Guyana Times International

PPP/C’s Presidential Candidate Donald Ramotar has refused to concede that the PPP/C has lost the 2015 general elections and while saying that the party has won, has called for a total recount of all the votes.

“I cannot concede that I lost this election,” he told reporters at a PPP/C press conference at Freedom House on Thursday afternoon. Asked by the media if he would give up power should the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) officially declare the APNU+AFC alliance the winner of the elections later today (Thursday), Ramotar responded that “I haven’t closed any options.” He said that he will be consulting with his team and did not rule out a legal challenge.

“We are convinced that these elections were rigged,” Ramotar said, while adding that the party did not agree with the assessment of international observers that the elections were credible. He called for a total recount of all the votes and said that Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield had found problems with 490 polling results.

PPP/C points to evidence of infractions -

says tactics of fear, intimidation and bullyism was used

to disrupt the electoral process

The Peoples Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) made the request for recounts at approximately 90 polling stations in three regions late Tuesday night and a further request for recounts in the remaining seven regions was made on Wednesday after additional discrepancies in the electoral process were brought to light.

Party member, Priya Manickchand, at a news conference held at Freedom House on Tuesday made it clear that the issue at hand is not one of merely winning the 2015 General and Regional Elections, but guarding against the threats to democracy.

She stressed that while many stakeholders in the electoral process have publicly judged the process as free and fair; in reality it was not “free from F-E-A-R.”

Manickchand stressed that allowing the electoral discrepancies to pass will find Guyana back into the abyss from which the Guyanese people have struggled to climb over the last two decades.

She contends that PPP/C officials were pre-

vented from doing their jobs during the counting, election day staffers did not do their jobs in a professional manner as required and reports of these, as well as other infractions made by the party were not given the attention they deserved by GECOM.

“These reports were not made for the sake of reporting,” Manickchand said.

Other problems, according to the PPP/C, which were documented and forwarded to GECOM include: misdirection by some GECOM staffers who advised vot-

ers, damaged stamps that saw some ballots not being properly stamped, the fact that persons without identification cards were allowed to vote even though their images did not match those in the files of GECOM staff and the denial of proxy holders to use their proxies, among others.

According to Manickchand, tactics of fear, intimidation and bullyism were employed on Monday, May 11, to disrupt the electoral process.

When questioned on how widespread the in-

fractions were, she explained that several reports from party agents have come to the party leadership’s attention.

On this basis, the PPP/ C member added a question of her own, “Should we accept this?” she said, adding that any count of votes done in an atmosphere of “fear” ought not to be accepted by the Guyanese people.

“Fear was created,” Manickchand said, adding that she personally made a report to a Carter Centre observer whom she met while moving around Region 5 (Demerara/ Mahaica)

in her capacity as an Assistant Election Agent (AEA).

Relative to the query of whether or not acts of intimidation were reported to the Guyana Police Force (GPF), the PPP/C executive member explained that reports were not made because the offending persons could not be identified and, since the priority was to ensure that persons turned out to vote, there was no push to stop the task at hand to make a report to the police.

Meanwhile, another PPP/C member, Anil Nandlall, was emphat-

ic that the ruling party’s request was made within legal and constitutional frameworks.

He cited Section 84 of Chapter 103 of the Representation of the People Act as one such example and stated that recounts can be requested as late as noon on the day after the returning officers have made their declarations of a final tally.

“The time for a recount has not passed,” he said, while rubbishing what he termed “misinformation” being peddled on this matter.

According to him, the discrepancies in the electoral process have resulted in one major problem: the rejection of ballots.

“We have seen an unusually high number of rejected ballots,” he said.

Nandlall said that the electoral process is a three-pronged one that involves voting, counting and the verification of those counts – a process that has not yet been concluded in its entirety.

He also debunked claims that legal action is being advanced to prevent the legal declaration of the results of the 2015 General and Regional Elections.

PPP/C says many SOPs are fake

- GECOM’s Preliminary figures show APNU+AFC wins by 5,360 votes

The People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) in a memorandum to the diplomatic community is contending that irregularities plagued the May 11th 2015 Guyana General and Regional Elections including specifically the voting at Polling Stations and the processing of the voting by GECOM electoral staff and others.

In support of its contention, the PPP/C disclosed that many Statements of Polls (SOPs) received by GECOM from the ten Electoral Districts were identified as fakes.

The Party in a statement noted that at its meeting on Wednesday, Chief Elections Officer of GECOM, Mr. Keith Lowenfield, disclosed that he had noticed that many of the SOPs had formats different from the authentic SOPs that were earlier distributed to the Electoral Districts to be used by Presiding Officers to tabulate votes at Polling Stations.

“These fake SOPs did not additionally carry the endorsed signatures of GECOM that were applied to every SOP purchased by GECOM from Canada,” the PPP noted.

According to the PPP, it was also disclosed that SOPs had numbers of voters that exceeded the voters that were assigned to the Polling Stations.

As a result of this, the PPP/C had called on GECOM to halt declaration until the following is completed:

1. a) The establishment of the genuine nature of each SOP submitted to GECOM for the ten (10) Electoral Districts and provision of

a quantitative assessment of fake SOPs;

2. b) The total recount of all ballots cast in the May 11th, 2015 Elections;

3. c) The earliest disclosure of these irregularities, the nature and the results of the investigation done by GECOM;

4. d) The submission of interventions to regain confidence in the Electoral process of May 11th, 2015.

Meanwhile, with all results in, based on GECOM’s Preliminary Results, the APNU+AFC alliance has won the most votes for the 2015 General and Regional Elections. Mr Lowenfield made the announcement on Thursday at a press conference.

With results from all polling stations in, the APNU+AFC alliance has received 206, 817 votes while the PPP/C received 201, 457 votes for the 2015 the General Elections. He said that the results are preliminary and the Returning Officers will be making their official declarations soon.

The PPP/C has requested recounts from all the districts. However, the US, UK and Canada, as well as other observer missions have hailed the polls. UK High Commissioner, Greg Quinn said that there is no evidence to support new allegations made by the PPP/C of irregularities in Monday’s elections. Quinn’s statement follows another by the US Embassy standing by its assessment that Monday’s elections were free and fair.

The result shows how close the election was as the margin is less than a seat.

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EDITORIAL

Gender inequalities

The issue of women’s advancement in Guyana has been given much attention on the recent campaign trail, particularly by the major parities – PPP/C and APNU/AFC. Both parties boasted of having a comprehensive plan in terms of advancing women’s rights and ensuring that they take their rightful place in the society which they hope to implement once elected.

To its credit, Guyana has made significant progress in advancing women’s empowerment under the PPP/C Government. Even though there is still much work to be done, Guyana must be commended for the progress it has made in ensuring that; in addition to women being protected under the law, they are also given the relevant opportunities for their personal and professional advancement.

Further, it should be mentioned that Guyana was ranked 29th in the world out of 143 countries by the Inter-Parliamentary Union in 2013 and 42nd of 200 countries, in terms of political and educational empowerment by the Global Gender Gap Index. In essence, irrespective of what the naysayers will want us to believe, there is much the world can learn from Guyana’s experiences in terms women’s empowerment.

At present, the International Development Partners and Governments are putting their finishing touches on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, and the issue of gender equality and women’s empowerment is getting the attention it deserves.

At a recent forum to mark the 20th anniversary of the landmark conference on women that enshrined the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark stressed that, in addition to a specific gender equality goal in the new Post 2015 global development agenda, it is crucial to ensure all policies at the national and local levels are seen through a “gender lens” to help overcome historic inequalities between men and women.

Clark was quoted as saying that in pursuing economic growth which benefits all citizens, it is important to focus not only on ensuring that women can participate in the decisions which affect their lives, but also on overcoming the barriers, including institutionalized discriminatory practices and attitudes, which severely affects women from moving forward.

This includes addressing the scourge of violence against women, and also the disproportionate burden of unpaid work carried out by women and girls which deprives them of time to earn money, gain new skills, and take part in public life.

According to the UNDP, during the last few decades, poverty rates have declined in every region of the world. Between 1990 and 2010, the proportion of people in developing regions living under the threshold of US$1.25 a day, the international benchmark for measuring extreme poverty, fell from 47 per cent to 22 percent.

Progress for women is also visible. For example, at least 50 per cent of the world’s women are now in paid wage and salary employment, an increase from forty per cent since the 1990s. Also, women’s political participation has increased worldwide.

In 1995, women comprised 11.3 percent of parliamentarians. Today, they make up 22.1 percent of parliamentarians, which is, however, still below the 30 per cent target set by the UN.

However, despite the progress, too many challenges remain. According to a recent UN report on the Millennium Development Goals progress, more than 1.2 billion people still live in extreme poverty, and women continue to be more likely than men to be among them.

Despite the increased number of women in paid wage and salary employment, women remain disproportionately represented in vulnerable employment, and earn ten to thirty per cent less than men do for the same work. Moreover, across countries and regions, women are less likely than men to have access to decent work, assets, and formal credit, and do not have an equal voice in decisionmaking.

In this regard, Clark highlighted key steps to boost women’s empowerment, these include: supporting legal reforms to ensure women’s equal access to land, credit and assets, guarantee equal pay for equal work, and strengthen labour protections; developing employment and entrepreneurship programmes which target women; and establishing social protection measures which are of particular benefit to women, such as maternity benefits, unemployment and health insurance, and greater livelihood security. These are some very valid suggestions which we hope will be taken seriously by all stakeholders.

New visual guide to protect children from pesticides

With the help of a new training guide developed by FAO and the International Labour Organization (ILO), extension workers in Africa and elsewhere are engaging with rural communities to reduce children's exposure to toxic pesticides used in farming.

Nearly 100 million boys and girls between 5 and 17 years old are engaged in child labour in agriculture, according to ILO statistics. Many are directly exposed to toxic chemicals while working on the farm. But children are also exposed when they help with family chores or play, and through the food they eat and the water they drink.

Children are far more sensitive to pesticides than adults. Exposure can result in acute poisoning and sickness immediately after contact. But often, it also has longer-term, chronic impacts on their health and development.

Limiting pesticide use and promotion of non-toxic alternatives are important for reducing exposure, but education is equally crucial.

Protect children from pesticides!, FAO and ILO's new visual guide, provides an easy accessible training tool. It helps agricultural extension workers, rural educators, labour inspectors, and producer organizations in teaching farmers and their families how to identify and minimize risks at home and on the farm. They also learn how to recognize and respond to signs of toxic exposure.

The user-friendly guide has three main modules: how children are exposed to pesticides, what the health risks are and why children are particularly vulnerable, and what can be done to reduce those risks.

Growing interest

"The tool was initially developed in Mali, where it is now widely used by extension workers, farmer field schools,

labour inspectors, and producer organizations", said Rob Vos, Director of FAO's Social Protection Division. "Its use is also expanding in Niger and other African countries. We are seeing growing interest from other regions. The guide is not only raising awareness that something must be done, but also showing what needs to be done."

Not all situations are the same. The guide is not only available in several languages (currently in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish, and a Russian version will be available soon), but also adapted to different regional contexts, including Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean and Asia Pacific. The graphics and illustrations are adapted accordingly as well.

Support from the Rotterdam Convention

The effort to adapt the visual guide and promote its wider use is being supported by the Rotterdam Convention, a multilateral treaty to promote shared responsibility in relation to imports of hazardous chemicals. FAO and the United Nations Environment Programme jointly serve as the Secretariat for the convention.

"This is a good example of how the normative work of a convention can contribute to

reaching out to the most vulnerable groups and make a difference to their lives" according to Christine Fuell, FAO's Coordinator for the Rotterdam Convention. "The colourful illustrations are built on local knowledge and refer to very concrete and real situations, such that they also appeal to children, raising their own awareness of the risks posed by pesticides."

Why children are at greater risk

Children are particularly vulnerable to pesticide exposure for various biological and behavioural reasons.

They breathe in more air than adults and so take in more dust, toxic vapours, and droplets of spray. Relative to their body weight, children need to eat and drink more than adults, and if food is contaminated, they absorb more toxins. The surface area of a child's skin per unit of body mass is greater than that of an adult, and their skins are more delicate. All these factors can lead to greater absorption of chemicals, and children's organs are less able to detoxify pesticides because they are not yet fully developed, according to the guide.

Young children often play on the ground, put things in their mouths and are attracted to colourful containers, all common behaviours that increase risk.

Lawyer for Haiti’s First Lady considers options after election bid fails

PORT-AUPRINCE, Haiti

- The lawyer for Haiti’s First Lady Sophia Martelly is contemplating the next step following the decision by electoral authorities to prevent her from running for a seat in the Senate.

Gregory Mayard-Paul said the decision was unfair and he was studying it carefully to determine the available options, according to the Miami Herald.

“We think that the

law has not been respected and the civil and constitutional rights of the First Lady have been violated,” he told the newspaper.

It was on Tuesday that the National Bureau of Electoral Disputes (BCEN) rejected Martelly’s bid to run for the Senate seat representing the West department, which encompasses the capital, citing nationality issues and administrative clearance. Opposition officials had contested her

eligibility for several reasons, including an argument that she holds dual US-Haitian citizenship.

(CMC)

The elections for the Senate and Chamber of Deputies will be held on August 9.

Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council said 2,039 people had registered to run in the parliament elections for 20 Senate seats and 118 seats in the lower chamber.

Presidential elections are set for October 25.

Coast Guard sends home 50 Cubans trying to enter US by sea

FLORIDA, United States

– The United States Coast Guard on Wednesday sent back home 50 Cuban migrants caught trying to make it into the country on makeshift boats.

The more than four dozen people who were repatriated to Bahia de Cabañas, Cuba were intercepted in three separate incidents in the past week.

The US Coast Guard said that all three cases involved “unseaworthy, homemade vessels that posed significant risk to the migrants attempting to make the perilous journey”.

The first interdiction occurred on May 8, when the crew aboard the Carnival Breeze cruise ship saw a rustic vessel south of Dry Tortugas, Florida, with 27 Cuban migrants aboard. The Coast Guard Cutter Paul Clark stopped the boat and took the migrants on board.

Later that same day, a boat crew from Coast Guard Station Key West intercepted a rustic vessel south of Marquesas Key, Florida, with 15

Cuban migrants aboard.

Then on May 9, while carrying out a patrol, the crew aboard an Air Station Miami HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft located eight Cuban migrants north of Matanzas, Cuba.

The US Coast Guard said in a statement that in each case, all of the migrants were taken on board Coast Guard vessels and safely transferred to the Coast Guard Cutter Valiant for repatriation.

“Along with our Department of Homeland Security and international partners, the Coast Guard continues to robustly patrol

the Florida Straits and Caribbean sea to prevent migrants from taking the perilous and illegal maritime journey to the United States,” said Captain Mark Gordon, Chief of Response Enforcement for Coast Guard 7th District in Miami.

Since October 1 last year, 1,759 Haitians, 2,460 Cubans and 321 Dominicans have attempted to illegally migrate via the sea. Those numbers represent the total amount of at-sea interdictions, landings and disruptions in the Florida Straits, the Caribbean and Atlantic.

The Guyana Constitution should be replaced

Dear Editor, Chief Justice Ian Chang is expected to rule on the challenge (filed by a few voters) of the Presidential Term Limit Bill. I will be most surprised if he rules that the bill is “constitutional”. And whichever way he rules, rest assured that there will be a challenge.

Voters were never consulted by the constitution and never gave their assent to it. For me, and indeed a majority of people I spoke with since 1978, the Burnham constitution is unconstitutional.

It should have been dumped twenty two years ago as Cheddi Jagan promised during the campaign for the

1992 elections, in speeches in New York, and in a newspaper interview I conducted with him.

The fact that a Parliamentary Committee made changes to the constitution bill in 2001, does not make it any more legal than what it was in the rigged 1978 referendum. I have consistently argued that voters should be given a chance to assent to or reject the constitution or any amendments to it.

Why should only Members of Parliament decide on how the people will be governed? Why can’t the people themselves decide on how they should be governed? The people are sovereign – they, not the parliament, should be empow-

ered to decide on their political fate.

The Burnham constitution is illegal. Whichever party is elected on Monday should move with haste to replace it. The people should be consulted on the preparation of a constitution.

The elite should not be the only ones to decide on what is best for the people. Whatever constitution is drafted, there should be a choice for the people to choose from.

And the people should have the right to a referendum to alter the constitution at any time of their choosing through a petition or through a majority vote of the parliament.

T. Bisram

US Embassy congratulates Guyanese for poll conduct

Dear Editor,

The US Embassy congratulates the Guyanese people on the democratic process that was observed in last Monday’s elections.

It was heartening to witness the enthusiasm with which Guyanese voters participated in the electoral process which will ultimately choose their next government.

The Guyana Elections Commission has once again done a credible job in ensuring that this critical election day phase of the process was free and fair. It dealt effectively with the challenges posed by high voter turnout and

community exuberance in a manner that has ensured the integrity of the vote.

We would like to congratulate Chairman Dr Steve Surujbally, Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield, and the Commissioners and staff of the Guyana Elections Commission for their successful organization of these polls.

The Guyana Elections Commission is now faced with the equally complex task of tallying the results of the vote. This process is certain to take some time, but we are confident that it will be done accurately and in accordance with Guyanese law.

As we all await the final announcement of results, the US Embassy urges all Guyanese to remain patient and to avoid any actions that could provoke conflict or violence. It is our hope that political leaders on all sides will remain proactively engaged with their respective supporters in order to promote calm and reconciliation.

When the final tally is known, we call on all political parties to accept the ultimate results, to encourage their supporters to do the same, and to resolve any outstanding disputes through the established judicial process.

US Embassy

Let us look to the future, work together in peace

Dear Editor,

The Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (CIOG) wishes to offer our congratulations to the Guyanese people for the peaceful and orderly way in which they exercised their franchise on Election Day.

We further offer our thanks to all those who worked in the various departments, polling stations and in our security forces to ensure the orderly and soothe process that were achieved.

CIOG however appeals to all leaders of the

Political parties to communicate the message of peace and calm to their supporters, constituents and in general to the people of Guyana. As leaders in our country it is imperative we demonstrate the strength of leadership in ensuring that peace and tranquility prevail in Guyana prior to and after the announcement of the election results.

We further request all parties and their leaders to be magnanimous in accepting the final result as announced

More

achievement for Sir Ron Sanders

Dear Editor, Guyanese born diplomat, writer and academic, Sir Ronald Sanders has been recognized by another top University and it seems as if he is following his father-in-law’s footsteps, Sir Shridath Ramphal, in his accolades in pursuit to become the Commonwealth Secretary General.

Sir Ronald has been elected as a Senior Fellow at Massey College in the University of Toronto. He joins leading Canadian academics and captains of industry in the inter-disciplinary business and international affairs.

He now has the distinction of concurrently being a Senior Fellow at two universities in different Commonwealth countries. He is also a Senior

Fellow of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies of the University of London, England.

Last October, his work as an advocate for Caribbean and Commonwealth causes was recognized by the University of the West Indies when he was accorded the honour of Doctor of Letters (DLitt) by the University’s Senate and Council

The former broadcaster has had a career as a senior diplomat and business executive. He has held many elected international and Caribbean positions, including as a member of the Executive Board of UNESCO and Chairman of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force.

Having served

the 53-nation Commonwealth in many capacities he is now a nominee for the post of Commonwealth Secretary General. He was nominated by the Government of Antigua and Barbuda.

Guyanese-born Sir Shridath Ramphal, who served three terms as Commonwealth Secretary General, is known as a man of awards, having received top national honours from 28 countries. He was Guyana’s Attorney General and Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Burnham Administration in the mid 1960s and early 1970s. He was also a nominee for the top position of Secretary General of the United Nations. Oscar Ramjeet

Laughing from Freddie’s column

Dear Editor, I laughed till “meh belly bust” as I read Freddie’s column.

Freddie said he was sent to campaign and give speeches where there was no civilization and no one living there.

He said he wanted to know “whe dem people deh he supposed to talk to”. Everywhere he went, he said no one showed up at the meeting. He was talking to himself. He blamed it on PNC and AFC organizers.

The chap so intelli-

gent he does not understand why he was sent to campaign in no man’s land and why no came to the meeting.

Freddie, you were sent to campaign in far flung places in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night because your party people don’t want you to be seen.

You are an irritant. You turn off people. You would have turned off supporters of your party. Because of your attack on Indians, many who were thinking of

voting AFC went back “home”.

Freddie penned that a couple weeks ago in Lusignan, he was tasked with introducing Sandra Granger and when he came on stage, there was no one at the meeting. But after he spoke, the crowd showed up.

Fred, really you don’t understand why people don’t come to listen to you? Why don’t you come to my introductory poli sci class so I can explain basics to you.

Vishnu Bisram

Image GECOM projected not reassuring for the nation

by GECOM, and advise their supporters accordingly.

Let us all be cognizant that we have to look forward to the future to work together in peace and harmony for the success of our families and our Country. Acts of violence and intimidation can only serve to create discord and disunity that will be detrimental to the well being of all people in Guyana, our communities and our beloved country.

CIOG

Dear Editor, The Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) is appalled at the attitude projected by GECOM with respect to the counting of votes. While the electorate accepts transparency and accuracy are unquestionably necessary, people begin to lose patience when the precautions appear to be excessive.

This is particularly the case for a generation raised on cellphones and the internet. Moreover, both major parties are being forced to take risks to placate their supporters by what comes across as selfabsorbed posturing by GECOM.

The image of GECOM projected at press conferences is not reassuring for a nation on tender-hooks.

Witnessing the Chairman of GECOM,

the CEO and a foreign technician playing ‘pass the parcel’ over to who is responsible for releasing results was as unedifying as it was discouraging.

Most of the press conferences were devoted to a bewildering series of distinctions about results which had been “received but not processed”; those which had been partially but not “fully” processed; what was “far too detailed” to project onto a screen and what had been “cleared from the stand-point of the Commission but had now passed for IT processing”.

The foreign technician made the oblique remark that the exercise was “not an official release of data”. A press representative, clearly frustrated by all the fine distinctions and no results, was patronizingly

informed that what was available was “too detailed” to be of much use to him.

Cell-phone technology over the past decade has transformed the dissemination of polling results. GECOM was advised as early as the 2001 elections by the Commonwealth Observer Team to begin to take account of it.

Results are in the public domain from the moment the Statement of Poll (SOP) is posted on the door of the polling station.

After a long and generally unpleasant elections campaign, the last thing the Guyanese public need, at this point, is a prolonged and illtempered count. The Guyanese people deserve better.

Executive Committee

GHRA

GECOM explains elections operating procedure

Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Dr Steve Surujbally has justified the procedure utilised by the elections body as satisfactory as he opined that voting across the country was smooth for the most part.

Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield, said that for any multi-voting, it has to be in collaboration of all present at a polling station.

Both GECOM staffers noted UNASUR’s earlier praise of the system GECOM had put into place for the election, pointing out that the organisation had said that GECOM had gone above and beyond what many Latin American countries do to ensure that their system is fool proof.

Dr Surujbally did however, acknowledge that no system is ‘pure’ and if in fact the commission investigated and found that its staff has made such incidents possible such as multi-voting, then they will be

dealt with according to the standard operating procedures set out by the commission. Claims from some quarters of the voter education programme being launched too late were also rejected.

Dr Surujbally explained that campaigning was done in a strategic manner and explained it thus. “There are strategic tactical times, when you start the bombardment, and you do it in such a blitzed way, with

such intensity, that even if part of it is absorbed, then we are ahead of the game.”

Dr Surujbally said that GECOM’s voter and civic education process cannot be faulted; noting that for the first time the commission had sign language for the hearing impaired and that for the first time blind voters without the assistance from others were able to vote using templates that GECOM created.

PPP/C candidate accuses APNU supporters of assault – alleges she was beaten after being handcuffed and arrested

APeoples Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) candidate in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) is alleging that she was beaten by a mob of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) supporters on Wednesday in the presence of Police Officers who rendered no assistance.

Lloyda Angus of Number 29 Village, West Coast Berbice, who is also the Chairperson of the Trafalgar/ Union Development Community Development Centre (CDC) says the incident occurred outside of the Fort Wellington Police Station. According to the 56-year-old woman, the incident occurred just as she was released from the said police station after an earlier arrest on a report that she had ballot boxes at her home and had spat on an APNU supporter in Election Day.

According to Angus, at about 13:00h, a group of about 20 APNU supporters started a protest in front of her West Coast Berbice home, demanding that she hand over the CDC keys to them. “They start to sing and chant in front of the house and calling me out

but I did not come out.”

Angus related that the group then left and went to the Fort Wellington Police Station and returned with two Police Officers and about 100 APNU supporters.

“The Police come and open the house and come inside and start to tumble up the whole house and I run and hide under the bed.” The 56-yearold woman says she was pulled from under the bed, handcuffed and taken out of the house where she was placed into a vehicle. “The Policeman tell them to put on the song and they start to play the APNU song.”

According to the PPP/C candidate, at the Fort Wellington Police Station she was accused of spitting on one Floyd Bell on Election Day. “I don’t go into that shop that he say I went and spit on him because me and those people don’t talk,” the woman said.

“When we were going to the police station, I tell them that I will report it to Comrade Rohee and they tell me that Rohee time done; this is APNU time.”

According to Angus, after the Police took a statement from Bell, the officer received a telephone call and told her

Private sector infrastructural investments to boost St Lucia economy

CASTRIES, St Lucia – Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony says hundreds of jobs will be created for St. Lucians with the planned construction of a Courts Megastore, a commercial and industrial park and two hotels in the island.

He spoke about the private sector investments, which he said demonstrated confidence in the economy, as he delivered the 2015/2016 Budget statement on Tuesday.

“We are beginning to see encouraging signs of investment in the private sector,” he said.

“Unicomer will commence in July its new $15 million Courts Megastore; the Chreiki family has commenced construction of its new Dayana Centre at the corner of Bridge Street and Jeremie Street in Castries; the CIE Group led by Mr. Rayneau Gadjadhar plans to commence construction of a commercial and industrial park in Cul de Sac; and work on the Harbour Club, a 100-room com-

that she was free to go. “When I go outside they start to cuff me and I ask the Police if they see, and they did not answer and when I tell them that I want to make a statement they tell me that they don’t want to hear anything from me.”

Angus told Guyana Times International that a senior officer arrived and ensured that she was able to leave safely. However, according to Angus, she was fearful that the mob might have returned to her home, so acting on advice, she was taken to a safe home.

In an invited comment, Commander of B Division (Berbice), Assistant Commissioner Brian Joseph said that the two sides had a heated argument in front of the police station when Angus was released. According to him, it was due to his intervention that Angus was sent away. Police records indicate that Angus and other persons were involved in a heated verbal exchange but there was no physical contact.

Joseph said that he advised that the parties return to the station when this tense period passed and persons started acting civil once again.

panion hotel to Dive St Lucia, is under construction at the Rodney Bay Marina.”

The prime minister added that what was perhaps the most significant investment coming St Lucia’s way was the Sunwing Group’s plan to demolish the former Smugglers Hotel and construct a new hotel in its place.

“I am advised that some 1,200 persons will be employed dur -

ing the construction of this property. On completion, some 600 persons are expected to be employed full-time,” he said.

Anthony said government would seek to stimulate growth in the economy and attract new investments by introducing policies to expand economic activity, introducing new investment options and increasing expenditure in public infrastructure.

NY-based Guyanese shoots girlfriend’s secret lover dead, then kills himself

AGuyanese man identified as Phillip Reid, fatally shot his girlfriend’s secret lover before turning the gun on himself after he walked in on the cheating couple Wednesday morning in Brooklyn, New York.

The New York Post reports that the jilted 27-year-old boyfriend, went to his girlfriend’s home on Dean Street in Brownsville around 9:45 a.m. and caught her in bed with another man, sources said.

“He whipped out a gun and blasted his girlfriend’s 24-year-old par-

amour in the chest, sources said, and then took his own life by

shooting himself in the head.”

According to reports, Emergency Services responded and pronounced both men dead at the scene. The woman was not hurt.

The mother of one of the victims rushed to the scene, but cops wouldn’t let her enter the building. “My son is gone and I can’t go up?” she wailed.

The violence followed a report in Monday’s Post that shootings, murders and the number of shooting victims in the city have all spiked this year compared to the same period in 2014.

Earthquake hits east of St Lucia

CASTRIES, St Lucia – There has been another earthquake in the region.

A 4.7 magnitude tremor was recorded east of St Lucia around 10:16 a.m. today (Wednesday), according to the University of the West Indies (UWI) Seismic Research Centre.

The tremor occurred 64 kilometres east of the capital, Castries, 100 kilometres southeast of Fort-de-France, Martinique and 132 kilometres northeast of Kingstown, St Vincent and the Grenadines at a depth of 21 kilometres.

The National Emergency Management Organization said there

were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

On May 2, a 4.5 magnitude quake was recorded off Barbados, following a 3.9 magnitude tremor on April 27.

The UWI Seismic Research Centre has reported 13 quakes in the region since the start of the year. (CMC)

Harsher penalties for people who hurt children in Jamaica

KINGSTON, Jamaica –Government is moving to impose harsher penalties on people who either hurt children in Jamaica or fail to protect children placed in their care.

Against the background of an increase in the abuse and murder of children in “disturbing” circumstances, Minister with responsibility for Information, Senator Sandrea Falconer said, the administration would be amending the Child Care and Protection Act (CCPA), and the Criminal Justice (Administration) Act (CJA) to get tougher on culprits.

Cabinet has already approved the changes.

“Cabinet has asked that the necessary administrative steps be

taken to impose stiffer penalties for persons who murder, rape or commit serious violent offences against children,” she said yesterday at the post-Cabinet press briefing.

Senator Falconer explained that under the amended CJA Act a victim’s status as a child would be treated as an aggravating feature, resulting in a substantial increase in the sentence on conviction, while new offences would be created under the CCPA for allowing children to suffer abuse, including “parental neglect and failure of an adult to report suspected exposure of a child to sexual or other abuse”.

“Efforts are being made to ensure that cases relating to violence against children

will be afforded priority scheduling, and disposal in the courts,” the minister added.

The Child Care and Protection of Act of 2004 imposes a fine of not more than J$500,000 (US$4,324) or imprisonment with hard labour, if an adult who has custody, charge or care of a child willfully assaults, physically and mentally ill-treats, neglects, or abandons a child.

The Act also penalizes people who sell or traffic children and imposes a fine of J$50,000 (US$432) or imprisonment with hard labour not exceeding three months.

Minister Falconer stressed that protecting the nation’s children was among government’s priorities.

(CMC)

UTech to receive Ganja Research Licence in Jamaica

Kthe university of technology, Jamaica

INGSTON, JAMAICA: The University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) will unveil its plans for cannabis research and will on Thursday receive its Ganja Research Licence. This unveiling is scheduled to take place on the university’s Papine campus under the “Medical Marijuana

Integration Day”. The day’s activities will commence with an opening ceremony at 8:30 am, during which Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell will give an address. Minister Paulwell is also expected to present the Ganja Research Licence to the institution. (Jamaica Observer)

2 remanded for Sophia disturbances

Two teenagers were brought to the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday to answer to criminal charges after the display of violence at C Field Sophia, Greater Georgetown on Election Night.

Seventeen-year-old Lloyd Grant and Orlando Noel were read separate charges of larceny and attempted felony by Magistrate Zameena Seepaul

The Magistrate stated that Grant was officially charged with simple larceny after allegedly stealing a pair of sneakers, valued at Gy$20,000, from the home of the Virtual Complainant (VC), Richi Chand at C Field on May 11. On the same day, Noel allegedly entered the home of Farida Prasad at C Field with the intention to commit a felony.

The Police Prosecutor

at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court, Inspector John Singh, elaborated on the details of the charges. He told the court that Grant went into the VC’s home around 17:00h and accused him of having an illegal polling station at his house.

The Prosecutor said that it was at the premises that the defendant saw the sneakers, picked them up and immediately put them on his feet and escaped. However, in the process, Grant was apprehended by the Police, who removed the sneakers.

He was positively identified by Chand as the boy that entered his home, accused him and stole his sneakers. So Grant was arrested and taken to the Turkeyen Police Station, where the sneakers were lodged. Prosecutor Singh continued that an investigation was carried out by the

Police before the defendant was charged for the offence.

Prosecutor Singh objected to bail as the defendant had not given his correct address to the court.

For Noel’s case, the Prosecutor said that it was around 20:00h on May 11 that the defendant was with others in C Field and began to stone Prasad’s home,

believing it to be housing ballot boxes. He said that the stoning continued and the defendant, with others, managed to enter the VC’s home.

Noel was then arrested after being told of the offence he had committed by the Police. He was taken to the Turkeyen Police Station with Grant, where an investigation was carried out.

The Prosecutor said

that Police were not in full control of the incident at the time, but also managed to enter the victim’s home before any harm could be done. The defendant was thus caught there, while the others he was with escaped.

Noel was not required to plead to the offence as it was labelled indictable. However, he told the court that he lives at Lot 604 B Field Sophia with his mother.

Grant, who was slight of built and bare footed like his colleague, did not argue with the prosecution’s facts. He stated that he did indeed take the sneakers of Chand, as stated by the Prosecutor, informing the court that his boots were “loosening”.

Continuing in a small voice, the defendant provided details of himself to the court. He confirmed that he was 17 years old, lived by himself, worked

as a labourer and hailed from Essequibo.

The Prosecutor, however, pointed out that the defendant had informed the Police that he lived in Sophia when he was arrested. Even so, the Prosecutor stated that the defendant’s father and sister are in Essequibo and his mother hails from Matthews Ridge.

Magistrate Seepaul informed the court that though Grant had pleaded guilty to the offence, she cannot sentence him without first hearing a probation report. Thus, she called upon the Probation Officer of the court, Orlene Matthews, to put one together. This would be produced on June 17 and would influence the Magistrate’s decision in the sentencing of the defendant.

Meanwhile, since Noel’s case is indictable, fixtures were ordered by June 1.

TT: National Geographic documentary based on outdated statistics

PORT OF SPAIN, TRINIDAD - The authorities who deal with waste disposal in Trinidad and Tobago say that a documentary broadcast last week on the National Geographic (NatGeo) Channel, naming Trinidad as the top producer of garbage per capita in the world, was based on incorrect statistics.

An official at the Solid Waste Management Company Limited (SWMCOL), who refused to be named or quoted, said the programme was based on outdated statistics probably obtained from the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO).

The spokesperson said SWMCOL was in the process of gathering

updated figures to submit to PAHO, then attempted to withdraw those comments and substitute them with “no comment.” Natgeo itself reportedly said it use statistics obtained from a World Bank Report “What a waste — A Global Review of Solid Waste Management Data.”

The programme, The Big Picture, debuted on the NatGeo channel last week and reported on the countries in the world which produce the most garbage. It said that because of the large size of the country, China was the largest producer of garbage with 418 billion pounds per year.

However, when broken down on a per capita basis, Trinidad and

Tobago, because of its small size, came out as the largest producer of garbage per capita in the world. According to the programme, each person in TT produces 32 pounds of garbage per day.

Although they didn’t have any statistics of their own, staff at SWMCOL doubted this could be true.

One employee said PAHO, or whatever agency supplied the statistics, probably based their count on the garbage brought to the country’s landfills, but observed that not all garbage is dumped in landfills.

Indeed, waste disposal authorities said on Tuesday the figure quoted in the NatGeo report

was hopelessly exaggerated and the correct figure is closer to 1.5 kilogrammes per person

per day and not the 32 pounds of garbage per person mentioned in the report. “There is no way

on earth one person could produce that much waste in a day,” the source said. (TT Newsday)

Integrity Commission silent on emailgate probe in TT

PORT OF SPAIN, TRINIDAD

- As it remained silent over the status of investigations into a probe into purported email materials raised in Parliament in 2013 by Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley, the Integrity Commission on Tuesday sought to distance itself from a newspaper report which had stated murdered senior counsel Dana Seetahal had played a role in the recusal of its former chairman Ken Gordon from the case.

In June 2013, the Integrity Commission confirmed to the TT media that the then chairman Ken Gordon hosted a private meeting

with Rowley at Gordon’s Glencoe home on May 15, days before Rowley in Parliament called on the Commission to probe purported emails implicating Cabinet officials. In what was described as an “aide memoir” of the meeting kept by Gordon, the former chairman had disclosed he called Rowley’s mobile phone twice in response to a message from Rowley requesting an “urgent meeting”; suggested to Rowley that they meet at Gordon’s home since both live in the same area; offered Rowley a drink once they were at Gordon’s Newbury Hill, Glencoe home; and disclosed to Rowley that a matter

raised by Rowley with former President George Maxwell Richards was not before the Integrity Commission since the Commission was not properly constituted as at that date.

Gordon declined to resign for the private night meeting with Rowley despite calls for him to do so but said he would recuse himself from the probe. He said the Commission’s statute authorised certain actions.

In an unsigned media release issued on Tuesday, the Commission said, “Reference is drawn to an article in the Sunday Express of May 3 2015 at page four under the headline ‘Dana’s mur-

der an act of terrorism.’ In the article the author inaccurately states that, “as a consequence of a letter written by Seetahal, on July 18 to the Registrar of the Integrity Commission, former chairman Kenneth Gordon stepped aside from the Commission’s investigation into emailgate.” The Commission set out a time-line which put Gordon’s recusal at an earlier date.

The body said, “The Integrity Commission wishes to restate that at the first meeting of the seventh Integrity Commission which was held on Thursday July 04, 2013, Chairman Kenneth Gordon indicated that he

Helping TT one word at a time

PORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD: In Trinidad and Tobago we can all breathe a sigh of relief; we are not the only ones who make a mess of the English language. It is a problem that affects millions of people worldwide.

“Although English is not an easy language to master it is not impossible to learn to overcome its challenges,” said Marlene Davis.

“In fact, once you are clear on the use of Standard English, it can provide any individual a greater level of confidence in their ability in the spoken and written word,” she added.

Davis is an Express columnist and retired English teacher with over 20 years’ experience. Her career has given her the opportunity to travel to various countries doing what she loves — teach-

ing. In fact, teaching for this Cascade scholar has been a recipe of passion and compassion. Davis is not the only one who is enamoured by teaching others; it also runs in her family.

She said, “Though some of us may have a good grasp of the English language, unfortunately there are some people that just do not know.”

There are several examples of this, Davis

will recuse himself from participating in any deliberation or decision regarding any investigation the Commission may undertake into the authenticity of alleged emails disclosed by Leader of the Opposition in the House of Representatives on May 20, 2013 as he was cognisant of the importance of perception.”

The Integrity Commission continued, “Mr Gordon’s decision was confirmed at the second meeting of the seventh Commission which took place on Tuesday, July 09, 2013. A statement to this effect was issued to all News Media on July 18, 2013.”

Justice Zainool

highlights in her new book, Language Matters. It is a guide of sorts that is geared towards helping Trinidadians and Tobagonians master the English language. The book took approximately one year to write. Davis says it is a great book for teenagers and adults, as it covers numerous topics such as grammar, pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary. Davis also took the time to highlight the importance of saying “Thank you”, “Sorry”, “Excuse me”, “You’re welcome” and “Please”. She refers to these words and phrases as “Magic Words”.

In Language Matters, Davis has a collection of articles for people who really take joy in reading; and for those who don’t, Davis’ great sense of humour is very evident throughout and will not only have you laughing off your seat but hopefully will entice you to read more.

Davis says, “I put God out of my thoughts one day and corrected a vendor on Frederick Street and told her it’s not currants rolls—it’s currant rolls” to which she replied “Is not one currant ah does put in it? Is plenty, plenty currant ah does put in it.”

“Give me a cokes” or “This is mines” are other examples of this and though some of us will chuckle about the above incident however just being able to read and write properly should not be taken for granted, Davis said.

She noted though it may seem downright obvious to some people; for others it is a part of everyday language and there is nothing wrong with the above statements.

This incident with

Hosein was appointed Chairman of the Integrity Commission on November 21, 2014. Commission Registrar, Martin Farrell, did not immediately respond to queries on Tuesday over the status of the investigation.

On Monday, Prime Minister Kamla PersadBissessar released a legal letter from her legal team in which a US attorney expresses the view that it is for the Integrity Commission to vindicate Persad-Bissessar in the matter in light of the disclosure of emails relating to her which do not correlate with the materials produced by Rowley. (TT Newsday)

the vendor remained in Davis’ mind and became the catalyst which started the book.

One of the topics in her book is Back to Basics. Davis noted while this is the foundation for people at the primary school level, it is not reinforced enough at the secondary level, leaving some pupils at a loss when it comes to the use of Standard English. While Davis begrudgingly admits that the advent of technology has contributed to some people’s lack of awareness of the use of Standard English, older folks should know better.

“I speak in Standard English; I listen to the vernacular but am not really confused by it at all. I think because I have been correcting it for years as a teacher it just comes naturally to me,” she said.

Apart from covering the basics when it comes to Standard English, Davis, through her book, also covers misused words, essential literary terms and tips on punctuation, to name a few. The book consists of 150 pages with revision exercises at the back.

Davis spent many years preparing pupils for the CXC and GCE Advanced Level (CAPE) in English Language and Literature, General Paper, as well as debating and public speaking skills. She has conducted courses in Business Writing Skills, Presentation Skills, Personal Development and Office Deportment. She also holds a BA (Hons) in English.

Coincidentally, the title of the book, Language Matters is also the name of her column that comes out every Tuesday in the Trinidad Express.

Davis has seen many people make many mistakes in Standard English, written and spoken.

She said, “My objective is not to embarrass anyone; I truly have compassion for people and do enjoy teaching the English language to anyone who is willing to learn.”

Davis plans to launch the book later this month on a date to be announced.

Copies of the book will be available soon in bookstores. (Trinidad Express)

TT: Senator Lalla seeks UNC nomination

Pon Tuesday to collect a nomination form. Lalla believes the transition from the law to the politics is a natural one given that the dynamics of both professions are the same.

After collecting his nomination form, Lalla said, “I prefer to keep the seat confidential for now. All I will say is that I’m ready and willing to serve my country under the leadership of Kamla Persad-Bissessar. It’s a big leap of service; service to the country and the people of the constituency that I have in mind...What I would say is that I’ve been ap-

proached by persons in the constituency who have asked me to submit a nomination. I think it’s a natural transition.”

Lalla added, “In the profession (legal), our duty is to serve clients, to represent people. And that is an aspect of our training that is naturally carried over into the politics of the country.”

Other hopefuls to serve as UNC candidates included Patricia Herry for Laventille East/Morvant. Herry is a community and social activist who ran for public office under the National Alliance for Reconstruction in both

local and general elections.

Herry believes the residents of Laventille are ready for a different party because their current People’s National Movement’s MPs have not been doing their jobs.

In her view, they are realising that as safe seats, they are not receiving any assistance from the current administration, so they are likely to make a change.

She said, “It’s a constituency I had lived in for over 40-something years of my life and I’ve been doing a lot of groundwork, self- help and community work. I went up

twice already for that area, twice under the NAR (National Alliance for Reconstruction), local and general and once for the UNC, which was general election.”

“Last election, I had put in my nomination paper,” Herry said. “But I had to give way for the NJAC (National Joint Action Committee) candidate since we formed the PP.”

Other persons wanting to be candidates who collected forms on Tuesday included Dara Singh for D’abadie/ O’meara and Richard Sukdeo for Chaguanas East. (TT Newsday)

ILO

Lalla did not say, however, which constituency he is seeking to represent. He was one of several hopefuls who visited the UNC headquarters, Rienzi Complex, Couva,

ORT OF SPAIN, TRINIDADTemporary senator, former High Court judge and present attorney- at-law, Larry Lalla, is seeking the nod to represent the United National Congress (UNC) in the general election.

and Diplomatic Academy of the Caribbean launch new course in labour diplomacy

Professor Andy Knight, Director of the Diplomatic Academy of the caribbean (left) and Giovanni di cola, Special Advisor to the Multilateral cooperation Department, International labour organization (right) at the Forum on the Future of the caribbean, 5-7 May 2015

PORT OF SPAIN, TRINIDAD:

The Diplomatic Academy of the Caribbean, in partnership with the International Labour Organization (ILO), has created a new module in labour diplomacy. It is one of a series of diplomacy courses offered by the Academy.

The course was officially launched at the Forum on the Future of the Caribbean in Trinidad on 7 May 2015.

The five-day module in labour diplomacy, expected to be held in September 2015 at the St Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago, will intro-

duce participants to the ILO through a series of lectures and discussions aiming to:

• explain the history, mandate and structure of the ILO;

• identify the role of the ILO’s constitution, international labour standards, current and salient issues related to the world of work and the importance of the decent work agenda.

Expert lecturers, distinguished in the field of labour diplomacy, will deliver the course which will target those working in government, employers’ and workers’ organizations, the public and private sector, as well as postgraduate students, continued on page 21

J’can College honours stalwarts

KINGSTON,

JAMAICA: Four past students of Kingston College (KC) with strong ties to the Jamaican entertainment industry, were honoured on May 2 by the school's New York chapter.

Music producers Augustus 'Gussie' Clarke and Donovan Germain, sound engineer Dennis Thompson, and actor Paul Campbell were recognised by the Kingston College Old Boys Association for outstanding achievements in their fields.

Jasmin Reid, a retired vice-principal and teacher at KC, was also honoured at the ceremony which took place at Antun's in Queens, New York.

The honourees were presented with plaques from the KC Old Boys Association, as well as citations from the New York State Assembly.

Germain, founder and head of Penthouse Records, attended KC from 1964-70. He described the occasion as special.

"KC is close to my heart so it was a special moment. To be honoured with my favourite teacher, my mentor (Clarke), and Dennis Thompson who toured with Buju Banton is really great."

Banton, a Grammy Award winner, was one of the artistes who made Penthouse a powerhouse during the 1990s. Clarke's Anchor Records

also thrived in that decade, working with acts such as Grammy winner Shabba Ranks and Maxi Priest.

Thompson started his career as an apprentice engineer at Studio One in the late 1960s. He has toured as a sound engineer with Bob Marley, Burning Spear, Jimmy Cliff and Dennis Brown.

Campbell is among Jamaican cinema's most recognisable figures. He has starred in movies including Dancehall Queen, Third World Cop and Shottas.

KC was founded by members of the Anglican Church in 1925. This year, the school celebrates its 90th anniversary. (Jamaica Observer)

TT Prime Minister tweets letter on Emailgate messages

PORT-OFSPAIN, TRINDIAD:

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar on Monday tweeted a letter from Jack Russo, attorney for the Computer Law Group, regarding the validity of controversial emails allegedly exchanged in the Emailgate controversy.

The letter, dated May 4, 2015, was released at mid-morning on Monday.

The letter states, “I am pleased to confirm that Google, Inc. has provided the requested information for all emails exchanged between yourself (kamlapb1@ gmail.com) and former Attorney General Anand Ramlogan (anand@tstt. net .tt) for the period September 1st 2012 to September 31st 2012. This of course, is the relevant-time frame in which certain offensive emails were alleged to have been exchanged between those two accounts, which gave rise to allegations of a criminal conspiracy.”

Russo’s letter went on to state that the emails for that period were sent to attor-

neys from the Integrity Commission and stated that it was, “therefore a matter for the Integrity Commission to vindicate you by making the appropriate announcement to confirm these facts.”

The letter concludes by stating that the information in the emails does not match the emails read in parliament by Dr Keith Rowley in May 2013.

“I am pleased to advise that there has

been no match for any of the emails contained in the document produced by the leader of the Opposition, Dr Keith Rowley, which prompted the Integrity Commission’s Investigation. For avoidance of doubt, none of the offending emails in that document were found to have been sent from or received by kamlapb1@ gmail.com and anand@ tstt.net.tt," the letter said. (TT Guardian)

Stabroek News, Kaieteur News peddle lies about NEW GPC

… as Govt seeks to keep pharma supply chain intact

In a banner headline Saturday, the Stabroek News screamed, “Over Gy$2B speeded up for NEW GPC INC – no drugs supplied yet”. It was a clear effort to smear the NEW GPC, the company which had emerged as the only one of the seven bidders in 2014 to fulfil the World Health Organisation/Wor-ld Bank inspired National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) criteria to become pre-qualified to supply pharmaceuticals to the Ministry of Health and the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation. The Stabroek News was absolutely wrong on both claims of its headline.

Alleging that it was quoting an “unknown source” at the Ministry of Finance, the Stabroek News alleged that it was told that “a cheque equivalent to US$6,730,526.15 was made out by the Ministry of Finance and delivered to the NEW GPC for the third and final set of payments

for drugs to the Health Ministry.”

Contacted by the Guyana Times, sources at the Ministry of Health (MOH), the Ministry of Finance and the NEW GPC were adamant that there was no such cheque for such an amount. Both the MOH and NEW GPC officials also agreed that there had been partial shipments on contracts given to the NEW GPC and payments were made in accordance with the one-twelfth (1/12) monthly releases from the Ministry of Finance.

The Ministry of Health official noted, “We are in the business of saving lives and ensuring that the health of the Guyanese populace is enhanced. To order and have drugs supplied is the prudent thing to do since the country needs medicines and lives will be put at risk if the supply chain is interrupted or delayed. With the Budget not passed, are we to allow people to die?”

But it was clear that in the run up to the elec-

tions, the Stabroek News was trying to create a bigger wave of sensationalism than even its tabloid counterpart the Kaieteur News did with its headline, “Government shovels US$12.8 million contract to NEW GPC”. The Kaieteur News was regurgitating announcements made by Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon that Cabinet had given its “no-objection” to three contracts for pharmaceuti-

cals. Evidently copies of the three contracts were leaked to an Opposition Internet blog site and were picked up by the two Opposition newspapers. Violating most of the norms of professional journalism, the Stabroek News regularly recycles opinions passed off as “News” from blog sites.

Since last July, Dr Luncheon had announced that NEW GPC was the only company that was pre-qualified

Man-made ‘bush fires’ on the rise in Trinidad

PORT OF SPAIN, TRINIDAD -

There have been 268 ‘‘man made’’ bush fires for the year so far in Trinidad and Tobago, with 908.85 hectares of land burnt.

This was disclosed on Tuesday by fire officials and officials from the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources at a joint press conference on forest fires at Knowsley Building, Port of Spain.

Acting Chief Fire Officer, Roosevelt Bruce, said the month of May has been an unusually hectic month. He said last year there was a total of 300 bush fires in May and up to 8am on Tuesday, there were 202 bush fires.

He said the fire services was concentrating on ensuring that people are safe, and advised people to clear their property of bush, dry grass, and shrubs.

“Ensure you have at least ten metres around your property clear. What happens if you leave that wild bush to grow, a bush fire will encroach on your property,” he advised residents.

Devon Cinheiro flight lieutenant of the TT

Defence Force Air Guard said they have worked in conjunction with the National Operations Centre conducting fire fighting operations utilising Bambi buckets. He said thus far, they have managed to put a total of 142 dumps of water on various fires which equates to 26,128 gallons of water.

Barry Mahabir, head of Forestry Division’s Fire Prevention Unit, said the greatest number of bush fires occurred in the North West conservancy with 142. He said of the 908.85 hectares of land burnt, 227.59 hectares were private lands and 663.31 hectares were State lands.

Minister in the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources,

Ramona Ramdial, said the ministry was looking into recommendations given to them to addressing the bush fires. These recommendations included amending the Agriculture Fire Act to increase the fines from TT$1,500 to a possible TT$10,000 to those caught in the act of intentionally setting fires.

“We will be looking at the recommendation of building retaining ponds along the Northern Range, and other areas for easy access to water.

“The third recommendation is training in forest fire-fighting and aerial fire suppression and the fourth recommendation, possible leasing of forest fire water bomber planes,” she said.

She also appealed to

private land owners to be cognizant of the environment, and to not intentionally set fires to clear land during the dry season.

“I am also making an appeal to the private landowners to allow the authorities to move into the land so we can get the fire traces implemented in these different areas, so we can prevent the spread of forest fires in the future,” she said.

Ramdial warned that the bush fires will result in flooding, landslips and landslides when the rainy season begins. She appealed to citizens to be cognisant of the environment and implement preventative measures as the rainy season approaches. (TT Newsday)

criteria used to pre-qualify a company were biased in favour of NEW GPC, the same claim that the Stabroek News and the Kaieteur News are making once again, the Cabinet Secretary had replied, “The criteria are biased in favour of safety.”

to supply the large contracts of pharmaceuticals and had challenged the Trinidad Company ANSA McAL to produce to the public the bid it had submitted to the Tender Board. “Our result was that, there is only one company that satisfied those requirements as far as NPTAB was concerned, and that was brought to Cabinet,” according to Dr Luncheon.

Asked whether the

ANSA McAL has yet to provide evidence that its bid had satisfied all the criteria, but yet its partisans continue with the old claims. It should be of interest to Guyanese that Guyanese pharma companies cannot bid for supplying pharmaceuticals to the Trinidad public health system, yet both the Stabroek News and the Kaieteur News have taken up cudgels for ANSA McAL to enter Guyana’s supply chain without even fulfilling the World Bank/WHO criteria adopted by the NPTAB.

The NEW GPC pays millions in taxes, provides employment for hundreds and supplies world-class products to the global market.

Over 130 charged since 'anti-gang legislation' passed in Jamaica

the Jamaica constabulary Force has reported that a large number of criminals have been passed since the ‘anti-gang legislation’ was passed

KINGSTON, JAMAICA

–

Since the passing of the Criminal Justice (Suppression of Criminal Organisations) Act or the ‘anti-gang legislation’ just over a year ago, more than 130 people have been charged.

This is according to a news release from the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Corporate Communications Unit, which said that along with the work of the National Strategic AntiGang Unit (NSAGU) –based at the Counter Terrorism and Organised Crime Branch (C-TOC) –it has seen the capture of seven of Jamaica’s most wanted men.

The release said that among those captured

are Aston ‘Daley Boy’ Daley, who was arrested in March of this year, and Ryan Brembridge, otherwise called ‘Little Blacks’, who was captured in an operation in Westmoreland in 2014.

Both men, the police reported, have since been charged, with the Brembridge being collared under the Criminal Suppression Act for leading a criminal organisation.

However, the police say although they have seen some successes, more can be achieved with the support of citizens through their hotline numbers, as well as a smart phone app ‘Stay Alert’ available on Google Play store. (Jamaica Observer)

Paul Kain paints street realities in TT

PORT-OFSPAIN, TRINIDAD: Life in TT not only unfolds against the backdrop of beachscapes and bamboo patches; it also takes shape in urban streets.

Paul Kain’s second solo show From the Streets adds another dimension in a picture of tropical existence.

In a sweet mix of languages: the portrayal of body language (a stance, lean, tilt of the human figure in each piece) and the use of TT vernacular to title his paintings, Kain offers a series of work that oscillates between the humorous and the solemn.

The oil painting Bad Man Nah Fraid Nobody elicits a smile with its depiction of a man clad only in headphones. He assumes a position akin to Usain Bolt’s signature pose as he stands outdoors in a plastic kiddie pool that is overflowing with water from a standpipe. He is an image of pluck and swag—a superstar in his own world.

Yet, in the back-

ground of the piece, there is an approaching figure of an older woman, perhaps his mother, grandmother or a community matriarch. Her stride looks determined. Will her presence instil fear in this naked, male character in the foreground? Or will he exert his “bad-manness” on her?

Beneath the amusing veneer of this work there is an undercurrent of the tensions and power play between men and women in society.

While viewers might laugh in response to the works on display they do not get to look down on Kain’s characters. The painting Yuh Eye Long might be addressing audiences at the gallery as much as it refers to the figures in the work itself. A black woman with golden tresses stands at the centre of the image. She wears a coral bra with a blue skirt. Her exposed stomach flashes a navel ring. Her gaze

Reggae artiste launches acoustic set

is fixed squarely on the viewer. To her left, a girl watches.

Does the title of the piece refer to the girl’s covetous look or is the yellow-haired woman suggesting that she has what the viewer wants? In other words, is the viewer’s eye long?

The viewer is not given the controlling van-

tage point of voyeur in this exhibition. Kain’s painted people match the viewer’s gaze. The individuals in such pieces as Boy No Lie Di Ting Was Dis Big But Ah Tell Yuh and Come Nah Baby Yuh Know Ah Does Handle Yuh Doh Study It, lock eyes with the viewer. They do not blink. In other works

such as Baddist and Transactions, audiences see the strong backs of Kain’s figures as if they have turned in powerful defiance of the viewer’s stare. His men, women and children take on unapologetic postures without posturing and their lack of affectation becomes infectious.

Kain draws on his lived experiences of encounters and conversations with a range of people—prostitutes, pie men, Cepep workers, parlour attendants—while working at a mini mart in St James. His pigments on paper, canvas and hardboard capture the grit of the streets without losing colour intensities altogether and becoming murky.

The fact that some of the edges of his paper surfaces are torn and that several pieces are displayed with nailed corners adds to a street atmosphere—one redolent of fete posters.

Of note is one paint-

KINGSTON, JAMAICA: Acousticalevy, Barrington Levy's first acoustic album, wAS officially launched on Monday at the South Beach club in St Andrew.

The 15-track set is being distributed by DDP Records, a new company owned by Gary 'Doctor Dread' Himelfarb of RAS Records fame.

Levy worked with producer Handel Tucker and guitarist Lamont Savory on the project, which hears unplugged versions of some of his biggest hits, including 'Murdera', 'Under mi Sensi', 'Prison Oval Rock and She's Mine'.

The singer welcomed the opportunity to put a

fresh spin on his songs, some of which were first recorded over 30 years ago.

"I am music an' I still want to venture into different areas," said Levy. "I always love the acoustic form so this is a good look for me."

Barrington Levy is one of the survivors of the 1980s dancehall explosion. He recorded many of hits then for producer Henry 'Junjo' Lawes with the Roots Radics Band at Channel One studio.

His songs from that period earned him a lasting base in the United Kingdom and Europe where he remains a regular on the summer festival circuit.

(Jamaica Observer)

ing titled Doppelganger. It is the only one in the body of work that does not come from Kain’s memories of his interactions at the mini mart and it serves as the promotional image for the exhibition’s invitation. It is a picture from Kain’s imagination and it depicts conjoined twins rendered in quick and dirty strokes. Each one holds a balloon. The piece is both crude and playful. Its significance lies in its capacity to anchor a reading of this exhibition.

Kain does not glamorise the streets nor does he condemn them but he reaffirms, however, that our likeness is not restricted to associations with sun, sea and sand. We might find our twin and see ourselves—both the enchanting and the raw sides—in our acknowledgement of our connection to another reality.

From the Streets continues until May 23 at Soft Box Gallery, 9 Alcazar Street, St Clair. (TT Guardian)

A big step for TT’s differently-abled

PORT-OFSPAIN, TRINIDAD:

When it comes to the rights of people with disabilities in Trinidad and Tobago, it is time for less talk and more action.

This was the sentiment expressed by disability rights attorney and pioneer, John Wodatch during the Rotary Club of Central Port of Spain’s weekly meeting at Hotel Normandie, St Ann’s.

Wodatch said, “The president said to me that people in Trinidad like to talk and it is a matter of moving from just talking to action.”

Wodatch is in Trinidad for one week as part of a programme hosted by the US Embassy and UNDP. He is an expert in disability law and has already met with several members of government, civil society and members of the disabled community. Wodatch was scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Kamla PersadBissessar on Monday.

He said, “I have spent my career on the rights for people with disabilities. I was in the US government for 42 years. I am retired now but I am working with several countries around the world as they go through the same process we went through – and deciding how to integrate people with disabilities into the culture of their

country.”

“The US Embassy asked me to come to Trinidad and Tobago because you all are going through this process as well,” he added.

Wodatch noted that he was given an opportunity to show Trinidad and Tobago an avenue to begin the process to rati-

1970s in the United States was a very dark period for people with disabilities. There were very few buildings that were accessible along with public washrooms.

“It is not pleasant to relive this history; however, I think it is instructive because I see here today in Trinidad

United States about 18 per cent of the population has a disability.”

It is also important to keep in mind the ageing population. It is a fact that as we age we will gain some sort of disability. In the United States about 50 per cent of people over 65 have a disability so making ac-

fy the UN treaty, called the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The purpose of this treaty is to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity.

Wodatch noted the

and Tobago that you are much more advanced than where we were in the 1970s.

Wodatch said before we can move forward improving the lives of people with disabilities, it is important to dispel certain misconceptions.

He noted it was imperative to break these misconceptions.

He said, “In the

commodation in your country across the board will benefit your country, Wodatch said.

“We have seen similar statistics around the world between 15 and 18 per cent,” he added.

“We are making these strides and my message to you is really a simple one, we’ve done it and so can you,” he said. (TT Express)

Pharma procurement: Health Ministry says Opposition playing “Russian Roulette” with lives … full payment not made; all

Asked for a response to the sensationalised Kaieteur News headline attributed to Opposition Candidates Carl Greenidge and Khemraj Ramjattan, on the day after election, a Health Ministry (MoH) official said that these individuals seem willing to risk the lives of Guyanese in scoring political points.

“I find it very disheartening that individuals vying to lead the country are willing to play Russian Roulette with Guyanese lives. And this is what they are demanding when they insist that our Ministry does not keep the supply chain intact for drugs to treat patients,” the offi-

cial stated in an exasperated tone.

“We are five months into the new year… do these gentlemen believe that the health issues that our system treats with medication took a leave of absence because of elections and electioneering?” he asked. “All the functions of Government must go on, health services being one of the most urgent and critical.”

The official was asked for a response to the statement made which suggested that there was “sole sourcing” in the award of the contract to NEW GPC as was again alleged by Greenidge and Ramjattan, even after they were corrected when the same claim was made in an Opposition ad just before Election Day. “When we pointed out the fallacy in that earlier allegation, we assumed that even though irresponsible, it was made to garner some votes – the usual sensationalisation for effect. But it appears now that there is some other mischief afoot so I will recap the facts once again,” the official said.

“First of all, the pre-qualification procedure to bid for the bulk of our pharmaceutical supplies and other medical essentials is one that was recommended by the World Health Organisation and

rules followed

World Bank. No government in the world can place individual orders on a piecemeal, day-to-day basis. There is a need for consolidation, reliability of supply and quality that must be considered. The procedure overseen by the National Procurement and Tender Board [NPTAB] was the most transparent and rules based ever,” the official said. “It is absolutely not “sole sourcing” because even after selection of the vendor, the MoH matches the prices of the pharmaceuticals against those of the internationally vetted automatically qualified suppliers such as PAHO, IDA etc.”

Since last July, Cabinet

Secretary, Dr Luncheon had announced that NEW GPC was the only company that was pre-qualified to supply the large contracts of pharmaceuticals and had challenged the Trinidad Company ANSA McAL to produce to the public the bid it had submitted to the Tender Board. “Our result was that, there is only one company that satisfied those requirements as far as NPTAB was concerned, and that was brought to Cabinet,” according to Dr Luncheon.

Asked whether the criteria used to pre-qualify a company were biased in favour of NEW GPC, the same claim that the Stabroek News and the Kaieteur News are making once again, the Cabinet Secretary had replied, “The criteria are biased in favour of safety.” ANSA McAL has yet to provide evidence that its bid had satisfied all the criteria, but yet its partisans continue with the old claims.

The Health Ministry official pointed out, “It is absolutely untrue that the full costs of the contract have been paid to the NEW GPC… simply the legally allowed one twelfth that was obviously placed there by the lawmakers to prevent Guyana running out of pharmaceuticals to keep the nation healthy.”

This rebuttal of “full pay-

ment” was already made by the Health Ministry in response to the same allegation made by the Stabroek News. In conclusion, the official said, “I want to emphasise that I hope politicians would become more responsible. I have to sadly conclude that they are intent on raising tensions since other companies that receive smaller contracts totalling billions every year have also received contracts and were paid their one twelfth. How come there is no mention of them? Is it because that these suppliers publicly supported them with statements in the public domain?

Joint Services appeal to Guyanese for calm, restraint

More than 24 hours after the polls closed in the General and Regional Elections, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is yet to issue any form of substantial results to the anxious waiting nation.

In light of the development, it is anticipated that Guyanese will react if the results continue to be delayed by the body which has the sole responsibility to pronounce the results, particularly as both of the main political groupings have claimed victory.

On Monday, angry A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) supporters in Sophia created some disturbances. It is predicted that more will follow in days to come if the results are not released in a timely manner.

GECOM is calling for patience, and the political parties have also been making the same call. In addition, the Chairman of the Joint Services, Brigadier Mark Phillips, is urging all of Guyana to remain calm during this time.

“As the nation awaits the official results from the Guyana Elections

Commission, I urge that all Guyanese remain calm. Do not allow yourselves to be provoked, and do not give way to negative emotions and suggestions of negative occurrences. GECOM is the only institution by which we can get the official results of the elections,” he stated.

He urged Guyanese to be patient and implored the electorate that after the final announcement is made, to demonstrate maturity and let good sense prevail by accepting the results.

Phillips noted that as Guyanese, we are all in the situation together and there is nothing to be gained by destroying communities and harming each other. “Progress and real development will not come through violence,” he noted.

Brigadier Phillips also emphasised that

the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) will continue to provide support to the Guyana Police Force (GPF) during this time.

He stated, “The GDF will be involved in various patrols in support of the Guyana Police Force with the intent to ensure stable, safe and secure communities across Guyana.

I urge you to support our troops as they carry out their constitutional tasks to keep you and your communities safe. You do not need to fear our troops. We are working to ensure your safety.”

The Army Chief-ofStaff also posited that the Joint Services looked forward to the eventual announcement of the final results from GECOM and more so, looked forward to continuing to build Guyana in partnership with its citizens.

Essequibo man charged for rice farmer’s murder

Aman accused of murder from the county of Essequibo appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Tuesday to answer to the charge.

The accused, Kalesh Chattergoon, is alleged to have murdered 65-year-old rice farmer Richard Etwaroo in Paradise, Essequibo between May 6 and 7.

Chattergoon was not required to plead to the charge as it is indictable. His matter was transferred to the Anna Regina Magistrate’s Court.

According to information received, Etwaroo left his home on Wednesday morning and never returned home, and was not seen again until his body was found near the Exmouth Seawall on Thursday

morning. He was last seen by family members who reported that he would usually leave home early “to graze his cow” by the seawall.

A post-mortem examination conducted on the rice farmer’s body on Friday revealed that Etwaroo died as a result of an incised wound to his neck.

Science and cupcakes, a winning combination in TT

PORT-OFSPAIN,

TRINIDAD: You might ask yourself, what does bio-chemical engineering have to do with cookery? In Timothy McIntosh’s world, it is everything.

McIntosh may know his way around a Bunsen burner but he has also shown that he is a master in the kitchen. In 2012, McIntosh and his sister Winnette got the sweet taste of victory after winning Cupcake Wars, a popular baking show on the Food Network channel in the United States. These MIT graduates flew Trinidad's national colours red, white

and black high while impressing the judges with their plateful of delectable cupcakes.

McIntosh said, “Winning felt awesome because it was such a challenging experience and what I felt great about was that our Trininess shone through and was actually mentioned on the show and in subsequent news stories. It was amazing to represent for Trinidad and Tobago like that.”

With no professional background in baking, McIntosh chuckled and said, “Knowing that you’re going to be on the Food Network, baking for the world to see will

get you into baking real quick.

“I got the call for the show really based on personality, but up until that point I hadn’t really done a ton of baking outside of amateur dabbling here and there. I really started baking hardcore about a week and a half before going on the show. I quickly realised that I had a unique knack for it, given my scientific background and the fact that baking is one of the purest applications of science as far as knowing how to accurately combine ingredients and carry it through the oven baking process,” he added. They own Sweet Lobby, a bakery in Washington DC that has been in existence for the past four years.

food, McIntosh hopes to highlight the importance of STEM.

He said, “Life became pretty hectic after Cupcake Wars. Food Network has legions of fans and the show particularly had its fanatics so there was definitely a lot of buzz in and around DC when we won and cover spots on NBC, FOX and even NPR helped spread the news of the win. We became a national destination that tourists would look up when coming to DC and business increased tenfold. We definitely got recognised in a few airports and even signed a few autographs. So life certainly became busier, but in a good way.”

Since then McIntosh has decided to branch out on his own with a luxury dessert project called Découvre. Combining his passion for science; with his newfound love for

STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math education. Focus is put on these areas together; utilising an interdisciplinary and applied approach that forms into a cohesive learning paradigm based on real-world applications for youths.

McIntosh said, “This is a field that is really important to me and is essentially what I want to be a major aspect of the Découvre project in years to come.” He said, “At MIT, I became heavily involved in youth STEM education outreach through an office called the Office of Engineering Outreach Programmes (OEOP). It quickly became a passion of mine (and still is). I was a lead educator/curriculum developer with them during and after my tenure at MIT.

One of the main goals of the office was to design innovative programmes geared toward illustrating the real-life applications of science to disadvantaged youth, as a means of piquing their interest in the technical fields at an early age. Ultimately, this is what I would love to do in Trinidad.

“My aim is that eventually Découvre will become a major contributor in the conversation surrounding what we are doing to ensure that as a nation, our students are not lagging behind in the pursuit of STEM fields as viable career options. I believe that I have been blessed with a very unique and particular set of skills/experiences that have ushered me into an apt space to be able to give back in this way,” McIntosh said.

“Découvre, means “discover” in French and I want us to do just that: discover what real quality chocolate is.

“Chocolate is such a universally loved flavour but I want to expose people to chocolate as it is supposed to be enjoyed. There is such a difference between desserts made using real chocolate as opposed to nondescript supermarket cocoa powder and I want to highlight the vast disparity in that quality,” he said.

McIntosh returned to Trinidad a few years ago and realised that there was a very popular niche market when it came to chocolate and chocolate desserts. (TTExpress)

Elections were free, fair and credible – Private Sector Commission

By Gomatie GanGadin

Five of the 14 local observers, which were accredited for Monday’s General and Regional Elections, have given thumbs up to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) for the hosting of what they described as “free and fair elections”.

The five local observer missions comprising of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), the Electoral Assistance Bureau (EAB), the British High Commission, the United States Embassy and the Canadian High Commission have all given GECOM thumbs up for the recently held National and Regional Elections.

Speaking at a press conference at the PSC Tuesday afternoon, Chairman of the Commission Ramesh Persaud told media operatives that the PSC was particularly pleased with the holding of the General and Regional Elections this year.

“I was particularly pleased with the consistency I have seen across the country with regards to the application of the rules and policies by GECOM…we

are happy with what we have seen in the entire GECOM process yesterday (Monday). We have a lot of confidence in the process and the rules, in our opinion from what we were observing, were consistent across. It seems as though it was a franchise system seemingly applied at all areas, and we believe that that is fantastic. It has only served to increase our confidence in the process,” Persaud said.

He noted that the observers did not find any material evidence that can possibly affect the results of the polls in any way.

Meanwhile, Canada’s High Commissioner to Guyana, Dr Nicole Giles, said that the conduct

of the Guyanese people should be applauded. “I found that the enthusiasm that was displayed by the voters in the elections was very commendable and in many ways, humbling. I found it inspiring that Guyanese voters patiently waited in line to take their turn to cast their ballots and let their voices be heard, and I think that all Guyanese should be commended for that,” the Canadian High Commissioner said.

According to her, it was her belief that GECOM organised a smooth, credible, free and fair electoral process, even as she urged Guyanese to practice patience in being able to receive the results of the process. “It takes time and we need

to give GECOM the space and time to do that, and to also keep in mind that the official results are coming out must be from GECOM.”

United States (US) Charge d’ affaires to Guyana Bryan Hunt told media operatives that he believes, in no doubt whatsoever, that the elections were free, fair and credible. He noted that the election process could not be faulted as no irregularities were discovered by the 68 member team. “What Guyana had yesterday was a free, fair and credible polling process.”

He noted that the electoral system of the country, while time consuming, was designed to guarantee credibility and, as such, citizens must

trust and accept the results of the process.

British High Commissioner to Guyana, Greg Quinn, also expressed similar sentiments. He noted that should the parties refuse to accept the results, there are measures which are in place to deal with such, but underlined that everything should be done in a peaceful manner. “Everything was being done diligently…We need to give GECOM the time it needs; everybody needs to accept the results. Any problems, there is a judicial process. What this country needs, and what this Government wants, is a country which can represent everybody here,” the diplomat shared.

Meanwhile, the British High Commissioner, the US Charge d’affaires, Canadian High Commissioner and the Private Sector Commission Chairman, all praised the efforts and response of the Police Force, especially at the unrest which prevailed in Sophia on Monday evening. PSC Chairman Persaud also said that the Police should be credited for ensuring that the process was incident free.

Sophia residents of C Field, Sophia, Greater Georgetown, erupted on Monday evening, transforming the community into a virtual warzone over allegations of electoral impropriety by a political activist. In the ensuing battle, five cars, one minibus and a house, along with a horse stable were burnt. The violence stemmed from allegations that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) member Narine Kooblall, had taken ballot boxes into his home and was keeping them there. Residents stormed Kooblall’s home, attempting to set it ablaze. All of the officials have issued a call to the Guyanese public to remain calm, peaceful and to accept the results of the elections.

APNU+AFC activists attack McCoy at St Sidwell’s Primary

… PPP/C slams attacks, urges calm

Hundreds of supporters of the People’s National Congress (PNC)-led A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition on Monday afternoon attempted to barge into the St Sidwell’s Primary School after they learnt that People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Candidate Kwame McCoy entered the premises as ballots were being cast.

McCoy had gone to the station as a candidate of the ruling party to observe the voting process. This is allowed under election regulations.

When Guyana Times International arrived on the scene, there was chaos as scores of residents swarmed the vicinity of the primary school. Due to their aggression, Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) staff decided to close the gates to the school, denying them entry. This move triggered more aggression as the residents started protesting and yelling out threats.

Some 15 minutes into the episode,

Presidential Candidate of the APNU+AFC coalition David Granger and APNU General Secretary Joseph Harmon arrived on the scene.

Instantaneously, the agitated residents halted their aggression against McCoy and rushed to Granger’s aid as he made his way to the polling station. Granger determinedly entered the building, had a discussion with the GECOM staff present there and, once again determinedly exited the premises into the arms of his supporters who flocked at his side begging him to assist them in getting rid of the PPP/C politician.

Granger then proceeded to get on top of a Police pickup to address the crowd, pleading with them to end their commotion and allow McCoy to walk away unharmed.

“As long as that person is here, we will not be able to fulfill the purposes of Election Day. I have therefore asked the Police; listen to me carefully, to escort that person out safely. I am asking you not to touch him…,” Granger said as

he attempted to dissuade his supporters.

Nevertheless, following desperate attempts, Granger succeeded in making his supporters agree to let McCoy exit the building unharmed. However, as McCoy exited the building, some people were still trying to attack him which forced a group of persons to form a human barricade to prevent the aggressive mob.

Mc Coy was seen safely entering the Police vehicle which made off down Vlissengen Road.

PPP/C condemns Meanwhile, the PPP/C condemned the incident saying that McCoy suffered serious bodily injuries and was admitted to hospital for treatment. The party reported that he was stoned by the mob while he was in the vicinity of the school, however, it did not detail at which point this episode occurred.

In a media release, the PPP/C said it strongly condemns the actions by the Opposition supporters, noting that they merely acting upon “a

deliberate and malicious rumour” manifested by Opposition personnel to “fabricate excuses if they were to lose these elections”.

The PPP/C then reminded that they had warned about the Opposition peddling rumours which can pose serious consequences upon the people of Guyana.

“Having built false hope in the minds of their supporters, they have, through these rumours, set the stage for the nonacceptance of the results which can precipitate instability within the country. There is overwhelming evidence of such

during past elections and have only served to set our country backwards,” the statement read.

Moreover, the PPP/C called on the leadership of the Opposition coalition to demonstrate a profound sense of responsibility and to reign in its supporters who are bent on creating havoc. Observers

Additionally, the PPP/C called on both the international and local observers to be cognisant of these incidents. Members from the Commonwealth Observers Mission, speaking to media operatives outside the St

Sidwell’s Primary School while the incident was occurring, reported that thus far, everything appeared to be executed smoothly. The two-man team simply replied by stating that they are unaware about the reason behind the ruckus but claimed that they were assured by the Police and GECOM staff that everything will soon be restored to normalcy. McCoy, as part of his responsibilities for which all candidates are entitled, was exercising his right by making rounds at the various polling stations across the country.

Guyana raked in Gy$90B in remittances last year – IDB

Remittances from the United States to Guyana totalled US$438 million, (G$ 90.7 billion), according to a new report by the InterAmerican Development Bank’s Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF).

According to “Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean Set a New Record High in 2014”, the increase reflects significant growth in remittance flows to Mexico (eight per cent), Central America (7.4 per cent) and the Caribbean (6.3 per cent), linked to the recovery of the economy and labour market in the United States.

However, there was a decrease of one per cent to South America, partly caused by the economic situation in Spain, which constitutes a major source of remittance flows to that sub-region.

Since the 2008-2009 international financial crisis, and up until 2013, the total amount of remittances sent by migrants to their countries of origin had failed to match the levels of 2008,

when they sent a record high of almost US$65 billion.

“Remittances remain an important source of income for millions of families in Latin America and the Caribbean,” said Fernando JimenezOntiveros, Acting General Manager of the MIF.

“The remittance sector has evolved by adopting new technologies and options for sending and receiving, and has seen a decline in fees.

However, it is essential to continue working so that those who receive them have opportunities for savings and investment.”

Mexico, which receives more than a third of all remittances sent to the Region, continues to be the largest recipient, with US$23.6 billion, followed by Guatemala with US$5.5 billion, the Dominican Republic with US$4.5 billion, El Salvador with US$4.2 billion, and Colombia with US$4 billion.

According to the MIFIDB report, the recovery of remittances is project-

ILO and Diplomatic Academy of the...

and those from non-governmental organizations, who have an interest in expanding their capabilities and knowledge on labour diplomacy.

“It might seem strange for a diplomatic academy to be offering training on a topic like labour, but the Diplomatic Academy of the Caribbean is not your typical traditional academy. The Academy adopts an all of government approach to diplomacy and shares the view of the International Labour Organization that individuals in business, government and labour unions should learn the art of diplomacy in order to ensure labour peace and promote decent work for all,” stated Professor Andy Knight, director of The Diplomatic Academy of the Caribbean.

Giovanni di Cola, special advisor to the Multilateral Cooperation Department, ILO Geneva and former director of the ILO Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean, who participated in the Forum on the Future of the Caribbean, stated, "The Masterslevel course on labour diplomacy is the result of team work among academia, social tripartite partners and the ILO. It aims at developing leadership skills and knowledge on labour matters and decent work in the

ed to continue or even accelerate in 2015, given growth forecasts for the United States, Spain, and Latin America.

The MIF, a member of the IDB Group, supports Private Sector-led development benefiting lowincome populations and the poor – their businesses, their farms, and their households.

The aim is to give them tools to boost their incomes: access to markets and the skills to compete in those markets, access to finance, and access to basic services, including green technology.

A core MIF mission is to act as a development laboratory – experimenting, pioneering, and taking risks to build and support successful micro, small and medium business models.

from page 11

context of new diplomatic and international patterns."

The course was inspired by a comment from Winston Dookeran, minister of foreign affairs of Trinidad and Tobago, during an ILO side event hosted at the third international conference on small island developing states (SIDS) in Samoa in September 2014. Exploring the future of economic integration in the Caribbean, decent work and labour market outcomes, Dookeran challenged the ILO to create a module on labour diplomacy to enable greater engagement of social partners in political processes.

The Forum on the Future of the Caribbean 5-7 May, hosted by the University of the West Indies and the ministry of foreign affairs of Trinidad and Tobago, in collaboration with the United Nations System in Trinidad and Tobago, and a wide range of international development partners, brought together political leaders, academia, private sector leaders, young shapers, civil society and policymakers, to engage in a vigorous debate and discussion under the theme: Disruptive Thinking. Bold Action. Practical Outcomes. (Caribbean news now)

Edghill

by APNU+AFC activists in Linden

People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Candidate

Bishop Juan Edghill has lodged a formal complaint to the Organisation of American States (OAS) after he came under attack at the Wismar Hill Primary School.

According to reports reaching Guyana Times International, Bishop Edghill during his visit to Linden on Monday attempted to gain access to the Wismar Hill Primary School, one of the polling stations, when he was denied access by supporters of A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance

for Change (APNU/ AFC).

He was reportedly told by persons manning the gates to the polling site, that they were given specific instructions not to allow him entry.

The Minister was not only refused entry but he also came under verbal assault from the APNU/ AFC supporters On his way out of the compound of the polling station, Minister Edghill was accused of giving “unwarranted” instructions to a man who was taking photos at the time.

Edghill refuted the

Voting in Linden…

By UtamU Belle

International and local observers have deemed Monday’s polling day exercise in Linden and other parts of District 10 as “peaceful”, indicating that based on initial reports the process was a smooth one.

claims made, noting that APNU/AFC supporters are known for “lying for no reason”.

However, he made it clear that at no time will he give in to the APNU/ AFC supporters. “I don’t have to talk to you, sir, about instructions; you can put this on camera and you can take it wherever you want to take it, I am saying I have a right to be here and you, neither you or your group would keep me out of here. I have made that point.”

He added, “This is the usual intimidation and bullyism of the PNC.”

East Coast Demerara man hangs self with bed sheet –

had earlier failed to find name on OLE

As persons in the quiet East Coast Demerara community of Foulis were busy exercising their right to vote at the Regional and General Elections on Monday, the village was thrown into shock and mourning as a man in his thirties decided it was time to end his life.

Dinesh Badrinath, 35, was found hanging from the rafter of his two-storey home at Lot 404 10th Street, Foulis, after launching himself from his bed with a bed sheet wrapped around his neck. He was discovered by his wife who ventured into the upper flat of the building at around 13:45h.

This publication, whose representatives were in the area providing coverage of the elections at the time the news started to spread about the suicide, was able to confirm through relatives of the man’s actions.

He had earlier visited a polling station in 9th Street, but his name was not on the Official List of Electors (OLE). Instead of checking the other polling stations in the area, Badrinath ven-

tured home and hanged himself. According to his father, Jewan Nath Badrinath, his son never suggested any suicidal tendencies and seemed normal.

The father confirmed that his son was never registered to vote and he also did not cast a ballot in 2011, as he was not on the list of voters during that election as well.

“I does tell he all the time ‘go and get register’ but he never listen, so me nah know why he go and check. He never register to vote.”

A close friend of the family, popularly known as “Veera” in the community, told this newspaper that “this man was never suicidal. I ain’t really understand wha go in he head.”

After the man was cut down from the rafter by his wife, detectives suggested he be rushed for medical treatment, but he was pronounced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.

Dinesh Badrinauth leaves to mourn his father, wife, son, brother and sister.

The elder Badrinauth, and other relatives who had gathered at the home, were baffled as to the reason for such actions by Dinesh. The man’s older brother had also committed suicide last June when he ingested a poisonous substance. Only Saturday last, the family observed his one year ritual.

He said observers were drawn from the Carter Center, Organisation of American States, and the Caribbean Community (Caricom), among others. “The purpose of the International Observer Mission is to make sure that the polls are operating in the order of Guyanese law,” Hunt stated.

“In the main, we are seeing the polling agents, the parties’ staff all involved in the process, adhering to the rules and

After observing various polling stations in Georgetown, Chargé d’Affaires of the United States Embassy in Guyana, Bryan Hunt; British High Commissioner Greg Quinn; Canadian High Commissioner Nicole Giles and Private Sector Commission Chairman Ramesh Persaud visited various polling stations in Linden, shortly after noon. This newspaper spoke with the group at one of the polling places situated at the Linden Technical Institute (LTI). Hunt indicated that a “very broad observer presence” was maintained throughout the Districts on Election Day, adding that from the US Embassy side, 68 observers were scattered across the 10 Regions of the country, in addition to representatives from the British and Canadian High Commissions.

regulations that are laid down, so I think thus far we have been fairly uniformly pleased with how the process is going … very pleased by the high level of turnout, a clear interest by the people of Guyana.”

He added that there were no “significant” complaints by residents, noting that one of the main concerns for voters was waiting a while to cast their ballots. “… which is true with any election with a large turnout rate, but I think that was in the main. The principal concern that we’ve heard is that people had to wait

… fortunately it seems as though they were very patient … what we’ve heard from the folks here is that they’ve had a reasonably good turnout…”

Hunt said the US Embassy will keep in close contact with GECOM, providing updates on observations in addition to updating the media with a formal report. Quinn said the British will remain more internally focused and are expected to share information with GECOM Chariman Dr Steve Surujbally.

Good turnout

Meanwhile, Robeson

Benn, commenting at the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) office in Linden, on the Election Day atmosphere, noted that during the hours of 7am-10am, polling day operations were progressing “fairly well”.

A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Representative Gerald Whittington told this newspaper that the voting process was timeconsuming, while stating that he was satisfied with the turnout. APNU/AFC’s District 10 Assistant Election Agent Sandra Adams

said all the polling stations across the district were covered by polling agents and there were few complaints. She added that reports were made available to her office every two hours on Monday. Adams indicated that there were a large percentage of votes cast throughout areas in District 10, which amounted to more than 50 per cent.

She noted, however, that at the Christianburg Wismar Secondary School’s polling station, there was an incident in which a son voted under his father’s name and as such, the father upon turning up to vote was not given permission to do so. “That was a GECOM mistake and we’re still to get it resolved.”

She also made reference to another case where the first name of the father was the middle name of the son which presented some problems with voting.

The total electorate for District 10 was 29, 254; however, Adams said a lot of persons on the list would have died or migrated.

Elderly, disabled undeterred to vote

Even the elderly and disabled, including the visually impaired and the physically impaired, came out in large numbers to ensure they exercised their democratic right to vote for a government they believe will take the country forward.

Keeping the Guyana Elections Commission’s promise to cater for that special group of the electorate, its staff was keen on ensuring every individual who was categorised under those circumstances were given preferential treatment at the various polling stations throughout Guyana.

Over at the Grove

Primary School in the New Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara, hundreds of eager residents flocked the compound before the crack of dawn to ensure they voted early.

Of those hundreds, a significant portion consisted of elderly folk who were adamant not to waste their hard-won democratic right.

As they were waiting for the gates to be opened, the elderly people huddled together, telling tales of their voting experiences “back in the days” and explaining why they were not going to let their disabilities deter them from contributing to the election of a

continued on page 24

Mother of 2 killed by speeding car at Annandale

Amother of two took her last breath at the Georgetown Public Hospital on Saturday morning while receiving medical attentionafter being struck by a speeding motor car at Annandale, East Coast Demerara (ECD).

The dead woman has been identified as Lilowttie Ramharakh, 36, of Lot 21 Unity Village, Mahaica, ECD. Her 13-year-old son was also injured during the accident, but is said to be in stable condition. He sustained a fractured right foot and lacerations to the head, arm

and shoulder. According to information received, the woman and her son were dropped off at the optician at Annandale, and while attempting to cross the road, they were hit by a speeding motor car which then slammed into two other vehicles.

The driver of the car who is suspected to be a member of the Guyana Defence Force was arrested, but was later released on station bail.

Pertab Persaud, the woman’s husband, told the Guyana Times International that moments prior to the acci-

dent, he dropped off his wife and son at the optician. He said his son was going to look after his glasses.

As he drove away, within a few seconds, he heard a crash and as he looked through his rearview mirror, he saw his son and wife lying on the road. He immediately stopped the car and rushed to the scene. He ran to his son and enquired if he was okay. The son at the time was bleeding from his head, hand and shoulder.

He then turned his attention to his wife who was crying out for pain and enquiring about their son. Persaud stated that he put his son in the car with assistance from

passersby, but while attempting to pick up his wife, an ambulance arrived on the scene. “The ambulance take my wife and I take my son to the Georgetown hospital … at the hospital, they look after meh son and so and he was okay,” the man recalled.

Both of his wife’s feet were broken and she sustained severe injuries to her body. She passed away about 02:00h the following morning. Persaud noted that he later went to the police station where he gave a statement. While doing so, the driver of the car turned up and also gave a statement which contradicted his story.

“Based on the statement the man give the Police, he want say that meh wife and son de wrong … we went back to the scene and tek statements and he again give the Police the wrong information,” the man stated.

Ramharakh’s body is at the hospital mortuary awaiting a post-mortem examination. She leaves to mourn her husband, two children, and siblings. The Police are investigating the accident.

APNU+AFC pleased with conduct of polls

The A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition has expressed its satisfaction with the electoral process with exception of a few incidences which took place during the day.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday afternoon at the party’s campaign headquarters, Co-chair of the coalition Raphael Trotman said that the party was immensely pleased with the information they have been receiving from their agents across the country, barring some incidences.

According to Trotman, at Region One (Barima-Waini), the voting process could not have gone smoother, while over at Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) and Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), the process was also praised. For Regions Four (Demerara-Mahaica) and Five (MahaicaBerbice), Trotman said that while the voting

process was smooth, the party was disappointed with two incidences which took place. These, he said, were the voting by an underage girl in Region Five and the attempt of snatching ballot boxes by an individual at Turning Point, South Ruimveldt, Georgetown.

Two persons were subsequently arrested and taken into Police custody while the girl has been detained by the Police for questioning, the party said.

The underage voter was identified as “Miss Arjune” who voted at polling station 522212.

“The child is known by the entire village to be underage but she was allowed to cast a ballot… As a lawyer, I tell you if there is one incident of such case, you will find others,” Trotman said. The Police in that region are investigating the incident.

For the other regions, he outlined the reports which were received, noting that Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) recorded a poor turn out as compared to the previous years but has not recorded any incidents.

Over in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni),

Trotman said that by 12:00h, almost all of the electorates had already voted and nothing abnormal was recorded.

Region Eight (PotaroSiparuni), the AFC Executive said, had no troubles and the same was recorded for Region Nine (Upper TakutuUpper Essequibo) and Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) were relatively quiet,with voters turning out in massive numbers. The party remains optimistic that it will be able to win a majority given the feedback it has been receiving.

Elderly, disabled undeterred to...

new government.

Most of those interviewed admitted that they were reluctant to leave their homes, particularly owing to the lengthy process it takes to vote and the toll it takes on their health. However, they expressed that due to the intensity of this year’s General and Regional Elections, they could not afford to allow a little discomfort to get in the way of them voting for a new government of their choice.

Hassle-free

Reports emanating from villages along the East Bank Corridor, including Grove, Timehri, Craig, Eccles, Hope, Friendship, Diamond and Covent Garden indicate that the process was hassle-free for the elderly and disabled as they were entitled to preferential treatment.

A visually impaired man, though he encountered some difficulties with the section he was slated to vote, reported that the GECOM staff allowed him to vote ahead of the others who were already in line.

He explained that he took directions from

GECOM staff to join a particular line, only to find out his name was not on the list when it was his turn to vote. When he finally found the right line he needed to join, he related that he did not have to line up like he did before.

GECOM had in place a system where the visually impaired can use specially designed stencils to vote if they wanted to vote independently.

However, the elderly man said he did not use that facility but instead allowed his relative to assist him in voting.

Similar instances played out along the East Coast Corridor.

At the various polling stations in Cummings Lodge, the elderly there expressed gratitude to GECOM for putting systems in place to facilitate their needs in this respect.

In the capital city of Georgetown, in West Demerara, Linden, and Bartica, reports also indicated that GECOM kept its promise, ensuring systems were in place to facilitate the voting process for everyone.

Lindeners turn out in high numbers to cast ballots …few hiccups

By Svetlana MarShall and UtaMU Belle

Voter turnout in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice), particularly Linden, was reportedly high as voting got off to a smooth start under the watchful eyes of international observers, primarily Commonwealth, the Organisation of American States (OAS) and the Carter Centre.

Before the crack of dawn, hundreds of persons assembled in front of polling stations across the district as they awaited the opening of polls. At the Linden Foundation Secondary School, one of the major polling sites in Central Amelia’s Ward, Linden, the gates were opened promptly at 06:00h.

Voters present at the time, expressed their satisfaction, noting that the process was very systematic with polling day staff giving clear directives. Notably, pregnant women, the elderly and disabled persons were given first preference.

Guyana Times International caught up with the Region 10 Chairman, Sharma Solomon, who also expressed his satisfaction. “I am encouraged by

the turnout so far within my division of Linden Foundation Secondary School. At six this morning the lines were very long, it indicates that people have an interest in electing a new Government,” Solomon, a candidate on the APNU/AFC Geographic list, stated.

With a voting population of 29,000, Solomon, who is the Regional A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) Coordinator, said the Coalition is hoping to secure approximately 25,000 of the overall regional votes. According to Solomon, in Linden alone, some 19,000 persons were expected to vote.

The Regional Chairman explained that all logistics were put in place at the last meeting held on Sunday with the Party’s agents, noting that a total of 300 agents were dispatched across the region. “I am encouraged by the systems we have put in place…and I am confident that we will secure the majority of the votes,” he added. In addition to the Linden Foundation Secondary School, visits were also made to the Amelia’s Ward Primary School

on the eastern side of Linden.

Patience

When this publication visited polling sites at Wismar, Linden, primarily the New Silvercity Secondary School, Christainburg Recreational Hall, and the Wismar Christainburg Secondary School, persons were patiently waiting their turn to exercise their franchise. According to reports, the groups within their respective communities, had three vehicles each available to them, one for the elderly, one for the disabled and the last for those voting via proxy.

Meanwhile, at the New Silvercity Secondary School, Ann McBean was

among the many elderly persons who were escorted by their families, friends or public spirited individuals. “I got up early and told him I got to go and vote and so we came out. It’s my constitutional right to vote and once I have life I will continue to exercise that right,” McBean said, as she was being assisted by her son.

Over at Wismar

Across on the Wismar shore, residents, young and old, could be seen making their way to polling stations situated at the New Silvercity Secondary School, Harmony Secondary, Wisroc Nursery and Primary, Christianburg Wismar Secondary School, among others. A

peaceful atmosphere was maintained throughout the morning hours as there were no major reports of disorderly conduct at any of the polling stations.

A young man who turned out to cast his vote at a polling station at Wismar sat outside looking quite despondent since he noted that his name was not on the Official Voter’s List.

Speaking with this newspaper, the young man said his National Identification card was issued in 2001. He said he did not get the opportunity to check the Official List of Electors and was told that he was not eligible to vote after turning up to cast his vote at the polling station.

Upon checking the printed list, another individual, a woman, whose name appeared not to be on the list, enquired where she had to go to receive some assistance. Meanwhile, some residents noted that the process was a smooth one, having turned out quite early in the morning to cast their votes. Approximately 127 polling stations were set up across District 10 (Upper DemeraraBerbice), to offset the polling day exercise. The polling sites visited by Guyana Times International, had observers from the Commonwealth, OAS and Carter Centre were all monitoring the polling day activities.

Observer Missions give kudos to Guyana for election process

Amid a few minor hiccups, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and by extension the country has come in for high praises from both the international and domestic observer missions that are monitoring the electoral process.

Currently there are five international observer missions and 14 local groups conducting observation works in the country. This includes the pre and post election periods, the voting process and tabulation of the ballots.

Guyana Times International caught up with some of the observer missions to get their reactions to polling day activities. Chief of Mission for the Organisation of American States (OAS) in Guyana, Ambassador Lisa Shoman has expressed her satisfaction with the conducting of polls, while noting that 98 per cent of the polling stations opened on time.

“Early this morning there was quite a good turnout and I think we were able to observe the opening of the polls. The polling stations had the materials that they needed,” she noted.

Shoman added that the OAS observers in the 10 administrative regions had submitted a preliminary report on the opening of polls in all 10 regions.

However, the OAS Chief of Mission registered her disappointment with the long procedure that is in place for voters without identification cards. “There are a couple of places where it took long and we have noted that it is people coming with-

out ID cards, it takes between five to eight minutes to have them vote so it’s a little slow.”

These sentiments were adopted by the team from the Union of the South American Nations (UNASUR), who also congratulated the country and GECOM for what they say was an efficient and transparent voting process.

At a press briefing on Tuesday, Special Representative of the South American organ-

Suspect in city wharf gun smuggling remanded

Aman suspected of being involved in the smuggling of a shipment of AK-47 rifles, pistols and ammunition which was found at a city wharf was remanded to jail on Tuesday on an illegal firearm possession charge.

The defendant, 21-year-old Jamal Murphy of 40 Vigilance, East Coast Demerara, was brought to the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts Tuesday morning.

Two AK-47 rifles, four .40 pistols, 11 9mm pistols, 15 extra magazines for the firearms, and 489 various calibre rounds were found in a box shipped to the defendant from Ron Murphy from the United States of America. A bulletproof vest, a haversack and food items were also among the contents of the box.

Murphy pleaded not guilty to the offence and his lawyer, Delise Daniels, informed the court that the prosecution is “hard-pressed to prove any case of possession” by her client.

She said that the defendant was expecting food stuff in the box and had no knowledge of the firearms that were found with his food items.

She petitioned the court for bail as her client has been quite cooperative with the Police, informing that someone else may be involved with the firearms and provided a name.

She told the court that her client is quite young, has never been accused of any offence, and presently has no matter in court. However, Police

Prosecutor Bharat Mangru told the court that Murphy actually gave three addresses to the Police, one being in Plaisance.

He explained that a Customs Officer was checking the box shipped to Murphy when the Officer realised that it had other compartments.

Thus, the search was stopped and the Officer’s superiors and Murphy were contacted. Murphy came in and a further search of the box was done, which led to the discovery of the guns.

Prosecutor Mangru told the court that this shows that the defendant had control of the guns and thus knowledge of it.

Chief Magistrate Priya SewnarineBeharry, who stated that there was no justifiable reason given as to why the defendant would not flee if granted bail.

She remanded him to prison, and transferred his case to be tried by Magistrate Judy Latchman in Court Three. Murphy will be back in court on May 20.

isation, Dr Domingo Paredes, praised the electoral systems that are in place. He pointed out that the voting stages adopted by Guyana are not seen in any other South American countries, referring to the ID display in polling stations, the presence of security personnel at all polling stations and political representatives in the stations among others. Paredes commended the Election Commission

for a job well done, noting that their voters’ education programme was on par. He specifically mentioned the visual displays around the polling stations displaying the stages of the voting process.

Nevertheless, the UNASUR representatives highlighted a few issues that came to their attention such as the lack of accessibility for the handicapped and the elderly to the polling station.

Furthermore, he noted that there are limited polling stations, hence the long queues.

UNASUR had observers at 33 polling stations in four regions. There were observers at four polling stations in Parika, at eight stations in Georgetown and New Amsterdam, and five in Linden.

In addition, the Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) Ramesh Persaud dubbed the election process “credible”. He told Guyana Times International that he had the opportunity to visit polling stations in outlining areas such as Diamond, Skeldon and Linden.

Persaud sang the praises of the GECOM staff, noting that they were “properly trained” and the systems in place were in accordance to the country’s practices. He added that the voting process was moving apace, since by 10:00h, most of the polling stations were cleared.

Furthermore, the PSC Chairman is urging Guyanese to be patience and accept the official results published by GECOM.

Mixed voter turnout in Region 6

Residents of Region Six (East Berbice/ Corentyne) voted early Monday morning in this year’s General and Regional Elections where the turnout was described as mixed with surprisingly low turnout in some areas and high in others.

In the Corentyne District of Region 6 East Berbice, there was report of poor voter turnout in several areas along the coast. While there was no major disturbances reported a People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) representative said they were concerned about A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/ AFC) supporters showing up at polling stations telling PPP/C supporters that their names were not on the list.

According to a representative of the PPP/C, one of the reasons for the low turnout was that some persons whose name were on the list were not around, many migrated while some are on vacation.

Meanwhile, speaking with Alliance For Change Executive Member, Dr Verasammy Ramayah he said that while there were no hiccups, the voters trickled in throughout the day and expressed a 77 to 80 per cent turnout in PPP/C stronghold.

The voting pattern throughout the day in most communities

In areas such as Albion, Fyrish, Chesney, Nigg and Williamsburg, there was a reported eighty per cent turnout of voters on the list. Rose Hall Town and Port Mourant also went smoothly as well as Manchester, Alness, Ulverston and Liverpool/ Lancaster.

showed that most of the early voters were older folks, while the younger voters came in a bit later. In Black Bush Polder the male folk took to the poll earlier while the women remained at home cooking lunch and taking care of the household chores before heading to their respective polling stations. Overall, it was a smooth day of voting, debarring the stamp incidents which was not unique to Berbice alone.

In areas such as Number 64/65, 77, Skeldon and Crabwood Creek there was a reported 70 per cent turnout. As time dawn upon the voting population in Berbice, persons walked, biked or drove to their respective polling station to cast their votes before the close of poll .There was no major lines nor were there any big last minute rushes.

Meanwhile, communities along the Corentyne Coast remained quiet while many went about their day as per normal.

Speaking with several youngsters, who were hanging out at a popular Snackette in Port Mourant after casting their ballots, they said

that while they were advised by the older folks to stay home as they anticipate violence, they decided to come out as they are of the view that it should be a normal day, and decided to come out as normal and “hang”.

They feel that if people stay away or restrain themselves from going about their normal routine, that would cause more tension and could escalate. As such they are urging other youths to come out and do the things they always do so that things can resume to normal faster.

In New Amsterdam polling stations opened their doors to long lines of voters waiting to cast their ballots. Many had

started lining up before 05:30h. The process of voting in the country’s oldest town went smoothly with only a few hiccups. At Tutorial Academy Secondary School where the town’s mayor casted his ballot, there were five polling stations and persons from the southern side of the town exercised their franchise there.

Mayor of the town Claude Henry, in an invited comment, said he wanted to congratulate people for coming out in their numbers. “It is a historic day in Guyana where we will see a change and a new administration. New Amsterdam has been a forgotten town over a period of years. I am hoping that with the change that will be coming, New Amsterdam will benefit tremendously when it comes to development and by extension Region Six.”

He said he is overwhelmed being part of the historic process in Guyana. “I am only waiting for the announcement where we will have reason to celebrate a new Government; a Government of the people and a Government that will work in unity for the people of Guyana.

Young voices unite in historic TT choir

PORT-OF-SPAIN,

TRINIDAD: Can you imagine 4,000 children singing Happy by Pharrell, and One Love by Bob Marley, on a Saturday afternoon at the Queen’s Park Savannah?

That’s what will happen on May 16 at the Grandstand, from 4 – 6 pm, when for the first time ever, so many children here will be joining their voices in a mass choral event, to include 12 songs.

The concert will celebrate TT children as one community, through the medium of music, in a totally inclusive way that is not about competition (like, say, our music festivals), but is rather about embracing all children in united performance.

For the past four months, thousands of boys and girls from 100 primary schools from all parts of TT have been hard at work rehearsing their songs, in an effort inspired by the Young Voices UK choirs, who have been doing this for 18 years now.

Among the songs the TT youngsters are learning is: You Gotta Be by Des’ree; Lean On Me by Bill Withers; the Lion King Medley (a big favourite among the children); Happy by Pharrell

Williams; One Love by Bob Marley; and All Ah We Is One Family by Lord Nelson.

Profit is not the point of the event, said the energetic UK broadcaster and TV personality Gigi Morley last Thursday, in an interview with the TT media at the Hyatt hotel in Port-of-Spain.

In town to help organise the event on behalf of Young Voices UK, Morley said all ticket costs will go towards basic costs for producing the show— such as lighting, sound, staging and staffing.

Young Voices UK has subsidised most of the costs so far, with valuable help from the TT Ministry of Arts and Multiculturalism (which has waived rental fees for the Grandstand) and Ministry of Transport (which is volunteering use of PTSC buses to transport the children on the day). Digicel is sponsoring the fees for the guest performers Randolph Matthews (from the UK), Tessanne Chin (from Jamaica), and local Digicel Rising Stars winners Neval Chatelal and Neisha Guy. Gigi Morley is originally from Diego Martin in Trinidad, and left TT at the age of 19 to pursue a career in the UK.

An enthusiastic Morley explained what the project was all about.

Young Voices, started in the UK, combines the power of singing together as one, with accompaniment from a wide range of musicians and artists, to create mass youth performances that are memorable.

Last year, Young Voices UK held concerts involving over 120,000 children taking part in the UK and Ireland. The aim is to provide a music experience for children that they will ben-

efit from and remember for the rest of their lives.

“Young Voices is literally for the first time this year going global,” said Morley. “There’s going to be Young Voices America on June 4, Young Voices Germany...and they’re in talks with a few other places, like Japan, and Croatia. It’s really exciting.”

The idea to hold such a large children’s concert in T&T is so new here, she said, that many principals, when they first heard of it, probably thought she was “some

crazy lady.”

Morley soon realised she would have to personally go all over T&T to meet with stakeholders, explaining the value of the learning, sharing, and community feeling that concerts like this can create.

Morely herself has been directly involved in hosting Young Voices concerts in the UK for the past ten years. She says this form of music education is not only fun for children, but also has a strong, positive impact on them.

Morley mentioned the many benefits of music education—in promoting literacy, numeracy, listening skills, memory skills, and teamwork skills.

“Choral singing has also got health benefits: it reduces stress levels. When kids sing together in a choir, their heart rate actually comes down, their breathing synchronises and calms them down. We’ve chosen music with a message, to encourage camaraderie and a sense of community,” said Morley.

“We are very unique people in T&T because we have so many mixtures,” said Morley. “What I’m hoping is that when the founder of Young Voices in the UK, David Lewis, flies in next Monday, for a week, he and his team will have learned something from us.”

“In the UK, Young Voices packs out the O2 (a large entertainment complex in Greenwich, London) for five nights in a row with 8,000 different children and 15,000 to 20,000 different parents. There’s no reason TT cannot do the same thing. There’s 1.3 m of us; why can’t we have three nights of TT Young Voices every year?” asked Morley. (TT Guardian)

The Shaping of Guyanese Literature

South Ruimveldt Park Primary, Central High schools win in two-day ‘Readathon’ observing the event

By PetamBer Persaud

World Book and Copyright Day is commemorated April 23 each year. Guyana’s formal participation in this event is recent but the country’s contribution has always being significant --and that’s saying a lot for a developing country.

In general, observances of any sort are seemingly perfunctory something to guard against in this instance where the stakes are extremely high. This is not to say that this particular occasion is not celebrated in some places with elaborated planning, due pomp, publicity and international endorsement.

An occasion like this is too important to leave to tokenism. The book, in all its forms and manifestations, and in all its complexities -- including literacy, comprehension, reading skills, expression skills and writing skills -are vital to a society that is working towards progress and development of each member of that society and to the overall betterment of that society.

that the lecturer, Dr Joyce Jonas, converted her message into a conversation with the students while using relevant examples to get home the point.

Dr Jonas also gave a personal account to illustrate the impact of copyright on all stakeholders. She explained and expressed how she felt when the book, “English B for CSEC CXC A Caribbean Examinations Council Study Guide”, was pirated just as it hit the market. That was after she had put in “tremendous

organizers to witness the enthusiasm displayed by the students. In trying to outdo the other, they showed how well they read, how much they absorbed, how much they comprehended and how well they were able to express what was read.

What was read? “Alice in Wonderland” was the book selected for the primary school students and “Backfire” for students of secondary school. Participating schools at each level read selected chapters from the titles

Too much is at stake here.

Moreover, as such, World Book and Copyright Day must be featured prominently on the calendar of each country, especially since the bigger picture includes and involves crossing borders and languages, and literatures and cultures.

The National Library of Guyana, over the years, has found innovative ways to celebrate the event. One year, trees were planted in the compound of the institution as a gesture of replenishing the earth of trees from which we get paper that is utilized in the making books.

On another occasion, the library, offered lunch and lecture on copyright to schoolchildren. This went down smoothly in

work and huge amount of time” in the making of the book.

Apart from content, which is the writing, the making of a textbook also includes design and layout, proofing and editing, binding, covers and cover designs, illustrations and diagrams, and marketing, all of which are specialized and separate fields.

For World Book and Copyright Day 2015, the National Library and its partners – the Ministry of Education and Repsol -- staged a two-day ‘Readathon’ on April 23 and 24.

The event took the form of an engaging and fun game not unlike the television “Jeopardy”. It was heartening for the

identified.

The schools participating at the primary level were:

1. North Georgetown Primary

2. St. Margaret's Primary

3. Winfer Gardens Primary

4. West Ruimveldt Primary

5. St. Gabriel’s Primary

6. South Ruimveldt Park Primary

The winning primary schools were:

1st place - South Ruimveldt Park Primary

2nd place - Winfer Gardens Primary

3rd Place - North Georgetown Primary

The schools participat-

ing at the secondary level were:

1. Central High

2. North Georgetown Secondary

3. North Ruimveldt Secondary

4. Cummings Lodge Secondary

5. Tutorial High

The winning secondary schools were: 1st place - Central High 2nd place - North Georgetown 3rd place - Tutorial

High

The first place schools received a scanner for the school as well as a trophy while the second and third placed schools were each rewarded with a trophy. Each student was given a certificate of participation.

The judges were kept on their toes from the first gong, right to the resounding end – the joy of the winners was unrestrained. The panel of judges was made up of Ms Samantha Williams from the Ministry of Education, Ms Sharifah Razack of Repsol/ EPA, and Ms Merle James of the National Library.

Apart from sponsoring the complete two-day event, Repsol donated 80 History, Geography, Biology, English and Social Studies CSEC textbooks, which would augment the library’s well used/overused supply.

This “project was a partial fulfilment of Repsol’s Global Corporate Social Responsibility programme, which focuses

on the improvement of three areas in Guyana: Education, Environment and Health.”

The main aim of World Book and Copyright Day is to focus on books, to promote reading, to encourage publishing and the protection of intellectual property through copyright.

Copyright is to encourage more creativity, better-crafted works and hence more elucidation, learning and entertainment. Copyright breeds innovation…

In 1995, World Book and Copyright Day was established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

Responses to this author telephone (592) 2260065 or email: oraltradition2002@yahoo.com

What’s Happening:

• Guyanese author Imam Baksh won the 2015 Burt Award for Caribbean Literature with his manuscript, “Children of the Spider”.

Accessible through a tiny creek, Buffalo Pond, near Karanambo Ranch on the Rupununi River, is covered almost entirely with hundreds of Victoria amazonica lilies. The air at the pond is filled with the light, sweet fragrance of the lilies.

This small, shallow oxbow pond can also be quite busy when several species of heron (Capped, Striated, Boat-billed, Black-crowned Night-) and egrets (Snowy, Great, Cocoi) visit.

Wood Storks, Black-collared and Great Black Hawks lurk in the trees at the water's edge while a few Giant River Otters can also be seen popping their heads up beside distant lily pads.

Buffalo Pond offers adventures and an idyllic opportunity for birding and fishing enthusiasts to experience nature one-on-one.

Accessible through a tiny creek, Buffalo Pond, near Karanambo Ranch on the Rupununi River, is covered almost entirely with hundreds of Victoria amazonica lilies. The air at the pond is filled with the light, sweet fragrance of the lilies.

This small, shallow oxbow pond can also be quite busy when several species of heron (Capped, Striated, Boat-billed, Black-crowned Night-) and egrets (Snowy, Great, Cocoi) visit.

Wood Storks, Black-collared and Great Black Hawks lurk in the trees at the water's edge while a few Giant River Otters can also be seen popping their heads up beside distant lily pads.

Buffalo Pond offers adventures and an idyllic opportunity for birding and fishing enthusiasts to experience nature one-on-one.

Mothers in Black and the alicea Foundation

Losing a child is the hardest thing a mother has to endure. For Denise Dias, the loss of her eldest child remains inconsolable. However, instead of allowing herself to succumb to grief, Denise, inspired by her late daughter, has been bravely advocating road safety locally and internationally.

Dias was born in England to a Guyanese father and English mother. She grew up and was schooled in England. In 1975, she left for Guyana to join her family. In 1983 she served as general manager of Houseproud, a craft store. She later set up Creations Craft, a retail handicraft store, with her husband Dennis Dias, and they later diversified their businesses by establishing DD Signs along with Connections Travel Agency. She is the comanaging director with her husband in all their businesses.

Dias’ first child, Alicea, was already accomplishing much at the age of 17: working as an aspiring graphics student. She had written

CXC and landed a parttime job at an advertising agency. Dias recalled that her daughter was an excellent artist and was offered a job in Trinidad with a graphics company to work as a junior graphic artist.

“That’s the reason we started DD Signs. She was to go away in Trinidad to work with the graphics company there and then finish off her studies in Canada and then take over the business. Trinidad was where she was going to go the following Friday she met with her accident, but she didn’t get to,” Denise recalled

in an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine

On Aug 23, 1996

Denise received a tragic message no mother would ever want: her daughter was struck by a drunk driver on the East Coast public road, a short distance from their home. Alicea was dead before she could

reach the hospital.

The driver who killed Alicea fled the scene. Eyewitnesses took note of his license plate and reported it to the police who arrested the suspect about three hours later. About eight months before, Dias learnt, the same suspect had struck down and killed a 52-year-old man who had six chil-

Among the improvements in road safety attributable at least in part to the Alicea Foundation is the motor bike helmet law, which had existed but never enforced. It was reactivated in 1997. The Foundation’s proposals for a seat belt law, the radar gun to detect speeding and the breathalyzer were all

spread awareness on road safety.

Recently, Denise was invited to participate in the Child Road Safety in the Americas Congress, during the United Nations Global Road Safety Week, addressing the importance of public health and sustainable development of child road safety in the region, with a focus on

dren. That case was still pending when Alicea was killed.

The accused appeared in court for Alicea’s death but was released on $700,000 bail. Shortly after posting bail, the accused left the country using his Bahamian passport, even though the police were alerted that this could have happened: that he would flee. The man remains on the run.

“Alicea’s death highlighted many areas of societal breakdown and law enforcement inadequacies and inefficiencies, but more importantly, I refused to allow my daughter to become just another statistic. That’s when I formed the Alicea Foundation,” Dias declared.

With friends, family and other persons who had lost loved ones on Guyana’s roads, the idea of the foundation was put together within a month of Alicea’s death. It was formalized with the registration of a non-profit company in January 1997. Its goal was to work for the introduction of much needed road safety legislation, and the enforcement of existing laws.

subsequently implemented as a result of the joint activism of the Alicea Foundation and Mothers in Black.

“Mothers in Black was formed in July 2000 after a horrific crash on the Linden Highway whereupon eleven persons were killed. Eight of them were children. I was enraged. I made contact with the many mothers whom over the years I had given solace and court support, and asked that they join me the following Friday outside parliament building where we had a peaceful protest with placards and pictures of our dead kids,” Dias recalled.

Dias has been recognized for her work in promoting road safety in Guyana, and from 2007 to 2009 she served on the Guyana Traffic Advisory Committee. At the same time, she served as vice president of the Guyana National Road Safety Council. She was also a member of the Crime Stoppers Steering Committee from 2008 to 2009. In 2004, she was given a PAHO/WHO Volunteer of the Year award for road safety advocacy.

She continues to

Latin America and the Caribbean. Her presentation focused on preventing deaths among youths, and emphasized the lack of road safety education in our schools and the need to re-introduce road safety patrols by implementing proper school guard crossing training with teachers, parents and students.

“I’m wishing all Guyanese mothers a very happy Mother’s Day. I am looking forward to spending Sunday enjoying quality time with my beautiful children, Dominique and Deje,” Denise enthused.

“We mothers are so blessed to give the gift of life; however we should all collectively ensure their safety. In closing, a message from Mothers in Black and the Alicea Foundation: ‘We are mothers against drinking and driving. We are mothers who condemn speeding. We are mothers asking drivers to make their vehicles a no phone zone. We are mothers who have lost our loved ones slaughtered on our roads. We are asking for our present laws to be enforced’,” she declared.

Remembering Guyana's 1992 Elections

An excerpt from "Beyond the White House," by Jimmy Carter

In 2007, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter wrote "Beyond the White House," about his postpresidency work with The Carter Centre. In it, he reflected on a number of election observation missions, including the Centre’s first to Guyana, in 1992. An excerpt from the book, published by Simon and Schuster, is reprinted here.

The most person-

al danger I have felt since leaving the White House was in Guyana in 1992. This small nation on the northern coast of South America was then and still is the most completely divided that I know. About 9 percent of its citizens are Amerindians living mostly in the vast forests, and another 80 percent are divided between descendants of indentured servants from India and descendants of African slaves, both brought in by the British during colonial times.

"The most personal danger I have felt since leaving the White House was in Guyana in 1992.” President Carter

The major political parties are largely separated along these racial lines, as are many of the basic professions.

The Indo-Guyanese hold a slight majority, but the Afro-Guyanese and their People's National Congress (PNC) party were able to control the government from the time of national independence in 1966, assisted by the

government of Great Britain and the CIA, both of which considered Cheddi Jagan, leader of the opposition People's Progressive Party (PPP), to be a Marxist.

In 1990, Mr Jagan came to The Carter Centre; claimed that previous elections had been fraudulent, and asked us to help ensure that the next one would be honest and fair. We agreed, provided the ruling party would also accept our presence as observers.

For several months, President Desmond Hoyte objected strongly, but public opinion became so greatly aroused that he finally agreed, just one month before the election was scheduled. Bob Pastor and his team developed a list of minimal election standards, and I went to Guyana to discuss them with the president and others. Three of the most important were to have an accurate voters' list, a politically balanced election commission, and votes counted at the polling places.

These issues had been hotly debated for almost thirty years and were very difficult for the ruling party to ac-

cept. Finally, as I was preparing to leave the country and declare that we could not participate, President Hoyte accepted all our provisions. The election was delayed until October 1992, and government officials also invited observers of the British Commonwealth, with whom they had enjoyed a close and friendly relationship.

As usual, we deployed our two-person teams throughout the country before Election Day, and I went west along the coast toward the border with Venezuela to visit a few polling sites in a riverain area inhabited by Arawak Indians, travelling from one village to another in a small boat.

On the way back to Georgetown, the capital, we flew over the famous site of the 1978 mass suicide of Jim Jones and more than nine hundred of his cult followers.

When we arrived at the airport, our small plane was surrounded by members of the security forces, who informed me that riots had broken out all over Georgetown, and that I must go to the U.S. Embassy, where I would be safe.

Instead, I went to my

hotel room and called President Hoyte, who assured me that the police were in charge and order would soon be restored. Bob Pastor informed me that the PNC were obviously losing the election, and that some of their supporters had been induced to disrupt the process. I decided that the

surrounded by several hundred rioters, who had already broken all the windows with clubs and stones. There was only one Guyanese police office present, a woman wearing a uniform but without sidearms.

We went upstairs and

next morning I went to visit both presidential candidates. They agreed to refrain from any public statements and to accept the final results, which were announced three days later.

Cheddi Jagan was sworn in as president

election should continue if possible, and sent word to our observers to monitor events and, after the polls closed, to go to their assigned places to gather quick count results. Our senior observer, Jennifer McCoy, told me that the election centre had come under attack by an angry mob, some of whom claimed to have been denied a ballot. She had visited the building and tried to work out a solution with the PNC party chief, but the riot continued.

The election centre was where all of the communication equipment and computers, on which election results would be tabulated, were located. It was a two-story wooden building with many windows, with the electronic equipment housed in an isolated central room on the second floor. When I arrived, accompanied by three Secret Service agents, the building was

found that all the computers had been transferred to one of the more isolated hotels for safekeeping. I phoned the hotel manager, who told me that the computers could not be operated there unless "a battalion of troops is sent to protect us against the mobs trying to stop the vote count." I called the president again. I told him that I was in the unprotected building and that there was no way to complete the election unless the workers could return with their computers. Also, I told him that our Secret Service would contact the White House if I didn't receive immediate protection from the mob outside.

Calm was restored after another hour, and the computers were tabulating returns by midnight. Our quick count showed that the ruling party would lose by about 14 percent, and early the

after what was considered to be the country's first free and fair election since independence. After his death five years later, his wife, Janet Jagan, became president, but she resigned in 1999 because of poor health.

The Carter Centre has remained in close contact with the people of Guyana and has helped them to work out a long-range plan for economic and political development. A young deputy finance minister, Bharrat Jagdeo, was assigned by the Jagans to work with us on this project, and he performed this duty superbly. When Mrs Jagan became ill, Jagdeo was chosen to succeed her as president, and he was elected and then reelected in 2001 and 2006. Unfortunately, many of the divisions in Guyana remain.

Canada among new markets for Jamaican bananas

ST JAMES, JAMAICA:

The Jamaican Government says it will be putting Ja$250 million into a project aimed at revitalising banana production for the export market.

Strong efforts to revitalise the export market, due to high international demand for Jamaican bananas, have resulted in new markets in Canada and Grand Cayman, and a scaled back resumption of exportation to the United Kingdom, which was suspended in 2008.

The Banana Export Expansion Programme (BEEP) -- details of which were provided at an investment forum in Montego Bay recently -targets new and existing farmers in the traditional banana-growing parishes of Portland, St Mary and St James.

Funding is being provided under the European Union-

supported Jamaica Banana Accompanying Measures (JBAMs), with the Banana Board as the implementing agency.

The Ja$250-million investment by the Government will go towards land divestment in priority agro parks, off farm irrigation infrastructure, and farm road improvement. Some Ja$76.5 million will be distributed through JBAMs for material input supplies, Global Good Agricultural Practices (Global GAP) infrastructure, and Fairtrade Labelling Organisations (FLO) certification, according to the Jamaica Information Service.

Farmers will receive support from JBAMs in the areas of training, certification, and technology transfer in both production and post-harvest management. They will be required to provide 60 per cent of their production cost, while the remaining 30 per cent will

be provided through the BEEP.

Farmers in St James will benefit under the initiative, through sev-

eral agro parks that are to be set up at Sevens River and Sunderland in the parish.

The parks, the first of

which will be established in Sevens River, will function as incubators to ensure the expansion of production within global standards, and the development of the industry, while preserving its competitiveness for both the domestic and export markets.

At the Montego Bay investment forum, held at the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) offices, the farmers and potential investors were provided with details about the project, including the registration process, cost of production, and market opportunities.

"It is still a work in progress and our forum with you is not only to give you information but also to get back some information from you so that the programme, when we implement it, is the best programme," said Banana Board General Manager Janet Conie.

The major components of BEEP include upgrading of the tissue culture laboratory; facilitating ongoing exports of a single small container of banana; providing financial support through a revolving loan for material inputs required for production of the first crop; providing Global GAP infrastructure for strategic grouping of farmers: storeroom, toilet, welfare facility; and facilitating Global GAP and FLO Certifications to ensure market access and premium prices.

The programme will also seek to address disaster mitigation; prevent Moco and Black Sigatoka diseases; and improve access of farmers to the Catastrophe Fund.

A series of natural disasters in the recent past have severely curtailed Jamaica's banana production, and as a result, the banana export market. (Jamaica Observer)

Jamaica's economic programme remains on track – IMF staff

KINGSTON, JAMAICA: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Board is expected to approve the eighth review under the Extended Fund Facility, which will see approximately

US$40 million being released to Jamaica. According to a news release from the Ministry of Finance and Planning Tuesday, "all quantitative performance criteria for the March 2015 quarter were met, with

the exception of the primary balance and indicative revenue targets. “Nonetheless, the primary surplus target expressed as a percentage of GDP remained at 7.5 per cent," the release continued.

The release also said the IMF has concluded that the Government’s commitment to meeting the objectives of the programme remains strong, and that the Jamaican economy should rebound in FY2015/16.

See the press release from the Ministry of Finance and Planning in full:

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff visited Jamaica over the period 04 – 13 May 2015 to conduct the eighth scheduled Staff Review of Jamaica’s performance under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF). The mission met with key stakeholders including Government officials, technical staff, private sector leaders, and other stakeholders.

The IMF team concluded that the Government’s commitment to meeting the objectives of the programme remains strong, evidenced in the overall implementation of policies to date and the progression of structural reforms. All quantitative performance criteria for the March 2015 quarter were met with the exception of the primary balance and indicative revenue targets. Nonetheless, the primary surplus target expressed as a percentage of GDP remained at 7.5 per cent.

The deviation was due to lower than projected inflation and growth. In response, several actions are being taken to strengthen revenue and expenditure management. Notwithstanding

this deviation, the Fund team’s assessment of the programme suggests that Jamaica’s economic programme remains on track. The overall balance of the public sector was significantly better than target and the debt to GDP ratio remained on a downward trajectory.

Although economic growth in the second half of FY2014/15 was lower than expected, due to unforeseen temporary factors, the macroeconomic environment continues to improve. Benchmark market interest rates have been trending lower, inflation is contained, the current account deficit on the balance of payments continues to contract, foreign reserves exceed expectations and business confidence is high. Against this background both the IMF staff and GOJ concur that the Jamaican economy should rebound in FY2015/16. Further, the outlook for growth over the medium term remains positive, supported by on-going reforms

to the business environment and the progress being made on the key catalysts for growth, such as the port expansion projects, the regime for special economic zones and the work of the Electricity Sector Enterprise Team.

The GOJ has requested a waiver on the primary balance criterion and on the basis of strong performance, characterized by the unprecedented passing of seven reviews without any modifications to the performance criteria, it is expected that the IMF Board will approve the 8th review under the EFF and thereby allow for the release of SDR 28.32 million, approximately US$40 million to Jamaica.

The GOJ’s economic policies are presented in an updated Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies and the Government stands ready to take necessary actions to ensure that the programme remains on track. (Jamaica Observer)

Banks in Jamaica gear up for new card security system

KINGSTON, JAMAICA: Banking institutions are now being questioned about their readiness in implementing a security system to reduce credit and debit card fraud, as liability shifts from banks to merchants over the next five months.

Representatives from the island's major banks last Thursday gathered at a seminar hosted by Productive Business Solution (PBS) and international partner Entrust Datacard, suppliers of the new credit/debit card facility dubbed Europay, Mastercard and Visa (EMV).

The forthcoming shift means that issuers or merchants that do not support EMV will assume liability for fraud that is the result of a compromised mag-stripe card transaction as of October. Up to last year, local banks where held accountable for credit/ debit card fraud charges of up to US$58,000 and Ja$34 million.

"Currently, the banks are the ones being held liable for credit card frauds but that will change and the mer-

chants will be asked to pay.

So it is urgent that the banks implement the new system to protect merchants from absorbing these costs," general manger of PBS, Michael Lewis, told the Jamaican media in a telephone interview last Thursday.

What's more, Lewis stated that as more countries move to implement the new system, credit card fraudsters are now turning their attention to countries like Jamaica, which has been slow in the implementation of the system.

"Europe and Canada has

the system fully implemented, and since Scotia is a Canadian bank they are now taking steps. But Jamaica needs to get ready. Trinidad is already 80 per cent migrated and the Dominica Republic also has the system underway," he told the Caribbean media. He added that the United States saw a 50 per cent increase in credit/debit card fraud since the implementation in other countries.

The EMV technology is a global standard for credit and debit card payments, using a chip card system that requires

customers to insert their cards into point-of-sale terminals to authenticate the transactions instead of swiping.

Traditionally, electronic cards use a magnetic strip which stores data, allowing anyone who accesses the data to gain sensitive information. However, the new card will feature a small magnetic square that increases protection against fraud, by creating a unique transaction code each time the card is inserted for payment.

The system has already been implemented in a num-

ber of countries and should be implemented in the United States by the end of the year. Jamaica is now working to have the system introduced in tandem with the US.

Scotiabank Jamaica's vice-president of marketing, public and corporate affairs, Monique Todd, previously told the Jamaica media that plans are underway for the bank to switch over to the EMV cardprocessing system by the end of 2015.

She added that the new solution should allow for faster processing at checkout points in addition to enhanced security, as customers will no longer need to sign transaction receipts and verify their signature.

For the first few months, the EMV cards should be equipped to use both chip and magnetic-strip functions to avoid disruptions, and allow time for merchants to adjust. While the new system will not prevent data breaches from occurring, Lewis believes it will make it much harder for hackers to conduct fraudulent transactions. (Jamaica Observer)

‘Ganja is not for kids’ – Jamaican Minister urges as new ganja law takes effect

ST JAMES, JAMAICA — Minister of Justice

Senator Mark Golding has called on citizens to respect the police, particularly in relation to the recent amendments to the Dangerous Drugs Act, which have introduced several important changes in respect to ganja.

"As a Government, we are not encouraging anybody to smoke ganja, especially the youth at school. In fact, we are coming up with a public education programme to say to the youth, yes the law has changed and some of the harsh penalties have been removed, but this is not something for kids as kids should not be smoking and they should not be drinking alcohol," the minister emphasised.

Senator Golding said the public education programme is necessary as the situation must be dealt with responsibly.

Addressing a group of residents at a community sensitisation meeting last week for farmers and hoteliers on the new legislation on ganja, in Orange Hill, Western Westmoreland, the minister urged citizens not to "exalt" themselves and disrespect hardworking law enforcement officers.

"The police have had to deal with the law for a long time as it was, so there are certain types of behaviour and understanding that have developed over many, many years around ganja. It is not an easy thing to transition from one set of understanding to the new dimension...this will take time. What I would say to everybody is this, deal with the police with respect," he said.

The Bill to amend the Dangerous Drugs Act to decriminalise ganja for medicinal, religious, scientific and therapeutic purposes was passed by

the Jamaica Parliament earlier this year.

The law makes the possession of small quantities of ganja a non-arrestable offence, instead it makes it a ticketable infraction that does not result in a criminal record; it permits the use of ganja for religious, medical, scientific, and therapeutic purposes; and it provides for regulation through the granting of licences to permit the development of a lawful industry for medical ganja and industrial hemp.

Senator Golding also appealed to the police to "respect the law of the land, learn the law and serve and protect, work with the population and use your discretion wisely".

Noting that there is a move afoot to have an organised group of farmers in the parish -- Westmoreland Hemp and Ganja Farmers Association -- engaged in

a controlled cultivation of ganja, the minister encouraged farmers to approach this from a group level.

"I encourage you farmers to organise around the association. I think this is a good system because when you are deal-

ing with the Government agency, it's better than every little man doing it on his own," Senator Golding urged. (JIS)

This week's Crossword

TT’s Environment Minister warns of climate change

PORT OF SPAIN, TRINIDAD - As a country with a highly variable climate, Trinidad and Tobago (TT) is facing negative impacts in the current warming environment. This was the message delivered by Environment and Water Resources Minister Ganga Singh during a National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services, on Monday at the Radisson Hotel, Wrightson Road, Port of Spain.

This week's Puzzle

He said increasing coastal erosion, frequent floods, dry spells and drought, and periods of higher temperatures were associated with global warming. He said as a country with a highly variable climate, TT was facing negative impacts in the current warming environment.

Singh said according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) the 10 warmest years in their 134-year record have all occurred since 2000, with the exception of 1998. The year 2014 runs as the warmest on record, with March 2014 being the warmest month globally.

The minister said the consultation, which was held in collaboration with the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), and including agencies such as the TT Meteorological Society, was to mainstream effective policies to adapt to climate variability, and change and limit their negative impacts and influences to ensure a more resilient TT.

Singh said TT’s wet season, which was the main generator of the country’s water, has seen a reduction in rainfall while the duration of dry spells has increased.

He said an area of challenge was diseases linked to climate change such as

Chikungunya, dengue and leptospirosis. Singh noted that the increase or deficit of rainfall would have a direct impact on agriculture and livestock.

The minister said the authorities had prepared for the dry and wet seasons at the wrong times, and had to note the periods of the country’s climate changes. The opportunity which this Climate Change presents to the Meteorological Services is to move the Meteorological Services from their archaic scientific background into a realm in which they will now be able to communicate with all the stakeholders.

Singh said if he were directly in charge of the MET Services, he would locate his enterprise at the centre of Climate Change in the delivery of practical results to the various stakeholders.

Singh said it was important that with climate change taking place, it would get rid of the phobia of change in the country as people recognised that the impact taking place was beyond our territorial boundaries.

He said he was thankful that the areas being focussed on were civil protection, disaster prevention of floods, river flooding, drought, strong winds, thunder storms, hurricane and tropical cycles falling under the area of hazards. Singh said the second area of concern was dealing with diseases and epidemics sensitive to weather and climate change such as Chikungunya, dengue, asthma, fluid epidemics, leptospirosis and meningitis.

Other areas, he said, included agriculture and livestock in food security, dealing with water reserves, and energy and the energy sector. (TT Newsday)

‘Let mothers breastfeed at work’ – TT’s Health Minister

PORT OF SPAIN, TRINIDAD –

Trinidad’s Minister of Health Dr Fuad Khan is calling on unions to negotiate for an area in the workplace to help promote breastfeeding and to have mothers pump milk for their babies.

“This is a start to promote breastfeeding in the workplace. I think at this point in time I will call upon the unions of Trinidad and Tobago when they are doing their negotiations to make sure they just don’t negotiate for money, negotiate for the possibility of having an area in the workplace for women to breastfeed or pump their milk,” he said.

The minister was

speaking on Tuesday at the first National Breastfeeding Symposium, Hyatt Regency, Dock Road, Port of Spain. Khan said despite all the awareness of breastfeeding, only six to 13 percent of mothers breastfed their babies until six months.

“Breastfeeding rates are low in Trinidad... Our goal is that in the next ten years we get this rate up to 50 percent. Breastfeeding is one of the most important acts a mother can do for her baby,” Khan said.

He said the Ministry of Health has been pleading with mothers to achieve optimal breastfeeding practices because of its benefits to both mother and child.

He questioned the rea-

sons for the lack of breastfeeding.

“Is it a result of the lifestyles approach? Is it the lack of breastfeeding areas in the workplace for pumping milk? Is it the result of the system that does not promote breastfeeding? I hope that after today you join with us in providing breastfeeding friendly workplaces so mothers can comfortably and hygienically express and store their breastmilk,” he said.

“It is a complete food for the growing baby for the first six months of life. It contains lactose, not fructose or sucrose; and the correct proportions of proteins and fats which result in easy digestion and absorption, thereby allowing for

optimal growth of the brain and vital organs,” he said.

The minister noted a mother’s antibodies pass into breastmilk and help prevent many illnesses in the vulnerable newborn.

“Beside infectious diseases, breastmilk decreases

obesity as you go on in life,” he said.

He said in 2000 a German study found that breastfed children were almost two times less likely to be obese. “Breastfeeding in the first year of life is a crucial strategy in preventing childhood obesity and its complications. It is a serious public health concern. Recent data in Trinidad has shown that 25 percent of schoolchildren are either overweight or obese,” he said. He indicated the ministry is taking these issues into consideration for implementing breastfeeding in a total manner because there were still some gaps to address in ensuring that the health system provides additional breast-

feeding support required by mothers. The minister also announced a national committee termed, “Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Perinatal Mortality”, will aim to form part of Government’s agenda for clinical governance.

“This will help us to help ensure that all pregnant and recently delivered women receive the best possible care delivered in appropriate settings,” he said.

Khan indicated the committee will have the authority and responsibility for the investigation of all maternal and perinatal deaths in Trinidad and Tobago.

(TT Newsday)

Trini fathers welcomed in delivery room

PORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD: Fathers are very much welcomed in the delivery room of the Maternity Department, Port-of-Spain General Hospital (PosGH), says Nurse Bernadine Farrell but only if they have first completed at least seven Lamaze child birthing classes, free of charge, at the hospital.

Farrell, one of the head nurses on the Labour Ward, on Sunday encouraged all fathers to participate in the classes.

“We recommend fathers attend lamaze classes because it helps them prepare for what happens during delivery. They are more likely to stay calm and (better able) to help the mother during her labour pains.”

The head nurse was speaking with the media on Sunday during a visit to meet women who had given birth at PoSGH on Mother’s Day.

Classes are held every Wednesday at 1 pm at the Antenatal Clinic of the Maternity Ward. They are open to everyone, including fathers whose expectant wives/girlfriends are not scheduled to give birth at PoSGH.

While at least six women gave birth on the eve of Mother’s Day, only one actually did so on Sunday, Akeda Miguel of San Juan.

The 28-year-old woman gave birth to her first child, a boy, at 8.42 am on Sunday. Tyler Yee weighed five pounds, three ounces at birth and could be seen yawning adorably.

However Tyler’s mom was camera-shy and asked that no photos or videos be taken of her but Miguel did agree to an interview.

“I knew I was having a boy, so all I wanted was a safe delivery. He was due on June 7 so this was a surprise. I’m tired but having this process over is amazing.” Asked

Farrell, who has 29 years experience as a nurse, warned that fathers “can’t just expect to walk through that door to the birthing suite without some training” but said if they have completed the minimum training, “they are more than welcome to do so.”

if fathers should be allowed in the delivery room, Miguel smiled and said “I’d rather not. I think (Tyler’s) dad might have passed out.”

On the night of April 19, a nurse and a doctor at the Maternity Ward were pelted with an object by a pregnant patient. Nurses at the time said it was the fourth assault on a nurse in the space of 17 weeks. Questioned about her treatment by staff, Miguel on Sunday said “I had a really good experience. Everybody was really, really nice. The staff was helpful and my treatment was really, really good.”

Farrell meanwhile told reporters that most deliveries are incident-free but that “as things go, the bad one ended up in the news.”

“This month we had 80 births and one negative experience. The mother ran out of the birthing suite and had to be brought back in by the doctor. Everything was fine after that. Both mother and baby are fine,” Farrell recalled.(TT Newsday)

Employees say we have done it!

NEW GPC continues to excel in Guyana and the Caribbean, and stakes a claim to be the only pharmaceutical manufacturer and exporter in the region that is United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) compliant.

The company manufactures more than 200 products, including the world famous Limacol, at its East Bank Demerara plant. After privatisation in 1999, the company has added over eighty (80) new products to its range and has a further 25 new products in the pipeline which includes statins, proton-pump inhibitors, anti-fungals, anthelmintics and anti-parasitical formulations.

Export Leader, US FDA and Quality

The company is not

only the undisputed leader in the domestic market; it exports over 60 percent of its output to North America, Europe, The Caribbean, South and Latin America. Recently, the company has started to export to Haiti as well.

NEW GPC is pursuing a vigorous export-led strategy, which drives continuous improvement and adherence to the highest international standards for quality in a fast paced environment.

The company is "Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP)" compliant - the gold standard in a highly regulated industry and has undergone two recent US FDA Audit inspections and found compliant thereby clearing the way for continued exportation to the USA.

Pre-qualified Government Supplier

NEW GPC regained its old position as the largest supplier of pharmaceutical products to the government’s health sector. This came after years of hard work and significant investments in production and warehousing facilities.

NEW GPC has the most extensive and modern 100,000 square feet warehousing facility which is used for storage of government’s pharmaceuticals and which is granted free of charge to them. This facility is easily the best in the Caribbean, meeting international standards and comprising of three temperature-controlled zones.

The strength behind the legend

None of the achievements would have been possible without the company’s most valuable asset, its employees. The focus therefore shifts to Human Resource (HR) practices at NEW GPC and to the employees themselves.

As a pharmaceutical manufacturer it is twice as important to attract and recruit the most suitable candidates, and retain those with institutional knowledge, experience and skill. HR practices are therefore intertwined with training and continuous staff development. The cor-

JOY

AUSTIN

– MAINTENANCE SUPERINTENDENT

I have worked with the Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation, now NEW GPC INC, for over 30 years. I am proud to say that I have grown from strength to strength enjoying various benefits in terms of Medical Scheme, Pension, company loans, subsidized meals and allowances. NEW GPC INC. is a family oriented company. We manufacture products of a very high standard and I am a proud ambassador of this family.

MYRTLE SINGH NURSE AID/OSH OFFICER

I have been employed for over 25 years. During these years I have no regrets. The management has always taken care of my needs. During my years I can proudly say that I have gained knowledge from the many external and internal training courses that I have benefited from. I enjoy free transportation from home to work (return), subsidized meals and many more benefits. I am allowed to be a member of Union to represent my interest.

poration maintains one of the largest internship programs with UG for students of Chemistry and Pharmacy. Management also recognises that a highly motivated workforce is key to its success and as such places equal emphasis on staff welfare and remuneration. Employees typically receive annual bonuses, up to four weeks vacation leave (five in some instances) with pay, leave passage assistance (LPA) equivalent to one month’s salary, subsidized meals and meals allowances, employee discounts, uniforms and allowances, free transportation for East Coast, West Coast and Georgetown based

employees, full safety gear, pension, medical and various other fringe benefits such as cricket tickets, bursaries etc. The company has a high rate of job satisfaction, which is evident in arguably the lowest rate of staff turnover for large companies in Guyana.

The relations with the unions, GLU and CCWU are, not surprisingly, excellent. Through these and creating a collegial atmosphere, NEW GPC has been able to buck the trend of migration of qualified Guyanese and has retained and expanded core competencies to the benefit of all concerned including our country.

NEW GPC is part of a

larger group that employees more than 500 people and therefore directly contributes towards the upkeep and security of 500 families.

Equally important is that there exists in Guyana a Guyanese company with the people, experience and competencies to manufacture essential medicines. Not many can boast of having a pharmaceutical manufacturer/exporter in their own country. The NEW GPC is also the owner of the Guyana Amazon Warriors cricket franchise, which is part of the Limacol CPL Twenty/20 League that brings excitement and joy every year to local fans.

REVENDRA PERSAUD PHARMACIST

Being employed at NEW GPC INC. over the last two years has indeed been wonderful. Since I have been here, I have experienced nothing but professionalism from all the staff at all levels. I would like to express that this Company is one of a kind and takes good care of its employees. Working here is so far the best working environment of my life. I am also excited that NEW GPC INC. has bought the CPL Franchise “Guyana Amazon Warriors” to Guyana.

LEXTER DATSON SENIOR TECHNICIAN

I have been working with the Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation now NEW GPC INC. for the past 17 years. I have never had any problems with this company. Over these years. I have achieved my own home and transportation, thanks to Management and a very good salary I am receiving.

VIOLA SERTIMER CONFIDENTIAL SECRETARY

I am proud to say that my company has been a contributor to the economy for a number of years and is one of the oldest companies in my country. We have enjoyed a number of benefits such as internal and external training sessions, free transportation, subsidized lunches etc. We have a family relationship with each other and always feel like a second home.

In their own words My experiences at NEW GPc INc.

WENDY BAIRD MACHINE OPERATOR

I have been with this company for over 35 years and I am proud to be an ambassador for NEW GPC INC.

IRIS CUMBERBATCH QC INSPECTOR

I have been with NEW GPC since 1987. I have always enjoyed working with this company since we work as one family and we enjoy the time that we spend together. I also

ANNZETTE THOMAS MAINTENANCE SUPERVISOR

I have worked with the Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation since 1990 until it was privatised in 1999 and with the new management. Under their leadership, GPC has been transformed into a state of the art pharmaceutical plant. Management always ensures that their staff are happy we work in peace and understanding. My children can enjoy their own personal bank account as a result of the company's Bursary Award Scheme.

enjoy seeing the products that we manufacture on the shelves of our local supermarkets and pharmacies.

II am proud to say that I have given NEW GPC INC. 25 years of service. I can attest to the high moral standards, honesty and integrity in which the company has conducted its business. Having worked these many years, I have known management to be highly professional in all of their business decisions. NEW GPC is truly a leader in Guyana.

MAXINE BESS CONFIDENTIAL SECRETARY

I have been with the Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation now NEW GPC INC. for the past 27 years. During this time I have attained a wide scope of knowledge working under the supervision of various managers. I have enjoyed and continue to enjoy benefits such as health, transportation, salary increases and bonuses under the past and present ownership.

VAULDA ANTHONY GENERAL HELPER

I have been at NEW GPC for over 17 years. I am a workers representative for one of the unions, representing workers interests. I am proud to say that we enjoy decent salary and other fringe benefits. The Management of NEW GPC INC. is always approachable and willing to discuss anything regarding workers.

AUDREY PERSAUD BATCH LEADER

I have been working with Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation since 1987. I have no problem with this company. I was able to achieve land and I am now proudly building my home. I was also able to educate all my children with the salary I receive from this company.

SUKDEO PERSAUD PRODUCTION SUPERINTENDANT

I have worked with the Company NEW GPC INC. for 24 years. We have a wonderful bunch of staff of mixed race working and we are a very happy to work for NEW GPC INC. GPC INC. who transformed the company into a profitable organization and expanded on its range of products. There were improved working conditions in terms of salary and other conditions of employment for employees at all levels.

SAVITRIE HARIPRASAD LINE ATTENDANT

I have been working at NEW GPC INC. since 1990. I have enjoyed working with this company and have no regrets. Management has always been good to me.

VAULDA MURRAY MACHINE OPERATOR

I have been employed be Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation now NEW GPC INC. for over 36 years. I am proud to say that I was sick for over 8 months last year, (2014) just an example to show how we live as a family, I was not dismissed and I enjoyed all the benefits as usual, I am proud to be an ambassador of NEW GPC INC. A Guyanese owned company.

CHARLENE JORDAN BATCH LEADER

I have been employed with the Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation now NEW GPC INC. since 1987. I have no regrets working with this Company. I find the management of NEW GPC INC and their Board of Directors to be very employee friendly. Our interests are always taken care of. I am proud to be a NEW GPC INC. Ambassador.

FAY SCOTT-SMART PERSONNEL MANAGER

I am a proud ambassador of NEW GPC INC. the leading pharmaceutical manufacturing company in the Caribbean. NEW GPC INC. is a closely-knit family. Our employees are over most valuable resource and we treat them with pride and respect. We enjoy benefits, which many other companies desire to have. We can be considered the envy of others due to the fact that our staff turnover is very low. All my children are bursary awardees of NEW GPC INC, which they get yearly.

THORLA STEPHNEYTROTZ - SECRETARY

I am proud to have been with NEW GPC INC. since 1987. I have worked as a line attendant from the beginning and now I work as an administrative assistant. I have enjoyed and continue to enjoy benefits such as medical scheme, transportation from home to work (return), pension scheme, subsidized meals, salary increases and bonuses. I am covered by the union and have company loans granted whenever the need may arise.

VINCE GRIFFTH PRODUCTION SUPERINTENDANT

It has always been a pleasure working for NEW GPC INC. for the last 24 years. The company was not profitable in the days of Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation. However, since the privatization to NEW GPC INC. There were improved working conditions in terms of salary and other conditions of employment for employees at all levels. Management of NEW GPC INC. has consistently invested in its human resources through training from both local organizations and foreign consultants. We have also benefitted from annual salary increases and other emoluments such as bonuses; paid vacation allowance, free transportation etc.

Many of the traditions we uphold today were passed down from our ancestors. One such tra-

married to each other. A pandit (or priest) was then consulted as to an auspicious day for the celebration of the nup-

dition is the Hindu wedding. The religious aspects of the wedding are intriguing, and originated from those who came

tials. A few days before the wedding, the bride and groom each organize a haldi ceremony (sometimes called pithi cere-

“being shrouded in thick folds of muslin or variegated hues and patterns”, joined the groom and the ceremony commenced in the presence of the bride’s relatives, invited guests and the bridegroom’s baraat (a bridegroom's wedding procession made up of relatives and friends).

The ceremony sometimes lasts for hours. During this time, the bride and groom sit in a square marked out in the centre of the tent in front of the ceremonial fire. In front of them, sits the officiating pandit.

The pandit reads passages from the saved books, and offers a prayer that the deotas (deities) will witness the union and bless it with happiness and make it

as indentured servants from India. Although the Hindu wedding ceremony became elaborated as time went by, the basic structure has remained the same.

It was the parents of the parties concerned who first decided that their children should be

mony) at their respected homes where the lagan (date) is fixed.

On the day of the wedding, the bridegroom was taken in procession to the bride’s parents’ house and conducted to a tent specially erected for the wedding. In due time, the bride,

fruitful. The father of the bride gives her to the bridegroom with appropriate words, and the garments of the couple are knotted together; they then make a circuit of the bamboo a stated number of times, and returning in their seats, the bride-

groom touches the head of the bride with sindoor (a vermillion powder).

The application of the sindoor to the parting of the bride’s hair is the climax of the ceremony; it was also the first time, perhaps, that the bridegroom glimpsed his future wife’s face as he raised the purdah (veil) covering her face, to apply the sindoor

The ceremony outlined resembles the shaadi ceremony of a northern India caste of those times.

Another caste marriage ceremony was the dola. In the dola, the marriage ceremony took place at the bridegroom’s residence, to which the bride came on the day before the ceremony. Her coming was marked by an attitude of humility befitting a party importuning marriage on behalf

of a poor girl.

In British Guiana, because of the scarcity of suitable girls for marriage, there was little need for a father to importune on behalf of their daughters; conse-

In all of these ceremonies, women are featured prominently. The dola further lent its name to the bride and groom who were called dolahin and dolaha respectively.

In the ceremony that evolved on the plantation, the dola rites were regarded as preparatory to the marriage ceremony itself. What seemed to have happened on the

quently, the dola was hardly practised.

But practices associated with the dola survived. These included the ceremony of matikore or “dig dutty”, the ceremony of thappa lagana, in which the drum is featured, and the worship of Sharti Mata (Mother Earth.)

estate was that the dola and the shaadi were fused in the development of a ceremony that became widely used. By the 1890s, this fusion had already taken place. (From the text by the late Dale Bisnauth)

Traditional representations of narratives

The newly

installed

cultural history

Totem poles are monuments created by some indigenous cultures to tell the stories of their ancestry, history and people. These stories are often told using human, animal and spiritual symbols.

The Wakili Totem Pole, located at the National Park, tells the story of the close relationship between people and nature at the dawn of time, and the current need to conserve our natural resources if we are to survive and thrive.

The symbols used include endangered animals representing air, water and land. Symbols and legends from Guyana’s indigenous cultures are also used to speak about the balance between humans and the natural world, and our responsibility as environmental stewards.

The totem pole was sculpted by Oswald Hussein, a Lokono (Arawak) artist from St. Cuthbert's Mission (Pakuri in Arawak).

Hussein draws inspiration from his native Arawak cultural traditions often depicting scenes based on sto-

totem pole at the National Park seeks to tell a

and encourage appreciation of our urban green spaces

ries his mother told him when he was young, about “animals, humming birds or fish [...] and the sun and rain gods which mark events in our lives”.

The Wakili Totem Pole in the National Park was officially commissioned in April 2015. The totem pole tells of the delicate balance that exists between man and nature, which is expertly captured in the hand-chiselled characters, animals and spirit guardians depicted on the 20-foot tall purpleheart pole.

This totem pole is but the first installation in the "Art in the Park" initiative said Commissioner of the Protected Areas Commission (PAC), Damian Fernandes. He also explained that the initiative was essentially encouraging an artistic renaissance in the parks, and utilizing our urban green spaces (zoo, National Park, Joe Vieira Park and the Botanical Gardens) to serve as a blank canvas to the artistic community. Art in all its forms, whether theatre, paint-

ing, sculpture, poetry, photography, could be brought into the park for the enjoyment of all visitors.

The initiative is part of a larger effort to rehabilitate and modernize the zoo under the Three Parks Initiative, which was launched by the Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Robert Persaud. At the launch, Minister Persaud made several commitments, which have seen lights being installed along the full cycle track, walkways upgraded, playfields raised, internal drainage canals restored, security enhanced and other major infrastructural developments in the National Park, Botanical Gardens and Zoological Park.

Several organizations, including WWF-Guianas, have expressed interest in collaborating with the PAC and local artists to produce installations, both permanent and temporary, within the parks.

The Wakili Totem Pole was sponsored by the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T).

Several other local businesses such as Jetoo's Lumber Yard, Rambarrans, AH&L Kissoon, and Kingdom Apiaries, supported the project.

“With your help, we can all begin to live this story, and

work together to achieve this balance in our everyday lives. Spread the message of the Wakili Totem pole, support your Parks and Protected Areas,” encouraged GT&T in its pamphlet on the totem pole. (Information from GT&T and Ministry of Natural Resources & the Environment)

A forgotten Islamic history of science, medicine

We ought not to be ashamed of appreciating the truth and of obtaining it wherever it comes from, even if it comes from races distant and nations different from us.” Al-Kindi, ninth-century Muslim scholar who studied in Baghdad, Iraq (“1001 Inventions The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Civilization”, Third Ed)

In March 2006, a small exhibition called ‘1001 Inventions’ toured the UK, to later become a major worldwide travelling exhibition that continues today.

After the colonial era and its legacy of eurocentrism, its aim was to educate people on the valuable role and contributions of the Muslims to the world. This would become especially significant after the 9/11 attacks in the U.S.

The exhibition covers a thousand years of scientific and cultural achievements from Muslim civilisation from the 7th century on-

distillation process shown in an 18thcentury Arabic treatise on chemistry. the text refers to the various vessels and the alembic, describing how the condensation is conveyed

wards, and illustrates how those contributions helped create the foundations of our modern world.

The book that accompanies the exhibition is also called “1001 Inventions The Enduring Legacy of

Muslim Civilization”.

Now in its third edition, it is published by the National Geographic, with a foreword by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. Its chief editor, Professor Salim T.S. AlHassani, notes in the

introduction his hope that the book inspires both Muslims and nonMuslims.

For those unable to attend the event, the feature presented here is based on three of the book’s many detailed and informative chapters.

Chemistry

With the invention of materials such as plastic, gasoline and artificial rubber, as well as medicines like insulin and penicillin, some early Muslim scientists are described as chemistry revolutionaries.

The word “chemistry” in Arabic is kimia and, with the Arabic definitive article al, becomes alkimia (the chemistry). The West has since seen the word become “alchemy” in English.

For Islamic scientists of what was at the time the European medieval period, chemistry was not about the occult or folklore. From rose water to hair dye to soap to paint, early Muslim chemists brought many inventions and discoveries into the world.

Chemists like Jabir ibn Hayyan, (722-ca815 Iran) devised and perfected such processes as crystallization, fil-

tration, distillation, oxidation, evaporation, purification and liquefaction.

He also discovered acids such as hydrochloric and sulphuric acid. His successor, Muhammad ibn Zakariya (864-925 Iran), is credited with his exact classification of natural substances, dividing them into earthly, vegetable and animal substances, along with artificially obtained materials such as caustic soda and lead oxide.

He also designed and used lab equipment such as the crucible, cucurbit or retort for distillation, still in use today. Early Islamic chemists also began commercial chemistry when they started to distil the thick crude oil known as naft to produce kerosene. Distillation remains essential in today’s refineries.

A forgotten Islamic history...

Another Islamic chemist, Al-Kindi (801873 Iran) became famous for his perfume distillations when he wrote one of his books: “Book of Perfume and Distillations” in the ninth century.

Medical care

Three thousand years ago, medical care was free and its treatments highly sophisticated in the Islamic world. Facilities were custom-designed, and several surgical instru-

ments used at the time remain in use today.

Forceps are just one of the surgical instruments used by early Muslim surgeons that have endured to modern times. Cataract operations, regular vaccinations and bone setting are said to have been standard procedures in early Islamic hospitals.

Islamic hospitals began in eight-century Baghdad, but the first organized facility for treating the sick was

built in Cairo circa 872874. The Ahmad ibn Tulun Hospital provided free treatments and medicines.

The ninth-century Al-Qayrawan hospital in Qayrawan, Tunisia, was a state-of-the-art institute equipped with waiting rooms and regular attending physicians, along with a ward for lepers at a time when elsewhere leprosy was considered untreatable and a sign of evil.

From these ear-

ly institutions, hospitals would spread around the Muslim world to reach Spain, Sicily and North Africa. Europeans would later adapt similar systems.

Al-Zahrawi Tenth-century Spanish Muslim surgeon Abul Qasim Khalaf ibn al-Abbas al- Zahrawi, known as Abulcasis in Europe, wrote ” Al Tasrif” , a 30-volume medical encyclopaedia in which his treatise on surgery

would introduce more than 200 surgical tools that were so accurate they have changed little over the centuries, and laid the foundation for European surgery.

He also introduced catgut for internal stitching that is still used in surgeries today. His surgical tools like scalpels, scrapers and drills, forceps for crushing urinary bladder stones and infant delivery forceps, also remain in use.

“1001 Inventions…” contains a wide-ranging number of scientific, technological and social achievements of early Muslims in history. It is a must-read for any student wishing to know more of their history than what is written in current textbooks, and is a valuable trove of historical information for those interested in a past that is not centred on European achievements.

PAHO wants more trained nurses in the Caribbean

WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES

(CMC) –The Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) is calling for more nurses in the Caribbean and the Americas to be trained to provide skilled care.

PAHO said it is also urging that steps be taken to address what it described as inequities in nurse distribution and the problem of out-migration.

“Many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean currently face shortages of nursing personnel, presenting an obstacle to achieving the goal of universal health access and coverage for all people in the Americas,” PAHO said.

PAHO’s regional advisor on nursing and health technicians, Silvia Cassiani, said nurses are “an important human resource for health”.

She said that nursing personnel make up 60 per cent of the health workforce and cover 80 per cent of health care needs.

“We have to do much more to train more professionals, to make sure they are distributed eq-

uitably according to the needs of the population, and to retain them in their workplaces,” she urged.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), about 23 doctors, nurses and midwives are needed for every 10,000 inhabitants to provide essential health services.

In the Americas, WHO said about 70 per cent of countries have the number of personnel they need, or even more, “but they face challenges in their distribution and training”.

It said out-migration has a “major impact on nursing human

resources”, and that the number of nurses from the English-speaking Caribbean who are working abroad is estimated to be three times the number of those working in the countries where they were trained.

PAHO lamented that about 42 per cent of nursing positions in the English-speaking Caribbean are vacant due to out-migration.

“Establishing mechanisms to improve workforce retention and working conditions in public health services are among the measures that can reduce out-migration of health workers.” (CMC)

1,408 TT families may get ‘$100 homes’

PORT OF SPAIN, TRINIDAD

- There are some 1,408 families who have rented a Housing Development Corporation (HDC) unit for over 30 years and so are eligible to now buy their home for TT$100, in a scheme announced by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar at a United National Congress (UNC) rally at Diego Martin North Government Secondary School on Monday night.

HDC corporate communications officer Maurisa Findlay disclosing the number of families to TT Newsday on Tuesday, said the

residents are located in 402 buildings in some 51 HDC communities across Trinidad which are at least 30 years old.

These communities are located in areas such as Independence Square (Port of Spain), Laventille, Morvant, Malick, (all in north Trinidad); Pleasantville, Dos Santos Street, Lady Hailes, Roy Joseph Street, and Lisas Gardens, (all in central Trinidad); and Maloney (in east Trinidad).

The HDC has no building that is over 30 years old in Tobago, she noted.

Findlay said, “It is helping people to be-

come homeowners, as the Minister (Housing Minister, Dr Roodal Moonilal) says, moving people from ‘renters’ to ‘homeowners’. It does target those in our low-income community, who are paying a rent of TT$100 per month. It should benefit those in low-income brackets.”

Asked if delinquentrenters could buy their homes, she promised more details in the future. Likewise, on the question of whether the HDC or private owners in a mixed community must pay the upkeep costs, she said that has to be worked out. (TT Newsday)

Beyond history or historical amnesia?

By Swami akSharananda

Alot has been already said by politicians on both sides in this current campaign to cause consternation, but the one thing that surpasses them all is the call made by one of the leaders of the AFC, Mr Khemraj Ramjattan, “to move beyond the history of the PNC,” (SN 4/3/2015). This is like granting unconditional amnesty on the one hand, and an invitation to historical amnesia on the other. After all, amnesty is amnesia. The two are related.

The PNC has had a long and chequered history in Guyana since its inception almost sixty years ago, including those tumultuous years in government of party paramountcy, when there was no difference between party, state and government. Since Mr Ramjattan himself knows only too well this history, it would have been helpful to us if he had stated which specific events and which period in the history of the PNC he has in mind.

We agree that invoking history for the purposes of the present political discourse can be fraught

with danger. Olivier Nyirubugara, the author of “Complexities and Dangers of Remembering and Forgetting in Rwanda” speaks of the ways in which “ethnic identities and related memories constitute a deadly trap that needs to be torn apart if mass violence is to be eradicated in that country.” He shows how “memories” follow ethnic lines and lead to a state of “cultural hypocrisy” and permanent conflict.

We see how politicians and demagogues, scholars and intellectuals around the world always want us to remember the “lessons of history” to justify policy, influence opinion and win votes.

Americans are reminded of Pearl Harbour as an annual ritual, and China uses every dispute with its neighbours to remind its population of Japanese atrocities. Here in Guyana, our intellectuals talk of the “second enslavement” of blacks, presumably by Indians, and a while ago when Indian students topped the CXC both at CAPE and CSEC we heard about “apartheid in education.” Since 1992, we never cease to hear about the “twenty

eight years.”

Having accepted the view that history is often manipulated for propaganda purposes, I am unaware of the call anywhere in the world to forget history without any accountability. To underscore the importance of history, the inimitable George Orwell is reputed to have said: “Whoever controls the past controls the future. Whoever controls the present controls the past.” History

purpose and humanity a destiny.

We can’t simply wish away the Holocaust of Jews, the horrors of the Atlantic Slave Trade, the Soviet programme under Stalin, the Kurdish genocide, the killing fields of Cambodia, the Rwanda genocide, the American destruction of Vietnam, the European decimation of the indigenous populations of the Americas and the Caribbean, and particularly the genocide

is wound up in the very theologies of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. And as far as the Jews are concerned, we know no people has insisted more that history has a

rations for slavery which, hopefully, will become a reality one day. We observe Emancipation Day and Arrival Month. We remember the Berbice Slave Rebellion and have set up one of the most imposing monuments, at the Square of the Revolution, in its memory, and we teach our children about the Demerara Martyr, John Smith. We remember the Enmore Martyrs. We never forget the Haitian Revolution that shook empires all around the world.

of the Native American Indians.

We have a duty to remember history. Pope Francis has recently reminded the world of the Armenian genocide much to the annoyance of current Turkish leaders, as the world is marking its 100th anniversary.

It has been reported that the Chinese President Xi Jinping is calling on Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to take responsibility of Japanese atrocities both before and during the Second World War, and Abe is expected to make a major statement to mark the 70th anniversary marking the end of the war. Nazi war criminals and the perpetrators of the Bosnian genocide are hunted down and brought to justice.

Those of us who follow events in the United States will know that no American politician, including Obama, speaks without invoking, “our founding fathers,” many of whom were slave owners. Only recently, days after Mr Ramjattan’s bizarre call, President Obama, paying homage to John Lewis and other heroes of the Civil Rights movement, stood on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma to mark the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the event that was the turning point in the Civil Rights movement.

In Guyana, we have our own version of Black History Month and Guyanese are involved in the struggle for repa-

Mere remembering, however, without healing and closure will only ensure permanent suspicion and conflict. Nelson Mandela has shown how we can remember and heal at the same time. Under the guidance of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, South Africans have been engaged in one of the most momentous experiments in world history aiming at truth and reconciliation. The lesson for us in Guyana is that either we seek reconciliation or live in perpetual fear of one another.

Let us bear in mind that reconciliation is not what Mr Ramjattan is advocating. He is not calling for us to guard against the “malady of history” in the Nietzschean sense, where it can be manipulated for cheap political gains, nor is he pointing out to us the pitfalls of “historicism” as described by Karl Popper. He is simply urging an arbitrary blanket, ugly onesided cover-up of a sordid phase of our history. But exactly, which particular events of PNC history he wants us to forget?

Does he have in mind for example the accommodation the PNC had with Britain and the United States to remove the PPP from office? Does he have in mind the massacre of Indians in Wismar, or the rigged elections from 1968 to 1985, with thousands of dead people voting? Does he have in mind the terror unleashed on this nation by the thugs of the House of Israel, or when being “caught” with a loaf of bread was a criminal offence?

Or the terror when a prominent trade unionist was taken aboard a GDF plane and threatened to be thrown overboard or the in famous Knowledge Sharing Institutes when women had to barter their bodies for food for their children? Or, does he have in mind the many political murders culminating with the murder of Walter Rodney?

There are other ques-

tions that surround Mr. Ramjattan’s call. Who, for example, is his target audience? He obviously could not be asking the PNC and the authors and perpetrators of that history to move beyond their own history. After all, the PNC stands adamantly defiant regarding its history. Time and again, the current leader of the PNC, who himself boasts of the credentials of a historian, has said in no uncertain terms that there is nothing to apologize for. On the contrary, there is talk of building a memorial for the victims of the ill-fated Sun Chapman. What is there to move beyond when there is nothing to apologize for? So it is reasonable to conclude that he is asking the Indians of this country, who to a large extent perceive themselves as the victims of that history, to forget it. I believe that Mr Ramjattan lost a golden opportunity. If he wanted Indians to forget PNC atrocities, the least he could have done was to call for PNC accountability. After all there is the precedent of Mr. Raphael Trotman who urged the PNC to apologize for its excesses. Had he shown the same courage and fortitude, then the Indians of this country could begin to take him seriously. Otherwise, political ambitions apart, we would simply be piling injustice upon injustice.

It is interesting to note that the coalition campaign fancies success because of the large number of young voters who have no knowledge of the PNC era. Would it not be better for young voters to be educated about our history? To gleefully exploit and prey upon young people’s alleged ignorance is one thing. To conspire to enable ignorance is quite another. This is what Mr Ramjattan’s invitation to historical amnesia will ensure.

In conclusion, I am not sure whether Mr Ramjattan’s call reflected a genuine desire for reconciliation, in which case, one-sided as it is, it could have warranted some serious consideration. It is obvious that he sees the history of the PNC as a major impediment to his political aspirations. But, in directly calling on Indians to move beyond this history of the PNC, he is asking Indians to negate and deny their own experiences. He could go down in history as yet another Indian politician sacrificing Indians on the altar of political expediency and his personal ambition.

Homeward bound

By Isahak BasIr, CCh

With the emancipation of slaves in 1838, indentured workers were brought, many with promises of better life, to the West Indies from India. After a lengthy and arduous ocean voyage, months in ships across what many of them called the Kala Pani, a large number of these jahaji (a Hindi word roughly equating to “ship brother”), were distributed along the coastal breadth of Guyana to work on sugar plantations.

A dream held by the

majority of the East Indian immigrants was the eventual return to Mother India. Their contracts to work on the plantations provided, at least on paper, the means to an end with a clause that stipulated deductions made from their wages were to be contributed into a fund to facilitate at least part of the return voyage home.

After the mandatory five years of labour in the fields however, the return process dragged out to months, sometimes years, waiting simply to be cleared for repatriation. Many

Indians vowed that they would return, across the Kala Pani, to India - by any means necessary. In the end, three-quarters of them were forced to remain. Some took their vows more seriously though.

Five immigrants from Hampton Court on the Essequibo coast, their contracts over and growing homesick, decided to make the voyage, starting on foot. All men, between the ages of 40 and 45 years, they made good preparation for the voyage back: sacks were filled with roti, datwan, satwa, ghee, matches, tobacco,

Budget set for June 15

BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOSJune 15 is Budget Day in Barbados.

On that day, Barbadians will hear Government’s strategy to take the country forward as Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Chris Sinckler presents the annual Budgetary Proposals and Financial Statements 2015-2016.

Leader of the Government Business in the Lower House, Minister of Health John Boyce made the announcement as Parliament ended its sitting Tuesday after-

noon.

The highly anticipated budget will outline measures as to how Government intends to address some of the pressing issues relating to the island’s economy.

Barbados will be eager to hear how Government plans to increase growth, as in 2014 the economy grew by 0.2 per cent and just under one per cent in the first three months of this year, on account of stronger performance by the tourism industry.

However, analysts are calling for the growth of other sectors.

The result of the

in Barbados

19-month stabilisation programme - which started in August 2013 and ended in March 2015 - would also be looked at, as while a reduced fiscal deficit is one of the successes of this programme, Government has deemed it necessary to extend some of its measures for another year.

At the end of March, the deficit was 7.2 per cent.

In addition, Barbadians will want to know how Government will address the International Monetary Fund’s recommendations on the statutory corporations, which it has termed as a drain on the Government’s purse.

In an interview with the Barbados media, Minister Sinckler had admitted that he would be dealing with several of these matters.

Barbadians will also be looking to see whether concessions would be given to businesses or if there would be any form of tax relief.

Opposition Leader, Mia Mottley, is expected to make her reply.

The presentation by the minister will start at 4 o’clock in the evening. (JMB)

an extra dhoti, phagri, a lotha, and one brass cooking pan.

Early one morning at 4:30 am, they took their five guthrie on their heads, and proceeded in a north-westerly direction from Hampton Court. This took them across the existing canals and into a five-mile stretch of wet savannah.

After three weeks of either tracking left or right or going in circles; travelling through dense swamps or thick overheads, two of the five were discovered in an area alongside the bank of the Pomeroon river, known as "MuckoMucko" Point, about 12

miles from Charity. The other three had died from either overexposure or fatigue. A group of Amerindians traveling in a canoe had heard a strange, weak voice and had decided to inspect the thick flora of the embankment. They found two virtually naked men speechless and too weak to even stand on their own. Their skins had become pale and decorated with blisters and insect bites. Unable to communicate with the Hindi-speaking survivors of the failed voyage, the Amerindians pulled them into the canoe and, after ten days,

managed to get them to Anna Regina through the Tapakuma River, the only gate to the Essequibo coast. The Indian Immigrant officer (known to some indentured labourers as "Cross de Babu") at Suddie took control of the survivors, from whom he learnt about their doomed trek. With many of the indentured labourers deciding to settle in Guyana, much of the Indian immigration fund was, for a long time, left unused. It was eventually “donated” towards the construction of the National Cultural Centre in Georgetown.

Since welcoming daughter Wyatt, now 7 months old, in October 2014, Hollywood couple Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis are enjoying the nesting phase as first-time parents.

Kunis, 31, said she has become more civic-minded since Wyatt's birth, reported Us magazine.

"I'm proud to be a stay-at-home mom. I want an eco-friendly car, I want to compost everything, because I want the world to be better for her," Kunis said.

The "Friends With Benefits" star said the pair is too busy to plan a wedding, they have found time to get in-

volved behind the scenes of their gated 90210 community. (TOI)

George Clooney won't play prank on wife

Actor George Clooney is too scared of the consequences to play a prank on his wife Amal Alamuddin.

ble. She can do anything to me. I could be behind bars."

While there are no pranks in his marriage, Clooney insists he has a lot of "fun" with his wife.

"It's been pretty great. I'm very lucky, and I'm very happy and we have a really fun time.

Hemsworth worked at pharmacy to pay bills

"T

hor" fame actor Chris Hemsworth says he had to "clean breast pumps" to pay the bills before he became famous.

"I worked for a pharmacy that would rent out milk extractors, you know breast pumps, for pregnant women. I swear to god I had a toothbrush and a spray, and I would scrub dried milk off the machines," Hemsworth told website Collider, reports aceshowbiz.com.

The 31-year-old is currently filming "The Huntsman", which is set to release in 2016. (TOI)

Third 'Sex And The City' movie in pipeline

Actress Sarah Jessica Parker has sparked rumours there are plans for the third instalment of "Sex And The City".

paper bag from department store Bloomingdales - which is known for being one of her character Carrie Bradshaw's favourite shops.

Alongside that, she wrote: "Well. I guess the cat's out of the (little brown) bag. As usual, we will keep you posted on every detail as we are able. I'm under strict gag order until then. Xx, Sj."

The mysterious post follows months of speculation that Parker and her costars Kristin Davis, Kim Cattrall and Cynthia Nixon, were set to return for a third instalment.

Back in October 2014, both Parker and Davis hinted they could be reprising their roles when they exchanged a series of tweets seeming to be in reference to the movie.

Davis wrote to Sarah: "Miss YOU XOXOXO!!"

The 54-year-old is known for his love of practical jokes, but he'll not play anyone of them on the 37-year-old lawyer, reports femalefirst. co.uk.

Asked if he plays jokes on Alamuddin, Clooney told Entertainment Tonight: "Listen, she's a lawyer. I can get in trou-

"I'm very proud of the things that she does in the world and who she is, and she has a wonderful family and friends. It's been a really exciting, fun time," he said.

The couple got married in September last year in Venice. (TOI)

Jake Gyllenhaal, Ruth

Wilson spotted kissing

Hollywood star Jake Gyllenhaal has fuelled Ruth Wilson romance reports after they were caught kissing over the weekend.

The "Nightcrawler" star made his Broadway debut playing opposite Wilson in "Constellations" and it appears the pair's onstage chemistry has spilled over into the actors' real lives, reported E!Online.

Gyllenhaal, 34, was first romantically linked to his British colleague in December and now it appears they have gone public with the relationship after sharing a "passionate" kiss after attending a fitness class together at Barry's Bootcamp gym in Manhattan last week.

Samuel L. Jackson has admitted that he was addicted to work and loved creating film characters as it kept him going.

The actor previously dated Taylor Swift, Reese Witherspoon and Sports Illustrated models Alyssa Miller and Emily DiDonato. (TOI)

Samuel L. Jackson admits work 'fuels him up'

The 66-year-old actor said "Painters get up and paint. Writers get up and write. I get up and create characters. I like creating. It fuels me. And it's doing something that keeps me from being me all day."

According to

Multivision Multimedia, the iconic actor whose work includes cult movies like 'Pulp Fiction,' 'Die Hard' and 'Avengers', will be playing the role of the President of the United States in the upcoming movie ' Big Game '. (TOI)

She posted a cryptic message on social media on photo-sharing website Instagram along with a photograph, which hinted at a third film, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

The image posted by the 50-yearold actress, features her carrying a

Stage and screen actress Elizabeth Wilson has died. She was 94.

Wilson passed away on Saturday at her New Haven, Connecticut home, The Hollywood Reporter said.

She was best known for her collaborations with acclaimed filmmaker Mike Nichols, most notably in 1967's "The Graduate", in which she played Dustin Hoffman's on-screen mother.

Nichols also directed Wilson in his films "Catch-22", "The Day of the Dolphin" and

Parker then replied: "Me too you? Head the news? X"

Davis added: "You let me know when we can celebrate." (TOI)

"Regarding Henry".

Wilson's other notable supporting role was as Roz, the nemesis of Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton and Lily Tomlin in "9 to 5".

Throughout her nearly seven-decade career, Wilson also appeared in films such as "The Birds", "Quiz Show" and "The Addams Family", and her TV credits include "East Side/West Side", "Doc", "Dark Shadows", "All in the Family", and "Murder, She Wrote'.

Wilson was also a famed stage star, making her Broadway debut in "Picnic' in 1953,

and she went on to perform in such productions as "Threepenny Opera", "The Importance of Being Earnest", "You Can't Take It with You" and "A Delicate Balance". In 1972, Wilson was given the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for her role in anti-war drama "Sticks and Bones", and she was elected to the Theatre Hall of Fame in 2007. Wilson also earned nominations for BAFTA Film Awards, the Emmy Awards and the Drama Desk Awards. (TOI)

Eva Longoria admits to being on 'good terms' with ex hubby Tony Parker

Eva Longoria recently admitted that she is on good terms with her former husband Tony Parker. The former couple have confirmed to be friends again, and the 40-yearold beauty, who ended her 3-year mar-

riage with San Antonio Spurs player in 2011, was even spotted cheering for him and his basketball team on April 22, Contactmusic reported.

The ' Desperate Housewives ' star is now in a serious relationship with Mexican media tycoon Jose Antonio Baston, and the 32-year-old basket ball player too has moved on and married a French journalist named Axelle Francine.

Though the actress had an adverse effect of the split on her health initially, earlier this year, she admitted that she was in a 'happier place' with her new beau. (TOI)

Kangana Ranaut: It’s hard to have a genuine relationship

The team of 'Tanu Weds Manu Returns' is buoyed by the response to the trailer and music. Four years since the first instalment, 'Tanu Weds Manu', director Aanand L Rai is again collaborating with R Madhavan, Kangana Ranaut and Jimmy Sheirgill. Only this time, Kangana plays a double role, her new character being the Haryanvi athlete Datto.

Given that their first film ends with Tanu wedding Manu, Aanand says

about the sequel, "Generally, we take things into the cribbing zone after marriage, I wanted to change that. I think it's the imperfections that make a relationship." Adding to that, Madhavan calls the sequel a "nice family inspirational film for the middle-class."

Maintaining that Manu has changed as anyone else in four years, the actor elaborates, "Aanand has made this larger than life — in a sense that women want a husband like Manu, guys want a woman like Tanu. You'll even find a character like your aunt in the film."

For Kangana, the toughest part was playing the protagonist and antagonist at the same time. She says, "While Tanu is trying to be feisty and fearless all over again, Datto is a young girl falling for a man who has just gotten divorced. Justifying two characters, playing against each other was the biggest challenge."

Further, pointing out that the movie has a contemporary take on marriages, she says, "It's hard to have a genuine relationship. You hold on, want to make it work... that's what makes this film interesting. (TOI)

Sonakshi Sinha opens up about her family project, admits that ‘Action Jackson’ didn't turn out the way she expected, asserts she can't see anyone else playing Rajjo in ‘Dabangg’.

Your glam prop role in your last film, ‘Action Jackson’, disappointed. Will AK Murugadoss's ‘Akira’ be any different?

My role eventually turned out to be something entirely different. But when I commit to something, I believe in doing it with conviction. ‘Action Jackson’

and ‘Akira’ are different films, made by different people with different characters. ‘Akira’ is a character people will relate to.

Your director turned the character around, from a guy to a girl. How much has ‘Akira’ changed from the Tamil original Mounaguru?

‘Akira’ is different from the original now that it has a female protagonist and has been adapted to the sensibilities of a Hindi film audience. Murugadoss sir's gift came with a strong sense of responsibility. When briefing me, he pointed out that we'd both been part of films which featured male superstars. This film is riding on us.

Konkona Sen Sharma plays a cop in the film... apprehensive about getting overshadowed?

Konkana is a fantastic actress. I'm looking forward to the shoot. Actors feed off each others’ energy, being in the same frame with her will only enhance my performance. (TOI)

'Helen' will transform Poonam Pandey's career: Director

Controversial model-actress

Poonam Pandey's career is poised for a transformation after "Helen", says the film's director Ajit Rajpal.

Rajpal told IANS: "When a title like 'Helen' gets attached with Poonam, it automatically creates curiosity and entertainment. I'm confident that Poonam's career will be completely transformed after 'Helen'.

"The way she is working right now, I have no doubts that a few years down the line, she will be someone who everybody will be looking forward to working with."

Rajpal earlier wrote "Nasha" -which also starred Poonam -- but he never got to direct it. But for "Helen", he made sure to take on the writer and director's roles himself.

Asked what prompted him to cast Poonam in "Helen", he said: "I have been tracking her progress in the entertainment world and I can say that she has not been fully explored yet. Her talent hasn't been tapped."

"Helen", produced by Vipin Medhekar and Suresh Nakum under the banner The World Networks, is scheduled to go on the floors in June.

Poonam had earlier clarified that even while the film's title may suggest otherwise, "Helen" is not a biopic on yesteryear's dancing diva Helen. (TOI)

After getting bail in the 2002 hitand run case, Salman Khan wasted no time in joining the cast of Kabir Khan's Bajrangi Bhaijaan in Srinagar. To avoid the media waiting outside Srinagar airport, the actor's security team whisked him out through the cargo gate.

He was driven straight to his hotel, located on the banks of the Dal Lake, and soon after left for Sonmarg where the film's final schedule is currently underway. Said a source close to the project, "Kabir and his unit were prepared for a week's absence after the May 6 hearing. Instead of holding up the shoot, the unit chalked out a plan to can scenes which did not require the actor."

They filmed with the film's supporting cast, including Nawazuddin Siddiqui."Since the film is scheduled for an Eid release, there is very little time

left. They couldn't afford to halt the schedule," added the source. "Salman has about a week's shooting left which will be completed in Sonmarg. There are a few dialogues and an action sequence after which it will be a wrap for Bajrangi Bhaijaan." (TOI)

Kareena consults legal team over weight loss article

Ksome weight loss pills to shed the extra pounds. This news went viral on the internet. A website posted that Bebo had used a miracle pill to lose 13 kilos. But the news has not gone down well with the actress who is planning to take legal action.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, a source close to the actor was quoted saying that Kareena found out about the article a week back and is consulting her legal team to take the appropriate action. Not only that, she also plans to send legal notices to the medical company that produces the product and the website that published the news. Further to reports, Bebo is planning to sue the medical company for Rs 20 crore. (TOI)

Her mother may be happy to see her face peeping out of newspaper pages but Anushka Sharma feels actors should retain a certain amount of mystery and enigma for their audiences.

The 27-year-old actress, who has cemented her position as a bankable star with the success of "PK" and "NH10", has been in the headlines recently be it her movie projects or her relationship with cricketer Virat Kohli.

"Actors are overexposed today. Everytime I open the newspaper, I see my face, I see myself on hoardings. It is overbearing to see myself so much. My mother is happy though."

“Till date, she gets excited to see my face in the newspaper," Anushka said in an interview.

"But, I feel a certain amount of mystery should remain with actors, there should be some enigma. You should go and experience them onscreen."

The audience will get to experience Anushka's performance in two backto-back movies --Anurag Kashyap's "Bombay Velvet" and Zoya Akhtar's "Dil Dhadakne Do" -- releasing this Friday and on June 5.

"Bombay Velvet", where she is paired opposite Ranbir Kapoor for the first time, will see Anushka in an "internalised" role, quite opposite to her chirpy image. (TOI)

Arjun Kapoor turns three in film world

Arjun Kapoor completed three years in the world of showbiz on Monday and the actor says the journey has been surreal for him.

"So happy birthday to me 11th may 3 years back I was born on celluloid...6 films & 3 years later still feels surreal," Arjun tweeted on Monday.

The son of producer Boney Kapoor ventured into Bollywood with 2012 film Ishaqzaade in a rough and rebellious look. Arjun also thanked his fans for supporting him.

"Thank u to all of u for all the love and unconditional support I am nothing without all of u... #3YearsOfArjunKapoor. Thank u for

showering all the love & making me feel special about being in the industry for 3 yrs," [sic] he wrote.

The actor went on to try different genres of films by doing a double role in Aurangzeb, essaying role of the hotheaded Bala in ‘Gunday’ with ease, and also brought forward his nerdy side in ‘2 States’. (TOI)

Guyana’s National U-23 team begin Olympic Qualifiers preparation

… coach Jamaal Shabazz not satisfied with level of fitness

GEngland shun Pietersen due to breakdown in trust

LONDON – Kevin Pietersen is not in England’s plans this summer due to a complete breakdown in trust but has not been banned from playing international cricket in the future.

England director Andrew Strauss outlined his plans in his new role yesterday and the controversial Pietersen was, unsurprisingly, the main top-

he does not feature in England’s plans.

“It did not change my thinking at all as we have always known what a fantastic cricketer Kevin is,” Strauss said. “He was not happy with the decision and I did not expect him to be.

“It’s not about his ability as a player. It’s about trust. You can’t build that over a few days.

uyana are grouped with home side Aruba, Cuba and Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) leg of the 2016 Olympic Qualifiers. The ‘Jags’ will play their first game against Antigua on June 24, followed by Aruba on June 26 and will wrap up the competition against Cuba on June 28.

The winners of each group advance to the final round where the four teams play a single-elimination tournament between August 14 and 16, 2015. (Host to be determined), where the top two teams qualify for the 2015

CONCACAF Men’s Olympic Qualifying Championship, joining Mexico, USA and Canada.

Head coach Jamaal Shabazz recently held the first practice session following a weekend encampment then a break to allow the players to be part of the just-concluded regional and general

elections in Guyana.

According to Shabazz, just like when the senior national team began their quest for their first International Friendly against Barbados this year, “80% of the squad is totally unfit”.

Shabazz noted that the blame squarely should sit on the shoulders of the various Federations that are all inactive, noting “to me it seems the associations are more concerned about the constitution and who are in charge and are not concerned about having football played”.

“When I look at the players, tremendous, but we need to have football played at all the sub-associations because the National team is not the place where you bring players to be fit,” Shabazz said.

Speaking to the media during the team’s practice session, Shabazz added that “you have 8-10 days to prepare a team for an international tournament and out of it, you now have to put a lot of emphasis on getting players fit and that means some people have not done their job”.

Meanwhile, Shabazz said that at present, the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) is finalising friendly matches for the team ahead of qualifiers.

“We’ll be playing the senior team of course then we have a game or two against Slingerz because they are one of the teams who are actually match-fit right now. But we’re finalising a game against a Brazilian club soon,” said Shabazz.

Kevin Pietersen

ic of interest.

“Now is the time for us to be really open about the Kevin Pietersen situation — people have been running away from it for years,” Strauss told reporters in the Lord’s pavilion.

“The truth about Kevin is that he is a phenomenal cricketer. But over months and years trust has eroded between Kevin Pietersen and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

“There is a massive trust issue between me and Kevin.”

Pietersen was sacked by England last year following a number of incidents that culminated in the 5-0 Ashes defeat in Australia during which he was accused of being disengaged from the team.

Strauss’ first task as director was to sack Peter Moores as coach and two days later Pietersen gave a timely reminder of his batting talent with an innings of 355 not out for Surrey in the county championship, the highest score of his career.

But Strauss said that had done nothing to alter the situation and he met Pietersen on Monday evening to tell him face to face

NO GUARANTEES

“I can’t give him any guarantees about the future but he is not banned from the side because no-one knows what is going to happen in the future.” South African-born Pietersen, 34, has made 8,181 test runs, including 23 centuries, and is England’s highest run-scorer in all forms of international cricket.

He was a team mate of Strauss’ for many years and played under his captaincy but he was dropped for a test against South Africa in 2012 after sending provocative texts about the skipper to opposition players.

Strauss was forced to issue an apology in July 2014 after being caught on microphone making offensive remarks about Pietersen during a television commentary stint.

“The trust isn’t there at the moment. I wish it wasn’t the case but it is the case,” Strauss said.

“If there’s a way to build trust let’s look at it … this isn’t about Kevin Pietersen, it is about the future of English cricket.

“I know from my time playing cricket for England that trust is absolutely imperative in any team environment.” (Reuters)

CPL final and semi-final tickets go on sale

GEORGETOWN, GUYANA : The Biggest Party in Sport is just six weeks away, and tickets for the final and semi finals of the Limacol Caribbean Premier League go on sale today at www. cplt20.com!

The Queen’s Park Oval will be packed to the rafters for the climax of what promises to be the most exciting CPL season yet, and fans wanting to guarantee their place at these matches should get online without delay.

Prices start at US$12.50 for the semi finals, and US$15 for the final. Special discount packages for all three games will also be available for the first 48 hours on the CPL website, where fans can also buy tickets to all group stage matches, and find out about further flash sales and great value deals.

The CPL today also announced the Box Office opening dates for all six stadiums. Barbados, St Lucia and

St Kitts & Nevis will open on May 27th, with Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago to follow on June 15th, and Jamaica

on June 18th. Damien O’Donohoe, CEO of the Limacol Caribbean Premier League, said: “CPL

is always the hottest ticket in town. We know that all three games will be a sell out at the Queen’s Park Oval, so I urge fans to book early to avoid disappointment.

“We can’t wait to see who will be battling it out in the finals in front of what is bound to be a fantastic crowd at one of the Caribbean’s most iconic venues.”

Global superstars including Kevin Pietersen, Jacques Kallis and Shahid Afridi will join the Caribbean’s finest cricketers, like Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine and exciting up-andcoming local talent.

Last year’s tournament attracted a global audience in excess of 65 million and this year is set to be even higher as fans across the world continue to be drawn to the high quality action on the pitch and the unique party atmosphere off it. (CPL.com)

Time to cash in on potential of Jamaica International Invitational meet ...

there are important lessons to learn from The Bahamas

KINGSTON,

JAMAICA: The 'Bahamazing ' of the recent held IAAF World Relays at the Thomas A Robinson Stadium by that nation shows how innovation can translate a sporting event into megabucks.

In 2014, the first IAAF World Relays was held in the Bahamas. Many then questioned whether the inaugural World Relays would have survived since there are the Penn Relays, Diamond Leagues, World Challenges and a myriad of other games that compete for participation from elite athletes worldwide.

Anne Barrett, the senior director of logistics for the IAAF World Relays Bahamas 2015, mapped a plan of action that would ensure that the relays become a premium sport tourism feature and earn maximum profit and exposure for that island.

The Bahamas for the 2015 version of the relays implemented a logistics hub that included airlifting into the island, immigration control for sport fans to the relays, a transport hub to the hotels/stadium from the airport, shopping and storage of equipment.

The Bahamas for the 2015 version of the relays implemented a logistics hub that included airlifting into the island, immigration control for sport fans to the relays, a transport hub to the hotels/stadium from the airport, shopping and storage of equipment.

Months before the re-

lays, an online logistics hub was created for accreditation, ticket purchase, hotel accommodation and sightseeing. The Bahamas, because of its performance in hosting the relays successfully in the first two years of this competition, will again be host in 2017.

Congratulations to The Bahamas for a job well done.

The Jamaica International Invitational/IAAF World Challenge has been on for a few years now. Jamaica should maximise this meet to make a substantial profit to fund sports programmes. The meet should be marketed to earn foreign currencies from people outside of Jamaica. The Jamaica Invitational usually takes place in May when

many elite athletes want to test where they are in relation to other international athletes. Jamaica has the male and female world champions for the marquee 100m sprint. Our male and female athletes have dominated in the 200m sprints. Kaliese Spencer, for her part, is the current Diamond League champion for the 400m hurdles, while Javon 'Donkeyman' Francis is upcoming and poses a real danger in the 400m to Kirani James of Grenada. Also, the schoolboy Akeem Broomfield is also on the wings doing sub 45s for the 400m, while Jaheel Hyde is the future of hurdling -- formidable in both the 110m and 400m. Elaine Thompson of MVP has the fastest time for the 100m sprint

this year.

I have not even mentioned Usain Bolt, who is Jamaica's global pulling card. Even the president of the United States could not resist the pull of posing with Jamaica's megastar recently.

Jamaica has also attracted global superstars like Carmelita Jeter, Justin Gatlin, Tyson Gay, Sanya Richards and Christine Ohuruogu to this meet. I am primarily a research scientist with some teaching duties in the Faculty of Medical Sciences, UWI. However, based on my foray into sports, I am posing a project to the Ministry of Tourism, JAAA and Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS), who is the primary sponsor of the Jamaica International IAAF World Challenge. Since

the Jamaica/IAAF World Challenge is a one-day evening event that usually starts at 6.15 pm on a Saturday, let us get some same day sports tourists into Jamaica for the meet.

The University of the West Indies should be able to facilitate this for same day sports visitors who would be leaving in the early morning of Sunday for home. They could have a night visit to the UWI Bowl/ Usain Bolt Track after the meet and have charter buses taking them back to NMIA in time for their early morning flights.

This sort of logistics sports hub is possible. The David Geffen School of Medicine, the National Baseball League and United States Antidoping Agency on the

morning of April 21 and afternoon of April 22 arranged a fly in/ fly out of New York after an antidoping forum in midtown Manhattan. Participants were able to chat to an Emmy award winner and some sports stars and also sight tour in the night. Of course security would have to be in place to ensure that visitors to Jamaica are safe. This sort of logistics sports hub is possible. The David Geffen School of Medicine, the National Baseball League and United States Antidoping Agency on the morning of April 21 and afternoon of April 22 arranged a fly in/ fly out of New York after an antidoping forum in midtown Manhattan. Participants were able to chat to an Emmy award winner and some sports stars and also sight tour in the night. Of course security would have to be in place to ensure that visitors to Jamaica are safe.

Jamaica has fiddled with its sports assets for too long. The government and the JAAA will not have to visit China for a sport logistics hub, I am proposing and is giving the design for free. Mr Earl Jarrett, over to you. See if you can get Irwin Claire, chairperson of the New York Diaspora and Dr Susan Davis from the Miami region to help with preliminary implementation of this project starting at the Diaspora meeting in Ocho Rios this June. JAMPRO can also be bought in to start preparation for implementation next year. (Jamaica Observer)

Badree keen to get going after signing with Brisbane Heat

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA

– West Indies

Twenty20 leg-spinner

Samuel Badree says he is keen to make his mark in the Australian Big Bash after putting pen to paper for Brisbane Heat, for the upcoming season.

The 34-year-old will come up against the likes of Sri Lanka legend Kumar Sangakkara, South Africa’s Jacques Kallis and England’s Kevin Pietersen, but says he is ready for the challenge.

“Obviously when you have those big-name players it always brings out the best in you,” the Trinidadian said.

“When you have marquee players like these, people come to look at the game and that sort of environment, you want to create a fun en-

vironment and the team. It’s all about the team trying to have fun and doing your best at all times.”

Badree has emerged in recent years as one of the finest bowlers in the shortest format of the game. He has taken 31 wickets from 22 matches at an economy rate of five an over.

His presence will

strengthen the Heat’s bowling attack especially after their leading bowler from last season, Dan Christian, recently signed with Hobart Hurricanes.

The right-armer said variety, confidence and consistency would be crucial in this format.

“Variety is the key. Having that confidence in yourself and being able to back your ability, and at the same time having the correct mindset and being able to accept the fact that at some point in time you may go for runs,” he explained.

“But at other times you need to be consistent as much as possible. Just back your strengths.”

Badree had also signed up to play in last year’s Big Bash but was ruled out through injury. (CMC)

Fruta Conquerors, Santos to contest Saturday’s final

Host club Fruta Conquerors and Santos have booked their places in the final of the inaugural iNet Communications Under-13 football competition following comfortable wins on Sunday.

Fruta Conquerors needed just a solitary goal to get past their ‘A’ team and book a place in Saturday’s championship game. Playing on the Tucville ground on Sunday last, a Jermaine Garrett goal accounted for Fruta Conquerors success, paving their path to the final.

Conquerors Football Club, Daniel Thomas, said the competition has been able to unearth numerous talents in the Georgetown area and those will be developed at the club level to ensure continuity.

Bravo, Smith fail to find magic as CSK loses

RAIPUR,

India–Dwayne Smith’s run of low scores continued and his West Indies counterpart Dwayne Bravo failed to have an impact, as their Chennai Super Kings crashed to a six-wicket defeat to Delhi Daredevils, in the Indian Premier League ON Tuesday.

In a match at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Chennai posted an inadequate 119 for six and 20-year-old opener Shreyas Iyer then spanked an unbeaten 70 as Delhi overhauled the target with 20 balls remaining in the contest.

Despite the loss, CSK remained on top of the standings on 16 points but just one clear of Kolkata Knight Riders in second.

Delhi, meanwhile, are one from bottom on ten points.

Opting to bat first, CSK struggled as both Smith and New

Zealander Brendon McCullum failed to fire for any length of time.

McCullum fell in the sixth over for 11 with CSK crawling at 16 for one and Smith, who faced 24 balls and counted two fours and a six, followed in the ninth over for 18, lbw to seamer Albie Morkel.

Smith has made just 72 runs in his last six in-

nings and has a highest score of only 40 in his last ten.

There was no magic from Bravo either, who was fifth out in the 18th over for just eight, skying a catch to JP Duminy at mid-off off rightarm seamer Gurinder Sandhu.

South African Faf du Plessis top scored with 29. (CMC)

Jamaica’s Delano Williams targets sizzling 200m times this year

KThomas is urging parents of the players and football fans to come out in their numbers and witness the future of Georgetown football in action. He also expressed gratitude to iNet Communications for investing in the Under13s, noting that it is money well spent.

Secretary of the Fruta

In comparison, Santos did a demolition job against Western Tigers, blasting in three unanswered goals to storm to the final. Rondell Jordan, Jermaine Padmore and Darren Niles were the goalscorers for Santos.

All players on the champion team will be given scholarships by the sponsor.

Edghill, Singh debuts at Canadian World Circuit in close loss

National junior player Kyle Edghill and national cadet player Jeremey Singh made their debut at the 2015 Canadian Open World Junior and Cadet Circuit event on May 11 in Markham Ontario Canada.

In their first competition against Canada ‘D’, Guyana lost the match 3-2. Edghill won both of his individual matches, topping Frederik Dufresne twice, both times by a 3-0 margin while Jeremey Singh lost twice to Wenbin Zhang at 3-2 and 3-0.

The fifth match-up saw the Guyanese duo losing to the Canadian duo 3-0 to cap of their first team match.

The tournament pro-

vides the opportunity for both players to benefit from much needed exposure in view of developing their tactical and technical capacity while gaining critical world ranking which is key to advancing their competitiveness in future international and regional competitions.

Edghill will be competing in the 18 years and

under boys’ singles and teams while Singh will be competing in the cadet boys’ singles and teams. The team is being managed and coached by Lisa Lewis.

Chelsea Edghill has participated in this event with great honours having won gold in the girls’ cadets in 2012 and Bronze in 2013.

ingston, Jamaica - Delano Williams is careful not to get too far ahead of himself, even if he is producing improving times ahead of 200-metre races he is scheduled to tackle later this year. The IAAF World Junior Championships 200m champion from Barcelona, Spain, in 2012, lowered his personal best in the 400m for the second time this year, running 45.42 seconds to win the development event at Saturday's Jamaica International Invitational at the National Stadium, and said while it was not perfect, there was a lot of positives from the race. The former Munro College runner, who switched allegiances from Turks and Caicos to represent Great Britain, told reporters after his race that his first sub46.00 seconds race, his final ‘one lapper’ for the season, he hoped his coach Neil Harrison would be pleased.

“Me and coach have been working on sprint endurance, and this is my last 400m for the season. I had one more obligation to him and that was to get a sub-46 seconds and I am sure he will be pleased, but maybe not too pleased with the last 20 metres... but nevertheless it's all about the 200m now,” he said. Williams, who had run 46.20 seconds earlier this year, said he also

hoped this time would get him on the Great Britain mile-relay team for later in the season. As of Monday, he was the fastest Briton over 400m.

He was part of the Great Britain 4x400m team at the IAAF World Relays in The Bahamas the previous week, but said lack of sleep and not eating enough had left him drained. “But I am back in Jamaica now, back home, and eating that good Jamaican food, so I am back on track,” he said. The IAAF World Championships in Beijing is a target for Williams, but he said the goal was to become the British 200m champion later this year first. “The aim this year is to win the 200m at the Great Britain Trials and to eat healthy and stay strong and take things one step at a time,” Williams pointed out. “We have objectives for Beijing, but I am not ready to talk about them until we get there.” His personal best in the 200m is 20.27 seconds, done while completing the Class One sprint double for Munro College at the ISSA Boys’ Champs two years ago, but on his present form, a sub-20 seconds timing might be in the making this season, it was suggested to him. While not ruling it out, Williams continued in his cautious manner by saying, “yes, that is one of the aims, but we will see when we get there”. (Jamaica Observer)

Cooper eyeing big performances in CPL

Port of Spain, Trinidad –Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel allrounder Kevon Cooper says he will be going all out to prove his worth in the Caribbean Premier League which bowls off later this month. The 26-year-old, a specialist in the game’s shorter forms, says he is also keen on making the West Indies squad and has been working hard in local cricket to improve his form.

For the first time in a few seasons, the 26-yearold is not campaigning in the ongoing lucrative Indian Premier League where he played for Rajasthan Royals but says he has now focused his efforts primarily on readying himself for Red Steel’s CPL campaign.

“I have been working really hard on my batting since the (Regional Super50) and I got an opportunity to captain Queen’s Park this year and the guys have been doing well and I am also performing,” Cooper told the Trinidad Express newspaper.

“Unfortunately I missed out on the IPL this year but that is behind me now. I am really looking forward to the CPL and

trying to break into the West Indies team and get a chance in that squad.”

He added: “It is always good to play in front of plenty people and remind the world of what I can do. I made my debut for Rajasthan Royals in 2010 and it was a good experience for me. I really enjoyed those moments and

from a four-wicket defeat at the hands of Jamaica Tallawahs in the first semi-final, as they bowed out of the competition, eventually won by Barbados Tridents.

This season, Red Steel open their campaign on the road, with games against St Lucia Zouks at Beausejour, Barbados

support at home and there is always a lot of energy and vibes. We won all our games at home last year so we are looking forward to it and it will give us something to look forward to knowing that if we reach the business end of the tournament, all the matches will be at our home venue,” he pointed out.

hopefully I can bring back some of those moments in my career.”

Cooper was the best Red Steel bowler on show last season, picking up 12 wickets with his medium pace at an economy rate of six runs an over and an average of 22.

However, he could not prevent Red Steel

Tridents at Kensington Oval and Guyana Amazon Warriors at Warner Park.

Cooper says Red Steel would be hosting home matches at a critical time of the tournament and this would be important, as they possessed an excellent record at Queen’s Park Oval.

“There is always good

Windies Women beat Sri lanka by 5 wickets

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – West Indies Women defeated Sri Lanka Women by five wickets

49.5 overs (Prasadani Weerakkody 42, Sripali Weerakkody 24 not out, Lasanthi Madushani 23; Hayley

“But having said that, we still need to play well at the start of the campaign to give ourselves a good chance of making the semi-finals.”

Both semi-finals and final will be hosted at Queen’s Park Oval.

The CPL bowls off on June 20 in Barbados and wraps up July 26. (CMC)

in the opening OneDay International of the five-match series at the R Premadasa Stadium here Wednesday. Scores: SRI LANKA WOMEN 149 all out off

Matthews 3-19, Anisa Mohammed 2-15) WEST INDIES WOMEN 153 for five off 40.1 overs (Deandra Dottin 84 not out, Merissa Aguilleira 30; Eshani Kaushalya 2-4) (CMC)