Guyana Times Daily 25th January 2014

Solomon confirms Linden shutdown

saturday, January 25, 2014|

Linden Chamber of Commerce shuns Solomon’s protest action

– GGDMA head says, “If miners will be affected, we have a problem”

By Michael younge

The Linden Chamber of Commerce (LCC) has declined to endorse Region 10 Chairman Sharma Solomon’s plan to shut down the mining town today, expressing reservations about the protest action.

LCC President Kevin De Jonge told Guyana Times during an interview on Friday afternoon that the entity had limited information on the planned shutdown and, therefore, could not effect a meeting with its members to have the matter properly discussed before adopting a definitive position.

He said that Sharma failed to communicate sufficiently with the chamber on the matter.

No consultation

De Jonge also confirmed that the Linden chamber was not consulted by the organisers of the protest, which is aimed at seeing business activities in the community and all of Region 10 come to a halt today.

“We are unable to endorse the protest at this time,” he said. A release was issued by the chamber by the LCC on Friday afternoon expressing similar sentiments.

The chambere has approximately 24 financial members and has been in

existence for a number of years.

GGDMA objections

Meanwhile, Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) President Patrick Harding said his entity will have objections if the protest is executed in such a manner that it affects the livelihoods of miners who are operating out of Linden and Region 10.

Harding recalled the hardships faced by the miners during the 2012 shutdown which was organised by Solomon and others, before expressing the view that his organisation was not consulted on the planned protest.

Harding said while his association empathises with the concerns of Lindeners and Region 10, it is also duty-bound to consider the hardships that its members may face as a result of the decision

that has been taken.

Harding noted that many miners access the interior via Linden and should there be any attempt to block roads or bridges, they would be affected.

Pressed as to whether the association was endorsing or backing the spirit of the shutdown, Harding said this newspaper was “putting him on the spot” and declined to take any definitive stance.

Given the positions taken by these two stakeholders, businesses in Linden and Region 10 may have to make a judgement call as to whether to continue business as usual or to close their doors as a precautionary measure.

Futile Attempts to contact the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) and the Private Sector Commission (PSC) on the intended shutdown proved futile.

The decision taken by the regional chairman is as a result of the halted budget talks and the failure of his administration and central government to make any substantial progress on the committees established following the August 2012 unrest in the mining town that claimed three lives, left dozens injured, and caused billions in damage.

West Berbice family of six homeless after fire

Sixty-eight-year-old Vadomattie Sitaram ,a widow and pensioner of D’ Edwards Village, West Coast Berbice, is counting her losses, after fire gutted her home on Wednesday around 08:00h, leaving her family of six homeless.

Speaking to Guyana Times, the distraught woman recounted the horrific ordeal, which she said lasted about 15 minutes.

She related that she was sitting on the front steps of her home in the company of her daughter observing a man weeding grass in a nearby lot, when she saw a stream of smoke coming from the room in the front of her wooden and concrete structure.

“Me data run up and open the door and the whole house full with fire, so we had to run out, we na get to save nothing,” she lamented.

Electrical wires

She said a neighbour told her afterwards that they had been frantically shouting to her after noticing electrical wires sparking and smoke billowing from the interior of the house.

However, because of the noise of the grass cutter, the woman was unable to hear their cries of alarm. Sitaram is appealing to the government of Guyana, business entities, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and members of the public to render assistance to the family.

Sitaram’s daughter, Satwadevi Sahadeo, 28, who had suffered another tragedy recently when she lost her only child to cancer, said the family are at a loss, contemplating their next move.

“We lost everything; before we realise it, the house was ablaze, all we could have done is run for our lives and look helplessly as all our belongings and livelihood went up in flames,” she said.

The family members are being assisted by neighbours and relatives, making do with

whatever is offered.

Livelihood

The fire, believed to be electrical in origin, also destroyed a liquor store that was housed in the same building, reportedly resulting in more than $25 million in losses for the widow; her son Tameshwar Sahadeo, 27; daughter-inlaw Gayshma Gadwyn, 24; daughter Satwadevi; son-inlaw, Seeram Singh, 29; and five-year-old granddaughter Arianna.

Neighbours to the left of the burnt building also suffered significant damage, as fire scorched the side of their house and damaged some appliances. They are grateful

for the quick response of the Blairmont Estate and New Amsterdam Fire Service, which managed to save their home and the others threatened by the raging inferno.

Meanwhile, Region Five Chairman Bindraban Bisnauth reassured this publication that everything is being done to assist the family.

“I have already contacted the Guyana Relief Council and Food For The Poor Guyana Inc and they have promised to do their utmost in assisting the family,” he said, adding that the regional administration will be taking care of five-year-old Arianna’s needs so that she can attend school and be comfortable.

Countrywide: Light rain showers are expected during the day with clear skies in the evening over coastal regions and near inland locations. Temperatures are expected to range between 23 degrees and 27 degrees Celsius.

Winds: North-easterly between zero and 2.77 metres per second.

High Tide: 11:11h and 23:56h reaching maximum heights of 2.34 metres and 2.26 metres respectively.

Low Tide: 04:36h and 17:21h reaching minimum heights of 0.95 metre and 0.87 metre respectively.

No turning back

– Solomon confirms Linden shut down

BY SVETLANA MARSHALL

Today, Linden, Region 10 is expected to shut down in anticipation of President Donald Ramotar’s visit for the opening of a People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Freedom House office there.

The people of Linden will be seeking answers from the president regarding the failures of the August 21, 2012 agreement between the Region 10 Regional Democratic Council (RDC) and the government.

The agreement brought to an end a month-long unrest which commenced on July 18, 2012 following the death of three Lindeners. At the time, residents were protesting a proposed hike in electricity tariffs. The agreement was designed to foster economic growth while assessing the town’s ability to pay an increase in tariffs.

Resignation

However, Region 10 Chairman Sharma Solomon has reported that all is not well. The Linden Economic Committee Chairperson Joycelyn Williams resigned on January 15, 2014.

But while the RDC has already submitted a number of names to head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon to replace Williams, Solomon said thecurrent administration has refused to allow the committee to work, contending that the region must agree to another nominee

for the Technical Committee to look into electricity.

Additionally, the satellite dish and transmitter promised to the RDC have not been officially handed over, according to Solomon

Making voices heard

Speaking with Guyana Times on Friday, Solomon said the people of Linden and by extension Region 10 will be making their voices heard during the president’s visit.

“Every resident… in this region consciously has every right to confront the president, more so when that president had an opportunity to come, when three men were killed, he did not come, when he and his government would have signed unto an agreement to ensure that the people of this region get the basic things to enhance their lives, that has not been done 17 months on,” he said.

The Region 10 chairman said it disrespectful that President Donald Ramotar would visit Linden for the opening of a PPP/C office when in the past he declined to visit the town when the three men were killed.

Nevertheless, he emphasised that residents will use the opportunity to register their dissatisfaction and concerns. He said that the international community should put pressure on the government to enact the agreement.

Solomon also made it clear that the shutdown will be a peaceful one; hence, there should be no security alarms regarding the safety of commuters.

“Region 10 has always done things in a very peaceful manner, the people in Linden and Region 10 have never acted outside of the law, we are provoked by a government who is unwilling to ensure that it honours an agreement and its commitment,” he said.

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader David Granger has endorsed the position of Lindeners, noting that the shutdown is intended to garner the necessary

attention needed to address legitimate issues plaguing the town.

“It’s a local decision, the region and the town have serious issues with the central government as you know on the August 21, 2012, the RDC and the central government signed an agreement and essential elements have not been implemented and I think there is concern by the residents of the region, about the failure of government to act in good faith to implement the agreement,” Granger said on Friday.

U.S. embassy

Considering the results of the July 2012 unrest in the mining town, the U.S. embassy here is calling on American citizens to take precautionary measures. According to the U.S. embassy, while demonstrations are often times intended to be peaceful, they can turn confrontational and escalate into violence.

“You should avoid areas of demonstrations, and exercise caution if in the vicinity of any large gathering, protests or demonstrations. Traffic delays, road blocks and increased military or police presence is expected during the Linden citywide shutdown and Guyanese president’s visit,” the U.S. embassy release noted.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds has called on Lindeners to remember that the agreements which settled the unrest in Linden froze electricity tariffs.

“The agreements stated that there would be no consideration of any increases until after the various committee reports would have been received, studied and discussed. This position could not be more comfortable for the regional chairman and for APNU,” he said.

It was pointed out that the Ramotar administration in the 2014 budget will be providing $2.9 million for the Linden area and another $300 million for the Kwakwani Utilities Inc. “The agreement has certainly

not been barren.”

Prime Minister Hinds also used the opportunity to refute claims that the government is out to stymie economic progress in the mining community.

“Allow me the opportunity to again assure the citizens of Linden/Region 10 and, indeed, everyone else in Guyana that the PPP/C administration has been working for the economic and social upliftment of Linden/Region 10 in no way less than, and in no way different from, the way that we work for other towns and regions,” the prime minister said in a letter to the press.

Growth

According to Prime Minister Hinds, Linden and by extension Region 10 has experienced growth, pointing to the improvements visible in new buildings and vehicle ownership. “Linden is not stalled!”

Alluding to the bauxite industry, the prime minister said government was able to attract the Bosai Minerals Group Guyana Incorporated (BMGGI) and RUSAL.

“Be assured that the PPP/C would insist on the largest possible sustainable benefits from these foreign direct investors. At the same time, we must recall that when we owned and ran those operations, our costs were exceeding available market prices by up to 30 per cent,” he said. (svetlanam@guyanatimesgy.com)

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

Bullets, not ballots?

Three days ago, two youths, with an M-16 automatic rifle, two full magazines (60 rounds) and two live grenades, were apprehended by the police in South Ruimveldt. They had reportedly been given the weapons to smuggle into the Camp Street Prison. While investigations are still underway, the incident should be of grave concern to all citizens of Guyana. It invokes memories of the prison breakout of Mashramani/ Republic Day – Feb 23, 2002.

We are exactly a month away from Mash 2014, and it would be foolhardy to ignore the possibility of another prison breakout, intended to overthrow the government by unleashing violence against the state. After that prison breakout, the Guyana Police Force was made into a specific target of the so-called “Freedom 5” who ended up sequestering themselves in Buxton on the East Coast of Demerara. Before it all ended, more policemen were killed than in the previous century, dozens of civilians, including women, children and the crippled, were murdered.

In the attempt of the state to reassert its authority, the army was brought in to supplement the efforts of the Guyana Police Force. For a while, it appeared that they would not be able to withstand the onslaught. Citizens evidently felt it necessary to defend themselves and scores were killed as squads of gunmen, including one directed by Roger Khan who was later convicted as a drug smuggler by the U.S., joined the bloodbath.

It took a full six years to bring the situation in the country to some kind of normalcy. In the last year, Guyana became a veritable killing field as several massacres were committed in all corners of the land. Surely, the memories of those nightmarish days have not receded completely from the memories of individuals who survived them.

And it is within this context that we believe the Stabroek News is pouring fuel into an incipient fire that might possibly engulf the land and consume us all in “the fire next time”. In its Friday’s editorial, the newspaper blithely ignores the context in which Guyana is situated and proposes that “riot and rebellion” are as legitimate as the ballot to secure legitimate political power. As one of our columnist points out in today’s edition, the Stabroek News selectively plucks the quote and others from a paper by Professor Selwin Ryan.

It failed to report that even the most fervent proponents of “the right to rebel” cautioned its exercise. As Professor Ryan pointed out, “This right, they argued, should, however, not be frivolously exercised. Only when the breach of trust was” indefensible was extra-legal behaviour condonable. In John Locke’s view, only threats to liberty and property seemed serious enough to warrant the taking of extra-legal action.

In Jefferson’s view, there had to be a “long train of abuses and usurpations” before rebellion was justified. The question as to who determines when the intervention of the citizenry is justified was, however, not authoritatively determined. Can Stabroek News say with a straight face, that Guyana has come to this pass?

Stabroek News also ignores the aftermath of the context in which Professor Ryan made his comments back in 2000. It was in the aftermath of the “riot and rebellion” by the PNC following the 1997 elections. We know that all the concessions wrenched from the then PPP/C administration only encouraged more “riot and rebellion” under the strategy of “slo fyaah; mo fyaah”, which segued into the aforementioned prison breakout and mayhem. Today, the opposition, dominated by the PNC/APNU, which controls the Region 10 administration, has called for a total “shutdown” of Linden. Stabroek News’ encouragement of “riot and rebellion” should also be judged against this background.

It is not that citizens of Caricom countries should accept “abuses”, but the organisation should be granted, as SN grudgingly concedes, an extended mandate to create “formalised machinery” to deal with crises.” Peacefully.

Digital Technology Chief Executive Officer Terrence

with his

The Colwyn Harding affair

Dear Editor,

I note with great amusement the speed with which the Guyana Bar Association was activated into action in condemning the Guyana Police Force in the Colwyn Harding affair.

The association must know, or at least is presumed to know, about concepts such as due process, presumption of innocence, the right to be heard and their absolute significance to the justice system, as well as to the basic civilised notion of fairness.

However, the association obviously disregarded and ignored all these concepts in their haste to rally around Nigel Hughes, who appears to be the main architect behind this whole saga. Indeed, from all indications, it appears they are going to be personally humiliated along with Hughes and Alliance For Change (AFC), since the information which is emanating from the police investigation and the medical probe are debunking the story which they are peddling.

As lawyers, a few factors should have, at a minimum, struck them as odd. They include.

* The sheer improbability

of a baton being inserted in someone’s anus without him needing medical treatment for nearly two months.

* The fact that the victim of such a violent assault being able to walk, attend Court and have bowel movements for two months, without any apparent problems.

* That the victim of such a brutal act not disclosing it to anyone, for two months, even his close relatives, or the magistrate before whom he appeared just two days thereafter.

* That the disclosures came after two months when his knight in shining armour, Hughes, rode up on the scene.

* That no one, including police officers, who may have been on the scene, prisoners who may have been in the lock-ups, uttered a single word about this atrocity before the disclosures by Hughes;

* When doctors were engaged, the absence of any medical opinion, instantaneously or even belatedly, which supports the infliction of such an unusual act of cruelty.

These crystal clear signals must titillate suspicion in the mind of a reasonable

person, more so, a person trained in law. The association ignored them all. They rushed to judgment against the police after hearing only one side and in the absence of any corroborating evidence. The police’s right to be heard was ignored.

Compare their reaction when Hughes was accused of tampering with the jury in the Lusignan massacre murder case. Here, 13 people died, including five children. All slaughtered in their sleep, worse than animals. Not a word of concern or condemnation emanated from this association.

In fact, when they were called upon to comment by Anil Nandlall, the attorney general, their president, in a letter to the press, attacked and condemned him.

Recall, when allegations were made against the police that they had burnt the genitals of a teenaged boy, the association condemned it with all its might. Indeed, they were right to do so. In that case, there was ample evidence of the excessive actions. The police officers were charged.

However, when the state paid the compensation which

was ordered by a judge to the teenager for the injuries he suffered, Khemraj Ramjattan reportedly pocketed over onethird of it as legal fees. The Court of Appeal in Guyana, some years ago, ruled that contingency arrangements between lawyer and client are unlawful. It is obvious that Ramjattan had such an arrangement. Again, not a word from the association. Only a few weeks ago, a policeman was shot and killed by a prisoner in the discharge of his duties. Not a word from the association. Is this not a human life? At least, Harding is alive. I can go on to list more examples. I do not think it is necessary. I believe the point is made. To the learned members of this honourable profession, I say your slip is showing in a most vulgar manner. Your silence will do you a greater good. History teaches us that there are two professions which are regarded as the oldest. One is the legal profession. I will leave you to guess the other. This association seems to be a member of both.

Respectfully,

Reaz Holladar

Police should forge an aggressive partnership with civil society

Dear Editor, The Guyana Islamic Trust (GIT), for some time now has noted, with great unease, allegations against the Guyana Police Force (GPF) regarding the torture and brutalisation of detainees. Since there are often conflicting reports from the police and others with re-

spect to these allegations, the GIT is calling on the GPF and the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) to thoroughly and objectively investigate these incidents and publish their findings.

It has been observed that there are a number of allegations of these sorts. We believe that no one should be tortured or threatened to make confessions and we strongly hold that every person is innocent until proven guilty.

Furthermore, we believe in a peaceful, loving, humane and just society where no person should be fearful or intimidated. The GIT sees the GPF as the entity to maintain law, order and security. We therefore recommend that the GPF forges an aggressive partnership with civil society to enhance its operation and image in all sectors of the society.

Sincerely, Guyana Islamic Trust

The shutting down of Linden

Dear Editor, Allow me the opportunity to again assure the citizens of Linden/Region 10 and, indeed, everyone else in Guyana, that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) administration has been working for the economic and social upliftment of Linden/Region 10 in no way less than, and in no way different from, the way that we work for other towns and regions.

I feel obliged to seek this opportunity, having followed the sentiments, recently expressed by various political figures, as reported in articles appearing in another section of the press. Linden has been growing. The prosperity, or lack thereof, the challenges, the successes and problems, the improvements visible in new buildings and vehicle ownership, are much the same in Linden as in other parts of Guyana.

Constraint

Linden is not stalled! The major constraint on Linden, which is in the hands of David Granger, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine and Sharma Solomon, is the politicallyinspired, continual preaching to citizens of Linden that the PPP/C government does not like the people of Linden/ Region 10. As in other regions of Guyana, there are less prosperous areas and more prosperous areas. For example, the Amelia’s Ward extension, developed over the last 20 years is comparable to prosperous new developments like Diamond, on the East Bank of Demerara.

Firstly, talking to the big things, the PPP/C government inherited from the outgoing People’s National Congress (PNC) government a foreign-managed bauxite company that, if not made profitable, was to be shut down.

When the international manager reported in 1994 that he could not see how to make LINMINE profitable, this government did not comply but, changed from the shutting down agreement of the earlier PNC government, kept the bauxite company open and kept on supporting the operations, both in Linden and Kwakwani, from the Treasury.

Also, when the foreign owner of the operations at Aroaima offered to have the PPP/C government take over or shut down Aroaima, we took it over. We provide where it matters, when it matters. We are not in the shutting down business!

We were aware that these bauxite operations needed to be transformed into entities that would pay their way and sustain themselves over the long term. We knew how traumatic abrupt closure would be for the population in Linden/Region 10. We provided more time as we

worked to find foreign partners, with whom we would work, with whom these operations would make a good fit.

We are gratified that we were able to attract BOSAI into Linden, and RUSAL into Berbice. Be assured that the PPP/C would insist on the largest possible sustainable benefits from these foreign direct investors. At the same time, we must recall that when we owned and ran those operations, our costs were exceeding available market prices by up to 30 per cent.

We should recognise that there is no bonanza now in bauxite, only opportunity for work, hard work and work with great discipline. We have to put our all, and a little more, into our bauxite operations to keep them viable and able to carry a decent wage.

Allow me to recall that our past President Bharrat Jagdeo, then an officer in the Finance Ministry, led a socioeconomic study of Linden in about 1994, with a number of young economists, some of whom were sons and daughters of Linden. This provided a basis for this PPP/C government to seek another European Union (EU) intervention, to take Linden beyond bauxite, beyond being a bauxite town.

We sought to have a number of infrastructure projects included – greatly upgraded roads to Ituni and Kwakwani and, also, Linden to Kimbia on the Berbice River. We had to settle for a people-changing project with monies included only for surveys and demonstrations of the infrastructure projects that we desired.

Investments

Allow me also to point again to this government’s investments in Linden/ Region 10 into schools, housing, roads, water and the hospitals. Already, in February 1997, the day on which Dr Cheddi Jagan suffered a heart attack, I and then Education Minister, the late Dr Dale Bisnauth, had just returned to Georgetown from a full-day visit to Linden, where we toured 14 sites, mainly schools and one community building, all of which were being rehabilitated in a major way, or being built anew.

We started early in Linden. Linden, today, is much larger than, and greatly improved from, where it was in 1992. Just travel around, all around, look, and see. There is a lot that has been accomplished, perhaps not in an overly flashy way but in our PPP/C way that some may think of as a bit plodding – little by little, stage by stage, as evidenced in the history of the development of Amelia’s Ward. We in the PPP/C have more right than anyone else,

particularly Solomon and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), to be disappointed over the lack of mutual agreement and movement on the Linden committees. Our disappointment starts from the rejection, as well as the manner of rejection, of the agreement between us in budget talks of 2012, to begin a staged normalisation of electricity provision in Linden, looking at merging the Linden area into the national grid over, say, a five-year period.

We could understand the people of Linden not welcoming the proposals, but a responsible APNU could have come back with a proposal to, say, delay the start from mid-2012 to the beginning of 2013. We understand that leaders cannot be too far ahead of their constituency, but leaders must lead or their constituency would be left in the past.

Concerning the agreements which settled the unrest in Linden, they froze electricity tariffs to where they were. The agreements stated that there would be no consideration of any increases until after the various committee reports would have been received, studied and discussed. This position could not be more comfortable for the regional chairman and for APNU.

The government, this year in the 2014 budget, has to provide $2.9 million for the Linden area, and another $300 million for the Kwakwani Utilities Inc. The agreement has certainly not been barren.

Television station

Concerning the television station, there is a huge difference between being given the equipment that it is claimed Green Construction gifted to the community in 1985, and being given a running television station.

Throughout our 20 years, Linden/Region 10 has shared equitably in what our country has. A major job over the years has been working to develop trade with northern Brazil and to establish Guyana as the favoured place for Brazil to develop a northern port for north Brazil.

We have been advocating and advancing the paving of the Linden-Lethem road –the greatest problem is the history of the incidence of Linden and the existing road being shut down. The people of Linden must guard against being wound up to spite the PPP/C, but only in the end damaging their own better interests.

We of the PPP/C believe that the problems of Linden/ Region 10 are politically engineered, not by the PPP/C, but by Granger, Solomon and others who preach continually about Linden and Region 10 being discriminated against because the peo-

ple in Region 10 are different from, and do not vote for, the PPP/C.

Interestingly, some tell people in other areas, like Region Six, that the PPP/C takes them for granted and that we are going all out for Region 10, so as to win it over. We go all out for everyone! We do all we can in an equitable way for everyone.

Readers, there could be nothing more deadening and self-fulfilling than the constant preaching that the government is against the people of Linden/Region 10, thereby politically engineering the stalling of development. It takes away all sense of responsibility from the people of Linden, killing their initiative, ingenuity, and their innovative and entrepreneurial spirit in-born in the people of Linden and Region 10, the same as in people everywhere.

To be successful these days, people say one has to add computer skills and IT to traditional skills. Remember some eight years ago, when bauxite workers in Linden were put on two months’ furlough. This government provided every worker with base pay, but only on attending introductory or improving courses in computers.

And to be successful these days, one has to accept that he/she has to be competitive, and that he/she can be competitive. This is true for citizens of Linden/Region 10

and, indeed, for all Guyana. I recall, during a debate in Parliament in about 1994, on the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME). Dr Clive Thomas pointed out that our hourly labour rates were (then) the lowest in the Caribbean Community (Caricom).

However, because of our low productivity and low quality, causing high reject work-rates and poor satisfaction and timeliness, the costs of our labour in units of our goods and services were among the highest in Caricom. We were not likely to be competitive in the CSME.

Competitive

Lowest hourly rates but highest labour costs! This is where our attention should be focused. This should be our common and shared battleground, focusing on learning, training and practising, so that the productivity, quality, timeliness and cost of whatever we do, become much more competitive, providing us much more satisfaction and earning. I hoped then, and ever do, that there could be widespread focus on improving our productivity. This is the battle that I hoped Dr Thomas would have dedicated himself to, noting his standing with labour and many persons who might have been sceptical of such a message from the PPP/C.

Granger, Roopnaraine and Solomon have been teaching the people of Linden that their primary problem is the PPP/C central government. This is the political engineering that has been hobbling development in Linden/ Region 10. This is the political engineering that the PPP/C has had to overcome. The PPP/C does not despair! We will always be in Linden. We will stay on the scene, welcoming fellow Guyanese citizens, whether one by one, or two by two.

There is no future in dwelling in the past. In these days, we have to be open and nimble to change, to open to the world; cheerful and quick to make friends. These are not the qualities that Granger, Roopnaraine, Solomon and Aubrey Norton are advocating and nurturing in Linden/Region 10. The road on which they are taking Linden/Region 10 leads to a dead-end. We would not leave our fellow citizens of Linden/Region 10 to such a fate. Whether on Saturday [today], Solomon and APNU are successful or not in shutting Linden/Region 10 down as they threaten, we of the PPP/C will always be around working to put things together for the good of the people of Linden/Region 10, and all Guyana.

Respectfully, Office of the Prime Minister

Separation anxiety

Tearful, tantrum-filled goodbyes are common during a child’s earliest years. Around the first birthday, many children develop separation anxiety, getting upset when a parent tries to leave them with someone else.

Though separation anxiety is a perfectly normal part of childhood development, it can be unsettling.

Understanding what your child is going through and having a few coping strategies can help both of you get through it.

How separation anxiety develops

Babies adapt pretty well to other caregivers. Parents probably feel more anxiety about being separated than infants do! As long as their needs are being met, most babies younger than six months adjust easily to other people.

Sometime between four to seven months, babies develop a sense of object permanence and begin to learn that things and people exist even when they’re out of sight. This is when babies start playing the “dropsy” game – dropping things over the side of the high chair and expecting an adult to pick them up (which, once retrieved, get dropped again!).

The same thing occurs with a parent. Babies realise that there’s only mom or dad, and when they can’t see you, that means you’ve gone away. And most don’t yet understand the concept of time so they do not know if or when you’ll come back.

Whether you’re in the kitchen, in the next bedroom, or at the office, it’s all the same to your baby. You’ve disappeared, and your child will do whatever he or she can to prevent this from happening.

Stresses can trigger anxiety

When they’re between eight months and one-year-old, children grow into

more independent toddlers, yet are even more uncertain about being separated from a parent. This is when separation anxiety develops, and children may become agitated and upset when a parent tries to leave.

Whether you need to go into the next room for just a few seconds, leave your child with a sitter for the evening, or drop off your child at day care, your little one might now react by crying, clinging to you, and resisting attention from others.

The timing of separation anxiety can vary widely from child to child. Some children might go through it later, between 18 months and two and a half

years of age. Some never experience it. And for others, certain life stresses can trigger feelings of anxiety about being separated from a parent: a new childcare situation or caregiver, a new sibling, moving to a new place, or tension at home.

How long does separation anxiety last? It varies, depending on the child and how a parent responds. In some cases, depending on a child’s temperament, separation anxiety can last from infancy through the elementary school years. In cases where the separation anxiety interferes with an older child’s normal activities, it can indicate a deeper anxiety disorder. If separation anxiety appears out of the blue in an older child, there might be another problem, like bullying or abuse.

Separation anxiety is different from the normal feelings older children have when they don’t want a parent to leave. In those cases, the distress can usually be overcome if a child is distracted enough and won’t re-emerge until the parent returns and the child remembers that the parent left.

And children do understand the effect this behaviour has on parents. If you come running back into the room every time your child cries and then stay there longer or cancel your plans, your child will continue to use this tactic to avoid separation.

Making goodbyes easier

These strategies can help ease children and parents through this difficult period:

Timing is everything. Try not to start day care or childcare with an unfamiliar person when your little one is between the ages of eight months and one year, when separation anxiety is first likely to appear. Also, try not to leave when

your child is likely to be tired, hungry, or restless. If at all possible, schedule your departures for after naps and mealtimes.

Practise. Practise being apart from each other, and introduce new people and places gradually. If you’re planning to leave your child with a relative or a new babysitter, invite that person over in advance so they can spend time together while you’re in the room. If your child is starting at a new day care centre or preschool, make a few visits there together before a full-time schedule begins. Practise leaving your child with a caregiver for short periods of time so that he or she can get used to being away from you. Be calm and consistent. Create a exit ritual during which you say a pleasant, loving, and firm goodbye. Stay calm and show confidence in your child. Reassure him or her that you’ll be back — and explain how long it will be until you return using concepts children will understand (such as after lunch) because your child can’t yet understand time. Give him or her your full attention when you say goodbye, and when you say you’re leaving, mean it; coming back will only make things worse. Follow through on promises. It’s important to make sure that you return when you have promised to. This is critical — this is how your child will develop the confidence that he or she can make it through the time apart.

As hard as it may be to leave a child who’s screaming and crying for you, it’s important to have confidence that the caregiver can handle it. It may help both of you to set up a time that you will call to check in, maybe 15 to 20 minutes after you leave. By that time, most children have calmed down and are playing with other things. Don’t let yourself give in early and call sooner! (Kids Health)

a crying baby

Every mom has been there: Your baby is crying, you have no clue how to soothe her, and you’d give anything to have someone tell you how to stop it. As frustrating as crying is, simply understanding why babies do it can take some of the stress out of the situation. And fortunately, there are several things you can do to calm your baby – and make both of you feel better.

Why babies cry Babies can’t tell us “I’m hungry,” “I’d like to get out of this car seat,” or “This itchy tag is driving me crazy!” So instead, they cry. It’s their way of saying “Mom, I need you!” What should you do if all of your baby’s needs have been met (he’s rested, fed, has a clean diaper) and he’s still crying? Don’t assume the worst.

All infants have periods of fussiness during their first few months, perhaps because they have an immature neurological system. And some babies are just more sensitive – noises, smells, even certain sensations can upset them. Most newborns cry for an average of three hours a day, peaking at around six weeks. The good news: by three months, most babies’ crying will subside to about one hour a day.

Why you’re not a bad mom

When a baby cries, it triggers the release of the hormone prolactin (dubbed “the mothering hormone”) in moms, which creates an urge to pick up the baby and meet her needs. You’re hardwired to soothe your baby, and when that doesn’t happen, it can make you feel like a failure. But your baby’s fussiness is not a reflection on your parenting skills – and it’s completely normal for a baby to cry even when there doesn’t seem to be a direct cause. If you’re ever in doubt, however, don’t hesitate to call your paediatrician to make sure there isn’t an underlying problem. (Parenting)

Ramotar casts doubt on baton-rape allegations – flays media reporting on the matter

By Bhisham mohamed

President Donald Ramotar on Friday broke his silence on the Colwyn Harding saga for the first time, flaying the media for its reportage thus far and casting doubt as to the motive behind the allegations by the young man.

The president said while his government is against any form of torture by the Guyana Police Force, he does not think people should be 'hanged' before a trial.

“To me, I have my personal views on those things… one, how long it took? And two, who are the people who are now instigating it; where do they stand; what are their political motives?” he asked.

Not factual

The head of state also pointed out that a lot of what is happening is not based on the facts, but probably an attempt to instigate negative feelings in society.

Ramotar explicitly stated they he did not have an issue with an independent investigation into the matter, but rather the political-negativism of some sections of the

media.

On this note, he referred to the Linden protest which he said was heavily misrepresented, as was made known by the findings of an independent inquiry commission.

“It obviously seems to be some agenda to instigate these things because clearly when you have an independent inquiry on these things, they're coming out to be not true,” noted the president.

Meanwhile, Police Complaints Authority (PCA) Chairman, Justice Cecil Kennard on Friday said he has received the report compiled by the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) on Thursday evening and is going through it.

He is expected to make his recommendations in another week’s time. Kennard said the OPR has made several recommendations, but that he is not obligated to concur with these.

Next step

The former chancellor of the judiciary stated that once he is finished with the file and would add his recommendations to the Director

of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Bibi Shalimar Ali-Hack for legal advice.

He also stated that some statements in the file are handwritten which can contribute to the delay in the case.

Guyana Times understands that of the recommendations made by the investigation team, one was to take disciplinary actions against ranks whom the allegations were made against.

Harding has since left Guyana for Jamaica to seek medical attention. Health Minister, Dr Bheri Ramsaran has said the Georgetown Public Hospital is equipped to treat Harding and made clear that the state will not be footing the expenses of Harding’s overseas treatment.

The young man alleged that he was baton-raped by a police rank attached to the Timehri Police Station, while he was in police custody for a theft allegation.

Since the incident, he has been hospitalised. The matter was first brought to the forefront after the mother of the young man decided to approach the media.

No hurry to appoint new local govt minister – Ramotar

President Donald Ramotar said he will not be moving in a hurry to replace Ganga Persaud, who recently resigned his post as local government and regional development minister.

While Persaud has until January 31 to demit office, the president said that he will not be moving to replace him anytime soon.

According to Ramotar, there is already a local government minister and he does not foresee any difficulties in him managing the ministry.

“I don’t need to be in a big hurry there. I have a minister in place there already,” the president told his first news conference for 2014.

Ramotar said too that the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) is ready for local government elections, and Persaud’s resignation would not affect the process.

He added that the resignation comes as no surprise to him as they would have been in frequent contact. When questioned as to whether Persaud was somewhat forced to resign, Ramotar responded “he resigned and I accept his resignation”.

The president said while he has been stern with all his ministers of government,

Security guard shot during attack in North Sophia

Asecurity guard is nursing a gunshot wound to his left thigh following an attack by three men in North Sophia, Greater Georgetown.

The robbers have since managed to relieve another guard of his revolver.

Mortimer Maynard, 45, of West Ruimveldt has since been admitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he is said to be in a stable condition. The man according to reports is attached to the Khandai Security Service and has been employed there for a number of years.

According to information received, about 21:00h on Thursday evening, Maynard and his colleague Trevor Fraser, 42, who was armed with a .38 revolver, were patrolling in the North Sophia area as they normally do when the incident occurred.

The three men managed to take away the firearm from Fraser during a scuffle and subsequently discharged three rounds, one of which struck Maynard.

Upon realising that he was shot, the three men suspected to be teenagers made good their escape with the firearm

belonging to the security firm. Guyana Times was told that the injured man was picked up and taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he was seen by a doctor and admitted. The bullet was reported extracted from his thigh.

When this publication attempted to speak with Maynard, his relatives in a hostile manner disallowed the interview. Maynard and his colleague Fraser have since given written statements to the police. Several attempts to contact the security firm proved futile.

Digital Technology opens Brickdam branch

Georgetown Chambers of Commerce and Industry (GCCI)

President Clinton Urling said information technology is indispensable in the world of business today, and urged entrepreneurs to use this tool to improve their operations.

He made the call at the launch of Digital Technology’s new store on Brickdam, Geogetown, on Friday where he pointed out that the tool would not only help to support business processes, but will also improve management decisions.

“I don’t think that we could for at least a second think or imagine a world without mobile phones, tablets, PCs or even simply the Internet…. It’s unthinkable that just about 20 years ago we went without a lot of these modern day technologies.

"As a country, Guyana needs to accelerate the pace

of our ICT development, invest more in ICT infrastructure, and invest in the education initiative to improve the available skill set in the sector and also craft and effect legislation to broaden the scope in the sector,” he said.

He also took the opportunity to urge policymakers to accelerate the process to free up the telecommunication sector, pointing out that the e-governance project will be of significant help in this regard.

He congratulated the owners of the business Terrence and Sabrina Sukhu, noting that despite challenges, the private sector remains undeterred in the process to help in the development of Guyana.

Digital Technology's Chief Executive Officer Terrence Sukhu said the store’s expansion has long been on the cards, pointing out that the entity, recognising its re-

sponsibility to Guyanese, continues to hold the fort as one of the main suppliers of information and communication technology equipment in Guyana.

“We recognise our responsibility to the information technology sector in Guyana and therefore we are not only a product-driven company, but rather an end-to -end solutions provider, that continuously engage our stakeholder to offer presale advice and tailor specific solutions to meet their needs.”

Since its establishment in 2003, Digital Technology has grown to become one of the premier technology-based companies here. With its main location in Diamond, East Bank of Demerara, the company has more than 10 years of experience, offering innovative and green computing solutions to the local market.

Persaud was never made uncomfortable nor had any reasons to feel that way.

Persaud on Thursday announced that he had tendered his resignation, citing personal and other reasons. He said it was a pleasure to serve in the capacity of minister and extended gratitude to Ramotar for having confidence in him.

Persaud said he would continue to serve the Peoples Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).

“My resignation as minister of local government and regional development is based on personal issues presently engaging my attention as well as some additional responsibilities to which I am committed,” he said in a statement.

Persaud was appointed local government and regional development minister after the PPP/C emerged victorious at the 2011 polls.

saturday, January 25, 2014| guyanatimesgy.com

Several agencies, individuals at fault in Harding saga – GHRA

The Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) said recent revelations involving two young women implicate a wider range of agencies and individuals in alleged irregularities and brutality in the Colwyn Harding case.

The body in a release said, taken as a whole, the cascade of complaints and unanswered questions raised by this saga increases the urgency of an independent investigation.

Tiffany Edwards and Teneisha Evans, originally charged in mid-November along with Colwyn Harding, appeared in the Providence Magistrate's Court on November 18 on charges of assaulting a peace officer and disorderly behaviour.

Harding and Edwards could not raise their bail and were remanded to prison.

Teneisha Evans remains in New Amsterdam women’s prison serving a twoyear sentence imposed on December 3, for stealing and selling property from an aunt in order to raise bail for her boyfriend, Harding.

The original charges are set to be heard in February at the Providence court. In addition to the disorderly behaviour and assault charges, Edwards was charged with two additional assault charges, bail on the four charges accumulating to $110,000.

Edwards was bailed from the New Amsterdam women’s prison two days ago. A number of neighbourhood policing group members were allegedly involved in the original group led by an officer who reportedly raided the two homes in the early hours of the morning of November 15.

Statements

The GHRA said both females, in statements made to their lawyer and to others, allege some form of sexual assault took place on Harding. Edwards has alleged that she suffered a miscarriage as a result of being kicked in the stomach by the constable in Timehri prison.

“The fact that Edwards was kept in La Penitence

lock-ups for weeks is consistent with police behaviour when they want to conceal injuries to a detainee (or in her case an alleged miscarriage) before transferring them to prison. Normal routine would have been for her to be sent to New Amsterdam Prison after her appearance in the magistrate’s court,” GHRA said.

Evans claimed that they made efforts to complain about the brutal treatment, but were told that they should raise the matter in court at their next appearance in February.

Investigation

“Should an independent investigation find the above allegations to be substantially true, the decay in the Guyana Police Force (GPF) has become even more widespread and toxic than feared.

"This in turn requires an objective assessment of why the many measures set in place over the past decade to modernise and professionalise the GPF in terms of financial resources, equip-

ment and placing more officers before the courts are having so little impact. Neither preventative nor punitive measures have produced acceptable results,” dsif the GHRA.

The association said procedures for selection of candidates for top posts in the force, which clearly insulate them from political interference, are urgently needed.

It said a particularly disturbing feature of this saga, easily overlooked amid the welter of allegations, is the ages of the persons involved.

“All those detained apart from Harding are borderline adults and two are children. At an early stage, reference was made to a 17-year old having made a statement to his lawyer.

Was he charged independently and for what offence?

The concept of juvenile justice in Guyana has eroded to the point of being obsolete – a fact reflected institutionally in relegation of the probation service to margins of the Ministry of Human Services, the GHRA statement concluded.

GCAA responds to “obfuscation” of facts

The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has taken issue with various statements in the public domain concerning the function of the authority in relation to accident and incident investigations.

The GCAA in a release said Guyana as a signatory to the Convention on International Civil Aviation is mandated to carry out a safety investigation in conformity with the protocols and procedures set out in Annex 13 to that convention.

“It must be made clear that this Annex 13 investigation is a safety investigation with the sole objective of preventing accidents and incidents. It is not the purpose of this type of activity to apportion blame or liability. These types of investigations are

usually carried out by the national regulatory body for civil aviation. This is the practice internationally; Guyana is no different in this regard,” the body said.

The Civil Aviation (investigation of accidents) Regulations of 1982 makes provision for the appointment of an inspector of accidents for the purposes of carrying out an investigation into the circumstances and causes of accidents and incidents arising out of or in the course of air navigation, which occur to civil aircraft in or over Guyana, or elsewhere to civil aircraft registered in Guyana.

“To therefore infer that in conducting a safety investigation, GCAA is in essence investigating itself, is an obfuscation of the facts.

“While the GCAA, like

other aviation authorities across the region, does not yet have the optimum level of resources, the authority has formed the necessary relationships that bring to bear any technical and human resources as the need arises.”

The aviation body said one such example is the relationship between the GCAA and the Caribbean Aviation Safety and Security Oversight System (CASSOS). While the GCAA does not have a full-time in-house flight operations inspector, the services of a qualified Inspector are made readily available through CASSOS.

“Indeed, the very reason for the existence of CASSOS is to provide the human and technical resources to address the existing regional deficiencies in these areas.

“It is important to note that the GCAA was staffed with an ICAO approved flight operations inspector but certain operators took to the courts to prevent him from carrying out his functions, resulting in his eventual departure from the authority. Since that time, the GCAA has been making continuous efforts to recruit a full-time, in-house flight operations inspector,” the GCAA.

With respect to the most recent accident, the GCAA has moved swiftly to carry out its mandate as it is required to do under national and international law. The authority is in contact with the relevant international agencies and has in place all the technical and human resources necessary for the completion of its safety investigation.

LIAT delivers more relief supplies to St Vincent, St Lucia

LIAT continues to render assistance to St Vincent and the Grenadines and St Lucia, the two countries most affected by devastating floods last month.

The airline in a release said it recently teamed up with the Antigua and Barbuda Cruise Tourism Association as well as Bryson’s Shipping to deliver more than 15,000 pounds of relief supplies to both countries.

Bryson’s Shipping General Manager Nathan Dundas expressed his “profound gratitude” to LIAT for agreeing to facilitate the shipments free of cost.

“LIAT, and specifically LIAT Cargo, was one of the first responders after the deadly floods which also af-

fected Dominica,” he said.

“It is indeed a privilege and a real pleasure for us to be part of this initiative of assisting and highlighting the needs of the people of St Vincent and St Lucia fol-

lowing the unfortunate situation that took place there over the Christmas period with the flooding in those areas.”

Dundas explained that the shipment consisted of

water “which remains an essential need” and other critical items such as blankets and sheets which were acquired from many donors and sponsors in Antigua and Barbuda.

LIAT Cargo and Quikpak Executive Manager Wilbur Edwards said the airline is honoured to be a part of the initiative.

He explained that the company used its dedicated freighter aircraft to make two trips to St Vincent, delivering 8815 pounds of relief supplies; and one trip to St Lucia, delivering 6855 pounds.

In addition to the dedicated freighter aircraft, LIAT Cargo continues to move relief supplies on scheduled passenger flights and via LIAT Quikpak.

Eyew tness

Assassins of democracy...

...in Parliament

There’s much ado about “democracy” being made by the opposition parties in Guyana nowadays. (IRI?) But as usual, it’s a cynical stunt to suit their own purpose – to get their hands on the Consolidated Funds. Take the latest revelations about the Select Committee that’s supposed to review the Anti-Money Laundering/ Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Bill: the opposition has blankly refused to allow the media and the public to witness its deliberations.

Now we all know the background of this bill. It’s a bunch of regulations that Guyana’s being asked by the CFATF, on behalf of its world parent-body, to implement. We were given a deadline which the intransigence of the opposition made us miss. We were given an extension which was also missed for the same reason. So sanctions have been imposed and just this week, the head of Banks complained about its business transactions slowing down.

Processing of remittances will also be slowing down – if it hasn’t already. So all Guyanese are affected, yes? And you’d also assume they’re entitled to know why the legislation isn’t being passed, yes? And their right to know is what democracy’s all about, yes? Well, to all of this, the opposition has answered with a resounding “NO!!!”

The “Big Question is why?” as someone once put it. Is it because the opposition parties think the average citizen is so dull he can’t follow the discussion? Or is it they think people aren’t interested in their funds being cut off? The pathetic truth is they just don’t want the public to discover they really have absolutely no substantive objections to the bill. The people would see the opposition has no clothes!

After all, the bill would’ve prevented – or at least make more difficult – what the opposition’s been claiming is rampant in the country: massive corruption, criminal activities and laundering of ill-gotten gains. Why would the opposition parties not want to suss out these things? They’ve been claiming that they didn’t approve the bail the last time because they were “consulting” their constituency.

For almost two years, they’ve been beating the bushes and still can’t get a feel for what their constituents want? Please!!!! It’s either they’re lying through their teeth or they have no constituents. Or both. They should know that democracy has a way of defending itself when its tenets are being traduced – as the opposition has done with the committee hearings.

It’s called the franchise. Which will be exercised pretty soon to throw those rascals out from all the committees they’ve seized control of.

...in the media

The opposition isn’t conducting the assault on democracy and the democratically elected PPP/C government on its own – it’s firmly backed by its allies in the media. Just yesterday, the Stabber News flatly asserted that “political legitimacy comes not only via the ballot box”. They see political legitimacy also coming from “riot and rebellion”. In other words from “the barrel of a gun”, as Chairman Mao once put it a bit more pithily.

The Stabber quoted from a paper by Professor Selwyn Ryan (Political Insurrection, Caricom and Good Governance, ca 2000!) who’d asked the question: “When, if ever, is political riot and rebellion legitimate?” But while Ryan had elaborated on the view contra to the Stabber’s – and illustrated it from actual arguments between Caricom leaders – the Stabber dishonestly stacked the deck for its violent position (IRI?) and blanked the other.

More disingenuously, it excised Ryan’s answer to his own question: “Why not (institute) some formal institutional mechanism to mediate political conflicts between stakeholders in the political processes of the various Caribbean states? Why not extend Article XVII of the Caricom Charter?”

...and peace

That is, Ryan’s against “riot and rebellion”. And even with the “mechanism”, Ryan proposed it only be invoked “to cover cases where the political system...has collapsed or seems to be on the verge of so doing.”

Initiative to sustain Caribbean HIV responses under way

Government representatives from the health and finance ministries of eight Caribbean countries join civil society and international development partners in Gros Islet, St Lucia on Thursday to begin two days of deliberations on securing a sustainable future for their HIV responses.

The meeting is hosted by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/ AIDS (UNAIDS) Caribbean Regional Support Team and the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Suriname are represented. Last year, another group of eight countries from the region met in Kingston, Jamaica to brainstorm viable approaches for financing the AIDS response. Of these, six have appointed dedicated teams and begun work on country-specific sus-

tainability planning.

At present, about twothirds of HIV investments in the region as a whole come from international donors. However, a very different funding context is emerging. This is partly the result of the economic classification of many Caribbean countries as upper middle income by the World Bank, notwithstanding many economies’ high debt burdens. Another factor is the global economic slowdown.

Waning support

The response to the HIV pandemic has benefited from unprecedented political and financial support from development partners, but this support is waning as competing development priorities arise. Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, The Dominican Republic, Guyana, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, and St Vincent and the Grenadines are among the countries with high dependency on external financing for treatment. The region must move quickly to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of HIV programming, increase domestic investments, and make the case for sustained global partnerships.

During the Thursday morning opening ceremony, UNAIDS Caribbean Regional Support Team Investment and Efficiency Adviser Melissa Sobers acknowledged advances in the region’s AIDS responses such as lowering new infections and AIDS-related deaths and increasing access to life-saving treatment for people liv-

ing with HIV. Since 2000, the region’s investments in reducing stigma and discrimination as well as scaling up access to HIV treatment have shown results. New HIV infections dropped 42 per cent between 2001 and 2011; 72 per cent of people living with HIV who need treatment now have access to it; and AIDSrelated deaths continue to decline with a 48 per cent drop recorded between 2005 and 2011. The number of new HIV infections among children has gone down by 32 per cent from 2009 to 2011.

Prioritising Sobers emphasised, however, that investing in HIV is a long-term commitment. “We cannot leave the treatment and quality of life of people living with HIV to chance. Neither can we compromise our efforts to prevent new HIV infections. It is critical that we make evidencebased decisions now about results and resources,” she said.

The UNAIDS Investment Framework offers a paradigm

for prioritising the most effective and needed programmes and allocating resources optimally. It helps countries develop targeted plans for increasing efficiencies, eliminating waste, and sustaining the AIDS response.

U.S. Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Larry L Palmer revealed that PEPFAR plans to conduct expenditure analyses on prevention, care and treatment programmes in several Caribbean countries. This effort will be expanded in 2014 and 2015. “Results will be used to improve national programme planning. This includes making rapid course corrections, improving planning and effectiveness, and avoiding inefficient use of resources,” Palmer said.

St Lucian Health Minister Alvina Reynolds pointed to the island’s strong foundation for sustainability planning. Antiretroviral drugs in St Lucia are bought through a sub-regional procurement mechanism, with lower prices negotiated through the Clinton Health Access Initiative. Also, the National Strategic Plan for health includes a mandate to develop a more decentralised service delivery model and ensure health-care services are financially sustainable. “But even as we increase domestic investments and efficiencies, we need the continued support of international partners,” Reynolds stressed. The meeting’s planned outcomes include country-specific technical support plans and roadmaps to improve the strategic allocation of HIV resources.

Dairy Queen comes to Guyana

Camex Restaurants

Inc, the franchisee of Church’s Chicken, Mario’s Pizza, Quiznos and Juici Patties will be opening their fifth franchise, Dairy Queen from the U.S. today.

Dairy Queen is one of the most popular chains of soft serve ice cream in the fast food industry. Their opening in Guyana will be the company’s first store in South America.

“The Dairy Queen system is proud to welcome Guyana

into the DQ family and thrilled to be serving its fans our world-famous soft-serve treats.

“At Dairy Queen, our mission is to create positive memories for all who touch DQ. Whether it is getting your favourite Blizzard Treat served upside down, or celebrating at home with a DQ cake, it is our vision to be your favourite treat destination. To do this, we are committed to worldwide growth so that our fans can easily enjoy their favou-

rite DQ treats. Dairy Queen is the original soft serve ice cream retailer and it is today the largest ice cream chain in the world,” the company said in a release.

Dairy Queen continues to be the gathering spot in many communities and cultures around the globe and Camex Restaurant Inc said it is excited to be sharing its heritage as it celebrates this

LaRocque seeks Slovenia’s support on EU graduation policy

Caricom Secretary General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque has sought the support of Slovenia in advocating for the region regarding graduation in the European Union (EU) development policy.

The secretary general was making remarks during a ceremony in which the newly-appointed Slovenian Ambassador Bozo Cerar handed over his credentials.

The ceremony was held at the Caricom Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana. Ambassador LaRocque said he was sure Slovenia understood the vulnerabilities of small states and would advocate on the community’s behalf in the councils of the EU with respect to how the policy of ‘graduating’ middle income countries is applied.

of life that meets their expectations” said Secretary General LaRocque.

Other areas of technical cooperation expressed by the secretary general included education and training, people-to-people contact, cultural exchange, tourism and trade. He said he was convinced that the scope existed for action to be pursued in those areas. He also noted that a framework cooperation agreement in that regard would enable the implementation of programmes that positively impact people’s lives.

“There is a saying that if nothing is ventured nothing is gained. I dare us to venture in that spirit for the benefit of our peoples.”

In his remarks, Ambassador Cerar said his country was determined to deepen bilateral cooperation in areas where it has proven its value. He said Slovenia would continue to contribute to the efforts of the international community with humanitarian relief when facing disasters in the Caribbean.

special occasion in Guyana. Camex Restaurant Inc plans to open several Dairy Queen outlets across Guyana, including one at their new Vreed en Hoop location which is scheduled to open within the upcoming days.

Dairy Queen officials are in Guyana and will be on hand for this historic event on Saturday, January 25, 2014 from 14:00h to 16:00h.

Ambassador LaRocque also identified three key issues on which Caricom and Slovenia could successfully engage to facilitate advances within the international community. The issues included the post-2015 development agenda, the ongoing global climate change negotiations and the fight against non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

“Each of these issues is of paramount importance to Caricom. In fact they are, for us survival issues affecting how and if our children will inherit a quality

He said there were numerous possibilities for the expansion and deepening of the relationship between Caricom and Slovenia. “I am determined to working towards the advancement of these goals to the mutual benefit of Slovenia and the Caribbean Community,” he said.

“It is our belief that free movement of goods goes hand-in-hand with free movement of people. For this reason, Slovenia advocates an EU visa liberalisation regime for the OECS (Organisation of the Eastern Caribbean States) countries (conditional to their fulfilment of criteria), that still do not have a visa free regime, that should benefit both sides and its people,” Dr Cerar added.

Sunken cargo boat yet to be located

The Transport and Harbours Department is still trying to locate the cargo ship which sank last Saturday in the Atlantic Ocean.

Maritime Safety Director Stephen Thomas told Guyana Times that the agency is trying to locate the boat, but is experiencing difficulties since it is not aware of the exact location where the vessel sank.

“The captain just gave us a general area where the vessel sank. He didn’t say where exactly it sank so now it is our duty to locate the boat,” he stated.

The harbour master said officials have marked the area and will be using a sound machine to detect activities in the ocean, which could be caused by a wrecked vessel. He added that they will also be using the sweeping method in a bid to locate the boat.

However, Thomas disclosed that some cargo was found washed ashore and the maritime agency is investigating to determine whether the items were from the vessel.

Questioned about whether the sunken boat

Maritime Safety Director

Stephen Thomas

could pose a danger for other passing vessels, the harbour master explained that he cannot make any assertions until the vessel is located.

Losses

The Stollie 1, previously a trawler, sank on Saturday in the Atlantic Ocean somewhere between the entrances of the Pomeroon and Waini rivers. It is reported that the boat contained an estimated $80 million worth of goods, of which about $11 million belonged to the owner, Trevor Stoll.

Some of the items onboard the sunken boat were reportedly recovered

in two boats used by fishermen to rescue the captain and his three crew members.

Relatives of Stoll had related to this newspaper that they are suspicious of the incident because of the captain’s behaviour and rumours they have been hearing.

When contacted on Friday, a cousin of the boat owner said the captain has not met or contacted the owner as yet.

The man pointed out that the captain’s explanation is not convincing since the goods that were reportedly recovered are dry goods and could not have been floating.

He noted that when the captain was asked for the GPS tracker number, so that they can locate the sunken vessel, he reportedly said he left everything in the boat and could not recall the number.

The cousin claimed that family members heard a different story, but they do not know what to believe since the captain is not talking to them.

However, police investigators told this publication that so far investigations have not revealed any-

thing to suggest foul play in the incident.

Meanwhile, some 20 persons are reported to have had goods on the vessel to take to the interior and are stressed since they too are not getting any firm explanation or answers from anyone.

One Port Kaituma businesswoman said she lost $500,000 worth in goods and no one is saying whether she will be compensated or whether any of the recovered goods belong to her.

Insurance

Asked whether the goods were insured, the woman responded in the negative, noting that the captain usually take the stuff to the interior and collect the money later from customers. She noted that she would take this risk since that vessel is well known and a lot of people from Port Kaituma use it.

However, Thomas explained that it is not mandatory for goods destined for the interior to be insured.

“It is the choice of the shipper whether they want to insure their goods, it is not compulsory,” he stated.

De mayor-fuhlife shoulda leff de wuk

One guvament minister do de honourable ting and leff de wuk. It could be that de prezzi tell de honourable minister fuh resign. Or it could be that he realise he ain’t able wid de wuk no more. Or it could be that he can’t tek de opposition no more. Or it could be that he tellin de truth. But at least de minister do de right thing and leff de wuk whah ever de reason.

It got de Judases like Rum Jhaat, Rum Karan, and Nagga Man de donkey who leff outta greed fuh some ting more than whah dem was getting. But it got nuff politicians who would never leff de wuk. Dem does stay pun de wuk and still don’t do de wuk. But dem does have de face to collect dem pay. Nuff public servants stay just so. No wuk and all pay.

Burnt Ham was one who shoulda leff de wuk long before he dead. No body didn’t wanna vote fuh he. But he prefer to rig elections he whole life. Then he train de Heights Man to rig elections. Wid all dem rigs, if dem was alive, CGX woulda done find oil in de Corentyne River.

But then de Heights Man turn round and train Green Ham. Green Ham tek de trainin so good that he had want to rig de Heights Man who train he in de first place. That is when de Heights Man mek he had to leff de wuk.

But then Green Ham went and find some ting else fuh rig. That is how he become mayor-fuh-life fuh GT de garbage s*ity. Well, although de Green man done turn yellow, he is one man who ain’t plannin to leff de wuk any time soon.

Ting-a-ling-a-ling…friend tell friend…mattie tell mattie! Even wid GT stinkin, and garbage inside and outside de s*ity council, de mayor-fuh-life ain’t leffin de wuk. That means is nuff more garbage fuh life in de s*ity of GT.

Caricom welcomes Dominica’s move towards CCJ MasterCard, IDB sign agreement to promote economic inclusion in region

Caricom Secretary General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque has welcomed the news that Dominica has moved closer in its bid to formally recognise the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as it final court of appeal.

Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit announced on Thursday that the government of the United Kingdom had no objection to his country de-linking from the Privy Council. The Dominica government had written to the British government last year requesting its no objection to proceed with de-linking from the Privy Council which was a requirement under the

Dominica constitution.

Prime Minister Skerrit said the action of the United Kingdom government paved the way to take a bill to Parliament to finally join the CCJ in its appellate jurisdiction.

In expressing his pleasure at the news, Secretary General LaRocque said: “This heralds a positive start to the year for the integration movement. It is my hope that Dominica will lead the way for those other member states with similar constitutions. I look forward to the early passage of the required legislation so that Dominica can join Barbados, Belize and Guyana in completing its circle of sovereignty.”

The CCJ, with headquarters in Trinidad and Tobago, was inaugurated in 2005 as a two tier court being the sole authority in its original jurisdiction in interpreting the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas which governs the regional integration movement. It is also the final Court of Appeal for those countries which have given effect to the CCJ’s Appellate Jurisdiction. Contact: caricompublicinfo@gmail.com; Website: http//www.caricom.org & https://www.facebook.com/ cc.secretariat

Credit card company MasterCard and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) have recently signed a keystone agreement, as announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to work together in an effort to improve economic inclusion, transparency and financial formalisation through the expansion of electronic payments in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).

The five-year public-private partnership is intended to enhance access to information and promote the transition to electronic payment services in the region, which can help reduce transaction costs and increase the efficiency of financial disbursements. Replacing cash-based systems with electronic ones also can potentially reduce leakages, increasing the likelihood that payments and benefits end up in the hands of intended beneficiaries and recipients.

Greater transparency

According to IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno, “this initiative takes a two-pronged approach to promote financial transparency and formalisation in the region. First, we intend for it to enhance access to information and accountability among governments in Latin America and the Caribbean. Second, in partnership with banks, microfinance organisations, development organisations and the private sector, we plan to extend electronic payment and financial services to the underserved as a vehicle for families and businesses across the region to overcome poverty.”

“With this new public-private part-

nership, we intend to demonstrate the impact we can have when sectors come together to formalise local economies and extend the payment ecosystem. By offering financial tools that enable and empower underserved consumers and merchants, we could potentially create greater efficiency, transparency and inclusion for all,” MasterCard Chief Executive Officer Ajay Banga said. With this agreement, MasterCard becomes the IDB’s first corporate partner in transparency, making the company a pioneer in this type of publicprivate partnership. MasterCard will join the IDB and the government of Norway in providing strategic advice

to the IDB’s Transparency Fund. The fund is the bank’s primary source of grant financing for transparency -related projects and initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean. As part of the bank’s public sector management agenda, the fund has been a key catalyser of investments in this area, creating synergies between projects in a US$800 million portfolio (2008-2012). To date, the fund has supported 11 governments in transitioning to more efficient and transparent systems, and will support four additional governments in 2014.

Efficiency

In his role as official MasterCard representative to the fund, Gilberto Caldart, MasterCard president for the Latin American and Caribbean, expects to bring MasterCard’s full expertise in the technology and payments industries to help governments identify leakages, analyse cost savings of electronic systems, and develop action plans to implement more transparent systems. “We strongly believe that this effort will help to promote government transparency, efficiency and accountability within the LAC region”, Caldart declared.

Finally, according to the agreement, MasterCard and the IDB will actively collaborate in annual events such as the IDB Annual Meeting, FOROMIC, the MasterCard LAC Payment Innovation Forum, and other key forums to promote thought leadership efforts and the dissemination of best practices in transparency, economic inclusion and electronic payments.

Nandlall laments opposition's posture on anti-money laundering bill

Attorney General Anil

Nandlall is downbeat that the new parliamentary select committee, to which the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Bill was referred, will complete its work in a timely manner.

Speaking on a recent television programme, Nandlall, who is also legal affairs minister, said the committee is a charade.

“I am not at all optimistic that anything will come out of this exercise, it’s another sham, and it will be another futile exercise, unless I am completely wrong.”

The new committee first met on January 13, when government’s Chief Whip Gail Teixeira was reappointed as its chairperson. Subsequently, another meeting was convened on Monday, January 20 and according to Nandlall, the opposition has taken the same approach which they employed in the last committee; applying various delaying tactics to frustrate the conclusion of this process.

Disappointed

“I am disappointed, and it is with deep regret that I have to continue to say that the opposition is not working in a constructive way. I have no difficulty with the opposition opposing government, but I believe that there are certain matters with which you do not play politics.

"There are certain matters that are so important that they touch and concern the nation, the lives and livelihood of the people of Guyana, and the National Assembly must always act in the best interest of all of Guyana’s people, but in this instance, the majority opposition is working and con-

trary to what is in the best interest of people, and that is highly regrettable,” he said.

Minister Nandlall said since the new committee has been convened, the battle to get the opposition to agree to schedule frequent meetings has already begun.

“The only grouping I know which has expressed a desire for this bill to not be passed is the opposition,” he said.

Last year, in a desperate bid to meet the November 18 deadline that was given by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF), the government was left with no choice but to conclude the committee’s work and return the bill to the Parliament when it resumed after the recess.

However, even at that late hour and in total disregard of the pleadings by members of the private sector, other relevant stakeholders and the Guyanese population as a whole, the opposition withheld their support in passing the bill.

Blacklisted

As a result, Guyana missed the crucial deadline, and was blacklist-

ed as warned. The bill was retabled in the House in December last year, at which occasion the government said that the bill was examined clause by clause by the CFATF, which informed that it met all the necessary requirements.

Notwithstanding this, however, the opposition insisted that the Bill be returned to a select committee. Notably, since the bill was initially tabled, and even when it was recently retabled to date, there have been no proposals from the opposition with regards to any changes they wish to see effected to the bill.

At the last meeting of the new committee on January 20, all of the members were present with the exception of Alliance For Change (AFC) leader Khemraj Ramjattan. The agenda of this meeting was to work out the modalities on how the committee will function.

Unnecessary

The opposition wants for the committee to re-advertise for more persons to come forward to submit presentations/proposals. Minister Nandlall explained to the opposition that because of time constraints, mechanisms have to be devised that will allow for expedient execution of the task at hand.

In the interest of transparency, the government had initially requested for the press to be present at meetings of the committee. Minister Nandlall even said the government has no qualms with the proceedings being transmitted live to the Guyanese public.

However, the opposition is not willing to allow this to happen. Despite attempts to convene the next meeting of the committee at the earli-

Teens found with M-16 rifle, grenades remanded

The two teenagers who were on Wednesday intercepted by police officers in South Ruimveldt, Georgetown carrying a high powered M-16 rifle and grenades were on Friday remanded by Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.

Kevin George, 18, of Castello Housing Scheme, Georgetown and Samuel Johnson, 17, of Albouystown, Georgetown both pleaded not guilty to the three charges of illegal firearm possession when they appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

The first charge alleged that on January 21 at Aubrey Barker Road, South Ruimveldt, they had in their possession one concussion

and one fragmentation grenade. The second and third charges allege that they had in their possession one M16 rifle and sixty .23 rounds of ammunition respectively.

Police Prosecutor Michael Grant told the court that ranks on mobile patrol saw the lads on Aubrey Barker Road acting in a suspicious manner.

The number one accused, George, was carrying a haversack on his back, and as the police approached, the haversack was passed between the two defendants until George finally discarded it.

The police officers subsequently carried out a search on the persons of the young men. A subsequent search

of the haversack revealed the items mentioned in the charges.

The prosecutors added that during the course of the trial, he intends to present five witnesses to the court, to prove the state’s case.

Both defendants are to return to court on February 11.

George had previously appeared before the court in June 2012 after it was alleged that he, along with another, had robbed Earl Ramjumar of two cellphones valued $165,000.

Both George and the other defendant in that matter, Quacy Harvey were placed on $265,000 surety by Magistrate Hazel OctiveHamilton.

est possible date, the opposition has indicated that they want the meeting to be held on January 29, even though Minister Nandlall explained that the country has a specific timeframe to conclude this matter.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) will be meeting in mid-February in Paris, France. This body can put Guyana under review at the international level as a delinquent country.

Consequences

“Right now we are blacklisted regionally, by a regional body, but with international consequences… the procedure to which we will be subject is going to be much harsher…. This is why we are saying, let us not expose Guyana to that risk,” the attorney general said.

He noted that if this bill is not passed before CFATF’s May 2014 meeting, then this body will recommend that Guyana be subject to an International Co-operation Review Group review by FATF. This review can take as long as seven years to be completed, during which time the country will remain blacklisted.

Digicel to reward thousands of lucky online customers

Digicel diaspora is set to reward thousands of its lucky customers in the Caribbean and Central America starting at 08:00h on Monday when it will give a US$5 Amazon. com gift card to each of the first 4000 customers who purchase a qualifying top up online at www.digicelgroup. com.

Amazon.com is the world’s largest online retailer, selling DVDs, VHSs, CDs, video and MP3 downloads/streaming, software, video games, electronics, apparel, furniture, food, toys, and jewellery. Digicel customers who win the Amazon. com gift card will be able to purchase any item from the store’s online inventory.

Topping up online is easy, safe and offers customers even more great value with daily Double Bubbles and special weekend offers including Triple Bubbles available to all.

Digicel Diaspora Chief Executive Officer Stephen Bannon said “We’re always looking for ways to give back to our valued online family – this includes Double

Bubbles on offer every day and Triple Bubbles available most weekends. This Monday; however, we are going one step further and, starting at 08:00h, each of the first 4000 customers who top up online will receive a US$5 Amazon.com gift card. It’s our way of saying thanks, we appreciate your business.”

Digicel offers a range of innovative products and services to Caribbean and Central American nationals living in the diaspora, including online top up –where customers can log on to any Digicel website and top up or send minutes to people back home; retail top up – where customers can go into any one of over 100,000 retail stores in the UK, Canada, the Caribbean and the U.S. and purchase Digicel top up or send Digicel minutes to friends and relatives in their home country; and Digicel calling cards – where customers calling friends and family in Haiti and Jamaica can call home at competitive rates using minutes stored on the calling card.

saturday, january 25, 2014

No qualified flight inspector attached to Trans Guyana – Nascimento

In light of the recent call by Transport Minister Roberson Benn with respect to intensifying surveillance at the Ogle International Airport (OIA), Trans Guyana Airways Public Relations Consultant Kit Nascimento disclosed that no qualified flight operation inspector (FOI) is attached to the airline.

He said Trans Guyana Airways has written to the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and Minister Benn for the past five years requesting that they engage the services of a flight operations inspector, but this was denied.

Surprise

Nascimento said it was quite a surprise to have heard the minister speaking about heightening surveillance at the facility and contending that it should have been done years ago.

Currently, the Trans Guyana consultant noted that there is no inspector to overlook the regulation at Trans Guyana Airways, which is critical to its operations. He reiterated the need for a Flight Operation Inspection Unit for the GCAA to regulate the operations, noting that without this post, errors will occur.

Guyana Times understands that every company has to contract their own FOI to police the operation to ensure that the company follows all procedures and regulations at the specific site.

These inspectors report directly to the GCAA. This publication learnt that the last FOI was not given the opportunity to operate in a manner desirous of the GCAA, and as such, he was literally forced out of Trans Guyana Airways. That official is now working in Jamaica.

In correcting the situation, the Caribbean Aviation Safety and Security Oversight System (CASSOS) is overlooking operations for the specific airlines.

Concerns

During a press conference on Wednesday, Minister Benn said his ministry and the GCAA are concerned over the number of aircraft incidents and mishaps at OIA and interior locations.

Benn said his ministry has been discussing additional measures and oversights to improve the level of surveillance with respect to aircraft operations.

However, a team of investigators under the watch of Transport Canada has arrived

Caribbean youths signalled their interest in the work of Caricom, as they took the opportunity to interact with the regional bloc’s secretary general, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, during a social media event on Tuesday.

More than 37,000 hits were recorded on the Caricom Youth Ambassadors Facebook page leading up to the social media interaction hosted at the Caricom Secretariat in Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.

The session, which was streamed live, aimed to expose young people across the region to the work of the Caribbean Community, the secretariat, and the institutions of the community.

The forum was hosted in two parts. The first was spearheaded by Assistant Secretary General for Human

at the crash site and once it removes the engine from the wreckage, it will be transported to Olive Creek by helicopter and then to OIA. The ELT is also being extracted and will be examined shortly.

The autopsies performed on the bodies of pilot Blake Slater and cargo loader Dwayne Jacobs were completed on Wednesday. They both died as result of multiple injuries. Blake, according to a post-mortem examination would have received injuries to the head while Jacobs sustained injuries to the chest.

Funeral on Monday

Jacobs’s brother Tobin Jacobs was not too sure about funeral arrangements, but according to information received, the pilot will be cremated in Guyana on Monday.

On Saturday last, the Cessna Caravan bearing registration number 8R-GHS crashed just after takeoff from Olive Creek, claiming the lives Slater, 25, and Jacobs, 28.

The aircraft was at the time on a shuttle operation between Olive Creek and Imbaimadai, transporting fuel. The “Mayday” emergency call was broadcast at approximately 10:56h on the day it went down; thus, an aerial search was immediately activated.

After 11 hours of search, the wreckage was located on Sunday in the Marikina Mountain by Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Special Force officers. They were then inserted at a location some 1.2 miles from the wreckage and trekked on foot to the crash site.

They were joined by another team on Monday and managed to find both Blake and Jacobs.

The bodies were recovered on Tuesday morning and flown to the city later that day.

and Social Development, Dr Douglas Slater. Issues related to the Caricom Youth Development Action Plan (CYDAP), which was developed to guide national policy, integrated planning and action regarding youth were discussed.

Dr Slater said he had a vision that the region’s youth would help carry out the work of Caricom. “You have to arm yourselves with all the tools available, including proper education and soft skills,” Assistant Secretary General Slater told participants.

Youth engagement

Caricom Youth Ambassador Sade Jemmott and Caribbean Regional Youth Council President Timothy Ferdinand were panellists during this segment, which was moderated by Youth Ambassador Kishore

Shallow.

In the second segment, Secretary General LaRocque engaged the youth, and spoke to issues such as the progress made by the Caricom Secretariat in the area of youth engagement and development, including the CYDAP, free movement of Caricom nationals, climate change as it relates to Caricom, and the Caricom reform process.

He also explained that communication was a top priority for the Caricom Secretariat. “We have stepped up our communication, you will continue to see us improving our communication… we will continue to rely on the media and not just the traditional media,” Ambassador LaRocque said. This session was moderated by Caricom Youth Ambassador Corps Dean Cindy Morquette.

Mash activities continue in Region Two

Mashramani activities in Region Two are gaining momentum, setting the pace for the grand finale on February 23 when the town of Anna Regina will come alive in a rainbow of colours.

The series of events and activities planned in commemoration of Guyana’s 44th Republic anniversary celebration in Region Two officially kicked off on January 20 with the children’s competition at the Anna Regina Community Centre ground.

The competitions continued on Thursday with a 5000-metre open five-stage relay, which commenced

at Lima and ended at the Anna Regina car park.

The race was organised by the Department of Culture, Youth and Sport, in collaboration with the Region Two administration and the Mashramani Planning Committee.

Participating in the race were students from the seven secondary schools on the Essequibo Coast – Pomona, Johanna Cecelia, Abram Zuil, Cotton Field, 8th of May, and Anna Regina Multilateral School – as well as the Charity and the Essequibo technical institutes.

The Essequibo Technical Institute copped first place in the male category while the 8th of May Secondary captured second, and Anna Regina Multilateral Secondary came in third. In the female category, Charity Secondary took first place, Essequibo Technical Institute second, and the 8th of May Secondary third.

The winners of the relay will receive their prizes at a special presentation ceremony on Mash Day.

The race attracted many persons along the roadway who stopped and cheered the students.

Region Two Chairman Parmanand Persaud addressed the competitors, and noted that the race was one of several Mashramani activities in the region.

GTU to jump start revolving housing fund

The Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) is planning to fully implement the long-awaited revolving housing fund by mid-February, with several teachers slated to benefit.

This is according to GTU General Secretary Coretta McDonald, who said while there have been a lot of back-and-forth discussion over the fund for teachers, things are being fine-tuned.

McDonald told Guyana Times that the number of teachers to benefit from the project has increased substantially. However, the union plans to work out a system to ensure that each teacher is serviced on time.

“In addition to the housing project, we are going to have teachers receiving house lots, because that is part of the new agreement,” she explained.

Incentive package

President Donald Ramotar in April 2012, during GTU’s third biennial delegates conference held in Berbice, assured teachers that government was committed to fulfilling the educators’ multi-year incentive package and fixing the glitches that have dogged the process.

Under the 2006-2010 package which has since been extended, $40 million was to be placed into the housing fund annually for the life of the agreement, putting the total allocation at $200 million.

The union has already shortlisted some 100 teachers who have been waiting for years to benefit from this agreement.

The union’s general secretary said apart from the fund, the teachers’ representative body has also been looking to develop new strategies to keep teachers up to date with what is happening

in the world, making them more effective and relevant in the classroom.

McDonald said, “We have quite a lot of workshops planned for our teachers and that’s coming from GTU. Because we have recognised that some of them are not aware of their rights and some of them are not aware of the things they should do in terms of management of their classrooms.”

Activities

She told this publication that there are a number of other activities being planned for the remainder of the year for teachers throughout the country.

“Some of the events that are going to be highlighted this year are the elections, which will take place between February to April and conference later, a summer workshop with the Canadian Teachers Federation and massive teachers’ week’s celebrations,” she said.

Teachers, she said, can also expect in a matter of months, their five per cent increase in salaries and other benefits such as uniform allowances. The GTU currently has approximately 8000 members across the country.

House approves $1.4B in supplementary provisions

The House on Thursday approved the Supplementary Appropriation Bill of the sum of $1.474 billion after a heated debate at the level of the Committees of Supply during the consideration of financial papers number four and five of 2013.

After resolving into Committee of Supply, Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh moved a motion for Financial Paper Number Four of 2013 – Supplementary Estimates for Advances made from the Contingencies Fund, totalling $1,062,179,646 for the period November 6, 2013 to December 31, 2013 to be approved.

In scrutinising item number one, in which $276.307 million was provided as additional electricity subsidy to the Linden Electricity Company Incorporated (LECI) (LINMINE) and Kwakwani Utilities Inc under the Finance Ministry (Policy and Administration), A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament (MP) Carl Greenidge called on the finance minister to justify the expenditure. From the $276.307 million, LECI was allotted $263 million while Kwakwani Utilities Inc received $13.3 million.

In support of the finance minister, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds told the House that, “we will be willing to have a review of the qualities of electricity being used in the Linden area, we would be very happy… if the other side openly here wants us to get very deeply and public into the use of electricity in Linden, then we are ready to do that”.

Meanwhile, $69.345 million was approved under the Foreign Affairs Ministry for the development of foreign policy. This included provision for assistance to Philippines following typhoon Haiyan, Somalia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia and Dominica.

Scrutiny

The Local Government and Regional Development Ministry was placed under the microscope when the House was informed that a supplementary provision of $24.2 million in item number three was used to aid a cleanup campaign in Georgetown and offset expenses at the Linden municipality. Again, Greenidge questioned the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) government on the urgency of the matter.

In the absence of the Local Government Minister Ganger Persaud, junior Local Government Minister Norman Whittaker explained that government had once again bailed out the Georgetown Mayor and City Council after it had indicated that it was incapable of cleaning up the city; hence, $15 million was used to facilitate the cleanup campaign. The money was used to clean clogged drains, weed

and remove overgrown vegetation and other solid waste in Dennis, Lamaha, Garnett and Alexander streets and Kitty. Similar activities were also executed in Laing Avenue, Russell, Sussex, Ketley and Howes streets, Punt Trench, Middle Road La Penitence and the market area. The listed areas are just a few of the many communities which benefited from the cleanup campaign.

Turning his attention to the remaining $9.2 million, he said it used to “support the Linden municipality in meeting employment cost for the last quarter of 2013”. Whittaker further explained that “consequent to the withdrawal or rescinding of the illegal toll, the Linden municipality found itself unable to meet the revised minimum wage requirement to pay staff during the final quarter of 2013”. It was added that the Local Government Ministry fulfill the need, following a written request by the Linden Mayor and Town Council (M&TC).

The government sponsored students benefited from an additional $50 million. This supplementary provision was provided under the Public Service Ministry.

Drainage and irrigation

Meanwhile, $160 million was utilised for the execution of additional drainage and irrigation works under the Agriculture Ministry. Baffled as to the urgency in the execution of drainage and irrigation work, the opposition reeled out a series of questions for response by Agriculture Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy. Dr Ramsammy has offered to provide further details within the coming weeks.

Item Number Six, Agency/ Programme Code Number 31-311 in which $121.897 million was expended to provide additional support to the Transport and Harbours Department was approved with ease. Three other items on the financial paper were approved but not before a series of questions from the opposition.

Three items catered for provision within the education and home affairs ministries and the Guyana Defence Force.

Meanwhile, under Section B, capital estimates on the Financial Paper Number Four of 2013, $6.657 million was approved for the construction and extension of

the washroom facilities at the Parliament Office.

In a similar fashion, Financial Paper Number Five of 2013 was put before the Committee of Supply by the finance minister for the approval of supplementary provision on capital estimates totalling $412.780 million.

From the sum, approximately $257.519 million was used under the Agriculture Ministry for the provision of additional inflows specific to drainage and irriga-

tion works, including control structures, gates, culverts, bridges, pump station and rehabilitation of channels and consultancy services.

Housing, water sectors

Meanwhile, in the housing and water sector, $97.666 million was used to facilitate the Low Income Settle Programme 11. It was explained that the money was used to upgrade roads, construct core homes and supply materials and labour for the construction of the houses under the hinterland pilot project.

The final item on the financial paper was based on the Justice Improvement Programme. Under the Legal Affairs Ministry, the sum of $57.595 million was utilised for the purchasing of furniture and equipment to enhance the institutional capacity of the Court of Appeal, Commercial Court, Director of Public Prosecution and other legal affairs offices.

Bent Street vendor on bail for robbery

Christoff Braithwaite, of 19A Bent Street, Werk-en-Rust, Georgetown, was Friday placed on $125,000 bail when he appeared before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts charged with robbery with violence.

Braithwaite, a roadside vendor, pleaded not guilty to the charge which alleged that on January 23 at Stabroek, he robbed Shavanya Wallace of one gold chain valued $25,000.

The man stood nervously in the dock and told the magistrate that he had never before seen the young woman (the virtual complainant) in his life.

He then alleged that he was threatened by a police officer, who had told him he would “deal with him when

push comes to shove”. Police Prosecutor Michael Grant told the court that on the day in question, the defendant approached Wallace and threw her on the ground. He then stooped down and proceeded to relieve her of her chain.

The defendant raised an alarm and some publicspirited citizens told her where the man lived. She made a report to the police station and ranks went to the address provided and arrested the defendant who was positively identified by the virtual complainant.

The defendant was granted bail by Magistrate Sewnarine-Beharry on the condition that he reports to Constable Shane Frank at the Brickdam Police Station at 15:00h every Friday.

Argentina to ease foreign exchange controls after peso slump

Argentina is to relax its strict foreign exchange controls, a day after the peso suffered its steepest daily decline in 12 years.

Cabinet chief Jorge Capitanich said the country would reduce the tax rate on dollar purchases and allow the purchase of dollars for savings accounts.

The measures would take effect from Monday, he said. On Thursday, the peso fell 11 per cent against the dollar, its steepest fall since the country’s 2002 financial crisis.

The central bank had been acting to support the waning currency amid a loss of investor confidence in the country. But the bank abandoned this policy on Thursday, sparking the peso’s fall.

Despite efforts to support the economy, inflation has soared and many analysts expect it to reach about 30 per cent this year.

That erodes confidence in the peso, prompting investors to put their money into U.S. dollars rather than the sinking domestic currency.

Capitanich said the government would reduce the tax rate on dollar purchases to 20 per cent from the current 35 per cent.

He said: “This decision reflects the government’s belief that in the context of a floating exchange rate, the price of

the currency – that is, the dollar – has reached an acceptable level for the objectives of economic policy.”

BBC economics correspondent Andrew Walker said: “Argentina seems to be moving towards a more flexible

exchange rate system, which could mean further weakness for the peso.

“That would help the country’s competitiveness, but the danger is that it could aggravate what is already a serious inflation problem.”

(Excerpt from BBC News)

DEA close to closing TT$600M cocaine case

Former Central

The United States Department of Justice on Thursday issued a diplomatic note to Trinidad and Tobago’s Foreign Affairs Ministry for provisional warrants to be issued for three suspects described as “businessmen.”

This came as investigators, including members of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), continued their probe into the seizure in Virginia of an estimated TT$644 million worth of high-grade cocaine concealed in fruit juice cans originating from Trinidad and Tobago. The drug was seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the port of Norfolk, Virginia, on December 20, 2013. The shipment was smuggled in over 700 cans of Trinidad juices, manufactured by the Citrus Growers Association, a subsidiary of SM Jaleel.

Sources said up to late Thursday the note was still at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, but it was to be forwarded to the Central Authority, which falls under the ministry of the attorney general. They said even before the note was dispatched from the U.S. government, it had alerted TT authorities about the warrants.

Former head of the authority, Attorney David West said the issuing of provisional warrants was done from one central authority to another, but the process could also be done through the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

(Excerpt from Trinidad Guardian)

Radio station apologises to PM Gonsalves for saying he owns LIAT planes

The manager of a local radio station, which last year paid St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves EC$206,000 for defamation, has apologised to him for a news item aired on the station on January 17.

The manager of NICE Radio, Douglas De Freitas, wrote Gonsalves on Tuesday, saying that out of ignorance, two broadcasters inadvertently aired news stating that the prime minister

owned two LIAT planes.

“This information has no basis of truth. I have spoken to both broadcasters and they have asked to convey that they are truly sorry for their grave error,” De Freitas wrote.

De Freitas said that he apologised to Gonsalves on January 20, offered the apology on air, and will do so via local newspapers. In a statement on Tuesday, LIAT said that the report was erroneous.

“These statements are

reckless and mischievous. Such reports negatively impact the travelling public, our Caribbean community constituents, and the staff of our airline. LIAT distances itself from these unverified reports and remains committed to channelling our energies into our modernisation programme and to putting LIAT on a profitable footing,” acting LIAT Chief Executive Officer Julie Reifer-Jones, said in the statement. (CMC)

Ecuadorian airline Tame suspends flights to Venezuela

cuadorian airline

ETame has suspended flights to Venezuela, demanding US$43 million in overdue payments for tickets.

Some 80 passengers were left stranded on Thursday at the airport in the Ecuadorian capital, Quito.

Tame says the Venezuelan Central Bank has not transferred any money to its account in Ecuador since April 2013.

Tough foreign currency controls make it difficult for foreign airlines to repatriate money obtained from ticket sales in Venezuela.

The government of President Nicolas Maduro is believed to owe more than US$3 billion to several airlines, according to Venezuela’s Airline Association.

The US$43 million owed by Venezuela to Tame amounts to one third of the company’s yearly revenue, according to Quito’s El

Comercio newspaper.

The daily two-and-a-halfhour flight service between Quito and the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, was inaugurated in 2012 and was usually 90 per cent full, said a company director.

Local reports say negotiations to have the debt settled failed. Venezuelan officials had offered to pay part of the debt in government bonds and aviation fuel.

On Wednesday, the Venezuelan government announced measures to address its foreign currency crisis. Venezuelans travelling aboard will no longer be allowed to obtain foreign exchange and pay for their tickets at the official rate of 6.3 bolivars per U.S. dollar.

They will have to pay a higher, market rate. The official exchange rate will be restricted to essential goods, such as medications, food and industrial supplies. (BBC News)

Fewer than estimated Barbadian public servants to be laid off

Fewer public sector workers will be placed on the breadline than the 3000 originally proposed in the Barbadian government’s retrenchment process.

This was the disclosure coming from Labour Minister, Senator Esther Byer-Suckoo, as she responded to questions from the media on Thursday at the Island Inn Hotel.

Seeking to dispel rumours that more persons were being sent home than originally stated, she stated, “When we started this exercise, we said that from a fiscal perspective we

could get where we wanted to get if 5000 people went home, but we sat with the unions and it came down and came down and came down and I do not know where it is going to end up, because it is certainly below 3000.

“It may be even much lower than that because we looked at the modalities and because the unions have tried to put other options and we have looked at other options as well”.

However, the labour minister was unable to outline exactly where the civil service was in compiling the list of those that will be

handed their walking papers by month-end, saying it was a lengthy process as all the necessary criteria had to be considered. In government’s efforts to identify the more vulnerable persons and those who were the sole breadwinners, the list, Byer-Suckoo indicated, would be sent to the unions for more finetuning.

She explained that layoffs would start at monthend, and would stretch until the end of March, stressing that there would not be one major termination of all persons listed in a single period.

(Excerpt

Jamaican police to wear recording devices in move to ensure transparency

National Security Minister Peter Bunting Thursday said select police units will start wearing body cameras soon, even as concerns are being expressed over the allegations of extrajudicial killings and professional misconduct by members of the constabulary.

Making the disclosure at the weekly post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House in St Andrew, the national security minister said the project to deploy body-worn cameras for select Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) units is sched-

uled to commence in the second half of this year.

“The purpose of this project is to improve the collection of evidence of criminal activity in an effort to prosecute and reduce such activity, improve the transparency of JCF activities when interacting with the public, to encourage JCF officers to act in accordance with the force’s professional standards to include the appropriate use of force, and to create a record to protect JCF officers from unfair allegations of violations of JCF professional standards,” Bunting told journalists.

“The government of Jamaica is committed to reducing the level of crime and violence that has taken a terrible toll on this nation. As part of this commitment, we will be taking all necessary steps to ensure that the JCF becomes one of the most trusted and respected institutions in Jamaica,” he said. Minister Bunting made the disclosure following comments he made on probes being conducted by the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) into allegations of police killings in the Clarendon police division. (Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)

Syrian peace talks on verge of collapse

Syrian peace talks are on the verge of collapse with the Syrian government threatening to leave Switzerland after the opposition refused to meet face-to-face until it agreed to the creation of a transitional government.

The so-called Geneva II talks got under way on Friday and were due to bring together representatives from President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and the main opposition bloc for the first time.

However, the opposition demanded the government endorse the Geneva communiqué of June 30, 2012, which calls for a transition-

al governing body to be established, before direct talks began.

That led Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem, to say: “If no serious work sessions are held by [Saturday], the official Syrian delegation will leave Geneva due to the other side’s lack of seriousness or preparedness.”

UN-Arab League envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi met the government representatives separately before the threat to leave was announced. He later met with the opposition.

Alessandra Velluci, a UN spokeswoman, said: “There are no Syrian-Syrian talks

UN says 140,000 fled violence in Iraq’s Anbar

More than 140,000 people have fled their homes in the Iraqi cities of Fallujah and Ramadi since December when anti-government fighters occupied parts of both cities, according to the United Nations refugee agency.

On Friday, the UN warned that the continued unrest in Anbar province had sparked Iraq’s worst displacement since sectarian violence from 2006 to 2008 left tens of thousands dead.

More than 65,000 people have fled their homes in the past week alone, UN refugee agency (UNHCR) spokesman Peter Kessler said in Geneva.

“Many civilians are unable to leave conflict-affected areas where food and fuel are now in short supply,” he said.

at the moment. I cannot tell you anything about what will happen in the next few days.”

The government says it will not discuss removing Assad, while the opposition says it will not stay unless Assad’s removal is the basis for talks. One of the government delegates said on Friday that Assad would remain president until the next election, when anyone could run for election.

In his remarks on Thursday, Ahmed Jarba, head of the Syrian National Coalition, said the international community has now realised that Assad could not stay in power. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Bombing wave hits Cairo amid fears of more violence

Awave of bomb attacks hit Cairo on Friday, killing six people and raising fears that an Islamist insurgency is gaining pace on the eve of the third anniversary of the uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

The violence underscored the struggle of authorities to tame an Islamist insurgency which has been gaining pace since the army toppled Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July.

In the most high-profile attack, a suicide car bomber struck a top security compound in central Cairo early in the morning and killed

at least four people, security sources said.

Another blast in the Dokki district killed one person. An explosion near a cinema on the road to the Pyramids of Giza on the outskirts of Cairo also killed led to one fatality.

Clashes in the capital and several other cities between Morsi supporters and security forces which killed 11 people also raised tensions in the biggest Arab nation.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the suicide attack in the parking lot of the Cairo Security Directorate.

Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi condemned the bloodshed in a statement, saying it was an attempt by “terrorist forces” to derail the army-backed government’s political road map, which is meant to lead to free and fair elections.

Later in the day, a military helicopter flew back and forth over central Cairo, underscoring concerns that another attack could occur at anytime. Authorities have been bracing for more violence during the anniversary of Mubarak’s fall, when rival political groups are expected to turn out. (Excerpt from Reuters)

India’s top court orders probe into gang

India’s top court has ordered the district judge of Birbhum in eastern West Bengal state to submit a fact-finding report on the horrific gang-rape of a tribal woman.

A three-member panel of Supreme Court judges expressed shock over the “disturbing” incident and ordered that a report be filed by Monday after a visit to the village to ascertain the facts of the case.

Meanwhile, lawyers and women’s groups have criticised the police of Birbhum district for not seeking the remand of 13 villagers ar-

rape

rested for allegedly gangraping the woman.

The suspects – belonging to Labphur village – were accused of raping the woman on January 21 on the orders of a council of village elders as punishment for having a relationship with a man outside their tribe.

The 20-year-old woman made a complaint to the police and was taken to hospital in Birbhum. She was reported to be in a “critical but stable” condition.

The accused were produced in the court of the additional chief judicial magistrate in Birbhum on

Thursday and sent to jail for 14 days.

However, the police did not seek a remand which is necessary to record the testimony of the accused to reconstruct details of the crime and collect evidence, local newspapers have pointed out.

The West Bengal women’s commission chairperson Sunanda Mukherjee told reporters she would order a suo moto inquiry into the incident. “The district police will be asked to probe the matter and submit a report to the commission within 10 days”, she said. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Ukraine unrest: Protesters storm regional offices

Anti-government demonstrators in Ukraine are expanding their protests after talks between the opposition and President Viktor Yanukovych stalled.

Thousands of displaced people have fled to Baghdad and other nearby provinces, but some have travelled as far as the northern Kurdish region, according to the UN.

Fighting erupted in the Ramadi area on December 30, when security forces cleared a year-old Sunni Arab protest camp.

The violence then spread to another city of the western province, Fallujah, as fighters seized the centre of the city and parts of Ramadi after security forces withdrew.

Foreign leaders including U.S. President Barack Obama have urged Baghdad to pursue political measures to undercut support for armed groups, but with an election looming in April, Prime Minister Nouri alMaliki has taken a hard line. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

“People are reportedly without money for food and lack suitable clothing for the rainy conditions. Children are not in school and sanitary conditions, particularly for women, are inadequate,” said Kessler.

In western Ukraine, the activists seized the regional government office in the city of Ivano-Frankivsk and are storming another one in Chernivtsi. Protests were reported in Lutsk, in the north-west, and Sumy, in the east. Meanwhile, Yanukovych vowed to use “all legal means” if a solution to the crisis is not found.

At a meeting with religious leaders, he also promised to amend anti-protests laws rushed through the parliament last week and reshuffle the government at an urgent session of the par-

Acourt in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi has sentenced a 70-year-old British man to death after convicting him of blasphemy. Muhammad Asghar was arrested in 2010 after writing letters to various people claiming to be a prophet, reports say.

His lawyers argued for

liament to begin on Tuesday. And he said amnesty would be granted to those detained activists who had not committed “grave crimes”. In the capital Kiev, new barricades were erected

leniency, saying he has a history of mental illness, but this was rejected by a medical panel.

Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws carry a potential death sentence for anyone deemed to have insulted Islam. Several recent cases have prompted international concern about the

overnight as the main protest camp expanded.

Freezing demonstrators in Kiev’s Independence Square – widely known as the Maidan – also occupied a government building as a

application of these laws.

Asghar, who is from Edinburgh, Scotland, was accused of writing letters to police officers claiming to be a prophet. He is thought to have lived in Pakistan for several years.

“Asghar claimed to be a prophet even inside the court. He confessed it in

truce with riot police continued. The crisis escalated this week when the first deaths in the unrest happened. Meanwhile, the parliament of the Crimean Autonomous Republic – seen as a staunch supporter of Yanukovych – urged the president to declare a state of emergency. In other developments on Friday: Germany and France summoned Ukraine’s ambassadors over the recent deadly clashes in Kiev; the European Union enlargement commissioner, Stefan Fuele, held talks in Kiev with Yanukovych and is due to meet opposition leaders; and Yanukovych named Security and Defence Secretary Andriy Kluyev as new head of the presidential administration. (Excerpt from BBC News)

front of the judge,” Javed Gul, a government prosecutor, told the Agence FrancePresse news agency.

But his lawyer told the BBC’s Saba Eitizaz that she was forcibly removed from the case by the judge and that proceedings were carried out behind closed doors.

(Excerpt from BBC News)

Barbados expects to earn millions in foreign exchange from animation industry

Barbados says it is ex-

pects to earn Bds$10

million by the second year of the development of an animation industry, which is part of the multibillion-dollar multimedia and entertainment sector. “To date, 24 persons have been assisted with training in animation [3D] and discussions with overseas companies to have such done in Barbados, is at an advanced staged.

Caribbean Asia

“Our goal is to earn Bds$10

North America

million in foreign exchange from this sub-sector by year two,”

Industry Minister Donville Inniss said at the fourth anniversary cocktail of the online publication Barbados TODAY on Thursday night.

Inniss said that the Barbados Investment and Development Corporation was aggressively pursuing business in the animation industry and the Freundel Stuart government was committed to a rapid expansion of

ICT based companies here.

“To my mind, it is a lowhanging fruit which we have talked too much about and not done enough for. I am afraid that this fruit will soon drop off the tree and be of no use to anyone here. The world would have passed us by,” he said.

Inniss also announced that the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) would soon be responsible for regulating all licensed telecommunications companies operating in Barbados.

(Caribbean360)

PepsiCo rebrands "Natural" products with "Simply"

PepsiCo has quietly gotten rid of the word “Natural” in some of its products and instead is going with “Simply.”

The company changed its “Simply Natural” line of FritoLay chips to be called “Simply,” although the ingredients remain the same. Similarly, its “Natural Quaker Granola” got a makeover as “Simply Quaker Granola.”

The food and beverage giant says the name changes,

which took place last year, are the result of it updating its marketing. But they come at a time when PepsiCo and other companies face legal challenges over their use of the word “natural.”

The Food and Drug Administration doesn’t have a definition for what constitutes “natural,” but says it doesn’t object to the word’s use as long as the product doesn’t contain “added colour, artificial flavours or synthet-

ic substances.” Still, a number of lawsuits recently have challenged whether the ingredients in products labelled as “natural” fit that billing.

In some cases, companies are realising the use of “natural” isn’t worth the headache, said Steve Gardner, director of litigation for the consumer advocacy group Centre for Science in the Public Interest, an advocacy group that has filed lawsuits against companies on the topic. (Yahoo!)

Africa

Nigerian opposition APC to block budget

Nigeria’s main opposition party has called on its MPs to block all legislation including the 2014 budget. This would remain the case until “the rule of law” was restored in oil-rich Rivers state and “Nigeria in general”, the All Progressive Congress said.

The rivers state governor fell out with President Goodluck Jonathan last year and defected to the APC. Jonathan’s party has lost its

majority in the lower chamber of parliament following other defections. Analysts say the row centres around Jonathan’s undeclared intention to contest elections in 2015 for the governing People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Nigeria is one of the world’s biggest oil producers, with Rivers state supplying about 40 per cent of all the country’s oil, according to business information firm Ngex.

and exacerbating tensions –it wants his removal, as demanded by Nigeria’s federal House of Representatives last year. (BBC News)

Big Four firms, China in talks over corporate audit impasse

In the midst of a U.S.China quarrel over corporate auditing, the global chairman of audit giant KPMG said on Friday that a “constructive dialogue” was under way to defuse the dispute, which led days ago to U.S. sanctions against the Chinese arms of the world’s largest accounting firms.

“We are in dialogue with the Ministry of Finance in China on the matter,” KPMG Chairman Michael Andrew told the Reuters

Middle East Europe

Eurozone to assure IMF it will keep funding Greece

The euro zone will assure the International Monetary Fund in coming months that it will continue to bankroll Greece, enabling the IMF to disburse its share of international aid to Athens, a senior European Union official said on Friday.

Progress in Greek reforms, undertaken by Athens in return for international financial aid, will be among the topics for talks among euro

zone finance ministers, called the Eurogroup, at a meeting on Monday. Under IMF rules, the fund cannot disburse its part of the loans to Greece unless it is financed 12 months ahead. But according to the IMF, Athens is 4.4 billion euros short in 2014 and 6.5 billion short in 2015. For IMF money to flow to Greece, therefore, the euro zone will have to affirm that Athens will get more money.

“I foresee no problem in any of the euro zone states in signing up to this assurance of continued financing,” a senior EU official with close knowledge of the issue said.

“It is not my expectation that there will be a concrete figure to that, but there will be a political assurance it will be forthcoming,” the official said. Greece is not in an urgent need of funds now, the official said. (Reuters)

Global Markets Forum, an online community, in Davos, Switzerland, during the World Economic Forum meetings.

Months of tension over U.S. regulators’ attempts to examine audits in China of U.S.-listed Chinese companies boiled over on Wednesday when a U.S. administrative law judge sanctioned the Chinese units of the so-called Big Four.

The Chinese arms of the Big Four – KPMG, Ernst &

Young, Deloitte and Touche and PricewaterhouseCoopers – have refused to hand over to U.S. officials the records of audit work done by the Chinese units for U.S.-listed Chinese companies.

Fearing that complying with Washington’s demands would violate Chinese secrecy laws and incur Beijing’s wrath, the firms are in the middle of an international standoff that could escalate and damage U.S.-China economic relations. (Reuters)

Dubai Exports opens new Mumbai office

Dubai Exports, the export promotion agency of the Department of Economic development (DED), has opened an office in the Indian city of Mumbai, expanding its international presence.

The office in India will boost the visibility of goods and services from Dubai while providing on-the ground services to small and medium enterprises, according to a statement. The new office will also work in coordination with the emir-

ate’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) in Mumbai.

“India is the leading trade partner of Dubai and our total bilateral trade during the first nine months of 2013 was worth over Dhs111 billion,” said Sami Al Qamzi, director general of DED.

“Dubai Exports opening its office in Mumbai is a milestone by all means as it marks a consolidated move by government agencies to optimise opportunities in a strategic

market.” Al Qamzi expects a five to 10 per cent growth in bilateral trade with the opening of the new office.

Dubai Exports’ presence in Mumbai is also expected to positively impact sectors such as tourism, skycargo and logistics. India was Dubai’s largest non-oil foreign trade partner with exports and reexports to India valued at Dhs24 billion and Dhs31 billion respectively during the first nine months of 2013. (gulf Business)

Internet marketing methods for small businesses

Building a website is just the beginning of marketing your business on the Internet. Retail stores advertise in many ways to get live customers to walk through the door. Your site is a cyber door and you still have to advertise to get customers to enter.

Be social Social network sites like Facebook and Twitter are helpful in getting others to know what you have to offer and developing a community. Some call them gossip sites, but the truth is word of mouth advertising works. Facebook pages can be cre-

ated with ease. The personal interaction with your clients and friends is invaluable. Keep your tweets informative and fun for your followers and you will see your customer base grow.

Get on top

When prospective customers are searching the internet for your product or service, it is important that your company appears at the top of the list. Improve your search engine ranking by using keywords that will match what the customer is looking for. There are several sites that can help you choose keywords that may help you get a high-

er rating with search engines, like Google Insights or Google AdWords Keyword Tool.

Start a blog

Everyone is doing it; there are millions of sites on the web where you can do it too. You can set up a blog on your website or take advantage of other sites that allow open discussions. When you make comments and share ideas on other related business sites you are getting free publicity and increasing your search engine rank at the same time. Be sure to use your company name and keywords in your blog to increase your ratings. (Business Dictionary)

Business concept – Quality assurance (QA)

Often used interchangeably with quality control (QC), it is a wider concept that covers all policies and systematic activities implemented within a quality system. QA frameworks include (a) determination of adequate technical requirement of inputs and outputs, (b) certification and rating of suppliers, (c) testing of procured material for its conformance to established quality, performance, safety, and reliability standards, and (d) proper receipt, storage, and issue of material.

Guyana’s economic growth amid serious challenges laudable – president

President Donald Ramotar is of the view that Guyana’s economy has again performed well despite the political challenges. The year 2013 has seen a five per cent real growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

He recognised, however, that the country could have done much better had it not been for the challenges that the government has and continues to face. The total investment of the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project alone would have contributed to about 25 per cent of GDP, he said.

That project has been put on hold after the pull out of Sithe Global, the project’s developer as a result of political bickering and the opposition’s non-support of it in Parliament.

The state of affairs with regards to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) (Amendment) Bill, which is now languishing before a parliamentary special select committee for a second time, is another major challenge that could and in fact, has already started to have adverse effects on the country’s financial system.

President Ramotar made reference to a recent statement by Citizen’s Bank Chairman Clifford Reis, who, at the bank’s annual general meeting, lamented the far-reaching dire con-

President Donald Romotar

sequences that the banking sector is facing as a result of the country being blacklisted by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF).

Despite all this, however, the president commended the strong management of the economy, which was able to withstand much of the challenges to realise economic growth.

“Our economy continues to attract important investments, our mining sector has grown, tourism is poised to make an even greater contribution this year than it did last year,” he posited.

The expansion of air travel will see increased arrival, which in itself bring more robust growth to the sector. The Panamanian airline, COPA is one of the lat-

President to attend CELAC summit in Cuba today

President Donald Ramotar will be attending the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Heads of Government Summit in Cuba today.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, the head of state said that one of the main issues that will be addressed at that forum is poverty and inequality in the region.

He said that Guyana has a lot to offer at the conference; making reference to the recognition that the country received from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in 2012.

Last year, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds received on Guyana’s behalf, an award at a ceremony in Rome, for being one of the 17 countries in the world to attain the targets set by both the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Number One, and the goal set by the 1996 World Food Summit for halv-

ing the absolute number of hungry people by 2015.

“Although Latin America and the Caribbean have made tremendous progress over the last decade or so in fighting poverty and inequality, there is still a lot more to be done. So these are some of the main topics that will engage our attention when we go to Cuba,” the president said.

He added that Guyana has a great input to make at this summit in terms of sharing information and experiences, since the social programmes that Guyana has been following over the past two decades have been tried, tested and proven to significantly reduce social poverty.

The summit will be held in Havana, Cuba from January 25-29. According to the Cuba Standards, the CELAC summit is the biggest political event to be hosted by Havana in decades. Heads of state and foreign ministers of most member nations are expected to attend.

APNU hoping anti-money laundering bill meets CFAFT deadline – Granger

APartnership National Unity (APNU) leader David Granger has disclosed that the coalition is hoping to meet the February deadline set by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFAFT) for Guyana to put its house in order regarding the anti-money laundering bill.

He was at the time responding to questions at his weekly press briefing held at APNU’s headquarters, Hadfield Street, Georgetown on Friday.

Granger said he is confident that the deliberation will be completed before the CFATF deadline in February.

est that will commence plying the Georgetown route in July.

The agriculture sector, with the exception of sugar, has also performed well, with the rice industry recording its highest ever production of more than 535,000 tonnes, a 27 per cent increase from the previous year.

Going forward, the country is poised to see more economic growth this year. In fact, the United Nations’ annual World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) report 2014, projects that Guyana and Haiti will take the lead in economic growth for Latin America and the Caribbean. Both countries are projected to grow by 4.5 per cent this year.

“There is work that needs to be done; certain memorandum has been submitted and there is a body of amendments that needs to be made and as far as I know the committee is working towards the incorporation of those amendments,” he stated.

When questioned about APNU member Debra Backer who is ill but sits on the special select committee reviewing the legislation, the opposition leader disclosed that she has been replaced by her colleague Jaipaul Sharma.

Granger was further asked about government’s request for the special select committee meeting to be open to the public and the opposition’s refusal. He noted that the APNU members on the committee do not think it will be helpful to do so, but noted that it

could be visited in later deliberations.

“We are working towards a February deadline and I cannot tell you the precise reason but I’m not sure that it is being done in all the other parliamentary committees you have mentioned… it is something that can be considered later... the door has not been closed on that,” he mentioned.

The opposition leader was also asked about statements made by government members on the committee, Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall and Presidential Adviser on Governance Gail Teixeira, who claimed that the opposition is resorting to delay tactics in passing the vital bill. Granger said he does not know what they are alluding to since they are the ones who are prolonging the process.

Committed

“We are committed to ensuring that the anti-money laundering bill is cleaned and we are working to do that. I don’t know what they talking about, I mean it was the government side that rushed ahead and terminated the sitting last October, brought an incomplete report back to the National Assembly and now they brought it back to special committee so they seem to be confusing but as far as I’m concerned, members of the opposition are working to clean up the bill,” he said.

After months of warnings, warring and missed deadlines, legislators are yet to reach consen-

sus on the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (Amendment) Bill 2013. In late December, the bill was deferred to a special select committee for a second time. Guyana is currently on the regional blacklist for inadequate money laundering legislation. The country faces further sanctions from CFATF and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in February and May respectively if the legislation is not passed in Parliament.

Earlier this week, Citizens Bank and Banks DIH Chairman Clifford Reis said at the company’s annual general meeting that the non-passage of the bill and Guyana’s subsequent blacklisting has helped to drive up foreign exchange rates; putting a strain on the banking sector.

Guyana participates in fisherfolk workshop in Dominica

Some 20 fisherfolk leaders from the National Association of Fisherfolk Cooperatives (NAFCOOP) and its affiliate cooperatives participated in a National Fisherfolk Workshop, in Dominica, from January 20 to 21.

The workshop attended by Guyana was aimed at strengthening the capacities of the fisherfolk organisations in Dominica to become better engaged in the national, regional and international processes for developing and implementing fisheries policies.

It was co-facilitated by NAFCOOP mentor St Bernard Sebastien and CANARI Technical Officer Keisha Sandy.

“The voice of the fishers is not heard. This project can give us [a] better voice,” NAFCOOP President Huron Vidal said in his introductory speech during a panel discussion on Tuesday, January 21, 2014.

During the workshop, the fisherfolk leaders, using an organisational needs assessment approach, identified challenges to fisherfolk organisations in Dominica playing an effective role in fisheries governance and management, then identified opportunities to address some of the main challenges by getting involved in key national, regional and global policy and decision-making processes.

One of the key challenges identified was inadequate financial management in the fisherfolk organisations, particularly those at the primary level.

This was one of the factors affecting the ability of cooperatives to attract members, especially for fishers who have had bad experiences with such entities in the past.

The participants advocated for the creation and implementation of financial management plans for all fisherfolk organisations in Dominica.

The fishers also recognised the importance of conducting thorough assessments of their respective organisations to determine their capacity needs.

Supporting the engagement of fisherfolk is especially critical now as there are a number of international, regional and national policies being developed and implemented that will impact on the livelihoods of fisherfolk.

The Caribbean Network of Fisherfolk Organisations (CNFO) in consultation with its membership, including NAFCOOP, is putting forward fisherfolk positions in ongoing negotiations on the International Guidelines on Securing Sustainable Small Scale Fisheries, which are being coordinated by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO).

At the regional level, they are seeking to input into the implementation of the Caribbean Community Common Fisheries Policy.

The workshop was convened under the over one million euro European Union funded project “Enhancing food security from the fisheries sector in the Caribbean: Building the capacity of regional and national fisherfolk organisation networks to participate in fisheries governance and management”, which is targeting fisherfolk organisations in a number of Caribbean countries.

It is being implemented by the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI), working in partnership with the Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies of the University of the West Indies (UWI CERMES), Caribbean Network of Fisherfolk Associations (CNFO), Panos Caribbean and the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CFRM).

SUDOKU

Get involved in your community or volunteer for something that matters to you. New friendships can be made if you are outspoken at an event.

By Bernice Bede Osol

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

Don’t rock the boat today. You will have difficulty seeing eye-to-eye with others, so take some time to think about your future. Evaluate your motives honestly.

It’s a good day to tie up loose ends on lingering projects. If you get involved in something that gives you purpose, you will gain respect for your convictions. You will likely attract an admirer.

You must keep a tight lid on your emotions today. Since you do not have all the facts, don’t act hastily. A positive attitude will yield the best results.

(Aug. 23Sept. 22)

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

Travel with the goal of acquiring knowledge or information that will be of use to you. A romantic experience will uplift you at just the right moment.

(March 21-April 19)

Financial opportunities will arise today. Develop your ideas and put your plans into action. Secret activities will have a very positive outcome.

(April 20-May 20)

Don’t be fooled into thinking that your personal life is stable or not subject to swift change. Prepare to be interrogated about your whereabouts. Your input at a logistical meeting will be much appreciated.

(May 21June 20)

Now is the time to implement dietary changes and a new exercise routine. It would also be a good idea to take measures to alleviate the stress in your life. Don’t let anyone try to take advantage of you.

Interactions may lead to romantic encounters. If you are already in a relationship, work to deepen the connection. Do a thorough reconnaissance about something or someone of interest to you.

(Sept. 23Oct. 23)

Re-evaluate how you want to proceed with the rest of your life. Consider your current position and focus on personal goals. Don’t talk yourself out of following your dreams.

(Oct. 24Nov. 22)

You can have a good day as long as you avoid jumping to conclusions. Romance is possible if you aren’t too possessive. If you stay positive and pleasant, you’ll have fun and get results.

(Nov. 23Dec. 21)

You may be confused if you are out of the loop about what is going on in your circle. Don’t let such a setback get to you. An older individual can help to improve your position.

YELLOW PAGES

saturday, January 25, 2014

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PPP/C condemns move by Solomon to shut down Linden

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The People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) said it has taken note of efforts by the opposition to instigate a shut down of Linden, through protest today.

The party in a statement said it believes the call by the opposition through its henchman, Region 10 Chairman Sharma Solomon, is nothing short of an attempt to wreck havoc, sow seeds of discord and promote an economic sabotage of the people of Linden and should be condemned by Lindeners and more so all Guyanese forthwith.

beaten and robbed, a tragedy the community is still trying to overcome.

“We view what being instigated by the opposition as purely confrontational politics, since the so-called shut down is planned for the very day our party’s Region 10 headquarters is being commissioned,” the party noted.

The PPP/C said the call by Solomon, who should be a leader in his community and work towards its development will have dire economic and social impact on the lives of the people of Linden and should not be supported by right thinking Lindeners.

ing town today, expressing reservations about the protest action.

LCC President Kevin De Jonge told Guyana Times during an interview on Friday afternoon that the entity had limited information on the planned shutdown and, therefore, could not effect a meeting with its members to have the matter properly discussed before adopting a definitive position.

Speaking with Guyana Times on Friday, Solomon said the people of Linden and by extension Region 10 will be making their voices heard during the president’s visit.

“Every resident… in this region consciously has every right to confront the president, more so when that president had an opportunity to come when his police force would have killed three men did not come, when he and his government would have signed unto an agreement to ensure that the people of this region get the basic things to enhance their lives, that have not been done 17 months on,” he said.

“While we have always been an advocate for rights of Guyanese to protest, we are cognisant that this recent call by Solomon to reopen the wounds of Linden, is only to fulfil the narrow political agenda of his ‘bosses’ in the opposition.

“One must not lose sight of what took place in Linden in July of 2012, when the lives of three of our citizens were lost, public and private property arsoned, citizens

“Again, we urge our brothers and sisters of Linden not to be used by these irresponsible politicians, whose only aim is to fulfil their narrow political agenda of reversing Guyana’s developmental gains,” the party statement concluded.

The Linden Chamber of Commerce (LCC) has declined to endorse Solomon’s plan to shut down the min-

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds has called on Lindeners to remember that the agreements which settled the unrest in Linden froze electricity tariffs. “The agreements stated that there would be no consideration of any increases until after the various committee reports would have been received, studied and discussed. This position could not be more comfortable for the regional chairman and for APNU,” he said

Govt open to negotiation on public servants’ salary increases

President Donald Ramotar said that he is open to negotiations with public servants and unions, to come up with mutually accepted decisions in terms of annual salary increases.

The president was at the time responding to questions from media operatives specifically as it relates to the five per cent retroactive increase offered in December last year that sparked protest among some public servants.

He explained that the country has come a far way, and that his government is willing to give its workers as much as the country can afford.

“My desire is to give everybody a bigger salary as possible, but this is not something that only has to go with desire it also has to do with your ability and capacity and the resources at your disposal,” the head

of state explained.

He is hoping that negotiations for increases in wages and salaries can commence early. The five per cent that was awarded in 2013 is above the current inflation rate.

When the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) assumed office in 1992, a public servant’s minimum wage was $3137 and by 2005, the figure rose to $23,204. In 2012, five per cent increase was granted to public servants, in 2011, eight per cent, in 2010, five per cent and in 2009, six per cent.

Australian Open 2014….

Nadal beats Federer to reach final

Rafael Nadal powered past Roger Federer to reach the Australian Open final and maintain his dominance over the 17-time Grand Slam champion.

The world number one came through 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 6-3 and goes on to face Federer’s compatriot, Stanislas Wawrinka, for the title on Sunday.

And the Spaniard, 27, will be a strong favourite to claim his 14th Slam, and become only the third man to win all four majors at least twice.

“I played well,” he said. “I played probably my best match of the tournament, so I’m very, very, very happy that I played my best match in the semi-final against Roger.”

Nadal was in brilliant form in his 33rd meeting with Federer, overcoming a blister on his racquet hand and, if anything, growing stronger as the match progressed.

“The blister is good,” added Nadal. “It looks better every day. We are doing the right things. The blister today is not a problem anymore for normal life. It’s not painful.

“The problem is to play tennis. The only problem is the position of the blister, the place.”

Federer, 32, had captured the headlines throughout the tournament with his eye-catching form, built around some excellent serving, but he was constantly under pressure against Nadal.

The Spaniard missed two back-

hands on break points in game seven as both men struggled off that wing, and another went begging in game nine, but he dominated the tie-break.

Federer made a costly error with a volley into the net and, despite cutting a 5-1 deficit to 5-4, could not prevent Nadal closing it out.

Nadal ripped through the opening game of the second set with some huge forehands, followed by an unexpected double-handed backhand drop shot, but then took a medical timeout for attention to his palm.

“We made the tape a little bit smaller,” Nadal explained afterwards. “That helped me.

“I don’t know how many times I can change the tape during the match, because to change the tape I need the trainer.

“If that happens again, I don’t know how the rules are, but it’s a little bit more risky.”

It did not prove to be a helping hand for Federer, in fact quite the opposite as Nadal came storming back.

Only some big serving saw Federer save three more break points at 2-2, but he was finally undone two games later when a breathtaking angled backhand and a heavy forehand into the corner put Nadal 4-2 in front, and on his way to a two-set lead.

For all the positive influence of new coach Stefan Edberg over the past fortnight, when Federer dumped a backhand volley into the

Leeward Islands preparations going well

The Leeward Islands cricket team’s preparations for the upcoming Regional Four-Day and 50 Over Competitions are progressing well despite challenges faced by those charged with the responsibility.

A 30-member team is currently in St. Kitts and Camp Director Junie Mitchum claimed that the camp is going well and the team is being prepared to be competitive.

“The preparation so far for the Leeward Islands is going quite well. We are presently preparing for the West Indies Regional Four Day and also the 50 Over. We are having both camps together and preparing the guys not only to compete but also be competitive.

“Because we are different from Trinidad and Jamaica, we have to combine general preparation and specific preparation. We only had two weeks and because our tournaments are so far from the regional tournament it is a long time for the players not playing and then coming to a training camp,” he said.

He also highlighted the players' poor physical fitness and their injuries as some of the other challenges they are currently facing in the camp. He however disclosed that they are improving in that regard.

“Most of the time they are not in the physical shape that we want them to be in, and that is why we have to combine general preparation and specific prepa-

ration.

“They are some players with some slight niggling injuries. They are recovering and the physical trainer has being doing a good job in helping them to get to the level they need to be and also to help those with injuries to recover,” said Mitchum.

He is confident of the team’s chances of being ahead in the upcoming tournaments, starting with the Nagico Regional Super 50 Over on January 30 in Trinidad and Tobago.

“The Leeward’s team is never short of talent and ability. But the problem

lies in their level to manage the talent and ability in regards to knowing what they need to do in game situations, how to apply themselves and being able to play together as a unit. However, those are some of the things we have been working on during this camp.”

The NAGICO Super 50 Tournament will run from January 30 to February 15 and will be broadcast live on ESPN for the television audience and on Caribbean Super Station radio. The matches will be played at Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain and Shaw Park, Tobago. (WICB Media Release)

Russian swimmer tests positive for steroids

Swimming’s governing body has suspended London 2012 bronze medalist Yuliya Efimova for a doping offence.

Fina says the Russian tested positive for the steroid DHEA on 31 October in Los Angeles, where she trains at the University of Southern California.

The former world 50m breaststroke record holder won World titles in the 50m and 200m in Barcelona last August.

If a doping offense is

proven, Efimova, 21, is likely to keep her medals because the positive test came later.

Her suspension remains in effect until the Fina doping panel meets to rule on the case.

Efimova, who won Olympic bronze in the 200m breaststroke, denied Plymouth-based Lithuanian Ruta Meilutyte a gold medal in the 50m final in Barcelona when she beat her by 0.07 seconds. (BBC Sport)

net to drop serve early in the third, the outcome of the match had a very familiar feel.

There was a flash of hope for the thousands of Federer fans on Rod Laver Arena when their man finally broke to hit straight back, and some serve-volleying helped him to a 3-2 lead, but Nadal was soon on the hunt again.

The relentless pressure told as Federer’s forehand flew long to give up his serve at 3-3, and Nadal swept to victory with his fourth break of the day thanks to a succession of brilliant forehands.

It gave him a 23rd win over Federer, who still has not beaten Nadal at a Grand Slam since the 2007 Wimbledon final, and never away from the All England Club.

“I think Rafa did a good job of keeping the pressure on me,” said Federer. “I might have gotten a little tired, maybe in the third set, but overall I’m very happy.

“Rafa played well and he played solid, so I don’t have crazy regrets tonight other than maybe not having created more opportunities for myself. Rafa was his usual self, what I kind of expected.” (BBC Sport)

Federer:

I’m not done yet

Roger Federer still believes his best tennis is to come despite a straight-sets semi-final defeat to Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open.

Federer went down 7-6 6-3 6-3 to the top seed and has not added to his record haul of 17 Grand Slam titles since winning Wimbledon in 2012. But the 32-yearold Swiss, who has started a new coaching arrangement with Swedish legend Stefan Edberg this year, sees plenty of positives.

“It’s very encouraging, no doubt,” said Federer of his run at Melbourne Park which included wins over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Andy Murray.

“Wish I could have won here tonight and given an all-Swiss final (against Stanislas Wawrinka). That’s something I’ll regret for a long time.

“But I think this is a very good start to the season for me overall. I played some really good tennis here. I still feel my best tennis is only ahead of me right now.

“So I’m looking forward to the next couple of months, how they’re going to play out and hopefully by April I feel like I’m going to be at 100 percent again.”

Aggressive Federer will now drop to eighth in the world rankings but was pleased how he had been able to play freely over the whole tournament, having struggled with a back problem for much of 2013.

“What I like to do is I like to take it to the guy, I like to be in command,” he said.

“That’s what I was able to do now the last couple of weeks, so that’s very encouraging. That’s why I’m not too disappointed tonight because I feel it’s been a good start.

“I’ve come from far back. I didn’t have surgery like Murray had or like Rafa, being out seven months.

“But I played with something that has been going on for a while. This is a step in the right direction, and that’s the way I want to go. I have a belief this could be a very good year for me again.”

Stokes inspires England to much-needed win

It has happened. It’s not an apparition. England have beaten Australia. After 91 days on a gutwrenching tour that has brought defeat and despair, they can at least remind themselves what winning a cricket match feels like after securing a 57-run victory at the WACA.

Two players with huge roles to play in the future were central to the success. Ben Stokes hit his maiden ODI fifty, a steady 70 in his new role at No. 3, then followed it with four wickets, and Jos Buttler had given England the breathing space they needed with another brilliant late-order display. Buttler hit 71 off 43 balls just when the innings was threatening to lose its way after the top three had laid the best foundation of the series.

Buttler struck four sixes, including one off Mitchell Johnson, whose 10 overs cost 72, as the final six overs of the innings brought 69 runs, with Eoin Morgan playing his part in a stand of 71. Buttler’s scoop came out but it was his straight hitting that was most eyecatching and his status continues to rise, day by day. It was Buttler, too, who held the final catch to bring a rare smile to the fact of Alastair Cook and his team.

After the series was decided in Sydney, Cook said he would consider his future as one-day captain when the tour was finished but at the toss today he admitted it had been the emotion speaking and, having reflected on things for a few days in Perth, he was now “desper-

Ben Stokes followed up 70 with the bat by taking four wickets in England’s first win

ate” to continue in his current capacity. A win here, albeit against an Australia side without four senior players, will have lifted his spirits further. Although there was a superbly composed hundred by Aaron Finch, his second of the series, to anchor Australia’s chase there were no pyrotechnics from James Faulkner to steal the game away. This time Faulkner fell for 2, getting a thin edge as he tried to cut Stokes, much to the relief of those playing in red. The moment

got the better of Stokes, who gave Faulkner a send-off, and the umpires felt they needed to step in. Stokes also removed George Bailey, Australia’s stand-in captain, through smart use of the DRS after he had spotted a thin edge on a leg-side glance, dispatched the power Glenn Maxwell who played a an ugly swipe to leg and bowled Johnson. The over in which he claimed Maxwell, the 40th of the innings, became a maiden and it was a show of his character after being

one of Faulkner’s victims at the Gabba although his copybook was blotted a little when he shelled Nathan Coulter-Nile for what would have been the winning moment.

Australia had raced out of the blocks in their chase as Chris Jordan struggled with his run up and Stuart Broad continued to search for rhythm. Both bowlers improved during the innings. Tim Bresnan provided the first breakthrough when Shaun Marsh carelessly guided to second slip and England’s cause was helped by a stuttering comeback innings from Matthew Wade who never found his timing before finding midoff.

At the other end, however, Finch was playing an outstanding hand and constantly scored above a runa-ball. His first boundary was an airy drive over cover, but there was due respect shown to good deliveries then the decisiveness to pick off boundaries when they were needed. He forced Cook to change tack when he deposited James Tredwell for consecutive sixes and also drove Bresnan back over his head.

His hundred came from 97 balls but the game started to edge England’s way when he guided Bresnan to third man where Broad held a good running catch.

The way England’s batting order is constructed provokes much debate; this was almost the ideal formula for how they see it working. The opening stand of 87 in 12 overs was more than has been delivered of late; in

Blatter, Rousseff brush off World Cup problems

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff brushed off concerns about their troubled World Cup preparations after meeting FIFA’s Sepp Blatter on Thursday, reiterating that her country would stage the “Cup of Cups”. Blatter, president of world soccer’s governing body, also dismissed worries over Brazil’s problems, saying all that was needed were “a few touch ups”.

Their meeting at FIFA headquarters came two days after officials in Curitiba, one of the 12 World Cup venues, were given until February 18 to prove they can get their stadium ready or risk exclusion from the tournament.

The Arena da Baixada was supposed to be ready in December but, like five other grounds, it is behind schedule.

Airports and public transportation are also a huge problem as Brazil prepares to host the tournament for the first time since 1950.

Blatter and Rousseff both read statements in which they discussed initiatives to combat racism, promote peace and strengthen women’s football in Brazil.

These included, according to Blatter, the release of a bird of peace before the opening ceremony. However, the pair largely avoided going into de-

tail on the issues regarding World Cup preparations.

“We are prepared,” said Rousseff after an hour-long meeting.

“We are going to put on the Cup of Cups, and we are going to do so in the country of football.”

“Stadiums are relatively simple things to build,” she added. “We are sparing

the early stages, Australia’s quick bowlers varied between too full and too short, which is often a failure of visiting attacks.

Stokes’ innings, his maiden ODI fifty was an excellent response after he’d struggled in his first innings at No. 3 in Sydney. This time he was quickly into double figures and the brisk start he arrived on the back of allowed him time to settle. He had some tricky moments against Johnson, and on 29 edged a very tough chance to Marsh at slip, but also unfurled some eyecatching drives which were a feature of his Test century on this ground last month before top-edging a sweep off Faulkner.

Cook and Ian Bell, with

47-ball fifty, had led the positive start, hitting 12 boundaries in the first 10 overs, and Australia were as ragged as at any time in the season. Bell was given lives on 48 and 52 although neither miss was costly, as Bell flicked a poor delivery from Daniel Christian straight to short fine-leg.

There had more than a hint of anger and frustration in the England captain’s batting, especially when he plundered three consecutive boundaries in CoulterNile’s first over, but for the third time in a row he fell to Maxwell. He left with an angry swish of the bat but, by the end of the day, being England cricket captain will have felt just a little bit better. (Cricinfo)

SCOREBOARD

: (w 16) 16 Total: (eight wickets; 50 overs) 316 Fall of wickets: 1-87 (Cook,), 2-138 (Bell), 3-190 (Ballance), 4-206 (Stokes), 5-216 (Bopara), 6-287 (Morgan), 7-312 (Buttler), 8-312 (Bresnan)

MG Johnson 10-072-0, JL Pattinson 8-0-63-1, JP Faulkner 10-0-67-4, NM CoulterNile 10-0-62-1, GJ Maxwell 9-037-1, DT Christian 3-0-15-1

Extras (lb

no effort into building stadiums, airports and ports to enable Brazil to welcome visitors with open arms.”

Blatter said he was also unruffled.

“Brazil is the country of football and there is no better country than Brazil when talking about football,” he said.

“So Brazil is going to organize a very beautiful World Cup, a great World Cup, and confidence reigns.

“And now, there are a few months to go, and there will have to be a few touch ups but this is normal for a World Cup. I am used to World Cups.

“There is no problem,” he added. “At the end of the day, everything will be in order, everywhere in Brazil.”

Blatter said earlier in January that he could not remember any country having fallen so far behind in their preparations as Brazil. After Rousseff tweeted that Brazil would stage “the Cup of Cups”, Blatter backtracked and predicted a successful tournament. (Reuters)

Alastair Cook "desperate" to stay as England captain

Alastair Cook says he is “desperate” to remain England captain and wants to lead the side at the 2015 World Cup.

Cook suggested he may step down after England lost the one-day series with defeat in Sydney on Sunday, having been whitewashed 5-0 in the Test series. But he said before the fourth ODI on Friday: “I’m lucky enough to do this job. I’m desperate to carry on now.”

England went on to beat Australia by 57 runs in Perth to end a nine-match losing streak. Cook, the Test and one-day captain, has been backed by the England and Wales Cricket Board even though he has become only the third England skipper in history to suffer an Ashes whitewash. Teammate Ravi Bopara this week described Cook as “the best man for the job” following a troubled tour of Australia in which the captain’s form with the bat has suffered.

Having finally record-

ed a victory over Australia in Perth, and scored 44 off 43 balls in England’s 316-8, Cook explained that he is determined to be in charge for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand next year.

He said: “I think what I’ve learned over three years as a one-day captain is that it would be wrong so close to a World Cup to change.

“We are getting some very valuable experience here of conditions in which we are going to play during the World Cup. If I am still given the opportunity, then I’d like to be captain.”

Cook admitted his comments last week had been an emotional response to defeat, adding: “I spoke what I was feeling and sometimes you probably shouldn’t do that but I did. “We can move on from it. In the last four or five days, I have done quite a lot of talking to some of the guys. Sometimes you do need a bit of reassurance when you’ve lost a lot of games on a tour. (BBC Sport)

Minutes, video recordings of GCB only for internal use – President

– identity of DCB executives still unknown

By Rajiv Bisnauth

The minutes of the official statutory meetings and decisions made by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) are only for internal use and will not be released into public domain for information purposes under any circumstances.

This position was explained by GCB President Drubahadur when he was contacted by Guyana Times Sport for the document which is believed to contain the names of the members of the Demerara Cricket Board (DCB), who were elected to serve for the period 2013 to 2015.

Drubahadur declined to make any disclosures, stating instead that the video recordings as well are for internal use, as they contain information not intended for its wider membership or the public.

His explanation come as a suprise, as they were made on the heels of pronouncements by GCB Secretary Anand Sanasie, who was quoted in another section of the press as saying that the “minutes and video record-

ings are available for perusal”.

Specifically, the minutes and recordings are of the GCB Annual General Meeting held on January 27, 2013.

Butm based on Sanasie's pronouncement, when this publication made an attempt on Friday to request a copy of the minutes and video recordings, the board’s administrator, Savitri Persaud, indicated that she is not in a position give out anything, and referred this publication to Sanasie.

However, phone calls made to Sanasie’s cell number proved futile. A follow up email was sent requesting the minutes and recordings, but as of press time, no response was received.

Court cases

The decision not to release the names of the DCB is not a clandestine move to keep the public in the dark, but rather it is linked to several pending court cases, the board’s head Raj Singh had told this publication last September.

The Raj Singh-led board

WICB NAGICO Super50 tournament…

has faced severe criticism about the non-disclosure of its elected officials.

The Raj Singh faction of the DCB held elections on January 25 last year, despite an injunction hours prior to the elections.

The injunction was granted to plaintiffs Roger Harper and Davteerth Anandjit and the defendants named in the court document were Rajendra Singh, Lalta Digamber, Anand Sanasie, Alfred Mentore, Anand Kalladeen, Ravindranauth Persaud, Ronald Sarjoo,

Nazimul Drepaul, Colin Europe, Ray Persaud, Krishnchand Mangal, Chetram Singh, Lionel Jaikaran, Ramsey Ali, Fizul Bacchus, Drubahadur, Troy Mendonca, Terrence Holder (now deceased) and Rayon Griffith.

The interim injunction had restrained the defendants “by themselves, their servants and or agents acting collectively or individually…from convening or causing to be convened or holding an Annual General Meeting of the DCB on January 25,

2013 or any other date for the purpose of the election of office bearers to the Executive Committee" of the DCB for the period 2013 to 2015 term of office.

However, not everyone has given credence to the result.

Many observers have maintained that the elections were held so as to ensure that there was some amount of validity to GCB elections that were held two days after, and that there would have been a quorum to facilitate the local governing body’s elections.

The East Coast Cricket Board (ECCB) and Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) were not part of the DCB elections and have since pulled out of any commitments to the current DCB set-up that draws its support from the East and West Bank Demerara subassociations.

Meanhile, the GCB has inexplicably removed some Guyana Times sport reporters' email address from its media mailing list and, despite several requests by management, the situation has not been corrected.

Former national player predicts triumph for Guyana

By Ravendra Madholall in Toronto

Former Guyana Under-19

vice-captain Troy Gobin believes Guyana has the right combination of players to emerge champions of the upcoming West Indies Cricket Board’s NAGICO Super50, billed for January 30 to February 15 in Trinidad and Tobago.

The Guyanese, who have failed to lift the trophy for the past eight years, will start off their campaign against International Cricket Council affiliated team, Ireland on January 31.

With the inclusion of veteran batsmen Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan, Gobin believes their presence will serve to strengthen the team’s confidence immensely.

“I think Guyana definitely has a balanced team and with Shiv and Ramnaresh around those players have the ability to bring success for the team,” Gobin said from his home in North York, Toronto.

Young talent

He also spoke greatly of the lone newcomer in the squad, Robin Bacchus, whom he considered a dashing batsman. Gobin believes once Bacchus plays to the best of his natural talent, he can be a great member of the Guyana unit.

“He is one of the young batsmen in the team and having the senior guys around him, that should pro-

pel some amount of confidence in him to start off his career at the top; I have seen him in Guyana playing club cricket and the way he stroke the ball was very impressive and he showed lots of aggression too, so I think we can look out

for him,” the right-handed Gobin asserted.

After emerging as champion in 2005 at home, the last time they won the competition, the Guyanese have been very vivacious and feverish with their preparations

with a number of practice matches. They have placed in Group A alongside Jamaica, the Windward Islands and Ireland.

“It will be a very challenging competition given the fact all the players will be on show, but as I

said Guyana can be very dominant once they play to their true ability; Chris Barnwell is a good selection to lead the side and that allows all the seasoned players to focus more on their game,” Gobin, who has played professionally in Canada over the past decade, said.

Quizzed on what he thinks will be some of the challenges in Trinidad and Tobago, Gobin, without hesitation, stated that the pitches can be very tricky.

Batting

“When you’re playing away from home, pitches and conditions are always a factor, but I think the players will adapt quickly and with many good fast and spin bowlers ready to display their game, that will be very challenging as well, but Guyana can be very confident with their batting line-up,” Gobin expressed.

Gobin also expressed surprise at the continued omission of Sarwan from the West Indies team, noting that the elegant right-hander still has plenty to offer to the regional side, particularly in the 50-over version.

The squad reads: Robin Bacchus, Trevon Griffith, Leon Johnson, Shivnarine Chanderpaul (vice-captain), Narsingh Deonarine, Christopher Barnwell (captain), Ramnaresh Sarwan, Royston Crandon, Assad Fudadin, Anthony Bramble (w/k), Devendra Bishoo, Veerasammy Permaul, Ronsford Beaton and Paul Wintz.

Ricks and Sari 11race cycling on today

After staging a record 42 events in 2013, national cycling coach Hassan Mohamed will today roll out another packed programme of activities for 2014 with the aim of surpassing his achievements of the past year.

The cycling season in Georgetown will commence with the 21st annual Ricks and Sari Agro Industries Limited’s 11-race cycle programme at the inner circuit of the National Park.

The programme will pedal off at 09:00 hours, and according to Mohamed, the event should set the tone for the rest of the season.

“I’m expecting a large turnout of riders, not just for this event but all the other races I have planned this year. Last year I was able to stage a record 42 events and hopefully this year I would surpass that number,” Mohamed intimated.

The long-serving national coach said that the long list of corporate entities and the National Sports

Commission are expected to renew their sponsorship of the various events, making it much easier to match or surpass the achievements of previous years.

Saturday’s programme will see the riders competing in the 12-14 Open (three laps), BMX Boys 1214 (three laps), Veterans U-50 (five laps), BMX Boys 9-12 (three laps), Veteran O-50 (five laps), BMX Boys 6-9 (two laps), Upright

(five laps), BMX Girls 6-12 (one lap), BMX Boys Open (three laps), Juveniles and the feature School Boys and Invitational 35-lap.

In 2013, Raynauth Jeffrey clocked one hour, 16 minutes, 56 seconds (01h: 16m: 56s) to win the feature race, while Raul Leal was victorious in the Juveniles 10-lap in a time of 25 minutes, 12.34 seconds.

Leal will resume competitive cycling after re-

covering fully from the career-threatening injuries he sustained in May last following a road accident in which he suffered a broken right forearm and right leg while training.

The first event of 2014 was held in Berbice and was won by Linden’s Orville Hinds. The road race was sponsored by Benjamin Sport Store of Fyrish, Corentyne.

Guyana’s Cricket Administration

Bill deferred for the fourth time

The second reading of the Cricket Administration Bill that would seek to establish the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) and county boards as corporate bodies was on Thursday evening deferred for the fourth time.

The bill was listed on the Order Paper for its second reading by Sport Minister Dr Frank Anthony. However, the Minister asked for the bill to be deferred. It is unclear when the Minister will move the second reading of the bill.

The bill was tabled by government last December 2011 in a bid to end the impasse over the national game. It provides constitutions for the GCB, the Demerara, Berbice and the Essequibo Cricket Boards and is divided into five parts with one schedule giving respective boards the powers to effectively manage the affairs of local cricket.

The bill was the subject of much discussion by critical stakeholders within the cricketing fraternity, and was reviewed by a Special Select Committee of the National Assembly of

Dr Frank Anthony

Guyana. The special select committee comprises four members of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), one member from the Alliance for Change (AFC) and four members of the ruling People’s Progressive Party. The members of the Select Committee are Christopher Jones, Joseph Harmon, Basil Williams, and Dr Rupert Roopnarine of APNU, Kemraj Ramjattan of the AFC, while Odinga Lumumba, Attorney General Anil Nandlall, Sport Minister Dr Frank Anthony and Neil Kumar represent the government.

7 NAGICO Super50 squads announced

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad –

Please see below the squads for the upcoming NAGICO Super50 tournament to be played in Trinidad & Tobago from January 30 to February 15.

Zone A: Windward Islands, Jamaica, Guyana, Ireland

Zone B: Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, Leeward Islands, Combined Campuses & Colleges

GUYANA: Christopher Barnwell (captain), Shiv Chanderpaul (vice captain), Anthony Bramble (wicket-keeper), Robin Bacchus, Trevon Griffith, Leon Johnson, Narsingh Deonarine, Royston Crandon, Assad Fudadin, Devendra Bishoo, Veerasammy Permaul, Ronsford Beaton, Paul Wintz, Ramnaresh

Sarwan; Esuan Crandon (coach).

IRELAND: William Porterfield (captain), Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, John Mooney, Tim Murtagh, Andrew McBrine, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Andrew Poynter, Max Sorensen, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Gary Wilson, Craig Young; Phil Simmons (coach).

JAMAICA: David Bernard Jr (captain), Nikita Miller (vice captain), Andre Russell, Carlton Baugh Jr (wicket-keeper), Tamar Lambert, Andrew Richardson, Horace Miller, John-Ross Campbell, Jermaine Blackwood, Andre McCarthy, Sheldon Cottrell, Jerome Taylor, Nkrumah Bonner, Kenar Lewis; Junior Bennett (coach).

WINDWARD ISLANDS: Liam Sebastien (captain), Andre Fletcher (vice captain), Johnson Charles (wicket-keeper), Tyron Theophille, Mervin Matthew, Craig Emmanuel, Garey Mathurin, Keddy Lesporis, Devon Smith, Dalton Polius, Delorn Johnson, Kenroy Peters, Romel Currency, Alston Bobb; Ian Allen (coach).

BARBADOS: Kevin Stoute (captain), Sulieman Benn, Tino Best, Rashidi Boucher, Carlos Brathwaite, Kraigg Brathwaite, Jonathan Carter, Shane Dowrich (wicket-keeper), Fidel Edwards, Kirk Edwards, Jason Holder, Ashley Nurse, Dwayne Smith, Kenroy Williams; Hendy Springer (coach).

COMBINED CAMPUSES

& COLLEGES: Steven Jacobs (captain), Anthony Alleyne, Ryan Austin, Kyle Corbin, Akeem Dewar, Kavem Hodge, Kyle Mayers, Kristopher Ramsaran, Wayne Morgan, Shacaya Thomas, Raymon Reifer, Chadwick Walton (wicket-keeper), Kesrick Williams, Floyd Reifer (player/coach).

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO: Dwayne Bravo (captain), Adrian Barath, Evin Lewis, Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo, Jason Mohammed, Denesh Ramdin (wicket-keeper), Rayad Emrit, Sunil Narine, Ravi Rampaul, Imran Khan, Yannick Ottley, Shannon Gabriel, Kevon Cooper; Kelvin Williams (coach).

LEEWARD ISLANDS: To be named on Monday, January 27.

Gayle out of NAGICO Super50

PORT-OF-SPAIN,

Trinidad – Jamaica will be without captain and opening batsman Chris Gayle for the upcoming NAGICO Super50 tournament. Gayle was injured during the West Indies tour of India late last year and has not recovered in time to participate in the upcoming

INSIDE TODAY’S SPORT

50-over event.

The Jamaica Cricket Association confirmed the change on Friday.

Experienced all-rounder David Bernard will now lead the team. Left-arm spinner Nikita Miller is the new vice-captain. Kenar Lewis, a strongly-built right-handed top-order batsman will re-

place Gayle in the 14-member squad. He made his nation debut in the 2011 WICB Regional Super50 tournament and also played in the WICB Caribbean T20 competition two years ago.

The NAGICO Super50 tournament will run from January 30 to February 15 and will be broadcast live on ESPN and on Caribbean Super Station radio. Matches at Queen’s Park Oval will be day/night fixtures while matches at Shaw Park, Tobago will be day games.

The full squad reads: David Bernard Jr (captain), Nikita Miller (vice captain), Andre Russell, Carlton Baugh Jr (wicketkeeper), Tamar Lambert, Andrew Richardson, Horace Miller, John-Ross Campbell, Jermaine Blackwood, Andre McCarthy, Sheldon Cottrell, Jerome Taylor, Nkrumah Bonner and Kenar Lewis

Reserves: Danza Hyatt, Donovan Nelson and Jamie Merchant. (WICB Media)

Ricks and Sari 11-race cycling on today

be

NAGICO Super50 tournament…

Former national player predicts triumph for Guyana