Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

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

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

Editorial

Civil society, anyone?

For the last couple of decades there has been a steady lamentation that ‘civil society’ is not standing up to be counted in our country. What exactly is the ‘civil society’ creature?

Classically defined as those institutions outside the state, civil society differed from the family in its reach and scope and from the market in its actuating spirit of volunteerism.

The work of charities, faith-based organisations – such as the Salvation Army – trade unions, etc., rose from this perspective. These organisations sought to ameliorate objectionable social conditions of one form or another.

Four decades ago, in many parts of the world, but mainly behind the Iron Curtain, these organisations were joined by a new affiliate – the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).

They defined, as part of their social mission, a resistance to dictatorial or authoritarian regimes.

Their organisers reasoned that the nature of the political regime – especially as it had to do with the democratic rights available to the citizenry - was inextricably linked to the social conditions that the people had to live under. Maybe not totally coincidental, these NGOs received most of their funding from foreign (read, western) sources. The majority of the assorted “Coloured Revolutions” in eastern Europe – ” were engendered through key support from these NGOs. In Guyana, interestingly enough, agitation for improvement of the social conditions of most of the populace – who were all pretty much all “working class” – came out of the trade union movement – a first generation ‘civil society’ grouping. Practically all of our early politicians were graduates of that movement.

In the sixties, foreign support for regime change here was funnelled through the trade union movement. Their nexus with politics and political change was kept alive into the eighties, when the NGO phenomenon blossomed across the globe.

Sections of our trade union movement were in the forefront of the struggle for political reform in the late seventies and the eighties and were joined by many other civil society organisations such as the Bar Association. Even High School students joined the fray. This era has to be the heyday of civil society involvement in Guyanese political activism – which ended in regime change in 1992.

During the budget debate, once again there were expressions of deep disappointment from some quarters for more ‘civil society activism’. The question as to why this has not occurred is an interesting one and begs for some sort of explanation.

Is it, as a supporter of the government might posit, the accusations of bad governance, much less that of “dictatorship”, is so seriously off base that even the foreignfunded (and influenced) NGOs have not taken up cudgels on behalf of the critics? Of course, the corollary to that riposte would be that the present regime is not so unacceptable to the international guardians of democracy that the fervent entreaties from the government’s bête noirs would be answered in the affirmative.

A detractor of the status quo may argue that the present regime has worked assiduously to depoliticise civil society from the moment they assumed office, with the result that the surviving organisations have not only been defenestrated but are seriously anaemic. They could point, for instance, to the vanguard politically-conscious civil society grouping in our country – the trade union movement – and describe how though a variety of stratagems and their own complicity, they have been brought to heel.

But all of this begs the question that if political parties are recognised and given the space to articulate the concerns of all citizens – be they social, economic or cultural – within a polity that guarantees free and fair elections, why should civil society still be expected to enter the political realm?

Those who complained that the political system was ossified and not receptive to change have had their concerns addressed by the operation of the same criticised system, last November.

The bottom line is that we should strive to ensure that our political institutions adhere to the framework that has been outlined in the constitution. Our input is through the ballot box.

Wednesday May 09, 2012

Letters... Where your views make the news

NICIL is incompetent and has cost the Guyanese people billions DEAR EDITOR, Kaieteur News published an article on January 23, 2011 titled “NICIL transfers public property to PM, Queens Atlantic, 28 others.” The article noted “(NICIL) handled an estimated 30 transfers of public properties but no sale prices have been disclosed or monies transferred to Government’s Consolidated Fund.”

This PPP-controlled slush fund that belongs to the people of Guyana sold in 2010 around 30 pieces of property and lands owned by the people of Guyana and did not hand the money over to the nation’s bank account (the Consolidated Fund). NICIL did not disclose how much it charged for these transfers.

GUYSUCO transferred 1.327 acres at Tract “B” Plantation Farm East Bank Demerara to Prime Minister Samuel A.A Hinds and Yvonne Z. Hinds jointly.

Queens Atlantic Investment Inc. got 18.871 acres identified as 4702 Plantation Ruimveldt from NICIL. Kaieteur News stated that no known advertisement or tender was provided.

Queens Atlantic could verify if there was such an advertisement or tender.

The 2010 NICIL transactions continued. The Government of Guyana transferred 103.88 acres at plot ‘LP’ at Plantation Liliendaal and Pattensen on East Coast Demerara to NICIL. By the end of 2010, NICIL sold that same plot to National Hardware Guyana. National Hardware reportedly paid

$600 million for the property at $5,775,895 per acre.

I am going to focus on this transaction to confirm why NICIL should be stopped dead in its tracks, be made accountable to the Guyanese people and to transfer its funds into the nation’s back account (the Consolidated Fund).

One cannot blame the purchaser from profiting from the idiocy of fools disposing of the people of Guyana’s assets/lands and property.

One has to blame the government and those within NICIL for allowing this disaster.

Selling what is arguably the prime of prime real estate in Guyana at $5,775,895 per acre is one of the most shocking travesties of the PPP government and its NICIL lapdog. Parliament should investigate this and other transactions for the tragic connotations not only of NICIL’s perversions but also to fend off the international community mistaking Guyana for a giveaway sale.

An acre should deliver 15 large plots for middle class to upper class homes. The almost 104 acres should produce near to 1560 homes.

Valuing plots for these homes at $1 million like they are being sold at lesser neighbourhoods to Liliendaal, we are looking at $15 million per acre for the land alone.

Without doing anything but just selling the land in individual plots, National Hardware could make

$9,224,105 in profits on each acre. Over the course of 103.88 acres, the profit is a staggering $958,200,027, just shy of a billion dollars. How could a government and its snakeoil sales agency (NICIL) sell national assets at this ridiculous price when the buyer does not even have to do anything but to flip the people’s property to collect almost a billion in pure profits?

NICIL and the PPP’s frightening destruction of our patrimony does not end there. The PPP has built a conference centre, swimming pool and other public infrastructure at Liliendaal.

Which government in its right mind sells almost 104 acres of prime land where it has continuously developed public infrastructure?

If Guyana needs a new cultural centre or a museum or a concert hall or a new government business centre in the future, should we be selling off public lands where these places can be ideally located? How foolish is the PPP to sell 104 acres of prime real estate that could be kept for any future public infrastructure that benefits the people? This is highclass backwardness at its best.

Any imbecile knows that maximum value must be obtained for public property.

It is the fundamental premise for sale of the nation’s patrimony. A government and any entity selling assets under its guidance (NICIL) must also ensure that the sale of public property benefits as

many citizens and bodies as possible unless a single buyer could show an immediate and pressing need for a large purchase of prime state lands such as construction of a structure that utilizes the entire land in the short term and in doing so benefits the public.

To sell massive tracts of state lands to individuals for it to lie idle or for large parts of it to be unused is inimical to the interests of the Guyanese people. It is a nasty farce for the PPP and its unaccountable lackey NICIL to sell off the nation’s assets in this fashion.

The aim of selling state assets to benefit large numbers of citizens would have been better served if NICIL and the PPP sold these lands in smaller tracts to different investors or if it simply created a scheme and sold individual plots to citizens. Making $15 million per acre or more would have created immediate jobs as hundreds of home owners would have hired contractors and builders to commence building their homes.

But this is the PPP and its anti-working class and big business favoritism. This fiasco confirms why NICIL should be immediately brought under public scrutiny and be subjected to an independent forensic audit. The role of any government is to maximise its returns for the people of its country when it is selling their public assets.

NICIL is selling the Continued on page 23

DEAR EDITOR, QUESTION [1]. Why cut monies to GINA and NCN and give them only ONE DOLLAR? BECAUSE NCN made a massive profit of over $500 million in 2011, it is in a financial position to pay all its workers and to meet its expenses. NCN is used by the PPP as part of its propaganda machinery.

PPP 2011 campaign ads were classified as PSAs (Public Service Announcements) – so the PPP didn’t pay a blind cent for all the elections ads carried on a publicly owned utility.

And the head of NCN, Fuzzy Sattaur, by speaking on the PPP election platform, was clearest proof of how the PPP has made NCN its propaganda arm. ALL OF THIS IS CORRUPTION! GINA must not receive taxpayers’ money to finance PPP propaganda. GINA’s job is to deliver news about

Government policies and national events, NOT TO SELL PPP PROPAGANDA. PPP propaganda should be funded by the PPP, not the taxpayers! It is shameless for the minority government to want to give these propaganda outfits our hard earned TAX dollars!

ANY person dismissed by GINA and NCN will be out of

the usual political spite and not, as the PPP is telling you, because the opposition wants to take bread out of workers mouth.

Keep the fat cats fat and starve the small people. That is the PPP way!

THE minority PPP government said no to paying A $10,000 increase to ordinary public servants who

are being paid a pittance, while the PPP favourites and cronies are being paid monthly salaries of sometimes as high as US$15,000 ($3 million) a month! Some get less but plenty times more than nearly all other public service workers. Not to mention special contracts.

Name withheld

Some reasons behind the budget cuts

Brassington should be questioned DEAR EDITOR, The combined opposition should press for an audit. Who will be the Independent Auditor? It has to be an external person.

There should be a Special Parliamentary Committee made up of advisors such as land surveyors/tax specialists/accountants and lawyers with a wide remit to examine, take evidence under oath and report to the House.

It shows that Dr Ashni Singh has no clue regarding Corporate Governance and his excuse that the company was formed under the Companies Act is total nonsense. It shows that he does not know what he is saying.

What does the Memorandum of Association state - regarding the objects of the company and what do the Articles of

Association prescribe? Who are the shareholders? These documents should be obtained from Companies Registrar to show the nonsense that is going on. I bet they will go missing !!!!

It is my belief that NICIL is used as a slush fund for the powers that be!

The Opposition has a duty to trace the funds that went into and out of the account.

You cannot turn a blind eye to such wrongdoing since the money belongs to the Guyanese Taxpayers and it must be accounted for.

Let Brassington appear before the House and answer questions under oath. This is not only eye pass it is blatantly more.

Sarah Daniels

Wednesday May 09, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 5

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

An affront to employees of GRA Where is Guyana’s Foreign Ministry?

DEAR EDITOR, Permit me space in your letter column to report the very serious damage that was inflicted on the image and reputation of the Licence Revenue Department as a result of what transpired recently.

Last evening while viewing a television programme comprising a panel of two individuals, one of whom is a former Auditor General and the other someone by the name of Nadia Sagar, introduced by the host as an executive officer of the Guyana Chapter of Transparency International, I was surprised to learn that a driver’s license can be very easily arranged with the payment of a suitable inducement to presumably an officer of the Licence Revenue Department.

This, according to Ms. Sagar, was told to her by someone who it would appear gloated about using this nefarious route, because of the rampant corruption that has infested this agency, an arm of the Guyana Revenue Authority. This programme which has as its host a well known private sector executive and an achiever in his own rights, by his very presence, not to mention that of the former Auditor General, only served to lend credibility to such utterances.

It is noteworthy that neither of these gentlemen in the least sought to question the narrator of the statement as to whether the information was subject to any scrutiny before being put in the public domain.

I am extremely perturbed about the misuse and abusive manner in which persons today are using the electronic media, who are wont to make statements that are extremely damaging to the public image of public institutions, based on innuendoes and what passes for free speech in this country.

I am even more worried that as has become the norm, persons who hold themselves out as the paragon of virtue are the very ones who are guilty of committing the greater

atrocity from their reckless, unfounded and unwarranted criticisms of others.

Were these individuals to come off their high horses and consider the serious repercussions that such unfounded anecdotal utterances are likely to have on the morale of those hard working, honest and dedicated officers of the agency, not to mention the agency itself and the country in general, then they certainly would want to ensure that these slanderous statements are put through the test of proper scrutiny that they deserve to have, before they are uttered.

It is ironic that these very self appointed protectors of our morals, these sanctimonious proponents, are the ones that are the least accountable to society for the public mischief that they create from making these reckless, unfounded and slanderous statements.

It is my intention to bring this outrage to the attention of the newly appointed chairperson of the Guyana Chapter of Transparency International (TI), Mr. Gino Persaud since it amazes me that one of the executive members of this prestigious body can draw conclusions and formulate opinions on the basis of hearsay evidence.

I trust that my planned action of addressing my concerns with the chairperson of the TI will be preempted and that the damage that has been inflicted on the image of the entity can be undone with some suitable words of consolation befitting of the injury inflicted.

Even if the perpetration of such a fraud could occur and thereby circumvent all the controls that currently exists, both within and without, the holder of such a fraudulent document, because of its importance, can have his or her liberty seriously compromised, if it were to be determined, as it ought to when a renewal has to occur

or a random validation done, that the document was fraudulently obtained.

Of course there are other safeguards that are regularly engaged in between the agency and the Guyana Police Force, which for obvious reasons cannot be disclosed here, that prevent the use of such fraudulent documents.

It’s a pity that these so called champions of our public morals who think that everyone around them is a moron and an imbecile, do not make suggestions on how to prevent these situations from occurring when they spout their garbage.

It is instructive to note that this TV host a week ago castigated the Minister of Finance for the factual statements made that a reduction in the rate of VAT would not benefit the poorer classes of society. He used very strong words in criticizing the Minister’s statement, which according to him was “utter garbage”.

Finally, let me remind your readership that the GRA prides itself with having put measures in place to weed out corruption, and any law abiding citizen, whom I am sure the aforementioned three individuals are supposed to be, should first seek to test the veracity of their wanton claim before subjecting the entity to ridicule and being stigmatized in order to serve some narrow and selfish interest and or agenda.

Khurshid Sattaur Commissioner-General

The French polls DEAR EDITOR, Half-an-hour after the close of polls in the French Presidential election last Sunday, the incumbent, President Sarcozy, telephoned his opponent Francois Hollande, to concede victory. Voter turnout was over 37 million and the results split 51.63%48.37%.

Mike McCormack

DEAR EDITOR, I just read an article on a West Indies cricket web site stating inter alia that two Guyanese members of the West Indies cricket team for the upcoming tour of England- Deonarine and Fudadin- are in Jamaica awaiting visas because there is no British High Commission in Guyana. Has the British High Commission in Guyana closed? I think not.

Has it stopped issuing visas out of its office in Georgetown? I know not.

Anyway, the reason I have “put pen to paper” is not merely to clarify the British High Commission’s presence in Guyana but to register my disgust at yet another issue which makes Guyana and Guyanese look bad, when in fact such an issue should not even arise.

Why would the WICB have problems securing visas for its touring team members?

Doesn’t the Board ensure that team members have or are granted visas before naming the team?

Thanks to the Jamaican cricket authorities the two Guyanese players were able to get in some match practice over the weekend while awaiting their visas, but they should have been adjusting to the English conditions with the rest of team. Guyanese must demand an explanation from the WICB on this visa snafu.

Further, where is our Ministry of Foreign Affairs?

Many of your letter writers and bloggers constantly refer to the ills of the Burnham era but they could “put it in their pipe and smoke it”—this nonsense would never have happened in the Burnham era.

No way would any Guyanese member of the West Indies cricket team have to wait days to be granted a visa. Even if the WICB had “messed up” the Foreign Ministry would have ensured these visas were granted pronto.

I suppose times have changed. Perhaps the administrations in the major capitals of the world don’t

hold Guyana in as high esteem today as they did 25 years ago. I remember during a heads of mission meeting in Guyana, Burnham placing a call to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and getting through to her right away. I remember President Hoyte placing a call to the White House at around 9 o’clock one morning. Like Burnham’s call this was not prearranged, and by 1.30 pm President George Bush (Snr.) was returning the call.

Hoyte took that call in a room at the senior staff club at one of the Guysuco Berbice estates he was visiting that day— it may have been Skeldon.

I refer to the Burnham and Hoyte telephone calls to say that Guyana needs to be more proactive in seeking to improve its relations with the major powers and in the process generate heightened respect for the country and its citizens. While our current

Foreign Minister is no Shridath Ramphal or Rashleigh Jackson and our current High Commissioner in London no Cecil Pilgrim, they should spare no effort in ensuring that Guyana enjoys pride of place among the nations of the world.

Perhaps it is time for President Ramotar to look for some diplomats the likes of Ramphal, E.V. Luckhoo, Sir John Carter, Ann Jardim, Fred Wills, Noel Sinclair, Bobby Moore, Ted Braithwaite and H B Gajraj. These were not PNC members, and even if so they were/are some brilliant minds and effective diplomats.

Burnham did well in choosing his ambassadors.

But then he had Lord Canary as Minister in the Ministry of Trade, Sallahuddin as Finance Minister and Member of Parliament Fowler as something, appointments that should never have been.

Wesley Kirton

A feast for wood ants DEAR EDITOR, Even as some schools in Region Three struggle with insufficient furniture for students and teachers alike, the wood ants continue to enjoy a daily feast on new, unissued school furniture at the Region’s Crane compound.

Unbelievably, a large quantity of new school furniture which appears to have been forgotten at that location sits there as food for wood ants and utilises significant storage space.

What a complete waste of tax payers’ dollars!

As teachers and students wish for the day when their comfort would be enhanced by the availability of improved seating accommodation, the Administration remains unmoved.

Mervyn Williams

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Kaieteur News

Cemetery Road bridge for repairs

Wednesday May 09, 2012

Rains may affect hydraulic change operation at DHB

…days after tragic accident Senior Government Engineer Walter Willis has said that works on the dilapidated bridge at Cemetery Road, will commence tomorrow, just days after 16-year-old Elbert Thorne died when the vehicle he was in veered off the bridge on Saturday night.

Willis told Kaieteur News that selected contractors from the Ministry of Public Works have already submitted bids.

According to Willis, the estimated cost of the bridge is known, but he could not state it because he didn’t have the documentation in his possession. He explained that the new bridge will be constructed with reinforced concrete with steel decks and plates.

Meanwhile relatives of the injured teen have said that they will be exploring their legal avenues. A close relative told Kaieteur News that the incident could have been prevented if the relevant authorities had looked after the bridge.

The lad succumbed at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation shortly after midnight on Sunday. Kaieteur News understands that he had sustained head injuries, and water had entered his lungs after he was trapped in the submerged car for several minutes.

The tragedy occurred after the car in which the mother and son were passengers veered off the decrepit bridge and toppled

into a canal.

The mother and driver managed to scramble to safety but Elbert Thorne, a former student of Kingston Community High School and Zenon Academy, was trapped in the overturned vehicle for several minutes. Eyewitness reports indicate that the driver suffered a blowout and lost control after accidentally driving into one of the large holes on the bridge.

The rescuers eventually hauled Elbert Thorne, who was unconscious, from the vehicle. The occupants were all rushed to the GPHC. One eyewitness told Kaieteur News that the driver was travelling at a slow rate but encountered problems after one of the front wheels ended up in one of the many deep ridges on the bridge.

Last Wednesday, USbased Guyanese Christopher Giles almost perished after his vehicle also toppled off the same bridge. He managed to unbuckle his seat-belt and crawl through the driver’s window.

In a brief telephone interview, Mayor Hamilton Green said that the Ministry of Public Works is responsible for repairs to the bridge. According to Green, he had made several enquiries of his City Engineer and Town Clerk about the structure. He alleged that despite repeated requests to the Government, no financial assistance has been forthcoming.

The eastern hydraulic ramp being changed at the Demerara Harbour Bridge

Heavy rainfall on the coastland is now a factor the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (DHBC)’s management has to consider when setting a date to change its western hydraulic ramp.

According to General Manager, Rawlston Adams, management wanted to conduct the operation on either May 19 or by monthend. The exact date would have been decided following discussions with the companies that would be affected with the bridge closure to marine transit.

He added that management is now faced with rainy conditions, which make it unsafe to carry out welding works [that require electricity].

Two Sundays ago, management of the DHBC

commenced a six-day operation to change the eastern hydraulic ramp. That operation was completed within three days and prudent planning was attributed for that success.

The hydraulic ramp is the section of the retractor span that lifts off the acceptor span, allowing the bridge to retract to facilitate the passage of large ocean-going vessels.

According to Adams, utilizing the extra three days to change the western hydraulic ramp was discussed. But it was discovered that the exercise would have utilized more days owing to the transportation of materials. This could have been problematic for companies that depend on the river to transport cargo.

Instead of transporting

the components for the western hydraulic ramp via the bridge, management will be using the river. Adams disclosed that discussions are ongoing with wharfs to allow DHBC to load the components onto a pontoon.

“The components would be floated in the river and all the crane has to do is go down to the side and load on and off components…It would have taken two days to mobilize the resources and three days to finish the work.

We have to do the work with the companies in mind,” the General Manager asserted.

Another plus for these operations is that the contractor, InFab, when it was Industrial Engineering Ltd, had removed and installed the hydraulic ramps some 15 years ago. That operation saw the bridge being closed to both vehicular and marine traffic.

“When the hydraulic ramp of the bridge was built, the second section was a whole section, that is why when they were installing…. because of the fact it was 3.2 metres by 7.6 metres wide and spans the whole bridge…if you are taking it out there is no way you could allow traffic on one side while you work on the other,” Adams said.

The recent operation saw InFab changing the design for the hydraulic ramp - it is divided into two and a steel beam was placed to support the ramp. This allowed the contractor to better manage the components.

The DHBC grasped the opportunity to change over 40 deck plates that were under the hydraulic ramp.

A major part of the operation was traffic management. According to Adams, constant meetings with the Guyana Police Force Traffic Chief and senior officers aided the smooth flow of traffic. The bridge was also forced to forego revenue collection to clear traffic build-up last week Tuesday evening. He stressed that from about 19:00 hrs, for about one-and-a-half hours, vehicles passed without purchasing tickets.

Adams stated, “We can’t always look at the money aspect… This infrastructure is to move people, goods and services in an efficient manner,” He added that some persons chose not to travel via the bridge during the three-day period to avoid the traffic and that too contributed to loss of revenue.

Wednesday May 09, 2012

Kaieteur News

$50B in NICIL accounts a gross exaggeration - Brassington

By Gary Eleazar The political opposition and the stakeholders behind the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) are now poised to collide over the amount of money being held by the State's holding company.

Alliance for Change (AFC) Chairman, Khemraj Ramjattan, has contended that moneys being held in the accounts of NICIL, and which should be transferred to the Consolidated Fund, amount to some $50B, but there is a differing opinion from the entity's head.

When contacted yesterday, Executive Director of NICIL, Winston Brassington, said that while he was not in a position to give a definitive figure, the $50B being bandied about by the AFC is “a gross exaggeration and one not grounded in reality”.

Brassington said that he will soon be presenting details of the NICIL accounts.

Ramjattan had explained that the AFC uses as a starting point in reaching the figure, the more than $30B reported as revenue for NICIL in its 2003 Annual Report.

This is the most recent report available for public scrutiny, and according to Ramjattan, following that report there have been numerous transactions involving NICIL and the disposal of State assets to the tune of billions.

This publication has seen a copy of the NICIL report for 2004 which was signed off in

Executive Director of NICIL, Winston Brassington February of this year by the Auditor General. In that report it stated as revenue for NICIL some $26B -- $4B less than the previous year.

Ramjattan in his party's tabulation of the $50B points to the sale of a large plot of prime land sold to the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) on which it has since erected its headquarters.

The AFC Chairman pointed also to the controversial sale of land at Industrial Site in Ruimveldt, including the Sanata Textiles Complex.

This transaction was initially shrouded in secrecy and was also in breach of Guyana's financial laws until the relevant legislation was amended.

The complex was initially leased by Queens Atlantic Investment Inc (QAII) headed by the best friend of former President Bharrat Jagdeo, Dr Ranjisinghi 'Bobby' Ramroop.

Ramjattan also referred to the sale of the Governmentowned 20 per cent shares in

Dr. Ranjisinghi 'Bobby' Ramroop of Queens Atlantic Investments Inc., who was involved in one of the more lucrative deals with NICIL GT&T which was sold to a Hong Kong buyer Datang Telecoms.This sale has netted some US$25M with an additional US$5M to come in over the next two years.

Ramjattan also spoke of significant land sales to industrial developers.

He pointed to the money also intimated for the equity in the Georgetown Marriott and called for NICIL to come clean on its books.

The AFC Chairman said that as soon as the Parliamentary Committees get down to work, the AFC will be pursuing a probe of all transactions by NICIL.

He said that the AFC will also be looking to see who owes NICIL and by extension the State, and that “court action being taken by the administration against its friends is a front, as these persons are not vigorously prosecuted”.

Responding to President Donald Ramotar's sentiments that the accounts for the Privatization Unit, which controls the largest cache of cash under NICIL's control is audited, Ramjattan said that if the books are ready for up to 2010, then they should be made available without delay.

Page 7

Murdered taxi driver…

Arrests imminent following background checks Police may be closer to making arrests after conducting background checks on murdered taxi driver Rajendra Puran.

This is according to Crime Chief Seelall Persaud who told Kaieteur News yesterday that the checks “brought out certain things”.

He did not elaborate, except to say that they have led to the questioning of several persons.

Puran's body with hands and feet bound was discovered early last week Thursday morning in a drain at Logwood, Enmore, East Coast Demerara, more than 23 miles from his place of operation at Diamond, East Bank Demerara. His white Toyota Raum is still missing and investigators have initially treated the murder as a carjacking gone wrong.

Kaieteur News understands that police yesterday detained a man who operates a taxi service on the East Bank of Demerara.

However, a source close to the investigation said that there is nothing substantial to link the suspect to the crime.

“We are getting closer (to solving) in the Puran case.

We are doing things to collect evidence along a certain line,” the Crime Chief said.

From all indications, Puran, a former money changer who operated on America Street in the city, was killed somewhere else and then taken to Enmore where his body was dumped.

There are reports that he

DEAD: Rajendra Puran had picked up a passenger from Overhead Tank Street in Grove on the East Bank of Demerara just before he went missing around 21:00 hours last week Wednesday.

Residents of Enmore where the body was discovered told investigators that they heard nothing strange last Wednesday night or early the following morning, since they claimed it was raining heavily.

However, investigators believe that the killers had to have some knowledge of the layout of Enmore, in order to successfully dump the body there without difficulty.

A post mortem examination revealed that Puran was strangled and suffered blunt trauma to his head.

Page 8

Kaieteur News

Bahamas: PLP celebrates win NASSAU, Bahamas CMC - Five years after it was swept out of office, the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) reversed its 2007 defeat on Monday and sent Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham back into private life.

PLP supporters took to the streets in celebration following an election campaign dominated by unhappiness over high unemployment and crime in this archipelago of 700 islands.

The unemployment rate has risen to nearly 15 per cent in the country of about 350,000 people and foreclosures have increased. There were a record 127 murders last year, roughly 30 more than the previous year.

The margin of victory for the PLP led by former prime minister Perry Christie, 69, should be known today when

Perry Christie the official results are released.

The Democratic National Alliance (DNA), which also contested the election, failed to win a seat.

Ingraham, who, had previously served as prime minister from 1992 to 2002, won his North Abaco constituency to return to the

38-seat parliament and conceded defeat by telling supporters he wanted to “publicly congratulate (Christie’s) party.”

“Today, the Bahamas once again demonstrated the vitality and endurance of our proud democratic heritage,” Ingraham told supporters at the party’s headquarters.

“I would like to congratulate the leader of the party and his candidates. I should like to thank the FNM for making m e t h e i r l e a d e r, ” s a i d Ingraham, who was seeking a second consecutive term in office.

“I shall not go on to lead this party as the opposition. I shall not set my feet in the House of A s s e m b l y, a n d I s h a l l return to private life from whence I came,” he added.

Christie, who is expected to be sworn in as prime minister today, urged national unity, saying “this has been a bitterly contested election, and now it is over it is time for national healing to begin”.

Wednesday May 09, 2012

Professor Ramesh Deosaran says…

Abu Bakr should have faced military tribunal, warns of a possible 1990 repeat PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - CMC - A Commission of Inquiry probing the events that led to the unsuccessful 1990 coup against the Trinidad and Tobago of Prime Minister ANR Robinson has been told that the leader of the radical Muslim group should have been tried by a military tribunal.

Professor Ramesh Deosaran, a criminologist, told the five-member Commission chaired by prominent Caribbean jurist Sir David Simmons that Yasin Abu Bakr, who led more than 100 men in the failed attempt at overthrowing the government on July 27, 1990, should have been taken tried before a military tribunal.

“A better institutional arrangement to hear such cases should have been a military tribunal,” Deosaran said, adding “my suggestion is that for matters or treason, insurrection and terrorism, we should have a separate judicial arrangement.

“For example by having a military tribunal, you will hear evidence and due process will still be maintained but the

Yasin Abu Bakr

Ramesh Deosaran

expeditiousness and decisiveness on both sides will be more properly handled rather than the present system of justice,” he said.

At least 24 people, including one legislator, Leo Des Vignes, were killed during the six day insurrection that ended on August 1. Bakr and his members of his Jamaat-Al-Muslimeen group were tried for treason, but the Court of Appeal upheld the amnesty offered to secure their surrender, and they were released.

However, The Londonbased Privy Council, the country’s highest court, later invalidated the amnesty, but the Muslimeen members were not re-arrested.

The 23 month-old Kamla Persad Bissessar led People’s Partnership coalition established the Commission after acknowledging that for several years calls have been made “by a generous percentage of our population for such an investigation”.

She said the inquiry was necessary “to bring finality to this matter” and to deal with the fact “that there were varying degrees and categories of trauma experienced by citizens in different institutions directly and indirectly”.

Deosaran told the Commission on Monday that he doubted an “identical occurrence” like 1990 would recur but called on the State to “execute appropriate surveillance” on the Muslim group and warned law enforcement authorities here that current rumblings between employers and trade unions as well as class conflicts are a “time bomb” waiting to explode.

Ecuador man sentenced to 25 years in US murder QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — A court in Ecuador has given a 25 year prison sentence to man convicted last week of premeditated murder in the bludgeoning death of a woman and her toddler son in Massachusetts. Luis Guaman’s case stirred controversy because U.S. prosecutors sought his extradition, hoping to put him in prison for life without parole.

But Ecuador insisted on trying Guaman in his homeland because its new constitution bars extradition of its citizens.

The three-judge court in Cuenca, Ecuador, that convicted Guaman said yesterday it was also fining him $10,000. It had convicted him of the February 2011 murders in Brockton, Massachusetts, of Maria Palaguachi, 25, and her 2-year-old son, Brian Caguana.

Their badly beaten bodies were found in a dumpster.

Wednesday May 09, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 9

Giving notice to Govt. for the actions of the Opposition When the opposition parties combined to institute cuts into the national Budget, the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) did not come out against these cuts which can effectively place workers on the breadline and put a stop order on job creation.

As the umbrella trade union body for trade unions, and against the background of trade unions traditionally railing against any antiworkers measures, the GTUC would have its counterpart, the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG), in condemning the potential effects of the cuts on workers and on job creation.

The GTUC strangely did not make a big fuss. There was no condemnation by the GTUC of the cuts instituted by the combined opposition.

Yet, while remaining silent in the face of these cuts instituted by the opposition, the GTUC had the temerity on May Day to issue a stern warning to the government should any workers be put in danger.

What temerity! The GTUC totally ignores those who

should be principally held accountable for job losses but wants to warn the government of the consequences if workers are sent home.

This is just one of the reasons why labour is at the crossroads. The GTUC warns the government against workers losing their jobs, but says nothing against the very cuts instituted by the opposition which can lead the government to send home dozens of workers and put a pause on projects that can create jobs for the unemployed.

In condemning the reaction of the government to the cuts, critics have accused the administration of being conveniently concerned about workers. The dispute in which over sixty bauxite workers were dismissed by RUSAL is used to show government’s inconsistency when it comes to defending the rights of workers.

The previous PPP/C administration has long been accused in that matter of siding with the employers, RUSAL. The truth is that the dismissed workers were not

public employees, but rather employees of a private entity.

The government has no power to order a private company to reinstate any workers.

The government can bring to the attention of the company its position on the dismissals, but it cannot force a private company to reemploy anyone. The remedy open to the dismissed has to be found in private law through civil action for breach of contract.

If the company breached any labour laws, it too can be prosecuted for such breaches, but conviction for any such breaches does not create an obligation for reinstatement of workers in a private entity.

As such, the government can only seek redress under Section 4 of the Labour Act, Cap. 98:01. Under this Section, the government can attempt conciliation and impose arbitration.

While the law does not specify that conciliation should be thoroughly exhausted before moving towards arbitration, and while the government has the option of moving towards

Dem boys seh

Rob Bert mek Donald buy car without licence fuh drive Brazzy use to go to church every day. He was showing how holy he was. He did trying fuh bribe God fuh all de wicked and wrang things he do to de poor people of this country.

But de people in de church start fuh read dem boys seh and start fuh watch he funny. One old lady decide to ask he if is he dem boys does talk ‘bout and he start fuh sweat. He get shame. He even lose some weight.

More people start fuh ask he if is he name Brazzy, because he does use another name in de church and that put he under more pressure.

He start fuh sweat some more and he lose more weight. Next thing dem boys know is that he stop going to church. The Catholic priest going home by he now.

De priest and de same Brazzy does go in de Park.

Dem boys know that it can’t be to run. Run and Brazzy is like oil and water. Dem don’t mix.

And talking about water, CGX did find water instead of oil. That bring shame pun de government because Uncle Donald put de cart before de horse. He tek lead up from de Rob Bert and open a workshop. De workshop was to train people fuh oil and gas.

De same day he open de workshop CGX seh dem nah find no gas and no oil. CGX

seh that Guyana only got water. When Donald hear only water he start fuh cuss.

He seh that he nevah want water. He seh that water is fuh Rob Bert and Kwame and Irfaat and de Rat and Bobby.

He seh is dem bring CGX and cause he, Donald, fuh build up he hopes.

Dem boys seh de training before dem know if Guyana really got oil is like buying a car without having a driver’s licence in hand and don’t even know if you gun pass de driving test. And you done pay de insurance, de fitness and de licence. In short, is like putting de cart before de horse.

Dem suh stupid, dotish and scampish that dem got Chinee people coming till to Guyana fuh put in bids fuh rob de taxpayers. De Rat did plan a water programme fuh Linden before he lef office and he plan how much gun go in he and Irfaat pocket.

Dem boys see how Uncle Donald does follow all dem programme like how a blind man does follow a dog. One Chinee company name Jamsoup, put in a bid fuh US$75 million fuh fix back de water properly in Linden.

Another Chinee company name China Light put in a bid fuh US$9 million fuh do de same wuk. And some Guyanese put bids lower than US$9 million.

Now dem boys a watch fuh see when dem gun give Jamsoup wid de US$75 million de contract.

That is wheh de big kickback deh. And since de Rat, and Bobby, and Irfaat and Rob Bert and de other Bees plan fuh continue wid dem kickback business, de Waterfalls boss man buying some dankey. Everybody know that dankey does faat, sh.t and kick a..

Talk half and kick dem a..

arbitration without the consent of either of the parties to the dispute, it is always the better option to allow conciliation to run its course and not treat conciliation as a mere obstacle towards arbitration.

In other words, there must be a genuine attempt to first try to resolve the matter through conciliation and only when no progress is possible under conciliation should the next step, arbitration, be engaged.

When the Donald Ramotar administration took office, there was an immediate move towards arbitration in this dispute. The arbitration tribunal was in fact established and began its work. However legal action was instituted which has halted the arbitration proceedings Since the matter is sub judice, it is beyond the scope of this column to pronounce on the merits of the actions taken, except that the courts will have to decide whether before arbitration there must be a condition precedent,

which is that the minister responsible for labour relations has to be satisfied that the continuance of the dispute would be gravely injurious to national interest.

It will be for the courts to decide whether on the face of the facts the minister was justified in concluding that the continuance of the dispute would be injurious to the national interest, especially in the context that operations at RUSAL resumed just after the workers were dismissed.

Those who therefore blame the government of being only concerned about workers’ interests after the Budget cuts would be on a more sound footing if they explained just what precisely they expected of the

government in relation to the dispute with the bauxite workers.

And in the case of the budget cuts, the GTUC has been reported as stressing that these would best be discussed in an open and transparent atmosphere, where all major stakeholders can air their concerns. But what prevented the GTUC in the first place from outlining its position on the cuts?

Surely, it cannot be the lack of a transparent atmosphere. That has never bridled the GTUC.

CORRECTION In yesterday’s publication it was reported that Mr. Juan Hunter is a Councilor in the Mahdia region. Mr. Hunter is in fact an ordinary, concerned citizen who shared his views on matters in the region. He is not a councilor. We regret any inconvenience that may have been caused by this error.

Page 10

Kaieteur News

Wednesday May 09, 2012

THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN

Every act, process and idea of indecency is treated as correct behaviour The incident of Government’s anger over the budget cuts has brought to the surface the most frightening psychology of power that will be hard to dissolve by the entire nation, unless the PPP loses its hegemonic control of Guyana. It is not that this Freudian caricature of the fundamental principles of sociology, politics and philosophy has not been imprinted on the face of the PPP Government before the budget.

It was there since Mrs. Jagan assumed the presidency, but the budget anger vividly showed how messed up is the collective psychology of the PPP leadership which includes its supporters that it has employed in the public realm since 1992.

We see in this country every day the hopeless capacity of the PPPdominated government to distinguish between the wrongs and rights of life. Here you have a government and a ruling party that go to an entire country and present to

them a bible of depraved policies that conflict with every tenet of human and moral decency and pass them off as normal behaviour. And these people refuse to see that they are barefacedly insulting a modern nation.

Neaz Subhan comes to mind. He is a public servant, which by an act of basic propriety should deter him from getting involved in partisan politics while he holds public office. During the last election campaign, this public servant published a letter in the Stabroek News castigating the newspaper for down-sizing the number of attendees at a PPP rally in Lusignan.

Now mind you, not the attendees of a governmental function which Mr. Subhan is morally obliged to defend because he works with the government, but a political party, which by law and tradition he ought to keep away from as a public servant.

Mohamed Sattaur, the CEO of NCN, sets himself up as a street protester against the budget cuts to NCN, extolling the virtues of a free

press, a concept that is totally alien to Sattaur and the people who form the Government of Guyana.

During the last general election, certain staffers from NCN were posted to Freedom House to do work for a private organization named the PPP, an entity that has no legal relation with NCN. Prem Misir uses the Chronicle, NCN and the Guyana Times to lecture the Kaieteur News and Stabroek News on professionalism in journalism. Yet these three state-owned media houses with which Misir is associated can never qualify as professional media outfits.

Gail Teixeira epitomizes all that is inherent in communist dictatorships. Ms. Teixeira is simply not interested in any form of liberal constitutionalism or liberal democracy. Ms. Teixeira is one of the most backwardly rigid guardians of PPP’s tyranny. Yet Ms. Teixeira can be seen nightly on the television during the budget debate talking about the “dictatorship of one.”

It simply boggles the mind

and numbs the senses that one of the world most preeminent practitioners of dictatorship can use that very word to describe others.

How can any nation tolerate a less than upstanding Minister who barefacedly joins a street demonstration saying that he sides with workers who will lose their jobs because of budget cuts when this man should in the opinion of many be before a judge and jury?

But he did it. Teixeira did it.

She said that people would be unemployed. This is the same Teixeira who in October 2011, then in January 2012, asked that the contracts of certain UG lecturers be terminated.

She got her way.

The PPP anger at the budget cuts showed the most dangerous psychology at work, a psychology that is scientifically incapable of distinguishing between virtue and evil. It perhaps was most graphic during the beginning stages of the debate in Parliament. The NCN cameras were so fitted as to give maximum coverage to the ruling party.

There wasn’t even a modicum of morality and commonsense that if you behave decently by allowing coverage of the opposition, they may not cut your budget. But how can commonsense and decency prevail when evil is a stronger force? Evil has its own

Frederick Kissoon epistemology, logic, philosophy and cultural underpinnings.

The thousands of South Georgetown school leavers who depended on Critichlow Labour College for social elevation were not humans, so the subsidy to the college was cut. In this culture of evil, its practitioners are prepared to go and ask the Guyanese people to replace the dictatorship of one with the ageing, cruel, and corrupt dictatorship of the PPP.

CXC touts introduction of software to arrest plagiarism Aimed at reducing the incidence of plagiarism among candidates of the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Examination, the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) is hoping to introduce software programmes in the near future to help assess work submitted to be examined.

This is according to Senior Assistant Registrar, Administration and Security, attached to CXC, Ms Susan Giles. She was at the time making her contribution to a CXC programme which was aired on the National Communications Network.

The programme was designed by the examining body to sensitise candidates of what is expected of them.

According to Giles “it is not going to happen now, but in a couple of years we are going to be asking for assignments to be brought in online and to have them pass through certain software (programmes) to be tested.”

However since the programme is not set to commence just yet, Giles said that CXC will continue to rely solely on its examiners to determine if there is evidence of plagiarism. “They have seen it all and the chances are that you would suffer the penalty if you (candidates) plagiarise work.”

According to CXC’s Assistant Registrar in the Examination Development and Production Division, Mr Stephenson Grayson, plagiarism is usually detected when dealing with School Based Assessments (SBAs).

Most SBAs, he said, comprise projects that must reach to

CXC’s Susan Giles CXC by a pre-determined date.

He explained that these assignments are assessed through a process which is conducted by moderators who, according to him, are aware of all the different writings on whatever topics candidates would have chosen. These moderators, he noted, are in fact experts in the field.

“It is not unusual for one of the moderators to read in your report something he or she had read sometime before. The point is, we are not telling you not to use work from someone else, but the fact is you need to acknowledge wherever you get the information. You cannot pass off that information as your own... that is what the plagiarism issue is about. You cannot pass off that information as your own when it belongs to someone else. You need to know that if it is not acknowledged it becomes an issue, and you will be disqualified,” Grayson asserted.

However, Giles revealed that it has been discovered that plagiarism is not limited to SBAs, since there have been incidents where candidates who possess photographic memories would reproduce stories they have read for the English ‘A’ Paper Two. She noted that in 98 per cent of the cases, the examiners also know the stories, thus candidates are going to pay a heavy penalty for reproducing the work.

“Another thing we have is that we have booklets out there which have some very good short stories that we have gotten over the years and we have that in circulation...you have to remember that if you have seen the book, if you know the story, the examiner knows the story too. So what we are saying to you is to be a bit creative, write your own stuff, do your own work and don’t you worry about what you saw or what you remember; write according to what the examiners have called for.”

She revealed that in the case where candidates are found plagiarising a short story, they will be given no marks for that specific question, even if they acknowledge it is not their own work. In the case of the SBAs, candidates’ marks will be cancelled.

“I really wish to discourage candidates from plagiarism, because there has been a case where it was the moderator’s own work that the candidate used. This was really quite heartbreaking for us, because we expect that when we get work from candidates it is original.”

Wednesday May 09, 2012

Kaieteur News

Linden water project…

Chinese group’s bid exceeds engineer’s estimate by US$67M China Jiangsu Construction Group yesterday submitted a $15 Billion (US$75M) bid for a project in Region 10 which local engineer’s estimate will cost $1.5 Billion (US$7.5M) – a whopping difference of $13.5 billion or US$67.5M. For the project which falls under the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) six bids were submitted to the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) for the “Linden Water Supply Rehabilitation Treatment and Storage Works and Booster Stations.”

GWI recently announced a US$12M grant funded by Government through a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for the Linden Water Supply and Rehabilitation Programme (LWSRP) The operation, which is scheduled for approval at the end of June 2012, will be executed by the Guyana Water Incorporated over a period of five (5) years, with the main

objectives being to: (1) Improve the operational performance of the Linden water supply system through the replacement and rehabilitation of its most critical components; treatment plants, ground and elevated storage tanks, booster stations, transmission mains, and sections of the distribution network.

(2) Improve the service provided to Linden customers by providing water that meets World Health Organisation (WHO) standard twenty-four hours per day.

(3) Strengthen GWI’s operational and financial performance by reducing nonrevenue water and strengthening institutional capacity.

(4) Decrease energy consumption by optimizing water production and reducing the number of treatment plants With an engineer’s estimate of $1,499,796,335 the bids submitted were:

The NPTAB also received bids for the supply and delivery of fencing material for a project which falls under the Ministry of Agriculture’s Agricultural Sector Development Unit (ASDU) The bids submitted:

Under the Ministry of Health, two bids were submitted for the supply of home-based care drugs and supplies for opportunistic infections and sexually transmitted infections. The bids:

Four price proposals were also submitted under the Ministry of Health for the provision of consultancy services.

The price proposals submitted were:

Health Sciences programmes are designed to advance the health care agenda “All programmes offered by the University of Guyana’s Faculty of Health Sciences are important.”

This assertion was made

by Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Dr. Emanuel Cummings, even as he amplified his concerns recently about programmes that have been halted by the university.

The programmes – Optometry, Pharmacy and Rehabilitation Sciences – have been the subject of controversial discourse in recent times between Government and the governance of the University.

There has been no intimation as to when, or if, the matter, which is reportedly linked to the fee construction of the programmes, will be resolved.

Dr. Cummings recently told this publication, “I am very upset with the situation...I am hoping that the University will put aside its differences and have the programmes reinstated.”

Kaieteur News understands that the status of the programmes is currently gaining the attention of the Ministry of Health, but according to Dr. Cummings, he has had cause to take his concerns directly to the country’s President.

“I have sent a letter to the President not so long ago and it is being addressed at the highest level. The issue of the students’ fee... I hope between the university and the government, they can sort that out, but right now...it is being sorted out at the expense of our young people.”

Young people who are desirous of applying for the three programmes in question are being denied the opportunity to be trained, Dr. Cummings passionately stated.

“I can’t see when 20 per

Housing Ministry condemns “wanton destruction” at Parliament Square The Ministry of Housing and Water is condemning what it says are the recent acts of wanton destruction that seek to retard efforts to enhance and develop Parliament Square.

According to a statement from the Ministry, unknown persons have been stealing the newly planted shrubs from the location. The beautification phase of the project is now in progress, with the cultivation of plants and shrubbery.

“The Housing Ministry would like the general public to know that plans are currently being executed to develop this location, west of the Saint Stanislaus College, between Brickdam and Hadfield Street (Site of the former Bureau of Statistics Building), into an urban park.

The Site is known as Parliament Square, in keeping with its proximity to the historic Parliament Buildings.”

Page 11

A section from which plants were removed

– Dr. Cummings cent of the population are visually impaired, how can we then say we can address this without having a programme in Optometry?

Persons who are diabetic or even those who have been in debilitating accidents - they need medication and rehabilitation services. This is critical and I don’t see why the fooling around with something that is extremely important.”

In emphasising his conviction that all of the programmes offered by the Health Sciences Faculty are crucial, Dr. Cummings noted that “I can’t see that anybody could think that they are not important. They all have equal importance because they all have individual contributions which will collectively help to advance the health care agenda.”

It was two years ago that the University officials had revealed plans for the three health programmes which were intended to be introduced during the 2010/ 2011 academic year.

In fact, it was Registrar of the University, Vincent Alexander, who had disclosed that despite the fiscal challenges being faced by the institution, the need to keep up with the changing demands of industry required adaptation by the University.

A Degree in Pharmacy was being viewed as essential, in light of the fact that the Caribbean Association of Pharmacists issued a call throughout the Region to up the minimum qualifications required to dispense pharmaceuticals. Previously, the industry allowed students with an Associate Degree in Pharmacy to work as Pharmacists.

However, the need for stricter standards in the dispensation of drugs necessitated more in-depth training.

This requirement was fuelled by the rise in drug dependence and abuse through controlled

Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Dr. Emanuel Cummings substances as well as illicit narcotics.

The Optometry Programme on the other hand had proven to be one of the more sought after programmes in the Faculty of Health Sciences, despite some teething problems, Dr. Cummings had related.

According to him, both the Bachelor of Science and the Associate Degree in Optometry programmes, had seen overwhelming responses.

The University began offering the programmes in September 2010, and the Dean revealed that “we had gotten 30 students in both areas. As a matter of fact we had to actually reject some students.”

And it was not only local students who were attracted to the Optometry programme.

Dr. Cummings disclosed that students from Saint Lucia, Jamaica and Haiti had made up the inaugural batch.

Students from the latter mentioned territory were able to access the programme through a scholarship programme designed specifically for them.

In addition to the fee problems, there was also a call for a review of the Rehabilitation Sciences Programme, Dr. Cummings said, adding that “I have already indicated this to the University, because I think we will have to do some career guidance as it relates to this programme.”

Page 12

Two persons are now homeless after a fire, said to be electrical in origin, completely destroyed an ageold wooden house at Canefield Public Road, East Canje, Berbice.

The house which is occupied by Sharon Campbell and her paramour Amir Kursattie is owned by the woman’s grandmother who resides overseas. The house is said to be over 90 years old. No one was at home at the time of the fire and Campbell, a mother of three, was away in New Amsterdam assisting a relative in her shop.

The woman’s three grown sons live elsewhere and one of them had recently returned home from the interior to be with her for Mother’s Day. According to the woman’s uncle, Cyril ‘Bertram’ Campbell, who lives in an adjacent house in the same yard, he was at home relaxing around 13:00 hrs when he heard his

Kaieteur News

Wednesday May 09, 2012

What remains of the building neighbours shouting out for fire. By the time he got outside, he noticed that the bedroom was engulfed in flames and the entire upstairs was already consumed by the

blaze.

Neighbours came out in their hundreds and formed a bucket brigade, but by then the fire was already raging.

The elder Campbell, who is a

joiner, stated that the residents then concentrated in dousing his home and he was grateful for the assistance. By the time two

tenders from the Guyana Fire Service responded to the scene, the house was completely destroyed.

The property was well

furnished and the occupants estimated their losses in the vicinity of millions of dollars.

Investigations are continuing.

Expansion of Ogle airport runway completed - Facility to be commissioned today A major project to lengthen the runway at Ogle Airport to allow regional flights and bring it to regional standards, and which will allow for the landing of ATR and Dash 8 series class of aircraft has been completed.

The European Union, through a CARICOM facility, and with support of the CARICOM Secretariat in Guyana and the Government of Guyana, had provided funding of 1.5M Euros for the Phase II project of the airport to lengthen it by a further 2,200 feet and widening it by 40 feet.

Work commenced on the runway project in 2009 by BK International and was completed and approved last month, after a number of delays.

Today, the airport is set to commission the runway which it says is part of a bigger plan to improve that facility to make it a regional flight hub.

According to the airport, President Donald Ramotar is expected to commission the runway with presentations to be made also by Ambassador Robert Kopecky, Head of the Delegation to the European Commission; Irwin La Rocque, Secretary General of CARICOM and Chairman of the Board of Ogle Airport, Michael Correia Jr. The new runway expansion will bring Ogle Airport, located about six

miles from the city along the East Coast of Demerara, up to a Class II C certification standard, accommodating the ATR Series and Dash 8 Series class of aircraft.

Work is also being done to bring the airport’s terminal and parking facilities up to par.

“Construction is well advanced to also expand the airport’s terminal facilities, aircraft taxiways, parking areas and safety areas and the installation of runway light to accommodate nighttime operations,” the airport disclosed yesterday.

Ogle has been in continuous operation for nearly 60 years, but currently operates a daylight-only, Visual Flight Rules (VFR) airport with no lighting or radio navigational aids.

DOMESTIC HUB Over the years, Ogle has developed into the main domestic hub, providing commercial passenger and cargo air transport services, primarily between Georgetown and the hinterland. The airfield is still used by Guyana Sugar Corporation for crop dusting operations along its canefields.

According to the airport, today there are more than 10 operators maintaining a fleet of over 40 aircraft there, representing an investment of about $5 billion in fixed assets, aircraft and

equipment.

The airport yesterday explained that the EU through a CARICOM facility and with the assistance of the CARICOM Secretariat in Guyana, provided through the Government of Guyana, funding in the amount of Euro 1.5 million, for the Phase II runway project.

Now that the Phase II runway is complete, Ogle Airport Incorporated (OAI) will have to spend an additional $400 million to bring the airport to certification. Additional works, including terminal enhancements, parking aprons, taxiways, fencing, drainage and safety equipment are to be financed

by OAI. Ogle Airport is said to be doing approximately 100 flights per day moving over 200 passengers and 15 tonnes of cargo. It is projected that traffic in the next two to three years will move to 125 flights per day, and an increase by 100 in passengers. Daily cargo movements are also expected to rise by three tonnes.

However, the airport said yesterday that there will still be a number of constraints that will have to be addressed by government, including radio navigational aids and the relocation of Crown Dam residents who are within the obstacle clearance limits for the runway.

Wednesday May 09, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 13

Garbage situation in Mahdia overwhelming - Residents plan massive protest Residents of Mahdia in Region 8 are urging the regional officials to put their differences aside and work together for the development of the community.

During a recent visit to the community this publication was told that a location which has been allocated as the dumpsite has become overwhelmed with garbage.

To add to the frustrating situation the residents said that they have been given the royal runaround when enquires are made of the regional officials.

Currently garbage is being dumped at a location called Red Hole, but the situation has become out of hand over the past two months.

One resident, Marcelle Daniels, who lives next to the location, said she has made several enquiries at the Regional office and was told that the machine needed to clear the garbage is out of operation. The woman who has several toddlers said as a result of the garbage, her yard and immediate surroundings have become infested with flies and carrion crows.

Daniels said in the past the garbage was being dumped down in a valley and it was not affecting her family and other residents.

However, over the past two to three months, persons have been dumping the garbage outside of the valley and the garbage is not reaching out to the roadway.

The woman said she spoke to the Regional Executive

Officer (REO) and was promised that the situation would be addressed; however, two months later, the garbage dump is still growing.

When contacted, the Region’s Chairman Mark Crawford said he had written a letter to the REO requesting an excavator to clear the garbage, but was told that the machine was too small for the job. The Chairman said on another occasion he was told that the machine was encountering mechanical problems.

Further, he is of the belief that his efforts in the community are being undermined by the REO. Crawford said he is now worried about a possible outbreak of illness as a result of the garbage. According to Crawford, the dumpsite is a breeding ground for the species of mosquito which carries malaria.

Meanwhile, according to reports out of the area, the residents are planning a massive protest on Thursday over the situation. Residents said they will not sit by and see their community fall apart because of politics as they have all worked hard over the years to establish the state it is at today. About two years ago the region suffered a major setback in its economic activity after fire destroyed several businesses at the arcade.

Further, Thursday’s protest will also be held with the aim of getting the Regional Democratic officials

The garbage dump which has been growing over the past two months at Mahdia to put their political views aside and focus on developing the region.

Residents who spoke with this publication over the weekend say from all indications, there seems to be some amount of noncooperation among the officials as was clear in the case of the Salbora water system issue.

Residents also opined that the Regional Chairman was being victimized because of his political affiliation.

Recently the entire area surrounding the Government building and others in central Mahdia were weeded, however, the works came to a halt just at the fence surrounding the Regional Chairman’s living quarters.

This has not gone done

well with councilors of the region as well as some members of Parliament who visited the region last week.

Also speaking on the issue was A Partnership for National Unity parliamentarian, Ronald Bulkan, who was in the area and had a firsthand look at the situation. Bulkan said the recent issue in relation to the Regional Chairman is shameful and is an identical case of what was done to columnist Freddie Kissoon, involving a trench located in front of his home.

“The Chairman’s residence is adjacent to the RDC building and several other offices yet the person or persons who weeded the area deliberately left the area surrounding the Chairman’s

residence,” Bulkan pointed out.

The APNU Parliamentarian further said it is his opinion that the Chairman is being victimized because he is not a representative from the PPP/ C. “The PPP/C lost control of the Region so they are trying to victimize the people…the

people spoke at the last election and now that election has come and gone, we as politicians need to serve the people in spite of their political affiliation.”

Bulkan further stated that if this type of ‘political spitefulness’ continues, then most developments in the region will be hampered.

Page 20

The National Commission on Disability was officially launched and its members introduced, during a simple ceremony on Monday at the Regency Suites/Hotel.

The new members on the Commission are: Ms. Barbara Haley, Mr. Ganesh Singh, Ms. Margaret Lawrence, Mr. Sherwood Clarke, Ms. Zoya Crandon, Dr. Peter De Groot, Ms. Vidushi Persaud, Mr. Floyd Rudder, Ms. Evelyn Hamilton, Mr. Colin Ault, Ms. Barbara Lawrence and Mr. Prandatt Basdeo.

The launching was in accordance with Section 2 and 5 of the Persons with Disability Act and comprises members from the Ministries of Health, Education, Labour, Human Services and Social Security, Foreign Affairs and organizations representing persons with disabilities, human rights, organized labour and the private sector.

Some of the new commissioners were part of a body which this one replaced that essentially was not backed by law. In June 2010, the then President, Bharrat Jagdeo, was tasked with signing into law the Persons with Disabilities Act which provides for equal protection under the law. The act

Kaieteur News

stipulates that “the National Commission on Disabilities shall comprise 12 members appointed by the president; it charges the commission with advising the government, coordinating actions on issues affecting persons with disabilities, and addressing implementation and monitoring of the act’s provisions”.

Addressing the gathering at the formal launch of the commission, President Donald Ramotar congratulated the outgoing members for a job well done while he charged the new members to continue the good work. The Head of State noted that disabled persons are the world’s largest minority, and hence they need to be given the opportunity to enjoy equal participation.

“Our constitution was amended to facilitate the rights of disabled persons and we must all recognize that persons with disabilities have needs, and my administration is highly supportive of the differently-able.”

The president further stressed the need for the rights of persons with disabilities to be respected, and for them to be treated

Wednesday May 09, 2012

President Ramotar with members of the new Commission on Disability (GINA photo) equally as well as protected against discrimination in achieving their goals.

“Any form of discrimination against persons with disability will be doing harm to one’s self,” Ramotar asserted. He also made reference to several persons with disabilities who “made a name for themselves with international recognition”. He stressed that his Government will continue to give its support to the commission, as

emphasis will be placed on capacity building and training.

Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Jennifer Webster, also lauded the efforts of the previous members while pledging her ministry’s support through the many services on offer.

“We live in a society where there are many persons with disabilities and the lack of employment opportunities contribute to poverty, and as a result, persons with disabilities are deemed the most vulnerable.”

She called on all Guyanese

to play their role in providing equal ground for persons with disabilities, highlighting the fact that those persons are also productive citizens and should be afforded opportunities to contributed to national development.

The Minister added that many persons with disabilities are experiencing barriers when it comes to seeking employment although they have the necessary qualifications.

She emphasised “the need for all public buildings, offices to provide proper access so that persons with disabilities can

enjoy the fundamental rights and freedom in our society and which will result in their enhancement”. Free access to transportation services was among other pertinent issues mentioned.

“We will continue to give support via our many services at the Ministry and these include providing support through our probation officers and the Child Care Protection Agency.”

The new commissioners will serve in their capacity for a period of three years, beginning April 1.

More citizens should help...

(From page 14) population is amenable to bribery. In a published article on bribery, the Institute asked what citizens themselves are doing to eradicate corruption in Guyana.

The Institute stated that although there is little research done on how big the problem is in Guyana, these seemingly innocuous acts of petty bribery further strengthen the cre-

ation of a culture of corruption.

It said that every time a citizen agrees to pay a bribe or an official accepts one – it directly undermines Guyana's development and contributes to the “corrupt society” that everyone despises.

“Standing on the other side of a corrupt official is you, the citizen, who tolerates corruption by handing over their

money albeit grudgingly.

“A decision to pay a bribe, unless under force or duress, is an endorsement of a corrupt system,” the Institute stated.

TIGI is located in the Secretariat of the Private Sector Commission in Waterloo Street, Georgetown. The telephone number is 231-9586 between the hours of 09:00 and 12:00 and the email address is trans.inst@yahoo.com.

Wednesday May 09, 2012

Kaieteur News

Full complement of GECOM Commissioners restored …as Sandra Jones sworn in

Sandra Jones takes the oath as a GECOM Commissioner before President Donald Ramotar The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is once again with its full complement of Commissioners.

Sandra Jones, the representative of A Partnership for National Unity APNU) was on Monday sworn in by Head of State Donald Ramotar at Office of the President.

Jones was sworn in as a GECOM Commissioner in the presence of APNU’s Leader Brigadier (ret’d) David Granger, Elections Commission boss, Dr Steve Surujbally and Chief Elections Officer Gocool Boodoo,

among others.

Jones filled the vacancy created among the opposition-nominated commissioners following the death of Robert Williams in late January.

After taking the Oath of Office, Jones told those gathered that she felt “honoured to be charged with the responsibility” and was committed to displaying the best of her abilities in undertaking her role as a GECOM Commissioner. “I will do the best I can for the Republic of Guyana,” Jones vowed.

President Ramotar as he

congratulated the new commissioner also expressed his sentiments, saying that he is very happy that the commission now has its full complement with the vacancy being filled.

He expressed optimism that the Commission will continue to meet on a regular basis and continue with its work under its mandate.

Ramotar opined that the Elections Commission is one of the most important institutions in the country and underpinned its importance and relationship to the n a t i o n ’s development.

Page 21

PAHO calls for new generation of HIV treatment programmes in the Americas The Caribbean has the highest rates of antiretroviral treatment (ART) coverage of any developing region in the world, with an estimated 63 percent of people with HIV who need treatment receiving it, according to Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/ WHO) 2012 report.

But a new report from the organisation says that preserving the region’s leadership in providing ART will require overcoming health system problems that range from drug stock-outs to lack of cost-effectiveness in the use of drug combinations.

The report, “Antiretroviral treatment in the spotlight: a public health analysis in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)”, analyzes the vulnerabilities of ART programmes in LAC, and makes recommendations for strengthening countries’ health systems to ensure the sustainability of those programmes and continued progress toward universal access to ART. “We are proud to see that the LAC region has staged an unprecedented response to HIV, with leading rates of ART

coverage available free of charge through all national programmes,” PAHO Director Dr. Mirta Roses Periago writes in the report’s preface.

With this new study, “PAHO is engaging Member States, civil society, and technical partners to move from the baseline described in this report through a series of programmatic steps that, supported by the provision of quality technical cooperation, will define the implementation of a new generation of HIV treatment programmes in the Americas.”

The report analyzes data on ART prices, procurement and consumption patterns; HIV-tuberculosis coinfections; and dependence on external financing, among other variables. It concludes that the majority of patients receiving ART in LAC are taking effective and safe antiretrovirals (ARVs).

However, the report highlights a number of challenges in ensuring effectiveness and efficiency in the use of ARVs. A small percentage of patients—five percent of those on first-line therapy and 14 percent on second-line therapy—are taking inappropriate

combinations, according to the study. A more generalized problem is inefficiency: the median number of first-line ARV regimes in each LAC country is 12, and the median number of second-line regimens is 15, in both cases more than twice the WHO recommendation of six different regimens per treatment line. Compounding this problem is the fact that many countries are paying higher prices for ARVs than necessary, due to shortcomings in procurement practices.

It was further noted that by the end of 2010, 521,000 people in LAC were receiving ART, representing, on average, 63 percent of those who need such treatment.

Only 11 of 36 countries in LAC report a high dependency on external financing for ART. These countries account for approximately 20 percent of persons living with HIV. In 2011, more than half of LAC countries (14 out of 26 countries, or 54 percent) reported at least one stockout episode. Main causes include bidding, procurement and distribution problems and complications in ARV production.

Page 22

Kaieteur News

WANTED

WANTED

One cook, must know to cook Roti & Puri. Call 6477432

Contract cars. Must be in Hire & Yellow. Base free. $3500 weekly. Call 660-9977

Driver to work day only in a taxi service. #227-6567

Experienced dispatchers, must be computer literate.

Contact Leroy on 639-7773 or 231-4110

Live in domestic. Light duties. 1 skilled Lathe Operator. Live-in Handyman duties.

Excellent remuneration. Tel: 227-1830

Upholsters, joiners, spray painter, handyman Tel# 2256810, 660-5190, 657-2790

1 male/female shop assistant to work in the interior # 688-0197

Salesgirl and boy to work in shop on ECD. Text or call: 615-8121

Live-in domestic must know to cook and 1 waitress, salary 50,000 monthly.

Call:610-5043

Full time gardener/ handyman reference needed.

Call: 226-0240, 225-3557

Persons/family to live & take care of farm @ E.C.D, attractive salary offered.

Contact: 690-1943, 691-8021 Two male shop assistants to work in Georgetown & the interior, serious enquiries only. Call: 225-2940, 225-0305 Urgently: chainsaw operator to work in the interior. Call: 626-0006, 231-3159 Live in attractive waitress contact 228- 5129 1 Tutor to teach Form 1, apply Bissan’s Trading, 94 King Street. Call: 227-7306 1 handyman to work. Living accommodation and meals free. 628-1756, 228-5655 1 handy boy to work in the interior #688-0197 Lorry drivers to work Labour lorry at L.B.I Estate.

628-1756, 228-5655 Manager’s Assistant general duties including Custom and Bond, Security Guards, accommodation available. Call: 676-6700 Experienced sales representatives. Apply Wieting & Richter Ltd Female workers needed, 3 subjects or sound secondary education call 225- 7307 1 Lumber yard labourer call 226- 3736 Experienced Welder/Fitter.

Apply Wieting & Richter Ltd One (1) general worker shift system 266-5243 Sales supervisor with experience & computer knowledge. Apply Wieting & Richter Ltd. Honest/Experienced sales clerk. Apply with written application Nanda’s Boutique, 223 Camp St. Tel 226-1621

1 driver to drive in the interior.

Must have bus and canter license. Tel# 688-0197 Drivers with lorry licence.

Apply Wieting & Richter Ltd Labourers and Porters.

Apply Wieting & Richter Ltd Sales representatives, country wide, for musical CD original. Tel: 267-1565, 6788193 Experienced sewing machine operators. Tele no.: 220-4337

SERVICES Permanent &Visitors Visa Applications Professional Immigration Consultant Room E-4 Maraj Building 225-6496/662-6045.

Supreme Repairs. All wiring, fridge, washer (AC), freezers, dryer, ect. Tel: 629-8136, 6532719 US & Canada VISA application services. Call 643-6630. Family discounts available.

Now open KDRS Pharmacy at Mon Repos Mall 220-8675 nutritionist available every Saturday We refill HP cartridges for $1,800. Call:650-7699 CVs, applications, typing, etc. Tel: 667-1549 House plan drafting for only $10,000. Building estimate for only $10,000. Call 6949843 Repairs, sales & spares, air conditioning, microwaves, washer, fridges & Stoves.

Ultra Cool: 225-9032, 647-2943 Looking for a job? Office Domestic & need assistance, contact Angela: 694-0096 We repair fridge, freezer, AC, washer, dryer. Call: 231-0655, 683-8734 Omar.

1 female storekeeper. Must be computer literate. 1 female Bahir to work in the interior.

Call: 231-3159, 626-0006 Experienced Excavator Operator, Jet Men, Pit Men, Marak Man, Saw Man. Please call: 684-6356 1 female to wash. Come in person to Dian’s Delli. Bar St., Kitty, opposite Kitty Market.

One general domestic.

Contact: 616-0335. Between 8am to 5pm.

One live-in female to take care of elderly woman. Call: 2533049 Sales Girls & Porters. Apply with written application at Best Buys Food Supplies, 1E Dennis & Middleton Streets, Campbellville.

Security Guards.

Investigative & Tactical Services. 227 South Rd. Lacytown. Must have valid ID, NIS & TIN. Cooks, Waitresses and Bartenders to work in Kitty area. Call tel# 226-7054 or 6239645

VACANCY

FOR SALE

Kitchen assistant @ Charlestown- ages 18-35.

Call: 614-1020

One Hilux Vigo (new) GNN series 231-5171, 619-7134

One Driver & one Salesman at Humphrey’s Bakery & Farm Products Ltd. Tel 2257864 Experienced Hair Dresser at Nalline Beauty Salon, Vreeden-Hoop Junction (Raymond Building).

Attractive salary. Contact: 687-3341, 639-9884 Be part of our world class customer care team. Join us now! Phone: 220-0401-3 Vacancy exists for 3 guards, 2 males and 1 female, and a Mechanic for TM Trucks.

Call: 642-0176, 699-4483 One driver needed with at least (5) years experience.

Requirements CXC subjects, driver’s license & police clearance. Tel: 2272969, 225-8229.

Hire car drivers & dispatchers wanted from East Coast.

Contact 220-1000 Joiners & Labourers. Call: 699-9671

SALON Make up courses, artist trained & certified in Trinidad: 660-5257,647-1773 Qualify yourself in Cosmetology or nails, make up, Register, Limited spaces.

Call Abby: 216-1950, 6197603, 666-5241

DRESS MAKING Bridesmaid dresses, working uniforms, made professionally. Sharmela 2252598, 641-0784 6 weeks designing/sewing classes. Sharmela 225-2598, 641-0784

Toyota Starlet 2 E Turbo engine with gearbox and ECU: Call: 624-7155.

NARS lipgloss, eyeshadow & Clinique Chubby Stick. Tel: 669-8374.

15-15-15 fertilizer. Call: 2662711, 609-4594 2x2x1.5MM, Hollow section $4500 VAT inclusive. Call: 2200-6100, 680-5900 Peking ducks, call: 266-2711 / 609-4594 Quality upholstery materials tel # 220-3356/643-3627 Moulders, multirip saws, resaws, cross cut saw and genset Tel 616-5595 Rodney Titan parts, engine DIFF etc.

Call:648-2075 Used: QSC Amps MX2000 & MX3000, Roland sampler SP404, Rcf speaker: 12" & 18", celestion speaker: 15".

Contact: 644-3390 One ERF Hauler with 45 ft trailer (in-contract) & one Model M Truck. Tel: 6534455 1 Mitsubishi Fuso truck, 4 ton enclosed, 20 feet, new $5.2M. Call Salim 641-5075, 622-6746

EDUCATIONAL

Waitresses @ Diamond Gate Liquor Restaurant and Bar, Lot 18 Belmont Mahaica.

Tel# 228-5013, 622-5599 Carpenter with own tools.

Apply at Guyana Variety Store, 68 Robb Street. Tel no.

225-4631

Wednesday May 09, 2012

New Air Brush Kit, gun, hose, compressor $35,000.

592-643-5720

Princeton College Forms 1-5, CXC adults’ classes’; $1500 a subject S.A.T/ Phonics etc. Call: 6905008, 611-3793

Roofing shingles. Call: Mr. Skepmire . 227-5195 (8am to 5pm)

LIVE AND WORK IN CANADA. GET CANADIAN CERTIFICATION AS A CAREGIVER. CALL 227 – 4881 OR 416 674 7973

Yamaha outboard engine parts for 115HP-200 HP, Crankshaft fat & fine top, pistons, bearings. Call: Terry665-9405

Imperial College – CXC Jan/ June 2013 exam. Day/ Evening classes, flexible hours. Contact 227-7627, 6835742

1 vehicle (Ipsum) in good condition. Call: 225-8673, 600-7448

Private tutor – homeschooling CXC/GCE English A&B. Call: 649-4247 FOR SALE 1 dragline 10RB. 687-6174

LEARN TO DRIVE B&C Driving School. Pickup & drop off. Contact 2250150, 680-6826, 229-7258

Brand new 2700 psi Honda Pressure Washer. Best price guaranteed. 614-8564 Spares for washer, microwaves, fridges, stovetimers, gear boxes, pumps, etc. Contact 225-9032, 6472943 One PS3 160gb $100,000, 1 washer, 1 dryer $85,000 each.

Contact# 650-7719 Games for PS2 $900, XBox 360 $2600, PS3 $2600. Call Junior 672-2566, 265-3231

WANTED One live-in or out maid & experienced sales girl. Call: 264-3356, 253-4149, 668-3985

We have Blackberry phones on sale, from Blackberry 9650 to the latest model. Please contact us on 674-8352

15ft Fiber glass boat $170,000 call: 260-0301, 685-1233 1 New Centurion Generator $175,000. 1 Frigidaire freezer $115,000. 1 Kitchen Aid Stainless fridge $140,000. 1 Samsung Microwave $12,500. Tel 694-5371 Sale Sale Sale on all zinc sheets 40% off. All lumber 30% off. All pine lumber 8% off. Tel: 226-7054 Dell computers, complete with 19" LCD, from $69,000.

Future Tech. Call 231-2206, 644-6760 Now in stock, solar panel, 180 watts, at Trophy Stall, Bourda Market. 225-9230 Baby chicks available weekly.

Fully vaccinated. 371 Craig Public Road, EBD. Mr D Lallbeharry. Tel: 626-9589 1 240 Massey Ferguson Tractor. 687-6176

VEHICLES FOR SALE 99 Honda Civic Leather interior. Call:648-2075 Just arrived: Allion and Premio, tel: 624-2000, 6221610 Leading Auto. Unregistered Allion, Premio, Allex, Runx, Verossa, Avensis, 2 ton Canter, 212. Tel: 677-7666, 610-7666 Verossa PNN. Call:665-3067, 228-2609 2 Raum, 1 Pit Bull contact 663 – 9727, 609 6458 1 Nissan Cube ( like Raum) PMM 1088, 1.350 M Neg. call 233 – 5557, 610 -1309 1 RZ Mini bus series BKK. Call: 667-9629 2 – two ton canter, one enclosed. Good condition.

Price $800,000 & $1.2m negotiable. 1 tapir price $160,000 negotiable.

Contact# 253-3349 2007 Toyota Allion W/TV/ DVD & 2007 Toyota Axio.

Tel: 615-4114 w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m / rashanautosaleslimited Unregistered Premio & Allion with TV, mags, back Cam. Call: 609-8188, 6026307 2005 H2 Hummer, 38,500 mileage fully loaded, chrome kit etc. Call: 6393100, 619-5400 2005 Toyota Belta with TV/ CD & 2003 Toyota Premio & 2004 Avensis Tel: 615-4114 w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m / rashanautosales 1 PMM series Toyota Raum, fully loaded 639-7773, 2335383 Hilux 4x4 solid def pick-up, diesel, long base, excellent condition Call: 623-0243 1 special edition Toyota Runx PNN. 2 Nissan Wingroad Wagon. Tel: 6122522 Corolla Fielder just registered, AT 170 Carina.

Price negotiable. Call 6149623 One Toyota RZ Longbase EFI, hardly used BKK series $1.6M. Call: Rocky 621-5902 Lexus LS400/Luxury, BMW 740IL/Luxury, BMW 635CSI/ Sports. Bring mechanic, make offer. Call: 612-1486, 646-8326 One EP71 Starlet, 1 AE91 Sprinter, Toyota Ceres & Fun Cargo, 1 Nissan Pathfinder PMM, 1 Honda Fit 2004. Call: 644-5096, 6971453 Sale, Axela, Vitz, Toyota Succeed Wagon, cheapest.

616-7635.

(Continued on page 23)

Wednesday May 09, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 23

Letters... Where your views make the news

The PPP must be reminded that the Constitution is the Supreme Law DEAR EDITOR, We refer to an article in KN captioned “Govt has no obligation to transfer money to Consolidated Funds says Brassington.”

Might we remind anyone of this mindset that the Constitution is the Supreme Law of the land? It is our understanding that in times of conflict in the interpretation of the supremacy of the law, the Constitution completely overrules any subsidiary law.

To support our position we have conducted research both on the legal system in Australia and the UK and the evidence clearly support that the constitution is the supreme law in those Commonwealth countries.

From our understanding, Guyana has used the Commonwealth Legal System to formulate the spirit and structure of our legal system.

Thus it is difficult to reconcile this deviation as practised by the PPP, from the established precedence?

We in the AFC want all Guyanese to know that the minority PPP is determined to contravene the letter and spirit of the law to hide over $50 billion of the people’s money in secret overseas and local NICIL, GGMC and Bank of Guyana accounts. We see a civil case in the Law Courts in the making to legally expose and regularize this illegality.

If the PPP was to do the right thing and adhere to the

Supremacy of the Constitution, then Section 216 of the Constitution clearly outlines the appropriate legal treatment for these hidden funds. This is what Section 216 states: “All revenues or other moneys raised or received by Guyana (not being revenues or other moneys that are payable, by or under an Act of Parliament, into some other fund established for any specific purpose or that may, by or under such an Act, be retained by the authority that received them for the purpose of defraying the expenses of that authority) shall be paid into and form one Consolidated Fund.”

In lay man terms this constitutional clause makes it

TGI disassociates itself but…

DEAR EDITOR, I refer to an article entitled “TGI, Govt. avoid local cement crisis” which appeared in the Sunday May 6, 2012 edition of the Kaieteur News.

In that article it is stated, inter alia, that “A TGI source said that the Head of the Presidential Secretariat was blowing ‘hot air’ and that the administration has blown the situation out of proportion”.

TCL GUYANA INC would like to disassociate itself from this statement, since it does not reflect the views of TCL GUYANA INC or its management.

I must also note that I never spoke to Mr. Eleazar, personally, with regard to the article

at issue, and it was never stated in the article from where the statement attributed to me in the article was obtained. I would be grateful if you could publish this letter.

Mark Bender Plant Manager, TCL Guyana Inc. EDITOR’S NOTE: As it relates to the statements referred to by Mr Bender who said that he never spoke with the reporter, Mr Eleazar, the reporter has since informed that it was TGI PR Officer Alex Graham that directed him to the already published statement from Mr Bender.

Church on Essequibo Coast agitates residents

DEAR EDITOR, It bothers me a lot to know that several complaints were made to the Anna Regina Police Station for the irritating noise that a Deliverance church has been causing for several years now. Their method of praying involves shouting at the top of their voices when beating out demons. This is very atrocious and irksome.

Also they sometimes make reference to Hindus deities as demonic.

Services are usually conducted almost every Saturday and Sundays and sometimes during the week also for lengthy hours using

a P.A. Sound System. The speakers usually hung outside the church makes it impossible for residents to communicate within their own home.

My mother, who is 81, can’t even answer her telephone as much. The residents around here are afraid to make any complains since they might be victimized.

Among the residents are several senior citizens almost 80 years old. They had work and toil in their younger only to find that their once peaceful village has become a nightmare. My mother is presently suffering from a

NICIL is incompetent....

From page 4 Guyanese people’s assets but it is not maximising the value to the nation in doing so. To this extent, NICIL has failed Guyana and should be investigated, its funds handed over to the public account and its transactions examined.

That $50 billion it reportedly holds probably should have been $100 billion or more if it made proper and competent decisions, obtained the right value and actively sought to maximise returns for the sale of these assets. We, the people, need to know how much is there in NICIL and how much is lost due to ineptitude, mismanagement, corruption and wrongdoing. It is our goddamn money and it should be in the nation’s public account.

M. Maxwell

nervous breakdown because of the noise blast which this demonic church is involved in.

I am totally fed up with the situation. Even though the following steps were taken the situation has worsened --made over 50 reports to the Anna Regina Police Station, via phone and face to face interaction; signed to two statements at the Anna Regina Police Station; went to the Station and make the written reports; meeting with the Sergeant on two occasions; spoke with the new Commander on several occasion; sent a registered letter to Minister Priya Manickchand on 29/06/ 2011; tried to make contact with the minister of Home Affairs but was not succeeded; called the Ministry of Home Affairs hotline number several times.

If at all there should be any action for improvement on this matter it has to be through you. I have full faith and trust in you that you‘ll handle this matter urgentlynot for me but for old mom and all the residents who are suffering silently out of fear.

N. Kissoon

absolutely clear that revenues from these agencies can only be retained on their books for the purpose of defraying their annual expenses. Is NICIL’s annual expense $50 billion? It is safe to say that the answer is a resounding “NO”.

So why this secretive treatment for these vast amount of funds? Only the PPP has the answers as to why they are prepared to violate the Supreme law of the Land – the Constitution.

We want to put on the record that the AFC will not rest as an organization until all of the people’s money is emptied out of these secret accounts and transferred into the Consolidated Fund. The custodians of the Consolidated Funds are the people’s representatives in Parliament including the PPP MPs. Therefore, it is difficult to follow why the PPP is not interested in greater accountability and transparency in their financial conduct in this new political dispensation. What is its financial intentions?

Dr Asquith Rose and Sasenarine Singh

PEN PAL Mixed male, age 52, with own home seeking female companion. Tel: 683-0040 (From page 22)

LAND FOR SALE Land V/Hoop 2 acre: school, housing, factory, etc call:6580115 32 Acres for sale, Lot 5 Content, E.C.D, $256,000.00(USD) Call: 813319-4219 or rpooran@tampabay.rr.com Land of Canaan Wharf 140’ X 50’ on 11.88 acres US$2.5m, Yarowkabra 50 acre & house G$15m,609 2302/645 2580/233 5711 Grove H/S 86’ X 50’ G$4.5m.

609 2302/645 2580/233 5711 Forshaw Street 118’ X 62’ G$72m, Brickdam 96’ X 63’ G$82m, Eping Ave B.A.P 150’ X 100" US$500,000, 609 2302/645 2580/233 5711 Carmichael Street 100" X 62" US$500,000 609 2302/645 2580/233 5711 Ogle Seawall Rd 140’ X 100’ G$45m, Sophia Seawall Road 130" X 86’ US$550,000, Ogle Railway Corner 200’ X 78’ US$750,000, 609 2302/645 2580/233 5711

CAR RENTAL Progressive auto rental, cars from $4,000 per day. Call: 6435122, 656-0087, www.progressiveautorental.com Premio, 110 Corolla. Call: 6797139 First Choice Car Rental cars $5,000-7,000 per day 6680306, 225-6337 Al’s Car & Pick-up Rental.

Call: 698-7807

TO LET Short term apartments Eccles. Call:679-7139

American Style Massage Service. Call 609-4036 Treat yourself to a relaxing massage. 622-6256

Newly built apartment – WCD, call: 698-6496 Four (4) bedroom apartment.

Contact: 682-8875

East Coast $55,000, Kitty $60,000, Alberttown $80,000, Bel-Air US$1500, Hotel US$5,000; Diana 227-2256, 626-9382 One two bedroom bottom flat apartment. Tel no.: 6644898 One bottom flat in Enmore $35,000 monthly. Contact 677-1495

ACCOMMODATION Signature Inn Luxury Suites & Apartments 83 Laluni Street, Queenstown. Call for reservations 226-2145, 2275037

1 Honda EK3, mid PJJ series, price $950,000 neg. Call: 6857133 or 679-3867 2 & 3 ton enclosed canter, unregistered. 617-2891 2004 Mazda RX8, body kit, black, unregistered, $3M. 617-2891 1 Carina 192. No. HB 8358.

Call: 663-2882 2005 White Nissan Titan V8 engine with 6 CD changer and a/c. Contact: 682-9021.

(GKK 9391) for further information.

Toyota Tacoma, 4wd, 2.7L engine, very good condition.

Contact Andrew: 638-8599 Ford F150, 4wd, V8 engine.

Including cab. Excellent condition. Contact Hans: 6455596 Quantum Auto. Allion – Silver & white with TV/NAV/ RCam. Grey Premio, Spacio, Fielders. 624-7684 2000 Ford Economy Club Wagon. Heavy duty, power steering, V8 50400CC. 7715388, 771-5387, 680-1198

Harmony inn fully furnished self contained a/c apartments, Short term& long term Parfaite Harmony WBD Tel:694-7817

E.B.D furnished 3 bedrooms house, 2 bathrooms, a/c, hot and cold, grilled, meshed, telephone, internet, parking, US$500 tel 697-4131 MASSAGE

VEHICLES FOR SALE One Toyota Short Base, enclosed canter, GMM series, hardly used $1.8M. Credit can be arranged. Tel: 673-6660

1 2 bedroom house, 1 1 bedroom house, Good Hope, Essequibo. Call: 6804990, 277-3033 Short term apartments. Tel: 667-1549

PROPERTY FOR SALE 20 X 40 two flat concrete building @ Kitty. All amenities. Price $28 M Call: 668 – 9512, 223- 2570 Craig $5.5M, East Coast $10M, Farm $12M, Guyhoc Park $12M, Alberttown (Land) $24M, Diana 2272256, 626-9382 Nandy Park $25M, Queenstown $35M, Prashad Nagar $33M, Kitty $32M, Bel-Air $40M, Diana 2272256, 626-9382 L.B.I G$30m, Industry G$76m, Courida Park US$330,000, P/Nagar G$36m, D’Urban Street G$37m, 609 2302/645 2580/ 233 5711 Campbellville G$51m, McDoom G$23m, Agricola G$21m, CC Eccles G$22m, Blankenburgh G$20m, Tuschen G$12m. 609 2302/ 645 2580/233 5711

Page 24

Kaieteur News

Wednesday May 09, 2012

The Abigail Column DTV CHANNEL 8 07:55hrs. Sign On 08:00hrs. Indian Movie 11:00hrs. The View 12:00hrs. Prime News 12:30hrs. The Young and the Restless 13:30hrs. The Bold and the Beautiful 14:00hrs. The Talk 15:00hrs. Boy Meets World 16:00hrs. Beverly Hills, 90210 17:00hrs. The Wayans Brothers 18:00hrs. World News 18:30hrs. Nightly News 19:30hrs. Greetings and Announcements 20:00hrs. Channel 8 News 21:00hrs. Criminal Minds (New Episode) 22:00hrs. Law & Order: Special Victim Unit (New Episode) 23:00hrs. Sign Off NTN CHANNEL 18/ CABLE 69 05:00hrs -Sign on with the Mahamrtunjaya Mantra 05:10hrs - Meditation 05:30hrs - Queenstown Masjid Presents Quran This Morning 06:00hrs - R. Gossai General Store Presents Ram Bhajans

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Boyfriend’s cheating heart leaves an electronic trail Dear Abigail, I have been with my boyfriend ‘Paul’ for four years. We have a child together, and we each have a child of our own.

We have lived together for three years, and our family life is great.

However, when I was pregnant with our son, ‘Paul’ contacted an ex on the internet. One day he left his

computer open, and I saw that their conversations were less than innocent. I was upset and I said something immediately.

We have stayed together, but ever since then I’m having a hard time trusting ‘Paul’. Because he had also been calling the woman, I now check our phone records. Last month I found a text of his to a former boss’s daughter. ‘Paul’ was telling her how “hot” she is.

Am I overreacting when I

think Paul is going to cheat?

Alarmed Dear Alarmed, You’re not overreacting.

‘Paul’ is cheating on you emotionally, and doesn’t appear to be entirely committed to your relationship. In fact, it appears he is looking for some outside adventures. You should not only be concerned, you should also be furious about what he’s doing. This won’t stop until you draw the line.

Wednesday May 09, 2012 ARIES (March 21 - April 19): Is your ambition taking over your life? Recently, a few catty comments from friends might be leading you to believe that they feel a bit left out of your life. ******************* TAURUS (April 20 - May 20): Being socially active is fun for a while, but it can also make it increasingly difficult for you to understand the real issues in your life.

Right now you need to come back down to earth and focus on the business of living, not the business of partying. ****************** GEMINI (May 21 - June 20): If you are trying to get a new relationship started -business, friendship, or romantic -- you might be making things much too hard on yourself. Relax and just be yourself. ******************** CANCER (June 21 - July 22): Everyone's social energies are all over the place right now, so do not expect everybody to have the same idea about what to do tonight.

While some people will be dying to paint the town red, some folks in your crew may not feel like coming out -- it's best to let everyone do their own thing. ********************* LEO (July 23 - Aug. 22): Like it or not, people are looking to you for the enthusiasm that they themselves might lack right now. Now, before you get uncomfortable with the idea of being responsible for other people's emotions, think about the bright side of things. ******************* VIRGO (Aug. 23 - Sept.

22): People are advancing all around you -- job promotions, marriage proposals, and other

new exciting opportunities are peppering everyone else's lives. But what about you? ********************* LIBRA (Sept. 23 - Oct. 22): Watch out for friends who are moving at a faster social pace right now. And if they are pushing you to commit to events or parties that you're not comfortable committing to, ask them if they can hold off for a few days until you are feeling more certain about things. ********************* SCORPIO (Oct. 23 - Nov. 21): The give and take between you and your people has been out of balance for a while, but today things will start getting back to a proper equilibrium. ******************** SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 Dec. 21): You need to try hard to stay on top of any and all maintenance issues right now -- make sure all your bills are paid, important errands are run and so forth. **************** CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 Jan. 19): Self-doubt is absolute poison, today. If you doubt your abilities for just one moment, you will lose all the momentum you've built up over the past few days. ******************** AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 - Feb. 18): You don't always agree with your best friend, but this dissonance puts no restriction on how much you love them.

Today, you are cautioned against thinking that an increase in conflict indicates a decrease in the quality of your relationship -- it's simply not true. ********************* PISCE S ( F e b . 1 9 March 20): Today, be on the look out for people who can help you out of a jam and show you a shortcut to your goal.

Wednesday May 09, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 25

ASTP / GT&T / MCYS / NSC Schools Windball Cricket C/ships

Thomas More, F.E Pollard, St. Pius among winners

GT&T’s Sachin Persaud (centre) poses with the students shortly before the start of play.

Play in the Georgetown Zone of the Al Sport & Tour Promotions (ASTP) / GT&T / Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport (MCYS) / National Sports Commission (NSC) sponsored 15th Annual Regional Primary Schools Windball Cricket tournament was contested recently at the National Park Tarmac.

In full results: Thomas More defeated Monar Educational Institute

by 10 wickets. Monar batting first made 47-3 off the allotted overs. Nirvanie Persaud hit 25, while Mya Lynch supported with 15.

Thomas More in their turn at the crease ended on 49-0.

Mary Ann Grant hammered 35 and Tadacia Tucker hit 16.

F.E Pollard then beat North Georgetown by 9 wickets. North Georgetown compiled 45-5 batting first with Tatiana Jones hitting a

Watson, Tait fire Royals...

From page 28 Pune struggled after electing to bat. The home team scored just five fours and two sixes to stagger to 125 – not the most ideal platform from which to arrest a five-match losing streak. Ganguly inexplicably assumed opening duties alongside Michael Clarke.

The two struggled to find the boundary and had scored one apiece when the Pune Captain fell to a Tait bouncer that had likely been fired in at the behest of Ganguly’s opposite number- Rahul Dravid.

Dravid’s familiarity with Ganguly’s mode of play resulted in the left-hander’s wicket after the former India Captain had been dropped by Tait off a Watson short delivery in the previous over.

Soon after Ganguly’s exit, Clarke was trapped in front by

Stuart Binny, depriving Pune of their senior-most batsmen one ball beyond the Powerplay – which contained an unpardonable 20 dot balls.

Despite the lethargy of the innings, Pune chose to promote Bengal’s Anustup Majumdar over the far more aggressive Angelo Mathews and Steven Smith. Majumdar looked to break free when he tonked two sixes off Ankeet Chavan, but soon lost his stumps to a Johan Botha yorker.

Robin Uthappa carried on for a while in the same sluggish vein of his previous IPL-V knocks and Steven Smith too failed to take off.

Pune scored at less than a run a ball in the last eight overs, indicating just how fine a job Tait and Binny (3-0-12-1) had accomplished for Royals.

(Yahoo Sports)

top-score of 15. Amrita Ramkumar grabbed 2 wickets.

F. E Pollard in reply, 50-1. Judy King made 25 and Jewel Gonsalves 19.

St. Pius romped to a comfortable 10-wicket triumph against St. Gabriel’s.

St. Gabriel’s reached 49-4 when the overs expired. Tavia Wilson 21 and Sasha Murray 10 were the principal

Tarmac on Monday, May 14 with the Georgetown Boys in action from 10:00 hrs.

Meanwhile, fixtures for today’s round in the Central Corentyne/Black Bush Polder Zone are as follows: Girls: No. 36 vs. Mc Gowan, Alness vs. Auchlyne, Eversham vs. the winner of No.36 & Mc Gowan.

Boys: Alness vs. Mc

Gowan; winner vs. Johanna, Auchlyne vs. Region #6 defending champions Kildonan, the winner will play N0. 36.

Tomorrow’s matches in the Lower Corentyne Zone will see: (Girls) - Defending champ Albion, Tain & Rose Hall abbtle for top honours, while the Boys will see Tain, Port Mourant & Cropper vie for supremacy.

Khan rematch could be called off after Peterson fails drug test

Amir Khan’s rematch with Lamont Peterson is in serious doubt after the American tested positive for a banned substance. The fight is due to take place on May 19 in Las Vegas, five months after Peterson stunned the reigning WBA and IBF lightwelterweight champion in their controversial first meeting.

But with less than two weeks until the rematch, the revelation by Peterson’s team has thrown Kahn’s plans into disarray.

Peterson’s attorney, Jeff Fried, issued the following statement late on Monday: ‘We have tremendous respect for VADA [Voluntary Anti-Doping Association] and its mission. Lamont, [his trainer] Barry [Hunter] and the entire team emphatically support random drug-testing

City stars promised mega £250k bonus if they beat rivals United to Premier League title It’s hardly like they’re short of cash, and now each Manchester City star has been promised a whopping £250,000 end-of-season bonus… but on one condition – they lift the Barclays Premier League title.

Roberto Mancini’s squad are on the brink of making history with just one victory separating them from a first top-flight title since 1968.

And if the incentive to beat fierce rivals Manchester United to the top prize wasn’t enough, mega-rich owner Sheikh Mansour will dip into his pocket to provide his stars with

contributors. Rebekha Todd took 2 wkts. St. Pius raced to 55-0 with Faynell Brewster 29 and Todd 20, being the topscorers.

Enterprise beat St. Agnes by 6 runs. Enterprise totaled 55-2, Jzannah Rogers 25. St. Agnes in reply were restricted to 49-3 with Kirtisha Underwood 17, Emika Punch 10.

Play will return to the

some extra motivation.

According to The Daily Star, Sheikh Mansour is prepared to lose £4.5million in bonuses if City beat Queens Park Rangers at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. City are level on points with United going into the final round of Premier League fixtures.

But Mancini’s men have a much-better goal difference than their rivals, and know a win will see them lift the coveted trophy regardless of United’s result against Sunderland. (Mail Online)

Amir Khan may call off rematch with Lamont Peterson (left) after failed drugs test in the most comprehensive manner possible.

‘We are working expeditiously with a team of pathologists and other medical specialists. Lamont has never had a positive test either before or after this isolated occurrence and we plan to submit medical findings by close of Tuesday reflecting the actual facts in support of Lamont’s good faith intentions and the requirements of the commission.’

Ironically, it was Peterson who suggested the pair undergo Olympic-style drugs testing in the build-up to the fight. Speaking in March, he said: ‘It’s not that we think Khan is cheating or anything.

It’s just that there are people who are out there cheating

and they have new methods of cheating.

‘And we do urine tests all the time so why not take blood tests and make sure everyone is safe in the ring.’

Reports suggested that Peterson has tested positive for synthetic testosterone and while there is no evidence that the 28-year-old is guilty of any wrongdoing, the substance can be used to increase muscle strength and mass and shorten recovery time.

Asif Vali, Khan’s business manager, told Sky Sports News: “Obviously last night it was a shock when I received the call to say Lamont had failed a drug test.

‘However, the Peterson team seem to think that something’s gone wrong

during the very first VADA drug test which Lamont took in March. Their explanation is that it’s something he took earlier on in the year - before the last fight.’

Asked whether the fight was on or off as things stood, he replied: ‘The fight’s on. Obviously the Nevada commission will come back to us with their findings. They’ll look at things quite in depth before they make a final decision. That decision’s due to come to us by the end of play on Tuesday.’

Vali added on Sky Sports News of Khan: ‘He’s very disappointed. Bear in mind he went to the training camp early to get ready for this fight and nobody likes to see a boxer go through preparations for a fight and then find out at the last hurdle that something’s gone wrong - certainly when it’s not their fault.

Khan complained to the WBA, IBF and Washington DC commission after losing his light-welterweight titles to Peterson in the American’s hometown, Washington, last year.

He highlighted several grievances, chiefly referee Joseph Cooper’s deduction of two points, the judges’ scoring of the bout and the unexplained presence of ‘mystery man’ Mustafa Ameen at ringside. (Mail Online)

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Kaieteur News

Simmons eager for Windies recall

Lendl Simmons Port of Spain, Trinidad Red Force opener Lendl Simmons, is eager to be included in the West Indies limited overs squad for the England tour. Simmons, who suffered a broken finger during

the Regional four-day series, is fit again and has been in prolific form for his local club Ceramic Merryboys.

“I feel great. It’s good to be fit and back to form once again. I was elated with my 127 against Wanderers recently because I want runs under my belt to make the One-Days and T20s in England,” he said.

Simmons recently earned the “Caribbean T20 Player of the Year” and the “West Indies T20 Player of the Year” accolades at the 2011 West Indies Players Association (WIPA) awards ceremony.

He was adamant about being recalled for the three English One-Day Internationals and lone T20 contest, all spanning June 1624. Simmons continuing said,

“I see no reason for me to be left out the English series. I’m making some big scores once again and I think I have done a lot to be selected.

“I just want to keep playing to the best of my ability and move from strength to strength. As a cricketer, I want to do my best representing my Club, Country and the Region.”

Simmons added that he is looking to lead Merryboys to the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) National Premiership title.

He said, that with Alcindo Holder in devastating allround form and Javed Ramdhanie’s spin wreaking havoc for Merryboys, they are well-equipped to wrest the title from defending champions Queen’s Park.

(Trinidad Newsday)

Kenya coach Hesson resigns Kenya coach Mike Hesson resigned on Monday (yesterday) only ten months into his two-year contract citing security concerns, Cricket Kenya (CK) officials said. The 37-year-old New Zealander, who took over from West Indian Eldine Baptiste in July 2011, said he was giving up the role “due to a number of security issues” that have affected his family.

“It is a very difficult decision we as a family have had to make but sadly we

have been directly and indirectly affected by a number of security related incidents in recent weeks and my family has to come first,” said Hesson, a father of two young daughters.

“I want to stress that this has absolutely nothing to do with the issues relating to my role as national coach and is not cricket related in any way.

This is purely a decision about the safety of my family and quality of life.

“Whilst arrangements are

being made for my wife and children to return to New Zealand as soon as possible, I will remain behind to complete any imminent national team engagements,” Hesson added.

He will be in charge when Kenya hosts Namibia in a fourday ICC Intercontinental Cup qualifier next month, which will also include two one-day internationals and two unofficial Twenty20 matches.

Cricket officials have refused to speculate on Hesson’s sudden departure.

The former Otago coach was once shortlisted for the role as manager of the New Zealand Black Caps, whose current coach John Wright of Australia will step down in August. (AFP)

Wednesday May 09, 2012

Remaining Olympics tickets on sale this Friday as firsttime losers are given priority The 20,000 people who missed out on London 2012 tickets in the first two rounds of sales will be given priority when 900,000 more tickets go on sale at 11am on Friday, May 11.

They will have 31 hours’ exclusive access to the tickets before another 1million people who were unsuccessful in the first ballot last year will then have a five-day sales period to try to buy tickets on a first-come, first-served basis.

Each person will be limited to applying for one session and a maximum of four tickets.

For the first time, 70,000 Olympic Park tickets will be sold which will allow access to the Park to watch sport on the big screens but not to any actual sessions events.

Those tickets will be £10 or £5 for those aged 16 or under or 60 or over.

The 20,000 people who missed out completely in the sales rounds in March and June last year will get first bite - and will have a chance of tickets for all events including a limited number for the opening and closing ceremonies will be included.

They will be informed by organisers via email (Tuesday). After that, the 1million people who applied in the initial ballot but were unsuccessful will have tickets released for different sports over five days.

These are:

Lord Coe promised fans who missed out last year the chance to buy

May 13: (all from 11am) hockey, tennis, wrestling (freestyle), wrestling (GrecoRoman), beach volleyball and football.

May 14: athletics (race walk), athletics (marathon), canoe slalom, canoe sprint, shooting, swimming, volleyball, weightlifting and cycling (track).

May 15: equestrian (dressage), equestrian (eventing), equestrian (jumping), diving, synchronised swimming, handball, table tennis, swimming (marathon) and water polo.

May 16: basketball (North Greenwich arena sessions), badminton, sailing, gymnastics (artistic),

gymnastics (rhythmic), gymnastics (trampoline), judo, taekwondo, boxing and fencing.

May 17: archery, basketball (Basketball Arena sessions), cycling (BMX), cycling (mountain bike), cycling (road), modern pentathlon, rowing, triathlon and Olympic Park tickets.

London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe said: ‘We know thousands of sports fans were disappointed when they missed out in the initial sales period because of the massive demand for tickets.

‘We promised we would prioritise these fans when we released the contingency tickets, which is exactly what we are doing.’ (Mail Online)

Scotia/Pepsi Schools Football

Lodge vs. Campbellville today The Scotia/Pepsi Schools Football tournament continues this afternoon at the Tucville Ground from 16:00hrs with a female encounter.

Lodge Secondary School will be looking to add another victory to their account when they take on Campbellville Secondary in the lone fixture for the day. Leading Lodge’ quest for victory will be Monique King.

King was responsible for Lodge’s 1-0 win over Central High when the two clashed recently.

Wednesday May 09, 2012

Kaieteur News

Liverpool hit four past Chelsea Liverpool gained revenge for Saturday’s FA Cup final defeat with an emphatic win over a lacklustre Chelsea to end the Blues’ hopes of a topfour finish. Chelsea were sloppy throughout and fell behind when Michael Essien deflected Luis Suarez’s cross into his own net.

Goals from Jordan Henderson and Daniel Agger made it 3-0 and Stewart Downing missed a penalty before half-time. Ramires pulled a goal back but Ross Turnbull’s error allowed Jonjo Shelvey to fire in and crown a superb display.

The only possible blot on the home side’s copy book was an unnecessary incident involving the otherwise excellent Suarez, who caught Branislav Ivanovic in the face with his arm. Suarez was not booked by referee Kevin Friend and could face retrospective action.

However, in a game with a number of unsavoury incidents, Chelsea’s Michael Essien was shown a yellow card for a nasty challenge on Andy Carroll and thus will not face further punishment.

The result that made a mockery of Liverpool’s woeful home form this season, which had seen them win only six games, while they equalled their lowest home goals tally of 24 courtesy of the four they scored here.

The game could not have been more different from the cagey and dour contest these two sides served up on Saturday. At Wembley, Chelsea were compact and efficient but here they were shambolic, especially in the first half, while Liverpool were completely transformed from the stuttering, shot-shy side that so underwhelmed the national stadium for an hour.

Granted, it was a muchchanged Blues team, with regulars Ashley Cole, Juan Mata and Frank Lampard on the bench and goalkeeper Petr Cech and Didier Drogba

Dan's the man, Agger (centre right) is congratulated after scoring Liverpool's third goal omitted, in a clear indication that manager Roberto di Matteo believes the more realistic route to Champions League football next season is as a by-product of glory against Bayern Munich in the final in Munich on 19 May. But this was no excuse for such sloppiness, particularly as the XI still contained eight internationals. Plus, arguably their worst performer was captain and defensive lynchpin John Terry, who was nutmegged three times in the first half and was partly responsible for the first two Liverpool goals.

Shortly after his defensive partner Branislav Ivanovic had struck the post with a header from a corner, the England international was easily beaten by Suarez as he jinked in down the right before his cut-back found the net via the sliding Essien.

Six minutes later, Terry’s slip allowed Henderson to run through and side-foot a shot past Ross Turnbull.

Liverpool improved markedly on Saturday following the introduction of

substitute Carroll, who scored their goal at Wembley and was inches away from an equaliser, and he played his part here from the start, no more so than in providing the return header from a corner which allowed Agger to nod in the third goal.

It could have been a worse half for the Blues had Downing not twice hit the woodwork, with a dipping 20yard shot that clipped the bar and, less forgivably, when he struck the post with a penalty after Ivanovic had blocked Carroll with an elbow in the box.

Chelsea’s former Liverpool striker Fernando

Torres, who began the game, was subdued all night barring one moment when he cut around Agger with a superb touch and fired against the bar.

Di Matteo has done a superb job to salvage so much from the wreckage of predecessor Andre VillasBoas’s “project”, but this was a lost cause, even when Ramires bundled in to reduce the arrears early in the second half.

If there were any Chelsea hopes of a fightback, they were ended on the hour when Turnbull’s mis-hit clearance fell to Shelvey and he fired a 30-yard shot into the unguarded net. (BBC Sport)

Alitia Moore aiming to shine...

From page 31 also did well in the same event at the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Club Developmental Meet, taking third among athletes the likes of Fortune, Letitia Myles, Leota Bobb, Tirono Mitchell. Moore’s time in that race was 12.1sec; Fortune won the showdown in 11.6sec with Myles 2nd 11.9sec.

The multi-talented athlete also won the 100m at the Upper Demerara School Developmental Meet at the MSC Ground, leaving Myles in her wake, clocking 12.2 to win. Running Brave’ Shaquane Daniels followed Moore to the line in 12.9sec with Shaskia Rogers 3rd.

Moore is not only a top performer on the track but has also been turning heads in field events.

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Kaieteur News

Wednesday May 09, 2012

Starc deported over visa error Kings XI stay in the hunt

Mitchell Starc

Mitchell Starc, the Australia left-arm quick, will not be able to make his Yorkshire debut this week after being deported following a visa error that initially led to him being detained at Heathrow for more than four hours.

He will now have to fly halfway around the world, fill in a couple of forms correctly and then fly all the way back again.

During Tuesday, Yorkshire were still hopeful of clearing up the situation but late in the afternoon Starc tweeted: “Well that’s a first! Being deported from England. Surely

nothing else can go wrong can it?!?!” He expanded later: “Visa issue. Incorrect communication from aus. Will be straight back to UK ASAP once sorted.

Yorkshire are blaming an incorrectlycompleted visa form by Cricket Australia which has meant that Starc will now need to return home and re-enter England a second time.

A Yorkshire statement said: “Following Mitchell Starc attending an appointment with the UK Border Agency this afternoon, he has been instructed to return to Australia in order to complete the necessary visa documentation. The problem was as a result of the incorrect advice given to him in Australia.

The necessary paperwork from Yorkshire County Cricket Club is in order and accepted by the UK Border Agency but unfortunately it is insufficient to allow Mitchell to fulfill the full visa requirement. We are hoping this matter can be resolved quickly in Australia and that he will return as soon as possible.”

The latest visa delay - three West Indies cricketers have also been held up by visa issues ahead of their tour of England - brings into question whether UK visa policy is quick and flexible enough to deal with elite sportsmen and women who regularly come and go to the UK on professional sports contracts.

Yorkshire’s frustration follows their standoff with their England pace bowler, Ajmal Shahzad, who has upped sticks to Lancashire after a long-running dispute over his reluctance to bowl in the approved style.

with 25-run triumph

Hyderabad: Young Mandeep Singh and wily Praveen Kumar kept Kings XI Punjab in IPL-V contention as they starred in their team’s 25-run win over the lowly Deccan Chargers on Tuesday. The victory pulled Punjab up to fifth place on the points table, one spot below Rajasthan Royals - who also have 12 points but a superior Net Run Rate.

At Uppal’s Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Punjab were sent in to bat by Kumar Sangakkara and rode on Man-of-the-match Mandeep’s responsible 48-ball 75 to post 1705. The visiting side then scuppered Deccan’s chase by making frequent inroads into the batting card.

Skipper David Hussey – Punjab’s lucky talisman – pretty much decided the game when he took out a well-set Daniel Harris and the dangerous Cameron White in the space of four deliveries of off-spin, and when Sangakkara fell in the next over to Praveen, the chase was going only one way: downhill.

Praveen had earlier foxed Shikhar Dhawan with one that shaped away from the lefthander, a few overs before Parthiv Patel was bowled by Parvinder Awana. Another implosion in the lower order – after Hussey’s double strike - arrested Deccan’s chase on 145-8, all but irremediably reserving a basement slot for the luckless team this season. Praveen finished his quota of four overs with two for 15, and Hussey’s brace of scalps cost him just two runs.

Earlier, Mandeep’s second half-century of IPL-V took Punjab to 170-5, ten runs more than the 160 that Deccan skipper Kumar Sangakkara had said was par for the venue.

The most prolific scorer of the season for Punjab, Mandeep took off an incline plundering 18 off Veer Pratap Singh in the second over. Not once did the 20-year-old did not allow the run-rate to dip.

Although Dhawan provided the breakthrough Chargers were looking for when

Mandeep Singh he castled Shaun Marsh, Punjab by then were already going at a comfortable eight-an-over.

And despite a regular exit policy being practiced by batsmen at the other end, Mandeep stuck to his guns, dispatching Daniel Harris over cover to bring up his halfcentury in 33 balls, and then targeting Amit Mishra for a couple of more boundaries.

But the bowler who suffered most at Mandeep’s hands was seamer Veer Pratap Singh, who conceded 35 in 16 deliveries to the solid opener, who was finally, bowled trying to slog Ashish Reddy in the 16th over.

In the next over, Azhar Mahmood was runout after a mix up with David Miller, but the South African atoned for the dangerous Pakistani’s dismissal by providing Punjab the late thrust. Miller’s 18-ball 28 was laced with three fours and a six off Reddy in the last over of the innings.

Watson, Tait fire Royals to big win Pune: Aussie power kept Rajasthan Royals alive and kicking in IPL-V as Shane Watson and Shaun Tait drove the inaugural champions to a seven-wicket win over Pune Warriors on Tuesday.

Tait’s superlative bowling (three for 13) confined the home team to a paltry 125 after Sourav Ganguly elected to bat, and Watson’s rapid unbeaten 90 made the target appear even smaller than it was.

The win, achieved with 22 balls to spare, took Royals to fourth on the points table, while for Pune their sixth consecutive loss meant that the climb back into last-four contention now borders on the impossible.

Such was Watson’s dominance that he needed little help from any other batsman - the next highest score for Royals was 18. The Australian all-rounder revved into activity in the third over of the chase, going after Murali Karthik. After clearing long-on with a brutal strike, Watson went for a repeat and was almost caught by the

Shaun Tait

Shane Watson

incredible Steven Smith on the boundary.

Smith, a genuine contender for the best fielder in the world today, caught the ball and realizing he was going to overstep the boundary, tossed the ball in, but failed to hurl it the required distance. Smith pushed the ball in again – still beyond the boundary, but with both feet off the ground – and finally caught it on his third attempt. A six was declared, but full points to Smith for attempting an

implausible catch on the boundary – something he’s been doing almost every bloody match.

Watson continued with the same intensity, reaching his fifty in 27 balls, and ended with ten fours, and four sixes, to his name, twice the number scored by the entire Pune team. He was named Man-ofthe-match, but there was another contender who could have justifiably staked his claim on that honour – Tait.

Tait bowled with fire as Continued on page 25

Wednesday May 09, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 29

Windies girls go down by 14 runs Samuels arrives to Port of Spain, Trinidad, CMC – An unfamiliar batting collapse undermined West Indies Women and sent them plunging to a 14-run loss against Sri Lanka Women in the fourth Twenty20 International on Monday night.

Chasing a moderate 95 for victory at Queen’s Park, West Indies were cruising at 52 for one in the 13th over but lost eight wickets for 28 runs in 47 balls, to stumble to 80 for nine from their allotted 20 overs.

Madhuri Samuddika (311) and Chamani Seneverathne (2-10) inspired the collapse. The win was Sri Lanka’s first of the series which West Indies lead 3-1, with the final game scheduled for the same venue today.

Opting to bat first, Sri Lanka were propelled by opener Yashoda Mendis who top-scored with 21 while captain Dilani Manodara and

Sripali Weerakkoddy chipped in with 14 runs each.

Teenaged leg-break bowler Shemaine Campbelle was her side’s best bowler with two for 15.

Mendis, who faced 31 balls and hit two fours, anchored her side’s most productive stand – 34 for the second wicket with Deepika Rasangika who got 13. Once Mendis was run out, attempting an ill-advised second run to long-off, the innings went into decline with the next six wickets falling for 11 runs in the space of 18 balls.

Sri Lanka required the enterprise of Manodara and Weerakkoddy in a 32-run, unbroken ninth wicket stand to get up to their eventual score. Opener Juliana Nero then set West Indies on their way by underpinning two good partnerships at the top of the order.

The veteran right-hander,

bolster West Indies

Madhuri Samuddika of Sri Lanka collects the Player of the Match award from Babsie Figeuroa who stroked a top score of 32 from 42 balls with four fours, put on 25 for the first wicket with 19-year-old Amanda Samaroo (9) before adding a further 27 for the second wicket with Campbelle (8).

Both Samaroo and Campbelle perished via the run out route and when missed a big swing at Samuddika and was stumped in the 15th over, the pressure mounted and proved too much for the hosts.

West Indies’ squad in England will shortly be at full strength after issues preventing the arrival of three absent players were resolved.

The side went into their first warm-up match against Sussex with only 11 fit men, as Marlon Samuels had not managed to travel from India, where he has been playing for Pune Warriors in the IPL, in time and Guyanese pair Narsingh Deonarine and Assad Fudadin had struggled to obtain the requisite visas required to gain entry into the UK. Fidel Edwards also missed the game with a back injury.

Now, however, Samuels has arrived in London - he landed on Tuesday morning and has joined the rest of the squad in Northampton - while Deonarine and Fudadin have secured the visas they required. They hope to arrive in the UK on Wednesday (today). Both of them scored half-centuries on Sunday in Jamacian club cricket, with Deonarine also claiming 6 for 12 with his offspin.

“We have seen some progress,” a West Indies team

Marlon Samuels spokesman confirmed. “Samuels is here and the other two have their visas now - or they are in the process of getting them now - and the aim is still that they arrive ahead of the game against England Lions.”

West Indies also reported no new injury concerns. Edwards, who has a history of back trouble, missed the warm-up game at Hove due to on-going “work load management” but is expected to be fit for the first Test, while Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who received treatment for a hand injury at Hove, is also fit.

(ESPN Cricinfo)