Guyana chronicle 17 12 13

BIT, a success story for youths

MP criticised for opposing hinterland children transport needs

The Chronicle is at http://www.guyanachronicle.comGUYANA

No. 103683 TUESDAY DECEMBER 17, 2013 GUYANA’S MOST WIDELY CIRCULATED NEWSPAPER PRICE: $60 INCLUDING VAT

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The UN has launched its biggest ever appeal for humanitarian aid after exhausting funds raised to help Syria this year, and said nearly three-quarters of the country’s population will need help in 2014.

VALERIE GARRIDO-LOWE

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Page 16Syria crisis: UN launches record US$6.5bn aid appeal

– 697 graduate from Region 4

Rohee debunks speculation about importance of Volda’s vote VOLDA LAWRENCE

President Donald Ramotar and Labour Minister Dr Nanda Gopaul with two of the top performers from the BIT pro-gramme who graduated yesterday. (Adrian Narine photo)

NO SABOTAGE- Rohee dismisses claim GAWU sabotaging GuySuCo

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Severed hand kept alive on man’s ankle

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Page 9MINISTER CLEMENT ROHEE

2 GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday December 17, 2013

By Clifford Stanley

PRIME Minister Samuel Hinds has weighed in on the ongoing issue over the granting of a Permission for Geological and Geographical Survey (PGGS) by Minister

PM Hinds says criticisms of PGGS granted to Murli Brazil Ventures Inc are…

PATENTLY FALSE & TOTALLY INACCURATERobert Persaud of the Min-istry of Natural Resources and the Environment.

He said yesterday that the information being circulated by critics of the permission is “patently false”.

Critics of the Permission have charged that its grant-ing was a highly unusual act done by the minister; that it was done clandestinely; that it jeopardised national security; and that the activity was taking place in one of the few remaining pristine forest areas in the country. That area, they say, is ecologically sensitive and should be envi-ronmentally protected.

But Prime Minister Hinds debunked those arguments while addressing the parents,

graduands and other special invitees at the Art Williams & Harry Wendt Aeronautical En-gineering School Graduation Ceremony for 2013, held at the Ogle International Airport, yesterday.

He said assertions that it was an unusual permission were totally inaccurate. He said he knew of at least six PGGSs which had been issued to mining companies in his time as minister responsible for mining. “I think (the figure is) more like a dozen. We have had PGGS issued to Golden Star, which prospected and developed Omai. We have had PGGS issued to a number of other people -- people looking for uranium in the Kurupung/Aricheng area; people looking

for new bauxite sources, iron, etc!” He stressed: “It is a com-mon feature.”

Noting that there was nothing unlawful about how the PGGS was done, PM Hinds said that bids were invited, and when the group was selected, there was a publication in the Official Gazette, as is the requirement, entitled: “Inten-tion to grant permission” that

also invited people to make objections.

There had been no objec-tions.

He also said that the PGGS did not pose a security risk: there is no way that Guyana can afford to station police-men and any other of the arms of authority throughout the length and breadth of the country, the prime minister declared.

“We can only take au-thorities of the Government to the part of the country that is being developed, since, wher-ever there is development, it attracts the agencies of the state. We don’t see -- I don’t see -- any issue at all of any security risk,” he said.

Mr Hinds said the Govern-ment is working to continue the growth and development it has initiated over the last 20 years, and that the country is at the point where the ex-ploitation of natural resources

in a sustainable way is an im-portant aspect of development.

Guyana has been known from time immemorial to be a country with a lot of potential, but there is no point in poten-tial that is not realised.

The prime minister ob-served that Guyana is at the very bottom of the ladder in terms of monies in hand, and that is because its potential is not being exploited. “So we have to utilise our potential to improve our economy and our income, and in this case, this granting of the PGGS provides opportunity for further growth of our aviation sector,” he said.

Minis te r Persaud had signed a permission for a PGGS in about two million hectares in the New River Tri-angle in favour of a company named Muri Brazil Ventures Inc. on November 7, 2012. The move has been criticised by members of the Guyana Human Rights Association and some political commentators.

Members of Parliament of a Partnership for National Unity (APNU) have signaled their intention to grill the minister about his actions at Thursday’s scheduled sitting of Parliament.

PM Sam Hinds

GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday December 17, 2013 3

By Vanessa Narine

ALLIANCE For Change (AFC) Member of Parlia-ment (MP), Ms. Valerie Gar-rido-Lowe, has been criticised for her comments on alloca-tions to support the transpor-tation needs of children in the hinterland regions.

Her remarks were made in the National Assembly last Thursday, when the House con-sidered a $500M provision for projects and programmes in Amerindian communities.

She questioned the spending on transport for Amerindian children, when other children on the coastland are not afforded the same facility, an observation that was widely heckled in the

Garrido-Lowe criticised for opposing hinterland children transport needs

Valerie Garrido-Lowe questioned the spending on transport for Amerindian children, when other children on the coastland are not afforded the same facility, an observation that was widely heckled in the National Assembly.

forum.General Secretary of the

People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Mr. Clement Rohee, at the Freedom House press conference yesterday, declared that the MP’s views were un-conscionable, particularly given that one of her platforms as a member of the AFC, is the representation of the needs and problems of persons living in hinterland Guyana.

Rohee said the Opposi-tion remains a source of dis-comfort for the Amerindians, especially with the statement from AFC Member of Par-liament Garrido-Lowe, who stated, among other things, that ‘Amerindian children do not deserve transportation to take

them to school’.According to him, the AFC

MP’s assertions are “especially” disappointing, as was the fact that her views received support from her colleague Opposition MPs, “none of whom objected or disagreed” with her conten-tion.

GROWING DISSATISFACTION The General Secretary

maintained that the positions of the joint Opposition continue to feed growing dissatisfaction among Guyanese.

During the debate on the $500M provision, the House considered a motion from Lead-er of the AFC, Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan, to cut $300M from

the proposal which was taken to the House in a supplementary fi-nancial paper tabled by Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh.

As the House commenced its sitting, Amerindians from various regions turned out in their numbers outside the Public Buildings to protest Ramjattan’s move. Among those represented were members of The Amerindi-an Action Movement of Guyana (TAAMOG) and staff of the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs.

Rohee stated that the pro-test was not in vain as MPs voted and the provision was not reduced, while, on the voting itself, 30 members abstained, two voted against it and 32 MPs were in support, resulting in the approval of the $500M.

“The PPP congratulates the Amerindian representatives who picketed the Opposition outside Parliament, challenging the mo-

tion by AFC Leader, Khemraj Ramjattan…the picketing exer-cise was not in vain as it forced the Opposition to abandon its position,” he observed.

Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Ms. Pauline Sukhai, had told the House that the $500M supplementary funding came on the heels of the just concluded National Toshaos Council meetings,

which sought to provide a forum for Amerindian village leaders to plan developmental projects for their respective communities and include cov-

erage of transportation costs for schoolchildren using both the roadways and waterways and costs to develop roads and access paths to promote trade and agriculture, among other priority areas.

Neglected, disabled septuagenarian dies

in house fire

By Clifford Stanley

PERSONS acquainted with 74-year-old widow Seeta Sookram known as ‘Padam’, who died in a recent blaze at her home, have alleged that her tragic death was the final chapter in a story of ill-treatment and neglect by individuals who should have been taking care of her.

The septuagenarian had no child of her own but did care for many.In her final days, she had been unable to leave the house and was seen naked on quite a few

occasions locked in the house filled with filth.It was reported that the persons caring for her had claimed that she was locked inside the house

with a padlock on the door outside because of her physical incapability of securing herself inside at nights.

She was hardly given enough or proper food to eat and had been sleeping on a mattress which was soaked with urine and harboured worms.

A close relative of the woman, who resides overseas, said she had returned home last month after hearing reports that the former had been ill-treated and neglected.

The visitor said she had approached the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security to look into the complaints of ill-treatment and neglect and was awaiting a response when news of the tragedy reached her.

She said a criminal charge of neglect should be slapped against anyone found mistreating a vulnerable and older person, so that this type of behaviour would not go undetected and unpunished.

The charred remains of Sookram were discovered amidst the debris of her Wire Dam, Bush Lot, West Coast Berbice house, after a fire had destroyed the place around midnight last week Monday.


2013/12/162013/12/16 2013/12/1619 03 08 15 05

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I 01 04 08 09 14 25 20DATE: 14/12/2013

E 12 24 22 04 03 01 27DATE: 04/12/2013

(BBC): A US judge has ruled the National Security Agency’s mass collection of telephone data unconstitutional.

Federal District Judge Richard Leon said the electronic spy agency’s practice was an “arbitrary invasion”.

The agency’s collection of “metadata” including telephone num-bers and times and dates of calls was brought to light by ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

The White House dismissed the suggestion Mr Snowden receive amnesty if he stopped leaking documents.

In his ruling in a Washington DC federal court on Monday, Mr Leon called the NSA’s surveillance program “indiscriminate” and an “almost Orwellian technology that enables the government to store and analyze the phone metadata of every telephone user in the United States”.

‘IRREPARABLE HARM’

The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by conservative activist Larry Klayman, who challenged the NSA’s collection of metadata related to his Verizon account and that of a client.

The NSA had ordered Verizon - one of the largest phone com-panies in the US - to disclose metadata, including telephone num-bers, calling card numbers and the serial numbers of phones, of all calls it processes in which at least one party is in the US.

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose yesterday, rebounding from their worst week in months as large deals boosted op-timism but investors re-mained cautious ahead of an upcoming Federal Reserve policy meeting.

Equities are coming off their biggest weekly decline in near ly four months , a

White House rejects Snowden amnesty

(BBC) European countries bordering Russia’s territory of Kaliningrad say they are worried at reports that Mos-cow has put nuclear-capable missiles there.

Lithuania and Poland both issued statements of concern.

Russia has not confirmed the report but insists it has every right to station missiles in its western-most region.

Moscow has long threatened to move Iskander short-range missile systems to Kaliningrad in response to the United States’ own European missile shield.

Russia sees the missile shield as a threat to its nuclear deterrent.

Edward Snowden

China’s lunar rover Jade Rabbit lands on the moon

FOOTAGE released by Chinese state media shows China’s unmanned Chang’e 3 lander as it touches down on the moon on Saturday. The lander carries a six-wheeled lunar rover called Jade Rabbit which will explore the moon for three months. It is the first soft landing of a probe on the moon in nearly 40 years. (UkGuardian.com)

Russia has long threatened to deploy its Iskander missile system in Kaliningrad

Russian missile reports spark fears

(Reuters) - Suicide bombers and gunmen killed at least 54 people in Iraq yesterday, medical and police sources said, in attacks mostly tar-geting Shi’ite Muslims, who mark a big religious festival next week.

Al Qaeda-linked Sunni Muslim militants have inten-sified attacks on the security forces, civilians and anyone seen as supporting the Shi’ite-led government in Baghdad, tipping Iraq back into its deadliest levels of violence in five years.

In Baiji, 180 km (112 miles) north of Baghdad, four men wearing explosive belts took over a police station after detonating a car bomb parked outside, police sources said.

Two blew themselves up

Iraq hit with worst violence

in five years, 54 killed

inside the station, killing five policemen. The other two did the same about an hour later as Iraqi special forces count-er-attacked, the sources said.

“We believe the attack was aimed at freeing detainees who are being held in the building next door,” said Major Salih al-Qaisi, a police officer at the scene.

“All the militants were killed before they reached the police department building where the detainees are held.”

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but suicide bomb-ings are the trademark of al Qaeda’s Iraqi wing, which merged this year with its Syrian counterpart to form the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Wall Street rebounds after steep weekly decline pullback that came on con-

cerns the Fed may begin to wind-down the bond-buying stimulus at its two-day poli-cy-setting meeting that ends Wednesday.

The stimulus has been a major contributor to the market’s gains this year, and has been expected to keep a floor under stock prices for as long as it con-tinues.


TRINIDAD and Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar says her Government remains committed in the fight against crime, and admitted there was “much more” the Government can do to prevent it.

However, she said, it was more difficult to deal with criminal activity related to domestic problems.

Persad-Bissessar was speaking to reporters on Sun-day at her annual Christmas treat at Skinner Park, San Fernando.

“Murder is murder and every single one is painful and traumatic to us. We will continue to remain com-mitted in the fight against crime. I know the Minister of National Security is doing the best that he can, but there is still much more that we need to do.

“Some of the crimes are crimes of passion. That does not mean that it is something that is right. Those are more difficult to contain where it is a domestic sit-uation, where crimes of passion are taking place,” said the Prime Minister.

“Every crime is one crime too much and that re-mains number one priority in our list—to deal with crime in Trinidad and Tobago.” (Trinidad Express)

(REUTERS) Michelle Bachelet has promised major tax and education reforms to help ease Chile’s social divi-sions after sweeping back to power with a huge majority in presidential elections on Sunday.

The centre-left candidate won with about 62% support, the highest share of votes for any presidential candidate since the country returned to holding democratic elections in 1989.

The landslide victory against Evelyn Matthei, the conservative candidate of the Alianza coalition, puts Bachelet back in the Moneda presidential palace after a four-year gap and gives her a mandate to push for an edu-cation overhaul and the fiscal reforms to help pay for it.

“Chile has looked at itself, has looked at its path, its recent history, its wounds, its feats, its unfinished business and this Chile has decided it is the time to start deep transformations,” Bachelet told a jubilant crowd of supporters on Sunday night as confetti rained down. “There is no question about it: profits can’t be the motor behind edu-cation because education isn’t merchandise and because dreams aren’t a consumer good.”

Good-quality schooling is generally only available in

- but publisher sees hope HOUSTON, TEXAS: “The lowering of Standard & Poor’s (S&P) long-term rating for Barbados is of interest to us because of the possibility of wider consequences on the country’s economy,” asserted Melissa Marchand, publisher of Global News Matters which produces the fortnightly Mar-ket Dynamics Caribbean.

“This is the second time in four months S&P has lowered Barbados’ rating, this time from BB-plus to BB-minus, which is not a horrendous reduction, but we want to keep watching to see how the government’s moves might affect business and individuals in the country and beyond,” added Marchand.

She also noted the ratings organisation, while lowering the ratings for Barbados, was quick to add “but stable” to its assess-ment of the country’s investment environment.

“The move reflects concern about the island’s ongoing cur-rent account deficit issues and high fiscal deficit due to a drop in revenues in the midst of a weak global economy,” March-and noted.

“S&P projects that the

‘We can do much more’, says T&T’s Prime Minister

PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar

BARBADOS RATING DOWNGRADED

government’s debt burden will increase to more than 70% of GDP during the current fiscal year, from 67% in 2012 and 60% in 2011, which does pose challenges for the government which has to anticipate reduced national savings, and perhaps, interest rate rises.”

The financial crisis of 2008, she recalled, “caused an eruption in the debt levels of non-industrialised nations like Barbados, which when added to the S&P ratings reduction, can erode its credit worthiness, its image and the amount of money it will have to spend to get money.”

Marchand notes “the down-grade comes at a time when the country is looking forward to huge investment inflows in proj-ects like the cruise pier, Pierhead Marina, Four Seasons, and the Cane Industry Restructuring Project.”

But she remains bullish on Barbados because of the measures it has taken to attract and maintain international in-vestment, “for a start the max-imum tax on such investments is capped at 2.5%, and there are other exemptions for inter-national business companies. Savvy investors, undeterred by

the ratings downgrade, will find lots of sound opportunities in the services sector which I believe will drive growth in Barbados.”

An encouraging develop-ment occurred in Barbados last month, reported Marchand, “when it took a long, hard, and deep look at the value offered by public-private partnerships, which could help sustain an eco-nomic recovery in Barbados.”

The Caribbean Public/Private Partnerships (PPP) for Sustainable Growth Forum, which was hosted by Barbados in November was significant, according to Marchand, “be-cause it was the first of its kind in the Caribbean and because PPPs are seen by some as a key to Barbados’ return to financial growth, including Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Fi-nance Jepter Ince, who noted that the objective of reaching 4.5% growth by 2020 will have to be achieved in part through PPPs.”

Marchand contended the role for PPPs was definitely worth watching, “particularly in the growth areas of inter-national business, financial services and renewable energy where demonstrable growth can kick start an economic recovery.”

Chile election victor Michelle Bachelet pledges major reforms

Chile to those who can pay, and massive student protests demanding change hurt the popularity of the outgoing conservative president Se-bastián Piñera. Bachelet ran on a platform of social policies to address a deep divide be-tween rich and poor, and plans to raise the corporate tax rate. Chile, the world’s top cop-per-exporting nation, is ranked the most unequal country in the 34-member Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

With 62% Michelle Bachelet won the highest share of the vote for any presidential candidate since the return to democracy in 1989. (Jorge Villegas/Xinhua Press/Corbis photo)


EDITORIAL

GUYANA

SHAMELESS DICTATORS THE world has just witnessed 10 of the most

extraordinarily, emotional days of its modern history, occasioned by the death of an equally

extraordinary human being, the former South African President Nelson Rolihlala Mandela. His passing, though expected, opened a groundswell of mourning, tributes and praises that came from every region of the world, as national leaders and other notable person-alities paid homage to a man who has been hailed as one of history’s towering giants. He was mourned by an entire world of different peoples, for the rare values that he practised, first as a human; and, second, as a leader of his country, especially assuming the Presiden-cy after a most unjust and difficult experience of almost three decades of imprisonment.

Indeed he was able to achieve - what most, arising from such a bitter experience, then becoming a national leader of a country with its peculiar challenges - would not have been able to do, and that is lead it to peaceful transition, despite the many challenges he faced. It was President Barack Obama who was most appropriate, when he concluded his memorial speech, by saying that Mande-la’s type is not likely to be seen again.

Today, this great son of Africa sleeps among his an-cestors, in very tranquil and peaceful surroundings in his hometown of Qunu, in the sprawling hills of the Transkei. The serenity of his eternal repose, matches his natural life lived as one of history’s greatest peacemakers.

As expected, there was the presence of almost 100 world leaders – all coming to pay homage to this great man; and, inclusive of this grouping would have been some of the most noted authoritarian leaders, whose stewardship of governance leaves much to be desired.

How could such leaders have sung the praises of hu-man dignity, respector of human rights, upholder of the greatest tenets of democracy, and of individual freedoms - all deservedly ascribed to the great Madiba, Mandela’s affectionate clan name, when such dignities they deny their very own citizens? Those leaders are well known, so they need not be mentioned, except to say, that daily, via the international media, the results of their denial of freedoms are seen!

Africa’s Big Men, what remains of them, immediate-ly comes under the spotlight. The case of Zimbabwe’e Robert Gabriel Mugabe, is a significant example of a leader whose understanding of democracy, has been definitely contrary to the ideals that he upheld, when he fought against the repressive Ian Smith’s illegal regime of the former Southern Rhodesia, Zimbabwe’s former name. Ironically, he needs no introduction, for he, like Mandela, had been imprisoned, though for a short period, then afterwards leading the guerilla offensive against the combined Rhodesian and apart-heid South African Defence Forces. Rightly, he belongs to that special, select group of African freedom fighters who fought against the policy of white racism on the African continent.

But, It has since been 30 years of an independent Zim-babwe, with Mugabe as President of a country, whose citi-zens’ freedoms have been brutally dealt blows unexpected of a leader, who had been instrumental in defeating the racist white forces in a bitter bush war. The circumstances of the 2008 parliamentary and presidential elections, very dubious in their respective outcomes, considering the lengthy wait before the official results, point to a leader, who believes that he alone has the right to rule his country,

without challenge. His security forces’ consequent assault on the followers of his rival Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement For Democratic Change(MDC) party, the closing down of that country’s many media houses, and the arrests and deten-tion of its many editors, conclude that Mugabe has not only betrayed his countrymen/women, but also all of the great values that Mandela practised as a leader. Had Mandela ad-opted such strategies, the history of South Africa would have been markedly different, especially politically and socially.

Those African dictators, Mugabe inclusive, ought to have been ashamed, praising Mandela for principles and values, which they themselves do not practise in their daily governance, and have denied their respective state’s citizens. They must endeavour to allow their peoples the freedoms and human dignity, which they had promised at the beginning of their stewardship.

IT has been with great consternation that I have been reading the past week’s Stabroek News and now the Kai-eteur News in relation to the utterings over the award of

a Permission of Geological and Geophysical Survey (PGSS) in the south of Guyana to the Guyanese company Muri Brasil Ventures Inc.

I am puzzled as to the motive behind all the negative light in which this potentially large scale investment is being cast. This is a survey which holds great promise for Guyana, yet the mo-tives of many of the objectors such as the Guyana Human Rights Association, A Partnership for National Unity’s Joseph Harmon and several political pundits remain, at the best, unknown.

I am yet to comprehend what it is that they want, despite reading all of the complaints, accusations and demands. Some I have seen have called for the resignation of the Honourable Minister of Natural Resources Robert Persaud, the rescinding of the PGSS, a separation of Ministerial duties and Protection of the Environment. I have also noticed that this matter only came to the fore when there was a discussion about an illegal road being built by a Brazilian in the Parabara area. For the record, the builders of that road and Muri Brasil Ventures Inc. are not connected, nor is Muri involved in any road building.

So far all of the articles seem to hint and make the as-sumption that there is some level of corruption involved. However, to date, I have not heard anyone stating that the agreement signed between the Minister and the company is illegal. In my humble opinion, once it is a legal agreement it must be honoured. It is time that the Government states this fact regardless of the reasons given by some persons who feel, that this legal agreement, is not in the best interest of Guyana. I would like to state why legally binding agreements must be honoured. I refer to two more popular cases from our recent history. 1: The agreement with the GT&T which created a “monopoly” and 2: the Omai mine agreement, both of these agreements were questioned by all and sundry and attempts were made to rescind them. The GT&T issue is still ongoing and I will not comment. Following the change of Government in 1992 there was an official investigation and inquiry into the Omai agreement, led by Dr. Maurice Odle. The determination was that the agreement was fully compliant with the law.

On a historical note, this is not the first time the area in ques-tion is being studied vis-à-vis research activities to determine the type of minerals. Were there any previous studies in this area? The answer is yes, several decades ago studies were done by:

1. the United Nations Revolving Fund Programme whose findings are a matter of public record,

2. studies were also done in the late 70s by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) headed by Geologist Chris Barron,

3. under the stewardship of Commissioner William Woolford further studies were done by Mr. Nestor, GGMC, these findings should also be public knowledge.

4. Studies have been done by a Guyana/Brazil team over the Mursi area, I am not aware if these findings have been made available to the public.

The above is proof that studies for minerals in this area was conducted by Government over its territory. The only difference today, is that the studies are being carried out by a private firm. So why all the fuss about this study?

There are many statements being placed for public consump-tion that are at best most misleading. The first is that of the map purporting to show mining on the borders. Any preliminary investigation would show that there is a definitive area on all Guyana’s borders in which mining can and cannot be conducted.

This is the law of the land. The second bit of information which states that this agreement is a “sell-out” and that 2.2

A research agreement that benefits all Guyanese

million acres (approximately 4% of Guyana) has been granted to this company is ingenious in its ambiguity and designed to arouse the patriotism of Guyanese citizens. The fact however remains that the major beneficiary of this research, which would involve a foreign investment of 10s of millions of US dollars, is Guyana. PGSS agreements have been implemented simply because the GGMC does not have the technical or financial resources to do this type of research. Yes, there is an agreement that after a few years Muri will have the option to apply for prospecting licences. However, what is not stated is these licences will not be chosen from the 2.2 million acres being researched. As with all previous agreements (I have not seen the Muri agreement) areas have to be released by the companies each year as per a schedule, that allows for approximately 50% in the first year and 25% in the second year and so on. From what I understand this agreement will see at least a 30% release of the first year. So exactly how many acres are being given in the form of prospecting licences? Based on what has been the precedent, the average PL is 12,000 acres, it means that the acreage to be prospected could be around 216,000 acres. Needless to say if after years of prospecting one decides to apply for mining licence, the maximum acres is 20,000 acres. I am also aware that there have been applications by local miners to do prospecting in the area and I recall the Minister stating that he has not approved any prospecting licences in the area, only a PGSS. As a matter of policy, the GGDMA has always stated that all applications must be accepted by the GGMC and following the proper checks and research, the applicant must be informed if he can or cannot be issued a permission and a reasons must be given.

It is sad to see that there has been no comment or response from the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission or its board on this matter. The Private Sector Commission, whose current chairman was the Chairman of GGMC, has remained largely silent on this issue which threatens to drive away, not only this, but future foreign investment from Guyana.

In conclusion, Guyanese are aware of the claims by the Venezuelan Government in the Essequibo which has, and will continue to restrict large scale development such as the Upper Mazaruni Hydro Development Project and the Beal Space Project. We are also aware about the claims by Su-riname which is apparently also restricting development in the New River Triangle area. Personally, I can understand where these foreign countries are coming from but it is total-ly incomprehensible to me why our own people (Guyanese) are against the development of Guyana for the benefit of all Guyanese.

EDWARD SHIELDSFmr. Director of GGMC

Retired Executive Director GGDMA

Home Affairs Ministry mourns

death of ACP JosiahTHE Ministry of Home Affairs has expressed its deep

regret at the passing of Assistant Commissioner of Police Derrick Josiah on Friday last.

Mr. Josiah enlisted into the Guyana Police Force on 22nd August 1985 as a constable and served in various capacities with distinction, the last being Commander of ‘A’ Division.

Mr. Josiah was a member of the Guyana Police Force Change Team, which oversees the modernisation of the Guyana Police Force. At Change Team Meetings, which are chaired by the Honourable Minister of Home Affairs, he was very vocal on issues and made valuable contributions, which aided the modernisation process.

According to the ministry, he was one of the earliest bene-ficiaries of training in Domestic Violence and this training was manifested in his professional approach in treating with reports on Domestic Violence that are made at police stations.

The ministry said he was supportive of the concept of com-munity/police relations and as Divisional Commander, spear-headed the formation of Station Management Committees and Youth Clubs in the Divisions in which he worked.

“He was a talented officer with great potential and we shall miss him greatly,” the Ministry of Home Affairs stated, while expressing its deep condolences to the members of Mr. Josiah’s bereaved family at this difficult time.


L O S A N G E L E S (Reuters) - Dwayne Johnson, popularly known as the ‘Rock’, took the No. 1 spot in the Forbes list of top-grossing actors in 2013, while his ‘Fast & Furious 6’ co-stars Vin Diesel and the late Paul Walker made the top six, the magazine said yesterday.

The Rock, as John-son is known since his wrestling career, bested ‘Iron Man 3’ star Robert Downey Jr. by starring in four films in 2013, in-cluding ‘G.I. Joe: Retal-iation’, that collectively brought in US$1.3 billion at the global box office.

‘Iron Man 3’ is the highest-grossing movie so far in 2013 with $1.2 billion in worldwide ticket sales.

Forbes makes the list by compiling how many dollars each star’s movies brought in at the box office worldwide this year. It does not reflect actors’ individual earnings.

The sixth installment of the highly profitable street-car

(BBC) Chinese doctors have saved a man’s severed hand by grafting it to his ankle, it is reported.

Xiao Wei lost his right hand

in an accident at work but could not have it reattached to his arm right away.

Instead, the hand was kept alive by stitching it to Mr Wei’s left ankle and “borrowing” a blood supply from arteries in the leg.

A month later, surgeons were able to remove the hand and replant it back on his arm, according to Rex Features.

According to the report,

The hand remained grafted onto the ankle for a month before surgeons could attempt reattaching it to Mr Wei’s injured arm

Severed hand kept alive on man’s ankleMr Wei’s doctors from the Changsha region say he will need to undergo several oth-er operations but they are hopeful that he will regain full

function of his hand.“His injury was severe.

Besides ripping injuries, his arm was also flattened. We had to clear and treat his injuries before taking on the hand reat-tachment surgery.”

Mr Cairian Healy of the Royal College of Surgeons in England said although proce-dures such as these were rare, they were not inconceivable.

“The Chinese are pretty

experienced in microsurgery,” he said.

“And the concept of saving a severed part of the body by attaching it to another part of the body to give it a blood supply is well recognised. The ankle is a hard place to graft though. Usually surgeons would go for the armpit because the blood supply is better.”

He said there were many reasons why a surgeon might not want or be able to reattach a hand to its rightful home straightaway.

“The patient might not be fit enough for the surgery. It can take a skilled surgeon between eight and 15 hours to reattach a hand.”

The vital factor is keeping the hand alive.

On ice, it may survive slightly longer, but Mr Healy said few surgeons would con-template replanting a hand that had been detached for more than a few hours because the muscle inside it would be dead.

He said that, sadly, not all replantations are a success. Some patients do not like the end result and may later opt for amputation because of side-effects, such as pain and stiffness.

The procedure was carried out to keep Mr Wei’s hand alive

‘Fast & Furious’ stars lead Forbes list of 2013 top-grossing actors

racing ‘Fast and Furi-ous’ franchise earned $789 million at the box office, and the deep-voiced Diesel added the US$98 million from the third movie in his ‘Rid-dick’ series to come in fourth on the Forbes list.

‘Fast & Furious 6’ alone pushed Walker into sixth place. The 40-year-old actor, who died last month in a fiery car crash, was filming the seventh installment of the franchise and Universal Pictures, a unit of Comcast Corp, has not yet said how the film will work around his

death.Comedic actor Steve Carell ranked third on the list thanks to the

success of the animated film ‘Despicable Me 2’ in which he voices the evil mastermind Gru.

Actress Sandra Bullock came in at No. 5 with two big wins at the box office: the critically acclaimed outerspace thriller ‘Gravity’ and the female cop comedy ‘The Heat’.

Dwayne Johnson, the late Paul Walker and Vin Diesel


SOME 697 individuals have graduated from the National Training Project for Youth Empowerment (NTPYE) and Single Parent programmes sponsored by the Board of In-dustrial Training (BIT) in Region Four (Demerara/Ma-haica).

At a graduation ceremony held at the National Cultural Centre yesterday, President Donald Ramotar, in delivering the feature address, stressed that Guyana depends on the gradu-ates’ skills to support its social and economic advancement, and the fight against unemployment and poverty.

“For our development, we depend on you,” he told the graduates.

President Ramotar ex-plained that the most important factor in advancing a nation’s development is investment in human capital. This, he said, is something at which Guyana has continued to succeed via the BIT programme.

“The quality of people (in terms of training) deter-mines how developed a coun-try becomes,” Mr Ramotar declared.

The Head of State refer-enced the development seen in China and Japan, which have been designated the second and third most successful economies in the world. He said those designations were secured via massive investments in hu-man capital over the last three decades. “These programmes are extremely important,” he stressed.

The President added that the existence of a skilled work-force and inadequate and in-sufficient infrastructure are the two challenges that plague national development. Howev-er, he maintained that the BIT programme contributes in a significant way to ensure that a skilled workforce is empowered year by year.

The President assured that graduates with entrepreneurial inclinations would be support-ed, expressly in light of the fact that they would not only create employment for themselves, but can also do so for others. “This (the opportunity for entrepre-

BIT, a success story for youths – 697 graduate from Region 4

neurs) makes courses like this vital,” he declared.

The country’s economy continues to grow, according to the President, despite the existing challenges that result-ed from the global financial crisis; and he said the skills of BIT graduates can contribute to efforts being made to diversify the economy.

The effort to remain com-petitive in an increasingly in-tegrated market, he said, is in addition to separate efforts to add value and strengthen the traditional sectors of rice, sugar and bauxite.

The Head of State used the opportunity to stress his Government’s commitment to realizing hydro-electric power in Guyana. He described the action of Opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) as a “tem-porary” setback.

Considering the current Administration’s commitment to development, President Ra-motar called for graduates to broaden their vision beyond the day’s achievement, as great as it is, and use it as the platform from which they could propel

themselves towards greater heights and take advantage of the opportunities that the devel-opment advance provides.

“Use this as a foundation to go forward and build your ca-pacity,” he said, adding that, by extension, the graduates would be building Guyana.

The Head of State congrat-ulated the graduates on their achievement, and cautioned them on the need for discipline and a constructive attitude in the pursuit of greater successes.

He also congratulated the Ministry of Labour and partner-ing stakeholders on the success-es the programme has had.

GREATER EFFORTSLabour Minister Dr Nanda

Gopaul also made remarks at yesterday’s graduation. He noted that additional efforts are being made to improve the BIT programme, the most recent being addition of training in the service industry.

Dr Gopaul said the advanc-es being made with the pro-gramme will continue, and he called for young people to take advantage of the programme.

President Donald Ramotar delivering the feature address at yesterday’s BIT graduation ceremony

A cross section of the graduands awaiting awarding of their certificates

“Even now we can do bet-ter,” he said, adding that every young person who wants the opportunity to be a part of the BIT programme should have it.

He noted that, after training, every graduate has been able to secure employment with “lu-crative” pay rates, while others have been given access to tools and materials of trade to be able to start their own entrepreneur-ial ventures.

Guyana is the only country in the Caribbean where young people who were unable to finish their secondary education have a second chance at train-ing. Referring to the Internation-al Labour Organisation’s (ILO) efforts to reduce unemployment, Dr Gopual stated that, at two conferences in Colombia and Mexico, the Guyana model was hailed as a successful one.

He underscored the fact that the BIT programmes have responded to simultaneous de-velopment advances, thereby affording graduates scope to take advantage of opportunities presented.

Given that developmental projects are a platform for em-

ployment, the minister called of MPs to perform their functions in scrutinising the projects; but, at the same time, he said, they must be mindful of the public interest at stake.

Also addressing yesterday’s gathering was Chairman of the BIT Board Clinton Williams, among other programme of-

ficials.Recently, BIT graduations

have also been held at Leono-ra in Region Three (Essequibo Islands/ West Demerara); Bar-tica in Region Seven (Cuyuni/Mazaruni); Linden in Region 10 (Upper Demerara/Berbice); and Essequibo Coast, Region Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam).


By Vanessa Narine

PPP General Secretary Clement Rohee has emphatically de-bunked claims that the sugar sector’s main trade union, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), is sabotaging the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) with industrial action.

Rohee made it clear that this was “out of the question”, and stressed his refusal to “second guess” a “comrade” and senior party member, GAWU President Komal Chand.

He said: “I have absolute confidence in my colleagues. I would not second guess my colleagues…these are comrades that report often to the party how the sugar industry is performing, what are the challenges that confront the sugar industry, and what needs to be done at the highest political level. I have to believe my comrades because they -- also like us and the PPP as a whole -- have a vested interest in turning this industry around.”

The sugar company agreed last Friday to pay an Annual Production Incentive (API) of five days’ pay, totalling $380M, after two days of massive countrywide strike action.

According to Rohee, trade unions are well within their right to call for strike action, as they are dealing with “bread and but-ter” issues for the average worker. He said: “Nothing is wrong with that…we have a vision, politically, for Guyana and the sugar industry. We have a broader outlook on these matters….Trade unions, as a rule, do not get into political dog-fights until such time that they believe that their industrial demands are not being met and the objective conditions exist for them to move to a political level and to succeed, then they would do so….by right, GAWU has to represent its workers.”

Speaking at a press conference at Freedom House yesterday, Rohee gave assurance of the ruling party’s support with regard to improving the fortunes of the sugar industry.

REDOUBLED EFFORTS

The PPP General Secretary declared that, despite the chal-lenges, the ruling party would not “sit on its laurels” where sugar is concerned. He said: “The People’s Progressive Party was not elected to govern over the demise of the sugar indus-

GPL trying its utmost to ensure reliable

electricity supply to customers during Christmas season

THE Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL) wishes to assure customers that they have done the necessary maintenance and improvements to provide a stable supply of electricity during the holiday season.

“Over this last weekend, however, as a result of the inclement weather conditions, some customers experienced power outages across the country,” the power company said in a statement. GPL said its technicians worked as quickly as possible to restore power to the affected areas.

GPL Inc. is asking customers to report any localised faults in their area, as the company may not always be aware of the problem. To report faults, customers are urged to call GPL’s call centre 592-226-4015/16 or visit GPL at www.gplinc.com.

The company urges everyone to make full use of this on-line service for fast action in dealing with problems. This would do away with having to travel during this rainy and hectic season to join long queues at GPL offices.

“Please be patient and tolerant as we do everything in our power to make it a Bright and Merry Christmas for everyone,” GPL said.

NO SABOTAGE- Rohee debunks claim GAWU sabotaging GuySuCo

try…It behoves us to make every effort, even to the extent of bringing in experts from other countries, to assist us in turning the industry around. It is too valuable a sector, too strategic a sector, and is too vital in terms of the economy, to have it falter and stumble into a crisis of irreparable damage.”

Rohee pointed out that, over the years, there have been significant investments in the industry’s advance. He said: “We believe that, strategically, Guyana will end up being the largest exporter of sugar, not only to the Caribbean, but to the European Union…The industry has greater prospects for seeing a turnaround and surviving in the long-term.”

Rohee thinks that appointment of the new Board of Direc-tors, expected to be done soon, and support of the principal trade unions, would assist in the turnaround process.

Meanwhile, GuySuCo’s production is unlikely to surpass 190,000 tonnes this year. However, Rohee maintained that the party is confident in the industry’s ability to rebound. “Sugar is still the largest employer of labour, and any further decline in sugar production could have disastrous effects on the livelihood and wellbeing of sugar workers and their families…. Any time the sugar industry goes down, the workers and the country will suffer; and that is the kind of global picture we have to put out,” he said.

SUGAR: A WAY OF LIFE

Rohee added that sugar is not only an industry, but is a “way of life” in Guyana; and in looking at the rest of the Caribbean’s performance in the sugar industry, the challenges being seen are not unique to Guyana.

“The difficulties we are facing are not unique to Guyana, but are a common feature among all ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States) countries… The cumulative effect of the new developments we expect to take place in the industry will assist the turnaround,” he said.

Rohee acknowledged the major challenge presented by the changed weather patterns. Guyana used to have, on a regular basis, two wet and two dry seasons of a particular length; but that has changed. Sugar requires a period of 14 to 20 weeks of completely dry weather during grinding.

OLD Kai has noticed the big “hurrah” over the granting of a prospecting licence to a Brazilian firm to map the resources of a vast area currently

uninhabited in the New River Triangle area. The Guyana Human Rights Association, joined by APNU and now “mouthehprekeh” Christopher Ram has joined in their “scaremongering”, the sky is falling tactics. Now while that might get him more front page time in the Kaieteur News and sell more papers, you have to marvel at some of the things this man utters and which go unchallenged by some very bright reporters over there.

This cabal of anti-Government opportunists are ready to seize any and everything they can use to attack the PPP/C Administration and of course, a prospecting agreement ap-proved by the Ministry of Natural Resources is now, according to Ram, “a major national security issue”. Ram is quoted as saying that “potential mining in the area will render the border exposed and vulnerable”, as he and his crew accuse the min-istry of having intentions of encouraging mining in the area.

Old Kai would like to know where these people were and specifically Ram, when it was announced in 2010 that Guyana had inked an agreement with Iran to map not a section but all of Guyana for our mineral resources utilising their state-of-the art technology?

The point we are making is that each and every country, in this day and age, utilises every and any opportunity to map its resources so it can have a better idea of very important segments of its factors of production. This is even more crucial

Old Kai: Chronicles of Guyana

Is Christopher Ram a puppet speaking for someone else?

for future planning. What is so wrong with this? But expect Ram and his crew to have a problem even though the Ministry of Nat-ural Resources is quoted as saying that the “PGGS is a property exclusive to exploration and does not include any mining and or profit-related activities. This is not related in any way to a pros-pecting licence, mining licence or mining permit, all of which are also done in keeping with the Mining Act and its regulation.”

This now brings us to the question of the patriotism of Ram and company, because as is public knowledge, Surina-me has claimed the New River Triangle area as its own, but history and facts confirm that it is unquestionably part of Guyana, in essence “we navel string chuk deh”. So talk by Christopher Ram about how Suriname might get vex because we mapping resources in “our” area comes across as if he is the unofficial spokesperson of the Surinamese. He seems to be their representative.

Imagine, if Guyana had adopted the same strategy that Christopher Ram is calling for now, we would have never won the international maritime tribunal award on the law of the sea against Suriname which confirmed our right to ownership over nearly 13,000 square miles of a resource-rich area on our costal front which is part of the Guyana basin.

Further, even though the Ministry of Natural Resources has indicated that mining is not part of the agreement, one of Ram’s arguments is that mining will pose a threat to the border and security. Ram should know that mining has been a centuries-old tradition along most of our border fronts,

including in the contested Venezuela area in the Essequibo. How come he has never expressed similar concerns about such a situation?

He ain’t satisfied being an expert in Law, Auditing and Eco-nomics; he now suddenly turns an expert in National Security and the Environment. Someone should remind him of the ole saying, “Jack of all trades, expert at none.”

It is clear that Ram would be very happy in an undeveloped Guyana, where other citizens are denied an opportunity to max-imise their potential; after all, he has been one of the critics-in-chief of all the major transformational projects in Guyana.

This is what Old Kai finds most suspicious as we already have a history of outside interference, whereby the PNC was being paid by the United States of America CIA to destabilise our country and create division.

Hence, it would not be a far stretch of the imagination to think that there are some out there who would feel threatened by a more economically strong and powerful Guyana. Old Kai is wondering if history is repeating itself before his eyes!

Having said that, we have the utmost respect for Suriname and our other neighbours. Even with our historical disagree-ments, our relationship with our neighbours under the PPP/C Government has been at its highest.

So maybe Ram might not be an emissary of anyone; he probably might just be trying to create tensions with our neighbours as it will fit into his long list of efforts to destabi-lise the Government.

“The weather continues to be a major concern, and it is expected that the new Board will look at this and contribute to the turnaround,” Rohee said. He reiterated his conviction that there still exists great potential for the local sugar indus-try – potential that will be realised with hard work and the support of trade unions.


Saleswoman accused of stealing $11M granted $100,000 bail

By Geeta Rampersaud

JASODRA Bahadur, 35, a sales representative of Lot 18 Block ‘CC’ Mon Repos, East Coast De-merara, was yesterday slapped with 26 simple larceny charges before Magistrate Ann McLennan.

She was not required to plead to the offences, details of which said between January 5, 2011 and October 5, 2012, she stole in excess of $11M, property of Mohamed R.D. Khan.

Police Corporal Dinero Jones, prosecuting, said the virtual complainant usually signs blank cheques and the accused is responsible for inserting the amount and name of the payee; but she inserted her name, changed the cheques, gave her employer one amount and took the remainder.

The prosecutor objected to bail on the grounds of the seriousness of the offences, which amounted to in excess of $11M and the fact that she has similar charges pending.

The objection was, however, overruled and the defendant was ordered to post $100,000 surety until January 6, 2014.

Defence Counsel Latchmi Rahamat had said Bahadur is saleswoman for New Horizon Food and Manufacturing Distribution Company and has other cases before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Be-harry in which she has being charged with in excess of seven counts of similar offences and was granted surety in the sum of $350,000.

The lawyer added that Bahadur has been cooperating with the police since she was first ar-rested and has already posted a substantial amount of surety.

GORDON Allen, a deportee from the United States (U.S.) was remanded to prison yes-terday on a drug-trafficking charge.

The 48-year-old defen-dant pleaded not guilty to two charges before Magistrate Ann McLennan.

Particulars of one said on Thursday, December 12, at Orange Walk and Regent Street, Georgetown, he had 17 grammes of cannabis sativa (marijuana) for the purpose of trafficking.

The second charge al-leged that, the same day, also

Mother, two sons facing drug charge after search

A MOTHER and her two sons stood before Magistrate Faith Mc Gusty yesterday, charged with trafficking narcotics.

Loraine Lamaison, Odell Monroe and Rawl Hetsberger, all of Lot 1925 Diamond Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara, pleaded not guilty to the charge that said, on Saturday, December 4, at their home, they were in possession of 500 grammes of cannabis sativa (marijuana) for the purpose.

Police Sergeant Shellon Daniels, prosecuting , told the Court that ranks at the Diamond Station received information that the prohibited substance was being sold at the home of the trio.

The prosecutor said a search was conducted at the house and a black plastic bag, containing weeds, seeds and stems suspected to be cannabis, was found in the middle room and the defendants were arrested after being told of the offence and, subsequently, charged.

Attorney-at-law Mr. Nigel Hughes, for the defendants made a bail application but Sergeant Daniels objected, citing the seriousness and prevalence of the offence.

Consequently, pre-trial freedom was denied Monroe and Lamaison, but Hetsberger was ordered to post $250,000 since he was not in house at the time, but was on top fixing something on the zinc roof.

The case will be called on January 14, 2014, at the Providence Court, on the East Bank of Demerara, too.

Forgery defendant must post $150,000 bail

MAGISTRATE Ann McLennan, yesterday, ordered Elswar Ganeshdin, of Lot 89 Buxton Middle Walk, East Coast Demerara, to post $150,000 bail on a forgery charge.

After the Administration of Justice Act (AJA) was applied, the defendant pleaded not guilty to the offence, particulars of which said, between November 1 and October 31, 2011, in Georgetown, with intent to defraud, he forged an agreement of sale and purchase of a motorcycle purporting to show that it was signed by Kenford De Jonge.

Police Corporal Dinero Jones, prosecuting, had objected to bail, citing the nature of the alleged crime and the fact that the faked document was presented to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).

The prosecutor said the virtual complainant is presently out of the country and, although the offence was committed in 2010, it was reported this year.

Ganeshdin was represented by attorney-at-law Mr. Euclin Gomes, who argued that the defendant has an unblemished character and has been cooperating with the police during the investigation.

The objection was overruled and the father of three must return to Court on January 6, 2014.

U.S. deportee remanded on drug trafficking charges

at Orange Walk and Regent Street, he had possession of one gramme cocaine also to traffick.

Police Corporal Dine-ro Jones, prosecuting, said the defendant was observed around the Bourda Market area sitting on the pavement and was being frequently approached by different per-sons.

The prosecutor said Al-len was seen going into his pocket and taking out a black plastic bag which contained something that he was giving persons and a search of his

person yielded weeds, seeds and stems suspected to be cannabis and a creamish rock-like substance suspected to be cocaine.

Allen (no address given) admitted he had been deported from the U.S. but said he is awaiting time to return. Mean-while, he has no fixed place of abode and has been living on the streets.

He was refused bail and the cases were transferred to Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry for Jan-uary 6, 2014. (Geeta Ramp-ersaud)

ACP Josiah was a ‘good and upstanding’ Police officer - APNU A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) has expressed con-dolences to the wife, children, relatives and friends of the Late Assistant Commissioner of Police Mr. Derrick Josiah who passed away last Friday.

APNU also sends it condolences to the Commissioner of Police, and the men and women of the Guyana Police Force, especially to the ‘A’ Division family where Mr. Josiah last served. “The Police Force not only lost a Divisional Commander but from all accounts a good and upstanding officer,” the party said in a statement.

“The Leader of the Opposition Brigadier David Granger and all the parties that make up the Partnership extend profound sympathies at the passing of Assistant Commissioner of Police Derrick Josiah,” the APNU statement asdded.

DERRICK JOSIAH

Chief Justice grants conditional order to quash Town Clerk’s appointment

IN response to an application from Royston King for Orders of Certiorari, relative to the appointment of Carol Sooba as Town Clerk, acting Chief Justice Mr. Ian Chang, S.C., has granted an Order Nisi (a conditional order) calling on the Minister of Local Government to show cause why his decision should not be quashed.

The matter which was issued by Messrs Hughes, Fields & Stoby will come up for hearing before the Chief Justice on Monday, December 23rd, when it is expected lawyers representing the Town Clerk will ask for leave to file an affidavit in answer.

Reports state that there were four candidates who were interviewed for the position of Town Clerk, namely Paul Clark, Daren Khan, Carol Sooba and Royston King. (George Barclay)


By Savitri Laikram

CENTRAL High School is the victor of the J.O.F. Haynes Inter-Secondary School De-bating Competition.

The school’s excellent per-formance was driven by its op-ponent, Annandale Secondary’s good fight in the battle of words, fluency and eloquence.

The contest was held last Thursday at the Theatre Guild Playhouse, in Parade Street, Kingston, Georgetown.

Minister of Education, Ms. Priya Manickchand, in her re-marks on the occasion noted that learning is what empowers persons.

She advised the debaters that the best way in presenting their information before they compete is to research and assured the contestants that the only way to win is to persuade and convince persons of the research.

Minister Manickchand em-phasised that articulating what is being produced and debated is of utmost importance to con-vince persons of what one’s views are.

She also said that they should conceive the thoughts they would like to see bring about changes for the world to go forward.

The minister further

THE silence of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) front bencher Volda Lawrence, during last Thursday’s vote in Parlia-ment on allocations for several sectors in a $3.38B Statement of Excess tabled by Finance Minis-ter Dr. Ashni Singh, continues to attract comments.

But General Secretary of the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Mr. Clement Rohee, de-bunked speculation that “special considerations” were offered by the Government to secure Lawrence’s support for the allocations in the financial paper.

He said, at a press confer-ence at the PPP’s Freedom House headquarters yesterday that: “I am not aware of anything like that as the Leader of the PPP and I can’t speak for the Government but, as a member of the Cabinet, I don’t think that that is true…this is just a red herring that people are trying to throw into the whole mystery.”

He emphasised that the ruling party “has nothing special to offer anybody” except for hard work on the ground to increase its support base.

Rohee continued: “If you want to come with us, to work with

Rohee debunks speculation about importance of Lawrence vote

us, to offer to win votes on the ground…that’s all we have to offer.”He refused to comment further on the speculation.

However, the General Secretary noted, too, that Opposition Leader David Granger, from remarks made to the media, seems to be taking the issue seriously.

AN INVESTIGATION Last Friday, the Opposition Leader, at a press briefing, told the

media that an investigation into the matter is under way.At the time of the vote in Parliament on the Statement of Excess

in the Committee of Supply, Lawrence had remained silent.The vote on the specific allocations included for the Specialty

Hospital when the APNU MP left the Assembly in haste, resulting in a one-seat win for the ruling party in having the allocation approved.

After the Committee of Supply approval of the financial paper, the House resumed sitting and the Finance Minister’s report of Lawrence’s vote saw it counted as an abstention.

But Granger said he was informed that she had been unwell while his personal observation was that she appeared distraught.

The Opposition Leader acknowledged that there were specific plans to vote along specified lines.

Granger was expected to meet with Lawrence on the matter.However, according to an online news report, Lawrence said

that by the time she could have received advice, on how to vote, from APNU Chief Whip Amna Ally, immediately on returning to the Chamber, she did not respond when her name was called.

The report added that Ally corroborated Lawrence’s account and also explained what had transpired.

Ally, reportedly, said: “Ms. Lawrence was sick. When she came in back, she didn’t catch herself until long after and she couldn’t speak. She was making signs to the Clerk…there was no sinister move, no deflection.”

The joint Opposition’s one-seat majority was affected by Lawrence’s vote, as well as the absence of other APNU MP Deb-orah Backer. (Vanessa Narine)

DAVID GRANGER VOLDA LAWRENCE CLEMENT ROHEE

Central High wins J.O.F. Haynes Debating Competition

New winners of the JOF Haynes debate competition, the Central High School pose for a photo with Chief Education Officer Mr Olato Sam.

A section of the audience at the debating finals

s ta ted that put t ing the thoughts in clear and con-cise language will be very beneficial, owing to the fact that the English Language has become very straightfor-ward over the years which makes it easier.

She posited that the children participating in the debates should stick to putting out their information clearly and use concise language to straightfor-wardly prosecute their research and thoughts.

She added that everyone is capable of being successful and of receiving an education.

POSITIVE MANNER Minister Manickchand out-

lined that this competition is a great demonstration, which allows children to take the opportunity to influence their peers in a positive manner.

Annandale Secondary School proposed that “the Inter-net is more harmful than helpful to students.”

Central’s victory was not surprising, since the delivery of the team’s argument by mem-bers showed that they were in the competition to win.

They argued, very convinc-ingly, that the internet is more helpful to students as it assists with studies and acquiring in-formation.

Meanwhile, their colleagues of the proposition, put up a laudable presentation of how the internet can be harmful and the dangers of spending time on it.

The judges informed the audience that both teams went over their time limits, Central by just a few seconds while Annandale was over a minute.

The Annandale Second-ary team comprised Joyann Zamett, Devi Ramnarine and Leon Hunter, while the win-ning team members were Ab-igail Semple, Cobe Smith and Nicolas Chandro, who won themselves a computer system for their school, compliments of Metro Stationery.


Previously defeated security reform bills returning to Parliament

By Vanessa Narine

ATTORNEY General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mr. Anil Nandlall, last Thursday re-,tabled in the National Assembly two Government Bills surrounding security reform, which were previously defeated by the Opposition, and introduced a new one.

And Home Affairs Minister, Mr. Clement Rohee contended that, while he may be required to speak on the pieces of legislation, they were presented in the AG’s name, so the joint Opposition should not have a problem with his contribution to them.

“The Bills are not in my name and the Opposition has said that they will not support any Bills in my name,” he recalled.

His comments follow the no-confidence motion in him pre-viously introduced and passed in the House by the Opposition majority.

At a press conference in the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Freedom House, Robb Street, Georgetown headquarters, yesterday, Rohee explained that the AG will “initiate” the introduction of bills and give an explanation on what they are about.

“If needs be, I will support it…it is quite possible that I may speak on the bills,” the minister said.

According to him, given that the contention of the Opposition does not reflect opposing him speaking on bills not in his name, the question at hand is whether or not they will support the Bills to be tabled in the AG’s name.

Following the Opposition’s no-confidence motion, Speaker Ra-phael Trotman had ruled that Rohee will be allowed to participate fully in the business of the National Assembly and be unhindered in the exercise of his rights, both as an elected Member of Parliament and as the individual designated by the President to be the Home Affairs Minister.

UNTENABLE SITUATION“It is my considered opinion that refusing the right to a minister

to address the House is tantamount to refusing the President the right to speak in the House, a very unconstitutional and untenable situation,” Trotman said.

By Clifford Stanley

FIRST Bauxite Corporation (FBC), the Canadian natural resource company engaged in the exploration and de-velopment of deposits in the Bonasika area, of Region 3 (Essequibo Islands/West De-merara), has experienced very difficult market conditions in recent months and is in seri-ous financial difficulty.

But the company is current-ly engaged in a non-brokered private placement for the sale of 40,000,000 common shares at a price of $0.125 each to raise

MARAD appeals for increased vigilance on the waterways

By Clifford Stanley

THE Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) is calling for increased vigilance from the public with regard to conduct of speedboat and other vessels owners.

Making the appeal, Director of Maritime Safety, Mr. Stephen Thomas, observed that the lives of persons travelling in the country’s waterways can be jeopardised and MARAD has established a hotline through which it can be alerted to any irregular and unsafe behaviour by boat operators.

He said the department, itself, is on heightened alert but would be grateful for any information which will assist it in monitoring safety on the waterways and taking the necessary measures to enhance it.

Thomas said passengers should be vigilant about the behaviour of operators under the influence of alcohol, without lifejackets and lights at night and/or any other action that could endanger their safety.

He identified the hotline number as 225-7330 and gave the assurance that the identity of callers and the information they give will be treated as confidential.

“We just want the basics like date, time, particulars of the undesirable behaviour, if possible, the name of the operator/and or the boat,” Thomas said.

He added: “We are geared to work in collaboration with the police to investigate all such hotline reports from members of the public. We will take the necessary action against offenders on the basis of any report which has merit.”

However, in his ruling then, he acknowledged that the National Assembly could refuse to listen if Minister Rohee chose to speak, but he was constitutionally given the right to address the National Assembly in his capacity as minister.

The AG pointed out, subsequently, that nothing in Guyana’s Constitution permits its Parliament to remove an appointed Cabinet Minister

The Bills up for review at the next sitting on Thursday (De-cember19) include the Evidence (Amendment) Bill 2013 and the Firearm (Amendment) Bill 2013.

The Summary Jurisdiction (Procedure) (Amendment) Bill 2013 was introduced for the first time last Thursday.

Government, in recognition of the fundamental importance of the pieces of legislation to the lives and livelihoods of the people of Guyana, committed to returning them to the National Assembly for consideration.AG ANIL NANDLALL

MINISTER CLEMENT ROHEE

First Bauxite Corporation in serious financial difficulty

total proceeds Cdn$5,000,000. If this venture fails, FBC

will run out of money by Jan-uary 2014, Hilbert N. Shields, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) said recently.

A private placement refers to a sale of stocks to a relatively small number of select investors as a way of raising capital.

Investors involved in such transactions are, usually, large banks, mutual funds, insurance companies and pension funds.

A ‘brokered’ private place-ment is one in which a regis-tered representative sells stock for a company.

A ‘non-brokered’ offering is when the company’s inves-tor relations department sells the stock directly to investors.

The FBC non-brokered pri-vate placement is with Re-source Capital Fund, a min-ing-focused equity firm that partners with companies to build strong, successful and sus-tainable businesses that strive to

produce superior returns to all stakeholders.

EXTREMELY APPRECIATIVE

“We are extremely appre-ciative of the continued financial support from Resource Capital Funds in these demanding capital markets conditions,” said Shields.

“Resource Capital Funds clearly sees the longer term value in First Bauxite and is demonstrating its commitment to our efforts to develop the Bonasika mine and processing plant by offering this private placement at a significant pre-mium to market and generally at terms that are very competitive, in these very difficult current market conditions for junior resource explorers and develop-ers,” he stated.

The proceeds of the private placement are designed to al-low FBC to continue with its work programmes, including completing the preliminary fea-

sibility study on manufacturing ceramic products

from the bauxite and kaolin hosted by the deposits in its Bonasika mining licence.

It will also allow limit-ed phase one pre-production work over the Bonasika min-ing licence, inclusive of haul road and Bonasika seven-pit and waste dump preparation, and exploring the 20 prospect-ing licences under application in the areas adjacent to the Bonasika mining licence and the Tarakulli permission, which also hosts the Canje prospects.

The private placement re-mains subject to the Canadian Stock Exchange approval and the satisfaction of customary closing conditions contained in the subscription agreement be-tween the parties, Shields said.

Another closing condition of the private placement is that an RCF partner, Mr. Mason Hills, be nominated to join the board of directors of the FBC.



(BBC): The United Nations has announced its biggest ever appeal, seeking US$6.5bn (£4bn; 4.7bn euros) for hu-manitarian aid to Syria.

The UN estimates nearly three-quarters of Syria’s 22.4 million population will need humanitarian aid in 2014.

The appeal coincides with a new study by the Internation-al Rescue Committee, which warns that starvation is now threatening the Syrian popu-lation.

Bread prices have risen by 500% in some areas, according to the report.

Four out of five Syrians said

Syria crisis: UN launches record US$6.5bn aid appeal

their greatest worry was that

food would run out, the survey found.

‘TERRIFYING SITUATION’

In total, the UN is asking for almost US$13bn to fund its hu-manitarian operations next year.

Some US$2.3bn are des-tined for civilians inside Syria, while US$4.2bn would go to Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries.

The latest call exceeds the UN’s record appeal for US$4.4bn in June, of which only 60% has been funded so far.

“We’re facing a terrifying situation here where, by the end of 2014, substantially more of the population of Syria could be displaced or in need of hu-manitarian help than not,” Mr Guterres said.

“This goes beyond anything we have seen in many, many years, and makes the need for a political solution all the much greater.”

Ahead of the launch, UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos described the Syrian situation as “one of the biggest crises in modern times”.

She said Syrian refugees “think the world has forgotten about them”.

The UN estimates that some 6.3 million people have been in-ternally displaced since the con-flict broke out in March 2011.

More than two million Syr-ians have fled to neighbouring countries, including Lebanon and Turkey.

The UN is becoming im-patient with some richer states for not helping its efforts, the BBC’s Imogen Foulkes reports.

UN officials will be press-ing Syria’s neighbours Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which have apparently not offered the UN any money, our correspondent adds.

Nearly half of those who have remained in Syria now rely on aid, according to the UN.

Circumstances have wors-ened further with the onset of harsh winter weather.

International aid agencies say they have been struggling to provide medical aid to the sick and wounded because of fierce fighting between the forces of President Bashar al-Assad and the rebels.

IRC President David Mili-band said the his organisation’s latest survey showed “that star-vation is now threatening large parts of the Syrian population”.

He called the Syrian conflict “the defining humanitarian cri-sis of this century so far”.

“In a situation where ci-vilians are targeted by snipers or bombs, where doctors are targeted because they’ve treated the ‘wrong’ side, and where aid workers are unable to cross con-flict lines because the norms of war are not being followed and international humanitarian law is being broken, then obviously nothing is ever enough,” he told the BBC.

Syrian Deputy Foreign Min-ister Faisal Mekdad yesterday reaffirmed that “there will be more access and more co-op-eration” with the UN in the delivery of assistance.

More than 100,000 people are estimated to have been killed since the unrest began more than two years ago.

Winter storm “Alexa” has brought freezing temperatures to Syria and neighbouring countries

UN humanitarian envoy Baroness Amos: “They say to me ‘why has the world abandoned us?’”


For Tuesday December 17,2013 -05:00hrsFor Wednesday December 18,2013 -05:00hrsFor Thursday December 19,2013 -08:30hrs

Aries March 21 - April 19It’s good for you to feel confident about your chances going into an upcoming challenge, but it would be unwise to think that you will walk away with a victory too easily. Do not sell your competition short. The only thing less helpful than underestimating your opponent is overestimating yourself. So don’t rush ahead thinking this will be a cake-walk. You have to have a healthy respect for every contest you enter. Otherwise, what is the value in winning it?

Taurus April 20 - May 20Today is not the ideal day for big behaviour -- excessive actions, over-the-top attitudes, and obnoxious jokes are not going to go over too well with the folks you’ll be dealing with. So if you want to go through the day with as little conflict as possible, avoid pushing the conversation past safe topics. It’s not about altering who you are -- it’s about knowing your audience and making them feel comfortable. You have the charm to pull it off, so go for it.

Gemini May 21 - June 21You’re sure to have more than your fair share of odd coincidences today -- the universe is sending a positive dose of uncertain energy your way, and if you open yourself up to it you are sure to go on quite a ride. Try not to push back too hard on things that make you uncomfortable. If someone has to reschedule a meeting or a date, so what? You’ll just have more free time to attend to some errands you’ve been neglecting. Roll with the punches and go with the flow.

Cancer June 22 - July 22Today, you deserve a break from all the heavy analytical thinking you have been doing at work or school. Instead, step back from the arguments and issues and let everyone else deal with the headaches for a while. You’ve paid your dues and put your fair share of energy into the problem. This is a day when you should focus on doing some fun things -- you’ll find playing with children especially rewarding, right now. There’s something about their imaginative energy that will invigorate you.

Leo July 23 - August 22To save more money, you have to get organised. Start today by reviewing your budget and finding out what you really need to get by every month. Chances are, it’s a lot less than you have been spending. Find out where all that extra cash is going. Start writing down your daily expenses: Every cup of coffee, every gallon of gasoline, each bag of groceries. Soon you will see where you can cut corners and painlessly enable yourself to have more money at the end of the month.

Virgo August 23 - September 22Today you’ll find it very rewarding to find a new way to manage and clean up your life. Spend some time today putting an end to your messy closets, cluttered car, or that desk that looks like a hurricane just hit it! Organise all of your chaos, and you’ll feel like there’s absolutely nothing you can’t do. It’s a great day to tackle methodical tasks -- your energy is focused and your mind will appreciate the chance to switch over to auto pilot for a while.

Libra September 23 - October 22Being honest isn’t always fun, but it’s always wise -- especially in complicated situations. Tell one little lie -- even a white one -- and you will only get tangled up in more lies down the road. So before you get too overwhelmed by the web you are weaving, come clean! You will definitely get some frustrated feelings aimed back at you, but it’s nothing compared to the anger you’ll create if you keep this up. Everyone fibs -- but those who fess up and accept the consequences redeem themselves.

Scorpio October 23 - November 21There is going to be quite a lot of drama in your day, but you are a featured player -- probably the hero of the story, so you aren’t going to mind too much. There will be at least one juicy secret coming your way, and by sharing it, someone will be showing you just how much they trust you -- so don’t blow it by blabbing! By later on tonight you will be ready for some quiet one on one conversation full of ideas for a better future. Find a good friend to share them with.

Sagittarius November 22 - December 21Important people around you are talking, and they are not watching what they say! So use your ears and make the most of this time. You are being given a wonderful opportunity to gain extra insight and get the information you need to get ahead. But be careful -- when you hear this information, don’t rush ahead with anything. There are more details that need to be uncovered. So take your insight, tuck it away, and use it later. You’ll know when it’s the right time.

Capricorn December 22 - January 19Everyone you’ll be dealing with you today is going to be sending you positive energy, which will help you feel much more grounded and comfortable in your own skin -- much more so than you have in a long while. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to push your personal agenda a little bit farther. Whatever goals you have been working on are that much closer today, and you can hold them in your grasp if you just reach a little bit further outside of your comfort zone!

Aquarius January 20 - February 18You like being helpful, and that’s a good thing -- just don’t let the ambitions of other people become your ambitions. They may have a different agenda, and that’s fine. There’s no need to make sure yours match with theirs, as long as everyone is on the up and up about it. You can still go your own way while you help them go theirs. If you tie your life or career goals too closely to others, you will inevitably go off-track. Work on balancing your selflessness with your selfishness more.

Pisces February 19 - March 20Everyone’s emotions are right on the surface today -- so you would be very wise to be very sensitive with whomever you encounter, stranger and friend alike. You won’t know what word or phrase could set them off, so it’s best to stick to small talk and safe topics unless you want to get into a heated discussion. It’s not a great day to ask for a favour that might be hard to grant. But as long as you are prepared for this level of uncertainty throughout your day, you will do just fine.

CHANNEL 11

05:00 – Inspiration 05:30 – Newtown Gospel0 6 : 0 0 – N C N L a t e E d i -tion(R/B)

06:30 – Kala Milan07 :00 _ Guyana Today - Live08:00 _ GINA Presents08:30 _ Pulse Beat (r/b)09:00 _ Cartoons

10:00 _ Food Networks 11:00 _ History12:00 _ CNN12:30 _ NCN Newsbreak - Live12:35 _ Feature13:00 _ Beauty of Christmas 14:00 _ NCN Newsbreak - Live14:05 _ Movie 16:00 _ Youth Expression (r/b)1 7 : 0 0 _ N C N L i v e w i t h Wanita18:00 _ NCN News Mag-azine18:30 _ GGMC Science & Technology Quiz19:00 _ Al Jazeera19:30 _ Homestretch Mag-azine20:00 – 3d/daily millions/play de dream/lotto draw20:05 – GCCI Update21:00 _ X1 Interface21:30 _ Caribbean Passport22:00 _ NCN Late Edition - Live22:30 _ Caribbean Newsline23:00 _ Movie

Guide is subject

to change without notice


Racing TipsEnglishCatterick08:10 hrs Queen Of Epirus08:40 hrs Big Water09:10 hrs Jim Tango09:40 hrs Forthefunofit10:10 hrs Merrydown Vintage11:10 hrs I Got Power

Southwell08:30 hrs Orwellian09:00 hrs Dance For Georgie09:30 hrs Dabdys Perier10:00 hrs La Estrella10:30 hrs Hannahs Turn11:00 hrs Jillywinks11:30 hrs Lexi’s Hero

Fakenham08:50 hrs Houseparty09:20 hrs Persian Herald

09:50 hrs Epee Celeste10:20 hrs Go Amwell10:50 hrs Ninfea11:20 hrs Sudden Wish

South Africa Racing TipsScottsville08:20 hrs Falko08:50 hrs Qahal’s Applause09:20 hrs Campanologist09:50 hrs Joshuas Crown10:20 hrs Assegai10:55 hrs October Eleventh11:30 hrs West Ride

French Racing TipsMarseille11:40 hrs La Rusee12:10 hrs Hurricane Mix12:40 hrs Samyntha13:10 hrs Pas De Tune13:40 hrs Kalevala14:10 hrs Prince Caracallo14:40 hrs Angel’s Manor

By Calvin Roberts

QUARTERFINAL and semi-final action in this year’s sixth annual Georgetown Guinness ‘Greatest of de Streets’ Futsal football competition kicks off at the National Cultural Centre tarmac tonight, with pre-tour-nament favourites West Front

GUINNESS ‘GREATEST OF DE STREETS’

Quarter-final, semi-final action kicks off tonightRoad ‘Gold is Money’ op-posing one of the upsetters in Hope Street-Tiger Bay.

Wendell and Herbert Pe-dro, Michael Oie, Randolph Wagner and Stellon David will lead West Front Road’s challenge against a side who defeated Alexander Village in their round of 16 contest to

reach this stage and will look to Rensford Coleridge, Dwayne Dickson and Dennis Caledenia to take them into the semis.

Tonight’s action will kick off with Berlin Massive, for whom Devon Charles, Akine Collins, Michael Payne and Sherwin Cadogan have been on target at various intervals

throughout the tournament, opposing Queen Street-Tiger Bay who will be led by Deon Alfred and Leon Fredericks.

After West Front Road and Hope Street-Tiger Bay collide in the second match of the evening, Stevedore Housing Scheme, whose lineup includes Steven Dolphin, Quason Winter and Fitzroy Witherspoon, will go head-to-head with California Square, for whom Christopher Darlington will be looking to continue his act of scoring in every match for his team.

The final quarterfinal encounter will see Alpha McPhoy lead Island All Star unit which also includes Paul Porter, going up against Al-bouystown ‘B’ who will be led by Marlon Nedd and Roy Cassou in a keenly contested encounter.

Following the Guinness half-hour break, the semifinals will get under way with the winners of the first two matches colliding in one encounter while the victors of matches three and four will meet in the other.

The final and third-place matchup will take place at the National Park this Sat-urday, when the Georgetown Guinness ‘Greatest of de Streets’ Futsal champion will be crowned.

Cash prizes totaling G$1M will be distributed to the vari-ous winners, with the top team taking home $500 000, while the second-, third- and fourth-placed teams take home $300 000, $200 000 and $100 000 respectively along with tro-phies, while all the teams in the preliminary round will pocket $25 000, $20 000, $15 000 and $10 000 each, according to their placing.

Like the previous two years of the tournament, the winners and runners-up will go on to represent George-town in the nationwide tour-nament, whose winner will represent Guyana in next year’s Caribbean ‘Guinness Greatest of the Streets’ Futsal Football competition that is scheduled to be held in Trini-dad and Tobago in June.

even as Devon Armstrong of Essequibo proved to be too good for Deshon Elcock, who also hails from the Cinderella County.

Akeem Mounter of Es-sequibo waltzed away with a win via points from Sheldon Bowen of Bartica and after Quincy Boyce pounded Sha-ka Moore in their exhibition fixture, cousins Christopher

Moore and Odeny Moore went at each other’s throat in the final bout of the final tourna-ment hosted by the GBA, with Odeny coming out victorious via the points.

DDL’s Larry Wills was on hand to assist with the pre-sentation of prizes and, in an invited comment, applauded the GBA on hosting another successful tournament, adding that next year’s edition can see four championships being held.

Moore named Best Boxer ...

From Back Page


By Nick Mulvenney

PERTH, Australia (Reuters) - A dominant Australia were five wickets away from re-claiming the Ashes after ham-mering England with the bat and reducing them to 251 for five with the ball at the end of the fourth day of the third Test at the WACA yesterday.

Ben Stokes, who was 72 not out after scoring his maiden Test half-century, and Matt Prior (7) will resume today with the tourists still trailing by 252 runs and needing to bat through the final day to keep the series alive.

Shane Watson ear l ie r smashed 73 runs off 40 balls for a spectacular century and George Bailey equalled the Test record for most runs from a single over before Australia declared at 369 for three some 40 minutes before lunch.

Requiring 504 runs for an unlikely victory, England’s worst Test session for a long time had not quite reached its nadir and Ryan Harris sensa-tionally bowled Alastair Cook for a golden duck with the first ball of the innings.

“To have a licence to take on the game was a lot of fun,” said all-rounder Watson, whose ballistic 103 included 11 fours and the five bludgeoned sixes.

“We’re confident. Abso-lutely. A good night sleep will freshen up our bowlers to be able to have a really good crack first thing in the morning.

“We have to bowl really

By Mark Gleeson

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Reuters) - India begin life without ‘Little Master’ tomorrow, taking on top-ranked South Africa in the first of a two-Test series in their first contest since Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement.

After nearly a quarter of a century of cricket, Tendulkar retired last month with more than 34 000 international runs against his name to go with a slew of batting records.

The absence of interna-

(REUTERS) - Croatia defend-er Josip Simunic will miss the 2014 World Cup in Brazil after being suspended for 10 matches by FIFA for making pro-Nazi chants at the end of last month’s playoff victory over Iceland.

“The disciplinary commit-tee took note that the player, to-gether with the crowd, shouted a Croatian salute that was used during World War II by the fas-cist ‘Ustase’ movement,” world

AUSTRALIA first innings 385 England first innings 251AUSTRALIA second innings (o/n 235-3)C. Rogers c Carberry b Bresnan 54D. Warner c Stokes b Swann 112S. Watson run-out 103M. Clarke b Stokes 23S. Smith c sub. b Stokes 15G. Bailey not out 39B. Haddin c Swann b Bresnan 5M. Johnson not out 0 Extras: (b-8, lb-5, w-5) 18 Total: (for six wickets decl, 87 overs) 369Fall of wickets: 1-157, 2-183, 3-223, 4-301, 5-331, 6-340.Bowling: Anderson 19-5-105-0

(w-1), Bresnan 14-3-53-2, Stokes 18-1-82-2, Swann 27-8-92-1, Root 9-1-24-0.ENGLAND second inningsA. Cook b Harris 0 M. Carberry lbw b Watson 31 J. Root c Haddin b Johnson 19 K. Pietersen c Harris b Lyon 45I. Bell c Haddin b Siddle 60B. Stokes not out 72M. Prior not out 7 Extras: (b-1, lb-11, w-5) 17 Total: (for five wickets, 67 overs) 251 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-62, 3-76, 4-121, 5-220.Bowling (to date): Harris 10-1-51-1, Johnson 15-3-52-1 (w-1), Lyon 15-

Australia on brink of 3-0 series lead after Watson sparkles

…George Bailey blasts a record-equalling 28 off six James Anderson deliverieswell to give ourselves the best chance to be able to achieve a few dreams, for a lot of us who’ve been involved in the last few series especially.”

England, shell-shocked af-ter Australia’s morning assault, did at least slow down the home side’s momentum after lunch with Michael Carberry (31), Joe Root (19) getting starts.

Kevin Pietersen was also well set on 45 when, in a move unlikely to appease his critics, he strode down the wicket to take on spinner Nathan Lyon, sending the ball high into the sky but failing to clear Harris at the long-on boundary.

Ian Bell’s 99-run partner-ship with Stokes for the fifth wicket ended when the TV um-pire determined his attempted uppercut had nicked a Peter Sid-dle delivery to Haddin for 60.

“We’re still hanging in there, and that’s the important thing. We need to take tomorrow as deep as we possibly can, keep showing some fight,” said Bell.

“We need the two guys who are out there now to take it to lunch. We’ve just got to keep on fighting.”

It was the morning of in-tense drama and some high farce though, that put Australia on firmly track for a victory that would give them an unassailable 3-0 series lead and ensure the return of the urn.

The hosts resumed 369 runs ahead at 235 for three and Wat-son, who started the day on 29, signalled his team’s intent

Bresnan ran him out at the non-striker’s end.

“It wasn’t good was it?” laughed Watson. “I’m not going to enjoy watching that until the day I die.”

D e s p i t e a s t r i n g o f dropped catches and some schoolboy fielding, England did manage to dismiss Steve Smith (15) and Haddin (five) but Bailey continued to punish the bowling.

When he blasted a re-cord-equalling 28 off six James Anderson deliveries to reach 39 not out and take Australia’s lead past the 500-mark, cap-tain Michael Clarke called his players in.

Bailey’s 4, 6, 2, 4, 6, 6 matched West Indies great Brian Lara’s 4, 6, 6, 4, 4, 4 off South African Robin Peterson in the Johannesburg Test in the 2003-04 season.

“We’ve had quite a few bad experiences against Jimmy Anderson over the last three series I’ve been involved in so it’s always nice to have the shoe on the other foot,” said Watson.

The punishment was not over for England, though, and Harris produced a peach of a ball to remove Cook’s off bail, the first time the England captain had been dismissed by the first ball he faced in his 100 Tests.

with two fours and a six off the first over from spinner Graeme Swann.

Watson has struggled to convert 50s into centuries but there seemed little doubt he would do so yesterday as three sixes and a four off another Swann over took him from 60 to 82.

England were left cursing their luck when Tim Bresnan caught Watson on 90 only to tumble over the boundary rope

and the Australian soon cap-tured his fourth Test century with a clipped four to fine leg.

REMARKABLE DE-PARTURE

Watson’s departure for 103 was as remarkable as his spar-kling innings.

Bell waited for an age for a skied ball to come down only to drop it but Watson, not ex-pecting the error, had stopped running and a quick-witted

India begin life without Tendulkar against fiery S. Africational cricket’s most prolific batsman, whose retirement last month provoked an emo-tional farewell in India, is just one of several concerns for captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni ahead of the series opener at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.

The speed, bounce and swing of South Africa’s all-pace attack saw India’s batsmen struggle while there was also a hammering for their bowlers in three one-day internationals between the two sides over the last fortnight.

Having won the first two one-dayers and dominated the third as well before the match was washed out, South Africa will have a massive psychological edge going into the Test series but it was sup-posed to have been the other way round.

Before arriving in South Af-rica, Dhoni said playing without Tendulkar would be a challenge but the one-day series was an opportunity for the team to set-tle and gain confidence ahead of the Test matches.

Instead, Tendulkar is now

likely to be missed even more, given the masterly way he pre-viously dealt with the South African conditions, in sharp contrast to India’s batting ca-pitulation over the last weeks.

“They (the Indian team) have always had issues playing pace in South Africa,” South Africa coach Russell Domingo said.

“We wanted to put doubts in their mind in terms of the way they play pace,” he said of his team’s aggressive bowling in the ODI series.

South Africa hope to ex-tend the same domination in

the much anticipated Test se-ries, controversially curtailed to just two matches following a spat between the controlling bodies of world’s top two Test nations.

In Tendulkar’s absence, the likes of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli will carry Indian hopes of dealing with an expected barrage of hos-tile bowling on pitches vastly different from those they usually play on.

“It’s not Mumbai where the ball doesn’t get higher than the stumps. It’s going

to be hard (for them) to play here,” South African strike bowler Dale Steyn warned at a media conference during the ODI series.

Tendulkar flourished in the battle against the ball in South Africa, scoring five Test centu-ries on tours between 1992 and 2011. He hit 146 in Cape Town just under three years ago.

“He was a big player for them and a calming influence in the dressing room. It will be great not having to get Sachin Tendulkar out,” added Domingo.

Croatian Simunic to miss World Cup after 10-match bansoccer’s ruling body said in a statement yesterday.

“As a consequence the com-mittee agreed that this salute was discriminatory and offend-ed the dignity of a group of persons concerning, inter alia, race, religion or origin.

“After taking into account all of the circumstances of the case, and particularly given the gravity of the incident, the com-mittee decided to suspend the player for 10 official matches,”

to be served during the final competition of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.”

At the end of Croatia’s 2-0 win on November 19, Austra-lia-born Simunic took the micro-phone at the Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb, turned to the stands and shouted ‘Za dom’ (for the Homeland), to which the audi-ence replied ‘Spremni’ (Ready).

The call-and-response sa-lute is widely associated with Croatia’s Nazi-allied Ustasha

regime which ruled in 1941-45 and brutally persecuted Jews, Serbs, Gypsies and anti-fascist Croats.

Simunic, who plays his club football for Dinamo Zagreb, said in a statement last month that he meant nothing wrong.

“As a Croatian who was born and grew up outside my homeland, I associate home with love, warmth and positive strug-gle - everything we showed on the pitch to win our place in the

World Cup,” said the 35-year-old.Simunic was also fined 30

000 Swiss francs $33 800 (£20 727) and “banned from entering the confines of the stadiums with regard to the 10 matches for which he is suspended”.

The FIFA suspension ap-pears particularly severe, especially in view of the rela-tively light punishments that have been dished out to na-tional teams and club sides for racist behaviour.

Josip Simunic said FIFA.

“The first matches ... have

Shane Watson brings up a century in 106 balls and Australia declare leaving England a nominal 504 to win.


CRICKET QUIZ CORNER

A DOUBLE by New Silvercity Secondary’s Tyric McAllister and a double by Mackenzie High captain Kellon Primo helped the Linden teams to turn back the challenge from their opponents Friendship Secondary and Queenstown Secondary respectively, when the Kashif and Shanghai Schools Christmas Football championship, now dubbed the Chico Elite championship, continued at the Mackenzie Sports Club ground in Linden.

New Silvercity thrashed Friendship 5-0 while Mackenzie High blasted Queenstown 6-1 in a ruthless display of fine tactical football to the amazement of the onlookers who marvelled at the quality of play.

The games were played on a heavy MSC outfield caused by constant rainfall over the past week

In the first game on a sog-gy outfield both sides initially played well within themselves,

AMID the downpour of rain last Saturday afternoon, mem-bers of the Demerara volley-ball community converged on the Guyana Defence Force Coast Guard Base, Ruimveldt, Georgetown, and elected a new executive body that will serve Demerara Volleyball Association (DVA) for the next two years.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Reuters) - San Lorenzo, who count Pope Francis among their fans, will take the Ar-gentine league trophy to the Vatican to show off to the pontiff.

The club said yesterday that coach Juan Antonio Pizzi, a group of players and the di-rectors were due to fly to Rome after winning the Inicial, the first of two championships in the 2013/14 season.

Former Buenos Aires Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio, anointed Pope in March, is an honorary member of the club nick-named the Saints of Boedo for the barrio where they were founded by a group of

(Tuesday December 17, 2013)Compliments of THE TROPHY STALL-Bourda Market & The City Mall (Tel: 225-9230)&CUMMINGS ELECTRICAL CO. LTD-83 Garnette Street, Campbellville (Tel: 225-6158; 223-6055)

Answers to yesterday’s quiz:Ivan Barrow-105 & 0 (WI vs ENG, Manchester, 1933)Rohan Kanhai; Clive Lloyd; Deryck Murray; Alvin Kallicharran; Viv Richards

Today’s Quiz:Michael Holding took 249 Test wickets. How many times he took ten-wicket hauls?What is the highest ODI score made by a West Indian who has never played a Test?

Answers in tomorrow’s issue

24th Kashif and Shanghai Chico Elite Football C/ships

New Silvercity thrash Friendship 5-0; Mackenzie High blast Queenstown 6-1 … McAllister, Primo net doubles

As play resumed in the second half, New Silvercity maintained their dominance and David Sanchara netted goal number four in the 62nd minute for the home team, before the game was sealed through a pen-alty after a handled ball, with Mark McLean getting the goal from the penalty spot.

The second game was also well received by the spectators who had saw some quality play from both teams early on.

Akeem Higgins opened the scoring for Mackenzie High in the 20th minute and ten minutes later that score was increased through Andel Mendonca and the first half ended 2-0 in favour of the Linden team.

On resumption, it was not until the 72nd minute when the captain of the hosts, Kel-lon Primo, moved from his central defender position to shoot home a fantastic shot from about 20 yards out.

Taffon Alexander then made

it 4-0 through another spectacu-lar drive in the 75th minute and Primo registered his brace four minutes later.

Jason Williams reduced the deficit with one for the Queen-stown side in the 87th minute, but the game was over bar the shouting when Anthony Alli-cock finished off the game with goal number six in the 90th min-ute as Mackenzie High earned a place in the next round and will face Leonora Secondary on Sunday at the MSC ground.

Meanwhile, two matches were set for the Den Amstel ground on the West Coast of Demerara, where President’s College, who won the prize for Best Dressed School at the March Past, Stewartville Secondary will collide in the first encounter at 14:00hrs and in the second game which kicks off at 16:00hrs, Annan-dale Secondary from the East Coast of Demerara take on Uitvlugt Secondary.

but it was Silvercity Secondary which gained the ascendancy when McAllister completed a good piece of play which started on the right wing to score in the

16th minute.Building on that opening

goal McAllister doubled the score in the 33rd minute for his team and by the time the

celebration was done, New Silvercity added another goal, this time in the 34th minute through Omalli Webb from beyond the 18-yard box.

Scorers for Mackenzie High from left Akeem Higgins, Andel Mendonca, Taffon Alexander, Kellon Primo, and Anthony Allicock.

Demerara Volleyball Association elects new executive

The proceedings got under way at approximately 14:30hrs and was chaired by John Flores, vice-president of the Guyana Volleyball Federation.

Seven new executives and four committee members were elected.

The new president is Jadesh-war Doolchand, vice-president Jarryd Douglas, secretary Shon-

tell Maloney, treasurer Ryan Briglall, Assistant secretary/treasurer Krystal Yan, Public Relations Officer Tiana Badley, Organising Secretary Ronald Smith.

The four committee mem-bers are: Marlon Pearson, Satrohan Ramnarinre, Odile Broomes and Clarence Wil-liams.

The newly elected president expressed thanks to those pres-ent, for having faith in him and urged all to work as a team by pooling ideas for the promotion and development of volleyball.

The newly elected execu-tives also expressed their com-mitment to work diligently and as a cohesive unit.

The new body planned to meet very shortly to discuss and plan activities for the first quarter of 2014 and beyond.

San Lorenzo’s players celebrate clinching the Argentine First Division championship at the end of their soccer match against Velez Sarsfield in Buenos Aires, December 15, 2013. (Credit: Reuters/Enrique Marcarian)

San Lorenzo to show trophy to top fan at Vatican

young men that included a priest in 1908.

“It’s a lightning visit ... It’s going to be emotional, (the Pope) is our number one fan, we’re taking the trophy and a championship to him which is no small thing,” club general manager and former striker Bernardo Romeo told reporters.

“What happiness,” Pope Francis was quoted as saying by Argentine daily La Nacion (www.lanacion.com.ar) when he heard of San Lorenzo’s 12th title on Sunday.

The Pope has been seen receiving shirts and scarves from fans with San Lorenzo’s blue and red colours during his public appearances.


By Calvin Roberts

HE IS the fourth local coach to have benefited from a pro-gramme of this nature, after three of his colleagues, Guy-ana Boxing Association (GBA) Technical Director Terrence Poole, Carl Franklyn and Clif-ton Moore, completed similar studies a few years ago.

In September of this year, the GBA through the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) selected Forgotten Youth Foun-dation (FYF) coach Sebert Blake to attend three months of dili-gent studies at the Semmelweis University, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Strategic and International Di-rectorate in Budapest Hungary, where he acquired a Diploma in Sports Science and Boxing Specifics.

According to the soft-spo-ken Blake, he arrived in Hun-gary two weeks after the course commenced but still managed to top the field, sharing it with a Slovenian coach with whom he acquired the maximum 40 points.

The course content has been carefully selected to meet the needs of coaches working with generally young, developing athletes as well as with ad-vanced athletes of elite sport and Blake explained that he was required to complete theoretical, practical and technical compo-nents of the programme.

“I got the maximum marks in all specialist areas including general conditioning, sports pedagogy, sports physiology, sports psychology, sports ther-apy, sports theory and sports

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) - Defending champions Windward Islands and Jamaica will play the opening match of the Regional Super50 tournament to be played at venues in Trinidad and Tobago next month.

Matches will be staged at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain while two matches will be played at Shaw Park in Tobago.

The Regional Super50 tournament, sponsored by the Min-istry of Tourism here, will be played over a two-week period.

The eight teams, including Ireland, have been split into two groups, with T&T playing in Group B alongside Barbados, the Leewards and Combined Campuses and Colleges.

Group A comprises Jamaica, Ireland, Guyana and the Wind-ward Islands.

The two games scheduled for Shaw Park in Tobago on February 5 and 6 are CCC against the Leeward Islands and T&T versus Barbados.

Champions Windwards to play Jamaica in the opening Super50 game

Blake expresses surprise at achievements in Hungary… thanks GBA and GOA for exposure

sociology, because I dedicated myself to studying and doing so real hard, knowing that I joined the classes late,” said Blake.

He said all the participants were involved in practical coaching exercises in leading sports clubs in Hungary, since progress in the training pro-gramme requires active coach-ing to implement the knowledge gained in the coaching course and they were supervised by the senior lecturer and/or his/her assistants of the particular sport.

He added, “Additionally, participants were required to submit a researched study re-port on one of several topics provided by the facilitators and I chose to research issues relat-ing to modern boxing training and delivered an impressive document which gained me 500 points, which is equivalent to a pass of excellence.

“I compared techniques and strategies employed by my local colleagues with those just experienced and feel that while there ought to be adjustments in applications of the local coach-es, some of those very (local) strategies and implementations should be retained as they are better suited for our situation.”

“The Hungarians concen-trate heavily on techniques, anaerobic, conditioning and fitness aspects of the prepara-tion. In contrast, local boxing coaches focus heavily on strat-egies and I believe that both areas could complement each other and I plan speaking with my colleagues to examine ways

of employing these techniques towards the development of our boxers locally,” Blake said.

He admits that some of the applications will not be relevant to a Guyanese situation and pos-its that local coaches will have to examine the best way forward while taking the unique cir-cumstances into consideration, including altitude, climatic con-ditions and nutrition.

Quizzed on how soon he plans to implement the ideas learnt in Hungary in Guyana, Blake said he

has already begun doing so, since his arrival back home.

“I started immediately on my arrival back home; for as soon as I settled in, I made my way to the gym and began working. I know many people would be looking to see the progress I made while I was in Hungary and I am eager to display it as well.

My aim is to produce an Olympic champion for Guyana but I want to let people know that these things take time. It is not going to happen overnight because Poole, Moore, Franklyn or I went on the course, since we have to get the boxers to adapt

to the training” said Blake.He added, “My aim is the

2020 Olympics, since I feel the 2016 Olympics would be too short a period for us to adequately get the boxers to prepare. We cannot look at hindsight in this situation, but rather down the road for whilst getting an Olympic medal for Guyana is one thing the ability to garner more for the country is my ultimate goal.”

President of the Guyana Olympics Association (GOA), K A Juman-Yassin, was instru-mental in the acquisition of the initiative and Blake said he is

grateful to the GOA boss for af-fording him the opportunity and to the GBA for selecting him.

Meanwhile, GBA president Steve Ninvalle congratulated Blake on his achievement and urged him to impart what he has learnt for the betterment of the sport, adding he was grateful to the GOA president for his intervention that made Blake’s participation possible.

Ninvalle said that his ex-ecutives will continue to ex-plore ways of enhancing the fraternity even as they stay committed to attaining the coveted Olympic gold medal.

Guyana’s Sebert Blake (2nd row 4th from left), poses with his fellow participants and the lecturers of the seminar at the Semmelweis University, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Strategic and International Directorate in Budapest Hungary.

Printed and Published by Guyana National Newspapers Limited, Lama Avenue, Bel Air Park, Georgetown. Telephone 226-3243-9 (General); Editorial: 227-5204, 227-5216. Fax:227-5208 TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2013

SportSportCHRONICLE

The Chronicle is at http://www.guyanachronicle.com

See Page 24

HAMILTON, New Zealand – West Indies head coach Ottis Gibson said Shane Shil-lingford and Marlon Samuels will receive the full support of the West Indies Team Man-agement Unit Cricket and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) following the publi-cation of the findings on tests conducted on their bowling actions.

The International Crick-et Council (ICC), the sport’s World governing body, an-nounced yesterday that Shil-lingford had been suspended from bowling in international matches, after an independent biomechanical analysis con-ducted in Australia found his bowling action illegal.

The ICC also said that Sam-uels’ bowling action for his standard off-break delivery was bowled with a legal action, but that his quicker deliveries exceeded the 15 degrees’ level of tolerance and thus were con-sidered to be illegal.

While Samuels is allowed to continue to bowl his stan-dard off-break delivery in international cricket, he is not permitted to bowl his quicker deliveries.

“Though I felt confident about the way the two players performed at the testing, the

By Calvin Roberts

BROTHERS Steven and Stevie DePrado last Sunday dis-played great movement in the ring against each other, bring-ing the curtain down on another successful Guyana Boxing Association-organised Demerara Distillers Limited/Pepsi/Gatorade-sponsored Under-16 championships at the Andrew ‘Sixhead’ Lewis gym in Albouystown.

The match between the two, who were representing Bartica Golden Boys gym, was fluid as both tried to pick each other off with jabs and hooks, with the occasional body shots being thrown, as they both were content on protecting and at the same time at-taching each other’s head.

At the end of the three-round fixture which was contested in the 110lb to 114lb weight category, it was Stevie who topped Steven on points to come away with the win, even as there was no love lost between the two who shared a sportsmanlike hug, with signs of brotherly love at the decision.

However, on a day when points decision ruled supreme, Harpy Eagles’ Kurt Allicock was the lone standout with his technical knockout (TKO) win over his gym mate Roy Samuels. Isaiah Moore, the son of Leon ‘Hurry Up’ Moore, was named the Best Boxer of the two-day championships, which culminated the GBA’s list of activities for 2013.

Jamie Kellman and Stephon Edwards of Young Achiev-ers defeated their gym mates nine-year-old Kevin Mullin who was named the Youngest Boxer and Seeraj Bhawani respectively, which was followed by Isaiah Moore’s points victory over Kevon Mullin, with both pugilists representing Harpy Eagles.

Osaiah Barker of Young Achievers went under to Essequ-ibo’s Delroy Allicock in their 80lb to 84lb encounter, before Essequibo’s Shaquille Wright got a points decision victory recorded for him against Stefon Edwards of Harpy Eagles.

Following Kurt Allicock’s TKO win was Bartica’s Zeggie Edwards’ points victory over his gym mate Tariq Loknaugh Jr,

Gibson backs suspended Shillingford, Samuels

report did not come back in our favour,” said Gibson.

“Shane is obviously gut-ted, but Marlon’s role in the team, as I have said previous-ly, is primarily as a batsman, so the impact on him is a little bit less.”

Gibson added: “We will formulate a suitable plan of action and work to rehabilitate their bowling actions in the New Year, so Shane can continue his international career in the short-est possible time and Marlon can continue to contribute with the ball when he’s required.

“They are both tough characters and have had their share of ups and downs in the game over the years. We have no doubt that they will emerge from this latest setback with the utmost confidence.”

The ICC decision has ruled Shillingford out of the imminent third Test against New Zealand, starting on Thursday at Seddon Park here, and he will return to the Caribbean as scheduled following the match.

Samuels will however, fea-ture in the deliberations for the Test and has also been chosen as part of the 15-mem-ber Windies squad for the subsequent five One-day In-ternationals that follow the Test series.

Shane Shillingford has taken six wickets at 42.66 in the first two Tests against New Zealand but will now not be available for the final match in Hamilton.

Quarter-final, semi-final action kicks off tonight

Part of the action at the National Cultural Centre tarmac last Tuesday night, when eight more teams exited this year’s tournament. (Photo by Sonell Nelson)

GBA/PEPSI/GATORADE U-16 C’SHIPS

Moore named Best Boxer as

DePrado siblings impress

Big brother Steven DePrado (backing camera) snaps back the head of his sibling Stevie in their exciting matchup which he lost. (Photo by Sonell Nelson)

Blake expresses surprise at achievements in Hungary See Story on

Page 27

GUINNESS ‘GREATEST OF DE STREETS’

See Story on Page 24

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