Guyana Times Daily - April 9, 2015

thursday, april 9, 2015 | guyanatimesgy.com

BRIDGE OPENINGS

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

Thursday, April 9, 2015 – 08:30h-10:00h and Friday, April 10, 2015 – 09:00h-10:30h

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

Thursday, April 9, 2015 – 06:45h-08:15h and Friday, April 10, 2015 – 07:35h-09:05h

FERRY SCHEDULE

Ferries will be departing the Parika and Supenaam stellings on: Thursday, April 9 – 05:00h, 10:00h and 17:00h Friday, April 10 – 05:00h, 10:00h and 17:00h

WEATHER TODAY

High Tide: 07:16h and 19:48h reaching maximum heights of 2.62 metres and 2.47 metres respectively.

Low Tide: 00:51h and 13:19h reaching minimum heights of 0.69 metre and 0.60 metre respectively.

Guyana Stores Court battle: Reaz Khan demands sacking of GSL Directors

…says management is "an atrocity, unlawful"

Businessman Reaz Khan has filed legal proceedings asking the Court to issue a mandatory order for all the Directors sitting on the Guyana Stores Limited (GSL) Board to cease holding office with immediate effect.

Khan, who is a shareholder of the company, is claiming that the company and its Chief Executive Officer, Mohammed “Tony” Yassin are in breach of several Sections of the Companies Act of 1991. In the legal doc-

ument filed last month by Attorney Peter Hugh on behalf of Khan, he named GSL, Yassin, the Registrar of Companies and Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh as defendants in that order.

GSL was state-owned up to 2000. The company was privatised in that year, and Royal Investments Inc (RII) acquired 70 per cent of its shares, while the remaining 30 per cent was collectively owned by employees and other small shareholders.

Khan had formed RII, with Yassin and other investors, but their deal went sour and he pulled out, later resigning from the GSL Board.

RII is also being sued by

Government and is currently before the High Court in a legal battle over the US$2 million owed to the State for the sale of the company.

Under terms of the privatisation agreement, the balance owed by RII was due by September 2002. The company, however, failed to make this payment, and in a subsequent agreement between the plaintiff and the defendant, the parties decided on October 5, 2000 that the latter would pay interest on the said sum at the US prime rate prevailing at the time of payment, commencing one year after September 30, 2000. In June 2004, the Government holding company – the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), initiated legal action against RII for the recovery of the US$2 million plus interest.

Injustice

Meanwhile, Khan is asking the Court to determine whether the failure of Yassin and GSL over the past 15 consecutive years to hold shareholders and Directors meetings, pay dividends, and submit financial records among other things is atrocious and unlawful. Also, the businessman is asking that it be determined whether Yassin should be made to better manage GSL in accordance with the Companies Act.

The matter was heard in Chambers by Justice Navindra Singh on Tuesday during which the attorney for the two last named defendants requested leave to file an affidavit in answer and was granted 21 days to do so. While, there was no representation on behalf of Yassin or GSL present at the time, Senior Counsel

Rex McKay is said to be the lawyer for both GSL and Yassin.

In the legal document, Khan is asking the Court to determine whether the Directors of GSL are required, under Sections 153 and 154 of the Companies Act 1991, to present statements/returns, balance sheets, profit and loss accounts every year to the Registrar of Companies.

Additionally, they are required to send the same documents to shareholders 21 days before the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in accordance with the same law. Therefore, the Court is tasked with determining if the Directors and the company are in default and guilty of an offence for failing to comply with their statutory duty(s).

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 Parties’ List composition

On Tuesday, the political parties presented their “lists” at City Hall in fine, old Guyanese style. With concerns about some parties “behaving bad” and breaking down Police barricades and whether the rickety stairs of City Hall could cope with the throngs of politicians showing off their “vibrancy”, everyone breathed a sigh of relief with the level of bonhomie displayed.

While the “lists” presented were the names of the candidates that would represent the several parties in the May 11 elections, by pure serendipity there is another meaning of the word “list”: the scene of a combat such as “jousting”, which fairly describes how elections are viewed in Guyana. In these elections, just as in any other democracy, the parties are jousting for the authority to govern the country and the lances they are wielding are the support bases they can mobilise.

What makes the situation trickier in our jurisdiction, however is that the support bases are demarcated along ethnic lines but for most of our history it has not been politically correct to state this openly. So we have the strange situation involving one politician, Moses Nagamootoo of the AFC bargaining with the APNU to deliver “11 per cent of the Indian Guyanese vote” but insisting that he is “Guyanese” and not “Indian Guyanese”.

It was just very pertinent to note that the PPP went back to the vision of its founder Dr Cheddi Jagan back in 1950 when he put together the team that would represent all the peoples of the country at the first elections in the country to be held under universal franchise. While he was a Marxist, he understood that the people of the country identified themselves ethnically – based on country of origin and cultural practices and they wanted to be represented by persons with whom they identified.

While the ideology of the PPP was strongly Marxist and stressed the fundamental nature of “class” as defining interests, in Marxist jargon he appreciated that the “working class” whose interests the party championed had not become a “class in itself”. That is, recognising its class interests as paramount.

On Tuesday, the PPPC announced that its Lists included 23 per cent African Guyanese, 10 per cent Amerindians, 52 per cent Indo-Guyanese, two per cent Portuguese Guyanese, 12 per cent Guyanese of Mixed Descent, and one per cent Chinese Guyanese.

Apparently referring to its chief rival in the upcoming elections, the PNC-led APNU/AFC, the party took pointed out: “It is not a make-up that brings different groups as separate ethnic groups in a convenience alliance in order to show different ethnic make-up. It is a genuine participation of citizens from different ethnicity, people proud of their origins and culture, while being 100 per cent Guyanese.”

As alluded to earlier, the APNU+AFC coalition spent a month over negotiations that centred over ethnic representation. The APNU had confessed that since its usual 40 per cent support was primarily African Guyanese – it needed the 11 per cent support the AFC claimed it could bring from its Indian Guyanese supporters in Berbice, to obtain an absolute majority at the elections and, not so incidentally, to achieve “national unity”.

They did not elaborate as to the nature of the “national unity” when even by its own calculations, 49 per cent of the nation would have withheld support for them. The majority, however, would give them the Presidency as well as the wherewithal to pass their legislation in the House of Assembly.

But with all its focus on ethnic support as the base of achieving “national unity” and indeed legitimacy to govern, surprisingly the APNU/AFC did not reveal the ethnic breakdown of its list. It is rather misleading to peruse its list and try to decipher ethnic origins from the stated names. In the interest of full disclosure in its candour on negotiating along ethnic lines, it is our opinion that the coalition would add to its credibility if it would come clean on the issue.

The significance of nationality and ethnic identity

Dear Editor, Dr David Hinds in another media queried (myself and others) why Moses Nagamootoo’s comment that he is not Indian was not raised earlier than now. My response was not published. Apparently, Hinds did not read Baytoram Ramharack’s missive or my addendum carefully. It was not in the public domain prior to now.

I do agree with Hinds that desperation leads politicians to do and say strange things. That was evidenced at Richmond Hill on March 22. And Hinds himself brought up unrelated points in his retort, suggesting political desperation on his part.

I do not understand the reason for Moses to say he was not Indian. He could not be referring to “national of India”, since the award is generally not given to someone who is a national of India (Indian passport holder).

And Moses was speaking to an audience in India comprising of eminent personalities, including the founder of

the PBD as well as Members of Parliament in India, UK, Malaysia, Singapore, and other countries.

The audience knew he was not an Indian national, just like how myself or Dr Jagan are/were not Indian nationals. In Richmond Hill, as reported, no one queried Moses whether he is Indian or Guyanese, and being one does not preclude someone from being the other. So there is (was) no need for Moses to say he is/was not Indian.

Contrary to what Hinds penned, neither Ramharack nor myself made Moses’ comment a political issue. He made it political and brought this controversy unto himself.

It just did not make any sense for Moses to say he is not Indian. There is no disputing that Moses is Indian –his name is Indian; his physical appearance is Indian; his culture is Indian; no one among the current crop of politicians has fought more than Moses for Indo-Guyanese against racism.

He is an outstanding Guyanese – a brilliant writer, a terrific orator, an effective political strategist, a nationalist. He understands Guyana’s politics better than the entire crop of politicians. He provided helpful advice to me when I was doing my doctoral dissertation (on ethnic relations) during the early 1990s.

Moses’ ill-advised statement that he is not Indian was never public knowledge. There were no such reports in January 2008 or till now. Neither Chairman Inder Singh nor President Ashook Ramsaran of GOPIO, the organization that conferred the honor on Moses, made mention of such a comment.

It came as a complete surprise to GOPIO leaders when Moses made the statement. It brought back memories of exchanges myself, Ramharack, Vassan Ramracha, and other Indian activists had with Indian politicians who related experiences where some IndoCaribbean politicians went to the extreme of denying their

racial identity(during the 1970s thru 1990s) at international forums.

Indian politicians told us that it was because of similar comments (emanating from Moses), Winston Mahabir (whose name Ramharack mentioned), and from a few others, that caused the Indian Government to be hesitant in speaking out against human rights abuses against Indo-Caribbeans, especially against Indo-Guyanese during the 1970s and 1980s. It made the struggle for racial equality in Guyana and other societies all the more difficult. Had Indian leaders acknowledged their Indian background, Indian may have been more forthcoming in helping Indians who were oppressed by the PNC.

As Hinds noted, whenever rights activists invoke their identity, they are labeled as racist. Indian rights advocates, in particular, are labeled racists when they expose racism against Indians.

turn to page 5

The unity coalition is a misnomer

Dear Editor, It was nomination day and I was there at City Hall for the event. The PPP/C’s team came first donned in their red outfit cool, calm and confident waving their flags. It was a large contingent which was peaceful, and most of all dignified in their demeanor. They handed in their nomination papers and then left.

The supposed coalition folks came next, large lewd loud and obnoxious. Before I go on, you would have noticed my use of the word “supposed” coalition because there was nothing coalition about the colours I saw nor was there any mention, I repeat, any mention of Prime Ministerial nominee and co-partner Moses Nagamootoo.

It was all Granger from the very start. The madding crowd shouted for Granger! APNU!

in a cacophonous mixture of sounds. What I heard and – I am not deaf by any stretch of the imagination – was a whipped up call for Granger awe boy! There was no shout like Granger and Moses or “victory for the coalition”. It was Granger and APNU everywhere. The few persons who representative the other race - and I could’ve counted those individuals on my hand, were seen walking around aimlessly disoriented.

I believe they were stunned by the spontaneous exuberance of the crowd for Granger and not the coalition. They would have been shocked to the reality of the moment that “the coalition” is nothing but a shore up for PNC/APNU.

Quite frankly I would advise Moses to look into the mirror and hang his head in shame. I would say to Moses

I told you so. So my question to the AFC team, is there a coalition? Is there a Prime Ministerial Candidate?

And why wasn’t he a prominently featured as did the PPP/C’s candidate Elizabeth Harper? Well, the question is really rhetorical because Moses was there, but in actuality was not recognized by his APNU counterparts.

He was lost in the background as a no body. The PPP/ C’s team was lead by the two prominent candidates Donald Ramotar and Elizabeth Harper as is dictated by the two major races of this country.

There was also a unified representation of the six races in the supportive backup crowd. What is crystal clear is that this election is all about the PNC/APNU getting a firm grip at power again.

That unity coalition is a

misnomer, it is all about the PNC/APNU. The coalition is a total failure from the very start. The supposed coalition is a beneficial arrangement for one obnoxious group only. Again I say don’t you think that section of the populace are taking keen note of this? How could you speak of a unity party coalition when in reality there is only talk of the major entity only? It just does not make any sense. Finally, Moses, tonight you will not have a peaceful sleep you would be asking yourself what have I done. You would look back at the Cummingburg Accord as the worst day in your life when you traded your birthright for a mess of PNC/ APNU pottage. I say Moses you are doomed.

Neil Adams

I am Guyanese Hindu

Dear Editor,

Hypothetically speaking let’s say ok, I concede. I am solely Guyanese, I am not Guyanese-Indian, according to the Moses Nagamootoo theory. I guess that means all global sense of ethnic identity should concede as well because surely this isn’t just for Guyana alone? This is one person’s philosophical outlook on the whole world.

Under that assumption I guess David Hinds, ACDA and the House of Israel must concede as well to a wholly Guyanese identity regardless of ethnic origin. How come only the Indians must concede ethnicity?

In fact, not only Indians, but Hindus especially have to suffer ethnic and religious enculturation. If I had to concede my race, then I must not vote race politics anymore, but I have to now decide between just the good and bad politicians.

This is very well how it should be as in the case of more developed western countries, but in the politics of Guyana parties survive with race bank voting. Who knows, my vote may have to switch allegiances.

My nani used to say, “Vote for Cheddi Jagan, he is Indian,” because she probably hoped he would understand better the struggles of the Indian community and a good response may trickle down to us unlike under any other regime.

And this is exactly how many, including myself, voted for Barack Obama. Unfortunately it took Moses this long to awaken to his true identity after so many years of collecting me and my nani’s votes.

Maybe in the same way Moses is condemning Indians to the actions of David Granger who committed “mistakes” against Indians when he “gunbutted an

Indian in the head” just because he was “taking orders from (Forbes) Burnham”.

I guess we must forgive Granger because maybe he didn’t know the Indian was Indian. He probably thought it was just another Guyanese. So why then Moses would fly all the way to India on a 15hour flight with all his jaji bundle to India to collect an award that is from the Global Organization for People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) just to announce that he is not really an Indian?

What kind of nonsensical and incoherent politicians are we voting for? This man obviously has no political awareness given the daily rise of India globally. He just renounced being an Indian?

Tomorrow we may wake up and India will be a world power. Does he truly speak for all of us, did he just relinquish us from our ancestral place of origin? Next thing you, know I might have to renounce being even a Hindu!

I can tell you one thing though; Kurukshetra might come alive once again if I have to give up praising Krishna.

Given the statement Nagamootoo just made about his conversion from Guyanese-Indian to just Guyanese, I guess we might all have to swing in the direction of Donald Ramotar because by definition he might be the only true Guyanese anyway.

Well, I know at least one good will come from this. I am waiting for my reparations from the White man in Europe too. Since I am no longer Guyanese-Indian, but Guyanese, I will be awaiting my Euros too because there is no such thing as different races. We might as well all concede we suffered as one.

My Guyanese ancestors came as slaves and I need my compensation for the suffer-

ing. Furthermore, what’s the point of voting, a Guyanese will win anyway. Should I reconsider voting for another Black President of the USA? We are all Americans over here.

I promise I won’t even listen to any race-based politics from the likes of Freddie Kissoon and Hinds. Why should I listen to Granger gun-butting Indians or Ramotar running race-based politics?

We are all Guyanese according to Moses. He just silenced everyone including any future race debates from his own party. Maybe we should not even be too hard on the man, he probably just nursing a grudge.

Vassan I Ramracha

Each voter will have finger stained just before placing ballot into Ballot Box

Dear Editor, The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) would like to take this opportunity to respond to a letter published in another section of the media on March 31 entitled, “Wrong sequence”, by an individual whose name was withheld.

In that letter, the writer queried a point raised in one of GECOM’s “Elections Corner” features, on March 28, headlined, “The role of the Poll Clerk, Ballot Clerk and Information Clerk”, which examined some of the roles of Polling Day staff.

The writer was particularly concerned with an aspect of the Ballot Clerk duties in which it is written that

the Ballot Clerk must “ensure that the elector’s finger is stained with ink and allow him or her to cast their ballot”.

The writer went on to state that: “This gives the impression that one’s finger is stained prior to voting, which is incorrect.”

GECOM would like to categorically state that on Polling Day the elector, after marking and correctly folding his or her ballot paper in the voting compartment, must have his or her finger stained before casting his or her ballot in the Ballot Box.

The Ballot Clerk must indeed “ensure that the elector’s finger is stained with ink, before allowing him or her to

cast the ballot”. The reason for this procedural sequence is mainly because GECOM would like to eliminate any situation in which an elector, after casting his or her ballot, refuses to have his or her finger stained.

Therefore, as is correctly stated in GECOM’s Manuals and in the “Elections Corner” column, each and every elector will have his or her finger stained just before depositing the ballot into the Ballot Box.

GECOM hopes that this letter clarifies any misunderstanding or misinterpretation that might have arisen.

Richard Francois Public Relations Officer GECOM

The significance of nationality...

When Kwayana says he is a proud African, is he a racist? When Hinds consistently says he is proud African, is he also racist? Why then should Indian rights advocates be labeled as racists? Why should Indians who questioned Moses’ comment be labeled negatively, including by Hinds?

Analogously, when African rights advocates complain about allegations of discrimination, they are labeled as “civil rights activists” and praised for their work. As an academic teaching at a university, Hinds finds no reason to condemn those who call Indians racist just for expressing pride in their racial identity or for defending Indians who were attacked because of their identity.

This is in sharp contrast to Hinds’ fulsome praises to Kwayana for being an African nationalist, but no word of encouragement to Moses to be proud of his ethnic identity.

A call for free, fair and peaceful elections

Dear Editor,

One of the pillars of our democracy – especially post 1992 – is periodic conduct of national and regional elections. Now that the nomination lists of the contesting parties have been handed in to officials of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), an essential requirement of the electoral process has been completed.

This may very well mean that the elections campaigning would rise in intensity while stimulating greater political interest countrywide.

The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG), the nation’s largest majority bloc of registered, unionized workers, highly values these periodic elections, seeing them as an indispensable factor for the well-being and stability of our society.

Since 1992, these elections have had the distinction of being free and fair and have been held in conditions

that were relatively peaceful. We look forward to and urge that the upcoming May 11 elections be also free, fair and peaceful.

The elections season is a time for various and heightened political activities. These myriad activities should keep our citizenry to become more politically aware and so be able to be very informed when exercising their franchise.

Leaders and activists who are engaged in these activities, whatever the type, need also to appreciate the need to be tolerant, respectful and responsible particularly as this could also be an emotionally charged season.

As several past experiences would have shown, a free, fair and generally peaceful elections atmosphere depend so much on the work of GECOM. Given the range of issues to be addressed and the challenging logistics entailed, GECOM has done a praiseworthy job in previous elections.

FITUG takes this opportunity to urge GECOM to yet again pursue its task of conducting the forthcoming elections in a business-like way and taking the care and precaution to ensure that they turn out to be unquestionably free and fair, and thus, contributing to maintaining and even strengthening our democratic culture.

FITUG also takes the opportunity to encourage all those who are eligible and registered to vote to do so. It’s our right and duty. We need to be mindful that the elections and their outcome will play a major role in determining our country’s future path and its development prospects.

On May 11, through our vote, let us mandate the political leaders to continue to build, maintain economic vibrancy and ensure our country’s all-round social advances and progress.

FITUG

On being Guyanese versus being Indian, when Indians were physically attacked in election related violence in 1992, 1997, 1998 and 2001, etc, was it because they were “Guyanese” or because they were “Indians”?

And incidentally, the attackers made no distinction on whether the Indians were PPP/C, WPA or PNC supporters. The Indians were beaten, robbed and raped and their businesses burnt because they were “Indians”, not because they were “Guyanese”.

Let me further illustrate the significance of nationality and ethnic identity. About a decade ago in Richmond Hill, an Italian-American (born in New York) attacked an Indian-American (Rishi Maharaj born in New York) breaking up the young man’s jaw and fracturing his skull; then Governor Pataki (himself an Italian) and Mike Bloomberg (Jewish) called the attacker a bigot and an idiot after he said he wanted to beat up “an Indian” and telling him to go back to India.

The fact that Maharaj was American did not matter to the attacker because in his mind he was beating up an Indian, not an American, not different from what took place during election related violence in Guyana.

Similarly, in Edison,

New Jersey, Indians (born in Jersey) were attacked by the so called dot buster gang and told to go back to India.

The American nationality of the victims did not save them just like how the Guyanese nationality of the victims did not save them from racist attackers. It took intense lobbying by the Indian American community, using their wealth to influence politicians to put an end to the dot buster attacks.

The Indian Americans (including Indo-Guyanese Americans) have not denied their identity. They view themselves as Americans and Indians. One does not have to dissociate from one identification in order to be accepted by the other.

Contrary to what Hinds suggested, I have been very consistent on ethnic identity – people have nothing to be ashamed of in their ethnic background. Almost every American is proud of their racial ancestry or national origins. And I never label anyone a racist for expressing pride in their racial identity or origin.

With regards to Moses, the question was not about his nationality (passport), but about his heritage or ethnicity – which is tied to one’s place of origin. What made the comment politically relevant, as others noted, is that Moses

From page 4

has specifically promised to deliver his party’s 11 per cent “Indian votes” to the PNC’s 40 per cent “African support” (national unity?) to enable the alliance to win with 51 per cent. Abracadabra! racial unity is achieved. Were these “Indian” votes from India? Moses’ comment was simply out of context and made no sense – there was no need for it. You can’t say you are Indian when it will benefit you (with votes) and you are not Indian when there is no political gain. That is political opportunism, the point made by Ramharack.

Hinds queried whether I did polls for PPP/C and whether they showed the alliance winning. Yes, I did polls, but not for the PPP/C, as he concluded. And no, the polls did not show the alliance winning. The polls did not show the population approving of the PNC-AFC merger. The findings of the polls were published. All he needed to do was google NACTA polls for 2015 for the results. Instead of attacking those who critiqued Moses’ position on ethnic identity, he should praise them for being forthright, consistent and honest in their views of ethnicity and their championing of racial equality.

Vishnu Bisram

Thrsday, april 9, 2015|

MMU flays Kaieteur News for negative coverage of Govt

...says

Stabroek News favours Opposition

he Kaieteur News

Tcame in for a strong bashing from the Media Monitoring Unit (MMU) of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) for the reports and the opinions expressed in the newspaper’s elections coverage for the period under review.

The revelations were made as the MMU released its first report on the local media’s coverage of elections-related issues here.

Some media houses were criticised for what was described as the “swelling antipathy towards good journalism practices” and the lowering of standards.

The MMU therefore called on all media operatives to uphold their journalism ethics and principles in carrying out their mandates, while noting that some currently being exercised were of low standards.

Kaieteur News' bias

The Kaieteur News was singled out for its negative coverage in several areas.

The negative coverage that the Government suffered in the Kaieteur News far outweighed the positive publicity it received.

In fact, the Government’s negative to positive ratio of coverage from the editorials was more than 3:1.

Comparatively, the Government’s negative coverage was approximately five times more the same coverage calculated for the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C), and 22 times that of A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC).

The Unit also called on Kaieteur News, CNS Channel 6 and the National Communications Network (NCN) for their skewed coverage.

Stabroek News favours Opposition

The Stabroek News was heavily criticized in the report.

According to the MMU, during the course of the reporting period, the editorials of the Stabroek News churned out figures from which coverage for the Government, PPP/C and APNU+AFC was calculated in the following manner:

The Government and the APNU+AFC received small amounts of positive coverage, while the PPP/C did not register any like measurable coverage. APNU+AFC’s share of positive coverage was roughly double that of the Government.

In terms of negative coverage, the Government got a significant amount of negative publicity, the PPP/C was the recipient of a large amount of same, and the APNU+AFC came in for a relatively minor amount of negative coverage.

APNU+AFC was the only entity that gained net positive coverage in a ratio of over 2:1.

Dissimilarly, the Government accumulated a negative to positive ratio of coverage of 33:1, while the PPP/C’s coverage devoid of any measurable positive coverage was overwhelmingly negative.

Guyana Times/TVG

For the Guyana Times, the MMU cited just one “infraction” in a story carried on the APNU+AFC rally in Linden.

According to the MMU, for the month of March, the

news team of Guyana Times’ sister company Television Guyana (TVG), through the Evening News/Morning News, provided coverage for the Government, PPP/C and APNU+AFC, with all three entities receiving large amounts of positive coverage.

While the Government attracted the most coverage, the APNU+AFC was second for the most positive coverage, followed by the PPP/C.

According to figures provided by media watchdog, the Evening News/Morning News gave the coalition an overall 60 per cent of positive coverage in the newscast, while the PPP/C had received 57.2 per cent.

From the talk shows and interviews aired on the channel over the past month, the Government got a small amount of positive coverage, the PPP/C a modest amount of the cover-

age, and the APNU+AFC, a small amount.

All three entities –Government, PPP/C and APNU+AFC – realised net positive coverage in this category of programming.

According to the Report, in “the opinions articulated by the writer(s) of the editorials of the Guyana Times, over the duration of this reporting period, the Government, PPP/C and APNU+AFC were profiled in the following manner: all three entities received positive coverage in varying amounts”.

The Government received a modest amount of positive coverage, the PPP/C gained a large amount of same, and the APNU+AFC

attracted a relatively small amount of positive publicity.

The PPP/C gained the largest share of positive coverage, followed by the Government, with the APNU+AFC bringing up in the cellar.

Comparatively, the Government received ex-

actly 11 times more positive coverage than the APNU+AFC, while the PPP/C gained a not-so considerable more positive coverage than the Government, but significantly more than the APNU/AFC by a margin of almost 13:1.

The general news section of the newspaper churned out figures which showed that the Government, PPP/C and APNU+AFC, gained significantly large amounts of positive coverage.

The Government gained the most, followed by the PPP/C, then APNU+AFC, in that order. On the negative side, the Government took in a large amount of negative coverage, the PPP/C a modest amount of same, and the APNU+AFC, a copious amount, the MMU said.

The APNU/AFC’s share of negative coverage in this section of the newspaper was more than that of the Government, more than that of the PPP/C, and more than the Government and PPP/C.

Guyana Chronicle

According to the MMU, the state-owned Guyana Chronicle gave the Government in excess of two times the positive coverage taken in by the PPP/C and nearly nine times the same coverage absorbed by APNU+AFC.

The PPP/C’s positive coverage was approximately three times APNU+AFC’s positive coverage. In the negative columns, the Government and the PPP/C captured comparably small amounts of negative coverage, while the APNU+AFC gained a significantly large amount of like coverage.

The APNU+AFC’s negative coverage was almost 157 times more than the Government’s, and 191 times more than the PPP/C. “All told, the Government’s positive to negative ratio of coverage was 416: 1; the PPP/C’s positive to negative ratio was 194:1.

The APNU+AFC suffered net negative coverage in a negative to positive ratio of just over 3:1,” the report said.

PPP/C list reflects continuity, youth

...says

Opposition cannot

By Michael younge

The ruling People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) is standing resolutely behind the List of Candidates presented to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) on Tuesday ahead of the upcoming elections, restating its position that it is the winning List founded on the principles of continuity, youth diversity and varying forms of equity and balance.

The Party made its pronouncements following what many have described as several opportunistic, unsubstantiated and malicious statements being peddled by sections of the Opposition-run private media houses.

PPP/C Executive Member Irfaan Ali, speaking with the Guyana Times, during an invited comment, declared that the Party was proud that it could produce a List of competent, qualified, passionate and dedicated Guyanese who were desirous of serving their country at varying levels when the Party was re-elected to Government with a majority. He debunked the concerns raised by the People’s National Congress Reform(PNCR)-led A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coali-

inspire even their own children

shows clearly that they probably find their parents’ politics to be hypocritical or deficient or both.

Additionally, he said that in general, the PPP/C culture is one where youths from all walks of life – including the children of serving and past politicians – are trained to understand the philosophy governing the Party and the role they must play in safeguarding and developing Guyana. At this time, they can see the clear and present danger presented by the “dirty and murky” hands of the Opposition.

“It is good that we as a party have managed to attract so many youths and new faces to

He said that the PPP/C’s List was reflective of the dynamism with the Party and the wider country and boasted a set of attractive, bright and committed Party comrades who were all nominated at varying levels to serve.

“It is not my problem that those within the Opposition could not influence even their family members to consider serving at higher levels in their party and giving back to the Guyanese people. It is not my problem that David Granger’s bed-fellow Moses Nagamootoo could not produce a credible List that is reflective of youth,” he charged.

Ali said the fact that this politician could not present a

politicians” on their List.

“We condemn all forms of attacks on our youth candidates and we urge all rightthinking Guyanese to reject the opportunistic, yard fowl and political insensitive nature of the PNC-dominated coalition. The PPP/C moves onwards to another resounding victory,” Ali concluded.

Friends and family

The coalition earlier on Wednesday had said that dozens of relatives and friends were on the Party’s List in a statement to the media. “The PPP’s ‘Friends and Family List’ confirms their shameless, blatant and unbridled nepotism which the PPP continues to throw in the faces of the people of this nation,” it protested.

The PPP/C in a release almost immediately after it had departed City Hall on Nomination Day, said its List was concrete testimony that it was the only national political party with genuine participation by all sections of the Guyanese community. “It is representative of people from different parts of Guyana, different professions and occupations, women and gender, youth and experience, ethnicity and religion…We are proud that leaders of different professions, business, farming, education, youth leaders,

tion that the List was nepotistic in nature because there were several children of veterans of the PPP/C on the List.

Laudable Ali said that the fact that the senior members of the ruling party could have convinced their immediate families and other relatives to rally around the cause of continuing development by joining the Party’s List after they were duly nominated via the various party organs was laudable. From a personal standpoint, he said, immediate members of the family of a person are in the best position to evaluate that person as to whether they are sincere in what they are doing. The fact that so many children of the APNU+AFC coalition rejected being members of the List

our candidates’ List. For that, we offer no apologies. The fact that our Executives have managed to get their children and families to put their backs to the wheels and work hard to serve this country is laudable. For that, we offer no apologies,” he said.

Ali made it clear that the Party was well aware that the outburst by the Opposition and its media cohorts was an attempt to manufacture controversy and to divert attention from the PNCR-led coalition’s “lacklustre, unbalanced and highly militarised List”.

He continued, “The last component is especially troubling, because most of them were trained to follow Granger reflexively without question. This attitude is anti-democratic to the maximum.”

single member of his family to the country as worthy of any sort of leadership position was telling and an indictment on their part. “Our youths grew up in the party. They have worked at varying levels. They have learnt about the importance of keeping Guyana on the trajectory of progress and they have offered themselves up to be part of the cause. Not even Moses with his slithering, deceptive tongue and the branding of his new masters could stop this youth force in the PPP/C,” he said with enthusiasm.

Ali urged the Opposition to focus their attention on the glaring inconsistencies and shortcomings of its own Lists, the exclusion and sidelining of a party stalwart, Vanessa Kissoon, and the overwhelming numbers of “have-been

thursday, april 9, 2015 |

Webster cites health reason for being off PPP/C’s list

Minister of Human Services and Social Security Jenifer

Webster has decide to opt out of People’s Progressive Party/Civic’s (PPP/C) National Top Up List of Candidates, but said she remains committed to the work and upward movement of the party.

Webster was notably absent from the parties 71-member list, which was made available to the media after it made the official presentation to the Guyana Election Commission’s Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield.

Contacted on Wednesday for an explanation, Minister Webster told Guyana Times that there was no mistake, as she had made the decision to take a break for reasons she will make public at the appropriate time.

With a distinguished record in the Public Sector and qualifications in the field of Finance, Jenifer

Ingrid Marie Webster was a Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President. In 2006 she became a Member of Parliament with the portfolio of Minister within the Ministry of Finance. Her current portfolio is Minister of Human Services and Social Security.

Police Constable commits suicide at Anna Regina

women leaders, leaders within different communities, including Amerindian leaders, religious leaders have joined forces with the PPP/C, as the only party with a record for development,” the statement read.

It disclosed that approximately 450 candidates make up the List of Candidates of the PPP/C. The List, the statement also disclosed, comprises 52 per cent Indo-Guyanese, 23 per cent African Guyanese, 12 per cent Guyanese of Mixed Descent, 10 per cent Amerindian, 2 per cent Portuguese and 1 per cent Chinese. The PPP/C also underscored its commitment to gender equality, noting that its List represents 35 per cent women. Further, the List includes 57 per cent Christians, 32 per cent Hindus and 11 per cent Muslims.

APolice Constable at-

tached to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at the Anna Regina Police Station was the Essequibo Coast’s most recent case of suicide. Forty-one-year-old Leono Patrick consumed a quantity of poisonous substance on Tuesday and was immediately rushed to the Suddie Public Hospital, where he succumbed on Wednesday.

According to his reputed wife, Mertle Mark, with whom he lived at the Anna Regina Housing Scheme, they had an argument on Easter Monday (April 6).

The sad woman said that she was putting her daughter to sleep that night when the now deceased started to argue with her.

She said the argument “cooled” down, and she did not know her husband was

still upset. Mark said that she went to work the next day, and later received a phone call from her son, stating that her husband had drunk poison.

When questioned where Patrick would have got the poison, Mark responded a “shop on the road”. She added that she was unsure why the 13-year Police veteran would have wanted to end his life so tragically.

Mark and Patrick shared a relationship for 20 years and had four children.

A post-mortem on the deceased is scheduled to be performed on Friday.

Meanwhile, in another tragic case, a lad from the same Housing Scheme, whose name was given as “Andy”, also consumed a quantity of poison. He is battling for his life at the Suddie Public Hospital.

Gajraj appointed Guyana's Ambassador to Bangladesh

ormer Home Affairs

FMinister Ronald Gajraj has been appointed Guyana’s Ambassador to Bangladesh.

Gajraj, who also heads Guyana’s mission in New Delhi, India, will be a nonresident High Commissioner to Bangladesh. Gajraj called on the Asia nation’s Foreign Minister, Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali on Wednesday.

He told the Foreign Minister that a joint commission could be formed to identify the areas where the two countries could work together. Gajraj, based in New Delhi, presented his credentials for Bangladesh to President Md Abdul Hamid on Tuesday.

The only Englishspeaking country in South America, Guyana’s economy depends mostly on commodity exports. The Foreign

Minister said Bangladesh could help Guyana, which is rich in ecology, to tap its resources. He particularly mentioned skilled manpower exports like doc-

tors, nurses, engineers and agriculturalists from Bangladesh. Ali said regular foreign office consultation could be a way to give a “structural shape” to the bi-

lateral relations, a proposal the envoy accepted. The Foreign Minister assured him of support during his tenure.

Eyew tness

Where oh where...

...were these faithful

It was Nomination Day and all the city was abuzz...Hand in hand came Granger and Nagamootoo – and even old Roopnarine – leading the troops to City Hall.. But where oh where was Ramjattan? Gandhi once said “There go my people; I must hurry and catch up with them, for I am their leader.”

Your Eyewitness looked all around but just couldn’t see any “hurrying leader” Ramjattan. If he was there, he really played it low keyed. Looks like he’s lost his “leader” spot to Nagamootoo!!

Poor Ramjattan. He’s gonna lose corn and he’s gonna lose husk. When the coalition’s wiped out on May 11 “too late” shall be the cry. But that’s the risk folks take when their grasp is beyond their reach. But if you’ve been reading this column, you’ll know it’s no surprise that Vanessa Kissoon was nowhere in sight in the seething mass of green. Sandra Adams was there though, wasn’t she?? Right up in front. Adams was the gal who’d been catapulted from New York to the head of the PNC set up in Linden – without even a word to Kissoon who’d worked like the proverbial dog in the Region. The problem was Granger don’t like women who answer back. And Kissoon liked to answer back. She has this quaint notion that democracy means you get to express your opinion to others in your organisation. What an innocent!!

She forgot that even Granger’s wife calls him “Brigadier”!! The man is army through and through. But what else can you expect from a fella who moved from being a cadet in High School right into the army where he then spent the next thirty-five years? With him it’s “Yes Sir!! No sir!! And very well Sir!!” So now Vanessa’s out like a light! She should’ve listened to Africo Selman. She warned Kissoon that Granger liked to keep his women “barefoot and pregnant”.

But this Eyewitness wants to salute Kissoon...He definitely doesn’t go along with all her positions - but he’s got to admit she’s got spunk. Another missing face was one that had just popped up after a long hiatus...Supriya Singh Bodden. Why did she just flatter to deceive?? Here she was speaking on platforms and everything and then... Poof!!!... she’s gone. Granger??

And last but not least is that ageing revolutionary (well in his own mind, like Roopnarine) and rice agitator Jinnah Rahaman. After agitating in such a key sectorhow could AFC not insist on a seat for him at the table?? How in the world, is Nagamootoo going to bring that 11 per cent Indian vote into the PNC-led APNU/AFC grab bag??

....Nagamootoo’s pre-nup spunk?

Somebody’s obviously taken Nagamootoo behind the old wood shed and giving him a good, old fashioned “paddling”. You’d remember he up and told all and sundry in New York if he didn’t get his 12 seats - regardless of whether he brings his 11 per cent to Granger or not - he was going to get a “divorce”. Now this is serious talk from a newlywed...shows there ain’t much trust between the honeymooning couple. Too much focus on “who’s on top” and too little on “till death do us part”.

APNU handlers weren’t too amused. Didn’t show much faith in the arrangement, did he?? Well, it was so heartwarming to hear Nagamootoo simper at the Nomination shebang that there will be “no divorce” from APNU. But then again it’s possible that all that walking in the midday sun got him bassidy. After all he also blurted that he’d “batted and bowled” for Guyana.

That’s your nephew, you old wanker!!

...is one love?

But even though Nagamootoo promised eternal fidelity...the separate green and yellow costumes on Nomination Day reminds one and all that this APNU/AFC’s just a marriage of convenience. It’s all in their symbol: how can an open hand hold a key??

No victim of TIP found in Mahdia

...but Task Force cites labour breaches

The Ministerial Task Force on Trafficking in Persons (TIP) said it found no evidence of such or victims during a recent tour to Mahdia and surrounding villages in Region Eight ( PotaroSiparuni).

The findings from the mission contrast sharply with reports from the Guyana Women Miners Organisation (GWMO) which routinely expose cases of TIP in the mining districts across the country.

In a statement, the Task Force said a team of representatives visited the Mahdia community, as well as surrounding areas, from March 27 to 29, to conduct surveillance on suspicious business establishments and other locations in the area. The visit was conducted as part of the implementation of the National Action Plan for 2014-2015 of the Ministerial Task Force on Trafficking in Persons.

The team while in Mahdia made extensive efforts to obtain information from Police Officers, Mines Officers, villagers, shop owners and Toshaos in and around Mahdia about suspicious activities in the area.

The team also surveyed several night spots in Mahdia, inclusive of those that demanded special attention as a result of information received by the Task Force. While females were witnessed frequenting these locations, investigations revealed that patrons of the aforementioned business premises were above the age of 18.

The Task Force also visited 17 business establishments in Central Mahdia, St Elisabeth, Pamela Landing, Jumbie Creek, 35 Backdam, Konawaruk Junction, and Micobie, and questioned the owners and other individuals present on the premises. At each of the locations, shop owners were requested to produce their business registration documents and state their number of employees, while employees were requested to produce their identification cards for name and age verification along with work permits. Employees’ interviews were not conducted in the presence of employers. All buildings were inspected by the team inclusive of the shops and domestic quarters.

The team did encounter labour violations involving two females, one under-aged and one adult, who were employed at a shop in the area. The owners of that shop were charged with employing a child on a

premises selling intoxicating liquor contrary to Section 52 of the Protection of Children Act Number 17 of 2009 and placed before the Courts. The Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security commenced the provision of psychosocial support to this under-aged female.

Contrary statements

The Head of the GWMO, Simona Broomes, in an article titled “Child Care Agency rescues girl being pimped by her mother” in another section of the media had made allegations of a contrary nature.

“It is evident that members of the GWMO seek to automatically apply the term ‘trafficking in persons’ in all instances when they encounter minors or young adult females in interior regions. The Task Force has repeatedly sought to distinguish between terms such as “child labour”, “prostitution”, and “trafficking in persons” in its awareness sessions and workshops as they are respectively unique in nature,” the statement read.

According to the Task Force, in addition to the activity in Region Eight and in keeping with the aforementioned National Action Plan, it has from January 2014 to date conducted community and secondary schools trafficking in persons awareness activities in Regions Two, Four, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine and 10 along with maintaining a presence at a number of national exhibitions, such as GuyExpo.

The Task Force also deployed its Surprise Inspection Framework (SIF) to business establishments, including shops, night spots and other locations in Central Georgetown, East Bank and East Coast Demerara in Region Four; Mahaicony, Rosignol and Blairmont in Region Five; Corentyne Coast in Region Six; Bartica, Tamakay Landing and Backdam, Itaballi and 14 Miles Issano in Region Seven; Lethem in Region Nine

and Linden in Region 10. “In light of the foregoing, it must be noted that the Ministerial Task Force on Trafficking in Persons respects the right of Non-Governmental Organisations to operate independently, but wishes to reiterate its willingness to collaborate with any NonGovernmental Organisation to reduce incidents of trafficking in persons in Guyana.”

Acquitted murder accused charged with $42M robbery

Acquitted murder accused Stravo Evans, 31, of Lot 1075 Grove, East Bank Demerara, was on Wednesday arraigned on eight charges related to the $42 million heist on April 1 outside the Bourda Post Office, Regent Street, Georgetown.

The father of one made his first appearance at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts and was remanded to prison by Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry. He was not required to plead to the indictable charges, which ranged from robbery to abduction.

The first charge read to the defendant in the absence of his attorney, Peter Hugh, stated that on April 1, with others, carrying a dangerous weapon, he robbed Police Officer Andre July of one G3 Rifle and 31 rounds of 7.62x51 ammunition belonging to the Guyana Defence Force. On the same day, he also robbed the Guyana Post Office Corporation of $42,522,000 while relieving July of a mobile phone valued $10,000, the next charge read.

The Police also stated that on April 1, he robbed Darwin Hinds of a Toyota minibus of the type popularly known as a “Pit Bull” valued $2.4 million, property of the Guyana Post Office Corporation. On the same day, he restrained both the minibus driver (Hinds) and the Policeman and abducted them during the robbery.

In presenting the state’s case, the prosecutor revealed

Robbery accused:

that on the day in question, about 07:45h, the defendant and his accomplices went to the Bourda Market and upon seeing the bus approaching the Bourda Post Office, they carried out the brazen early morning robbery.

They proceeded to pull the driver from his seat, subdued him and the Police rank before tying them up together, and then drove the bus to Cemetery Road, East La Penitence, Georgetown where they removed the money, gun, ammunition and mobile phone. They subsequently escaped in another vehicle.

The minibus was found some time later with the two men tied in the back. Based on Police investigations, Evans was tracked down and arrested. A Police source told the Guyana Times that Evans was positively identified during an Identification Parade by the Policeman whose weapon was

taken away. The G3 Rifle was recovered on Wednesday morning in a trench in East La Penitence. The senior rank also stated that upon his arrest, Evans remained tight-lipped about the robbery and refused to cooperate with investigators. Nevertheless, the positive identification that Evans was at the scene on April 1 was enough for charges to be instituted.

His four accomplices are still being hunted and the stolen money is yet to be recovered.

Chequered past The Guyana Times understands that back in 2010, Evans was accused of murdering Bascal Johnson, also known as Pascal, 44, of East Ruimveldt along Laing Avenue, Georgetown.

At the Preliminary Inquiry, the Magistrate found that there was sufficient evidence for him to stand trial in the High Court, but during the trial there, the main suspect told the jury that he had lied during his testimony in the Magistrate’s Court and was found not guilty.

Johnson was reportedly shot above the right eye while he and a woman he reportedly shared a relationship with were standing in an empty lot along Laing Avenue. He died hours later at the Georgetown Public Hospital.

Evans will make his second court appearance on April 13 on the robbery and related charges.

YCG to empower women with entrepreneurship workshops – a

move against domestic violence

Youth Challenge Guyana (YCG) in collaboration with The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is working to train Guyana’s women to be more independent and business oriented in their bid to be empowered.

Speaking with Times recently, the Director of YCG, Dimitri Nicholson disclosed that its non-governmental organisation will be embarking on several workshops around Guyana geared towards training women on business and running their own businesses successfully.

The Director told this publication that the workshop is named Women Entrepreneurship Support Programme (WESP). He said that 60 businesswomen from small communities will be selected to be part of the workshop. This does not entail women who have already established themselves as business owners but those who have set up small ventures and have plans to expand or grow in their work.

Nicholson explained that the training will be occurring this month, starting on April 13 and will last for a week. He said that this will also be repeated in next month May in another area.

He continued that the entrepreneurship programme will be more a crash course as the women will be experiencing all the relevant training in business enterprising, net-

working, etcetera within that week. The workshop will include elements of marketing, cash flow management, inventory management, general areas of finances and how to use technology to modernise and grow their businesses.

Director Nicholson stated that the project will be conducted by business professionals who will be volunteering their time to assist with the edification of these women. The training is completely free, he noted.

When the women have gone through the crash course within the week, Nicholson said that a nine-month mentorship period will take place. In this aspect of the project the women are mentored at their personal businesses on a one on one basis for nine months.

Nicholson said the mentors will not always be with the trainees during the nine months but they will have the ear of those persons about any business decision they wish to make to advance their various businesses.

The YCG Director told Guyana Times that his organisation has worked with women before and they have had enormous response from the activities they would have employed to empower them. The entrepreneurship project is just another way to accomplish this.

He said this initiative should not only empower women with the confidence and the means to be their own person but also act as a fight against

the plague of domestic violence in Guyana. Nicholson said that in most cases of domestic violence, a woman is unable to leave because of a dependence on her abuser or the uncertainty of her financial position. He reasoned that if such dependence or uncertainty can be removed from their lives then it would mitigate the occurrence

of domestic violence.

As the YCG Director stated, “women end up in violent relationships because of economic power…” with such projects “they would not be powerless in relationships.”

The possible overwhelming positive result of this project in small communities was emphasised by Nicholson. He said that it is in such communities that domestic violence is most prevalent and it is hoped such projects that aim to empower women will make the most difference.

He spoke about the ripple effects of such changes too as women influence generations that come up and will, thus it can only be hoped that their influences in such lives will be positive and thus create healthy communities for children and thus add to the human development index of the country.

APNU+AFC youth rally spotlights voter education – youths urged to vote wisely

Hundreds of Guyanese flooded Parade Ground as the A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance for

In his address, Granger said under an APNU+AFC Government, women empowerment would be fostered, giving them a greater

ty, noting that it is important for all Guyanese to work together for a better Guyana. According to him, the country needs a “new

Change (APNU+AFC) coalition culminated Nomination Day with a grand youth rally. Youths from a number of organisations, including the Guyana Youth and Student Movement, staged a cultural show which paved the way for the feature address by the coalition’s Presidential Candidate David Granger.

opportunity to participate in the decision making process.

“We ought to respect women, we ought to respect their capabilities because after all the country is nothing without the interventions of women,” Granger told the huge crowd.

He urged the men to understand the primary role of women in socie -

democracy,” in addition to innovational measures that would foster greater development.

Turning his attention to elections day, the APNU+AFC Presidential Candidate urged that eligible youths participate in the democratic process, noting that every vote is important.

Meanwhile, the coali-

tion’s Prime Ministerial Candidate Moses Nagamootoo said under an APNU+AFC Government, all Guyanese could look forward to a “brighter future.”

“We have put together an unbeatable team, an unstoppable team, a team of the future and one which will secure Guyana,” Nagamootoo told his listening audience.

“Just as how I have endorsed and accepted nomination of this coalition today as Guyana’s next Prime Minister under the presidency of David Granger, today also, the PPP has endorsed and put forward their Prime Ministerial Candidate, Elisabeth Harper,” he added.

It was on this note, Nagamootoo attempted to launch another attack on Harper by comparing his popularity to hers, noting that she is not popular among the masses.

“The Constitution says if something happens to your President then the Prime Minister automatically takes over and you have to be assured of the person you choose,” he stressed.

While indicating that the State is in a transitional stage, he added that “we ought to remove the old corrupt PPP and replace it with a party that will transition power to our young people.”

Meanwhile, AFC Chairman Nigel Hughes said it is important for Guyanese to know their history.

“As a people, as a country, if we do not know our history we will never find our destiny,” he explained. In turning back the pages of history, Hughes said in 1823 the colonial masters of the day beheaded in excess of 100 slaves on Parade Ground.

“It has been a very long journey, it has been a painful journey at times and we have lost some sisters and brothers on the way to this unity. We have lost many persons, since Kowsilla, we lost over 400 sons and most recently, we have lost Courtney Crum-Ewing,” he further added.

Now that the coalition has been formed, Hughes said the coalition must determine what it will do with

its unity and how that unity will be protected.

“We have made many missteps in the past; we distrusted ourselves and our people. Now that God has blessed us with this last opportunity, we have to show humility, we have to show that we are strong, we are committed and we have to demonstrate that we will fight, come what may to protect this unity.”

He emphasised that it is important for Guyanese to learn from their past experiences, noting that only then can the country move forward.

In addition to the cultural show and the many speeches, an information booth was also established in the ground targeting youths in particular. At the booth, youths were educated on the voting process for the upcoming May 11 elections.

Elections will play major role in charting future course – FITUG

Urging all those who are registered to vote to exercise their franchise, the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) said that the May 11 polls will play a major role in charting the future path of this nation.

In a statement, the umbrella trade union movement said one of the pillars of “our democracy – especially post 1992 – is periodic conduct of national and regional elections. Now that the nomination lists of the contesting parties have been handed in to officials of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), an essential requirement of the Electoral Process has been completed. This may very well mean that the election campaigning would rise in intensity while stimulating greater political interest countrywide.”

Calling itself the nation’s largest majority bloc of registered, unionised workers, FITUG said it highly values these periodic elections, seeing them as an indispensable factor

for the well-being and stability of our society. “Since 1992, these elections have had the distinction of being free and fair and have been held in conditions that were relatively peaceful. We look forward to and urge that the upcoming May 11, 2015 elections be also free, fair and peaceful.”

According to the union, the elections season is a time for various and heightened political activities. “These myriad activities should keep our citizenry to become more politically aware and so be able to be very informed when exercising their franchise. Leaders and activists who are engaged in these activities, whatever the type, need also to appreciate the need to be tolerant, respectful and responsible, particularly as this could also be an emotionally charged season.”

GECOM is linchpin

According to the union, as several past experiences would have shown, a free, fair and generally peaceful elections atmosphere depends on the work

of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

“Given the range of issues to be addressed and the challenging logistics entailed, GECOM has done a praiseworthy job in previous elections. FITUG takes this opportunity to urge GECOM to yet again pursue its task of conducting the forthcoming elections in a businesslike way and taking the care and precaution to ensure that they turn out to be unquestionably free and fair, and thus, contributing to maintaining and even strengthening our democratic culture.”

FITUG also encouraged all those who are eligible and registered to vote to do so. “It’s our right and duty. We need to be mindful that the elections and their outcome will play a major role in determining our country’s future path and its development prospects. On May 11, through our vote, let us mandate the political leaders to continue to build, maintain economic vibrancy and ensure our country’s allround social advances and progress.”

Suspect in murder of 9-year-old reportedly confesses

Bob Semple, the main suspect who was taken into Police custody for the murder of nine-year-old Shaquan Gittens of North Ruimveldt, Georgetown reportedly confessed to the heinous crime on Tuesday by giving a detailed account of the horrific incident.

The child went missing on April 1, after he was last seen flying a kite in the area but his body was discovered several days later in a semi nude state floating in a canal aback Cane View, South Ruimveldt, Georgetown.

Based on information received, Semple who seemed mentally ill, is expected to be charged for murder shortly. According to reports received, the suspect told investigators that he “stick up” the lad on April 1, took him aback of Cane View Avenue and sexually molested him.

While doing so, he reportedly strangled Gittens leaving him motionless. After committing the act, he reportedly slept with the lad but realised the child was dead the following morning. He then had sex with the corpse after which he severed the male reproductive organ from the child’s body before dumping it in the canal.

On Wednesday, the sus-

pect was handcuffed and taken to the scene where he committed the act. There he reportedly showed investigators the exact spot and told them how he committed the heinous crime. He was then escorted to the North Ruimveldt Police outpost. A senior Police source told Guyana Times the file jacket will be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions for advice.

Meanwhile, the postmortem examination performed on the body of Gittens revealed that the child died from strangulation. The autopsy was performed by Dr Nehaul Singh at the Georgetown Public Hospital Mortuary on Wednesday.

According to information received, the Police would have received an anonymous call from someone informing them that the child was electrocuted and was seen floating in the canal.

electric wires in the area.

On the day Shaquan disappeared, he was reportedly left in the care of his 15-year-old brother while his mother was at work. He was reportedly in the area in the morning hours flying his kite.

At about 12:00h, he returned home to have lunch and left again to join his friends. That was the last

Upon their arrival at the area, Police Officers had to walk close to two miles before reaching the area where the body was spotted and there was no evidence of

Reaz Khan demands...

“Whether the failure of Mohammed (Tony) Yassin/ Directors and/or the said Public Company Guyana Stores Limited to perform their Statutory Duties of the said Companies Act 1991 to hold Directors meeting and/or directory statutory meetings for 15 consecutive years 2000-2015 is an atrocity, unlawful, injustice to the said company and members,” the court document outlined.

Furthermore, the documentation outlined that the Court should look into whether their failure to comply with Section 68 of the Companies Act 1991 warrants protective and remedi-

al actions by the Registrar of Companies and the Minister of Finance. This Section provides that Directors of a public company may be appointed only by ordinary resolution passed at a General Meeting and/or AGM of the company and for a period not exceeding five years.

To support his claims, Khan obtained an Affidavit in Support from one of the Directors on GSL’s Board, Justice of Peace and Commissioner of Oaths, Sultan Kassim. The former Deputy Commissioner of Police disclosed that he was appointed a Director in October 2000, but was never invit-

time his brother saw him alive. The lad is survived by his parents and 15-year-old brother.

ed to attend any AGM or Directors’ meetings since his appointment.

In the ongoing case brought by the State over the sale of the department store, Yassin had testified that he was not sure who the current directors of GSL are and has, in fact, admitted that no AGM or Board meetings were held. He also revealed that dividends were not paid since 2001, when the last AGM was held. Initially, there were 10 Directors on the Board – seven from RII, two from the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) and the other one appointed by employees.

PPP/C ups campaign in Region 2

...ahead of grand rally on Saturday

By IndrawattIe natram

Ahead of its grand rally on Saturday in Essequibo, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has intensified its campaigning in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam).

According to Executive member of the Party, Alli Baksh, the campaign machinery is well-oiled, and work plans are progressing smoothly. Baksh said that the PPP/C has always believed in working with the people at the grassroots level, and said that several village meetings as well as walkabouts have been held. He outlined 12 walkabouts have been scheduled for the upcoming week. The walkabouts are being graced by prominent Government Ministers and party supporters.

Baksh said that the Opposition at its recent rally held on April 5 at Damon Square, Anna Regina regrettably tried to smear the PPP/C with wild allegations. He, however, said that PPP/C has risen above all the scandal that is going about. Baksh said the meetings held by the party, so far, in Essequibo have all been well attended, adding that the PPP/C is receiving support from villages that traditionally voted for the Opposition. “The support has been enthusiastic, the spirit is positive, people are recognising the changes PPP is making and will continue to.”

Credible list

Meanwhile, Presidential Candidate for the PPP/C, Donald Ramotar, has stated the party’s List of Candidates presented on Tuesday was a strong and winning one. He was at the time addressing a gathering of the Party’s supporters on Tuesday, hours after he handed over the party’s Nominations List to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) at City Hall. Ramotar outlined that the PPP/C’s List represents the

country in every way. “We have a very good list; we have a blend of maturity and youth. We have professional workers, we have housewives, farmers and we have all races on our list. We have a fully balanced list and I’m sure that List is going to take us to victory. As far as I know, we are the only party that has for its Prime Ministerial Candidate, a woman of substance – Elisabeth Harper,” he stated. According to the President, the May 11 Elections is a very important one; one that will determine the future of the country. He underscored that his Government has worked steadily and with great dedication over the years, taking Guyana from being a heavily indebted country to being described as a middle-income developing country. Additionally, he highlighted that the PPP/C also rid Guyana of the poor education standards, transforming it into a country that produces students who top the Caribbean.

“This is because we invested in our people,” he noted, while adding that Guyana is the only country in the region to inject more than 30 per cent of its National Budget into the Social Sector covering areas such as educa-

tion, health, housing, water, old age pension, among others. He outlined that no other Government provides text books, exercise books to children, and meals to schools. He explained that was done so that the underprivileged Guyanese children would stay in school and get educated to take the country forward.

Ramotar went on to say taking the country forward will be the top priority of his Party in the next five years. He further pointed out that the Opposition stymied the country’s development over the past three years by cutting the Budget in important areas such as the Amaila Falls Hydro Project. This Project, he noted, will provide cheap energy, which is vital for social and economic development. The PPP/C Presidential Candidate also pledged to resuscitate the sugar industry that was responsible for bringing together different races. “We will ensure that it survives and I promise you that over the next five years, we will spend a minimum of $20 billion to ensure that the sugar industry survives in Guyana,” he said.

In addition, he stated that as the search continues for higher paying markets for

rice, his Government is working to create a system of price support to ensure that farmers have better standard of living in Guyana.

On the other hand, he disclosed his desire for Guyanese to benefit from the marvels of science and technology, particularly in the medical field. He referred to the fact that science has provided cures for many of the diseases that people died from in the past; as such, he wants Guyanese to also benefit from these developments. On this note, he highlighted, the need for the Specialty Hospital.

Touching on the issue of infrastructure, Ramotar stated that unique beauty can be found across Guyana. He mentioned with disgust that countries with less than what Guyana has are doing better in the tourism sector. “We can make a very high living. Our country can learn a lot if we develop the tourism sector and to do that we need to put down the infrastructure necessary so that we can have a strong tourism sector in Guyana, but again the Opposition cut the budget… in 2013 they voted for the new airport that we want to build and in 2014 they voted against it,” he remarked.

Missing miner's body surfaces in Pomeroon River

After days of searching, the body of Kelton Benjamin, of Coffee Grove, Essequibo Coast, was finally pulled out of the Lower Pomeroon River on Wednesday.

The miner went missing on April 5 last after two

boats collided in the vicinity of Charity, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam). His body was retrieved at around 02:00h on Wednesday by a private diver who combed the murky water in the Lower Pomeroon area. After being salvaged, the body was transported to the Suddie Funeral Home.

The 23-year-old miner along with his family members was travelling to Friendship in the Lower Pomeroon to attend a church concert when the accident occurred.

Both captains, Bharry Frazer and Owen Gonsalves were in custody assisting with information. Gonsalves was

OAS, Guyana sign pact for Elections Observer Mission

Secretary General of the Organisation of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, and the Permanent Representative of Guyana to the organisation, Bayney Karran on Wednesday signed the agreement by which the institution will send an Electoral Observation Mission to the general elections of May 11 in the Caribbean country.

The ceremony took place in Panama City in the context of the Seventh Summit of the Americas, to be held on April 10 and 11.

The Secretary General expressed his hope that “this will be a very good moment for Guyanese democracy,” and his conviction that, “as always, the government of Guyana will give the Mission all the facilities they need to do their job well.”

added that “this makes the role of the Mission much more important.” The OAS has observed elections in Guyana in 1997, 2001, 2006 and 2011. In the general elections of May 11, voters will elect 65 representatives of the National Assembly and members of the ten Regional Democratic Councils, as well as the President of the country. The Mission will be deployed approximately one week prior to the elections.

in custody for 24 hours, however, was later released.

According to Gonsalves, he was venturing to Charity on his boat, which was powered by a 200-horsepower engine, with six passengers when he was hit by Frazer’s boat. He said that no one in his boat was hurt, but Frazer’s boat engine came off.

He related that after the collision he went over and rendered assistance to Frazer’s passengers. Gonsalves added that the passengers from the other boat began to panic and scream after they learnt the young miner was missing.

Gonsalves said at that point he immediately made a report to the Charity Police Station. Gonsalves has been a boat captain for one year. On the other hand, Frazer is claiming that the accident was no fault of his.

In addition, the Secretary General recalled that this will be the fifth Electoral Observation Mission that the OAS has deployed in Guyana, and announced that he has designated as Chief of Mission the former Foreign Minister and Ambassador of Belize to the OAS, Lisa Shoman. Finally, the leader of the hemispheric institution thanked the countries that have expressed their commitment to support the Mission, and urged other member and observer countries to follow their example.

For his part, Ambassador Karran highlighted “the role that the OAS plays in strengthening democracy in the Hemisphere because democracy and good governance are fundamental to the development agenda, to human rights, to security and to so many other important areas of work.”

In addition, he called the Observation Missions of the OAS “one of the areas of greatest success” of the Organization. “This election that is about to take place on May 11 is going to be a very pivotal election in Guyana, and will have far reaching consequences for the governance of the country irrespective of the result,” said Ambassador Karran, who

On Tuesday the United States Embassy here disclosed that it was providing financial support totalling more than US$300,000 (G$61,710,142) for the election monitoring programmes of the OAS and the Electoral Assistance Bureau (EAB). These resources, the embassy said will assist in their efforts to ensure fair, free, and credible elections in Guyana on May 11, a release from the embassy stated. “Both the OAS and EAB have a proven track record of successful election monitoring missions and are widely respected. The US Government is pleased to support the two organisations in bringing their credible and critical analysis to Guyana’s 2015 electoral process,” the embassy said. According to the embassy, the United States of America continues to advocate globally for the expansion and strengthening of democratic governance. “Regular free and fair elections are critical in this regard. The Guyana Elections Commission has established a strong track record of ensuring ?free, fair, and credible ?elections for the people of Guyana, and we have full faith and confidence in its ability to do so once again in 2015. It is our hope that international and domestic observation will increase public and stakeholder confidence in the electoral process, culminating in all political parties’ acceptance of the ultimate results. The United States remains committed to engagement with all stakeholders to help ensure a free, fair, credible, and peaceful electoral process.”

thursDAY, April 9, 2015 |

Dismembered body

2 more suspects for court

Two days after Kevin Ramsaywack, 23, was arraigned with the murder of Samantha Benjamin-Mc Ewan, whose dismembered body was found at Annandale-Buxton Seawall on March 26, his accomplices are likely to appear in court.

The two young men reportedly told investigators that Ramsaywack was the

mastermind in the murder and they just played along.

A senior law enforcement officer stated that the two men were arrested over the weekend and denied being involved in the slaughtering of the woman. However, they confessed that they were there on the night the woman was killed in her Buxton, East Coast Demerara home.

The main suspect is dis-

puting this, alleging that it was his accomplices who cut off the woman’s hands and legs, while admitting that he severed the woman’s head from her body.

One week after Ramsaywack admitted that he had beheaded BenjaminMc Ewan and disposed of her body at the Annandale Seawall, the Police on Wednesday confirmed that she died as a result of asphyxiation due to multiple facial fractures and brain haemorrhage.

The post-mortem was performed by Dr Nehaul Singh at the Georgetown Public Hospital mortuary in the presence of the dead woman’s relatives.

Twenty-three-yearold Ramsaywack, formerly of Adelphi, Berbice, was arraigned with the murder of Benjamin-Mc Ewan, who operated a stall in the Vendor’s Arcade, Water Street, Georgetown, at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday. He was not required to plead to the indictable charge and was remanded to prison until May 4.

Ramsaywack, the caretaker of Benjamin-Mc Ewan’s Buxton house, killed the businesswoman during a botched robbery. He reportedly told investigators that the woman had hinted that she intended to buy a car, so he decided to rob her with the help of two others, but she resisted fiercely and was killed in the struggle.

Bus driver remanded for death of 4-yearold outside Giftland

A45-route minibus driver was sent to jail without bail on Wednesday at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts for causing the traumatic accident that ended the life of four-year-old Elijah James Andrews in front of Giftland Office Max, Water Street, Georgetown.

The driver, Paul John pleaded not guilty to the charge which stated that his reckless driving resulted in the death of the four-yearold boy on April 4.

The Police’s report stated that about 14:00h, John had stopped to put off a passenger at Giftland when the child was attempting to cross the road. The report continued that the driver drove off immediately after the passenger exited the car, thus hitting little Elijah. It added that he had driven off at an accelerated speed and was unable to stop when he saw the child.

Police Prosecutor, Stephen Telford informed

After realising that she was dead, they attempted to cover up the crime by dismembering and disposing of the body.

Ramsaywack’s two accomplices reportedly cut off the woman’s arms and legs, and placed the body parts in black bags and into a barrel. They then pushed the barrel to the seawall where they cut off the woman’s head believing that when the head-

less body was found, it would be unidentifiable.

This was not the case since hours after the corpse was discovered, the head washed ashore. It took family members days to finally realise that the body found on the seawall was that of Benjamin-Mc Ewan.

After they went to the house to enquire about the woman’s whereabouts, they found a bunch of her keys on the floor in her room. There were spots of blood on a barrel and more so there were blood stains on a wheelbarrow and on the ground under her home.

The suspect at that time told them he had not seen the woman for a few days. Family members became suspicious and contacted the Police on Tuesday last and the man was taken into custody. He confessed to the heinous crime 24 hours later and revealed the identities of his two accomplices.

Man remanded for breaking into boss’ home

Aman was remanded to prison on Wednesday after appearing before Magistrate Fabayo Azore at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts for breaking into the home of his employer.

The defendant, Gavendra Nairmal admitted to breaking into the home of the Virtual Complainant (VC) Albert Ramkarran on April 6.

It is alleged that between 10:00h-10:30h in the Georgetown Magisterial District, Nairmal broke into the VC’s home and stole a gauge valued $60,000 and 12 pairs of welding gloves, worth $30,000.

Magistrate Fabayo Azore said the defendant was not required to plead, however, Police Prosecutor Simone Payne asked that the case be tried at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts. This was allowed by Magistrate Azore.

Prosecutor Payne told the court that the defendant was caught in the VC’s home and footage is available of him tampering with the aforementioned items. Nevertheless, the defendant maintained that he did break into the home of his employer but stole nothing. He pleaded not guilty, adding that he did not remove anything from the home. Nairmal admitted being quite foolish to jump his boss’ fence on Monday. However, he said that Ramkarran had offered him a job earlier to clean one of his drains but did not pay him for the job.

Even so, he insisted to the court that he “ain trouble nothing fuh this man”, adding that he “ain know wha come in me mind fuh jump this man yard.”

A not guilty plea was recorded on his behalf. He is expected back in court on April 13.

the court that the defendant tried to flee the scene once he became aware of this but was stopped. The child was subsequently picked up and taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) where he was pronounced dead.

Police Prosecutor, Inspector Telford objected to bail as the offence the defendant is accused of is serious in nature and he had tried to escape the scene.

It was reported in the media that Andrews had visited Giftland where he bought his Easter kite. It was there that he was coming from when the bus drove over him.

John told the court that he has never been to court for any illegal matter and he is quite sorry about the incident. He has two children of his own and another on its way.

He is 24 years old and a resident of North Sophia. John is expected to appear in Court 1 on April 13.

President’s visit should improve regional relations, says White House

This week’s visit of US President Barack Obama to Jamaica, and the meeting with heads of state and Government of Caribbean Community (Caricom) should deepen bilateral relations between the US and the region, the White House said on Tuesday.

Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications at the White House, Ben Rhodes, said several areas of mutual interest exist between the United States and Caricom, including regional security and energy stability.

Rhodes further noted that the US is keenly interested in youth development and plans to foster greater partnerships with the youth of the Region.

“The fact that the President is doing a town hall in Jamaica dedicated to the youth, indicates our understanding that there is a tremendous youth population in these countries, and that carries with it enormous promise. If we’re investing in the youth of the Caribbean, we can expand our ties,” he said

Rhodes was speaking in a White House press call on Tuesday, to preview the president’s visit to Jamaica.

Issues of mutual interest between the US and Caricom will be raised during bilateral discussions between the President and heads of state and Government of Caricom, today.

Obama visited Jamaica while on his way to the seventh Summit of the Americas in Panama. Among the ac-

tivities planned for the visit include: a bilateral meeting at the Office of the Prime Minister; Caricom-US Summit at the University of the West Indies, Regional Headquarters; a wreath laying ceremony at National Heroes Park; and a Youth Forum at the University of the West Indies. (Caribbean News Now)

Colombia’s Santos says justice main hurdle to rebel peace deal

The biggest hurdle to signing peace with Colombia’s FARC rebels and ending a half century of war is getting the Marxist group to agree to face punishment for human rights abuses, President Juan Manuel Santos told Reuters.

Government negotiators have spent more than two years in peace talks with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), trying to end a conflict that has killed more than 220,000.

Although the talks in Cuba have advanced further than previous efforts, FARC commanders have said they will not serve a single day in jail. “The bottom line is transitional justice. The guerrillas have said they won’t go to jail, they don’t want to submit to transitional justice, but amnesties of yesteryear are no longer possible,” Santos, 63, said in an interview late on Tuesday.

“That’s the crux of the problem.” Measures of so-

Prominent

Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos speaks during a Reuters interview at the presidential palace in Bogota April 7

called transitional justice in countries emerging from war include setting up truth commissions and reparations for the victims of human rights atrocities.

Colombia’s justice system allows for reduced punishments such as house arrest and community service. Santos has refused to say which options are under discussion at the secret peace

talks but he said he understands the 8000-strong FARC’s reluctance to swap the rebel ranks for a prison cell.

“Jail doesn’t necessarily mean behind bars... Jail can be defined in many ways,” he said, although he insisted there has to be some punishment. “We want the maximum justice that allows us to achieve peace.” (Excerpt from Reuters)

cultural activist Frank Norville dead at 70

Prominent cultural activist, Frank Norville, who arranged and recorded a large repertoire of St Lucian folk music and is credited with preserving what might otherwise be lost, has died. He was 70.

Relatives said that Norville died at the Victoria Hospital early Wednesday morning.

Last October, the actor, photographer and dancer suffered a stroke resulting

in him being hospitalised for three months.

Norville wrote a booklet on the folk dances of St. Lucia and in 1983 published “Songs of St Lucia: ‘folk songs’, a comprehensive scoring of the island’s most popular folk music.

The late literary and cultural icon, Jacques Compton, in the Foreward to Songs of St Lucia, noted that “in the midst of the pervasive in-

fluence of North American, Trinidadian and Jamaican musical art forms transmitted via the electronic media, Frank has insisted and succeeded in retaining the Saint Lucian indigenous musical tradition, its richeness and variety which he conveys in his highly personalised and confident style of delivery when he sings, an aesthetic experience that lingers long in the memory”. (Caribbean360)

ECLAC says Antigua and Barbuda will lead economies this year

Even as it slashes the economic growth outlook for the Caribbean by one per cent, a United Nations agency is forecasting that Antigua and Barbuda is among economies that will lead the region this year.

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean – ECLAC – is forecasting that the country’s economy will grow by 5.4 per cent.

This is more than double the 2.1 per cent growth the International Monetary Fund predicts for Antigua and Barbuda. Meantime, ECLAC has shaved a per cent off its previous economic growth outlook for the Region.

The Economic Commission says the forecast comes after the region’s economies grew about 1.1

Advocates

per cent in 2014, their lowest level in five years. In December, when ECLAC released the regional growth figure for 2014, it predicted a better year of 2.2 percent growth in 2015.

ECLAC says the revision reflects a global environment characterised by less economic dynamism than what was expected at the end of 2014. It notes that with the exception of United States, industrialised countries have revised their growth estimates downward, and emerging economies continue to decelerate.”

According to ECLAC, Latin America is also being weighed down by growing international financial volatility, the product of European and Japanese policymakers’ efforts to kick start their economies. (Excerpt from Antigua Observer)

to gather for historic Reparations Summit

Scores of reparations advocates, PanAfricanists and social justice activists from the United States, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean will gather in New York City this week (April 9-12) for an historic Reparations Summit which will see the formal launch of the National AfricanAmerican Reparations Commission (NAARC).

Among the participants will be leaders of national reparations commissions, committees and task forces from 11 Caribbean Community (Caricom) countries, led by Sir Hilary Beckles, chairman of the Caribbean Community’s Reparations Commission and including Jamaica’s Professor Verene Shepherd.

Both will deliver feature addresses at the three-day summit to be held across three of New York City’s five boroughs – Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. Other

Professor Verene Shepherd to participate in the historic reparations summit

keynote speakers include civil rights leader, Reverend Jesse Jackson, and Mireille Fanon, chair of the UN Working Group of Experts on Peoples of African Descent and daughter of Frantz Fanon, the Black liberation theoretician from Martinique.

The purpose of the Summit is to advance discussion and debate around reparations issues and pro-

vide a platform for advocates from around the world to support and reinforce each other’s campaigns. It is being hosted by the recently established NAARC, comprising some of the leading scholars, activists, attorneys and historians in Black America and follows closely on the establishment of a European Reparations Commission. (Excerpt from Jamaica Gleaner)

Chile President Bachelet shrugs off polls, says reforms to continue

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said her ambitious reform drive would not be derailed by a recent run of natural and political storms that have dragged her popularity to an all-time low, promising to continue with “key” educational changes.

The centre-left leader, who ran the top copper exporter between 2006 and 2010 and then began a second term in March 2014, has

seen her approval ratings sink to their lowest ever levels in recent weeks.

The political class has been rocked by corruption scandals and questions over the access Bachelet’s daughter-in-law had to a large bank loan, which forced her son to step down as head of her charity.

In addition, the country has been hit by a series of natural disasters, including devastating floods in the

North. “We have to confront (these issues) but at the same time we have to advance and that’s why the reforms are going to continue,” Bachelet told journalists at a meeting at the presidential palace on Wednesday.

“It makes it more complex, and much more expensive than calculated, but we will do all that is necessary.” Reconstruction after the floods will cost at least $1.5 billion, she said. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev: Boston Marathon bomber found guilty

The man accused of bombing the Boston Marathon in 2013 has been found guilty of all 30 charges that he faced, many of which carry the death penalty.

The jury in Massachusetts will now decide what sentence 21-yearold Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will receive. Three people were killed and more than 260 injured when the bombs exploded at the finish line in April 2013.

His lawyers maintained he played a role in the attacks but said his older brother was the driving force.

A Police Officer was killed in the days following

the attack as Tsarnaev and his brother, who also died, attempted to flee.

The decision was reached on Wednesday, after the jury deliberated for just over 12 hours spread over two days.

North Korea says Mexico ‘forcibly’ holding ship, blames US

North Korea on Wednesday said Mexico has “forcibly detained” one of its ships months after it ran aground off Mexico’s Gulf coast last year, and Pyongyang blames the United States for making sure the ship is not released.

North Korea’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN told reporters that his country will take unspecified “necessary measures to make the ship leave immediately.”

An Myong Hun said the Mu Du Bong is strictly a commercial ship and that more than 50 crew remain on board. A UN panel, however, has reported that the ship is controlled by a com-

pany that has tried to evade UN sanctions imposed in response to North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes.

The panel’s recent report says the Pyongyangbased Ocean Maritime Management Company has simply renamed most of its vessels to avoid detection.

Nuclear-armed North Korea has a history of using front companies for that purpose.

An said the ship has no relations with OMM. But the panel’s report said the experts had informed Mexican authorities that the ship is an OMM asset. An said Mexican authorities in January had decided to release the ship but “suddenly” revoked its decision. (Excerpt from MSN)

Tsarnaev kept his hands folded in front of him and looked down as the guilty verdicts were read.

Nearby, the mother of one victim, eight-year-old Martin Richard, wiped tears from her face after the verdict was read. Richard’s father embraced one of the prosecutors.

The Governor of Massachusetts welcomed the verdict, and Boston Mayor Martin Walsh said: “I hope today’s verdict provides a small amount of closure”.

The conviction was widely expected because Tsarnaev’s chief lawyer, Judy Clarke, made the surprise admission during

opening statements that he took part in the bombing.

That admission was part of a defence strategy to paint Tsarnaev’s elder brother, Tamerlan, as the mastermind of the attack who influenced Tsarnaev into participating.

Prosecutors portrayed them as equal partners in a plan to “punish America” for wars in Muslim countries.

The jury will now have to decide whether Tsarnaev faces the death penalty as the trial moves into its second phase, which could begin as early as Monday.

Tsarnaev is an ethnic Chechen. His family moved to the US about a decade before the bombings. (BBC News)

Iran’s Zarif seeks Pakistan’s help in Yemen crisis

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said that Pakistan and Iran should cooperate to solve the crisis in Yemen.

“We need to work together to find a political solution,” Zarif said as he arrived for a two-day visit to Islamabad, in which he was expected to urge Pakistan to reject a Saudi request to join a military operation against Houthi forces in Yemen.

“The people of Yemen should not have to face aerial bombardment,” he said, referring to air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition that started last month.

Zarif said he favoured a four-part plan to impose a ceasefire in Yemen, deliver humanitarian assis -

tance and then establish a broad-based dialogue and finally a broad-based government.

He recommended this to Pakistani, Turkish and Omani leaders, he said.

Pakistani members of parliament on Wednesday spent a third day debating the Saudi request, with all speakers so far arguing against militarily involvement in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia has accused the Houthis, a Shia rebel group of having links to Iran.

On Tuesday, Nawaz Sharif, the Pakistani prime minister, called on Iran to get involved in talks on security in the Arabian Peninsula.

Pressure mounts on Kenya’s president after university massacre

Political pressure mounted on Kenya’s President on Wednesday with scathing editorials and growing anger at a seven hour delay in the deployment of a special forces unit that eventually ended the bloody siege at Garissa University last week.

The al Qaeda-aligned al Shabaab group has now killed more than 400 people in Kenya since President Uhuru Kenyatta took office in April 2013, denting the east African nation’s image abroad and severely damaging its vital tourism industry.

The pre-dawn attack on the college, 200 km (120 miles) from the Somali border, came a day after

Thousands evacuated as China chemical fire reignites

Thousands have been evacuated in the southern Chinese province of Fujian as a massive chemical oil fire reignited.

At least 800 firefighters and 170 fire engines are at a chemical plant in the city of Zhangzhou.

Firemen are battling the third in a series of blazes that began on Monday, when an oil leak caught fire and spread to nearby tanks.

More than 14,000 residents in the surrounding area have been evacuated, reported state news agency Xinhua. Six people have been hospitalised for minor injuries, while 13 are receiving medical attention, said CCTV.

Xinhua said the fire began on Monday evening when an oil leak caught fire and led to blasts at three nearby oil storage tanks

On Wednesday, firefighters were still battling the blaze after another tank exploded

at the Tenglong Aromatic Hydrocarbon plant in Zhangzhou.

That fire was extinguished on Tuesday afternoon. It reignited that evening before it was put out again.

But another tank containing nearly 1,500 tonnes of hydrocarbon liquid

caught fire and exploded early on Wednesday morning.

The plant produces the chemical paraxylene which is used for fibre and plastics.

Authorities said that the fires were reigniting due to residue being exposed to the air. (Excerpt

Kenyatta berated Britain and Australia for issuing travel advisories, saying their security warnings were “not genuine”. However, Kenyan me-

dia, some of them owned by Kenyatta’s family, are becoming increasingly critical of the President and Government efforts to stop future attacks, drawing com-

parisons to al Shabaab’s assault on Nairobi’s Westgate mall, where the Islamists killed 67 people during a four day siege in 2013. In a front page editorial entitled “If Westgate was a disaster, what do you call Garissa?” Kenya’s biggestselling Daily Nation newspaper singled out Kenyatta for not meeting the grieving families.

“In Kenya, your child... is slaughtered, but a little time can’t be found in busy diaries for the leader you elected to come and look you in your teary eyes and assure you that he did his best, that the death of your son or daughter has not been in vain, that he feels your pain,” it said. (Excerpt from Reuters)

South Carolina officer fired after shooting man in back, murder charge

Awhite South Carolina Police Officer has been dismissed from his job after being charged with murder for shooting an apparently unarmed black man in the back as he fled, the latest death that has brought protesters out to decry racism and Police brutality in the United States.

With dozens of dem-

onstrators in North Charleston protesting the fatal shooting there on Saturday of 50-year-old Walter Scott, which was captured on video by a witness, officials held a tense news conference expressing revulsion and appealing for calm.

“I have been praying for peace, peace for the fam-

ily and peace for this community,” North Charleston Police Chief Eddie Driggers said. North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey told reporters that Police Officer Michael Slager, 33, had been fired. Summey said the remainder of the Police Force in North Charleston will soon be equipped with body cameras. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Indonesian man survives hour-long flight to Jakarta clinging to landing gear

An Indonesian man hitched a ride to the country’s capital by clinging to the landing gear of a commercial plane, officials said on Wednesday.

Mario Steven Ambarita, aged 21, sneaked on to the asphalt at an airport in Sumatra on Tuesday before clambering aboard the Boeing jet’s landing gear, Air Transport Ministry Director

General, Suprasetyo, said.

The stowaway remained there for the hour-long flight to the international airport just outside Jakarta, where he was discovered upon landing. “He really put his safety in danger,” Suprasetyo said. The plane flew as high as 34,000 feet (10,350 miles), where the oxygen was very thin and temperatures below 0C (32F).

Ambarita admitted to authorities that he had been planning the daring adventure for a year, staking out the airport in advance. Local reports suggested the man was desperate to visit his birthplace, Jakarta.

Suprasetyo said the unexpected passenger still managed to walk when the plane landed, but was staggering and had a bleeding ear. (The Guardian)

thursday, april 9, 2015| guyanatimesgy.com

thursDAY, April 9, 2015 |

8 parties to contest General and Regional Elections

In what is expected to be the largest showing over the past two elections, a total of eight political parties are expected to contest the May 11 General and Regional Elections.

Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Public Relations Officer (PRO) Richard Francois made this announcement one day after Nomination Day during which the parties submitted their List of Candidates to Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield at City Hall.

Francois, who spoke to the Guyana Times on Tuesday, could not disclose how many of the parties would be contesting the respective elections, since the Commission was still checking the Lists.

The parties are the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) led by Donald Ramotar; the A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change coalition (APNU+AFC) led by retired Brigadier David Granger; The United Force (TUF) headed by Marissa Nadir; the United Republican Party (URP) with Vishnu Bandhu at the helm; the Independent Party (IP) led by Mark Benschop; Healing

the Nation Theocracy Party (HTNTP) guided by Alfred Parks; the Organisation for the Victory of the People Party (OVPP) under the leadership of Gerald Pereira; and the National Independence Party (NIP) headed by Attorney-at-Law Saphier Subedar Hussain. Based on their leaders’ comments, at least two parties will only be contesting the Regional Elections – HTNTP and OVPP.

As the parties presented their Lists, the leaders all expressed confidence in making a good showing, with those of the major parties staking their belief in victory came Election Day. Their supporters turned out in their numbers to register their approval and added to the festive atmosphere.

GECOM Chairman, Dr Steve Surujbally was well-pleased with the conduct of the exercise and hoped that it was a harbinger for the rest of the elections process.

However, he said there were some problems with at least one of the Lists submitted. He explained that it contained at least four of the same signatures and as such, the body was examining the document.

Moleson Creek shooting of Police Officer...

Man refused bail for 1 attempted murder, 10 robbery charges

ABerbice man who has been before the court on numerous occasions for robbery related charges has been refused bail by a Berbice Magistrate when he appeared to answer one attempted murder and 10 robbery under arms charges on Wednesday at the Reliance Magistrate’s Court.

Kuame Bhagwandin, also called “Baggi” of Ithica, West Bank Berbice, Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) appeared before Magistrate Charlyn Artiga and was not required to plea to any of the indictable charges.

A Police source told Guyana Times that when Bhagwandin was apprehended, he was found at a hotel in New Amsterdam in the company of a female Neighbourhood Police. His female companion is still in Police custody assisting with investigations. Reports are that the wanted man was seen and perused by a rank of the Guyana Police Force but he disappeared.

Other ranks were contacted and made their way to the hotel where they forcefully opened a door to a room and found the Neighbourhood Police and the wanted man in bed.

The Police have confirmed that Neighbourhood Police is attached to the Reliance Police Station.

It is alleged that Bhagwandin committed the following crimes on April 2: he is accused of unlawfully wounding Sundarjeet Seepersaud with the intent to commit murder, while being in the company of others; Bhagwandin is also charged with armed robbery after he allegedly robbed Tessa Ramnauth of $120,000 at Glasgow New Housing Scheme, East Bank Berbice, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), while

armed with a dangerous weapon, that is to say a gun, and in the company of others; the accused was further charged for robbing Stanley McKenzie of one motor car valued at $1.3 million, $1500 cash and one cellular phone while being in the company of others, at Glasgow New Housing Scheme; and on that same day, it is alleged that also while being in the company of others at Number Two Village, East Canje, he robbed Melissa Benn of one cellphone and $2740 in cash.

Bhagwandin stood in the docks and heard Magistrate Artiga read other similar charges for offences allegedly committed on the same day and on persons in East Canje. Among the items he alleged took included jewellery valued at $80,400, $80,000 cash, cellular phones wrist watches, wallets, US$14,000, among other items – all valuing in excess of $5 million.

On March 28, another charge read that he also committed similar offences while being in the company of others and armed with a gun at Cumberland, East Canje. There were three charges claiming that he committed robbery offences on March 28 at Cumberland and all in a similar manner.

In an application for bail, Defence Attorney Charrandass Persaud said that the accused while being an inmate at the New Amsterdam Prison suffered severe violence at the hands of his fellow inmates, to the extent that now he cannot even make a fist. “He is unable to hold anything. He cannot therefore be in possession of a gun or cutlass,” Persaud said.

He argued that all of the offences were allegedly committed

while being in the company of others. “What is before this court is a man who could be referred to as a cripple,” the defence attorney argued.

In citing another reason why bail should be granted, Attorney Persaud argued that recently several robbery under arms charges were dismissed against Bhagwandin and the court ordered that the items which it was alleged he stole be returned to him since no one had come forward to claim any of them. Persaud said none of the items have been returned by the Police who now have a vendetta against his client.

He said that no one picked the accused during any of the Identification Parades held on Sunday. Police Prosecutor, Sergeant Phillip Sherriff objected to bail stating the nature and gravity of the crimes and the prevalence of the offences. He said the victim in the attempted murder charge is still in hospital and two witnessed identified the accused during the Identification Parade.

Bhagwandin also showed his hands to the court as they appeared to be deformed. Magistrate Artiga responded by saying, “All be it that I see it, I am not a doctor and cannot say that those limbs are not working.”

She had earlier asked whether the accused was in possession of a medical certificate to support Attorney Persaud’s claims but he said the documents were at home.

Bail was refused and four of the matters were transferred to the New Amsterdam Magistrate’s Court for April 26, while the other seven will come up again at the Reliance Magistrate’s Court on May 6.

Accused walks free, key witness arrested for perjury

The Corentyne businessman, who was accused of shooting to death Police Detective, Constable Jirbhan Dianand, also called “Justin” or “Bachan” has been set free on the first day the

High Court trial opened in the Berbice Assizes.

Businessman Salim Bacchus, also known as “Black Salim” walked out of court a freeman on Wednesday, more than two years after being in custody awaiting trial for the September 13, 2012, killing of Dianand.

When the trial opened on Wednesday, State Prosecutor Attorney Natasha Backer called the State’s chief witness who is also the nephew

of the accused.

Azam Shivgobin who was 15 years old when the incident occurred told the court that on the day in question, he went to work and refuted a suggestion by the State that he and his brother were at home that day.

He admitted to the court that during the Preliminary Inquiry (PI) he did give evidence in the Magistrate’s Court and the Magistrate wrote down what he said after which it was read to him and he signed to it. The witness told the court that he was speaking of the September 13, 2012 incident when he gave evidence at the Skeldon Magistrate’s Court. He said that the story which he is now telling the court was not the same one that he told the Magistrate back then.

Asked why the stories were different, Shivgobin said he was forced to tell that story then. “Sergeant Johnson and Corporal Caesar tell me to say that Uncle Salim shoot the Policeman and they gon charge me for murder, an I gon go to jail fo the rest of my life,” the witness said.

The witness said that the statement he made under oath during the PI were untrue, stating that the evidence he gave saying that he along with his brother, the ac-

cused and Jirbhan Dianand were at a Chinese Restaurant at Corriverton opposite the National Insurance Scheme when the Police Officer told the accused that he owes him $2.3 million, was false. “I did tell the Magistrate that but it was not true,” he said.

Shivgobin also said that he told the Magistrate back then that ‘Uncle Salim’ told them that they were going to Moleson Creek because he was going to pay the Police Officer. “I did say so but it was not true. I say it because I was forced to say so.”

Standing in the witness box, Shivgobin also admitted to the evidence he gave at the PI which stated that he

witnessed the shooting of the Policeman. “While there Uncle Salim went up to Policeman who was sitting in a car… I also told the Magistrate that when the accused went up to the Policeman I heard two gun shots went off.”

“What I am saying today is the truth, nobody forced me to say it. I deliberately lied to the small court knowing that evidence was untrue”, he said. He added that he was not in court telling that story be-

cause he wanted to save his uncle.

Under cross examination by Defence Attorney Mark Waldron, the now 18-yearold witness said he had to lie at the PI. “I was told by the

Police that if I do not come to court and say that my uncle kill the Police, they would charge me for murder and I will live in prison for the rest of my life.”

After the witness finished giving his evidence, the State closed its case although it initially stated that there were 13 witnesses. The defence then moved and made a nocase submission which was upheld by Justice Franklyn Holder. Bacchus was then set free.

The drama continued outside of the court after the trial was completed.

Prior to the no-case submission, Justice Franklyn Holder asked for the witness to be excused momentarily to caution the defence on his line of questioning. As the witness walked out of the courtroom, he was approached by a Police Officer and told that he was under arrest. The Police Officer however could not make the arrest then since Shivgobin was still giving evidence.

Back in the witness stand, the witness enquired from the Judge why is it that the Police wanted to arrest him, but the Judge could not provide an answer and told him as soon as he was finished giving evidence, he will be allowed to find out.

Shivgobin tried to resist when he was told that he was under arrest and his rights were being read to him. It took two officers to subdue him. He was later taken away from the court in a Police vehicle.

Back in 2012, it was reported in the press that 23-year-old Detective Constable Dianand was found slouched in the driver’s seat of his car in a desolate spot at the Crabwood Creek Road around 05:00h on September 14, with bloodstains on his face. He appeared to be shot through the head. Dianand, was stationed at the Moleson Creek Police Outpost and attached to the Narcotics Branch.

ARIES (March 21April 19)

TAURUS (April 20May 20)

GEMINI (May 21June 20)

CANCER

Express your outgoing attitude, and strive to be in a good mood. Get involved in social events that will lead to new friendships. An important connection will be made.

Your quest for change will drain your bank account. Rather than spend money on unnecessary items, put your cash in a safe place. An unexpected bill will set you back.

Reflect on your current relationships. If you feel you may be moving in a different direction than the people around you, you should determine what could be done to revive the connection or move on.

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23Dec. 21)

CAPRICORN (June 21July 22)

AQUARIUS

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

PISCES

(Feb. 20March 20)

Don’t waste time. Use your energy wisely. Focus on your creative talents and stretch your boundaries. Classes that provide you with the stimulation you crave will lead to new friendships.

Before you reconnect with someone from your past, remember how the friendship ended. If you want to avoid a repeat performance, focus on meeting someone more like you.

Your empathetic nature makes you a good friend. However, you run the risk of burning out if you try to do too much for too many. Offer advice without compromising your own needs.

Step into the limelight. Your charm and talent will impress the people you meet along the way. An interesting partnership is imminent. Embrace a new venture.

Your emotions will escalate. Avoid getting involved in sensitive issues that could end in a dispute. Find a quiet corner where you can enjoy peace and quiet and mull over your thoughts.

You stand to profit if you take advantage of a moneymaking opportunity. Longterm savings or careful investments will prove to be lucrative and stress-free. Career and travel are highlighted. Advancement will head your way if you are willing to make the necessary changes. Keep an open mind and a positive outlook.

Idle time will work against you. Find some form of mental stimulation. Discussions with people who share your interests will turn out well, as will taking advantage of an opportunity to travel.

Don’t settle for less when you could have so much more. Look into your options and prepare to make a move. Do whatever it takes to raise your standard of living.

Daesrath backs Windies to come good against England

By RavendRa Madholall in ToRonTo

Former Guyana senior captain Damodar Daesrath has thrown his support behind the West Indies to come good against England in their threematch Test series, which bowls off on Monday at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua and Barbuda.

the International Cricket Council’s Test ranking, while the Englishmen are at number three, but Daesrath believes the disparity in rankings between the two sides would not be a factor in the series.

“I [am] confident West Indies can be the victorious side in this three-match series; they are home and that is the difference while the

Daesrath told this publication that he is very optimistic the Caribbean team will maximise home advantage to defeat the tourists in all three fixtures slated for across the region.

West Indies are currently at number eight in

Sim Bhullar has become the first player of Indian descent to play in the NBA after making his debut for Sacramento Kings.

The 22-year-old came on with 16 seconds remaining in the Kings’ 116-111 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The 7ft 5in Canadaborn centre signed a 10day contract to join the

team is very balanced and can be a triumphant combination,” Daesrath related.

The second Test is scheduled for May 21-25 at St George’s Stadium in Grenada with the final encounter billed for

Bridgetown, Barbados, commencing May 1.

Daesrath, who represented his adopted country Canada in First-Class and One-Day Internationals, strongly feels the experience in the West Indies side will also be very helpful against England, who may be psychologically down following their devastation against Australia in the Ashes series where they lost all five Test matches.

“Not ruling out England completely, but after they were badly beaten by the Aussies, that can give West Indies greater momentum now; should be a very interesting series, but I am backing the hosts to take control very early,” the Berbician disclosed.

“Well, this is Test cricket and I don’t want to make any prediction, but West Indies is traditionally known to be a competitive team in Test cricket; they have not been too good over the years, but this is a great opportunity for them to compete and improve their status,” Daesrath divulged.

He also believes with veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul still around, his presence would be profound and now the young players should able to play with him to build long innings.

Apart from Chanderpaul, Daesrath stated that Chris Gayle would have been a huge asset for the series given the impact he has made in all versions of the game, but the flamboyant Jamaican has been ruled out of the series, owing to a recurring back injury.

“Obviously, Shiv is a legend with the bat and Gayle can be very dangerous, but I

know Shiv will be the man to do the job again but Gayle along with former skipper Dwayne Bravo will certainly be missed,” he said.

Daesrath, who represented Guyana in 12 First-Class games, took a swipe at the selection panel for the omission of Narsingh Deonarine for the series, stated that the attractive left-hander could have easily justified his spot.

Deonarine accumulated over 500 runs in the recently concluded West Indies Cricket Board Professional Cricket League Four-Day tournament, registering two consecutive centuries. Daesrath is of the firm opinion that the middle-order batsman, who also bowls off-spin, had done enough to warrant a place in the squad.

“Quite surprising that he was overlooked because [they] are using the regional tournament to select players who are outstanding and I think he should have been selected because he had a productive season with the bat, plus he bowled well too,” Daesrath concluded.

Hingis returns to Swiss Fed Cup team after 17 years

Martina Hingis has rejoined Switzerland’s Fed Cup team after a 17-year absence in a bid to qualify for next year’s Olympic Games in Brazil.

The five-time Grand Slam singles champion has been selected for the Swiss squad to face Poland in the World Group play-off on April 18-19.

The former world number one must play in the women’s team competition to become eligible to compete in Rio.

Hingis, 34, has not played Fed Cup since the 1998 final defeat to Spain.

Roger Federer, the 17-

time major winner, said in March that he had given “some thought” to Hingis’ request to play mixed doubles in Rio, but may opt to concentrate on the singles and men’s doubles tournaments.

Hingis now concentrates exclusively on doubles tennis, and is the current holder of the Australian Open mixed doubles title, with Leander Paes, and the Indian Wells and Miami women’s doubles titles with Sania Mirza.

Hingis will be joined in the Swiss squad by Timea Bacsinszky, Stefanie Voegele and Viktorija Golubic. (BBC Sport)

TKings’ roster and said he hoped he could help grow the game in India.

“It was a great feeling and I’m happy to be kind of an ambassador,” he said.

Bhullar added:

“Hopefully more kids growing up will see there’s a player of Indian descent on the court and we can get a couple more Indian NBA players.” (BBC Sport)

he West Indies Cricket Board has announced changes to the dates for the twoTest series between West Indies and Australia, with the matches being advanced by two days.

The first Test will now start on June 3 in Dominica, while the second Test will be played from June 11 at Sabina Park in Jamaica. The three-day tour game, originally scheduled to begin

on May 30 at North Sound, will now be played from May 27 to 29.

“We are fully aware that there are a number of fans planning to travel around and to the Caribbean for the Australia tour, and we want to explain to them that the change was absolutely necessary, due to a number of logistical challenges beyond our control,” WICB Manager, Cricket Operations Roland Holder said. (Cricinfo)

Downton leaves role as Managing Director in restructure

Paul Downton has left his post as Managing Director of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

Downton was instrumental in the sacking of former England captain Kevin Pietersen in February 2014.

The ECB is to restructure and will create a new role of ‘director of England Cricket’ after the one-day side failed to get out of the group stages of the World Cup.

The England team currently touring the West Indies have been told of the move.

Downton took over from his predecessor Hugh Morris in February 2014.

Pietersen, 34, was sacked by England shortly after the 2013-14 Ashes series, which Australia won 5-0, when Downton said that the “time is right to rebuild not only the team but also the team ethic.”

The South Africa-born batsman then released an autobiography in October 2014 in which he heavily

criticised key ECB figures and England players.

Downton said in December that “more bridges have been burnt”, and national selector James Whitaker said there was “no way” Pietersen would return to the side.

However, ECB chairman-elect Colin Graves suggested to Sportsweek Pietersen could return to the team in March provided he “scores a lot of runs” in county cricket.

Pietersen, who has spo-

ken of his desire to return to the international fold, has rejoined Surrey for the 2015 county season in attempt to boost his chances.

In an ECB statement announcing the management restructure, chief executive Tom Harrison called Downton “a man of great integrity.”

Former England captain Michael Vaughan told Sky Sports: “It was inevitable that there would be change but it won’t just get England playing like Australia on its own. There are deeper-rooted problems.

“There needs to be a collective desire for change - a cultural change in one-day cricket, going back 20 years or so. In the next two years or so, there needs to be an IPL-style window created.

“In Test cricket we’re all right. The team could improve a bit but it’s the World Cup which is the reason that Downton has lost his job.

“We need to catch up and the other teams will take some catching.” (BBC Sport)

Lens Craft Optical/EBFA U-13 League kicks off today

Youth football, which is the focus of the East Bank Football Association (EBFA), is set to continue at the Grove Playfield today when the association in conjunction with Lens Craft Optical kicks off an Under-13 League.

This competition follows closely on the heels of the Sport Ministry sponsored Under-11 Pee Wee League, which concluded last month and was won by Herstelling Raiders.

Managing Director of Lens Craft Optical, located on Croal Street in the city, Allister Parris, in brief comments on his entity’s association with the EBFA said that they have been following the progress of youth football in the association over the past two years and are pleased to get onboard since the future of the sport rests with the youths.

“When the EBFA Secretary Mr. Franklin Wilson approached me to get involved I had no hesitation since we are well

Our involvement is as the title sponsor and nothing else so I don’t want anyone to approach me or the company to make a complaint. We know the Petra Organisation is capable and that is why we came onboard because of their track record and because I know about the struggle,” Selman stated.

Selman pointed out that discipline is important and pledged $25,000 to the most discipline team at the end of the competition. In addition, Selman revealed that

aware of what the association has been doing in trying to promote youth football. We wish all the teams every success and know that this level of investment will do Guyana well in the future,” Parris reasoned.

Wilson, on behalf of the EBFA, extended gratitude to Parris and Lens Craft Optical for partnering with the association to bring off this tournament, which will see seven clubs competing.

Defending Under-13 champions Grove Hi Tech will play the feature game

he hopes next year will see the broadening of the tournament to other areas such as Linden and Berbice.

Meanwhile, Kellawan, whose visit to Guyana was specifically to ensure all is well with the tournament and the huge investment by Busta, highlighted the company’s eagerness to see a successful tournament due to popular brand that is Busta.

Mendonca stressed that his organisation has a great track record with the communities and teams and

Bravo to set up Academy in Trinidad

West Indies middle-order batsman Darren Bravo has announced plans to set up a Youth Cricket Academy in Trinidad and Tobago.

The Academy is due to start on May 2 and run until July 26, with sessions conducted by West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) registered coaches Eldon Ramadeen and Frank Sorzano.

“I want to be a part of the rise of West Indies Cricket as a player, but I also want to inspire young players not only by my performances but by my personal interaction with them,” said Bravo.

“Cricket mirrors life in that it demands that indi -

Darren Bravo: “I’ve always wanted to be able to give back to my community”

viduals have to always assess where they are and try to develop themselves to become better human beings.”

The academy is target -

ing boys and girls between the ages of six and 19, and sessions are carded for weekends at the Brian Lara Recreational Ground in Santa Cruz, Bravo’s home town.

“I’ve always wanted to be able to give back to my community and alongside the Santa Cruz Sports Association, we felt the time was right to introduce this Academy,” said Bravo, who has played 32 Tests, 81 One Day Internationals and 12 T20 Internationals.

“I have learnt so much from the game and the various people that have helped me along the way give me the will and desire to play a part in helping young people through sport.”

begin title defence...

today against old rivals Herstelling Raiders at 12:00h. Opening the action at 10:00h will be Mocha Champs and Craig Primary with the main supporting game being between Agricola Red Triangle and Diamond United. The other club competing is Kuru Kururu Warriors.

While Grove dominated at every level last year (Under-13, 15, 17 and senior), Herstelling Raiders, the newest club on the block, already has one in the bag, having won the Under-11 Pee Wee League.

All the clubs have been improving with every game which no doubt will translate into some exciting matches. The games will be for one hour with two equal periods of 30 minutes and a 10-minute rest period.

Only players born on or after January 1, 2003, are eligible to play. Clubs are reminded that copies of player’s birth certificates must be submitted in order for players to be allowed to play.

pointed to the large gathering as one of the reasons the players are always involved in their tournaments.

He believes that the rules of the tournament will be followed by all involved and thanked the Busta company for its huge support in pulling off the inaugural tournament that will see the winner receiving $600,000.

The tournament will begin tonight at the Georgetown Football Club ground, Bourda, from 19:00h.

That start from Morkel meant Mumbai were stifled for more than half of their innings, and despite the 88 they scored in the last six overs they were about 20 light. Helped by the sloppy fielding and ineffective bowling, Knight Riders were efficient in the chase with Gautam Gambhir scoring a fifty, and Manish Pandey and Suryakumar Yadav chipping in with forties.

Knight Riders, especially at home, have relied on their superior bowling if not necessarily to take wickets but at least to restrict sides and force them into making mistakes. Rohit Sharma, who scored 98 not out, was fluent right from the start, but Knight Riders were all over the rest of the top order. This was Rohit’s 10th fifty-plus score in an IPL defeat, the most by any batsman. Aaron Finch top-edged Morkel to put a brake on the runs. Aditya Tare chipped Shakib Al Hasan straight to long-off, neither looking to keep the ball down nor looking to hit a six. This wouldn’t be Tare’s last mistake on the night.

Tare’s wicket in the fifth over was cue for Gambhir to go all out looking for wickets. Morkel bowled the sixth over with slips in place for

Ambati Rayudu. Two balls in, Rayudu obliged, edging a short-of-a-length delivery straight to first slip. The wicket-maiden made it 37 for 3 after six. This is usually time when Knight Riders drive the nail in. They went to the returning Sunil Narine. He might not have looked as effective as he did with his old action, but this might be too early to pass judgement on that. His four overs still conceded only 28, playing an important part in keeping Mumbai down to 80 for 3 after at the end of the 14th over.

In the 15th over Rohit opened up, punishing some gentle length bowling from Umesh Yadav. Anderson had already been dropped at deep midwicket by Andre Russell. Rohit would seen be let off by wicketkeeper Robin Uthappa. In all the two batsmen would add a total of 60 runs since being dropped, but that was about to be overshadowed in the chase. If Mumbai carried any momentum from their finish, they lost it immediately with Tare dropping Gambhir for 1.

Uthappa was dropped too, but Anderson made sure he didn’t cost Mumbai much. When Anderson next dropped somebody, it proved costlier. With Pandey chip-

ping Harbhajan Singh down long-off, Anderson misjudged, rain in too far, and managed to get just one hand to it. Knight Roders were 74 for 1 in nine overs, this was time when Mumbai would have hoped to sneak back in, but they were kept letting it slip. Gambhir kept hurting Mumbai, punishing every error with the ball, of which there were quite a few with bowlers other than Lasith Malinga and R Vinay Kumar failing to stretch the batsmen. By the time Gambhir was dropped next, a tough chance off his own bowling by Harbhajan Singh, the ricochet took him to a four that brought up his fifty. They needed just 57 off 40 now, and if there were any nerves Yadav settled them with some clean flicks off the pads that went all the way for two sixes. (Cricinfo)

2.5 ov), 2-98 (Pandey, 11.6 ov), 3-121 (Gambhir, 14.2 ov) Bowling: SL Malinga 4-0-27-0, R Vinay Kumar 3.3-0-21-0,

YELLOW PAGES

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GCB U-19, Inter-County, 3-Day tournament…

Spinner Keanu Harry destroys Demerara batting

By Rajiv Bisanuth

Anumber of Demerara batsmen failed to capitalise on their good starts on a batting friendly Everest pitch on the opening day against Essequibo in the first round of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Under-19, Inter-County, Three-day competition.

But the day belonged to Essequibo left-arm spinner Keanu Harry. Extracting bounce and turn, Harry ripped through Demerara’s innings to finish with figures of 7-66 off 31 overs, as the hosts were dismissed for 261 in 105.2 overs, 15 minutes before the scheduled close.

Left with eight minutes to negotiate, Essequibo reached the safety of close of play with little discomfort at one without loss with openers Nathan Persaud and Satesh Latchana yet to score.

Earlier in the day, Tevin Imlack and Malcolm Hubbard smashed attractive half-centuries, but could not prolong their innings to more than 51 and 50 runs respectively, while Ronaldo Renee, Akshaya Persaud, Sherfane Rutherford and Carlton Jacques all made positive starts.

Asked to bat first, Demerara made a solid start with openers Renee and Imlack adding 78 for

ner Looknauth Khinkoo (253) as Demerara reached 82-1 at the break. Imlack, who had already struck four

the first wicket. On a pitch which offered very little assistance to Essequibo’s bowlers during the first session, the two right-handers batted patiently, playing some handsome shots and in the process punishing the loose deliveries.

However, Renee hit 29 before losing his wicket on the stroke of lunch. He was removed by off-spin-

boundaries, was on 39 and Rutherford on four.

Harry then struck three times in the post-lunch period to keep Demerara’s progress in check at 114-4. The hosts suffered an early setback when Rutherford was bowl by Harry for 16 at 1022.

Imlack, who was joined by Akshaya Persaud, went on to bring up his fifty soon

after from 140 balls, but Harry did not wait long as he celebrated his second wicket by trapping the promising Imlack leg before. His innings spanned 165 minutes, 146 balls and included six hits to the fence.

Persaud and Captain Travis Persaud joined forces, but the latter failed to lead by example. He was cramped for room on the back foot and was trapped leg before wicket to Harry for one.

Hubbard and Persaud survived some tense moments before they unleashed their strokes and took the attack to the bowlers. They added an unbroken 64 runs for the fifth wicket at the tea interval.

The majority of these were from the blade of Hubbard, who raced to 36 with seven boundaries, while the compact lefthander, Persaud was on 27, hitting four boundaries and one six. Harry immediately provided the vital breakthrough soon after the interval when he trapped Persaud leg before wicket without addition to his tea time score.

The right-handed, Hubbard, who was scoring at will, completed his halfcentury off 82 deliveries, with nine fours to his credit. But four balls after reaching his 50, Harry bowled Hubbard to complete his five-wicket haul.

Harry then removed Ershad Alli (11) and Daniel Basdeo (0) before Khinkoo accounted for Tariq Ali (3) and Akinie Adams removed Jacques (20). Vivian Albert was left unbeaten on 13.

In the other first round game between Berbice and Guyana Under-17 at the Wales Community Centre ground, the Under-17s were dismissed for 94. The Berbicians in reply were 1366 at the close.

Broad hurts ankle in England warm-up match

Stuart Broad suffered an injury scare after hurting his ankle on the first day of England’s final Test warm-up against a St Kitts & Nevis XI.

England start the first of three Tests against the West Indies on Monday.

Seamer Broad, 28, slipped in his run-up in the second over of the day and returned to the field after receiving almost an hour of ice treatment.

England batsman Jonathan Trott played for St Kitts, but was bowled for a duck by James Anderson, edging to slip.

Trott, Gary Ballance

fami

Brathwaite confident as Windies start preparations with Simmons

Kraigg Brathwaite, the West Indies opener, says he is quietly confident of doing well against England as the home team started their preparations for the upcoming three-Test Series.

The 22-year-old was speaking as the Windies started their preparations at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground on Monday.

The Barbados batsman has been in terrific form, scoring three centuries in the recently concluded inaugural WICB Professional Cricket League (PCL) and a hard fought century against South Africa in the second Test at Port Elizabeth last year.

“I am obviously looking forward to this home series against England. England

is a tough opposition so you know you got to work hard,” said Brathwaite, who scored three Test centuries last year.

“And in terms of my

form I am coming from First-Class cricket feeling quite confident and just keep believing in myself and carry that into this series.”

Brathwaite’s recent centuries include 102 and 112 against Guyana Jaguars and 106 against South Africa last year.

The West Indies continued their preparation with a full training session at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground on Tuesday morning under the supervision of new head coach Phil Simmons, the former West Indies allrounder.

“I think we had a good practice sessions. All the guys enjoyed it,” he said.

“The new coach seems pretty cool and relaxed and I enjoyed the first day working with him. I thought it was a good day for the team.”

The last time West Indies and England played a Test series in the Caribbean, the regional side emerged victorious one-nil.

“It would be phenomenal (winning the series),” said Brathwaite.

“Obviously the team is a little bit young, but we have some good experienced guys and coming out on top would mean a lot for the region and I believe the guys can do it.”

GMMAKA excels at Martial Arts tournament

TAssociation

turned in a solid performance on Sunday, copping several medals and trophies at the Guyana Classic of Classics Martial Arts tournament at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

Master Lloyd Ramnarine entered nine of his students from the Black Cobra Karate Club in LaParfait Harmonies, Phase 2, Westminster, West Bank Demerara, and all but one was successful.

Alliyah Ramnarine competed in the traditional Kata form and copped first position, with Zafar Ramnarine sec-

ond and Mark Ramotar third. Joshua Sooklall took the top podium spot in the 8-10 category traditional Kata, while Daniel Chandler, Philip Jaikissoon and Christopher Mahadeo got fourth place in the team Kata and were also rewarded with medals.

Shiloh Sydney got first in the 10-12 Kumite (Sparring). All told, Ramnarine’s charges won three trophies and five medals.

Ramnarine said he was pleased with the performance of the students, adding that several other engagements are in the pipeline for the young athletes.

“We are preparing for the

next tournament on May 31, then our association will be having the first Inter-club in June and also exams in the same month. Our hands are full with invitations for the rest of the year,” he said. Ramnarine is urging persons to get involved in the sport by joining one of the four branches of the GMMAKA, located at Great Diamond Community Centre, Herstelling Nursery School, Independence Street at La Grange, and Black Cobra in LaParfait Harmonie. Interested persons can call 698-6727, 673-0823 or 681-7062 for more information.

Floodlights, Karibee Girls taste success in Berbice

Floodlights and Floodlights All Stars recorded victories against Corriverton Market Vendors and Crabwood Creek/Scottsburg respectively, while their female counterpart, Trophy Stall Angels, were not so lucky against Karibee Girls last Sunday at the Crabwood Creek Sports Complex.

In the first match, Floodlights scored a challenging 196-5 wickets in the allotted 20 overs with Richard Persaud mak-

ing 56, Greg DeFraca 40, Imtiaz Mohamed 41 not out and Ricky Deonarain 22 not out.

Ravi Lutchman and Fabie Dan took two wicket each for Corriverton Market Vendors, who responded strongly initially, scoring over 10 runs per over in the first 10, but were then checked with some good fielding, catching and bowling by the 2014 Guyana Softball Cup Masters Champions. They were eventual-

ly all out for 171 in 19.4 overs with Vishal scoring 51, Lutchman 25 and Buie Ramo 26. Mike Singh, Wayne Jones, Richard Kellawan, Ramchand Ragbeer and Man-of-theMatch Imtiaz Mohamed took two wickets each.

In the second match, Crabwood Creek/Scottsburg made 172-9 in their allotted 15 overs with skipper Popo Chalitar topscoring with 61 and J. Garnett 42. Richard Latiff and D. Parches took two wickets each, while

Imtiaz Mohamed took three. Floodlights All Stars blazed the trail, winning in the 13th over with only two wickets down. Man-ofthe-Match Lennox Marks topscored with 77 not out, while Richard Latiff made 44.

In the female game, Karibee Girs were in early trouble losing some key wickets, but they eventually reached a commanding 153-8 in their allotted 15 overs. Player-of-the-Match Katana Mentore made a

brilliant 82 not out. Trophy Stall Angels lost skipper June Ogle early, and fell agonisingly short of the target, being restricted to 1479 when the 15 overs finished.

The spectators at Crabwood Creek were given a treat by the Floodlights teams. They won 22 prizes, which included tablet, DVD, groceries and pharmaceutical hampers, t-shirts and Karibee rice. There were also 50 giveaways of kites and umbrellas.

The Crabwood Creek Baba Grant Mandir also received a donation of $200,000 from the Guyana Floodlights Softball Cricket Association. The three matches were sponsored by Ago Gopaul and family, Nand Persaud and Company Limited, Ganesh Singh and Brothers Sawmilling, Survival, Trophy Stall, 4R Bearings, Mike’s Pharmacy, Rohan Auto Spares, Bel Air Rubis, Motor Trend, Vishnu Super Store and Ramchand Auto Spares.

Silver Jubilee anniversary… RHTY&SC continues to benefit from corporate Guyana

Guyana’s leading youth and sports organisation, the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club (RHTY&SC), continues to attract the support of corporate Guyana as it forges ahead with plans to host 200 programmes/activities for its Silver Jubilee anniversary during 2015.

The club has already completed 55 programmes/ activities for the first three months of the year and during the month of April would be hosting the final of the Busta Champion of Champions, a spelling bee competition for Primary Schools, launch the Edward B. Beharry anti-drugs/anti-suicide campaign, Tribute to Retired Teachers Programme, Tribute to outstanding Teachers and a Cricket Development Clinic for its members among others.

The management of A. Ally and Sons of Main Street, New Amsterdam, recently donated a bicycle for the club’s Tribute to Members programme and also contributed financially to the Silver Jubilee Magazine.

Also contributing financially to the magazine were New GPC Inc. and H.A. Snacks Company Limited of John Street, Werk-enRust, Georgetown.

New GPC Inc. and H.A. Snacks Company Limited also donated a large quan-

tity of hampers towards the Tribute to Members programme. John Lewis Styles of Waterloo Street donated two designer watches and Starr Computers of Brickdam donated a tablet for the programme where the club would be honouring outstanding members for their contributions over the last 25 years.

The Ministry of Sport, the Berbice River Bridge Company and Farfan and Mendes Limited all donated several trophies for the club’s Cricket Development programme and Tribute

to Members programme, while overseasbased Guyanese Bobby Deonarine of Tenelec and Karen Rapheal of USAID also made donations to the Cricket Development Clinic, currently being hosted at the Area ‘H’ Ground.

Mines Services Limited, an arm of long serving official sponsor, Farfan and Mendes, has also contributed financially to provide each cricketer of the club with a Silver jubilee cap.

Club Secretary/CEO Hilbert Foster in accepting the donations stated that

BLUTC horse race meet billed for April 26

The principals of the Bush Lot United Turf Club (BLUTC) have already put most systems in place for the Club’s horserace meet, scheduled for Sunday, April 26 at its Sea View Park track, Bush Lot, West Coast Berbice.

Organisers have put together an impressive eightrace programme with over $5 million up for grabs.

In an invited comment this week, Coordinator and Club Treasurer Lakeram Sukhdeo said that the track was in excellent condition, adding that the grand stand, the paddock, fencing, rails, jockey board, and officials’ housing area were all upgraded.

Sukhdeo also indicated that land filling work at the venue has also been completed, while most of the turns on the track have been reshaped.

The feature race will be for horses classified C and Lower over 1500 metres for a total winning package of

over $1.2 million and a trophy.

Horses classified D3 maiden and E and F Class will race over 1500 metres for a first prize of $400,000 and trophy.

Three-year-old Guyana and West Indies bred and born animals will battle over 1200 metres for a prize of $300,000 and trophy.

Horses classified G1 and Lower will be running for a winner’s purse of $350,000 and a trophy over 1300 me-

tres.

The G3 and Lower 1300 metres race will see the winner pocketing $300,000 and a trophy.

The I and Lower horses will get their opportunity to race for the winning purse of $250,000 and a trophy over 1300 metres.

The final two races are for animals classified J and Lower and K and Lower over 1300 metres for $200,000 and $150,000 and trophies respectively.

Top individual performers including the top jockey, stable and trainer will be presented with trophies compliments of the organisers.

Interested persons can make enquiries with Coordinator Sukhdeo on 232-0558 and 672-0810 or Chattergoon Ramnauth on 337-5311 and 697-1979.

The meet will be conducted under the rules of the Guyana Horse Racing Authority. Race time is 12:30h. (Rajiv Bisnauth)

the year-long celebration is going according to plans and the RHTY&SC expects to surpass the target of 200 activities by mid-September.

The long-serving Secretary/CEO stated that special emphasis is

being placed on cricket development of its members, assisting other sports clubs, education, development and anti-suicide in 2015. He praised the confidence and support of corporate Guyana to the RHTY&SC and even noted that numerous compa -

nies are calling the club to get onboard, despite not been approached by the club.

This he stated is due to the track record of the club and the mileage that businesses enjoy from being associated with the RHTY&SC.

GCB U-19, Inter-County, 3-Day tournament…

Spinner Keanu Harry destroys Demerara batting

By raJiv BisanuTh

number of

Acapitalise on their good starts on a batting friendly Everest pitch on the opening day against Essequibo in the first round of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Under-19, Inter-County, Three-day competition.

All logistics in place for Busta Soft Shoe tourney

– teams outfitted by main sponsor

By TreisTon Joseph

TKolkata Knight Riders v Mumbai Indians, IPL 2015, Kolkata…

KKR begin title defence with win at home

Petra Organisation’s ability to run the tournament.

WSelman made it clear that he was confident in the

he Petra Organisation in collaboration with Guyana Beverage Company under its Busta brand delivered on its promise to supply all participating teams in the inaugural Busta Soft Shoe tournament with Busta branded jerseys. On Tuesday evening at the simple handing over ceromony held at the Brandsville Hotel, Busta Brand Manager from Trinidad and Tobago, Christine Kellawan, General Manager of Guyana Beverage Company, Robert Selman, and directors of the Petra Organisation, Marlan Cole and Troy Mendonca, handed over the jerseys to the teams that turned out in their numbers.

“I want to make it clear Guyana Beverage Company Inc. will not be responsible for any act of indiscipline or any other issue that may bring the game into disrepute.

e will be reminded time and again via highlights reel how IPL is the breeding ground for best fielding in known universe, but what will not be mentioned is that on the opening night of its eighth edition seven catches were dropped. Kolkata Knight Riders let three slip, Mumbai Indians outdid them, and fittingly the defending champions got their campaign off to a victorious start. Morne Morkel was the one outstanding player on a night of otherwise unremarkable cricket, bowling four overs in one go for 18 runs and two wickets.