Guyana Times International

Trump’s anti-immigrant policy not good for Guyanese in the U.S.

By Vishnu Bisram

Republican candidate, Donald Trump is seeking his colleagues support for the party’s nomination for the 2016 Presidential election.

But many Guyanese living in the US believe that Trump’s anti-immigration stance, a reversal of a few months ago, is not good for Guyanese Americans and/or other immigrants.

Trump has stated his preference for deporting all illegal immigrants in the US (over 11 million) and to restrict citizenship to legal immigrants as well as to babies born in the US to illegal immigrants.

It must be noted that all of Trump’s past wives and current wife are immigrants; yet he takes an anti-immigrant posture — a display of hypocrisy. Only a few months ago, he was pro-immigrant employing many and praising the contributions of immigrants to America’s development. He had favoured a liberal immigration policy to bring in skilled immigrants.

An anti-immigrant theme is resonating well with Republican

primary election voters and Trump has been advised to run with it.

Coincidentally, Frank Lutz, pollster and political analyst for the AFC for the 2006 elections, is Trump’s main advisor and pollster – the man behind the anti-immigrant theme that is playing so well with voters.

There are sixteen candidates seeking the Republican nomination, with Trump playing on the anti-immigrant theme. Trump attacks on Mexicans and Mexican immigrants also played well with voters. He began to expand his antiimmigrant theme attacking other immigrants (other nationalities) as well. However, he favours immigration of

skilled people, like engineers, doctors, and computer specialists, though not to grant them citizenship.

Trump is also now advocating a denial of citizenship to babies of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally as part of an immigration plan that emphasises border security and deportation of illegals.

In an interview on national TV, he said as President he would push to end the constitutionally protected citizenship rights of children of any family living illegally inside the U.S.

Native-born children of immigrants, even those living illegally in the U.S., have been automatically considered

American citizens since the adoption of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution in 1868.

The odds of repealing the amendment’s citizenship clause would be almost impossible. The other Republican candidates do not support such a drastic anti-immigrant step. An amendment requires the votes of twothirds of both Houses of Congress and support from three-fourths of the nation’s state legislatures. There are three other similar possibilities to amend the constitution and all are difficult to achieve.

Republicans in Congress have pushed without success to repeal the citizenship provision since 2011. Some conservative Republicans believe the citizenship provision could be changed without amending the Constitution. It is doubtful the court would agree with such an interpretation of the constitution.

Nevertheless, many feel that Trump is bad news for immigrants, and Guyanese and other immigrant Americans should consider becoming involved and supporting mainstream candidates who would advocate their interests.

PPP/C offers support to Govt for airport expansion project, other ‘inherited’ policies

The main Opposition People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) has pledged its continued support to those policies inherited by the APNU+AFC Administration from its 23 years in Government. Those continuing policies can be found in the airport expansion project, wage increases to public service workers, expansion of road networks and further development of the health sector.

Executive Secretary of the PPP/C Zulfikar Mustapha, made this disclosure during his maiden presentation during the 2015 budget debate on Tuesday in the National Assembly.

After a lengthy recount of the PPP/C’s track record during its 23 years in Government, the former Chairman of Region 6 (East BerbiceCorentyne) concluded that the party is anticipating Government’s “diligent” response in executing the aforementioned programmes before the end of the financial year.

“I say this because the figures relate to a formidable amount of works to be done, huge amounts of monies to be expended – and we shall be paying close attention,” said Mustapha.

On August 11th, Minister of Finance Winston Jordon presented the 2015 budget to the tune of Gy$221B, displaying its continuing efforts to fulfil promises in the ‘100-Day Plan.’ Government has committed to infrastructural development through the construction and rehabilitation of roads in urban, rural and hinterland areas.

A whopping Gy$13 billion has been allocated for enhancing the roads and bridges network throughout Guyana, besides Government’s Gy$1.2 billion proposal for the completion of the East Bank Demerara highway which will provide improved transit from Providence to Great Diamond.

An additional Gy$1.6 billion is also budgeted for the upgrade of the Sheriff Street/Mandela Avenue road, which will create an improved road linkage between the East Coast and East Bank of Demerara. More allocations were, however, sought during the budget presentation for the expansion of roads. The whopping Gy$13B will also account for the Cheddi Jagan International Airport expansion project.

Calls mount for No-confidence Motion against Ramjattan …over rising crime wave

By Devina Samaroo

With the crime situation spiralling out of control, calls are being mounted for the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) Opposition to declare a No-Confidence Motion against Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan, given his evident inability to get a grip on the crime situation in the country.

In fact, newly-appointed PPP/C Member of Parliament (MP) Cornel Damon declared in the National Assembly on Wednesday that Ramjattan needed to go since the Ministry was failing miserably to reduce or even stabilise the soaring crime rate.

“The Honourable Member

has no plan to fight the surge of crime and the senseless killings of our businessmen and women and so the Honourable Minister Ramjattan must go,” Damon exclaimed.

The politician pointed out that in the 10th Parliament, it was Ramjattan who engineered calls for then Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee to go when the crime rate was 40 per cent lower than it is today.

Former President Donald Ramotar, during an interview with the Guyana Times International, also contended that the Ministry has not performed at all in the area of crime fighting, noting that the A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) has yet again failed the Guyanese people.

“When they were in Opposition they claim to know everything, but they are clearly not grappling with the problem that has been created,” Ramotar stated.

He asserted that the coalition Government was to be blamed for the current situation because when it was in Opposition, it established a record of defending criminals and now that it was in Executive Office, the individuals now feel more empowered to commit felonies.

“It might be too early but

what I would say is that the whole Government seems to be completely at sea, they are not handling the economy or the crime situation, they are not handling anything with any level of competence,” Ramotar asserted.

Private Sector concerned

Also, the Private Sector already expressed its concern over the crime situation and Government’s apparent lack of vigour in dealing with the matter.

Chairman of the Berbice Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCCI), Rajnauth Ramroop noted that Government seemed to be taking the situation lightly. “My assessment of their performance, I would want to say, it is not to par; the public is ex-

pecting much more… The escalation of the crime at recent has brought a lot of concern. Of course it was there all the time, but it has escalated as of lately…it’s not something that the public could tolerate,” the business expert said.

Owing to the current crime rate, many businesses are experiencing hardship. “Because of these concerns, a lot of businesses are contemplating migration. Consumers are not coming out to shop because there is a fear. Businessmen are hesitant to stock up. For that matter, I am a businessman myself and I have not travelled for the year to procure goods because the traffic is not there as it used to be, so why stock when you don’t have people coming in to buy?” he explained, contending that the Government needed to do much more.

The first call for a NoConfidence Motion was made by Associate Professor of Political Science at Nassau Community College, Dr Baytoram Ramharack, in his latest column in the Guyana Times.

Dr Ramharack said the crime situation in Guyana, particularly in Berbice, has risen to unacceptable heights and believed that a change in management of the security sector may see a change for

the better.

On Friday last, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) disclosed that serious crimes erupted by a startling 10 per cent by the end of July 2015 in comparison to the same period in 2014.

Among the “serious crimes” listed by the Force are murder, robbery under arms, robbery with violence, robbery with aggravation, larceny from the person, break and enter and larceny, burglary, rape, and kidnapping.

The Force stated that a total of 94 murders were recorded at the end of July 2015 in comparison to 80 at the end of July 2014, which saw an increase of 18 per cent. Four more murders were recorded up to August 13 taking the toll to 98 for the year thus far.

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EDITORIAL

Completing Infrastructural Plans

As the Budget debate rages in Parliament, there is unfortunately more heat than light being produced on several issues. One of them in the continuation of the UNASUR sponsored “Initiative for the Integration of the Regional Infrastructure of South America” (IIRSA) which is supposed to link South America’s economies through new transportation, energy, and telecommunications projects.

We were included in second component of the Guyana Shield Hub aspect of the Initiative, focusing on connecting us to Brazil. The construction of the Takutu Bridge was a standalone project within the IIR-SA and this, of course, was completed since 2008. The next step was to construct an asphalted all weather highway connecting Boa Vista to Bon Fin/Takutu Bridge in Brazil and then Takutu Bridge/ Lethem to Georgetown in Guyana. The Brazilian portion of the plan was completed even before the Takutu Bridge, so it is the Guyanese aspect that is in the air.

While in the Opposition, the now APNU/AFC Government had trenchantly criticised the PPP/C administration for not pushing the project, which would have benefitted the struggling mining town of Linden. The Lethem-Georgetown highway was only one aspect of the Guyanese leg of IIRSA, albeit a foundational one. At the northern leg, the Highway would have branched off to Berbice where it would have connected to a Deep Water Harbour, as part of the project.

With the Takutu Bridge already connected via Boa Vista to Manaus, the latter’s vast export of manufactured goods to the Northern Hemisphere would have found its long sought vent via Guyana. Lethem and Linden as intermediate stops in Guyana, would have provided necessary services and sopped up much of the unemployment precipitated by the stagnant bauxite operations there. It was therefore of great surprise to observers that there were no mention of a push to complete the LethemGeorgetown Highway.

One suggested reason was that the Guyana leg of the project also includes the Amaila Falls Hydro-Electric Project (AFHEP) and this administration seems determined to scuttle that potentially transformational energy source for our industrialisation. The argument from the now Government when in opposition was that AFHEP’s proposed costs were too high because the PPPC Government had padded the figures so as to have a cushion for “siphoning off” funds.

However, now that they have the reins of power, the Government has the wherewithal to investigate the AFHEP contract with a fine-tooth comb or solicit alternative bids from presumably “clean” financing and construction companies. This they have not done. While the AFC had claimed they would support the AFHEP if the Procurement Commission were formed, APNU had claimed they were waiting for the IDB’s due diligence report.

While it was remarked en passant during the budget debate that the IDB had concluded AFHEP was not viable based on the present financial structure, the government has not released the full report. This they should do immediately so that any identified challenges can be addressed by proponents of the project. Alternatively, as was pointed out, the AFHEP is a component of the IIRSA and can therefore be funded through that route. In this regard, the President’s of both Brazil and Guyana have reports and recommendations on their desks on how to proceed on the entire plan.

Another worrying aspect of the Government’s silence of the integrated project is that AFHEP is part of the LCDS – in fact one of its linchpin – that has received over US$80 million from Norway and is sitting in the coffers of the IDB. In these matters, while Guyana is being paid for providing a service (carbon sequestration) The conditionalities are usually such that it is either “use it or lose it”.

What is important now is that the APNU/AFC must not cut its nose to spite Guyana’s face when it comes to going ahead with the infrastructural transformation that was envisioned by the PPPC.

SVN: An Exemplary School

The results of this year’s CSEC exams, in which Saraswati Vidya Niketan dominated the headlines by copping the top two places in the country and in the Caribbean, might have surprised many. While this newspaper has its doubts about the advisability of children at an average age of 16, writing twenty subjects, one has to acknowledge that it is an incredible feat for the number one student to not only sit for that number, but to actually achieve all grade 1′s.

Saraswati Vidya Niketan (SVN) – which means “Goddess of Knowledge’s abode of knowledge” – is a school founded by the Hindu Swami (monk), Aksharananda. From a recent interview with this newspaper, it is clear that he has some firm ideas on the imparting of an education to children. And from the results over the last few years, it is clear that those ideas work.

In addition to the top two performances, SVN achieved an overall pass rate (grades 1-3) of 93 percent. Now while this is an impressive figure, even more importantly their matriculation rate (five subjects passed, including English and Mathematics) is a whopping 82%. When youths want to enter university or apply to any decent entry level white collar job, this is the minimum qualification sought but in so many instances cannot be produced.

While in the announcement by the Education Ministry about the 47 students that received at least 11 Grade 1′s, 11 students from SVN qualified, that was only the tip of the iceberg: 53 out of 64 students secured passes in 11 subjects and more including English and Maths.

In the latter two subjects, which are the bane of our teaching profession, even though the national pass rate figures improved, in nei -

ther did it touch 50%. On the other hand, SVN’s English pass rate was 86% and Maths 93%. Such results demand an explanation, especially against the most important background fact that, unlike Queens College and Bishops High School, SVN’s pool of students are overwhelmingly drawn from the “ordinary” and “below average” performers at the NGSA. What this means is that while, for instance, Queens produced 19 of the 47 top performers to SVN’s 11, the former receives the TOP 1 percent from the NGSA. Bishops, which collects the next 1%, was able to secure only 2 of the top performers.

While as SVN’s performance improved in the last decade (it was founded in 2002) and it has been able to attract some of the better performers at NGSA (the top student Victoria Najab transferred out of Queens) it has been able to make the “ordinary” student perform extraordinarily at CSEC.

In June, writing on another matter concerning Swami Aksharananda, Bonita Harris, an individual steeped in the search for educational excellence, wrote, “I have followed the development of his school at Cornelia Ida,

Saraswati Vidya Niketan, and strongly recommend that head teachers and the Education Ministry pay close attention to what is responsible for its academic success. It is the closest thing we have as a model school in Guyana.” We write from that perspective.

The major difference at SVN and the general public Secondary Schools, is the discipline that is imparted to the children in their approach, not only to their studies, but to their approach to life.

It is very difficult to disjuncture behaviour from performance, but somehow the Education Ministry seems unable to convey this idea to the heads of their schools. While there are some who scoff at the insistence of discipline, SVN’s imparts it with love: “tough love” in action.

The second innovation is to pay the teachers better but have them give extra “lessons” right on the school premises but outside of the mandated “school hours”. The present Education Minister has bemoaned the “lessons syndrome”, but SVN has found a way to make it work positively.

We hope that “a hint to Beneba mek Quashie tek notice.”

Former US President Jimmy Carter says cancer has spread to his brain

According to a report in the Washington Post, former United States President, Jimmy Carter said that the cancer doctors discovered earlier this year, on his liver, has spread to his brain and that he will receive his first radiation treatment for the disease Thursday afternoon.

“I’m perfectly at ease with whatever comes,” Carter said at a news conference. Carter, 90, said Thursday that doctors found “four spots of melanoma on my brain — small spots” after first discovering cancer during an August 03 operation to remove a tumor from his liver.

During that surgery, Carter said, doctors suspected that the cancer had originated in other parts of his body. They later discovered the melanoma spots, about “two millimeters” in size, on his brain.

Doctors removed about one-tenth of his liver during the surgery, which he said healed quickly and left him with “minimal pain.”

According to the Washington Post arti-

cle, he will undergo four courses of radiation to treat the cancer in his brain. Carter said doctors will continue to scan his body for cancer, in an effort to determine where the melanoma originated.

According to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, “one of the most common primary tumors to spread to the brain is malignant melanoma. In nearly 50 percent of peo-

ple with melanoma that has metastasized, the disease can be found in the brain.”

The center added that “the outlook for patients with brain metastases generally depends on the number, size, location, and origin of the primary tumor or tumors.”

In May, during a trip to Guyana to monitor elections there, Carter fell ill with a “very bad cold” and returned to Atlanta early. Doctors performed

a complete physical examination and found the tumor on his liver.

By the end of June, doctors were certain that he would need to have an operation on his liver. But Carter delayed surgery in order to complete his book tour for his memoir published this year, “A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety.”

“The doctors told me that it was a very slow growing cancer, apparently it wouldn’t make

any difference between the middle of July and August, so we scheduled it when I got through with the book tour,” Carter said. Carter said that an MRI scan the afternoon after the cancerous mass was removed from his liver revealed that melanoma had already spread to his brain.

“I just thought I had a few weeks left,” he said during the news conference at the Carter Center in Atlanta. “But I was surprisingly at ease — much more so than my wife was.”

The former president will be treated at the Winship Cancer Institute, about two miles from the Carter Center. Both the institute and Carter’s organization are affiliated with Emory University. Carter is the second-oldest living president, separated by just over 100 days in age from George H.W. Bush. Carter, the 39th president, served in the White House from 1977 to 1981.

After his presidency, he has continued his humanitarian and human rights work through the Carter Center. It was for

that work that he was awarded a Nobel Peace prize in 2000.

For now, he noted that his cancer treatment will become his “top priority.”

“The Carter Center is well prepared to continue on without any handicap,” Carter noted. Several members of Carter’s immediate family — his brother, two sisters, his mother and father — have all died from cancer.

Beyond his international travel schedule, Carter and his wife of 69 years, Rosalynn, have maintained a life in Plains, Ga., his hometown. He noted that he doesn’t expect cancer treatment to halt his usual contributions to his place of worship, Maranatha Baptist Church.

“I plan to teach Sunday school this Sunday — and every Sunday as long as I’m physically and mentally able,” Carter said. He noted that the well wishes have poured in from President Barack Obama and the first family, as well all of the living former presidents.

New US immigration initiative will help abused spouses and victims of trafficking

Dear Editor,

The Obama Administration has unveiled a proposal designed to streamline various immigration procedures of obtaining a visa including one that will assist spouses in abused relations waiting for a green card. This will help abused spouses living illegally in America. Spousal abuse is a common occurrence among Guyanese, West Indians as well as among other Third World immigrants in the US.

Also, under the new directive, employers seeking work visas for professional staff will be simplified and victims of human trafficking, a serious problem in Guyana as well as in the US, will be aided to obtain per-

manent residence.

The White House says the new directive will modernise and streamline the legal immigration system to improve the visa processing experience. The President’s Director for Domestic Policy Celia Munoz said the current process to apply for a visa is “complex, paper-based, and confusing to the user. Many immigration documents pass through various computer systems and change hands no fewer than six times. Our goal is to modernise this process and deliver a positive experience to our users.”

A team of engineers employed by the Government will work with the Department of Homeland Security “to

bring the majority of the visa application process online and deliver consistency and ease of use”. The administration stated it is aiming to reduce Government costs. The process will also “reduce burdens on employers who must verify that their employees are eligible to legally work in the US, and mitigate fraud and abuse of the immigration system”.

The new directive simplifies work visas under the H-1B application process, along with reducing the number of documents needed for applications and extensions of such visas. It also simplifies the process under which an employer can directly sponsor students on F-1 visas for legal, permanent em-

ployment.

Several Guyanese and other Caribbean nationals fall under this category after completing their study in engineering and the sciences. The US is trying to retain foreign graduates of the sciences, engineering and Mathematics.

Under the directive, the process of applying for a T visa – for victims of human trafficking – or a U visa – for victims of crime and domestic violence – has also been simplified. “There are numerous avenues for humanitarian relief provided to vulnerable individuals in our immigration system. However, many of our existing policies and regulations do not reflect the most recent laws. These recom-

Congratulations to Swami Aksharananda and SVN

Dear Editor, I wish to offer my congratulations to Swami Aksharananda and his prestigious school, Saraswati Vidya Niketan for producing the two most outstanding students at this year’s Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations –Victoria Najab (20 Grade Ones ) and Vamanadev Hiralal (19 Grade Ones). In fact, it was mentioned that Najab’s feat is unprecedented in the history of CSEC. The school also performed impressively overall, with a matriculation rate of 82 per cent, that is, 53 out of 64 students secured passes in 11 or more subjects including English Language and Mathematics. In addition, it was also reported that the school’s pass rates in English Language and Mathematics, 86 per

cent and 93 per cent respectively, are almost double the national pass rates in these two core subjects.

These achievements are very impressive indeed! The Education Ministry should visit this school and find out what policies and procedures are working so well and probably implement same in public schools to improve per-

formance.

This school’s performance is also a good indicator that religious schools may be the answer to the problems of discipline and lethargic student performance. A study in this area will provide some useful insight into these and other areas.

I also want to make mention of the generous and humble nature of the Swami. In 2007, when I did my Diploma in Education, I was looking for a school on the West Coast of Demerara to do my teaching practice. Swami Aksharananda willingly offered me the opportunity to do so at his school. He was very accommodating and made me feel comfortable.

My one humble request of the Swami (which I also made to him in 2007) was to establish similar schools in

Essequibo and Berbice. This young generation is not well grounded in their culture and religious practice. A school that provides for both the academic and spiritual needs of the child is definitely needed in present day Guyana, with all its social and other problems. A well grounded child is more focused. Not only the Hindu community but the general public should reach out to the Swami in such a worthy cause. Other religious groups should also think of going in this direction.

With respect to all the naysayers and critics of the venerable Swami, it was noted that he did not reply to them but let his school and students do the talking through their performances. This is the way to do it.

Sincerely, Mahindra Persaud

Who will speak of the “ethnic cleansing” of Amerindians?

Dear Editor,

Every day I read in the newspapers of Guyanese who are upset about what is perceived to be “ethnic cleansing” by the Government, of Indo-Guyanese. While it is true that apparently most of those who are being dismissed from their public sector jobs are perceived to be friendly to the Opposition and by extent Indo-Guyanese, many of those who have suffered so far are Amerindians.

As a matter of fact,

most of those who have suffered so far are Amerindians: 1972 Community Support Officers (CSOs) and many others forced to leave their jobs in the Regions and in public institutions in Georgetown. The contradictory move of Minister Gaskin in wanting to initiate a “youth entrepreneurship” programme, to me is incomprehensible, since 1972 CSOs were paid small stipends under the Youth Entrepreneurship and Apprenticeship

Programme (YEAP) to boost their capacities in different sectors, inclusive of small businesses in communities. Does this mean that Minister Gaskin is privileging other segments of the population over Amerindians? While Ralph Ramkarran speaks on behalf of Indo-Guyanese on what he deems to be ethnic cleansing, who speaks on behalf of us Amerindians when we are now jobless in the interior? Are we not also victims of ethnic cleans-

mendations will improve our system for individuals seeking humanitarian relief,” said the White House directive.

However, it is not clear if Congress will block the directive as happened earlier this year when Obama issued the so called DACA directive to assist illegal immigrants.

Suman Raghunathan, Indian American Executive Director of South Asian Americans Leading Together, cheered the simplification of the T and U visa application process. He also praised the President for the directive that will allow victims of domestic violence to self-petition for a permanent visa and simultaneously apply for

work authorisation. As he noted, currently, “victims of domestic violence remain in abusive households as their immigration status is linked to their spouse’s status. An abusive partner can hold immigration status as a weapon to keep a spouse in her place, note agencies that work with domesticallyabused women”.

But Raghunathan said the action plan falls short of providing relief for many other immigrants. He is calling for “comprehensive immigration reform legislation that will keep families together and that includes a path to citizenship”.

Yours truly, Vishnu

Bisram

A budgetpropaganda speech with lofty promises

Dear Editor, I took the time to read the budget transcript and could not help but sense the reactionary and vindictive tone that laced the pages as I did my best to navigate to the substance of it.

Minister Jordan wasted no time to strike at the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) while portraying the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) victory as a shining light in the sky for Guyana. He cited the inauguration and swearing in ceremonies as evidence that an overwhelming majority of Guyanese voted for the APNU/AFC and was overjoyed.

To date, we are not yet sure if they even won a majority, since we only have the words of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairman to prove this.

ing in this case? Indigenous peoples across the world have suffered racial discrimination for centuries. In Guyana we believed we were moving forward. When I voted for the coalition, I believed we were going to expedite change. We haven’t. Now that we’re discriminated against, and our people are disempowered nationally, who speaks on behalf of us? Where is the voice of the APA?

Sincerely,

Stacy Cheong

Minister Jordan should have been more conscious of this fact before he made his speech.

The speech continued to highlight a number of grand initiatives and ideas in a context similar to that of the “Marshall Plan” for Europe. He created the impression that Guyana is in complete destruction and APNU is here to show the way. To be fair I would acknowledge that his grand gestures are commendable, but I still challenge the APNU/AFC to prove to

Guyana that it has the ability to implement these plans effectively with efficiency.

An example of this would be his disclosures on healthcare. As he explains plans to have expansions, training and equipment, I heard nothing of a supply chain strategy to make sure medicines and supplies are made available in every health care facility at the right time, in the right amount. In effect, he failed to speak on the main driver for good health care delivery, and appears to be clueless on that front.

As he continued to downplay all the initiatives and successes of the PPP/C, he only provided solutions based on unrealised oil resources. Guyana was never in a position for hitting the reset button; instead, Guyanese should have been seeing an approach from this Government that was geared towards building on the successes of the PPP/C. This is proof that the APNU/ AFC’s call for working with the PPP/C was always a baseless one used only for propaganda purposes.

History will prove that the APNU/AFC coalition will be the Government that was unable to rise above their vindictive and reactionary nature to truly develop Guyana.

Sincerely, Malcolm

Watkins

16-year-old Corentyne boy hangs self

Ateenager ended his own life on Tuesday evening by putting a rotten rope around his neck and jumping off of a table. Dead is Jairam Sanichara, also called “Ball Head” of Kilkoy Settlement, Corentyne, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne). The teenager was found lying on the kitchen floor with a rope tied around his neck at about 18:30h on Wednesday.

The discovery was made by his foster mother Zaro Mohammed when she went in search of him. At the time the teenager was discovered, he was dressed in a thobe (clothing he would normally wear to attend Masjid) and a turban (Muslim head dress) was in his pants pocket.

According to Mohammed, Sanichara who grew up in a house situated next to hers,

had been living in a vacant house she owns for the past two months. She said he spent most of his time at her house but slept at the other house.

“I got home from selling Wednesday afternoon and my daughter told me that he did not come over so I went to look for him and as soon as I pulled open the door, I see him lying on the floor,” the distraught woman related. She explained that he was last in her presence at about 14:30h and she went out at about 16:00h.

Mystery girl

According to her, the teen’s death is baffling since he only had two friends that she knew of and they were both small children. However, she continued that “… he does spend a lot of time texting some girl on the phone. That is what he

do all day when he not working.” Mohammed said she had never met the girl and did not know her name.

Reports are that the now

dead boy told Mohammed not to prepare lunch for him to carry to work on Wednesday. “I ask him what happen and he tell me that he aint going to work. After this thing happen, I call the work place and the boss man tell me that he did not have any problem with anybody.”

Meanwhile, after the discovery was made and an alarm was raised, scores of people flocked the yard and when they left, so too did his two cellphones which were on a table under the house.

Mohammed said from all indications, Sanichara used a piece of rope which was rotten. “Like when he jump off the table, the rope cut…”

The teenager, who up to the time of his death was employed at a poultry farm, had previously been employed at

PM relies on TT’s tradition of democracy

PORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD: Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said the National Security Council has put measures in place to ensure free and fair elections without thuggery and violence.

Speaking in Penal with members of the media after she filed her nomination papers as a candidate to contest the Siparia seat on Monday afternoon, the prime minister said they have increased security in the country from now right up until Carnival next year.

“So we have called out the reserves, we are on high alert to ensure we have free and fair elections without thuggery and violence.”

She said the Minister of National Security Brigadier Carl Alfonso and the National Operations Centre will continue to monitor the situation. In addition, PersadBissessar said she has invited both the Caricom

and the Commonwealth Secretariat to send a team of observers to observe the September 7 general elections. “The Commonwealth Secretariat came on a mission for us, as a fact finding mission and the Caricom people will also be here. So I am putting everything in place to ensure free and fair election. That is what we are about. That is what my government is about to do everything I can to ensure free and fair election.”

Persad-Bissessar said while she was taking precautions to ensure there was no violence, she said she was not scared because TT has a strong tradition of democracy.

She said all 41 candidates selected had successfully filed nominations and thanked the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) for conducting a smooth process.

Responding to selection of Rushton Paray, one day after Roger Morales was

named as the successor to Winston ‘Gypsy’ Peters for the Mayaro seat, PersadBissessar said she took into consideration concerns expressed.

The prime minister also denied rumours circulating during the day that the PP’s Pointe-a-Pierre candidate David Lee was rejected because he had dual citizenship with the United States. “No, he does not have dual citizenship. What he does have is a Green Card and under our constitution he is entitled to file for the seat.” She said when the allegations first surfaced she spoke with Lee and he assured her that he had no dual citizenship.

On the issue of former Senate President Raziah Ahmed contesting the San Fernando West seat, Persad Bissessar said there was nothing in law to debar her from this process.

She said under that section, if the President of the

Senate or any member of the Senate consent to be a candidate, the Constitution says that person shall vacate their seat.

“I have taken the steps, the former Senator has consented to be a candidate, I have written His Excellency the President under Section 43 and there is no bar, There is no disqualification for Mrs Raziah Ahmed to be a candidate and the winning candidate for San Fernando West.”

a furniture manufacturing company in East Canje which was destroyed by fire earlier this year.

Meanwhile his mother, who resides in the neighbouring village of Chesney, said when she learnt of her son’s death, she rushed over immediately. She said his body was still warm and soft. According to Rohanie Sanichara, he was a very willing child who visited her earlier in the day and gave her Gy$500.

“He did not tell me anything, but like he was going to go to Masjid and something happen and make he do that. But we can’t get the phone to see who is the last person he talk to or was texting.”

Sanichara leaves to mourn two foster parents and two foster sisters, a mother and five siblings.

Ex-TT reporter threatens to sue Jack's newspaper

PORT-OFSPAIN, TRINIDAD:

Former Express journalist Anika Gumbs is threatening to sue the Sunshine newspaper owned by corruption accused Jack Warner over an article in which it was alleged she had acquired wealth and information for stories through Government connections.

A pre-action protocol

letter has been issued on behalf of Gumbs by Nizam Mohammed and Company, in which the former investigative reporter is demanding an apology, a sum in “exemplary” damages for injury to her reputation and legal costs of TT$15,000.

The article under question appeared in the weekly Sunshine last Friday, headlined “Anika's Wealth Exposed!”.

Included in the piece were allegations that Gumbs had purchased a house in St Joseph for TT$1.2 million in cash, an Audi vehicle at a cost of TT$600,000 and was also the owner of a Housing Development Company (HDC) house in Chaguanas, which was being rented out.

The warning letter issued to the Sunshine on Monday by Gumbs's lawyers stated:

“In addition to publicising these false and malicious statements against our client, the article went so far as to publish the area in which she resides.

“The release of our client's personal and confidential information into the public domain was deliberately done to cause her fear and distress for her personal safety as she could now be targeted by anyone with ill intent who might mistakenly believe your

defamatory remarks.”

The letter also stated that the Sunshine has sought to discredit Gumbs in the eyes of possible future employers, peers and the public.

“The words and statements published were made spitefully, deliberately and with express malice to injure our client's reputation and were specifically calculated to vilify our client,” the letter stated.

Sunshine is being called upon to meet certain demands or face the High Court.

Gumbs is seeking an apology and retraction of the article in a conspicuous part of the Sunshine, an appropriate sum in damages to compensate for serious injury to her reputation and associated distress and embarrassment, an amount for damages for libel, including aggravated and exemplary damages and legal fees of TT$15,000. (TT Express)

Sanneta Myrie crowned Miss Jamaica

KINGSTON, JAMAICA:

Sanneta Myrie, a 24-year-old medical doctor, is Miss Jamaica World 2015. The dreadlocked Myrie was crowned at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St James Saturday night.

First runner-up was Royanne DeSilva and second runner-up Roshelle McKinley.

Myrie, who won the Miss UWI contest in 2012, also mentors youth in Kingston's inner-city communities and runs an afterschool progamme.

She will represent Jamaica at the Miss World pageant in China in December.

Sectional prizes went to Richelle Parchment (Most Adventurous Contestant) and Krystal Tomlinson (Most Congenial and Beauty in Business).

Roshelle McKinley won for Best Figure, while Shari Jo Robinson walked away with the prize for Best Smile. Talia Soares was awarded Best Skin Tone, and Best Legs went to Jovi Jaja. (Jamaica Observer)

New Canadian High Commissioner hopes LGE will come to fruition

Canada has said that it is extremely pleased with Government’s recent announcement that Local Government Elections –last held in 1994 – will be held by December this year.

The message was related by the newest Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana, Pierre Giroux, when he presented his credentials to President David Granger at the Ministry of the Presidency on Wednesday.

Government had recently announced that it would be moving to have the long overdue election by December.

The Guyana Elections Commission however, is still to confirm a date.

The Canadian High Commissioner related that his country was pleased with the announcement, and hope that it would come to fruition. According to

him, in every society, every level of Government should be functional.

He said he intends to carry out the legacy of mutual respect and coop-

eration, noting that the relationship between the two countries has always been a strong people-topeople link, along with a strong common interest.

Pierre Giroux (BA [Economics], Université de Montréal, 1974) has worked in the federal public service for 34 years, during which time he has held a wide range of positions relating to international affairs.

Overseas, Giroux has served as Ambassador to El Salvador, Chargé d’affaires en pied to The Dominican Republic; Deputy Head of Mission to the Organisation of American States in Washington, DC; Canadian representative on the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s development assistance committee in Paris; Adviser in the Canadian embas-

sies to Venezuela and to Algeria; Cooperation Section Chief in the Canadian embassies to Tunisia and to Guatemala; and technical expert in planning for the Governments of Mali and Haiti.

At Headquarters, he has held the positions of Director, West and Central Africa; and Canadian representative for the peace process in the African Great Lakes region; Deputy Director for climate change and energy policy, Deputy Director for recruitment and management of the development assistance file; and Senior Planning Officer for the Canadian International Development Agency’s Haiti Programme. Giroux and his wife Blanca Ureta, have one son. Giroux replaces Nicole Giles.

No formal decision yet on date for Local Govt Elections

By Michael younge

It is now 21 days since Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan announced that Government was waiting on the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to make a “formal decision” as to how to proceed with the holding of the long overdue Local Government Elections which were last held in 1994.

Bulkan, addressing the 65-seat National Assembly on July 30, had told parliamentarians that GECOM was expected to make this formal decision at its statutory meeting which was slated to take place on August 18.

“Once such approval is granted, GECOM will be able to hold the elections in early December or well before the Christmas, so whilst I earlier said that it is our desire for these elections to be held in November or before the end of November, I have today been advised that GECOM are assuring that they will be in a position to hold these elections in early December,” Minister Bulkan had said.

Bulkan was at the time making his presentation as Government rammed through the Local Government (Amendment) Bill 2015 – the last of the four pieces of legislation crucial for the holding of Local Government Elections under the local Government reforms regime. The Local Government

(Amendment) Bill was passed in the 10th Parliament, but then President Donald Ramotar had refused to assent to it. The Bill vests financial and administrative powers in the Local Government Commission, removing them from the subject ministry. The other three Bills – the Fiscal Transfer Act, the Municipal and District Council Amendment Act, and the Local Government Commission Act have been passed and assented to.

When contacted on Wednesday, two GECOM Commissioners who asked not to be named said that no formal decision was made in relation to Local Government Elections and denied that deciding on how to proceed and whether elections could indeed be held by November or December was a matter solely for GECOM.

“I am not aware of GECOM bearing the burden to name a date and solely make provisions for the holding of these elections. As a matter of fact, I am not even aware that GECOM was to make

any decisions on how to proceed with the elections because the things that need to be done are within the public domain for months if not years now,” one Commissioner said.

GECOM Chairman, Dr Steve Surujbally confirmed to Guyana Times International during a telephone interview that no “decisions” were made in relation to holding of the Local Government Elections at Tuesday’s statutory meeting.

He said while he read and saw reports attributed to Minister Bulkan, he was not aware that the setting of the date or time frame for the elections was one that was scheduled to be discussed in a formal way by GECOM at its planned Tuesday statutory meeting.

Dr Surujbally advised that the Commission did discuss the legal lacunae that stand in the way of successful holding of the elections, but these issues were known to all the stakeholders who had interest in the holding of local polls.

He explained further that the Commission continued to do what it could at this time to prepare for the elections whenever they would be held. “There are several prerequisite activities” that must be addressed promptly if elections are to be held in Guyana, Dr Surujbally said, explaining that the current laws that are in force do not incorporate or support the brand new system that has to be used for the holding of the lo-

cal Government polls. Dr Surujbally maintained that the Commission has played its role and made the relevant contributions so far. “We have to get certain things done so that

we can start to do other things…,” the GECOM Chairman said as he spoke about the training of election staff, voter education on the new electoral system and other logistical antecedents.

He declined to say if it was possible to successfully hold elections this year when quizzed by this newspaper on the matter given the snail’s pace at which things were being done.

Trini artist wins prestigious US fellowship

PORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD:

Trinidadian

born artist and educator Daniela Fifi has been awarded the prestigious Samuel H Kress Interpretive Fellowship Award, which she will pursue at the Miriam and Ira D Wallach Art Gallery at Columbia University in New York.

The Samuel H. Kress Fellowship Award is valued at some TT$30,000 and is offered to American art museums to host fellows in a professional environment.

The fellowship provides mentored professional development opportunities within American art museums and encourages fellows to explore interpretive careers in art museums, whether as museum educators or future curators, and to expand the range of promising career options available to students of art history and related fields.

Fifi is co founder of the Scarlett Project, a nonprofit organisation based in Trinidad which promotes Caribbean Art education through art education workshops and annual theatrical productions.

Now purusing her doctorate at Teachers College, Columbia University, she beat out a competitive field of artists, museum educators and future museum curators from across the United States to earn the highly coveted fellowship, which began on August 1.

trinidadian born artist and educator Daniela Fifi (arcthemagazine photo)

During the period of her fellowship, Fifi will work closely with Deborah Cullen, PhD, Director and Chief Curator of the Miriam and Ira D Wallach Art Gallery, to develop and implement the gallery’s museum education plan towards its move to The LenFest Centre of the Arts in 2017.

The education plan will focus on developing programming towards audiences in Harlem and its environs, at the gallery’s new home in Manhattanville.

Prior to her arrival in the United States, Fifi worked at the National Museum and Art Gallery of Trinidad and Tobago for three years and has been awarded numerous professional and academic honours throughout her career including the Presidents Scholar Award from the Pratt Institute, the Museum Education Research Fellowship at the Whitney Museum of

American Art and the Columbia University Teachers College International Student Merit Award.

Her current doctoral research examines the sustainability and longevity of museum- community relationships and she is particularly interested in communities that are underrepresented in museums, specifically Caribbean populations.

“I feel truly blessed to be selected as a 2015 Kress Fellow at the Miriam and Ira D Wallach Art Gallery.

It’s such a privilege and deep honour to be working with and learning from Deborah Cullen,” she said on receiving word of her award.

“This opportunity will not only allow me to truly engage our youth and larger community at the gallery’s new location, but it will also enable me to continue my research into the strengthening of the links between art institutions and underserved parts of the community, through innovative art education and interactive awareness programmes. This has been my passion in the arts as an educator, and consequently, this award is truly an extraordinary opportunity.” Among Fifi’s recent publications is Doing and Undergoing- A Site Specific Multi Media Art Exhibition at Teacher’s College, Celebrating its 125th Anniversary (2015). (TT Newsday)

28 to contest for ILP

PORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD:

Twenty-eight candidates will face the polls for the Independent Liberal Party (ILP) on September 7 and, according to some supporters, out in full force at Sunday night's presentation, it should not be taken for granted that the election race features only two horses.

A large crowd, mostly wearing the party's colour--green--packed into Montrose Junction in Chaguanas to be introduced to the candidates and to hear leader Jack Warner speak.

Warner, facing charges by the United States Department of Justice that he was involved in corruption while he was a FIFA vice-president, has promised to drop more bombshells on Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar in the weeks to come and said he felt his team was the strongest in the race.

The candidates themselves have promised to do what they said the People's

Partnership has failed to do and see to it that citizens benefit most from the country's wealth.

But that wealth, Warner and his speakers cried, is dwindling in the face of poor diversification, unimaginative investment, falling oil prices, wild spending and corruption.

Riding hard on the notion that the local economy is heading for a crash, ILP Couva North candidate Sunil Ramjitsingh said the lack of US currency now affecting banks, businesses and regular customers is but one indication of this country's swelling economic woes.

“There has to be an investigation into the change of policy by the Central Bank in how US currency is released into the system,” Ramjitsingh said.

“And anyone who deliberately does anything knowing that it could or would crash the economy is guilty of treason.”

Within the crowd, which was of mixed eth-

nicities and ages, supporters were enthusiastic the ILP was a meaningful contender.

“Whoever thinks this race is only between the UNC (United National Congress) and the PNM (People's National Movement) is wrong,” said one ILP member.

“They are quick to dismiss the small parties but they will see the worth of the ILP come September,” he added.

The candidates were presented with much fanfare, with the crowd being treated to an hour of musical entertainment before the start of the presentation.

The event was punctuated by more entertainment, including a performance by chutney singer Adesh Samaroo.

In addition to supporters in green, nearby residential areas yielded another type of crowd, this one curious to catch a glimpse of Warner, who was in his “hometown”. (TT Express)

Flames spark between marketing companies, retailers in Jamaica

KINGSTON, JAMAICA:

Gasolene retailers are again up in arms, this time over what they say are continued unfair pricing practices of petroleum marketing companies, which they fear could force some of them out of business.

The retailers have accused the companies of not passing on the full cost of the reductions and discounts they receive from Petrojam, the state oil refinery, and allege that it has been the case for at least four to six months.

"We notice that when there is a reduction in prices, the prices are not passed on to the dealers in terms of the full reduction," President of the Gasolene Retailers Association (JGRA) Leonard Green told the Jamaican media.

Green argued that this type of unpredict-

ability, while retail margins are being compressed, is forcing the dealers into a corner, and rendering them uncompetitive.

"Some of our dealers have had to be absorbing these retentions by the marketing companies. Although the marketing companies have only passed on Ja$1.91 in the last instance to the dealers, they have had to pass on the full Ja$2.91 to the market," he said.

The JGRA president said the dealers want the companies to immediately desist from the practice and come up with a proper pricing mechanism.

Green said that so far one company has indicated that it wants to have one-on-one meetings with the affected dealers, but the JGRA is against the move, calling it "a divide and rule" method.

The retailers have

The Petrojam oil refinery in Kingston, Jamaica

another lingering issue with the marketing companies -- that of new contracts which were to take effect in January, but which were stayed after dealers objected to the terms and threatened to shut down the retail trade.

Retailers complained

then that the contracts were onerous and unfair, and following the intervention of the energy minister, Phillip Paulwell, a code of conduct to guide contractual arrangements between the parties was put to the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) for

review.

Green is dissatisfied that the FTC has not yet made a final decision, and blames the delay on lack of cooperation by the companies.

"The FTC has spoken to the retailers and other stakeholders, but the marketing compa-

nies have been very reluctant to cooperate with the FTC. We are saying to the FTC: "having given them so much time to give you their response, why don't you move ahead and make your recommendations based on the evidence that we have provided? he queried.

He said in the meantime, the companies are trying to "coerce and in some instances pressure" the dealers to sign these contracts, as , among other things, access to capital financing has been stymied because the dealers continue to operate under the old contracts.

Executive Director of the FTC David Miller told the media that the code of conduct is still in draft format, but that the commission should be "tying it up" before the end of this month.

(Jamaica Observer)

Guyana can be maritime gateway for South America – Granger

President David Granger has stated that Guyana can become a maritime gateway to South America and a gateway from South America to Caricom, at the commissioning Monday of a wharf and dredge facility, which he says will “open more opportunities” for the growth of the economy.

He said the new facility was a clear indication that the parent company, GAICO Construction and General Services Incorporated, was catering to the needs of the country in which it operates.

According to a Ministry of the Presidency press release, in addition to the construction of the new Wharf Facility and a Trailing Suction Hopper Dredge, at Nismes, West Bank Demerara (WBD), the company will develop packaging and manufacturing facilities in the upcoming months. These facilities will serve the WBD area and other surrounding communities further up the Demerara River.

“Our Government aims to give Guyanese a good life, but most of all we want a strong economy … and a strong economy requires that we

catalyse our productive services and sector by linking our hinterland with the coastlands … an efficient maritime transport service and system is critical in the realisation of a strong economy,” the President stated.

He emphasised that the hinterland was a main repository for natural resources in the country, hence this initiative would provide greater access, while providing additional services to riverine communities which depend heavily on the forestry and mining sectors.

The Head of State noted that a sound economy would ensure that goods produced in these communities get to markets, because internal markets were small and there was need for the produce to get to larger markets.

According to the media release, President Granger also stated that over the years, the heavily silted Demerara River had a severe impact on the volume of goods that can be transported from hinterland areas, as larger ships were unable to access the river channels. As such, Guyana’s export capacity was impacted.

It was explained that initiatives such as

“this one will open more opportunities” for the growth of the economy, since it would make it possible for larger ships to reach inland areas and for a wider range of economic activities for the local economy.

“More importantly with the dredging of the Demerara River and other main rivers Guyana can now become a maritime gateway to South America and a gateway from South America to Caricom,” the President said.

While at the commissioning ceremony, the Head of State was presented with a boat, which will be used to ferry schoolchildren from riverine communities to their learning institutions. The boat, bearing the name “David G”, will be handed over to the Social Cohesion Minister, after which it would be formally presented to a selected community.

Granger said in ensuring that children have access to education, poverty would be reduced.

“Education remains the best means for the poor to graduate out of poverty. If we provide them with education, it is a means through which they can be qualified,” he added.

Jamaica on track to pass next IMF test — Byles

KINGSTON, JAMAICA:

Jamaica should be on track to pass the ninth IMF test and can expect upgrades from the major rating agencies, as a result of recent improvments to the economy, according to Richard Byles, co-chair of the Economic Programme Oversight Committee (EPOC).

"Recent economic news has been generally good, with the most important metrics performing according to plan or better, notably the primary balance, the current account, inflation

and of course the debt/ GDP ratio as a result of the debt buy-back," Byles said.

The PetroCaribe debt buy-back is "quite an event" Byles said, and will bring three major benefits to the country.

First up is the 10 per cent reduction in the debt/GDP ratio -- "a major accomplishment and a major benefit to the country", allowing Jamaica to achieve its March 2017 target twenty months early, Byles said.

The government will also benefit from an in-

Visually-impaired lad secures 3 Grade Ones, 2 Grade Twos at CSEC

The Guyana Society for the Blind was proud to announce that students who sat the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations in May/June performed well, with one student excelling gaining three Grade Ones and two Grade Twos.

At a brief press conference on Tuesday, the Society’s Programme Coordinator, Ganesh Singh, expressed his satisfaction with the overall outcome of this year’s exams since the students had less time to prepare this year.

crease in income through earnings from the PetroCaribe Fund.

And thirdly, "there will be a big rush of Jamaican dollar liquid-

continued on page 13

Last year, 10 visually-impaired students wrote the examinations through the association and this year the same number took up the opportunity. The organisation recorded an overall pass rate of 80 per cent, with 100 per cent passes in Office Administration,

Principles of Business and Social Studies; however, English Language and Human and Social Biology seemed to be the most challenging subjects for the students.

Venessa Lowachee who teaches Principles of Business and English Language, highlighted the challenges faced by the students this year. She said that most of these problems derived from the electronic devices that were used by the students, adding that had they solved these problems earlier, the organization would have received a 100 per cent pass rate. Nevertheless, she was satisfied with the performance of the students.

The top performers were Alwin Adams who secured three Grade Ones and two Grade Twos and Gillian Layne with three Grade Ones and two Grade Twos as

well, followed by Ceion Rollox with two Grade Ones, two Grade Twos and a Grade Three.

Adams, who is working towards getting accepted to the University of Guyana, would like to further his studies in the business field since his ultimate goal is to revolutionise the transportation industry by establishing a business that caters for blind and visually-impaired persons. He took the opportunity to thank Almighty God for making his dream come true, and he also thanked his teachers and fellow classmates for making his journey a special one. The organisation is confident that next year it will have better results since it would have already begun preparing eight students and it hopes that more visually impaired students will take up this opportunity.

Dr Clive Jagan implores all political parties to work towards building Guyana

Given that both the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Alliance For Change (AFC) were notorious for scheming against the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government during their years as the Opposition, PPP/C Member of Parliament Dr Clive Jagan appealed to all the members of the House to shy away from such practices and focus their energies towards the betterment of Guyana instead.

Dr Jagan, nephew of the late founder of the PPP, Dr Cheddi Jagan, expressed these inspiring sentiments as he made his maiden speech in the National Assembly during the 2015 Budget Debate on Tuesday. He was following his legendary uncle who made

his maiden speech in the Assembly in 1947. In many ways, he reminded older observers of the first Dr Jagan.

Clive Jagan lamented the fact that politics in Guyana has reached a point where parties appear to merely “oppose for opposition’s sake” and blatantly disregard what serves as the best interest of the country and its citizenry.

He alluded to the combined APNU/AFC Opposition and all their desperate attempts to block key developmental projects like Amaila Falls and the AntiMoney Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Bill, pointing out to the House that those parties only opposed for opposition’s sake.

“It is perhaps for those members who were in this side who are now on that side to reflect and determine if it was in good conscience that they served Guyana, when they blocked and refused to support any number of important legislations from the then minority Government.

“Since before I was born and all through my life growing up, I was told that Guyana needs cheap, clean energy if we are going to take advantage of our natural resources for our development. When we heard that we had great potential for hydropower, how much was done to actualise these words?” he challenged.

Dr Jagan explained that the previous Government had everything in place for the ex-

ecution of this project, but it was blocked by the then APNU/AFC majority opposition, resulting in time, money and energy being wasted.

He said it was the same situation with the PPP/C’s attempt to pass the AML/CFT Bill. It was on this note that Jagan called on all to not oppose for opposition’s sake but work for a better Guyana.

APNU/AFC inherited a better Guyana

Moreover, the politician pointed out that the APNU/AFC inherited a better Guyana than what the PPP/C did when it took over in 1992. He was alluding to the return of his uncle, Dr Cheddi Jagan to power after 28 years in the political wilderness because of rigged elections by the People’s National

Congress (PNC).

According to the younger Dr Jagan, Guyana was thriving in the 1960s; perhaps the envy of the Caribbean. He said it had a steadily growing economy, the best education system in the Caribbean, and the sugar, rice, timber, bauxite and gold industries were excelling.

However, he noted, from the time the PNC took over, Guyana’s economy began to decline.

“We had a shortened economy. The PNC had beaten the population into pessimism and pushed into immigration… By the time, they were done we were a highly-indebted, low-income country with inflation of over 100 per cent,” Dr Jagan said, noting that PPP/C basically inherited a socioeconomic mess – a country where

most parts were without water, electricity, with no freedom and no democracy.

But then following the “herculean” efforts by the PPP/C Government over the last 23 years, Guyana began to flourish once again and was in far better state than it was during the PNC rule.

Dr Jagan noted that Guyana now has an education system that is once again considered one of the best in the Caribbean: more children are graduating from primary schools, more graduating with high grades in their Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Exams; a stabilised exchange rate; rice production soaring at 600,000 tonnes a year; wider distribution of electricity and water; freedom and democracy.

Caribbean boasts as having one of the world’s highest immunization rates

The Caribbean can boast of having one of the highest immunization rates in the world, according to Assistant SecretaryGeneral in charge of Human and Social Development at the CARICOM Secretariat Dr. Douglas Slater.

And he says the region’s high immunization coverage, which was better than even the United States, was due largely to the work of Caribbean nurses who had also made a valuable contribution to other areas such as maternal health and child health.

Slater made the comments as he addressed the 42nd Annual General Meeting of the Regional Nursing Body at the CARICOM Secretariat earlier this week.

The senior CARICOM official added that the work of the region’s nurses had made a significant impact on communicable and non-communicable diseases and their involvement in enhancing healthy lifestyle promotion was also commendable.

Minister in Guyana’s Ministry of Health, Dr.

Karen Cummings, also acknowledged the value that nurses brought to the public health care system across the Caribbean.

“We understand the critical importance of investing in human capital necessary to enable our nurses to thrive prosperously in a dynamic health care environment,” she said.

However, Cummings added, more work needed to be done with respect to tackling emerging trends and diseases.

The four-day meeting, which ended Monday, will review the current status of preparations for the October 2015 Regional Examination for Nurse Registration (RENR) and give guidance on any outstanding issues related to the CXC-managed RENR over its first year.

Participants will also approve the way forward for a new Strategic Plan for Nursing in CARICOM and will receive updates on current areas of regional and global health policy of particular relevance to the nursing community. (Caribbean NewsNow)

Ramson Jr slams Govt for “excluding” youth in 2015 Budget

By Michael younge

Newly swornin People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C)

Member of Parliament (MP) Charles Ramson Jr on Monday said the move by the new A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change coalition Government to lock youth out of every level of Government was unconstitutional. And he promised that it would pay dearly at the next General and Regional Elections for the disrespect shown to Guyanese youth after using them to hype and build momentum in the lead-up to the last elections.

Ramson Jr, who barely had any time to benefit from the presentations of more seasoned MPs as he was the third speaker, made the accusation

during day one of the 2015 Budget debate in the National Assembly.

He said he was disappointed at the manner in which the new Government has treated young people since it took over the reins of Executive power. The first move, he said, that was a shocking sign was the decision to demote the Culture, Youth and Sports Ministry subsuming it into Education.

He said that with all of the emphasis being placed on pursuing constitutional reform, when one considers how youth are being treated, it is clear that the new Government “doesn’t need to rewrite the Constitution – the coalition Government needs to reread the Constitution”.

“The absence of youth from the Cabinet

and Parliament is unconstitutional,” he remarked while reading parts of the preamble of the Constitution which stresses that young people have a right to participate at all levels of governance.

Ramson Jr made it

Jamaica on track to...

ity in Febuary," bringing a reduction in interest rates.

In addition, Byles said he expected Jamaica to pass the upcoming IMF text, and for the programme "to focus more on the issue of growth". Byles said he also expects an upgrade from the three major rating agencies of Standard and Poors, Fitch Ratings and Moody's.

The economy grew by 0.4 per cent from January to March.

"That is not as much as we'd want but not a bad performance, given all we know about the drought and so forth,' Byles said.

As the drought kicks

in and appears to be even more severe than last year's, Jamaica will once again experience a hit to its GPD growth figures, Byles said.

"The drought is worse and has probably taken out at least 0.5 to 1.0 per cent of our GDP," Byles told the Jamaican media on Monday. He was speaking at a monthly review on the Jamaican economy at the Sagicor head office in New Kingston.

The effect of this year's drought is a repeat of last year, when a severe drought hit the Jamaican economy, expecially the agricultural sector, reduciing the GDP growth rate by

about 1.0 per cent.

page 11

Agriculture in Jamaica is very 'harum scarum' Byles said. "We need to move past that."

On the breadbasket agricultural parish of St Elizabeth he said "We need irrigation water at a price that is affordable. That is a low hanging fruit."

The hotel and restaurant industry grew by 4.0 per cent during the first quarter, with construction at 1.3 per cent and mining at 0.6 per cent, but declines were recorded in electricity generation down by 2.8 per cent, agriculture down by 0.6 per cent and manufacturing down by 2.0 per cent. (Jamaica Observer)

tion of power and we deserve more than just two measly paragraphs – and more than just platitudinal statements of a draft youth policy,” he said.

Ramson Jr, who is a trained Attorney-atLaw, also exposed that the new Government had only budgeted a pittance for youth development over the remaining four months of the year and into the new year ahead of the presentation of the next budget.

clear that youth would not be ignored or treated with disrespect as he warned the members of the Government side who were laughing during his presentation that the youths will laugh at them at the polls, given the fact that they betrayed them after the “It is time campaign” and the May 11 elections.

“Before we look at the numbers, let’s look at the budget speech as it relates to youth – two measly paragraphs – and the big statement in there – there has been a draft youth policy – that’s it –the youth are the reason you are even in any posi-

Taking the Government to task, Ramson Jr revealed that youths were treated like an aside in the budget and like an “errant bastard child”.

He called the budget “no good” and “useless” as far addressing the issues which affect youth were concerned.

“The PNC had 23 years to prepare a youth plan and have it waiting; the AFC had about 10 years – now they assume power – you are about to draft a youth policy – now??? So the youth that believed you and voted for you now have to wait longer? I hope you will also tell them that the youth draft policy was 90 per cent already prepared by

the PPP/C. Where is the big youth programme? Where is the big youth focus? Where is the big youth vision? Where is the big youth project? Where is the big youth empowerment? Where is the school cash grant?” he remarked to approving thumps from his colleagues.

Ramson Jr said that the new Government was “all talk, no walk” and “all gear, no game” while asking several burning questions of his fellow MPs.

“How are you going to tackle youth unemployment, bullying in schools, underage drinking and drug use, suicide, truancy in schools, youth crime and the big solution cannot be close the bars at 2am and send home everyone – total incompetence – this coalition Government is proving itself every day to be yesterday’s men with yesterday’s idea,” he noted. The new MP accused the Government of having “facile solutions” while in Opposition and now when it was in power only portraying “flaccid solutions” given that the average age of its MPs was 62.

AFC will be “dead meat” if it goes solo

– Ramjattan’s prediction could be fulfilled

Any attempt by the Alliance For Change (AFC) to contest Local Government Elections (LGE), which are being planned for year-end, to go solo without its coalition partner could see the Party suffering a massive defeat as a result of losing most of the political weight it had as a putative “third force” before the May 11 General and Regional Elections.

As preparations and discussions are underway for the hosting of the long-awaited Local Government Elections in Guyana, it is unclear as to whether the coalition Government comprising the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and AFC, will be contesting as a jointly unit or separately.

Political Commentator, Dr Henry Jeffrey, in a telephone interview with Guyana Times International on Saturday, stated that this decision would depend on how the two political parties see their long-term future as a coalition.

“If they see themselves as a group togeth-

er in the long term, then they will go to these elections and contest together. However, if they do not then they would be contesting the upcoming elections in the regions separately. It all depends on how both parties see themselves together in the future,” Dr Jeffery explained.

However, he noted that if there is truth to what the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) is trumpeting with regards to the AFC being “wiped out” in traditional PPP/C areas, or what is being deemed ‘Indian’ areas, then it would be catastrophic for the AFC.

“If this is true and the AFC decides to go to the elections to contest solo and the Party (AFC) does not do well, then this will definitely weaken the AFC. In a sense, it would also weaken the APNU because these two parties have coalesced and formed the central Government. As such, a result of this would mean that the AFC would be weakened,” he stated.

Opposition Leader’s perspective

Previously, former two-time President

and now Leader of the Opposition, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo had commented on the issue of Local Government Elections with regards to the AFC contesting solo.

He had stated that should the AFC make such a move and lose, it will kick-start its demise in the political arena in Guyana and more so as part of a Government.

“Now they are subsumed; Granger will decide everything,” he said, adding: “They are baggage to APNU; they are peripheral to APNU’s main thrust. So when they come into the village, they only come with a little yellow flag to fool people; they no longer exist.”

According to Jagdeo, the Alliance For Change no longer has any “leverage”, given their “marriage” with APNU and any attempts to act solo will reveal the truth in his position.

As it stands, the entire Alliance For Change elections machinery is in disarray and the Party has been torn by a series of internal rifts, infighting and divisions since the May 11 elections.

Recently, another

AFC Executive and former Parliamentarian Dr Verasammy Ramyya resigned, explaining that he was disrespected by the new Government and the people of Berbice were left out in the cold.

Before entering the coalition with APNU, leader of the AFC Khemraj Ramjattan had predicted that if that happens, the “AFC would become ‘dead meat’. He explained that the Party’s support among the Indian Berbicians constituency would desert them en masses. A Local Government Election would test this theory and with the present disillusionment with the direction the coalition has taken most observers

say Ramjattan’s prediction will come to fruition.

PPP/C in LGE with Surujbally

Meanwhile, in June, the PPP/C had no qualms about its position as it related to contesting in the upcoming Local Government Elections.

The Opposition Party has maintained that it is concerned about contesting these elections with Dr Steve Surujbally as Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). Since the PPP/C lost the May 11 General and Regional Elections, it has repeatedly called for the resignation of the GECOM Chairman, although GECOM is composed

of six Commissionersthree from the APNU/ AFC Government and three from the PPP/C. Those calls have even taken the form of protests which saw former President Donald Ramotar, as well as, members from his past Cabinet picketing in front of GECOM’s Headquarters on High Street, Kingston.

The PPP/C maintains its allegations that the electoral body conspired with the present administration so as to rig the recently held General Elections. The former Government offered the body’s refusal to do a national recount, as well as several disputed Statements of Poll, as evidence of the alleged “collusion”.

Govt drafting action plan for hinterland development – NTC Secretary

The Government will be introducing a 10-point action plan for hinterland development which is aimed at ensuring that Guyana’s indigenous communities become thriving economic units, President David Granger told the National Toshaos’ Council (NTC) at the opening ceremony of its annual conference.

Granger told the Amerindian representatives Tuesday that the Administration was proposing a new partnership between the NTC which represented the 72,000 Amerindians and the Central Government. “We propose to work

together for the improvement of the quality of life for all indigenous Guyanese. Your Government is committed to the development of the hinterland and indigenous community,” the Head of State informed in his address.

He added that the plan was also aimed at eradicating extreme poverty, reducing youth unemployment and increasing prosperity.

Some of the plan’s components include the establishing of the Hinterland Education Support Programme. The President mentioned that the single biggest problem which has dire implications for the fu-

ture was the broken public education system, which produces an increasing number of illiterate and non-numerate youths. He shared that his Administration’s priority would be to ensure that everyone received a sound education. “We should ensure that every child is able to attend school. No child should be prevented from attending school because of parental poverty.”

He added that he would like to ensure that over the next five years, every primary school child is transported to school by boat, bicycle or bus, have a nutritious breakfast when he/she arrives at school, and all

families who keep their children in school are rewarded.

Granger added that protecting children was a national priority and Guyana could not be one nation, a nation in which everyone participated to the full, unless citizens protect our children. “We want to ensure that every child in the hinterland has access to education and they are going forward with this initiative under the motto, Every Child in School (ECS).”

He shared that the Hinterland Education Support Programme would, therefore, support the goal of keeping children in school by providing meals, uniforms, books, transportation and when they graduated, scholarships to attend secondary school and higher levels.

Several other components of the Government’s action plan include the Hinterland Employment Community Service, Hinterland Language Culture and Sports Service and development of the Hinterland Tourism Programme.

However, newlyelected Secretary of the NTC, and Toshao of

claims “plagiarism”

secretary

Batavia, Region Seven, Eyon Boyal stated: “To me it’s a full plagiarism, a full copy of what was already in place. They now bring it to the new Toshaos thinking they could fool them. But we who were there before know what’s going on and it’s just like if they’re taking the old Administration’s plan their plan.”

Under the previous Administration, actions were taken to promote hinterland development in sectors of education, health, infrastructure, agriculture and business investments. Initiatives undertaken through the then Amerindian Affairs Ministry include a school feeding programme; distribution of school uni-

form material; distribution of the “Because We Care” vouchers; the construction of manual, solar-powered and mechanical water wells; installation of generators and solar panels in homes and construction of health centres in every Amerindian village.

Also, the Amerindian Land Titling Project, the Community Development Plans and annual Presidential Grant of Gy$1 million to each village enabled villages to expand their asset base while securing their future livelihood.

Primary schools with nursery classes were also built in Amerindian villages, while all villages were equipped with vehicles to facilitate transportation of residents. Up to its recent termination, the Youth Entrepreneurship and Apprenticeship Programme (YEAP) boosted youth employment by recruiting 1972 young Amerindians to provide technical and administrative support to their communities.

Whether the Government will discontinue ongoing programmes or enhance them is yet to be determined.

Scenes from the 2015 Budget debates

2015 Budget offers “a fresh approach to a healthy life”

BY KRISTEN MACKLINGAM

Junior Health Minister, Dr Karen Cummings, during her budget debate speech on Monday stated that the 2015 National Budget proffers a ‘fresh approach’ for a healthy life for all Guyanese, with the aim of having a ‘green economy’ irrespective of their political affiliation.

However, seconds after this statement, members of the Opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) shouted out “Bharat Dindyal” who was functioning as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) until the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government relieved him of his duties quite recently. His dismissal, which was reportedly executed in an ‘unacceptable’ manner by Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson, has

raised many concerns among citizens, as the perception of discrimination by this Government continues to spread nationwide.

Ignoring the Opposition, as she continued her speech, Dr Cummings explained that her Government inherited a ‘plethora of problems’ from the former Administration, with regards to the health system in Guyana.

She quoted a recent report from the World Health Organisation (WHO) which was published in the Trinidad Guardian newspaper which stated that Guyana has the highest suicide rate in the world.

Dr Cummings posited that the APNU/AFC Government intends to frontally approach the scourge of suicide in Guyana, as well as implement and execute targeted programmes, aimed at significantly reducing the suicide rate and eradicating the scourge.

“The 2015 Budget

matches the priorities of the nation and in particular the health sector. It paves the way for a safe, cost-effective and comprehensive health care… some priorities include increasing education on how to prevent mental illness and suicide wherever possible and eliminate stigma,” she said. It was further stated that according to the Commonwealth Health online, the most common mental illness in Guyana is schizophrenia, adding that much work is need-

ed to treat all types of mental illnesses.

“She further said that work will be done on upgrading waiting homes in Lethem and Bartica, which are soon to be made official ‘Towns’ and that the budget caters for Gy$131 million for the Maternity Unit at the Georgetown Public Hospital. Fifty beds are expected to be added to this Unit, as well as the purchasing of state-of-the-art equipment for the maternity and child care sections

of the Georgetown Public Hospital.

According to Minister Cummings, primary healthcare will remain the fundamental strategic approach to realising the health agenda and the ‘over-arching’ approach to healthcare provision in Guyana.

Meanwhile, Dr Vishwa Mahadeo, Member of Parliament for the Opposition, commended the Junior Health Minister on the plans for improvement her Government would be undertaking, stating that “nearly everything said fell under the Vision 2020.”

The Vision 2020 for health was a PPP/C Government initiative.

“The budget should have been better given the state of the country in 2014 going to 2015… Let us build Guyana and we will not do this by destroying what’s working and getting rid of the experienced and qualified personnel just because the PPP employed them,” Dr Mahadeo em-

phasised.

He argued that while this Government is maintaining that much focus will be placed on the health sector in Guyana, it is the said Government which has prevented the construction of health centres at Mara, located in Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne); Providence, East Bank Demerara; the half way home for psychiatric patients and the doctors quarters in New Amsterdam, Berbice.

“We have come a far way from days when just a couple of medications were available at Government pharmacies; we used to recycle things such as needles, gloves, syringes. While we have not reached and have a far way to go, we can only achieve improvement by building on what we have, utilising resources and experiences available. We need to put the country and health of the nation above parties and politics,” Dr Mahadeo noted.

Education CoI findings to lead sector reforms

Education Minister, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine has stated that the findings from the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) that is ongoing into the education system will be used to design an effective education reform process.

He made this statement on Thursday at a press conference where the 2015 May/June Caribbean Secondary

Education Certificate (CSEC) results were announced. According to Dr Roopnaraine, the CoI into the education sector will give parents, students and other stakeholders countrywide the opportunity to make contributions to the reform process.

The Education Minister pointed out that the education reform process cannot be designed out of ideas but needs experiences and evidence, which will be gathered through the Inquiry. “We can’t design an educational reform process out of our heads. That’s something, I think, that really has to be based on the experience of people and the evidence that the Commission of Inquiry gets,” he stated.

However, the Minister pointed out that the Commission does not have a narrow focus. Dr Roopnaraine reiterated his dissatisfaction with the fact that the schools and classrooms are al-

most exclusively devoted to academic instructions, noting that he wants to see a far more rounded education in the schools.

“So, all of this will encompass the Inquiry. To what extent we believe that bringing music back into the school will produce a more rounded child, to what extent we believe that enhancing physical education and encouraging sports is going to result in a better educated person,” he pointed out.

Not an overnight process

The Education Minister stated that the reform will not happen overnight but needs time to be implemented and enforced. “Based on everything we hear in the Commission, based on the audit findings we have on our desks, based on all of these things, we will be able to design an education reform process in the key areas that needs to be addressed” he pointed out.

On the other hand, Dr Roopnaraine said that

much attention needs to be placed on the high number of subjects that students are allowed to write. He believes that the curriculum has been diluted hence students are now able to manage more subjects.

“The reason a student is able to cope with that number of subjects, because I believe the intensity of the curriculum is not there. I believe there has been too much dilution but that’s something that I am planning to discuss with my education officers, people with a lot more experience in the education industry than I have and together have a serious look at this and see what kind of improvements that we want to make,” the Minister mentioned.

Furthermore, the Education Minister stated that another phenomenon that needs to be addressed is the gender imbalance in the school system. “The young women are really outstripping the boys… by really quite a large margin. I think this is a problem for sociologists. I think we need to subject it [to] serious investigations and as I say we must not run away with the idea that this is only affecting us here in Guyana. This is a global and regional phenomenon and we need to look at it in all its dimension. It’s a complex issue and certainly one that deserves a lot of attention,” Dr Roopnaraine declared.

Budget has nothing new to move Guyana forward, says Irfaan Ali

By Michael younge

Former Housing and Water Minister Irfaan

Ali delivered what can be described as a ‘masterful’ if not ‘fiery’ presentation on Monday while schooling newly-appointed Finance Minister Winston Jordan on economics and basic mathematics as the 2015 Budget debate got underway.

Ali, representing the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) and speaking first during the debate at the seventh sitting, exposed what appeared to be “dishonesty” and recent corrupt undertakings of the new A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change (APNU/ AFC) coalition Government which came to power back in May this year.

He started his presenta-

tion on a high note by expressing the PPP/C’s appreciation of the hard work, dedication and support shown by the country’s public servants and scores of young professionals during the Party’s tenure in office which aided in fast tacking Guyana’s overall development and growth.

Ali said the PPP/C wanted to record its concern during the Budget debate over the mass firings and dismissals that have been taking place across the country, as it was shocked that following the recent election, a new Government could undertake such partisan, politically motivated and ethnically-biased actions.

“The recent elections remind us of how fragile democracy is,” he noted, explaining that his presentation on Budget 2015 was being made even as the PPP/C is holding

PM says “sugar

out that it was cheated at the polls. Ali contended that if indeed democracy held sway, there would have been no objections to calls for recounts of ballots cast as this would fur-

ther validate the results of the elections and inspire higher levels of confidence in the election machinery and the right of the new Government to govern.

“The foundation on which you stand is questionable, confidence in you and trust in you is difficult,” Ali told the Government as he warned that the PPP/C will nonetheless continue to represent the people of the country.

Taking his first jab at the Finance Minister during his presentation, Ali said he was shocked by the Minister’s postelectoral rhetoric on the State of the economy arguing that he has inherited a vastly developed Guyana which recorded nine years of continuous economic growth made possible by the PPP/C.

“Winston Jordan must have learnt something un-

will not sink”

der the leadership of Dr Ashni Singh,” he offered before questioning the current posture and actions of the Minister. Ali told Parliament that shockingly in just two months, the new Government has taken away over Gy$1 billion of development from the Amerindian villages across the country, thousands of jobs and some basic aspirations of Guyanese people.

He said the new Budget, presented under the theme, “A fresh start to a good life in a green economy”, failed to address the issues of Private Sector confidence and the need for more domestic and foreign inflows and investments if any good life is to be achieved.

He said a “good life” could not be achieved as the Budget was presented against the backdrop of workers in the

under new Govt

– promises to turn ailing industry around at Cane Farmers Conference

By Vahnu Manikchand

As Guyana continues to grapple with the ailing sugar industry, the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government has assured that it will not let sugar fail.

This promise was uttered by Prime Minister and First Vice President Moses Nagamootoo on Friday while he was addressing a gathering of stakeholders at the Agriculture Ministry’s first National Cane Farmers Conference where issues affecting the sugar industry were discussed and recommendations made.

The one-day conference was held at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre, Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown, during which Prime Minister Nagamootoo delivered the feature address on the importance of sugar to Guyanese and the country’s economy. He noted that while in Opposition, the APNU/ AFC coalition had said that sugar was too big to fail, and this position was still maintained.

Nagamootoo stated that the sugar industry contributed significantly to the country’s economy and as such, Government needed to ensure it did not fail. He pointed out that since its assumption to office in May, Government has given the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) a Gy$4 billion bailout to pay wages, adding that the industry needed an additional Gy$12 billion.

This, he stated, is despite another Gy$17 billion that was approved in Parliament over the past two years to be injected into the sector.

“This new Government will not allow the sugar industry to sink. However, you will well understand we needed to cast out the political deadweights, whose mismanagement had brought us to the point where we were forced to appoint a Commission of Inquiry into the operations of GuySuCo,” he stated.

Many shortfalls

According to the Prime Minister, there are many shortfalls that are affecting the efficient operation of the Sugar Corporation, so Government intended to have these addressed urgently.

Some of the areas to be addressed this year include the shortage of skilled personnel, labour turnout, GuySuCo’s Capital Expenditure Programme, and the cost of production and marketing of sugar.

Further, he stated

that his Government will be looking to complement cost-effective production with enhanced processing and marketing as well as establishing programmes for technical and financial support.

Nagamootoo went on to say that Government was prepared to work on these challenges to ensure the sugar industry was viable, since it was a big foreign currency earner and still a big source of job creation. According to the first Vice President, these answers are also important to cane farmers since their livelihood is directly linked to the success of the sugar industry.

He outlined that the industry and workers were important to Government hence it was working to ensure a modern industry. “The focus is to make sugar work. We have too many workers who stand to lose with the collapse of the industry, so it is no question that we have to make it work… In fact, it is stated clearly in our manifesto that there remains an urgent need to reorganise the management of the entire agriculture sector – be it sugar, rice, aquaculture, livestock or other crops. With the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry into the sugar industry we are attempting to ensure that we create a flexible, integrated and environmentally sensitive sugar sub-sector to satisfy the demands of domestic, regional and international competitive markets,” he declared.

Moving forward, the Prime Minister re-

marked that in addition to mechanisms, they needed to also focus on new and improved varieties of sugar cane to increase productivity at the field level along with appropriate investments.

Nevertheless, the first Vice President not-

ed that with the current difficult times especially with plummeting market prices and rising operating costs as well as climate change, farmers must embrace these changes.

Moreover, Nagamootoo assured the farmers that they would not be left unemployed. He noted unlike Jamaica which scaled back its sugar, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago which went out of sugar, and St Kitts which went out of production, Guyana’s sugar industry would not see the same fate.

Venezuela to address border controversy in Mercosur Parliament

Adelegation of Venezuelan parliamentarians will be attending the 33rd Regular Meeting and Special Meeting of the Parliament of the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) in Montevideo, Uruguay on Sunday where they will present a document concerning its claims against Guyana over the western Essequibo territory, in an effort to seek the full support of the regional body amid the decades-old border controversy.

Guyana’s Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge was not clear on whether Guyana would be participating in the upcoming meeting.

According to Greenidge, “Our colleagues in Latin America claim we have been invited to a meeting in August, but didn’t see it fit to ask us whether we’d be available, whether the time would be convenient, whether we’d be interested and so forth.”

However, former diplomats have urged the Guyanese Government to attend this important meeting, with the aim of dealing with the recently flared controversy over the illegal claims to the

Essequibo.

Venezuelan parliamentarian Saúl Ortega said the delegation will, at the Mercosur meeting, explain how Guyana’s Government plans to “take over” Essequibo –disregarding Venezuela’s sovereignty.

He added that his country expects a unanimous resolution in support of Venezuela.

For generations, Venezuela has been claiming most of Guyana’s territory. The controversy surfaced again in May when USoil giant ExxonMobil revealed it had found massive offshore oil and gas deposits.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro issued a decree ratifying maritime sovereign-

ty over waters within a 200-mile range, including the entire Atlantic Ocean off the Essequibo Coast, as well as part of Suriname’s maritime territory.

This decree sparked a nationwide debate regarding the matter, with various regional bodies and nations calling for the peaceful resolution of the conflict.

Guyana already secured the support from the Caribbean Community (Caricom), the United States of America (USA), and the United Kingdom.

Meanwhile, former diplomats have already pressed the Guyanese Government to address the matter at the upcoming Mercosur meeting. Former Foreign

Affairs Minister Rudolph “Rudy” Insanally had said that Latin American States that are part of the sub-regional bloc of Mercosur should take into consideration the fact that Guyana is now a fully fledged member of the grouping and that the decisions following consultations on the Guyana/Venezuela border controversy should be fair.

There is already a widespread perception that the grouping will likely lean in Venezuela’s favour. However, Insanally, who has been Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations since 1987, said those countries should come to the understanding that Guyana is now a part of them and has been attending all of the meetings ever since joining the group and that in spite of what language a country speaks, the group should always be fair.

Additionally, former Foreign Trade Minister, Dr Henry Jeffrey pointed out that if Guyana does not attend the confab, then it could lose out on having a say on any decision that is made.

Waramadong Secondary School to be renamed after late Desrey Fox

President David Granger on Tuesday announced that his Government will be renaming the Waramadong Secondary School in Region Seven (CuyuniMazaruni) in honour of late Education Minister Desrey Fox.

Minister Fox died at 54 in a car accident in 2009 while serving her first term as Education Minister in the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).

The school will soon be called the Desrey Fox Secondary School.

President Granger made this announcement while addressing the 2015 National Toshaos Council Meeting, at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre.

Granger posited in a statement that “education is important to everything that we do, and this morning, I wish to pay particular tribute to those who have been produced in our indigenous communities, but particularly I want to recognise one who has left an indelible mark on education, an indelible mark on the indigenous people in this country”.

Meanwhile, the son

of the late Minister, Mensah Fox is quoted in another section of the media as saying that the announcement was a big step taken by the government.

“We are extremely proud of her achievements and it brings us great happiness. I know there is a lot that she has done and a lot that she had in store to do, but this recognition is one that we appreciate” Fox said.

Noting that his mother was a student of the Waramadong Secondary School and a daughter of the community, Fox said that the tribute will also resonate well in Waramadong.

Indo-Guyanese fearful of discrimination

– in wake of Govt’s

By Kristen MacKlingaM

In light of the A Partnership For National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government’s decision in relieving Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Power and Light (GPL), Bharat Dindyal, of his duties without proper notice or dialogue, concerns continue to grow as to whether this was truly a political move or an act of ‘ethnic cleansing’.

Former Speaker of the National Assembly, Ralph Ramkarran, in his blog, “The Conversation Tree” on Saturday, stated that the manner of the dismissal of Dindyal, who is one of the best and most dedicated managers in the State system, will send “shivers down the spines” of the ethnically sensitive.

“In justifying his (Dindyal’s) dismissal, a not-too-subtle attempt was made to portray his continued employment

dismissal of former GPL CEO Bharat Dindyal

without a written contract, even though he was continuing on the job only until a replacement could be found, as some sort of sinister plot. The incidents that led to the dismissal were reported … [another section of the media] (Friday). If the report is true, then Dindyal resisted gross and continued insubordination from his Deputy, which was supported by the Minister,” said Ramkarran.

He went on to say that the display of rage by Dindyal was not “what did him in”. “His dismissal was prompted by his resistance to the insubordination and the exposure of the political involvement. He has stood up and resisted in times past in different circumstances. This political culture in much of the Third World that infects our political system as well, embraces the type of gross political interference and insubordination which Dindyal perceived and which he

protested,” the former Speaker of the House explained.

He emphasised that political interference crushed all those in its path who attempted to resist. Dindyal was notified on Friday that his engagement with GPL was concluded with effect on the said day at 16:00h.

“Dindyal is the first known victim since the elections and will not be the last unless the Government breaks

Budget has nothing... from page 19

bauxite industry being retrenched, a decreasing oil price without savings being passed on to consumers or any reduction in the tariffs, the absence of specialised health care, and a reduction of investments in almost every single administrative region except for Region Four (DemeraraMahaica).

Government

Members of Parliament (MPs) started heckling immediately, but Ali skewered the actions of the new Government as he pointed out its subtle move to reduce capital estimates and spending in all of the regions that the PPP/C chaired which it won at the last elections by at least Gy$800 million. He said the new Government had reduced the agricultural allocations in the Budget, cutting some Gy$81 million of spending on this area primarily in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) and Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) which were won by the PPP/C.

He was concerned that the move now deprived these regions of important resources to keep them moving along the development trajectory and lambasted the new Government over its treatment of the country’s hallmark Low Carbon Development Strategy which he claimed was “laid aside”. Ali added that there

was “a lot of fluff in 2015 budget”, but no policy formulation to “give meat” to the statements made by the new Government. He urged it to continue to consult the PPP/C’s Manifesto if it was interested in crafting a proper plan to take Guyana forward.

“Use this document and serve the people of Guyana,” he said as his colleagues nodded their heads in agreement.

Bankruptcy claims

At this point, the Government members burst into heckling and interrupted Ali until his presentation was completed.

The PPP/C MP also rebutted allegations made by the Finance Minister that the country was bankrupt as he contended that the statistics and financial figures presented by the Minister contradicted his own rhetoric.

“The Minister is a visionary…..By the time he is finished, I am sure the economy will be bankrupt…he is a good visionary,” Ali said to smirks from both sides of the House. He contended that the economy grew by 300 per cent over the last couple of years under the PPP/C.

He said that it was not surprising that the Government may want to mislead the country as monies could be “earmarked for questionable projects or they have no

with this culture. The Government should have no doubt in its mind that these acts will all add up to the growing perception by the Indian Guyanese community that discrimination against them will become a part of their lot under the APNU+AFC coalition. The Government must understand that the rise of such sentiments is not determined by constructive examination of facts and rational conclusions arising there from,” Ramkarran posited.

He added that the rise of these sentiments emerged from perceptions rooted in historical circumstances that were given expression by Guyana’s two-party system which drove and sustained the perceptions.

Growing perception

“I do not accept that there is such discrimination, but the growing perception is a negative phenomenon so early in the life of Government. It should not be dismissed,

idea of the financial status of the economy”.

Rice, investments

The former Housing Minister also called on the new Government to honour the pledge it made to deliver Gy$9000 per bag of paddy along with the Gy$23 billion in subsidies. Ali hinted that the PPP/C was aware that there was no real subsidy for rice farmers and attempts were being made by the Government to source the money through another mechanism.

He also called for the immediate establishment of a national paddy price system, while urging the Government to ensure that it maintained rice production above 600, 000 tonnes as well as continue to improve paddy yields and value-added processes.

The PPP/C Executive said that there were no new projects in Budget 2015 except for those initiated by the previous Government. He said the PPP/C wanted the Government to return the subsidies to the pensioners which amounted to Gy$500 million, while immediately ensuring that the sugar industry received Gy$20 billion to assist it in making a rebound.

He called on the coalition to also double the monies received by Old Age Pensioners as it had promised to do while on the campaign trail.

because once such perception takes hold, they are very difficult to overcome. Guyana’s politics are organised for the expression of ethnic sentiments and are driven by ethnic considerations,” Ramkarran noted.

He made reference to the period 19571964 when the PPP Government(s) were accused of racism, being a ‘rice’ government and the PNCR era of the 1970s and 1980s when the PNCR Governments were accused of “racial and political discrimination”.

According to Ramkarran’s blog, with the advent of the APNU/ AFC Government, many Indian Guyanese have become fearful of discrimination and, in particular, fearful of the loss of promotions or job opportunities, loss of access which is vital for overcoming bureaucratic inertia or manoeuvring around ‘bottlenecks’ in the conduct of business.

“The fear is being gen-

erated by the reality of Indians losing their jobs, notwithstanding that most of those are political appointments and are expected to resign upon a change of government or are public servants who have elected to climb a political platform. While on the ground there is little substance to any charge of discrimination, there have been worrying developments. The negative phenomenon was given impetus when Clairmont Lye and Andaiye, two of the most powerful and respected voices in civil society, who do not go to press lightly, raised the issue by protesting in letters to … [another section of the media] the ethnically unbalanced and the gender deficient state boards which had been announced,” he further stated.

However, to Government’s credit, it swiftly recognised the complaint and undertook to review the appointments.

LBI man remanded for causing the death of Nigel Hughes’ mother

Aman was on Monday remanded to prison for causing the death of Christobel Hughes, the mother of prominent Attorney and Chairman of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Nigel Hughes.

Juliano Seunarine, age 28, of La Bonne Intention, East Coast Demerara was placed before Magistrate Ann McLennan in Court Two of the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts to answer to two charges in relation to the incident.

Seunarine, who is employed as a driver, pleaded guilty to the charge which read that on Saturday, August 15, and Pike and Lamaha Streets, Kitty, Georgetown, he drove motor vehicle PPP 4641 while under the influence of alcohol which rendered him incapable of having control of the motor vehicle.

The breathalyser test conducted by the Police revealed that his level was 161 micrograms when the legal limit is 35. Seunarine was not required to plead to the charge which read that on the same occasion he drove motor vehicle PPP 4641 in a dangerous manner, thereby causing the death of Christobel Hughes.

According to Police Prosecutor, Corporal Deniro Jones, on the day in question at approximately 23:15h, the defendant was the driver of the said motor vehicle and was proceeding East on Pike Street. While approaching Lamaha Street, he failed to stop which resulted in him colliding with motor vehicle PMM 6763. As a result of this collision, Christobel Hughes received severe injuries which led to her demise.

A report was made to the Police and breathalyser tests carried out revealed that the defendant was driving under the influence of alcohol. Charges were then instituted against the defendant.

Hughes, who was in her early 80s, was a passenger in the vehicle bearing registra-

tion number PMM 6763 and was being driven by her other son, Stuart Hughes.

After the collision, the injured were rushed to a city hospital, where Christobel Hughes was listed in critical condition while her son Stuart sustained minor injuries. On Sunday, she succumbed to injuries received in the accident.

After reviewing the facts presented, Magistrate McLennan instituted the maximum penalty of a fine of Gy$7500 on the charge of driving under the influence and also ordered that Seunarine’s drivers licence be suspended until the end of the trial. As it related to the charge of cause of death by dangerous driving, he has been remanded to prison.

Business Ministry to advance youth entrepreneurship

The Business and Investment

Ministry has promised to include youths with entrepreneurial desires in the development of Guyana’s business sector as they move forward.

Business Minister Dominic Gaskin shared that he sees Guyana’s youth and young adults playing an integral role in Guyana’s business sector, with the help of his Ministry. He said his Ministry is seriously looking to encourage entrepreneurship among young people in Guyana.

Minister Gaskin added that he believes that Guyana’s youth possess the ideas and the energy to reinvent Guyana’s business sector and in the past, that energy and innovativeness that they possessed was not allowed to develop.

The Minister mentioned that though entrepreneurship is not for everyone, “every society has its share of risk takers and we need to ensure that the business environment that exists can accommodate our young risk takers with ideas and access to finance and the ability to bring their ideas to life”.

He added that entrepreneurship; “especially certain types of risky entrepreneurship” are not always financed by the banking sector. He shared that Guyana’s budding entrepreneurs must be taught how to

sell their ideas to investors, and convince these investors that their ideas might be strange and outside of the box, but worth their provisions.

Gaskin stated that in the long-term, he would like the Government and his Ministry to be committed towards ensuring that the youths of today have a major role to play in the development of Guyana’s business sector. He added that he hopes Government and his Ministry will be able to greatly assist these aspiring individuals to build their businesses, by not just showing them how to make a profit, but how to manage and grow their business and adding to the development of Guyana.

He added that though the youths are Guyana’s future, they still have a lot of learning to do and persons should be dedicated to helping them focus and further developing their skills.

The Business Minister had explained that officially, his Ministry will “come into existence” from September 1, at least from a budgetary point of view. This is because the estimates presented by Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh in the National Assembly in 2014 catered for the Tourism, Industry and Commerce Ministry from January 1, 2015 to August 31, 2015.

As of September 1, 2015 to December 31, 2015, there are separate budgetary allocations for the Ministries of Business and Tourism. He also stated that for the remainder of the year, his Ministry’s focus is on capacity building so as to accommodate youths in Guyana’s business sector along with other initiatives that will be in their five-year strategic plan when it is released in several weeks.

This announcement comes after the Government terminated 1972 Community Support Officers (CSOs) under the Youth Entrepreneurship and Apprenticeship Programme (YEAP) which employed young people to provide technical support to their communities in the Hinterland. CSOs were paid a stipend of Gy$30,000 monthly although some have not received payments since the month of April.

GuyExpo to be grander in 2016

Guyana’s premier trade show, GuyExpo, normally held every year, will be put off for the year 2015 and held in May 2016, when the Government of Guyana plans for it to be a “grander event” and part of the commemoration of Guyana’s 50th anniversary of independence.

Business and Investment Minister Dominic Gaskin shared that there was a committee in place for the planning of next year’s GuyExpo. They are examining various concepts and making recommendations as they move forward. Gaskin shared that the recommendations that were received, having deferred GuyExpo to next year, are cognisant of the fact that GuyExpo provides an opportunity for many small businesses to sell their goods, and an ef-

“We want to make GuyExpo a place where foreign investors and buyers and even exhibitors can come… a place of business where a lot of business activities will take place and connections are made,” Business and Investment minister Dominic Gaskin says

fort should be made to replace that opportunity.

Gaskin mentioned that the National Exhibition Centre is underutilised, so the Business and Investment Ministry sought to find a way to create something to give small businesses that opportunity this year by hosting a Small

Sukhai defends Gy$2.1M dental work

– says it was her entitlement

Former Amerindian Affairs Minister Pauline Sukhai, has defended a dental bill paid on her behalf by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government, claiming that her medical circumstances is her private business and the money utilised was her rightful entitlement as a Minister of Guyana.

“My dental fee was an entitlement and it was duly approved,” she said, maintaining that she will not disclose any information with respect to what the money was spent on as it is her personal business.

She was at the time speaking to media operatives at a press briefing on Saturday at the Party’s Headquarters, in Robb Street, Georgetown.

Sukhai explained that sections of the media and sections of society sought to use this information as a political gimmick to influence Amerindian voters against the PPP/C, but all efforts were in vain.

“The fact that it was peddled pre-election as a campaign gimmick; it did not resound in the hinterland as what was expected for the coalition Government,” the former Minister said, noting that the Party still grabbed the majority of the votes from Amerindian regions.

Sukhai maintained that the sum spent on her medical needs is her lawful entitlement, ridding herself of any responsibility for the appropriation of the funds.

“It appeared as if Minister Pauline Sukhai misappropriated the sum but Minister Pauline Sukhai is not responsible for the Ministry of Health’s support budget and I do not have direct hand on the finances and I did not spend that money…it went through the normal course of an application and an approval… Minister Sukhai, like any other individual who received medical support under the PPP/C Government is entitled as a national or as an Amerindian, unless they are telling me that I am not supposed to enjoy any benefit that was available under the position I held as Minister,” the former Minister contended.

Moreover, Sukhai speculated that the hullaballoo and attacks against her is based on her ethnicity. “Is it that Minister Pauline Sukhai who features popularly in the matter of receiving dental assistance, is the criticism being levelled against Pauline Sukhai because she is an Amerindian, is it that an Amerindian Minister is not entitled to dental support,” she rhetorically purported.

Additionally, the former Minister posited that it is not discriminatory that she and other officials are entitled to millions of dollars for dental treatment when the layman is not entitled to the same. “It is not discriminatory… If anyone who applied to the PPP/C Government for assistance, medical, dental otherwise, they were supported, I myself piloted many requests on behalf of indigenous individuals who needed overseas assistant and many of them were successfully cured,” she related.

Meanwhile, in the lead up to the General and Regional Elections 2015, when news broke that Ministers were engaged in exorbitant spending on medical treatment for various purposes, former Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon noted that this privilege is extended to individuals outside of Cabinet, even Opposition members.

Gun amnesty to take effect from September 1

– Church Movement to oversee programme

As the Guyana Police Force reports that more illegal firearms are being found on the streets of the country, the Public Security Ministry has announced that the Gun Amnesty Programme, which provides for persons to hand over unlicensed firearms and ammunition to the authorities without facing prosecution, will take effect from September 1.

Business Exhibition in November 2015. However, the Business Minister stated that GuyExpo should remain an annual expo with the objective to attract foreign buyers and create linkages between Guyana’s exporting businesses and regional and

Ramjattan told this newspaper that they are currently working out a few more details before the implementation of the programme, such as the location where the firearm would be lodged. “We are trying to work out a couple of areas where we are going to ask members of the public to bring it in because we have to have safe places where the guns can be lodged,” he stated.

Furthermore, the Public Security Minister disclosed that the Church

Movement has been identified as the civil organisation to oversee the Gun Amnesty Programme and collect the firearms. Ramjattan had previously stated that they have realised that persons may not be too inclined to hand over firearms to the Police, as such, they will have an independent organisation to oversee the programme.

Last month during a press briefing, Minister Ramjattan had stated that he needs to consult with the Top Cop on the way forward in imple-

menting the programme to determine whether incentives will be given to those who take advantage of the amnesty period, or whether persons would face harsher penalties for failing to submit their illegal weapons within the amnesty period. This consultation was since completed.

“So all of that is part and parcel of my projected plans for the next couple of months… Indeed we are going to grant an amnesty so they can start their collection and bring it to the nearest Police Station,” he had remarked.

Meanwhile, President Granger has reiterated the importance of removing illegal firearms from the streets of Guyana. He noted that there is a large amount of illegal weapons, as such, they need to find the source of these firearms and stop them from whichever countries they are coming from.

Outrage mounts over Govt’s dismissal of young Amerindians

By Kristen MacKlingaM

The A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government continues to come under fire for its firing of close to 2000 young Amerindians who were employed as Community Support Officers (CSOs) across the country by the previous Administration.

This act has been deemed by many as ‘unjustified’ and has sparked the concern of citizens who fear that discrimination is ‘in play’.

In July, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon confirmed the dismissal of 1972 CSOs in the hinterland regions. He posited that it “might have very well been the right thing to do” as their operations were found to be political.

While trying to justify this action, Minister Harmon stated that the programme has been in existence for over five years and was being used by the PPP/C Government for political purposes, hence their sacking was “justified”.

In light of the dismissal of these youths which outraged the PPP/C, the Party ex-

plained in a press briefing that the almost 2000 youths were engaged in support services to the Village Councils and in particular the social services, education and health sectors in various Amerindian communities and their respective regions.

They each received a monthly stipend of Gy$30,000 which amounted to some Gy$60 million per month and were paid by the then Amerindian Affairs Ministry.

“The Granger-led Administration has cut loose and thrown onto the breadline some 1972 Community Support Officers. They were branded political activ-

ists by Government, carrying out support services to the Village Councils particularly in the social services sector in various Amerindian communities…. The CSOs have since been left out since Granger became President,” the PPP General Secretary Clement Rohee had told reporters.

He added that the APNU/AFC Government was “oblivious” about the hurt and pain it has caused those individuals and “obviously don’t care”. The CSOs were recruited from the villages based on consultation with Village Captains and Councils.

Meanwhile, former President and incoming

Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo says that his Party fully supports the legal action filed by The Amerindian Action Movement of Guyana (TAAMOG), on behalf of the 1972 young Guyanese of Amerindian descent.

He deemed the decision by the new Government as the “largest single act of ethnic discrimination in the history of post-independent Guyana”, adding that “there may have few precedents of similar nature around the world”.

According to Jagdeo, the persons fired amount to almost three per cent of the population of indigenous people living in Guyana.

“Apart from the devastating impact that this discriminatory action will have on these individuals and their families, it removes from the Amerindian village economy at least Gy$270 million per annum.”

The former President said this act violated all international practices, norms and laws relating to indigenous people.

“We call on the APNU Government to immediately reverse this grave injustice perpetuated on our Amerindian brothers and sisters.”

Lawsuit

TAAMOG President Peter Persaud had filed a Gy$10 million lawsuit against the Government on the grounds that

the CSOs were unlawfully dismissed. Before the large-scale dismissal, Indigenous People’s Affairs Minister Sydney Allicock had announced that Government was moving to revisit the CSO programme.

The Minister was at the time visiting the Orealla/Siparuta region, where he assured residents that the new Government was in place to serve all the people, regardless of their political persuasion.

He said the Indigenous People’s Affairs Ministry was in the process of developing a strategy to ensure that the indigenous population, particularly youth, women and children fulfil their potential.

CSOs fell under the Youth Entrepreneurship and Apprenticeship Programme (YEAP) launched in 2013 by the Amerindian Affairs Ministry across the country.

Capacity building and training workshops were hosted for those CSOs selected by the Village Councils in areas such as business, agriculture, governance, social welfare issues, communication and infrastructure.

No direction from Minister, COP wants more resources

Finance Minister

Winston Jordan disclosed during his budget presentation in the National Assembly on Monday last that a whopping Gy$21 billion was allocated to the security sector. He emphasised that the crime situation was “most pressing and depressing.” However, Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud is hoping that whatever is allotted to the Force, it will be enough to address its transportation woes.

Persaud has claimed the Police Force’s inability to respond to reported incidents in some areas was due to the lack of transportation resources. He noted that this issue has significantly affected some aspects of the Force’s work. During the previous People’s Progressive Party’s Administration, hundreds of billions of dollars had been expended to re-equip the Guyana Police Force (GPF), especially in the area of transportation.

At least 12 vehicles were handed over to the top cop which were distributed in several divisions including, D (West Bank Demerara/East Bank Essequibo) and B (Berbice) Divisions. Speaking with reporters on Friday, Persaud stated that among the areas of concerns, which were represented in the budget proposal from the Police Force, were for resources to cover the daily costs of running the organisation.

These costs, he noted, include electricity, telephone, transportation, fuel, meals and recruitment and training.

“We would have budgeted for transportation since that is one of

Subsequently, the Government redirected several vehicles to the Police Force from the Community Policing Groups but the situation remains dire, according to the Commissioner of Police who is hoping for a solution shortly. However, he was pleased with the allocation to the security sector in the National Budget.

our weak areas and you know we have the expansion in our manpower that was granted last year, so we are doing recruitment for that and training,” Persaud noted.

However, Minister Jordan during his pre-

sentation in Parliament noted that some Gy$11.9 billion will be plugged into supporting the operations of the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Prison Service, Guyana Fire Service, and the Customs AntiNarcotics Unit.

Govt to allocate millions to GINA, NCN – despite slashing budgets to Gy$1 for these entities under the

BY KRISTEN MACKLINGAM

Since the A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition came into power, it has been repeatedly chastised by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) for its actions concerning issues such as the dismissal of senior officials in State entities, management of the rice and sugar industries, and also the decisions taken by Government as it relates to the country’s indigenous peoples.

Quite recently, the Administration presented its 2015 Budget estimates in the National Assembly which saw a record breaking budget in Guyana of Gy$221 billion to fund projects and initiatives for a fourmonth period.

This was met with much criticism by some members of the business community, as well as members of the PPP/C. The Administration was questioned as to why such an exuberant sum was being budgeted for such a short period of time by the APNU/AFC Government.

In fact, PPP/C mem-

previous Administration

bers condemned the budget while making comparisons to their budgets which the Party had presented when in power and the APNU/AFC was then the Opposition in Parliament.

During the 2014 Budget presentation under the PPP/C Administration, there was Gy$220 billion budgeted to fund various plans and projects, as well as to run the daily affairs of the country until the next budget was presented.

This money lasted the PPP/C over a year and when the Party left office in May 2015 the sum had not been exhausted. But under the APNU+AFC Administration, Gy$221 billion, is being presented to run Guyana for a quarter of a year, with huge sums of monies being allocated to State entities, which were once being reprimanded by the coalition when it was in Opposition.

GINA and NCN

When the PPP/C won the election in 2011 and prepared its budget for these entities, it was the APNU/AFC that had the majority seating in the National Assembly. The Opposition had voted against allocations to

these very entities.

During the time of the PPP/C Administration, APNU/AFC had slashed the budgeted allocations for the National Communications Network (NCN) and the Government Information Agency (GINA), reducing the figures to Gy$1 each.

The coalition, at that time, cited that these two entities did not report fairly and that GINA was a ‘propaganda machine’ for the PPP/C hence the cuts in budgeted allocations for these entities. Another argument put forward by the then APNU/AFC Opposition was that NCN could survive with its own revenues.

However, this year, the new Government is proposing to allocate hundreds of millions in subsidies for the two agencies. Under the Office of the President, GINA is slated for an Gy$80.4 million subvention, while under the Office of the Prime Minister, it is listed for a Gy$63.9 million subvention; totalling Gy$144.3 million.

Meanwhile, NCN, under the remit of the Prime Minister in this new dispensa-

Meanwhile, he added that the remaining Gy$9.1 billion will be directed towards the operations of the Guyana Defence Force.

According to Jordan, these allocations will be injected into improving the physical infrastructure, upgrade of the security fleet, and acquisition of tools and equipment within these security services. Additionally, the money will be used to upgrade the security features of the machine readable passports, while another Gy$9.7 million was budgeted for the acquisition of specialised equipment for the production of machine readable passports.

Only on Friday, the Police disclosed that serious crime had increased by 10 per cent. Ninety-eight murders were committed, along with 76 road fatalities up until August 13.

The Police also stated that there has been an increase in armed robberies where instruments other than firearms were used, as well

GuyExpo

tion, was given a subsidy of Gy$27.2M under the Office of the Prime Minister and Gy$69.5 million under the Office of the President; reflecting a total of Gy$96.7 million.

This totals Gy$241 million in subsidies. However in 2014, NCN was budgeted for a subsidy of Gy$81.7 million which the APNU/ AFC voted against this. GINA was also given a Gy$140 million subsidy by the PPP/C but the APNU/AFC had maintained that they would not support funding for NCN and GINA as they were two ‘propaganda machines’ of the Government.

Due to the slashing of the budgets under the PPP/C Administration, a number of employees were left jobless and experienced difficulties in meeting their financial obligations and maintaining their families, as their source of their income had been cut.

A number of staffers employed at GINA and NCN were forced to resign and seek new jobs elsewhere while some remained working there battling the challenges of delayed payments to their salaries.

as over 31,000 cases brought against errant drivers up to the period July 31.

The law enforcement agencies have been severely criticised for seeming to be unable to get a grip on the “serious crime” explosion. Rather than manpower and resources, observers believe that there is no clear direction given by the Minister of National Security Khemraj Ramjattan.

Ever since he took over civilian control from Clement Rohee, the coercive arms of the state have not been able to get a plan with projects and timelines. There is a serious groundswell for a No-Confidence Motion to be moved against Ramjattan.

One member of the Guyana Human Rights Association has indicated support for such a move and believes that if such a motion is introduced, MP’s should be allowed to vote according to their conscience and not be forced to toe the party line.

international markets. He posited, however, that has not been the case for the past several years. “It has not developed that potential and I think the reason for that is that the priority of GuyExpo changed over the last few years and those priorities to me, from just looking at what I have seen on the ground, seems to be just entertainment and getting people to come in to say how many persons attended,” the Minister relayed. He added that the objective of the Ministry is to really satisfy the business development thrust and increasing local exports objective.

“We wanted to give it more of a business focus because that’s what we think that GuyExpo should be all about. It should have a business development focus,” Gaskin stated.

Gaskin shared that his mission for the reinvention of GuyExpo is to introduce local businesses for the export market and exposing them to foreign buyers. He added that these require time and dedication to develop. He explained that an international trade fair usually commences with one event, and then every year, it is built upon with more exhibitors and more buyers. The event

is professionally organised and is not something that can be accomplished without careful planning or long-term objectives.

Additionally, Gaskin stated that looking at countries that run successful trade fairs and expos and how they are developed will show how these countries have remained focused in their original objective, which is business development and expansion of the country’s export markets.

Gaskin mentioned that theirs is the level that he would like Guyana’s trade expo to reach and it requires great investment which the Ministry is committing to do. “We want to make GuyExpo a place where foreign investors and buyers and even exhibitors can come… a place of business where a lot of business activities will take place and connections are made.”

He added that he is striving to place GuyExpo on the annual calendar of regional events so that all Caricom brothers and sisters and the regional business community will know that GuyExpo is an event that happens every year in Guyana and is a good place for them to come and do business and/or make good and useful connections.

Regional journalists get lessons from Grenada PM

ST

GEORGE'S,

Grenada: — The Barbados-based Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU) began its 46th annual general assembly on Monday with Grenada's Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell urging regional media companies to fully understand their role as providers of information in the public good.

"The challenge of your role in regional development is likely second only to that of the politician. You have a tremendous burden, and you have tremendous opportunity and responsibility. The ease of which will depend on how you balance that overwhelming task," Mitchell told delegates from across the Caribbean, the United States and China.

Mitchell said that the world has markedly changed since the CBU's inception, and indeed, since the last decade. He said new advances in technology has forced the region to take a new look at the way business is conducted and the way Caribbean countries communicate.

He said as broadcast-

ers, "you are charged with the public good. You have essentially signed up for public service, and with that, for all the other ills such as public pressure, and public regulation. Most of all, you have signed up to work for the public interest".

But he warned that the public interest does not simply mean what interests the public.

"Public interests are many and varied, and you have an inescapable responsibility to serve all of those interests. Your job is to not only sell to the public but to build the public's character and intelligence -- to expand the minds of the public. You are the soul and conscience of the nation."

Prime Minister Mitchell told the ceremony that while he was not here making out a case for himself, he has nonetheless seen "many instances where people, from whatever sphere of public life, have had their reputations tarnished by stories that have been crafted and published about them, without their input or verification of perceived facts".

Mitchell said that on

too many occasions media practitioners and broadcasters regard themselves as people in show business, warning "your role is to seek the truth so as to edify the minds of the very people you are called to serve; not simply to sensationalise stories for public consumption. This is not in the public's interest".

Mitchell, who has led responsibility for information, communication and technology within the quasi Caribbean Community (Caricom) Cabinet, said it was imperative for the CBU general assembly to reflect on innovative ways to broaden the Caribbean market, and develop areas in digital and social media.

He said social media and live streaming have to become part of the agenda reminding the delegates that "media houses and reporters must accept that the public should no longer have to wait on the evening news to get the details of what happened that morning, or afternoon, for that matter".

The four-day general assembly will discuss a number of issues including: Communication Rights and Freedoms in the Caribbean; Digital TransitionThe Conversion of Broadcasting and Telecommunications as well as Programming Rights and Responsibilities -Regional and International Dimensions.

Among the highlights of the assembly will be the induction of two stalwart Caribbean broadcasters into the CBU Hall of Fame and the awards ceremony. (CMC)

Thoracic Surgeon joins Georgetown Public Hospital team

Guyanese-born Dr Cheetanand Mahadeo has returned to his homeland to offer his services after travelling overseas to undergo a two-year training programme.

Dr Mahadeo recently completed his fellowship in Thoracic Surgery at the McMaster University and has rejoined the medical team at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). Originally from Crabwood Creek, Berbice, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), Dr Mahadeo left Guyana

in July 2013 to pursue his fellowship in thoracic surgery and returned last month. Thoracic surgery is a medical field in which the specialist performs operations on the heart, lungs, esophagus, and other organs in the chest.

According to Dr Mahadeo, since the hospital does not have a Thoracic Surgeon, he thought it best to do his fellowship in this field to help offer better care to patients. He said specialising in this field was a life changing experience, adding “the training is

incomparable to anything we have locally; it exposed me to an entirely different approach to take care of patients.”

The doctor’s area of skill is treating everything outside of the heart, such as lung cancer, other cancers in the chest and chest masses. In addition, patients will not be the only ones to benefit from Dr Mahadeo’s expertise, but doctors also. The Thoracic Surgeon is part of the graduate education programme at the Hospital and as such, will be teaching residents both theory and practical. He disclosed his plans to develop thoracic surgery at the hospital by creating the first Thoracic Service in Guyana and said he has been working closely with the GPHC’s Chief Executive Officer Michael Khan. “We have been trying to get a list of equipment, a budget, proposals and quotations for the basic essential stuff,” the Doctor stated.

He further noted that support from Government is integral in making this project a reality. Dr Mahadeo is also a General Surgeon.

11 file to contest two Tobago seats

PORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDD:

All is set for the general election in three weeks time as the candidates vying to be elected to represent Tobago’s for the next five years crossed the final legislative hurdle on Monday, as they were officially registered to go into battle.

The final nomination was filed around 2.30 pm.

The two Tobago seats are being keenly contested as there are 11 candidates from six different political entities. They all said they were optimistic of victory. All eleven candidates said the process ran smoothly.

The People’s National Movement (PNM) candidates Ayanna WebsterRoy and Shamfa Cudjoe were the first to file their nominations shortly after 9 am and they were accompanied by scores of cheering supporters.

Tobago Organisation of the People (TOP) candidates Joseph Frederick and Natasha Second were also accompanied by a small group of party members.

However, it was the Tobago Forwards candidates Christlyn Moore

and Regis Caruth who stole the show as they arrived with the their entourage to the sounds of African drums.

The Platform of Truth (TPT) Hochoy Charles and Juliana King arrived at the Scarborough office without much fanfare. Charles, a veteran politician, said the fanfare in which some of the candidates arrived at the Returning Officers’ office was “disgusting bacchannal behaviour.”

“We have been in government in Tobago for a long time, THA, we have won those from 1980 to 2001 and we have been coming to file nomination papers, we have won both seats in Parliament, we have never seen such disgusting behaviour so many flags coming to a registration office. I come alone. I was Chief Secretary I came alone, you don’t do that on nomination day,” Charles said.

Independent candidate Watson Duke arrived shortly before 11 am with his supporters who had to be warned by police for flocking the compound. The Independent Liberal Party was the last to file at 2.30 pm with Porsher Powder and Paul Peters. (TT Guardian)

Maureen Webber: Goddess of microfinance in Jamaica

KINGSTON,

JAMAICA: She has been described as a powerhouse, a woman who has been dominating the microfinance arena, promoting economic and social inclusion of underserved young people, and helping small businesses to capitalise on their individual potential.

But getting there was never easy. The hallmark of brilliance and accomplishments that has always been associated with the Webber name was not always true for Maureen. Having failed her A'level examinations in high school, her father, who was a disciplinarian, scolded her for believing that she could underperform because she was privileged. His reaction to her less than glorious performance was not what many of his stature would have opted for -- he enrolled her in the National Youth Service (NYS) programme, which at the time was seen as an avenue for young people without money.

While this may have been punishment for others of a similar status, Webber used the opportunity as a foundation to find her purpose as well as to contribute to the

maureen Webber

lives of others through her voluntary work, while gaining experience in the different capacities which she served.

"At NYS I was able to see that not everyone had something to eat every day or had access to resources that they needed for their development and growth. This was one of the many things that ignited a passion to contribute to the lives of those who are socially and economically excluded," she explained

The experience of the 70s was an eye-opener to the conditions of the poor, Webber said. But more importantly, it was pillars on which Webber's passion for microfinance developed.

"I saw that people were struggling and failing," she said. She said this observation was what piqued

her interest. It was from there that a greater love for microfinancing flourished, a love she could not deny because it was embedded in her genes.

Her dominance of the microfinance industry has earned her the title, 'Goddess of microfinance'. But it was not until July of this year that the title was secured, when Webber, founder and CEO of Development Options, was named the region's Most Outstanding Microfinance Leader, copping the Citi-CMFA Annual Caribbean Microfinance award in Miami.

The award was founded from a desire to recognise the efforts of individuals and institutions that are committed to developing and ensuring the social and financial returns within the microfinancing sector throughout the Caribbean.

It is the hope of the organisers that the awards will create an environment for greater awareness on the importance of microentrepreneurship and microfinance in supporting the financial inclusion and economic empowerment of low-income individuals in the Caribbean. (Jamaica Observer)

By Deomattie Seeram

Taan singing was brought to Guyana from India by our foreparents 176 years ago. Taan singing is a skilful technique used in the performance of a raaga (one of the melodic modes used in Indian classical music) at the extreme level of emotion in Hindustani classical music.

Speed is very important while singing or playing taan.It involves the singing of very rapid melodic passages. An artist improvises notes at a very fast speed to take-up the mood of a raaga to an extreme level.

Speaking with two of the most versatile taan singers around Guyana: (the late)Pt. Arjune Balkaran of Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice, and Pt. Nandalall of Strathavon, East Coast Berbice, I was able to gather some information about taan singing. They both referred to taan singing as raaga or ragini (another melodic modes used in Indian classical music) with raagas being sung in the evenings and raginis being sung in the mornings; every hour each raaga changes.

Pt. Arjune has been singing taan for about 30 years now. He started singing taan in his early 20s. Taan is his favourite singing style and he can sing all the different types. He learnt this style of singing from Dasrat and Mohit Mangru who were both legendary taan singers back in the day. They were accompanied by a dholak player named Ramdhani.

Pt. Arjune noted that there are different types of taans :thumri, drupad, bihaag, dhamar and chaturang.

According to him, thumri consists of different beats and starts off slow but ends up a spicy pace. He said the thumri is sung at yajnas (sa-

Preserving a rich part of Indian history

cred Hindu rituals) and details the story of Lord Rama and Lord Krishna. The dhrupad is sung at yajnas also and talks about the life of King Dasrath and his sons. Chaturang is also sung at yajnas. Dhamar is usually sung at weddings and it is also a style used for Holi songs. The bihaag type usually starts off slowly and gradually becomes fast, and is sung at wakes. It talks about people who have passed on and about the relationship of the body with the soul.

Pt. Arjune said drumming is very important to taan singing. The drummer has to anticipate the beat from the time the taan singer begins his song. The singer has to be an ardent harmonium player.

Asking him about the

lyrics and the availability of copies of the songs, he responded saying that these songs were composed in India in Awadi Hindi. He was never given a copy of the lyrics but had to learn by listening, and hence he sings from his memory.

Pt. Arjune recalls that (the late) Pt. Reepu Daman Persaud would hold a night of taan singing called ‘baitaygaana’. On this night, all the taan singers would gather and sing all the styles. He said that the first singer would start with a type of taan singing, and every other singer will sing the same style until the circle goes back to him and then he starts again with another style and so it continues until they are done.

He expressed his interest in having a repeat

of such nights. He also said that in the olden days on Saturday nights before a wedding, there would be taan singing all night.

Pt. Arjune indicated that thumri and drupad are his favourite types of taan singing. He also said that taan singing is strong and it makes him happy whenever he sings it. He is calling on the younger generation to take up taan singing and pledged his time to teaching whoever is interested.

Pt. Nandalall started singing taan from the age of eight. He learnt from Gangaram, Rattan and Frederick - all of whom passed on. He also followed in the compa-

ny of Mohit Mangru and Dasrat Mangru, where he learnt differing techniques.

Asked if anyone inspired him, he mentioned Doonwah. He said that the styles he sings are mainly those of Doonwah.

Pt. Nandalall said that for taan singing, the main instruments are the harmonium, dholak, dantal, jal, and sometimes the majeera is used. He added that taan generally sends out messages if one can understand the lyrics.

In the evening, the bidaapat style is sung and in the morning, the dan-

dak, tilana, drupad, bihaag, chaita, thumri, dhamar and chaturang are sung. Pt. Nandalall’s favourite styles are thumri, dandak, chaturang and tilana. Asked about the lyrics, he responded that lyrics are etched in his memory as he too was never given any copies.

Pt. Nandalall encourages young people to learn taan singing. He also expressed his interest in teaching taan to whoever is interested because he would like to revive this type of music with a rich history.(First published in

A surprise find at Le Repentir Cemetery stirs an interest in the past for overseas-based Guyanese Wayne McWatt

Wayne McWatt left Guyana at the age of 16 to live in the UK; his knowledge of his homeland and its history is what he has read, researched, garnered from accounts told by his parents, and information gathered during his occasional visits to the country.

During one of his visits to Guyana, in 2010, McWatt visited the Le Repentir Cemetery in search of a family vault built for the Sharples family. (McWatt’s great grandfather was John Bradshaw Sharples, the architect builder in Guyana.) In addition to locating the vault, McWatt stumbled upon another precious piece of Guyanese history – the tomb of William Dawes.

In some far-flung bit

of land at the Le Repentir Cemetery lies the tomb of William Dawes, who died in Guyana on March 23, 1855. He was 69. The magnificent granite obelisk that marks his grave is carved with the insignia of his regiment and the laurels of victory, depicting a military career.

Dawes, as the inscription states, was a veteran of the battles of Waterloo (1815), Toulouse (1814), Sahagun (1808), Vittoria (1813) and Orthes (Orthez) (1814). His epitaph reads: “His youth was spent in faith, full and active military service. His latter years in honourably discharging the civil duties intrusted [sic] to him.”

“I discovered the tomb of Dawes by chance as there was a clearing, which meant it was new-

ly revealed. I was looking for a family vault built for the Sharples family. It was a great surprise to find that the vault contains both of John Bradshaw’s wives, who happened to be sisters. He himself chose to be buried at sea. He died February 1913. The vault was all overgrown so I got Pertab to repaint and tidy up,” McWatt recalled in an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine.

According to McWatt, Pertab is a young man whose family worked in the cemetery restoring graves and monuments. McWatt said Pertab knew Le Repentir very well and was an enthusiastic guide.

“Le Repentir Cemetery gets a bad press – and deserving-

ly so because of its poor management from the City Council and it is a disgrace to the nation. Having said that, it deserves better. It’s a very historic plantation site. Some might know the history of French planter Pierre de Saffon who named the plantations Le Repentir and La Penitence in remorse of having killed his brother in France,” McWatt narrated.

McWatt added that at the Le Repentir Cemetery gate in Louisa Row is the office where the burial registers are kept, which date back to the mid 19th century. He noted that the man in charge was retiring in 2011 and seemed quite conscientious and meticulous in holding the records. McWatt hopes that the records are still there.

“These registers are

important documents and should be digitised and kept in the archives. The information they provide is quite unique – including the last address of the deceased, date of death, date of burial, age at death, relation to kin – all linked to a grave number and location. I would like to know more about Dawes. He must have served in the early 19th century European wars, in-

cluding Waterloo. There must be a record in the British Army records. It is of course interesting to know how and why he was in Guyana. There might be an obituary for him. I would love if someone who might have some information shares it with me. I will continue searching for records on Dawes,” McWatt noted.

Dawes’s tomb can be easily located in the old Anglican part of the cemetery; not far from the main cemetery road. June this year marked the bicentenary of the 1815 Battle of Waterloo. The French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armies of the Seventh Coalition: an Anglo-allied army under the command of the Duke of Wellington, and a Prussian army under the command of Prince Blücher.

To contact Wayne McWatt email demerara8@aol.com (Photos and information by Wayne McWatt)

Life skills for better living

“Life hasn’t been an easy road, but we try to make the best of it.” This is a sentiment shared among the resilient women of the Turkeyen/Patterson Women Entrepreneur Group.

The group of about 15 women is presently engaged in life skills training at the B Field Community Centre. The women are mainly from the Sophia area and have become a support circle for each other.

In an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine, Natasha Corrica and Keziah Williams revealed that the women’s group was initiated because of a course they are currently pursuing at the University of Guyana (UG). Corrica and Williams are part of a five-member group from UG who were given a project to complete for their Community Practice course as part of their Social Work programme.

“We have to work with a community surrounding UG. We chose Sophia and to work with the women. Some other groups have chosen to work with the elderly or youths. We were guided by social worker Colin Marks to meet with the women of Sophia. The Turkeyen/Patterson Women Entrepreneur Group is still in its initial stages of formation and we are working to get them formally registered. Marks has been doing a lot for the women. It is impressive that a man has so much interest in the development of women. He is very passionate about his work and he has been instrumental in starting the group. He wants them to become

self-sufficient and learn a skill to become income earners,” Corrica noted.

According to Corrica, as part of the group’s project they had to help the women identify their needs. Corrica and her group members are required to meet two of those needs. Corrica said that the women identified the need for vocational skills training.

Consequently, the UG students are working tirelessly to meet the women’s needs in areas of knitting and floral arrangement training.

“Most of them are single parents and/or unemployed. But they have the abilities and skills and want to develop that. Some of them want to learn knitting and floral arrangement, so we have brought in professionals to teach them. Some of them have a general knowledge of the areas, but want to have in-depth training. The project’s duration is six weeks. We have three more weeks to go. After we have completed training for the six weeks we will still contribute to the group in whatever way we can,” Corrica pointed out.

Training and materials are presently provided by the group of UG students. Relatives and friends of the students have also been sharing their knowledge in the areas of knitting and floral arrangement.

“I am very impressed with how gifted these women are. They are also warm, welcoming and hospitable. They show desire for betterment and to reach their full potential. They are an encouragement to me,” Corrica declared.

The Turkeyen/ Patterson Women

Entrepreneur Group would like to add cooking classes to their programme. However, they expressed a need for the kitchen at the community centre to be furnished as it lacks essentials to start the classes.

Kenya Roberts, an unemployed single parent with two children, disclosed that she has been job searching for a while, but to no avail. However, she is very happy to be part of the women’s group and is grateful for the training she has been receiving.

“Whatever little I can do to make a living, I am doing. I hope with the skills I learn I can start my own business and help other women to learn a skill,” Roberts stated.

Alexis Welcome, a single parent with seven children, and who is also unemployed, said she appreciates being a part of the Turkeyen/ Patterson Women Entrepreneur Group because whatever skills the others know they share within the group.

“One of the women in the group knows sewing, so I am learning that and also knitting. I will continue to learn more and share my knowledge with other women. I encourage women who are single parents or unemployed to join us to learn a skill. Use your spare time to develop yourself,” Welcome urged.

Ulanda Roberts, a single parent of three, and also unemployed, attended Carnegie School of Home Economics where she completed courses in catering, and studied Food and Nutrition, Mathematics and English at Young Women Christian Association. Although

she is qualified, Roberts said she is unable to secure a job.

“So far getting employment has not been easy. I make flower pots with cement and even do tiling, anything to make ends meet. I have learnt that no one will give you stuff just like that; you have to get up and get it. Learning with the women in the group has been fun. We

live like family. Now, I am happy to be teaching some of the girls in the group to knit. We share our knowledge with each other. We are currently trying to get resources to start cooking classes at the centre. We also need financial support to get essentials for the centre. I want to encourage corporate Guyana and kind individuals to contribute in

whatever way they can,” expressed Roberts. Currently, the Turkeyen/Patterson Women Entrepreneur Group meets once weekly, but hopes that with more resources and finances they can expand the programme. For more information on how you can contribute, contact Ulanda on 219-3653 or 2192136.

The Skeldon Collection

The Skeldon Collection is homage to the village of Skeldon, where US-based Guyanese designer Sarah Bacchus grew up as a young teenager.

“It is the place where women were resourceful in the clothing they wore, whether it was niceties received from family members abroad, buying from the local stores or just making sense of fashion from magazines available to them, using fabrics from the markets. Somehow, it always worked, seamlessly,” said Bacchus in an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine.

The Skeldon Collection is certainly amped up from those olden days but the sense of fashion, style and exquisite feminine sophistication shines through.

Bacchus’s fashion label, 34-2436, is always consistent with luxurious fabric choices- silks, cottons, linens and blends of these; colours that complement many complexions; and “seasonless wear” - clothing that can be worn year round to

any events.

The Skeldon Collection used ruffles (sometimes over-sized ruffles), rounded slits, sheer midriffs, ruching, cold shoulder and many very subtle details to make big statements.

“Using nude colour palettes is considered the new black and, keeping that in mind, it was an integral choice in lessening the use of too many black pieces in the collection. Black was mixed with laces and done very elegantly; rich

navy was exceptional; and the red, well it was red hot! For a fresh, clean feel of summer, or a destination wedding ensemble, the white pieces are crisp and a must-have in any closet,” the designer described.

The Skeldon Collection was showcased in Highbridge Park in New York City, part of the ECO Fashion in the Park event.

This is an initiative by founder Gina Constanza, who hascentred discussions around eco-friendly practices and educating the masses on clothing life. The Highbridge was closed for 40 years. Its grand reawakening and restoration was celebrated by several overseas designers showcasing various collections, and 34-24-36 opened the festivities.

The Skeldon Collection is said to be “a revival to what once was to what is current!”

For more information, visit 34-24-36.com/Sarah Bacchus on Facebook. (Photos by Stealth Productions)

The Shaping of guyaneSe LiTeraTure

Part II

B y P etam B er P ersaud

The next major work to tell the story of the heroes surfaced about four decades after Daly’s work (see part one) was published in the early 1940s. This work,“Dictionary of Guyanese Biography”(DGB) was compiled by Arthur and Elma Seymour.

One of the reasons Mr. Seymour gave for the publication of the DGB was his interest in the study of [the] “Carlyle principle of the human leader, the hero.” Added to that reason was the fact that Seymour wrote a critical introduction to Daly’s third volume.

There are several differences between the first set of three books and the second set of two books. Daly’s work did not include any females, although there were outstanding women around at that time, matching their male counterparts in many areas of human endeavour.

Daly’s work “Story of the Heroes” was a verbose appreciation of ‘his’ heroes, while the Seymours work cited more than 500 character sketches, including 24 women.

I will list the names of the 24, going into short biography of a handful; apologising for not having enough space to celebrate each woman properly.

Juliet Alvarez (1903 – 1982) was a social worker and the first librarian at the McKenzie branch of the National Library.

Emily Jane Baskett, an exceptional principal of Bishops’ High School, was awarded the Member of the British Empire (MBE) in 1931.

Dorothy Bayley (1908 – 1979) was Lord

Mayor of Georgetown, serving the period 1967/1968.

Margaret Burns was a very successful businesswoman, cattle ranch owner and stall holder, who personally imported supplies from the UK.

Marie Penelope Clementi MBE wrote “Through British Guiana to the summit of Roraima” describing Kaieteur Falls as the“Mother of Mists.”

Doris Cooper MBE (1903 – 1975) was deputy principal of Berbice High School and a member of the New Amsterdam Town Council.

Lilian Dewar (1916 –1977) educator and first Guyanese principal of Bishops’ High School.

Shirley Field-Ridley (1937 – 1982) scholar, legal practitioner and politician, was one time Minister of Education.

Ruby Franker MBE (1905 – 1974) was appointed as first Guyanese librarian of the public free library, inaugurated the Public Lecture Series and the Public Discussion Circle on great books.

Alyce Fraser-Denny, soprano soloist and music teacher. She was music director to Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association.

Winifred Gaskin, journalist, minister of government, former chairman of the PNC.

Prof Elsa Vesta Goveia (1925- 1980) a Guiana scholar and pioneering historian.

Winifred Hale was an educator and historian.

Kathleen Ermine Harris (1902 – 1952) educator.

Amy Lawrence (1875 – 1956) health visitor;“a familiar sight with her bicycle, veil and weather boots, moving through the streets of the city.”

Patricia Adora Theresa Loncke (1945

– 1983) was a musician and painter; her compositions performed worldwide.

Ruby MacGregor was a music teacher and choral conductor.

Mildred Mansfield MBE (1892 – 1971) founded the Mildred Mansfield Youth Club (formerly Dorcas Club).

Stella Merriman (1913 – 1977) teacher and chief librarian of the National Library.

Iris Myers –Cattle rancher in the Rupununi who did anthropological studies on the Amerindians of Guyana.

Violet Elaine –Nurse inspector of midwives and superintendent of health visitors.

Marian G. Rockcliffe -founder/president of the Young Woman’s Mutual Improvement Association. Editor of the BG Women’s Centenary Effort.

Valerie M Rodway, 1919 – 1970, musical composer and music teacher.

Alice B. Singh MBE founder of BG Dramatic Society, Balak Ashaita Mandalee (a child welfare organisation)

Rajkumari Singh –poet, playwright, winner of numerous literary awards

Sister Uranie (Uranie Goulding) member of the Society of Companions of Jesus the Good Shepherd and Mother’s Union.

Dorothy Taitt - concert singer, contralto and music teacher; founder of the Woodbine Club, BG Philharmonic Society, mother of Helen Taitt.

Dr Ida Tengeley –first girl to win the Guiana Scholarship to study medicine at London University

Victor VyfhuisLady Superintendent of the Saffon School

Rev. Louisa Ann Angoy– founder/president of Toastmasters (Linden) and commander of Girl Guides

(Linden)

Hildred Margiane Britton– author and general secretary of BG Workers League.

Eleanor DaSilva –nurse, radio announcer, parliamentarian

Dr Hyacinth Davis –attended Hunter College and Howard University

Helda Beatrice Devonish– teacher, deacon, founder of School Co-op Societies

Edna Jordon –music teacher and performer

Emily Jane Murray–first librarian of Georgetown library, 1909 – 1940.

Mary Nichol –started Girl Guides in

Guyana

Frederica Beatrice Potter –educator, social worker, captain of Girl Guides

Dorothy Rice –cane cutter who was part of the struggle for better wages

Marguerite Helena Rockcliffe– tour organizer of local, regional and international tours.

Ursula Willems -Governing Director of Willem Timber and Trading Co.

Gertie Lucina Wood –music teacher and founder of BG Women’s League of Social Services.

A project sometimes takes on a life of its own,

directing the flow. This project has just done so, causing a switch in my plan. So look out for the next instalment, which would focus on a female writer who published a three-volume set of biographies.

Responses to this author telephone (592) 226-0065 or email: oraltradition2002@yahoo. com

What’s happening: The Guyana Annual Magazine 2014-2015 issue in now available at Guyenterprise Ltd., Lance Gibbs and Irving Streets;tel. # 226-9874, and from yours truly.

A brief history of rice in Guyana

Rice cultivation in Guyana is said to have been introduced by Dutch governor Laurens Storm Gravesande in the early 18th century, after first importing rice mainly for domestic consumption.

Not long after, rice cultivated on the colony was also being used for supplementing the diet of the slaves.

Seed for the crop arrived from Carolina in North America and small fields were cultivated on Essequibo plantations. When the French briefly took control of Guyana in 1782, seed was imported from Louisiana, then a French colony.

Slaves also began cultivating rice on small plots on the plantations in farming areas designated to them. Sources

say too that runaway slaves would survive partly on the rice they would grow in small clearings in the coastal swamps.

An 1810 report told of a large swathe of land destroyed in the Mahaicony backlands by planters after a group of runaway slaves were discovered growing rice there.

After slavery was abolished, slaves began acquiring their own lands, and rice cultivation expanded on the colony, though mainly for personal consumption rather than on a large scale.

Guyana.org notes that in 1853, a company was formed to grow the crop on a large scale on the West Bank of Demerara but it experi-

enced problems with the irregular supply of irrigation water and poor knowledge of cultivation methods.

It was forced to close operations after a few years.

When the Indian indentured workers arrived to replace slave labour on the plantations, the demand for rice increased.

From around 1860, Indian immigrants on the West Coast Demerara, who were experienced in rice farming, began to cultivate the crop. By 1865 they had planted about 16 acres of rice but their efforts at first were not very successful, also because of poor irrigation.

They persisted however, and more Indians in other parts of the

country joined in the enterprise, even though it was still done on small plots.

Those who had completed their indenture and opted to stay in the colony, turned to rice farming.By 1886, writes guyana.org, more than 200 acres of land in Anna Regina were under rice; by 1893, rice was cultivated on over 2,500 acres in different parts of the country.

Much of the lands they acquired for rice cultivation was purchased from former slaves as well as the colonial government, and rice cultivation soared.

By 1896, according to the Guyana Rice Development Board

(GRDB) Guyana was producing more rice than was needed for local consumption, and the first export shipment to Trinidad took place that same year.

By the time the importation of rice ended on the colony in 1917, guyana.org notes that more than 14,000 tons were already being exported to the islands of the West Indies.

However, the GRDB notes that between the two World Wars, the industry stagnated. In 1939 a single marketing organisation for rice was established and by the end of the Second World War Guyana had secured a virtual monopoly of the West Indies market.

In 1946 the British Guiana Rice Marketing Board (BGRMB) was established; mandated to buy and sell all rice produced in the colony.In the same year, the British Guiana Rice Producers Association (BGRPA) was established.

By 1956 Guyana had been labelled the “bread basket of the Caribbean”, and at independence in 1966, paddy production had reached 167,600 tons. The post-independence Guyana rice industry has since had a turbulent history that has seen its decline and progress over the years. More than 500,000 tons were exported in 2014.

Flipped Classroom

By Anu Dev

“Don’t waste inspiration” – Salman Khan (founder of “Khan’s Academy”), “The One World Schoolhouse: Education Reimagined”

With the recent release of CAPE and CSEC results, pretty much everyone’s mind is on education and schooling. And it all got me to thinking about a 2011 TED Talk by Salman Khan (the founder of Khan Academy, NOT the Bollywood actor). I used Khan Academy a lot in high school and I still use it now in Med School.

The beauty of these videos (apart from their clear and concise explanations) is that you can pause and repeat specific portions as many times as they want. There’s just no escaping the fact that everyone learns at his or her own pace. The current classroom, with its onesize fits all method of teaching, just doesn’t account for that fact. But in our pedagogical model, teachers don’t really have a choice- they’re given a syllabus to cover and a specific number of hours to cover that material. If they’re conscientious, they’re constrained to teach at a particular pace, never mind the actual needs of their students.

That’s why Khan’s “Flipped Classroom” idea is so attractive and why some schools in the US are already using it as part and parcel of their curriculum. The gist of the concept is that kids look at the videos at home, and do the traditional homework at school instead. This way, students can actually learn the material at their own pace at home and the classroom time can be used by the teacher for productive one-on-one time with the student, instead of the usual passive session where the teacher talks at 30 students. The in-class sessions can be interactive, productive discussions of the concepts covered.

The Khan Academy site shows dashboards in which the teacher can pinpoint exactly where each of their students is progressing, where they’re lagging and precisely what concepts they’re struggling with. And then they can hone in on those concepts and work with the student on those particular areas.

While it’s true that in the current classroom situation, a student is free to just ask the teacher to clarify the topic they’re struggling with, from what I’ve seen in school so far, that doesn’t always work out quite so neatly. First off, when would the students ask the teachers? During class time most students don’t want to interrupt the session to hold back the rest of the class. And they would be holding back the class: students who’ve already understood the concept would just be sitting twiddling their thumbs.

And there’s precious little time outside of the classroom. Most teachers have different classes throughout the day so it’s impossible to track them down outside of the class.

This is probably why loads of students turn to extra lessons for help.

In many school, every couple of weeks we get tested as a part of our coursework grade. And whether or not a student gets 70% or 95%, the class moves on to teach new concepts. But the thing is, the new concepts usually build on the concepts taught previously, especially in subjects like math. So if a student only has a 70% understanding of the concepts taught before, their foundation will be extremely shaky.

Sites like Khan Academy test you until you score that 100%; until you have a complete grasp of the topic. And then the following topic builds on the previous one.

In Guyana, the one-laptop per family program already offers the platform for this type of e-learning. Frankly, I believe that the KA approach is the wave of the feature – you learn at your own pace and you choose how to internalize and interlink concepts to broaden your knowledge base. Especially for a country like ours where we have a shortage of good math and science teachers, the approach is going to be revolutionary.

What is Custody?

By Rakesh RampeRtaB, esq

Custody, generally speaking, is a word used to identify which parent gets to keep a child. But, really, it is a word meant to describe a relationship between a child and a parent (or a person responsible for a child’s welfare). In New York, married parents can ask a court or make a written agreement between them to decide custody issues. Parents who are not married, can also do the same, but an unmarried father must provide legitimate documents to show he is indeed the father of a child.

There are different types of custody. There is legal custody, physical custody, and also what is called “joint” custody. Let us start with “joint” custody. Whenever one sees the word “joint” used with “custody,” it simply means both parents have equal rights regarding some aspects of a child. For example, we can say two parents have “joint” legal custody. Or we can say they have “joint” physical custody.

Of course, we need to explain what “legal” custody is, as well as what “physical” custody is. Legal custody is a fancy phrase lawyers use when they are referring to the decision-making process of a child’s life. Specifically, we are talking about who gets to make important decisions such as regarding a child’s health care, education, religious upbringing, discipline, place of residence, and his or her association with others. So, if I say that both parents have “joint” legal custody over a child, it means both parents get to make key decisions about that child’s life. It is common for parents to ask for “joint” legal custody.

Physical custody means a right to live with a child. Both parents may fight for physical custody but usually only one will get physical custody. Why? This is because in a custody dispute, the parents tend to live in separate homes, making it difficult for a child to be in two places at the same time, each day. Therefore, our courts rarely grant “joint” physical custody. Instead, what courts in this State do, is to grant physical custody to one parent, and visitation to the other parent. So, for example, a mother may get physical custody of a child and have that child with her from Monday through Friday; then the dad gets visita-

ment.

Visitation simply means; to visit someone. In this case, a child gets to visit his/her other parents. Parents are free to agree to any kind of visitation arrangement. There is no set rule. For example, a parent can ask to have a child over every other weekend, or each weekend, or just for one weekday. Parents also have to make necessary arrangements to pick up and drop off (or transfer) a child, so they will set a date and time and place for such trans-

fer. Sometimes parents use a particular street corner, or a neighborhood McDonald for transfers.

A parent who gets physical custody is called a custodial parent, while the other parent who will get visitation, is called a non-custodial parent. Today, visitation is a right extended to both a non-custodial parent and a child, because it is regarded as being in the best interest of a child. Said another way, one parent cannot deny the other parent visitation rights so easily because the courts believe it is good for a child’s develop-

That said, we live in a real world and mothers tend to get physical custody over children, especially young girls while fathers get visitation rights. Under New York law, an adult sibling (meaning brother or sister) or a grandparent may also ask for visitation. Finally, this article is for informational uses only. It is not legal advice. To get legal advice, please contact an attorney. I would be glad to answer your questions, and may be reached via (917) 943-1336 or rrampert@yahoo.com.

This week's Crossword

The ethnic bacoo…

…in the firings

Your Eyewitness didn’t take the PPP too seriously when, last month, they carried on about “ethnic cleansing” by the APNU/AFC Government. He was reminded about Desmond Hoyte doing the same thing when he’d been thrown out of office. There was, of course, the usual hyperbole of politicians and the salutary denouement of the story: “the boy who cried wolf”.

But as the firings by the political directorate intoned and the bodies kept on piling up, it was hard not to keep looking at the names of who’d been given the sack. This, of course, is the default setting of the Guyanese brain when processing information. The names indicate who’s getting “what, where and how”. And also more to the point, who’s NOT “getting what, where and how”!

And sure enough there was a pattern….if Indian Guyanese were now 40% of the population – which fact presumably make “their” party get squeezed out – the “Indian sounding” names of those thrown out on their ears, were almost double that! Now back in the day when Cheddi was still around –and in the Opposition – he’d brought up the charge of “racial discrimination” against the PNC (they didn’t talk about “ethnic” then – much less “ethnic cleansing”). Burnham laughingly retorted, “It’s just political, comrade!”

But what Burnham didn’t want to acknowledge was that it really didn’t matter as to the “motive” of why the people of one race were fired – if there’s a clear pattern showing one ethnic/racial group’s inordinately affected, then it’s racial/ethnic discrimination. But it still wasn’t “ethnic cleansing” in your Eyewitness’ view. There would have to be a whole heap of firings before that could be conceded.

This week's Puzzle

And Lo and Behold! The APNU/AFC coalition provided the smoking gun, so to speak. Or if you will, the “cleansed” ethnic bodies. In one fell swoop, 1972 young Amerindian Community Support Officers were summarily booted out of their jobs. Now here was an instance where you didn’t have to read names (or tea leaves) to figure out who were fired: they were all Amerindians! And in terms of the “cleansing” bit – that was about 10% of total ablebodied Amerindian population!

The Government – with direct lineage to the old PNC of Burnham and obviously working from the same, unaltered playbook – protested that it was just “political”!! But a funny thing happened on the way to the Amerindians taking the Government to court over their violation. NONE of the usual suspects who rally for the underprivileged in and out of season, stood up with the Amerindians to be counted.

The PPP, once again, was on its own! …at GPL

Believe it or not, the slogan of one PNC election campaign was “Light up the light – with Desmond Hoyte”. Your Eyewitness can just hear you, dear reader, exclaim, “Say what???!!!” OK…so pronounce “Hoyte” the way we Guyanese do…” light up the light – with Desmond Hyte!!” Get it?? Anyhow the slogan worked because in Desmond’s days, there was never any light. GPL’s periods of blackout was waaaaay more than periods of light.

Hoyte (Hyte?) tried whichever way to get some power into the grid – even brought in some Irish operators. Nothing worked. Now whatever we may say about GPL – and there’s a lot that can be said – you have to concede that at least we’re getting consistent electricity. And the fella in charge of this turnaround was a local, home grown CEO, Dindiyal.

After persistent reports that one of his Deputies was conducting a mini ethnic cleansing at GPL on behalf of the government, Dindiyal stepped in. And was axed!!

Now even Ramkarran, not one to wear “Indianness” on his sleeve, cried “ethnic cleansing”! …and doctorates

We noticed that Minister Ronald Bulkan threw out some thinly veiled hints against Dr Yesu Persaud for using his honorary Doctorates.

What did Yesu ever do the man?

For emerging artist Angelica DaSilva the only limit is her imagination

Using art as an “escape” and avenue of expressing her emotions, Angelica DaSilva is well on her way of becoming a notable Guyanese artist.

“I have always been passionate about art. From constantly visiting my mother's close friend, who is an artist, (Nicole Bissoo) I immediately fell in love with her paintings. Nicole has inspired me since I first saw her work. Another reason for my love is that I’m driven to become an established artist. I have also received great encouragement from my family and friends to do what I love - painting. Lastly, the works of great artists have also inspired me,” expressed DaSilva in an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine

The budding artist

said her passion for art developed at a very tender age. This “passion” has been a driving force for her in wanting to pursue art as a career.

“When I was old enough to actually hold a crayon/pencil I drew anywhere and everywhere, like every other normal child except I’m still doing the same thing up to now. Inprimary school, I drew in all my school books, but as I grew older I did it more seriously and at a higher level, even though I’m still an amateur,” DaSilva admitted.

DaSilva pointed out that her interest in art also stems from her father, two of her great aunts and a few cousins who dabble in art, but merely as a hobby.

Exposure to art at Marian Academy High School at an early lev-

el inspiredher interest, andDaSilva decided she wanted to pursue it as a subject for CXC.

Most of her paintings,she disclosed, she learnt to do on her own, but was guided by her art teacher and godmother, who is an artist and also teaches at E R Burrowes School of Art.

Angelica’s inspiration when painting is listening to music, the support from her parents and relatives, and a quote from Leonardo daVinci, an Italian painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect and engineer. Leonardo daVinci’s quote, “art is never finished, only abandoned”, pushes DaSilva to keep improving and completing her art pieces.

“Art does a lot for me: it is an escape from reality, where whatever you could think of could come to life. The only limit is your imagination. Art is a way to express my emotions. That is why

my paintings communicate all types of emotions. Although my pieces are an expression of self, I’m open to other interpretations,” DaSilva noted.

According to DaSilva, her focusover the past few years was “more or less people” and “fantasy” in the category of mixed media art, which was encouraged by her CXC art teacher, though limited to a theme during the CXC Visual Arts syllabus. DaSilva is now “willing and eager” to expand her art to capture the beauty of buildings, silhouettes, landscapes and “anything that challenges”her.

The emerging artist stated that even though she would like to advance in architecture, art is something she will never cease pursuing. Her goal is to study art at a university level.

“Being a young artist, my advice to youths would be to use the ad-

vice that I have been given my whole life, which is: ‘Dowhat you love and never give up; you can only get better’. Even though there may be some bumps on the road (art blocks) just relax, take a break and persevere. To those who

have helped me, I say a big thank you. I thank God for this talent that he has blessed me with, though I know it’s only the beginning and I still have a long way before I can consider myself an accomplished artist,” she declared.

Youths climb Kanuku Mountain to inspire loyalty for country

Accomplishing a daring feat to etch their names at the top of the Kanuku Mountain, a group of 28 persons, mostly youths from the First Assembly of God Church on Durban Street, has a renewed love for their country.

Chatting with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine, Celicia Paruag, communications officer for the church, disclosed that the aim of the expedition, called Expedition El Dorado, was to develop a sense of loyalty for their country.

“With the constant mi-

gration of youths, brain drain – which we believe is due to a lack of knowledge of their country – we want to instill a sense of pride and patriotism in our young ones.

Pastor Wilbert Lee, a retired soldier, wanted to help youths to understand what Guyana can offer. He came up with Expedition El Dorado, which was not only an adventure, but an opportunity to instill love for country. These youths could have used their holiday time to leave the country or do something else, but decided to go through rig-

orous training to complete their mission of climbing the Kanuku Mountain,” Paruag explained.

The youths, ages 13 to 21, prior to the weeklong expedition, were seen walking the streets of Georgetown with loaded backpacks, weighing about 30 pounds. This is the amount of weight they would have had to carry on the trail to and up the mountain. Their hike up the Kanuku Mountain to Schomburgk's Peak was more than 3,000 feet high. At the peak they hoisted the Guyana flag, the Christian flag and

placed a plaque with their names.

“They did this as a testimony for other youths that whatever you put your mind to is achievable. The youths held fundraising activities to go on the trip, and were able to raise about $1.2 million. During their trip in Lethem, they also did some community work,” Paruag pointed out.

Nulli Secundus, Latin meaning “second to none”, is the name of the youth group that accomplished the feat of hiking the Kanuku Mountain. The group is regularly in-

we reached at the top, it was worth the work. The landscape is breathtaking. We camped at the top for a night. Seeing this part of Guyana makes me want to own my country even more. This experience has taught me that I have the will to go on even when I feel like giving up,” she revealed.

Her fellow climber, Martin Massiah, also stated that the past eight days and nights have been some of the toughest and most exciting times he has had.

volved in community projects and outreaches.

One of the climbers, Adielle Rosheuvel, 20, said the experience is an unforgettable one that taught her determination.

“It was a wonderful opportunity to go out to see what Guyana offers, in such a location. It was a laborious hike up because of the weight we had to carry. But when

He added that Nulli Secundus is an organisation driven to inspire and engage young people so that they can” maximize their true potential and be the best that they can be.”

“Through this expedition, we have not only impacted the lives of the youth on our contingent, but we have also brought the vibrant pulse of the youth back to our great country Guyana. This land is our land and together we will transform it into the paradise that it was always meant to be,” Massiah declared.

Shamal Khan, 13, the youngest on the expedition, recollected that while the group was on a caiman watching trip on the Essequibo River, the boat he was in with 12 others capsized. A wave caused by another boat knocked over the boat Khan was in. Khan, who can swim, tried to assist those next to him, while the others held on to the boat. Luckily, there were no casualties.

Despite the challenges faced on the expedition, the group of youths say they would do it again, and encourages others like themselves to do the same.

“From walking through the treetops at Iwokrama, to swimming near the banks of the Takatu River, to persistently evading the attacks of the relentless mosquitoes, sand flies and cuburos [sic] in Annai, and interacting with some members of our indigenous community in Lethem; this journey was one to behold. Though these events were quite entertaining and informative, they never served to distract us from our primary objective of planting the Golden Arrowhead and Christian flag alongside each other for the first time on Schomburgk's Peak on the Kanuku Mountain. With the grace of God, at 6 am on August 8 we achieved our primary objective, aided by Shamal Khan and Jessica Campbell, the youngest members on the Expedition El Dorado contingent,” Massiah recalled.

Star of the week

Agiving heart and loving soul is what describes the intelligent and beautiful Nafiza Balmacoon. Nafiza migrated from Guyana to the United States when she was only 6 years old. Now a fully mature and brilliant 26-year-old, she is pursuing her dreams as a young girl, that is; to help the suffering of humanity.

Nafiza graduated from the University of New York where she majored in Biology and is currently pursuing her Master's in cardiovascular surgery in PA. She is currently employed at one of New York's most prestigious medical facility, Mount Sinai Hospital, where she is a Laboratory Technician.

This young woman demonstrates what the American Dream is all about. She is driven by determination and the willpower of perseverance. She also travels extensively which gives her many opportunities to see different parts of the world while gaining a deeper understanding of different nationalities and their diverse cultures. This coming November Nafiza will be embarking on another adventure; this time to South Africa to volunteer for the Big Cats program.

Nafiza enjoys reading and researching. She said: “I absolutely love learning and researching about new things. I take it upon myself to learn at least one thing new each day".

This young woman is a role model for her peers as well as the younger generation. In her pursuit of success, she has worked very hard and endured many hardships along the way. She is charismatic, humorous, charming, giving, beautiful and intelligent.

J’can teachers accept 7 percent pay hike

KINGSTON, JAMAICA: Public school teachers on Tuesday accepted Government's seven per cent pay increase offer.

In a sudden aboutface, the teachers accepted the very offer of four per cent in year one and three per cent in year two of a new twoyear contract with the Government, which they had soundly rejected by a widening 3-1 margin at a special conference at Jamaica College in Kingston on June 20.

In June, 243 of 315 delegates attending the special meeting voted against the package. This time in the resort capital of Montego Bay, 151 teacher/delegates voted, with 93 supporting the offer and 55 against. Two ballots were spoilt and one was unmarked.

The question was whether the reduced number of delegates impacted the outcome.

Newly installed president of the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA), Norman Allen, who took over from Doran Dixon after midnight Monday, couldn't explain the change of

mind, either.

"As the new president, I have not tried in any way to influence the decision of the teachers. We allowed democracy to take place," Allen insisted.

He said that he was never sure how the result would have gone, following a prolonged debate over the offers, which lasted some two hours over the scheduled time.

The Jamaica media also tried to find out why only 151 delegates voted at the current 51st annual conference at the Hilton Rose Hall, compared to the 315 which voted against the offers at Jamaica College on June 20. It was learnt

that the conference usually attracted far less delegates, because of the cost of transportation and accommodation in the luxurious resorts. An ecstatic minister with responsibility for the public service, Horace Dalley, told the media on Tuesday that he was happy that the teachers had accepted the package.

He promised to create a "special working team", which he will chair, to ensure that that all items of agreement are implemented during the life of the agreement.

Minister of Education Ronald Thwaites will address the JTA conference, on Wednesday. (Jamaica Observer)

Tranquil Trails

Itabali is a small community in the Mazaruni River, Region Seven, and a short distance by boat from Bartica.

Known for its tranquillity, Itabali’s trails are perfect for a cool, relaxing walk.

The community of Itabali is close-knit, with a growing populace and commercial area.

The Mazaruni River flows past the Itabali landing, an area buzzing with an influx of visitors, and the serene Puruni River. (Photos by Marco Basir)

Windbags…

…on sugar

Prime Minister and First VicePresident (PM/VP) Moses Nagamootoo is filling some big shoes. His direct predecessor with these titles was Hugh Desmond Hoyte in 1984. The following year, the founder-leader Burnham passed on to the great beyond and voila! Hoyte became President! This Eyewitness hopes this report doesn’t give Nagamootoo ideas! After all, Hoyte went on to rig the 1985 election to give himself a larger majority than even Burnham dared!

Anyhow, after losing the substantive portfolio he was promised under the Cummingsburg Accord (Governance), Nagamootoo’s been assigned to do what he does best – precipitating Climate Change through issuing copious quantities of hot air! Last week he was sent off to mamaguy private cane farmers. Why? Well, the coalition had to fulfil at least ONE promise from their 100 day list, no? So what if Nagamootoo had nothing to say? Stretching the truth is something Nagamootoo’s quite practiced at.

So he told the sparsely attended Convention Centre at Liliendal (right in front of his home) that everything’s gonna be all right with sugar!!! Can you believe it? These weren’t cane farmers who sell their product to the canejuice vendors…these fellas have to sell their cane to the nearest Guysuco sugar factory. And they get paid from a formula based on Guysuco’s selling prices. Now even if Nagamootoo didn’t have the faintest clue, we know what we’re getting for our sugar nowadays, don’t we?

So private cane farmers will basically be getting what Nagamootoo was given before, during and after the elections campaign- Larwah! But hey!! A mouth is muzzled by the hand that feeds it –OK? And Nagamootoo, being paid quite a bundle – obviously has to receive commensurate and consign muzzling.

But this raises the corollary to the question – if a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it, did it make a sound?

In Nagamootoo’s case, knowing his predilection for taking the low, welltraveled road – if he tells a fib for money,

but would’ve told the fib anyway, we know he wasn’t muzzled. But did he sell his soul?

Anyhow, starting this week in the National Assembly, Nagamootoo will continue to earn his keep as he faces his old comrades (not a term of endearment!) in the National Assembly. He’ll be in his element, since he won’t be asked to DO anything – just UTTER meaningless words and work himself into a lather.

But hold it! Your Eyewitness just had a thought! Will Nagamootoo be allowed to keep his portfolio as Chief Government Spokesperson in the Assembly? Or will this also be stripped and given to say, Harmon?

What’s a “kept” poodle to do? …and oblivion

On show in the National Assembly, will be Nagamootoo’s erstwhile leader (whom he now outranks by miles!) Khemraj Ramjattan. Out in Berbice, from where these two worthies hail, if someone can predict the future, he’s said to have “black tongue”. And based on how things have worked out since the elections if there’s one fella who has “black tongue”, it’s Ramjattan, supposedly the Minister of National Security.

When Granger started sparking with Nagamootoo to have them hitch up, the latter told the former that with him, marriage was “a joining of families”. To snag him APNU would have to take on the entire AFC. Ramjattan colourfully retorted, “over my dead body”. He predicted his party would become “dead meat”.

Anyhow, Granger made an offer which Ramjattan couldn’t refuse (ahhh… the lure of duty free Land Cruisers!!) and the deal was done. But as he’d predicted, so said, so done! After the explosion in crime, the abandonment of rice farmers, the imminent privatisation of sugar and the neutering of Ngamootoo and Ramjattan, the AFC’S DEAD MEAT!

And stinks to high heaven! …and power

What gives with GPL? With all the leaks to the Muckraker BEFORE the elections, your Eyewitness thought the hierarchy was in bed with the Opposition.

Another betrayal and rape?

Barbados beats Germany to win bid to host leading yachting event

BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS: Barbados has beat out Germany for the bid to host one of the world’s leading yachting events in 2017.

And with the OK Class Worlds set to attract 100 of the world’s best sailors to compete against each other in Carlisle Bay, on the outskirts of the capital, tourism officials are anticipating a big boost in visitor arrivals.

These sailors are known to travel with their families and friends, a trend the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI) said would be of direct benefit to local accommodation, restaurants, car rental companies and other industry players.

BTMI chief executive officer William Griffith attributed the win to the critical support of partners who helped make hosting the event in Barbados an irresistible proposition.

“Through the invaluable support of

Geest Shipping, which continues to be a loyal partner in getting the boats here, as well as Mount Gay Distilleries and the Barbados Port Inc., Barbados is once again in the limelight as a premier yachtfriendly destination,” he said.

“We will continue to build on our strong reputation as a preferred host country on the international yachting circuit, having already hosted the Fireball Barbados Worlds in 2010, which was followed by our most successful event to date,

the 505 International Barbados Worlds in 2013.”

For the first time, Barbados will host two international yachting competitions in one year, as the island will also be the location for the popular Finn Masters Worlds. That event will feature races among a class of heavier dinghies, as seen in the Summer Olympic Games and it is expected it will attract as many as 200 boats and 500 sailors and their family and friends.

(Caribbean360)

Facebook money scam hits Turks and Caicos

PROVIDENCIALES,

TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS : The police have confirmed reports of a Facebook money scam that is being headed by a local woman who has so far fleeced individuals of thousands of dollars.

Investigators from the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force say they are preparing to charge the woman in the racket that is taking route.

According to the Financial Crimes Unit of the police force, swindlers use banks or money transfer companies to wire funds electronically.

The media reports that some of the fraudsters operate from externally, but lure unsuspecting persons to collaborate with them in their scheme locally.

It is reported that the scammers befriend a local person on Facebook and when approved, would seek out their relatives or other friends on the social

media site, especially ones that live in a different country from their new local "Facebook friend”.

They would also collect banking information from the person and then hack into someone else’s bank account and transfer funds into their ‘new local Facebook friend’s’ account, later contacting and telling them that a relative or friend that lives in another country has transferred certain amount of funds to the account.

They then ask the unsuspecting person to withdraw a certain amount from their account and wire it to them, and keep the remainder.

Once the deal goes through, the scammer would close down that Facebook account and move on to the next victim. The police have warned persons to be on the lookout for individuals contacting them about such transactions. (CMC)

Filmmakers head to Canada for CaribbeanTales programme

PORT-OF-

SPAIN,

TRINIDAD: Ten teams of Caribbean filmmakers from nine different countries have been selected to attend the renowned CaribbeanTales Incubator (CTI), taking place this year in Toronto, Canada, from September 8–13 at the University of Toronto. Among them are renowned Trinbagonian producer/writer/director Danielle Dieffenthaller; Trinidadian animator, visual artist and writer Omar Lewis; director/ producer team Rampaul Banseelal; and Sean Mohan.

Dieffenthaller is most famous for her long-running TV series Westwood Park, who will be developing and pitching a new series, this time a crime/drama called Plain Sight. Lewis will be developing an exciting new animation for children— The Wonderful World of Myat; and, Mohan’s production company (Total Chaos Productions) is now working on the second season of Life with the Ramsinghs, a soap opera set in a small fishing village in south Trinidad during the 1960s that centres around the Ramsinghs.

Dieffenthaller, Lewis and Banseelal’s participation in the Incubator will be sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank through its Regional Entrepreneurial Asset Commercialization Hub (Reach).

Trinidad-born writer Maureen Hill’s story concept has been picked up by Montreal-based producer Michael Mosca, owner of highly successful production/distribution company Equinoxe Film. Mosca will be attending the Incubator programme on her behalf.

He said this week: “The Incubator is a wonderful venue to help strengthen our project and pitch to industry professionals. We are thrilled that Black

Mariah was amongst the projects selected. The Incubator’s belief in our pirate story has motivated us even further and provides us the possibility of seeing our ambitious series come to life.”

This project’s participation in the Incubator is supported by Telefilm Canada.

The CTI, now in its sixth year, is a marketing and financing platform that offers selected Caribbean and diaspora filmmakers an opportunity to hone their creative and business skills in the context of an international marketplace environment. The six-week programme includes an intensive five-day workshop in Toronto, and culminates in a Caribbean Pitch Breakfast at the TIFF Bell Lightbox attended by high-profile industry delegates. The overall goal of the CTI is to increase the pool of strong, monetisable, worldclass, indigenous film and television content from the Caribbean and its diaspora, in order to build the region’s audiovisual capacity.

The CTI programme is an end-to-end process that supports projects from concept through production and marketing to sales of content. CTI aims to accelerate the creation of a vibrant world-class Caribbean film industry, by assisting filmmakers to generate dynamic, distinctive, and viable long-running content to be sold internationally. Both Dieffenthaller and Mosca intend to shoot their series at least partly in TT.

The projects were selected by a panel of international industry specialists. Mentors include producer, director, playwright Nicole Brooks; producer, artist, academic Rita Shelton Deverell; director, producer, author Rodney V Smith; director, producer Floyd Kane; and Christopher Laird (cofounder of Banyan Ltd and Gayelle: The Channel).

Alongside the IDB Reach programme and Telefilm Canada, this year’s CTI is supported by the French Consulate in Toronto, and the St Lucia Tourism Board.

The project is also a component of CaribbeanTales’ 3D project, supported by a financial contribution from the European Union and the assistance of the ACP Group of States. (TT Guardian)

Cuban hotel worker gives another theory of why Jamaica's athletes run fast

HAVANA, CUBA:

The question of why Jamaica's track athletes run so fast has been asked near and far, by the rich and poor, the good, the bad and those in-between.

Although there has been no scientific evidence put forward, the most used suggestion is the yam that the athletes feed on, particularly athletes like Usain Bolt and Veronica Campbell Brown who hail from one of the leading parishes that produce the tuber -- Trelawny in the north west.

Bolt himself has joked about the idea on countless occasions and there is some amount of acceptance, albeit reluctance by naysayers, that the yam is indeed the tonic of speed, if not endurance.

But one Cuban hotel worker has put forward another interesting reason. Jamaican athletes, he believes, run so fast because of the mixture of coconut water and white rum that they sometimes consume.

"It is the coconut water, I tell you -- the one with the rum in it," said Jorge Vasquez, a waiter at the Copacabana Hotel in the Havana suburb of

"It must be the coconut water, but not only the coconut water. They put the rum in it and it makes them run, run, run," Vasquez maintained.

Like the typical Cuban, Vasquez admitted a love for Jamaicans on a whole, and the island's athletes in particular. Being so near to Jamaica, too, meant something extra special for him and his Cuban comrades, he said.

"We are all one people, we are Caribbean people, we don't speak the same language, but we are the same.

"We love when Jamaicans run well.

Usain Bolt is our hero and you have Asafa Powell, Yohan Blake and Shell (Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce).

The hotel worker said he plays only a "little" baseball, Cuba's national sport, but has a long history of following sports in this north Caribbean island, pointing to his countryman Javier Sotomayor as inspiration and whom he described as the greatest high jumper of all time.

Sotomayor, Vasques said, is his very good friend and predicts that the world record mark of 2.45 metres, set by the great Cuban, will not be broken.

Vasquez is merely one

of the voices in Cuban that shout Jamaica's name when the athletes do well.

"We love your athletes and we all cheer them along when they run," said one of Cuba's leading biochemists Dr Manuel Raices Perez-Castanedo, business development executive of the Centre of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Havana.

"I myself love Usain Bolt. We jump and celebrate the success of Jamaica's athletes when they do well on the world scene. My family and I are fascinated by the performance of Jamaica's athletes, but you should see my neighbour jump and shout when Bolt and the other athletes win their races," Dr PerezCastanedo said.

The practice of asking one who looks like a foreigner, who often struggles with the right Spanish pronunciations, where he is from is regular. But when the country's identity is disclosed as that of Jamaica, the name Usain Bolt naturally follows as a response. Is Usain's success all in the yam, or the rum?

(Jamaica Observer)

TT Opposition leader defends US speakers

PORT-OFSPAIN, TRINIDAD:

PNM POLITICAL lead -

er Dr Keith Rowley on Monday defended the party’s decision to feature two corruptiontainted speakers from the United States on the PNM platform on Saturday, saying comments on the matter had gone “overboard”.

Rowley said the fact that one of the speakers had been fined for lying to an ethics commission did not disqualify that person from further participation in politics.

The Opposition Leader was speaking with reporters at his constituency office at Glencoe, moments after his nomination papers were filed for the Diego Martin West seat. Members of the media asked if featuring former New York governor David Alexander Paterson and congressman Ed Towns undermined Rowley’s own campaign, given his own focus on corruption issues.

“I don’t think we should overplay that,” the PNM leader said.

“The bottom line is these are gentlemen who have had distinguished careers. I don’t know what my career is going to be.” Paterson was fined for lying about a matter before an ethics commission and was reported to have exerted undue influence in relation to an abuse case involving an aide.

Towns was involved in a Congress banking scandal where he was said to have issued hundreds of cheques on an overdraft.

But Rowley said the matters involving the

men’s past were part of politics.

Asked if the fact that one of the men was fined for lying to an ethics commission, Rowley said he was not sure that was a bar.

“I don’t know that that disqualifies you,” the Opposition Leader said. “Because if lying in Parliament is a disqualification, half of Trinidad Parliament is not supposed to be there.” At the same time, he said he would take a tough stance on persons who lie. (TT Newsday)

TT Fashion pioneers to be honoured at Styleweek

PORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD:

Model and beauty queen maker, Jacqui Koon How, Sharon Imbert, retired permanent secretary – Office of the Prime Minister and Caribbean fashion impresario Richard Young are to be honoured for their sterling contributions to the fashion and modelling industries in Trinidad and Tobago. The three will receive Industry Pioneer Awards at the “Styleweek Seminar on Fashion 3” at Queen’s Hall, Port of Spain on August 27.

Styleweek Seminar on Fashion is a fashion industry forum meant to provide fashion industry stakeholders with information about the proj-

ects, services and upcoming initiatives that will support the growth and sustainable development of the sector. Hosted by Coco Velvet International

Fashion Management, the seminar will focus on public and private sector efforts to develop Port-ofSpain into a viable fashion centre. Participants will be able to interact with leading industry professionals including fashion designers and production technicians, international model agency representatives from New York, fashion association directors, officials from government ministries and state agencies charged with the commercialisation of the fashion industry. (TT Express)

TT dancer Mortley gives stylish farewell

PORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD:

One of Trinidad’s most talented young dancers is heading off to the Far East to be a part of one China’s most prestigious dance institutions.

Michael Mortley showed why he was chosen to attend the exclusive Beijing Dance Academy at Off To China, a benefit held in his honour at the Central Bank Auditorium, on August 12.

Wednesday’s variety concert featured young artistes showcasing their talent and giving the assurance that the future of our performing arts is in good and capable hands. The show was attended by Mortley’s parents (Cathy-ann and Trevor), family, friends, fellow students and well wishers.

The tightly knit programme which was stage managed by Zamora Simmons—daughter of Phil “de Thrill” Simmons—started promptly at 7 pm and lasted exactly two hours.

Show host Jehiah Hope presented a dozen items, commencing with Mortley doing a solo titled Journey Through Time.

This was followed by Ola, a dance piece by Fire Queen Entertainment, choreographed by limbo queen Nydia Byron. UTT student Tylah Head was next rendering Like a Star, originally performed by British guitarist/singer Corinne Bailey Rae.

After a 15-minute intermission the show resumed with Yewande, a duet performed by Mortley and La Juenesse, to the strains of Ibeyi’s Mama Says.

To end a night of excellent performances, Mortley and La Juenesse teamed up to perform the poignant You and I, choreographed by both dancers and performed to La Del Rey’s Young & Beautiful. Beautifully costumed in white, this duet looked the perfect couple in love as they displayed precision and grace on stage.

Already an accomplished dancer, Mortley, 23, was mentored by Breedy and the late Andre Ettienne and is certain to be an asset during his ten-month scholarship at the Beijing Dance Academy. He leaves on September 4. (TT Guardian)

APNU/AFC concedes PPP/C was successful in Government

Once again, our children showed improved CXC results. Congratulations to all the successful students and particularly those students that top the country and to the schools that continue to improve on their performances. After the abysmal CXC results of the late 1970s and the 1980s when Guyana ranked last in Caricom, Guyana’s CXC results have improved every year since the mid1990s.

Importantly, the performances by Guyana’s top students, with several students gaining 20 and 19 grade ones and coming from various schools and regions, appear to set the stage for Guyanese students to gain the spotlight in Caricom, dominating the CXC awards for more than a decade now.

This year’s results sustained a high level of performance which was nurtured by the PPP/C Government. Yet, there is vast improvement to be met in the education sector. But under the PPP/C Government, Guyana’s education system has been strengthened and improved in measureable ways, year after year.

Soon after the May 11 2015 elections, the new Education Minister clumsily announced that the new Government inherited a broken education system from the previous Government. Dr Roopnarine who should have known better, succumbed to the pressure from his colleagues to denounce the PPP/C, claiming it left the education system in a state of collapse.

This was in spite of the evidence of improved performances, including annual improvement in CXC English and Math results. In addition, under the PPP/C, universal access to primary education was solidified and Guyana is one of the few developing countries that were providing secondary education at almost universal access level. Access to nursery education in Guyana exceeded 75% and was among the highest in the Caribbean and Latin America.

After the CXC results were announced

Dr. Roopnarine wisely conceded that CXC results this year showed continued improvement evident throughout the PPP/C leadership. What Dr Roopnarine inherited is a robust system which was broken when the PPP/C took office in 1992. Now the Government has to acknowledge and build on this. It’s been given a good wicket to bat on; it must not squander the opportunity to provide our children with an even better education.

With the CXC results, the coalition has been forced to concede that the PPP/C made Guyana better. The 2015 budget has confirmed that the PPP/C created a strong economy. Growth in 2014 was almost 4%, meaning that Guyana had nine straight years of economic growth, in direct contradiction that the PPP/C mismanaged the economy of Guyana. In fact, the almost decade long successive growth record is one that no other country in Caricom has achieved. The downturn in 2015 has more to do with the APNU/AFC than with anything else.

The APNU/AFC since before the elections has done much to discourage investors without whom Guyana cannot develop. From 1980 to 1992, the average annual foreign direct investment was less than US $2 million but

by 2014, it was closing in at about US $1 billion. This year however, foreign investors are timid because they have little confidence in the current Government.

The economy also suffers since the APNU/ AFC has discouraged or terminated a number of big infrastructure projects, such as the Amaila Hydroelectricity project, which will affect the economy. Termination of the fibre optic system will deprive Guyana of an infrastructure much needed to compete in the digital age.

The APNU/AFC argued that the PPP/C was wrong in not reducing VAT and granting a 20 % pay increase. They argued that the PPP/C should’ve had a more robust pension system. The PPP Government spoke of responsible fiscal management and while they wanted to increase salaries and pensions, and reduce VAT and taxes, they had to ensure that it wouldn’t bankrupt the system.

Salary and wage increases are not overall different from what the PPP had given every year. The increases that the coalition has given are only for the second half of 2015. This means that most workers will receive annual pay increases in monetary terms that are less than they got under the PPP/C. Pensioners have grown accustomed to annual increases

in their monthly payments under the PPP/C Government, which would hardly change from what the coalition is proposing.

APNU/AFC claimed they’ve inherited a bankrupt country, yet, the proposed budget amounts to US $221 billion. If the country is broke, where’s the money coming from? This too is a concession that the PPP/C left the country in a sound financial position, a position that allows the coalition to engage in generous spending. Also, how could the country be bankrupt and yet the Government talks of Gy$60 billion in private accounts?

These inconsistencies are proof that the APNU/AFC concedes to the success of the PPP/C policies. This is why it is making changes in ministerial remuneration and benefits despite having criticized the PPP/C for being too generous in the past.

The actions of the APNU/AFC Government are proof that the PPP/C did an excellent job in managing the country. It is now time for them to engage the PPP/C in a meaningful way to make Guyana even better.

Readers are invited to send their comments by email or Facebook to times.notebook@gmail. com.

Calvin Harris, Zayn Malik engage in Twitter spat over Taylor Swift

The online tiff began when Malik, 22, retweeted a post critical of Swift's refusal to stream her music on website Spotify on Monday.

Harris, a 31-year-old Scottish DJ, stepped in to defend Swift, who is his girlfriend, thus initiating a war of words on the micro-blogging website, reports dailymail. co.uk.

The online feud ensued when Malik retweeted a post comparing Swift's refusal to stream her music for free with a quote from Miley Cyrus saying she cares about money.

"The difference is astounding," wrote the poster.

Harris quickly jumped to Swift's defense, writing: "You've made your money?

Cool... f*** the 99 percent of musicians who depend on these services to survive, right? Yeah f*** em.

"If you don't get what

it means when a successful artist uses their celebrity to benefit every other musician and songwriter in the industry... then stay out of my f***ing mentions."

Malik then hit back at Harris, saying he had made an absolute fool of himself by jumping to conclusions.

"@CalvinHarris ha you just made an absolute fool of yourself mate", adding that it had been a general state-

ment, not a dig at Swift. "@CalvinHarris you clearly don't understand what I just said either... So I suggest you calm your knickers before them dentures fall out," he tweeted.

Both musicians have since deleted many of the offensive posts, although Harris did end the exchange by telling Malik it was nothing personal, adding "best of luck, you've got a great voice". (TOI)

Kelly Rutherford's appeal to get her kids back denied by judge

In order to gain her kids' custody, Kelly Rutherford filed a federal lawsuit to challenge the verdict of a Manhattan judge but her suit was denied the same day.

The 46-year-old actress, who was ordered to produce her children Hermes and Helena in to court so that they could leave to return to their father in Monaco, chal-

Orlando Bloom, who split with Miranda Kerr in 2013, is reportedly romancing Australian model and DJ Kate Elsworth.

A source told a US magazine, "He's done all of the chasing, but in a very gentlemanly way. He lets her know he really likes her and appreciates spending time with her and that she's not just another girl to him." (TOI)

Actress Laura Linney is in talks to play Hollywood star Tom Hanks' wife in director Clint Eastwood's upcoming film 'Sully', to be produced by Warner Bros.

lenged the court's ruling by saying that the decision was incorrect, reported Us magazine.

The Gossip Girl star and her former husband Daniel Giersch, who split in 2008 when Rutherford was pregnant with Helena, have been fighting for custody of their children since their divorce. (TOI)

Hanks in 'Sully'

Liv Tyler shares 'first picture' of her newborn with fans

Looks like Liv Tyler is very close to her fans as the actress has shared the first picture of her newborn son Sailor on Instagram.

The 38-year-old actress, who captioned the picture, "Our beautiful baby boy Sailor Gene Gardner. 6 months old so so sooooo in love and grateful," also shared a series of pictures of little Sailor all snuggled up in onesie on a bed, E! Online reported.

Earlier, Tyler has also shared her little one with her HBO co-stars, including Justin Theroux. Posting a picture with Theroux and her new born on Instagram, the actress captioned it, "My #theleftovers family meeting my baby boy @the_left0vers @hbo #justintheroux #margaretqualley . I feel so blessed in all parts of my life." (TOI)

The look of Hollywood star Chris Hemsworth as the receptionist in the all-female reboot of 'Ghostbusters' is out.

In the picture, Hemsworth is seen wearing Ghostbusters uniform while riding a motorcycle with a proton pack and a carriage attached on the back side of the bike.

Reunion alert! American actress Gwyneth Paltrow has shared a cute a beach selfie with her 'Iron Man' co-star Robert Downey Jr. on Instagram.

The 42-year-old actress, who captioned the picture ""@RobertDowneyJr how I love thee #pepperony," did not wear any makeup for the sunset shot whereas Downey donned a hat along with pair of sunglasses to cover his face, E! Online reported.

Previously, Paltrow had shared a picture with her son Moses, resting atop a horse with the polo player Nacho Figueras. (TOI)

The motorcycle Hemsworth rides is seemingly the previously-teased ECTO-2. It is a white classic motorcycle with a Ghostbusters logo on the right side.

Hanks. 59, will play Sullenberger.

Producer Frank Marshall acquired the rights to the book in 2010 and had been developing ever since. Aaron Eckhart is also on board to play the co-pilot in the pic.

Allyn Stewart will also produce with Marshall.

The uniform that Hemsworth is wearing is similar to while his co-stars Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig and Kate McKinnon wear in the Paul Feig-directed drama, reported Vulture.

The Australian actor has black glasses and a smile on his face while riding the bike on the Boston set of the movie.

Annie Potts played the receptionist in the 1984 classic, starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis and Rick Moranis but in a role reversal of sorts Feig decided to cast Hollywood hunk Hemsworth as the receptionist in his female version. (TOI)

Christina Aguilera dedicates song to fiancé

The 34-year-old Dirrty hitmaker hit the stage in the Hamptons event at The Creeks, the estate of billionaire philanthropist Ron Perelman.

She performed tracks including ‘Lady Marmalade’ and ‘Ain't No Other Man’ for guests including Jack Nicholson, Mary-Kate Olsen, comedian Jimmy Fallon, US presidential candidate Chris Christie and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, reported People magazine.

Sully is the biopic of retired captain Chesley SullySullenberger, based on the book 'Highest Duty: My Search For What Really Matters', by him and Jeffrey Zaslow. The story takes a closer look at Sullenberger, who became a national hero after his plane began to malfunction short-

ly after takeoff and he was forced to take drastic measures in order to save the passengers, reported Variety.

During the performance, Aguilera decided to give a special shout out to her man as they prepared to mark their baby girl Summer Rain's birthday, telling the crowd, "This is a special weekend. It's my daughter's first birthday."

The couple became engaged on Valentine's Day last year. Aguilera is also mother to sevenyear-old son Max, from her first marriage to Jordan Bratman, which ended in 2011. (TOI) Love

Linney, 51, can currently be seen in Mr Holmes opposite Ian McKellen and recently wrapped production on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2. (TOI)

She then dedicated a tune to Rutler, before belting out Etta James classic ‘At Last’.

‘Sons Of Sardaar’ based on the true story of the 21 Saragarhi Sikhs who died fighting the Afghans

The famous 'Battle of Saragarhi' was fought on September 12, 1897, by 21 Sikhs of the 4th Battalion of the Sikh Regiment, who gave up their lives defending an army post, fighting against 10,000 Afghans. The battle occurred in the North-West Frontier Province and is now named the KhyberPakhtunkhwa and is part of Pakistan. The 21 Sikh contingent was led by Havildar Ishar Singh and they all fought to death. Apparently, they had

Singer Sonu Nigam raked up a controversy when he compared controversial self-styled god-woman, Sukhwinder Kaur alias Radhe Maa to Goddess Kali and the Naga sadhus. Sonu posted his opinions on his Facebook account.

He wrote, "To my fellow Indians... To the people who both do, and don't have the honesty to read a message in it's real context, interestingly ... Over the years, we have created another kind of rowdy mob of hooligans, a Twitter Mob, that has no boundaries. That will mercilessly and pointlessly abuse and attack, you could be a senior actor, you could be someone's wife or mother. They don't care! But I put across my point in Complete awareness of the consequences .. I know that religious hypocrits go on offensive when they are cornered philosophically. Rational point of views , have always received brickbats initially before the wise of the society come together to empower it." [sic]

Sonu has explained his stance with points. Here's what he had to say: "Point 1, I have no clue who she is.. Never met her... But in my eyes, she's someone's wife, someone's daughter, and many others,

a brave cook too who also fought with them and died. So they were actually 22 of them. Some historians consider it one of the greatest military battles as a result every year September 12 is celebrated as 'Saragarhi Day' across many parts of the world and in India. The epic poem 'Khalsa Bahadur' has also been written in the memory of these brave men. To commemorate these men, the British had built two Saragarhi Gurudwaras, one in Amritsar, close to the Golden Temple and one in Ferozepur

Cantonment, the district these men belonged to. We have learnt that Ajay Devgn's Sons Of Sardaar will not be a comedy like the first, but will be based on the story of these real sons of sardaars, the 'Sikhs of Saragarhi.' 'The Battle of Saragarhi' has all the drama, is a true story and is highly patriotic and we have no doubt that it has the ability of becoming one of India's biggest films ever made. He will be shooting this film post Shivaay in July 2016 for a release on the Diwali of 2017. (TOI)

call her a mother. # Point 2, if she's proven guilty by the law, she'll be punished by law. Before that, she's as respectable a citizen as you and me. And more so since she's a woman in a country infamous for it's rapes and atrocities over women. #

Point 3, a country that worships Kaali maa, who's depicted in the least clothes, (and I've been ok all my life with it, so should everyone else be), has the galls to judge someone's spiritual quotient by his/her attire! A country that has a Mela called Kumbh, where thousands of Naked Naga Saadhus roam around; a country that has Digaambar Jains who don't wear anything, for religious reasons, has issues with a woman merely wearing a short dress in her personal time! How does the number and length of clothes on a person define his or her Spiritual Quotient? # Point 4, we have issues with

Saif Ali Khan worked with Hezbollah militants in 'Phantom'

In 'Phantom', Saif Ali Khan embarks on a revenge mission.

The film's director Kabir Khan has always maintained that he prefers real locations instead of relying on CGI (computer-generated imagery) because the actual backdrop adds more depth to his story. A major portion of this film is shot in Beirut and many from the supporting team were affiliated to the Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group (and also a political party).

Saif says, "When I picked up a conversation with one of the guys I was doing my action sequence with, he told me he is with the Hezbollah. Half the junior artistes and local supporting actors in the film belonged to some sort of an extremist faction. Kabir had met them somewhere, I guess. For most part of our shoot, I was just hoping no one shoots us." (TOI)

Shraddha Kapoor's maternal grand-father Pandharinath Kolhapure passed away on Saturday evening. He was a respected name in the world of music and the cousin brother of playback singing legends, Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle.

Pandharinathji was one of those no-nonsense star fathers with middle-class values. When Padmini shot to fame in the early 80s, he was perhaps the one who kept her grounded. Though friendly, he never allowed journalists to get familiar with him, he was a hospitable man. He had been ailing for a

her dancing on songs, most dancers like Hema Malini, portray Durga ballet on stage regularly. So? Big Deal? If her devotees have no issues with it, why should we be bothered? They see their God in a dancing Guru, many others see their God's in a SAI Baba Idol, or a Shiva Idol!! What then is a difference between those terrorists who call everyone else who don't follow Islam as Kaafirs, and us? Where does religious freedom go? # Point 5, what kind of country are we living in where we cannot discuss an issue without using foul language, circulating semi pornographic images on whatsapp and reducing someone's dignity to trash? If you can't stand by a woman just because you don't know her, get the candle that you are gonna carry on the next Candle March after a rape, and Shove it into your Aggressively Opinionistic Hypocritical Ass." [sic] (TOI)

while now.

Last Sunday he suffered a heart attack and was moved into the ICU of a city hospital for four days. While it was his second daughter Padmini who lived with him throughout. His elder daughter Shivangi Kapoor (Shraddha's mother) and younger

daughter Tejaswini were also extremely attached to their father. The sisters took turns to stay by his bedside throughout his illness.

Shraddha, who has musical leanings, always looked up to her granddad. Having lived next door to him throughout her childhood, she was very attached to him. The actress was heartbroken with the news of his death. Our condolences are with the Kolhapures and Kapoors in their moment of grief. Juhi Chawla, who learnt music from Padmini's father, also expressed her grief on a microblogging site. (TOI)

Deepika Padukone endorses three key eyewear styles

Representing the multi-cultural beauty of women across the globe, Vogue Eyewear launched the Fashion Story #3 Collection dedicated to and inspired by its three new Muses — actress Deepika Padukone, the Brazilian model Adriana Lima, and the Chinese actress Liu Shishi.

This collection translates local and global fashions into a unique visual language that communicates the essence of Vogue Eyewear: aspirational, contemporary glamour defined by dynamic women who wear it and take pride in their style! Indeed this Fashion Story #3 is inspired by the culture of each Muse that comes to life through three distinct internal patterns.

The filigree of the lustrous aqua green of Indian Jade decorate

the three styles inspired by Deepika Padukone, the exotic and tropical blooms define the three styles autographed by Adriana Lima and delicate blossoms inspire the styles dedicated to Liu Shishi.

The glamorous and world-renowned Indian celebrity Deepika Padukone, has inspired three key styles from the collection. Drawing inspiration from the rich cultural fabric and natural beauty of her native India, the Fashion Story

#3 Texture Collection explores exquisite textures and colours of Indian art, transforming symbolic Indian patterns into sublime elements of universal eyewear design. The collection reinterprets intricate filigree, which evokes a sense of joy, freedom and energy and the distinctive green of Indian Jade representing optimism, zest for life and enhanced creativity through innovative high quality finishes, harmonious lines and modern shapes. (TOI)

GFC, Junior Jags football camp underway

Over 30 young boys and girls from the city and its environs on Tuesday morning started a football training camp organised by the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) in association with the Junior Jags Football Academy.

Under the guidance of club executive and FIFA Agent Faizal Khan, the camp, which caters for the 5-11 years age group, will be held for the next week from 09:00h- 12:00h.

Khan told this newscast that the aim is to have the camp on an annual basis, as the club is

keen on maintain a highquality multi-age football programme.

“The first Junior Jags football camp has started really well and I’m grateful to all the parents and staff that have supported us so tremendously. It’s the first time for GFC doing this project, but something I have had experience in managing for years via UK company 360 Sports Coaching, which I part own,” Khan said.

He added, “It’s great to see over 30 boys and girls aged between 5 and 11 enjoying themselves whilst being drip-

fed the basics in football in a fun, safe and developmental environment.

Hopefully holiday camps like this can be a regular event on the GFC calendar. We are running each day this week and still have a few spaces available for anyone with children interested in coming and giving football a try.”

While developing local talent is a big part of the club’s plans, Khan revealed that the North Road club is also looking to secure financing to refurbish its football pitch and club house later this year.

Guyanese cricketer Garraway in OSCL team for inaugural Toronto Cup

By RavendRa Madholall

TORONTO, CANADA: The Ontario Softball Cricket League (OSCL) team is eager to dominate at the upcoming inaugural Toronto Cup slated to be played early September under the auspices of the Ontario Masters Softball Cricket Club (OMSCC).

On Saturday at the Littles ground in Scarborough, the side began preparations under the watchful eyes of player/coach Ian Baldeo and manager Terry Mathura. Both expressed confidence that the combination is capable of making a huge impact at this Mini Softball World Cup event.

Approximately 15 teams are expected to feature in both the Masters and Open categories from Friday, September 4-6 across the Greater Toronto Area.

According to Mathura, the current VicePresident of the League, and chairman of selectors, the captain will be named soon while players were chosen based on performance and availability to participate.

Several teams that

will be playing in this year’s OSCL competitions will also take part at the Toronto Cup and the players are opted to represent their respective clubs.

However, Baldeo and Mathura stated that they will continue to prepare energetically for the tournament with more practice sessions and warmup matches.

“I think we have come up with the best team for this tournament; we are accustomed to play with the regular supreme ball but this tournament will have the white balls which may be the only challenge; our players are capable of playing with it though,” Mathura related.

“We will be playing as a unit and that is very important; we have a well-balanced side to compete; we will continue to focus a lot on the physical aspects of things because we have got to be ready both physically and mentally,” Baldeo commented.

President of the OSCL, Albert Ramcharran, was also in attendance and he wished the team best of luck and expects them to be the victorious side. He similarly mentioned that he admires the players’ willingness and commitment to represent the League on this predictably historical tournament.

Former Guyana fast-bowler Trevon Garraway’s inclusion in the team is a huge boost as well, according to Ramcharran.

The full squad reads: Anand Gurdial, Travis Blyden, Sunil Ramkissoon, Richards Dias, Avinash Sookdeo, Rovendra Mandolall, Trevon Garraway, Harrinarine Chattergoon, Pradeep Singh, Ravendra Madholall, Walley Bacchus, Muniram Karran, Gavin Glasgow and Andy Persaud.

Thank you Shiv for the great entertainment you have given us

Dear Editor:

First of all, please allow me to on behalf of myself, all Guyanese, West Indian and cricket lovers all over the world, especially all the East Indians, pay our greatest salutation and express our heartfelt fraternal and profound gratitude and thanks to Mr. Shivnarine Chanderpaul for all the joy, pleasure and great entertainment that he has given us during his prolific cricket career.

Shiv, as he is fondly called is well known as the "Tiger". He is a legend an icon and an extraordinary cricket phenomenon. Because of his great focus, determination and sacrifices, we are very positive that he will be back playing test cricket very soon. He makes Indians very proud and extremely happy.

Please permit me to remind some of the cricketing fans of some of his fantastic and most adorable moments in cricket. Chanderpaul has the world record of batting for 1,513 minutes without being dismissed. And this he did 4 times. He scored the third fastest century in Test cricket off 69 deliveries against the mighty Australia in 2003. He has so far scored 11,684 test runs, the second highest by a West Indian next to Brian Lara’s 11,953.

Chanderpaul’s Test average is 53.10. He has scored 30 Test centuries and 65 half centuries. His highest Test score is 203 not out. He also scored a triple century in a regional match in Jamaica. He has played 268

One Day Internationals and scored 8,778 runs at an average of 41.60 scoring 11 centuries and 59 half centuries. He has scored more than 20,000 runs in international cricket and in 2008 he was named Cricketer-of-the-Year by Wisden Cricketers Almanac and Player-of-the-Year by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

It was Chanderpaul who partnered with the great Brian Lara when Lara broke Sir Garfield Sobers' record for the highest Test score. Chanderpaul was named Guyanese Sportsman-ofthe Year more than once.

He was awarded Guyana’s third highest national award-The Cacique Crown of Honor (CCH) and many believe that he should have been given the O.R (Order Of Roraima ) and also the Order of Service (O.S) awards.

He recently played a test series against the powerful South Africans and surprisingly he performed below par and some great and ex-cricketers criticized and tried to belittle him. Those who attempted to do that do not have a better Test and ODI average than him.

I would like to once again pay our heartfelt fraternal and profound thanks and gratitude to you Shiv for all the joy, happiness, pleasure and great entertainment you gave us, and to let you know that we still love and support you.

Yours Sincerely, Gucharran Basso, aka GOW, the GURU.

Hinds pulls out of upcoming PCL

– Surujnarine drafted in Guyana Jaguars line-up

By raJiv BisnauTh

Barbadian Ryan

Hinds will not turn out for the Guyana Jaguars in the second season of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Professional Cricket league (PCL).

Guyana Times International Sport was reliably informed that the 34-year-old Hinds withdrew from the squad due to previous commitments elsewhere.

Hinds and fellow Barbadian Javon Searles were snapped up by the Jaguars on behalf of Cricket Guyana Inc. (CGI) during the player draft in June, in keeping with the WICB’s regulation, which stipulated that regional territories acquire a maximum of two foreign players.

Further, based on the PCL contractual agreement, Hinds is likely to face a possible one year ban from the WICB for opting out of the upcoming season.

Meanwhile, information reaching this publication indicates that opening batsman Kandasammy

Surujnarine will replace Hinds.

The right-hander was awarded a Tier 4 Academy contract by Cricket Guyana Inc. (CGI), and was among twelve players, who benefitted from that initiative taken by the CGI.

The contracts, which ran from February 1 to July 31, saw the players receiving Gy$50,000 monthly in return for their time and dedication towards the game.

The 15 players will be placed under three respective contracts grouped A, B and C.

The 15 players are: Christopher Barnwell,

Anthony Bramble, Paul Wintz, Raymon Reifer, Veerasammy Permaul, Devendra Bishoo, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Shimron Hetymer, Ronsford Beaton, Keon Joseph, Assad Fudadin, Rajendra Chandrika, Vishual Singh, Javon Searles and Kandasammy Surujnarine.

Further, it must be noted that batsmen Leon Johnson and Shivnarine Chanderpaul are part of the Jaguars set-up, but were not considered for contracts since both batsman have WICB retainer contracts.

Meanwhile, a release from the Guyana Cricket Board on Wednesday revealed that 13 players were in receipt of Academy Contracts from Cricket Guy Inc. for the year 2015-2016.

Those players are: Gudakesh motie, Anthony Adams, Raun Johnson, Keemo Paul, Raj Nannan, Steven Sankar, Robin Bacchus, Kemol Savory, Kevon Boodie, Dexter Solomon, Steven Jacobs, Tevin Imlach and Akshaya Persaud.

Petra/Gt Beer Futsal tournament…

Easy wins for Albouystown, West Back Road and Agricola

By TreisTon Joseph

The GT Beer Futsal Championship kicked off on Tuesday evening with easy victories for some of the top teams in the tournament at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

Albouystown easily topped Globe Yard 4-1 in their first group match. Devon Dooker scored two quick goals to get the ball rolling in the 8th and 9th minutes, while Lennox Cort made it a very one sided affair with a goal in the 10th minute to end the first half with a 3-0 advantage.

Globe Yard replied after the half time break with a goal in the 23rd minute from Gordon Henry, while Denver Dennis sealed the deal for Albouystown in the 26th minute.

West Back Road also topped North Ruimveldt 4-1 to start on a winning note.

Jarel Tyrell opened the scoring for West Back Road in the seventh minute only for North Ruimveldt to reply two minutes later with a goal from Joshua Browne in the ninth minute.

However, that would spell the end for North Ruimveldt’s scoring as

West Back Road scored three consecutive goals; a double from Eon Hade in the 18th and 26th minutes and one from Phillip Rowley in the 19th minute.

Meanwhile, Agricola topped Kitty Weavers 5-3 to record their opening night win.

This game was highenergy as six goals were scored in the opening nine minutes.

Agricola’s Gordon Grant scored the first two in the second and fifth minutes, while Nigel Denny of Kitty replied with a goal in the sixth minute.

Anthony Rollins of the East Bank-based side scored in the seventh minute only to have

Jermaine Willis reply in the eight minute to make the game 3-2, before a Glen Eastman goal in the ninth minute put Agricola firmly ahead with a 4-2 lead.

Travis Martin would score in the 15th minute to cut the lead to 4-3, to give Kitty some hope, which was soon erased with a goal from Eastman in the 27th minute to end the game.

The final game of the evening saw Sparta Boss topping Alexander Village in the closest encounter of the evening.

Sparta Boss scored the first two goals in the game, one from Travis Grant in the seventh minute and the other from Carl Tudor in the 24th minute.

The game got interesting in the final minutes when Alexander Village equalised with goals from Jermaine Junior and Shem Porter in the 27th and 28th minutes respectively.

However, Grant ensured Sparta Boss of three points with a heart sinking goal in the 30th minute to win the game. The tournament will continue on Friday with another four games at the same venue.

Wallace delivers ninth for TT

PORT-OFSPAIN, TRINIDAD:

Goal shoot Samantha Wallace capped off a stellar debut at the 14th Netball World Cup when she scored a team best 53 goals to inspire TT Calypso Girls to a 64-51 triumph over Samoa in their ninth place playoff at the Allphones Arena, Sydney Park, Sydney, on Sunday.

It was an impressive display by the 21-yearold Wallace who had netted 49 goals in her previous two matches as the tenth ranked ‘Calypso Girls’ showed no signs of fatigue following their 57-56 overtime win against Scotland, the night before, storming home to claim victory.

TT , joint champions on home soil in1979 with Australia and New Zealand found easy route to goal in the first quarter through their 193 cm tall shooter Wallace, whose clear holds and athletic leaps made it easy for her feeders to find her under the post where she finished the quarter at 100 percent accuracy with 15 goals

from as many attempts.

Samoa however were forced to work harder, with goal attack Sanita To’o controlling the play for her side as they looked at their strongest when playing a short sharp game.

But on a number of occasions, Samoa tried to force the long ball into their goal shooter Juliana Naoupu-Laban making for easy pickings for the lanky and aggressive TT goal keeper Daystar Swift who helped TT to a 15-13 lead.

Neither side made changes to start the second quarter as TT dominated in the circle with goal attack and captain Joelisa Cooper at her crafty best, teasing outside the circle to tempt a defender to float off a double-teamed Wallce for a second and create space for her shooting partner.

Strong work around the circle from centre Candice Guerero and wing defence Onella Jack forced a number of turn overs to see TT pushing out to a seven goal lead early in the quarter.

TT used an injury time out to add fresh legs to their mid-court, but the pause came at the perfect time for Samoa, with goal keeper Natalie Jones picking up two key intercepts in quick succession to pull back the difference at half time, at 30-26.

The third quarter was a scrappy affair, with errors and high penalty counts from both sides.

TT opened the quarter with a number of

turnovers outside the circle which were converted by Samoan goal shooter Naoupu, whose movement began to open up space against goal keeper Swift.

However as the quarter went on, the Samoan shooters stagnated and again reverted to holding against the taller Calypso Girls defenders, which, while successful at times, gave TT a number of opportunities to again extend its lead to

finish the quarter, 45-38 ahead.

The Wesley “Pepe” Gomes-coached TT continued their patient ball movement into the final quarter, as clever feeds from the experienced wing attack of five World Cups and 157 matches, Rhonda John-Davis constantly found Wallace under the post.

A clean centre pass intercept from Guerero, now at wing defence, with five minutes re-

maining seemed to spark her side, who powered through the remained of the match for a comprehensive 13 goal win.

The 21-year-old Wallace got her 53 goals from 60 attempts and Cooper added 11 from 12 for TT while Naoupu led Samoa with 32 from 36 attempts, and To’o got 19 from 25.

Overall Wallace was TT’s top scorer in her first World Cup with 280 goals from 324 attempts for 86.4 per cent while Cooper (73/84) shot 86.9 per cent in her third World Cup, and another debutant, Kalifa Mc Collin, 74 from 79 for 93.7 per cent, the second best percentage in the tournament.

Speaking after the win, Swift was ecstatic to finish the tournament with a win, the sixth on the trot after a 0-2 start, and believes her side will go away a stronger team from the experience.

“It was very tough, but it made us really want to win more. It really made us put the extra effort into the game today, “ ended Swift. (TT Guardian)

Guyana Police make it back-to-back titles at Boyce/Jefford Classic

By TreisTon Joseph

Only 15 points separated the Police Sports Club from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) as the Police men and women arrested their second straight title at the Boyce and Jefford Track and Field Classic which concluded on Sunday evening at the Mackenzie Sports Club Ground, Linden.

Police amassed a total of 354 points for the win, while GDF ended on 339 points. A combined Linden squad ended third on 110 points, while the Mercury Fast Laners (MFL) finished fourth on 71 points. Rounding out the top five was Super Upcoming Runners with 58 points. With the win Police

pocketed Gy$600,000, while GDF were able to take home Gy$400,000.

Linden received Gy$250,000 and MFL Gy$100,000.

It was an actionpacked day despite a soggy outfield as the athletes displayed their talents.

Kevin Bayley ran an excellent 800 metres to win in 2:05.8s, defeating Trinidad’s Ashton Gill who clocked 2:07.9s. Wayne Harlequin also made his return to the track finishing third with a time of 2:08.5s.

Olympian Winston George followed up his 200 metres win from earlier in the day with a thrilling win in the men’s 100m that ended in 10.4s. Rupert Perry was second in 10.7s, while Compton Caesar was third in 10.8s.

Natreena Hooper topped overseas-based Guyanese 400m hurdler Jeamae McCamon in the women’s 200m clocking 22.5s for the win. McCamon clocked 26.0s for second, while Deja Smartt finished third in 26.4s.

Smartt later re-

turned to win the women’s 100m in 12.3s, while Aniqua Powley was second in 12.6s. Kezia Bess was third in 12.8s.

Carifta bronze medallist Andrea Foster was dominant topping Trinidad’s Dawnel Colleymore to win the women’s 1500m in

5:17.7s. Colleymore was second in 5:20.6s, while Alika Morgan was third in 5:57.8s.

Guyana’s most dominant distance athlete Cleveland Forde after winning his 5000m returned to win the men’s 1500m in 4:35.2s. Grivon Grant was second in

4:42.9s, while Bayley was third in 4:66.2s.

National Javelin record holder Leslain Baird won the javelin event with a throw of 52.08 metres while Julio Sinclair won the men’s discus and shot put with throws of 41.77m and 13.47m.

GDF dominated the relay events, winning five out of the eight relay races including the 4×100 men and women, 4×400 women, 800m medley women and the 3000m men distance medley.

Meanwhile, George finished tied on 20 points with Forde and Sinclair for the male champion athlete, while Foster won the female award with 30 points after winning the women’s 800m, 1500m and 3000m races.

Cameron wants T20s for Olympics Australia show fight on Clarke's farewell

PORT-OFSPAIN, TRINIDAD:

President of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Dave Cameron says that he would love to see cricket in the T20 format make an appearance at the Olympic games. Speaking to the TT media, the Jamaican said: “I do support T20s in the Olympics, I think it will appeal to a global audience, so having it there will be great for the sport.

“Another benefit of having T20s on the Olympic set up is that the smaller countries have an opportunity to compete in the format.” While cricket was played at the Commonwealth Games some years ago, it has not found favour with the International Olympic Committee.

Even the so called big countries that play cricket, seem not interested in having the sport in the Olympics. According to Cameron: “It is very difficult to get in because

even in the cricket environment, the other big countries will have to agree. Some of the bigger countries are not in favour so this makes it very hard.”

India and England are not in support of cricket going to the Olympics, as the only ‘big’ cricket country that is supporting the move is Australia. Cameron continued:”We have to start by getting cricket into the Pan Am Games and similar organisations first to see how well it fits in and then we can take it from there.”

Way back in 2010, T20’s push to be part of the 2020 Olympics received a major fillip with news that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted to have the International Cricket Council (ICC) approved. However, while cricket — along with power boating—can now bid to join the 2020 games the ICC currently has no imminent plans to have the format in-

cluded.

“They are recognised federations by us, which now means that they can take part in IOC events,” said IOC director of communications Mark Adams during a meeting in Vancouver ahead of the 2010 Winter Olympics. A cricket tournament, played as part of the 1900 Summer Olympics, took place on August 19 and 20 at the Vélodrome de Vincennes. The only match of the tournament was played between teams representing Great Britain and France, and was won by 158 runs by Great Britain.

Originally, teams representing Belgium, France, Great Britain, and the Netherlands were scheduled to compete in the tournament. Belgium and the Netherlands pulled out of the competition, leaving Great Britain to play France. Neither team was nationally selected. The British side

was a touring club, the Devon and Somerset Wanderers (alias Devon County Wanderers), while the French team, the French Athletic Club Union, comprised mainly British expatriates living in Paris.

The two-day game commenced on 19 August 1900. Great Britain batted first and scored 117, and bowled France out for 78. Great Britain then scored 145 for 5 in their second innings, setting the hosts a target of 185. The tourists bowled out France for 26 to win the match by 158 runs, a significant margin, but with only five minutes of the match remaining.

The Great Britain team was awarded silver medals and the French team bronze medals, together with miniature statues of the Eiffel Tower. The match was formally recognised as being an Olympic contest in 1912, and the medals were later reassigned as gold and silver. (TT Guardian)

Michael Clarke narrowly avoided a freakish first-ball dismissal seconds after walking through an England guard of honour with a capacity crowd at The Oval rising to applaud him as he came out to bat in his farewell Test.

A scoreboard showing 161 for 2 represented uncommon luxury for Clarke during a troubled Ashes series, but his contentment was almost short-lived. Clarke set off for what he imagined was a single off the mark as he worked Moeen Ali behind square, wrongly believing that the ball had passed Ian Bell at leg slip, but Bell could not quite rescue the ball from behind his body to throw down the stumps.

By tea, Australia were 184 for 2 with Clarke, playing the last of his 115 Tests, unbeaten on 14, captain and vice-captain, Steven Smith, together as they tried to fashion a consolation victory and prevent England recording four Ashes victories on home soil for the first time.

Clarke can look proudly upon a Test record of 8628 runs at 49.30 but in this series he has been part of an Australia middle order, from Nos 4 to 6, that has averaged less than 17 as England's pace bowlers have found scant resistance on helpful surfaces.

England took two wickets in the middle session. An opening stand of 110 came to grief when Chris

Rogers, on 43, lost his normal compact shape and edged a catch, taken at the second attempt, to Alastair Cook at first slip. David Warner, who had reached 85 in an innings of controlled aggression, followed to a regulation slip catch by Adam Lyth as he pushed forward to an offspinner from Moeen Ali that turned slightly. That left Warner still without a hundred in a Test in England.

Australia scored at close to four an over in the afternoon, but before lunch there was a definite sense of culture shock at The Oval as the Investec Ashes reacquainted cricket followers with that strange phenomenon: attritional cricket. Eighty-two runs at a touch over three an over is hardly pedestrian on the first morning of a Test match, but it felt like another world.

Australia, whose batting have been characterised by impatience throughout the Ashes summer, survived the first morning without losing a wicket, Rogers continued

ICC meets USA Cricket Association

…USACA agrees to work in good faith to seek to end its suspension

Following the ICC Board’s decision to suspend the USA Cricket Association (“USACA”) from membership of the ICC on 26 June 2015, the ICC can confirm that its representatives recently met with representatives of the USACA Board in New York.

While USACA’s membership of the ICC remains suspended, it has agreed to work in good faith to seek to end its suspension, by satisfying specific reinstatement conditions that have been provided by the ICC. In the meantime, USACA has

agreed to fully support the ICC over the coming months in developing a long-term strategy for the unification and development of cricket in the USA in conjunction with, and for the benefit of, the entire USA cricket community. To that end, the ICC will be launching several initiatives over the coming months, including: • the establishment of a Local Advisory Group to support the development of a meaningful strategy for the future promotion and development of cricket in the USA; and

• a USA Cricket Town Hall meeting in Chicago on Saturday 29 August to assist both the strategy development process and the unification of the USA cricket community. A broad range of representatives from the cricket community have been invited to attend.

In addition, the ICC will be holding the ICC Americas Cricket Combine in Indianapolis from 18 – 27 September. This initiative provides the best Associate and Affiliate players within the Americas Region – including the USA –with the opportunity to

Australia show fight on...

and Warner batting through the session with serious intent. Neither side had achieved that in the first four Tests.

Warner is one batsman who has given the impression of gaining an education in English conditions and his halfcentury - his fifth of the series - was bagged 10 minutes before the interval when he drove Steve Finn to the cover boundary. Even at his most watchful, he naturally scores at a decent lick. Rogers was a vigilant ally.

Warner and Rogers committed themselves earnestly to giving Clarke a professional send-off, Ashes lost or not.

Expectancy was high after England won the toss - how could it not be after Australia had been blown away for 60 at Trent Bridge? - and Stuart Broad, whose eight wickets did the damage on that occasion, was not too far away with an lbw appeal against Rogers in the first over.

Cook resisted a review and the ball was slipping down leg.

But Broad, not quite as straight or full as he had been when conditions were tilted in his favour at Trent Bridge, was not at his best and it soon became clear that England would have to settle in for a long day.

Wood took the new ball once more in the continued absence of James Anderson but when he found the edge of Rogers' bat, the ball fell short of Cook at first slip. Later in the session, Warner, on 41, also benefitted from the lack of pace in the pitch

Ben Stokes began with two maidens but once he had established there would be no repeat of the pronounced swing he found in Nottingham, Warner and Rogers were eager to establish supremacy. His next four overs disappeared for 32, Australia's 50 was raised, the brakes were off, the interval arrived with Clarke, for once, looking on from the balcony with an air of contentment.

Australia pushed on in the afternoon. Warner, no longer sporting a moustache - per-

be selected in an ICC Americas representative team to play in the West Indies Cricket Board’s (WICB) Nagico Super 50 tournament in January 2016.

Finally, the ICC has requested USACA to play an initial role in assessing applications for the sanction -

ing of domestic and international events that take place in the USA. This will involve applications being submitted to USACA in the first instance in accordance with USACA’s standard sanctioning policy and application procedures.

Following review by USACA, all appli -

cations will then be submitted to the ICC, together with a recommendation from USACA, for the ICC’s consideration and approval. Further details of this sanctioning process can be obtained by contacting the USACA Executive Secretary, Sankar Renganathan.

from page 52

haps he has dutifully become clean shaven after his appointment as vicecaptain - looked confident, but the scratchiest contribution came from Smith, who survived until tea despite still looking well short of his best.

Nakhid confident of becoming FIFA head

B y A ven A sh R A mz A n

Former Trinidad and Tobago midfielder David Nakhid is confident he can become the new FIFA president. The presidential hopeful met with media operatives on Wednesday at the Marriott Hotel where he outlined his plans for the sport on a global scale.

The ex-Trinidad and Tobago captain and assistant team coach, Nakhid, threw his hat into the ring as a presidential candidate for the global governing body for football, FIFA, earlier this month.

The presidential vacancy arose on June 2 when the 79-yearold Sepp Blatter of Switzerland resigned amidst the recent FIFA corruption scandal, which saw various officials, including former T&T football administrator Jack Warner, accused by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of wire fraud, racketeering and money laundering.

The elections will take place on February 26, 2016, at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.

The 51-year-old Nakhid said of his chances, “I’m extremely confident. I’ve lived in the Middle East for close to 20 years. I have a very good base of support there. I’ve played in Europe, I’ve had consultations with people in Europe, but it’s only logical and strategic that I come out from my own Confederation.”

He added, “And I think once that is done we can then try to attract support from oth -

er parts of the world, but it would be useless to enter a campaign where I can’t even come out of my Confederation. I think once that is done, I think the Caribbean people will get a better sense of our message when it is placed on that global forum and the rest of the world.”

Nakhid explained that his candidacy is geared to position the Caribbean where it needs to be, “where we have not been before.”

“We had the illusion of leadership- the illusion of someone at the head table of FIFA before, but we never saw anything that came down to us in the Caribbean, we need to change that. We need to posit ourselves in a position where we understand our true value politically, but also in terms of the development that is needed in the wider world of football,” Nakhid, who was accompanied his Campaign Strategy

personnel Josanne Leonard, divulged.

The former Soca Warriors midfielder reasoned that if no one is there to represent the interest of Caribbean football, “no one is going to be concerned about our interest.”

“No one from outside our region can truly reflect what is needed,” he posited.

On the issue of two Caribbean officials- Jack Warner and Jeffrey Webb- being embroiled in the FIFA scandal which was unearthed in May, and how it could potentially be a factor in his ambition to be the next leader of global football, Nakhid declared, “We need to rise above that and how we do that is that we don’t be defined by what’s happened in the past. We can’t allow what happened in the pastsomething beyond our control as Caribbean people. What we do is we push our vision forward, and we’re not afraid to push that vision forward.”

He added, “Now what we need to do, is if we become more proCaribbean rather than pro-UEFA or pro-Asia-

it doesn’t mean we’re anti-anyone- but we’re pro-Caribbean in the sense that we understand our true value in this global football world. We understand what we bring to this process, and it is not a reference for a vote as it has been in the past. We then become a reference for true consultation. People then come down to Guyana and really ask you ‘well what do you need’ in tangible terms, not in promises.”

Other notable names to announce their desire to run for the hot seat are the legendary midfield trio Michel Platini of France, who is the current UEFA president, Diego Maradona of Argentina and Zico of Brazil, as well as Musa Bility and Chung Mong-joon.

Nakhid, who appeared for Trinidad and Tobago in 35 international games between 1992 and 2005, will have to receive nomination before October 26. If he is successful in gaining nomination, Nakhid and his team will have five months to campaign to become the new president of FIFA.