Coast Guard trio on suspicious trip arrested
THE Guyana Defence Force (GDF) yesterday announced that three Coast Guard ranks, including an officer, were arrested Sunday while on an unauthorized boat trip in the Essequibo River.

The Army said they were arrested on directives from Chief-of-Staff Commodore Gary Best after police and riverain residents became suspicious about the movements of the men in a wooden boat.

According to the GDF, the three made an unauthorized trip from the Coast Guard Base at Morawahanna in Region One, and were in possession of three and one-half drums of fuel, four cellular phones, one GPS device, and $116,000.

Police said the fuel was suspected to have been smuggled into Guyana.

The officer had his service pistol and five rounds of matching ammunition and police said the three were not found with any high-powered weapons as suggested by the Kaieteur News yesterday.

“The ranks aroused the suspicion of the police after they reportedly were asking for directions to Parika while on the Essequibo River. Residents alerted the police and the ranks were detained”, the Army reported.

It said that at the time, the men were travelling in a wooden boat owned by a Better Hope, East Coast Demerara resident who operates a boat service from Charity to the North West District.

The three were up to yesterday in police custody at the Parika Police Station, the GDF said.

The Army said a joint criminal investigation involving representatives of the Guyana Police Force, the GDF’s G2 Branch and the Coast Guard is in progress.

The detention follows the killing by three Coast Guard ranks in August of a Bartica resident after they kidnapped him from a boat on the Essequibo River and robbed him of millions of dollars.

After the robbery and murder of Dweive Kant Ramdass at the hands of three Coast Guard Ranks, who have confessed to the crimes and are now before the courts, Best and other top army and police officers met members of civil society organisations and regional authorities in Bartica and Anna Regina.

The GDF said that during the meetings he reiterated that the actions of the three rouge soldiers in no way reflect the character of the GDF.

He once again asked the residents of the communities, and all Guyana, to forgive the force for not having detected sooner, from among its ranks, the men whose criminal actions have brought so much pain to the family, relatives and friends of the slain man, the communities, the force, and all of Guyana, it said.

According to the GDF, Best said that despite the horrific occurrence, the army remains committed to the safety and well-being of all the citizens of those regions and Guyana as a whole.

The army said that arising from discussions during the meetings were a series of issues which ranged from improper and unprofessional conduct of military and police ranks stationed in the riverain locations, to the need for corrective procedures and processes to be implemented to ensure a greater degree of professionalism by the military and police ranks stationed in those areas.

“The Force encourages all members of the public to report promptly any infractions committed by its ranks and cautions persons against mischief making. The Guyana Defence Force remains committed to the highest principles of integrity in its commitment to serve the people of Guyana”, the army said then.

Police investigating…
Gruesome discovery of naked, battered body of former Region Three Vice Chairman
- blood-stained kitchen knife found next to body
By Michel Outridge and Shirley Thomas
THE naked and battered body of Former Vice Chairman of Region Three (West Demerara/Essequibo Islands) Mr. Ramenauth Bisram was discovered in his bedroom with his intestines protruding and several slash and stab wounds about the body.

Bisram, 55, of Canal Number Two Polder, West Bank Demerara, was last seen alive on Friday afternoon by relatives during a visit.

His brother-in-law, Walter Mustapha, told the Guyana Chronicle that he discovered the body yesterday afternoon about 16:30 hrs when he visited the home.

Mustapha said he became suspicious when Bisram did not answer to his repeated calls and, observing the back door ajar, entered the house and saw the body lying in a bedroom.

The man explained that he immediately exited the house and summoned the police.

Mustapha pointed out that Bisram lived alone since his four children and wife all reside overseas. Relatives are of the opinion that it was someone he knew because it is surmised he opened the door for the suspect who eventually murdered him.

Neighbours said they did not hear any noise coming from the house – which is usually tightly sealed and secured.

Relatives last night told reporters that Bisram’s body bore a gaping wound to the right hand side and his intestines were protruding.

He also had slashes on the head and neck and multiple stab wounds about the body.

The only thing that was disturbed in Bisram’s house is a suitcase which was lying next to the body. It was ransacked and its contents strewn on the floor.

Police last night confirmed that they recovered “a blood-stained kitchen knife” which was found next to the body, and several pieces of clothing in the bedroom.

At the scene last night, scores of relatives and villagers stood outside as they watched when the body was taken out to the hearse.

Bisram was described as an easy-going person who was kind to everyone he met.

Regional Chairman of Region Three, Mr. Julius Faerber, who spoke with the Guyana Chronicle last evening, expressed shock and deep sadness over the death of Mr. Bisram. Faerber said he received the tragic news shortly before 19:00 hrs from Assistant Regional Executive Officer, Mr. Khayyam, who had spoken with Assistant Overseer Mr. Shahab Shakoor. Shakoor had accompanied the West Demerara Police to Mr. Bisram’s home.

News of the former Vice Chairman’s death sent shock waves across the Region.

Mr. Bisram served as Regional Vice Chairman of Region Three from 1994 to 2006, after which he reportedly demitted office. He was the second Vice Chairman to have served the Region under the present administration. After demitting office, he turned to farming in the Region and had a small workforce in his employ.

Prior to taking up appointment as Regional Vice Chairman, he worked with the Guyana Sugar Corporation’s Wales Estate as a Field Foreman.

Described as a civic-minded person and a sports enthusiast, Bisram was patron of the Canal Number Two Polder Cultural and Cricket Club and was also engaged in indoor games, and community work at varying levels. Faerber said he last saw Bisram at the 2009 Independence Anniversary Flag Raising ceremony in the region on May 26.

Extending condolences to the bereaved wife, children and other relatives of the murdered former Regional Vice Chairman, on behalf of the Regional Administration, Mr. Faerber noted that Bisram served his Region faithfully and he will be sadly missed.

The body is at the West Demerara Regional Hospital mortuary awaiting a Post Mortem.

Guyana offers lowest cost option on carbon reduction ‘fungible’ product
-President Jagdeo tells audiences at Trent, York and Toronto universities
By Ron Cheong and Danny Doobay
IN the climate change battle, a tonne of carbon reduction in Europe has exactly the same impact as of a tonne of carbon reduction in Guyana – it is completely fungible, says President Bharrat Jagdeo.

Carbon abatement capacity is now a product like any other good. And Guyana is offering the lowest cost carbon abatement solution at US$4 a tonne compared to the going price in Europe of 30 Euros per tonne.

The President last Thursday evening completed a tightly scheduled series of meetings and speaking tour in Canada, doing a sweep of three Canadian universities to increase awareness of Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) and to build support for the upcoming climate change conference in Copenhagen this December.

By any measure, the tour was a success. Just getting the message out at this forum would have been a worthwhile achievement. The President achieved far more than this, attracting much favourable attention to the cause and building important bridges. All three of the universities and invited guests from business, environmental groups, academia, and the diplomatic corps attending the series of lectures will be sending representatives to Copenhagen.

President Jagdeo was hosted by Trent’s Centre of Knowledge in the Environment, York University’s Faculty of Environmental Studies and the University of Toronto’s Centre for Environment, where he delivered addresses on the role of tropical forests as an abatement solution to climate change followed by stimulating interactions with the audiences. In the case of Trent University he gave two lectures, speaking also on Development in the Context of Environmental Preservation.

He drew the audiences’ applause when he surmised that if we can find 10 trillion dollars to spend on the problems of the global financial crisis, then we can surely find 300 billion per annum to address global climate change. And that if we argue that AIG is too big to fail because it has systemic impact then how much more is at stake with climate change that could threaten life on the planet as we know it.

The deforestation issue is a pivotal component of the climate change equation. No solution to the climate change problem is mathematically feasible without addressing the preservation of standing forests, as deforestation accounts for 20% of greenhouse gasses. It is the largest single reason for global warming – larger than the entire transportation industry including all the cars, trucks, trains, aircraft, et cetera.

President Jagdeo also reiterated the crucial need for world leaders to urgently show ‘political will’ and to commit large scale financial resources to the deforestation issue, more so as countries are distracted by coping with the financial crisis. According to the Guyanese head of state, the science surrounding climate change has already been accepted and agreed on around the world, with governments acknowledging that action is necessary.

But he underscored the importance of having ‘political will’ among world leaders to dissolve the stalemate in the pre-Copenhagen negotiation process, even though that political will might be tuned to responding to issues in short term political cycles. That is why people like those in the audience have to make it clear to their governments that they want the issue dealt with, the Guyanese head of state urged.

He noted that it will take an ambitious programme of sufficient scale to outcompete the drivers of deforestation, which is not occurring out of malice or bad governance, but rather is driven by rational economic reasons. People can, for example, earn $3,000 per hectare by using cleared land to produce soybeans or palmed oil while standing forests earn almost nothing. In many cases it is simply a matter of survival.

In offering to conserve its entire rainforest, Guyana is leading the way with a cost effective model for halting rainforest loss and addressing global warming. Kyoto locked out standing forests. This needs to be corrected in Copenhagen and the appropriate mechanisms put into place.

The University of Toronto’s Centre for Environment is a world leader in the field of carbon finance, doing pioneered work in Canada and offering international seminars in this rapidly growing specialty, which is key to hammering out critical agreements at the Copenhagen climate conference.

The Centre’s Director Professor Ingrid Stefanovic warmly welcomed President Jagdeo saying that they had hosted internationally respected figures such as former Vice-President Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Robert Kennedy Jr., and Canada’s own Stephen Lewis in the past. But that it was a distinct honour and thrill to, for the first time, to be able to host a distinguished sitting Head of State. The president was also honoured by the Dean of Arts & Science Professor Meric Gertler, and had a private meeting with the University’s president Dr David Naylor - a Rhodes Scholar.At York University, the president was welcomed by Dean Barber Rahder of the Faculty of Environmental Studies and by University President Dr Mamdouh Shoukri. York is doing leading research in sustainable development in countries around the world, including the important work at its Neo-tropical Rainforest research project in Costa Rica, which is contributing to the knowledge base for executing the adaptation component of efforts to cope with climate change.The President was also at Trent for the official launch of their Centre of Knowledge in the Environment along with the launch of their new Biomaterials Research Programme.

He was welcomed by university president Dr Steven Franklin and by Dr Roberta Bondar, Canadian astronaut, scientist and chancellor of Trent University.

The research programme is being headed by Guyanese born Dr Suresh Narine, an expert and leader in the field of Biomaterials, who as Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Industrial Chair in Lipid Utilisation built the world’s leading agri-food materials science lab and plant facility, and among other feats, developed the technology to convert canola oil and other vegetable oils to biodegradable plastics.

Dr Narine also continues to serve as the Director of Guyana’s Institute of Applied Science and Technology.

Rockstone community gets praise for staging Fish Festival
Story by Telesha Persaud
THE scenic Rockstone community, about 18 miles from Linden, organised and hosted the fourth annual Fish Festival last Saturday and Sunday.

The small fishing village, in Region Ten (Upper Demerara/Berbice), staged the calendar event with assistance from the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Rockstone Tourism Association (RTA) and Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA).

The venture was introduced in September 2006, with the aim of promoting the area as a major tourist attraction, as well as generating income and opportunities.

The programme, which kicked off Saturday, included swimming, diving and cooking competitions, tug-of-war, trampoline, merry-go-round, island tours, bird watching, caiman spotting and hook and rod fishing.

GTA Director, Mr. Indranauth Haralsingh, told the Guyana Chronicle the occasion attracted the anticipated turnout and there were extremely good sales.

He observed that the river was very busy, with people making use of the opportunity to tour Gluck Island, Sand Beach and other nearby places.

Haralsingh commented that the event enjoyed good sponsorship and most of the activities were executed.

As compared with those previously held, he said the success of the 2009 festival is just about the same.

“In previous years, they would have had all the events executed but, this year, there were more vehicles and persons in attendance,” he remarked.

Haralsingh commended the Rockstone folks on the organisation and said the fact that they did it alone means a lot.

“It’s still a learning process for them and it might take a number of years before they can perfect it. We’re trying to ensure that we help them build capacity, provide training and just give them a guiding hand,” he pointed out.

Haralsingh said it is also the GTA’s aim to assist the community to stage, not just the Rockstone Fish Festival but other significant events that could be staged quarterly so that more people could be attracted to the village.

He said this would help in a number of ways, highlighting employment in the community among the primary benefits.

“The most important thing is for the community to benefit. Mostly members of the community were at work today (Sunday), manning the gate, operating boats or aiding the stage programme,” Haralsingh attested.

After he had delivered brief remarks publicly, he said the GTA has been supporting the event from the beginning and will continue to do so.

Haralsingh commended the Rockstone community and acknowledged the support of Linden Economic Advancement Programme (LEAP) and Linden Tourism Association for the past three years.

MARKETED
He said the festival is part of its calendar of events and it is being marketed and promoted by the GTA.

Haralsingh said the festival supports and complements other national domestic tourism activities, such as rodeo, regatta, expositions at Mahdia, Moruca, Wakenaam and Orealla.

Talking about Gluck Island in the vicinity, he said there are at least 140 species of birds there, as well as the black caiman, giant river turtle, giant otter, big river turtles, ‘howler’ monkeys, labbas, iguanas and bush hogs.

“It’s a very good eco-tourism destination with trails. Rockstone also has a lot of potential to provide for a better tourism experience, especially if it should be linked with other communities,” Haralsingh offered.

Regional Chairman, Mr. Mortimer Mingo also spoke about it, saying the fish festival means a lot to them in Region 10.

“This festival is one that is looked forward to every year and, from its inception some four years ago, it attracted all of Linden and its environs,” he observed.

Mingo said the festival has grown, to the extent that it now attracts people from all parts of the country.

The small riverine community was made popular when it was featured in a 2003 National Geographic article called ‘Catfish Hunters’, and the community is gearing itself to be transformed into a hub of activities.

The community also has one of the largest freshwater fish in the world, the Arapaima.

At the official endorsement of it, Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Mr. Manniram Prashad said the event is very important.

“People come to the country and they want to go sports fishing and this is one of the first such competitions,” he said.

Prashad said, since the inception, the facilities have improved and the community has even seen the construction of a guest house.

He said the entire village comes alive for the festival and it is the Ministry’s aim for Rockstone to become self-sufficient and the event to grow into a regular activity throughout the year.

CAST THE STONES
- Only if you are sinless
BY PARVATI PERSAUD-EDWARDS I love Oprah Winfrey. She is my hero. She epitomizes everything that I admire in a woman and a person and I am always uplifted and often inspired the rare times I get an opportunity to see her show.

On one of her programmes she featured an American astronaut, who escaped his penurious circumstances through his own efforts to reach the pinnacle of success – Jose Hernandez, I think his name was.

During the interview Hernandez remarked to the effect that if world leaders could look down from outer space to be privileged a panoramic view of the world as he had done, then they would have a clearer picture of the world as one human village, and maybe this would help them to make decisions to the benefit of the entire race of man, rather than skewed to the exclusive benefit of their own nation states.

New Global Human Order

Our own Dr. Cheddi Jagan had espoused this concept long ago and propagated the mechanism for this construct to be a global strategy for human development in his new Human Global Order, which has been adopted by the United Nations and is even now taking centre stage at various international fora. This vision is our Dr. Jagan’s gift to the world.

But each country is a microcosm of the wider world, with leadership portfolios in various spheres, and in a contextual way this observation by Hernandez could be applicable to leaders within nations. Thus many atrocities committed by leaders on their own peoples, causing much socio-economic dislocations and infrastructural devastation, could be avoided.

But then such leaders would need to have an inherent love for their fellow man, a commitment to the general advancement of society, and an approach to a national developmental paradigm based on integrity and honesty, instead of egomania driving self-aggrandizement.

The worst election rigging

Within the Guyana framework we have leaders and aspiring leaders, and their acolytes and satellites, including several media houses, who use every opportunity to denigrate and derail the developmental mobility of this nation, and to assassinate the characters of those involved in the developmental processes, merely to advance their own selfish causes and agendas.

We are a developing country – emerging from a history of a plethora of destructive elemental forces that devastated our nation, even to the point where even the more optimistic thought that we would never emerge from the quagmire in which we had been immersed for decades – to the point where even the more altruistic funding agencies had practically written us off as almost beyond redemption.

Until Jimmy Carter decided, in the interest of justice, and in light of the contention of Guyana’s supreme leader, Dr. Cheddi Jagan, that the PPP had been “cheated, not defeated” for decades during general elections in Guyana, that the Carter Centre should use its phenomenal power to force the Hoyte administration, which is recorded to have been responsible for the worst election rigging in the history of Guyana during general elections of 1985, to concede to having relatively “free and fair” general elections in our country after decades of PNC rule.

Dr. Jagan was vindicated and the reconfigured PPP/C undertook the gargantuan task of trying to restore some order out of the critical and chaotic national landscape then prevailing – in every area.

Debt Relief

One of the more pressing needs was to reduce the crippling debt burden - $2.1 billion, which was stymieing rehabilitation and developmental works.

Dr. Jagan and his brilliant and trusted young acolyte, junior Finance Minister, Bharat Jagdeo, went into overdrive, lobbying at every conceivable forum for a reduction and/or write-off of the albatross of Guyana’s debt. The international world responded favourably over the years and this, coupled with prudent fiscal management, has enabled Guyana to stabilise its economy, and even allowed some degree of growth, in less than two decades, to the extent where, in a recessional global environment where even the most developed nations are collapsing, Guyana has managed to maintain stability and sustain its macro-economic achievements.

Private Sector lauds President

The importance of this to the national economic health and the development of Guyana’s macro-economic fundamentals is being attested to by some big leaguers in the entrepreneurial fraternity, most of whom are not traditional PPP supporters, but whom are honest enough to publicly recognise and appreciate the Government’s policies and strategies, and its willingness to productively engage in interactive programmes that can assist the private sector’s initiatives, especially when these initiatives are adjunctive to Government’s developmental imperatives.

Kit Nascimento has been my friend for decades. He thinks I am somewhat foolish and abnormal, but he will defend my integrity (and often does) on the basis of this conviction. However, Kit and I, without disrespecting each other, have had some serious disagreements over what I considered to be his myopia over the PPP and its leaders.

I merely have time to skim newspapers and only read them properly when I am upset (which makes me dysfunctional), so it was weeks after publication in the Guyana Times that I saw Kit’s picture next to a headline “A conversation with the President”, which Kit informed me was a reproduction of a commentary he first presented on Channel 28.

That intrigued me, so I read on – in amazement, I may add, because he has made no bones about his dislike of the PPP administration in the past.

“The President’s address captured the attention, the respect and enthusiastic response it deserved from an appreciative and particularly well-integrated audience.

“He must have been pleased with the positive feedback he received from mainly the younger members of the audience.”

In my considered opinion, coming from Kit, who always unabashedly speaks his mind, this is extremely high praise.

Kit said “Judged by any standard, it was an extraordinary, if not brilliant, performance, not for its oratory, but rather for its substance and lucidity.”

Speaking at the ceremonials of the certification of the Ogle Airport as an international airport, Mike Correia said: “Today, I see a Guyana that has better economic prospects, over the next 5 – 10 years, than ever before.”

At the launch of Guyana’s premier trade fair, GuyExpo, Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Capt. Gerry Gouveia, told an attentive audience that the PSC is looking forward with excitement to the future of Guyana and is working with all stakeholders.

Guyana on the Global Map

The powerbrokers of the world are lauding our President for his LCDS, and the courage and leadership qualities he is demonstrating – enough to position Guyana conspicuously on the global map, with all the initiatives he has driven – whether the LCDS, whether in agriculture, whether it is a lone stance against a draconian regime being forced on our region through an EPA propelled by the powerful EU, which would have severely dislocated our socio-economic imperatives.

Our performance indices are climbing – slowly but surely, on global graphs, and powerful world bodies are demonstrating their faith in the governance of this nation, notwithstanding the odd hiccup here and there, by the sustained, and even expanded, support over the years.

Lobbying against Guyana

Yet the doomsayers and the naysayers continue, unabated, their spiteful and jealous tirades. In their attempt to bring down the Government, they lobby internationally, and within the country, against initiatives that would help in the development of this country and its people – even to the extent of trying to derail our border talks.

In efforts to foster the fallacy that they, or the parties of their choice, would make better leaders for this nation, they are not above peddling lies and distortions in attempts to drive their point home, or to validate their arguments. But how solid is their personal integrity and credibility?

In normal Oprah lingo “Let’s take a look!”

And we will start with the Leader of the Opposition first.

Mr. Corbin was an integral component of the destructive PNC machinery, which laid waste this country to enrich a chosen few. While holding some important portfolios there were some serious allegations made against him, which included the barge fiasco and raping the young daughter of a colleague, among a multiplicity of other serious accusations.

Hijacking ballot boxes

I have always liked Raphael Trotman, mainly because his father, Justice Donald Trotman, is one of my dearest friends and an ardent proponent of peaceful conflict resolution.

However, there is no gainsaying that Raphael was also a part of the PNC hierarchy and has supported some of its deadliest policies during some of the most destructive years of that political entity.

One Prakash Persaud is making public accusations of fraud against Raphael’s legal firm and he has shown me legal documentation pertaining to the case bearing Raphael’s signature. The matter is currently engaging Persaud’s legal advisers.

In one of Raphael’s column he wrote that the GDF must return to being “people’s army”, not “people’s enemy”; but it was during the times Raphael’s party was in power that the army hijacked the people’s ballot boxes and killed the people who attempted to protect the people’s votes.

I will quote from Kaieteur News of July 31: “Leader of the Alliance for Change, Raphael Trotman, has reiterated his call for dialogue on governance, in light of the recent revelations by Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee, that the fire that destroyed the Ministry of Health headquarters was politically-motivated.

According to Trotman, the issues bring into focus the whole notion of governance and management of the people of Guyana.”

Sorry, Raphael, this is a highly-opportunistic position. How is the Government responsible for the destructive mentality of opposition forces. Two suspects who admitted culpability implicated several members of the opposition and outlined a plan that was strategised to create terror in the land. Not so strangely, these suspects disappeared from a secure police facility for holding prisoners.

In the same newspaper that carried the news of that allegation was a picture of The AFC leaders with placards as they joined the PNC leader, Robert Corbin, calling for sanctions to be imposed on Minister Leslie Ramsammy, on the basis of accusations of a self-confessed murderer who had been granted immunity, with his entire family obtaining US citizenship status, yet no-one in the opposition cabal, including the rabid media reactionaries, called for investigations into the allegations of the Ministry of Health arson case.

Freddie Kissoon, writing in the Kaieteur News of 7th August, stated that PNC candidate Ronald Waddell’s indoctrination of the Buxton “freedom-fighters” consisted of instilling into the ears, hearts, and minds of the Buxton gunmen that East Indian people are racist, they used black people to get the PPP in power, and that the PPP will get rid of black people.”

In that same column he also wrote: “…He told me that a certain GDF officer (whom we all know) was in the company with Dale Moore celebrating Moore’s birthday on the line top.

“A number of media personnel know about the elements in the GDF that were assisting the escapees.

“The soldiers’ assistance was out of black solidarity.”

Yes, Raphael, the PNC’s call to sentiments of “kit and kin” (even while you were an integral part of that party) does have many mavericks from the joint services and other public institutions on their side, supporting their destabilising “slow fiah, mo’ fiah” activities, but how is the issue of governance related to the lack of integrity and patriotism?

Thank God, that for the miniscule percentage of unpatriotic forces who try to destroy the land and hurt the people of this land, there are overwhelming numbers of Guyanese citizens across all the divides who reserve their politics for elections day and work in harmonious co-existence with their fellow Guyanese in public institutions and offices, only intent on getting the job done honestly, and to the best of their ability.

Sheila Holder misrepresents (?) facts

AFC’s candidate Sheila Holder had a headline in the Kaieteur News stating “broad-based citizens’ initiative needed to tackle corruption”. Yet, is misrepresenting the facts, if not outright lying, not an aspect of a corrupt individual? Ms Holder was proven to have been, in diplomatic terminology, misrepresenting the facts over reports she made about a pollster after her return from an OAS conference, yet when found out she did not even have the grace, or even a pretence of regret, for her contentious and inflammatory but what has been proven to be baseless accusations against a public figure.

There is a terminology “causing public mischief”. Is that applicable here?

Kleptic newspaper columnist

A columnist in a local newspaper constantly harps on corruption, and relentlessly uses unverified statements and baseless arguments, criticises persons and situations, many times running counter to his own writings of the past. But how honest is this person?

There is documented proof that this columnist, as a schoolboy, stole approximately 150 volumes of encyclopedia from the National Library and was put in psychiatric care.

Reports emanating from sources in Canada said he did the same thing in that country, hiding the books under his loose apparel. Yet he has the temerity to take everyone against whom he has a grouse to task on largely unproven theories of corruption and a plethora of utter vileness.

One of his ploys is to damn with faint praise persons whom he had previously attacked ferociously if this subterfuge could lend doubtful credence to his destructive allegations against someone else. Witness the praises he heaped on David DeCaires in the 13th September edition of the Kaieteur News.

Ram wants to be President

Christopher Ram’s vitriolic essays against his professional competitors and the administration are legend in this country. The motives for the former need no explanation, and as for the latter, well, Mr. Ram thinks he is the best candidate to be president, even if in an indefinite interim capacity, of this country – a position he advanced – purporting to have purely altruistic motives, of course.

However, Mr. Ram has always sought power through the back door, whether as a member of the WPA, or advocating on his own behalf – and there is no holds barred in his destabilising tactics – which includes rabble-rousing, mainly done with intellectual precision, finely-honed and etched, which leaves his victims – mainly innocent persons or entities, suspect in the eyes of the public, because his dishonest hyperbole always has just enough facts to seem credible to the ill-informed.

Who really stole electricity?

Kaieteur News has all but dissipated its credibility, with Stabroek News following a close second, and while they may criticise the Chronicle for leaning toward the Government, the latter is a state newspaper after all, but check the contents. They are all factual. If that offends those antipathetic to the administration then so be it, but descending to gutter-press levels is not on Chronicle’s agenda, nor is exacerbating and sensationalizing human misery part of its strategy to sell newspapers.

Denigrating governmental institutions and public figures, without verifying facts – as a matter of fact, often creating a story out of myth, is their strategy for pretensions to espousing the people’s cause. Investigative journalism is challenging – but beyond the capacity of the multiple-challenged.

The latest salvo they fired was against the Guyana Revenue Authority – initially putting Kurshid Sattaur on the defensive.

However, when that gentleman investigated and the facts emerged, there was no truth to the allegations made by Kaieteur News. Did that newspaper have the grace to retract its story? I don’t think so. It is not on their agenda to tell the facts.

And one inescapable fact is that Kaieteur News is the entity that was caught stealing millions of dollars of electricity, yet the publisher was not charged, nor did his newspaper publish this fact, so much for impartiality and unprejudicial reporting.

This newspaper that is on a crusade against corruption is not above stealing millions from a public entity. And one wonders why GPL, which disconnects the average householder for merely owing that entity a few hundreds of dollars, did not take punitive action against the publishers of Kaieteur News.

When one’s own snake bites

Moses Nagamootoo once called me “sister” and expressed great concern for me when I sustained life-threatening head injuries in an accident, and he has been in the forefront of the struggle to restore democracy in this land.

He therefore knows first-hand the pervasive fear that infested every breath one took during the Burnham years, when one had to be guarded in a simple conversation with an associate because persons were afraid of informers and Burnham did not tolerate even the mildest of criticisms, so to say I was shocked at Moses’ remarks at a GPA event was to put it mildly.

The same goes for Rupert Roopnarine, who remarked elsewhere that detainees were not treated badly during the Burnham days. My God, are you two in your dotage? My house was burnt as a result of three attempts within two weeks. I was locked up, terrorized, my family was threatened, and this was not even a drop in the ocean compared to what you and other colleagues suffered – not excluding murder – open and secret. Moses, in which real world could someone repeatedly replay a threat to a President’s life without repercussions? When one’s own snake bites, the poison is deadly.

Voice of the People

When CN Sharma established his television station I was very supportive of him because of his programming. I was instrumental in diverting a lot of ads to his then Channel 12 in preference to other longer-established television and encouraged him to go live, even organising the first live telecast in Guyana on CNS Channel 12.

I liked him immensely because he had a genuinely good heart. He once rescued almost a dozen persons who were stranded in the country and took absolute care of them until they could return to their homes. If I remember correctly, he charged not one penny for religious ads or programmes in those days. I considered CN and Savitree friends and liked their sweet children very much.

However, when he told me of his intention to enter into politics I advised him against such a move, but he proved adamant so I drew away.

Over the years Sharma has helped some persons, and he has harmed some through his programmes; but someone I once considered a very nice human being has proven himself to be not so nice – certainly not sincere, nor honest.

Many times when I look at his programmes I am fooled by what he presents, only to discover subsequently that what he often projects as the truth is not necessarily the whole explanation, and the real situation mainly lies between what he has presented and the explanation of the complete scenario, but the harm he does is often incalculable.

He was seen on his television station criticising a panel comprising Gail Teixeira, Robert Persaud, and Roger Luncheon (the three straddle the divides of race and age) for their analysis of the PPP/C’s 17 years in Government, because he said that they should have focused on the negative things in the society.

These people had inherited a wasted nation and demoralised Guyanese people and, by dint of overwhelmingly hard work – and yes, mistakes have been made because they had no blueprint for governance, but they persevered against the overwhelming odds and today Guyana is being lauded both within and without for its many positive initiatives driving development and growth – not only in the nation, but also in the region, and with Dr. Jagan’s New Global Human Order and Bharat Jagdeo’s Low Carbon Development Strategy, internationally too; yet CN had a severe problem with their enumerating their many and varied achievements.

Yet he was a vibrant member of the Committee for the Re-election of President Hoyte, even while that President and that party had demolished this country and all that was good in it, even the peace and unity in the land.

He was not concerned then about the people – about the way Hoyte and his party had devastated every major industry in the country – rice, sugar, bauxite – everything. He was not championing the demoralised people then but his buddies in the PNC, and I think that this pretence of caring while pursuing his political career is abject hypocrisy on the part of CN.

The bandit pandit

Dharamkumar Seeraj and the Rice Producers Association have come under attack by a disgruntled rice miller who has robbed rice farmers of millions of dollars, but who has now assumed a new avatar as champion of the rice farmers, in collaboration with someone who ran away during the hard years to the land of plenty, only to return to covet and attempt to rob a young man and his associates of the fruits of years of unremitting toil, sacrifice, prudent management of resources, lobbying at various fora and a super-abundance of knowledge of the rice and agricultural sector.

But the real players behind them are a discredited politician from the West Coast and his bandit priest collaborator, who first erupted on the local scene in tandem with CN Sharma denigrating someone who has given a lifetime of service to society, Pandit Reepu Daman Persaud, who has been primarily responsible for making Hindus in this country stand tall after years of denigration and destabilization.

On one hand the bandit pandit says he is developing young persons to become role models in society, yet on the other hand he is joining forces with others to destroy young persons who have achieved by dint of much sacrifice and with sincerity of purpose – young Dharamkumar Seeraj and Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud.

Visionary leadership

The opposition cabal, including some media houses, continually attack the President and other Government functionaries, but if they refute the allegations levelled against them, no matter how blatantly untrue, then those very media houses and opposition elements cry foul, denying the President and others within the administration their fundamental and inalienable constitutional rights, which are guaranteed to every citizen in the land.

However, despite the downsizing of the world’s economy, the crisis has scarcely affected our nation, except for the prices being offered for some of our exports.

This is as a result of good macro-economic fundamentals, with a stable inflation rate.

The Executive Directors of the IMF noted in their report that, despite external shocks and social pressures, the Guyanese authorities have maintained macroeconomic stability in 2008 through the implementation of prudent fiscal and monetary policies.

Currently the humane President of the most powerful nation on earth is fighting for what little Guyana has long achieved – free healthcare for its citizens.

But the nitpicking continues; and in the interest of this nation this stone-throwing must stop and all must show genuine commitment to collaborative endeavour toward nation-building. It is the only way we will survive.

Gerry Gouveia has said: “We are all in this boat together. We fought for independence and we got it. It is no longer them and us. It is we, together.

“We have to learn the art of agreeing to disagree without burning down the house, the art of compromise and, particularly, the art of really working together in good faith always in the interest of Guyana.”

Crucial agriculture conference opens in Jamaica
WHAT is being billed as the most important hemispheric meeting on agriculture is under way in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) said delegations from 34 countries, most headed by ministers of agriculture, are at the meeting which began yesterday.

‘The Week of Agriculture and Rural Life of the Americas’ is the most important hemispheric meeting on agriculture and rural life, the organisation said.

The theme for this year’s meeting is “Building Capacity for Enhancing Food Security and Rural Life in the Americas.”

The week began with the meeting of the Group for the Implementation and Coordination of the Agreements on Agriculture and Rural Life of the Summits Process (GRICA).

Ministerial delegates over two days are analysing and seeking to reach agreement on the Hemispheric Ministerial Agreement 2009, which will be approved on Thursday by the ministers or heads of delegation.

IICA said a special forum will be held today on the role of the private sector in building capacity for enhancing food security in the Americas. Members of the business community from a number of countries will participate.

Later today, with the participation of high-level authorities of the host government, the diplomatic corps and representatives of international and regional organisations, the Fifth Ministerial Meeting in the context of the Summit of the Americas process will be inaugurated.

IICA said the ministerial meeting is the highest level hemispheric forum for reaching agreement on priorities and strategic actions for the sustainable development of agriculture and rural life.

The Ministerial Meeting ends Thursday and will be followed by the Fifteenth Regular Meeting of the Inter-American Board of Agriculture (IABA), the governing body of IICA.

A new Director General of IICA, who will take office for a four-year term on January 15, 2010, is also to be elected at the meeting. The new Director General will replace Chelston W.D. Brathwaite, from Barbados, who has been at the helm of the institute since 2002.

Montego Bay will also be the site for the meetings of the Southern Agricultural Council (CAS) and the Central American Agricultural Council (CAC).

Brathwaite said the meetings are an “important opportunity to create the environment of understanding and goodwill needed to find joint solutions to the challenges of development and those posed by the global economic crisis.”

In addition to the delegations of the member states of IICA, high-level officials from international organisations and cooperation agencies will also be at the meetings, including Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Jose Miguel Insulza, and Assistant Secretary General, Albert Ramdin.

Jose Graziano da Silva, Regional Representative of the United Nations Food and

Agriculture Organization (FAO), and Alicia Barcena, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), will also be there.

Court told…
Rolling pin (Belna) used in another domestic violence case
By Nathalene DeFreitas
ACTING Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson heard another tale of domestic violence when Perry Whyte, 31, of Lot 168 Albouys Street, Albouystown, faced a charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm yesterday.

Particulars of the offence said it was committed on October 20 when the defendant allegedly inflicted blows on his reputed wife, Cecilia Beharry, last October 20.

Whyte pleaded not guilty and told the Court he had gone home from work that day and seen another man in his bedroom.

He said he became annoyed and a scuffle ensued between himself and the other man, during which he was about to hit the latter with a rolling pin (popularly called ‘Belna’) and the virtual complainant pushed herself in the way.

Whyte alleged that, after the incident, his wife and her employer, together with four other men, took him to Cuffy Square, also in Georgetown, where they severely beat him.

Given the opportunity to speak, Beharry said she had endured violence in the house for years and never took it seriously but, this time, the defendant went too far.

The woman said the defendant accused her of h aving an affair with someone else and struck her with the rolling pin.
Whyte was remanded to prison until November 4.

Police issue wanted bulletin for Quincy Rodney
THE Police last night issued a Wanted Bulletin for one Quincy Rodney called ‘Yankie’ or ‘Que’, who is being sought for questioning in relation to the murder committed on Marvin Smith who died earlier this month following an incident which occurred at Roxanne Burnham Gardens in the City.

Rodney, whose last known address is reported to be Lot 530 West Ruimveldt, was born on March 29, 1978; is 6-feet, 1-inch tall; and has a distinguishing mark of a scar over his left eye (forehead).

The Police said anyone with information pertaining to the whereabouts of Quincy Rodney is asked to contact the police on telephone numbers 225-6411, 225-2700, 226-7065, 225-2227, 226-6978, 225-8196, 223-8940 or 911, or the nearest police station.
The Police assured that all information will be treated with strict confidence.

Kia Persaud top 2009 CSEC student in Region
-Fourth consecutive year Guyana has copped top spot
FOR the fourth consecutive year, a student of Queen’s College (QC), is the most outstanding candidate overall in the Region in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations, a release from the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) said.

Kia Persaud achieved Grade I in 14 subjects to earn the title of Most Outstanding CSEC Student in the Region in 2009.

She achieved Grade I in Agricultural Science (Double Award), Biology, Chemistry, Electronic Document Preparation and Management, Economics, English A, English B, French, Geography, Human and Social Biology, Information Technology (Technical), Mathematics, Physics, Social Studies and Spanish.

Another QC student, Padminee Roshundatt, received the award for the Most Outstanding Performance in the Sciences. Padiminee achieved Grade I in 14 subjects including six Science subjects – Agricultural Science (Double award), Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Human and Social Biology and Integrated Science. She also achieved Grade I in English A, English B, French, Geography, Information Technology (Technical), Mathematics, Spanish and Social Studies.

Another Guyanese student, this time from the New Amsterdam Multilateral School, won the award for Most Outstanding Performance in Business Education. Sonya Yacoob achieved Grade I in 11 subjects. She achieved Grade I in six Business Education subjects – Economics, Electronic Document Preparation and Management, Principles of Accounts, Principles of Business, Office Administration and Information Technology (Technical). She also achieved Grade I in English A, English B, Integrated Science, Mathematics and Social Studies.

The award for the Most Outstanding Performance in Humanities went to Jovelle Lewis of Holy Name Convent, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Jovelle achieved Grade I in nine subjects, including five Humanities subjects – Caribbean History, French, Geography, Social Studies and Spanish. She also achieved Grade I in Biology, Chemistry, English A and Mathematics.

Students from schools in Jamaica copped three awards this year.

The award for the Most Outstanding Performance in Technical/Vocational Education went to Norman Tai of York Castle High School, Jamaica. Norman achieved Grade I in 10 subjects and Grade II in one subject. He achieved Grade I in four Technical/Vocational subjects – Electrical and Electronic Technology, Building Technology (Construction), Informational Technology and Technical Drawing. Norman also achieved Grade I in English A, Mathematics, Physics, Social Studies and Spanish and Grade II in Visual Arts.

CROWNED BEAUTY
- Miss Guyana World 2009
Beautiful Imrah Radix was crowned and sashed Ms. Guyana World 2009 at the Roraima Duke Lodge in Kingston, Georgetown yesterday.

In the absence of a local pageant, 24-year-old Radix was selected to represent Guyana in the Ms. World Pageant which will take place in Johannesburg, South Africa, on the 12th December, by England based franchise holder Ken Chung.

She recently graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a Bachelors Degree in International Relations and Diplomacy.

The new queen, a trained scuba diver, has postponed working on her Masters Degree course in International Relations and Diplomacy at the University College in Kensington, London, to represent Guyana at the Miss World Pageant.

Radix said she felt “incredibly honoured and humble” to represent Guyana at the pageant, noting that she had dreamt of being a queen since she was a little girl.

Radix graduated from Cobham Hall Girls Kent England, with ten G.C.S.E’S including French and Dance after which she went on to earn three advanced level passes in Russian History, English Literature and Classical Greek Civilisation at the same school.

She recently graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a Bachelors Degree in International Relations and Diplomacy.

The new queen has postponed working on her Masters Degree course in International Relations and Diplomacy at the University College Kensington London to represent Guyana at the Miss World Pageant.

She is also a trained scuba diver who is certified in the Open Water and Advanced Open Water Diver Course with five specialties.

The new queen said that she felt “Incredibly honoured and humble” and had dreamt of being a queen since she was a little girl.