Kaieteur News

Thursday Edition October 15, 2015 - Vol. 8 No. 42

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Pradoville 2 scandal…

Jagdeo, former Ministers face criminal charges Former President, Bharrat Jagdeo Jagdeo’s mansion

The Pradoville 2 ocean-front scheme, E.C.D

The former ministers...

Priya Manickchand

Robert Persaud

Shaik Baksh

Dr. Jennifer Westford

Clement Rohee

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Kaieteur News

Thursday October 15, 2015

Thursday October 15, 2015

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Kaieteur News

Even more multi-million-dollar equipment lying idle at NCN …disused generator contributes to $$$ losses each minute during blackouts More shocking revelations surrounding the operations of the Stateowned National Communications Network (NCN) continue to unfurl.

Kaieteur News has learnt that another piece of multimillion-dollar equipment is lying unused in the company’s compound. It has in fact caused the company to lose money by the minute whenever there is a blackout.

This situation has obtained over the past three years.

For about three years now, a generator with a capacity of more than 400KVA has been lying idle in the NCN Homestretch Avenue Compound. The generator was purchased to be installed at the Voice of Guyana (VOG) transmission facility at Onderneeming, West Bank Demerara.

This publication understands that whenever there is a blackout, VOG, described as Guyana’s BBC, comes off air since there are

no back up generation facilities. The transmission tower was removed from Sparendaam, East Coast Demerara (ECD) in order to facilitate the creation of Pradoville II—a high end residential community that houses former Ministers and government officials.

The generator was at the time purchased for VOG but never installed.

The end result? Each time there is a blackout by the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) the VOG transmission across the country is taken off air.

According to a well placed insider at NCN, VOG earns an average of $20,000 per hour for programmes aired which would mean that at the minimum, more than $300 is lost in revenue for each 60 seconds the station remains off air. VOG is said to be a National Radio Station.

This past week, Kaieteur News reported that NCN had also purchased more than

$20M in satellite uplink equipment but this too was never installed and instead was left lying in NCN’s compound for two years now. This resulted in government having to pay TVG 28, a whopping $3.6M per month to air the Learning Channel.

The staff at NCN at most levels, with the exception of four persons, had been kept in the dark about the presence of satellite uplink facilities lying still in plastic wrapping in the compound.

According to an audit it was only the former Chief Executive Officer, Mohamed ‘Fuzzy’ Sattaur, then Programme Manager Martin Goolsarran, the Finance Controller and a technician Kenneth Jones, who were aware of the presence of the multimillion-dollar equipment.

Recently appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NCN, Molly Hassan, told this publication that there was no plan

Dr. Ranjisinghi ‘Bobby’ Ramroop documented for the use of the equipment which also includes nine satellite dishes.

The dishes, used in the down link aspect of the project, are currently lying in the compound.

This publication was also told that there is currently no staff at the NCN that can operate the sensitive equipment.

According to Hassan, the company will now have to conduct an evaluation of the pieces of equipment and secure the services of competent personnel to

bring the facility online.

Kaieteur News, over the weekend, broke the news that NCN had purchased the equipment two years ago but the then government instead of using it, opted to continue to pay TVG 28, now owned

by Dr. Ranjisinghi ‘Bobby’ Ramroop, $3.6M monthly, to broadcast The Learning Channel.

Further this publication has since learnt that not only does NCN own its satellite uplink, it is also capable of having any event occurring locally broadcast live not only across Guyana but throughout the Caribbean Region and even in North America.

This publication was told that while there is currently not in train any plans to have the equipment brought online with any haste, it will be made operational by the end of the year.

The contract with TVG 28 comes to an end in December and the administration has already signaled its intention to not have the contract renewed.

Details of the deal with TVG were not made known until two years later, in April

Former President Bharrat Jagdeo 2013, when former Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, in response to questions by then Opposition Member of Parliament Jaipaul Sharma, disclosed that $3.6M was being paid monthly to Ramroop’s TVG. TVG, it has been reported, collected $70M in 2011 (some $5.83 million per month) for the transmission of the channel throughout the country, using a dish network receiver system for remote communities.

Dismissal was an abuse of privilege and authority - Lewis

GRDB official’s termination…

The recent termination of a Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) official, who was assisting with that entity’s forensic audit, has caused trade unionist Lincoln Lewis to question the terms used to dismiss the individual.

Lewis, the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) General Secretary, described the arbitrary dismissal as an abuse of privilege and authority. He called on the reason for the dismissal to be made clear by GRDB authorities.

Among the recent developments in the GRDB forensic audit was the

discovery of $100M which was loaned by the GRDB outside of its authority, to the Rice Producers’ Association (RPA) with no form of collateral being provided.

On March 4, it had been reported that while assisting forensic auditors, the official a former Occupational Health and Safety Officer, was sent a termination letter

by GRDB General Manager Nizam Hassan.

In a letter to Hassan, the official can be seen requesting an explanation for the General Manager’s decision to dismiss him. The official’s letter went on to note that no reason for firing

him was provided in the termination letter.

The letter was reportedly written one day after the dismissal.

In the correspondence, it was stated that while the GM “claimed it was a Board decision, the Board would not (have met) until Friday, October 2, 2015.”

Lewis noted that such an arbitrary dismissal was an abuse that should not be allowed to go unchecked. He affirmed that such occurrences must be brought to an end.

He added that in some instances the Head of a Corporation can move to

BLOOD DRIVE NOTICE

T

he National Blood Transfusion Services (NBTS), the country’s national blood bank, in collaboration with Kaieteur News will on Friday, October 16, 2015 (tomorrow) host a blood drive.

The blood drive will be at this publication’s 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown, Georgetown office.

Persons who are desirous of giving blood can opt to do so between the hours of 10:00 and 16:00 hours.

However, eligibility of donors will be determined by a screening process conducted by professionals attached to the NBTS. We look forward to the support of the public to make this event a success. GIVE BLOOD; GIVE LIFE!

arbitrarily dismiss a senior official under the severance pay law. Describing this as a draconian law, he stated that it is often done when the Head of the Corporation cannot prove a case against the official. “This is about

power,” he said. “Some have power and they use it to the detriment of others.”

He added that action needs to be taken and it must be made clear on what grounds the official was dismissed. With regard to

protection for other whistleblowers, Lewis stated that the Terms of Reference (TOR), under which the forensic audits operated, need to be revisited (Continued on page 15)

Thursday October 15, 2015

Kaieteur News

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

The City Council needs to be audited from top to bottom DEAR EDITOR, The Georgetown Municipality is in need of not just a straightforward financial audit, but rather a complete forensic audit of all its departments.

Of course in the Finance Department, there needs to be an examination of the recent cleaning and other contracts that were given to Councilors and friends, to determine the criteria used for awarding them and to u n d e r s t a n d h ow one Councilor could have been recently paid for the rental of his truck to his very Council years ago whilst another collected millions o f d o l l a r s allegedly for advertisements placed by the Council on his television station, which incidentally no

one looks at; two clear cases of cronyism.

Apart from its financial management systems, which are and have been in a mess for a long time, there is need for an audit to be done to its Human Resource Department to highlight and root out the nepotism that is endemic there, where there is an infinite number of persons employed who are relatives and friends of Councilors and senior officers, who have been employed not because of their competency or qualifications but because of their family member status.

They should also examine the promotions and increments that have been given quite improperly, not based on merit but rather comradeship.

The City Engineer’s Department needs to have a management audit undertaken to determine who allowed all the illegal structures to go up in the city, to ascertain how Building Inspectors, whose responsibility it is to ensure that persons are erecting buildings according to approved plans, could be allowed to draw these very plans whilst ignoring blatant violations.

Over at the Markets, there needs to be an examination of the books to uncover who the real stall holders are and to see whether all the fees collected, particularly from itinerant vendors, go where they belong.

Debra Gibson

DEAR EDITOR, I am currently conducting research on Berbice and my Google search took me to many interesting hits and findings, which I am using for my upcoming book.

But I also came across some bizarre writings on Berbice spearheaded by Frederick Kisssoon, chastising the former head of state Donald Ramotar about a month ago for the wrong usage of the word intuition and that Ramotar should have used instead the word intention.

What a curious mind I must say, which the intent and not the intuition was to embarrass Ramotar.

Interestingly enough, I did another search and came across another piece by Kissoon “Berbicians: Mad, racist or just plain naïve.”

In that piece, Kissoon wrote: “Today the sourpuss cry from the entire PPP leadership, including dirtyminded politicians who wielded power for twenty three years over a hapless and helpless nation is being transported to Berbice in special caravans of proselytization.”

The usage of the word “transported” is in question.

The word transport or transportation means to move people and things.

Certainly, he is speaking of

intangible things, like thoughts and actions, “sourpuss cry”, and the right was word in this context should have been “transferred” not “transported”.

This is a man who claims that he has been writing for over twenty-five years. Of course, we all make mistakes and the more one writes the more one is likely to make mistakes.

But to chastise and embarrass someone who was the former Head of State because he made a human error is not within the realm of decent journalism.

Lomarsh Roopnarine

Freddie makes mistakes too

Govt should stagger the 50% salary increase for Ministers DEAR EDITOR, The Government’s proposed 50% increase in salaries for Government Ministers has generated the first wave of ill-will towards the new administration.

Many persons and organisations that covertly and publicly stood in the APNU/AFC corner before and after the elections are now giving the Coalition a look of askance.

While government ministers’ salaries are embarrassing compared to top managers and CEOs of some companies, it would seem that the timing of the mammoth increase, percentage wise, is bad.

I wish not to join the chorus of critics on the matter but rather to suggest that the

government stagger the increase. Perhaps, it may wish to consider 25% for this year, and 25% next year when the nation would have had more time to assess the performance of Ministers.

It is too early in the day of the APNU/AFC era for the voice of its supporters to fall on deaf and defiant ears.

Ignoring the sentiments of the people altogether may prove disastrous in the long run.

It will certainly alienate some sections of supporters, give the opposition ammunition, and provide reporters with a descriptive phrase that can tarnish the government’s clean slate.

As a former journalist, I can see the increase being used as leaders in news

reports and as descriptive of the government. For example, headlines will read, “The APNU/AFC government, which increased its Ministers’ salaries by 50% on assuming office, is doing so and so.’’

The nomenclature can become stuck to the government like a donkey’s tail.

Reconsidering the 50% increase with a view to staggering it will not take anything off the government.

On the contrary, it would add credence to it, it will demonstrate that the government is listening to the people, and it will lift the Coalition’s integrity beyond what was seen in government for the last 25 years.

Lennox Cornette

DEAR EDITOR, I could not believe my eyes , when I read in the in the October 3 edition of the Official Gazette that the Mayor of Georgetown Hamilton Green has been appointed as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA).

Surely the persons making the recommendations and appointments of persons to state boards must realize that this is a clear conflict of interest.

How could the Mayor who chairs statutory meetings of the City Council also be the Chairman of the

Central Housing and Planning Authority?

When one wishes to erect a building he or she has to submit three copies of the plans to the Mayor and City Council to begin the application process. After the Mayor and City Council chaired by the Mayor approves this plan it is then forwarded to the Central Housing and Planning Authority for their approval.

Here again it will run into

Hamilton Green who will be this time wearing the hat of the CH&PA Chairman as it seeks to get its secondary approval . Where will the checks and balances be?

There is no separation of powers. Hamilton Green can approve a faulty plan at City Hall and then go over to the Central Housing and Planning Authority and approve it a second time.

This madness has to stop.

Nadine Jerrick

This madness has to stop

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Kaieteur News

Thursday October 15, 2015

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

Police applauded on recovering stolen cattle DEAR EDITOR, I applaud the police for taking swift action to recover Mrs. Gordon’s stolen cattle taken from West Berbice to East Coast Demerara.

Cattle rustling has been a serious problem since the time of independence, especially during the dictatorship.

My family and other farmers on the Corentyne were/have been victims of cattle rustling with litt l e assistance from the police to recover their stolen animals.

Even when the stolen cattle were identified at the compound of known thieves, the police refused to take actions against the bandits and middle men who traded in stolen cattle.

Elements in the police were in cahoots with the rustlers and bandit traders. In

one incident, dozens of a Port Mourant cattleman’s cows were stolen from the backlands of Central Corentyne and taken to a ranch in East Coast Berbice.

On a tip off, the cattleman, who was called ‘Lilboy’, along with a group of friends (to show strength) descended on the farm to recover their cows.

When confronted, the workers on the ranch with their brand number (still on the rustled cows), they were beaten and chased off with guns pointed at them.

“It was licks like peas”, they said, adding, “Our backs were reddened and busted with beatings”. It took months for them to recover from the beatings.

They said the police were not helpful. When they went to the station, the police

discouraged them from filing a report. The police refused to accompany them to the farm to recover their rustled cattle.

The police also told them to forget their losses and return home.

In short, the police were very inactive, refusing to take actions against roaming bandits.

Victims were convinced that elements in the police were part and parcel of rustling gangs and middle men trading in stolen cattle.

It is good reading that the police have taken action against a rustler suspect.

The East Coast Demerara farmer caught with stolen cattle must be prosecuted with maximum punishment to deter rustling and trading of stolen goods or animals.

Vishnu Bisram

CARICOM will not only survive...

From page 4 It was also during that period that the Friends of the Caribbean in Congress (US Congress) was birthed as a result of the active interaction between CARICOM and the United States.

Another of Freddie’s contentions is that there is not much trade among CARICOM member states. What is not

much? There is significant trade among CARICOM member countries but there is room for much more.

As for his contention about CARICOM on the Venezuela/Guyana border controversy, that too in my view is flawed. CARICOM has always maintained that Venezuela must respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity

of Guyana based on the 1899 Arbitral Award.

CARICOM member states, like all other countries, have to base their foreign policy conduct on “enlightened self-interest” which requires at times a certain strategic ambiguity. If and when the time comes, CARICOM can never withhold its full and unambiguous public support for Guyana.

Can CARICOM survive the next 30 years? It will. It has to. It will not only survive but become more relevant to its people.

Wesley Kirton

Read the tea leaves and act accordingly DEAR EDITOR, Public service is about delivering for the people by way of making appropriate sacrifices.

Some view public service as the highest form of service to humanity, outside of religion.

The greatest reward one receives from delivering public service is the level of satisfaction that comes from playing a role in improving the lives of others.

Every successive government has the greater opportunity to deliver better service than their predecessor. And it is for this reason the current government is expected to not make the same mistakes or experience the same pitfalls of previous governments.

There was a time, not so long ago, when politicians believed that committing an infraction against the society will only see citizens reacting for the proverbial ‘nine days,’ and then thereafter the issue is forgotten. Politicians usually waited out this period to continue acts of intransigence.

In this Information Age, by the touch of a mouse, what was said in the past is now easily retrievable and can be

used to hold persons to account or haunt them.

Conscious that there has been significant change by way of receiving and sharing ideas and information, a prudent government has to be more discerning in its actions and treatment of citizens.

Current discussions as to the increase in salary for Ministers and Parliamentarians, etc. cannot be treated the same way as done in the past. We are today operating in a society where the citizens are more informed, desirous of seeing best practices in other countries replicated in theirs, and moreso understanding of their rights and responsibility in the body politic.

Citizens are also aware that offering oneself to serve the people comes with a corresponding responsibility of operating in service to the people and putting the nation’s interest above self.

This is not to say the people expect elected officials to be deprived; what they expect is deliberateness in actions and respect for them.

In managing the people’s business, there is a universally acceptable blueprint that every

government needs to follow and it is premised on respecting fundamental rights and freedoms, the rule of law and time-honoured principles. Foremost, every government that comes to power on the vote of citizens must remember who they are elected by and to whom they are in service to: the people.

The litmus test for this government is how responsive it will be to alternative opinions, criticisms and public outcries.

The David Granger/Moses Nagamootoo government, like the Donald Ramotar government, has an opportunity to demonstrate to the citizens that they are not insensitive as the Bharrat Jagdeo regime.

This government should also take note that the wave of citizens’ activism that secured change in political leadership will be the same wave that will hold them to account. The people desire meaningful change to the political circumstances under which their affairs are managed and some will fight for it, regardless. Discerning and self-respecting government will read the tea leaves and act accordingly.

Lincoln Lewis

DEAR EDITOR, We have seen a lot of commentary on the recent increases given to the Guyanese government Ministers.

There is really never a good time in any country for those at the top of the public service to give themselves a

pay raise. So we can argue forever about timing.

However, I think folks are talking without looking around the world, especially at the good examples we should emulate.

Many would agree that Singapore is a great example of a country that has transitioned from developing country to developed country. Some would know that officials from Singapore came to the Caribbean in the 1950s/1960s to learn from us.

Now we need to learn some things from Singapore.

Singapore is now one of the least corrupt countries in the word with a very efficient public service and education system.

Singapore pays Government Ministers and Civil Servants well to attract the best and also to minimize corruption.

Guyana needs to urgently tackle corruption, and inefficient Public Services. It requires better pay for all Public Servants, concerted efforts to improve systems so that services are provided more efficiently, and also ensure that those who are caught in corrupt acts face the courts quickly.

So what commentators should do is get the government more focused on rooting out corruption, getting the corrupt to court, and improving the Public Service: police, registry services, education and etc.

We all need to look in the mirror, e.g. those who complain about salary increases and are in the Public Service should not be in bars at midday getting drunk while citizens do not get the services they deserve.

Fitzgerald (Gerry) Yaw, Ph.D.

We need to learn some things from Singapore

Thursday October 15, 2015

Kaieteur News

EU leaders postpone talks on euro zone future until December

European Council President Donald Tusk addresses the European Parliament during a debate on the results of the last informal European Council, in Strasbourg, France. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler BRUSSELS (Reuters) European Union leaders have postponed a deeper discussion of the future of the euro zone until December because of divergent views in the biggest countries and because of the more pressing migration issue, diplomats said.

EU leaders, who were to meet today in Brussels, were to talk about fleshing out a report on the future of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) prepared by the 28-nation bloc’s top five officials in June — the socalled five presidents’ report — as the Greek debt crisis was shaking the euro zone’s foundations.

“There will be a short report on EMU, but ... there is no readiness for and no reform consensus between Germany and France,” one senior EU official said.

“We have not had such divergent views for a long time, so it would be very dangerous now if this discussion was opened, because it would reveal all the differences,” the official said.

Draft conclusions for the summit, seen by Reuters, refer

only to “taking stock of discussions” on the report and note that leaders will return to the issue at a summit in December.

Officials said that while both Germany and France wanted a stronger euro zone, the Germans were more focused on how to enforce existing EU rules while the French are more focused on how to distribute money from a future euro zone budget, called a “fiscal capacity”.

Paris and Berlin also had different concepts of sovereignty, officials said.

Officials said that with a full blown migration crisis on their hands, the chairman of EU leaders Donald Tusk wanted to focus on one contentious issue at a time, leaving euro zone integration plans for later.

Scheduling such discussions for December was all the more justified as they were to be based on ideas from the European Commission which would take forward some aspects of the June report.

They will also concern mainly the next two years of evolution of the single

currency area now which now has 19 members, not least because Britain is to decide in a referendum over the next two years whether to stay in the EU or leave.

Longer-term euro zone integration ideas, which could leave Britain marginalized, could influence the plebiscite, officials said, and where therefore best left for later.

Draft conclusions of the EU summit say only that the leaders will “take stock of the discussions on the Presidents’ report” and call for work to intensify, especially on completing the banking union.

Under the banking union project euro zone banks are now under a single supervisor and there is a common way of resolving banks that failed and paying for it.

The last element of the banking union, a joint EU deposit guarantee scheme, however, is highly controversial as Germany is strongly opposing ideas under which money to guarantee German savers’ deposits could be used to rescue savers elsewhere.

Washington (AFP) - US President Barack Obama yesterday notified Congress that he intends to deploy 300 troops to Cameroon to conduct intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations.

In a letter released by the White House, Obama said 90 personnel had already been deployed, and would be armed for self-defense.

A senior administration official told AFP the

deployment was “part of the counter Boko Haram effort.”

Cameroon, along with a growing number of west and central African nations, has been targeted by the Islamist militants, who are expanding operations beyond the group’s traditional base in northern Nigeria.

Twin suicide blasts on Sunday killed at least nine people and injured 29 in far northern Cameroon. Two female suicide bombers

carried out the attacks in the village of Kangaleri, security and local sources said.

Nine people died when the first woman detonated a bomb in a tiny milk and donut restaurant. The second suicide bomber killed only herself, a local authority official said. The attack came a day after triple explosions in Chad left 41 dead.

Both countries are part of a regional coalition that has been fighting the militants.

Obama announces deployment of 300 troops to Cameroon

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Kaieteur News

Thursday October 15, 2015

Thousands march against corruption in South Africa Johannesburg (AFP) Several thousand demonstrators marched through Johannesburg yesterday to protest against government corruption as public anger builds over South Africa’s weakening economy.

The rally was led by the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (NUMSA), which has become a powerful voice of opposition to President Jacob Zuma and the ruling Africa National Congress (ANC) party.

Banners held by demonstrators read “Away with corruption. Away with Zuma government” and “Corruption taxes the poor.

We say tax the rich.”

“We see a very direct relationship between corruption and the state of our economy, which results in us losing jobs in the thousands,”

Zwelinzima Vavi, one of the organisers, told cheering crowds.

“Thirteen million people go to bed every night without anything to eat, while 50 percent of workers are earning below the poverty line. We have had enough.”

According to the latest International Monetary Fund forecasts, economic growth will fall to just 1.4 percent this year in South Africa and will decline again next year.

A tumbling rand and unreliable electricity supplies have added to the country’s woes, with business confidence now at its lowest level since the end of apartheid in 1994.

Zuma’s private residence has become a symbol of alleged government misspending after $24 million (21 million euros) was used on “security” improvements to the sprawling homestead.

“Zuma has brought a culture of corruption into this country,” Enoch Mthembu, a 50-year-old unemployed man from KwaZulu-Natal province, told AFP at the march.

“We used to think he is the guy who would liberate us, the poor. But he decided to become a thief.”

Zuma led the ANC to an easy victory in last year’s general election, but could face defeats in several cities at municipal elections in 2016.

Last week, he admitted that the party was seen as having a corruption problem and was losing support after being in power since 1994.

The ANC is due to choose a new leader in 2017, with the battle likely to be between deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa and Zuma’s exwife and current African Union Commission chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

Two weeks ago another march in nearby Pretoria also attracted thousands of marchers in what civil society activists hoped would develop into a broad-based campaign against corruption.

Thursday October 15, 2015

Kaieteur News

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INCREASE THE SALARIES OF MINISTERS FURTHER The government needs to stop making explanations for the increases in salaries paid to Ministers. If the government has nothing to apologize over, it should not have anything to explain also.

The government has made a mess whenever it has tried to explain the increases to its Ministers. Every time some government official offers an explanation it is a different explanation from what someone else offered.

The Minister of Finance is the latest person to offer an explanation. But to me his main justification makes no sense. If the government needed to ensure some differentiation between the salaries of the Junior Ministers and the Senior Ministers and the Senior Ministers and the Vice Presidents, why would you have to increase the Junior Ministers salaries by 12 percent and increase the senior Ministers by 50 percent?

Why not increase the Senior Ministers by 20 percent and the Juniors by 12 percent? This would have created a satisfactory

differential. Or alternatively leave the Senior Ministers salaries as they were and decrease the Junior Ministers pay. But even if we accept that there was a need to increase the salaries of the Senior Minister, why increase also the super salaries of the Prime Minister and now we are learning the President?

Those explanations offered by the Minister of Finance are not going to go down well with the public.

Right now there is an anomaly between the salaries of Ministers and the salaries of Headteachers. So one can only hope that come next year, this huge gap between the two salaries will be attended to. See what I mean when I say that the explanations make little sense.

It is therefore best that the government keeps its mouth shut and ride out this political storm. Of course they always have the option of remedying the situation.

One way of remedying the situation is to increase the salaries of all the Ministers to one million dollars per month.

But in return these Ministers should pay their own

Dem boys seh...

Jagdeo evil ketching up wid him Jail watching nuff people who think that dem coulda do wha dem want fuh as long as dem want. Jagdeo like nuff people don’t like see land suh when he tun president he decide to grab land like when dog grabbing fowl or like when hawk grabbing chicken.

Dem boys seh that he grab till he now grab de jail door.

And he got nuff of dem wid him because thief man don’t like going to jail alone.

When de news buss out, he run out de house. Dem boys see he running and de security running behind him. He didn’t know wheh he going and de security didn’t even know wheh he going.

In de end he end up at Babbie. When he meet deh, he wasn’t alone. He see Priya, de Westford gyal, and Rob de Earth. All of dem was complaining how Babbie mislead dem.

When dem see de land and dem decide to tek it, dem ask Babbie if it was thiefing and he tell dem no. All of dem want to know if dem going to jail.

Donald hear de conversation from outside de window.

He was there digging up some of de money that hide up there. He tell dem that de only way dem can avoid jail is if dem go backtrack to Suriname.

De Chat-3 know that people can go to jail suh he try to spin de issue. He claim how de people who want to charge Jagdeo trying to dodge de pay increase. He ain’t telling people that he is de man who cause de increase in de first place. He is de man who mek Sam Blinds pay jump three times as high and people didn’t know.

De truth is that moon does run till day ketch am. When Jagdeo build de mansion he think that he woulda enjoy causing people who he don’t like to suffer.

He don’t like de Waterfalls boss man suh he get people to trump up charges. Maurice Arjoon didn’t support de Berbice Bridge suh he get people to trump up charges against him. Well dem boys seh that he day come. Is charge upon charge fuh he tail.

Talk half and listen out fuh de wailing and bawling.

electricity bill, they should pay their own water bill, they should pay their own telephone bills. They should not be entitled to chauffeurs, duty free concessions or to maids and gardeners. They should all be paid one million dollars per month but pay their own expenses. The State will end up saving and the very persons who feel that the government should not have granted itself a huge salary increase will be happy.

Why is it that Ministers should not be allowed to pay their own utility bills? Why is it that Ministers have to be provided with chauffeurs and fancy State-owned vehicles?

Why is it that taxpayers have

to pay for a maid and gardener for someone who is working for a handsome salary?

And who is it that decides these benefits? Well you guessed right. It is the very government that decides.

Right now there is something called a Commission of Inquiry that is taking place to determine what benefits public servants should receive.

I have a few cents to bet that the outcome of this inquiry will not see recommendations for junior public servants to enjoy free electricity, free telephone service, and free security or free maids and gardeners.

If junior public servants

do not pay their electricity bill by the 18th day of each month, the disconnection crew will be dispatched to cut the electricity supply to their building. To have the electricity reconnected, the junior officials have to pay a reconnection fee of $3, 500.

The disconnection crew is not interested in any explanation. Once your account is in the red by a certain amount, you have to be disconnected.

No one from GPL calls you to remind you that your bills are due. They should be doing this because their customers are their clients.

GPL treats its clients very shabbily. They cut you off

without giving you a chance to put yourself in order.

It is interesting that we have never heard about the electricity supply of a Minister being disconnected.

You see who ever pays the bills for the Ministers, pays them on time.

That may well become another justification for the benefits that Ministers receive. It can be argued that if the State does not pay the utility bills of Ministers they will end up in darkness and without water because they are so busy they simply do not have the time to join any line at the utility company.

Corneal transplant - intricate as building a ship in a bottle - Surgeon While orthopaedic surgeons are like carpenters, corneal transplant surgeons are like model builders. This is according to Corneal Transplant surgeon of many years, Dr. Joseph Pasternak.

He said of his profession that “it’s like building a ship in a bottle.”

Dr. Pasternak, a military surgeon attached to the Walter Reed Medical Centre in Washington D.C, United States, was one of two surgeons who were part of a visiting team that conducted corneal transplant procedures at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation at the weekend.

The transplants were conducted at no cost to the 12 beneficiaries.

Among the memorable cases Dr. Pasternak reflected on following the weekend operations was one involving a 12-year-old patient. The young male patient, he disclosed, was at the time suffering from a cold and therefore there were some concerns about administering the local anaesthetic required for the operation.

“He had his injection and just lay there for one hour and a half...all he needed was somebody to hold his hand and one of the Sisters (nurse) held his hand,” mused Dr Pasternak. In fact he disclosed that the pre-teen was so comfortable with the operation that before the end of the surgery he was fast asleep. “He got so calm; it was great...he just knew he could trust us,” added the Surgeon.

Although Dr. Pasternak has experience in performing corneal transplants for over two decades he insists that he is not among the best in

the field. According to him, “There are surgeons who can do surgery so fast that it can boggle the mind.” But this ability, he disclosed, “depends on how good your hands are. A beginning surgeon might take close to two hours just because you are learning how to sew. You have to learn how to hold the needle; you have to learn where to put the needle to match up the edges.”

He continued, “You could break the sutures by pulling too tight; knots can lock up...all these little factors but after you get experience with it and do it without too many interruptions it can take about 45 minutes to an hour.”

Working under the supervision of the two visiting surgeons (Dr. Pasternak and Dr. Stephen Waller), was Head of the GPHC’s Ophthalmology Unit, Dr. Shailendra Sugrim.

And according to Dr. Pasternak, he (Dr. Surgim) went from the beginner twohour to 45 minutes within days. “This is a transition that often takes a year, so for him to do that over a four or fiveday period is miraculous; you have to have good hands to do that,” he added.

Sutures undertaken by corneal transplant surgeons are always different, according to Dr. Pasternak, who pointed out that because of the difference in eye sizes, special instruments like cookie cutters are used.

“We have them in quarter millimetre incremental sizes and we have to make decisions for each eye...that’s the judgment each surgeon has to make,” he asserted.

While there could be scarring and bleeding during

Dr. Joseph Pasternak some procedures, Dr. Pasternak revealed that there are others that are crystal clear. “Sometimes the patient is moving around or trying to

get up...all of those things are part of eye surgery generally,” he divulged as he emphasised that the entire procedure is done under a microscope.

But despite the intricacies of the profession, Dr. Pasternak disclosed that a corneal transplant surgeon is driven by the fact that with each completed transplant a patient is able to regain his or her eye sight.

“We try to get as many patients in as we can,” said Dr Pasternak. But according to him, a surgeon might be forced to take a break since the procedure could cause strain to the neck and the microscope must always be just right.

“After a while you need some rest...but we can go for four to six hours without a break trying to get as many patients in,” he noted.

Page 10

Kaieteur News

Thursday October 15, 2015

=== The Freddie Kissoon column ===

Mussolini and Tennessee Williams in the PPP I saw a photograph of a PPP press conference. Sitting at the table were four senior PPP leaders, three of whom served the PPP for “millions” of years. The three were Clement Rohee, Donald Ramotar and Roger Luncheon. The fourth was Bharrat Jagdeo who had a

term as Finance Minister, twelve years as de jure President and three years as de facto President.

There wasn’t even a slight presence of pizzazz in the room where these once powerful oligarchs sat. The contemplative look told the story of an uncertain

tomorrow. One would like to see these gentlemen seriously participate in the immediate nurturing of a new pyramid in Freedom House.

The political observer would naturally ask if it isn’t time to move on. Emphasis would naturally be placed on Luncheon because his illhealth has been reported in the press by governmental news agencies and not the private media which the PPP would have accused of exaggeration.

The Government informed the public that the Office of the President did install an elevator on the ground floor to accommodate Dr. Luncheon.

The goodly doctor himself publicly announced that he is suffering from a form of cancer. Dr. Luncheon was the only witness who testified for President Jagdeo in the libel Mr. Jagdeo brought against me and this newspaper. He had to be assisted up the staircase and allowed to sit in the witness box throughout his testimony in July 2011.

Surely an onlooker must ask if the doctor isn’t considering quitting active politics. With uncertain health and long

service, it may be the right time for Luncheon to look at the twilight of inevitability.

But will he? Will the others? I saw a video of Gail Teixeira marshalling her troops as she conducted operations to remove assets from the Office of the Opposition Leader when David Granger held that title.

She had a lugubrious stare in her eyes. I gazed at the video as if I was mesmerized not by the banality of Teixeira’s visage, not by the aridity of the bonfire that accompanied the exit of her entourage from the building, not by the autumn leaves that clung to her Wall Street wardrobe that she wore as she climbed down the stairs but at the symbol that formed a halo that surrounded the presence of Teixeira.

It was a fading halo of the Latin oligarch on horseback who rides away into the night leaving behind the perfumed bathtub that the young men in uniform will throw out the window as the incoming leaders banish the image of the oligarch from the face of this country forever.

The very day I saw the video of Teixeira, I was going

through the exit of the Budget Supermarket on Sheriff Street.

Entering was the man who held two portfolios in the Ramotar presidency – Ministry of Housing and Water and Ministry of Trade and Tourism. I didn’t see him because in my crazy style, my mind was wandering.

Irfaan Ali said hello and as I looked back, I saw him.

He had a sunshine smile on his face that was in stark contrast to the maudlin appearance of the little Mussolini figures that sat at the table and the Tennessee Williams characters that sit at the top of the PPP hierarchy.

Maybe he is building the new pyramid in Freedom House. If he thinks he will be allowed to, then he is fooling himself.

On Tuesday morning, I was a guest of the Channel 9 morning programme, “First Look” and the host with an intestinal curiosity on his face asked if I think that the APNUAFC Government could lose in the 2020 elections. My reaction was swift. The answer flew out. No! The PPP will not win the next poll. Not with those who failed and still think they have won.

This is exactly what is

Frederick Kissoon taking place inside the PPP. It is a sordid Catch-22 that the PPP seniors have been imprisoned in.

If the seniors tell their supporters that there were neglects and mistakes that caused the loss of a majority in 2011 and 2015, then this reality opens up the possibility of the thousands who still are cheering to think about changing of the guard.

The people from the seventies who Cheddi Jagan nurtured will become more paranoid. Paranoid politics accompanied Cheddi Jagan his whole life and he passed on that motif to every generation of PPP leaders.

So the only route is to lie to the cheerleaders with the stuck record that the election was rigged. That too is no winning card.

Thursday October 15, 2015

Kaieteur News

Salary increase designed to ensure parity in Govt structure By: Kiana Wilburg The recent salary increases for Members of Parliament (MPs) are not exorbitant said Minister of Governance, Raphael Trotman, yesterday. In fact, he believes it is “fair.”

He said, too, that the increases were necessary to address certain disparities in the salary structure in the three arms of the government the Legislative, the Executive and the Judiciary.

Finance Minister, Winston Jordan, told Kaieteur News on Tuesday that the salary increases for Ministers and Members of Parliament were necessary for three reasons - to outline an income for Vice Presidents which did not exist before, to correct anomalies in the payment structure and finally, because the work load has increased.

Jordan said, “We inherited a system where the President was receiving a salary of about $2M nontaxable. The Prime Minister was receiving a taxable salary of some $1.5M while the Attorney General, the Chancellor and the Chief Justice were receiving $1.6M. “There was no allocation for Vice Presidents; this position did not exist under the PPP. But the Senior and Junior Ministers were receiving the same pay of about $579, 000.”

He continued, “It is clear that there are huge anomalies there. The President, Prime Minister and AG are receiving massive salaries and your seniors and juniors are at the

same level, one-third of what the Prime Minister was receiving. Nowhere in the Caribbean does such a system exist.”

The Finance Minister had explained that for Junior Ministers, the $579, 000 was increased by 12 ½ percent while for senior Ministers it was increased by 50 percent.

As for the Vice Presidents, he said, they received a 60 percent increase on the $579,000.

He noted that the $1.6M salary for the Attorney General was increased by five percent while the Prime Minister ’s salary was increased by 10.7 percent.

The Attorney General, until now, was earning more than the Prime Minister.

But even with the increase, the Prime Minister will take home less than the Attorney General who pays no taxes.

He confirmed that President David Granger stands to benefit from the increase since his salary will be raised by five percent.

The salary increases were published in the Official Gazette of September 25. The report listed Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo’s salary as now $20,580,000 per annum, while the salary of every Vice-President was listed as $11,135,064.

Cabinet Ministers’ salaries went up to $10,439,124 per annum while the Junior Ministers were entitled to $8,346,492.

To those who are incensed by the salary bumps, Trotman said yesterday, the administration

Minister of Governance, Raphael Trotman is not numb to their concerns.

He said, “Trust us. You trusted us with government on May 11 and we ask you to continue to trust us and believe in us.”

He made those statements, among others, as he was grilled at length on the issue during a post Cabinet press briefing.

This newspaper reminded Trotman that when government took office it lamented that the economy was slowing down, the Consolidated Fund was in heavy overdraft hence major increases for certain public sector workers were not possible. He was even reminded of statements made to the effect that government has no apology to make about the increases.

Asked if he would concede that this was indeed

a political misstep for the government, Trotman skirted around the question. He said, “Let me correct something, government never said it has no apology to make for the increases, the press I believe quoted the Minister of State, Joseph Harmon who I think was asked to give a comment at an event… and I think perhaps, he was caught off guard but it is not necessarily that he was misspeaking but just perhaps giving an opinion.”

Trotman said the fact that Ministers have engaged the press on the matter of the salary increases is proof that they are not hiding.

The Governance Minister was then pressed for his response to the concerns of the ordinary man who is earning $50,000 a month meanwhile, he and his colleagues are raking in over $600, 000 a month plus benefits.

“Well, we say to the Guyanese people to trust us…I think if you were to do a comparative study of the salaries of Government and Judicial officers throughout the region, you would find that these are in no way, above or far from what is the norm. I believe that the Finance Minister actually gave the reasons for the differentials…There is nothing excessive,” he said.

Minister Trotman is of the opinion also that what may be escaping the attention of the public is the fact that the Leader of the Opposition got a “sizeable” increase and so did every MP. He disclosed (Continued on page 24)

Page 11

Sanjay’s owner granted bail pending appeal against jail sentence Just five days after he was convicted on a Causing Death by Dangerous Driving charge, prominent city jeweler, Bishnarine ‘Sanjay’ Persaud, has been granted bail.

Persaud, proprietor of ‘Sanjay’s Jewelry,’ was on Friday last, found guilty of the offence. He was sentenced to 58 months in prison by city Magistrate, Judy Latchman.

On that date, the businessman’s Attorney, Glenn Hanoman signaled his intention to appeal the Magistrate’s ruling, but failed in his efforts to secure bail.

Yesterday, Hanoman successfully acquired bond in the sum $500,000 from the Court of Appeal. The bail was granted by Justice B.S Roy. In a written statement to the media, Hanoman explained that his client was granted bail by the Court of Appeal around 10:00 hours yesterday. According to Hanoman, the court found that based on a written memorandum of reasons supplied by the Magistrate, the appellant had a high likelihood of success at the eventual hearing of his appeal.

“The memorandum did not indicate any evidence that could reasonably support a guilty verdict. I expect he (Persaud) will be physically out of jail by 4:00pm,” the (Continued on page 24)

Bishnarine ‘Sanjay’ Persaud

Justice B.S Roy

Human Resource management needed for improved public service - says public official Permanent Secretary, (PS) of the Ministry of Public Health, Trevor Thomas, has noted there is need for better human resource management, strategic planning in the health sector.

Thomas told the Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the Public Service, yesterday, that extensive human resource management can be instrumental in the overall improvement and management of public service employees.

Speaking specifically about the personnel management, Thomas told the Commission that a solid human resource action plan is needed, in order to achieve on this objective. He noted that there is a difference between human resource management and personnel

management.

According to the PS, while personnel management is a traditional approach of managing people in the organization, human resource management creates room to yield more from people in a modern approach of managing people and their strengths in the organization.

In this regard, the Public Health official held out that in human management, an environment is created in which persons within the organisation can achieve their maximum potential. “We need to remove personnel management to human resource management,” he said.

The PS pointed out too that planning is necessary to this aspect. He asserted that having a significant number

of health personnel is not enough. “We must identify where the gaps are what our (health needs) are so that we can have suitably qualified persons/expertise to serve the public.”

Commenting on the need for a system of appraisal, Thomas said that persons within the sector must be selected based on merit, competence and qualification and performance. He said, “When people feel valued and respected, it can motivate them to go beyond the call of duty.”

Thomas is among several Permanent Secretaries scheduled to testify before the COI into the Public Service. The Commission was established to inquire into, report on, and make recommendations on the role,

functions, recruitment process, remuneration, conditions and other matters pertaining to the personnel employed in the Guyana Public Service.

It is expected to determine measures to improve the efficiency of the public service, to review the methodology used in the classification and recruitment of public servants.

The inquiry is also expected to conduct a detailed examination of how the salaries and wages of public servants are determined and allocated; review the age of public servant retirement and make recommendations in this regard.

On Monday, Secretary of the Public Service Commission (PSC), Jai Singh,

also testified before the Commission. As Head of the PSC, Singh also told the Commission that he functions as Secretary of the Police Service Commission and the Judicial Service Commission, (JSC).

He told Commissioners Harold Lutchman, Sandra Jones and Samuel Goolsaran that the Public Service Commission is only responsible for pensionable employees within the public service; the Department of Public Service handles all the contracted employment.

Singh also disclosed that part of the functions of the Public Service Commission is to advertise, shortlist and interview suitable candidates for vacant positions within the public service sector.

However, he said that

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Public Health, Trevor Thomas most of the advertisements are not being done publicly since the PSC does not have the necessary funds to pay for the placement of public advertisements in newspapers and other media outlets.

Page 12

Kaieteur News

Bushy park tragedy…

Boy, 14, died from drowning - PM A Post Mortem Examination on the body of 14-year-old Charles Anthony Pross, who was allegedly left to die on the floor of the Leonora Cottage Hospital, has revealed that he died by drowning.

The examination was done yesterday at the Ezekiel Funeral Home by Government Pathologist, Dr. Nehaul Singh.

Kaieteur News was also told that there were two holes under one of the teen’s arms and there were bruises around his mouth.

Pross, of Lot 676 La Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara (WBD) died around 16:30 hrs on Sunday.

According to reports, the teenager and his relatives had gone on a family outing at a resort in Bushy Park, Parika, East Bank Essequibo (EBE), when he was spotted in the water with what appeared to be twine wrapped around his feet.

The teen’s devastated mother, Shellon Henry said that she rushed her son to the Leonora Cottage Hospital but they did nothing to save him. In fact, she alleged that the hospital’s worker left him on the floor to die.

The woman explained that it was her brother’s birthday and he took relatives out on a picnic at the resort. She claimed that from the minute they entered the resort, a lot of strange things started to happen.

Her relatives were treated differently from the others.

“When we go in, the owner told us that we have to pay for the benab. Other people didn’t have to pay. After that, a child wanted to urinate and we had to pay $100 but again, we were the only people who were paying,” Henry said.

She explained that when her relatives realized that they were being treated differently, they opted to leave but her brother insisted on staying a little longer.

“When we agree to wait a little more, I tell them (relatives) that I going to the washroom.

While I walking, my son come to me and show me a red and black fish and tell me that the man (who works at the resort) give it to him,” Henry said.

She added that she told her son to wait until she returned from the washroom and they will return the fish.

“When I come out from the washroom, the man who gave my son the fish come to me and tell me that the water carrying away my son. When I run go, my brother swim towards

DEAD: Charles Anthony Pross the location the man showed us, and I stand in the shallow part of the water while the man was sitting right near me in the water,” Henry explained.

She added that her brother combed the location where the man told them he saw the teen’s body but was unable to locate him.

“You see when that man got up from where he was sitting, my son body bounced up right there. His feet were tied with twine and the bone at the back of his neck just pointing upwards like,” the mother stated.

She recalled performing CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) on her son continuously until he reached to the hospital.

“When we took him to the hospital, they didn’t have stretcher or anything. They just had him on the floor for almost an hour. One Cuban nurse left to go for a stethoscope and she never come back,” Henry alleged.

She further revealed that when the nurses finally took her son into the Emergency Room, they returned a short while and informed her that the teen had died.

“They didn’t even try to pump the water or so,” she revealed.

Thursday October 15, 2015

NFMU head must bear full responsibility for illegal action - Junior Finance Minister As the Forensic audits into several state agencies continue to unearth underhand transactions, Junior Finance Minister Jaipaul Sharma has made it clear that no agency Head can hide behind the excuse of the past Government influencing their actions, when they should have known better as technocrats.

In an interview with Kaieteur News, Sharma pointed out that as technocrats; Heads of Government Agencies have a responsibility to know whether the Government’s instruction to them violates the law and to advise the Government accordingly.

Failing to do so, he said, makes them part and parcel of the corruption.

Sharma’s statements follow claims made by National Frequency Management Unit (NFMU) Head Valmikki Singh, that the then Presidential Secretariat gave him instructions to expend the entity’s money on unrelated projects.

Kaieteur News had reported last week that the forensic audit into NFMU revealed some “glaring acts of corruption”; specifically that the unit spent millions of dollars on two controversial ICT projects pursued by the then Peoples Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) government.

The two projects, the One Laptop Per Family project and the Fibre Optic Cable from Brazil to Guyana, were part of the PPP’s e-governance initiative. The projects faced much criticism. During the initial phases, they were plagued by the effects of numerous setbacks and poor decisions.

Singh did not deny his role but stated that his agency acted on the instructions of the past Government to fund the mostly operational costs for the e-governance projects. He had also stated that every request for payment submitted for the ICT projects pre May 11, 2015 were approved by the secretariat.

However, Sharma noted that the action was a breach of the entity’s financial regulations governing how and what money could be spent on, and of the Public Corporations Act of 1988. He

noted that NFMU is governed by an Act, but that Singh in cohort with the Government expended millions on unrelated projects.

“No Minister (or Government) can cover you from breaking the law. So if you decide to take the instruction, then you are part and parcel of corroborating, building and carrying out the illegal activity.” Sharma said.

He added, “It is not right to say that even if you get the signature of the Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS) you will carry out an illegal act.”

The Junior Finance Minister asserted that even if the President’s signature was provided, since Singh is a technical person, he ought to know that the instruction was not consistent with the Act by which his agency is governed.

“That is what the NFMU Head was supposed to be doing. Every time he gets an instruction, he is supposed to know the Act,” Sharma said, adding that Singh should have also checked the Act to make sure that the instruction was relevant.

“And if it is not relevant, you have to write to your boss and say that it’s not relevant,” Sharma posited.

“In corporate governance and public service, ministries do have to take instructions from the government, but whatever instruction Government gives to the Ministry, it must be lawful.”

He noted that while refusal by a Government/ State official to carry out instructions from a Minister could lead to dismissal on the grounds of insubordination, acquiescence was dependent on the instruction being lawful.

“This is what I would want (to have seen) from him, if he could show that he wrote to the secretariat saying that this instruction is not in relation to his organization’s scope,” Sharma stated, adding that blame could have then been solely attributable to the then HPS. As it is, Sharma stated that the previous HPS, Dr. Roger Luncheon, could hide behind the cover that Singh did not advise him that the transfer of the sums was not in keeping with the Act. “The HPS could say, you are my advisor and you did

Junior Finance Minister, Jaipaul Sharma

NFMU Head, Valmikki Singh not advise me. So that explanation cannot protect him.” Sharma knocked the explanation even further, questioning why Singh was being paid a handsome US$4500 or $900,000 GYD per month salary, when he did not employ his technical expertise to advise the then administration that transferring the money was unlawful.

“I don’t know why he was being paid all that money, if Government can just tell him to do something and he will go ahead and do it. He is not a messenger. He is the Head of NFMU. He is the technical person and the buck stops at him,” Sharma said. “If it’s wrong, it’s wrong.”

The forensic audit into the NFMU found that “almost 90 percent of the funds of the Frequency Management Unit dating back to 2012 were spent on two projects that had absolutely nothing to do with the agency.”

The fibre optic cable which was started in 2011 was intended to bring another source of internet connectivity to Guyana. It should have been completed by 2013, but turned out to be a major embarrassment for the previous administration, after it faced delays due to damage and other technical issues.

Thursday October 15, 2015

Page 13

Kaieteur News

China commits 10 scholarships to Guyana for 2016

G

uyana will next year be eligible for scholarships in China. This subject was one addressed yesterday when China Ambassador to Guyana, Zhang Limin, met with Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton.

The meeting which was convened in the Minister’s Brickdam, Georgetown office saw the Ambassador, through an interpreter, congratulating Dr. Norton’s accession to ministerial office having spent years as a specialist doctor in the public health sector.

Ambassador Zhang made a point of emphasising that China and Guyana have over the years maintained

very close relations in the field of public health with China sending medical teams to support the local public health system for the past 40 years. “ To d a y w e h a d discussions in expanding the cooperation in public health between China and Guyana,” said Ambassador Zhang through his interpreter.

According to Dr. Norton, the visit yesterday was especially interesting to him given the fact that China through the Minister, has vowed to make available 10 scholarships to Guyanese students next year.

“We have always been receiving scholarships, particularly in Medicine. We will continue to get

Man crashes into horse, dies

Dead: Anthony Persaud Despite the best efforts of the police, accidents continue to claim the lives of citizens.

A C o r e n t y n e motorcyclist who collided with a horse on Sunday evening on the No. 58 Public Road, Corentyne, Berbice, succumbed on Monday at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) after he was rushed there.

Dead is Anthony Persaud, 20, a mechanic of Lot 126 No.57 Village Corentyne, Berbice.

Persaud was riding his Jailing motor cycle around 21:00 hrs on Sunday on the NO. 58 Public Road when he collided with a horse that was on the road.

After the impact Persaud was hurled from the motorcycle and landed several feet away. The horse,

it was reported ran away, and could not be found.

T h e m a n ’s s i s t e r , Mariana Persaud, 22, said that the family was at home when a passing resident informed them of the tragedy. When the family arrived on the scene the young man was lying on the road.

Persaud was picked up and placed in a passing ambulance and rushed to the Skeldon hospital. He was subsequently transferred to the New Amsterdam hospital and then to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation where he succumbed around 16:00 hrs.

The family was told that Persaud had suffered severe trauma as a result of injury to his brain.

The family complained that if the man had received more urgent medical attention he might have survived. They said that when they arrived at the Skeldon Hospital they had to wait for a few hours before an ambulance arrived from the Port Mourant Hospital to take the critically injured man to the New Amsterdam Hospital.

The ambulance at the Skeldon Hospital was newly acquired and reportedly had no gas - the family was told.

The now dead man’s sister stated that they offered to purchase gas, but the offer was refused.

Persaud who leaves to mourn, his parents and his three siblings, was the youngest of the lot.

more...over the years most have been in Medicine and I hope that the Guyanese students will make use of this opportunity to go and study in China,” said Minister Norton.

Just last week Argentina, through its Ambassador, Luis A. Martino, committed to offering Guyana support to improve its national blood transfusion service and promised to make available some scholarships to Guyanese to study in Argentina.

This support is one that is premised on bilateral SouthSouth co-operation between Guyana and Argentina.

Minister Norton in lauding the health support through the South-South collaboration recently disclosed that local general medical practitioners will be eligible for postgraduate programmes.

According to him, a good

FROM LEFT: Ambassador Zhang Limin and Minister Dr. George Norton. thing about the offer of such fellowships is that, “We practically have doctors ready to take up these offers because they are Spanishspeaking physicians who were Cuban trained. They can leave almost immediately for postgraduate training.”

But Minister Norton is hopeful that the postgraduate programme would not be limited to those related to

h a e m a t o l o g y, b u t h e anticipates that it will eventually include areas such as General Surgery, Internal Medicine and Gynaecology and Obstetrics.

Ambassador Martino also mentioned the possibility of support in paediatric care also being eventually extended to Guyana.

“It is good news for physicians who are looking for the possibility of doing postgraduate training, and we can assure them that we were guaranteed by the Ambassador here from Argentina that they will make postgraduate training available to our physicians and I am delighted and heartened by this,” added Minister Norton.

Page 14

Thursday October 15, 2015

Kaieteur News

Guyana Foundation launches - Aims to prepare national suicide workshop mental health strategy W

i t h t h e ultimate aim of preparing a national mental health strategy, local nongovernmental organisation (NGO), The Guyana Foundation (GF), has embarked upon a six-day suicide workshop.

These workshops are just the first in a set of activities planned by the NGO to tackle the issue of suicide in Guyana.

The six-day workshop was launched Monday and saw just over a dozen participants. These participants ranged from educators, social workers, and even rice farmers.

According to GF Managing Director, Anthony Autar, the workshop is a part of GF’s continual work in educating, raising awareness, and training counsellors in an effort to do its part to reduce the large number of deaths by suicide in Guyana.

Speaking directly to those participating in the

workshop, GF Founder, Supriya Singh-Bodden emphasised that the trained participants will be the ones entrusted to make a big difference to Guyana.

“Each one of you, we are entrusting you with a heavy responsibility. You will become the group that we will continue to grow and nurture and that will go out and assist Guyanese who are suffering terribly from mental health issues,” Singh-Bodden said.

In explaining the rationale behind the workshop, Singh-Bodden indicated that, from the outset, the Guyana Foundation set about doing projects in Guyana that would look at women and youth empowerment and community renewal. She explained that GF garnered enough support, both locally and internationally, to execute these projects across Guyana. However, she said, as the GF team travelled from region to region, a new need was recognised: the

(Left to right) Dr. Latchmin Narain, Stanley Ming, Eric Phillips, Supriya Singh-Bodden and Anthony Autar need to address “the amount of people that were falling victim to suicide and other mental health issues.”

She said, “There were times when we would go into a village, we would have a young lady help us to do donations and we’ll go back into the same village and would ask for her to join us,

but be told that she is dead.”

Singh-Bodden explained that it was from that point that the GF “changed gears”.

She said a massive national campaign was launched to tackle suicide. Over the years, she added, GF has been working to bring attention, both locally and internationally, to the

ongoing problem.

“The time has come now where we must begin to spring into action and we must now begin to solve the problem,” Singh-Bodden emphasised. She went on, “Often you can continue to talk and expend a lot of energy analysing the problem and so our organisation would like to spring into action.”

Meanwhile, as part of its action plan, GF will be preparing a national mental health strategy, she said. She said this strategy will be presented to the Guyana Government upon its completion. Further, she said, GF will engage local and international experts in the field to assist in the preparation of the document.

“Not only are we going to hand over this plan to the government, but we are going to prepare this organisation to assist in the implementation of the plan,” she said. She added that GF will vigorously attempt to raise funds globally to ensure that the issue is addressed as expediently as possible.

“The plan that we have in action will unfold over the next couple of months but the most important thing is that each one of us have a very, very important role to play going forward,” she said.

She stressed that the entire nation needs to be on guard, sensitised and willing to look out for each other.

“We are going to attempt to bring mental health counselling and assistance and make it as easily accessible to every single individual who is feeling mentally vulnerable in any way,” she added.

The workshop, which concludes on Saturday, is being facilitated by Guyanese-Canadian mental health professional, Dr. Latchmin Narain. Highly trained, Dr. Narain is a registered member of the Ontario Association of Consultants, Counsellors, Psychometrics and Psychotherapists (OACCPP) and holds a Master’s Degree as well as a Doctorate Degree in Counselling Psychology. Dr. Narain also runs the Anger Management Centre of Toronto Inc. Further, Narain has worked with GF in the past and facilitated workshops with the NGO last year.

Speaking briefly during the launch, Dr. Narain noted (Continued on page 24)

Thursday October 15, 2015

Page 15

Kaieteur News

Airport bandit found in Berbice house with bullet wound - accomplice remanded on birthday

Shawn Thom

A

Plaisance man, who police are certain was among a gang of bandits that came under fire from the police last week, has been captured.

The 23 year old suspect was nabbed in a house at Tucber Park, New Amsterdam, Berbice, yesterday. At the time he was being treated by a woman for a gunshot wound to his upper hand.

Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum told this newspaper that the police of the Criminal Investigations Department headquarters, Eve Leary, acting on

intelligence obtained, went to Berbice where they found the suspect.

The woman, who happens to be the suspect’s girlfriend, has informed police that the suspect had told her that he was shot by the police in Georgetown.

She was also taken into police custody to assist with the investigations.

Investigators say that the wounded man was in a gang that trailed a car load of passengers from the Cheddi Jagan International Airport with the intention of robbing them. However their plans were thwarted when they were intercepted by ranks of the Guyana Police Force.

There was a shootout and the driver of the bandit car who was also wounded, was arrested.

At the time, the police were apparently not aware that another suspect was wounded. It was only after they received information about the suspect in Berbice that they realized how successful their operation was.

Meanwhile, the other man was yesterday remanded to prison, even as he celebrated his 37th birthday.

Former murder accused, Shawn Thom pleaded not guilty to three criminal charges when he appeared in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Magistrate Ann McLennan.

Thom, of Third Street, A l e x a n d e r Vi l l a g e , i s accused of discharging a loaded firearm at Prim Narine, a Detective attached to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), with intent to maim, disable, disfigure or cause him grievous bodily harm, on October 7, at Kitty Georgetown.

According to Police Prosecutor, Corporal Deniro Jones, Narine was on duty elsewhere during the court proceedings.

It was alleged that on O c t o b e r 7 , a t K i t t y, Georgetown, Thom allegedly had a .38 revolver in his possession when he was not the holder of a firearm licence. Further, it

was alleged that at the same location, the defendant also had three rounds of .38 ammunition in his possession.

The charges leveled against Thom stemmed from a recent confrontation between police and bandits, who are said to be part of a gang responsible for trailing and robbing incoming passengers from the CJIA. This matter comes up again on October 28, for report.

Thom, who told the court he is a taxi driver, had no legal representation.

During the brief afternoon court session, Thom took the opportunity to raise concerns about his health with the Magistrate.

He explained that since he was discharged from the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) a few days ago, he has not been receiving medical attention.

Thom pointed out that upon his discharge from the GPHC, nurses had told him that his injured right foot has t o b e d r e s s e d d a i l y.

However, he said that he has

Citing the GRDB Act, Co-Chairman of the Rice Producers’ AssociationAction Committee (RPAAC) and Board Director Jinnah Rahman had made it clear that there was no reason to dismiss the employee, save in an effort to silence the staff of GRDB and as an act of vindictiveness.

He had also noted that the dismissal could not have

come about following a Board meeting as the only meeting scheduled for that week, was on Friday, October 2. That meeting, Rahman observed, was “arbitrarily” cancelled.

“The Board of Directors’ never discussed the man’s matter,” Rahaman stated.

The dismissal has also drawn criticism from Junior Minister of Finance Jaipaul Sharma, who bears oversight

for the forensic audits. He has stated that the man’s dismissal at that junction could be construed as preventing the audits from being carried out.

Hassan was only named as General Manager of GRDB in July. He replaced former General Manager Jagnarine Singh, who resigned from GRDB ahead of the impending audit into the agency.

Dismissal was an abuse of...

GTUC General Secretary, Lincoln Lewis From page 3 in order to determine what protection can be afforded.

According to the 1994 GRDB amended Act, Part 3, Section 17 (3), “The Board may employ a Secretary and such other officers and employees as the Board may require for the purposes of carrying out its functions under this act, and the power to remove and to exercise disciplinary control over any person so employed shall be vested in the Board.”

not been seen by a medical professional since his discharge. In addition, he told the Magistrate that today (yesterday) was his b i r t h d a y. B e f o r e t h e Magistrate made an order instructing that the defendant’s injured leg be treated every day, she wished him a happy birthday.

According to reports, last Wednesday the off duty cop had gone to the CJIA to pick up a relative, when he noticed a yellow IST following him all the way from the airport.

It was reported that the rank contacted his

colleagues, informing them about what he had noticed.

Kaieteur News understands that the police turned up close to the rank’s home in Kitty and waited for him to arrive from the airport. When the rank arrived in front of his yard, a car with three men stopped a corner away from his home.

Tw o o f t h e g u n m e n reportedly exited the vehicle and were liming at a bridge, while one remained in the car. The gunmen and the police exchaned heavy gunfire, which left Thom injured. The other two gunmen managed to escape, leaving a weapon behind.

Police are still on the hunt for another suspect.

Page 18

Thursday October 15, 2015

Kaieteur News

Turkish-acquired ambulances handed over to Skeldon, New Amsterdam hospitals

T

he Ministry of Public Health on Saturday handed over two fully equipped ambulances to the Berbice Regional Health Services (BRHS).

The vehicles, outfitted with modern equipment, including monitors, stretchers, beds, and oxygen lines, were presented to the Skeldon and New Amsterdam Hospitals.

The ambulances were handed over by Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton, and will add to the two facilities’ transport capacity, a Government release said.

Skeldon and New Amsterdam were chosen because both function as receiving hospitals.

They do not only attend to persons in their catchment areas, but also those referred to them from other villages, including Orealla and Siparuta.

Speaking at the handing over ceremony, Minister Norton pointed out that the vehicles were procured through collaboration with the Turkish Government, to

Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton with officials from Region Six at the handing over ceremony whom he expressed great appreciation for the muchneeded input. Further, the Minister stated that this is a fulfillment of one of the promises made to the people of Region Six, with regard to improving the quality of health services offered to them.

He emphasised too, the importance of ambulances, detailing that the Ministry has recognised this aspect of

health care as very important, and hence its undertaking to acquire them.

The Minister highlighted that while the ambulances are important, training for medical personnel is equally vital, and to this end, Government has begun training for Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs).

He pointed out that 52 EMTs have been trained- 16 of whom are employed at the

Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). Thus far, these have responded to 33,500 calls and also conducted three en-route deliveries.

The other 36 are currently in the employ of the Guyana Defence Force and the Guyana Police Force.

The Minister urged the representatives of the various hospitals to ensure that the ambulance drivers

Inside one of the ambulances are well-trained and exercise caution on the road.

Meanwhile, Region Six Chairman, David Armogan, along with Regional Executive O f f i c e r, Ve e r a s a m m y Ramayya, both expressed gratitude to the administration

for the undertaking.

Also, present at the ceremony was Director of Regional Health Services (Berbice), Jevaughn Stephen, along with other officials from the receiving institutions.

Thursday October 15, 2015

Page 19

Kaieteur News

Wife, ‘hitman’ jointly charged with murder of Herstelling block maker

MURDER ACCUSED: Oswald Yaw MURDER ACCUSED: Beverly Persaud

A date for the start of a Preliminary Inquiry (PI) into the murder of Herstelling b l o c k m a k e r, N a t h a n

Persaud, is expected to be set on October 20, when the matter comes up before Magistrate Judy Latchman

in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

When the matter came up on Tuesday before Magistrate Ann McLennan, Police Prosecutor, Sergeant Neville Jeffers, made an application to have murder accused, Beverly Persaud and Oswald Junior Yaw, a/k Leow, jointly charged with the block maker’s murder after advice was sought from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

This request was granted

by Magistrate McLennan, who then withdrew the previous charges that were initially read to the accused, individually.

Beverly Persaud, 46, of 56 Diamond New Scheme, East Bank Demerara and Yaw, of East Ruimveldt, Georgetown are now being jointly charged with Nathan Persaud’s murder.

Particulars of the newly instituted charge alleged that

on September 10, at Herstelling, East Bank Demerara, they murdered Nathan Persaud in pursuant of an agreement. As part of the agreement, Beverly Persaud promised Yaw money, as inducement for him to consider causing the death of Nathan Persaud.

The duo did not retain attorneys nor were they required to enter pleas. The two were further remanded to prison.

Beverly Persaud was arrested and interrogated by police hours after her husband was killed. She reportedly confessed to orchestrating the plot to end the life of her estranged spouse.

Yaw, the suspected hit man, was arrested last month in the city. He reportedly confessed to beating Nathan Persaud to death with a hammer. He allegedly confessed to police that the block maker’s wife had contracted and promised him $1.7M to do the gruesome job. According to reports, the lifeless body of the 42-

MURDERED: Nathan Persaud year-old block maker was found lying face down in the living room of his Lot 66 Herstelling home. His body bore a stab wound to his chest and the back of his head was bashed in. Police recovered a hammer, two knives and a piece of rock, all of which had blood stains from the crime scene.

After the father of four was killed, a strange man, now believed to be Yaw, was reportedly seen leaving his yard.

Beverly and her husband separated months ago. The killing is said to have stemmed from a property dispute that has engaged the attention of the court.

Page 20

Kaieteur News

Thursday October 15, 2015

Thursday October 15, 2015

Kaieteur News

Bath Settlement farmers examine water rationing amidst dry spell

GWI’s Chief, Dr. Van West-Charles meeting with Bath Settlement residents on Monday over the water situation.

Residents of Bath Settlement, West Berbice, are considering measures to optimise the use of water from the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI), as a dry spell continues to affect the country.

According to GWI, on Monday customers of Bath Settlement complained about reduction in the level of service to the community to Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Van West-Charles, who travelled to the area.

Residents indicated that due to the prolonged dry season, a significant amount of water provided by GWI is currently being utilized for agricultural purposes, including small kitchen gardens and cash crops.

The GWI Head explained that as a result, the amount of water available in the distribution system for domestic purposes has decreased. The Chief Executive Officer proposed that customers and GWI’s West

Coast Berbice team agree on specific times in which GWI’s service will be utilized exclusively for agricultural purposes as well as particular hours in which the service will be used for domestic purposes.

“It is pivotal that customers utilizing the service for both purposes receive an adequate supply at specific times of the day,” the water chief said.

“I have tasked the GWI team with coordinating with residents the schedule which will be utilized to provide adequate water for these specific tasks which are both vital to the community.”

The residents agreed with the suggestion.

The Chief Executive also indicated that he is exploring utilizing an electrical pump with a larger capacity to increase the level of distribution to customers of Bath Settlement.

Mahdia miner on bail for threatening cop with gun, firing shots

City Magistrate Ann McLennan released a 27-yearold miner on $25,000 bail after he denied discharging a firearm and threatening a policeman with a gun. His denial came during his appearance in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Monday.

On October 8, at 111 Mile Mahdia, Potaro Road, Lennox Dettering, the miner, allegedly discharged a loaded firearm in front of a shop, within 100 yards of a public way. It was further alleged that on the same day, he threatened a police constable by pointing a firearm at him, and making threatening remarks. Dettering is being represented by Attorney, Gordon Gilhuys.

The Attorney requested that his client be admitted to reasonable bail because he was never found in possession of a gun.

Gilhuys attested that Dettering never threatened the police with a gun. He

underscored that the allegation was false and that he intends to call several witnesses to testify in favour of his client.The lawyer further urged the court to consider bail for his client because the offences are bailable.

In addition, the miner has had no previous run-ins with the law and poses no risk of flight, Gilhuys said.

In relating his version of what transpired on the day in question, the Attorney explained that on October 7, Dettering was at a disco in the area celebrating his birthday.

He added that in the wee hours of October 8, Dettering was making his way home with friends, who fired off squibs. Gilhuys said that after the incident the police arrested his client and accused him of firing off a gun.

While Police Prosecutor, Corporal Deniro Jones had no objections to the defendant being granted pre-trial liberty, Jones asked that bail be set

at a substantial sum.

Thereafter, the Magistrate granted bail and transferred the matter to the Bartica Magistrate’s Court for October 20.

Page 21

President’s Communication Director refuses appointment to NCN The President’s Communications Director has refused to take up an appointment on the Board of Directors of the National Communications Network (NCN).

Communications Director at the Ministry of the Presidency, Mark Archer, yesterday confirmed his decision not to take up the post citing his other responsibilities.

Archer was at the time accompanying Governance Minister, Raphael Trotman, who was providing a Post Cabinet press briefing, when the matter was raised.

News of Archer’s refusal to take up the post on the NCN Board comes at a time when the State owned Television Station has been rocked by another bout of controversy, this time over a decision to purchase US$23M in satellite uplink equipment, only to have it remain idle in the NCN compound for two years now and never being activated.

The former People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Administration instead of operationalizing and using the equipment opted for a contract with TVG 28, to pay that company $3.6M monthly to air The Learning Channel.

TVG 28 is owned by Dr. Ranjisinghi ‘Bobby’ Ramroop, whose many companies were on the receiving end of a number of lucrative contracts beginning under Bharrat Jagdeo.

Archer, explaining his decision to sever ties with NCN sought to correct the assertion that he had resigned.

Archer said that he was in fact selected for appointment to the NCN Board of Directors but opted to write to the Office of the Prime Minister— under whose portfolio NCN has been subsumed—and indicated that while humbled at being selected for the post,

Ministry of the Presidency’s Communications Director, Mark Archer “based on all my responsibilities I would not be able to serve.”

He used the opportunity to explain to media operatives that “when one serves on a Board one should be able to commit oneself totally, without any reservations to serving on that Board.”

According to Archer, “I felt that with all of my duties and all of the other things that I have responsibility for, serving on a Board like NCN would not be applicable at this time, so I humbly declined, I did not resign.”

Archer was commended for his position by Minister of Governance, Raphael Trotman.

Trotman told members of the media present at the Ministry of the Presidency yesterday that Archer ’s position is in fact “quite commendable and admirable to say that given my portfolio and workload I don’t think I can make a beneficial contribution or the contribution I would like to make.”

A replacement appointment to serve on the NCN Board will not be

selected by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) or the Alliance for Change (AFC) directly. The matter will be dealt with by a special Cabinet sub-committee.

“It’s not for the APNU or for the AFC to put forward persons individually, what happens is that Cabinet has a sub-committee, the subcommittee receives submissions from various Ministers and various entities with respect to Boards and that committee vets and refines,” according to Trotman, so that an individual can be shortlisted and identified.

The NCN Board of Directors was installed at a simple ceremony just last month at the Arthur Chung International Convention Centre by Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo.

The Board members for NCN who were given their instruments at the time were Bishwa Panday (Chairman), Mark Archer, Dr. Paloma Mohamed, Margaret Lawrence, Kojo McPherson, Dhanwanti Sukhdeo, Carolyn Walcott, Imran khan and Colin Thompson.

Page 22

Kaieteur News

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Thursday October 15, 2015

FOR RENT

VACANCY

SALON

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EDUCATION Princeton College Forms 1-5 CXC Adults Classes, Grade 1-6 Lessons: Phonic lessons @ East Street-Call: 690-5008; 619-7911 Continued on page 23

Thursday October 15, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 23

Letters... Where your views make the news

Government’s actions are typically authoritarian DEAR EDITOR, The APNU/AFC Government is planning to reward itself with a substantial fifty percent salary increase amid funding cuts for children (Government Voucher - $10,000.00 GY), low wages for teachers, ultra low pension payments and skyhigh joblessness.

The majority of Guyanese are barely surviving under harsh economic conditions with no relief in sight.

Out of despair they are resorting to drugs, crime and soliciting handouts among other means of survival.

Those who cannot make it are often sucked into suicide. No one deserves a life like this.

Government’s actions can only be described as wild, selfish, unpatriotic, unkind, uncaring and shameless.

Pension payments this low is a serious violation to the rights of seniors, but Government bluntly refuses to address this problem.

Instead, it is focusing on its own welfare. How can this ever be morally right? Editor, our country runs on donations and remittances for the most part. Just recently, our Prime Minister was publicly begging for international donations to buoy an agency.

It is our responsibility as an independent nation to provide for ourselves. Most of our agencies have gone bankrupt, or are on the verge of becoming so, because we

do not have a proper attitude for development.

Development comes with hard work and delayed gratification. Can we take pride in our actions when we beg for money to support our lifestyle? This should not be a way of life. How long will the world continue to shoulder our burden?

Government’s actions are typically authoritarian.

We all know that this Government forcibly pushed its gigantic cabinet down our throats and we were forced to digest it. We had no choice but to dig deep into our pockets to support their salaries. This seemed not to be enough to satisfy Government’s insatiable appetite. Government is still hungry.

Again, it has its eyes like a hawk, sharply focused on our pockets. This time it is eyeing a fat salary increase to shoulder the cost of its gigantic cabinet.

Assaults like these have destroyed our country and have eclipsed the lives of innocent Guyanese.

Dollars allotted to pamper Government can be meaningfully redirected to pay school teachers a decent salary, so as to attract and retain the best in providing a quality education.

This will guarantee us a path out of poverty. I am sure if Government were not beneficiaries of this salary increase, it too would have

condemned it.

This story gets even more ridiculous when one realizes that government has only been in office for less than six months and the country is on a downward spiral. How can a salary increase be justified under these circumstances?

It seems that we have jumped from the frying pan, escaping the PPP/C right, into the fire under the APNU/AFC Government.

We did not expect unpatriotic behaviours to be markers of change. Is this what Government meant by change? Every indicator points to further erosion of our fragile country under this new Government.

The economy has gone further south, crime has jumped, tourism has plunged, health care remains poor and joblessness is at an all-time high.

Government has failed to deliver anything of benefit to the Guyanese people and a strong case can be made that the development of our country is weighted down by its policies. Government knows that its actions will attract criticism but yet it is pressing ahead with it. Why? Mr Joseph Harmon wasted no time spinning propaganda that this salary increase is an anti-corruption strategy.

Who does Mr Harmon thinks he is tricking? No Guyanese will believe him. If he is not careful, he can earn

himself the nick name of Slick Joey. We all know the current Government cabinet is built on a foundation of corruption – composed mainly of friends and family.

To Slick Joey, this is not corruption but to the rest of the world it is nothing less.

Under no circumstance can a fifty percent pay hike be justified given the length and breadth of poverty.

As citizens, we need to kill this idea of a pay hike by all means. It is not good at all, especially not for social cohesion. This is another lie this Government is peddling.

If the Ministers want to enrich themselves, then this is not the job for them.

Guyana has better qualified candidates who are willing to serve even without monetary incentives but are bullied out of the work force.

They are treated with scorn.

Job opportunities for the most part are unjustly reserved for friends and family. In short, Government’s actions cannot be part of the essential ingredients required for nation building.

A nation cannot build under such a closed system, which is run largely by friends and family. Government needs to be tamed.

We need to strip away its power in the next Presidential election. This I am sure will send a loud and crystal clear message that abuse on our country will not be tolerated.

Dr. Cecil Dilipkumar

DEAR EDITOR, There is a solar eclipse of corruption that has been in existence for many years in Guyana.

Apparently, the populace have adapted to the darkness and resorted to night vision goggles, yet they cannot see.

Here in Guyana, certain businesses flourished under the former ruling party’s leadership, and even when these businesses stumbled and fell with the government’s cash register spilling billions,

they, the government, accepted the half empty till, no questions asked.

However, the cash was picked up by those following in the shadows.

Now, let’s remove the night vision goggles and look at the eclipse wearing a simple pair of sunglasses.

If you look closely at the outer fringes of the sun you would see the letters, GPC. Look away for a few minutes and refocus on the eclipse, this time focus intently at the

center of planet blocking the sun’s light for ten seconds then shift quickly to the outer fringes of the sun.

Surprised? You should not be. Jagdeo’s best friend is the planet blocking the sun and on the fringes of the sun is Jagdeo.

Ramroop is the front man for the company which is controlled from behind the scenes by Jagdeo.

You don’t have to be a scholar to figure out that once a particular company or

individual is the sole recipient of contracts, the issuer either has a vested interest in the company or is receiving portions of the contracts.

Could someone identify that one “nice individual” who awards billions of dollars in contracts to an individual and is thanked with a handshake? An audit of GPC by the Internal Revenue Service is warranted to expose those that destroyed this country to line their pockets.

Joe Owen

Solar eclipse of corruption

From page 22

LAND FOR SALE 1500 Acres Transported land 4 Miles from Bartica, 2 Miles River front, sand, loam, forestry, rock quarry, farming, resort-Call: 603-1266; 625-9788 Guyana’s 1st 5-Star Community, modern amenities, luxurious, recreational & business facility, security entry and more- land @ US$ 7.2SqFtCall: 650-0978 80X40ft. Land at B Field, Sophia. Well-developed and ready to build on. Call: 6836200 Houselot @ Wallers Delight W.C.D, 9 lots available in different size; road side land, great investment for business or huge bonds.

Call: 670-4036 365 Acres cultivated, 1135 acres-unclean, house 20X60 (porch)- Call: 657-0992

VEHICLE FOR SALE Toyota Noah & Voxy -$1.7M ‘G’ Series, never registered – Call: 617-2891 2- Unregistered new model Tacoma, Step, crash bar, alarm, bed covering, mag rim-Call: 695-6461 or 6397758 1 NZE Fielder Silver Gray, HC 5916, 17" rims, price $1.5MCall: 675-3186 or 621-7236 Land Cruiser Prado in Mint condition, fully loaded, PNN Series-Call: 601-0053; 2750264 2013 Mercedes C250 turbo AMG coupe, retractable glasstop, mileage 15K, alcantara leather interior, brush aluminum acc- Call: 650-5136 For sale by owner: one Toyota 212 in excellent condition. Call: 652-8391

Two (2) Lot in Parika Contact # 650-0402

One Ducati 1098cc motorcycle in excellent Land at Parfaite Harmonie: condition, will negotiate best $1M, $1.4M, $1.6M, Tuschen offer-Call: 617-6934, 674-0137 8th Street - $2M & 2nd Street AT170 Toyota Corona; need -$1.4M. Call: 604-6724 body works and CV. Asking $1.2M & $1.5M Parfaite $275,000 negotiable. Call: 663Harmonie, Lowlands (East 8033 Coast) -$1.8M, Herstelling Recently registered RZ VVTI (110ftX61ft) -$4.5M, Dairy - mini-bus- Tel: 668-5792 $3.2M (100ftx50ft) Tel: 6111 Mini-bus BJJ series –Call: 7223; 604-2207 678-5887; 677-3177 Corner lot with foundation @ 20th Street Diamond – Pitbull minibus-Call: 6886316; 603-4494 Contact: 216-2364; 695-2377 One 1.5 Ton Toyota Toyace Canter, GLL Series good working condition –Contact: 623-1202

LEARN TO DRIVE Soman Son & Outar Driving School at Maraj Building- Tel: 644-5166; 622-2872; 6150964; 689-5997

Unregistered Fielder Wagon, new shape Spacio, fully loaded, rims, camera, bodykit, HID, dark interior-Call: 6175536 Black Nissan Bluebird 2006 $2.5M –Call: 681-3462 or 6925447

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Kaieteur News

Thursday October 15, 2015

September records drop Salary increase... in road deaths, accidents Statistics released by the Guyana Police Force (GPF) have shown further decreases in road accidents as 2015 progresses, with September recording an 18 percent decrease when compared to the same period last year.

On Tuesday, the GPF released its monthly statistics, this time for the period covering January 1 to September 30, 2015.

According to statistics presented by the GPF, there were 76 recorded fatal accidents from January to September 30. For the same period in 2014, the police said they were 93 fatal accidents.

This represented a decrease in fatal accidents of 18 percent.

When it came to deaths, there was recorded 11 percent decrease in road fatalities. For up to September month-end, there were 90 recorded deaths while for the same period last year there were 101 deaths.

Deaths of children remained on par with 2014; for both this year and last year there were 12 children who died.

Additionally, there were also decreases for other types of accidents, excluding damage accidents. According to the statistics, the police recorded 295 up to September 30, 2015 while for the same period last year, there were 316 damage accidents. This represented a decrease of seven percent.

Similarly for minor accidents, there was a decrease of two percent; from 381 minor accidents in 2014 to 373 minor accidents at September month-end.

The only recorded increase was in damage accidents. Here, there was a six percent increase, from 592 in 2014 to 626 this year.

In August, decreases had been seen on all fronts.

The police had said that there was a 20 percent decrease in fatal accidents while there was a 10 percent decrease in deaths.

Additionally, serious, minor and damage accidents had seen decreases of nine percent, three percent and four percent respectively.

Meanwhile – specifically

From page 11 that there is a proposal currently before Cabinet to give consideration to former MPs of all the parties who had served over the years.

“Many of them get a pension in the sum of $20,000 from the Parliament and we are looking to address some disparities that exist. We hear the concerns of the people.

We are not numb to it but we ask that they trust us so that we can bring that good life to them...”

Asked if government couldn’t wait a little longer to make the increases, Trotman said, “There is no part of the world where increases in

salaries for politicians have gone down well… it is not a popular decision to take. In some countries it has led to riots but we believe it was necessary.”

“Of course 20/20 vision tells you that the time was perhaps wrong or right but in a matter like this, there is no such thing as the right time because other events overtake you and there is no such time perhaps as the present.”

The Minister of Governance reiterated that the government never hid the fact that the increases were coming. He emphasized that they were inevitable.

From page 11 Attorney said in the statement, yesterday.

According to the bail order, Justice Roy released the businessman on $500,000 bail, upon hearing the application presented by the Attorney and taking into consideration, affidavits in support and in response to the petition. The Judge also ordered that the applicant/ appellant, “unless excused by the court to be present personally on each and every

sitting of his appeal and at the final determination thereof.”

Persaud, of Lot 26 Sheriff, Street, Campbellville, Georgetown, was jailed for driving his motorcar PKK 5051, in a manner dangerous to the public thereby causing the death of former Mayor and City Council worker, Leon Hunte, 55, of Stone Avenue, Blygezigt. The accident is said to have occurred on September 10, 2014 at Lamaha Street Newton, Georgetown.

Sanjay’s owner...

for September – the month recorded just above average recordings in both accidents and deaths. For the month, there were 10 recorded deaths from 10 accidents. This represented an increase of 43 percent in accidents, up from seven August. This also represented an increase of 25 percent in deaths, up from eight in August.

July, February and May had been the bloodiest month on Guyana’s roadways with 14 recorded deaths each.

However, July recorded the highest number of accidents with 13.

Furthermore, pedestrians remain the most affected category of road users killed from January 1 to September 30.

For the period, the police said that there were 31 pedestrians killed. The second most affected group was ‘passengers in cars’ with a recorded 17 deaths.

Motorcyclists followed with 13 deaths and then drivers with 11 deaths.

The police also said that the private car was the type of vehicle most involved in fatal accidents for the reviewed period. According to the police, out of 102 vehicles, 39 of them were

private cars. The second most involved type of vehicle was the motorcycle with 17 vehicles then minibuses and vans, both with 12 each.

Hire cars recorded eight vehicles as well as pedal cycles and finally motor pickups with six vehicles.

ACCIDENTS BY DIVISIONS The police statistics also focused on the police divisions, ‘A’ through ‘G’.

From these stats, it is clear that the East Coast of Demerara (Division ‘C’) can be termed the accident centre of Guyana.

According to the police, there were declines in both accidents and deaths in all divisions – that is, all divisions except Division ‘C’.

Here, there was a noted increase of 156 percent in deaths and 89 percent in accidents when compared to the same period of January to September last year.

In Division ‘C’, the police said that there were 23 deaths at the end of September 2015 as compared to nine deaths at the end of September 2014.

For accidents, there were 17 at the end of September 2015 as compared to nine at the end of September 2014.

However, though the East

Coast saw the biggest increase, it is certainly not the division with the highest figures. That division was Georgetown/East Bank of Demerara (Division ‘A’) with 28 deaths from 28 accidents.

However, Division ‘A’ saw a decline in both accidents and deaths; for deaths, there was a decrease of 20 percent, from 35 deaths in 2014 while for accidents there was a decrease of 13 percent, from 32 accidents in 2014.

Division ‘E’ (Linden/ Kwakwani) saw the biggest declines when compared to 2014; accidents declined by 75 percent while deaths declined by 83 percent.

Division ‘F’ (Interior locations) also saw big declines in both accidents and deaths; there were recorded declines of 67 percent.

Meanwhile, the police statistics showed that speeding continued to be the leading cause of fatal accidents. Other causes included driving under the influence of alcohol (11 fatal accidents), failure to conform to road signage (2 fatal accidents), error of judgment (2 fatal accidents), and breach of traffic light signal (1 fatal accident).

Guyana Foundation...

From page 14 that Guyana is “the suicide capital of world”. This fact, he said, was “appalling”. He further noted that in Guyana, action has been slow and though promises have been made by high-ranking officials, “nothing seems to be done”.

“I must commend the Guyana Foundation for launching this initiative. I think this is a very appropriate project at this time,” he said. He expressed hope that, following the training, the participants would make a “palatable difference” in the lives of the Guyanese citizenry.

Over the next few days, Dr. Narain is set to conduct extensive training. Among the topics to be touched on are counselling skills; models of psychotherapy, including Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT); and

identifying signs of low selfesteem. There will even be a role playing exercise on the final day as well as in-depth discussions each day.

Additionally, the Guyana Foundation plans to host its second set of workshops in December. This workshop, it said, will be conducted by Lauren Johnson, an internationally recognized Guyanese-Canadian psychotherapist. Johnson holds three Master’s Degrees in Counselling Psychology.

She specializes in Experiential, Transpersonal and Creative Expression Healing methods. Furthermore, Johnson has travelled throughout Canada to conduct presentations on professionalism for settlement and integration counsellors.

She has also developed various mental health training curricula and assisted counsellors in dealing with survivors of torture.

Thursday October 15, 2015

Kaieteur News

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Thursday October 15, 2015

PM: Kamla racks up $6M helicopter bill Trinidad Guardian - Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley says the Leader of the Opposition Kamla PersadBissessar flew for 636 hours while she was head of government at a cost to taxpayers of more than $6 million.

Rowley made the statement during his contribution to Tuesday’s debate on the 2016 national budget in the House of Representatives. He said that might be linked to a dubious contract for use of specific helicopters by the National Operations Centre.

Rowley said it was “extremely wasteful for the (former) prime minister of T&T.” According to Rowley: “The records show that the last prime minister occupied helicopter time of 636 hours, 415 missions at a cost of over $6 million.”

Rowley told legislators: “That kind of expenditure ought not to be on the backs of the people of T&T.” He said he had no intention to follow in PersadBissessar’s footsteps and would be travelling by land and sea.

He said the NOC, which was set up as a coordinating

agency for national security agencies in the country “seems to be trying to become another operational arm of the State.”

Rowley said when he assumed office as Prime Minister he saw a document requesting payment of a $500 million commitment for a company called Bell Helicopters. He said he had “some concern as to how that contract was issued.”

He said there was no money budgeted for that helicopter contract “but the country was contracted by an officer of the State.” He said when questions were raised about who authorised the contract nobody knew.

Rowley said the National Helicopter Services Ltd (NHSL) was approached “to try to get them to sign on to this thing and they refused.”

According to Rowley, the “transaction regarding the loan financing was not completed by NHSL.” Rowley said it was a questionable arrangement.

He told Parliament the Ministry of National Security “will look into this and report to the population further as we go forward.”

Rowley also spoke about “another troubling” matter

within the Office of the Prime Minister, which he said was “another $500 million contract to a Chinese company (unnamed) in Knowsley building...I am told that this Chinese company is putting in some system which will allow us, electronically, to look on television screens over the whole of T&T.” He said he was “more concerned about that as a security breach to our sovereignty.”

He added that the contract entered into “was not properly funded.”

“These are billion dollars of contracting for these two items with no proper financing in place.”

Rowley said earlier that Cemex, one of the joint venture companies in the Alutrint Smelter Plant in La Brea cancelled by the former People’s Partnership government, “has submitted a letter to Alutrint to institute the dispute resolution clause in April 2015.”

He said Alutrint sought an extension and there had been no further development on the matter to date.

Rowley also said there would be no further amnesty for property tax and it would be reintroduced next year.

President Maduro makes another Caribbean trip; this time to St. Lucia

Nicolás Maduro CASTRIES, St. Lucia – Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro will visit St. Lucia this weekend to discuss with Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony to ongoing and future areas of cooperation.

It will be his first trip to the island.

A 40-member advance contingent from Venezuela is scheduled to be in the island yesterday, ahead of Maduro’s arrival on Saturday. Both countries are in the process of finalizing a programme of activities for the weekend trip.

St. Lucia will be the third

Eastern Caribbean nation that Maduro will visit in the space of three weeks.

He flew to St. Kitts and Nevis and storm-ravaged Dominica on September 23. In the twin-island federation, Maduro, whose government provided EC$16 million (US$5.9 million) to finalize compensation to sugar workers who were affected by the abrupt closure of the sugar industry in 2005, participated in a ceremonial handing of cheques to those former workers.

Over in Dominica, he

officially announced that his government would build 300 homes for people who had lost their houses when Tropical Storm Erika ravaged the island in late August.

The Venezuelan leader’s visits with promises of continued assistance and messages of solidarity come as it remains in the midst of a territorial dispute with another CARICOM nation, Guyana.

Venezuela has been laying claim to the vast mineral-rich area of jungle west of the Essequibo River, which accounts for about 40 per cent of Guyana’s territory, since the 19th century.

Guyana says that after agreeing to relinquish the Essequibo following a ruling by an international tribunal in 1899, Venezuela backtracked on the decision. Caracas insists the 1899 ruling was unfair and the territory is still in dispute.

Earlier this year, Maduro extended Venezuela’s maritime claims after Exxon Mobil announced it had made a significant oil discovery in Guyana’s territorial waters.

(Caribbean360)

Thursday October 15, 2015

Kaieteur News

Brazil’s Rousseff accuses opponents of ‘coup-mongering’ Embattled Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has accused the political opposition of seeking to oust her government by “coupmongering”.

Speaking at a meeting of union leaders, Ms Rousseff also said her opponents were spreading hatred and intolerance across the country.

Her comments come after an audit court last week ruled that she broke the law in managing last year’s budget.

The opposition says this could pave the way for impeachment proceedings.

Ms Rousseff was reelected less than a year ago but currently has record low popularity ratings.

Addressing the gathering in Sao Paulo on Tuesday, the president accused the opposition of practicing “deliberate coup-mongering” against a “project that has successfully lifted millions of Brazilians out of poverty”.

“The artificiality of their arguments is absolute, their

Dilma Rousseff poisoning of people in social networks, their relentless game of ‘the worse she does, the better for us’,” Ms Rousseff was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Her remarks follow the ruling of the Federal Accounts Court on accusations that the government borrowed money illegally from state banks to

make up for budget shortfalls.

The minister who handled the case in the court, Augusto Nardes, said the government disregarded fiscal and constitutional principles in the handling of the 2014 accounts.

The irregularities amount to more than $26bn (£17bn; 100 bn reais), according to the court.

The opposition said after the ruling it would seek impeachment proceedings in the Congress.

Also last week, Brazil’s top electoral authority said it would re-open an investigation into alleged misuse of funds during Ms Rousseff ’s re-election campaign. The Brazilian economy has gone into recession and is expected to shrink by 3% this year.

The government’s popularity has fallen amid corruption scandals involving senior politicians from Ms Rousseff’s Workers’ Party and other coalition members. (BBC News)

Majority of teachers and public servants blank unions call for strike Daily Observer - Four executive members of the Teachers’ Union (TU) were among the 60 per cent of educators who turned out to classes on Tuesday, when the union staged a one-day strike to try to pressure the St. Vincent and the Grenadines government into paying one month’s salary tax-free in lieu of salary increases since 2011.

Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said he was pleased that the majority of teachers and students had not heeded the unions call.

In a radio broadcast on Tuesday evening, Gonsalves thanked the teachers and public servants, who, he said, “overwhelmingly turned out to work.

“The number of teachers in every single school that went to work exceeded the number of teacher who stayed away. And, nationally, overwhelmingly, the teachers went to work and it is only in the odd case that you had a public servant who didn’t go to work.”

TU president, Oswald Robinson, said a preliminary count showed that 40 per cent of teachers were off the job.

The TU and the Public Service Union (PSU) called the strike as part of their efforts to get the government to make the payment before general elections, expected by year-end. “… those who went to work did little or nothing.

Some schools had a very low turnout of students. Some principals had to teach classes and the Principals’ meeting had to be put off,” Robinson said.

The Ministry of Education had earlier indicated that “regular school activities will continue as usual” on Tuesday.

“You are therefore advised to take your children to school as you would normally do so as to have their education continue,” said Chief Education Officer, LouAnn Gilchrist.

Gilchrist said teachers were being asked “to fulfill their obligations to the nation’s youth by attending school and continuing normal instructional and supervisory activities.

“The Ministry of Education thanks all parties concerned for their cooperation as we forge ahead in the interest of all,” Gilchrist said.

The turnout of teachers and students at schools in Kingstown showed mixed numbers with many teachers and students turning up for classes.

At the all-male St. Vincent Grammar School, four of the 48 teachers did not turn up to work and their students did not receive any instruction in those particular subjects on Tuesday, principal Curtis King told the Caribbean

Media Corporation (CMC).

King, who has said publicly that public sector workers deserve the onemonth salary payment, maintained that position on Tuesday although he turned up to work “I have certain issues — not that I care to share them because I will go to my union and raise those issues,” he said, when asked why he decided to turn up to work in like of his views about the salary payment.

“I would go public with any criticism concerning those,” he said.

Asked if he thought that the State is in a position to pay the one-month salary, which Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Ralph Gonsalves, said will amount to EC$15 million, King replied “ I can’t answer that.

“What I would say, there are competing interest and however you deal with that is a matter of priority, but I think that the teachers’ cause is more than reasonable,” King said.

In his broadcast, Gonsalves said that in the school where Robinson is principal the overwhelming number of teachers went to work.

“I want to thank the parents, who, again, overwhelmingly, sent their children to school and the children who went to school.

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Thursday October 15, 2015

Israel sets up East Jerusalem roadblocks in bid to stem attacks

A Palestinian uses a slingshot to throw stones at Israeli troops during clashes in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.REUTERS/MUSSA QAWASMA Reuters - Israel set up roadblocks in Palestinian neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem and deployed soldiers across the country yesterday in an effort to stop a wave of Palestinian knife attacks.

In the latest incident, a Palestinian stabbed and wounded a 70-year-old woman outside Jerusalem’s central bus station, at the entrance to the city, before an officer shot him dead, a police spokeswoman said.

Two hours earlier, another Palestinian was also shot dead after he had attempted to stab paramilitary police at an entrance to Jerusalem’s walled Old City, police said.

Television footage showed the assailant clad in military-style camouflage clothing, running with a knife in his hand. Shots are then heard and in other video he appears to be shot again when lying on the ground before an officer calls on his comrades to cease firing.

Violence has been partly

triggered by Palestinians’ anger over what they see as increased Jewish encroachment on Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound, which is also revered by Jews as the site of two destroyed Jewish temples.

There is also deep-seated frustration with the failure of years of peace efforts to achieve Palestinian statehood and end Israeli settlement-building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Israel’s security cabinet had authorised the East Jerusalem crackdown in an overnight session after Palestinians armed with knives and a gun killed three Israelis and wounded several others on Tuesday.

Palestinian officials condemned the Israeli security measures - the most serious clampdown in the city since a Palestinian uprising a decade ago - as collective punishment.

Seven Israelis and 32 Palestinians, including

assailants, children and protesters in violent antiIsraeli demonstrations, have been killed in two weeks of bloodshed.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has said he will travel to the Middle East to try to calm violence.

Israeli and Palestinian leaders blamed each other for the escalation. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in a televised speech Israeli actions were “threatening to spark a religious conflict that would burn everything”.

He said Israel was “executing our sons in cold blood”.

Netanyahu on Monday accused Abbas of spreading lies and inciting his people to violence.

Israeli paramilitary border police used their vehicles to block an exit at the edge of Jabel Mukabar, the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of three Palestinians who carried out deadly attacks against Israelis on Tuesday.

Thursday October 15, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 29

Dhoni inspires India to Don’t let the past repeat series-levelling win Letter to the Sports Editor

itself in our football

Dear Mr Editor, Guyana Football Federation was founded sometime around 1902 and has gone through many phases.

Many Presidents came and went, some not so good, some fairly good and some maybe good, but the worst of all the Presidents was when Mr Christopher Matthias did the most unlikely thing and ventured out to become the President of the GFF. His tenure was tumultuous, devastating & dictatorial. In the entire history of CONCACAF and CFU never has FIFA had to get directly involved in the running of a Member Association.

After literally destroying football in Guyana by playing little or no football l o c a l l y, playing no I n t e r n a t i o n a l Football, sidelining the foreign based

players (all of the 200 plus other Member Associations use their players), marginalizing his other executives, making unpopular decisions & allowing Guyana ratings to slip to almost the bottom of CFU. Football in Guyana suffered under his leadership or non-leadership, we were at an all-time low. But FIFA did the great recovery by installing a Normalisation Committee to rescue Guyana’s Football.

This was a disgraceful and humiliating blow for Guyana’s Football.

Well, well, well, lo and behold it is rumored he is trying to get back into the administration of football. Is this man for real, can you imagine this, after literally destroying and killing football in Guyana, this man wants to come back into football?

Where is pride, where is dignity, where is love for the game.

Mr Editor, on Sat 17th Oct 2015 the Georgetown Football Association will be having their election for office bearers and I am informed that Mr Matthias will be contesting the Presidency, I hope that the c l u b s b e guided by good judgment, proper planning and wisdom. Guyana’s football will once again be taken into the dark ages and the possibility of us getting banned is looming in the future.

Is this man so indispensable that he is needed back so soon after destroying Guyana Football?

Electors Guyana’s Future is in your hands use your commonsense and don’t be misguided by flowery speeches and promises.

Romario Smith.

Thursday October 14, 2014 ARIES (Mar. 21- April 20) Do not react too harshly when dealing with partners.

Rest and relaxation may be required; minor health problems will prevail if you don't watch your diet.

LIBRA (Sept. 24 -Oct. 23) Your own small business on the side sounds pretty lucrative. Try to be as mellow as possible. Changes in your domestic scene are apparent.

TAURUS (Apr. 21- May 21) Sudden romantic encounters will set your head spinning. You can accomplish the most if you travel for business purposes.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24 - Nov. 22)

Keep your cash in your pocket and offer them sound advice rather than your financial assistance. Your relationship is undergoing some changes.

GEMINI (May 22-June 21) You will be up and down emotionally. You can pick up wonderful buys if you really look hard today. Don't let anyone take credit for a job you did.

SAGIT (Nov. 23 -Dec. 21) Romance is quite possible if you are willing to approach someone who interests you.

Children may be less than honest with you.

CANCER (June 22-July 22) Talk to those in a position of power about your intentions. Don't trust others with private information that could be used against you.

CAPRI. (Dec 22.- Jan. 20) Sudden changes regarding work and colleagues are apparent. You can make changes that will enhance your appearance.

LEO (July 23-Aug 22) You will need to finalize important deals today.

Changes regarding family members will set you off.

Stress may result in minor illness.

AQUAR. (Jan. 21 -Feb. 19) It may not be the best day to confront employers or to present your ideas. You can come into money; however, perhaps not under the best circumstances.

VIRGO (Aug. 23 -Sept. 23) Outbursts of passion may cause arguments with your mate. You can stabilize your financial situation if you make property investments.

PISCES (Feb. 20-Mar. 20) Back off if you want to keep the relationship intact. You may want to pull out some of those unfinished project you've got tucked away.

INDORE, India (Reuters) India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni hammered 92 not out and skilfully marshalled his bowlers to secure a series-levelling 22run win against South Africa in the second one-day international on Wednesday.

With India reeling at 1246, Dhoni’s decision to bat first appeared to have backfired, but the 34-yearold produced an 86-ball blitz, hitting his fourth sixth off the final ball of the innings to help the hosts to a competitive 247-9.

Dhoni then returned to neatly stump Amla, take three catches and cleverly rotate his bowlers as South Africa were all out for 225 in the 44th over.

Left-arm spinner Axar Patel claimed career-best figures of 3-39, while paceman Bhuvneshwar Kumar also got three wickets as the hosts fiercely defended a modest total, aided by some smart catching.

“A lot of people wait with open sword, they want you to commit a few mistakes and have fun with it,” said Dhoni, who has been under tremendous pressure with questions raging about his role in the squad.

“Overall I would not say a very good or a complete game, definitively we can play better, but it’s good to win games,” said the India captain after collecting the man-ofthe-match award.

The Proteas had made public their plans to dismiss India’s in-form batsman Rohit Sharma early and paceman Kagiso Rabada executed it in the second over of the day.

Ajinkya Rahane (51) hit his second successive fifty but India lost the top half of their batting order soon after

Ogle trounce Lusignan to take ECCC U15 title Host Ogle overcame Lusignan by nine wickets to win the final of the East Coast Cricket Committee (ECCC) U15 40-over final which was contested on Saturday.

Lusignan took first turn at the crease and scored 121 all out in 27 overs.

Robin Williams slammed 66, while Shivanand Gosein claimed 3-3 and Bisham Sharma 2-20.

Ogle responded with 122-1 in 25 overs. Nand Sanicharan struck an unbeaten 75, while Andrew Samaroo made 25 not out.

crossing the 100-mark.

With his team in dire straits and his own reputation at stake, Dhoni let his bat do the talking as he went after the South African bowlers, helping India score 82 runs off the last 10 overs.

The visitors began their chase well but the Indians struck regularly to keep the Proteas in check at Indore’s Holkar Cricket Stadium.

Patel wrecked the tourists’ top order and Virat Kohli made amends for his batting failure by taking three catches, two of them sent back South Africa’s topscorer

Faf du Plessis (51) and the dangerous AB de Villiers.

“We had a good start upfront... there is enough experience among myself, (Farhaan) Behardien and (David) Miller to pull it through but unfortunately we got out soft ways tonight,” said De Villiers.

Rajkot hosts the third ODI of the five-match series on Sunday.

Scores: India 247 for 9 (Dhoni 92*, Rahane 51, Steyn 3-49) beat South Africa 225 (du Plessis 51, Axar 3-39, Bhuvneshwar 341) by 22 runs.

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Thursday October 15, 2015

WICB/GCB/Scotiabank Kiddy Progression One Cricket…

Uivlugt, Saraswat, Belladrum and Bath register wins Uitvlugt, Saraswat, Belladrum and Bath Primary schools registered wins in the WICB/GCB/Scotiabank Kiddy Progression One Cricket matches played in West Demerara and Berbice.

In the West Bank Demerara Zone at the Zeeburg ground, Stewartville Primary went up against Uitvlugt Primary in the first match and lost. Stewartville won the toss and elected to bat first; they were bowled out for 93 in the 14th over. C. McIntosh top-scored with 34, while Anthony Albert took 2/ 9. Uitvlugt reached the target losing two wickets in the process. Anthony Albert hit 43 not out to complete a fine all-round performance.

Uitvlugt has advanced to the final of this zone.

In the second match, Saraswat Primary defeated Meten-Meer-Zorg Primary to advance to the second round of the preliminary matches.

Saraswat took first strike and posted a competitive 135/1.

Vishal Persaud and Wazem Khan were both unbeaten on

32. In reply, Meten-MeerZorg were 30 runs short (105/ 9) when their allotted overs expired.

At the Paradise ground, in the West Berbice District, Belladrum Primary defeated Seafield Primary by 28 runs.

Belladrum batted first and totaled 126/6; Samuel Chichester led the way with 43. He got support from Harold Booker and Rushelle Wilson who scored 20 and 19 respectively. Bowling for Seafield Primary, Jamie Fraser took 2/4. Seafield only managed 98 from their 14 overs. George Solomon made a valiant 37 not out, while Treon Granville took 2/6.

At the Bath ground, Bath Primary thrashed Woodley Park Primary. Woodley Park took first strike and managed 58/10 of their 14 overs.

Anandeo Seckaran grabbed 3/0. Bath reached the target in the fourth over without losing a wicket. Shyan Ramsaroop made 28 not out.

The competition continues today in West Demerara.

South Africa soccer official Kika gets FIFA six-year ban ZURICH (Reuters) FIFA’s Ethics Committee banned former South African Football Association official Lindile Kika from soccer activities for six years on Wednesday, adding to a string of suspensions at the sport’s governing body.

Zurich-based FIFA has been in turmoil since May over corruption allegations.

But its ethics investigators are believed to regard matchfixing as the biggest threat to the sport as well as the toughest to combat.

Kika is a former head of referees and ex-member of the executive committee of the football association in South Africa, which hosted the 2010 Soccer World Cup. The Ethics Committee said in a statement that the decision to ban him for six years was related to FIFA regulations on conduct, loyalty, duty of disclosure and other issues. It said the ban takes effect immediately.

A spokesman was not authorised to discuss details.

“The proceedings against Lindile Kika were opened in November 2014 in relation to several international friendly matches played in South Africa in 2010. The investigation was led by the

chairman of the investigatory chamber of the Ethics Committee, Dr Cornel Borbely, in collaboration with the FIFA Security Division,” the statement read.

The security division, created in 2012, is responsible for “matters related to the integrity and protection of the game itself along with matters concerning match manipulation,” according to FIFA’s website.

A previous FIFA investigation had looked into South Africa’s pre-World Cup matches against Thailand, Bulgaria, Colombia and Guatemala. In 2012, FIFA handed SAFA a 500-page report that documented the activities of convicted Singapore-based match-fixer Wilson Perumal and his Football 4U organisation.

In May, 14 soccer officials and sports marketing executives were indicted in the United States in a criminal investigation into the allocation of media, marketing and sponsorship rights for soccer tournaments.

The scandal has spread throughout FIFA, which last Thursday handed president Sepp Blatter and UEFA president Michel Platini 90day suspensions pending a formal investigation.

The winning Uitvlugt (above) and Belladrum teams pose for pictures.

Djokovic sails through as Nadal toils for win in Shanghai (Reuters) Novak Djokovic breezed into the third round of the Shanghai Masters with a 6-2 6-1 victory over Martin Klizan on Wednesday but Ivo Karlovic made sure Rafa Nadal had to work a lot harder.

Nadal eventually won through 7-5 6-7(4) 7-6(4) after two hours and 43 minutes of a closely-fought encounter.

After trailing 3-5 in the opening set, Nadal produced a series of stunning returns to break Karlovic in the 10th game to claim the lead.

The Croat, however, refused to give up, prevailing in the second set tie-break to force the decider, which again went to the wire before the Spaniard claimed victory.

There was no such drama

for Djokovic as the world number one dropped only three games against Klizan.

Eyeing a third BeijingShanghai double, Djokovic converted half of the 10 break points that came his way to sweep aside his error-prone Slovak opponent.

“Klizan is a very flashy player,” Djokovic, who won last week’s China Open in Beijing, said.

“He can play very fast but with a tendency to make a lot of unforced errors, which he did. He made my life a bit easier on the court today.

“I was trying to serve, move him around the court.

Just played as much as I needed. It was enough to win,” the Serbian said after improving to a 13-match

winning streak.

French Open champion Stan Wawrinka also maintained his winning run with a 7-6(3) 6-3 victory over Viktor Troicki to set up a thirdround contest with Marin Cilic.

Third seed Andy Murray beat American Steve Johnson 6-2 6-4, Bernard Tomic eliminated seventh seed David Ferrer 6-4 6-2 and Japan’s Kei Nishikori overcame Australian Nick Kyrgios 1-6 6-4 6-4.

Fairfield secure final berth Fairfield defeated Ogle by 43 runs on Sunday to advance to the final of the East Coast Cricket Committee 40-over competition.

Fairfield batted first and posted 223 all out in 43 overs at Ogle Community Centre.

Wazim Mustapha smashed 65, Nigel Bissu 55 and Deonarine Chatura 29.

Ayodha Joseph bagged 6-49

and Anthony Ifill 2-35.

Ogle were bowled out for 179 in 35 overs in r e p l y.

Seupaul Sanicharan scored 63 while Andre Gomes made 2 6 and Anthony Ifill 17; Chatura had 3-21 Leon Targoonchandra 3-22.

Fairfield will take on Strathaven in the final on Sunday.

Thursday October 15, 2015

Kaieteur News

Page 31

Courts Pee Wee Schools Football Competition

Petama Enterprise/ Motor Trend Softball

Enterprise, St. Angela’s lead on goal difference after two rounds

Wins for Park Rangers, Regal Masters, Wellwoman and Trophy Stall Angels

Part of the action in this year’s Courts Pee Wee Schools Football Competition.

Last year’s beaten finalist St. Pius is among six teams that have so far remained unbeaten in the 4th Edition o f t h e C o u r t s P e e We e Schools Football Competition which is being played at the Banks DIH ground, Thirst Park.

After two weeks of

competition, St. Pius is joined

by Enterprise, South Ruimveldt, St. Margaret’s, St. Ambrose and St. Angela’s as the teams with the maximum six points from two games.

However, Enterprise and St. Angela’s have superior goal difference with a +10 each followed by St.

Margaret’s with a +6 and South Ruimveldt with a +5 rounding out the top four.

St. Pius and St. Ambrose trail them with +4s.

Defending champion Stella Maris is grouped with a host of teams on three points apiece.

Current Points Standings

Park Rangers, Regal Masters, Wellwoman and Trophy Stall Angels registered victories when the Petama Enterprise/ Motor Trend softball tournament continued on Sunday.

At Carifesta Sports Complex, Park Rangers defeated Fishermen Masters by eight wickets. Batting first, Fishermen scored 198 all out in 19.4 overs. R. Persaud slammed 78, David Harper 35, B. Heeralall 29, I. Persaud 24; Ricky Persaud claimed 3-17, Talesh Ramoutar 2-24 and J. Bourne 2-30. Park Rangers responded with 200-2 in 15 overs. Rudy Rodrigues cracked 66, Danny Mohanram 49 not out and Dennis Mangru 36 not out.

At GNIC SC, Regal Masters trounced Floodlight Legends by eight wickets.

Floodlight Legends took first knock and managed 176-8 in 20 overs. Lloyd Rooplall smashed 106 (5x4,9x6); Raymond Harper snared 3-28 and Mahendra Arjune 2-32.

Regal Masters replied with 179-3-16.2 overs. Eric Thomas struck 67, Mahase Chunilall 31 and Eon Abel 30.

At Carifesta Sports Complex, Wellwoman thumped Blue Divas by 66 runs. Wellwoman batted first and made 194-4 in 10 overs.

Latoya Smith led with an

Eric Thomas unbeaten 79, Haseena Mohamed 69 and Zola Telford 28; S. Caesar took 2-22. Blue Divas were limited to 128-310 overs. Shameka Ceasar made 42 not out, Orlina Roberts 39; Hassena Mohamed 2-16.

Trophy Stall Angels overcame 4R Lioness by 8 wickets. 4R Lioness mustered 142-3 in10 overs. Mantana Cambridge slammed 75 and A. Scott 20. Trophy Stall replied with 144-2 in 8.4 overs. June Ogle top scored with 66 not out and Roxanne De Monick contributed 47.

In the open category, Regal trashed Brickery Super Stars by 199 runs. Regal took first turn at the crease and

rattled up 267-8-20 overs.

Chien Gittens scored 55 and Navin Singh 50. Brickery were skittled for 68 in reply. Richard Latif picked up 4-12 and Fazal Rafeek 4-14.

Regal defeated Princess Hotel by nine wickets.

Princess were sent packing for 122, batting first. Regal responded with 123 in 10.2 overs with Richard Latif scoring 40 not out.

In other matches Wolf Warriors beat United Brothers and Parika Defenders overcame Savage Masters.

The competition continues on Sunday. At Carifesta Sports Complex on pitch one at 9:30hrs United Brothers will play Regal, at 12:30 hrs Farm will battle Herstelling Raiders. On pitch two at 9:30hrs Floodlight Masters will play Floodlight Legends, at 12:30hrs Karibee Strikers will take on Trophy Stall Angels, at 13:30hrs Karibee Strikers will battle Blue Divas. On pitch three at 9:30hrs Wolf Warriors will tackle Young Guns and at 12:30hrs Young Guns will face Regal.

At GNIC ground, on pitch one at 9:30hrs Savage Masters will play Park Rangers and at 12:30hrs Enterprise Legends will face Regal Masters.

Ramnarine Appiah Memorial twenty over cricket competition

Rose Hall Canje win against Betsy Ground Triple Star A fine all round performance from Berbice under 19 cricketer Zachary Persaud led Rose Hall Community Center to a convincing 48 runs victory over Betsy Ground Triple Star in their first round match of the BCB/Ramnarine Appiah (Brother Appiah) Memorial twenty over cricket competition for second division teams in the East Canje/Lower East Coast, Berbice area. The tournament is sponsored by Mukesh Appiah and Family in honor of his late father who passed away last year.

In their match played over the weekend, batting first after winning the toss, RHCC enjoyed a good opening partnership of 35 without loss after 6 overs. They batted consistently to finish at 135 for 5 in their allotted 20 overs.

Top scorer was all rounder Zachary Persaud with 33 consisting of 3x4 and 1x6. He got support from Berbice

Zachary Persaud under 17 batsman Sasenarine Sukhu 25 and Kristoff Bahadur 20. Bowling for Betsy Ground Triple Star, Ryan Sobhai took 2 for 17. In reply, BGTS made a disappointing 87 all out in 17.2 overs. Sobhai offered the only resistance with 17. Latchman Ramotar took 2 for 11 off 4 overs and Persaud 2 for 21 off

4 overs.

Matches will continue this Sunday as per fixtures below: At Rose Hall Canje: 9:30am No 7 vs Seawell 1:30pm Rose Hall Canje vs Canefield Sports Club At Cumberland: 9:30am Young Warriors vs Betsy Ground Triple Star 1:30pm Buski Eleven vs Hamid Eleven At Goed Bananen Land: 9:30am Canje Pathfinders vs Canefield Sports Club 1:30pm Goed Bananen Land vs Canje Pathfinders At No19: 1:30pm Kendall’s Union big team vs Kendall’s Union B team Teams are asked to submit the scores within 48 hours to the board on 333-2375 or the boards representative Mr Sahadeo Singh on 617-1103 for the media. No first division players will be allowed unless the player is 40 years and over.

Page 32

Kaieteur News

Soldiers march pass Police on ISAAC second day The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) overhauled an 11 ½ - point lead yesterday to take a 13-point lead heading into the final day tomorrow of the Inter-Services Annual Athletics Championships (ISAAC) at the National Track and Field Centre at Leonora.

The Soldiers amassed 495 points to lead the Police 482 points with a day to go in the competition that is rife with controversy.

The Guyana Fire Service trails distantly on 54 points, while Prison’s Service has 41 points and City Constabulary has 34 points.

In some of the results, the ultra promising Jevina Sampson produced a scintillating performance for

Police in the Women’s 800m, winning in 2:16.70 ahead of Guyana’s World Championships contender, Andrea Foster (2:27), who represented the Defence Force. Dellie Williams finished in third position with a 2:31 time.

Wayne Harlequin then balanced the sheet for the soldiers with a blistering 1:55.80 time, ousting Cleveland Forde (1:56.80) from the top spot for a 1-2 finish for the Soldiers. Police’s Trevor Scotland (1:57.20) was third in the race.

Natrina Hooper leaped to 13.08m to win the Women’s Triple Jump event ahead of team-mate, Letitia Myles (11.24m). Police’s Cindy Fraser was third with 11.03m.

Domain Williams (15.02) reportedly set new standards for the Defence Force in another 1-2 performance with Patrick King (14.67m) taking second. Police’s Kareem Purch (14.06) was third.

GDF’s, Hooper held off a stirring performance from Sampson in the final leg of the Women’s 800m Medley Relay to bring it home for the Soldiers, though Sampson collected the baton some five metres behind Hooper.

The Men’s 1500m Medley Relay was a clearer case with Winston Dommett holding off Tyshon Bentick in the final 800m leg. The Competition continues tomorrow with Police looking to win the ISAAC title since they last did in 2011.

Lamar Odom: Ex-NBA star ‘found unconscious’ in Las Vegas brothel

Lamar Odom has struggled with alcohol and drug addiction (AP) BBC Sport - Ex-NBA basketball player Lamar Odom is being treated in hospital after being found unconscious at a brothel in Nevada, authorities have said.

Police were called to Love Ranch brothel in Crystal, Nevada, after he was found unresponsive on Tuesday.

The American had to be driven to hospital because he was too tall to be airlifted in a helicopter. Mr Odom, 35, has played basketball for Miami,

Dallas and the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers.

He also played for the US in the 2004 Athens Olympics, winning the bronze medal. His condition is unknown but well-wishers tweeted their support following the news.

Mr Odom, who was married to reality television star Khloe Kardashian, has long struggled with alcohol and drug addiction.

He was involved in a drink-driving case in 2013 and

was suspended from the NBA for violating its anti-drug policy in 2000.

He and Ms Kardashian were married in 2009 in a ceremony that was taped for US television network E!.

They divorced in 2013.

Odom won the NBA championship with the Lakers in 2009 and 2010 and was named NBA Sixth Man of the Year in 2011.

He last played in the NBA in 2013 with the Clippers.

Thursday October 15, 2015

Sri Lanka v West Indies, 1st Test, Galle, 1st day

Karunaratne ton steers Sri Lanka on dominant day ESPNcricinfo - An unbeaten century from Dimuth Karunaratne ensured Sri Lanka negotiated the opening day of the series with a sense of calm and lost only two wickets on a slow Galle pitch. Sri Lanka grew increasingly dominant as the day progressed. The final session produced over 43% of the runs they scored on the day, and ended with a punchy Karunaratne straight drive that took the score from 246 to 250.

West Indies did themselves no good by dropping two catches in the middle session. The first spill didn’t cost them - Lahiru Thirimanne, the reprieved batsman, was disimissed soon after - but the other - a backtracking Jerome Taylor failing to grasp Dinesh Chandimal at mid-on when he miscued an attempted pull off Devendra Bishoo - certainly did. Chandimal, who was on 11 at that point, went on to end the day unbeaten on 72, having added 149 with Karunaratne.

Karunaratne’s innings was a triumph of restraint and adherence to a simple plan. In the morning session, he left resolutely when the ball was angled across him, and didn’t get lured into indiscretion outside off even when the quicks went around the wicket. He read the lengths well, picking up most of his runs with checked drives through cover - he rarely went hard at the ball while playing this stroke, mindful of the slowness of the pitch - and glides and cuts behind point.

Against the legspinner Bishoo, he used his feet well, coming down the track to either whip him with the turn or to get close enough to the pitch of the ball to smother any potential misbehaviour out of the rough.

In the first two sessions, accurate bowling and a slow pitch ensured Sri Lanka never ran too far ahead of their opponents. But they took control in the period immediately after tea, when West Indies began proceedings with Bishoo and Marlon Samuels and kept them going in tandem for 16 overs. It was a strange tactic, given that West Indies’ attack contained four frontline quicks - it was, perhaps, an admission that they had got the selection wrong - and those 16 overs went for 53 runs - the run rate of 3.31 comfortably above the rate of 2.56 that Sri Lanka had scored at until tea.

Both batsmen milked the spinners, using their feet comfortably to get down the track, hit a six each over cow corner - Karunaratne reached his hundred in that manner and grew increasingly entrenched. It wasn’t until West Indies took the second new ball that Chandimal faced Roach or Taylor - West Indies’ two most experienced bowlers, and their biggest threats on the day. By that time, he had moved to 54 off 120 balls.

The new ball did a bit, but not so much as to trouble a two well-set batsmen, and Sri Lanka saw out the last 10 overs of the day without too much discomfort. The one dicey moment they endured was a result of uncertain calling when Karunaratne tucked Taylor into the leg side. Jermaine Blackwood reacted quickly to the mix-up at short midwicket, but his underarm flick missed the stumps at the bowler’s end with Karunaratne a long way short of the crease.

In the morning session, Taylor and Roach asked questions of the openers, but they survived their new-ball spells without too much alarm. Both bowlers beat Silva’s edge, but he played close to his body and didn’t follow Taylor’s swing or Roach’s seam movement with his hands.

The runs came slowly, but the initial nerves seemed to calm against Jason Holder and Shannon Gabriel, who didn’t move the ball as much as the new-ball pair. Gabriel offered a few loose balls including a full-toss that Silva square-drove for his first boundary, off his 44th ball but bowled with pace and pinged Silva on the helmet when a bouncer didn’t rise as much as expected.

The 50 partnership - the first for a Sri Lanka opening pair since Karunaratne and

Silva put on 85 in Christchurch back in December 2014 - came up in the 16th over, and West Indies were looking just a touch short on inspiration and just a touch flustered by the number of quick singles they were conceding. But they didn’t have to wait too long for the wicket, which came when Roach came back on for his second spell.

All through his first, he had troubled Silva by going wide of the crease and straightening the ball past his outside edge. Now he repeated the same line of attack, and Silva, now well set, was good enough to nick him.

Thirimanne’s 62-ball stay was a struggle all through, characterised by an utter inability to find the gaps. He survived a couple of close shaves too. First, soon after lunch, he shouldered arms to a ball from Holder that snaked in sharply from around the wicket and narrowly missed his off stump. Then he aimed an ill-advised drive at a goodlength ball from Taylor and nicked to slip, where Darren Bravo got both hands to the ball but failed to hold on.

But having got past those alarms, and having experienced a small release of pressure following Bishoo’s introduction - he picked up two doubles, a single and a boundary off the first five balls he faced from the legspinner as he searched for rhythm - Thirimanne threw his wicket away.

Looking to boss Bishoo, he ran down the track and went hard at the ball, looking perhaps to hit over mid-on.

Extra turn, though, caused him to hit the ball to short midwicket off the inside half of his bat.

Scores: Sri Lanka 250 for 2 (Karunaratne 135*, Chandimal 72*) v West Indies.

Carib Beer T20 final set for Saturday Host Demerara Cricket Club will take on arch rivals Georgetown Cricket Club in the final of the Georgetown Cricket Association/Carib Beer first division T20 final on Saturday starting from 13:00 hrs; Nigel Duguid and Shannon Crawford will perform on-field duties with Edward Bowen as standby.

In the New Building Society second division 40-over at 10:30 hrs on Saturday, Sophia will journey to GNIC SC (Mario Nicholls and Reginald Grant), Third Class will play St. Stanislaus at GCC (Joseph Jeffery and Javed Persaud), GDF will take on Police at Everest (Cyril Garnath and Matthew Kissoon) and GYO will tackle UG at Malteenoes SC (Hortence Isaacs and Deon Feassal are the umpires).