Page 2
Kaieteur News
Saturday March 03, 2013
Dynamite blast injures several at RUSAL bauxite mines - policeman, Russian nationals among victims A policeman and two Russian nationals were among ten people injured yesterday after several boxes of fuel-soaked dynamite exploded at the RUSAL Bauxite Inc. at Kwakwani, Berbice River. Three of the victims were treated at the Kwakwani Hospital before being airlifted to the city and admitted to the Dr. Balwant Singh Hospital. At press time, four others were being taken via trail to the city. Sources identified some of the injured as Renat Muldas; Andre Kotsyubinskiy; Michael Inniss, Remington Wade, 22; Dexter Alert, 23; Winston Mettelholzer and Matthews. Sources said that Mettelholzer and Matthews are Rusal security personnel, while Alert was said to be a drilling assistant. Kaieteur News understands that one of the Russian nationals sustained lacerations to the upper body and is considered to be the most seriously injured. The others were bleeding from the ears and had difficulty hearing.
One of the injured men told Kaieteur News that the group was disposing of several boxes of expired explosives when the mishap occurred. According to the w o r k e r, the group, accompanied by police ranks and two Rusal security employees, had taken the boxes of dynamite to an area in the Kwakwani mines for disposal. Diesel fuel was reportedly then poured on the boxes before they were set alight, triggering a massive explosion that hurled some of the men several feet away. “I went up about ten feet in the air,” the worker who spoke to Kaieteur News said. The Russian nationals were reportedly closest to the scene and bore the brunt of the blast. Kaieteur News was told that on previous occasions, employees would bury the expired explosives before having them detonated. “We felt the tremors and then heard that people had been injured,” a Kwakwani resident said. Residents were
One of the injured men of the view that they should have been notified about the operation. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment has deployed a team to investigate the incident. A release from the
Ministry stated that following the incident RUSAL Management indicated that efforts are being made to have its workers air-dashed to Georgetown for further precautionary medical attention. “The Ministry of Natural
Three other injured await treatment Resources and the Environment has mandated the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, Ministry of Labour and other agencies to conduct an urgent investigation and to examine occupational health and safety concerns at the
Company’s operation. “Meanwhile, Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Robert Persaud has urged the team to conduct an expeditious and thorough investigation to ascertain the cause of the injuries, the release added.
DO YOU KNOW THAT JAGDEO’S BEST FRIEND IS THE ONLY PERSON IN GUYANA TO OWN THREE MEDIA HOUSES ... Radio, Television and Newspaper?
Dr. Bobby Ramroop
1) Channel 28 now TVG 28 2) A radio station - 89.5FM 3) Guyana Times newspaper
Former President Bharrat Jagdeo
Saturday March 03, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 3
Prisoners being raped by jail system, comprehensive audit needed - Former staff System designed to help trafficking, corruption By Rabindra Rooplall After working for the Guyana Prison Service for five years, and being gagged under the Prison Act, Chapter 11:01 of the Laws of Guyana, a former Principal Prison Officer (PO1) says there is grave injustice and corruption within the prison institution in addition to the daily violations of human rights that occur behind the prison walls. “If a prison warder is working for 14 hours and no proper food or water is provided, the prisoners then see the suffering of the warders and in turn offer them things, in exchange for favours that might include trafficking. Even Jesus and his angels would accept a bottle of juice when they are hungry or thirsty at work. This in turn causes many more things to be exchanged. The
system is designed for trafficking!” Principal Prison Officer Suzie Wong-yip said During her tenure, Miss Wong-yip who is an electrician by trade also taught inmates for the past two years, she taught Basic Electrician Installation (both practical and theoretical) and trained approximately 50 inmates of whom 25 successfully completed training. “I am an ordinary citizen of this country who knows my rights were violated. I am not affiliated with any political party or other…The prison and the system have damaged me psychologically; they make you feel like a ‘good for nothing’ when they are done with you,” Suzie Wong- yip said. “Let me set the record straight. I don’t give bribe and I don’t take bribe! So the Prison service could never
Former Principal Prison Officer Suzie Wong- yip appreciate someone like me for long. I worked according to Prison Act Chapter 11:01. And the administration from top to bottom like to penalize persons with the regulations and none upholds these same rules and laws, from the Director to ordinary rank.” Adding that the Director of Prison’s Dale Erskine has
been accused of many wrong doings, the Principal Prison Officer said sometimes money is taken out of workers’ income for promotional tickets, even before they collect it “and if you decided you don’t want to support and you will talk, especially if female warders are sexually molested and want to talk out, they (Directorate and seniors) would punish you in ways that can stifle promotion and transfers to spite and intimidate you!” The woman said that many things bought with taxpayers’ money are being stolen even before and after they enter the prisons, Miss Wong-yip said these items include food supplies, medical drugs, detergents and donations given to the prisons. They are being fetched away by prison warders and officers who leave a minimal amount for prisoners. “Imagine when the Logos Hope ship donated a Canter load of items that include disinfectant, cleaning agents,
and shampoo for the hygiene of prisoners, only the measly sample soaps and other small items were handed over through the prison fellowship. Only some books and other stuff reached into the prison. I don’t know if it was sold or parked up at somebody’s house!” Miss Wong-yip lamented. Noting the frustrations of the prison system, Miss Wong-yip further disclosed that although she filed tons of complaints to the Directorate nothing is being done or the relevant authorities are not in receipt of the reports. “Imagine the Government giving out 90,000 laptops and the 12 persons who teach in the prison have one computer to use. They say Rohee said that we must write our reports with hands.” “I normally buy my own pens and pencils. The Mormons were giving the prisons 25 computers, but Minister Rohee did not want it to go through his Ministry, and it was never given to the Prisons. Now what kind of systems and society do we have?”
After being on the wrong side of the fence, Miss Wongyip was then assigned to Prison Head Quarters where she was given no duties until proceeding on annual leave. Upon returning she was transferred with immediate effect to Timehri Prison with custodial section from 6pm to 6 am shift. The transportation cost had increased from $160 to $700 per day, Wong-yip said. The transfer caused her and family great discomfort and was a financial burden. “I am a single parent with a young teenage daughter at home alone and my home is not secure, and my salary was still below $40,000 a month.” “The Senior Officers always arrive late for duty to unlock and lock down the Prison, so both night and day staff have to await their arrival for relief and departure. The 12- hour shift became extended to fourteen hours. These situations contributed to my leaving the prison system,” Wong-yip explained.
Murdered Guyanese was target with tenants, suspects charged Police wheel the body of Azeem Ali from his Queens apartment last Sunday.
Police take one of the suspects, Stephen Peters. New York (New York Daily News) - A plot to take out the residents of a Queens apartment house was thwarted Thursday — but not before the brutal death of a Guyanese man who was bound, gagged, pistolwhipped, shot and burned, police sources said. The discovery of 43-yearold Azeem Ali’s scorched remains in his burned-out Richmond Hill apartment early Sunday led cops to Stephen Peters, 22, and Jason St. Hill, 17, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said Friday. Police charged the pair with kidnapping, arson, murder, burglary and robbery on Thursday. The alleged killers live on 95th Avenue, less than a block away from the targeted house on 116th St. Peters and St. Hill and
were hired by a man who wanted to kill the building’s tenants, police sources said. The lethal grudge-holder, sources said, had been angry with the building’s four tenants since May, when he was accused of molesting one of the residents. Cops are still seeking the man who hired the thugs to “take care of” everyone in the building, sources said. Ali, whom neighbours described as a hardworking Guyanese immigrant, suffered the vengeance in a horrifying death. Police sources say the hitmen burst into Ali’s home just before 2:30 a.m. Sunday, trussed and gagged the tradesman and machinist and then pistol-whipped him. Ali gave his assailants his ATM card and personal identification number, but Peters shot him twice in the
head anyway, sources said. Peters then found a gas can and set the apartment on fire to cover his tracks, sources said.
More than 100 firefighters rushed to a two-alarm blaze that ravaged the apartment building. Once the fire was extinguished, investigators
found Ali in his bed. His feet had been tied with electrical cord and his shoulders bound with speaker wire, sources said.
He was shot once — execution-style — in the head, police sources said. No one else was injured in the fire.
Page 4
Kaieteur News
Kaieteur News Printed and Published by National Media & Publishing Company Ltd. 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown, Guyana. Publisher: GLENN LALL Editor: Adam Harris Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491. Fax: 225-8473, 226-8210
EDITORIAL
Beyond Linden The Linden Commission of Inquiry (L-CoI) has presented its report to the President, who has circulated it to the other two political parties in the National Assembly - APNU and the AFC. The two most significant conclusions that were reached by the Commission were that the police were responsible for the deaths of the three Lindeners and that the Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee, was in no way culpable. We are sure that in the coming months there will be widespread discussions and debates about the findings of the L-CoI and this is as it should be in any well functioning democracy. But it is our hope that matters will be confined to this level. All the political parties agreed to the formation of a CoI after the unfortunate deaths and more to the point, the Opposition parties, which had organised the protests, were granted their demand that the CoI have a ‘foreign’ component. We assume that this latter demand was to increase the probability of an impartial Inquiry, and since the foreign element was dominant there ought not to be second guessing on this crucial point. On the matter of Minister’s possible culpability, the Report was unequivocal: “There was no evidence given at the hearings before the commission to support the assertion that the minister gave instructions to the GPF in relation to the incident in Linden on July 18th, other than testimony from the minister that he gave a general direction on July 17, 2012 to the Commissioner that he should take all lawful steps to maintain law and order in Linden.” In determining ‘responsibility’ for the deaths of three Lindeners and the wounding of several others the Report interestingly reached its conclusions based on no direct evidence, “We believe that the police were responsible for the shooting to death of the three persons as well as the injuries caused to several other persons at Linden on July 18, 2012, as there is no evidence that anyone else had a firearm which was discharged.” That is, the CoI reasoned that since it was shown that only the police were shooting at the time, even though the bullets were not proven to be the ones they used, the latter could possibly have come from them. In a court of law, this sort of circumstantial evidence would have been totally insufficient to convict the policemen, but the CoI’s findings demonstrate the differing standards governing the operations of CoI’s versus a court of law. In the latter, guilt ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ would have had to be proven. We believe that the CoI attempted to do what was equitable so that the victims of the shootings could receive some level of compensation. There has already been some dissatisfaction expressed by some at the quantum of the specific compensation packages and we hope that such sentiments will not be exploited for shortsighted goals. We have to look ahead and work within the bigger picture of what other measures were taken to improve the overall economic opportunities in Linden. Looking at the even bigger picture, in a totally coincidental manner, the Speaker of the House and the Chief Justice both (independently) pronounced that the right of Minister Rohee to speak in the House - either as an MP or as a Minister of the Government cannot be taken away by even a majority of the House, which the Opposition commands. The confluence of the two circumstances, exonerating the Minister, so to speak, cannot be ignored by the House. The rule of law, under which our very civilisation is founded, demands that we must obey the law when we were part and parcel of forming those laws. We might, on occasion, disagree on the workings of one of more of those laws, but our system very painstakingly outlines, the way to go about changing those laws. And reflexively resorting to street protests is not the recommended way as we, along with MP Trotman, were all reminded by the Head of the L-CoI.
Saturday March 03, 2013
Kaieteur M@ilbox
Letters... Where your views make the news Letters... Send your letters to Kaieteur News 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown or email us kaieteurnews@yahoo.com
Was Janet Jagan the controlling force behind Cheddi Jagan? DEAR EDITOR, I personally feel that Janet Jagan was the biggest reason for Cheddi Jagan’s ideological inexorability and the biggest reason why the PPP and its supporters ended up in the wilderness for 28 years. Janet Jagan was probably the most uncompromising communist in a region of Fidel Castro and Che Guevera and this had deadly consequences for Cheddi Jagan who was pushed militaristically by his wife to ideological extremes. Any readings of the sixties reveal many commentators believing Janet was brain, ideological mastermind, enforcer and the whip behind
Cheddi’s political decisionmaking. She was a Communist Leaguer before Cheddi Jagan went to Chicago to study. Cheddi Jagan was still finding himself when he went to America. He found communism in the arms of Janet Jagan. Janet Jagan built the PPP’s ideology machinery from the ground up. She applied her Communist League training, she ran the propaganda machinery, dominated its disciplinary arm and was the face of the PPP in its reaching out to the Eurocentric communist bloc where her ethnicity was a draw for winning support from that
bloc. In fact, I would argue that when Janet Jagan met Cheddi Jagan in the communist circles in Chicago, her attraction was not only to Cheddi but to what he represented for her ideological hopes. I genuinely believe that Janet Jagan, the American communist, saw Cheddi Jagan as a conduit for her to launch a communist experiment in a foreign land ripe for communist experimentation with class struggles aplenty. Cheddi Jagan was naïve, socialist- leaning but no communist, young, brilliant, educated, articulate and
given his stature and qualifications was immediate leadership material in a country like Guyana. Janet Jagan knew she had no future as a communist in the heartland of capitalism, America, so she saw Cheddi Jagan as an opening to her pursuing her ideological dreams of creating a communist nation in Guyana. Not only was Janet singlehandedly responsible for driving Cheddi into politics, she was doggedly responsible for his transformation from a socialist into a vehement communist. She was the one Continued on page 5
Saturday March 03, 2013
Kaieteur News
Kaieteur M@ilbox
Page 5
Kaieteur M@ilbox
Letters... Where your views make the news Letters... Where your views make the news Why wasn’t I surprised to read about the poor performance of the Chinese tyre pump and sander belts? DEAR EDITOR, I experienced much the same thing with their umbrellas and clocks in the 1990s. The umbrellas looked attractive on the outside, the clocks had pretty faces, but 3 outings with the umbrella and, according to Mr Bouchard, ‘bladang’ - the spokes started to fall away from the seams and the structure eventually collapsed. The clock stopped working after about three days and we could not ‘coax’ it back to life. When I read a few years later that many of their exports to underdeveloped countries were allegedly made by prison inmates, everything fell into place. Never mind, exporters in other nations seem to regard Guyana as a soft touch. While there, I found that many of the smaller stores were stocked with what could easily be described as ‘second grade’ goods, particularly in the electrical
field. A ‘press’ button on my TV set fell inwards and could not be retrieved “unless the back was taken off”. My electric iron seemed awkward to use until I realised that it was probably meant for lefthanded people - the cord was put on the ‘wrong’ way round. The start button on my vacuum cleaner fell away after using the cleaner twice, a few minutes each time. The shop had it put back on, and the owner’s wife demonstrated that it was now in working order. She advised me not to “use it too much”! I asked her to switch it on once more, she did, and the start button promptly fell off again! I bought a different brand, paying a bit more. These items were not cheap. I wondered about such things as ‘quality control’ and imports to Guyana. One hopes things have improved since those days. Geralda Dennison
The Chief Justice, Nigel Hughes and opposition supporters DEAR EDITOR, Many, many times in my long career as a public commentator, I was tempted to wild chauvinism by publicly proclaiming that I was the first person in Guyana to direct the nation to this fault and that fault of people, institutions and organizations when these very entities became the storm of controversy. Of course I haven’t done so (maybe once I think). You just shrug your shoulder and get on with your analyses. I was the first Guyanese in recent times to pen a critical note on the thinking of the Chief Justice. Any person who followed my media career would know that I openly questioned the decision of the Chief Justice, Mr. Ian Chang for fixing Mr. Jagdeo’s libel writ against me eleven months after the President filed his affidavit. It remains a record in the history of litigation in this country and I go so far to say the world. Nowhere in the world a libel hits the open court eleven months after the plaintiff filed papers. I have
written on this inexplicable decision of the Chief Justice several times in both the Kaieteur News and the Stabroek News I have not been impressed with many of the decisions of the Chief Justice, some of which I think are highly flawed. I have written enough on his Guyana Cricket Board imbroglio to get into that again. But two recent pronouncements of the acting Chief Justice I reject totally. I believe they cannot stand up in the CCJ because they are highly flawed. One is the budget cuts. I think there is a constitutional role for Parliament to cut any item in the budget. Secondly, his ruling on Parliament’s decision that precludes Mr. Rohee from speaking. It is my opinion that Parliament is constitutionally empowered to do so. And there are precedents to learn from. Previous Speakers (particularly Sase Narine) had prevented Members from addressing the House. I also believe that it is outdated to
Was Janet Jagan the controlling force behind... From page 4 who fostered and fuelled his fanatical and extreme communism. She is the one who goaded him away from socialism, which was the lesser evil to communism, to full blown communism. She was also responsible for turning Cheddi’s naiveté and political learning curve into full blown communist rhetoric. I strongly believe that given her love for communism above everything else, Janet Jagan saw Guyana as a meal ticket for her to achieve her communist dreams. Many politicians of the time believed she held a powerful sway over Cheddi Jagan, controlled him and was the true power behind the throne. Many believe the ideological mistakes of the PPP were attributable to Janet Jagan who directed Cheddi Jagan. The PPP made glaring errors in its ideological course and these were likely motivated by Janet Jagan as ideological chief of the PPP controlling a weak Cheddi Jagan. The first such serious error was the change in the PPP’s ideological position. The PPP were surprisingly able to win power in a British colony in the fifties by toning down its communist rhetoric and by practicing policies that were more socialist than communist. Yet, the ideological direction of the
PPP got progressively more communist as the fifties passed by to the point where by the early sixties it attracted significant American attention for its openly communist and anti-West slant. That shift in PPP ideological behavior led to its eventual demise for not only did it cause Cheddi Jagan to be alienated by the British who tolerated him, it led to the arrival of the American capitalist propaganda behemoth. They outspent the PPP which got measly backing from the communist bloc. The result was the PPP’s exclusion from power for 28 years. The second ideological mistake was the idiotic and delusional belief that communism would triumph even in the face of contesting facts. The 1957 and 1961 elections showed the PPP could not win a majority in a proportional representation (PR) election and without a majority the British would ask other parties to form a government. Yet in one of the most politically stupid moves in Guyana’s history rooted in that ideological same blindness and delusion that communism would triumph, Cheddi Jagan agreed to changing the voting system to PR at the constitutional conference without consulting his advisors and against the wishes of many
of his PPP leaders. The rest is history. Many observers felt that Cheddi Jagan’s decision was based on ideological aspiration and lack of objectivity and reality. That ideological paranoia was fuelled by Janet Jagan who successfully transformed Cheddi Jagan. In many ways, Janet Jagan changed Cheddi Jagan before and far better than Marx, Lenin and Engels ever did. Janet Jagan’s antiAmerican venom that spouted from her propaganda machinery within the PPP awakened a sleeping tiger in America which arrived on the Guyana scene for a brief period in the sixties and changed it forever. It was a classic case of propagandistic recklessness, lack of insight and foresight caused by ideological myopia, picking the wrong battles, lack of basic commonsense, changing course when it wasn’t broke and needed no fixing and simple ideological blindness and triumphalism that destroyed the PPP in 1964. The question is: was Cheddi Jagan really his own man making his own decisions in the best interest of his beloved homeland or was he a pawn to his beloved wife making decisions based on the ideological dictates of a spouse who was not concerned with crafting a
uniquely Guyanese solution for Cheddi’s homeland but who likely saw his homeland as a grand communist experiment to ram home some Eurocentric communist philosophies? For goodness sake, Cheddi Jagan could not even manfully choose a successor. Several people claimed Cheddi Jagan told them they were chosen only for Janet Jagan to seize that process and put herself into the presidency and control of the PPP, a role some would argue she really held de facto since 1950. Janet Jagan’s final ideological dagger in this country’s heart was Bharat Jagdeo who was picked by Janet Jagan not for his moral compass or his intellectual skill but for the fact that he was, to a communist ideologue, the very last relic of communist economics in the PPP and the last youthful linkage to the communist glory of the USSR. Another mistake masterminded by Janet Jagan that sacrificed this country on the altar of communism and invested it with a debacle of lost years, narco trafficking, criminality and thuggery. Deification of Cheddi Jagan cannot occur if there is evidence to suggest someone else was really ‘God’ in the PPP! M. Maxwell
have just one particular judge hearing all constitutional matters. The Chief Justice heads the Constitutional Court and is the only judge presiding . Now that the Chief Justice has ruled on many of the complaints about the Opposition’s behaviour in Parliament taken to him by the AG and in favour of the AG, the letter of Mr. Nigel Hughes (“Guyanese may now be willing to urge their political representatives to talk about urgent constitutional reform before another election,” SN, March 2, 2013) will be on extreme importance to all the people who voted for APNU and the AFC Mr. Hughes rightly asked the question - what is the purpose of the opposition in Parliament if Parliament has not got legal, constitutional and political power? Mr. Hughes’ letter is important not only for its content but because of who wrote it. He is the Chairman of a powerful opposition party in Parliament. This is the second time he brought up the issue; the first was when he was interviewed by Mr. Yesu Persaud on television. Are there others thinking the way of Mr. Hughes in ANPU? I know of two such persons – Clive Thomas who sits in the leadership council of APNU and David Hinds who as Thomas’s alternative in that body The Chief Justice’s rulings on the confrontation between the Legislature and the Executive in Guyana whereby the Executive has unchecked power calls in focus the arguments of one of philosophy’s great thinkers, Thomas Hobbes. Hobbes reasoned that humans are essentially wild in their instincts (a similar line Freud took more than two hundred years after Hobbes but for different reasons)
therefore governments need to have a large residue of absolute power. He contended that democratic government and the free reign of these instincts are antithetical To check the unlimited demands of Homo sapiens, absolute government is needed but not to rule absolutely over Homo sapiens but to save humans from their own innate selfdestruction. The result was a social contract in which the Absolute Ruler is given absolute power and that power must be used for the specific purpose of protecting Homo sapiens. What untold numbers have overlooked when discussing Hobbes is that he left an exit clause for the Ruler’s subjects to remove him. Hobbes justified the removal of the Leviathan once the Leviathan broke the social contract and the Leviathan does so when he fails to offer security and protection to Homo sapiens. In other words, even absolute power has accountability clauses It appears in Guyana that there are no checks and balances on the power of the Executive. If Parliament cannot have its motions and Bills accepted by the Executive, then the Guyanese Executive is even more powerful than Hobbes’ Leviathan. But here is where Hughes’ letter comes in and the role of opposition supporters. From where does the power of the Executive derived? Clement Rohee answered that last week in a television interview. He said he is not worried by the opposition’s action against him because his party the PPP was voted into power. It means then that only the votes for the PPP counts. Hughes then is right. The Parliament is a dead duck Frederick Kissoon
Page 6
Kaieteur News
Saturday March 03, 2013
Kaieteur M@ilbox
Kaieteur M@ilbox
Corruption is rampant among those entrusted to serve and protect the citizens
Ignorance, or distortion by intent?
DEAR EDITOR, Reading the SN article caption “Nappi Resident calls for an end to police harassment” is just a timely reminder that law and order have all but broken down in Guyana. While the nation is now a domestic war zone between criminals and lawabiding citizens, on top of that the law-abiding citizens also have to contend with the corrupt policemen in the Police Force. Since the Jagdeo/ Ramotar cabal assumed power in December 2011, there was a clear strategy to foster a breakdown of law and order at the white collar level because of failures by the PPP regime to develop an anticrime policy. Today, the cancer of white collar crime has migrated to the blue collar level in the State where police officers are now empowered to charge citizens the “fry rice tax” every day by abusing their authority. Every hour of every day one can find several police road blocks on the Corentyne highway and the East Coast and East Bank of Demerara highways with the official excuse that it is design to catch criminals but the real intention is not to fight crime but to stop drivers to collect money for “fry rice or the box hand.” The police do not stop Prados or Hummers or any of the luxury vehicles belonging to the members of the Jagdeo/ Ramotar cabal, so clearly the ruling cabal does not have a clue of the perpetual harassment that the poor and the working class endured each day to pay the “fried rice or box hand” tax to fund the life style of those corrupt
members of the Guyana Police Force. The culture is so corrupt in Guyana that One Policeman told one of our sources “if the big ones can tek millions from the Treasury and get away scotch free, why can’t we tek abe small piece from the drivers.” It appears to us that corruption and fraud are the way forward for Guyana since the incompetent minority cabal is busy fighting with the majority opposition to reinstate Rohee’s right to speak in the Parliament. The PPP knows it cannot win this battle, yet it has refused to give up and instead is wasting the taxpayers’ money on a dead issue. But to expose this attitude of barefacedness in Guyana, evidence of corruption has been presented to the executive for action only to be told that it will not stand up in court. Also, the corrupt policemen know that the Police will not investigate the Police, and even when there is enough evidence to prosecute, the police prosecutor will botchup the case in court and the magistrate will have no other choice but to throw the case out, thus allowing the police officers to continue the road block in order to collect more “fry rice and box hand money.” It is time for Commissioner to end this corrupt and illegal practice and stop pretending that he does not know what is going on with his subordinates in the police force. There is no shortage of laws in Guyana but until these laws are enforced; we shall continue to suffer from official banditry. It was the
Roman Philosopher– Cornelius Tacitus who said “the more corrupt the Republic the more numerous the laws.” Rohee should heed this statement and weed out the corrupt police officers instead of making the foolish and cosmetic change of name for the force. Is this all he can do? Because of the actions of senior members of the corrupt and barefaced Jagdeo/ Ramotar cabal and members of the Police Force, the prestige of the government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws rather than having people in positions of power that have no respect for other people rights and for the rule of law. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in this country is closely connected with this corrupt leadership under the Jagdeo / Ramotar cabal and that has filtered down to an increasingly banditos attitude in most office of officialdom. So to the residents of Nappi in the Rupununi, your brothers and sisters on the coast land and other hinterland communities face this music every single day at every conceivable hour and you must know that your complaint is heard by the Alliance for Change (AFC) but until you vote the PPP out of office; baton down for more police harassment, more road blocks and more demands for “fry rice and box hand taxes.” Remember this when you cast your next ballot. Dr. Asquith Rose and Harish S. Singh
DEAR EDITOR, One would think that there’s a school of thought dedicated to historical and social distortion active in our national ethos when reading some letters in the media. Perhaps it’s a result of an education and cultural system that has not addressed the topics of our differences which have failed and have fragmented into dogmas of bias and pure ignorance. The letter in Kaieteur News, Monday Feb.11 by Devanand Bhagwan is such a case study. He commented on Freddie Kissoon’s reference to racist ideals and the racism of pigmentation as enforcing Indo-Euro Aryan myth supremacist ideals in popular culture. What attracted my attention to Bhagwan’s commentary were his distorted arguments utilizing references to the Diaspora and continental Africans, as follows; the recent trend of ‘Bleaching’ was highlighted with intense detail, among Africans as if to negate the argument of advertising not using darker persons as argued by Freddie. These are separate topics. While in the same vein he ignored parallel trends that have been in practice for decades among Caucasians in trying to acquire the romantic ‘Tan’ of the dark and handsome hero in the romance novels, while in the popular culture of that same human variation ; the derogatory term ‘Dumb Blonde’, is used to describe cousins across the street. Is Bhagwan merely trying to extract substance out of human social trivia? More important though, are the stockpile of stereotypes and distortions commonly used and intended to be absorbed as Historical and social fact, which lead to the racist prejudices that have become second nature in the mind set of Mr. Bhagwan, for example, Ravi
Dev’s mantra that had not Indians come to British Guiana that the colony would been a wasteland, when in fact every plantation , the majority of villages and townships were already in existence before Indentureship began, and Afro Caribbean, Africans, Europeans, Chinese also came as Indentured workers, contributing and enriching the Creole Culture of Guiana/ Guyana; yet strange enough this did not occur to Dev. During the 2005 floods Vishnu Bisram in a letter on Feb, 3 2005 Stabroek News in response to Afro Guyanese allegations of discrimination declared, “while AfroGuyanese are getting the bulk of the relief, I am told that some people who did not have three meals a day before the flooding now have many meals a day while supporters of the PPP were neglected. I was told that some people who did not have a mattress before the flood now sleep on a mattress.” Only a state of mental illness could drive this kind of insipid reasoning and race hatred. Was Bisram in some macabre fit of delusion imposing the plight and grim reality of the oppressed Shudras of India which he most likely has a deep haunting subconscious historical memory of on AfroGuyanese? Bisram again travels down the irrational road of bigotry when he attempted to juxtapose on Jan 7, 2013 Stabroek News the use of the Indian repatriation fund as a decision of the then PNC Government to build the National Cultural Centre as equivalent or poetic justice to Minister Frank Anthony’s decision to reconstruct Afro Guyanese history and redirect the 1823 martyrdom to the historically insignificant sea walls on this matter. Bisram obviously does not know or does not care that the post emancipation
1840’s onward taxation imposed on the young Afro Guyanese villages by the colonial authority to address drainage to their farm lands was redirected to assist in the programme of bringing Indentured labour. This resulted in the flooding in the villages and the forced abandonment of their lands and accustomed crops, thus the push to the gold fields and the public sector, and the culinary dependence on the imported food varieties of British Industry. The Cultural Centre is for the Nation including the Indo-Guyanese population, which had no interest in returning to India. Why is this still a topic of contention? Simply, irrational racism. Bhagwan moves onto Uganda, asserting that Uganda’s survival depended on the Asians who had migrated there during that Nation’s colonization by the British. The Dictator Idi Amin in his quarrel with the British [ former colonial rulers of Uganda from 1894-1962] over the sale of arms, decided that the Asian merchants planted during Uganda’s colonial past who had British Passports must give up their British status and become Ugandan citizens. They refused and they were used as pawns and unlawfully deported to England, knowing that this was the then England of the Teddy Boys[ read Roy Shaw’s book]. Idi Amin came from the small Kakwa tribe and was insecure. He murdered and chased hundreds and thousands of other progressive tribal Africans out. On South Road in the late seventies a Ugandan tailor practiced his trade and he sewed some tie-die shirts for me. He often spoke of his home land. Uganda [Land of the Ganda, the most populous Tribal group] is a Continued on page 7
Saturday March 03, 2013
Kaieteur News
Kaieteur M@ilbox
Page 7
Kaieteur M@ilbox
After the no-confidence vote, the President should have replaced Rohee DEAR EDITOR, I think that is wrong for anyone to rule that Clement Rohee should remain a Member of Parliament (and Minister of government) just so that he can represent the people who elected him. Under the PR ( P r o p o r t i o n a l Representation) electoral system, used in Guyana, it is impossible to say how many electors/voters (zero or many) elected a particular representative in the House. Even if a person swears who they voted for, it cannot be proven because of secret balloting. The entire country is treated as one constituency and each contesting political party field a slate of candidates/politicians who
they want to win and occupy the seats in parliament and form the ruling party in government. After the votes are counted, reconciled and declared, one can only know how many popular votes each political party secured, not how many votes individual candidates received. Therefore, no one should argue that an MP should be in parliament to represent the people who elected him since that is an unknown number. It would have been different with the first-pastthe-post electoral system. In this system, the country is divided into many divisions/ constituencies. On Election Day there are several
(matching the number of divisions/constituencies) concurrent elections taking place in which the voters/ electors within each division vote. The ballot would have the name of one candidate from each party (and the presidential candidate if he is elected separately countrywide). The winning candidate will then become the area/division/ constituency representative and guarantee a seat in the House. Everyone will know how many votes each candidate (winner and the rest) received. In this situation one can argue that the winner has a right to be in parliament because s/he was directly
Ignorance, or distortion by intent? From page 6 geographic construct of the colonization of Africa by Europe that divided and destroyed Kingdoms, displaced tribes and set the stage for tribal wars once Colonization was over. Uganda had encompassed several kingdoms including Buganda of which I quote; John G. Jackson’s Introduction to African Civilizations “By the middle of the 18th century Buganda was the greatest state and the most advanced society in central Africa. The ruler of Buganda was called the Kabaka.” After Idi Amin’s brutal era was over Uganda’s leaders invited back all disenfranchised Ugandans, including its Asian population. Bhagwan implies contemptuously that “While some [Afro Guyanese no doubt] are asleep from their late night dance, they [Indians] get up early in the morning and feed themselves and families.” Now this is racism at its most idiotic manifestation; obviously Bhagwan doesn’t get out much to see who’s in the discos. I’ve got a friend on the East Coast who has a boat that serves the CARICOM
route. He’s Indo-Guyanese and he requited his crew from a nearby Afro Guyanese village, because his countrymen informed him that they could not leave for the sea on Monday because it’s too near to Sunday[ Hangovers]. The lazy are equally distributed, what I must insert that since we’re dealing with separate cultural philosophies, it is noted that what applies as a means to an end and good business practices in one group is abhorred by the other side, it is not by coincidence that four of the former PPP President’s closest friends are now in prison Roger Khan, Bernard Kerrick , Sonny Ramdeo and Ed Ahmad. Since the 1880’s Bhagwan’s ‘lazy’ Afro Guyanese villagers as porknockers have pioneered and kept the mining industry alive, each village has paid a price of death to the rapids, cave- ins and malaria, up to recently. Now this industry is a main contributor to the economy second possibly to the GRA. The same lazy Afro Guyanese public service whose contributions,
including mine, built the NIS and have borne the brunt of the taxes since Nathaniel Critchlow fought the labour wars in 1905... you see them catching transportation in the late afternoon going home, and in time for work at the lowest wages in the morning, they are the foundation of this country and you have the temerity to address them sarcastically. It was concluded by the PPP pre elections 2011 that the young Afro Guyanese were a tribe mesmerized by popular culture shows dancing into the futureless doom of the Pied Piper, they proved you wrong. I do hope that you’ve also read M. Maxwell Feb. 5 Kaieteur News ‘The struggle for dominance will destroy this nation.’ Presently all the asinine irrational racism is loudest from wan path ah de village’. Rahul Bhattacharya wrote a novel on the secret thoughts of the Bhagwan’s of Guyana, it’s time to shed the Onumbie and replace the imagination with patriotism and the basic tenets of collective principles with a social conscience. Barrington Braithwaite
elected by the voters to represent them. Usually s/he cannot cross the floor and if, perchance, s/he dies or resigns, a by-election has to be held within that division alone to elect a replacement, the new people’s representative for that area. Guyana does not have this system. Under the PR system in Guyana, no MP (or anyone else) knows how many votes they received. Therefore, it is misleading to argue that Rohee must be in the House to represent the people who elected him. After the noconfidence vote, the
President should have replaced Rohee with someone else (because Rohee would not do the proper thing and resign). The President would not do so because over the years Rohee has done more party work in the front lines than him (practically a handpicked dark horse). Also, separation of powers among the three branches of government has been compromised overtime with many in the judiciary acting in their positions at the whims of the executive. The result is that many persons who are supposed to
be in independent, highranking positions have become enablers of the executive. It is up to the combined opposition to do something, other than talking, about the situation. As Jane Jacobs rightly said, “It is not ideas alone that can stop injustice, oppression and idiocies. It is people who have to do that.” And as I said before, without other strategies the executive will let you have your say indefinitely, but they will continue to have their way........indefinitely. Karan Chand
What a comical showdown! DEAR EDITOR, I refer to the current impasse between the Guyana Power and Light Ltd (GPL) and the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE), and also the photograph in today’s edition that shows the Chairman of GPL, Michael Brassington being flanked by the CEO of the company, Bharrat Dindial and Director, Carvil Duncan. I wish to comment neither on the reasonableness of the union’s demands nor the ability of the company to satisfy the union’s demands. However, what I wish to comment on is the trade union fraternity between an organization called FITUG (Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana) and
NAACIE, and personalities that constitutes these relationships. The affiliates of FITUG are GAWU, CCWU, NAACIE and GLU, the latter’s General Secretary is Carvil Duncan, who is also the President of FITUG, and who is also a member of the Board of GPL, and who I presume, given his labour relations background, must be advising GPL’s Board on industrial relations. The General Secretary of NAACIE is Mr. Kenneth Joseph, and who is also the General Secretary of FITUG. NAACIE and GPL are currently engaged in a heated labour relations imbroglio, whereby electrical power to the nation is shutdown. What a comical showdown! Since Mr. Duncan sits on the Board of GPL and is also
the President of FITUG, whose affiliate is NAACIE, and whose General Secretary is the General Secretary of FITUG, I have a few questions for these gentlemen. 1. What is Mr. Duncan’s opinion as a member of GPL Board on NAACIE’s demand, and as the President of FITUG, is your opinion the same as that of the Board Member of GPL? 2. As the General Secretary of FITUG, is Mr. Joseph’s opinion on the demand by NAACIE, the same as the General Secretary of NAACIE? Mr. Editor, whilst we shall await the responses from these gentlemen, you will agree that these relationships are nothing short of being confounded hypocrisy. Sham Imrit
Page 8
Kaieteur News
Saturday March 03, 2013
Surinamese accused of stealing $7M, shot dead on Corentyne A Suriname national, 30year-old Lucien Agard, who lived with his Guyanese wife, Tricia, at Number 59 Village Corentyne, was shot in his head by unknown persons, Friday night. According to his widow, the father of three with the youngest being six months old, went to the shop around 07:30 hrs on Friday night to purchase ice. She said that she was alone with the children when she heard an explosion. The woman said that she peered through a window and saw three persons, one of whom had on a cap. She saw her husband on the ground and he asked “Bai wa yall doing?” The woman said that her husband called out for her, he said, “Tricia ...Tricia”, and when she answered, he told her, “them get gun”. She closed the window and locked herself in the one bedroom apartment with her children. Then she heard another explosion. Tricia said she then called out for her husband’s aunt but the aunt had heard the sound and was already making her way to see what was going on. Tricia and her husband lived in a one-bedroom house
at the back of her husband’s aunt home. When Tricia and the aunt went out Lucien was not responsive to their calls. They immediately informed the police at Springlands Police Station. Lucien Agard’s mother, Vera Agard, who lives in Suriname, said that she was on the phone on Friday night with her sister and was inquiring about her son and how he was doing. The woman said that her sister told her that he was doing well. During their conversation, her sister told her that she heard something like a gunshot and that she was going to see what it was. Vera Agard said that around 23:00hrs after her sister did not return her call she called back and was greeted with the tragic news. According to Vera her son has been living in Guyana for two years now. She last saw him on New Year’s Day in Suriname when he went to visit. When asked if she knew of any problem he may have with anyone she say that about a little over two years ago Lucien was working for the stelling in Suriname and one day on his way to work a car hit his motor
Dead: Lucien Agard cycle and break something. “Lucien and his friend who was the pillion rider join and beat the car driver. The car driver reported the incident to police in Suriname and the pillion rider was arrested. Lucien got away and came to Guyana. During this period he met his wife and the decided to live in Guyana.” The woman said that about a year ago she received a call from her daughter in law who asked her to come to Guyana because Lucien was in the lock up with another cousin and that the cousin was bailed for $50,000. Vera said when she went
The home where Lucien Agard was shot dead. to Springlands Police Station the officer told her that her son was not on bail and will be appearing at Whim Magistrate’s Court the next day, so she went there where she had to pay $25,000 for illegal entry in the country and he was deported to
Suriname. Kaieteur News understands that the arrest of Lucien Agard and his cousin, Vickey, stemmed from the fact that a businessman had accused the two of stealing $7 million from his business premises. Vickey was
released on bail and Lucien deported. Lucien would use the back track to return to Guyana where he had his wife and three children. Up to late yesterday the businessman was in police custody assisting with investigations.
Victoria Village celebrates 175 years
…and houses the national mangrove project
A section of the mangroves They have successfully planted nine kilometers of black and white mangroves along the East Coast Demerara. And, Annette Arjoon, Chairperson of the Mangrove Action Committee, took the opportunity to express her “undying appreciation for Digicel’s continued generous support “for their initiative and for aiding with the development of the economic standing of the community”. This was highlighted on Friday on a trip along East Coast Demerara. The tour coincided with the 175 th anniversary of Victoria village which is still preserved. The tour on March 1 marked the 175th anniversary of Victoria, Guyana’s oldest community.
The tour began with an informative presentation beneath a colonial house which stands as a historical structure and houses the women’s leadership foundation. The presentation enlightened its patrons on the importance of mangroves and the successes of the project to date. Some of the historical buildings included The Emancipation Hut constructed in 1840 and a church first built in 1845 now reconstructed to almost identical architectural pattern. The mangrove project serves to stem the encroaching Atlantic and provides a basin for a sustainable ecosystem that supports aquatic life. There are seven7 types of
mangroves, four of which grow naturally along the Victoria village coastline. Within proximity can be found many medicinal bushes, all of which grow untamed and according to Ms. Arjoon, are used to cure many ailments. She further noted that the area provides much scope for bird watching. A few exotic migratory birds can be seen such as the national bird of Trinidad and Tobago, the Scarlet Ibis. The tour concluded with the visitors being taken to a masquerade performance that awaited them at the entrance of the mangrove trail. The band called “Fire in the Land” gave an “incredible” performance, according to one Australian visitor.
Saturday March 03, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 9
IS THE PPP NOW INTO CENSORSHIP? By Ralph Seeram The phone calls were coming in from powerful people of the day, some abusive, some threatening and some accusing me of being an “enemy of the state”. The term “enemy of the state” was used against persons who criticized the then PNC government, or took any action that appeared to make the government look bad. It was in the seventies, the height of PNC power where criticizing the PNC meant losing your job. So what was it that caused the higher up in the Guyana Defence Force, the Guyana Police force and senior PNC officials to harass me on the phone? I was then working for the then state owned Guyana Broadcasting Service in Berbice, I filed a story that a GDF officer and two of his colleagues were charged for transporting flour, a banned item at the time. The army truck was being used to transport dozens of bags of flour and other banned items such as potatoes, onions and
sardines. The army truck was used because it was not subject to search at the toll booths along the Corentyne road. This of course was an embarrassment to the army so when I filed my story, my editor and mentor, the late Cecil Griffith, questioned me whether I was sure, to which I replied that the Army trio just appeared in the Springlands Court before Magistrate Arthur Roberts. He carried the news and “hell broke loose” later in the day the story was dropped from the news at the direction of the political directorate. Whether the facts were true did not matter, it made the government look bad so the story had to be killed. I could cite many instances of censorship by the then PNC government, which was highly criticized by the PPP then in opposition. One time I filed a story that Guyana had an outbreak of dengue fever. The country had never heard of dengue fever in those days, but a distinguished doctor who by
the way was a Rhodes Scholar, Dr. Niamatalli, who experienced outbreaks in Jamaica assured me it was dengue fever. The Ministry of Health came out “swinging” at the doctor and at the radio station, the story was killed. I spoke again to the doctor about his diagnosis, he assured that he sent samples of blood at his own expense abroad to be tested. True enough the samples came back positive and the Ministry made an about face and launched a health campaign, by then the epidemic was in its waning stage. Burnham had a great system to control the press, print what you want if you can find newsprint and ink and other printing accessories. For those who are young, the PNC government at the time controlled who can import newsprint etc. and you had to get a licence to import. No newsprint, no paper, it was simple as that. Now fast forward to this week and Robeson Benn, the PPP Minister of Works, mind you not Information. He was displeased with the lyrics of certain calypsos so he marched down to the Government stations to express his displeasure (to
put it mildly) and before you know it the songs were off the air. According to him they were slanderous and insulting. What is calypso about? It’s mainly about social commentary in a satirical way; it reflects what the ordinary man in the street thinks. If it’s slanderous you can run to the courts as the PPP has been doing recently, if it is insulting, too bad, if you can’t take the heat get off taxpayers’ payroll. Let me remind Benn and those other PPP ministers who think they are above criticism. You are servants of the Guyanese taxpayers, you are their servants and not the other way around. They pay you to do a job and if they feel you are not performing they have the right to criticize you. If you were in the private sector you would have been fired. The actions of this Minister can be interpreted as ARROGANT and BULLISH. The PPP is doing EXACTLY what they accused the PNC of— CENSORSHIP. Recently a friend who is close to the upper echelons of the PPP told me that I was “ knocking the PPP hard” in my recent columns. Well my interest is not with the PPP, PNC/APNU or AFC, my
interest is with the Guyanese public. How can you not criticize the PPP; it keeps falling over itself; it has a public relations nightmare. Starting with the road to the hydro falls with Fip Motilall, to the more recent Chinese television and the Marriott project. The Marriot fiasco however takes the cake. How many explanations have the Guyanese workers been given justifying why no Guyanese workers are employed at the Marriott construction site? It all boils down to this— Guyanese workers are lazy, unskilled. One idiotic official of the PPP government even went so far as to inject race into the issue. This week the Chinese construction company came out with its version of why Guyanese workers are not employed at the Marriott hotel site. They should have kept their mouth shut, because they only piled on the insult to the Guyanese labor force. Yes, the job called for “highly skilled workers” that can only be found in China; yes, these foreigners have the nerve to imply that the workers are illiterate, so unskilled that they can’t, use a hammer, a drill, sweep the
floor, pick up garbage, load of fetch materials, use a drill, screw a bolt, climb a ladder, mix or spread cement and the list can go on. My blood boils with anger over this situation, these Chinese companies think Guyanese are imbeciles. I wonder whom they think constructed all the buildings in Guyana. I can point to one project that those “highly skilled Chinese” built— the Skeldon sugar factory. After a quarter of a billion United States dollars and three years running it still can’t function right. Now we have to get the South Africans to correct the shoddy work of those”highly skilled Chinese”. Suppression of information is another form of censorship. The government has been using taxpayers’ dollars on this Marriott project but had bluntly refused to disclose who else is investing in the project. What is the big secret? There should be no secrets where taxpayers’ dollars are involved. I can assure you that if situation had occurred here in the US quite a few people would be sitting in prison. Ralph Seeram can be reached at email: ralph365@hotmail.com
Page 10
Kaieteur News
Saturday March 03, 2013
Saturday March 03, 2013
Kaieteur News
Immigration INFO Immigration News For Our Community
Knock, Knock – It’s Immigration at the door! By: Attorney Gail S. Seeram, This past week, while in conversation with a client in removal/deportation, she complained to me about how she was treated by immigration officers that came to her home. The doorbell rang at 6:30am and when her husband answered the door, two uniformed officers said that they were looking for someone in the area and asked him who lived at this address. Her husband answered truthfully and the officers let themselves into her home (without a search warrant). Before she knew it, two officers were standing in her bedroom while she still had her nightgown on and they asked her to come with them. She asked if she could change into regular clothes and they answered “yes” but the female officer remained in her bedroom while she changed. Yes, the officers had a final order for her removal/ deportation due to an immigration case that she lost in immigration court. However, she did not lose her right to be treated as a human being and should have been given the respect and dignity due to any individual regardless of their immigration status. Unfortunately, many individuals don’t know what to expect if Immigration comes knocking at their door due to an expired visa/I-94, initiation of removal/deportation proceeding due to the commission of a crime, or execution of a final order of removal/deportation. Also, Immigration can visit your job and detain you at your worksite. Recently, Immigration has engaged in numerous worksite raids at corporations that hire a large number of immigrants. So, what are the DO’S and DON’TS if Immigration comes knocking at your door or job? 1. Be Respectful: Refer to the Immigration Officer as “Sir” or “Madam” or “Officer.” Though the Immigration Officer may not treat you with respect, you should show respect because the decisions regarding your detention, issuance of bond, or release initially rests in their hands. 2. Get the name of the Immigration Officer: ask the officer for his/her business card. If he/she is not willing to give you a business card, then casually ask for his/her name. Make a mental note or write down their name. 3. Ask the Immigration Officer where you are being
taken: this is very important because in most states, Immigration has more than one detention center. As an immigration lawyer, I find it difficult to locate my clients when the family members cannot tell me where my client is being held. Sometimes, it takes 2-3 hours to call every detention center in the state to locate my client. Immigration is not always very helpful. 4. While being processed-ask to use the phone: the first place Immigration will take you is to an office where you will be fingerprinted and photographed. They will also ask you questions about your status and family member and create a “Record of Proceeding”. Also, they will serve you with a “Notice to Appear,” which initiates the removal/deportation process. Politely ask the Immigration officer if you can use the phone to call your family member to let them know you are safe. 5. Inform family member where you are and the name of Immigration Officer: Once you get to speak with your family member, give them the name of the detention center you will be taken to and the name of the Immigration officer. This information will be helpful to the immigration attorney hired to represent you. 6. Do Not Sign any Documents: The Immigration Officer will present numerous documents to you for your signature. DO NOT SIGN ANY DOCUMENTS. Simply write, “Refuse to Sign” in the signature block. There have been numerous cases where immigrants sign documents not knowing that they are waiving a judicial hearing and choosing expedited removal/ deportation. Once an attorney is retained to represent you, the attorney will review the documents and advise you of the legal ramifications of each document. 7. Do Not Submit to Threats by Immigration Officer: I have heard stories of Immigration Officers making threatening remarks such as “If you don’t sign these documents or cooperate, we will hold you here for 6-9 months” or “If you hire an attorney, we will deport you tomorrow”. Do not believe these statements. Removal/deportation is a process and takes at least 2-3 months with a final order or removal/deportation. Immigration Officers don’t like to see you hire an attorney because you will be advised of reliefs and waivers that will allow you to remain
Attorney Gail S. Seeram, in the U.S. Additionally, they know that when an attorney is involved, they must be on their best behavior because the attorney will not hesitate to speak with their supervisor or file a complaint against the Department of Homeland Security. 8. Exercise Right for Bond Hearing: The Immigration Officer will ask you if you want a hearing to determine bond – always answer, “Yes”. Contact your family members and tell them to hire an immigration attorney to represent you at the hearing. 9. Be Patient: It is tough to be held in a detention center and to be away from your family. I always urge my clients to be patient with the process and don’t rush to give up and opt for removal/deportation without a hearing. In most cases, my clients that are held in detention are eligible for some type of relief from removal/ deportation but we can only apply for such relief in immigration court. There is a 1-2 years backlog in the immigration court but when you are in detention centre, your case can take 3-6 months. 10. Inform Immigration Officer of Special Dietary Needs or Medical Conditions: If you have special dietary or food needs (such as vegetarian), make sure you inform the immigration officer so they can make the proper arrangements for your food. Also, if you have any medical conditions and require daily medicine, advise the immigration officer so they can have your family bring your medicine or make arrangements for you to have your medicine at the detention facility. Remember, at the end of the day, though Immigration Officers try to make you feel that they are trying to help you, they are more concerned with their job security and showing statistically that the U.S. is safer due to increased removal/deportation.
Page 11
Page 12
Kaieteur News
Saturday March 03, 2013
US$24M in Marriott can pay 8% increase to GPL workers for 40 years - APNU’s Harmon says Brassington should go to jail While the government is unable to find $120 million more to meet salary increases for workers of Guyana Power and Light, it is finding billions of dollars to plug into a Marriott hotel it has failed to justify. It is a situation that Parliamentarian Joe 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 Guyana Power and Light (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 $1.5 billion. Chief Executive Officer of GPL, Bharat Dindyal told Kaieteur News that if the company were to pay the five
percent increase in salaries, it would need $75 million more, and if it had to pay the eight percent increase. 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. “This man Brassington is getting away with murder,” Harmon stated. “He is being allowed to pour billions of dollars of our money into a project that is so far looking like a waste of precious resources. We could spend on things that make more sense, like paying our workers more,” Harmon added. “How could he say that GPL would go broke if they pay the workers more? Just as how he can find money to build hotel, he can find money to pay workers.” As far as Harmon is concerned, the workers have a legitimate right to bargain for an increase they feel they deserve, and it is the duty of GPL to find the money. He said that if GPL is in financial trouble it is because of Brassington, since he is Chairman of the Board and wields power over the operations of the utility.
Joseph Harmon
Winston Brassington
The government last week said that it has secured the key investors needed to fund the Marriott Hotel Project, but no details have been revealed. The government has so far been pouring taxpayers’ money into the US$52 million project. In total US$27 million is expected to come from investors for the main property and another US$8 million for the casino, nightclub and restaurant. Dr. Roger Luncheon, the Cabinet Secretary, told Kaieteur News last week that the only gap in funding at the moment is the US$8 million. The rest of the money is coming out of the coffers, and
when construction is completed, Marriott International is expected to bring in a management team to run the hotel. The financing structure for the hotel locks in private investors for a return of their dollars but taxpayers’ money risk being washed away if the
ambitious project fails. The government has already said that it plans to sell out the hotel to a private investor once it is up and running. Observers see that as a ploy to hand over a tax-funded property to someone favourable to the government. Finance and industry sources say the project is a high risk one, given that existing hotels are struggling to fill their rooms, but Government is pressing ahead and could end up putting US$24 million into the project. The Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh had said that there was a market feasibility study conducted by the Marriott Hotel Group and one conducted in 2010 by an independent American firm. The American firm was not named, nor was the study by
Marriott released. The opposition has voted to halt public funding of the project and it says it wants the so-called confidential documents released to the public. The government, under Atlantic Hotels Inc. has entered into a contract with Shanghai Construction Group International of Trinidad (a subsidiary of Shanghai Construction Group, China) to construct the hotel. The Marriott Hotel group, through one of its subsidiaries will manage the hotel in accordance with standard Marriott rates per annum. The management fee would be a percentage of gross revenue with an incentive fee being a percentage of operating profit as well as other fees based on services.
Caricom 14-point security strategy will complement local plan- Home Affairs Ministry
The 24th Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM recently adopted a “Regional Crime and Security Strategy”. The Strategy resulted from consultations among regional security officials of CARICOM Member States by the CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS), as mandated by the Council of Ministers Responsible for National Security and Law Enforcement (CONSLE) at its Fifth Meeting. Guyana’s Home Affairs Minister Clement J. Rohee, formed part of Guyana’s delegation to the recently concluded meeting which was held in Port-au-Prince, Haiti two weeks ago. “The Ministry welcomes this move by the Heads of Government to adopt the Strategy, which complements the work being done locally to enhance security in the country,” a statement from the Ministry of Home Affairs said. According the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Strategy
Clement Rohee identifies and prioritizes the common security risks and threats which CARICOM Member States face and are likely to face, and advances an integrated and cohesive security framework to confront these challenges. The Strategy, therefore, will guide the coordinated internal and external policies
adopted by CARICOM Member States, within the meaning of their respective legal frameworks. It has 14 strategic goals which are devised to mitigate and manage the security risks and threats to the Region. Each of these goals build on important steps already taken, addresses specific security gaps, and sets out strategic lines of action that guide the types of activities to be carried out in order to achieve the overarching objective. The Strategy is grounded in the principles and values of democratic choice, freedom, justice, prosperity, respect for territorial integrity, respect for and promotion of human rights and good governance, and is aimed at significantly improving citizen’s security by creating a safe, just and free Community and improving the economic viability of the Region. Apart from the 14 strategic goals; Heads of Government have directed that Ministers of National Security and IMPACS formulate practical initiatives to address the dismantling of Gangs; reduce serious violence crimes; reduce the homicide/murder rate and provide technical assistance to help build capacity to investigate serious crimes. The Regional Strategy will complement the Security Strategy launched by the Ministry of Home Affairs on December 31, 2012.
Saturday March 03, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 13
Page 14
Kaieteur News
Saturday March 03, 2013
19 Traffic signals to be powered by solar energyPublic Works By the end of this month 19 traffic signals in and around Georgetown will be powered by solar energy. Energy from the Guyana Power and Light Company will be retained as back-up power. Personnel of the Public Works Ministry are currently making the necessary modifications to 18 traffic signals. There is already a prototype that is being used at the junction of Church Street and Vlissengen Road. This is according to Terence O’Brien, Electrical Engineer of the Public Works Ministry on Friday. In addition, personnel of the Traffic Signal Unit of the Ministry have built a new version of power supply system for the signals. This is a direct result of the unavailability of spares for the systems. CMS Traffic Systems Limited of India that supplied the signals was slothful in responding to the Ministry when contacted about spares. As such, the Ministry has since designed its own 24volt power system and the components are ready for installation.
It is the intention of the Ministry to power all traffic signals via solar energy to reduce a high utility bill per annum. When solar energy becomes the primary source of power for the signals, the utility bill is expected to be reduced by one-third of its current amount which is $5M. In fact, traffic signals being installed now will be powered primarily by solar. For instance, the traffic signal system being installed at the junction of the Demerara Harbour Bridge and Peter’s Hall, East Bank Demerara will be solar powered. This system is expected to become operational this week and will help to reduce traffic congestion, O’Brien added. O’Brien said that engineers have been preparing a plan for the timely discharge of traffic. Tests were done on Thursday to ascertain the time traffic takes to flow during peak and off peak hours. It is proposed that between 08:00 hrs and 16:30 hrs- off peak hours- the traffic signals will take 115 seconds. And, during the peak hours from 07:00 hrs to 08:00 hrs and from 16:30 hrs to 18:00 hrs the signals will
Traffic lights at the junction at Church Street and Vlissengen Road
take roughly 220 seconds. That is because of the high density of vehicles flowing along that stretch. He said, “From observation the time used by the signals allowed vehicles to discharge very quickly. In fact, the timings were taken from what the traffic rank was utilizing. Persons driving by
hailed up the use of the signals and asked when they were coming on stream”.
“It is the opinion of the Ministry that the road way will be safer. When you
discharge, every intersection has its own time to discharge,” he added.
Chief Co-operative officer requests seven days to respond to charges of illegal land sale ….seeks lawyers’ intervention As drama continues over an alleged illegal land sale in Lamaha Gardens, that now has Chief Co-operative Development Officer, Kareem Abdul-Jabar in hot water, the state agent has requested seven days to respond to the allegations. He says that he needs to seek legal advice. This has thus been granted according to sources; adding to the two days that Jabar was initially given by the Public Service Commission (PSC). An insider at the Ministry of Labour said that Jabar requested from the PSC one week to answer charges that he illegally sold a plot of land at Lot 42 Durbana Square. According to the source the Co- operative officer who has been sent on administrative leave to facilitate investigations into the matter, is discussing his next move with lawyers as he is supposed to go before the PSC to relate his part played in the sale of the Lamaha Gardens community property. The officer’s seven days will be up by Tuesday next week and a response is expected for the PSC. According to senior officials, it is likely that if found culpable, Jabar could face disciplinary measures at the administrative level. Jabar is said to be responsible for the dissolution of Co-operative Societies, once they do not meet the required criteria. It was with this power that the co –op officer said he dissolved the Civil Service
Association (CSA); the cooperative responsible for the land, and later selling the property to a private businessman. Concerned parties however claimed corruption in the land sale since they said that no one was informed of th e s a l e , t h a t i t w a s conducted within one month, that the CSA was illegally dissolved and that the land was sold way below market price. Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) made claims for the property after residents in the community also cited that the land belonged to the public service. The information is that during the early 1960s when Lamaha Gardens was being developed into a high end residential area for public servants, the land now sold was designated for a community recreation ground. At that time, the CSA was responsible for the property while the residents maintained it. The CSA is now GPSU, and the land was initially under the CSA cooperative. The Chief Cooperative officer reportedly dissolved the co-op claiming that less than seven members existed. The community was however able to produce more than 15 members that held original land titles for property under the CSA; making the co- op valid. In addition, GPSU claimed that the land is public service
property since the entity is the successor of the CSA, and as at November 2011, GPSU was owing tax on the property to City Hall. The concerned parties charged that the land was sold illegally, “to a businessman with high connections.” They said that 5500 sq ft of land in the upscale area is sold for approximately $30M$35M but the now controversial property, estimated at six times that size, was reportedly sold for $25M. They also said that it was during the Christmas season last year that the land was sold; within a one month period which is highly irregular. None of the community members or the co-op members was ever contacted. GPSU said despite writing the authorities on the land sale, the property was sold without a correspondence being sent to the public service. The land sale caused much commotion from residents, causing President Donald Ramotar to intervene and demand that an investigation be launched into the matter. The result of the probe by Labour Minister Dr Nanda Gopaul highlighted irregularities in the transaction. According to the report, several agency policies and procedures were breached, while the bank account where the land money was placed in the liquidator’s name, is also said to be unethical.
Saturday March 03, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 15
EPA gives permission for noise and dust polluting joinery shop An elderly Berbice resident suffering from asthma and bronchitis is peeved that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gave permission for a joinery shop to operate adjacent to his residence despite numerous complaints from him and other residents about dust and noise pollution. Bronchitis is an acute inflammation of the air passages within the lungs. It occurs when the trachea and the large and small bronchi within the lungs become inflamed because of infection or irritation from other causes. Bronchitis could occur when a person inhales irritating fumes or dust. Deirajpat Misir, of Lot 9 Adelphi, Canje, Berbice, for about 25 years has been complaining to authorities about his plight. Most recently, he wrote to
President Donald Ramotar and Opposition Leader David Granger. And, the matter was raised twice in the Court. In 1992, the first injunction was granted for Mr. Bipat to halt his operations on Lot 10 and 11 Adelphi, Canje, Berbice. However, Mr. Bipat moved his operations to Lot 12 Adelphi respecting the injunction but still polluting the atmosphere. Misir went back to the Court in 2003 in an attempt to halt the operation that had no permission to operate at that time. He noted that Mr. Bipat ignored the injunction and continued to operate his shop on a daily basis on Lots 10, 11 and 12. According to the 69-yearold man, his first complaint was made in 1985 under the People’s National Congress regime. He was told in 1991 that the Government could not do anything about the
Power failure in several communities yesterday morning along the coastland was not related to the current industrial relations problems facing the Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL). Between 11:00 hrs and 11:30 hrs communities connected to the Demerara interconnected power grid were without electricity because three machines ‘tripped’ at GPL’s Wartsila Plant, Kingston. This is according to GPL’s Chief Executive Officer, Bharat Dindyal, who noted that an investigation into the temporary malfunctioning of the machines has been launched. However, all systems are back up. Dindyal did not foresee the likelihood of the machines tripping again and if the
power failure could be longer. Last December, Government extended its contract with the Finnish corporation, Wartsila, for another four years to operate and maintain its three largest power plants. The company is expected to convert the frequency output of the Kingston 1 power plant from 50Hz to 60Hz. In addition to the power plant at Kingston, Wartsila operates generating sets at Garden of Eden, East Bank Demerara. Another plant of 26MW is being built at Vreeden-Hoop, West Bank Demerara. The latter will be among the three that Wärtsilä will manage. The contract, until 2016, will cover responsibilities for the production of some 80MW of power.
Strike not responsible for power failure
Duo on bail for Popeye’s thievery allegation A father of nine and a mother of five faced the court on Tuesday on a joint charge of simple larceny. Shawn Reid, a building contractor and former security guard at Popeye’s Chicken and Seafood, and Makayla Marcelle, of Section B Sophia, also a former employee of Popeye’s faced Magistrate Judy Latchman at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court to answer to the charges. Both accused were employees of the Popeye’s Chicken and Seafood Outlet on Vlissingen Road. Police say that on February 22, last, the two stole $332,800 from
the fast food outlet. The duo pleaded not guilty to the allegation. Marcelle was employed in food section while her alleged accomplice was a security guard of the establishment. A Popeye supervisor had taken the money from the cash register and had placed it in a drawer for safekeeping but returned and found that the cash had gone missing. The two defendants were seen on a surveillance tape stealing the cash. The cash was reportedly removed by Marcelle who handed it to the security guard (Reid). They were released on $200,000 bail each.
noise nuisance. The PNC Government assured Misir that the relevant Officer was instructed to take legal action to abate the smoke and dust nuisances. Also in 1991, an investigation was carried out by A. K. Bulkaran, Assistant Regional Executive Officer, Region Six. According to Bulkaran in a letter, “I visited neighbours and they all gave similar complaints as were laid by Mr. Misir and sawdust and smoke can be seen in the kitchens, dining rooms, bedrooms, house walls, window blinds and bedroom curtains, etc.”
According to Misir, in 2005 the Neighbourhood Democratic Council wrote to him informing that Mr. P. Bipat did not have permission to operate a joinery shop at Lots 10 and 11 Adelphi Village, East Canje, Berbice. He related that the matter was brought to former President Bharrat Jagdeo’s attention in 2011 when it was being investigated. To Misir’s dismay the investigations led to the Bipats being granted permission to operate their joinery shop. Mr. Bipat passed away several years ago and his wife and son continue to manage the shop.
Misir said that Jagdeo had said that the EPA would be contacted on the matter. Mr. Kheedmat Budhu of the Office of the President wrote to Misir informing him that the Executive Director of EPA promised via letter dated August 12, 2011 to continue to monitor the operation “to ensure compliance with the Prohibition Notice to abate noise and dust nuisances”. He said that subsequent to a Central Housing and Planning Authority Officer’s visit to the site it was considered suitable for the proposed development. However, due to the nature of
the development the Central Housing and Planning Authority envisaged that its operations may have environmental implications. Despite, the earlier complaints the Neighbourhood Democratic Council recommended the operation of the joinery shop. The EPA subsequently granted a licence to Mrs. Bipat for the joinery shop. The Executive Director of EPA, Dr. Indarjit Ramdas was contacted for a response on the matter. He promised to contact Kaieteur News with a comment but has not done so.
Page 16
Kaieteur News
Saturday March 03, 2013
UG’s Nursing Degree Programme sound – Health Sciences Dean
Although there were some concerns when it was first introduced in 2002 by nurse Gwendelyn Tross, the Bachelors of Sciences (BSc) in nursing offered at the University of Guyana was yesterday deemed a sound programme by Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Dr Emanuel Cummings. Dr Cummings was at the time addressing the minute gathering at an awards ceremony at the University’s Education Lecture theatre intended for the 18 nurses who graduated last year during UG’s 46th convocation.
Although scheduled for a 15:00 hrs start yesterday the event did not get started until around 16:30 hours although most of the officials scheduled to speak were present. A mere five nurses were in place when a decision was finally made to get the programme started. Recognition was given to Sister Tross who was the founder and Coordinator of the BSc programme. She was noticeable among those who were punctual yesterday. According to Dr Cummings, Sister Tross was in fact the one who worked
very hard for the establishment of the programme and even though she is retired she continues to support the programme. She was also the one instrumental in starting the award ceremony for the graduate nurses. Dr Cummings noted that the programme was instrumental in creating a number of leaders among them the current Chief Nursing Officer and other health care workers throughout the country. In alluding to the importance of the programme,
Dr Cummings said that within the faculty structure and the university as a whole the nursing programme is very established and is one of the strongest programmes. Current coordinator of the programme, Afesha LeacockMarshall, said that yesterday’s ceremony was intended to recognise the performances of the nurses during the course of their training. The programme, according to her too, has evolved over the years whereby it was first offered to managers within the health
sector but now is accessible to a wider cross section of nurses. She explained that in 2004 this move was first embraced. Nurses who have at least one year post graduate qualifications are eligible for the programme but according to Leacock-Marshall they must also complete the one year certificate nursing programme at one of the country’s nursing schools. Of the 18 nurses who made up the last batch, six graduated with distinction. A valedictorian for the programme was chosen from among them in the person of Vilma Persaud, who attained the highest Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.8. Also outstanding were Gwen Tinnie, Teon Charter, Shonette Waterman, Latchmin Egdhill and Melissa Jacobus. Yesterday, the top graduating BSc Nurse, Vilma Persaud, noted that not only is it important for nurses to be professional but through the programme she was able to appreciate the importance of research. She spoke of the need for research to be included in the curricula of the country’s
Nurse Vilma Persaud nursing schools adding that “research is definitely the way to go because that is how you will gain respect also. It is not just what I say or what I think or so it is what I can show you.” She made reference to the fact that many times medical professionals are not willing to listen to nurses since to some “you are just a nurse…” The nurse, who prior to the programme was offering her services to the Caribbean Heart Institute says that her next move is to pursue a Master’s degree.
Dem boys seh...
Brazzy tekking money fuh hotel, not fuh workers Good and bad deh all over de world. Mankind living wid good and bad all de time. De Creator mek that happen from de inception. De result is that dem got government because de Creator seh suh fuh separate good and bad. De Creator got rules and governments got rules. All over the world, the government and police got systems in place fuh ketch people doing wrong things. But Guyana different. In fact it is de reverse. Is the people who now got to put systems in place fuh ketch the police and government who always doing de wrang tings. De government thiefing and de police thiefing. Ask de Bees, Rob Earth and Irfaat and Shaatie. Tek Brazzy who tek US$24 million taxpayer money fuh build a hotel fuh he and he kavakamites fuh do de same thing wha Kwame love to do. Imagine he got de nerve fuh tell dem GPL workers that he can’t pay five per cent much less eight per cent. Dem boys want fuh tell people to do de Maths. US$24 million convert to Guyana dollar is $4.8 billion. De eight per cent increase is only $120 million in local money. That means that $4.8 billion in de Marriott can pay de GPL workers eight per cent until de 2053. To add salt to de wound Luncheon seh that as soon as de hotel done build de same Brazzy gun hand it over to he kavakamites dem. Brazzy done get he share. Imagine he got de nerve to tell dem workers that if dem ask fuh any increase some of dem can get knock off. Dem boys seh that he and de Bees, especially de Rat and Bar Bee, shouldn’t only get knock off, dem should spend de rest of dem life in a jail in Somalia or Uganda. Dem boys seh that everything fuh de ordinary folks of this country dem never got money. Dem never got money to pay increase in nutten but without a doubt dem does dole out de money in contracts. Dem dole out billions of dollars in contract to de New GPC. Brazzy got share in that. Dem dole out billions to Hand IN Hand Trust. Brazzy got share in that too. Well dem boys plan to ask dem fuh a share in dem or pun dem. Talk half and watch dem all de time.
Saturday March 03, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 17
Page 18
Kaieteur News
GPL pension fund facing $600M deficit Even as, Guyana Power and Light Company’s employees represented by National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) are striking to have an eight percent across the board salary increase, the company is facing a $600M pension fund deficit. This deficit is expected to increase significantly if the recommendation by the actuary is adopted. The actuary has said that the company should increase its contribution to 22 percent. GPL’s Chief Executive Officer, Bharat Dindyal, said that the pension fund was inherited from the Guyana Electricity Company.
Expounding on the pension fund, Dindyal said that on a monthly basis the state-owned power company pays seven percent while the employee pays five percent of his/her salary into a pension fund held by Hand In Hand Trust Company. The fund’s investment has a large portfolio and is managed by a committee. No member of the executive management team is on the committee. The investment is not a lucrative one. He added that GPL receives three percent returns from the investments, even as the employees get four per cent on their savings. Dindyal noted that last year a Trinidadian Company
did an actuarial review of GPL and recommended that the company increase its contributions to the pension fund to 22 percent. Taking into consideration the current deficit if the company were to pay an additional 15 percent this deficit would increase significantly, he explained. This sum plus the cost of any increased wage package would surely hurt the company which is already dependent on Government subsidies. The CEO opined that NAACIE should take into consideration this pension package and other benefits. He believes that the Union does not have the ability to
understand the effects of this benefit scheme. The employees guided by the Union downed tools on Wednesday and protested the CEO’s Duke Street Kingston Office rejecting a five percent all inclusive package being offered by the power company. Labour Minister, Dr. Nanda Gopaul on Friday invited both parties to a meeting. If the Union and GPL cannot arrive at a decision tomorrow the matter will be sent to arbitration. According to Dindyal, the company just cannot afford to pay the eight percent being requested by the Union, which seems unshakeable from its demands.
Saturday March 03, 2013
Albouystown resident remanded for $6 million breakage A 20 year old Albouystown resident has been charged for the July 2011 Household Plus Store breakin. He appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ court before Magistrate Leron Daly on Wednesday last. The charge is that between July 23 and July 25, 2011 Vicky Sugrim of Lot 66 Hunter Street Albouystown broke and entered the Household Plus Store and stole a quantity of appliances, clothing and other articles worth $6.5 million. He pleaded not guilty to the charge. Attorney at law Adrian Thompson told the court that
his client is refuting the accusations. In a bid for bail, Thompson told the court that Sugrim was held in custody for four days before he was charged and brought before the court. Police Prosecutor Venetta Pindar opposed the lawyer’s application. Pindar told the court that based on police investigation the defendant’s fingerprints were uplifted from the scene of the crime. Pindar further stated that the accused has had a number of run in with the law and as such he is known to the police. Sugrim was denied bail. He will face the court again on March 7.
Prisoner awaiting trial on murder found with ganja in jail A man who is in prison since 2007 on a charge of murder, and who was committed to stand trial in the high court, in 2012 was nabbed with a quantity of marijuana. He was said to be a drug dealer in jail. Andy Adams, 23, of Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice, was incarcerated along with another man who has since being killed in a prison brawl, for the July 20, 2007murder of Nizamudeen Khan, a security guard attached to a Rosignol sawmill. Adams who was injured in
that brawl has developed a reputation of being a ring leader. According to prosecutor Sergeant Phillip Sheriff, Tuesday February 26, Adams had in his possession 66 grams of cannabis sativa. The man was seen acting in a suspicious manner and was challenged and searched by an alert prison officer who discovered the drug. He was subsequently charged. In court he pleaded not guilty and will have to return to court on May 31.
Saturday March 03, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 19
Page 20
Kaieteur News
Sunday March 03, 2013
Eddy Grant - the Ringbang man and a national icon is a ‘Special Person’ By Adam Harris He is undoubtedly Guyana’s most famous artiste. He has soared to the heights of the music world and today he is an icon. He may not appear as active in the music world, simply because he works at his own pace and engages in other music business endeavours rather than churning out albums as others do, but he is nevertheless as influential as at any time in his very long and distinguished career. He was the hottest thing in London after the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, the dazzling performer on South African stage and the only Guyanese whose music was to form a question on the American television programme, Jeopardy. He is also the father of the Barbadian music industry and today his company controls a significant part of Trinidad and Tobago’s musical output. Born Edmond Montague ‘Eddy’ Grant in the East Coast Demerara village of Plaisance on March 5th, 1948, he could not have known that he would be what he is today. From three years of age he began to live in Linden (then Mackenzie), a community that was to play no small role in fashioning him for what he was to become. “I have very good memory of childhood because for me childhood was enjoyable. That childhood started in Plaisance then to Linden (Mackenzie)/Wismar then back to Plaisance. For education purposes both
places were important in life.” A Mrs. Parkinson was his first educationist and that was in Linden. It was a “kind of pre-school.” As he put it, his first stint in acting, singing and first of everything took place under the auspices of Mrs. Parkinson. That school was over a bicycle repair shop his father managed. At the time the Grants were following
Rudy. Every Berbician who came to Linden was given space and Eddy cannot forget those days because as he put it, “History is very significant. A person who doesn’t understand his history is doomed to failure in life.” People think of Plaisance when they think of him, but there were other communities that fashioned him. He was little more than
“All of us have thought that to be inclusive is best. One needs to be oneself. It is only when you are these things that you become truly valuable to yourself and to the world.” family. An uncle, William Grant, and his family were strictly Linden people. They had a lot to do with the founding of Demba. Eddy remembered that Linden was everything that it is not today. It was a rough pioneering town. He said that it was clean. At that time Eddy’s family could in no way be considered affluent. “It’s not a scenario which under normal conditions one would be proud of.” Many people lived in one little house. There was the Berbice posse because his father was from Hopetown, West Coast Berbice. The family lived on the verandah. “That was our home.” Before they would leave Linden there would be three brothers and the parents. The only child to be born in Linden was brother,
four or five when he returned to Plaisance. It was time for him to go to school. And it was there that he displayed the level of genius that was to be displayed for the world to see. He skipped the first class called L’il ABC, then skipped Standard One to Standard Two, then Standard Four to Standard Six. He was the youngest in that class, but he never knew it. He couldn’t take any examinations because he was too young. Years later he was to question the age of some of his classmates, one of whom was the great Guyanese artist, Dudley Charles. Plaisance was the place of piano lessons for him and his brother, Derrick. The teacher was Mrs. Prisca Philadelphia. “So much of what she taught me I regret not paying
In the company of American film director, producer, writer, and actor, Spike Lee
too much attention to.” His father and mother were in England and sent the fees. The teacher would rap Derrick on his fingers with the ruler and after awhile the elder Eddy could not take it. They played truant, skipped the lessons, and spent the money which was a fortune to them. The longest rope has an end. They were found out and paid with their ‘tail’; the whipping administered by an uncle who maintained discipline in the absence of Mum and Dad. There was a lot to Plaisance with the open spaces—yards were not fenced as they are today, the fruit trees and of course, the fact that a child was the responsibility of every adult in the village. Piano was only to feature later in his life’s work but the trumpet certainly did, almost from the time he could stand, and guitar was soon to follow. His father, Patrick, was a musician who played in one of the dance bands of those days, ‘Nello and the Luckies’. The radio would feature those bands back in those days. Eddy recalled his father dedicating tunes to his wife and children. “My father was a god to me.” There was an interesting story that Eddy recalled in chilling detail. He liked playing with matches. One day it started a fire that destroyed their home in Linden. At the time one of his father’s friends, ‘Tin Tin’ was visiting. Tin Tin was the drummer. His suit was in the house. “I saw a big man cry because there was just no
Eddy Grant
way he was going to get a suit to play the dance that night.” But even then his father’s friends would see Eddy’s musical talent. They would say to his father, who was a pharmacist, that he would one day be a musician, but his father thought otherwise. “No way. He is going to go to be a doctor,” his father would say. “For a time that became endemic in me. I wanted to be a doctor. There was no person under the sun that I loved as much as my father at that time. My father personified everything that a man should be… He was the apple of my eye, the person I looked up to. I got a lot of my values from him.” That love was cemented when his father fetched a “serious” rocking horse from Curacao to his son in Guyana. Eddy said that these days there are postage packages. His father was a trumpeter and Eddy would take out the trumpet from under the bed and blow it. “I don’t know how I knew to
blow it… You could imagine the noise I made.” Of course his father would get up and grab it then threaten his son with a beating. “My father never beat me. I kept taking the trumpet out all the time. When I went to the United Kingdom it continued.” Eddy was 12. He recalled trying to copy Louis Armstrong and the others on the trumpet. His father consented. He taught his eldest son the scale. He got into the school orchestra and played second trumpet. Then he formed a band. This was long before the Equals, that was to catapult Eddy to world fame. Then came formal training. Alan Breed really encouraged all the boys in the orchestra. They were to win school competitions. A Mr. Wright helped him become a trumpeter. Eddy’s entry into the guitar was interesting. There were the Shadows and some others who were being copied. He wanted a guitar and his father told him that (Continued on page 21)
Chatting with HRH Prince Charles at the ‘Party In The Park’ in London’s Hyde Park
Sunday March 03, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 21
Eddy Grant - the Ringbang man and a national... (From page 20) he would have to make it. And make it he did. In addition to being brilliant in school, Eddy was good at everything he tried. He was brilliant as a science student and brilliant as a woodwork student. A week ago, in response to a question of what kind of surgeon he would have been, he said “a damn good one.” Everything he did he did very well. Ringbang, the philosophy that Eddy Grant created, is his life. He sees it as the only philosophy since M a r c u s G a r v e y, “ t h e greatest single human being of the last 100 years.” Ringbang is a concept of self and a solution. “All of us have thought that to be inclusive is best. One needs to be oneself. It is only when you are these things that you become truly valuable to yourself and to the world.” It will not be long before Eddy launches a Ringbang line of clothing and electronics. It is already in his music and the music of the Caribbean. “When I speak now of Ringbang and what it can do for our people, it could do for everybody. It’s like Zen; it’s like karate. Why do we not acknowledge that which comes from ourselves?” Eddy started about Ringbang in the early 1990s, but it dates back even further. He was not known in Guyana for years, because there was no television. Bertie Chancellor put his hands on one of the records that were tearing up the world at the time. Eddy Grant said that Bertie Chancellor played that record simply because the singer was a Guyanese. “They need to sack all the DJs who do not play Guyanese music.” It was this philosophy that is responsible for the powerful state of Barbados music. Eddy Grant saw that it needed promotion. “I came into Barbados and opened the channel to make it wider and to convince certain people that it was possible for them to compete with Trinidad.” In those days Barbados music was bad. The rest is history. Eddy and ‘Gabby’ took the music to new heights. “From the days of Barbadians not even listening to their music back in 1982, to standing in the rain to hear it, that music is holding its own. The same can happen in Guyana.” Eddy claims that he was no singer, but back in those
The master at work
early years in England he went to a man named Keller who taught vocal training. But that was after Eddy had left the Equals. “He (Keller) looked back to see this Black man with mud all over him. He asked ‘What can I do for you?’” He said that that the man told him that God gave everybody a voice. “The question is how are you going to use your voice?” The first song they did was the Stylistics song ‘You make me feel brand new.’ The lesson was not to imitate Russell Simmons or anyone else. “I paid him his money and said to him I am going to be a special singer. He said that’s what we want to hear. On my way home I realized that you can’t use what you do not have. That what you have you must use one hundred percent.” Eddy Grant went on to great heights. He has been singing everywhere in the world, making hits after hits, in the process making all the money he has—and it is a lot. He used what he got to shake the world. “We cannot shake the world if we come as somebody else…You have to come as you are. In the end it’s what makes me me…Be yourself.” “When you have done that, you would have contributed to the growth of
this country, the wealth of this country.” There is so much more to Eddy Grant, but then again…He started in school, graduated to clubs, the first of which he was asked to play on the night when there was hardly anybody. It was the All Star Club in which Stevie Wonder and Joe Tex and Solomon Burke
sang. That quiet night was to become one of the lead nights with Eddy Grant and his little band playing—The Equals. “I always wanted to record.” The records came. Rehearsals were done in the bedroom of his home. A singer who happened to live
‘Eddy’ with former South African President Nelson Mandela next door heard the band. This man took them to Edward Kassner who owned President Records. “Everything I touched became a song.” Eddy then told a friend that he was going to be famous. He was still a teenager and he did become famous. ‘Black skin blue-eyed
boy’ was to be the first soca song ever. The year was 1969 and Eddy was 21. That was Ringbang music. To this day people still call Ringbang music, soca. The fact is that Ringbang permeates the Caribbean and Eddy Grant is a national icon and unquestionably a special person.
Page 22
Kaieteur News
Saturday March 03, 2013
Sunday March 03, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 23
The Grey Brocket (Mazama gouazoubira) Interesting Creatures‌
The Grey Brocket (Mazama gouazoubira), also known as the Brown Brocket, is a species of brocket deer from northern Argentina, Bolivia, eastern and southern Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. It formerly included the Amazonian Brown Brocket and sometimes also the Yucatan Brown Brocket as subspecies. The coat of a grey brocket can range from greybrown to dark brown. Lighter, browner coats are seen in those that live in grasslands, whereas greyer, darker colours are more prevalent in forest regions. Significant variation can be seen between individuals of the same population as well. Their tails are white on the bottom, and on their flanks the hair is of a lighter colour than that of the rest of the body. The body length of a grey brocket deer can range from 85 to 105 cm, while at the shoulder they typically are 50 cm to 65 cm tall. The weight of a grey brocket can range from 8 kg to 25 kg. Male grey brockets do have antlers, ranging in length from 70 cm to 100 cm. The grey brocket is a herbivore that chooses what it eats selectively, though it does eat a wide variety of plants. During some periods, the grey brocket may become frugivorous (primarily fruit-eating), but this depends on the season, area, and availability of fruits. Many of the fruits are in dense forests, which it for the most part avoids, but it does find other sources of fruits and also other sources of food. In the dry season they eat the fruit from trees such as Ziziphus oblongifolia and Caesalpinia paraguariensis, which produce dry, tough fruits. Other sources of food for the grey brocket include, but are not limited to, cacti and roots. Often they eat leaves and roots to obtain water. Though grey brockets do not prefer dense forests, they do prefer some type of shelter, generally avoiding completely open areas. It may not live in these completely open areas, but is not opposed to feeding in such areas, especially if cover is nearby. At times they find open agricultural plantations in which to feed. Grey brockets give birth
to only one offspring at a time, and reproduction does not seem to correlate with the seasons, as they can mate any time of the year. They reach an age of sexual maturity at 18 months. Gestation periods appear to last around eight months, and there is post partum estrus. Thus, it is possible for a grey brocket to produce t w o o ff s p r i n g i n o n e calendar year. After birth, the doe takes care of the fawn until it is weaned, though the time until it is weaned is unknown. During this weaning period, the fawn remains hidden and is fed by the doe. Four types of scentmarking have been observed a s a m e a n s o f communication, due to their performance of these behaviours in concurrence with certain postures. These scent-marking behaviors include urination, defecation, thrashing, and forehead rubbing. Such scent-marking tactics can be part of a claim on territory if a number of markings are placed within a concentrated area by a single grey brocket. Grey brockets are diurnal animals that are seen a majority of the time alone, while commonly seen in pairs as well. It is rare to see them in packs of four or more. Unless under cover, they are very shy and nervous when held captive. Though the grey bracket is still abundant in all of its native range, it appears that populations are decreasing due to human infringement on their habitat. Numbers are especially low very near to human settlements. In Argentina, hunting pressures due in part to international expeditions is decreasing the population of grey brockets, along with habitat loss caused by h u m a n s . H o w e v e r, i n Bolivia the populations are seemingly constant despite having similar hunting pressures. Populations are also decreasing in Brazil and especially in urban areas in Paraguay. The primary motive for hunting grey brockets is not pest control, as they cause a minimal amount of crop damage. However, hunters can sell the meat from one grey brocket for US$15, which could be a potential motivation. Actions to prevent further population decline have been taken
through the implementation of hunting laws and the creation of protected areas. There are a total of 14 national and provincial reserves in Argentina, as well as seven protected areas in Bolivia to go along with many in Brazil. However, though hunting is illegal in many areas in the grey brocket’s range, bans are not always enforced. In order to prevent population decline in the
future, hunting laws need to be enforced, stray dogs from human populations should be controlled, and local village populations should be educated to preserve the grey brocket populations. Also, population studies need to be done to determine the status of the grey brocket in order be better equipped to help it. (Source: Wikipedia – The Free Online Encyclopedia)
Grey Brocket
Page 24
Kaieteur News
Sunday March 03, 2013
GPL workers on countrywide strike
SUNDAY SPECIAL TRANSFERS OF MILLIONS FROM GGMC TO NICIL INAPPROPRIATE Hundreds of millions of dollars over the years have been transferred from the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) to repair roads in the interior, but all was not right in placing those monies in the bank accounts of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL). According to former Auditor General, Dr. Anand Goolsarran, it is inappropriate for funds to be transferred to NICIL to build a road on behalf of the Commission, since NICIL is not the competent government agency for the construction of such roads. This is also applicable to the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC), another independent government body that regulates the logging industry. There have been
criticisms of the transfers over time, but while government has been defending the moves saying that the roads, critical for operations of mining and forestry activities, have to be repaired and maintained, there has not been any satisfactory explanations as to why NICIL was chosen. NICIL is a governmentowned company that handles investments for government and over the years has been criticised for initiating projects without the scrutiny of the National Assembly. Projects being handled by NICIL include the US$51M Marriott Hotel and the Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Project, which is expected to cost at least US$840M. MARRIOTT IS A BRAZEN, CORRUPT EXERCISE - RAMJATTAN Building a Marriott Hotel in Guyana is a brazen corrupt exercise designed to fatten the pockets of a few chosen
Government officials with billions of taxpayers’ dollars, Khemraj Ramjattan, the leader of the Alliance for Change (AFC) declared last weekend. His comments came in light of the fact that the government has declared its intention to shift the property into private hands. Ramjattan, a long time critic of the project and how it was conceptualised, said that the government’s intention is clearly to place the hotel into the hands of one of its friends and for next to nothing. At the same time, he said, Guyanese taxpayers would be robbed of billions of dollars. Ramjattan said that his research shows that the project would cost just about US$22 million. That’s just about the same amount of taxpayers’ money going into the project. But the government has signed a construction contract with Shanghai Construction Group (SCG) for US$52 million. “So, what is going to happen here is that someone is setting out to steal US$30 million from Guyanese,” Ramjattan charged. He said that the prices for the hotel were manipulated so that the treasury would also be manipulated and raided. Ramjattan reasoned that when the hotel is built and goes into operation and fails
to attract business and then goes bankrupt, the government would then move to privatise and hand the hotel into the hands of its friends. MONDAY EDITION MAN DEAD, BROTHER WOUNDED IN MASH NIGHT BRAWL A 25-year-old man was stabbed to death and his brother wounded after they were viciously attacked on Mashramani night, allegedly by a group of intoxicated men armed with broken bottles. Kumar Mohabir of Lot 7 Enterprise, East Coast Demerara (ECD), was stabbed several times about the body at around 19:45 hrs in the vicinity of Vlissengen Road and Thomas Road. He succumbed at around 02:45 hrs Sunday at the Woodlands Hospital. His brother, 30-yearold Narendra Mohabir, also sustained multiple stab wounds, allegedly when he threw himself on his mortally wounded sibling to stop the brutal attack. He was treated at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation but was not admitted.The motive for the attack is still unclear. The younger sibling had operated a tent rental business at his home and Kaieteur News understands that the brawl occurred shortly after the victim had dismantled a tent. Kaieteur News understands that Kumar Mohabir, his brother, Narendra, and three children left their home to collect a tent which they had rented to one of their neighbours for the Mashramani celebrations. The injured brother recalled that Kumar was about to buy juices for the children at a nearby bar when about seven men, who had been dancing and appeared to be under the influence of alcohol, attacked him. APNU PARLIAMENTARIAN ACCUSES COPS OF SELECTIVE PROFILING A Partnership of National
Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament and Attorney at Law James Bond has accused the police of “blatantly profiling and selectively targeting ordinary Guyanese”, in the wake of last Thursday’s recent arrests of several Tiger Bay residents. Bond stated that the “blatant profiling and selective targeting of ordinary Guyanese under the Rohee Security Plan or any other Plan that this inept Government and its Ministry of Home Affairs has foisted on the populace should not be condoned.” Police had arrested over 40 young men and seized a quantity of electrical, paint, hardware items, and motor cycles, which they said they suspected to have been unlawfully obtained. The exercise was reportedly conducted by CID ranks and others from the Tactical Services Unit. The men arrested were kept at the Brickdam Police station and were later released. Rosemary Lane, Tiger Bay residents were peeved over the activity saying that the police swooped and kicked down some of the doors of the small apartments and proceeded to search. They also said that the ranks failed to produce search warrants. TUESDAY EDITION TRIAL FOR EZJET’S BOSS DELAYED TO APRILAT LAWYER’S REQUEST Embattled EZjet airline executive, Sonny Ramdeo, will now face an April trial after his new lawyer said that he is unable to proceed because of another case. Ramdeo, whose airline fell into financial troubles late last year, was suspended by authorities in Guyana, US, Canada and Trinidad in December. Ramdeo himself had been facing accusations of fraud and was on the run for months from the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) before agents cornered him in a basement in Queens,
New York. He appeared in a New York court where his detention was extended and he was later transferred to Florida to face the wire fraud charges. Ramdeo dropped his state-appointed lawyer and retained Valentin Rodriguez, a West Palm Beach, Floridabased lawyer. According to the lawyer in court documents filed for the trial to be extended, Ramdeo would have faced trial for the week of March 11th. However, the lawyer said that he only received the documents pertaining to Ramdeo’s defence after January 30, when he officially appeared as Ramdeo’s lawyer. He said that he started another fraud case that was set to conclude on February 22 and which forced him to travel to Miami, another part of Florida. Rodriguez said that “documents are rather voluminous and contain thousands of bank records pertaining to a rather complex fraud allegation. WEDNESDAY EDITION NICIL HAS BEEN MADE INTOA PARALLEL TREASURY Numerous state properties were transferred to the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) from 1999 to date, but the proceeds from their disposal were not paid into the Consolidated Fund. Rather, the proceeds, to the tune of billions of dollars, remained in NICIL, and therefore outside of the authority of Parliament which would approve spending from such funds. There have been accusations that government, using NICIL and its monies, is controlling a slush fund of taxpayers’ monies that would not have oversight from the National Assembly. One such project is the US$51M Marriott Hotel which is being funded from the sale of the 20% shares that government had in the Guyana Telephone and (Continued on page 51)
Sunday March 03, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 25
Ravi Dev Column
Mashing down differences We’ve just finished celebrating Mash 2013 - at least in Georgetown. Linden, the originator of the festival to commemorate Republic Day, will be having its bash this weekend. The theme for this year’s Mashramani, announced by the Ministry of Culture, was “Reflecting Creativity, Embracing Diversity”. Now I think it’s a wonderful thing to be embracing ‘diversity’. It is now accepted that every society is diverse or “plural” in one way or another. But as I looked at the floats and individuals sashaying down the streets, I wondered as to where was this ‘diversity’ being
A prominent individual is going to make the news for all the wrong reasons. He is going to be caught up in a confrontation with a citizen. Things would turn ugly and the police would intervene. However, the police are going to be biased against the citizen until the intervention of an individual who would be said to have considerable power. The fallout is going to be a talking point. ****
embraced. Was it in the ‘races’ of the people participating - including those looking on? I hope that it was not. “Race” is one of those categories created by Europe in its armoury of conquests, that has created so much pain and suffering - not to mention holocausts - that I would hope that we are not ‘embracing’ those constructions. Was it class? I don’t think so since I didn’t notice too many of our ‘middle and upper classes’, defined by wealth, cavorting with the masses who were certainly out in abundance. Geographical diversity? I did notice that several of the regions had their floats - but
this seemed to be geared more towards projecting that ‘the whole country’ was involved. Was it religion? Certainly not. And this is rather significant because we’ve always been told that ‘we’re a very religious people’. And if we go by the number of Mandirs, Masjids and Churches in every town, village and hamlet, we’d find no evidence to deny that assertion. Seems that we’ve bought into this ‘secularism’ dogma, and there is to be no religion in the public space. Let’s keep our religions in the backrooms. Was it culture? Aha!! Now we’re on to something. The whole shebang was
A fire of undetermined origin is going to strike in the eastern part of the capital. The fact that a group is striking and that power is going to be
almost uncontrolled, the occupants of the home will lay blame on the power company for the fault. And for the first time in a long while there will be a lawsuit against the power company. **** There is going to be another road accident. It will not be fatal, but the mess would be horrific. The attendant damage would be costly. The problem would be the cost of correcting the situation.
organised around the markers that define the popular notion of ‘culture’: the songs, the dances, the make-up etc. But this is where things became confusing for me. Culture is the marker the Ministry of Culture has determined to signify the definitiveness of Mash, if we are to go by what they promote in the schools from nursery to wherever. But there was absolutely no diversity in what was defined as ‘culture’. The entire Mash ethos is defined by the Carnival of Trinidad and Tobago and in Guyana, as far as I can see, the ‘creativity’ to be ‘reflected’ is to eke out variations within that Procrustean bed. You remember Procrustes, don’t you? The friendly Greek robber who fitted his guests to their beds, by hacking off their feet to the correct length, if necessary. So I ask again, where is the diversity? Seems to me that we are creating the illusion of accepting “diversity”, when all the while at the official level, we have a firm idea of what we want this society to become: culturally
homogenous. Which is dangerous if it follows the line of the old ‘assimilationist’ road that insisted that all and sundry had to discard their culture and assume that of the more ‘civilised’ ideal. The danger, not surprisingly was that the latter was always that of the conqueror or the ruling strata. It is always a characteristic of power to be able to define. If we’ve forgotten Foucault, surely we haven’t forgotten “Alice in Wonderland’ from our nursery days. “When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.” “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master— that’s all.” Every society we said, accepts ‘plurality’ and ‘diversity’ nowadays. But every society defines its plurality along particular lines that project a certain
Ravi Dev
construction of its own identity. And in Guyana we are following quite firmly in the footsteps of those who are balking at the acceptance of diversity and do everything to subvert what that really means. Our motto is ‘unity in diversity’ but the ‘unity’ still presupposes the obliteration of real diversity in the definition of our identity. So on Mash Day, we showcase some tokens of ‘cultural diversity’, which, like all tokens trivialise and demean the subject: Indigenous Peoples paraded around in the inevitable grass skirts and feather headdresses; East Indians with a dhoti and a shalwar. But all of what their real culture represents is to be expressed within the jump-up and wine-down Procrustean bed of Mash.
Page 26
Kaieteur News
Sunday March 03, 2013
Three Rivers Kids Foundation …
Saving lives, restoring hope to families By Rehana Ashley Ahamad The Three Rivers Kids Foundation (TRKF) is a charitable organization which was set up in 2005 by Canadian-based Guyanese Nurse, Ms. Jeannette Singh. It has been dedicated to helping particularly those families who are too poor to afford much needed overseas care for their children. There are hundreds of sick and poor children in Guyana who are in desperate need of life-saving medical interventions which cannot be done here. TRKF provides a ray of hope for those families, some of whom have been shunned in their time of need by the very people that they call their relatives and friends. I managed to make contact with the just a few of the parents of these children who underwent life-saving surgeries in India via this foundation. They all attributed their children’s health to the Three Rivers Kids Foundation which they described as light in a dark tunnel. There is little Mohamed Farad Ali of Goed Intent, West Bank Demerara who visited India in one of the most recent (January last) batches. Farad’s mother, Ramrattia Nagssar during our chat, said that he was delivered at home by his father, and that he was born wrapped in the umbilical cord. His skin had a “bluish” colour. “Farad had to be delivered at home because of the doctors. I coulda feel like I was ready to deliver, so I went to Public Hospital (Georgetown Public Hospital). The doctors there told me that I wasn’t ready to deliver, so I went back home. That same night I take in and me husband had to deliver my baby,” Nagssar explained. She added that “after he come out blue, my husband ask me if is so he supposed to be, so we get scared.”
Ever since he was born, Farad was being treated at the West Demerara Regional Hospital for asthma. It was weeks before Farad turned three years old, he was visiting relatives on the East Bank of Demerara with his mother who was forced to take him to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre, and while little Farad was receiving oxygen, a Cuban doctor passed by and opined that the child might have a serious heart condition. He attributed his suspicions to the fact that Farad’s fingernails were identical to those of persons with heart conditions. Unfortunately, it was soon after that a second opinion from the Caribbean Heart Institute (CHI) which is located in the compound of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), confirmed that Farad did indeed have a serious heart ailment. His family was devastated. Not only because he was very sick, but because they did not have the resources needed to facilitate his treatments overseas. After being diagnosed, Farad started receiving temporary treatment at the GPHC, but this could only keep him alive for a short while. Nagssar recalls one afternoon when she was at a breaking point, a technician at CHI told her about a charitable foundation called the Three Rivers Kids Foundation. He gave her the address and Nagssar did not hesitate. She immediately went down to the foundation’s Woolford Avenue Office located in the compound of Gandhi’s Youth Organization. But they were closed. “When I walked in the yard, the office door was closed. But I didn’t lose hope. From the time I walked into this compound, I knew God was with me, and I knew this was going to work…I collect the phone number, the poster, and
Gabrielle Heywood
Keshia Tucker I called first thing next morning,” Nagssar said. She added that she poured her heart out to the Secretary to the Foundation, Mrs. Lita Gayadin, who then made contact with Founder Jeannette Singh and explained Farad’s case. Nagssar was made to fill out a form based upon Farad’s condition and this was forwarded to doctors in India who posted a list of medications that the child should be given. Farad’s medication was immediately changed and soon after he was accepted on the ‘next’ batch (January last). Nagssar was down to her last penny with medications when she was told that she had to arrange monies to facilitate her travels to India. Three Rivers would take up full financial responsibility for the child. However, coming from a not so wealthy family background, Nagssar was not able to arrange much money. A few relatives chipped in and Nagssar only had money to cover her travel expenses from Guyana to Canada.
Mohamed Farad Ali “I didn’t know what else to do. I couldn’t arrange anymore money. I tried my best, but that was it. So I went back to the TRKF office and I finally get to meet Aunty Jeanette. I couldn’t help it, I start crying, and with no hesitation she comfort me li’l bit and promised to look after the rest. I can’t even explain to you how I did feel,” Nagssar added. The parents of nine finally had something to smile about. Farad was slated to leave Guyana on Friday, February 15 with a batch of 11. However, Farad’s case was too severe and could not wait, thus he, along with another emergency patient, Pholmaitie Singh traveled to India with their parents on January 7. They both underwent open heart surgeries at the Max Hospital. While Farad made a marvelous recovery, little Pholmaitie Singh was not so lucky. The child died on February 4 at age seven, weighing 25 pounds. It was Pholmaitie’s third open heart surgery. She was
suffering from a very complex form of congenital heart disease- Tetralogy of Fallot and pulmonary Atresia. Her last surgery was a very high risk, total correction surgery. This was done on January 22. Nonetheless, shortly after returning home following a successful surgery, Farad’s family saw him in a new light. He was no longer the kid who sat in the corner alone; he became a jolly little boy who is now singing and dancing, and talking like never before. “Before time, if we get eight words out of him for one day, that was more than enough. But now, Farad is such a happy child. I can’t thank God and TRKF enough. If wasn’t for them, Farad couldn’t do that surgery, and most likely he wouldn’t have been here today.” Nagssar reflected. A thankful Nagssar noted that the three-year-old is currently following doctor’s order of resting indoors for about three months. He is expected to start nursery school in September. Then there is Gabrielle Heywood who is now a healthy and very much active five-year-old. Gabrielle was just one year old when she underwent her surgery at the Max Hospital in New Delhi, India, in 2009. She was diagnosed with a ‘hole in the heart’ while she was just one month old. According to her grandmother, June Halley, soon after birth, Gabrielle was experiencing breathing problems. She explained that without consideration, while her daughter and granddaughter were at the GPHC, a doctor blurted out – ”this child look like she got a hole in her heart”. “Me daughter coulda drop dead. That doctor like he didn’t even have a heart,” Halley added. After months of intense praying, Gabrielle’s family members were able to wipe their tears away after learning
about the Three Rivers Kids Foundation. Gabrielle’s family, along with some relatives and family friends were able to raise most of the money. They also received assistance of $1M from the Government of Guyana. Gabrielle who is now enrolled at the National School of Dance and wants to become a doctor when she grows up. “I want to be a doctor, because when I was sick, it was the doctor that saved me,” the smiling five-year-old noted. Apart from the regular children patients, there was Mark Anthony Singh. The Goed Fortuin, West Bank Demerara resident was 20 years old when he underwent an eye surgery in February of last year. His problem began when he was a young boy. Singh’s mother, Jean-Ann Singh, explained that Mark, at age seven, “did playing with me neighbour daughter and like he did stoop down by the fence hiding, so the girl jam he and he fall forward, and a nail run into he eye.” The woman added that upon hearing her son scream, she ran out of the house and attempted to turn him around to see what the matter was. However, fighting to hold back tears, the woman said that her moving her son only resulted in tragedy; Singh’s eye was ripped from its socket. It had been dangling off the side of his face. The frantic woman was then able to rush her son to the West Demerara Regional Hospital just in time. Doctors there were able to replace the child’s eye back into its socket. Singh was prescribed some medication and was sent away. It was only at age 19 when Mark began experiencing excruciating eye pains. Singh recalled her son constantly crying in pain, saying that his eye felt like it was going to fall back out. It was swollen. Just before the boy turned 21, his mother learnt about the Three Rivers Kids Foundation. Although it is for children, Singh felt that she had to try. She too was lucky enough to have met Ms. Jeanette Singh who agreed to help, despite the fact that TRKF would facilitate mainly heart surgeries. The Government assisted with $1M and the Singh family was also able to raise some money. Mark Anthony Singh who has been spared from a life of darkness, just recently got married to the woman that he loves. Another 20-year-old to receive help from the TRKF was Keshia Tucker. Doctors (continued on page 37)
Sunday March 03, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 27
Thoughts of a first-time Parliamentarian By Abena Rockcliffe After a year and a few months as a Member of Parliament, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)’s Jaipaul Sharma, still believes that one discerning voice can make a difference. With a financial background, Sharma also sits as a member of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) a parliamentary committee mandated to scrutinise the Auditor General’s report. Before becoming a parliamentarian, Sharma served the public while being employed at the Auditor General’s Office, Public Service Ministry, Labour Ministry, Region six, Regional Democratic Council and the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). In an exclusive interview with Kaieteur News, Sharma said that he has found his recently begun journey along the parliamentary road to be an interesting one. “It is interesting to see how petty politicians can be; their lack of vision and more so lack of understanding of the constitution is almost too hard to believe.” While admitting that he is not yet a seasoned politician, Sharma said that he feels a great sense of pride by being an assigned member of the PAC with the “top guns” of the government. The PAC comprises eight members - the opposition has four representing members and the same for the government - and a chairman. Sharma emphasised his point that the opposition was confident enough to send its “backbenchers” while the government “sent its party hierarchy… look at it, the only extremely experienced Parliamentarian on the opposition’s side is Volda Lawrence, while the PPP sent all its presidential advisors and past ministers.”
He said that nevertheless, he feels “at home” being a member of the PAC, simply because it is his field. The former GECOM employee said that it is his earnest view that the committee is doing a good job, however, he recommended more vibrancy and for the PAC to move away from the old way of asking questions. “I appeared before the PAC before and I know that the simplest thing to answer is those yes or no questions, you don’t get down to the bottom of things that way. And another thing is that the
compromise his position as a Member of Parliament. “I don’t ask favours and don’t like people asking me favours.” WASTE OF TAXPAYERS’MONEY OR DEMOCRACY? The last three parliamentary sittings each saw a walkout being staged. The first was staged by the government, then the opposition, and at the last sitting, the Speaker. During the interview with Sharma, reference was made to the fact that it costs the
“Every project undergone by this administration is top-secret and that shows contempt against the people.” members on the government’s side need to stop answering questions posed to the persons before the committee. They need to be natural.” Sharma disclosed that his responsibility as a sitting Member of Parliament lies with Region Four, but he chooses not to limit himself outside the realm of parliament. The opposition member said that persons would approach him with numerous queries “and it is fulfilling to know that you can help.” He cited as an example that there were lots of instances subsequent to the budget cuts last year that “persons come up to me and ask what we (the opposition) are really doing, because we cut the money that would have gone towards roads. And I had to explain to them… show them what we really did cut and tell them the reasons why.” Sharma stressed that it is still vested in him to make a difference. Asked about the fact that he is not otherwise employed, Sharma said that he chose this course so as not to
country almost two million dollars to facilitate each sitting and despite knowing this, politicians seem to insist on staging walkouts. Sharma was asked if he sees the walkouts and abrupt adjournments as a waste of taxpayers’ money, but responded in the negative. “The public and the media must have its own view on that; but, the truth is those are the prices you pay for democracy…and parliamentary democracy must live.” The parliamentarian dubbed the money received by him and colleagues, on a monthly basis, a stipend. According to Sharma, members of parliament are supposed to receive a salary but “if it was a salary we should have been receiving vacation allowances… they only say it is a salary.” Sharma opined that allowances need to be urgently addressed He advocated for parliamentarians to be paid enough so that they don’t have to be “gainfully” employed at any other entity
“otherwise employment leaves more room for the member to be compromised. “ But more importantly, in his eyes, Sharma thinks that the opposition’s shadow ministers should be given benefits like those of a minister. He noted that the government has 20 ministerial positions, including those of ministers within respective ministries. “But, the opposition, at least for the APNU, has narrowed it down to just 10 ministers and those persons deserve way more than they get… and I am not talking about just finances.” He opined that shadow ministers should have a team of persons available to them to assist them. “Remember these people are legislators, they are supposed to have personnel to assist them in analyzing Bills, and they should have draftsmen and all these things. But that is not happening and it is all part of a way to stifle the opposition.” VIEW OF THE GOVERNMENT Sharma insisted that the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) administration, “both the Jagdeo and Ramotar regime, disrespect the people by the way they act when questioned upon matters of accountability, accuracy, transparency and corruption at all levels.” “Every project undergone by this administration is topsecret and that shows contempt against the people. Look at the Marriott, up to now the Guyanese people can’t get the truth about this project; everyday you hear a new scenario. Then there is the CCTV saga and like the Marriott, each day is a different camouflage… the one from the Prime Minister being the most accepted.” Sharma opined that the PPP administration is seeking
APNU Member of Parliament, Jaipaul Sharma
to confuse the people of Guyana, “it is a tactic, if you can’t convince the people, then you confuse the people… and they try to confuse the people so much that they start to confuse themselves.” He asserted that the aforementioned spells weakness on the part of the government. “They are weak; they have weak planning and they are not strong enough to make a stance and don’t budge.” “Another point that is needed to be made is that these people have a problem interpreting the Constitution.” Sharma pointed out that “Article 22 (dealing with the right and duty to work) and article 149A (speaking about protection from discrimination) of the Constitution, address the excuses put forward by the government to cover this Marriott business.” “The PPP conveniently selects sections of the Constitution to suit their cause and that can be understood as them blatantly misrepresenting the Constitution just to favour their various arguments. Just like when they speak about NICIL’s right to keep their money but they don’t include the fact that NICIL, upon the request of the National
Assembly, also has a right to deposit its funds into the Consolidated Fund.” “I believe in the constitution and that it is the supreme law, it is not to be misrepresented.” REPRESENTATION Sharma reflected that parliament is not running the way it should be as “members represent their political parties as opposed to representing their constituencies; and that’s why the stand-off between the parties exists and why the government doesn’t support opposition Bills and Motions. So, unless the constituency becomes the priority, we will remain where we are.” In commenting on the recent hot button issue of a No Confidence Motion against one of the members, Sharma is of the opinion that the drafters of the Constitution were “wise enough to be silent on such motions, because they considered that being detailed might have resulted in abuse - like the saying goes- the devil is in the detail. But had I been in that position, I would have done the honourable thing and resigned. I don’t believe in fighting to be where you are not wanted, but I do believe in fighting to make a difference. “
Page 28
Kaieteur News
Sunday March 03, 2013
The fish exporter’s execution - Why did a professional hit-man kill ‘Motie’ Sonilall? By Michael Jordan At around 19:30 hrs on April 9, 2010, a female resident of Second Street, Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara, was standing outside her house when she saw a man, who was wearing a toque, walking east along the roadway. She didn’t pay much attention to the stranger after all, there was nothing unusual about a man with a toque. She also observed that Rajendra Sonilall, called ‘Moti’, who processed and exported salted fish, was sitting outside his business premises, which was closed for the day. And she still didn’t realise that death was seconds away when the man, who had walked past 43-year-old Sonilall, suddenly turned and headed back in the direction from which he had come. It was then that three loud explosions startled her. She then saw the stranger run east along Second Street and disappear north towards the ‘sea dam.’ But even then she wasn’t alarmed. Her first thought was
that some prankster had let off firecrackers. Then she heard someone shout: “Come…boss man deh pun de ground!” The shouts sent residents running to the fish exporter’s premises. There they saw Sonilall sprawled on the ground and bleeding profusely from the head and upper body. He was dead by the time residents got him to the Georgetown Public Hospital. Police who examined the body ascertained that someone had shot the businessman at close range in the back of the head and in the chest. Two .32 shells were found at the scene. Rajendra Sonilall had been killed by a professional gunman. Eyewitness accounts led police to believe that the stranger with the toque had carried out the execution. To many of Sonilall’s friends, the killing made no sense. All the residents along Second Street, Mon Repos, said that he was a generous individual with apparently no enemies. Sonilall, a father of five, had been operating his
Rajendra Sonilall business for some 25 years without any conflict. He had left home at around 06:00 hrs on that fateful day. He returned home at around 17:15 hrs to bathe and eat before heading back to his business place, which is located a few buildings from his home A possible motive began to emerge when detectives began to question his close relatives. They revealed that in the months leading up to his death, Sonilall had repeatedly complained that some of his associates owed him large amounts of cash and had not
indicated when he would be repaid. One associate allegedly owed him $15M, another $9M, and a third $5M. The investigators learned that one of the debtors had been questioned in connection with a cocaine bust. But detectives also found out that Sonilall himself had reportedly owed an associate a substantial sum of cash. This left them with two theories. One was that someone decided to wipe out Sonilall rather than pay off the debt. The other was that Sonilall was killed because he was unable to repay his debt, due to the fact that persons owed him substantial sums of money. A few days after receiving
this information, detectives detained two of the business associates. However, they were unable to implicate them in Sonilall’s murder.They also took possession of two of the slain man’s mobile phones in an effort to check on his last phone calls. According to relatives, investigators are still to return the phones, and it is unclear whether they unearthed any leads. As for the gunman who calmly walked into Second Street, Mon Repos, and shot
Sonilall at close range, police say he is yet to be identified. If you have any information about this case please contact the police. You can also contact Kaieteur News by letter or telephone at our Lot 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown offices. Our numbers are 2258465, 22-58458 and 2258491. 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
Sunday March 03, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 29
School of the Nations seeks to spark interest in Humanities “I want to be a doctor,” blurted 10-year-old Travis when asked what he’d like to be when he grows up. His answer is certainly not dissimilar to many young children today who have for some reason been transfixed on the idea that the only good careers are those that fall within the academic streams of science or business. Becoming a doctor, lawyer or even a pilot are among the preferred professions that most believe bring with them some level of prominence in the society. However this belief couldn’t be further removed from the truth, as according to Head of the Humanities Department of School of the Nations, Ms Mischka White, “the stream of Humanities is very, very important; no less important than the others.” Her emphatic remark came even as the privatelyrun academic institution situated at 41-42 New Market Street, Georgetown, held its third Humanities School Fair on Thursday last. Premised on teaching within the Humanities, the Fair is usually designed to raise awareness among students about the importance of the various facets of humanities. The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences. It includes ancient and modern languages, literature, philosophy, religion, and visual and performing arts such as music and theatre. It is also regarded as social sciences a n d i n c l u d e h i s t o r y, anthropology, area studies, communication studies, c u l t u r a l s t u d i e s , l a w, economics and linguistics. White, during an interview with this publication, sought to substantiate her conviction about the Humanities, by alluding to the significance of history, for instance in the life of a politician. In order for such an individual to fully embrace such a profession “he or she needs to have a background in history.” Turning her attention to G e o g r a p h y, W h i t e passionately insisted that this area is in fact “critical to
Ms Mischka White everything that we are doing and will do in the future, because we are going to use the earth in one way or a n o t h e r a n d t h a t ’s Geography...so we need to have persons looking at these areas as well.” “We don’t want people becoming businesspersons and they go out and locate their business in the wrong area, so urban planning is very important, particularly as we are developing now as a country...We want to show them (students) other things that they can do,” asserted White. As such, she insisted that there is a need for more persons across the country to become involved in the humanities and “not just look to business, or science alone, and think that becoming a businessperson or a doctor are the sole careers you can have. We need to have good teachers in all areas, because if everyone becomes a doctor who will teach our children,” White posited. Moreover, the purpose of the Humanities-focused fair was to bring to life, in a major way, various aspects of the humanities through students’ group projects emphasising the importance of History, Geography, Sociology and other areas. The ultimate objective, White disclosed, was to encourage students to open their awareness to careers that can be had within the humanities. She made reference to the fact that when students enter fourth form they often opt to venture into the science or business streams, with the humanities attracting a very small number of them. As such, the fair was expected to ignite interest among them in
hopes that the existing trend will be halted. “The hope is for us to have an increased number of students going into the humanities streams and taking up careers as geographers and historians,” White said, as she related daunting statistics at the school. Pointing to a constant decline in students opting for this area, the Head of Department disclosed that in the recent past about 25-30 students ventured into the Humanities, but last year the numbers dipped significantly, reaching an all-time low of 12. “That is a significant decline in the number of students. Even at the University of Guyana we understand the number of students who register to have degrees in areas such as history has dwindled, so we are trying to change that from the school level; we are trying to achieve a mindset change,” White stated. Projects on display Thursday were fascinating as they were diverse, suggesting that students were beginning to embrace the various aspects of the Humanities. Exhibits numbering in excess of 40, touched on the hydrological cycle, rural settlements, music, the Mashramani celebration, the family structure, architecture and subsistence farming, among others, and were evidently appealing to those in attendance, among whom were University of Guyana students. The fair also saw the artistic work of students on display, and according to White, there are too few persons who are pursuing art as a career. “Everything was done by the students with no teacher help...the models are based on what they have been taught, so this is their opportunity to bring it to life,” said White who insisted that “all we did was give them guidance in terms of what material would be the best to use, but the actual construction and idea behind it came from them.” The projects were all premised on lessons taught since the beginning of the school year and represented assignments that would be graded in two areas: display and students’ ability to explain and answer questions.
Scenes from the Humanities Fair
O n c e graded, all of the projects will be displayed at various points in the school, White disclosed. School of the Nations is a private institution of learning, whose founder is of
the Bahai religion. As such, while its existence is premised on educational advancement, it also focuses much attention o n c h a r a c t e r- b u i l d i n g , citizenship and for students to have a greater sense of
respect and acceptance of each other. The school has a growing population which spans play school through Fifth Form and there is a Sixth Form College as well as a university – Nations University.
Page 30
Kaieteur News
Sunday March 03, 2013
MY COLUMN
The police owe us an explanation The Linden Commission of Inquiry is over. The report has been presented and while some may be smiling, others are not. The issue of the quantum of compensation looms large. According to Chairman of the Commission, Justice Lensley Wolfe, the commission heard from 71 people, each adding his bit to what really transpired in Linden. In the end it came down to who was responsible for the death of three Lindeners and the quantum of compensation that was awarded to the relatives of the victims. Indeed, those who were injured also received a level of compensation that may not make many of them happy. To my mind, the commissioners were concerned with closing that chapter in the history of Guyana. It apportioned blame where blame was due and it sought to appease those who still held some measure of anger at the force used by the Guyana Police Force to quell what should have been a peaceful protest. It is here that I must take a look at the operation of the police. It is common knowledge that the police feel
that whenever people protest they, the police, have to make their presence felt by using force, sometimes deadly force. I had cause to write in these pages about the manner in which the colonial police dealt with protests. There were no rubber bullets then. But then again, the people would not have been as armed as they are today. In Linden, the people were not armed. If the police had to shoot they would usually shoot over the heads of the crowd. To my mind there were hardly any killings. Even when the British soldiers came, and soldiers are not inclined to take civilian prisoners, there were scarcely any deaths. No more than three or four rioters were killed in the city over the days of the 1963 riots. In Linden, within a few hours three people lay dead, all of them shot by the police. The other significant thing is that they were shot with bullets that the police said they had withdrawn from circulation. If indeed the police did withdraw those bullets, one is left to wonder how it is that they were back in circulation to end up in the
bodies of Shemroy Bouyea, Allan Lewis and Ron Somerset. Was there a need to shoot into the crowd? The commissioners did not examine this issue, because I would suppose that they would conclude that the issue was not within their terms of reference. However, the hierarchy of the Guyana Police Force must explain how these bullets ended up in circulation. Usually, weapons and ammunition are stored in an armoury, to be issued by the person in control of the armoury on the instruction of a senior officer. If a senior officer were to go to the armoury for ammunition, he would have to sign a book, unless the armoury is so uncontrolled that people could walk in and pocket whatever they needed and leave. Police Commissioner, Leroy Brumell, was adamant that the bullets found in the bodies of the victims in Linden were not police issue. The commissioners have concluded that the police shot the people. They went further. They singled out a senior police rank, Colin Todd, as being the most likely person to have
fired the fatal bullets. Todd has since been transferred to the hinterland, which was once the standard punishment for people. My view is that the transfer must have been rooted in some other reason, because the police commissioner had no way of knowing that the Linden Commission of Inquiry would have singled out this police officer. The transfer came before the commission report. So I am left to wonder whether there is going to be some serious questions of the police commissioner; first about the bullets that killed the people in Linden, and about Todd’s decision to shoot. He was not the ranking officer on the ground and he therefore had to be instructed. Certainly he could not claim that he was shot at and therefore acted in selfdefence. The senior rank on the ground must say whether he gave any order to shoot. I would also wish to know if Brumell is going to mount an investigation into how the banned bullets went into circulation. In any other country, there would have been a hue and cry over what
the very police say was an irregularity. This issue must not be allowed to die. People want to know about the controls in the Guyana Police Force. Then there is the issue of compensation. It would seem that the commissioners looked at the question of compensation in relation to the level of financial contribution this person made to his immediate family. If human life was judged in that manner, then people killed on the roadways would have had different levels of compensation whenever their relatives went to the courts. A child who would have made no contribution to the financial stability of the household would have been worth nothing. A senior politician would have been worth a lot. I looked at the quantum given for two of the lives - one of them a 24-year-old and the other, a 46-year-old were found to worth $3 million. The average man working for the minimum wage would have provided at least $500,000 a year. Lewis, at the present rate, if he were a public servant would have had another nine years of active work. Bouyea
Adam Harris would have had 31 years. The Mathematics would suggest that Bouyea should have got more than the $3 million. Lewis should have also got more. Then there is the contribution that is never valued; the work around the house, the other labours, the cost of the companionship and these other incalculables. I am disappointed to say the least, but then again, I do not want to appear to be a troublemaker. I live alone with a grandson. Should I be shot by the police I am left to wonder at the level of compensation that would be pointed in my direction. It is for this disregard for human values that I have never sued anyone for libel, and there have been quite a few.
Sunday March 03, 2013
Kaieteur News
Schwarzenegger flexes muscles again in bodybuilding world
Rihanna Talks Chris Brown:
“Now That We're Adults, We Can Do This Right” Rihanna has faith that she and Chris Brown are going to make it work.“Stay' is a story about having love that close and wanting it to last forever,” she says, discussing the song she sang at the Grammys this year, in the April issue of Elle UK, on newsstands March 6. "You don't have that feeling with everybody, so when you have it, you don't want to let go of it. I would definitely say that [Brown] is the one I have that kind of relationship with." Their level of devotion seems pretty high at this point: Rihanna celebrated her 25th birthday with Brown in Hawaii last month, and she accompanied him and his mother to court a few weeks before that when the L.A. District Attorney's Office was questioning the validity of the community labor he performed as part of his sentence for assaulting Rihanna in 2009. Rihanna says that she and her on-again boyfriend want right now, more than anything, "a great friendship that's unbreakable. Now that we're adults, we can do this right. We got a fresh start, and I'm thankful for that." Speaking of new beginnings, Rihanna also predicts to Elle that she'll "probably have a kid" five years from now, though first she wouldn't mind a good month of vacation. “And [five years from now] I'll have set some things up so I don't have to tour for the rest of
Page 31
my life, even though I love touring. I want health and happiness in five years. I want to be healthy and happy,” she says. She calls the gun tattoos on her shoulders "symbols of strength" that signify she'll "never be a victim." And, though she admits that her mom recently "went crazy" on her in response to a couple of nude photos (excerpts from an in-the-works photo book) of her posted online by a female friend, Rihanna says that she can't help but let it all hang out on Instagram. “I instagram everything about my life," she says, "whether it's smoking pot, in a strip club, reading a Bible verse—how crazy, I know!—or hanging out with my best friend, who happens to be Chris." “That's why I'm posting pictures of myself smoking pot, to tell the truth about myself," Rihanna explains. “I've got so much to think about, why bring all this extra s--t by being dishonest?”
Arnold Schwarzenegger is going back to his bodybuilding roots. The action movie star turned politician will become group executive editor for the magazines Flex, and Muscle & Fitness, writing monthly columns in the publications and their online websites, American Media said on Friday. The "Terminator" star, who began his Hollywood career as a bodybuilder and went on to win five Mr. Universe titles, held the same position at the magazines before he was elected California governor in 2003. "Bodybuilding has always been part of my life, and I know Muscle & Fitness and Flex will continue to motivate others - as it did me - to lift weights and lead a healthy lifestyle (and) promote the sport of bodybuilding," Schwarzenegger said in a statement. Schwarzenegger's relationship with the two magazines goes back to 1968, when he was just 21, and he has appeared on their covers more than 60 times. Schwarzenegger, 65, has taken a diverse path since stepping down as California governor in
January 2011, returning to movies in films like "The Last Stand" and "The Expendables 2," writing an autobiography, and launching an eponymous global policy think tank at the University of Southern California's Los Angeles campus. Muscle & Fitness and Flex are part of American Media Inc, whose other titles include the National Enquirer tabloid, and celebrity magazine OK! (Reuters)
Michael Jordan hit with Paternity Suit by Alleged Former Mistress Michael Jordan is already a father to two sons … but has he pulled off yet another three-peat? An Atlanta woman named Pamela Smith claims she had an extra-marital affair with the Chicago Bulls legend in 1995 (while he was still married to Juanita Vanoy) and is suing him to take a paternity test to prove he fathered her son, Grant Pierce Jay Jordan Reynolds, who was born in June 1996. In Smith's February 7 court documents, which were first obtained by TMZ, she states that once it's proven that Jordan, now 50, is the father, she wants him to pay child support, as well as medical expenses for the 16-year-old, who goes by the name Taj. It's unclear why Smith, who calls herself “America's Hottest Love Expert” on her Twitter page, has waited so long to prove paternity or how long her affair with the six-time NBA champion lasted. Even though Jordan has not yet been proven to be Taj's father, the teen is already bragging about his famous heredity online. In a YouTube clip he posted on Christmas Day, he reveals “exclusive” information to his “fans” that the rumors are true and he calls out Jordan to be more involved in his life. Taj also says that he has met Jordan
and “we talked and all that stuff” and that he just wants him to “come out of the dark and stop being so secretive.”
At the end of the minute-long clip, he tells everyone to follow him on Twitter, where he has nearly 50,000 followers. In the bio section, Taj points people to his email address, Taj23Jordan, which borrows from Jordan's infamous jersey number, for “Booking & Feautures” (sic) … although it's unclear what exactly his talent is. Jordan, who now owns part of the Charlotte Bobcats, has two sons, Jeffrey and Marcus, and one daughter, Jasmine, with Vanoy, whom he married in 1989. The couple first filed for divorce in 2002, but reconciled shortly thereafter. Four years later, they split once again and Vanoy received a whopping $168 million in the settlement, the largest for a celebrity divorce at the time. In 2006, he reportedly paid a former lover $250,000 to keep their relationship a secret when she sued him for paternity. DNA tests later proved Jordan was not the father of the child in question. Jordan is currently engaged to CubanAmerican model Yvette Prieto, whom he proposed to on Christmas Eve 2011. Jordan, who has refused to comment on the suit, and Smith are due in court on March 12. The Chicago-area estate Jordan is trying to unload for $29
million. (Zillow.com) With 16 years of child support potentially looming, it looks like the basketball great might be trying to pad his bank account. Jordan recently listed his $29 million estate in Chicago's Highland Park, which he first built in 1995, according to Zillow.com. The 56,000-sqaure-foot mansion sits on eight acres of land and boasts an indoor regulation-sized basketball court (of course), nine bedrooms, 15 bathrooms, five fireplaces, a guesthouse, outdoor tennis court, and three garages. But don't worry, Jordan won't be homeless. He and Prieto are currently building another custom estate on three acres in Jupiter, Florida. In addition to the 28,000-square-foot home he built there in 2010, he recently acquired $4.8 million worth of additional lots to expand. And, the AP reports that Jordan also just bought a $2.8 million 12,310square-foot lakefront home in Cornelius, North Carolina. The foreclosed six-bedroom, eightbathroom home reportedly sits on a gorgeous lake where Jordan already owns a condo, and is located about 22 miles north of where the Bobcats play their home games.
Page 32
Kaieteur News
Is it a cold or the flu? By Krista Brooks I walked into the office the other day and Nursey said “Oh gosh you look bad girl! Like you didn’t get any sleep or something.”I must have looked as bad as I felt. I told Nursey that I had something working on me and didn’t know if it was a fresh cold or the flu. This is where working with nurses is really helpful. She told me to sit down and describe my symptoms so we could figure out what was going on. That way I could figure out how I could treat it and get back to feeling good in no time at all. Nursey said that it can be hard to recognize the difference between just a cold or the flu because some of the symptoms are the same and they are both caused by a virus. A virus is something that can enter our body and make us sick. They are a little different from bacteria, which can also make us sick. Bacteria enter our bodies and make a lot of themselves so we get really sick. Luckily, we have tabs that can kill the bacteria and make our sickness from them go away. With viruses, they enter the cells of our body and use those cells to make more of themselves. Tabs cannot kill viruses, because you would have to kill the cells in our body and we need them! So unfortunately, with viruses, we just have to let them do their thing until they go away. You can, however, make the symptoms of viruses a bit better by taking certain types of cold and flu tabs. So cold or flu? How can you tell? Nursey says that a cold normally starts out with a sore or dry throat and then can continue with a stuffy nose, sneezing, sometimes feelings of tiredness and headaches. The flu can also have some of those
Krista Brooks symptoms, but they are not as common. Both the flu and a cold can cause a cough. You can really tell that you might have the flu if you have a temperature above 100 degrees for 3-4 days, chills, and muscle aches and pains. Also, a cold usually lasts a few days whereas the flu can last for a whole week. Knowing the difference between having a cold or the flu is important. The flu can be dangerous for very young children, older persons, as well as pregnant mothers. If the flu is particularly bad, it can cause another condition called pneumonia where a person would need to go to the hospital for treatment. Colds go away on their own, but if you still have cold symptoms for a long time (almost 2 weeks), it is possible that you have developed another type of infection and might need further treatment. Are you feeling bad and want to get better as soon as possible? As Nursey said earlier, colds and flus are caused by viruses, so you cannot just take a tab and get rid of them. You can. however, make your symptoms a bit better, for example, drinking cough syrup for a cough or taking Panadol for a fever. Make sure you check with your healthcare provider
Walking linked to fewer strokes in women Women who walk at least three hours every week are less likely to suffer a stroke than women who walk less or not at all, according to new research from Spain. “The message for the general population remains similar: regularly engaging in moderate recreational activity is good for your health,” lead author José María Huerta of the Murcia Regional Health Authority in Spain told Reuters Health. Past studies have also linked physical activity to fewer strokes, which can be caused by built-up plaque in
arteries or ruptured blood vessels in the brain. While the current study cannot prove that regular walking caused fewer strokes to occur in the women who participated, it contributes to a small body of evidence for potential relationships between specific kinds of exercise and risk for specific diseases. Women who walked briskly for 210 minutes or more per week had a lower stroke risk than inactive women but also lower than those who cycled and did other higher-intensity workouts for a shorter amount of time.
before taking anything! If you do have a fever, it is important to drink lots of fluids such as water or fruit juices. You can lose a lot of fluids with a fever, so you need to replace them to stay well hydrated. If you can, try to eat some food to help keep up your strength. Make sure to get plenty of rest and if you can take the time off from work or school. This will help you recover, as well as not spread your cold or flu to others. You can reduce your chances of getting a cold or flu by washing your hands often. If you are starting to feel tired, try to eat more fruits and greens. Vitamin C found in these things can help your body fight off colds and the flu. Also, to prevent the flu you can go to your nearest health centre or hospital to get the Influenza vaccine. Nursey thinks I had the flu because I had a high fever for 5 days, along with some chills and muscle aches, as we learned earlier; you don’t get those symptoms with just a cold. Nursey says to stay healthy out there! I will be back next week to tell you more interesting things that Nursey says. Until then! If you have any questions about today’s health topic or any other health issues please e-mail nurseysaysguyana@gmail.com. Krista Brooks is a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer working with the School of Nursing, which trains Nursing Assistants, Professional Nurses, and Midwifery Students.
Sunday March 03, 2013
Skin cancer ‘able to fight off body’s immune system’ A deadly form of skin cancer is able to fend off the body’s immune system, UK researchers have found. Analysis of tumour and blood samples shows that melanoma knocks out the body’s best immune defence. A potential test could work out which patients are likely to respond to treatment, the Journal of Clinical Investigation reports. Cancer Research UK said the body’s response was a “complex puzzle”. Previous work from the team at King’s College London showed that while patients with melanoma produced antibodies that could attack tumour cells, the immune system often seemed powerless to stop the cancer progressing. But in the latest research they discovered that the subtype of antibody attracted by the melanoma cells was the most ineffective at mounting the right sort of response. In samples from 80 melanoma patients they say that the conditions created by the tumour attract IgG4 antibodies, which mount the weakest response and in turn interfere with any “strong” IgG1 antibodies that might be present. “This work is still at an early stage, but it’s a step towards developing more effective treatments for skin cancer” By mimicking the conditions created by melanomas, they showed that
in the presence of tumour cells, the immune system sent out IgG4 antibodies, but when faced with healthy cells it functioned as expected with IgG1 circulating. They also confirmed that IgG4 was ineffective in launching an immune attack against cancer cells. In additional tests in 33 patients, they found that those with higher levels of the weak antibody IgG4 had a less favourable prognosis compared with those with levels nearer to normal. Study author Dr Sophie Karagiannis said: “This work bears important implications for future therapies since not only are IgG4 antibodies ineffective in activating immune cells to kill tumours but they also work by blocking antibodies from killing tumour cells.” She said not only was IgG4 stopping the patient’s more powerful antibodies from eradicating cancer, but it could also explain why some treatments
b a s e d o n b o o s t i n g the immune response may be less effective in some patients. Co-author Prof Frank Nestle said more work was needed on developing IgG4 as a potential test to improve patient care by helping to identify patients most likely to respond to treatments. “This study can also inform the rational design of novel strategies to counteract IgG4 actions,” he added. Dr Kat Arney, science communications manager at Cancer Research UK, said: “There’s a lot we don’t yet understand about how our immune system recognises and responds to cancer, so we’re pleased to have supported this new research that’s helping to solve such a complex puzzle. “This work is still at an early stage, but it’s a step towards developing more effective treatments for skin cancer and potentially other types of cancer in the future.”
Bad sleep ‘dramatically’ alters body A run of poor sleep can have a potentially profound effect on the internal workings of the human body, say UK researchers. The activity of hundreds of genes was altered when people’s sleep was cut to less than six hours a day for a week. Writing in the journal PNAS, the researchers said the results helped explain how poor sleep damaged health. Heart disease, diabetes, obesity and poor brain function have all been linked to substandard sleep. What missing hours in bed actually does to alter health, h o w e v e r, is unknown. So researchers at the University of Surrey analysed the blood of 26 people after they had had plenty of sleep, up to 10 hours each night for a week, and compared the results with samples after a week of fewer than six
hours a night. More than 700 genes were altered by the shift. Each contains the instructions for building a protein, so those that became more active produced more proteins changing the chemistry of the body. Prof Colin Smith, from the University of Surrey, told the BBC: “There was quite a dramatic change in activity in many different kinds of genes.” Areas such as the immune system and how the
body responds to damage and stress were affected. Prof Smith added: “Clearly sleep is critical to rebuilding the body and maintaining a functional state, all kinds of damage appear to occur hinting at what may lead to ill health. “If we can’t actually replenish and replace new cells, then that’s going to lead to degenerative diseases.” He said many people may be even more sleep deprived in their daily lives
than those in the study suggesting these changes may be common. Dr Akhilesh Reddy, a specialist in the body clock at the University of Cambridge, said the study was “interesting”. He said the key findings were the effects on inflammation and the immune system as it was possible to see a link between those effects and health problems such as diabetes. The findings also tie into research attempting to do away with sleep, such as by finding a drug that could eliminate the effects of sleep deprivation. Dr Reddy said: “We don’t know what the switch is that causes all these changes, but theoretically if you could switch it on or off, you might be able to get away without sleep. “But my feeling is that sleep is fundamentally important to regenerating all cells.” (BBC)
Sunday March 03, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 33
T&T considering abolishing jury for blood crimes Trinidad Guardian - The Government is considering a proposal to abolish the use of juries for blood crimes, National Security Minister Jack Warner said in a statement in the House of
Representatives Friday. Warner’s statement followed a decision by Cabinet to table legislation in Parliament to give selected soldiers the legal authority to make arrests while working with police.
The measure is among the latest being implemented by the Government to deal with the escalating murder rate. There have been more than 80 murders for the first two months of the year. Warner
told the House: “The Attorney General has also proposed that we consider the abolition of jury trial for blood crimes or violent crimes. This will allow judges more time and result in a
Chavez undergoing “tough” chemotherapy: Venezuela VP CARACAS (Reuters) Venezuela’s ailing President Hugo Chavez has been undergoing “tougher” new treatment for cancer including chemotherapy at the military hospital where he has been for the last two weeks, his vice-president said. Speaking late on Friday after a Catholic Mass to pray for Chavez’s health, Maduro described how the socialist president had personally given the order to leave Cuba in mid-February, two months after his latest cancer surgery there. “He said ‘I’ve taken the decision to return to Venezuela, I’m going to enter a new phase of complementary treatments, tougher and more intense, I want to be in Caracas,’” Maduro said.
Hugo Chavez “Do you know what the complementary treatments are? They are the chemotherapies applied to patients after operations,” he added outside a chapel in the Caracas military hospital.
Apart from one set of photos showing Chavez in a Havana hospital bed, he has not been seen nor heard from in public since December 11 surgery in Cuba, his fourth operation since the disease was detected in mid-2011. Furious at rumors swirling all week that Chavez may have died, Maduro said chemotherapy was only possible because his condition had improved in January after a delicate few weeks following the December operation. Chavez’s No. 2 urged Venezuelans to be on the guard against “rumormongers” and “destabilizers,” saying rightwing politicians in the United States were in league with Venezuela’s opposition to spread lies about his boss.
“Sadly, the opposition live in a world of hatred, wrongdoing, bad feelings and bad desires,” Maduro said, adding that Chavez had become sick from overworking. “He neglected his own body to give our people his work, his love, his life,” Maduro said, confirming Chavez was still using a tracheal tube to breathe and was communicating with family and aides through written messages and other “creative” means. Opposition leaders have accused Maduro of lying about Chavez’s condition, and several dozen antigovernment students have chained themselves up in public to demand proof that the president is alive and in Venezuela.
quicker trial time.” He said the proposal was among others engaging the attention of Cabinet, adding that more details would be announced in due course. He said the time had come for a bipartisan attack on crime. “We should put T&T first,” Warner urged. Warner said the country “needs all hands on deck in this war against crime.” He said the criminal elements were “bent on terrorising our decent, hardworking, law-abiding citizens.” But the Opposition raised immediate concerns about the proposal. Port-of-Spain South MP Marlene McDonald said she did not understand the logic behind the move. She said having a trial by jury was part of the country’s democratic principles. McDonald said: “We pride ourselves as being a democratic nation, having a free and fair judiciary. What do you think the international community will be saying about us when we remove jury trials for such crimes?” McDonald asked if the measure would require a special majority vote in
Jack Warner Parliament, as the jury system might be part of the Constitution. She said in principle, the PNM could not support such a bill. In response to a question, McDonald said when Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley said last Tuesday that his team was looking at supporting the Government in crime-fighting measures, he would not have known about this latest measure. “We are all taken by surprise here,” she insisted. During his contribution, Warner also said precepted soldiers would not be able to arrest anyone on their own. He said while there were more than 7,000 officers, the service was never at full strength and precepting soldiers would solve the issue.
Page 34
Kaieteur News
Sunday March 03, 2013
DPP clears former prime minister of criminal misconduct Trinidad Express - Former prime minister Patrick Manning and his one-time spiritual adviser Juliana Pena have been cleared of any “criminal misconduct” in the construction of a multi-million dollar church — the Lighthouse of Our Lord Jesus Christ — in the Heights of Guanapo, off Arima. Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard SC made public his decision Friday night in the matter which was used by the People’s Partnership as one
of its campaign weapons in 2010 general election. Gaspard, in a seven-page press release, however, noted that according to the police, a forensic audit is being undertaken into the matter, on behalf of the Integrity Commission. “If any new and cogent evidence were to be brought to my attention, I undertake to re-visit this matter,” Gaspard stated. It was Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, in her capacity as Opposition
Leader, who had referred the matter to the DPP on May 15, 2010, one week before the country was heading to the polls, calling upon him to initiate a probe on the following grounds: (i) whether the then prime minister Patrick Manning corruptly or unlawfully interfered in the granting of State Lands and other related approvals to the church or for its construction; (ii) whether State funds were used for/on in the construction of the church;
(iii) whether Calder Hart (then chairman and executive director of the Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago) corruptly procured the Shanghai Construction Group and others to design and construct the church; and (iv) whether the building constructed at the Heights of Guanapo was initially designed as the Outdoor Stage Project of the Prime Minister’s house as part of the Prime Minister’s residence
and relatedly, whether the cost of the church was factored into the cost of the Prime Minister’s residence. Gaspard noted that while his Office does not have the constitutional mandate or remit to investigate criminal wrongdoing, he instructed the police to commence an investigation. Having consulted legal advice both locally and abroad, as recently as February 4 on the police file, Gaspard highlighted the importance of informing the public of the reasons for his decision. Neither Manning nor Pena were interviewed by police during their investigations “since the police appear not to have any evidence which would afford reasonable grounds for suspecting that they may have committed any offence arising out of this matter”. The police investigations show that Manning had an interest in the construction of the church on State lands and had even visited the site and made suggestions for the design of the building. He also chaired Cabinet meetings which approved the granting of State lands for the project. “There is no admissible evidence the that the former prime minister played any further role in the matter. Even if he did try to ensure that an application such as this one was not delayed, that is not an offence,” Gaspard stated. In relation to the role played by Hart, the evidence unearthed noted that it was he who introduced Pena to an architect, who agreed to
Patrick Manning design the church as a charitable act. Police investigations also revealed that Shanghai Construction Group, the same Chinese company contracted to build the Prime Minister’s residence at La Fantasie and Diplomatic Centre, began construction of the church. Michael Zhang, the company’s director, had been asked by Hart to assist Pena and Zhang agreed to build the church at cost price “by way of an act of goodwill to the people of Trinidad and Tobago,” the release stated. Work on the project, which began on January 21, 2010, halted after Pena failed to pay Zhang as agreed, and Zhang claims that UDeCOTT still owes him money for work done on other projects. The project was left abandoned and subsequently fell prey to scrap iron scavengers. “Thus, Mr Zhang’s evidence all but strangles any allegation that State funds were used for or in the construction of the church,” the DPP’s statement said.
CCJ to hold sittings in Jamaica and Barbados PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - CMC – The Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) will hold its first ever sitting in Jamaica next week to hear evidence from witnesses in the case in which a Jamaican national has sued Barbados. Shanique Myrie, 25, who was granted leave by the CCJ to file the action, alleges that when she travelled to Barbados on March, 14, 2011 she was discriminated against because of her nationality, subjected to a body cavity search, detained overnight in a cell and deported to Jamaica the following day. Myrie also claimed that she was subjected to derogatory remarks by a Barbadian Immigration officer
Shanique Myrie at the Grantley Adams International Airport and is asking the CCJ to determine the minimum standard of treatment applicable to CARICOM citizens moving around the region. On September 27, last year, Jamaica was granted leave to intervene in the matter.
Sunday March 03, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 35
Amnesty International welcomes Duvalier’s presence in court 2012 decision by an investigative judge not to put Duvalier on trial for alleged violations of human rights so serious they amount to crimes against humanity including torture, killings and disappearances committed during his time in office. The judge considered then that Duvalier should be judged only for embezzlement of public funds, on the basis that the crimes against Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier LONDON - CMC – The international human rights group, Amnesty International, says the presence of former Haitian “President for Life” JeanClaude “Baby Doc” Duvalier in court on Thursday has brought a “glimmer of hope for the families of those subjected to extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances during his many years in power. “The fact that Duvalier was actually present this time gives some hope of the capacity of the Haitian justice system to deal with sensitive cases,” said Javier Zúñiga, special adviser for the London-based group. But he acknowledged “the road to justice is a long one”. The hearing by the Court of Appeal was suspended after five hours and will be continued on March 7. The
three-judge panel did not make a decision on whether to try Duvalier for serious human rights violations. When Duvalier failed to show up to court for the third time on February 21, the Court of Appeal asked the Public Prosecutor to bring the former leader in for the next hearing under the threat of being imprisoned if he failed to appear again. Amnesty International noted that, for the first time, Duvalier had to answer questions from the Court and from the claimants’ lawyers. “It is now essential that the Court hears the testimonies of the victims and examines the huge amount of compelling evidence that has been gathered,” Zúñiga said. The court session was to examine an appeal brought by victims of human rights violations against the January
Trinidad to host EPA model bills meeting GEORGETOWN, Guyana - CMC – A two-day meeting allowing for Caribbean legislative drafters to consider and refine draft model bills intended to give effect to provisions of the Economic partnership Agreement (EPA) signed between the European Union and the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) in 2008 will be held in Trinidad and Tobago next week. The May 7-8 meeting is being held under the auspices of the EPA Implement Unit within the Guyana-based Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat and will be funded under the Caribbean Aid for Trade and Regional Integration Trust Fund (CARTFund). “The Meeting targets legislative drafters from CARIFORUM States that are signatory to the EPA. It is
designed to benefit legislative drafters who will be tasked with preparing legislation to give effect to provisions of the Agreement,” said the Unit’s Legal Officer, Alexis Downes-Amsterdam. During the meeting, consideration will be given several model bills including the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority Bill, 2012; and the Interconnection and Access to Facilities Bill, 2012. In addition, participants will be provided with an overview of the EPA and the state-of-play of implementation, with particular attention to Trade in Services, the organisers said. The Trinidad meeting follows the inaugural meeting held in November last year when other draft model bills were addressed.
humanity for which he was accused had expired under Haitian law. But said Zúñiga said “there can be no time limit under international law on bringing such charges,” stating that Haiti’s constitution “recognizes that international law has supremacy over national law. “According to international human rights standards, crimes including
torture, executions, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances are not subject to a statute of limitations,” he said. “What we would like to see is that Jean-Claude Duvalier is held accountable for these horrendous crimes which amount to crimes against humanity, which were committed under his regime, while ensuring his right to receive a fair trial is
respected.” Reed Brody of Human Rights Watch said “whatever happens next, Haitians will remember the image of their former dictator having to answer questions about the repression carried out under his rule. “This is already a historic victory in a country where the rich and powerful have always been above the law,” he added.
Page 36
Kaieteur News
Sunday March 03, 2013
Big cuts spur calls to Congress from irate constituents WA S H I N G T O N (Reuters) - The Congress is getting an earful about the big spending cuts beginning to hit government services from worried and irate constituents, including one senator’s own spouse. Democratic Senator Thomas Carper of Delaware said his wife, “my most important constituent,” asked him, “Why can’t you guys get your act together? Do you know what people think of you guys?” “I told her that Washington needs to work more like Delaware,” said Carper, a former governor of the state. “In Delaware, Democrats and Republicans work together.” They have not worked together in Washington. And so the across-the-board cuts of the so-called “sequester” which both Republicans and Democrats have said they oppose - took effect Friday night after President Barack Obama and Republican leaders failed to agree on a way to replace them with targeted spending reductions. Up until the final few days before Friday, when the
reductions began because of a law enacted in 2011, constituents urged, some begged, lawmakers to avert them. The cuts threaten the U.S. economic recovery, could disrupt federal services from airports to national parks, and may force furloughs of hundreds of thousands of federal workers and employees of federal contractors, the administration says. “They want to kill us all,” Senator Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican, said of his constituents. Laura Zayner, a senior officer with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, was among 400 federal workers facing possible furloughs who came to Washington last week to lobby Congress. “We consider the furlough a slap in the face. We take it personally,” Zayner said. “We are not picking sides, Democrats or Republicans. But we want them to do their jobs and stop the cuts.” John Kelshaw, who works with the Internal Revenue
Service, came to town from New Jersey. He and a few other federal workers met with Republican Representative John Runyan. “We told him that a lot of our people live paycheck to paycheck. We said, ‘Give us a break,’” Kelshaw said. He said Runyan, of New Jersey, listened but made no commitments. Polls so far show most Americans blame Republicans rather than Obama and his Democrats for the standoff. But that could change. Republicans insist that any deficit-reduction replacement deal include only spending cuts. Democrats want a mix of spending cuts and tax increases. According to a February 28 Gallup survey, 56 percent of those polled thought the cuts will damage the economy. The feeling crossed party lines, Gallup reported, with 64 percent of Republicans and 51 percent of Democrats agreeing they would inflict economic pain. Democratic Senator Mark Pryor said his constituents in Arkansas routinely ask him,
“‘Why can’t you guys work it out?’” Pryor said he tells them, “Nobody has clean hands on this.” Both sides seem to size up any issue on a basis of who gets the political advantage, he said. “If someone suddenly came up with a cure to cancer, the question in Washington would be, ‘Is this good or bad for Obama?’” The president on Friday said of the cuts, “This is not a win for anybody. This is a loss for the American people.” Hatch, of Utah, said he recently told his state legislature that he expected the federal government to impose the sweeping cuts. “A number of them stood up and said maybe that’s the only way we are going get any real reduction in spending,” he said.
On the other side, Representative Luis Gutierrez, a Chicago Democrat who won an 11th term last year with more than 80 percent of the vote, said his constituents “tell me ‘Keep on fighting, Luis, keep on fighting.’” Representative Scott Rigell, a Virginia Republican whose district includes the shipbuilding yards in Newport News that are likely to be hit hard by cuts in military spending, was dismayed by the untargeted reductions. Rigell got a letter from a constituent last month that read in part, “My husband, a project manager for the defense industry, went to work this morning to lay off half of his workforce because of sequestration.” In an interview, Rigell said, “When I think they
Thomas Carper (shipyard workers) could lose their jobs because of the dysfunction in Washington ... this is not acceptable to me.” “I’ve been at that shipyard. Some of hardest working folks I know. They’re coming in at 5:30 a.m. with a lunch bucket and making $35,000 a year and wondering if they’ll have a job.”
Zimbabwe’s president predicts election victory BINDURA, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe’s president, celebrating his 89th birthday, said yesterday he believes he will resoundingly defeat his opponents in elections this year and remain in power for another five years. President Robert Mugabe cut an 89 kilogram (40 pound) cake at a sports arena in this mining town of Bindura, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) northeast of Harare. Youth groups of his ZANU-PF party said they walked to the bash to celebrate his “walk through a life of struggle against colonialism and Western imperialism.” Mugabe said he was confident his ZANU-PF party will triumph at the polls and accused his rivals of claiming a recent increase in political violence was intended to cover up an upcoming election defeat under the guise that the polls would not be free and fair. The nation’s central bank governor donated 89 cows to Mugabe. Mugabe said he was moved by the gifts and all the “giving hearts” of his supporters. “The love that comes from the heart is far more valuable than the presents,” he said. The local provincial governor Martin Dinha promised that free food at the venue for an estimated 20,000 people was plentiful and later in the evening there was to be “entertainment galore.” Officials of Mugabe’s party reportedly collected donations of $600,000 for the occasion. As about 1.5 million
Robert Mugabe Zimbabweans across the nation rely on food aid in the troubled economy, a diamond mining firm linked to Mugabe’s loyalist police and military who control the eastern diamond fields helped pay for the two meter (six foot) long cake, the biggest of five lavish cakes on display. Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, in a shaky coalition with Mugabe brokered by regional leaders after violent and disputed elections in 2008, was in central Zimbabwe on Saturday launching his party’s campaign for a ‘Yes’ vote in a referendum on a new constitution on March 16. Parliamentary and presidential elections to end the coalition that are scheduled later, possibly around July. The death of the 12-yearold son of an aspiring Tsvangirai election candidate in an alleged arson attack last Saturday was publicized with photographs of the charred corpse by Tsvangirai’s party to attract international news headlines, Mugabe said. He said police
investigations into the death were still to be concluded. But police said Friday foul play was not suspected in the fire in a rural eastern stronghold of Mugabe’s party. In a nationwide birthday broadcast on state television late Friday, Mugabe said the coalition had become dysfunctional and was “never meant to go on forever.” He said Tsvangirai’s former opposition wanted to cling to the financial privileges and power that belonging to the coalition gave them. “They want to enjoy the ride to the maximum, they have never had it before and they know they will never have it again,” he said. “They are building a false picture of violence which we do not know anything about,” Mugabe said. Mugabe militants and loyalist security services are blamed for human rights abuses and vote rigging in previous elections over the past decade. Human rights and civic groups say they have been the target of a worsening clampdown by police this year. In February, four groups were raided and had documents and equipment seized. On Friday, police seized 180 cheap, handcranked and solar powered radio receivers from a media freedom group in the second city of Bulawayo. Police have banned the radios, saying they are capable of receiving what they call pirate stations beamed from outside the (Continued on page 39)
Sunday March 03, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 37
Egypt needs to fix economy, strike IMF deal - Kerry CAIRO (Reuters) Egypt’s need to get the economy back on its feet is paramount and urgent, and the government should strike a loan deal with the IMF, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said yesterday. Egypt’s foreign currency reserves have dived to little more than a third of levels before the 2011 revolution and its pound has lost more than eight percent against the dollar since the end of last year. “It is paramount, essential, urgent that the Egyptian economy get stronger, that it gets back on its feet,” Kerry told Egyptian and U.S. business executives in Cairo. “It’s clear to us that the IMF arrangement needs to be reached, that we need to give the market that confidence.” The Islamist government of President Mohamed Mursi said on Thursday it would invite an IMF team to reopen talks on a $4.8 billion loan that was agreed last November but put on hold at Cairo’s request during street violence the following month. Kerry arrived in Egypt on his first visit to the Arab world since taking office for talks with the leaders of a country mired in political and economic crisis two years after the overthrow of autocrat Hosni Mubarak. Kerry said he would talk to Mursi on Sunday about things the United States could offer Egypt, including economic assistance, support for private business and boosting Egypt’s exports to the United States. “But they
are only things that we can do with the ... confidence that you make your choices, knowing that Egypt is going to make the right fundamental economic decisions with respect to the IMF,” he said. Earlier, a senior U.S. official said Kerry would stress the importance of Egypt achieving political consensus for painful economic reforms needed to secure the IMF loan. The United States believed Egypt needed to increase tax revenues and reduce energy subsidies measures likely to be highly unpopular if Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood government were to force them through. “His basic message is it’s very important to the new Egypt for there to be a firm economic foundation,” the official told reporters as Kerry flew to Cairo. “In order for there to be agreement on doing the kinds of economic reforms that would be required under an IMF deal there has to be a basic political ... agreement among all of the various players in Egypt,” the official said on condition of anonymity. Egypt’s investment minister has expressed hope that a deal could be done with the IMF by the end of April. The loan was put on hold due to street violence that flared in protest at a planned rise in taxes. While the tax rise was withdrawn, Mursi is likely to face violent protests as any cuts in subsidies demanded by the IMF will push up living costs in a country where poverty is rife.
Energy subsidies soak up about 20 percent of the government budget, bloating a deficit set to soar to 12.3 percent of annual economic output this financial year. A group of anti-Mursi demonstrators set fire to pictures of Kerry at the Foreign Ministry, the state MENA news agency reported. Kerry was due later at the building for talks with Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr. Earlier, the demonstrators had marched from Tahrir Square, the center of the 2011 uprising. Some held up cartoons of Kerry, portraying him with an Islamic beard, saying “Kerry - member of the Brotherhood”. Others banners said “Kerry, you are not welcome here” and showed the characteristic moustache and fringe of Adolf Hitler superimposed on pictures of Mursi. The protest was peaceful. However, youths fought interior ministry police on Saturday in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura, where one protester was killed and dozens injured. In the Suez Canal city of Port Said, protesters torched a police station, security sources said. While these protests were unrelated to Kerry’s visit, they were examples of the frequent outbreaks of unrest faced by Egypt’s government. Clashes are commonplace, with protesters demanding that Mursi reform the interior ministry’s police force. Police reform was a key demand of the uprising that toppled Mubarak. Kerry will stress the need
U.N.’s Ban, Syria mediator frustrated at failure to stop war UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon and Syria mediator Lakhdar Brahimi expressed frustration yesterday at the failure to end Syria’s conflict and said the United Nations was ready to facilitate peace talks. Ban and Brahimi met in Mt. Pelerin, Switzerland, to discuss the two-year-old war that has killed more than 70,000 people. In a joint statement, they said “they regretted that the government and armed opposition forces have become increasingly reckless with human life and stressed the importance of accountability for war crimes against humanity.” The conflict began as peaceful protests that turned violent when Syrian President
Lakhdar Brahimi Bashar al-Assad tried to crush the revolt. “The United Nations would welcome and be prepared to facilitate a dialogue between a strong and representative delegation from the opposition and a credible and empowered delegation from the Syrian government,” they
said in a joint statement. The U.N. Security Council has been deadlocked on Syria since 2011 over Russia and China’s refusal to consider sanctions against Assad’s government. They have vetoed three resolutions condemning Assad’s crackdown on the opposition groups. “Both expressed deep frustration at the failure of the international community to act with unity to end the conflict,” the statement added. Damascus and some opposition figures have recently softened their previous outright rejection of talks to resolve the civil war, with both saying they would consider talks with the other side, contingent on some conditions.
John Kerry (L) and Mohamed Mursi (R) for agreement across the political spectrum on reforms and winning approval in the Shura Council, Egypt’s upper house of parliament. “What they need to do is ... things like increasing tax revenues, reducing energy subsidies, making clear what the approval process will be to the Shura Council for an IMF agreement, that kind of thing,” said the official. Hopes for consensus between the ruling Islamists and opposition parties seem slim. Liberal and leftist opposition parties have announced a boycott of
parliamentary elections, scheduled for April to June, over a new constitution produced by an Islamistdominated assembly and other grievances. Kerry said he came to Egypt not to support any particular party or person but to show the U.S. commitment to democracy and human rights. “We believe it’s very important for the Egyptian people to come together around those values, but also to come together to meet the economic challenge (at) this particular moment,” he said.
Kerry met opposition leaders on Saturday but many senior figures were missing from the round table talks, including Hamdeen Sabahy, who came a close third in presidential elections last year but had refused to attend the meeting. However, Kerry met separately with Amr Moussa, a former Arab League Secretary-General and defeated presidential candidate, and spoke on the telephone with another party leader, former U.N. nuclear agency head Mohamed ElBaradei.
Page 38
Kaieteur News
Sunday March 03, 2013
Netanyahu gets 14 more days to form new Israeli government JERUSALEM (Reuters) Israeli President Shimon Peres yesterday gave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an additional 14 days to try to form a new government after he was unable to complete the task during an initial 28-day period. Talks with potential partners have been deadlocked since elections on January 22 and if he is unable to form a government by March 16 a new poll could be called - a delay that also puts into question a planned visit by U.S. President Barack
Obama. Netanyahu’s LikudBeitenu won 31 of the Knesset’s 120 seats - an eroded lead that forced him to cast a wide net for partners while juggling their disparate demands. During the 28-day period, Netanyahu managed to forge a pact only with the party of former foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, whose six-member faction “The Movement” has given him 37 seats, way short of the minimum 61 needed to confirm a new coalition. In a brief statement
following his meeting with Peres on Saturday night, Netanyahu hinted that at least one potential coalition partner refused to sit alongside others. Netanyahu has faced demands from the parties that placed second and fourth, Yesh Atid (There is a Future) and Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home), to slash mass exemptions from military conscription and cut welfare stipends to ultra-Orthodox Jews. In coalition talks on Friday with Bayit Yehudi,
Netanyahu’s chief negotiator said the right-wing party was unwilling to sit alongside ultra-Orthodox parties but Bayit Yehudi officials denied this. Although he did not name Bayit Yehudi or Yesh Atid as the reason for his inability to form a coalition, Netanyahu said some parties were boycotting others. “In these past four weeks I tried to form the broadest possible government ... I think the ultra-Orthodox public is prepared to accept (demands by other partners)
but the main reason that I have not managed to complete the task by today is ... because there is a boycott of a certain sector,” he said. Netanyahu’s outgoing coalition includes two ultraOrthodox parties which have generally backed him on policies such the settlement of occupied West Bank land in defiance of world powers who support the Palestinians’ drive for statehood there. Bayit Yehudi is even less accommodating of the Palestinians than Netanyahu, who says he wants to revive stalled peace talks. Should Netanyahu fail to co-opt allies for a parliamentary majority by March 16, Peres could hand the coalition-building task to another lawmaker and if after an additional period no government emerges, Israelis would have to return to the polls. Netanyahu was backed by 82 of parliament’s 120 lawmakers to form the next government so Peres, whose only real executive power is to nominate a Knesset member to form a government, may opt not to pick another candidate and
Shimon Peres elections would be called. Obama is due to visit Israel at the end of March and Netanyahu’s trouble in building a new government raises the question of whether he may call off that visit. But when asked about Israeli reports he might cancel, an official in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was no talk at this point about the possibility of Obama scrubbing the trip. White House spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said: “President Obama looks forward to travelling to Jerusalem, Ramallah and Amman later this month.”
Syria and Iran condemn U.S. plan to aid anti-Assad rebels BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria and Iran yesterday condemned a move by the United States to give nonlethal aid to rebels fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, accusing Washington of double standards. “I do not understand how the United States can give support to groups that kill the Syrian people,” Syrian Foreign Minister Walid alMoualem said at a news conference in Tehran with Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran’s foreign minister. “This is nothing but a double-standard policy ... One who seeks a political solution does not punish the Syrian people.” The United States said on Thursday it would for the first time give non-lethal aid to Syrian rebels, describing the aid as a way to bolster the
rebels’ popular support. The assistance will include medical supplies, food for rebel fighters and $60 million to help the civil opposition provide basic services like security, education and sanitation. Iran’s Salehi said the U.S. move would prolong the Syrian conflict, an uprisingturned-civil war in which 70,000 people have been killed. “If you really feel sorry about the ongoing situation in Syria you should force the opposition to sit at the negotiation table with the Syrian government and put an end to bloodshed,” he said. “Why do you encourage the opposition to continue these acts of violence?” Iran and Russia support Assad, while the United States and its allies generally back the opposition.
Sunday March 03, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 39
Obama presses Congress for deal to end U.S. spending cuts WA S H I N G T O N (Reuters) - Just hours after across-the-board spending cuts officially took effect, President Barack Obama pressed Congress yesterday to work with him on a compromise to halt a fiscal crisis he said was starting to “inflict pain” on communities across the United States. Obama and a bipartisan group of congressional leaders failed on Friday to avoid the deep spending reductions known as the “sequester,” which automatically kicked in overnight in the latest sign of dysfunction in a divided Washington. If left in place without legislative remedy, government agencies will have to hack a total of $85 billion from their budgets between yesterday and October 1, cuts that over time could cause economic harm, slash jobs and curb military readiness. “These cuts are not
smart,” Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address. “They will hurt our economy and cost us jobs. And Congress can turn them off at any time - as soon as both sides are willing to compromise.” Obama signed an order on Friday night that started putting the cuts into effect. At the heart of Washington’s persistent fiscal showdowns is disagreement over how to slash the budget deficit and the $16 trillion national debt, bloated over the years by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and government stimulus for the ailing economy. The Democratic president wants to close the fiscal gap with spending cuts and tax hikes - what he calls a “balanced approach.” But Republicans do not want to concede again on taxes after doing so in negotiations over the “fiscal cliff” at the New Year. “The discussion about
revenue, in my view, is over. It’s about taking on the spending problem,” John Boehner, the Republican House of Representatives speaker, said on leaving the talks between Obama and congressional leaders on Friday. As Obama and his aides have done for weeks, the president in his radio address offered a litany of hardships he said would flow from the sequester, saying, “Severe budget cuts ... have already started to inflict pain on communities across the country.” “Beginning this week, businesses that work with the military will have to lay folks off. Communities near military bases will take a serious blow. Hundreds of thousands of Americans who serve their country - Border Patrol agents, FBI agents, civilians who work for the Defense Department - will see their wages cut and their hours
reduced,” he said. “The longer these cuts remain in place, the greater the damage,” he said. “Economists estimate they could eventually cost us more than 750,000 jobs and slow our economy by over onehalf of one percent.” Despite that, financial markets shrugged off the stalemate on Friday. While Obama has put the blame for the cuts on Republicans’ intransigence and their determination to protect tax breaks for the wealthy, Republicans insist he is responsible for the fiscal predicament. They also accuse him of exaggerating the expected impact. Obama appealed for Republicans to work with Democrats on a deal, saying Americans were weary of seeing Washington “careen from one manufactured crisis to another.” But he offered no new ideas to resolve the situation, and there was no
immediate sign of any negotiations planned over the weekend. “There’s a caucus of common sense (in Congress),” Obama said. “And I’m going to keep reaching out to them to fix this for good.” One reason for the inaction in Washington is that both parties still hope the other will either be blamed by voters for the cuts or cave in before the worst effects predicted by Democrats come into effect. A Reuters/Ipsos poll
Barack Obama released on Friday showed 28 percent of Americans blamed congressional Republicans for the sequestration mess, 18 percent thought Obama was responsible and 4 percent blamed congressional Democrats. Thirty-seven percent blamed them all, according the online poll.
Zimbabwe’s president... From page 36 country that are not controlled by Mugabe’s state broadcasting monopoly. The Center for Community Development, an independent pro-democracy and education charity, said Saturday the clampdown was intended at cowing civic groups campaigning for free and fair polling. “These trends are consistent with a venal and authoritarian state that has no regard whatsoever for people’s rights and freedoms,” the group said.
Page 40
Kaieteur News
Sunday March 03, 2013
Art Review Vodu exhibit captivates US By Dr Glenville Ashby Vintage Vodu flags will be exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the US – a total of twenty states. Curators, art aficionados and religio-cultural enthusiasts are expected to welcome these original ceremonial flags that were first purchased in Haiti by collector, Dr. Thomas Shultz. Pedagogical in depth and scope, the 2013-2016 tour, which kicks off in South Dakota, offers a rare glimpse into the mores of the Haitian people, raising their profile at a time when that country remains in the throes of socioeconomic and political upheaval. Lawrence Rodriguez whose Casa Frela Museum at one time housed these flags, expressed optimism that the national travelling show will help deconstruct the pernicious myth about Vodu that is rooted in Hollywood sensationalism. “Everyone will come away with a sense of the wholeness of the Haitian culture. They will experience the rich lifestyle, religion and culture. For sure, the image perpetuated by Hollywood – that Vodu is a dark, mystical practice will be
challenged,” according to Rodriguez. “The experience will elevate Haitian artistic artistry,” which he views as comparable to the very best. Visitors will be treated to sixteen flags, each representing a loa or sprit in the Vodu pantheon. The colourful, sequined flags were all used in actual ceremonies, and, unlike the more commercial copies or prints that are flooding the market, they are believed to be imbued with palpable energy.
Rodriguez explained the integral role of these flags to every bona fide vodu ceremony. Instructive and deliberate, he emphasized that any spiritual exercise is invalidated without the infusion of the flags. “At the beginning of the ceremony, the flag is hoisted and carried by an appointed bearer. The presence of the loa is then invoked or invited. Amid drumming and possession the flag is placed at the respective altar.” The flag of Damballah,
said to be the father of the loas - the chief god or spirit, is one of the most magnetically vivid pieces of art. With sequined beads and a gold and silver backdrop, a ceremonial tree and two serpents are starkly imprinted. Equally alive is the portrayal of the loa, Ersulie. Her flag is embossed in a kaleidoscope of colours, a gold ring, hearts, and the letter M which connotes her maternal nature. Its essence befits the goddess of love and beauty. Ersulie is known for
her poetic passion, unfathomable aesthetic appeal and elegance. Another distinct flag portrays the august, key role of Baron Samedi. As popular myth would have it, this loa was said to be closely associated with former Haitian leader, Papa Doc Duvalier. Baron Samedi is widely considered the protector of children and caretaker of the grave. His flag is depicted with symmetrical symbols of the crossbones and the skull. Its black and pink contrasting
colours create a piercing atmosphere of introspection, foreboding and admonishment. Rodriquez is expectant of a successful tour. He believes that it will reconnect the Haitian Diaspora, many of whom have only heard about Vodu flags. “This is not only propitious for the art world, “ he said, “but the best medium for 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation Haitians to experience their ancestry in truly an educational environment. Regrettably, these flags may not ever return to Haiti. Original and a seal of provenance, the value of the flags have increased exponentially with a price tag hovering around US $1 million. Rodriquez balked at the suggestion that the purchase of the flags was another example of neocolonial rape and exploitation. He argued that the sheer beauty of the flags caught the eye of an individual traveler to Haiti who purchased them, for, what was a reasonable price at the time. “For Haitians at home, this will revive the art of authentic flag making, which can be tedious and time (Continued on page 47)
Sunday March 03, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 43
== THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN ==
Weekend diary: The Pope, Fazal Khan, Raul Castro and Rohee The first thing I read last Thursday morning was a Reuters news item on the Pope who has just retired. The writer of the story could not have missed a most journalistic contradiction. It said that in keeping with his shy and modest ways, the Pope quietly withdrew from the world stage and will live in a palace in the countryside of Italy. Looked at from any angle this is a contradiction in the human character. How can someone be modest yet live in a palace? Why does a modest disciple of Jesus Christ want to live in a palace? I went on to look up on the issue of his retirement and indeed he is going to live in a luxury villa. It is no secret to the peoples of the world that the inhabitants of the Vatican enjoy a type of living that is definitely way above high-class; maybe super class. Inside the residence of the Vatican, the interior settings are far more luxurious than anything you can find at the White House, Number 10 Downing Street or in the official homes of European Presidents. I remember when I was freshman at University there was a big write-up in the region about the newly established embassy of the Vatican in Trinidad. At the time it was described as a palatial structure far outstripping any other embassy anywhere in the English-speaking Caribbean. The Vatican for me remains a paradox but then again, not versed in religion, I would not know the justifications for some of the actions of the inhabitants of the Vatican. The Pope previous to the one who retired last week, could not walk, move around, talk, see or read properly yet he chose
not to retire. He died on the job. I was in the High Court last week waiting to hear the arguments in the injunction that the Parika vendors brought against the Region Three RDC when I ran into Moses Nagamootoo. Moses told me that I should check on Fazal Khan because he is in the throes of a not so harmless medical condition. So Bert Wilkinson and I turned up last Thursday to see our mutual friend Fazal, the former husband of one of the tsarinas in the Office of the President, Gail Teixeira. Khan remains one of the modest and open-minded PPP activists I ever met. I always wondered why he stayed so long in the PPP. It is a loss to antidictatorship politics in Guyana that Fazal may never be active again. It is always interesting talking to Fazal. Bert came out plain and said to Fazal’ “You must go on record about Guyana Airways Corporation (GAC) and other matters.” I chimed in and asked Fazal to give me permission to publish again (yes again) the incident that caused President Janet Jagan to hound him out of his manager role at GAC. Bert put the tape recorder inches away from Fazal and the flow began. According to Fazal, in 1997 approaching the date for national elections, Mrs. Jagan announced an A-Team to contest the election in which Bharrat Jagdeo would be third in line. Endorsement was sought at a district conference. After the debate with many voices questioning the supersonic leap of Jagdeo, it was time to vote. Fazal’s hand was the only one voting against. Mrs Jagan never forgave Fazal Khan for his act of defiance.
Months after, Mrs. Jagan became President of Guyana and Fazal Khan was out of a job. Let’s go to Cuba. Last week, Raul Castro announced that in 2018, he will step down from power. Since 1959, he has governed Cuba with Fidel Castro. In 2018, he would have chalked up fifty-eight years of control. Since he became
President two years ago, Castro has admitted many failures in policy-making and has changed course in radical ways, but he has not admitted that he and his brother were responsible for the failed policies. Finally, back to Guyana. Last week Clement Rohee said he was once jailed. When may I ask and for how long? My memory tells me it was for
a couple of hours at Brickdam when he and I were arrested (not together, but hours apart) for picketing against the 1989 Budget outside Parliament (which under the PNC Government didn’t have barricades that prevented picketing). He was released on the intervention of Dr. Jagan. I had to spend the night in the lock ups.
Frederick Kissoon Clement why did the US suspend your visa in 2004? Please tell the Guyanese people what caused the US to do that.
Sunday March 03, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 47
THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM IS NOT FINITE Guyana’s problem is not the finite nature of the electromagnetic spectrum; Guyana’s problem is not the overcrowding of this space. Guyana’s problem is just how many carriers can be accommodated on this spectrum in order for these companies to be viable and thus sustained. Right now in Guyana there are more cellular phones than landlines and the number of mobile users are increasing at a tremendous rate, judging from cellular phone sales. But does anyone seriously believe that a third telephone company can be accommodated in our telecommunication sector? Very doubtful! Not that this third force would overpopulate the sector. Rather, it would not be viable in a small economy like Guyana. Guyana’s population is too small for a third telephone company. The same reasoning applies to radio and television. We should be more concerned about obtaining value for the use of the spectrum, rather than trying to share out licences. If this spectrum, as it is claimed is finite, and if as suggested it is a national resource, then it should be
bringing in windfall revenues from all carriers and not just from certain types of carriers. There is no reason, for example, why instead of persons having to apply for broadcast licences, these licences could not have been auctioned with a starting price of G$25M per licence and an annual renewal fee of about $10M per year. In return, the various broadcasters can be exempted from all property and corporation taxes. But do not tell that to the existing broadcasters or aspiring broadcasters. They will see such fees as exploitative. Do we really believe that television stations are not capable of netting more than two million dollars in profits each month? If there are dozens of television stations catering to a small population, this may not be possible, but it can be if there are enough stations to ensure competition and avoid monopolies. Those enjoying monopoly or near monopoly position; those afraid of competition will not always support newcomers into the sector, because the presence of new stations will undercut their influence and their profits.
Vodu exhibit... From page 40 consuming, but rewarding, “ Rodriguez said. ‘It is a specialized field and should be treated as such. Haitians, I am sure will rediscover the art of their ancestors.” Rooted in oral tradition, the creation and significance of the flag has been shrouded in secrecy – the
keys guarded by the hougan or Vodu priests. As such, there is a paucity of written work on the subject. The exhibit will at least open the door for further exploration and understanding into this fascinating world of Vodu. glenvileahsby@gmail.com Follow me on Twiter@glenvilleashby
One has to careful therefore when one hears this argument about the electromagnetic spectrum being finite, because this can be used to further monoploy interests and can mean a shutout of competition. After all, if the spectrum is finite, why overpopulate it with new users. The idea of a finite electromagnetic spectrum is a myth. It furthers an agenda of those who wish to limit certain foreign powers from entering the domestic market, as well as those who fear that their applications will be bypassed in deference to others.
The electromagnetic spectrum is not as a finite as many feel. In an article in the New York Times entitled ‘Carriers Warn of Crisis in Mobile Spectrum,’ the authors interview David Reed, considered one of the architects of the Internet. Observing that idea of a spectrum divided into frequencies is an outdated one, Reed posits that saying that the nation can run out of the spectrum is like saying it will run out of colour. He argues that technology now makes it possible for everyone to share the spectrum and therefore not exhaust it.
He says that many carriers do not wish to use these technologies that would reduce interference and the reason for this, he says, is that licencing the spectrum is a zero-sum game. When a company gets a licence for a band of radio waves, it has exclusive rights to that band and this means that the company’s competitors cannot have it, thus allowing the company to maintain their stranglehold on market share. The criticism, therefore, that the government of Guyana is farming out frequencies in a finite spectrum is without merit. The spectrum is not as
limited as those who advance these arguments may want us to believe. What should be of primary concern is not the farming, but the harvest that the treasury is reaping from the allocation of this national resource. Who is really making the hog share from the use of the spectrum? Taxpayers or big business?
Page 48
Kaieteur News
Sunday March 03, 2013
Political zugzwang Speaker of the National Assembly Raphael Trotman, with each succeeding sitting, contrives to astound the nation even more. His most recent ‘Ruling’– issued not in the customary manner from the Speaker’s chair but released unexpectedly to the media and to MPs by e-mail– took some by surprise. The Speaker ’s unusual mode of correspondence was matched only by the unusual content of his ‘Ruling’ in which he indicated his intention to recognise Clement Rohee’s right to speak both as a Member of the National Assembly and as a Minister of Home Affairs. The Speaker’s 6,500-word rambling ‘Ruling’ threatens to demolish the edifice built by seven months of serious debate. Opposition members, during long days and nights, strove to safeguard the principle of the authority of the legislative branch under the Constitution and sought to reaffirm the convention of accountability of members of the executive branch to the National Assembly. The ‘Ruling,’ if allowed to stand, could dislodge the main means which enables the National Assembly to sanction members of the executive. President Donald Ramotar ominously promised on 13th June 2012 “…not [to] assent to any bill that ‘they’ [the Opposition] carry unless it is with the full agreement of the Executive and the full involvement of the Executive.” The ‘Ruling,’ therefore, could perversely persuade the president’s men to persist in performing their duties as they please – just as they have been doing over the past two decades – without fear of parliamentary sanction. Nandlall has already boasted that the National Assembly had “no jurisdiction or authority” under the Constitution to impose any form of sanction against such nonperformance of an executive function. Trotman’s troubles started with a successful Opposition motion of noconfidence against Minister Rohee in July 2012. That motion was founded on the ground that the Minister failed to manage the public security sector competently. The Opposition, on the strength of that motion, subsequently sought to have Rohee prevented from speaking on public security matters in the House. The Speaker, thereafter, became the subject of relentless stress from the People’s Progressive Party Civic spokesmen. President Donald Ramotar told the 16th Triennial Congress of the Women’s Progressive Organisation in November 2012 – to loud applause from the audience – “I say very clearly that we have ‘no confidence’ in the Speaker because he took a political decision and not a legal position.”
Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon added to Trotman’s agony by describing the latter’s earlier ‘Ruling’ to silence Rohee as “gross.”Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General Anil Nandlall described Trotman’s earlier ‘Ruling’ as “…a travesty.” Nandlall, relishing the recent February ‘Ruling’, patronisingly praised Trotman saying, “…notwithstanding the fact that six months had elapsed “during which time he bobbed and he weaved, he flipped and he flopped, he eventually made the right decision.” It must have been in a fit of frustration that the Speaker cried out that he would “offer to resign” should any side in the House find that he was not properly performing his duties. That finding seems imminent. His dilemma can be likened to a Zugzwang – a German word used especially in the game of Chess to refer to a situation in which a player is compelled to move when it is his turn even though this move must be disadvantageous. Trotman knew that it was his turn to end the Rohee crisis, but he made the wrong move. Trotman, from as early as November 2012, began to display symptoms of discomfort with the direction that the Opposition debate had taken. He ruled - after almost five hours of fierce arguments between the Government and Opposition sides - that a new motion brought by Granger to prevent Rohee from addressing the National Assembly on public security matters would be sent to the Committee of Privileges for consideration. He ruled initially, also, that Rohee would be prevented from presenting or debating any legislation in the House in his name. The Speaker, obviously oblivious to the implications of his farrago of ‘Rulings’ for the authority for the National Assembly, decided to allow Rohee to speak in the National Assembly on the Citizens’ Security Programme in February 2013. Shortly afterwards, he issued his ‘Ruling’ thinking that it was “…constitutionally just and right.” The Speaker’s role is not to sit as the supreme judge of constitutional matters. His ‘Rulings’ should deal with the procedural acceptability of matters brought before the House. His fateful decision has threatened to thwart the Opposition’s efforts to use the National Assembly to demand a new approach to governance and public security in Guyana. The Speaker is not infallible or omnipotent, however. The case is not closed. Clerk of the National Assembly Sherlock Isaacs has confirmed that the Speaker’s ‘Ruling’ can be challenged through a ‘substantive motion’. The Opposition must challenge it in order to protect our parliamentary democracy.
Sunday March 03, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 49
‘In the Ring’ - a Commonwealth Secretary-General’s memoir By Sir Ronald Sanders (On 26 February, Sir Ronald Sanders was invited to launch, “In the Ring”, a Commonwealth Memoir written by Sir Donald McKinnon former SecretaryGeneral of the Commonwealth (20002008), at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London. This article is adapted from Sanders’ remarks.) No Secretary-General of the Commonwealth has an easy time. Building consensus among countries large and small, rich and poor, black and white is extremely challenging, and, in the course of it, Secretaries-General are not only referees, sometimes they become the punching bag. In this context, Sir Don McKinnon’s Commonwealth Memoir is appropriately titled: “In the Ring”. The book is remarkable for its frank account of the events that led-up to Robert Mugabe’s withdrawal of Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth in 2003. Mugabe took that action when it was evident that Commonwealth Heads of Government would make the decision to suspend Zimbabwe following seriously flawed elections. Inevitably, the SecretaryGeneral was made the villain of the peace. However, as Don relates in the book, his own reflection over Zimbabwe was more “in sorrow than in anger”. No Secretary-General relishes the suspension, expulsion or withdrawal of a member-state under his watch. And, Don bent over backwards to encourage President Mugabe to remain faithful to the Commonwealth’s Harare Principles – principles that were agreed by all Commonwealth Heads at a Meeting chaired by Mugabe himself. No one is the more accountable custodian of the Commonwealth’s collective values than the SecretaryGeneral. His primary touchstone is the values and principles to which all Commonwealth governments subscribe not only as a condition of their entry to the organisation but as a sina qua non for keeping such membership. As Don rightly observes in his book, “the Commonwealth and its institutions had to be protected”. Don’s account of his efforts to engage Mugabe even after he had withdrawn Zimbabwe is an untold story which deserves to be known. And, Don has told it with
clarity but also with a sense of disappointment and frustration. He has also not deprived his readers of an appreciation of the tensions that develop among Heads of Government in their decisionmaking on thorny issues. That tension makes the Secretary-General’s job a lot harder, particularly when it occurs among the Troika – the three Heads of government – the past Chair, the present Chair and the incoming Chair. The Secretary-General has to look to them for guidance over how to deal with another Head of Government such as Mugabe who rode roughshod over Commonwealth values in pursuit of his own narrow political agenda. This Memoir gives a full account of the tensions, the differences and even the vexations that occurred within the Troika. It is a frank insight into the contest between efforts to preserve the Commonwealth’s shared values and the desire by a small number of Heads of Government to protect a fellow Head of Government who had thrown those values to the wind. Of particular interest is Don’s account of the remarkable role played by P J Patterson, the Prime Minister of Jamaica, a small Commonwealth state, in the Heads of Government reaching a unanimous decision to continue the suspension of Zimbabwe. Don describes Patterson’s intervention as a “tour de force”. “We are dealing with two almost irreconcilable positions and we have a consensus”, Don reports Patterson as saying. “Certainly not everybody is happy, but we must not now show a split”. Patterson’s legal and political skills impressed the room and Commonwealth agreement was preserved. So was its commitment to its declared values. If Don’s candid account of the tribulations that surrounded Zimbabwe is not a sufficiently compelling story of the SecretaryGeneral’s challenging role in the Commonwealth ring, then his experience over
suspended Pakistan under President Musharraf completes the tale. As Secretary-General, he was invited by the British government to the Lord Chancellor ’s dinner for President Musharraf who was visiting Britain officially. This was in the wake of the 9/ 11 atrocities in the United States when Pakistan had overnight become the new “best friend” of the governments of Britain and the United States. But, at the time, Pakistan was suspended from the Councils of the Commonwealth over very doubtful democratic institutions. Don did not regard Musharraf’s visit to London as a good thing. As he said in his well-known forthright manner, it would not have happened to Fiji, Nigeria or Zimbabwe while they were suspended. It was, as he said, an example of one policy for the Commonwealth and another policy for bilateral relations. He was then promptly ‘uninvited’ from the dinner, before being ‘reinvited’ by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, but placed at a table out of sight. Quite rightly, Don declined the re-invitation. He had “no intention of being a pawn in their game”. This was not the only occasion when a government expected the SecretaryGeneral to act in its interest. But, as he pointed out to another government, the Secretary-General “has to work for the collective Commonwealth good, not just advance the view of one country”. Indeed, every SecretaryGeneral, however deeply involved he was in the affairs of his own country and its interests in the Commonwealth and the international community, has to leave that baggage at the entrance door of Marlborough House. He must become de-nationalised, colour blind, non-aligned religiously, and reconstructed as a Commonwealth being - whole and entire. Don McKinnon became that body as every Secretary-General has had to do. When a senior British
Foreign Office official, who insisted that Britain, as the biggest contributor to the Secretariat’s funding, should always hold the post of deputy-Secretary-General, Don told him that not only was Britain not getting the post, it also would not permanently be on the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group. Thirty-two of the Commonwealth’s 54 members are small states with problems and challenges that are peculiar to their vulnerabilities and lack of capacity to stand-up to powerful organisations such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD). When Commonwealth small states were being pummelled by the OECD over ‘harmful tax competition’, Don in his full Commonwealth regalia – his OECD membership card as former foreign minister of New Zealand firmly put away championed the cause of the Commonwealth’s constituency of small states and curtailed bullying and an uneven playing field. As a chronicle that is as frank in its content as it is wide in its telling of the inner workings of life in the ring of the Commonwealth, Don McKinnon’s memoir is compulsory reading.
Sir Ronald Sanders (In the Ring by Don McKinnon is published by Elliott and Thompson, London) *** (The writer is a Consultant, former Caribbean diplomat and Visiting Fellow, London University) Responses and previous commentaries: http:// www.sirronaldsanders.com/
Page 50
From page 20 Telegraph Company (GT&T). Almost US$25M has already been collected and retained by NICIL for that. It is the decision by government to allow NICIL to retain these monies and not turn them over that has the Opposition parties and a number of critics smarting. According to former Auditor General, Dr. Anand Goolsarran, when state assets vested in NICIL are sold, a windfall gain is achieved, since NICIL acquired them from the Government free of cost. “This apart, the vesting of assets for the purpose of selling them is not in keeping with relevant section of the Public Corporations Act that was applied to vested assets in NICIL,” he wrote in his column in the Stabroek News on Monday. GANGA-SMOKING SOLDIERS RAID…VICTIMS STALLING ID PARADE POLICE The fate of some Guyana Defence Force ranks is hanging in the balance as investigators await the full cooperation of victims in last month’s illegal raid on a mining camp in the Cuyuni District. While the Guyana Defence Force has indicated that it has sufficient evidence to charge the ranks under military law, police investigators are still waiting on eyewitnesses to come forward to facilitate an identification parade for possible criminal proceedings. Almost six weeks ago, it was alleged that a group of soldiers raided the Julian Ross Landing, assaulting persons and relieving smalltime drug dealers of their
Kaieteur News
marijuana, which they consumed openly before raiding a mining camp several miles away. This led to Chief of Staff, Commodore Gary Best establishing a Board of Inquiry to probe the circumstances surrounding the illegal operation. That report is expected to be presented to him before the end of this week. He had also visited the area where the alleged incident occurred and based on information received, an officer and four ranks were detained pending the outcome of a summary of evidence which will determine whether they will face a court martial on military charges. THURSDAY EDITION GPL WORKERS ON COUNTRYWIDE STRIKE Hundreds of Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL) employees, represented by the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE), on Wednesday commenced strike action against a five percent all-inclusive package being offered by the power company. General Secretary of NAACIE, Kenneth Joseph speaking to workers from commercial to technical personnel, outside GPL’s main branch on Main Street, Georgetown, said that strike action will continue until the state-owned power company satisfies the demands of the Union. He said that workers with NAACIE membership at all the stations will also be striking. The Guyana Public Service Union has lent in support to NAACIE’s cause. Its members will not be carrying out tasks that are done by NAACIE’s staff, Joseph said. He said that the strike action could result in
Sunday March 03, 2013
President Donald Ramotar gives the report to the Opposition power outage and advised that Guyanese stock-up on candles and kerosene. However, GPL’s Chief Executive Officer Bharat Dindyal, who was called an “iron eagle” by his employees as they protested his Duke Street, Kingston, Office, said power supply will not be affected. He said that in Demerara, some 90 percent of electricity is provided by contractors including Wartsila. The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) provides a large section of Berbice with electricity. However, he was unsure if electricity would be negatively impacted in Essequibo. MARRIOTT INVESTORS CONFIRMED, BUT STILL UNNAMED The government has secured the key investors needed to fund the Marriott Hotel Project, Dr Roger Luncheon said Wednesday, but no details have been revealed. The government has so far been pouring taxpayers’ money into the US$52 million project. In total,
US$27 million is expected to come from investors for the main property and another US$8 million for the casino, nightclub and restaurant. Dr Luncheon told Kaieteur News that the only gap in funding at the moment is the US$8 million. The rest of the money is coming out of the coffers, and when construction is completed, Marriott International is expected to bring in a management team to run the hotel. The financing structure for the hotel locks in private investors for a return of their dollars, but taxpayers’ money risks being washed away if the ambitious project fails. Finance and industry sources say the project is a high risk one, given that existing hotels are struggling to fill their rooms, but Government is pressing ahead and could end up putting US$21 million ($4.2 billion) into the project. The arrangement for financing includes “senior debt” syndicated by Republic Bank (Trinidad and Tobago) of US$27 million. A syndicated loan is one that is provided by a group of lenders and is structured, arranged and administered by one or several commercial banks or investment banks. FRIDAY EDITION LINDEN COI FINDS…POLICE CULPABLE IN SHOOTING DEATHS The five-member Commission of Inquiry has found the Guyana Police Force culpable in the deaths of three Lindeners who were slain on July 18, 2012, when protests erupted in the bauxite mining town. The report also fully exonerated embattled Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee in the events that led to the tragedy, while chastising the organisers of the protest. This was revealed by sources privy to the Commission’s report, which was handed over Thursday to President
Donald Ramotar by the Commission’s Chairman, former Chief Justice of Jamaica, Lensley Wolfe. While President Donald Ramotar was Thursday unable to answer questions on the findings as he is still to study it, the Commission’s Chairman, former Chief Justice of Jamaica, Lensley Wolfe, hinted that recommendations made will see justice and once implemented, will “positively” impact the relationship between Lindeners and the government and police. WE CAN BARELY AFFORD FIVE PERCENT, MUCH LESS EIGHT – BRASSINGTON The fact that the Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) is losing money and requires subsidies from the National Treasury to sustain its operation, coupled with its struggle to meet the high cost of fuel, is a clear indication that the company can barely afford to pay a five per cent inclusive increase much less a union-demanded eight per cent across the board increase. This assertion was made Thursday by Chairman of the power company, Winston Brassington, during a press conference in the boardroom of the entity’s Duke Street, Kingston, Georgetown headquarters. The press conference followed on the heels of countrywide strike action by National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE)-represented employees, which has affected customers in many sections of the country. “The fact that we are offering a five per cent increase which has to be a part of the subsidies from Government, means that we are paying more than we really can afford, because we are not making the money,” Brassington stated.
SATURDAY EDITION COI RECOMMENDS … $3M EACH FOR BOUYEA, LEWIS, $1M FOR SOMERSET’S RELATIVES According to information coming out of the COI findings, which were handed over to President Donald Ramotar on Thursday, relatives of Allan Lewis and Shemroy Bouyea will receive $3 million each in compensation, while Ron Somerset’s relatives will be given $1million. In the approximately 80page report, the Commission also awarded $1.5M each to two of the civilians who were wounded by pellets on July 18. The Commission also noted that these are ex-gratia payments, meaning that the Government is under no legal obligation to pay. Attorney Nigel Hughes, who had represented the relatives of the deceased during the Commission of Inquiry, said that while he has not received a copy of the report, he has read “what appears to be the report” on websites. “It is absolutely appalling to the extent of being provocative. The fact that someone would think that the life of a citizen who was shot unjustifiably by the police is worth $1M is absolutely outrageous to the point of being provocative,” the attorney told Kaieteur News. “The Commission awarded more money for property loss than for the life of a citizen where there was the unjustified use of lethal force,” he added. The attorney also vented his outrage on facebook. “In circumstances where the police use unjustified lethal force on the citizens of Linden, the Commission of Inquiry finds that the life of a person (Ron Somerset) living in a depressed community is only worth $1 million. Some justice.”
Sunday March 03, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 51
Miss India Worldwide engages students as her reign comes to an end Even as her reign as Miss India Worldwide 2012 draws to an end, Alana Seebarran has not been taking her role lightly. In fact she has been seeking to establish her place as a role model for young girls, primarily those of Indian descent. Seebarran currently holds the coveted title which makes her the first Guyanese to be crowned queen at a recognised International Pageant. She claimed the prestigious accolade for herself and by extension Guyana, in Suriname, in February of last year. As part of her reign she has been seeking to not only showcase Guyana to the world, but has also been visiting a number of schools across the country offering motivational talks. Among the schools visited were West Demerara Secondary, Cummings Lodge Secondary and St Joseph High, where she witnessed and embraced the start of a project to keep the city clean. Her outstanding tenure is expected to come to an end later this year when she is expected to hand over the crown to her successor in Malaysia. The 24-year-old beauty queen was crowned at a pageant which saw her being the clear favourite from the get-go, effectively beating out 35 other candidates from around the world. Seebarran had won the Guyana leg
of the competition in November 2011 and moved on to the finals. After claiming the crown last year, Seebarran returned to Guyana where she was given a warm welcome by family, friends, wellwishers and Berbicians who flocked the Guyana- Suriname Ferry Terminal at Moleson Creek on the Corentyne. She left Guyana for Suriname by air and chose to return home through the ancient county. Her arrival home thrilled many who lined the roadway on the Upper Corentyne area as she waved to them while passing in a motorcade which left the stelling after she met and greeted members of the public and media personnel. Many persons gathered with their Golden Arrowheads, waving, awaiting the queen’s arrival. The tassa drummers were on their mark and began their drumming as the crowd swarmed the outside of the terminal to greet Guyana’s newest famed beauty queen. She was greeted and given a bouquet of flowers and lots of hugs and kisses. She then started to join the group in some dancing to the tassa drums. It was a rousing welcome. Chairperson of the Teaching Service Commission, Mrs Leila Ramson was one of the persons who had accompanied Seebarran to Suriname.
Reigning Miss India Worldwide, Alana Seebarran, during her visits to local schools.
Saving lives, restoring hope to families From page 26 in India were surprised that she even made it through the traveling. She was diagnosed with a hole in her heart at age one. She used to perspire profusely, and it was evident that Keshia had not been growing. Her mother tried to get her the help she needed, but it all took a whole lot of time, and lots of money. Keshia was about 11 years old when she underwent her first surgery in Brazil. Her family is still uncertain as to what doctors did exactly. Nonetheless, Keshia’s mother learnt of the TRKF from a friend, who took her to see an Indian doctor associated with the TRKF, who had been operating a clinic. This paved the road for Keshia to be on a plane with the batch of patients that followed. Soon after her operation there, doctors said
that they were stunned at her strength, as they were not sure if she was going to make it through the travel. But she did; that too with much ease. Keshia is now employed in the Portuguese Department of Qualfon. She no longer experiences pains. She hopes to one day get married, and start a family. If there is one thing that these families share, it is the fact that they have learnt to value life, money, family, and God. Some have witnessed miracles, while just a few have experienced disappointment. Many believe that with the work that it does, the Three Rivers Kids Foundation as well as its Founder, a fully qualified overseas-based Guyanese Nurse, deserve as much praises as they can get. They all agree that had it not been for the Three Rivers
Kids Foundation, their families would not have been as whole as happy as they are today. Ever since its existence, TRKF has given poor families hope. Money is important, and while many may invest theirs in things that will benefit themselves, there are the people who contribute wholesomely to the Three Rivers Kids Foundation. Most of them are overseasbased Guyanese, who, via fundraising dinners, help to raise millions of dollars to facilitate each batch of young children. To date, TRKF has helped dozens of poor and sick children, and by extension, their families. The foundation initially started off with facilitating mainly heart surgeries, however, it has since extended to other areas
like eye and skin treatments. Those interested in making contact with the Three Rivers Kids Foundation can
do so via its Guyana office located at Gandhi Youth Organisation Building, Woolford Avenue, Georgetown on
telephone number 225 7758, or its Website at w w w. t h r e e r i v e r s k i d s foundation.org.
Page 52
Kaieteur News
Sunday March 03, 2013
“High stakes, rock star life, peak performances in sports, drugs - Something has got to give!” Colin E. H. Croft This is not about megastar Jack Nicholson, or that magnificent film, ‘Something gotta give’, which found Jack in love with one woman, Dianne Keaton, while dating, and bedding, her daughter, Amanda Peet. That alone, I expect, would require several drugs Aspirins, “Big Blue V” or even “Classic Master C!” This is about our real world, where young men and women are so enthralled, enthused, and encouraged, in so many ways, with being top professional sports stars, and given so many opportunities, much too quickly, and much too young, that they regularly fly totally out of that ring of the centrifuge! Oh, if you had ever done physics or chemistry in high school, you would know what a centrifuge is! It is a machine designed to spin so quickly, on a central axis, that it causes, by centripetal acceleration and sedimentation principle, denser material to settle to the bottom of the test tubes! Anyone doing drugs, performance or otherwise, especially for sports, is absolutely dense alright! Even before I was playing cricket for Guyana’s Youth, in 1970, aged 17, my father used to say something that was so simple, yet uncannily funny and absolutely true: “You must not have excuses for doing badly. You must not do drugs, be drunk
or unfit. Simply, you must do badly, naturally! Only idiots take these into their bodies!” That stuck. I never did drugs at all! Indeed, to this day, after a chaotic episode Christmas Day 1969 episode, I do not even imbibe. I do not need to! My father was right. No-one needs alcohol or drugs to be stupid. You can be that too, naturally! Luckily for West Indian cricketers of all ages and eras, there was never any real drug culture, even if there were always rumors that some players actually did do drugs, situations that I could never confirm. As a West Indian cricketer, I was tested three times for illegal drugs from 1976 to 1983. As an aviator, from getting my Commercial Pilot’s License in 1981, to now, I have been tested every six months! So! Yet, many young sportspeople simply consume drugs and alcohol, almost hungrily losing themselves in that temporary but supposedly all-conquering high! Totally unbelievable! What a desperate waste! Information from doctors I know suggest that common every-day drugs like cocaine, marijuana, even “speed” – amphetamines – do not enhance sporting, even sexual, performances in any way. They simply discombobulate the brain. Yet, strangely, so many still stupidly indulge in these practices! This diatribe has come about as, last week, there was an inquest into the death, last
year, of a good English cricketing prodigy, Surrey’s Tom Maynard, which found that he was as souped-up as a Formula 1 racing car, when he was either hit by a train, or electrocuted by the rails; in either case, fully dead! I have known Tom’s father, Matthew, for a long time, as he played, well, for Glamorgan and England. I have not seen him since the tragedy of his son’s death, as he is, sensibly, keeping his head low, but I could not even try to understand how a father feels when such a talented spirit is extinguished this way. According to George Dobell, senior correspondent, ESPN-cricinfo, “Maynard had significant amounts of alcohol and traces of illegal drugs in his system at the time of his death.” Incidentally, he was only 23! Dan Jones, writing in
London’s Evening Standard, asks that 10 million dollar question: “Why are so many young sports men (and women) drawn to the business of boiling their brains and pummeling their bodies with drink and drugs? Rationally, it makes no sense. Drinks and drugs do not help with sport!” We have all heard of England footballer Paul Gascoigne, Ben Johnson at Seoul’s Olympics, Marion Jones at Sydney’s Olympics, even Lance Armstrong, whose several winnings of the toughest bicycle race in the world, Tour de France, have been found to have been severely performancedrug enhanced; but why? Simple answer to that stupid rhetorical question: Money; lots and lots again; of mullah, severe dosh! How much is really
enough? If you already have twenty millions, how will another ten millions help you? It is not even considered greed after such situations. It is simply being asinine! Soccer players in England get US$225,000 per week. Basketball and American Football players, and boxers, get millions per year, yet many are broke, some due to bad investments, but mostly from drug use and trying to continue the high life, within ten years of leaving their professional sport. Something must give, when a young American man, in university, before he is 20, if offered gazillions, because he can jump, leap, hit or tackle! Someone must look after these young people too, for they simply, from sheer ignorance,
Colin E. H. Croft cannot look after themselves! But, they have an excuse! I cannot find any excuses or reasons for experienced grown men and women, having, legally, trained hard – I actually ran at least 15 miles every day for 15 years, training and bowling – would allow themselves to be destroyed by the consumption of drugs and alcohol. Enjoy!
TNT are Joseph and Vickerie Dominoes champs TNT marked 87 games to win the final of the Faye Joseph and Samantha Vickerie Dominoes competition which was contested last Wednesday evening at Transport Sports Club. John Chase and Robin Persaud chalked 17 each while Leroy Edwards scored 16 for the winners. Rage with 73 games placed second, while Transport finished third with 68. Cargill DeFreitas was Rage leading player with a maximum of 18 games; Mark Welsh made 14 and Orin Favorite 13. Cyril Benjamin marked 15 for Transport and
Colin Ross 14. DeFreitas was given the most valuable player prize, while TNT received a trophy and $60,000, Rage a trophy and $30,000 and Transport a trophy and $15,000. Meanwhile, Mark Wiltshire will be hosting an after mash Twenty\20 Dominoes competition on Sunday at F and H Strikers Sports Club. Among the teams slated to battle for the first prize of $70,000 are TNT, Mix Up and B 6. $30,000 and $20,000 will be awarded to the second and third place finishers respectively.
Bush Lot United Turf Club expresses appreciation The executives and members of the Rising Sun Turf Club Arima Park, West Coast Berbice is extending great and heartfelt thanks to all the below list of sponsors, the members of the public and the various media houses in Guyana who contributed in one way or the other in making their annual one day Mashramani horserace meet, which was held on Sunday 24th February at the Clubs Entity Rising Sun West Coast Berbice, a success. The members of the management Committee would like to say a big thank you to Banks DIH Limited, Mr. Inshan Bacchus and family, Mohammed ‘Nanko’ Shariff Business enterprise and Shariff racing stable, Jumbo Jet Auto Sales and racing stables, Mr. Ramesh Sunich of Trophy Stall
Bourda Market, A Ahamad Hydraulic, Rohit Lumber yard, Kris Jagdeo Construction, Goodwood racing Service, Reliable Spares Of Industrial Site, Mr. and Mrs. Codogan of Dynasty Sports Bar West Coast Berbice, Reginald Hookumchand and family of West Coast Berbice, Francis “Chico” Chichester and family, Lakeram ‘Buddy’ Sookdeo, Colin Elcock racing Stables, Chester Fry Chicken of Bush Lot West Coast Berbice, Habla Meat Centre, Abary and Rising Sun Cattle ranches and Simple Royal racing Stables among others including all the members of the Rising Sun Turf Club. According to coordinators Inshan and Fazal Habibulla, they will continue to do their best to keep horseracing alive in Guyana.
Sunday March 03, 2013
Kaieteur News
Page 53
The Abigail Column Good old days are long gone
DEARABIGAIL, I am an 18-year-old woman and have been with my fiancé for 2 1/2 years. I love him and can’t picture my life without him. However, over the last six months he has become emotionally abusive. He’s never wrong, gets mad if I disagree with him about
anything, and he yells at me over every little thing. He used to treat me great, and now this. I miss how it used to be, and I cry almost every day. In the past I always told myself I would never put up with something like this, but I have been - and it gets harder every day. I know it’s not physical, but emotional abuse counts for something, right? Or am I overreacting? Please give me some advice. I need to know there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Depressed
Dear Depressed, You’re not overreacting. What you are experiencing now is a preview of how the rest of your life will be if you stay with him. When a partner becomes controlling and emotionally abusive, in most cases it’s only a matter of time until the physical abuse begins. If you’re smart, you will put an end to this now. The “light at the end of the tunnel” is the sunshine you’ll see once you exit this relationship and slam the door behind you.
Sunday March 03, 2013 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) It might be hard to motivate yourself today, even if you have a lot on your plate. You want some downtime at first and may delay getting started on what you have to do. TAURUS (Apr. 20–May 20) Pleasure awaits you and it may not require a lot of extra effort on your part. Going out into the world might be necessary in order to meet previous commitments, but once your obligations are met, it’s time to kick back and relax. GEMINI (May 21–June 20) You are right on target today with your charm and wit, expressing the most likeable part of your personality. Fortunately, you can still accomplish a lot of little projects if you concentrate, but it might take a lot of effort to get going. CANCER (June 21–July 22) Your romantic inclinations may be all you can think about now, but you might not have an easy path to reach satisfaction. Your relationships are still a bit unstable and expressing your immediate needs could tip the balance. LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) You have great potential to heal an old wound today, especially if you’re willing to face an issue that has been troubling you for a while. You are better equipped now to project your needs so that others can clearly understand your motives. VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) You may be hesitant today to talk about something that’s important to you because you’re afraid of the response you might receive.
LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Your health is improving along with the rest of your life. Nevertheless, remember that too much of something good can still turn problematic. Unfortunately, at this time you are tempted to avoid negativity, whatever the cost. SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) Although love has recently been on your mind, the fierce Scorpio Moon encourages you to hold strong to your convictions, even if they differ from someone else’s. SAGIT (Nov. 22–Dec. 21) It feels as if you have been in planning mode long enough; it’s now time to step into your future and put your intentions to work. Do whatever you can to increase your self-worth or to stash a little extra cash in the bank. CAPRI (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) Trying to make sense out of recent changes has required a lot of thought in the past few days. However, today you’re feeling ready to jump into the next phase of your life. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20–Feb. 18) You may be overwhelmed with the depth of your emotions today, yet it’s challenging to put your feelings into words. You feel more connected with your friends or family now, but you might not understand why everyone is being so nice to you. PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20) You intuitively sense the positive energy building throughout the day. You’re more than willing to do whatever it takes to demonstrate the depth of your feelings.
DTV CHANNEL 8 09:25 hrs. Sign On 09:30 hrs. Touching Lives 10:00 hrs. Pair of Kings 10:30 hrs. Crash and Bernstein 11:00 hrs. DTV’S Festival of Biblical Movies for the Lenten Season: “David” 15:00 hrs. Monk 17:00 hrs. Family Feud 18:00 hrs. Catholic Magazine (Faith in Action) 18:30 hrs. Know Your Bible 19:00 hrs. Greetings and Announcements 21:00 hrs. Once Upon a Time (New Episode) 22:00 hrs. The Good Wife (New Episode) 23:00 hrs. The Mentalist (New Episode) 00:00 hrs. Sign Off NCN CHANNEL 11 02:00 hrs – NCN Late Edition (R/B) 02:30 hrs – Late Nite with GINA 03:00 hrs – Movie 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 – Folk Concert 10:00 hrs – Homestretch Magazine 10:30 hrs – Weekly Digest 11:00 hrs – Remembering Cheddi Jagan 12:00 hrs – The Naked Truth 12:30 hrs – Catholic Magazine 13:00 hrs – Dharma Vani 14:00 hrs – 2nd T20 17:30 hrs – Shape 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 – African Moves 23:30 hrs – Movie
Guides are subjected to change without notice
Page 54
Kaieteur News
Sunday March 03, 2013
Mark Agard was the point guard calling Boodram grabs 6 as Rockaway plays for Guyana at six Caricom c/ships GSL\Regal SCC \Mike’s CC\Star Party Rentals\ Trophy Stall cricket...
beat Marshon XI by 4 wickets Ramnarine Boodram grabbed 6 wickets for 21 runs off 2.5 overs as Rockaway defeated Marshon XI by 4 wickets when action in the Georgetown Softball League\ Regal Stationery and Computer Centre\ Mike’s Copy Centre\ Star Party Rentals and Trophy Stall cricket competition continued last Sunday. In the open category at Everest, Marshon XI batted first and were bowled out for 101 in 10.5 overs. Boodram was the main destroyer as Avenash Singh scored 36. Rockaway then responded with 102-6 in 10 overs with Sackichan Jagdeo scoring with 31. Marshon XI rebounded to beat Better Hope Superior Woods by 13 runs in their second encounter. Marshon XI took first strike and piled up 153-8 in 12 overs. C. Gangadin made 48 as Sachin Singh took 3-27. Better Hope Superior Woods in reply were skittled for 140 in 11.3 overs. Ravi Singh and Navin Singh were their leading run getters with 48 and 44 respectively; Sarju Persaud picked up 3-17. Farm XI got the better of Speed Boat XI by 13 runs. Farm XI batted first and managed 1265 off their allotted 12 overs with Ameer Azeez scoring 35 and Lennox Marks 34. Greg Singh claimed 3-20 for Speed Boat XI who replied with 113-8 in 12 overs. Singh returned to score 36; John Singh snared 3-10. Young Guns hammered Flashers by 98 runs. Esee Sharma top scored with 51 and got
support from Clyde Vieira 35 as Young Guns posted 171-4 in 12 overs, batting first. Kenroy Baljit took 2-31. Flashers mustered 73 all out in 11.3 overs in response. Amar Gaj bagged 2-3 for the winners. Trophy Stall trashed Rockaway by 24 runs. Wasim Haslim fell one short of a half century as Trophy Stall rattled up 122-4 in 12 overs after taking first turn at the crease. Rockaway made 98-8 in 12 overs in reply with Daveanand Samaroo scoring 26; Rave Mohamed picked up 2-16. The competition continues today with Regal Masters facing Savage (09:30 hrs), Viper taking on Mon Repo (12:00hrs) and Regal playing Defenders (01:30 hrs) at GNIC. At CPCE ground on pitch number one, Park Rangers will battle Success Masters (09:30hrs), Omesh XI will face Young Guns (12:00hrs) and Frontline Masters will come up against MK Ogle XI (01:30 hrs). In the open category at CPCE on pitch number two, Wolf Warriors will take on Trophy Stall (09:30hrs), Regal will entertain Walking Tall (11:30 hrs), Wolf Warriors will do battle with El Commadante (01:30hrs) and Regal come up against Flashers XI (03:30 hrs). On pitch number two, Trophy Stall face Challengers (09:30 hrs), Rockaway match skills with Rapid Fire (11:30hrs), Trophy Stall play Rapid Fire (01:30 hrs) and Omesh XI challenge Success Warriors (01:30hrs).
By Charwayne Walker Statistician Charwayne Walker resumes his series on outstanding Guyanese in sports. Following his pieces on footballers, Walker look at the country’s basketballers who gave yeoman service. Today we look at Mark Agard. Inspired by the exploits of his cousin Orin Cumberbatch on the Basketball Courts, Mark Agard’s dream of emulating Cumberbatch and representing the Golden Arrow Head was realized in 1977 August. The Charlestown Secondary School student was selected at 15 years old in Guyana’s under-19 Team for the Inter Guiana Games series against Suriname. The following year 1978 ‘Markie’, as he was called, was selected again when Suriname hosted the championship but just like in 1977 Guyana failed to bring the Bacon Home. ‘Markie’ was determined to stop the
DDL commits under Topco brand as Chess Federation itinerary starts with Rapid Tourney After a short break to facilitate the Christmas celebrations, the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF) will resume its developmental programme with the Republic Anniversary one-day rapid tournament at the West Demerara Secondary School, Pouderoyen, West Bank Demerara this morning. Once again, the Demerara Distillers Limited has acquiesced to sponsorship of the tournament and last Friday evening, DDL Sales Manager Mrs. Alexis Langhorne handed over the sponsorship cheque of $30,000 to President of the GCF, Shiv Nandalall, at the latter individual’s Camp and Hadfield Streets office. The tournament would be staged under the TOPCO brand. Nandalall extended gratitude to the company representative and praised her renewed commitment for yet another year. “Chess in Guyana will see continued growth because of your company’s role,” Nandalall assured Ms Langhorne. In response, Ms Langhorne said that her executives were indeed heartened by the performances of the players during last year. She said that this has encouraged continued support from her organization. She said that her executives have decided to continue along the same vein
DDL Sales Manager Alexis Langhorne (right) hands over the sponsorship cheque to President of the GCF, Shiv Nandalall and wished the players well even as she urged them to compete within the confines of the rules. “Diamond Mineral Water is proud to contribute to chess as it is not only a thrilling pastime activity but it also helps one in becoming self-motivated and increases imagination and creativity, “ she observed. Mr. Nandalall expressed appreciation to the DDL executive and assured her that the gift would go a long way in the development of the young players. Meanwhile, activities get
underway at 10:00hrs and already the tournament is shaping up to be very competitive. Carlos Petterson, a former student of Dolphin Secondary School, had emerged victorious when a similar tournament was staged early last year at the same venue, but under the auspices of Banks Malta. He had entered that tournament devoid of adequate practice after missing a few tournaments. Nevertheless, Petterson had retained a rich vein of form to amass 7 ½ points from a possible nine to take that
championship and the loot that went with it including a beautiful trophy, a tournament size chess set and a Banks Malta traveling bag. He would approach today’s championships with ambitions of replicating that feat. However, Petterson ought to be wary of the challenge of Tevon Blaize of Charlestown Secondary, who had placed 2nd in that tournament after amassing 6 ½ points and senior player, Abdool Karamat, who had closed off the podium spots and obviously would want to improve his performance. Ganesh Persaud, a student of the West Demerara Secondary School had copped the fourth place prize and will also nurture ambitions of a better placing. Once again, these players would be competing and those that missed out on the 1st place prize last year would want to cash in on the spoils this year. A truly competitive encounter is in the making. The tournament consists of seven rounds and each player would have 20 minutes on the clock during each round. Trophies and cash prizes are at stake. Players are also reminded to renew their membership for 2013 on Sunday in preparation for the Federation’s Annual General Meeting scheduled for Sunday March 10 next.
Mark Agard Dutch rout and when the games returned to the Sports Hall in 1979 ‘Markie’ along with Captain Steve Neils Sr and Berbician Shawn Semple combined and destroyed Suriname in both games. This victory was only the second time Guyana had won the IGG Basketball series against Suriname, the first time was 1975 at Burnham Court. Now that his apprenticeship was over it was time for the big stage. Agard first taste of Senior International Basketball was against the Northern League of Trinidad & Tobago at the National Sports Hall October 1980. The Rookie next International assignment vs Suriname seniors also at the National Sports Hall December 1980. He and the late Schubert Cappell were the Rookies when Guyana hosted the inaugural Caricom Championship August 1981. Trinidad and Tobago was his first stop in 1981 October with the Senior National Team for two goodwill matches as the Soca Warriors prepared for an International Assignment in China. He warmed up for his Second Caricom Championship with two games against the Northern League of Trinidad at the National Sports Hall in October 1982. Now without his mentor Orin Cumberbatch, ‘Markie’ arrived in Kingston Jamaica as Guyana’s premiere point guard for the second Caricom Championship. He top scored for Guyana with 12pts in the opening loss to the Bahamas although Guyana failed to qualify for the semifinals ‘Markie’ was one of the 1982 CBC leading point guards. The following year 1983 the Pacesetters Star Guard was selected in the Guyana CBC Squad again but the championship was cancelled. His next International Assignment was the World
military basketball championship in Suriname in 1984 October. ‘Markie’ returned to the Caricom Championship Arena in August 1985 when the tournament was hosted by Barbados and the tournament was Agard’s most disappointing CBC showing. Guyana led by centre Eon Andrews failed to registered a single win. His next CBC tournament was in 1986 July in Trinidad and Tobago. The following year 1987, he was the man controlling plays when Guyana humbled Barbados in a goodwill series at the National Sports Hall. His next international assignment was historical. During 1988 August, Guyana hosted the Caricom champions at the National Sports Hall and Mark Agard was the man calling plays for Guyana again. This was the fifth consecutive time the Pacesetters Guard was running the Guyana offence at the CBC level. At that time 1988 no other Guyanese point guard had appeared in more CBC games than Mark Agard. His last international series on home soil was December 1989 against Barbados at the National Sports Hall. He missed game one and two because of club commitments in Brazil, but returned for the final game. His presence had an immediate effect as he calmed the troops as Skipper Christian, Tappin and Cadogan destroyed Barbados after two embarrassing losses. ‘Markie’ sixth and last Caricom championship was July 1991 in Jamaica and on that occasion he surpassed James Brusche as the Guyanese with the most CBC tournament appearances. Mark Agard was one of the most unselfish point guards that represented Guyana at the International Level. International Debut 1980 – Guyana vs Northern League at Trinidad National Sports Hall. Tours: 1978 - Suriname I.G.G. Series 1981- Trinidad & Tobago 1982 - Jamaica 1984 - Suriname 1985 - Barbados 1986 - Trinidad and Tobago 1989 - Brazil with Pacesetters 1991 - Jamaica 2008 - Antigua & Barbuda As National Female Coach Guyana IGG 2009-2010
Sunday March 03, 2013
Kaieteur News
Banks Premium / Unique Entertainment Futsal Tournament...
New Era Russians outlasts Hard Knocks for title - Top Class secures third place
Banks Premium Brand Manager Jeoff Clement (centre) hands over the winning trophy and cash to members of the newly crowned champions New Era Russians. Even a sustained and ferocious offensive onslaught by Hard Knocks could not prevent eventual winners New Era Russians from securing the coveted title as the inaugural Banks Premium / Unique Entertainment Futsal Tournament concluded early Saturday morning, before a capacity crowd, at the Mackenzie Sports Club Hardcourt. As predicted by the pundits, the contest for the top prize of $500,000, a trophy and bragging rights lived up to its billing and fans were treated to a fine exhibition of the futsal format as the New Era Russians, slight underdogs from the start, gave indications that they were not going to play second fiddle to favourites Hard Knocks and came closest to scoring very early in the scrimmage, being denied only by a spectacular save from the opposition’s goalkeeper. After some neat exchanges where both teams’ offensive forays came close to bearing positive results, the Russians took the lead through Terrence Aaron, who reached on to a pass delivered down the right flank and eased past one defender, before unleashing a thunderous right-foot shot that screamed into the far corner with the goalkeeper transfixed on the near post. That goal came in the 7th minute of play and it
immediately evoked wild celebrations from their supporters. Two minutes later, they stretched their advantage through Shawn Daniels, who netted a fortuitous goal after the opposing custodian made a partial diving stop from a stinging shot, but had to look on in consternation as the ball landed in the path of a lurking Daniels and he nonchalantly stabbed it into the back of the goal. That made it 2-0 and the celebrations continued in the Russians camp. Needing to show some fight, Hard Knocks who strangely never looked settled finally begun to find their touch, passing the ball fluently and went on a sustained attack which evidently paid dividend when Oswald Benjamin scored a beauty. He received an inbound pass from the right side and in one sweeping motion, swiveled and hammered a fierce left foot shot past the outstretched hand of the Russians goalkeeper. The half time whistle sounded shortly after and everyone present could sense a mouth watering second half slugfest and so it was. Hard Knocks growing in confidence managed to rattle the uprights on a couple of occasions, while the Russians also came close to increasing their lead, but solid goalkeeping combined with
stout defending erased their chances of enjoying a bigger lead. They held on tenaciously until the final whistle sounded to crown them as the inaugural champs. Hard Knocks, however, collected $300,000 and a trophy as runners-up. In the third place playoff, Top Class produced a near flawless display to defeat Silver Bullets 3-1. The burly Shaw Easton netted all three goals for Top Class with a brace coming in the opening period and the other just after the second half resumed, while Robin Adams was lone player on target for Silver Bullets. Top Class received $150,000 and a trophy for their efforts. Travis Watterton of New Era Russians was voted the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. The Organisers extended thanks to the following entities and individuals for their support: Banks DIH, Star Party Rentals, Trophy Stall of Bourda Market, Tom Beverage, B. Harry Hardware & Lumber Yard and Ron Wilson of New Jersey, USA. Also in attendance were Banks Premium Beer Brand Manager Jeoff Clement, Banks Beer Brand Manager Brian Choo-Hen, Outdoor Events Manager Mortimer Stewart, Regional Chairman Sharma Solomon and officials from the Banks DIH Linden Branch.
Page 55
Page 56
Kaieteur News
Jaggernauth, Cariah break Leewards BASSETERRE, St Kitts – Trinidad and Tobago’s spinners delivered once again, bowling them to an impressive 120-run victory over Leeward Islands on the final day of their third round Regional Four-Day Championship match here Saturday. Off-spinner Amit Jaggernauth snatched four for 63 while leg-spinner Yannick Cariah finished with for 39, as the Leewards collapsed to 214 all out just before tea, in search of 335 for victory at Warner Park. The 20-year-old Cariah, who also took three wickets in the first innings and struck 83 in T&T’s second innings, was voted Man-ofthe-Match. Resuming the day on 45 for two still 290 runs adrift of their target, the Leewards flourished early on through two successive half-century partnerships. Orlando Peters and captain Sylvester Joseph, who saw the Leewards to the safety of the close on the third day, were positive in their approach as they extended their third wicket stand to 68. Peters, not out on two overnight, stroked the top score of 45 from 163 balls in 200 minutes at the crease with four boundaries while the veteran Joseph struck two fours and a six in an innings spanning 101 balls and 115 minutes.
When leg-spinner Imran Khan bowled Joseph, wicketkeeper Devon Thomas paired with Peters to put on a further 52 for the fourth wicket. Thomas, a right-hander, produced a brisk knock of 32 off 41 balls with three fours and a six before he fell on the stroke of lunch to a catch at mid-wicket off Cariah. After the interval, wickets tumbled regularly despite 25 from Jahmar Hamilton and 20 from Tonito Willett, as the Leeward lost their last six wickets for 65 runs. Jaggernauth ended the innings dramatically when he took three wickets in his 28th over to send the Leewards crashing from 214 for seven. Scores: TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 279 all out (Adrian Barath 58, Yannick Ottley 58, Stephen Katwaroo 55, Ravi Rampaul 27; Quinton Boatswain 4-75, Gavin Tonge 2-52) and 249 (Yannick Cariah 83, Adrian Barath 71; Larry Joseph 4-66, Anthony Martin 3-60) LEEWARD ISLANDS 194 (Sylvester Joseph 68, Austin Richards Jr 28, Montcin Hodge 24; Imran Khan 4-62, Yannick Cariah 335, Amit Jaggernauth 3-39) and 214 (Kenroy Peters 45, Sylvester Joseph 39, Devon Thomas 32, Jahmar Hamilton 25, Tonito Willett 20; Amit Jaggernauth 4-63, Yannic Cariah 3-39).
GSA BOUNTY FARM MASH HANDICAP TOURNAMENT...
Composed Narain shocks complacent Joseph
Sixteen-year old junior squash sensation Nyron Joseph was stunned by Nicholas Narain in straight games in the quarter final of the Bounty Farm Bounty Farm Mash Handicap tournament on Friday night at the Georgetown Club’s squash facility. Joseph who possessed a -10 handicap was the favourite to win the encounter given his tremendous skills and tenacity on the squash courts. As recent as last year Joseph came from two games down to win his semi-final match in five games and then overcame that exact deficit again to win his second Caribbean title in the finals of the Caribbean Area Squash Association (CASA) Caribbean Junior Championships in Jamaica. Joseph’s ‘comeback-kid’ instincts made Narain’s -3 handicap appear to be another day in the park and true to form, Joseph erased the deficit winning by the first eleven points of the game on Friday night. However, after Joseph pulled even and then took the lead at 8/5 he seemed to have flipped the switched from over-drive to cruise control, which was a dangerous gear to be in with Narain on the other side of the court. Narain’s cat-like reflexes and cunning tactics seemed to be waiting for ample opportunity to be showcased and Joseph provided an adequate stage. Narain’s variation of long and tight drives in the backcourt with
carefully placed drop shots kept Joseph on his toes. While the 16-year old two-time CASA champion was able to reach most of these shots, the returns were either exactly where Narain wanted them or not above the tin line. Narain also got a few nicks to add insult to injury for Joseph who struggled at the opportune moments of the game. Narain gained much confidence after the first game win and it was evident in his stroke play in the second game. Even after Joseph came back and drew even as he did in the first game, Narain kept close and fought evenly with Joseph for every point. Narain was able to hold his composure and pull off the stunning defeat in the second game to advance to the semifinal round of the tournament. In one of the other quarter final encounters, Benjamin Mekdeci completed an impressive 2-1 victory against 2007 junior sportswoman of the year Ashley Khalil. Playing with zero against Khalil who was handicapped at -5, Mekdeci completed a strong performance to advance to the tournament semi-final. Top ranked player junior player Jason Ray Khalil was a sportsman and a gentleman against Ashley DeGroot while still managing to keep his spotless record of straight-game wins this tournament. The other semi-finalist, Steven Xavier was scheduled to take on Narain while, Mekdeci was slated to face
Khalil last night. The tournament was sponsored by Bounty Farm and organised by the Guyana Squash Association in collaboration with its number one corporate sponsor Digicel. The finals will be played at 11am today. Friday’s results Main Draw Jason Ray Khalil (-20) defeated Ashley degroot (0) [15/10, 15/11] Benjamin Mekdeci (0) defeated Ashley Khalil (-5) [15/9, 12/15, 15/3] Nicholas Narain (-2) defeated Nyron Joseph (-10) [15/10, 16/14] Plate Lydia Fraser (+11) defeated Dwayne Yan (+10) [16/14, 15/10] Alec Melville (+6) defeated Kiev Chesney (+12) [16/14, 12/15] Pablio Mundini (+7) defeated Medhi Ramdhani (+5) [15/9, 12/15, 15/6] Avinash Odit (+7) defeated Mahendra Khusial (+12) [16/14, 16/14] Category A Dominic Collins (+10) defeated Makeda Hardin (+8) [15/13, 14/16, 14/16]
Sunday March 03, 2013
Jamaica Boxing Board of Control president applauds Guyana’s initiative Ninvalle aims for Regional tourney and full forward motion with 4-year plan President of the Jamaica Boxing Board of Control Stephen O. Jones has applauded the efforts of the Guyana Boxing Association and its President Steve Ninvalle. Guyana had written to Jamaica seeking their young boxers participation in exchange programmes and Jones noted that the thriving programme was a very ‘commendable initiative’ and ‘only through programmes such as this that our region can become a dominant force in the world of boxing’, Jones had mentioned in correspondence with the GBA. The Jamaicans will make a formal response to the scheduled trip to Guyana in the coming weeks. Guyana has had boxers travel to Trinidad and the Trinis have also visited GBA is hopeful for a team from Barbados to be here in May for the Independence programme. In an invited comment, Ninvalle informed that he is hopeful that this exchange
programme catches on in the Region and he will work to make it a reality with the main goal of having a regional championship. However, this depends on the amount of cooperation they receives from all relevant stakeholders, government and corporate. The GBA president said that the local fighters need as much international exposure they can get in order to be at their best to achieve international accolades, which is the main goal. Efforts are being made to have the Bahamas added to the list joining Trinidad, Barbados, Jamaica and Guyana as leading English speaking Caribbean territories in the sport of boxing in programmes to elevate the sport and improve chances of medaling at the Brazil Olympics. Asked on the position on the 4-year plan GBA had submitted to Sports Minister Dr. Frank Anthony, Ninvalle noted that the association had a meeting with the minister
Steve Ninavalle and several matters were discussed and a follow-up meeting is to be held shortly to look at several key issues. Ninvalle expects the support from government to continue and reach the level that will ensure the planned programme is achieved and births success in Olympic medals. Meanwhile, GBA has set their Novices Boxing Championship for the first week in April. The event will be a three day affair. A busy year is anticipated for amateur boxing.
Milo / Petra Organisation Under-20 Schools Football Competition...
Lodge, Carmel, David Rose register wins Lodge Secondary, Carmel and David Rose were all winners when the Milo / Petra Organisation Under-20 Schools Football Competition resumed yesterday with three matches at the Ministry of Education ground, Carifesta Avenue. In the first fixture of the day, Lodge defeated Dolphin 3-1 thanks to single strikes from Sherwin Joseph (29th), Travis Simpson (50th) and Kevin Butters (53rd). On target for Dolphin was Samuel Hunte, who netted in the 65th minute. In the second game of the day, David Rose gained a walkover from Guyana Educational Trust College after the team failed to show up. The final game of the day saw Carmel inflict a 4-0 drubbing on St. Winefride
with Marlon Nedd hitting in a hat-trick in the 28th, 41st and 51st minutes, while Aubrey Hodge 9th minute strike had given them the initial lead. In the day’s full results: Lodge Secondary defeated Dolphin Secondary 3-1. Goalscorers for Lodge Sherwin Joseph- 29th Travis Simpson- 50th Kevin Butters- 53rd For Dolphin Samuel Hunte-65th Game 2 David Rose won by walkover from Guyana Education trust College Game 3 St. Winifred lost to Carmel Secondary 4-0. Goalscorers for Carmel Aubrey Hodge- 9th Marlon Nedd- 28th, 41st, 51st The competition
continues today with another triple header, at the same venue. In the fixtures: Brickdam Secondary against North Ruimveldt at 12:00 hrs followed by the encounter between New Campbellville and Richard Ishmael from 13:50 hrs with Central High taking on Sophia Special School at 15:45 hrs. This is the final round of the preliminary phase and eight teams will exit the competition. The top four schools will be rewarded with prizes ranging from $200,000 for the winners, runners-up$100,000, 3rdplace-$50,000 and 4thplace-$25,000 along with trophies and medals. The prizes will come in the form of a project choice which is to benefit the school, while the most outstanding players will also receive prizes. The tournament is also being run in collaboration with the Ministry of Health under its Gender-based Violence unit.
Annual Mayor’s Cup Football tourney starts March 15 The Annual Mayor’s Cup Football tournament is set to commence on March 15 at the Den Amstel ground. Keen competition is anticipated in this year’s tournament with teams from Georgetown, West Demerara, East Coast and one overseas club likely to compete. Action is set for March 15,
16, 17, 18, 20, 22, 25, 26, 28 and 31 when the final and third place playoff will be contested. Action is set for the Den Amstel, BV and GFC grounds. Teams will battle for a $1M first prize, while the other top positions will claim $500,000, $300,000 and $200,000 rewards.
Team competing for the attractive prizes include: Uitvlugt, Police, Den Amstel, Riddium Squad, Bakewell (Buxton), Santos, B. V. Triumph, G.F.C, Stewartville G.D.F, Slingerz, Northern Rangers, Camptown, Golden Grove, Fruta Conquerors , Mahaica, Alpha United, Pele,
Seawall and BK Western Tigers. The organisers have written to President Donald Ramoutar to sponsor the first prize and are awaiting a response. Former President Bharrat Jagdeo had sponsored the first prize previously.
Sunday March 03, 2013
Kaieteur News
GMR&SC Int’l Drag Race Meet...
Time for bragging ends today
Some of the enlivening action that fans could see today at the South Dakota Circuit.
After spending much time meticulously fine tuning their respective machines local dragsters along with their Surinamese counterparts will stop the bragging today and get on the track, at the South Dakota Circuit to battle each other for supremacy. As part of the Guyana Motor Racing & Sports Club (GMR&SC) calendar of activities the International Drag Race Meet is anticipated to produce some scorching times and breathtaking rivalry among the two confirmed countries. The Surinamese have long been the locals’ nemesis and they will once again attempt to upstage the Guyanese racers who have promised to not only resist the efforts of their visiting counterparts, but shatter existing records. One such competitor is Anand Ramchand, who will be competing in four categories with a similar amount of cars boasted earlier this week of obliterating the current records in the respective categories, while Rondell Daby’s
lightening fast Red Evolution, always a treat to watch is said to be in fantastic shape and rearing to get on the track. The other big names expected to represent the ‘Land of Many Waters are Afraz Ally, Syed Ali, Danny Persaud and Sanjay Persaud. The source further informed that the Superbikes category though not much information could be garnered at this point is also expected to add to the excitement and Stephen Vieira, Carlos Rodrigues, Carey Griffith will be looking to not only outdo each other, but all the other contenders as well. Additionally, race fans for the first time have the opportunity to witness the Porta Tree Timing System which is equipped with specialized starting lights that allow quarter mile speeds to be recorded. Races commence at 12:00 hrs and admission for adults is $1000, while children under-12 and vehicles are free. The day’s activities also come with the compliments of Banks DIH Ltd.
Horse owners prepare for Kennard Memorial Phagwah Horserace extravaganza Phagwah Day will be celebrated within the next three weeks and once again Jockeys, horse owners and turfites are gearing up for a day of excitement when the Kennard Memorial Turf Club in collaboration with the Berbice Bridge Company presents its Phagwah Meet, a day of exciting races and unbridled fun, at the club’s Bush Lot Farm, Corentyne Berbice headquarters on Sunday March 24. As usual, those attending this month’s event can expect scorching races as horses from all of the top stables are scheduled to grace the tracks. The feature attraction, the B and Lower over one mile, will see several thoroughbreds battling for a first prize of $1,000,000
with the second place finisher taking home half that amount. The third and fourth place finishers win $250,000 and $125,000 respectively. In all there will be seven events including the race between the 3 years old, Guyanese nurtured thoroughbreds where the first place finisher of this race, over a distance of 7 furlongs, carts off $280,000 with the second place finisher getting $140,000. The third and fourth place finishers receive $70,000 and $35,000 respectively. Before the day is through there will be five more races including the J and lower, G1 and lower, the J3 and lower, I1 and Lower and the F1 and lower. These races will all
attract lucrative prizes and will be keenly contested either over 6 furlongs or 7 furlongs. Horse owners are reminded that the meet is being conducted under the aegis of the Guyana Horse Racing Authority (GHRA) and all applicable rules will be enforced. Entries close on Sunday March 17 and late entries will not be accommodated. Owners and trainers are also reminded that they could have their horses registered through Justice Kennard (226-1399, 225-4818 0R 6237609), Roopnarine Matadial (325-3192), Ivan Dipnarine (331-03160, Lionel Moonsammy 614-5812), (Isabelle Beaton (693-7812) or Dennis DeRoop (609-9143).
Page 57
Page 58
Kaieteur News
Sunday March 03, 2013
2013 New Building Society Second Division 40-Over Cricket Competition...
Shastri Persaud’s 154 see Chesney to 310 for 6, Kamaludeen slams 92 for Fyrish Road Former Berbice 20/20 cricketer Shastri Persaud registered the highest individual score of the 2013 New Building Society Second Division 40-Over Cricket Competition when he slammed 154 for Chesney against Belvedere United. He featured in a 2nd wicket stand of 60 with Zamin Ziker (34) and 120 for the 4th wicket with Devendra Harilall (50 N.O) to be greatly responsible for Chesney’s total of 310 for 6 in 35 overs in their rain affected match. Persaud’s knock included 15 fours and 9 huge sixes. When Belvedere replied Chesney offspinner Safraz Khan took 5 for 31 from 6.1 overs to help bowl out Belvedere for 110 giving Chesney a whopping 200 run victory. Opening batsmen Joseph Kamaludeen with 92 (4 fours and 2 sixes) and Imran Hussain with 62 (4 fours and 4 sixes) featured in an opening stand of 114 for Fyrish Road against Rose Hall Guns and
- 6-wicket hauls for Mitchell and Budhoo Cannons. After Hussain fell and no other batsmen getting past three, Kamaludeen had to prop up the rest of the innings falling at 193 for 7 to help his team reach 203 in 34.4 overs with extras contributing 34. It was Rose Hall offspinner Subramanie Budhoo who did the late damage with 6 for 30 from 7 overs. His team could only respond with 152 all out. Medium pacer Rennison Mitchell of Rainbow Generation took 6 for 26 from 6 overs to bowl out Hopetown United for 72 in 19 overs. Rainbow Generation went on to win by 6 wickets. Harricharran Nauth hit 55 N.O in a winning effort for Sundown. In scores from the matches played: At Chesney, Chesney beat Belvedere United by 200 runs. Chesney 310 for 6 in 35 overs with Shastri Persaud
154, Devendra Harilall 50 N.O; Zamin Ziker 34. Belvedere United 110 in 27.5 overs with Isaac Kamaludeen 27 N.O; Safraz Khan 5 for 31; Reyaz Ramcharran 3 for 20. A t R o s e H a l l To w n , Fyrish Road beat Rose Hall Town Guns and Cannons by 51 runs. Fyrish Road 203 in 34.4 overs with Joseph Kamaludeen 92, Imran Hussain 62,Subramanie Bidhoo 6 for 30. Rose Hall Town Guns and Cannons 152 in 28.4 overs with Isaac Kamaludeen 2 for 10. Joseph Kamaludeen 2 for 17, Hassan Hussain; William Dass 2 for 35. At Hopetown, Rainbow Generation beat Hopetown United by 6 wickets. Hopetown United 72 in 19 overs with Rennison Mitchell 6 for 26; Peter Grant 3 for 21.
Rainbow Generation 73 for 4 in 12 overs with Sherwin McPherson 27; Steffon Adams 3 for 25. At Cotton Tree, Sundown beat Exhowa by 83 runs. Sundown 221 for 8 in 35 overs with Harricharran Nauth 55, Lakeram Chetram 40, Anand Anandram 4 for 30; Vickram Vijay 2 for 19. Exhowa 138 in 28.3 overs with Vickram Vijay 44, Anand Anandram 40, Sahail Saffie 2 for 10, Imran Allie 2 for 14. At No. 43, No. 43
Joseph Kamaludeen
Shastri Persaud
Scorpion beat Kildonan by 5 runs. No. 43 Scorpion 141 in 24.2 overs with Balram Samaroo 43, Nigel Bownauth 36, John Holder 3 for 20, Oswin Jones 2 for 22, Deighton Waldron 2 for 34. Kildonan 136 in 24 overs with Farook Drepaul 4 f o r 2 6 , Yu g i s h w a r
Dhanroop 3 for 19, Balram Samaroo 2 for 21. At Yakusari, Yakusari Caribs beat Mibicuri Strikers by 5 wickets. Mibicuri Strikers 88 in 25.5 overs with Ramesh Ayana 4 for 9; Churmanie Ayana 2 for 32. Yakusari Caribs 89 for 5 in 14 overs with Ramesh Ayana 28; Titus Clarke 3 for 20.
Stag Beer / EDFA Senior League resumes today @ Buxton Latest Points Table Teams BVTU Buxton Utd Victoria Mahaica Buxton Stars Plaisance Golden Stars Ann’s Grove*** 7 OUT
P 12 11 10 11 10 11 11 7
W 8 5 5 4 2 0 0 3
L 1 2 3 4 1* 5* 9 2
D 3 4 2 1 6 5 2 1
GF Points 17 27 16 19 18 17 9 13 7 10 4 5 6 2 9 10
Rivalry in the East Demerara Football Association Stag Beer division-one league is set to resume tomorrow (Sunday) at the Buxton Community Centre Ground with a double header from 14:00hrs. Opening proceedings will be Buxton United, currently on 19 points and second in the standings taking on Victoria Kings, just two points back and third overall. Feature play pits Buxton Stars (5th on 10 pts) coming up against fourth placed (13 pts) Mahaica Determinators. Both matches are anticipated to be keen affairs as the teams will be seeking to regain the right momentum as they aim to consolidate their respective positions. Those who are off the grid will be hoping to narrow the advantage the leaders have on them.
Sunday March 03, 2013
Kaieteur News
Webb appointed Chairman of anti-racism task force Miami – CONCACAF President and FIFA Vice President, Jeffrey Webb, has been appointed Chairman of the anti-racism task force that will oversee all matters related to racism in football. “I am grateful for this appointment and eager to contribute by working towards creating an environment of cooperation that fosters football’s continuous journey to impart positive role models to society,” expressed Webb. “You have my commitment to gear this task force through a documented strategy that will ensure the fulfillment of our pledge to eradicate racism from our fields.” Due to the high importance of dissipating damaging attitudes from the football arena, FIFA is establishing a task force to deal with all issues pertaining to racism within the football community, as expressed by FIFA President, Joseph Blatter, on the eve of the International Football Association Board (IFAB) meeting in Edinburgh. “We have to work on it but we cannot do it alone,” said Blatter. “It is a big, big problem also of education and understanding, and a little bit also of solidarity. But we will do it because we have to kick it out.” The football community has been long committed to social justice and racial integration. Unfortunately, racism has been
Jeffrey Webb undermining the supreme qualities of social equality so intrinsic to the sport. Even though there has been progress on this front, the abuse of players, officials and fans due to their skin color or ethnicity, racism still plays an active role as an unfortunate reflection of society within the game. “Learning from my personal experience with racism and extended service to promote a society in which all individuals have equal rights will hopefully add strength to remove the discrimination barriers that steer the focus away from the game of football,” added Webb. Webb holds responsibilities as Deputy Chairman of FIFA’s Audit and Compliance Committee and is also a former member of FIFA’s Transparency Committee.
East Coast Cricket Board president’s Cup final at Fairfield today The President’s Cup sponsored exclusively by the President of the East Coast Cricket Board Mr. Bissoondyal Singh has reached the final. The competition played on a round robin basis among teams from Calcutta Mahaicony to Mahaica will see Strathavon battle with Helena 1&2 Sports Club at Fairfield today for championship honours. A large crowd is expected since both teams are talented and have many supporters. Helena who have the advantage of securing a win against Strathavon during the preliminary round will be hard pressed by the presence of Chanderpaul Hemraj who scored a century in the preliminaries. Strathavon on the other hand will be led by the Veteran Nandram Persaud and includes capable allrounders in Darshanand Persaud, Rohit Dutchin, and Shazaad Alli. The game is a forty overs
affair and the time is 10:30hrs sharp. The match will be supervised under the watchful eyes of Gavin DaGuiar and Charles Gibbons with Gyananand Sukhdeo as standby, the match referee is Judister Rampersaud. The Helena team will come from: Darshanand Persaud (Capt), Shazaad Alli (v Capt), Nandram Persaud, Rohit Dutchin, Sewchand Boodhoo, Quincy Holder, Keith Saroop, Charlie King, Davindra Singh, Dellon Wills, Mark Ragoonauth, Kamal Persaud, Gavin Bedassie and Doodnauth Heeranandan. The Strathavon team will come from: Ganesh Sugrim (Capt), Gobinram Hemraj, Chardrapaul Hemraj, Sott Mohamed, Prakesh Chowtie, Diaram Hemraj, Kenneth Alphonso, Nankumar Persaud, Rameshwar Arjune, Steven Singh, Yaseer Bacchus Seepaul Hemraj, Shelton Peters and Dhanarine Ramsarran.
Page 59
PMTC in winners row again, take Rotary Volleyball competition The Port Mourant Training Centre Volleyball club continues their dominance on the Volleyball circle when they defeated all and sundry to take top spot in the recently held N/A Rotary Club Mashramani Volleyball Jamboree and Fun Day held at the Rose Hall Welfare Centre Ground in East Canje. The competition attracted eight male teams and one female team and was played on a “round-robin” basis in very soggy conditions. The players were able to defy the odds and displayed a high level of skill which had many spectators in awe, especially those who were witnessing a “real” volleyball competition for the first time. The teams that participated were - GTC/Red and GTC/ Blue (under-18 players who are new to the
game, GTC (seasoned players who represented the Centre), PMTC 1 and PMTC 2 (players who are current under-19 and national players) and alumni of GTC who are members of Guyana’s top team, Albion Sports Complex, GTC Strikers (supporters of GTC), Falcons of East Canje and Corentyne Comprehensive High School Strikers, the lone female team. During the daylight hours over twenty five (25) matches were played on a 15 points blitz basis (no time outs, no substitutions, no liberos) and the final involving the ever improving Albion Sports Complex and the all powerful PMTC 1 was played under floodlights. The match was played at a fast pace resulting in some long and exciting rallies; the first set was won by PMTC 1 25-17 through some good spiking by Quacy
Matheson and Creston Rodney. The second set saw the lads from Albion defending stubbornly and counterattacking with some quick spikes to win 25-22. The final set was won by PMTC1 through the brilliant power spiking of Creston Rodney. At the presentation ceremony which was held in virtual darkness, BVA President Gregory Rambarran thanked the N/A Rotary Club for sponsoring the tournament and congratulated all of the teams that participated. He singled out the females for special praise for competing against their male counterparts. Trophies were presented to the first and second placed male teams and a special trophy was presented to the female team. President of the New Amsterdam Rotary Club, Robindra Sookraj in
presenting the trophies to the second placed males and the first place females, congratulated them on their performances and expressed the hope that more collaborative efforts can be made in the future to raise the profile of Volleyball in Berbice. The first place trophy for the males was presented by Berbice Chamber of Commerce President, Imran Sacoor to PMTC 1. Medals were presented to several players for their outstanding performances Jason Seelochan of PMTC 1Best Setter, Creston Rodney of PMTC 1- Best Spiker, Deion Seelochan of Albion Sports Complex- Best Server, Creston Rodney of PMTC 1Most Valuable Player and 16 yrs old Rayan Dhoray of Albion Sports Complex- Best Player on the Runner-up Team.
National junior female athlete Melissa Byass honoured by Flying Ace Cycle Club By Samuel Whyte Not too often officials from one sporting discipline would leave their domain and recognize the contributions and achievements of an athlete of another sporting fraternity. But the principals of the Flying Ace Cycle (FAC) are known for such accomplishments. The club, which is based in New Amsterdam, recently recognised the achievements of national junior female athletics champion Melissa Byass and presented her with tokens of appreciation including a medal for her achievements over the years. Melissa Byass, one of Guyana’s leading, promising and upcoming female athletes had an outstanding year during 2012 where she continued her dominance on the track. This is despite her having to scale back on her training and concentrate on her CSEC examinations. Although doing favourably well at her examinations the young lady has decided to continue her schooling at the Berbice High School and pursue a few more subjects to enhance her credentials. The 16 years old continued her dominance with another telling performance at the last national Schools Athletics Cycling and Swimming Championship which was held in November at the National Stadium where she wasted her opponents in
winning the 400M, 800M and 1500M in the U18 category. She also participated in the Inter Guiana Games championship earlier in the year. Being from rural Guyana it is more often than not a disadvantage for athletes coming from the country side to gain recognition, but the petite and easy going athlete is up to and prepared for the challenges. It is no easy feat to win three events at the schools national athletic championships, which caters for all the top junior athletes in Guyana, with such ease. It was with this in mind that founder, coordinator and coach of the FAC Randolph Roberts decided to recognize and honour the athlete. Roberts alluded to the fact that Melissa would defy the odds and would be training alone in the rain, sun, mud, mosquitoes because she is determine and wants to do well. He took the opportunity to call for those responsible including the government, the AAG, The Sports Department and Ministry of Sports, The Olympic Association and other interested bodies to be more open up and stop looking at Georgetown as Guyana. He also took the opportunity to call on the media to be more even on their reporting. Melissa is a multitalented athlete and runs any distance from the 100M to the 1500M, having represented her district New Amsterdam/ Canje at all the above
Melisa Byass displays the medal presented to her by the FACC. distances, with success. She started running and was winning races since at the U12 level, setting the U12 200M record in 2007. She trains almost every day with Monday to Friday being her main training days. She is not one to easily back down from a challenge and knows about disappointments having
twice been selected to represent Guyana and eventually being turned down. Her first disappointment coming in the 2007, although she had broken a record and 2009 CUT games when the authorities balked about lack of funds, she was among those dumped from the teams. She is prepared to work hard to achieve her goal. Her ultimate aim is to one day represent Guyana at the Olympics and return with a medal. She fancies the 400M and 800M. Melissa says that she will continue to do what she can do best despite the many challenges. Her main focus is to continue her upward sojourn and make the Guyana teams for the Junior Carifta and Inter Guiana Games slated for later this year. She is also looking for another outstanding performance at this year’s National School’s Athletics Championship. One to look for in the future, it is hoped that those responsible can come forward and offer assistance to this talented athlete.
Page 60
Kaieteur News
Sunday March 03, 2013
George, Moore outstanding at Carifta trials Linden’s Cassey George completely obliterated the under-17 female 1500 metres field on day one of the junior Carifta trials Saturday at the Camp Ayanganna ground. George, 14 became the lone athlete to qualify for the junior Carifta Game to be held in April in Bahamas by clocking 4:44.1s to eclipse the qualifying time of 4:57s set by the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG). She relegated junior Carifta Games under-17 1500 metres bronze medalist Andrea Foster to second (5:13.3s) as fellow Lindener Cassie George came third in 5:15.2s. George ran the race so perfectly that she even clocked a faster time than the female under-20 1500 metres winner in two time under- 17 junior Carifta Games gold medalist Jevina Straker who won the event in a time of 5:05.5s at the trials. Meanwhile, Police Sports Club Alita Moore executed a perfect drive phase and extended her lead after 70 metres to win the female under-20 100 metres easily in a time of 11.88s to narrowly
Cassey George
Jason Yaw all by himself captures the under-17 males 400 metres in a comfortable fashion miss the qualifying time by one hundredths of a second. Letitia Myles came in second with 12.4s while Alzemo Britton took third in 12.7s. Tirana Mitchell continued her dominant ways by claiming the under-17 female 100 metres without much fuss in a time of 11.9s leaving Onassha Rogers in the wake of her dust in a time of 12.4s ; Shonett Freeman was third in 12.6s. The female under-17 400
metres saw Avon Samuels, Natricia Hooper and Jevina Sampson came stride for stride to finish with Hooper resorting to diving for the finish only to see Samuels prevail in the dramatic finish with a time of 59.3s. Hooper with her plunge was second in 59.6s, while Sampson, who will switch from the short sprints to the 400 and 800 metres events was third in 59.9s. Meanwhile, Jason Yaw was the most impressive male
on day one as he ran away with the male under-17 400 metres quite comfortably in a time of 51.8s while second place finisher Compton Caesar finished in 55.2s some 15 metres behind Yaw. The male under-20 100 metres was won by Kevin Abbensetts in a time of 10.8s while Quacy Simpson and Daniel Frank clocked 11.0s and 11.5s for second and third respectively. Dequan Vancooten took
the boys under-17 100 metres in a tight finish with Jamal Fortune clocking 10.9s for the win while Fortune finished the event in 11.3s. The male under-20 400 metres saw Quacy Simpson coming from behind to defeat Danta Thom in a time of 51.2s as Thom clocked 51.8s for the second position while Samuel Doris was third in 52.6s. In the under-17 male long jump Joel Thom topped the field with a leap of 5.72 metres
while Quincy Winter was second with a jump of 5.68 metres leaving Shamar Simon in third with a jump of 5.50 metres. Grivon Grant easily won the male under-20 1500 metres in a time of 4:21.6s while mark Jarvis won the under-17 version of the event in 4:33.7s to round of the day’s events. Meanwhile, day two of the event will continues today with the likes of Moore, George, Mitchell and Yaw aiming for double victories along with qualifying times to make the team as George is the lone athlete who has officially secured her spot.
Sunday March 03, 2013
Kaieteur News
Port Mourant to host bodybuilding show on Saturday Come Saturday evening, Central Corentyne and its close environs will be ignited when the House of Pain Gym hosts a Grand Central Corentyne Flex Out bodybuilding show on the grounds of the newly constructed House of Pain Gym, Lot 8 Ankerville, Port Mourant. The event is being supported by Flex Night Incorporated which has been in close collaboration with the two House of Pain coordinators of the event – Messrs. Raheem Ali and Kumar. According to Flex Night Inc., both Ali and Kumar have been organising bodybuilding events in the Central Corentyne area for many years but, as part of their commitment to raising the standard of the sport among gyms in the area, have entered into a collaboration with Flex Night Inc. which will provide officials for the event on
Leon Mahadeo Saturday. An impressive lineup of about 12 athletes from at least three gyms in the area
will entertain spectators and fans. Prominent among the contenders will be Leon Mahadeo (Mr. Abdominals) who placed third in the Light category of the 2012 Mr. Flex Night Berbice. Returning to the stage will be Mr. Kumar himself, co-host of the event and owner of the original House of Pain Gym. Other contestants from House of Pain Gym are: Deresh Narainsammy, Vickram Ramsamugh and Raymond Rabindranauth. Power House Gym, located at Williamsburg, Corentyne, will be represented by Tejpaul Gwendsammy, Haresh Gopilall, Khenny Gopilall, Chetram Jankeram, Danpal Jaggernath and Ravi. Albion Community Centre Gym will be represented by Leon Mark Benjamin and Damion Claitie. The event begins at 19:00hrs and will be declared open by Mr. Poonai of Poonai’s Pharmacy. Tickets cost $ 1000 with a free Bar-B-Cue.
Republic Bank (Guy) Ltd renews sponsorship of Berbice Under-17 Inter-zone Tourney
Representative of Republic Bank hands over sponsorship in presence of BCB officials and Imran Saccoor Branch Manager of N/A Bank Republic Bank (Guy) Ltd last Thursday renewed its current sponsorship of the Berbice Cricket Board Under17 Inter-zone Tournament for the sixth successive year. The Bank would be investing $200,000 and providing colour T/Shirts for the two finalists. Branch Manager of New Amsterdam Republic Bank, Imran Saccoor, hailed the importance of the Under-17 Tournament as it serves as a bridge between the Under-15 and Under-19 Tournaments. He stated that the Under-17 Tournament was the stage when youths decide whether to pursue cricketing careers and Saccoor hailed the
success of the tournament over the last five years and expressed his pleasure at the mileage Republic Bank has gotten as a corporate body in return for its sponsorship. Saccoor pledged the Bank’s continued support in the future. BCB Public Relations Officer and Chairman of the Special Events Committee Hilbert Foster said that the tournament would involve players born on or after the 1st day of September, 1996. Four teams - Lower Corentyne, Upper Corentyne, New Amsterdam/Canje and West Berbice would vie for championship honours. Foster disclosed that the 2013
Berbice Under-17 team would be selected based on performance in the tournament. BCB President Keith Foster and 1st Vice President Anil Beharry both expressed gratitude to Republic Bank for investing in Berbice Cricket and stated that the investment has resulted in the unearthing of new talents for the county. Republic Bank (Guy) Ltd apart from sponsoring the Under-17 Tournament also supports the Berbice Cricket Board with sponsorship of several other projects especially the Annual Awards Ceremony and Annual Review Magazine.
Page 61
t r o Sp Blazing Simmons gives West Indies easy win Lendl Simmons hit the last ball for 6 off Jarvis to complete the Windies win (WICB).
Chibhabha get his stumps disturbed by Tino Best (WICB).
Malcolm Waller hits out during his top score for Zimbabwe (WICB).
Printed and published by National Media & Publishing Company Limited, 24 Saffon St.Charlestown, Georgetown.Tel: 225-8465, 225-8491 or Fax: 225-8473/ 226-8210