Guyana Times Daily

monday, may 5, 2014|

OAS renews calls for Guyana to pass AML/CFT Bill

As the May 29th deadline for the passage of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Amendment Bill draws near, the Organisation of American States (OAS) has issued another call for the Parliament of Guyana to approve the legislation.

The Bill is currently before the Parliamentary Special Select Committee, which is led by Government’s Chief Whip Gail Teixeira but dominated by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC).

Over the weekend, OAS General Secretary Jose Miguel Insulza underscored the importance of enacting the Bill, noting that its passage will bring Guyana on par with the standards laid out by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF).

In a press statement, the OAS General Secretary pointed out that Guyana’s Caricom partners have already adopted the required legislation in compliance with CFATF’s standards.

Any delay in the passage of the legislation would result in “unnecessary damage” to the country’s gradually growing economy. As a result, he is renewing calls for the three leading political parties in the country

to demonstrate responsible leadership by endorsing the Bill at the level of the National Assembly.

Blacklisting

Insulza offered the cooperation and support of the OAS through the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), noting that Guyana’s draft law is fully consistent with the most recent recommendations of CICAD’s expert group on money laundering, which were in turn endorsed by CICAD commissioners at their 55th Regular Session in Washington, DC this week.

Last week, Chairman of the Private Sector Commission’s Trade, Intelligence and Investment Sub-committee Ramesh Dookhoo told Guyana Times that regional and interna-

tional financial institutions have been implementing stringent systems to safeguard themselves against Guyana. Since November 2013, the private sector has been feeling the impact of the country’s blacklisting at the level of CFATF.

Dookhoo linked the non-passage of the AML/ CFT Bill to the drop in remittances. In 2013, the new current transfers decreased by 15.7 per cent to US$353.2 million due to lower receipts of workers’ remittances which declined by US$141.1 million. The AML/CFT Bill is being scrutinised and amended at the Select Committee level.

Currently, the Oppositionproposed amendments are being formatted by the Chief Parliament Counsel Cecil Dhurjon. Would the Opposition endorse the Bill when it is

placed before the House? This is the question that lingers in the minds of Guyanese. Both the APNU and the AFC have made their positions clear that they will not support the Bill in the National Assembly until the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) is functional. They are also pushing for President Donald Ramotar to assent to key Opposition bills that were passed in the National Assembly but were rejected by the President.

Based on the advice of Attorney General Anil Nandlall, President Ramotar said he would not buckle under pressure, explaining that the Opposition-initiated bills are unconstitutional.

Recently, CFATF Chairperson Allison Maynard-Gibson and Executive Director Calvin Wilson met with the Government, Opposition and private sector and indicated that Guyana will face draconian measures if it fails to pass the AML/ CFT Bill by May 29. From May 25 to 29, there will be the staging of the XXXIX CFATF Plenary Meeting in Miami before the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Plenary from June 15 to 20.

Four dead after drinking cocaine-laced tonic

– one critical, two in custody

By Bhisham mohamed

our persons are dead, including one child, and another child is battling for her life after they allegedly consumed cocainelaced tonic on Sunday morning at East La Penitence, Georgetown.

The substance was apparently destined for the United States of America.

Dead are: Simone “Ngina” Price, 36, of Lot 22 Cookrite Street, East La Penitence; her husband, Alex Blair, 42; her son Jahaquel Blair, seven; and her best friend, Natasha George, 36. Up to press time, Price’s elder son, Jamal Waterman, 12, was in critical condition at the Georgetown Public Hospital.

Guyana Times understands that two persons are in custody, assisting with investigations. The tonic has not yet been tested. According to information received, a few bottles of multivitamin tonic were given to the family by a relative to be sent overseas, but, the niece

who was supposed to take the tonic refused. She reportedly did not take the tonic, because she was heading to Pennsylvania and it had to be dropped off at a relative in Queens, New York.

The tonic was left at the home of Price. On Sunday, after the family’s return from church, they decided to open a bottle and take the specified dosage. George also took some after it was offered to her by her best friend. Immediately after taking a teaspoon of the liquid, Jahaquel cried out for abdominal pain. After a few minutes, the pain worsened, so his mother attempted to take him to the hospital, but she collapsed.

After a few more minutes, George started to froth at the mouth and also fell to the ground. During the commotion, Alex also collapsed. They were all picked up along with Waterman and rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where they were immediately attended to by doctors.

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

Arrival and entrepreneurship

Yesterday in our Sunday Magazine, we focused on the theme of “Indians and Entrepreneurship” in anticipation of today’s “Arrival Day”. At our stage of national development, 47 years after Independence, there is still a far way to go in terms of achieving economic developmental targets that would deliver a reasonable and equitable standard of living for our people. The question is how do we achieve this?

From the experience of other countries that were at our stage of development or even behind, one answer is that the entrepreneurial spirit must be fostered in our people. What this means in real terms is that our people must be trained to first identify opportunities to satisfy the wants and needs of persons, both domestically and internationally.

Then they must be willing and able to deploy the necessary resources, including – and especially – their time to transform the idea into reality. This latter phase involves the taking of risks – the venture could fail as well as possibly succeed. This goes to the heart of “entrepreneurship”.

The success of the early Indian immigrants show that once the desire to acquire wealth is present, the entrepreneurial risk taking will follow easier. We see this drive manifested in the success of West Indian immigrants from all ethnic backgrounds, in the US. But modern governments can do much to encourage entrepreneurship, some of which might not be immediately apparent.

Generally, Government’s role should be that of a facilitator. Let us take the identification of business opportunities to supply goods and services. The Government has an agency, GO-Invest, which was supposed to perform this role and also to direct potential entrepreneurs through the bureaucratic labyrinth of approvals and checks that typify most ex-colonies. While the latter has of recent been streamlined somewhat, there is still a long road to travel as far as “ease of start up” is concerned.

GO-Invest itself has not fulfilled the hype and promise with which it was launched. But entrepreneurs should never expect too much from these quarters: official identification of specific business opportunities has never had a stellar record. At most, they can identify strategic sectors that the Government wishes to develop, such as tourism or mining, for instance, and the particular regime, the Government has put in place to encourage such investment. This encouragement should always be targeted to reduce the entrepreneurial risk.

But in the end, the country will never jump into a new quantum level of prosperity until a significant number of Guyanese are willing to take the risks to become entrepreneurs – which are not just to work for a business – but to launch a business. We showed in our Magazine that many of the early Indian indentured labourers took the risks to develop the rice and cattle industries – and on the backs of this, entered retailing and manufacturing. Portuguese and Chinese immigrants had already blazed the trail in retailing.

When some say that the descendants of freed ex-slaves “do not have a head for business”, they are ignoring the historical record. One would have to examine the barriers that were placed in front of the entrepreneurial drive of those who took the risk of moving off the sugar plantations and establishing the village economy. It was also unfortunate that unlike with the Caribbean Islands, Guyana was not on the major shipping routes and the agricultural diversification into other crops such as bananas or arrowroot, was still-born,

But the Government can also do a great deal to alter the still stubbornly entrenched British “educational” system that gives more credence and rewards to, say, Spanish and Literature (English B) than the derided “vocational” subjects, that provide the foundation for entrepreneurial activity.

The entire curriculum of all secondary schools, especially the elite ones, must be altered to orient our youths towards the latter. Agricultural Science, for instance, must inspire graduates to become entrepreneurs in agriculture.

Happy Arrival Day!

Why I referred to their behaviour as cavalier and irresponsible (Part One)

Dear Editor,

I would be grateful for your indulgence in publishing this, my final letter on the budgetary challenges still currently faced by the Institute of Applied Science and Technology (IAST).

I am somewhat gratified to note that my recent letter to the daily newspapers in Guyana, highlighting the budgetary plight of the IAST and calling on the combined Opposition to suggest a responsible compromise has elicited a number of responses, especially the one from Mr Khemraj Ramjattan

Mr Ramjattan’s assurances that the combined Opposition not only considers the IAST’s mandate to be important to national development, but that the institute should continue to receive its funding, have certainly allayed any doubts I entertained about the wisdom of airing my frustration with the budgetary situation in such a direct and public fashion.

Although resort to letters to the editor is not my preferred way of dealing with issues (in the nearly eight years I have been the director of the IAST, I have written four or less letters to the editor, and then, only to directly respond to letters directed at my person or the institute), in this case, the approach procured a commitment from Mr

Ramjattan on behalf of the combined Opposition to expeditiously approve IAST’s budget (and those of a number of other agencies similarly affected) in supplementary appropriation requests.

I have no reason to doubt Mr Ramjattan’s word and so intend to hold him and the combined Opposition to this commitment.

I believe I have the right, as does any other citizen of this country, to question and challenge the Government or Opposition on matters which affect me or the general public I also believe I have an obligation to do so objectively and politely.

This is exactly what I attempted to do in my first letter and also the approach I am attempting to take in this letter. In the polarised political climate of this country, too few members of civic society feel comfortable in airing their views, exactly because of the kinds of online and printed comments that my letter also elicited – but more on this below.

My call to the combined Opposition to demonstrate responsible behaviour in this matter stemmed from the knowledge that this year’s budget was presented in exactly the same format as the budget has always been presented by Finance Ministers to the National Assembly. There were

no changes made to the budgetary format.

Given the ruling by the Chief Justice, I also understand that the combined Opposition’s intentions to cut the budgets of various agencies that it finds problematic would require negotiation, compromise, ingenuity and mature, responsible behaviour to extract the modifications it wished to see without the “collateral damage” that has so frustrated myself and the heads of similarly affected agencies.

We have collectively as a country entrusted the Opposition with a majority in Parliament not because we wish to see it reduce multiple functioning and crucial state agencies to a standstill, but to ensure the Government is responsible with taxpayers’ revenue, enlightened and consultative with its approach to public policy and efficient with its administration of expenditure.

I was careful to endorse and encourage this role for the combined Opposition in my previous letter and I reiterate my support for this role now, with no ambiguity. I understand this role is difficult, but it is a role and mandate which our Opposition political members sought from us as an electorate.

It is also a role in which we afford them respect (I can certainly attest that I personally treat eve-

ry elected member to the National Assembly with the deference and respect their office demands) and for which our national coffers compensate them at levels well above the average compensation of a professional, including handsome pensions and duty-free benefits. In other words, they signed up for this job and accepted its rewards and I believe the majority of them expect to be held accountable for doing it well. Therefore, for whatever reasons, and Mr Ramjattan proffered a number to which I think the responsibility for addressing lies with the Government, they failed to safeguard the welfare of a vast number of functioning and important state agencies as a result of targeting a few, they owe the nation an explanation of why and suggestion on how the untenable situation created can be expeditiously returned to normal.

Other than to flippantly refer to the collateral damage caused, before my letter and Mr Ramjattan’s response, the combined Opposition had offered no resort for the afflicted agencies, and this is exactly why I referred to their behaviour as cavalier and irresponsible.

Yours sincerely, Suresh Narine Director, IAST

You can send your letters with pictures to: Guyana Times, 238 Camp & Quamina Streets, Georgetown, Guyana or letters@guyanatimesgy.com

India completes seventh round of voting

Dear Editor,

Out of more than 138 million voters, across seven states and two union territories, between 57 and 82 per cent cast ballots for the 89 seats up for grabs on April 30 for India’s Lok Sabha elections.

Punjab recorded a turnout of 73 per cent, West Bengal saw 81.35 per cent in nine constituencies, Gujarat witnessed a 62 per cent turnout, a quantum jump from 48 per cent in the last Lok Sabha polls but not significantly higher than the 2013 state election's.

Vadodara constituency where BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi contested the LS poll for the first time, saw a turnout of 70 per cent. An estimated 70 per cent of the voters exercised their franchise in the newlycreated Telangana state to elect its 119 representatives to the proposed State’s first assembly and 17 representatives to Lok Sabha.

Polling in seven constituencies in Bihar, where some Indo-Guyanese trace their roots (as well as Trinidad’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-

Bissessar) saw a turnout of 60 per cent.

Uttar Pradesh (where most IndoGuyanese trace their ancestry) saw a turnout of 57.10 per cent in 14 constituencies where SP, BSP, Congress and BJP are locked in a bitter battle to establish supremacy. Congress, which had done quite well in this region the last election, may find the going tough this time.

The fate of some of the top guns including Sonia Gandhi of the Congress and BJP leaders like Narendra Modi, LK Advani, Rajnath Singh, Murli Manohar Joshi and Arun Jaitley were decided. Sonia, Modi and Advani would sail through easily. Rajnath, Jaitley and Joshi faced stiffer contests but should prevail with marginal victories.

All of the candidates left no stone unturned, roping in Bollywood celebrities and prominent political personalities to campaign for them.

When asked about the BJP’s revival in Uttar Pradesh, BJP President Rajnath said, “Yes, thanks to Modi, the BJP’s crisis of credibility is over.” In Punjab (Guyanese and Punjabis

compete for space in Richmond Hill), there was a riveting contest between BJP’s Arun Jaitley, making his debut in the LS, and senior Congress leader Amarinder Singh in Amritsar who was Chief Minister.

Punjab is one of the few states where the Congress seems to be more popular because of anti-incumbency against the Akalis who are teamed up with the BJP. But Modi will help the Akalis from getting a complete thrashing. In rural areas, the Akali Dal-BJP alliance seems to be ahead because of popular welfare schemes and infrastructural development whereas in the urban areas, Congress is ahead.

In Gujarat, after he voted, Modi sparked controversy by violating the election law with a speech and displaying the BJP poll symbol outside a polling booth. He was charged by the Gujarat Police and also faces serious consequences from the Election Commission: he could be debarred from holding office.

Taking a dig at Congress, its President Sonia Gandhi and its Vice

President Rahul Gandhi, Modi said that the 2014 Lok Sabha polls spelt the end of the Government of “mother and son”. He said the Congress accepted defeat the day the elections were notified.

“The election has brought a new hope and promise that will give strength to the nation. The people have entrusted the faith in the BJP. This election should be about development and good governance. The country is voting positively,” he said.

Speaking of price rise, corruption and unemployment, Modi quipped he was trying to find solutions to these issues, whereas the Congress was trying to find a solution to him.

With an eye on UP, where the BJP must win about 50 of the 80 seats in order to have a strong shot of forming the Government at the centre, Modi accused the Congress and the two caste based parties, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party of thwarting the interests of Dalits (the lower caste or Chamars). “In the last decade, UP has seen the highest number of crimes against Dalits.”

He also accused them of playing the religious card to fool the minorities. Modi railed against the pseudosecularists, noting they describe themselves as secular but support privileges for religious and caste groups. He is expected to receive a substantial number of minority votes.

In response to Modi, Priyanka Gandhi, the star campaigner of the Congress who is not contesting a seat, hit out at Modi, saying her brother worked for the development of every section and looked upon all as equals. Priyanka cautioned voters about the intentions of other candidates “who come only during elections”.

The latest opinion polls point to a BJP victory over the Congress but short of a majority of 272 seats to form the Government. Modi will have enough alliance partners to come up with the minimum threshold.

Two phases of voting remain with the last day of voting on May 12.

Respectfully,

Vishnu Bisram

Journalists must recommit to Guyana’s developmental agenda

Dear Editor,

The People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) wishes to recognise the important contributions made by the press corps to the development of a more democratic and developed Guyana as the world observes Press Freedom Day 2014.

World Press Freedom Day 2014 is being observed in Guyana at a time when the press has never been freer to criticise, report and give coverage to all matters under the sun and all issues of national importance.

The PPP/C acknowledges the right to report freely without undue Government interference and coercion and will continue to support any and all media entities that put the future of Guyana and its people first by safeguarding their interests.

The party holds the view that considering the atrocities faced by the press during the early 1970s and 1980s, there is much to celebrate in Guyana today as the whole media fraternity has come a long way.

As we celebrate World Press Freedom Day, the PPP/C calls on all responsible and impartial press entities to reflect on the murder of Catholic

Standards Journalist Father Bernard Darke, the circumstances which led to the censorship of the media by the PNC regime (now led by David Granger), the banning of news print and several other atrocities which undermined press freedom in Guyana during that era.

The party condemns in the strongest terms the barefaced attempts by the Opposition to financially strangulate the State Media and its right to report and air freely the developmental agenda of the Government and the people of Guyana.

The PPP/C stands four square behind the National Communications Network (NCN) and the Government Information Agency (GINA) throughout their tide of hardship imposed by the spiteful political Opposition in its reckless desire to cut off critical information to the public.

The party demands an end to politically-inspired acts aimed at depriving the State Media of critical funds and the allocations disapproved in the 2014 Budget.

The party notes the political venom and hate spewed by the Opposition media, namely, Kaieteur News and Stabroek News in their attempts to

destabilise and undermine the ruling PPP/C administration. The party wishes to remind the Opposition media that their acts by their very nature undermine the principal tenets of press freedom and freedom of expression in Guyana.

Additionally, the PPP/C calls on all Guyanese journalists to recommit themselves to a higher level of journalistic practice which will enable them to focus on the promotion of the developmental agenda of the country.

The party believes that journalists need to address the development agenda with the same zeal and intensity as they pursue their own selfish and narrow political interests.

The PPP/C is committed to an environment where the news and information is fuelled by facts and not the whims and fancies of the rumour mills.

US Ambassador to Guyana, D Brent Hardt, must be rebuked for his assertion that censorship of the media is practised by the Government, at the same time he purposefully ignores the Opposition’s slashing of the budgetary resources for NCN and GINA. This exposes the political duplicity of this individual.

The party will always support fair and objective journalism and demands an end to the callous, personalised attacks which are most times riddled with libel and defamation against the President, his Cabinet Ministers and public officials.

The party reiterates the call for the establishment of a watchdog oversight committee that would be tasked with creating the environment in Guyana that would see the development of higher levels of press freedom and freedom of expression.

Also, the PPP/C holds strongly to the position that the power the media has is not limitless and therefore in the exercise of

their duty, journalists must be responsible and professional.

The party salutes all journalists in Guyana, the Caribbean and further afield who are pursuing their national, regional and developmental interests responsibly.

Sincerely, PPP/C, Freedom House

Page Foundation

Let’s be friends

As parents, our hearts melt when we witness affection between children, because we know it’s fundamental to all good human relationships. But like adult love, childhood friendship is not a bed of roses. There are many stages in the development of friendship and many conflicts that loom in the future. All children will experience meanness, betrayal, and teasing. And all children will show bad judgment at times, and will hurt others.

Experiencing all the aspects of friendship — the good and the bad — is a natural part of your child’s social learning and growing process, as painful as it may seem at times. Take heart: he will learn how to make and keep friends, as well as how to be a good friend, with your guidance and support. However, you do not have to teach him about friendship. Children naturally recognise that good friendship is reciprocal, affectionate, and reliable. They teach the rules of reciprocity, mutuality, and equity to one another through interactions in play. Your child doesn’t need you to manage his social life, but he does need you to provide a steady, supportive environment for his social experimentation.

The stages of friendship

Your baby is capable of choosing a friend as soon as she can get off your lap and

crawl around. While babies’ early friendships are generally restricted to relatives or children of their parents’ close friends, research has shown that in group child care, children as young as 12 months do make independent friendship choices (demonstrated by the time they spend sitting next to their playmates).

From ages one to three, physical attraction and mutual liking is the basis of friendship, but toddlers are not capable of sustaining coordinated play. They sit close by one another playing individually — something known as parallel play.

Between the ages of four and seven, mutual, reciprocal play is the glue of friendship. Children become increasingly able to generate complex fantasy games, taking on roles, giving one another directions, and sharing leadership.

By around age seven, conversation becomes central to friendship. The discussions tend to be about what you have to do to get along in school, to be “cool”, to gain social acceptance, and to avoid getting in trouble. Keeping secrets from adults also begins at this stage. While these are not deeply revealing or meaningful to adults (they’re usually about who did something embarrassing at school), they feel intensely exposing to a child.

In middle school, that intimate, self-disclosing relation-

ship that we know as “adult” friendship actually begins. Twelve-year-olds begin to share real confidences with their friends: their fears, their fantasies, the dysfunction in their parents’ marriage, which is one reason why friendships can feel like a matter of lifeand-death. At this acutely self-conscious age, when one’s new identity as a person separate from the family is just beginning to form, betrayal by a friend can feel overwhelming.

The power of the group Young children quickly realise that, by forming a duo or a small group, they can have a strong impact on others. They want to choose their type of play and their playmates. If their play is consistently attractive to others, they may soon recognise that they are popular, so they will declare that they have formed a “club”.

Kindergarteners’ “clubs” might last for a day or two, but group membership is fluid. By third and fourth grade, however, group membership is much more fixed and the issue of who’s “in” and who’s “out” is carefully enforced by the social leaders — the “popular chil-

By late elementary school, there is a social ladder in every classroom, with the very popular children (15 per cent) on top, the accepted group (45 per cent) next, followed by the average group (20 per cent) and the unclassifiable group (20 per cent).

When children are at risk

While it’s upsetting to hear that your child is being excluded, if she falls into her class’s total accepted group there’s no reason to worry. The children in this group — 80 per cent of all children — almost certainly have at least one friend, which protects them from experiencing long, lonely days in school. It is the bottom 20 per cent of the children on the social ladder that psychologists worry about. These children may have no friends at all. They fall into three categories: neglected children (five per cent); controversial children (five per cent); and rejected children (10 per cent).

Teachers, administrators, and parents have an obligation to help these children, either by coaching or counselling. Parents have to help their children find friendships in other venues.

It only takes one real friend to alleviate the worst aspects of loneliness. (Excerpt from scholastic.com)

Supporting your child’s friendships

There is a certain amount of normal social pain in childhood. It is part of learning about the complexity of social relationships.

Here are some strategies from Scholastic you can use to help your child learn to be a good friend and deal with difficult social situations when they arise:

Worry a little less. Most children figure out friendship and group life pretty well. Most will get over the inevitable upsets, rejections, and betrayals without terrible scars. But even those with scars have a chance to heal as they grow up and find new opportunities for friendship, love, and acceptance. Provide subtle encouragement. You can provide a great deal of direction, modelling, and support, but most of the time it should be invisible. For example, your kindergartener may be drawn to another child during the school day, but not know how to transfer that friendship into outof-school hours. Ask if he would like to invite that friend over for a playdate. Try to make space for play in the house, somewhere where he can entertain a friend. If your child is going to have friends, he has to have permission to be a host. Likewise, he needs permission to visit other children’s homes; this will

send the message that you want him to pursue friendships.

Model empathy and reciprocity. The two most important building blocks of friendship are the ability to take another person’s point of view, and the willingness to share. Teach empathy by demonstrating it yourself.

Show inclusion. Invite people into your home, treat them with respect, have fun with them, and tell your child why you value your friends. If new people move into the neighbourhood, invite them over for a cookout. This helps your child learn to welcome newcomers in school.

Know where your child stands in the group. If you suspect she is lonely or is having trouble socially, talk with her teacher. Teachers know what goes on in school and can offer insight. You need to know if your child has habits that annoy other children so you can help her. If she is popular, help her be a positive leader and use her power wisely. Provide a wide range of friendship and group opportunities. Be sure your child has opportunities for forming friendships. If he seems isolated at school, he might need another group in which to find a friend: a church group, a scout troop, or an after-school arts or sports class.

Hold your child accountable for her behaviour. Teasing, bullying, gossiping, and exclusion all violate our moral beliefs. If you see your child hurting another child, call her on it. Help her recognise that it’s wrong and help her put a stop to it. Avoid going back to school yourself. Don’t gossip, don’t compare, and don’t try to identify villains and angels. Parents rarely have complete and accurate information about the social lives of children in school.

Listen to your child. Be available when he wants to talk about his social life. Acknowledge the difficulties and accept the complexities. Don’t overreact and don’t try to solve every problem. When I ask children, “What’s the most helpful thing your parents do?” they always give me some variation on the following: “My mom listens. She just listens.” Even for young children, it is more important for you to listen than to give them strategies, though they are more open to advice than older children.

Several caught smuggling fuel at Port Kaituma

ocal Government

LMinister Norman Whittaker and a team of officials in Region One last week stumbled up on several boats with smuggled fuel at Port Kaituma, Region One.

In a release from his office, Whittaker said the discovery was made during a visit to the area where a boat recently exploded. The vessels apparently containing dieseline were moored at the Turn Basin area.

He adding that upon enquiry from those on the vessels, none could produce documented evidence of approval from the Maritime Administration

Department (MARAD) or other authorised agencies to import, transport, store or sell fuel of any sort.

“Many residents and business persons and NDC [Neigbhourhood Democratic Council] and RDC [Regional Democratic Council] officials also expressed concern for the many, including schoolchildren who traverse the waterways in areas contiguous to where this illegal fuel operation takes place,” Whittaker said.

He said residents also pointed to the discharge of fuel in these waterways and its use as a toilet and a garbage dump by the many who work on these boats, and opined that it would not be long before there is another gastro outbreak.

Suggestions

Suggestions that all fuel be discharged at the Morawhanna Port of Entry or in an area at the commencement of the canal were offered. The Minister said it was reported that there are five licensed fuel dealers in the area and scores of unlicensed dealers. He undertook to bring the situation to the Director General of MARAD and the Ministers

concerned. Whittaker was accompanied by Regional Chairman Paul Pierre, Regional Executive Officer Nigel Fisher, Matarkai Neighbourhood Democratic Council IMC Chair Margaret Lambert and other Local Government, RDC and Matarkai NDC officials.

Early last month, a boat

at Port Kaituma exploded after a fuel pump malfunctioned and jets of diesel sprayed on the hot surface of the pump. A fire consequently ignited and engulfed the vessel.

The lone crew member, who was onboard, attempted to put out the fire, but the heat was too much,

causing him to jump overboard. He swam ashore and was rushed to hospital for medical treatment.

Simultaneously, the fire spread to other boats and buildings nearby, destroying four buildings used as dwelling houses, shops and storages. Five boats were believed to have been de-

Four dead after drinking...

After a few minutes, Price and George succumbed. Alex took a turn for the worst and died almost an hour later. Jahaquel despite being hooked up ,to a life support machine took his last breath around 16:50h. Waterman is in stable condition and is conscious.

Investigations are continuing Police, in a release, stated that the family ingested SSS Tonic into which a quantity of cocaine had been dissolved. Police investigations revealed that the bottle of SSS Tonic, along with cassareep and chicken foot, had been left at the house by a man known to them for an overseas-based female relative to take with her on her return. Investigations

are continuing, the Police added.

When Guyana Times arrived at the Georgetown Public Hospital, relatives of the dead women were devastated as they were given the tragic news. One relative, Onicia (only name given) explained that one of Simone’s relatives, Candace McGarrell, was in the country and another relative brought the bottle of SSS Tonic and other items and requested that she take them back to the US for another relative who was to collect them upon her arrival.

She added that for some reason, the young woman left the bottles behind on Sunday, claiming that “Tonic deh everywhere in the US”. On Sunday morn -

stroyed. The blaze extended on top of the river as well, as the diesel leaked overboard onto some combustible garbage in the water. Residents had formed a bucket brigade and were successful in stopping the fire from spreading to other buildings ashore.

from page 3

ing, she explained that moments after returning home from church, Price gave a spoonful of tonic to Blair and her son and at the same time, George walked in and she was offered a spoonful as well. Onicia identified the culprit as “Barney” and the Police, along with relatives, have launched a manhunt for him.

“Rush down”

A family friend said he received a call from a friend informing him that that his neighbour’s son drank something and needed to be taken to the hospital. “When I rush down the road… meh neighbour, she son and her husband, her neighbour was all frothing and I bring them to the hospital… I later learnt that

they drink something in a tonic bottle,” he added. Wilbert Waterman, the father of Jamal, said he received the distressed call from a relative and rushed to the hospital where he saw his son lying on a bed, but he was happy to hear him speak. He told media operatives that the doctors at the medical facility are monitoring his son’s condition.

As the Police scourge the area, curious members of the public looked from a distance. Some remained tight-lipped when approached, while some claimed the incident will definitely affect the community.

Price and her family were described as very friendly and helpful people.

monday, may 5, 2014|

Granger urges Police to deal with “burning issues”

Opposition Leader

David Granger

said Acting Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud has started off on the “wrong foot” with Project Impact Albouystown.

According to Granger, the Acting Commissioner of Police should first address burning issues plaguing the Force and, to a larger extent, Guyana. His comments come in support of criticisms made by President Donald Ramotar during the recently-concluded Annual Police Officers’ Conference held at Eve Leary, Georgetown.

The President criticised the Force for its track record of weak prosecutions due to the lack of evidence. Reference was made to the disastrous collapse of mur-

der cases involving cricketer Carlyle Barton, who was caught on video, and businessman Rondy Jagdeo.

On Friday, the Opposition Leader said Acting Commissioner Persaud has “made a big splash by launching the Albouystown Impact Programme,” when he should be paying attention to issues raised by the President. “The President’s remarks should be a wakeup call,” he stressed.

Efficiency

He said before Persaud attempts to go outside the Force to make “headline news”, attention should be given to the deficiencies of the Police Force. “Efficiency starts at home as far as the Police Force is concerned, not in Albouystown,” Granger

Opposition Leader David Granger

opined.

This is the second time the Opposition Leader has openly criticised the Acting Commissioner of Police on Project Impact

Albouystown. He had initially warned Persaud about the initiative, contending that it could backfire if it was not done with the support of the community. He said while the intention behind the programmes was good, executing it without consultations with, and the support of, the community can have negative consequences.

He also warned Persaud against the stigmatising of certain communities. Project Impact Albouystown was launched in April. Since then the response to the Project has been overwhelming. The Police Force remains optimistic that the initiative will create positive change in the community despite criticism.

Traducing...

...history

There’s this Seeram fella that writes for the MuckrakerKN from the drained swamps of Florida. There’s a whole lot of Guyanese in Florida...the landscape and the climate probably reminds them of Guyana. The chap seems amiable enough, but sometimes he certainly does strain at the bit to appear “evenhanded”. Hey! If there’s been a rape, do you give equal weight to the compulsions of the rapist that made him violate the woman?

Now normally we wouldn’t break a lance over people’s opinions. But when they adopt an “I was there” approach, they’re then claiming to be stating “facts”. And these can be contested with the record. Seeram discussed the Rodney CoI and allowed us to think he was here during the Rodney era. He decamped to the US right after Rodney’s killing. Didn’t have much hope after that.

Now that’s all well and good. But then Seeram goes on to assert the following inanity: “And what does Rodney’s death and the United States have in common today? In Rodney’s days, the PPP were clamouring for the US to intervene and bring democracy to Guyana. This week, the PPP Government revoked the visa of the head of a US democracy project in Guyana. What irony.”

Now we believe one positive that’ll come out of the Rodney CoI will be a greater awareness by our youths, of a period of our history that is still reverberating in the present. But such blatant misstatement of the facts –from someone who was here at the time – can only be classified as wickedness and “wutlessness”. “In Rodney’s days, the PPP were clamouring for the US to intervene and bring democracy in Guyana”??? Was Seeram living in Berbice Mad House???

Your Eyewitness will have to remind him of what went down in those days. The “Rodney days” were from 1974 to 1980. In actual fact, they were the days of the PPP’s most strident denunciations of “US imperialism”. Even pushed the PNC in that direction. Remember the Declaration of Sophia in 1974? Party paramountcy was justified by Lenin’s dictum on the “vanguard party”.

In 1975, the PPP declared “critical support” for the PNC so as to protect Guyana from “imperialist manoeuvres”. In 1976, they supported nationalisation of the sugar industry. In 1977, the PPP’s proposed “National Front Government” included the PNC – for the same reason. They supported Burnham’s description of the US-controlled IMF as the “International Mother F**ker” because of the latter’s pressure after the nationalisations. It was after Hoyte’s right turn around 1987, that the PPP lobbied the US to make amends for imposing the PNC on Guyana in 1964. The irony is Seeram says he’s a reporter.

...Reparations’ claim

The Committee for “Reparations and Native Genocide” went down to Linden to sensitise the folks there about the claims being made on their behalf. And according to news reports, there were Amerindians as well as African descendants in attendance. Seems that the Committee decided to invite a wide array of spokespersons to weigh in, among them Sharma Solomon.

And not surprisingly, he immediately injected a discordant note. In his usual hectoring style, he blurted out that the Reparations Committee, headed by Eric Philips, was “deficient” and that “we first need to organise ourselves and emerge as a voice for Afro-Guyanese in the region”. Now can you see why individuals like him have to be reined in??

Imagine with Reparations for African Slavery linked to “Native Genocide” and with Amerindians present, Solomon would ignore them and address only “AfroGuyanese”!! With friends like these, the Committee doesn’t need enemies.

...US media reality

The US Ambassador said sanctimoniously: “The United States shares IPI’s belief that state and public media “should represent the views of all political actors in a fair and balanced manner,” Sure!! So VOA and PBS give “balanced” coverage to Ron Paul, Ralph Nader and Ross Perot??

NBS loan portfolio rises to $32.9B

The New Building Society (NBS) said its mortgage portfolio continues to grow due to the many housing schemes being established here, with some $7.8 billion being granted in mortgage loans, putting the bank’s portfolio at $32.9 billion compared to $27.7 billion the previous year.

“As a responsible mortgage provider, we ensure our borrowers can afford their mortgages not just now but also in the future,” Chairman of the bank, Moen Mc Doom told the institution’s 74 Annual General Meeting held on April 26.

He stated that a consultative approach has been taken to deal with borrowers who have difficulties in payments. This, according to Mc Doom, has resulted in a more encouraging arrears position, with 1393 accounts in arrears and a default value of $68 million in 2013.

Meanwhile, he noted that the bank has recorded another successful financial year in 2013, raking in some $993 million when come compared to $813 million in 2012.

Mc Doom in his report said the bank’s performance has remained exceedingly strong.

Balance

“The Society continues to balance delivering value and service to our customers and members and, maintaining our financial strength for the long term. Aggressive competition in the financial services sector compounded further with high levels of liquidity, resulting in low yields on our investments in Treasury Bills, did not deter the Society’s efforts to deliver these excellent results,” Mc Doom stated.

There was an increase of 10 per cent in the Society’s total assets, amounting to $54 billion. Of this amount, 61 per cent is made up of mortgages

while Liquid Assets accounted for 30 per cent and savings for nine per cent. As it relates to the Liquid Assets portfolio, the Chairman noted that their focus has been to ensure that there is sufficient liquidity rather than maximising the absolute liquidity levels, which does not rake in much. With total liquid assets of $16.4 billion by the end of 2013, the Society’s liquidity position still exceeded the minimum statutory requirements.

“We have consistently provided long-term value to our customers and members by helping them to make the best choice for their finances, never mislead them, conducted our business efficiently to maximise customers and members’ benefit and provided a superi-

strengthen moderately as time progresses. Locally, he pointed out that despite the grappling performance of the sugar industry, the rice, mining, and forestry sectors, among others have seen improved growth, contributing to the growth of the economy.

Customers first

Meanwhile, the NBS has remained committed in putting the interests of its customers and members first. Mc Doom has recommitted to upkeep this objective while at the same time looking into the interests of its employees.

The Society has recorded yet another low rate of employees’ turnover. “We intend to continue our framework to ensure our employees’ poten-

or level of customers service,” Mc Doom said, adding that these are the core principles that have guided the Society for over 70 years; thus resulting in its saving portfolio increasing by $3.7 billion in 2013 when compared to $41 billion.

The Chairman explained that his bank's performance came against a slothful global economic growth; however, he noted that it is expected that the global activity will

tial is fully realised by providing opportunities for their development,” the Chairman said.

The Society has also recognised its social and corporate responsibilities as a top priority. In 2013, the NBS donated over $6 million to several charitable organisations with particular emphasis on vulnerable people such as elderly, children and persons with disabilities.

The Society also supported recreational projects directed at developing young sports enthusiasts and this was shown in the renewal of its sponsorship for the NBS 40-Overs Cricket Tournament in Georgetown and Berbice.

Moving forward in 2014, Mc Doom stressed that with the housing drive on a roll, the Society will continue to provide benefits to customers through affordable mortgage financing.

“Though the financial services sector continues to be saddled with high liquidity, compounded further with the fact that the Society can only invest in a limited number of instruments, we began to see increased yields on Treasury Bills. We are particularly hopeful that this positive trend will continue in 2014 and beyond, but will aggressively continue in our mortgage drive,” the Chairman assured.

Mc Doom further noted that with the risk of being blacklisted looming over Guyana and the disastrous effect it will have on the financial sector, he remains positive that a consensus will be forthcoming between the Government and the Opposition to pass the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (Amendment) Bill.

Regional confab on tourism skills opens on Tuesday

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean and the Inter-American Centre for Knowledge Development in Vocational Training (ILO/Cinterfor), with the support of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) and the National Industrial Training Service (SENAI), Brazil, will be hosting a joint workshop on anticipating skills requirements in tourism.

The workshop themed “Occupational Trends and Emerging Demands” at the ACS Secretariat in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, begins on May 6 and ends the next day.

The two-day workshop, which will take place at the ACS Headquarters in Port of Spain, will be the first of two face-to-face workshops as part of a seven month training programme.

Representatives from national training agencies (NTAs) with relevant technical skills and experience, and officials from Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) and selected tourisms institutions will be participating.

The two face-to-face workshops will be followed by a virtual com-

munity of learning and practise. The main objectives of this programme are to train participants on the prospective concepts, main tools and methodologies, based on SENAI’s Model, and present the model to industry representatives of the sectors to be studied; to work together with participating entities and ILO on the necessary knowledge management for the organisation and preparation of the prospective tools and methodologies; to establish a set of sectorial recommendations for skills development and vocational training after the identification of technological diffusion trends in the Caribbean and its impacts on the main occupations.

The participating institutions in this programme are the TVET Council of Barbados; the Human Employment and Resource Training Trust, National Training Agency (HEART Trust/NTA) Jamaica; the National Training Agency (NTA) Trinidad and Tobago; the Ministry of National Reconciliation, the Public Service, Labour Information and Ecclesiastical Affairs from St Vincent and the Grenadines; and The National Training Service (SENA) from Colombia.

Snap elections still on the table – Ramotar

With the current impasse continuing between the Government and the Opposition over the implementation of several pertinent projects, President Donald Ramotar on Saturday related that the possibility of a snap election is still on the table as a solution to the parliamentary deadlock.

Speaking at a press conference at State House on Saturday, Ramotar explained that the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) position on several projects is worrisome to the Government and would be worrisome to any Government in favour of economic development.

“You can’t take that option off the table at all... this kind of behaviour, this is not what we want, and if the Opposition have given us a little support, we could move this country forward,” said the Head of State.

He pointed out that the positions taken by the Opposition political parties to undermine several projects do not augur well for the country’s economic development and stability. The President posited that the Opposition parties are “attacking anything that can help to develop the economy” as he explained that from all indications, the Opposition wants the country to retrogress.

Making specific reference

to hinterland communities, Ramotar pointed out that his Government has recognised the needs of the hinterland communities and have since been making strides in that endeavour to meet those needs and improve the life of not only the Amerindians living in the hinterland, but persons residing in the sparsely populated areas of the country.

The President, when questioned, further pointed out that every year the Government spends millions of dollars airlifting injured persons out of interior locations so that they can get medical attention for varying injuries and yet still the Opposition deemed it a necessity to disapprove of the funds that were allocated to rehabilitating hinterland airstrips and landing sites.

Uncalled for

“I don’t know what the interior community did to these people that they attack them,” Ramotar said, adding: “They want to snipe in the corner at all these projects that will have transformative effects on the country.”

Cabinet Secretary, Dr Roger Luncheon recently posited that a snap election is not the only viable solution to the current parliamentary stalemate. When pressed on how the Government intends to fund the operations at the Office of the President and the

other core agencies that were affected by budget disapprovals, Dr Luncheon related that while he will not discuss that option, it will not be by way of snap elections since there were other options available to the executive.

“I said and I didn’t mean it facetiously, obviously the intention of the Opposition on our Shiv Chanderpaul Drive premises is to have erected a for rent sign,” said the Cabinet Secretary as he explained the Government’s contentions with the 2014 Budget.

Dr Luncheon also expressed more concerns about the act and the manner in which it undermines the operations and responsibilities of the Office of the President.

Cannot be entertained

While noting that the notion of no monies for the Office of the President “cannot be entertained”, Dr Luncheon related that it is hardly conceivable that the Government would be able to discharge its “constitutional and statutory responsibilities fettered by the provisions in the appropriation, a reflection of the position of the majoritorial Opposition”.

The pronouncement by the President comes on the heels of Prime Minister Samuel Hinds filling in on the position of President, and affirming his signature to the Appropriation Bill 2014

which gave legitimacy to the expenditure of public funds until the end of the fiscal year 2014.

Opposition Leader David Granger in a recent interview said the Ramotar-led administration should return to the National Assembly for funding for key programmes and projects that were affected due to the budget disapprovals during the consideration of the 2014 estimates in the recently concluded Committee of Supply proceedings.

Granger said the items were disapproved by the Committee of Supply because they were bundled with other contentious projects and this should not have been the case. He related that the Opposition had no other choice than to disapprove programme areas that included controversial projects or entities, adding that while it was never the intention of the Opposition to “paralyse” by the disapproval of the entire budget, it merely wanted to record its censure with respect to some of the projects.

However, Granger said the Government should return to the House for funding for areas of mutual interest, which include the University of Guyana Student Loan.

De House Slave does remember to fuhget certain tings

De mind does wuk in strange ways. It don’t fuhget tings. It does remember good tings and bad tings, plus de good people and de not so good people. That is why people does be able to fuhgive, but dem don’t be able fuhget, humanly speakin. That is just how de mind does wuk.

But on de other hand, it got people who does conveniently fuhget whah dem prefer not to remember. In other words, dem does remember to fuhget certain tings and also fuhget to remember other tings.

De House Slave does remember not to fuhget whah de Boss Man tell he to remember. Otherwise de Boss Man does remember not to fuhget to cut he pay, accordin to whah de House Slave fuhget. Fuh instance, de Boss Man tell de House Slave not to fuhget to write de names of certain people every day in de mud paper. Since then dem people name appearin every day.

But one day a couple a weeks ago, it so happen that de House Slave fuhget to remember. But after de lesson whah he get from de Boss Man when he get one phone call and see he pay slip, he never slip up to fuhget to remember after that.

Nowadays, tings turn round. De Housle Slave does even remember to remind de Boss Man not to fuhget to tell he who name he want to write bout next day. Yuh can never getta betta House Slave than that.

But it got one other major ting de House Slave fuhget to remember. That is, that once upon a time in de past, when he was House Slave at another paper fuh another Prezzi, he coulda only write whah de Prezzi tell he must go. However, now he can totally fuhget whah another Prezzi seh and remember only whah de Boss Man seh, because that is some ting called press freedom.

Ting-a-ling-a-ling…friend tell friend…mattie tell mattie! But still de House Slave does remember to conveniently fuhget when it ain’t had no press freedom in Guyana. After all, Adumb gotta different kinda freedumb!

Time to forgive and move on; let Walter rest in peace (Part One)

The Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry (CoI) has finally started. Fair-minded Guyanese and those who want to know the truth are breathing a sigh of relief. Now that it has started, we must commend President Donald Ramotar for his fortitude in going ahead with the Walter Rodney CoI.

In so doing, he has started a process that will, at least, provide justice to the Rodney family. There are some, a small group of politicians, like the leadership of APNU/PNC, who are opposed to the CoI, but we knew they would be. The most important persons, the Rodney family, want the CoI and that is the most important reason for the CoI to be concluded now.

We do not know if the wounds of the Rodney assassination can ever be completely healed, but let the nation know the truth, ugly as it may well be. The Ramotar Government has established an internationally respected Commission of Inquiry.

While justice might not be totally achieved, the truth will allow us to, at

least, move on from this sordid episode in our short history as a nation. The CoI’s mandate is simple – find the truth. It is not about punishing anyone, it is about telling a nation now and forever what really happened.

Most people in Guyana, including the most ardent supporters of the PNC, believe the then PNCGovernment had a hand in the murder of Walter Rodney. There are international organisations which are convinced that the assassination was as a result of a centrally-directed effort to silence Walter Rodney and end his movement.

Silenced Walter Rodney was silenced and as unpalatable as some may find it, it also effectively ended his movement. The WPA afterwards became less and less effective and today barely resembles anything like the WPA of Walter Rodney’s time.

Indeed, it is sad to see stalwarts like Dr Rupert Roopnaraine sitting in the belly of the beast, being an appendage of the political

party that not only is the main suspect in the murder of Rodney, but which today is trying its best to suffocate the Inquiry.

The CoI started its work almost on the very day Guyana was observing the assassination anniversary of Sash Sawh, the former Minister of

Agriculture, who was murdered in April 2006. He was the third sitting minister of Government to have been assassinated in Guyana.

In the 1960s, Claude Christain, a Minister of Home Affairs, was murdered. Soon after Walter Rodney’s murder, Vincent Teekah, a Minister of

Education, was murdered.

Much to regret

All these murders were suspected to have been committed through a centrallydirected conspiracy, and the PNC has been implicated in all three murders, same as is suspected with the murder of Walter Rodney.

Political assassination is only part of the dreadful political history of our country.

There is a long list of people who were assassinated because of their politics. Between 1968 and 1985, Guyana held four general elections, one local government elections, and one national referendum.

All these elections were deemed rigged elections and the PNC now no longer vigorously deny the fact that it stole the elections and held a bogus referendum. Some of its leaders even quietly concede the fact of rigged elections, but are afraid to openly admit this damning crime.

In our short history, there is much for us to regret. There is much we need to gain absolution for. Times Notebook shares the view that we need to simply concede our shortcomings and move on. It is not about finding out who to punish; it is about the nation knowing and accepting the truth. (to be continued next week) Readers are invited to send their comments by email or Facebook to times. notebook@gmail.com.

Reflect on long, difficult journey travelled – PPP Indians endured for a better Guyana – GAWU

The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has extended Arrival Day greetings to the people of Guyana while calling on everyone to use this occasion to reflect on the long and difficult journey “we have traversed as a nation over the decades”.

In its Arrival Day message, the party said Guyana is a transplanted society in which “our foreparents with the exception of our indigenous Amerindians were brought to the shores of Guyana to provide cheap labour to the planter class. Whether they came as slaves or as indentured labourers, they all had to endure the indignity of a cruel system which was more concerned with extracting profits from their labour, rather

than providing them with a life worthy of human existence”.

The party said despite the harsh and oppressive nature of the environment in which they lived, they never gave up on their dreams for a free, progressive and cohesive country in which future generations would one day live in a Guyana where there is unity, freedom and prosperity.

“The PPP is proud of the fact that it has played a major part in the realisation of those dreams. This is why as a political party it has always embraced the principles and ideals of a peaceful, progressive and prosperous Guyana where every Guyanese, regardless of the colour of their skin, religious beliefs or political affiliation are

provided with an equal opportunity to realise their potential and play their part in the exciting task of nation building. Our society today is richer for our diversity. We now live in a country that is truly blessed with human and natural resources and it is for us all to combine our talents and skills to propel this country forward to one in which our foreparents would be proud of.”

The PPP said for this reason “there can be no room for complacency in our efforts to build this beautiful country of ours. We have to always strive to preserve our unity and multiculturalism and reject all those who out of narrow partisan agendas want to divide us and put obstacles to the path of development”.

One hundred and seventy-six years ago two ships deposited nearly 400 Indian indentured immigrants on the West Bank of Demerara in May.

Thus began intermittent, then steady, structured stateassisted immigration of East Indian sugar estate labourers to the then colony of British Guiana. That history is fairly well-known but should be taught in detail in schools. The father of a British Prime Minister introduced Indian immigration to this country. What would he think of his “Gladstone Experiment” today?

A little taught fact is that a not too significant number of those first contracted labourers opted to return to their Indian homeland, taking thousands of dollars with them at the end of their specific agreement period.

That is the context within which the Guyana Agricultural

and General Workers Union (GAWU) situates its tribute to Guyanese of Indian decent on this 176th anniversary of their first arrival. The sacrifices of the immigrants during the first decade of life on the former slave plantations are well documented. Humanitarian individuals and forces in the colony itself, in Britain and India exposed some near slavery experiences of the “bound coolies”.

Sicknesses, breaches of their contracts, severe physical penalties for real or perceived offences; even violation of their females were abuses that dogged the Asian labourers who rescued the Guiana sugar industry for its British merchants and planters, GAWU said.

It said the descendants of those labourers who stayed on in the colony could use their early determination to succeed in establishing new agricultural pursuits.

Today’s descendants have

contributed to every area of the republic’s existence is to GAWU’s mind, a story of quiet triumph and inspirational success.

GAWU uses this anniversary to make a plea with respect to the rescue and resuscitation of the sugar industry today. GAWU congratulated the Parliament, including the Opposition, for the injection of funds to reverse the ailing fortunes of the ailing industry.

“Sugar was the bitter-sweet product that brought both our African and Indian foreparents to this land. Yes, sugar is our patrimony. The emancipation of the slaves caused the indentured foreigners to come. GAWU represents their heirs of their sacrifices and successes. We, therefore, demand renewed management of this industry. It is often said that sugar is too big to fail. Guyana’s dependence on sugar is gargantuan,” GAWU concluded.

5, 2014 | guyanatimesgy.com

Courts donates refrigerator, stove to shelter for abuse victims

GAWU T

area of existence is to of quiet inspirational sucanniverwith reand resusindustry congratulated including the injection of ailing forindustry. bitter-sweet both our foreparYes, sugar The emancaused foreigners to represents their sacrifices and therefore, demanagement of often said to fail. on sugGAWU con-

he Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha recently received a refrigerator and stove from Courts Guyana Inc, to aid in the furnishing of the Sabha’s shelter for abused children, located on the Corentyne in Berbice.

Speaking on behalf of Courts was Marketing and Media Officer Trudy Abrahams, who stated that the company is very excited to be a donor.

She noted that Courts has made two prior contributions to the centre and will continue to do so. “We are very happy to make another contribution to the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha in fulfilling our corporate duty.”

Dharmic Sabha President, Dr Vindhya Persaud, who received the items, noted that Courts has been a proud partner in the initiative. She said that it is sad that there has to be such a centre, but nevertheless, this issue is prevalent and the community, moreso, the Sabha cannot turn a blind eye.

She added: “In 2009, I received a call from one of the members of our Upper Corentyne Praant (branch) telling me about a home where there were children who were being abused by their father. Both father and mother regularly consumed alcohol

and used illegal drugs,” she related.

Dr Persaud recalled that the children, aged two to 12 years old, were not going to school and were suffering various forms of abuse.

“Having received that call, I tried my best to get some intervention from governmental and non-governmental

agencies, and that became the trend. From there on, I received more calls from the same area in Berbice, talking about more children and more homes; and I realised at that point that this problem was very serious, especially in that region,” she said. She disclosed: “I was happy

that it was brought to my attention, but I was dissatisfied with the responses I got in terms of intervention; because, most times, the children were only taken away for a short time, or not at all, and most times they ended back in the same situation where they had the

problems, or a place was not found for them in any of the homes,” she said.

Dr Persaud said she then resolved that the Sabha should take a more active role in this regard.

Noting that prior to this, the organisation had been working in areas such as HIV/AIDS, alcohol abuse and, to some extent, suicide. She related that by the beginning of 2010, she thought it was a good idea to start a formal programme dealing with the issue of child abuse.

Noting that many of these centres and shelters are based in Georgetown, Dr Persaud said.

“… so I thought, being that I got that first time in Berbice and there was a problem in Berbice, that the shelter should be there.”

She said it was decided that the shelter would be placed in an area where the need was great and the community would get involved, “so that they could be trained to recognise these problems and to work in the facility”, and over time, develop partial ownership of the project.

The Sabha Sunday night held a concert with international Indian superstar Sonu Nigam. The proceeds from the concert will go towards offseting further expenses for the centre.

Linden CoI Commissioner gunned down in TT

Trinidad and Tobago authorities have put up TT$1 million for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those involved in the murder of Attorney Dana Seetahal – a Senior Counsel of the Twin Island who worked here last year on the Linden Commission of Inquiry. TT Police suspect that because of the nature of the incident, it was a “hit” arising out of the Senior Counsel’s involvement in the Vindra Naipaul-Coolman murder case.

Around 00:05h (12:05am) on Sunday, Seetahal was in her Volkswagen SUV proceeding north along Hamilton-Holder Street, Woodbrook when upon reaching the vicinity of the Woodbrook Youth Facility, two vehicles pulled alongside her vehicle causing her to bring it to a stop. One of the vehicles, a Nissan

Wingroad, then drove ahead a short distance and pulled across the road, blocking it.

The other vehicle, which was described as a panel van, pulled alongside and the occupants of that vehicle pulled out their firearms and opened fire on the SUV. The two vehicles then sped off and made good their escape. Residents of the area, on hearing the gunshots, contacted the Police and emergency health services.

However, despite their swift response, when the Police and emergency health services arrived, the Senior Counsel was dead – slumped along her driver’s seat. The first responders notified their seniors and a party of officers, including Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Wayne Dick, visited the scene. Crime scene investigators recovered several 5.62 shells at the scene.

Police Commissioner

Stephen Williams said: “It’s shocking. Crime is a concern, especially violent crime. It’s a shocking incident, one you least expect. I had a conversation with her at around 12:45pm on Saturday and everything was fine.

“We need to work as a country together [to solve the murder],” Williams said. He added that the head of Homicide, ACP Dick has been in constant communication with him. Williams assured that there will be a thorough investigation, and that his officers are on the scene doing a basic investigation.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Kamla PersadBissessar said she was profoundly shocked on learning of the tragic death of Seetahal. “It is a reprehensible act which has robbed us all of one of our nation’s best and brightest daughters. Even those who never met Dana Seetahal would recognise her through the life she lived and the proud legacy now left,” the TT PM said.

Tragedy

She said there is an abyss of loss and sadness for this brutal removal of a sister, friend, legal luminary and fearless, independent thinker on national issues.

“As Prime Minister, I am resolutely committed to meeting the viciousness with which Dana Seetahal’s brilliant life was cut down on the terms she would have wanted and fought so courageously and fearlessly for every day. Dana Seetahal would have uncompromisingly sought justice and made her voice known.”

Persad-Bissessar said Seetahal would have made her tragedy an impetus and symbol for sweeping changes.

“Dana Seetahal would have fought with her last breath to ensure justice was served. By our response, let us preserve that legacy. This outrageous act of brutality cannot be concluded by mere expressions of regret and sympathy.”

The TT PM said she has enjoined with the Minister of National Security to ensure that every resource of the law enforcement machinery of the state is utilised in relentless pursuit

of apprehending those involved in this most dastardly and heinous act. “Further, I have convened an emergency meeting of the National Security Council of which I am the Head. Yet, further, I have spoken with the Honourable Chief Justice Mr Ivor Archie and we have agreed to meet in order to devote urgent attention to necessary reforms in the criminal justice system and security issues connected there with,” the Prime Minister said in her statement.

She said Seetahal’s tragic passing brings to an end the work and life of a legal and academic giant whose contributions to the country were far from complete.

“The legal profession and, indeed, our country and region have lost a truly remarkable daughter of Trinidad and Tobago. As a lawyer, her success and the high regard she earned from her colleagues were testaments to her determination to boldly uphold and defend the rule of law. As a former Independent Senator, she demonstrated the highest principles and values of independent thinking, grounded in her love and passion for the future of our country.”

Seetahal also served her country and our citizens as a Magistrate, as President of the Law Association, as a State Prosecutor, and as Assistant Solicitor General. Indeed, she was also a leading advocate for education and as a Fulbright Scholar and Lecturer at the Hugh Wooding Law School, became a guiding light to many young graduates. She was also a Trinidad Express columnist.

Seetahal was among five Caribbean jurists who presided at the Linden Commissioner of Inquiry, which investigated the killing of three Lindeners who were protesting a proposed hike in electricity tariff in the mining community. The other commissioners were: Former Chancellor of the Judiciary, Cecil Kennard; former Justice of Appeal, Claudette Singh; former Security Minister of Jamaica, KD Knight and former Chief Justice of Jamaica Lensley Wolfe.

Odessa Police release 67 anti-govt activists Gay US bishop to divorce husband

Sixty-seven anti-Government activists detained by police in the south Ukrainian city of Odessa have been released after a crowd of locals blocked the Interior Ministry building. Those released reportedly included survivors from the deadly May-2 fire. A crowd of Odessa residents, which included many women and elderly people as seen on live video streams from the scene, cheered and hugged the released activists.

RT’s Irina Galushko reported that despite being

set free, the activists did not have the charges against them dropped and were asked “to come back tomorrow for their belongings.”

According to Galushko, riot police present at the scene were standing idly by, while the people chanted “Heroes!” and “Freedom!”

The release of just several activists did not, however, appease the crowd. Some of the protesters attempted to get inside the building, shouting “Fascists! Fascists!”

Eventually, 67 activists have been released, Odessa

police department’s press service has said. More than 1000 people were blockading the police department at the time of the statement, according to Itar-Tass. Part of the crowd had broken down the entrance gate and gained access to the building’s courtyard. Around 100 people rallying in central Odessa on Sunday initially blocked the local Interior Ministry department in protest against the detention of anti-Government activists following the tragic events of Friday, May 2. (RT News)

Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the US Episcopal Church, has announced he is divorcing his partner of 25 years. Writing on the Daily Beast website, Bishop Robinson said he was “forever grateful” to Mark Andrew and that details of their split were private.

The pair was married in a civil ceremony in 2003. Gene Robinson’s ordination as a bishop of the

New Hampshire diocese in 2003 divided the global Anglican communion. In the US, hundreds of parishes broke away from the Episcopal Church – the US branch of Anglicanism – in protest, forming a new Anglican Church in North America. The bishop became a symbol of the LGBT rights movement and an advocate for equal marriage.

In his letter, Bishop Robinson, who retired in

2012, said it was “a small comfort” to know that gay and lesbian couples “are subject to the same complications and hardships that afflict marriages between heterosexual couples”. “My belief in marriage is undiminished by the reality of divorcing someone I have loved for a very long time, and will continue to love even as we separate,” he said. “Love can endure, even if a marriage cannot.” (Excerpt

Chinese police hunt 10 relatives of Xinjiang train station bomber

Chinese police are hunting 10 family members of a bomber who attacked a train station in the far-western Xinjiang region last week, as highlevel authorities, rattled by the incident, seek to rush the introduction of an antiterrorism law.

The attack killed three people and injured 79 in the regional capital Urumqi at 19:10h on Wednesday, hours after China’s president Xi Jinping wrapped up a four-day trip to the region. State media blamed two “religious extremists” for the

attack, both of whom died in the blast. Only one has been identified: Sedirdin Sawut, a 39-year-old man from Aksu prefecture, an arid, cottongrowing area in the region’s south.

Xinjiang police have posted a notice offering a 100,000 yuan (£9,470) reward for more information on the suspects’ movements before the attack, according to the South China Morning Post newspaper. They also urged local authorities to track down 10 of Sawut’s family members, including his wife, brothers, cous-

ins, 69-year-old father and 77-year-old father-in-law.

A headshot of Sawut from a police notice shows a fairskinned man with a narrow face, bushy moustache, and short black hair.

Xinjiang, a resourcerich and strategically located swath of deserts and mountains in China’s far north-west, has been under Beijing’s control since 1949. More than 40 per cent of its 22 million people are Uighur, a predominantly Muslim ethnic group with strong cultural ties to central Asia. (Excerpt from

From humble beginnings:

Sattaur Gafoor builds world-renowned business complex

By Gomatie GanGadin

wise man once said:

A“There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs.” No wonder, Mr Sattaur Gafoor even at age 73 climbs the 33 steps to get to the third floor of his business complex at Houston, East Bank Demerara where his office is located.

The Chief Executive Officer of Gafsons Industries Ltd is, indeed, a force to reckon with despite his age. He is not only strong-willed, dedicated and hard-working but also focused and knows how to achieve what he sets his mind upon. It was what helped him to climb the ladder of success, after all.

For a man who has the final say in the running of such a vast business enterprise, Gafoor manages in a manner that appears to focus primarily on simplicity and clarity. The company’s operations, he says, are fuelled by three principles: rigid adherence to deadlines, a recognition that excuses can compensate for failure and the importance of employing effective communication as an operational tool – attitudes which he holds dear. He attributes his business principles to the teachings of JC Loncke, his headmaster at Central High School more than half a century ago.

Chairman of the Alexander Village Mosque, Gafoor is a devout Muslim. Even though he now sits at the helm of a multibil-

Chief Executive Officer of Gafsons Industries Ltd Sattaur Gafoor

lion-dollar corporation, he is never ashamed to admit that he came from humble beginnings.

“My mother was a housewife and my father a rice miller, and back then he did sawmilling in the North West District… but I am not ashamed to say that I never wore a pair of shoes until I got to Georgetown when I was about 11 years old… never in my wildest dream did I think I would have been so successful.”

So then, how did a boy who came from nothing did achieve so much?

“My wife’s unrelenting support,” he says.

Although he has attained dizzying heights on the corporate ladder, Gafoor says he remains a normal person, who listens to music, plays sports, and exercises in his leisure time.

Gafoor’s quiet but deserving success as a now

internationally recognised businessman who came from nothing stands as an inspiration to Guyanese and even non-Guyanese in various parts of the world.

He was bestowed with the Cacique Crown of Honour (CCH) in 1998, and named among the Who’s Who of the World in the 1999-2000 Global Edition. He also participated in the crafting of the National Development Strategy.

Formative years

Born on May 22, 1942, he spent his formative years at Number 59 Village, Corentyne. In 1953, the year in which the British Guiana Constitution was suspended, his father, Abdool Gafoor, moved to Georgetown with his entire family. There, he established a small lumber dealership on Lombard Street. Sattaur received his secondary education at Central High School and recalled that the now-deceased educator and trade unionist, T Anson Sancho was one of his teachers.

On July 29, 1963, he took the steps down the aisle with Ameena, whom he met in high school. This union, of which Gafoor speaks with pride, has borne three sons, the eldest of whom has a similar business in Barbados, while the second is a medical consultant in London, and the third son a surgeon in Jamaica; none of them has expressed an interest in joining the local business. He lost his father in 1973

and mother in 2002, and for him, these are his greatest losses. “If your parents are still alive, treasure them,” he advises all.

For the young, he was quick to urge that they should “stay away from drugs and alcohol and keep your books as your greatest

sence of racism.

Upon leaving school in November 1959, Gafoor joined his father in the business. In those days, he says, it was the expectation that the eldest son would become part of the family business. By the time he became part of the business,

abolished the licensing requirements for the importation of most goods, and Gafoor imported directly from then Socialist bloc countries, such as Romania, Czechoslovakia, Poland and East Germany. His business flourished and was extended to two other

As part of our coverage on the arrival of East Indians to Guyana, Guyana Times, for this month, will spotlight some of the stories highlighting entrepreneurship among Indian Guyanese. In this article, we feature businessman Sattaur Gafoor, owner of the world-renowned Gafsons Industries Ltd.

friend” and if you are an entrepreneur, “never give up, life is always a challenge – work 12 hours a day, six days a week.” Even though he is semi-retired, he still spends most of his days at the office.

Early to work

The business tycoon begins his day at 04:00h every day and had previously worked until 21:00h in his office at the Houston Complex. However, after celebrating his 73rd birth anniversary, he now works until 19:00h in order to manage his good health. Recalling his early years in Georgetown, Gafoor, who is soon to celebrate his 74th birthday, said the environs were cleaner; the young people more respectful, particularly of teachers and policemen; elders were more esteemed; civility greater, with people looking out for each other and there was a notable ab-

it was already beginning to show signs of growth.

Gafoor recalls the goodwill gesture made by the William Smith Shipping Company that afforded his father’s company its first line of credit which allowed for the importation of a quantity of cement from the United Kingdom.

With trading controlled by the expatriate heavyweights that included Bookers, Sandbach Parker, and JP Santos, breaking into key markets during the 1950s were difficult. In those days, Gafoor says, the sugar estates were the major buyers and the expatriate suppliers benefited most from that market.

“Being in business in those days, one was constrained by a number of difficulties, because the hardware business was controlled by the large corporations – all of which were expatriate-owned, and it was very, very difficult to carve a niche in those days,” he reflected.

But luck struck the Gafoors in 1957 when Premier Cheddi Jagan

locations within the city, at Broad Street and Sussex Street. Then in 1971, then Prime Minister Forbes Burnham imposed licensing restrictions, banning the importation of finished goods without a valid import licence.

“With the stroke of the pen, all the agents in those days who represented foreign companies were simply wiped out, and that led to a mass immigration of the business class, mainly to Canada,” he recalled. Coincidently, Gafoors started manufacturing certain items such as corrugated sheets, and this carried the business for a while.

But eight years later, according to Gafoor, the company fell into problems with Burnham, and in 1980, the business shrunk to a meagre operation since it was not granted an import licence, even for the importation of raw materials.

With his business virtually closed, he left Guyana’s shores. (See continuation of interview in our Tuesday edition)

Two killed, five injured in EBD smash-up

Two persons are dead and five others injured following a horrific three-vehicle smash-up at the Craig Public Road, East Bank Demerara on Sunday afternoon.

The accident which involved two Toyota Raums and a motorcycle reportedly occurred about 18:30h.

The dead men have been identified as Kurt

When the vehicles collided, one ended up hitting a motorcyclist.

At the Diamond Diagnostic Centre on Sunday evening, an eyewitness recalled that the accident occurred in a flash. The eyewitness said he and others managed to pull the injured people out of the wreckage and take them to the hospital.

He added that both

Bascomb, 22, of Lot 426 Grove Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara and Delon Barton, 33, of Lot 206 Grove Village, East Bank Demerara. They were pronounced dead on arrival at the Diamond Diagnostic Centre shortly after 19:00h.

Zanie Azeem, Fizal Azeem, Hemwattie Majeed, Fyad Azeem and Marvin Small were transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital nursing serious injuries. Small’s condition was described as “more serious” compared to the others.

According to information received, one of the Toyota Raums was heading to Timehri while the other was heading to Georgetown, and in the vicinity of the Craig double bridge, the vehicle heading to Timehri lost control, colliding with the other.

The vehicle, which was coming from Timehri, was driven by Marvin Small with Barton in the front passenger seat and Bascomb at the back.

Barton and Bascomb were alive when they reached the facility, but died a few minutes after.

The man also noted that the hospital is not “ready” to handle such serious cases, citing the lack of ambulances and Guyanese doctors for effective communication.

He said the Cuban doctors cannot relate to English-speaking people and vice-versa.

Barton’s stepfather, Maurice Hunte told Guyana Times that he was at a function and received a call from a family friend, informing him that his stepson was involved in an accident and would have sustained injuries about his body.

Hunte said he rushed to the hospital only to see him lying on a stretcher and not moving. He said that as he looked around, he saw Barton in the same room.

While he was not briefed on the accident, he said that his stepson and his friends went up to the

creek earlier in the day and were heading home when the accident occurred.

Barton’s mother, who was at the hospital, said she was at home when her daughter was told of the accident, but as they arrived at the hospital, she

recognsied many of the people there and thought that something was wrong.

She added that she saw her son’s motionless body in the Accident and Emergency Room next to his close friend.

Also at the hospital were at least two of Barton’s children's mothers; however, his reputed wife explained that he along with other friends were at the creek and were heading home. She could not confirm what exactly occurred, but was devastated that the father of her children is no more.

Barton leaves to morn his three children while Bascomb leaves to mourn his two children and eight siblings. Their bodies were taken to the Lyken’s Funeral Home. The police are continuing their investigations.

SUDOKU

By Bernice Bede Osol

Don’t get drawn into a petty quarrel. Controlling your temper and choosing diplomacy over demands will help you remain neutral and out of the line of fire.

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

Old and new friends will be won over by your artistry and imagination. Socialising with people who have similar interests will help you expand your creative pursuits. You’ll be admired for setting a new trend.

Take the idea you’ve been contemplating and turn it into something concrete. Get active and make changes that will add some excitement to your life. Don’t wait for others to do things for you.

21-April 19)

Save your aggressive tendencies for the field or the gym. Overly forceful behaviour with friends, family or colleagues will result in conflict. Do your own thing.

Practical information will come from an unusual source. If you listen carefully to what others say, you will find a workable solution to a nettlesome problem.

(May 21June 20)

Moneymaking conditions are favourable for you. Venture away from the routine and keep your options open. If you discover an interesting line of work, try to arrange an interview.

(June 21July 22)

Keep your comments to a minimum and your ears open for interesting information. Others may perceive what you think of as positive criticism quite differently.

(July 23Aug. 22)

Be shrewd and avoid taking part in dubious joint ventures. You should make time with people who have something serious to offer. Consider what you can do to make your home more inviting.

23Sept. 22)

Check out the inexpensive events taking place in your community. Concerts, book clubs or neighbourhood get-togethers will give you the chance to meet people and show your stuff.

23Oct. 23)

Keep a handle on your emotions. Good things are on the horizon, so strive to keep things moving along peacefully instead of letting your mercurial moods take over.

24Nov. 22)

Your conversational skills, if put to good use, will ensure that you meet interesting people. Fresh new possibilities will develop as you build a rapport with knowledgeable peers.

23Dec. 21)

You have been so preoccupied with career and domestic demands that you are likely to burn out if you don’t take precautions. Schedule some downtime.

Republican Gym tops national novices championships

– NOC boxers make presence felt

By Avenash Ramzan

The Guyana Boxing Association (GBA)/

National Sports Commission’s (NSC) national novices boxing championships concluded on Saturday evening with Republican Boxing Gym (RBG) emerging as the best gym during the two-night event.

The championships attracted 67 young boxers, a record number of entries for a novices event, and were hosted at the East Ruimveldt Community ground, popularly known as

California Square.

The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Gym was the runner-up , while the Best Boxer (Male) was Glenroy Smith of the Essequibo Boxing Gym (EBG) and the Best Boxer (Female) was Taseka Howard of Forgotten

Youth Foundation (FYF).

The championships were memorable for the five boxers from the New Opportunity Corp (NOC), who were able to cop two titles, and two runner-up spots. The NOC was participating in the championships for the first time after a lengthy absence.

On the final night of competition, patrons who flocked the venue to see amateur boxing in an open-air atmosphere were treated to an exhibition of skills during the finals in the various categories.

In the Junior division, Calvin Barry of the New Opportunity Corp (NOC) gained a Technical Knockout (TKO) over Theo Bumbury (FYF) in the first round to win the 75-80lbs.

The 85-89lbs division was won by Shaquincy Wright (EBG), who earned a points win over Shamar Bumbury (FYF), while Kevin Allicock of Harpy Eagle (HE) prevailed on points against Shaquille Simon of Pocket Rocket Boxing Gym (PRBG) in the 95-99lbs.

The 100-114lbs saw Christopher Moore (EBG) winning on points on the judges’ cards against fellow gym-mate Deshon Allicock, while Shane Skeete (HE) gained a points victory over Jonathon Hunte (FYF) in the 115-119lbs.

Colin Hinds (PRBG) emerged champion of the 130-134lbs, defeating Samuel Forde (NOC) on points, while in an all-NOC clash, Andrew Newton won

on points against Joel Bess in the 140-149lbs class. In the 150-160lbs class, Stephan Smith (FYF) gained the judges’ nod, winning on points against Akeem Mounter (EBG).

In the Youth category, Junior Henry (FYF) prevailed on points against Tefon Green (HE) in the 52kg, while Diwani Lampkin (FYF) also picked up a points’ win over Javaad Richards (HE) in the 56kg class.

The Open competition was also keenly contested with the RBG trio Dequan Kawall, Stephan Andrews

and Junior DaSilva, and Andel Douglas of GDF winning the four weight divisions.

Such was RBG’s dominance that seven of the eight boxers in the finals were from that gym. Kawall knocked out gym-mate Richard Gordon in the second round of the 52kg clash, Andrews stopped Dellon Natram (RBG) in round two of the 56kg final and DaSilva was too good for gym-mate Stephan Julian, knocking him down in round two of the 60kg class. Douglas had earlier won the 49kg category, disposing of Ravindra

Bissoondyal (RBG) in round one.

In the female category final, Taseka Howard (FYF) earned a third- round TKO over Tenisha Dorway (GDF) to emerge with top honours in the 54kg class.

The Male Open division was also dominated by RBG, whose boxers won four of the six category finals, with EBG and FYF winning the other two.

In the 64kg clash, Klaus Daniels (RBG) knocked out Kemo Bernard (FYF) in round three, while Clifton Graham (RBG) stopped Desmond Blair (GDF) in

round one of the 69kg class. Delon Gordon (RBG) walked away with top honours in the 81kg division, stopping Quee Brotherson (GDF) in round three, while Eon Fraser (RBG) made quick work of gym-mate John Champagne, whom he knocked out in round one of the 91+kg class.

In the 75kg, Glenroy Smith (EBG) took top honours against Mervin Rawlins (GDF), emerging with a TKO in round three, while Akeem August (FYF) got the better of gym-mate Kevin DeFreitas, winning on points in the 91kg class.

Poole impressed Meanwhile, commenting on what transpired during the two-day championships, Technical Director of the GBA, Terrence Poole, said the event was a “big success.”

“This was one of the initiatives of the GBA to get communities to come out and view boxing and we were successful in that regard,” Poole intimated.

In addition to the crowd support, Poole pointed out that there is an abundance of “talents and potential” at the novices level and the GBA would be working to groom the pool of youngsters currently available.

He added that the GBA was also impressed with the “guts and determination” of the NOC boxers, whom he encouraged to continue boxing even after they leave the correctional facility.

Hand-in-Hand aboard Independence Cup T20

Insurance company

Hand-in-Hand has joined the list of sponsors for the Berbice Cricket Board/Berbice Chambers third annual Independence T20 Cup, scheduled for May 25, the day before Guyana’s 48th Independence celebrations.

According to the organisers, the tournament, which will be played at the Albion Community Centre ground, promises to be the biggest ever. It is expected for the first time to be played un-

der international quality floodlights, the same as the National Stadium. Two star studded teams from Berbice will challenge two strong teams from Georgetown.

Players such as Assad Fudadin, Devendra Bishoo, Veerasammy Permaul, Royston Crandon, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Rajiv Ivan, Shimron Hetmyer, Kandasammy Surujnarine, Jonathan Foo, Kevin Ramdeen, Keon Joseph and Raun Johnson will be in the Berbice

teams, while the Demerara teams will have the likes of Christopher Barnwell, Trevon Griffith, Leon Johnson, Zaheer Mohamed, Chanderpaul Hemraj and Tagenarine Chanderpaul among others.

Also on the day’s agenda is a feature softball game between Memorex and Universal DVD Club.

Proceeds from the event will go towards charitable organisations, such as cricket clubs, orphanages, schools and health organisations

among others. Attractive cash incentives will be up for grabs for players. Patrons can win gate prizes, while there will be entertainment for the children.

At a simple ceremony held recently at the sponsor’s New Amsterdam office, Tajpaul Ajodhia, handed over the sponsorship cheque to Chairman of the Organising Committee, Anil Beharry. In doing so, he said that his company is aware of the role of sports in the development of communities.

Ajodhia said that the first two editions of this event impressed all who attended and his company feels compelled to renew its sponsorship. He alluded that his company has many branches across the length and breadth of Berbice and is happy to give back to the county.

In response, Beharry was delighted to have the insurance company on board once again. He said that the Hand-in-Hand Insurance

company is a perfect example of a good corporate citizen, citing that all of the proceeds go back into the community.

He promised all sponsors and stakeholders that the tournament will be run with the same level of accountability and transparency, as was done before. He called on companies and private individuals to come on board and be a part of history at the historic and famous Albion Community Centre ground.

Royal Challengers v Sunrisers, IPL 2014

De Villiers blitz downs Sunrisers

Royal Challengers

Bangalore possess the most power-packed batting line-up in the IPL. They hadn’t fired in the UAE leg of the tournament, but now they were back in their natural habitat at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, home to one of the best batting decks and some of the shortest boundaries in the world. At the toss Virat Kohli said his team knew the venue intimately, and he backed his batsmen to chase any target.

On Sunday, against Sunrisers Hyderabad, they had to chase 156. No team chasing 156 or less had ever lost here.

Royal Challengers came close to doing that. They lost Parthiv Patel and Virat Kohli in the second over of their innings, and they lost Chris Gayle a little while after. Rilee Rossouw, sent in to bat at 6 for 2 on his IPL debut, was out after scoring 14 off 23. Yuvraj Singh then went for 14 off 16. Royal Challengers needed 61 from 33, and they were sinking.

But they still had AB de Villiers. They had an AB de Villiers who was getting down on one knee and launching anything remotely full over the straight boundary. When Yuvraj went, de Villiers was on 33 from 19, and had already struck three big sixes.

Two more sixes and a four came off the next over, bowled by Darren Sammy, but Dale Steyn and Bhuvneshwar Kumar pulled things back by

conceding just 12 from the next two. On came Steyn again, with figures of none for 16 in three overs. Royal Challengers needed 28 from 12, and de Villiers was on strike.

The first ball, a slower ball, disappeared over deep square leg. The next went straight over the sightscreen. There are times when a batsman is simply seeing it too well, and there was nothing Steyn could do to stop de Villiers.

Two years ago, de Villiers had taken 23 runs off a Steyn over at the same ground. It became 23 for the over once again when de Villiers walked across his crease and scooped the last ball over the fine leg boundary and into the second tier of the stands.

Steyn applauded. It was that kind of shot. After de Villiers made the winning hit in the next over, swiping Irfan Pathan to the midwicket

boundary, Steyn went up to de Villiers and embraced him. It was that kind of innings.

Until de Villiers intervened, the match had been short of such typically Bangalorean happenings. After losing two early wickets, Sunrisers took their time to get going, with Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner going at under seven an over during their partnership of 62.

Part of this was down to some tight bowling from the home team, with Yuzvendra Chahal proving particularly hard to get away. He slid the ball across the two left-handers at the crease, Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner, took care not to drop the ball into their hitting zones, and bowled a lot of googlies.

Chahal went for 13 in his last over, with Warner finally managing to get him away, but till then, his spell had

asked uncomfortable questions of the theory that legspinners can’t bowl to lefthanders in Twenty20 cricket. Karn Sharma did more of the same when Royal Challengers batted, dismissing Gayle, Rossouw and Yuvraj - three left-handers - while going for just 17 in his four overs. Still, Sunrisers were probably right to have left out Amit Mishra, considering the pitch, the opposition, his own form, and the slower pace at which he bowls. When Chahal finished his spell, Sunrisers were 106 for 3 after 15. Despite losing Darren Sammy in the next over, they added 49 in the last five, with Warner profiting from a spate of full-tosses from Ashok Dinda in the 18th. It still seemed like they hadn’t put enough on the board, considering the venue and their opponents, and in the end Royal Challengers simply had one world-class batsman too many. (ESPNcricinfo)

SCOREBOARD

Hyderabad T20 innings (20 overs maximum)

AJ Finch c †PA Patel b Starc 13

S Dhawan* c de Villiers b Aaron 37

KL Rahul c Gayle b Dinda 6

DA Warner b Starc 61

DJG Sammy c Starc b HV Patel 8

NV Ojha† c Starc b Aaron 15

IK Pathan not out 4

KV Sharma not out 1

Extras: (lb 3, w 6, nb 1) 10

Total: (6 wickets; 20 overs) 155

Did not bat: DW Steyn, B Kumar, I Sharma

Fall of wickets: 1-20 (Finch, 2.5 ov), 2-29 (Rahul, 3.6 ov), 3-91 (Dhawan, 12.6 ov), 4-115 (Sammy, 15.6 ov), 5-149 (Ojha, 18.6 ov), 6-150 (Warner, 19.4 ov)

Bowling: MA Starc 4-0-212, AB Dinda 4-0-39-1, VR Aaron 4-0-33-2, HV Patel 4-029-1, YS Chahal 4-0-30-0

Bangalore T20 innings (target: 156 runs from 20 overs) CH Gayle c Sammy b KV Sharma 27 PA Patel† b Kumar 3 V Kohli* c †Ojha b Kumar

Amir Khan targets Mayweather after Las Vegas win

Amir Khan hopes he may finally be in line for a dream fight with American legend Floyd Mayweather after returning to the ring with an emphatic win.

The 27-year-old, from Bolton, easily outpointed Luis Collazo in Las Vegas and still has sights firmly set on the undefeated world champion.

“Definitely, people want to see that fight between me and Floyd,” Khan said.

“He’s fighting guys who are strong, but styles make fights, and my style would cause Floyd a lot of trouble.”

“A lot of people want the fight now because they want a young lion to come up and they want to see him get beat”

Amir Khan

Khan, fighting for the first time after a 13-month lay-off, knocked Collazo down three times in the non-title bout.

He now believes the time is right to face Mayweather, 37, who beat Marcos Maidana on points on the same MGM Grand card to unify the WBA and WBC welterweight belts.

“He is getting older and showing a lot of mistakes that he didn’t used to do,” Khan added. “It is a great time to catch him.

“Floyd looks beatable. A lot of people want the fight now because they want a young lion to come up and they want to see him get beat. I think the only person who has the chance to do that is me.”

Khan had been in conten-

tion to fight Mayweather on Saturday, but the American opted to take on Maidana despite Khan topping an online poll to choose the opponent. And his hopes of pinning down the lucrative bout any time soon appeared to take another hit when Mayweather shook hands with Maidana’s trainer Robert Garcia in the immediate aftermath of the fight and promised a rematch.

“If the fans want to see it again, we’ll do it again,” Mayweather said.

A fight with Khan is, therefore, unlikely to happen in 2014 as Mayweather’s next available slot, in September, is too close to the Muslim fasting period of Ramadan for the English boxer. (BBC Sport)

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Mayweather, who is now the WBC and WBA champion, was the red hot favourite but Maidana showed tremendous commitment and dominated the early exchanges.

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mous decision, his verdict seemed greatly at odds with what had transpired.

And while Maidana insisted he had been cheated, five-weight world champion Mayweather was in a different class for most of the contest, landing with 54% of punches thrown.

But having weathered the Argentine’s thunderous start, American Mayweather assumed control in the middle rounds. One judge scored the fight 114-114, the other two 117-111 and 116-112.

“It was a tough, competitive fight,’’ said the 37-yearold Mayweather, who has now only stopped one opponent in seven years.

“I normally like to go out there and box and move. But he put pressure on me. I wanted to give the fans what they wanted to see so I stood and fought him.

“I couldn’t see for two rounds after the (accidental) head butt (in round four). After I could see again it didn’t bother me. That’s what champions do, they survive and adjust.”

Maidana, who hit Mayweather with more punches than anyone before, called for a rematch, saying: “I won the fight. He didn’t fight like a man. He never hurt me with a punch, he wasn’t that tough.”

While judge Michael Pernick’s card made it a majority rather than a unani-

The 30-year-old Maidana, who was outpointed by Britain’s Amir Khan in 2010, started like a train, assailing Mayweather with a salvo of chopping right hands in the opening round and landing with some of them.

Mayweather found his range in the second, landing with a couple of cute right hands and sneaky left hooks as Maidana continued to march forward.

“Mayweather was pressured all the way by the battling Maidana.

“Mayweather’s crisper punching made the difference, without ever quelling the Argentine’s fire.

“The crowd howled at the end, but many of the punches thrown by Maidana hit Mayweather’s arms or shoulders or missed the target altogether.

“Mayweather though was troubled more than he has been since he beat Oscar De la Hoya here seven years ago and a rematch is highly likely.”

Maidana had Mayweather on the ropes again in the third and while the American was making most of his rival’s punches miss, the Argentine

was having some success to the body.

The roughhouse Maidana opened up a cut over Mayweather’s right eye in the fourth, although it might have been caused by an accidental clash of heads rather than his fists.

And while Mayweather landed with a spiteful uppercut towards the end of the round, Maidana could well have edged it on superior work-rate.

Mayweather looked rattled on his stool before the start of the fifth, complaining that he was unable to see because of blood trickling into his right eye.

And Maidana landed with a wicked right midway through the fifth as Mayweather continued to look strangely confounded.

However, Mayweather landed with some classy shots in round six, including a wicked right uppercut and a peach of a right cross.

And round seven was confirmation that the tide had turned for good, with Maidana showing less intensity and Mayweather landing with some crisp shots.

Maidana found a second wind in the eighth, roughing his rival up on the ropes and possibly trumping Mayweather’s classier, but less frequent, shots on the counter.

Adrien Broner (left) was rarely troubled in his points victory over

Registration continues for Independence Three-Stage cycling

– May 14 is deadline for submission of entries

By Avenash Ramzan

Registration for the 32nd annual Independence ThreeStage cycling meet is gaining momentum, but according to chief organiser Hassan Mohamed, the number of entries is expected to increase significantly this week.

In an invited comment on Sunday, Mohamed, the long-serving national cycling coach, revealed that registration has been slow so far, but he is not worried as that has been the norm over the years.

“As it is, we don’t have a lot of entries, but that is not a worry because what you find is that the cyclists would register at the last moment. Many of them, both locally and overseas, have indicated their interest so they are expected to complete the registration process this week,” Mohamed indicated.

The two-day event, which is being held to coincide with Guyana’s 48th Independence anniversary, is billed for May 17-18, and

according to Mohamed, the deadline for registration is May 14.

“We want the cyclists to take note of that date [deadline for registration], because we won’t be accepting any late entries. So I want them to make use of the days left and get on board as quickly as possible,” Mohamed said.

When action pedals off on May 17, the riders will compete from the Corriverton Police Station to Alexander

Street, New Amsterdam, covering a distance of 46.6 miles or 75 km. That leg is slated to start at 07:30h.

At 14:00h on the same day, the cyclists will start at Rosignol and finish at Carifesta Avenue, Georgetown, a total distance of 60.4 miles or 97.1 km.

The third and final stage, which will cover 64.5 miles or 103 km, will be held on May 18 with action starting at 08:00h in Kara Kara, Linden, and ending

SportEditor Letter to the

Proud of achievements by PMCC over the last two years

Dear Editor,

Please permit this response to a letter to the editor, which appeared in another section of the media about the Port Mourant Cricket Club (PMCC).

As a born Guyanese from Train Line, Port Mourant, now living in New York, I would like to congratulate you, Mr Concerned Resident, for writing such a wonderful letter about the history of PMCC.

at Homestretch Avenue, Georgetown.

Altogether, the racers will cover 171.5 miles or 275.1 km of Guyana’s roadways.

Eastman defending champion

At last year’s event, Barbadian Jamal Eastman, riding for local club Carlton Wheelers, won the overall title in six hours, 58 minutes, 13 seconds (06h: 58m: 13s). Eastman was in sublime form, winning stages one and two, while Guyanese Robin Persaud won the final stage.

The Guyanese brigade Geron Williams (06h: 58m: 20s), Orville Hinds (06h: 58m: 25s), Alanzo Greaves (06h: 58m: 26s), Raynauth Jeffrey (06h: 58m: 33s) and Raul Leal (06h: 58m: 33s) rounded off the top finishers in that order.

Although Jeffrey and Leal gained the same time, Jeffrey secured the fifth spot by virtue of crossing the line ahead his Team Coco (Guyana) partner.

Leal was the leading junior cyclist, finishing ahead of Hamzah Eastman and Stephano Husbands, who ended in second and third spots, respectively.

Horace Burrowes, who finished seventh overall with a time of six hours, 59 minutes (06h: 59m), was the winner of the Veterans category, while Naomi Singh of East Coast Demerara was among the four females who participated in the two-day activity, but was the lone competitor on the distaff side to start all three stages. She collected a special prize for her effort.

The other females were Hazina Barrett of Linden, Maricia Dick of Berbice and Tashwana Doris of Georgetown.

The 2013 race had attracted 73 riders from Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Anguilla and the United States of America, and according to Mohamed, that number is expected to increase this year.

I know the Founding Father of our nation is smiling and laughing about your letter. Port Mourant has produced the best cricketers, all the names you mentioned and some more I would like to add to your list as well,such as Randolph Ramnarace and Raday Solomon.

Note the late Burlin Saheed came from Albion and was also the welfare officer at Port Mourant. Note, the Dhaniram brothers came from Albion and were fixtures at Port Mourant. No one questioned where they came from to join the PMCC. Note too that John Trim from Rose Hall represented PMCC with distinction.

So you can see if these players came from different villages in the past and it was not a problem, then it should not be a problem today when the PMCC is on the move in the right direction, when the global game is evolving with 20/20 tournaments featuring players from all over the world in the same team.

PMCC went beyond cricket as well. We produced Anand Sookram, a Caribbean table tennis champion, several great swimmers, and many talented people, too many to mention here.

Mr Concerned Resident, I was at PMCC about a month ago and an executive of the Port Mourant Reunion Group of NY returned just a few days ago. The executive was at PMCC every afternoon and reported to me daily by phone and email on the progress happening at PMCC.

I am very proud of the achievements PMCC has made in the last two years with the help they are getting from Guyanese living in New York (and not all from Port Mourant).

The president and the executive staff of PMCC are dedicated and committed to working hard with the youths coming to PMCC to take advantage of the better facilities.

Recently, we sent two professional table tennis boards, books for the library, volleyballs, basketballs, soccer balls, six Dell Computers, two professional tarp covers 30x60 120ft long 12 mil. thick. Another shipment of books is on the way by the end of May 2014.

Again, Mr. Concerned Resident, note also that Bhola Ramsundar Insurance & Travel Agency, along with Mr. Roy Ramlagan and Singh’s Sporting Goods, NY, and T&H Sporting Goods in Guyana located in

the Multiplex Mall, Regent and Wellington Sts, 3rd Fl, Georgetown, have donated to Mr. Arif Chan and Mr. Demetri Cameron cricket bats, batting pads, gear bags, shirts and pants. These two players will be representing Berbice, having played for PMCC for many years. PMCC has not produced any player to represent Berbice for some time, and this is just the beginning with much more to come from this cricketing mecca, including Rose Hall, being the town next to Port Mourant that we think of as our own too.

I really think Mr. Concerned Resident that you are needlessly troubled by the progress PMCC is making. Rose Hall too stands to benefit with better competitions, and better facilities near to you, made by donations from Guyanese living in the NY area willing to help PMCC and thus benefiting the local villages and townships. Mr Concerned Resident, you should be proud of this progress aided by Guyanese abroad. Surely, Rose Hall can benefit this way too. I call on you to join the team of this executive board to help promote PMCC and goodwill to competing clubs rather than harbor negative feelings about the progress PMCC is making.

I got news on the present competition going on, noting that PMCC has two wins and a draw, the wins against RHTCC, your home team and one of the strongest teams in the contest. After a long time, PMCC scored a victory against RHTCC and a draw against Albion. That win against one of the strongest clubs in Berbice is a great achievement. Do not harbor ill feelings about this, since this elevates the competitive level of the games for all the clubs. Surely with your help, Rose Hall can rise to the challenge.

Mr. Concerned Resident, I, Bhola Ramsundar, would love to see the AML bill passed. It’s an important law for all international transactions these days to ensure fair play and fair dealing. The donations we are sending to PMCC are all clean, being made by hard working New York Guyanese giving back a little for childhood memories in Guyana and Port Mourant, nothing more.

The Hon. Minister Dr. Frank Anthony MP and the HON Mr. Neil Kumar MP know that our donations are clean. Giving back is integral and necessary for community development, you certainly must agree. Dear, Mr Concerned Resident, I call on you to get your act together and support the cause of progress at PMCC and elsewhere for stronger cricket and sports development. PMCC is on the move as an example, and Rose Hall too stands to benefit.

Sincerely

Bhola Ramsundar

Sonics through to semis with balanced scoring attack

– Colts survive Knights to advance

By Treiston Joseph

The Pepsi Sonics had five players in double figures to carve out a 71-61 victory over the Eagles on Saturday evening, to make their way to the semi-final of the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) seconddivision tournament at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

The Pepsi Sonics were relentless in their attack in the paint, looking for scores on the inside while hitting their mid-range jumper effectively.

However, the Sonics were more effective in defence with their active hands that caused a lot of deflections, resulting in a number of steals that in turn resulted in a major advantage in fast break points for the Sonics.

Although the Eagles pounded the paint as well and kept the game close after a lopsided first half, they simply were ineffective in stopping the Sonics from scoring , failing to close out on shooters while not rotating on defence to stop the cutters from getting to the lane.

Jermaine Reid led the Sonics with a team -high 14 points, while both Kerwin Jackson and Sheldon Frank had 12 points apiece. Junior Lovell had 13 and Samuel Thompson 10 points to complete the balanced scoring attack that had a number of assists on each bucket scored.

Louis James had a gamehigh 18 points, while Troy Ferdinand had 13 and Kevin Higgins 12 in the losing effort.

The Bounty Colts endured a physical battle to come out with a 53-50 victory over a Knights team that kept playing a physical brand of basketball.

Despite the game being

marred with tough calls from the refs against both teams, the encounter between the two teams was the tensest of the tournament thus far.

Both teams kept pounding the ball on the inside as the Colts looked more to their post big men on the inside, while the Knights’ guard Owan Walton kept penetrating the perimeter defence of the Colts for easy scores.

The Knights however held a lead from the start of the game to midway through the third quarter, when the Colts went on a 10-2 run, that saw them opening a sixpoint advantage.

However, the Knights kept themselves in the game with stellar 3-2 zone defence that forced the colts to take some contested jumpers that kept rimming out.

Errol Dryden again came to the rescue for the Colts with two clutch-free throws

Jossiah Tanner wins 10k in Suriname

US-based Guyanese distance runner, Euleen JossiahTanner, continues her dominance, winning a 10-kilometre event in Suriname on Saturday.

Jossiah-Tanner clocked a time of 39.44s to win the event ahead of fellow Guyanese Alika Morgan, who took second and CARIFTA Games 1500 metres bronze medallist ,Andrea Foster.

“I feel good, it was extremely humid and I guess I got to expect that in the Caribbean. There is a difference in the level of humidity here and in the US (United States), but it was a good race for me,” JossiahTanner told Guyana Times Sport. Meanwhile,another Guyanese distance athlete,

Jossiah-Tanner

with 6.2s remaining in the game, that gave the Colts the three- point advantage and the eventual win.

Dryden ended with a team -high 10 points, while Delon LaRose had nine points and Nicholas Cassius eight in the win. Walton had a game- high 22 points, while Kester Gomes had 10 points in the loss.

The Republic Bank Nets held on to defeat the Plaisance Guardians 64-56 to advance to the semi-finals as well.

Pelham Doris led the Nets with a game- high 23 points, while Mortimer Williams had 13 and Joe Ifill 10 in the win.

Trenton Woolford had a team- high 22 points, while Marvin King contributed 17 points in the losing effort.

Furniture World/First Impressions 60-miler warm-up for Independence three-stage

Berbice cyclists will be in action again this weekend as two companies have come together to enable the athletes have a go at each other.

The Furniture World/ First Impressions 60-miler will be held on Monday and there will be monetary rewards for the first eight finishers .

The event is being organized by coach of the Flying Ace Cycle Club, Randolph Roberts, and is open to wheelers from Regions Five and Six.

According to Roberts, the race has been organized to keep Berbicians is shape for the next national event on the cycling calendar.

“There is the national threestage coming up on the 17th and 18th and this race on Monday is being staged as a

warm- up for that. The competition that we have been having between Flying Ace and Trojan is good; and after this event when the cyclists from Georgetown and Linden come to Berbice for the three-stage, they will see the true colours of the Flying Ace.” Roberts boastfully said.

Only the first female to cross the finish line will be awarded a prize and there will be eight sprint point prizes up for grabs.

The event will pedal off from Furniture World at Main and King Streets in New Amsterdam at 09:00h and proceed to Number 43 Village on the Corentyne, before returning to New Amsterdam to finish at Main and Alexander Streets.

(Andrew Carmichael)