Guyana Times International

Queen’s College Alumni NY Association meets President Granger

President David Granger was on Wednesday paid a courtesy call by Members of the Queen’s College Alumni Association of New York. The visiting team used the opportunity to brief the President on its plans for students of the school as it was its intention to maintain the high standards the College has held for the past 171 years.

Association President John Campbell told the Ministry of the Presidency that the team also used the opportunity to brief the President on the work of the Association.

“We have all benefited from Queen’s College and we want to, in

some way, give back to the school and to the country as a whole,” Campbell is quoted by the Government Information Agency (GINA) as saying.

The team will be conducting a conference on a wide range of topics including mental health, entrepreneurship, mathematics, interview etiquette and resume preparation among others. The conference will close on Friday and there will be participation from students of Tutorial High, North Georgetown Secondary, Annandale Secondary, Richard Ishmael Secondary, Christ Church Secondary and Tucville Secondary schools.

New York bids farewell to slain Guyanese NYPD Officer

The New York Daily News has reported that thousands of rainsoaked cops packed the streets in Queens Wednesday to honor their slain NYPD brother as a first-rate son, a first-class DJ — and a first-grade detective.

According to NYD News, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton announced the posthumous promotion for Officer Randolph Holder, who received a standing ovation inside the Queens church where his body rested inside a gold casket.

Mayor de Blasio, in a pointed political message, said the Oct. 20 shooting of Holder — allegedly by a drug-addicted career criminal — should mark a turning point in the fight against guns.

In our nation, changes must be made to keep guns out of the hands of criminals,” said the mayor before a church packed with mourners. “In (Holder’s) name, we will not give up.”

The Rev. Leslie Mullings, who led the 2-hour service in the Greater Allen AME Cathedral in Jamaica, called for a crackdown on the trafficking of outof-state guns in New York.

The .40-caliber weapon that police believe was used to kill Holder,

33, came to East Harlem from South Carolina, police said.

Tyrone (Peanut) Howard, 30, was arrested after Holder’s partner shot him in the leg as the suspect tried to flee the murder scene in East Harlem, police said.

Earning a detective’s shield was one of Holder’s highest goals as a cop after he immigrated to New York from his native Guyana in 2002 to join his dad.

Bratton also read from a 2010 letter written by Holder in which the aspiring cop details his motivation to

join the force. “I decided I could be a role model and make a difference,” he wrote.

Holder, on the force five years, was also eulogized by his fiancée and his aunt. Several speakers mentioned his skill as a DJ for family parties.

“Even as we mourn his death, we celebrate,” said his aunt Margaret Holder. “To be out of the body is to be with the Lord. May his soul rest in peace.”

Holder will be buried in his native Guyana. He leaves behind a large family, including a 16-year-old daughter.

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EDITORIAL

New twist on border controversy

Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge has attempted to introduce a new element into the prevailing stand-off on the border controversy precipitated by Venezuela in 1962, which has had a chequered history. The Geneva Agreement (1966) mandated a “Mixed Commission” of Guyanese and Venezuelan representatives to resolve the controversy. They met between 1966 and 1970, but became embroiled in the fundamental disagreement that still prevails today.

The Guyanese insisted the Venezuelans prove their contention of “nullity” of the 1899 Award, while the Venezuelans maintained it was the revision of the border that must be undertaken. Before the Mixed Commission mechanism was abandoned in 1970, there were a series of proposals and counter-proposals between Guyana and Venezuela to effectuate the “practical settlement” of the controversy mandated by the Geneva Agreement.

The Venezuelans floated “arbitration”, but this was rejected by Guyana since Venezuela had not recognised the “full and final” settlement of 1899. What would be different this time, they asked. Guyana countered by proposing that the question of arbitral nullity be submitted to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), but this was rejected by the Venezuelans. Meeting in Trinidad with the intervention of Prime Minister Eric Williams, the “Protocol of Port of Spain” was signed.

It offered a moratorium on all claims by either side for a period of 12 years to allow for the development of friendlier relations between the two countries. As the end of the Protocol was approaching in 1981, Venezuela objected to a hydroelectric project in the Mazaruni and by the end of the year in the ensuing deterioration of relations between the two countries, cancelled the protocol in 1982.

Venezuela then proposed direct negotiations between the two countries which were eventually rejected by Guyana, which again proposed a juridical recourse. It has been pointed out, however, that in this period, Venezuela alluded to a passage to the Atlantic as a possible quid pro quo for abandoning its controversial claim which never was consummated. Venezuela then proposed the matter be submitted to the United Nations Secretary General and after initially demurring, Guyana agreed in March 1983.

On March 1, 1985, President Burnham, interviewed by a Venezuelan reporter who asked, “But right now the question is being raised – that same kind of proposals that were raised under the Perez Government – of a solution; that is, Venezuela’s exit to the Atlantic.” Burnham answered, “We can discuss it. But having an entry into the Caribbean is quite different from owning the land bordering the Caribbean.” Burnham was thus willing to consider Venezuela having an entrance to the Atlantic as a “practical solution” to the controversy.

Burnham’s successor President Desmond Hoyte continued friendly relations with Venezuela and even considered “joint development” on some projects in Essequibo – these, however, would not include any cession of sovereignty to Venezuela. He also raised the possibility of there being an “exchange of land”. In March 1989, on a visit to Venezuela, Hoyte agreed to a proposal from Venezuelan President Carlos Perez for a former Caricom Secretary General Alister McIntyre to be appointed the “Good Officer” of the UN Secretary General.

And there the process languished until earlier this year when the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government indicated it would be seeking a juridical option of the Geneva Agreement. The new A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government accepted this route.

In the penumbra of a statement by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo that Guyana must always be prepared to have several options so as to ensure the UN SG had diplomatic room to manoeuvre, President Granger demurred. Foreign Affairs Minister Greenidge then announced that Guyana would ask the UN SG to submit the controversy to the ICJ for an “advisory opinion”.

While permitted, the SG can only do so, if requested by one of five specific organs of the UN or one of 16 specific agencies. Mr Greenidge did not state whether he has received this sponsorship. The controversy is still in play with no end in sight.

Guyana continues to push for juridical settlement – Greenidge

Foreign Affairs Minister and Vice President Carl Greenidge on Tuesday said Government remains committed to the judicial settlement of the Guyana/ Venezuela border controversy, and will be seeking the legal opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the 1899 arbitral award.

The Foreign Affairs Minister was updating the media on the ongoing work of the Secretary General of the United Nation (UN) and its involvement in working towards addressing the border controversy between the two neighbouring countries.

Venezuela remains fixed in its claims over portions of the Essequibo but has failed to show any evidence that the decision handed down more than a century ago by the United Nations is in fact illegitimate.

“There have been many discussions as regards the option that the Secretary General may choose. We have been calling for a judicial resolution of the problem because Venezuela has been arguing that the 1899 award is null and void”, Greenidge said on Tuesday.

According to him, Guyana has lived with this controversy for over 50 odd years and it was not because it could not have been resolved, “but because one party has no intention of facilitating a resolution unless they get what they want… it seems we are destined to relive 1899 many times over…”

“The options available have all been tried… under one name or another and they have all been found wanting… at the end of the exercise, they left Guyana at a disadvantage.”

According to Greenidge, the opinion given by the ICJ could influence the settlement of the controversy, as that opinion could be used as the final word and a decision could be made without Venezuela’s input.

“The thing about an opinion in those circumstances – it is only advisory. The value of it to Guyana is the world will

see that a legal exercise having been conducted on Venezuela’s claim is not supported,” he said.

The two parties between themselves have not been able to find a way to go forward, Greenidge stressed, noting that the controversy has been damaging to Guyana’s interest.

Venezuela, up until now, has not accepted the 1899 Award as a final settlement of the border dispute although it only made its contention international in 1945. In 1949, the US jurist Otto Schoenrich gave the Venezuelan Government a memorandum written by Severo Mallet-Prevost, the Official Secretary of the USVenezuela delegation in the Tribunal of Arbitration, which was written in 1944 to be published only after his death.

Mallet-Prevost, one of the four lawyers who had appeared for Venezuela before the Arbitral Tribunal, surmised from the private behaviour of the judges that there had been a political deal between Great Britain and Russia and for the first time, attacked the Award. This memorandum led to Venezuela’s revival of its claim to Guyana’s territory.

In 1966 in Geneva, Switzerland, the Governments of British Guiana, the United Kingdom and Venezuela signed an agreement to resolve Venezuela’s contentions. Since the issue has sporadically flared up and has not been resolved.

The issue reignited in early March when the Government of Guyana granted access to the US-based oil exploration company ExxonMobil, allowing it to drill for oil in the Stabroek block offshore Essequibo.

The Venezuelan Government was peeved at this move and made direct contact with the oil company, urging it to discontinue its attempt to carry out drilling activities in the area. Saying it had no part in the territorial issue, the oil company went ahead with its drilling activity. It recently reported the discovery of oil. Maduro later issued a decree on May 26, which purports to ratify maritime sovereignty over waters within 200 miles including the entire Atlantic Ocean off the Essequibo Coast as well as part of Suriname’s maritime territory and an area which is under dispute with Colombia.

CAL CEO quits

Trinidad and TobagoChief Executive Officer of Caribbean Airlines (CAL) Michael DiLollo has quit after just 17 months on the job. The 48-year-old Canadian national, citing personal reasons, resigned with immediate effect. His resignation has been accepted by the state-owned airline’s board of directors.

CAL staff were informed of the resignation via a memo from the airline’s chairman Phillip Marshall who also announced that chief financial officer Tyrone Tang will act as CEO until a permanent replacement is found. DiLollo was appointed CAL CEO in May 2014 following the sudden resignation of Robert Corbie in September 2013.

In an interview with T&T Guardian earlier this month, DiLollo said CAL did not need a bailout just yet. He said the airline had benefited from extremely patient shareholders for years and he believed the airline was strategically positioned to break even in three years. In early February, then finance minister Larry Howai told Parliament that unaudited accounts for 2014 showed the airline made a loss of US$60 million, inclusive of its Air Jamaica operations, and the airline planned to break even by 2017.

Howai had also told the Parliament that a five-year strategic plan had been completed and was in the process of being approved for implementation. It outlined the transformation of the business model through reassessment of the product, includ-

ing fleet and network planning, revenue management, pricing and customer service.

Speaking to members of the media, in early October, DiLollo was confident, giving no hint of any issues affecting his term of employment, saying:

“When I look at the investment that has been afforded to the airline and compare that with my experience in the private sector, it is absolutely astounding.

‘“All of the shareholders, whatever the political affiliation, have been extremely patient and extremely committed to this airline over the years.”

DiLollo, a pilot, said then he was ready to land the airline in a break-even financial position and that the airline was “well on our way, very well on our way to achieving that target.”

In November 2014, Parliament was informed that DiLollo was being paid a US$33,000 (TT$211,000) monthly compensation package. Then prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar defended the sum saying this was in keeping with salaries paid to former CEOs and was necessary to acquire that level of expertise.

Persad-Bissessar said then that DiLollo received a salary of US$28,000 and a housing allowance of US$5,000. He also received a travelling allowance of US$1,600. Former government ministers Vasant Bharath and Howai had also defended DiLollo’s salary, saying it was comparable to salaries paid to former CAL CEOs. (Trinidad Guardian)

Zenita Nicolson ingested pesticide – PM examination

Apost-mortem examination conducted on the body of 37-yearold Rights Activist Zenita Nicolson, revealed that she died of pesticide poisoning. The post-mortem examination was conducted on Wednesday by State Pathologist, Dr Nehaul Singh.

Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum told Guyana Times International on Wednesday that the cause of death was given as ingestion of pesticides. This, he explained, is consistent with the information that the Police have gathered during their investigations – that the woman had consumed carbon tablets, which are used to kill rats.

In addition, Blanhum disclosed that some of Nicolson’s stomach content was handed over to the Police by the Pathologist for a toxicology test to be conducted.

Nicolson was rushed to the St Joseph Mercy Hospital on Monday morning around 02:00h after she reportedly admitted to ingesting 10 carbon tablets. She passed several hours later in the day. It has been reported that Nicolson was a victim of domestic violence at the hands of her partner, an overseasbased student of Texila University.

Her death has raised

questions since the woman was an ardent activist on various human rights matters including gender-based violence. Persons have even questioned whether the woman drank the tablets freely or was forced to do so.

On Tuesday, the Crime Chief told Guyana Times International that the Police is treating the activist’s death as a suicide, since there was no evidence to suggest otherwise. He further stated that on Monday, investigators found seven letters along with a note purportedly written by Nicolson.

The letters were addressed to various family members, while the note

was for her partner with instructions to distribute the letters. Guyana Times International understands that Nicolson reportedly indicated in the letters that she cannot cope anymore with the “suffering”. However, Blanhum had pointed out that should anything suspicious show up in the post-mortem examination, then the Police would take the appropriate action. But nothing of the sort was found.

According to reports, Nicolson’s 29-year-old Mauritian partner had accompanied the woman to the Hospital and had stated that he was unsure of what happened since he would have retired to bed earlier in the evening, leaving the woman to work.

However, Nicolson’s long-time friend and Executive Member of the Society of Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD), Joel Simpson, related to this newspaper that up to mid last week, the couple had separated. He recalled that on October 19, the 37-year-old mother of two confided in him that she was being abused by her partner. Meanwhile, funeral arrangements for the late rights activist are yet to be made as the woman’s family is expected to arrive in Guyana today (Thursday).

A welcome decision on prayers in Guyana’s public schools

Dear Sir,

A recent article in the newspapers titled “Government to Review Christian Prayers in Public Schools” has caught my attention and I must heartily congratulate Minister of Education Dr Rupert Roopnarine for taking a most “educated” stance on this long-standing travesty. At the same time one wonders why previous Governments with leading Pandits in their midst and having a more than warm relationship with

leaders of the Muslim community have not seen it fit to correct this anomalous situation a full 49 years after independence.

I remember well my days at a certain Government school where the deputy Headmistress used the auditorium to carry on Christian prayers sessions without even paying a fee. While at the very school Hindus were given a difficult time to get permission to observe Holi for example or to conduct Havans.

It is my humble view that the Hindus and Muslims have only themselves to blame for this unfortunate state of affairs due mainly to a lack of any serious overt activism to force the change that Dr Roopnarine has now announced.

I therefore ask Dr Roopnarine to immediately send instructions to the Heads of all Government schools that the practice of reciting Christian prayers only must cease and if prayers are to be said they should be general/

generic in nature. Another possible alternative is to have short prayers from the three major religions be read on a daily basis which may be the preferred option for many. I look forward to further definitive announcements on this matter by the learned Honourable Minister of Education in early course.

Yours sincerely, Chris Persaud

The voices for LGE have gone totally silent

Dear Editor,

I wrote last week about the total silence of the Government about their broken promise of Local Government Elections (LGE) before the end of 2015. Now the Minister responsible, Ronald Bulkan, has quietly and in an uncharacteristically low-profile manner, announced that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is not ready for LGE in 2015. They are definitely dodging LGE.

The Minister has clumsily attempted to shift blame to Dr Steve Surujbally and GECOM. The truth is that the introduction of legislation designating Lethem, Mabaruma and Bartica as townships is a strategy to delay the LGE. The legislation to increase townships is Guyana has nothing to do with their commitment to developing new townships and meeting a manifesto promise. The move in Parliament on Thursday was an awkward attempt to establish further barriers for holding LGE.

I support the new townships. As part of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Cabinet, we had agreed to establish a number of new townships, including Lethem, Bartica, Mabaruma, Parika,

Supernaam, Vreed-en-Hoop, Grove (EBD), and Rosignol. Both political parties, therefore, were on the same page with this policy decision. The PPP Government’s position was that Government must work to develop these areas and to prepare them for genuine townships. We started the work. But more has to be done.

The haste in the introduction of the township legislation is not to meet any requirement to proceed with establishing the new township; there is no need for haste.

But for the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) the introduction of the township legislation is necessary at this time because it is clutching at straws. It needs desperately to defer the LGE and it is trying to see if this would provide them with a legitimate reason to further push back LGE. We can reasonably be certain that this is only one of several barriers that APNU/AFC will introduce as they are now in fullbattle mode to postpone the LGE.

The silence of several stakeholders on the further delay of LGE is deafening. In particular, I am looking expectedly

and disappointingly at the reaction of the representatives of ABC countries. They were not quiet pre-May elections to express their eagerness for LGE and they were loud in their condemnation and disappointment on the failure to hold LGE in Guyana.

The representatives of the ABC countries insisted that LGE demonstrate the commitment of any Government to strong democratic norms. It was their argument that they were simply echoing their Government’s position of the importance of LGE and not taking political sides.

I and as far as I know, the PPP also believes that LGE is a necessary part of the strong democratic governance. We believed then that the representatives from the ABC countries were not fair in assigning blame for the delay of LGE in Guyana. But we have crossed that bridge already. There is no need for further delay.

I have to believe that those interested parties, including the ABC countries, that were aggressively promoting the holding of LGE were genuinely interested in strengthening Guyana’s democracy. I am willing to accept that the

ABC countries involvement and support for political players who were pushing for LGE had nothing to do with a sense that the PPP was at the time vulnerable.

For the record, I know that as a member of the PPP Cabinet, we wanted LGE for several years now. The deferment of LGE, however, was to meet all the demands of the then Opposition. For most of the period of the delay, it was because the political parties were negotiating over various issues that became pre-requisites for holding LGE.

None of those issues, whether it is the fault of the PPP or APNU/AFC, now matters. Blame whomever you want, but we have long passed over that road. It is entirely up to APNU/AFC now. But I know that APNU/AFC believe that the political circumstances in the country are not favourable for them to participate in any LGE at this time. They promised LGE by end of 2015 and they madly rushed through several pieces of legislation. The post-election euphoria gave them confidence that they had the upper hand with LGE. Now they are afraid to face the people, supporters

Dr Ralph Gonsalves was right

Dear Editor,

Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines Dr Ralph Gonsalves has said that the “ballgame”… the nature of Caricom’s relations with Venezuela would change should that country ever exercise the military option in pursuit of its claim to Guyana’s territory.

He said that Caricom maintains that the territorial integrity of Guyana must remain intact in keeping with the 1899 Arbitral Award and has publicly expressed its position on numerous occasions. He said Caricom had expressed its grave concern to the initial decree issued by President Maduro and that it was withdrawn and replaced with one that was not threatening.

Prime Minister Gonsalves was responding to a question I posed to him during the question period following his Eric Williams Memorial Lecture at Florida International University on Friday night.

Gonsalves said that Caricom supports the efforts of the United Nations Secretary General to

find a peaceful and lasting solution to the controversy, noting that UNSG Ban Ki-Moon met recently with Presidents Granger and Maduro in this regard. He said Caricom supports a legal approach to resolving the controversy. Noting that there had been movement of Venezuelan troops along the border with Guyana not so long ago, Gonsalves said that in his view Maduro would not exercise the military option although there were forces in Venezuela that would want to use that option. It is not an easy situation for Guyana, he said, but he is of

the strong belief that the controversy will be settled peacefully.

I have written this letter to share with your readers a view expressed about Caricom’s support for Guyana on the Venezuelan issue by one of its leaders.

There was much said about Guyana in Dr Gonsalves’ lecture about the role the country played under Forbes Burnham especially, as part of Caricom to pave the way for the process towards normalisation of US/ Cuba relations.

Regards Wesley Kirton

of both sides, because in just five months, they have proven they are not capable of taking Guyana forward.

Now all those interested parties, like the ABC countries, certain other international bodies, such as Transparency International, and local political seers like Christopher Ram, Ramon Gaskin, Freddie Kissoon, and media houses like Kaieteur News and Stabroek News, must demonstrate the same commitment for immediate Local Government Elections. Their silence is loudly being heard throughout Guyana and in the world. LGE must be held now and not left dangling on political expediency. Those who were very interested in LGE before need to now come clean – was it a genuine interest in the holding of LGE as necessary for strengthening democratic governance or merely an anti-PPP position? Now that the tables have turned and it is APNU/AFC in control, the commitment for LGE should not diminish and none of us ought to accept silly excuses and passing the buck.

Respectfully, Dr Leslie Ramsammy

Positive changes, or not

Dear Editor,

Why all the hullabaloo about the 50% salary increase when with this new elite crop of administrators a turnaround in the future is foreseeable with the feed, house and clothe campaign in keeping with Burnham’s mantra.

We have already seen positive changes in attitude towards the City Council by vendors; the beautification of Georgetown by enthusiastic citizens; less corruption in the Police Force; a positive turnaround in the rice and sugar industries, less bashing of wives, thanks to Ramjattan’s 2 am curfew; a proliferation of trips abroad wooing potential investors; and greater enthusiasm in the Public Service, ask Patrick and Lincoln.

Sooner rather than later other positive changes will include extending the retirement age to 82; a Gy$70,000 minimum wage for Public Servants; increase in the old age pension to Gy$20,000; Christmas

bonus for the Police and Army; more roads with free electricity in Sophia, West Ruimveldt, Agricola, Buxton and Linden; the indoctrination of pardoned criminals through bottom house industries and free milk and buns for primary school children in lieu of the Gy$10,000 grant.

As an army general, Granger is a strategist and like Moses the great Prophet, will turn Guyana into paradise resulting in massive re-migration starting with Sasenarine Singh and Asquith Rose.

And, with the two “bannas” and our Mayor in his cabinet, we will see a massive reduction in crime given the Buxton and Agricola experience; and with everyone being housed by 2020, we will see Granger appointing Hammie as the contractor of the Museum where he will have the opportunity in his final days to develop a replica of himself for further posterity.

Yours sincerely, D Singh

Ramotar slams EU Ambassador for comments on sugar industry …says conditions for EU support grants were met

By Kristen MacKlingaM

Former President Donald Ramotar has discredited the statement made by the Ambassador of the European Union (EU) to Guyana, Jernej Videti?, with regards to the withholding of budget support grants due to the EU’s suggestion that these grants were withheld because Guyana was not in compliance with the conditions required for disbursement.

According to Ramotar, he deems this “most regrettable”, adding that the Ambassador did not

acquaint himself fully with the facts of this matter before pronouncing on it.

The former Head of State told Guyana Times International on Tuesday that in January of this year, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic Administration had publicised the communication between the EU and Guyana dated September 8, 2014 which clearly indicated that Guyana had met the eligibility criteria required to qualify for disbursements totalling €25,858,025.

It was further stated that the same delegation

had recommended disbursement of this sum to the EU Budget Support Steering Committee in Brussels, which was due

to meet on September 17, 2014, Ramotar noted.

“At the time of making that release, my Government pointed out that the EU Delegation had stated in writing that the conditions were fulfilled and had further stated in writing that they were recommending the disbursement of €25.9 million on the basis of their satisfaction with fulfilment of the required conditions,” Ramotar said on Monday.

He added that the time the statement was issued by the EU was January 2015, adding that Parliament was not pro-

rogued until November 10, 2014. As such, the prorogation of Parliament could not possibly have been a basis for withholding a disbursement due since September 2014.

The former President added that Guyana had qualified for the grants and encountered the first delays in their disbursement as a result of concerns over the anti-money laundering legislation.

“I was advised that the reason for the delay was the impasse over the anti-money laundering legislation,” the former President explained.

He told Guyana Times

International that there was no mention about the prorogation of Parliament and this did not come as a surprise because the prorogation period occurred much later. Also, no mention was made about any conditions not being met.

“The sole matter mentioned was the delay in passage of the anti-money laundering legislation. The indisputable fact is that Guyana did meet the conditions required for disbursement, the technical officers at the EU Delegation and the EU’s contracted technical experts were satisfied that these conditions

Trinidadian medical team performs eye surgeries at GPHC

Ten patients recently benefited from follow-up eye surgeries, as a four-man team from “World Class Eye Surgeons” based in Port of Spain, Trinidad, conducted the operations at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

During the visit, Dr Ronnie Bhola, a Trinidadian VitreoRetinal Specialist and Head of World Class Eye Surgeons, was able to perform surgeries on patients who had earlier undergone retinal surgeries in Trinidad, but needed follow-up surgery, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported. Dr Adesh Maharaj, an Orbit and Oculoplasty Specialist, conducted operations on four children with strabismus (squint eye).

The aim of strabismus surgery is to correct the misalignment of the eyes. The four chil-

dren were operated under general anaesthesia. After the surgeries on Saturday morning, the children were excited about getting their eyes correctly aligned.

vDr Lamy Badette, ophthalmologist, working in the Department of Ophthalmology at GPHC, also worked on these paediatric cases. Public Health

Minister, Dr George Norton paid a visit to the hospital during the surgical procedures. He was appreciative of the team’s visit, as this saved the Guyanese patients the effort of having to travel to Trinidad to have the surgeries done.

On October 23, the ophthalmologists were also involved in a Continued Medical Education (CME) session, organised by Alcon Trinidad/ANSA McAL Group and GPHC. They

delivered lectures on various eye conditions and were able to enhance the knowledge base of local ophthalmologists, optometrists, general physicians and students.

The World Class Eye Surgeons pointed out that they were extremely happy with this mission and they hoped to continue doing such charitable missions to Guyana in the future. The team comprised two ophthalmologists, one nurse and one assistant. The patients were ex-

tremely grateful for the timely visit to Guyana. The GPHC’s Department of Ophthalmology, was extremely pleased to have been able to host the visiting team and to learn from the specialists. Vitreo-Retinal Surgery was not available in Guyana for a number of years, and as such Dr Bhola has been operating in Trinidad on numerous Guyanese patients with retinal diseases of the eye, primarily diabetic patients.

Guyana explores green technology opportunities at Korea-Caribbean Forum

Governance

Minister Raphael Trotman represented Guyana at a high-level meeting in Seoul, Korea to participate in the Fifth KoreaCaribbean High-Level Forum.

Hosted under the theme “Enhancing the Korea-Caribbean Partnership in the Field

of New and Renewable Energy,” the meeting was set against the backdrop of the challenges posed by climate change and therefore focused primarily on opportunities for new and renewable energies that are made available by Korea to the Caribbean and Guyana.

According to Minister

Trotman, who served as Guyana’s representative at the meeting, the timing of the forum was fortuitous for Guyana, as the country transitions into a green economy and looks elsewhere for good examples for adaptation. He noted, according to the Government Information Agency (GINA), that the

Republic of Korea is a noted developer and utiliser of alternative energy technologies and has signalled its strong commitment to working with individual Caribbean states – bilaterally, or through the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Secretariat, to bring these new technologies to the Caribbean.

The delegates included representatives from the Caricom Secretariat, Guyana, Suriname, Haiti, Jamaica, Antigua, Dominica, St Vincent, St Kitts and Nevis and The Bahamas and were afforded several opportunities to discuss policy matters on energy and climate change. In addition, they were able to interact with manufactures and stakeholders. Site visits were facilitated to several renewable energy generating sites including; a range from hydro to solar and biomass power generation.

Minister Trotman also used the opportunity to hold one-on-one discussions with Korean Government officials and with executives of the

manufacturing companies. This was done with a view to inviting a delegation to visit Guyana in the near future to advance opportunities for both Government and the Private Sector.

This fifth forum revisited some topics previously discussed such as renewable energy and e-Government management, but also addressed the new and extremely vital topics of climate change and disaster management.

The meeting was jointly sponsored by the Foreign Affairs Ministry of the Republic of Korea, the Korea Energy Agency and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI).

Delegates at the inaugural KoreaCaribbean Forum, held in 2011 discussed a development strategy and international cooperation with the Caribbean and Korea-Caribbean cooperation for green growth. The following year at the second forum e-Government, Marine Environment Management and New and Renewable Energy were discussed. The third forum sought practical and productive ways to increase cooperation between Korea and the Caribbean states and in particular to promote tourism cooperation. The fourth forum reviewed progress in Korea-Caribbean cooperation since 2012 and discussed avenues to further deepen and broaden the partnership.

Corentyne businessman shot in home

– two in custody while police hunt three more suspects

Police are on the hunt for three persons as investigations into the fatal shooting of a Corentyne businessman intensifies. Investigations revealed that Shameer Ally, also called ‘Kazac’, 36, was shot and killed. An au-

topsy performed by Government Pathologist Dr Vivekananda Bridgmohan on Monday revealed that he died as a result of haemorrhage and multiple internal injuries due to a gunshot wound.

Ally’s body was discovered by Police lying in a pool of blood at his Grant 1805 Weld Tank Damn, Crabwood Creek, Corentyne, Region Six home.

Reports are that Police were investigating a report of threatening language and damage to property and had gone to Ally’s home.

After calling for some time the Police officers ventured into the yard and made the discovery.

Earlier a man with whom Ally had a longstanding dispute reported to Police that Ally had gone to his home at Lot 15, Grant 1805 and damaged several windows.

Initial investigations suggest that no one heard the gunshot although two security guards are stationed at a nearby sawmill.

Relatives who live nearby also claimed not to have heard anything. Residents say there was a barbeque a few houses away and the music was loud. They also claim persons were lighting small explosives (squibs) which made loud explosive sounds earlier in the evening.

Ally leaves to mourn relatives including his seven-year-old daughter.

As Police continue to investigate the murder, two men were taken into custody and are assisting with investigation. Police have not released the identity of those in custody but have stated that they are searching for three other persons in relation to the murder.

Johnny Welshman charged for fraud

– allegedly claimed to be a lawyer

The controversial Johnny Welshman was on Tuesday placed on Gy$25,000 bail when he appeared before Magistrate Dylon Bess charged for obtaining money by false pretence.

It is alleged that on October 21, the 23-yearold obtained Gy$40,000 from Alicia Fernandez by pretending to be a lawyer, knowing same to be false.

The prosecution is contending that Fernandez had a problem with her mother who

has custody of her children. She was advised to get advice from a lawyer on the process of obtaining full custody of her children.

It is alleged that the North Ruimveldt resident advised Fernandez that he was a learned lawyer and will take her case. The Virtual Complainant subsequently realised that Welshman was not a lawyer and reported the matter to the Police.

The case will continue on December 29.

Dynamic Airways plane catches fire at Fort Lauderdale Airport during departure for Venezuela

According to a report from CBS, firefighters have put out a plane fire at Fort Lauderdale/ Hollywood International Airport.

Airport spokesman Greg Meyer was quoted by CBS as saying

No arrest in Bourda Market execution style killing

As investigations continue into the execution style killing of Stanley Lovell, the Police are yet to make any arrest. Lovell, 30, also called “Steve” of 64 Premniranjan Place, Prashad Nagar, Georgetown, was gunned down in the vicinity of Bourda Market on Saturday morning.

Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum told Guyana Times International investigators are working on several leads and intend to thoroughly investigate the matter before any arrest can be made. He added that several persons, including family members, were questioned in connection with the case.

Guyana Times International understands that the now dead man had told his mother he was fearful for his life. This fear stemmed from several threatening calls made to his mobile phone from unknown numbers.

When Guyana Times International visited the dead man’s home, a relative indicated that his immediate family were not at home, and further they do not wish to speak with the media.

This newspaper understands that prior to the shooting Lovell was reportedly in the company of a group of men when a bitter argument ensued. During the argument, one of the men reportedly whipped out a .9mm pistol and pumped 13 bullets into the man’s body. 14 spent shells were subsequently retrieved from the crime scene.

Another man, Anthony Lall, 21, a cleaner of Bent Street, Wortmanville, Georgetown, also received a gunshot injury to one leg.

He has intimated that he was in the vicinity when he saw a “known” man

walk up to Lovell and discharge a loaded firearm in Steve’s direction.

It was reported that Lovell had just left the Rio Sports Bar in the company of friends and went to a stall at Bourda Market to purchase breakfast.

He reportedly was sitting on the trunk when he was riddled with bullets.

Lovell, who was no stranger to the law, was charged for the murder of second-year University of Guyana student Dennis Edghill in February of this year. He was freed in June following lack of Police evidence.

In 2012, he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts charged with allegedly assaulting his girlfriend. The matter was heard and dismissed after the victim refused to give evidence.

that an engine of the Air Dynamic Boeing 767 caught fire as the plane was departing for Venezuela.

An aircraft taxiing behind the Boeing 767 reported that fuel was leaking from the aircraft before the fire started.

Passengers evacuated via slides onto the taxi-

way. Twitter video taken by passengers in other planes shows the thick black smoke billowing from the left side of the plane as the left engine burned.

Firefighters stationed at the airport were quick to put out the flames using thick, white foam.

At least two emergency chutes from the plane deployed and everyone was evacuated safely. The airport is open utilizing the remaining open runway.

Dynamic Airways operates a number of 767 aircraft to several destinations including Guyana from New York.

PPP reaches out to rice farmers in Region 2 …promises to lobby on their behalf

By IndrawattIe natram

As the rice industry continues to deteriorate, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo during a special meeting with rice farmers in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) on Tuesday evening said that from all indications the David Granger-led Administration has nothing for them.

He was at the time addressing the petrified farmers at the Rice Producers Association (RPA) Seed Paddy Complex, Anna Regina as part of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Region Two outreach programme. Jagdeo, accompanied by former Housing Minister Irfaan Ali and former Attorney General Anil Nandlall are expected to address 42 meetings along the Essequibo Coast during the outreach.

At the meeting, rice farmers complained bitterly about the hardships they are now facing as a result of the deteriorating rice industry. The farmers also explained to the Opposition Leader that they were fearful for their future, as rice was the ‘backbone’ of the Region Two economy. The farm-

ers further explained that now that the rice crop was over, they were very disappointed and dissatisfied with the prices they received, pointing out that some have not even cleared their expenses. The frustrated rice farmers lamented their lack of financing to restart the next crop, adding that they were heavily indebted to local banking institutions.

The farmers explained that they were so indebted that a large number of them have decided to abandon their rice lands for now. They ad-

mitted that they believed the promises that were highlighted to them by the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) during the elections campaign but were now realising that they were “lied to”.

Jagdeo, in his address to the large gathering, said that the PPP/C was ready to support any effort to get back the Venezuelan rice contract, but could only do so once the “Government of Guyana focuses on strengthening the bilateral arrangements with the

ent Government to pay more attention to farmers by moving a motion for subsidy for them to pursue more markets for rice, assist farmers with production costs and provide assistance in the form of seed paddy and fertilisers.

He said that the PPP/C has recognised the plight of rice farmers and could see that both the rice and sugar industries have changed from being “optimistic to negative”, noting that most of the sectors were “flat lining and investors lack confidence in the country’s economy after the elections”.

The former President said that the Venezuelan market was a lucrative one.

neighbouring countries as oppose to sabotaging the relationship”.

He added that based on the many meetings he has had along the Essequibo Coast over the past two days many rice farmers were disgusted with the state of affairs in the industry.

Subsidies Jagdeo optimistically told the farmers that during his tenure as Opposition Leader, he would advocate in Parliament for the pres-

The Leader further explained that during the post-election period, the Venezuelan border came up and the PPP/C took the position to always protect the territorial area.

“Even though we had issues with our borders under our ruling, we make it clear that we are not going to compromise, we fix a strong position, we ensure that the border controversy between Suriname and Venezuela does not affect something that is vital functional

and economical,” Jagdeo asserted.

Influence Rice farmers during the meeting requested that Jagdeo use his influence to get back the Venezuelan contract. They are also calling for the removal of all taxes on fuel and agricultural machines and requested assistance in the form of fertiliser and seed paddy.

Meanwhile, RPA General Secretary Dharamkumar Seeraj told the farmers that he wrote the Agriculture Minister on a number of issues regarding the rice industry. These included the issue of the removal of all taxes and duty on inputs such as chemicals, the establishment of a minimum export price for paddy and rice, reduction of the export commission and full recognition of the RPA, especially by Rice Board officials.

Earlier this month, Venezuela officially terminated Guyana’s PetroCaribe deal to see the exchange of fuel and rice at “favourable prices”, as the Spanish-speaking nation teamed up with Suriname to pursue a similar agreement.

PPP/C slams Government’s township proposal as a ‘sham’

Opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) is asserting that Government’s move to transform Bartica, Region Seven; Mabaruma, Region One; Mahdia, Region Eight and Lethem, Region Nine into townships is just another attempt by the Government to gain control of the regions by replacing current PPP/C Regional Chairmen with progovernment Mayors and Town Clerks.

On Monday, the Party said the “so called consultations” with residents on the issue of townships is a “sham and a mere window-dressing exercise.”

Speaking at the Party’s weekly media conference, General Secretary Clement Rohee said the Government is hoping that by transforming these locations into municipalities it will regain control “through attempts at fear, intimidation and social bribes.”

Rohee highlighted that there are no plans in place to guarantee the improvement of the lives of residents of the four proposed townships, contending that by simply bestowing upon these villages the “township status” will not greatly influence the transformation of these locations.

“The PPP wishes to point out that no amount of visits to hospitals, tree planting exercises or social bribes such as distribution of shoes and sport gears at Lethem, Mabaruma and other communities will convince residents that the services provided by the extant Regional Democratic Councils (RDCs) will qualitatively improve by moving from an RDC to a municipality,” he pointed out.

Therefore, Rohee firmly insisted that the transformation of these villages into towns is all a part of a plan

for the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/ AFC) coalition to emerge as winners of the impending Local Government Elections (LGE).

Moreover, Rohee highlighted that there are a lot of issues which still needs to be settled before the LG Elections are held, including the legal and administrative measures required to transform Bartica, Mabaruma, Madhia and Lethem into townships.

Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan has already presented to the National Assembly the Bill to have these four locations transformed into towns. The Bill is yet to be debated and approved by the House.

Meanwhile, Government has already announced that Local Government Elections are likely to be held in March 2016 but the PPP/C has raised some concerns about this date.

“Local Government Elections is likely to be held in the second quarter of next year and in the midst of Nationwide celebrations marking Guyana’s 50th Anniversary of Independence,” Rohee posited.

He pointed out that it is ironic that the Nation had to await a meeting between the Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) and representatives of the ABC countries to learn that LGE will be held in 2016.

“It was not until the said meeting with the western countries’ diplomats that the Government sprung into action through Raphael Trotman… so it was the Minister responsible for Governance and not Bulkan, the subject Minister who announced who is to name the date when Local Government elections will be held,” Rohee further asserted.

Gaskin optimistic about economic turnaround

By Akeem Greene

Business Minister Dominic Gaskin is of the view that the Christmas season will bring the boost the economy desperately needs.

When the Minister was quizzed about how he felt about the approaching Christmas season, he responded, “I think as usual the Christmas season will give the economy a boost: people will travel to Guyana; more persons will spend money.”

The Minister disclosed that many capital projects were delayed as the Budget was not passed, and the economy would now begin to benefit from these projects.

The Business Ministry has a strategic plan which if materialised would see the economic infrastructure flourishing. Gaskin explained that among the plan’s objectives were promoting investments, improving ways of doing business and increasing exports. The Minister disclosed that the strategic plan was a five-year programme, which he believed the Ministry could have begun undertaking within a month, but

after consultations with stakeholders, it sought a more comprehensive approach and got assistance from a consultant attached to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Gaskin is of the view that this would only enhance the initial five-year plan.

Only recently, a MidYear Report, released by the Finance Ministry, showed the country’s economy declined some 2.5 per cent in the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2014. The report outlined that initially, Guyana’s half-year growth was estimated to be at 0.9 per cent. However, with the passage of time and the benefit of actual first-half performance in a number of sectors, the coun-

try’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) recorded a growth of 0.7 per cent in the first half of 2015, with non-sugar GDP recording a growth rate of 0.8 per cent.

In the report, the Finance Ministry stated that the contributory factors to Guyana’s low economic performance during this period were the late presentation and passing of this year’s National Budget, which was as a result of the 10th Parliament being prorogued in November 2014 and its subsequent dissolution in February 2015, followed by the General and Regional Elections in May. Moreover, given the measures outlined in Budget 2015, it is projected that there would be 3.4 per cent economic growth in the second half of the year.

The Report stated that although the economy’s first-half performance was less than desired, this was not unexpected given the internal affairs of the country during the first six months. Going forward, the Ministry said the outlook for the second half of the year remained positive.

Timehri Police STaTion raPe allegaTion:

President yet to engage Opposition Leader on new CJ’s appointment

With acting Chief Justice (CJ) Ian Chang slated to go on pre-retirement leave in February 2016, it appears as though Government has not taken any steps to find a replacement for the top judicial post. Justice Chang has been acting in the position since 2000.

According to the Constitutional Reform process of 2000, mechanisms were introduced for meaningful consultations between the President and the Leader of the Opposition for certain appointments. The reform process itself made the approval of the Leader of the Opposition necessary for some appointments, particularly those of the Chancellor of the Judiciary and Chief Justice.

However, when asked on Wednesday whether there is anyone Government has in mind for the position, Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams said “there is nothing to update”. He explained that President David Granger would have to be in agreement with Opposition Leader

Bharrat Jagdeo on whoever will be appointed to the post.

According to the Attorney General, he had previously confirmed that Senior Counsel Chang is expected to retire come February. He noted that when this happens, there will “obviously” be someone to replace him.

About two weeks ago, Minister Williams had told reporters that he was currently in discussion with President Granger about recommendations for a new Chief Justice. “The question of a vacancy occurring in the Office of Chief Justice would arise very

shortly and when the Chief Justice goes on leave, obviously somebody has to act in his position,” Williams had stated.

The Chief Justice has confirmed that he will be heading into retirement on February 23, 2016.

Justice Chang has more than 10 weeks of leave outstanding for this year. Asked whether there is any other leave owed to the acting Chief Justice for previous years, the Legal Affairs Minister could not say. “I was not the person mandated to do those things… I don’t employ people,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

Victim suffered from haemorrhoids – Police source

The Timehri resident who accused a senior Police rank at Timehri Police Station of sexually molesting him is reportedly suffering from haemorrhoids — an ailment he had for some months.

This is according to a Police source who on Monday told Guyana Times International that the alleged victim of rape was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) where doctors confirmed that he was suffering from the ailment.

According to the source, the doctor confirmed it would have been near impossible to have anal sex with the man, adding that his condition was serious. This would have been the reason for his discomfort during his detention at the Police station.

However, the source stated that following the allegation, senior Police ranks and members of the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) travelled to the area to conduct investigations.

The cellmates of the alleged victim reportedly claimed the man had fabricated the story. “The area where he told police that the act was commit-

ted was in the corridor which has the inquiries office… I don’t think a Police rank would be so crazy to commit such an act, knowing that people can come out of the offices at any time”, the Police source stated.

This newspaper was told the man’s neighbours reportedly told Police that he has been suffering from the ailment for quite a while and would solicit financial assistance from neighbours to visit the hospital on a regular basis.

The OPR is expected to wrap-up its investigations, with a report forwarded to top cop Seelall Persaud.

After the news broke about the incident, Persaud had instructed the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to launch an investigation into the allegation.

According to reports, the 36-year-old man claimed he was forced to have unprotected sex with a Police officer in exchange for a case against him being dropped.

It was reported that the victim who lives alone, attended a barbecue on Saturday evening and as he was heading home, he was held up by

a neighbour who accused him of stealing.

A scuffle reportedly ensued and the man threatened to make a report to the Police. On his way, he was accosted by Police ranks and taken to the Timehri Police Station. There he was told of a report made against him in connec-

tion with a break and enter and larceny offence. He was however incarcerated for three days and had to depend on food and water from fellow inmates. On the night of the incident, he told a media operative, the detective who was handling the case went to him requesting addi-

tional information after which he promised to let him go.

The rank reportedly forced the inmate to have sex with him and promised to drop the matter but to his surprise, he was charged and sent to court.

This incident came close to two years after

Colwyn Harding had accused a Police rank of sodomising him with a baton while in custody at the Timehri Police Station. The matter was first made public after the mother of the young man had approached the media.

Guyana in safe hands of the GDF - President Granger

By Alexis Rodney

With Guyana seeing mounting pressure from its Spanish-speaking oil-rich neighbour Venezuela which is challenging its sovereignty, President David Granger on Monday expressed confidence the country had nothing to fear as it was nestled safely in the capable hands of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF).

The Head of State was delivering the feature address at the “passing out” ceremony for hundreds of officers who participated in the rigorous “Exercise Greenheart”, a thorough physical training activity aimed at testing the preparedness of troops to operate in close country environment.

Isolated in the expanse of the forested Cuyuni-Mazaruni region, the soldiers were fit – both mentally and physically – completing one week of radical preparedness training.

Members of the media were privileged to observe at least two practice sessions, and were constantly dazed at the scenarios which seemed real. The exercise commenced last Tuesday, with troops crossing the starting line. They advanced for some three days covering many kilo-

metres before going into defensive and harbour positions. While in the harbour position, they conducted several routine operations including jungle patrol and decoration of the defensive position.

On Monday, President David Granger, in the company of Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan and Army Chief-of-Staff (CoS) Brigadier Mark Phillips observed the final exercise over open land a few feet away from the airstrip in Bartica.

The Head of State seemed pleased with the strategic performance

and later commended the officers for their bravery and resilience, saying it was a demonstration of Guyana’s resolve not to have its territory taken.

Effectiveness

Speaking a few moments later at the Community Centre in Bartica, President Granger said that “Exercise Greenheart” has been able to “demonstrate the effectiveness of our defence forces in the Cuyuni-Mazaruni Region”.

“The Constitution of our country requires the GDF to defend our national independence and preserve the country’s

sovereignty and integrity: to provide for the security of citizens against any kind of aggression.”

The Head of State was once again driving home the point that every effort was being made to reinforce to Venezuela that it would not be allowed to push its claims over this country’s territory. He highlighted that Guyanese had an obligation to hand over to our children the country that we inherited from our parents and grandparents

“As far as Venezuela is concerned what they are claiming is that the (1899) award, which gave them 15,000 sq ki-

lometres of land is invalid. But if it is invalid, give us back the 15,000 sq kilometres. But if they want to hold on to the land which was defined in 1899, we will hold on to lands which were defined to us in 1899,” the Head of State told the soldiers and Barticians.

He encouraged the troops to “stay strong”, noting that “we will always be behind you”.

Striving for peace

“We will always deploy our diplomats and diplomacy to ensure that peace is maintained. I will continue to meet with the UN Secretary General, and any agency that is committed

to the peaceful resolution of this controversy, including the OAS, Caricom, UNASUR, and Commonwealth, because at all costs Guyana’s territorial integrity must be preserved,” he told the servicemen.

He stressed that the exercise was not an offensive operation, but a defensive one. “Greenheart is about defending your territory. We are defensive, not aggressive. We are protective, not offensive. We are positive, not negative…. We want peace, and this is the best demonstration of our desire for peace. It’s a demonstration of our resolve and determination and the fact that we will not allow our territory to be taken.”

Granger told the large gathering that Guyana was able to witness a display of national defence. That defence, he said, was based on four pillars. These include the soldiers’ ability to master the environment.

“Today, the GDF has proven that it is a jungle force to be reckoned with because they have been able to master the environment – the part of Guyana that Venezuela claims, three-quarter of our territory. They operated in the jungle as a fish operates in water,” the President said.

No increases for sugar workers this year – CoI recommends – strike costs GuySuCo whopping Gy$222.6M

By KRisten MAcKlingAM

The Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) has recommended chief among other things that the sugar company withhold salary increases for the hundreds of sugar workers employed at the various estates across the country.

Although Government is yet to officially release the contents of the report, the leakage of this information has sparked much anger among sugar workers and reportedly led to them downing tools for three consecutive days.

Based on information received, the report recognised that GuySuCo has been operating at a loss for a number of years and is already swamped in billions of dollars of debt. Consequently, the recommendation was made for the sugar company to hold back the salary increases for this year, at least until the industry can recover from its ex-

isting challenges.

Guyana Times International understands that the CoI report recommended that the industry be privatised in order to facilitate better outputs

GuySuCo has lost more than Gy$222.6 million over the last three days as a result of the strike action embarked upon by the workers which ended on Wednesday.

The recent strike ac-

Sunday to Tuesday instead of bagasse since its employees were not on site to execute their duties. The millions of dollars were spent on diesel at all seven of the sugar factories and es-

from the factories located at Blairmont, Skeldon, Albion, Rose Hall, Enmore/La Bonne Intention (LBI), Wales and Uitvulgt.

According to sources, the CoI report noted that the privatisation of the industry is the most viable and reasonable option if GuySuCo ever expected to make a profit. Meanwhile,

tion by sugar workers throughout the country had affected operations at the seven sugar estates and factories belonging to GuySuCo. To date, full normalcy has not yet returned to the industry’s operations.

The already cashstrapped and financially strained GuySuCo was forced to utilise diesel as its fuel source from

tates. This newspaper was told that each day that the workers were on strike over 3000 litres of diesel were used at every factory costing Gy$600,000 daily. Three days of strike resulted in an average of Gy$1.8 million being spent per factory, resulting in a total of Gy$12.6 million for all seven factories.

The Sugar Corporation also suffered losses in sugar production of between 300 and 350 tonnes over the three-day period at each factory, amounting to about Gy$30 million. This meant that GuySuCo lost some Gy$210 million in sugar production during the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) orchestrated strike action.

Guyana Times International also understands that the strike brought to a halt the sale of power to the national grid by the Skeldon Sugar Factory; hence the Berbice area received no electricity from the factory/estate while the strike was ongoing.

According to a source, when workers returned to the estates on Wednesday many of them refused to cut the canes because the produce was “stale”, which would have meant additional work for them.

“They don’t want to cut the stale canes and even wanted extra mon-

ey to do so, since they only wanted to cut fresh ones. The stale canes were as a result of the three-day strike when they did not come to work and these canes have a loss in sucrose content. Also, many workers did not turn up to work on Wednesday morning, so the factories are still not operating as they should be,” the source said.

This publication further understands that while the industry is in a state of flux, there is a lot of uncertainty as to the way forward, since any more strikes of this nature can result in even more serious consequences for GuySuCo and the country on the whole.

It must be noted that while the GAWU unionised sugar workers took strike action, workers who were from other unions had turned out to work. Although these workers did not have work to do, the Sugar Corporation still had to pay them, as they could not be held accountable for the lack of work at the estates and factories.

Swami Vidyanandaji passes on in NY

Renowned Guyanese Swami Vidyanandaji Maharaj, the Spiritual Leader and Director of the Guyana and United States Bharat Sevashram Sangha, passed away on Wednesday at the Long Shore Hospital, New York. The 79-yearold died peacefully in his sleep, this newspaper was told on Wednesday.

Swami Vidyanandaji was a famous historian, theologian and strong believer in his spirituality. He fashioned his lifestyle after Swami Pranavanandaji Maharaj who came to Guyana from India decades ago with the sole intention of opening a school.

Swami Vidyanandaji met the Indian migrant Swami Pranavanandaji and aimed to become just like him in devotion and zeal.

On April 26, 2015, the Guyana Sevashram Sangha hosted a day of honour, tradition and literature at Cove and John, East Coast Demerara where the book “Journey of the Guru” by Richard B Mahase was launched.

The book, which honours the memory of the

founder of the Sangha, Swami Pranavanandaji Maharaj, is written from the perspective of Swami Vidyanandaji, who tells the story of the great leader’s life.

At that event, Swami Vidyanandaji had said that the book sends a strong message of peace, love, unity and service, aiming to uplift the people – particularly those in the Guyanese Diaspora.

The 556-page book was reviewed by Dr Prem Misir and Peter Petamber.

Swami Vidyanandaji has influenced and steered the lives of thousands of Guyanese more specifically the life of Guyana’s former President Bharrat Jagdeo. Jagdeo, who was very close to Swami Vidyanandaji, had much respect and admiration for the spiritual leader. The “Journey of the Guru”, former President Jagdeo said, made a major contribution to the history of Guyana. Jagdeo had said the book was a testament to the struggles of the people of Guyana, adding that it was heartening to have proof that “we did not make up history, many

people sacrificed a lot”. He was referring to the clarity the book offered on what occurred in Guyana during the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Swami Vidyanandaji also touched the life of former President Donald Ramotar, who was very heartened by the book “Journey of the Guru”. The former President had stated that one aspect of the book that was outstanding to him was the sentence which read, “an African or an Indian who aspires to be a good Guyanese must first be a

Cane cutter beaten, robbed

Acane cutter at-

tached to the Albion Sugar Estate is now a patient at the New Amsterdam Hospital nursing a broken arm after being attacked by two bicycle robbers at Rose Hall Town.

The injured man was identified as Seenarine

when he was attacked and robbed.

According to Kalimuldon, he went into a shop to purchase phone credit and as he was leaving the entity, he noticed that he was being followed by two teenagers on bicycles.

“I start to ride fast but they catching me up so I

Injured, Seenarine Kalimuldon

Kalimuldon of Chesney, Corentyne, Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne). Speaking with this publication about the incident, the 53-year-old man related that he had taken his children shopping in Rose Hall about 18:45h

decide to turn through one of them fine streets to meet up with me children faster, but they (the robbers) ride straight behind me. I don’t know where they get a piece of wood so fast and clap one lash on me and break me hand two places,” the

cane cutter related.

He said that he fell to the ground and one of the teens emptied his pocket of Gy$20,000 along with a cellular phone worth Gy$7000. Kalimuldon said he attempted to fight back, but they continued lashing him with the piece of wood. The teens also escaped with his Gy$30,000 bicycle.

He said he subsequently reported the incident to the Rose Hall Police Outpost.

good African or Indian, he must first be proud of his racial origin, not only selfrespecting but respecting others of their own groups”.

Swami Vidyanandaji, who was born on July 3, 1936, returned to the West Indies in 1976 as the

country’s first ordained Hindu monk of the Bharat Sevashram Sangha. In early November 2011, the then President Jagdeo presented him with a medal of service.

The great role model was not without challenges in his life as he grew up

as an orphan from the tender age of 10 after his parents died months apart. This led to him joining the workforce, first as a handy boy and later as a gate-checker.

The Swami’s spiritual journey took a major turn when Swami Pranavanandaji Maharaj first came to Guyana in 1955. Swami Pranavanandaji Maharaj had invited him to the Sangha with no assurance of monetary value for his work. However, this was the turning point of his life into sainthood.

Swami Vidyananda’s death has left thousands in mourning as persons in the Diaspora and in Guyana honoured him as a true role model.

This newspaper was told that efforts are being made by the Cove and John Ashram to bring his body to Guyana for cremation.

AG denies Guyana still on FATF blacklist

By Alexis Rodney And KRisten MAcKlingAM

Legal Affairs Minister and Attorney General Basil Williams on Wednesday said that contrary to public belief, Guyana has been compliant to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and is “light years away from being blacklisted”.

He was responding to reporters’ questions about reports that Guyana remained blacklisted on the FATF charter, because it has failed to come up to the requirements set out by the international financial regulatory body.

He said the newly-minted A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government came in for high praise from both the International Coordinating Review Group (ICRG) and the FATF Plenary, at the recently concluded Meeting in Paris, France.

The ICRG, he said, adopted the Assessors’ report of its regional arm, the Americas Regional Review Group (ARRG) which stated that the main development in Guyana is the enactment of the Anti-Money Laundering/ Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Amendment Act 2015 which became enforceable on July 10, 2015.

According to Williams, the present position is that of the eight recommendations in the agreed action plan for

which Guyana has fully implemented five and partially implemented three.

FATF, he said, has set a premium on the sincerity of high-level commitments given by the Governments and their political will to implement its measures.

“From the outset of this Administration, President David Granger wrote the President of FATF assuring him of the new Government’s commitment to remedying the deficiencies identified, and implementing its recommendations,” the AG said.

He said both the ICRG and Plenary Meetings noted that his presence was ample testimony to the Government’s commitment to expediting its commitments to the FATF process.

And so, according to him, from the foregoing it is clear that an APNU/AFC Government is light years away from being black-listed.

As it relates to the strengthening of anti-money laundering institutions, the Attorney General says the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) is fully functional.

Return to Parliament

Meanwhile, People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Chief Whip Gail Teixeira on Wednesday said that the AML/CFT Bill has to be returned to the National Assembly inclusive of additional amendments where necessary in order to ensure that Guyana becomes compliant to the FATF.

In this regard, her Party is demanding that the Administration swiftly move to name 10 appointees for the AML/CFT Authority, which can be implemented without securing a twothirds majority of votes at the parliamentary level.

Guyana Times International was told that in addition to this, the PPP/C is of the view that there needed to be other activities implemented which would successfully secure Guyana’s compliancy with the FATF.

According to the PPP/C Chief Whip,

ever since Guyana had been declared as ‘non-compliant’ by the FATF, its people and many businesses have faced major difficulties thereby suffering tremendously and this urgently needed to be addressed.

Teixeira pointed out that her Party can “feel some vindication” for the positions it took in highlighting the inadequacies of the law that was pushed through Parliament as well as underscoring the fact that the country would not be FATF compliant.

CARICOM observer mission identifies deficiencies in Haiti elections

PORT-AUPRINCE, Haiti

– Despite the significantly reduced cases of violence in Sunday’s presidential and legislative polls in Haiti, the Caribbean Community

team gave a glimpse into the matters which will be discussed in its full report.

The eight-member mission, which visited 127 polling stations, pointed to: too many

polling stations.

According to the CARICOM team, this led to the secrecy of the ballot being compromised (persons inside and outside of the Polling Stations could see for whom the

(CARICOM) electoral observation mission said inadequate space at polling stations, anomalies pertaining to voting norms and inadequate legislation are among the issues that need to be resolved for future voting.

And it said that unless the problems are corrected, there could be “undesirable sequels in the future”.

In a preliminary statement released by chief of the mission, Dr. Steve Surujbally, the

anomalies pertaining to voting norms, but noted that it could not be ascertained whether those were accidental or due to deficiencies in the training of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) staff; and varying methodologies in the poll practices, on occasion, being used by CEP officers during the course of the day; for example, different fingers were stained as a form of identification.

One of the other major issues was inadequacy of physical space in

voter was casting his/her ballot), and also resulted in party agents being too close to CEP staff, “thus, on occasion, intimidating the officers”.

The areas in which CEP staff had to operate were described by the mission as being “saunalike conditions” which occasionally led to frayed nerves, although the team never saw any altercations between CEP officials and voters evolving into physical confrontations.

“Nevertheless it was

the considered opinion of the team that five polling stations in one room would obviously not be conducive to an optimal working environment,” the mission said, noting that having several polling stations in one building led to some degree of turbulence at the entrance of the polling station complex.

“The absence of trained, qualified and experienced ushers (in-

formation clerks/ ‘orienteurs’) exacerbated this problem.”

As for the tabulation of votes, the CARICOM mission said there would be more transparency if the methodology of processing the tally sheets – not the content of the tally sheets – was shared with political parties and other important stakeholders.

“It would help matters if, prior to the elec-

tions, relevant laws were to be enacted, so as to assist any Electoral Court/ Tribunal in carrying out its deliberations,” it added.

Spokesman for Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council Dumel Richardson said preliminary results could be issued in about 10 days but final results are not expected until at least late November. (Caribbean News)

Treasury could only afford Ministers’ salary increases – Nagamootoo

…public servants will get theirs later

Crumbling under pressure amid the intense public outrage over the astronomical salary increases Government has given itself and the cries of betrayal and dishonesty, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo sought to assure public servants that they will be suitably remunerated. However, this will be “just sometime down the line”, the Prime Minister said, insisting that the State could not have afforded to deal with public servants’ increases at this point in time.

“(The salary increase) was an adjustment for a handful of persons that the State could have afforded at this point in time rather than engaging the larger issue of the entire public service that would involve another type of calculation and affordability in terms of the quantum,” Nagamootoo stated when drilled by media operatives on the issue.

“I know that down the line, the public servants would be remunerated,” he added.

As the second item on the 100-day plan, the A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition had promised to “significantly” increase the salaries of Government workers including nurses, teachers, security personnel and civil servants. However, in Budget 2015, the new Administration offered a paltry salary increase ranging from 5 to 10 per cent as opposed to the 20 per cent it had promised during the campaign trail.

Against that background, when reports first emanated that Government was considering an enormous pay hike for itself, the public immediately retorted with a wave of anger. Subsequently, Government in the person of Minister of Governance, Raphael Trotman sought to assure Guyanese that

no such increases were underway for the near future. However, soon thereafter in the Official Gazette, the Government quietly gave itself a 50 per cent increase.

This chain of events have undoubtedly angered and frustrated the Guyanese populace, particularly the coalition’s supporters, with many of them expressing their rage and annoyance through social media, online blogs, letters to the editors, staging protests, among other channels.

Prominent columnists including David Hinds, Christopher Ram, Freddie Kissoon and former Speaker of the National Assembly Ralph Ramkarran have heavily criticised the Government for its decision.

Meanwhile, in further attempting to conciliate the escalating hue and cry over the exorbitant salary increases, Nagamootoo promised that public servants would be remunerated based on the reports coming out of the various Commissions of Inquiry, which, he said, could be as early as this year.

“We would look at the question of affordability, even this year, if it would be possible to address some of the concerns of the public service, particularly the public servants,” he said, noting that Government would be guided by the reports.

Guyana Times International understands, however, that several of the reports including the reports from the Commission of Inquiry, have recommended that there be no salary increases for workers.

Meanwhile, even as the public is coming to terms with the large increase Government has given itself, the Administration has also taken a decision to ‘enhance’ the salaries of the recently handpicked new Regional Executive Officers (REOs).

The Government took the decision to

increase the pay of its REOs despite public outcry over its ongoing extravagance and wastage of taxpayers’ monies on hefty salary increases for its Ministers and other politically connected individuals of the ruling coalition.

Increases

In the Official Gazette of September 25, it was revealed that a Cabinet Minister would be given a hefty sum of Gy$10,439,124 annually. It is further detailed that annually the Prime Minister would be benefiting from in excess of Gy$20 million, while the other Vice Presidents would each receive Gy$11,135,064.

The three Vice Presidents – Sydney Allicock, Carl Greenidge, and Khemraj Ramjattan will earn monthly some Gy$1.13 million, double the Gy$579,000 which they would have earned as Ministers. In addition, the vacation and other benefits are also Gy$500,000.

A Junior Minister is paid Gy$8,346,492 per annum.

Meanwhile, the Leader of the Opposition has been offered Gy$10,439, 124 on an annual basis, but Bharrat Jagdeo has already indicated he will not be accepting this salary.

"There’s no rift between Rohee and I" – Jagdeo

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has ridiculed the media reports which are suggesting that he and People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) General Secretary Clement Rohee have had a fallout, one so major that Rohee was asked to step down from his post as General Secretary.

These reports surfaced in several of the daily locals following what appeared as a difference of opinion between the two PPP/C Executive Members concerning the Party’s position on the Members of Parliament salary increases.

However, Jagdeo at a recent media conference clarified that there is no rift between Rohee and himself. “I have not asked Rohee to leave the General Secretary position. There is no problem between me and Rohee,” he stated.

Jagdeo further noted that while they may have their individual views on many matters, he and Rohee share the same perspective regarding the direction they want to take the PPP/C.

Meanwhile, Rohee had already stated that he is unaware of any “friction” between Jagdeo and himself. He noted too that this is not the first time rumours have been circulated about differences between the two individuals.

Local agricultural produce showcased at 'Essequibo Nite Exhibition and Fair 2015' — Regional Chairman calls for unity

BY: INDRAWATTIE NATRAM

Local agricultural produce, handicraft items and manufactured products were highlights of this year’s Essequibo Nite Exhibition and Fair 2015 in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam).

The event opened on Friday, October 23 at the Anna Regina Community Centre Ground and at-

handicraft exhibitor Anita Sankar, Essequibo Nite over the years has given her the opportunity to showcase her items which boosts her sales. She said due to Essequibo Nite, which started years ago, she was able to garner markets around the country for her handicraft items.

On display she had special crafted and knitted hammocks, chairs,

tracted thousands of patrons from various Regions across Guyana.

Over 100 booths were occupied with exhibitors from within the Region and also from Georgetown showcasing local manufactured items. Farmers also maximised the opportunity by showcasing produce harvested from their farmlands.

This year Essequibo Nite was celebrated with the theme “Exploiting our strength, advancing agriculture and social protection” which set the platform for interaction and socialization between patrons and businesses. Many persons flocked the various booths accessing information and purchasing items of interest.

According to one

hats and bags. Sankar said her aim is to sell local items as well as create job opportunities for Amerindians. She would usually purchase craft from within the Amerindian communities of Region Two and sell internationally.

Like Sankar, proud Ratafarian Bertram Scott said he always looks forward to Region Two Administration hosting Essequibo Nite. Scott who is from Georgetown said he enjoys offering his art pieces and jewellery to the Essequibo population and others. He said that although sales are not as great as last year, he is happy he took a booth supporting the event.

Another highlight was the Ministry of Agriculture booth com-

promising other branches of Agriculture. Many persons flocked that booth to view locallygrown produce within the Region. On display was a gigantic cassava that was reaped by a Pomeroon River farmer. Many persons were astonished at the size.

Meanwhile, the first night of the event featured a rich cultural programme: Performing were dancers from the Mainstay cultural group Kandhya Dance Troupe, local Karaoke singers along with top Guyanese artistes. They were backed by Dax New Generation Band complimented by Chinese Assassin Sound System.

Call on Government to assist farmers

Opening the first night of the two-night’s event, was Region Two Chairman Devanand Ramdatt who called on fellow Essequibians to live in unity. Ramdatt said the event is the 16th hosting and is the brainchild of Former Minister of Agriculture Satyadeo Shaw.

During his address he said the event certainly advances agriculture and entrepreneurship within the Region.

Pledge more recreation Meanwhile Regional Executive Officer Rupert Hopkinson gave his commitment to the people in working to make Essequibo a better and more attractive place. He said a sign board will soon be erected saying “Welcome to Region Two – The Beautiful”. He added that the APNU+AFC Government’s aim is to develop Region Two into a more beautiful and attractive place, one that will attract local and international investors.

Former PM’s son found guilty of assault, granted bail pending appeal

F ormer Prime

Samuel Hinds Jr

State Assets Recovery Unit operating illegally – PPP

The People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) has said it is still concerned over the operation of the State Assets Recovery Unit (SARU), which it said has been operating illegally.

In a release to the press on Friday, the Party said that the Unit, set up by Government to investigate the operations of Government organisations, is yet to be legally clothed, while its staff and Terms of Reference are still unknown to the public.

It said the objectives of the Recovery Unit are clearly political and are aimed at proving the alleged wrongdoings of the PPP/C Administration while in office.

The SARU, it said, was established for the purpose of transforming projects initiated by the PPP/C Administration as “controversial” and tarnishing them as corrupt and unnecessary.

In fact, the nature and intent of the body is what it described as “untrustable”.

“On assumption to office, the [A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change] APNU/AFC took up the cudgels of what was a personal vendetta on the part of the owner of the Kaieteur News and transformed it into reality.

Eventually, a

morphed Opposition media/Government vendetta became a civil juridical matter, thanks to a conspiracy between the APNU/AFC and the Kaieteur News”.

The Party said it is confident that the truth will come out and the facts and evidence will not support the heavy politics fuelling this and any future allegations and actions of the Recovery Unit.

In fact, the nature and intent of the body is just as untrustable as its highly salaried architects who parade the corridors of the Office of the President, and who, by virtue of their deliberate actions, fan the flames of division and intolerance.

The release further said the Party will vigorously defend itself against the wild and baseless allegations of those who now hold of-

fice, thanks to the manipulative and sneaky officials at the Guyana Elections Commission.

So far, the SARU which is headed by renowned Economist, Dr Clive Thomas, has recommended that the relevant authority consider laying charges against several PPP Members of Parliament, including former President Bharrat Jagdeo, over allegations that they were all involved in obtaining State lands at an undervalued market price.

Those named include PPP General Secretary Clement Rohee, former Education Minister Priya Manickchand, former Public Service Minister Jennifer Westford, former Natural Resources Minister Robert Persaud, and former head of the Guyana Sugar Corporation Board Sheik Baksh.

Sugar Industry update: GuySuCo meeting weekly production target

Minister Samuel Hinds’ son –Samuel Hinds Jr was on Friday sentenced to two months in prison after he was found guilty of an assault charge by Magistrate Annette Singh in Court 11 of the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts. Hinds Jr was found guilty of the charge which read that on February 27, 2014 at Lot 83 Duke Street, Kingston, the defendant pulled a gun on the Virtual Complianat (VC) Tenza Layne, who is his sister-in-law, and threatened to kill her. The charges further alleged that he unlawfully assaulted her causing her actual bodily harm.

According to reports, the defendant had gotten upset as he believed the Virtual Complainant (VC) had

stolen his cellphone.

During an altercation with the VC, the defendant allegedly grabbed Layne by her hair, pulled her to the ground and stomped her in her face. It is also alleged that he dragged the VC around his home, even after beating her with a cane, and utilising other forms of abuse against her.

He was sentenced to serve two months in prison on the assault charge and a fine of Gy$10,000 on the threatening behaviour charge. However, the accused was granted Gy$50,000 bail pending an appeal.

The Guyana Sugar Corporation has produced 10,254 tonnes of Sugar for week ending October 16, 2015, surpassing the 10,000-tonne mark for the third time this crop.

Skeldon, Albion, Blairmont, East Demerara and Uitvlugt Estates have all surpassed their weekly targets while Rose Hall Estate achieved 97%.

On Wednesday, October 14, 2015 Skeldon Factory recorded its highest daily production of 515 tonnes surpassing its previous highest of 501 achieved in September, 2012.

Also, the industry has recorded its high-

est daily production of 1785 tonnes, surpassing its previous highest of 1699 achieved earlier in this crop. Uitvlugt Estate completed its 2nd crop 2015 on Saturday, October 17, 2015 and produced 7847 tonnes.

Further, the estate produced 16,428 tonnes of sugar for the year, surpassing the year’s target by 1065 tonnes. The Corporation had awarded its Junior staff and rank and file employees of the seven estates a total of Gy$285,716,487 for their achievement of 26 weekly production incentives for the 1st crop 2015 and for the 2nd crop it has so far paid approximately

Gy$531,499,810 for their achievement of 47 weekly production incentives. Skeldon Estate has supplied the Guyana Power and Light with 1,213,000 KWh of electricity using bagasse fuel.

This brings the total power supplied for the year so far to 30,252,000 KWh. As at October 19, 2015, sugar production for the crop is 95,983 tonnes, 65.6% of the estimate for the crop. 177,127 tonnes has been produced for the year to which represents 77.8% of the total sugar production estimated for the year. (GuySuCo –October 24, 2015)

US$11.9M Flood Risk Management Project implemented

…300,000 Guyanese to benefit

Over 300,000 citizens in flood prone regions of East Demerara is expected to benefit from the US$11.9 million Flood Risk Management Project (FRMP) which is being executed under the Agriculture Sector Development Unit of the Agriculture Ministry.

The project, which emanated from the pre-feasibility studies done under the Conservancy Adaptation Project, will see three new pump stations constructed at Buxton/Friendship, Lusignan, and Hope/Enmore areas on the East Coast Demerara (ECD).

Additionally, the project will see the rehabilitation of sections of the East Demerara Water Conversancy (EDWC) dams.

In general, the project seeks to upgrade critical sections of the EDWC dams and canals and aims to significantly improve the drainage capacity in priority areas and increase institutional capacity by implementation of dam safety measures and practices, including installation of instruments to monitor the hydrometeorological data.

The project also caters for the acquisition of heavy equipment to facilitate the upgrading and in-

uS$11.9M Flood Risk Management Project implemented

creased pumping capacity of the critical drainage areas.

This initiative is expected to last for 4½ years.

Agriculture Minister Noel Holder met with Project Coordinator Dhaneshwar James along with stakeholders of the Project Coordination Committee on Monday to highlight the way forward for the initiative, regarding the strategies to be put into place to improve the flood-defence systems to cope with heavy rainfall in Guyana.

The Committee was established to provide necessary advice and guidance on issues relative to

Keep UN involved in Guyana/Venezuela border issue at all cost – Opposition Leader

Leader of the Opposition Bharrat Jagdeo has called on President David Granger to urgently establish the Border Committee he proposed when the two met over a month ago.

the undertaking, assist with resolving strategic level issues and risks, and to influence the project in achieving its goals as well as a positive outcome.

This project is a collaborative effort between the Guyana Government and the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank Group.

Following the great flood of 2005, the Guyana Government has been working closely with the World Bank, among other international organisations and donor agencies to further develop a comprehensive flood risk reduction strategy.

T&T Coast Guard gets new naval ship

Trinidad and TobagoTuesday was labelled an historic day in T&T with the docking of the TTS Nelson II, a large operational naval ship of T&T Defence Force.

Under the captaincy of Commander Jason Kelshall, who is the son of retired Rear Admiral Richard Kelshall, and Executive Officer, Lt Commander Akenton Isaac, the ship departed China for T&T on September 10. The elder Kelshall had captained the TTS Nelson in 2000 from England to T&T. That vessel is to be decommissioned.

From China the new vessel crossed three oceans, three seas, visited three continents and five countries in a 12,476 nautical mile journey that took 35 days and nine hours.

The vessel, which was constructed by the China Ship Building Company Ltd was commissioned in China on September 6, 2015.

Speaking afterwards, Capt Kelshall said he was proud he was chosen to bring the ship home.

“It was an honour just to be

the ttS Nelson arrives at Staubles Bay, chagua-ramas, on tuesday, following its 37-day voyage from china to trinidad and tobago. (Trinidad Guardian)

the face of my crew. My crew is brilliant, some of the best ever, my crew. I was just the face,” Kelshall said.

National Security Minister, Edmund Dillon described the vessel’s arrival as a defining moment in the life of the Defence Force (assigned to the T&T Coast Guard).

He confirmed the vessel was one that was ordered by the previous government and assured that his administration would contin-

ue to rebuild T&T’s national security apparatus and fill in the gaps in the current security architecture.

“We will not simply abandon the capacity that has been put in place in the past. We will not act hastily in our review of our country’s national security assets and capacity.

This will not be our modus operandi. We are a responsible Government,” Dillon said.

In Jamaica: 19th baby dies from infection

Kingston, Jamaica - Health Minister Dr Fenton Ferguson confirmed in Parliament on Tuesday that the number of baby deaths related to the current bacterial infection crisis has risen to 19.

In a statement to the House of Representatives, Dr Ferguson said that 483 babies have been admitted to hospitals’ special care nurseries since the crisis started in June.

He said that 45 or 9.3 per cent have had their illnesses attributed to sepsis cases and total deaths

have risen to 19, which is 42.2 per cent of the total.

He said that most of the babies who died as a result of Klebsiella and Serratia bacterial infections were less than seven months old, and weighed less than two pounds.

The Ministry of Health last week called on health authorities outside of Jamaica for help in the wake of the outbreak of bacterial infections at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) in Kingston and the Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) in Montego Bay.

On Tuesday, dozens of Dr Ferguson’s supporters from his St Thomas Eastern constituency and some Corporate Area constituencies, dressed in his campaign Tshirt, flooded the street at the southern end of Gordon House to give him support as he responded to intensive questioning from several Opposition MPs. Opposition Leader Andrew Holness maintained that the health budget cut in 2012/13 contributed to a breakdown in the ministry’s sanitation standards and led to the deaths. (Jamaica Observer)

Granger on Thursday updated the National Assembly on the Guyana/Venezuela border controversy, as well as a recent statement by Surinamese President Desi Bouterse regarding the New River Triangle.

But Jagdeo told a news conference on Friday at the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Robb Street, Georgetown Headquarters that he was hoping the President would have established the committee sometime back so that issues relating to Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity could be discussed in a structured manner.

“I thought we would move forward in a structured way. I have made it quite clear in the first meeting (between Jagdeo and President Granger), we would be a participant, an active participant of the border committee. We would like that committee to be put in place so that a lot of these issues can be ventilated in those circles or in the committee itself. So I want to urge the President to put the border committee in place, to operationalise it,” Jagdeo said.

He said that while his Party supports the Government fully on the border controversy, there is need for clarity on whether or not choosing the juridical route can jeopardise the United Nation’s (UN) involvement in the process.

“We have declared that we want a juridical settlement. Is that part of the menu available to the Secretary General under the [United Nations] Charter? Will the UN be prepared to recommend that to Venezuela as part of the settlement? If it is not part of the menu available to the Secretary General under the Charter, does this means we will have to go it alone and lose UN’s involvement in the process? So these are some issues that we could have raised privately, but as I said before, we have not been able to do so in the absence of the border committee],” Jagdeo noted.

Imperialist imposition The Opposition

Leader said that while President Granger’s mention of then Venezuelan President, the late Hugo Chávez’s visit to Guyana and his statement on the continuation of discussions on the border issue through the bilateral commission, he stopped short of mentioning Chávez’s position that the border issue is an imperialist imposition on Guyana and Venezuela.

“If the sitting President of Venezuela at that time viewed the border issue as an imperialist imposition on these two countries, then that must mean something, it must mean that the claims themselves had to be spurious,” he contended.

Meanwhile, Jagdeo said that PPP/C while in office, had internally explored as one of five options; the possibility of giving Venezuela an access to the Atlantic Ocean offshore Guyana, without giving up any of the land territory or compromising the 1899 Tribunal Ward, as part of deal to settle the longrunning border controversy. However, these were never presented to the Venezuelans.

New River Triangle

Turning his attention to Suriname, Jagdeo expressed surprise that Granger responded in such a detailed way to a broad statement by the President of Suriname about the New River Triangle to suggest that it is back on the agenda.

He said that he concurred with Granger that the dispute with Suriname was settled since 1936 and there was an agreement on the settlement and was therefore surprise at the President’s challenge to Suriname to initiate an adjudicatory process to deal with the New River Triangle issue, if they are confident about their case.

Pensioners in Guyana say life is hard after Coalition Govt took away subsidies

BY DEVINA SAMAROO

The suffering and desperation of over 47,000 mostly impoverished senior citizens have grown exponentially over the past few months, following the removal of the telephone, water and electricity subsidies by the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government.

The new coalition Administration had ostentatiously boasted of providing a massive 30 per cent pension increase to the elderly but instead, while the increase amounted to Gy$4000, the resulting Gy$17,000 was hardly sufficient to remove the pensioners from below the poverty line. But in what has been adjudged as a ‘cruel twist”, the Government completely removed the utility subsidies for pensioners which was put in place by the previous Government and served as a great relief to the elderly citizens of the country, most of whom are retired and have no means of earning an income. The funds needed to pay for electricity, water and telephones far exceeded the Gy$4000 “increase”.

Guyana Times International spoke to several pensioners drawn from all social groups who reside in different areas of the country and they all reported that life has indeed gotten tougher for them under the new Government.

While some persons have their families to assist them with their expenses, the majority do not. Some persons were forced to find jobs just to earn a little extra income to sustain their livelihoods. A handful were forced to adjust their lifestyles to a lesser comfortable one while others

are at a complete loss as to how they will continue living.

“I am now scraping for money to meet my bills; I have to burden my daughter, who already don’t earn enough for herself and her children. I trying to cut back on some stuff but how much you could cut back on? I gah hurt me head over all this. Is too much stress. Nah best I dead and gone,” expressed Tessa McKenzie, a 70-year-old woman who was at the time on her way to the Bourda Post Office, Georgetown.

McKenzie said she

a Gy$2000 for the light bill and like a Gy$4000 for the water bill. Cause it’s me alone and how much one old lady gonna use up? So the pension I used to get was good cause at least I had left over to buy my lil groceries. Now, it’s like all my pension going behind the bills,” McKenzie stated.

This is the prevailing situation for hundreds of pensioners across the country.

ing out over what they deemed as a stressful situation. “The stress I taking on now might just kill me,” one lady lightheartedly stated.

Carl Lopez, who resides in Diamond New Housing Scheme, said the pension he is receiving is not enough to cover his utility bills, purchase his groceries and meet his hospital fees or to buy his monthly supplies of medication.

was grateful for the additional money added to the pension however; she simply could not comprehend the rationale behind removing the subsidies. “I don’t get it. What sense it make really, eh?” she noted. While she could not give precise figures, the woman who lives by herself in Kitty, Georgetown, noted that the subsidies which were previously offered definitely lessened her financial burdens.

“I never had to worry about the light bills and the water bills. When the month come, it was just

Another Georgetown resident, Robert Gibson, 68 years old, said he was forced to take a job as a security officer at a private residence just so he can earn a “little extra” income. “I am retired, now is supposed to be a time for me to sit back and not stress about anything. But the money we are getting is not working out. The other day, my friend told me that this man looking for a guard for his house so I decide to take the work because I need the money,” Gibson stated.

The man said he lives with his wife, who is also a pensioner, but the money they receive altogether is not sufficient enough for them to live comfortably.

Along the East Bank Demerara corridor, pensioners are also cry-

“The bills coming at Gy$10,000 now, that’s for light bill. I can’t remember the other bills but, I know for sure that when we had the subsidies, it wasn’t so much. Probably just a Gy$3000 I used to pay. Now, that aside, I have to buy the groceries, well my son does help me with groceries but you know it get a lot of people who don’t have anybody to help them. A lot, I’m telling you. We suffering now… my hospital fees come up to about Gy$10,000. I am only getting Gy$17,000 as pension. Plus I have to buy the medication,” he noted. Asked how he has managed to meet his expenses thus far, Lopez said he had to limit his purchase on his medication. “I’m still working out how I’ll manage the rest,” he related.

All contracts for previous years completed – NEW GPC INC

– company chides AG’s report, continued media distortions

NEW GPC INC on Saturday maintained that information contained in the Auditor General Report for 2014 is inaccurate, since the company has “fully completed” all contracts from previous years as it chided sections of the media for their sensationalist reporting on matters related to the drugs and pharmaceutical procurement and supply processes.

The report, which was laid in the National Assembly last Thursday when sitting resumed after a month’s recess, states that NEW GPC allegedly owes millions of dollars for drugs and medical supplies that are yet to be delivered when the payments were already made.

However, the pharmaceutical company in a statement on Friday pointed out that as usual, the Auditor General (AG) Deodat Sharma was not accurate in his findings on NEW GPC. According to the company, it has constantly provided status reports to the Public Health Ministry (MoH) in this regard but the information proffered is continuously ignored by the AG in his annual reports.

This, NEW GPC added, has often resulted in the misinformation being used to tarnish the company’s reputation by certain sections of the media, for example the Stabroek News which carried a highly errone-

on pharmaceutical supplies

ous article in its Friday October 23, 2015 edition. Other articles also appeared in the Kaietuer News.

“Consequently, NEW GPC had offered to render assistance since the Report is usually deliberately used to malign the company. In the main, the AG has ignored this offer. When it did allow a request for documentation several years ago, the company’s submission was completely ignored. As a result, the faulty conclusion reached was printed repeatedly for several years and repeatedly used by certain sections in the media to tarnish NEW GPC’s image.”

The pharmaceutical manufacturer strongly feels that the Auditor General’s office should take time to acquaint and educate itself with the supply chain management, the pre-qualification objectives and most importantly, the practical issues of pharmaceutical procurement and supply in the Guyana context.

“The AG typically does not recognise the obvious fact that many contracts are meant to overlap from one year to the next. Selectively, the AG does not report where delivery occurs before payment is made and the fact that there are payments owing to NEW GPC by the MoH as far back as 2008.”

On the other hand, addressing the issue of the company reported-

ly supplying millions of dollars of drugs without the required shelf life, NEW GPC outlined that the AG office draws the shallow conclusion that it has breached the 18-month expiry requirements without considering that items are kept in NEW GPC storage for extended periods for the Health Ministry.

responsible under such circumstances? It is very unlikely that the AG would have considered that shelf life varies.”

Moreover, NEW GPC noted that some items, reagents for example, are made with as little as three months shelf life while other products vary from six months to two years. In the sup-

delivery is informed of such products”.

Back in 2013, NEW GPC had issued a detailed statement that sought to give clarity to a number of erroneous statements contained in the 2012 Report. The company had stated that in the course of providing information to a team from the Office of

Furthermore, the company explained that a more in-depth analysis would have revealed that there is a time gap from when the goods leave the manufacturing plant or comes off the wharf to the time the delivery note is signed and goods collected.

“Although the MoH has constructed its own warehouse at Diamond, NEW GPC is still storing container-loads of items at its Ruimveldt facility. How is NEW GPC

ply chain, the company said, one still has to factor in logistics such as ordering time, mobilisation and manufacturing time, shipping time, customs processing, customs delays and so on.

“NEW GPC does not hide expiry dates. The expiry date and batch number is listed for each item on every delivery note. In exceptional cases where products are manufactured with short expiry dates, the MoH/GPHC prior to

the Auditor General, the NEW GPC Chairman had indicated that if audit checks at the MoH and Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation found gaps in the latter’s documentation as it relates to transactions with the NEW GPC, the auditors could contact NEW GPC officials to fill the lacuna, as was done in the past.

“The NEW GPC would like to reiterate that, if the Office of the Auditor General has concerns now or in the future, the Corporation stands ready to provide whatever documentation or explanation is needed to bring clarity to the matter. And it would appreciate if such clarification could be sought before the annual reports are produced.” However, as the years went by, no such contacts were made by the AG office.

The company had highlighted the following points, which it said, appears to have escaped the auditors from the AG Office:

(1) Contracts, particularly the larger orders, sometimes overlap from a consumption point of view into the following financial year, hence, it is not unusual that some items are not collected by the MoH at the end of the fiscal year.

(3) The MoH takes in, or receives goods, based on their own predetermined consumption pattern and that means deliveries are staggered throughout the year.

(4) Staggering or phased delivery is also important and specifically sought when items carry short shelf life. So, for example, if an item has less than a year’s shelf life, such as diagnostic test kits, it is counterproductive to deliver all of it in one batch unless it can be utilised within that limited timeframe.

(5) Contracts are signed at different times during the year, and so for those signed in the later months, deliveries are actually intended to roll over into the following year.

(6) Bank guarantees are not meant to be valid for the original sum throughout the life of the contract. As deliveries are made, the risk is obviously decreasing and a bank guarantee can be, and is, often renewed for a lesser amount. And with the added emphasis on bank guarantees these days, the NEW GPC sometimes has to provide bank guarantees for stocks that were already delivered or are on hand and cannot be taken in due to space and other limitations at the MoH. The NEW GPC has never defaulted on any of its contracts to the MoH and GPHC.

(7) As a large supplier, there is always some amount of inventory on hand that is pending receipt by MoH personnel. The media often misinterprets and sometimes deliberately misrepresents the Auditor General’s statements and the NEW GPC gets condemnation while the stocks are sitting in the warehouse.

(8) The Auditor General seems unaware that the MoH has written to the NEW GPC in the past to cease or delay deliveries on account of their Diamond warehouse transition. This has resulted in NEW GPC storing a very large volume of items for the MoH and GPHC which have been recorded as delivered.

(2) National budgets are approved sometime between March and July and the quantities being ordered sometimes cater for this overlap.

Gecom announces readiness for Local Govt elections

The Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) has announced its preparedness for the holding of the long overdue Local Government Elections (LGE) before May of next year, confirming earlier reports by Minister of Governance Raphael Trotman.

Trotman last week had told Guyana Times International the elections, last held in 1994, was likely to be held in March next year, a date which Gecom Chairman Dr Steve Surujbally said was “not unreasonable.”

The Elections body was previously a little adamant about its ability to hold the elections because of some parliamentary hiccups. However, in a release to the media on Friday, the Commission declared it was in full election mode.

“This change in gear was caused by the issuance of several related Orders by the Minister of Communities, including Order No 23 of 2015 on Friday 23 October 2015 which identifies nine Towns and 62 NDCs where Local Government Elections will be held. This Order allows the Elections Commission to extract the voters list for the identified areas for Local Government Elections from the current National Register of Registrants (NRR)”, Gecom said in the statement.

It said the fully constituted Elections Commission with all members present, sitting at its statutory Meeting last September, unanimously decided that the qualifying date to be used for the ex-

traction of the voters’ lists will be 29 February 2016.

“As a consequence of the above, and given the current work plan of the Gecom Secretariat, Local Government Elections can be held no earlier than Monday 14 March 2016 and no later than 29 May 2016. The appointment of the specific date within this period as “Election Day” is still to be made by another Ministerial Order”.

Following the extraction of the Preliminary Lists of Voters for all the Local Government Areas, eligible voters are invited to fully use the Claims & Objections period to scrutinise, sanitise and update these lists.

The Commission said during the Claims and Objections period, which will commence on November 9, persons who will be 18 years and over as at 29 February 2016 will be allowed to make claims to have their registration recorded at the address in the constituency in which they live, either as new registrants or by transfer.

In addition, Gecom

noted, those persons will be allowed to make objections to entries in the list on which their names appear which they know do not represent persons who actually live in their respective constituencies.

Other transactions such as corrections to the recorded particulars of eligible voters and change of name, supported by the appropriate source documents, will also be permitted during this period.

To facilitate this C&O exercise a total of 153 offices will be established across all the Local Government areas identified for Local Government Elections. Lists will be posted in each electoral division in these areas in accordance with the relevant constituencies.

Speaking to Guyana Times International last week, Gecom Chairman Dr Surujbally said the Commission had already commenced ground work in preparation for the elections, and March was one of the months which came up for consideration during deliberations with the Communities Minister.

US grants permission for Dynamic Airways’ agri cargo service

Dynamic International Airways’ plan to introduce a direct agricultural cargo service to New York from Guyana has already gotten permission from the United States authorities and is currently awaiting approval from Guyana.

In addition to increasing the frequency of flights to Georgetown, the airline recently announced its intention to introduce the direct cargo service which will provide the capacity to boost agricultural exports.

Local representative of Dynamic Airways, Captain Gerry Gouveia

announced

stated that the Boeing 767 aircraft is spacious and has the capacity to store and transport 10 tonnes of fresh fish, vegetables, fruits, ground provisions and other raw produce.

He also noted that the business community can utilise the cargo service for approved imports. He said that this initiative will augur well for the local farmers who have had tremendous challenges in exporting their products. Gouveia had also explained the products will have to go through tight scrutiny and discussions are underway with Government to

have the necessary scanning equipment in place.

During a meeting with representatives of Dynamic Airways, Tourism Minister Catherine Hughes gave her commitment to collaborate at the Government level to facilitate this development.

Meanwhile, Guyanese in the Diaspora who intend on returning to Guyana to participate in the upcoming 50th independence anniversary celebrations are being advised to secure their travel bookings as early as possible with their chosen air service.

Jagdeo predicts major economic crisis

Guyana’s economy continue to plummet and the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government seemed unconcerned about stimulating economic activities to save the ailing economy.

Leader of the Opposition Bharrat Jagdeo, told a news conference last Friday that he has major concerns

about the economy and the fact that it is grinding to a halt. He warned that if this trend continues, the country will face serious economic hardships in the not too distant future.

“It’s not just reflected in growth rate, it’s reflected in lost income and lost jobs and my fear is that we may have several financial crises long before we have an economic crisis, particularly with

the currency and with our banking system,” said Jagdeo, a Russiatrained Economist.

Jagdeo said the coalition Government seems to have an obsession with spending, pointing to ongoing activities to clean the city, which he said is “wonderful and I support it”, but explained that cleaning is an expenditure.

“We need to see as a country, the same sort of

leader of the Opposition Bharrat Jagdeo

effort and support to productive sectors as well as the job creating sectors, you only can spend money if you earn it. My fear is they (the Government) are so big on the spending side that they are forgetting that after sometime if you don’t fix the

... as Guyana's economy continues downward trend

side that generates the revenue, you are going to run into greater difficulties,” he said.

The Finance Ministry in its recently released Mid-Year Report said Guyana recorded a 2.5 per cent decrease in its economic output for the first half of 2015, when compared to 2014. Missteps Jagdeo pointed to a number of missteps by the Government, which he thinks is causing the economy to flat line, including a recent decision by the Administration to increase the taxes on trucks, an important element in the bases on which to calculate the taxes.

“I have heard they have made conditions

for access the duty-free concession that they give to the mining sector, so onerous, it would not help particularly the small- and mediumscale miners. I urge that they consider reducing the royalty payment on a private scale, which we had done in the past when the sector was in crisis, but do it only for the local companies,” Jagdeo said. He also pointed to the Government’s “total withdrawal” from the rice industry and the fact that there is no concerted effort to look for markets for rice nor is there any effort to help farmers to get over the crisis by possibly giving dutyfree fuel to the rice farmers.

First Lady urges tougher action against rapists

Amid the prevailing situation in Guyana, First Lady Sandra Granger declared that there should be no more excuses when it comes to cases of carnal knowledge. Addressing the gathering at the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association (GRPA) Fundraising Dinner on Thursday last

at the Pegasus Hotel, First Lady Granger highlighted that far too many times, excuses are made for those responsible for statutory rape. She declared that this must come to an end.

“The Might and Majesty of the law must come into play. Sexual intercourse with a child under sixteen is statutory rape and all loopholes must be closed. I do not want to hear any excuses… like he didn’t know the girl was under aged. Yes we do have adolescent school boys fathering children but in many cases girl children are forced to have sex with older men or forced by family members to become a sex worker,” she stated.

Against that backdrop, the First Lady issued a call for all those responsible for this reprehensible act to be pursued and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

She recognised that in many cases, victims of these situations often lack the critical information on sexual reproductive health, including contraception and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and as a result, become vulnerable.

“This must be rectified,” she noted, as she

called for improved and equitable access to sexual reproductive health services for both young boys and girls.

Further, the First Lady underscored the prevalence of teenage pregnancy in the country, which she stated, is a result of the lack of information on sexual reproductive health.

“Guyana with Belize and Jamaica records the highest number of adolescent pregnancies in the Caribbean Community. There is a lack of information of sexual reproductive health and responsible parenthood especially for our young teenage girls. There is a lack of antenatal classes which, if provided, significantly improves the health outcomes for baby and mother. We must have education on SRH and family planning before any child becomes sexually active,” she said. She noted that with education on sexual reproductive health and family planning, young girls and women, are more informed and able to make choices which will not only assist them in their personal growth but will also save the country valuable resources.

The Rupununi River runs from near the Brazilian border into the Essequibo River. The river during the flood season actually shares a watershed with the Amazon.

During the rainy season, the river is connected to the Takutu River by the flooded Pirara Creek, draining the vast swamps of the Parima or Amaku Lake.

Early European explorers believed that the Rupununi floodplains were in fact the legendary Lake Parime. The legend

tells of El Dorado – that a king covered in gold lived in a magnificent city by the side of Lake Parime.

The Rupununi River in southwestern Guyana flows north toward the Iwokrama Mountains and in southwestern Guyana is a tributary of the Essequibo River.

Travelers on the Rupununi River in southwestern Guyana disembark at Ginep Landing to access the main highway from Georgetown to Brazil.

(Photos by David Stanley)

1913 –1945

As most Guyanese would know from school history classes, bauxite mining in Guyana had its genesis in George Mackenzie. Mackenzie was an American (though some historians say he was Scottish) who had arrived in the-then colony of British Guiana in 1913.

It has been said that in 1915, after telling land owners he was setting up an orange orchard, Mackenzie (said too to be a geologist) bought up large areas of land along the Demerara River.However, one year later he established the Demerara Bauxite Company, and in 1917 Guyana exported its first bauxite ore shipment out of an area known as Three Friends.

Three Friends was a sparsely populated village along the Demerara River, said to have a history going back to 1759 when a land survey established the village, named after its three founding residents – and former naval officers–: Messrs Spencer, Blount and John Dalgleish Patterson.

According to Guyana. org, Patterson, a contractor for the Dutch colony of Essequibo-Demerara

at the time, owned plantation Christianburg, which was a choice place for retirement of British naval officers after 1803.

Geological surveys showing the potential for bauxite in the region can be traced back to the late 19th century.

Bauxite was discovered in a belt stretching across the country from the North West District to the Corentyne River, with large deposits identified in the Pomeroon, the Essequibo around Bartica, Mackenzie, Ituni, Canje, and Orealla.

However, even after a government geologist, Sir John Hamilton, was able to identify the composition of the deposits

in 1910, it was not until George Mackenzie

founded the Demerara Bauxite Company that the resource was exploited.

A paper presented in London in 1916 on the occurrence of bauxite in Guyana generated such interest in the USA that the Aluminium Company of America (Alcoa) in the same year incorporated the Demerara Bauxite Company (DEMBA).

Shortly after, DEMBA secured leases on large areas of bauxitebearing land in the vicinity of the area purchased by Mackenzie.

In 1916 mining of bauxite started, and

formed by the influx of immigrants from various European countries, mainly Germany. The German settlers named the settlement Wismar after a German town of the same name.

Some of the Germans who settled there were originally recruited by the British Guiana government as part of an alternative labour supply for the sugar plantations, after most of the freed Africans refused to work there.

It became a larger settlement following emancipation when many former African slaves, who

trade picked up just before 1939 and particularly during the Second World War of 1939-1945 when the demand for aluminium was high.

The Berbice Bauxite Company, a subsidiary of American Cyanamid, started production of chemical grade bauxite for the manufacture of alum at Kwakwani up the Berbice River in 1942.

In 1943 DEMBA extended its operations to Ituni, about 35 miles south of Mackenzie, and by the end of the decade Guyana was the world's second largest producer,

hundreds of people from the coastal areas migrated there in search of employment.

Wismar, on the western bank of the Demerara River, was

Trefused to work on the sugar plantations, migrated to live there.

A slump in the bauxite industry between 1930 and 1936 caused much hardship, until

he Herstelling Women’s Organisation is a recently founded group focused on helping women. The centre operates at the Sumintra Singh Centre, located in the compound of the Herstelling NDC and Providence Nursery School, and strives to help unemployed and abused women. Even the centre in which they operate was built for promoting activities for developing the lives of women. Sumintra Singh, an advocate for the well-being of women and a resident of Herstelling, provided muchneeded funds to build the centre, hence the building being named in her honour.

The chairperson of the group, Durmilla Dwarka (known as Gaitree) explained in an interview with Sunday Times Magazine that the aims of the group are to promote cultural, recreational and other creative and healthy activities conducive to women’s development, and to educate women on their rights as well as to raise awareness on how they can play a meaningful role in society.

The organisation hopes to help women mentally, emotionally and physically.

accounting for 17 percent of world production. With the expansion of mining, the working population grew and most of the workers settled permanently in the area.

“We want women to be independent and strong and to know they are not toys. Currently, we offer free yoga classes for women. Our group’s plans are to have cake decorating, sewing, hair and nail and computer classes. If any agencies want to help in providing classes such as these we would be very grateful. We are presently focusing on providing help for the elderly and single parents,” Dwarka revealed.

Yoga classes are not restricted to women living in Herstelling. Women from other villages are encouraged to join. Classes are held on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 6pm to 7pm.

Dwarka also urges persons to join her group on October 25 for a grand culture show at the Centre and an afternoon of fun, games and family entertainment. Then on October 31, a team of 15 doctors will be at the centre to test for diabetes, cancer and cholesterol, and provide other free medical services. All are welcome.

For more information, contact Dwarka on 265-3307.

Helping educate Guyana

In 1977, Brian O’Toole, newly qualified as an educational psychologist, travelled to Guyana with a group of UK youths, to assist the Guyana Baha’i community in its outreach activities. This was the beginning of Brian’s love story with Guyana.

Spending two months and falling in love with Guyana and its people spurred Brian to complete his teacher training course the following year and return to Guyana in 1978 to seek employment.

After three months, he secured a job at Lillian Dewar Teacher Training College in Kingston. The three years spent there were some of the happiest times of his 37-year stay. Students, from the all over Guyana invited him, and his new wife Pam, (two weeks before Brian’s departure from the UK) to visit and enjoy the legendary “Guyanese hospitality”.

Weekends spent with students of the teacher training college in the late 70’s and early 80’s forged life-long friendships, and afforded the O’Tooles a wonderful experience of life in the coastal villages: from fishing expeditions, to fruit picking, to crossing flooded trenches on narrow (bouncy) planks, washing clothes

in piranha infested waters, cooking on a fireside, learning to clap roti and clean fish – skills that over the years changed the two big-city dwellers into seasoned Guyanese and helped cushion the challenges faced as Guyana in the late 1970s was a far cry from Brian and Pam’s homeland in the UK.

Work at Lillian Dewar Teacher Training College was challenging but rewarding, with more than 300 students from a wide variety of backgrounds. Brian taught psychology and supported the students as they undertook their teaching practice under the stern, yet loving eye of Principal Mavis Pollard.

Education beginnings

In 1981 Brian began working at the University of Guyana, lecturing in psychology. During his time there he initiated the Certificate in Special Education course, an extremely popular programme, supported by funding from the Canadian International Development Agency.

During this time Brian also volunteered at the Georgetown Public Hospital. At one visit he realised there were a number of abandoned children living and growing up in the Children’s Ward. As they were not attending school, this seemed a perfect group for practical experience for his students in the field of remedial education. With the help of the students from the

Quality people…

IUniversity, the 15 children were gradually accepted into regular schools.

In 1984, while, attending a conference on special educational needs in Jamaica, Brian listened to an enthralling presentation on community-based rehabilitation that was to change his course of service for the next 15 years.

Based on a World Health Organization model that attempted to demystify rehabilitation techniques, the Guyana programme became a world leader in the field. Articles, books, videos and manuals written from knowledge gained on the Guyana CBR Programme were widely read and followed, forging a path for similar programmes worldwide.

During these years, Pam was assisting the Guyana Office of Social and Economic Development of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’i of Guyana with the establishment of almost 100 “bottom-house libraries” throughout Guyana, which were made possible through a donation of more than 40,000 books from the Toronto area Baha’i communities.

From this initiative and the realisation for the need for increased literacy skills in the library users, coupled with the publishing of the Jenning’s Report that up to 89 per cent of out-ofschool youths were “functionally illiterate”, attention began to focus on a remedial reading programme.

From fledgling activities within nine Baha’i communities, in 1996 the Wings of Words Programme was conceptualised and funded by the Baha’i international community with additional funding from the Guyana Book Foundation, the German Embassy, the European Union, CIDA, British AID, and UNICEF, among others.

In the late 1980s, the O’Tooles, now comprising Brian, Pam and their

…for LGE

t would seem that at long last – after 21 years –enough time for a newborn to become an adult!!

– Guyana’s going to have Local Government Elections (LGE). After 21 years – this Eyewitness doesn’t give a hoot what anyone says – very few citizens know what that means, except maybe our local Rip Van Winkles who’d been sleeping for those 21 years!

But even more exciting than the elections themselves will be the foreplay between the members of the APNU/AFC coalition. Are we going to have a new “Cummingsburg Accord?” Inquiring minds want to know! The threshold issue would be whether to go into those elections separately or together or with local non-political folks or not. Decisions…decisions …decisions!

Right now, with Salary-gate refusing to go away – it might be more of a case of if they don’t hang together , they’ll all hang separately! And there are those who believe they’ll all be swinging in the wind even if together. If “all politics is local”, then LGE are as granular as you can get.

LGE aren’t just about bridges across rivers where the leaders can BS for years about “financial models”. LGE are about drains that are clogged with sewage and if those elected don’t get them cleaned – and now! – then the people know whose house they can throw rocks at!

The coalition’s used up all the “trust” they’d been given on May 11. In fact, nowadays people are talking about 5/11 in the same tones Americans use when they mention 9/11 – a disaster on an epic scale. And it was because of this attitude that there was that collective snort by the entire country when Trotman begged, “Trust us”!! Wasn’t thunder!l

But there’s another problem with LGE: can Guyana afford this additional level of bureaucracy that demands “quality people” for thousands and thousands of jobs. Their incentive wouldn’t necessarily be from the massive 50 per cent salary increases the Executive bestowed on itself. Naaaah… that’s peanuts compared to the 100 per cent given to the Regional Executive Officers (REOs).

And that’s only considering salaries. We can’t forget the duty-free car that all regional officials would be demanding to see their “constituents” –like their hero the PM. And then also, if the said PM Nagamootoo couldn’t stand having Basil Williams the AG – getting more money than he, does anyone really think the Regional Chairmen will accept less than the REOs?

Not in this life, baby! And there can be no turning back in this new movement to only hire “quality people”.

And we know if these “quality people” don’t get paid like quality people, they’d be “thiefing” right, left and centre! And we can’t have that, can we? …and quality tactics

While democracy might be just a couple of hundreds of years old, the art of governance is probably the second oldest profession in the world. So the modern ruler has lots of examples and models he (or she?) can fall back on in a pinch. Or in a spot of bother!

Burnham had his hero, Machiavelli and it’s said he carried around the latter’s “The Prince” wherever he went. Wheeling, dealing, betrayal and treachery as he looked out for number one were his guiding principles (if we can use that word!!) While this Government’s stacked with followers of the Kabaka, it seems they’ve gone further back for their model.

What we have today is the “bread and circus” of the Romans – but with an important twist. APNU/ AFC has done away with the bread and is only holding circuses.

No salary raise (bread) beyond five per cent –but a “celebration” every day and all year round. Inauguration, Independence…Balls, BBQ, whatever.

Life’s a circus, baby!

…in sugar

Seems that sugar workers want to show they’re “quality people” too. And like their Prime Minister, want to get paid accordingly. So they’re out on strike.

But they should know that all workers aren’t the same to this Government – and they might be digging their own graves.

The Shaping of Guyanese Literature

The horror genre in Guyanese literature

By PetamBer Persaud

Move over Frankenstein (Mary Shelly/ UK)

Move over Jekyll and Hyde (Robert Louis Stevenson/UK)

Move over Dracula (Bram Stoker/UK)

Move over Harry Potter (J. K. Rowling/ UK)

Move over England

Make way for Guyana…

Make way for creatures from the black water creeks of Guyana, South America; make way for the Massacooramaan Man and the Fairmaid…

Imagine Massacooramaan - a huge hairy manlike creature suddenly bursting forth from black water creek wreaking havoc on people who invade his sanctuary, especially pork knockers prospecting for gold and diamonds.

Imagine the fairmaid,which is not unlike the more familiarly known mermaid, luring young men to wealth and eventual death which is a result of disclosing his source of good fortune.

Make way for the creatures from the jungles of Guyana; make way for Kanaima…

Imagine this Kanaima - an evil shape shifting spirit, changing into any form to get to his victims, inhabiting humans to carry out acts of revenge or allowing humans to invite him into their bodies to kill, main and destroy.

Make way for the masters of the night sky; make way for the Ole Higue… Imagine an old woman with the ability to shed her skin, turn into a ball of fire, take to air, hunting for her food. Her food? Human blood – the blood of babies.

And just imagine the power of this Ole Higue can be stymied by simple circular chalk markings or a line of rice grains. Unable to count the grains, she turns away or unable to break the circle, she is captured.

Make way for the masters of the earth –the Moongazer, mostly seen on a moonlight night. What is his character? He is tall, tall enough to straddle the land like how a rainbow is seen. All who passes beneath and below are in danger of being crushed.

This creature drives fear into man, woman and child, disrupting their normal routine of going to the latrine, drawing water from the canal, and tending to their crops and livestock.

Make way for the masters of the sugar plantation - the ghostly Dutchman riding a white horse at night,keeping guard over his treasure buried under the silk cotton tree; he is sometimes accompanied by a ghostly white lady on ghostly white horse.

Make way for the man in a bottle - Baccoo. Baccoo is a grotesque little man in a bottle ‘that’ could be a good servant or a bad master, yes, just like fire or water. If you treat him well, and he doesn’t ask for much –some bananas and some milk, on time, every day.

Bahamas makes bid to become first Caribbean nation on UN Human Rights Council

NASSAU, Bahamas - The Bahamas is set to make history by becoming the first Englishspeaking Caribbean country to sit on the United Nations Human Rights Council.

“There is the Latin American and Caribbean group but no one from the Caribbean group has ever sat on the Council. We think it is time,” Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Fred Mitchell said ahead of the vote at the UN headquarters in New York that follows a vigorous campaign by the Bahamas.

“We think, more importantly, that we have something to contribute and, amongst other things, we believe that the world’s interest in migration at the moment is a subject to which The Bahamas can contribute. We experience thousands of economic migrants coming to our shores without leave every year and it is important from the Caribbean perspective on these issues to find their way into this world forum.”

Treat him well and you would be rewarded lots of material wealth – money, jewellery, fine clothing …

Treat him bad, he goes bananas. And the same things he gave you would be taken away. But that’s not all he can torture you by stoning your house, breaking windows, send things crashing to the ground, sending you mad. He has the ability to disappear, at will….

Well, it was a pact you made with him, knowing the outcome.

Make way for the masters of the tomb –jumbie popping in anytime to haunt the living daylight out of you.

Make way for the masters of the womb –the churile and the rakhas….

A churile is the spirit of a pregnant woman who died during pregnancy or childbirth; the spirit is depicted as a woman dressed in white, her hair dishevelled, carrying the foetus in arm, wailing in the dead of night. Miscarriages in the village are blamed on her and physical harm on her husband, if he was bad to her.

A raakhas is a new born, a killing machine,

which is depicted with black complexion, grotesque head, long hair, long finger and toe nails, attacking and killing its parents and those nearby, if not recognized and killed at birth. If it escapes, it continues to kill but its terror is shortlived, dying naturally within hours or days.

There are many small story-like treatments of this horror genre in our literature but it has

not evoked the booklength treatment since Mittelholzer’s “My Bones and my Flute”, a novel published in 1955. It is time to do something – before the midnight hour chimes; before the witching hour overtakes us…

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

The country’s campaign for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council was run “almost exclusively” by diplomats under the age of 40, most of them younger than 30.

And Mitchell said the campaign was intentionally “a young diplomat’s campaign”.

If The Bahamas secures the seat, the minister said, gender equality would be at the top of the agenda.

“The government stands behind the amendments to the constitution to give women full rights in this country; to allow single men to pass on their citizenship to their children. The government believes that women should enjoy equal rights, equal pay and equal pay for work of equal value,” he said.

But even without a win, he said, the experience would have given the young diplomats “the opportunity to punch above their weight, and test the global waters on the influence and impact which our small country has on the world stage”. (Caribbean News)

This week's Crossword

Cart before the horse…

…on training

Your Eyewitness has gone through this before… but you, dear reader, must bear with him. He doesn’t seem to be getting through to the man at the top – who presumably calls the shots – but for sure, with whom the buck stops. “Nonplussed” was what you might call yours truly after he espied Pressie once more exhorting some impressionable youths – this time “Presidential Youth Awardees” –to get trained in skills “for employment”.

This time it was “IT” training”, which followed “STEM” subjects in High School and Vocational and, Agricultural, etc etc. Pressie however, studiously avoided training to become “quality” politicians and become the highest paid workers in the land. And this is what’s bugging most young people today. How can they take all these exhortations to burn the midnight oil – or the back-lit screen as the case may be – when in the various service sectors all they’ll end up with is a minimum wage with 5% salary increases?

Being a politician though, means just talking from notes handed to you, hugging some buxom women, (female politicians can’t be seen hugging up men, however – they’d be called “bad-women”) wining on some stages, kissing babies and pandering to the worst prejudices and stereotypes in your “constituency”. And when your party’s elected, voila!! – you become an expert in any area of governance as you become the Minister. And it’s all because you’re a “quality” person. The knowledge about the subject area you’re in charge of, is presumably going to ooze into your little grey cells through some prose of osmosis or diffusion.

Let’s face it – it’s not just the lower animal kingdom that reacts to inducements that tickle their fancies. And in Guyana today, when a Minister of Government – with absolutely no experience in, say, Housing- can become head of the largest sector that was carrying the entire country’s growth trajectory for the last few years, what incentive is there for kids to take up Civil Engineering?

This

week's Puzzle

But there’s the other angle to the obsession with “training”. And we ask once again: “Training for what? Where are the jobs?” The Government really thinks that if people get trained that’s why investors are going to rush in? Even though it’s very late in the day – let’s clue these “economic advisors” who never owned or ran businesses.

Businesses invest to create jobs when there are markets for the “goods” or services they’ll produce. To plunk their hard-earned cash into the businesses, the government can’t just exhort them to “move from trading to manufacturing”. Government has to create the enabling environment that lowers the risk of the businesses tanking.

Like providing cheap energy for manufacturing — and not in Tumatumari.

…on separation of church and state

This Eyewitness must commend the new Minister of Education for finally – on the cusp of fifty years of independence and forty years after the abolition of “dual church/state control” of schools – to tell headteachers in schools they can’t insist on only Christian prayers be recited. Isn’t this the height of arrogance in this 21st Century – to coerce kids to worship in another religion’s practices?

We remind doubters of Art 145 (3) of the Constitution: “Except with his own consent (or, if he is a person who has not attained the age of eighteen years, the consent of his guardian), no person attending any place of education shall be required to receive religious instruction or to take part in or attend any religious ceremony or observance if that instruction, ceremony or observance relates to a religion which is not his own.

Let’s finally place the Constitution before the prejudices of headteachers in front.

…on equity and debt

This Eyewitness is happy former PM Sam Hinds took time off to explain the difference between “debt” and “equity” to the “financial analyst” of the Stabber News.

But since this has to do with the Marriott – a “Jagdeo Project” – does it matter to those funny fellas?

Emphasizing research, the study of different cultures and the way people interact, the Amerindian Research Unit (ARU), previously known as the Amerindian Language Project, provides vital information on the local indigenous culture.

As an integral part of the division of the Faculty of Education and Humanities at the University of Guyana, the ARU evolved from the Amerindian Languages Project, which was started in the 1970s with an interest in linguistic research.

It began small in 1977 as the Amerindian Language Project, created by Dr Walter Edwards, to document indigenous languages spoken in Guyana; this enabled him to complete three Amerindian language dictionaries.

“Dr Edwards had researchers go into the fields to collect information on the different Amerindian languages…affording them the opportunity to complete dictionaries for the Akawaio, Arecunas and Warau languages – all of which is available in the Unit today,” recalled anthropologist Jennifer

Wishart, a founding member and researcher at ARU.

Today, ARU is a multidisciplinary unit providing an academic programme, general and specific information, archival documentation, publications, research assistance, consultancy and promotion of the interests of the indigenous peoples of Guyana in several areas.

“Janette Bulkan was the coordinator of the Unit when it became the Amerindian Research Unit which evolved out of the Language Project. She, along with the late Dr Desrey Fox [et al], expanded the research area from just language to other fields of Amerindian life,” Wishart added.

ARU is continuously involved in collaborative research in the field of anthropology and archaeology, providing guest lecturers for interested groups, collecting artefacts and offering a service course - Introduction to Indigenous Peoples of Guyana (AST 1102).

AST 1102 is a course that introduces students to the field of anthropology and archaeology and “captures the way of life of indigenous people both of the past and the present”.

“We review a lot of literature on previous documentation for ethnographic work for anthropology in the 1970s and 1980s. Today, we have field sessions where students get to look at videos, interact with indigenous people and actually visit these indigenous communities,” explained archaeologist Louisa Daggers, AST 1102 course lecturer and coordinator of ARU.

Catering for more than 60 students from the faculties of Environmental Studies, Tourism and Forestry, the course covers the indigenous ways of life: past and present, myths, legends, languages and much more are covered for Guyana, the Caribbean and South America.

“Although the AST Course is just tailored for those three categories [Environmental, Tourism and Forestry students] during the semester, interested persons also have the opportunity to apply for the Denis Williams Summer School of Anthropology, for a more hands on, shorter version [of the course],” noted Daggers.

Daggers also mentioned, “sometimes we overlook the significance or importance of things we may call simple…we learn to appreciate the simple

things in life and also gain a chance to appreciate other cultures [through this course]”.

The research unit produces a newsletter, ARU egarei (ARU, the Warau word for “bitter cassava” as well as the acronym for the research unit, and egarei, the Akawaio word for “news”), where reports on excavations is published, current activities or achievements of ARU and factual titbits in the field.

Prior to the newsletter, the Unit “worked with medicinal plants and foods, a variety of things all of which were either published on its bulletin or in an occasional paper”. Moreover, ARU boasts a library where a copy of all these documents can be found as well as numerous books on archaeology and anthropology.

“We collect artefacts and items, which are used for display as much as it is used to enhance the course, so when you talk about the matapee, for instance, the students can see one,” Wishart outlined.

Wishart and Daggers are working towards establishing an Associate Degree in Anthropology; a course not based on the indigenous way of life alone but anthropology on the whole, including various cultures, languages, bio anthropology – just to name a few.

“It is a wonderful field. It changes your view on daily life because it is the study of people; it is not a big field in Guyana but it is around the world. Particularly in human resources and analysis or any field where you work with people and understanding human behaviours and attitudes,” Daggers said.

Anthropology helps in understanding cultures and cultural influence, what is culture, where it comes from and how it develops. The applicability for anthropology is vast, encompassing the health sector, public sector, marketing, human resources, and other areas.

A country for old men

By Ryhaan Shah

With its crowd of cronies of Harmon, Jordan, Holder, Roopnaraine, Felix, Greenidge, Thomas, Scotland, and Mayor Hamilton Green, all led by President David Granger, the Administration does make it appear that this is a country for old men even though statistically our population is more young than old.

With the PNC out of power for over two decades, many of the old boys – and literally so – are past due their rewards and awards and have to be accommodated by way of lucrative positions tied to huge pay hikes, perks, and handsome retirement packages.

Green was bestowed with the country’s highest honour, the Order of Roraima, and to not much public outrage either. It would seem that under the current historical revisionism his role in the 1960s’ violence is being swept under the carpet as is the rumour that just won’t go away that his wife, the brilliant Shirley Field-Ridley, was allegedly hurriedly cremated to cover a crime most heinous. Yet, none of the men, women and groups who claim to stand against all violence against women protested his award.

Many people are, however, scrambling to take the moral high ground. Even Messrs Anand Goolsarran and Christopher Ram are being allowed their hypocrisy of being part of Government’s corruption while speaking out against it at the same time.

Where everyone expected the flush of newness to bring hope and optimism, the country stands dejected by Government’s policies and actions. Already hope of any good has fled and the Administration has failed to gain any moral authority to censure anyone for anything.

Granger is clearly on the path to resurrecting the many failed policies once dictatorially imposed by his master and mentor President Forbes Burnham. Being an army man, it is no surprise that he puts much store into strengthening the military. This is where he is comfortable.

The People’s Militia and Cadet Corps are being revived. Given that Guyana can hardly ever counter an attack from Venezuela, the only reason for increasing the number of Government boots on the ground might well be to keep us, the people, fearful and in check.

Burnham created the GDF to quash any internal revolt and Granger’s move might have a similar preparatory agenda. The increased militarisation would also employ many of the PNC’s young supporters, ie, African Guyanese, and if the National Service is resuscitated that

would absorb even more.

The return to the failed Burnhamite playbook is hardly surprising, given that the average age of a large and important component of this PNC-led Government is 70 plus. This, while many capable young professionals and politicians, no doubt bristling with energy and new ideas, are overlooked.

With the economy tanking, the business and investment sectors are not likely to make any commitments to new or expanded business activity. Jobs will suffer and migration will increase again. Guyana stands to lose even more of its farmers, professionals, youths and businesspeople.

Suriname can now export rice to Venezuela under PetroCaribe deal because farmers from Black Bush Polder who fled Burnham’s Guyana in the 1970s and settled in Suriname helped to develop that country’s fledgling rice sector.

For Granger, however, rice along with sugar, bauxite, timber, are all old hat. In a recent address to students at President’s College, he said he grew up with those and that Guyana has not moved forward since. He and his ministers continue to talk about innovation and manufacturing without ever disclosing any plan or commitment to creating the enabling environment for such activities to flourish.

They are still to say what incentives will be offered the business sector to facilitate this vision. Perhaps, the oil find is to provide cheap energy?

Government should, however, err on the side of caution. Oil prices have dropped because many countries, considering cost and environmental factors, are looking at alternative energy sources. No one can predict what the future will look like.

Sugar was once king. Social media has revolutionised how the world communicates and a still unforeseen innovation in cheap and ready energy – research into this is always ongoing –could change the oil industry overnight.

Grasping at what might be while forsaking what has served well could prove foolhardy and Guyana suffered many foolhardy schemes – including manufacturing ones – during the PNC’s last go-round.

Government’s responsibility to the next and future generations demands vision, foresight, and right thinking and actions. But the “Palms old men” at the helm can hardly be expected to do more than wax nostalgic and relive their “glorious” past.

Aged wisdom can be a good guide but to give it this much preference over youthful energy could prove detrimental to our progress.

Carlus Persaud, born April 30, 1998 in Georgetown, is a dancer and soon-to-be actor in the highly anticipated locally-produced drama series, “WHO?” Persaud completed his secondary education at Bishop's High School and is currently pursuing CAPE at the same institution. When he’s taking a break from school, Persaud is either dancing or developing his acting skills. He is a member of the Euphoria Dance Crew, also known as EDC Movement, and is fond of hip hop moves, although he can perform other dance styles. He started to dance five years ago when he entered high school and has been passionate about it ever since. Persaud is thrilled about his role in “WHO?” in which he is cast as ‘Chris Da Silva’. The young actor and dancer plans to either attend the University of the West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago or the University of Guyana, pursuing a degree in civil engineering. His role model is Chris Brown, but his mother is his inspiration. Persaud said she struggled to raise and mould himself and his siblings into well-rounded individuals. He advises youths to “be prepared to fail…be prepared to be mistreated and misunderstood”, however he urges them to be determined, humble and dedicated.

saying, ‘If you love what you do, you will never have to work another day in your life’. I love what I

Inspired by her Guyanese culture of caring for people, US-based Guyanese nurse Zorena InshanJagnandan decided to open her own business to provide health care and other much-needed services.

do, that is being a nurse,” Zorena declared.

For more information on the

Zorena provides,

In an interview with Sunday Times Magazine , Zorena said her mother was from Dundee, Mahaicony and her father from Golden Fleece, West Coast Berbice. Zorena lived her early life in Foulis, West Coast Berbice.

“I said to myself that I can do this better; that people deserve better health care treatment. In Guyana when people get old they stay home and family take care of them. I wanted to incorporate what I knew from my homeland into what I wanted to do for people in the US,” noted the nurse.

This passion, which was inspired by her Guyanese culture, saw the birth of her company, Angel Hands Home Health. It is a home

“The place I call home now is not my only home; the other one is called Guyana, from which I will never forget. I migrated to America when I was little and lived in Queens Village, New York,” she recalled.

There are many things that motivated Zorena to get into the medical field, but, she said, caring for people is the main one.

“I remember when I was little and use to visit my grandparents in Dundee. My grandma, who is in her 90s now, would deliver babies, circumcise boys, pull “nara” and “pallet” back into place; so you can say that it’s in the blood,” she disclosed.

Zorena’s calling to become a nurse also stemmed from taking care of her daughter, Jasmin, who was born prematurely.

To become a nurse, Zorena attended Penn State. After graduating, Zorena worked in a nursing home where she observed how patients were being cared for.

health agency aimed at providing medical needs for people who want to stay home instead of going to a nursing home.

“That’s why I opened a home health agency. I want to help people. People/patients feel more comfortable and secure being cared for at home. Many patients want to stay at home and studies have shown that. For instance, I had one patient who had cancer and wanted to be home with her family. We were able to grant her wish through the services I provide. In stressful times, like sickness, people should be in a relaxed environment,” she pointed out.

A driven individual, Zorena is also the co-owner of Jasmin Jewellery with her husband David Jagnandan in Tannersville, Pennsylvania.

The medical provider, and entrepreneur, plans to expand her services to other areas, and credits her success to her husband, who wholly supports all her endeavours.

“I also believe in the

Queen’s, Queen’s Forever!

Iusually try to steal a short visit home during the semester. Whenever the slightest opportunity arises (such as a long weekend or cancelled lectures), I grab hold of it and quickly make plans to whisk myself away to Guyana. Happily, the gods decided that one such happy opportunity present itself this week. So here I am back home – snug as a bug in a rug.

My time away from home has really shown me how much home and family mean to me. It’s also proven to me that my heart is right here in

“There is a kind of magicness about going far away and then coming back all changed” – Kate Douglas Wiggin, New Chronicles of Rebecca

Guyana and it’ll really take some doing for that to change. I’m enjoying Trinidad and the med school experience but Guyana will always be my home.

Similarly, I like visiting other countries, but I soon start itching to return home.

This visit, I decided to make some time to drop by my alma mater, Queen’s College, to check in on how things were going. I was so thrilled when I read that we’ve now gotten two of the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) awards. I’ve long thought that we need to place more emphasis on CAPE than we’ve previously been giving it. It really is long overdue. CAPE is a whole new ballgame from CSEC. So believe me

when I say that the achievements of our awardees this year are truly something to be saluted. I hope that going forward, Queens and the rest of our senior secondary schools place more emphasis at CAPE. And it does not hurt that the top awardee is from good, old Queens!

Returning to QC was simultaneously wonderful and strange – a journey into the past and the future. It was amazing to see my old teachers and the familiar faces of students I knew but it was a bit disconcerting to see so many new faces both in the staff room and in the classrooms. QC was both exactly the same and so very, very different from how I remembered it.

It was a stark reminder that time

marches on inexorably. Was it Zeno who said that you can’t put your toe into the same river twice? There are now a whole bunch of new children who just entered the school and have no idea about things that happened at QC during the time my friends and I were there. And there are now so many new memories being made at QC that I’ll have no clue about. But I do believe that each batch must push the envelope that has been handed over to them by those who came before.

Some days it feels like just the other day I was strolling down QC’s corridors and other days it feels like all of that was a whole lifetime ago.

There’s something quite special about returning to one’s high school. In many ways it’s like returning home. Entering at 11 and leaving at 17, the high school years are definitely the years during which we really grow up. And for my part, I can’t think of any place I’d have rather have those experiences than at QC.

Fideles Ubique Utiles

Quality adjustments

Satiricus was surprised the Government wasn’t telling the citizenry the truth as to why they took the bigtime salary increase. Satiricus knew TrotMan had confessed the decision “wasn’t an easy one”. “Gosh darn it!” exploded Satiricus, “You should think so!! It just wasn’t fair!” Satiricus knew that the truth was never going to be told and this was because all these men and women in the new Government were “quality” people.

And quality people didn’t let on when they did noble deeds. This was part and parcel of being “quality”. When TrotMan had been asked to describe the 50 per cent salary heist hike, he’d said honestly, “Fifty per cent is not astronomical, a hundred per cent is astronomical; 50 per cent is fair and five per cent is shitty.”

Now Satiricus knew that people knew what TrotMan said sounded bad. But that was a measure of the quality in TrotMan who was very much a quality person. Quality people could bear any burden so as to serve the people.

Satiricus hoped all the quality people in the Government wouldn’t be angry with him for telling the truth about their noble deed. And the truth was that ordinary people could not understand abstract ideas.

During the election campaign, all the quality people now in Government had told the people that all they wanted to do was to make the people “live the good life”. But every where they went, people would ask them “Is wuh is good life?”

So after the election all the quality people, who were now members of the quality Cabinet sat around their quality table with Pressie as Chair, not Naga Man, who didn’t know how to “chair” to decide what to do.

“I know wha we can do,” said Naga Man as he put up his hand like the bright quality boy in the class.

“Wuh?” asked Pressie, who could chair meetings, sharply. “De people don’t know wha is de “good life”.” said Naga Man, “They not quality people. So let we tek a 50 per cent raise and den we can SHOW dem wha is de good life!”

“That is simply brilliant Naga,” said Pressie, “But it’s not easy living the good life. You, Naga, will have to spend Gy$1.7 million in salary and Gy$400,000 in perks even though the Government will pay for your house, food, clothes, car, chauffeurs, maids, guards and first class tickets to fly to Texas and Toronto. You think is easy spending all that money when you are a quality person and you don’t have any expenses?”

“It’s a dirty job, Pressie, but somebody got to do it.” said Naga Man. “I am willing to tek de money so the people will learn how to live de good life of quality people. But all of us will have to be willing to join me in this sacrifice. If you willing, show yuh quality hand!”

Pressie interrupted. “Naga, is how many times I tell you. I have the burden to chair this Cabinet meeting. All in favour say Aye!”

“Aye!!!!” Screamed the quality Cabinet in unison.

“The quality Ayes have it!” Said Pressie.

New crime fighting

Satiricus could see that most Guyanese weren’t prepared to change. He was thinking about crime and more to the point, about fighting crime. When he was a lad, the papers were filled with reports of “crack crime sleuths” rushing to crime scenes and before you could say “boo!” they’d “cracked” the case. As a callow youth, Satiricus figured that’s why they called the detectives “crack”. It was NOT because they were “cracked” in the head, or they “cracked” prisoners’ skulls.

But today was a new day! Wasn’t it? Why did people expect the new Caped Crusader Rum Jhaat to fight crime the old way? So what if the old way did solve crimes? If the Jhaat didn’t try new things, they’d be snickering at him during Cabinet meetings. (Which his Buddy Naga Man still wasn’t qualified to chair.) This was a modern 21st Century Cabinet that he was part of. Back when the Police Force had been formed, folks didn’t live no much beyond 40 years or so.

There had been so much progress and today more than three-quarters of the Cabinet were more than 70 years old. They made fun of him because he hadn’t touched 60 yet. Called him “kid” and “bai”. Like in “Bring me a drink, kid”, when they were hanging out. Anyhow, Rum Jhaat swore he’d show them. Actually his swear was, “Dem guh gat fuh haul dey ass when I done wid dis crime business”. The first thing he did was to change the name of his crime fighting outfit. “Wha de rass is “Home Affairs? Sound like a Guyana “Desperate Housewives”. Satiricus thought that was very witty.

He figured that “National Security” sounded much more macho, which suited Rum Jhaat’s unshaven mug. Then in a master stroke, which no one gave him enough credit for, Rum Jhaat imposed the 2am curfew on bars. What that had to do with crime? That was where the Jhaat’s genius kicked in. Being a Hindu astrologer who could determine the planetary alignment for Divali, he knew that 2am was the inauspicious hour when Mars was on top of Venus.

This was when most criminals hatched their nefarious plans. All good people would be sleeping so there were no mental barrier to evil plans. Until now! Then there was the gun amnesty the Jhaat introduced. More than three quarters of the guns were from the interior where folks hunted for meat. But the Jhaat knew that a life of crime and criminality was a slippery slope. “Today they huntin’ for labba. But what about tomorrow when dem na gat no more labba?” thought Rum Jhaat. “Some a demna use fuh eat people long time?” Rum Jhaat wondered to himself. He patted himself on the back. Crime would soon be a thing of the past!

Two charged over murder of Tobago couple

Trinidad and Tobago - One of the men charged with the murder of British-born attorney Richard Wheeler and his wife Grace, accused police investigators of torture when he appeared in court yesterday.

Murder accused Naajip Hills 23, a national of St Vincent, told Tobago magistrate CherylAnne Antoine that police officers squeezed his testicles during interrogation. He also claimed that he was coerced by investigators to ignore his constitutional rights. Police prosecutor Marvin Campbell denied the allegations.

Hills, who has been living in Tobago for the past three years, and Andre Romeo, 29, a Tobagonian, from Mt Pleasant, both construction workers, were represented by Legal Aid attorneys Kern Edwards and Romeo was represented by legal aid attorney Tara Thompson.

They are accused of murdering the couple between October 18 and October 21, at their home at Riseland Gardens, Carnbee. Richard Wheeler, 72, was chopped multiple times while his 67-yearold wife’s throat was slit.

Richard was a senior partner of the law firm Lex Caribbean, based in Tobago, while his wife worked as a real estate agent at Island Investments, in the island.

The police file against the two men is to be sent to Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, so

that a State attorney can be appointed in the matter. The men are scheduled to reappear in court on November 24.

The courtroom was packed with employees from Lex Caribbean and Island Investments and

Helping educate Guyana...

two children, left Guyana for a year to pursue further education, with Brian obtaining his PhD and Pam a Masters in Special Education. Although the time spent studying “abroad” was enjoyable, the family was delighted to return to their adopted homeland.

School of the Nations

In 1996 Dr. O’Toole visited the heavily populated city of Lome in what was then Togoland, Gulf of Guinea. In the midst of this bustling city sat a school where the children of rival and antagonistic political leaders studied side by side, serving as an example to their parents. Inspired by this experience, within six months after Dr. O’Toole returned to Guyana, School of the Nations was born.

Armed with the support and encouragement of many excited parents who had caught the vision, believed in the possibilities, taken the risk of withdrawing their children from even the most prestigious schools in Georgetown, School of the Nations opened its doors twenty years ago in Parade Street, Kingston, providing educational opportunities from nursery to Form Four, with an initial enrolment of 186.

During the 13 years spent at this location, the school grew and expanded to Fifth and Sixth Form and tertiary education, offering diploma courses in business from Cambridge University. As the years passed, the school decided to offer Cambridge University’s International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) qualifications instead of CSEC and

CAPE qualifications.

The make-up of the student body is diverse, with more than 28 nationalities and children of all religious and social groups attending. The school, parents and wellwishers offer almost 30 full or part scholarships to students of diverse backgrounds.

Shortly after the school opened, the manager of Caribbean Molasses offered a scholarship to a student from the interior who, after graduating, went on to teach in her Amerindian community. Dr. Sengupta, a visiting dental surgeon, also offered five-year scholarship support for two students from Tiger Bay who have excelled in the programme. German’s Restaurant offers daily lunches to these scholarship students.

The move from Parade Street six years ago was the cause of some concern to parents, unsure how the school’s proximity to Tiger Bay would affect the functioning of this peaceful school. However, their fears proved to be unfounded and the move resulted in greater opportunities for service and outreach, with Sixth Formers and teachers from School of Nations beginning a mentoring programme four afternoons a week for more than 40 children each year in the neighbouring Tiger Bay community.

This project is funded by Mings Products & Services LTD, New Thriving Restaurant, Gafoors and numerous parents, and allows afternoon and holiday classes for the children of the neighbourhood in the areas of literacy and numeracy, chess, computer, music, art, and manners and morals. Healthy

snacks are also provided each day.

From the first diploma courses offered by Nations University more than ten years ago, the population has grown to more than 1,000 students studying diploma, advanced diploma, degree and master programmes in business, management, law and accounting.

“The motivation behind opening School of Nations was to try and put some principles of the Baha’i faith into practice in seeing education as the fundamental way to bring about progress and development. The motivation behind opening the tertiary part of Nations was to bring internationally recognised courses to Guyana,” Pamela O’Toole told Sunday Times Magazine

The opportunities given to Brian and Pam in Guyana to be of service in the field of education have been described as “humbling, rewarding, exciting and fulfilling”. Pamela – Pam – pointed out that staying in the UK, it was unlikely they would have been afforded the opportunities to develop, grow, serve and move into new, exciting and exhilarating areas of education, for which they are extremely grateful.

“Exciting new courses are upcoming in the field of educational leadership and oil and gas. Our future plans are to continue to provide a wide variety of affordable courses from prestigious international institutions and to contribute to the continued development of Guyanese youth and adults to take full advantage of the exciting opportunities to be offered in the years ahead,” she outlined.

Priyanka Chopra offered to host American celebrity talk show

Rising high on the critical acclaim for her performance in US TV series “Quantico”, Bollywood diva Priyanka Chopra is said to have been offered to host an American celebrity talk show.

Priyanka, 33, has been steadily spreading her wings in the US. She first launched a music career and later lent her voice to a Disney character for film “Planes”.

Besides, she has been a part of mainstream American television drama , ABC’s “Quantico”.

“She has been offered to host an American celebrity talk show by ABC. She is yet to decide on the offer,” a source said.

On “Quantico”, the actress plays the lead character of Alex Parrish, a halfAmerican half-Indian who becomes the FBI’s prime suspect.

“She is getting good response for her performance in “Quantico”. She is happy that people have liked the show and her,” the source said.

Back home, Priyanka gears up for the December release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s most-talked about project “Bajirao Mastani”.

She also has Prakash Jha’s “Jai Gangajal” in her kitty. The movie will hit theatres next year. (Indian Express)

Shahid Kapoor’s ‘Shaandaar’ bombs; blame game begins

The shocking crash of ‘Shaandaar’ has left the entire team of the film stunned and reeling under the impact.

Apparently, the most badly hit is Shahid Kapoor, who after the critical success of ‘Haider’ (contrary to fudged figures the film was not a commercial profit-earner), was hoping to consolidate his shaky box office

status with Shaandaar.

Shahid Kapoor is apparently very upset with the way the film has turned out.

“He was never convinced about the script. He did the film for producer Madhu Mantena. The two are close friends. And he agreed to do the film in spite of the flimsy storyline for Madhu’s sake. But now Shahid is fuming.

Because Shaandaar has not only failed to deliver the much-needed box office success to his career, it has also brought down the reputation of his father Pankaj Kapoor,” says a source in the know.

This is Pankaj Kapoor’s third fiasco in a row after Vishal Bhardwaj’s ‘Matru Ki Bijli Ka Mandola’ and Homi Adajania’s ‘Finding Fanny’.

Says a source close to the Kapoors, “Pankaj saab does very selective work. All his recent films have claimed to be quirky comedies. But have ended up being moronic mirthless worthless comedies. More than for himself, Shahid is upset for his dad.” (Indian Express)

Katrina Kaif approached for Rhea Kapoor’s chick flick

Actress Katrina Kaif has been approached for a chick flick to be directed by Sonam Kapoor’s sister Rhea.

approached for it. She has not heard it (script) yet. She is yet to take a call,” sources said.

Rhea Kapoor has produced films like “Aisha”,

Gossip mills are abuzz that Katrina is considering the offer of the film and would soon sit for a film narration session. “She has been

“Khoobsurat” and the upcoming “Battle For Bittora”, all starring Sonam in the lead role and the yet-to-be-titled film would mark her de-

Actress Lisa Ray, who put up a brave fight against cancer, says she never got “depressed” due to the disease as “hope, support and humour” helped her to be cured of the disease.

In a Twitter chat session for HDFC Life Cancer Care on Wednesday, she addressed various cancer-related queries.

“Cancer can affect you emotionally which affects your thoughts. ‘Chemo brain’ is also real. But meditation and support help. Had bad days but never got depressed during cancer. Hope, support, humour helped.

“When you’re down is when you need to rise,” Lisa tweeted to her fans.

Asked about certain measures that need to be taken care of, Lisa wrote: “Lots of preventative measures can help. Avoid processed food, sugar, get loads of veggies and exercise each day…preventative measures can’t always fully prevent cancer. Get yourself checked regularly. Tune into your body. Be financially prepared.”

Lisa was diagnosed with multiple

myeloma, a form of blood cancer in 2009 which is a rare disease and is considered incurable. But in 2010, she was declared a cancer survivor having improved her health tremendously.

“Rising above my cancer diagnosis was through a combination right treatment, emotional support, meditation and faith and right diet,” Lisa said.

She’s now back on the film scene and will next be seen onscreen in romantic musical film “Ishq Forever”.

(Indian Express)

Actor Jackie Shroff, who will be seen alongside various stuntmen in the forthcoming episode of family game show “Deal or No Deal”, says they

but as a director.

Reportedly, the film is on the same lines as Zoya Akhtar’s “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara”, except this one would have girls in the lead roles. The film may also star actresses Huma Qureshi and Anushka Sharma.

Katrina would be soon seen in Abhishek Kapoor’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’ book “The Great Expectations”, titled “Fitoor”. She had also been busy with the shooting of Nitya Mehra’s “Baar Baar Dekho” and Anurag Basu’s “Jagga Jasoos”. It may be noted that Katrina and Sonam are endorsing the same cosmetic brand. (Indian Express)

are an “integral part of Bollywood” and he would love to help them in any way whenever needed.

“Stuntmen are a very integral part of Bollywood and action

films are especially, nothing without them. I have always worked closely with them, so I’d be happy if I can help their cause in some way,” Jackie said in a statement.

The winning amount of the episode will be utilised by the stuntmen to set up a place where they can train other stuntmen and also offer free training for the people who can’t afford to pay, but want to learn stunts.

Hosted by actor Ronit Roy, the episode of “Deal or No Deal” featuring Jackie will be aired on &TV Sunday. (Indian Express)

India Test cricket team captain Virat Kohli’s recent weekend outing with actress, girlfriend Anushka Sharma and her father sparked off speculations of marriage in the near future. There were reports that the power couple were looking to take their relationship to the next level and were even on a house hunt in Mumbai. However, it looks like all these talks are nothing but mere gossip.

Flaying reports suggesting marriage is on the card for Anushka and Virat, the actress’ publicist in an email statement clarified: “There is no truth to the stories/ rumours about Anushka Sharma’s impending wedding. Currently she is busy and happy with her work commitments. She has always been open about her life and would appreciate it and request everyone to wait for her to make announcements about her

life instead of speculating.”

Anushka and Virat started dating early last year and have been quite open about their relationship preferring to wear their hearts on their sleeves unlike other discreet lovers of B-town. The actress is often seen cheering for her boyfriend at matches while Virat too sends in his compliments after watching every release of Anushka. (Indian Express)

Long-time lovers Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield have reportedly broken up. The pair, who start-

ed dating in 2011, broke up a couple of months ago, according to E Online.

“There is definitely still love for each oth-

er there. They remain close and are on good terms,” an insider said.

Garfield, 32, and Stone, 26, were spending some time apart earlier this year, which caused speculation surrounding their status.

Soon afterward, the two were spotted together several times and it was said that Garfield and Stone were just on a break because they were on separate continents working on different projects. (Indian Express)

Tina Fey pays touching tribute to father

Actress Tina Fey has praised her father Donald Fey, who died on October 18, for being a “Great American”.

The “Saturday Night Live” writer’s father passed away at the age of 82 and the actress has taken the time to remember him not only as a “great” father but for his work as a writer and artist and for serving Korea as a fireman, reported Female First.

Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez have officially filed for divorce after two years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences. Both have listed their date of separation as Monday, according to court paperwork obtained, reported People magazine.

The couple announced their divorce publicly on Tuesday, saying in a joint statement, “We move forward with love and respect for one another and the shared focus of what is best for our son.”

isn’t happy in LA.” While Berry asks for no spousal support for either party, and for the costs of raising their child to be shared as per terms of their prenup, Martinez asks for issues of spousal support to be sorted out at a later date.

The “Die Another Day” actress states that all of her earnings and assets are her property as per their pre-nup.

permission to take Maceo out of California. The 49-year-old French actor is represented by Hollywood divorce guru Laura Wasser, who has previously handled divorce cases for the likes of Kim Kardashian, Heidi Klum, Ryan Reynolds, and many more.

The 45-year-old “Mean Girls” star also recapped a fond memory of Donald teaching her how to play catch. “When he taught me how to play baseball he would say to me, ‘If you throw like a

“He was a great dad and a talented artist and writer. But I also think of him as a Great American – he served his country in Korea, he served his city as a fireman, he took his kids regularly to art museums and historical sites.”

girl again, we’re going in.’ (I took it in the spirit it was intended.) He read poetry and history and newspapers. He was an informed patriot. The Republican Party should have tried to clone him,” she recalled. (Indian Express)

Daniel Craig hates watching himself on screen

“James Bond” star Daniel Craig has admitted he is not a fan of watching himself acting on the big screen.

The 47-year-old actor was speaking live on the red carpet at the world premiere of the new

Bond movie “Spectre”, reported Female First.

Speaking to Rick Edwards from London’s Royal Albert Hall, Craig said, “It’s fantastic to see everyone out tonight. I’m not overwhelmed I’m very excited and I can’t wait for people to see the movie.”

Asked if he likes playing the British Secret Service Agent, he added, “I hate watching myself on screen, but I love playing James Bond.” (Indian Express)

Dan Stevens to star opposite Anne Hathaway in ‘Colossal’

“Downtown Abbey” actor is attached to play the ex-boyfriend of Anne Hathaway’s character in upcoming action fantasy movie “Colossal”.

The story follows Gloria (Hathaway) who, after losing her job and boyfriend in New York, moves back to her hometown.

There, she eventually discovers that she is somehow strangely connected to a giant creature that is terrorizing Seoul and is wreaking havoc in the city. Stevens, 33, will play the ex-boyfriend who originally scorns her only

to later fight to win her back, reported Variety.

Jason Sudeikis also plays one of the lead characters in the film, which is currently in production in Vancouver.

Nacho Vigalondo directs the movie with Nahikari Ipina producing. The drama fantasy film is expected to open in the US in 2016.

Stevens will next be seen in indie feature “Criminal Activities” as well as in Disney’s live-action adaptation “Beauty and the Beast (2017)”, in which he stars as the titular Beast.

(Indian Express)

The split was in part caused by disagreements over their living situation, according to sources. Berry, 49, had planned to raise her two children (she has a daughter, Nahla, from another relationship) in Europe, but was never able to make the move because of ongoing custody issues with Nahla’s father, Gabriel Aubry.

Meanwhile, Martinez “never loved living in LA full time,” according to a source. “(He) just

Both are seeking joint custody of their two-yearold son, Maceo-Robert, but Berry’s filing has an attached form about visitation, saying they will “share custody as is in the best interest of the child” but that Martinez should provide transportation to and from visits and need

Berry and Martinez met in 2010 on the set of Dark Tide. They tied the knot on July 13, 2013 in France. Maceo-Robert was born on October 5, 2013.

This is Martinez first divorce, and the third for Berry, who wed baseball player David Justice in 1993 and singer Eric Benét in 2001. (Indian Express)

Gwyneth Paltrow honoured with Style Icon award

Oscar-winning actor Gwyneth

Paltrow was feted with the Style Icon award at this year’s InStyle Awards.

The “Mortdecai” actress and GOOP founder was presented with the Style

Icon gong at the ceremony on October 26 by close friend Kate Hudson, reported Female First.

Welcoming Paltrow on stage, Hudson said, “From the first moment I laid eyes on this woman it was love at first sight.” To which the 43-year-old actress replied, “I don’t have a little sister by birth, but if I had one, she’s the incarnation of my beautiful, carefree, spirited little sister who brings music and spontaneity, and an incredible unself-consciousness and all of this fire into my life.”

Paltrow glided down the black carpet in a floor-length low cut black dress, which was decorated with jewels.

Other winners included Zoe Kravitz, who was named Breakthrough Style Star of the Year, and Ansel Elgort, who received the award for Man of Style of the Year. (Indian Express)

Rooney Mara, Nicholas Hoult to star in ‘The Discovery’

Actor Nicholas Hoult and actress Rooney Mara have been signed on to star in “The Discovery”, a sci-fi love story set in a world where the existence of the afterlife is scientifically proven.

“The One I Love” director Charlie McDowell is helming the film, said The Hollywood Reporter.

McDowell and Justin

Lader, who co-wrote The One I Love together, have reunited to write The Discovery.

of the

25,

the

responsible for this discovery,

Good Hope crowned Ram Slam champions

Good Hope emerged champions by the narrow margin of three runs over Annandale in the final of the second annual Ram Slam cricket competition, played on Sunday last at the Lusignan Community Centre ground. Batting first in the

15-over final, Good Hope made 95 all out with Kumar Bishundial hitting 33 (2x4s, 2x6s) and Vishnu Ramjeet 16 (2x4s).

Ferron Kadir (2-12) and Shazam Ali (2-24) were the top wicket takers for Annandale, who fell short of the target, finishing on 92-7 when

the overs finished.

Davanand Samaroo top scored with 22 (2x6s) and Ali made 15 (1×6). Bowling for Good Hope, Navin Persaud took 2-14 and Rajindra Naikbaran 1-7.

The two finalists had won their semi-final encounters, with Mon Repos and Lusignan be-

ing on the losing end. In the first game, Good Hope defeated Mon Repos by 24 runs. Good Hope posted 106-4 in 15 overs with Naikbaran scoring 41 not out (2x4s, 3x6s) and Ramjeet hitting 21 (1×4, 1×6). In reply, the Mon Repos lads were restricted to 82-7 at the end of 15 overs with

Nadir Baksh scoring 33 not out.

Bowling for Good Hope, Gajanan Suknanan took 3-10, Ramjeet 2-16 and Naikbaran 2-19.

In game two, Annandale got the better of Lusignan by six wickets. Lusignan managed 89-8 off the 15 overs with Steve Ramdass hitting 28 (4x4s) and Harrinarune Hira 17.

Bowling for Annandale, Shazam Ali took 3-12, Tameshwar Motiram 2-9 and Devindra Bishram 2-18.

then replied with 90-4 off 13.2 overs with Gavin Boodwah stroking 51 (2x6s, 5x4s) and Leon Morgan 25 (1×6 1×4). While Good Hope collected the winner’s trophy and medals, several individual performances were also recognised. They included Kumar Bishundial (Man-ofthe-Match in the final), Gavin Budwah (Best Batsman), Leon Morgan (Best Fielder), and Tyrese Usana (Best Catch).

Windies batsmen need to follow bowlers' example, charges skipper

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — After watching West Indies' batting failed in both Tests, captain Jason Holder says that department needs to take inspi-

ration from the way the bowling stood up during the series.

West Indies were bowled out cheaply in both innings in the opening Test in Galle to lose

by an innings and six runs inside four days, and then lost the second game here by 72 runs after being set 244 to win.

"In this Test match, Jerome (Taylor) led us

again. He came into the game with a little bit of a niggle and he really pulled through and showed his maturity," Holder said.

"He was well supported by myself, Kemar Roach and then the spinners came into play as the game went on. All I

Brathwaite in the second innings of the final Test, with spinners Devendra Bishoo and debutant Jomel Warrican grabbing four wicket hauls in either game.

Holder said the bowlers -- especially the seamers -- had been consistent in spite of the dif-

Monday, West Indies extended their dismal record of never having won a Test on Sri Lankan soil, and Holder believes the difference in the series came down to his side's brittle batting.

"I think if you look at the top orders, Sri Lanka's top order batted

can ask of the bowlers is that they keep improving and setting the tone for the rest of the team.

"Hopefully our batsmen can gain some of that confidence and momentum which they've put there."

West Indies batsmen managed just three halfcenturies over the two Tests, with left-hander Darren Bravo getting two of these and Jermaine Blackwood scoring the other.

Tellingly, no batsmen passed 150 runs in the series.

In contrast, there was a six-wicket haul for parttime off-spinner Kraigg

ficult conditions.

"We got ten wickets in the first Test match in Galle -- we only got one chance to bowl -- and we got 20 wickets here, which is what we've asked of the bowlers. They keep doing what we ask of them; every time we ask the them to put up their hands and do a job for us, they come up (trumps) for us.

"It is not easy conditions. In the first Test match we played four fast bowlers and every time I called on the fast bowlers, they came up and gave a good effort."

With the defeat in the second Test here on

well and ours didn't," the 23-year-old, in his first series as Test skipper, said frankly.

"We are always struggling for an opening partnership, and we never really got it, and in the middle overs we struggled to get partnerships, whereas Sri Lanka got some runs in the middle. Their top order took the onus on themselves to make the bulk of the runs.

"Going forward we need to look at our top order and hopefully they can take the onus upon themselves to score the bulk of the runs for the team." (CMC)

Team Unity reveals full slate for GFF elections

The Nigel Hughesled Team Unity has announced its full slate to contest the November 14 elections of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF).

Team Unity was launched last weekend in Albouystown with Hughes, a politician, Attorney-at-Law, and former goalkeeper, being the presidential candidate.

It was announced this week that president of the Alpha United Football Club, Odinga Lumumba, is the First Vice-president, while Attorney-at-Law Mark Waldron is the Second Vice-president. Former GFF executive and co-director of the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation, Aubrey “Shanghai” Major is the Third Vicepresident.

Ordinary members include Troy Cadogan (Marketing Director, Ansa McAl Trading); Javid Ali (Owner of Slingerz Football Club and Businessman); Robbie Rambarran (Administrative Executive and Experienced Football Administrator); Carmel Williams (Headmistress, Current Bartica FA Executive and former player); and Faizal Khan

Windies Women's coach credits consistency for series success

GROS-ISLET, St Lucia — West Indies Women Head Coach Vasbert Drakes has credited consistency and an allround effort for his side's triumph over Pakistan in the four-match One Day International series which ended here on Sunday.

The Caribbean side stormed to the top of the ICC Championship tables alongside superpowers Australia with a 3-1 series win over Pakistan at Beausejour Cricket Ground, in St.Lucia.

They were led by Player-of-the-Series and Captain Stafanie Taylor who smashed two unbeaten half-centuries in compiling 261 runs at an average of 130.

"Stafanie, the best player in the world, she dominated the game; she leads from the front. Kyshona also Shamilia bowled really bowled fast, consistently," said Drakes.

"It was basically a collective effort from everyone. We talk about everyone making a contribution as a group and that was the main theme. Everyone actually contributed".

Former captain Merissa Aguilleira, relieved of the burden of captaincy prior to the series, displayed her best form in years with two half-centuries in 177 runs at an average of 59.

"I think it was the consistency in everyone," stressed Drakes.

"If you looked at it you saw Merissa Aguilleira. She improved tremendously. She batted at number five. The captaincy being released from her probably it did her the world of good. Certainly she was a highlight in the tourna-

taylOR... captain named Player of the Series.

ment".

Fast bowler Shamilia Connell was the pick of the Windies bowlers with three for 32 as her side defeated Pakistan by six wickets in the final match of the series.

The result meant the Windies Women won the four-match series 3-1, sweeping all three ICC Women's Championship matches -- the last three in the series -- to gain the maximum six points. It moves them level on the table with leaders Australia on 16.

"Everyone that got the opportunity really played their role. Unfortunately, upfront there with Kycia and Hayley Mathews. They look well. They look good but for short periods," said the former West Indies player.

"So going forward we know we still have a lot of work to do. So we are just going to enjoy our success and look forward to the South African leg".

West Indies Women will play Pakistan Women in a threematch Twenty20 series starting in Grenada on Thursday. (CMC)

(Georgetown Football Club Team Manager).

At the launch of their campaign last weekend, presidential candidate Hughes spoke of starting the development process at the bottom, and properly remunerating and upgrading coaches to

serve the system.

“The solution doesn’t lie in just getting an individual to come and head a team, and say that he or she is going to do great things for football. It is really the plan that one has for the development of football, and like the de-

velopment of any sport or any business, you have to go to the foundation, you have to go to the start…,” Hughes outlined. He added, “You can’t sustain successful football purely on volunteerism- we have to pay coaches. You cannot possibly talk about expecting the national team to qualify into World Cup finals whether you’re depending on whether or not people volunteer. So one of the first things we have to do is look at the structure.”

They are up against Team Integrity, who members are presidential candidate Wayne Forde, Rawlston Adams, Dion Inniss, Thandi McAllister and Bruce Lovell.

Bolt approaching 50 sub-10 clockings

World’s fastest man Usain Bolt is four races away from achieving a half-century of sub-10 clockings. Bolt, the world record holder over both the 100 and 200 metres, has achieved the feat 44 times, despite being hampered by injuries in recent years.

The sprint star, however, cannot compete with compatriot, Asafa Powell, who tops the category, achieving the feat 93 times.

In the 200m event Bolt has broken 20 sec-

onds a bit less regularly, achieving the feat some 31 times.

At this rate, Bolt could be on target to get to 50

sub-10 100 metres by next season, an Olympic year, which has already seen the sprinter begin his preparations.

Bolt will attempt to be the first sprinter to win three consecutive Olympic titles and is expected to rekindle his rivalry with American sprinter Justin Gatlin.

Gatlin, the fastest man over the 100m distance, last season has dipped below the 10-second barrier 46 times and will also be looking to get to the 50mark next season.

Second on the all-time list is another American, Maurice Green, who has achieved the mark some 53 times. (Sportsmax. com)

India spinner Mishra gets bail after arrest in assault case

MUMBAI –India legspinner Amit Mishra was arrested by police and then released on bail in Bengaluru on Tuesday in connection with a complaint of assault filed by a woman.

The 32-year-old featured in four of the five one-day internationals against South Africa that concluded on Sunday and is also part of the squad for the first two tests of a fourmatch series against the same opponents starting next month.

The complaint was registered during the

last week of September when Mishra was with the Indian team in Bengaluru for a training camp ahead of the series against South Africa.

The woman, who is reportedly a friend of the cricketer, alleged Mishra assaulted her in his hotel room.

“We questioned him for two to two-and-half hours today and then he was arrested,” Sandeep Patil, Bengaluru’s deputy commissioner of police, central division, told Reuters.

“He was later granted bail as it’s a bailable offence.

“Brawl at the Mall” Boxing

injury

Despite controlling proceedings throughout the fight, Clive “The Punisher” Atwell suffered the misfortune of a foot injury that allowed Dexter “The Cobra” Gonsalves to win their feature match-up on the “Brawl at the Mall” boxing card last Saturday night at the Giftland Mall.

By virtue of gaining a Technical Knockout in round eight when Atwell sustained the injury, Gonsalves has been crowned the WBC FECABOX Super

“We will have to gather more evidence now before we file the chargesheet against him.” Patil said there was no restriction on Mishra playing for India and it was up to the Indian cricket board (BCCI) to decide if they want to include him in the team. Calls and messages to Mishra, who has played 16 tests and 31 ODIs for India, went unanswered while the BCCI was yet to make any comment on the incident. The first test between India and South Africa will be played in the Northern Indian city of Mohali from Nov. 5. (Reuters)

hands Gonsalves victory

Lightweight champion.

Prior to the sudden end to the contest, Dominica-based Guyanese Atwell was leading 4036 on all three judges’ cards at the end of round four.

It seemed Atwell was headed for a certain victory when he fell to the canvas in round eight, which was ruled a slip by the referee.

The injury required the intervention of the ringside doctor, and after some attention by the medical personnel, Atwell decided against continuing.

Atwell’s mishap was Gonsalves’ fortune, as the 26-year-old was adorned with the WBC belt. Gonsalves later said he was open to a rematch with Atwell.

Earlier in the night, debutant Imran “Magic” Khan disposed of David Thomas, winning in round three of four, while Keeve Allicock earned a similar result over newcomer Terrence Adams.

In the main supporting bout, Quincy Gomes received a split decision win over Anson Green in their super lightweight contest.

President Granger receives RHTY&SC highest award

His Excellency President David Granger on Sunday last received the Dolphin Award of Excellence from the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club (RHTY&SC).

The Dolphin Award is the club’s highest award and is given to individuals whom the club views as a positive role model. President Granger was honoured as an outstanding national leader and as a role model, the club said in a release.

The RHTY&SC also inducted the President as an Honorary Member during the club’s Silver Jubilee Anniversary Celebration at the St Francis Community Developers Complex.

Club Secretary/CEO, Hilbert Foster, in announcing the award, stated that it is the highest of eight awards that the RHTY&SC

Charles, Ebanks Pan-Am clash to be replayed

Local amateur bantamweight king Delon Charles may have a chance at revenge, as Cayman Islands yesterday registered a strong team to participate in next month’s International Goodwill tournament in Guyana.

The eight-man Cayman Islands team

of boxers and officials is being led by tough bantamweight Tafari Ebanks. Charles lost 3-0 to Ebanks at the Pan-American Qualifier held in Tijuana, Mexico last July. However, in order to have another chance at Ebanks, Charles must first win at the imminent National Sports

Commission Terrence Alli National Open.

The 21-year-old Ebanks was a quarter-finalist at the last Commonwealth Games, the Pan-American Qualifier and the AMBC Championships, held recently in Venezuela. The Cayman Islands side comprises six boxers and two officials.

The registration of the Cayman Islands team has brought the number of participating countries to 11. So far, Anguilla, Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Cayman Islands, French Guiana, Jamaica, St Lucia, St Maarten, St Vincent and Trinidad and Tobago have documented their commitment to participate.

The Goodwill tournament is scheduled for November 26-29 at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall. The tournament is the brainchild

of Guyana Olympic Association president K. Juman Yassin and was first held last year February when four countries participated.

A release from the Guyana Boxing Association, organisers of the event, stated that the upcoming competition is geared towards serving as nursery for the production of boxers for Elite competitions staged by the AMBC and/or AIBA, and to give technical officials of the region an opportunity to get much needed practice in preparation for moving forward in the AIBA training programme.

So far, Barbados and Jamaica have signalled their intention to send referees/judges to officiate next month.

Trinidad James Beckles will host a workshop for officials prior to the start of the tournament.

shares out every year. The award would only be given to 10 individuals every year and the President was the third since the award was founded.

The first two awardees were Guyana Beverage Company General Manager, Robert Selman, and Chief Executive Officer of Gizmos and Gadgets, Ravi Mangar. President Granger expressed gratitude to the management and members for honouring him and expressed his appreciation for the work of the club.

Stating that he was not the President for any political party, but for the whole of Guyana, President Granger committed himself to working to make life better for every citizen.

The Guyanese leader also urged the management of the RHTY&SC to share its vast experience with other youth and sport organisations across Guyana.

The club also inducted Minister of Sport Nicolette Henry, Director of Sport Christopher Jones, Rose Hall Town businessman Lorezao Johnny, CEO of Metro Office and Computer Supplies Avia Lindie and CEO of Caribbean Containers Inc., Patricia Bacchus.

Foster welcomed all of the new Honourary Members on board the RHTY&SC and expressed confidence that together they can work to make a positive difference in the lives of youths, the elderly and less fortunate.

Preparation on track for CARIFTA in Grenada

ST.GEORGE’S, Grenada -Track and field officials here say plans are progressing well for the staging of the 2016 Carifta games in Grenada, the 45th edition of the annual regional championships.

About 500 athletes will compete from March 26 to 28 at the new Chinese built national athletic stadium expected to be handed over to the government next month.

Chair of the local organizing committee (LOL) Veda Bruno Victor says a quarter of the estimated EC two million dollars budgeted for the event, had already been raised.

“A budget we have put forward-just a little over 2 million dollars is what we presented for the hosting of the games and we have sought sponsorship from

local corporate business and we are receiving favorable responses,” said Bruno Victor, addressing a live televised launch of CARIFTA games 2016.

“To date the NOC has pledged US 100,000 to support the effort. This US 100,000 –US 50, 000 from our regional body PASO (Pan American Sports Organization) and we have asked Olympic solidarity to assist us with another 50,000”. It will be the second time in 16 years the games will be staged in Grenada after hosting in 2000 but unable to repeat in the aftermath of hurricane Ivan in September 2004 which forced the Meet’s relocation to Tobago.

“With 150 days to go, we are sparing no effort to have everything in place to have a successful hosting of the 2016 CARIFTA games,” said Bruno Victor. (CMC)

Ramroop anticipates high standard of play

President of the Lusignan Golf Club (LGC) , Oncar Ramroop anticipates that the two-day Guyana Open golf competition will produce a high standard of play since the tournament is set o attract a record number of participants.

Speaking with Guyana Times International Sport on Wednesday, regarding the highly anticipated tournament, which is set for Saturday and Sunday at the Lusignan Golf Course, Ramroop pointed out that many quality players are in the reckoning for top honours.

“The history of the tournament has always been competitive; it’s

a tournament where all the golfers want to come out and showcase their best,” he said.

Ramroop added, “As we speak, we have over 50 golfers, who have already registered, but over the next two days we anticipate another 30-40 golfers, mainly overseas golfers, so definitely I anticipate that the two-day competition will produce a high standard of play.”

Further, the LGC President reported that the greens and fairways are in excellent shape and while the locally-based players have enjoyed good success over the past few years, the improvements that were done on the course makes it a level playing field for all, giving the visiting players an even chance to excel.

“Everything is in place as we speak. The course is almost ready, the fairways are good and the greens are extremely fast so we can expect a very good tournament. The only setback we have is the road leading into the course, but as we speak the NDC and RDC are currently doing some works on the road, so hopefully that will be completed in time for Saturday,” Ramoop outlined.

He urged Guyanese to come out and improve their knowledge of the sport which he stated has been increasing in popularity.

Meanwhile, apart from the usual categories: First Flight (0-9 handicap), Second Flight (10-18), Third Flight (19-28) and Ladies Flight, the club has decided for the

first time in its history to introduce a Senior Flight.

Like the previous years, the overall champion in the Men’s division will be judged by the player with the Best Gross, while on the distaff side, the winner will come from the person with the Best Net.

In 2014, Avinash Persaud was easily the top golfer, winning the event for a fifth time.

Persaud led from start to finish, relegating his sibling Avinda Kishore, who was the 2013 winner, into second place, after finishing with a superior overall Gross of 144.

Kishore occupied the second spot with an overall Gross of 153, while Rishi Suknanan finished third with an overall Gross of 160.