there) on the rest of my nine siblings, but I was spared.

I grew up with my grandparents who had probably mellowed - but also who could never catch me for infractions such as ‘stealing’ the neighbours’ fruits.

I have never spanked either set of children. The first son and daughter are now adults who did quite well, thank you.

The only time I came close to spanking was to slap my son on his buttock for something he’d done when he was about six. I’ve never forgotten his look of surprise and hurt. In Guyana, the schools by now had

graduated to use of the cane only by the headmaster or one senior teacher. My “Guyana kids’ were each spanked a couple of times - and they report that they were more struck by the ‘unfairness’ of the experience. Their friends, they report, also got inoculated.

So what are my recommendations on corporal punishment? I do believe that it is cruel and inhuman punishment - and children are human, I believe.

In my estimation, there’s no doubt that children have to be taught to obey the rules - that’s what ‘socialisation’ is all about, isn’t it? But that discipline has to be inculcated by parents and teachers who practice what they preach.

All too frequently, those who transmit values do so only to who talk about them.

Do our teachers really display a love of their subjects?

Ravi Dev

If they do, then they don’t have to resort to whips. If ‘learning’ is important to children, it is up to the creativity of the teachers to make that evident to the children. Values, including the love of learning, cannot be transmitted through exhortations: even accompanied by the ‘rod’.

If we want children to become functioning and adjusted members of society, we must spare the rod and become models for the behaviour we want to pass on.

Students take Education Officer to task …on visit to Office of the President Despite the assurance that there is no shortage of furniture in schools in Berbice, Region Six Education Officer, Shafiran Bhajan has been caught on the wrong foot again. Her assurances came earlier in the year at a press conference held by the Regional Chairman and the Region Six administration. The situation on the ground seems totally different.

The Regional Educational Officer who has been, from time to time, involved in a volume of controversial issues over the years, was recently exposed in a big way by students from a Corentyne Primary school who were on a visit to Office of The President.

Speaking to the shortage of furniture in the school, an issue which has been plaguing the region over the years, Ms. Bhajan had stated

unambiguously that furniture shortage in the region was a thing of the past. She had also said that schools have been equipped with furniture not only for students but for teachers also.

The students took the opportunity to complain to no other than the President and his staff about the school not having adequate furniture, and the woes they endure sometimes in finding accommodation in their quest to acquire an education.

They also complained about the school-feeding programme, the shortage of biscuits and textbooks.

Office of the President allegedly subsequently telephoned the school and made inquiries as to whether the students’ allegations had any credence, to which the response was affirmative.

This and other atrocities

including school children drinking on school tours, forced acting Education Minister Dr. Frank Anthony to speed to Berbice to investigate.

In almost all the schools in the region students are forced to take their own chairs.

The Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) of the schools have from time to time been raising the concerns over the lack of adequate furniture for students at the learning institutions.

There have also been clashes with the administration of the New Amsterdam Multilateral School and the school board over the issue.

School officials had stated that a decision to have students walk with their own furniture was made by the board. The board has strenuously denied this.

While at some other schools students have been seen using window sills as desks, some have been seen sitting on the window sills and writing on their laps.

Page 16

From page 12 70, Corentyne, and at Paradise and Vilvoorden, Essequibo Coast were promised payment of $53M on Wednesday and Thursday by SeaRice Caribbean Guyana.

Management of SeaRice Caribbean Guyana made this announcement Tuesday at John Fernandes Wharf, Water Street.

According to Fitzroy McLeod, Financial Controller, the company purchased Mahaicony Rice Mills Limited’s assets at Paradise and Vilvoorden, hence inheriting the debts. It was noted that as part of an agreement concluded between the Ministry of Agriculture, Guyana Rice Development Board and SeaRice Caribbean Guyana, payments would have been made at #70 Village Wednesday and continue at Paradise and Vilvoorden on Thursday. The company has been in the rice milling business for years and wants to begin operating the mills and receiving centres at Black Bush Polder, #70 Village, Vilvoorden and Paradise from this crop.

McLeod related that the company is aiming to produce 20,000 tons of rice with the acquired assets, and targets the Venezuelan, European and Jamaican markets.

THURSDAY EDITION MARRIOTT SUPERVISORY FIRM DISQUALIFIED IN US The US firm which was reportedly handed a $200M contract to supervise the construction of the Marriottbranded hotel in Kingston, has been disqualified from tendering for certain state contracts in New York, US. According to US news reports, M.A. Angeliades, of Long Island, New York, pleaded guilty in June 2010 to shortchanging 300 workers it had employed on nearly a dozen substation construction jobs. According to sources close to the Ministry of Finance in Guyana, the US firm is the same one retained by Atlantic Hotels Inc. (AHI), the government-owned company that is overseeing the hotel construction.

M.A. Angeliades has reportedly since hired Guyanese-born New Yorkbased quantity surveyor, Romesh Budhram, to supervise the US$51M project. Budhram has a local company, RBIL, listed as being registered at 111 Regent Road, Bourda. He is also listed as the Project Manager of Clearview Development Corporation, a US company.

Kaieteur News

Sunday March 10, 2013

According to a correspondence seen by Kaieteur News, AHI’s head, Winston Brassington last August wrote the firm, for the attention of Budhram, offering a US$1,068,000. (approx. G$213.6M) deal.

CHINA RAILWAY TIPPED FOR ‘FIP’S FLOPPED AMAILA FALLS ROAD With ‘Fip’ Motilall failing dismally to complete the US$15.4M contract he was handed by former President Bharrat Jagdeo, the contract is moving from hand to hand and may soon end up in the hands of the Chinese contractor.

Discussions are ongoing with China Railway First Company Limited to assist the hastening of the completion of the Amaila Falls Road. The road will facilitate the transportation of equipment and personnel to construct the Amaila Falls Hydropower Plant.

China Railway is the contractor identified to construct the Amaila Falls Hydropower Plant. Sithe Global, the developers of the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project, had expressed confidence in the ability of China Railway to build the plant in Guyana.

In July 2010, Government signed off on a loan deal to build the project and formalise the cooperation between the Guyana Power and Light Inc, Sithe Global, China Development Bank and China Railway.

Though Transport and Hydraulics Minister, Robeson Benn, would not divulge too much about the project, he said that the road is massively delayed, but works are ongoing. He said that the contractor, Hassan Pasha, executing works in section seven, from the Kuribrong Bridge to Amaila Falls, needs help. It is this section that China Railway may have to take up part responsibility for.

FRIDAY EDITION US-SUSPENDED MARRIOTT SUPERVISORY FIRM… BACKGROUND CHECKS CONDUCTED? – APNU ASKS Government’s decision to hire a United States-based firm that has been blacklisted by authorities in New York from participating in any of its school contracts until mid2015, has alarmed the main opposition. According to Member of Parliament for A Partnership For National Unity (APNU), Joseph Harmon, it is clear that government is continuously making a number of serious errors in its due diligence of contractors and consultants

meet the expected quality that exists at the international level.

Also at the meeting Thursday were GTUC’s General Secretary, Lincoln Lewis; President Norris Witter and members of the affiliates of the GTUC, and accountant/columnist Christopher Ram, who is an advisor to the GTUC.

Dead: Nicola Bridgelall

Tapir H 6505 in the police station compound after the accident that it hires.

M.A. Angeliades, a New York-based US firm, was reportedly handed a US$1M ($200M) contract to supervise the US$51M construction at Kingston. It reportedly then appointed Guyana-born, US-based Romesh Budhram, a quantity surveyor, to represent them on the Kingston worksite.

However, it seemed that Atlantic Hotels Inc. (AHI) never did background checks or conducted what is known as due diligence on M.A. Angeliades.

In 2011, the School Construction Authority of New York, which was building a number of schools in the area, disqualified the firm from participating in its projects until mid-2015. A simple check using the search engine Google, would reveal that M.A. Angeliades was one of the companies disqualified by the authority.

As a matter of fact, it was first on the list.

In addition to that, there were a number of news items that disclosed that executives of the firm pleaded guilty to charges in 2011 that they shortchanged 300 workers and were ordered, under a deal with authorities, to step down for this admitted wrongdoing.

EDUCATION ISA BUSINESS NOT LOVE, UG VICE-CHANCELLOR ASSERTS “If you want quality degrees you will pay for it; nobody gets quality for free.

If students can’t pay for it, somebody’s got to pay for it; either the private sector or scholarships, somebody’s got to pay for it.”

This was the emphatic assertion of newly-appointed Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Professor Jacob Opadeyi, who was at the time seeking to justify plans in the pipelines to increase tuition costs at the tertiary institution.

In his inaugural press conference held Thursday at the University’s Turkeyen Campus Education Lecture Theatre, the Vice Chancellor alluded to the need for qualified lecturers who would have attained Bachelor’s, Master ’s and Doctorate degrees. He insisted that “somebody has to pay them for that. If you don’t want to pay them for that, then you will get low quality teachers.”

“How can you get a good lawyer to come and teach law in this university? You have to pay that person to stop all practices and come and teach here. If you want a good medical doctor to teach here you have to pay that person to stop all private practices…and somebody has got to pay for it.”

Professor Opadeyi related that it currently costs the university some $355,000 to educate each student, while the tuition costs stand at just over $120,000 for most.

Although unable to precisely state the deficit at the University, the Vice Chancellor speculated that it is somewhere in the vicinity of $300 million.

SATURDAY EDITION UNIONS, GOVT.AGREE LOCALS MUST BE GIVEN FIRST PREFERENCE ON STATE PROJECTS Government has agreed to put systems in place to

ensure locals are given first preference to jobs in stateowned projects.

Following a meeting Thursday between a team led

by Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) at the Critchlow Labour College, a joint statement was issued Friday.

The issue of locals being given first preference came to the fore a few weeks ago after revelations that the construction of the US$51M Marriott-branded hotel involved mostly Chinese workers.

Government later explained that the contractor, Shanghai Construction Group, had the discretion under its contract to hire its own workforce. They also said that a skills shortage in Guyana and language barrier posed challenges, forcing the decision to hire Chinese workers.

The issue had sparked protests by unions and saw Government claiming that the Chinese, who have been financing a number of large government projects, were being targeted.

According to the joint statement Friday by Government and GTUC, it was agreed at the meeting that rules and systems be put in place that “citizens at all times be given an opportunity to be employed in appropriate jobs before consideration be given to foreigners”.

The administration, in the statement, reiterated its position that in the absence of sufficient appropriate skills, the issue must be looked at within the context of Guyana’s national policy of training and education to

CHILD KILLED, SEVERAL INJURED IN TWOVEHICLE COLLISION A 13-year-old student of the Tagore Memorial Secondary School on the Corentyne lost her life while travelling on her way to school in a Tapir shortly after 08:00 hrs Friday.

In what might have been the first fatal accident in a very long time involving Tapirs, the two- vehicle smash- up occurred along the treacherous Number 68 Village turn resulting in several persons—mainly school children on their way to school—and a teacher, being injured.

However, Nicola Artie Bridgelall was not so lucky.

She was due to migrate to St. Kitts next Friday.

Reports state that one vehicle, H 6505 was heading north to Tagore School when it collided with another HA 2572, heading south.

“The other one [HA 2572] turn in front of him, and when he turned, he ‘draw brakes’ and hit the other one [HA 2572] on its side,” stated an eyewitness.

The two drivers, who both reside at Number 72 Village, were taken into custody at the Springlands Police Station. The driver of HA 2572, reportedly tried to flee the scene but was quickly accosted by villagers.

That same driver is reported to have been “banned [by police] from driving” a few months ago.

Three passengers along with the driver and conductor were in the Tapir H 6505 while reports suggest that two passengers, excluding the driver occupied HA 2572.

The child’s mother, Pushmawattie ‘Navita’ Bridgelall, was too traumatized to speak about the incident. The dead child’s grandmother, Priya, said that the family heard about the accident shortly after 08:00 hrs Friday and rushed to the scene.

The child left home in the usual manner and took her brother to a nearby nursery school, after which she boarded the vehicle. “We heard that the driver who knock her down was hiding in another Tapir, but the police catch him and took him down”, she related.

Sunday March 10, 2013

Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

Sunday March 10, 2013

The Linden Technical Institute, a fixture

By Enid Joaquin.

Since its establishment in May 1958 the Linden Technical Institute, formerly the Demba Trades School, has remained one of those inexorable fixtures of the landscape of Mackenzie. It continues to be inextricably intertwined with the bauxite industry.

And like the industry, the institution also went through a number of name changes, until it was taken over by the Ministry of Education in 1996, when it was renamed the Linden Technical Institute (LTI).

Before this take over, the school was managed by Demba, Guybau, Guymine and Linmine (the same company despite the name changes) and trained students exclusively for the bauxite company.

As such, emphasis was mainly on the mechanical/ electrical engineering and automotive skills training of apprentices that the company needed.

Later, a programme called instrumentation, and carpentry and joinery were added to the skills training that could be accessed at the Institute.

With the takeover by the Ministry, the curriculum became more broad-based.

There was the introduction of

business related subjects such as computer science, telecommunications, EDPM, and radio and electronics servicing.

LTI has two computer laboratories with over three dozen computers, but there is still need for more. There is also need for other equipment to improve efficiency in this area.

The advent of the business courses has seen a steady increase in the female population at the institution that had once been male dominated.

There are more than 250 students enrolled at LTI on a full time basis, but there are several others who attend part time.

The institute also serves as the Linden branch of the Institute of Distance and Continuing Education.

False Concept Hector Anthony, a lecturer and past student at LTI, was quick to point out that the popular notion held by people that the ‘Trades school’ is for failures or school dropouts, is false.

“It really is a negative perception that is held by people that if you are not so smart or academically inclined then you go to the LTI, because here you don’t have to use your brain, just your hands.

“When you come from the

secondary schools with your CXCs it makes it so much easier. As a matter of fact, being the holder of CXC qualifications is one of the entry requirements for the institution.

However those who don’t have (CXCs) are given an entrance examination to write, to ascertain their level of academic proficiency.

“With that and the skills that they would acquire at LTI would of course make these students more marketable.”

Students of LTI are no longer trained solely to satisfy the skills requirement of the bauxite industry, even though the company still commits to taking more than a dozen apprentices from the institution annually.

The others are either absorbed by entities within the community, or seek employment elsewhere.

At present the institution is undergoing a massive rehabilitation programme.

There is the establishment of a new wing, and the rehabilitation of what is commonly known as the tools room, and the automotive section.

D’nelle Boyce, a lecturer in charge of the automotive section, said that the rehabilitation programme is to bring the institute up to speed with requirements for the Caribbean Vocational

Qualifications (CVQ), by providing the right environment and the requisite equipment.

At present LTI uses the Guyana Technical Education Examination (GTEE).

Three pieces of equipment--two metal lathes and a milling machine, were last year presented to the institution by Government.

This necessitated the total overhaul, including the installation of new electrical wiring and rehabilitation of the tools room, to accommodate the machinery.

Several pieces of old equipment were subsequently discarded.

Over the years students of the trades’ school would have built several components and furniture- both wooden and metal for their practical assignments.

The institution’s conference room is testimony to the diverse skills of the students who built it from scratch, did the electrical installation and painting and designed and built the furniture.

It is presently a small but integral piece of the infrastructure that the Principal, Mr. Denis Jaikara, proudly shows off.

Jaikara said that one of the projections of the institution is to build a showroom, where students’ handiwork could be

exhibited.

Such a venture, he points out, would enable members of the community and potential customers, to view the students’ handiwork and subsequently place orders.

Funds garnered would help the institution become self sufficient, he added.

Other projections include the collaboration with other mining entities, outside of the bauxite sector, for the production of certain machinery components, as well as the attachment of apprentices; and partnering with two Canadian colleges where the focus would be on training heavy duty operators in both the operation and maintenance of heavy duty equipment.

The latter aspect is expected to greatly enhance training techniques, and by extension the total development of the institution.

Not all work The Linden Technical Institute is however not about all work, as was recently demonstrated with their float presentation at the annual Mashramani Float parade on February 23 in Georgetown.

With the theme “Our Journey, Our Legacy”, the institution showcased in the royal colours of gold and purple, the rich history and

proud legacy of the institution.

The float consisted of a giant robot in the guise of a transformer, which was aimed at depicting the ‘transformative nature’ of LTI to cater to the technological advancement in the various industries.

It was also symbolic of the various disciplines offered at the institution, and students’ readiness for the world of work.

The costume was designed by a senior lecturer at the institution, Clairemonte Taitt, and built by the students, on the grounds which were converted into a mash camp.

Over the years LTI also served as the official “Mash camp’ where costumes were built for the huge contingents that formed the Guymine floats that invaded Georgetown in the early days, after Mashramani was started in Linden.

Apart from its skills and academic training, LTI has produced some of the best athletes at both the National and international levels.

These athletes constituted a formidable force in the “Guymine Games” in the past.

The institution thrives on its legacy of producing many of the best trade and craftsmen and technicians both at home and in the Caribbean.

Sunday March 10, 2013

Kaieteur News

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As Venezuelans mourn Chavez, election expected in April CARACAS (Reuters) Venezuela will likely hold a presidential election in midApril, sources said yesterday, as acting President Nicolas Maduro tries to benefit from an emotional outpouring for his late mentor, Hugo Chavez, and step into his shoes.

Multiple sources from the opposition and election board said April 14 was the probable date, though some in the government were pushing for the symbolic April 13 anniversary of Chavez’s return to power after a shortlived 2002 coup.

Maduro, a physically imposing former union leader who served as foreign minister and vice president under Chavez, has vowed to keep Chavez’s self-styled socialist revolution alive.

He is expected to face opposition leader Henrique Capriles, 40, the centrist governor of Miranda state who lost to Chavez in a vote last October.

Opinion polls have shown Maduro as the likely winner, but Chavez’s opponents were

impatient and said they wanted to be given a chance to end “Chavismo” at the voting booth.

“We want new elections now. We want change. We are tired of the Chavez era. It’s been 14 years,” said Yesenia Herrera, 33, a cook at a Chinese restaurant in an affluent quarter of Caracas.

Maduro was sworn in as acting president in Congress on Friday and handed the red, yellow and blue presidential sash.

“I asked (the election authority) to comply with legal and constitutional obligations and immediately call elections,” Maduro, 50, told Congress as he cemented his position as heir-in-waiting.

Chavez was immensely popular among the poor and they have vowed to back Maduro. Several million people have filed past his casket to pay their last respects and were still visiting him yesterday.

The Supreme Court had earlier ruled that Maduro did not need to step down in order

to campaign, but the move was denounced by opponents as a violation of the constitution and a “fraud.”

As Maduro spoke in Congress, residents of some wealthy neighborhoods of Caracas banged pots and pans in a traditional form of protest.

At one building in a wealthy corner of Caracas, people drank wine and whisky around a swimming pool, rejoicing at Chavez’s demise.

They toasted each other, “Happy goodbye, Chavez, we will not miss you!”

Chavez was a hero to millions of mostly humble supporters for using Venezuela’s oil wealth to finance heavy social spending during his rule, but he was seen as an autocrat by his opponents.

He died on Tuesday at age 58 after a two-year battle with cancer. ” T h e excluded and invisible, the ‘losers’ of savage capitalism, were made visible and victorious with

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad offers his condolences to Elena Frias, mother of Venezuela’s late President Hugo Chavez during the funeral service Friday. (Reuters)

Chavez,” Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said on Twitter.

Like communist leaders Lenin, Stalin and Mao, Chavez’s remains are to be embalmed and put on display “for eternity.”

An eclectic cast of celebrities, leftist and centerright presidents, and rogue leaders attended Chavez’s state funeral on Friday. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a close ally,

broke with protocol to kiss the coffin, while Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn was also in attendance.

It is likely to be a particularly bitter election campaign in the OPEC nation, which boasts the world’s largest oil reserves.

The opposition had accused the government of trampling on the constitution during its handling of Chavez’s battle with cancer, and is furious

that Maduro was allowed to take on the job of caretaker president while he campaigns for the job.

“This transgression is unprecedented in the history of the republic,” opposition lawmaker Maria Corina Machado said on Twitter.

Capriles called it an abuse of power.

“To become president, the people have to elect you,” he said on Friday. “No one elected Nicolas president.”

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Kaieteur News

Sunday March 10, 2013

T&T Police against plans to precept soldiers in war against crime PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - CMC – The Trinidad and Tobago parliament has started debating new legislation that would precept soldiers into the police service, but the move is being resisted not only by opposition legislators, but by police officers themselves who have described the initiative as a “serious catastrophic decision”.

The Police Social and Welfare Association (PSWA) has called for an urgent meeting with National Security Minister Austin Jack Warner while police officers have circulated a petition indicating that they view the decision to precept soldiers as a “serious, catastrophic decision that has the potential to initiate an irreversible trend of interference on the independence of the Trinidad

and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) and its operations”.

PSWA president Anand Ramesar said while the petition did not originate from the association, it nonetheless represents the views of his members.

Ramesar said the association was ready to meet with Warner as soon as possible, even though it had not been consulted on the move by the coalition People’s

Partnership government “on this very important matter”.

Ramesar said the association would be meeting next week and police officers were also hoping that acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams would “clear the air in terms of his position on the matter. “We expect a CoP to align himself with the views of the association, who will align itself with the views expressed by the

membership,” he added.

“The association believes anyone who is to be precepted must come under the authority of the CoP and must fall in line with the regulations that govern the TTPS. The association does not want a parallel authority exercising similar powers as that of the TTPS, as it is tantamount to serving a different master,” he said.

“The members are suggesting that if you want, then let soldiers resign and apply to become full-fledged police officers and work as police officers and not as soldiers seeking police powers,” he added.

During the debate on the matter in Parliament on Friday, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan, in piloting the Defence Force Amendment Bill, accused the then People’s National Movement (PNM) government of illegally

Austin Jack Warner

precepting soldiers under the then Special Anti-Crime Unit of Trinidad and Tobago, which was disbanded when the Kamla Persad Bissessar government to power in 2010.

Ramlogan accused that party of “sheer, unadulterated political hypocrisy” asking “is the PNM suffering from political amnesia?”.

The Attorney General said the various crime plans of the last government involved the use of soldiers working with police to fight crime “without the legal protection”.

New anti-drug plan for Barbados BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - CMC – The National Council on Substance Abuse (NCSA) says Barbados will soon have a national anti-drug plan outlining the policies and programmes to be adopted and pursued by various agencies in their respective areas of drug control.

NCSA Deputy Manager Betty Hunte said the Council, in conjunction with the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) of the Organisation of American States (OAS), will host a Consultation of National Stakeholders to articulate a way forward in terms of the national plan.

“The Barbados National Anti-Drug Plan (BNADP) 2013-17 is an integrated solution to the problem of substance use and abuse in Barbados. This five-year strategy encompasses both “Demand Reduction” and “Supply Reduction” through the priority areas of Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation, Research and

Diagnosis, Anti-Money Laundering, Law Enforcement, and Chemical Precursor Control,” she said.

Hunte said the BNADP will inform the overall national development strategy in relation to substance abuse, by defining priorities and goals, assigning responsibilities, and identifying the economic resources required to achieve the goals and assess performance.

“This National Anti-Drug Strategy will be the blueprint for Barbados’ response to the misuse and abuse of both illicit and legal drugs, including alcohol, tobacco and prescription drugs. It will be designed to meet the goals as documented in the Hemispheric Drug Strategy of the OAS,” she added.

Hunte said that the misuse of drugs and other substances is not only a problem that affects the abuser, but also touches every aspect of society and the economy, including health care, family life, law enforcement and employment.

Another earthquake rocks Trinidad PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - CMC – Trinidad was rocked by an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.8 early yesterday morning, but there were no reports of damage or injury.

The Seismic Research Centre of the University of the West Indies (UWI) said that the quake which occurred at 3.21 am (local time) was located at 10.94 degrees north and

62.02 degrees west and was situated north of the Paria Peninsular.

The Unit said that the quake was felt in various parts of the country. It was also felt in neighbouring Grenada.

On March 4, Trinidad was rattled by an earthquake with a magnitude of 3.1. It was the second within a three-day period. The first had a magnitude of 4.9.

Sunday March 10, 2013

Kaieteur News

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Falkland Islanders vote Skilled Jamaicans refused entry with an eye on Argentina into some CARICOM states

STANLEY, Falkland Islands (AP) — Britain is hoping this weekend’s referendum on the political status of the Falkland Islands will push the United States and other neutral governments off the fence in its territorial dispute with Argentina over the remote South Atlantic archipelago.

The local Falkland Islands Government has mobilized a major effort to get as many of its 1,650 registered voters as possible to cast their secret ballots Sunday and Monday, preparing to send off-road vehicles, boats and seaplanes to remote sheep farms across the lightly populated islands.

Elections observers from Canada, Mexico, the U.S., Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile and New Zealand also will be watching as islanders answer a simple yes-or-no question: “Do you wish the Falkland Islands to retain their current political status as an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom?”

Islanders expect the answer to be overwhelmingly in favor of British governance and protection, a result they

hope will put their own selfdetermination at the center of any debate about their future in the face of Argentine claims to the islands. Britain wants the U.S. in particular to recognize the islanders’ rights, but Secretary of State John Kerry refused to budge during his recent visit to London.

“I’m not going to comment, nor is the president, on a referendum that has yet to take place,” Kerry said, punting the question until after the results are announced Monday night. “Our position on the Falklands has not changed. The United States recognizes de facto U.K. administration of the islands, but takes no position on the question of the parties’ sovereignty claims.”

“Sovereignty” is a term that focuses on a territory more than its people, and it’s the word Argentina often invokes while asserting its claim to the islands. Late Friday, Argentina’s foreign ministry repeated its assertion that the islanders are an “implanted” people and that U.N. resolutions require Britain to resolve the dispute

bilaterally, “taking into account the ‘interests’ (not the ‘desires’) of the inhabitants of the islands.”

Britain prefers to refer to “self-determination,” which focuses more on the people than the land they live on.

The U.S. strongly endorsed self-determination for the people of South Sudan ahead of their 2011 referendum, which showed 99 percent wanted independence from their northern neighbor.

President Barack Obama said during the Arab Spring uprisings that “the United States of America welcomes change that advances self-determination” for people in Egypt and Tunisia. The Palestinians and the Puerto Ricans have gained similar support for self-determination rights, and Obama even came out in favor of a UN declaration supporting self-determination for Native Americans.

The Obama administration also has expressed support for letting Puerto Ricans, who are U.S. citizens, determine their territory’s relationship to the U.S., though the result of a referendum on the question last year was ambiguous.

Jamaica Observer Despite implementation of a Free Movement Regime for skilled nationals within the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), some Jamaican nationals have been experiencing problems moving across the region, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade (MFAFT) has acknowledged.

“Within the CSME region, a number of difficulties have arisen with the movement of community nationals in some countries, as persons have been denied entry for various reasons and have complained of ill treatment at ports of entry,” the ministry said in a submission to Parliament’s Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC).

The report, which responded to a question from the committee on what benefits Jamaicans have derived from the free movement provision, noted that Article 45 of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) agreement, speaks to the commitment of members to achieving the goal of free

movement of nationals in the region.

“However, the reality is that member states maintain their national immigration and security policies and procedures aimed at controlling the entry of persons into their respective territories,” the report said.

The ministry’s submission, which was discussed last Wednesday by the PAAC at Gordon House, stated that, to date, it has received 20 formal complaints from Jamaicans relating to free movement within the community since 2006. The “most notable” has been the case of Shanique Myrie, which is currently before the Caribbean Court of Justice.

The foreign ministry said that it has been working closely with the Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment and the Ministry of Youth and Culture to secure improvements in the situation facing entertainers and cultural workers in the region to ensure their rights under the Treaty of Chaguaramas, which established the CSME, are not breached.

“It should be noted that the movement of entertainers falls both under movement of skilled community nationals and temporary service providers,” the ministry said, noting that this means that they are not required to seek skill certificates. The matter was discussed at a recent meeting of the Working Group on Free Movement, in terms of putting in place a system to record their movements without creating obstacles for them.

“In view of the challenges that have been experienced by some Jamaicans when attempting to enter other CSME countries, in 2011 Jamaica issued a travel advisory for persons intending to travel to the region,” MFAFT said.

The advisory provided information on entry requirements, cautioned against illicit activities and outlined the process for redress where persons feel that they were mistreated at a port of entry. In addition, the ministry said that, along with its Caricom counterparts, it takes direct intervention when complaints are brought to its attention.

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Sunday March 10, 2013

Egypt protesters torch buildings, target Suez Canal PORT SAID, Egypt/ CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian protesters torched buildings in Cairo and tried unsuccessfully to disrupt international shipping on the Suez Canal, as a court ruling on a deadly soccer riot stoked rage in a country beset by worsening security.The ruling enraged residents of Port Said, at the northern entrance of the Suez Canal, by confirming death sentences imposed on 21 local soccer fans for their role in the riot last year when more than 70 people were killed.

But the court also angered rival fans in Cairo by acquitting a further 28 defendants that they wanted punished, including seven members of the police force which is reviled across society for its brutality under deposed autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Security sources said two people, a man in his 30s and a young boy, died in Cairo from the effects of tear gas and rubber bullets. A total of 65 people were injured.

Yesterday’s protests and violence underlined how Islamist President Mohamed Mursi is struggling - two years after Mubarak’s overthrow to maintain law and order at a time of economic and political crisis.

The presidency said in a statement that the protests were not peaceful and condemned any violence against any property.

On Thursday Egypt’s election committee scrapped a timetable under which voting for the lower house of

Mohamed Mursi

parliament should have begun next month, following a court ruling that threw the entire polling process into confusion.

The stadium riot took place last year at the end of a match in Port Said between local side Al-Masry and Cairo’s Al-Ahly team.

Spectators were crushed when panicked crowds tried to escape from the stadium after a pitch invasion by AlMasry supporters. Others fell or were thrown from terraces.

Judge Sobhy Abdel Maguid, listing the names of the 21 Al-Masry fans, said the Cairo court had confirmed “the death penalty by hanging”. He also sentenced five more people to life imprisonment while others out of a total of 73 defendants received shorter terms.

In Cairo, local Al-Ahly fans vented their rage at the acquittals, setting fire to a police social club, the nearby offices of the Egyptian soccer federation and a branch of a

fast food chain, sending smoke rising over the capital.

A military helicopter scooped up water from the nearby Nile and dropped it on the burning buildings.

“Ultra” fans, the section of Al-Ahly supporters responsible for much of the violence, said they awaited retribution for those who had planned the Port Said “massacre”.

“What is happening today in Cairo is the beginning of the anger. Wait for more if the remaining elements embroiled in this massacre are not revealed,” the Ultras said in a statement.

In Port Said, where the army took over security in the city center from the police on Friday, about 2,000 residents who want the local fans spared from execution blockaded ferries crossing the Suez Canal. Witnesses said youths also untied moored speedboats used to supply shipping on the waterway, hoping the boats would drift into the path of passing

vessels. Military police recovered five speedboats and brought them back to shore, but two were still drifting, one witness said.

Authorities controlling the Canal, an artery for global trade and major income source for the Egyptian government, said through traffic had not been affected.

“The canal ... is safe and open to all ships passing through it,” Suez Canal Authority spokesman Tarek Hassanein told the MENA news agency.

The canal is a major employer in Port Said and, until now, protesters had declared it off-limits for the demonstrations apart from on one occasion when red balloons marked “SOS” were floated into the waterway.

In a separate security threat, the Interior Ministry ordered police in the Sinai peninsula to raise their state of emergency after receiving intelligence that jihadists might attack their forces there, MENA reported.

Officials have expressed

growing worries about security in the desert region which borders Israel and is home to a number of tourist resorts. In August last year Islamist militant gunmen killed at least 15 Egyptian policemen in an assault on a police station on the border with Israel, before seizing two military vehicles and attempting to storm the frontier.

Last Thursday, Bedouin gunmen briefly held the head of U.S. oil major ExxonMobil in Egypt and his wife. The Britons, who had been heading for a Sinai resort, were released unharmed.

General unrest is rife as Egypt’s poor suffer badly from the economic crisis. Foreign currency reserves have slid to critically low levels and are now little more than a third of what they were in the last days of Mubarak.

The Egyptian pound has lost 14 percent against the dollar since the 2011 revolution and the budget deficit is soaring to

unmanageable levels due to the huge cost of fuel and food subsidies. Egypt agreed a $4.8 billion loan with the International Monetary Fund last November, but Cairo requested a delay due to street violence the following month.

Analysts say the chances of an IMF deal are slim until the electoral chaos is sorted out, but question how much longer the government can hold out without international funding.

Unrest has plagued Port Said since the death sentences were handed down to the AlMasry supporters in January.

At least eight people have died this week, including three policemen.

The Cairo court also jailed two senior police officers for 15 years on Saturday for their handling of the riot.

However, some fans in Cairo were happy with the confirmation of the death sentences. “This is a just verdict and has calmed us all down,” Said Sayyid, 21, told Reuters.

LJUBLJANA (Reuters) Thousands of Slovenians protested against corruption and the political elite in the center of Ljubljana yesterday, demanding a snap election after the conservative government of Janez Jansa was ousted last week.

Slovenia is struggling to avoid an international bailout,

and parliament last week nominated budget expert Alenka Bratusek of the centerleft Positive Slovenia to form a new government.

Jansa’s coalition was brought down in part by street protests of a kind not seen since Slovenian independence in 1991, driven by spending cuts and

allegations of government corruption.

Yesterday’s march, whose organizers put participation at 10,000 and police at 5,000, was comparable with some of the largest so far, despite being held in pouring rain.

“We are not right and we are not left but we are the people who are sick of you,” said a banner held by one protesters in the capital of the small Alpine state.

“The incoming government has the same structure, the same principles as the old one, so we need a new election and we have to vote out the parties that are in parliament at present,” said 56-year old Gorazd Mlekuz, who works in transport.

“We need to create jobs for the young. My son, who is a historian, was an excellent student but there is no job for him. He works as a volunteer now and he was lucky to get even that.”

Slovenia, which adopted the euro in 2007, was badly hit by the global financial crisis due to its dependency on exports, and fell into a new recession last year amid lower export demand and a drop in domestic spending caused by budget cuts.

Slovenia is also struggling to cope with a rising number of bad loans on the books of its banks, which are mostly state-owned. The last straw for Jansa was a corruption scandal in which he was

implicated, although he denies wrongdoing.

Bratusek has until Thursday to nominate her cabinet, which should take office this month if confirmed by parliament.

She has promised to call a confidence vote next year to enable parties to trigger an early election if they are dissatisfied with her government.

In October, Slovenia did manage to issue its first sovereign bond in 19 months, pushing back a bailout until at least until June. It hopes to borrow up to 4.6 billion euros this year to repay outstanding debt, finance its budget needs and help the ailing banks, which need fresh capital.

“I’m protesting because life in Slovenia is getting worse, there is more and more poverty and people are not equal,” said a 21-year-old social science student who gave her name as Maja.

Protests in Slovenia continue despite government’s fall

Alenka Bratusek

Sunday March 10, 2013

Kaieteur News

Syria rebels free 21 UN peacekeepers BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian rebels freed 21 U.N. peacekeepers yesterday after holding them hostage for four days, ending a sudden entanglement with the world body that earned fighters trying to oust President Bashar Assad a flood of negative publicity.

The episode is bound to prompt new questions about U.N. operations in war-torn Syria. The peacekeepers were part of a force that has spent four decades monitoring an Israeli-Syrian cease-fire without incident.

The Filipino peacekeepers crossed from Syria to safety in Jordan yesterday afternoon, said Mokhtar Lamani, the Damascus representative of the U.N.Arab League peace envoy to Syria.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed their release, and called on all parties in Syria to respect the peacekeepers’ freedom of movement.

The peacekeepers were seized Wednesday and were held in the village of Jamlah in southwestern Syria, near Jordan and the Israelicontrolled Golan Heights.

Their captors from the

Ban Ki-moon

Martyrs of the Yarmouk Brigades initially said they would only release the hostages once Syrian troops withdrew from the area. In the days leading up to the abduction, rebels had overrun several regime checkpoints and apparently feared reprisals.

However, as the abduction made headlines, the rebels eventually dropped their demand and began negotiating a safe passage for the peacekeepers with U.N. officials. On Friday, a U.N. team tried to retrieve the hostages, but aborted the plan because of heavy regime

shelling of the area.

On Saturday, another U.N. team headed toward Jamlah to try again, said a rebel spokesman, who spoke via Skype, insisting on anonymity for fear of reprisals.

He said the U.N. team aborted the mission because of fighting in the area, and that the rebels instead escorted the hostages to the SyrianJordanian border.

Lamani said the U.N. team was near Jamlah and was waiting for the rebels to hand over the hostages when the rebels changed their minds and instead drove the peacekeepers to the Jordanian border.

“We don’t know why (the rebels changed the plan), and there were lots of talks on this issue,” he said. “We were surprised when we got the news through a TV station that they had reached Jordan.”

Many rebel groups operate independently, despite efforts by the Syrian opposition to unify the fighters under one command. The abduction appeared to have been such a local initiative, and leaders of the political opposition repeatedly urged the Jamlah rebels to free the hostages.

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Islamist group says executes seven foreign hostages, Nigeria doubts report R I YA D H / L A G O S (Reuters) - A Nigerian Islamist group said yesterday it had killed seven foreign hostages seized last month from a construction firm’s compound in northern Nigeria, where Islamist insurgents have killed hundreds over the past two years.

But Nigerian authorities said they had no information on any such killing, and doubted the veracity of the statement.

In a statement released on an Islamist website, the Ansaru group said it had killed the hostages in response to attempts by Britain and Nigeria to free them, SITE Monitoring Service reported.

Ansaru is one of several Islamist groups that have become the main security threat in Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer. The al Qaeda-aligned group blasted into the compound of Setraco, a Lebanese construction company, on February 7, abducting a Briton, an Italian, a Greek and four Lebanese workers.

The statement issued in Arabic and English on an affiliate of the Sinam al-Islam

network was accompanied by screen shots of a video purporting to show the dead hostages, SITE said.

One shot showed a man with gun standing above several figures lying on the ground. The image was not clear enough to see if they were dead or much detail about them.

The hostage-taking, in the remote town of Jama’are in Bauchi state, was the biggest number of foreigners seized in the mostly Muslim north since the Islamist insurgency there intensified two years ago.

“As far as I’m concerned, and to the best of my knowledge, nothing like that has happened,” Bauchi Police Commissioner Mohammed Ladan told Reuters when asked about the online statement.

An intelligence official in the north also said he doubted the report, although he said some suspects linked to the kidnapping had been arrested last week.

Lebanese officials said they were checking the reports. Italy’s foreign ministry also said it was checking. Britain did not

officially comment.

Mohammed Abdullah, a spokesman for Setraco, also said he had heard nothing about any harm done to the hostages.

The group’s full name is Jama’atu Ansarul Musilimina Fi Biladis Sudan, which roughly translates as “vanguards for the protection of Muslims in Black Africa”.

Ansaru, believed to be an offshoot of the larger Boko Haram group, said it had decided to kill the hostages because of attempts by Britain and Nigeria to rescue them. “(We) announced the capture of seven Christians foreigners and warned that should there be any attempt by force to rescue them will render their lives in danger,” the statement said.

“The Nigeria and British government operation lead to the death of all the seven Christians foreigners,” it said.

Ansaru was suspected of being behind the killing of a British and Italian hostage a year ago in northwest Nigeria and Britain’s parliament has labeled it a terrorist organization.

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Obama dials down budget blame in new tack on deficit fight (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said he is looking for compromise in the coming months to end a twoyear fight with Congress over how to reduce the deficit, promising Americans in his weekly radio address that he will try to find common ground with lawmakers.

Turning away from the sharp rhetoric he has used in recent weeks to blame Republicans for $85 billion in government spending cuts that took effect March 1, Obama this week highlighted how he is working with lawmakers in Congress.

“The fact is, America is a nation of different beliefs and different points of view.

That’s what makes us strong, and frankly, makes our democratic debates messy and often frustrating,” Obama said.

“But ultimately what makes us special is when we summon the ability to see past those differences.”

The warm and fuzzy message contrasted sharply with Obama’s radio addresses from the past two weeks, when he blasted Republicans for protecting the rich and hurting

President Barack Obama

the middle class and accused them of “partisan recklessness.”

“We just need Republicans in Congress to catch up with their own party and the rest of the country,” he said last week.

But this week, Obama turned on a charm offensive, having lunch with Paul Ryan, the Republican chairman of the House Budget Committee and the party’s 2012 vice presidential nominee, and dinner with a dozen Republican senators.

Obama described the meeting with senators as “an open and honest conversation” that he plans to

continue next week, when he plans to visit Capitol Hill four times.

Obama said he will talk about immigration reform and new gun control proposals in the meetings, as well as the deficit.

His visits come during a week when both chambers are slated to unveil their budget plans for 2014, and the Senate also considers ways to adjust spending for the rest of 2013 to try to ease the impact of the March 1 “sequester” cuts.

Obama said Friday’s news that the jobless rate fell to 7.7 percent last month - lower than when he first took office in 2009 showed “momentum” in the economy that risks being stalled by Washington’s political gridlock.

“In the months ahead, there will be more contentious debate and honest disagreement between principled people who want what’s best for this country,” Obama said, adding he believed compromise is possible.

“And I know there are leaders on the other side who share that belief.”

Sunday March 10, 2013

Kenyatta declared winner of Kenya’s presidential vote NAIROBI (Reuters) Uhuru Kenyatta, indicted for crimes against humanity, was declared winner of Kenya’s presidential election yesterday, but rival Raila Odinga said he would challenge the outcome in court and asked supporters to avoid violence.

Kenyatta, Kenya’s richest man and son of its founding president, faces trial on charges of playing a leading role in the wave of tribal killings that followed the disputed 2007 presidential election. His win yesterday avoided what could have been a divisive a run-off penciled in for April.

With Kenyatta, 51, in the top job, Kenya will become the second African country after Sudan to have a sitting president who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court.

The United States and other Western powers, big donors to the east African country, said before the vote that a Kenyatta win would complicate diplomatic ties with a nation viewed as a vital ally in a regional battle against

militant Islam.

In his acceptance speech, Kenyatta said he and his team would cooperate with international institutions and that he expected the world to respect Kenya’s sovereignty.

“We recognize and accept our international obligations and we will continue to cooperate with all nations and international institutions - in line with those obligations.”

After saying Kenyatta secured 50.07 percent of the vote, edging over the 50 percent needed to avoid a second round, the chairman of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, Issack Hassan, announced: “I therefore declare Uhuru Kenyatta the duly elected president of the Republic of Kenya.”

Shortly afterwards, Hassan handed a certificate of the results to Kenyatta, who had arrived after the declaration. Kenyatta thanked him and went to a nearby university campus in the capital Nairobi where he delivered his acceptance speech.

Many in the election

center cheered, although celebrations started in the early hours of Saturday after provisional results indicated Kenyatta’s victory.

Supporters thronged the streets of Nairobi and his tribal strongholds, lighting fluorescent flares, waving tree branches and chanting “Uhuru, Uhuru”.

Violence flared briefly in Odinga’s heartlands where police fired teargas at supporters of the defeated candidate who were throwing stones. “No Raila, no peace!” they chanted at the scene near the western city of Kisumu, which was shattered by violence after the 2007 election.

Last time the bloodshed started immediately after the election results, and analysts predicted that Kenya was likely to escape fighting this time around.

Odinga, 68, said he would have conceded if the vote was fair, adding that there was “rampant illegality” in the electoral process and that “democracy was on trial in Kenya” and he would challenge it in court.

Sunday March 10, 2013

Kaieteur News

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Sunday March 10, 2013

Linden and the Ogden tables It was a strange coincidence that the Report of the Linden Commission of Inquiry was presented to President Donald Ramotar on 28th February, exactly 14 days after Michael Ogden died on 14th February 2013.

His death eerily seemed to signify the death of compassion for victims of violence in this country.

The British barrister, Sir Michael Ogden, QC, will best be remembered as the chairman of the 1982 working party that produced what are known as the Ogden Tables – a set of statistical tables and other information for use in court cases in the United

Kingdom. Their purpose is “to make it easier to calculate future losses in personal injury and fatal accident cases.” The tables take into account life expectancy and provide a range of discount rates, thereby constituting an actuarial basis for the courts to quantify damages in cases of personal injuries and death.

Mr. Cecil Kennard, Former Chancellor of the Judiciary of Guyana and a Member of the Commission of Inquiry, was at pains to justify the paltry amounts of the awards which evidently ignored Sir Michael Ogden’s landmark work. Kennard admitted, “We knew people

would not have been satisfied.” He was correct!

The Linden Commission of Inquiry – comprising Justices Lensley Wolfe, Keith Knight, Claudette Singh and Cecil Kennard and Attorney at Law Dana Seetahal – started its sittings in September 2012 and ended in February 2013. It was mandated to inquire into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Allan Lewis, Ron Somerset and Shemroy Bouyea and the injuries of several other persons which occurred at the MackenzieWismar Bridge, among other things.

The central question that

the Commissioners had to answer was who killed three men – Allan Lewis, Ron Somerset and Shemroy Bouyea – and injured several other persons.

The commissioners answered that question unambiguously.

They concluded, in their own words,”…that the fatal shooting was done by the Police. We believe that the police were responsible for the shooting to death of the three deceased as well as the injuries caused to several other persons at Linden on July 18, 2012.”

The evidence suggests that the shooting was calculated and deliberate.

This was borne out by the fact that the Police detachment encountered the crowd of approximately 800 persons on the Mackenzie-Wismar Bridge as early as 11.00 hours on 18th July.

The Police left the scene, only to return nearly seven hours later as darkness began to fall at 17:55 hours, and suddenly determined to use force to clear the bridge. This was achieved with fatal consequences.

The commissioners, having ascertained the blame worthiness of the assailants, did not demonstrate any deep concern for the value of human life or respect of the fundamental rights of the victims, who had not committed any crime.

In a nauseating manifestation of meanspiritedness, the commissioners – all legally trained – recommended that the state pay the sum of G$8 million, altogether, to the families of the three murdered men. Worse than the stingy awards, were the silly, smallminded and shameful arguments contrived to deprive the dependents of any significant benefits.

The learned Commissioners contended, in the case of the 24-year-old Shemroy Bouyea, that he was not the only person providing financial support of his family because his mother – a security guard, who also assisted in supporting the family, earned G$30,000 per month! They awarded his estate only $3 million.

The Commissioners – in the case of 46-year-old Allan Lewis who was selfemployed, but who supported both of his children, one of whom is attending the University of Guyana – did “not believe” that the son who attends the

University received a monthly support of $50,000. They awarded $3M to the estate.

They doubted also that 18-year-old Ron Somerset who was attending the Technical Institute assisted in supporting his family and did “not believe” that he was employed at the time of his death. They awarded $2M to his estate.

The awards to the injured persons – some badly traumatised, having endured pain and discomfort and expended hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical fees over the past eight months – were contemptible.

The Commissioners seem to have been guided more by their own personal “beliefs” than by objective, humanistic criteria. These were the attitudes in the United Kingdom thirty years ago that motivated Michael Ogden to criticise the lord chancellor, Lord Irvine, for “failing to make an order which avoided the disparity in awards made to the seriously injured, believing that a proper rate of return was not being paid to them.” This criticism led to the formulation of the Ogden Tables which the Linden commissioners now seem to have ignored.

The Report of the Linden Commission of Inquiry has left a bitter taste in the mouths of Guyanese. The Wismar killings point to dark and disturbing conclusions and need to be seen against the background of state violence that has wounded Guyanese society over the last two decades. Blaming the protesters was easy.

Exonerating those in authority was expected. But the awards were execrable. They reflect, distressingly, the extremely low value that is placed on the lives of poor people.

Rickford Davidson, called “Monkey Man”, 37, of Levi Dam, Angoy’s Avenue, New Amsterdam, was on Friday sentenced to two years in jail by Magistrate Adela Nagamootoo when he appeared before her at the New Amsterdam Magistrate’s Court after he pleaded guilty to a charge of break and enter and larceny. Prosecutor Corporal Orin Joseph told the court that on Wednesday March 6, at Levi Dam, he broke and entered the home of Roxanne Rose and stole an

electric cord and a quantity of artificial Jewellery.

On the day in question the virtual complainant secured her home and went to the barber shop. On her return she noticed one of the windows opened. A search was carried out on the premises and the items discovered missing.

A report was made to the police station and after investigation the accused was arrested.

The items were found on him. He was subsequently charged.

‘Monkey Man’ goes to jail

Sunday March 10, 2013

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Traffic congestion on East Bank due to poor planning Transportation Consultant Each year, the buildup of traffic along the East Bank Demerara Public Road is more.

Within the next five years if an alternative road, the Southern Approach, is not built, travel time along the existing roadway will drastically increase leading to massive traffic congestion, says a Transportation Consultant.

The Transportation Consultant who did a recent study, said that he utilized the Diamond Housing Scheme as the starting point of his journey to Georgetown during the morning peak hour and discovered that it took him about 75 minutes to reach Kingston—a distance of less than10 miles.

He encountered two traffic jams- one inside Diamond Housing Scheme and Demerara Harbour Bridgeand the gridlock stretching from the turn at Banks DIH to Ruimveldt Police Station.

He stressed that given the current unbearable traffic situation and the expansion of more housing schemes along the East Bank Demerara, Government should invest in the construction of the Southern Approach Road,

leading from behind the Diamond Housing Scheme to Mandela Avenue.

“This structure would take about US$3M per mile to construct and should have been given precedence over the construction of the Marriott-branded hotel costing US$51M that uncertainty lingers over its viability… It should have also been given precedence over the expansion of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport runway,” he said.

The consultant noted that the poor transportation network of the Diamond Housing Scheme is an example of haphazard planning. He hopes that this Government should correct this flaw of former President Bharrat Jagdeo and practise proper planning that incorporates the human factor.

As such, consideration should be given to the fact that housing areas are being developed at Farm, Herstelling, Providence and Eccles and the existing transportation infrastructure cannot accommodate thousands of residents.

Even with the widening of the East Bank Demerara

Traffic congestion at Diamond Housing Scheme

Public Road into four-lane from Providence to Diamond the traffic congestion will not be reduced since the bottlenecks and gridlock will remain.

The roadway is already burdened by increasing traffic from West Bank and West Coast Demerara. This is also expected to further increase with the opening up of more

housing establishments on those areas.

The consultant opined that mostly drivers of private vehicles would take advantage of this route while public transportation would continue along the existing roadway. Nonetheless, the goal of reducing the number of vehicles traversing the corridor would be achieved.

Plans to erect the Southern Approach Road have been echoed by many Government officials but it is time concrete action is taken.

The vision of constructing the new Demerara Harbour Bridge at the preferred location at Versailles, West Bank Demerara to Houston, East Bank Demerara includes the Southern Approach Road.

“If construction of this road is not put on the front burner the East Bank Demerara Public Road will be a chaotic stretch to traverse…And, the Demerara Harbour Bridge would not be a reality…But, most of these plans would remain dreams if Government does not act now in a planned manner,” the consultant said.

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Sunday March 10, 2013

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=== THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN ===

Are white people superior to non-whites? Is it in the genes?

An incident occurred at the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) last Wednesday, details of which will be given below, that has caused me to reflect on a subject that the world’s greatest scientists are scared of touching, especially since the international mess that one of the world’s greatest genetics scientists, Nobel Prize winner James Watson, found himself in. In 2005, then Harvard University President Lawrence Summers almost ended up like Watson.

Ask any student who did a degree in philosophy and he/she would tell you, the professor treads carefully when the topic comes up. We are talking about the genetic connection between race and intelligence. Princeton bioethics professor Peter Singer puts it this way; “The intersection of genetics and intelligence is an intellectual minefield.”

What did Watson and Summers do that touched off huge international storms?

Let’s go years back into the seventies with Harvard Professor Edward O. Wilson Harvard had to provide security for Wilson after protestors attacked him and his office. Wilson, a genetic biologist, published research that he says is conclusive evidence that genes explain all types of human behaviour including love, aggression, hate, social attitudes, xenophobia.

All forms of human have genetic determinants. He argued this goes for all animal species including Homo sapiens. As the controversy spread around the US, Wilson declared defiantly that he is a scientist not a sociologist or

a politician, and he stood by what scientific research does – come up with judgementfree or value-free evidence Lawrence Summers, speaking at a conference, said there are genetic differences in the intellectual abilities of the genders, with a genetic explanation for women’s lack of achievements in mathematics. Watson at the launching of his memoirs implied that Africans are genetically inferior to other races in the ability to achieve.

In defending his position, he said he believes that people are all equal, but science does not always support our humane view of life. One of the arguments in favour of genetic differences among races is that IQ tests reveal that East Asians are more intelligent than Caucasians.

Watson and Summers ran into international hot water, because a majority of scientists have rejected their position, with the conclusion that science to date has not proven there is a connection between genes and intelligence. Both Watson and Summers apologized, saying they were misunderstood. The late Harvard great, Stephen Jay Gould, dismissed the reliability of the IQ test. My opinion is that I don’t believe the genes can explain intelligence, but there is a big but.

Now white people tend to say that you can’t get a nonwhite person to admit that the Caucasian race is superior to non-white races, because obviously he/she is accepting their own inferiority. The sick bigotry that comes from the writings of many white racists is

encouraged by the behaviour of post-colonial people in the Third World.

I now return to the NIS incident.

Last Wednesday I found out that my benefits were held up by the NIS because a clerk refused to accept the signature of the person who signed my form - a senior UG lecturer with a doctorate.

Let me make it clear that Ms. Nelson, the NIS GM, and the head of the pension section, Ms. Brown, were extremely courteous and professional and quickly dissolved the problem for me.

But the problem remains for thousands of other Guyanese and the clerk was acting legally and properly. The problem will only go away when we non-white people stop behaving as if the white race is better than us.

The NIS benefit form has only ten categories of persons who can sign the document.

They are Justice of the Peace; Commissioner of Oaths; Notary Public; police superintendent, minister of religion; medical doctor; head teacher; senior public servant, bank manager, secretary or president of a trade union. This poor, inept, inelegant and stupidly short list was handed down to us since colonial times. The clerk correctly said that a UG lecturer was not included and she rejected my form. She was right to uphold the law.

How can any country exclude a lawyer, army officer, an engineer, a manager of a business company, a university lecturer, a practicing journalist, a media editor, a senior official in the public sector and a long list of eligible Guyanese, from

signing a benefit form? The list excludes senior officials in the public sector since a public sector job description varies from that of a public servant who is a civil servant.

My humble suggestion to the Government of Guyana and the NIS Chairman, Dr. Roger Luncheon (who takes an interest in the lyrics of calypsos), is to broaden and rework the list to include the following – media operatives; business officials; members

of certain professions (which will include engineers, lawyers, pharmacists, architects, computer experts, pilots, auditors, accountants, scientists etc); persons at a supervisory level upwards in the public sector of Guyana etc.

Just imagine, Uncle Adam, my editor, can’t sign my NIS benefit form. I doubt in forty years time the NIS directors will change this. The courts in Guyana are still guided by

Frederick Kissoon

a 1913 divorce law. The white man came, conquered us, then left us in backwardness while he became a modern human. Why? Because white people are better thinkers than the non-white races.

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Sunday March 10, 2013

My column

Life begins for my 50-year-old friend It is often said that when you see people getting on in years, always put yourself in that person’s position.

However, life is such that nobody can envisage getting old. Unless some ailment strikes, people always feel that they are the same they were yesterday and the day before. They do not see the changes.

Perhaps the advent of the gray hairs will trigger some emotion and spark the mad rush to turn back the clock.

Some would resort to the dyes and some men would use the razor to good effect.

They would shave their heads clean and proceed to live the lie that life is just what it was in the past.

This is not a criticism, but an examination of what actually happens. Some people deal with the situation rather casually, but others simply resort to the world of pretense.

Yesterday was a day of awakening in the lives of many people, not least among them the publisher of the country’s most popular

newspaper. He turned fifty and what a party he threw to mark the occasion. But it was not always a case of welcoming the approaching years.

I met him when he was in his early thirties. I was heading toward my fiftieth year on earth.

To hear Glenn speak was to believe that I was ancient; that he had a very long time to even contemplate such an age. We had many laughs about this. Today I am laughing the loudest.

In those days Glenn was about twenty pounds lighter and so was I. We could out-drink most people and sleep was something that we could go without for long periods. At the end of the session and as the eastern sky would lighten he would say, “Old man you can hold your own.”

For me that was not a compliment, because here I was trying to play young although I didn’t feel young.

Later in the day I would tell Glenn that perhaps we should slow down. He would laugh

at me and say, “You old boy.

This is something for young people.”

If I don’t have a job tomorrow then know that Glenn is angry, because I have reminded him of the tip he gave me when I was where he is now, and how he reacted.

I am laughing.

He shared the same birthday with the late Desmond Hoyte and on many occasions he would turn up at Congress Place for a drink set up for Hoyte’s birthday Two days ago he said to me, “Adam this thing getting to me. Imagine I am a grandfather. This thing got me thinking that I old.”

Being the person that I am, I simply said, “Live with it. I warned you.”

I also informed him that the time will come when he will suffer the aches and pains. I saw his face change and suddenly realized that he was already feeling some of the things of which I spoke.

Then came the excuses.

“Adam, I don’t feel one day older. I still sprightly.”

But I noticed some strange things. He couldn’t drink as he once did and he slept more than he used to.

A still tongue keeps a wise head. I said nothing about those things. I allowed him to languish in his world of makebelieve.

On his birthday I told him that he did not look one day older than when I met him nearly twenty years ago. He smiled and promised me a raise.

I am certain that if I do that a couple more times I would be able to tell people that I do have some money.

But then again he may catch on and I would be worse off.

What is fifty but a number? We are supposed to become wiser with age and I can say that Glenn is far wiser than when I met him.

A shrewd businessman, he has been able to cement what he had back then and to reach out to people who need that boost in life.

There was this law student who needed to go to

Hugh Wooding Law School but did not have the wherewithal. Glenn has made her attendance possible. He had done the same for a young and brilliant lawyer some time back.

He once said that he is not one of the people who is obsessed with money for the sake of having it. There was this time when we were traveling to Trinidad for the Summit of the Americas.

Glenn always travels first class, so since we were together he bought a first class ticket for me.

Bharrat Jagdeo was there and he made the mistake of telling Glenn that when the editor and the publisher could travel first class then there is money around. Glenn said to him, “I am one rich coolie man who ain’t got to lef money fuh children. I been traveling first class before you start to fly.”

I was embarrassed.

This was a big man talking to the president who had made the mistake of attempting to belittle him.

This big man is fifty.

Adam Harris If indeed life begins at forty then Glenn is ten is years old. But I am now telling him that life begins at fifty.

He has done a lot but there is still so much more to be done.

He has been dubbed the new opposition because he wants to see Guyanese enjoy a better life. He has a running battle with some corrupt politicians and corrupt contractors.

He knows that public funds are siphoned off for the benefit of a few and he wants to see that money back in the public treasury. Because of that he has enemies, but at fifty, what are a few enemies?

Sunday March 10, 2013

Kaieteur News

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Enterprise $32M road work…

Residents say contractor seeking to fleece Works Ministry …he will have to follow road design--Robeson Benn

By Dale Andrews While they welcome the current roads work in their community, residents of Enterprise, East Coast Demerara, are insisting that they are not getting value for the $32M that government is expending on the project.

The bone of contention is the one-mile main access road that leads into the community.

Residents believe that the project is just another way for corrupt contractors and officials to pocket off taxpayers money.

For more than five years, the residents have been clamouring for repairs to be done to the road which was filled with what can be described as craters, causing severe hardships to motorists.

The contract for the road was awarded last November following several complaints raised by residents.

Residents were happy when work finally started last Friday and vowed to keep their end of the bargain by scrutinizing the work being done by the contractor; after all it was only six years ago that the road was resurfaced following the 2005 floods that inundated East Coast Demerara.

Materials such as sand and loam were trucked into the area and there was the feeling that this time around, a proper road would be built.

“We been punishing fuh dis road since 2005. After de floods, a contractor just come and do a slapdash work with sand and tar and that was it,” a resident told Kaieteur News.

Apart from civilian vehicular traffic, the road accommodates heavy duty traffic belonging to the Guyana Sugar Corporation, along with excavators on low bed trucks.

But within two days of the commencement of the work, it quickly dawned on the residents that they will be short changed.

The contractor apparently did not bargain for the presence of persons knowledgeable in the field of road construction living in the community, and the trickery was soon spotted.

Instead of excavating the sections of the road that needed excavation, it was clear when this newspaper visited the area, that the contractor merely poured some crusher-run into the holes and leveled it.

This of course angered residents who quickly cried out “corruption”.

“We are not pleased with the road because all those bad sections should have been excavated; that is not being done. They just come and rip up certain parts of the road, add on some crusher run, and that’s it. No foundation,” one resident explained.

The residents explained that some time last year they pooled their money and filled some of the holes in the road.

It would appear that the contractor is doing the same despite being awarded a $32M contract.

“Mr. Rekha say $32 million spending on this road…based in this quality of work, I can’t see $32M spending here. Dis is not even $10M,” a resident declared.

According to the residents the, contractor had mobilized for the sand and loam that is being dumped in the community because he knew that he was supposed to do some excavation work.

“However, when we check with the contractor staff, they say that somebody from the Ministry said don’t dig out nowhere, so probably that sand and loam going back,” a resident stated.

Ramdat, and elderly resident of the community, said that while he is not an expert on road construction, he is sensible enough to realize that some “crookishness is taking place.”

“We are very thankful to the government and the ministry, but for the money they are spending, let them send a qualified engineer every second of the day to supervise this work,” he said.

He told Kaieteur News that although the government has advised that citizens play their part in supervising works in their community, they are not privy to the contract so that a proper assessment can be made.

“This is the way corruption is going. All the sand and loam that they bring here will end up going to another project because not one bucket has been used on this road. What will happen to all the money that is being spent on this road? The money will go in somebody’s pocket,” Ramdat stated.

But when contacted yesterday, Works Minister Robeson Benn said that his ministry is monitoring the project to ensure that the contractor does not deviate from the road design.

“Once there is a design, the contractor will be forced to follow that design,”

These craters reflected the state of the Enterprise Main Road before the current road works commenced.

The same craters are filled with crusher-run without proper excavation.

Minister Benn stated.

He explained that he had personally visited the site last week Friday to encourage the contractor to complete the work on time.

The Minister said that

only yesterday he was informed of some of the residents’ concerns and he has undertaken to send an engineer from his ministry to examine the work being done.

“All the time we been

punishing fuh a proper road and now de government spending money but in another six months dis road gone again. That is why we saying that we want a proper road to be done,” an

Enterprise resident declared.

“We don’t want to reach a stage where we will have to block de road and de police gone gat fuh come and torture some ah we. We asking peacefully fuh a proper road.”

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Sunday March 10, 2013

90 Days of Violence by Lyndon Baptiste Book Review:

Reviewer: Dr Glenville Ashby ART IMITATES LIFE IN CARIBBEAN DRAMA Lyndon Baptiste’s 90 Day of Violence takes readers down a path of human depravity. Violence erupts with dizzying sadism that fulfills the stark promise of the title. Sadly, violence comes with colour - a West Indian element, a guilty perversion that proves hypnotic.

The seven deadly sins are played out, for sure. But virtues and the fight for redemption are ever present. Baptiste’s work portrays Caribbean life gone horribly wrong.

The azure waters, bowing trees and laissez-faire culture recede, to be overwhelmed by an insatiable lust for power and wealth.

Everyone is caught up in this tragedy, even those we are empowered to protect and serve. Everyone is an equal opportunity criminal - be they

black, Indian, or Syrian, hence Baptiste’s disclaimer: “Coming from a cosmopolitan background, I would have despised myself had the material been intended as racist.’

Scenes of murder are lifted out of the history’s bloodiest pages, captured with graphic clarity. Misogynists (‘putting licks on disobedient women’), bribes, kidnapping, duplicity, and treachery are rife.

Trinidad is under the gun!

This is the power of drugs - its ability to reach into the darkest recesses of the mind.

And so, too, is the thirst for alcohol. But somehow, Baptiste’s timing and tone capture a Caribbean essence that is ruefully compelling.

And this is where the author is best, proving his salt as one of the finest writers, creating gripping climate in describing a near drug bust at high sea “Paul was peering into the gaping hole. It’s the bloody Coast Guard, he said, his voice a dry whisper. Droplets of sweat fell from his face

landing with a ‘plop’ on the package Chip held pressed against his chest.

A long silence Chip strained his ear.....He stood frozen, fearful that if he moved he would alert some faceless personnel - good or bad - who might be trigger happy.” But, still, 90 Days of Violence lacks the literary style that has made Baptiste a veritable force in West Indian literature. Spurts of genius are stifled by a lack of fluidity, and at times stunted prose. Maybe the linear revulsion of the players involved allows little maneuverability for character development. May be that is Baptiste’s intention from the opening salvo.

Lo, somewhere in the abyss are calls for reason, for hope. Yet, the struggle to do good, to stabilize a society to battle crime - is on the brink - in jeopardy, as law enforcement mulls fighting fire with fire - a dangerous development that will only precipitate the nation’s demise. However, the Prime

Minister cautions against abrogating the constitution, as a professional crime unit, mirroring the CIA, is formed. In the end, the adage: “Crime does not pay” holds true, as the criminals get their comeuppance.

Fortuitously, the potential for good is never dismissed, and the courage to do right emerges, rightly embodied in the chief executive, Prime Minister Ambrose Taylor.

His fighting words echo: “We are the sculptors of the future. In us is a fire, that Trinbagonian fire which distinguishes us from the world, a light for us to follow, a beacon to those in darkness.

Brothers and Sisters we are soldiers of peace, justice and the ideal of democracy.”

That a showcase of an island paradise nearly destroyed by mayhem is never in doubt. But more significant is the inexorable will of the human spirit to be victorious in an existential battle with the powers of evil.

Follow me on Twitter@ glenvilleashby Email:glenvilleashby @gmail.com Become a member: www.caribbeanbookreview.com

90 Days of Violence by Lyndon Baptiste A Potbake Productions Book Available: www.potbake.com Ratings: Recommended

Cabinet approves US$464,212 St. Maarten’s US$117M for three garbage trucks airport vs. Guyana’s US$150M At a post-Cabinet media briefing Thursday last, Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr. Roger Luncheon disclosed that at Cabinet’s March 6 statutory meeting, no objection was given for the Local Government Ministry to expend US$464,212 to procure three garbage vehicles, in addition to 18 other contracts.

The other contracts are in the areas of agriculture, housing and infrastructure.

From page 3 such as fire fighting systems.

Regarding the terminal building, a new two-storey terminal building is proposed to be built west of the existing one, and is to be divided into two parts– the terminal building and the departure lounges/gates and arrival concourse.

On the second floors of the terminal building will be the Departure level with space for airlines’ back-of-counter office space, concessions and security check point (xray).

On the first floor (the arrival level), it is planned that there will be baggage makeup rooms (outbound), Immigrations, baggage claim (inbound), Customs, greeters’ lobby, ground transportation, 20 check-in counters and a passenger drop-off zone.

The concourse on the second floor will also house departure lounges with ‘B’ loading bridges and sterile corridors.

Works will also see a new, larger car park, a reconfigured internal roads area, and a bigger handling equipment area. The project will also see significant land-filling near the runway area to make it longer.

According to the contract, and in justification of the project, the Guyana

government said it has identified tourism as a priority in the country’s economic development plan and “recognizes that improvement of CJIA is of paramount importance in order to promote a sustainable tourism industry.”

“The existing airport terminal building is not currently capable of meeting peak traffic demand or of expanding to meet the desired growth in passenger volume.

It also cannot accommodate state-of-the-art terminal systems for passenger comforts, convenience and efficiency.

The one storey buildings cannot accommodate aircraft boarding bridges forcing passengers to walk to and from the aircraft along the apron. The ability to generate revenue from concessions, airline office space and ticket counter usage is also extremely limited. Expansion capabilities of the existing terminal are compromised due to current terminal configurations.

Hoping With the realization of the project, Government is hoping to lower airport operating costs -passenger and cargo; for increased passenger comfort, convenience and efficiency and increased airport

efficiencies through more efficient terminal and airfield design as well as state-of-theart technologies in security screening, communications, baggage handling and other systems, the contract explained.

In justifying the project, government said that Guyana is eyeing opportunities with flights from South and West Africa, Indonesia and Singapore. This will allow wide-body aircraft flights and reduce security risks of drug smuggling at the airport.

China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) is the company that has been awarded the contract.

While the Government of Guyana is “hoping” to attract future business from airlines that are currently using more viable routes at this time, the example of St. Maarten illustrates that that island and Government already had the airlifting capacity to justify the investment.

Guyana has also signaled its intentions to attract airlines for re-fuelling business. However, there are no clear indications whether moves are already underway to woo these potential clients.

Another factor in this equation is that Guyana does not have its own fuel supply like Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela, which have wells.

Sunday March 10, 2013

Kaieteur News

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The Caribbean after Chavez

By Sir Ronald Sanders Seventeen countries of the Caribbean face a heightened period of economic uncertainty now that Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, has died.

Twelve of the 17 Caribbean countries are members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

They have become highly reliant on their oil supplies from Venezuela on a part payment-part loan scheme, called Petro Caribe, without which their difficult economic circumstances would be decidedly worse.

Of the $14 billion worth of oil that Venezuela provided under Petro Caribe to the 17 dependent countries up to last year, $5.8 billion constituted long-term financing. Cuba is the principal beneficiary but, in per capita terms, so too are a number of CARICOM countries – Jamaica particularly.

The attendant ALBA Caribe Fund (ACF) and ALBA Food Fund (AFF) – both financed almost entirely by Venezuela – are also significant contributors to the welfare of the beneficiary states. In six years up to 2012, the ACF had invested $178.8 million on 88 projects ranging from education to water. In nine countries, the AFF had invested in 12 projects worth $24 million.

These were all the projects of Hugo Chavez personally.

He carried his government along, but the ideas and their execution were entirely of his making. There are many theories about Chavez’s motivation.

One is that he wished to exercise control over-reliant Caribbean countries in his passion to contest the influence of the US government and US companies in Latin America.

Another is that he was genuinely concerned about the plight of the poor in all these countries and wanted to alleviate their suffering. It was very probably a mixture of both. His relationship with Cuba is somewhat different.

There, his ambition appeared to be to stop the 50-year US embargo of Cuba from being successful. In this regard, the economic support he provided to Cuba was as generous in its quantity as it was unstinting in its delivery.

Estimates put delivery of oil to Cuba at 100,000 barrels a day at a subsidy of $3 billion a year.

Whatever the motivation for Chavez’s economic support for Caribbean countries other than Cuba, the reality is that – apart from Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago which did not join Petro Caribe or ALBA - their governments must all now be very nervous. The big question for them is: will the Petro Caribe and ALBA arrangements, on which they are reliant, continue under a new Venezuelan President?

More than likely if Chavez’s chosen successor, Nicolas Maduro, wins the Presidential election, the arrangements will continue for a while longer, even if under amended arrangements.

However, if the election is won by the opposition candidate, Henrique Capriles, both Petro Caribe and ALBA will unwind fairly rapidly. Capriles, who lost last year’s Presidential contest against Chavez by a 10-point margin, has already indicated that the two schemes would end and the money focused instead on the needs of the Venezuelan people. For Venezuela’s neighbouring CARICOM country, Guyana, there is a further dimension to the uncertainty. Until Chavez’s Presidency, Venezuelan governments had maintained a sometimes aggressive claim to two-thirds of Guyana.

While the claim was never dropped under Chavez, and maps of Venezuela continue to include the claimed Guyana territory, he did not pursue it, choosing instead to involve Guyana in the Petro Caribe arrangements.

Maduro would be the most desirable winner for the Caribbean countries that rely on Petro Caribe and ALBA, and he probably will be elected the next President. It would be extremely difficult for Capriles to achieve a 6 per cent swing in the vote from last year’s elections in the context of the outpouring of grief over Chavez’s death, and

Note-taking judges have attention of the National Assembly The conditions under which Judges and Magistrates are working have attracted some attention again.

This time, one Member of Parliament (MP) is asking government for a time frame when the two will no longer have the headache of recording the proceedings.

The issue has been a longstanding one blamed on causing further delays in the court system, which over time, has led to a backlog in cases.

With not enough judges, the situation has been a worrying one for policy makers. Under the current arrangements, both Magistrates and Judges have to manually take notes of proceedings. There are no stenographers or recorders available. It is not an unusual sight to see lawyer in midstride asking a question, being interrupted by a Judge or Magistrate, who would ask for the statement or question to be repeated.

It is a tedious exercise and

APNU’s MP, James Bond experts have been nailing it as a major bottleneck of the court system.

Member of Parliament, James Bond, of A Partnership For National Unity (APNU), for this Thursday’s sitting of the National Assembly, has signaled his intentions to ask a number of questions on the matter. “Could the Hon. Minister inform this House when will the arduous task of copious note-taking by our Judges and Magistrates be replaced by stenographers

and/or voice compilation equipment?” he asked in the questions directed to Minister of Legal Affairs, Attorney General, Anil Nandlall.

In addition to taking notes, courts in the city are in a noisy place, competing with the passing vehicles outside despite warnings that no horns can be honked.

There are no microphones and speakers and it is literally a strain to hear, especially if one is seated in the visitors’ gallery.

Bond is also asking whether Judges and Magistrates will be assigned Research Clerks. This too has been a sore issue with the two being forced to conduct their own research of cases…another delay.

In his third question, Bond wants to know whether the courts will be sealed.

“Could the Hon. Minister inform this House which of our courts are sound-proof and which ones will be made sound-proof?”

in a short election campaign period.

However, Maduro does not have the grass-roots support that Chavez personally built-up over 13 years as President, and even if he is elected, unless he balances delivering benefits to the people of Venezuela with keeping the military content, he will be hardpressed by a virulent opposition to continue Chavez’s programme of spending Venezuela’s oil revenues on foreign countries.

Prudence dictates that no Caribbean country – except perhaps Cuba and Haiti – should expect the Petro Caribe and ALBA schemes to be business as usual.

Venezuela has severe internal problems that are masked by its 5.6 per cent growth last year. These problems include: a crisis in power supply; a recent devaluation of the Bolivar that has increased the cost of living; a huge blackmarket in US dollars at almost eight times the official rate of exchange; shortages in shops; rising inflation and most importantly stagnation in oil production.

Additionally, as a result of Chavez’s nationalisation of both foreign and local businesses, Venezuela is near

the bottom of international rankings for attractiveness to foreign investors and ease of doing business.

Whoever is elected to the Presidency will have to tackle these urgent problems, and the money will have to come from cutting foreign giveaway programmes such as Petro Caribe and ALBA. While 12 CARICOM countries have good reason to mourn the passing of Hugo Chavez and to be thankful that he shared his country’s oil assets with them, the time has long past for collective investment in, and joint implementation of, projects for their energy security that are not a repeat of this enormous dependence not even on one country, but on one man. No time should be lost in addressing this joint CARICOM task on which a crucial aspect of their economic survival depends – and both Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados must be included in the discussions. New mutually beneficial arrangements with Venezuela and other oil and gas producers in all the Americas should be part of the joint strategy that is

Sir Ronald Sanders considered, as well as investment in renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and hydro and geothermal power.

In the meantime, let us salute Hugo Chavez.

Whatever the polarised attitudes to him in his own country, he made a meaningful contribution to many countries of the Caribbean region, and he embodied a fearlessness on the hemispheric and international scene that we would be grudging not to acknowledge and admire.

(The writer is a Consultant, former Caribbean diplomat and Visiting Fellow, London University) Responses and previous c o m m e n t a r i e s : www.sirronaldsanders.com

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Sunday March 10, 2013

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Why South East Asia is flourishing and the rest of the world is not

By Jean H Charles With the exception of the Philippines, that has all the characteristics of a South American country including the Spanish heritage, the nations of South East Asia seem to be doing very well compared with the rest of the world. A steady economic growth with a balance of payments surplus; the citizens have faith in the future as their incomes are growing incrementally and their nations prospering gradually.

By South East Asia, we are talking about Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, to which we add Japan, China, India and Taiwan. Compare that to Europe, where the exceptional bright stars are England, Germany, Poland, Holland and the Scandinavian countries; in America where there is no exception; in Africa there are no bright stars, Latin America is in a slump and the Caribbean is teetering on bankruptcy as tourism, the mono product, is faltering.

It is fit and proper to look into why South East Asia is prospering while the rest of the world is falling on the ground.

Staking out an issue for investigation leading to an essay is a science as well as an art. In my roster of investigation, I can recall with fun and particular interest three essays that gave me eureka a la Saul; I wish they could become a catholic and universal conversion. There was first the Wretched of Modernity (Les Miserables de la Modernity) as required reading that described the path of civilization, then the Cycle of Progress that went into the process of modernity and the issue of today: How a nation moves from a stalled one to become a prosperous one. My inquiry has led me to three paths: • The spirit or rather the opprobrium of the culture of mafia in South East Asia and the culture of corruption that prevails now in the rest of the world elevating most state government into legal bandits.

• The lack of national cohesiveness in the rest of the world that lets each citizen pull his own brick out of the national edifice, destroying as such with his own hands the national economy.

• The macro and micro economic policies that have only electoral underpinnings in mind instead of looking for long term growth prospects for the nation and for each citizen.

MAFIA RULES! Lee Kuan Yew, the founder of modern Singapore, put it in a speech in Tokyo in 1992: “With few exceptions, democracy has not brought good government to new developing countries . . . What Asians value may not necessarily be what Americans or Europeans value. Westerners value the freedoms and liberties of the individual. As an Asian of Chinese cultural background, my values are for a government which is honest, effective and efficient.”

It pains one to believe it, but mafia practice rules all over the world now. It has penetrated the corridors of legitimate governments to defray any good intention or policies that would make the life of an ordinary citizen bearable.

Take the example of the State of Texas in the United States that hires a lobbyist to bring business to Texas. The state ends up spending more money on the lobbyist than acquiring new jobs for its poor citizens. The New York Times has produced an extended investigative story depicting how this lobbyist is going from state to state corrupting the legal state machinery. The Times has found that “state and local governments are giving out $80 billion a year in tax breaks and other subsidies in a foolhardy, shortsighted race to attract companies. That money could go a long way to improving education, transportation and other public services.

“In one particularly egregious example in Pontiac, Mich., the State of Michigan gave $14 million in tax credits and a state pension fund guaranteed $18 million in bonds to a movie studio that created just 12 permanent jobs. In Texas, Amazon.com, the online retailer, received tax abatements, sales tax exemptions and other benefits totaling $277 million to open a warehouse that promised to employ 2,500 people. Those benefits were granted after the retailer closed another warehouse because of a dispute with the government involving sales taxes.”

These events in the United States are repeated in Montreal, Canada, where the Chabonneau commission of inquiry is digging up more dirt every day in the Quebec government practice. In Europe, Greece, the Lagarde list exposed the hypocrisy at the highest level of government officials hiding in safe haven personal and governmental assets that could lift the country out of its slump.

In Italy, and Brazil and other Latin America countries, the same stories are repeated.

Even the Vatican is not immune. It is widely reported that Pope Benedict resigned because he was disgusted that the mafia culture has penetrated even the inner sanctum of the last bulkhead of the moral edifice of this world.

By comparison, in South East Asia, strong leadership and the Confucianism approach has provided a robust deterrent against such practice. Corruption is investigated and pursued sometimes with the undemocratic standard of zero tolerance against theft of state assets; as such it does not find an incubating environment. In Singapore, “the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) was formed under a director and given sweeping powers including power of arrest, investigations of bank accounts and bank books of suspects, their wives, husbands, children or agents”.

By contrast, the public employees are very well paid, but are expected to provide services at the level of the best private employers and, as such, life flows in a continuum where the citizen is satisfied with his government and lives happily at home.

LACK OF NATIONAL COHESIVENESS! I have been preaching, like John in the desert, that the key ingredient to bring wealth and peace to a country is to work on the glue of harmony within the different sectors of the population. The harmony has a cost. The cost is affirmative action to leave no large or small group behind. Several countries have adopted the concept of national cohesiveness fund.

The United Arab Emirates has, for example, provided a fund of 10 billion DN to treat children of the State as equal, so the intergenerational gap in education and in income will be gradually closed.

“The strategy’s top priority is to provide the highest levels of prosperity and a decent life for citizens, by upgrading the education and health care systems and focus on social development and the improvement of governmental services so as to enhance UAE stature worldwide.”

The government of the Dominican Republic, in a departure that I will talk about later, has announced a new program where all the children of the state from one to five will be enrolled into a special program to make them the best

citizens that the country can offer without the encumbrance of the social status of their parents. Show me a country where the social cohesiveness is at its best and I will demonstrate that prosperity, peace and harmony are a current staple in the lives of the citizens.

THE MACROAND MICRO ECONOMIC POLICIES From the mighty United States to tiny Haiti, the complaint is the same; the government is more preoccupied with issues of partisan politics than with national policies leading to generalized wealth and prosperity.

David Brooks, in a recent op-ed in the New York Times, dreams of an Obama administration at the dimension of a Theodore Roosevelt or a Lyndon Johnson who asks the right question: how to stop the intergenerational inequality with creativity and gusto, not in terms of Republican versus Democrat policies. The right question, what is good for America in the foreseeable future.

In Haiti, the Martelly/ Lamothe government has

engaged in a campaign of direct assistance to the most vulnerable ones that fail the minimum test of structural traction that will lead the individuals into wealth creation. For the ordinary citizen or the common observer, there has been no change in the lives of those who are expecting so much from the new government.

The fund spent by FAES could have produced lifeblood for the nation; instead it is producing individual daily consumption and frustration in the long run. Singapore, by contrast, has taken the opposite view of investing in each citizen residing in the country.

Decent housing, then education, followed by a fulfilling job has created taxpaying citizens that keep the nation’s coffer filled and the citizens fulfilled.

Is it possible to bring about in this part of the world — the Caribbean — the South East Asia model of corruption-free, social cohesiveness and macro and micro policies directed to enriching each individual?

I am relying on the leadership of the president of

the Dominican Republic, Danilo Medina, to kickstart the building of another oasis on this side of the world. His speech on Independence Day on 27th February indicates he has the blueprint to move his country towards happiness for all, starting with the best education possible at the kindergarten level.

The prime minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit, in a recent speech concerning CARICOM, has also used the right language to indicate that throwing billion of dollars into an economy, as the United States recently did, does not improve the lives of the people as such. Structural changes must be taken into account in creating wealth for the country and for the individual.

Can these two leaders, Medina and Skerrit, move from talk to action and build a zone of wealth-creating nations that could be modeled throughout the Caribbean, producing ripple effects for the citizens of the region? It is a reasonable hope that we will keep on the watch list!

(Caribbean News Now)

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Local Govt. retreat to tackle repeated AG findings A retreat for top regional officials is set for the coming weekend and high on the agenda will be the findings of the Auditor General R e p o r t . At least this is according to Minister with responsibility for the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, Ganga Persaud.

This move comes even as the Ministry seeks to implement some of its major activities for this year, said the Minister as he addressed a press conference on Friday.

“While we have maintained our focus on those routine activities we will be rolling out on the weekend of March 15, 16 and 17 a retreat where our Regional Executive Officers and Deputy Regional Executive Officers will meet.”

The officials, according to him, will sit together seeking to address a number of issues and develop policy initiatives which will then be shared with Central Government in hopes of having it buy-in and approve same, said Persaud.

“We at the Ministry feel that this activity is necessary

and timely...we haven’t had a retreat with these key officials in the regional system for some time now, although we meet on a monthly basis with our Regional Executive Officers and on a quarterly basis with the Regional and Deputy Regional Executive Officers.”

The retreat will zero-in on the Auditor General Reports over the years and seek to ascertain why some of the findings are repeated year after year and “how we as a Ministry and a team of accounting officers can best handle the prevailing circumstances to avoid these findings to be a permanent part of our operations.”

Attempts will also be made at the retreat to examine the five regional programmes inclusive of Regional Administration, Regional Health Services, Regional Education Services, Public Works Services Administration as well as Agricultural Services, wherever they exist.

According to Minister Persaud, “we have analysed the viability of these programmes and will seek to

determine how we can strengthen the delivery of these services.”

In addition, moves will be directed to some of the immediate areas that require Central Government and the Ministry’s intervention and “ultimately we will pursue the issue of enhancing efficiency and effectiveness across the 10 Regional Administrations.”

The planned retreat is proposed to be held in Region Number Six and “we are hopeful that the President (Donald Ramotar) will be able to interface and interact with our officers,” said Persaud, who related that Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon, is expected to make a presentation and engage the gathering.

Head of the administration’s Governance arm, Ms Gail Teixeira, is also expected to engage the officials, and according to Persaud “we are hoping that other ministers of Government, particularly those who have programmes in the Regions, will be able to also make contributions during this retreat.”

Sunday March 10, 2013

Venezuela’s foreign policy without Chavez: Is this the end of ALBA?

By W. Alejandro Sanchez Research Fellow at Council on Hemispheric Affairs Hugo Chávez Frias, President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, passed away on March 5, 2013, due to severe health complications.

For at least the past year and half, the Venezuelan head of state had been battling cancer that continued to appear in spite of several surgeries. He traveled to Cuba for a new round of treatment this past December 2012, naming his vice president, Nicolas Maduro, as his successor, should the worst happen.

Now, the question is whether Maduro will respect the country’s constitution and call for new presidential elections within the constitutional period of 30 days. The Venezuelan opposition has not yet elected a candidate, though all eyes are on Henrique Capriles Radonski, who ran for and lost to Chávez the presidency in the October 7, 2012 elections. He was reelected as governor of the state of Miranda in the recent December 16 regional elections.

Venezuela has had the same president since 1999, with Chávez creating a very particular foreign policy. A critical question will be how the post-Chávez Venezuelan government will organize its relations and initiatives with other states, and how vastly will they differ from Chávez’s vision.

ALBA Regarding foreign policy, a critical question is what will become of Chávez’s pet project, the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA). This bloc is made up of nations, whose presidents were friendly to Chávez, such as Ecuador’s Rafael Correa and Bolivia’s Evo Morales.

President Correa recently said that the revolution was larger than one man and would continue even in the event of Chavez’s death. Nevertheless, it is

debatable whether any of ALBA’s heads of state, including Maduro, are charismatic enough and have the same interest in the alliance to keep it afloat.

Correa was reelected last month, and Morales is scheduled to run for a new presidential term in 2014. It remains to be seen whether anyone will be able to carry out Chavez’s vision.

OILAND PETROCARIBE Chávez used oil resources not only to improve the quality of life of poor Venezuelans, but also as an integral part of his foreign policy. After coming to power, he expelled Western oil companies operating in the country and replaced them with Chinese and Russian based companies. In addition, Venezuela donated millions of barrels of oil to needy Caribbean states, particularly Cuba, but also countries like Trinidad and Tobago.

Without Chávez, it is questionable how Venezuela’s oil will be extracted. Should elections be called for and Capriles Radonski comes to power, would he accept, once again, Western oil companies?

Furthermore, even if Maduro continues to govern, will Venezuela continue to provide such high quantities of oil, essentially as gifts, to Cuba and other regional states?

THE UNITED STATES Finally, an important consideration will be the C a r a c a s - Wa s h i n g t o n relationship in the coming years, having been shaped mainly around the personalities of their leadership in the past decade.

For example, US-Venezuela relations were fairly strained, while Chávez and George W. Bush were in power. Chávez went as far as memorably calling Bush “the devil” during a United Nations conference in New York.

When Barack Obama was elected president, there was a general feeling that relations would improve. Indeed, Obama and Chávez met during a Summit of the

Americas, with both leaders shaking hands and Chávez giving the US head of state a book as a gift.

While relations during Chávez and Obama’s first presidential term did not worsen, neither did they improve as desired. One complicated factor was the US maintenance of the Cuban embargo.

Chávez regarded Fidel Castro as his mentor. The US also prevented Cuba from attending the April 2012 Summit of the Americas in Colombia, with Cuba’s allies protesting the decision.

Without Chávez, how will Wa s h i n g t o n - C a r a c a s relations be affected?

Obviously, much will have to do with whether Maduro remains in power or Capriles enters the presidency.

Maduro may end up not being as hardline as Chávez, while Capriles may seek improved relations with Washington for economic reasons.

CONCLUSIONS While Venezuela in the post Chávez era will certainly look different than when he was alive, the question is how different. Will Maduro, who rose up the ranks from bus driver to become foreign minister and vice president, remain faithful to his mentor’s socialist vision? Or will Capriles, or another opposition candidate, win the presidency and take the country in a different direction, potentially making it resemble Venezuela’s pre Chávez era?

A critical aspect of Venezuela’s post Chávez government is how its foreign policy will be structured.

During his tenure, Chávez determined much of Venezuela’s foreign policies in accordance with his ideologies. It will be of interest to see whether the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its diplomatic corps will have more impact on future policies.

The Council on Hemispheric Affairs, founded in 1975, is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan, taxexempt research and information organization.

Sunday March 10, 2013

Kaieteur News

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‘The Palms’ – a century-old haven for our seniors

By Jenelle Willabus The Palms Geriatric Institution located on Brickdam is easily one of Guyana’s longest serving institutions - the final home for thousands of our senior citizens.

First called the Alms House, it was designed by an Italian architect, Cesar Castellani, in 1874. Four years later, the buildings which still house the institution today were completed after careful and precise construction work by the Dutch. They housed in excess of 500 inmates back then, and were the responsibility of the Poor Law Commissioner under the British Colonial Rule. The institute served the needs of citizens including the mentally and chronically ill, as well as epileptics.

With a total of 14 wards the ‘Alms House’ at the time also catered for differentlyable children. However the children’s ward was abandoned after several years.

The Poor Law Commission and the Social Assistance Department in the Ministry of Labour played an important role within the institution under the British and admissions were done through the Social Assistance Department on recommendations by social workers or sometimes by a minister of religion or through hospitals. However a few cases were sent through the Magisterial Courts.

As time went by, the Ministry of Labour under the British Colony added Health to its Ministry in 1968. The policies remained the same, but in 1973 under Minister Monty Harper, the Health Department went by itself and took with it the Palms as it is now known.

While many of the critical services are still offered at the

Palms today there have been a few noteworthy changes in the operations, including several wards being abandoned.

The Palms Institution currently falls under the Ministry of Health, as well as the Ministries of Labour, and Human Services and Social Security. The establishment which now serves as a home for in excess of some 200 senior citizens is funded through budgetary allocations under the Ministry of Human Services. The services provided are also fuelled by donations from corporate entities and other agencies.

These services include physiotherapy, skin and public healthcare as well as recreational therapy. Daily activities are manned by the Administrator, Ms. Samantha Douglas, a Ward Sister, a Matron, a resident Doctor, cooks, Patient Care Assistants, a Medex, maids and porters.

Ms. Douglas, who has been at the helm for the past few months, said she loves being around the institution as it has been a whole new learning experience. She often takes time out from her regular duties as administrator to interact with the inmates and “there is always an intriguing story to listen to”.

Entry to the facility is determined after applications are investigated by the social worker and an assessment conducted by the administrator, the matron, the medex and the Director of Social Services. The two main criteria for admission are age and indigence. However, if persons are in abusive situations, they are facilitated. In most cases a person has to be 60 and older.

In some instances, a review of the circumstances of some residents who have been admitted may result in

Administrator, Ms. Samantha Douglas such persons being reintegrated into their families.

“Some of the stories of how persons ended up here are really sad. What we find in some cases is that greed by family members results in quite a few of the inmates being left here. In other instances we would hear of children putting their parents out.” It is for this and other reasons a Social Worker is always on hand to offer emotional support to those inmates who need help to adjusting to their unfamiliar surroundings.

“While we find that many are comfortable and have quickly adjusted to their situation, there are others who fall into a state of depression, and for this reason lash out at our staff.

But our staff includes Patient Care Assistants, who spend most of their time with the inmates.”

To this end, staffers are provided with in-house training and other opportunities.

In addition to daily medical checkups, provisions are also made for the seniors to get advanced medical attention when necessary, at

Some of the senior citizens being entertained at a concert, one of the many types of recreational activities. the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

Also, to make life a little entertaining, visits to different churches are organised, there are also concerts, fashion shows, board games for those interested, and a movie night.

Additionally, under the supervision of the institution’s staff, some of the residents can engage in craft activities while others read or exercise. There is a library and caring persons would normally come into the institution to read to the residents. The removal and burial of deceased residents is catered for by the administration. However this is only done for those who do not have relatives with the resources to do so.

This, however, from time to time poses one of the many challenges which the staffers face. According to Ms. Douglas, “it is in time of death that some of their stories are brought to light”.

“There are times when an inmate dies, then persons claiming to be family members would show up with various demands, but in these times we try to do what we know best and to give that inmate

One of the buildings at ‘The Palms’

what they would have wanted.”

While death of course is inevitable, more often than not inmates are affected by the loss of a ‘friend’ as over the years they grow quite close to each other. There are instances where inmates are affected by others being relocated. Ms. Douglas explained that sometimes individuals have to be relocated from one ward to another because of circumstances beyond their control and something as simple as that takes a toll on an individual.

“We had an instance where we had to move a lady from one ward to another and she really took on the moving because she had grown close and accustomed to the other women in her old ward, and sometimes we had to allow her to visit her old ward until she got settled into her new ward.”

Meanwhile, while some are of the opinion that the Palms only provides the basics, staffers there work around the clock to ensure each inmate is given the care and attention that is needed.

For some staffers, working at the institution has been enlightening. The Matron, Ms. Gaimbmattie Latchman, said her stint has been very taxing, but nevertheless she thoroughly enjoys just providing “a listening ear” for some of the inmates. On a daily basis, her duty is to ensure all the wards are covered in terms of Patient Care Assistants and that those inmates who require advanced medical care from the GPHC get to that location and return safely.

“Once I’m finished with that I take time out to just walk the wards. You will always find an inmate with a story to tell…Standing there and listening almost always brightens someone’s day.”

For the Matron, as with other staffers, it is always sad to listen to the stories of abandonment.

“You will hear stories of inmates spending most of their youthful years working

hard to take care of children and family, but as old age step in it appears as if they would have outlived their usefulness for their families, hence they are brought here, and in some cases totally abandoned.”

Meanwhile, the Administrator, Ms. Douglas, said like every institution the Palms has its share of ups and downs, but she and staff remain committed to providing the much needed services.

“In recent times, the level of care provided by the Palms has continued to improve.

We have been overwhelmed with applications for admission… even from private other senior citizens’ homes. Currently, the institution is home to 115 males and 115 females, with dozens of pending cases waiting for admission. On a daily basis our inmates are afforded three square meals and a snack in keeping with their individual dietary chart.”

“Efforts are being made to improve on every service we offer. One area of concern, or I should say , one area in which I would like to see major improvements has to do with the relationship between inmates and the Patient Care Assistants.

“There will always be personality clashes, but we are working with our PCAs to teach them to be more tolerant and patient at the same time with the inmate and the other way around. Because of age and other factors some inmates can be very hostile to our staff.”

She pledges that the institution would “continue to strive towards making the home in which many of Guyana’s senior citizens will spend their final days as comfortable as possible”.

Only recently the Palms staffers were recognized for efforts in beautifying their surroundings as they placed first in the Independence ‘Bright up Guyana’ competition. The inmates were also given the opportunity to participate in a Mashramani Parade which was held especially for them.

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Sunday March 10, 2013

About International Women’s Day

By Krista Brooks Just in case you missed it, International Women’s Day was this past Friday, March 8. It is a day meant to celebrate how far women have come in terms of holding leadership positions, furthering their education, and making a difference in the world. It also serves as a day to keep women’s issues in the spotlight because despite all of their accomplishments, women still do not enjoy the same rights as men. They are still more likely to die due to HIV/AIDS, live in poverty, and to suffer from gender based violence. Women are now presidents and prime ministers, 17 in total in office around the world.

Unfortunately, only 20% of parliamentarians are women.

Increasing women’s rights leads to better health and economic growth for all nations. Both the United Nations and the World Health Organization recognize that nations advance only when the gap between men and women in terms of health and education is small. The United Nations declared this

year’s theme “A promise is a promise; time for action to end violence against women.”

Violence against women is a big issue worldwide and especially here in Guyana.

Nursey and I already discussed the news headlines with murders of women by their spouses or significant others. That violence in the home leads to physical and mental health issues to all members experiencing violence.What is sad is that this violence stops women from enjoying their basic rights, to work, to help raise a family, to live a long, healthy life, free of fear.

You hear over and over again about gender equality, that women should have equal rights as men. You know some of the poor health statistics that women have, including maternal death. So what can be done to improve the lives of women so that they can enjoy the same rights that men do?

Education is important for everyone, but many more boys get a secondary school degree than girls. Educated girls help improve the health of families, as women are more

likely to take care of the family. It also helps them to make important health decisions about family planning and spacing children to ensure their good health during pregnancy. Of course better education can lead to more job opportunities. It is important to make sure all of your children, both boys and girls attend school. Having them stay home does not give them the opportunity to reach a higher level in life.

It is also important for women to have regular access to healthcare.

During pregnancy it is especially important for women to go to the health centre for regular check-ups to ensure that their pregnancy is going well. If there are any problems, they can be dealt with early and help prevent the risk of a maternal death. Good family planning is also important so that women can space their births so that they can be healthy during pregnancy.

Finally, there is so much talk about empowering women and giving them opportunities that men often seem to be left out of the

picture. Men play a VERY important role in reaching gender equality for all. They should be part of the solution.

Young men need to have role models who teach them good leadership and problem solving skills and treat women with respect. Both men and women need to work together and be given skills to solve important issues together without the use of violence.

Gender equality will not happen overnight. It is something that all nations struggle with (women still make less than men in the U.S. doing the same exact job!) but

we can continue to all work together so that everyone can enjoy the same basic rights.

In honour of International Women’s Day, please take the time to remember the important women in your lives and do something nice for them.

I will be back next week to tell you more things that Nursey says. Until then!

If you have any questions about the issues discussed today or other health issues please e-mail nurseysaysguyana@gmail.com.

Krista Brooks is a U.S.

Krista Brooks Peace Corps Volunteer working with the School of Nursing, which trains Nursing Assistants, Professional Nurses, and Midwifery Students

Overweight linked to acne in teen girls

Overweight girls in their late teens were twice as likely as their normal-weight peers to report having a lot of acne in a large new survey of Norwegian teenagers that did not find the same link in boys.

Some 3,600 young people in Oslo, aged 18 and 19, provided information on their pimples, weight, diet and other health and lifestyle factors.

Only about a tenth of the girls and 15 percent of the boys fell into the overweight or obese categories, based on their body mass index (a measure of weight relative to height).

But among the overweight and obese girls, 19 out of every 100 said they had experienced a lot of acne in the past week, compared to 13 of every 100 normal-weight girls who reported recent acne When the researchers took into account other potential influences, such as diet, smoking and “mental distress,” they determined that overweight and obese girls were twice as likely to have acne.

Among the boys, acne afflicted about 14 out of every 100, regardless of weight.

In general, researchers say between 10 percent and 20 percent of adolescents experience moderate to severe acne.

Many studies have documented the emotional and social difficulties that go

along with the problem, especially during the sensitive teen years.

With a growing number of teens becoming overweight and obese - a circumstance that carries its own social stigma - the Norwegian team writes in the Archives of Dermatology, they wanted to investigate whether there’s a connection.

There are physiological factors related to obesity that could explain the Norwegian results, said Dr. Nanette Silverberg, director of pediatric and adolescent dermatology at St. Luke’s and Beth Israel Medical Centers in New York and a clinical professor at Columbia University.

For instance, high blood pressure, insulin resistance and hormonal changes, which frequently accompany obesity, “are in the pathway of influence” for acne, said Silverberg, who was not involved in the new study.

“Maybe changes in the level of insulin and other hormones are altered in overweight adolescents, and this can increase the formation of acne,” said Dr. Jon Halvorsen, a researcher at Oslo University Hospital who led the study.

Although his results showed a link in girls between being overweight and having acne, they don’t prove that one causes the other.

Because the pattern was confined to girls, though, “it

is possible that polycystic ovarian syndrome can explain some of our findings,” Halvorsen told Reuters Health in an email.

Polycystic ovary syndrome is a condition whose cause is poorly understood but symptoms include too-high levels of male hormones, and often both obesity and acne.

Halvorsen’s team couldn’t rule out that any of the girls had been diagnosed with the syndrome.

Genetics are also considered important in the development of acne.

Although diet contributes to weight gain, it’s not clear that food is to blame for what the researchers found.

When they took into account how many sweets, potato chips and soft drinks the girls usually had, the higher acne rates among overweight girls remained.

“The role of nutrition is controversial, and more studies are needed,” Halvorsen said.

Silverberg said there is some evidence from other studies showing that poor diets do contribute to acne.

“Whatever you think is bad for you, eating highsugar foods, large amounts of carbohydrates, all these things have a negative long term affect on acne. And this is particularly true in the teenage years,” she told Reuters Health. (Reuters Health)

Sunday March 10, 2013

Kaieteur News

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‘Iron Man 3’ Director Peels off Lucas says ‘Star Wars’ trio returning for new film Mandarin’s Real-Life ‘Cloak’ What makes the Marvel Cinematic Universe different from other multi-billion dollar film properties is not its reliance on pitch-perfect casting, but on finding the right filmmaker to translate the page to the screen. Joss Whedon’s work on the “Avengers” became the undeniable proof that Marvel’s faith in directors pays off, even unorthodox choices, and with “Iron Man 3,” the studio kept to that philosophy.

You may not know Shane Black by name, but you certainly know him by reputation. Black made a name for himself as a highly successful screenwriter, having penned the original “Lethal Weapon,” but broke into the directing business and the Robert Downey, Jr. business with the cult favorite “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.” MTV News and a few other outlets recently sat down with Black, who explained the challenges of entering a franchise, especially three films in.

“It was something daunting, but at the same time, there was something very challenging about doing a third one,” Black said. “I’m always into the idea of sequels because of the question, ‘What stories are there left to tell?’ and ‘How do you take something and make it seem like it was meant to be there all along?’ “

One element that will certainly distinguish “Iron Man 3” from the first two Tony Stark films and “The Avengers” is the eccentric performance from Ben Kingsley as the villainous Mandarin. When attempting to adapt the classic comic book bad guy, Black approached him from a very specific, very modern point of view. “[Mandarin] has an intelligence background. His nationality is not even clear because he’s shrouded in secrecy, but at some point, this field officer went nuts and became a student of warfare and ancient Chinese symbology and drew from South American insurgency tactics and has created around himself this little world of warfare,” Black said. “The only unifying principal of

which seems to be a hatred of the United States, so he represents every terrorist, in a way.

But specifically, he’s crafted himself in the manner of the Mandarin, of a warlord.”

Part of this new take on the Mandarin involved leaving behind the dated racial aspects of the character.

“I think that’s great, because you get to do the comic book, but you don’t have to deal with the specifics of Fu Manchu stereotyping,” Black said.

“We’re not saying he’s Chinese. We’re saying that he in fact draws a cloak around him of Chinese symbols and dragons because it represents his obsession with Sun Tzu and various ancient arts of warfare that he has studied.”

Actress Demi Moore asks for alimony from Ashton Kutcher

Actress Demi Moore is seeking alimony from estranged husband Ashton Kutcher, according to divorce documents filed in a Los Angeles court on Thursday.

Kutcher, the star of CBS television comedy “Two and a Half Men,” filed for divorce from the “G.I. Jane” actress in December 2012 after more than a year of separation.

Requesting financial

support from Kutcher, 35, is an unusual move for Moore, 50, who was one of the top female earners in Hollywood during the 1990s. Her court filing did not specify an amount sought.

Kutcher and Moore both cited irreconcilable differences in their divorce papers filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. In Kutcher’s filing, the actor said he would not seek spousal support but

would not deny support to Moore.

Forbes magazine has estimated Kutcher earned $24 million from May 2011 to May 2012, making him the highestpaid TV actor.

Representatives for Moore and Kutcher did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Moore began dating Kutcher a few years after her split from actor-husband Bruce Willis, when Kutcher was a young star on the TV sitcom “That ’70s Show.”

Their relationship became tabloid fodder due to their 16year age gap, and the couple married in September 2005 in Los Angeles.

Moore and Kutcher separated in November 2011 following six years of marriage, after a San Diego woman said she had a brief affair with Kutcher.

Kutcher is currently dating his former “That ’70s Show” cast-mate Mila Kunis.

(Reuters)

It appears the Force is still strong with Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher.

In an interview posted online Thursday, George Lucas said the trio from the original “Star Wars” trilogy will reprise their iconic roles of Hans Solo, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia in the new “Star Wars” film.

Lucas told Bloomberg Businessweek that all three were signed for the new “Episode VII” film in advance of Lucasfilm’s $4 billion purchase by Disney. “We had already signed Mark and

Carrie and Harrison — or were pretty much in the final stages of negotiation,” Lucas said.

He added: “Maybe I’m not supposed to say that. I think they want to announce that with some big whoop-de-do.”

In an interview posted Wednesday with Florida’s Palm Beach Illustrated, Fisher said that she’ll be coming back as Princess Leia.

Disney’s Lucasfilm was coy in response. In a statement, a spokesperson for the company said, “George couldn’t say whether they were signed or not and neither

can we. As Yoda said, ‘Always in motion is the future.’ Stay tuned.”

The Walt Disney Co. is producing a new “Star Wars” trilogy to take place after Lucas’ original three space epics. J.J. Abrams is directing the first film. The 70-year-old Ford, the 61-year-old Hamill and the 56-year-old Fisher are expected to play smaller, supporting roles.

A representative for Ford declined to comment. Hamill’s representatives didn’t immediately return requests for comment. NEW YORK (AP)

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Kaieteur News

Sunday March 10, 2013

Glaucoma, the silent “killer of sight”

By Romila Boodram Every year, dozens of persons are diagnosed with glaucoma at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), some of whom eventually lose their vision.

To emphasise its importance a week is dedicated annually to raising awareness about the disease. From today to next Saturday, World Glaucoma Week will be observed worldwide Glaucoma is an eye disease in which the optic nerve (the nerve primarily responsible for sight) is damaged in a characteristic pattern.

This can permanently damage vision in the affected eye (s) and lead to blindness if left untreated.

During a recent interview with this publication, Dr. Shailendra Sugrim, an ophthalmologist at the GPHC explained that glaucoma can be categorised into two

Dr. Shailendra Sugrim types: Open-Angle and Closed- Angle.

The angle refers to the area between the iris and cornea, through which fluid must flow to escape via the trabecular meshwork (a sievelike structure). In Open-angle glaucoma, even though the angle is wide and open, slow

clogging of the drainage canals can increase the eye pressure.

In Closed-Angle glaucoma there is a closed or narrow angle between the iris and cornea. As a result drainage is obstructed and results in a sudden rise in intraocular pressure.

Dr. Sugrim related that glaucoma is generally a disease of aging, more frequent in patients over age 60, but if a person has other risk factors (genetic, structural and systemic) that can affect their drainage system, it can occur in younger persons.

The ophthalmologist noted that Open-Angle Glaucoma is more common locally “In particular, patients of Afro-Guyanese origin are more prone to develop OpenAngle glaucoma and are more likely to have family members suffering from glaucoma. It has also been found that in

Afro-Guyanese patients, glaucoma is very severe and more difficult to treat.”

SYMPTOMS AND SIGNS Dr. Sugrim weighed in on the significance of early detection.

“This is an important issue for us to be conscious about, because in the early stages of Open-Angle glaucoma, there are no symptoms or complaints.

Hence a patient may be suffering with glaucoma for many years and not know it,” he noted.

He added that “…in some cases, where patients are very sensitive to visual changes, they may notice spots in their vision.

These patients may complain of seeing a black spot or they may complain of missing words on a page. In the advanced stages of glaucoma patients lose their peripheral vision (their vision appears as if they are looking

through a dark tunnel with only a small central hole.)”

At the GPHC, once a patient is diagnosed with glaucoma, he or she will be treated based on the severity of their condition. There are many ways to treat glaucoma, these include anti-glaucoma eye drops, laser treatment and surgery.

“The usual pattern is to start patients on antiglaucoma eye drops and some patients can be prescribed with as much as four different eye drops. If eye drops fail to control glaucoma, patients can then be given the option of having laser treatment or glaucoma surgery,” Dr. Sugrim said.

Management of glaucoma includes constant follow-up visits to the clinic to have eye pressure checked and for the ophthalmologist to evaluate whether the drops are controlling the glaucoma.

If a patient has to undergo surgery, the most common

that is offered by the GPHC, is a Trabeculectomy.

During this procedure, a piece of tissue in the drainage angle of the eye is removed, creating an opening. The opening is partially covered with a flap of tissue from the sclera (the white part of the eye) and the conjunctiva (the clear thin covering over the sclera.)

The new opening allows fluid to drain out of the eye, bypassing the clogged drainage channels of the trabecular meshwork. As the fluid flows through the new drainage opening, the tissue over the opening rises to form a little blister or bubble, called a bleb.

The bleb is located where the sclera, or white of the eye, joins the iris, the coloured part of the eye.

After surgery, the specialist would look at the bleb to make sure that fluid is still draining out of the new opening.

Lilowtie Bhookmohan is a special...

(From page 34) you have a craving.

Every morning I get up and sew a little. Nothing too special, but something to stitch here, there...making something for Church View— little things that we need—it is so that you develop. If anyone wants to develop oneself, one can do it without someone teaching them all the time”.

She related that persons can easily develop their artistic skills today as they have an added advantage, as there is more available literature, You Tube - the internet in general. Mrs. Bhookmohan has tried over the years to pass on her skills to other persons, especially the young, but admits it is not an easy job. “Now people don't want

to learn—you're teaching them for free and it's a different thing. You've got to give them stipend to travel and they don't want to learn. I have a lot of books and I am willing to lend the books so that they can make copies. It's a different generation altogether”, she stressed.

Being an active member of the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha, Mrs. Bhookmohan would conduct floral classes, etc., “but it doesn't produce how much you want...you might get two or three [persons]—very few, and they don't improve on that [skill]”.

She is of the opinion that not many persons see the craft industry as being lucrative.

PUTTING HER SKILLS TO WORK After the Church View Gift

Shop was opened and business commenced, she decided to start working with flowers, to accompany the craft items.

This new skill enabled her to skillfully create bouquets and other floral arrangements.

“I thought about doing something with the craft and I started to play around with the flowers…I tried to perfect myself. Doing craftwork, takes a lot of patience, but I suppose when you enjoy it, you do not find it hard. This work relaxes you...it's a good form of relaxation.”

Managing the Church View Hotel these days, means being able to put her creative and homemaking abilities into action - new curtains, coverings for lamp shades, and other items are cheerfully made just for the love of it.

And her opinions are sought after and in most cases, valued.

“Persons would, from time to time, ask me for advice regarding home designs, living room designs, etc. They would ask me if this or that looks good… if the colour looks good, or I suggest to them where they can put items in their home. People do ask me, because they see and they know I'm always willing to give a word of advice”.

“You really don't need to dig deep into your pockets to make your homes and living rooms beautiful. A lot of people only think when they buy marble or silver or crystal—only then their homes look nice. But it depends on your taste. There are numerous local things around, nice things that can be used to make your homes look attractive—nice wooden carvings which local people surprisingly do not appreciate too much.” The good citizen she is, Mrs. Bhookmohan also is also a founder member of the Guyanese Women in Development (GuyWid), whereby she is actively involved in womenempowerment activities in Berbice and further afield.

“Whenever people need help, we will come together and help”. Being a generous and community-minded person, she would occasionally allow her hotel to be used for free to host dinners and fund-

Family portrait: With late husband Ram, daughter Prenita, son Rovin, and two of her grandsons raisers for the organization.

She is a Justice of the Peace, and was also a member of the N/A Lioness Club, which is now integrated into the Lions Club.

LIFETODAY Due to her busy schedule managing the hotel and gift shop, it is quite challenging to engage in craft making and floral arrangements, however, she does find some time for it now and again.

She relates that a morning ritual of sewing for a few minutes reminds her of the years gone by. A typical day starts with getting up early in the morning, having breakfast,

prayers and touching base with her grandchildren. “I am at Church View by 9 o'clock, and I spend most of my day doing my marketing for the hotel. I sew every day, just for the love of it. There is always something to sew—but not for long, sometimes 15 minutes, half hour.”

Some of her hobbies include fishing, listening to music and viewing comedies, including her favourite TV series, 'The Golden Girls', of which she owns an entire collection. While many persons are recognised for their service to respective professions, community work, medicine, humanity, and other pursuits, Mrs. Lilowtie 'Jenny' Bhookmohan's artistic abilities and entrepreneurial charisma, as well as her work for women empowerment, are attributes that have made her special.

Sunday March 10, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 47

The Abigail Column A friend in transformation

DEARABIGAIL, One of my dearest friends has been living abroad for the past three years teaching English. I am proud of her for all she’s accomplished, and so thrilled she’s been able to see the world.

The problem is, every time she return home for vacations, I’ve noticed she thinks a lot more highly of herself, and it’s not a healthy sort of confidence so much as a big fat ego. It’s “her way or the highway,” and I always used to think of her as so easygoing and understanding. She’s made some insensitive, rude

comments.

The parts of her I love are still there, but I don’t know how to reconcile them with these new elements of her personality. She probably has no idea she’s behaving this way, but I don’t know how to call her out on it without causing drama. It’s not like there are specific instances I can point out to her; it’s more of an overall shift in her tone.

How can I get my friend back?

Friend Dear Friend, You’re “proud of her” — so you raised this friend yourself?

That whiff of condescension, and your hint of entitlement to have your friend in the form you prefer, and the suggestion that “easygoing and

understanding” are the traits you miss the most, are three threads I’m going to embroider into a hunch: Even if you’re peers in the eyes of the world, there’s a masterprotégé element to your friendship. Is this someone who has looked up to you in the past, and sought your approval accordingly? And who is now road-testing her own sense of herself?

Maybe, maybe not. But it does appear as if you’re appraising her ego display from the position of the disappointed elder, and she’s displaying said ego with the (perhaps subconscious) intent of busting out of the child role in the most timehonored way: thumbing her nose not just at you, but also at the version of herself that you value so much. Ask parents of teenagers whether that sounds familiar to them.

Sunday March 10, 2013 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) Although you may be distracted by noisy circumstances, complicated social dilemmas won’t be enough to take your mind off your inner life. Y TAURUS (Apr. 20–May 20) You are excited about the possibilities for the upcoming week, but you may be asked to partake in more social activities than you can manage.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20) You feel as if you have lost the optimistic edge you had last week, yet you’re still ready to move forward with your plans.

CANCER (June 21–July 22) You are receiving intuitive hunches about your future, but they might not be perfectly aligned with your present actions.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) Establishing clear boundaries may be problematic today. You’re in a position to better understand how others see you and it isn’t quite what you expect. You can settle into an emotional place now, affording you the ability to absorb the feelings of those close to you.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) You may be your own worst enemy today if you waver between spacing out and concentrating on your chores.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) You are still riding a creative wave, but you may develop a sense of urgency today. You might believe that you’ll lose your chance if you don’t complete an unfinished task.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) It’s been pretty quiet on the emotional front lately, but you can feel your passions flowing again now that the Moon is back in a water sign.

SAGIT (Nov. 22–Dec. 21) You might be in the midst of a dilemma that pits your head against your heart now.

You are moving one way while your emotions flow in a different direction.

CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) You may be feeling an awkward sense of anticipation as you imagine easier times ahead. However, there are still a few obstacles that need to be conquered first.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20–Feb. 18) Financial matters may be troubling you now, and it’s about time you get to the bottom of it. Perhaps an accounting error has just come to your attention today and it is unsettling.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) The reflective Moon is back in your watery sign now, giving you the opportunity to tune into your own body and fully experience your feelings.

DTV CHANNEL 8 09:25 hrs. Sign On 09:30 hrs. Turning Point 10:00 hrs. Kickin’ It 10:30 hrs. Lab Rats 11:00 hrs. DTV’S Festival of Biblical Movies for the Lenten Season: “Mary of Nazareth” 14:00 hrs. Movie: Seduced

By Lies 16:00 hrs. Movie: The Eleventh Victim 18:00 hrs. Catholic Magazine (Faith in Action) 18:30 hrs. Know Your Bible 19:00 hrs. Greetings and Announcements 20:00 hrs. Once Upon a Time (New Episode) 21:00 hrs. The Good Wife (New Episode) 22:00 hrs. The Mentalist (New Episode) 23:00 hrs. Sign Off NCN CHANNEL 11 05:00 hrs - Inspiration 05:30 hrs - Newtown Gospel 06:00 hrs - NCN News (r/b) 06:30 hrs - Tomorrow’s World 07:00 hrs - Voice of Victory 07:30 hrs - Voice of Islam 08:00 hrs - Lifting Guyana to Greatness 08:30 hrs - President’s Diary 09:00 hrs - Bollywood 60 Minutes 10:00 hrs - Homestretch Magazine 10:30 hrs - Weekly Digest 11:00 hrs - Remembering Dr. Cheddi Jagan*** 12:00 hrs - The Naked Truth 12:30 hrs - GRA in Focus 13:00 hrs - Dharma Vani 14:00 hrs - Catholic Magazine 14:30 hrs - The Truth 15:00 hrs - Reflections – Dr.

Jagan (r/b) 15:30 hrs - Between the Lines 16:00 hrs - Family Forum 16:30 hrs - Shape 17:00 hrs - African Moves 18:00 hrs - NCN Week in Review 18:30 hrs - Guysuco Roundup 19:00 hrs - Round Table 20:00 hrs - Kala Milan 20:30 hrs - GT&T Jingle & Song 22:30 hrs - Movie MTV CHANNEL 14/ CABLE 65 Sign on 06:30h Pryag Vanie 07:00h Toolsie Persaud Ltd. Bhajan hour 07:30h CNN News 08:00h Christ for the Nation 08:30h Puran Bros. Shiva Bhajans 09:00h Al Madina Muslim melodies 09:30h Teleview Kutbah 10:00h DJ Stress Indian Movie 13:00h Garam Geet 14:00h Sitcom 15:00h The Variety show 16:00h Bollywood Sensation 17:00h Birthday & Other greetings 17:15h Death Announcements & In Memoriam 17:30h Shiva Bhajans 18:00h Sitcom 18:30h DNA TV Show 19:00h JKS TV show 19:30h BBC World News 20:00h Sangeet Mehfil 21:00h Shivratri Service at Cove and John Ashram Sign off

Guides are subjected to change without notice

Page 48

Kaieteur News

Sunday March 10, 2013

England grind their way towards safety against New Zealand DUNEDIN, New Zealand (Reuters) - Alastair Cook and Nick Compton made some amends for England’s poor first innings by grinding out a 231-run partnership to eat deep into New Zealand’s lead of 293 on the fourth day of the first test on Saturday.

Captain Cook was dismissed just before stumps for 116, leaving Compton to resume on the fifth and final day of the match on 102 not out along with nightwatchman Steven Finn, who

had yet to score.

England ended the day on 234 for one, a deficit of just 59 runs, after applying themselves far more diligently than in their first innings, when they were bundled out for 167.

Cook and Compton’s obdurate stand on Saturday not only edged the visitors closer to safety but sent a message to New Zealand’s young pace attack that the rest of the three-match series would be much more of a test

of their abilities.

Mindful they needed to bat time to at least save the test, both openers played cautiously and a potential run out when Compton was on 94 was the only chance in their record first wicket stand before Cook’s dismissal.

Cook and Compton’s effort bettered the 223 runs put on by Graeme Fowler and Chris Tavare in 1984 as the highest England opening partnership in a test against New Zealand.

Cook brought up his 24th test century with a paddle around the corner off Bruce Martin for his 13th boundary, prompting a standing ovation from the crowd.

Just as the partnership looked set to remain intact until the close of play, though, Trent Boult managed to catch the outside edge of Cook’s bat and the ball carried to wicketkeeper BJ Watling.

The dismissal did not unsettle Compton, who had been under pressure for his Alastair Cook and Nick Compton outstripped England’s first-wicket record against New Zealand, the 223 previously set

by Graeme Fowler and Chris Tavare at The Oval in 1983 © Getty Images place in the side after failing to convert good starts on England’s recent tour of India.

The 29-year-old brought up his maiden test century two balls later with a push into the leg side for a single and emitted a roar of delight as he cantered down the wicket.

“The biggest relief of my life to be honest,” Compton told reporters. “To get to this moment was something special, I never thought perhaps a year ago, or a couple of months ago, that I’d be sitting here with a hundred.

“I kept believing, but its been a long time. I’m just delighted to be here. It’s a strange feeling.”

The patience that England showed had frustrated New Zealand’s bowlers, Boult said afterwards, though he also praised the pair for they way

they held out, shaking hands with Compton in between post-match media conferences.

“It was frustrating not to grab a few more but that’s the way it goes,” Boult told reporters. “They were tough conditions. It was a flat wicket and cold with not much swing or any help from the wicket.

“They just batted well. They took it pretty simply, left the ball well.

“I thought we built pressure in periods, but let them off at times too. They were going at a relatively slow scoring rate.

“We just thought we had to build pressure. It was nice to get one wicket; a few more would’ve been good.”

Scores: England 234 for 1 (Cook 116, Compton 102*) and 167 trail New Zealand 460 for 9 dec (Rutherford 171, McCullum 74, Fulton 55) by 59 runs.

Tevez hat-trick as Man City crush Barnsley BBC Sport - Carlos Tevez hit a superb hat-trick as Manchester City outclassed Barnsley to march into the FA Cup semi-finals. The Argentine striker, who was arrested on suspicion of motoring offences on Thursday, did not allow his off-field problems to distract him as he helped City brush aside their struggling Championship opponents.

Tevez scored three goals and made two more in a onesided contest where the gulf in class between the Premier League champions and the team at the bottom of the Championship was always apparent.

City’s title defence remains on the rocks, but the 2011 Cup winners will return to Wembley next month full of confidence after strolling into the last four of a competition that provides their only realistic chance of silverware this season. From the start, City were too quick and too clever for the Tykes, who played with a packed defence but were often left chasing shadows. Barnsley boss David Flitcroft and his players were hoping for a repeat of their famous wins over Liverpool and Chelsea on the way to the semi-finals in 2008 but in reality never came close to pulling off another shock.

Sunday March 10, 2013

Kaieteur News

GABA Division I and III League...

Pepsi Sonics overcome Panthers for first win

By Edison Jefford Pepsi Sonics withstood a first half attack from Panthers to win their opening game of the ongoing Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) Division I League Friday night when the competition continued on Burnham Basketball Court.

Sonics came from behind to win 47-34 in the low-scoring game as both teams struggled to put it together on the outdoor court. Guard, Ryan Melville scored 12 points for Pepsi Sonics, including a three-pointer on the stroke of the end of regulation time.

He was the only player in double figures for the team with shooting guard, Trevor Smith scoring eight points in a valiant effort for the team.

Haslyn Hooper had 15 points for Panthers that was in control of the game throughout the first half.

Forward, Yannick December scored 11 points in an overall performance that deserved a more positive result.

The game started evenly until December landed a huge three-pointer to put Panthers up 11-4 in the middle of the first period. But a scoreless two minutes from Panthers

allowed Pepsi back in the game, which was capped with a put back from Jason Squires.

The first quarter ended 1310 in favour of Panthers, who distributed the ball better and played in rotation with Hooper involved in the final offensive decision. Pepsi seemed to gain some early second quarter momentum with good ball movement, but struggled to finish as December landed another one from downtown to maintain Panthers’ lead.

Leading 17-12, Pepsi went of a 6-0 run with Junior Lovell finishing a showtime reverse layup to come within one point (18-19), but Panthers upped its defence and managed to secure 22-18 lead at halftime where the game continued to be a low-scoring encounter.

Pepsi started the second period with a much-improved offensive performance, finishing attempts to trail 2526 in third period. Forward, Marlondo Mickel finished one of two free-throws that tied the game at 26 apiece for the first time since the first quarter.

Then Squires scored two free-throws to give Pepsi its first lead 28-26 late in third period. Trevor Smith landed a three-pointer that allowed

Pepsi to close the third period 31-26, giving Pepsi the offensive momentum they were searching for throughout the game.

It was no turning back for them. Apart from the brief signs of recovery from Panthers that centre Hooper led with some And1 finishes, Panthers never seemed like the composed first half team it was in the game.

Hooper finished an And1 play early in the fourth quarter, but Pepsi Sonics’ run continued with a 42-29 lead on 24-7 run that started in the third period.

It was all but over for Panthers, who visibly mourned the huge collapse following the game. The night commenced with a 48-42 points win for Plaisance Guardians against Melanie Patriots in a Division III encounter of the GABA League.

Nduka Horatio scored 23 points for Guardians while Daynian Denny had nine points. Anthony Richards scored 14 points for Patriots.

The League continues today from 4:30pm with West Side Jammers taking on Colts and TGH Pacesetters against Eagles.

EDFA Inter Club U-15...

BVTU, Ann’s Grove, Buxton United & Golden Stars take full points On a day when the sun was out in all its glory, Under15 players from clubs affiliated to the East Demerara Football Association (EDFA) also took the opportunity to shine brightly, ensuring that the day was an action filled one at the Buxton Community Centre Ground.

It was another day for rivalry in the EDFA’s Under15 tournament which produced wins for BV Triumph United, Ann’s Grove, Buxton United and Golden Grove. BVTU’s lads were in ripping form as they disposed of Victoria Kings 11-0 on the back of eight (8) goals off the boot of Paul Kingston and one each from Shamar Barry and Reon Johnson.

Ann’s Grove made light work of Paradise Football Club winning their encounter 4-0. Tony Williams netted a double, his second of the tournament with one apiece for Shemroy Joseph and Daniel Pellew.

David Wilson (right) and Kevaun Garnett.

David Wilson scored a brace in his side’s {Golden Stars} 3-0 win over Youth Developers. Kevaun Garnett accounted for the other.

Buxton United also won by a 3-0 score line against Melanie. Netting for the winners were Keveran

Durant, Jamal Tuesday and Mark Davis.

In earlier matches, Ann’s Grove were 2-0 winners over BVTU while Melanie took care of Youth Developers by a similar score line.

More matches will be contested this weekend.

Page 49

T&T win despite brave fightback by Guyana, CCC pick up first win of 4-Day season Trinidad and Tobago eventually staved off a brave fightback by Guyana to win their match in the Regional Four-Day Championship yesterday by 45 runs.

That fight was led by the rock himself, Shivnarine Chanderpaul who scored 108, falling in the dying stages of the contest when a come from behind victory looked more possible for the Guyanese. Set 376 for victory, Guyana resuming the day on 54-1 were eventually out for 330.

Chanderpaul 108 was the mainstay of the innings as he shared useful partnerships along the way. Bishoo was left not out on 47*, Paul Wintz 50 and Ramnaresh Sarwan 42, lending valuable support.

Bowling for Trinidad Sunil Narine claimed 4 wickets, Riad Emritt 1, Dwayne Bravo 2 and Shannon Gabriel 3.

Scores: T&T 319 and 2513 decl.; Guyana 195 and 330.

Result: T&T win by 45 runs.

Meanwhile, Ryan Austin

followed up Chadwick Walton’s second first-class hundred with another destructive spell of off-spin bowling to catapult Combined Campuses & Colleges to a 152run victory over Leeward Islands in the Regional Four-Day Championship yesterday.

Austin, the Man-of-theMatch, captured six for 48 from 22 overs, as Leewards, chasing 305 for victory, were bowled out for 152 in their second innings about 25 minutes after tea on the final day of their fourth round match at the Three Ws Oval.

Devon Thomas led the way for the visitors with 37,

Tonito Willett made 26 and Kieran Powell added 24, but no other batsman reached 20.

The victory was formalised when Leewards No.11 Anthony Martin topedged a sweep to first slip off leg-spinner Akeem Dewar.

The result meant CCC gained 12 points for their first victory for the season, moving them out of the basement position, now occupied by the Leewards on seven points.

Scores: Combined Campuses 180 and CCC 367/6 dec; Leewards 243 and 152.

Result: CCC won by 152 runs.

Page 50

Kaieteur News

Sunday March 10, 2013

Milo / Petra Organisation Under-20 Schools Football Competition...

Carmel issues marching orders to Lodge - Charlestown also advance It was anticipated to be a very exciting encounter and it lived up to all expectations as Carmel battled to a 3-2 triumph in their clash against Lodge to move into the quarter-finals of this year’s Milo / Petra Organisation Under-20 Schools Football Competition which continued yesterday, at the Ministry of Education ground, Carifesta Avenue.

On target for the winners was the prolific Marlon Nedd, who booted in a hattrick in the 1st, 33rd and 58th minutes of play, while Joel Thom’s 8th minute strike supported by another from Jamal Scott in the 64th proved insufficient for Lodge.

In the opening encounter, Charlestown continued their dominant showing in the tournament with another emphatic display, hammering Tutorial 6-1 to join Carmel in the last eight.

The Carmel versus Lodge

showdown was a scorcher as predicted by the knowledgeable pundits and it started from the onset with Carmel, who were slight underdogs silencing the crowd as early as the first minute when Nedd, weaved past two defenders, before squeezing a shot past a surprised Lodge goalkeeper into the far corner.

However, seven minutes later, Lodge gained the equaliser through Thom, who found himself unmarked after a melee in the opposition goal area and he took full advantage, unleashing a fierce shot that ricochet off the goalkeeper’s hands and landed into the back of the goal.

That made it 1-1 as both teams looked for the go ahead goal.

It came in the 33rd minute when Carmel won a penalty after a player was fouled in the penalty area and the

ensuing spot kick which was taken by Nedd was placed nonchalantly into the right hand corner, giving the Lodge custodian no chance of saving.

That scoreline remained until the break.

On the resumption, Lodge looked more purposeful, but good goalkeeping and a determined effort from Carmel kept them at bay, before the uncontainable Nedd added a third goal in the 58th minute to give them a handy 3-1 lead.

Lodge fighting for survival got a second goal courtesy of Scott in the 64th minute, but Carmel held firm until the end to win an entertaining encounter.

Charlestown was more impressive as they rolled to an easy win against Tutorial through goals off the boots of Brian Prince (22nd, 36th) and Shane Morris (47th, 54th), who a brace apiece, while Collis Best (15th) and

Action in the clash between victors Carmel and Lodge yesterday at the Ministry of Education ground.

Arody Bransford (70th) added the others.

Steve Stanton (61st) was the player on target for Tutorial.

The competition

continues today with another triple header at the same venue.

The three matches are as follows: 12:00 hrs- Tucville takes

on North Ruimveldt 13:50 hrs -South Ruimveldt tackles North Georgetown 15:45 hrs- Bishop’s High square off against Dolphin.

Sunday March 10, 2013

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T&T win despite brave fightback Dickenson returns as head of NAWF

by Guyana, CCC pick up first win - acknowledges the road ahead is challenging of 4-Day season Trinidad and Tobago eventually staved off a brave fightback by Guyana to win their match in the Regional Four-Day Championship yesterday by 45 runs.

That fight was led by the rock himself, Shivnarine Chanderpaul who scored 108, falling in the dying stages of the contest when a come from behind victory looked more possible for the Guyanese. Set 376 for victory, Guyana resuming the day on 54-1 were eventually out for 330.

Chanderpaul 108 was the mainstay of the innings as he shared useful partnerships along the way. Bishoo was left not out on 47*, Paul Wintz 50 and Ramnaresh Sarwan 42, lending valuable support. Bowling for Trinidad Sunil Narine claimed 4 wickets, Riad Emritt 1, Dwayne Bravo 2 and Shannon Gabriel 3.

Scores: T&T 319 and 251-3 decl.; Guyana 195 and 330.

Result: T&T win by 45 runs.

Meanwhile, Ryan Austin followed up Chadwick Walton’s second first-class hundred with another destructive spell of off-spin bowling to catapult Combined Campuses & Colleges to a 152-run victory over Leeward Islands in the Regional Four-Day Championship yesterday.

Austin, the Man-of-the-Match, captured six for 48 from 22 overs, as Leewards, chasing 305 for victory, were bowled out for 152 in their second innings about 25 minutes after tea on the final day of their fourth round match at the Three Ws Oval.

Devon Thomas led the way for the visitors

Shiv Chanderpaul celebrates his epic ton against T&T today at Queen's Park Oval (WICB Ashley Allen) with 37, Tonito Willett made 26 and Kieran Powell added 24, but no other batsman reached 20.

The victory was formalised when Leewards No.11 Anthony Martin top-edged a sweep to first slip off leg-spinner Akeem Dewar.

The result meant CCC gained 12 points for their first victory for the season, moving them out of the basement position, now occupied by the Leewards on seven points.

Scores: Combined Campuses 180 and CCC 367/6 dec; Leewards 243 and 152.

Result: CCC won by 152 runs.

XXVIII CARIFTA Swimming C/ships...

Onica George will be Guyana’s lone representative Sliver Sharks Aquatic Swim Club athlete Onika George will be Guyana’s lone representative at the XXVIII CARIFTA Swimming Championships set for Kingston, Jamaica, March 29 – April 3.

George made the CARIFTA Games (CA13) 2013 qualifying time of 33.86 in the 50m backstroke, her performance at the Guyana Amateur Swimming Association (GASA) Republic Meet 2013 held at the National Aquatic Centre, February 28 – March 3, set a new local record of 33.31 for

the said event.

Her new record erases the old record set by her of 34.72.

George’s performance has been achieved despite continued challenges when it comes to adequate pool time being available for the swimmers. While she made the qualifying time in the 50m backstroke, she will also compete in the 50m butterfly and freestyle at the CARIFTA Games.

A number of other records were rewritten at the championships where George also won the 100m back in 1:20.24.

Onika George

Following is the list of records and the achievers: Name Age Group Club Event New Record Old Record Onika George Girls 13-14 Silver Shark 50m Back 33.31 34.72 (Onika George) Naomi King Girls 9-10 Dorado 50m Fly 56.13 1:08.31 (Asanti Mickle August 26, 1995) Naomi King Girls 9-10 Dorado 200m Free 3:40.59 3 : 5 7 . 8 5 (Alyssa Nurse May 24, 2012) Riley Nurse Girls 8 & Under Dorado 200m Free 4:03.92 4:56.56 (Donna Carter May 24, 2012) Jadyn GeorgeGirls 9-10 Silver Shark 100m Breast 2:19.61 2:51.75 (Deborah Scott May 25, 2012) Leon Seaton Boys 8&Under Silver Shark 50m Free 37.53 37.93 (Leon Seaton Dcember 12, 2012)

Vanessa Dickenson was returned as President of the National Association of Women’s Football when that entity held its Annual General Meeting at the Guyana Football Federation, yesterday.

Dickenson will have as her first and second Vice Presidents, former GFF Treasurer Aubrey Henry and former player, Tricia Munro.

Guyana’s lone female Coach at the helm of a male team, Sharon Abrams will serve as Secretary with Candace McKenzie functioning as Treasurer.

Onefa George was elected Assistant / Secretary / Treasurer, Rawle Toney as Public Relations Officer while the three Committee Members are Fiona Mentis, Winston Forde and Brian Rodrigues.

The AGM acknowledged that the road ahead will be very challenging but that all must resolve to put their shoulders to the wheel to ensure that the game among women returns to a high level

Vanessa Dickenson

of vibrancy.

Given the fact that there was not much activity since the last Inter Association competition some of the affiliated clubs became dormant to the extent that only two clubs were eligible to cast a vote at the AGM; Eagles FC of the City and Bartica FC. The general consensus was that the new executive work to build the women’s brand and will be aiming to achieve in the next few months, two well functioning clubs in each association.

President Dickenson in thanking the members for the confidence placed in her and

the other executives said that they will work earnestly towards the development and promotion of the game in the school system and will be asking the associations to support in every possible way.

The organisers of the Scotiabank/Pepsi School’s Academy were complimented for the fine job they are doing in building a foundation for the game among girls. The West Demerara Football Association was also complimented for the recent Fazia’s Collection Under-17 Inter Secondary School competition which was won

by Leonora Secondary.

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“60 and counting! Crofty, what a wonderful continuing life!”

Colin E. H. Croft I am 60 this week, so let us indulge! Have a brandy on me! Cheers!

I often wondered if, born on “Ides of March” - March 15 – when Julius Caesar was butchered by his so-called friends, was an omen!

Despite severe external stimuli, with great efforts to destroy me, personally and professionally, I am still here, fully vertical and very well, planning 60 more! I feel like Count Dracula, “un-deadable”! Hah! Hah! ‘Colin Everton Hunte’, was named for England’s (Sir) Colin Cowdrey, West Indies’ (Sir) Everton Weekes and (Sir) Conrad Hunte, all world-class batsmen, so I had to become a world-class fast bowler!

I even heard that my greatgreat-grandfather was a native Wapishiana Indian!

Adriel “Woody” Richard, WICB Media Manager, commented during WI’s 2012 England tour, when (Sir) Vivian Richards also celebrated his 60th: “Crofty, I cannot imagine you guys being 60. I remember your team’s great cricketing exploits as it was yesterday.

Where did that time go?”

I have no idea how I got here either! God is great!

1953 was a good year!

Sylvia Celestine, 41; strong girl; had me – No. 4 and last no-one else present!

Joseph Stalin died after

exterminating millions. (Sir) Everton, (Sir) Frank Worrell and (Sir) Clyde Walcott made hundreds v India. Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor Queen Elizabeth II – was crowned.

I share a birthday with General Andrew Jackson, USA’s 7th President, and gorgeous actress Eva Longoria!

1963 to 1973 was formative, industrious and sad!

1959 to 1966, I attended Lancaster Government School, bordering Unity Village, which produced Shiv Chanderpaul. I played soccer and cricket - goal-keeper and wicket-keeper; true - and ran relays!

I remember John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s assassination in 1963.

1966, magic happened, since my parents made $50 per month, total.

I attended Central High School, where, another omen, the father of the first student to speak to me – Claude Merriman Jr. – owned a funeral home!

Known as “Big 12”, I even became a Prefect, representing at soccer, table tennis, athletics and cricket.

I am probably unique, never having a girl-friend in high school over five years, despite sporting and educational progress, so gangly I was!

1970 and 1971 - Played cricket for Guyana’s Youth,

and had my first flight ever – what joy - to Jamaica, via Trinidad & Tobago, in a beautiful BOAC VC-10, starting aviation fever!

1971 - First job, aged 18, thanks to CHS’s Principal “Rudy” Luck, teaching Mathematics at Commenius Moravian School, and, with Michael Jackson-type “Afro”, spent two years escaping compromises from marauding 15 and 16 year old females!

Winston Hunter, Malcolm Harris, Rudy, David Bacchus, “Robbie” Roberts and “Slanty” Rodway made sure that I knew everything mathematical!

1972 - Selected for first 1st Class game v Jamaica.

Courtesy of Legend Lance Gibbs and Guyana Chronicle’s Godfrey Wray, I also went to Warwickshire CCC, on three-month training course; on cricket’s way!

1973 to 1983 was really stunning!

1973 confirmed my greatest love – aviation – becoming Assistant Air Traffic Controller, then even played soccer for Guyana’s Colts v Brazil in 1974!

I am greatly obliged to Aviation Officers Ronald LeeOwn, Bill Mahaboob, Geoffrey “Reds” Murray, Tony Moore, Robert Roberts, Aubrey Alexander, Cuthbert Ferdinand, Caribbean Airlines pilot Clinton Riley, Guyana Airways pilot Astil Paul and GDF pilot Philip Payne for

Monthly athletic road race in Berbice set for today The fourth edition of the monthly road race which is being held to help resuscitate athletics in Berbice and organised by the Rose Hall Town Development Organisation (RHTDO) and the Rose Hall Town Athletics Club (RHTAC) is set for today, Sunday 10th March.

The 5Km event, which was postponed from last Sunday due to a number of circumstances, is open to all athletes residing in Berbice.

The race, which is open to all athletes residing in Berbice, will race off from Ulverston Road to the end at the Rose Hall Arch. Cash incentives and other prizes are up for grabs.

There will be competition in both the male and female categories among juniors and seniors. Over 50 athletes are

expected to line up for started orders. The top finishers in all the categories will be presented with trophies and other incentives.

Among some of the sponsors are T. Jagdeo, CIDI, Leslie Black, Fiesta Fish Shop and Guinness Bar, Jermaine Frontline Barber Shop,

Allicock Wild Meat among others.

Race time is 09:00 hrs.

Interested athletes and or teams with last minute queries can get in contact with coordinator Godwyn Allicock on telephone numbers 3374774 or 660-9048 for further information.

HPC, Zimbabwe play to tour-match draw BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – The High Performance Centre and Zimbabwe played to a draw on the final day of their three-day tour match at the Desmond Haynes Oval here Saturday.

Scores: ZIMBABWE 255 for eight decl. (Hamilton Masakadza 112, Malcolm Waller 64) and 209 for seven (Vusi Sibanda 80, Hamilton Masakadza 26 not out; Jomel Warrican 2-16, Yannic Cariah 2-61).

HPC 230 all out (Kyle Hope 62, Marlon Samuels 55, Yannic Cariah 43 not out, Jahmar Hamilton 37; Graeme Cremer 7-79).

massive inspiration along aviation’s way!

1975 - I won everything in T&T with Paragon SC, while on navigation scholarship.

Ron Faria, Prince Bartholemew and “Joey” Carew convinced me that I would play for West Indies!

1977 - Test debut - 33 wickets, five Tests – v Pakistan; “Man of the Series”.

My eventual overall Test returns were quite good - 27 Tests, 125 wickets, 23.30.

Aviation and cricket too – “Bomber Croft” became a reality!

1978, I met Lynette – tremendous happiness - who ruled my heart. “Professor” Colin Lee, born 1980, ruled us both! She left in 1986.

By 1979, “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” – Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Colin Croft and Joel Garner – dominated, West Indies easily winning World Cup 1979!

1980 – 1982, I was No. 1 bowler in the world.

1983 to 1993 needed focus.

I went to South Africa, possibly to be addressed later, and migrated to USA, for schooling and political reasons.

In 1989, “Queen Nefertiti” – Shannon Renee – courtesy of spouse and love No. 2, Gail, arrived.

I eventually returned to T&T in 1992, with tremendous hope, on promises from No. 2, with Commercial Pilot’s License, Teacher’s Certificate, and Mechanical Engineering degree, working for Air Caribbean and Mustique Airways. She lied!

1993 saw advent to Sports Journalism, to present time, with travels throughout the cricket world!

2003 – 2013 has been strange, the evolution continuing.

I worked for Tobago Express/Caribbean Airlines, UWI as SPEC’s first Facility Manager, and Guardian

Colin E. H. Croft Media, even driving, in 2012, commercially for Walt Disney’s Corporation, while being falsely accused of so much. I am still here!

Best friends Butch Savory and Jimmy Harewood always remind me: “Everton, I do not know anyone who had your luck, who still somehow managed, miraculously, to survive and continue on so very well!”

What a life indeed!

Anything is very possible for my next 60, anywhere! Enjoy!

Editor’s note: Happy birthday from the boys at Kaieteur Sport Crofty. May God bless you with that next 60. Cheers Enjoy.

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Sunday March 10, 2013

Was Aubrey Chalmers the only teenager at the 1973 Central American b/ball C/ship Statistician Charwayne Walker continues his features on basketball players who represented Guyana with distinction.

Today we look at Aubrey Chalmers.

A former member of Christ Church Secondary School where the legendary Hewley Harry taught, Aubrey Charlie Chalmers entry to the Sport of Basketball was inevitable.

He became a member of the Black Birds at 17. The guidance he received from Hewley Henry made him a Senior National player at 19.

Chalmers first Senior International tour after his apprenticeship with the National under-19 team in Suriname in 1972 was Paramaribo May 1973 for a Goodwill series involving host Suriname Senior and Junior teams and Holland All Stars.

His next International engagement was the Central American championship

September 1973 in Puerto Rico.

The 19-year old warmed up for that tournament against Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados respectively at the Raymond Reid Centre in Port of Spain and the YMCA Hard Court in Bridgetown.

Young Chalmers found the going tough in San Juan as the land of many waters competed with Mexico, El Salvador, Panama, Venezuela and Cuba.

The following year May 1974, Guyana hosted Barbados Senior National Team for two matches at parade ground under lights.

Chalmers top scored with 18 pts in the opening victory and also reached double figures when Guyana wrapped up the series two Nil. He was an integral part of Mike Brusche arsenal when the series shifted to Bridgetown in November of 1974 but on that occasion the Parade Ground Ballers succumbed to the host 2 –

Nil. Chalmers returned to the Central American championship Arena in May 1975, this time in the Dominican Republic, unlike the 1973 tournament in Puerto Rico where he failed to score in double figures, this time he had scores of 13 pts vs Haiti, Guyana’s only victory, 10 pts vs Puerto Rico, 14 pts vs Suriname and 9 pts vs El Salvador.

His next international assignment was against the Chinese provincial team November 1975. That series was historical as it was the First International Basketball event at the National Sports Hall.

He had only one score of note when Guyana hosted the Caribbean championship February 1976 at the National Sports Hall. Chalmers’ 16 pts against Barbados in Guyana’s opening win was his only double figure score in the three-Nation Championship.

The Raven’s Guard

returned to form by top scoring for Guyana in both matches the National Team lost to American professional team Buffalo All Stars in June 1976 at the National Sports Hall. The Mighty Cubans visited the land of many waters in May 1977 for three International matches against the National Team.

The Regional Power House won all three games as Aubrey Chalmers top scored for Guyana with 14 pts in the opening loss.

He also had an outstanding game in the second thriller, which Castro’s men won by two points 74 to 72. He top scored again for Guyana in the final game when Mike Brusche men succumbed 58 to 54.

His International career continued the following year 1978 with matches for Guyana against Suriname’s National Club champions, Caribbean little Devils and Canada’s YMCA Montreal, both series

were contested at the National Sports Hall. In November of the same year he went to Barbados under the guidance of his mentor Hewley Harry, the occasion was the host Independence Anniversary tournament which also involved Trinidad and Tobago.

In 1979 February he was Guyana’s leading scorer in four internationals which the National team lost 3 games to one to Trinidad and Tobago at the National Sports Hall.

Chalmers last International tour in Senior National Colours was to Trinidad and Tobago in September 1980 for a Goodwill triangular series also involving Barbados.

The 1980 National team to Trinidad and Tobago was Hewley Harry (Captain Eagles), Aubrey Chalmers (Ravens), James Brusche (YMCA Kings), Eon Andrews (Ravens), George Sharples (Ravens), Compton Hinds (Celtics), Orin Cumberbatch

Aubrey Chalmers (Eagles), Stanislaus Hadmon (Eagles), Royston Telford (Yellow Birds), Merton Fitzalbert (Eagles), Keith Alexander (76ers), Brentnol Carmichael (Pacesetters), Mike Brusche (Coach) and Rudolph Gomes (Manager).

International Debut 1973 vs Suriname; International tours - 1972 Suriname, 1973 Suriname, Trinidad, Barbados, Puerto Rico; 1974 Barbados, 1975 Dominican Republic, 1978 Barbados and 1980 Trinidad.

Career High 18 pts vs Bufalo All Stars National Sports Hall 1976.

(Charwayne Walker)

Sunday March 10, 2013

Kaieteur News

Golden Reprise one to look for in the horseracing circle

By Samuel Whyte One of the horses to look for in the future is definitely Golden Reprise. While some persons choose names at random, others choose names for a reason and with a meaning. The owners of Golden Reprise of the Haripaul stable of Tain, Corentyne Berbice knew something special about the four year old Bay Colt thus the name.

The animal was in ripping form in its last race, registering its first victory locally. Classified J1and running in the J class category with a weight of 123 pounds the Bay Colt romped to victory in convincing fashion. It will be looking to continue in the same vein and extend that winning streak when it takes to the track on 24th March for the KMTC one day race meet.

Owned by Mohabir Haripaul and trained by the veteran and wily horse man and jockey Rupert “Put”

Ramnauth, the animal of late has been improving and has been among the money in its last few races.

Golden Reprise tasted victory at the last race meet held at the Rising Sun Turf Club with Jockey Ramnauth urging the animal on as it blazed to victory, getting stronger as the race progressed to make sure it entered the winning enclosure and carry home the $150,000 winners money and the Goodwood Racing Service trophy that were up for the taking.

According to Haripaul the animal has been improving all the time and they believe that they have now hit the right button. Popularly known as “Water melon man’ the owner said that animals are like people and like anything else, some take longer to develop, but when they do, there is nothing stopping them.

He believes the time has come for him to start winning.

Haripaul stated that he has an excellent trainer in

National Sports Commission age group Badminton tournament 2013 concludes The NSC age group badminton tournament concluded on Friday 8 March 2013 at the Queens College Badminton Courts with the Under-15 & Under-21 Boys Finals.

The Under-15 Boys Singles Final saw Jonathan Mangra defeating Omari Joseph in a tiring three sets for both players with Mangra winning the first game at 2111, Omari came back in the second game winning at 3029 and Mangra finally won the third game and Match 2114. Omari had defeated Jonathan earlier in the week in the Under-17 Semi-Finals.

The Boys Under-21 Final saw 14 year old National Junior & Senior Champion Narayan Ramdhani keeping his fine form to defeat his rival Nicholas Ali in two straight games. Narayan who had earlier in the week won the Under-17 event, outplayed Nicholas Ali in the Under-21 Final with the two players playing one of the fastest games of recent, with

controlled winning drops, smashes and quick movements to see them cover the court with speed.

Narayan took the first game at 21-15 and the second game to win the Match at 2321.

The Presentation will be made to the champions, runner-ups and third placed winners on Monday 18 of March at 6:00 pm.

The Age Group winners are: Under-11 Girls Singles: Leianna Chung Under-11 Boys Singles: Elan Rahaman Under-13 Girls Singles: Priyanna Ramdhani Under-15 Boys Singles: Jonathan Mangra Under-15 Girls Singles: Priyanna Ramdhani Under-17 Boys Singles: Narayan Ramdhani Under-17 Girls Singles: Priyanna Ramdhani Under-19 Boys Singles: Narayan Ramdhani Under-21 Boys Singles: Narayan Ramdhani

Ramnauth who is also an experienced jockey and all things being equal, he thinks that they have everything in place to start a winning streak from now. “As a man who has been around horses and with my trainer we would see defects early and try and correct them as early as possible. With the right kind of food which includes a number of different mixtures and the right exercise the animal can reach the top.”

The horse trains at various venues on the Corentyne including the Port Mourant race club and it all depends on where races and the type of races being run

Page 55

Golden Reprise of the Mohabir ‘Water melon man’ Haripaul stable being guided

by Rupert Ramnauth to a convincing victory in its last race at the Rising Sun Turf club.

they will find a suitable racetrack.

The event also will dictate the type of training it has to undertake. Apart from

competing in the J class events (J1, J2 and J3), the racehorse also runs in the ‘I’ class category and is set to move up in class to challenge

those in the other divisions.

Gold Reprise will be on a gold medal hunt and according to the handlers it will definitely not be relenting.

Decent number of entries received for Kennard Memorial Turf Club Meet With the Horseracing season moving apace the focus will now be on the Kennard Memorial Turf Club, situated at Bush Lot Farm, Corentyne Berbice, when that entity stages their horserace meet on Sunday 24th March at the Club’s entity. So far over 40 entries have been received.

Seven races are listed on the day’s programme which will have a whopping $5M in trophies and cash incentives available. They are a number of top notch events listed on the days card including the feature event for horses classified B and lower. There

is also the F and lower and the G and lower races while there is also the 3-yrs-old race for Guyana bred and born horses.

The full list of events are the feature B class race which will cover a distance of One Mile for the hefty $1M winner’s money and trophy with the other placing receiving $500,00, $250,000 and $125,000 respectively.

Horses running in the F and lower contest will aim for the top prize of $350,000 and trophy over seven furlongs.

The top horses in the G and lower contest will run away with $300,000 and

trophy over seven furlongs.

The winner of the three year old Guyana bred event will get $280,000 and trophy also over seven furlongs.

The ‘I’ class matchup is another seven furlongs race with the pole position takings being set at $180,000 and trophy.

There are two J class races with the animals classified J1 and lower competing for a top purses of $150,000 and trophy over 1 mile, while the J3 class event is a six furlongs affair with the winner taking away $100,000 and trophy.

The organisers wish to remind horse owners that the

event is being conducted under the rules of the Guyana Horse Racing Authority (GHRA).

Entries close on Sunday March 17th and late entries will not be accepted.

Interested persons are asked to make contact with Secretary Niketa Ross on 6624668, Dr Dwight Waldron on 645-2848, Justice Cecil Kennard on 226-1399, 2254818, or 623-7602) or Roopnarine Matadial aka Shine (325-3192), Isabella Beaton on 693-7812, Ivan Dipnarine on 331-0316 or Dennis De Roop on 609-9143.

Race time is 13:00hrs.

(Samuel Whyte)

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Sunday March 10, 2013

Djokovic feels close to Armstrong era is burden his stunning 2011 form on young riders - Millar INDIAN WELLS, California (Reuters) Oozing confidence after making a sizzling 130 start to the year, Novak Djokovic looks every inch the same player who reigned supreme in the men’s game during his astonishingly successful 2011 season.

Though the Serbian world number one was reluctant to make any predictions about how his 2013 campaign may pan out, he sounded an ominous warning to his rivals on Friday while talking about his sensational early form.

“It feels the same (as it did in 2011) ... the way I started the year,” Djokovic told reporters at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, where he will play his opening match of the BNP Paribas Open in the second round on Sunday.

“I have great memories from 2011. That was by far my most successful year in the career. But it’s very early still to say what’s going to happen, so I don’t want to predict anything.

“My mindset will stay the same, and that is to enjoy the moment, to be in the moment, to try to do my best in the present, take it step by step and then see how far I can go.”

In 2011, Djokovic won a career-best 10 ATP titles, including three grand slam crowns, after reaching 11 finals en route to a stunning 70-6 match record. He won his first seven tournaments of the season while compiling a 41-match winning streak, the best run to start a year since John McEnroe’s 42 in 1984.

DOMINANT DJOKOVIC Fast forward two years and the dominant Djokovic has triumphed in his first two events, winning the Australian Open in January and the Dubai Championships last week, while extended his winning streak to 18 matches since October.

“So far so good,” the 25-year-old Serb said of his unbeaten run since Andy Murray defeated him in last year’s U.S. Open final. “I couldn’t ask for a better start of the season, winning Australia and Dubai, playing on hard courts, which is my most successful and most preferable surface that suits my game the best.

“Obviously winning in Australia for the last couple of years gives me a strong sense of confidence which I carry into this tournament.

I think that’s one of the big reasons why I tend to play my best in this period.”

Hardcourt specialist Djokovic has always enjoyed competing at Indian Wells, winning the title here in 2008 and 2011 after losing to Spaniard Rafa Nadal in the 2007 final.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates correctly answering a trivia question about a fellow tennis player while he is interviewed at the BNP Paribas Open ATP tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California, March 8, 2013. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok “I won this tournament in the past and I like spending time here and in Miami these few weeks,” the Serb smiled. “Hard courts are my favorite surface. This is where I feel most comfortable and confident on the court.”

Djokovic expressed delight that his good friend and rival Nadal, also a double champion at Indian Wells, was back on the ATP Tour after being sidelined for seven months last year due to a left knee injury. “It’s really great to see him back for our sport in general, for fans, for everyone who loves tennis because he’s such a popular and charismatic player,” said the Serb, a six-times grand slam champion.

“I have seen a few of his matches ... he’s still very impressive on clay, you know. Not much has changed. That’s his favorite surface.

He’s the king of clay, he’s so comfortable playing there.”

Left-hander Nadal returned to the ATP circuit last month in South America where he competed in three relatively minor clay court events, winning two of them after reaching all three finals.

NICE, France (Reuters) Cycling’s new generation of riders are unfairly burdened with the fallout of the Lance Armstrong era but the sport has to confront its past if it is to finally kill off its doping culture, according to David Millar.

Speaking to Reuters after the fifth stage of Paris-Nice in a gloomy hotel lobby, the doper turned anti-doping campaigner explained the revelations belonged to a past that cycling had to face.

“He (Armstrong) was on their radar, he was one of the people who inspired them to get into the sport like many when they were younger,” said Millar.

“From the exterior it seems like it’s very sudden but it’s been a fairly gradual downfall in many ways, especially within the sport,” he added, saying cycling lived in the 1990s and the 2000s with that “big elephant” (doping) in the room.

“Now it makes them more angry than anything else to have to deal with the mistakes of another generation, it’s something they have to deal with which is not fair.”

However, the younger generation of riders is more outspoken on doping than the one which shone during the early 2000s.

“I think it’s more a case of the shift already happened.

Stories that are coming out now, what is happening now is an awakening for the public and for all of us,” the 36-yearold Briton said.

“We are hearing and seeing the truth of what really happened rather than what we thought or believed happened. In a way it’s interesting but not very

Garmin-Sharp rider David Millar of Britain reacts on the finish line as he wins the 12th stage of the 99th Tour de France cycling race between SaintJean-de-Maurienne and AnnonayDavezieux, July 13, 2012. REUTERS/JeanPaul Pelissier representative of where cycling is at the moment.

“Within Garmin-Sharp we’ve always had a very proactive anti-doping stance,” said the Scot who served a two-year ban after admitting taking the bloodbooster EPO. “We educate our young riders that they can talk about this, we never gag them.”

‘SHADOW LIFTED’ Garmin’s Andrew Talansky, who wore the ParisNice overall leader’s yellow jersey for two days, freely expressed his feelings when quizzed on Wednesday.

“There’s a large shadow that’s been lifted with his (Armstrong) admissions,” said the American.

“It’s an exciting period for the sport with plenty of promise that opens things up for me and Tejay (Van Garderen). “Those people who were sceptical during the Armstrong era only have to look at Tejay and myself now.”

Garmin-Sharp team manager Jonathan Vaughters and riders Christian Vande Velde and David Zabriskie testified against Armstrong, but Millar believes they are all proof you do not need to throw the baby out with the

bath water.

“We don’t have to remove the people from that era, we proved that with our team. In many ways, having people who want to make a difference like JV (Vaughters) and myself, Christian, David, it helps confront the past and be very pragmatic about it,” said Millar.

“There are also a lot of guys out there in the sport who are blinkered, who are in denial, they’re also scared because they don’t know what is going to happen to them if they do (talk),” he said.

His team mates Vande Velde and Zabriskie are returning from a six-month suspension given by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) after the pair admitting to doping earlier in their careers.

“They are a bit scared of what the reception might be,” said Millar, whose optimism, however, is matched by that of Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme. “It’s not a perfect world but it’s cleaner,” Prudhomme told Reuters. “The picture we have from the Armstrong era is not representative of today’s cycling. Cycling has changed already.”

Maiden tons give Sri Lanka huge lead over Bangladesh GALLE (Reuters) - Lahiru Thirimanne and Dinesh Chandimal scored maiden test hundreds as Sri Lanka took a strong grip of the first test against Bangladesh on the second day.

Thirimanne made 155 not out and Chandimal was unbeaten on 116 as they recorded a fifth wicket stand of 203 to take Sri Lanka to a first innings total of 570 for four declared at tea on Saturday.

Buoyed by the batsman, Sri Lanka’s bowlers made an early breakthrough to leave Bangladesh on 35-1 at the interval at the Galle International Stadium.

Jahurul Islam (20) was the man out as he tried to get out of the way of a delivery from Shaminda Eranga but only succeeded in gloving a catch to Chandimal.

Anamul Haque (3) and Mohammad Ashraful (0) were at the crease at the break.

Earlier, Chandimal brought up his first test hundred off 136 balls with the aid of 11 fours and two sixes. The 23-year-old making the most of his luck after the tourists had twice

dropped him earlier in the innings.

Thirimanne, whose previous highest score was 91 against Australia at Sydney early this year, completed his maiden test century in the morning session. Having earlier missed out on a test hundred, Thirimanne was patient as he carefully picked through 66 balls to score the required 26 runs he needed having started the day on 74 not out. The left-hander struck nine fours in his 193-ball innings for his century.

Thirimanne moved to his highest firstclass score after lunch when he completed 150 off 247 balls with 14 fours before the hosts opted to declare. Bangladesh’s only success with the ball came in the fourth over of the day when Angelo Mathews was dismissed for 27. The Sri Lankan captain tried to manufacture a shot that was not there and chipped a leading edge which the bowler Abul Hasan gladly accepted. Scores: Bangladesh 135 for 2 (Ashraful 65*, Mominul 35*) trail Sri Lanka 570 for 4 dec (Thirimanne 155*, Chandimal 116*) by 435 runs.

Lahiru Thirimanne made his maiden Test century (AFP)

Dinesh Chandimal drives square during his century (AFP)

Sunday March 10, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 57

London to host Formula Chris Froome second in TirrenoE electric car race in 2014 Adriatico after stage win BBC Sport - London has been selected to host a race in the debut Formula E series, which will see electric cars race around major world cities.

Rome, Miami, Beijing and Rio de Janeiro are also among the eight cities so far named as sites for races in 2014.

Alejandro Agag, chief executive of Formula E Holdings, said it was currently working on “the feasibility and design of the street circuits”.

London Mayor Boris Johnson said it was a “scintillating concept”.

In total 10 cities will host the first championship and formal agreements will be finalised by July.

The race will feature cars that are powered only by electric energy.

Mr Johnson, said: “Zero emission world class motor racing is a scintillating

Formula E will host its first championship in 2014 concept and I am hugely keen that London be involved in the birth of Formula E. “It has the potential to highlight the impressive strides being made in the manufacture of electric vehicles and hosting a street race could also be of considerable economic benefit to our city.”

Mr Agag said: “The fact that cities from all over the

world are interested in the FIA Formula E Championship is extremely heartening and shows a global commitment to clean mobility and sustainability.

“They will all be in city centres, easily accessible by public transport, and will feature some of the most beautiful and well-known landmarks as a spectacular backdrop for the races.”

Bajan schools to see 1st Test for free BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – Thousands of schoolchildren on the island of Barbados will get a chance to see international cricket for FREE thanks to a wonderful initiative by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).

The WICB has joined with the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) and the schools across the island to allow aspiring cricketers and young fans the chance to see the first Test match between West Indies and Zimbabwe at the historic Kensington Oval.

The match will be played from Tuesday, March 12 to Saturday, March 16.

Through its school’s programme, the WICB has made tickets available to schools so members of their cricket teams and other Windies fans can come and see their favourite players.

Outlining the details of the

programme, Cindy McLean, WICB’s Events Manager noted that a limited number of FREE tickets are also available for spectators over the age of 60.

In addition, those under the age of 16 – not attending with their school – will be issued a FREE ticket once accompanied by an adult with a paid ticket. Tickets for the match range from BDS$10 to $20 (US$5 to $10).

“We all know Bajans are passionate about their cricket with the rich legacy on the island. People of all ages follow the game closely and we have again made the move to make sure that even more fans get the chance to have a great experience of watching a Test match at the Kensington Oval – one of the leading cricket venues in world cricket,” McLean said.

“The mission is to make

sure that we spread the game and ensure that the young people across the Caribbean get an opportunity to see their team live in action. We know they see them on the television and via social media and on their smart phones and other modern devices, and here is a chance to see the players face to face.”

McLean added: “We hope that an initiative like this will help to generate renewed interest in the game among our young and older fans alike. We have made the match accessible to our fans and we know our Windies players will help to make it memorable for all members of our cricket family.

We are very pleased to work with the BCA on this programme and they have been very pro-active in reaching the fans on the island,” McLean added.

BBC Sport - Britain’s Chris Froome won the fourth stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico in Italy to move up to second overall.

The Team Sky rider attacked in the final kilometre to win the uphill finish from Italian duo Mauro Santambrogio and Vincenzo Nibali. Polish rider Michal Kwiatkowski finished fourth to take the overall lead from Britain’s Mark Cavendish. He is four seconds ahead of Froome with Nibali 16 seconds behind, while Alberto Contador is fourth, 30 seconds back.

Spaniard Contador attacked several times on the final climb to the summit of Prati di Tivo but Froome, who was paced up the mountain by team-mates Dario Cataldo, Sergio Henao and Rigoberto Uran made the decisive move in the last kilometre.

“I only ended up doing a kilometre in the wind myself,” said Froome, who is targeting the Tour de France in July. “It really was an armchair ride. To have the guys with me on the

climb - Rigo, Sergio and Dario - to have them pulling for me when guys like Nibali and Contador are attacking is a really good feeling.

“I think everyone was hurting up at the top there. I had a little bit left to go in that last k and that was down to the work that was done by the rest of the guys during the day.” Froome finished six seconds clear of Santambrogio, 11 ahead of Nibali and 13 in front of Kwiatkowski and his strong showing bodes well for his Tour de France chances later this year.

The Kenyan-born Briton, who finished second behind team-mate Bradley Wiggins in last year’s Tour, will be Sky’s

team leader in 2013 with Wiggins concentrating on May’s Giro d’Italia.

Cavendish led going into Saturday’s stage but the mountainous terrain was never going to suit the sprint specialist and he tumbled down the standings to be succeeded as race leader by Omega Pharma QuickStep team-mate Kwiatkowski.

Sunday’s fifth stage is a 230km race from Ortona to Chieti featuring two medium climbs and then another uphill finish with a short but very steep climb at gradients up to 19%, or one-in-five.

The week-long race ends on Tuesday with an individual time trial in San Benedetto del Tronto.

Malinga censured by SLC ESPNcricinfo - Lasith Malinga will be censured by Sri Lanka Cricket for his behavior towards the media covering last weekend’s contracts dispute outside the SLC offices. Earlier in the week, SLC’s executive committee had Malinga’s actions reviewed in an inquiry conducted by CEO Ajit Jayasekara, who recommended the fast bowler’s punishment.

“Mr Ajit Jayasekera, CEO SLC, conducted an inquiry on the Lasith Malinga incident and in his report to the Executive Committee, recommended that Malinga be censured and advised on his

behaviour when dealing with the press in the future, considering his standing in the game,” a release said.

“The executive committee accepted his recommendations and appointed committee members Camillus Abeygunawardena, Harigupta Rihanadeera, Ajit Jayasekera to speak to Lasith Malinga on this matter.”

Malinga had responded gruffly toward television journalists who waited outside SLC in two separate incidents, which occurred on Sunday night and Monday morning. On the first occasion he denied he had come to the

SLC offices for a meeting about the contracts dispute in a dismissive tone, before telling a journalist to mind his own business the following morning.

Malinga has had a strained relationship with parts of the nation’s media after he announced his retirement from Test cricket during the 2011 IPL, which came after he had made himself unavailable for the Test tour of England citing fitness problems. He has often been accused of being a mercenary by some, and has lately hit back at those claims, including in an on-air argument with a journalist on a local sports talk show.

Formula 1 chiefs confirm a 19-race season for 2013 BBC Sport - Formula 1’s governing body has confirmed there will be 19 races in 2013 after a home could not be found for a 20th race.

A provisional date had been set aside for an additional European race on 21 July but a deal with a host circuit could not be reached.

Turkey, Portugal and Austria had all been touted as possible hosts after a new race in New Jersey was postponed.

The European Grand Prix had already been dropped from the 2013 calendar.

The full 2013 F1 calendar is as follows: 17 March - Australia (Melbourne) 24 March - Malaysia (Sepang) 14 April - China (Shanghai, live on BBC) 21 April - Bahrain (Sakhir) 12 May - Spain (Barcelona, live on BBC) 26 May - Monaco

9 June - Canada (Montreal, live on BBC) 30 June - Britain (Silverstone, live on BBC) 7 July - Germany (Nurburgring/ Hockenheim) 28 July - Hungary (Hungaroring) 25 August - Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps, live on BBC) 8 September - Italy (Monza, live on BBC) 22 September - Singapore (Marina Bay) 6 October - Korea (Yeongam) 13 October - Japan (Suzuka, live on BBC) 27 October - India (Buddh International, live on BBC) 3 November - Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina) 17 November - United States (Austin) 24 November - Brazil (Interlagos, live on BBC)

Formula 1’s governing body has confirmed there will be 19 races in 2013

t r o Sp

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