Guyana Times Daily

UK presses Guyana to hold Local Govt Elections

... says democratic gains under threat by delays

By Jomo Paul

Bhere in 1994. “The decision to not have Local Government Elections is a stain on Guyana’s international standing. Not only are the reasons given a clear breach of Guyana’s constitution, they are also a clear breach of the Commonwealth charter” said the British High Commissioner.

hosting of the elections.

ritish High Commissioner to Guyana Andrew Ayre has added his voice to the numerous calls for the holding of Local Government Elections here, saying that the political gains of the country as a democracy are “under threat” due to the delay in holding the poll.

Local Government Elections were last held

Speaking at a reception to celebrate the birth anniversary of Queen Elizabeth at his residence, Ayre maintained that the United Kingdom stands in solidarity with the calls by the other bodies national, regional, and international bodies for local government polls. “In years past, I have rightly reflected on the progress Guyana has made. But those democratic gains are under threat,” Ayre said. He then reiterated the call on behalf of the government of the United Kingdom for Guyana’s government to without any hindrance, issue the command for the

He said: “The UK again calls on Guyana’s government to deliver now what it is supposed to do every three years and what was in the manifesto of all three parties ahead of the 2011 elections: local elections.”

Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, who was also speaking at the event, said that the government is cognizant

of the effects of not hosting local government elections. “On the issue of Local Government Elections, I thank you for your interest, but bearing in mind the occasion this evening I would like to keep this issue local... the issue will be resolved fully” he said.

Last week, the United States of America Ambassador to Guyana Brendt Hardt made a similar call for the government to host local government elections as soon as possible. The issue of local government elections has been one of pivotal concern to many Guyanese and foreign bodies who have repeatedly urged the government to issue the order for local government elections.

Although four bills which are critical for the hosting of Local Government elec-

tions were passed in the National Assembly, only three were assented to by President Donald Ramotar. The fourth has been deemed unconstitutional by the President.

However, despite several calls from the OppositionA Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) as well as the passage of a motion in the National Assembly for local government polls to be held by August 1, Ramotar has not budged.

At a recent press conference, PPP/C General Secretary Clement Rohee said the government stands ready for the hosting of the elections. However, he opined that it is the Opposition parties that are not ready for the critical polls to take place.

Remittances dipped last year

Remittances to Guyana amounted to US$415 million ($86,506,748,733) for last year – a $54 million decline from the previous year when the figure stood at over $97.8 billion, a new report from the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a member of the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) Group has said.

The figure also represents close to 17 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Guyanese have been warned about the possible drop in remittances owing to the fallout from the non-passage of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Bill. However, remittance inflows have been unsteady over the years. In 2011, remittances amounted to US$401 million, which was an increase of 7.2 per cent over 2010.

In its report, MIF said remittances to Central America and the Caribbean increased in 2013, over the previous year while remittance flows to South America and Mexico declined, resulting in flat growth for the Region as a whole. The report, “Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean in 2013: Still Below PreCrisis Levels”, indicates that last year the Region received a total of US$61.3 billion sent by migrants to their countries of origin.

Source of income

“Remittance flows to Latin America and the Caribbean remain an important source of income for millions of poor and vulnerable families,” said MIF General Manager Nancy Lee. “Remittance recipients need more access to financial tools that will help them use remittances to save and make investments for their future in areas like education, housing, and starting and growing businesses.”

The report notes that, as this sector has evolved, there is an increasingly wide variety of services available to remittance senders, al-

lowing them to make transfers using bank accounts and debit and credit cards. However, in many countries in the Region, cash withdrawals are still the prevailing option for receiving remittances, showing that financial institutions have business opportunities to offer payment and savings products tailored to customers’ needs and preferences.

Increase in 2014 likely – MIF

Mexico remains the largest recipient of remittances in the region, with US$21.6 billion, followed by Guatemala, with US$5.1 billion. Colombia remained in third place with US$4.1 billion, El Salvador was fourth with just under US$4.0 billion, and The Dominican Republic fifth with US$3.3 billion.

The United States is the source of about threequarters of remittances to the Region, followed by

Spain. Accordingly, the recoveries of labour demand in the United States and in average wages of workers from Latin America and the Caribbean affected the growth of remittances to Central America and the Caribbean. However, reduced migration from Mexico to the United States was reflected in the drop in remittances to that country. Meanwhile, the Andean countries are still affected by unemployment in Spain, especially in the construction and services sectors, which are important sources of employment for migrants from the region.

In the years before the financial crisis of 2008-2009, remittances to the region as a whole experienced average annual growth of 17 per cent. After a record high in 2008 of US$64.9 billion, there was a sharp drop in 2009 of over 10 per cent, fol-

lowed by an increase in 2011 of six per cent, and subsequent stagnation that continued up to 2013.

The MIF estimates that remittances to the Region could increase by five to seven per cent in 2014. This estimate is based on migration and labour trends in 2013 and on expectations for stronger performance in the US and European economies in 2014, already reflected in improved employment figures in the first months of this year.

The MIF is funded by 39 donors and supports private sector-led development benefiting low-income populations and the poor – their businesses, their farms, and their households. A core MIF mission is to act as a development laboratory in order to build and support successful micro and SME business models.

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

LGBT as family

Claiming he said it as a “light hearted joke”, the Vice Chairman of the Inter-Religious Organisation (IRO), Pastor Ronald McGarrell was quoted as declaring that homosexuals and others with alternative lifestyles should live on an island by themselves so as not to “endanger the rest of society when God visits his wrath upon them”.

Even if intended as a “joke”, such a statement, in this day and age, should remind us of the folk wisdom that “all skin teeth, na joke”.

There is a substantial percentage of the “faith community” in Guyana that would agree with Pastor McGarrel. It is our belief that there must be a full and frank dialogue on the issue. A decade ago, in an attempt to deal with discrimination against what is now known as the LGBT (lesbians/gays/bisexuals/ transgenders) community, a debate was precipitated. But since then, the country has come to realise that the issue is not as cut and dried as was once accepted.

One irony was that just such an interpretation of the text that Pastor McGarrel presumably used as the source of his opinion, was used to justify the enslavement of millions of individuals who were snatched from Africa and sold into slavery in the Caribbean.

The group, Faith in America (FIA), has a contra perspective on that elaborated by Pastor McGarrel – dubbed “religionbased bigotry”. We introduce some excerpts from their statement on the issue as a starting point for the dialogue between the two sides:

“The term religion-based bigotry encompasses the attitudes of prejudice, hostility or discrimination that are falsely justified by religious teachings or belief. Religion-based bigotry is not synonymous with bigotry. It is a uniquely vile form of bigotry as the prejudice; hostility and discrimination behind the words are given a moral stamp of approval.

“Faith in America’s core message is that religious-based condemnation and rejection of LGBT people cause great harm to LGBT individuals, especially young vulnerable teens and our society. Numerous LGBT teens are suffering, debilitating depression because their families and religious institutions see them as deviants. Suicide rates amongst LGBT youth are four times higher than those of heterosexual youth. LGBT people are victims of discrimination and bigotry, which are often justified and promoted by religious teaching that says homosexuality is immoral, sinful or abominable.”

“Sexual orientation is a natural part of a human being, whether it be heterosexual, bisexual or homosexual. Studies have shown that if a person believes sexual orientation is a choice, they are 70 per cent more likely to be against LGBT equal rights.”

“Conversely, if a person believes sexual orientation is part of how you are created, they are 70 per cent more likely to be in favour of LGBT equal rights. Some religious groups believe that gay people, according to religious teachings, are committing a sin and are an abomination. They are making a conscious choice to go against God’s will or order. Therefore, children who are exposed to gay teachers or gay married couples might CHOOSE to be gay.”

“FIA holds that people must be educated on the scientific facts about sexual orientation. Homosexuality is not a deliberate choice. It is innate to some people. One’s sexual orientation is not a deliberate decision to act against God’s will. Just as religion-based bigotry underlies most anti-gay attitudes, the belief that homosexuality is a sinful choice is the cornerstone of religion-based prejudice against gay people.”

“We cannot ignore it and hope to change the attitude of someone who has been taught that homosexuality is sinful. But when we offer someone a better understanding of sexual orientation, we can affect their mindset without getting mired in a never-ending theological discussion.”

This newspaper takes the position that we are all “God’s children” and hope that all Guyanese, of whatever religious persuasion they might be, can find it their hearts to love each other as members of the same family. Living together.

Article caused severe damage to integrity of GLU

Dear Editor,

Reference is made to a recent article in another section of the press on June 5, under the headline, “President identifies leader of delunct union to sit on Service Commission”.

In paragraph thhree of that article, the Guyana

Labour Union (GLU) was identified as a defunct union.

You and the nation are aware that the GLU is the first trade union and the second largest union in Guyana, which represents efficiently, members in over 16 branches and sections including the Sea Defence workers in all

three counties. The article has caused severe damage to the integrity and character of this august body, of which the editor had promised faithfully to correct. Days have elapsed and no correction surfaced.

I am therefore demanding that a correction be

made urgently, failing which this union would be forced to take whatever action we deem necessary to protect the integrity and character of the GLU.

Awaiting your response, Carvil Duncan General Secretary, GLU

Misconceptions about the legitimacy of Police action

Dear Editor,

I was just about to write on something important when I saw a story headlined, “Ranks at Timehri in hot water”. The woman in question, armed herself with photographs and took them to the tabloid which made out her version of what took place – another sordid account of Police brutality of an “innocent” victim.

Well, come to think of it, that “Police brutality” story is furthest from the truth, which thankfully the tabloid very ably corrected. However, I must admit that in the initial stages it was hell let loose on the Police for committing such a dastardly act.

Of course that reader of the article would have swallowed the present “culture of brutality” supposedly carried out by the Police hook, line and sinker. But all of that amounted to sensationalism when the real facts of the event unfolded. So, here we are at the centre of another imaginative and novelty way to demonize the Police.

You can “cuss”, shoot, kill, rob, shoot and loot – it’s

all well and good, but when law enforcement comes to arrest you, just concoct claims. These are the things Policemen and women have to put up with on a daily basis. The point I am making is, these things are so ridiculous that they can be considered outrageous and something has to be done to stop it.

I have already outlined in a previous letter, a sure way the Police Force can put to rest claims of brutality, that is, place hidden cameras in the interrogation rooms. I would further ask that such cameras be installed on Police vehicles (dash-cams) to enhance the Police’s case of non harassment when persons are stopped or detained. It would also clear up any misconceptions as to the legitimacy of Police action. My point is those tapes can be reviewed and the lawmen’s burden of proof would have been lodged as clean, clear and above board operations.

An officer has a legitimate mandate to carry out his duty whenever and wherever he/she is called to do so without fear or favour. This is what the government

and people of this country require of them. Failing this is a dereliction of duty which is interpreted also as a failure to carry out their legal mandate. Whenever this aspect is lost sight of, then the GPF and the country on a whole is in for big trouble. It is tantamount to having a Police Force of “toothless poodles.”

After all, criminals have “rights” they are “human beings” - like they are the only human beings on the planet - worthy of all honour and respect. The Police have no right whatsoever to “speak of, far less to make an arrest”. That is a matter for the person so affected to determine. The list is endless, that is, the dos and don’ts of the Police Force.

Whenever such restrictions are foisted upon a state apparatus like law enforcement then heaven help us. We are in for the making of one big lawless country. The Police cannot be made into a toy for criminals and their associates; our society simply has no room for such outrageous nonsense. Permit me the time to ask

this question, so what has become of the “bulldogs” of yesteryear? This is in referral to the Police Force. That fearsome reputation the Police of the PNC days were known for. Then it behooves me to believe Desmond Hoyte’s statement in its entirety when his party was out of office he uttered those infamous words, “I will make this country ungovernable”. That “ungovernable” word is interpreted as a crime filled, chaotic confusion where criminals roam free, while law enforcement stand idly by as a bunch of imbeciles. A picture perfect Guyana formed and crafted by the PNC.

So let me close by saying these criminals and their innovative tactics are taking full advantage of the political climate enveloping our country. While we go about our legitimate duties, law breakers are seeking out newer ways to carry out their nefarious trade. In light of this developing trend, authorities must rise to the challenge.

Sincerely, Neil

Adams

I

am proud to invest in Guyana and in the Guyanese people

Dear Editor, I refer to an article published in another section of the press recently. There are many issues raised by the AFC and Raymond Gaskin, specifically that I have breached the conditions of the land deal and failed to create employment opportunities for the neighborhood.

First, I wish to inform my critics that the land that I purchased from NICIL was vacant for many years. On multiple occasions, the land was nationally advertised for sale, but no offer was made. In each of the advertisements, there was no mention of any specific land use.

In fact, I paid a sum of $80M, an amount that was above the going price at the time. Remember that prior to this agreement, the sale of this land was subject to two earlier bids: in 2003, the highest bid amounted to $30 million, while in 2004, the land was again tendered for bids and none was received.

So, the issue that I underpaid for the land was unfounded. It is the other way around; I actually overpaid.

Second, the issue about “Sweet Heart Deal” is not only ridiculous but ludicrous. Here is why. The fact is that I paid US$25,000 per acre for this land, while

much more desirable land at Eccles and Providence on the East Bank Demerara was being sold for a mere US$18,000 per acre, suggest that David Patterson didn’t take time to compile his data accurately. He was totally misguided.

Third, the allegation that I breached the land contract was incorrect. In order to build any type of structure including an industrial facility, one is required to file with the local NDC and Health Department (EPA). I have done so accordingly with both NDC and EPA. These agencies have conducted their own environmental studies and concluded that such facilities should not be erected.

The main reason cited was of the unnecessary noises and pollution to the nearby residential area and schools. Mr Gaskin, should I have ignored the findings of these agencies, then I would have breached the law.

Fourth, the fact that my application was denied, I followed the proper procedures by filing necessary papers for the court to consider the zoning amendments. After reasonable considerations, the court granted the zone change to residential/commercial users. So, your allegation of intentional change of land use was unfounded.

Hence, Mr Gaskin and Mr Patterson: where are your respect for the judicial process and law? In fact, as law makers, both of you should have known better.

Next, this residential/ commercial land use has resulted in employment opportunities by ten times the original estimates through the investment-spending multiplier effect. The improvement to this land, which was used initially a dumping ground before I purchased it, is clear and transparent and I am committed to create jobs and enhance the community.

Finally, the travesty of this situation is that other investors are paying keen attention to the way my current situation is being unfolded by these frivolous allegations. There are those in Guyana who are eager to see the country not prosper; as this would defy their purposes and focus which is to attack and bash the current administration.

We urge you not to use our company as a conduit for your attacks. I wish to reiterate that I am proud to invest in Guyana and in the Guyanese people.

Shareef Ahmad South American Woods Inc, Guyana

Guyana needs new revolutionary leadership

Dear Editor, Every passing day, I read the news of our leaders’ failure to compromise for the good of our nation. I read columns upon columns of bitterness and divisiveness.

I read discourses that involve ‘cuss outs’ and not based on reasoned logical debates and I read of the opinions of our older leaders who operate like only they have all the solutions for Guyana.

Guyana needs new revolutionary leadership at all levels of society. The status quo cannot remain the same. The leaders of this young

generation must start to emerge, engage and assume their rightful place atop the leadership structures in our society.

Many are cynical and frustrated at what passes for leadership today and many feel that this gloom and doom situation will not change in the foreseeable future. I have a message for them: believe in the audacity of hope!

Hope that our young generation will rise and guide this nation to a new culture of inclusiveness and cooperation and hope that this is the generation that will move Guyana into a brand new future where the possibilities and dreams of all Guyanese can be fully realised.

Faithfully,

Michael Leonard Blue CAPS

Page Foundation

Adolescent male nutrition Nutrition in adolescent girls

Adolescent boys are notorious for their appetites. Puberty, hormones, sport participation, and peer influence all contribute to the drive for increased food consumption. During the teen years, many children start eating more food away from home, and consume more and more of their meals and snacks with peers.

Adolescence is an extremely important time of growth, and risk for malnutrition is high. Reports from the United States indicate that the highest prevalence of nutritional deficiencies may occur during adolescence. Healthful foods often are replaced with junk foods, and availability of healthful options may become a concern. Ensuring that a growing boy meets his needs is essential in promoting optimal growth.

Improper nutrition may lead to:

* Osteoporosis

* Obesity

* Hyperlipidemia

pizza, burgers, and chips, and do not offer these foods too often. Teens should choose from a variety of produce, meats, dairy products, and whole grains to provide vitamin and mineral crossover.

Balance food with physical activity

Consume plenty of grain products, vegetables, and fruits

Foods that are plant based and unprocessed provide the essential vitamins, minerals, fibre, and water that a growing boy needs the most. Stock produce and wholegrain products, and have them ready to eat and in the front line of view to help assure that they are chosen first.

helpful in making the most healthful food choices. Limit availability of these foods. Maintain open discussions about limiting dietary salt and sugar when socialising with friends.

Get enough calcium and iron

Introduction to nutrition in adolescent girls

A* Sexual maturation delays

* Shorter final adult height

The following nutrition recommendations may help.

Eat a variety of foods

If the foundation of the diet is healthful and includes whole, nutritious foods, this leaves little room for sweets, treats, or even a little junk food. Make sure you do not have an unlimited rotation of

Everyone should get physical activity daily, and teens are no exception. Balancing computer, school, and homework time with physical activity that is enjoyable and possibly social is important in promoting best health, weight, and growth.

Monitor growth

A physician or paediatrician should track adolescent growth to make sure that normal periods of weight gain are followed with increases in height. This helps to assure that growth is consistent and appropriate for the teen.

Choose a diet that is low in fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol

Reducing the amount of processed foods, foods with saturated fats and trans fats, and junk food at home will help to increase the appeal of healthful food choices.

Limit sugar and salt

People are hardwired to prefer foods that are sweet and salty, and teens are no exception. This wiring is not

The adolescent’s diet needs enough calcium and iron to meet the growing body’s requirements. Adolescent diets often are lacking in calcium and iron. Choose low-fat dairy products, lean meats, beans, cereals, nuts, and fish.

Do not use supplements

Adolescents contribute heavily to the nutraceutical, vitamin, and supplement market. A diet that is well balanced requires no supplementation. If your teen is not eating a diverse, well-rounded diet, ask your health care professional about use of a multivitamin.

How parents should help

Parents should model the behaviours that teens should follow for life. By adolescence, most people have a pretty well-established diet, including what, when, how, and where they eat. Leading by example is the strongest way a parent or others can promote a healthful diet. (nutrition411.com)

dolescence is the transition period between childhood and adulthood, a window of opportunity for the improvement of nutritional status and correcting poor nutritional practices. This is about the same period puberty sets in, typically between the ages of 10 and 13 years in girls. Adolescence is characterised by the growth spurt, a period in which growth is very fast. During this time, physical changes affect the body’s nutritional needs, while changes in one’s lifestyle may affect eating habits and food choices. Adolescent nutrition is, therefore, important for supporting the physical growth of the body and for preventing future health problems. All parents should, therefore, pay particular attention to the nutritional needs of their teenagers.

Why nutrition is essential for

adolescent girls

Any nutritional deficiency experienced during this critical period of life can have an effect on the future health of the individual and their offspring. For example, failure to consume an adequate diet at this time can result in delayed sexual maturation and delayed or retarded physical growth. The rapid physical changes of adolescence have a direct influence on a person’s nutritional needs. The growth spurt that occurs in adolescence, second only

to that in the first year of life, creates increased demands for energy and nutrients. Nutritional status and physical growth are dependent on one another such that optimal nutrition is a requisite for achieving full growth potential.

Nutrition of the adolescent girl is particularly important but under-nutrition (too little food or food lacking required nutrients) in adolescents frequently goes unnoticed by their families or the young people themselves. Adolescence is a time to prepare for the nutritional demands of pregnancy and lactation that girls may experience in later life.

Under-nutrition negatively affects adolescent girls by:

* Affecting their ability to learn and work at maximum productivity

* Increasing the risk of poor obstetric outcomes for teen mothers

* Arresting the healthy development of future children

* Affecting sexual maturation and growth

* Preventing the attainment of normal bone strength and the development of healthy teeth if a youth doesn’t get enough calcium.

It is also a well established fact that children born to short, thin women are more likely themselves to be stunted and underweight (low weight for age). What is more worrying, therefore, is that the negative effects of adolescent malnutrition persist throughout a woman’s reproductive life.

Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) developed by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC) provide current quantitative estimates of nutrient intakes to be used for planning and assessing diets for healthy people, including adolescents. The important nutrients that need to increase during adolescence include protein, calcium, and iron.

Energy

Nutrition in adolescent girls

Energy needs of adolescents are influenced by activity level, basal metabolic rate, and increased requirements to support pubertal growth and development. Adolescents need additional energy for growth and activity. Adolescent girls need approximately 2200 calories each day. This is a significant increase from childhood requirements. To meet these calorie needs, adolescents should choose a variety of healthful foods, such as lean protein sources, low-fat dairy products, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. In an attempt to meet their energy needs, adolescents can fall prey to unhealthy, coercive and aggressive advertisement. They must, therefore, be well informed in the choice of healthy foods both at home and in school. (myvmc.com)

Woman found dead with head in bucket

– reputed husband in custody

By Bhisham mohamed

Amother of three was in the wee hours of Tuesday found dead with her head submerged in a bucket of water at her Friendship, East Bank Demerara home.

Twenty-five-year-old Shelly Persaud of Lot 34 Friendship, was found dead around 02:30h by her reputed husband of nine years. He was subsequently taken into Police custody to assist with the investigation.

The housewife was found in a kneeling position on the back step of her house with spots of blood around her body. While there are reports that Persaud might have committed suicide, her relatives believe that her common-law husband might have played an integral role in her death.

At the couple’s home on Tuesday afternoon, her brother, Seal Persaud related that he was at his home, which is near his sister’s, when around 02:30h he heard his brother-in-law calling out and he seemed a little distressed. Upon answering, he was told that his sister was dead.

In a state of confusion, the entire family rushed to the scene, only to see Persaud kneeling with her head in a half-filled bucket of water. He explained that his father broke down and wanted to touch his sister’s motionless body, but he warned him against doing so.

“I tell he not to touch Shelly until the Police come and investigate the matter,” Persaud added. Upon enquiring what occurred, the young man explained, his brother-in-law told him that when he woke up to use the washroom, he saw the wom-

an in a crouching position on the steps.

“He said he panic and run straight to we house and informed we.” This sequence of events was, however, questioned by Persaud’s father, Orin Morris. The grieving father who was in tears said after his wife passed away eight years ago, he took care of his children and it was hard to see his youngest daughter in that state.

Questions

He added that after questioning his oldest grandchild ( aged eight, who along with her four- and two-year-old sisters were immediately taken to a relative’s home), he was told that his sonin-law returned home on Monday evening under the influence of alcohol resulting in a heated argument between the couple. “Meh granddaughter said that during the argument, he tell Shelly to keep the children in the front room and he will stay in the other room,” Persaud’s father stated.

The suspect reportedly told the children to enjoy the night with their

mother, since it will be her last night alive. The neighbours claimed that they did not hear any strange sounds but admitted that the couple were arguing. They also revealed that the couple would have frequent arguments and fights.

One woman recalled being roused from sleep by screams and she realised that something was wrong. As she looked out, she saw Persaud’s common-law husband at the back step and he was calling out for help. Initially, he claimed that the woman might have drowned since her head was partially in a half-empty bucket of water. The prime suspect at this time is employed with the ECI Engineering Company in the said village, while the woman was a dedicated housewife. The woman’s body was taken to the Lyken Funeral Home to await a post-mortem. The Police have launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Persaud’s death.

The woman leaves to mourn her three children, father and three siblings.

GRPA distances self from McGarrell’s “gays on island” gaffe

The Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association (GRPA) on Tuesday distanced itself from the statements made by one of its board members Pastor Ronald McGarrell, to the effect that gays should reside on an island by themselves.

Executive Director of the GRPA, Patricia SheerattanBisnauth, said that McGarrell’s opinions are not those of the GRPA and he was not speaking on behalf of the organisation. She noted too that McGarrell’s utterances are in serious conflict with the core values of the GRPA.

“”McGarrell is a board member of the GRPA and has signed up, without reservation, for sexual and reproductive rights. His state-

ment is in serious conflict with the values of the organisation which is a leading provider of sexual and reproductive health in Guyana” said Bisnauth.

In a release issued to the media, the executive condemned the statement noting that on his accession to the board of directors of GRPA, McGarrell swore to uphold the rights of all persons irre-

spective of their race, creed and more importantly, sexual orientation in tandem with the values of the organisation. Action will be taken by the GRPA against the pastor for his statements.

“A precondition for persons who express interest on serving on the board or in any staff position in the organisation is to clarify that their values Vis-à-vis those of the organisation... Pastor McGarrell signed up for sexual and reproductive rights with his eyes wide open. He will need to take full responsibility for his statement from which the GRPA distances itself and will take necessary action.”

Bisnauth maintained that the GRPA continues in pursuit of its original remit, in that it supports universal access to sexual and reproductive health irrespective of gender, age and other characteristics. Bisnauth said “the vision, mission and objectives of the GRPA are grounded on the belief that each individual is entitled to be protected by human rights laws... it affirms the right and responsibility of every individual to lead sexual lives that express

love, justice, mutuality, commitment, consent and pleasure.”

GRPA further called on McGarrell and like-minded influential persons to be cognisant of the damning effects that their statements might have on the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender population.

McGarrell’s opinion was also sternly rejected and dubbed outrageous by CoChair of local gay rights advocacy group, Society against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD). In an interview aired on a local radio station recently, McGarrell, who serves as the Vice-Chariman of the InterReligious Organisation (IRO) had said that homosexuals and persons with alternative sexual preferences should be restricted to reside on an island.

He said that this should be done so that the rest of society will not be endangered on the prophesied judgement day. However, subsequent to making the statement, McGarrell told reporters that it was nothing more than a light- hearted joke and that he meant no harm.

Guyana and Suriname to participate in OIC meeting in Saudi Arabia

By Ray ChiCkRie

Guyana and Suriname, the only two South American countries that are members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), will participate in the upcoming OIC 41st Foreign Ministers Meeting (CFM) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on June 18-19.

Guyana’s Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn RodriguesBirkett will be represented at the meeting by Housing and Water Minister Irfaan Ali, who will deliver an address to the gathering on her behalf. Suriname’s Ambassador to the United Nations Henry Mac Donald will represent his country’s Foreign Minister.

A wide range of issues of interest to member states will be discussed by

the Council leading to the adoption of resolutions on various issues, including the Cause of Palestine and the Middle East; Political Affairs; 10-Year Programme of Action; Statutory, Organic and General Matters; Legal Affairs; Conditions of Muslim Minorities and Communities in non-OIC Member States; Information Affairs; Administrative and Financial Affairs; Humanitarian Affairs; Economic, Science and Technology, Cultural, Social, and Family Affairs.

Syria and Palestine will continue to dominate the agenda, but many member states want to address economic and social issues plaguing the Arab/Islamic Umma such as poverty and economic development.

Data indicate that most of the 57 Muslim-majority

member countries of the OIC are among the poorest in the world today and lag behind in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI). Only two countries in

the OIC, namely Malaysia and Turkey, spend more than one per cent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on Research and Development; the majority spend less than 0.5 per cent according to the New Straits Times of Malaysia.

This is why the OIC’s Islamic Development Bank is addressing poverty.

This has led to the creation of the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development and the adoption of the OIC’s 10-Year-Plan to address the issues of poverty, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Guyana and Saudi Arabia have recently expanded ties. The two countries will soon appoint Honorary Consuls in their respective capitals, and Saudi Arabia is sending a team of investors to explore investment opportunities in Guyana.

Woman charged for assault

Melissa Altridge of Lot 161 Campbellville Housing Scheme, Georgetown, appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry on Tuesday June 10, after she was charged for assault with intention to cause grievous bodily harm.

The charge alleged that on May 13, at the National Park, the defendant and the father of her child Brian

Rickette had a misunderstanding after which she dealt the Complainant several punches to his face and head, resulting in injuries. The matter was reported and investigations carried out, and the defendant was arrested.

The defendant was unrepresented by an attorney and pleaded not guilty. Altridge was placed on a bond to keep the peace and is to further report to the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts today for fixture.

Eyew tness

Of bedfellows...

...and politics

When a statement achieves the status of a cliche, you know what it refers to ain’t strange no more.

Think of the old saying, “Politics makes strange bedfellows”. It doesn’t matter what age you are, Dear Reader. You’ve seen what men (and women – it’s an equal opportunity area of endeavour) will do for pelf and power. Some of them will walk over their mother, much less their mother’s grave, for a few silver coins.

Look at all the flak Roopnaraine’s been taking (forget the “WPA” and their “coalition”; there ain’t no WPA, save four old men) for joining the PNC. When he’d spent two decades cussing out at them as the “party that killed Rodney”. Why else would a fella like Roopnaraine abandon all he’d fought for and jump into bed with the PNC? Excepting that he maybe feels time is running out for him to get a taste of high office?

He’s progressing well into his eighth decade and at that time of life, time moves that much faster. From a certain perspective, maybe, your Eyewitness can even understand him: always the bridesmaid and never the bride can become frustrating. But what’s upsetting most people is the way he went about building his credentials as the second fiddle to Granger.

To be blunt: he just shoved his old buddy Walter Rodney (at least his legacy) under the bus. This Rodney CoI’s been in the works since 2005. Roopnaraine was in charge of liaising with Rodney’s family to set up the Terms of Reference (ToRs). The man dragged his feet so determinedly; skid marks could be seen from space. Real reason was he didn’t want the PNC to be “embarrassed” by revelations – as they are now. Elections were due in 2006.

You’d think this proved his suitability as a “bedfellow” for Granger, no? NO. He then proceeded to sink even lower: he gave the PNC an alibi for killing Rodney. Out of the blue, at a film premiere on Rodney, he blurted out that Rodney was collecting arms and ammunition to overthrow the PNC. Well, this is treason, no? Punishable by death, no? PNC was just doing their job...man. Never mind no one else confirmed this – not even Kwayana.

So the present arrangement as wingman to Granger was brokered. His being silent when the PNC objected to the Rodney family helping with the ToRs is disingenuous. Why didn’t he object when he was the liaison seven years before?

It’s because politics makes strange bedfellows.

...and trust

The PNC used to call for “shared governance”. This was before the last elections. As soon as they realised they had a Parliamentary majority – albeit of one seat – they changed their tune. Silent most of the time since they felt power was within their reach, since the AFC became their handmaiden, when pressed on the issue they now talked about “inclusionary government”. Which is what the PPP/C had been preaching since the Herdmanson Accord and which had been implemented in Parliamentary Power sharing.

Yup! That’s how the Opposition has all those Parliamentary Sectoral Committees looking down the Government’s neck every second. But the Opposition now realises they’ve over-played their hand with the AML/CFT Bill and the Linden fiasco and are suddenly placing “shared governance” back on the table.

The PPP/C however, 20 times bitten (how many times didn’t Burnham spurn Cheddi?) are once shy. Their GS –Rohee – just reminded them that before the two parties become bedfellows in any new government, the PNC should demonstrate some trust. JUST LIKE THEY’D DEMANDED OF ROOPNARAINE!!!

Did we hear an offer of Deputy Speaker?

...and Guyana Cricket

The GCB has made common cause with the WICB to deny Guyanese Test cricket once again. Imagine, the Government took a loan of $20 million – built a stadium at Providence – and now shouldn’t insist that cricket administration becomes transparent? Go figure!!!

Completion of Hope Canal set for this month-end

By Vahnu Manikchand

After several missed deadlines, authorities are set on the aim of having the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC) Northern Relief Channel completed by the end of this month.

This is according to Agriculture Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, who told the Guyana Times that most of the work has been completed with only “small pieces” left to be done. The minister said that with the completion of the bridge, half of the work is done. On February 15 last, the Agriculture Ministry commissioned the $350-million bridge which forms part of the EDWC project.

He noted that they are currently acquiring a wrench for the Head Regulator of the eight-door sluice and as soon as they get that, it will be installed. Minister Ramsammy went on to say that 95 percent of the work on the canal has been completed with only a few minor things to be done. However, he stated that these works cannot be done until the sluice and Head Regular have been completed.

Ramsammy further told this newspaper that 85 percent of the work on the sluice is finished. Additionally, he disclosed that most of the work on the canal has been completed. The $3.6 billion EDWC Hope Canal Project is an initiative of the government to prevent excessive flooding along the EDWC, an area prone to floods particularly after heavy rainfall.

Following the 2005 floods, in 2008 excessive rainfall resulted in Regions Four and Five experiencing massive floods; as such, the Robert Persaud -lead Ministry of Agriculture, through the National Drainage and

Irrigational Authority (NDIA) commenced exploration of the Northern Relief Channel with the intention of improving the standards to withstand the intensity of hydrological disasters.

The NDIA was mandated to establish a plan to undertake the necessary hydrological and hydraulic studies and an Environmental Management Plan. CEMCO/ SRKN Engineering, in association with Mott Mc Donald was awarded the consultancy project to the value of $64 million for a 14-month period.

The contract for the construction of the Hope Canal Project was awarded to Courtney Benn Contracting Services, DIPCON Engineering and BK International. The first mentioned contractor was tasked with the construction of the eight-door sluice ,while BK International was assigned the construction of the three-gated Head Regulator.

DIPCON was awarded the contract of the overhead bridge, while the Agriculture Ministry took the responsibility of the excavation of the 10.3km long

earthen channel.

The construction began in February 2011 and was estimated to last for 18 months; however, the contractor could not have met the June 2013 deadline. Since then, there were two other deadlines last year that were not met, also as a result of the slow pace of contractors.

The last deadline in December could not have been met, since the contractor had completed only half of the work on the eight-door sluice component. The last deadline for completion was set for February last; however, that also could not have been realized, so a date was given by the Agriculture Minister for June.

The EDMC Project will allow excess water from the conservancy to be drained into the canal through a three-door sluice at that end, then run along the excavated channel into the Atlantic Ocean via the eight-door, high-discharge sluice structure. The completion of the project will see the channel joining the conservancy on its north-eastern embankment and then cut across 10.3km of the coast.

Prisoners hurt in Ruimzigt collision

At least four prisoners were injured while another man is critical following a two-vehicle collision at Ruimzigt, West Coast Demerara on Tuesday around 06:05h.

Anthony Taylor, 37, of Lot 89 First Street, South Herstelling, East Bank Demerara, was listed in stable but critical condition at the West Demerara Regional Hospital. He reportedly sustained a broken leg and head injuries.

The four prisoners were occupants of a Toyota Carina motor car with licence plates PLL 6731, driven by Taylor. According to information received, the minibus involved, bearing registration number BLL 6398, was heading to a service station in the area when the collision occurred.

At the time of the collision, the minibus was being driven by Deonand Mathura, 33, of Lot 2 First Street, Windsor Forest, WCD.

A shaken Mathura told media operatives that despite him trying to avoid a collision, he could not have prevented it since the car (which was overtaking another vehicle) was travelling at a fast pace. After the collision, the injured men were taken to the West Demerara Regional Hospital where Taylor remains a patient and the others were transported to the Georgetown Public Hospital for further medical attention.

Mathura recalled that he was on his way to the service station when he observed the motor car ‘swaying’ on the roadway heading in his direction.

Upon realising that the car was coming at a fast rate at him, he said, he stopped his bus at the corner of the public road, thinking that he was safe, but the car slammed into him. Both vehicles were severely damaged.

After the collision,

Mathura pulled himself out of the wreckage hoping that no one was seriously injured in the other vehicle. A public-spirited citizen who witnessed the accident ran to the assistance of the injured and rushed them to the West Demerara Regional Hospital.

While at the medical facility, the man explained that the Police took statements and subsequently transported him to his house to examine his bus, which had been towed there after the accident.

He was, however, asked to return to the Leonora Police Station on Friday as the Police continue their investigation.

Meanwhile, it is not clear where the prisoners, who are from the Camp Street Penitentiary, were being transported and more so, without any prison officers. Attempts to make contact with the Director of Prisons, Welton Trotz proved futile.

Canadian lawyer urges greater efficiency at Rodney CoI

By Alexis Rodney

Civil Rights lawyer

Selwyn Pieters, representing the interest of the Guyana Trades Union Congress(GTUC), says more can be done on the part of the legal counsel for the Commission set up to investigate the death of Dr Walter Rodney.

Pieters had last Thursday upbraided the legal counsel for the Rodney Commission, claiming that the steps taken to provide relevant documents to witnesses were far from efficient. The legal team comprises Attorneys Glen Hanoman, Latchmie Rahamat and Secretary Nicole Pierre.

Cut and paste

It was while retired Major General Norman Mc Lean was presenting his evidence in chief, and was being shown a document purported to be a payroll with accused murderer Gregory Smith’s name listed, that the objection was made. Mc Lean had claimed that the document could have been anything and that to him, it

seemed very much like a cut and paste text; something anybody could have done.

Hanoman, during his examination was seeking to establish that while McLean was claiming that he never knew the accused Gregory Smith, the dated payroll says otherwise. McLean was also shown an account form by the Commission’s Counsel bearing number GDF (APP 1954), indicating that the army had transferred weapons to the House of Israel, a claim made by one of the organisation’s former leaders Joseph Hamilton. McLean denied this claim, although the weapons were commonly used by the GDF.

“Maybe we should request the files from the military police or intelligence if they have the material…in respect to this matter the Walter Rodney affair….if anything the military police did to assist the Guyana Police Force, what if anything the intelligence unit did, what level of coordination there was between these units”, Pieters told the Commission. He continued “The Major

General cannot answer those questions 24 years later…he seemed to have been out of the loop for whatever reason, and what are the records that exist and I wrote to the commissioners on this point before.

In touch with army

Let them be produced”, he said, visibly upset. And although he was chastised by the Chairman Cheltenham for “lecturing the Commission”, Pieters,

while pointing out he meant no disrespect, stated that he was only “requesting documents”.

At that point Jamaican Queen’s Counsel Jacqueline Samuels- Brown informed that the legal team had indicated to her that it had been in touch with the military body. She assured Pieters and other legal representatives that the commissioners had themselves made earlier contact with the military. She said the request for certain documents had already been met. “Certain documents have been searched for and certain documents have been presented to us. So do not think that we have been derelict in our duties in that respect. Representation has been made”.

Pieters alluded to the many previous CoIs he has served on, pointing out that himself and other commissioners have been very efficient in carrying out their functions. “This is an international commission of sorts, because you have lawyers from other countries, commissioners from other countries. This commission must have before it and must put its best effort to get each and every single document for it at an appropriate time. Somebody should put the pressure on the army to get those documents before the commission”

“You can issue a summons to the army and have the Chief-of-Staff appear here, that’s what I would have done if I were sitting in the commissioners’ position”.

Samuels-Brown’s comment was later corroborated by attorney Rahamat, who informed that the GDF “has been cooperating with the Secretariat, and has been providing us with documents and we are liaising with one Mr Patrick West, who is currently serving within the army”.

Gregory Smith

A request has also been made for the army to provide information on an inquiry of Gregory Smith it carried out, soon after Dr. Rodney was killed. Pieters indicated that the institution had carried out its own internal inquiry.

Pieters further declared: “We are trying to get to the truth of the matter and every single document that exists should be here. I am prepared to excuse myself from this matter, because I am not going to be a part of a tribunal where 20 years later, my name is on the record, and people questioning why we didn’t take the due diligence to get those documents. If I were the commissioner a subpoena would have been issued”.

Hanoman then promised that every effort would be made to get the original documents from the Army’s Defence Board. When contacted on Monday, the attorney told Guyana Times that before returning McLean to the stand, an official from the Army will first rise to authenticate the original documents.

Indigenisation

Satiricus was proud. He’d just read about the latest meeting of the City Council. Rather than going on with the boring rules the British had put in place – placing issues on the table and debating and voting on them and all that rigmarole –the deputy Mayor had simply said to the person who she disagreed with: “Come talk to me outside leh I deal wid yuh!”

Now what could be more direct than that? “In fact,” Satiricus said to the fellas at the back street bar, “this is the real democracy – Direct Democracy like they used to have in the beginning in Greece.”

“Damn right!” growled Suresh. “None of this Sissy stuff with ‘Honourable this’ and ‘Honourable that’.”

“But in most other ex-colonies, the governments keep up the practices the Colonial Power had left behind,” pointed out Teacher Samad.

“And that’s because they have a colonial mentality!” exclaimed Georgie, who was visiting from America. And more importantly, buying drinks for the boys.

“Look at Singapore,” pointed out Satiricus. “Their lawyers are still running around with powdered wigs. And the Police arrest you if you drop your sweetie wrapper on the ground!” Satiricus felt a wave of deep deep pity washing over himself for Singapore.

“Thank God that is not the case in our Dear Land of Guyana,” chimed in Hari, as he dropped on the floor the empty plastic bag that had the Doritos they’d just finished. “Is real freedom we gat here in Guyana, boy!”

“Don’t they realise that those nasty conquerors couldn’t have left anything that was good for the natives?” Satiricus. “They wanted to keep us enslaved.”

“Is a good thing abee thinking fuh abee self,” agreed Cappo, who’d dropped in late. “Me use to find Parliament boring. But now dat Naga Man using words like ‘Shut-yuh-so-an-so-mouth’ is mo like abee thing.”

“Budday! It’s called ‘indigenisation’. We changing all the rules that was enslaving we mind,” chortled Suresh.

“But look how we’re going backwards,” protested Teacher Samad.

“You miss the point, Teach,” said Hari firmly. “We now free.”

Sixty-five persons were placed before the courts over the past two weeks for soliciting persons for minibuses. Out of the 65, 15 failed to appear before the magistrates’ court thus the Guyana Police Force has issued warrants for their arrest.

In a release issued by the Police on Tuesday, it added that the remaining 50 are engaging the attention of the courts.

The release also confirmed that a total of 80 persons were arrested at various minibus and car parks as they were found soliciting passengers. This was during several operations executed by the

Police in an attempt to rid the various parks of touts. Touting has been a major concern for the Guyana Police Force over the years and with a more stringent plan, it has seen some results. Quite often, the touts would harass passengers causing discomfort. They would sometimes even use force to solicit passengers and would be paid a regulated price to fill buses and hire cars.

The phenomenon is more evident in the Georgetown area, but it is now spreading rapidly to other sections of the county. The Police noted that the anti-tout operation will be continuous until there is order at the various parks.

GGMC to meet miners on gold declarations …high-level team to travel to mining districts

Government is holding fast to its suspicion that gold- hoarding may be responmsible for the low level of declarations seen for the period January to May and has taken a decision to dispatch a high- level team to visit the various mining districts to encourage miners directly to declare all production.

The total gold declaration for January to May has been given as 165,595 ounces, while some 204,970.42 ounces were declared for the corresponding period last year.

“That is a very worrying situation at this point in time. The gold price has been a little bit down, although I still think that miners are making money, they are not losing.

“I don’t think they are losing, but there has been a drastic reduction in declaration which means there seems to be a lot of hoard-

ing taking place,” Ramotar had told reporters at a press conference at State House on Saturday.

“They are probably hoarding to see if prices go up and that nature, but it is a serious issue that can have an impact on the economy,” he had also pointed out.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Natural Resources and

the Environment stated in a press release on Tuesday that Minister Robert M. Persaud; Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) Clinton Williams; and Commissioner of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission Rickford Vieira, will be spearheading the exercise to encourage miners to increase gold declarations.

“In addition to the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission and the Guyana Gold Board being urged to step up monitoring and recording of gold production and declaration, as well as, clamp down on suspected illegal gold-trading outlets, a high- level team will visit the various mining districts to encourage miners directly to declare all production,” the press release stated.

The sensitisation exercise

for miners to declare gold will commence with Baramita on Wednesday, June 18, Aranka on Saturday, June 28, Mowesi/Konawararuk on Wednesday, on July 2 and Itaballi on Saturday, July 12.

According to the press release, at a recent meeting with President Donald Ramotar, Minister Persaud

called for greater compliance and enforcement of the mining regulations with planned outreach visits as part of a wider programme by the government aimed at increasing gold declarations.

Meanwhile, President Ramotar said he was hoping that, with persuasion, miners will make their declarations to the GGB.

“The Minister [for Natural Resources and the Environment, Robert Persaud] met them last week and spoke to them about the seriousness of this, so I hope that we don’t have to use any coercion, that by persuasion they will make their declarations known,” said President Ramotar.

Meanwhile, the press release stated that Minister Persaud‘s call for increased gold declarations has been supported by the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA).

However, when contacted by Guyana Times on Tuesday, President of the GGDMA Patrick Harding was of the firm opinion that miners cannot afford to hoard gold. “They are barely breaking even,” Mr Harding said.

Guyana, St Vincent mull twinning tourism industries

As part of his commitment to have the tourism sector become the most dominant in Guyana within the next three years, Acting Tourism Minister Irfaan Ali met his Vincentian counterpart Cecil McKie on Tuesday to discuss formalising a joint initiative to market the two countries as a common tourism package.

St Vincent and the Grenadines is known for its wonderful beaches, sunshine and waters, while Guyana is a fantastic destination for ecotourists and nature lovers.

Both ministers concurred that combining the two products would make both destinations more competitive and appealing on the international market.

Towards this end, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Guyana are in the process of improving their international airports. Guyana is implementing an upgrade of its facilities, while St Vincent is completing a new international airport.

Ministers Ali and

McKie spoke of the immense potential these facilities will fulfil for the two countries. Meanwhile, in lauding Guyana’s recent success in getting Copa Airlines to launch its service here, McKie was especially delighted at the possibility of having similar arrangements with the air carrier on the completion

of St Vincent’s new airport.

President Donald Ramotar had stated earlier that he understands that the tourism sector is growing and booming, and as such, his administration will be supporting it fully by helping out in whatever way it can to minimise the challenges confronting operators.

Taushida receives $1M for cassava cultivation

Residents of Taushida, Karasabai District, Region Nine, were the recipients of a $1 million Presidential Grant to be utilised for the purpose of cassava cultivation, following a visit by Amerindian Affairs Minister Pauline Sukhai to the region over the weekend to meet and interact with residents of Karasabai, Kakshibai, Tipuru and Yurung Paru.

The Presidential Grants programme provides communities with the financial resources necessary to fund projects that are aimed at providing the required services within their communities and help to make them more economically viable.

The projects range from expansion of village farms, eco-lodges, building dams, clearing trails, providing kitchen facilities for school feeding programmes and cattle rearing.

Minister Sukhai while handing over the cheque to Toshao of Taushida, Moses

Isaacs urged the residents along with the Village Council and Toshao to utilise the money wisely, to ensure the successful implementation of the project.

Taushida has a population of 290 and has been known for being one of the communities which has been successful in executing village projects. Minister Sukhai reminded that the community must establish a proposal for the 2013 and 2014 presidential grants, which she hopes will be available.

The Presidential Grant for this year has been affected during the cuts to the Amerindian Affairs Ministry’s Capital budget of $1.5 billion by the Opposition during the 2014 National Budget. Minister Sukhai noted that she is hopeful that June 19, when Parliament meets, Government would be able to reinstate the budget cuts which have affected the Amerindian Affairs

Ministry and the development of Amerindian communities.

“This is really stalling the development of Amerindian communities which are waiting on the development fund to get on with their business of village enhancement and providing services to their people,” Minister Sukhai pointed out.

A $2.1 million, All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) and a complete radio set valued $550,000 to enhance transportation and communication were handed over to residents of Kakshibai. Minister Sukhai charged that the ATV be maintained and used for the development of the community and its residents.

Meanwhile, Tipuru, Tiger Pond and Rukumoto received 16 roles of mesh for the fencing of primary schools and farm lands in the respective communities. Sport gear was also distributed to the young people of Taushida and Kakshibai.

Vagrant freed of another’s murder

Astreet dweller was on Tuesday freed of a murder charge at the High Court after he was found not guilty by the 12-member mixed jury panel.

Forty-year-old Omesh Chaitram, called “Black Boy”, was indicted with the July 10, 2012 murder of fellow vagrant Wendell Fresco, called “Country”, in Georgetown. The trial into Fresco’s murder began last week after the jury panel was selected and the indictment was read to the accused, to which he pleaded not guilty.

The State’s case was presented by Senior State Counsel Judith GildharieMursalin who called some six witnesses to testify against Chaitram. The prosecution’s case was built on a Caution Statement given by the accused in which he admitted to stabbing Fresco.

In the statement,

Chaitram said the deceased had robbed him about six times previously and on July 9, he was lying on the pavement on Robb Street, with $800 in his pants crotch when Fresco began searching him and subsequently took the money away. He said when he asked the man what he was doing, Fresco told him to rest himself before stabbing him with a piece of steel and running away.

Chaitram continued that the following day he had gone to a drug yard on North Road, where he bought “two bags” of drug and had smoked one. The accused said he then put his knife in his waistband and left for Alexander Street where he saw “Country”. The then 38-year-old walked up to “Country”, and stabbed him before running away. He further stated that he was apprehended by the Police while he was on Cummings

Street later that day.

Chaitram told Police in his statement that “Country shoulda dead long”. The accused was represented by Attorney Raymond Ally. The state closed its case on Monday and on Tuesday, both the prosecution and defence made their closing addresses to the jury panel.

Presiding Judge, Justice Navindra Singh, subsequently summed up the evidence presented during the trial to the jury, and informed them of the law they would have to abide by when deliberating on a verdict. The panel retired to the jury room for deliberation about 11:30h and returned at 14:15h with a unanimous verdict of not guilty. The lesser count of manslaughter was not put to the panel. Chaitram was then informed by the presiding Judge that he has been freed of the offence with which he was indicted.

GECOM calls for cap on campaign financing

By Svetlana MarShall

Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM)

Chairman, Dr Steve Surujbally said there must be limits on campaign financing, lest the country runs the risk of becoming a “narco-state”.

Responding to a question posed by the Co-Chair of the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA)

Mike Mc Cormack, during a Public Local Government Forum organised by the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Dr Surujbally said campaign financing has been on the table for an extensive period.

Mc Cormack questioned whether there is an effective system in place to prevent wealthy families from buying the elections, given the new Local Government Elections System whereby individuals can contest for posts. Dr Surujbally responded that this issue was not limited to Local Government Elections but encompassed General Elections as well.

According to him, if the financing of election campaigns remain unlimited, the state can be infiltrated by drug lords or criminal elements.

Though the battle has been a rough one, Dr Surujbally stressed that a system must be institutionalised to put a brake on campaign financing. “We must, with all the wars, we must because if we don’t, the effects would be very destructive to the state,” Dr Surujbally stressed.

Regulation of political parties

In May 2013, the Organisation of American States (OAS) hosted a symposium in Barbados where 42 participants, representing electoral management bodies, governing and Opposition parties from 14 OAS member states in the Caribbean, discussed measures to strengthen the regulation of political parties and political financing in the Region. Recently, a similar meeting was held in Trinidad and Tobago.

Dr Surujbally observed, however, that despite all these efforts, the US Supreme Court ruled last month that it was unconstitutional to put a cap on overall campaign contributions.

In April, the landmark judgment was made in favour of Alabama businessman Shaun McCutcheon, who funded 16 Republicans in 2012 but was prevented

from supporting more by a US$46,200 cap on overall contributions. The argument put forward by the administration that lifting the aggregate limit would be a bigger infringement on the free speech of ordinary voters who cannot afford to influence politics in the same way was shot down.

Dr Surujbally cited this ruling made by Chief Justice John Roberts, even as he pointed that the OAS is heavily financed by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Although acknowledging the rising challenges in curbing campaign financing, the Chairman said GECOM continues to search for methodologies and criteria to put a cap on the financing of election campaigns.

OAS has embarked on a project which seeks to design a methodology to observe systems for political campaign financing as part of the Electoral Observation Missions the OAS deploys in member states. In addition, the methodology will include a gender perspective which is designed to differentiate between women and men in terms of access to political and electoral financing.

Inadequate laws

GECOM Commissioner Vincent Alexander, who formed part of the panel during Tuesday’s forum at the Pegasus Hotel, said Guyana’s law on campaign financing is “inadequate”. The weakness of the law is further compounded by breaches of the law which have been observed over the years.

“GECOM works with the law that is given to it, but we really don’t have something to work with at this point in time,” Alexander said in response to the question posed by Mc Cormack.

“I don’t think we have seen the political will at the level of the legislature to put in place laws that will

really deal with the question of control of the financing,” he added.

While the Chairman of GECOM was a member of the audience, Alexander sat alongside GECOM Chief

Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield as part of the panel which in detail explained the new components of Guyana’s Local Government System with primary focus placed on Proportional Representation and the old electoral system of First Past the Post. GCCI President Lance Hinds and immediate past President Clinton Urling were also among officials at the head table.

In April 2011, the Alliance For Change (AFC) had tabled a motion in the National Assembly to curb campaign financing; however, Government had used its majority in the House to effect changes to the motion before sending it to a Special Select Committee.

The first resolve clause in the motion in its original form read: “That this

GECOM Commissioner Vincent Alexander

National Assembly recognises that a strong democracy requires healthy political parties, resources to sustain and operate a basic party structure capable of representing people, contributing creatively to the public policy debate and contesting

elections; and that the role of money in politics undeniably influences the quality of democracy and governance.” However, the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic Government changed deleted the word “money”. In the second clause, the AFC had pushed for the Government to present to the National Assembly relevant laws and regulations pertaining to political party campaign financing and curtailing abuse of public resources by the incumbent leading up to and during elections in keeping with recommendations put forward by the Commonwealth Secretariat.

This, AFC argued, was necessary to create a level playing field for parties contesting elections in Guyana. (svetlanam@guyanatimesgy.com)

Differing reports from relatives, residents as TT Police kill cousins

Bullets flew in two separate communities on Monday, resulting in the deaths of two teenagers and the injury of one Police officer. In the case that drew the most attention, two cousins were shot dead by the Police during an alleged shootout on Monday afternoon at Superville Hill, Morvant. Hakeem, 16, and Tevin Alexander, 15, of Lezama Trace, Chinapoo Village, were taken to the Port of Spain General Hospital nursing gunshot injuries after the shootout but were pronounced dead on arrival.

Hakeem represented TT at the Carifta Games last year and Tevin was a Form Three student at Belmont Boys’ Secondary. Police said they were responding to a call about gunshots and heavily armed men in the

Henry Alexander,

area when they encountered three people, including the two youths, as they arrived at the scene. One man was armed with a shotgun while the youths had handguns,

Suriname blames

they said.

Officers said one of the men ran through a track while one of the two youths opened fire on them. The other youth also opened

fire and attempted to run through the track. The officers said they returned fire and the two youth suspects were injured. They were later taken to the hospital where they succumbed to their injuries. Two revolvers were recovered at the scene.

Police said the Alexanders were wanted for attempted murder, breaking and entering, sexual assault and larceny of a vehicle. The suspect who escaped was also wanted, Police said. In a telephone interview on Monday, however, an eyewitness disputed the Police account of what occurred. “The Police tell them to go on their knees and put their hands up. They ask them where they come from and they ain’t give them time to say nothing and they put bullets in their belly…” (Excerpt from Trinidad Guardian)

first case of chikungunya virus on St Maarten visitor

Suriname has recorded its first case of the mosquito transmitted chikungunya virus and blamed a visitor from St Maarten for introducing the virus there.

Several Caribbean countries have reported cases of chikungunya, a viral disease, carried mainly by the Aedes aegypti mosquito that causes a dengue-like sickness.

Symptoms include a sudden high fever, severe pain in the wrists, ankles or knuckles, muscle pain, headache, nau-

sea, and rash. Joint pain and stiffness are more common with chikungunya than with dengue.

The symptoms appear between four to seven days after the bite of an infected mosquito. The majority of clinical signs and symptoms last three to 10 days, but joint pain may persist longer. Severe cases requiring hospitalisation are rare.

The Trinidad-based Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) said it is working closely with the regional countries after the region recorded its first

ever case of chikungunya in December last year.

The Bureau for Public Health (BOG) said that a Paramaribo based man was found with symptoms of the illness upon his return from St Maarten. It said the 45-year-old man was diagnosed positive in May and kept for observation in a local hospital. “He has been treated and chikungunya virus has been confirmed,” BOG General Director Leslie Resida told journalists. The man has since been discharged from the hospital. (Excerpt from Caribbean360)

Chile rejects huge hydro-electric project in Patagonia

The Chilean Government has rejected what would have been the biggest energy project in the country’s history. The HidroAysen project would have seen five huge dams built on two rivers in a beautiful part of Patagonia.

“This project has many aspects that were poorly thought out,” said Energy Minister Maximo Pacheco. Environmentalists celebrated the decision, saying the project would have had a devastating impact on the area’s ecosystem.

“These giant dams would have put at risk the wilderness, traditional culture, and local tourism economy

of this remarkable region,” said Amanda Maxwell, Latin America Project Director at the Natural Resources’ Defence Council. Thousands of peo-

ple had protested against the HidroAysen project.

Environment Minister Pablo Badenier said HidroAysen had made insufficient provision for those who would

have been displaced, and the quantification of damage to the environment and wildlife were inadequate. The companies behind the proposal, Spain’s Endesa and Chile’s Colbun, can appeal against the decision before an environmental court.

“Without HidroAysen, the country is starting to turn its back on hydroelectricity – the only real remedy to the continuing dependence on fossil fuels,” said Daniel Fernandez, the CEO of HidroAysen.

He described the move as a lost opportunity for Aysen, one of the most remote and under-developed areas of the country. (BBC News)

US Supreme Court rules no special priority for Caribbean children

The United States Supreme Court has ruled that Caribbean immigrant children who lost their places in the slow-moving immigration system because they turned 21 before their parents received their immigrant visa could not be given special priority.

“Whatever Congress might have meant, it failed to speak clearly,” wrote Justice Elena Kagan for the majority in the five to four decision on Monday,

referring to the 2002 law that permits “aged-out” children to hold on to their child status, or their initial “priority date” for consideration in the immigration system, after they turn 21.

“The two faces of the statute do not easily cohere with each other,” she added in her 33-page opinion. Justice Kagan also wrote that an administrative immigration tribunal’s 2008 interpretation of the 2002 law “benefits

from administrative simplicity and fits with immigration law’s basic firstcome, first-served rule”.

By contrast, she said the solutions suggested by the immigrants who were respondents in the case “would scramble the priority order (US) Congress established, by permitting “aged-out” children to be considered ahead of other would-be immigrants on the path to citizenship. (Excerpt from Antigua Observer)

Haiti PM says Haitian Diaspora deserves greater political role in homeland

Haiti’s Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe recognised over the weekend that Haitians living abroad should be allowed to play a greater role in influencing political, social and economic developments in Haiti, as authorities seek to reverse the brain-drain for the benefit of the Caribbean country.

Lamothe, who has been advocating for members of the Diaspora’s right to vote in the next elections, underlined the crucial contribution Haitians living abroad bring to the country’s economy, but he voiced support for the lifting of a series of legal or administrative constraints and restrictions which have prevented Haitian expatriates from exercising a greater political role in their homeland.

“Haitians living in the Diaspora contribute for about US$2 billion per year to our economy and this is

very significant, and I know many Haitians value this,” Lamothe told the HaitianCaribbean News Network (HCNN).

“But we cannot act as if their money was welcome, but not their knowledge, their expertise and their will and their right to be significantly involved with the political life in their country,” explained Lamothe.

The Haitian Prime Minister said his Government is aware of the role Haitians living abroad should play in the development of the country, given their competence, their expertise and knowhow which are now at the service of foreign governments.

“We have a great role for you in the Diaspora because this is where our drained brain is and we should find a way to recover it,” Lamothe stated. “Some 8.5 of every 10 Haitian brains are in the Diaspora,” he said. (Excerpt from Caribbean News Now)

Jamaican Govt

fighting

J$8M HIV error award

The Government of Jamaica is now fighting an award of J$8 million in general damages to a woman whose world was turned upside down after being misdiagnosed while pregnant, in 2005, with having HIV.

The Government had accepted liability after Karen Reid sued and the case went to assessment of damages where the J$8 million was awarded to the 28-year-old woman who is still in need of psychiatric care to help get her over the trauma associated with the diagnosis which she lived with for two years before it was corrected.

Now, the Government is contending that the award, made in the Supreme Court by Acting Justice Audre Lindo on April 14, is too high.

“The learned judge erred in making the award of gen-

eral damages as the amount is so extremely high as to be an erroneous estimate of the damages to which the claimant is entitled,” the Attorney General noted in an appeal filed subsequently.

But on Monday, when the Jamaica Observer contacted Reid, she said the award could not be enough to compensate for her suffering.

“The J$8.5 million can’t be too much,” she said.” I suffered for eight years. My child got damaged and they don’t pay attention to it. So how that fi be too much for my suffering and my pain and my loss?” Reid said she’s trying to get proof that the medication that she was prescribed after her diagnosis caused her son to be blind in an eye, but that it has been a task getting a doctor to make the connection. (Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)

Taliban gunmen attack Karachi airport academy in second assault

Pakistan’s Taliban insurgents claimed responsibility for an attack on a security academy at Karachi’s airport on Tuesday, less than 48 hours after an all-night siege by Taliban gunmen at Pakistan’s busiest airport that killed more than 30 people.

The late Sunday assault destroyed prospects for peace talks between the

Taliban and the Government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and triggered speculation that the army might opt for an all-out offensive against militant strongholds. On Tuesday, a group of gunmen on motorbikes opened fire on an academy run by the Airports Security Force (ASF) and fled after security forces retaliated. No one was hurt, officials said.

Private US report accuses another Chinese military unit of hacking

Aprivate US cyber-security company on Monday accused a unit of China’s military of conducting far-reaching hacking operations to advance the country’s satellite and aerospace programmes.

Security company CrowdStrike said Shanghaibased unit 61486 of the People’s Liberation Army 12th bureau has attacked networks of Western government agencies and defence contractors since 2007.

CrowdStrike said the hacking targeted the US space, aerospace and communications sectors. The cyber spying targeted “popular productivity applications such as Adobe Reader and Microsoft Office to deploy custom malware through targeted email

attacks,” CrowdStrike said.

Less than three weeks ago the US Justice Department took the unprecedented step of unsealing indictments against five members of another People’s Liberation Army unit that allege they stole trade secrets.

CrowdStrike said it was publicising a report previously sent to clients to show that the issue was broader than many realise. “After the Chinese response, where they basically said this is all fabricated, we said why don’t we unleash something that’s undeniable,” said CrowdStrike co-founder Dmitri Alperovitch. He said the company had briefed US intelligence agencies before publishing its report. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Five US troops killed in Afghan friendly-fire incident

Five US servicemen were killed in southern Afghanistan in a friendly-fire air strike during a security operation, Afghan Police and the Pentagon said on Tuesday, days before a run-off round in the country’s presidential election.

The men died on Monday in Zabul province’s Arghandab district when their unit, part of the NATOled International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), clashed with insurgents.

Local Police Chief Ghulam Sakhi Roghlewanai said: “The five killed were American soldiers who just returned from an operation when they were hit.

“ISAF troops were returning to their bases after an operation when they were ambushed by the insurgents. The air strike mistakenly hit their own forces and killed the soldiers.”

A Pentagon statement said investigators were “looking into the likelihood that friendly fire was the cause. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of these fallen.”

A spokesman for the Islamist Taliban, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, said insurgents had been attacking the foreign forces when the helicopters intervened and accidentally killed their own troops. (Excerpt from Reuters)

“We accept responsibility for another successful attack against the Government,” Pakistani Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid told Reuters. “We are successfully achieving all our targets and we will go on carrying on many more such attacks.”

Ten militants disguised as security force members and armed with rocket-propelled grenades broke into the airport in the first attack, one of the most brazen in a long-running Pakistani Taliban insurgency. At least 34 people were killed.

Reflecting an atmosphere of nervousness, Karachi airport suspended all flights in and out of the sprawling city of 18 million for the second time in two days, although most flights were restored by 0930 GMT. Earlier on Tuesday, Pakistani fighter jets bombed Taliban positions on the Afghan border. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Around the world

Egypt’s new President Sisi vows to end sexual assaults

Egypt’s new President has ordered the Police to launch a crackdown on sexual assaults amid growing public anger. Abdul Fattah al-Sisi also called for citizens to “reinstate moral values in society” after a graphic video of sexual assault victim went viral.

Sisi’s inauguration as President on Sunday was marred by a string of sexual assaults on women in Cairo. Several men have been arrested over the attacks in Tahrir Square, where his supporters were celebrating.

A statement from President Sisi’s office said he had told the Interior Minister to ensure there is full implementation of a new law that has for the first time made sexual harassment a crime.

The law decrees that those found guilty of harassment in public or private will face up to five years in prison and a maximum fine

Suspected Nigerian militants kidnap up to 30 women

Suspected Islamist Boko Haram militants have kidnapped up to 30 women from nomadic settlements in Nigeria’s northeast, close to where the group abducted more than 200 schoolgirls, residents and Nigerian media said.

Villagers from Chibok, where the schoolgirls were grabbed in April, told Reuters on Tuesday they had met nomads fleeing last week’s raids and saying the kidnappers were demanding cattle in exchange for the women.

“One of them named Mohammed told me Boko Haram held the men at gunpoint and moved from hut to hut taking the women,” said Yahaya Musa. “The abductors told them to bring a ransom of cows,” said farmer Yakub

The Iraqi Prime Minister has called for a national state of emergency after the city of Mosul and parts of the northern province of Nineveh fell to al-Qaeda-inspired fighters.

Nouri al-Maliki said on Tuesday that he would ask Parliament to declare the emergency after the overnight takeover by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

He said: “We will not allow Mosul to be under the banner of terrorism, We call on all international organisations to support Iraq and its stance in fighting terrorism. The entire world will suffer if terrorism spreads.”

Chibok.

Police and army spokesmen said they could not confirm the accounts that women were taken on Thursday in areas outside Chibok. The Daily Trust newspaper, citing unnamed officials, said the nomadic settlements hit included Bakin Kogi, Garkin Fulani and Rigar Hardo.

Reports that kidnapping has continued, in the face of an Army offensive and an international outcry over the girls, will increase political pressure on a Government struggling to contain the fighters. President Goodluck Jonathan has accepted military and intelligence help from Washington and other powers to help find the girls. But the militants have only upped their attacks.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

of 50,000 Egyptian pounds (US$6990; £4160). Activists welcomed the law, but warned it remained to be seen whether it would be enforced by Police. Judicial sources said the arrests that took place after Sunday’s attacks were made under the new law.

The Interior Ministry said the men were aged between 15 and 49.

The incidents took place as thousands of supporters of President Sisi gathered in Tahrir Square in Cairo to celebrate his inauguration as President. The arrests came after a graphic video was posted on YouTube on Sunday showing a badly injured naked woman being dragged through a large crowd towards an ambulance. (Excerpt from BBC News)

Modi Govt asks ministers to disclose their assets within two months

The Narendra Modi Government has reiterated the code of conduct for ministers framed by the erstwhile UPA Government, instructing its ministers to disclose to the Prime Minister within two months the details of their assets, liabilities and business interests as well as those of their spouse/dependents.

The assets that a Minister would be required to declare include immovable property, shares and debentures, cash holdings and jewellery. Also, the Minister would have to sever all connections with the conduct and management of any business in which he was interested prior to his appointment as a Minister. The Minister may, however, transfer his interest in the management or both ownership of management, to any adult family member, other than his spouse, who was earlier associated with conduct, management or ownership of the said business. The assets/liabilities details would have to be furnished by the ministers by August 31 every year for the previous financial year. The code of conduct restrains ministers from buying from or selling to the Government any immovable property, or from starting or joining any business.

He stated that the Government would arm ci-

vilians who volunteered “to defend the homeland and

The Ministers are also required to uphold the impartiality of the civil services by not asking the civil servants to act in any way which conflicts with their duties and responsibilities. (Excerpt from Times of India)

defeat terrorism”. Osama al-Nujaifi, the Parliament Speaker, said Iraqi soldiers abandoned their posts in Mosul when the attack began, action he described as “a dereliction of duty”. Nujaifi said Parliament would discuss the call for a state of emergency on Thursday. Reports by AFP later on Tuesday quoted Iraqi Police sources as saying fighters had taken over areas of Kirkuk and Salaheddin province. Syrian activists meanwhile said ISIL fighters had taken over the Syrian side of al-Yaroubiya crossing, one of three crossings into Iraq. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Police arrest seven, seize 631 porn discs

Seven persons were arrested and some 631 pornographic DVDs were seized when Police, acting on a Guyana Times article, conducted a raid in the Stabroek Market area on Tuesday afternoon.

In a statement, Police said on late Tuesday afternoon ranks raided the area.

In the release, Police disclosed that five of the seven persons arrested were males with the other two being females. They were reportedly caught selling the illegal material.

This crackdown comes just three days after the Guyana Times featured an article on the ready availability of pornographic DVDS to minors and even schoolchildren in uniforms in the streets of Georgetown.

Public campaign

The Police a few years ago had announced a public campaign against the sale of such material, but that was shortlived. Street vendors have been openly displaying their DVDs and some would even approach passersby with the

lewd material.

Several parents and even social workers had made calls for the law enforcement agencies and other relevant organisations to get involved in the process of ridding the streets of the lewd materials which are mainly aimed at minors.

When Guyana Times had contacted Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee on the issue, he stated that when he received the reports, then he would forward them to the Police for them to take action. Informed that the Police are aware of the activity and questioned why they are not clamping down on it, Minister Rohee had replied: “I don’t know why they aren’t doing their job. You would have to ask the Commissioner of Police that.”

It would seem that they have been upbraided, since the Minister made his comments. The Minister has informed that the sale of pornographic material, particularly to minors, is still illegal in Guyana and persons should report it to the Police if they have knowledge of such.

CCJ upholds sentencing for Guyanese duo

The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on Monday affirmed the four-years sentences of two Guyanese who were convicted for break and enter and larceny in 2012.

The appellants – convicted felons 23-year-old Sales Representative Paul Lashley and 21-year-old technician/ gold miner John Campayne – were sentenced at they were found guilty by Chief Magistrate Priya SewnarineBeharry.

The CCJ handed down this majority verdict in the Appeal Court via video conferencing. The State was represented by Sir Fenton Ramsahoye, QC in Trinidad, and Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions, Sonia Joseph. Attorneys for the appellants were Sanjeev Datadin

and Charles Ramson Jr.

According to the decision of the CCJ, the appeal against the ruling of the Chief Magistrate was dismissed and the four-year jail terms were affirmed. Additionally, the CCJ also credited the two appellants with the four days they spent on remand.

Lashley and Campayne were jointly indicted with the offence which stated that between June 10 and 11, 2012, they broke and entered Industrial Safety Supplies Inc, in Georgetown, and stole two laptop computers, two safes along with G$380,000; 30,000 Rupees (Indian Currency); G$925,000 and US$2740, all property of Hemant Narine.

The men were charged four days after the commission of the crime and under-

went a summary trial before the then acting Chief Magistrate, who subsequently convicted them on December 28, 2012, after finding them guilty of the indictment.

Attorneys for the two men then appealed the sentences at the Court of Appeal in Guyana however on July 16, 2013, the Appeal Court dismissed the application while affirming Magistrate’s Sewnarine-Beharry’s decision. This outcome prompted the defence attorneys to move to the CCJ, where they filed an application for Special Leave to present their cases and after hearing submissions from Attorney Datadin in February when the CCJ had its first itinerant sitting in Guyana, the leave was granted the said day.

GGMC to meet miners...

The GGDMA president said there were many factors affecting declaration levels, but insisted that low production was probably the main reason. He also said that for the last six months about 300 Brazilians have left Guyana to mine grounds in Suriname. ‘We know that the Brazilians have accounted for much production of gold in this country.”

But apart from gold not being at the amount as it used to, Mr Harding said the difficulty of doing business in Guyana was one of the reasons for most Brazilians packing up and leaving.

“In Suriname you can get your mining papers in one week plus miners only

pay two percent royalty.” In Guyana, small miners have to pay 5 per cent royalty and 2 per cent tax.

Also, Harding had recently stated to Guyana Times that closure of the sub-office of the Guyana Gold Board (GGB) in Bartica could be one of the reasons for the reported drop in the declarations of gold here.

The GGB’s sub-office in Bartica was closed a couple of months ago following allegations of members tampering with gold bought from miners. It is believed that millions of dollars in diverted taxes and royalties were being lost due to the alleged scheme. The Natural Resources Ministry

EMPRETEC rolls out 2014 “Venture Out” programme

With the objective of empowering and motivating female entrepreneurs to greater success, EMPRETEC Guyana Inc, in partnership with Republic Bank Limited, on Tuesday launched its annual Venture Out! Programme

that is learned, into practice. Naturopathic practitioner and entrepreneur Dr. Barbara Peterkin, presented to the women at this event on the topic of Women in Business. She encouraged them to raise the bar in their personal endeavours and to apply them-

in the conference room of the National Library.

In her opening remarks, Karen Raphael, the Programme Manager of EMPRETEC, expressed her gratitude to have the Venture Out! Programme alive for another year. The forum allows women to meet other women in business, create business linkages and develop the confidence that allows them to venture out on their own businesses.

Women entrepreneurs Raphael stated that today more women are breaking away from the traditional gender- based specific roles and venturing into the business world and from experience, we have recognised that there is a steady increase over the years of women entrepreneurs operating at different levels in different sectors of Guyana.

Whilst this is commendable, there is still an increasing need for women entrepreneurs to become more empowered to access more opportunities and increase their economic position.

To date, approximately 500 women have benefited from the Venture Out! Programme and have significantly progressed in their businesses. Raphael promised that Venture Out! 2014 will be exciting and rewarding for this year’s participants as there is a lot in store for them.

selves in all sincerity.

Renata Chuck A Sang, manager of the Dutch Bottle Café, spoke on the challenges women face in business. Some of these challenges include gender discrimination, lack of equal opportunities and family pressure. Chuck A Sang also stated that cash management, marketing and customer loyalty, problem- solving and risk management and uncertainty are challenges that face every business whether male or female-owned and as women we must learn the skills to tackle these challeng-

to learn the art of negotiation, as the art of negotiation should be part of the mindset of any business owner. The event concluded with workshops that dealt with business assessment, self empowerment, developing an entrepreneurial spirit and a business- planning session. The Venture Out! Programme 2014 will conclude with workshops throughout Regions 3, 6, 9 and 10 from 11th June to 03rd July 2014.

has since launched an investigation into the matter.

Harding had reasoned that Bartica is the hub of mining activities and closing the suboffice posed many problems for miners, including security concerns. He added that miners may feel the need to sell their gold to the closest buyer, rather than take the risk of travelling all the way to Georgetown to declare.

It was noted too by Harding that it may be tempting for miners to sell their gold to unregistered buyers.

“The registered buyers have to pay a two per cent tax and so their buying price would be lesser so as to recover that tax,” he had said. from page 11

Representative of Republic Bank Guyana Limited, Dulce Thomas, encouraged the women to take the opportunity of this event and put all

The injured man, who was found along the East Coast Demerara Public Road in the vicinity of Ogle on Monday night, is yet to be identified.

According to a statement issued by the Police, the man, of East Indian descent, was still not identified up to late noon on Tuesday. The Police said that he was found on the Ogle Access Road with suspected stab wounds and died while receiving medical attention at

es as they appear.

To deal with these challenges, the Dutch bottle Café owner encouraged the listeners to become accustomed to multi-tasking.

Renata told the women to build their confidence in any way they can, because it is unlikely that a consumer or investor will want to put their trust and money into a business owner that is lacking confidence.

In her conclusion, ChuckA-Sang urged the women

Enhance the business Venture Out! Is an annual programme for women, which commenced in 2010 under the theme, “Empowerment through Economic Self Sufficiency”. Today, the programme has become a highly anticipated event where scores of women across Guyana participate to enhance their entrepreneurial capacities. The Venture Out! Programme has to date, targeted women in Regions 1,3,4,6,9 and 10 where, over 500 women have received training through the programme. The empowering programme is uniquely designed to enhance the business capacities of women entrepreneurs who operate small-scale businesses. The programme targets women who would like to “venture out” into their own enterprises and those who are already operating businesses, but need to take their businesses to the next level,and provides regular tools to help participants to be assertive in achieving their business goals.

The programme will also focus on what it takes to establish a potentially viable business along with the framework of how to run a business successfully.

Man killed at Ogle yet to be identified

the Georgetown Public Hospital.

“The deceased has the letters A, N, D, Y in the form of a tattoo on the fingers of his right hand and is about 5’ 6” in height, medium built and brown in complexion. He also has tattoos of the names Sheila, Falicia, Bibi and Fara, along with a cross and a rose on his chest,” the police disclosed in its statement.

On Monday evening around 20:30, the man was

in a semi-conscious state lying next to his bicycle. Guyana Times was made to understand that a small boy had seen the unidentified man along with another in the vicinity of the traffic light at Ogle, when the latter person pulled out a knife and stabbed the former.

The man then collapsed and was seen by another passerby who rushed him to the hospital, where he succumbed about an hour later while in the theatre undergoing treatment.

World Bank projects 4.4% growth for Guyana

The World Bank Group has projected a 4.4 per cent growth for Guyana this year, but forecasts lower increases of 3.5 per cent and 3.6 per cent for 2015 and 2016 respectively.

In its latest global outlook report, the Bank said growth remained broadly flat in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2013, reflecting stable or declining commodity prices, the continued slowdown in China, the drop in first quarter US GDP growth and domestic challenges.

The Bank said Regional weakness carries over from 2013, weighing on merchandise exports in a number of countries. First-quarter data for Brazil, Mexico and Peru was also weak, reflecting a variety of influences including the weather-related decline in US GDP, the Chinese slowdown, and the recent tax increase in Mexico.

Key currencies

Despite the few weak outturns in the first quarter, industrial activity in early 2014 suggests a pickup in Regional growth. Depreciations of Regional currencies in the wake of the United States announcement of tapering intentions in May 2013 have persisted in 2014, with key currencies all remaining below their April 2013 level.

Despite the mid-2013 financial volatility, gross capital flows to the Region have increased, especially into do-

mestic bond markets. While still generally low across the Region, inflation, being imported through depreciated exchange rates, has also been elevated in a handful of countries. Monetary tightening in Brazil to contain such inflationary pressures continued through the second half of 2013, and contributed to the ongoing slowdown and dampened growth in Regional trading partners. In many countries, fiscal and monetary policies remained accommodative in an effort to support growth.

However, the Wold Bank said Regional growth is expected to strengthen steadily from 1.9 per cent in 2014, to 2.9 per cent in 2015 and 3.5 per cent in 2016. “The recovery that is taking hold in advanced countries will increasingly support regional exports, as well as increase tourism receipts and remittances to the Region,” the Bank said. In addition, depreciated local currencies in much of the Region may help countries gain market share as global trade growth accelerates. Capital flows are expected to slow initially as monetary tightening in the United States continues but are expected to resume their growth in 2015/16.

These flows will fuel domestic demand, especially fixed investment across the Region. This coupled with the continued robust investment growth along the Pacific coast

of South America, will lift Regional growth in the medium term.

On the other hand, the slowdown in China and the extended decline in commodity prices will weigh on exports, export revenues and also investment to keep growth around potential. Overall, with largely closed output gaps and limited excess capacity, there is little scope for sustained accelerations in growth, without generating macroeconomic imbalances.

The outlook for the Region is subject to a number of downside risks. A sharp or disorderly slowdown in China could result in a protracted slump in commodity prices, thereby eroding Regional exports and government revenues. Investment, especially in mining industries, would fall, providing an additional drag on overall economic growth. Venezuela is currently experiencing high inflation, along with a number of other macroeconomic imbalances and microeconomic distortions, and could see investment contract and slow sharply. Argentina has an uncertain economic outlook but the recent agreements on Paris Club debt, settlement with Repsol, and efforts to strengthen national statistics introduce upside risks to the outlook.

Credit conditions

From a more stable condition, Brazil, the Region’s largest economy, with its tighter credit conditions, weakened investor confidence and microeconomic structural impediments, is expected to remain in a low but still positive growth environment in the short-run.

The baseline forecast assumes a soft slowdown in growth for these economies this year, and a gradual improvement in 2015 and 2016. Given the systemic nature of these economies in the Region, a sharper-than-expected slowdown in one or more of these three economies would have a ripple effect on growth across the Region.

“Like Father Like son” on for Saturday

The Men’s Affairs Bureau of the Labour, Human Services and Social Security Ministry will be hosting a programme on Saturday entitled, “Like Father, Like Son” in observance of Father’s Day 2014.

The event, slated to commence at 09:00h and conclude at 14:00h will be held at the Auditorium of St Stanislaus College, Brickdam, Georgetown. Administrator of the Men’s Affairs Bureau, Mr Diego Alphonso, is encouraging fathers and their sons (not confined to biological sons) to register with the Bureau for this activity. “Like Father, Like Son” caters for fathers and their sons from age five, upwards. This interactive programme will feature dramatic presentations and discussions, as well as indoor

and outdoor activities that promote bonding between fathers and their sons.

According to a release by the Ministry, facilitators for the event include Dr Kwame Gilbert, Chairman, National

Brothers attacked by Africanised bees

Two brothers were severely stung by a swarm of Africanised bees in their backyard at Old Road, Devonshire Castle, Essequibo Coast.

The siblings were reportedly weeding a plot of land on Saturday evening when they were attacked. Laurence and Adam Lall were cleaning an area for the construction of a chicken pen when the insects were disturbed.

Speaking to Guyana Times, Laurence Lall said the bees swarmed out from an old coconut tree and started to attack him and his

brother. The brothers said with much fear, hundreds of bees were chasing them, resulting in them dropping their cutlasses and running to safety.

Adam explained he ran past the house but turned back and jumped into the verandah and into the house, quickly securing the glass door behind him.

Meanwhile, Laurence ran into the house through another door and locked the windows in an attempt to keep the angry bees out. The bees remained outside of the windows and glass

door buzzing before they returned to the hive in the coconut tree.

Laurence said he was stung about 25 times about his body. Adam was stung several times about his body as well.

In an attempt to eradicate the pesky insects from the area, the brothers set the coconut tree on fire, burning thousands of bees in the process.

The brothers sought medical attention at the Suddie Public Hospital, where they were treated and sent away.

Region 10 Council concerned over unoccupied teachers’ quarters

The Region 10 Democratic Council (RDC) said it is concerned over the number of unoccupied teachers’ quarters across the region, especially in areas located along the Berbice River (Sub Region 2).

Commission for the Family; Mr Patrick Findlay, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Human Services Ministry and former Administrator of the Men’s Affairs Bureau; and Mr Timothy King of Man Tent (Guyana) and host of X1 Interface – a weekly television programme aired on the National Communications Network.

Alphonso is encouraging fathers and their sons to come out and be a part of the event, as it is empowering and a great opportunity to strengthen relationships between fathers and their sons. The event is free, however, persons are asked to pre-register with the Men’s Affairs Bureau on telephone number 226-1922 to secure their participation, as space is limited.

Currently, there are 31 vacant buildings across Region 10, according to information received at the RDC statutory meeting conducted last week. Registering his concern, Region 10 Chairman Sharma Solomon said the buildings come at a cost to the RDC, and he is more so concerned since the majority of the unoccupied buildings were set aside to house teachers. Regional Executive Officer, Yolanda Hilliman, however contended that based on inspections carried out, some of the buildings are not in proper condition for occupancy.

It was noted that areas across the region such as Ituni, Linden (Blueberry Hill, Christianburg, Retrieve), Rockstone, St. Thomas, Muritaro, Maria Henrietta and Coomacka, among several other riverain communities, all contain teachers’ quarters which are either vacant or the structures are incomplete. Solomon said the teachers’ living quarters lo-

cated at Blueberry Hill are presently in need of repair.

“I know they come at an expensive cost to the region, to maintain...are falling apart in many ways and we have to spend millions of dollars to upkeep them,” Solomon said.

Hilliman noted, however, that while the buildings situated along the Berbice River are livable, they remain vacant. The reason for this, Solomon stated, is due to the fact that there are not enough teachers who venture into these areas to work.

“The issue is that we don’t have enough teachers who are going into the river and work,”he said.

The Regional Chairman added that the administration is contemplating what to do with the buildings since, he noted, many requests were made by teachers to purchase some of them. He said, however, that the focus should be on getting teachers to occupy the buildings which are in livable condition, while the RDC will seek to have those that are not suitable for habitation, repaired.

In addition, safety concerns at the RDC building were discussed. Solomon said an assessment is currently being conducted of the building in order to secure an original plan of its structure, so that a thorough examination could be done. He said a Health and Safety Committee was recently formed to investigate the safety issues at the administrative organ and an investigation will be conducted to ascertain if the building is unsafe or unfit for staff.

It was noted that water seeps into the lower flat of the building, which resulted in the relocating of some staff. It was noted by some Councillors that the building may be sinking. Solomon noted however that no action will be taken until a full report is presented by the Health Committee.

SUDOKU

Do your best to conceal your plans. Someone is likely to take credit for your ideas if you are too open. Listen and observe, and you will discover ulterior motives.

By Bernice Bede Osol

(June 21July 22) (Jan. 20Feb. 19) (Dec. 22Jan. 19)

Join forces with someone who can help you achieve your goals. Having a partner will cut your workload in half. You will make substantial progress working as a team.

20-March 20)

Speak up, or someone will expect you to be a follower. Make it known that you intend to forge your own path. Your original approach will draw the attention of someone influential.

(March 21-April 19)

You are well-equipped to handle anything that comes your way. Communication and travel will figure prominently in your schedule. Spend your time wisely and make the most of your day.

(April 20-May 20)

Now is the time to invest, not spend. Sound economic advice will enable you to add to your finances. Put quality over quantity and avoid lavish expenditures.

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Guyana signs Host Venue Agreement for Limacol CPL matches

...Stadium preparation in top gear

By Rajiv Bisnauth

The Guyana govern-

ment signed the Host Venue Agreement (HVA) with the Limacol Caribbean Premier League (CPL), confirming Guyana’s hosting of its leg of the Limacol CPL T20 tournament, scheduled to be played at the National Stadium, Providence.

The agreement was formalised on Tuesday between the Guyana government and Limacol CPL officials in the boardroom of the Sport Ministry.

Speaking just before the official signing ceremony, Sport Minister Dr Frank Anthony said the Guyana Government is once again happy to be part of the Limacol CPL, since T20 has changed the cricket world beyond recognition.

“It’s a game that offers this form of high- intensity and great entertainment,” Dr Anthony disclosed.

The Sport Minister also mentioned that Guyana had the distinction of being the first venue to sign the Host Venue Agreement (HVA) in the inaugural tournament

last year.

Dr Anthony indicated that the National Stadium will be made available for the Guyana Amazon Warriors preparatory phase.

Top gear

Meanwhile, General Manager of the Guyana National Stadium, Anthony Xavier, disclosed that while the stadium authority is disappointed by the removal of the third Test match between the West Indies and New Zealand, preparations are moving apace for hosting the Limacol CPL matches here.

“We are in a continued state of preparedness, while we are disappointed not to have the Test match, we are fully in top gear for the Limacol CPL,” Xavier related.

The former Sport Minister further advised that a team from the Limacol CPL had conducted its mandatory venue inspection and have expressed their satisfaction.

Manager of the Guyana Amazon Warriors, Omar Khan, in his remarks said that government support is essential for the hosting of the games here, since according to him, international matches have certain standards and government plays an important role in ensuring that those standards are achieve.

The Guyana franchise, bought by the NEW GPC/

Limacol, will play three of their nine preliminary games at home, on July 17 against Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel (19:30h), July 19 against St Lucia Zouks (16:00h) and July 20

on August 2 ;Antigua Hawksbills on August 7; and St Lucia Zouks on August 10 in their final preliminary game.

This year, each franchise team consists of a squad of 19 players, comprising two pre-selected players- one West Indies Franchise Player (WIFP) and one International Franchise Player- (IFP), selected by the franchise, as well as four Under-19 players from each playing franchise.

The Warriors have retained 10 players from last year’s edition and are among the favourites to lift the title this year.

The players retained are: Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez, New Zealander Martin Guptill, Trinidadians, offspinner Sunil Narine, opening batsman Lendl Simmons and wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin, Jamaican Krishmar Santokie and Guyanese Christopher Barnwell, Steven Jacobs, Veerasammy Permaul and Trevon Griffith.

against Jamaica Tallawahs (16:00h).

Prior to the three home games, the Warriors will play Antigua Hawksbills on July 11; Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel on July 24; Barbados Tridents on July 27; Jamaica Tallawahs

Meusa, Neto win ECI Rapid chess tourney

Reigning national senior champion, Wendell Meusa, continues to dominate the local chess scene after capturing the ECI one-day Rapid last Sunday at the company’s Sports Club at Friendship, East Bank Demerara.

Meusa ended the day on six points from seven games, with his only defeat coming against former senior national champion Taffin Khan, who ended up in third after suffering defeats to Roberto Neto and Anthony Drayton to end on five points.

Drayton ended the day in second position with five and one half points. At the end of what turned out to be a competitive day of chess, the points standing read: Wendell Meusa (six points); Anthony Drayton (5.5); Taffin Khan (five); Craig Sylvester (4.5); Errol Tiwari

sition,

At the presentation cer-

New Zealander Corey Anderson has been named as the Guyana Amazon Warriors’ International Franchise Player. The allrounder, who caused a stir by hitting the fastest ODI hundred against the West Indies, has replaced compa-

International

The newcomers are Guyanese Leon Johnson, Ronsford Beaton, Robin Bacchus and Trinidad and Tobago fast-bowling allrounder, Navin Stewart, while the Under-19 players named are talented Everest Cricket Club fast bowler Kevin Paul, West Indies Under-19 opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Demerara left-arm fast bowler Daniel Basdeo and Essequibo all-rounder Kemo Paul.

The cricketing bonanza in the Caribbean will start on July 11 with international coaches managing a team of superstars as well as future stars.

The debut season of the limacol CPL T20 was a bonanza and attracted huge interest by the cricketing world. The new- born league is a replacement for the West Indies domestic T20 cup.

The tournament yet again is ready to attract people from all around the world, as the players from all over the cricketing globe are joining the teams in the Caribbean for the newest T20 league. It will be fun to watch whether the Jamaica Tallawahs can defend their title or the CPL will have a new title holder this year.

IGG track and field postponed −team shortlisted

The Inter- Guiana Games (IGG) Track and Field Championships have been postponed to August 20 after a number of deliberations by the relevant authorities.

The tri-nation games between Guyana, French Guiana and Suriname were scheduled for the first weekend in August.

However, the event was postponed due to the Police Athletic Championships being scheduled for the same weekend.

In addition, with the meet scheduled to be held in Guyana, the National Sports Commission is looking to use the Police Sports Club Ground, Eve Leary, as

the venue for the IGG track and field championships.

Meanwhile, the IGG track and field team has been shortlisted but still has not been released by the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG).

“We have picked 20-20 (Male and females) but we have to get the list down to 13-13 and since the games have been postponed ,we have some areas that we don’t have persons in such as the girls high jump, so it’s not complete as yet,” President of the AAG Aubrey Hutson noted.

The event will feature some of Guyana’s top juniors representing their country in an event to regain the title from Suriname.

Rick Ross to perform at Limacol CPL

The Biggest Party in Sport just got Bigger!

The Limacol Caribbean Premier League (CPL) has today confirmed that hip-hop superstar, Rick Ross, will headline one of the biggest concerts ever seen in St. Kitts and Nevis, during CPL Finals Week.

The multi-million selling rapper will top the bill at the concert, to be held at Warner Park Football Stadium on Friday August 15th, the night before the CPL final. The Miami rapper will bring yet more international star quality to the high- octane cricket tournament, which boasts some of the most exciting players on the planet, as well as Hollywood shareholders, Mark Wahlberg and Gerard Butler.

“Rozay” has scored five Number 1 albums in the US and collaborated with the likes of Jay Z, Kanye West and Drake, and fans will be hoping to see him perform some of his biggest hits, including The Boss, Aston Martin Music, and Nobody, from his latest album, Mastermind.

The concert will undoubtedly add spice to what already

promises to be a thrilling Finals Week in St. Kitts, ensuring that

the CPL lives up to its reputation as the Biggest Party in Sport. Fans will also be treated to Beefy’s Bash, an all-star charity match featuring Sir Ian Botham, Brian Lara and Piers Morgan, as well as two semi-final showdowns during the week, as well as the main event, the final of the Limacol CPL 2014, on Saturday 16th August.

Damien O’Donohoe, CEO of Limacol CPL, said:

“The fact that CPL can attract one of the biggest names in music proves how special and unique the competition really is – there’s no other cricket tournament in the world that could have pulled this off. This is brilliant news for St. Kitts and Nevis and the entire Region, and the whole CPL team is thrilled with this fantastic addition to Finals Week.”

The CPL, which thrilled sellout crowds across the Caribbean in 2013, is once again looking to excite fans with high- intensity T20 cricket in an even bigger and better tournament in 2014. The tournament will feature the big -

gest names in Caribbean cricket, including Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine and Kieron Pollard, as well as global stars Kevin Pietersen, Saeed Ajmal and Corey Anderson. Grenada, known for its vibrant culture

and hospitality, will serve as the opening venue to showcase the Region’s most exciting domestic Twenty20 tournament. CPL II will take place from 11th July to 16th August of 2014.

NBS 40-over cricket in Berbice

The 2014 New Building Society Second Division 40-over Cricket Competition continued recently in Berbice with some outstanding performances.

Summarized scores: Kendall’s Union beat Fyrish Strikers by five runs. Kendall’s Union batted first and scored 220 in 32.2 overs with Baichan Mahadeo scoring 60. For Fyrish strikers Devendra Persaud took 2-60 60. Fyrish Strikers in reply made 215 in 33 overs with Joseph Kamaludin 112, Jason Persaud 28. For Kendall’s Union Christopher Yadram took 6-30 and Ravin Seecharran 4-33.

Betsy Ground Triple Star beat Rose Hall Community Center by 163 runs. Betsy Ground Triple Star batted first and scored 246 in 35 overs with Samuel Sanicharra top scoring with 66. He was supported by Deonarine Sobhai with 40 and Ryan Ramoutar 26. Rocky Bipat took 2-28 and Keon Isaacs 2-35 for Rose Hall Community Center who in reply were bundled out for 83 in 20.1 overs with Lakeram Jugisteer 5-30 and Ryan Ramoutar 3-31.

GBL beat Young and Restless by two wickets.

Y&R scored 194 in 35.3 overs with Sunil Sookdeo scoring 79. For GBL, Collis Greaves took 3-30 and Imran Hussain 3-40. GBL in reply made 199-8 in 38.4 overs with Doodnauth Arjune 62, Devanand Cyril 28 and Anthony Arjune 27. Vishal Mohabir took 3-44, Ramesh Rameshant 2-40 and Dinesh Gopal 2-45 for Y&R.

Jai Hind beat Fyrish Road by five wickets. Fyrish Road made

184-8 in 35 overs with Khamesh Kassim 41 hitting an unbeaten 42. Ravi Mangli 3-12, Chimendar Goberdhan 2-27 and Vicky Veerasammy 2-42 were the chief destroyers for Jai Hind, who reached 185-5 in 26.2 overs with Kennedy Nandlall 69 and Nazim Bux 50 not out.

At Chesney, they beat Albion Travellers by seven wickets. Travelers made 132 in 26.4 overs with Nirvan Matadin 31. Bowling for Chesney Zafraz Khan 3-20 and David Heralall 3-27 were the best bowlers on show. Chesney h reply 136-3 in 16.1 overs with Shastri Persaud 51 not out, and Imran Khan hitting 43.

Belvedere United beat Toopoo Rising Star by 46 runs. Belvedere United 168 in 38.3 overs with Totaram Khemraj 42, Mankarran Singh 35 and Davindra Harrichand 26. Sunil Sanichar 4-30 was the best bowler for Toopoo Rising Star, who in reply made 122 in 26 overs with Majeed Khan Mohamed top scored with 51. Bisham Narine and Dev Latchman claimed three wickets apiece.

Chesney Riders beat Sand Reef by seven wickets. Sand Reef made a paltry 68 in 22 overs with Levi Thomas 4-20, Elroy Henry 3-13 and Joel Johnson 2-15 were the main destroyers. Chesney Riders, then raced to 69- 3 in 10 overs.

Belvedere Battle Steel beat Rose Hall Town Guns and Cannons by 17 runs. Belvedere Battle Steel scored 139 in 26 overs with Sudesh Veerapen made 47.

In reply Rose Hall Town Guns and Cannons made 122 in 23.4 overs with Narinedat Narinesammy scoring 38. Michael Ismail 3-12, Michael Subadar 2-17 and Sudesh Veerapen 2-20 were the demolishers

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Two deliveries later, Kirk Edwards poked tentatively off the back foot and edged an offbreak to first slip. In the next over, Darren Bravo chipped a half-volley straight back to Sodhi. West Indies had slipped to 61 for 3 in 11 balls.

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The pitch at Sabina Park did not behave too differently on the third day. The pace, turn and bounce on offer was not significantly more than when New Zealand had batted in their first innings. The West Indian batsmen were woeful, and Tim Southee and debutant offspinner Mark Craig exploited their loose techniques and lazy footwork to secure a 246-run lead. Brendon McCullum, however, chose to bat again and set the home side a large target on a surface that could deteriorate on the fourth and fifth days.

New Zealand inflicted the worst of the damage in two overs, on either side of lunch. Craig struck twice in three balls to raze the foundation built by a watchful opening partnership, and Southee also took two in three deliveries - ending Chris Gayle’s half-century - to reduce West Indies to 104 for 5 in the second session. It was left to Shivnarine Chanderpaul to whittle at the inevitable deficit and he played his shots, and gave the tailenders opportunities to play theirs too. That approach brought West Indies some boundaries, but it also brought New Zealand wickets, and Chanderpaul was stranded on 84 when Southee ended the innings with the second new-ball to finish with figures of 16-2-919-4.

prodding from his crease without moving his feet, and several angled across the lefthander to beat the bat. Gayle was fortunate to edge only one, and that did not carry to the cordon. To his credit, he did not play too far away from his body, and after 4.5 overs of dots from Southee, Gayle got a full and straight ball that he clipped off his pads for a single.

McCullum soon brought on his spinners in tandem. Craig got the ball to spin and bounce away from the lefthanders and bowled 15 dots at Gayle, beating him on the cross-bat swipe a couple of times before getting pulled for four. Sodhi’s lengths were erratic; Gayle cut hard when it was short and drove straight when the bowler overcompensated.

The slump began after West Indies had reached 60. Powell prodded forward against Craig but played the wrong line, anticipating turn away from him. The ball slid on and hit him plumb in front.

Southee had better luck after lunch. All morning he had gone past Gayle’s outside edge, and early in the second session he produced a delivery identical to many he had previously beaten the batsman with. This time Gayle nicked it, and his first dig in his 100th Test ended on 64. Southee then produced a big inswinger that Marlon Samuels was hopelessly late on to be lbw for a two-ball duck.

Chanderpaul’s unorthodox technique worked for him on this surface and he initially attacked the spinners with slog-sweeps and lofts over the leg side. Denesh Ramdin cut and swept, and wasn’t shy to drive despite the ball not coming on to the bat. They had put on a partnership of 72, repairing some of the damage, when Southee gave New Zealand more joy in the final over before tea by strangling Ramdin down the legside with a slower ball. West Indies were 133 away from making New Zealand bat again, and Chanderpaul only had the tail for company. (Cricinfo)

7111/622-7097.

Stumps third day West Indies 1st innings CH Gayle c †Watling b Southee 64

KOA Powell lbw b Craig 28

KA Edwards c Taylor b Craig 0 DM Bravo c & b Sodhi 0

KS Williamson b Roach 2

The visitors’ second innings got off to a poor start when Peter Fulton nicked an outswinger from Jerome Taylor to depart for a duck, his second failure of the Test. Run scoring was slow once again, as Taylor and Kemar Roach bowled accurate spells, moving the new ball at pace. Kane Williamson thought he had off stump covered when he shouldered arms to a Roach delivery, but he did not. He had been bowled not offering a shot in the first innings too, to Sulieman Benn. New Zealand were 7 for 2, and though the day’s last half hour might not have indicated it -nightwatchman Ish Sodhi and Tom Latham were battling for survival - they were well ahead in the Test.

At the crux of New Zealand’s dominance was Southee, who bowled a faultless opening spell in which he sent down 29 dots out of 30 balls to Gayle. Most of those deliveries pitched around off, on a length that had Gayle

S Chanderpaul not out 84 MN Samuels lbw b Southee 0 D Ramdin*† c †Watling b Southee 39

KAJ Roach c Fulton b Craig 4

JE Taylor c McCullum b Boult 7 SJ Benn b Craig 17

S Shillingford c †Watling b Southee 14

Extras (lb 2, w 1, nb 2) 5

Total (all out; 81.2 overs) 262 (3.22 runs per over)

Fall of wickets 1-60 (Powell, 27.1 ov), 2-60 (Edwards, 27.3 ov), 3-61 (Bravo, 28.5 ov), 4-104 (Gayle, 40.2 ov), 5-104 (Samuels, 40.4 ov), 6-176 (Ramdin, 62.4 ov), 7-185 (Roach, 65.5 ov), 8-194 (Taylor, 68.5 ov), 9-223 (Benn, 73.6 ov), 10262 (Shillingford, 81.2 ov)

Bowling O M R W

TA Boult 19 3 67 1

TG Southee 16.2 9 19 4

MD Craig 24 3 91 4

JDS Neesham 6 1 14 0

IS Sodhi 16 1 69 New Zealand 2nd innings

PG Fulton c †Ramdin b Taylor 0 TWM Latham not out 8

Hundreds participate in Region Two DOI

They came in the hundreds-athletes, officials, supporters, government ministers and officials and regional officers. They came from all over the region to participate in the Day of Interaction organised by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and the National Sports Commission.

The activity, which started at 09:00h, was held at the Anna Regina Community Centre on Sunday last.

An hour later, the athletes and officials assembled and were addressed by Regional Vice-Chairman Vishnu Somaru; Regional Chairman Parmanand Persaud; Director of Sport Neil Kumar; Minister within the Ministry of Agriculture Alli Baksh; and Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr Frank

Anthony.

All the officials were appreciative of the large turnout and were common in their praise for a job well done. Ninety teams from 22 communities across the region participated in the day’s activities, which included male and female football, softball cricket, volleyball, dominoes and table tennis.

Days before the activity, it rained heavily and the possibility of the event being postponed was on the cards. However, on Sunday, as the crowd grew bigger, the threatening weather gradually disappeared and the venue was blessed with bright sunshine. Hence, there were no interruptions and the day’s proceedings flowed smoothly.

A release from the National Sports Commission read: “The Day

of Interaction is achieving its objective of bringing people together through sport and the Minister Dr Frank Anthony was happy that the Regional Administration saw the wisdom in organising the event as part of the Independence celebrations.”

Dr Anthony took the opportunity to encourage the region to send two representatives to the Sports Management workshop scheduled for June 18-20 at the National Resource Centre. The Minister also advised the region to submit names of sports personalities to be selected for awards at the annual National Sports Awards ceremony.

Meanwhile, Tapakuma defeated Charity Secondary in the final of the female two-over cricket competition, which also attracted participation from Capoey

Scorers and Charity Sports Club.

The male cricket competition was contested by 25 teams, namely Sea Defence, Essequibo Technical Institute, NOC Sports Clubs, Charity Secondary, Walton Hall, Dartmouth, Henrietta, Mainstay, Reliance, Bush Lot, Richmond, Tapakuma, Cullen, Affiance, Golden Fleece, Johanna Cecelia, Fairfield, Pomona Secondary, Charity Secondary, Aurora, Adventure, Sparta, Pomeroon, Sparta ‘B’ and Better Success.

The qualifying matches for the final saw Pomeroon losing to Golden Fleece and Walton Hall defeating Better Success. In the final, Golden Fleece won against Walton Hall, Golden Fleece made 17-1 from their allocation of two overs, while

Walton Hall replied with 10-0.

Volleyball action was hot all day with 14 male teams and three on the distaff side. Charity Sports Club took home the gold in the female competition over Charity Secondary School, while the male team from Mainstay won against Aurora in the final. The winning teams received volleyballs and nets along with their trophies.

In the small goal sevena-side male football tournament there were 10 teams. NOC and Aurora started the competition quite nicely, scoring a goal in the last minute of play. The remaining matches were determined by penalty kicks. In the final, the GDF team was very aggressive against Charity, winning 1-0.

The discipline of table tennis had 22 participants

from across the region. The matches were very exciting and they were some close encounters. Nathan Persaud emerged as the overall champion.

Six teams participated in the domino competitionGDF, Charity, Bush Lot, Sea Defense, Capoey and Reliance. The three teams which went into the finals were Reliance, Charity and GDF. GDF won with majority points, while Reliance was second and Charity third. Each team got a box of dominoes and the top two teams got trophies.

Meanwhile, representatives of Charity and Anna Regina Secondary Schools were given circle tennis racquets to develop the games at their schools. Approximately 800 persons participated in the day’s activities.

B

The Enterprise Busta Sports Club (EBSC)organised, Bustasponsored 20/20 cricket competition for teams on the East Coast of Demerara is now a three-way fight among Ogle, Fairfield and Enterprise ‘A’ after all three teams recorded wins in the latest round of matches last weekend.

Four games were played with Enmore beating Enterprise ‘B’ by 93 runs; Ogle defeating Enmore by six wickets; Fairfield prevailing over Lusignan by 11 runs and Enterprise ‘A’ cruising past Strathavon by 10 wickets.

There were several outstanding individual batting performances with Lusignan’s Krishna Deosaran slamming a robust 80 in a losing cause; Bheemraj Ramkellawan hitting 61 and 37 for Enmore; fellow team-mate Rudolph Singh scoring 57; and first-class opener Rajendra Chandrika strok-

ing a solid 51 not out. Among the top bowlers were Nandram Ganesh, Amir Khan, Steve Ramdass, M. Shaw, Zaheer Mohamed and Rajendra Chandrika, all of whom grabbed three-wicket hauls.

In the opening game of the weekend, which was reduced to 18 overs per innings, Enmore batted first against Enterprise ‘B’ and posted a challenging 1794 with Ramkellawan (61) and Singh (57) leading the way, as D. Persaud claimed 2-23.

Enterprise ‘B’ in reply struggled to 86 all out, being dismissed in the final over. Ganesh (3-5), Khan (3-14) and left-arm seamer Gavin Moriah (2-18) were the pick of the bowlers, while N. Ulla and R. Beepat scored 27 and 18 respectively in a losing cause.

By virtue of the victory, Enmore qualified to play Ogle in one of the quarter-final games, but suffered a six-wicket loss.

Ramkellawan and Singh were again among the runs for Enmore, scoring 37 and 28 respectively, in a total of 110-6 from the allotted 20 overs, a target which was overhauled by Ogle, who reached 111-4 in response.

Deosaran, the former national Under-19 batsman, made the highest score of the weekend, but his effort was in vain as Fairfield prevailed by 11 runs.

Fairfield, batting first, posted 138-6 with W.

Mustapha hitting 44 and R. Chatura getting 31, as Ramdass picked up 3-31.

Despite Deosaran’s brilliant 80 and 14 from Kumar Bishundial, Lusignan could muster only 1276 in a game reduced to 17 overs per innings.

In the other game,

Enterprise ‘A’ steamrolled Strathavon by 10 wickets on the back of a complete all-round effort. Mohamed claimed 3-6 and Chandrika

3-19 as Strathavon struggled to 79 all out with R. Dutchin scoring 30. Chandrika and national youth player Kamesh Yadram then made light work of the target, coasting to 80 without loss. Chandrika made 51 and Yadram 22. According to chief coordinator of the tournament, Jowharilall Jitlall, the competition will conclude this weekend, weather permitting.

He pointed out that Enterprise ‘A’ have drawn the bye to the final, which will start at 13:30h at the Enterprise Busta Sports Club ground. The other finalist will be determined when the lone semi-final is contested between Ogle and Fairfield at the same venue from 09:30h.

The champion team will pocket $50,000, while the runner-up will collect $25,000. The competition is being sponsored exclusively by Guyana Beverage Company, under its Busta soft drink brand.

SportEditor Letter to the

The President must rid Guyana of cricket cartel

Dear Editor, I have read with some interest the flood of letters and comments published over the last few days. While I hold no brief for the APNU or the Government or the 90 percent of people they represent in Guyana, permit me to make a few observations in response to some of the inaccuracies contained therein.

Having now better reviewed the Bill, in summary it is quite clear the Bill seeks to regularize the issue of phantom clubs, find ‹stolen› assets, provide economic viability to cricket in Guyana and limit government›s involvement.

Caricom Competition Commission

What however remains

controversial is how could individuals of an association, such as the GCB in Caricom be allowed to commandeer the assets its organization, and without impunity? It is understood that one of the owners of DEB is in fact a Director of the WICB!

Given that the WICB, as a privately registered company residing in Antigua, has effectively issued shares to the GCB, making the GCB part of its syndicatelike arrangement, now runs amok in Caricom through this diabolical plot of asset transfer, adding to a range of questionable dealings, it is unimaginable that the Caricom Competition Commission (CCC), based in Suriname has sat idly by, with all of its investigative

powers, without even conducting a cursory inquiry into the operational mechanisms of this anti-competitive company.

Absence of cricket

What many of the GCB and WICB lieutenants have also avoided to mention is that less international cricket has been played in Guyana ever since the current GCB executives took over the managing of cricket in Guyana a few years ago, indicative of cricket being played on the West Bank, East Bank and West Coast of Demerara and Essequibo, where the large crop of current GCB administrators represent.

Guyana last held a Test match in 2011, a remarkable achievement for per-

sons in the GCB wanting to hold power just for the sake of doing so, to derive all the economic benefit for them and develop the longer former of the game in Guyana. Regional matches, whenever they are played in Guyana suffer from record worst attendances, lowest attendances in the history of cricket in Guyana. The last 4-day game in Guyana saw no more than 100 persons attending each day. Cricket died the day the current executives set foot in the GCB.

Sketchy business deals

It is clear the vested interest of those running cricket are only in this business of running cricket to benefit a few. The Pegasus Hotel benefits from the lion share of accommodation

each time cricket is held in Guyana.

With the limited staff at the cricket board’s Headquarters in Regent Street, it is easy to conclude that multiple private contracts are handed out for such services, without public tendering and one can only assume what happens to some of the other services, such as the provision of transportation, manning of the entrances to the stadium, security, provision of meals, arranging VIP privileges, among other logistical arrangements.

Enact the Bill

From the analysis above, one can easily concluded that none of the current lieutenants of the GCB seem interested in preserv-

g uyanese backing Brazil for world c up glory

B y A ven A sh R A mz A n

Hunting a record sixth title, hosts Brazil will take on Crotia in the opening match of the 2014 World Cup finals on Thursday, and from all indications, Guyanese are throwing their support being the South American powerhouse.

The highly anticipated World Cup will kick off at 16:00h (Guyana time) with the Brazilians taking on Crotia at the Arenas Corinthians in Sao Paulo. The stadium was constructed in 2014 and has a capacity of 61,606.

Brazil and Crotia have met only twice in World Cup history, with the South American nation winning one and the other being a drawn encounter. With history and home advantage in their favour , the Brazilians will start as strong favourites to move forward in the tournament.

In fact, several persons who are close to football administration in Guyana feel the Thiago Silva-led Brazilian sidealongside Crotia, Mexico and Cameroon in Group ‘A’- has what it takes to go all the way and lift the title once again.

Overwhelming support

Ex-national coach Wayne “Wiggy” Dover believes home advantage, as well as a successful outing in the Confederations Cup 2013, which they won by beating Spain 3-0 in the final last year in Rio de Janeiro, will work in Brazil’s favour.

“I think they have a

solid team and with home advantage and the success at the Confederations Cup, I think they’re the team to beat,” he said.

Dover, who was involved as coach with the Guyana senior national team from 2004 to 2012, continued, “In the Confederation they clearly played as [a] team and I think once they continue with that same kind of attitude and togetherness, they will just have to have a bad day not to be champions of the World Cup.”

Another coach and former national player, Gordon “Ultimate Warrior” Brathwaite, said he is hoping that the host nation would make it a sixth title, especially to unite a nation that has been in turmoil over the past few months.

More than a million people have taken to the streets of major Brazilian cities to vent their anger at what they see as excessive spending on the World Cup and the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

A World Cup victory, Brathwaite believes, may help to quell the anger of the disgruntled citizens and return to the country

some semblance of normalcy.

“I like Brazil because as a South American myself I want them to win. With all that is going on in Brazil right now, the social problems and so on, I think it would be a plus for the nation if they win the World Cup,” he reasoned.

Brathwaite, a national senior player from 1977 to 1985 and qualified coach since 1976, added, “I think they have what it takes. The have a good combination of players and any group of players they put on the field is capable of holding their own.”

Troy Mendonca, a former president of the Georgetown Football Association, is also a huge Brazil fan, simply because of the distinct features of the current group of players.

“Obviously I’m backing Brazil, not just because they have home advantage, but also because they have a very balanced line-up…there is youth, skills, flair and energy,” he reckoned.

Mendonca, who is currently the co-director of Petra Organisation- a group involved in the pro -

motion of local football, further stated, “They also have some seasoned players in the top league. To be honest this is the best combination of players I’ve ever seen them put together and if they don’t win it this time, I don’t see them winning again. Most of the players in this current bunch have been on a progressive curve over the last few years.”

Charmine Wade, the Administrative Assistant to Guyana Football Federation president Christopher Matthias, said Brazil’s track record is exemplary and the time has come for the trophy to remain in the Southern American nation.

“Brazil for me is the most successful team in World Cup history, acquiring five World Cup titles. The team that has played in every World Cup; the team qualified for the last 32 without a playoff, ever, etc. With statistics like that, they have got to be the team to love,” she commented.

Wade, a former national player, added, “In 2002, I was hoarse from shouting my lungs off when they defeated Germany; in 2006 I was so disap -

pointed I had to support the team that defeated them, France. In 2010 they lost in the quarter-finals, but I think it’s time to bring it home; it’s been 12 years....Go Brazil!!! Not to mention, they are my neighbours.”

Following their opening game on Thursday, the Brazilians will take on Mexico on June 17 and

Cameroon on June 23.

The Brazil squad reads: Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Toronto FC), Jefferson (Botafogo) and Victor (Atletico Mineiro). Defenders: Marcelo (Real Madrid), Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Maicon (AS Roma), Maxwell, Thiago Silva (both Paris St Germain), David Luiz (Chelsea), Dante (Bayern Munich) and Henrique (Napoli). Midfielders: Paulinho (Tottenham Hotspur), Ramires, Willian, Oscar (all Chelsea), Hernanes (Inter Milan), Luiz Gustavo (VfL Wolfsburg) and Fernandinho (Manchester City). Forwards: Bernard (Shakhtar Donetsk), Neymar (Barcelona), Fred (Fluminense), Jo (Atletico Mineiro) and Hulk (Zenit St Petersburg)

ing cricket or developing the game but only in protecting their incestuous business deals.

The President needs to therefore urgently assent this bill into law, and carry out the statutes stipulated therein, one of which includes the joint appointment (both the minster and the WICB!) of an ombudsman to carry out the election process. Organizations and individuals who remain staunchly opposed to this process are clearly pursuing personal agendas of power and corruption. And so the President must rid guyana of the cricket cartel

Sincerely, Jewan Persaud

simmering tension could dampen world cup

Simmering civil tension and the stench of corruption threatens to sully Brazil’s global soccer party when the World Cup kicks off on Thursday against a backdrop of protests, unrest and alleged political graft. What was to be a soccer celebration is in danger of being hijacked by off-field issues as a growing furore surrounding FIFA over alleged vote-buying for the 2022 World Cup stews and anger over domestic political corruption broils throughout Brazil.

The gloom is a far cry from what was envisioned when Brazil was selected as host nation in 2007. But if any country can perform a feat of spiritual alchemy using football as its tool, Brazil can.

And for all the FIFA and protest dramas, billions of people around the world will tune in as eagerly as ever once the action begins.

The home of what Pele termed “the beautiful game” is likely to respond like few others could, if its yellow-shirted heroes can carry all before them.

A joyous festival of football would indeed be testament to the power of soccer if the sport shrugs off the unseemly smog enveloping the lead-up to this tournament.

Brazil will be confident of providing the perfect fillip when they open the World Cup with a Group A clash against Croatia in Sao Paulo on Thursday. (Reuters)