Kaieteur News

Thursday Edition

Online readership yesterday 99,641

Price $80 November 01, 2012 - Vol. 5 No. 43 (VAT Inclusive) Online: http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com

Guyana’s largest selling daily & New York’s most popular weekly

Another execution ...

Ricardo Rodrigues associate gunned down Dead: Marlon Osborne called 'Trini’

Police surround Osborne’s bullet-riddled car

Sharma confirmed 'Shark Oil' Rohee “did not warn Police against sentenced as Auditor General using deadly force” to death after seven-year wait Linden Commission of Inquiry …

AFC to discuss amendment to Accountability leglislation

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Kaieteur News

Govt. approves $200M for textbooks - to ask National Assembly for additional funds

By Leonard Gildarie Government has announced that a deal has been struck with overseas’ publishers of textbooks at concessionary prices, but it will still prove an expensive venture.

As a matter of fact, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon, disclosed yesterday, that the administration will in all likelihood be heading to the National Assembly for additional monies to acquire the quota of textbooks. This is nearly $100M more than the government had voted for the very textbook project when it had planned to use ‘pirated’ textbooks.

A total of four contracts for learning materials, including text books, and valued at some $200M was approved by Cabinet on Tuesday for the purchase of the genuine books.

Textbooks procurement came sharply under focus this year after tenders came in for multi-million contracts for photocopied text books.

Photocopied books are sold for a fraction of the original ones.

The argument has been

Dr. Roger Luncheon that the high cost of the books was too prohibitive and as such, a decision was made to have the books photocopied.

According to Dr Luncheon yesterday, the country’s bilateral partners have been instrumental “behind the scenes” to help in arriving at a deal with publishers that Guyana can “best afford”.

But there will be a shortfall, he stressed.

“Yes, we cannot procure the same volumes…As a consequence one can anticipate that we will be

going to the budget…going to the National Assembly for ramping up social expenditure to maintain the same level of coverage in the educational sector.”

Even at the concessionary prices from the publishers, it will still cost Guyana way more, he said.

Over the last few years, Government spent hundreds of millions of dollars to purchase learning materials, inclusive of schoolbooks.

British publishers and one Trinidad firm joined with local distributors to protest Government’s decision to have the books photocopied or pirated, saying that it would cost them, and was in reality, theft of their intellectual property.

Reports are that photocopied books were procured by Government for a number of years to provide cheap learning material for the parents of school-aged children.

Local authorized distributors managed to secure a court order ordering the books off the shelves of a number of city stores, effectively blocking the sales.

The order had also stopped Government from

proceeding with its plans to buy the photocopied books which are reportedly distributed to schools countrywide.

The matter had seen the British Government stepping in for publishers in the UK. The books were pulled from shelves of several businesses.

President Donald Ramotar had raised the issue at the United Nations, a few weeks ago, appealing for measures to help reduce education costs in developing countries like Guyana.

The issue, a sensitive one, has created worries for parents, the majority of whom just simply cannot afford the prices of the original ones.

And asked about the possibility of recycling the textbooks, Dr Luncheon admitted that the system of recycled books may not be working because of the demands by students in an increasingly, highly competitive education system.

Each child wants his own textbooks and they are not like their predecessors who were predisposed to re-selling the books once they had used them.

Thursday November 01, 2012

De Abreu flown to Florida for medical assistance Family members and friends of the owner of De Sinco Trading, Frank De Abreu gathered at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) yesterday as he was being moved from that facility to be flown to Florida for medical assistance.

De Abreu, who had been in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit for 10 days, was taken to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport via ambulance, accompanied by medical practitioners from Florida.

According to a medical source attached to the GPHC, De Abreu’s condition has improved significantly over the past three days. The businessman sustained a punctured right lung, broken rib and damaged liver in an accident.

On October 20, De Abreu’s car collided with a fire tender

Businessman Frank De Abreu that was reportedly responding to a report of a grass fire at Non Pareil, East Coast Demerara.

Thursday November 01, 2012

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Kaieteur News

Another execution ...

Ricardo Rodrigues associate gunned down F

ifteen days after they executed R i c a r d o Rodrigues, hit men turned their guns on his associate, Marlon Osborne aka Marlon Scott and 'Trini', riddling him with bullets in a brazen daylight onslaught.

Osborne succumbed to his injuries while being treated at the Georgetown Public Hospital where he was rushed minutes after the attack which occurred near the junction of Peter Rose and Laluni Streets, Queenstown, yesterday.

It was just after 13:00 hours when the 32-year old Achievement Place, South Ruimveldt Gardens resident had just turned out of a yard in Laluni Street when he was confronted by the gunmen.

Eyewitnesses recalled seeing two men shooting at Osborne's car as he frantically attempted to drive away. But the slugs from what appeared to be AK-47 assault rifles, the preferred choice of local hitmen, penetrated the vehicle

Osborne’s bullet-riddled car and pierced Osborne's body.

The police in a statement on the matter said that their investigations revealed that Osborne was driving motor car PNN 9922 when shots were discharged from another vehicle which drove

away. The vehicle that Osborne was using was said to have belonged to Ricardo Rodrigues.

The police said that they have arrested a man identified as Raymond Lammy. Osborne had just

left his home before the gunmen confronted him.

The injured Osborne arrived at the hospital in a speeding National Parks Commission vehicle. He was immediately rushed into the Accident and Emergency

Unit (A&E) for medical attention.

A woman recalled seeing rescuers pull the injured man from his car.

“He whole one side get shoot up, like de flesh falling off,” the woman said.

The Georgetown Public Hospital in a press release stated that Osborne sustained gunshot wounds to the right side of his abdomen, back and scrotal area.

“He succumbed while undergoing emergency surgery at the Main Operating Theatre. He was pronounced dead at 14:55 hours,” the hospital stated.

A young man, whose mother was on the bed next to the one on which they had placed Osborne in the A and E unit, was heard saying, “I peep he (Marlon) and I see all his guts outside…Gun is not a good thing. I don't ever want to see a gun.”

“He couldn't have survived with those bullets.

Those bullets were meant to kill him. We tried our best,

Dead: Marlon Osborne called 'Trini’ but from the beginning we suspected he wouldn't make it,” a medical practitioner said.

The dead man's relatives who were at the hospital were reluctant to speak with the media, as they waited for what seemed an eternity for word on his condition.

They were eventually told that he had succumbed.

As news of Osborne's death spread, dozens of people swarmed the hospital to confirm what they heard.

His reputed wife, Senobia Butcher, later told this newspaper that Osborne (continued on page 12)

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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 Radio in Guyana is not what radio should be The fastest and most reliable medium in the world of broadcasting is the radio. For starters it is cheap, convenient and all prevailing. Gone are the days when a radio was a cumbersome piece of equipment that had to be holed up to a battery that lasted a few hours.

No longer are tubes integral components of radios.

Electronics are the order of the day. As a result, the radio is just about everywhere. People drive to work or for pleasure and the radio is there keeping them company.

What makes the radio the instant messenger is that when coupled with the telephone, it readily provides the listener with information. A crime occurs somewhere and the radio is often the first to bring the news. This is the case elsewhere except Guyana. And the Guyana situation is a recent development.

There was a time when Guyana had the best broadcasters in this part of the world. Many of them eventually left to occupy top postings in other countries, including some of the most developed in the world.

In those days, television was unheard of in Guyana, so electronic broadcasts featured some of the better reporters who had to be trained to tell the story to the listener by using words that conveyed vivid images. There were live broadcasts from scenes of disasters, voice clips of actual events and on-the-spot eyewitness accounts.

Today, radio in Guyana is quite often the last with the news because there are no enterprising reporters at the stateowned facility. It could be that resources are limited so reporters cannot reach locations as readily as some smaller and even more cash-strapped organizations.

Over the years we have become accustomed to the preponderance of Government news on the local radio station because it is government-owned. But news is more about what the government says and does. To make it credible the news should be about other happenings in the country, but perhaps that is the policy of the radio station.

But there is the quality of the broadcaster. There was a time when a broadcaster was someone to be emulated. He/ she stood out in the community. People liked what they heard and they heard good English, excellent pronunciation, and good voices. They learnt from these people.

Today, we have broadcasters speaking a language that is passably English, given the poor pronunciations and bad grammar. The accent is certainly not Guyanese in most cases, so we have young people listening to the radio hearing people who sound like Jamaicans or some person from the Eastern Caribbean, or someone from somewhere over the Atlantic; everywhere else but Guyana.

One would have expected that with radio being a scarce resource, it would have been put to better use. Radio is best when it is used to entertain and to inform. In Guyana there can be no doubt about the entertainment value since the broadcasters seem to be best suited as disc jockeys in a night spot. However, the information aspect of radio is not what it should be. This may be because of the poor programming and because of the quality of the presentation that often leaves people at a loss.

There were not many entities that were prepared to sponsor the newscast on radio. There must have been a valid reason for this state of affairs and that reason has to do with the quality of what the sponsors saw as being presented as news. Some years ago private citizens sought to establish radio stations in Guyana only to be told by the government that the present radio station could not withstand competition and that the state-owned radio station needed to be improved. It is taking a long time for that improvement to take place.

In fact, it is getting worse. Perhaps the radio station is a reflection of the quality of education in the society but then again, it could be that the people selected to work with the radio are exactly whom the state wants.

Whatever the reason radio in Guyana is certainly what radio should be either from the public’s perception of the broadcasters or from the news reporting. Competition from private operators can come fast enough.

Thursday November 01, 2012

Letters... Where your views make the news

Guyana and the Diaspora need EZ Jet DEAR EDITOR, This is in response to Mr. Lionel Lowe’s missive “Ramdeo and his EZjet venture may be about to end their short flight into infamy” (KN Oct 30) as well as related news items (in KN and all the other media) on allegations of financial improprieties against Mr. Sonny Ramdeo, former CEO, in the preceding days. What one gathers from the tone of the letter is that Lowe is cheering the financial troubles of the airline and would be pleased to see EZ Jet go out of business.

If that were too happen, the nation would suffer as less people would have access to air service to travel to and from Guyana and North America and the economy would be severely affected.

I don’t know Mr. Ramdeo, personally, and my encounters with him were related to his launching of the EZ Jet flight services to Guyana. I don’t have any information on the allegations made against him and as such cannot comment one way or the other. He has denied any wrong doing and as such is presumed innocent unless proven otherwise. As Lowe stated, the court would resolve that one.

For now, we need to focus on the importance of the air service. Those of us from the Guyanese community as well as those who are familiar with the travel industry applauded

Ramdeo at his very first press conference on Liberty Avenue, Queens, almost a year ago for initiating the air service to Guyana.

This was a time of high air fares, complaints of abuses of Guyanese travelers by other non-Guyanese-owned carriers, and limited availability of seats that resulted in higher than normal fares. Ramdeo provided a badly needed service at a time when Guyanese travelers were desperate for any carrier to rescue them.

For this, the New Yorkbased Guyanese are grateful and they applaud him. If you talk to those who traveled on EZ Jet, most will tell you the service is satisfactory and they are supportive of the jet service hoping that it will become a scheduled carrier. I traveled on it twice and I was satisfied with the service.

Guyanese were (and are) not interested in knowing whose money was funding the carrier. They are more interested in the service and the availability of flights.

They are, however, worried that the financial allegations against Ramdeo and its impact on the carrier’s ability to continue service.

When the airline was launched, Guyanese wanted cheap air fares and Ramdeo gave them what they wanted.

People flocked to the airline in record numbers during the peak season of X-Mas, Mash, Phagwah, Easter, and the

summer, causing the charter to increase flights. The airline is sold out again for this coming Diwali and Christmas seasons.

Some are asking about whether the carrier would still fly. Management in NY has given assurance to the travel agents, media and passengers. So EZ Jet is not on its way to “infamy” but improving its service pruning its traveling dates to meet demand.

As Lowe pointed out, Ramdeo had and still has big dreams and has spent big money. But we should not criticize a man for dreaming big especially if his dreams will benefit our nation. His dreams don’t hurt the nation and so far Guyanese travelers have not been scammed. He has not robbed any Guyanese of their fares.

And their travel has been assured by the new CEO Rosa Rasul and the staff out of Queens. So this sharp criticism of Ramdeo from Lowe is uncalled for. What is the objective of the criticism and how will it help to increase flights to Guyana, lower fares and provide better service? Now is a time to encourage management to stay in the air so Guyanese can continue to benefit from the competition in air travel.

I don’t know the reason for cancellation of flights as identified by Lowe and I cannot comment on their accuracy. But I do notice the

dates Lowe identifies are not peak times for the carrier. And passengers can be accommodated on other dates. Also, the airline has been using different carriers for its charters and has been known to rearrange use of the aircraft to Trinidad and for flights from Florida and Toronto. I don’t know if that is a reason for cancellation of dates.

The airline management would be in a better position to address that issue and to give further assurance of its commitment to the Guyana market. I and many Guyanese with whom I have spoken have retained our faith in EZ Jet from the time it was initiated and I hope that it is transformed into a scheduled service. EZ Jet management is encouraged to continue its service. The public is behind you.

Guyana needs this carrier to increase passenger arrivals. It is estimated that every arrival in Guyana injects some US$1,500 into the economy in addition to airport taxes, landing fees, and ticket sales. EZ Jet adds immensely to the GDP of the country with its connections to the main Diaspora centres (NY, Toronto, Florida, Trinidad, etc.) and as such we all stand to lose if it goes under for the other airlines will gouge Guyanese thus making travel unaffordable for many.

Vishnu Bisram

Thursday November 01, 2012

Kaieteur News

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

AN OPEN LETTER TO ALL POLITICAL PARTIES IN GUYANA DEAR EDITOR, The African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA) calls on all Political Parties to breathe ‘the spirit of life and hope” into the daily lives of all Guyanese.

Prior to the last elections,Guyana, a land of tremendous wealth and promise, was at a crossroads.

Our fledgling Democracy was very fragile. Our People were suffering in many ways. Some in silence.Some without voice.Joblessness was on the rise with UG and High School graduates seeking opportunities without success.

Organized crime in both the Private sector (drugs) and Government (corruption) was on the rise. Poverty was being hidden by over US$400 million of annual remittances.

Huge building that made no economic sense in a small market as Guyana, were being built without caution. Moral values were at an all-time low and this manifested itself during the elections campaign. The racial divide was being further stimulated as an election strategy for victory. The rule of Law was being ignored.

The results of the last elections brought the prospect of better governance with a balance of power between the Executive and Parliament. This was seen as the beginning of good and inclusive governance leading to a peaceful and more vibrant Guyana. It was hoped by many, that as Guyana approached its 50 th anniversary of Independence in 2016, politicians would seek to work together tomeet Guyana’s many global and domestic challenges through a common nation building vision, shared values, shared

goals, and partnerships nurtured by visionary servant leadership.

Elections held the hope of change: of justice, progress and peace.

Today, Guyana is worse off. Our People feel uncertain about the future. Our Politics have become zero sum game at its worst. The political gimmicks on TV, in Parliament and in general have turned most Guyanese off. Most young people are just waiting for the next chance to say NO to this ‘politics of fear and division”. They realize political power is about economic power for the few, regardless of Party. This is the view now commonly expressed.

The unwarranted extrajudicial killings at Linden were an eye-opener especially given the advanced notice of the protest and the fact that commonsense clearly suggested the best action was to wait it out.

The again unwarranted extrajudicial murders at Agricola further showed the daily degradation of the Rule of Law. The assassination of Ricardo Rodrigues in broad daylight within an 800-yard radius of nine schools halfan-hour before these schools would have been let out, clearly reminded all parents and law abiding citizens that Guyana is a very dangerous place for our children and ourselves.

The last nine months since elections has gestated an ugly unstable politically destructive , racially divisive Guyana in which any incident can lead us down the slippery slope of serious violence in which an uneducated, untrained, often times psychologically deficient Police Force has orders to kill

DEAR EDITOR, I listened thoughtfully to the interventions of Mr. KD Knight, Commissioner on the Linden Commission of Inquiry, as Attorney at law Mr. Nigel Hughes, counsel for the Linden shooting victims as well as Mr. Basil Williams, counsel for the APNU, as they crossexamined Minister of Home Affairs and National Security Minister, Clement Rohee.

The temperament and content of Mr. Knight’s interventions suggest to me that he in fact abrogated, if not misplaced, his role as a “Commissioner” and “finder of fact” for that of counsel for Mr. Rohee.

I’m led to believe that Commissioner Knight’s previous familiarity with Mr.

Rohee may motivate him to demonstrate an measure of loyalty to his alleged friend.

But Mr. Knight’s partiality, as well as Commissioner Wolfe’s bizarre rulings, seems to be putting the integrity of the Linden Commission of Inquiry in jeopardy.

Sadly, I must here and now declare that based on the manner in which the inquiry is being conducted, I have lost confidence in the Commission’s ability to be a finder of fact and get to the bottom of what happened in Linden. I now seriously question whether justice will be served!

Rickford Burke President Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID)

A failing of the Linden Commission

without reason.

Throughout this time, ACDA has been providing economic assistance to those who have asked and have kept relatively silent on political issues.

ACDA believes Guyana will only become worse as there is no sight of political compromise, Parliamentary goodwill or concern for the public good.

Justice is the key to peace.

Linden and Agricola cry out for justice.

Racial entrepreneurs within the political parties will lead to

racial violence and a more dangerous society. All will suffer and those politicians, who believe that they cannot be harmed, are living in the past. When people take up cutlasses against guns, then fear has been transformed into an unpredictable and unreasonable climate reminiscent of Martin Carter’s poem “This is the dark time, my love”.

Today in Guyana many sacred pledges are being broken. The police have broken their pledge to ‘serve and protect”.

Our politicians have broken their constitutional pledge to “serve the People of Guyana”.

Guyana desperately needs political stability and economic growth. Without these two basic elements, Guyana will not have the best opportunity for racial harmony, nation building (health, education, housing, social cohesion, gender equality) or of having the best strategic international relationships so necessary for Guyana’s optimum integration into the global

economy.

A Government’s highest responsibility is the physical, economic, psychological, security and spiritual wellbeing of its citizens and this is enshrined and guaranteed in its Constitution.

As we reflect over the past 50 years, it is clear the Westminster system of governance has failed us. The main enemies of such initiative are the cult of personality, misguided loyalty to party “high command”, sycophancy Continued on page 6

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Kaieteur News

Thursday November 01, 2012

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

M. Maxwell’s response to Carl Greenidge AN OPEN LETTER TO ALL ...

DEAR EDITOR, It came to my attention just yesterday, October 29, 2012, that Carl Greenidge wrote a letter titled “I never sought or took advice from Ms. Teixeira” (KN, October 28, 2012) in which he asked for my retraction of assertions made in my letter of June 8, 2012.

I did not send a letter to Kaieteur News on June 8, 2012 nor has Kaieteur News published a letter by me on June 8, 2012. I do not know where Mr. Greenidge is

getting this information from as I have looked in the actual Kaieteur News newspaper of June 8, 2012 and could not find a letter written by me.

To make this June 8, 2012 date more absurd, the information from the newspapers publicly available online indicate the PAC meeting in issue occurred on June 25, 2012. I have be a fortune teller to have written a letter some 17 days before the event occurred.

The only letter Kaieteur News published on my behalf

on the PAC matter was dated June 28, 2012 titled “The PAC disaster confirms the PPP, APNU and AFC are unfit to deliver quality governance to Guyana.”

In that letter Carl Greenidge was not named nor was any reference made to Carl Greenidge.

I condemned all the parties (PPP, PNC/APNU and the AFC) on the PAC issue in that letter.

I have asked Kaieteur News to provide me with a copy of that letter from Carl Greenidge’s lawyer as I need to see what is being alleged

by Mr. Greenidge in relation to a non-existent June 8, 2012 letter I supposedly wrote.

I never made any public assertions in Kaieteur News against Carl Greenidge on this

PAC matter. Unlike Freddie Kissoon, I never mentioned Greenidge’s name in my letter relating to the PAC issue nor was my letter specific to or directed to Carl Greenidge.

I made several assertions against the PPP, PNC/APNU and the AFC in that letter and I unequivocally defend my right as a citizen of this country to criticize all of those parties which publicly seek office and power from the people of Guyana.

I will be happy to retract any assertions I have made where they infringe upon free speech limits and I would even happier to withdraw any assertions I have wrongfully made against Carl Greenidge if he could point me to where I have done so.

M. Maxwell

DEAR EDITOR, I am forced to make another observation about the seemingly selective reporting of your newspaper’s sports section.

Why is it that the other newspapers are giving us objective coverage of football issues and Kaieteur News

chooses to leave us “hanging”?

Is it because the GFF president is in your employ? As I indicated to you earlier, this manner of operating leaves much to be desired among your faithful readers.

Shawn Collins

A lot to be desired

From page 6 which abounds in the capital.

The country needs Rebirth and Renewal.The We s t m i n s t e r m o d e l h a s helped to divide Guyana along racial and economic lines. As a multi-racial, multi-religious country, social harmony must be a principle that governs our religious teachings.

Much of the political zero sum game has been the relentless effort to show shared governance does not work.

This is the ulterior motive behind all the political machinations. Yet, the last 47 years have conclusively proved the current system does not work.

It is time for Executive leadership to halt this political masquerade.

Shared governance will allow all Guyanese to live far better lives, with better jobs, better education, a better GWI a better GPL ,

with far less poverty and with much more hope.

ACDA calls on all politicians to remember that Democracy is about “the People” and not about them.

We are not interested in the 28 years of the PNC or the 20 years of the PPP. Those who want to live in the past cannot lead us into the future.

It is time to end racism.

It is time to end extrajudicial murders. It is time to find effective solutions against poverty. It is time to end our indifference to Amerindians, Youth and the helpless.

Guyana needs a new vision based on servant leadership, economic vibrancy and the primacy of human rights. Guyana needs visionary experienced leadership that can forge a “we are one” conversation about our mutual development and national unity.

ACDA

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Thursday November 01, 2012

Kaieteur News

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Kaieteur News

Thursday November 01, 2012

Guyana, China sign US$130M CJIA expansion deal - Construction to start in first quarter of 2013

A major project to modernize the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) has moved one step nearer to reality with the signing of a critical US$130M deal between the Guyana and Chinese government yesterday.

Construction is expected to begin by the first quarter next year with over 60 per cent of the workforce to be locals, Government officials said at the Office of the President yesterday.

The US$130M framework agreement will pave the way for China’s ExIm bank to start releasing the monies. A number of other agreements with the contractor, China Harbour Engineering Corporation (CHEC) and the bank are expected to be signed shortly.

According to Transport Minister, Robeson Benn, persons living in the immediate environs of the Timehri airport will be relocated within the next six months. Airports officials say that over 300 homes will be affected along with 800-plus persons.

The project is the second

most costly infrastructure one for Guyana after the Skeldon modernization.

Government is expected to plug more than $20M in the project which will include an entirely new terminal building, passenger bridges, more check-in spaces, larger apron and runway and improved security.

According to Benn, the project will prepare Guyana for a new future over the next 50 years, not only impacting the tourism possibilities of Guyana and reducing the restrictions in terms of national development.

Outgoing Chinese Ambassador, Yu Wenzhe, who yesterday performed his final public duty, hours before ending his tenure in Guyana, signaled more Chinese help for Guyana and noted that more benefits are coming.

Minister of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, who signed on behalf of the Guyana Government, noted that the CJIA modernization project is one of the many “ p h e n o m e n a l ” transformation by the PPP/C government with roads, schools and hospital being

CJIA expansion deal: From left (seated) is Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, President Donald Ramotar, Transport Minister, Robeson Benn, and outgoing Chinese Ambassador, Yu Wenzhe. build.

When completed, the new airport will be comparable to the best in the world, he said.

The Timehri area will boast new shops,

restaurants and other ancillary services that will create new jobs, he disclosed.

But it will also come with the modernization of the entire East Bank Demerara corridor with current works ongoing to widen the four-lane highway and other works in

Timehri.

President Ramotar noted that Guyana and China have shared a long history with his party managing to rebuild the “ b r o k e n - d o w n ” infrastructure that the PPP/C inherited when it took office in 1992.

Town Day “bully” charged with attempted murder Twenty-four year-old Anthony Pydanna, called ‘Ricardo’ of Angoy’s Avenue, a labourer at a lumber yard, was yesterday charged with attempted murder. He allegedly attempted to kill Yuwyn Ramalho last Saturday, October 27.

The man appeared before Magistrate Adela Nagamootoo at the New Amsterdam Magistrate’s Court and was placed on $300,000 bail.

The case for the prosecution as presented by Corporal Orin Joseph was that Ramalho and the accused knew each other, but are not friends. He stated that on October 27, last, around 23:00 hrs during the ‘Town Day’ celebrations, Ramalho was

drinking with some friends on Matthew Allen Road, New Amsterdam.

He had just bought some Guinness for his friends when the accused came up and asked him to buy a Guinness for him. Ramalho refused, causing Pydanna to get upset.

The accused reportedly took a Guinness bottle broke it and stabbed Ramalho over his eye.

The man collapsed and was picked up and rushed to the New Amsterdam hospital where he remained warded.

Pydanna was subsequently pounced upon and given a severe beating before being handed over to the police. He will have to return to court on Monday, December 10.

The CJIA and the Amaila Falls hydro projects have all justified the government’s commitment for the development of Guyana, he said, pointing out that China’s help is especially significant as that country has grown to become the second largest economy in the world.

Responding to questions yesterday, Minister Benn insisted that the feasibility and other critical environmental studies have all been done. Questioned whether a 2002 study used as a basis to justify the project was applicable, the official insisted that it was as the “basic parameters are still valid”.

The project is expected to draw down in significant materials like sand and cement.

According to Benn, a combination of using local sandpit operators and sourcing from a governmentcontrolled facility will be tapped.

In the case of cement, stakeholders will be engaged and there is not likely to be a shortfall since larger volumes will be imported.

Guyana learnt of the project last year after CHEC’s regional office in Jamaica reportedly issued a statement of the deal without permission from the Guyana government.

CHEC has also come under fire after being linked to a number of reports of corruption.

But Government earlier this year cleared the Chinese state-owned firm saying that it did not find sufficient evidence to justify pulling the project from that contractor.

Thursday November 01, 2012

Kaieteur News

Page 9

NO ONE CAN FEEL SAFE WHEN HIGH-POWERED WEAPONS ARE IN THE WRONG HANDS There were two executions involving the use of guns over the past two weeks. Regardless of the background of these individuals, the police have an obligation to vigorously pursue those who were responsible for their deaths.

No longer is the public simply going to be impressed by the fact that wanted bulletins have been issued in relation to one of these deaths.

These bulletins merely indicate that the police are seeking persons who they feel may help them in solving the case; it does not assume or presume guilt or even suspicion.

The public has also become wary of these wanted bulletins. In the past, whenever there have been deaths involving persons suspected to have been involved in certain activities, these wanted bulletins were issued. But those on the wanted bulletins were hardly ever charged for anything, leading to the feeling that when it comes to certain cases, these wanted bulletins are excursions into speculation.

What is troubling, however, is the apparent lack of public concern over these violent deaths which have taken place at the hands of gunmen who, in both cases, used highpowered weapons.

Any police force should

be concerned that there may be private armies out there with this sort of weaponry. They ought to be worried that there are individuals with this sort of firepower out there.

The entire nation needs to be worried and demand action from the police.

This, however, is not likely to happen, and for some strange reasons.

The opposition parties have not yet seen it fit to issue any statement of concern over the inability of the Guyana Police Force to solve some of these crimes. And the public has developed an apathetic attitude towards the deaths of persons whom they suspect were involved in certain activities.

The approach of the public is simply to not be bothered because of their impressions of the persons who were killed or involved.

They see some of these killings as being related to illicit activities and therefore the victims are seen as being unworthy of sympathy.

But even if one could have accepted this proposition - which is really inconsistent with human rights - the public must recognize the dangers that are posed when we have persons with heavy weapons out there, and when those in possession of these weapons are willing to use them against their opponents.

Until such time as the

Dem boys seh...

Everybody full of water De police in trouble already before de Linden Commission but some of dem can’t learn. De Chief Justice dress like an ordinary man and walk in de Police station because somebody try fuh kidnap he friend. In de station he sit down by a desk.

Up come a constable and put he foot in he mouth and de force in trouble. He look at de Chief Justice and he seh, “Hey Chinee man, get up. That is me seat.” De whole station get quiet and de constable still ain’t understand.

When de Chief Justice get up he barely see a policeman pulling de constable one side and trying fuh whisper but de constable feel big and he pull he self away. But when one of he colleagues holler “Is de Chief Justice that” de constable like he get a stroke. He couldn’t move.

De next thing everybody see is some water deh by de constable

foot. And nobody didn’t’ drink water.

De same thing happen when Uncle Donald call de Auditor General. Is only de other day de man hand in he report and now he get a call from Ohh Pee. Water lodge by he foot too.

Is then Uncle Donald tell he that he get confirm in de wuk. Dem boys couldn’t believe it when dem see more water by de man foot.

He ain’t de only one. A teacher in a school near wheh Trini get shoot do de same thing. She was teaching when de gunshots go off. De boys had to ask if everybody drink excess water. One lady who tun up at de scene faint. She didn’t get time fuh water lodge by she foot.

And people always complain how dem can’t drink water in Guyana.

Ta l k h a l f a n d w a t c h people produce water like rain.

Guyana Police Force does more than simply issue wanted bulletins; until such time that these executionstyle killings are solved and those responsible are brought to justice, the safety and security of this country and all its citizens will be threatened.

Those who have access to these weapons can very well deploy them against innocent persons.

They can use these weapons to commit other crimes and they can intimidate others simply because they have such a powerful arsenal

at their disposal.

The fact that there may be persons out there with powerful weapons which the police have not yet intercepted can result in these weapons being used in hired killings to settle disputes, and this places the entire country at risk.

From the perspective of the security forces, the fact that there are persons out there with such powerful weapons represents a failure of intelligence gathering. But do not expect the opposition parties to call for anyone

in the security services to be held accountable. In so far as the opposition of this country is concerned, accountability is reserved for ministers and other senior political figures.

The opposition has not, despite all their condemnation of police action, made one call for anyone in the security services to resign or be retired. But they want those who are distant from police operations to be held accountable.

This is the double standard that the bankrupt opposition in this country

practices and why they should not be taken seriously.

The people of Guyana must demand justice for those who were executed recently because in demanding justice, the people would be safeguarding their own future.

So long as there are persons out there with high calibre weapons, no citizen can feel safe.

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Kaieteur News

Thursday November 01, 2012

=== THE FREDDIE KISSOON COLUMN ===

I will present my evidence this afternoon at my libel trial Mr. Jagdeo’s libel case against me continues today at 13.30 hours in Judge Brassington Reynolds’ court.

At this session, I will discuss the contents of my research paper titled; “Ethnic Power and Ideological Racism: Examining Presidencies in Guyana.”

I have waited for this moment since Mr. Jagdeo filed his affidavit. In response to a question about the libel, Mr. Jagdeo told reporters last year that he eagerly awaits his day in court.

The press asked me to respond to that and I replied I am waiting for my days. Note the plural.

I took the stand on Monday for a brief period.

And today my testimony

resumes. Mr. Jagdeo never showed up.

One had to feel sorry for him. My three lawyers were the last persons Mr. Jagdeo wanted to see in this entire world.

I opine that Mr. Jagdeo would have preferred to fight ten lions, ten tigers and ten elephants than face my three lawyers. One is an attorney that Mr. Jagdeo as President personally attacked at a PPP election rally last year, and among the things in the antiHughes tirade was the boast that while there is a Jagdeo or a Ramotar presidency, Mr. Nigel Hughes would never be promoted to senior counsel.

The other is Khemraj Ramjattan whom Mr. Jagdeo caused to be expelled from the

PPP. The other is Christopher Ram who Mr. Jagdeo was afraid of meeting in a headon clash.

The country was robbed of an opportunity to see Mr. Jagdeo perform on the stand by none other than Mr. Jagdeo himself. He chose not to come.

Would he have done better than Roger Luncheon?

Would he have had a terrible inability to remember things as Luncheon did?

I will never ever forget how pathetic powerful people can be reduced to ordinary folks when they are in court.

Luncheon was not on his throne but in court facing the formidable Nigel Hughes, and what a mismatch it was.

The almighty Luncheon’s only defence was that his memory failed him. But the libel trial has put Luncheon in the history books.

He made a statement that was subsequently printed for the world to read. He said that no African Guyanese was qualified for foreign

ambassadorial posting.

I was in court (attended every session) and as someone trained in history and who wrote a thesis on the post-emancipation life of freed slaves, I could have heard the African ancestors talking to me as Luncheon uttered those words.

Charlene Wilkinson, a UG lecturer recently said, after listening to a lecture by visiting American archeologist, Professor Browder, we must invoke our ancestors and they will respond.

I want to invoke the ancestors of those who fought the slave masters of the plantations to ask them how they feel about Luncheon’s revelation.

As for me, I will have to face Jagdeo’s lawyers. Unlike Mr. Jagdeo, I am not afraid of any lawyer in this country when I am on the witness stand.

This is not chauvinistic boasting. It is confidence in one’s self. I spent two years

researching African marginalization in my country and the result is a body of work that has factual and evidential integrity.

I will present my research this afternoon. I will defend what I researched. I will defend my conclusions. They are based on solid facts.

I will not live in Guyana and remain silent when innocent Guyanese who were born into this country and who love it and choose to stay here, face prejudice because of their race. We did not make ourselves into Chinese, African and East Indian.

We had no say in the type of genes that reside in us, and therefore no one should be biased against another because of his/her ethnic make-up.

My political history is rich, replete with human rights activism and full of countless examples where I spoke up against injustice against East Indian people under the rule of President Forbes Burnham.

Frederick Kissoon I saw injustice and racial discrimination against African Guyanese since the PPP came to power in 1992.

My heart, mind, conscience and soul prevent me from being silent. I used my skills as an academic to investigate what I saw, and that was African marginalization. I would like to remind readers that three sisters and one brother of mine married African Guyanese and gave birth to children that are half-African Guyanese, with one being half- African Barbadian.

The African race is very much present in my relatives, so I have every reason to want to protest discrimination against African Guyanese, as I protested discrimination against Guyanese East Indians when I was younger.

Thursday November 01, 2012

Kaieteur News

Linden Commission of Inquiry…

By Latoya Giles Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee yesterday said that he did not specifically warn the Police to refrain from using deadly force against protestors in Linden.

Called to testify before the Linden Commission of Inquiry looking into the death of three Lindeners on July 18, last, Rohee claimed that he only gave general instructions to the Police to maintain law and order.

The Minister said his very general instructions were given, despite the fact the government was concerned and anxious about what could happen as a result of a planned five-day protest. In fact, Rohee acknowledged reports that persons were encouraging a shutdown of the mining town.

However, Rohee said that he did not have “visions” of the town shutting down.

“I am not a visionary,” Rohee responded when questioned.

He vehemently denied that he was responsible for the Linden shooting, saying he has been made out to be the “villain” by persons who have a political agenda against him.

Attorney Basil Williams reminded Rohee that in the post-election protests, during which Police fired into the backs of protestors associated with opposition coalition APNU, he, Rohee, had suggested that such action should not happen again, and that it was unlawful to use deadly force.

However, Rohee said that in discussions with the hierarchy of the Police, ahead of the Linden protests, he did not give any specific instructions that what happened with the APNU supporters would not be repeated.

Further, the Minister said that he did not consider it a dereliction of his duty not to have given any specific instructions to the Police to refrain from using deadly force.

In responding to questions from attorney Nigel Hughes, Rohee said that in his meeting with the Police hierarchy, a day before the deadly Linden protests, there was no discussion about deadly force.

Rohee said that the Police Commissioner Leroy Brumell and other senior Police officers briefed him about likely scenarios that could result as a result of the planned five-day protest, but that there was no discussion about what action the Police were to take should those scenarios materialize.

The Minister said that

Page 11

Rohee “did not warn Police against using deadly force”

there was no discussion about the use of the water cannon, rubber bullets, or riot shields.

Rohee at first said that he did not recall that he made specific enquiries about the possibility of a serious confrontation between Police and protestors. But then he was shown a video of an interview he gave the day after the deadly protests in which he said that he asked the senior members of the Police Force about “possibilities for any serious confrontation” and they gave assurances that live rounds were not going to be used in deterring the protestors.

Pressed further, Rohee said that one of the scenarios discussed was that the bridge could have been blocked.

However, he said that the issue of how the Police would act to clear the bridge was not talked about.

The Minister said that he had several conversations with Senior Superintendent Clifton Hicken on July 18, since he was not getting on to the Commissioner of Police.

However, Rohee said that it was only at 21:00h, when he received a phone call from a member of the community policing group, that he was told people were injured.

He said that he never asked the Commissioner of Police about who authorized the use of deadly force.

Minister Rohee said he was presented with an interim report a few days after July 18, but he said he has not looked at the report since then and could not remember if it states who gave the authorization for the Police to open fire.

Rohee said that he did not conclude that the protests at Linden were the biggest security situation in the country, and he did not believe that he should have an input in big operational matters.

The Minister said that he met with the Commissioner of Police Leroy Brumell, Deputy Commissioner Seelall Persaud and then Commander of E&F Division (within which Linden falls) Clifton Hicken, on July 17.

He said that he was briefed by the Commissioner who told him about the developments in Linden and that he had taken a decision to dispatch a TSU unit to the mining Town.

Attorney for the Commission, Ganesh Hira, questioned Rohee about whether he gave any directions to the officers.

Rohee said he told Brumell to ensure that order was maintained.

He was then asked if he

was communicating with the Top Cop on July 18, and Rohee answered in the affirmative, adding that it was via telephone. According to the Minister, he had called the Commissioner, since he was in receipt of information that the situation at Linden had changed and people had been killed.

The Minister recalled that the call was made some time between 20:00hrs and 21:00hrs on July 18.

He was asked if the Commissioner informed him that persons were shot, and according to Rohee, the commissioner was not in the position to make that pronouncement.

The Minister was asked if he had briefed anyone about the incident at Linden. Rohee said that he later met with the President Donald Ramotar, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, and Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon, along with some members of the Cabinet. He was asked if the information he presented to these were sufficient enough. Rohee said that he provided them with the information he had.

According to the Minister, there were a lot of requests by government officials concerning what was happening in Linden, so he kept calling the police commissioner to get information but he could not get through to him.

After he was not getting through to the Top Cop, Rohee said that he was left with no other option than to contact Hicken, which was

Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee

some time after 20:00hrs on July 18.

“I wanted to know what was happening and I wasn’t getting through to the commissioner so I had to call the commander,” Rohee told the commission.

MEETINGAT OP ON JULY 19 On July 19, the Minister said that he attended a meeting at the Office of the President, with several Government officials and members of the opposition including, David Granger MP, Khemraj Ramjattan MP; Raphael Trotman, Speaker of the National Assembly and Nigel Hughes. According to Rohee at the meeting there was a request by the

opposition to have Hicken removed from his post as Divisional Commander.

Hira questioned Rohee on whether he held a consultation with the Top Cop after that meeting with the officials and he said yes.

Rohee told the Commission that it was decided that Hicken will be reposted to the Force’s headquarters and his replacement would be Gavin Primo.

Commissioner Dana Seethal in questioning the witness inquired about a phone call Rohee said he made to Hicken sometime after 20:00hrs on July 18. He was asked to elaborate more.

According to Rohee, the Commander gave him a

general description and the information was a bit sketchy.

The Minister said that Commander Hicken tried his best to provide him with the information, irrespective of what the crowd at Linden was doing. The Minister said that he was informed that all of the Standard Operating Procedures were followed.

Rohee was asked about training ranks received, and according to the witness training in the Guyana Police Force is ongoing. It was ASP Alves who told the Commission that the force would normally do refresher training every six months.

Attorney-at-Law Nigel Hughes, in his crossexamination grilled the Minister over his telephone conversations with Hicken as well as Crime Chief Seelall Persaud.

The Minister said that some time about 20:00 h on the night of the fatal shooting he called Commissioner of Police Leroy Brumell for a briefing. Hughes kept grilling the Minister about several calls the Minister made. The records for one of the mobile phones used by the Minister, as well as his office’s landline were presented.

The records showed that the telephone which Rohee said he used only had a ‘one’ second conversation with Brumell. However Hughes suggested to the Minister that a person could not have a conversation with just one second, since you could not even say “hello” properly.

According to the records (continued on page 21)

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Kaieteur News

Thursday November 01, 2012

Ricardo Rodrigues associate gunned ...

From page 3 had visited a friend in Laluni Street and was reversing out of the driveway when he was attacked. She said that she received a telephone call informing her about the incident but when she arrived at the scene, Osborne had already been taken to the hospital.

The shooting of her reputed husband was compounded by a burglary on the home they shared at South Ruimveldt, at almost the same time, yesterday.

The woman said that about 14:00 hours she received a telephone call informing her that three men had entered her house, which she had earlier secured.

From all indications, the men were aware that a spare key was in the house, for they used a piece of tree limb to get to it and used it to open the door.

The men carted off jewellery, expensive wristwatches and other valuables.

“They made a mess of the house,” Butcher said.

However, freedom for two of the perpetrators was short lived, as they were captured a short while later and are assisting investigators.

“They say that a Rastaman from 'C' Field, Sophia, sent them,” Butcher

told this newspaper.

She could not say if the two incidents are connected, but she hopes that they are.

“How did they know to break in at that time of the day when we would not be around? I hope it is linked (to the killing). At least we will know who did it (execution),” she said.

Butcher told this newspaper that Osborne had not expressed any fear for his life, since the death of his associate, Ricardo Rodrigues.

“He was affected by it, yes, because he did not know who did it, but he never expressed fear,” the woman said. Osborne was only released from police custody on Monday after being held for questioning into Rodrigues' death.

He was no stranger to the police, having been arrested in 2004, along with two other men, with a quantity of arms and ammunition in Buxton, East Coast Demerara.

Meanwhile, several bullets from the assault shattered windows and penetrated walls of the nearby private school, Josel Educational Institute, two buildings away, traumatizing students and teachers.

The institution's headmaster, Will Campbell, told Kaieteur

Osborne’s bullet-riddled car News that they were having a staff meeting when the sound of gunshots shattered the relative silence of the area.

He explained that since they did not know where the shots were coming from, they quickly evacuated the children from the ground floor to the second flat where they were made to lie on the ground.

“We waited it out and

when we felt that it was clear, we came downstairs. We had the children reassemble to ensure that everybody was okay…of course it sounded like an eternity, but I figure it was just few seconds,” Campbell explained.

At least two bullets were found in the school but the headmaster assured that no one in the school was seriously hurt.

“The children were screaming; a lot of them are traumatized. There were some flying debris that struck one of the students, but the skin hasn't been broken,” Campbell said.

Investigators are still to come up with a motive for Osborne's execution, although they are certain that it is connected with that of Ricardo Rodrigues.

Rodrigues had 15 bullets pumped into him as he sat outside the Pit Stop Restaurant and Bar inside the compound of the Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club on Albert Street.

Another man, Canadian Jean Le Blanc, who was also shot during that attack, died mysteriously a few days ago while recovering at the Georgetown Hospital.

Thursday November 01, 2012

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Kaieteur News

Sharma confirmed as Auditor General - AFC slams “suspicious” after seven-year wait confirmation More than seven years after continuously performing the functions of the Auditor General, Deodat Sharma was yesterday confirmed to that key post by government during a surprise swearing-in ceremony.

Sharma's confirmation was later described by Opposition party, Alliance For Change, as “suspicious”.

Following the swearingi n c e r e m o n y, S h a r m a asserted that he is qualified for the job and that his work is of quality.

The Office of Auditor General is a critical, independent one responsible for the auditing government ministries, agencies and regional accounts.

Media personnel who arrived yesterday for the weekly post-Cabinet briefing at the Office of the President were at that time informed of the swearing-in ceremony. It comes amidst criticism from former Auditor General, Anand Goolsarran and accountant/columnist Christopher Ram, of the quality of work from the Audit Office.

The opposition has long called on government to address the issue, as Sharma's credibility and independence were being called into question with the failure to confirm him.

According to President Donald Ramotar, Sharma has proven that he could

President Donald Ramotar hands over the instrument of commission to the Auditor General function without fear and favour.

The Head of State expressed the hope that the Audit Office would continue on its path of oversight with the public accounts continuing to improve and get better.

Sharma expressed gratitude to his staffers who over the past three years helped to deliver the Audit General reports on time. “I am happy that government has had the confidence in the Audit Office and as some Ministers say, they use the Auditor General's Report as a management tool, and that

is the way forward we should go.”

Questioned yesterday about the seven-year wait for his confirmation, the new Auditor General could not i m m e d i a t e l y s a y, b u t indicated that his appointment had to be made by the President and on the recommendations of the Public Service Commission.

Regarding his qualifications for the job which had been questioned, Sharma said that there is nothing in the laws and Audit Act that talk about specification of qualifications for the

Auditor General. He did disclose that he has a degree and diploma in accounting and has completed several courses. “…so I have the qualifications and other

supporting courses I have done. I am the only one, also, who has produced a Value For Money audit….two of them.”

Over the weekend, both the former Auditor General and Ram criticized the Auditor General's Report of 2011, which was released l a s t w e e k t o Parliamentarians and the media. According to Goolsarran, a quality and comprehensive audit report should not be compromised in order for that report to be delivered within its stipulated deadline.

He said, among other things, that the Auditor General defaulted on his promise to examine the laws to see whether NICIL, a state company which manages public assets, breached the laws.

Responding to the comments of Ram and Goolsarran, the Auditor General was clear. “I don't like to engage in too much criticisms. I think the works speak for itself…I don't get into argument over those.”

He then directed a comment to Goolsarran.

“Maybe you can check his 2003 (Auditor General) report. There is hardly any physical inspection compared to mine.”

Yesterday, AFC Leader, Khemraj Ramjattan, during his party's weekly press briefing, said that appointment was highly suspicious.

“We in the Alliance For Change feel that this ought not to be the procedure for getting the Auditor General, Mr. Sharma, approved and sworn in.”

According to Ramjattan, the appointment could effectively allow Sharma, 54, to serve another 11 years or so before retiring and the suspicious circumstances, especially in light of the significance of the work of the Audit Office, do not bode well.

Sharma's family and Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, were among those at the Office of President yesterday for the swearingin ceremony.

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Kaieteur News

Thursday November 01, 2012

Linden Commission of Inquiry ...

Police Constable disowns his nickname

By Latoya Giles Police Constable Mark Cameron, one of the witnesses called yesterday, as the Linden Commission Inquiry continued, was the only officer who remembers that there was a blackout at 22:00hrs on July 18, when other witnesses said it was earlier.

Cameron is also the only officer who said that the Wismar/Mackenzie Bridge was cleared at around 17:00hrs on July 18, after

teargas was dispersed at the crowd.

Cameron responding to questions from Euclin Gomes, said that on the day in question he was the driver of one of the vehicles. He said that he was stationed at the Mackenzie Police Station attached to the crime unit and participated in the operations relating to the unrest at Linden. He was not armed with any weapon that day.

The witness said that on

July 18, he left the Mackenzie station around 14:00hrs.

He said he was accompanied by nine other officers in the vehicle and it w a s S t a t i o n S e rg e a n t English who was in charge.

Cameron said that he arrived at the scene but did not cross the bridge.

He told the commission that he was between the two line formations with the ranks from the riot and TSU units. He said those units

were formed by Asst. Supt Patrick Todd. Cameron said that he was on the eastern side of the bridge.

The witness said it was Assistant Superintendent Todd who later told him to go back to the force vehicle and remain there, and he complied. Cameron said that he heard ASP Todd use the loudhailer warning the crowd to remove from the bridge and go back to their homes.

According to Cameron

the crowd did not heed the officer's warning and began to throw “brown and green” bottles towards the ranks, but none hit them.

He said that was about 16:00hrs. Cameron insisted that he was at the back of the vehicle which was about 100 feet away.

Asked whether he knew the weapons some of the ranks took to the bridge. Cameron said that some had the CP Rifles and shotguns. The witness further told the commission that he maintained his position after the tear smoke was being thrown.

According to Cameron the crowd “later removed and they returned to the station”. The witness was then asked by the lawyer whether he handed anything back when he arrived at the station. Cameron said that he handed over to English two hand tear smoke canisters which were issued to him by the same English.

Commissioner Dana Seethal asked Cameron if he lived in Linden.

According to the witness he lived in the mining town for some 26 years. She then inquired if his nickname was “Cammy” and he denied.

She then asked if he had heard anyone on July 18 say to him “Cammy you shooting down ya own people…ya shooting down black people”, the witness said he could not recall. He was then asked if there was any other officer present by the name of Cameron. The witness said no.

The witness was then asked if he knew anyone who had the nickname “Cammy” and he again said no.

Commissioner Seethal then inquired from Cameron whether “tear gas” was being armed, and he said no. Cameron was then asked if he heard any shots. According to the witness he heard three explosions on the western side of the bridge.

Commissioner KD Knights also grilled the witness about several aspects of his testimony.

Commissioner Knights sought to establish from the witness the purpose for his being given two tear smoke canisters. According to Cameron it was for the crowd dispersal.

He was then asked whether the tear gas canisters were capable of

being discharged without a gun, and he said no. But in the same breath he told the commissioner that the two tear gas canisters were “hand canisters”.

Cameron admitted to Commissioner Knight that he kept his distance for the entire day. The witness was then asked if he saw anyone with weapons besides the police and he said no.

He was then asked if he saw injured persons being moved away from the scene, and he responded in the affirmative.

He said that it was around 17:00hrs when he saw several persons being moved. Commissioner Knights then asked Cameron if he would be surprised to hear that he was the only witness who said that the bridge was cleared after tear gas was thrown.

He said that he would not be surprised. He was then asked if he had made an error since he would be surprised that he alone said so, but Cameron said that he was not mistaken and that he did not make an error.

Attorney at law Nigel Hughes in cross examining the witness first asked whether he was placed on close arrest. Cameron denied this claim.

He was then asked if he was briefed by Commander Hicken and he said that was about 14:00hrs on July 18 and it lasted for about five minutes.

He was asked if he remembered what Hicken told him. Cameron said that it was relation to duties at the bridge.

He was then asked by Hughes, whether the commander had given him a “mission”. The man denied this claim. The witness said that he could not remember what were the duties given to him by Hicken but that he remembered the duties which were given to him by ASP Todd.

Hughes then asked if they were different from Hicken and he said yes. The lawyer then asked Cameron in what regard were they different.

The witness had a five m i n u t e p a u s e .

Commissioner Justice Wolfe asked, “Mr. Cameron are you going to answer …you appear to not be here”.

Cameron said that Todd “told me to stand there, but I can't remember what Hicken said.”

Thursday November 01, 2012

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Kaieteur News

Brother Mack turns 101

G

l a d s t o n e Augustus Mack, of Sophia, is now 101 years old. A soft spoken gentleman he seems to be. A smiling man who is very content with what life has offered and will continue to offer.

He was born on October 3 1 , 1 9 11 i n A u r o r a , Essequibo Coast, where he lived until 1925. Mack said that he tried very hard to

pattern himself after his father, a man whom he claims to have adored, and the man whose death made him an orphan at age 14. His mother had died when he was just two years old.

After the passing of his father, Mack was then left in the care of his stepmother, a woman whom he was not very fond of. Thus, he eventually moved out and away to Georgetown.

But at age 28, Mack left the capital city to return to his hometown in Aurora where he courted a neighbour whom he grew up with.

He fell deeply in love and ended up marrying that same neighbour in 1944.

He and his wife, Viola, shared “the perfect marital bond” for 66 years until her death in 2010. Their relationship produced nine

Teachers hauled before TSC for sex tapes Head of Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon, has said that several teachers have appealed to the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) following the threat to dismiss them for engaging in acts in their private lives.

Videos began circulating of some teachers in sex acts, all in the privacy of their homes or in some private location and away from the classroom.

In one case, a female teacher was engaged in a sex act with her paramour whose partner got hold of the recording and posted them on social media.

The Teaching Service Commission was asked to investigate the teachers for pornography.

Luncheon, following his

weekly press briefing at the Office of the President yesterday, admitted that the matter is engaging the attention of government officials.

Kaieteur News understands that the teachers were identified on sex tapes but details remained unclear how the tapes became public.

According to a source close to TSC, the issue is b e f o r e t h a t b o d y ’s Disciplinary Committee and one teacher in Region Six has since been dismissed.

However, her dismissal is being challenged.

Chairperson of TSC, Leila Ramson, during her World Teachers’ Day speech had sounded the Commission’s zero tolerance to such acts.

She had said that apart

from appointing and promoting teachers, the TSC is also responsible for disciplinary action in the teaching profession.

Ramson stressed that sexual offences, pornography along with the age-old issues of lateness and absenteeism warrant zero tolerance from that regulatory teaching body.

Recently, two female soldiers were reportedly sanctioned by the Guyana Defence Force because a video of them engaging in homosexual acts were circulated.

According to Dr. Roger Luncheon, he is unable to provide a comment on behalf of the Government because the issue has not been raised before the Defence Board, of which he is the Chairman.

Prosecution closes case in ‘Picture Boy’ voir dire The prosecution in the murder trial against Cyon Collier, called ‘Picture Boy’, yesterday closed their case against the accused in the Voir Dire (a trial within a trial) that is being conducted for the admission of a caution statement reportedly given to the police by Collier. Defence attorney Lyndon Amsterdam had objected to the admission of the caution statement when the prosecution sought to tender the document early last week.

During the Voir Dire, Senior State Counsel Judith Gildharie-Mursalin, called to the stand, nine witnesses, six of whom were police officers. Assistant Superintendent Alvin Wilson took the caution statement from the accused.

Deputy Superintendent Lyndon Lord witnessed the caution statement being taken; while Deputy

Cyon Collier called ‘Picture Boy’ Superintendent Michael Kingston received an oral statement after the murder allegation was put to the accused.

An Inspector and two station Sergeants also testified. The Superintendent of the Mazaruni Prison, Gladwin Samuels, testified to what took place at an

interview when Collier was admitted to the prison. The Reception Officer, Sharon Seepaul at Timehri Prison, testified, as well as Shanice Cumbermack, Medic of the Georgetown Prisons, who brought Collier’s medical records and history.

The accused is expected to lead a defence before Justice Diana Insanally today. Collier was charged in September 2006 for the murder of Ray Walcott called ‘Sugar’ and Carl Andrews, called ‘Alo’. It is alleged that Collier with a high-powered rifle shot the brothers dead.

The men were reportedly watching a domino game at the Victoria Four Corner on the East Coast of Demerara, when the accused reportedly walked up to them, engaged them in conversation and later opened fire, killing the two men. Collier was arrested a few days later.

children.

The family has now been e x t e n d e d t o 3 0 grandchildren, 46 great grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren.

The centenarian also served as a “Church Steward” in a neighbouring Methodist Church. He was well-known in Aurora as Brother Mack or Uncle Mack.

Mack's children described him as a wonderful father; very loving and caring; a man who worked tirelessly to provide his children with all the necessities of life; he was a farmer.

Commenting on his life in the fields, Mack could not contain his tears.

His working days brought back fond memories of his late wife; a woman whom he described as wonderful wife, mother, and a woman no less hardworking than he was.

Fighting to suppress his tears, Mack said that he misses his wife immensely, and that her being gone is the only thing that makes him sad.

The centenarian moved back to Georgetown just last

Centenarian Gladstone Mack

year. He is being cared for by his children. He noted that they have all been taking the best care of him, tending to his every need.

Today, Mr. Mack enjoys eating chicken, watching television, taking naps, and chatting with his daughters.

It has been only a few months since the centenarian stopped walking because of

a knee pain.

The former church steward is in excellent shape; very coherent with good eyesight and hearing capabilities.

Mack said that he is living a very simple and quiet life, one that makes him happy and thankful to God for giving him loving and caring children.

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Thursday November 01, 2012

PEPFAR support to HIV/AIDS workplace forum channels project to end by 2015 ...stakeholders’ sustainable discussion

By Sharmain Grainger Guyana is gearing to fully take up the reins of its International Labour Organisation (ILO)supported HIV/AIDS Workplace Education Programme, having secured funding from the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) for just under a decade.

Although the expected transition is not slated to occur until 2015, the project, which is undertaken in collaboration with the United States Department of Labour and currently titled GOG/ILO/ USDOL/PEPFAR, has already begun to gain much attention from a number of stakeholders.

A meeting held at Hotel Tower, Main Street, Georgetown, yesterday afforded stakeholders a forum to share their thoughts on the transition plans, which according to Project Coordinator of GOG/ILO/ USDOL/PEPFAR, Mr Sean Wilson, will help to revise the workplace component of programme. This move, he said, was designed to put measures in place to ensure

that there are activities in place to sustain the workplace HIV/AIDS project, even after the PEPFAR support would have elapsed.

The modestly attended forum saw representation from the Ministry of Labour, the two umbrella trade unions (The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) and the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC)), the Consultative Association of Guyanese Industry (CAGI), the Guyana Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS and staffers of workplaces that had previously participated in ILO-inspired activities.

The anticipated discussions, according to Wilson, will in fact help to channel specific training needs so that “we can include that in our plan and be able to, over the next two to three years, execute that, so that by the time the project comes to an end, everybody would have their own capacity built.”

Catering to a smooth transition too, Wilson revealed that during the next year “we will need to reassess where we are with regards to the issue of

A section of the gathering yesterday sustainability to see how we are doing, because of course, we can’t wait until the issue of sustainability comes up to see how we are doing. We certainly can’t wait until the project comes to an end then decide that we didn’t do this or we needed to do that....”

According to Wilson, at this point there is “no turning

back” since PEPFAR is definitely “transitioning out and we have to ensure that the project and the partners who are working with us do what they are supposed to do.”

As part of the proposed 2015 transition, Wilson revealed that the Ministry of Labour will also be engaging discussions with the Ministry of Finance with a view of having it incorporated in the national budget.

“They need to have a sense of how much money PEPFAR would have contributed to the Ministry of Labour over the past years so that Government will be able to look at what it can take on.”

The GOG/ILO/USDOL/ PEPFAR HIV/AIDS workplace education project was introduced here in 2003 with the developmental objectives of contributing to the prevention of HIV/AIDS in the world of work and the enhancing of workplace protection of workers by reducing the adverse effects of HIV/AIDS on social, labour and economic development.

Amplifying the need for the HIV/AIDS project to be sustained, CAGI Consultant/ Advisor, Mr Samuel Goolsarran, in brief remarks, pointed to the fact that the pandemic presents major challenges for affected individuals and their families, workplaces and the national communities. He noted that this has the potential to hamper social progress and by extension national development as it affects the productive segments of the labour force and vulnerable groups in the societies.

“It is a critical workplace issue with implications for employment relations and workplace interactions and should be the subject of consideration, even in the

collective bargaining process,” Goolsarran asserted.

CAGI represents the private sector on employment and human resource development issues and is the recognised representative for the private sector on national tripartite and bipartite bodies dealing with labour and employment issues.

As such, Goolsarran said that CAGI supports the workplace policy on HIV/AIDS as essential guidelines for its enterprises, even as it is committed to promoting healthy and safe lifestyles through awareness raising, education, non-discrimination and maintaining a healthy working environment.

He however emphasised that “we are grateful to donor agencies, but the time has come for this country to take this project on board and the transition should be clearly into the national agencies and the ministries responsible for health and safety of this nation.”

Speaking at yesterday’s forum, too, was General Secretary of FITUG, Mr Kenneth Joseph, who highlighted the notion that “all good things must come to an end” as he stressed his belief that the stakeholders’ meeting “is coming at an appropriate time when the project can be in its completion period and with a possibility to continue without the funding it enjoys.”

He pointed to the period of 2003–2012 as being reasonable for any project to produce its own cadre of leaders and organisers. He added that the nation, through its tripartite committee and relationships, should be preparing to embrace the transition of the project.

Joseph assured too that “we in FITUG are already prepared to accept our responsibility in the furtherance of this much needed and very important activity of sensitising on HIV/ AIDS stigmatisation and

discrimination.”

Mirroring his colleague trade unionist’s views of the HIV/AIDS workplace project, GTUC President, Mr Norris Witter, said that “I don’t think that there is anyone that has been following this project that would deny the fact that it has been of immense success, and to that extent, I think that we are entitled to congratulate ourselves. But even as we do so, we need to do so with some degree of caution.”

According to Witter, complacency should never be factored into the achievements realised “less we turn back the gains that we have made so far.”

He observed that while earnest efforts have been made to arrest the pandemic, there have been other issues that have been equally impacting the society such as maternal deaths, trafficking in persons, and even police killings.

However, he stressed that the Labour Movement is strategically positioned to impact positively on any programmes that have to do with the reduction and eventual elimination of the HIV/AIDS, whether at the workplace or in other arenas.

As such, he noted that with the transition plans, Guyana can accept full ownership of the HIV/AIDS project, even as he emphasised that the skills obtained over the years will lend to the political will and otherwise ensure that the momentum gained will continue.

“The GTUC is committed to this process, which is reflected by the fact that over the past six months we have intensified our activities in the area of HIV/AIDS.” Although scheduled to speak at the forum yesterday, Minister of Labour, Dr Nanda Gopaul, and Deputy Chief of Mission of the United States Embassy, Mr Thomas Pierce, were both unavoidably absent.

Thursday November 01, 2012

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Armed pirates beat, rob two fishermen Armed pirates beat, attacked and robbed two Corentyne fishermen around 19:30 hrs on Tuesday in the Atlantic near the Corentyne River, a few miles from Port Mourant.

The two men were badly beaten by the men and their boat ransacked and items stolen by the pirates.

“Five men came up on us around seven-thirty and they started to beat us. One of them had a gun. We threw out our seines and were waiting to pick up and they came in and attack us. They burst up our mouths,” one of the victims related.

According to him, the pirates arrived in a similar fishing vessel to theirs and moored close before shouting, “Get down! Get down!”

“They just drive alongside of us and started to put lash on us. They demanded fish, glue and milk. I had a wristwatch on and they took out my watch and they left. We had to put on sail and sailed whole night and reached out at 3am and went to the police station and they told us to take out a medical and I had to extract my teeth… and they beat me on my back badly.”

He said that the men used cutlasses to beat them.

“After that, they started to beat me more bad with their cutlasses, and I fell and I tried to get to see their face, but was not able, and then they got away.”

The men made off a cell phone, 2 packs of cigarettes $5,000 worth of gas, with a lead (used to siphon gas) and his gas tank, along with a jar.

The pirates, while swiping menacingly at the men with their cutlasses,

also damaged the boat engines and damaged the power packs, etc. They also tried to destroy the engines “so we could not reach the shores”. The cost for repairs, the fisherman said, is some $50,000.

T

initiative.

This plan is designed to boost security measures at the Botanical Gardens and the National Park, in response to a recent increase in robberies in these areas, the Ministry announced yesterday.

statement but we ain’t know anybody from the boat and did not recognize anyone. I got to full NIS every month and I will not work for now and my teeth break up in my mouth and I have to go look for something to do.”

Increased police presence at Zoo, National Park

A police officer on duty within the National Park.

he Ministry of N a t u r a l Resources and the Environment, in collaboration with the Guyana Police Force and the National Parks Commission, has now launched the “Operation Safe Parks”

“Me never experience something like this…This is a first time, because for the first time you see a boat like that in the night, you suppose to start your boat and get away. We reported the matter to the police and gave a

“The Operation will lead to an increased police presence in both locations, along with random police patrols, and the recruitment of additional security guards.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the

Environment, through the National Parks Commission, is working to develop and implement a long-term security strategy that will focus on all of the areas under its management, including the Guyana Zoo. This initiative is part of

a larger effort by the Ministry to improve these urban parks and recreational spaces, and provide quality services and a safe visitor experience to the people of Georgetown, and Guyana as a whole, the ministry said.

Thursday November 01, 2012

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Kaieteur News

AFC to discuss amendment to Accounting legislation L

eader of the Alliance for Change (AFC), Khemraj Ramjattan, disclosed yesterday that talks are being initiated on a proposed amendment to the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act (FMAA) to ensure that Government officials come clean when accessing public funds.

The AFC Head and Member of Parliament, at the party's weekly press briefing, stated that it recently came to light that some breaches and inconsistencies pertaining to the legal procedure permitting the Minister of Finance access to money from the state's Contingency Fund.

In highlighting the discrepancies, Ramjattan revealed that the FMAA

legislation provides for very little to be done subsequent to a breach in the legislation that governs the application of the Fund's money. With that fact, Ramjattan urged that the FMAA must be revisited.

Ramjattan said that billions of dollars have been taken from the Contingency Fund to finance a number of projects and institutions which had the budgetary allocations cut.

Under certain circumstances, Ramjattan said, money can be taken from the Fund.

“But immediately after that is done, at the next following session of Parliament, the Finance Minister is supposed to bring what he has taken out of the Contingency Fund for P a r l i a m e n t a r y

Leader of the Alliance for Change (AFC), Khemraj Ramjattan authorization”.

Parliamentary authorization, the AFC

o ff i c i a l e x p l a i n e d , i s permission given by House members based on the projects spending. But that legislation, Ramjattan said, has not been complied with and there has already been a Parliamentary seating.

“The funny thing in relation to Contingency Fund spending, is that when it is spent and we in Parliament do not authorize the spending, there is nothing known that we can do about it. We can just probably chastise the Minister or bring a contempt of privilege motion against him,” Ramjattan emphasized.

Under section 85 of the FMAA, which speaks to the misuse of public funds, Ramjattan lamented that after speaking to some of the highest legal advisors in the

land, “The word 'official' who breaches and violates the provisions of this FMAA…may not mean the Minister.”

Ramjattan explained that what that piece of legislation means; is that despite the Finance Minister being the only one with authorized access to the Contingency Fund, “the official that is going to be prosecuted and sent to jail, is the fellow who actually writes up the cheque, and that will be very unjust to that person working at that Ministry,” Ramjattan highlighted.

He said the amendment of the Act may very well steer in the direction of making the word “official” mean the Minister, “So that we can prosecute him and jail him.”

In addition, Ramjattan

said that his party is being advised on an amendment of the amount of money placed in the Contingency Fund.

He noted that the current administration had made adjustments to the Contingency Fund raising it from $500,000 to what now amounts to over $3.5B. He said the amendment of the Fund's amount will then be related to the other opposition party for discussions on what steps should be taken in this regard.

On completion of the proposed amendment, Ramjattan however noted that despite the opposition moves, the President's assent is needed.

“But we are going to test the President too, to find out if he wants a halt to this kind of misspending.”

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Thursday November 01, 2012

Chinese think tank urges end to one-child policy BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese government think

tank is urging the country’s leaders to start phasing out

its one-child policy immediately and allow two

children for every family by 2015, a daring proposal to do

away with the unpopular policy.

Some demographers see the timeline put forward by the China Development Research Foundation as a bold move by the body close to the central leadership.

Others warn that the gradual approach, if implemented, would still be insufficient to help correct the problems that China’s strict birth limits have created.

Xie Meng, a press affairs official with the foundation, said the final version of the report wil be released “in a week or two.” But Chinese state media have been given advance copies. The official Xinhua News Agency said the foundation recommends a two-child policy in some provinces from this year and a nationwide two-child policy by 2015. It proposes all birth limits be dropped by 2020, Xinhua reported.

“China has paid a huge political and social cost for the policy, as it has resulted in social conflict, high administrative costs and led indirectly to a long-term gender imbalance at birth,” Xinhua said, citing the report.

But it remains unclear whether Chinese leaders are ready to take up the recommendations. China’s National Population and Family Planning Commission had no immediate comment on the report yesterday.

Known to many as the one-child policy, China’s actual rules are more complicated.

The government limits most urban couples to one child, and allows two children for rural families if their first-born is a girl. There are numerous other exceptions as well, including looser rules for minority families and a two-child limit for parents who are themselves both singletons.

Cai Yong, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, said the report holds extra weight because the think tank is under the State Council, China’s Cabinet. He said he found it remarkable that state-backed demographers were willing to publicly propose such a detailed schedule and plan on

how to get rid of China’s birth limits.

“That tells us at least that policy change is inevitable, it’s coming,” said Cai, who was not involved in the drafting of the report but knows many of the experts who were. Cai is currently a visiting scholar at Fudan University in Shanghai. “It’s coming, but we cannot predict when exactly it will come.”

Adding to the uncertainty is a once-in-a-decade leadership transition that kicks off Nov. 8 that will see a new slate of top leaders installed by next spring.

Cai said the transition could keep population reform on the back burner or changes might be rushed through to help burnish the reputations of President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao on their way out.

There has been growing speculation among Chinese media, experts and ordinary people about whether the government will soon relax the one-child policy — introduced in 1980 as a temporary measure to curb surging population growth — and allow more people to have two children.

Though the government credits the policy with preventing hundreds of millions of births and helping lift countless families out of poverty, it is reviled by many ordinary people. The strict limits have led to forced abortions and sterilizations, even though such measures are illegal. Couples who flout the rules face hefty fines, seizure of their property and loss of their jobs.

Many demographers argue that the policy has worsened the country’s aging crisis by limiting the size of the young labor pool that must support the large baby boom generation as it retires.

They say it has contributed to the imbalanced sex ratio by encouraging families to abort baby girls, preferring to try for a male heir.

The government recognizes those problems and has tried to address them by boosting social services for the elderly. It has also banned sex-selective abortion and rewarded rural families whose only child is a girl.

Thursday November 01, 2012

Kaieteur News

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Correa taxes bank profits to help poor

Rafael Correa QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — President Rafael Correa has long used his bully pulpit to bash bankers as profitmongers who brought Ecuador and the rest of the world to the edge of financial collapse. Now, he says he’ll give a bigger share of those profits to the country’s poor.

Less than four months before presidential elections, Correa has announced the sort of bold measure that would delight anti-Wall Street protesters in the United States who blame unchecked financial-sector greed for the economic downturn.

“Those who are earning too much will be giving more to the poorest of this country,” the charismatic leftist said in a weekend address. “The time has arrived to redistribute those profits.”

Under his plan, taxes would go up on bank holdings abroad and an excise tax on financial services would increase, with the proceeds used to increase lump-sum payments for single mothers, the elderly poor and other needy Ecuadoreans.

Correa said the move would raise $200 million to $300 million a year, money that would not just help pay for the increased monthly subsidies but also would finance “other wealth redistribution activities.”

The increase was first suggested by the very man who is likely to be Correa’s top challenger in February elections. Guillermo Lasso said that if he were elected, he would boost the monthly aid payments that 1.2 million Ecuadoreans receive to $50 from the current $35.

But Lasso, former director of Guayaquil Bank, did not intend to underwrite the increase by raising taxes on banks already heavily regulated by Correa, who has a doctorate in economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The proposal is virtually guaranteed to take effect because Correa introduced it as an emergency measure, which automatically becomes law if Congress doesn’t reject it within 30 days. Correa’s opponents don’t have enough votes to knock it down.

“My duty is to the poor,” Correa said Saturday in his weekly TV and radio show, which pre-empts all other programming. The selfdescribed 21st-century socialist, who says his politics are guided by the teachings of Christ, even went so far as to call out wellknown Ecuadoran banking families that would be hit, “the Pachanos, the Egas and the Lassos.”

Lasso, said he’s pleased his idea of boosting monthly aid payments to the poor has been embraced. But along with the rest of the banking industry, he says Correa will be weighing it down with an unfair tax burden.

“It’s not the way to go, because it only creates more obstacles for entrepreneurs, for those who create jobs,” Lasso told reporters after Correa announced the bill on Friday.

Produbanco’s president, Abelardo Pachano, told the newspaper El Comercio that the proposed tax would “destabilize the banking industry, weaken it and clip its wings.” The victims would be Ecuador’s 7 million depositors, he said, who account for nearly half the small South American nation’s 15 million people.

Lasso, 57, remains the chief stockholder in Guayaquil Bank and has not formally announced his candidacy.

Correa, who was first elected in 2006, has built a solid base of support through populist programs that have widened the social safety net and broadened investment in education.

He has doubled public spending, and Ecuador now devotes a greater share of its economy, 10 percent of gross domestic product, to public investment in infrastructure, education and other purposes than any other nation in Latin America and the Caribbean.

A similar formula helped Correa’s ally in Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez, win re-election on Oct. 7, though Correa has not moved to nationalize the private sector as Chavez has.

Instead, Correa has restricted the ability of businesses to expand into other industrial sectors and,

in the case of banks, he’s promoted consumer-

protection measures, including a law that prevents

banks from penalizing firsttime home buyers of modest

means if they default on mortgages.

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Kaieteur News

Thursday November 01, 2012

‘You are castrated slaves’ Bishop blasts selfish achievers

Bishop of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, Rt Rev Father Gregory Howard (centre) in discussion with Mayor of Kingston Councillor Angella Brown Burke and Town Clerk Errol Greene following Sunday’s thanksgiving service at Kingston Parish Church in downtown Kingston to mark the 140th anniversary of the City of Kingston. (Photo: Garfield Robinson) Jamaica Observer Bishop of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, Rt Rev Howard Gregory has lashed out against successful members of society who live in isolation, saying that their selfishness has done nothing for nation-building.

Describing such persons as “castrated slaves”, the bishop said that class segregation is one of the biggest problems that the country now faces.

“So, there are many who are convinced that they have made it when they are featured on the social pages of the newspapers... and there are those who have been the beneficiaries of the best that this country has to offer, as first and second generation of peasant forebears, who now see it as their entitlement to earn multiple million-dollar packages per year, but who are satisfied to pay their staff, who are working in very profitable institutions, the minimum wage; and justify their actions by saying that this is what the Government says that they must. It takes a delayed International Monetary Fund agreement to make them agitated and realise that we are all part of a common melting pot,” he said.

Gregory was speaking Sunday at a thanksgiving service at Kingston Parish Church in downtown Kingston to mark the 140th anniversary of the City of Kingston. He used the biblical story of Nehemiah, a cup bearer turned overseer for the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem following its ruin under Persian control, to background his message.

The Anglican Bishop described the anniversary as a milestone which deserves observance by all Jamaicans,

and not just to the residents of the capital city.

He bemoaned the decay of the city, which he said is reflected in the physical environment and in the living conditions of its residents.

“Every time I travel to cities abroad and see what the renewal of cities can look like, I weep over my city,” Gregory said. “We have a well-laid-out city with good infrastructure, and it is being allowed to slide further and further into decay.

The twin-edged sword of crime and violence and political tribalism have been allowed to wreak havoc in residential communities nearest to the city centre, and the lack of adequate planning for the city is obvious for all to see.

“In our city, a garage can begin operation on your street, and there is no agent of State which will respond with any measure of effectiveness,” he continued.

“And the sad thing about it all is that the residents can complain from now to eternity and they are not receiving a response from those individuals and institutions charged with governance that would allow people to foster a sense of ownership of their communities and partnership with municipal authorities.”

According to Gregory, an effective system of governance is woefully lacking across the nation, and the people needed more than a public relations campaign from city officials.

He talked of a need for a proper communication system, where residents can air their concerns and have them addressed, instead of being “given the run around”.

Thursday November 01, 2012

Kaieteur News

Relief for needy, not greedy

PM says Sandy damage at $5 billion and climbing Jamaica Observer - Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller Tuesday warned that the distribution of hurricane relief items will be made first to “the needy and not the greedy”.

The Prime Minister was responding to questions from parliamentarians following her presentation to the House of Representatives in which she provided preliminary figures on the damage to the island inflicted

by Hurricane Sandy last week Wednesday.

“Those who lost everything should be the first to get assistance... it will be the needy, not the greedy,” she said in giving assurance to Opposition West Portland member of parliament Daryl Vaz. Insisting that the estimates were still preliminary, the Prime Minister veered away from providing a total figure but said, “even before the hurricane we faced serious economic challenges. This has been made worse by the passage of Hurricane Sandy”.

So far, the figures presented by Simpson Miller see the Government being slapped with an over $5 billion repair price tag.

Preliminary estimates for the agricultural sector, particularly the banana, plantain and cocoa industries and cash crops which suffered significant damage, amount to nearly $1.5 billion.

This also includes damage to coffee, coconut, livestock and vegetables.

Some 61 schools were affected, including significant damage to the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE) where the assessments of damage so far total $170 million.

In the meantime, she said several public health facilities were damaged by Sandy with the preliminary estimate for repairs being set at $160 million.

Eleven facilities, including children’s homes and places of safety, suffered damage estimated at $9.25 million. In addition, there was approximately $31 million worth of damage to roofs, the jetty at the Discovery Bay installation and other Jamaica Defence Force facilities, while damage to buildings, vehicles and communication systems of the Jamaica Constabulary Force total $6.3 million.

The Department of

Portia Simpson Correctional Services has also reported damage estimates of $5.1 million, which include roof damage at Fort Augusta (the prison for women) and fencing at Hill Top Juvenile Centre.

Yesterday, the prime minister said on top of the damage caused by Sandy, the Government also has to grapple with the repair bill for earlier rains over the period September 28 to October 2.

“The estimate of the damage done to roads and other infrastructure by those rains is just under $1.1 billion.

Of that, $300 million has either been spent or will be spent on temporary restoration works and $770 million is needed for permanent restoration works,” she told Parliament.

She said the preliminary estimate of damage to parish council roads was now at $1.5 billion, but stood to rise further as “we have not received full reports”. “$700 million is needed for temporary restoration works and just under $800 million for permanent restoration works.

All in all, we are talking about, as a preliminary estimate, a total amount of just under $2.6 billion,” Simpson Miller said.

In the meantime, she said Jamaica has had pledges of support from USAID, the governments of Japan, Germany and France as well as the Caribbean Development Bank and the Caribbean Disaster and Emergency Management Agency.

And Jamaica will not benefit from a drawdown from the Caribbean Catastrophic Risk Facility to which it has been contributing since 2007.

Yesterday, Simpson Miller said Jamaica did not qualify for assistance, based on the premium paid by the country.

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Lonmin job cuts could bring more unrest in South African mines

Strikers chants slogans outside the Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) mines. REUTERS/Stringer JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) Lonmin management and workers appeared yesterday to be shaping up for a new battle after the strike-hit mining company said jobs would be cut.

The world’s third largest platinum producer, Lonmin is

scrambling to get back on its feet after a violent six-week strike at its Marikana mine that crippled production and led it to ask shareholders for $800 million in a rights issue on Tuesday.

It also gave unions notice of a restructuring, with proposed job losses in its

25,000-strong work force expected to be implemented in early 2013.

“We haven’t decided how many employees will be impacted. What we have said is we are freezing our production target at 750,000 ounces for the next two years,” Lonmin

LONDON (Reuters) Fresh allegations emerged yesterday of sexual misconduct by late BBC presenter Jimmy Savile, further damaging the corporation’s reputation and increasing pressure on its management.

Facing questions on how suspicions about Savile were handled are BBC head George Entwistle and his predecessor Mark Thompson, new CEO of the New York Times co. Two independent inquiries and a police investigation are under way.

Police looking into the hundreds of allegations, mostly from the 1970s and 80s, of sexual abuse involving Savile - who died last year arrested 1970s pop star Gary Glitter earlier this week. More arrests are expected.

Savile was regularly allowed to take “star-struck” young women into private bedrooms at a hospital in northern England, Terry Pratt, a former porter there, told the BBC on Wednesday.

Savile, a fund-raiser for Leeds General Infirmary, would regularly arrive at the

hospital late at night with two women, go to the nurses’ flats and leave before dawn.

“He would go up and see the lad on the desk ... he’d take the key and ... would walk out and the two women would follow him towards the nurses’ home,” he told the BBC. Pratt said the women seemed “star-struck” and “not very streetwise”.

The hospital said in a statement: “We continue to be shocked by each new allegation. It is important that they are investigated properly”.

New Savile allegations add to pressure on BBC

spokeswoman Sue Vey said.

“What we are doing is shaping the business accordingly.”

The company had said earlier the strike would cause it to miss targets. With production almost halving in the three months to September 30, it has postponed its aim of increasing output to more than 900,000 ounces a year.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said it would fight any job cuts.

“Of course, we are in principle opposed to retrenchments. We will discourage them from going on a restructuring process that would see any jobs being lost,” NUM spokesman

Lesiba Seshoka said.

The union hoped to meet management next week, he said.

The timing of the move is delicate as a wildcat strike is still gripping the nearby Anglo American Platinum mines at Rustenburg - where police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at strikers on Tuesday - and Lonmin workers only having been back at work for a month since their strike.

Emotions are also still high after the police killing of 34 striking Lonmin miners at Marikana on August 16, the bloodiest security incident since the end of whiteminority rule in 1994.

Tens of thousands of gold miners have also only returned to work in the last two weeks and lay-offs at Lonmin could trigger sympathy strikes.

Gideon du Plessis of the white-collar Solidarity trade union said he was not surprised by the Lonmin notice but he feared middlemanagement rather than the rock-drillers who led the strikes would bear the brunt of cuts.

“The focus will be on management levels but that means they are punishing those who did not participate in the strikes,” Du Plessis said.

“These innocent people are now casualties.”

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Thursday November 01, 2012

Sandy’s wallop leaves Northeast reeling

(CNN) — They’ve lost their homes, their businesses and many are still stranded, but residents in the battered Northeast are overcoming the aftereffects of Superstorm Sandy with a gritty resolve.

“It’s sort of like the transit strike a few years ago,” said Elizabeth Gorman, 40, a Queens resident, who walked across the Queensboro Bridge on Wednesday.

Gorman was part of a steady stream of commuters forced to walk or bike into Manhattan after Sandy roared ashore barely two days ago, wiping out roads, bridges and mass transit systems across the region.

Commuters, homeowners and businesses struggled with the loss of power and waterlogged or burned homes.

Many are still in need of basic supplies. President Barack Obama visited a shelter Wednesday in Brigantine, New Jersey, where he said he met a woman with an 8-month-old who has run out of diapers and formula.

“Those are the kinds of basic supplies and help that we can provide,” he said.

Power has now been

restored to Newark and Jersey City, Obama said, but there are still “big chunks of the community” still without power.

He said turning the power back on is his biggest priority.

Sandy came ashore late Monday in southern New Jersey, wiping out houses, pushing sand four blocks inland in places and leaving people stranded.

Seventy people were rescued from the barrier island in Toms River, New Jersey — people who ignored orders to evacuate, Police Chief Mike Mastronardy said.

“Everyone that we’ve encountered during evacuations today wish they’d left prior to the storm,” he said.

Authorities are still working to extinguish 11 of 30 gas fires that broke out in the storm, he said. Flooding was still a problem in many areas.

Over its entire path, the storm killed at least 124 people — 67 in the Caribbean, 56 in the United States and one in Canada. Nearly half of the U.S. deaths have been reported in New York state.

The fire that broke out in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Breezy Point during the storm

People walk near the remains of burned homes in the Breezy Point neighborhood of Queens, New York. destroyed 110 homes, Assistant Fire Chief Joseph Pfeiffer said.

Search and rescue teams were going through each home to check for victims.

Boats were washed onto front yards in the Staten Island

neighborhood of Great Kills.

Borough President James Molinaro said the waters have mostly receded, but the damage is severe. Several people, including two young boys, are missing.

In Seaside Heights, New Jersey, Mayor Bill Akers said his hard-hit town will tough it out.

“We’re going to just do the best we can and give the support,” he said. “When it’s tougher, we’re the best community.”

On Wednesday, the storm sputtered over the Great Lakes region, where its strong winds are expected to trigger some lakeside flooding as well as

additional snowfall in parts of West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

Nearly 6 million customers across the eastern United States were still in the dark Wednesday, down from the nearly 8 million who lost power shortly after the storm hit.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie described the damage along the Jersey Shore as “unthinkable.”

Akers said crews are trying to get each and every person to shelters from his battered community, which he called he the storm’s “ground zero.”

Speaking to CNN, Akers’ voice cracked a bit as he

described the enormity of the destruction and the resolve to rebuild.

“I just want to try to keep the emotion out of it,” he said. “For everybody, it’s — this is a loss for everybody ... not just Seaside Heights.

“If there’s any good news,” he added, “the water (has) receded, the roadways are accessible. But we still have downed power lines. We are not letting anybody in at that particular time.”

Akers said eventually, when residents come back, they’ll have to deal with their emotions and “face what we’re facing right now.”

LONDON (Reuters) British Prime Minister David Cameron suffered a humiliating defeat in parliament yesterday after Conservatives rebelled over Europe, an issue that has divided his party for decades and helped bring down previous leaders.

Although the result carried no legal weight, the setback raised questions about Cameron’s authority after months of missteps by his coalition government and it revived painful memories of Conservative infighting over Europe.

Cameron wants the European Union’s long-term budget to rise only in line with inflation, while opponents said it should be cut in real terms to reflect the bleak economic landscape at home and across Europe.

The rebels won the vote by 307 to 294 votes, a majority of 13, after they received support from

the Labour Party, a generally proEuropean group accused by Cameron of “rank opportunism”.

“This is a time for Brussels to listen to the British people and do what we are all doing, and that is cutting our cloth,” Conservative lawmaker Mark Pritchard, one of the revolt’s leaders, told Sky News.

Rebels said the vote Cameron’s first significant defeat in parliament since taking power in 2010 - could strengthen his position at budget talks in Brussels next month because he will be able to say his hands are tied by the British parliament.

Other Conservatives said it would weaken his position.

Many Britons regard the EU as an incompetent and spendthrift bureaucracy. Britain’s ties with the 27-member bloc are likely to be a big theme in a national election due in 2015.

Cameron wants Britain to remain an EU member but to renegotiate its role within the

bloc, focusing more on trade links and less on areas like regulation.

Addressing parliament before the vote, Cameron said he was prepared to use his veto to block an EU budget deal if he thought it was bad for Britain.

France also threatened on Wednesday to use its veto if the proposals imply farm spending cuts.

“This government is taking the toughest line in these budget negotiations of any government since we joined the European Union,” Cameron said before the vote.

“At best we would like it cut, at worst frozen, and I’m quite prepared to use the veto if we don’t get a deal that’s good for Britain.”

Accused of siding with the rebels to score cheap points against Cameron, Labour said it was right to ask Europe to cut its budget in real terms at a time of economic hardship.

UK’s Cameron rocked by defeat in Europe budget vote

Thursday November 01, 2012

Kaieteur News

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Correa taxes bank profits to help poor

Rafael Correa QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — President Rafael Correa has long used his bully pulpit to bash bankers as profitmongers who brought Ecuador and the rest of the world to the edge of financial collapse. Now, he says he’ll give a bigger share of those profits to the country’s poor.

Less than four months before presidential elections, Correa has announced the sort of bold measure that would delight anti-Wall Street protesters in the United States who blame unchecked financial-sector greed for the economic downturn.

“Those who are earning too much will be giving more to the poorest of this country,” the charismatic leftist said in a weekend address. “The time has arrived to redistribute those profits.”

Under his plan, taxes would go up on bank holdings abroad and an

excise tax on financial services would increase, with the proceeds used to increase lump-sum payments for single mothers, the elderly poor and other needy Ecuadoreans.

Correa said the move would raise $200 million to $300 million a year, money that would not just help pay for the increased monthly subsidies but also would finance “other wealth redistribution activities.”

The increase was first suggested by the very man who is likely to be Correa’s top challenger in February elections. Guillermo Lasso said that if he were elected, he would boost the monthly aid payments that 1.2 million Ecuadoreans receive to $50 from the current $35.

But Lasso, former director of Guayaquil Bank, did not intend to underwrite the increase by raising taxes on banks already heavily regulated by Correa, who has a doctorate in economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The proposal is virtually guaranteed to take effect because Correa introduced it as an emergency measure, which automatically becomes law if Congress doesn’t reject it within 30 days. Correa’s opponents don’t have enough votes to knock it down.

“My duty is to the poor,” Correa said Saturday in his weekly TV and radio show, which pre-empts all other programming. The selfdescribed 21st-century socialist, who says his

politics are guided by the teachings of Christ, even went so far as to call out wellknown Ecuadoran banking families that would be hit, “the Pachanos, the Egas and the Lassos.”

Lasso, said he’s pleased his idea of boosting monthly aid payments to the poor has been embraced. But along with the rest of the banking industry, he says Correa will be weighing it down with an unfair tax burden.

“It’s not the way to go, because it only creates more obstacles for entrepreneurs, for those who create jobs,” Lasso told reporters after Correa announced the bill on Friday.

Produbanco’s president, Abelardo Pachano, told the newspaper El Comercio that the proposed tax would “destabilize the banking industry, weaken it and clip its wings.” The victims would be Ecuador’s 7 million depositors, he said, who account for nearly half the small South American nation’s 15 million people.

Lasso, 57, remains the chief stockholder in Guayaquil Bank and has not formally announced his candidacy.

Correa, who was first elected in 2006, has built a solid base of support through populist programs that have widened the social safety net and broadened investment in education.

He has doubled public spending, and Ecuador now devotes a greater share of its economy, 10 percent of gross

Minister in the dark about CAL plane drama at Piarco Trinidad Guardian Minister of Transport Chandresh Sharma has maintained he has no details relating to Caribbean Airlines flight HER72-600 which made an emergency landing because of a detached engine casing last Friday. Sharma said he did not have any details regarding the situation and asked that all calls about the incident be directed to Caribbean Airlines.

It was earlier reported that the pilot of the aircraft noticed the engine detach during the flight and turned the plane around. However, according to a CNC3 television report on Monday night which included a recording from the cockpit, the pilot appeared to have no idea anything was wrong.

The recording indicated that the pilot was in fact contacted by air traffic control and given the option to continue to his destination or

Chandresh Sharma return to Piarco. According to communications manager Clint Williams, the investigation was ongoing into the circumstances of the incident. “When the reason is ascertained, information will be released,” Williams said. He said the aircraft had incurred no additional damage.

Williams also said investigations into the Caribbean Airlines jet that crash-landed in

Guyana last year had not been completed. The jet split in two upon hitting the runway, but all 163 people on board survived the rough landing. The plane overshot the 7,400-foot (2,200metre) runway at Cheddi Jagan International Airport, crashing through a chain-link airport fence and ending up on a dirt road around the airport. The plane broke ust before reaching a 200foot ravine.

Williams said the company was awaiting a report from the National Transport Safety Board (NTSB) in the US. The investigations regarding last week’s incident are being conducted by Caribbean Airlines, the T&T Civil Aviation Authority and the manufacturers of the engine casing.

The T&T Guardian was unsuccessful in its attempt to contact chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority Ramesh Lutchmedial.

domestic product, to public investment in infrastructure, education and other purposes than any other nation in Latin America and the Caribbean.

A similar formula helped Correa’s ally in Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez, win re-election on Oct. 7, though Correa has not moved to nationalize the private sector as Chavez has.

Instead, Correa has restricted the ability of businesses to expand into other industrial sectors and, in the case of banks, he’s promoted consumerprotection measures, including a law that prevents banks from penalizing firsttime home buyers of modest means if they default on mortgages.

Correa hasn’t announced his candidacy for re-election, but the latest poll by the firm Cedatos gives him 55 percent support against 23 percent for Lasso, with other candidates dividing the rest. It surveyed 2,320 people in 15 cities and had an error margin of 3.5 percentage points.

Political scientist Jorge

Leon of the Ecuador campus of FLACSO university called Correa’s move a political masterstroke “because it puts the bankers in a terrible situation,” making them scapegoats.

Correa, whose only previous job in government was as finance minister, has alienated bankers before, both at home and abroad.

Under his watch in 2009, Ecuador defaulted on nearly $3.9 billion in external debt.

He has long blamed bankers for a financial crisis at the end of the 1990s that provoked a bloodless 2000 coup. The country was nearly at the point of hyperinflation and half of the country’s 42 banks collapsed amid accusations of malfeasance.

The industry’s profits have climbed steadily since Correa won election, from $239 million in 2006 to $393 million last year, even as banks were forced to reduce fees for credit cards, repatriate funds held abroad and purchase public debt.

Ecuador’s private bankers association complains that it already pays the state about

$309 million annually in taxes and other fees that eat up nearly 80 percent of its profits.

The director of the national revenue service, Carlos Marx Carrasco, contested that figure, claiming the banks only paid $170 million in taxes.

Correa’s populist stand has won supporters such as Gilberto Albornoz, a 43-yearold Quito attorney.

“It’s good that the bankers help the poorest,” he said. “They turn themselves into millionaires with the money of the people and they should contribute to the country and the poorest.”

But Carolina Holguin, a 32-year-old insurance company worker, said she worries the taxes will wind up hurting consumers.

“The money in the banks doesn’t belong to the bankers. It belongs to us, the depositors, simple people, small, medium and big companies. Now we’re going to have to think a lot before putting our savings in banks because the government is desperate to get more financial resources to spend.”

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Kaieteur News

Thursday November 01, 2012

Chinese think tank urges end to one-child policy BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese government think tank is urging the country’s leaders to start phasing out its one-child policy immediately and allow two children for every family by 2015, a daring proposal to do away with the unpopular policy.

Some demographers see the timeline put forward by the China Development Research Foundation as a bold move by the body close

to the central leadership.

Others warn that the gradual approach, if implemented, would still be insufficient to help correct the problems that China’s strict birth limits have created.

Xie Meng, a press affairs official with the foundation, said the final version of the report wil be released “in a week or two.” But Chinese state media have been given advance copies. The official Xinhua News Agency said

the foundation recommends a two-child policy in some provinces from this year and a nationwide two-child policy by 2015. It proposes all birth limits be dropped by 2020, Xinhua reported.

“China has paid a huge political and social cost for the policy, as it has resulted in social conflict, high administrative costs and led indirectly to a long-term gender imbalance at birth,” Xinhua said, citing the report.

But it remains unclear whether Chinese leaders are ready to take up the recommendations. China’s National Population and Family Planning Commission had no immediate comment on the report yesterday.

Known to many as the one-child policy, China’s actual rules are more complicated.

The government limits most urban couples to one child, and allows two children for rural

families if their first-born is a girl. There are numerous other exceptions as well, including looser rules for minority families and a two-child limit for parents who are themselves both singletons.

Cai Yong, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, said the report holds extra weight because the think tank is under the State Council, China’s Cabinet. He said he found it remarkable that state-backed demographers were willing to publicly propose such a detailed schedule and plan on how to get rid of China’s birth limits.

“That tells us at least that policy change is inevitable, it’s coming,” said Cai, who was not involved in the drafting of the report but knows many of the experts who were. Cai is currently a visiting scholar at Fudan University in Shanghai. “It’s coming, but we cannot predict when exactly it will come.”

Adding to the uncertainty is a once-in-a-decade leadership transition that kicks off Nov. 8 that will see a new slate of top leaders installed by next spring.

Cai said the transition could keep population reform on the back burner or changes might be rushed through to help burnish the reputations of President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao on their way out.

There has been growing

speculation among Chinese media, experts and ordinary people about whether the government will soon relax the one-child policy — introduced in 1980 as a temporary measure to curb surging population growth — and allow more people to have two children.

Though the government credits the policy with preventing hundreds of millions of births and helping lift countless families out of poverty, it is reviled by many ordinary people. The strict limits have led to forced abortions and sterilizations, even though such measures are illegal. Couples who flout the rules face hefty fines, seizure of their property and loss of their jobs.

Many demographers argue that the policy has worsened the country’s aging crisis by limiting the size of the young labor pool that must support the large baby boom generation as it retires.

They say it has contributed to the imbalanced sex ratio by encouraging families to abort baby girls, preferring to try for a male heir.

The government recognizes those problems and has tried to address them by boosting social services for the elderly. It has also banned sex-selective abortion and rewarded rural families whose only child is a girl.

ZAGREB (Reuters) - The United States called yesterday for a major overhaul of Syria’s beleaguered opposition, saying it was time to move beyond the Syrian National Council (SNC) and bring in those who are “in the frontlines fighting and dying today”.

Speaking on a visit to Croatia, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also said Syrian opposition talks in Qatar next week should lead to a broader coalition that would speak out strongly against “efforts by extremists to hijack the Syrian revolution.”

Western patience has been wearing thin with the SNC, a group of largely expatriate Syrian activists who so far have failed to gain much traction with groups inside the country.

“We’ve made it clear that the SNC can no longer be viewed as the visible leader of the opposition,” Clinton said. “They can be part of a larger opposition, but that

opposition must include people from inside Syria and others.”

“There needs to be an opposition structure that is dedicated to representing and protecting all Syrians,” Clinton said.

The 19-month-old revolt against Assad claimed at least six more lives yesterday when a bomb exploded near a Shi’ite shrine in a suburb of the Syrian capital, Damascus, state media and opposition activists said.

It followed the collapse of the latest ceasefire proposal, brokered by international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi in an effort to stop the fighting over the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday.

The conflict has cost an estimated 32,000 dead.

A meeting next week in Qatar would be an opportunity for Syria’s disparate opposition groups to bring in representatives of those who “are on the frontlines fighting and dying today”, Clinton said.

Clinton calls for overhaul of Syria opposition group

Thursday November 01, 2012

Relief for needy, not greedy Jamaica Observer - Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller Tuesday warned that the distribution of hurricane relief items will be made first to “the needy and not the greedy”.

The Prime Minister was responding to questions from parliamentarians following her presentation to the House of Representatives in which she provided preliminary figures on the

Kaieteur News

PM says Sandy damage at $5 billion and climbing damage to the island inflicted

by Hurricane Sandy last week Wednesday.

“Those who lost everything should be the first to get assistance... it will be the needy, not the greedy,” she said in giving assurance to Opposition West Portland member of parliament Daryl Vaz. Insisting that the estimates were still preliminary, the Prime Minister veered away from

providing a total figure but said, “even before the hurricane we faced serious economic challenges. This has been made worse by the passage of Hurricane Sandy”.

So far, the figures presented by Simpson Miller see the Government being slapped with an over $5 billion repair price tag.

Preliminary estimates for the agricultural sector, particularly the banana, plantain and cocoa industries

Colombian peace talks push President Santos’ popularity higher

Juan Manuel Santos BOGOTA (Reuters) President Juan Manuel Santos’ popularity shot up 7 points to 58 percent thanks to Colombians supporting his peace talks with Marxist rebels to end five decades of war, according to an opinion poll published yesterday.

Yet while most are in favour of talks, more than half believe they will ultimately fail, according to the Gallup poll, painting a tricky picture for Santos as their success would almost assure him a second term if he decides to run in 2014.

“There is a bipolarity, or schizophrenia if you will.

There is obviously a desire for peace, a desire to end the war, but this is the fourth attempt at negotiations with FARC,” Jorge Londono, general manager of Gallup in Colombia, said.

“People are more aware that it’s not going to be easy.”

After Santos’ popularity fell below 50 percent earlier this year for the first time since coming to power in a landslide in 2010, the former defense minister has seen his approval ratings steadily rebound since announcing talks with rebels in August.

Negotiations were formally launched on October 18, but the talks immediately got off to a rocky start after guerrillas said they wanted to discuss a range of topics not specifically mentioned in the five-point agenda.

Santos’ government has

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ruled that out, saying issues not listed in the agenda, especially rebel demands for foreign mining companies to stop operations, would not be negotiated.

The survey was conducted with 1,200 telephone interviews in five major cities on October 20-26, and the margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points. Critics say polls leave out rural Colombians, who are more affected by the war.

The Gallup study found that while 72 percent supported negotiations with the FARC, only 39 percent believed they would actually succeed.

Every past attempt to reach a negotiated end to the war since the FARC’s founding in 1964 has ended in failure.

The guerrillas were widely seen as having used previous negotiations to rearm and rebuild their ranks. Rightwing elements linked to Colombia’s political establishment were also accused of undermining talks.

Santos’ popularity received a slight boost from a crackdown on criminal gangs that included the arrest of a major trafficker in Venezuela, as well as the president’s surgery for prostate cancer, Londono said.

The 61-year-old Santos came to power promising to

keep up the tough stance against rebels and drug gangs of his predecessor Alvaro Uribe when the conservative president launched an all-out offensive with U.S. aid in 2002.

Uribe, who helped clinch the presidency for Santos, has since become his biggest critic, especially on security.

In the Gallup poll, threefourths disapproved of how Santos was handling security problems. Other major gripes were about his policies related to unemployment and living costs.

While Colombia has seen a boom in oil and mining investment over the last decade that spurred economic growth, the country is still one of the world’s most unequal places, especially in rural areas.

Inequality is one of the key drivers of the war.

Rural development is the first item on the agenda for peace talks set to start in Cuba on November 15.

Santos’ government has said there will be no ceasefire until a final deal is reached, rejecting a FARC call for a truce.

More than 50 guerrillas have been killed since the negotiations were announced more than two months ago.

Rebels on Monday killed six police officers in the volatile Cauca province.

Almost 5,000 students at risk Barbados Nation - About 5 000 students in the educational system have challenges that put them in the at-risk category.

Senior psychologist in the Ministry of Education, Juanita Brathwaite, said that figure fits within the ten to 15 per cent global statistics predict will be at risk.

The challenges these students battle with include learning disabilities, indiscipline, social issues and bullying.

Motivational speaker from the United States, Keith

Brown, who is among three professionals brought in to speak at the inaugural fourday Barbados Student At Risk Conference at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, cautioned against focusing too much on those 5 000 students, however.

“All 100 per cent of them are at risk, because the times in which we are living and the negatives that they are exposed to in the media and on the Internet and social media and social programming and social networking, all of them are at risk to something.

Portia Simpson and cash crops which suffered significant damage, amount to nearly $1.5 billion.

This also includes damage to coffee, coconut, livestock and vegetables.

Some 61 schools were affected, including significant damage to the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE) where the assessments of damage so far total $170 million.

In the meantime, she said several public health facilities were damaged by Sandy with the preliminary estimate for repairs being set at $160 million. Eleven facilities,

including children’s homes and places of safety, suffered damage estimated at $9.25 million. In addition, there was approximately $31 million worth of damage to roofs, the jetty at the Discovery Bay installation and other Jamaica Defence Force facilities, while damage to buildings, vehicles and communication systems of the Jamaica Constabulary Force total $6.3 million. The Department of Correctional Services has also reported damage estimates of $5.1 million, which include roof damage at Fort Augusta (the prison for women) and fencing at Hill Top Juvenile Centre.

Yesterday, the prime minister said on top of the damage caused by Sandy, the Government also has to grapple with the repair bill for earlier rains over the period September 28 to October 2.

“The estimate of the damage done to roads and other infrastructure by those rains is just under $1.1 billion.

Of that, $300 million has either been spent or will be spent on temporary restoration works and $770 million is needed for permanent

restoration works,” she told Parliament.

She said the preliminary estimate of damage to parish council roads was now at $1.5 billion, but stood to rise further as “we have not received full reports”. “$700 million is needed for temporary restoration works and just under $800 million for permanent restoration works. All in all, we are talking about, as a preliminary estimate, a total amount of just under $2.6 billion,” Simpson Miller said.

In the meantime, she said Jamaica has had pledges of support from USAID, the governments of Japan, Germany and France as well as the Caribbean Development Bank and the Caribbean Disaster and Emergency Management Agency.

And Jamaica will not benefit from a drawdown from the Caribbean Catastrophic Risk Facility to which it has been contributing since 2007.

Yesterday, Simpson Miller said Jamaica did not qualify for assistance, based on the premium paid by the country.

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Kaieteur News

Thursday November 01, 2012

‘You are castrated slaves’ Bishop blasts selfish achievers Jamaica Observer Bishop of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, Rt Rev Howard Gregory has lashed out against successful members of society who live in isolation, saying that their selfishness has done nothing for nation-building.

Describing such persons as “castrated slaves”, the bishop said that class segregation is one of the biggest problems that the country now faces.

“So, there are many who are convinced that they have made it when they are featured on the social pages of the newspapers... and there are those who have been the beneficiaries of the best that this country has to offer, as first and second generation of peasant forebears, who now see it as their entitlement to earn multiple million-dollar packages per year, but who are satisfied to pay their staff, who are working in very profitable institutions, the minimum wage; and justify their actions by saying that

this is what the Government says that they must. It takes a delayed International Monetary Fund agreement to make them agitated and realise that we are all part of a common melting pot,” he said.

Gregory was speaking Sunday at a thanksgiving service at Kingston Parish Church in downtown Kingston to mark the 140th anniversary of the City of Kingston. He used the biblical story of Nehemiah, a cup bearer turned overseer for the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem following its ruin under Persian control, to background his message.

The Anglican Bishop described the anniversary as a milestone which deserves observance by all Jamaicans, and not just to the residents of the capital city.

He bemoaned the decay of the city, which he said is reflected in the physical environment and in the living conditions of its residents.

“Every time I travel to

cities abroad and see what the renewal of cities can look like, I weep over my city,” Gregory said. “We have a well-laid-out city with good infrastructure, and it is being allowed to slide further and further into decay.

The twin-edged sword of crime and violence and political tribalism have been allowed to wreak havoc in residential communities nearest to the city centre, and the lack of adequate planning for the city is obvious for all to see.

“In our city, a garage can begin operation on your street, and there is no agent of State which will respond with any measure of effectiveness,” he continued.

“And the sad thing about it all is that the residents can complain from now to eternity and they are not receiving a response from those individuals and institutions charged with governance that would allow people to foster a sense of ownership of their communities and partnership with municipal authorities.”

Bishop of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, Rt Rev Father Gregory Howard (centre) in discussion with Mayor of Kingston Councillor Angella Brown Burke and Town Clerk Errol Greene following Sunday’s thanksgiving service at Kingston Parish Church in downtown Kingston to mark the 140th anniversary of the City of Kingston. (Photo: Garfield Robinson) According to Gregory, an effective system of governance is woefully lacking across the nation, and the people needed more than a public relations campaign from city officials.

He talked of a need for a proper communication system, where residents can air their concerns and have them addressed, instead of

being “given the run around”.

He said the challenge is for the country’s leaders to exercise vision and for all stakeholders including, civil society, business, and the church to unite in order to transform Kingston into a place where human beings count, and the physical environment is one which

facilitates human development.

Meanwhile, Mayor of Kingston Councillor Angela Brown Burke said that the city and the country had a lot to be grateful for, considering that only one life was lost during Hurricane Sunday last Wednesday, compared to the many lives the storm took in neighbouring Cuba and Haiti.

Thursday November 01, 2012

Kaieteur News

Lucky Boxing Day K&S spectator to claim motorcycle gate prize A lucky spectator attending the Boxing Day fixture of the K&S football tournament will ride off with a motorcycle, compliments of Cell Phone Shack of 21 North Road Lacytown, after they would have participated in a lucky draw at the Buxton Community Centre Ground.

Kashif Muhammad and Aubrey ‘Shanghai’ Major visited Cell Phone Shack of 21 North Road Lacytown yesterday afternoon and collected the motorcycle as well as 30 gift packages, e a c h comprising Plum products including one cell

phone, watch, bag and memory card reader.

These gifts will be distributed to lucky patrons after their successful involvement in promotional initiatives at several fixtures.

Managing Director of Shell Shack, Christopher Low Koan handed over the prizes and wished the organizers well even as he urged the sporting public to support the tournament.

The K&S duo expressed deep appreciation to the Cell Shack boss and said that the gift will surely enhance the tournament.

Mr. Christopher Low Koan (C) hands over the keys of the motorcycle and the phones and accessories to Mr. Kashif Muhammad (left) in the presence of Mr. Aubrey ‘Shanghai’ Major.

AR Auto Sales T20 over 40 cricket...

Unity, Lusignan march into final Unity and Lusignan have booked their places in the final of the AR Auto Sales Twenty\20 over 40 cricket competition after gaining victories in their respective semifinal matches recently.

In the first semifinal, Unity defeated United XI by 7 wickets. United XI batted first and mustered 106-5 off their allotted overs with Sudesh Sookram scoring 24 and C. Narine 17; Anthony Canto claimed 2-13.

Unity in reply made 109-3.

Rovindra Dyal led with 34 not out and R. Cougar supported with 15. Kevin Ross took 2-15.

In the second semifinal Lusignan overcame Rastafarian by 118 runs.

Lusignan took first strike and posted 181-4 off their allocation of overs. Chetram Gangadin was their main run getter with 61, while J. Ramgopaul chipped in with 37 and R. Karim 25 as C. Lawson snared 2-32 and S. Jacobs 2-25.

Rastafarian in their turn at the crease fell for 63 in 12.3 overs. D. Singh captured 3-5.

The third place playoff and the final along with a 10\10 female softball match will be played on a date to be announced.

Page 31

Bin Hammam loses appeal against latest ban - FIFA ZURICH (Reuters) Former FIFA presidential candidate Mohamed Bin Hammam has lost his appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against his latest ban from football, soccer’s governing body said on Wednesday.

Bin Hammam had a lifetime ban for bribery overturned by CAS in July but was suspended again one week later by FIFA, this time for a provisional period of 90 days, after a fresh probe by its ethics committee was

announced. Bin Hammam had appealed in mid-October against that ban, which was extended for another 45 days last week. CAS could not immediately be reached for comment.

“The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has rejected the request for provisional and conservatory measures lodged by Mohammed Bin Hammam against the decision pronounced by the FIFA Appeal Committee on 17 August 2012,” the FIFA statement said.

Bin Hammam was accused

of trying to buy the presidential votes of Caribbean officials by handing them $40,000 each in brown envelopes at a meeting in Port of Spain one month before he was due to challenge Sepp Blatter in last year’s FIFA presidential election.

He withdrew his candidacy, was subsequently banned pending investigations and Blatter was re-elected unopposed for a fourth term as FIFA president.

Bin Hammam was then banned for life after being

found guilty of breaking seven articles of FIFA’s ethics code, including one on bribery. Proceedings against former CONCACAF president Jack Warner, also present at the meeting in Trinidad & Tobago, were dropped after he resigned from his post.

In its original ruling, CAS said the decision to annul Bin Hammam’s life ban was not “an affirmative finding of innocence” and that the case could be reopened with new evidence.

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Kaieteur News

Thursday November 01, 2012

Heat ring in new season with win over Celtics Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce (C) drives to the basket

MIAMI - (Reuters) - With shiny new diamondencrusted rings on their fingers, the Miami Heat began their NBA title defence in confident fashion with a 120-107 win over Eastern Conference rivals the Boston Celtics on Tuesday.

Miami were presented with championship rings and

rose the title banner to the arena rafters before the game to mark their second NBA title and the first since the creation of the ‘Big Three’ with the arrival of Lebron James and Chris Bosh to team up with Dwyane Wade.

Ray Allen made his Miami debut against his old team and put aside any

concerns about his fitness with 19 points as the home crowd taunted the Celtics with chants of “We got Ray!”.

Last season’s Most Valuable Player James marked his first ring ceremony with 26 points but had to sit out most of the fourth quarter with leg cramps.

James, who also suffered cramps in last season’s finals, left in the third quarter but came back before cramping up again.

James’ points tally continued his run of scoring at least 20 points in each of his last 28 regular season games against Boston.

Wade, looking fresh after the knee surgery in the offseason which cost him a place in the gold medal U.S. Olympic team, top scored with 29 points, while Bosh delivered

down the stretch and finished with 19 points.

Miami were 19 points up early in the fourth but, in the absence of James, Boston launched a comeback and reduced the deficit to four with just over two minutes remaining on the clock.

The Heat rallied, however, to gain a win against the team they d e f e a t e d i n l a s t y e a r ’s Eastern Conference championship game.

Paul Pierce had 23 points and Rajon Rondo 20 for the Celtics who are again expected to be the main challenger to the Heat in the East. Spoelstra said he was pleased with the way his team, after enjoying the celebration, had managed to quickly put it aside and focus on the game.

Cook and Patel lead strong response

Alastair Cook finished the day on an unbeaten 112 © Associated Press ESPNcricinfo - England’s batsmen had a good day out at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, replying strongly to India A’s 369 with captain Alastair Cook leading the way with a century. Jonathan Trott made a half-century and Samit Patel, promoted to bat at No.6, gave his captain good company, finishing the day unbeaten on 82.

India A had done well on the opening day and their innings lasted just one delivery on the second, as R Vinay Kumar was trapped in front by James Anderson.

England suffered an early blow in their response, with Nick Compton edging to the wicketkeeper off Ashok Dinda in the second over.

Cook and Trott, though, built a steady stand before the part-

time off-spin of Suresh Raina accounted for Trott, breaking a partnership of 95.

A left-arm spinner, once again, brought about Kevin Pietersen’s downfall, as he was caught and bowled by Yuvraj Singh for a quick 23 that included three fours and a six. When Yuvraj dismissed Ian Bell for 5 in the 38th over, England were in a difficult situation at 133 for 4.

Cook continued accumulating runs and Patel gave him good support, the pair batting 49 overs till the close to add 153. England finished the day on 286 for 4, just 83 adrift.

Scores: England XI 286 for 4 (Cook 112*, Patel 82*) trail India A 369 (Tiwary 93, Abhinav 73, Bresnan 3-59, Swann 3-90) by 83 runs.

Thursday November 01, 2012

Kaieteur News

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Weakened Mavericks stun new-look Lakers LOS ANGELES - (Reuters) - The heavily anticipated new era of Los Angeles Lakers basketball began with a whimper as their much vaunted team bristling with All-Stars were beaten 99-91 by an under-strength Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday.

Five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant had given the Lakers a late boost when he pronounced himself fit enough to play in the regular season opener shortly before the game, having struggled with a foot injury for more than a week.

Though Bryant scored 22 points on 11-of-14 shooting and Spanish forward Pau Gasol weighed in with a game-high 23, the Lakers paid the penalty for a dismal freethrow display, making only 12-of-31. Dwight Howard made only three-of-14.

The Mavericks were without 11-time All-Star Dirk Nowitzki, who is recovering from knee surgery, and injured center Chris Kaman but in their absence, six Dallas players scored at least 10 points with guard Darren C o l l i s o n leading the way with 17.

Brandan Wright contributed 14 and fellow forward Shawn Marion 11 as the Mavericks stunned the 16-time NBA champion Lakers despite being out-shot from the field by 49.4 percent to 47.1.

Gasol, who also contributed 13 rebounds and six assists in a solid, all-round display, felt the Lakers’ newlook starting five needed more time to gel.

The atmosphere was electric under the rafters at the Staples Center well before the start of the game as Lakers fans prepared to watch their potent, new-look front five for the first time.

Huge cheers erupted when former Orlando Magic center Howard led the Lakers out onto the court for their warm-up, and even louder roars for Bryant, the last player out.

With Bryant, Howard and Gasol all getting into the paint early on, the Lakers made an encouraging start and led by eight points after an Antawn Jamison layup less than a minute into the second period.

However, a rash of missed free throws and turnovers cost the Lakers dearly. They

Ivan and Sinclair steer RHTGG to victory Thanks to Rajiv Ivan and Jason Sinclair’s batting performance, coupled with Shawn Pereira’s continued destructive bowling, host Rose Hall Town Gizmos and Gadgets (RHTGG) managed to scrape past West Berbice at the Area ‘H’ ground last Saturday, to record their third successive win in this year’s Berbice Cricket Board/ Tenelec first division limited overs competition.

Asked to bat first, the visitors got useful contributions from Sherwin McPherson 49 (4x4, 2x6), Rafael Estriado 37 (4x4), Keith Fraser 33 (3x4, 2x6), Pooran Prashad 27 (2x6, 1x4) and Steffon Adams’ 16 (2x4, 1x6) to reach 201 all out off 45.5 overs.

Pereira, this year’s national Under-19 skipper, took 4 for 54 and got good support from Eon Hooper and Clinton Pestano who took two wickets each for 23 and 40 runs respectively for RHTGG, who slipped to 32 for 2, before Ivan and Sinclair joined forces to add 149 for the third wicket.

Ivan struck 12 fours and two sixes in his 77 and

Rajiv Ivan Sinclair nine fours in his 68 before Ivan was caught at backward square off a full toss from Adams, a wicket that triggered a slide in the home team’s batting as they slipped from 181 for 2 to 199 for 8, losing the wicket of Sinclair as well.

However, while West Berbice scented victory at that stage of the game, RHTGG had other plans with both Pereira and Pestano keeping their nerves to see their team to 202 for 8 off 38.5 overs and victory. Both batsmen ended unbeaten on 2 and 1 respectively.

trailed 48-46 at halftime and were never able to close the gap after that as the faster Mavericks steadily increased their lead.

Two O.J. Mayo free throws late in the fourth quarter gave Dallas a 16-point advantage, the biggest of the night, and though the Lakers scored nine of the last 10

points, it was a case of too little too late.

Six-time All-Star Howard, still easing his way into form after having back surgery in April, produced 19 points while twice former Most Valuable Player Steve Nash contributed just seven, plus four assists, on their Lakers debuts.

Los Angeles Lakers point guard Steve Nash (10) drives up the key

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Kaieteur News

Thursday November 01, 2012

GFF issues caution to Associations regarding participation in unsanctioned tournaments The GFF has sent out communication to its affiliates following information that a group of individuals have been meeting with clubs trying to get them to compete in an unsanctioned tournament.

Following is the full text of the GFF memo: It has been brought to our attention that approaches are being made by Organisations and Entities, which are not

affiliated to the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), to Clubs within your Associations for them to take part in Competitions and Tournaments which they intend to organise and promote.

Please be reminded of the contents of GFF Circular entitled “Revised Conditions for the Granting of Approval for Football Competitions and

Tournaments” dated 16th January 2003 which stipulates that Associations can only approve of their Clubs participation in Competitions and Tournaments which they conduct in their jurisdiction.

For Competitions and Tournaments conducted by other Associations and for which Clubs are invited to participate (Inter Association Tournaments), these must be

sanctioned by the GFF and such notification provided to Associations by the GFF. Clubs which take part in

Competitions and Tournaments which are not sanctioned by their Associations and/or the GFF

will be subject to the imposition of penalties by the GFF in accordance with the provisions of its Constitution.

Pollard, Narine to play for TT in Caribbean T20 Keiron Pollard and Sunil Narine will miss Trinidad and Tobago’s opening game in

the upcoming regional T20 cricket series but will be available for the rest of the tournament, the Guardian reported on Wednesday.

Media reports had suggested that the player’s availability was in doubt because of their commitment to the Australian Big Bash league to be played at the same time as the regional tournament.

The Australian Big Bash runs from December 7 to January 19, while the regional T20 begins on January 6 in T&T, with the semifinals and finals to be played later in the month in St Lucia.

The Guardian has reported that Pollard has been cleared by his club to return for the competition, but he will arrive January 6 after playing his last game for the Adelaide Strikers on January 5 against the Hobart Hurricanes.

He will not be available for T&T’s first match against

Jamaica but will enter camp with the team immediately upon his return and play from the next game, the paper reported.

Narine, who plays for the Sydney Sixers, the current Champions League winners, will also return to Port of Spain on January 6 and play the rest of the series with the Red Force.

Dwayne Bravo, currently injured, has no Big Bash contract and is available for the entire series.

He is undergoing therapy to remedy a thigh strain, picked up during the West Indies T20 World Cup triumph in Sri Lanka.

The right-hand batsman and medium pacer is expected to be fully fit in time for the series.

T&T will play its first match against last year’s runners-up Jamaica at the Queen’s Park Oval on January 6. (windiescricket.com)

Budhans’ Memorial Sports Complex to hold Horserace Meet November 11 The Budhans’ Memorial Sports Complex of No.66 Village, Corentyne, Berbice will be holding a grand one day Horserace meeting on Sunday November 11 at their facility at No.66 Village.

Seven races are carded for the day with the feature event being for H\Class and lower horses. Other events on the card are I and lower, J and lower, 2 to 3 years old maiden, unclassified, unclassified Division 2 and the L\Class and

lower. Over three million dollars in cash prize money and trophies are up for grabs.

Over sixty horses have already registered for the meeting.

The track is in a very good condition and systems have been put in place for spectators to enjoy a day of excitement.

Among the sponsors are Digicel. For further information contact can be made with Neville Budhan on 338-2283 or Andrew Budhan on 695-8551.

GFF/EBFA U-14 KO set for Sunday at Grove Playfield The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) sponsored East Bank Football Association organized Under-14 knock-out competition will kick off on Sunday at the Grove Playfield, East Bank Demerara.

Eight teams will compete for top honors with four matches slated for the

opening day. Agricola Red Triangle will open action at 12:00hrs against Soesdyke/ Timehri combined. This will be followed by Bagotstown taking on Supply; Mocha Champs will then engage Craig with the final match of the day bringing together Diamond and Grove.Trophies and medals are at stake for the 1st to 3rd place clubs.

Thursday November 01, 2012

Kaieteur News

Injured Roach out of Bangladesh Tests - Fidel Edwards to replace him BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – Fast bowler Kemar Roach will miss the Test series on the West Indies tour of Bangladesh due to a knee injury.

West Indies team physiotherapist C.J. Clark described the injury as “a right medial hamstring tendon tear”, which Roach sustained in a club match three weeks ago in his native Barbados.

“Kemar has not recovered adequately from the injury to join the squad for the tour,” said Clark. “He has commenced rehabilitation and will undergo further assessment. He is expected to return to action in three to four weeks time.”

Fidel Edwards, who has taken 158 wickets at 38.37 runs apiece in 54 Tests since his debut nine years ago, has been selected to replace Roach. He is scheduled to leave the Caribbean with the remainder of the 15-member squad on Saturday.

Roach has been West Indies’ most successful bowler in Tests this year, snaring 39 wickets at 22.25 runs apiece in seven Tests.

He is tied with three other players as the second-most successful bowler in Tests this year, along with South African fast-medium bowler Vernon Philander, as well as off-spinners Saeed Ajmal of Pakistan and Graeme Swann of England.

Only England fast bowler Stuart Broad with 40 at 27.77 in nine Tests has more wickets than the above quartet.

“It’s a blow for us,” said West Indies coach Ottis Gibson. “He’s been an outstanding Test

bowler for us in the last 12 months. He’s got a lot of wickets for us.

“The news is not all bad. It’s not a major, major injury. It just means that he cannot travel with us.

He has started his rehab already, so hopefully, he can recover within the next three weeks and, perhaps, make the One-day series, which means he will get some cricket before the end of the year.

“It’s a difficult situation. He reckons he feels OK sometimes, and other times, if he gets his knee in the wrong position, he feels it, and the pain is so severe, he can’t do anything for a while. These things happen in sport.”

West Indies face Bangladesh in two Tests from November 13 to 17 at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in that country’s capital of Dhaka, and from November 21 to 25 at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in the south-western city of Khulna.

The Tests will be followed by five One-day Internationals and a Twenty20 Internationals.

Gibson said Edwards was more than capable cover for Roach and felt there was more than enough firepower in the 15-member squad.

“Fidel was a member of the squad that played in the recent ICC World Twenty20 Tournament and he has been bowling [in club cricket in his native Barbados], so his bowling fitness will be right up there at its peak,” said Gibson.

“Along with Ravi Rampaul and Tino Best, we feel confident that they will all be able to do a good job for us in the Tests, whichever combination is selected.”

2012 Neal & Massy Intermediate 50-Over Cricket Competition in Berbice...

Young Warriors and Bermine advance to Quarterfinals Young Warriors and Bermine are the latest teams to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2012 Neal & Massy Intermediate 50-Over Cricket Competition in Berbice.

In the final Zone B match, Bermine; thanks firstly to a five-wicket haul from left arm spinner Chris Sulker and then 44 from Devon Clements, inflicted an 8-wicket beating on Edinburgh. This win resulted in Bermine, Young Warriors and Police tying with 4 points each after the completion of the preliminary rounds.

However Young Warriors with a net run rate of 1.212 and Bermine with 1.210 as against Police’s 1.003 were adjudged winners and runners of the zone thus earning the right to advance. Scoring half centuries in the latest matches were Roshan Gafoor of D’Edward and Brentnol Woolford of West Berbice.

In scores from the matches played: At Edinburgh, Bermine beat Edinburgh by 8 wickets.

Edinburgh 87 in 27.4 Overs with Rudrunauth Seepersaud 23, Chris Sulker 5 for 18, Kevin Pellew 2 for 6, Romario

- Sulker takes 5 for 18 Shepherd-De Jonge 2 for 6.

Bermine 90 for 2 in 13.4 Overs with Devon Clements 44, Leon Williams 26 N.O, Shafeek Khan 2 for 19.

At Cotton Tree, West Berbice beat D’Edward by 53 runs. West Berbice 228 in 40Overs with Pooran Persaud 39, Krishendat Ramoo 30, Quacy Mc Pherson 29, Arthley Bailey 24, Raffiel Estriado 24, Derick Narine Lalsa jnr 3 for 33, Eon Abel 2 for 35, Keith Fraser 2 for 50.

D’Edward 175 in 36 Overs with Roshan Gafoor 64, Andrew Dutchin 4 for 39,

Krishendat Ramoo 2 for 20, Dellon Yearwood 2 for 36.

At Bush Lot, West Berbice beat Bush Lot United New Generation by 6 wickets.

Bush Lot United New Generation 163 in 44.3 Overs with Brentnol Woolford 50, Keno Gravesande 39, Asif Khan 22, Sherwin Mc Pherson 3 for 24, Murphy La Rose 2 for 21, Pooran Persaud 2 for 22, Stefon Adams 2 for 28. West Berbice 164 for 4 in 26.4 Overs with Sherwin Mc Pherson 40, Kwesie Mentore 28, Asif Khan 2 for 24, Keno Gravesande 2 for 43.

GNRA Practical Shoot set for November 4 The Guyana National Rifle Association Smallbore (Handgun) Section will stage their Annual Practical Pistol Shooting competition at the GDF Timehri Ranges, on Sunday November 4.

Dubbed The NARIL Shoot 2012, the proceedings are set to get underway from 09:30hrs and will see the country’s best pistol shooters on show as they compete within their various classes in keeping with international standards over three stages. Keen competition is expected.

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Rising Sun Judo Club making strides It has been just over a month since Guyana’s top Judo club, the Rising Sun Judo and Jiu-Jitsu club, located at Marian Academy, Carifesta Ave., had revamped its training programmes to incorporate Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) training into its system and the results so far have been incredible whereby students are displaying high a proficiency in groundwork techniques (Ne-Waza) especially from the junior ranks.

The whole idea came about when Guyanese Judokas found out that the Brazilian national judo team has both a Judo coach and a Brazilian Jiu- Jitsu coach to make their athletes even stronger in groundwork techniques and they have produced world champions under this system such as Flavio Canto and Rafael Correa who are both black belts in Judo and Brazilian Jiu- Jitsu.

The Rising Sun Judo/JiuJitsu club is trying its best to keep up to date with training practices and tactics that are practiced by the stronger Judo nations in the world such as Brazil.

Instructors Andrew Hooper and Bruce Fraser engaging in a groundwork session.

The Rising Sun Judo/Jiu Jitsu club is extending congratulations to Andrew Hooper, for being rated by his fellow club-mates as the top

athlete of the month by averaging three ‘tap outs’ per randori session, and Jesse Persaud, for being the top junior athlete of the month.

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Kaieteur News

Thursday November 01, 2012

Thursday November 01, 2012

Kaieteur News

Banks Beer KO Cup continues to benefit from corporate support

Body Central Boutique Manager Trichia Richards presents a cheque for an undisclosed sum to Houston Stars President Charles Greaves in the presence of GFA officials.

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fter hosting a h i g h l y successful inaugural Banks Beer Knockout Cup last year when thousands of fans converged at the GFC ground to winess the final of the competition, the tournament has managed to attract a huge outpouring of support from the business community and Body Central Boutique became the latest entity to pledge their assistance to the event when Manager Trichcia Richards presented a cheque for an undisclosed sum to officials of the Georgetown Fooball Association (GFA)

recently. President of the Houston Stars Football Club Charles Greaves, one of the teams earmarked to participate in the tournament received the gift on behalf of the GFA in the presence of Association Treasurer Dexter Schultz and Assistant Secretary Treasurer Sharmain Wade.

The tournament which carries prize monies in excess of $9million is expected to last for eight playing days with December 16 slated as the day for commencement, while the final will be played on January 1 with GCC and GFC ground, being the

designated venues for matches. Four million dollars will be awarded to the winning team, while the runner-up receives $2.5M, 3rd place-$1.5M and 4th place-$1M with additional incentives on offer for outstanding individual performances.

The clubs confirmed to compete in the tournament are Houston Stars, GFC, Riddim Squad, GDF, GPF, Fruta Conquerors, Camptown, Banks All Stars, Georgetown Masters, Nothern Rangers, Black Pearl, Flamingo, Beacon, Santos, University of Guyana and Charlestown United.

R and D Engineering Service T20 cricket in North E’bo - semi finals...

Paul, Green guide Gunners to 9-wkt win, Walton Hall beat Lima by 3-wkts Greyson Paul hit a fine half century and Herrell Green slammed an unbeaten 44 to guide Gunners to a comfortable 9 wicket victory over Devonshire Castle, and Walton Hall overcame Lima by 3 wickets when the semifinal matches of the R and D Engineering Service Twenty\20 cricket competition were contested last Sunday at Walton Hall ground in North Essequibo.

Paul top scored with 52 and got support from Green as their team romped to victory in 15.1 overs ending on 130-1 after being set a victory target of 126.

The pair came together after Gunners lost an early wicket in their chase and featured in an unbroken 2 wicket stand of 122.

Earlier Devonshire Castle lost 8 wickets in scoring 125 after the game was reduced to 18 overs batting first. Anthony Persaud top nd

scored with 44, while Ramesh Narine made 18 as Punraj Singh and Hemant Beharry grabbed 2 wickets apiece.

In the first semifinal which was played earlier in the day at the said venue, Lima took first turn at the crease and rattled up 170-7 in 20 overs. Devindra Lall 37, Faizal Karim 29, and R. Ramnarine 28 were their principal scorers as Uvindra Balgobin snared 3 wickets and Suresh Persaud 2.

The home team in reply won the game off the final delivery of the innings as they finished on 172-7. Vishwanauth Lall led the scoring with 44, while Tameshwar Ramesh supported with 32. Suresh Sookdeo 29 and Ramesh Chattergoon 25 also batted well as Abdool Salim and Brian Bissesar picked up 2 wickets each. The final will be played on a date to be announced.

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Kaieteur News

Thursday November 01, 2012

Businessman Clive Matthews upgrading - youths longing Grove Playfield for proper ground

Mr. Clive Matthews stands on part of the Grove Playfield where expansion work has already commenced.

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e has placed his heart, soul and resources into the development of football on the East Bank to the extent that he is the senior Vice President of the East Bank Football Association (EBFA).

Businessman Clive Matthews said that he has a passion for seeing the Grove Playfield developed into one of the best on the East Bank and to become the Mecca for the sport in that jurisdiction.

Over the years he said that they have faced many

challenges in upgrading the Playfield and bringing it to a proper standard for the continuous playing of football.

“I’ve been around this game for quite some time and after a discussion with my family and the EBFA, I have decided to put some money into the extension of this playfield in terms of the length and width.

It will take about 100 truck load of mud to accomplish the desired objective, we have started this about one month now and it will take us about four

months to see this first phase completed. Kaieteur Sport understands that all the Neighborhood Democratic Council (NDC) does is cut the field. The building adjoining the field is in a deplorable state and Matthews said that they will be making moves shortly to upgrade that as well.

The EBFA has made numerous attempts to get a ground of their own and have not been successful.

Approaches were made to get the Diamond and Providence Grounds, to no

The Grove Community Centre.

avail. The Timehri Red Ground has been used in the past for matches but has not been in playing condition for quite some time.

These challenges will not deter the EBFA from working assiduously towards achieving a home of their own. Plans are also on the tables to build a set of bleachers and dressing rooms in phase two of the project according to Matthews.

EBFA President Wayne Francois in an invited comment said that Matthews

has been a tower of strength over the years and his initiative to expand the field is being supported 100% by the EBFA. “We really need to get the game playing on a consistent basis on the East Bank and this has been a constant challenge due to the fact that we do not have a ground we can call our own.

We have been trying to play as much as we can. When this project is completed it will further empower us to run off tournaments for our youths they way we want to

see it.”

Both Matthews and Francois said that any corporate support would be welcome in realizing a proper ground/facility that all will be proud of which would serve as inspiration to the players on the East Bank.

The EBFA has nine (9) clubs affiliated: Kuru Kuru Lions, Kuru Kuru Warriors, Timehri Panthers, Soesdyke Falcons, Agricola Red Triangle, Grove Hi Tec, Diamond United, Bagotstown and Mocha Champs.

Thursday November 01, 2012

Kaieteur News

Spectacular event anticipated at Rising Sun Rodeo on Sunday

Action galore at Rising sun , spectular, part of the actionin the bull riding event.

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ith just a few days away from Rodeo time a number of sponsors have come on board even has more vaqueros arrive for the big Rising Sun Rodeo activity set for this Sunday November 4 at the Rising Sun Turf Club, Arima Park, West Coast Berbice.

Preparations are almost complete and according to organiser and President of the Rising Sun Rodeo Committee, Inshanally Habibulla, there are just a few logistical arrangements left to be put in place for the big day. He said that at the moment final touches are being made to the arena where the rodeo is usually held away from the main race track, while the stands including the Grand Stand have been refurbished.

With this set be one of the biggest Rodeos held at the venue so far, a number of companies have come on Board. Among those confirmed for the big day are Banks DIH Limited, Neal and Massy, AH and L Kissoon, Trophy Stall, Muneshwar Guyana Limited, Inshan Bacchus Construction and Trucking

Company and Racing stables, Mohammed “Nankoo” Shariff General Construction Limited, Trucking Company and racing stables, Hablaw Meat Centre, Chester Fry Bush Lot West Coast and Rising Sun Cattle ranch.

The organizers are leaving no stones unturned to make the event an enjoyable and successful one.

According to Habibulla, at the moment, the Chief Executive Officer of the committee, Danny Fredericks, is still in the Interior locations finalizing arrangements for the out of town cowboys.

Information received from Frederick’s, is that the cowboys in the interior locations including those from Lethem, the Rupununi Savannahs and the Corentyne River areas are eager to participate. The overseas contingent usually from Brazil, Suriname and Venezuela will also be coming to compete against their Guyanese counterparts and show off their skills. He stated that some of the foreigners have already started to travel and should be in town by Friday.

The days programme begins at 11:00 hrs and will feature activities in some 12 different categories including steer roping, bare back bronco, which will also see the females getting into action. There are also male and female barrel race, wild cow milking, calf roping, wild bull riding, Saddle bronco and the popular Tug O War events and the Rodeo King competition.

The various winners and other outstanding performers will be presented with monetary incentives, trophies and other attractive prizes.

Interested persons are asked to get in touch with the organizers as soon as possible on the numbers listed below.

Persons interest in participating in the day’s events are asked to get in touch with Inshanally Habibulla on tel No 6234495, and 623-5453, or 2323295, Fazal Habibulla at Chester Fry Bush Lot West Coast Berbice on Telephone No 232-0232 or 6577010, 648-6522 or Donald or Zaleena Lawrie on telephone no 225-4530, 2254565. (Samuel Whyte)

Chelsea beat Man Utd in thriller

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helsea’s attackers were too much for Manchester United’s young defence as the hosts booked a match against Leeds in the Capital One Cup last eight. Chelsea made two defensive errors as Ryan Giggs and Javier Hernandez scored either side of David Luiz’s penalty. Gary Cahill made it 2-2 but it appeared Nani’s chipped finish would win it, before Eden Hazard’s spot-kick. Daniel Sturridge and Ramires both registered in extra time before Giggs added a late consolation penalty.

Luiz also hit the bar in the added half hour as Chelsea finished on top and were rewarded for introducing the cream of their talent from the bench.

But they were thankful to young United centre-back Scott Wootton, who pushed Ramires to gift Chelsea their second penalty in injury time and then left his header back to Anders Lindegaard short as Sturridge finally

found the net.

The enthralling contest was a perfect antidote to the acrimony which resulted from the Premier League match between these two teams three days ago, when referee Mark Clattenburg sent off two Chelsea players and was accused of using “inappropriate language” towards John Mikel Obi and Juan Mata.

Referee Lee Mason had an excellent game, calling all three penalties correctly and also dealing with a scuffle between Oscar and Nani which threatened to boil over.

Having been in control in the first half United let the game slip away from them as Hazard and Oscar joined Mata, Moses and Sturridge in a five-star Chelsea forward line after the break. But before the interval Sir Alex Ferguson’s side had been well set, with Chelsea twice caught while playing out from the back, goalkeeper Petr Cech and David Luiz both culpable.

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Kaieteur News

Thursday November 01, 2012

2012 XM Guyana Open Golf Championship launched - Tees off on Saturday

Sales & Marketing Executive Carlton Joao (centre sitting) and officials of Banks DIH and Lusignan Golf Club members and players pose for a photo op following the Launch yesterday.

T

he Banks DIH X M 2 0 1 2 Guyana Open Golf Championships was officially launched, during a ceremony that was conducted in the Boardroom

of the sponsor yesterday.

The occasion saw in attendance Sales & Marketing Executive of the Company Carlton Joao, XM Brand Manager Dwayne Bristol, Executive of Banks

DIH and Treasurer of the Lusignan Golf Club Mark Lashley, Club Secretary David Mohamed, Club Captain Rawle Moore, Banks DIH Communications Manager Troy Peters and

players Canada-based Roger Rajkumar and defending Ladies champion Christine Sukhram. Mohamed speaking about the two-day tournament, which is scheduled to commence on Saturday and finishes the following day, at the Lusignan Golf Course gave

an insight about the preparations that has been ongoing, disclosing that the Course is in excellent shape and golfers should be able to produce good performances due to the favorable conditions of the greens and fairways.

Mohamed added that most of the golfers that will be participating in this weekend’s tournament have already gained valuable practice from the recently concluded Digicel Open Classic and he is optimistic that fans will see a keenly contested tournament.

Over 80 golfers from the USA and Canada, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago along with those based locally have confirmed participation in the Open with T&T-based Papo Haniff of Guyanese origin and Christine Sukhram, the defending champion in the respective categories.

Mohammed disclosed that a total of nine ladies are scheduled to compete with the Gross format being the system used to declare the winners. Joao in his remarks

said, “The tournament has grown and this is because of two primary reasons. Firstly it’s the dedication of the executives of the Lusignan Golf Club who drive for success.”

He continued, “The other reason is the high standard of players that have been participating who give the Guyanese players a run for their money. I also saw the effort put into maintain the course and this is also testimony to the good work being done by the club.”

There are a number of contenders to take the tournament including threetime champion Avinash Persaud and Mohanlall Dinanauth. The 18-year old Avinda Kishore is also one to keep under the radar along with Fazil Haniff and Alfred Mentore.

Meanwhile, Sukhram questioned about her readiness said that she is confident and even though the Surinamese have players of quality she is going to try her best to defend her title.

Tee-off time is 06:30 hrs.

Mohamed’s Enterprise on board Nov. 11 ‘Race of Champions’ Meet

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ohamed’s Enterprise became the l a t e s t corporate entity to pledge their support to the Guyana Motor Racing & Sports Club (GMR&SC)-organised Caribbean ‘Race of Champions’ Meet which is scheduled to be staged on November 11, at the South Dakota Circuit.

Recently, Manager of the Company Mohamed Safraz Husain presented a cheque to Club Manager Rayon Samaroo during a simple ceremny at the entity’s Head Office on Lombard Street recently.

Samaroo thanked the Company for its patronage towards the Meet and promised that the Organisers will present a Meet of high standard and exciting races in all the categories when the best drivers, riders and karters in the Region collide for top honours.Last year Barbados became the first country to hold both the driver and country titles and they’ve already indicated that they will be sending a

Manager of Mohamed’s Enterprise Mohamed Safraz Husain presents a cheque to GMR&SC’s Rayon Samaroo recently. strong team to represent the ‘Land of the Flying Fish’.

Among them are current Caribbean king Roger Mayers and Doug and Mark Maloney.

Currently, Jamaica leads the points standing with 113 points followed by Barbados on 64, Cayman Islands lies third on 26 and Guyana in the cellar on 21.

In the battle for individual supremacy, Summerbell, after copping a second and two third place finishes in Barbados, maintains his lead in the drivers’ Championship

after six races, with 50 points and he will be supported by Peter Rae andAndreAnderson.

Guyana will be relying on Mark and Paul Vieira, Andrew King, Kevin Jeffrey and Vishok Persaud to thwart the challenges of the opposition.

Guyanese riders have so far dominated the Super bike category and thieir dominance is expected to continue, especially since Stephen Vieira, Carlos Rodrigues, Joel Neblett and Carey Griffith will want to put on a treat for the home fans.

Thursday November 01, 2012

Kaieteur News

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Guyana’s ‘Red Jags’ to compete at Bago Sports Int. Beach Soccer tourney - 12-member team departs today

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ompeting under the name, ‘Red Jags’, Guyana will compete at the Bago Sports International beach Soccer tournament set for November 2 - 5 at the Turtle Beach, Black Rock Heritage Park Tobago.

Ahead of what is anticipated to be a very competitive tournament featuring select teams from Jamaica, USA, Switzerland and Brazil, Guyana Football Federation President (ag) Franklin met with the team on Tuesday at the Bayrock Ground, Linden.

Wilson congratulated the team and management for the hard work they have been putting in over the past months while imploring upon all the need to be good ambassadors for Guyana on and off the field of play.

“You are regarded as the pioneers of this format of the sport in Guyana; be positive role models and set high standards as you represent the Golden Arrowhead in the Twin Island Republic.

Discipline is the key to you being successful on and off the field of play so go out there and give it your best shot.”

Wilson noted that the GFF was very happy to support the team as they seek to bring back the bacon to these shores. The Bagosports Beach Football Club, host of the tournament, visited Guyana in May for a Goodwill series which they won 2-1 and the ‘Red Jags’ under the guidance of Coach Abdulla Hamid will be seeking to return the favour in this tournament despite having to face other countries.

The Guyana team has

GFF President (ag) Franklin Wilson (3rd left) take time out for a photo with the ‘Red Jags’. Abdullah Hamid (2nd left), Rowena DeJonge (3rd right) and Rollin Tappin (2nd right) shares the moment. been in intense preparation for this tournament and is rearing to take on all and sundry. Manager Rollin Tappin said that he is satisfied that they have put in

lots of hard work and he is confident that his charges will give a very good account of themselves. He also expressed gratitude to the GFF for its assistance

towards the team.

The full team reads: Travis Bess, Jermaine Gradison (Captain), Marlon Benjamin, Ron Fiedtkou, Marmarlaque Davidson,

Ralph Alexander, Deshawn Joseph, Michael Wilson, Colric Beckles, Abdulla Hamid (Coach), Rowena DeJonge (Physio), Rollin Tappin (Manager).

t r o Sp

Police extend ISAAC lead - Soldiers have uphill climb

By Edison Jefford The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) will have an uphill climb against the Guyana Police Force (GPF) that extended its lead to 33 points heading into the final day of the Inter-Services Annual Athletics Championships (ISAAC) tomorrow. Owed to strong performances in the Shot Putt and Triple Jump events yesterday, the Police were able to set themselves up to re-arrest the title when the competition continues at the B a s e C a m p Ay a n g a n a Ground tomorrow.

Police swept the male Shot Putt with Julio Sinclair leading the way with a 14.00m throw. Ronald Payne (12.89m) and Michael

Police’s Alita Moore sails to victory in the Women’s Triple Jump event yesterday when the 2012 ISAAC continued at the Base Camp Ayangana Ground.

Pollydore (12.50m) was second and third respectively. Then in the female event, Natasha Alder threw 10.19m to secure the win for Police with Joan Brown, another Police athlete, finishing second with 9.75m; GDF’s Ann Doris (9.68m) was third.

Police’s Alita Moore sprang to 11.73m to win the female triple jump event ahead of teammate, Tracy Moses (10.93m) and GDF’s Shinella Adams (10.43m).

Troy Williams continued the field events surge for the Police with his winning 13.90m jump; the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) Ryan Scott (13.56m) was second with Police’s Desmond Nicholson (12.94m) third.

At the close of yesterday, GPF was ahead on 267 points with the GDF on 234

points; GFS are on 52 points with the Guyana Prison Service on 21 points. Police had entered the contest yesterday with a nine point lead over the Soldiers.

Earlier in the day, the Soldiers had made an enterprising start to their title defence when Ashanti Scott raced to a triumph in the women’s 3000m race, clocking 11:43.7 with teammate, Carlissa Atkinson (12:22.1) second and Police’s Eva Harry (12:58.9) third. Defence Force distance ace, Cleveland Forde followed that performance up with a dominant run in the 5000m, winning in 16:07.4 ahead of the Police’s Dennis Horatio (16:10.0), who edged the much-improved Tyshon Bentick (16:10.3) for second in the event. The curtains

came down with the GDF dominating both the female 800m medley relay and male 1500m medley relay races with gutsy performances. In the women’s race, GDF’s Tiffany Smith made up 10m on Janella Jonas in the final 400m leg to capture the event. Forde had similar work to do against Trevor Scotland in the 800m leg of the male race; he comfortably shifted gears on the final turn to add valuable points to the Defence Force.

Police will feel that after their dominant third day performance, they are not yet on a clear path to rearrest the ISAAC, commonly known as the Joint Services, title, and the Soldiers know that they are within striking distance, which make for an intriguing battle tomorrow.

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