Guyana Times Daily - July 15, 2015

wednesday, july 15, 2015 | guyanatimesgy.com

PPP/C derides motley crew picketing Jagdeo’s return

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) on Tuesday described as “laughable” a move by several pro-Government activists to stage a picketing exercise outside its headquarters lobbying the Party to remove Bharrat Jagdeo from its list of candidates and as Opposition Leader.

The Party only recently confirmed that the former President would lead a list of individuals to be appointed PPP/C parliamentarians and subsequently occupy the 32 seats the Party gained during the last General and Regional Elections.

Following the sparsely attended picketing exercise outside Freedom House in Robb Street, the Party said in a statement to the media that it noted attempts by “some known perennial oppositionists” to score cheap political points and raise all sorts of non issues concerning Jagdeo’s return to the National Assembly of Guyana.

It argued strongly that “Dr Jagdeo’s re-entry into ac-

tive politics and more so to the National Assembly has received the overwhelming support from Guyanese at home and abroad”. As it scoffed at the opposition from the small group, the PPP/C said this latest public display by the “usual suspects” was laughable, especially with the many grave human rights violations taking place under the David Granger-led Government.

“One must question why these pretenders of human

rights are turning a blind eye on the arbitrary dismissal of over 2000 Amerindians without any benefits and/or justification. It seems that these perennial activists are so outof-touch with reality that they are oblivious to the plight of hundreds of public servants who have been summarily dismissed, and continue to be dismissed from their jobs, because they are perceived as PPP supporters. The arbitrary removal of the $10,000 cash grant for each child in the public school system, a programme which goes to the heart of tackling poverty, appears to be of no interest to the malcontents,” the media statement said.

Describing the picketers as blind “opportunists”, the PPP/C said that the picketers failed to see the spiralling crime rate where innocent and law-abiding Guyanese were being killed almost daily by bandits, because of the Government’s failure to present a workable security plan. “We, therefore, urge these malcontents to stop playing

political mind games with Guyanese and do exactly what they are receiving donor community funds to do, that is, to work towards ensuring the ‘de facto’ Government ceases trampling on the rights of citizens of this country.”

PPP/C General Secretary Clement Rohee had announced that Jagdeo was chosen from among several other candidates to serve as Guyana’s Opposition Leader because of the confidence the electorate has in him and the fact that the party’s grassroot supporters wanted him to return to active politics. He said that the PPP/C was behind Jagdeo and so were the Party’s Executives given the new role it was expected to play in the country’s political affairs. Former President Donald Ramotar also opted to support Jagdeo’s candidacy, explaining that he declined to return to serve in the National Assembly and would be very busy lobbying for the Party’s programme and work at various levels of society.

US open to rice trade with Guyana – Hunt

Chargé d’Affaires of the United States Embassy in Guyana Bryan Hunte said the rice sector in the United States (US) is most “certainly opened to Guyanese rice exporters , and that the Embassy would be willing to facilitate in the process, should anyone become interested.

Guyanese rice farmers and millers alike have already begun expressing grave concerns over the future of the rice sector here, as bouts of uncertainty continue to hang over the largest market for rice and paddy – Venezuela. The oil rich nation, had accounted for around 60 per cent of total exports in 2010.

The concerns escalated last week when Finance Minister Winston Jordan, upon his return from Venezuela after holding talks with officials there, told Guyana Times that the country would not be renewing the rice deal contract it has with Guyana, which is embedded in the PetroCaribe deal. This year’s contract comes to an end in November.

Millers had begun urging Government to see how best it could address the situation, as thousands of farmers were bound to lose out if things did not work out in their favour. Government however, on Monday reported that there was no problem with the deal, and that it would be continuing as scheduled.

Critics have said that Venezuela’s move to discontinue the deal after the November deadline is nothing more than a political move by the South American nation, which has been claiming ownership of Guyana’s territorial boundary. Venezuela continues to lay claim to part of the Stabroek block; an area where it was recently discovered has oil. The USbased exploration company ExxonMobil, which has been drilling since March of this year, made the discovery.

Guyana’s stance on the issue, which was settled some 116 years ago through an arbitral award, was taken to a forum which saw the attendance of Caribbean Heads of Government earlier this month. The Regional heads committed their support to Guyana.

While uncertainty looms for the rice sector here, the US Chargé d’Affaires said the rice industry in his home country is available to rice exporters here.

“The Embassy is more than willing to assist them in making business contact with the United States and to understand our sanitary and phytosanitary regulations for such exports”, he told journalists at a recent function.

He said for the United States, the purchase of rice is a Private Sector matter, “so it will be Private Sector US importers who would conclude deals with Guyanese exporters in order to send

rice to the United States, but we are more than happy to facilitate contact for anyone who may be interested in that”, he assured.

Earlier this year, when the Venezuela/Guyana controversy again started to brew, Hunt had said that the US was standing ready to support the Government of Guyana on the position it has taken against the Venezuelan Government, over its move to stop the US oil company from carrying out its exploratory work. He had said too that the US has taken a negative stance of any attempt by any Government that would seek to disrupt the work of the oil company.

Meanwhile, according to the Washington Post, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is facing a staggering array of problems. It said with Venezuelan crude down to about US$50 a barrel, Maduro’s Government has been devouring its foreign currency reserves and plunging deeper into debt, though not fast enough to keep supermarkets stocked. Annual inflation is the highest in the world, and the country’s largest bank note, 100 “Strong Bolivars,” is now worth just 17 US cents on the black market. The country may soon run low on beer.

The newspaper said “It might come as something of a surprise, then, to see that the Venezuelan President’s most pressing concern in recent days is not a shortage of milk, surgical supplies or contraceptives. It is a vigorous and noisy campaign to take control of a large swath of South American savannah and jungle, known as the Essequibo that belongs to neighbouring Guyana.

For the past several days, Maduro has been assuring Venezuelans, many of whom are busy queuing up for groceries and basic goods, that his Government is working to achieve a “great victory” and take control of the disputed Essequibo, an area equal to two-thirds of Guyanese territory”, the article said.

Possession of the Essequibo – named for the big jungle river flowing through it – was granted to Guyana, then a British colony, by an arbitration judge in 1899. Venezuela challenged the ruling as unfair in 1962, and the dispute has been quietly simmering ever since.

“We are going to take back what our grandparents left for us,” Maduro told his country last week. He asked UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon to provide a new round of international arbitration, while promising “a great victory” over Guyana “by peaceful means.”

Maduro has assigned a retired Army Colonel Pompeyo Torrealba, to lead a newly formed Government agency, the “Essequibo Rescue Office,” whose plans include issuing 200,000 Venezuelan identification cards to the Guyanese living in the area.

wednesday, july 15, 2015 |

BRIDGE OPENINGS

The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Wednesday, July 15 – 14:30h-16:00h and Thursday, July 16 – 05:00h-06:30h

The Berbice River Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Wednesday, July 15 – 16:35h-18:05h and Thursday, July 16 – 17:00h-18:30h

FERRY SCHEDULE

Parika and Supenaam departure times – 05:00h, 11:00h and 16:00h daily.

WEATHER TODAY

Thundery to heavy rain showers can be expected in the morning, with heavy showers expected in the afternoon. Thundery showers are expected throughout the evening over coastal regions and near inland locations. Temperatures are expected to range between 24 degrees and 28 degrees Celsius.

Winds: East to East South-easterly between 2.23 metres and 2.68 metres per second.

High Tide: 03:43h and 16:11h reaching maximum heights of 2.57 metres and 2.47 metres respectively.

Low Tide: 09:45h and 21:58 reaching minimum heights of 0.63 metre and 0.73 metre respectively.

SWAT team swats killer gang 1 bandit dead, 6 captured in shootout

...Police link gang to mall owner’s murder, Judge’s attack

By Vahnu Manikchand

he Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Unit of the Guyana Police Force kicked into action at Craig, East Bank Demerara (EBD) in the wee hours of Tuesday killing one bandit and rounding up seven others during an operation that also saw one rank being shot and a bandit being seriously wounded.

The gunmen – linked to the murder of businessman Ganesh Ramlall; Nandy Park, EBD resident Travis Rudder and the attack on a Judge and her husband –were holed up in an apartment building in the quiet EBD community when Police received a tip-off from a “concerned citizen”.

The dead bandit has been identified as 29-yearold Rolston Morrison, called “Mappy” or “Sadam” of Nabaclis, East Coast Demerara (ECD) and Providence, EBD. The Police several months ago had issued a wanted bulletin for him for the murder of a fellow villager, Dwayne Kennedy. The 28-year-old man of Lot 40 Nabaclis was executed at the Golden Grove Market in March this year, during an argument with Morrison over an old grievance between the two. Additionally, Police sources had confirmed that Morrison was wanted for questioning in several robberies on the East Coast of Demerara and in the interior. A firearm belonging to the

now dead man was also found hidden under his mother’s house.

His accomplice, 22-yearold Warren McKenzie of Brutus Street, Agricola, Georgetown, was also hurt in the exchange between the gunmen and Police. McKenzie was charged back in 2013 with an armed robbery offence. Additionally, a Constable attached to the SWAT Unit sustained a gunshot wound during the shootout. Both injured men have been hospitalised; however, the suspect, who received a single gunshot wound to his abdomen, is under guard at the Georgetown Public Hospital.

“Concerned citizen”

According to a release from the Police, investigating ranks, working along with a

turned fire fatally wounding one suspect and another suspect was shot and injured to his abdomen,” the Police detailed in the release.

In addition, the law enforcement officers were able to arrest seven other male suspects who were in the building at the time. These

“concerned citizen”, were able to track several persons wanted for the three high-profile cases to a house in Craig; as such, the SWAT Unit along with a team of Detectives were deployed to effect the arrests. The Police Officers arrived at the Craig home around 02:00h on Tuesday and confronted the men who were staying in a bottom-flat apartment.

“The Police ranks came under fire during which a Constable was shot to his right thigh. The injured Constable and other ranks re-

newspaper managed to talk to a nearby resident who disclosed that around 01:30h, they heard several footsteps and trampling noises on the street. This was followed by someone shouting words to the effect of “nobody move”.

According to the resident, it was immediately after this that they heard gunshots. The person related that the incident was so traumatic that it was difficult to remember how long the gunfire exchange lasted. This publication was further told that after some time the gunplay ended and the Police were later seen carrying out two bloody bodies from the apartment. Neighbours could not say exactly who or how many persons lived in the apartment, but noted that several persons would usually visit.

Guns recovered

The Police were able to recover a 9mm Glock pistol along with two magazines and 25 matching rounds. A number of 9mm spent shells were also recovered at the scene. Additionally, the Police found two wristwatches, which are suspected to have been stolen from Justice Pierre during the robbery.

On Thursday last, around 01:20h, Justice Nicole Pierre and her husband were at their Felicity, ECD home when four armed men over-

men are reportedly known to the Police and are wanted for several serious criminal offences. They are in Police custody as investigations are ongoing.

Guyana Times visited the house where the men were found, located at First Street, Craig. This newspaper understands that the two-storey building has about four apartments, two at the top and two at the bottom, with an adjoining apartment building at the back. Neighbours were very tight-lipped about the incident. However, this

and tied him up.

Editor: Nigel Williams

Tel: 225-5128, 231-0397, 226-9921, 226-2102, 223-7230 or 223-7231. Fax: 225-5134

Mailing address: 238 Camp & Quamina Streets, Georgetown

Email: news@guyanatimesgy.com, sales@guyanatimesgy.com

Editorial

The Council's crossroads

The political directorate of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council has been arguing that its underperformance and failure to deliver a higher quality of service to its residents, over the past 23 years, was as a direct result of the lack of resources available to it in the form of man power and resources, coupled with the increasing levels of non cooperation from the previous Peoples Progressive Party Civic administration.

The Council, through its Mayor Hamilton Green and Deputy Mayor Patricia Chase-Greene, has wasted no time in blaming other perils faced by the Council at the door step of the PPP/C.

They have argued strongly that every Minister of Local Government and Regional Development appointed by that political party has engaged in various levels of micromanagement, deliberate politicisation, mismanagement and cronyism when handling the affairs of the Council over the years.

The Council even went to extreme extents to blame the PPP for its cash strapped status and own inability to competently manage its own financial affairs and the collections of rates and taxes owed to the public coffers, which in the past amounted to billions of dollars in revenues.

Year after year, the Council's integrity and image were undermined by scandals and breaking news about corruption within various levels of its bureaucracy. It lost public confidence when internal rifts between the Mayor and Council, and rifts between the Mayor and almost every female Town Clerk, became public via leaks to the media, because of the lack of maturity and the purile nature of the politics that played out at City Hall.

The Council spent taxpayers' monies on countless occasions since 1996, to conduct numerous inquests, probes and studies in a number of areas which resulted in scores of findings being arrived at and recommendations being made.

Many of these recommendation remained on paper and never saw the light of day, as the Council engaged in a dangerous game of cherry picking to see which ones could be implemented for window dressing purposes.

The most recent examples can be extracted from the Keith Burrowes experience and his subsequent frustration, because of the gridlock which characterised the system at the City and the Council's lack of conviction, even though some of the most critical recommendations remain unimplemented.

The PPP/C's decision to appoint Carol Sooba to manage the administrative affairs of the council and lead a process of reforms, was met with stern opposition from the Hamilton Green-led municipality even in those circumstances.

Green who spareheaded the witch-hunt campaign against Carol Sooba had called her "evil", incompetent and unfit for the post. She was not spared the abuse and character assasination that obtains once the political directorate of the Council dislikes someone.

As history has it, the Council spent years attacking Sooba, the PPP/C Government and media, which exposed the foolishness taking place within the Council as the garbage situation spiralled out of control, the drainage and irrigation situation worsened, payments in rates and taxes shrunk, and haplessness grew.

The Council's response was regime change and local goverment polls would solve the problem along with Sooba's removal.

The new A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance for Change Government has settled in. It fired Sooba. Royston King is the new Town Clerk. The Government was planning Local Government polls since May.

Yet the status quo remains and nothing has changed. It is business as usual at City Hall. High levels of political manipulation and corruption continues under Green's, Bulkan's and Granger's watch.

This is not the change the people voted for. The Council has reformed itself and retooled its stock. It is time that it delivers because all of the variables are in its favour.

It is at a critical crossroad and everyone is looking.

Venezuela has no regard for Essequibians

Dear Editor, I read in that Venezuela intends to deliver 200,000 national identification cards to Essequibians, and I am wondering what the motives behind this move is. The government of Venezuela never recognized Essequibians as their own. In 1985, I migrated to Venezuela in search of a better life, due to the situation in Guyana at the time. Certain basic food items were in shortage and most of the banned foods were coming from Suriname through the Crabwood Creek and from Venezuela through the North West District.

I was involved in the contraband trade from both borders, to make a living and

take care of my family, with my two sons then age four and seven. After a while, the government clamped down on the trade. I decided to board a contraband boat to Venezuela, through the Pomeroon River, the Moruka police station, and the Baramina guest house and then through the Barima/Waini River.

On this trip were six of us. On entering Venezuela waters we had to hide from the police and soldiers.

In Venezuela, I had to hide and work on farms, picking coffee and cocoa. Later, I found a job in an ice factory which was built to supply ice for the fishermen’s boats that would go out in the sea for weeks. I was living illegally

in Delta Tucupita for one year before I was fortunate to get a 5 years visa on my passport as a foreigner. The Venezuelan government didn’t acknowledge Essequibians and as such didn’t offer them citizenship, although we carried birth certificates to prove that we were Essequibians.

Venezuela has great expanse of land mass lying idle and covered with forest of one kind or another. Why it is then, that Venezuela covets Guyana and Guyanese by issuing 200,000 Venezuelan ID cards? No true patriot, lover of nation, people and country would give away their birth rights to another foreign country. I hope that Essequibians would not fall for this trap.

When I first set foot on Venezuelan soil, I saw on national television that Essequibo had already been included on the Venezuelan map, and the young Venezuelan generation were being taught that Essequibo belongs to them. But we must never forget when Venezuelans silently encroached on the Ankoko Island situated in Guyana along our shared border, at the confluence of the Cuyuni and Wenamu Rivers. It was there that they established a military base with airstrip, without our consultation our consent.

Yours faithfully Mohamed Khan

Uncontrollable crime and the asinine, canine and equine response of the Government

Dear Editor,

The nation continues to reel from the ravages of what appears to be an uncontrollable crime spree. Those of us with our ears to the ground know that only a fraction of the horrors make it to the police and the press. Dozens of victims suffer silently without reporting their cases to the police for various reasons, including but not limited to the lack of confidence in the institutional efficiency of the force as well as a lack of trust in the premier law enforcement agency in the land.

A crime wave is not new to Guyana and Guyanese. The functional incompetence which afflicts the police force did not start with the new Government, since all the blame should not be placed solely at its feet. However, as the government in charge of the apparatus of the State, it is indeed their unmitigated responsibility to ensure that

there is public safety.

In 2003, Mr. David Granger and I sat on the Discipline Forces Commission and the major plank of his contribution related to public safety. In fact, he advocated since then for the establishment of a Ministry of Public Safety. He made reality that aspiration when he assumed the Presidency. Ridding Guyana of violent crimes and creating a safer nation was a major platform upon which the coalition campaigned for the May, 11th 2015, general and regional elections. The AFC leadership promised their indo-Guyanese constituency that under a Granger led Government with so many ex-military and ex-police officers onboard, they would be safe.

One felt that the one area that the new government boasts professed competence was in the security arena. This conclusion is drawn largely because of the number of trained

personnel in this field which the government has in its ranks or at least has access to, coupled with the political support which the PNC demonstrably and historically enjoy from both the Police Force and the Military.

However, every passing day proves me wrong. There are disturbing reports emanating from some of the victims of these criminal onslaughts that the bandits said to them “is a we time now”. If this is true, the ramifications and implications are as frightening as they are far-reaching. However, it is the Government’s response which is found to be most mindboggling. The decision of President Granger to pardon 60 convicted criminals with the ethereal admonition “go forth and sin no more” has only added more fuel to the inferno.

The first significant response from the Public Safety Minister was to close bars at

2 am. Thus far, only he sees a causal connection between bars opening after 2 am and the rise in crime. Every other Guyanese know that these crimes are committed at any hour, and most of them in broad daylight. Expectedly, the closure of bars at 2 am has had and will have no impact on the crime situation. As if to add salt to the wounds inflicted by the bandits, this Minister made a decision to take away from the Community Policing Groups, throughout the country, all the vehicles which were given to them to assist in the discharge of their functions as they seek to protect their communities. So citizens not only have to endure the unquestionable incapacity of the police to respond to calls when crimes are in progress, now their own capacity to respond has been hampered by this inexplicable decision of the Minister.

Dr Ashni Singh’s expertise is much needed

Dear Editor,

He is friendly, sincere and has the right balance between standing up for principles and the need for diplomatic compromise. He is much liked and respected by those who worked for him and those who come into contact with him. He has a practical approach to problems. He understands policies in finance, business, economics and commerce. He is driven by a visceral urge to move his country’s economy even when big economies around the world are showing negative growth and others are failing. He is a rational economist even in moments of anguish.

Dr Ashni K. Singh is a man of immense dedication. His personal friends confirm his assiduousness and competent qualities. This gem is a living example of a truly great public servant. He would stay up many nights to solve critical issues concerning his country’s economy.

He knows exactly what to do to stimulate economic activities in a changing environment influenced by big economies and when circumstances

look bleak. He has the ability to make fiscal decisions even in situations of escalating global uncertainties. For the past eight years Dr Singh has maintained constant economic growth and a stable US dollar exchange rate coupled with low inflation rate and financial stability in Guyana’s economy.

In 2014 when the US dollar exchange rate was getting out of control. Dr Singh summoned the large scale - gold producers and dealers to a meeting. He wasted no time; he looked like a man eager to finish his business and achieve his objective. He said, “Gentlemen, thank you for coming, the President spoke highly of your patriotism and contribution to our economy, the situation is that the US dollar is now trading at 215 for one and if you withhold your trading activities it can very well reach 220 for one, with the potential to go even higher. This will have a negative impact on our economy and will ultimately raise the cost of living by approximately fifteen per cent for our citizens. I cannot impose price

control because we have a free market policy”. As his eyes focused fiercely into our faces. His voice was steady, his appeal and message was convincing.

In this man we saw the superiority of financial wisdom. Ultimately, we all agree to comply and work towards a stable exchange rate for the US dollar and to fix the banking system rate of exchange.

Dr Singh leadership within the Finance Ministry and as a Member of Parliament was exceptional, magnanimous and exemplary. He has provided optimism and confidence to Guyana’s evolving economy. He has enormous experience and foresight and the ability to delegate. We cannot allow this brilliant accountant and economist to be on the sideline, Guyana needs his wealth of expertise.

I am confident he will give it willingly if sought. I urge our new government to use the skills of this great economist.

Sincerely Nazar Mohamed

Region 1 RDC elections and alleged unauthorised use of State land in Mabaruma

Dear Editor, The Regional Democratic Councils conducted elections to elect their respective Chairmen and Vice Chairmen. It was of surprise to many that a new Regional Chairman and Vice Chairman emerged for Region one, which the People’s Progressive Party won with at least two thirds of the votes. Many were surprised by this bold move by the PPP. We then learnt that the outgoing PPP Regional Chairman Paul Pierre did not take the change too kindly. With the aid of some of his misled party supporters and his wife, a protest was mounted. Eyes will be on the PPP to see how they handle this situation since it is said that Mr. Pierre went against his party wish and voted for himself along with the APNU Councillors, and has been around Kumaka bad mouthing his own Party mem-

bers and the new Regional Chairman.

Anyone who knows the Region will tell you that the new Regional Chairman Mr. Bretnol Ashley, although he’s young, will undoubtedly be a stronger political leader than Mr. Pierre. Some of the people supporting Mr. Pierre are persons who have their own agendas and are under the impression that they have influence over him. However, there is great expectation from Chairman Ashley by the people of Region one.

I also bring to the attention of the Communities Minister and Chairman Ashley, a matter that no one seems to want to touch. An illegal stall was constructed in the Mabaruma compound two months before the elections which has now graduated to a permanent building and store. See picture below. This stall is said to

be owned by a known trouble maker who was a member of the PPP and moved over to join and campaign for the APNU/ AFC just before the elections. Who gave permission to construct this illegal building? This was done right under the nose of the outgoing Regional Chairman since it’s only about 200 feet away from the RDC. The land on which this stall operates belongs to Guyana Forestry Commission. It is alleged that the owner of the stall is the wife of the Neighborhood Democratic Council Chairman, but do we even have a NDC since it is so inactive?

Minister Bulkan and Chairman Ashley you are being called upon to regulate this situation since more stalls will very well go up zithout authorisation on State land.

Rudolph Joseph

Hururu village assets must be audited before Toshaos elections

Dear Editor, The Toshao of Hururu, Region 10, Winsbert Benjamin, along with others, recently visited the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples Affairs where it was allegedly revealed that no audit will be done on the village assets before the Toshao’s and Village Council elections scheduled for July 20.

Residents of Hururu have concerns and questions on the financial accountability of the present Village Council and are anxiously awaiting the audit and report, since

the last audit was done in March 2012, before the previous Toshao and Council were elected. At that time, the Village Council was earning monthly tribute and lease fees of $ 2.3 million paid by Bauxite Company Of Guyana Inc., for use of a road and the Kurubuka Mines. Presently, the Village Council headed by Toshao Winsbert Benjamin, is earning a $3.45 million monthly tribute and lease fees from the said Company. With these large sums of monies handled by the Village

Council, it is imperative that an audit be done before any other election is held. In supporting the APNU +AFC Government auditing of its various Ministries, to examine assets and financial management, it is expected that the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples Affairs will conduct the long awaited audit in Hururu before the Toshao’s and Village Councils’s election.

Yours faithfully Micah Williams

Karma and suicide

Dear editor,

Many a times Hindus are very much confused about the meaning of the Sanskrit word karma.

To clear the minds of those, Hindus and people of other religious backgrounds, I wish to highlight the meaning of the word karma, as it is described in our many scriptures.

The idea of karma, which is the central doctrine of the Santana Dharma, follows the principle of causality that governs human destiny. Every act and thought produces its effect, either good or bad, for which the perpetrator, either in this life or in another, will one day have to face the consequences.

Punishments may not come immediately but it is inescapable. The sum of these effects produce karma of each

being throughout the succession of his existence, and it is impossible to escape this law of karma or retributions of actions. By explaining the causes of our destiny, karma justifies its consequences. We become indeed what we think or do. The present life of many individuals is conditioned by his preceding one and determines the next.

Consciousness is a karmic memory contained by higher conscience or mind (vijnana), or every conscious individual is, in a certain way, a “descent of the infinite” into the apparent finiteness of form and name. “The conscious, incarnate soul (dehi) is a spark of the divine fire.” Under this law the heinousness of suicide becomes readily apparent. Each man must undergo his karma and not reject it by interrupting the course of his life.

Uncontrollable crime...

The nation was next met with another bizarre announcement “Government to craft a plan to fight crime”. This is indeed shocking. Most people believed that the Government had a plan already. In fact, they were led to so believe during the elections campaign by almost every speaker on the coalition platform. We now realize that it was a hoax. However, the nation was fortunate to be informed of snippets of what the plan entails. Incredulously, it includes the acquisition of horses and dogs! No SWAT team or quick reaction group or its equivalent; no joint services operations between the police and army; no mechanism to assure quicker response of the police to crime scenes; no plan to

have greater police presence in communities. Why? Maybe it’s because these were all strategies utilised by the PPP/C administration which were roundly and consistently criticised by the joint opposition, most times, without merit. Now they are in the unenvious position of not being able to utilise them for the phobia of public criticisms for doing precisely what they publicly condemned the PPP for doing.

But they are faced with but yet another more complex political quagmire. The Government must know that a bold and aggressive response by the police is needed at this point in time. They also must know that such a response will yield allegations

Suicide is a refusal to live when in fact the entire consequences of previous actions must be accepted. The expiation subsequent upon this refusal is all the heavier for having been deferred. Karma must be lived out by extinguishing in the self all thirst for existence, lest there arise new karma that would necessitate a rebirth, so that it might be fulfilled in its turn. Thus, it is possible to break free from the ‘wheel’ of births and deaths, for karma accumulates only during life.

Surendranauth Persaud Tiwari Dharma Bushan Pandit Spiritual Head of the Sri Satyanarayan Mandir, Patentia

from page 4

of extra judicial killings and police harassment as inevitable consequences. There are no other issues over the last 20 years that have exacted a more strident and consistent condemnation from the PNC than allegations of extra judicial killings and police harassment. They persistently used it as a most potent political weapon to emotively mobilize to their political advantage. It will now be their Achilles heel. Let us see how they will extricate themselves from this conundrum. However, the nation will not be patient much longer.

Anil Mohabir Nandlall Attorney at Law

The trap of the “dysfunctional family”

How to get out of it now

BY MEGAN DEVINE, LCPC

Child behaviour problems can quickly feed into a perception of yourself as having a dysfunctional family. If you see yourself and your family that way – or if you’ve been labelled as one of those dysfunctional families – you’re not alone. A lot of parents struggle with the idea that their family doesn’t measure up to their own hopes and other people’s expectations.

What is a dysfunctional family? By definition, it is one in which the system of parenting – from house rules, to consequences, to the emotional climate of a home – is considered unhealthy or seriously flawed.

Have you felt like your family is seriously flawed?

I know I have. I’ve felt that about myself, and I’ve felt it about the ways I interact, not just inside my family, but in the world. Feeling self-conscious about your struggles and your not-so-

up. Then comes the shame: your child’s poor behaviour seems to show the whole world that you are dysfunctional as parents and as a family. Furthermore, if your children are acting badly, you must be a wreck yourself. You see how this takes on a life of its own? It can feel like you’re a walking billboard of familial imperfection sometimes, with everyone able to see just what’s gone wrong with the people you love.

Feeling like your family is dysfunctional is normal. Beating yourself up and comparing yourself to other families who seem functional, is also normal, but it’s not likely to help you become a more effective parent.

Don’t compare the inside of your family to the outside of others. Here’s Why.

Look, we’re all human. Just because someone’s family looks functional from the outside doesn’t necessarily mean it’s working in a

territory of being human.

Parenting is tough for everyone. Every family is at a different point in their journey to becoming a wellfunctioning, healthy family system. Some parents have learned more effective skills for managing behaviour, and have worked hard to develop what James calls a culture of accountability in their homes. Some parents are just starting out, beginning to learn these new tools. The fact is every single family is a work in progress.

The dysfunctional family label: How it prevents effective parenting

Part of creating a healthy, effective family system lies in recognising your own areas for improvement, and doing what you can to contribute to the health and stability of your family. While it can be hard to really look at your own habits and patterns, committing to making more effective choices is a real building block to a healthy, functional family.

“ Committing to making more effective choices is a real building block to a healthy, functional family. When you take the time to notice where you’re feeling most dysfunctional, you can identify the places where effective change can happen.

strong suits is totally normal.

When you throw behavioural challenges into the mix, that normal self-consciousness can grow to epic proportions. The more your child acts out, the more you start to see yourself – and your family – as dysfunctional. You look at other peoples’ families and see how clearly you don’t measure

healthy way on the inside.

As James Lehman said in The Total Transformation, when you compare the inside of your family to the outside of someone else’s family, there’s always going to be a disparity. With your inside information, you’re always going to judge your family – and yourself – more harshly than you judge others. That’s part of the tricky

When you take the time to notice where you’re feeling most dysfunctional, you can identify the places where effective change can happen.

Remember, though: while recognising you’re feeling dysfunctional can help you make more effective choices, labelling yourself as dysfunctional can actually make things worse.

Think of it this way:

when you’re feeling confident, you’re more likely to make effective choices with things like consequences and limit setting, right? And when you’re feeling frustrated and down on yourself, you’re less likely to make effective choices in those areas.

When you start to label yourself as dysfunctional, all of that just becomes a

clear consequences, or you back off on your rules. Your child’s behaviour gets worse. You feel even more ashamed of what your family looks like to the outside world.

Whether you’ve given yourself the label of “dysfunctional family,” or you’ve had that term applied to you, trying to live under that label can seriously undermine your efforts at being a more

right. We worry about passing on dysfunction from our past. We worry about starting a new tradition of dysfunction in our children’s future.

As real as these worries are, they don’t help us make effective, wise choices for our families. Anxiety about getting this right only contributes to that sense of dysfunction, and even adds

vicious cycle that looks like this: an eruption of behavioural issues erodes your self-confidence as a parent. You start to feel like you don’t know what you’re doing…again. You think everyone can clearly see that you’re a messed up parent with a messed up family. You feel trapped in a family that’s flawed, and feeling trapped, you have a hard time thinking clearly and calmly. You deliver un-

effective parent.

An area for improvement: Effective parenting style

When you’re in this cycle, some ineffective parenting styles become more tempting. Notably, you might find yourself becoming the perfectionist parent, demanding that your child adhere to very high standards in order to combat your shame over having what appears to be a family that just can’t get anything right. Or you might find yourself working harder than your children, adopting a martyr parenting style, in order to maintain an image of a well-functioning family. Instead, try a coaching and teaching parenting style wherein you meet your child where he is and coach him forward to better behaviour, one step at a time.

An area for improvement: Recognise your family patterns and change them up

If you grew up in a family that had lots of problems, this can get even trickier. Many of us want to do whatever we can to give our children a better family life than the one we had. We don’t want to pass down the things our parents gave us, or continue an abusive, absent, or unsupportive family trait. Conversely, those of us with good memories of our own childhoods might feel we have to live up to that ideal, and not let our own parents down. Either way, there can be a lot of pressure to get this

an extra dose of panic to the mix.

When you’re faced with a behavioural episode, recognise your typical pattern, and ask yourself a new question: What does my child need from me right now? Focusing on your child’s need in that moment helps you to put aside the anxiety that a dysfunctional family label creates and gives you the opportunity to be more effective right now.

The truth is, we are going to screw up our children in some way. We’re going to do this because we’re human, and our children are human. We struggle, they struggle. There is no fully functional family, with no conflict and no stress. Our children will mess up, because that’s how children learn. We’ll make effective choices in response, and we’ll make less than ideal choices, too. We all bring our pasts into our parenting, and we all falter sometimes.

The best we can do is to give our children tools to manage their lives effectively, helping them navigate the difficulties they encounter. And along the way, we face our own limits, responding to them, as best we can, with our own effective choices. That’s how functional families are born.

Everyone can use some help creating healthy, functional family systems. No matter how dysfunctional you think your family might be, we’re always here to help.

(empoweringparents.com)

Minister Cummings proposes total overhaul of Diamond Hospital

Minister within the Ministry of Public Health, Dr Karen Cummings has proposed a total overhaul of the East Bank Regional Hospital, better known as the Diamond Diagnostic Centre. This comes as the Minister toured the facility and held discussions with the staff at the hospital on Monday.

After listening to complaints from senior staff members, Dr Cummings

concluded that the only possible solution to the woes being experienced at the medical institution is to have a total overhaul of the facility, since its current capacity is limited and it is required to serve a large catchment area. Minister Cummings said “If we are going to fix it, let’s fix it once and for all.” At this meeting, which included Permanent Secretary of the Ministry Leslie Cadogan, several of-

ficials from the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) and staff of the Diamond hospital, the need to improve several areas was raised; including the need for more wards, an extension to the maternity unit, and relocating the doctors’ living quarters.

Another major issue affecting the facility is the shortage of auxiliary staff, especially Porters and Receptionists. The hospi-

tal has also been functioning without any form of direct leadership, since there has been no Chief Executive Officer present there for some months. Minister Cumming pointed out that this is very unfortunate and the Ministry will commence immediate work to rectify this issue. The Minister also conducted a brief walkthrough of the facility, inspecting the operations and conditions under which the

employees are made to function daily.

Upon a request, the Minster also met with the other staff and listened to several issues and complaints, similar to those raised by the senior staff.

Minister Cummings also used the opportunity to inform the staff of the discussions that had taken place with the senior staff. In addition, she strongly emphasised the need for staff rec-

ognition and rewards.

Minister Cummings also paid a brief visit to the Materials Management Unit, where she had a brief tour of the facility and met with the staff. Both visits were made on July 10. The East Bank Regional Hospital, which is located in Diamond, East Bank of Demerara, was built at a cost of $120 million and commissioned on October 12, 2007. (GINA)

“Fast and furious” Lieutenant jailed for 36 months

– Attorney plans to appeal

In her continuing fight against negligent drivers, Magistrate Judy Latchman has once again made an example of Lieutenant Antonio Eastman by sentencing him to 36 months in jail for the death of his colleague, Lieutenant Ronald Gonsalves.

Lieutenant Eastman made his last appearance in Court Three of the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Tuesday where Magistrate Latchman made her final ruling regarding the cause of death of Lieutenant Ronald Gonsalves.

Eastman was charged for causing the death of Lieutenant Gonsalves after he was accused of driving in a manner dangerous to the public along Mandela Avenue on November 1, 2013. At the time, he was driving motor car PPP 2210, in the vicinity of the Rubis Gas Station, when he swerved from a car that was about to turn and crashed into a utility pole, splitting it in two. The splinters from the pole fell on the car, crashing through its windows and injuring Lieutenant Gonsalves.

In court on Tuesday, Magistrate Latchman gave a brief of the trial. She stated that the prosecution brought forward the two other Lieutenants who were in the car with Gonzales and Eastman when it crashed. They were witnesses with the investigating officer and other commuters who saw the accident.

The prosecution was lead by Prosecutor, Inspector Vishnu Hunte. With the various testimonies, the pros-

Lieutenant Gonsalves sat.

The defence on the other hand tried very much to put holes into the prosecution’s case. The defendant did not wish to give a sworn statement but he testified that he was driving at 50 to 60 kilometers per hour (kph). This was corroborated by his colleague, Lieutenant John Flores Jnr, who said his colleague was not speeding but was driving moderately. However, he admitted that he was taken up with his tablet at the time.

ecution was able to show that on November 1, 2013, Lieutenant Antonio Gonzales was speeding along Mandela Avenue, simultaneously overtaking several vehicles, when a car was about to turn into a corner along Mandela Avenue that Eastman did not see until it was too late. He swerved to avoid the car and ended up smashed into the utility pole.

The Magistrate said the prosecution had given evidence to indicate no harm came to Lieutenant Gonsalves on his way to the hospital for treatment. It was heard in court that he was taken into the car of a commuter who saw the incident and held by another in the backseat in transit to the hospital.

This was corroborated by the post-mortem report which stated that the Lieutenant died due to respiratory problems, a ruptured diaphragm, pelvis and other sections of his body.

The investigating officer also testified about the impact of the car in relation to where

Magistrate Latchman said the prosecution had to prove two elements to establish Lieutenant Eastman’s guilt: that he was indeed driving dangerously and if so, that dangerous driving caused the death of the deceased.

The Magistrate stated her belief that the accused was indeed driving “fast and furious”, reasoning that the impact would not have been so forceful had he been driving at a more moderate rate. She said if the accused was indeed driving at 50 to 60 kmph as he had testified, then he would have been able to stop when the car was about to turn and not made it necessary to swerve into the pole.

The magistrate stated that Lieutenant Eastman was indeed the “architect and engineer” of the death of Lieutenant Gonzales as his driving was dangerous even before being confronted with the car.

Also, Magistrate Latchman said she believed the testimony of the commuter who transported the deceased to the hospi-

tal in relation to other injuries that may have occurred to the deceased after the accident. Thus, with both elements met by the prosecution, Lieutenant Eastman was found guilty as charged. Consequently, defence Attorney Sobers provided several mitigating factors for the Magistrate to consider before sentencing his client. He stated that Lieutenant Gonzales was a close friend of the accused and his conscience will bear the consequences of that for the rest of his life. The Attorney also stated that his client is not yet 30 years old and was also injured during the accident.

More so, Sobers asked the court to consider that his client is a protector of the land as he would give his limb or life to defend it. However, the Attorney was seen grasping as he mentioned several aggravating factors that could have made the situation worse.

When his client was sentenced, he asked that bail be allowed for his client pending an appeal. This was not allowed.

Eyew tness

TMuch ado...

...or provocation?

he British refer to folks throwing tantrums about inconsequential nothing's as creating a "tempest in a teapot". But this Eyewitness thinks you shouldn't precipitate such tempests when you don't even have a teapot to piss in. Take this never ending story on the ricefor-oil deal with the Venezuelans. (This Eyewitness will take it: it provided grist for three columns up to now!)

Imagine everyone in the government - from the President, the Foreign Minister to the Agri Minister - were jumping up and down screaming that those sneaky, shiftyeyed Veneez had broken their solemn promise to take our rice. Even while they kept shipping their oil to us. Ahhh... you just can't trust those temperamental Latin types, can you? Imagine the nerve of them forcing us to take their oil at concessional rates so that we can tool around in our reconditioned gas guzzlers from Japan?

Didn't they realize that we Guyanese never, ever take "freeness". We have pride, don't they know? And that's why we insisted that we have to ship them our rice in exchange. So when they upped and stopped our rice shipments according to our government they darn well created an "international incident". Almost on par with JFK stopping those Russian missiles on way to Cuba back in the day. Come to think of it, if an "embargo" is stopping countries from shipping goods to your country, wasn't the Venezuelans stopping us from shipping rice to them an "anti-embargo"?? This could create a whole new chapter in International relations.

But sadly, the Agri Minister and his men have just confessed that there was no "stopping" of our rice shipments by the Veneez...It was we who were shipping out the stuff so fast their ports couldn't keep up! So what's the lesson here? Firstly don't get caught up in your own BS. Ever. We all know that there's a larger international incident being created here, don't we? OK...we have to go along...no teapot to piss in and all that. But what this Eyewitness can't understandand has been screaming about for weeks - is why we weren't talking to the Veneez and explaining - wink, wink - why we have to be jumping up and down like fowl cocks.

That's what "international" diplomacy's all about. Don't our security mavens (not Ramjattan...those military types around Granger) know that even JFK has a "hot line" to Khrushchev? This new government should remember the first rule in this arena.

There's no permanent friends nor permanent enemiesjust permanent interests. And our interests with Venezuela are twofold...to resolve their border controversy judicially and our rice contract economically.

...referendum

In the last month we've probably learnt all we wanted to learn about referendums (referenda - for you pedants!) And then some! But if you've gleaned at least one thing from the polemics, it's that they have to do with those magnificent three words launching the American Declaration of Independence - "We the people". And if you think about it, this is what democracy is all about, isn't it?

When Walter Rodney was demanding "power to the people", he wasn't talking about "power" coming from the barrel of a gun or such like. All he was reminding us was that the people must give their consent - especially on the terms they hand over their sovereignty to their representatives: the constitution. And it was Burnham's cynical misuse of a referendum on the Constitution that made him enter politics directly in 1979.

Imagine the 1978 referendum was for the people to agree there wasn't the need to have a referendum after he changed the constitution.

But then included in the new Constitution that there must be referendums for future critical changes!!

...Caribbean Security Basin Initiative

So the U.S. gave us $50,000 to "advance" security here and it gets a banner headline in the Chronicle?

Isn't this taking "brown nosing" to a whole new (deep) level?

Readers

Higher taxes on used vehicles

Auto dealers want Granger to rethink proposal

… say move would put many out of

BY DEVINA SAMAROO

The tax importation sys-

tem on vehicles has always been a challenge for those in the auto dealership business, but with President David Granger proposing to increase taxes on used vehicles and lower it on new ones, many are questioning the rationale behind such a move.

Recently, President Granger while addressing stakeholders at a Consultation Meeting on Road Safety at the Ocean View International Hotel, announced his intention to increase the tax on the importation of used vehicles and lower the tax on the importation of the new vehicles. “In fact, if I had my way and I am now in a position to have my way, the tax on old vehicles will be greater than the tax on new vehicles,” he said. Even before he became President, Granger had signalled his intention to implement this system with the aim of discouraging people from purchasing used vehicles but rather, to prompt them to purchase/import new and efficient ones.

“Many of those vehicles being imported are being discarded by states that have proper safety regulations, many of the tyres that we use on our vehicles are being dis-

carded by people who know they are unsafe but we are so happy to get cheap handed downs that we don’t realise that we are jeopardising the safety of our citizens,” Granger reasoned.

He maintained that used vehicles feature a whole host of problems including unsafe tyres, faulty breaking systems, among others that can pose a threat on the roadways. “They should not even be allowed to enter the country in the first place… people must be discouraged from buying junk,” Granger insisted.

He further explained that a used tyre will not last as long as a new tyre and therefore, when persons import used vehicles; they are in fact, “importing inefficiency”.

“We actually import motor-

business

cars which are environmental hazards because they are so old and they have been discarded by countries which are looking for efficient vehicles… people must be encouraged to buy new and efficient vehicles and those who want to bring smoky and inefficient vehicles will pay the price,” he stated.

Bad for business

But the auto dealership industry is not too pleased with the suggestion, claiming it would be bad for business. Guyana Times spoke to several well-known auto dealers who expressed hopes that the President will not actually pursue this decision.

A representative from A&S Auto pointed out that new vehicles already carry heavy prices; therefore a reduction of its tax will be insignificant in comparison to the cost attached to the importation of a used vehicle with the current rates of tax.

“If you reduce the tax, the price will still be expensive,” the representative posited, noting that most Guyanese cannot afford to spend high figures on motor vehicles. Another auto dealership company, Auto Mart, shared similar views. The company’s representative told this publication that this new policy “makes absolutely no sense”.

“We’re a third world country and we have to import what people can afford. If you drop the tax on the new vehicles, that’s fine but for most people, it will still be too expensive,” he contended. The representative did however emphasise the need for a better tax system but noted that Granger’s proposal should not be the way to go.

“If you want to keep the vehicles on the road up to date then draw a cut off time. Let’s say 2005, you can import used vehicles from 2005. Drop the taxes on that and also drop the taxes on new vehicles. Let the taxes be based on the value for those vehicles imported. What he is proposing, dropping taxes on new vehicles and raising tax on old still won’t make it affordable for regular Guyanese,” he explained. However, Transpacific Motor Spares and Auto Sales welcomed the decision to have just new vehicles on the roadways but noted that the system being proposed should be introduced gradually. “For the first couple of years it is going to take a while to digest because we still have a lot of cars that are used that we will need to sell out and also not a lot of people can still afford to buy the new cars even though the taxes are lowered,” the company’s representative noted.

Blood Bank restored, encourages donations

Having just escaped “bankruptcy”, the National Blood Bank is now encouraging persons to donate more in an effort to avoid falling back into a desperate situation when it was scrambling to kick start blood drives just to accumulate sufficient units of blood for emergencies.

Recently, the Blood Bank had found itself without blood and officials in the local health sector were frantically exhausting all efforts to accumulate enough units of blood to restore the Bank to an adequate amount of blood.

Guyana Times was reliably informed that the Georgetown location of the Bank was without blood after stocks ran out, and sufficient measures were not implemented to attract more donors to deal with the shortage.

“I am aware that there is no blood in Georgetown at the moment. I am also aware that there was an emergency drive held and we were able to get about 22 units of blood,” a source had said.

Speaking to this newspaper on Tuesday was the Blood Drive Coordinator of the Blood Bank, Tandika

Dandus, who reported that the agency was in the process of accumulating more blood.

She further encouraged persons to visit the Blood Bank from Monday to Friday between the hours of 8:00hand 18:30h on a regular basis to donate.

Last month, in honour of World Blood Donor Day 2015, which was on June 18, the World Health Organisation (WHO) issued a call for an increase in regular blood donations from voluntary, unpaid donors in order to save millions of lives globally each year.

The theme of this year’s campaign was: “Thank you for saving my life”. Donors all over the world were encouraged to donate blood voluntarily and regularly with the slogan: “Give freely, give often. Blood donation matters”.

“The best way to guarantee a safe and adequate supply of blood and blood products for transfusion is to have a good supply of regular donations by voluntary, unpaid blood donors,” said Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director General. WHO is also encouraging all Member States to obtain all their blood supplies from such donors.

Guyana to be featured in the Harvard Business Review

Ateam from the World Investment News on Monday, July 13 met with the Education Minister, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine to discuss the role of education in the development of Guyana.

World Investment News (WINNE), in a letter to the Ministry, stated that it would be coordinating a series of reports focusing on the Caribbean starting with Guyana. The reports, according to WINNE,

will be published in the Harvard Business Review and focus on the relationship between the United States and Guyana; the development of the Guyana economy through the creation of macro-economic

conditions to foster a positive business environment; and, the Government’s relationship with the Private Sector.

The report is also expected to highlight the numerous investment opportunities Guyana offers, such as oil, mining, agriculture, banking and finance, infrastructure, tourism, and industrial sectors. Dr Roopnaraine provided the visiting team with an exclusive interview on the linkages between the Guyana education sector and Guyana’s development in relation to the other sectors of the economy.

WINNE is a global publishing house and market and business intelligence provider of multimedia content and advertising. Their goal is to be the bridge between Governments, major corporations, and with the business community around the world.

Govt advertises for new head of GRDB

The Agriculture Ministry is currently seeking a replacement for former General Manager of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), Jagnarine Singh who has resigned his post.

Recently, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon had disclosed that Singh indicated his desire to resign from his post and the new administration fully welcomed this move. Guyana Times understands that Singh is currently on leave but his resignation letter has been already

submitted. When contacted for a comment, the former GRDB Head said he did not want to talk to the media. However, he did confirm his resignation. Rice farmers, over the years, have called for the removal of Singh as the GRDB Head. In light of these calls, which only recently intensified, Singh was quoted in other sections of the media, saying that he would only resign if the A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Government requested that

he did.

Naithram, Tage Shewcharran, Bhim Singh and Karan Chand of the Essequibo Paddy Farmers Association had accused Singh and the GRDB of being corrupt and working in collusion with the millers.

Meanwhile, the Government currently has an advertisement running in the dailies advertising the vacancy of the position. Government had announced that there will be a total shakeup of the GRBD, much to the satisfaction of Essequibo rice farmers. For some time now, the farmers have been protesting lack of proper representation, drainage and irrigation problems which were not being efficiently addressed, misuse of excavators in the region, and the long overdue payment of monies for paddies supplied to millers. There have also been calls for the resignation of General Secretary of the Rice Producers Association (RPA) and the Head of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), Lionel Wordsworth.

Showing THEM!

Satiricus was tired of being "third world". Which, from the way his relatives who visited from New Yawk carried on, meant "third rate and third class". Imagine they'd only been up there for a couple of years and when they showed up at his house they complained about the weather being "Soooo HOT!!" Now Satiricus had visited them a couple of times himself... and knew that they didn't have air conditioners on their backs in their summer. So he knew their bitching and moaning was just showing off.

But now he knew how he could put them in their place when they visited this "summer". Yes...yes...Satiricus knew there were some who didn't like Guyanese now talking about "summer". "But what the heck...if THEY could have "summer" why couldn't we?" reasoned Satiricus. "We have better summers". But back to sticking it to his cousins: he was going to take them to the Mall. Yep!! The big one and the other dozen or so other that were about to open up in Georgetown.

Over in America, Malls had been the biggest thing since sliced bread. Jeez, Satiricus has seen them in so many movies that in his mind the whole of America was one big mall. There was a whole new culture spawned by the mall...especially with the youn'uns hanging out and even developing their own lingo. You could just look at an American and know who'd been frequenting some mall or the other.

It wasn't just the big-bottomed women or the beerbelly men that thrived on the greasy fast foods in the "food courts" - it was unisex hair waxed facials on the adults that were the tip off. "Jeez," thought Satiricus, "they all looked like wax figures from Madame Tussaud!" But on his last visit to the states, the malls had become huge ghost towns. Everywhere in the papers there was weeping and wailing and the gnashing of teeth. Americans weren't going to malls anymore. Half of them were shopping on the net.

His relatives, however, who'd just come off the boat had the same idea as Satiricus about Malls and being American. They were devastated. What was the point about living in America if they couldn't go to the mall. Shopping on the Internet was worse than going down to the corner shop in Guyana!!

"There IS a God!", smirked Satiricus to himself. His snotty relatives had to now come to Guyana to live like Americans. Satiricus has visited the new Mall on the East Coast just last week. And it was like America - just like in the movies. Young girls in tight jeans or various stages of undress looking snootily at each other, while the young men they hoped would sidle up to them, kept nudging each other in the ribs and cackling while gawking. No waxed adults yet, though.

And it just weren’t his relatives who'd be taught a lesson. It was all America. We Guyanese were going to show them that Malls could work.

"With our connectivity, internet's not going to kill OUR malls in a hundred years!!" concluded Satiricus.

Royston King appointed Town Clerk

The controversial former Public Relations Officer of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council, Royston King has been named as the new Town Clerk, replacing Carol Sooba, who was sent on leave last week.

According to a release from the Council, on Monday, July 13, the Mayor and City Council of Georgetown at its statutory meeting confirmed that King was the new Town Clerk with effect of Tuesday, June 14.

The post, which was previously held by Carol Sooba, who has been accused of having affiliation with the former People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Government, has always been a bone of contention between the two for the last few years.

In 2011, King applied for the position of Town Clerk within the Council. After an interview by the Council, he was recommended by the full membership for the post of Town Clerk on March 28, 2011. However, political opposition prevented the Council from implementing its decision to appoint King. Again on July 24, 2012, he was appointed to the position by the Council. Then on May 6, 2014, King was again appointed and a similar situation born out of a contention between him and Sooba and then Local Government

Minister Norman Whittaker led to him being prevented from carrying out his duties and responsibilities.

There was a series of acrimonious exchanges between the Council and Sooba, the then acting Town Clerk. She was booted from the post by the Council at an extraordinary meeting which was held on May 25, following the change in Government after the 2015 General and Regional Elections.

The Georgetown City Council took the decision to send Sooba on 42 days’ administrative leave, but with two days of that leave remaining, Sooba was served with a letter titled “Revocation of Service”.

Signed by Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan and dated July 1, 2015, the letter stated: “Please be in-

formed that your appointment as Town Clerk (ag) of the Mayor and City Council of Georgetown is hereby revoked.

Therefore, by virtue of the power invested in me at Section 116 (1) of the Municipal and Districts Council’s Act, Chapter 28:01, taken in conjunction with Section 326 (4) of the said Act, your appointment as Town Clerk (ag) is revoked effective from July 7, 2015.”

Sooba has since vowed to challenge the decision, noting that the matter of the position of the Town Clerk was still being heard in the High Court and as such, the letter was unlawful and unwarranted.

King is a Chevening Scholar, with a Masters in Corporate Communication. His thesis crossed disciplines and focused on Corporate Management in the context of New Media Environment. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Leadership, Corporate Governance and Policy at a University in the United Kingdom.

In 2006, King was attached to the Public Management Modernisation Programme as a Consultant. He was also attached to the University of Guyana as a part-time lecturer in the areas of organisational management, and Specialist Writing in Health and Environment.

Rohee calls on Govt to name intellectual authors of crime spree

People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) General Secretary Clement Rohee has called on the Government to identify the intellectual authors of the recent spike in crime.

Rohee made the comments while addressing members of the media on Monday at his weekly press briefing. Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, at his weekly press conference last Wednesday, had hinted to Government’s knowledge of intellectual authors of the crime spree, and said the administration was seeking to root out these activities at the very base. The Minister did not state, however, who these “intellectual authors” were, but maintained that Government was adequately equipped to make such identification.

“I was rather taken aback by that because he has to provide the evidence. I heard him make mention about intellectual authors and they know who they are, but behind these things they are creating a scenario that they are politically-inspired,” Rohee told journalists about Harmon’s statement.

Rohee said if Harmon or anyone from the Office of the President, now the Ministry of the Presidency has any information in this regard, it should be made available. “Let him provide the evidence

Former Home Affairs

Minister and PPP/C General

Secretary Clement Rohee

that any member of the PPP, leadership or otherwise, is involved in it,” Rohee said He noted that he would not spend too much time on that because he believed the supposition was “nonsense, a question of politicking and creating dragons in the sky”.

Harmon had informed that the Administration has the benefit of persons who have studied crime, including criminologists, security experts and persons who have written extensively on criminal activities.

He said as far as he and other security personnel were aware, criminals, except those who are “petty thieves”, always have a linkage behind them when it comes to certain things. He said over the years, the now Government

had even advised the previous Administration on certain aspects of crime and security, noting that in the Disciplined Forces Commission report, there were certain recommendations that were made which point in that direction.

“So you say that a man who turns up at somebody’s house, not far away from a police station and jumps on a bicycle and get away, questions must be asked. A man that can go into a community and perform certain acts of criminal violence and get away, there must be some element behind him,” Harmon had said. He had asked “who is providing the getaway car?”. In very many cases, when you look at serious violent crime, there is a linkage backward and it is really getting to the backward linkage that helps you to reveal not one but several incidents that would have taken place”, Harmon related

Meanwhile, Rohee said that as a former Home Affairs Minister, there is a distinction between “crimes and serious crimes”, noting that one of the more prevalent crimes in A Division is break and enter and larceny. “But we are talking about serious crimes, with the use of a firearm and which persons’ lives are either threatened, harmed or taken away”.

Ramjattan to revoke gun licences of ex-miners

...says those who exit industry should return licences

Second Vice President and Public Security

Minister Khemraj Ramjattan said that a huge number of miners who had been granted firearm licences have since exited the industry and the Ministry would soon take steps to revoke these and recover the weapons.

The licences were granted on condition to protect miners, but if they were no longer in the industry they should not continue with the licence, Ramjattan said. He made the comments during a meeting with executive members of the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGMDA).

Speaking with the Government Information Agency (GINA) following the meeting, Minister Ramjattan said the meeting which was held at the Ministry’s conference room sought to highlight security challenges faced by the mining sector and ways of overcoming them.

Among the areas dis-

cussed were the high incidence of crimes in mining areas; the need for timelier processing of work permits; the issuance of firearm licences to miners and the need for better enforcement of traffic laws in these areas.

According to the Minister, the Public Security Ministry will definitely be addressing

the issues. He said that there was need for more enforcement of laws and support of the sector by the Guyana Police Force (GPF).

In relation to the granting of firearms to legitimate miners, Minister Ramjattan noted that while there should be a quickening of the processing of individual licences and the processing of private security personnel, there were some very big mining companies and firms which have many workers and these do not simply want private person firearms, they would like a “security licence”.

He explained that the processing of applications for individual firearm licences would be fast tracked, but this did not mean that all applicants would be granted a licence. “I have already expressed in public, I wanted a criteria change and not simply because you are an applicant, you get,” he said. Further, the Public Security Minister

pointed out that a very big criterion would be that miners were paying their taxes. “A lot of people say they are mining. When you ask them how much dollars in taxes they have paid, I understand they pay nothing! But, they want a firearm licence...” The Minister further explained that there will be some other criteria, including good behaviour within the mining sector. “If we get information from the Divisional Commander or Police Officers that these (applicants) are not persons who have been behaving well in communities, they are not going to be granted licences,” Ramjattan declared.

Exit industry

“We understand that a huge number of firearm licences have been granted to people who are undeserving. They indicated that some persons went into the mining industry and managed to get firearm licences. I will be reviewing these when their application for renewal comes up next year, because very many of them have left the industry. It is my opinion at this stage that those should be taken back if they (licence holders) are out of the industry,” Ramjattan said.

On the issue of the enforcement of traffic laws in mining communities, the Minister said this was very important, since the heavy trucks that were traversing the areas were constantly damaging the roadways.

“We will be working with the Ministry of Public Infrastructure and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), as to what were some of the rules and regulations or what we understand were road users agreements that they (miners) had signed on to, what are some of the terms and conditions so that we can start to enforcing those. With regard to the processing of work permits, Ramjattan used the opportunity to inform the members of the Association that that responsibility no longer lay with the Public Security Ministry but was now within the ambit of the Citizenry Ministry. The Ministry will also continue to do random sweeps in the interior to search for guns and drugs.

Keeping it real

Guyanese History and Revisionism

History matters. The last election season saw quite a few questions raised by members of opposing political camps as to when our history began. Coalition supporters argued that voters should concentrate on the period from 1992 onwards, while PPP supporters reminded voters to focus attention to the period extending beyond 1992 to include the 28 years of PNC dictatorial rule. The message was clear: a specific date was preferred in order to castigate blame on a specific political party so that votes to win the May 11 election could be garnered. Young voters, those born after 1992, or thereabouts, would have been old enough in 2015 to experience the changes that took place during the Presidencies of Bharrat Jagdeo and Donald Ramotar. That same cohort, however, would not have had the benefit of experience associated with the 28 year rule of the PNC. Clearly, all of history matters. However, aside from identifying accurately, the major chronological events in our history, another related question, one of greater importance, arises from this discussion: If we can agree that all of history matters, where do we draw the line on historical revisionism?

Revising history is not an act of treason. For one, new scientific facts, discovery of previously unavailable documents and sound research methodologies present us with data that can contribute to a more wholesome understanding of history by building and increasing our knowledge base (social scientists call this epistemology). Two, the addition of new information to our knowledge base does not diminish historical interpretations that have already been established. Rather, new information simply adds to the pieces of a larger puzzle. One is reminded of a story from the Hindu fable of the six wise men, who, blindfolded, after touching a different part of the elephant came up with their own interpretation of what they touched, but taken together, their stories added up to a description of the elephant.

Guyanese who have read Cheddi Jagan’s The West on Trial, would walk away knowing that the autobiographical study provides a wealth of information, anecdotal and factual, regarding the political experience of Cheddi Jagan and his role in the nationalist movement. A modern historian may choose to rely on new information accessed through the US Freedom of Information Act and can very well argue that Jagan’s work was not complete. Other historians may adopt a different theoretical approach to an analysis of this time period and by examining the same or additional information, thus solving other pieces of the puzzle, thereby enhancing our knowledge of that time period.

In rear cases, and for nefarious reasons, writers may intentionally set out to distort factual interpretation to the point where historical revisionism departs far from reality. Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf comes to mind as one such glaring attempt. There are some writers, like columnist Freddie Kissoon, who while arguing for a “revisionist methodology”, are intent on using an intentional bias to manufacture their own historical revisionism. For instance, in a letter on July 7, Kissoon argues that Cheddi Jagan was never genuinely interested in power-sharing because his [Kissoon] research proves that “Cheddi Jagan was not the nationalist, power-sharing believer, multi-racial democrat and good man that people have made him out to be”.

While a revisionism of Guyanese history is a welcome addition to our historiography, given the paucity of available analytical studies on the Jagan and Burnham years, Kissoon’s “revisionist methodology”, given his well-known public biases and anti-Jagan/PPP position, will amount to nothing less than a “blatant bastardization” of our history to appease his rage against the PPP/Jagan. His bias is noteworthy: “Too many, way too many fictions have been passed on to my generation as facts...The main culprit in this perpetual drama of myths, mythology and fiction is Dr. Cheddi Jagan’s autobiography, ‘The West on Trial.’” For Kissoon, the book is not written from "the objective horizons of a man in search of history’s purpose" but one based on "a phantasmagoria of mental mirages that denies the average citizen a glimpse into what Guyana was really like…” Given his inherent biasness, for Kissoon, revising history would be equivalent to rewriting history, his own history, one steeped in yellow journalism and punctuated with selective memory and purposeful biases. History is important because it helps us to understand the present by bringing the pieces of the puzzle together. Historical revisionism, based on personal biases, hearsay and malicious intent is a dangerous endeavor that can leave us bereft of a clear understanding of our historical evolution.

Dr Baytoram Ramharack

Associate Professor of Political Science (adj) Nassau Community College.

Send comments to BRamharack60@gmail.com

PSC, GO-Invest to strengthen ties to promote investment

The Private Sector Commission (PSC) and the Guyana Office for Investment (GOInvest) will be strengthening their relationship with the aim of further enhancing the investment climate in the country through promotional and sustainable

resolutions to the various problems and would, in the near future, work towards implementing those strategies. Recently, Burrowes outlined a number of areas in which GO-Invest needed to improve in order to effectively and efficiently execute its mandate.

markets. Another initiative Burrowes has for the betterment of the agency is the establishment and management of an up-todate database that measures the net investment in Guyana from various investment agencies.

He pointed out that GO-

activities.

PSC officials, including its Chairman, Norman Mc Lean, on Monday paid a courtesy visit on GO-Invest Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Keith Burrowes. The two entities vowed to work closer together to promote investment in the country by empowering GO-Invest to efficiently and effectively execute its mandate.

During an interview with Guyana Times after the meeting, Burrowes said some of the issues arising from the discussions included the delays in the approval of concessions, the criteria for granting concessions, and revision of concessions. Also, one of the most important issues addressed was GO-Invest’s role in creating investment opportunities in the current economic scenario.

Burrowes said the officials deliberated on several

Ranks of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) on Monday discovered an unlicensed firearm along with matching rounds of ammunition during several raids.

According to Police Public Relations Officer (PRO) Ivelaw Whittaker, the illegal items were found during separate raids conducted at River View, Ruimveldt, Georgetown, and Friendship, East Bank Demerara.

Whittaker stated that during the exercises an unlicensed .32 Taurus pistol along with 20 matching rounds of illegal ammunition were recovered. However, he did not specify whether the items were found at one of the two locations or both.

The Police managed to arrest four persons for the illegal arms. The men are

Firstly, he said, GOInvest desperately needed an ‘intelligence unit’ or a ‘research and development unit’ whereby the entity compiles comprehensive data about the economic opportunities for each district in Guyana. Burrowes explained that having such information readily available would be extremely beneficial as investors would now have a clearer and more concise breakdown of what their investment would be worth.

Additionally, Burrowes said, whether or not he remained as CEO, GO-Invest should provide training for staff to become bilingual as this would help in attracting investors of various nationalities. He said also that GO-Invest was currently trying to translate its website into various languages so as to attract wider investment

Invest was not the only investment entity in Guyana and, therefore, the investments attracted or finalised through the organisation did not accurately reflect Guyana’s overall economical development. He said other entities, such as various Ministries including the Natural Resources Ministry or the Agriculture Ministry, were also involved in attracting investors to some extent. Therefore, his proposed database system would allow for Government to better keep track of the investments coming into the country. Further, he said GO-Invest needed to develop stronger ties with the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Finance Ministry in order to collaborate better as it relates to promoting and executing investment projects.

currently being investigated for a robbery under arms as well as a break and enter and larceny offence.

Sugar workers gradually rejoining GAWU’s Credit Union

Disgruntled sugar workers are gradually rejoining the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) Credit Union scheme, Union President Komal Chand has said.

Chand stated that the sugar workers have been recommitting themselves to the Credit Union after the issues that arose in the past several months with the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) and he was confident that the new management of GuySuCo would honour its obligations to the Credit Union.

In an interview with this newspaper on Tuesday, Chand stated that the deductions from the sugar workers’ pay have resumed as there was a fresh understanding with GuySuCo. He shared that although the workers were still sceptical as it related to the Credit Union, many of them have returned in the hope that their hardearned funds would be kept safe. For the workers to recommit to the Union, they are required to sign new forms allowing a portion of their monthly earnings to be sent to the Credit Union. GuySuCo’s arrangement with the Union is that the monies

will be sent no later than the second week of each new month. Chand shared that the Union has been reassured in writing by GuySuCo that whatever was stipulated by workers would be remitted to the union within the specified timeframe. The Corporation still has not made payments on the money owed, but promises to begin doing so as soon as its financial situation is stabilised.

The GAWU President added that he was aware that the crop was yet to be harvested and as that supplied the main revenue, he understood the debt would take some time to be repaid, but he

was confident it would be. Regarding the payments to be made to the commercial banks the Union had borrowed funds from, Chand said that the banks would be repaid as GuySuCo paid the Union and it has established this understanding with the banks.

In a release issued by GAWU in June, the Union stated, “It is with the firm understanding of the Credit Union and GuySuCo that workers’ savings henceforth at the end of each month will be remitted to the Credit Union and thus no further indebtedness to the Credit Union should ever arise.” According to GAWU, the Credit Union and GuySuCo have agreed to continue to address the settlement of the outstanding sum of money owed to the Credit Union, which totals $188,045,825 as of May 31.

In June, GAWU was forced to suspend its Credit Union as a result of GuySuCo’s failure to remit over $154 million of workers’ contributions. The Union had to make a “regrettable but unavoidable decision”, advising GuySuCo to cease deductions from workers’ earnings in this regard.

1 in custody for A Ally and Sons $4M Robbery

Police are following several leads in relation to the robbery of an A Ally and Sons clerk in front of a commercial bank on Strand, New Amsterdam, Berbice, Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne).

One person remains in custody as Police continue the investigation into the incident which saw two armed bandits taking a bag containing in excess of $4 million in cash from the clerk who was about to make a deposit at the bank and then escaping on a CG motorbike.

Reports are that the deposit bag contained G$3.7 million and US$2300.

Police have since looked at video footage taken during

the time of the robbery which occurred about 13:50h.

It is believed that more than two persons were involved in the crime and they were stationed at different places between A Ally and Sons’ store situated at Coopers Lane, New Amsterdam and the commercial bank which is 300 metres away.

During Monday night and into the early hours of Tuesday morning, several persons were detained in connection with the robbery. However, up to press time, only one person who is known to the Police remained in custody.

The investigation continues.

Delayed sentence for man smuggling Towa Towas

The sentence for a 74-year-old pensioner who pleaded guilty to attempting to smuggle a quantity of valuable birds out of Guyana was postponed when the court failed to find the correct Act to go with the offence.

Better Hope resident Baimal Rajpaul, was released on $10,000 bail on Monday afternoon after the court heard that Rajpaul, on July 10, attempted to smuggle Towa Towas (singing birds) out of the country at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport without a permit.

The birds which were hidden in Rajpaul’s carryon bag were not noticed until the boarding gate was about to be

cleared for flight 2B402 destined for the John F Kennedy Airport (JFK). An airline security agent heard the birds chirping in the accused bag and did a search of it. When he was asked to produce a permit, he admitted that he did not have one. He was arrested and charged for the offence.

When read the charge, Rajpaul told the court that he was guilty. However, Magistrate Ann McLennan was not able to sentence the accused due to the penalty being unknown – the requisite Act was not available.

The sentence was thus postponed until July 17. Rajpaul was placed on bail until then.

7-year-old Colombian girl survives 18 days in jungle

Aseven-year-old girl who went missing in the Colombian jungle has been found alive after nearly three weeks.

Jessica Patricia Arias, went missing in Tayrona National Park collecting coconuts with her parents, reported Reuters.

Hundreds of officers took part in the air and land search in northern Colombia.

She was found with moderate malnutrition and dehydration in an abandoned hut after an anony -

mous call. It comes weeks after a young mother and her baby son were found alive

five days after their plane crashed in the jungle of western Colombia. Local official Albeis Fuentes said injuries on the girl's feet indicated she may have walked long distances.

Jessica's mother, Elena Cortes said: "God himself helped her to survive so many days. "Thank you to God and the national Police." Police are investigating who may have made the anonymous call to the authorities about the girl's whereabouts and how she survived. (BBC News)

Men found with semi-automatic gun refused bail

Three men were remanded to prison when they appeared in a New Amsterdam court on Tuesday to answer charges in relation to having illegal arms in their possession. The trio appeared before Magistrate Marissa Mittelholzer and was not required to plead to the two indictable charges. The three – Premchand Kallicharran, Cordel Small called “Bumpy Mouth” and Jermine Jason called “Guldile” – are charged jointly.

It is alleged that on Sunday, July 12 at Sheet Anchor Village, East Canje, Berbice, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) they had in their possession an unlicensed .22 Beretta semiautomatic pistol without be-

ing the holders of a firearm licence. They are also accused of having in their possession on the same day, one round of .22 ammunition without being the holders of a firearm licence.

According to Police Prosecutor, Sergeant Phillip Sherriff, a party of Police Officers was conducting pa-

trols in the East Canje area when they saw the three accused in a car, bearing number plate PSS 8276, acting in a suspicious manner. He said a search was carried out and the weapon and ammunition were discovered. The men were arrested and told of the offence.

Kallicharran, 28, of Grant 1780 Crabwood Creek, who

1 bandit dead, 6 captured...

They then moved into the house, where they physically assaulted the Judge and her husband. As they were about to escape, they came under fire from another se-

curity guard at a nearby premises. They managed to escape. However, the Police were able to apprehend four persons, but did not confirm whether it was the said four

men. On July 5, owner of the Regent Street Multiplex Mall, Ganesh Ramlall, was shot dead by a group of men some time after he arrived at

his Lot C La Jalousie home. The 48-year-old businessman was shot about eight times to his body including once to his head by armed men who subsequently escaped in a silver motor car that was parked some distance away from the house.

tally killed her husband while she was in the upper flat of the house with their 18-year-old daughter and another female relative. The woman said that she broke down in tears, as the men could have taken whatever they wanted from him and

When contacted by the Guyana Times on Tuesday, the man’s wife, Monica, said that although it was yet to be confirmed by the Police, she hoped that the captured men were the ones who bru-

if they had to shoot him, hit him somewhere that would not be fatal. She noted that her husband’s death has taken a toll on her and her only child as their small family has been forever de-

was the driver of the car, is currently before the court on five counts of robbery under arms for which he is out on bail. Small, 23, of Lot 24 Jukes Town, Corriverton, is a sawmill porter and has been previously charged for wounding, break and enter and robbery under arms. Jason, 27, a fisherman who lives at the same address as Kallicharran, had never been charged previously. In objecting to the defendants being granted bail, the Prosecutor said that the men did not put forward any special reason why the court should considered bail. He asked the court to refuse bail because of the prevalence of the offences.

The men will have to return to court on July 31.

stroyed.

Earlier, on June 21, 26-year-old Travis Rudder was shot several times to his body while his 31-yearold girlfriend, Mawanza Gill, received seven gunshot wounds and his infant son, Travic Rudder was shot five times to his body. The latter two managed to survive their injuries.

Rudder, of Lot 130 Lindley’s Avenue, Nandy Park, was gunned down on the morning of June 21 after several gunmen opened fire on him and his family while they were asleep. The Police had recovered 26 9mm warheads from the scene.

Meanwhile, top officials of the Police Force visited the Constable who was injured during the shoot-out, moments after he was admitted. Among the officials were Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud; A Division (Georgetown) Commander, Assistant Commissioner Clifton Hicken, and Head of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), Senior Superintendent Wendell Blanhum. The rank has been listed as stable and was commended by his seniors for his bravery.

City Hall restoration

International advisers to arrive in a few months

City Hall has been scheduled for restoration since 2013, and many have expressed annoyance over the fact that no work seems to be getting done on one of Guyana’s most historical landmarks.

Speaking to Guyana Times, Georgetown Mayor Hamilton Green stated that the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) has been in constant communication with the European

Union (EU). They have so far drafted a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the future of this project, with the National Trust of Guyana who is the local coordinator of this project.

Green had recently shared that the Council has been given the go-ahead by the Communities Ministry, and has also gotten the green light from the Finance Ministry on the project. Green admitted that he re-

alised the project was suffering a protracted delay, but promised that the 125-yearold structure would be restored to its former glory in time.

Through the efforts of the National Trust of Guyana, in 2013, City Hall had been successfully selected for listing on the 2014-2016 World Monuments Watch List as a site at risk globally. The rickety City Hall building was listed among 67 cultur-

1 in every 10 persons has a mental disorder – WHO

Worldwide, nearly one in every 10 people have a mental health disorder, but only one per cent of the global health workforce is working in mental health. This means, for example, that nearly half of the world’s population lives in a country where there is less than one psychiatrist per 100,000 people.

Huge inequalities in access to mental health services exist depending on where people live. On average globally, there is less than one mental health worker per 10,000 people, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Mental Health Atlas 2014, released Tuesday. In low- and middle-income countries, rates fall below one per 100,000 people, whereas in high-income countries the rate is one per 2000 people.

The report states global spending on mental health is still very low. Low- and middle-income countries spend less than US$2 per capita per year on mental health, whereas high-income countries spend more than US$ 50. The majority of spending is going to mental hospitals, which serve a small proportion of those who need care. High-income countries still have a far higher number of mental hospital beds and admission rates than low-income countries at nearly 42 beds and 142 admissions per 100,000 persons.

Training of primary care staff in mental health is critical to building capacity for recognising and treating persons with severe and common mental disorders. Since 2011, the number of nurses working in mental health has increased by 35 per cent, but shortages still exist in all disciplines, particularly in low- and middleincome countries.

Making progress

The Atlas finds countries are making progress

on creating policies, plans, and laws for mental health, which provide the bedrock for good governance and service development. Twothirds of countries have a policy or plan and half have a stand-alone mental health law. However, most of the policies and laws are not fully in line with international human rights instruments, implementation is often weak, and persons with mental disorders and family members are frequently only marginally involved in their development.

In 2013, WHO launched the Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 20132020 with four objectives including strengthening leadership and governance for mental health; providing comprehensive mental

line values for 2013:

•80 per cents of countries will have developed or updated their policies or plans for mental health in line with international and regional human rights instruments by the year 2020. Baseline: 45 per cent of all WHO Member States

•50 per cent of countries will have developed or updated their law for mental health in line with international and regional human rights instruments by the year 2020. Baseline: 45 per cent of all WHO Member States

•Service coverage for severe mental disorders will have increased by 20 per cent by the year 2020. Baseline: Currently not computable from Atlas 2014 data

•80 per cent of countries

According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention

health and social care services in community-based settings; implementing strategies to promote and prevent mental health issues; and strengthening information systems, evidence and research.

WHO’s Mental Health Atlas provides the baseline data to measure progress on the action plan targets. The 2014 edition is the fourth and newest edition, with data on the availability of mental health services and resources across the world, including financial allocations, human resources and specialised facilities for mental health from 171 countries.

The Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2020 targets and base-

will have at least two functioning national, multisectoral mental health promotion and prevention programmes by the year 2020. Baseline: 41 per cent of all WHO Member States

•The rate of suicide in countries will be reduced by 10 per cent. Baseline: 11.4 per 100,000 population

•80 per cent of countries will be routinely collecting and reporting at least a core set of mental health indicators every two years through their national health and social information systems by the year 2020. Baseline: 33 per cent of all WHO Member States. All baseline figures come from the Mental Health Atlas 2014.

Mayor Hamilton Green al heritage sites at risk from the forces of nature and the impact of social, political, and economic change. World Monuments Fund (WMF) President Bonnie Burnham announced the 2014 Watch List. The 2014 Watch List features a diverse group of sites in 41 countries and territories, dating from prehistory to the 20th Century. At the time, the M&CC

had been on a drive to get funding to restore the building, and in April 2013, a team of architects from North America and the Caribbean had visited to lend their expertise to aid in the restoration. In this regard, the previous Administration had announced its intention to invest $200 million to start the restoration work on the building.

To date, not much work on the building has been done, but Green stated that in a few months, international advisers were coming to assist in the next step in restoring the building.

The City Hall was completed in 1889. Its architecture is described as Danube Gothic in timber, largely on account of its stylised tower, with wrought iron crenellations at the very apex. City Hall was designed by Father Ignatius Scholes. He

was born in London and was elected an associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1856. On December 23, 1887, under a tent, Governor Sir Henry Turner Irving laid the foundation stone for City Hall. A mere 18 months later on July 1, 1889, in heavy rainfall before a gathering of 400 influential people, the new offices of the Council were declared open.

City Hall has been hosting consultations with national and international organisations since the start of the year to secure their support in the restoration process. Spearheading the restoration project is a committee comprising members of the commercial sector and not the Council. The committee is managing the financial affairs of the project to guarantee transparency.

Fire destroys St Rose’s science lab

Afire Tuesday evening destroyed the science laboratory of the St Rose’s High School located on Church Street leaving inestimable losses in equipment and other materials.

Quick action by the Guyana Fire Service prevented the fire, which broke out around 19:00h, from spreading to other parts of the building. Guyana Times understands that the fire broke out in the bottom flat of the northern building called the “Marian Wing”, where the lab is housed. Luckily, fire tenders managed to contain the blaze, which had already damaged most of the instruments and furniture in the lab. The flames also damaged two walls in the room and scorched the ceiling.

This newspaper understands that students had conducted an experiment earlier in the day; however, when checks were made

less than an hour before the flames were noticed, all seemed well. A teacher, Miss Welch, who was in the school at the time was the one who noticed the fire and alerted the Police via 911 and the information was immediately related to Fire Service.

According to Miss Welch, the fire tenders arrived less than 10 minutes after she made the call and went into action right away.

“I saw black flames and then red flames at the bottom flat of the Marian Wing in the Science Lab,” she recalled.

The caretaker of the school, who was with the teacher when she made the discovery, stated that he had done a security check around 18:20h and there was no indication of any fire. “There was no indication of fire around, I’m certain about that,” the caretaker stated. The man explained that the teacher

was in the Computer Lab doing some work while he conducted the checks.

He added that some time after she came out and handed over the key to him and he was escorting her out of the compound, she observed the fire and summoned the Police. When Guyana Times visited the scene, there were two fire tenders already there and firefighters were already in operational mode. Within 10 minutes, the men were able to put out the flames.

Technicians from the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) subsequently arrived at the school and disconnected the electricity supply. Prior to their arrival, sparks were seen at a main outlet on the exterior of the building. Current and former students of St Rose’s flocked the areas as they worriedly try to get information about the extent of the fire.

This is reportedly the seventh fire for the week. On Monday, Fire Chief Marlon Gentle had reported that there were five fires on that day alone – one in Tiger Bay; two on the West Coast of Demerara and two others on the East Coast of Demerara. Further, in the wee hours of Sunday, fire completely gutted a Chinese General Store located at the corners of Camp and Robb Streets, in the former Kissoon Furniture Store. The intense flames had also caused damage to nearby businesses, including Republic Bank Limited.

15 escape serious injury as minibus runs off EBD Public Road

Fifteen passengers took an unceremonious dip into the canal bordering Banks DIH Ltd Tuesday evening when a Route 42 minibus (GeorgetownGrove) careened off that section of the road.

Guyana Times arrived at the junction at Rahaman’s Park, to find the orange and white minibus stuck in the canal, with the driver’s side submerged. However, up to press time, no one was reported as seriously injured. Police had arrived promptly on the scene and escorted both the driver, called “Bagee” and the conductor to the East Ruimveldt Police Station where they were further questioned about the incident.

However, witnesses at the accident already blamed the dangerous driving of the driver for the accident. One man was heard wailing about the speed the bus was travelling at as it made the turn Banks DIH making it quite impossible for the vehicle to make the turn safely.

Dwight David, a young man who was fishing in the canal at the time, told this

publication that the bus slammed into the rail bordering the turn, ricocheted off it and then crashed through an opening in the rail into the canal. There was a wide gap in the rails.

A passenger who was sitting at the back of the bus, Jamal Duncan, stated that the bus was filled with passengers when it crashed. He said that it was indeed moving at a speed but the driver appeared to be quite capable. However, at the turn, Duncan said the driver was unable to turn out fast enough. He opined that the brakes may be at fault.

Duncan sported a deep gash in the middle of his forehead and a cut in the bridge of his nose from the accident. He said that most of the passengers were quite stunned initially, but they came together after a while and got out of the sinking vehicle. He said he escaped through the rear door. He and other passengers had tried to escape through the windows, but they proved impossible to break so they struggled with the door.

About five passengers had to be taken to the

Georgetown Public Hospital where they were treated. One of them who gave her name as Beverley was still quite shook up when Guyana Times met her at the hospital. She said she sat next to the conductor and felt a nudge when the driver tried the brakes on the turn. The bus apparently went backwards a bit and then continued into the canal. However, although most seem to believe that the brakes may be the cause of the accident (that and the driver’s speeding), the owner of the vehicle does not believe so. He shared that the bus had come out of service only that afternoon, as he had recently had some problems with its door and decided to service it. He said that the bus was in relatively good condition. He stated that it has never been in any kind of accident and neither has the driver, who has been working for him for several years. However, the owner admitted that the minibus was not meant to be working that day as “Bagee” was meant to pick it up from the mechanic only.

Couple take rap for each other, both remanded

It was heard at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Tuesday that a couple admitted to Police Officers that they were the owners of the illicit drug cannabis sativa (marijuana) when they were found with 116 grams in their possession.

Sonia Brandt and Renie Adolphus were refused bail by Magistrate Ann Mc Lennan on Tuesday afternoon after they made their first appearance in court on a narcotics possession charge.

They are alleged to have had the drugs in their possession on July 12 at their home in Hamilton Backdam, Cuyuni-Mazaruni with the purpose of trafficking.

Police Prosecutor, Corporal Deniro Jones told the court that the two defendants are in a relationship, live together and have a three-month-old child. He said, on the day in question, when the Police was searching their home, the narcotic was found on their bed. Brandt told officers that the drug was hers but then Adolphus admitted to being the owner of the same drug. Police arrested the duo, investigations were carried out and official charges were instituted for the offence.

However, the defence Attorney stated that they had no knowledge of the drug; they had simply said that to protect one another. She said that they live at Vryheid’s Lust, on the East Coast of Demerara but Adolphus manages a shop in

the interior which is open to the public.

She made an application for bail, stating that neither of the accused have ever been charged for an offence and thus are not a flight risk. However, Magistrate Ann McLennan refused bail for both defendants. They were ordered to appear at the Bartica Magistrate’s Court on July 22 where their matter will be heard.

Teleperformance Call Centre opening delayed

No definite date has been given for the official opening of the multimillion-dollar Paris-based call centre Teleperformance, which was expected to open its doors more than a month ago in Guyana, as the company continues to recruit locals to staff its operations.

Teleperformance, a global customer service-oriented company, whose local branch is located at 51 Camp and Robb Streets, was expected to open its doors since May last.

On Monday, Guyana Times spoke with the Communications Officer of Teleperformance, Celicia Paruag who indicated that there were several reasons contributing to the delay of the official opening.

However, she only cited the review of the clientele list as the reason for the delay. Paruag said there were several companies who expressed interest in the Guyanese market and that Teleperformance was currently in the process of reviewing those businesses.

She could not disclose how long this process would take nor how soon the centre would open.

Although there appears to be a holdup with regard to the commencement of customer service operations, this publication understands that the company has a small staff which is currently tasked with handling the recruitment aspect of the business.

When Guyana Times visited the office, persons were still submitting job applications to the company.

2500 jobs to be created

Teleperformance

Global Management Team

Executive Vice President Mark Pfeiffer said Teleperformance Company will be creating and providing some 2500 jobs to young Guyanese with positions ranging from Executives down to Customer Service agents in the areas of customer service, technical support, call centre and social media.

Teleperformance USA

Executive Vice President

(Operations) Mike Corrigan had previously lauded

Guyana as “fast becoming a business hub” which is ideal for its operations.

He stated that “Guyana was chosen for our investments because for starters, it is the only native Englishspeaking country in South America. Guyana also has a very high literacy rate and proficiency rate”.

He noted too that the geographical location of the country was also taken into consideration since it is a known fact that Guyana experienced almost no natural disasters. “It’s ideal geographically speaking, outside the hurricane zone with no natural disasters. Guyana’s time zone location and accessibility to services in the US market is also a major advantage,” the Executive Vice President said.

He noted that there has been significant political and economic growth with heavy Government input in investments and support of technology, communications and education. Corrigan added that Guyana has a high US cultural affinity with neutral English accents and as such locals will be able to promote the business’s services.

Teleperformance is a worldwide leader in multichannel customer experience. Founded in 1978 by Daniel Julien, the company currently specialises in customer service, technical support, call centre, debt collection and social media.

The company operates about 135,000 computerised workstations, with more than 175,000 employees across 270 contact centres in 62 countries.

The company conducts programmes in more than 63 different languages and dialects for a wide variety of global companies in various industries.

The company has operations in the United Kingdom, Albania, Brazil, Chile, India, Philippines, China, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Nigeria, Norway, Italy, Portugal, the USA, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Australia and Netherlands as well as Egypt, Russia, Sweden and Germany. The company has copped several awards over the years including Best Employer Award.

wednesday, july 15, 2015 | guyanatimesgy.com

Caricom mulls ECLAC’s proposal for debt write-off

Caricom has begun considering a proposal that would allow regional countries to seek a gradual 100 per cent debt write-off as a means of economic prosperity.

The debt relief strategy was put forward by the Economic Commission of Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), at the 36th regular meeting of the Heads of Government of Caricom, which was held in Barbados recently.

In a report in the Senate on Friday, Jamaica’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator AJ Nicholson said the proposal was for a complete debt write-off and would involve cooperation of multilateral institutions, donor countries and small state debtor countries.

He said the debt relief would create more fiscal space, and assist member Governments in adapting to social, economic and climate challenges.

Nicholson, who noted that the proposal was “welcomed and deemed worthy of serious consideration”, said ECLAC has come to the realisation that it was not possible to use only domestic resources to move the Caribbean countries from debt to growth.

In addition, he said with only one per cent global debt, “the Region’s debt burden is not enough to generate much international concern”

Only last week during the 36th Heads of Government meeting, Caricom Reparations Commission (CRC) Chairman, Sir Hilary Beckles said Caribbean nations were still fighting to keep their heads above the water following the effect of inherited debt from colonialism.

He said when Caribbean nations entered the nationbuilding process after colonialism, they had inherited the debt which was passed on.

“Many of these nations started the journey into nation-building with an inherited colonial debt and a propensity to carry that debt,” Beckles told the leaders, continuing that Caribbean Governments have over the past 50 years been “cleaning up the colonial mess”. “Let’s assume that we have been cleaning up this mess, many of our Governments have spent enormous amounts of money on health, education and infrastructure, just to turn these colonies into living spaces,” Beckles commented. He said when the colonies were inherited after independence, they were not suitable for living a “civil democratic life”.

Unsustainable levels

Beckles noted that the Caricom Reparations Commission, in its 10-point plan, was seeking the elimination of external debt.

He noted that Caribbean Governments that emerged from slavery and colonialism inherited the massive crisis of community poverty and institutional unpreparedness for development.

The pressure of development has driven these Governments to carry the burden of public employment and social policies designed to confront colonial legacies. This process has resulted in states accumulating unsustainable levels of public debt that now constitute their fiscal entrapment.

This debt cycle properly belongs to the imperial Governments who have made no sustained attempt to deal with debilitating colonial legacies. Support for

the payment of domestic debt and cancellation of international debt are necessary reparatory actions.

“And that is one of the issues that we have framed in there as a process of reparatory justice,” he said. According to Beckles, globalisation has become a “double edged sword”. “On one hand, it speaks about openness and oneness and level playing field, but the fact is when you look at the politics and economics of globalisation, they are going in different directions. It is about rich nations versus poor nations, about powerful nations and weak nations.”

Realistic validity

He said the Reparations Commission was fighting

to bring realistic validity to the meaning and politics of equality, noting that “this is something that we have to win”. “This is why we have this conflict between the political rhetoric of globalisation and the economic realities of it which is a transfer of resources from the weak nations into the economically sustainable nations and the debt is also part of that process.”

He said developed countries speak all the time about the importance of equity and equality, but the fact of the matter was that the powerful nations did not believe in such. “We need to look at those external shots and the internal improvisions to ascertain what are the forces that are holding the potentials of the Caribbean Region on the inside”. The economies of Caricom Member States reportedly total close to US$78 billion in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which would place the Region at 65th in the world if it were a single country. Reports are that the Region cannot claim much in the way of economics. However, after having suffered over 400 years of slavery and colonialism at the hands of European powers, its demands for reparations possess enormous moral authority.

SUDOKU

ARIES (March 21April 19)

TAURUS (April 20May 20)

(May 21June 20)

CANCER

Be careful when playing sports or participating in a physical endeavor. You risk injury if you take on too much. If you need help, ask those with experience and strength.

Put the past behind you. Carrying a grudge or romanticizing a failed love affair will keep you from moving forward. Optimism and a confident attitude are the first steps.

Don’t wait for someone else to sing your praises. Show others your true colors. Be honest about your cares and concerns, and don’t be afraid to put yourself on the line.

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

You will have disagreements with friends or colleagues if you aren’t careful, leading to ongoing problems that will boost your blood pressure. Your time will be much better spent doing something you enjoy alone.

Someone will try to get you to do their dirty work for them. Don’t pass along comments that could wound or intimidate others. Only say what you truly mean.

Stimulating ideas will spur creative projects that could help you in your professional career. Your progressive attitude will catch the eye of superiors.

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)

An older individual will try your patience. For best results, you should be accommodating without being a pushover. A troubled friend will come to you for advice. Listen to him or her, but don’t meddle.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)

By getting back to your roots, you will gain perspective on where you are and where you are headed. Enlist the aid of relatives to help trace your family history.

CAPRICORN (June 21July 22)

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23Dec. 21)

You will be asked to mediate an argument. Stick to the facts in order to avoid inflaming tempers and being blamed for interfering. Opt to go about your own business.

(Jan. 20Feb. 19) (Dec. 22Jan. 19)

Before you consider a course of action, decide if it will be beneficial to you. Doing something because it is expected or because others are doing it would not be wise.

AQUARIUS

PISCES

(Feb. 20March 20)

You should be assertive if someone tries to make you do something against your will or beliefs. Make it clear that you are capable of forming your own decisions. Put your needs first.

You will have a chance to pursue something that you find quite interesting or intriguing. A younger family member will need your help and guidance to make a good decision.

Windward Islands win Regional U-17 competition

Windward Islands held their nerve on the final day filled with drama and rain, and have been crowned the new Regional Under-17 champions.

Their batting, led by Allick Athanaze, set things up and their bowlers formalised a crushing, 207run victory over Leeward Islands in their final round match on Tuesday at Canaan, Trinidad.

The Windwards topped the standing with 24.9 points and claimed the title for the first time, after the two teams ahead of them entering the final round failed to dip over the finish line on the final day of the tournament, which was affected by rain.

Jamaica, the pre-series leaders, suffered a shocking, 10-wicket defeat against last year’s champions Barbados in a low-scoring affair at Shaw Park, at the same time that Guyana upset hosts Trinidad and Tobago by seven runs under the Duckworth-Lewis Method when bad light

stopped play at Mount Pleasant.

T&T were second with 19.4 points, the same number as the third-placed Jamaicans, but the home team had a superior net run rate so finished in the higher position. The Guyanese finished fourth with 18.2, Barbados fifth on 13.4 and Leewards ended last on 1.2.

Guyana v T&T

There was a delayed start to the T&T chase due

to the rain and when play started they needed to chasing 163 off 47 overs.

They made a bright start, when openers Keagan Simmons and Cephas Cooper put on 53 for the first wicket, but they were two of three wickets that fell in the space of nine balls to undermine their chase, leaving T&T 56-3.

T&T captain Kirstan Kallicharran completed off a solid all-round performance with 25 and Siba Batoosingh led the way with 29 to get them moving in the right direction again.

But off-spinner Bhaskar Yadram grabbed 3-23 from 7.1 overs to stem the flow of runs and the keep chase tight before the fading light ushered the players off.

Kallicharran had continued his fine form with the ball, when he collected 5-18 from his allotment of 10 overs to undermine the middle of the Guyana batting.

Opener Raymond Perez led the way for Guyana,

anchoring his side through the first half of the innings with 41, but Kallicharran belatedly introduced himself into the attack and snared two quick wickets to put pressure on the visitors’ top order, leaving them 83-4.

The Guyanese crossed the 100-run mark without further loss, but Kallicharran continued to bowl with purpose, removing Ramnarine Chatura, whose 21 thinly held the innings together.

Guyana captain Rolando

Guyana innings R Perez c O James

b S Seecharan 41 J Persaud b T Alleyne 12 A Sukhwa+ c Q Mohammed

b K Kallicharan 22 S Deonarain c O James

b K Kallicharan 0 R Chatura c and b K Kallicharan 21 B Yadram c O James

b N McDavid 13

R Ali Mohamed* not out 30

K Sinclair c C Thurton

b K Kallicharan 2

A Nedd b K Kallicharan 0 R Looknauth c and b N McDavid 6 J Jones lbw b S Seecharan 1 Extras:(15-w, 1-lb, 2-b) 18

Total:(all out) 166

Bowling: Q Mohammed 3-0-17-0, S Batoosingh 9-0-39-0, T Alleyne 5-0-9-1, N McDavid 7-1-26-2, S Seecharan 9.1-0-24-2, K Kallicharan 102-18-5, A Paharry 5-0-20-0 Fall of wickets: 1-42, 2-76,

Ali Mohamed responded to the challenge with 30 not out, but the rest of the batting let him down.

IKD World Cup starts today

–

Woon-A-Tai confident of success

By RavendRa Madholall in ToRonTo

The second International

Karate Daigaku Shoto

Camp and World

Cup is set to kick off today at Ryerson University in Toronto and Chief Instructor Frank Woon-A-Tai is very confident it would be another successful five-day tourna-

ment.

Reflecting on what had transpired in 2012 at the same venue, Woon-A-Tai and his team are ready to showcase to the world that kara-

tekas from around the globe will be enticed to make their participation on a regular basis.

With Nepal, India, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Dominican Republic still to confirm due to visas issues, Woon-A-Tai is still expecting over 30 regions to compete in the various categories.

“Yes, we [are] very confident. However, I always teach my students never to underestimate their opponents….never to get big head, and always show respect,” Woon-A-Tai related.

The veteran Woon-A-Tai expressed disappointment that only seven regions from the Caribbean are supporting and participating on this occasion, but was impressed with the Guyanese teams.

“The two Associations, Guyana Karate College (GKC) and the Association do Shotokan Karate-Guyana are sending over 60 competitors plus supporters; moreover Barbados has 31 competitors and Trinidad and Tobago the same amount but still a bit disappointing that only seven Caribbean countries taking part,” Woon-A-Tai revealed.

History shows that this mega event is growing with some amount of rapidity, according to the former International Shotokan Karate Federation Chairman Woon-A-Tai.

“Yes, IKD is one of the fastest growing organisations in the world, in just short four years, IKD has a membership of 50 regions in 30 countries and I am working really hard to promote

IKD Karate globally,” the Canadian-based Guyanese declared.

Karate fans can expect keen contests from day one until Sunday, which should be even more fascinating as well.

“They will see traditional karate at its finest, not only in Kata and Kumite, but in Kata applications- Bunkai and demonstration eventsEnbu,” Woon-A-Tai, who received his first degree black belt in 1971 from the Japan Karate Association in Tokyo, mentioned.

He also took the opportunity to state that this year’s tournament should even be more riveting despite the absence of some countries and no doubt the athletes will get a great chance to prove their skills and techniques during the event.

He is very thankful to the generosity of the sponsors again for making the tournament a reality and was indebted to many of his members for the previous tournament which was wellattended and supported.

On the academic and philosophical levels, IKD will focus on the educational system in the Caribbean, especially at the University level as a credit course, and this World Cup showdown is a solid foundation to start off, according to Woon-A-Tai.

“In 2011, IKD received accreditation from the Guyana Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and our guiding principles in the Dojo Kun will help keep young people off drugs and the streets,

show them direction in life, and help break the ‘cycle of crime and violence’ through discipline and karate-do training,” he said.

“I want to thank the Honourable Minister of Education, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine whom I recently met in Guyana and he promised to help the GKC complete its building project and we discussed karate at the Caribbean Examination Council and University in Guyana level as well,” WoonA-Tai, who has a distinguished career, commented.

Meanwhile, the Honourable Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, welcomed the introduction of IKD in North America 2012 and extended warm greetings and again is showering his praises.

“Karate is a discipline of technique and concentration that evolved over a period of centuries; its popularity in Canada has grown steadily since its introduction from Japan more than 50 years and in communities across the country, people of all ages embrace the arts and methods of the sport for fitness and personal growth,” Harper wrote.

He continued: “Over the next several days, in a series of exciting matches, athletes from Canada and around the world will have the opportunity to demonstrate the physicality and mental toughness that are characteristics of karate practitioners, while enjoying the unique and festive atmosphere that exists wherever karate fans gather.”

Powell wins in 9.87 seconds at Luzern meet

Asafa Powell sprinted away from the field in the final stage to pull off another victory this season, the men’s 100m at the Spitzen Leichtathletik meet in Luzern, Switzerland on Tuesday.

Powell continued his impressive form clocking 9.87 seconds while distancing himself from the field at the 80m mark to secure a dominant win.

Powell crossed the finished line ahead of fellow countrymen Nesta Carter, who ran 10.06 for second place and Kemar BaileyCole (10.10).

The winning time was the fourth quickest this season for the former World

Championships bronze medallist, who has a season’s best time of 9.81.

Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown ran a fantastic opening 100m in the 200m, but faded to

second place in a season best of 22.61 – just edging out American Tiffany Townsend (22.62). Campbell-Brown was denied of first place by Charonda Williams of the USA who finished the course in 11.14 seconds then completed the double with a 22.32 secs to secure the 200m.

South African 400m record holder Wayde van Niekerk , who only recently produced a fast 43.96 to beat Grenada’s Kirani James over 400m in Paris, sizzled to a stunning time of 19.94 secs to win the men’s 200m against a solid field that had also included Olympic bronze medallist Warren Weir of Jamaica.

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Zouks prevail ...

Inserted to take first strike, the Red Steel were given a flying start by the evergreen Kallis, much to the delight of a

Kallis and Cameron Delport managed 19 off the first two over, but the latter fell for nine halfway through the third over, before William Perkins was dismissed without scoring at 32-2 in the fourth over.

Kallis kept going strong at the other end, hitting four fours and two sixes, and when he and Javon Searles, who was promoted to four, fell within four runs of each other, the Red Steel innings threatened to stall at 55-4 at the start of the sixth.

South African Kallis made 38 off 19 balls. The Bravo brothers- Dwayne and Darren- joined forces in the closing stages to collect 30 off the final two overs.

FIFA threatens to penalise Dominica

FA over court action

Football’s world governing body FIFA is threatening to penalise the Dominica Football Association (DFA) if it proceeds with plans to resolve a dispute in the local court.

FIFA’s Ethics Committee member Primo Corvaro issued the warning after former President Dexter Francis brought DFA to court over wages and the legality of Glen Etienne as president of DFA.

Francis raised his legal challenge three days before the delegate’s election scheduled for June 27 forcing the event to be pushed back to August 1.

“In the future, after the election, should there be any football stakeholder going to any ordinary court, he must be sanctioned and should there be any decision from any judicial authorities imposing something on the DFA, the case will be taken seriously by FIFA and CONCACAF, meaning that sanctions will come,” warned Corvaro as he met with the press late Monday.

“You can’t leave the judicial system to take action, if that is done you can well imagine what will happen in that situation”.

Corvaro has criticized the action by Francis to take the DFA to court, saying such a move will not be tolerated by FIFA.

He says FIFA plans to send officials to monitor the upcoming elections.

“What has been done by Dexter Francis and others was not tolerated and will not be tolerated. We lis-

tened to the executive of the FA and we made them an exception, we are taking big risks. We have not accepted what has happened …let it be known that it will not be accepted in the future,” said the FIFA official.

“I am warning that if there is another issue, don’t be surprised of the outcome.”

Showdown at Providence!

– confident Amazon Warriors

By Rajiv Bisnauth

Riding high on confidence after two consecutive victories, the Guyana Amazon Warriors will collide with the Jamaica Tallawahs when action in the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) continues tonight at the Guyana National Stadium from 18:00h.

While the Amazon Warriors will be hunting a third successive win to solidify their position as one of the tournament favourites, the Tallawahs will look to get their campaign back on track after losing two home games on the trot.

During the pre-match press conference on Tuesday, Guyana Amazon Warriors Head Coach Carl Hooper pointed out that the team was indeed in high spirits coming off of their back-to-back wins, but cautioned against complacency.

hunting fourth win against Tallawahs tonight

“Well we start from scratch tomorrow [today], but I think it’s handy to get ahead in Jamaica. We have four games at home so we must try and win at least three of those games. But having said that they [Jamaica] will be a tough op-

ble of playing we should do well,” Hooper said.

In giving an assessment of the team’s performance so far Hooper said, “It’s not too bad, but it could have been better. I think the good thing about it is the last couple of games we seems to be hitting our strides and with four games here at home… looking good for us.”

Hooper added, “The main concerns in the first couple of games is the batting, but in the last two games we managed to put all three elements of the game [batting, bowling and fielding], so hopefully if we play the same brand of cricket over the next week we should get

position; they have a couple of world-class T20 players, so there is no need to take them lightly. We will have to work it down tomorrow [today] and I think if we play the brand of cricket we capa-

to the final.”

Meanwhile, the visitors will be wary of taking on a home side that is currently brimming with confidence following their 84-run win on Sunday when the two sides met at Sabina Park.

Tallawahs Head Coach Courtney Walsh is undaunted by the threat posed by his opponents. He told reporters that he is looking forward to the challenge since it’s an important game for his team.

“It will be a different track, different ball game than Sabina Park. We know Guyana is more natural for spin, but at the same time we have a strong enough squad to counter-attack. We intend to bounce back and bounce back hard,” the former West Indies captain said.

Speaking also at the prematch press conference on Tuesday was talented allrounder Andre Russell, who said the mood in the camp is always great, despite the Tallawahs consecutive defeats.

“We lost the last two games, but I am not seeing any bad face or any bad vibes, we are a positive team. The game tomorrow [today] is very crucial so we have to take it step by step, be positive because we

know the importance of this game,” Russell revealed.

For today’s clash, the gates will open from 16:00h. The Amazon Warriors are on six points from their six games and will be looking to move closer to the leaders.

After the game today, the Amazon Warriors will play St Lucia Zouks on July 17;

Tridents on July 18 and

and

on July 21.

Amazon Warriors interact with aspiring cricketers

By AvenAsh RAmzAn

Everyone has a hero or role model, be it a parent, a sport person, a movie star or some just some imaginary figure. While some are fortunate to meet, touch, interact and even share the same home with the person they idolise, some pass a lifetime without ever experiencing that moment.

For the current generation of young aspiring cricketers seeking to emulate the top players of the day, that aspiration to meet and greet, snap a photo or just share a handshake is no longer is a dream, but a reality.

Digicel, through its partnership with the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), is making that and more possible for the future generation of cricketers.

On Tuesday, the company, through what it dubs a pep rally, touched the lives of dozens of youths, drawn from the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC), Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) and Everest Cricket Club (ECC).

Hosted in the pavillion of DCC in Queenstown, the one hour session attracted over 40 students/cricketers, who were given the privilege of sharing the same space with their heroes/role models.

Six Guyana Amazon Warriors players attended the sessions, much to the delight of the eager youngsters and their equally excited parents.

Local players- leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo, all-rounder Christopher Barnwell, opener Trevon Griffith and fast bowler Paul Wintzalong with the South African

of the audience throws out a question. From right are

Griffith, Devendra Bishoo, Paul Wintz, David Weise, Christopher Barnwell and Merchant DeLange

fast bowling pair, Merchant DeLange and David Weise were more than happy to answer the various questions thrown at them.

The youngsters certainly did not waste the opportunity, as they impressed not

WICB town-hall meeting heads to Guyana

Cricket fans in Guyana will have a chance to ask questions and make comments about the sport and how the region can merge its efforts to make the cricket industry more viable than it has been when the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) town-hall meeting comes to Guyana next week.

According to information emanating from the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), top officials of the WICB will arrive in Guyana for the July 22 meeting, which will be held in the main pavillion of the Georgetown Cricket Club ground, Bourda.

The meeting is scheduled to start at 18:00h and will be hosted by WICB President Whycliffe “Dave” Cameron, WICB Vice-president Emmanuel Nanthan, and GCB Secretary Anand Sanasie.

Cameron and Nanthan will continue to host the town-hall meetings, which started in Barbados in May and were also staged in Dominica last month.

“We want to re-engage our major stakeholders,” Cameron said. “We want the public to become part of the decision-making and their inputs can prove to be valu-

able.

“We’re enthusiastic about continuing to use these sessions to listen to concerns and share information about where West Indies cricket is now, our strategic goals for the future and how the fans can impact upon the way we progress.”

The topics covered at the town-hall meetings have been wide-ranging. They have included selection matters, the operation of the WICB Professional Cricket League, player relations, player development, pitch preparation and governance issues.

just the players, but the media operatives and representatives of Digicel who were present, with their insightful questions and great knowledge of the game.

Digicel’s Sponsorship and Events Manager, Gavin

Hope, said the activity was a success, as he expressed gratitude to the Amazon Warriors players for taking a break from their busy schedule to grace the occasion. He was confident the young participants had left with new-found knowledge on the game. On Thursday at the same venue, another group of Amazon Warriors players will spend time with some students of the Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Centre, also compliments of Digicel.

Showdown at Providence! VS

Pg 22

WHATS INSIDE:

Amazon Warriors interact with aspiring cricketers

Zouks prevail in rain-affected contest

NP23

athan McCullum and Ross Taylor spoiled a brilliant all-round performance from Jacques Kallis as the St Lucia Zouks defeated the Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel by four wickets in a rain-affected Match 23 of the Hero CPL on Tuesday night.

The game, which was originally slated to start at 18:00h, only got going at 20:50h after rain delayed the start of the Red Steel home games. Batting first in the nine-over contest, the

SCOREBOARD

Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel innings (9 overs maximum)

JH Kallis c Pietersen b Cottoy 38

CS Delport b Edwards 9

WKD Perkins c †Fletcher b Johnson 0

JPR Scantlebury-Searles c Gabriel b Johnson 6

DJ Bravo* not out 14

DM Bravo not out 19

Extras: (b-1, lb-1, w-2) 4

Total:(4 wickets; 9 overs) 90

Fall of wickets: 1-19 (Delport, 2.3 ov), 2-32 (Perkins, 3.4 ov), 3-50 (Scantlebury-Searles, 5.5 ov), 4-55 (Kallis, 6.2 ov)

Bowling: NL McCullum 1-08-0, ST Gabriel 2-0-24-0, FH Edwards 2-0-17-1 (1w), DE Johnson 2-0-272, KJ Cottoy 2-0-12-1 St Lucia Zouks innings (target: 91 runs from 9 overs)

ADS Fletcher† c DJ Bravo b Kallis 3 J Charles b Kallis 41

KP Pietersen* c ScantleburySearles b Cooper 11 H Davids c Botha b DJ Bravo 9

KR Mayers c Delport b Kallis 6

LRPL Taylor not out 8

NL McCullum c ScantleburySearles b DJ Bravo 10

KJ Cottoy not out 0

Extras:(w-3) 3

Total:(6 wickets; 9 overs) 91

Fall of wickets: 1-12 (Fletcher, 1.2 ov), 2-35 (Pietersen, 4.2 ov), 3-66 (Davids, 6.5 ov), 4-67 (Charles, 7.1 ov), 5-74 (Mayers, 7.6 ov), 6-84 (McCullum, 8.4 ov)

Bowling: S Badree 2-0-20-0 (1w), JH Kallis 2-0-15-3, SJ Benn 2-0-12-0, KK Cooper 1-0-171 (1-w), DJ Bravo 2-0-27-2

host posted 90-4 and the Zouks responded with 946, winning off the final delivery.

The Red Steel seemed destined for a winning start at home with the Zouks requiring 17 off the final over. Their skipper Dwayne Bravo however, leaked 10 off the first three deliveries to Nathan McCullum, who was eventually dismissed off the fourth delivery.

Taylor then deposited the next delivery for six to level the scores, and calmly disposed the final ball for a boundary to seal the win.

The run-chase never seemed so close when Johnson Charles was batting, but Kallis plucked out three wickets in the middle overs to stem the flow of runs. Charles scored 41 off 23 balls with three sixes and three fours.

Kallis was outstanding with the ball, claiming 3-15. The defeat silenced a packed Queen’s Park Oval crowd, and extended the Red Steel poor run in this year’s competition.