Caribbean Times International

Regional security initiative puts major dent in Caribbean’s drug trade

- additional US$60 million to be pumped into programme this year

Regional stakeholders who ended a two-day review meeting in Guyana on Tuesday, have concluded that the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI) has made a significant dent in cocaine smuggling in the region.

The U.S.-funded programme, since its launch in 2011, has expended to date, some US$263 million to conduct cocaine seizures across Caricom member states, training of police personnel, and

the provision of fast boats to help curtail maritime criminal activities among others.

An additional US$60 million has been set aside to continue these and other activities during this year. (See

Regional security initiative puts major dent in Caribbean’s drug trade

-

additional US$60

million to be pumped into programme this year

The Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI) has made a dent in cocaine smuggling in the region, officials said on Tuesday as a two-day meeting to review the work of the U.S.funded programme.

Cocaine seizures across Caricom member states, training of police personnel, and the provision of fast boats to help curtail maritime criminal activities are among the successes of the initiative.

This is according to co-chairs of the meeting, Astonia Browne of Caricom and U.S. State Department Office of Caribbean Affairs Director Juan Alsace, at a news conference following the meeting at the Guyana International Conference Centre, Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.

Browne, who is the St Kitts and Nevis National Security Ministry permanent secretary, said the meeting was successful and areas that required improvement were identified. She said some projects that were discussed included Advanced Fingerprinting Information System

(AFIS); Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS); Regional Integrated Ballistics Information Network (RIBIN); and counter arms trafficking and crime prevention efforts in relation to at-risk youth.

Crime prevention

She stated that one of the aims of CBSI is crime prevention and there was a focus on preventing atrisk youth from becoming involved in criminal activity while helping them to develop vocation-

al skills.

Achievements were also highlighted and recommendations made to improve agencies tasked in securing the region; working collaboratively with the U.S. government.

Alsace told media operatives that the investment has been worthwhile and the CBSI is showing great success thus far. He said some US$263 million has already been expended on the programme since its launch in 2011, with an

additional US$60 million set aside for this year.

Co-chair Alsace alluded to comments made by Guyana’s Prime Minister Samuel Hinds at the opening on Monday, reiterating that indeed no one country can tackle regional security, as it requires a collaborative effort. The U.S. official said that theme was reflected in the discussions during the CBSI meeting. It was also agreed that countries of the Caribbean must work in partnership with each other and

the U.S. government to improve communications and information sharing.

Discussions also touched on law enforcement and security strategies, especially to help at-risk youth find a better future. In his address Monday, Hinds said the Caribbean currently faces eight major challenges in the area of security, with youth crime and violence topping the list, and urged stronger emphasis in this area.

At-risk youth

“We must seek to discourage youths from being involved in unproductive pursuits by guiding them towards a path where they could contribute to the productivity of our society. We must build the capacity of our police and related agencies to reduce crime and violence in our communities,” he told the gathering.

Meanwhile, Alsace said out of the meeting, regional standards on arrest warrants and other law enforcement matters are being considered.

This discussion is likely to be expanded and continued at another CBSI meeting in Washington, DC, December 5-6.

During this meeting, Caribbean security ministers will hold talks with the political leadership of the U.S. government, to determine the priorities and leadership for 2014 and years to come.

Alsace also agreed with Prime Minister Hinds’ comments that a holistic strategy was needed to tackle regional crime and security challenges, and said this will also be looked at during the next meeting.

Commitment was also given to sustain the initiative.

Browne said a joint plan of action for regional security, in partnership with the U.S., has already been put in place, with several programmes and initiatives already reflecting the strategic goals of the region’s crime and security strategy. This, she said, will serve as the blueprint that will inform the region’s strategies.

The rise in gun-related crimes, gang-related violence, drug trafficking, cyber crimes, and human trafficking are among some challenges affecting the region.

(Excerpted from Guyana Times)

Jamaica’s electricity provider secures US$30 million IFC loan for capital investments

Monopoly light distributor, the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) secured US$30 million in loans from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the lending arm of the World Bank, in furtherance of its capital

needs and its push away from fuel oil.

Concurrently, the IFC indicated that it could “mobilise” an additional US$15 million for JPS.

Dan Theoc, JPS chief financial officer, told Jamaican media that the loan represented “contin-

ued investor confidence particularly from the development financial institutions in JPS”.

The loan will assist the company--majority owned by Japanese and South Korean conglomerates--in meeting its funding requirements over a three year period.

“As such, IFC represents a key partner in obtaining funding for the business for the next three years. We would be looking to access this loan funding in 2014,” said Theoc.

JPS has a debt portfolio of some US$400 million with roughly 10 per cent amortised annually.

“The project is also expected to support JPS’s tightened effort to reduce

the overall levels of system losses, thereby improving the system’s overall efficiency, reducing carbon footprint, and dampening the need for new generation,” Theoc indicated.

The company reported a US$3.4 million net loss for its September quarter 2013 compared with a US$2 million profit a year earlier.

The loss was attributed to a US$2-million drop in quarterly revenues to

US$280 million and a 24 per cent jump in finance costs to US$14.8 million when compared with year earlier levels.

Despite the drop in profit, JPS ended the quarter with a jump in cash and equivalents at US$12.7 million from US$3.6 million a year earlier due in part to US$24.5 million gained from a preference shares offer recorded in the quarter. (Excerpted from Jamaica Observer)

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EDITORIAL

The DR court ruling

Pressure is mounting on the authorities in the Dominican Republic (DR) not to implement a decision by the Constitutional Court which threatens to strip hundreds of thousands of persons of Haitian descent, born after 1929 in the Spanish-speaking country, of their citizenship.

From the onset we wish to state clearly that the ruling could only be described as arbitrary and unjust, and could have major implications for thousands of persons of Haitian roots living and working in the DR. Some Caribbean leaders have already been very vocal on the issue, and have given an indication that they intend to protest at crucial international forums if certain immediate action is not taken.

St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves has made a strong call for the suspension of the Dominican Republic from the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM).

Further, the Caribbean Community (Caricom), as well as the Washington-based Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), has criticised the ruling, with the latter saying that it retroactively modifies legislation that was in effect from 1929 to 2010, and thus would strip citizenship from tens of thousands of people born in DR. The decision, which follows many years of resentment and mistreatment of Haitians, who have gone to the DR to do the country’s hardest and lowest-paid work, has also outraged human rights groups. Some are of the view that it has needlessly created a humanitarian crisis where none existed.

The ruling was issued on September 23 in response to a case brought by the DR-born daughter of Haitian migrants, who had been refused a DR identity card. The judges ruled that because both of her parents were undocumented migrants, they were considered to be “in transit” through the DR and therefore, she was not automatically entitled to citizenship.

The ruling cannot be appealed in domestic courts. Most of those likely to be impacted already hold DR citizenship with the vast majority being children of Haitian labourers, who travelled across the shared Caribbean island of Hispaniola in search of work. Over the years, hundreds of thousands of Haitians have crossed into the neighbouring country, hoping to escape the rampant poverty of their homeland to work on Dominican sugar cane plantations, on construction sites, and to engage in house cleaning jobs.

The DR’s constitution had long granted citizenship to anyone born in the country with the exception of those “in transit”, a group limited to special circumstances like foreign diplomats. However, the government sought to expand the definition of “in transit” to include illegal immigrants, such as the hundreds of thousands of Haitians living and working in the country and passed legislation to this effect.

In 2010, the country approved a new constitution that formalised the distinction, leaving more than 200,000 children of immigrants questioning whether they are eligible for citizenship. At the moment, the government is reviewing the birth registry to verify the exact number of those affected.

Now with this latest ruling, there are more questions than answers. Persons are unsure as to their next move–if they will be thrown out of the country and made to re-apply for citizenship all over again, if they will be denied of their basic rights or what will become of their families and all they have worked for and built in the country.

While the government there has maintained that there would be “no mass deportation” of undocumented workers in the wake of the ruling and that the country was just “seeking to put its house in order”, it must also urgently take the necessary action to regularise the situation of all migrants.

It is also hoped that the international community will put more pressure on the DR administration to exercise restraint in the entire process especially as they seek to review thousands of birth records.

there have been many sachin tendulkar photographic memories over the last two-and-a-half decades. on saturday, amid all the outpouring of emotions, the most memorable image was that of tendulkar, all alone, in his whites, walking towards the pitch at the wankhede stadium, mumbai. as the crowd cried "sachin, sachin", tendulkar observed the 22 yards from close, bowed down, rubbed the red soil with his palm and applied it to his heart and head as a mark of worship and gratitude. He revealed that those 22 yards were the "temple" where his “life started”, and the stature he had reached in life and cricket was possible only due to the cricket pitch. the curtain eventually came down on tendulkar's storied test career with one of india's most comprehensive victories, as a hapless west indies crumbled on the third morning. Tendulkar walked off the field with a tear in his eye and to a fluid guard of honour from his teammates, soaking in the cheers of the crowd one last time. Here he takes time for a photo with (right to left) shivnarine chanderpaul, who played his 150th test, brian lara and chris gayle

Reject Dominican Republic from Caricom - Caribbean churches

As hundreds of undocumented Haitians continue to face arrests and expulsion from the Dominican Republic, the Caribbean Conference of Churches (CCC) believe that the time has come for the Dominican Republic to be excluded from Caricom. The call came as Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar convened a special meeting of the Caricom Bureau, which was scheduled for Tuesday to consider “effective initiatives” against a controversial new law in the Dominican Republic, which makes thousands of Haitian immigrants “stateless.”

However, PersadBissesar confirmed that the meeting had been rescheduled. Several key members who were scheduled to attend, including the representative from Haiti, were unavailable.

Commenting on the latest development, Professor Norman Girvan of the University of the West Indies, said he was very disappointed by the decision not to convene the meeting. “This is a matter of extreme urgency and I hope that they can get their act together and convene a meeting as soon as possible,” Girvan said.

In an interview, CCC’s general secretary Gerard Granado, said as chair of Caricom, Persad-Bissessar must take a firm stance against the Dominican

Republic. “On September 23, a ruling by the Dominican Republic’s Constitutional Court stripped over 210,000 Haitians, born in Dominican Republic after 1929, of their citizenship. The court declared that three generations of Haitians were residing in the Dominican Republic illegally or with temporary permits. The court ruling is final and cannot be appealed,” Granado said.

He added: “This is a fundamental issue of human rights. Prime Minister of St Vincent Dr Ralph Gonsalves has said it is a question of racism and we may have to reconsider the entry of Dominican into Caricom because these are not the values we stand for in Caricom.” Granado revealed that the Haitian crisis in Dominican Republic had been known to the CCC for decades.

“The precipitating judgment of the court has thrown up a lot of things that were under the carpet. This is such a serious thing that it has to be dealt with at the government level so we intend to approach the prime minister,” Granado said.

He added: “Haitians are brought into the Dominican Republic to labour on the sugar cane plantations. They are kept in barracks under horrible slave-like conditions. When you go there you see animals and human beings drinking from the same water trough and then sud -

denly one night a vehicle might pass and pick up all the Haitians and take them back to the border.

“Women lose their husbands, children lose their parents and they don’t know what happened to them. Churches and other groups in the Dominican Republic are standing firmly against this,” Granado said. He added that the CCC has established a Haitian Development Fund as part of its 40th anniversary celebrations.

Granado urged corporate TT to support the initiatives of the CCC as well as to join the fight against racialism and discrimination in the Dominican Republic.

Girvan agreed with Granado that Caricom should take a united stance and boycott all events occurring in the Dominican Republic. He added: “The time has come for Caricom to schedule an emergency session to address the matter. The heads of government must come together and send a strong message to the Dominican Republic so it will feel the regional repercussions of its actions.

“We propose that Caricom put on hold the application of Dominican Republic to become a member of Caricom and also reconsider the application of the Dominican Republic to become a member of the Caribbean Development Bank.” (TT Guardian)

Guyana taking serious steps to promote energy conservation

The Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) is spearheading several energy audits on government buildings to determine their levels of electricity consumption and tailor conservation practices that can be adopted.

Head of the GEA Mahender Sharma said that audits have been conducted on over 30 buildings, and made reference to the agency’s strategic plan that speaks specifically to such undertakings.

Meanwhile, the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) will be undertaking a similar programme with support from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), targeting private businesses.

Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, who spoke about this development at an energy forum organised by the GEA last Friday at the Guyana International Conference Centre, highlighted the fact that the intervention is still in its fledgling stages.

Only recently a threemember technical team of specialists from The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in Delhi, India came to Guyana to examine a best practices manual to promote energy management and conservation of rice mills,

a technical study to improve sugar production energy efficiency, investments in Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI), and demand management and gasifier technology application for sawmills.

In the process they worked along with agencies such as the Guyana Rice Development Board, GEA and the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) and brainstormed collaboration with governmental and nongovernmental sectors, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported.

The energy forum coincided with a series of activities organised by the GEA to observe energy week and promote public awareness on sustainable energy.

As part of the activity, an energy booklet (e-book) was launched and the winners of a schools’ nationwide essay writing competi-

Richmond Hill Guyanese help elect NY councilmen, mayor

BY VISHNU BISRAM

Ntion on the topic, “The Role Sustainable Energy Plays in the Progress of Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy”, were announced.

Ruth Manbodh and Jennifer Alley of the Bishops High copped the first and second prizes respectively while Macalia Griffith of Brickdam Secondary came in third.

Prime Minister Hinds highlighted the need for citizens to make use of renewable energy and wiser use of energy. He also highlighted the prevailing circumstances with the country’s electricity sector that warranted cheap and reliable energy.

The GEA has been focusing on the potential to develop several renewable energy initiatives. Among them are, solar and wind power, a bio-ethanol plant, bio-gas and solar water heaters, to name a few.

(Guyana Times)

East Bank Demerara developing into a thriving urban centre in Guyana

The Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) of Guyana is spending a grand total of Gy$5.8 billion on the East Bank Demerara for this year, with Gy$3.8 billion on ongoing projects and another Gy$1.5 billion on projects that are at the tender stage.

Housing and Water Minister Irfaan Ali, at the penultimate One Stop Shop last Friday, told the media that the ongoing projects are: Providence Phase Three, that encompasses an investment of Gy$731 million for 558 new lots; Farm where Gy$1.4 billion will be spent for 1695 lots; Plantation Perseverance, Gy$90 million for 200 lots; and Plantation Eccles, Gy$40 million for 70 lots. It also includes the Farm to Diamond Access Road (Gy$680 million), the construction of 120 single flat homes at Providence (Gy$450 mil-

lion), upgrading of roads at Great Diamond and Golden Grove (Gy$154 million) that will benefit 1000 lots in these schemes) and grading to asphaltic surface the Cacique Entrance and Greenfield Park Entrance (Gy$544 million).

Ali explained that these are the second and third entrances to the main alternative access road that would link the East Coast and East Bank.

The projects that are at tender stage include the upgrading of roads at Great Diamond and Golden Grove (an estimated Gy$255 million investment that will benefit another 1000 lots in the area); upgrading of roads at Eccles, (Gy$244 million for 600 lots); and infrastructural development at Little Diamond and Great Diamond, an investment of Gy$950 million that will open up 300 acres of land for industrial and commercial

purposes, the minister said.

Investment

He noted too that from 2000 to 2012, investments on the East Bank Demerara, totalled Gy$17 billion and this sum has created 13,000 new lots in areas including Great Diamond, Golden Grove, Little Diamond, Mocha, Eccles, Herstelling and Kaneville.

More than 54,000 people have benefited, Ali reported.

Other programmes supervised by the housing sector from which the East Bank has benefited include the upgrade to existing community roads under the Community Road Improvement Programme, an investment of Gy$70 million and upgrade to roads in existing communities under the Miscellaneous Road Programme to the value of Gy$147 million.

(Excerpted from Guyana Times)

ew York City voters elected Democrats for all offices citywide as well as for 48 of the 51 City Council seats. Public Advocate Bill de Blasio defeated Republican nominee Joe Lhota for mayor, putting a Democrat in the office for the first time in two decades.

Guyanese voted overwhelmingly for de Blasio and Democrats. And in Richmond Hill, they helped to elect the incumbent councilman for the area, Eric Ulrich, who had provided significant assistance to them over the last six years.

At 52, de Blasio is one of the youngest men elected mayor of New York, receiving 75 per cent of the votes to Lhota’s 25 per cent. A measly 25 per cent of the city’s 4.6 million registered voters turn out to vote.

De Blasio’s biracial family – wife, Chirlane McCray, and his two children – were at his side as they were throughout the campaign.

De Blasio described his victory as a break from the past. He told cheering supporters: “Make no mistake! The people of this city have chosen a progressive path and tonight we set forth on it, together, as one city.”

In an exit poll, nearly seven out of 10 voters said the city needed to move in a new direction

from Mayor Bloomberg’s policies of the last 12 years.

There were other important races. Melinda Katz, a former councilwoman won the seat for Queens president with 80 per cent of the votes.

Republican candidate Tony Arcabascio got 17 per cent. She replaces Guyanese-American Helen Marshall.

Five incumbent Queens council members survived close contests in which Guyanese supported the winners. Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park/ Richmond Hill) in the 32nd District garnered 53.1 per cent of the votes, while his Democratic challenger, Lew Simon, had 46.9 per cent. This was the closest of the races.

Guyanese and other Caribbean people were pleased with the Democratic victories. Many said they have had enough of the last

20 years. Some added that they are excited and thrilled with the outcome.

Members of the Richmond Hill Democratic Club (RHDC) said on the evening of de Blasio’s victory, they agree with Attorney Kawal Totaram that “Tonight is a night for celebration for all the big wins in citywide office.” Totaram, Vishnu Mahadeo and other Richmond Hill Democrats described the sweep in the democratic victories as among the most hopeful and memorable events for working class and middleclass families in New York City. They hope the new mayor will not neglect them.

Guyanese had provided tens of thousands of dollars to candidates from Brooklyn, Bronx and Queens, but they did very little for the community.

Trinidad to have new crimefighting unit from December 1

Trinidad and Tobago’s Rapid Response crimefighting initiative will be implemented from December 1, National Security Minister Gary Griffith announced Sunday.

Speaking after a community meeting with residents of Andalucia, Maraval, Griffith said the unit was one of several initiatives announced by Prime Minister Kamla PersadBissessar in August, after a joint meeting with Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley to address the escalating crime problem following a spate of killings in East Port-of-Spain.

Griffith explained that the unit will provide a 24-hour mobile presence in three to four areas during the pilot project, including the western peninsula (Diego Martin, Carenage), San Fernando and possibly Siparia. He said 51 vehicles will patrol designated areas on a 24hour basis. The vehicles will be equipped with GPS systems and will be monitored through

the ministry’s operation centre to ensure they are where they are supposed to be at any given time. When fully operational, the Rapid Response unit will operate in 15 regions in TT. He added that the unit will act as a visible deterrent to criminals and will provide a sense of comfort to citizens. His ministry is also considering the revamping of community policing. Meetings with various residents’ groups evolved out of the plan to revamp community policing. The minister has already

met with residents of St Ann’s and Hololo to ascertain the threats in those, areas and to “assist the communities in building a relationship with the police.”

Community policing

Griffith has been speaking with acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams about the matter but could not provide a definite timeline for the revamping to begin. He indicated that the National Training Police Academy is important because not every officer could be a community police officer. Some officers, he

noted, have to be trained specifically in community policing so they would be able to build a relationships with residents in communities, which would lead to residents passing out information about crime.

The purpose of the community police, according to the minister would be informational, while the Rapid Response would be operational. Griffith said in revamping community policing, more meetings will be held between residents and the police. Asked if the revamping of community policing meant more foot patrols in designated areas, Griffith stated that the Rapid Response unit and aerial patrols, using the four national security helicopters, will be used to fight crime. He said too that he would insist that the helicopters be used for low aerial surveillance.

The minister said he hoped to visit as many communities as possible since crafting any crime plan should involve dialogue with residents. (Excerpted from TT Guardian)

Haitian president wowed by Jamaican enterprises

President of the Republic of Haiti

Michel Martelly says two agricultural enterprises he visited in Jamaica are worth replicating in his country.

Martelly and Jamaica's Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Roger Clarke toured the Jamaica Broilers production facility in Spring Village, and the government's Agro Park in Amity Hall, both in St Catherine. A section of the park is used by Caribbean Broilers to grow sorghum, a replacement for imported animal feed.

The Haitian president told journalists that the employment of 1,600 people at the Spring Village plant was of particular interest to him. He also made special note that the enterprises reduce the need for imports.

"This is a good way to bring money into the country, instead of importing all [the] goods," he said.

"I was very happy to see that, and the fact that Jamaica Broilers is investing in Haiti. The en-

terprise down there is much smaller, but we expect to grow bigger and allow more people to get jobs in Haiti," the president added, while outlining the effort that he will be making to establish agro park-type facilities in Haiti.

Meanwhile, Clarke said he and his Haitian counterpart Jacques

Thomas have met and identified areas of collaboration between the two countries.

The Haitian minister, according to Clarke, has pointed to specific ways in which Jamaica can help Haiti's agro-sector.

Barbados police defend decision to charge journalists

Barbados police have defended the decision to file criminal charges against three media workers in an ongoing secondary school sex scandal. Three senior officials of the Barbados Nation newspaper have been charged with showing an indecent photograph of two minors engaged in a sexual act. Nation publisher, VivianAnne Gittens, as well as the Editor-in-Chief Roy Morris and senior journalist Sanka Price, were placed on Bds$5,000 bail and ordered to hand over their travel documents after appearing in court last Thursday.

Price was the author of the article, which was accompanied by the offending photograph. The matter has been adjourned to March 11, 2014. The Nation News is a subsidiary of One Caribbean Media, the parent company of the Trinidad Express and CCN TV6. The charges stem from the October 26 publication of an article headlined “Sex Scene” and accompanying photograph based on the Facebook photo and cellphone video of two secondary school students having sex in a classroom.

The police are alleging that the photograph, which accompanied the story, was an indecent picture of two 14-year-olds in violation of Barbados’ Protection Of Children Act. Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime) Lionel M Thompson last Friday said that while it is important to acknowledge the critical role the “press

plays in a liberal democratic society,” the Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF) was “legally bound to impartially enforce the criminal law, albeit humanely.”

Thompson said that he was constrained to speak in general terms on the case as it is sub-judice. However, he said the police began “three parallel and simultaneous investigations” into the story that was carried in the Nation newspaper. “The charging of the three persons...represents the conclusion of one of the three investigations,” he said, adding that the second investigation had resulted in the charges being laid against the children.

“The other investigation remains open,” said Thompson, adding that in considering the charges against the media workers, the police “took full cognisance of the debates on the issues as the public saw them. In pursuing the three investigations, the RBPF came to the conclusion that there was enough evidence to support the charges that were brought, he said. He added that the RBPF had sought and followed the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions in the matter.

Two teenage boys, aged 16 and 15, who were allegedly responsible for capturing the act on film appeared in court on a charge of taking an indecent photograph sometime between September 1 and October 31. They were released on Bds$10,000 bail and placed on a 7.30 pm to 6 am curfew.

Over 25 000 suffering with diabetes in Barbados

In Barbados, there are about 25 000-plus patients suffering with diabetes and hence the need to take stock of this very serious medical condition.

This was the message sent by CEO of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Dr. Dexter James, as he delivered remarks at a special cake-cutting ceremony to celebrate the institution’s 49th anniversary. The event coincided with World Diabetes Day, also celebrated last Thursday.

This will have a very serious consequence for the world over, in terms of productive life,” James commented.

he would like me to move forward with him, and we are going to be working very closely to make sure that something concrete happens," the minister said.

"We can share our experience with him, and he has already noted some of

things

which)

President Martelly and his 11-team delegation, who were in the island on a three-day state visit last week, left the island last Friday. (JIS)

“November 14th is World Diabetes Day and fortuitous and otherwise for us, we are celebrating our birthday on this day. It is perhaps momentous for us to reflect on the fact that there are over 350 million people all over the world suffering with this disease today. And we expect that figure to double by the year 2030.

“Right here in Barbados, we have about 25 000 patients suffering with diabetes. So it is in fact a very serious medical condition, which we need to take stock and reflect on,” he added. James, along with hospital staff, later spent a moment in silence in support of all those who suffer with this scourge in Barbados and the world over. Staff then toured the various exhibition booths set up throughout the hospital to mark its Open Day. The Barbados Diabetes Association was also on hand at the Open Day celebrations, carrying out blood sugar and blood pressure checks for interested persons. (Barbados Advocate)

President Ramotar updates Commonwealth heads about Iwokrama’s work

Guyana’s President Donald Ramotar updated heads of government on the work of the Iwokrama International Centre (IIC) during the just concluded Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Sri Lanka. The IIC is an international not-for-profit organisation, governed by an international board of trustees and managed by a professional team of around 70 permanent staff in Georgetown and at the Iwokrama River Lodge and Research Centre at Kurupukari, Region Eight.

The IIC’s patron is the Prince of Wales.

The centre was established in 1996 under a joint mandate from the government of Guyana and the Commonwealth Secretariat to manage the Iwokrama forest, a unique reserve of 371,000 hectares of rainforest, “in a manner that will lead

to lasting ecological, economic and social benefits to the people of Guyana and to the world in general”.

Dedicated site

The Iwokrama forest and its research centre are unique, providing a dedicated site in which to test the concept of a truly sustainable forest–where conservation, environmental balance and economic use can be mutually reinforcing.

Drawing on its earlier work in sustainable forest management, the IIC is now, in close collaboration with the government of Guyana, the Commonwealth and other international partners, including UK company, Canopy Capital, developing a new approach to enable countries with rainforests to earn significant income from ecosystem services and creative conservation practice.

Heads at the summit,

according to a Foreign Affairs Ministry statement, acknowledged the valuable role that the Iwokrama Rainforest Programme continues to play in promoting research on the impact of climate change as well as in the development of models for sustainable forest management in transition to low carbon development.

They therefore supported the intensification of efforts to find a long-term solution to develop sustained financing for the programme.

Meanwhile, during his interaction with heads at the summit, Ramotar noted that their meeting afforded the opportunity for them as leaders of the Commonwealth to recommit to the values and principles of the organisation.

In particular, he highlighted the enormous contribution which

the Commonwealth had made over the years in the strengthening of democracy.

Acknowledging that the countries of the Commonwealth were at varying levels of development, the president said it was important as they sought to strengthen the organisation, that the diversity of the Commonwealth be cherished and respected. He noted that in a world facing many political, socio-economic and environmental problems, the Commonwealth remained a relevant institution as countries worked together to find common solutions.

Appreciation

Ramotar also joined his colleagues in expressing his sincere appreciation to the President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, as well as to the people of Sri Lanka for the excellent arrange-

ments put in place for the hosting of the meeting, and the warm and gracious welcome accorded to all of the delegations which set the tone for serious and substantive dialogue and a successful outcome of the meeting.

Ramotar was accompanied by First Lady Deolatchmie

Ramotar and his delegation comprised Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn RodriguesBirkett, the ministry’s Director General, Ambassador Elisabeth Harper and Guyana’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Laleshwar Singh. (Guyana Times)

Jamaica’s dollar slide, central bank diverted stock market funds

Investors concerned about currency movements in Jamaica are diverting funds from the stock market towards hard currency investments and government paper, according to the Bank of Jamaica.

Weak performance of the equities market mainly reflected "low investor interest" due to continued uncertainty about the prospects for the economy, according to the central bank

in its latest Quarterly Monetary Policy Report.

This uncertainty was being reflected in the continued marked depreciation in the local currency vis-à-vis the US dollar," said the BOJ report. "In addition, the BOJ's continued offering of variable rate Certificate of Deposits (CDs) at attractive premiums also served to divert funds away from the equities market."

For the September

Caribbean

T2013 quarter, the advance to decline ratio was eight to 19.

This was also reflected in the JSE Main Index declining by 2.7 per cent in the September quarter when compared to the June quarter 2013, the BOJ indicated.

Concurrently the Junior Market, All Jamaica, JSE Select, Crosslisted and Combined indices declined by 4.1 per cent, 4.2 per cent, 4.2 per cent,

0.7 per cent and 2.8 per cent, respectively, for the review quarter.

"In this regard, for the quarter, average monthly returns on domestic fixed income and foreign currency investments exceeded the returns on equities investments," said the BOJ report.

Investors that simply held foreign currency would have earned 2.1 per cent based on the local dollar depreciation during the September

quarter ending at Ja$103.60 for US$1.

Additionally, the BOJ maintained the interest rates on 30-day CDs at 5.75 per cent in the September quarter.

"This decision was informed by an unchanged outlook for inflation, as domestic demand conditions remained weak," said the central bank.

In fact, stocks in the manufacturing sector (an important barometer of economic activity)

accounted for four of the top 10 declining stocks, recording average price reductions of 13.8 per cent for the review period. These stocks included Kingston Wharves, Desnoes & Geddes and Seprod. "This movement in manufacturing largely reflected the lack of interest by investors due to the continued poor performance in that sector," stated the BOJ. (Jamaica Observer)

TT Police smash diesel racket in Sea Lots

Just over 11,000 litres of diesel was found in two underground tanks at an abandoned lot of land in Sea Lots, Trinidad, on Monday afternoon, police said Tuesday. The excavating of the tanks ended around 1 am Tuesday, police said, and 11,400 litres of diesel was found. Police searched the area for other buried tanks, but none were found. The local subsidised price for diesel is TT$1.50 a litre. The unsubsidised price is TT$4.21 a litre. Police estimate the cost of the

diesel at TT$17,100 locally.

However, on the black market the fuel could be sold for upward of TT$50,000. Officers of the Besson Street Police Station, Port-of-Spain CID, Canine Unit and other branches went to the area on Monday afternoon after close investigations and tip-offs that there was diesel bunkering taking place in the abandoned land, just off Pioneer Drive, Sea Lots.

Officers conducted searches in the area Tuesday in the hope of

arresting the culprits. Though they were empty-handed in that regard, the officers managed to arrest 14 people for various offences including possession of narcotics. Police seized 98 grammes of cocaine and two kilogrammes of marijuana, together having an estimated street value of close to TT$20,000.

This was the third time for the year that illegal bunkering activity has been discovered in the community. According to police reports, around 2.30 pm

on Monday officers of the Inter Agency Task Force (IATF) were on patrol in the Sea Lots area when they discovered the two underground tanks on an abandoned lot of land. The tanks were estimated to be 12 feet deep with close to four feet of diesel in each tank, and were close to the shoreline. The officers also found a pump and several hoses used to fill the tanks of boats that officers believe went into the mangrove from the Gulf of Paria to fill up on fuel. (TT Guardian)

statistics on human trafficking needed, says Barbados minister

he sex industry carries a price tag of US$32 billion annually, with about 27 million men, women and children being trafficked, according to Barbados Minister of Home Affairs, Adriel Brathwaite, who lamented the fact that these figures did not produce evidence about the level of trafficking

within the Caribbean.

“I don’t have a sense as to the extent of the problem in Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados or Cariom,” he said during his address Monday at the “Maria Holder Memorial Trust Live Up: The Show workshop”, which was organised by the Caribbean Broadcast Media Partnership on HIV/AIDS.

The minister, who is also chairman of the National Task Force for the Prevention of Human Trafficking, threw out the challenge for someone to take ownership of finding out the extent of human trafficking in the Caribbean and Barbados.

“We don’t live in isolation, and we recognise that what is

happening in the world, must also be happening at our doorsteps,” he stated. He warned that it would be “foolish” not to accept that Barbados and the Caribbean would have the same issues that were occurring across the world, and was of the view that they needed to be addressed from inception.

Brathwaite said the Caribbean was known for its sun, sea and sex, and pointed out that not everyone involved in transactional sex was doing it willingly, and illustrated the fact that some children were being exploited by family members as a form of income generation. (Excerpted from Caribbean News)

Jamaica eyes 'big share' of U.S., Canada limestone market

Jamaica has big plans to tap into the limestone market of Caricom and the Americas, which is said to have valued US$140 million over the last five years.

The key findings of the recently conducted Limestone Market Assessment Project revealed that there are good market opportunities in the domestic, regional and extra-regional markets for limestone aggregate, ground calcium carbonate, quicklime, and additives in various kinds of building plasters. These and other findings were presented last week at the Limestone symposium held at the head office of Jampro, the island's investment promotion agency.

The project identified market opportunites in Caricom and the Americas for limestone aggregate that is being serviced from other suppliers, who have over the last five years earned US$140 million.

"Our intention must be to go for a big share of the lucrative U.S. market for limestone that industry experts say will demand 25 million tons in 10 years, and the Canadian market that will demand 2.3 bil-

lion," said Sharon Ffolkes Abrahams, State Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce.

Estimates show that there's a reserve of 150 billion tons, of which 50 billion tons are recoverable.

Even so, Jamaica would need special features to dis-

place competitors who already have a strong foothold.

But this is dependent on factors that include the quality of the limestone, a central shipping port that facilitates access to large markets in Central, North and South America and the availability of bulk and ocean freight containerised ser-

vices, according to the study.

Phase one of the project, which is currently being undertaken, looks specifically at the market capabilities and what can be produced. It also examines the quarries that are in operation locally.

Meanwhile, the remaining stages will assess how in-

vestors can be attracted to the market and the technical assistance that would have to be given to the companies that intend to enter the market, the partnerships that need to be formed and the implementation of new products.

It was conceptualised by the investment agency and undertaken by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Science, Technology, and Energy and Mining. The assessment was done by Conrad Douglas and Associates and was funded by the Centre for the Development of Enterprises (CDE).

"Jamaica is considered as the limestone capital of the world," said Douglas, the principal consultant of the project and executive chairman of Conrad Douglas and Associates.

About 60 per cent of the island by weight and about 80 per cent of the total surface comprises limestone, he said.

But Douglas emphasised that a contact survey and analysis should be conducted in target markets for the export of the products. (Jamaica Observer)

Holness gets tough, plans to strengthen JLP disciplinary mechanism

Jamaica Labour Party leader Andrew Holness says the party’s disciplinary mechanism will be strengthened so that those who breach the rules and protocols are held accountable.

According to Holness, members should respect the dispute resolution and disciplinary mechanisms of the party.

He also said that he has taken note of the tendency of some members to run to the media to disclose internal matters, instead of using the established mechanisms. Holness stressed that this

practice must stop.

"I am not opposed to keeping the public informed about what is happening, in fact, that is important. But, what I have detected is that the public is becoming increasingly frustrated with these internal wranglings...They don't want the soap opera. What they want to see is that the real issues that affect them are resolved quickly, and resolved in such a way as to preserve the dignity and respect for the institution," the opposition leader said. He added, “I want it to be clearly understood that there will be no reward

last october

for those persons who continue to breach party protocol and take party business outside.

Meanwhile, the JLP leader also called for those who were against his leadership to acknowledge and respect the mandate given to him by delegates.

He emphasised that the sooner that this is done, the quicker the party can move forward united.

"If we don't protect the mandate, we will end up going through the same exercise every year. That cannot go on again. So let us use this opportunity to

set some order in the politics, once and for all," he stated.

And in an apparent reference to some members who declined his offer to be a part of the Shadow Cabinet, Holness said there is always space for those who want to serve.

According to him, he has not been vindictive towards those who did not support him, but instead he has been accommodating.

Holness has charged delegates to begin reaching out to voters as the party positions itself to win State power at the

next general election.

Holness was speaking to Jamaica Labour Party delegates during a forum at the University of Technology on Sunday. (Excerpted from Jamaica Observer and Gleaner)

TT’s hunters will get ruling on ban next year

year ban on hunting on State lands. Lawyers representing the group and Minister of the Environment and Water Resources Ganga Singh met for a hearing of the law suit before Justice Joan Charles in the Port-of-Spain High Court Monday.

The group, Confederation of Hunters Associations for Conservation of TT, claims to consist of almost 12,000 hunters and is seeking leave to pursue its judicial review application over Singh’s decision to impose the ban and to increase fines for its breach. It is claiming the decision

was irrational and unlawful as hunters had a legitimate expectation that they would be allowed to hunt during a specified hunting season each year.

The group, which is being led by Buddie Gordon Miller, is also claiming it was not properly consulted before Cabinet made its decision on the issue. During Monday’s hearing Russell Martineau, SC, who is heading the State’s team of lawyers, submitted that the court did not have the jurisdiction to hear the case as it dealt with the government’s wildlife conservation policy.

“The court ought not to intervene as it it’s a public policy decision. Government is entitled to decide on policy in various areas of governance,” Martineau said. He said the group could not have a legitimate expectation that Parliament would not change laws related to hunting. “They can’t expect the law to remain there forever,” Martineau said. He also submitted that the hunters did not have a statutory right to consultation, but noted that Singh met with them once, before announcing the ban on October 1.

The group’s law-

yers did not respond to Martineau’s submissions Monday, instead suggesting the written submissions be filed by both parties before Justice Charles gives her decision on February 10. In announcing the moratorium, at a post-Cabinet new conference, Singh said it was necessary to protect certain species of wildlife, including agouti, lappe, deer and quenk (wild hog), from extinction. The hunting season is traditionally opened from October 1 and lasts to the end of February the following year. (Excerpted from TT Guardian)

UN human rights office condemns racist attacks on French Guyanese-born justice minister

The United Nations human rights office has condemned the recent racist attacks in France against French Guyanese-born Minister of Justice Christiane Taubira.

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OCHCR) said that the racist attacks were “unacceptable”, warning that they were another sign of rising discrimination in many European nations.

This utterly unacceptable abuse of a prominent politician, on the basis of her colour, is a stark manifestation of the rising racism, xenophobia and intolerance aimed at mem-

bers of ethnic and religious minorities, as well as migrants, in many European countries,” OCHCR spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters.

Colville noted that last month, a candidate for the National Front party likened Taubira to a monkey in a television documentary that was broadcast on October 17.

A week later, several demonstrators in the town of Angers, including children, who were protesting against gay marriage, waved banana peels at Taubira and shouted “Monkey, eat your banana!”

This week, OCHCR said the French magazine “Minute” pub-

lished a cover showing Taubira with the headline “Cunning as a monkey, Taubira gets the banana back”.

“The underlying racist intent of this play on words could not be more clear, despite the magazine’s protestations that they were just using two common French expressions, the second of which is used colloquially to describe someone who is very happy,” Colville said.

“We welcome the prompt and unequivocal condemnation of the racist attack on Ms Taubira by the government and many other politicians and commentators in France,” he added. (Caribbean News)

Association of Concerned Guyanese observes 40th anniversary Sunday

The Association of Concerned Guyanese (ACG) will be celebrating its 40th anniversary on Sunday, November 23rd, at the Elite Banquet Hall, Toronto, Canada and is inviting members of the public to join in the celebrations.

ACG’s Senior VicePresident Mani Singh noted that the association has initiated and played a leading role in bringing together the Guyanese diaspora in Canada. These efforts eventually gave birth to the Guyana Festival in Toronto, the largest annual gathering of Guyanese outside of Guyana.

“The ACG also initiated and supported numerous communitybased projects aimed at strengthening our communities and rebuilding our country,” Singh highlighted, noting that “the ACG played an integral role in the flood relief efforts in 2005 by working close-

ly with the Guyana Consulate in Toronto and by providing both financial and material assistance to our fellow citizens in Guyana.”

The ACG has also supported the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre in Georgetown.

Several ACG members have also over the years returned to Guyana and served in various capacities in the ruling PPP/Civic administration.

“I firmly believe that the work of the ACG is still relevant today, as the struggle continues to maintain, consolidate and defend our hard fought democratic gains from forces in Guyana who are bent on grabbing political power at all costs and with absolutely no regard for democracy and the rule of law,” Singh outlined.

He noted that the ACG was formed in direct response during a period in Guyana which he described as being filled with “wide-

spread electoral fraud and massive political repression.”

“It was in that eventful year of 1973 that a group of young patriotic Guyanese in Toronto gathered together to form the organization now known as the Association of Concerned Guyanese (the ACG). Its mandate then was to bring international awareness to the plight of the Guyanese people, their struggles to have free and fair elections,” Singh observed.

The ACG joined with Dr. Jagan and the PPP to petition the Canadian government and other international bodies to put pressure on the then ruling regime to respect the wishes of the Guyanese people and to hold free and fair elections.

According to Singh, the ACG has since “adjusted its mandate to provide support to the duly elected PPP/C government in rebuilding the country.”

Guyana imposes ban on Styrofoam to help tackle garbage woes

Guyana’s Natural Resources and Environment Minister Robert Persaud said the ban on Styrofoam beginning June 1, 2014 could prove useful to Guyanese entrepreneurs, who could possibly look at producing alternatives to that material.

Persaud made this statement during the second round of stakeholder’s consultations on the ban of Styrofoam held at Duke Lodge, Kingston, Georgetown on Monday.

“When we talk about the ban, it is not to take away anything, but rather a step to give our people more opportunities but also gives them a healthy surrounding,” Persaud added. Both economic and employment opportunities could be created.

Persaud said it will provide an opportunity to the cottage industry, to produce cardboard boxes that were used many years ago in Guyana.

The environment minister said while the ban may evoke negative feelings, it is important that it is implemented.

“We must also be mindful of the consequences on public health and also how these mea-

sures and steps can allow us to help us to improve and enhance our environment,” he asserted.

It was also agreed that more needs to be done to enhance the public awareness campaign, to ensure greater compliance.

Comprehensive approach

Persaud noted that a comprehensive approach is expected, as the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Guyana Police Force (GPF) will have to play their part in ensuring that there are no loopholes.

Reference was also made to the new litter regulations, which is currently being drafted and is expected to be tabled in Parliament for approval.

Persaud said these regulations will see litter wardens placed all over the country, to monitor the situation.

Meanwhile, acting Tourism Minister Irfaan Ali lauded the initiative to ban Styrofoam, noting that it contributes significantly to solid waste, which continues to be a major tourism issue.

Ali said the approach between the two ministries is to ensure that there is less garbage, especially when it comes to

Styrofoam.

Garbage in the city and other parts of the country continues to be an eyesore and could cause the achievements made in the tourism sector to backpedal.

Meanwhile, Georgetown Chamber of Commerce (GCCI) President Clinton Urling said there are many reasons the ban should be implemented. While noting that the food service industry is likely to be affected most by the ban, the GCCI president said that there are many alternatives to Styrofoam.

Urling owns a food business which is one of the few companies in Guyana that have already transitioned and is now using biodegradable materials.

However, he urged government to work towards enhancing its public awareness campaign to inform businesses of the ban in advance.

Both the Private Sector Commission (PSC) and the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) have endorsed the plan to scale back the importation of Styrofoam. (Excerpted from Guyana Times)

Pathologists, dentists among 20 Cuban medical personnel to join Jamaica’s public health sector

Jamaica’s Minister of Health Dr Fenton Ferguson has described the acquisition of two pathologists and thee dentists among 20 Cuban medical personnel who arrived in the island recently, as historic.

This, Dr Ferguson said, is because it is the first time that these categories from Cuba would be joining the health team in Jamaica.

Dr Ferguson was speaking at the official welcome ceremony for the group held at the Bustamante Hospital for Children last Friday. The medical personnel will be placed in the various health regions as part of efforts to "improve the human resource capacity in the public health sector".

Dr Ferguson said “the pathologists will facilitate quicker turn-around time of specimen in the national public health lab, and therefore more effective and efficient services for cancer patients for example.

"The dentists will allow us to place more focus on dental health care, especially at the community level," Dr Ferguson said.

Other groups of health professionals in the batch include three general practitioners, one neonatologist, five neonatology nurses, one primary health care nurse, four nephrology nurses, and one nephrologist, said a release from the health ministry Saturday.

Dr Ferguson explained that "while it is important for us to build on our human resource and ensure that there is access to specialist training in areas where we do not have the requisite skills available, procuring those skills from our partners such as Cuba, is important for the efficient maintenance of the health system".

“I want to stress that the skills that

we have requested from Cuba are for areas where we do not have the personnel available at all locally or in sufficient quantities," said Dr Ferguson. "We have to be mindful that it takes 2-4 years to graduate a specialist in the health sector and we continue to lose our highly trained workers to developed countries they consider greener pastures in terms of competitiveness of salary and benefits.

"We therefore have to use recruitment of human resource from overseas partners as one of our strategies to fill positions in the public health sector,” he said.

Since 2012, the government has signed four bilateral agreements with Cuba in relation to the Jamaica/Cuba Ophthalmology Centre, the Agency Agreement in support of the Biomedical Services Arrangement, Spare Parts Agreement, and the Technical Cooperation Agreement, the health ministry said. (Jamaica Observer)

PM Kamla appoints special prisons’ committee amidst threats of riots

Prime Minister Kamla PersadBissessar has appointed a special committee to, “investigate and address” issues emanating from both prisons officers and prisoners themselves, following a series of incidents and protest action by prisoners at the Golden Grove State Prison in Trinidad.

The committee is chaired by Professor Ramesh Deosaran, the chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC) and includes National Security Minister Gary Griffith, Prisons Commissioner Martin Martinez, Justice Minister Emmanuel George, Inspector of Prisons Daniel Khan, Acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams, attorney Wayne Sturge, an unnamed member of the prison population and secretary general of the Prisons Officers’ Association (POA) Gerard Gordon. Persad-Bissessar Monday expressed concern at ongoing and escalating developments within the prisons service where prisons offi-

cers have gone on protest action following the murder of a prisons officer, the near fatal shooting of another and the stabbing of a third.

Prisoners, affected by the prisons’ officers goslow protest action, are now threatening a mass riot from behind prison walls as they complain of ill treatment at the hands of prisons officers, late distribution of morning, midday and evening meals, no airing (recreation time) and cancellation of visitation rights of families and friends.

In a statement issued Monday, the prime minister said the committee would not only investigate all issues surround-

ing the crisis within the prisons service, but also deal with these issues to bring about a resolution.

She said too that she has been personally monitoring the situation at the Golden Grove State Prison, and is deeply concerned over recent and continuing developments related to the prison and to the situation in general.

The prime minister met two months ago with representatives of the POA to hear their concerns, which included a call for prisons officers to be given firearms while off-duty and for them to be afforded houses. (Excerpted from TT Newsday)

Jamaica Urban Transit Company to outline Ja$100 million payment plan for crash survivors

The state-run Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) should, by next week, file in the Supreme Court its plan for payment in relation to a Ja$100-million settlement with survivors of a deadly crash in 2010.

Managing Director Colin Campbell told Jamaican media Monday that the company had asked the court for time to file its payment plan by November 26. Campbell, earlier

this month, said that the company would move to honour the settlement as soon as possible. His comment came a day after 30 survivors from the crash served notice, under the Companies Act, for JUTC to make payment within 21 days or face action to have it wound up and its assets sold to make the payment.

The settlement for Ja$106,650,000 was reached in August, the claimants' attorney Sean

Kinghorn said.

The JUTC, which subsequently accepted liability, was slapped with the lawsuit after one of its buses that was on charter service went over a precipice in Faith's Pen, St Ann, with members from the Bayside New Testament Church of God in Portmore, St Catherine, in November 2010. Thirty-nine people were injured. Sixteenyear-old Jodie-Ann Henry died in the crash. (Jamaica Observer)

President Ramotar, UAE PM discuss boosting joint cooperation

President Donald Ramotar met United Arab Emirates (UAE) Vice President and Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum for talks while on a visit to Dubai on Monday. According to the Khaleej Times of Dubai, the two officials discussed bilateral relations in various fields and boosting joint cooperation in various areas. Among them were youth training, tourism, sea and airports, and roads for which President Ramotar sought the UAE’s support.

On this note, Sheikh Mohammed affirmed that the UAE would be willing to place its experiences, potential and development experiment at the service of friendly countries regardless of the geographical location.

He also conceded to the idea of offering UAE’s technical assistance on training youth in Guyana, reported the Government Information Agency (GINA).

The delegation from the host country included Dubai Civil Aviation

Authority Chairman, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum; Emirates Group Chairman Abdul Rahmanbin; Health Minister Mohammed Al Owais; State Minister Reembint Ibrahim Al Hashemi; and other senior officials.

Only a month ago, UAE Health Minister Abdulrahman Alowais visited Guyana for a meeting with President Ramotar for brief talks on cooperation in the commercial sector. The UAE is located southeast of the Arabian Peninsula on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Iran.

Its foreign relations are considered liberal, as it encourages diplomatic and commercial cooperation with other countries. The economy has been ranked favourably over the years. Guyana and the UAE are both members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), an international body with permanent membership in the United Nations (UN) that advocates the interest of the Islamic world and also peace and harmony. Former President Bharrat Jagdeo had visited the UAE during a frontier quest to the Middle East a few years ago.

1376 graduate from University of Guyana

One thousand, three hundred and seventy-six students on Saturday graduated when the University of Guyana (UG) hosted it 47th convocation exercise at the Turkeyen Campus.

The graduates were drawn from the faculties of agriculture and forestry, health sciences, natural sciences and social sciences; the Schools of Education and Humanities; Earth and Environmental Sciences; and the Institute of Distance and Continuing Education.

Fort Valley State University, Georgia, U.S.A. President, Dr Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith, a graduate from the University of Guyana, delivered the feature address.

morrow”.

“For the University of Guyana to have salutary ‘tomorrow’ that go beyond crisis management survival and that avoids its leaders being practitioners of the science of muddling through, I see the necessity for the following three maturation imperatives: an economic viability imperative, an academic credibility imperative and a disapora engagement imperative.”

Meanwhile, Eileen Selina Marray from the Faculty of Social Sciences copped the President’s Medal for the best graduating bachelor’s degree student.

Quoting Isaac Newton, Griffith said, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants,” explaining that graduates must not fail to acknowledge the giants in their lives, who would have made significant contributions to their successes.

tors may be biological and or sociological members.

He stressed that no one accomplishment is self based, positing that the giants or contribu-

On this score, he encouraged the graduates who were decked in their predominantly green or white and black attire to make a list of their 12 gi-

ants and display gratitude during the next 30 days.

“Graduands, you are to be congratulated; you have completed notable educational journeys, whether you’ll be getting certificates, di-

plomas and degrees; irrespective of whether they are first degrees or higher ones, regardless of whether they are research degrees or professional degrees and no matter what field.

“Your accomplishments are much deserved...your dreams have come true.”

This year marks the golden jubilee for the University of Guyana, and Dr Griffith noted that while it is an opportune moment for Guyanese to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements of “yesterdays”, they must ponder the prospects for “the to-

Felina Sarah Maikoo, also of the Faculty of Social Sciences, walked away with the Chancellor’s Medal for being the second best graduating bachelor’s degree student.

Notably present at the convocation were Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, Mexican Ambassador to Guyana Francisco Olguin and City Mayor Hamilton Green.

The procession was declared opened by ProChancellor, Professor Prem Misir in the presence of Vice Chancellor, Professor Jacob Opadeyi, Registrar Vincent Alexander and deans of the various faculties. (Guyana Times)

Mexico helping to improve Guyana’s zoo

Guyana’s Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, with support from the Mexican government, recently hosted a visiting zoo expert from Mexico during the period, November 11 to 15.

Facilitated by the Mexican embassy in Guyana and coordinated by the ministry’s Protected Areas Commission, the visit was the first step in a long-term technical cooperation agreement between the two countries.

The expert, Dr Enrique Mendoza-Salazar, is the deputy director of the Mexico City Chapultepec Zoo, the largest zoo in Mexico.

During his visit, Dr Mendoza provided advice and training in the areas of animal nutrition, health and treatment regimes, education and awareness, enclosure design, and cage enhancement.

Through this partnership, it is expected that Guyana’s zoo’s per-

sonnel will be equipped with new skills and techniques to better manage the facility and care for its animals.

By strengthening local capacity, this technical help will complement the recently-developed zoo master plan, which for the first time outlines a long-term vision for the modernisation of the Guyana Zoo.

The Protected Areas Commission is continuously working with corporate and private sponsors to support the overhaul of a number of enclosures. The effort to improve the zoo is part of the larger Three Parks Initiative launched by Natural Resources and Environment Minister Robert Persaud, which also aims to rehabilitate the National Park and Botanical Gardens.

All parties interested in supporting this initiative are invited to contact the Protected Areas Commission office at the National Park, Thomas Lands.

DDL’s chairman in Guyana Dr Yesu Persaud retires at 85

- Komal Samaroo to

Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) Chairman, Dr Yesu Persaud has retired after close to five decades of unwavering dedication to the company. The revelation was made by DDL Director Rudy Collins at the Pegasus Hotel on Saturday.

Dr Persaud, 85, has served DDL for more than 48 years. His retirement will take effect on December 31, paving the way for Komal Samaroo to assume the chairmanship of the company.

In delivering his final address as DDL chairman, the iconic business man spoke about salvaging the company which was on the brink of collapse, transforming it into an internationally-

assume chairmanship

recognised entity today.

In 1975, Dr Persaud took control of the company, which was then called Diamond Liquor Liquid (DLL). Reflecting on his appointment, the 85-year-old industrialist said he was challenged by then Agriculture Minister Gavin Kennard to take up the chairmanship of DLL, Sandbach Parker Group and the sugar estates at Diamond and Leonora.

“So I said to him, ‘sir you want me to take over all of this from tomorrow’, I said ‘sir, this is an impossibility’,” he said, reflecting on the conversation between himself and the then agriculture minister.

Nevertheless, he opted for the position, fol-

lowing a discussion with his wife.

His decision was a life changing one, as he transformed the industry. Subsequent to his appointment, he held meetings with the various companies and appointed managers, as he underscored the importance of collaborating at all levels of the workforce, creating a sense of inclusiveness.

Forty-eight years after occupying the post as chairman, Dr Persaud said, “I stand here very proud to be leaving companies that were almost bankrupt and seeing it to where it is, not only profitable, but the best in the world.”

Under the stewardship of Dr Persaud, DDL

Kingston Wharves

Kingston Wharves Limited (KWL) plans to start its port expansion in early 2014.

But it will receive new container handling equipment before this year is out. The cargo handler, which is undertaking the expansion to make room for additional cargo after the Panama Canal expansion is complete, had raised Ja$1.8 billion by selling a 25 per cent stake in the cargo handler to Jamaica Producers Group (JP), at the beginning of 2012, to finance the project.

The company estimates that it will cost up to US$50 million to complete, although it delayed demolishing warehouses and dredging activities, which were supposed to start early this year.

Indeed, the timing

of the expansion relies heavily on global economic activity and the date for completion of the Panama Canal.

The latest reports from the Panama Canal Authority place the completion date at June 2015, after a re-evaluation and modification of the logistics and duration of the locks' electromechanical works.

Previously, it was supposed to be finished in April 2015, while testing was scheduled to take place up to mid2015.

The delay means that the Canal likely won't open until late that year, or even later in early 2016.

As part of the redevelopment project, Kingston Wharves will remove and relocate some of its existing warehouses.

grew from being only a manufacturer and exporter of bulk rum, to building a global brand, El Dorado Rums.

Additionally, he has led the way in corporate expansion and aided in the development and acquisition of several subsidiaries in the areas of financial services, food processing, distribution and shipping.

Top awards

In an effort to paint a vivid picture of DDL’s success, Dr Persaud pointed out that the company has been making strides on the international scenes, copping top awards in the renowned International Wine and Spirit Competition.

According to him, DDL has not only copped

the Gold Medal Award in the International Wine and Spirit Competition, but has walked away with the trophy for the 8 year old El Dorado Rum.

“Eight year is a unique product in its own right...In addition to that, DDL has also won the gold medal…for the 21 year old, 15 year and

the 12 year old. Never in the history of this competition, had one company taken almost all the awards. This indeed is something historic; it’s not for DDL but the whole of Guyana.”

Collins said DDL’s board of directors last Friday formally accepted Dr Persaud’s retirement letter. (Guyana

to start expansion in early 2014

Administrative buildings will also be moved and repositioned.

A new area for ships at the wharf will be created --the new berthing facility will be 7,969 square metres. Dredging to accommodate larger vessels at berths 5 through 6 will also take place.

The final part of the plan is to increase the cargo handler's stowage capacity by 41,437 square metres.

In the meantime, KWL saw its revenue climbed by 18 per cent to Ja$3.1 billion for the nine months to September 30, due mainly to depreciation of the Jamaican dollar.

Net profits jumped 50 per cent from Ja$315 million for the comparative nine-month period last year to Ja$474 mil-

China funding school construction in Antigua

China is providing a 30 million RMB (US$4.9 million) grant for the construction of a new secondary school in Five Islands, Antigua and Barbuda.

Antigua’s Education Minister Dr. Jacqui Quinn-Leandro, speaking at the sod-turning ceremony on Sunday, said “this state of the art school is part of government’s commitment to universal secondary education.

“The grant aid is a sterling testimony of the strong bilateral relationship between the People’s Republic of China and Antigua and Barbuda,” she added.

and barbuda’s

lion in the same period in 2013.

The management has been implementing measures to "review, monitor and minimise costs", according to KWL CEO Grantley Stephenson, in a report to shareholders in the latest financial statements.

The company even had to restructure its cold storage operations and made all positions redundant at the end of August.

"The refrigeration segment of this business will continue operations," said Stephenson. "However, the cold stor-

age facilities have been leased to an independent third party."

KWL expects modest growth in transhipment containers and motor units for the remainder of 2013, while the domestic business is expected to be flat. (Jamaica Observer)

The new school will cater for 750 students with classrooms, a gymnasium, music room and information technology (IT) and science laboratories.

Barbuda and the People’s Republic of China.

The sod turning ceremony was attended by officials from the governments of the Antigua and

Quinn-Leandro said the additional school would have far reaching impact on the human resource development of the young people of Antigua and Barbuda.

Hydrocarbon traces in Guyana being mapped at Mahaica

The development of Guyana’s oil and petroleum sector is continuing with a mapping exercise currently underway in the Mahaica, Mahaicony area. The area is being surveyed to ascertain the potential of commercially viable quantities of oil and gas by local contracting company S.NABI and Sons, which has a lease for 2300 square kilometres (km).

Conducting the testing and mapping, using specialised equipment is Hydrocarbon Imaging Services Inc. President of the Texas-based firm, Robert Clark, explained that the firm has successfully conducted operations in Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and several African countries.

Comparisons

“We have a good idea of comparisons, and as I come to Guyana, there is a lot of anecdotal information. There’s very sketchy information on historical wells, but even with that, we could still get an idea of the boundaries and the identifying signatures of hydrocarbons, oil and gas,” Clark said.

The head of the company reported that tests indicate that there are hydrocarbons present, but “it all comes down to commercial quantities”. He explained that testing is done by looking at the natural gammaray signatures using Geiger counters since hydrocarbon deposits are inherently radioactive and testing for gases such as methane, carbon diox-

ide, and several others in the soil. Grids are then mapped out to ascertain certain trends, according to Clark.

“This is more of a channel and normally and what we try to do is find the sweet spot and then bring in the other sciences, whether it’s seismic or otherwise to see its structure…We have to integrate historical geology, historical well control, we do not operate in a vacuum. We have a science that is mathematicallybased, that is nuclearbased, that is predictable and repeatable.” The signs thus far are very encouraging and there is also the presence of gas (methane) as well, he added.

The area being surveyed is known for oil seeps and soil outcrop also known as reefs, clear indicators of hydrocarbons being present in the subsurface of the soil.

For engineer and managing director of the NABI Oil and Gas Inc, Antony Syms, the aim

is to ascertain whether they can drill to reach any deposits cost effectively and whether it is commercially viable to do so.

“The cost of production must be less than the selling price or we don’t have a business,” Syms said.

Other companies

Guyana’s Natural Resources Minister Robert Persaud, who was on hand to witness the testing, said there are three companies which are currently conducting similar exercises in other areas; one is currently offshore and the other is in south of Guyana.

“These are very early days and while it’s good to temper expectations, there are many, many more stages that the company or other exploration companies will have to undertake before getting to that point, but certainly, if there is that potential, it is important that as a nation we examine and explore that potential, because it’s good for our country’s development and certainly

it shows that we are committed, at the end of the day, to developing our hydrocarbon sector.”

Challenges

He noted that while there are challenges on and offshore, in terms of hydrocarbon exploration, government remains committed to giving much support. “I’ve mandated the GGMC, the Petroleum Division, that whatever support we need to give different companies in this field that, we give them. We don’t expect that the companies will hold and watch on and wait for something to happen, they have to make it happen,” Persaud stated.

NABI Oil and Gas Inc secured their prospecting licence in June of 2012, and Persaud said government was happy to see some progress in terms of their work.

The company has already invested over Gy$70 million on the project and anticipates that it may be able to drill for further testing and extraction sometime in 2014.

According to S NABI and Sons representatives, the company is the first locally owned firm to engage in this type of activity. (GINA)

Local arm of Olweus Bullying Prevention Programme to be launched in Barbados

The Olweus Bullying Prevention Programme, which has been implemented in more than a dozen countries around the world, and in hundreds of schools in the United States, is to have an official launch in Barbados.

Barbados already has two local Olweus Bullying Prevention Programme Consultants, Shawn Clarke and Cheryl Alleyne-McIntyre, who have not only visited the United States of America to have certified training, but who have already conducted Bullying Prevention Coordination Committee Training in Barbados, for the benefit of teachers, guidance counsellors, parents and nonteaching staff in four Barbadian schools.

Clarke revealed that the idea for such a project started when his organisation Supreme Counselling for Personal Development started receiving several reports of children being bullied at school.

“One young man engraved the word “help” in his leg with a sharp edged tool” he explained.

“When Psychologist Dianne Holder interviewed him, he noted that that what he had to go through at school every day in regards to being bullied, was more painful than the act of engraving such on his body. I clearly recognised then, the need to do something to reduce, or even try to eradicate bullying in Barbados,” Clarke pointed out.

Pilot initiative

With the assistance of Dr. Don Marshall of the UWI Cave Hill Campus, Clarke directed to the Olweus Bullying

Prevention Programme. He later visited the United States, in November 2012, to become a Certified Olweus Bullying Prevention Consultant. In the U.S., Clarke visited both middle schools and high schools in two states, Kansas City and Pennsylvania, where he witnessed first-hand the Olweus Bullying Prevention Programme in action.

This year, Clarke set out on a mission to launch the Olweus Bullying Prevention Programme pilot project, in Barbadian schools.

Established by Dr. Dan Olweus from Norway in the 1970s, the Olweus is a comprehensive approach that includes school-wide, classroom, individual, and community components. It is focused on long-term change that creates a safe and positive school climate. The goals are to reduce and prevent bullying problems among schoolchildren and to improve peer relations at school. The programme has been found to reduce bullying among students, improve the social climate of classrooms, and reduce related antisocial behaviors, such as vandalism and truancy.

Already, the Barbados’ education ministry has endorsed the programme. Clarke has also been readily seeking sponsorship for the programme. He is hoping to have a one year pilot project launched and afterwards, he hopes that a programme tailored specifically for Barbados will become mainstream in all secondary schools and even primary schools. (Excerpted from Barbados Advocate)

Investors ink MOU for TT$310 million investment in Trinidad’s agriculture

Four investors, two local and two international, have signed memoranda of understanding (MOU) with Caroni GREEN, with a combined investment capital value of TT$310 million, that are expected to generate 940 permanent and seasonal jobs within a three-year period in Trinidad and Tobago.

Food Production Minister, Devant Maharaj, said the investments would “open up the agriculture sector by delving into the areas of bio-fuels, processing, exportation of value-added packs and linkages, such as agriculture supplies.”

The MOU documents were signed last Friday at the Hilton Trinidad, by Caroni GREEN’s chief executive, Deosaran Jagroo, representatives of UKbased Emunite Energy Solutions and St Luciabased Baron Foods Limited, as well as the owner of Ramlagan’s

ceo of caroni green, deosaran Jagroo signs the moU between caroni green and emunite energy solutions, with ramlagan's general Hardware, managing director krishna ramlagan. in back row are minister of Food Production devant maharaj; minister in the ministry of Finance, rudy indarsingh; daran soondarsingh, President of emunite solutions, claudia emmanuel, and ceo of baron Foods, ronald ramjattan. (TT Newsday photo)

General Hardware and Electrical Limited in Couva, and Maraval dasheen bush farmer/ entrepreneur, Daran Soondarsingh.

Emunite Energy Solutions, which produces bio-fuels, has expressed interest in growing Giant King Grass on 3,500 acres of

land for the production of ‘Green fuel’ (bio-fuel) in collaboration with cane farmers.

Baron Foods Limited, one of the

largest food processors in the Caribbean, is perhaps best known for its banana ketchup. Maharaj said the company would like to set up “one of the largest and most modern food processing facility in Trinidad, at a cost of approximately TT$100 million over a threeyear period.”

Baron Foods also has plans to invest in the cultivation of 100 acres of crops for the purpose of agro-processing. This particular investment is expected to create more than 200 permanent jobs in TT.

Local investor and CEO of Ramlagan’s Hardware, Nateram Ramlagan, has plans to open the Caribbean’s largest garden shop and agro-superstore “somewhere in central Trinidad, likely Couva.”

The TT$100 million investment would generate approximately 200 permanent jobs and provide farmers

and food processors with everything from chemical fertilisers to equipment, and seeds.

Maharaj noted that the fourth investor, Daran Soondarsingh, “is well known as one of TT’s largest exporters of green vegetables.”

Soondarsingh wants to buy 200,000 bundles of dasheen bush weekly from local farmers for export to New York.

“The estimated value of this export is TT$320,000 per week (while) this investment is estimated to be TT$10 million. This would create approximately 40 permanent jobs and generate revenues of approximately TT $16 million per annum.

The ministry of food production is confident that the investment will lay the foundation and develop the infrastructure to export crops produced by Caroni GREEN,” Maharaj stated. (TT Newsday)

American Stores to open branches in Guyana

Trinidad-based furniture and home appliance giant American Stores will soon be opening up shop in Guyana. This was revealed last week at a launching ceremony at the Pegasus Hotel ahead of the official opening of the store.

General Manager for the Guyana operations, Austill Ogle told media operatives that the company was looking to expand to other countries within the region, and a Guyana branch was sought to kick start this process.

This, he said, was as a result of the sustained performance and growth of the Guyanese economy. “In the shortest possible time, we aim to become a significant manufacturing hub for the American Stores

Limited.

This venture will satisfy local expansion in, but not limited to, Georgetown among others,” Ogle explained.

The company plans to open two stores on November 29, one–at Regent and Cummings streets and another on Durban Street, Georgetown. Further expansion is expected within the first half of 2014, with branches in Parika, East Bank Essequibo; Bartica; Linden; and Berbice. The company has already received more than 300 applications from locals.

“In Trinidad, the American Stores Limited is amongst the industry leader making sterling contributions to that economy as a private sector entity and pursing an active agen-

da in the community,” Ogle noted.

The official opening of the stores will feature live entertainment, from local and regional artistes like Adrian Dutchin and Jumo, Ravi B, Nisha B, and Karma. In addition, the stores will be hosting a contest for members of the public to win fabulous prizes including a refrigerator, television, and bedroom set. Dutchin will be partnering with the store’s team to create a jingle for the store’s opening.

At last week’s media launch, the press was treated to lunch and presented with 25 per cent discount coupons.

American Stores was opened in Trinidad in 1950.

It currently has 13 branches there.

(Guyana Times)

Guyana launches 5000 dollar note

The Bank of Guyana last Friday officially launched the Gy$5000 note, in keeping with its Currency Reform programme. The note will come into circulation on December 9.The face of the note carries the map of Guyana with its natural resources, while the reverse portrays the national bird and the rainforest.

It measures 156 mm x 65mm (similar to existing notes) with the main colours being magenta and green.

The Bank of Guyana’s deputy governor, Dr Gobind Ganga said leading up to the circulation date, an awareness campaign will be embarked on through posters, fliers, and advertisement in the print and electronic media to sensitise the public on the note’s security and other features.

This note will signifi-

cantly reduce the number of notes that the bank will be required to process in the fast approaching holiday season.

The tender for the printing of the note, which bears the signature of the Bank of Guyana Governor, Lawrence Williams and Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh was won by Oberthur Fiduciaire from France.

This company is one of the world’s leading private security printers specialising in the design and production of banknotes, cheques, and other security documents, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported.

Important addition

The finance minister, who unveiled the high denomination note, said that it represents an important addition to the range of local currency

in use; noting that businesses will be handling a single note for every five Gy$1000 notes, and in this regard, it will ease the cash-handling costs. Similarly, on a smaller scale, it is more convenient for consumers to execute cash transactions by reducing the quantity of money they have to carry around.

The Gy$500 denomination was issued in 1992 and the last denomination that was issued was the Gy$1000 note in 1996. The latter currently accounts for 60 per cent of notes in circulation and more than 90 per cent of the value.

Since 1996, the volume and value and transactions have increased exponentially, which necessitated the introduction of this new note.

Minister Singh also issued a call for reduced use of cash in the local

economy; especially since there are various forms of technology readily available to enable, particularly for large businesses, the avoidance of handling large volumes of cash.

“Today’s world is one in which it is not necessary for an individual to have large volumes of cash. We have a mature banking system that has considerable reach…today, technology is used to deliver banking services…such as ATM [Automatic Teller Machine] networks, plastic cards, cheques, and cheque books,” he said.

This Gy$5000 note, which has the full support of the Guyana Association of Bankers, will significantly improve the efficacy of payment systems. The note also carries two track threads with optically variable and metallic print properties.

Trinidadian man advertises for kidney to save ailing wife

ACunupia, Trinidad, father of two, desperate to save the life of his ailing wife, has placed an advertisement in local newspaper hoping that a Good Samaritan will donate a kidney after the woman was diagnosed with end stage double kidney failure.

Ramcharan Seenath of Governor Road, Las Lomas #1, said he is confident someone will respond and save the life of the woman whom he swore to love and honour, in sickness and in health, 36 years ago.

Seenath told TT media Tuesday that his wife Bissoondaye, 56, was an employee of TTPost and lived a healthy lifestyle taking care of their two children until 2012 when she was diagnosed with a rare virus.

Thousands of kidney patients and their families in Trinidad will benefit from a new TT$6 million dialysis unit at the Community Hospital of Seventh Day Adventist in Cocorite, said Caribbean Union Conference field secretary Dr Clive Dottin. Speaking last Friday at the opening ceremony for the new unit, Dottin said it was the product of faith and hard work by the staff.

The unit is outfitted with 20 dialysis machines and two on standby.

Dialysis is an artificial procedure to elimi-

nate waste and unwanted fluid from patients, a natural function of the kidney.

Community Hospital

CEO Dr Richard Spann

noted that they have been able to dispense a “reasonably high quality” of renal care at the notfor-profit institution.

He said due to the

large number of patients requiring dialysis treatment, the health ministry has outsourced the care to private institutions and to, “pick up the slack and render care to

The woman was hospitalised at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex.

Seenath, a veteran bus driver, told doctors that he wanted to donate one of his kidneys, but blood tests showed he could not be a donor since his blood type and that of his wife, were not compatible.

In desperation, Seenath placed an advertisement in a newspaper which has so far attracted five callers expressing an interest. However, all five are demanding cash before parting with their organ. (Excerpted from TT Newsday)

He said doctors carried out several tests one of which revealed her kidneys began to malfunction rapidly. Doctors carried out further tests which revealed that Bissoondaye’s two kidneys were in end stage failure.

Trinidad’s Seventh Day Adventist hospital opens TT$6 million dialysis unit in Cocorite

our unfortunate citizens”.

He stressed that end stage renal disease can affect anyone.

“The ministry has supported this programme and in so doing has alleviated the suffering and premature death of many, many of our citizens,” he said.

Ministry of Health representative Dr Kumar Sundaraneedi in his remarks noted a significant number of patients suffering from renal diseases and requiring continual dialysis treatment cannot obtain it in the general hospitals due to limited facilities available and had to be assisted with their needs at private institutions.

Dr Richard Hart, feature speaker and president of Loma Linda University, a Seventh Day Adventist Health Sciences Institution located in California, United States, noted that in the 1990s the Community Hospital had begun a “slide”, as was the case with a number of Seventh Day Adventist hospitals around the world, and was at the point of closing down. He recalled, however, that in 2003 they decided to focus on specific areas of neurosurgery, Intensive Care Unit and dialysis unit. (TT Newsday)

Jamaican named teacher-of-the-year in New Haven, Connecticut

AJamaican, Garfield Pilliner, was named the New Haven Public Schools Teacher Of The Year 2014 in Connecticut, USA.

The New Haven Register reports that Pillner, who teaches the 9th year at Engineering Science University Magnet School (ESUMS), was "surprised” and “humbled” when he was informed of his nomination.

Teachers are nominated by principals, assistant principals, curriculum supervisors, and directors, with teach-

er evaluation rating also factored in, the New Haven Register stated.

The finalists are then interviewed by a committee comprising administrators and former recipients.

Pillner has been teaching for 10 years, but only at ESUMS since 2009.

The New Haven Register reports that during his last two years at the University of New Haven, Pilliner worked as a junior electrical engineer at Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in Trumbull.

After receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in 2001, Pilliner continued working as an engineer but started to question whether he was in the right part of the field. He started tutoring and volunteering on the side until deciding to take a long-term substitute position in Bridgeport.

He then joined the engineering school's team.

Students describe Pilliner as "funny", "engaging" and "encouraging" according to the New Haven Register. (Jamaica Observer)

JetBlue cleared for TT flights

The TT Civil Aviation Authority (TTCAA) has granted an operating licence to United States carrier JetBlue Airways to begin a daily non-stop service from New York’s JFK Interrnational Airport to Port-of-Spain from February 24, 2014. The airline will also begin operating daily nonstop flights from Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport from May 1, 2014. The ministry of transport published advertisements in daily newspapers Saturday announcing this development.

Director General of Civil Aviation Ramesh Lutchmedial said the li-

cence was granted after JetBlue satisfied all TT’s aviation safety, security and economic regulations.

Scott Laurence, vicepresident of network planning for JetBlue said: “We are dedicated to growing in South Florida and expanding our network to the Caribbean and Latin America. We combine low fares with the best customer experience in the skies. Customers visiting the beautiful islands of Trinidad and Tobago have dealt with highfares, cramped seating and limited choices for too long.”

Tourism Minister Chandresh Sharma said

he was looking forward to welcoming JetBlue to TT. “JetBlue’s service to Port-of-Spain from New York and Fort Lauderdale will offer a high quality experience for business and leisure travellers alike. This is in keeping with government’s vision to grow the tourism sector,” he said.

“The United States has traditionally been and continues to be one of our major trading partners. An efficient, reliable and affordable airlift is of critical importance in further capitalising on the potential from the U.S.” Negotiations with JetBlue to operate flights into TT began during the tenure of Stephen Cadiz as Minister of Tourism. Cadiz currently holds the portfolio of Transport Minister.

JetBlue carries 29 million customers a year to 79 cities in the U.S., Caribbean and Latin America, with more than 700 daily flights. With JetBlue, all seats are assigned, all fares are oneway and an overnight stay is never required.

(TT Guardian)

CIA secretly collects data on money transfers to Caribbean

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been accused of secretly collecting bulk records of money transfers to the Caribbean and other places handled by companies like Western Union and MoneyGram.

Government officials said the transfers include transactions into and out of the United States under the same law that the Us National Security Agency (NSA) uses for its huge database of Americans’ phone records.

The New York Times, quoting several current and former government officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the matter is classified, said the programme is authorised by provisions in the Patriot Act and overseen by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

“The intelligence community collects bulk data in a number of different ways under multiple authorities,” one intelligence official told the paper.

Dean Boyd, a spokesman for the CIA, declined to confirm whether such a programme exists, but said that the agency conducts lawful intelligence collection

aimed at foreign “not domestic” activities and that it is subject to extensive oversight.

“The CIA protects the nation and upholds the privacy rights of Americans by ensuring that its intelligence collection activities are focused on acquiring foreign intelligence and counterintelligence in accordance with US laws,” he said.

Juan Zarate, a White House and U.S. Department of Treasury official under former President George W Bush, said that, unlike telecommunications information, there has generally been less sensitivity about the collection of financial data, in part because the government already collects information on large transactions under the Bank Secrecy Act.

Luella Chavez D’Angelo, a spokeswoman for Western Union, which operates extensively in the Caribbean, declined to directly address questions about whether the company has been ordered to turn over records in bulk to the CIA or the surveillance court.

She, however, said the company complies with legal requirements to provide information.

Guyanese nurses complete training in neonatal, fetal care

Eighteen nurses from hospitals across Guyana are now certified in neonatal and fetal care after successfully completing training in these areas. The training was done in two programmes: neonatal resuscitation and fetal health surveillance in labour; both are accredited by Canada. The sessions were provided by the Guyana Burns and Health Care Charitable Foundation, which is managed by a Guyaneseborn Canadian couple.

“We collect consumer information to comply with the Bank Secrecy Act and other laws. In doing so, we also protect our consumers’ privacy and work to prevent consumer fraud.”

MoneyGram issued a similar statement, saying “we value our customers' privacy and work hard to protect it, just as we work hard to protect customers and others from fraud and other crime.

“We comply with the laws of all the countries where we do business, including the laws that govern privacy, government investigations, and compliance with lawful subpoenas and court orders.

“We have reporting obligations related to suspicious transactions, money laundering and other financial crimes around the world. The laws to which we are subject generally prohibit us from discussing details,” the company said.

Intelligence officials in New York say the CIA programme is a result of terror finance-tracking programmes that were established in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. (Caribbean News)

The training lasted for a few months, during which the nurses were given materials to read in preparation for the online examinations, which was done last week.

At the graduation ceremony held at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation’s (GPHC) Multipurpose Hall, facilitator of the training, Canadian nurse, Vernie Ally said it was an honour to share her knowledge with the nurses, who proved their worth by performing exceptionally at the examinations.

She noted that despite the various personalities, the nurses

managed to work as a cohesive team.

“We need to keep the two programmes going to enhance the knowledge and skills of the nurses…it is always an ongoing process, it’s not just a one-time thing to do,” she stated.

Empowering nurses Ally encouraged the nurses to take a step upward and become instructors.

“We also have to work towards empowering the nurses to become instructors of the programme because I can’t be the only one doing it… so I would like to hear from people who would like to start doing it with me,” she said.

The Canadian nurse urged the locals to keep upgrading their skills in order to keep up with the advancements in the profession.

Meanwhile, coordinator of the training, Guyana Burns and Health Care Charitable Foundation Vice President Pamela Harakh, said her foundation is proud to provide the training and to know that the nurses are capitalising on the opportunity.

“This is the third time we are doing the neonatal resuscitation programme and it is the third time we have had a 100 per cent off all the nurses passing,” she said.

Harakh pledged her foundation’s continuous involvement in the training programmes. The foundation’s vice president stated that they come to Guyana approximately three to four times every year to do what they promise to do.

GPHC’s Senior Departmental Supervisor June Cato expressed her happiness at the continuous success of the nurses.

She acknowledged that the nurses had to apply what they learnt during the examinations.

Cato charged the nurses to practise all that they have learnt. “…put into practise, the things you have been taught and share with your colleagues…we can’t have everyone attend the training”.

The newly-certified nurses are from the Linden, Suddie, New Amsterdam, Skeldon and Georgetown hospitals. (Guyana Times)

Cheers erupted from the crowd late Sunday evening as Team Suriname was announced the winner of the King’s Jewellery World’s “Clash of Past Champions” Duck Curry Competition in Guyana.

The competition saw 20 groups from Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago competing for the grand prize of Gy$ 1.5 million, along with the fame that comes with being a duck curry champion.

The competition commenced at 14:00h and the competitors were given two hours to perfect their curries before a panel of 10 ‘erudite’ judges from across the region. The teams were judged based on presentation, aroma, texture and taste.

In at second place was G&P Jaigobin and Son Supermarket. Jaikarran Duck Curry

Crew came in third, Jamal’s Ultimate Curry Crew, fourth and Mike’s Haslington Crew, fifth. Apart from those prizes,

teams were also awarded for the best presentation and the best dressed/ largest group. Team Suriname captured the

best presentation prize while G&P Jaigobin and Son Supermarket secured the best dressed/ largest group prize.

Patrons poured into the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, East Bank Demerara and were greeted by the sweet melodies from the tassa drums and from the artistes performing live on stage.

Families came out in their numbers to support the 13th annual duck curry competition and many of the participants thanked King’s

Jewellery World’s proprietor Looknauth Persaud and his wife for organising the event and bringing different cultures together.

The competition was sponsored by Radio Guyana Inc, Television Guyana, Guyana Times, Guyana Lottery, Sujata Curry Powder, Digicel, Banks DIH and Queen’s Atlantic International Inc.

The Guyana Burn and Healthcare Charitable Foundation (GBHCF), also known as Caribbean North Charitable Foundation, is a medical charitable foundation that supplies Guyanese hospitals with equipment and education to better meet the needs of people in mainly Guyana and the Caribbean region.

equate medical care for burn victims in Guyana and the Caribbean. Since then, the foundation has raised money and equipment in Canada to create the Guyana Burn Care Unit, the first of its kind in the Caribbean where patients can receive proper medical attention and skin reconstruction.

Support

tresses, IV pumps and ECG machines, among other vital supplies, to hospitals in Guyana.

Co-founder Harry Harakh said the foundation exists to save, improve and empower lives, and effectively meet the needs of all those in medical need in the Caribbean and especially in Guyana. He added that GBHCU is

The foundation identifies projects based on need, then develops, funds, implements and evaluates programmes.

Founded by Harry Harakh and his wife Pamela, along with Desmond DeBarros, the foundation was established in 1998 in response to the lack of ad-

The organisation is also involved with nonburn related healthcare. It has developed a programme to educate Guyanese nurses on neonatal care for atrisk newborns in accordance with the Canadian Paediatric Society’s standards. The GBHCF has also sent medical equipment such as beds, mat-

committed to provide humanitarian aid without bias or discrimination as a non-partisan, non-political organisation.

Harakh (MBA, CA) is a Toronto-based Chartered Accountant with practice experience in finance, taxation, strategic, corporate and governance issues and management skills, obtained

both as a sole professional practitioner and as senior staff in a number of entities including multinational corporations, bank, government and non-government not-forprofit organisations.

His volunteer services with charitable groups include being a founding member and managing director of Plasticos Charities Foundation, which provides education and reconstructive surgery in developing countries. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of York Central Hospital, and on several of its committees, resources, quality, strategic, community relations

and performance management. Harakh is also a long-time member and contributor to Guyana Christian Charities and a member of the York District Health Councillong-term care redirection committee.

Initiatives

“We have many doctors who are eager to contribute their medical expertise in Guyana. In my profession I meet a lot of people especially those in the medical field who express their interest in reaching out to third world countries to assist medically.

My wife Pamela and I suggest to them to come to Guyana. In 1998, a

team came, fell in love with the country and, since then, continues to contribute to the medical field in Guyana.

Our work is recognised by many notable individuals locally, regionally and especially in Canada. Our organisation brings resources to those that need,” he pointed out.

The foundation, according to Harakh, has also contributed significantly to a children’s project in collaboration with Vic Insanally of the Tina Insanally Foundation. Through GBHCF, a donation of music equipment was made to the foundation. GBHCF has also vitally supported the Cheshire Home in Mahaica and the John Bosco Orphanage.

In 2012, GBHCF held a concert fundraiser in Toronto for the Burn and Healthcare Unit at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). The proceeds, netting over US$10,000, benefitted the Georgetown Hospital.

On May 5, 2013, GBHCF held a successful annual brunch and was able to raise more than US$5000 for the Guyana Burn Care Unit and the Tina Insanally Foundation. (Excerpted from Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

Hundreds of Trinidadians celebrate Kartik in Manzanilla

Hundreds turned up at Manzanilla beach in Trinidad Sunday to celebrate Kartik.

Kartik, a Hindu festival is observed in the month of November and devotees along with their pundits normally journey to beaches or rivers to pray and make offerings to the sea.

Offerings are made with prayers followed by the offering of milk,

fruits and flowers to the sea or river.

Kartik is a time when Hindus refrain from the eating of flesh and fast. They then travel to the beaches to cleanse and purify themselves, asking for forgiveness in prayers, making offerings and having a bath.

This year, flags lined the sea shore with flowers, fruits—apples, bananas, grapes and oranges covering the

Manzanilla sea shore from the Manzanilla Resort to the breakaway along the Manzanilla/ Mayaro.

The celebrations are followed by cultural shows with songs, dances by popular dance groups and Indian orchestras.

Attending the celebration was Secretary General SDMS Sat Maharaj. East Indian religious groups attached

to SDMS from throughout Trinidad were seen under their white tents performing prayers and chanting Bhagans.

Officers from the

Eastern Division and Sangre Grande Regional Corporation Municipal Police were seen in their numbers directing traffic along the Manzanilla/

Mayaro Road. Life guards were also seen patrolling the beach to ensure the safety of the many visitors. (TT Newsday)

Laparkan booth at Florida expo attracts hundreds

Several thousand people attended the Grace Jerk Festival held at Markham, South Florida, U.S.A. on Sunday and some 1000 of them visited the Laparkan Shipping booth at the event. A release from the company quot-

ed Laparkan Express Assistant Manager Alta Stoll as saying, “There were hundreds…even more than 1000 visitors at our booth between 10 ‘o’clock Sunday morning and 09:30 pm.” Stoll went on to describe the festival as one of the best organised events of its type in

South Florida.

“We had Jamaicans and other Caribbean people from around the United States visit our booth seeking information about our services. We also had existing customers stopping by to collect their giveaways and to complement us on our

service,” the company official added.

The event drew some 10,000 people by some estimates and provided an opportunity for Jamaican and other Caribbean artistes, artisans, culinary experts and entrepreneurs to showcase their talents, products and services.

“We are following up by providing additional information to many of the visitors to our booth who requested to know more about Laparkan’s range of services, which include air and ocean cargo, express shipping, our private mailbox service, Internet shopping and money transfer,” Stoll added.

Among the bands performing at the festival were Fab Five and Morgan Heritage.

Jamaica is one of the major destinations served by Laparkan Shipping, which maintains an office and warehouse in both Kingston and Montego Bay.

Cops, residents build house for senior in Jamaica

Eighty-sixold Jamaican

Precious Henry, who lived in less than humane conditions for more than a decade in volatile Rose Town, Kingston, received the key to a new house last Friday.

"Earlier this year police went to the community to carry out an operation and that was when we were made aware of the condition that the senior citizen was living under," said Assistant Commissioner of Police George Quallo.

The cops then decided to help build a new structure for the senior citizen through its commu-

nity policing initiative. Building and other material were donated by corporate companies such as Caribbean Cement Company and Tools Hardware while the work was carried out by members of the constabulary and people in the community.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Glenmore Hinds told Jamaican media that the house was part of a wider project undertaken in Rose Town and other communities to eliminate gangs and their influence. The social intervention programmes, they hope, will build

better relationships between police and residents.

Henry was absent from last Friday's handover as she had gone to buy produce at the market. Her neighbour Damion Millings received the key on her behalf.

"We are really pleased to see what the police are doing in the area and hope they will continue to do more," said Millings.

He was supported by Howard Harris who said his perception of the police had changed following the building project.

"Yes, with this proj-

TT participating in biggest ‘Africa carnival’

The ninth edition of the annual Abuja International Carnival has received global acclaim, as 15 countries, among which are China, Trinidad and Tobago, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the Gambia, have confirmed their intention to be part of the activities for the biggest carnival in Africa.

Other countries are Sudan, Zimbabwe, Equatorial Guinea, Namibia, Cameroon, Senegal, Kenya, Ghana, Niger and Egypt.

The carnival, which first started in 2004 and has now become an annual fixture, is designed to mark the centenary anniversary of Nigeria. It will be staged in the nation’s capital from November 23 to 26.

at the four-day events. The orchestra will perform along dancers from Benin City at the opera as well as at the preCarnivals party in Abuja on Friday, November 22.

In addition, the tiny Latin American country, according to the envoy, will present 26 costumes and men and women’s wear to the ministry of tourism for the 2014 carnival.

The Ambassador of China was represented at the event by the Cultural Attaché, Jin Honyue.

The most populated country in the world said it will send its dancers and magicians to Abuja for the events.

ect it has opened my eyes to realise that the police are good people and they have the interest of the community at heart," said Harris.

Melissa Brown, a 13-year-old girl, said she was also pleased.

"I am happy to see that the lady was able to get help," said the child, who claimed her perception of the police had changed in a positive way as a result.

Brown, who said she too has been living in poor conditions, said she was hoping some improvement would be made to her dwelling as well.

Minister of Culture and Tourism, High Chief Edem Duke noted that the participation of Trinidad and Tobago was a special one as Nigeria wanted to model the Abuja Carnival after the one in the Caribbean country, as a tool to maximise the creativity of the Nigerian youth as well as their enterprise.

The High Commissioner of Trinidad and Tobago, Mr Nyahuma Metuhotep Obika, said that Trinidad’s Minister of Art and Multiculturalism Dr Lincoln Douglas will lead a 23-man delegation to Nigeria on November 22.

The travelling party will also comprise 21 members of the country’s street orchestra. Obika also said that Trinidad and Tobago has undertaken to organise an opera, which is one of the associated activities

Jin Honyue said that the Abuja Carnival is a platform to bolster Chinese-Nigeria cultural exchanges.

Duke, who described Nigeria as a country of great cultural diversity, said that the carnival will define the strength and value of the African continent.

He said the platform will be a potpourri of diverse expression and repertoire of dances for other participating African countries, who might want to surprise Nigeria with what they have in the kitty.

Some of the activities on the card include Art exhibition, boat regatta, durbar, children’s parade, masquerade fiesta, contemporary musical fiesta and traditional hairstyles.

A unique innovation to this year’s activities, which is supported by corporate Nigeria, is the provision of two doubledecker buses to be used by the participating countries for sightseeing. (TT Newsday)

“Together we strive, together we achieve.”

For more than 150 years, the Providence Primary School in Guyana has been guided by this motto and has produced many notable professionals who are significantly contributing to various areas in society, both locally and internationally.

Located on the East

Bank of Demerara, the school’s wider community is Herstelling. The Nursery School, situated in Farm, is a feeder school to Providence Primary.

The distinguished individuals who graduated from Providence Primary include Dr Suresh Narine, who is a world-renowned scientist and professor, and currently teaches and conducts his research at the University of Alberta

in Canada.

Dr Suresh Narine

He is also a director of the Institute of Applied Science and Technology at the University of Guyana and was recently appointed to the board of directors of Canadian oil and gas exploration company, CGX. Narine’s academic career includes numerous awards, including the prestigious Growing Alberta

Leadership Award for Innovation, received in 2005 for pioneering the development of technology to produce polyurethanes from vegetable oils among many other accomplishments. Additionally, Professor Narine was awarded the Guyana/ Canada Special Achievement Award in 2007. In 2011, he received an award from Guyana for his contributions to science and tech-

nology in Canada and for his contributions in this field towards the development of Guyana.

Vishagan Ratnaswamy

Another outstanding individual who graduated from Providence Primary is Vishagan Ratnaswamy. He is a New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) graduate who did groundbreaking research in granular science and won a fellowship to pursue a Doctorate in Aeronautical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech).

He also holds a Master’s and a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from NJIT.

History

The earliest available record of the school dates back to 1861 when it was known as the St. Matthew’s Parish School with an enrolment of 106 pupils and Rev.J.W.Retsul as manager.

In 1903, the school was known as St. Matthew’s Anglican School and the rector of St. Matthew’s Anglican Church Rev. A. D. Pryce was the manager.

W.L. Isaacs was the head teacher with a staff of five.

It was an all-age school with an enrolment of 158 pupils with an average attendance of 117.

Classes were from Prep to Standard 6 and maintained by dual control of education ministry and the Anglican Church.

The building was a one flat structure until 1956. It was renovated

Some of the early head teachers, in succession, were J.Dennison, F.H. Russell, M.Goliah and N.McKenzie (during the period of 1952-1962).

Some of the later head teachers were S. Singh,

and extended by the education ministry.

In 1962, the approximate enrolment was 1,200 with a head teacher and a staff of 28.

Amazing facts about Jamaica in the eyes of others

AtlantaBlackStar. com last week listed wealth among its 10 Amazing Facts about Jamaica.

Although Jamaica isn’t a particularly rich country, it has created some of the most successful business people in the Caribbean, including Michael Lee-Chin, one of the first Caribbean billionaires, and Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart, who revolutionised the hotel industry with his “all-inclusive” luxury hotel chain Sandals, the website said.

AtlantaBlackStar. com also said that by virtue of Jamaica's location, the island is primed to become the economic hub for trade between the West and the rest of the world.

Jamaica's diaspora power also made the list, with the website stating: "Estimates sometimes point to there being as many Jamaicans outside the island nation as there are in it, with 1.7 million

in the U.S., Canada and the UK alone.

Native Jamaicans and their descendants are often in influential positions internationally, the website added, citing former U.S. Secretary of

The website also said Jamaica's music industry is one of the most "influential in the world" with popular dancehall artists like Beenie Man and Sean Paul constantly topping charts across

State Colin Powell as one such individual.

Jamaica's music industry was not to be left off the list, with the website saying the island's "socially conscious music serves as the soundtrack to various socio-political movements in Jamaica and the broader world".

the world and selling out stadiums all over Europe and Asia.

Jamaica's athletes also made the list.

According to AtlantaBlackStar.com, "Although smaller compared to countries like the U.S., Jamaica has been a global thought-

leader in politics... Jamaica was at the forefront of the international campaign against apartheid in South Africa. It was also the first country to declare a trade embargo against South Africa, as early as 1957."

The website also said Jamaica has "historically not been afraid to go against the grain politically" which is most evident by the election of former Prime Minister Michael Manley who pushed for economic equality for all developing nations, "even when his positions were unpopular with the U.S.".

AtlantaBlackStar. com, which says it endeavours "to cover the global black community with timely, relevant, sophisticated stories", rounded off their 10 Amazing Facts about Jamaica with the island's population, cultural influence, heroes and heroine, historical narrative, and nature. (Jamaica Observer)

Primary, the school was adopted by Guyoil Company Limited.

In 1998, the enrolment was 583 pupils with a staff of 16. The school operated, and still does, under the name of Providence Primary School with classes from Grades One to Nine.

Top Achievers

In a recent interview, Patsy Gentle, present headmistress, serving in that capacity for the past five years, mentioned that the school has been consistent over the years in producing top achievers.

Beryl Gregory, Albert Sukhdeo, Harripaul Shivcharran and Alan Ramlall.

In 1980, with its name now Providence

The school enjoys an above average pass rate at the Grade Six Assessment. Currently, the school has 15 teachers and 324 students. It provides classes from Grades One to Nine. (Excerpted from Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

Guyanese, St Lucian win regional literary prize

The winners of the 2013 Small Axe Literary Competition have been named, with Vladimir Lucien of St Lucia taking the first prize in poetry, and Ruel Johnson of Guyana being adjudged the fiction winner. Lucien is a UWI, St Augustine postgraduate student. Contacted for comment via e-mail, Lucien expressed deep appreciation for the sustaining, uplifting influence that Small Axe both creates and encourages. He remarked, “To be awarded their poetry prize does for me what Small Axe does for all writers just by being—it provides what we call in Kweyol, ‘lafos’: vitality. And because they are continuing to ‘criticise the critic/ism’, they constitute an institution whose approbation does not nod you in any particular direction but pushes you forward nonetheless. One remains free.”

Also in an e-mail response, fiction awardee Johnson--who also received the second place prize for poetry--focused on the accomplishments of his peers. “Vladimir Lucien is an amazing talent, one of a generation of young poets whose skills were honed in Trinidad, and who I believe will be at the vanguard of a new Caribbean poetry in the upcoming years,” said Johnson, whose book ‘Fictions’ won the 2013 Guyana Prize.

Johnson said, on Caribbean arts and letters, “We have filmmaking, as was seen in the recent TT Film Festival, the production of 'God Loves the Fighter'---which stars the brilliant poet and musician, Muhammad Muwakil---, ARC Magazine, Bocas [Lit Fest], the Hollick Arvon prize—this is truly an exciting and beautiful time for Caribbean literary and related arts, one in which significant history is being made, and I feel blessed to be part of it.”

Small Axe Magazine is a journal of criticism that focuses on scholarly and creative work from the Caribbean and its diaspora.

The winning submissions of poetry and prose fiction will be published in a forthcoming 2014 print issue of Small Axe magazine, which is printed and issued by Duke University Press. (TT Guardian)

Notes from a Jonestown survivor

A documented account by late Guyanese journalist Neville Annibourne

November 18 marked 35 years since the Jonestown massacre. The late Guyanese journalist Neville Annibourne was one of the few survivors of that fateful day, and documented his experience.

His reputed wife, Verna Cummings, who could not locate his entire story, kindly submitted to Guyanese media, an excerpt of Annibourne’s account of the events that occurred on that tragic day.

“On November 17, 1978, I was employed as an Information Officer at the Ministry of Information. And on that very day was assigned by the-then Chief Information Officer, the late Victor Forsythe, to cover U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan’s visit to Guyana. He was here to investigate claims that his constituents were abused at the People’s Temple (Jonestown) located in the northwest district of Port Kaituma.

I left immediately for Pegasus Hotel, where I met the congressman along with concerned relatives, foreign journalists and two lawyers attached to the People’s Temple.

At the time congressman Ryan was trying to make contact by telephone with the head of the People’s Temple, the reverend Jim Jones, with a view to getting his permission to enter the temple.

With permission granted, the congressman, his party and I boarded an aircraft at the (Cheddi Jagan International) Airport and departed for Port Kaituma.

Arrival at Jonestown

On arrival at Port Kaituma the pilot, before landing, circled the airstrip twice to make sure that it was free from obstacles.

We touched down about 1:00 p. m. and were met at the airstrip by

anytime they so desire.” In the evening, the temple members staged a concert, for the congressman and party. However, at the end of the concert Jones instructed all the concerned relatives and the journalists to leave the commune because they were not allowed to stay there overnight.

Only the congressman, his secretary, the U.S. deputy ambassador to Guyana and I were allowed to allowed to remain.

Members wanted to leave

The next day the relatives and journalists returned. Jones was reluctant to be interviewed by the journalist, but was convinced to do so after his lawyers had told him that it would be good for the outside world to know his side of the story.

After the interview, which lasted for half an hour, the party was taken on a tour of the day care centre for kids. On moving around they were approached by some commune members, who expressed their desire to leave the temple with the congressman.

some members of the cult who took the congressman and his party by a tractor to the temple, some six miles from the airstrip, to meet with Jim Jones.

On arrival, they were met and welcomed by Jim Jones’ wife who, when asked why her husband did not come to meet the congressman and his party, said that he was sick. The visiting group was then escorted to the auditorium where they were accommodated.

Later that same afternoon Jim Jones met the congressman and party and apologized for not being able to greet them earlier. The congressman then informed Jim Jones about the purpose of his visit and that was to investigate complaints about abuses meted out to members of the cult who were also his constituents.

Jones denied all the allegations made against him and said that he was not “preventing anyone from leaving. They are all free to leave

at Jonestown, and for him to send in the police to carry out an investigation.

Massacre begins

When we returned to the airstrip, the planes had arrived and the defectors were first onboard the planes after being frisked for concealed weapons. I also boarded the plane with the defectors to put down my bag, but as I was out of the plane, I heard a strange sound as if someone was pelting the plane, but didn’t immediately realise it was the sound of bullets hitting the plane. Patricia Park, who was standing at the door of the plane, got her head blown off.

Captain Spence, who was the pilot, started shouting at those of us who were in the plane to get down on the floor because some cult members were shooting at the plane. At the same time he was trying to get the plane off the ground, but to no avail because the tires of the plane had been punctured by the bullets during the shooting.

The shooting died down for a while and I decided to look through one of the plane’s windows when I saw cult members in a tractor trailer with guns. The shooting started all over again, I immediately hit the floor.

When the shooting finally stopped I looked through the window again and I saw the tractor driving away with the cult members.

I went to the cockpit where Captain Spence was and I asked him to lean forward his seat so that I could gain access to the door so as to exit the plane. As I hit the ground I ran straight to the passengers’ shed, which was about 100 yards from the plane.

While there I noticed people lying on the ground including the congressman, but at the time I didn’t know I was looking at dead persons who had been shot by the cult members.”

Survival

In his interviews with the media just after, Annibourne disclosed that he was so traumatised on that day that it took him about four days before he could write his story.

At the conclusion of the tour, the party returned to the auditorium where the congressman told Jones that he was approached by some members asking to take them along with him when he was leaving. Jones again said that if they wanted to leave they were free to go.

During this period the deputy ambassador was getting in touch with his embassy in Georgetown by radiophone, requesting that they send in two aircraft in order to transport the defecting cult members.

As we were getting on to the truck to return to the airstrip at around 3:00 p. m., the congressman, who was on his way to the truck, was attacked by a knife-wielding cult member, who was restrained, but not before he had inflicted a cut on the congressman’s neck.

On arrival at the airstrip the deputy ambassador and I left to find the administrator of Port Kaituma to inform him what had taken place

According to Verna Cummings, Annibourne had much to be thankful for and lived a fruitful and active life. He died in his sleep in April 2013 at age 82.

He had served under the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) as a returning officer and was the general secretary of the Progressive Youth Organisation, the party’s youth arm. He was also a second lieutenant of the Guyana People’s Militia in 1982 and rose to the rank of captain.

His stint as a journalist began at 17, when he became a correspondent for the Chronicle newspaper, and a full-time staff reporter in the early 1950s. He also wrote for Russian and Hungarian news agencies.

Sometime around 1972, he became an information officer at the Guyana Information Service (GIS). Annibourne graduated from the University of Guyana with a diploma in public communications in 1979. (Photos of Jonestown by Captain Gerry Gouveia) (Excerpted from Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)

Passing Judgement

By Anu Dev

Most of us do it every day – we judge the people around us. And we do so through the lenses of whatever prejudices and perceptions we might have of that person.

We really don’t take the time to put ourselves into their shoes. Even Simba couldn’t help but leap to conclusions about Kovu in “The Lion King 2”. We had a class this week about empathy, what it means to be empathetic and the neuroscience behind empathy. It was an amazing lecture; it really gave me a lot to think about. It made me wonder about whether in my everyday life, how much time I actually take to put myself into other people’s shoes.

And it made me think back to the times that the people around me were empathetic to what I was going through.

As far as classes go, it was a thoughtprovoking one. Seeing videos of little babies displaying empathy, MRIs of persons feeling pain when someone they’re close to is in pain really kinda drove home the message that empathy is something innate within us.

Why then, do so many of us still walk around preoccupied in our own little bubbles? As a society, we can be pretty quick to judge people based on their clothes, their house, their car or their phones before getting the chance to see what kind of decisions they make, what type of actions they take.

And there are just so many misconceptions about everyone floating around.

If there’s someone sitting off to the side by himself, obviously you judge him as being snobbish, when actually, he’s just extremely shy. We’ve all had these ‘shy moments’ and we should be able to at least remember them when seeing someone behaving just as we did during those moments instead of leaping to the conclusion that the person is standoffish.

Yes, it’s true, some people are more intuitive and more perceptive than others and they’ll be better at showing empathy, but we’re all capable of empathy and we should try to be empathetic to the best of our ability.

It’s easier to just pass off someone as being lazy or a slob just because they’re dressed a bit sloppily. But the thing is they could just be having a really bad day.

They could be a hard worker, they’re usually impeccably dressed, it’s just that today was an ‘off day’ for them.

We need to remember to empathise with the people close to us. Too often we miss the people right in front of us, and we gloss over the things that might be going on with them. We have to start being there for them and taking the time to just listen.

We can’t always empathise with every single person around us – we don’t know everyone nearly half as well enough, but we can at least try to be more considerate, to be more human.

‘I love tall women’ - Aamir Khan

He may not be very tall himself, but Aamir Khan revealed that he enjoys working with actresses who tower over him.

In ‘Dhoom 3’, Aamir will be seen romancing tall and beautiful Katrina Kaif.

“I love tall women and her (Katrina's) heels didn't come in the way,” Aamir told reporters at an event to announce Yash Raj Films' association with Mattel to create D:3-inspired limited-edition ‘Barbie Collector Dolls’ based on him and Katrina in ‘Dhoom 3’. Katrina said heels are not something that one randomly decides to wear. “If it's required you do it or else you don't,” she added.

In terms of actresses getting their due in Bollywood, Katrina feels things are changing for good.

“I do see the change...the change is happening. Actresses are getting their due credit. A lot of womencentric films are being made,” she said. (TOI)

Kareena Kapoor wants to follow

Sharmila Tagore's footsteps

Keen to follow the footsteps of her mother-in-law Sharmila Tagore, actress Kareena Kapoor wants to work in Bengali film industry.

“Satyajit Ray was one such director with whom my mother-in-law had the opportunity to work in so many films. I also hope to be able to work with some of the great directors of Bengal,” the young Kapoor, married to Sharmila's son and actor Saif Ali Khan, recently told reporters.

Describing Bengali film directors as very artistic, and those with a deep sense of good

scripts, Kareena said, “I have never been offered a Bengali film. But I want to work. Language comes as a problem, but that can be managed with dubbing.”

When asked, the 33-year-old actress said she never had the opportunity to spend enough time in Kolkata.

“But I love the food over here. The city is culturally very rich. If I do a Bengali film, it will also give me the chance to understand the city better,” she said. (TOI)

Ranveer Singh refuses to shave his moustache

It seems Bollywood actor Ranveer

Singh has fallen in love with his moustache in ‘RamLeela’. His look has got him lot of compliments and his handlebar moustache is one of the most talked about things in the movie. Hence, it is a challenge for director Shaad Ali to coax Ranveer to get rid of his facial hair for his next movie.

A Mid-Day report stated that the director has asked Ranveer to get rid of his ‘RamLeela’ look promptly, so that they can start shooting for ‘Kill Bill’. However, the actor has been sporting the moustache for over a year and hence is attached to it. He, according to the report, cannot imagine a life without his moustache. (TOI)

Deepika impressed by Big B’s flowers and note

The Bollywood film industry is abuzz with Deepika Padukone’s performance in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's ‘Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram Leela’. And guess who complimented her performance and showered her with flowers?

A lot of people feel that Deepika is the biggest take away from the film, and she has done a phenomenal act portraying her character. However, the best compliment came from Amitabh Bachchan, who sent Deepika a personalized hand written note along with her favorite flowers to appreciate her performance in the movie.

Big B also tweeted about how much he liked the movie. The actress was very delighted by Amitabh's gesture. It was one of the best gifts she has received.

Bachchan Sr. wrote on the micro blogging website Twitter, “In the past 24hrs, lived with the brilliance of ‘RAMLEELA’.. 3 times over, and still not satisfied!! Signed by 'Laal Ishk'!!” (TOI)

‘My father will not choose my bride’ - Shahid Kapoor

Shahid Kapoor is busy promoting his upcoming film ‘R...Rajkumar’ and the actor recently grabbed headlines when a certain section of the media reported that his father was looking for a bride for him from Punjab. However, Shahid cleared the air about the rumours.

On being asked about the reports, Shahid said, “I don't know why people publish such stories.

I was in Kashmir shooting for a film and my father was busy with his work. He is not looking for a bride.”

“I will search for a bride and not my father. He selected his life partner and so will I,” added the actor.

“My father goes to Punjab to meet our relatives there and he has his spiritual guru in Punjab and that's about it,” concluded Shahid. (TOI)

Jaundice-struck Manisha Koirala recovering

Actress Manisha Koirala is down with jaundice, but her manager confirmed that she is on the road to recovery.

“Manisha is taking rest now. She is recovering from jaundice. She is absolutely fine. In fact, she has already recovered,” Manisha's manager Subroto Ghosh told IANS.

She was reportedly planning to return to work from mid-November, but this has now been delayed.

Manisha, popular for her roles in movies like ‘Saudagar’, ‘Bombay’ and ‘Lajja’, had undergone treatment for ovarian cancer in New York and is now free of the disease. (TOI)

Sonam Kapoor's extremely painful exercise

Indian media has reported that actress Sonam Kapoor, who is currently shooting for her film ‘Khoobsurat’, has had her earlobe and cartilage pierced, especially for the movie.

The actress plays a physiotherapist in the film and just like in real life, where Sonam Kapoor is a stylish diva, the same style will also be seen reflecting in her role in

the film. "Getting our ears pierced when we are kids is easy, but to have the cartilage pierced is an extremely painful exercise," she said.

Even though the actress was aware that it would be extremely hurtful, Sonam was not at all daunted by the whole idea. She immediately agreed to do it as it adds spunk to her character. (TOI)

Abhishek and Aishwarya proud to raise funds for AIDS awareness

Band

are proud to have lent support to the inaugural amfAR gala to raise funds for the Foundation for AIDS Research programme.

was

international

“This is first event of amfAR in India and I am confident we will have several more to come in our country. I hope we all collectively raise funds, spread awareness and strengthen the force,” Aishwarya told reporters during the amfAr event. Adding to this, Abhishek said: “We are honoured to be here today and we both feel strongly about the disease HIV. It's a matter of pride to raise funds for this cause and spread the awareness.”

The black tie event, held at the Taj Mahal Palace and Hotel featured a cocktail reception, dinner, and a goldthemed fashion show featuring exclusive looks by Rohit Bal, Abu JaniSandeep Khosla, and Tarun Tahiliani. (TOI)

‘Dumb and Dumber To’ set for release November 2014

‘Dumb and Dumber’ sequel ‘Dumb and Dumber To’ will hit the screens

November 14, 2014.

‘Dumb and Dumber To’ reunites directors Peter and Bobby Farrelly with actors Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels, who played the dimwitted pair Lloyd and Harry in the original.

In the new film, they embark on a road trip to find a child that Harry (Daniels) had unknowingly fathered in the past, reported variety.com.

The Farrelly brothers are producing the comedy film along with Riza Aziz, Charles Wessler, Bradley Thomas and Red Granite Pictures' Joey McFarland.

The project is currently under production.

(TOI)

Baldwin threatens to quit showbiz following gay slur row

Alec Baldwin has threatened to quit showbiz after being suspended from his talk show for hurling a homophobic slur at a photographer.

The 55-year-old actor said if quitting the TV business, the movie business, the theater, any component of entertainment is necessary in order to bring safety and peace to his family, then it’s an easy choice, the Huffington Post reported.

‘The Cooler’ star said

that the country's obsession with the private lives of famous people is tragic, it is so clearly a projection of their frustration about their government, economy and their own spiritual bankruptcy.

The rant came after his MSNBC talk show ‘Up Late With Alec Baldwin’ was suspended after his anti-gay rant, but later he also apologised for the comments, labelling them offensive and unacceptable. (TOI)

Jennifer Lawrence underwent therapy during childhood

Jennifer Lawrence has revealed that she had to seek therapy after suffering extreme social anxiety when she was in school.

The 23-year-old actress said that

she was hyperactive, curious about everything and when her mother told about the ‘Hunger Games’ star's childhood, she always told her that there was like a light in her, a spark that inspired her constantly, Metro.co.uk reported.

Lawrence told French magazine Madame Figaro that when she entered school, the light went out and they never knew what it was, a kind of social anxiety, but she had friends.

She said that she went to see a shrink, but nothing worked for her and acting helped overcome her anxieties.

The ‘Hunger Games’ star added that she had finally found a way to open the door to a universe that she understood, which was good for her, as she felt capable. (TOI)

‘I won't do anymore nude scenes’ - Samuel L. Jackson

Sshooting in Germany for his new film ‘Big Game’ and he's joked that the injury has ruined his chances of stripping off in any future movies.

Speaking on ‘The Late Show with David Letterman’, he quipped: “When I landed on my shoulder, the ligaments which hold the clavicle down snapped, and my clavicle jumped up...So yeah all my topless, naked, nude scenes are done now!”'

The 64-year-old actor, who has been on a strict vegan diet for the last three months, injured his shoulder after he was thrown out of a helicopter from a staggering height, but he insisted that he won't let the wound put a stop to his acting career. (TOI)

Brittany Murphy may have died of rat poison - reports claim

Actress Brittany Murphy, who was declared dead in 2009 owing to acute pneumonia and anaemia, have reportedly been murdered with rat poison, reports claim.

According to an independent report ordered by her father Angelo Bertolotti, the Hollywood star did not die from natural causes, reported mirror.co.uk.

It was found that at the time of her death, the ‘Clueless’ star had 10 heavy metals in her body. The amount is several times higher than World Health Organisation high levels.

The metals are found in most rodenticides and insecticides. This has led her family and experts to believe she may have been given rat poison. (TOI)

Douglas praises Zeta Jones as they reconcile

Michael Douglas has revealed that he and his wife Catherine Zeta Jones are doing well and showered his “beautiful” wife with compliments.

The 69-year-old Academy award

winner, who got the news of his reconciliation with his 42-year-old Welsh actress wife at the premiere of his new movie ‘Last Vegas’, was all praises for his better half and said that she is “more beautiful than ever, inside and out”, Universal Pictures India reported.

The ‘Basic Instinct’ actor commented on their relationship for the first time after the couple hit a rough patch in their thirteen year long marriage and admitted that they share a “teenage romance”.

Douglas also revealed that he supports her with everything and added that she is “simply the best”. (TOI)

‘Would love to be in a Hindi movie’ - Sharon Stone

American actress-producer Sharon Stone, currently in Mumbai for a fund-raising event, says she would love to be in a

Hindi movie.

“I'd love to be in one of the Hindi movies and, of course, I have seen many films. The language is different, but I like it,” Stone told reporters during the gala event organised by international organisation amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, in Mumbai.

Asked if she had learnt any Hindi, Stone said: “I have learnt to say ‘Namaste’.”

“I love Indian food, I love spicy food. It's fantastic. I got up this morning at 4 and went for a walk, it's a moment that you feel. It’s a whole different feeling--I went to a temple, it was great,” the actress said. (TOI)

Oprah reveals

why

she never got married

Oprah Winfrey has opened up why she never got married to her long-term boyfriend Stedman Graham.

The 59-year-old talk show host, who has been dating her businessman boyfriend since 1986, told Lorraine Kelly that if she wanted to get married, she could have made the time, Metro. co.uk reported.

Winfrey said that she is not a traditional woman and didn't have a traditional life, and she thinks if Graham and she would have gotten married then they wouldn't have stayed married.

The TV personality said that if someone asked him, he would say the same, he is a pretty traditional man, but she has taught him to be non-traditional. She said that the

very idea of what it means to be a wife and the responsibility and the sacrifice that carries, she wouldn't have held that very well, she wouldn't have held that space very well. (TOI)

Fifteen to vie for Miss Caribbean Canada crown on December 1

The Miss Caribbean Canada Pageant (MCCP) annual gala affair for this year will be staged on December 1, 2013 at the Jamaican Canadian Association (JCA) 995 Arrow Rd. under the theme “Ladies It’s Your Time To Shine.”

According to a release from the organisers, the doors open from 5 p.m sharp at which time 15 beautiful and talented young ladies would vie for the 2013 Miss Caribbean Canada crown in segments showcasing talent, swimwear and evening wear. Entertainment is to be provided by comedian Jay Martin and multi award winner Steele and international Singer Polly Pumpy. A jazz steel pan VIP reception is also planned with Hors d'oeuvres to be served at 5:30.

The invited guests include Mario Sergio, Judy Sgro, George Mammoliti, Barbados Consulate, Trinidad and Tobago, Sergeant from 31 Division, Marketing

Director of Fly Jamaica and other special guests, the organisers have indicated.

Further, there would be door prize and spot prize courtesy of Fly Jamaica. Advance tickets cost $25 and part proceeds would go to the SickellCell support.

“After many fantastic years of tremendous success, we have decided to take advantage of new opportunities,” the release from the organisers stated, adding that, “this year you will see a splendid and dazzling array of beauty, talent, cultural and awareness.”

Further, the MCCP committee noted that it would be focusing on the rich heritage of Caribbean and Canada with special emphasis on education, talent, business and tourism through the representation of the contestants.

“The contestants will showcase and represent different business while focusing on different Islands and Province of their rich history and cultural heritage,” the

organisers explained.

The location selected for the upcoming event would see some changes whereby the production has been revamped to make every seat feel like a front row seat, and special VIP area has been designed for consulates representing each Island and special dignitaries in attendance.

“With the shift away from the traditional pageant, the Miss Caribbean Canada Pageant is happy to open modeling, acting opportunities and volunteer positions to the entire Bay. The beneficiary of the Miss Caribbean Canada Pageant of 2013 will be Sickle Cell Association of Ontario,” the organisers have announced.

The contestants, some of whom were born in the Caribbean and others in Canada, would be highlighting the Turks and Caicos, Antigua and Barbuda, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Cuba, Dominican Republic, St Lucia, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados among others.

Land of the rising Sunfish?

Marcus Garvey Lifetime Achievement Award for Jamaican Freddie McGregor

SHt Lucian performer Mongstar won the inaugural Jeff Joseph Trophy of the ‘All For One Caribbean Voice Contest.’

Held recently in Martinique, the exciting final of the first annual pan-Caribbean song contest showcased artistes from nine Caribbean islands.

Modeled after the famous Eurovision Song Festival, and supported by the Regional Council of Martinique, the contest finalists were drawn from Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Martinique, St Lucia, St Martin and Trinidad and Tobago.

In addition to the contestants, who were selected by their respec-

tive ministry of culture or tourist board, the evening featured supporting artistes Lisa Griffith of Barbados, Seal of Martinique and the iconic meringue singer Miriam Cruz of the Dominican Republic.

Each candidate had to perform two titles, slow and fast tempos, from their repertoire in front of a jury of nine representatives from each of the competing islands. Contestants were accompanied by the talented Guy Marc Vadeleux band from Martinique.

The dazzling twohour show was televised in the French West Indies and France and will be rebroadcast later this month through Caribvision and select-

ed television stations across the region.

The contest winner, Mongstar, appreciated the hospitality and professionalism of those who contributed to the success of the competition.

"I'm very pleased to bring this first 'Jeff Joseph Trophy' to St Lucia. I'm glad to see that the audience appreciated my performance and I am very proud of Martinique (which) was able to organize the first edition (so well). I thank all those who supported me and the team of All For One."

Martinican Loriane Zacharie was judged first runner-up and Darline Desca from Haiti second runner-up. (Caribbean News)

e is a pioneer of ska and reggae music and remains an icon of the genres. The Institute of Caribbean Studies will honour the legendary contributions of Freddie McGregor by presenting him with the 2013 Marcus Garvey Lifetime Achievement Award at the 20th Annual Caribbean American Heritage Awards (CARAH) Gala at the JW Marriott on Friday in Washington DC.

The Marcus Garvey Lifetime Achievement Award recognises an individual of Caribbean or Caribbean-American descent who has been instrumental in the development or creation of an essential facet of Caribbean culture.

Across the globe, McGregor is recognised as a legend of reggae. He has been a part of reggae at every stage of its development and has been crucial in shaping its

evolution over the years.

"Each year, ICS [Institute of Caribbean Studies] is proud to present the Marcus Garvey Lifetime Achievement Award to an individual who epitomises commitment and unmatched contributions to expanding awareness about Caribbean culture.

Freddie McGregor meets all these criteria and much more," said ICS president and founder Dr Claire Nelson.

"As we mark our 20th year of honouring Caribbean stalwarts and emerging stars, we are honoured that Freddie will stand among our golden honourees for this year."

McGregor will join seven other extraordinary persons being honoured by ICS for their accomplishments in science, art, culture, medicine and corporate stewardship. (Jamaica Gleaner)

Tonya Singh is a beauty who loves the art of dance. After graduating from Mae's Secondary, Tonya is now pursuing a diploma in public communications at the University of Guyana. She also works as a television producer/presenter with National Communications Network. As for her dancing career, Tonya’s passion for the art form began since childhood. Her first onstage performance, when she was about five years old, was for a fundraiser at the Herstelling Mandir. This love for dancing propelled her to develop her talent. She joined local Indian dance group Dharmic Nritya Sangh, and is also a member of the local Latin dance group Latin Heat. Through dance, Tonya is able to touch lives with positive energy. The “spiritual return” she gets when dancing is what inspires her to continue. Tonya always says that dancing frees her soul from a world that is trapped in evil. Although dancing is a vital aspect of her life, Tonya also enjoys modelling and acting, and is a masseuse. In the future, Tonya wants to pursue a career in law and to open a dance academy. (Photo by Troy Parboo)

West Indies retain Test squad despite drubbing

Despite a mauling in the recent Tests in India, West Indies have made no changes to their squad for the Tests in New Zealand next month. Darren Sammy, who scored 25 runs over four innings and bowled 21 wicketless overs in the series, continues to captain the side.

The hastily arranged series against India featured two innings- defeats, with neither Test stretching past the third day.

Only two West Indian batsmen managed to aggregate more than 100 runs in the series, and the only bowler who had success was offspinner Shane Shillingford with 11 wickets. None of his team- mates managed to take more than two wickets.

The first of three Tests against New Zealand starts on December 3 in Dunedin.

Currently at No. 6 on the Test rankings, West Indies will slip one rung lower should they lose 20 or worse.

Squad: Darren Sammy (captain),

Denesh Ramdin, Tino Best, Darren Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sheldon Cottrell, Narsingh Deonarine, Kirk Edwards, Shannon

Gabriel, Chris Gayle, Veersammy Permaul, Kieron Powell, Marlon Samuels, Shane Shillingford and Chadwick Walton. (Cricinfo)

Canada-based fast bowler Jeremy Gordon vies for spot in Guyana team

By RavendRa Madholall

Right-arm quickie

Jeremy Gordon is hoping to play for his native Guyana once again at the 2014 West Indies Cricket Board’s regional limited-over and four-day tournaments. He is currently representing Canada at the 2013 ICC World Cup Qualifiers in Dubai. However, the Berbician stated that when he returns in early December, he will be heading to Guyana to vie for a spot on the national team.

The selection of the Guyana squad will be based on player’s inter-county participation, and the 26-yearold Gordon is fully aware of this prerequisite. He is ready to link up with Guyana National Industrial Corporation’s first-division team in Georgetown.

Gordon played four first-class matches for Guyana before his migration to Canada in 2006. He represented the country at the Under-19 level and was also a reserve player for the West Indies youth side in late 2006. Since his arrival in Canada, Gordon has been playing professionally. He was a member

of the Vikings Cricket Club before he switched across to Brampton Masters Cricket Club, the 2012 Elite champion.

His recent success for Canada in the fourday version immediately prompted the lively bowler to contemplate the opportunity. He said that he has already spoken to executives of the club and county board in Guyana about his profound interest.

“I want to play back for Guyana at the senior level next year; I have given up my job and started to focus on my game; I [am] heading to Dubai to represent Canada in the ICC T20 World Cup Qualifiers and I am indeed confident we will be advancing to the World Cup next year to take part in

Young Guyanese Tyler Orderson breaks world record

History was created last Friday when nine-yearold Tyler Orderson of the Guyana Karate College and Marian Academy broke another world record by becoming the youngest Shotokan Karateka globally to achieve the Nidan ranking or what is better known as the second degree Black Belt rank.

Young Tyler, though suffering from a severe attack of the flu, showed determination and strength of character to achieve the historic landmark at the Guyana Karate College grading examinations.

Mickelly Rahaman, Rabecca Ramlal, Rachael Ramlal, Rajiv Lee, Khalid Adams, Zane Low and Arvin Seelall all undertook a gruelling examination to earn their shodan (black belt) rankings.

Moving from 10th kyu to 9th kyu were Daniel Denny, Damale Denny, Clide Sampson, Akil Sampson and Ezkiel Poulis. Moving from 10th kyu to 8th were Bibi Mohamed,

Kyle Chung, Kellisha Jupiter, Dana Persaud, Lana Persaud, Mario Dos Santos, Chrisann Newton, Rayden Persaud, Danielle Khan, Lemuel Scott, Jonathan Robinson and Eaton Low.

Graduating from 9th kyu to 7th kyu were Aditya Seetaram, Jonathan Niranyan and Kenrick Narine, while Alexander Persaud moved from 8th kyu to 7B kyu.

the huge event,” Gordon told this newspaper before his departure to Dubai.

He recently picked up an eight-wicket haul against the visiting Netherlands at King City and has been a consistent performer for Canada since he made his debut in 2011, ironically in the Caribbean at the T20 tournament.

“I think I can do it for both Canada and Guyana; I am always willing to learn more and more about bowling and once you stay fit, I think you can give 100 percent on the field; I had success for Guyana and now Canada, and that has given me the confidence to make an impression in North America and the Caribbean,” he indicated.

At the moment, Gordon also harbours a Test claim since he will be having an ample opportunity to break into the West Indies side once he is given the chance to play for Guyana at the first-class level.

Before he moved across to Canada permanently, Gordon played first-division cricket for Bermine Sports Club in Berbice with tremendous success and it was there his talent was spotted.

Aron Hendricks, Demetri Lowe, and Kiefer Barker, Destinny Cao, Bruce Yong, Rudy Austin, Seon Poulis and Thamika Wong moved from 8th kyu to 7th kyu, while Jun Mikami, William Escarraga, Alyssa Singh, Nizi Realine, Krystal Realine, Jonathan Ramlal, Vickram Thani all moved from 7th kyu to 6th kyu.

Among the others who moved up in rankings were Faraud Mohamed, Jeremiah Poulis, Ethan Jones, Motilall Mattadin, Anish Sharma, Joshua Zaman, Daniel Lowe, Dominick Johnson, Aiden Singh, Ronaldo Persaud, Michael Alphonso, Scott Habibullah, Jayden Harry, Deron Austin, Daniel Hing, Basilia Bettencourt, Samuel Munroe, Ian Boller, Stefon Smith, Brittney Bettencourt, Daequan Burnett, Rayad Boyceo, Aron Connelly, Nigel Roberts, Jayz Halley, Princess Charles, Reba Ramlall, Carmalita Byrne, Navinda Soodoo, Otho Harris, Rhea Connelly, Jonathan Connelly and Ryan Sarjoo. (Guyana Times)

TT Invitational wins in San Francisco

The Trinidad and Tobago Invitational under-16 cricket team won its first tour match on Saturday in the U.S. City of San Francisco.

Batting first against the California Cricket Academy U-18s, TT scored 229 for the loss of just two wickets in their allotted 40 overs.

C. Jangoo the young Merryboys and TT under-17 player scored an unblemished 72 not out, while QPCC's Jordan Warner opening the

batting, scored an attractive 66. Warner's opening partner, national under 15 player Keagan Simmons was first out for 37. Team captain and national under 15 captain Kirstan Kallicharan was unbeaten on 23.

The CCA started with a flourish to reach 98 for two, but faltered to the three pronged spin attack of TT. Kallicharan took 4/16, while national players Bryan Boodram and and Emilio Gopaul took

three each to finish the host's innings at 190 all out.

Team coaches Kenneth Benjamin and Ken Franco expressed satisfaction with the batting of the team and the approach by the spinners, but felt the very cold conditions may have accounted for some fielding lapses. The TT boys arrived in Sydney, Australia, Tuesday for a tri-nations series against hosts Australia and India. (TT Guardian)

30 sport

Bolt fears WADA's claim could cost him millions

Sprint icon Usain

Bolt fears he will lose millions of dollars in potential sponsorship as a result of suggestions that he could be barred from competing at the Rio Olympics in 2016.

The claim has come from the World AntiDoping Agency (WADA) as it carried out a probe into the country's drug testing programme for athletes.

Bolt, who was for the fifth time named the World Athlete of the Year on Saturday, said he is bothered by the threat to his ability to earn money from the sport.

"It's really costing me money now, and I'm not too happy about that," Bolt said.

"Track and field is my job, that's the first thing. I know we've been going through a lot when it comes to drug-testing, WADA and the IAAF. There's been a lot going on".

WADA's probe into Jamaica's drug-testing programme took place after a number of highprofile Jamaican athletes tested positive for banned substances.

WADA had warned that athletes from Jamaica—like Bolt— could be prevented from competing in Rio, if Jamaican authorities did not address their concerns.

"This actually caused a lot of problems for me

Guyanese, TT players dominate SCA awards

By RavendRa Madholall

Guyanese and Trinidadian players dominated the 33rd Annual Scarborough Cricket Association (SCA) award ceremony on Sunday evening at the Eastown, Banquet Hall.

Former Guyana fast bowler and Hawaiian Arctic Cricket Club’s Trevon Garraway was given the Most Valuable Player (MVP) prize af-

the MVP of the Second Division final with his all-round performance to cap a rewarding year for Islanders United C.C in their first season back in the SCA.

Curtis Richards, another Trinidadian, was magnificent with the bat, aggregating a total of 396 runs in the Second Division with a top score of 157 runs, the highest individual score in the league for 2013.

Other outstanding

cricket alive in Canada.

President of the association Deo Samaroo, who was delighted with the players’ impressive performances this year, said he and his colleagues will continue to support the sport and would bring out more players to participate.

“We have been very energetic over the years and as I speak, we can be very proud of what we have done over the years; special congratulations

Secretary), Budhave Anandjit (Grounds Coordinator) and Richard Ramlall (PRO). Winners are as follows: Premier Division (Frank Faubert Trophy) Hawaiian Arctic CC, First Division (Richard Ramlall Trophy), Highland Creek Cricket Club "B" Second Division (Norman Sue Trophy), Islanders United CC. T20 Champion Bilal CC. T20 Consolation Champion, Durham

and my management. A sponsor came up to us and said 'we'd like to sponsor you'. They then used an agency that does background checks to figure out if it's viable (to sponsor) and it came back that WADA had said that I would not be eligible to run at the next Olympics," said Bolt.

"That information is not correct, so there are a lot of things that are going on with this drugs thing that I really feel they need to clarify because, for me, it's causing problems for me when it comes to making money from my sport."

Bolt's countrywoman, Shelly-Ann FraserPryce, who was also awarded Female Athlete of the Year over the weekend, threatened that she was prepared to strike if more support was not forthcoming from Jamaican authorities on WADA's position. However, the legendary Jamaican sprinter is not prepared to walk the picket line with FraserPryce.

"Shelly, you're on your own with that. It's hard for me to strike because it's my job," said Bolt.

"For me, it's a big problem that they need to sort out immediately. It's not helping any athlete at all and it's really causing problems. We really need to get this out of the way and move past this." (Jamaica Observer)

ter his outstanding bowling performance in the Premier Division final against Bawa XI "A".

The right-arm quickie finished with six wickets to lead the pack of recipients while his fellow countrymen Narine Ramsaroop copped the award for his 123 and Ricardo Jadunauth for his 103 as the leading batsmen in the Second Division.

Trinidadian Rudy Gibson was awarded

awardees were given trophies while batting gloves and pads went to special individuals for their significant contributions.

Guest speaker, Dr. Vidya Gyan TotaMaharaj, TT’s Consul General in Toronto, congratulated the players and urged them to maintain consistency in the sport. She also lauded SCA’s executives for their commitment and continued efforts to keep

TT’s Solange

to all the awardees, and I must say thanks to the hardworking and dedicated members of the association and also to the sponsors for their continued contributions,” Samaroo indicated.

Other members of the association are Bisham Singh (Vice-President), Vish Jadunauth (Chief Financial Officer), Mahesh Raghuram (Secretary), Shiv Persaud (Registrar/Statistician), Eon Gunraj (Assistant

Guzman

United CC. Sponsors include Action Honda, Speedway Motors, LR General Contracting, Shiv Persaud & Associates of Primerica, Hawaiian Arctic INC, Platypus Sporting Goods, Powerplay Sports, Blackash Sports, Norman Sue Bakery, Caribbean Wave Restaurant, Paradise Travel, Active Green Ross, S&S Trophy and 80Print-Toronto.

claims women’s singles badminton crown

Trinidad and Tobago national athlete

Solange Guzman continued her strong run of form on Saturday night when she copped gold in the Women’s Singles, and then teamed up with compatriot Virginia Chariandy-Balwant to bag silver in the Doubles event, as the curtains fell on this year’s edition of the Suriname International Badminton Open in Paramaribo.

In the Singles final, the 28-year old was forced to exert all of her competitive strengths against a tough and persistent Haramara Gaitain of Mexico. Seeded at number two, Guzman fought

tooth-and-nail to clinch a 21-19 win in the opening game.

Gaitan proved a reckoning force when she turned the tables in the second game, winning 22- 20.

However, Guzman pressed for the victory and would eventually be crowned champion of the division with another nail-biting 21-19 victory in the final game.

In her previous rounds, the Cubanborn player outplayed Mariama Eastmond (Barbados) 21-9, 21-15 and crushed Surinamese Crystal Leefmans 21-6, 21-10 in the semi-final. Gaitan was expected to

be an uphill task for the TT player, since she disposed of top seed Daniela Macias (Canada), 21-19, 23-21, in the “semis”.

Meanwhile, the second seeded duo of Guzman/ChariandyBalwant had to settle for silver in the Women’s Doubles. Up against the category’s highest ranked team of Crystal Leefmans/Priscila Tjitrodipo (Suriname) in the final, the TT combination went down in the opening game 23-21. They tried to gain some ground in the second but was then ousted 21-16 by the eventual gold medallists.

Throughout their

campaign, they defeated locals Stephanie Jadi/Danielle Melchiot (Suriname) 21-6, 21-19 and got past Quennie Pawirosemito (Suriname)/Elisa Piek (Netherlands) 21-11, 2113 to advance to the final.

And in the Men’s Singles final, top seeded Cuban player Osleni Guerrero hoisted the crown after beating second ranked Jan Frohlich (Czech Republic) 21-11, 21-18. National representative, Naim Mohammed was eliminated in the second round while Anil Seepaul bowed in the first round of the Men’s Singles. (TT Newsday)

Over 100 graduate from WoonA-Tai’s grading in Guyana

Canada-based ninth Dan Shuseki Shihan

Frank Woon-A-Tai recently held a grading examination in Guyana, where 113 karatekas graduated at the YMCA building, Thomas Lands.

Woon-A-Tai, the founder of the International Karate Daigaku, was assisted by sixth Dan Sensei Amir Khouri when the grading was held on Sunday. At the conclusion of the grading, 36 students were promoted to White/

Yellow belt (9kyu), while 21 students graduated to Yellow belt (8kyu).

Four students were promoted to Orange belt (7kyu), 12 to Green belt (6kyu), 11 to Blue belt (5kyu), four to Purple belt (4kyu), six to Brown belt (3kyu), six to Brown belt (2kyu) and five to Brown belt (1kyu).

Five students also graduated to First Dan Black belt (Shodan) and another three were promoted to Second Dan Black belt (Nidan) Promoted to Shodan

were Nechemiyah Levans, Jonathon Singh, Omar Browne, Kimberley Pyneandy and Orville Critchlow, while those elevated to Nidan were Alexander Cheeks, Theresa Sampat and Prince Alguedown.

Outstanding among the kyu grades were Stephen Lewis, Jayden Speirs and Saif Ghanie of YMCA, Chelcia Benjamin of Land of Canaan, Alexzanda Karpen of Albion, and Kanda O’James and Afelie Henry of North

Georgetown who all skipped White belt (10kyu) to Yellow belt (8kyu).

The instructors were Clinton Moriah of New Amsterdam, Hazrat Ali of Albion, Parmeshwar Persaud of Land of Canaan and Camille’s Institute, Laurence Lowe of North Georgetown and West Field schools, John Fernandes of Annai and Amir Khouri, Nathalie Gibson and Roger Peroune of YMCA. (Guyana Times)

Raynauth Jeffrey wins...

Jeffrey’s time was far slower than last year’s winning time of nine hours, 46 minutes, 51 seconds (09h: 46m: 51s) by fellow teammate Jaime Ramirez. Ramirez’s time is incidentally the record for the fivestage.

Roraima Bikers Club’s Alonzo Greaves, who won the inaugural event in 2007, finished second in a time of 10 hours, 06 minutes, 25 seconds (10h: 06m: 25s), followed by Darren Matthews (10h: 06m: 50s), Geron Williams (10h: 07m: 16s), Godfrey Pollydore (10h: 07m: 08s), Orville Hinds (10h: 08m: 25s), Paul DeNobrega (10h: 08m: 56s), Robin Persaud (10h: 09m: 34s), Jaime

Ramirez (10h: 09m: 42s) and Hamzah Eastman (0h: 09m: 56s) in that order.

Linden’s Eastman, who rides for United Bikers Club, copped the Junior category, ahead of Shaquille Agard and Akeem Arthur, while the evergreen Raymond Newton won the Veteran’s division, leaving Junior Niles, who won the overall fivestage title in 2008, and Ralph Williams to settle for second and third positions respectively.

Naomi Singh was the lone female who competed in the gruelling 266mile road race, and she was duly recognised by Sport Minister Dr Frank Anthony, who presented three special prizes

on his personal behalf. The other two went to up and coming rider Kravitz Jeffrey of Linden for promise he has shown and United Bikers Club for their exceptional teamwork during the fivestage.

Stage two from Rosignol to Georgetown was won by Darren Matthews, while stage three from Wales to Parika was won by Robin Persaud of Guyana.

Successful race

West Indian bowlers help Canada beat Uganda

Two West Indian bowlers were instrumental in Canada putting three defeats behind them when they registered a 44-run victory over Uganda in their Group A match in the ICC World Cup Twenty20 qualifiers in Abu Dhabi Tuesday.

Guyana-born fast medium bowler Jeremy Gordon claimed 2-9 and Trinidad-born offbreak bowler Abzal Dean 2-16—both from three overs—as Canada dismissed Uganda for 93 in 17.2 overs after posting 137-7 in their 20 overs at the Sheikh Zahed Stadium Nursery 1 ground. Canada owed their total to an unbeaten 58 from Jimmy Hansra and 40 from Ashish Bagai, with no other batsman reaching double figures.

In another Group ‘A’ match in Abu Dhabi, Namibia beat Italy by three wickets off the final ball. Namibia lost two wickets in the final over—including Craig Williams, who made 57 off 51 balls—before scrambling to 122-7 in reply to Italy's 121-6. United Arab Emirates ended Hong Kong's three-match Group A winning streak, 42-year-

ADelivering feature remarks at the closing ceremony at the National Cultural Centre, Dr Anthony lauded all the stakeholders for putting together yet another successful race.

The race was sponsored by the sport ministry with support from the health ministry, the Guyana Cycling Federation and the National Sports Commission. (Guyana Times)

old Pakistan-born skipper Kurram Khan spearheading the seven-wicket victory in Abu Dhabi with an unbeaten 67 from 42 balls as the hosts won with eight balls to spare chasing a victory target of 139. In Group B, veteran Steve Tikolo led Kenya to a crushing 92-run victory over Scotland in Dubai— not with the bat but with the ball. Tikolo, 42, the seventh bowler used, claimed 4-2 from eight balls with his off-breaks as Scotland were skittled out for 91 in 13.2 overs after Kenya rattled up 183-7, number eight Ragheb Aga topscoring with an unbeaten 52 from 25 balls.

In an all-European clash in Dubai, the Netherlands beat Denmark, who are yet to pick up a point, by seven wickets with 56 balls to spare, opener Stephan Myburgh's unbeaten 54 steering the Dutch to 110-3 after mediumfast bowler Ahsan Malik snapped up 4-10 to restrict the Danes to 1098. In the third Group B match, Nepal beat Papua New Guinea in Sharjah by seven wickets with 10 balls to spare, despite former England wicketkeeper Geraint Jones' half-century. Papua New Guinea-born Jones, 37, who made his Test debut against West Indies in Antigua in 2004, hit four sixes in his 55 as PNG made 140-6 but could not prevent Nepal coasting to victory, Binod Bhandari steering his side home with an unbeaten 51 from 23 balls including six sixes. The top three countries in each group will advance to the World Cup proper, to be staged in Bangladesh next year.

(TT Guardian)

ntiguans Andre Simon and Tesheed Gordon took the top prizes in the main categories at stake, as the 2013 Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Cycling Championships ended over the weekend.

Simon took the senior title and Gordon was the top junior and another Antiguan, former champion Jyme Bridges, was beaten into seventh position. Simon won the 90-kilometre event in 2:12:14, ahead of Saint Lucia's Kurt Maraj

2:12.15.0 and Anguilla's Justin Hodge was third in 2:12.15.7.

Gordon finished sixth overall ( 2:12,16.5), beating Saint Lucia's Gillan Moses, 14th overall into second place among the juniors (2:14,43.5) and Zefal Bailey of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, who was 15th overall took the third prize among the juniors in a time of 2:14,43.9).

In all, 30 riders started the event and 24 finished. (Jamaica Observer)

Raynauth Jeffrey wins Guyana’s ‘Ride for Life 7’

By AvenAsh RAmzAn

Linden’s Orville Hinds rode brilliantly to win the final leg from Linden to Georgetown, but could

not prevent Raynauth Jeffrey of Team Coco from emerging with overall top honours when the seventh annual “Ride for Life” five-stage cycling meeting concluded on

Sunday on Homestretch Avenue.

The final stage, which attracted 32 starters, was won by Hinds of the newly formed United Bikers Club in a time of two hours, 37 minutes, 58 seconds (02h: 37m: 58s).

It was a remarkable performance from Hinds, who suffered a fall at Diamond on the East Bank of Demerara, but splendid riding by his teammates brought him back into the contention and eventually allowed him to win the stage.

Team Coco’s Darren Matthews of Barbados and Geron Williams, who won the event in 2009, finished second and third respectively.

Jeffrey, who won the opening stage from Corriverton to New Amsterdam on Thursday last and extended his dominance with victory on the penultimate stage in Essequibo on Saturday, emerged with an overall winning time of 10 hours, 05 minutes, 33 seconds (10h: 05m: 33s).

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