Guyana Times Daily

“The worst is yet to come” — prime minister Guyana’s blacklisting

Mandela Avenue accident victim still not identified GPHC opens asthma lab, begins education programme

Parika man jailed for four years for cocaine possession

One arrested for Mahdia businessman’s murder 13th Youth Parliament opens

Guyana’s blacklisting

“The worst is yet to come” – prime minister

Prime Minister Samuel Hinds said

“the worst is yet to come” if Guyana fails to comply with the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) recommendations by February 2014.

He made the comment while addressing the National Assembly on Thursday, approximately one-day after Guyana was blacklisted due to its inability to pass the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (Amendment) Bill.

According to the prime minister, Guyana has been warned to align itself with the CFATF recommendations and thereby implement the legislative reforms by the next plenary meeting in May 2014, or the country will have to face the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) international review group. However, Hinds was keen on pointing out that FAFT is due to meet again in February 2014.

“At that meeting on its own occur and independent of CFATF, FATF can select Guyana for its own reviews,” he said. Guyana’s financial banking system and insurance sector can avoid extensive scrutiny if Guyana addresses its deficiencies.

“Ninety-eight per cent of Guyana’s deficiencies relate to the legislative reforms already encompassed in the amendments brought by the parliamentary special select committee on the AntiMoney Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (Amendment) Bill that was defeated in this House on November 7, 2013,” Hinds pointed out. He emphasised that blacklisting from FATF can be

avoided by Guyana achieving 100 per cent of its recommendations.

On CFAFT’s website, it was pointed out that back in November 2011; Guyana was among countries listed with strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and countering the financial of terrorism regime. As a result, Guyana and CFAFT initiated an action plan to address the strategic deficiencies that exist in Guyana’s national architecture, but though the government tried earnestly to meet the requirements, the political opposition voted down the money laundering bill.

The A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) said it wanted more time to perfect the legislation and the Alliance For Change (AFC) declared that the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission is a prerequisite for its support.

“As a result of not meeting the agreed timelines in its action plan, the CFATF

issue a public statement in May 2013, recommending that Guyana take steps to ensure that it addressed its AML/CFT deficiencies. Guyana has made efforts to address its deficiencies, however, it has not taken sufficient steps towards improving its AML/CFT compliance regime by failing to approve and implement required legislative reforms,” CFAFT stated in a public statement.

Now, Guyana must address all the requirements on beneficial ownership, strengthen the requirements for suspicious transaction and fully implement the United Nations Convention to avoid greater penalties.

Due to Guyana’s noncompliance, CFAFT has advised its members to consider the implementation of counter measures to protect their financial systems from the ongoing money laundering and terrorist financing risks emanating from Guyana.

GPHC opens asthma lab, begins education programme

Chief Medical Officer, Dr Shamdeo Persaud declared open Guyana’s first Spirometry Lab and Asthma/ COPDS Education Programme on Thursday at the Georgetown Public Hospital.

According to Dr Persaud, this new development is as a result of collaboration between the Health Ministry; the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC); the LIBIN Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta; the University of British Columbia; and the Institute of Health Science Education. He said it was a step in the right direction, as the government of Guyana enhances health services offered to the Guyanese populace.

The Spirometry Lab will accurately perform spirometry (a simple, safe and inexpensive breathing test) and simultaneously educate patients on creating the right environment to reduce the eruption of asthma. The lab will also supply appropriate medications for asthma patients.

In delivering his address on Thursday, Dr Persaud disclosed that the Health Ministry is in the final

phase before the completion of Health Vision 2020 – spanning the 2013-2020 period.

It was pointed out that major attention is given to “social determinants,” or factors that influence the decisions people make on a daily basis that affect their health.

Impact of smoking

The chief medical officer alluded to the impact of smoking despite producers and advertisers who often attempt to justify the purpose of smoking. According to the CMO, approximately 16 per cent of all persons in Georgetown smoke while approximately 47 per cent of Guyanese farmers smoke – a practice that has a severe impact on the respiratory system. It was further pointed out that approximately 79 per cent of the males in Region Eight and 48 per cent of the females in Region Seven smoke, a practice that must be rooted out.

Professor Debra Isaac represented LIBIN Cardiovascular Institute/ University of Calgary in Canada, while Dr Robert D Levy represented the

University of British Columbia.

In a release, the hospital stated that the state-of the-art facility is the newest phase in the evolving Canada-Guyana Partnership for Health Care Development. In 2011, Guyana and Canada collaborated for the establishment of the Georgetown Public Hospital’s Echocardiography Programme.

The hospital said the Spirometry Lab and Asthma Education Programme is the first component in the development of an innovative integrated chronic disease management strategy for patients with common chronic diseases such as asthma, heart failure, COPD, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes throughout Guyana.

Asthma, a common lung condition affects more than one in 10 Guyanese, ranging from infants to the elderly. Asthma has a huge impact on the health of the patient causing breathlessness, wheezing, and coughing. “Asthma flare-ups can result in frequent visits to the Emergency Department, hospitalisations and even death”, the release said.

Mandela Avenue accident victim still not identified

Almost two months after a fatal accident at Mandela Avenue, Georgetown, the police are soliciting the assistance of the public to make a proper identification of the victim.

The man’s body has been at the Georgetown Public Hospital mortuary ever since he was killed on September 30. From reports received, the man was walking along Mandela Avenue when he was struck down by a motorcar bearing registra-

tion number PMM 577.

The driver of the car has been arrested, but was subsequently released since the dead man could not have been identified. Guyana Times understands that he was instructed to visit the police station on a regular basis.

Anyone with information that could lead to the identification of the man is asked to make contact with the mortuary or the nearest police station.

At your own peril!

CFATF members warned of Guyana’s risks

Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) members were on Wednesday warned about the risks associated with doing business with Guyana after it blacklisted this country for failing to implement the necessary reforms to the anti-money laundering regime.

“Members are, therefore, called upon to consider implementing countermeasures to protect their financial systems from the ongoing money laundering and terrorist financing risks emanating from Guyana,” CFATF said in a statement released by Attorney General Anil Nandlall, who represented Guyana at a Bahamas meeting where the decision was made said.

Nandlall said Guyana will be written formally on the deficiencies in its anti-money laundering legislation and will be given until May 2014 to implement the necessary reforms, failing which it will be referred to the international financial task force – which can impose even tougher sanctions on this country.

Deficiencies

According to Nandlall, the letter being sent to Guyana will advise that should the identified deficiencies be not satisfactorily rectified, namely, the approval and implementation of the required legislative reforms, by the next plenary meeting, that is, by May 2014, then Guyana will be referred by CFATF to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) International Corporation Review Group (ICRG).

“However, it must be emphasised that the FATF will have its next Plenary Meeting in February 2014, and at that meeting, on its own accord and independent of CFATF, FATF can select Guyana for its own review,” the attorney general said.

In November 2011, the CFATF had brought to the attention of its members that certain jurisdictions, including Guyana had significant strategic deficiencies in their Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AMLCFT) regime. With a view to encouraging expeditious rectification of the identified strategic deficiencies, Guyana and the CFATF developed an action plan with identified target dates to address the strategic deficiencies that exist in Guyana’s national architecture to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

As a result of not meeting the agreed timelines in its action plan, the CFATF issued a public statement in May 2013 recommending that Guyana take steps to ensure that it addressed its AMLCFT deficiencies. Guyana has made efforts to address its deficiencies; however, it has not taken sufficient steps towards improving its AMLCFT compliance regime by failing to approve and implement required legislative reforms, Nandlall said.

“Guyana must, therefore, pass the relevant legislation and implement all the outstanding issues within its action plan including 1)-ful-

ly criminalising money laundering and terrorist financing offences; 2) addressing all the requirements on beneficial ownership; 3) strengthening the requirements for suspicious transaction reporting, international cooperation, and the freezing and confiscation of terrorist assets; and 4) fully implementing the UN conventions.”

Sad day

Just back from the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Sri Lanka, President Donald Ramotar told reporters Thursday morning that: “it is a sad day for our country that something like this would happen, because it will certainly have an effect on damaging our international business transactions and definitely could have an impact on slowing down things when we are at a time of accelerating or trying to accelerate our economic development”.

“It is extremely disappointing that the opposition would have taken a position as they did, knowing fully well, this is not an issue that they did not understand what the consequences could be. Here they understood what the consequences would be,” the Guyanese leader said. According to

him, the opposition parties are trying to disrupt the social and economic development in the country.

Guyana was given a November 18 deadline by CFATF to make amendments to the existing legislation, which was non-compliant with the sweeping reforms taking place regionally and internationally to fight money laundering and terrorism.

However, despite the serious political risks associated with offering non-support for the legislation, the APNU and the AFC made a decision not to support the legislation. The non-support of the bill had come even after Western powers urged that it be passed. During an exclusive interview with Guyana Times, U.S. Ambassador D Brent Hardt and his UK counterpart, Andrew Ayre had urged the opposition parties to put forward their proposed changes to the bill.

Financial stability

The diplomats underscored the importance of the legislation, noting that it will guarantee Guyana’s financial stability. They said approximately two years after the general election, it was clear that “compromise” was the way forward. “… In fact, there is no other country that I have worked in that has a minority government that has been able to put forward its policies without, on occasion, compromising with the opposition.”

The ambassadors said the interest of the people should be placed on top of the agenda. “We have, indeed, approached all political parties for discussion on this topic – a topic which is very important for the future of Guyana’s financial stability. It remains the topic of the highest importance to us all.”

Editor: Nigel Williams

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

Mailing address: 238 Camp & Quamina Streets, Georgetown

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

Editorial

Black pall over Guyana

We hope that no Guyanese thought there would be any other outcome from the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) meeting in The Bahamas. On behalf of the global Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the CFATF had spelled out its warning very clearly in June of this year:

“Guyana has taken steps towards improving its Anti-Money Laundering and Countering of the Financing of Terrorism (AMLCFT) compliance regime, including strengthening its record-keeping requirements and functionality of its Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).

“However, the CFATF has determined that Guyana has failed to make sufficient progress in addressing its significant strategic AMLCFT deficiencies, including certain legislative reforms. Guyana has introduced an amendment bill into Parliament to address the deficiencies. CFATF encourages Guyana to urgently approve and implement these legislative amendments.”

The opposition parties, in their wisdom, rejected the advice of the entire finance and business communities, as well as the majority of civil society organisations in the country and refused to pass the “legislative amendments”.

The warning on June 3 had also stated very pellucidly the penalty to be imposed on the occurrence of the latter contingency:

“If Guyana does not take specific steps by November 2013, then the CFATF will identify Guyana as not taking sufficient steps to address its AMLCFT deficiencies and will take the additional steps of calling upon its members to consider implementing countermeasures to protect their financial systems from the ongoing money laundering and terrorist financing risks emanating from Guyana, and at that time CFATF will consider referring Guyana to the FATF International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG).”

And this is exactly what has occurred, according to Attorney General Anil Nandlall – save that Guyana will not be referred to FATF ICRG until May 2014. There are some who will assert that Guyana has not been placed on a “blacklist”, but they are making a distinction without a difference.

The FATF “blacklist” always had two tiers: the first one with two occupants, Iran and North Korea. They suffer the most rigorous action since they are “subject to a FATF call on its members and other jurisdictions to apply countermeasures to protect the international financial system from the ongoing and substantial money laundering and terrorist financing (MLTF) risks emanating from the jurisdictions”.

As of June 2013, the second tier of the “blacklist” had 11 countries, including Syria and Pakistan, for instance. Members of FATF, meaning the entire global financial system, were advised to institute “counter measures to protect their financial systems from the ongoing money laundering and terrorist financing risks emanating from these jurisdictions”.

Guyana will now be placed among these countries. The members would have to consider the specific “strategic deficiencies” of the particular jurisdiction such as Guyana before allowing financial transfers.

In reviewing the “strategic deficiencies” of Guyana, they would consider, for instance, the report by the U.S., a most influential member of FATF, on narcotics and Guyana, since funds from narcotics would have to be “laundered”:

“Guyana is a transit country for cocaine destined for the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, Europe and West Africa. Cocaine originating in Colombia is smuggled to Venezuela and onward to Guyana by sea or air. Smugglers also transit land borders with Brazil, Venezuela, and Suriname. Cocaine is often concealed in legitimate commodities and smuggled via commercial maritime vessels, air transport, human couriers, or the postal services.”

As this newspaper has consistently pointed out, Guyana is too small in the order of global finance for overseas financial institutions to spend any inordinate amount of time and effort to process transactions originating or terminating here. Our financial transactions will begin to slow down and eventually grind to a halt. Unlike, say, Trinidad and Tobago, our financial system is not sufficiently diversified and resilient to withstand the kind of scrutiny that will now be imposed.

Sanctions, precipitated by the opposition, are sanctions by any other name.

The need to read

Dear Editor, It does not matter if books are delivered in print or by smartphone. The main thing is to get lost in reading these books. Recently, the Education Ministry, during Education Month, really encouraged it. However, this one-shot thing is now forgotten. This should never be. Reading must really be a lifestyle if it is going to be very beneficial. We ask then why should we really bother reading a book?

Reading has at all times, and in all ages, been a great source of knowledge. Today the ability to read is highly valued and very important for social and economic advancement. In today’s world, with so much more to know and to learn and also the need for a conscious effort to conquer the divisive forces, the importance of reading has increased immensely.

In the olden days, if reading was not that necessary and was not cultivated or encouraged, we need to be reminded that there was a substitute for it, this being in the religious sermons and in the oral traditions. In the nineteenth century, Victorian households used to get together for an hour or so in the evenings and listen to books being read

aloud. The ones who could not participate were judged harshly.

If we think again of today’s society, we see that reading skills are essential to succeed in society. Those who are good readers tend to exhibit progressive social skills. A person who is widely read is able to mix freely with others. He has a confidence level that is quite noticeable. He is a better conversationalist than those who do not read. He can stand his ground in arguments. Reading tends to broadens the vision. It is, in a way, surrogate travelling.

If we should pick up a book like Last of the Breed, we will experience the backlands of Siberia and we may even feel the effect of what a real winter is. Reading transports then. So we see thus far that reading is for knowledge, upliftment in society and for pure pleasure.

Educational researchers have found that there is a strong correlation between reading and academic success. Students who are good readers are more likely to do well in school and pass exams than those who are weak readers (many times the result of being unwilling to read).

Good and habitual readers usually understand easier individual sentences and organisational structures of a piece of writing. They tend to comprehend ideas, follow arguments and detect implications almost instinctively. Good readers can extract from the writing what is important for the particular task they are employed in and they can do it quickly.

Educational researchers have also found a strong correlation between reading and vocabulary knowledge. Students who have a large vocabulary are usually good readers and they contextualise really quickly. This is not very surprising in the least, since the best way to acquire a large vocabulary is to read extensively, as can be attested by second language learners.

Finally, and with the help of modern technology, we are now able to explain the big ‘why’ of reading. We used to and hopefully will continue to emphasise it. The science behind it is just for more impetus.

Psychologists from Washington University did their work in this reading area by using brain scans to see what happens inside readers’ heads when they were at the task itself. They

found that “readers mentally simulate each new situation encountered in a narrative”. They discovered that the brain weaves these situations together with personal experiences in order to create a new mental synthesis. So, reading leaves us with literally new neural pathways. Put succinctly, it makes the brain proliferate. This discovery that our brains are physically changed by the experience of reading is something many of us will understand instinctively, as we think back to the way an extraordinary book had a transformative effect on the way we viewed the world. This transformation only takes place when we lose ourselves in a book, abandoning the emotional and mental chatter of the real world.

That is why studies have found that deep reading makes us more empathetic, or as Nicholas Carr puts it in his essay, “The Dreams of Readers”, more alert to the inner lives of others. Education Month should not be the only time reading is pushed. Reading maximises us but only if we are committed to it.

Sincerely, Annalisa Ally

Dear Editor,

For quite some time the Georgetown Public Hospital was in dire need of a face lift and now with the assistance of the Guyana Telegraph and Telephone (GT&T) company, the hospital is expected to receive $1 million to initiate the rehabilitation of the hospital’s immediate surroundings.

Several areas have been identified for being marked with relevant signs including ‘no parking’, ‘no stopping’, and ‘drop off’, amongst many others to facilitate orderly movement around the hospital.

The streets bordering the hospital should be relatively not crowded and allow for easy access. One of the main access roads to the hospital has been deemed a no parking street and forbids minibuses from utilising it. Where Medicare is concerned, Guyana has been do-

ing its best to provide health services and treatment to those in need. However, it is extremely important that we maintain hygienic environments at our health care units.

Yours sincerely, Carolyn Thomas

Accidents revisited Jonestown should be revisited

Dear Editor

Every day people die in road accidents of all sorts and Guyana has been chalking up the numbers recently. Usually, our analysis for these accidents is not faulty. We attribute things like speeding, intoxication, recklessness, and generally disregard for traffic rules.

The statistics show that most road accidents are caused by human error of some deliberateness too and not just by the inadvertent lapse. Research has shown that driver error accounts for over 80 per cent of all fatal and injury crashes, with the main ones being speeding, drunk driving, and disobeying of traffic rules, such as road markings and lights.

We have tried to arrest the driving decadence here. Our approach is good as we have tried the two basics: education and training as well as law enforcement. In the first instance, we have an intensive, even though unnecessarily extensive, driving programme. It caters for the learner to be taught the principles of safe driving and many good topics are covered – bad driving habits and road safety, tailgating, undertaking, indicators and hand signals, and dangers of speeding.

So we have education. Enforcement is sometimes problematic in that the absence of actual traffic officers allows for mayhem. We have not yet moved to cameras and our enforcement stems from many campaigns, of which many are well-timed.

The bottom line is that there is a leakage and we feel that we must probe further. Too many unnecessary deaths are taking place. Just recently a father was struck and left for dead at Better Hope, a trailer passenger jumped for safety but died in the process, a police officer got killed because of an illegal u-turn that intercepted him, and yet another collided at a turn.

It means, therefore, that accidents have to be revis-

ited. It cannot be because of a lack of drivers’ education and law enforcement. We propose that most accidents are caused because of drivers’ aggressive personality; this shifts the emphasis then from the road to the man.

We all know many people who seem to have one accident after another. So is there such a thing as an “accident-prone” personality?

We also know of the similarities of accident types. Some studies have found links between accidents and certain traits, particularly aggressiveness. Our personality then could very well determine how likely we are to be involved in an accident. It is the personality then that has to be addressed.

Psychologically, aggressive personalities are fundamentally at war with anything that stands in the way of their unrestrained pursuit of their desires. Here in Guyana, aggressive driving from aggressive drivers feed from the pursuit of money or the feeding of egos. We need to probe the background of all those who make accidents and when these accidents occurred.

A spokeswoman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said: “We do not accept that certain people are accident prone, although we do believe that certain factors at different times of life will make a person more likely to have an accident. So, we see that a personality trait, specifically aggression, can be influenced; if the driver thinks he is enjoying being spectacled; or if he is chasing some monetary goal.

The goal then is to shift, or at least place some emphasis on the human element, as “people need to be educated to help create an accident free environment.”

Many studies are now examining how personality, attitude and values contribute to this risky driving behaviour. “Aggressive Driving: A Consumption Experience,” reviewed two driver behaviour studies. In one study, 100 surveys from young drivers focused on the influence of attitudes, values and personalities. The second data from people on factors such as impulsivity and risk attraction as it relates to driving. Two things came out.

First, drivers who perceive their vehicles as an extension of self are more prone to aggressive driving behaviours and less inclined to driving cautiously. In a more rudimentary level, these drivers may consider their car and road space as personal territory and seek to defend and control it as needed. Second, increased materialism and a sense of being under time pressures also contribute to more aggressive driving habits.

Over all, aggressive drivers are very prone to speeding, tailgating, honking horns, and disregarding of basic traffic and safety laws. As a result, other drivers and their passengers and those on the roads, within the driving sphere will always be at risk.

It is time then that we focus on curbing this aggressive personality trait.

Yours truly, Raymond Semple

Dear Editor,

I was moved by a recent article that features one of the survivors from the Jonestown massacre. The woman came forward after almost 35 years and gave her account of the incident. She made mention of the fact that there were only 33 survivors from the Jonestown tragedy.

I commend this woman for her strength and I urge for those survivors that are still alive to come forward and share their sto -

ries. The People’s National Congress (PNC) was the ruling party during the Jim Jones era and they practically allowed a foreign cult leader to exercise his motives freely. Additionally, during the American’s investigation prior to the tragedy, the PNC were extremely uncooperative. Their involvement in the Jonestown tragedy is still being questioned to this date. The survivors of the tragedy are our only hope of clarity. The woman reminisced on how hospitable and beautiful the people of Guyana were when she first arrived. She still hopes to see Guyana’s potential and find closure after all these years. Guyana could have been a far way ahead had it not been misruled for so many years.

Respectfully, Sunil

Cato

The Swan community development housing project

Dear Editor, I must applaud the Guyana Water Inc (GWI) for establishing a water system for the newly developed community situated at Swan, Soesdyke-Linden Highway. Food for the Poor Guyana Inc recently invested approximately $80

million in what they call the Swan Community Development Housing Project. Approximately 65 houses are expected to be constructed and will soon offer quality homes to many Guyanese. There is no doubt that between the Housing Ministry and other private companies such as Food for the Poor, in collaboration with other relevant agencies, they can provide better living opportunities for Guyanese countrywide.

Yours truly, Keshwar Mootoo

Columnist needs to be realistic

Dear Editor, I consider the individual who wrote the article, “A dangerous job to take”, as a disreputable and unethical person. The article speaks about his interview with a reporter from the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX).

IFEX is an international body that monitors attacks on media practitioners worldwide. The interview conducted dealt with two attacks on the columnist in May 2010 and August 2012.

Many are of the conclu-

sion that this individual’s allegation can hardly be considered an attack. As a reminder, the only instance where journalists and politicians were under any kind of serious physical threat was during the treacherous days when Guyana was governed by the People’s National Congress (PNC).

During the PNC regime, Father Bernard Darke and Dr Walter Rodney were brutally killed. Post-1992 provided an atmosphere for total abuse of political and journalistic freedom.

The columnist that I refer to has at no point during his recent campaigns and even during his tenure at the University of Guyana (UG) as the head of the worker’s union, been able to muster any substantial amount of support.

Many people pay no mind to him and up until now, our only option is to let him run his course. His call for attention will eventually fall short.

With kind regards, Camille Bactowar

Page Foundation

How to be a great best friend

Do you want to be a super best friend but don’t know how or where to start that perfect friendship? Have you fallen out with your best mate and want to prove how nice you can be if they’ll forgive you? No matter what reason you have, this article will help you become a great best friend.

Respecting yourself

care, and if they do, they might not be the right friend for you.

Studying with friends is fun

could lead you to losing your best friend, and it gets tiring to be someone whom you’re not. Be best friends with someone who you know you can be yourself around because it isn’t worth it trying to be someone you’re not in order to get closer to someone else.

Be your own best friend first. Learn how to respect yourself. If you can’t respect yourself, then you can’t respect others. Decide what boundaries are important to you and respect them. Not only is this healthy for you, but you’ll also get enough practice and experience so that you’ll be familiar in this area when respecting other people’s bounda ries. Understand what values are important to you and stick by them. Seek out others who honour those values because you’ll only end up hurting yourself and possibly others if those people don’t have the same values as you.

* Close relationships with oth er people – whether it’s a romantic relationship or an intimate friend ship – teach us a lot about ourselves. Don’t be afraid to learn about your self. If you don’t like who you are, it’s hard for other people to like you.

* Don’t judge yourself too harsh ly. It’s easy to hold ourselves to a really high standard sometimes, a standard that is impossible to uphold. If you’re a perfection ist, learn to be a little forgiv ing toward yourself.

* Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable. Everyone feels vulnerable about some things, right? Don’t be afraid to show your best friends the parts of yourself that are vul nerable. They won’t

* If your friends kindly point out your faults and/or suggest you make certain changes to help your friendships blossom, don’t automatically grow defensive or harbour bitter feelings against them. They are only trying to help you become a better person, and you should feel blessed to have such thoughtful friends. Also, if you improve yourself, you’ll be able to prevent future friendships from being torn apart.

* However, if your friends aren’t being very nice to you about your faults and picking on you for it, kindly let them know how you feel.

* Don’t hold things in. If you feel uncomfortable or have hard feelings toward your best friend, talk about it with them. It hurts even more when your friendship is being torn to bits while your friend has no idea how to fix it. Make things comfortable, and you’ll both go through thick and thin together.

Building trust and loyalty

can both trust each other about really important matters. Don’t try to trick or use your friend to your advantage; you need to make them know they can trust you.

* Realise that your best friend may have other friends. Trust that you’re really important to him or her and let your best friend have a social life outside of you. Love between friends is never jealous.

* To prevent loneliness from biting you, have a small circle of friends. That way, if one friend is unavailable or he/she turns out to be your enemy, you’ll have other friends to support you. It’s good to know as many people as possible, but only have a few close friends that you tell your secrets to.

* Don’t keep secrets. Be open about what’s going on in your life and what you hear about other people. If you don’t want to talk about something, don’t bring it up in the first place. If your best friend insists on hearing and you still don’t want to talk about it, say: “You know you’re my best friend; if I were going to tell anybody, it would be you. But I’m just not comfortable talking about it with anyone. I promise you’ll be the first to know when I’m ready talk, okay?”

* Know that you’ll probably go through rough patches. Bear in mind though that sometimes you will have to give them some space so that they can have time alone and think things through.

Being a best friend means understanding when a little bit of time alone is a good thing. (WikiHow)

Studying in a group can be a positive and effective means of preparing for a test or exam. Many students find that it is more enjoyable to study with a few classmates rather than study alone.

There are many benefits to studying in a group:

* Classmates can ‘pick you up’ if your willpower to study is waning.

* You may feel more comfortable asking questions or sorting out difficulties with a friend

* Teaching concepts and information to other members of your group can help you to strengthen your own understanding of the subject matter

* Discussing your study material out loud can help reinforce concepts and information

* Your group members may have ideas and study habits that may be beneficial to you

Here are some tips for setting up a study group and getting the most out of a fun and active approach to studying:

* Limit your group to four to five members

* Decide where you will meet – choose a place that is free from distractions

* Set up a regular study group schedule

* Keep the sessions short – about 90 minutes per session is enough

* Have each group member come prepared with a review of the study material and a list of questions/difficulties they may have

* First, review the material and sort out individual difficulties – each group member can take turns ‘teaching’ the material to the group

* Next, question each other on the concepts and information

* Lastly, evaluate the session and plan the agenda for the next one

Remember to stay on task – it is easy to get distracted in a group and begin discussing school and social events instead of studying!

Do not let the study session turn into a social group –stick to the agenda and keep snack breaks short. Studying in a group can be invigorating and fun! Make the most of it!

(Study Smart Now)

NEW GPC INC/Limacol CPL

cops tourism investment award

The NEW GPC INC/ Limacol Caribbean Premier League (LCPL) on Wednesday evening copped the President’s Award for Investment in Tourism, as the Tourism Ministry hosted its annual awards ceremony at the Guyana's International Conference Centre, Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.

The award comes as NEW GPC continues to demonstrate vision and courage in investing its resources in the tourism sector. NEW GPC was successful in its bid for the Guyana franchise for the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and

subsequently secured the title sponsorship for the T20 tournament resulting in the event being renamed Limacol CPL.

The Guyana Amazon Warriors was one of six teams that participated and one of the finalists in the recently concluded inaugural Limacol CPL. The team was named in keeping with Guyana s pursuit of the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), which has as one of its core objectives, the preservation of the Amazon rainforest and the environment in general.

The Limacol CPL was based on a franchise system similar to that used by

Body of man found wrapped in tarpaulin

The battered body of an unidentified man was on Thursday morning discovered by residents in Caneview, South Ruimveldt, Georgetown wrapped in a blue tarpaulin.

The body bore several marks of violence, including a wound to the abdomen, indicating that the man may have been beaten and stabbed to death. The body was discovered between Purple Heart Street and David Rose Avenue.

Guyana Times understands that when nearby residents woke up, they saw the tarpaulin and went to investigate. As residents got close to the tarpaulin, they saw the arm of a body protruding and immediately raised an alarm. Within minutes, a member of the Community Policing Group arrived and inspected the body. He then made contact with the East La Penitence Police Outpost and reported that matter.

Residents believed the body was taken to that location in the wee hours of the morning. The body of the man was clad in a white, gold and green netted armless vest and forest green camouflage three-quarter pants. He was bare-footed. The man is of African descent and appeared to be in his 40s. He is about five feet, eight inches tall and sported locks.

In a release, the police stated that they are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of the man. They also confirmed that the body bore marks of violence consistent with murder.

The body was taken to the Lyken Funeral Home to

await identification and a post-mortem examination. When contacts were made with the funeral home, staff members confirmed that no one visited the funeral home to identify the body.

the Indian Premier League (IPL) and other professional sports. The Amazon Warriors team comprised both local and international players, coached by Roger Harper, former West Indies all-rounder, and legendary fast bowler Curtly Ambrose.

With Limacol CPL being beamed across the globe, tourism stakeholders here concurred that the investment would have given Guyana tremendous international tourism exposure. The award was presented by Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, who was performing presidential duties, to two representatives of the NEW GPC – Marketing Manager

Trevor Bassoo and Human Resources Manager Faye Smartt-Scott.

In an invited comment, Basso stated that the company is “elated” to have been nominated for, and eventually won, the award. He said the award comes at an opportune time and the company welcomes the honour.

Over the years, the NEW GPC has been supporting cricket in particular and sports in general throughout Guyana. Basso told Guyana Times that the Limacol CPL 2013 was, by far, one of the largest and most celebrated events across the Caribbean.

“On behalf of the executive chairman, the board of

directors, management and staff of NEW GPC, I want to thank Tourism Minister Irfaan Ali, the Tourism Ministry and the Guyana Tourism Authority for the award,” Bassoo said.

Several other persons and companies were also given awards for their outstanding contributions to the tourism sector. Colin Edwards received the award for Pillar of Tourism Industry; Leon Moore was named the Tour Guide of the Year; and the Tourism Entrepreneur Award went to Frank Singh.

Leader of the popular Tradewinds band, Dave Martins was given the

Tourism Ambassador Award and the Mangrove Reserve Producers Co-op was given the Most Outstanding Community Tourism Project Award. Stacey Dos Santos-Rahaman received the Destination Guyana Promotion Award and Conservation International, the Community Based Tourism Development Award. The tourism recognition awards went to Grand Coastal Inn for Service in Tourism Establishment, Loaknath Singh of King’s Jewellery World for International Event Promotion, and Garage De Eenhied for the Largest Inbound Operator.

Parika man jailed for four years for cocaine

Forty-nine-year-old, Garvin Nelson, from Parika, East Bank Essequibo, was sentenced to four years imprisonment after he was found guilty of cocaine possession. Nelson appeared before Magistrate Sunil Scarce at the Suddie Magistrate’s Court on Thursday to answer to the possession of narcotics for the purpose of traffick-

trafficking

ing charge. The charge stated that on June 11, at Buck Hall, ,Essequibo River, Nelson had in his possession 13 grams of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

On June 13, he made his first appearance before Magistrate Scarce at the Suddie Magistrate's Court where he pleaded not guilty. The trial began and two witnesses testified for the prosecu-

tion. The defendant, who was not represented by an attorney, led his defence and called one witness. According to the prosecution’s witnesses, police was on patrol duties at Buck Hall, in the Essequibo River when the defendant was seen in the vicinity of Ester Jacobus’s shop. When he noticed the police, he fled but was however apprehended and a search

on his person was conducted. Police found in his front left pants pocket a container with 15 rock-like pellets suspected to be cocaine. After his arrest, the substance was tested and weighed and amounted to 13 grams of cocaine. The defendant was fined the sum of $30,000 and sentenced to four years in prison after he was found guilty of the offence.

friday, november 22, 2013| guyanatimesgy.com

Guyanaese culture must be marketed as tourism product – tourism minister

Acting Tourism

Minister Irfaan Ali has called on Guyanese to market their culture as a unique tourism product, pointing out that the promotion of the local tourism sector is not the work of the government alone, but requires a collective effort.

He made the appeal on Wednesday during his address at the Guyana Tourism Awards held at the International Conference Centre, Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.

“You must first have belief, belief in your country and belief in your product, if you don’t believe in the potential of your country to attract and motivate persons to visit you, then you do not have a sector.”

The minister said though Guyana has a rich and diversified culture, it is reserved

for special occasions and visitors here know little about it.

first impression from the news of the country. On this point, he calls for greater responsibility on the part of journalists and media owners.

He used Jamaica as an example, stating that notwithstanding the crime rate on the island, it is not given prominent feature in the media, as journalists and media owners understand the hurt it can cause to their country.

Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) President Kit Nascimento said though Guyana has made laudable strides in the tourism sector, a lot more needs to be done, pointing out that the country needs a first class airport.

Eyew tness

Don’t

Tgive a damn...

...about Guyana

here’s an old Guyanese folk ditty that goes: “Back to back; belly to belly. Ah don’t give a damn; ah done dead already.” Forbes Burnham was fond of quoting it. It represented his realpolitik view of politics. Without a base to deliver the power he craved so much, he was prepared to do whatever it took to seize that power.

For him, there was no alternative...”he done dead already”. It seems that his hand-picked man to head the army that kept him in power – David Granger – who now heads his People’s National Congress (PNC), is determined to follow in his footsteps.

Khemraj Ramjattan, who’s out of his league when it comes to strategic thinking, but is no less ambitious (which makes him doubly dangerous), also “don’t give a damn”. The other foot has dropped after their refusal to pass legislation that would tighten Guyana’s financial controls to make us comply with the Anti Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AMLCFT) regulations. Guyana’s now blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Hindus have strongly objected to the reported race to trademark Holi, the Hindu “Festival of Colour” by various organisations in the European Union (EU).

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (U.S.A.) on Thursday, stressed that it was highly inappropriate to trademark a religious festival which had been a Hindu tradition for a long time.

Zed, who is president of the Universal Society of Hinduism, has urged the Office of Harmonisation for the Internal Market (OHIM), which registers the Community Trade Mark

This, he said, must be reversed as “it is not the government’s responsibility, even though the government has a very important role to play; it is a national responsibility that all stakeholders must take onboard”.

Minister Ali also said the media has an important role to play in the process, pointing out that tourists get a

This call was well supported by Minister Ali, who disclosed that within a few weeks, an announcement will be made in relation to an airline coming to Guyana.

Hindus object to commercial trademarking of Holi

Rajan Zed

(CTM) in the EU, and its president Antonio Campinos to not allow registration of any Holi CTM and cancel if already granted.

Zed argued that celebration of the Holi festival the world over by anybody/any group was welcome, but commercialisation, which had been dramatically escalating recently, took the sancti-

ty out of the religious festival and was not appropriate.

Moreover, Holi was a universal celebration and should not be protected as a trademark, Zed added.

Many organisations are reportedly fighting to own the Holi CTM at OHIM, as people the world over are becoming fascinated with it.

The joie de vivre festival of Holi welcomes the beginning of spring and starts about 10 days before the full moon of phalguna (12th month of the Hindu Calendar). The ceremonies include the lighting of the bonfires, during which all evils are symbolically burnt. Holi also commemorates the frolics of youthful Lord Krishna; and celebrates the death of demoness Putana, burning of demoness Holika, and the destruction of kama (sensual gratification) by Lord Shiva. Holi falls on March 17 in 2014.

OHIM, which is based in Alicante (Spain), is the official trademarks and designs office of the EU, which registers CTM and Registered Community Design.

They’ve instructed their members – which consists of every important country in the world – of Guyana’s refusal to take the steps recommended by the Caribbean FATF (CFTAF). The international community doesn’t have the time to read the fine print that the government wanted to put controls in place to stop the financing of terrorism and money laundering – and the opposition “don’t give a damn”.

All they know, and will broadcast to the global banking and financial institutions, is that Guyana is “non-compliant” and must face the consequences. We’re pretty sure the opposition will now try to wangle out of the tragedy they’ve created for our country (and all of us) by saying, “at least sanctions haven’t been imposed”.

But as we’ve been pointing out all along, the FATF’s recommendation that banks make their own assessment of the risk posed by dealing with us – is tantamount to sanctions. We’re just too small for major banks that deal in billions of dollars in single transactions, to pause and analyse our risks.

In the modern financial system, banks shift money around the world in seconds in their efforts to get an advantage for arbitrage, among other things. The process only works if it’s seamless. The “seam” raised by Guyana’s noncompliance is just too much for them to smooth over.

This newspaper had a wonderfully evocative front-page photo in their report on the blacklisting yesterday: a black pall hanging over the Bank of Guyana. The latter represents our entire financial system and today, because of the callousness and “don’t give a damn” attitude of the opposition, there’s a black pall over all Guyana.

...about suicide

The Guyana Chronicle ran an editorial about suicide. Now the Chronicle is the state newspaper. Officially. And from what they wrote, you’d think that even though Guyana has one of the highest rate of suicide in the world (if not the highest), the country doesn’t have a programme to deal with the problem. And maybe you’d be dead right.

Over the last decade, the Health Ministry had launched a plethora of initiatives to confront suicide – especially in Region Six which seems to be the suicide capital of the country. Counselling centres, trained nurses and health workers, a “Gatekeepers’” programme involving locals, and a national suicide secretariat – but in not mentioning any of the preceding...it just confirms what the average man/woman in the street has been thinking –they’ve all been abandoned.

What’s more worrying is that the previous Health Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy, had identified suicide as a public health issue, closely linked with depression. It’s not going to go away by sweeping it under the rug.

...about cricket

After being thoroughly drubbed and humiliated by India in Tests, we’ve gone and had the experience repeated in the first One Day International. We can talk all we want about Darren Sammy not performing...but we have to point the finger at who picked him in the first place. The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).

Guyana Tourism Awards 2013

Reigning Miss Guyana World receives another award

Reigning Miss Guyana World Ruqayyah Boyer was recently bestowed with a City Citation Award by the People of New York after being recognised for her work on various causes, which addressed domestic violence, bullying and other social ills.

The award/certificate was handed over to her by New York councilman Rueben Wills before her departure to Indonesia to participate in the Miss World contest. He congratulated her for her exemplary work in this field.

Earlier in the year, Boyer won the Best Newcomer Actress Award at the Theatre Guild One Act Film Festival.

Shortly after being selected to represent Guyana at the Miss World Pageant, she received the sash and award of Ambassador for the Caribbean American Domestic Violence Awareness Group in July. At the time, she was the holder of the Miss Guyana Universe crown.

The queen had left Guyana for the United States for training on her way to Indonesia and she was again recognised.

Boyer’s project for the beauty with a purpose aspect of the Miss World Pageant was one of the celebrated projects, but it fell short, with Miss Nepal copping the award. This, how-

ever, did not stop Boyer who amassed one of the largest followings at Miss World, along with Miss Philippines.

Many fans dubbed her “Rocky” as she continued onwards to place in the Miss World top 33 at the Beach Fashion and Talent Semi-Finals.

After competing for one

month in Indonesia, Boyer then returned to Guyana in October to hand over her Miss Universe title, leaving her with just the current title of Miss Guyana World.

She most recently received another award for her exemplary work in pageantry from the Linden community from where she

hails, at a ceremony held at the Mackenzie Sports Club ground on Saturday last.

Other awardees in other arenas included Region 10 Chairman Sharma Solomon, sport journalist Rawle Toney, and GT&T Jingle and Song winners Malaika Boyd and Brandon Harding.

Boyer is the current cover girl of one of the Caribbean’s most celebrated magazines, Shabeau, alongside Barbadian superstar Alison Hinds who is also featured on the double cover.

Her featured story can be accessed at http://www. shabeaumagazine.com/ Fall%202013%20Miss%20 Guyana/. The beauty queen is also currently featured in a Bahamian magazine called NU Woman that focuses on female Bahamian overachievers and Caribbean women at large.

The queen is currently planning to pull off her second “Flight of Phoenix Apron Walk against Domestic Violence”, which was first held last year October during her Miss Guyana Universe reign.

The march is scheduled to take place on November 30 and will be commencing from the Parliament Building at 06:00h and conclude at the National Library where a short programme will be held.

Local guvament ministry tink all fools day move to November

All though all fools day gone since April, de local guvament ministry tink it move to November. That woulda be history to have two all fools day in one year. But then is not only wid God all tings are possible. Any ting is possible wid two people in one guvament ministry who tink dem can fool de whole guvament and de whole country.

Even a blind man can see that de local guvament ministry look like dem was tryin to pull a fast one pun de guvament and de people of this country. Even de Lunch Man look like he get a bit of outsmartin wid de re-cyclin project whah de Hossman fella was tryin to smart de guvament wid. Lucky ting de Lunch Man and de rest of guvament find out de real deal fast, although dem was still de last.

It look like de whole of Guyana and de whole of Canada didn’t even know bout de Hossman. But when he turn up in GT de garbage town every body suddenly know bout he, except local guvament. But whah de people end up know was all de tings whah de Hossman didn’t know. And dem now know that he didn’t know bout whah he seh he know. De Hossman gon have to re-cyle and come again.

When de guvament sign up de EM-O-U, was only de mayor-fuh-life Green Ham was happy, along wid minister Gunga and he PEE-S of course. Green Ham raise he head and he hand in de air, then he bow down and kiss a garbage bin that was overflowin pun Regent Street. He tell de vendors de minister finally lookin out fuh he and all de garbage in GT gon get re-cycle.

Ting-a-ling-a-ling…friend tell friend…mattie tell mattie! But secretly, wid de way de mayor-fuh-life lookin these days, he was hopin that he woulda also get re-cycle! Only problem is that garbage like Green Ham don’t ever go in re-cycle bin. De re-cycle bin is fuh tings that have some kinda future use!

Seaman on bail for robbery under arms

On Thursday morning, a seaman was granted bail in the sum of $50,000 after he appeared in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts to answer to an armed robbery charge.

Joseph Paris of Lot 29 Public Road, Bagotstown, East Bank Demerara, pleaded not guilty to the charge which read that on November 13 at Wellington Street, Georgetown, being armed with a knife, he robbed Ravi Rajkumar of one silver chain valued $12,000. The facts of the case stated that on the day in question, around 00:30h,

the complainant was walking along Wellington Street when he was approached by Paris who was armed with a knife. Paris snatched the chain which Rajkumar was wearing and made good his escape. The matter was reported and he was subsequently arrested and charged. Prosecutor Dinero Jones objected to bail, citing the nature and gravity of the charge. He also stated that if granted his pretrial liberty, the defendant will not return to court. However, Magistrate Ann McLennan granted bail. The matter stands adjourned to December 17.

One arrested for Mahdia businessman’s murder Youth Parliament opens

Donald Ramotar greeting ‘opposition’

The 13th sitting of the National Youth Parliament (NYP) opened on Thursday after President Donald Ramotar addressed the young legislators on parliamentary norms and practices and the current situation in the National Assembly.

Held in the eastern conference room of the Guyana International Conference Centre, the parliament-like setting included Members of Parliament (MPs) on the government and opposition sides.

Among them are individuals with ministerial portfolios, those in the shadow capacity on the opposition side, and backbenchers. An order paper similar to the document used in the National Assembly was circulated carrying the names of MPs and the order in which speakers are to appear.

Members were also slated to participate in a main debate on the need to regulate the media in Guyana to make it accountable, transparent, and responsible to the public so as to enhance democracy and secure national interest.

The Speaker was Dana King-Waithe; Clerk, Paula Luyken, Deputy Clerk, Keomar Griffith and Sergeant-At-Arms, Alex Persaud. President Ramotar, who was inducted an honorary member of the NYP, commended the organisers of the forum for “allowing young people to make their voices heard on issues that are extremely important”.

The NYP is held each year in November, with a subvention from the government and fund-raising activities. Invitations are extended to youths from across the country to become members.

The head of state said the aim was to inculcate the spirit of democracy in the nation’s youth. “This is something that is extreme-

ly healthy for our society, for creating a deeper appreciation for democracy, for at a very early age to know… the whole practice of parliamentary democracy,” President Ramotar said.

Motions

Unlike the configuration of the 10th Parliament, the government side of the NYP was in the majority by three seats and tabled before the “House” a bill titled “Unanimous Support for Government Infrastructural Development Projects”.

The opposition, represented by 26 members, tabled a motion calling on the government and non-government parties to honour obligations to the nation’s youth and work towards feasible and long-term solutions for the problems at the University of Guyana. The opposition also demanded the NYP’s involvement in offering solutions for the problems at the tertiary institution.

The topics debated, particularly the one on infrastructure, were of interest to the president who spoke about the political opposition voting down major infrastructure projects in the Parliament –among them the Cheddi Jagan International Airport expansion, interior airstrips and the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project.

With a one-seat majority, President Ramotar accused the political opposition of breaking the rules governing the Parliament and using the legislature for narrow agendas. In the near future, the NYP will be focusing on attracting participation from youth representatives in all 10 administrative regions and facilitating debating competitions on a monthly basis.

Executive Director Kwame McCoy said the young parliamentarians also intend to submit to the Culture,

Aman was on Wednesday evening arrested and is being interrogated for the robbery/murder committed on Mahdia businessman Danderlei Kienen, 46, of Light Street, Georgetown.

He was found dead at his place of business about 19:00h on November 20.

Kienen was found with a single stab wound to his neck, lying in a pool of blood in front of his business place at 111 Miles, Mahdia, Region Eight. From reports gathered, a knife was used as the murder weapon.

Information reaching Guyana Times revealed that about 18:45h on Wednesday evening, three men confronted the businessman and demanded gold and cash. They were all armed with knives. Kienen from all indications put up a fight, but was fatally stabbed.

The men, who sported dreadlocks as a possible disguise, reportedly went into Kienen’s home and took away an undisclosed sum of money and a quantity of gold before escaping.

A few minutes later, the businessman was found by another young man who went to his business place to exchange gold for money, and raised an alarm.

The injured man was taken to the Mahdia Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

Further information reaching this newspaper revealed that earlier in the day, Kienen collected at least $5 million from an aircraft which landed at the Mahdia airstrip. Residents believed that the men who carried out the heinous crime may have been watching the businessman for some time.

It has been a few years since the Brazilian national opened a money transfer service in the community and it has been enjoying great success. He would also buy and sell gold.

The man’s body was transported to the city on Thursday, but when Guyana Times visited the mortuary, none of his relatives was there. Checks at his residence to speak with a relative also proved futile.

The Mahdia resident reportedly lived alone and his relatives who live in Brazil would normally visit him occasionally. Kienen’s business associate was at the Ogle International Airport to receive his body, but refused to give a comment. His body is at the Lyken’s Funeral Home awaiting a post-mortem examination.

Final night of drama tonight at NCC

As the curtains come down on the twoweek National Drama Festival, four plays are scheduled for this evening at the National Cultural Centre. Showtime is 18:00h.

“The Creative Burial Ground”

The first play is titled “The Creative Burial Ground”. Written by Rae Wiltshire, the play will be directed by Nickose Layne. Stage managers are Candacy Baveghems and Randolph Critchlow. Costuming will be done by Cindy Legall

Everyone has questions, which most of us are afraid to ask. This play, which is clearly a depiction of avant garde theatre, is set

entirely in a burial ground and chronicles the questions of four friends who have died because of war. The Creative Burial Ground is a special place for artistes, and the friends will soon find out why they were chosen, providing that the protagonist (Ororo) is versatile enough (personality and physicality) to surpass the challenges faced.

The main challenges of her role come from three particular characters who regard themselves as supreme beings. In the absence of her companions, she has to fight, fall in love with death, and, in the end, challenge the greatest god of them all, to prove her worthiness.

The play should take audiences through a plethora of emotions. They will quickly

become connected to the discussions about religion and God. As the play progresses, some may feel as though their toes have been stepped on or crushed; some will be filled with excitement and wonder; and others will not know what to think.

An open mind and a strong conscience are needed to make it through this play.

Whatever religious background you come from, do incline yourselves to the question:

“What if…?”

“Duplicity”

The second play, “Duplicity”, was written by Keron Bruce and will be directed by Natasha Azeez and Marissa Primo. In the play, one of the characters – Janice is having an

affair with her sister’s lover, Ryan. He decides to end the relationship. She gets upset and loses her mind, killing Sherry’s daughter and severely injuring Ryan, who subsequently dies. She then commits suicide but not before confessing her sins to her sister.

“Deep Wounds”

“Deep Wounds”, a play written by Melinda Primo Solomon, will bring the curtains down this evening. The play will be directed by Melinda Primo Solomon and Marissa Primo It centres on a young girl who has lost her brother. Over the course of the last three elections, her boss changes. Sarah completes the journey she takes to help her to forgive and find a new beginning.

National Drama Festival 2013 highlights

MACORP opens branch at Port Kaituma

MACORP Guyana on Thursday opened a branch at Deon Stoll Main Road, the heart of the mining sector in Port Kaituma, Region One.

The new business was commissioned by the company’s Managing Director Jorge Medina and Natural Resources and Environment Minister Robert Persaud.

The outlet provides spare parts for machinery and all mining equipment; parts which are not available can be sourced from the company’s branches in Georgetown and outside these shores.

The products available at the new branch will be sold

eight per cent higher than the prices in Georgetown to offset transportation expenses. The commissioning was attended by company executives and affiliates, Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) officials, miners and members of the community.

Addressing the gathering, Medina said the company decided to open the branch in the prime mining area to provide sustainable integrated solutions to its customers there. He said the company provides not only equipment and spare parts, but packages of service that are affordable.

Medina noted that the business through its Caterpillar brand has been providing the latest high tech equipment. “Caterpillar is applying more and more technology into their equipment and with this kind of integrated solution; it allows you to add value to customers.”

The managing director said with the type of technology imbedded in MACORP’s equipment, it becomes easier for miners to do their work, as they are guided by computers.

Meanwhile, the company’s product support manager, Guillermos Escarraga said the latest move by

MACORP has confirmed its commitment to meet the needs of miners.

Support

“We believe with this initiative, we are addressing and supporting our miners to have a better performance and to reduce their cost of operation,” Escarraga said. He noted that MACORP provides free training for operators, and over the years, over 200 persons have benefited from these exercises.

Escarraga also disclosed that the company is now embarking on providing fuel education to customers. “Now our customers can have the

opportunity to fuel up their machines with clean fuel, fuel that makes them perform efficiently.”

Minister Persaud, who also addressed the event, pointed out that businesses and companies which provide services for miners, should be within access.

“Having MACORP here and being able to distribute the Caterpillar line of goods and service will be of immense value to the mining sector in Region One, and more particularly, here in the surrounding area of Port Kaituma.”

Persaud said government has recognised that

the mining sector is growing, and it remains committed to supporting and working with miners as long as they operate within the law.

Also present at the opening was Caterpillar’s District Manager Jose Westin, who in a brief remark, said the company is known for its superior quality of products. “Caterpillar has been recognised and has been the world leader because of the support we provide to our customers.”

He lauded MACORP for its excellent work, more so for expanding its operations to the heart of the mining sector in Guyana.

House passes motion to establish veterans’ commission

By Svetlana MarShall

The National Assembly on Thursday evening passed a motion for the establishment of a National Veterans Commission.

The motion was moved by Opposition Leader David Granger and got the backing of the Alliance For Change (AFC). In moving the motion on Thursday, the opposition leader said the commission, if established, will examine the conditions and circumstances facing veterans who have offered their services in the disciplined forces. He said this move was not unique to Guyana, as he alluded to other nations that recognised the contribution of men and women who fought vigorously to protect their countries. Guyana should not be an exception, he stressed.

He explained that these entities, be it the Guyana Defence Force or the Guyana Police Force, utilise the services of the young and vibrant population in their quest to fulfil their national mandate. But the efforts of those once young and vibrant young professionals ought not to be forgotten as they age or become disabled. “The state must then accept its responsibility,” Granger argued.

The establishment of the National Veterans Commission has

been on the table for many years, the opposition leader posited as he alluded to September 1997 when veterans met with former Prime Minister Janet Jagan under the presidency of Samuel Hinds.

“Over the years, thousands upon thousands have passed through the force, and we still need persons to continue to enter those forces, and it is our view that young people who wish to enter the discipline and the defence forces will be more attracted if they felt at the end of their service, they

will be treated with respect and dignity,” Granger said.

In a detailed presentation, APNU parliamentarian and former Police Commissioner Winston Felix left no stone unturned in his call for the establishment of a National Veterans Commission.

From the beginning of his presentation, Felix made it clear that the Guyana Defence Force, the People’s Militia, the Guyana Police Force, the prisons and fire service have all survived by the willingness and determination of young people who dedicated their lives to safeguard the nation – a group now considered veterans after years of service and dedication.

Ready and willing

“They do this after being recipients of poor remuneration… unlike their counterparts in the wider public service, they have no freedom to leave as they like. Nevertheless, the services are well served by young men and women who are always ready and willing to serve.”

In their quest to serve the nation, Felix said many members of the forces encounter unfortunate circumstances such as death or severe injuries crippling them for life. “When the crime spree commenced, in 2002, the first to be killed were policemen on patrol at Coldigen… and the last to be killed

was a policeman assassinated,” Felix recalled.

In cases of injury on duty, the APNU parliamentarian pointed out that if a member of the services, whether police, prison or fire, is of pensionable service and they are injured, they may be able to withdraw on medical grounds. “Should permission be granted, they may be awarded a pension and gratuity. Those who are below 10 years’ service or above two they are likely to get gratuity but no pension,” he explained. For the hardship endured, Felix contended that veterans should be sufficiently compensated and systems instituted to assist veterans following retirement.

AFC parliamentarian Cathy Hughes, in support of the APNU, outlined the significant role played by women in the military and disciplinary forces, noting that veterans have served Guyana with distinction as they upheld the responsibility to protect the nation.

“Given the invaluable role that our veterans played and continue to play, we support this country’s commitment through this motion, to establish a national veterans’ commission that will protect them, that will constantly look at their situation, and that will ensure that their contributions are always recognised,” she posited.

From the onset, Prime Minister

Samuel Hinds, while acknowledging the contributions of veterans in Guyana, stated quite clearly that there was no need for a National Veterans’ Commission. “From the time we came into government until this time, this PPP/C administration has consistently undertaken to support the welfare of the disciplined forces of Guyana,” the prime minister stated, pointing out that public servants in this regard continue to benefit from increase in wages.

Major interventions

“The first major intervention of this government in 1994 saw the consolidation of service conditions of the four disciplines referred to as the Joint Services, there has been salary increases, salaries today are many times where they were in 1992 and standardisation of allowances,” Hinds said.

With the majority in support of the motion, the National Assembly passed a resolution for the appointment of a National Veterans’ Commission by the House to examine the conditions and circumstances facing veterans of the defence forces and disciplined services to make recommendations to ensure their health and welfare, and for the general administration of veteran affairs in Guyana. (svetlanam@guyanatimesgy.com)

Guyana, TT to decide on locations for agriculture project

The governments of Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago have moved one step closer to finalising arrangements for the establishment of a cooperation agreement, where Guyana will provide 10,000 acres of land to Trinidadian investors for the purpose of agricultural production.

This announcement was made on Thursday during a press conference with Trinidad and Tobago Food Production Minister Devant Maharaj. Maharaj told local media operatives that a decision would be made within two weeks, as to the locations that would be made available for this venture.

Maharaj, who is on a visit to Guyana, said discussions with his local counterpart, Dr Leslie Ramsammy have been fruitful. He said the working meeting was to further cement the agreement between the two countries, which follows through on the Jagdeo Initiative proposed to Caricom decades ago.

Maharaj said with the change of administration in the twin-island republic, agriculture is now considered an import sector. Despite the country receiving most of its revenue from the blooming oil sector, he said the Kamla Persaud-Bissessar administration has revisited its strategy, hence the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government of Guyana. Maharaj added that the objective of the initiative is to use it as an example for

Caricom.

Both ministers have now agreed to the areas in which entrepreneurs could look to invest. These include: cultivation of animal feed staples such as corn and soya; livestock rearing; root crops, value-added products such as cassava flour; legumes; and aquaculture. A technical team will meet in two weeks, to agree on the harmonisation and standardisation of policies and strategies that would facilitate importation of products and crops from Guyana to Trinidad.

Processing plants

Maharaj further explained that it has been agreed that Trinidad and Tobago will advertise for expressions of interest among local entrepreneurs there. Site visits will be arranged, plans solicited, and those proposals evaluated by both sides before a final allocation is made. In addition, Maharaj said it was discussed that processing plants in Guyana may be set for products that would require some sort of processing before export, including meat.

This, he noted, would provide economic opportunities for both countries. “These strategies being utilised are geared towards the goal of T&T, and also Guyana, reducing our food import bill from countries outside of the region, increasing our own food security interregional and bringing down food in-

Alabama posthumously pardons three Scottsboro Boys

The U.S. state of Alabama has granted posthumous pardons to three black teenagers wrongly accused of raping two white girls on a train in 1931.

Treatment of the youths known as the Scottsboro Boys – nine in all – helped spark the U.S. Civil Rights movement.

The boys were convicted by all-white juries.

Eight were sentenced to death but none were ever executed. Five of the boys’ convictions were overturned, and a sixth was pardoned in 1976.

The decision by an Alabama parole board is the last chapter in a case that came to symbolise racial injustice in America’s Deep South, says the BBC’s Jane O’Brien.

“While we could not take back what happened to the Scottsboro Boys 80 years ago, we found a way to make it right moving forward,”

said Alabama Governor Robert Bentley. “The Scottsboro Boys have finally received justice.”

In March 1931, soon after the start of the Great Depression, the boys were travelling by train through northern Alabama among a group of hobos, both black and white.

A fight broke out and the train was stopped near the town of Scottsboro. Nine black teenagers ranging in age from 13-19 were arrested.

“But then the deputy sheriff realised two of the white hobos were in fact women,” historian Dan Carter told the BBC in October. “The young women worried they might be accused of prostitution, so they accused the black boys of having raped them.

“I think anyone today who studied the evidence would conclude no rapes occurred.” (Excerpt from BBC News)

flation in respective countries – all with the backdrop of creating sustainable employment and diversification of our economies,” the Trinidadian minister added.

Asked whether there had been any interest shown by Trinidadian entrepreneurs in the project, Maharaj said he was hopeful that there would be, to the extent that it would be oversubscribed and his country would have to request more land. According to Maharaj, Trinidad has had to turn away many investors, simply because the country does not have the land available for large-scale agricultural projects.

In addressing concerns about recent reports that the Trinidad and Tobago Farmers Association had expressed concern about the agreement between the two

countries, Maharaj said he has never received any concrete objections to the agreement. He said the concerns are only being raised by a few that want political mileage.

“There is no land available in T&T for the venture we envision with this, we are talking essentially what we are calling mega farms and the state lands that are available for this are nonexistent in TT,” he added. The housing and agriculture sectors in the twin-island republic compete for land. With a growing list of more than 200,000 applications for housing, the Trinidadian government, he said, has only produced 9000 houses in the past three years and the previous government allocated 2000 house lots in the past decade.

It was further explained that a few people in Trinidad assume that there is land available, but much of that is privately-owned land and it would be illegal for the state to take the land without due process. The past government had also taken a policy decision not to renew leases of agriculture holdings, because a majority of farmers in Trinidad was viewed as members of the opposition, Maharaj stated. Hence, farmers had not the ability to go to financial institutions and use their leases as collateral to further invest in farming. The current government, he said, is now looking to renew some 8000 leases.

Eight dead, more feared trapped in Latvian supermarket collapse

Rescue workers pulled two more bodies out of the ruins of a collapsed supermarket in the Latvian capital, Riga, early on Friday, bringing the death toll to eight amid fears that more people may be buried in the rubble.

TV pictures showed the Maxima store surrounded by fire trucks and ambulances with rescue workers using mechanical cutters to clear debris from the singlestorey concrete and glass building.

“Another dead body has just been brought out,” Latvian rescue services said on their Twitter feed.

Spokeswoman Viktorija Sembele told Reuters earlier that a seventh victim had been found in the ruins.

Rescue workers were called to the store, situated in the midst of grey, Sovietera housing in a suburb of the capital, and several were injured by a second collapse because of the building’s weakened structure.

It was unclear how many people remained trapped in the ruined store. News agency RIA Novosti quoted Riga Mayor Nils Usakovs as saying 70 people were still in the building. Rescue services said 36 injured people had been rescued and police sniffer dogs were searching for people still trapped.

Seven of the injured and three of the dead were firefighters. More than 60 soldiers were helping with the rescue effort, the army said on its official Twitter feed.

The roof of the supermarket fell in on Thursday evening when the store was busy with shoppers on their way home from work.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Honduran candidate Hernandez says currency devaluation “not an option”

Honduran ruling party presidential candidate Juan Hernandez said on Thursday a currency devaluation, which is widely seen as a pre-condition for a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) credit deal, is not on the cards if he wins this week’s vote.

The National Party’s Hernandez is currently running neck-and-neck with Xiomara Castro, the wife of

ousted former leader Manuel Zelaya, to be the next president of the violence-wracked Central American nation.

The eventual winner of Sunday’s vote faces a stiff challenge to lower a murder rate of more than 85 per 100,000 people – the world’s highest – and steady the country’s precarious finances. Annual growth is not expected to reach three per cent this year, economists say, while the fiscal deficit

U.S. gives

will likely exceed seven per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). Public debt will probably come in at 41 per cent of GDP – double 2008’s level.

Hernandez has said he will seek IMF credit, like a roughly US$200 million deal from 2010 that expired last year, but still has some minor disagreements with the Fund.

On Thursday, speaking with reporters outside his

campaign office, he reiterated those doubts. But he made clear a currency devaluation was out of the question.

“It’s not an option for us,” he said. Most experts believe a currency devaluation, along with a slashing of public salaries, a tax overhaul and the privatisation of loss-making state utilities, will be prerequisites for a reopening of IMF credit lines. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Afghanistan year-end deadline for crucial security deal

President Hamid Karzai triggered uncertainty about a vital security pact with the United States on Thursday by saying it should not be signed until after Afghanistan’s presidential election next April, prompting the White House to insist on a yearend deadline.

Karzai’s surprise move,

which came just a day after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the pact’s language had been agreed upon, suddenly threw its future into question and seemed certain to reignite tensions with Washington.

The Afghan leader spoke to about 2500 tribal elders and political leaders from across Afghanistan gath-

ered in the capital for a Loya Jirga, or grand council, to debate whether to allow U.S. troops to stay after the planned 2014 drawdown of foreign forces.

Without an accord on the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA), the U.S. says it could pull out all its troops at the end of 2014 and leave Afghan forces to

fight the Taliban insurgency on their own. In a statement certain to irritate the U.S., which is eager to clinch the deal as soon as possible, Karzai told the assembly any agreement on the status of U.S. forces would have to wait until after a presidential election in April.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Latin American, Caribbean most unequal region in world

Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Eclac) Alicia Bárcena, says the region needs “more inclusion and more well-being,” given the high level of inequality and the lack of public goods affecting many citizens. On Tuesday, the senior UN official took part in a plenary session entitled Regional Perspectives on Global Trends, in the framework of

the Second Global Meeting of Regional Organisations in Abu Dhabi.

The meeting, jointly organised by the World Economic Forum and the Government of the United Arab Emirates, took place from November 18 to 20 and was attended by representatives from around 20 organisations.

The plenary session, moderated by Klaus Schwab, founder and Executive Chairman of the World

Economic Forum, featured contributions by the Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean, Fathallah Sijilmassi; Sweden’s Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Bildt; former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd; former Japanese Foreign Affairs Minister and Minister for the Environment, Yoriko Kawaguchi; and Chairman of the Eurasian Development Bank, Igor Finogenov. (Trinidad Guardian)

Wall Street up as data offsets Fed taper concern

Stocks rose on Thursday after data suggested stronger labour market conditions and subdued inflation, making traders reassess the Federal Reserve’s latest take on the economy.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week and producer prices fell for a second straight month in October, indicating inflation pressures remain benign.

Europe

Separate data showed U.S. manufacturing rebounded this month after hitting a one-year low in October and output grew at its fastest pace in nine months. An indication that the Fed may be ready to start scaling back its US$85 billion a month stimulus had weighed on equities Wednesday. But the central bank has repeated it will not taper until the economy can stand on its own and interest rates will remain low well af-

ter stimulus is cut back.

“For a long time we have been focused on nothing but the Fed, but the Fed has differentiated well enough between taper and tighten,” said Jack de Gan, chief investment officer at Harbour Advisory Corp in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. “In that environment, good news becomes good news and the market should react strongly to positive economic data and jobs numbers.” (Reuters)

Eurozone ministers are “losing patience” with Greece

Eurozone finance ministers are losing patience with Greece, said the head of the Eurogroup, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, as the country submitted its 2014 budget.

Greece will exit its six-year long recession next year with 0.6 per cent growth, the budget said. The debt-laden country has received international bailouts since May 2010. At The Hague, Dijsselbloem told a Greek newspaper, the Ta

Nea daily, that “many finance ministers of the eurozone are starting to lose patience”.

Greece’s deputy finance minister, Christos Staikouras, said the country’s economy would shrink by four per cent this year, below the 4.5 per cent predicted. He said: “For the first time, the major sacrifices made by the Greek people are paying off, with the first signs of recovery this year. “The conditions are be-

ing created for Greece’s return to international markets within 2014.’’

The draft budget, submitted to parliament by Greece’s Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras, is due to be voted on in early December. Greece sought bailouts after confidence in its ability to repay its vast debts evaporated, leaving it unable to find sufficient investors willing to lend it money via the bond markets. (BBC News)

Africa-Arab Summit urges economic ties and counter-terrorism cooperation

African and Arab leaders ended a two-day summit in Kuwait on Wednesday by calling for closer cooperation on the political and economic levels, as well as in the fight against terrorism.

The leaders issued the Kuwait Declaration which called for accelerating economic integration in the Arab world, which includes oil-rich

Gulf States and investmentthirsty African states.

JThey called for the creation of a joint “Africa-Arab Financing Mechanism” to fund programmes and projects, under a plan which was adopted at a summit in Libya in 2010. But there was no mention of any moves for an Africa-Arab common market, as recommended by businessmen. The Kuwait Declaration strongly condemned terrorism.

Kuwait Emir Sheikh Sabah al Ahmed al Sabah pushed for low interest loans for Africa and investment in the continent. It urged member states to “enhance cooperation and coordination to combat terrorism in all its forms,” and to criminalise the payment of ransoms to terrorists.

(allAfrica)

Japan’s Nikkei index hits sixmonth high

apan’s main share index closed at its highest level for nearly six months after positive news from the country’s central bank boosted sentiment. The Nikkei 225 rose 289.52 points to 15,365.60, its highest level since May. The Bank of Japan said the country’s economy was “recovering moderately” and said it had no plans to reduce its major assetbuying scheme. The yen fell against the dollar after U.S. Federal Reserve said it might cut back its economic stimulus programme.

The dollar rose as high as 100.83 yen, its highest level since late July. Japan’s central bank said it had no intention to cut back on its asset-buying scheme, launched in April, which aims to revive the country’s long-stagnant economy. It is buying bonds worth up to 70 trillion yen (US$700 billion; £435 billion) a year.

“Regarding risks, there remains a high degree of uncertainty concerning Japan’s economy, including prospects

for the European debt problem, developments in the emerging and commodity exporting economies, and the pace of recovery in the U.S.,” the central bank said in a statement. It said it would continue with its policy “as long as it is necessary”. On Wednesday, official figures revealed that Japanese exports rose 18.6 per cent to 6.1 trillion yen (US$61 billion; £38 billion) in the year to October, largely thanks to a surge in car shipments. (BBC News)

UAE has world’s most attractive tax framework

The UAE has the most attractive tax framework in the world and the least demanding, according to a report by the World Bank Group and PwC.

The report found that tax regimes in Middle East countries continue to have one of the most attractive rates in the world. The UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia retained the top three positions as having the most attractive tax rates in the world.

On average, a medium-sized company in the Middle East has a total tax obligation of 23.7 per cent, making 17.6 payments and needing 159 hours to comply with its tax requirements. The report also highlights a nine-year trend of all these indicators in the Middle East.

“The Middle East tax environment is evolving,” said Dean Kern, partner, PwC’s Middle East markets, tax and legal services leader. “In desire to become simple and an

efficient place to do business, the governments here are looking to strengthen their fiscal frameworks by introducing measures to reduce complexity, such as, electronic filing and e-payments.”

“There is also a shift towards a more territorial approach to taxation along with an expansion of the tax treaty network in a number of regional economies such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia. (Gulf Business)

How to value a company in three steps (part two)

Step 1b: Asset value – intangibles

Google is no longer just the name of a company, it is a verb: how valuable is that?

Lady Gaga reportedly held control of her song copyrights, as opposed to the record label. How much are those songs potentially worth? Could be millions, down the road it could be nothing. Complicated data models are used for estimates, but there are no real guarantees only educated guesses. The value of patents, copyrights, trademarks and reputation can be significant in driving up value. The more unique and exclusive –

the more significant the value added.

Step 2: Income value

What is the current income level? What are the key sources of income? Who are the clients? What contracts are in place? Are there current accounts receivable?

Most importantly, how stable is the income level? Review the prior three years for income levels to show a trend. If the income chart is all up and away, do a little research to determine when it reasonably hit a plateau. Next is the NET income. What are the ongoing ex-

penses of operating the company? Gross income – less expenses = results in net income. Review the expenses for their completeness, meaning not only is the electric bill and facilities rental, but salaries, insurance, contractor expenses, licensing and permits etc. Business owners might forget to determine what they take out as discretionary income.

Overall a properly completed balance sheet tells you the income, outflow and net present value. Reviewing the numbers AND the explanation behind them is paramount. (Business Dictionary)

SUDOKU

By Bernice Bede Osol

You don’t have to make abrupt alterations in order to make your point. Stick to what has worked in the past, and your consistency will lead you to victory and peace of mind.

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

Go to the source and verify whatever information you’ve been given before you make a move. A change is in order, but your reasons must be valid and your enthusiasm genuine.

(June 21July 22)

You’ll impress whomever you talk to with your knowledge and your imagination. Creative ideas will help you pick the perfect way to please the people you care about most.

Keep your eyes open and focus on your goals. Don’t allow anyone to ruin your plans or guilt you into unreasonable demands. Step out and socialise with people who share your interests.

(Aug. 23Sept. 22)

(July 23Aug. 22) (Feb. 20-March 20)

Look over personal papers and discuss your options with anyone who will be affected by your decision. Socialising and celebrating your accomplishments will lead to romance.

(March 21-April 19)

An unsavoury situation will develop if you overreact or get involved in extravagant or indulgent situations. Pace what you do, what you spend and what you say, if you want to avoid regret.

(April 20-May 20)

Enjoy family and friends. The events or activities you attend will give you all sorts of ideas that will spark your imagination regarding what you can offer others.

(May 21June 20)

Expect someone to meddle in your affairs. Don’t invite trouble by getting involved in gossip. Stick to the truth and stand up for your beliefs. Someone from your past will offer a solution.

Short trips and participating in activities that are geared toward helping others will lead to new friendships. A close relationship will get stronger if you are attentive or romantic.

(Sept. 23Oct. 23)

Strategy coupled with diplomacy will help you ward off controversy. Keep your distance from anyone who is unpredictable or unreasonable. Protect your money, home and possessions.

(Oct. 24Nov. 22)

A positive change to what you have and what’s within reach is heading your way. A contract or proposal will improve your prospects as well as your position.

(Nov. 23Dec. 21)

Evasiveness will lead to trouble. Face the music and move on. Pent-up resentment will result in an argument if you don’t make a move based on the way you feel.

Entertainment

Dharmic Sabha hosts

Kala Utsav

on Sunday

The Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha will host Kala Utsav, an annual feature of arts on Sunday at the Dharmic Sanskritik Kendra, Prashad Nagar beginning at 10:00h.

The Utsav will see more than 150 young people under the age of 25 participate in a friendly competition in the categories of Ramayan chanting, male and female singing, duet singing, classical dance, junior folk dance and kirtan.

Kala Utsav, which began in 1994, was conceived as an innovative way to propagate and preserve the Indian art forms. Its intention is to motivate young people to continue the traditions of their foreparents and to achieve excellence in the various art forms, while simultaneously building talent bases in the various regions.

It is a launching pad for talented youths across the country and allows for talent to be discovered for future development. Trophies, certificates and cash incentives are given to all participants to encourage them.

Prior to Sunday’s Utsav, each of the Sabha’s Praants held preliminary Utsavs in their communities to select the best to represent them at the finals. Participants will come from Upper Corentyne, Central Corentyne, East Berbice, West Berbice, East Coast Demerara, Georgetown, East Bank Demerara, West Coast Demerara and Essequibo.

An innovation at this year’s Kala Utsav is the addition of drama to the Ramayan Chanting category. This is aimed at promoting elements of the Ramleela tradition. The Kirtan and Folk Dance segments have always been audience favourites and this year is expected to be no different, as large groups in these categories have been practising diligently to put their best forward on Sunday.

It is anticipated that some amazing new singing talent will be discovered on Sunday as well. It is recalled that singers like Purnash Durgaprasad, who later made it to the SAREGAMAPA stage, and Suchitra Rampersaud made their debuts at Kala Utsav.

Also on Sunday, the Guyana Hindu

Guyana Music Network to be launched today

Kross Kolor will today officially launch the Guyana Music Network at the Umana Yana at 17:00h.

It was the late Pandit Persaud’s dream to have a Hindu Academy in Guyana that would provide training for pandits in all of the art forms.

The Sabha’s Kendra holds the distinction of being recognised by the government of India as the first Hindu Academy in the Caribbean which was built by Caribbean nationals. Since its opening in 1991, thousands of students have been trained for free at the Kendra in Sanskrit, Hindi, Geeta, singing, Tabla, Harmonium, Dholak, Kathak and other dance forms, counselling, dressmaking, Indian cookery and craft. There is also a specialised training programme for pandits.

All are invited to come and be a part of this special day with the Sabha. Admission is free. The Sabha wishes to express its thanks to Digicel, NTN and Pepsi for their generous support.

The launch comes after the initial concept launch, which was initiated by the record company and held on June 26, this year.

It may seem like a long time from concept to the official launch, but the time was spent refining the idea,

attending conferences, getting network partners on board, developing a database and website and hosting outreach programmes in various parts of Guyana, introducing persons to the concept of the network.

The launch will feature performances from national and international Guyanese artistes along with

presentations of special prizes and all access cards to members.

Guyana has for far too long, been at the bottom of the ladder with no proper organisation for the music industry, and as such, this new network seeks to create a change.

The network is an entity designed to promote the

sustainable development of the music industry by first empowering its members through economic, educational and other activities, supported by the network itself.

It is built on the old adage “han wash han, mek han clean”. It seeks to improve our knowledge of the business of music, improve our skills as entrepreneurs, encourage the promotion of self-skills, and standardise recorded material from studio to studio, along with many other plans that will be revealed at the launching ceremony.

Membership is open to anyone and those in support of the creative industries including journalists, websites, promoters, small business, corporate Guyana, etc. Additional information can be had from www. guyanamusicnetwork.org.

Guyanese deejay creating stir in U.S.

Thirty-one-year-old Vishal Persaud, also referred to as “Turbulence Hi Power” is Guyanese by birth but resides in the United States and has been creating a storm at night clubs, parties and other functions using his deejaying skills.

He was born to Ray and Nadira Persaud and is the eldest brother of Roy Persaud.

The talented young man praised his parents who worked hard to provide for him and his sibling. Although they got what they wanted, it was not easy for his parents. He went to New York City (NYC) when he was six months old and frequently travels back to Guyana.

In the U.S., he was called the “Guyanese Kid” and whenever he is in Guyana, he is called “Yankee Boy”. Persaud attended the Forest Hills High School and York College.

In NYC, he is the owner of Island Hype Radio/Recording Studio and also the owner of Turbulence Hi Power Sound System and Lighting.

He started his disk jockeying career at the age of five since he was an ardent lover of music and deejayed at family parties. As he grew older, he used his uncle’s equipment to practise and by the age of seven, he was already mixing.

After blossoming, he travelled to various parts of the world and performed for various crowds such as clubs, boat cruises, weddings and others. This has given him the opportunity to meet people from all walks of life.

His greatest accomplishments are working with various actors, writers and musicians but more importantly, owning his own sound system and being one of the youngest Guyanese to own a 24-hour Radio Station in NYC.

As a young disc jockey, one of his challenges is getting the right price for quality work, due to the fact of the group’s young age but after getting to know the group and their origin, clients would sometimes have a change of heart.

The young professional believes that he can promote Guyana’s musical culture and open a new outlet for listeners which will open an avenue for business, both locally and overseas.

In five years time, Persaud sees himself being on a mountain in Guyana controlling his radio Station from his iPhone.

While growing up, his greatest inspiration and role model was his grandfather, Jewa Persaud of Eccles; his Uncles Fredrick and Richard Sanchara of Albouystown and his father. His grandfather was a businessman who always pushed his business to the limit. His background stemmed from the 30 odd years of a family who was involved in entertainment and media.

His advice to young men who want to be a part of the trade: “Be yourself… Don’t worry what anyone else is doing, stay focused strictly on you. Be creative and market yourself in a unique way. Set your own trend and separate yourself from everything else”.

He also advises to keep negativity as far away as possible and never depend on anyone for anything.

In Guyana, he was blessed with the opportunity to deejay for Hits and Jams Entertainment; Pulse Entertainment and Sean Major Promotions at various locations, including the National Stadium for Pulse’s Cooler Fete 2013. He worked alongside DJ Ryan; Entertainer Marlon and DJ Energy.

His main goal is to make Island Hype Radio the Hottest Radio Station in the U.S. Island Hype Radio is broadcast around the world on the Internet via Apple I Tunes, Kaya TV Cable Network, and Tune in Radio App.

The group said they embrace their commitment to provide fresh, modern entertainment, by a focused playlist on island cultures. Their target group is 14-36 year olds.

LOST

One Dog which answers to the name Zion. Colour Cream/White/ Brown about 1 foot tall. Last seen on Wednesday, November 13, between Success & LBI, ECD. If seen please call on numbers 619-8086, 699-7077, 220-3183.

powerful protection. Private and confidential. Phone: 674-2112.

Cleansing of spiritual problems of all kinds. Powerful Ifá protection against evil. Get help to overcome problems with love, relationship, legal, sexual, pregnancy, business, sickness, jobs, enemies, work, money. Call 10am - 4pm. Tel: 592690-1824. Email: anew-life@live. com

Trike Can-Am style motorcycle, 200cc new, unregistered $450,000 neg or credit TEL 227-3939, 6214000

LEROY TRIDENT car 250 CC, 4 doors, power window, $495,000 cash or credit TEL 227-3939, 621-4000

Corriverton man gets 12 years for murder

1 stall stabroek market phone: 718757-8031, 658-0145

Mecury in large quantities, 99.9999% purity in grey flask. Phone: 219-4535

60FT Antenna (Mass) for Radio, TV, Cellular, with cables, brackets, sky light $500,000 227-3939, 621-4000 73” 3D TV Mitsubishi Like new

$450,000 227-3939, 621-4000

DIESEL Generator silent 28 kva

SDMO John Deere engine, missing Fuel Pump, Panel, Avr MAKE OFFER 227-3939, 621-4000

CLARKE forklifts 2000, 3000, 4000 Lb, lifting capacity MAKE AN OFFER TEL: 227-3939, 621-4000

Generac Generator 15 kva, portable, $500,000 cash or credit available Tel 227-3939, 621-4000

Diesel Generator, 3 cylinder Lister pitter (England) key start, 15 kva, $650,000 cash or credit Tel: 2273939, 621-4000

Chicken Hatchery (Robbins), 28,000 eggs capacity fully ready, $ 5.5 million or CREDIT available TEL: 2273939 621-4000

R.Sookraj & Gift Shop for the best in hand made jewellery ,(made to order) Phone: 612-2125/223-6156

suicidal, low self-esteem, loneliness, unloved, anger, conflicts and relationship problems? For appointments call 592621-0552. 12:00pm -6:00pm, Email: healthworldhc@gmail.com

Street, Alberttown, Georgetown (Between Cummings & Lights Sts) Tel: 225-1540, 622-8308, 655-3105. Email: balwantpersaud@yahoo.ca SAT/AP/CXC/IGCSE English classes, personalized tutoring. Phone: 6124821 after 4pm, 274-0437 after 7pm.

mEDitatiON

Learn transcendental meditation and reduce stress & anxiety, develop full brain potential, increase creativity and intelligence, concentration, focus and memory, be healthier & happier, increase energy vitality and longetivity, enjoy more success in life, improve relationships and develop higher states of consciousness, a technique that works for everyone, for next introductory lecture. Contact Ashoke phone 233-6921, 6093701, email: kashokejp_68@yahoo.com or Sherlock phone 2252243, 614-9726

PRIME COMMERICAL PROPERTY, AT BUSY JUNCTION CUMMINGS AND MIDDLE STREETS IN ALBERTOWN, 3 LOTS WITH BUSINESS, (NUT CENTRE) PRICE NEG. TEL 621-4000, 227-3939

1 flat concrete house at Parfaite Harmonie. Phone: 643-4740

Lot 48 Light Street, Alberttown. Contact Ram on 619-4483, 6017883 or 227-1454, 226-6325.

1 property at reasonable price, located in Bareroot, East Coast Demerara. Phone: 612-6417.

One two storey house at lot 93 Atlantic Gardens, ECD; upperflat-3 bedrooms, kitchen and bath; lower flat-2 bedrooms, kitchen and bath. Call 592-619-4483, 592-656-7471

EXECUTIVE TWO STOREY BUILDING 3 BEDROOMS WITH ALL MODERN CONVIENCES, MEADOW BROOK GARDENS, MR NARAINE. PHONE: 696-8230

Gas station land. Size: over one acre Phone Ms Liverpool on 625-7582, 681-9293.

1 three-building centrally located downtown in Thomas Street, South Cummingsburg, Georgetown, recently renovated, fully air conditioned, ideal for office with spaces for boardroom, or any other business. Immediate possession. Phone: 609-2876.

and ground work (strictly interior operation). Phone: 662-1247.

Dutch Spiritual work. Unite lovers, get rid of evil, enhance prosperity, good luck baths and charm bowu guards, etc. Phone: 220-0708, 612-6417, 687-5653

Small business space suitable for technician shop, taxi base, etc. Phone: 691-7164, 231- 2619.

Business place for rent , Plantain Walk ,Vreed –en Hoop. Phone:649-0707.

House at Lamaha Gardens. Hot & cold water, AC, etc. Phone: 2194535.

Two modern apartments at Campbellville, hot & cold water, etc Phone: 219-4535

One house located in Lamaha Gardens, hot and cold water. Call 219-4535

EXECUTIVE TWO STOREY BUILDING 3 BEDROOMS WITH ALL MODERN CONVENIENCES FURNISHED/ UNFURNISHED, MEADOW BROOK GARDENS, MR NARAINE. PHONE: 696-8230

Two-bedroom self contained apt. Caneville, Grove. PHONE: 669-1954

Two modern apartments at Campbellville, hot & cold water etc. Call: 219-4535

Recently constructed bond with house and office space on the same lot, centrally located in Broad Street, ideal for business or manufacturing. Phone: 623-0425, 609-2876

VaCaNCiEs

One customs clerk with at least three subjects CXC including English Language, mathematics. Applicant must be computer literate. Please submit application before the October 11, 2013 to email: windsortechhomes@gmail.com or call 669-6874 or 682-3481

HILUX SURF 4 DOORS, minor parts needed, sold as is $750,000 TEL: 227-3939, 621-4000

Nissan Maxima, fully powered needs repairs sold as is $300,000 cash 227-3939, 621-4000

Stretch limousine, Lincoln Town car, fully powered $6.5 million or credit available Tel 227-3939, 621-4000

Mitsubishi 3000 GT sports car, fully powered, $1.7 cash or credit available TEL: 227-3939, 621-4000

Toyota Hilux extra cab, pick up $3.m. Phone: 264-2682.

Titan (hardly driven) $3.5M neg. Phone: 691-9984

JUST ARRIVED: TOP QUALITY RECONDITIONED VEHICLES; TOYOTA PREMIO; TOYOTA ALLION; TOYOTA COROLLA AXIO; TOYOTA NOAH; SUZUKI SWIFT; MERCEDES BENZ C200 COMPRESSOR; BMW 318i; COROLLA AE100 WAGON; HONDA CRV; LAND CRUISER (FULLY LOADED); MAZDA PROCEED; TOYOTA HILUX 4WD EXTRA CAB PICKUPS - 3RZ, 5L, SOLID DIFFERENTIAL; MITSUBISHI CANTER TRUCKS 3, 3.5 TONS OPEN TRAY; 2 TONS 4WD; 3 TON DUMP TRUCK; NISSAN ATLAS 2-TON TRUCK. PRE-ORDER YOUR UNITS EARLY AND GET THE BEST PRICES. FULL AFTER SALES SERVICE AND FINANCING AVAILABLE.

DEO MARAJ AUTO SALES, 2 CHIMNEY ROAD, CHATEAU MARGOT, ECD. 6240762, 220-5177. A NAME AND A SERVICE YOU CAN TRUST.

One 450 Honda ATV. Phone: 6263817

Toyota Hilux 172 diesel extra-cab pick-up, 4x4 manual (5-speed transmission) a/c, p/s p/w p/l, winch, off road front bumper, KC lights, side baranka bars, bush-ready, Old Man Emu, rear leaf springs, lifted Old Man Emu shocks, snorkel, bed liner. Phone: 623-0425, 609-2876

waNtED

BODYWORK MAN TO SPARY MOTORCYCLE, HANDYMAN TO WORK IN STORE, MAID GO AND COME CLEANING ONLY (UNDER 30 YRS) APPLY GUYANA VARIETY STORE Tel 227-3939

One experienced production manager to work in Furniture Factory and one AutoCAD/draft person. Contact 657-1414

Urgently needed! One plot of land in Parfaite Harmonie, Herstelling and Eccles. Phone: 675-7292

One female babysitter, between 40 & 45 years, must be from Georgetown, be able to work flexible hours and some weekends, applicant with a sound secondary education may apply. Phone: 614-5711, 9am- 3pm

ACorriverton fisherman has been jailed for 12 years for killing a man who had refused to give him a job.

Mulshankar Sukharan, also called “Greg”, pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter in the Berbice Assizes on Wednesday when he appeared before Justice Dawn Gregory-Barnes on an indictment of murder.

On April 3, 2011, Sukharan unlawfully killed Krishnadat Kolandawel, also called “Sham” of Number 79 Village, Corriverton.

State Prosecutor Renita Singh told the court that on the day in question, Sukharan went to the home of Kolandawel and abused his wife, claiming that the now dead man refused to employ him as a worker. According to Singh, upon his return home, Kolandawel went to the home of Sukharan and verbally challenged him to a confrontation.

Kolandawel gained entry into Sukharan’s home by kicking and smashing a chair against the front door. According to the prosecutor, Sukharan armed himself with a knife which he used to stab Kolandawel to his neck and about the body.

She told the court that both men were engaged in a scuffle and fell on the street.

During the fight, Sukharan fired three “jucks” at Kolandawel and asked him if he was alright,

to which he replied saying “yes, I... alright. I had enough”. He then got up and jumped a nearby fence and lay on the ground where he subsequently died. Singh said the two men would usually verbally abuse each other. At the time of the murder, Sukharan was 19, while Kolandawel was 40. A postmortem report gave the cause of death as haemorrhaging due to a stab wound to the neck.

In a plea for leniency, Attorney Raymond Ali submitted that the deceased was the aggressor and that the accused tried to protect himself. “There is evidence of provocation,” he argued. Ali also asked the court to find that there was genuine remorse. “After he realised what he had done, he asked the decease if he was alright. He did not flee the crime scene, something people would expect him to do.”

Justice Gregory-Barnes said the matter is a classic case of high provocation, rather than self-defence. She said the court was forced to determine whether his response was reasonable. Sukharan was facing a 25-year sentence. However, Justice Gregory-Barnes deducted two years which represents the time he already spent remanded awaiting trial. A further five years were deducted because of the level of provocation that caused the killing.

For the fact that the accused did not waste the court’s time and made a guilty plea, the judge took off a further six years from the sentence, leaving him with 12 years to spend in jail.

Sukharan, who lived with his 72-year-old grandmother Mohanie Dasraj, when asked if he had anything to say, said “I am sorry. I am begging for mercy.”

Staff talent celebrations begin at the Caricom Secretariat

The 2013 edition of the Caricom Secretariat’s annual staff talent celebration was declared open on Monday by the Secretary General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque at the Secretariat headquarters, Turkeyen, Guyana.

Speaking at the opening of the showcase, Ambassador LaRocque said the event, now in its 11th year, was a celebration of the talent and culture of the Caribbean Community. He said it was a fitting way for staff at the secretariat to celebrate their talents.

“Congratulations for such fine work that you’ve done and for sharing your hobbies. It very often tells a story of a journey,” Ambassador LaRocque said. He commended the organisers for including a fund-raising charity event

for the St John’s Boys’ Orphanage as part of the activities. The theme for 2013 is “Celebration and Renewal”, in deference to the theme used for the Caribbean Community’s ongoing 40th anniversary commemoration. Included in the week of activities is a “How To” show today where staff will demonstrate their talents in different areas such as making simple pottery, make-up techniques and mixing of cocktails, smoothies etcetera. There will also be a culinary exhibition entitled “Sunrise… More than breakfast and not just lunch” on Friday. This is a “Caribbean brunch” which will offer a delectable fare of traditional, experimental and ornamental foods and drinks.

LOST

One Dog which answers to the name Zion. Colour Cream/White/ Brown about 1 foot tall. Last seen on Wednesday, November 13, between Success & LBI, ECD. If seen please call on numbers 619-8086, 699-7077, 220-3183.

powerful protection. Private and confidential. Phone: 674-2112.

Cleansing of spiritual problems of all kinds. Powerful Ifá protection against evil. Get help to overcome problems with love, relationship, legal, sexual, pregnancy, business, sickness, jobs, enemies, work, money. Call 10am - 4pm. Tel: 592690-1824. Email: anew-life@live. com

Trike Can-Am style motorcycle, 200cc new, unregistered $450,000 neg or credit TEL 227-3939, 6214000

LEROY TRIDENT car 250 CC, 4 doors, power window, $495,000 cash or credit TEL 227-3939, 621-4000

classes, personalized tutoring. Phone: 6124821 after 4pm, 274-0437 after 7pm.

1 stall stabroek market phone: 718757-8031, 658-0145

Mecury in large quantities, 99.9999% purity in grey flask. Phone: 219-4535

60FT Antenna (Mass) for Radio, TV, Cellular, with cables, brackets, sky light $500,000 227-3939, 621-4000 73” 3D TV Mitsubishi Like new

$450,000 227-3939, 621-4000

DIESEL Generator silent 28 kva

SDMO John Deere engine, missing Fuel Pump, Panel, Avr MAKE OFFER 227-3939, 621-4000

CLARKE forklifts 2000, 3000, 4000 Lb, lifting capacity MAKE AN OFFER TEL: 227-3939, 621-4000

Generac Generator 15 kva, portable, $500,000 cash or credit available Tel 227-3939, 621-4000

Diesel Generator, 3 cylinder Lister pitter (England) key start, 15 kva, $650,000 cash or credit Tel: 2273939, 621-4000

Chicken Hatchery (Robbins), 28,000 eggs capacity fully ready, $ 5.5 million or CREDIT available TEL: 2273939 621-4000

R.Sookraj & Gift Shop for the best in hand made jewellery ,(made to order) Phone: 612-2125/223-6156

low self-esteem, loneliness, unloved, anger, conflicts and relationship problems? For appointments call 592621-0552. 12:00pm -6:00pm, Email: healthworldhc@gmail.com

Sts) Tel: 225-1540, 622-8308, 655-3105. Email: balwantpersaud@yahoo.ca SAT/AP/CXC/IGCSE

Learn transcendental meditation and reduce stress & anxiety, develop full brain potential, increase creativity and intelligence, concentration, focus and memory, be healthier & happier, increase energy vitality and longetivity, enjoy more success in life, improve relationships and develop higher states of consciousness, a technique that works for everyone, for next introductory lecture. Contact Ashoke phone 233-6921, 6093701, email: kashokejp_68@yahoo.com or Sherlock phone 2252243, 614-9726

Alberttown, Georgetown (Between Cummings &

PRIME COMMERICAL PROPERTY, AT BUSY JUNCTION CUMMINGS AND MIDDLE STREETS IN ALBERTOWN, 3 LOTS WITH BUSINESS, (NUT CENTRE) PRICE NEG. TEL 621-4000, 227-3939

1 flat concrete house at Parfaite Harmonie. Phone: 643-4740

Lot 48 Light Street, Alberttown. Contact Ram on 619-4483, 6017883 or 227-1454, 226-6325.

1 property at reasonable price, located in Bareroot, East Coast Demerara. Phone: 612-6417.

One two storey house at lot 93 Atlantic Gardens, ECD; upperflat-3 bedrooms, kitchen and bath; lower flat-2 bedrooms, kitchen and bath. Call 592-619-4483, 592-656-7471

EXECUTIVE TWO STOREY BUILDING 3 BEDROOMS WITH ALL MODERN CONVIENCES, MEADOW BROOK GARDENS, MR NARAINE. PHONE: 696-8230

Gas station land. Size: over one acre Phone Ms Liverpool on 625-7582, 681-9293.

1 three-building centrally located downtown in Thomas Street, South Cummingsburg, Georgetown, recently renovated, fully air conditioned, ideal for office with spaces for boardroom, or any other business. Immediate possession. Phone: 609-2876.

ground work (strictly interior operation). Phone: 662-1247.

Dutch Spiritual work. Unite lovers, get rid of evil, enhance prosperity, good luck baths and charm bowu guards, etc. Phone: 220-0708, 612-6417, 687-5653

Small business space suitable for technician shop, taxi base, etc. Phone: 691-7164, 231- 2619.

Business place for rent , Plantain Walk ,Vreed –en Hoop. Phone:649-0707.

House at Lamaha Gardens. Hot & cold water, AC, etc. Phone: 2194535.

Two modern apartments at Campbellville, hot & cold water, etc Phone: 219-4535

One house located in Lamaha Gardens, hot and cold water. Call 219-4535

EXECUTIVE TWO STOREY BUILDING 3 BEDROOMS WITH ALL MODERN CONVENIENCES FURNISHED/ UNFURNISHED, MEADOW BROOK GARDENS, MR NARAINE. PHONE: 696-8230

Two-bedroom self contained apt. Caneville, Grove. PHONE: 669-1954

Two modern apartments at Campbellville, hot & cold water etc. Call: 219-4535

Recently constructed bond with house and office space on the same lot, centrally located in Broad Street, ideal for business or manufacturing. Phone: 623-0425, 609-2876

VaCaNCiEs

One customs clerk with at least three subjects CXC including English Language, mathematics. Applicant must be computer literate. Please submit application before the October 11, 2013 to email: windsortechhomes@gmail.com or call 669-6874 or 682-3481

HILUX SURF 4 DOORS, minor parts needed, sold as is $750,000 TEL: 227-3939, 621-4000

Nissan Maxima, fully powered needs repairs sold as is $300,000 cash 227-3939, 621-4000

Stretch limousine, Lincoln Town car, fully powered $6.5 million or credit available Tel 227-3939, 621-4000

Mitsubishi 3000 GT sports car, fully powered, $1.7 cash or credit available TEL: 227-3939, 621-4000

Toyota Hilux extra cab, pick up $3.m. Phone: 264-2682.

Titan (hardly driven) $3.5M neg. Phone: 691-9984

JUST ARRIVED: TOP QUALITY RECONDITIONED VEHICLES; TOYOTA PREMIO; TOYOTA ALLION; TOYOTA COROLLA AXIO; TOYOTA NOAH; SUZUKI SWIFT; MERCEDES BENZ C200 COMPRESSOR; BMW 318i; COROLLA AE100 WAGON; HONDA CRV; LAND CRUISER (FULLY LOADED); MAZDA PROCEED; TOYOTA HILUX 4WD EXTRA CAB PICKUPS - 3RZ, 5L, SOLID DIFFERENTIAL; MITSUBISHI CANTER TRUCKS 3, 3.5 TONS OPEN TRAY; 2 TONS 4WD; 3 TON DUMP TRUCK; NISSAN ATLAS 2-TON TRUCK. PRE-ORDER YOUR UNITS EARLY AND GET THE BEST PRICES. FULL AFTER SALES SERVICE AND FINANCING AVAILABLE.

DEO MARAJ AUTO SALES, 2 CHIMNEY ROAD, CHATEAU MARGOT, ECD. 6240762, 220-5177. A NAME AND A SERVICE YOU CAN TRUST.

One 450 Honda ATV. Phone: 6263817

Toyota Hilux 172 diesel extra-cab pick-up, 4x4 manual (5-speed transmission) a/c, p/s p/w p/l, winch, off road front bumper, KC lights, side baranka bars, bush-ready, Old Man Emu, rear leaf springs, lifted Old Man Emu shocks, snorkel, bed liner. Phone: 623-0425, 609-2876

BODYWORK MAN TO SPARY MOTORCYCLE, HANDYMAN TO WORK IN STORE, MAID GO AND COME CLEANING ONLY (UNDER 30 YRS) APPLY GUYANA VARIETY STORE Tel 227-3939

One experienced production manager to work in Furniture Factory and one AutoCAD/draft person. Contact 657-1414

Urgently needed! One plot of land in Parfaite Harmonie, Herstelling and Eccles. Phone: 675-7292

One female babysitter, between 40 & 45 years, must be from Georgetown, be able to work flexible hours and some weekends, applicant with a sound secondary education may apply. Phone: 614-5711, 9am- 3pm

Mexican movie week starts on Monday

basis, since limited space is available.

Monday, La PERLA, starring Pedro Armendáriz, María Elena Marqués, and Fernando Wagner will be featured.

The Embassy of Mexico will host its 6th Mexican movie week commencing Monday, November 25, at its headquarters, 44 Brickdam, Georgetown. Screening of the films will start at 17:30h sharp on stipulated days. All the films that are to be screened were directed by Emilio Fernandez and Gabriel Figueroa and will be available with English sub-titles. Admission to the movie week is free but it will be on a first come

The film tells of “Quino”, a Mexican diver who discovers a pearl at the bottom of the sea. Everyday people try to get in on the cash, even pearl dealers try to rip them off. When Quino is attacked one day, he kills his attackers in self defence. His brother suggests their only hope is to leave the village, but on their journey to give his son an education, someone will do just about anything to prevent it.

On Tuesday, FLOR SILVESTRE (1943) starring Dolores del Rio, Pedro Armendáriz and Emilio Fernández will be presented.

The story is about Esperanza who tells her son her love story with his father. Jose Luis, the father of her son, came from a rich landowning family, but he believed in the ideal of egalitarianism of the Mexican Revolution. The boy's mother, however, came from a poor peasant family. They married secretly and lived happily until Jose Luis`family discovers their marriage, and disinherit him. Later Esperaanza is kidnapped by false revolutionaries, and Jose Luis attempts to rescue her and his son.

BUGAMBILIA (1945) will be shown on Wednesday and will see Dolores del Rio, Pedro Armendáriz and Julio Villarreal in action.

The story is about the young and beautiful Amalia de los Robles of the Mexican city of Guanajuato, in the 1800s, who awakens the passion of all the men of the region. This provokes the fury of his widower father Don Fernando, who feels for his own daughter a kind of obsession since he sees the face of his dead wife in her. Amalia falls in love with Ricardo, but the circumstances prevent them from being together.

On Thursday, PUEBLERINA (1949) will be screened and will feature actors, Columba Domínguez, Roberto Cañedo and Arturo Soto. The story is about Aurelio Rodríguez who is released from jail, and tries to start a new life by marrying Paloma and working his land. However, local landowners, the González brothers, interfere with his plans. And finally on Friday, the film, LAS ABANDONADAS made in 1945 will be shown. It featured Dolores del Rio, Pedro Armendáriz and Víctor Junco.

It tells of a young woman who was abandoned by her womanising fiancé, is forced to provide for the upbringing of her son and combat the difficulties of being an unmarried mother during the strife of early 20th century Mexico.

Bakewell renews sponsorship of K&S

Bakewell renewed its alliance with the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation on Thursday ahead of the Secondary Schools football tournament, set to kick off on December 8 and conclude on New Year’s Day 2014.

General Manager of the company Rajendranauth Ganga presented sponsorship for two days of the tournament- one in Linden and another on the East Coast of Demerara- that will enable school children to attend the games free of cost.

The presentation was made to directors of the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation, Kashif Muhammad and Aubrey “Shanghai” Major.

A statement from the Organisation read, “Bakewell has been with the K&S tournament for over 15 years. With Bakewell coming on board yet again, it has made it possible for the tournament to be free for school children up to the semi-finals. However, the organisers will be hoping to announce before the start of the tournament that the entire competition is free for all school children across Guyana.”

The tournament will feature 24 teams drawn from Georgetown, East Coast Demerara, West Demerara, East Bank Demerara, Linden, Berbice and Region Seven.

The champion school will pocket $1.2 million, 75 per-

cent of which will be used to finance a project identified by the school. The second, third and fourth placed finishers will receive $750,000, $500,000 and $250,000, 25 percent of which will used for a project at those schools.

The Most Valuable Player will be the recipient of a laptop, as well as a one-month stint with a top club in Trinidad and Tobago.

The partipating schools are Wismar/Christianburg, Wisburg, New Silver City and McKenzie High School of Linden; St George’s, Lodge, East Ruimveldt, North Georgetown, Queen’s College, Dolphin Secondary, Christ Church and Queenstown of Georgetown; Waramadong Secondary of Region Seven;

Leonora, Stewartville, Uitvlugt and Patentia of West Demerara; Bladen Hall, President’s College, Ann’s Grove and Annandale of East Coast Demerara; Ash Education Trust of Berbice; and Covent Garden and Friendship of East Bank Demerara.

The Kashif and Shanghai organisation is partnering with several other entitiesincluding Ansa McAl Trading, Beharry Group of Companies, Pepsi and Mohamed’s Enterprise- to stage the tournament, which will be played at the Mackenzie Sports Club, Georgetown Cricket Club, Georgetown Football Club, Den Amstel ground, Number Five ground in Berbice and Buxton Community Centre.

Raj Singh Insurance Brokers O-40, 20/20 cricket…

Semi-finals showdown on today

The semi-finals showdown of the Demerara Cricket Board Over40, 20/20 competition sponsored by Raj Singh Insurance Brokers/Trophy Stall is on today as Lower East Coast Bulls lock horns with West Bank Demerara Mavericks, and Upper East Coast Tigers clash with West Coast Demerara Seals.

The battle between Bulls and Mavericks will be contested at the Demerara Cricket Club ground, while the clash between Tigers and

Christopher Barnwell scored an unbeaten 105 to guide his team to 358-9 on day one of the Demerara Cricket Board three-day trial match on Thursday at the Everest Cricket Club ground.

The West Indies T20 player slammed five boundaries and seven sixes in his innings. He was supported by Chris Pattadin, who made 93 (13x4s, 2x6s), Trevon Griffith with 53 (3x4s, 2x6s), Derwin Christian (37) and Rajendra Chandrika (27).

Seals will take place at the Enmore Community Centre ground. Both matches will commence at 13:00 hours.

After the preliminary rounds, Bulls finished at the top of the points table with 27 points, followed by Tigers with 26, Seals with 18 and Mavericks with 17.

In addition to their three victories (12 points), Bulls amassed 11 bonus points for exceptional achievements. They also had one loss, one tie (two points) and two noresult matches (two points).

Bowling for Leon Johnson’s XI, Totaram Bishun claimed 3-94, Randy Kinghts 2-38 while Paul Wintz, Shaquille Williams, Anthony Atwell and Zaheer Mohamed captured a wicket apiece.

Play continues today from 09:00hrs. The game is use to select the best possible team to represent Demerara at the upcoming Guyana Cricket Board senior inter-county four-day competition, slated to begin on December 2.

Dozens to compete at “Six Head” gym this weekend

By Rajiv Bisnauth

Over 40 leading junior fighters from around the country will match skills this weekend when the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) stages the Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) sponsored Under-16 boxing competition at the Andrew “Six Head” Lewis Gym in Albouystown, starting at 10:00 hours daily.

This is the second competition being sponsored by DDL for the year, and action on both days will see aspiring boxers from eight gyms from around the country, including Bartica, on show.

The other gyms taking part are Forgotten Youth Foundation, Harpy Eagle, Young Achievers, Rose Hall Jammers, Pocket Rocket Boxing, Essequibo and Caryll’s out of Linden.

During a simple ceremony at DSL Cash and Carry outlet at Ruimveldt on Thursday morning, DDL renewed its sponsorship with the GBA.

President of the GBA, Steve Ninvalle, expressed heartfelt gratitude to DDL and the principals there for their assistance and the desire to see the relationship continue next year as the association seeks to forge ahead with its plans.

Ninvalle said the fact that DDL has renewed its sponsorship is a clear indication of the company’s commitment towards the expansion of boxing.

“If we need to have high class boxers, we must start with our juniors, with our cradle, and tournaments of this nature is the right stepping stone,” Ninvalle said.

The GBA president also indicated that this has been a very active year for the GBA, especially the latter half.

Speaking on behalf of DDL, Sales Manager Alexis Langhorne said the move to continue supporting amateur boxing was a simple one since the company is pleased to aid in the promotion of young talents.

“At DDL we are always looking for opportunities to give back to the communities in which we operate and

this tournament is one of the many ways we have decided to do so. This programme caught our attention because it provides gainful engagement for our young people who are core of the Pepsi fan base,” Langhorne said. She added, “Since the launch, we have seen some of the young boxers moving on to representing Guyana in overseas tournament and this shows that the tournament has had a positive effect on our young boxers.”

Also present at the ceremony was Technical Director of the association, Terrence Poole, who also lauded DDL for the bold initiative they have taken with regards the development of boxing.

Tigers recorded four victories (16 points), had one loss, two no-result matches (two points), and eight bonus points.

Seals won three, lost two, two were no-result, and had four bonus points, while Mavericks won two, lost one, tied one, had three no-results, and accumulated four bonus points.

The winners of today’s games will collide in the final at the Everest Cricket Club ground on November 29 from 13:00 hours.

Young Warriors and Albion Community Centre have advanced to the final of the Elizabeth Styles Under-19, 50-over cricket competition in Berbice after winning their respective semi-finals in convincing fashion.

In the semi-final played at Cumberland, Young Warriors defeated the highly favoured Rose Hall Town Pepsi by eight wickets.

Rose Hall Town Pepsi, deciding to take first strike, immediately lost two wickets with just four runs on the board.

Berbice Under-19 pacer, Suresh Dhanai, who had taken one of the two wickets to fall, continued the demolition by picking up four more consecutively to reduce them further to 26-6. Keon Sinclair offered some resistance, but Dhanai added two more wickets, and together with offspinner, Kevin Ramdeen, picking up the last two, Rose Hall Town folded for 80 in 24.3 overs. Sinclair topscored with 26.

Bowling for Young Warriors, Dhanai ended with splendid figures of 7-20 from

seven overs, and Ramdeen 2-11 from 5.3 overs.

When Young Warriors began their response, they found themselves 20-2, but West Indies Under-19 batsman, Shimron Hetmyer, with 32 not out and Ramdeen with 30 not out saw them through to an eight-wicket victory without any further trouble.

Over at Albion, the home team defeated Blairmont Community Centre by nine wickets.

Blairmont Community Centre, winning the toss and electing to bat, were confronted with an all-spin bowling

attack which choked off the scoring and at the same time, caused wickets to tumble, so much so that they were skittled out for just 39 in 20 overs. Doing the damage for Albion were leg-spinner Avinash Wajib with 4-6 from four overs, while Berbice Under-17 player Balcand Baldeo, bowling off-spin, ended with 3-14 and West Indies Under-19 left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie had 2-3 from three overs.

Young Warriors and Albion will clash in the final on Saturday at the Cumberland ground in Canje.

Districts 10 and 11 set for final day duke out

– record-breaking Yaw, Johnson star on penultimate day

North Georgetown (District 11) is on the verge of retaining the “Nationals” title, despite strong opposition for Upper Demerara/ Kwakwani (District 10) after the third day of the 2013 National Schools Athletics, Swimming, Cycling and Teachers Championships concluded on Thursday.

At the end of the penultimate day at the Guyana National Stadium, District 10 is leading the athletics championships with 648.5 points, while District 11 sits in second with 418.5 points with West Demerara (District Three) third with 370.5 points.

However, the athletes from District 11 have already won the swimming segment, while they sit ahead of District 10 in both the cycling and teachers events.

During Thursday’s ac-

tion, East Coast Demerara’s (District Four) Jason Yaw was the talk of the event after his recording breaking 200 metres run that ended in 22.0s.

Comeback

He also brought the crowd to their feet after collecting the baton some 20 metres behind District 11’s Arinze Chance in the Boys’ Open 4x400 metres relay, only to make a comeback run to win the event by one metre at the finish line.

Yaw’s East Coast team also broke the record in the 4x400 metres event as they clocked 3:28.2s.

North Georgetown’s Jevina Sampson sped her way to a sprint double, as well winning the Female Under-16 200 metres in 26.0s. She finished ahead of Natricia Hooper, who clocked 26.3s for second. Chelsea Calixte was third

with a time of 26.9s.

District 10’s Shannon Griffith also doubled up by winning the Female Under-20 200 metres in 26.4s, while North Georgetown’s Kevin Abbensetts also doubled in the Boys’ Under 20 200 metres in a time of 22.1s.

The Female Under-18 200 metres- in the absence of South Georgetown’s star athlete Tirana Mitchellsaw North Georgetown’s Avon Samuels surging to victory in 26.2s, finishing ahead of Kelanie Griffith who clocked 26.3s. Mearisha Carter was third in 26.9s.

Meanwhile, District 10’s Jamal Johnson made his own impact at the event by breaking his second record of the championships, this time in the Boys’ Under-16 1500 metres with a time of 4:26.5s.

Carifta 1500 metres

gold medalist Cassey George out of District 10 ran away with the Girls’ Under-16 1500 metres in a time of 5:09.7s.

Carifta 1500 metres bronze medalist Andrea Foster, who on day two broke the 800 metres record, doubled in the Girls’ Under-18 1500 metres, winning the event in a time of 5:10.3s, while Ornesto Thomas, who also broke the 800 metres record on day two, doubled in the Boys’ Under-18 1500 metres with a time of 4:25.9s.

North Georgetown put an end to day three of the championships by emphatically winning the Girls Open 4x400 metres relay in record breaking fashion, clocking a time of 4:07.9s.

“Nationals” will conclude today at the Guyana National Stadium with action set to start at 09:00 hours.

Points standing heading into final day:

Cycling:

Corentyne (District Six) - 147 points

North Georgetown (District 11) - 121 points

Upper Demerara/Kwakwani (District 10) - 110 points

New Amsterdam/Canje (District 15) - 99 points East Coast Demerara (District Four) - 92 points

Teachers: West Demerara (District Three) - 240 points East Georgetown (District 12) - 193 points

Corentyne (District Six) - 141 points

North Georgetown (District 11) - 122.5 points

Upper Demerara/Kwakwani (District 10) - 121 points

Athletics: Upper Demerara/Kwakwani (District 10) - 648.5 points

North Georgetown (District 11) - 418.5 points

West Demerara (District Three) - 370.5 points

Corentyne (District Six) - 340.5 points

New Amsterdam/Canje (District 15) - 335.5 points

Note: North Georgetown (District 11) won the swimming events on the opening day

Caribbean Motor Racing Championships…

Banks team of drivers ready for Sunday’s showdown

By Avenash Ramzan

Banks DIH Limited has injected millions of dollars into its team of drivers and riders for this weekend’s highly anticipated Caribbean Motor Racing Championship (CMRC) at the South Dakota Circuit.

High ranking officials of the beverage companyBanks Beer Brand Manager Brian Choo Hen and Outdoor Events Manager Mortimer Stewart- on Thursday morning presented sponsorship cheques to the four individuals who will be competing under its banner, when action revs off at 08:00 hours.

Under various products, the company has sponsored Group 4 driver Danny Persaud in his Mazda Miata, one of Guyana’s alltime greats Andrew King powering a Tube Frame Mazda, Group 2B driver Afraz Allie in his Starlet and Superbiker Carey Griffith with his GSXR Suzuki for

Sunday’s showdown.

The quartet said they are all confident of doing well and representing their respective brand with pride against local and foreign competitors.

They have all done extensive work on their machines over the last year with the aim of topping the competition in this the final leg of the CMRC.

The presentation of sponsorship cheques was done at the Buy Me Auto Sales on Garnett Street, where all the vehicles were showcased, displaying boldly the various products produced and distributed by Banks DIH Limited.

Choo Hen, in brief remarks, highlighted that the company has invested “millions” into the four motorracers, whom he described as “Team Guyana” and the “A Team.” He also wished the team of drivers and rider huge success on Sunday.

When action revs off at 08:00 hours on Sunday, Guyanese drivers, riders and go-karters will throw down the gauntlet to their counterparts from Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, the Cayman Islands, United States of America, Canada and Suriname in what is anticipated to be an electrifying day of daredevilry.

Jamaica’s Doug “Hollywood” Gore is expected to be the star attraction with his Audi TT, touted as the fastest car in the Caribbean at the moment. However, he will face a stiff challenge from the Guyanese trio Andrew King, Mark Vieira and Kevin Jeffrey, who will no doubt look to exploit home court advantage.

Other high profile drivers and riders slated to compete are Doug Maloney and Mark Maloney of Barbados, along with the Guyanese

Kalamadeen and Joel Neblett.

The sponsors of the CMRC are: Seaboard Marine, Banks DIH Limited, GT&T, Rent-ATent, Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, CCS, Prem’s Electrical, King’s Jewellery World, Valvoline, Nabi, Marsha Mining, John Fernandes, E.C.Vieira Investments, Mohamed Roshandin, NTN, New Thriving, Versus Auto Sales, TVG, Bounty Farm, Castrol, Hilton Quan, Trophy Stall, Readymix Concrete Limited, Extreme Motorsports, GTM, Ricks and Sari, Friendship Oxygen Limited, Automative Arts, Hand-in-Hand Insurance, Beharry Group of Companies, Kaylees Service Station and Jiffi Lubes among others.

Admission to the venue is $2,000 (adults) and $1,000 (children).

Districts 10 and 11 set for final day duke out

See story on page 22

– record-breaking Yaw, Johnson star on penultimate day

Jevina Sampson strides to a sprint double in the

200

on day three of the championships

India v West Indies, 1st ODI, Kochi…

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli continued their prolific run to set up India’s chase with effortless halfcenturies after India’s spinners, led by Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina, had taken eight wickets to bowl West Indies out for a below-par total in Kochi.

Shikhar Dhawan was caught behind off a rising Jason Holder delivery in the fourth over, but Rohit and Kohli were unfazed by the dual nature of the pitch, and kept scoring freely throughout their 133-run partnership in 21.4 overs.

It was Kohli who did the bulk of the scoring in the first 10 overs, hitting five boundaries against Rohit’s one. But as soon as Sunil Narine was introduced in the 11th over, Rohit took over the role of aggressor.

The next seven hits to the boundary came from Rohit’s bat, as he used a wide array of shots - from powerful slog-sweeps to deft late-cuts - to zoom past Kohli. During the course of his innings, he went past Misbah-ul-Haq to become the leading run-scorer in 2013, but just when a century looked certain, he pulled one straight to deep midwicket to be dismissed for 72, with his tally of international runs since October standing on 859.

West Indies had recovered from the

loss of Chris Gayle in the first over to get to 63-1 after ten overs when spin was introduced. Jadeja, who had been left out of the Tests to nurse his injured shoulder, took only four balls to make an impact. Johnson Charles, trying to whip a flighted delivery to the leg side, got a leading edge towards Jadeja, who dived full length to his left to pull off a one-handed blinder.

That the ball had stopped a touch on the batsman was an indication for MS Dhoni to introduce spin at both ends.

Raina didn’t have to wait for long either. His eighth delivery barely bounced, hitting the base of the middle stump to dismiss a well-set Marlon Samuels.

Raina added two more wicketsLendl Simmons was adjudged lbw to one which was probably spinning down the leg side while Narsingh Deonarine had himself to blame for playing across the line to a straighter one - and ended up with his best ODI figures of 101-34-3.

Darren Bravo, though, fought back with 59 off 77 deliveries. He manoeuvered the strike around in company of Simmons - adding 65 for the fourth wicket - while being severe on anything that was pitched up. Twice, he hit flighted deliveries from Jadeja into the

stands. However, he too was dismissed by one that stayed low from Mohammed Shami during the Powerplay. His dismissal signaled the end of resistance from West Indies as the rest of the batsmen could only manage 28 more runs. Jadeja finished with three wickets that also propped him up to the top of the ODI wicket-takers’ charts this year.

Spin was thought to be a factor at the start of the match because of the presence of cracks on the pitch. West Indies chose to bat, hoping to build the pressure in a format they are more comfortable with.

The change to coloured clothing was supposed to bring relief for Gayle, who had endured a difficult time in the Test series with a top score of 35. But he didn’t give himself a chance to settle.

He dabbed the second delivery of the match towards the non-striker and called straightaway for a risky single.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has dismissed Gayle four times this year already, sprinted to his right, swiveled and threw down the stumps at the nonstriker’s end, catching Gayle well short.

But as Gayle tried to make his ground, he took a tumble and injured his hamstring that is likely to keep him out for up to four weeks. (Cricinfo)

Indies innings

of wickets: 1-0 (Gayle, 0.2 ov), 2-65 (Charles, 10.4 ov), 3-77 (Samuels, 13.2 ov), 4-142 (Simmons, 27.1 ov), 5-152 (Deonarine, 31.2 ov), 6-183 (DM Bravo, 37.5 ov), 7-187 (DJ Bravo, 38.3 ov), 8-204 (Sammy, 44.1 ov), 9-206 (Narine, 45.4 ov), 10-211 (Rampaul, 48.5 ov)

Bowling: B Kumar 5-0-26-0

(1-w), JD Unadkat 6-0-39-0, Mohammed Shami 6-0-28-1 (1-w), RA Jadeja 10-0-37-3, SK Raina 10-1-34-3, R Ashwin 9.50-42-2 (4-w), RG Sharma 2-0-4-0 India innings (target: 212 runs from 50 overs) RG Sharma c Simmons b Rampaul 72 S Dhawan c †Charles b Holder 5 V Kohli c Narine b Holder 86 Yuvraj Singh not out 16 SK Raina c Holder b Narine 0 MS Dhoni*† not out 13 Extras (b-5, w-15) 20 Total (4 wickets; 35.2 overs) 212 Fall of wickets: 1-17 (Dhawan, 3.2 ov), 2-150 (Sharma, 24.6 ov), 3-192 (Kohli, 31.2 ov), 4-194 (Raina,