Kaieteur News

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

To flog or not to flog The issue of corporal punishment in schools has reared its head once more. These past few days the Guyana Teachers’ Union announced that it would not support the abolition of corporal punishment in schools.

It noticed the increasing incidence of students attacking teachers, some of the attacks so serious that in one case a teacher aborted. Then there was the case of the teacher who suffered severe head injuries when some pupils put a heavy object over a door so that the teacher could be hurt when she entered the classroom.

In Lodge, not so long ago a student attacked a male teacher and caused the teacher to be hospitalised. Of course the student ran, and tries as they might, the law enforcers failed to find him. Incidents of violence against teachers are too numerous to mention.

There are those who argue that corporal punishment translates into violence when the child leaves school. The argument is that the child believes that violence is the major way of solving problems therefore corporal punishment merely perpetuates violence in the society.

One individual cited a reference from a Canadian research to support his argument. It was unfortunate that there were no other reports to support the argument. Proponents of corporal punishment point to the tried and proven. The older folk in the society use themselves as examples. They say that they were subjected to corporal punishment and that they are none the worse as adults.

Everyone is certain that no child loves being beaten but that is where the consensus ends. Some children would become reserved while others would become aggressive.

One commentator on the issue some time back said that adults beat children because they could. There is also the finding that there are parents and teachers who vent their anger on children.

These may all be true but no one is finding a solution to the extent of indiscipline that prevails among children. At the same time no one is stopping to consider the inadequacies of the teachers.

The inadequate would resort to corporal punishment to compensate for that inadequacy.

However, there are ardent teachers who are going to encounter students who would not respond to the best efforts of the teachers. It is this that has prompted the Guyana Teachers Union to consider the use of corporal punishment as a last resort.

In some cases physical punishment works but in others it fails most horribly. The result is that efforts must then turn to the household and the environment from which the child comes. Research has shown that violence is often a cycle. A child exposed to violence in the home from early in life will grow with the belief that violence is the only way out.

In many cases, then, the orientation of the child begins in the home and there is where most of the problems of student violence against teachers begin.

And it is here that those who propose or oppose the retention of corporal punishment in schools should focus their attention.

In Guyana counseling services are extremely limited so schools with difficult children have few options, one of which is to beat the child into submission. The other is to ignore the child which is often the case as the Education Ministry vacillates on whether to maintain corporal punishment in schools. It has already taken away the power of the school to expel recalcitrant children.

The solution may lie in the Education Ministry recruiting more people, this time to work in the field for the benefit of children who come from dysfunctional homes. Research has already shown that children who come from stable homes tend to perform well both academically and socially.

Indeed there is a school inspectorate but by its own admission the Education says that these may take four years to make a return visit to schools.

Until this situation is rectified one may suggest that the system maintains that with which it has worked over the years.

Thursday May 02, 2013

Letters... Where your views make the news

The incompetence of the government, and especially the NFMU, is frightening DEAR EDITOR, I was out of the country during the ending of March to around the middle of April this year, and so I am responding to two matters which were printed in the newspapers in Guyana.

The first, a letter, concerns my relationship with Brian Yong. I have never established any contractual relationship with Yong and so I have never worked for him, Yong approached me in 2006/ 7 and wanted to use my installation, including security, transmission tower, dishes, electricity etc. at Versailles, including two used dishes which he got from Esso or Shell, and which I assembled at the Versailles transmission site.

My son and I worked on this project spending several million dollars of our money and hundreds of hours of our time installing the dishes and modifying Versailles to accommodate Yong’s operations and to the best of my knowledge, since it was the start-up time of his operations and Yong claimed that he was cash strapped, we were never paid for the use of our infrastructure or our work in the nearly three years that we laboured on this project.

I understand, since I have never seen it, that the writer made some very disparaging remarks about me in that letter, and I was advised by the people who relayed the contents of the letter to my attention, that I should respond to the allegations legally, I have opted not to do so, since people in this country have been accustomed to the lies and dishonesty of the corrupt people/government officials perpetrate against people who expose the corruption of the PPP. They also told me that they were surprised that the Stabroek News would publish an unsigned letter with such defamatory remarks about me.

Secondly, I would like to state that I am not the authority in Guyana which issue Radio licences to people, and I am aware that at the time of the sale of the Vieira Communications Limited (VCL) shares to Dr Ranjisinghi ‘Bobby’ Ramroop on June 3rd 2009, Vieira Communications Limited had a case pending in the appeal court demanding that it be given a licence to broadcast a radio signal in Guyana, which it was pursuing since 1993.

The Appeal Court delivered its judgement on the 14th October 2009, stating VCL’s rights were violated and that it was entitled to a radio

licence, and directed the National Frequency Management Unit (NFMU) to award a Radio frequency to it. I believe that we were using FM 100.1 when the equipment was seized illegally by the NFMU. Ramroop, as the owner of the shares in VCL would have been entitled to that radio licence. But not if what I suspect happened.

The public would remember that in 2008 Mr. C. N. Sharma had started to broadcast channel 4 from his Robb Street installation and the government stopped him from doing so, since they alleged that Robb Street was not the location from which channel 4 was supposed to be broadcast; that no one could sell or move a channel from its current location since no new licences would be issued for Radio or for Television until a proper Broadcast Authority was formed.

Yet I see that in the libel case between Anthony Vieira, Channel 9 and the Stabroek News and QAII and Ramroop, action #641-W2011, that Ramroop in his sworn statement of claim warranted that the company, Vieira Communications Limited, was changed to Television Guyana Inc. as of the 10th January 2010!

So Mr. Sharma and the rest of us who were trying to expand our service were prevented from doing so, since the government’s position at that time was that no new licences could be issued until the Broadcast Authority was formed, whilst at the same time, Ramroop was allowed to change the name of this company from Vieira Communications Limited, which held the channel 28 broadcast licence, to Television Guyana Inc. This would have, of necessity,

caused a new licence with a new name to be issued. But no new licences were to be issued until the authority was formed!! How can anyone reconcile these contradictions?

It is my opinion that the law was violated for this to happen, if indeed it did, since the change of name was not possible without the issuing of a new licence. If a new licence was issued as of the date 10th January 2010, then the entity, TVG, has been operating illegally in this country.

Just as the case about the issuance of the 11 radio licences is currently being challenged in the courts, this change of name should also be challenged by the same group pursuing the matter legally. And the question should be asked in Parliament what is the name on the licence for channel 28 now, and what is the name on the licence that is on the radio frequency issued to Ramroop.

If it was Vieira Communications Ltd., which had applied to get a broadcast radio licence since 1993, and was awarded that licence in 2009 by the Appeal Court, this meant that it would have been first in line to receive a radio licence. But since these people can do anything since Jagdeo became president, by changing the name of the company to which the Appeal Court granted a radio licence, then Ramroop moved from the front of the line to the back of it, since he gave up the right of being the first among equals by getting the government to change the company’s name, when so many of them were denied the same request.

Trinity Broadcasting Network was removed from Guyana by Jagdeo, since

prompted by him, the NFMU alleged that for seven years it was broadcasting from Versailles instead of from Alberttown, which was the registered place on the licence. This denied over 200,000 Christians their religious channel.

We are beating around the bush in these matters. We should lance the head of the abscess and demand that the Director of Public Prosecutions charge this man Jagdeo with the numerous misdemeanours in public office, to undo all of the shenanigans he perpetrated against the people whilst in office. Even if it is to teach others that the immunities of the president do not mean that they are allowed to break the law with impunity; that it is there for entirely a different reason.

And as soon as possible, these immunities must withdrawn from our constitution, since we have seen what can happen when it is in the hands of a man like Jagdeo. What if the radio licences are declared illegal?

Will the opposition have the guts to demand that the DPP charge Jagdeo? That has got to be the logical conclusion of that matter. If he issued licences against the law he should answer for it. And will they just go up to the Chief Justice and stop or will they do the proper thing and go all the way to the CCJ? I see a lot of hogwash that people are given five FM frequencies since they have to repeat the signal across the country. This is absolute nonsense.

There are microwave links which are available in the final acts of the International Telecommunications Union set aside for this purpose, and since the radio signal is (Continued on page 5)

Let’s try to avoid killing jaguars DEAR EDITOR, I write this letter out of very deep concern for our national animal, the Jaguar.

Each time I read the newspaper about a Jaguar being killed it worries me. I know that out of concern for the safety of their stock cattle, the men involved are protecting their investment. I don’t blame them, but I suggest that there be a sort of animal unit set up that would try to trap the animal whenever a report is made.

This Jaguar may have strayed off its course.

Unfortunately he tasted cattle and fell in love with the taste and probably stayed around because he saw the

area as one with a bountiful harvest. One of the men admitted that it would have been difficult to capture the animal alive. This is where expert help was needed to capture the Jaguar and relocate it.

I, like many Guyanese, am in love with our country’s wildlife and believe that their preservation will impact our ecology for years to come.

That Jaguar is one less Jaguar to our wildlife population.

On our national coat of arms we see not one, but two of them holding up our country’s agricultural produce.

In India, whenever a Jaguar strays off its course, a

special wildlife rescue unit would respond by capturing the animal and relocating it.

In that country it’s illegal to shoot a Jaguar. The leader of the operation even reminded the villagers that the Jaguar was there before us. He told them that as the human population grows and the forest is cut, the Jaguars are faced with the challenges of space and finding food.

Thank God that in Guyana our Jaguars roam free with enough space and food, especially like in Iwokrama.

The Jaguar is our pride and joy. Our largest animal of prey. Let’s do our best to preserve it.

Quado Vancooten

Thursday May 02, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 5

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

Guyana is fast assuming the title of a “kleptocratic state” DEAR EDITOR, In Guyana like any other country, every situation presents an opportunity for richness or the opposite. We all have choices and every choice we make has a consequence. This is not a matter of law; it involves sacrifice, decency and integrity because the values we hold are not adjudicated in courts, rather they are etched in our conscious mind.

These values were handed down to us by our parents, teachers and our religious institutions. An imbecile cannot shame us, but an ordinary man may by ignorance, stupidity or ill-

intent shame himself, his family and all of us. This is the way life is in Guyana, where the government ignores reality and continues to live in fool’s paradise as kleptocracy reaches new heights in the country.

There is a major trust deficit among politicians of the ruling clique. The abuse of public trust and the reckless squandering of the state resources are at epidemic proportions; only exceeded by the extensive corrupt practices that have engulfed the nation in the past decade.

The cabal has broken all the rules in their neverending pursuit to spread

propaganda, distortions and untruths, as they continue to shamelessly lay hands on the state assets. For them, it is fair game to squander the taxpayers’ money on shady projects and secret contracts as if it is inheritance left for them by their parents. In most countries, state assets are valued and protected by the government but in Guyana, it is used to enrich some in the ruling cabal, their relatives, friends and business buddies at the expense of the helpless citizenry.

At times the state loses valuable equipment and assets due to corruption and the lack of accountability, and no one in the cabal is held

The incompetence of the...

From page 4 so narrow, buying satellite time to take the signal across Guyana is probably far more economical than using different frequencies and repeaters, especially since we do not see that the five channels awarded to Ramroop, as far as we know, are not divided into broadcast [primary] and repeater [secondary] frequencies.

In any event, can you imagine going to Berbice and looking for your favourite channel which is supposed to be 100.1 and can’t find it in Berbice because there it’s 78.9? And this can happen for 10 or 15 stations!

The incompetence of the government of this country and especially the NFMU is frightening!

Also, can you imagine that you are in Linden and you are listening to 98.1 Hot FM from Georgetown and since these idiots are repeating, using the FM band, its coming over on 106.4, and whilst you are tuning to seek it you kill someone on the road?

As far as Ramroop having an uplink to transmit channel 28 by satellite all over Guyana is concerned, and that it was that which made the government decide to approach him to allow them to uplink the satellite signal for the learning channel from Ramroop’s location in Ruimveldt, this is smoke and mirrors.

I believe that they decided to give him this uplink to make even more money.

Apparently no amount is too much, and when he bought it they are now saying that he already had it and that’s why he was given the contract to activate it. This had to be what happened, since up to this time, 2013, channel 28 is not being uplinked to any satellite since it is very expensive and there is no legitimate income

from local TV to allow it to pay for the satellite time which would receive this signal and send it back to earth.

This brings up a new question. They are paying Ramroop G$3.6 million per month to uplink this learning channel, who is paying the estimated 15,000 US dollars a month to rent the satellite transponder? Ramroop or the Guyanese taxpayers? Satellite time is very expensive for television, but not for radio, since the radio signal is so small.

I know that in 2009 when the shares of channel 28 were transferred to Ramroop, I did not have such an uplink, in fact no one, except GT&T, was supposed to have an uplink and the NFMU would have had to give permission to import it. Do we have evidence that this happened?

And I believe that GT&T would also have had to give permission, since their monopoly included all uplinks for everything - telephone, television etc.

Do we have evidence that they gave permission? And if GT&T had given permission for their monopoly to be broken in this manner (since it is my belief that once it is broken it is broken) did they or the government inform Digicel?

Finally, since we are dealing with this matter, wireless cable should not have been awarded to two operators in the same primary zone, the band is too small.

So we have two close associates of the PPP operating two wireless cable systems, and since they are operating in the same band, the Guyanese people will be subjected to having 60 channels from each operator with much repetition, since they both have CNN, HBO etc, instead of 120 channels from a proper operator who we must treat like a public

utility, and be regulated by the Public Utilities Commission.

In Guyana, to legitimise the Stabroek News’ satellite delivery of Direct TV, they have to pay the government 4% of their cross annual income, in addition to the copyright for those signals!!

How much are Brian Yong and Vishok Persaud required to pay?

Remember that, in the example of Jamaica, the principle was that for the payment of the published sum, someone bought the exclusive rights to supply cable for a period of 15 years, i.e. a monopoly, one construes from this that if the entity does not serve the public’s interest properly, the government reserves the right to grant the franchise to someone else at the end of the 15-year period. In this case in Guyana, these men, Yong and Persaud, were given a monopoly without any provision for renewal or payment to the government coffers, forever!

The biggest joke is when Jagdeo called in all operators and told them that the “Wild West” going on in broadcasting must not be allowed to happen in cable as well. So his idea of regulation to the sector was to award it as gifts to two friends and leave everyone else out.

These two don’t have the rights for the Demerara region alone. The rights as we understand it, are that both Yong and Persaud can deliver cable nationally!

And telling the public that it’s okay to kill the TV broadcasters with fees, both to the NFMU and now to the Broadcast authority, is okay.

But it is not okay in the case of our cable operators, according to Sam Hinds, since they serve such small amounts of people. Yes Sam, and pigs fly!

Tony Vieira

responsible. For example, computers from the One Laptop Per Family Secretariat and office equipment have disappeared with no trace, and so far, no one has been arrested or charged. State assets are being misused and funds misspent without any accountability or legal consequences, because the PPP regime has always refused to prosecute their cronies.

Attempts to bamboozle Guyanese have backfired, because we all are now fully aware of their widespread corrupt practices.

Thus, we have concluded that “Kleptocracy” which is a form of political and government corruption, has become the norm, whereby the ruling group has increased personal wealth and political power at the expense of the poor and the working class, often without pretence of honest service.

This type of government corruption is often achieved by the embezzlement of state funds and resources.

There are some individuals who have inexplicably moved from rags to riches overnight. The huge

properties (palaces) owned by these kleptocrats and the size of their local and foreign bank accounts bear no relationship to their salaries or income earned from their business. Unlike other members of the CARICOM community, Guyana has become infamous for the increasing corruption over the years and the Jagdeo/ Ramotar administrations have done absolutely nothing so far to end this blight on the nation.

The two major newspapers are filled with not just rumours, but instances and confirmed reports of widespread corruption in contract awards from state enterprises and ministries to friends of the PPP regime, with astronomical kickbacks being mentioned, and not a word of any official investigation or even a hint or an indication of a polite inquiry.

The greater problem lies not only in the corrupt practices which are now endemic, but in its official acceptance. If nothing else, this has laid the foundation for Guyana to become the first “kleptocratic state” in the Caribbean.

Although there is a wealth of evidence of serious wrongdoing, most recently from NDIA and NCN, the minority PPP regime does not see the need to begin serious investigations and, if required, possible prosecution of the alleged conspirators. Instead we have seen a series of legal opinions by PPP operatives on NCN and other stateowned TV, justifying the unjustifiable.

In Guyana, the taxpayers’ money has no defender. The accountability deficit among government officials is very high. Who monitors the value for money? This lack of accountability means that the state assets and funds are misused, converted, and may be stolen outright to enrich a few.

No one in Guyana can deny that corruption spans all levels of the PPP administration. What is also undeniable is that corruption has been taken to new heights and that, if it is not there already, Guyana is fast assuming the title of a “kleptocratic state.”

Dr. Asquith Rose and Harish S. Singh

Page 6

Kaieteur News

Thursday May 02, 2013

President vows to restore cuts to - reiterates consultation with Parliamentary national budget Opposition not excluded

By Sharmain Grainger

“The cuts that were made in Parliament, I will do every single thing possible to reverse them because I will not allow them to affect the people of our country,” was the assurance of Head of State, Donald Ramotar, yesterday.

He was delivering the feature address at the National Park, the venue of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) May Day rally.

The announcement evoked applause from the gathering of workers who mainly occupied the western stand of the facility.

According to the President, his plan to restore the cuts made to the budget will certainly not exclude moves to consult with the Parliamentary Opposition. “I hope that they will remove the prejudices from their minds and see these projects for what they are.”

He said that the Opposition has, overtime, made the accusation that Government has not been consulting with it “but I have personally invited them to talk...about anyone of the projects that they have difficulties with...that is still my attitude, that is still my position and I am ready to discuss all of these things and answer their questions.”

But according to the President some of the arguments that have been levelled by the Parliamentary Opposition to impose cuts to the 2013 National Budget are in fact difficult to understand.

He alluded to cuts to the Amaila Falls Hydro project.

He pointed to the fact that one political party premised

the cut on the need to wait for a promised loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). “Well that really is an argument that doesn’t hold water because the budget in itself...all the money we plan to collect we haven’t collected as yet...that is a budget it doesn’t mean that you have all the resources.

“It means therefore if you use that logic then you should throw the whole budget out until we collect all the money...obviously it makes no sense.”

The Head of State further speculated that the $31 billion that was slashed from the budget from various important projects seems to be a move that has “other motives behind it. Why would anyone want to cut when we know that one of the impediments to the development of this country is cheap energy?” He acknowledged that the existing energy cost is high.

Moreover, he disclosed that efforts were being made through the national budget to invest in the electricity sector in order to remove a very recognisable obstruction to development in the Guyanese society.

He said that the intent of his Government is to significantly reduce the cost of electricity aided by hydro power electricity even as an atmosphere is created to develop good and strong manufacturing and processing sectors.

This move, he insisted, will also cater to the creation of thousands of jobs in order to move the country from being a middle-low income territory to one that is recognised as high-middle income with a developed status in the future.

“Why would anyone want to cut a programme like that, baffles the hell out of me,” vocalised the President as he turned his attention to cuts to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport expansion project. This particular project, the President noted, has the potential to bring life to a tourism sector.

He alluded to Guyana’s strategic location as a “perfect hub” for travel between the northern and southern hemispheres, even as he added that moves towards the expansion can undoubtedly “earn us a lot of money.”

According to the President, in 1994 during a visit to South Africa, he himself had spoken with officials there of the possibility of having Guyana become that crucial hub; a notion that was embraced.

“We couldn’t take the offer because the planes that they were using were too big

for the airports that we have here; all of that we are now trying to correct to earn us more money...

“What reason, what logic can anyone have to cut such a project?” queried President Ramotar. “I will use all of my energy to ensure that these things are restored in our budget.”

President Ramotar added yesterday that the various projects to which the Opposition has imposed cuts are in fact the launching pads to take Guyana into the future while at the same time boosting development.

Among these projects, he noted, is the Specialty Hospital which has the potential of helping, mainly the poor members of the population, to defy untimely deaths caused by preventable health conditions. “A lot of the services that we have to go abroad to get we want to make it affordable so that the

Trafficking in Barbados ...

Relatives of the five Guyanese women, who have alleged that they were trafficked in Barbados, yesterday said that they have made countless attempts to contact the Barbadian authorities to get updates about the women.

Graclyn Reid whose 19year-old niece is implicated made several attempts to contact the authorities. The woman told Kaieteur News that no one in Barbados is communicating with relatives in Guyana to tell them anything.

Sonia Gilkes, who is the

President Donald Ramotar delivers a passionate address at the National Park venued FITUG May Day Rally yesterday. people in this country can have those facilities right here.

Moreover we see it as a revenue stream because we can develop Health Tourism in Guyana.”

In fact the President disclosed that Jamaica is currently embarking on a similar project also with the aim of attracting more tourists. Jamaica, like Guyana, has a large Diaspora abroad, observed Ramotar, who noted that many who have migrated do not have health insurance.

Moreover, he noted that

“they can come here to do some of the things that are needed.

Those who have been living (abroad) long enough want to retire but want the health facilities for them to stay in our country...all of these things have logic, all have been based on our national interest to ensure that every section of our society, particularly the working people, will have the benefits of what we produce in Guyana,” asserted the President.

Relatives unable to make contact with women

aunt of Amanda Clarke 19, yesterday told Kaieteur News that she was totally unaware that the teen had left Guyana.

According to Gilkes, her niece is bipolar.

“She has a problem…it's like she has a split personality,” the woman told Kaieteur News. T he aunt said that her niece had lived in an orphanage for some time until she made similar allegations against one of the directors.

The woman said that after the incident her niece came to live with her.

Gilkes said that her niece would soon make similar allegations again and run away from the home. She also told Kaieteur that her niece ran away from her home on two occasions.

The woman noted that she does not know what happened in Barbados, but that she needs to know who and what they are dealing with.

Last week relatives of the five

young women were warned not to contact the media or the police.

Kaieteur News understands that the relatives had to meet with the officials last week and were given the warning.

Relatives told this newspaper that it was confirmed today that the 17 year old girl who was arrested, was pregnant. Her mother has made several attempts to ascertain the condition of the teen.

Her mother told Kaieteur News that the only relative the teen has in Barbados was arrested and remanded to prison, after the story broke.

Relatives of the five Guyanese women said that they are convinced that the young women are lying about what really happened.

Graclyn Reid, whose 19-year-old niece is involved in the matter, had stated that she is convinced that the young girl is lying.

According to Reid, her niece made similar allegations last year against another aunt.

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

Reid further told Kaieteur News that her niece was in Barbados for over six months.

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

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

The mother of the 17-yearold girl said that she was unaware that her daughter was doing anything of that nature.

The woman told Kaieteur News that she had sent her daughter to her mother who resides in Barbados. “I sent her to Barbados on vacation…I didn't know she got caught up in that,” the mother stated.

The woman told Kaieteur News that she would speak to her daughter regularly and she never mentioned being kept against her will. She further stated that her mother was arrested following the incident.

According to the woman, her mother who is 76 years old has been charged in connection with the suspected trafficking of the five Guyanese women.

The Barbados Nation on Saturday confirmed that Joan Fernandez, of Eagle Hall, St Michael, was charged Friday and was scheduled to appear before the District 'A' Magistrates' Court.

The five women were caught in bathing suits after a raid on a Nelson Street bar last Thursday led by the police new Sex Crimes and Trafficking Unit.

Page 8

Kaieteur News

Thursday May 2, 2013

Thursday May 02, 2013

What lasting accomplishment, what iconic achievement has the representative bodies for trade unions accomplished in Guyana? What substantive achievement has these umbrella associations earned for the working class of Guyana?

There is none. In order to compensate for its underachievement, the trade union associations like to flaunt other things because they cannot point to anything of real magnitude that would immortalize them in our history.

Some like to boast about their independence which when examined closely is really another way of saying that they opposed the PNC and they opposed the PPP. This is their idea of independence. But how has the working class of this country benefited from this independence?

The umbrella bodies have nothing to show for their representation of workers, absolutely nothing. The umbrella body of trade unionism in Guyana is the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) which cannot even mend its own divisions.

There is a breakaway trade union movement, the Federation of Independent

Kaieteur News

Trade Unions in Guyana (FITUG) which, it is said, represents some 80 per cent of unionized workers, yet the GTUC is supposed to be considered the umbrella body for trade unions in Guyana.

Well, if this is so, it is a baby umbrella.

When some of the leaders of the GTUC speak you would believe that they are politicians and not trade unionists. They are more political than some of the professional politicians.

The trade union movement cannot on one foot be showing off its idea of independence and on the other foot be genuflecting and begging the government for a subvention.

The government is the major employer in Guyana and how can any trade union movement claim to be independent when its main grouse is that the government is not giving it a hefty subvention?

Why in the first place does the umbrella body of the trade union movement in Guyana need a subvention from the government? Trade unions have collected billions of dollars in dues from workers over the years.

Unions are not hand-tomouth institutions. Some of them have their own offices and facilities. So why should

Dem boys seh ...

De workers disappearing May Day parade getting smaller. Less people putting on red and white fuh walk down de streets pun Labour Day. Dem boys remember de days when Labour Day was a big parade. People use to lef dem house and line de streets. De people who use to march use to lef dem home before bird wife wake.

Everybody use to end up at de National Park fuh hear Burnham. Cheddi use to go to de park too. Nowadays people tekking de day as a holiday. Long time dem union hall use to have all de food and drinks and music. Burnham and Cheddi use to visit a few. Was a real workers’ day.

But it had to happen. From de time dem start fuh give workers de right to pay or not to pay union dues that was de end of de Labour Day parade. People didn’t belong to no union suh dem use to tek de opportunity fuh sleep late.

Imagine dem mek Donald talk to couple people wid a serious message. Hen See Hen didn’t even broadcast de man message when that was de norm. People who live far use to stay home and listen to dem speech pun radio.

Dem boys remember when dem name that road Mandela Avenue. Was a big march right round town fuh Labour Day. Mandela did just get loose out of jail. People walk wid pride.

All dem Government and department join in.

People want to know when this thing get suh poor. Dem don’t want to blame Bharrat because he was a Moscow man and he know bout Labour Day and de workers anthem which in English got de words , “Oh arise ye starvelings from your slumber; O arise you prisoners of want.”

Well it got to be that dem union ain’t got money. GAWU and NAACIE got to do without de sugar money suh dem can’t buy de rum fuh de staff and besides, de sugar workers stop marching.

Anyhow, Labour Day come and gone and people want to know wheh de labour deh. Perhaps Guyana getting ready to bring in robots. At least dem gun march.

Talk half and watch how de workers disappearing.

the unions not be able to fund their own training college?

Why does the government have to provide a subvention? What has happened to the monies that the workers have been paying to trade unions long before independence?

Some of them also want the government to reintroduce the agency shop agreement. None of them has questioned whether this is legal. Under an agency shop agreement, deductions are made from both unionized and non- unionized workers and then given to the union.

In other words, workers have no choice as to whether they wish to contribute to the union.

Each month deductions are made.

The courts of Guyana have rightly stopped this practice. What a person earns is his own. Any deduction has to be either authorized by law or by the employee. However, under agency shop agreement, the worker had no say. The monies were automatically deducted whether the employees were part of the

union of not.

This is one of the main reasons for the government to contract employees. It is not that contract employees cannot be unionized. There is nothing that prevents a contract employee from becoming a member of a union. Membership does not depend on tenured employment.

However, because contract employees are not tenured and their services can be terminated according to the terms of their contracts, it is felt that these employees will be less inclined to join the unions. And since union dues are usually pretty hefty, the more contract workers are not interested in unions, the greater the financial deprivation for the unions.

And this is the basis of the government to contract employees.

They represent a potential loss of agency fees for unions. Those who argue that contract employees are destroying the public service, fail to realize the international changes to the power of unions ever since the era of

Page 9

Ronald Reagan.

Trade unions may not have lost their bark. In fact if you listen to some local trade unions, they are making more noise now than before. But unions are no longer the threat they were to employers as they were in the past.

And not only have the powers of trade unions been reduced, so too has the nature of the workplace. The days of tenured employment are numbered. The young people of today are not looking to work for close to three decades in order to qualify for a pension. They are not keen on long term security of tenure.

Most of them would eventually leave to other jobs or to other countries. So they are not looking to be pensioned.

They are prepared to sacrifice the loss of tenure and pension in thirty years, all of that, because they understand the changing nature of the job market.

Workers in the state media for example invariably move on to the private media and some move away completely after

gaining the experience they need.

Contract workers are no threat to the public service.

Without contract workers there will be no functioning public service. When the PNC began to introduce contract workers, they did so for two reasons. This was the only way to attract the skills that were needed. You could not obtain the necessary skills by asking persons to join the public service or work for thirty-odd years so as to receive a pension.

An employee has a right to decide whether he or she wishes to be contracted or tenured. And from the way things are going, tenured employment is not going to exist ten years from now because the workers prefer the flexibility that contract employment offers.

Ironically some trade unionists themselves often take up international postings on contract.

Estranged husband kills Guyanese woman, 64 … at lover's home in Barbados Just before midnight on Tuesday, a 64-year-old Guyanese woman was chopped to death at her lover's home by her estranged husband in Barbados.

Dead is Brenda Duncan Taylor Belle of St. Barnabas, St. Michael, Barbados and of Lot 50 Russell, Street, Charlestown, Guyana.

The suspect later consumed a poisonous substance and is now hospitalized. This was reportedly after he set the woman's house in St. Barnabas, St. Michael on fire.

Her lover was lucky to escape unhurt.

According to information, the mother of three was murdered around 11:25 hours at her male associate's home in Cutting Road, Haggatt, St. Michael.

Yesterday, the woman's daughter, Paula Duncan, told Kaieteur News that she was awakened by a telephone call from one of her friends in Barbados. “She called me and she was panicking. She said something bad happen to my mother and she wants her (Belle) number. When I give it to her she promised to call back.”

The woman explained that her friend who lives in the same area as her mother called her within five minutes and informed her that her mother

Dead: Brenda Duncan Taylor Belle

was murdered by her Bajan estranged husband.

Duncan said that she was in shock and that her daughter (Belle's granddaughter) had to call her father in Barbados to confirm what they were told.

“He called and tell us it's true and the guy (Belle's lover) called and told us what happened. He said they had just arrived at his place and a little after they heard him (suspect) calling for 'Brenda, Brenda open the door' and after they

didn't answer he went to the back and start breaking the windows.

“When he reached into the house, the place was dark and she (Belle) and her friend panic after they see him with the cutlass and they run outside and tried to jump a high fence,” Belle's daughter explained to Kaieteur News yesterday.

She added that her mother's partner told her that he succeeded in climbing the fence but because of Belle's

weight, he was unable to lift her over.

“He said that she was too heavy and she told him to go and leave her and she will try to calm their attacker down.

(Her mother's lover) said within minutes he heard Belle saying 'Ow (suspect's name) don't kill me.”

Duncan said after her stepfather committed the act, he ran away. By the time, Belle's partner rushed to her, she took her last breath.

Her partner however identified the murderer to the police but when he took investigators to the house where Belle and the suspect once shared, it was already in flames, the suspect had already consumed the poisonous substance and was in the hospital.

"Last Saturday afternoon, she was drinking with some friends downtown, when they had a little quarrel. Soon after he took out a knife and started to fire some stabs and she got one stab by her underarm. It wasn't anything bad, it just carried about two stitches," Paula Duncan said yesterday.

Taylor began residing in St Barnabas, St Michael, Barbados just over 15 years ago.

She was married to the suspect, a Barbadian national, for the past 12 years but separated four years ago.

Page 10

Kaieteur News

Thursday May 02, 2013

THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN

The hypocrisy of the Canadian Govt.

I am not a supporter of Fidel Castro and I welcome the removal of the Communist Party from power in Cuba. I will advocate that there must be free and fair, competitive elections in Cuba. The Cuban people must have the right to travel to any part of this world that they want to. Having said this, I was never an endorser of the American condemnation of Cuba.

American castigation of Cuba for lack of democracy is abominably hypocritical.

There is more democracy in Cuba than in Saudi Arabia yet the US friendship with the Saudi kingdom is close and enduring. It has to be a mockery of morality that the Americans can condemn Cuba and cozy up to the depraved Saudi absolutist government.

While picking on Cuba, the US had diplomatic relations with one of the most uncivilized set of rulers since time began. The Doe military regime in Liberia marched members of the government it toppled naked in the streets then tied them to electricity poles and publicly executed them. Soldiers then ripped out the intestines of the dead men and posed for the international press with the guts in their hands. Time magazine carried one such photo.

Governments around the world will try to steal some human rights credibility for

themselves by picking on countries with which they have no relation, but will be happy to lie in bed with tyrannical regimes that offer some benefits to them.

The Canadian Government’s recent rejection of Sri Lanka as host for the forthcoming meeting of the Heads of the British Commonwealth is nothing but crass opportunism unworthy of one of the great countries and great democracies in the world.

Canada is a land I love.

I did my Masters and pursued my doctoral degree in that country. Canada is a lovely, pleasant and free nation that must be admired for its enduring democracy. It produced one of the fantastic leaders in the post war period in the 20th century, Pierre Trudeau.

According to the Canadian Government release, Sri Lanka practices

racial discrimination and bad governance. Is Canada mistaking Sri Lanka for Guyana? One wonders if the Canadians thought that the summit is being held in Guyana and they inadvertently wrote down Sri Lanka on the press release rather than Guyana. If you are talking about a failed state where racial discrimination has a morbid existence and bad governance is more horrific than bad then the Canadians are living in another time zone and not the 21st century.

The Canadians point to atrocities committed by the army during the defeat of the Tamil rebels.

These abominations did occur and the Sri Lankan Government should be made to face a serious UN inquiry with provisions for sanctions.

Though these horrific human rights violations occur during a war they are not excusable

but Sri Lanka was in a war nevertheless. How do you explain what has occurred in Guyana the past fifteen years without Guyana having any semblance of a civil war?

Terribly bad governance has characterized the exercise of power in Guyana the past fourteen years. Ethnic discrimination in this land is a disease the Canadian Government has to be aware of.

The Canadian Government is incompetent if it does not know that an immigration judge granted asylum to a fourteen-year-old girl who was raped in Friendship, East Bank Demerara.

The judge agreed that because the perpetrators have powerful friends in Government they may harm the victim and not be prosecuted if she is returned to Guyana.

The Canadian

Government is incompetent if it does not know that another immigration judge granted a wife and husband team asylum after the husband refused a criminal request by a senior minister of government to hack into the e-mail accounts of this columnist, Mark Benschop, then Opposition Leader Robert Corbin and AFC leader, Khemraj Ramjattan.

The wife was taken to a resort and stripped naked and beaten in front of the Minister.

The Canadian Government in 2012 was handed a dossier by the opposition parties which described extra-judicial executions between 2002 and 2005 of over five hundred citizens. The vast majority of the victims were from a particular ethnic community and government complicity was cited.

The Canadian

Frederick Kissoon Government must be told of the massacre of eight gold miners at Lindo Creek which a majority of Guyanese feel was committed by men in uniform. The Canadians cry out about security forces rampage in Sri Lanka. Guyana does not have a civil war but we have the security forces gunning down unarmed citizens like as in the Wild West.

The alleged Rose Hall bank robbers were shot as they surrendered. The hypocrisy and incompetence of the Canadian Government stink to high heavens.

FITUG emphasises call for workers' rights ...

From page 2 undivided attention as most seem keen to engage conversations and were at times as loud as the programmed speakers who were aided by a public address system.

Some workers opted to not be a part of the gathering altogether at the National Park and were seen indulging in

other activities in trucks that were used to transport them.

However Chand persevered, pointing out to the workers that “we must be mindful of the arduous path that we travel; the achievements we are proud of and the goals yet to be achieved...

“As workers we need to be more assertive in demanding our rights and insist that we be involved in the decision-making in our workplace and at various levels of society.”

In a desperate attempt to regain the attention of the workers, President of FITUG, Carvil Duncan, warned that the message coming out of the rally may in fact be one that requires them to apply some instructions.

At this juncture he sought

to amplify the theme of the rally even as he underscored that workers must seek to ask themselves, “have we been enjoying rights compatible with our thinking and our beliefs over the years, and I am quite certain many of you would say yes, but quietly.”

Duncan also made reference to his convictions that workers have been very quiet as it relates to developing situations in the country. “I am not one of the persons who like to speak about agitating workers; I am a peaceful man, very, very peaceful but when workers' rights are being trampled upon and nobody does anything about it, then I become a worried man.”

He said that FITUG has noted with concern that the cuts to the national budget have the potential of significantly impacting the lives of those within the working class so much so that some could even find themselves without a job.

Alluding to the cuts to the Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL), Duncan queried whether workers have analysed the developing state of affairs.

“Have we considered if you have to pay a 17 to 20 per

cent increase in Light Bill...because as it stands now you can hardly afford it.”

And compounding the situation, Duncan speculated that GPL may also have to terminate workers since the revenue the power company currently receives cannot sustain its operation.

FITUG at the conclusion of its rally sought to move a resolution to endorse its support for the $208.8 billion 2013 National Budget that was presented by Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, on March 25 to the National Assembly.

The resolution was read

by General Secretary of FITUG, Kenneth Joseph, who insisted that the budget in its original form contained measures aimed at fostering growth while improving the people's welfare and standard of living. He said too that FITUG was alarmed to learn that the “united parliamentary opposition” during considerations of the estimates decided to cut some of the projects all of which are ongoing.

The union movement, according to Joseph, is convinced that the move was “irresponsible and callous” and the negative consequences

will be felt mainly by the Guyanese working people.

According to the General Secretary the budgetary cuts amounting to the very substantial sum of $31.4 billion would have effectively denied citizens access to cheap and reliable electricity, stop construction of a health facility that promised specialty health care at expectedly affordable cost, prevented the modernisation and employment and other benefits associated with a larger airport and threatened the job of those workers at the National Communications Network and the Government Information Agency.

He said that FITUG condemns the opposition's tactic of cutting the budget as they did to the 2012 budget.

Thereby a resolve was proposed that the nation supports moves by the Government to restore the amount cut from the budget in order to continue with the projects affected even as solidarity is shown to those that have been affected.

Yesterday's event was not without the singing of the Labour Day theme song “Solidarity for Forever” and entertaining dances from the Majorettes and the Nadira and Indranie Shah Dance Troupe.

Thursday May 2, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 11

Laboratory results critical for decision making processes - GNBS As Medical Laboratory Professionals Week (MLPW) concludes under the theme “Laboratory Professionals Get results” the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) says that this week is used to raise awareness of the important contributions and to reinforce the commitment of the Medical Laboratory Professionals to deliver the best medical laboratory services to patients and the Health Care Team.

Guyana joined the rest of the world to celebrate Medical Laboratory Professional Week during the period April 22 to 26, 2013.

According to Ms. Candelle Walcott-Bostwick, Head, Conformity Assessment Department of the GNBS, medical laboratory teams are the cornerstone of accurate diagnoses for patients.

She explained that the test results comprise approximately 70 percent of a patient’s medical record today. Whether it’s a routine health screen, cancer diagnosis or blood donation,

medical lab professionals care for patients in small communities and metropolitan areas.

For all of these, the cure only begins when a diagnosis is made. This often depends critically on the work of professionals in the laboratory. Laboratory Week, which takes place the last full week in April each year, is now

in its 38th year of observances internationally and its 11th year in Guyana.

Ms Walton-Bostwick said that without a laboratory management system, a laboratory has no recognized way of assuring its customers who include doctors, patients, insurance companies, embassies, regulatory authorities and

other interested parties that the results provided after conducting the required tests on a sample are reliable.

According to GNBS Public Relations Officer, Lloyd David, the bureau recognizes the contributions of Laboratory Professionals who have developed, implemented and maintained laboratory management systems within their

laboratories to “Get accurate and reliable results”.

He noted that laboratory results are very critical for decision making and the processes used to achieve those results must be controlled.

The implementation of a laboratory management system meeting the requirements of the GYS 170 Standard, General requirements for the operation of a laboratory, provides a framework for a laboratory to ensure that it “gets results” which are accurate, reliable and useful to diagnose medical complications and prescribe the right medicines.

Without a laboratory management system, David noted that a laboratory has no recognized way of assuring its customers who include doctors, patients, insurance companies, embassies, regulatory authorities and other interested parties that the results provided after conducting the required tests on a sample are reliable.

The GNBS congratulates the Laboratory Professionals

of all the certified laboratories including the Dr. Balwant Singh Hospital Laboratory, Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation Medical Laboratory, the New Amsterdam Hospital Laboratory, Eureka Medical Laboratory, St. Joseph Mercy Hospital Laboratory, Georgetown Medical Centre Laboratory, National Public Health Reference Laboratory, the Woodlands Hospital Laboratory and the GRDB Central Laboratory for their dedication and commitment towards implementing laboratory management systems in Guyana and playing a leading role in “getting results”.

“The GNBS encourages medical professionals and persons requiring medical tests to fully utilize the services offered by these certified medical laboratories.

The GNBS also would like to encourage other medical and testing laboratories that have not yet decided on implementing the laboratory management system to come onboard the GNBS Laboratory Programme.”

4,814 loan applications worth Guyana says farewell to Cuban doctors $2.7B, issued in 2012-IPED Last year, Institute of Private Enterprise and Development (IPED) processed and approved 4,814 applications for loans with a total value of $2.7B for micro, small and medium enterprises. This was revealed in the IPED 2012 Annual Report. Chairman Dr. Yesu Persaud said the average size of loans processed was $564,000. Approximately 1,000 of these loans were for $100,000 and less.

IPED’s Chairman Dr. Yesu Persaud said the Institute started out with the intent of “helping people to help themselves, by providing loans and technical assistance to entrepreneurs to help them establish and grow their small and micro enterprises.” Back then, he

Chairman Dr. Yesu Persaud said, it was important not only to provide finance, but it was necessary to rejuvenate the spirit of entrepreneurship

amongst people as they were emerging out of an era of state-controlled enterprises and the failed experimentation with co-operative socialism.

This is compared to 5,002 applications processed with a value of $2.4B in 2011 with an average loan size of $479,000. Of the applications processed in 2012, a total of 677 were for first time borrowers. He noted that the number of enterprises that had outstanding credit facilities at the end of 2012 was approximately 3,888 compared to 3,931 in 2011.

It is estimated that the enterprises benefiting from services provided employment for approximately 9,700 persons, including the owners, based on data supplied by clients.

Woman denies being the ex-lover of her alleged robber On Tuesday, a robbery victim vehemently denied knowing a man, Bryan Benjamin, 51, of Middle Street, Georgetown, who claimed to be her lover.

Presiding over the matter was Magistrate Judy Latchman at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court who read the particulars of a charge which stated that on January 4, he robbed Channel Brandt of one gold chain valued $150,000, one gold band worth $60,000 and US$20.

The defendant told the court, “Your worship, I know

this woman a long time now.

A time I saw her and she told me she got some kids and she doesn’t have money and she ask me for a fine change which I gave to her. Sometime after that, she and I used to go out and do we ting and we were good.

Then all of a sudden she stop calling me.

“Then I saw her at the market with a guy and when I was about to talk to her she turned to me and said ya see you, I gon lock you up. Then I was arrested for the charge I don’t even know about your

worship.”

The complainant who seemed shocked by the defendant’s testimony broke down in tears and denied the allegation made by Benjamin.

She told the court that she does not know the defendant and she is absolutely positive that the defendant does not know anything about her.

Magistrate Judy Latchman subsequently refused to give the defendant bail and the matter was transferred to Chief Magistrate Priya Beharry for fixture.

The outgoing Cuban Doctors Guyana said goodbye to another set of Cuban doctors who were here on a two-year contract serving at various hospitals and health centres across the country.

On Monday evening the doctors were treated to a reception dinner at the Sleep In Hotel.

Minister of Health, Dr. Bheri Ramsaran, told Kaieteur News that the ten doctors, who left, had completed a two-year contract. He explained that in some instances a doctor is given an extension when he is an exceptionally good operative.

He noted that this is in the case for the bio medical engineer whose contract was extended; because Guyana needed his expertise.

He said that the Ministry

of Health is inclined to make an adjustment for an additional year.

The minister further told Kaieteur News that another batch of 27 doctors had left earlier in the year. According to the minister at the end of the contract there is a planned process, where there is an overlap with the doctors.

He explained that the

doctors would show the newcomers how things are done in Guyana.

The Minister further noted that the doctors are spread across Guyana at all the hospitals and health centers.

He noted that initiative has increased due to a partnership between the two countries.

Three held with ganja Police arrested three men who were in a house at Perseverance, on the Essequibo Coast, on Wednesday afternoon, after they found five pounds of cannabis hidden in a PVC pipe.

One of the men was identified as a 23-year-old, welder, while the other two are from Onderneeming Sand Pit and Perseverance. The owner of the house which was searched has since claimed ownership of the cannabis, when police officers questioned him.

The men are in custody at the Anna Regina Lock-up.

Page 12

Kaieteur News

Thursday May 2, 2013

Tuschen cattle farmers fearful land takeover will force them out of business Tuschen cattle farmers are concerned that they will soon be out of business if their animals’ grazing land continues to be confiscated to build Housing Schemes.

The Tuschen West Cattle Farmer’s Association on the East Bank of Essequibo said that land that was handed over by previous Agriculture Ministers is being taken away by the Ministry of Housing, which charged that the original agreement for the farmers to have the land was a mistake.

Head of the Farmer ’s Association, Deonarine

Cheddie, said that the farmers who depend on cow rearing for a living are selling out their animals because the grazing land left is too small and because the animals have to graze on the road sides.

He said that in total, the farmers had about 200 cows grazing on almost 200 acres of land, but now, farmers have to occupy 89 acres of space.

According to Cheddie, on July 9, 2003, the Tuschen Cattle Farmers Association was registered with 16 members owning some 250 cows.

Before their registration, the farmers had

been using the said confiscated land to rear their animals, Cheddie continued.

He said that it was the late President Cheddi Jagan, who related to late Agriculture Minister Reepu Daman Persaud that he should work towards farmers attaining the land. He said the land was being used but they had not gotten any official documentation.

On July 11, 2005, the association wrote to former President Bharrat Jagdeo for the granting of the land.

Subsequent, to that, Cheddie said Minister Satyadeow

Sawh wrote the association on July 22, 2005 to say, that in light of a successful meeting which was held with the farmers, the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission would be visiting the area for an occupational survey, “since it is part of the Commission’s criteria which ultimately results in the lease.”

After showing the letter from Minister Sawh to this newspaper, Cheddie said the Commission did conduct the survey for which farmers paid $48,500 on July 27, 2005.

The lease was the only thing left, he said.

However in 2009, the Housing Minister Irfaan Ali,

Gold Miners want authorities to change requirements for mining lotteries Of 3,000 blocks of land offered during the recent lottery for special mining permits only 897 were taken up. Reporting this less than 30 per cent uptake as far below that which was expected, members of the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) on Tuesday passed a resolution calling on the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNR&E) to change the criteria for eligibility for participation in such lotteries.

They want the requirement which states that participants must be the owner of at least one piece of mining equipment which should be registered with the GGMC before they can participate in the lottery, to be struck off the list.

Members said that this requirement was a real barrier to small miners and in any

event was quite indefensible.

“It’s like putting the cart before the horse,” one speaker said.

“A lottery is like buying a lotto ticket. Your chance of winning is about the same as getting struck by lightning. A rare thing. So you go buy equipment and register the equipment and the next day they pull the lottery and you ain’t get a block, what happens next?”

One miner stated:” From the point of view of encouraging people to get involved in the industry the results of the lottery was quite disappointing. A mere 30 per cent of the blocks being taken up shows that something is preventing people ; we need to get it reversed.”

He suggested to the noisy agreement of those at the meeting that once a person has bona fides as a miner such as mining privileges or prospecting licences they should be allowed to participate in the lotteries.

“After they get the land, then the GGMC can insist that they register mining equipment before they can begin mining on it.

You don’t put the cart before the horse. Still can’t understand why they did it like that,” the member said.

One member reported that Amerindians at Lethem who are small miners had protested over the requirement stating that it had effectively barred them from obtaining lands to mine legally and that it was very discriminatory. So had many small miners who do not have the required equipment.

Her opinion was that Porkknockers are the backbone of the gold mining industry.

“They are valid miners who live in the interior who know the interior and they have a track record. They are entitled to the lottery, lack of equipment notwithstanding. So why should we deny them?”

The miner moved the resolution calling for the removal of the requirement and it was

From page 3 media houses, including Kaieteur News, against the unfair distribution of the radio and cable licences. But, Government remains unmoved even though the current Head-of-State has the authority to revoke those licences, he contended.

“And it is within this context we must understand that what Jagdeo did and what is being perpetuated by Ramotar is about the control of the airwaves,” Ramjattan noted.

According to Ramjattan, what the People’s Progressive Party Civic is doing to the people of Guyana, including the Opposition parties is exactly what the Burnham regime (that is painted as dictatorial regime

by Government) did in the past.

Ramjattan related that during Forbes Burnham presi-

dency newsprint was the means used to disseminate information to the populace and Burnham controlled that communication link between Government and its people.

Ironically, this Government who was Burnham’s Opposition Party at the time suffered in the same way they are treating the Opposition.

He emphasized that the era has changed and now the airwaves is the technology to disseminate information and it is being controlled. “This thing must be halted,” Ramjattan declared.

Speaking on the importance of freedom of press and access to information AFC’s Parliamentarian, Cathy Hughes who was part of the panel, said that the above are pertinent to the foundation of a democratic country.

Hughes noted that Guyana’s television industry

developed in a haphazard way termed the Wild West.

In addition, in 2011, the same year Jagdeo gave the licences away, Guyana still had a radio station owned and controlled by Government and a political party that the Opposition could not say was operating in the national interest.

According to Hughes, the distribution of new licences should have ushered in change and a fair environment, reflecting the views of various communities across Guyana.

Diverse people should have been able to contribute to discussions of development.

But, this is not the case with these licences that were issued unfairly. As such they are unacceptable. She contended that electromagnetic spectrum is a natural resource of the country and it should be in responsible hands.

unanimously agreed to by all present.

Administrative Officer of the GGDMA, Colin Sparman, promised to pass the resolution along to the relevant agencies.

He said that the GGDMA had also decided that it would have to review the effectiveness of having these lotteries because the response had been far less than expected

approached the famers and said that “he will be taking this land to build Tuschen Second Phase Housing Scheme.”

Despite showing the Housing Minister the documents from previous arrangements including the Lands and Surveys document, Cheddie said they were told that “Lands and Surveys made a mistake.’

Cheddie said that the farmers were however assured that another plot of land would be made available for them at Zeelugt but to date the farmers have not been issued any land.

Three days after meeting the Housing Minister they said workers commenced bulldozing the area sending the livestock “helter skelter.”

The remaining 89 acres, Cheddie said, is too small for the animals to graze and as such the cows end up on the road corner or in the Housing Scheme affecting the residents. This thus leads to the Home Affairs Ministry’s cowcatchers confiscating the animals and farmers then have to pay $8000 to retrieve one cow.

Since the matter started, Cheddie said the association has visited all the relevant agencies but there has been

no relief to their plight. He said they even visited the Housing Minister but he chased them out of his office.

“A you ah run all bout like you head na good. I am sorry I get involved with you. I can’t help a you. Get out my office,” Cheddie alleged.

In the meantime, the association head said the farmers are suffering and it seems l i k e t h e r e i s n o concern about them. Some of these farmers include women, Cheddie highlighted. “Some of them husband dead and that dem do fah a living.”

He said that most of the farmers rear cattle for a living and it would be difficult for these persons to change their lifestyle, despite the remaining 89 acres of land being pegged for another housing scheme.

Some farmers have already sold their cows and have abandoned the cattle rearing business, but for people who were hurt while working in the sugar industry, it is hard.

He said after his injury he was paid off and the money was put into rearing cows which is now his daily bread.

The farmer said that he is seeking some intervention into the cattle farmers’ plight and hope for a quick resolution.

Car crashes into SUV

Controlled airwaves...

The driver of the car HB 2349 escaped injury last evening after crashing into the back of a Toyota Tundra GKK 2353. The accident occurred on the West Demerara Public Road at Harlem.

Thursday May 2, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 17

Thursday May 02, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 19

Venezuelans hold rival May Day marches as vote dispute drags on CARACAS (Reuters) Opposition and government supporters flooded Venezuelan streets in rival May Day marches yesterday as a continuing dispute over the results of last month’s presidential vote kept political tensions high in the OPEC nation.

On Tuesday, opposition deputies were beaten in a fracas in Congress resulting from their refusal to recognize the presidency of Nicolas Maduro, who narrowly won the April 14 election triggered by the death of socialist leader Hugo Chavez.

Government officials, meanwhile, have threatened to jail opposition leader Henrique Capriles for allegedly orchestrating violent demonstrations that killed nine people after the vote.

Most foreign governments, with the

exception of the United States, have recognized the election results.

The volatile situation underscores the challenges of the “Chavismo” movement to maintain Hugo Chavez’s self-styled revolution without his messianic but micromanaging leadership.

“We’re not afraid of the government. Even if they threaten, beat, and insult us, we’re going to continue demonstrating like we are today,” said Graciela Perez, 61, a housewife, marching through the affluent east side of the capital of Caracas.

“We only want the truth to be known - that they stole the elections.”

A renewal of the postvote violence appeared unlikely because the rival marches in Caracas, involving tens of thousands of people on each side, did not cross

paths. Similar marches took place elsewhere in the country.

Maduro, a 50-year-old former bus driver, will likely use the labor day Monday celebration to tout the working-class roots that helped make him Chavez’s chosen successor.

“We’re here in the streets because this is a workers’ government that represents the people,” said Luis Graterol, an airport worker at a pro-government march in central Caracas.

Vendors sold pictures of the late Chavez to marchers wearing signature-red shirts, some of which were adorned with Maduro’s face. One sign read “Capriles: fascist assassin.”

“Today we march as always through the streets with the workers, remembering The Giant and

HAVANA (AP) — The State Department announced yesterday that Washington has no plans to remove Cuba from a list of state sponsors of terrorism that also includes Iran, Syria and Sudan.

The decision is sure to ruffle feathers in Havana, which vehemently denies any links to terrorism. Cuba’s government contends its inclusion on the list is a political vendetta by a U.S. government that has kept an economic embargo on the Communist-run island for 51 years.

State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said Washington “has no current plans to remove Cuba” from the list, which is included in the department’s annual report on terrorism.

The report was supposed to have been released Tuesday, but has been delayed. Officials say it is

likely to come out later in May. Yesterday was a holiday in Cuba and there was no immediate comment from the government.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Cuban-American Republican from Florida, praised the decision to keep Cuba on the list. It “reaffirms that the Castro regime is, and has always been, a supporter and facilitator of terrorism,” she said.

She criticized the administration for not putting North Korea back on the list.

The reclusive Asian country was taken off in 2008 amid negotiations over nuclear disarmament that ultimately failed.

Cuba is ostensibly included on the list because it has harbored Colombian rebels and Basque militants as well as some aging members of American militant groups from the 1960s and ’70s.

Many Cuba watchers had speculated the time might be ripe for Cuba to get off the list, in large part because the Cuban government is now hosting peace talks between Colombian rebels and that country’s government, while the Basque militants have announced a permanent cease-fire.

Neither the Colombian nor Spanish governments has criticized Cuba’s role in their conflicts in recent years, and both countries routinely vote against U.S. economic sanctions on the island during a yearly vote at the United Nations.

But Ventrell said the annual report is never used to remove or add countries from the state sponsors list.

Such decisions can be made at any time during the year, he said, but added that there are no plans to alter Cuba’s status in the near future.

US keeps Cuba on state sponsors of terrorism list

Primary school student accused of attempting to poison teachers and classmates KINGSTON, Jamaica CMC The Child Development Agency (CDA) says it has intervened in a case in which a seven-yearold student is accused of attempting to poison teachers and students of a primary school in St Mary.

The principal of the school, Irvin Rose, said that the student had been reprimanded by a teacher last Thursday and returned to the

school the following day, sprinkling Gramoxone - a highly-poisonous pesticide on food items.

The authorities said that the bottle of the poison had been discovered after it fell from the student’s schoolbag as he attempted to leave the school.

The CDA, which is responsible for children in need of care and protection, said the student has been

referred to the Child Guidance Clinic in the parish for a psychological assessment and that a CDA officer also met with the student, his family and teachers.

Under the Child Care and Protection Act, a child below the age of 12 accused of a criminal offence cannot be charged, but a court could rule that there is need cared supervision and protection.

Opposition lawmaker Julio Borges protesting violent fascism,” wrote Maduro via his Twitter account, in reference to Chavez.

He retweeted messages from the late president’s account from last year’s May Day march.

In allied Cuba, which benefited from years of largesse during Chavez’s 14year rule, marchers filed through Havana’s

Revolution Square waving pictures of Chavez with the words “Our Best Friend” beneath his smiling face.

The opposition dismisses Maduro as an illegitimate leader who usurped power through voting-day irregularities.

Capriles said the opposition would challenge the elections on Thursday before the Supreme Court.

“We cannot fall into the traps of this illegitimate government, which is going to fall at any moment,” he said during the opposition march.

Critics say state institutions including the Supreme Court and the elections council are controlled by the Socialist Party. Few believe either will alter the results of the vote.

Continued on page 21

Page 20

Kaieteur News

Thursday May 02, 2013

Bolivia president expels US Govt. aid agency LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — President Evo Morales acted on a longtime threat yesterday and expelled the U.S. Agency for International Development for allegedly seeking to undermine Bolivia’s leftist government, and he harangued Washington’s top diplomat for calling the Western Hemisphere his country’s “backyard.”

Bolivia’s ABI state news agency said USAID was “accused of alleged political interference in peasant unions and other social organizations.”

In the past, Morales has accused the agency of funding groups that opposed his policies, including a lowlands indigenous federation that organized protests against a Moralesbacked highway through the TIPNIS rainforest preserve.

In 2008, Morales expelled the U.S. ambassador and agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration for allegedly inciting the opposition. Yesterday, he said Washington “still has a mentality of domination and submission” in the region.

While Morales did not provide evidence of USAID meddling, funds channeled through it have been used in Bolivia and its leftist ally Venezuela to support organizations deemed a threat by those governments.

But there is not much aid left to cut.

As U.S.-Bolivian relations soured and Washington canceled trade preferences, total U.S. foreign aid to the poor, landlocked South American nation has dropped from $100 million in 2008 to $28 million last year.

Amid mutual distrust on drug war politics, U.S. counternarcotics and security aid are track to all but disappear in the coming fiscal year Bolivia, a cocaine-producing country

along with Colombia and Peru.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell called Morales’ allegations “baseless” and said the purpose of USAID programs in Bolivia has been, since they began in 1964, “to help the Bolivian government improve the lives of ordinary Bolivians” in full coordination with its agencies.

He called the USAID expulsion a demonstration of the Morales administration’s lack of interest in a relationship “based on mutual respect, dialogue and cooperation” and regretted it would hurt Bolivians who had benefitted from programs focused on education, health, environmental protection and strengthening the legal system.

Analyst Kathryn Ledebur of the nonprofit Andean Information Network in Bolivia was not surprised by the expulsion itself, but by the fact that Morales took so long to do it after repeated threats, which she believes diminishes its political impact.

“USAID alternative development efforts tied to forced coca eradication provoked his mistrust,” she said of Morales, a longtime coca-growers union leader before his December 2005 election as Bolivia’s first indigenous president. Since U.S. assistance has “dwindled to a trickle,” the financial impact will be limited as well, she said.

Ledebur said Morales was also upset that USAID money reached lowland regional governments he accused of trying to overthrow him in 2008.

In a 2010 Freedom of Information Act request, The Associated Press asked USAID for descriptions of the Bolivian recipients of grant money. The response

China Harbour eyes mega investment Jamaica Gleaner - China Harbour Engineering Company has shelved plans to develop a new trans-shipment port at Fort Augusta and is now eyeing the establishment of a massive industrial park in Jamaica.

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller said Tuesday that the company had radically expanded the scope of its projected investment interest in the island.

Preliminary estimates of what is being described as a mega-investment are between US$1.2 billion and US$1.5 billion. It will consist of trans-shipment facilities, a logistic centre, industrial plants, a cement plant and perhaps a power plant.

Simpson Miller said the project would be implemented over a five-year period and during the construction phase, some 2,000 persons would be employed.

After its completion, the industrial park is expected to employ approximately 10,000 workers.

Evo Morales did not go into detail, but did include such items as $10.5 million for “democracybuilding” awarded to Chemonics Int. Inc. in 2006 “to support improved governance in a changing political environment.”

A related USAID brochure said components of

the three-year “Strengthening Democratic Institutions” program included “teaching basic citizenship principles and skills” in all of Bolivia’s nine states.

A similar program in Venezuela, bearing the same name, was described by then-

(Reuters) The International Monetary Fund’s executive board yesterday approved a $932.2 million (599 million pounds) four-year lending agreement with Jamaica meant to help the Caribbean country start to reduce its heavy debt burden.

The money will complement about $510 million in planned funds from both the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, which together will bring Jamaica’s loan package to nearly $2 billion. Jamaica will get $207 million in IMF funds immediately.

Jamaica’s ratio of government debt to GDP hovered at around 140 percent last year, according to the IMF’s latest assessment of the country’s economy.

Jamaica has also grappled with a drop in international reserves and a sharp slide in the Jamaican dollar.The country’s high debt service payments have limited the government’s ability to provide services needed to achieve sustained rates of growth, the IMF has said.

“The main objective of the

program is to put public debt on a firmly downward trajectory and thereby create a virtuous cycle of debt sustainability and higher economic growth,” David Lipton, the IMF’s first deputy managing director, said in a statement.

Jamaica’s 2010 loan agreement with the IMF lapsed after the government failed to meet performance targets, and some analysts have expressed scepticism about a new program.

“We’re agnostic. We think it is a very positive first step,” Gabriel Torres, the lead Moody’s analyst for Jamaica, said of the loan program, adding that “it will require a lot of commitment.”

Moody’s currently rates Jamaica’s debt as B3, above default but still posing a high credit risk.

Fitch’s rating is CCC, while Standard & Poor’s raised its rating from default to CCC-plus after Jamaica completed a domestic debt exchange with a high level of participation.

In addition to the debt exchange, Jamaica has

U.S. ambassador to Caracas William Brownfield in a November 2006 diplomatic cable as being aimed at countering attempts by that country’s late president, Hugo Chavez, to centralize power and suppress civil liberties.

The cable, classified as secret, was published by WikiLeaks, and the program was administered by USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives, whose web page says it operates “in priority countries in crisis.”

Morales made yesterday’s announcement to a crowd outside the presidential palace during a rally to mark International Workers’ Day. Morales told the crowd that he “laments and is condemning” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s remark, in April 17 testimony to the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee that “the Western Hemisphere is our backyard.

It’s critical to us.”

Many Latin Americans, leftists in particular, are sensitive to descriptions of their nations as a “backyard,” or other phrases that could imply hegemonic designs, especially in light of Washington’s 20th-century

history of backing repressive regimes in the Americas.

“The United States does not lack institutions that continue to conspire and that’s why I am using this gathering to announce that we have decided to expel USAID from Bolivia,” Morales told the crowd, turning to his foreign minister, David Choquehuanca and ordering him to inform the U.S. Embassy.

Ventrell, the State Department spokesman, dismissed the criticism as misdirected. “It’s about us being neighbors,” he said, echoing President Barack Obama’s 2009 statement that the U.S. considers its Latin American neighbors “equal partners.”

Morales has been especially vocal lately in his rejection of Washington’s support for a full recount of the results of April 14 elections in Venezuela.

Chavez’s annointed heir, Nicolas Maduro, won that election by fewer than 250,000 votes in balloting that opposition candidate Henrique Capriles was stolen from him by a government criticized by international human rights groups as repressive.

IMF board OK’s $932 million loan program for Jamaica

David Lipton already made some other reforms in preparation for the program, such as agreeing to a wage freeze for government workers and proposing a budget with a primary surplus of 7.5 percent of GDP. The IMF said these actions were signs the government was serious about change.

“Although the risks to the program are high, the implementation of the prior

actions, the frontloaded nature of the reform agenda, and the envisaged collaboration with development partners should help foster the successful implementation of the program,” the IMF’s Lipton said.

As part of the program, Jamaica will have to make structural reforms, improve price competitiveness and reduce government spending and the debt while still improving social protection programs.

Carl Ross, managing director at Investments Oppenheimer, said the loan was clearly important for Jamaica, which has had trouble accessing debt markets and has a high current account deficit. But the government has a history of breaking its fiscal promises in the face of outside shocks, such as storms, commodity prices or weaker global growth.

“It’s very difficult for any country to sustain primary surpluses of that order of magnitude,” he said. “I think it’s not going to be easy.”

Thursday May 02, 2013

CLICO contempt

Kaieteur News

Enquiry Commissioner Caribbean bank accounts initiates criminal action are next IRS target against top ex-executives

‘Archer served, Gandhi not home’: Queen’s Counsel Peter Carter makes a point during Tuesday’s sitting of the commission of enquiry into the collapse of CL Financial and the Hindu Credit Union at Winsure Building, Richmond Street, Port of Spain. —Photo: ANISTO ALVES Trinidad Express Lennox Archer and Mala Gandhi, the former president and vice-president of CLICO Investment Bank (CIB), respectively, were both noshows at the commission of enquiry into the failure of CL Financial and four of its subsidaries, Tuesday As a result of their nonappearance, Sir Anthony Colman, the enquiry’s lone commissioner, yesterday initiated criminal proceedings against the duo under Section 12 of the Commissions of Enquiry Act. Tuesday’s sitting of the enquiry lasted just over one hour because of the failure to appear by Archer and Gandhi.

“I think that is about all we can cover. There were no

witnesses listed other than those two,” Colman said, before bringing the day’s hearing to an end.

British Queen’s Counsel Peter Carter agreed. “That is right, Sir. I am afraid we have to schedule the hearings on the basis that people will comply with the law and would honour the subpoenas that have been served on them, and we had intended that today would have been devoted to Mr Archer and Miss Gandhi, as the former president and former vicepresident of CLICO Investment Bank in advance of the reappearance (yesterday) of Mr (Richard) Trotman,” Carter said.

Trotman, also a former CIB president, was scheduled to testify yesterday.

Tuesday’s sitting of the enquiry started at its regular time of 9.30 a.m. The public gallery where the witnesses for the day are usually seated was empty.

Carter Tuesday outlined to Colman the extent the commission had gone to get both Archer and Gandhi to testify. Archer was served with a subpoena on April 7, Carter said. He was also provided with funds from the commission, known as “conduct money”, to pay for his expenses to attend the enquiry.

“He took conduct money and did not conduct himself,” Carter said.

Carter said attempts were taken as recent as Sunday to serve Gandhi with a subpoena.

Venezuelans hold rival...

From page 19 The opposition insisted that the election authority do a complete audit of the vote.

But Capriles said the audit the elections council planned to do was not thorough enough to uncover the irregularities, and refused to participate.

Leaders of Congress, which is controlled by the ruling Socialist Party, have refused to give opposition deputies the floor unless they recognize Maduro.

During Tuesday’s session, legislators allied with Capriles raised a banner that read “Coup in the Parliament” to protest the measure they describe as censorship.

Video footage shows Socialist Party legislators scrambling to pull the banner down and one man repeatedly punching an opposition deputy in the face,

Page 21

leaving him bloodied and bruised.

Another deputy said she was thrown to the floor and kicked while Congress chief Diosdado Cabello, a close Chavez ally, stood watching with a smile on his face.

Cabello denied that in an interview with state television on Wednesday.

He said he did not intervene because the opposition would have made it appear as though he were involved.

“Tempers are hot, but that’s because these gentlemen of the opposition have not recognized state institutions and generated violence on April 14 and 15,” he said.

The U.S. State Department, which has been for years at odds with Venezuela’s government and

has balked at recognizing Maduro, said such incidents have “no place in a representative democracy” “We are deeply concerned by the violence that occurred (and) express our solidarity with those injured,” said State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell.

The legislature has opened a special commission to investigate the violence that resulted from opposition demonstrations to demand a full recount. The prisons minister has said she has prepared a cell for Capriles.

In recent days, the government has arrested a retired general turned opposition leader and an American film-maker on charges of stirring up the protests to destabilize the country.

WASHINGTON - CMC – A federal court in California has authorised the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to serve a “John Doe” summons seeking information about US taxpayers who may hold offshore accounts in a Barbados-headquartered Caribbean bank.

The Department of Justice has identified the bank as the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce FirstCaribbean International Bank (FCIB). It said the order was signed by Senior District Judge Thelton E. Henderson.

The Department of Justice said the IRS summons seeks records of FCIB’s United States correspondent account at the San Franciscobased bank, Wells Fargo N.A and that the summons will allow the IRS to identify US taxpayers who hold or held interests in financial accounts at FCIB and other financial institutions that used FCIB’s Wells Fargo correspondent account.

The Department of Justice said that, based on a petition filed by the government, the court granted the IRS

permission to serve what is known as a “John Doe” summons on Wells Fargo.

“The IRS uses “John Doe” summonses to obtain information about possible violations of internal revenue laws by individuals whose identities are unknown,” the statement said.

According to the declaration of IRS Revenue, agent Cheryl R. Kiger filed in support of the petition, FCIB is based in Barbados and has branches in 18 Caribbean countries. The declaration said that although FCIB does not have US branches, it maintains a correspondent account in the United States at Wells Fargo Bank N.A. In the declaration, Kiger alleges the “IRS learned that US taxpayers were using FCIB to help them keep their offshore accounts undetected by the IRS and not to pay US federal income tax on money placed in those offshore accounts”.

The Justice Department said Kiger’s declaration describes her review of the information submitted by more than 120 FCIB

customers who participated in the IRS’s Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Programme.

According to the Kiger declaration, many of the FCIB customers in the “John Doe” class “may have been underreporting income, evading income taxes, or otherwise violating the internal revenue laws of the United States”.

Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division, Kathryn Keneally, said the Department of Justice and the IRS “are committed to global enforcement to stop the use of foreign bank accounts to evade US taxes. “This “John Doe” summons is a visible indication of how we are using the many tools available to us to pursue this activity wherever it is occurring.

Those who are still hiding should get right with their country and their fellow taxpayers before it is too late.”

IRS Acting Commissioner, Steven T. Miller, said the summons “marks another milestone in international tax enforcement.

Page 22

Kaieteur News

Thursday May 02, 2013

Thousands rally against European austerity on May Day MADRID (Reuters) Workers hit by lower living standards and record high unemployment staged May Day protests across Europe yesterday, hoping to persuade their governments of the case for easing austerity measures and boosting growth.

In the debt-laden euro zone countries of Spain, Greece, Italy and France tens of thousands of people took to the streets to demand jobs and an end to years of belttightening.

In Spain, where the economy has shrunk for seven consecutive quarters and unemployment stands at a record 27 percent, thousands of people snaked up Madrid’s Gran Via central shopping street carrying placards reading “austerity ruins and kills”.

“The future of Spain looks terrible; we’re going backwards with this government,” said former civil servant Alicia Candelas, 54, who has been without a job for two years.

Unions said 50,000 people marched in Madrid and more than 1 million took part in peaceful rallies across the country. There was no independent estimate, and police did not give a figure.

Trains and ferries were canceled in Greece, and bank and hospital staff walked off the job after unions there called a 24-hour strike, the latest in a string of protests in a country in its sixth year of recession.

About 1,000 police officers were deployed in Athens, but the demonstration passed off peacefully, with about 5,000 striking workers, pensioners and students marching to parliament holding banners reading: “We won’t become slaves, take to the streets!”.

Earlier, hundreds of protesters affiliated with the Communist KKE party made a clenched-fist salute on Syntagma Square, scene of

Supporters of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) shout slogans during a rally marking May Day, or Labour Day, in central Sofia yesterday. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov (BULGARIA - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT) clashes between police and protesters during previous protests.

“The economy won’t be resurrected by the bankrupt banks and the corrupt political system but by the workers and their fight,” Alexis Tsipras, leader of the anti-bailout Syriza party, told protesters.

Harsh measures to cut Greece’s budget deficit are a condition of its international bailout, imposed on Athens to save it from a chaotic bankruptcy and euro exit.

But there were fewer protesters on the streets than last year when 100,000 marched on Syntagma Square. The May 1 holiday falls just before Greek Orthodox Easter, so public schools were shut and many workers had left for holidays.

Four euro zone countries - Greece, Ireland, Portugal and

Cyprus - have received sovereign bailouts. With little or no sign of growth in the currency bloc, the European Central Bank is expected to cut interest rates to a record low of 0.5 percent at its meeting today.

But analysts say that alone will do little to lift the zone out of recession, and several governments are now openly discussing policies to try to boost growth.

Italy’s new Prime Minister Enrico Letta told Germany on Tuesday that his government would meet its budget commitments but expected

Europe to drop its austerity mantra and do more to lift growth.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, seen by many in southern Europe as the champion of the belttightening approach, struck a conciliatory tone, saying “budget consolidation and growth need not be contradictory”.

Letta met French President Francois Hollande yesterday, expecting a more favorable hearing for his focus on growth.

France’s two biggest unions, split over Hollande’s

labor law reforms, held separate May 1 marches.

Hollande’s approval rating has dropped as low as 25 percent as cuts bite and unemployment has risen.

German unions said about 425,000 people took part in more than 400 events around the country.

Michael Sommer, head of the DGB federation of German labor unions, said the German government should have more solidarity with the rest of the euro zone.

“We cannot allow this continent to be ‘kaputtgespart’ - forced to

save so much that it breaks apart,” he said.

Tens of thousands marched in Italy’s major cities to demand action to tackle unemployment - at 11.5 percent overall and 40 percent among the young.

Demonstrators in Turin threw hollowed eggs filled with black paint at police.

Pope Francis made a May Day appeal for governments to tackle unemployment, as “work is fundamental to the dignity of a person”.

“I think of how many, and not just young people, are unemployed, many times due to a purely economic conception of society, which seeks selfish profit, beyond the parameters of social justice,” he told a crowd in St. Peter’s Square.

Thousands of people marched in Lisbon calling for an end to austerity dictated

by Portugal’s EU/IMF bailout, a day after the government said there would be more spending cuts.

Traditional May Day marches were also taking place outside the euro zone.

In Russia, about 1.5 million people were expected to take part in parades, a fraction of the millions that used to march in Soviet times.

In Istanbul, Turkish riot police fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse crowds gathering for a rally. A Reuters photographer said at least six people were injured.

Turkish authorities often use force to prevent the rally in the city center, having this year denied trade unions permission to march on Taksim Square, saying construction work there would make it too dangerous.

UK regulator defends tough bank capital rules (Reuters) - Britain’s top banking regulator defended his tough rules, saying strong capital buffers were a pre-condition for keeping the economy supplied with credit.

Andrew Bailey was speaking after the UK government urged the Bank of England’s risk watchdog, on which Bailey sits, to ensure regulation does not impede recovery.

Banks complain it is difficult for them to keep lending to businesses and households when the BoE’s Prudential Regulation Authority, headed by Bailey, is asking them to plug a 25

Andrew Bailey billion pound capital hole by year-end.

“We see evidence today of better capitalised banks

tending to see more rapid growth in lending,” Bailey told a dinner at the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Edinburgh.

Balance sheet strength is a necessary pre-condition of stronger lending to the economy as a whole, he said.

“At present the Bank of England is pursuing two important objectives: seeking to increase the resilience of the UK banking system and supporting the creation of credit in the UK economy.”

Last week the central bank retooled its Funding for Lending Scheme designed to improve the supply of credit to the economy.

“We cannot say that this will conclusively deal with the question of whether the problem is a lack of loan supply or demand, but we can say that we have used our toolkit to create a big incentive for banks to lend to small firms,” Bailey said.

It will also require a “very strong culture” for regulators to rein in banks to keep the financial system stable when the good times return.

“The record of the past indicates that the temptation to ‘let the good times roll’ is deeply embedded in the political economy of regulation,” Bailey said.

Thursday May 02, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 23

EU considers trade action after Bangladesh factory collapse DHAKA (Reuters) - The European Union is considering trade action against Bangladesh, which has preferential access to EU markets for its garments, to pressure Dhaka to improve safety standards after a building collapse killed more than 400 factory workers.

Duty-free access offered

by Western countries and low wages have helped turn Bangladesh’s garment exports into a $19 billion a year industry, with 60 percent of clothes going to Europe.

Any action by the EU on Bangladesh’s duty-free and quota-free access would require the agreement of all member states and could take more than a year to implement.

“The European Union calls upon the Bangladeshi authorities to act immediately to ensure that factories across the country comply with international labor standards...,” the 27-nation bloc said in a statement issued

by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Trade Commissioner Karel de

Gucht.

In the United States, prominent Democrats Sander Levin and George Miller wrote a letter to President Obama urging him to facilitate the development of a concrete plan of action to address the range of issues relating to working conditions and worker rights in the garment sector in Bangladesh.

The death toll from the collapse last week of the illegally built Rana Plaza in Dhaka’s commercial suburb of Savar rose to 411 on Wednesday and about 40 unidentified victims were buried. One woman at the cemetery collapsed into tears when she recognized the body of her sister by her dress.

Several thousand workers rallied in the capital to mark Labour Day, and some called for capital punishment for those responsible for the tragedy.

“The owner of the building ... should be hanged to death and compensation should be given to the injured and those

People gather in front of mass graves during the burial of unidentified garment workers, who died in the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Savar, in Dhaka yesterday. REUTERS/Andrew Biraj who died,” said labor leader Moshrefa Mishu. “A healthy and safe atmosphere should be made in the factories.”

With local anger growing over the country’s worst industrial accident, a

At least 22 killed in Iraq attacks (Reuters) - At least 22 people were killed in attacks across Iraq yesterday, police and medics said, after weeks of intensifying violence that threatens all-out sectarian conflict.

Iraq has become increasingly volatile as the civil war in neighbouring Syria strains fragile relations between Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims. Tensions are at their highest since U.S. troops pulled out of the country more than a year ago.

In the north of the capital Baghdad, gunmen attacked a police station and occupied it after killing five policemen, medics and police said.

In the western province of Anbar, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives vest in a group of governmentbacked Sunni “Sahwa” fighters who were collecting their salaries, killing six in a town east of the city of Falluja, police sources said.

“I was there to get my monthly salary as usual, and there was no security measures because the situation was normal ... a person drove his car among us, and suddenly the explosion happened,” said Sahwa fighter Rasheed Muslih.

“When I opened my eyes, there was nothing but smoke and several of my colleagues were killed and the others wounded.”

The “Sahwa”

(awakening) councils, or the Sons of Iraq as they came to be known, have come under increasing attack from Sunni militants who despise them as allies of Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

Sunnis have been protesting since December against Maliki, whom they accuse of marginalising their minority sect and monopolising power since U.S.-led troops toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Government concessions had begun to take the edge off but when security forces raided a protest camp in the town of Hawija on April 23 and more than 40 people were killed, clashes spread to other Sunni areas.

In Baiji, 180 km (112 miles) north of Baghdad, police said a roadside bomb killed four policemen.

A car bomb in a Shi’ite district in north-eastern Baghdad killed at least three people, police and hospital sources said. Another car bomb north of the city of Ramadi killed two policemen and wounded another 10.

Iraq is home to a number of Sunni Islamist insurgent groups including a local al Qaeda affiliate that has launched frequent attacks to undermine the Shi’ite-led government and provoke wider confrontation.

Violence is still well below its height in 2006-07, but provisional figures from rights

group Iraq Body Count put violent deaths in April at more than 400 - the highest monthly toll since 2009. About 1,500 people have been killed this year.

In the northern city of Mosul, unidentified gunmen shot a prominent tribal leader in a market and an electoral candidate was also assassinated in a separate incident, police said.

Iraq’s power-sharing government has been all but paralysed by disagreements between Sunnis, Shi’ites and ethnic Kurds, who run their own administration in the north of the country.

Kurdish ministers, who have boycotted government since March when parliament passed the 2013 budget without their consensus, said yesterday they would return to Baghdad, easing deadlock between the central government and the autonomous region.

A Kurdish delegation visited Baghdad earlier this week to address an ongoing row over land and oil, but there was no apparent breakthrough on that front.

Kurdistan, which has signed deals on its own terms with international oil firms, says it is owed more than 4 trillion Iraqi dinars (2.2 billion pounds).

Baghdad rejects those contracts and has allotted the region a much smaller sum in the budget.

delegation from the International Labour Organisation met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka to offer support and press for action to prevent any more such incidents.

The EU had already urged Bangladesh to adhere to ILO standards in January after

two earlier factory fires.

A European Union official said the latest EU statement, issued late on Tuesday, was “a shot across the bows”.

“We want to turn up the diplomatic heat on them and get them to sit down and discuss this with us.

About 3.6 million people

work in Bangladesh’s garment industry, making it the world’s second-largest apparel exporter, behind China. The industry employs mostly women, some of whom earn as little as $38 a month.

The prime minister warned factory owners they would have to take care of their workers. “You will have to ensure workers’ fair wages, allowances and other rights … you must look after their workplace safety if you want to do business,” she told a discussion forum.

There were about 3,000 people inside the complex, which was built on a swamp, when it collapsed. About 2,500 people have been rescued, but many remain unaccounted for.

“Why are they taking so much time to pull out bodies?” asked a grief-stricken father who, like many others, has been waiting on the streets near the collapsed factory, hoping for information about his son. Police said DNA samples of the bodies buried yesterday had been preserved, so tests could be done if relatives came forward later.

Continued on page 24

Page 24

Kaieteur News

Thursday May 02, 2013

Syria’s Assad in rare visit as rockets hit capital AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad made a rare public appearance at a Damascus power station yesterday, while two bombs exploded near the city center, killing one and wounding over two dozen people, Syria’s state news agency reported.

Footage of the visit broadcast on state television showed Assad chatting casually with a group of employees, two days after his prime minister narrowly escaped assassination by an explosion and a day after another major bombing in the capital took the lives of at least 14.

SANA said a 10-year-old boy was killed and 28 people wounded, some seriously, in Wednesday’s attack, when bombs went off in Khaled Bin Walid street and the nearby Bab Mesalla square. It said the bombs were planted by “terrorists,” a term the government uses to describe rebels fighting to topple the Syrian leader.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Bab Mesalla explosion was near a police station and came from rocket

fire. It said the blast left casualties but did not have figures on dead or wounded.

It also said that several people, including children, were wounded in the explosion in Khaled Bin Walid street.

Police had sealed off Bab Mesalla, which has restaurants, shops and a main public transportation station linking Damascus with the southern provinces of Daraa and Sweida, the Observatory added.

In the capital’s western neighborhood of Mazzeh, two people were killed when a bomb attached to a bicycle went off, SANA said. On Monday, a bomb exploded as Prime Minister Wael Halqi’s convoy drove by in the same neighborhood.

Assad’s visit to the Umayyad Electrical Station in the Tishrin Park district came on International Workers Day, or May Day. State TV showed the Syrian leader, confident and wearing a dark business suit, addressing the station’s staff and later shaking their hands. Similar still images also appeared on a page used by the Syrian presidency on the popular

social network Facebook.

“They want to scare us, we will not be scared ... They want us to live underground, we will not live underground,” Assad told a group of workers who had gathered around him. “We hope that by this time next year we will have overcome the crisis in our country,” he said.

Tuesday’s blast was the second in the heart of the capital in two days. Rebels seeking to topple Assad have been trying to create a supply line from Jordan, so that arms bought by Saudi Arabia and Qatar can be shipped in for assaults on the city they hope to capture.

Meanwhile, the Egyptbased Syrian National Coalition rebuked the leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group, in its first public response a day after he said that Syrian rebels will not be able to defeat Assad’s regime militarily.

Sheik Hassan Nasrallah had warned that Syria’s “real friends,” including his Iranian-backed militant group, could intervene on the government’s side if the need arises.

Barack Obama

the work that was done by the Gang of Eight,” Obama said.

“The bill that they produced is not the bill that I would have written — there are elements of it that I would change — but I do think that it meets the basic criteria that I laid out from the start.”

Immigration reform gained little traction in Congress during Obama’s first term, in part because of opposition from GOP lawmakers. But the November election changed the political calculus for some Republicans, who watched Hispanic voters overwhelmingly side with Obama and Democrats as they increased their share of the national electorate.

At the request of the Gang of Eight, Obama kept a lowprofile as the Senate working group set about the delicate task of crafting a draft bill earlier this year. The potential damage caused by White House involvement was underscored when a copy of Obama’s own draft bill was leaked in February, raising suspicions among Republicans about his motivations and threatening to upend the effort.

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, President Bashar Assad, center, visits the Umayyad Electrical Station, a day after a powerful bomb hit the capital. in Damascus, Syria, yesterday. (AP Photo/SANA) The coalition said it hoped Hezbollah would stay out of the Syrian war, and urged Lebanon to “control its borders and urgently stop, through all available means, the military operations attributed to Hezbollah in areas close to the Syrian border.”

It also blamed Assad’s regime for “destroying” religious Muslim and Christian sites.

Hezbollah, a powerful Shiite Muslim group, is known to be backing Syrian

government forces in Shiite villages near the Lebanese border against the mostly Sunni rebels fighting to topple Assad. But Nasrallah’s comments were the strongest indication yet that his group is ready to intervene more substantially on the side of Assad’s embattled regime.

“You will not be able to take Damascus by force and you will not be able to topple the regime militarily. This is a long battle,” Nasrallah said, addressing the Syrian opposition. “Syria has real

friends in the region and in the world who will not allow Syria to fall in the hands of America or Israel or the Takfiris.”

Takfiris is a term used to refer to followers of an alQaeda-like extremist ideology.

Hezbollah and Iran are close allies of Assad. Rebels have accused both of them of sending fighters to assist Syrian troops trying to crush the 2-year-old anti-Assad uprising, which the U.N. says has killed more than 70,000 people.

From page 23 The building’s owner Mohammed Sohel Rana and his father, Abdul Khalek, are among eight people arrested so far, and police are seeking a fifth factory boss, Spanish citizen David Mayor, although it was unclear whether he was in Bangladesh at the time of the accident.

The factory collapse was the third deadly incident in six months to raise questions about worker safety and labor conditions in the poor South Asian country, which relies on garments for 80 percent of its exports.

Clothes made in five factories inside the Rana Plaza building were produced for retailers in Europe and Canada.

In the year to June 2012, Bangladesh’s garment exports to the EU rose to $11.37 billion from $10.52 billion a year earlier, according to Bangladesh’s commerce ministry. Germany is the main EU market at $3.4 billion, followed by the UK at $2.13 billion, Spain at $1.71 billion and France at $1.27 billion.

Bangladesh’s next biggest

garment export market is the United States, which accounts for 23 percent, or $4.53 billion.

“The EU is presently considering appropriate action, including through the Generalised System of Preferences - through which Bangladesh currently receives duty-free and quotafree access to the EU market,” Ashton and de Gucht said.

“The sheer scale of this disaster and the alleged criminality around the building’s construction is finally becoming clear to the world.”

The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), an umbrella organization that brings NGOs, unions and brands together to try to improve working conditions, said retailers, major brands and the suppliers who own the factories would have to contribute towards factory inspections.

“Bangladeshi companies who supply to our retailers need to be pricing in operating a decent factory, a safe factory and paying proper wages,” ETI director Peter McAllister told Reuters.

“And then the retail world needs to recognize that the real cost of having sustainable businesses are going to be higher.” he said, adding that he thought retailers would accept slightly higher prices if all outlets agreed to the changes.

Following a private emergency meeting of Canadian retailers, the Retail Council of Canada said on Tuesday it would develop a new set of guidelines. That meeting brought together retailers including Loblaw, Sears Canada Inc and WalMart Canada, to discuss how to deal with the tragedy.

Representatives of some 45 companies, including Gap Inc, H&M, J.C. Penney, Nike Inc, WalMart, Britain’s Primark, Marks & Spencer and Tesco, and Li & Fung, met officials from the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association in Dhaka this week to discuss worker and plant safety.

Primark and Loblaw have promised to compensate the families of garment workers killed while making their clothes.

Immigration debate creates EU considers trade action after... dilemma for Obama

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama’s prospects for a sweeping legislative victory this year now rest almost solely on the immigration overhaul working its way through Congress.

But immigration’s tricky politics have created a dilemma for a president fighting for an issue he considers central to his legacy.

If Obama is too closely aligned with the legislation, it could scare away Republicans wary of appearing to hand the president a win. But if he stays on the sidelines and the overhaul runs into trouble on Capitol Hill, Obama likely will be criticized for not using his presidential powers to fight for votes, as he was following the recent failure of gun control measures he championed.

In the coming weeks the White House will test whether Obama can take on a more public role in the immigration debate after largely ceding the issue to Congress for much of the year.

The president will ramp up his immigration-related travel this

spring and summer, including a trip this week to Mexico and Costa Rica. The White House also is planning to use Spanish-language media to bolster public support for a comprehensive bill.

Still, Obama signaled during a White House news conference Tuesday that his primary talking point will be that he’s backing a bill drafted by the Senate’s so-called Gang of Eight, a group of four Democrats and four Republicans.

“I’ve been impressed by

Thursday May 2, 2013

Kaieteur News

West Demerara residents accuse police of harassment Two residents of West Demerara are claiming constant victimisation by ranks of the Guyana Police Force. As a consequence of their displeasure, Sharon Codrington and Roy Persaud have opted to expose the steady discrimination to which they have been subjected over the past several months. Codrington explained that the police ranks stationed at the Wales Police Station have made her life “a living hell.” “We have been living at La Grange and is problem after problem with the police because we have a family friend living (Roy Persaud) with us that de corporal at Wales Police Station got some old problem wid. (The man) does take out spite pun he; dem does lock he up fuh nothing at all and we ain’t getting help from nobody we run all over.”

Codrington said that the police intolerance forced her to move from her home at Wales to La Parfaite Harmonie. “Is the same thing

even though we gone far. I can understand. We need to be left alone.”

According to Roy Persaud the police have peddled numerous false allegations against him.

He says that he’s been in the lock -ups at least 11 times since the year began.

“Dem does just lock me up pun some false allegations, beat me, put me fuh sleep on cold floor, starve me and loose me. Dem don’t carry me to court and me fed up. Only this last time dem carry me to court because dem get somebody to say me threaten dem” Persaud said that he was recently released from the Lock -ups after being placed on bail. “Dem beat me, handcuff me all the time and wet the cell so meh got fuh lie pon wet floor and me skin soak. I really need somebody fuh intervene in this matter cause me only deh in and out the lock up steady,” the 39-year-old father of three disclosed.

According to Codrington,

several other reports were lodged at various police departments including the Police Complaints Authority.

“Dem tek report and statement from me plenty time but till now me can’t see results.” Codrington said that problem has also caused mischief in her household.

“The police go so far to tell me husband that I am having outside relationship and making mock of him…. the police causing problem in my house without cause.”

The woman explained that she was also charged for abusing her neighbour, but denies having knowledge of any such incident.

“I go to court today for help this boy but when I go I hear I get charge without notification from the police.”

Codrington is pleading with those in the Force’s authority for urgent intervention in the matter in resolving the issue.

Calls to the Wales Police Station for a comment proved futile.

TCL Cement Price Upped by 5%

TGI Portland-Pozzolan Cement TCL Guyana Inc. (TGI) has upped the ex-factory price of its Portland-Pozzolan Cement by a “minimal” five percent. The new price label became effective yesterday.

TGI announced Tuesday, by way of a press release, that it has adjusted the price of its primary product due to the price changes by the parent company Trinidad Cement Ltd (TCL). The increase comes as a result of the continuously escalating

costs in areas of production such as packaging. In spite of that, TGI points out that the current price that is being implemented is comparatively low when taking into consideration the price on the global market. The company maintained that the “minimum” adjustment to the cement price comes with the recognition that cement is a major component of Guyana’s economic growth. As a strong supporter of Guyana’s

developmental goals, the offer to first time home owners of a twenty percent discount by the company under the Government’s low income earners housing initiative still applies.

The previous price increase was made in mid-July last year. The current hike in the price of TCL cement comes in the wake of the recent scarcity of stone, much to the disfavor of concerned home builders.

Police acting on information, set up a sting operation and nabbed a 17year-old drug dealer with a quantity of cocaine, on Thursday April 25, at Galaxy Street, Canefield, East Canje.

The police after receiving certain information secreted themselves in the neighbourhood and used a

decoy to purchase cocaine from the teen who lives with his aunt at 49 West Canefield, East Canje Berbice.

As the transaction was in process the cops moved in a nabbed the youth who had four grams of cocaine in his possession. He was arrested and charged. He appeared before Magistrate Adela

Nagamootoo at the New Amsterdam Magistrate’s Court and pleaded not guilty to the charge of possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking. He was remanded to jail and will have to return to court on May 29, when the matter will be called again at the Reliance Magistrate’s court.

Teenager nabbed with cocaine in police sting operation

Page 25

Relatives of trafficking victims puzzle police The Guyana police have expressed surprise in the Barbados media that relatives of suspected young human trafficking victims claimed that the girls might be lying.

Prior to revealing to Kaieteur News Tuesday that Ministry of Human Services officials are trying to gag them, relatives of the five Guyanese girls caught up in the ‘importation for prostitution case’ had told this newspaper Saturday that they were unaware of the young women being forced into performing sex acts for money. One relative went so far as to say that the allegations were concocted.

The Barbados Nation newspaper on Tuesday quoted Guyana Deputy Commissioner of Police, Seelall Persaud, questioning the motives of these relatives who have spoken to the

Press.

“I don’t know what would motivate [them] to go and tell the Press that,” Seelall reportedly said.

He added, “We were asked by police in Barbados to ascertain if relatives were threatened here [Guyana]. We don’t know if the victims told police that they were threatened, so we are assisting in investigations and that is our focus”.

Meanwhile, Guyanese sources living in Barbados have told Kaieteur News that the third person arrested in the case, 76-year-old Joan Fernandez had posed as the grandmother of a number of the girls. They said much more fallout is expected because the youngsters, aged 17 to 21, have been talking freely to police, now that they are away from the clutches of their captors.

Barbados police on April 18 raided a bar in downtown Nelson Street and found the five girls clad only in bathing suits, purportedly working as prostitutes. The barman and proprietress were arrested and slapped with 30 charges relating to human trafficking.

At the time police seized a quantity of passports, some said to be forged.

The woman, who is pregnant, was released on a total of Bds$30,000 bail (Bds$1 = US50 cents), and the man remains behind bars.

Their next court appearance is set for May 22.

The pensioner, Fernandez, who was arrested on April 27 faces at least five charges and has been remanded to prison because she was unable to make bail and her surety was insufficient. She will re-appear in court on May 6

Army Major charged with rape of Canada-based Guyanese After a somewhat long stretch of wait, it seems like the Canada-based Guyanese who claimed that she was sodomized by an Army Major she befriended, may finally receive justice.

The woman contacted Kaieteur News on Tuesday morning saying she was informed that the Major of the Guyana Defence Force, was charged with rape.

She said that no information was divulged to her as to when exactly the charge was laid. However, her antagonist is expected to appear before the court on May 8.

The alleged victim, who was home on vacation in February, had claimed that she was sodomized by the

rank who happened to be the brother of her ex-husband.

The woman, 35, contended that though she willingly rendezvoused with the military man at an East Bank Demerara hotel and permitted vaginal sex; anal intercourse was a no-no from the inception.

According to her, the two checked into the hotel during the predawn hours of Valentine’s morning.

She said that intimacy was going the conventional route until the officer inserted his finger into her anus.

The Ontario-based woman said that immediately after foundling her; the officer proceeded to sodomize her.

The alleged victim, a telephone operator by

profession, reported the matter to the Leonora Police Station the next day. The matter was then transferred to the Brickdam Police Station Criminal Investigation Department (CID) where it is being investigated.

According to the telephone operator, the Major was summoned to the station but did not go.

A confrontation was arranged and the Army rank admitted to all the allegations but contradicted her statement that the anal act was not consented to. She had said back then that she has been given the “royal run around” and is afraid that the matter would be swept under the carpet.

Teacher slapped with sexual harassment charge

A teacher appeared before the court, last Monday on a sexual harassment charge. The teacher, Royden Rankin, faced Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs, on an allegation that he had sexual contact with a student of Zeeburg Secondary School.

Kaieteur News understands that the teacher was found in a bathroom fondling a female student.

A report was made to a nearby police station and Rankin was subsequently placed on $100,000 station bail.

According to information, the man has been suspended from his duties as teacher pending the outcome of the matter.

At his appearance before the Vreed En Hoop Magistrates court, Rankin, a resident of Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The accused was consequently released on $200,000 bail. He is expected to return to court tomorrow.

Royden Rankin

Page 28

NCN CHANNEL 11 05:00hrs - Newtown Gospel *** 06:15hrs - IPL Super Kings v Kings 11 09:30hrs - Stop the Suffering 10:30hrs - IPL – Warriors v Royal Challengers 15:30hrs - Feature 14:00hrs - NCN Newsbreak 14:05hrs - Movie 16:00hrs - NCN Newsbreak 16:30hrs - Farming Today 17:00hrs - Anderson 18:00hrs - NCN News Magazine

Kaieteur News

18:30hrs - National Volunteer Training Programme 19:00hrs - Al Jazeera 19:30hrs - NIS & You 20:00hrs - 3d/daily millions/play de dream/ lotto draw 20:05hrs - NCN Newsbreak 20:10hrs - Miners World 20:40hrs - GINA Presents 21:00hrs - Rededication of St. Phillips 22:00hrs - NCN Late Edition 22:35hrs - Caribbean Newsline 23:00hrs – Movie

MTV CHANNEL 14/ CABLE 65 05:30hrs - Dharma kai AwazThe Voice of Dharma 06:00hrs - Islamic Perspective 06:30hrs - Labour Day Rally 07:00hrs - Day Break 08:00hrs - Dabi’s Musical Hour 08:30hrs - Avon DVD Club music hour 09:15hrs -Top Notch Music Break 09:30hrs - Caribbean Temptation Music Mix 10:00hrs - Amanda’s Costume

Thursday May 02, 2013

Jewellery Music break 10:30hrs - Future Vision.

Music hour 11:00hrs - Comfort Sleep musical 11:30hrs - The View 12:00hrs - Village Talk 12:30hrs - The Young and The Restless 13:30hrs - Days of Our Lives 14:00hrs - General Hospital 15:00hrs - The Katie Couric Show 16:00hrs - The Bold and the Beautiful 16:30hrs - Cartoons 17:00hrs - Birthdays and other greetings 17:15hrs - Death Announcements/ In

Memoriam 17:50hrs - CNN News 18:00hrs - Sitcom 18:30hrs - Jai Santoshi Ma 19:00hrs - Soul Melodies with Trans Globe 19:30hrs - News Update 20:30hrs - Winners Row Quiz 21:30hrs - Focus on GRA 22:00hrs - English Movie: Marked for Death 23:00hrs - News update 22:30hrs - English Movie: Marked for Death continues DTV CHANNEL 8 08:25 hrs. Sign On 08:30 hrs. This Morning 09:00 hrs. Live! With Kelly

and Michael 10:00 hrs. Roseanne 11:00 hrs. The View 12:00 hrs. Prime News 12:30 hrs. The Young and the Restless 13:30 hrs. The Bold and the Beautiful 14:00 hrs. The Talk 15:00 hrs. Without a Trace 17:00 hrs. Charmed 18:00 hrs. World News 18:30 hrs. Nightly News 19:00 hrs. Greetings and Announcements 21:00 hrs. Person of Interest (New Episode) 22:00 hrs. Elementary (New Episode) 23:00 hrs. Sign Off

Guides are subjected to change without notice

Thursday May 02, 2013 ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19): Getting together with friends or working as part of a team sounds like a good idea today with the Moon occupying your 11th House of Social Networking.

However, you don’t like it so much when others boss you around you without even asking for your input.

TAURUS (Apr. 20–May 20): You might feel obligated to nurture your coworkers now that the Moon is visiting your 10th House of Career.

But you’re not interested in babying someone who should be able to hold up his or her part of the bargain.

GEMINI (May 21–June 20): Normally, adaptability is one of your strengths, but today the notion of changing your plans for someone else’s benefit rubs you the wrong way.

CANCER (June 21–July 22): The idea of exploring your emotions today with someone you trust sounds good at first. But differences of style or substance may have you questioning the wisdom of sharing what’s in your heart.

LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22): You may be feeling a creative buzz today from the eccentric Aquarius Moon activating your 5th House of Self-Expression. But your mind isn’t focused on the work at hand; instead you’re busy imagining the distant future or visualizing a far-off land.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21): You have plenty of data to substantiate your conclusions today, but not everyone buys your story.

Someone may rub you the wrong way because of his or her refusal to acknowledge the truth.

SAGIT (Nov. 22–Dec. 21): Although you might wake up on the wrong side of the bed today, a conversation with the right person quickly improves your attitude. You may be skeptical at first, but people can inspire you with their stories and excite you with their plans for the future.

CAPRICORN(Dec.22–Jan.19): You may be weary of the recent emotionally stormy weather, but the sky begins to clear today and your life seems to be looking up.

LEO (July 23–Aug. 22): Unconscious motivations drive your ambitions to new heights today with four planets moving through your 10th House of Status.

However, someone close to you may not be willing to play your game, and this wild card threatens your success.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20–Feb. 18): It’s challenging to maintain your normally cool demeanor today because irrational emotions keep bubbling up into awareness.

Even if your feelings grow more positive throughout the day, you naturally prefer a more intellectual approach.

VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22): You may approach your job in a totally unique manner today. Although you’re quite certain your method will work, others might not share your confidence.

PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20): The non-conformist Aquarius Moon stimulates your 12th House of Spirituality, highlighting your comfort with the metaphysical realms.

Thursday May 02, 2013

WANTED 1 live-in babysitter, honest and trustworthy, proper identification- ages 18-25: boarding provided, $40,000 monthly- call:675-0053 Urgently needed live-in waitress to work in Bar: Good salary offeredTele:681-9683 1 General domestic must know to cook Indian & English dishes, 1 live-in maid to work in BelAir- call:2275585 Attractive live in waitressCall:327-0252/674-4665 Female workers needed 3 subject or sound education call:618-8101 Live- in domestic must know to cook, live-in waitress: Salary $50,000 monthly.

Boarding & lodging freeTele:610-5043

Kaieteur News

WANTED One mechanic/ welder to work in the interior: Interested persons call Tele: 625-5136: 8am-4pm One live-in or live out maidcall:668-3985/264-3355/6837936

FOR SALE

FOR SALE

FOR RENT

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

Rock star hollow blocks available in large quantity in 3",4" & 6" call: 269-1406, 6179230

Two hair stations to rentTele:681-1347

(B) Grade Lumber@ $120BM: Prashad & sons Sawmill, Warkabra Linden Soesdyke Highway-Call: 652-5601 HID lights call: 642-2850

Land to buy in Parfaite Harmonie- call:675-7292

Live/pluck chicken call:6504421,220-9203

Driver to work at Gem’s TaxiContact:667-9013

Sawmill with all equipment in top condition on 11 acres of land Prime Investment, 9 Waikabra Soesdyke Highway Call:652-5601

1 Handy boy must know gardening, 1 Excavator operator to work in Land of Canaan- call:227-5585 1 Supervisor to over look road building, Landscaping and Construction- Contact: 227-5585 Cleaner- call: 225-9223/ 2253234

1-D5 Dozer (unserviceable); 1-JCB Back Hoe (need transmission); 1-285 M.F Tractor; 1-Concrete Ransom: Contact Numbers670-7235/697-7967

1-MF 185 $2M, 1-MF 394 4WD $6M, 1 flat F130 4WD $7M- call: 699-2995/ 276-3701

One sales boy to work in interior- contact:695-3368

1 3Y Minibus, 1 RZ Shell Tele: 685-4886 / 231-1256

Sawmill workers call:2616412,653-9752 One porter, one salesgirl, preferably from Diamond area: 2 years experience in Grocery Shop- call:216-1420/ 691-2212 Office clerk Senior/ Junior: CXC English/ Mathematics: Computer knowledgeCall:225-0188/225-6070 Couple or small families to live and work on farm at New Hope EBD call: 266-2711, 609-4594 Accounts Clerk, CXC Accounts grades 1 or 2, from E.B.D- Call:602-0945 Sales Assistant from E.C.D to work on Lorry- Call:2664427 General Unskilled Male Workers ages 18-24 from E.B.D- Call:266-4427 Security Guards from E.B.DCall:266-4427 Wanted contract cars for Atlas Taxi Service, South Ruimveldt GardensContact:661-3043

PROPERTY FOR SALE Two storey business property Agriculture Road call:612-2522 (1) - 3 bedrooms 2 storey concrete house $18Mlocated - Harmonie Call:6621782/658-5803 Two storey concrete Diamond New Scheme near to Secondary school $20MTele:225-1005/225-9230 Two storey property 62 Bent street Wortmanville $20MTele:225-1005/225-9230 1 Newly built concrete 2 storeyed house, 5 bedrooms, 2 wash rooms: Middle road La Penitence: Price $23M negotiable- Call:682-1172/ 696-9616 East Coast $8M-$12M, Anna Catherina $12M, Alberttown $16M-$32M, Mc Doom $18M- call Diana: 227-2256/ 626-9382 Parfaite Harmonie 1 flat house $5.8 negotiable call: 675-5523 Mon-Repos $12M- call:6757292 CAR RENTAL

Wanted drivers and experienced dispatchersTele:616-5419/256-4167

Progressive Auto Rental cars from $4000 per day. Call 643-5122, 225-8711; email w w w. p r o g r e s s i v e a u t o rental.com

Contract cars to work at Gem’s Taxi – Tele:667-9013/ 231-3709

Untouchable Car Rental: Low Rate , Low Deposit call:2318653,621-6827

Pure Bred German Shepherd puppies, Rottweiler Puppies, Brazilian Fila pup contact:682-2148, 655-8674 Khemraj & Son landscaping - Call: 6275969; 18 months coconut tree, plant for sale, mould for sale, trimming plants Pitbulls for sale- call:674-1186 Games for PS 2, $900,PSP $900, Xbox360 $2600, PS 3 $2600, call:672-2566 (1) Honda grass cutting Tractor; (1) US Marine 125 HP outboard engine; 6# High pressure pump- Tele: 6115292

Wortmanville 3 bedrooms $35,000; Kitty 3 bedrooms $100,000; Sparandam 4 bedrooms $1,000US, Station street 4 Rooms furnish $2000US – Call:628-7605/6765537 Short term daily rental apartment available- Call: 687-3017 Ogle 3 Rooms $3,000US; Eccles 3 Rooms $2500US; Subryanville 4 Rooms $1000US (furnished), Prashad Nagar (furnished) $2,000US- Call: 223-5204/ 621-5327 Diamond H/Scheme E.B.D, 3 bedrooms house to rent. $50,000 per monthTele:6679499 House for rent in Friendshipcall:266-0163

2- Perkins engine 6-4 CLY, 1 complete Bet (new), DVD player (new), 1 Samsung 32" TV- Call:604-1140 1 X Leyland DAF 60 Dump truck $2.6M- Call:668-4553 Diving suit call: 613-5158 M.Khan Corner property with business potential-Call:6735882 Variety of religious items, barbering & salon supplies: Stall 111 Merriman’s Mall, Bourda on Church St. Call:219-2133/669-1662 15-15-5 fertilizer call:2662711,609-4594

EDUCATIONAL LEARN TO DANCE LATIN STLE:SALSA, MERENGUE, WALTZ, TANGO, ETC. COME & FEEL THE EXCITEMENT CALL: 6126475, 629-8842 Need a tutor for your child/ children with disability?

Then contact the specialistcall:683-3887 Learn Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish or French- Call:6731232 Electronic course - practical 12 persons per class .

Register early beginning 6th May Abdul Electronics call: 226-6551 or 225-0391

SALON Make Up Courses, Artist Trained & Certified in Trinidad. Call660-5257,647-1773 New classes -Cosmetology , Nails, Wigs, Designs, Make-Up, Hair-Styling; call Abby 216-1950, 666-5241, 619-7603 Natural beauty salon & spa: Grove Market Street EBD tele:265-4138,652-5800 specialized in everything for women & children

Course for: Bridal accessories, Cake decoration & Floral arrangementscontact Sharon: 672-8768/ 223-3303

Massage therapy for women- call Debra 621-5883

Original games for sale call:265-3232 Spare for washing machine, microwaves, fridges, stoves, timers, gearbox, pumps, etc call:225-9032,647-2943

Nissan wing road Ryder wagon call:612-2522 Axio 2007 3.2 neg. Hiace pitbull 2008 - 3.6 neg.

Call:697-0294, 6695172 We buy and sell vehicles for cash & we do trading in of vehicles- Call:680-3154 Toyota Spacio $2.350M, 4WD Fielder $2.250M, 2001212 $1.950M- Tele: 617-2891 RZ Mini buses, Pitbull buses, NZE,212,192, Canters, gas Vigo, Escalade going cheap- Call: 680-3154

TO LET Camp street 1st & 2nd floor between New Market & Lamaha Streets Tele: 6394499 Secret Villa apartment, fully furnished apartments Landof-Canaan E.B.D- Call:2665243/266-5245 Diamond $75,000-$100,000; Campbellville $65,000$100,000; Eccles US$2500call Diana:227-2256/626-9382 One bedroom house Lusignan ECD call:662-9043

Cheap! Premio, Hilux, 5L Engine, VVTI Stick gear buses call:616-7635 Unregistered Nissan Wing road 2003, 32000/cmcall:689-7325/644-9277 Mini bus RZ BLL Series: Excellent work conditionTele:622-3384/223-9955 1 2007 Toyota Avensis unregistered-Call:698-0674 Toyota Premio, Fielder, Vitz, Alex unregistered, Norpan Auto- Call:2690432/686-0323

1-55 Leyland DAF excellent working condition $4M negotiable- call:656-8346

Pure bred rottweiler pups call:666-3061

350 pounds (Banga Mary) 2 ½ inch Seine- Call:628-9209

Toyota Allion 2.6 Million Negotiable- Tele:616-3001

Motorcycle 125 (scooter): (not working)- call:223-3303

MASSAGE American Style massage services- Call:609-4036

Dell laptops & desktops complete computers from $49,000 Futuretech call: 2312206

1 Tundra 2002 Model Portable welders 270 AMPS contact: 623-5055, 611-5114

2007 Corolla AxioUnregistered, push button start, TV/CD/Hard drive, keyless entry, BluetoothContact:654-1182

One #185 Massy Ferguson in very good working condition- Tele:444-7332/ 681-5988

Tibetan & Dachshund PupsCall: 680-0192/ 216-3408/ 2252958

VEHICLE FOR SALE 1 F-150 Ford $1.2M, Raum $2.2M, Spacio $2.3M unregistered- call:641-6516/ 264-22644

Smart Choice Auto: Unregistered Runx, Allion call:652-3820,665-4529

Acer Aspire S515 AMD 1.6 GHZ, 160 GB, 3GB 15.4 display win8 upgrade- call: 642-3543 $35,000

Experienced hire car drivers and contract vehicles with owner driven- Call:645-0025

One live-in baby sitter to work in interior- contact:6953368

Page 29

1 Toyota 212 in excellent condition, magrims, CD deck & leather interior, was PKK now HB 8184- call:661-3532 Toyota Hilux Solid Diff- 4Y Gasoline engine, excellent condition: UK Auto 60 Brickdam- Phone:227-0424/ 676-6429

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

DRESSMAKING Designing and sewing classes by Sharmela (Canadian Trained) call: 2252598, 641-0784 (Continued on page 31)

Page 30

Kaieteur News

Bolt withdraws from Saturday’s meet as Gay replaces Blake

Usain Bolt

Jamaica Observer MONTEGO BAY, St James — Double world record holder and six-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt has been forced to withdraw from this Saturday’s Jamaica International Invitational (JII) at the National Stadium after a setback in training over the weekend.

The meet, which is sponsored by the Sports Development Foundation, is an IAAF World Challenge event. A release from Bolt’s agent Ricky Simms Tuesday said the two-time Olympic double sprint champion was withdrawn from the meet out of an abundance of caution “due to a slight hamstring strain”. Simms said, “The 26year-old felt tightness in training over the weekend and in consultation with his coach Glen Mills decided not to risk anything at this early stage of the season”.

Bolt, who won the 100m at last year’s renewal in a then world-leading 9.82 seconds,

was quoted to have said: “I am disappointed to miss the Kingston meet as I love running in front of my home crowd in Jamaica. I’m told it is only a Grade One strain so hopefully I will be OK soon.”

Bolt is the second high profile sprinter to withdraw from the meet following his training partner Yohan Blake, who pulled out two weeks ago after suffering a cramp at the UTech Classic held at the National Stadium In response, meet director Donald Quarrie told the Jamaica Observer that while Bolt and Blake would be missed, the meet would still be of a high calibre with a lot of world-class athletes taking part. “I hope it’s nothing serious with Bolt and I hope he will be ready to represent Jamaica later and to compete on the circuit. We have to pray that both men recover soon,” Quarrie said.

He added that he hoped the injured athletes would still be able to come out and

support the meet, “as we are building a great brand here and lots of top stars like Allyson Felix, Veronica Campbell Brown and others will take part”.

Earlier in the day Quarrie had confirmed the participation of American record holder Tyson Gay to replace Blake in the 100m, Jamaican Olympic Games finalists Leford Green in the 400m hurdles, and American long jumper Will Clay to the list of athletes taking part.

Gay, who was fourth in the men’s 100m at the London Olympic Games will be competing over the 100m for the first time at the JII meet after running the 400m and 200m previously.

Quarrie told the Observer that in conversations with Gay, the American sprinter said he was in form to run 9.80 seconds this weekend.

Americans Ryan Bailey and Darvis Patton, as well as Trinidad’s Richard Thompson and Jamaica’s Kemar BaileyCole and Lerone Clarke, will also take part in the 100m.

“These things happen,” he said in relation to Bolt’s injury, “but we must hope they will be back running fast soon”, he said, hoping the fans will turn out to see the other athletes.

Meanwhile, the release from Simms said it was hoped Bolt would recover soon, “in time to race in the Cayman Invitational on Wednesday, May 8, but will make a final decision closer to the time and subject to how he feels in training”.

Kallis and Duminy to be included for Champions Trophy ESPNcricinfo - Jacques Kallis will make a return to South Africa’s one-day squad for the Champions Trophy, which is due be announced in Cape Town today. The final 15 will also see a return to action for JP Duminy, who has not played competitively since last September.

Duminy has spent the last six months recovering from a ruptured Achilles’ tendon which he sustained on the first day of the first Test against Australia in Brisbane last November. He was named in the XI but was injured before he could take any part in the fixture.

As of last Wednesday, he was sprinting at 80%, batting unrestricted and was due to start bowling at full capacity this week. “We are exercising extreme caution because of the sensitive nature of the injury but we remain cautiously optimistic of his speedy return to action,” Mohammed Moosajee, South Africa’s team manager who is also a medical doctor, said.

South Africa’s other injury concern, Faf du Plessis, has also made a full recovery in time for the tournament.

Du Plessis missed the last two matches of South Africa’s March ODI series against Pakistan with lowerback trouble. The niggle meant he was unable to bowl throughout the series and it eventually became too painful for him to bat as well.

He underwent a six-week rehabilitation program and left for the IPL last week, where he has joined up with the Chennai Super Kings.

Jamaicans looking to protect proud record KINGSTON, Jamaica – Tamar Lambert sees the semifinal of this year’s Regional 4-Day Tournament against Trinidad & Tobago, starting tomorrow here, as another step on a journey to leave an incredible legacy behind for the game in Jamaica.

The Jamaica captain said his side was prepared for the challenge from Denesh Ramdin’s team and they understood the importance of winning, knowing how hard they have worked hard over a number of years including this season to develop a successful unit.

“I expect it to be a challenge,” Lambert told WICB Media. “It will be tough. Trinidad & Tobago are a competitive side and we have to prepare ourselves well for them.

“We are the defending champions. We did not win the Regional Super50 title and

we want to make sure that we do not end the season emptyhanded, so we want to win this tournament.”

Reigning five-time champions Jamaica enter the semi-finals with a maximum 72 points, after winning every match in the preliminary competition, including a 93run victory over T&T in the penultimate round.

Lambert said he was wise enough know to place too much emphasis on past victories and was eager for his side to keep their focus on build on what they had achieved during the season.

“We are going to try to take it one day at a time,” he said. “Knowing it’s a semifinal, we want to play well. We are not a side that will get complacent that easily.

“We have set our goals and it is to win the Regional 4-Day Tournament and this is just another stepping stone to the Final. We will not be dwelling too much on having won every match in the preliminary competition because this is a semi-final and we will be out of the competition if we lose.

“The key will be to put runs on the board. We have struggled with our batting.

Our bowling unit is capable of taking 20 wickets, but once we put the runs on the board, it will make things much easier for them.”

Lambert said familiarity had bred the successful Jamaican side, which has now won an incredible 15 straight

Thursday May 02, 2013

matches in the Regional 4Day Tournament, playing most of the time without such international stars as Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels and Andre Russell.

“The team unity has been strong over the years,” said Lambert. “We have been doing well because this group of players have been playing together since 1996. We have come through the ranks and we understand each other inside out and the game.

“We just try to play as a team, enjoy playing together and enjoy playing the game, and want to leave a positive legacy for the game in Jamaica. This semi-final will be just another game, another stepping stone, to protecting that record of success we have built over the last six seasons.”

The Final of the Regional 4-Day Tournament takes places from May 9 to 12.

JP Duminy © Getty Images Although du Plessis has not played a game yet, he is available to make his return imminently.

As much as both his and Duminy’s returns have been eagerly anticipated, it’s the inclusion of Kallis that will lift South Africa’s hopes as they aim to claim major tournament silverware for the first time since 1998 when they won this tournament in Dhaka.

Kallis no longer takes part in bilateral one-day series, as part of the management plan to ensure he is fit for as many Tests as possible. He has, however, made no secret of his desire to compete in the next World Cup. He is not completely out of short-format practice as he has been playing in the IPL. Gary Kirsten previously stated South Africa will reserve the right to turn to Kallis for what they deem important enough situations and this is one of them.

Although Colin Ingram has settled into the No.3 role and Ryan McLaren has been in the allrounders’ spot, Kallis’ value will be welcomed. Both

Ingram and McLaren are likely to be retained but Chris Morris, the other allrounder in contention, who has given a good account of himself at the IPL, is likely to miss out.

Others for whom there will be no space are promising wicketkeeper batsman Quinton de Kock as South Africa have reinstalled AB de Villiers as their wicketkeeper in the 50-over format, Titans opening batsman Henry Davids, because Graeme Smith will still be used and middle-order batsman Dean Elgar.

The bowling attack should have a familiar look and will be spearheaded by Dale Steyn. Morne Morkel, Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Rory Kleinveldt will make up the rest of the pack with Robin Peterson the lone specialist spinner. Aaron Phangiso, Imran Tahir and Roelof van der Merwe, were all named in the preliminary squad but will have to wait for a turn in more helpful conditions.

South Africa’s 30-man preliminary squad: AB de Villiers, Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Henry Davids, Quinton de Kock, Marchant de Lange, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Imran Tahir, Colin Ingram, Jacques Kallis, Rory Kleinveldt, Ryan McLaren, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Justin Ontong, Robin Peterson, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Vernon Philander, Rilee Rossouw, Graeme Smith, Dale Steyn, Rusty Theron, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Roelof van der Merwe, Vaughn van Jaarsveld South Africa squad (probable): AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Colin Ingram, Jacques Kallis, Ryan McLaren, Rory Kleinveldt, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Robin Peterson, Graeme Smith, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe

Tiger Woods: Golf’s...

From page 32 essential obligation under the rules to return a correct score card,” added the statement.

“Only a rare set of facts, akin to the exceptional facts at the 2013 Masters tournament, would justify a committee’s use of its discretion to waive a penalty of disqualification for returning an incorrect scorecard.”

The statement also clarified that rule 33-7/4.5 was not a factor, as had been originally thought in some quarters.

This new

amendment, which was introduced in 2011, allows disqualification to be waived where “the competitor could not reasonably have known or discovered the facts resulting in his breach of the rules”.

The so-called “Harrington rule”, brought in after Padraig Harrington was disqualified from an event in Abu Dhabi in January 2011, covers players in the event high-definition or slowmotion cameras capture a transgression not visible to the naked eye.

Thursday May 02, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 31

Unheralded Conley proving key to Grizzlies’ playoff success LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - While Chris Paul was busy scoring a playoff career-hightying 35 points on Tuesday, Memphis guard Mike Conley was quietly leaving his fingerprints on a series he has helped shift in favor of the Grizzlies. Conley is the “other” point guard in a playoff matchup that features National Basketball Association (NBA) elite little man Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers, but his importance should not be lost in his subtlety.

In what had already been a strong series for the 25year-old Conley, he rose to the occasion yet again with 20 points and six assists to give Memphis, winners of three straight, a 103-93 road win and a 3-2 lead in the bestof-seven first-round series.

Conley did not match a red-hot Paul shot for shot Tuesday, but with his steady decision-making and poise, he did not have to.

“I’ve always grown up with this team and not tried to match another guy, especially when he’s capable of going for 40 (points) any night,” Conley told Reuters.

“I understand that I’m not a guy that’s going to try to get 40 on a team with so many guys.

“I just try to stay within myself and stay within the team game, and hopefully it works out.” It has certainly been working out thus far, as the sixth-year NBA guard is stabilizing Memphis with playoff averages of 16.2 points and 8.6 assists a game, fairly comparable numbers to those of six-time All Star Paul.

Murali completes CPL...

From page 35 for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League (IPL), slots in along with other international stars Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist from Australia, New Zealand’s Ross Taylor, Pakistan T20I captain Mohammad Hafeez and Herschelle Gibbs of South Africa as confirmed bigname signings.

Also confirmed are six West Indies franchise players – Dwayne Bravo, Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Darren Sammy and Marlon Samuels.

The player draft, which is set to take place on 24 May, will determine who will be playing where, with six franchises to be announced based in Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago.

Murali’s hauls of 800 Test wickets and 534 wickets in ODIs are both marks that are unlikely ever to be surpassed and he is one of only two bowlers, along with fellow spinner Shane Warne, to have topped 1000 wickets in international cricket.

His Test haul includes 67 five-wicket hauls and 22 instances of 10 wickets in a match, and he also has 10 fivewicket hauls in ODIs. Twenty20 International cricket arrived towards the end of his international career but he still captured 13 wickets in his 12 matches in that form of the game at a superb economy rate of 6.31 runs per over.

Murali’s outstanding control of line, length and flight and his ability to spin the ball

both ways have made him a sought-after player in the shortest form of the game all over the world.

The mystery spinner has appeared not only in the IPL but also the Big Bash League in Australia, the Bangladesh Premier league, New Zealand, and county cricket in England as well as in his native Sri Lanka, and while he is yet to appear in domestic cricket in the West Indies, his record in international cricket in the Caribbean is outstanding.

In six Test matches Murali captured 37 wickets, plus another 29 in 15 ODIs. That included 23 in the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup, when Sri Lanka lost to Australia in the final in Barbados.

Murali also played for Sri Lanka at the ICC World Twenty20 in the Caribbean in 2010, taking two wickets in two matches before bringing down the curtain on his international career the following year after Sri Lanka lost their second successive ICC Cricket World Cup final, to India in Mumbai.

A total of 90 players will be contracted to play in the CPL. Each of the six Franchise teams will be comprised of 15 players. All teams are required to have a minimum number of local players from that their particular franchise country.

At least four of them must be under the age of 23, and teams can also field a maximum of four international players. The remainder of the team must consist of regional and/or local players.

(From page 22)

VACANCY Administrative support.

Excellent English skills. Fast, accurate typist. $140K per month www. capitaltyping. com/gyjob to apply Veneer factory workers livein, meals and accommodation provided.

Contact: 685-6137

Los Angeles Clippers center Ronny Turiaf fights for a loose ball against Memphis Grizzlies guards Jerryd Bayless (R) and Mike Conley (L) during game three in the Western Conference quarterfinals. REUTERS/Lance Murphey If it seems that Conley deserves more billing in his duel with the Clippers’ leading man, it is only natural considering his understated presence on his own team.

With post tandem Zach Randolph and Defensive Player of the Year Marc Gasol leading the way, the Grizzlies are a squad centered around their big men. Conley can sometimes even find himself overshadowed on the perimeter, where defensive stopper and strong personality Tony Allen gains notoriety, and former highscorer Rudy Gay starred before he was traded to Toronto at midseason.

FIERCE COMPETITOR A soft-spoken but fierce competitor, Conley may not have the personality suited for headlines, but with the ball constantly in his hands there is little doubt he is

authoring Memphis’s story. “(He can seem) conservative, but he has another side and if you push a button it might go the other way,” said Allen, alluding to Conley’s inner toughness.

“He’s been doing a great job as a leader for us. We go as he goes.”

Conley has always shouldered big responsibility for the Grizzlies, beginning when he was selected by the franchise with the fourth overall pick of the 2007 NBA Draft.

When he signed a fiveyear, $40 million dollar contract extension in 2010 many questioned his ability as a franchise point guard, but Conley has led Memphis to the playoffs three straight years while steadily improving.

“Of all the guys on the team he’s been asked to do a

Audley Harrison announces...

From page 35 Wilder, who won a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics, shattered that dream in little over a minute at the Motorpoint Arena on Saturday.

“There are only so many times you can fall before it becomes foolhardy to continue,” Harrison said. “I’ve fallen a lot, but winning the heavyweight title was a destination I really wanted to get

to. Coming back from adversity has been synonymous with my life.

“I believed if I was mentally and physically right, I could figure these young guns out. Saturday was my final chance to prove it.

“The thing that pulled me up was pride, so I wanted a chance to continue and go out on my shield. It was not to be.”

lot,” said Memphis forward Tayshaun Prince. “He’s logged a lot of minutes. He’s carrying a big load and we need him to do it.”

The Clippers, perhaps, relied too much on Paul in the pivotal Game Five where he was just one of two Los Angeles players in doublefigure scoring.

Paul attempted 24 shots and tried his best to will Los Angeles to victory, but his counterpart Conley always found answers; often times using his speed to blow into the lane or lead a fast break, and other times controlling the pace and running the clock.

Conley is clearly showing his worth in his battle with Paul, and also proving that sometimes less is more.

“He’s been strong all year,” said Memphis coach Lionel Hollins, of his point guard. “He’s a competitor, and I would imagine he likes to go out there and compete against the best and see where he stands.” The series resumes Friday in Memphis.

Popular 24 hour East Coast Guyoil needs day & night pump attendants, sales girl, cleaners/maintenanceTele:698-5559/684-2838 Experienced Bartender- Call 225-8572, between 7am10am: Must be able to work shift

SERVICES Vehicle lights restoration service on the spot, 297 Independence Boulevard La-Penitence Georgetowncall:624-6471 Repairs, sales & spares air conditioning, m i c r o w a v e s , washer, fridges & stoves. Ultra Cool, call:225-9032,647-2943 Repairs to Fridges, Freezers, AC, Washers, Stoves, TV, DVD. Call 683-1312,627-3206 (Nick) ONLINE SHOPPING ZERO COMMISSION, WEEKLY SHIPMENTS, AFFORDABLE RATES, FREE PRIVATE MAILBOX. CALL:231-5789, 2259030.

WE FILL OUT VISA FORMS:USA, UK & CANADA & CREDIT CARD SERVICES CALL: 231-5789

LAND FOR SALE House lots 50"x118" New Hope EBD serious enquires only 266-2711, 609-4594 100 Acres of transported land on the left bank of Mahaica, suitable for cattle/ rice farming: Call: 617-5406 Road front 1 acre Prime land at Harlem, West Coast Demerara- Tele:277-3767/ 277-0602/682-0210

Services and repairs to Gas stoves, washing machines, electric stoves call:686-6209 PERMANENT& VISITORS VISA APPLICATIONS, PROFRESSIONAL IMMIGRATION CONSULTANT ROOM D5 MARAJ BUILDING CALL: 225-6496, 662-6045, 2238115 CAR RENTAL Aiden’s Car Rental call: 6987807

Page 32

Kaieteur News

Thursday May 02, 2013

JCA apologises to Courtney Walsh Tiger Woods: Golf’s governing bodies back Augusta stance

Jamaica Observer - THE Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) has apologised to Ambassador Courtney Walsh for the unfortunate incident which took place at Sabina Park last Friday when the legendary former Jamaica and West Indies cricketer was barred from entering a section of the venue.

“This incident no doubt has caused Ambassador Walsh a great degree of embarrassment for which we unreservedly apologise,” the statement from the JCA Tuesday, said.

The Jamaica Observer understands that Walsh, who has the northern bowling end of the Sabina venue named in his honour, attempted to gain access to the elevators at the North Stand, but was prevented by security personnel at the venue.

It is reported that security personnel was adamant that the 50-year-old Walsh, commonly called ‘Cuddy’, needed requisite identification or an armband to gain access to that area of the ground.

The release noted that on

Courtney Walsh being made aware of the incident at the security post, the JCA executive tried to resolve the matter, but their intervention was unsuccessful as Walsh had already left Sabina Park.

President Lyndel Wright, who was said to be off the island at the time, extended apologies to Walsh the following day, as soon as he became aware of the issue.

“This situation is unfortunate and the JCA accepts that. We offer the assurance to all that we are taking the opportunity to review our operational procedures,

especially as it relates to how we receive our icons.

“Ambassador Walsh is always welcome to Sabina Park, as we take the necessary steps to continue our long and amicable relationship with this great Jamaican,” the release continued.

Shortly after the incident, secretary of the JCA Fritz Harris said he was aware of the “unfortunate” incident and had sent an apology to Walsh, but he added that the security officer was following instructions.

“I am aware of what happened. It’s really an unfortunate situation. In fact, I sent Cuddy an apology and also reminded him of the security policy, but I have not yet received a response.

“The security officer was right... they are given strict instructions not to allow people without IDs to enter,” the JCA secretary told the Observer.

Walsh, a cricket ambassador, played for the West Indies between 1984 and 2001, and took 519 Test wickets in 132 matches at an average of 24.44.

STSC Day of Sports rescheduled for May 5th The South Turkeyen Sports Committee and Business Foundation Day of Sports which was to be held on April 28th has now been re-scheduled for May 5th at Lodge\Meadow Brook play field. The events are being staged in honour of Johnny Barnwell 67th Birth Anniversary. Among the games slated for the day are U-13 softball and tape ball cricket, 60 and 80 meters races for U13 males and females and 7-A-Side football.

Among the teams expected to take part in the football competition are Lodge, Sophia,

Duncan Street, Enterprise, East Ruimveldt and Albert Town.

Trophies and cash prizes that will be up for grabs are being donated by Trophy Stall Bourda Market, Bannas Foundation, Minister of Culture Youth and Sport Dr. Frank Anthony, P and P Insurance, Attorneys–at-Law Roysdale Forde, Joseph Harmon and Basil Williams, Den’s Trading, Elissa’s Traders, President of the Guyana Football Federation Christopher Matthias and Lennox Cush of Star Party Rentals.

Letter to the Sports Editor

Karen Ganesh was never a Guyana Under-19 cricket captain DEAR EDITOR, In Monday’s Edition 2013-4-29 of the Kaieteur News under the caption, American Cricket Society team of New York on Guyana tour, it was mentioned that Karan Ganesh is a former National Under (19) Captain.

For the records please find below Guyana Under-19 Cricket Captains since 1968.

Keith Aaron 1968 Queens College Keith Aaron 1969 Queen College Errol Jackman 1970 Queens College Sydney Matthews 1971 East Bank Faoud Bacchus 1972 GCC Faoud Bacchus 1973 GCC Radhay Solomon 1974 Port Mourant Timur Mohamed 1975 GCC Timur Mohamed 1976 GCC Mark Harper 1977 DCC Jerry Angus 1978 GCC Jerry Angus 1979 GCC Roger Harper 1980 DCC Deonarine Persaud 1981Port Mourant Andrew Jackman 1982 GCC Vinoo Solomon 1983 GCC Carl Hooper 1984 GCC Latchman Bhansingh 1985 GCC Latchman Bhansingh 1986 GCC

Michael Howard 1987 DCC Nezam Hafeez 1988 Malteenoes Paul Persaud 1989 GCC Glen Robinson 1990 Malteenoes Arjune Nandu 1991 Port Mourant Andre Percival 1992 Port Mourant Andre Percival 1993 Port Mourant Andre Percival 1994 Port Mourant Mahendra Nagamootoo 1995 Port Mourant Vishal Nagamootoo 1996 Port Mourant Ramnaresh Sarwan 1997 GCC Ramnaresh Sarwan 1998 GCC Sewnarine Chattergoon 1999 Albion Narsingh Deonarine 2000 Albion Troy Cornelius 2001DCC Sauid Drepaul 2002 Everest Assad Fudadin 2003 Rose Hall Town Zamal Khan 2004 Port Mourant Leon Johnson 2005 GCC Steven Jacobs 2006 Malteenoes Steven Jacobs 2007 Malteenoes Eugene LaFluer 2008 Bermine Anthony Bramble 2009 Scotsburg Dexter Solomon 2010 GNIC Ransford Beaton 2011 Essequibo Shawn Perreira 2012 Rose Hall Town Charwayne Walker

Tiger Woods

Fred Ridley BBC Sports - Golf ’s governing bodies say Masters officials were right not to disqualify Tiger Woods for his illegal drop at last month’s event.

Woods’s second-round drop at Augusta National’s 15th was taken two yards from the original position. This should have incurred a twoshot penalty and thus disqualification for signing an incorrect scorecard but the disqualification was waived.

Augusta officials were said to have “reasonably exercised discretion”.

Woods ran up a bogey six on the par-five 15th after his ball hit the flagstick and bounced into the water, prompting a penalty drop from his original position. He went on to sign for a 71 but a television viewer - Champions Tour player David Eger, according to Sports Illustrated - had alerted Masters officials to a possible breach of the rule 26-1a,

which states the ball must be dropped “as close as possible” to its original position.

Augusta rules chiefs viewed footage and decided there was no case to answer, but when Woods said in a post-round interview that he had gone “two yards further back” from where he hit his original shot, they were forced to revisit the incident.

He was then handed a two-shot penalty for an illegal drop, which would then have meant he signed for the wrong score and would be disqualified, but officials invoked rule 33-7 to waive the disqualification as they had originally deemed it acceptable.

In a 1,867-word statement, the R&A and the United States Golf Association (USGA) said: “In deciding to waive the disqualification penalty, the committee recognised that had it talked to Woods - before he returned

his scorecard - about his drop on the 15th hole and about the committee ruling, the committee likely would have corrected that ruling and concluded that Woods had dropped in and played from a wrong place.

“In that case, he would have returned a correct score of eight for the 15th hole and the issue of disqualification would not have arisen.”

The R&A and USGA said the incident highlighted the obligation players had to understand the rules and sign for a correct score.

The governing bodies also added that officials had “no general obligation” to alert players to the “potential rules issues that may come to its attention”.

“The Woods ruling was based on exceptional facts as required by rule 33-7 - and should not be viewed as a general precedent for relaxing or ignoring a competitor’s (Continued on page 30)

GSL inks its support for 2nd leg of Chow Pow’s 10/10 Challenge Series The Guyana Softball League (GSL) has displayed its confidence in the Yolo Entertainment Agency (YEA) by endorsing the staging of the second leg of the Chow Pow’s 10/10 Challenge Series.

The governing body met with the organisers at the Group’s Head Office on South Road last Saturday where plans for the staging of the second leg were outlined.

The Organizing Secretary of the GSL Mr. Lenard Hariprashad expressed satisfaction with the organisational capabilities of Yolo Entertainment, stating that the Group has so far d e m o n s t r a t e d professionalism and exceptional management skill.

He added that the GSL will work in tandem with YEA to ensure that the development of the tournament and the sport of softball cricket reach greater heights.

The first leg of the tournament was staged on the

Lenard Hariprashad West Bank and West Coast of Demerara and saw the Wolf’s Warriors carting off the male prize and the Regal Champs winning the female category.

Digital Technology was the prime sponsor of the first leg with beverage giants Bank DIH and Creative Jewellery contributing handsomely.

YEA is optimistic that due to its impeccable organisation ability it will be able to garner even more support from the

corporate community this time round.

The second leg is scheduled to be staged on the East Coast of Demerara and will see 32 teams playing a total of one hundred and sixty-two games, at three venues over a period of seven weeks.

Sadly however due to the nature of the tournament the Wolf ’s Warriors and the Regal Champs will not be allowed to participate as every round will seek to crown new champions.

The format will be of round robin nature until the super sixteen round, where it will then enter the knockout phase.

All of the leading softball teams from around the country have signaled their intentions to participate including Memorex which is the top team in Berbice.

Tournament dates and venues will be released shortly.

Thursday May 02, 2013

Kaieteur News

Bubba says he respects Collins, adheres to Bible

Bubba Watson in the field at the Wells Fargo Championship.

(Chris Graythen Getty Images) USA TODAY Sports CHARLOTTE — Bubba Watson has always been upfront about his faith and has never shied from expressing his views, whether in interviews or on Twitter.

While he has rubbed many people the wrong way, he remains true to his word and true to Twitter.

On Tuesday, Watson sent out a tweet in support of ESPN NBA analyst Chris Broussard, who during a segment on Outside the Lines, said that as a Christian he does not agree with homosexuality and that NBA player Jason Collins, who came out as a gay man, is “walking in open rebellion to God and Jesus Christ” by being gay. @bubbawatson: Thanks @Chris_Broussard for sharing your faith & the bible!! #GodIsGood Broussard’s comments sparked outrage among many.

Watson’s tweet wasn’t well received by some people. On Wednesday, Watson told Alex

Miceli of Golfweek that he respects Collins or “anybody that’s gay.”

“The Bible says you’re not supposed to be gay, and so I never downed Jason,” Watson said. “I’ve met Jason, said, ‘Hey,’ to him, because he used to play for the Suns when I had the Suns tickets. I respect anybody that’s gay.”

Watson said he has no ill will against anybody.

“I’m not saying I’m better than anybody else,” Watson told Golfweek. “I’m not saying he’s wrong, I’m saying I love him. If he called me right now and said, ‘Hey,’ or any person that was gay called me, I’d go to dinner with them any time. It’s just my belief system on the Bible says you can’t be gay. That’s a sin. So somebody living in sin I believe to be wrong. “ … The Bible says how to act, and I try to act that way.

Now, I don’t do it every time.

We’ve seen me get mad before. I do wrong, too. Every time I hit a bad shot I’m pretty mad about it.”

Page 33

Collins is ‘happiest’ ever, but not everyone celebrates gay NBA player NEW YORK (Reuters) Veteran basketball player Jason Collins basked in support and declared himself as happy as he had ever been on Tuesday, but not everyone was pleased about his becoming the first openly gay player in North America’s four major professional sports leagues.

Collins revealed he was gay on Monday in a Sports Illustrated article, a reluctant pioneer who broke one of the last barriers of American sport.

He was given the presidential seal of approval when Barack Obama personally called to congratulate him, and also received overwhelming support from other professional athletes and celebrities from the entertainment world.

Appearing on a popular breakfast television show on Tuesday, Collins looked and sounded like a man at ease with himself.

“I know that I, right now, am the happiest that I’ve ever been in my life,” he told Good Morning America.

“A huge weight has been lifted. I’ve already been out to my family and my friends, but just to, you know, sort of rip the Band-Aid off and come out on my own terms.”

Not everyone was applauding Collins, a center who played last season with the Boston Celtics and the Washington Wizards. While most comments seemed positive, there were also critics.

Hines Ward, a former wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL), said the sport would not embrace

Jason Collins

homosexuality.

“I don’t think football is ready,” said Hines, now a television analyst with NBC. “There are too many guys in the locker room and, you know, guys play around too much.”

Ward was not the first, nor likely the last, from the testosterone-fueled and violent world of American football to express public discomfort.

Sportswriter Chris Broussard, speaking on ESPN television, grouped homosexual acts with adultery and premarital sex, saying he believed this was “walking in open rebellion to God.” Other commentators suggested that Collins’ move was easier because he is not a star and not in his prime. A 34-year-old veteran who has played for six different teams in his 12-year NBA career,

Collins is a free agent looking for a new team.

His announcement came at a time of shifting attitudes toward gay rights in the United States, where polls show public opinion is fast moving toward greater acceptance, although a core of social conservatives oppose such change.

In the coming months, the Supreme Court will rule on whether to strike down parts of a federal law that defines marriage as the union between a man and a woman.

In 2011, the military repealed a ban on openly gay soldiers.

OTHER SPORTS GEAR UP While Collins is the first active player in the four major men’s sports, comprising the NBA, NFL, National Hockey League (NHL) and Major League Baseball (MLB), no one thinks he is the last. The

Andy Murray questions a ‘cover-up’ over Fuentes cycling case BBC Sport - British tennis player Andy Murray has criticised Spanish officials for their handling of the Operation Puerto trial, asking if they could be guilty of the “biggest cover-up in sports history”.

Doctor Eufemiano Fuentes was convicted on Tuesday for his role in supplying blood transfusions to cyclists. But hope of identifying other athletes treated by Fuentes could be dashed by a court’s decision to destroy evidence.

“Case is beyond a joke,” tweeted world number three Murray. “Why would court order blood bags to be destroyed? #coverup.”

The Spanish anti-doping agency is planning to contest the court’s decision to destroy 211 bags of frozen blood and plasma found when police raided the offices

Andy Murray

of Fuentes in 2006.

Anti-doping authorities and international sports bodies want to analyse the bags to see whether they implicate athletes in sports other than cycling, but Judge Julia Patricia Santamaria denied them access and ordered that the bags be

destroyed.

Fuentes, who received a one-year suspended sentence for endangering public health, has worked with tennis players, runners, footballers and boxers, although he has not said whether he helped them dope.

Speaking in February,

Murray said it was essential that anyone who was involved should be named.

“If one in 100 is doping then, in my eyes, that isn’t a clean sport and we need to do everything we can to ensure we have everyone that’s competing at the highest level and below is clean. “I know what goes in my body and I know from my side that I’m clean, so that’s all I can comment on.”

In March it was announced that tennis was to implement an Athlete Biological Passport programme. The scheme sees the collection and comparison of biological data to spot discrepancies over time that suggest possible doping.

This came after questions were raised by some of the sport’s top players about existing drug-testing procedures which focused mainly on urine tests.

On the Fuentes case, a statement issued by the World Anti Doping Authority (Wada) said it hopes this is not the end of the matter.

It read: “Access to this evidence motivated Wada’s involvement in this case. This would ensure appropriate sports sanction processes against the cheats who used Dr Fuentes’ services. The court did consider that his conduct was a crime against public health.”

Dick Pound, the former head of Wada, added: “It’s embarrassing for Spain.

Everybody knows we will be able to uncover quite a bit more doping if the examples are made available.”

Fuentes’ punishment · One-year suspended sentence · Struck off as a medical doctor for four years · Fined 4,650 euros (£3,940)

other major sports leagues were making preparations for one of their own to come out.

The NFL has been under fire for its perceived homophobic culture but has been busy scrambling to make up ground.

In the days leading up to this year’s Super Bowl in New Orleans, San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver told reporters he would not welcome a gay teammate into the locker room. He retracted his comments but a few weeks later, at least three college football players said they had been asked about their sexual orientation during NFL recruitment interviews, sparking calls for the NFL to do more to fight discrimination.

On Monday, just hours before Collins’ admission he was gay became headline news, the NFL - America’s most popular sport, with $9 billion a year in revenue - released a ‘workplace conduct statement’ regarding sexual orientation.

“The NFL has a long history of valuing diversity and inclusion. Discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation is not consistent with our values and is unacceptable in the National Football League,” league commissioner Roger Goodell said.

In the NHL, another rough and rugged league, officials said they had been preparing for years for the arrival of their first openly gay player.

The NHL and the players’ union entered into a formal partnership with the You Can Play Project, an advocacy organization that fights homophobia in sports.

“We don’t want any segment of society to feel alienated from the game, to be the subject of slurs, to feel uncomfortable, whether as a fan or in the locker room,” NFL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. American media turned to two questions on Tuesday: How many active gay players are out there in the big sports leagues and who is next?

The answer to the second question could be answered soon. Obama told Collins he not only changed his own life but the lives of others. In the case of one soccer player, that seemed prophetic.

In the past, wary of reaction from teammates and fans, players have waited until they retired before announcing they were gay.

The most recent was Robbie Rogers, a U.S. national soccer team player.

In February, he announced he was gay on the same day he was retiring. But on Tuesday, he was back at training, accepting an offer to practice with the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Page 34

Kaieteur News

Thursday May 02, 2013

WICB President Cameron welcomes Guyana vs British Team Rifle Shooting Individual C/ship new directors Skerritt and Wehby David Calvert is top shot, Lennox Braithwaite is leading local

Port of Spain, Trinidad – President of the West Indies Cricket Board Mr. Dave Cameron said that newly appointed directors, The Honourable Richard ‘Ricky’ Skerritt and Mr. Don Wehby will both provide invaluable service to West Indies cricket based on their distinguished backgrounds.

President Cameron made the remarks in extending a warm welcome to the two.

“They are both men of outstanding reputations and accomplishment in their respective professional fields and their presence on the Board of Directors will be to the benefit of West Indies cricket. We look forward to their service, thoughts, ideas and counsel,” Mr. Cameron said.

“On behalf of the Board of Directors I welcome these two esteemed gentlemen as directors and look forward to their respective contributions as we work towards the continued development of West Indies Cricket,” Mr. Cameron added.

On Saturday last, at a Board Meeting in Port of Spain, Trinidad, the Board elected Skerritt (who was nominated by CARICOM) and Wehby as non-member directors.

The Board also re-elected Mr. Clifford Reis and Mrs. Jennifer Nero as directors.

Mrs. Nero was the first female director of the WICB, having first been appointed in 2011.

Skerritt, a Senator in the

Richard ‘Ricky’ Skerritt

Don Wehby St Kitts and Nevis National Assembly and a former West Indies and Leeward Islands Team Manager is Minister of Tourism, International Transport and Trade, Industry, Commerce and Consumers Affairs of St Kitts.

He was the first full time Team Manager for the West Indies Senior Men’s Team and served from 2000 to 2004.

England v New Zealand:

We’re not Ashes warm-up, says Hesson BBC Sports - New Zealand head coach Mike Hesson hopes their two-Test tour of England will not be seen as just a warm-up for the Ashes later this summer.

After their drawn Test series in New Zealand in March, England face the Kiwis in two home Tests, starting on 16 May at Lord’s and 24 May at Headingley.

“We’re making progress as a Test side and won’t like to be the entree for the main course,” Hesson said. “It’s a tough place to tour and we’ve got to be on the top of our game.”

The final-day heroics of Matt Prior denied the Black Caps a rare Test series win over England after they controlled the third Test in Auckland.

New Zealand fell one wicket short of victory, with Prior and Monty Panesar keeping out the last 19 balls.

“I’ve tried to forget about that game,” Hesson said.

“England’s record in England in recent times has been outstanding. Playing here is the pinnacle and the guys are very excited.”

New Zealand will play a three-day warm-up against Derbyshire from 4-6 May without captain Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor, who are playing in the Indian Premier League.

Kane Williamson, who will captain the side in Derby, said: “We’ve got nothing to do with the Ashes.

“We haven’t looked at it in any way and we’re targeting our preparation ahead of the first Test.”

McCullum and Taylor are due to arrive in time for the final warm-up match against the England Lions, starting on 9 May.

Minister Skerritt also played a leading role in the re-development of Warner Park in his native St Kitts which now serves as one of the premier cricketing venues in the region.

A Rhodes Scholar, Minister Skerritt holds a Bachelors Degree from the University of the Virgin Islands and a Masters from Oxford University.

Mr. Wehby is the Group Chief Executive Officer of GraceKennedy, one of the Caribbean’s largest corporate entities. A Fellow Chartered Accountant, Mr. Wehby holds Bachelors of Science (Hons.) and Master of Science degrees in Accounting from the University of the West Indies and has also completed an Advanced Management College certificate course at Stanford University.

Mr. Wehby, also served as Group Chief Financial Officer, Group Finance Manager and Chief Operating Officer for the GraceKennedy Financial Services Division.

Mr. Wehby served as Minister in the Government in his native Jamaica for two years (2007 – 2009) before returning to GraceKennedy as Group Chief Operating Officer in 2009 serving in that post for two years before being appointed Group CEO. Both Minister Skerritt and Mr. Wehby are avid cricket fans.

The full Board of Directors now reads: Whycliffe ‘Dave’ Cameron – President Emmanuel Nanthan – Vice President Joel Garner Conde Riley Anand Sanasie Anand Kalladeen Lyndel Wright Milton Henry Gregory Shillingford Enoch Lewis Elson Crick Julian Charles Dr. Allen Sammy Baldath Mahabir Jennifer Nero Clifford Reis Richard ‘Ricky’ Skerritt Don Wehby

By Franklin Wilson World renowned marksman David Calvert of Great Britain proved why he is regarded as one of the best the world has ever seen when he dropped just one point over five ranges to emerge as the Top Shot in the individual competition between Great Britain and Guyana which ended yesterday afternoon at the Timehri Rifle Ranges.

Having recorded 50s at the 300, 900, 500 and 600 yards ranges, Calvert a multiple Gold Medalist at the Commonwealth level, dropped one point recording a 49 score at the final range, 1000 yards with 5 Vs to follow his 50-8 at 500 yards and a similar score at the 600 yards range to cap a fine day with an overall score of 149 and 21 Vs; his grand aggregate was 249-34 which was enough to carry him to the first prize, beating out his countryman Thomas Rylands by a single point.

For the home team, reigning Caribbean champion Lennox Braithwaite placed third overall with a grand aggregate of 245-24, while 2013 National champion Ransford Goodluck was the other local shooter to place in the top ten, placing 6th overall.

The two female shooters, both of the visiting team, were not intimidated at all by their male counterparts and did well to place in the top ten. Seasoned veteran of 17 years, Deborah Fenn, placed 5th, while Chloe Evans, who finished school last year and has been shooting for five years, finished eight.

In contrast to the opening day’s tricky right to left winds, yesterday was very calm.

Some of the shooters described it as too easy; they are hoping for a more challenging day today when the Team Championships will be contested at the 300, 600 and 900 yards ranges.

Chloe Evans

For the team competition, Guyana’s A Team will comprise of Lennox Braithwaite, Ransford Goodluck, Mahendra Persaud, Dylan Fields and Leo Ramalho. Team B consists of Dane Blair who shot a possible at the 1000 yards range yesterday, Paul Slowe, Peter Persaud, Lt. Col Terrance Stuart and Charles Dean. Action on today’s final day will commence at 10:00hrs.

Following are the scores from the final three ranges yesterday, overall aggregate and final individual placing.

Rising Sun Horserace meet officially off After postponing their horserace meet by one week due to the inclement weather, the organisers of the Rising Sun Turf Club one day horserace meet, which was rescheduled for Sunday 5th May, has now decided to cancel the activity due to the persistent inclement weather which has made the track unsuitable for racing.

The persistent rains have also made it impossible for the horses to train and continue their preparations.

A new date is to be announced later.

For Information on the event contact can be made with Fazal Habibulla at Chester Fry at Bush Lot West Coast Berbice on Telephone No 232-0232 or 657-7010, or

Inshanally Habibulla on tel No 623-4495, and 623-5453 or 232-3295 or Donald or Zaleena Lawrie on telephone no 225-4530 or 225-4565.

Eight races were listed on the day’s card, while over $6.5M in cash and trophies were up for grabs.

Over 80 horses had lined up to take part in the day’s action.

Meanwhile, it is

understood that the GHRA will be holding a special general meeting on Sunday, 5th May at the Kennard’s Memorial Turf Club beginning at 13:00hrs. Among the topics expected to be discussed are the classification of horses, pending race dates, jockey and trainer and Stewards licensing and guidelines among other topics.

Thursday May 02, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 35

American Cricket Society Deco: Former Chelsea team loses to Chesney star fails drugs test in Brazil

B

The Chesney players display their silverware and gear (in bag) received.

A

midst hard work and dedication and with the urge to get some cricket under their belt before the end of their one week tour to Guyana, the touring American Cricket Society (ACS) Cricket team of New York USA the tourist were able to get some much needed action out in the middle under their belt on Tuesday. They took on Chesney Cricket Club in a reduced 25 overs cricket match which the lost to the host by 16 runs.

The touring ACS which is led by former national U19 Karan Ganesh won the toss and inserted the host who used the big hitting method on the soft outfield and the still damp pitch to reach 126-9 in their allotment of overs. Their charge was lead by Ron Ramcharran with 35(4x4, 1x6) and former Guyana 20/20 player the big hitting Imran Khan with 33(3x4, 1x6) with R Samaroo and N. Deonarine contributing 11 each.

Bowling for the ACS, Karan Ganesh with 3 and Telston Johnson 2

were the chief wicket takers. ACS in their reply started badly and lost some early wickets as their batsmen failed to negotiate damp pitch. They however rallied through a fine effort by former Berbice player Rajbance Hemraj who led the way with 40(3x4, 1x6). Ralph Ogle earlier made 17 and Hassan Amin 11as they were dismissed for 110 in 24.1 overs.

Bowling for Chesney, overseas based Baldeo Dass, bowling medium pace, made full use of the conditions to snare the first four wickets to end with 4-9, while Imran Khan crowned a fine all round performance by taking 3 wickets to be adjudged man-of-thematch.

The Chesney team was presented with a plaque by the touring ACS team.

They also presented thousands of dollars worth in cricket gear to the Chesney Sports Club and plan to erect two sight screens on the play field. The also plan to sponsor a few prospective and talented youths in the area to

Murali completes CPL Internationals BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS Sri Lanka spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan, the man with more international wickets than any other player in history, has been confirmed as the sixth and final international franchise player for this year’s Caribbean Premier league (CPL).

The man known universally as Murali has 1347 wickets across the Test, One-Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) formats in an international career spanning 20 years, and now he will line up in the inaugural franchise-based tournament that will take place in six countries in

July and August.

“I am really looking forward to playing in the first ever CPL – it is going to be a fantastic spectacle for the fans and a great experience for all the players involved “ stated Murali. “I am good friends with a number of the West Indian players, especially Chris Gayle as we play together in IPL, and having the chance to play on a team with guys competing in their home countries will be fantastic for me. I am also excited that there will be so many young West Indian players involved in the tournament and I hope to pass on some of my cricketing experiences as the

enhance their education and sports career.

Earlier on Tuesday, the tourist dominated a back-pack filled with much needed school supplies to each and every student of the Albion Primary School, numbering close to 400. The club also made several other donations to the elderly and needy persons and homes in the area.

The team, which is made up of predominately Guyanese, was expected to continue their tour yesterday with a game against Malteenoes Sport Club, while they are expected to play Everest today, Bush Lot United tomorrow and Enmore on Saturday before flying out on Sunday for the start of their league back in the USA in a week’s time.

They met President Donald Ramoutar on Sunday. The team, which was formed in 1981 and started to compete in 1982, is involved in the present 40 overs and 20/20 cricket in New York. The coordinator is Prem Manbode. (Samuel Whyte)

BC Sport Former Chelsea and Portugal midfielder Deco has tested positive for the banned diuretic furosemide in Brazil.

The 35-year-old failed the test, following Fluminense’s win over Boavista on 30 March, for the drug, which can help hide performance-enhancing substances.

His lawyers said the positive result was due to contaminated vitamins.

Fluminense will not comment until the results of

Audley Harrison announces retirement from boxing

Audley Harrison

Muttiah Muralitharan

B

tournament progresses. I can’t wait for it to get started!”

The 41 year-old, currently playing (Continued on page 31)

the ‘B’ sample are released on Friday.

The Brazil-born Portuguese playmaker spent two years at Stamford Bridge from 2008 to 2010, making more than 50 appearances.

He won the Premier League title in his second season, as well as two FA Cups in 2009 and 2010.

He is also one of only a handful of players to win the Uefa Champions League with two different clubs, Porto in 2004 and Barcelona in 2006.

BC Sport Olympic gold medallist Audley Harrison has announced his retirement from professional boxing.

The 41-year-old was knocked out by American Deontay Wilder after just 70 seconds in Sheffield on Saturday. “I’ve done well to turn my life around, but sadly my dream to be a legitimate world champion will be unrealised,” he said.

Harrison ends his career with seven defeats in 38 fights since winning gold as an amateur in Sydney 13 years ago. He became the first British fighter to clinch

an Olympic title in the superheavyweight division but failed to build on that promise in the professional ranks.

The Londoner first challenged for the world title against David Haye in 2010 but suffered a third-round defeat.

His career looked to be over last October when he was knocked out in the first round by fellow Brit David Price.

But he won a Prizefighter tournament in February to keep alive his dream of one day winning a heavyweight world title.

However, Alabama’s (Continued on page 31)

Page 36

Kaieteur News

Thursday May 02 , 2013

Bayern in final after hammering Barca BBC Sports - Bayern Munich pulled off a stunning 3-0 victory over Barcelona at the Nou Camp to complete a record Champions League semi-final aggregate win.

Arjen Robben opened the scoring shortly after halftime when he cut in from the right and found the top corner. Gerard Pique turned Franck Ribery’s cross into his own net before Thomas Mueller headed in at the far post to complete the 7-0 aggregate rout.

Bayern now meet fellow German side Borussia Dortmund at Wembley on 25 May. Jupp Heynckes’ side were beaten by Chelsea in last season’s Champions League final but, on the evidence of their two performances against the

Catalan giants, it will take an almighty effort from Dortmund to prevent them winning their fifth European Cup. Barcelona, who left injured talismanic playmaker Lionel Messi on the bench, were once again outplayed by the brilliant Bavarians.

If Bayern’s first-leg demolition shook Europe, their second-leg dominance should ensure even bigger reverberations - such was the magnitude of their dominance in the Nou Camp.

F r o m M a r i o Mandzukic’s selfless work as the lone striker, to the slick pass and move skills of those behind him, the visitors outplayed Tito Vilanova’s side.

Their ruthlessly efficient counter-attacks always

carried a goal threat, to the extent that Barcelona were reluctant to commit enough men forward to seriously test the stout Bayern defence.

Perhaps lifted by the absence of Messi, who is still struggling with a hamstring injury, Bayern started brightly and Pique had to be alert to deny both Robben and Philipp Lahm.

Despite the onus being on them to score, Barca were not able to test Manuel Neuer until the 23rd minute the Germany international goalkeeper tipping Pedro’s 25-yard shot over the bar.

Content to let the Spanish side pass the ball about in their own half, Munich sat back and pounced on loose passes to mount dangerous counterattacks on the beleaguered

Arjen Robben (centre) celebrates after opening the scoring at the Nou Camp Barca backline.

Xavi fired over for the hosts while, at the other end, Robben had a shot charged down.

Something had to give, and it was Barcelona’s slim chances when, three minutes into the second half, David Alaba switched play to Robben, who expertly cut inside and curled a left-footed

shot into the top corner.

Not content with their commanding advantage, Bayern continued to counter and Pique summed up Barcelona’s evening when he failed to deal with Ribery’s cross from the left and shinned the ball past his own keeper Victor Valdes.

The record aggregate victory was completed when

Mueller rose highest at the far post to head home another super Ribery cross.

It means their victory eclipses Manchester United’s 6-1 aggregate rout of Schalke in 2011, and while Sir Alex Ferguson’s side lost to Barcelona in the final that year it is difficult to see a similar fate befalling this mighty Munich side.

Great expectations as Roach returns to boost Bajans Bridgetown, Barbados – Barbados coach Hendy Springer is hoping the return of fast bowler Kemar Roach will have a major impact for his side when they face the Windward Islands in the all-important semifinal of the WICB Regional 4 Day Championship.

The impressive fast bowler is said to fired up for the crucial encounter, which bowls off today at Windsor Park in Dominica. First ball is 10 am (9 am Jamaica Time). The other semi-final will be between defending champions Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago at Sabina Park. First ball is 10 am (11 am Eastern Caribbean Time).

“He brings experience to the team, having played the game at the highest level all over the world and having also played at this venue recently in the Test series against Zimbabwe. He will be familiar with the conditions here and we will be banking on his

experience and knowledge when we take the field,” Springer said.

“A lot of our guys have not played here before so the experience of players such as Roach will be vital. He’s also one of the best fast bowlers in the world at the moment so we expect him to make a major impact on the game as well.”

Roach has been outstanding in the longest format of the game and he is the highest placed West Indies bowler in the ICC Test Match bowling rankings at Number 13. He comes into a Bajan bowling attack which has been impressive all season.

Off-spinner Ashley Nurse is the team’s leading wicket-taker with 30 wickets while Miguel Cummins, the lanky new ball bowler, is the tournament’s leading fast bowler with 26 wickets at just under 16 runs apiece.

Experienced left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn has chimed in with 18 wickets in his three

Mohamed, Persaud lead All Star to Ramnarine Dominoes title

N

azeer Mohamed and Vijay Persaud marked 18 games each to lead All star to victory in the final of the Amit Ramnarine Dominoes competition which was contested yesterday at Amit Ramnarine residence in Good Success, Wakenaam.

Mohamed and Persaud chalked a maximum of 18 games each as All star mustered 86 games to take first place ahead of Underdog with 80 games and Seawall Boys with 70 games.

Khemraj Surajpaul chipped in with 15 games for the winners. James Ramnarine 17 and Ganeshram Narine 16

were Underdog leading players.

Andrew Osborne scored 15 and Vinood Ramnarine made 14 for Seawall Boys.

All star and Underdog received trophies for their efforts while Mohamed was named player of the tournament. The competition was sponsored by Amit Ramnarine.

appearances.

The Bajans arrived in Roseau on Monday but were unable to use the nets due to heavy rain all across the Nature Isle.

“We didn’t get a full training session on Tuesday due to the weather, but we still had a run around and got a feel of the conditions. We are now at the semi-final stage and we see this as a different season altogether. We had some experiences in the first round where we finished third in the standings and we will look to make a ‘fresh start’,” Springer added.

“They (Windwards) will be buoyant having won the 50-over competition, so we will look to combat that by executing our plans.”

Barbados’ batting has been inconsistent, but opener Kraigg Brathwaite has stood out with 440 runs at 55 runs per innings. His career-best 165 against the Leewards is the highest score of the tournament so far.

“Kraigg has been good and is always focused on what he has to do. He is playing well and we hope he continues to do the job at the top for us. Every player has roles and responsibilities in the team and we expect everyone to show that fight which will be required. I believe this will be the kind of game where the team that bats better will come out on top,” the coach said.

FULL SQUAD: Kirk Edwards (Captain), Suliemen Benn, Rashidi Boucher, Kraigg Brathwaite, Jonathan Carter, Roston Chase, Miguel Cummins, Shane Dowrich (wicket-keeper), Shai Hope (wicket-keeper), Ashley Nurse, Kemar Roach, Javon Searles, Kevin Stoute

Kemar Roach

Thursday May 02, 2013

Kaieteur News

Page 37

t r o Sp GUYANA VS BRITISH TEAM RIFLE SHOOTING INDIVIDUAL C/SHIP

David Calvert is top shot, Lennox Braithwaite is leading local

Deborah Fenn seen recording her score after a shot at the 1000 yard range yesterday.

TOP MARKSMEN! Overall winner David Calvert (right) and Guyana’s Lennox Braithwaite are all smiles after the final range yesterday.

Bayern in final after hammering Barca

Robben (unseen) cut inside and curled a brilliant finish into the far corner of Barca's net.

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