President-Corbin debate in limbo
By Sharief Khan
THE proposed public debate between President Bharrat Jagdeo and Opposition Leader Robert Corbin is in limbo with the PNCR Leader setting pre-conditions and the Office of the President claiming he was dodging the encounter.

Both men have said that they are willing to publicly debate each other at any time and place but Mr. Corbin wants to be guaranteed equitable access to the state media before going into a debate with the President.

Corbin’s PNCR (People’s National Congress Reform) set out the pre-conditions in a press release issued over the weekend which last night drew a sharp response from Mr. Robert Persaud, Information Liaison to the President.

He charged that Corbin was “now dodging from a public debate with (the) President” and the PNCR’s talk about his “willingness” to accept the debate challenge was “now turning out to be just a political bluff.” 

“The Office of the President has made it clear that the President of Guyana has no preconditions for the debate and is willing to publicly debate the Leader of the Opposition at any time, place and on any topic,” Persaud said.

The Office of the President had proposed January 28 for the debate and the presidential spokesman said it was up to the PNCR to either accept or propose a new date. 

“The PNCR is now on an exercise to justify dodging from the public debate. The issues set as pre-conditions do not have material bearing on the actual debate being held. Many of the matters set as preconditions for the debate are in fact agenda items for the impending political re-engagement between the government and the opposition”, Persaud said.

The PNCR, which early last year scuttled structured dialogue between the President and its leader, said it “will neither be dictated to nor lured into any propaganda campaign of the (governing) PPP/C (People’s Progressive Party/Civic).”

It said the unilateral Office of the President announcement of a date for the debate confirmed its “previously stated assessment that this proposal is part of the PPP/C’s usual gimmickry and infantile behaviour.”

Corbin has already publicly stated his willingness to “debate the President anywhere, any time and on any national subject”, it said, adding that party General Secretary, Oscar Clarke, “clearly outlined the pre-conditions for such an engagement” in response to an invitation from Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon.

Clarke told Luncheon that “public engagements between the President and the Leader of the Opposition should not be a periodic event to be invoked at the convenient behest of the President” but should be a regular feature of a functioning democracy.

“In this regard, the agreement on equitable access to the State media offers a useful medium for the Leader of the Opposition to respond on a regular basis to issues raised in the public domain by the President”, he said in his letter.

“In finalising any arrangement for the proposed engagement, therefore, the PNCR insists that such an engagement must be preceded by the implementation of this agreement and an undertaking that access to the state media by the Leader of the Opposition be a continuous feature of public life.

In addition, Mr. Corbin proposes that the subject matter of any engagement must in addition to those mentioned in your letter dated December 23, 2004, include issues such as Inclusive governance, the escalating drug trade and money laundering and the crime and security situation”, Clarke told Luncheon.

The PNCR said that after it was advised of the proposed January 28 debate date, Clarke told Luncheon the party expected that the “anxiety to fix a date for the debate is matched by their willingness to speedily implement the…pre-conditions.”

Persaud said the Office of the President had written several letters to the PNCR urging it to name its representatives to resume the structured talks after former United States President Jimmy Carter visited here in August last year.

“It was not until January 5, 2005, some five months after the former U.S. President left, that the main opposition party decided to name its representatives” he said.

President Carter had called for a resumption of the talks and an end to the “political wars” here.

Young Essequibo mother brutally murdered
-- cut hair stuffed in her mouth
THE swollen body of a 26-year-old mother of two was discovered in a swampy area on the Bounty Hall foreshore in Essequibo yesterday afternoon.

Relatives said Brandel Blake was reported missing on Saturday and they began a search for her.

Her mother, sister, brothers and other close relatives continued the search yesterday and they found her body in a clump of bushes in the swampy area.

She was wearing only a pair of blue jeans and was lying face down in mud, relatives said.

There were several marks of violence on her body and her hair had been cut and stuffed in her mouth, they said.

Relatives said they were told that she was last seen Saturday morning on the foreshore with her husband.

The brutal murder has shocked residents of Bounty Hall, Better Success and Dartmouth.

Hundreds turned up at the scene after news of the discovery of the body spread.

Her grieving mother Janet Blake said Brandel was a “very quiet” person and her murder has deeply shocked the family.
(RAJENDRA PRABHULALL)

A face to watch
EUROPEAN Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, who was here last week and heard concerns about the serious implications for Guyana’s sugar sector from proposed EU policy changes, is one of 10 faces NEWSWEEK magazine says should be watched this year.

The U.S. weekly magazine says Mandelson is among the 10 leaders, scientists, executives and artists who will be at the forefront of long-term and short, sharp and dramatic changes this year.

Here’s the NEWSWEEK profile on a figure Guyana and other countries in the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) bloc will also be keeping close to this year:

“A lesser person than Peter Mandelson would have packed it in a long time ago. Nobody in British Prime Minister Tony Blair's inner circle is more controversial.

He's been a punching bag for Labour Party rebels ever since he and Blair oversaw the transformation of old-style-socialist Labour into the business-friendly vote-getting machine it is today. Party reform was "jungle warfare," as he once put it to NEWSWEEK, and he made many enemies.

Blair twice appointed him to his cabinet - and twice he resigned under fire for alleged conflicts of interest. Yet as of November he's back as European Union trade commissioner, the biggest job he's ever had.

Not bad for the man they used to call "minister sinister".

In the land of limos, luxury and red-carpet perks - and away from the dog-eat-dog arena of Westminster politics - Mandelson, 51, is definitely in his element.

"It's nicer being in Brussels than in London," he acknowledged in a telephone interview conversation. "I wanted a change of oxygen, a change of scene."

He's got it, but the Brussels job comes with its own set of challenges. Mandelson will be Europe's point man on China, which threatens European jobs while offering vast trade opportunities to the EU.

In 2005 Britain holds the EU presidency (for six months) and is chairing the G8. Blair is committed to improving trade conditions for Africa, and Mandelson will try to help him push through that agenda.

Also, says a British government minister, the new trade commissioner may find himself at odds with his beloved United States if Washington, running huge budget deficits, reverts to more protectionist policies at Europe's expense.

In London, Mandelson was known for his sharp elbows and open-door access to Blair. He's a very quick study and can turn on toughness or charm as required.

Whether these qualities will serve him well in Brussels or in high councils of global trade remains to be seen.

From afar, his enemies at home will watch his every move, no doubt hoping the reborn Mandelson will stumble.

Right now he looks unsinkable -again.

Indonesia reassures tsunami aid workers after gunfire
By Achmad Sukarsono and Dan Eaton
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, (Reuters) - Indonesia tried to reassure Western aid relief workers after a brief gunfire incident yesterday in the major tsunami aid base of Banda Aceh raised concern for their safety.

"The security operation conducted by Indonesia's military and police will protect, secure the humanitarian efforts," Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told reporters to allay concerns for the safety of the hundreds of Western aid workers pouring in.

Indonesia's military beefed up security in Aceh amid confusion over the shooting. Some officials blamed separatist rebels, and others said a disturbed government soldier had fired the shots. No one was hurt.

The incident took place outside a deputy police chief's house and near the main U.N. aid office in the capital of a province where almost all of Indonesia's 104,000 deaths from the tsunami occurred.

The tsunami -- the most widespread natural disaster in living memory -- killed at least 156,000 people in 13 countries around the Indian Ocean two weeks ago, drawing emergency relief from throughout the world.

"You have to proceed with due caution. This has been and is a zone of conflict," Aly-Kahn Rajami, programme manager of CARE International said after the shooting.

GOVERNMENT PROBE
But Joel Boutroue, U.N. coordinator for Sumatra and chief of U.N. operations in Aceh, said: "We don't believe relief workers are targets. I don't see at this stage any hampering of our movement."

Indonesia's chief social welfare minister Alwi Shihab said the government was investigating. He said the military had ordered a high alert because of possible infiltration by people wary of the foreigners' presence.

There have been reports of militant Islamic groups moving into the province aiming to counter any use of the disaster by Western aid groups to push a Christian agenda.

In Sri Lanka, where 30,000 people died, President Chandrika Kumaratunga told BBC television that with reconstruction starting on Jan. 15, "we can certainly welcome tourists in three months, maximum four".

In New York, Carol Bellamy, executive director of UNICEF, the world body's children organisation, said health officials were moving against a possible outbreak of measles.

"There are some very small numbers of cases of measles that have been identified," she told CBS's "Face the Nation". "We need also to be worried about things like cholera or diarrhoea and therefore children becoming dehydrated.

"The good news is to date there has not been any major outbreak of disease," she added.

$5 BILLION IN AID
A huge undersea earthquake off the Aceh coast triggered the tsunami on Dec. 26. Waves also killed 15,000 in India, more than 5,000 in Thailand and others in the Maldives, Myanmar, Bangladesh and several east African nations.

Governments and agencies pledged more than $5 billion in aid. Companies and individuals promised $1.5 billion more. Rich nations promised on Friday to suspend debt repayments by tsunami-hit nations, which may free resources for rebuilding.

U.S. President George W. Bush urged Americans to keep opening their wallets.

In Sri Lanka, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the government should use the world's support to heal the country's ethnic divisions and end a civil war with Tamil rebels.

The government stopped him visiting tsunami-hit areas in the rebel-held north and east on Saturday.

"The world wants to help Sri Lanka," he said. "I hope Sri Lanka would use the support and the goodwill, not only to recover from this tragedy but as an opportunity to unite in the work for peace."

Around 7,500 foreign tourists are dead or unaccounted for, most of them in Thailand, where German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer visited a makeshift mortuary. International forensic experts are trying to identify bodies there.

In Australia, researchers said the Earth was still shaking from the earthquake off Aceh, the most powerful for 40 years.

"These are not things that are going to throw you off your chair," said Australian National University researcher Herb McQueen, "but it is certainly above the background level of vibrations that the earth is normally accustomed to."

Scientists say the quake may also have permanently sped the Earth's rotation -- shortening days by a fraction of a second.

(Additional reporting by Dan Eaton and Achmad Sukarsono in Banda Aceh, Simon Gardner in Colombo, Ed Cropley in Bangkok, Crispian Balmer in Krabi, Dayan Candappa in Male)

Kuru Kururu murder:
Victims deny police ID parade report
THE mother-in-law of the murdered Kuru Kururu, Soesdyke/Linden Highway restaurateur yesterday said she and her daughter did not attend a police identification parade of the detained men in the murder.

Li Ke Chao was shot dead during a robbery at his eating house last week Sunday night.

Another newspaper yesterday claimed that Chao's mother-in-law Thelma Pearson and her daughter attended the police identification parade.

Pearson said that after a second police visit to the crime scene the day after the murder, they were still awaiting word about the case.

"We will let the police do their work and apprehend the bandits and not interfere because we know he is already dead," she said.

Ms. Pearson noted that it was difficult to recognise the gunmen because they were masked and she was too terrified to look into their faces that fateful night.

She said they had no contact with the police after she buried her son-in-law on Friday.

Meanwhile, the dead man's wife, Rebeeca Zhang and their 10-year-old daughter are still trying to come to grips with the violent death of their loved one.

Last week Sunday night, at about 20:30 hrs, five masked and armed men barged into the Village Chinese Restaurant at Kuru Kururu and shot Li Ke Chao, 42, in the abdomen and leg after taking the day's sales of $30,000 and a camera from the couple's bedroom which adjoins the small eating house.

His wife and her mother were also robbed of their clothing.

Several customers were robbed of about $2,000 in cash.

The police yesterday said several persons were still being questioned in connection with the murder as investigations continue.

NARI experimenting with spice cultivation
SPICE cultivation is among the non-traditional crops being experimented by the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), located at Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara.

According to Director, Dr Oudho Homenauth field tests will be carried out on this crop during this year.

NARI has been doing a number of experiments on various crops, new to Guyana.

Research is also ongoing in developing ant baits from natural substances, as an alternative to synthetic ones in current use.

Homenauth told the Chronicle that better agronomic practices and improved technology and varieties led to a significant increase in the production of non-traditional crops.

He noted too that most of what NARI planned for last year was achieved, while several innovative projects and initiatives are earmarked to be implemented during this year.

The establishment of a research facility and nursery at Lesbeholden, Black Bush Polder last year has boosted the capacity of the community to significantly increase agricultural production, Dr.Homenauth observed, adding that in Region Nine (Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo), a livestock breeding facility and a plant nursery has also been established there giving farmers an opportunity to expand and diversify agricultural activities.

There has been an expansion of organic agricultural activities which has seen increased cultivation of both organic cocoa in Region One.

(Barima/Waini) and pineapple in Region Two (Pomeroon/Charity).

Organic cocoa being cultivated in Region One is exported to Europe for the production of chocolate, while the organic pineapples from Region Two are processed into chunks and exported to Europe and North America. NARI has been actively promoting transfer of agricultural technology to farmers as well, and in this regard, the NARI Director said the mobile demonstration facility acquired from the Government of India is being used to train farmers in the techniques of adding value to agricultural produce.

`Creeping tsunami’ threatens small island states
-- CARICOM to raise issues at Mauritius meeting
LAST month’s tsunami disaster in the Western Pacific and Indian oceans is a stark reminder of the vulnerability of small island developing states (SIDS) to natural and man-made disasters, according to Counterpart International, a Washington-based development organisation.

President of the group, Mr. Lelei LeLaulu, said small island states are constantly facing the "creeping tsunami" of sea level rise.

This "creeping tsunami", he said, is man-made by carbon emissions produced from fossil fuels which lead to global climate change and rising sea levels.

"The south Asian tsunami is a reminder of how vulnerable life is on small islands. The waves swept over many of them in the Indian Ocean, destroying all infrastructure and cutting off communications. There were no airstrips for relief planes to land, no jetties for ships to dock," said LeLaulu, also chairman of the Foundation of the Peoples of the South Pacific.

Just as with the ever-increasing hurricanes, global warming and sea level rise put islanders at even greater risk, he said. Sea water encroaches on the water tables even without tidal waves washing over low-lying islands, he added.

"Small island states need access to the tools needed to build protection for themselves to mitigate deadly damage caused by natural and man-made disasters. The Mauritius conference is a wonderful place for the richer countries to show their care for the well-being of small islanders," said LeLaulu.

LeLaulu's comments came as the international community prepared for the "International Meeting for the 10-Year Review of the Barbados Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States" opening in Mauritius today.

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary-General Edwin Carrington is leading a team that would coordinate the region’s presence in Mauritius.

The CARICOM Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) at its meeting here last week, was briefed on the region’s preparations for the meeting.

The CARICOM Secretariat said the ministers also noted that the World Conference on Disaster Reduction is to be held in Kobe, Japan, on January 18-22.

They “stressed the need to ensure synergy and convergence between the Kobe and Mauritius processes”, the secretariat said.

The ministers noted the inclusion of trade issues on the Kobe agenda and stressed that the region must participate to the fullest, given the importance of trade to sustainable development, it added.

Day of Prayers for Sunday
The Inter-Religious Organisation of Guyana (IRO) yesterday announced that a Day of Prayers has been planned for Guyana.

According to organiser, Mr. Bhi Collymoore, it will be a collective day of prayers for all religions.

He added that for each of the three religions, priests will also be present to lead followers in prayers.

Mr. Collymoore said that the Day of Prayers will be graced with the presence of several members of the diplomatic corps, recognised denomination leaders of the christain body, muslim brothers and sisters and a renowned Hindu Swami among others invited.

The IRO Trustee reported that the Day of Prayers is expected to begin at 14:00 hrs on Sunday at the Botanical Gardens in Georgetown.

He added that himself and colleague, Mr. Ronald Mc Garrell organised the event in the quest to develop a culture of peace for the new year.

The IRO is inviting all religious organisations and denominations to participate in the programme.

Mr. Collymoore noted that among the activities planned, will be feeding of the needy.

He is encouraging participating religious leaders to take tents, food and beverages with them.

Forest performance
Last year was a good one for the forestry local forestry sector, with most of the set objectives and programmes being achieved.

Commissioner of Forests, James Singh there were notable performances in several areas pertaining to forestry sector, and the momentum would be carried over to this year to ensure that it continues to expand and increase its contribution to the national economy and the development thrust through greater efficiency and increasing the output of value-added products.

Among the major achievements last year were was the the development of draft standards in accordance with international requirement pertaining to the forestry sector which Singh stressed is essential to have access to markets.

The long-term objective the Commissioner said is to move the entire forestry sector towards certification so as to uplift the quality of forestry products and develop sustainable management of forestry resources.

Singh also pointed out that the community forestry programme being promoted by the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) to foster greater participation, involvement of communities and a partnership in the work of the forestry sector has been a success.

According to the Commissioner the th programme is aimed at bring greater harmony between the indigenous communities, where most of the logging operations are located, and the entities that are involved in the forestry sector.

In this regard he disclosed that the GFC was able to broker an agreement between the North Rupununi District Development Logging Company representing 14 Amerindian communities and the Karlam Timber Company.

Singh also disclosed that five new forest exploratory permits were issued last year.

During this year Singh said several areas are scheduled to be tackled including the establishment of a Timber Marketing Council to promote the export of forestry products, locate and secure markets and to standardise prices in accordance with international market prices.; promotion of the lesser used species of wood ; improving the contribution of the forestry sector to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), maximising the utilisation of concessions; increase employment; and increasing efficiency and productivity.

That anticipated public debate
MANY Guyanese at home and abroad are eagerly looking forward to the anticipated public debate between President Bharrat Jagdeo and Opposition Leader, Robert Corbin on January 28.

On Friday, the Government Information Agency (GINA) quoted Information Liaison to the President, Robert Persaud as saying that the Office of the President has proposed the date for the public debate.

The President for quite a while has been saying that he was ready to have a public debate with Mr Corbin following charges about the government's management of the economy and other areas of national life. Now finally, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon has written to the People's National Congress Reform (PNCR) General Secretary, Oscar Clarke, about the President's intention to debate Mr Corbin on any issue including those proposed by him (Clarke). These include the drug trade and money laundering, crime and security and inclusive governance.

The PNCR has been advocating for inclusive governance for a long time and the ruling party had made public a paper on inclusive governance, which had caused a stir among sections of the political opposition parties especially the main opposition. That paper was talked about for quite a while and even President Jagdeo had taken it to the Guyanese population in North America.

Corbin at the party's weekly press conference last Thursday had indicated that he was ready for a debate on " any subject area."

And even as the Office of the President is awaiting a response to its proposed date of the public debate, so that the format and other arrangements can be concluded, many are anxiously awaiting what they describe as 'the debate of the times.' It is hoped that the debate brings out what the populace wants to see and hear.

If the debate is handled like any other debates, then there should be no 'hard feeling' coming out of the discussions. In fact,what persons should look out for in the debate is how well the leaders handle the issues and their level of maturity in dealing with the topics/issues

Many would remember the debate between US President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry his running mate for the presidency in the 2004 elections and the wide media coverage they attracted from around the world. Many commented on how they handled issues put to them and at the end of the election process how, Kerry accepted defeat at the polls. Maturity prevailed all along even among the supporters of both sides.

Since the US is still seen as the 'power house of the world', many people across the globe followed the series of debates and drew their own conclusions based on how each leader answered to questions put to them.

It would be interesting to see a similar format to that of the Bush/Kerry debate for the debate between President Jagdeo and Corbin. The key to the success of the debate would be how the moderator handles it and how alert the leaders are to the questions put to them.

There have been calls for the dialogue between the two leaders be made public and that the discussion should be done in the public's domain. But like any discussions involving a number of persons, there will be disagreements and this would not auger well for Guyanese.

It is anticipated that the debate would make a change to the many problems this nation has been plagued with and that Guyanese would take the information arising out of the debate in good stead for a better Guyana and for taking the country forward.

Both President Jagdeo and Corbin in their new year's address to the nation reiterated their desire to put Guyana first and to work together for all Guyana.

We will have to wait and see the outcome of this anticipated public debate and then draw our conclusions.

2005: Ringing in the Caribbean Single Market?
(Part Two)
By Sir Ronald Sanders
It is time that CARICOM too speaks with one collective voice and through one authoritative voice to the rest of the world.
(The writer is a former Caribbean diplomat, now corporate executive, who publishes widely on the small states in the international community)

A SYSTEM of regional governance of CARICOM’s economic arrangements remains an unsettled question amongst governments.

But, the establishment of such a system is vital to the successful operation of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME).

The governments of Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago are scheduled to start off the Caribbean Single Market at a ceremony “marking compliance” on February 19, 2005 in Guyana.

The prospect is that 10 of the remaining 12 CARICOM countries will join by the end of the year. The Bahamas and Haiti are not expected to be part of the new economic arrangement.

But, already, there are signs that vested interests have begun to undermine the project.

In some circles, particularly those companies that have benefited from protectionist barriers, there is resistance to the idea that companies in one CARICOM country could seek to establish themselves in other CARICOM countries either by acquiring ‘native’ businesses or by competing directly with them.

Yet, this is precisely what the CSME is about. As the West Indian Commission put it in 1992, “the Singe Economy must be a regional economy closely approximating a national economy”.

There should be free movement of goods, services and capital across the area.

In other words, companies have to erase from their minds the idea that there are borders that either prohibit them from selling in CARICOM markets or protect them from competition from other CARICOM firms.

The Caribbean Single Market enlarges the space for both sales and competition. It also allows for mergers and acquisitions within the CARICOM space, permitting companies to become larger, to invest in new technology, and to attract more capital and even to look beyond the CARICOM market for exports.

It is the first measure toward overcoming the ‘smallness’ that has plagued the economic growth of CARICOM states.

How this arrangement is to be governed is a question that has occupied CARICOM Heads of Government since 1989 when they agreed the notion of the CSME.

In 1992, the West Indian Commission had suggested the creation of a Caribbean Commission comprising a President and two Commissioners to exercise full time executive responsibility for implementation of Community decisions and to initiate proposals for community action.

This proposal was not accepted by Heads of Government at the time. Instead, a Bureau of the Heads of Government Conference was created.

INEFFECITVE BUREAU
The Bureau consists of the existing Chairman of the Conference, the outgoing Chairman and the incoming Chairman, and it was charged with managing the affairs of CARICOM in between Conferences of the Heads.

In fact, the Bureau while a useful mechanism for consultation was never empowered to take decisions on behalf of Heads of Government and it could not bind member countries of CARICOM.

Decisions affecting CARICOM remained within the ambit of the Heads of Government Conference and Ministerial Councils where ‘national’ interests tend to dominate. The result was that the regional movement could only advance as fast as its slowest member was willing to proceed.

Then, in February 2003, the CARICOM Heads of Conference held a consultation in Trinidad on the ‘Options for governance to deepen the Integration Process’.

An expert group was appointed, chaired by the Prime Minister of St. Vincent & The Grenadines, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves.

The group made an initial report to another Heads of Government Conference in Jamaica in July 2003. There, the Heads agreed ‘in principle’ to the establishment of a Commission or ‘other executive mechanism’ and asked Prime Minister Gonsalves’ expert group “to elaborate its recommendations” with the assistance of a technical group.

In fact, two technical groups were appointed and, in the course of the following months, submitted reports to Prime Minister Gonsalves who has been a champion of deeper integration.

Since then, CARICOM leaders have not, collectively, considered the matter again.

But, with the Singe Market being started next month by three CARICOM countries and the expectation that 10 others will join by year-end, the issue of how it is to be managed is one that requires urgent attention.

COMMISSION FEAR
The European Union established a European Commission with Commissioners appointed by Heads of Government to implement the decisions of Councils of Ministers and to initiate policy actions on behalf of their member countries as a whole.

The Europeans recognised that if they were to manage both their regional economy and their joint external economic affairs, they required joint machinery that was dedicated to doing so. It has worked for them, and should work for CARICOM.

One thing is for certain: the Single Market and Economy will not advance at the pace that it should to benefit the people of the region, if decisions have to await the slowest member of CARICOM, and if implementation of such decisions does not have devoted and effective machinery.

Of course, the fear in some quarters is that a CARICOM Commission – or whatever the machinery is called – would become a supranational body dictating to national governments the actions they should take.

If this fear continues to exist – even despite the European Union example – there is no reason why CARICOM cannot structure the Commission so that it is accountable to Heads of Government, meeting in Council, and to other Councils of Ministers.

But, the Commission should not be structured so that any one member of CARICOM could exercise a veto or delay the implementation of decisions except in clearly defined areas such as taxation. If decisions have to be unanimous, nothing would have changed.

There should be criteria for weighted voting by member countries applied to each area of the Commission’s work. The weight of the vote could be applied in some cases, though not all, on size of population or particular resources.

WEIGHTED VOTING
Deciding on the criteria for weighted voting will not be easy. This is why it should be tackled now, so that due consideration could be given to it and consensus achieved.

If it is left to the end, it may well become acrimonious and divisive, destroying otherwise well thought-out machinery.

Certainly, two areas of regional integration now cry out for a CARICOM Commission devoted to doing nothing else. They are the Single Market and external economic negotiations.

It should be recalled that unlike any other region in the world, CARICOM is engaged in three sets of difficult negotiations simultaneously – the Economic Partnership Agreements with the EU, the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas, and new trade rules in the World Trade Organisation.

These negotiations require an agreed CARICOM strategy and strong machinery for implementation.

The Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM) has served CARICOM well so far, but the machinery for negotiating has to be more greatly empowered with both authority and resources.

Again, something can be learned from the Europeans. It is the European Commission that conducts the external trade negotiations.

The presence of Peter Mandelson, the EU Trade Commissioner, in Guyana last week to meet CARICOM trade Ministers on the vexed question of the EU’s cut in the price paid for Caribbean sugar, spoke volumes.

Europe had one representative; CARICOM had several. The European message was delivered with clarity and authority. The presence of ministers representing several individual CARICOM countries made no difference.

It is time that CARICOM too speaks with one collective voice and through one authoritative voice to the rest of the world.

A CARICOM Commission – or a similar executive unit – dedicated to overseeing the Single Market, preparing for the Single Economy and managing external economic negotiations should no longer be deferred.

The Bahamas has, so far, stood apart from the plans for the CSME. But, the Bahamas alone cannot face up to the rest of the world. Both the Bahamas and the rest of CARICOM should begin to study ways in which the Bahamas can be accorded ‘special and differential’ treatment within the Single Market and Economy.

It would serve both the interest of the Bahamas and the cohesion of the Caribbean Community.

A basket case
SHE wore a battered sponge slipper and a plain burgundy cotton dress.

Sweat streaming down her face, she kept up the chant: "People’s power, no dictator."

I knew her from the East Coast Demerara. She walked through the streets every weekday, but then with a different refrain: "Fish and shrimps - ah yo come get it gal, nice and fresh."

A huge and overladen wicker basket balanced precariously atop her head and more than once I thought it was a weight that only a very strong man could bear. But she walked from street to street and her only complaint sometimes was about bad weather. (Years ago someone told me that the "shrimps lady" now owns three houses in Richmond Hill, Queens NY. She spends most of her summer just sitting on the porch chatting with other Guyanese immigrants.)

On that day, however, I was a young man sitting on my bicycle (in case I needed a quick escape from PNC political thugs) while she, this Indian woman in her late forties walked in front of a huge procession. Walter Rodney’s funeral march was not an event I wanted to miss!

What a remarkable Afro-Guyanese leader! Dr. Rodney influenced so many, even though their differences appeared so great; shrimp vendors and university lecturers, factory and office workers, straight-hair people, and curly-hair people, dark brown people and just brown people.

To everyone believing in Rodney, these differences had no meaning.

Yet now in Guyana we hear people saying that Indians will vote only for Indians. This generalisation is not true.

When presented with genuine and competent leadership, Indians will rally to that cause, race notwithstanding. The early Working People’s Alliance (WPA) and Dr. Rodney’s immense popularity in Indian communities established this truism.

Accusations of "apan jhat" are a ruse being used by the incompetent leaders in the political opposition to deflect attention from their abysmal record in government.

It is distasteful to imply that you cannot get elected because of your race, while behind your back you hide an appalling history of corruption, decline, violence, incompetence, and ruination.

How can you expect to inspire voter confidence when you are responsible for making Guyana "poorer than Haiti"?

No one can deny that Dr. Rodney could have been elected president by an overwhelming majority. And this could only have been accomplished by a massive Indian vote.

No one can deny that a large and significant number of Indians in Guyana would have voted for the Afro-centric Walter Rodney. Ask yourself why.

To me it was because people saw a man of honour and integrity, a genuine leader and a decent human being. Guyanese did not see his skin colour; they simply heartened to the man inside.

And in Guyana there are still many Afro-Guyanese leaders of such upstanding quality; teachers, doctors, lawyers, businessmen, farmers, soldiers, husbands and fathers.

The unfortunate thing is that these noble souls are not opposition politicians. Instead we have to contend with those who have been tried and found wanting - the charlatans of the political opposition.

The PNC has painted its basket black and is demanding that Guyanese use it to fetch water. If the people select a pail instead, which just happens to be painted brown, the PNC and their media minions then cry foul.

"See," they complain, "these people refuse our basket because it is black."

But as you already know, the truth is that no matter what the colour, you simply cannot use a basket to fetch water.
JUSTIN DEFREITAS

Watch those comments
I AM somewhat offended by Mr. Jose Damiao Leandro's comment on the education of the Guyanese people in his letter in Saturday’s Chronicle.

He should do more research while he's at it.  Guyana is at least 98% literate. A very high score throughout the world. 

Guyana is a third world country but that does not mean that the people are ignorant. 

He should be more careful about our people and our country with his comments.

Sorry to slam you sir, but I will always defend my fellow Guyanese people.

No matter how long I've been away and no matter how far I am (in miles) Guyana is always close to my heart.
PROUD OVERSEAS GUYANESE

Advance our democracy
THE Guyana Government is to be commended for its outstanding work.

The evidence is clear and you can daily see the highlights of the progress the government is making in terms of strengthening our democracy, having policies that encourage investors, building infrastructure and delivering on its many promises.

No doubt, the tone and works of the administration of President Bharrat Jagdeo are encouraging and more can be done if all in the political circle who have been invited can come on board.

This government should feel a sense of accomplishment for it has done much more than had anticipated by many, but the progress of this administration should not allow it to become low task, high people and complacent.

Much is still to be done and as the saying goes "good is not good when better is expected".

With this approach and with such progress by this government, if all the opposition parties can come together with the government and have a multilateral approach on the national agenda, Guyana can become a pride of the western hemisphere.

The tremendous faith and potential of Guyana and its people have been recognised by international, regional and local observers.

As the days go by, one can only be encouraged to see the government and opposition leaders become more democratic/benevolent so as to make the decision table broad enough to make accommodation.

Let our democracy continue to be on the move.
JACOB AMIN 

Articulating a ghost
I REFER to the letter by Justin DeFreitas (Guyana Chronicle 1/06/05) captioned “Game Exposed”.

Per Killian Knote’s previous letter, the scholarship preferred by gay militancy is usually found to be circuitous, confusing, and contemptuous of logic, and it is not difficult to diagnose the disease in DeFreitas’ case.

Recognising that these types of ad hominem arguments will dutifully degenerate to their anti-Christian, anti Judeo-Christian position … usually without citing a single scholarly fact … we are well advised to ignore most of the letter’s aimless meandering and focus on the continuing imperative to provide the Guyanese citizenry with the tools with which to make informed judgements.

Christians found out a long time ago that they could not abstract the concept of truth from the absolute truth that the person of Jesus represents. Though simple and straightforward in its articulation, to a non-Christian this fact may achieve absolutely no meaning initially.

However, placed alongside DeFreitas’s giddying indecision about characterising himself, the analogy becomes clear. He is at once torn between being a “descriptive ethical relativist”, a “normative ethical relativist”, a “humanist who believes in the scientific process”, and a “provisional moralist”.

The appropriate descriptive for DeFreitas therefore becomes (cited again ad nauseam): “If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything”.

Consistent with the idea of moral "relativism”, there simply is no core set of values informing DeFreitas’ arguments.

He is inventing arguments on the fly, and substantiates this by the grossly awkward statement, courtesy of Schemer: “In provisional ethics it would be reasonable for us to offer our conditional agreement that an action is moral or immoral if the evidence for and the justification of the action is overwhelming...Provisional moral principles are applicable for most people in most circumstances most of the time, yet flexible enough to account for the wide diversity of human behaviour, culture, and circumstances. . . These principles are not absolute (no exceptions), nor are they relative (anything goes). They are objective, in the sense that morality is independent of the individual."

While this sounds impressive, DeFreitas (and possibly Schemer) is blissfully ignorant that the last statement in this quotation has confirmed the very argument that he seeks to destroy … that “objectivity” (or its absence) can and will only be determined by reference to a “yardstick” however defined.

However difficult that yardstick is to conceptualise or define, it is always possible to right-thinking and reasonable men everywhere.

No less an institution than the District Of Columbia Court Of Appeals approved the discharge of a homosexual from the military, finding homosexuality 𠇊 form of behaviour never before protected and indeed traditionally condemned.” The court held that its decision would be based on constitutional principle, not on shifting public opinion [Dronenberg v. Zech 741 F.2d 1288 (D.C. Cir., 1984)].

In this regard scholarship and research, far from being DeFreitas’ nemesis, can well provide the truth that he so desperately seeks to avoid. He again makes an elementary blunder as he becomes emotional on the “rights” issue: “My debate is on basic and inherent human rights, not special privileges”.

He is now describing and articulating a fantasy, a ghost that has no substance - in that he is hoping that our memories are short. The fact is that the courts in other territories have already decided on the matter.

The U.S. Supreme Court settled the question in Bowers v. Hardwick (478 US 186, 1986). Mr. Hardwick had brought suit in the federal district court, challenging the constitutionality of the Georgia statute that criminalised consensual sodomy. He lost at the district court level, but won on appeal to the Court Of Appeals, which held that the Georgia statute violated his fundamental rights.

The Supreme Court disagreed. In a vigorously written opinion, Justice White pointed out that any fundamental liberties protected by a right to privacy must be “implicit in the concept of ordered liberty”, or deeply rooted “in the nation’s history and tradition”.

Because sodomy was traditionally a criminal offence in all states, to find that a right to engage in anal or oral sodomy was deeply rooted in the nation’s history and tradition or is “implicit in the concept of ordered liberty” would be “at best facetious”. Summing up, the Court said: “And if Respondent’s submission is limited to the voluntary sexual conduct between consenting adults, it would be difficult to, except by fiat, to limit the claimed right to homosexual conduct while leaving exposed to prosecution adultery, incest and other sexual crimes, even though they are committed in the home. We are unwilling to start down that road.”

In a concurring opinion, Justice Burger pointed out the moral dimension: “To hold that the act of homosexual sodomy is somehow protected as a fundamental right would be to cast aside millennia of moral teaching.” The obvious question: is “millennia of moral teaching” enough of a yardstick for a “provisional moralist”?

We conclude again with the article at http://www.ifca.org/sites/gay_marriage.htm. “Other relationships have not been accorded the same status as marriage because they do not contribute in the same way to a community. To put it bluntly, societies can get along quite well -- in fact, better -- without same-sex sexual relationships, but no society can survive without marriages and families.

In fact, because the term "heterosexual marriage" is redundant, the term "marriage" will mean in this essay what it has always meant: the social, legal and spiritual union of a man and a woman. "Gay marriage" is an oxymoron, an ideological invention designed to appropriate the moral capital of marriage and family toward the goal of government-enforced acceptance of homosexuality. As such, the term "gay marriage" is a counterfeit and a fraud.

It would undermine support for marriage by ending marriage's unique legal and cultural status. It would also undermine support for natural families, whose foundation is marriage”.
ROGER WILLIAMS

Chord of humanity touched
THE tsunami disaster is now estimated at more than 155,000 dead with thousands upon thousands more lives unaccounted for.

But in as much as the magnitude and horror of this tragedy defies imagination, there has been a "tidal wave" of human compassion from peoples and governments throughout the world - irrespective of race, religion, culture, ideology.

Here is a list of help and pledged contributions so far in US dollars:

Australia : $764 million over five years. Also sent five air force transport planes with supplies and medical specialists to Sumatra, and two 15 member emergency medical teams and 12 police to Phuket.

Austria: $1.4 million

Belgium: Military plane to transport aid supplies

Britain: $96 million

Canada: $67 million

China: $63 million

Czech: $446,000 plus drinking water and medicine

Denmark: $76 million

Egypt: Egyptian Red Crescent Society sending medicine worth $81,000 as initial step

European Union: $132 million

Finland: $ 6.2 million

France: $67 million

Germany: $ 680 million over three to five years

Greece: $1.34 million

Ireland: $13 million

Israel: one medical team to Sri Lanka, one to Thailand

Italy: $95 million

Japan: $500 million, sent three navy vessels to Thailand to rescue survivors

Kuwait: sent $1,000,000 immediate aid and pledged $2 million supplies.

Netherlands: $32 million

Norway: $183 million

North Korea: $150,000.

Poland: $336,000 for Polish NGOs involved in relief

Qatar: $25 million

Saudi Arabia: $30 million

Singapore: $1.2 million, military medical teams and supplies ready to fly to Indonesia

Slovakia: $231,660 worth of drinking water, tents and medical supplies to Sri Lanka

Slovenia: $113,500 of aid through Red Cross and Crescent

South Korea: $50 million

Spain: $68 million, also sent to Sri Lanka first aid, sanitary equipment and 19 volunteers

Sweden: $75.5 million

Switzerland: $23 million

Taiwan: $$50.52 million

United Arab Emirates: $20 million

United States of America: $350 million plus over $355 million from individuals and private organisations. Also sent 12 vessels and helicopters for relief and rescue operations

International Committee of Red Cross: 105 tons of supplies, aid to 150,000 people in north and east, trying to raise $44 million,

IMF: unspecified pledge

UN World Food Programme: sending 168 tons of commodities to Sri Lanka, plus more than

4,000 tons of rice, wheat flour, lentils, and sugar.

UN Development Programme: $100,000 each to Sri Lanka, Indonesia, the Maldives, and Thailand to help assess damage and coordinate emergency needs. (report from MSNBC.com) 

Of course there is the commendable $50,000 from the Government of Guyana plus the contributions from the business sector.

But how about Russia and Cuba?

This MSNBC list is by no means exhaustive - there is so much more to come from governments, individuals and organisations. This unprecedented response from the world has certainly touched a chord of humanity and Godliness.

Perhaps there is hope yet for mankind.
SHAWN MANGRU

Bawling preachers
PREACHING violence against children by hysterically bawling on the early morning airwaves, “Spank them, spank them, spank them,” is not preaching the Gospel of Gentle Jesus, who once said, “Whoso shall offend [abuse] one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Matthew 18:6).

For my reward, I want a crown, not a millstone. It is a crime to advocate violence against any person or any group, from babies to adults.

These same preachers say nothing about child sexual abuse, of which six cases were reported in the print media during the season of peace and goodwill to all men (but apparently not to children).

The instruction to beat children was given by King Solomon who beat his own son Rehoboam who turned out to be the first wholly evil king of Israel.

Behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
M. XIU QUAN-BALGOBIND-HACKETT

Two sides of Guyana
FIRST, I extend best wishes for an uplifting 2005 to all of my countrymen.

Next, I share with you the two sides of a wonderful place in the sun that always leave me baffled, and not a little less empty.

One side is beautiful, and the other is disheartening.

At 3 o’clock in the morning, where can one swing gently in a hammock, and hear the rustle of the leaves, see the stars actually twinkle, or feel the spray of a rain shower?

It is 6 a.m. and instead of the roar of a subway train, there are the sounds of insects, and birds, and domestic animals.

Where is it that the relentless heat can reduce one away from the grasp of Weight Watchers programmes? Even the deplorable situation where the entire city becomes inundated after a mere four hours of rainfall can be fascinating.

There is the endless hospitality, the natural foods, the fresh, sweet air. This is the enchanting and beautiful side, and it is worth every minute of time saved and every dollar spent.

Then, there is the other side that we must touch and from which we must resist the instinct to recoil. The first example is the Christmas party held in the compound of the Georgetown Hospital. Yes, in the compound of the Georgetown Hospital beginning at 9 p.m. and which concluded at 1 a.m. The music easily reached Main Street and New Garden Street. And while I listened in astonishment, it was only later that I wondered about the hapless and captive patients writhing in their beds.

Everywhere there were people barging to the front of waiting lines. This happened in the marketplace, in the shops, and at the airport. This occurred at Timehri and at JFK; both going and coming.

There is no decorum, no courtesy, just the swagger of the empty headed, and swell bellied. These are some of the same folks who turn up at the Immigration counter without paying the departure tax; without an Immigration Form; and with an Immigration Form that occupies an Immigration Officer the better of 10 minutes, instead of 45 seconds.

The culprits are of all colours, ages, and sport accents that require the services of a UN interpreter to decipher what they are saying, because it certainly does not sound anything like the English language.

There was the despair of being approached in the vicinity of the Lotus Lounge at Timehri by children whose ages must be in the single digits. Their hands were outstretched in a silent plea, and 15 minutes later you watch them blow your generosity away in an explosion of squibs.

In another instance, there was a young girl of maybe six years of age who came with palm upturned and outstretched, and when offered some biscuits shook her head in rejection; only legal tender accepted.

This is the dark side of Guyana, the one that we do not want to see but infiltrates our consciousness in an increasingly prolific manner.

None of this is about poverty; it is about an all too prevalent mindset that is bordered by a shallow arrogance on the one hand, and a deep seated calculation on the other. This is the disheartening side, the one that will not go away, but seems to grow in strength every year.

It is a struggle, but I try to take the good with the not so positive. There is still much to love, to admire, and to absorb and I was blessed with an abundance of the same.

For this, there can only be heartfelt appreciation.
GHK LALL

Guarantee their safety
IT’S a shame when we have committed Peace Corps volunteers in our community, who are dedicated to the uplifting of people’s lives and we do nothing to guarantee their safety.

It’s a shame when we have Peace Corps volunteers teaching in our school whose main concern are making sure that your child could read and we do nothing to guarantee their safety.

It’s a shame when we have Peace Corps volunteers who give all their time and energy to make sure your child knows the truth and myths of HIV and AIDS and we do nothing to guarantee their safety.

It’s a shame when we have Peace Corps volunteers who use their own money and other resources to make someone’s life a little easier, and we do nothing to guarantee their safety.

It’s a shame when we have Peace Corps volunteers teaching our children Information Technology in our schools and we do nothing to guarantee their safety.

It’s a shame when we have Peace Corps volunteers teaching our business community Information Technology and we do nothing to guarantee their safety.

It’s a shame that we have Peace Corps volunteers who assist in pre and post natal care with our mothers in the community and we do nothing to guarantee their safety.

Several Peace Corps volunteers in New Amsterdam were constantly harassed, threatened and physically assaulted several times by one individual. Despite repeated efforts by the U.S. Peace Corps to resolve this situation with this particular individual, nothing was done.

Because of this issue, the Peace Corps volunteers in the area were withdrawn. There will be no more Peace Corps volunteers in the area for the foreseeable future.

Guyana is always looking outside for things. We depend on the World Bank and other lending institutions for money. Then we beg for debt forgiveness.

We depend on barrels from outside family members. Then we sit around and don’t look for jobs. We depend on volunteers. Then we rob, harass, beat up and rape them and the people in authority are reluctant to address these life-threatening issues. 

It seems so simple. Why is it so complex? One individual has hampered the efforts of people who willingly come from the outside and have so much to contribute to our development as a nation and people.

While the people who are responsible to protect, enforce and assist us nonchalantly go about their business, the country continues to stand still and our children keep on suffering.

People in charge of our welfare and safety need to be decisive.  Act instead of talk. Be proactive instead of reactive.

Take responsibility.
SYDNEY TAIT

The future grows brighter
GUYANA, as a bright new tourism attraction, will, as it continues to be developed, further improve its economic development and prosperity.

We have seen over the years, the very active promotion of our country as a unique tourism destination and it has been catching on leading to more tourists coming here.

This has meant the opening of many new resorts and businesses with the consequent provision of additional jobs.

Guyana’s future grows brighter.
MELISSA WATSON

Light Heavyweight title still vacant on WIBA’s updated ratings
THE Women’s International Boxing Association (WIBA) updated its ratings on Friday and the light heavyweight title is still shown as vacant, with Gwendolyn ‘The Stealth Bomber’ O’Neil as the number four contender for the belt.

There is controversy about whether O’Neil was reinstated as the light heavyweight champion, a title she won after a bruising and historic clash with American Kathy Rivers at the National Park on May 29 last, the first time a world title card was staged on local soil.

The country’s first female world champion was stripped in November for failing to defend the title.

However, there was a split in the management of the WIBA and Luis Bello announced that O’Neil was reinstated.

In response, Ryan Wissou, who represented the WIBA for the National Park title bout and witnessed O’Neil winning the belt, said Bello no longer worked with the boxing body, and declared that O’Neil was not reinstated.

Wissou said he informed O’Neil about the position and contacted O’Neil’s lawyer and secretary of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control, Trevor Arno, who is the WIBA representative here.

In the latest ratings, Ann Wolfe of the USA is the number one contender for the vacant title, with Rivers listed as the number two contender, while fellow American Marsha Valley is listed as the number three contender, followed by O’Neil.

Guyanese Margaret ‘Chico’ Walcott is the number ten contender and Trinidadian Crystal Lessy the number 13.

In the Heavyweight division, the title is also vacant and Pamela London is listed as the number six contender, Shondell Parks number ten, Shelly Gibson number eleven, Cheryl Greaves number 12 and Lisma Da Silva number 15.

The number one Heavyweight contender is Jacqui Fraser-Lyde of the USA, number two Vonda Ward (USA) and number three Martha Salazar who beat Pamela London at Splashmin’s for the vacant Women’s International Boxing Federation (WIBF) heavyweight title November 28 last.

In the Super Middleweight division, of which Laila Ali is the champion, Guyanese Sharon Ward is the number ten contender.

Guyanese Geraldine Cox is listed as the number 14 contender for the vacant junior middleweight title, while Shondell Alfred is the number ten contender for the vacant super flyweight title and Stephanie George the number 13.

Windies collapse to 51-run defeat against Australia-A
HOBART, Australia, (CMC) – West Indies collapsed to a 51-run defeat against Australia-A after losing their last seven wickets for a mere 34 runs in the second weekend limited overs match between the two teams at the Bellerive Oval yesterday.

Sent in to bat, Australia-A totalled 243 for nine wickets off their 50 overs, and West Indies, in spite of a steady 59-run opening stand between the left-handers Chris Gayle and Wavell Hinds, fell for 192 in 43 overs, giving the Australian reserves a share of the two-match series.

The tourists were without their captain Brian Lara, who had smashed a magnificent 116 in Saturday’s four-wicket win over the same opposition here.

Australia-A had slipped perilously to 84 for five in the 18th over after pacers Merv Dillon, Reon King, Pedro Collins and Dwayne Bravo had rocked their top-order.

Among those wickets was that of Number-3 batsman Brad Hodge, who fell - against Dillon - to a spectacular catch by the 18-year-old Xavier Marshall at backward point.

But Michael Hussey top-scored with 70 as he and Cameron White (59) revived the innings to a competitive score.

King was expensive but finished as the chief wicket-taker, capturing three for 61 off 10 overs, while Bravo bagged two for 31 off six overs, and Dillon, two for 53 off 10.

Collins (1-23) and off-spinner Marlon Samuels (1-40) were the other wicket-takers, and off-spinner Gayle was the most economical, conceding only 30 runs from his full quota of 10 overs.

Set 244 to win, West Indies started well as Hinds top-scored with 53 off 86 balls with six boundaries and Gayle lashed a compelling 43 off only 33 balls with six fours and one six.

Hinds was adjudged leg-before-wicket to James Hopes to make the score 115 for three in the 25th over, although the ball appeared to have pitched outside the left-hander's leg stump.

Ramnaresh Sarwan (35) and Marlon Samuels (31) were the next highest scorers, while stand-in captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul (3) and Bravo (5) counted among the low-scorers in the batting disintegration.

Courtney Browne was not out on eight at the end and no batsmen in the bottom six reached double figures for the West Indies - the tail-enders Dillon, Collins and King all failed to score.

Brett Lee (2-35) and Nathan Hauritz (2-49) led the Australia-A bowling.

West Indies, who have had a three-month break since winning the ICC Champions Trophy in September, play Australia in Melbourne on January 14 in the opening match of the Tri-Nation VB Series limited overs tournament that also involves Pakistan.

Lee took two wickets, including Dwayne Bravo for five.

AUSTRALIA-A innings

J.Hopes c Sarwan b King 18

M.North b Collins 7

B.Hodge c Marshal b Dillon 14

M.Hussey c wkp Browne b Samuels 70

D.Hussey c wkp Browne b Bravo 5

B.Haddin c wkp Browne b Dillon 4

C.White c Dillon b King 59

B.Lee c Samuels b King 23

N.Hauritz c Marshall b Bravo 24

M.Lewis not out 5

S.Tait not out 1

Extras: (lb-5, w-5, nb-3) 13

Total: (9 wickets - 50 overs) 243

Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-28, 3-54, 4-65, 5-84, 6-172, 7-203, 8-232, 9-239.

Bowling: King 10-1-61-3, Collins 6-0-23-1 (nb-3, w-2), Dillon 10-0-53-2, Bravo 6-0-31-2 (w-2), Gayle 10-0-30-0, Samuels 8-0-40-1 (w-1).

WEST INDIES innings (target - 244 runs from 50 overs)

C.Gayle c wkp. Haddin b Lewis 43

W.Hinds lbw Hopes 53

X.Marshall lbw White 1

R.Sarwan c White b Hauritz 35

M.Samuels run-out (Lewis/Hauritz) 31

S.Chanderpaul b Hauritz 3

D.Bravo b Lee 5

C.Browne not out 8

M.Dillon lbw Lee 0

P.Collins run-out (Hauritz) 0

R.King lbw Tait 0

Extras: (lb-7, w-5, nb-1) 13

Total: (all out, 43 overs) 192

Fall of wickets: 1-59, 2-74, 3-115, 4-158, 5-174, 6-174, 7-187, 8-187, 9-192.

Bowling: Lee 10-1-35-2 (nb-1, w-1), Lewis 7-0-28-1, Hauritz 9-0-49-2 (w-1),Tait 5-1-22-1, White 7-0-27-1 (w-3), Hopes 5-0-24-1.

CSTC to focus on expansion of Walk Racing this year
WALK Racing had a “very successful” year, and now the focus for the new year will be the expansion of the sport.

Coordinator of the Cavaliers Sports & Tour Club (CSTC), Olga Harry, said the club performed “very creditably”, having staged some 25 successful races in various parts of the country, including Bartica, Linden and Georgetown.

However, funding prevented a tour to Barbados and forced a cancellation on a meet billed for the Essequibo Coast.

Harry disclosed that new talent was uncovered particularly among women and junior walkers.

Also, the ‘king’ of walk racing, Randolph Mitchell, registered his 31st consecutive title.

The club received assistance from President Bharrat Jagdeo, Bishwa Panday of P&P Insurance Brokers, Director of Sport Neil Kumar, Dr Jose Da Silva of Modern Optical Services, other individuals and business houses.

Harry announced that the club would be participating in a number of overseas meets this year.

The local season will begin with a meet for the 35th Republic anniversary observances, with the first fixed for February 13 from Splashmin’s Fun Park on Soesdyke/Linden Highway to the Soesdyke Primary School.

GCB pays tribute to late Robert Christiani
THE Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) recently expressed its profoundest grief at the death of Robert Julian Christiani, one of the most outstanding batsmen in the history of Guyana's cricket.

Christiani was the foundation on which the country's batting was built in the forties and early fifties and he was among the first batch of stalwarts admitted into the GCB's Hall of Fame. He would be best remembered as a dazzling stroke player, who brought great joy to spectators wherever he played. He was also a brilliant fielder and a competent wicketkeeper.

While statistics would show that he scored only one Test century, Christiani represented the West Indies with great distinction and batted along with the three W’s in a formidable middle order.

At the end of his playing days Robert Christiani worked alongside Clyde Walcott on the cricket development programme at the Booker Sugar Estates and helped to unearth some of the talent which later represented Guyana and the West Indies. With his migration to Canada, Guyana and West Indies cricket lost his tremendous experience and expertise.

Christiani will long be the topic of conversation for all who had the privilege to see him play.

The GCB extends deepest condolences to his family, relatives and friends. Christiani died last week in Toronto, Canada.

Jamaica cruise past French Guiana 5-0
KINGSTON, Jamaica, (CMC) – Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz, on the back of a 26-minute four-goal blitz in the second half, ran past French Guiana 5-0 in their first-leg Digicel Caribbean Cup third round match at the National Stadium on Saturday night.

The new-look Jamaican outfit, without the abundance of England-based professionals present when they were eliminated last November in World Cup qualifying, built impressively on a 1-0 halftime lead that midfielder Jermaine Hue gave them, and secured a huge advantage for the return game in Cayenne on Saturday.

“I am pretty satisfied with what transpired in the game. I think it was a tactically disciplined game we played,” Jamaica coach Wendell Downswell told CMC Sport.

“The preparation was good going in and the result was a fitting testimony to that,” he added.

Hue opened the scoring with a fine goal in the 13th minute.

From a good build-up, Fabian Davis struck a cross inside for Hue to control and blast into the back of the net.

French Guiana repelled the Jamaicans’ offence for the remainder of the half but folded after Damion Stewart made it 2-0 in the 57th minute.

Luton Shelton made it 3-0 five minutes later and Robert Scarlett struck a wonderful goal on 75 minutes.

The left flank defender cut in from the flank and unleashed a 30-yard shot that flew past the French Guiana goalkeeper.

Substitute Teodore Bennett finished the scoring in the 83rd minute and virtually booked Jamaica’s passage into the Digicel Cup final round in Barbados in February.

Although Jamaica, the number one ranked Caribbean Football Union (CFU)

team, would have to lose the return game this weekend by six clear goals to not advance, coach Downswell told CMC Sport “there is no room for complacency”.

In the weekend’s other third round matches, set for yesterday, the eight-time Caribbean Cup champions Trinidad & Tobago were facing St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) in Port of Spain, and Haiti were meeting Cuba in Port-Au-Prince.

The third round winners will join the hosts Barbados in the final round of the CFU Digicel Cup from February 20-24, which will qualify three teams to the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup from July 6-24 in the USA, and will also crown the Caribbean Cup champions.

Arsenal see off Stoke; Yeading Cup dream over
By Trevor Huggins
LONDON, England (Reuters) - Newcastle United were made to wait for a 2-0 victory over minor league Yeading and champions Arsenal had to come from behind to beat Stoke City 2-1 in the FA Cup third round yesterday.

Despite six divisions separating the two clubs, the biggest gap in FA Cup history, Newcastle needed second-half goals from Lee Bowyer and Shola Ameobi to shatter Yeading's FA Cup hopes at Loftus Road.

A shock was also on the cards at Highbury, where second division Stoke had a goal disallowed before taking the lead through defender Wayne Thomas just before halftime.

Arsenal's equaliser came from Spanish forward Jose Antonio Reyes on 50 minutes but Stoke had a shot cleared off the line and hit the woodwork before Dutchman Robin van Persie fired home the 70th-minute winner.

Arsenal and Newcastle go into today's fourth-round draw, unlike the four Premier League clubs who