Weekend mirror march 18 19 2017 by Weekend Mirror

PPP Leaders' lives threatened by SARU official 18-19 March, 2017 / Vol. 9 No. 62 / Price: $100

Police urged to charge Eric Phillips

pposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo has called on the Police Commissioner to charge Eric Phillips, an employee of of the State Assets Recovery Unit in the Ministry of the Presidency for issue threats against him and other PPP leaders and their families. Attorney-at-Law, Anil Nandlall, who penned a letter to thes Commission on behalf of Jagdeo stated that as “a result of the above publication by Mr. Philips, my clients and their respective families are now exposed to the risk of being killed or suffering grievous bodily harm.” The PPP contends that the unit was created by the government to harass political opponents. SARU has been involved in investigating PPP leaders and has been using the media to hurl wild accusations against them. Recently the Opposition leader and others were arrested by the Police in a

further effort to intimidate them. Jagdeo’s response was that these efforts will not scare the PPP from resisting the unpopular measures being undertaken by the government. The Letter, copied to various persons in authority in Guyana and the diplomatic community, reiter-

Internet: http: //www.mirrornewsgy.com / e-mail: weekendmirror@gmail.com

ated the position of the People’s Progressive Party that SARU is an outfit that is “illegal and unlawful.” Phillips’ outburst on the social media came after the Opposition Leader recently took him to task for claiming that some 15,000 ounces of gold were stolen each month under the PPP/C administration. Below is the full text of the letter to the Commissioner of Police: Dear Commissioner, I act on behalf of former President and Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Bharat Jagdeo, several members of his former Cabinets and their respective families, 35 Members of the Central Committee of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and their respective families and 32 Members of Parliament of the PPP and their respective families. I am instructed that on the 10th day of March 2017, on the social media, Facebook, on a wall of an account which bears the name and photograph of Eric Phillips, an

SEE INSIDE

Govt revamping laws to increase witch hunting – Jagdeo PAGE 2 employee of the State Assets Recovery Unit (SARU), Ministry of the Presidency, and which account appears to be owned and operated by the said Eric Phillips, the following words were published, inter alia: “…Jagdeo need to be careful because if anyone in my family or SOCU or SARA’s families are killed or attacked or placed at risk because of his purposeful racist… (Turn to page 2)

VERY, VERY OMINOUS SIGNS The Cheddi Jagan I knew PAGE 3

PAGE 15

ANOTHER WEEK: ANOTHER SCANDAL The Economist Vs the Historian – Version 2.0 PAGE 14

Government’s suspension for three months of the Parking Meter project in the City has done nothing to quell the agitation of protesters of the project. Last week, citizens turned up in great numbers to reject the suspension and repeated calls for the project to be abandoned.

PAGE 15

Govt revamping laws to increase witch hunting – Jagdeo

roposed legal changes that undermine the power of constitutional bodies and set the “pace” for further witch hunting of political opponents will not be supported by the political Opposition, according to Opposition Leader, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo. Speaking at a news conference, held yesterday at Freedom House, he addressed the talk of changes to the Integrity Commission Act. He noted that the proposed amendment, which was circulated by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, puts the enforcement powers in the hands of the President, David Granger where Government Ministers are in breach and in the hands of the Minister of State, Joseph Harmon in cases of other persons in public life, including elected Members of Parliament (MPs). “Instead of promoting transparency they will put the fate of parliamentarians in the hands of the Minister of State, Joseph Harmon…the executive should have no control over the (Integrity) Commission,” Jagdeo said. He added, “…what they are doing now, moving it (power) from an indepen-

dent body that the Executive should have no control over, because members of the Executive, including the President, have to submit their statements to this body and be overseen by this body and [it can] initiate prosecutorial actions against the President for breach. They are seeking now to amend that Act under the Code of Conduct, which is for not just Ministers but MPs and put the enforcement power, the ability to remove people from public life in the hands of the President and Minister of State.” According to him, the Integrity Commission has already been disbanded, with the staff sent home and the office earmarked for other uses. Concerns about the years of documentation – specifically the declarations officials in public life are supposed to make to the Commission by law – were reiterated by Jagdeo. “They took and have all the documents that should be with the constitutional body,” he said. Under the law, passed in 2000, certain categories of public officials are required to declare their assets to the Integrity Commission or face criminal charges for not

doing so. The Opposition Leader expressed the view that the move to make changes to the Act is another move by the Coalition Government, which is battling over two dozen scandals in less than two years, to appear transparent. “(They are doing this) to seem as though they are pursuing transparent, accountable lives, but, on the other hand, they are setting the basis for further witchhunt and to come after PPP members,” he said. Jagdeo also pointed to the fact that the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) had made a move to in the National Assembly address the issue of greater accountability for persons in public life, via a motion, but it was dismissed by the Coalition Government. The motion by the PPP/C to have all MPs make their tax returns, as well as their asset declarations, public was hijacked by the A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Parliamentarians and changed to say only that all MPs must follow the existing law and file their tax returns.

WEEKEND MIRROR 18-19 MARCH, 2017

Sittlington’s at SOCU needs to be investigated

– Ramjattan admits to ‘having drinks’ with him in face of denial from British High Commissioner

ays after British High Commissioner, Greg Quinn, denied that staff from the British High Commission were with a Government Minister at a café in Georgetown a day after the arrests and detention of top People’s Progressive Party (PPP) officials, Public Security Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan, confessed a different story. The matter relates particularly to British Advisor to the Special Organised Crimes Unit (SOCU), Sam Sittlington. On Saturday, at a fundraising dinner, Ramjattan said, “The fact (is) that I had some wine with Sam on Wednesday evening at Oasis was because I wanted to thank him for the great work he did at SOCU.” Meanwhile, today at a news conference, held at Freedom House, PPP General Secretary and Opposition Leader, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo,

charged that despite what Quinn has said, the Party has a different view of what has happened. “This is serious… we have to investigate it… an advisor has taken on an operational role, when he is an advisor….it warrants a full-fledged investigation,” he said. Jagdeo charged that given President David Granger’s proclivity for setting up Commissions of Inquiry (CoI), he ought to move to set up a CoI into the matter of Sittlington’s involvement at SOCU. The PPP General Secretary noted that in addition to Sittlington’s presence with Minister Ramjattan, a day after the arrests and detention of top PPP officials, there is the concern about the British Advisor’s presence with SOCU during raids – given that it demonstrates that he is involved in operational

PPP Leaders lives threatened...

he needs to understand that he, his cabinet and their families (bar none) will be at the same risk… the only difference is that the response will be significantly disproportionate and very cruel.” I am enclosing a copy of

the said publication extracted from the social media. As you are aware, SARU has no law-enforcement powers but purports to act as a law enforcement agency. It is located in the Office of the President and it comprises

of leading politicians in the Coalition Government. Its officers make weekly outpourings to the media of investigations which they are conducting; they make outlandish findings of guilt of Ministers and top public ser-

vants of the former government without any due process whatsoever, and they fabricate that sensational sums of money have been stolen from the national treasury, without disclosing a scintilla of evidence in support of these baseless and reckless conclusions. They are funded out of the Office of the President’s budget and all of its employees are appointed by the political directorate. They do not take legal advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions Office, an independent, constitutional office whose mandate is to advise the State on criminal matters and to prosecute criminal charges on behalf of the State. Recently, officers of SOCU have been inviting businessmen into its office at the Office of the President, to interrogate them on tax evasion allegations? a matter on which they have no mandate whatsoever. In short, the entire operations of SARU are unlawful and illegal. You are also aware, that the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), was established as part of the Guyana

matters of SOCU, not merely serving as an advisor. Notably, the British High Commissioner had said, “Let me clarify the situation. Dr Sittinlington is at SOCU in an advisory and training capacity and not in an operational role.” However, Jagdeo underscored the fact that not only has Sittlington been involved in raids, where he has been “on the premises” of Guyanese nationals, but was also the person who drove SOCU Head, Sydney James, to the Opposition Leader’s Office, when Jagdeo himself was detained by SOCU. “We have a foreigner trespassing on the rights of Guyanese citizens and it is tolerated by the (Coalition) government,” the PPP General Secretary charged. Jagdeo reiterated his call for there to be an investigation.

(From page 1)

Police Force under the superintendence of the Commissioner of Police. Its only mandate was to investigate information passed to it by the Finance Intelligence Unit under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act. This unit has long departed its remit and it is now being used by SARA and the political directorate to investigate concocted allegations of criminality allegedly committed by the former President and now Opposition Leader, his former Cabinet and the Opposition Members of Parliament. Naturally, these two units have been the subject of constant criticisms by the Leader of the Opposition and other members of the Opposition as well as civil society. It is in this context that the Leader of the Opposition made critical remarks about these two units. Recently, Mr. Phillips made the stupendous allegation that 15,000 ounces of gold were stolen from Guyana, monthly, under the last Government. It is to this incredulous allegation that

the Leader of the Opposition responded while he was on a recent public outreach program in Berbice. As a result of the above publication by Mr. Philips, my clients and their respective families are now exposed to the risk of being killed or suffering grievous bodily harm. While I recognize that Article 146 guarantees to every individual, freedom of expression, I am also aware that the said Article 146 is predicated upon the following caveat: ART.146 (3) “Freedom of expression in this article does not relate to hate speeches or other expressions in whatever form, capable of exciting hostility or illwill against any person or class of persons.” In the circumstances, please consider this correspondence as a formal report for and on behalf of my clients who are requesting that you launch an immediate and thorough investigation into this publication and for criminal charges to be instituted as soon as possible, if necessary.

WEEKEND MIRROR 18-19 MARCH, 2017

VERY, VERY OMINOUS SIGNS By Donald Ramotar

rom the time the APNU+AFC regime took office, it has been demonstrating a strong anti-democratic tendency that is leading towards another PNC style dictatorship. The first major indication was their totally insensitive action of hiking their own pay by more than 50% and allowances by thousands of percentage points. The latest action was the arrest of many officials of the former PPP/C administration. These arrests were all wrongful and, in the case of former President Bharrat Jagdeo, illegal. The regime’s main purpose was to incite fear in the population. They not only arrested several high profile persons, but even went on to celebrate it. The party at the Oasis Café was the bullies were enjoying their “accomplishments:, drinking wine and other exotic alcoholic beverages. Like the old PNC regime, the current government seems to lack national pride due to the fact that a British national is directing the work of SOCU. They seem happy taking orders from a foreign national, in this case, a citizen of Britain,

our former colonial master. The APNU regime is in the process of subverting our institutions. The SOCU, which was setup to investigate and fight money laundering, is now being used as a political tool of the APNU. Its main purpose now is to harass PPP/C members and supporters. We are now also witnessing the creation of another body, SARA, whose leaders are already interrogating business people at the Ministry of the Presidency. Obviously, having set up this elaborate and very expensive apparatus, they will have to justify their

existence, even if it means framing and setting up people. This is iron logic of where they will lead and take us. These bodies are stacked with relatives, associates from former law-firm, old Party hacks and other friends; another way of milking the treasury. Now, the regime is putting a Bill forward that is going to give enormous powers to the Executive Branch of government. The Bill states that the President will have the power to dismiss Ministers. That, however, is an authority he/she already has. The frightening one is the power being given to the Minister in the Ministry of the Presidency. He/she will have the power to dismiss elected Members of Parliament. This is a very dangerous development that will lead to authoritarianism. I say this because Members of that August body have been elected by the people. We cannot now give that right to anyone other than the persons that the Constitution so authorizes. The APNU regime’s attitude to the Constitution is that it is a piece of paper. So many of their actions are in violation of the Constitution

that it cannot now be seen as an oversight or accident. Tender procedures are violated and awards are being made to APNU+AFC financiers. These are costing billions of dollars to our tax-payers. Appointments to Constitutional Bodies are being manipulated. The judges recommended by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) are not being appointed. Attempts are clearly being made to pack the Court with judges whom the regime feels it can rely on. That is why some are saying - “we put dem deh, they gat to rule for us”. In the Parliament, the Speaker is not acting impartially. At the last sitting, he stopped M.P Nandlall from speaking about the salary of the Prime Minister after he allowed Jordan to talk about former Presidents’ pension. At every sitting, he disrupts the Opposition Members of the National Assembly when they are speaking. Constitutional appointments are also being subverted. A case in point is the position of Chairman of the Elections Commission. The Constitution is clear on who is so qualified yet the regime ruled a list provided by the Leader of the

Opposition after wide-ranging consultations as unacceptable. All these are more than just signs. They are an indication of where we are heading. Already many are expressing fear; they feel that their rights are being violated. Almost everyone are of the view that their telephone conversations are being listened to. Now, they have moved a step further to stifle dissent by arresting opposition leaders of the PPP/C. It is important to point out that after the 1964 elections; the PNC regime targeted the PPP leaders as well. The PPP Chairman, Cedric Nunes, was detained for years, along with others. However, it was not confined to the PPP. Later, particularly after 1973, the then regime went against anyone expressing any views that were not in coincidence with that of the PNC regime. This is just the beginning. People need to defend the gains we have made in this country. No concession should be made to any violation of our Human and Constitutional rights. Stand up now before it is too late.

The centennial of the ending of indentureship – Indo-Guyanese or just Guyanese? By Dr. Leslie Ramsammy

wo days ago, March 13, we celebrated the 100th anniversary (centennial) of the ending of Indian indentureship in Guyana and other countries around the world. It comes at a time in Guyana when we celebrate the life of Dr Cheddi Jagan, a descendant of indentured labourers, a Guyanese hero and regarded by many as the Guyanese man of the 20th century. Cheddi Jagan was a fierce freedom fighter who fought against colonialism and for the freedom and dignity of all Guyanese. Yet even as we celebrate the centennial of the end of indentureship, many Indian-Guyanese are often made to believe that to be fully accepted as a Guyanese, they must disavow their Indian heritage. In Guyana, Suriname,

Trinidad, Mauritius, Fiji, and many other countries, people of Indian origin came as indentured labourers more than 175 years ago and stayed. Their children were born in these countries and for generations now have contributed to the economic, social and cultural development of their countries. They are equal citizens, no less than people with other ethnic origins. But people of Indian origin continue to struggle for acceptance. While full citizens by birth in these countries, there are those who still unfairly and unjustifiably question the legitimacy of Indians as full citizens; treated often as imposters and interlopers. In fact, in countries like Guyana, some people of Indian origin go to extreme lengths to deny their Indian origins in a false narrative

they will gain full acceptance. Recall less than two years ago, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo stood in front of people in New York and disavowed his Indian heritage when he defiantly proclaimed he is a Guyanese and not an Indo-Guyanese. He rejected being an Indian-Guyanese when President David Granger and other Guyanese of African descent not only rightfully refused to disavow their African heritage, but celebrate their African ancestry. In the uproar that followed in Guyana, Nagamootoo stood his ground and insisted that he is a Christian Guyanese, not an Indo-Guyanese. In his eagerness for acceptance, Nagamootoo convinced himself that unless he firmly repudiates his Indian origin, he cannot fully be a Guyanese. But he saw no contradiction in being a Christian Guyanese.

I am a Madrasi Indo-Guyanese. Being a Madrasi Indo-Guyanese does not make me less a Guyanese. The Madrasi culture is a rich part, an enhancing fabric of the tapestry that we all celebrate as Guyanese. I will always reject any notion which suggests that embracing my Madrasi Indo-origins with fervour and passion somehow makes me less a Guyanese. Any demand that I relinquish my origins in order to stamp my legitimacy as a Guyanese is antiquated nonsense. We have different heritages and racial make-ups, but we are part of a rich tapestry that has become the Guyanese people. The true Guyanese spirit demands that we acknowledge and celebrate the rich diversity of our individual heritages. I can be proud of Cheddi Jagan and Walter Rodney, and the fact that Cheddi was an Indo-Guyanese does

not make him more or less a hero than Walter who is an Afro-Guyanese. Rohan Kanhai did not have to disavow his Indian origin to be a Guyanese hero, and similarly Clive Lloyd did not have to diminish his African origin in order to be celebrated as a Guyanese hero. As we celebrate the centennial of the ending of indentureship in Guyana, it is disappointing that in spite of the many achievements in all walks of life in Guyana, people of Indian origin are made to feel they cannot

be fully integrated Guyanese citizens while fully embracing and celebrating their Indian heritage. The centennial celebration of the ending of indentureship arrives at a time when Indo-Guyanese feel discriminated and under political assault as the foreshadow of dictatorship looms. The civil service is closed to them and sugar, rice and business where people of Indian origin have excelled face uncertain future in the hands of a government determined to restrict their growth.

PPP HOTLINE

Our valuable supporters and friends please call our hotline number 225-1479 and give us all important information. Pensioners please inform us about any issues you may have in respect to you getting your well deserved pensions. Further, let us know about the issues you are having in respect to your ID cards. Do not hesitate to speak to our activists and leaders in your communities. Call 225-1479. The PPP will always represent you.

WEEKEND MIRROR 18-19 MARCH, 2017

Grassroots Talk By Jagnarine Somwar n the evening of Friday, March 3, the Guyana Indian Indentureship Abolition Association (GIAA) held a programme to observe the centennial anniversary of the end of indentureship in Guyana. This marked the beginning of activities to coincide with March 12, the 100th anniversary of the Abolition of Indian Indentureship and also Phagwah 2017. The ceremony featured several speakers, including Indian Rights activists, Ryhaan Shah and Ravi Dev, People’s Progressive Party, Member of Parliament, Adrian Anamayah and the Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, V. Mahalingham. Rightfully so, the three

speakers made scathing presentations as follows: “The essence of democracy must be nourished through protest and through the populace, who have earned and fought for their freedom, to guard their freedom jealously... and to take actions that would reverse the uncertain future and security of Indo-Guyanese.” The urge was also to “stand firm and resist” marginalization as “Indian businessmen are being penalized for their success” Those remarks could be attributed to the draconian measures inflicted on the mainly East Indian Guyanese businessmen and the witch hunting by the State Assets Recovery Unit (SARU) and the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).

Indian indentured servants in Georgetown, British Guiana, 1922

To add insult to injury, as the Guyanese population, especially the Hindus were preparing to celebrate Phagwah, the Minister of Culture made

the most damning and insulting remark that Phagwah is the Festival of Lights and that the Guyanese population was preparing to celebrate Diwali

on March 12. The month of March marks the suspension of the indentureship scheme, which brought an end to

Moment in history

Late former President Dr Cheddi Jagan sharing a light moment with the late John Paul II in October 1996, when he was invited to the Vatican to have private talks with the Pope. Dr Jagan said that he had amended his speech at the World Food Summit to reflect what the Pope had said about poverty in the world as it coincided with his own call for a ‘New Global Human Order.’ The Faith and Justice Group of the Roman Catholic Church wrote the following when Dr Jagan died: “Dr Jagan has been one of the principle architects of our political development as a nation. He is greatly admired and respected for the dignity, integrity and sincerity with which he has waged his lifelong struggle for social justice on behalf of the poor and dispossessed. His life personified the virtues of tenacity and principle.”

the importation of Indians to the slavery driven plantations of then British Guiana. On March 12, 1917, the Governor General of India stamped down on this act of dehumanising their nationals, which at that time had already supplied the West Indies with a new workforce, after slavery was outlawed. One hundred years later, Guyana celebrated the landmark of not only the end of this callous system, but also the diversity which emerged and continued to develop as a result of the coming of the East Indians. East Indians in Guyana are no less than any other race, thus they must be treated with the respect they deserve like every other Guyanese and not as third class citizens. Like the African slaves, the East Indians contributed immensely towards the development and progress of this nation through blood, sweat and tears. Indo-Guyanese are entitled to land for housing, agriculture and mining like other citizens, therefore, their applications for their birth right entitlement must find favours with the powers that be and not be side-lined for that which their fore parents made sacrifices. History would remind us that more than 120 years ago, land for settling and other purposes were made available to the indentured servants, who forfeited their return passage to India to remain in Guyana, by the then established Return Passage Committee. In 1885, a Commission was appointed, headed by the Attorney General, J. W. Car(Turn to page 7)

WEEKEND MIRROR 18-19 MARCH, 2017

GAWU’s views on safeguarding and promoting a sustainable sugar industry T

he Government has thus far been presented with three options regarding the industry – retaining the status-quo, complete privatization, and estate closure and transition into non-sugar ventures. Having considered the options, we strongly believe that they are not in the interest of the industry, the people linked to its operation and the nation as a whole. Thus, to this end, we wish to offer a fourth option, which we believe will safeguard the industry and protect the well-being of the thousands who are dependent on its operation. Our Union recognizes that the industry has very good potential to succeed in Guyana, and has many positive characteristics – such as an abundance of arable land, adequate labour, low cost cane transportation, inexpensive irrigation, sufficient fresh water, adequate factory capacity, know-how and technical expertise. These strong pillars, we believe, give our sugar industry a solid foundation and a head start relative to its Caribbean counterparts. Sustainability of the industry, we believe, rests with a paradigm shift from it being an inefficient producer of raw bulk sugar to an efficient producer of direct consumption sugars and other products. In addressing the challenges that confront the industry, we recognize that a multipronged approach is necessary to reduce costs and enhance revenues. Our suggestions have taken account of previous work done by GuySuCo. Those ideas, we are aware, were comprehensively studied and examined by external agencies, and found to hold great value in securing the industry. We believe their value remains undiminished; however, we recognize that some updating to the studies may be required to reflect current day circumstances. Reducing cost

We are aware that the industry is confronted by high operating costs and reduction is imperative to ensure competitiveness. Immediately, we urge that a comprehensive review of the various activities, from tillage to sugar and molasses’ delivery, should

be conducted with a view to identify inefficiencies and wastage, and to come up with innovative ways to do things better along the entire production chain. The Corporation is fully aware of its cane production cost being the largest contributor to total production cost. Energy, according to GuySuCo, accounts for 8 per cent of overall costs1 ($2.8B at 2015 levels). We are aware that an energy audit found that with investments of $192M in the factories of Uitvlugt, Wales, Enmore, Blairmont, Rose Hall and Albion, savings of $659M could be realized per annum2. We understand that Wales factory implemented a fraction of those measures, which yielded savings by reducing its diesel usage in 2014/2015. Another idea worth pursuing is having services departments offer their services to the open Guyanese market for a fee. The income generated can be used to offset their operating costs, thus reducing dependence on the industry. The Sugar CoI report also affirmed the view that GuySuCo was not adhering to known and best agricultural practices. The industry should immediately return to those practices which have served it well, and thus contribute to promoting improved production and productivity and reducing average costs. Research is also a critical element in the cost-reduction drive, as is the adoption of best practices. Mechanization of operations has been recognized as a significant plank in the industry’s drive to reduce costs. On this matter, our Union has generally been supportive of the process, in keeping with labour attrition. Sugar workers, on the other hand, have also welcomed this development, as it enhances their productivity and consequently their earnings. In 2014, the Corporation, in a presentation to the Economic Services Committee, pointed out that it would require $14B to mechanise its operations, and that its cost savings would amount to over $6B per annum (17 per cent of 2015 overall costs). Pursuing this path, we believe, is one way to

allow the industry to become more efficient and cost-effective. Increasing revenues through sugar diversification

For the Guyana sugar industry to prosper, even under efficient management in the future, it is readily apparent that other income earning streams have to be added3. Our Union strongly subscribes to the position that the industry needs to transform itself from being a “sugar” industry to being a “sugar cane” industry. This strategy has been employed in many countries and has yielded much success, and the experiences of those countries can serve as a useful guide to us. Moreover, this has long been the strategy of GuySuCo, and various ventures have to this end been studied and examined. Through our suggestions, the entire sugar cane plant will be utilized to widen the range of the industry’s products thus adding a number of profitable revenue streams. Apart from transitioning the industry from a “sugar” industry to a “sugar cane” industry, a sustained modernization programme, taking into account the adoption of realistic ventures, and using sugar products, must be formulated. ● Cogeneration In our view, the main contributor to added-value to sustain the sugar industry in the long term will be co-generation4. The lone co-generation plant at Skeldon, in spite of its short comings, has great value. The CoI recommended that the Skeldon Co-Generation Units be returned to GuySuCo, and a reasonable Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) be negotiated with GPL, a view to which we also subscribe. Skeldon Energy Incorporated (SEI), in a recent interaction with our Union, advised that in 2016 it had some U$45M (G$9.45B) in energy sales to the Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL) and Skeldon Estate from its diesel and steam units. At this time, we are aware that co-generation feasibility studies are ongoing at Albion and Uitvlugt estates. Previously, feasi-

bility studies advised that co-generation was found to be profitable at Blairmont and Enmore estates. A co-generation plant at Albion is expected to cost about G$7B5 and with rates similar to those enjoyed by SEI, the investment is very lucrative at the estates where the operation is feasible. We understand that Albion often dumps excess bagasse in open spaces, and resorts to burning as a means of disposal. ● Refined White Sugar There exists a ready market in CARICOM for a total of 200,000 metric tonnes of refined sugar6. With improved production levels reaching 331,000 tonnes in 20257, GuySuCo would be able to satisfy this market, for which the Corporation would receive in excess of US30 c/lb8. Our research informed us that a 180,000-tonne sugar refinery at Skeldon was found to have an Internal Rate of Return of 28.8 per cent9 when a price of US23 c/lb10 was expected. Higher prices in contemporary times only serve to add to the project’s feasibility. The recent indication, through press reports, that an Indian investor is willing to take over Skeldon operations with a view, among other things, to establishing a refinery serves to remind us of the significant sums that can be earned in this venture. ● Direct Consumption Brown Sugar

We are aware, at this time, that GuySuCo is capable of packaging 50,000 tonnes11 of sugar per annum from its Blairmont

and Enmore packaging plants. The price received for this type of sugar is approximately US33 c/lb12, and represents the Corporation’s highest return. GAWU strongly supports the maximization of GuySuCo’s existing capacity, along with further expansion in this regard given the profitability of product lines. The opportunities for emergence of new product brands are numerous. Critical to this venture is the need for a robust product development and a marketing programme with clear vision and focus. North American and European markets ought to be pursued with energy. Efforts on the Geographical Indicator will boost marketing of branded products. ● Bulk Alcohol The production of bulk alcohol is also another viable business venture, and another distillery in our country could be established next to a sugar factory. We are aware that a feasibility study was conducted for a distillery at Albion, and the results should be further analyzed to determine viability. ● Fuel Alcohol The majority of GuySuCo’s molasses was shipped to the ‘Other Island’ and Barbados, with DDL placing a significant third13. Fuel alcohol production from molasses is also another opportunity to enhance revenues and reduce imports. An ECLAC study in 2006 pointed out that 50,000 tonnes of molasses per annum was sufficient to meet a 90/10 fuel/ethanol mix. It is an area that

requires further examination and consideration, and shouldn’t be outside the realm of possible ideas to ‘save’ the industry. ● Direct Consumption Dark Brown Sugar

The Corporation should examine the sale and production of a darker form of brown sugar. In North America, similar sugar is being marketed as a form of health food. Marketing is once again a critical factor to success. ● Direct Consumption Molasses

The short-lived sale of bottled molasses as a health food was encouraging. GuySuCo must more seriously examine the possibility of selling (and exporting) molasses in small (400 – 500ml) bottles, with necessary promotion14.The difficulties encountered with this venture could be attributed to GuySuCo outsourcing pasteurization and bottling of this product. This challenge and additional production cost can easily be addressed through installation of the Corporation’s own operation, based on market studies for volumes. ● Other Commodities Sugar cane has been successfully used to produce animal feed, pharmaceuticals, paper, etc. Such ventures have been undertaken in Cuba, and an examination should be pursued; and if feasible, could be implemented in the medium term. Carbon dioxide, a by-product of fermentation, can be trapped, washed and compressed into dry-ice, which is used for freezing. Vinasse, a by-product from distillation, is rich in fertilizer elements, and can be returned to the cane fields as fertilizer.

The People's Progressive Party invites you to participate in the

ANNUAL CHEDDI JAGAN FITNESS WALK Sunday March 19, 2017 at the National Park From 7:00 a.m.

WEEKEND MIRROR 18-19 MARCH, 2017

Local Government and You!

he March 2017 exit of Dr. Steve Surujbally from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) came suddenly and swiftly given his previous indicated resignation, but, further questionable prolonged accommodation by the APNU/AFC Government. The disquieting departure after this troubled tenure leaves most Guyanese and many staff members of the organization with more questions than answers. After months of written and other public protestations

by the main opposition PPP/C and other citizens, the justified demonstrations, which stressed a significant lack of confidence in Surujbally as GECOM’s Chairman, bore fruit around September 2016. He announced his intent to use up outstanding accumulated annual leave, following which, his impending resignation would become effective. The then proposed departure date was November 30, 2016. However, even amidst the

tremors of the falsified elections results evidenced by the existence of: false Statements of Poll (SOPs); improper conduct by some GECOM staff; the ongoing court matter; as well as the ongoing audit, which indicates many improper undertakings, President Granger requested and authorized that Surujbally stay on to facilitate a ‘smooth transition’. Transition to what is the obvious question. So far, there is a frivolous rejection by Granger, of the

List of Nominees recommended by the Opposition Leader in keeping with Section 161 of the Constitution. At the same time, there is no evidence that Surujbally’s continued presence at the Commission, even during his period of annual vacation leave and thereafter, was of any national benefit. Even the members of staff at GECOM were suspiciously alarmed as to why he was visiting the Office so frequently; and for such extended periods; along with the Chief Executive Of-

ficer, Keith Lowenfield who was also on leave. The full explanations may never be willingly made available publicly as to the full nature of these engagements. However, reliable sources and other public media have provided earth shattering news about the millions of taxpayers’ dollars lost through theft and the serious level of corruption at GECOM office. It is also clearer now that a genuine effort to cover-up by removing the evidence of many frauds is being accommodated, perhaps as part of the payback scheme. The scandalous situation is beyond imagination! Worse of all is the employment of staff chosen to work during the run-ins periods by the notorious GECOM Secretariat. The organization stinks of nepotism, favoritism and a majority race employment of known PNC hawks. At the same time, issues related to the padding of the pay-roll at GECOM are daily accusations and recurrent discussions by staff and the populace at large; which evidences a misuse of, and the blatant hiding by the GECOM principals, behind the autonomy granted under the constitution. The situation affirms the vicious assault being perambulated through a deliberately weakened financial accountability system. One lacking sufficiently appropriate oversights and counterchecks under the leadership of Surujbally and Lowenfield. It is notable that some senior staff members are calling for a full accountable list of all the persons who were employed during the continuous registration periods, and moreso, the full list of the staff that were employed during the 2015 General and Regional Elections and the 2016 Local Government Elections. In the context, the Auditor General’s report must in addition to the other discovered deficiencies, focus on the heavily padded payroll as there are many indicators that millions of dollars were siphoned off to the political crones. The facts indicate that GECOM staffs were not only involved in blatant rigging of elections, but many are implicated in other improprieties. This position is supported by information received which suggests that expenditures were inconsistent with what was purchased and what were received by the organization. The deceptive position of ‘Information Clerks’ to Polling Stations, was created under the pretext of the

necessity for advising and guiding electors, as well as providing information on the respective Polling Stations, where such persons should go to cast their ballots. Instead, and too frequently, most of those assigned as Information Clerks, were puppets of the APNU/AFC, who manipulatively, were positioned to deliberately misguide, misinform and frustrate electors into not casting their ballots, especially in PPP stronghold areas. These violations are intolerable and the audit should also pronounce on GECOM’s staffing functionality, both permanent and temporary, for which the names, qualifications and background must be made available for scrutiny. In addition, those that were connected to the recent, mass misappropriation and procurement violations must also be revealed and the necessary disciplinary action pursued. It is also the view of this column that Surujbally’s lapses along with the Chief Elections Officer have intimately contributed to this debacle, and in the case of the latter, he should be asked to resign; and or face prosecution over the unaccountability saga that had left GECOM as the most embarrassing institution in this Country. Surujbally, in an interview prior to his parting speech, had praised the staff of GECOM and referred to some as his close friends. His praises highlight the old adage “show me your friends and I will tell you who you are”, which is most applicable to his bunch of fraudsters and election riggers. Indeed, the disclaimers were proffered by both Surujbally and Lowenfield against any wrongdoing or involvement in the observed malpractices which occurred at GECOM. In the circumstances, where they both have the highest functional responsibility in the running of the organization, could they be believed? Your guess is as good as mine! It is irrational that as the functional heads in charge of GECOM, such lack of awareness regarding the operations as claimed would have been allowed. If not then what were they managing? Outcries of ignorance in this case tilt the scale many times over the incompetence balances. Guyana cannot afford to burden the future of our citizens and country with such worthless administrators. (Turn to page 7)

WEEKEND MIRROR 18-19 MARCH, 2017

Party News

District Annual Conferences By Eddi Rodney

s part of the political organisation and assignment of sub-regional responsibilities the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) through its local unit structure, (i.e. the party Regions identified in terms of the national county Opposition Leader and PPP General Secretary Dr Bharrat Jagdeo laying a wreath in memory of Dr Cheddi Jagan at Babu Jaan geography) recently has proPPP regional offices. Ap- tribute and rally after the ceeded to have District Conproximately twenty three death of Dr. Cheddi Jagan ferences. (23) more District local unit has there been a similar tribThese essentially comconferences are still to be ute in terms of thousands menced as from March 3 held in various subregions. who attended. 2017, and were held in ReThe March 5, 2017, event gions (3), Four (4), Five (5) Sunday District Confer- that featured a tribute conand Six (6), or Demerara ence sisting of address and mes(West and East), as well as Sunday March 19th will sages and a wreath laying Berbice (West and East). be the occasion of Annual ceremony was estimated as An estimated 18 of these District Conference for the being the largest in terms of events have been already Georgetown area. The key- masses of People since 1997. held involving 130 part note event will be held at Party Leaders - General groups. Freedom House. Registration Secretary, Dr. Bharrat Jadis scheduled to commence at geo, Donald Ramotar, as New Leadership Stream 9:30 hours. Party members well as Executive Secretary, As traditional, District whose cards would have Zulfikar Mustapha and HyConferences and organized been submitted for renewal dar Ally delivered addresses. in keeping with the PPP are advised that these cards Hydar Ally on behalf of the Constitution and to be conwould be in safe keeping at Cheddi Jagan Research Cenvenient in terms of not clashFreedom House. tre. Sheila Veersammy M.P, ing with national holidays, Amongst the issues ex- also contributed approprior other major dates or compected to be discussed would ately on behalf of the Wommunity programmes (e.g. be the ongoing parking me- en’s Progressive Organistion religious observations etc.). ters scam as well as the se- (WPO), Mr David Armogan. For the most part, these rious escalation in armed Regional (RCD) Chairman, conferences provide an oprobberies targeting citizens was also amongst the speakportunity for the participaand communities perceived ers as well as former Prime tion of new members into as supporters of the PPP. Minister Samuel Hinds. the party, and a total 550 Delegates were registered Region Five Annual Wreath Laying as actively engaged. Out of Conference According to reports in these 154 (one hundred and All the District con- sections of the local mainfifty four) new leaders or ferences programmed for stream, (SN March 6, 2017 committee serving officials Region Five (West Berbi- as well as Guyana Times were identified for various ce) have been successful. March 7, 2017) the conresponsibilities. On Sunday March 19 this sensus that emerged from Most of the active groups sub-region will host its re- Babu John 2017, was that would be so structured to gional event at Bath PPP “The people are looking to include a batch of secreoffice. One hundred and fifty the PPP for leadership”, as taries, including those for delegates and observers are for one the APNU- AFC has Education (Party), Organisregistered to participate. failed them. ing, Finance and of course During the wreath laying the chairperson. Amongst Babu John -2017 segment of the programme a the various venues for these Not since the massive memorial tribute was made Regional Conference prepagathering of Guyanese- by the senior Envoy of the ratory events were villages mainly members and sup- People’s Republic of China, or neighbourhood centers porters of the PPP- who other wreaths were lid by the as well as others including attended the 1997 Babu John traditional representatives.

(From page 4) rington, to determine how a land settlement scheme could be established for Indians in compensation for their return passages to India. The Commission met with plantation owners, groups of Indians and other interested persons, and visited a number of places suitable for settlement. The Commission subsequently established a Return Passages Committee in September 1896 to obtain the sites and to select the settlers. In 1896, Helena, an abandoned sugar plantation on the west bank of the Mahaica River, was surveyed and divided into lots, and the old drainage canals were also cleared. Distribution of house lots and cultivation plots to the selected indentured settlers began in April 1897, and by the time this process was completed, 1,206 persons were in possession of land in the settlement. However, all the persons granted land in Helena did not move from their former places of residence to reside there. The Carrington Commission felt that the indentured servants could not manage Helena without Government support. The Governor, Sir Walter Sundall, therefore, appointed Rev. James Cropper of the Canadian East Indian Mission as superintendent of Helena, and also of Whim, another Indian settlement which had started on the Corentyne. The Whim settlement started in September 1898 when land for housing and cultivation was allocated to settlers. By March 1899, land was shared out to 574 persons. Many of the persons granted land at this settlement previously resided at the nearby sugar estates of Port (From page 6) Remedying GECOM must commence with appointing strong untarnished and trustworthy leadership. Surujbally has departed and so must Lowenfield. The exposure of the situation at GECOM in respect to corruption must have been the root cause why Dr. Surujbally had decided to leave GECOM. Although he tried to present the image that his departure was of his own call, the perhaps largest political showdown loomed as to the necessity for his removal. What the situation ultimately confirms is that albeit the existing legislation, no one should be allowed such power without a leash of appropriate audits and counterchecks. Notwithstanding, prior to his historic departure and having refused to call any

Mourant and Albion where they had jobs, mainly as cane cutters, when they were not working on their own lands. The long drought in 1899 forced many of them to abandon their plots and return to Port Mourant and Albion, but they gradually returned to Whim as the weather conditions improved. Some of them also experienced severe economic problems because they incurred heavy debts after borrowing from money lenders to finance the building of houses. It took some time before they could eventually pay off these debts. The settlers cultivated mainly rice, but also planted coconuts, coffee and fruit trees. With their earnings from the sugar estates, they were able to erect better houses than their counterparts at Helena. A third settlement for Indian indentured servants was established at Bush Lot in West Berbice. Comprising of an area of 1,306 acres of which 463 acres were waste land, it was handed over to the Return Passage Committee in March 1897. The early settlers of Bush Lot experienced the problems associated with the drought of 1899 and their rice crop was severely affected. Even though house lots and cultivation plots began to be distributed from 1899, it was not until February 1902 that Bush Lot was officially declared an Indian settlement. A sum of $40,000 acquired from the immigration fund was spent on laying out the settlement and the digging by shovel-men of a canal, over three miles long, to the Abary River to obtain water supply. Maria’s Pleasure, on the island of Wakenaam, started in 1902 when 168 lots were distributed. However, only 40 persons built homes and rice and coconuts were cul-

tivated. In 1905, the Government abandoned the scheme to settle Indians in exchange for their return passages, and agreed instead to assist them in purchasing land. In 1912-13, the Government purchased the abandoned estates of Unity-Lancaster on East Coast Demerara from their owners and improved the drainage and irrigation canals. The land was then divided into one-acre plots which were sold for $20 each. Around the same period, Clonbrook, another abandoned estate, west of Unity-Lancaster, was also purchased by the Government and divided into house lots and cultivation plots. Each house lot was sold for $30 while a cultivation plot cost $20. On the West Coast Demerara, Windsor Forest and La Jalousie, with a combined area of 3,000 acres, was offered for rent at a rate of one dollar per acre for the first year and six dollars for each subsequent year. The tenants had the option of purchasing the land by paying $8.50 per acre for 25 years. The nearby estate, Hague, was also leased out in lots and offered under similar terms. Thus, the establishment of East Indian communities had immensely improved over the formative years despite the colonial hardships. However, after Independence from the colonial masters and self rule under the People’s National Congress, the suffering of the East Indians maximised to a point of mass migration and then after a resettling period from 1992 to 2015, the migration of East Indians to North America and elsewhere had recommenced.

Commission meetings to discuss matters of more significance and importance, he unsurprisingly called a special meeting to endorse and renewed the employment contract of Lowenfield. It is a vindictive attempt at driving nails in the coffins of all who objected to him and to leave a cover over his many improprieties. It is one that even Surujbally knows would not last and the power of the people will ultimately prevail. Finally, in the interest of transparency and balance, the matter of GECOM staff recruitment at both the permanent and temporary levels, must be returned as a Commission function and not a Secretariat function as was allowed to happen during the Surujbally’s tenure at GECOM. Further, the Secretariat and Lowenfield has continuously failed the nation

by pursuing a recruitment drive which targets hiring persons of partisan politics and exclusively of one ethnic background who are mainly supporters of the APNU/ AFC. Yet, Surujbally has paved the way for Lowenfield to continue at GECOM as the Chief Election Officer. Is he really a loyalist to our county or a related friend indeed to Lowenfield? These relationships on every occasion MUST be delinked as accountability and transparency requirements in this critical organization. Paybacks and dark secrets must have no bearings. Our citizens call for the APNU/AFC Government to establish the Local Government Commission NOW. (This column is written by Neil Kumar along with Mr. S and Mr.A)

WEEKEND MIRROR 18-19 MARCH, 2017

EDITORIAL Nagamootoo’s Hypocrisy President David Granger

he Prime Minister’s recent statement that “sugar will not die … in my lifetime” is just a vain attempt to hoodwink the nation in general and sugar workers, in particular. This is just gaff by Nagamootoo to appease sugar workers just like the one he pulled on rice farmers when he promised to give them $9,000 per bag for paddy. Nagamootoo knew then that once in power the APNU/ AFC would shaft rice farmers. And they did. They turned their backs on rice farmers and the industry. Today, the Prime Minister knows very well that he is not calling the shots where the future of the sugar industry is concerned. Yet he is making bold statements like the ones he made at the recent commemorative event to mark the struggles of the Rose Hall Martyrs in Canje, Berbice. The PNC-led elements within the APNU has decided that the sugar industry would be closed and has already earmarked Rose Hall and Skeldon for closure. They are already having secret talks with potential buyers. The AFC has now been consumed by the PNC, which controls APNU. So whatever Nagamootoo and Ramjattan say will be just wind. The most they can now do is to justify their usefulness in the Coalition by seemingly being sympathetic with sugar workers and rice farmers and win some support. Nagamootoo tried his best to soft-soap workers by saying that some estates will have to be closed in order to save the industry. This is just trying to put a spin on the PNC’s agenda to make it palatable. They have already closed Wales Estate and scaled down operations at LBI. Further they have not paid severance to the Wales workers. For the last two years, sugar workers have not been given wage increases and other benefits. The sugar unions have been treated with scant regard. Despite strong calls for the government to hammer out with stakeholders a realistic option for the industry, the government is bent on closing it. Nagamootoo and Ramjattan have said nothing about these negative developments. It is in the sugar and rice belts that the AFC got its votes in previous elections. That support has dwindled to almost nothingness today. Nagamootto and Khemraj Ramjattan are now attempting to regain a semblance of acceptability within these communities, which are suffering at the hands of this government. Nagamootoo’s position is also reflective of the high level of confusion within the government on how to deal with the situation, especially now that the main opposition seems bent on putting sugar workers on the alert to defend their existence. Workers are seeing through the game Nagamootoo is playing. They know that he is trying to lead them to the cliff for them to commit suicide. Already, thousands are on the breadline and Nagamootoo says nothing about it. This is hypocrisy of the highest order. While honouring the sugar workers for their struggles and those that have fallen at Rose Hall, he failed to take a stance on the plight of the workers today.

is sliding into perdition Dear Editor,

spent seven months in India and came back and changed allegiance and became a Christian, a divorcee and a new Christian that got married to a pastor of West Coast Berbice in 2002. Over the years, I have read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation six times and I am still reading and have developed a personal relationship with this Living God – Yeshua Hamashiah Jesus the Messiah. In the book of Mathews, the first book of the Gospels, the Lord was speaking to his disciples in chapter 7:21-24 “ Not everyone that saith unto me Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he that doeth the Will of the Father which is in Heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work INIQUITY.” Here the Lord is speaking about socalled Christians or believers who know the name of Jesus and go to church and kneel down before the altars, but have no relationship with the Lord. Campaigning before the 2015 general elections David Granger and the APNU/AFC put up big signboards “Vote for Righteousness,” saying they will uphold righteousness in govern-

ment. Soon after these men got into government, the lies and the deception and the obfuscation became the impetus of their every initiative. They callously turned their backs on the rice farmers. The December before the elections the Ministry of Finance declared rice to be the most productive sector. Later in the year of 2015, the APNU/AFC government declared rice “not government business.” The president and his government declaring that a third of Guyana’s population is not governments’ business is cause for concern. They have abandoned their obligation to the sugar industry. But David Granger said in the election campaign that sugar was “too big to fail.” Their approach and dealings with this important sector, another third of our population, is nothing but deception and obfuscation. The timber industry, the important sector for the hinterland communities, has declined 33% – a full year under APNU/AFC rule. Not to mention ‘bondgate’ and ‘redhousegate’ and ‘gecomgate’ and many other executive lawlessness. Many persons on television and in the daily newspapers are saying that David Granger is “being badly advised.” I do not subscribe to such a skewed circumvent. This president and his government are stuck in the bitterness

of campaign mode. They cannot rise to the heights of governance with a vision and hope for Guyana. President David Granger is spiritually bankrupt. The same principality and powers that ruled - the PNC twenty-eight year destruction of Guyana is the powers that is behind this APNU/ AFC. I am sure President David Granger is feeling purposeful and as Juan Edghill would say, ‘anointed.’ This government has rapidly degenerated into a force of darkness over Guyana and is now serving the “the rulers of the darkness of this world.” In the 1970s, there was a US dispatch out of Georgetown describing David Granger as an “ anti-indian racist.” The way things unfolded in 2016, David Granger is still stuck in the 70s. This is a letter encouraging our president to snap back into reality for his own Salvation. Moses of the Bible is the only human being that ever interacted with this Living God “ face to face.” To whom much is given much is expected. With discernment and its concomitant strength, much is possible. If David Granger does not change his ways, he will end up joining Forbes Burnham for all eternity rather than “absent with the body present with the Lord.” Daveanand Koblall

It may be time for a complaint about the British High Commissioner to be lodged with the FCO T

he glaring contradiction between what the British High Commissioner, Greg Quinn, has said in relation to the involvement of staff from the British High Commission in Guyana in the operations of the Special Organised Crimes Unit (SOCU) and the ‘wine party’, held after top People’s Progressive Party (PPP) leaders were arrested/ detained and then released, has been exposed on multiple occasions, by none other than Public Security Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan. Quinn had said that no staffer from the British High Commission was involved in the wine drinking after the arrests. Notably, the British High Commissioner had admitted that British Advisor to SOCU, Sam Sittlington, is being paid by the High Commission. Ramjattan has admitted that Sittlington – a staffer of the British High Commission – was at the

‘wine party’. On Saturday, at a fundraising dinner, Ramjattan said, “The fact (is) that I had some wine with Sam on Wednesday evening at Oasis was because I wanted to thank him for the great work he did at SOCU.” While Quinn was immediate in his response to initial questions regarding Sittlington’s role in operational matters at SOCU, he has been silent regarding the fact that a statement he released on the ‘wine party’ was proven as an untruth by the Government Minister who was involved. The question now in the minds of Guyanese is whether or not there is a cover up? What is Sittlington being paid to do? There have been repeated criticisms that Sittlington has stepped beyond the role of an advisor – and these too have not been adequately answered. The British, as many Guyanese

remember, have a history of interfering in local politics for their purposes and this history, coupled with Quinn’s recent actions, inspire more questions. Is Quinn acting on his own or are his actions reflective of the British Government. That said, it may be time for a complaint be lodge with the Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO), which is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom and deals with British interests worldwide. In the meantime, it would be interesting to see if the investigation called for by the Opposition Leader, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, will be advanced. Jagdeo charged that given President David Granger’s proclivity for setting up Commissions of Inquiry (CoI), he ought to move to set up a CoI into the matter of Sittlington’s involvement at SOCU. Time will tell.

WEEKEND MIRROR 18-19 MARCH, 2017

Mabaruma Town Clerk snubs court order

Too Much Screen Time May Raise Kids’ Diabetes Risk (HealthDay News) -- Kids who get too much screen time may be more likely to have risk factors that increase their chances of type 2 diabetes, new research says. Watching television, playing video games or sitting in front of a computer or other device for more than three hours each day was linked to more body fat and insulin resistance. Those factors mean the body is less able to keep blood sugar levels under control, the British researchers said. They said limiting children’s screen time could be necessary to prevent health issues later on. “Our findings suggest that reducing screen time may be beneficial in reducing type 2 diabetes risk factors, in both boys and girls and in different ethnic groups from an early age,” wrote the study authors, led by Claire Nightingale, from St. George’s University of London. “This is particularly relevant, given

resistance, fasting blood sugar levels, markers of inflammation, blood pressure and body fat were measured. The kids were also asked to detail their daily use of televisions, computers, video games and other devices. About 4 percent of the children never watched TV or used an electronic device. Slightly more than one-third reported getting less than one hour of screen time each day. Of the remaining children, 28 percent spent up to two hours in front of a screen, 13 percent got up to three hours and 18 percent spent more than three hours each day sitting in front of a television or electronic device. Excessive screen time was far more common among boys than girls. Children of African or Caribbean descent were also more likely to spend three or more hours in front of a screen than white or Asian children, the researchers reported.

egion 1 Town Clerk, Barrington Ward, today, turned up to a Council meeting, despite the court order in place, barring him, and others, from performing functions until a legal challenge regarding tied Local Authority Areas, including Mabaruma, is heard. The Councillors representing the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) in protest left the meeting. They objected, citing the fact that the matter is engaging the attention of the High Court. High Court Judge, Justice Diana Insanally, last year, granted a series of Orders in respect of decisions made by Communities Minister, Ronald Bulkan, in the Mabaruma Municipality and the five Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) – where he appointed a Mayor and Deputy Mayor, as well as NDC Chairpersons and Vice Chairpersons. The political Opposition has argued that in the Local Authority Areas where

The researchers found that total body fat among the kids increased along with their screen time. Specific indicators of body fat -- such as skin fold thickness and fat mass -- were all higher among the kids who got more than three hours of screen time each day than those who got just one hour or less. Screen time was also linked to the kids’ levels of leptin -- a hormone that’s involved in appetite control and insulin resistance, the researchers said. This was true regardless of other factors that could affect the kids’ type 2 diabetes risk factors, such as household income, puberty stage and level of physical activity. The authors noted their findings don’t prove a cause-and-effect relationship, but they could have important implications for public health as more children are routinely using electronic devices.

Of 1,166 seats up for grabs, the PPP/C won 754 of those, while APNU+AFC won 375 and the remaining seats went to independent candidates and groups that contested the elections – in other words the PPP/C won 65 per cent of the seats, while 32 per cent went to APNU+AFC. The PPP/C also won 48 of Local Authority Areas (LAAs) out of the 71 areas. In April 2016, negotiations failed to resolve the impasse on the elections of Chair/Vice-Chair and Mayor/Deputy Mayor of the Councils of tied Local Authority Areas. Subsequent developments have led the PPP/C to propose and support revisiting negotiations between PPP/C and the Granger government over sharing the positions of principal office-bearers in the tied LAAs. This was done, according to Party General Secretary, Clement Rohee, in the interest of these residents in the tied Councils/ Local Authority Areas.

Latest multi-million drug procurement scandal reflective of a pattern – Jagdeo

rising levels of type 2 diabetes, the early emergence of type 2 diabetes risk, and recent trends suggesting that screen time-related activities are increasing in childhood and may pattern screen-related behaviors in later life,” the researchers said. Previous research has shown that adults who spend excessive amounts of time in front of a TV or computer are at greater risk for weight gain and type 2 diabetes, Nightingale’s group explained. Since young people are increasingly using devices such as tablets and smartphones, the study authors investigated if this risk also applied to children. The study included health information on nearly 4,500 children between 9 and 10 years old. The youngsters were from three cities in the United Kingdom -- Birmingham, Leicester and London. The children’s cholesterol, insulin

there is a tie among the Local Government Elections (LGE) contestants, the law stipulates that there should be a new election – a return to all the registered voters in the particular area – for Mayors and Deputy Mayors or Chairpersons and Vice Chairpersons. If such a process yields the same result, a tie, the law then makes provisions for intervention from the Communities Minister – but only after due process is followed. This position has also been confirmed by Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Commissioners. There has been no such election; rather Bulkan selected and appointed persons. The areas where the PPP/C and the A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) are tied include: Malgre Tout/Meer Zorgen NDC, Industry/Plaisance NDC and Gibraltar/Fyrish NDC, as well as Woodlands/ Farm NDC, Woodlands-Bel Air NDC and the Municipality of Mabaruma.

he latest procurement scandal under the Coalition Government is reflective of pattern of action, according to People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo. Speaking at a news conference, held at Freedom House, he noted that there were deliberate moves to cancel procurement of pharmaceuticals between October 2016 and February 2017, before Health Minister, Volda Lawrence, moved to approve $605M worth of pharmaceuticals to be single sourced from one company for the Georgetown Pub-

lic Hospital Corporation (GPHC). Jagdeo questioned why the advertisement for public procurement cancelled and added that the Minister has no authority to decide who the drugs are procured from, since that is a function of the Board of Directors of the GPHC. “There are a lot of questions being asked. We will continue to explore this,” he said. Notably, after news of the drug procurement scandal broke, Minister Lawrence issued a statement railing into public servants for what she called a “con-

spiracy” to cause drug shortages and sought to explain why she approved the single sourcing of $605M worth in pharmaceuticals. Acknowledging her statement, Jagdeo charged that Lawrence still has much more to answer for, including: Who are the delinquent drug suppliers she talked about and how they received contracts, since there was no public tender; On what grounds were the suppliers deemed delinquent: and what supplies delivered were sub-standard and who delivered those sub-standards drugs. “These are only some of the questions,” he said.

The Cheddi Jagan Research Centre (CJRC) will be hosting the following activities in honor of Dr. Cheddi Jagan whose birth and death anniversary is being observed this month: 1. Annual Cheddi Jagan Lecture on March 22, 2017 commencing 17:00 hours at the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre, Kingston. The topic is “ The Relevance of Dr. Cheddi Jagan to Contemporary Society” and will be delivered by Mr. Samuel Hinds, former Prime Minister of Guyana. 2. An Exhibition on the life and work of Dr. Jagan will be held at the National Library, Georgetown during the period March 20-31, 2017. 3. A Fund Raising Dinner will be held on March 25, 2017 commencing 18:00 hours. Tickets cost $3000.00 and can be obtained at the CJRC. The public is invited to participate in all of the above activities.

WEEKEND MIRROR 18-19 MARCH, 2017

STRAIGHT TALK

he month of March is significant not only for the PPP, but for Guyana as a whole. As is well known Dr. Cheddi Jagan was born 22nd March, 1918 and died on 6th March, 1997. He dedicated his entire life to the cause of free, independent and democratic Guyana. Mrs. Janet Jagan also died in the month of March, which has had significance for the month of March. We reproduce below an article written by Dr. Jagan, which was published in the Mirror newspaper under his column “Straight Talk.” (Hydar Ally) February 2, 1987, Editor, Toronto Star Toronto, Canada

Sir, Permit m as a former Premiier to add to former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s sentiments expressed in your issue of December 4, 1986 on the theme Poverty, Intervention, Development and Democracy. These subjects are inter-linked and interacting. There is also an inter-linkage and reciprocal action between economies, politics, ideol-

ogy and culture. First of all, some facts about the explosive Third World. The total external debt of the Third World is estimated at US$1001 billion at the end of 1986. Africa’s aggregate debt stands at $170 billion at the end of 1985. This was 340 per head, more than the income of most Africans. The foreign debt of the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) countries is nearly $100 billion. The Latin American foreign debt increased from $10 billion in 1966 to $240 billion in 1961. In the 1980-85 periods, the indebtedness nearly doubled, reaching $368 billion. The Latin American foreign debt will increase from $358 billion in 1985 to $475 billion in 1990 and to $692 billion in 1995, according to the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). The sum total of profits obtained in the region by American monopolies alone from 1945 to 1930 was more than 120,000 million dollars. Through this period, the entire flow of American capital (both private and state) to Latin America amount-

ed to only a quarter of this sum. In the 1980’ s, Latin America became a net exporter of capital. In the 1982-1965 period, the net transfer of profits, principal and interest was US$106 billion, the annual average for the 1981-1985 period being $36 billion. Flight of capital, particularly due to IMF-imposed devaluation, Latin American deposits in US banks total between $110 to $170 billion (US). In 1961 and 1962, according to UNCTAD, ‘the prices of basic products that constitute 40 per cent of Latin American exports and 60 per cent if energy sources are included, dropped al-most 31 per cent, the largest decline in the last twenty years. The industrialised nations said the ILO recently, are blockinc world trade and severely limiting growth in developing nations by their increasing protectionism. The prospects are bleak. According to ECLAC, the 130 million living in conditions of total poverty or critical poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean in the 1980s will rise to 170 million by the year 2000; the 80 million unemployed. And under-employed

in t98O will reach 112 million in 1995. The poverty and hunger of the vast majority, about seven-eighths of the Third World countries are due to the fact that they are capita1ist-orientd with a deformed industrialization and are linked to the crisis-ridden world capitalist

system in a status of dependency,. The dependence leads to under-development, backwardness, poverty and instability, which in turn, in a vicious circle, strengthens the dependence According to ECLAC… “From 1974 to 1980, external dependence grew and became more complex. This dependence has led to a growth rate of less than 1% per year in the 1981-85 period, instead of the 7% target set by the ECLAC Programme of Action. To attain the goals of the UN International Development Strategy; the annual growth rate for the rest of the decade would have to be around 14%. This is clearly an impossibility. For development, democracy and people’s meaningful involvement at the political, social and economic levels are vital. But equally important for the eradication of backwardness and poverty are a genuine independence in domestic and foreign policies; a correct economic planning strategy; planned proportional development of the economy; an end to extravagance, corruption and political and racial discrimination. Democracy is a form of state. And the state is an instrument of a class, either the bourgeois or the working class. When the USA speaks of democracy, it obviously means bourgeois democracy. This means IMF/World Lank conditionality linked to Reaganomics, the freedom of the market place” and the creation of an investment climate. In other words, for the Third World, this means not simply capitalism, but dependent capitalism with a deformed industrialization, which leads to under-development and poverty and ultimately to the death of liberal democracy. Those states which chose an independent, non-aligned course are attached indirectly as Nicaragua, Angola, Jamaica (Michael Manley), Chile (Salvador Allende) and Guyana when I was Premier or directly as the Dominican Republic (1965),Vietnam and Grenada under the PRG (1973). There is only one sane alternative to intervention, the maddening arms race, the danger of a nuclear holocaust. And that is the acceptance of ideological pluralism and peaceful coexistence, and East/West and North/South dialogue for development. Yours sincerely, Cheddi Jagan

WEEKEND MIRROR 18-19 MARCH, 2017

West Coast taxi driver’s vehicle stolen, stripped for parts

48-yearold taxi driver is now seeking justice after his sole means of financial supporthis vehiclewas hijacked on Monday and recovered stripped of its parts. Suruj Lallmamas, also known as Dave, of Lot 28 Meten-MeerZorg, West Coast Demerara said that his motor vehicle, HP5488 - a silver/gray old model 212 - was stolen from in front of his home in the wee hours of Monday morning. “It happen around 01:45hrs. I hear the car, because it aint get time to warm up, so it stifle, and I hear it but when I run outside the car deh done deh ah distance,” Lallmamas said. The man recalled that in his panicked state, he called a taxi and gave chase, however, by then, his motor car was far ahead of him. He said that upon calling the Leonora Police Station, he was told by ranks on duty to

he body discovered on Monday morning on the Johanna Cecilia seashore, Essequibo Coast has been identified as that of Deenanauth Jagdeo, aka Navin, a guard of Perseverance village. The body of the 40-yearold was positively identified by his father, Jagdeo Bajaimal, on Tuesday at the Suddie mortuary. The father informed the Police

olice are now investigating a robbery attack on the Mahaica, Mahaicony, Abary- Agriculture Development Association’s (MMA-ADA) main office in Number 27 Village, Onverwagting, Region 5, during the wee hours of Thursday morning. Based on reports received by the General Manager of the entity, Aubrey Charles, the incident occurred around 12:30hrs this

morning. However, he indicated that he was only informed of it at approximately 02:30hrs. Charles was reluctant to disclose any information since according to him, “Police are still carrying out an investigation.” However, no one was injured during the ordeal. The quantity of valuables taken was also not disclosed to this online publication.

Claims of vigilantism erroneous – Police

stop at the Station. The robbers also stripped the inside of the vehicle of its electronic components and some of the seats among other things “They tell me stop at the station first, so I follow they orders. The car get away,” the distraught man said today. He further recalled that since his vehicle was stolen, he has been following up at the Leonora Police Station on a daily basis; however he feels like the police neglected the situation. “I going back and forth, they just take statement and that’s it. The matter left down. Nobody aint even tried to find my car,” he

noted. Lallmamas also said that he had a notice published in one of the local newspapers about his missing car. “I go to the newspaper and publish it and today a horse cart man see it, and call me, cause I had my number on it, and he call and said that he see my vehicle in Herstelling.” He related that upon reaching Herstelling, on the East Bank of Demerara, he found his car parked in a corner, completely stripped with its broken licence plate lying near it. Meanwhile, police have confirmed that an investigation is still ongoing into the matter.

Body found on seashore identified as Perseverance man

MMA/ADA Region 5 office robbed

that his son was last seen on March 11 when he left to go guard a boat on the Cullen beach. Bajaimal was able to positively identify the body based on a birthmark on the man’s waist; his body bore two birthmarks. The body is presently at the Suddie mortuary awaiting a post-mortem examination. Residents reportedly spotted the naked body and immediately contacted the

Police on Monday. When Police arrived at the scene, they cordoned off the area and started their investigations. Several persons in the area were questioned, but they claimed that they did not hear any unusual sound or see any unusual movement prior to the discovery of the body. Police are continuing their investigations.

ollowing media reports that two men – Dameon Gordon and Vernon Beckles – were victims of vigilantism, the Police have asserted otherwise as they continue their investigations. The two men were reportedly assaulted on Sunday evening, along the Canal Number One Polder, West Bank Demerara WBD, access road after they were allegedly caught stealing the mirrors from a car belonging to a resident in the community. Police said that while several persons were questioned in connection with the incident, no one was arrested. It was explained that on the night in question, Gordon and Beckles travelled to the home of Ewart Lewis, a member of the Guyana Defence Force, who lives at Two Brothers, Canal No. 1 Polder, WBD, by an in-law of Lewis’ reputed wife. Later, whilst at Ewart’s place, the Ewart family and the victims (Gordon and Beckles) decided to venture to Georgetown to seek further entertainment and while doing so, stopped at a shop at Two Brothers, where Ewart, his reputed wife and her in-law went into the shop leaving the two victims on the Public Road. A short while after, one of the victims was seen “fighting up” with a mirror and the owner of the car went to check. As he approached the car, he realised that both of his mirrors were missing. The owner of the car looked around and said he saw Beckles and Gordon stooping down close to another vehicle and thought that something was amiss. According to the Police, Ewart Lewis claimed that while at the shop in Canal, a

resident (name given) ran into the shop and shouted saying that two men were stealing the mirrors from his motor car and shortly after another resident (name given) told him that the men who stole the mirrors were the men he brought in his car. Immediately after, several persons in the vicinity swarmed the two men and began questioning them and during this period (Gordon) fled and jumped into the canal and both of them denied stealing the mirrors. The rearview mirrors belonging to the vehicle where the two victims were seen standing, were later found by Ewart Lewis, under another vehicle which was parked in close proximity of the vehicle of which they were stolen from. Whilst in the trench, the alleged irate residents threw bricks and other objects at Gordon, while the other was detained by residents. A Rural Constable from the area took initial action and pleaded with Gordon to come out but he refused; by this time

the police patrol arrived and Gordon came out of the canal. They were taken into custody and subsequently escorted to the West Demerara Regional Hospital where they were treated and sent away. The Guyana Police Force, in a statement issued, cautioned those “media houses which rush to publicize episodes given to them but which later turned out to be exceedingly erroneous.” The Force also said that “connotations of vigilantism were published in certain sections of the media but which are unsubstantiated based on statements obtained from members of the public, some of whom were involved in this incident on the day in question.” According to the Police “it is not the first time that persons who are suspected of having committed an offence invoke the wrath of members of the public and while we frown and warn against these behaviors as being unacceptable, the reality is that one cannot necessarily immediately determine what a spontaneous action will be.”

Interested in Buying, Selling or Renting properties? Contact

Petes Real Estate Lot 2 George Street, Werk-En-Rust Tel: 227-2487, 226-5546, 623-7805

The Cheddi Jagan I knew 12

By Clement J. Rohee

ommemorative activities are currently taking place in Guyana, Jamaica and Venezuela, marking anniversaries of Cheddi Jagan, Michael Manley and Hugo Chavez respectively. These three progressive, revolutionary Caribbean and Latin American leaders passed away in the month of March of 1997 and

2013. Marx was right when he wrote in his Eighteenth Brumaire, Louis Bonaparte; “Men make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly encountered, given and transmitted from the past...” Jagan, Manley and Chavez were all influenced by the struggles of their national

heroes of the past as well as men like Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Simon Bolivar. In Cheddi Jagan’s case, it was more particularly US historian, Charles Beard, and progressive American writers like Mathew Josephson and George Seldes as well as Jawaharlal Nehru and later Karl Marx, who influenced him. At the local level, it was the leaders of the Berbice

WEEKEND MIRROR 18-19 MARCH, 2017

slave rebellion, the conditions of indentured labour and much later, the Enmore Martyrs, that impacted his ideological and political outlook. Thus, it was the circumstances, in some cases ‘directly encountered’ i.e.; Cheddi’s experiences with racial segregation while studying in the United States and the struggle of the sugar workers at home as well as

those circumstances ‘given and transmitted from the past’ i.e. the slave rebellions and struggles of the indentured labourers in the colony of British Guiana that allowed men like Jagan to make as it were, ‘his own history’ not as he pleased, nor under circumstances chosen by himself but because of the “tradition of all the dead generations which weighed like a nightmare on the brain of the living” according to Marx. Long before Dr. Jagan’s death and similarly, long after, much has been said and continues to be said and written about him. There have been praises as well as criticisms. While both are welcomed, they should be critically examined. Take for example those who sing praises and engage in idolatry. I remember well accompanying Dr. Jagan many years ago to a bottom house meeting at Dundee, Mahaicony. There was a huge crowd, villagers sat on jute rice bags while some stood and listened attentively to Dr.Jagan. When he was finished, questions and comments were entertained. The party organizer for that district at the time was a man by the name of Mohammed Saffee. Saffee got up and passionately professed his love and admiration for Dr Jagan and the PPP. And as though that was not enough, he unbuttoned his shirt and told the crowd, as if he was about to cry, that were he to tear open his chest, there wouldn’t be anyone else but Cheddi Jagan emblazoned on his heart. The crowd roared with laughter. Some months after

Mohammed Saffee defected and joined the PNC. Fast forward to Henry Jeffrey’s reasoning; ‘Political thought and positioning are not static...” in retrospect, could this be the explanation for Saffee’s defection? That experience remained with me to this day; it’s not what you say, it’s what you do .And importantly, the need to watch out for the psychophants. In any event, Jeffrey’s view is instructive. PPP watchers while pretending to empathize with Jagan’s views at the same time criticize his followers for betraying his legacy. For those who may not understand, Jagan’s legacy, like the man, is a complex one; it is neither straight forward nor rigid as many tend to believe. For him the bottom line was national unity based racial and working class unity. But the path or paths to achieving this lofty objective...that’s where the challenge was and still is. Take for example the question of alliances. Ever since his emergence on the political scene in the 1940’s, Jagan worked tirelessly to seek out and to build alliances, both tactical and strategic, with individuals and organizations to achieve specific goals beneficial to the poor and downtrodden. He did this while in the Colonial Legislative Council(Legco) which at that time , comprised of persons representing various constituencies. He would seek the support and hammer out draft legislation with colleagues from other constituencies until a common text was agreed upon. (Turn to page 15)

THINK GLOBAL 13

WEEKEND MIRROR 18-19 MARCH, 2017

By Hydar Ally

ccording to a BBC Report, some twenty million people in four African countries run the risk of death from starvation due mainly to political instability and conflicts. Of these, 1.5 million are children. These four countries are Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia and Nigeria. And while millions are dying from starvation, billions of dollars are spent on military hardware and on weapons of mass destruction. Millions of children are dying from preventable illness and millions more do not know what it means to have a proper education. Something is fundamentally wrong with a world in which so many people live in a state of abject poverty, while at the same time a small proportion of the world’s population wallow in luxury. The late Dr. Cheddi Jagan could not have put it any better when he said that it is indeed paradoxical that while one part of the world is dying from not having enough to eat, another part, albeit small, is also dying from overconsumption, or having too much to eat. The solution, he said, is for a more equitable distribution of the world’s resources, which is more than enough to provide for every human being to enjoy a good and satisfying life. From the perspective of developing countries such as Guyana, the persistence of poverty, hunger, unemployment, drug trafficking, crime, disease and insecurity makes it imperative for a call to action by the world community to come up with workable solutions to the myriad problems facing humanity. Caribbean countries, including Guyana, are still to recover from what could be termed the “Caribbean Dilemma,” which began as colonisation, colonialism, and neo-colonialism and economic dependence. These have been further compounded by high and unsustainable foreign debts and consequential externally-driven structural adjustment programmes. The manipulation of capital

markets and interest rates, controls over access to development assistance and the exploitation of raw materials by the industrialized powers, made a case for special treatment by the developed world to provide developmental assistance for the afflicted countries. It is not out of a lack of awareness by the bigger powers that the challenges to our underdevelopment still persist. Several Summits involving world leaders were held from time to time to come up with strategies to alleviate poverty, but with little impact. The Millennium Development Goals, which were established by world leaders aimed at poverty alleviation over two decades ago, have not resulted in any measureable improvement in the quality of life for the majority of the world’s poor, the majority of whom are condemned to survive on an average income of less than two US dollars a day. Then there was the Copenhagen Summit involving heads of Government in March 1995, which had as its main focus the alleviation of poverty, expansion of productive employment and enhancement of social integration. Over two decades have elapsed since then and the world is nowhere towards social integration. According to the United Nations, the level of social integration and the number

of people who now face starvation are worse than since the 1940’s. Solutions to the problems identified must take into account a number of fundamental flaws in the structure of the global economy, which is highly skewed in favour of the richer nations. Poverty, unemployment and deficiencies in the social fabric of society are inextricably linked to a vicious cycle in which the poor and vulnerable groups continue to be marginalized, which include a high proportion of our women. The fact of the matter is that there is no automatic correlation between economic growth and human development. The market mechanism have proven to be highly inadequate in terms of distributive equity and has in fact only resulted in expanding income gaps between the rich and the poor. What is needed is growth with equity and a reappraisal of existing developmental models, which seem to put heavy emphasis on the market without placing enough thought to the whole concept of distributive justice. This was what the Copenhagen Summit was supposed to address, but which very limited success. Among these was access to financial assistance for the poor using the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh as a model to help the poor. The model provides for easy and soft credits

for micro-enterprise development where incremental injections of credit can create a sea change for persons who would not otherwise have access to credit facilities. There is need also for closer and a more creative relationship between government and the private sector to locate investment projects in rural areas, which can take employment to the people rather than having labour gravitating to urban areas. There is admittedly no silver bullet when it comes to poverty alleviation. But at the very least, some basic steps that could be taken at

the global and national levels which must include cuts to military spending. A three percent cut in military spending at the global level could result in a saving of over $US500 billion, which could go a far way in sending our children to school and provide basic medical care. A global tax on energy of $1 on each barrel of oil could yield annually over $60 billion and taxing global speculative foreign exchange movement at a modest 0.05% could yield another US$150 billion per year. Nobel Peace Prize winner, economist

James Tobin recommended years ago that a 0.5 % could yield the astronomical sum of US 1500 billion annually! The money is there to finance global development and end poverty, but what is lacking is the political will to take drastic and immediate action by policy makers. This is what the New Global Human Order, brainchild of Guyana’s Dr. Cheddi Jagan is seeking to address at the level of the United Nations. It is forward looking and practical, and hopefully if implemented could impact positively on human development and progress.

Unruly

The

WEEKEND MIRROR 18-19 MARCH, 2017

Horse

ANOTHER WEEK: ANOTHER SCANDAL By: Mohabir Anil Nandlall, MP Attorney-at-Law

ransparency and accountability in the public procurement process was perhaps the most fundamental issue on the political platform of the AFC/APNU when they were in the opposition. Arguably, no other area of procurement was subject to greater scrutiny than the public health system. It is no secret that the pandemonium was generated because New GPC was a major player in the arena. The friendship between Former President Bharrat Jagdeo and the Managing Director of New GPC provided the impetus. Yet, with the barrage of allegations made of irregularities regarding awards of contract to New GPC over the years, not a scintilla of credible evidence was every presented to support the avalanche of allegations. Significantly, one can hardly recall even a protest being lodged against any of the awards, a facility available under the Procurement Act. Neither was any of these awards ever challenged in the Courts on the ground that they were infected with bias, capriciously done, or done in a manner contrary to and in contravention of the Procurement Act, or any other law. Court ruling

Indeed, I recall as Attorney General, I defended a Constitutional challenge filed against the State by one of New GPC’s competitors. Its gravamen was that, the Ministry of Health’s public procurement process and that of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB), were designed and skewed to create an unfair advantage in favour of New GPC and this, was discriminatory against the Applicant. The Applicant was represented by the leading Senior Counsel in the country. I appeared in person. I used the opportunity to present to the Court all the requisite procedures, manuals and guidelines, including those from Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and World Health Organization (WHO) and the Procurement Act - all of which formed the amalgam of the ministry’s procurement methodology. The evidence was thoroughly examined by a very experienced Court,

which in the end, dismissed the case, on the ground that the Applicant, abysmally, failed to prove its allegations. The case was never appealed. There is a written Judgment on the matter. In most civilized societies, such a pronouncement from a High Court would have put such a matter to rest. However, in Guyana, the self-same allegations continue to abound, unabated. Fast-forward to the APNU+AFC in Government. I will argue, and if necessary provide the evidence to demonstrate, that there have been more contracts awarded ultra vires and in violation of the Procurement Act (2003), between May 2015 to March 2017, (22 months) than from 2003 to May 2015 (over 12 years). The most egregious would include, the decision to contract Fedders Lloyd, which was handpicked for the Specialty Hospital, the hundreds of millions awarded for the clean-up of Georgetown, the billions spent on Durban Park, the Parking Meter contract, the Wind Farm project, the four hundred million fertilizer deal, the several deep-water wells given out by Guyana Water Inc. (GWI), the hundreds of contracts being gifted in the Regions in due disregard of the regional tendering system, the rental of the Drug Bond at Sussex Street for fourteen million dollars per month and the over three billion GPL meter contract – all of which were executed without any public tendering system and in violation of the Procurement Act. These examples are not exhaustive, but I believe I have made the point.

was an emergency shortage of drugs, when for months she, her predecessor and the Government in and out of the National Assembly, vehemently denied that there was any such shortage. As recent as a month ago, the issue was raised in the National Assembly and Minister Lawrence stoutly denied any shortages. She accused the opposition of misinformation. Additionally, the Former Chairman of Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), Dr. Max Hanoman, resigned and one of the reasons he gave for his resignation was that, Minister George Norton was refusing to even acknowledge that there was massive shortage of drugs in the public health system. The Minister must proffer a reason for her sudden volte-face. In the Statement, the Minister speaks about a conspiracy between employees of her Ministry, employees of GPHC and suppliers, to sabotage the public health system, to hold it at ransom and to supply expired and inferior drugs, costing the treasury billions and exposing the nation’s citizens to serious health perils. These are grave and astonishing accusations. It is unbelievable that the Government has not yet unleashed the State Asset Recovery Unit (SARU), the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU) and the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to investigate. Moreover, it is incumbent upon the Minister, to make public, the names of those involved in this malevolent plot.

Another gigantic scandal

The Minister contends that she acted pursuant to the Procurement Act. She must state upon what Section she relies. I know of no Section under which she can shelter. The Minister ordered the drugs for GPHC. However, GPHC, by law, is governed by a Board of Directors, whose functions it is to make such decisions. The Board appears not to have played any part in this saga. The available evidence clearly suggests that the Minister usurped the role and functions of the Board. The Minister identifies three companies from which this $1.5B of drugs are to be procured. On what basis did the Minister handpick these three suppliers? The Minister compounds her dilemma by writing to NPTAB informing that she

Currently, the nation is faced with yet another gigantic scandal for the procurement of some one billion and five hundred million dollars ($1.5b) worth of drugs by the Minister of Public Health, Ms. Volda Lawrence. It is uncontroverted that this humongous procurement was done ultra vires and in contravention of the Procurement Act and is therefore illegal and unlawful. Indeed, NPTAB was informed after the fact. A week after the matter was made public, the Minister offered her explanations in a Statement. The Statement raised more questions than it provided answers. To begin with, on what basis did the Minister form the sudden opinion that there

What use is being made of Sussex Street bond

chose Ansa Mcal to supply $606M worth of drugs. Again, no basis is provided for this unilateral act of the Minister. How did the Minister arrive at Ansa Mcal? How did the Minister arrive at $606M? Was there an emergency need for such an extraordinary quantity of drugs? The matter is exacerbated by the Minister accepting a gift on behalf of GPHC from Ansa Mcal of two storage freezers to store the drugs purchased. What benefits will now accrue to Ansa Mcal for these gifts? Did an offer of this gift made before and influenced the decision of the Minister to choose Ansa Mcal as the supplier? My information is that the remainder of the drugs are currently being stored at Ansa Mcal’s storage bond, for which the Government is, again, paying. It begs the question, what use is being made of the bond at Sussex Street for which the Government is paying fourteen million dollars per month as rent? By the way, we were told, nearly a year ago, that Cabinet ordered the early termination of this rental agreement, what is the status of that decision? Was it simply a decision to appease at the time? From whence did the monies come or, from where is the money coming for the payment of these drugs purchased? These are only some of the questions which must be answered. I cannot close without remarking that the Public Health Ministry has had two full-time Ministers manning the system since this Government took office, whose combined salaries amount to four times the salary earned by Minister Bheri Ramsarran, the only Minister in charge of that Ministry from December 2011 to May 2015. Yet, that Ministry has been plagued with one scandal after another over the last twenty months, with each scandal being more ignominious than its predecessor. I note that the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) has signaled its intention to review “the procurement process” upon which Minister Lawrence embarked. However, this exercise will be manifestly inadequate to efficaciously address the multiple infractions committed in this ordeal. It requires an investigation and inquiry of a much more amplified scope. The Guyana Police Force, SOCU and/or a commission of inquiry appear better suited.

Corner

WEEKEND MIRROR 18-19 MARCH, 2017

Economic

Dr. Peter R. Ramsaroop, MBA, (Economic Advisor to the Leader of the Opposition)

The Economist Vs the Historian – Version 2.0 ‒ Granger living as he is The History of the 80s Summary

n July 2015, I wrote the first version of this column, predicting that we will see a vast difference between the Economist of Dr. Jagdeo and the Old Soldier Historian - Mr. Granger. This was written in the first two months into his presidency: Over the almost two years, we have witnessed the major decline and stagnation of our economy to a point where everyone is affected, from the poor, to the middle class to the business people. Foreign investment has been scared away with concessions being taken away. The Diaspora has been turned off from returning due to the changes of re-migrant concessions. The housing market has come to a halt. This is a President with no vision, no strategy, and no short or long term goals. This is a Soldier Historian bent on living in the past with failed policies and no single accomplishments to date that he can call his own. The danger we had warned of, that was brewing, is now here. The private sector businesses are seriously on a decline, consumer spending is done and discretionary dollars are limited, replaced by obnoxious parking meters, VAT on water and electricity, VAT on private education, 200+ new taxes, and a declining exchange rate, all happening at the same time simply because of failed 1980’s policies by the soldier historian. Mr. Granger came into the office as President of a nation that had seen a decade plus of positive GDP growth after the PPP inherited a failing infrastructure and huge debt. Instead of Mr. Granger putting a Cabinet together that can help him due to his lack of experience to manage more than a magazine over the last 20+ years, he then hired the most incompetent

Cabinet in the history of the country. One just has to look at his official experience and would understand why our nation is in a mess. He inherited a solid economy and is taking it to ruins. He never even made it to Chief of Staff of the Army; President Hoyte bypassed him and appointed Joe Singh as Chief of Staff, as he (Granger) lacked the leadership skills necessary to manage a large organization and instead made him National Security Advisor, a desk job. Ever wonder why Durban Park was built? It’s so Brigadier Granger can get the salute from the troops that as president he can finally claim he is finally Commander in Chief of the Army. Source: Wikipedia: Granger was appointed as National Security Advisor to the President in 1990 and retired from the military service in 1992.Granger founded the Guyana Review news magazine in 1992 and served as its Managing Editor. He has researched and published on military, historical and media themes, and is also the author of Guyana's state media: the quest for control, and A Preliminary Study of Women Soldiers in the Anglophone Caribbean. David A. Granger spent the 1995–1996 academic year as a Hubert H. Humphrey/Fulbright Fellow at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park Conclusion

Dr. Jagdeo has outlined an economic vision over the life of the 11th Parliament so far. Version 2.0 of the PPP Manifesto outlined the vision for our nation 2015 to 2020. The PPP left a healthy economy and even if they just managed it, maybe we could have survived a few years. The Vision of

the PPP to sign a deal with Exxon back in 1999 with the right concessions to encourage them to come and drill proved fruitful for our country. Going back and revising agreements is not a good precedent for future foreign investments. Concessions are used to attract investors which a small country such as ours

The Cheddi Jagan... During that period, Dr Jagan, though his origin was rural he nevertheless developed a keen interest in urban politics and in the activities of the trade union movement, the League of Coloured People(LCP) and the British Guiana East Indian Association (BGEIA). Jagan recognized both the LCP and the BGEIA were inconsistent with his broader political and ideological outlook. Had Jagan been a racist, his natural political habitat as an East Indian would have been the BGEIA but being

the man equipped with a scientific world view he took a different route- the formation of the multi-ethnic Political Affairs Committee (PAC) in 1946. Jagan’s acceptance of a recommendation that Burnham be Chairman of the PPP, the forerunner of the PAC, was a reflection of his predisposition towards racial unity. And the other steps he took - the creation of the All Party Committee between 1956-57 to protest the deficiencies of the Renison Constitution and the extension of the state of emergency in the colony; his

attempt to form a coalition government with the PNC in 1964; the call in 1977 for a ‘National Patriotic Front and National Front Government’; his efforts at establishing the Patriotic Coalition for Democracy (PCD) following the rigged elections in 1985; not discounting his efforts thru GAWU to establish the Federation of Independent Trade Unions (FITUG) and eventually, the complicated negotiations with representatives of the Guyanese Action for Reform and Democracy (GUARD) resulting in the alliance with the Civic com-

(From page 12)

ponent in 1991, all attests to the passion and conviction Cheddi Jagan had as regards the value of and the necessity for alliances as a basis for moulding a political culture that would lay the basis for national unity in Guyana. Since his death, the Party that Jagan helped found sixty seven years ago has gone through and is still going through changes that will impact its philosophical and ideological foundations. In parties like the PPP, it is natural to have serious debates, disagreements and agreements on a range of

should be able to use as incentives. This is a tool in our foreign policy. The Granger government seems not to understand basic economics. Time for this historian to pack up and live in his own archaic economic history instead of remaining and failing the nation.

issues. Cheddi Jagan always encouraged such polemics in the PPP. He was in word and deed a good listener. There were many an occasion when discussions, for example on ‘Critical Support’ or to contest elections or not lasted for days at the Executive Committee or Central Committee of the Party. There was another occasion in Port of Spain, Trinidad an Tobago where a meeting took place between Dr. Jagan and a group of UWI intellectuals. The discussion kept going around in circles and lasted for hours. Away from the venue, I turned to Dr. Jagan and asked for his impressions. His response was terse; ‘Some people believe they know it all.’ Jagan

was a people’s intellectual. He didn’t have a Phd nor a M.Sc. He secured a degree in Dental Surgery along with a B.Sc at Northwestern University in the US. And though he didn’t berate anyone armed with academic qualifications, he could match them at any forum. Jagan’s socialist views were in many instances completely emasculated. Dr. Jagan always stood in favor of a tri-sectoral market economy. Nor was he supportive of a one-party state. Many have done a grave injustice to the things he stood for as expressed in his belief in national democracy, social and ecological justice and a New Global Human Order. That is the Cheddi Jagan I knew.

Highlights

News

Davido mend fences with Sophie Momodu, rekindles love

ultiple award-winning singer, David Adeleke popularly known as Davido appears to have repaired the relationship he shares with his ‘baby mama’ – Sophie Momodu, who fell apart with him after an imbroglio ensued over a medical report that showed Sophie had fed their daughter, Imade, with breast-milk that contained cannabis. Davido took to his SnapChat page to restate his love for Sophie on Tuesday. “I love my babymama,” he declared. “Sophie we up.” Davido’s love declaration comes shortly after rumor came out that he is expecting baby number two from an Atlanta based girlfriend, Amanda also known as Mandy. However, the 24-year-old father of one is yet to confirm his relationship with the 24-year-old Cape Verdean/Togolese lady.

Playing with snakes, lions doesn’t make me a witch – Rukky Sanda

‘Beauty and the Beast’ launch begins as Disney pulls film from Malaysia

alaysia stood by its decision to bar “Beauty and the Beast” from cinemas without a “gay moment” being cut as the worldwide rollout of the Walt Disney movie began on Thursday. Starring Emma Watson as young Belle who falls in love with the Beast, the film features a gay character for the first time in Disney’s history. The company refused to make the cut and pulled the film from cinemas across the Muslim-majority country where homosexuality is discouraged by religious leaders. “The film has not been and will not be cut for Malaysia,” Disney said in a statement. Asked it Malaysia would change its mind on its demand for the cut, Censorship Board chairman Abdul Halim Abdul Hamid said: “Still the same decision.” He added that local distributors had asked for a review of the decision. The board is expected to meet on Tuesday. The film opened in neighboring Singapore on Thursday with a “parental guidance” rating. The world rollout happens over the next few days. Last year, Singapore organizers of the musical “Les Miserables” cut a scene in which two male actors kissed so that the show could retain a “general” rating and reach a wider audience. The Communications Office of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore warned viewers about the likely content of “Beauty and the Beast”. “With extensive media reports of the purported ‘gay moment’ in this movie, we believe that parents must discern and reflect with their children on whether the lifestyle portrayed is consonant with the teaching of Christ,” it said in a statement.

Ben Affleck says he has completed treatment for alcohol addiction

A P

opular Nollywood actress, Rukky Sanda, has said that playing with snakes and lions is not a big deal, adding that she can actually play with any animal. Some of her fans interpreted her nearness to snakes to mean that she’s diabolical, but she said, “Some people are boring and have a myopic attitude but I don’t worry myself about them”. The actress, who opened up to Punch on her ‘romance’ with snakes, lions and other animals, noted that she had an awesome time while holidaying in South Africa recently where she was pictured holding a python. Rukky was seen as she boldly let a python move around her body. She also struck a pose with the snake on her neck. Many of her fans wondered how she managed playing with the creatures, but she said, “Playing with a python or lion is not a big deal. I have always loved animals and I like having them around me. I don’t see anything unusual about that. Asked if she entertained any fear of being bitten by the reptile, she said, “What many people don’t know is that those animals were in a zoo and they have been tamed, so they didn’t pose any danger to me.

WEEKEND MIRROR 18-19 MARCH, 2017

ctor Ben Affleck said on Tuesday that he had completed treatment for alcohol addiction, saying he wanted to “be the best father I can be.” Affleck, 44, said on his Facebook page that his treatment was the “first of many steps” toward his recovery and specifically thanked his “co-parent,” wife Jennifer Garner, whom he separated from in 2015. “I have completed treatment for alcohol addiction; something I’ve dealt with in the past and will continue to confront,” the “Batman” actor wrote. “I want my kids to know there is no shame in getting help when you need it, and to be a source of strength for anyone out there who needs help but is afraid to take the first step,” he added. Hollywood A-list couple Affleck and Garner, who have three children together, announced plans to divorce in July 2015 after 10 years of marriage. Affleck, who has won two Oscars for his writing and producing work, will next be seen reprising the titular superhero role in “The Batman” movie.

Glitz

Is this leading Bollywood actress taking a 6-month-long sabbatical?

s she beams in the glow of the success of her latest release, Alia Bhatt is inundated with film offers. But reports have it, that the spunky star who turned 24 on March 15, has decided to take a sabbatical for the next six months. Her next film - ‘Dragon’ starts rolling only in September. Until then, Alia will reportedly spend her time developing her craft by trying out unfamiliar experiences and honing new skills. Among the long list of things that she wants to try out, Alia wants to learn the piano and Kathak too. Apparently, she thinks that this will help her to be more equipped as an actor. On top of all other things, Alia wants to learn how to cook as she loves to host guests at her new house, and even to feed herself. She feels that cooking is a basic part of progressing towards a wholesome life. The ‘ Badrinath Ki Dulhania ‘ actress has recently moved in to her own apartment and feels that she can value the time she spends with her parents even better now as she doesn’t take their presence for granted anymore. Alia feels that she can give them more dedicated time now.

Shahid Kapoor in talks with Sanjay Leela Bhansali for another film after ‘Padmavati’?

anjay Leela Bhansali’s period drama ‘Padmavati’ starring Shahid Kapoor , Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone in lead roles has been in the news ever since it was announced. And it looks like Shahid has already worked his magic on the maverick filmmaker. According to reports, the ‘ Udta Punjab ‘ actor is in talks with Bhansali’s production house for anotherfilm after the magnum opus. The film in question is apparently a light-hearted rom-com with a lot of dancing. According to sources, Shahid has heard the script and liked it. However, he will sit down for a final narration before he signs on the dotted line. Titled ‘Tuesdays and Fridays’, the movie will reportedly be produced by Bhansali with a new director at the helm of affairs. It may be recollected that Shahid, for a long time, featured in light-hearted commercial entertainers before he started experimenting with more serious roles in films like ‘Kaminey’ and ‘Haider’. It sure will be interesting to see Sasha return to this genre after a string of serious films.

WEEKEND MIRROR 18-19 MARCH, 2017

France school shooting: Teenage boy arrested after four hurt

Senate intelligence panel rejects Trump wiretap claim BBC -- here are “no indications” that Trump Tower was under surveillance by the US government before or after the election, a Senate committee has said. The statement from Republican Senator Richard Burr, Senate Intelligence Committee chairman, dismissed Donald Trump’s claim his phones were tapped. Mr Trump had accused his predecessor Barack Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower during the presidential race. Mr Burr joins a cadre of lawmakers who have rejected the allegation. Earlier on Thursday, House Speaker Paul Ryan also said “no such wiretap existed”.

reportedly armed with a rifle, two handguns and two hand grenades, was arrested “very quickly” after launching the attack. Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem told reporters on Thursday after-

noon the suspect was “fragile”. “It was a crazy act by a youth who is unstable and fascinated by guns,” she said, going on to praise the headmaster’s actions during the attack as “heroic”.

Cuba offers Colombia 1,000 scholarships to study medicine “The intelligence committees, in their continuing, widening, ongoing investigations of all things Russia, got to the bottom - at least so far with respect to our intelligence community - that no such wiretap existed,” Mr

Ryan said at a news conference. Republican chairman of the House intelligence committee Devin Nunes said on Wednesday he doesn’t believe “there was an actual tap of Trump Tower”.

Trump budget would eviscerate already limited US Coast Guard presence in the Caribbean US President Donald Trump’s budget proposal reportedly includes a $1.3 billion cut to the US Coast Guard, which would significantly reduce the already minimal national security presence in the Caribbean. The administration’s 2018 financial year budget proposal plans to boost the Department of Homeland Security’s total budget by six percent, to $43.8 billion. That increase would primarily go to land border security and would be paid for with the Coast Guard cuts and reductions to other agencies. Rep. Duncan Hunter, a California Republican, said the planned cuts would “se-

BBC -- A school shooting, which left three students and a headteacher wounded, appears to have been a “crazy act” carried out by a teenager obsessed with firearms, France’s education minister has said. The 17-year-old suspect opened fire at Tocqueville high school, in Grasse, at about 12:40 local time (11:40 GMT). More people were injured in the ensuing panic. Anti-terrorist commandos from the elite Raid force were sent to the scene. The suspect, who was

verely undermine national security”. “Such a drastic reduction in Coast Guard funding would not only diminish the Coast Guard’s standing and mission,” Hunter wrote in a letter to Trump, it “would severely undermine US national security.” “A cut to the Coast Guard of $1.3 billion will effectively paralyze the service and create unnecessary risk and exposures to the homeland,” Hunter’s chief of staff, Joe Kasper, added. “As Trump builds the wall on the southern border, it’s going to push more migrants and smugglers to the water -- and the only entity

there to stop all of it is the Coast Guard,” Kasper said. The Coast Guard has played a big role in drug and illegal migrant interdiction, issues Trump has pointed to as the rationale for why a border wall is needed. “This is insanity to leave the Caribbean Sea open for drug traffickers to operate with impunity like the 70s and 80s. The Colombians and Venezuelans must be very happy and thanking President Trump for according them a free trade route to transport their drugs to North American markets,” a senior US intelligence source told Caribbean News Now.

(Prensa Latina) Cuban ambassador to Colombia, Jose Luis Ponce, has informed that his country will grant the Colombian government and the FARC-EP a fund of 1,000 scholarships to study medicine in the island in the coming five years. The Cuban diplomat made the offer to the Monitoring, Impulse and Verification Commission to the implementation of the Final Peace Agreement, while he informed this in Bogota to FARC-EP Secretariat member, Ivan Marquez, and representatives of the government at the Commission.

Ponce explained that the distribution of those scholarships, at a rate of 200 per year -100 for the FARC-EP and 100 for the National Executive- will be a Cuba’s contribution to

the implementation process of the Havana peace agreements and the post-conflict in Colombia. The students selected to receive such scholarships would begin their studies in the 2017-2018 academic year, according to the source. The capacities to study medicine in Cuba would be allocated to young people demobilized from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP) and those displaced and affected by the internal armed conflict, which will be -the latterchosen by the government.

Putin calls for international effort against terrorism (Prensa Latina) President Vladimir Putin has advocated for an international effort against terrorism and rejected some attempts to destabilize a world order based on respect for international law, sovereignty and diversity of the nations. After receiving the credentials of 18 new ambassadors, including those from Guatemala, Costa Rica, Peru and Chile, Putin stated that his country has taken into account the national interests of other states and in no way divides them into major and minor partners. Moscow is seeking to resolve global problems and international conflicts, as well as curbing threats such as international terrorism. We hope that your stay here will contribute to the reinforcement of the bilateral ties and multilateral cooperation, the President said. Putin also spoke out for

strengthening the political and economic relationships between Russia and Guatemala, especially because the Guatemalan Government is prepared to do so in return. With regard to Costa Rica, he advocated for in-

creasing trade ties and in case of Peru, he emphasized that it is a Russia’s historical partner in the economic, technical-military and investment cooperation, while Chile is interested in strengthening trade.

WEEKEND MIRROR 18-19 MARCH, 2017

Children’s Corner

A lesson for Jack and Dane

ack and Dane were great friends. Every evening they played together. They studied in the same class in the same school. They were good students. One evening, Jack and Dane were playing with a ball. After a while, Jack said, “I am so bored. Shall we go for fishing in the river?” “That is a great idea,” replied Dane. Jack called out to his mother,” Mama, we are going fishing in the river, okay?” “Okay,” Jack’s mother said, “but be careful not to get into the water. Your father said there are crocodiles in the river.” Both the children said that they would not get into the river. They gathered their fishing lines with the hooks, and a can full of bait. They strolled to the river, and soon began fishing. However, even after a long time, they did not get any fish. They began to feel bored again. “This river looks not so deep. Why does mother say not to swim here?” asked Jack. “Remember, your mother said there are crocodiles here,” said Dane. “Well, I don’t find any,” said Jack. Dane was quiet for a while. Finally he asked, “Do you think we can swim?” Jack jumped up and shouted excitedly, “Yes, let us swim. Come on, dive.”

The two friends dove in, and splashed around happily. They found some logs of wood floating on the river, and tried floating with them. It was then that something unexpected happened. Dane was playing with a log of wood, and suddenly, the log was caught in a strong current, and he was hit in the head. He became unconscious immediately. Jack saw what happened, and he swam fast to his friend’s rescue. However, Dane was too heavy for Jack to drag to the shore, so he shouted for help. “Help! My friend is drowning.” At the same time, he saw a movement a little far away. He realized he was looking at a crocodile and was terrified. He began to panic and to cry. The crocodile was going to get them any moment. Suddenly a loud splash was heard. Jack looked up to see his father and mother in the river, by his side. In a flash, they got both the

friends to the shore. They sprinkled some water on Dane’s face and brought him back to consciousness, but he was very weak. Jack was too shocked to speak. He felt very guilty. Finally, he stammered, “I am sorry, father. I will listen to you and mother in the future. Promise.” The friends learnt a lesson. Moral: Children who disobey their parents will get into trouble.

Dear Children, he winner of the colourT ing contest Happy Holi is Stephanie Ramnauth.

The picture to colour this week is entitled Noddy and is submitted by Stacy Rambalak. Colour and send it to Weekend Mirror, PO Box 101088, Georgetown or 8 Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown. The winners will receive the prize of a storybook.

Name: ............................................................................................................................................ Address: ........................................................................................................................................ ......................................................................................... Tel. No: ................................................

Zoo Crossword – Fit Word

2 Letter Ox 3 Letter Ant Bat Eel Gnu Rat

4 Letter Bear 5 Letter Bison Panda Snake Tiger Zebra

6 Letter Iguana Keeper Monkey Parrot Rabbit Racoon 7 Letter Ostrich Reptile

8 Letter Elephant Flamingo Kangaroo Reindeer Scorpion Tortoise 10 Letter Rhinoceros

www.kidspuzzlesandgames.co.uk

WEEKEND MIRROR 18-19 MARCH, 2017

Astronomy Word Scramble All of the scrambled words below are astronomy vocabulary words. Can you put the letters in the right order to spell the different words correctly? Careful! Some of the “words” are made up of two or even three words. RATTDRKAEM TAEIOSRD NPEVUOSAR ETUNPEN RSMA LONECOISLANTT SOMOSC YARGVTI AGXYLA UUNSAR IGTAERYLH CMRERYU RETHA ETALILETS BITGGOHREBYAN QASUAR VESUN IERTUJP HALKCBLOE TECOM UNOQXIE ATSRNU OLHWMERO WEFDRARD EOTERIETM IELSCPE UENALB © 2014 puzzles-to-print.com

WEEKEND MIRROR 18-19 MARCH, 2017

Discuss your Problem

with

PORTIA

This feature explores personal problems. We invite you to write to Portia, c/o Mirror, P.O. Box 101088, Georgetown,Guyana

How Do I Deal With My Very Ill-Mannered Boyfriend? Dear Portia, I have so much love for my gorgeous, kind, very smart boyfriend, but he belches and doesn’t follow up with a polite nicety. I’m obsessing over this because he makes me feel like an uptight “prissy girl” for expecting a simple “excuse me.” I swear I’m not a prude! But he defines modern manners as “feeble social conventions.” He has other issues that are problematic for me—he smokes too much marijuana, is lazy, makes no money, and has no prospects—but all I ask is for him to make me happy with this one thing: not to belch in front of me. Am I crazy for thinking a man should not burp loudly in front of a lady? Amrita Dear Amrita, Yes, it is perfectly correct for a shiftless, stone-broke pothead with “no prospects” to burp loudly in front of a lady whenever the lady is stupid enough not to say to the shiftless, stone-broke pothead with no prospects who is belching in front of her: “Excuse me, clod. We’re finished.” If you wrap yourself around an idle man, you’ll end up with a dick.

I Want to Date, But I Still Live With My Ex-Husband

Dear Portia, I’m almost 34, but I look like I’m in my twenties, and my only addiction is Pepsi. I married my husband 13 years ago. I cheated once and confessed. He forgave me. A year later he had an affair with the woman who lives across the street from us, and we divorced by mutual agreement. But how unusual is this situation? We still live together! Our 12-year-old daughter has severe epilepsy, takes four serious drugs every day, and her seizures are not yet controlled. (She can experience as many as 15 tonic-clonic seizures—formerly known as grand-mal—a day.) So when she’s sick, my ex stays home from work and cares for her, or I do; and we agree about most other things. When we divorced in 2010, the only thing we had any disagreements about was his 401(k). (Since I hadn’t earned the money, I didn’t want to take any of it; he insisted on giving it all to me.) We share household cleaning responsibilities equally. He pays our mortgage, the household bills, and medical insurance. I pay for clothing, phones, and incidentals for our daughter, like school pictures, haircuts, and so on. There’s no fraternization between my ex-husband and me (except once when we both were drunk and stupid). So my questions are: Can I start dating? Am I crazy? Sharon Dear Sharon, Hells bells, you heroic woman! You’re living more contentedly with your ex-husband than most of the married women I hear from who live with their current husbands. So, yes. At this point it might actually be advantageous for you to start dating. The hard part’s over. You’ve both divorced your old selves. You’ve got a friendship built for love. If you can each tweak the personal behavior that caused problems the first time around, I think you may safely sneak away together for the weekend. And if the fling turns so lusty that it threatens your platonic relationship? Excellent! Here’s hoping it turns into an exclusive lifelong love affair!

Corner Embrace reality with these simple ways to overcome escapism

et a load of your life. Is there anything that you’re trying to run from? Maybe some responsibilities ... some need-to-mend relationships ... something from your past ... some work-related taut ... it can be something as trivial as exercising ... The fact is, no matter how good you have it, at some point or the other, everyone feels the desire to escape! Take my word?we’re all escapists. It’s just that the degree to which we escape and the nature of our escapism differs. So tell me, do you escape reality? How do you do it?

What is it that you’re addicted to, that takes you to your own little fantasy world, and makes you feel home there?! The human mind, instead of dealing with problems, likes to pretend they don’t exist. We start looking out for ways that would make us forget the reality, relieve us from the stress that problem’s been causing us. Alcohol, drugs, keeping busy on networking sites and the Internet, sleeping excessively, etc., are some of the common ways to avoid reality. For the time being, they do uplift us?giving a pleasurable sensation of being aloof of the problem?making us forget the pain. But the bad news is, that’s all temporary. ‘Cause when you wake up after a really long sleep, when you have to face your boss after bunking office for a week, when you shutdown your PC, when the effect of your temptations get thinned and all you’re left with is the hangover, you’ll see your problem sitting right there in front of you! At the end of the day, you still suffer and feel like you’re trapped in a hole. It’s like an ostrich which buries its head in the sand at the sight of danger?as if turning your head away and pretending everything is okay, will make it okay. But that doesn’t happen. The pleasant feeling diminishes. The problem stays. And in fact, might have grown worse. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines escapism as, “habitual diversion of the mind to purely imaginative activity or entertainment as an escape from reality or routine.” It is the avoidance of reality by engaging self in entertainment, or living in an imaginative world where one can feel safe. It is important to understand that not all escapism is bad. There are stages of escapism?from using it as a rejuvenation technique to getting obsessed with it. How To Deal With Escapism

Following are the ways to do away with escapism and embrace reality. It should be noted that some of these may be short-term techniques, while some

will help you in the long run. Take up meditation

I know you’ve heard this a million times before but trust me, meditation works wonders. At first, meditate just for like 10 minutes a day?start a simple practice of sitting still for a few minutes, taking deep breaths and watching the breath. Try to focus. You may tend to lose focus, don’t worry, get back to your breath. Meditation will not just calm your mind, but help you in gaining control over your thoughts.

time to map the route from your fantasy world to the real world. It’s time to accept yourself, accept your flaws. Get over them. It’s okay to be imperfect. It’s humane to make mistakes. It’s okay to fail and fail again. But it’s not okay to get stuck in the failure, run away from things because they didn’t happen as they were expected to. Don’t be hard on yourself. Accept the failure, work over it. Let go of your past. All you need is a little forgiveness and a little acceptance. Stop pretending it’s okay

When you start meditating, or (at first) sitting stagnate for some time, you are bound to get thoughts. A number of thoughts may come and go. Start observing your thoughts. Just notice as each thought passes by. Experience it. Remember, no judging or fighting it. Tell me, how does it feel?

As they say, change is the only thing constant?practice and preach it! Accept, it’s not okay. You’re not okay. Accept the change introduced in your life, and the way it has affected you. Have faith in life and allow the circumstances to unfold. I know, it’s easier said than done. But eventually, life will teach you to accept it the harder way. So why not be open to changes?

Question your thoughts

Practice gratitude

Observe your thoughts

Thoughts are herculean. They have the vim to affect the quality of our experiences. As you start observing your thoughts, you will notice the ones that keep coming up. Again and again. If they are positive, cherish them. If they are negative, question them. If you start paying attention to one, it will fade away and a new thought comes by. Let it come. Just go with the flow. Being aware of our thoughts is very essential. It will make you realize your potential and bring you at peace. Accept yourself

People live in their fantasy world, because they find that world to be more comforting, more accepting, where nobody can judge them, and they can live their life the way they want to. Now it’s

Start writing a dairy. Call it your gratitude journal. Make a note of things that make you happy?that you’re thankful for. Make an effort to practice gratitude on a daily basis. Think of the good things in life. Let go the thoughts that make you feel low. It is not something that you can incorporate and master at in a day. It will take time and practice, but it’s gonna lead you to self-acceptance. Take up Talk Therapy approach

You have friends and siblings, or someone with whom you share a close bond. Talk to them about what’s troubling you. Someone who’s empathetic and will listen to you keenly. Someone who’s gone through the same, and has exulted. Release the unpleasant emo(Turn to page 21)

WEEKEND MIRROR 18-19 MARCH, 2017

Detox and beautify your skin Recipes and hair with activated charcoal Plantain P Meringue Pie utting charcoal in your hair and on your face might not seem glamorous, but it’s proven to have many health and beauty benefits when used safely and properly. Activated charcoal is not what’s used for grilling’though it is a medical grade version of what’s used in air filtration systems. Activated charcoal is administered in hospitals as emergency treatment for poisoning; as chemicals bind to it, it can help remove them from the body. These days, people are using food grade activated charcoal internally to detox, in supplements and juices; it’s even being used to whiten teeth. What does this have to do with glowing skin and deep cleaned hair? Read on and find out. Introducing the gritty black ingredient that will purify your skin and hair

It’s true: we’re suggesting you rub charcoal powder on your precious skin and hair. But we’re giving you this advice for good reason, as more and more people are finding themselves thrilled with the results of adding activated charcoal to their beauty routine. This is how it works: because toxins stick to the activated charcoal, it makes a good candidate for a deep cleanser and detoxifier. It’s all-natural and won’t add new chemicals to your skin and hair when you use it. Which means, less for your skin and hair to have negative reactions to’and less risk of your hair being weighed down or your pores being clogged with a new ingredient meant to clean. Here are the best ways to use activated charcoal for the health of your skin and hair. 1. Make pores smaller and cleaner Throughout the day, toxins from the world around us clog our pores. When your pores aren’t clear, neither is your complexion. Activated charcoal’when used in a face mask‘binds to and helps pull the dirt out of your pores, making them less visible (it’s the oil and dirt that makes them appear bigger). This leaves your face feeling fresh. (Use it with an exfoliating scrub to get the dead skin off and experience an even deeper clean.) 2. Take care of oily skin Oily skin? Activated charcoal may

ments’including insect bites, stings, cuts, scrapes and minor infections’activated charcoal can be applied topically. The activated charcoal, when applied as a paste, helps absorb venom and infection. It will also bring down swelling and lessen pain. To make the paste: slowly add water to a bit of activated charcoal powder and mix until it is a spreadable consistency.

Filling: 1 oz cornstarch, 2 oz sugar, ¾ tsp salt, 1 pt milk, 1 tsp lemon juice, 2 eggs, separated, 2 tbsp margarine, ½ tsp vanilla essence, 2 large yellow plantains, ripe yet firm, 2 oz white sugar for meringue

6. Rid your hair of toxins

be just the ingredient you need to balance things out. Used in a cleanser or mask, activated charcoal can pull the unwanted excess oils from your skin, leaving it smooth. You’ll want to do this sparingly’once or twice per week at the most’so that you don’t over-dry your skin. If you already have dry skin, best to steer clear of it for this use, as you don’t want to dry it out even more. 3. Treat acne Depending on the specifics of your acne’how severe it is, what’s causing it and what else is going on’activated charcoal may be able to help. In soap form, it’s slightly gritty, which might provide just the gentle exfoliating you need. It will also absorb oils and toxins on and below the skin. You can use it as a spot treatment if you don’t want to use it on your whole face’just think of it as a mini mask for your blemish. 4. Deep clean your skin Send your chemical-ridden deep-cleaners on a little vacation. You can find cleansers that contain activated charcoal in bars or bottles. It’s important that you don’t use these daily, as you don’t want to soak up the healthy oils and moisture your skin needs. Check out the other ingredients if you’re buying a liquid cleanser’some are designed to neutralize the acidity in your skin, others have deodorizing properties; some can even double as shaving cream. Buy the product that best suits your personal combination of needs and follow the directions on the bottle. 5. Soothe and heal bites, cuts and skin irritations Whether you were stung by a bee or had a cut from the kitchen that’s wound up infected, activated charcoal can help speed the healing and relieve the symptoms. For minor skin ail-

Embrace reality with these...

this world thawed with technology, it’s difficult to eliminate all electronic usage for a period of time, but you can at least limit it.

Ditch the electronic world

As I said earlier, do not pretend to be fine. Recognize your problem and seek professional help. Decide, that you want to better yourself. Step outta that hole, and choose the path to well-being.

Seek medical help

Activated charcoal, when used on your hair, can pull out oil, dirt and toxins’just like it does for your skin. You can find regular and dry shampoos that contain activated charcoal. If you have very light hair, you won’t want to use the dry shampoo, as it may stain. In any case, try a test patch before using it on all of your hair at once. If you want to try activated charcoal on your hair, but aren’t sure you want to buy a bottle of a pre-made product just yet, you can make your own as you go. Just empty a capsule’or add a teaspoon’of activated charcoal to your regular shampoo and use as you normally would. The only thing you may need to switch up would be adding an extra since to your routine to get the colour fully out. The advantage to buying activated charcoal in powder or tablets is that it’s multi-purpose. 7. Add volume to your hair When your hair feels weighted down it’s usually not only a feeling. If you’re carrying around enough dirt, your hair will start to sag and regular shampooing may not be getting it all out. Regular shampoos remove surface dirt, but activated charcoal will pull out even more. The other difference, and this is big, is that activated charcoal isn’t going to leave the residue regular shampoos will, so your hair will feel lighter and have more volume. 8. Remedy scalp conditions Dandruff, redness, oily and itchy scalps may be relieved with activated charcoal. You can use it as a scalp treatment before you shampoo or can be mixed in with your shampoo. The activated charcoal will work on your scalp the way it does on your skin and hair: pulling out toxins and purifying. It’s unclear how deep into the hair follicle is being cleaned, but the results should be noticeable.

Preparation Prepare the pastry and line a 7 inch pie pan. Flute the edges, prick the pastry and bake blind. Mix the cornstarch, sugar and salt in pan. Stir in the milk and blend well to remove any lumps. Cook over low heat until thick, stirring constantly. Add the egg yolks slowly, then the plantain purÃ©e and mix well. Cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the margarine. Cool, add lemon juice and essence, and pour into baked pie shell. Cover with meringue made from egg whites beaten with sugar to a stiff consistency. Bake in a slow oven until lightly browned. Note: To puree the plantain, boil and sieve while hot, or use a food processor. Add while warm to allow easy blending.

Guyanese Seasoned Rice Ingredients: 2 cups of parboiled rice, 1 celery stalk, 3 stalks of fine thyme, 1 onion, 1 clove of garlic, 3 - 7 hot peppers, 1 stalk of eschallot (scallion), 1 tsp. black pepper, 1 grated carrot (optional), a pinch of salt (optional)

(From page 20)

tions. You may even look for self-help groups, surf the Internet, find groups that let you interact with people going through the same phase, and have managed to overcome their fears. Challenge yourself over this. Live phone-less for a day. Dump the Xbox. No browsing the Internet. No WhatsApping, no Facebooking, no gaming. For

Ingredients: ¼ lb short crust pastry

Break the isolation, find a therapist who understands your problems and help you find solutions. The best tactic to escape a problem is to deal with the problem. No postponing. No avoiding. Face it! And trust me, you’re the best and only person to deal with it. Times when you feel like fleeing away, remember this quote by Confucius. No matter where you go, there you are. (Buzzle.com)

Preparation Wash then cook rice for 20 minutes, drain and set aside. Finely chop all the above ingredients. Combine all chopped ingredients quickly 2-3 minutes in very heated vegetable oil (olive oil); the quickness will avoid the ingredients sticking together. Slowly add the rice to the seasonings constantly stirring for proper mixing into the rice. Sprinkle fine thyme, black pepper and grated carrots across the top of finished dish or mix it into the rice if you prefer.

WEEKEND MIRROR 18-19 MARCH, 2017

Grade Six Assessment EXERCISE A Seat Belts Directions: Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow. Refer to the text to check your answers when appropriate. “Click!” That’s the sound of safety. That’s the sound of survival. That’s the sound of a seat belt locking in place. Seat belts save lives and that’s a fact. That’s why I don’t drive anywhere until mine is on tight. Choosing to wear your seat belt is a simple as choosing between life and death. Which one do you choose? Think about it. When you’re driving in a car, you may be going 60 MPH or faster. That car is zipping down the road. Then somebody ahead of you locks up his or her brakes. Your driver doesn’t have time to stop. The car that you are in crashes. Your car was going 60 miles per hour. Now it has suddenly stopped. Your body, however, is still going 60 MPH. What’s going to stop your body? Will it be the windshield or your seat belt? Every time that you get into a car you make that choice. I choose the seat belt. Some people think that seat belts are uncool. They think that seat belts cramp their style, or that seat belts are uncomfortable. To them I say, what’s more uncomfortable? Wearing a seat belt or flying through a car windshield? What’s more uncool? Being safely anchored to a car, or skidding across the road in your jean shorts? Wearing a seat belt is both cooler and more comfortable than the alternatives. Let’s just take a closer look at your choices. If you are not wearing your seat belt, you can hop around the car and slide in and out of your seat easily. That sounds like a lot of fun. But, you are also more likely to die or suffer serious injuries. If you are wearing a seat belt, you have to stay in your seat. That’s no fun. But, you are much more likely to walk away unharmed from a car accident. Hmmm... A small pleasure for a serious pain. That’s a tough choice. I think that I’ll avoid the serious pain. How about giving money away? Do you like to give your money away? Probably not. And when you don’t wear your seat belt, you are begging to give your money away. That’s because kids are required to wear seat belts in every state in America. If you’re riding in a car, and you don’t have a seat belt on, the police can give you or your driver a ticket. Then you will have to give money to the city. I’d rather keep my money, but you can spend yours how you want. Wearing a seat belt does not make you invincible. You can still get hurt or killed while wearing your seat belt. But wearing them has proven to be safer than driving without them. You are much less likely to be killed in a car wreck if you are wearing a seat belt. You are much less likely to get seriously injured if you are wearing one. So why not take the safer way? Why not go the way that has been proven to result in fewer deaths? You do want to live, don’t you? 1. Which title best expresses the main idea of this text? a. Car Accidents: Ways That We Can Prevent Them b. Slow Down: Save Lives By Driving Slower c. Seat Belts: Wear Them to Survive Any Wreck d. Why Not? Improve Your Odds with Seat Belts 2. Which best expresses the author’s main purpose in writing this text? a. To inform readers about seat belt laws b. To persuade readers to wear seat belts c. To entertain readers with stories and jokes about seat belts d. To describe what car accidents are like without seat belts 3. Which best describes the text structure in the fourth paragraph? a. Compare and contrast b. Chronological order c. Sequential order d. Problem and solution

English Language

d. Seat belt laws save lives.

a. Bobby was just about to stop playing ball. b. Bobby didn’t even want to play ball to begin with. 6. Which best defines the word invincible as it is used in c. Bobby prefers nature to athletics. the last paragraph? d. Bobby would have continued playing ball for a long a. Uncool time. b. Difficult or impossible to see c. Glow-in-the-dark 3. Mr. Johnson was very particular about the arrangement d. Unable to be harmed of his classroom, so the thing he hated most was when his students caused a ruckus with their wild horseplay. 7. Which statement would the author most likely agree a. Mr. Johnson hated when his students pretended to be with? animals. a. Being safe is more important than being cool. b. Mr. Johnson hated when his students played sports. b. Moving freely around a car is worth the risks. c. Mr. Johnson hated when his students wrestled around c. Seat belts will keep you safe in any car accident. with each other. d. You should be most concerned with your comfort. d. Mr. Johnson hated when his students made animal noises. 8. Which argument is not made by the author? a. Not wearing a seat belt can be expensive. 4. Eric wanted to fix his cousin’s computer, but he was b. Penalties for not wearing a seat belt should increase. already having problems setting up his Aunt’s Wi-Fi network c. Seat belts keep you from flying through the windshield. and he didn’t want to open a whole new can of worms. d. Wearing a seat belt is cooler than suffering an injury. a. Eric was sick of spending his time helping his family. b. Eric wanted to go fishing instead of working on com9. Which statement would the author most likely disagree puters. with? c. Eric was having difficulties untangling the computer a. Seat belts save lives. wires. b. Every state in America has seat belt laws. d. Eric was not ready to begin working on a complicated c. You shouldn’t drive anywhere until you are wearing new problem. your seat belt. d. Seat belts increase your chances of being injured in a 5. Even though Candace already had a new job, she car wreck. submitted her two week notice and conducted herself in a professional way at her old job because she didn’t want to 10. Which best explains why the author starts his essay burn bridges. with the word click? a. Candace didn’t want to ruin her positive relationship a. He is trying to scare readers. with her old employer. b. He is trying to get the reader’s attention. b. Candace wasn’t ready to start her new job. c. He is trying to remind readers how seat belts sound c. Candace was really going to miss her old job. when clasped. d. Candace was waiting until her last day to rub it in evd. He is trying to describe what it’s like to ride in a car. eryone’s face that she was leaving. Long Response 1. What are three main points that the author uses to support his argument? Put them in your own words. 2. Why does the author write about driving in a car in the second paragraph? What is his purpose? Refer to the text in your explanation. 3. Do you believe that the author is more interested in being safe or being comfortable? Refer to the text in your response.

6. World renowned country western super group The Mountain Boys can sell out an arena at the drop of a hat. a. The Mountain Boys may be able to sell out an arena, but it will take a long time. b. The Mountain Boys can sell out an arena very quickly. c. The Mountain Boys are always willing to perform at charity events. d. The Mountain Boys enforce a dress code at all of their shows.

EXERCISE B Idioms Idioms are commonly used figurative expressions. Idiom is not a distinct figurative language technique. Rather, most idioms are similes, metaphors, hyperbole, or other figurative language techniques. For example, the idiom “I’m so hungry that I could eat a horse,” is actually an example of hyperbole. And the idiom, “dropping like flies,” is actually a simile. What separates an idiom from its original technique, however, is that idioms have been so commonly used that they became incorporated into the colloquial lexicon of native language speakers. In other words, native speakers use them so much that they don’t even know that they are using figurative language. Here are some idiom examples: 1. Bob’s new corner office was just the icing on the cake (metaphor). 2. After eating candy, Billy ran around like a chicken with his head cut off (simile). 3. The quarter back was running out of steam (metaphor). 4. That new car cost an arm and a leg (hyperbole). 5. Tom said that he changed but actions speak louder than words (personification).

7. Vivian expected Craig to sob uncontrollably when she broke up with him; however, Craig kept a stiff upper lip. a. Craig cried even more than Vivian had expected. b. Craig cried about as much as Vivian had expected. c. Craig cried a little less than Vivian had expected. d. Craig did not cry.

Idioms are generally used so frequently by native language speakers that it often goes unnoticed that figurative language is even being used. When someone is learning a new language, one of the milestones of progress is when the learner begins to understand and use the language idiomatically or colloquially.

4. Which best defines the word alternatives as it is used in Identify the meaning of the idioms in the following senthe third paragraph? tences: a. Being safe 1. After going to the zoo, the mall, and the movies, Cassie b. Being unsafe was sick of bending over backwards to entertain her nieces. c. Other choices a. Cassie was doing very little to entertain her nieces. d. Driving fast b. Cassie was making small efforts to entertain her nieces. c. Cassie was trying very hard to entertain her nieces. 5. Which best expresses the main idea of the fifth parad. Cassie was not trying at all to entertain her nieces. graph? a. Seat belts are a waste of money. 2. Bobby would have been playing ball until the cows b. People don’t like to give money away. came home if it hadn’t been for Suzie dragging him away to c. Not wearing a seat belt may cost you. eat dinner.

8. Mrs. Robinson expects Cassie and my presentation to be good, but we have been working on it every night for the last week, so we are really going to knock her socks off. a. Cassie and the speaker are not prepared to give a good presentation. b. Cassie and the speaker intend on hitting Mrs. Robinson rather than presenting. c. Cassie and the speaker’s presentation will far exceed Mrs. Robinson’s expectations. d. Cassie and the speaker’s presentation will meet Mrs. Robison’s expectations. 9. Over the summer Brian was really excited about being placed in the advanced math class, but after getting his syllabus on the first day and seeing the workload, he was ready to jump ship. a. Brian was even more excited about the math class than he was over the summer. b. Brian wanted to start working on his math assignments right away. c. Brian did not want to be in the advance math class anymore. d. Brian wanted to cause some trouble in the advanced math class. 10. Jose had a hard time comparing the iPhone to the Samsung phone because to him they were apples and oranges. a. Jose can hardly tell the difference between the two phones because they are so similar. b. Jose believes that the phones are so different from one another that they cannot be compared. c. Jose doesn’t know anything about phones so he may as well be thinking about fruits. d. Jose is too hungry to think about phones at this time.

WEEKEND MIRROR 18-19 MARCH, 2017

The Other View

Women’s Pay Gap “Biggest Robbery in History”: UN Women By Tharanga Yakupitiyage (IPS) - A new UN initiative launched on Monday night calls the women’s pay gap, which sees women paid 23 percent less than men globally: “the biggest robbery in history.” During the 61st session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) meeting, UN Women and the International Labor Organisation (ILO) launched the high-profile Equal Pay Platform of Champions to raise awareness on the persistent gender wage gap. The coalition consists of celebrities and activists including award-winning documentary filmmaker Kamala Lopez, Olympic gold medalist Abby Wambach, President of the Garment and Allied Workers Union Anannya Bhattacharjee, and actress Patricia Arquette. “There has been a normalization for centuries of a bias against women, an acceptance that we are less than…there is no woman that [the wage gap] does not affect,” Lopez said as she moderated the launch. UN Women’s Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka echoed similar sentiments, stating that such bias has led women’s work in a range of sectors to be

undervalued. “What does a woman in Wall Street have in common with a woman who has a shop in Brazil? Or in a cane farm in South Africa? Or in a sweatshop in Bangladesh? Chances are that they are all not paid equally by their different employers,“ said Mlambo-Ngcuka to delegates in the filled General Assembly Hall. Globally, the gender pay gap is at approximately 23 percent as women make 77 cents for every dollar earned by men. The figure is even higher in some regions and among certain communities. In the U.S., African American women earn only 60 cents, Native American women 59 cents and Hispanic women 55 cents for every $1 that white men earn. In Turkey, women earn up to 75 percent less than their male counterparts. “What does a woman in Wall Street have in common with a woman who has a shop in Brazil? Or in a cane farm in South Africa? Or in a sweatshop in Bangladesh? Chances are that they are all not paid equally by their different employers,“ -- Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka Retired U.S. soccer player Abby Wambach shared her story and reasons for joining the Platform of Champions, stating: “I have

two gold medals, I won a World Cup with my country…but I actually have to worry about paying my bills now.” Before the enactment of Title IX, which guarantees that no person in the U.S. can be discriminated on the basis of sex in education receiving federal funds, opportunities for women in sports were extremely limited as women received only two percent of academic athletic budgets. It has since increased to 40 percent due to the law, but its existence is now threatened by the new administration. “I want to make sure that the world that I leave is better than the world that I found,” Wambach said in reference to raising her stepdaughter. Garment and Allied Workers Union’s President Anannya Bhattacharjee shed light on the plight of garment workers around the world, including those in Asia who are responsible for the production of over 60 percent of the world’s garments. Bangladesh alone, which is the world’s second largest textile industry, earns more than $25 billion a year from exports and employs over 4 million workers, the majority of whom are women. “The workers of this industry who are mainly women cannot access their basic human rights…industries that are dominated by women tend to be lower paid, which means that millions of women and generations of families live in poverty,” said Bhattacharjee. In December, protests erupted in the South Asian nation as garment workers took to the streets to demand a monthly minimum wage increase from 67 dollars to 187 dollars. The call was dismissed, more than 1500 workers were fired, and over 40 arrested. Bhattacharjee highlighted the need for a living wage, and to recognize the additional

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women with actress Patricia Arquette

unpaid labor that women often take up to care for their families. ILO estimates that it will take 70 years to close the gender wage gap at the current rate while the World Economic Forum warned that it could take 170 years for women and men to be paid the same for equal work due to reversed progress over the last few years. Governments also joined in the call to action, including the Government of Iceland who recently became the first country to require equal pay for all. “We had laws banning pay discrimination since 1961 in Iceland. Still, even though we are leading in equality, we still have a gender pay gap of around 7 percent. And that’s absolutely intolerable,” said Iceland’s Social Affairs and Equality Minister Thorsteinn Viglundsson. The country says it wants to eradicate the gender pay gap by 2022. Mlambo-Ngcuka noted the need for a comprehensive response to the complex wage inequality issue including by providing education to promote a shift in societal norms and sharing best practices from around the world to push for laws similar to those of Iceland. “We can no longer afford to stand by and allow these deeply entrenched discriminations to persist…Every one of us can be a champion for women and girls. There are no superpowers necessary,” Lopez said. CSW is the largest inter-governmental forum on women’s rights. The Equal Pay Platform of Champions is a part of the broader UN Women-ILO led Global Equal Pay Coalition that helps create concrete targets and laws to reduce the gender pay gap by 2030 at the global, regional and national levels.

WEEKEND MIRROR 18-19 MARCH, 2017

The numerous benefits of cleaning house and de-cluttering

ave you ever thought about the amount of “stuff” that you’ve accumulated over the years? If you are anything like me, there are little stashes of clutter all over the place - in closets, drawers, the store room, the garage, under the shed, in the backyard and even under the bed. I always think this stuff will come in handy later, but somehow, it never does. In the end, it is really therapeutic to periodically set aside time to take stock of what we have, compare it with what we really need and to do away, by whatever means, that which we do not need or have use for, such a process is described as “de-clutter.” As we are coming up on spring, after last Monday’s celebrations of Phagwah, now is the perfect time to undertake such an activity. Ruthlessly throwing out books you will never read again, unworn or unsuitable clothes and unwanted gifts can be very empowering, especially if there are “sentimental values”, attached to some of these items. If there is something that you no longer want, but don’t want to toss, there is always the option to donate it. Giving things away to charity can make a positive contribution to other people’s lives. All in all, this entire experience will make you feel as though you are taking control of your environment as well as making space in your home. You will discover other benefits as well, my good Readers. The less clutter in your home, the easier it is to find something when you need it and the more comfortable, clean and neat your space will be. According to Feng Shui practitioners, cleaning up your space or “space clearing” as they often call it, is the starting point to transforming your good fortune, so don’t delay just starts in your home. My granddaughter got me started, she said “well you have to get rid of some of these clothing and you have to make use of some of the “stored” clothing.” So I said ok; a few days later she said that you must look at the library in your room and try to tidy things up by ‘letting go” of some of the books you will never read again, as usual I agreed. A few weeks ago she pointed my focus on my footwear and so I would have had sufficient push to keep me going on track to clean and clear things up. I must admit, like last year, I am enjoying it this year and I am feeling it as I reap the benefits. I am not too much worried about space for new stuffs. In the coming weeks, I will be sharing more information about spring cleaning, from Feng Shui and its benefits. I encourage you to try it, even if you just begin in one room! I am sure you will feel lighter and clearer, and I would love to hear how you get on! Happy 67th Anniversary to the People’s Progressive Party (PPP). Remember to purchase and read your copy of the Mirror Newspaper and tune to Freedom Radio, streaming on 91.1 FM in GT and its environs, 90.7 in Essequibo and 90.5 in Berbice. Streaming online freedomradio 91.com. Have an enjoyable weekend as you participate in your various political activities and “Remembering Cheddi” activities. JOIN THE ANNUAL CHEDDI JAGAN FITNESS WALK ON SUNDAY, MARCH 19 AT 7AM IN THE NATIONAL PARK. (G. Persaud)

WEEKEND MIRROR 18-19 MARCH, 2017

A slowdown at the sun’s surface explained N

ever underestimate the power of a little sunlight. Light particles, or photons, emitted from the sun’s surface, could explain a long-standing solar mystery — why the sun’s outermost layers rotate more slowly than its core. Because the sun isn’t a solid ball, regions at different depths or lati-

tudes rotate at different rates. For decades, scientists have wondered why the outer 5 percent of the sun revolves slower than inner regions. In the Feb. 3 Physical Review Letters, researchers from Brazil and the United States report that photons released from the sun’s outer skin may be tapping the brakes.

The sun’s surface rotates more slowly than its inner layers. Scientists now have an explanation: Photons leaving the sun could carry angular momentum away, slowing the top layer’s spin.

Using data from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite, scientists measured the rotation in the sun’s limb, or outer edge. In a thin, 70-kilometer skin at the surface, the rotation rate drops by 2 percent — a result that could be explained by photons carrying angular momentum away from the sun, slowing it

down bit by bit. Angular momentum is a property of a rotating body that keeps an object spinning unless another force acts on it — like a spinning ice skater gradually coming to a stop due to friction. Over time, the surface slowdown could cause the full outer 5 percent of the sun to lag behind, the scientists say.

Making a mistake can put your brain on ‘pause’ M

istakes can be learning opportunities, but the brain needs time for lessons to sink in. When facing a fast and furious stream of decisions, even the momentary distraction of noting an error can decrease accuracy on the next choice, researchers report in the March 15 Journal of Neuroscience. “We have a brain region that monitors and says ‘you messed up’ so that we can correct our behavior,” says psychologist George Buzzell, now at the University of Maryland in College Park. But sometimes, that monitoring system can backfire,

distracting us from the task at hand and causing us to make another error. “There does seem to be a little bit of time for people, after mistakes, where you’re sort of offline,” says Jason Moser, a psychologist at Michigan State University in East Lansing, who wasn’t part of the study. To test people’s response to making mistakes, Buzzell and colleagues at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., monitored 23 participants’ brain activity while they worked through a challenging task. Concentric circles flashed briefly on a screen, and participants had to respond with one

hand if the two circles were the same color and the other hand if the circles were subtly different shades. After making a mistake, participants generally answered the next question correctly if they had a second or so to recover. But when the next challenge came very quickly after an error, as little as 0.2 seconds, accuracy dropped by about 10 percent. Electrical activity recorded from the visual cortex showed that participants paid less attention to the next trial if they had just made a mistake than if they had responded correctly. The cognitive demand of

When people have to make many decisions very quickly, making one mistake can decrease accuracy on the next choice, too

noting and processing the error seems to divert attention that would otherwise be devoted to the task, Buzzell says. In real life, people usually have time — even if just a few seconds — to reflect on a mistake before having to make another decision, says Jan Wessel, a psychologist at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. But in some activities such as driving a car or playing a musical instrument, people must rebound from errors quickly while continuing to correctly carry out the rest of the task, he says. Those actions might push the limits of error processing.

Warming soils may belch much more carbon

s the planet warms, carbon stashed in Earth’s soils could escape into the atmosphere far faster than previously thought. In the worst-case scenario for climate change, carbon dioxide emissions from soil-dwelling microbes could increase by 34 to 37 percent by 2100, researchers report online March 9 in Science. Previous studies predicted a more modest 9 to 12 percent rise if no efforts are taken to curb climate change. Those extra emissions could further intensify global warming. Much of that extra CO2 will originate from soils at depths overlooked by previous measurements, says study coauthor Margaret Torn, a biogeochemist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California. “We ignore the deep at our peril,” she says. Soils cover about two-

Carbon emissions from soils could increase more than previously thought as temperatures go up, a new experiment suggests. Caitlin Hicks Pries (at the computer) and colleagues monitored emissions from a forest plot in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada

thirds of Earth’s ice-free land area and store nearly 3 trillion metric tons of organic carbon — more than three times the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. Dead organisms such as plants contribute to this carbon stockpile, and carbon-munching microbes belch

some of that carbon into the atmosphere as CO2. Rising temperatures will spur the microbes to speed up their plant consumption, scientists warn, releasing more CO2 into the air. And the data back up that fear. Scientists have mimicked

future warming by heating the top 5 to 20 centimeters of experimental soil plots and measuring the resulting CO2 emissions. Those studies missed deeper soils, though, known to contain more than half of all soil carbon. Warming such deep soils is technically challenging and scientists had generally assumed that any emission increases from so far down were insignificant, says study coauthor Caitlin Hicks Pries, an ecosystem ecologist at Lawrence Berkeley. Using heating coils and rods embedded in the soil, Hicks Pries, Torn and colleagues warmed a plot of soil for over two years in the forested foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada. The warmth extended to a meter below ground, the full depth of the soil in the area. That heating replicated the roughly 4

degrees Celsius of warming expected by the end of the century in a worst-case scenario. Annual carbon emissions from the soil jumped from 1,100 grams per square meter to 1,450 grams per square meter. Around 40 percent of this emissions increase originated below a depth of 15 centimeters, with 10 percent originating below 30 centimeters. Assuming other soils behave similarly, by 2100, the increase in the CO2 emission rate from just the soils deeper than 30 centimeters could equal modern-day CO2 emission rates from oil burning, the researchers estimate. While only 13.5 percent of Earth’s soils resemble the woodland soils examined in the study, Torn says that the experiment shows that scientists need to consider deep soils when calculating future

climate change. Studies already in the works will test if the results hold true for other soil types. The new experiment is exciting and well executed, says Katherine Todd-Brown, a biogeochemist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash. The net impact soils will have on future climate change, however, remains unclear, she says. The amount of carbon from the atmosphere entering soils could also increase as higher CO2 concentrations and warmer environments promote plant growth. That increased carbon drawdown could offset the climate impacts of the increased emissions, though the magnitude of that effect is still debated. “You really have to take both the inputs and outputs into account,” ToddBrown says.

Kyrgios beats Djokovic again, to face Federer N

ick Kyrgios ended Novak Djokovic’s 19-match winning run at Indian Wells by beating the Serb 6-4 7-6(3) to reach the BNP Paribas Open quarter-finals on Wednesday, while Roger Federer also advanced with a straight sets win over Rafa Nadal. Australian Kyrgios had beaten Djokovic in the quarter-finals in Acapulco almost two weeks ago in their first career meeting, and repeated the feat on Wednesday to reach the last eight, where he will face Federer. The Swiss defeated Nadal 6-2 6-3 in the 36th meeting between the pair. It marked the first time Federer had recorded three consecutive wins over the Spaniard. Federer, who got the better of his Spanish rival in a thrilling five-setter at the Australian Open final in January, broke Nadal’s serve to open the match then

survived a break point to hold with a backhand winner down the line for 2-0. The Swiss then took a

The BCB has revealed it has objected to two proposals in the new ICC constitution that was agreed on in principle by a 7-2 majority vote of Full Members during the ICC meetings in February. The Bangladesh board was one of seven that had voted in favour of the new constitution, but its new stance has created uncertainty over whether the ICC will get the eight votes it needs to pass the changes at the board meeting in April. Nazmul Hassan, the BCB president, said the Bangladesh board did not agree with the proposal that a country’s Full Membership at the ICC could be up for review. He also objected to the proposed change in the voting system that would decentralise the power held by the Full Mem-

bers boards. Hassan, however, said the BCB had no objection to the new revenue distribution model proposed since the board felt it stood to benefit more than it did under the Big Three model. “Three days before we came here, we have informed the ICC that we do not agree with two specific things,” Hassan said in Colombo, where he along with BCCI chief executive Rahul Johri was present to watch the opening day of Bangladesh’s 100th Test. “One of them is relegation: we said we don’t agree with a Full Member going down. Zimbabwe might be get-

4-1 lead before sealing the set and continued to press in the second, keeping Nadal on his heels.

WEEKEND MIRROR 18-19 MARCH, 2017

Ahmad ousts veteran Hayatou as CAF president

inds of change gusted through African soccer on Thursday as Ahmad of Madagascar was voted in as the new Confederation of African Football president, ending the 29-year reign of Issa Hayatou in an election in the Ethiopian capital. The 34-20 vote was a decisive rejection of the 70-year-old incumbent from Cameroon, who had been seeking an eighth term to take his leadership of the African game into a fourth decade. Ahmad, 57, a former government minister who goes by just a single name, emerged as a surprise candidate late last year and was initially given little chance of unseating Hayatou, who has ruled over African soccer since 1988. “With much emotion I thank all those who have believed in the change. Thanks to you who were always behind me. We have done it. This victory is ours. This is a victory for Africa,” Ahmad posted on his Facebook page (Ahmad CAF 2017) from his seat on the podium shortly after being voted in. Ahmad, who has pre-

viously served as minister of sport and of fisheries in Madagascar, was borne on the shoulders of boisterous supporters after the result was announced, while a tired-looking Hayatou seemed stunned. However, following on radical changes in FIFA over the last year and with a growing number of younger presidents of African soccer federations, there has been an increased desire for a fresh face at the helm of the

rights … they are taking new independent directors, increasing the number of Associate members, weightage distribution is being changed. We have to understand this

better, so we cannot approve this so quickly. We want to know Bangladesh’s position in this regard. “We didn’t oppose the financial reforms but there were parts of the constitutional changes that we had opposed. When these came up in the last meeting, there were things that didn’t go with us. In the next meeting, these will come up item-wise, and we will vote on them item-wise too. A lot of those present had told me to refuse the whole thing but I said that if Bangladesh is getting more money, why should I refuse? I have to look at BCB’s interest.”

African game. Ahmad had promised an increase in financial support for African associations, business class travel to future Congresses for all delegates and to be more open to suggestions from member associations. His term is for four years. Ahmad gave a rousing speech before the lengthy voting process began, while Hayatou did not take up the opportunity to address the congress.

BCB raises objections to new ICC constitution

ting demoted but it might be someone else another time. We said that the Full Membership status cannot be changed at all. “The second is voting

The BCB announced its position on the new constitution on the same day that ICC chairman Shashank Manohar, the driving force behind the rollback of the governance structures created by BCCI, ECB and CA in 2014, resigned from office citing personal reasons. The BCCI was at the forefront of the resistance to the new ICC constitution that was passed in principle in February because its share of revenue was heavily reduced under the new model. Sri Lanka Cricket had also voted against the new constitution, while Zimbabwe Cricket abstained from voting. The BCB’s objection to the two specific proposals could now pose another problem for the ICC in its bid to approve the new constitution in April.

WEEKEND MIRROR 18-19 MARCH, 2017

Sport View by Neil Kumar

John outrides Anthony to take home second leg of 20th annual Cheddi Jagan cycle race title

Guyana Jaguars on fire!!! ‒ takes lead in CWI/ PCL Digicel Regional 4/Day Tournament

The winners take a photo opportunity with the organisers and sponsors, as well as members of the People’s Progressive Party

hile the West Indies was crushed in their worst ever defeat by the English team, the selectors are yet not finding it fit to select the best possible players available to play for the West Indies team. The defeat by 186 runs was indeed humiliating. But, it means that the team, which was once at the helm of world cricket, is now at the very bottom of the ladder. The West Indies team was completely whitewashed when they took a 3-0 drubbing. England pulled off their first ever clean sweep in an ODI series in the Caribbean. Alex Hales and Joe Root both slammed magnificent centuries, as the Englishmen put on their highest total in the Caribbean. The West Indies bowlers were unable to bowl out the English batsmen. However, the captain was poor at setting the field and batsmen found runs easily to score.

As for the West Indies, their batting collapsed again as none of the batsmen were able to score a half century. The Caribbean people are at a lost and cannot come to their senses to appreciate the West Indies team’s dismal performance. Meanwhile, hats off to the Guyana Jaguars! The fighting spirit and determination was visible as the Jaguars crushed the Scorpions by seven wickets, taking the lead position in the CWI/ PCL Digicel Regional 4/Day Tournament. The Jaguars are in a strong position in this year’s 2017 four-day tournament, with three matches to play at home, the Jaguars are a hot favoutite to win the tournament. They are presently playing Trinidad and Tobago’s Red Force in Trinidad and this match will be keenly contested. Guyana’s bowling will be further strengthened

with the inclusion of Devendra Bishoo in the team. It is most likely that the Jaguars will play all three spinners in their team. The four-day tournament, however, is not producing quality batsmen. The coaches must motivate our batsmen to play long innings and make big hundreds. The wickets are much better for batting. The batsmen in the West Indies team are not making enough runs for our bowlers to bowl at. As a result, the West Indies team is not winning. The regional tournament must be the place where our players must stamp their authority and demand their place in the test squad. As for the fielding, this is the weakest area and the coaches must work hard on the players for them to improve in their fielding. The remaining matches in the four-day tournament will be much more exciting and interesting.

amal John sprinted away from Linden top rider Michael Anthony to win the annual Cheddi Jagan Cycle Road race in West Demerara. After the tough race in Berbice, the Cheddi Jagan 20th Memorial Cycle Race sprinted off from the Wales Police station, proceeded to Bushy Park on the East Bank of Essequbo, before returning to Schoonord for a photo finish. John dominated the race, capturing four of the cash incentive sprint prizes. However, Anthony was fully in the race, too, capturing two of the prime prizes; the other two went to Hamza Eastman and Stephano Husbands. Third place went to Alanzo Ambrose, followed by fourth place Christopher Griffith, fifth by Curtis Dey, while in sixth position was Mark Harris.

Dey was the winner in the junior category and he was followed in second place by Christopher Cornelius and third place Adeale Hodge. The veteran /master, Junior Niles, was just too good, winning from Ralph Williams and third place Lear Nunes. Shane Bourne won from Ozia Macullay in the Mountain Bike category. The highly successful event was organized by National Cycle Coach Hassn Mohamad and sponsored by the People’s Progressive Party’s (PPP) District Committee. On hand to distribute prizes/trophies were several leaders of the PPP. Junior Niles was honoured appropriately, receiving a beautiful 20th anniversary plaque from Former Director of Sport and Member of Parliament, Neil

Kumar. Niles, who competed in all twenty races of the Cheddi Jagan Memorial Race, received his prize with smiles and thunderous applause from his colleagues and the well attended cycle supporters who were at the impressive closing ceremony of the race. The beautiful plaque read thus: “PPP salutes cyclist Junior Niles for riding in all 20 of the Cheddi Jagan Memorial Cycle Races. Ride on Junior!” The fully fit Junior Niles expressed thanks to Kumar and his Party for recognizing him. Junior Niles developed from an upright cyclist to a champion rider in Guyana. Today, the recognized veteran is confident that his young son will be following his footsteps and emulate him as a rider.

nents including the last 23, but Jacobs has survived a far more dangerous threat -- bone cancer. And coming through that ordeal six years ago has given him strength. “I’m a more mentally strong fighter. He’s not cancer,” Jacobs told reporters before this week’s final news conference ahead of

their Madison Square Garden showdown. Jacobs, a Brooklynite with an impressive 32-1 record of his own with 29 knockouts, has a height and likely weight advantage over Golovkin, but has been rated a 7-1 longshot against the holder of the WBC, WBA, IBF and IBO belts.

Long-shot Jacobs not intimidated by Golovkin M

iddleweight champion Gennady Golovkin has something of a Mike Tyson aura about him, acknowledged Daniel “Miracle Man” Jacobs, but don’t expect the challenger to feel intimidated in their title clash on Saturday. The unbeaten Golovkin, nicknamed Triple G, has knocked out 33 of 36 oppo-

Misguided Nagamootoo urged to read GAWU’s sugar proposals

he Guyana Agricultural and General Work-

ers Union (GAWU) has taken note, from media

reports, of the remarks delivered by Prime Min-

ister Moses Nagamootoo during the activity to com-

memorate the Rose Hall Martyrs yesterday (March 15, 2017). Among other things, the Prime Minister is reported to have said that he wished to have our Union engaged in discussions with the Government towards finding solutions to safeguard the sugar industry. It seems, in our view, that the Prime Minister was not aware of the several ‘engagements’ that took place on December 31, 2016, February 03 and February 17, 2017 between the Government, led by Vice President Khemraj Ramjattan, and our Union, the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) and the Opposition – People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C). During those meetings we provided a submission to the Government containing a number of workable proposals to safe guard the sugar industry without the sad recourse to closure and sell-out as is currently being advocated, seemingly, by the Administration. Separately, in recent times, we responded positively to calls for submissions from the Sugar Commission of Inquiry (CoI) and the Parliamentary Economic Services Committee. It seems that the Prime Minister is out at sea and clearly not au fait with what is taking place. That notwithstanding, we are prepared, to engage the Prime Minister and his colleagues to share our ideas and proposals to put the sugar industry on a viable and sustainable path. The Prime Minister also said that the Government’s intention is to

make the industry profitable, a view we also share. But we cannot countenance any proposal which will see estates closed and sold out that will result in thousands being pushed on to the breadline and many communities adversely affected. It defies logic that a Government is promoting profitability while at the same time pushing too many of our people into depravity and suffering. We again urge the Prime Minister to look at our position we submitted with a view to avoid the harsh repercussions of the Administration’s and the GuySuCo’s proposals. The Prime Minister, Mr Nagamootoo may also want to acquaint himself with the misfortunes that have beset the workers and linked interest groups with the recent closure of Wales Estate in total disregard of the sound advice from the Union. At this time, when it is generally agreed that our nation’s economic fortunes are on the decline the Government, though it says it hasn’t made up its mind on sugar, is actively, we see, promoting policies that will make a bad situation worst. Already, we have learnt from workers that cane planting has ceased at Rose Hall and East Demerara Estates indicating that those estates are being prepared for closure. Our Union has already written GuySuCo to seek a meeting to discuss this move and looks forward to an early engagement. GAWU holds strongly that the industry can be turned around and become profitable as we outlined in our position of February 17, 2017.

Be a Mirror Correspondent. Send us news and letters about your area and views of people on conditions in Guyana. Be involved. Send to Freedom House c\o Mirror, e-mail – weekendmirror@gmail.com or Tel: 2265875.

PUBLISHED BY NEW GUYANA Co. Ltd., 8 Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown, Guyana. Tel: 226-2473, 226-5875 Fax: 226-2472 WEEKEND MIRROR, 28-29 May 2016