Light from chandeliers enveloped invitees in a warm glow. In a corner, the photographs of some of the missing and dead were displayed against a stark red backdrop, mounted on an easel.

NEITHER cold weather nor rain could stop them. They were united by a common thread of loss three dark Tuesdays ago when terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center's Twin Towers and snuffed out the lives of their loved ones.

For almost four hours Sunday afternoon, families and friends of 24 missing Guyanese packed into the pews of the Hanson Place Central United Methodist Church in Brooklyn and prayed, gave thanks, searched for answers, comforted each other and celebrated the lives of their beloved.

It was a stately affair, as the organisers promised.

It began with an Organ Prelude by Bert Rudder. Trumpet blasts preceded the call to worship under the theme `God Is Our Refuge And Strength'.

There was the presentation of the national colours and throughout the programme Guyana's Golden Arrowhead flew proudly alongside the Star Spangled Banner.

The congregation sang the `Hymn For Guyana's Children' as

heartily as it did `God Bless America', now a signature refrain on television and various memorial services since the September 11 tragedy.

It was a programme with a touch of classical music, flavoured with serene Indian dance rhythm.

The sound of mournful sax played during the Ninja Band's performance of John Lennon's `Imagine' added poignancy to the moment. At the request of the band leader, members of the congregation held hands in memory of a fallen Guyanese daughter - Shevonne Mentis.

"She was one of our biggest fans. Shevonne attended most of our functions. We will miss her." Simple statements said with a depth of emotion made those in attendance painfully aware that there were 24 Guyanese whose relatives and friends were grappling with their loss.

THE AMBIENCE
But long before the soul-stirring programme got under way, inside the church, the atmosphere was almost surreal.

Many felt the pull of this board and gravitated closer for a look at the fallen.

In one photograph, a man in ceremonial Guyana Defence Force (GDF) uniform struck a military-like pose. He was Patrick Adams - "Adie" to his friends.

The dark-skinned beauty, in a black evening gown, who had smiled into the camera on some happy occasion was Shevonne Mentis.

The young man with the attractive grin and gold sports chain was former Guyana middle-order batsman Nizam Hafiz.

For the first time, many could put a face to the name, Astrid Sohan - a serene looking woman who would have celebrated her 33rd birthday on September 25. Astrid was an Assistant Vice President at Marsh & McLennan and was planning to marry her fiancé shortly.

Also remembered with love was Rudy Bacchus. This former Vice President of Merrill Lynch formed his own company `Rudy Bacchus Floor Broker'.

He was attending a breakfast at `Windows On The World' that fateful morning when terrorists crashed two hijacked aircraft into the World Trade Center's

Twin Towers.

"A very responsible, extremely humourous and religious person," his bio said.

Rudy Bacchus was an ordained Deacon of the Second Baptist Church in Machuten, New Jersey. His photograph showed a man decked in matching bow tie and felt hat and a broad smile that showed a zest for life.

"A caring person with a pleasant personality, Amenia will forever be in our hearts" was the remembrance offered by the family of the woman with the confident gaze and matching pearl earrings and chain.

Anette Dataram's family chose a photo that showed off a 25-year-old young woman with bright eyes and an impish look. According to her relatives, Anette was the "life" of the family and she loved meeting people and going places.

A graduate of Manhattan Community College, she had majored in accounting.

"Goodbye Rick! God bless you and keep you in his care" was the message from Ricknauth Jaggernauth's family.

The bespectacled Charles Gregory John led an active life. For years he served as a member of the Jaycees and Lions Club.

He was a Past President of the Brooklyn Winthrop Lions and a Zone Chairman. Charles was also a family man.

No one knew that the ivy plant he bought for his mother four days before the September 11 tragedy would have been his final present to her. On that fateful Tuesday, John was on duty as an employee of Mandel Security Bureau and based at Fuji Bank in one of the WTC towers.

Two of his colleagues in uniform stood heads bowed opposite each other beside the flags of the U.S. and Guyana.

"We had to be here for John. He was the best," one remarked after the service.

Another featured photograph was that of Sarah Khan who left behind husband Nizam and daughters Shaneiza, 13 and Ameiza, 11. Sarah loved to cook, sing and listen to Indian music.

Organisers were unable to obtain pictures of all 24 victims but those that they did told stories of full lives.

It was eerie to hear the 24 names of the missing or dead - Patrick Adams; Rudy Bacchus; Kris Romeo Bishundat; Pamela Boyce; Annette Dataram aka Priya; Sabita Guman; Nizam Hafiz; Ricknauth Jaggernauth; Charles Gregory John; Sarah Khan; Amarnauth Latchman; Shevonne Mentis; Marcus Neblett; Hardai Parbhu; Vishnu Ramsaroop; Ameenia Rasool; Sita Sewnarine; Shiv Shankar; Kamini Singh; Ronald Singh; Astrid Sohan; Joyce Stanton; Patricia Stanton and Vanava Thompson - being called individually and followed by silence.

`His Eye Is On The Sparrow...and I know he watches over me', many eyes were damp after Trenton Mack performed this solo.

"We saw the tears and our tears flowed across the ocean. From 31 countries across the Americas we realised we were one. Tragedy came to us on September 11.

"It was not an American tragedy but an assault on all of us," Health Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy said in a preamble to the message he read from President Bharrat Jagdeo. "You and I must eschew violence and the things that make for violence and set people against people in death-dealing hate. We must seek the peace that our several faiths teach for ourselves; we must promote it assiduously; we must teach it to our children; that ours may be a better world and country in which people will not live in fear or die at the hand of violence," the President urged in his message.

"I have this image of my Guyanese fellows searingly burnt on my mind and savagely tattooed on my soul: There they lie, struck down in full bloom. Death lies on them like some blight on my country's fairest flowers.

"As we meet here today to mourn the loss of our people and celebrate their lives, fate and faith remind us of the norms of civilised society with its attendant fragilities. To provide comfort to grieving family members and to garner some understanding of the tragedy, we must pause and reflect at this memorial gathering.

"They had strong family ties and values. They worked hard for a living to support relatives in the U.S. and back in the land of their birth, Guyana. They worshipped through different faiths and prayed daily for guidance, understanding that fate might have its own agenda or prescription of how things will turn out.

"This humbling ever-presence of the unknown serves, usually, to anchor us more deeply and to cherish the joys and gifts of daily living. And we can say accurately that our departed nationals lived such lives. More than that, they were good citizens."

The message ended with the President offering heartfelt condolences to those who grieve and the consoling words, "All will be well; and all manner of things will be well. We will mourn our loss, but we will have hope.

"The pilgrims have dipped beyond the horizon, in the dying twilight, you are gone friends. We love you. Goodbye!"

State senator John Sampson, who is of Guyanese parentage, urged the gathering to support each other in the long term.

"We must be there not just for a few days. We must ask not why this tragedy happened, but what we can learn from it," he exhorted.

Colin Moore who lost his cousin Vanava Thompson in the tragedy recalled her last words to his mother that fateful morning - "Mom I'll call you later."

Moore struck a chord when he noted that the September 11 tragedy left many without that promised last call.

A total of 12 spiritual leaders participated in the service, offering prayers and messages.

They were: Bishop Heron Sam, Rev. Dr. Ingram Hodge, Pandit Roop Sukhram,

Rev. Dr. Evelyn John, Rev. Rodwell Thom, Imam Haji Zakir, Rev. Geo Frederick,

Pandit Mahadeo Ramsaroop, Bishop Maurice Vaughn, Deputy Imam Abdul Shafiek, David Clarke and Rev. Dr Joy Thomas.

In their messages of hope, Revs. Thom and Frederick and Deputy Imam

In the end, the consensus was that God was there on September 11 in the last moments of those who perished. "God was there when loved ones trapped inside burning buildings called to say `I love you' one last time".

The sorrowing were urged to "keep the faith" by trusting in their God who ultimately turns evil into good.

Some four hours later, as the 24 candles on the altar burned low, each member of the congregation lit a candle.

The flames inside the church resembled small beacons on the sea and a sense of hope and serenity filled Hanson Place Central United Methodist Church as those within sang with feeling `God Bless America'.

Lease handed over for major plywood, cattle complex
By Shirley Thomas
THE formal handing over of a lease for 14,800 acres of agricultural land to an American-based company yesterday is expected to pave the way for opening a massive plywood production operation and cattle enterprise in the Intermediate Savannahs.

Georgia Caribbean International Managing Director, Mr. Jack Dickey, received the lease from Minister of Fisheries, Crops and Livestock, Mr. Satyadeow Sawh.

At the handing over also were Mr. David Westfall, Director of the firm's Cattle Division; Mr. Dennis Yearwood, General Manager of the local branch, the Berbice River Agro-Forestry Company (BRAFCO); Mr. Roland Fletcher, Technical Advisor to the Interior Savannahs Project (INSAP) of the Ministry of Fisheries, Crops and Livestock; and Dr. Oudho Homenauth, Director of the National Agricultural Research Institute.

Referred to as the local pioneers in Paulowina woods which the firm has commenced planting in the Intermediate Savannahs, the company now that it has the lease, will be in a better position to secure financing to commence shipping in the equipment required to commence operations, Sawh said.

Commending the entrepreneurs, he said his ministry was very pleased and was looking forward to this project coming on stream with its value-added component.

"This is a very good trail blazer for Guyana," he said.

Dickey said the company has first year trees growing on a test plot at Kimbia and is due to commence full planting for wood production at the beginning of the upcoming wet season early next year.

"We have a lot of work to do between now and then - setting up a river port where we have transportation in and out; we have a road to build into there; then we have land preparation to do. We're really ready to get going now, and we're going to be running a very tight schedule between now and next April," he said.

"We're really excited about it, and we're thankful we've found an area here that is going to do well on growing these types of trees (Paulownia)."

He assured that the first set of trees will be ready in about 10 years, by which time the company will have plant facilities in the Intermediate Savannahs to process the plywood here.

Commenting on the pluses of the project in relation to biodiversity, Dickey said: "Actually it will enhance the environment because it takes so much carbon dioxide out of the air that contributes to pollution and greenhouse gas; these trees grow so fast they take that carbon out of the air. They change it from a gaseous form into a solid form and store it in wood."

In addition, he said his company will employ a non-traditional approach to wood production in Guyana, in that it will be putting money into the industry locally through harvesting what it plants, and not what it did not plant.

He referred to arrangements where companies 'take money out of a country, and put in very little.'

"We grow our capital; these trees become a part of the land." Dickey said that when cut, the trees sprout back from the root and grow a new tree.

"We're going to put something where nothing is, and get something out of it," he said, adding, "Those savannahs got nothing out there...We're going to create something."

He said there are records of one place in China that has been cutting Paulownia trees off the same stump for 400 years.

Georgia Caribbean International will employ predominantly Guyanese except for a few technical persons who will be travelling back and forth and overseeing top management, Dickey said.

For the actual milling which will come on stream within the next 10 years, some 600 persons will be required.

"By the time our mill is ready to run we would have invested somewhere between US$30M to $40M in the trees; notwithstanding, the trees will continue to supply the mill forever. We will not have to go out in the wilds to get any more timber," he added.

Westfall said the Intermediate Savannahs offer fantastic opportunities for the production of beef cattle.

He explained that Artificial Insemination (A.I.) will be employed and initially some 3,000 units of semen will used in the cattle sector which will be predominantly for the provision of beef with less emphasis on dairy.

Noting that it takes some five to six years in Guyana to get a steer to market, he said, "That is just not acceptable - that's just too much time."

Westfall believes that by inseminating the local cows to get steer calves, the company will be able to cut at least one year off the marketing time. He said the only factor that will change is the genetic.

He projected that if the local type animals are artificially inseminated the process will be much shorter, the cows will milk longer, and their offspring come even a year shorter than the previous set.

"So we're anticipating that the first steers from those A.I. will be cutting the calves very, very substantially."

Westfall said the aim is to shorten the time, increase prices and uplift the herd in this country.

The company will be operating under the health standards of the United States Food and Drug Administration. Blood plasma will be used from animals that are disease resistant and there will be zero per cent of any adverse disease being introduced, he said.

He said that Guyana being nearer the equator, the animals will be likely to thrive even better than even those in Texas.

Four charged in Guyana-New York smuggling ring
GEORGETOWN, Guyana,(CMC) - Police here were yesterday awaiting word from the Canadian authorities about an operation reported to have smuggled several people from Guyana into New York, a senior Police official here said.

"I have heard something about four persons being arrested in Canada but as of now we have not had any request from the Canadians for help," the high-ranking Police investigator told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).

The Toronto Star newspaper reported at the weekend that four Toronto-area residents were charged with conspiracy to violate United States immigration laws.

Charged are Chandrica Gurprasad, 42, his wife Nalinee Samaroo, 33, and truck-drivers Dasrath Balchand, 59 and Roy Morris, 51. Except for Gurprasad, the three others were released on bail ranging from CDN$20,000 to $50,000.

They were all required to surrender their passports and any travel documents.

Court documents allege the ring transported at least 100 people from Toronto to New York in the past year - possibly hundreds since it began in 1997.

The affidavits claim that nationals of Pakistan, India and Caribbean countries used a route that began in Guyana, passed through Toronto's Pearson International Airport, then continued by truck across the Niagara peninsula into New York state, the newspaper reported.

The affidavits claimed the illegals, who would usually cross in groups of eight to 10, were charged US$13,000 each to go from Guyana to New York via Toronto.

"This was a Guyanese-based organisation that transshipped people through the Caribbean and Canada and into the United States," lead RCMP investigator Inspector Steve Martin was quoted by the Toronto Star as saying.

The United States consolidated its military might in the region after the purist Islamic movement openly defied Washington's ultimatum to give up the man it says is prime suspect for suicide air attacks on U.S. cities nearly three weeks ago or face the consequences.

For the first time since the devastating attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, which left nearly 6,000 dead or missing, the Taliban said on Sunday they were holding the Saudi-born millionaire and hiding him in secret for his own safety.

This blunt statement raised the stakes in the stand-off. An Afghan opposition official predicted a U.S. strike on the land-locked country could take place in a matter of days.

Asked in a BBC interview yesterday if the Taliban's days now looked numbered, Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf replied: "It appears so. It appears that the United States will take action in Afghanistan. We have conveyed this to the Taliban."

Musharraf, leader of the only country to recognise the Taliban and who caused division in his own country by siding with the United States, added: "Because of the stand that the Taliban have taken...confrontation will take place."

The fate of the Taliban, and its spiritual leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, has never looked more perilous, with signs of dissent at home, the opposition nipping at their frontlines and the world's most modern military machine on their doorstep.

The September 11 attacks raised the spectres of war and recession sending shockwaves through the global financial system. U.S. stocks sagged yesterday as investors' nagging fears about dwindling earnings, a soft U.S. economy and imminent U.S. military action ate into last week's gains.

WORLD'S MOST MODERN MILITARY ASSEMBLES
Another sign of the building storm came from Japan. A U.S. Navy spokesman said the American carrier Kitty Hawk, with some 70 warplanes on board, had sailed from its home port near Tokyo as part of "Operation Enduring Freedom" -- the name for President George W. Bush's declared war on terrorism.

There have been news reports that U.S. special forces had been inserted into Afghanistan to prepare for strikes.

Statements from officials in the region point to imminent military action.

Abdullah Abdullah, foreign minister for the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance, said on Sunday his group was in "regular and daily contact" with the United States. He predicted an attack would come in "a matter of days."

The Northern Alliance, the main force still battling the Kabul regime but which controls less than 10 per cent of Afghan territory, has fought the Taliban since it gained power in 1996 after a period of fighting among rival warlords.

As U.S. forces amassed, an Iranian navy commander said that 41 U.S. and British warships had arrived in the Gulf and the Sea of Oman.

Rather than stage a knee-jerk reprisal for the hijackings, Bush has been carefully building a coalition against terrorism to wage an economic, diplomatic and military campaign which could stretch for years.

Iran, branded a sponsor of terrorism by Washington, has condemned last month's attacks but has ruled out cooperating with its arch-foe on retaliatory strikes.

Iran's Defence Minister Admiral Ali Shamkhani sounded a warning to Washington, saying yesterday that its forces would confront U.S. planes that used its airspace in any strikes.

Despite Iran's unease about U.S. military moves in its own backyard, the officially Shi'ite Islamic Republic is no friend of Afghanistan's ruling Sunni Taliban which it accuses of being primitive and giving Islam a bad name.

Shamkhani also acknowledged publicly for the first time that Tehran has been arming the Northern Alliance and would continue to do so.

The New York Times reported yesterday that Bush had approved covert efforts to help the Northern Alliance, including possible military funding.

"The purpose is to enhance their ability to move against the Taliban," the paper quoted an unidentified U.S. official as saying. "It is not limited to political support."

|REGION BRACES, FORMER KING PLAYS A PART
With U.S. military muscle flexing in the region, Pakistan said any U.S. attacks on Afghanistan would be aimed at eradicating terrorism and would not target the Afghan people.

"We are not talking about attacks on Afghanistan, we are not talking about attacks on Afghan people," Foreign Ministry spokesman Riaz Mohammad Khan said, adding: "The whole campaign is against terrorism."

Khan was speaking a day after Taliban leader Omar said the United States was waging war against Islam and the Afghan people, who are living in a state modelled on a society that existed more than 1,000 years ago.

The Pakistan government, long a key backer of the Taliban, has defied dire warnings from Kabul not to cooperate with the U.S. anti-terrorist drive. Musharraf faces strong domestic opposition from hardline Islamic parties.

Should the Taliban fall, momentum appeared to be building for Afghanistan's former King Mohammad Zahir Shah to act as a neutral figure overseeing a transition of power in the poor and rugged country of 24 million people.

Zahir Shah, overthrown in 1973 and living in exile in a leafy suburb of Rome, reached an agreement yesterday with the Northern Alliance aimed at ousting the Taliban.

Under the terms of the accord, the anti-Taliban coalition called for the convening of a traditional grand council.

This council would then convene a "Loya Jirga," made up of representatives of Afghanistan's ethnic and tribal groups. It was unclear when or where the Loya Jirga would take place or whether it was dependent on the Taliban being ousted.

The parties said in a statement issued in Rome that the Loya Jirga would elect a head of state and transitional government.

Western diplomats and many Afghans say that Zahir Shah is the only figure with the authority to assemble a broad anti-Taliban front. He reigned for 40 years and brought relative peace and prosperity to his country.

EPIC REFUGEE CRISIS LOOMS
On the ground in Pakistan United Nations emergency relief coordinator Kenzo Oshima arrived yesterday for a fact-finding trip and the country braced to help hundreds of thousands of Afghans displaced or in flight from hunger and war.

His visit coincided with what is panning out to be an epic refugee crisis in a land whose problems have endured so long that donor fatigue set in years ago.

Meanwhile, the first United Nations aid trucks sent to the beleaguered Afghan capital since the attacks on U.S. cities arrived with more than 200 tonnes of wheat for city bakeries.

While U.S. politicians talked of solutions for faraway Afghanistan, America's top law enforcer said he feared fresh attacks at home if the United States retaliated.

"We believe there are substantial risks of terrorism still in the United States of America. As we as a nation respond to what has happened to us, those risks may, in fact, go up," Attorney-General John Ashcroft said on Sunday.

The Bush administration made its position clear to Kabul at the weekend, saying it would work to replace the Taliban unless they acceded to America's demands to hand over bin Laden.

In an indication of the close ties between bin Laden and the Taliban, a former Pakistan leader said the Islamic militant runs the central Asian nation like a warlord.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto told Reuters the Taliban are dominated by bin Laden, who she said runs Afghanistan like a warlord with a force of 12,000 armed men.

"They are Arabs from different countries together and they drive around in shaded cars and no one can cross their paths. He intimidates and his force really runs the place like a vassal," said Bhutto, who was prime minister twice and was dismissed the second time, in 1996, on accusations of widespread corruption.

Bin Laden is a brother-in-law of the Taliban spiritual leader Mullah Omar.

Crucial leadership choice for Barbados Opposition
Analysis by Rickey Singh
THE General Council of the major opposition party of Barbados, the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) of which the late Errol Barrow was founder-leader, was in a late night session last night to choose a new leader.

Confronted with its most difficult leadership problem since its formation some 46 years ago, the DLP, which took Barbados into political independence in November 1966, the General Council's crucial meeting followed the sudden resignation of David Thompson, its president and political leader a week ago yesterday.

The decision was a shocker for both the DLP and the Barbadian society.

The General Council had the option last night of either choosing an interim leader, or recommend that it be done by a special delegates conference within three months.

Thompson, who remains as the parliamentary Opposition Leader in the 28-member Assembly where the DLP has only two seats, had stated in his resignation letter that he would expect the process of choosing his successor as party leader would not be in excess of three months.

The flamboyant, 40-year-old lawyer and protege of Barrow, once perceived as a Prime Minister in waiting, and known for his waspish sarcasm and as an effective public speaker, said that his resignation was "no ploy", as claimed by Prime Minister and leader of the governing (BLP) Owen Arthur.

"It is irrevocable", he told me at the weekend.

His successor would have the daunting task of leading the DLP into new elections due by January 2003 to prevent the incumbent Barbados Labour Party (BLP) from gaining a third successive term which currently seems a real possibility.

Thompson's resignation letter came within days of the party's defeat at a by-election for the St. Thomas constituency, made vacant by the resignation of former Attorney General and Home Affairs Minister, David Simmons, now being tipped to be the country's new Chief Justice in a few months.

Retention of the constituency by the governing BLP was widely expected, given the fact that it has been a traditional safe seat for the 'Bees' for some 30 years.

But it was the extent (defeat by approximately 2,000 votes) and manner of defeat of its three-time losing candidate, George Pilgrim against first-timer Cynthia Forde, that seems to have deeply upset Thompson.

He has openly lamented lack of required support for his leadership. Including, it seems, from his deputy in parliament, Denis Kellman, who was campaign manager for the by-election.

The 43-year-old Kellman, a small businessman, has denied to the media that he had acted as a 'traitor' for the by-election and was quite 'cozy' with Prime Minister Arthur, who is a distant cousin.

Now the party's General Council, the decisive decision-making body outside of the annual conference, must determine if to ask Thompson to withdraw his resignation; choose an interim successor until the party's delegates conference by August next year; or recommend that Thompson remain as leader pending a special delegates conference before mid December.

The latter alternative was expected to be the most attractive for the majority of General Council members in the face of at least five potential candidates offering themselves for leadership, among them an old veteran of the party, former Foreign Minister Brandford Taitt.

The politician, Erskine Sandiford, who Thompson had succeeded as DLP leader back in 1994, following a no-confidence motion against him (Sandiford) in parliament as Prime Minister, has been caustic in condemning the resignation as "ill-considered, precipitate and ill-tempered".

The 1994 successful no confidence motion against Prime Minister Sandiford was enabled by a few of his own colleagues, a development unprecedented within the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

It came amid rising discontent, and was to result in the BLP winning by an 18-10 landslide against the Thompson-led DLP.

By the January 1999 poll, the incumbent BLP was to humiliate the DLP by restricting it to just two of the 28 seats, that of Thompson and Kellman. It was a fate worse than that suffered by the BLP back in 1986 when it won only three constituencies, including Arthur's in St. Peter.

Prime Minister Arthur's clever 'politics of inclusion' has seen the defection since 1998 of a number of once loyal and promising DLPites who have been joining him in his frequent ridicule of Thompson's leadership capability and style.

Piling on the agony with his own self-serving assessment, Arthur has even suggested that the poor performance of the DLP under Thompson's leadership was contributing to Barbados moving towards a 'de facto' one-party state.

That, of course, is just politicking. For all its travail in the opposition benches since 1994, the DLP represents no less than a third of the country's electorate and Barbados remains a vibrant multi-party democracy with competitive media and politics.

Since Thompson will remain as the parliamentary Opposition Leader, (the party's leadership can be separate from parliamentary leadership), the DLP can seize the opportunity of investing its future in a new political leader whose contributions from party headquarters can only add to the party's preparedness for the next general election due by January 2003.

The question is, who will that choice be.

Already there are suggestions that old stalwarts like Sandiford and Taitt -- both of whom lost their seats at the last election -- may be likely contenders. In their 60s, there is also a generational factor to be faced.

Another and more credible choice could be the veteran deputy general secretary of the powerful Barbados Workers Union, Robert 'Bobby' Morris, who is also an economist.

Whoever is chosen will have a hard row to hoe in preventing the BLP from an expected third-term victory.

But he may be successful in laying a more solid foundation, in cooperation with Thompson, in positioning the DLP back on the path to power.

A week, they say, is a long time in politics. There are many, many weeks between today and a new general election in Barbados.

For now we must await last night's decision of the DLP's General Council on choosing a successor to Thompson.

IDB funding project to make major roadways safer
GOVERNMENT has embarked on a programme to review the current engineering designs on the country’s major roadways and do the necessary corrective works to ensure that the high rate of accidents is significantly reduced.

Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is funding the project being executed by United States-based Guyanese consultant, Dr Gowkarran Budhu, through the Ministry of public works, in collaboration with the Police Traffic Department.

The disclosure was made at a public forum in Ocean View International Hotel Convention Centre, where some proposals for the roads improvement were discussed.

Data on road fatalities collected over the past three years established that the Georgetown to Buxton section of the East Coast Demerara highway accounted for the most deaths during that period.

Most of those accidents involved public transport, Budhu said, noting that analysis on the impact of such mishaps on other main thoroughfares has not yet been properly compiled.

He announced plans to do some design corrections on the Georgetown to Buxton route, based on an analysis that was part of his ongoing study.

Budhu said funds for the scheme could come from the revenue garnered from fuel taxes, licences for, inspection, freight and import duty and taxes on vehicles.

Meanwhile, he said, in designing and constructing roads, engineers must take into account how their use would affect people’s day-to-day lives.

He said, for future road construction, sufficient data collection would be very important to determine the economic and social benefits.

Roads must not only be designed for vehicular traffic but also for cyclists and pedestrians.

Budhu said a highway safety unit will be established within the Public Works Ministry but it must be supported by a highway safety code, which is enforced to help minimise the results of accidents.

Minister of Transport and Hydraulics, Mr Anthony Xavier, who also spoke on the occasion, acknowledged that the high road fatality figure is a problem with which his Ministry and Ministry of Home Affairs cannot deal without the cooperation of every Guyanese.

We have to impress upon our drivers that drinking and driving is fatal and not dangerous,” he emphasised.

Stressing the importance of safety, he said his ministry has started a campaign to sensitise people and will work closer with the Police Traffic Department to make sure road users who endanger the lives of others are prohibited from its use.

Xavier said the draft plan for development of safer roads is not only forward looking but addresses long term solutions that would involve enforcement through engineering.

“In short, we have to build safer roads to assist the Police in their job of enforcing existing and new regulations that will make our journey from one point to another safe,” the Minister explained.

At the scene of Friday night’s tragedy
THIS was the expression on the face of Mrs Kate Alderson ( in front) at the scene where her husband, Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) consultant, Mr Jeremy Alderson was killed by a car last Friday night.

With her are two friends who were also celebrating the couple’s wedding anniversary at Palm Court Restaurant and Bar on Main Street, Georgetown, before the tragedy occurred.

The other Errol Lam picture is of the Aldersons jeep, PGG 8402.

Students of Enterprise Primary awarded for SSEE performances
SIXTY-one former pupils of Enterprise Primary School were honoured recently for their successful performances at this year’s SSEE tests. The students were presented with awards by a group of Enterprise residents headed by Mr Gokul Sharma.

Sharma, who is based in Washington DC, United States of America, has been making awards to successful students of the School for the past decade.

Members of the Enterprise Road Safety Association also made awards to the top five students on behalf of the John Narine family.

Top student, Imran Khan, received a special award from Mr Mark Persaud of K&B Supplies Ltd.

In picture are the five top students with donor representatives and SSEE teachers, Ms Jasi.

Evita Walcott is Amerindian Heritage Queen
By Yondell Proffit
TWENTY-year-old Evita Walcott felt it was a dream come true for her to be performing on stage at the National Cultural Centre last Sunday night. And when she was crowned queen at the first ever Miss Amerindian Heritage Pageant, it was the most fantastic moment of her life.

Evita, who represented Region Two, was one of ten lovely Amerindian delegates vying for the historic crown.

The first runner-up position was given to Region Seven’s Veron Henry, while second runner-up was Denise Rodriques from Region Nine.

In a brief address to the packed Cultural Centre, His Excellency, President Bharrat Jadgeo, said that he was extremely pleased to be allowed the privilege of sharing the evening with all Guyanese.

“ This activity shows the month of celebrations of rich Amerindian culture,” he said “and I am extremely proud to be a Guyanese.”

The President explained that before the pageant, he had an opportunity to speak with the ten delegates and said he found out that most of them have never even been on a stage to perform in front of people.

“We are all Guyanese and this is our culture as well,” the President said.

He announced that he is more encouraged to become involved in preserving the culture and way of life of the Amerindian communities and added that he is more willing to provide ways and create opportunities for Amerindians, while he makes plans to have them integrated in society.

This event was organised by the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs and it was the finale of a programme of activities to mark Amerindian Heritage Month.

The pageant started at 20:00hrs (8 p.m.) sharp Sunday and ended at about 12:45hrs yesterday.

A written message from the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs said that the Pageant is a normal part of Amerindian Heritage activities in most of the Administrative Regions of Guyana. It noted that there were various thoughts on what exactly this ‘Heritage Pageant’ should be. The contest was also an opportunity for Guyanese to see the extent of Amerindian integration.

The girls made their first appearance with a brief introduction of themselves, before moving on to the talent segment.

They were judged in four categories: introduction, talent, traditional wear and intelligence. There was also an evening wear segment. However, the contestants were not judged in this.

Evita, in her introduction, said that she is a trained teacher who enjoys communicating and outdoor sports. She is also from the Arawak tribe.

In this segment it was felt that all the contestants did well, except for Region Ten’s Clair Jonas, who only told the audience that she was from Region Ten. This introduction category was worth ten points.

Managing Director of Shell Beach and Co-founder and Secretary of Marine Turtle Conservation, Ms Anette Arjoon, was the Chief Judge, while the other judges were Ms Erica Baharali, a trained teacher of Cummings Lodge Secondary School; Dr. George Norton who is a specialist in ophthalmology at the Georgetown Public Hospital; and Ms Christine Lowe, who is a teacher at Head Start Nursery. The other judge was Mr Hubert Wong, an anthropologist and businessman.

Evita sang a calypso, entitled, “Don’t Think We Stupid”. In this composition, Evita commented on some of the treatment Amerindians receive from the rest of society. She asserted that Amerindians were proving themselves in all professions while maintaining the important aspects of their culture.

Contestant from Region Three, Michelle Barker, also came up with an interesting presentation. It was a poem she had written with the message ‘Don’t let us separate because of race hate’.

After this segment, there was a 15-minute break, before the start of the evening gown sequence.

The Cultural Centre stage was well designed with real trees, artificial birds and giant stones that created a picture of the hinterland. On the floor of the stage were scattered leaves, and branches hung from the ceiling. It was a night of spectacular beauty, creativity and elegance.

In the intelligence category, the contestants were judged for content, relevance, fluency as well as poise and confidence. Their individual questions were based on their platform and were believed by many to be quite easy. There were hardly any faults here, except from the Region Five delegate, who was asked to name three by-products of cassava and also explain how one of them is made. Of course, she named cassava bread and explained how it is made, but then she went on to explain about pepper-pot and how good it tasted with cassava bread, completely forgetting that she had to respond to the first part of the question.

This young lady, Rovina Charles, was however the crowd favourite because she represented a ‘true’ Amerindian woman.

Then there was the traditional wear segment, with most of the costumes consisting of seeds, leaves, feathers and tibisiri. The same young lady stole the show in this event.

While all the other girls displayed their garments in the normal way, Rovina Charles went on stage in her outfit equipped with a fishing bow and a bag with all that was needed for a day in the swamp. Among the eatables were her own favourite, cassava bread, fish and pepperpot. It was very original and this get-up gave her a place in the top five.

She, however, failed in the final intelligence category after the five contestants were asked what they would deal with most if they were to become Minister of Amerindian Affairs.

Evita Walcott, maintaining her confidence and poise, said that she would see as most important the issue of exploitation of Amerindian women. She also plans to address the land rights issue and education for her people. Charles, on the other hand started off well with education, but then branched into her people’s way of life and continued her explanation of how the people from her area are usually treated by outsiders.

To add to the night’s entertainment there were performances by the Couchman family, famous for their hit song ‘Guyana Hinterland’. There were also cultural presentations by the Sand Creek Group, doing their version of the ‘Cassava Dance’, as well as interpretive dances and poems written and performed by the participants themselves. Calypso finalist, Vivian Jordan, also made a guest appearance.

The queen was sashed by President Bharrat Jagdeo and crowned by Miss Guyana 2001, Olive Gopaul. Miss Talented Teen, Asha Pieters also made an appearance. Among Evita’s prizes are $100,000 in cash prize and six months of free computer classes.

Minister Chandarpal is correct in his assessment of hunger in Guyana. Even in the middle of a very dry season, so rich and fertile are many areas of Guyana’s landmass, that some item of root vegetable, grain, nut or fruit available, when grouped with other items, could be transformed into an adequate meal to stave off the pangs of hunger.

It is also true that Guyana is far more fortunate than many countries in the realm of food security. And this is because the farmers of this country produce an incredible amount of grain, vegetables and cash crops. The rice and sugar crops that have been the economic planks of this nation for decades have been augmented by bulk production of legumes, (bora, pigeon peas, saem), vegetables (plantains), root crops (cassava, yams and eddoes), succulents (pineapples, pumpkins, papaw, watermelons) and citrus (limes, grapefruit, oranges, and lemons and tangerines).

Compared with some countries, whose hardscrabble and wind-scoured tracts are hostile to crop cultivation or those in which rising flood waters or killer mudslides make daily existence a hazard, Guyana is a blessed and fertile haven capable of hosting a plethora of crops.

The farms on the East Coast and in Berbice supply villages with produce and also ship truckloads of vegetables every week to be sold in the City’s municipal markets. On market days at Charity, one of the most stunning sights is the flotilla of produce-laden boats being manoeuvred along the Pomeroon River by men, women and even children. Food manufacturers as well as retailers from other parts of Guyana would make the pilgrimage to Charity every now and then to have the pick of the best avocados, peaches, mangoes, and a range of other fruit and vegetables.

Many Guyanese purchase imported onions and white potatoes unaware that in the reaches of the Kamarang River, deep in the Guyana heartland (which is a lot cooler in temperature than the coastland) white potatoes and beautiful purple unions were cultivated for years and left to rot because the farmers could not afford the cost of air-shipping them to the capital. Delicious cashew nuts, a tin of which costs well over G$1,000, are grown successfully in the Rupununi area. When prepared, the local cashew nuts are superior in taste to the imported variety.

For years, exporters and the experts in food technology have complained that farmers in Guyana need to be taught how to treat and handle crops to obtain the best quality of fruit and vegetables. Fruit to be packed and sent abroad must achieve near uniform sizes and degrees of maturity and be fairly consistent in taste and texture. Farmers have to be encouraged to strive for these objectives if they hope to prosper from their crops.

And these conditions can be met with the right incentives. For years the banana farmers in the Caribbean islands have been treating their produce a certain way so that on arrival in Europe, their state of ripeness is perfect. The Region Two farmers, who are now producing organically-grown cocoa for Britain, are following specific guidelines issued by chocolate manufacturers.

As Guyana’s farming community moves closer to cultivating high quality produce, not only will basic hunger be banished from Guyana, but the income-earning capacity of farmers and persons in agro-industry will also multiply one hundredfold.

The effrontery of Adolph Hitler and his scientists could not have realised success with their `Flying bombs’ of World War II on London, as the perpetrators of this attack disrupted the respective halcyon of two major cities in the USA.

These well-planned and coordinated terrorist attacks, indicate that Islamic fundamentalists have taken their protest action, and fatalistic abandon to it, to a higher level. Images of bearded ragtag militants brandishing AK47 assault rifles fighting a protracted conflict in an inhospitable desert environment, and hijacking airliners in the Middle East at most, are with a jolt, rewritten.

With all sympathies to victims of the disaster, American Foreign Policy and the efforts of the United Nations Security Council need to be reviewed where the discomfiture of Islamic conflicts exist in the Middle East.

Charles Kindleberger, in his version of hegemonic stability theory, recognised that the US economic and political power at the end of World War II, helped create, institutionalise and enforce principles in the international political economy. One example of such is Zionism, i.e. the movement for the establishment of a Jewish homeland, now linked to the defence of the interests and territorial integrity of Israel. This was seemingly done with the USA’s innate interest of creating and having a stable market for its military industrial complex and an ally in the Middle East, during the Cold War, when Egypt’s Abdel Gamel Nasser espoused his theories of Non-Alignment. The resulting inconvenience of Palestinians has invoked the wrath of the Islamic world and fundamentalist groups in particular. An acceptable solution to this conflict to the Palestinian people, will defuse the passions for such terrorists attacks. The next attack with or without the existence of Osama bin Laden, in a few years or decades to come, may utilise the same vintage US strategic planning capabilities, but possibly utilising nuclear weapons from some insecure depot in Russia, Pakistan or India. The recent suicide bombings in Gaza, has shown how determined and desperate Islamic militants are to realise their objectives and should serve as a warning as to the price they are willing to pay. It can inevitably mean the end of the USA’s hegemony, and the birth of a new one as, say, an integrated European Union, that is, if the world still exists.

As the US amasses its military forces, encouraging the `Vietnam Syndrome’ in strategising whether to use land forces in the anticipated conflict, and regard the possibility of increasing the employ of human security personnel in operations, one wonders what this means to developing countries like Guyana.

A proactive approach to terrorism will certainly mean the resuscitation and/or expansion of covert USA external security agency relationships with intelligence units and militaries of sovereign nation states, employing personnel from these domestic agencies as informants on human resources of these states. The negative attribute is the apotheosis of these personnel who create an institutionalised subculture of prejudice and elitism, that is as evil as any terrorism. The Pinochet dictatorship in Chile and Noriega’s fulsomeness in Panama, are extreme examples.

Stricter migration policies and screening processes as pursued by the Tory Government of Margaret Thatcher, can reduce the success rates of developing world peoples migrating to the developing world to earn meaningful purchasing power. Remittances contribute the most in the consumerism of developing countries.

The recent critical issue of criminal deportees of developing world nationalities, will certainly be treated with renewed vigour, expedience and intolerance by US authorities. The problem of the severity of criminal activities increasing with the difficulties in monitoring such egocentric characters back home without any worthwhile engagements is understandable.

Developing world governments can become skeptical of exploiting non-traditional trading arrangements with those nations deemed as rogue states. The attempt by the Windward Islands leaders to preserve and secure banana markets with Libya, is now under question, for example.

The psyche of the perpetrators of these terrorist acts is no different than the `Trench Warfare’ psyche we Guyanese harbour when bureaucrats resort to isntitutionalised discrimination to preserve their own ends or the arsonists set to destroy blocks in the city. The actions in the US were only calculated and of a different magnitude.

During the shock of the attacks in the USA someone would have cried or lamented to the effect:

“Imagine there is no country,
And no religion too,
Nothing to live or die for,
Just the brotherhood of man.” --John Lennon, 1970

Attorney-at-Law Mr. Anil Nandlall appeared on his behalf and was told the AG has to justify the imprisonment as lawful.

Doobay is alleging that he is being imprisoned although the cases against him were dismissed and his constitutionally guaranteed rights to personal liberty and a fair trial within reasonable time are being contravened.

The 26-year-old convict said the Court records related to charges of larceny and possession of narcotics had disappeared.

Attorney-at-law Mr. Darshan Ramdhani, who is representing Doobay, has petitioned for an order compelling the Director of Prisons to forthwith release the inmate and damages in excess of $100,000.

Further hearing by the judge is fixed for Thursday.

Commission calls for more awareness of disabilities
THE National Commission on Disability has called on all Guyanese to heighten their awareness on issues relating to the topic.

Persons interacting with the disabled must do so in a respectful and understanding manner, on the approach of December 3, which is designated International Day of Disabled Persons, a release said.

It challenged people to use common sense and treat the disabled with respect and dignity, realising they have the same obligations to meet as anyone else and, maybe, with much more effort.

Noting that disability has long been ignored by most Guyanese, the statement said: “For far too long, people have remained silent on the issue, which, by a twist of fate, could become a part of our personal lives.

“In moving into the 21st Century, Guyanese must become more aware of things pertaining to disability and the physically challenged,” the statement said.

The National Commission on Disability was established in 1997 and is partially funded by Central Government.

Its objectives include promoting the rights of persons with disabilities as well as developing and implementing programmes to ensure the equalisation of opportunities for them within the set policy framework.

Deported from Cayenne
DENROY Hinds, 22, of Lot 45 Princes Street, Lodge, has been deported back here from Cayenne, French Guiana.

A release from Police Headquarters, Eve Leary, also in Georgetown, said he returned on August 28 after serving 18 months in the French prison for trafficking in narcotics.

Hinds had left Guyana illegally, for Suriname in June 1999 and entered Cayenne subsequently.

He was arrested on February 4, 2000, the release said.

Bank robbery murder case Defence Counsels complete addresses
LEADING State Prosecutor Candace Raphael will address the jury in the bank robbery murder case this morning.

She will follow the last of the two Defence Counsel, Mr. Darshan Ramdhani and Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan, who addressed the jurors before Justice Jainarayan Singh yesterday.

Maurice Teixeira, Rabindranauh Singh, Nizam Mohamed and Patrick Gunraj remain indicted for the unlawful killing of Police Corporal Richard Faikall, who was shot dead during the $49.5M heist at the Anna Regina, Essequibo Coast branch of Guyana National Co-operative Bank (GNCB) on November 1, 1997.

Toolsie Persaud alias ‘Dougla Alfred’, who allegedly masterminded the crime, was freed of the capital offence but secured bail on the other count of the indictment.

Ramdhani is representing Mohamed and Ramjattan is appearing for Singh.

Both lawyers yesterday referred to the identification evidence of the Prosecution witnesses and said it contained contradictions and conflicts not trustworthy to be used for conviction.

Ramdhani and Ramjattan said the witnesses had not only contradicted themselves but each other, as well.

Some said the bandits were masked while others said they were able to identify the accused because they were unmasked and counsel urged acceptance of the individual alibi defences.

The Prosecution had presented an extremely weak case with very grave doubts which should be resolved in favour of the prisoners, the lawyers said.

Gift Centre thief jailed
NOEL Brack (no address given) was jailed for one year yesterday, after he admitted stealing from Gift Centre at Hadfield Street and Boyle Place in Georgetown.

He stole perfume, key rings, teddy bears, glass sets and other things to the total value of $117,570, Magistrate Cecil Sullivan was told before imposing the punishment.

Marcel Fordyce had secured her business premises on September 27 but received a telephone call the following day prior to discovering that the merchandise was missing.

Illegal gun defendant granted bail
MAGISTRATE Cecil Sulivan yesterday granted bail, in the sum of $65,000, to illegal gun defendant, Ramkarran, of Lot 109-110, New Hope, East Bank Demerara.

Particulars of the charge said Ramkarran was in possession of a .38 ‘Rossi’ revolver and 14 matching rounds of ammunition without a valid licence when Police raided his home on September 30.

The weapon and the bullets were found in a bedroom of the house, Police said.

The case will be called again on October 9.

This fact is becoming more apparent as the inauguration of the Free Trade Area of the Americas approaches.

Arguably, the disruption of financial and commercial flows which followed the recent terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, reinforces the need for CARICOM to diversify its trade links and the new road can be a vital asset in this regard.

For the road to become a reality, however, Guyana must spearhead the planning and implementation effort and this will require the government to devise a comprehensive development plan which establishes construction of the highway as a priority.

In fact, a prerequisite to the pursuit of a project of this magnitude is the need for consensus on the country's development priorities.

Unfortunately, because of deep political divisions, which arise from divergent views among the various racial groups and the political parties that represent them, as to the development model to be adopted, physical and infra-structural development is being achieved in a haphazard manner and at an inordinately slow pace.

In fact, there has been a surfeit of new infrastructure since the coastal highway upgrade; the construction of the toll highway from Soesdyke to the bauxite mining town of Linden; construction of the high-span bridge over the Canje River; and construction of the Demerara Harbour Bridge by the PNC led governments of the 1960's, 70's and 80's.

In a letter to the Editor which was published in the Barbados Advocate of the 7th August 2001 under the caption "Guyana a key player" and reproduced in the Guyana Chronicle on that same day and the Stabroek News on August 9th, I advanced the notion that construction of the Guyana/Brazil highway is potentially a vital step in the establishment of diversified trading links between CARICOM and the prospective FTAA member states in South America.

Coincidentally, an expansive and well reasoned editorial which appeared in the Stabroek News of Wednesday August 15th 2001, reinforced many of the views expressed in my letter.

CARICOM and Guyana received an important vote of confidence from the international community, when Japan offered to make a US$4M contribution to the cost of constructing a headquarters building for the CARICOM Secretariat in Georgetown.

This gesture reinforces a view that the region is of great strategic importance.

Finally, I should like to express the view that it is a great pity that circumstances did not permit Barbados, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago to pursue sub-regional integration under the Manning Initiative.

There is a natural fit between Trinidad and Tobago's energy resources and relatively well developed manufacturing capacity; Guyana's natural resources, abundance of land for agriculture and strategic geographic position; and Barbados' human and financial resources.

There is neat compatibility between the resource bases of the three countries, which would have allowed development grounded in strengths.

It is conceivable that an important ingredient of the Manning Initiative would have been the subscription by Guyana, of land for agriculture.

The value of this land could then be used to pay off some of the credits which had been advanced to Guyana by Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados, as well as for equity subscription in multi-national commercial enterprises.
WILTON A. ANGOY

TUC must put its house in order
I NOTED that the TUC has embarked on a plan to identify and bring to the public, corruption in the government.

A noble endeavour indeed. I believe that corruption must be identified, its eradication aimed for, even if we realise that there will never be a government devoid of corruption.

Two things are troubling to me.

Firstly, is this a TUC guise for harassing government officials? Is this a thinly veiled attempt to justify giving the administration "a hard time"?

The activities of the unions in the 1960s to bring the country to a standstill are well known.

Then they "shut down the country" after a free a fair election in which the PPP won at the polls.

And when we think of the role the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) has played since 1992 in collaboration with the PNC, the latest pronouncement by the TUC smacks of political attempts to destabilise the government and the country.

Secondly, has the TUC put its own house in order?

Has it dealt with its lack of democracy in the way it runs the union body? Has it instituted accountability among its officers?

Has it dealt with GAWU and NACCIE and their reasons for breaking away from the TUC? Has it dealt with corruption among its officers?

Unless the TUC put its own house in order and can show reform within its ranks along the lines or transparency and accountability, unless it can show that it is independent of the political machinations of the PNC, it will lack the moral and ethical support it needs, to spotlight corruption among public officials.
ROHAN SOOKLALL

Apparent language problems
A NEW doctor at the Leguan Cottage Hospital seems to have problems performing his duties properly.

He cannot speak and understand English properly.

The question is why does the Ministry of Health send doctors who do not seem to be able to cope with language problems into rural areas?

The patients there also have the right to full examination.
WORRIED

Free ride problems
I WRITE regarding the letter of Hotel Tower Accounts employee Sharon Douglas headed `Disappointed with payment' in the Guyana Chronicle of Monday, September 24, 2001.

When I got my copy of her letter, I replied to Ms. Douglas, who worked three years in my time running Hotel Tower.

Severance pay is often not a clear cut and dried matter as Mr. Ram suggests.

In the letter you published Ms. Douglas wrote "he (Mr. Ram) mentioned that the move was not a racial one to which I agreed at first".

I am not able to say if Mr. Ram really is racial or not, but I can say I myself never saw or heard him behave in that manner.

But I believe that I do know a factor that made Ms. Douglas give that possibility consideration.

The staff member in her department, who resigned to go abroad in February 2001 in exactly the same circumstances Ms. Douglas, received all his severance pay, as was normal.

He is Indian/Guyanese. She is African/Guyanese and she resigned with full expectation of her same full pay, since Mr. Ram never advised staff he was changing severance policy.

It is a sad fact in today's Guyana, but that is enough to get people started on a `racial' track.

I did feel disappointed and found it ironical that she, of all staff, should ever consider that racism could be the root of her difficulty.

To explain, I quote a part of my letter of August 23 to her:

"When you started working in Accounts five years ago I distinctly recall congratulating Mr. Bandoo for his success in finding an African-Guyanese that was best qualified for such a job there.

"Traditionally few African-Guyanese applied to work in Accounts and the best applicant was always Indian-Guyanese. A wrong impression was created to our suppliers or any other entering the department by the resulting Indian-Guyanese staff.

"Yet the strict-non-discrimination policy in force precluded Mr. Bandoo from denying the job to the best-qualified applicant, applying reverse discrimination, because we had a problem to solve. It was a tough one for Mr. Bandoo to solve.

"Further, the quiet and efficient manner in which you always conducted yourself on the job constantly proved that the position was filled based on merit and made you an employee of special regard in the hotel".

The other aspect is her statement "I spoke with Mr. Hughes on the matter. Mr. Hughes informed me that since I was not a union member he has no say."

In my letter to Ms. Douglas, I wrote, "I must tell you also that I am appalled at the union's position in your matter.

"I am sure that Mr Gordon Todd looked on from wherever the good people go and shook his head in dismay.

"Mr. Todd would never have allowed this to pass. He would have asked you to pay the union dues to date for that year, made you a member, and then see to it that your severance was paid in full."

I experienced that in other types of employee problems with Mr. Todd a number of times.

The unions do face problems in that some workers look for a `free ride' or just do not appreciate the value of the union until their help is required.

When I ran Hotel Tower all employees were treated the same, and I did not know who was or wasn't a `union member' most of the time.

So non-union members working there did get a `free ride'.

But I found it interesting how Mr. Todd turned it around to serve the worker and gain a member and Mr. Hughes in the same circumstance makes an enemy. Why?

I hope this provides a more complete picture for your readers.

Ms. Douglas should receive her full severance pay in due course.
RICHARD HUMPHREY

Satisfactory answers needed
MR. SYLVESTER Carmichael, so anxious to exhibit his obvious acquaintance with aspects of the aluminum industry, has rushed to lecture on lateral and diagonal integrated sectors of aluminum production the world over.

I am fully aware of Mr. Carmichael's attachment with the local bauxite industry and am prepared to defer to his particular familiarity with aspects of administration regarding the exportation of our bauxite, etc. (Stabroek News, September 29, 2001).

However, I am equally in awe of Mr. Carmichael's failure to grasp the significance of alluding to the fact that ALCAN, a substantial global conglomerate, owned and controlled the local subsidiary Demerara Bauxite Company.

The profitable non-integrated companies cited by Mr. Carmichael are not in dispute.

What is being questioned is the ability of any entity desirous of running our Kwakwani/Everton complex to garner sufficient funding to efficiently undertake the production of bauxite.

Since Mr. Carmichael seems to be promoting the interests of the workers/owners group, prudence will dictate that satisfactory answers be given to the anticipated financial needs of the group, working capital, capital expenditure, reserve funds, etc.

The seriousness of any proposal will be judged by the response to these questions.

It must also be remembered that the trustees responsible for ensuring that our nation's God-given natural assets are protected cannot afford to squander any further our potential wealth.

We must be reasonably assured about the capacity of any would-be investor to successfully manage the operation.
DAVID DEGROOT

Just peace required
IN THE aftermath of the attack on the World Trade Center we have heard Mr. Bush saying that this has been an attack on democracy and on the freedom-loving world.

But what he is not talking about is why these people would go through such great difficulties in order to carry out these attacks in which their own lives would also end.

I agree with Mr. Shahabudin McDoom who wrote a letter in the Guyana Chronicle on September 20, 2001 saying that America needs to get to the root of the problem and not dwell on attacking innocent people in Afghanistan.

The root of the problem lies in Palestine and there can be no stability until a just peace is reached giving the Palestinians the right to self-determination, the right to their own independent state and the return of all occupied Arab lands.

The U.S. must look at its foreign policy considering that its maintenance of political, economic, cultural, technical and military support of Israel helps it to continue its usurpation of Palestine and the national inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.

Israel persists in flouting the will of the international community and U.N. resolutions, and it is encouraged to pursue its expansionist, colonialist and racist policy based on aggression.

These people have lived their entire lives in refugee camps where hunger, disease and death are day to day norms - all because of no crime they committed.

Until the U.S. decides to attend to these issues there would be no peace in the Middle East.

Another issue is that the Afghan leaders have asked America for proof of Bin Ladin's involvement to which they have not replied; instead they ordered 100 fighter planes to the Gulf.

This doesn't solve anything.
Y. PERSAUD

Smoke, aroma problem
SOME citizens of Happy Acres who live along the canal facing Atlantic Gardens, East Coast Demerara, are most inconsiderate and obviously disorganised.

Two of them usually light large fires at the rear of the building which produce a pungent aroma and black smoke.

The wind takes across the aroma and smoke in Atlantic Gardens.

This affects our health, makes our babies ill, pregnant women suffer, and our evenings are made uncomfortable.

The Neighbourhood Council of Better Hope now works. It collects garbage once weekly.

All those causing the problems in Happy Cares have to do is organise their collection.

Also they can pay a donkey cart man in the area a few dollars to cart their garbage away safely.

If this practice is not stopped, I will video tape and expose the irritants and with others take court action.

On one occasion I went across and spoke to the people but they persist.
ROSHAN KHAN

Barbados, Antigua & Barbuda clash in Zone B opener
By Frederick Halley
ZONE B of the 2001 Red Stripe Bowl regional limited overs cricket tournament starts here today at the Uitvlugt Community Development Centre ground with Barbados opposing Antigua & Barbuda, who are making their debut as a separate team.

A lot of pride will be at stake as Antigua and Barbuda, extracted from the Leeward Islands grouping for this year's Bowl, seek to justify their long-standing claim to go it alone in regional competitions.

Both teams have stuck to their proven players with Barbados being led by former West Indies vice-captain Sherwin Campbell and Antigua & Barbuda by former Test player Dave Joseph.

Campbell, who is aiming to regain his place in the West Indies team, made a welcome return to cricket recently following an injury to his right shoulder that required surgery.

Apart from Campbell, there are several regular faces such as Test players - wicketkeeper Courtney Browne, fast bowlers Pedro Collins and Corey Collymore, batsmen Adrian Griffith, Floyd Reifer and Philo Wallace - along with all-rounder Hendy Bryan, who appeared in limited-overs matches for the West Indies.

Three graduates of the Shell Cricket Academy - all-rounder Ryan Hinds, tall and lanky left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn and middle order batsman Kurt Wilkinson - will be eager to exhibit their skills following their three-month stint in Grenada.

Benn, Wilkinson and all-rounder Ryan Nurse, who has also been included in the West Indies 20-man squad preparing for next year's Youth World Cup in New Zealand, are making their first appearances in the regional limited overs tournament.

Antigua & Barbuda coach John Archibald feels his charges have a good chance of not only advancing to the Final Four in Jamaica but also capturing the coveted title because of their all-round abilities.

West Indies vice-captain Ridley Jacobs, who was nursing a minor injury to one of his fingers, is fully fit and apart from his wicket-keeping duty, is expected to be a key figure in the batting department.

Skipper Dave Joseph, who played four Tests against Australia two years ago in the Caribbean, Sylvester Joseph, with West Indies one-day experience, openers Wilden Cornwall, Earl Waldron and Amwaa Prince, middle order batsmen Sean Bailey, Gregg Skepple and Ian Tittle are the players Antigua & Barbuda are banking on for big totals.

West Indies fast medium bowler Kerry Jeremy spearheads the pace attack which also includes Ricky Christopher, Goldwin Prince and the burly Curtis Roberts.

Cornwall is also a useful medium fast bowler while all-rounder Anthony Lake is the lone specialist spinner in the side.

Teams:
Barbados (from) - Sherwin Campbell (captain), Sulieman Benn, Ian Bradshaw, Courtney Browne, Hendy Bryan, Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Adrian Griffith, Ryan Hinds, Ryan Nurse, Floyd Reifer, Dale Richards, Philo Wallace, Kurt Wilkinson.

Antigua & Barbuda (from) - Dave Joseph (captain), Ridley Jacobs, Earl Waldron, Amwaa Prince, Sylvester Joseph, Sean Bailey, Gregg Skepple, Ian Tittle, Wilden Cornwall, Anthony Lake, Ricky Christopher, Kerry Jeremy, Goldwin Prince, Curtis Roberts.

Robin Hood edge Bakewell Topp XX to take Omai Gold Cup final
DUTCH side Robin Hood edged out Upper Demerara’s Bakewell Topp XX 1-0 to capture the Omai Gold Cup football competition, which culminated on Sunday at the GFC ground, Bourda.

City side Fruta Conquerors earned themselves the third spot by earlier defeating Swiss House Real Victoria Kings by a similar margin on the double-header card.

The final started at a modest pace with both sides battling for midfield dominance, although the locals concentrated their attack down the centre in an attempt to find the competition’s top goalscorer Matthew Pollard.

However, tight marking by the Surinamese, along with the offside trap prevented Pollard from gaining useful ground. Robin Hood displayed patience, waiting to capitalise on their opponents’ bad passing and launching counterattacks with the long pass.

In one such instance, Guyanese Delon Glen, formerly of Thomas United, displayed good ball control and instantly fired a low and well-placed shot only to have his goal disallowed by a waving offside flag.

The second segment began at a much quicker pace with the Dutch side taking the initiative.

A long ball down the left flank resulted in an aerial cross that was deflected for a corner kick from the right. The resulting cross saw the Topp XX goalkeeper slow to react with a two-fisted punch that resulted in the game’s only goal, from a defence error in the 49th minute.

Desperate to score the equaliser, Topp XX, in their continuous attack, mostly down the left flank, drew three consecutive corners, which were not converted.

The third place match resulted in a goalless first half with both teams wasting several chances.

Displaying more composure and superior technique, Conquerors forced the opposing custodian Osmond Jeune into overtime work in the second segment.

The winning goal however, did not materialise until the 84th minute when the overlapping wing defender, guest player Orville Bobb, struck a low powerful right-booter from 25 metres out.

Omai’s Human Resources Manager Norman McLean presented the winners’ trophy and $300 000 to Robin Hood’s captain Malcolm Weibolt, while DDL’s Surendra Ramsagar handed over the runner-up trophy and $150 000 to Topp XX.

The prize for the third-placed team was presented by Mr. McRae of Ram and McRae while Peter Peroune of Mines Services handed over the fourth prize.

Before the final game, the finalists were met by McLean; Ramsagar; Guyana Football Federation vice-president Winston Callender; Georgetown Football League president Christopher Matthias and Mayor Hamilton Green.

Untouchables cart off Mike’s Pharmacy Champion of Champions title
BERBICE’S Untouchables stoutly defended their modest score of 74 to dismiss Demerara’s Presid