Way to go!
-- GECOM tells political parties
THE Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has lauded the collaboration and cooperation political parties in Parliament showed in reaching the historic agreement Thursday on house-to-house registration by working towards the common good of the country.

&The agreement to prepare a new National Register of Registrants via a house-to-house registration was a singular achievement, especially when one takes into account the inherent distrust that pervades our political atmosphere,” the commission said in a statement yesterday.

&But like those mature, noble and reputable politicians the world over, our leaders distinguished themselves by placing the nation first and agreeing to a course of events which will, in all likelihood, not only add more credibility to an elections commission which has proven itself, but it will also preclude any possibility of ever again seriously complaining about a Voters List, since immediately following the house-to-house registration exercise, the continuous registration with its concomitant list-sanitising mechanisms and functions, will recommence,” it stated.

It also said that, in agreeing to the house-to-house registration and its acceptable prerequisites and modus operandi, the politicians have in effect collectively endorsed the autonomy and independence of GECOM which, in its wisdom, had expressed the preference for a house-to-house registration since earlier this year.

GECOM recalled recently meeting all the political parties represented in Parliament to receive their respective inputs pertaining to its proposals.

?It is now left for the process to alacritously unfold (and) this means that all the administrative, legal and institutional necessities must be addressed immediately,” GECOM posited.

The commission also said it would be greatly appreciated if the donor agencies, the Government of Guyana and GECOM could expeditiously continue deliberations relative to the establishment of a new Memorandum of Understanding, especially relevant to the house-to-house registration exercise, Local Government elections and national and regional elections.

ȏrom GECOM’s perspective, the secretariat has already completed the list of activities and associated timelines and cost pertaining to a new house-to-house registration undertaking (and) now that the political parties in Parliament are all on board relative to the preparation of a new National Register of Registrants using the methodology of a house-to-house registration, GECOM is well prepared to commence the exercise,” it assured.

The agreement was reached during a meeting convened by President Bharrat Jagdeo at the Office of the President, involving representatives from the parliamentary political parties, GECOM, the United States Embassy, the British High Commission, the Canadian High Commission and others.

Among those at the meeting were Mr. Donald Ramotar, representing the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C); Mr. Robert Corbin, Mr. Winston Murray and Mr. Keith Scott - representing the People’s National Congress Reform-One Guyana (PNCR-IG); Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan and Mr. David Patterson from the Alliance For Change (AFC); Mr. Everall Franklyn from the Guyana Action Party-Rise Organise and Rebuild (GAP-ROAR); and GECOM Commissioners - Dr. Bud Mangal, Mr. Moen McDoom, Mr. Vincent Alexander and Mr. Lloyd Joseph.

The agreement was signed by the Guyana Government, PPP/C, PNCR-IG, AFC, GAP-ROAR and The United Force (TUF).

Sister escapes from Den Amstel murderer
SHELLON Payne, the 20-year-old woman whose sister, Claudine Rampersaud called ‘Donetta’, was hacked to death Thursday night, yesterday recalled her escape from the murderer.

The surviving sibling is nursing a gaping wound to her face and her reputed husband, Ryan Lewis, was yesterday still in critical condition at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), having been stabbed in the back twice and chopped on the head and fingers.

The 30-year-old Rampersaud was allegedly killed by her estranged paramour who was at large up to press time.

The survivor Payne, of Lot 35 Public Road, Den Amstel, West Coast Demerara, told the Guyana Chronicle she, Lewis and their children were on the way home after visiting her parents.

About 21:30h, a friend reported that the killer was dragging the victim into the yard where they used to live together up to several months ago.

She said they hurried to the place, suspecting that her sister was being beaten again and, when they arrived at the house, she heard her sister screaming for help and murder.

She said she had to drop her two-year-old son who was in her arms and Lewis did likewise with the boy’s three-year-old sister, causing both children to roll down the stairs.

Fortunately, they were not injured.

Payne said she fled leaving Lewis and the children and, when she returned, he was lying on the road with blood oozing from his wounds.

She and Lewis were then rushed to the hospital.

Rampersaud was murdered on her return home where the killer waited and forced her into the now abandoned house in which they previously lived.

He always accused her of having other men but my sister worked very hard to look after their four children and was not the type to have affairs,” Payne vouched.

The couple had resided in the bottom flat of her parents’ house at Lot 24 Back Street, Den Amstel.

The suspected murder weapons, two carpenter’s hatchets, have not been found and the fugitive is believed to have taken them with him into hiding.

Relatives said, before the killing, the spurned man had collected pieces of clothing and photographs, cleared the surrounding drains and erected a shed prior to sharpening the blades and placing them in the abandoned house and then waited for his victim.

Rampersaud was a Special Constable attached to Guyana Power & Light (GPL), at Vreed-en-Hoop, also on the West Coast Demerara, for the past three years. (MICHEL OUTRIDGE)

Office of the President slams Stabroek News caption
THE Office of the President has reacted strongly to the caption on a report in yesterday’s Stabroek News.

In a statement, it said a “sensitive national issue has again been inflamed by Stabroek News’ irresponsible style of journalism which seeks to sensationalise and blow out of proportion a statement” by President Bharrat Jagdeo Thursday on the terror plot targeting the JFK Airport in New York.

The Office of the President said the article with the page one caption `More Guyanese on FBI radar – President’ clearly misconstrued the “true intent of the President’s remark, with the view to provoke a highly sensitive security situation.”

It said: “This Stabroek News’ misleading caption is certainly not attributable to the President, as the investigative process is continuing apace.

The President, Government, and people of Guyana are fully cooperating with the U.S. security investigation in the matter of the JFK conspiracy.

This Stabroek News’ caption smacks of editorial irresponsibility and seems poised on sustaining its journalism of allegations.”

Tanya Stephens, Natural Black and DYCK tonight
THE three headliners for tonight's big show at the National Park in Georgetown landed at Cheddi Jagan International Airport Thursday night, and were greeted by an enthusiastic media delegation.

First out of the arrival area was DYCK, the reggae poet whose spoken word "Leroy" has gained an unprecedented popularity on regional reggae charts, followed up by his less popular "Chop Bush."

Next to arrive was reggae phenomenon, Guyanese-born artiste Natural Black, whose hits like "Hit dem with the Gideon" and it "It Nice" have been tearing up local and regional airwaves for the past year. 

Acknowledging that he has been receiving some hate vibes from some Jamaican DJs because of his recent popularity and his nationality, he denied rumours that things had gotten as far as reported kidnapping attempts.

The big draw for the show came out last and pulled not only the journalism crowd but several fans around the arrival area, either waiting for their friends and family members or coming into the country themselves. 

Tanya Stephens is arguably the best reggae artiste in the industry at present, with chart-toppers like "It's a Pity", and "These Streets."  Personable, intelligent, and better-looking than on camera, Stephens charmed the crowd taking time out for a short interview and posing for the cameras.

Tonight's show will see three unconventional artistes performing at what promises to be a hit event being put on by Conscious Mind Productions in association with Lion Heart.

Storm blows part of roof from house
PART of the roof of a house at # 7 Village, West Coast Berbice, was lifted and sent flying during a storm in the area around midnight Thursday.

Occupants of the house at Lot 23 C Back Street, Mrs. Nadira Seepersaud and her daughter Nerissa, 16, spent the night huddling under the still covered half of the house.

“I am still trembling inside,” Seepersaud, 43, said yesterday while recounting the ordeal.

She said that around 23:00h, she was asleep when she heard a sound like thunder rolling on her roof.

Her roof is blue in color but when she looked up she saw black instead and then the rain came pouring down causing her to realise that a part of the roof had been blown away.

She said that after the ordeal during the night, relatives went to her assistance and by yesterday afternoon she had managed to replace the roof.

She was visited by Regional Chairman of Region Five (Mahaica/Berbice) Harrinarine Baldeo who offered to help her get some form of relief from the relevant agencies.

A neighbour whose roof was damaged by the flying section from the Seepersaud home also successfully carried out the necessary repairs to his home by yesterday afternoon.

Bandits rob travel service
THREE armed men yesterday attacked Samaroo Travel Service on North Road, Georgetown, holding up three employees and robbing two of them.

Police said two of the men entered the business place around 14:30h posing as customers but then whipped out guns and ordered everyone inside to lie on the floor.

Police said the third bandit joined the two and they proceeded to rob Ian Holland of jewellery, US$80, a camera, cell phone and a lap top computer.

They then attacked the proprietor who was in her office, hitting her on the head and robbing her of jewellery, US$1,500 and G$10,000, which was in her handbag, Police said.

Akawani Village Council plans sustainable forestry
MEMBERS of the Akawani Village Council who have ousted the Barama Company from logging operations in their village are to launch out on their own sustainable forestry operations.

The Toshao of the village Mr. David Wilson yesterday said the council will seek to obtain funding from the Guyana Micro Projects Program (GMPP) as a means of providing employment for villagers and uplifting the quality of life in the community following the ouster.

The Amerindian community in Region One (Barima/Waini) signed a contract in February 2006 with Interior Woods Products Incorporated(IWPI) allowing Barama to log in the area.

They, however, terminated the contract on May 29 because they were not seeing any tangible benefits from the arrangement and had become convinced that they were being exploited.

They alleged that IWPI was logging the last remaining forest of the Akawini village and in so doing was threatening their livelihood and violating their rights as indigenous peoples.

Chairman of Barama, Girwar Lalaram had earlier been reported in another section of the media as saying that some members of the community wanted the company to return to the village.

He had said the Captain and other persons from Akawini had visited his office lobbying for a direct arrangement with the company rather than the sub-contract that Barama had with IWPI.

He added that this was the very proposal he put forward to the community when he visited about two weeks ago and they rejected it.

Lalaram had also been quoted as saying Barama had invested some US$500,000 in roads and infrastructural works in that area and had already completed some 20 km of road at the cost of US$8,000 per km.

He had, however, added that Barama was cutting its losses and moving on and that there was no way he would consider continuing the operations in Akawini after the way his company was treated by the community.

At a press conference yesterday held by the Amerindian People’s Association (APA), Wilson denied that the villagers want the company back into the village.

He said that neither he nor anyone from the council had held any talks with anyone in Barama Company about changing their minds and allowing them back into the village.

Wilson stressed that the decision made by the District Council that Barama must leave the village was final.

Others representing the APA at the press conference were Mr. David James, Attorney–at-Law and Mr. Howard Cornelius, a Councillor of the neighbouring village of Wakapao.

James said the contract which the Village Council of Akawini had signed with IPWI had been hopelessly biased in favour of that company.

He said it was an agreement which had put the villagers at a terrible disadvantage and had cost the community millions of dollars.

He said steps were being taken to ensure that the principle of Free Prior Informed Consent is applied to any other such agreement with any other Amerindian community.

He disclosed that the APA is seeking to educate its members so that they can protect themselves from exploitation by individuals and/or companies which seek to do business in their communities.

Guyana dissatisfied with some submissions to COTED
GUYANA has expressed dissatisfaction with the continued inadequate data submissions of several CARICOM member states to the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED).

The Government Information Agency (GINA) said this, coupled with a blatant disregard for the rules as it relates to the application of the correct duty on rice from extra-regional sources, was denounced by Minister of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation, Dr. Henry Jeffrey, who represented Guyana at the 23rd COTED meeting held in St Lucia from May 16 to 18. 

In his comments, Minister Jeffrey opined that the CARICOM Secretariat’s analysis should be done with an emphasis on conformity which would expose member states’ non-compliance over a period of time.

GINA said the minister also expressed frustration over the disregard for established rules with the continued non-submission of data and non-application of the Common External Tariff (CET) on imports of rice from extra-regional sources. Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines were identified as defaulters.

Jeffrey was adamant about the need for a method that exposes such states, thereby encouraging them to comply with the obligations of the treaty which requires each state to apply the requisite tariffs on third country imports. 

The CARICOM Secretariat’s report revealed that imports of 4,031 tonnes of cargo parboiled rice from the United States of America did not attract the 25 per cent import duty from St Vincent and the Grenadines while there was no request for a suspension of the CET for 2006, from that country or any other member state.

A study was recommended by Barbados to determine the difficulties which result in the untimely and inefficient compilation and submission of data by member states, GINA said.

The Regional Task Force on Rice will also review this issue and make recommendations at the next regular COTED meeting.

Jamaica supported Guyana on this issue and impressed the need for countries to take Treaty obligations seriously. 

The secretariat’s report highlighted areas in rice production, processing, and export.  Data on the production of processed rice, which was received from Guyana, Belize, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, showed that total production of processed rice for 2006 amounted to 441,445 tonnes. Guyana produced 68.7 per cent or 303,288 tonnes, comprising cargo, white, parboiled and broken rice while Suriname produced 137, 100 tonnes.

When compared with 2005, the report stated, processed rice production increased by 44,084 tonnes or 11.1 per cent. However, a 2004/2005 comparison indicated a decrease by 19,565 tonnes or 4 per cent.

The export data submitted by the four member states show that a total of 231,915 tonnes of rice was exported for 2006.

Guyana’s submission indicates exports to CARICOM and third countries totalling 197,444.8 tonnes for 2006.

The Monitoring Mechanism for Rice (MMR) which has been in place since 2002 requires all member states to report their rice import and production data on a half-year basis via their Customs Administrations to the secretariat. This data is necessary to enable the effective monitoring of the production and trade so that stakeholders in the industry could effectively plan and make projections.   

Since COTED’s decision to implement the MMR, the CARICOM Secretariat has not been able to present a full analysis to the Council due to the non-submission of the required data by member states, GINA reported.

Chinese diplomats join local blood drive
DIPLOMATS attached to the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Guyana, on Thursday, made donations to the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS), at Lamaha and East Streets, Georgetown.

The gesture was in observance of World Blood Donor Day themed ‘Safe Blood for Safe Motherhood’ and the donors contributing were Embassy Secretary Liu Min, Political Consul Fan Yingjie and Commercial Consul Huang Shaowen.

During the exercise, Chinese Ambassador Zhang Lungao said the people of China are happy to participate in the programme to help save lives and the giving is a form of goodwill from the Chinese people to the people of Guyana.

Mr. Zhang assured that China is working hard towards continuing to promote cooperation between the two countries.

Medical Director of NBTS, Dr. Clement McEwan said the international occasion is to show appreciation to donors worldwide who selflessly give of themselves to also improve the health of nations.

He said some 10,000 units of blood are needed to satisfy the patient population needs locally and studies have shown that what is donated is the safest, justifying the drive to achieve a 100 per cent voluntary donation.

At international observance…
Minister outlines strategy for maximum voluntary blood donation
THE Ministry of Health, recognising the enthusiasm with which the public has responded to the heightened advocacy for voluntary blood donation, will, with the support of the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS), implement a system for the collection, on an ongoing basis, at all major health centres, districts and regional hospitals.

Minister within the Ministry, Dr. Bheri Ramsaran made the announcement at a ceremony, in the Umana Yana, Kingston, Georgetown, to honour blood donors Thursday evening for World Blood Donor Day.

He said the first collection facility identified for the new policy of continuous donation at the community level is the recently rededicated Dr. C.C. Nicholson Hospital, at Nabaclis, East Coast Demerara, that has already started to collect.

Ramsaran said the initiative promises to be a big step towards the achievement of 100 per cent voluntary blood donation and exhorted the public at large to participate.

He said the activity will be emphasised during National Blood Donor Week and teams from the NBTS will go out to facilitate the process.

Ramsaran also said that President Bharrat Jagdeo and his Cabinet will be supporting the campaign shortly.

According to the minister, the 2007 theme ‘Safe Blood for Safe Motherhood’ aims at highlighting the life saving role of the transfusion for maternal and pre-natal care.

He said other strategies would be introduced internationally to improve the timely availability of safe blood at health clinics and provide emergency obstetric care and measures to reduce unnecessary transfusion, particularly in countries with high maternal mortality.

Ramsaran said Guyana has made significant strides in reducing the maternal mortality rate and deaths due to haemorrhage in complicated pregnancies.

However, more work needs to be done and the ministry is making it a high priority, he assured.

Ramsaran said, since World Blood Donor Day was first observed in 2004, it has served, too, as a platform for broader activities in many countries, including the restructuring of national blood transfusion services, launching national guidelines on it and developing legislation on voluntary blood donation.

He said the government, through the Health Ministry, has firmly situated itself on that platform and massive investments have been made into the physical restructuring and retooling of blood transfusion units, both centrally in Georgetown and at various branches in the regions and the construction of a similar facility in New Amsterdam Hospital compound, Berbice.

?This is indicative of the strong commitment the administration has made for improving the accessibility of safe blood and blood products,” Ramsaran remarked.

He noted that there are more than 500,000 maternal deaths worldwide, annually, 99 per cent of them in developing countries. Around 34 per cent in Africa, 31 per cent in Asia and more than 21 per cent in Latin America and the Caribbean, which are attributable to haemorrhage and severe bleeding further increased by underlying conditions such as anaemia, malaria, HIV/AIDS and female genital mutilation.

Ramsaran said better access to safe blood transfusion can help prevent death and improve the health of millions of women and their newborns and is a vital component of the global efforts to achieve the health related Millennium Development Goal (MDG).

?Guyana has made significant progress in reducing the burden of these illnesses which further put our mothers at risk and the total number of new positive cases of malaria for the epidemiological week May 13 to 19 dropped by just 50 per cent throughout the country as compared to a similar period last year,” he pointed out.

Ramsaran said the statistics indicate yet another small achievement towards the MDG.

Secretary General of Guyana Red Cross Society, Mrs. Dorothy Fraser challenged previous donors to continue giving the gift of life to ensure that safe blood is available when needed and in the quantity required.

Programme Development Specialist- Blood Safety of the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Ms. Nicolette Henry, who also spoke at the function, said, from 2004, there has been a steady increase in the number of voluntary blood donors with 18 per cent that year, 31 per cent in 2006 and the most recent recording of 41 per cent for this year, so far.

Another speaker, Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO) Representative, Dr. Kathleen Israel noted that, while much has been done to improve Guyana blood services in recent years, the availability of safe supplies remains a significant challenge.

The issue of relatives having to provide it when their loved ones have to undergo surgery presents a most untenable situation filled with many problems, she said.

However, Israel lauded all those persons who have made it a point of duty to voluntarily donate and said healthy Guyanese should do so regularly.

?Let us all recommit today, not only to the specific theme for this year's commemoration but to our moral obligation to voluntarily donate blood to save lives in general,” she appealed.

Israel commended the NBTS and the Ministry of Health on their past efforts to garner safe blood and pledged continued support for achieving the goal of 100 per cent voluntary blood receipt.

Medical Director of NBTS, Dr. Clement McEwan emphasised that many lives are indeed preserved and saved as a result of contributions from 0.9 per cent of the local population.

But he mentioned that there are also unfortunate circumstances where a delayed transfusion, or worst, the absence of specific blood and related products can contribute to morbidity or mortality.

&#Just having two out of every one hundred persons donating will result in adequate blood supplies. Saving your donations for only when some unfortunate tragic circumstance is developing results in inordinate delays that can be tragic, as there are many tests that must be done on each unit of blood before it can be transfused to your loved ones,” McEwan advised.

He said global evidence has shown that voluntary, unpaid donors are the foundation of a safe blood supply because they are least likely to transmit potentially life-threatening infections such as HIV.

Several blood donors were presented with certificates of appreciation, the same evening, for their “altruistic act” of volunteerism.

Nearly finished farm to market road benefiting Naamryck
THE Ministry of Agriculture has resumed work on the all-weather farm to market road at Naamryck, a farming community located about two miles aback of Parika, East Bank Essequibo.

The contract for the construction was awarded in 2004 but was discontinued, by the ministry, because of poor performance by that contractor and the retendered job is 70 per cent completed, so far, by a new builder.

Chairman of the farmers’ group at Naamryck, Mr. Clarence Sooklall said, previously, access to the farmlands was extremely difficult in the rainy season but now it is easy any time.

He said that situation has contributed to a reduction in transportation costs to the market and buyers currently meet at their gates with mini-buses and ‘Canter’ trucks ready to transport the produce.

Sooklall said, in earlier times, they had to take their produce by boat to the buyers on the main roadway at extra cost.

He said the nearly finished road has led to a reduction in post-harvest loss particularly of tomatoes, as there is no need to handle the produce twice.

Sookall said they really must thank IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development and the government for “these great works.”

The works entail building one and a half miles of all-weather road with a first grade crusher run finish. It will connect to Parika Back Main Road and link to Parika Market Road, costing $74M.

Project Manager, Mr. Sasenarine Singh said the direct impact for agriculture is reducing transport expenditure and post-harvest loss to farmers, resulting in less influence on the value chain for them, specifically for soft produce like tomatoes.

He said the route is one of the links in the value chain that can allow for a better quality of produce, mainly for export.

Singh said the government is further supporting the farmers by erecting a state of the art packhouse at Parika, with the focus on produce preparation for exporting among activities that are creating the necessary synergies to realise the vision of the agricultural diversification strategy.

He said the scheme is designed to alleviate poverty in Regions Two (Pomeron/Supenaam) and Three (West Demerara/Essequibo Islands), by enhancing the productive capacity of farmers and rural entrepreneurs, specially targeting women headed households and Amerindians.

The government has applied part of the loan proceeds to finance works for the benefit of Naamryck cash crop farmers, Singh explained.

Naamryck, with a population of about 200, including 40 Amerindians, is well-known for its cash crops, especially cabbage and tomato.

Urgent repairs for Ithaca river defence after flooding
THE government will be undertaking urgent repairs to the river defence at Ithaca, West Bank Berbice, which was damaged by flooding during high tides and heavy rainfall over the past weeks.

Minister of Transport and Hydraulics, Mr. Robeson Benn made the announcement Thursday after inspecting the structure which had previously been eroded, resulting in a flooding that affected hundreds of cattle also aback of Sandverstingheid, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported.

Benn was accompanied by a team of personnel, including his Technical Adviser, Mr. Walter Willis, Chief River and Sea Defence Officer, Mr. George Howard, and Regional Engineer in Region Five (Mahaica/Berbice), Mr. Dennis Tahal.

Based on the on site assessment, the minister said resources will be mobilised to commence works immediately and, apart from repairing the erosion and the river dam, work will be done to prevent future floods in the pastures.

GINA said the ministerial party also inspected several roads in Ithaca and Benn expressed satisfaction with them, noting that focus must still be placed on routine maintenance to ensure they remain in good condition.

He said Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDCs) should be involved in the programme for community roads countrywide.

During a visit to the location where the Berbice River Bridge will be located at D’Edward, discussions were held on removing two buildings situated along the access route, GINA said.

According to the agency, arrangements have already been made to remove one that is owned by the Mahaica/Mahaicony/Abary Agricultural Development Authority (MMA/ADA) and Benn said he is satisfied with the ongoing preparatory works, including current dredging to cater for the bridge abutment.

Regional Vice-Chairman of Region Five, Mr. Karran Persaud Deokarran said the minister’s visit indicated the government’s staunch commitment to addressing some of the problems affecting cattle farmers in the region.

Deokarran said many residents agree with the ongoing investments by the administration to improve infrastructure and their livelihoods.

He said some of the current projects were requested by residents, who are pleased that the government is fulfilling its pledges by investing to create opportunities for more economic activities in the region.     

GINA said construction of the Berbice River Bridge, at a cost of about US$38M, will facilitate a major linkage between Regions Five and Six (East Berbice/Corentyne) and foster more economic ventures in both. 

In addition, the roads network, from Mahaica, East Coast Demerara to Rosignol, West Bank Berbice, was strengthened under the US$24M rehabilitation project, which was completed last August and included widening of what existed and additional safety features, among them lights and markings on the road and sidewalks in heavily populated areas, new traffic signs and reflectors, GINA said.

Dismissed Republic Bank six:
Groups keep up protests
THE Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) in conjunction with the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) mounted a picketing exercise yesterday outside the New Market Street branch of Republic Bank in solidarity with the six workers the bank dismissed, following the disappearance of a large amount of cash from its ATM facility in Kitty, Georgetown.

The dismissed workers said the key issue for them is clearing their names because it is an impediment in seeking employment elsewhere.

They maintain that the police and the bank have no evidence against them but their demand to have their names cleared has not been met.

The six said they wrote Republic Bank headquarters in Trinidad but the management there refused to budge and stuck to the position adopted by the bank here.

The workers vowed that the protests will continue until they receive justice and expressed dissatisfaction with the stance taken by the labour department on the issue.

According to them, the department indicated that the bank has met all the requirements of the Termination of Employment Act and has not addressed their concerns.

They added that the labour department met them and the management of the bank separately which is unlike the traditional practice in such issues.

They are dissatisfied too that they have not received an adequate compensation package for the ordeal they experienced having been locked up by the police for 72 hours with out any charge laid against them.

Staff Officer of the GTUC, Mr. Eon Andrews, who was among the picketers, exercise, said the stance by the bank is a “travesty of justice” and the GTUC is broadening the struggle by enlisting the support of the Bankers and Finance Union of Trinidad, the Barbados Workers Union and the Caribbean Congress of Labour to establish a CARICOM concept of the issue.

The GTUC wants a withdrawal of the dismissal letters in order to have the names of the workers cleared, and an adequate compensation package, Andrews added.

He said customers of the bank have indicated their willingness to withdraw their money from the bank to back the workers demands.

President of the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA), Mr. Mike McCormack, who also participated in the protest, said the association does not intend to let the matter disappear as this could set a precedent and encourage other business institutions to emulate Republic Bank with respect to dismissals.

Republic Bank has maintained that it was completely justified in terminating the employment of the six workers who were custodians of its Kitty ATM safe.

Former Managing Director of Republic Bank in Guyana, Mr. Michael Archibald has said: “The bank is satisfied from its investigations that entry into the Kitty ATM safe could not have occurred without the compliance of at least one or possibly all of the six persons employed as custodians of the ATM.”

Enmore Martyrs anniversary
PPP salutes contribution of working people
THE People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has recalled that the sacrifices of the Enmore Martyrs occurred at a time when the anti-colonial movement was making gains in Asia and Africa, and coincided with the beginning of the independence struggle here led by the Political Affairs Committee under the distinguished leadership of the late President Cheddi Jagan.

In a message on today’s 59th anniversary saluting the Enmore Martyrs the PPP said: “The struggle for better working conditions and industrial democracy (to have a union of the workers choice) merged with the anti-colonial movement. Guyana won its freedom in 1966 and ten years later GAWU (the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union) signed a recognition agreement with the Sugar Producers Association after winning the elections on December 31, 1975.”

“On the occasion the PPP salutes the contribution of the working people to our struggle for a better life,” the party said.

It added: “Today much has changed. We have a government sympathetic to the working people of Guyana. The sugar industry belongs to the people of our country. The rights of the working people are protected and being expanded as well. The fundamental right of having a union of workers choice is now enshrined in law.”

It also noted that the modernisation of the industry is indispensable, in the face of European price cuts for sugar, in order to ensure its survival.

However, the party is urging greater involvement of workers in management so that they can be aware of the challenges that have to be confronted, moving away from the plantation-style management to one of giving more information to workers and taking them into confidence.

“When we succeed in this we will ensure the viability and prosperity of the industry”, it said.

Enmore Martyrs struggle is national symbol
-- PNCR
ON THE 59th Anniversary of Enmore Martyrs Day today, the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) says the martyrdom of Harry, Puran, Lallabajee, Rambarran and Surujbally is a reminder of the role they and other workers have played in the development of Guyana.

“Their struggle has become a national symbol around which workers and all Guyanese can rally and be inspired by,” the main opposition party said in a statement.

The party also said the observance of Enmore Martyrs Day coincides with a critical period in the life of the Guyana labour movement. 

&The movement is disunited and the struggle for a living wage by public sector workers has been intensified; the rights of workers are under threat and the political environment does not appear friendly to the full development of all workers and their unions,” the PNCR contended.

It said it will continue to work for a unified labour movement and continue the just struggle for workers of this country.

Probe continues into thwarted cocaine export
INVESTIGATIONS were continuing yesterday into the cocaine in suitcase find at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri, on Thursday.

Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) ranks intercepted 6.583 kilogrammes of the narcotic about 13:30h after a woman in a wheelchair, who was scheduled to board a Zoom Airline flight to Canada, denied ownership of it.

Airline officials saw the bag containing the drug next to the luggage checked by the woman and, upon examination, discovered that her name was written on it but in a different handwriting.

This aroused suspicion and, CANU, having been alerted, unearthed six big parcels of the illegal drug concealed under two towels inside the suspect bag.

A CANU officer said it appears that someone had planned to export the illegal substance.

Health Ministry issues warning on contaminated toothpaste
THE Analyst Food and Drug Department of the Ministry of Health is warning consumers to avoid using toothpaste with labels in a foreign language, particularly that manufactured in China.

The advisory follows the pronouncement by the United States Food and Drug Administration that several brands made in China are contaminated with diethylene glycol (DEG).

The department said the contaminant is an anti-freeze solvent inadvertently and, in some cases, deliberately used as a substitute for a more expensive but safe syrup commonly used in food, household products and machines.

The release said DEG has been blamed for the deaths, from mass poisoning, of thousands of people worldwide in Panama, India, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Argentina and China, over the past two decades.

According to the statement, in several of these cases, the toxic syrup was traced to a chemical from China and the affected types are Cooldent Fluoride, Cooldent Spearmint, Cooldent Ice, Dr. Cool Ever-Fresh, Super-dent, Oral-Max Extreme, Oral Bright Fresh Spearmint, Bright Max Peppermint and Shir Fresh Mint Fluoride paste.

The manufacturers of those products are Goldcredit International Enterprise Limited, Goldcredit International Trading Company and Suzhou City Jinmao Daily Chemicals Company Limited.

The department said, typically, the products are sold at low-cost, ‘bargain’ retail outlets and it is asking importers, wholesalers, distributors, retailers and consumers to immediately contact it if the brands mentioned are seen on the domestic market.

PPP lauds recent Guyana successes
A REPORT by General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Donald Ramotar, to the Central Committee of the party, has noted the recent successes scored by Guyana, the most outstanding of which was the hosting of Super 8 matches of Cricket World Cup 2007 and the Rio Summit.

In it, he indicated that the country has shown a capacity to host large events and that the infrastructure is in place to allow the growth of the tourism industry.

However, he urged that the government work towards reducing the cost of travelling to and from Guyana as this will help to boost the sector.

Mr. Ramotar observed that the competition in the telecommunication sector as well as the modernisation of the bauxite and sugar industries are all cause for optimism.

He also said that the need for the struggle against poverty must continue with “great vigour”, and emphasis should be placed on infrastructure, particularly in the transport sector, to accelerate developments in the sector.

On the political front, Ramotar acknowledged the positive development in governance, citing the creation of the parliamentary committee system as allowing for greater involvement of political parties in shaping the policies of the government.

The General Secretary of the main partner in the governing PPP/Civic alliance, bemoaned the division in the trade union movement, arguing that the main problem are the undemocratic rules of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) and undemocratic practices within some unions of the movement.

The meeting of the PPP Central Committee urged that unity and solidarity in the labour movement should be encouraged on the basis of democratisation of some unions within the umbrella body.

The meeting expressed grave concern at the recent spurt in crimes and exhorted that this issue be given priority to prevent a recurrence of events in the past.

Lottery luck for small miners
By Clifford Stanley
SOME four hundred and fifty small miners yesterday received permits to work on plots in mining areas averaging fifty four acres in size during an award of such permits by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) through a lottery system.

The issuing of the permits opens up some twenty four thousand acres of lands in an area south west of Omai Gold Mines in the Essequibo for such small scale miners, officials said.

The area, initially controlled by Omai, had been abandoned but recently became very popular because of the discovery of precious metals there.

The Special Mining Permits will allow the holders access to the plots for five years once they have satisfied specific requirements of the GGMC, Mr. Kampta Persaud, Chairman of the Closed Areas Auction Committee said.

The lottery, the brainchild of Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, was hailed as a significant breakthrough for small miners who had traditionally been disadvantaged because of their lack of official tenure of lands in gold mining areas.

Mr. Hinds visited the lottery site briefly yesterday and said he was very happy about the large turnout.

He said he was confident that the small miners would make the best of the opportunity given them.

Mr. Charles Da Silva of the Guyana Gold and Diamond Mining Association (GGDMA) said: “These awards give the small miners a much needed breakthrough. It is a very welcome development and a big plus for the local industry.”

The lottery was held at the Carifesta Sports Complex on Carifesta Avenue, Georgetown.

The auditorium of the complex was crowded with scores of small miners who had applied for lands and had attended with hopes of having their names pulled from a large revolving wire container in which their applications had been placed.

The names of the four hundred and fifty lucky applicants were pulled from a total of more than thirteen hundred applications placed in the container.

In addition to the names of the lucky applicants, ten more were pulled and are to be held on a reserve list for consideration in case any of the winning applicants drop out or are disqualified because of their subsequent ineligibility for the permits.

A small miner said such a lottery was last held more than 12 years ago.

Although he did not win, he agreed that the system was a fair and non-discriminatory method of arriving at persons who should get the available lands.

Disappointed applicants were told that they stood a fair chance of getting plots in mining areas by August.

Persaud, also Manager of the Geological Services Division of the GGMC, assured them that lands in the Mahdia area would be available by August and they should keep in contact with the commission to be updated on developments in this regard.

Small miners who won expressed joy at being able to get their own lands.

They said the welcome development puts an end to exploitation they had suffered at the hands of unscrupulous better off persons in the industry.

Meanwhile, Da Silva expressed the hope that the GGMC would assist the prospective small miners with repairs to roadways and other infrastructure which would encourage them in their endeavours.

Another miner also called for GGMC support in the prevention and or eradication of malaria in these areas.

The Sound and the Fury
RECENTLY, a columnist in another daily newspaper took umbrage at a television ad being given a lot of airtime of late.

In synopsis, the ad features some young men enjoying a game of basketball when the cockiest among them receives a visit from a young woman, accompanied by an older woman, who proceeds to tell the young man "You idiot, you got me pregnant." The ad was funded/produced by the several donor and local organisations which comprise the local HIV/AIDS camp in Guyana.

HIV/AIDS public messages in Guyana continue to be fiascos, from the "Don't be bowled out by AIDS" cricket-themed ads a couple of years ago, to the recent ambiguous call for abstinence as embodied in the tagline of the advertisement noted above, "Sometimes all it takes is a NO."

Another paper's recent man-in-the-street on "Merundoi", a radio serial drama on HIV/AIDS, was revealing.  All but two of the nine persons interviewed had never even heard of the show, and those who did said that they listened to it occasionally. 

No comment on the messages contained, which is after all the central purpose of the show in the first place.  A public service health message in a palatable popular format: the sugar coating on the bitter medicine that is learning about the disease.

A man-in-the-street column may not be a scientific indicator of popularity of one of the HIV/AIDS public relations machine flagship projects, but it can be considered at least as circumstantial evidence that not only is the message not getting through to the people targeted, but neither is the medium.

Yet these advertisements continue to be produced, workshops continue to be held, Merundoi is still on the radio and one can expect that this will happen as long as there is PEPFAR funding coming in. With U.S. President George Bush recently indicating that he would substantially increase PEPFAR, and with the G8 committing a significant amount of money to combat the disease in the Third World, we can consider this trend to be indefinite.  The sound and the fury of HIV/AIDS public campaigning continues.

Someone needs to call a spade a spade. HIV/AIDS in Guyana is not just a disease any more; it is an industry, the way the war in Iraq is an industry and not just the war in Iraq. 

The parallels are all there: from the billion dollar funding; top-down policy formulation model; shaky assessment and accountability systems; the civilian contractors and local underlings; and the negligible impact on the people that all this is supposed to benefit. 

Too many people have grown rich on HIV/AIDS in Guyana while the overall mission has grown poorer. We may be scoring points in areas like treatment and care, but HIV/AIDS public campaigns are heavily focused towards the best medicine: prevention. 

Until the present system is changed, there is no hope for reversing or even curbing the spread of the disease.

Charged NBS managers file suit against interdiction
THE three senior managers of New Building Society Limited (NBS), who were interdicted from duty since being charged in the $70M fraud case, have moved to the High Court for redress.

Director/Secretary Maurice Arjoon, Operations Manager Kent Vincent and Assistant Mortgage Manager Kissoon Baldeo, accused of conspiracy in the crime, have filed a writ asking for declarations that the purported interdiction without pay is unlawful.

The plaintiffs have asked for damages in excess of $15M for breach of contract and an injunction restraining NBS by itself, its servants/or agents, including the Board of Directors from interdicting them.

They were also requesting that the court prevent NBS, its servants, agents and Board from proceeding with a hearing yesterday to decide their fate.

In his supporting affidavit, Arjoon, of Lots 1-2 La Flora Gardens, Eccles, East Bank Demerara, swore, on behalf of himself and Vincent, that, during their collective years at NBS, they never received even a warning letter in respect of their performance.

Arjoon said, on Friday, January 11, 2007, he became aware of a complaint, by an NBS customer, that huge sums of money were unlawfully withdrawn from his wife’s account.

Upon receiving this information, I immediately launched an internal investigation, headed by the Internal Audit Manager,” Arjoon said.

He said, at or about the same time, he informed the NBS Board both of the complaint and the investigation into it and, a few days after the commencement of the probe, he called in the Police Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to assist the internal audit team.

Arjoon said, at all material times, he briefed and apprised the Board, fully and frankly, in respect of the progress and other developments.

He said, in the court papers, that the investigation, as it unfolded, revealed that two employees, Kumar Ragobar, a supervisor and Imran Bacchus, a counter clerk, were apparently implicated in the unauthorised withdrawal of monies from the accounts of several NBS customers.

According to Arjoon, Ragobar was called before the Board to explain his involvement and was eventually dismissed.

Bacchus, who resigned without giving the requisite notice, was arrested by the Police in relation to the investigation but Arjoon said he is unaware of the outcome.

Arjoon said, at all material times, both he and Vincent gave the Police their fullest cooperation and assisted them in every possible way.

Arjoon said NBS further revealed that approximately $69M was withdrawn on four separate occasions from an account in the name of Bibi Shamila Khan.

Among other things, the trio said sending them off the job from June 12 is also contrary to the rules of natural justice and in breach of their contract of employment.

The action, initiated by Senior Counsel Bernard De Santos and other attorneys-at-law Anil Nandlall, Shannon Rameshwar, Euclin Gomes and Pamela DeSantos, is before Justice B.S. Roy.

'Nothing but lawlessness!'
-- women remanded for Father’s Day weekend
SEVERAL women will be in prison for the Father’s Day weekend after they appeared in court yesterday on assault charges.

Magistrate Gordon Gilhuys declared he was remanding every female defendant before him yesterday on charges of this nature in an effort to send a strong message.

“This is lawlessness! The reason for remanding them is because women never used to be fighting on the streets in times past. Why would they want to disgrace themselves on the road? It’s nothing but lawlessness”, the magistrate stressed.

The women, Alexis Richardson, Susan Richardson, Candacy Small, June Bowman, Oneeka Softley, and Tushanna Felix, were all on separate charges and each pleaded not guilty.

Another, charged with assaulting a pregnant woman, was also remanded to prison until Monday.

They are all due back in court on Monday.

Two charged with unlawful possession of GUYSUCO fertiliser
A GUYANA Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) employee and a farmer, both from Mara, East Bank Berbice, have been jointly charged with unlawful possession of 86 bags of mixed fertiliser.

The defendants, 32-year-old manure and punt hand Dowan Brijanand and Deujodhan Seoharan, 53, who farms, each pleaded not guilty to the charge before Magistrate Geeta Chandan at New Amsterdam Court, in Berbice, yesterday.

Police said the men were intercepted with the product by GUYSUCO Providence Estate security personnel and questioned on June 8 but were unable to give a reasonable explanation for having it.

Brijanand and Seoharan were granted $30,000 bail, individually, pending trial on July 13.

At Berbice Assizes…
Illegal possession charges against freed murder accused dismissed
JUSTICE Dawn Gregory-Barnes yesterday dismissed two charges of illegal possession of firearm and ammunition against previously freed murder accused Rowel Kathow.

It happened after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) withdrew the indictments at the Berbice Assizes.

Kathow, of Orealla, Corentyne River, had pleaded guilty to the offences in a lower court and was sentenced by the presiding magistrate.

Consequently, when he was arraigned before the judge, records proved that Kathow had already served the sentence.

He was accused of having a 16-gauge single barrel shotgun and four matching cartridge without being a licensed firearm holder.

On Thursday, Kathow was acquitted of the capital offence when Justice Gregory-Barnes threw out a caution statement, attributed to him, on which the Prosecution was relying.

Defence Counsel Charran Das Persaud represented Kathow in that case.

Don’t kill the jaguars
IT WAS with a great sense of disbelief and alarm that I recently read of the euphoria that was reportedly expressed by cattle farmers and residents on the Essequibo coast when two jaguars were killed.

The Jaguar is one of two animals that are proudly displayed on our Coat of Arms, Guyana’s National Symbol, yet the killing of two was received with jubilation by the farmers in Essequibo.

I know the immediate defence of this wanton slaying of an endangered animal will be that it was necessary to protect the farmers’ cattle. Invariably, the arguments will assert that these killings are necessary to sustain the economic viability of cattle farmers.

While I understand the motive for the killing, I strongly condemn this gratuitous act, as it is likely to persist and get out of hand if immediate steps are not taken to halt this occurrence.

According to Guyana Explore, the Official Tourist Guide of Guyana, 2006, the Jaguar is listed as an endangered specie. Iwokrama has embarked on an initiative of protection and reproduction of nearly extinct or vulnerable animals such as the Jaguar, as well as the Harpy Eagle, Black Caiman, Giant River Otter, Giant Anteater, Bushmaster Snake, Green Anaconda and the Arapaima. Yet its killing is being rewarded and celebrated.

The big cats of the jungle kill to survive. They are not aware of the economic consequences their killing instincts have on human financial viability. Humans are supposed to be the rational beings, yet I read about a remuneration package of $40,000 being offered for the killing of one of most protected Giants of El Dorado. Am I the only one who is appalled by this senseless act?

Why are the jaguars moving further and further into human habitation in the first place? Or are humans the ones who are encroaching on the animal’s natural habit with their increasing deforestation and mining?

Jaguars are among the set of animals that Guyana advertise as part of our unique eco-tourism product, but if the killings continue unabated and without remorse, we will have to strike them off of that list.

Guyana cannot compete with islands like Barbados, St. Lucia, Jamaica and Bahamas which are blessed with magnificent sandy beaches and breathtaking blue waters. We promote a diverse array of rich flora and fauna as a unique form of tourism. Won’t the slaying of Jaguars devalue our already fragile tourism sector?

I have not heard the Guyana Tourism Authority, Iwokrama, Conservation International, or any other interest group bemoaning what now appears to be a very alarming trend of exterminating the endangered species of Guyana’s wild.

If they did, it was not vociferous enough.
TUSANKINE ENGLISH

Caption perfectly correct
I REFER to the article headed “Rural headdress African in origin, not Indian”, which appeared in the Stabroek News issue of June 3, 2007.

In that article, Barrington Braithwaite takes issue with the Guyana Chronicle’s use of the caption “Women wearing Madrassi Rumal (head gear)” for a photograph, contending that it was not accurate.

In fact, the Chronicle’s caption was perfectly correct. The Hindi name by which the apparel is commonly known is perhaps the clearest indication of its source. The term Madrassi Rumal means “kerchief from Madras” and refers to the Indian city of Madras from which the apparel originated.

In her work Encyclopedia of Jamaican Heritage, Senior reveals that the material was imported from India into the Caribbean from as early as the 18th century.

The name by which it was advertised then, and by which it still goes in Jamaica, is bandana. This word is derived from the Hindi bandhna meaning ‘to tie’. Clearly, this name points not only to its Indian origin, but to the tie-dye method originally used to obtain the plaid designs.

Initially hand-made from silk, the kerchief was later mass produced using cotton fabric.

According to Senior, the use of the Madras kerchief as a head dress became common “among women of both African and Indian origin in the years following emancipation.”

Steeve Buckridge, in his book The Language of Dress concurs with Senior, stating that it “was worn in Jamaica by both indentured labourers from India and peasant women.”

Early photographs dating from the same period as the prints proffered by Mr. Braithwaite provide proof that Indian women were, in fact, wearing the Madrassi rumal contemporaneously with their African counterparts. This parallel usage suggests that some form of cultural osmosis occurred during the post-emancipation/indentureship period. African peasant women embraced the Madrassi rumal as their head wrap of choice, while Indian immigrant women sported their Madrassi rumals in styles which reflected elements of creolisation.

The evolution of the Madrassi rumal into the familiar head dress in the Caribbean region defies its classification as being purely Indian or African. It has taken on a uniquely Caribbean flavour and stands as testimony to the rich cultural mix which characterises Caribbean society.

Today, the Madrassi rumal is the crowning glory of the national costumes of several Caribbean countries, including Jamaica, St. Lucia and the islands of the French Caribbean. Its use in these countries today is largely ceremonial.

We should feel proud that in Guyana, it continues to enjoy use as an everyday head dress by older rural Indian women.

When Mr. Braithwaite & Co do get around to focusing on the origin of the kerchief, I would strongly suggest that they consult the book Tie-dyed Textiles of India by Veronica Murphy and Rosemary Crill (New York: Rizzoli in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1991).
RAMNAUTH SOOKRAJ

We expect more
I AM a GT&T and a Digicel customer; most times I use my GT&T number because most of my friends are on this network.

However, a few of them are on the Digicel network, expect more get more.

The problem I am having and tons of GT&T customers are having is the fact that when they choose to SMS or MMS any of their friends or family they cannot; simply because of the fact that GT&T for some strange, yet to be explained reason has refused to integrate this platform with Digicel.

I am truly disappointed with my choice of service provider; for years we have lived through a period of poor telecommunications in Guyana because GT&T chose not to modernise the industry to the full potential most would have expected today, until of course with the arrival of Digicel.

I and all GT&T subscribers (since we are not apparently treated like customers who deserve the best) would like this platform integrated so that we can talk with family on the other network, so that we can leave people emergency messages.

Come on GT&T -- we expect more, and we need to get more.

A few months ago I was not a supporter of the President’s initiative to break up this monopoly but more and more I am loosing faith in GT&T and going unto his side.
J. K

Why aren’t the Police taking action?
ON WEDNESDAY 13 June 2007 I read in the Stabroek News a letter captioned “The police should proceed firmly against all noise nuisances including this one at Kitty.”

The writer was the Minister of Home Affairs. I was impressed by what he said in the letter.

However, the reality is that the police, if they respond to your calls, rarely do anything worthwhile about noise nuisances.

The complainant about Trini’s Auto Works reflected what is happening in a little neighbourhood called Morocut Square, immediately behind the East La Penitence Police Station, also in Georgetown.

A workshop in the area hammers on metal sheets, revs engines, and operates machinery from Sunday to Sunday, from morning until way after dark. The owners of the workshop also spill waste oil into drains, encumber and damage the parapets. On weekends and some week nights they and strangers (male and female) gather to drink in the workshop yard, play loud music, use the filthiest language imaginable, etc.

When residents voice their concerns, they are verbally abused.

Complaints to the EPA, the City Council, the Ministry of Works and the Police have fallen on deaf ears so far. When you call Impact, they tell you East La Penitence has to handle the matter. When you call East La Penitence, they tell you they don’t have vehicles.

Having read the minister’s letter I now realise the police have the authority to stop the misery that decent minded folks have to endure.

I am appealing to the police to please act professionally and do their work.
RESIDENT

Unacceptable water quality
RESIDENTS in the Foulis/Enmore area are very concerned about the colour of the water coming out of their taps/pipes, the oil on top of the water, and the stink smell.

Why do we have to pay for dirty water?

The water that Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) supplies residents with is very dirty; early in the morning, sometimes during the day the water usually comes muddy and an oily substance is found at the surface of the water.

The water even smells and we can’t use it to bathe much less drink or do household chores.

Not every resident in the area could afford to buy water for drinking and do other things. It is hard. Very hard.

The Minister of Health should look into this matter -- there are a lot of small children living in the community and it could lead to disease and death.
ROHANI NARAYAN

National accomplishment
THE agreement reached between the government and the Opposition for house-to-house registration ahead of Local Government Elections is truly a national accomplishment.

It should be seen as the epitome of compromise for the advancement and further democratisation of these elections.

While the integrity of the current list was validated by the 2006 General Elections, President Jagdeo vindicated his promise made to the opening of the 9th Parliament, to work closely with the Opposition for the good of the country.

As we reflect on the political cultures of the Caribbean and the wider world, Guyanese can truly say that democracy is one of the hallmarks of the People’s Progressive Party’s administration.
B. CHARLES

Cleaning should be normal activity
MINISTER of Education Shaik Baksh recently visited a secondary school in Georgetown which is undergoing repairs.

The minister was embarrassed by the insanitary condition of the compound and criticised those holding administrative duties.

Addressing teachers, he emphasised that cleaning of the school’s compound should be a normal activity for the school administration and should not need the intervention of the minister.

I fully support his concern that some school administrators are falling down on their responsibilities.

Things are much better today in schools than when I was attending. In those days students would gladly help in keeping their compound tidy. The new generation is different.

A sanitary school environment has many advantages and Parent Teachers Association can play a significant role.
A. HACKETTE

Warning for striking T&T footballers
....Warner urges return to bargaining table
By Kevin Pile
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – Trinidad & Tobago’s football supremo Austin ‘Jack’ Warner has warned national players involved in a legal dispute with the local federation that they will remain in the football wilderness unless they return to the bargaining table.

The cream of the T&T’s Soca Warriors, including all of the overseas-based players, have taken legal action against the T&T Football Federation over incentive payments they claim were promised them for their participation in the FIFA World Cup in Germany last year.

“They (the players demands) are not justified and worse yet, even if they are remotely justified, what you have to do is to sit down around a table and talk,” Warner told CMC Sports while in New York recently.

“Don’t of course go to lawyer and court and so on. The minute you do that then you have put a bar on all discussion and that’s where we are at the moment and until they decide that they will drop all court action and come back to the table to talk they will stay outside the pail of organised football.

“Even if it means that in the initial phase, football has to suffer to get better again. It’s unfortunate but that’s what happens when players are consumed by greed.”

The dispute, which has marred the country’s historic outing at the World Cup, resulted in the dissenting players being ruled out of the ongoing CONCACAF Gold Cup in the United States.

Authorities chose an under-strength team for the tournament that suffered first round elimination after losing 2-1 to El Salvador, 2-0 to the United States and drawing 1-1 with Guatemala.

Warner, CONCACAF’s president, a FIFA vice-president and an adviser to the TTFF, contended that players were being motivated by greed and said he would deal with the dispute at the right time.

“What Trinidad is suffering from is a situation whereby 16 or 18 players are holding a country and a federation to ransom because of greed,” Warner pointed out.

“It is nothing less than greed and I will say this at the appropriate time because there is absolutely no reason for these players to hold the federation to ransom.

“I have tried my best not to become too involved in the dispute because at the appropriate time I will speak and when I speak I am quite sure the world will listen.”

Church Service to start WICUA 23rd biennial convention
A CHURCH service tomorrow morning at St George’s Cathedral from 08:00 h will herald the start of the West Indies Umpires’ Cricket Association (WICUA) 23rd biennial convention.

The convention will officially open on Monday with a flag-raising and opening ceremony at the Guyana International Conference Centre at 09:00 h. Minister of Sport Dr Frank Anthony will deliver the feature address.

On Tuesday there will be a media briefing at 16:30 h at Hotel Tower.

An exciting Twenty20 cricket match will be played at the Guyana National Stadium at Providence between a Guyana Umpires team and delegates from the Caribbean territories, from 14:00 h on Thursday.

On Friday there will be the President’s dinner and awards ceremony at Umana Yana from 19:00 h.

Powell runs under 10 seconds to win in Oslo
OSLO GOLDEN LEAGUE - Jamaica’s Asafa Powell ran under 10 seconds for the 27th time in his career to win the 100 metres at the Bislett Games.

The first Golden League meeting of the season, in Oslo, saw the world record holder smash a strong field that included European champion Francis Obikwelu.

Powell - who shared last season's Golden League jackpot with Jeremy Wariner and Sanya Richards after six wins - led from the start to romp home in 9.94 seconds, with Obikwelu second in 10.06.

Nigeria's Olusoji Fasuba came third in 10.25, beating Briton Mark Lewis-Francis in a photo-finish. Marlon Devonish, who initially was credited with third place in a good time of 10.0, was disqualified.

Jamaica's Powell, 24, set the current world record of 9.77 in Gateshead, England, last season, matching it in Zurich later in the campaign.

He did share the mark with Justin Gatlin for a while until the American was banned for doping.

Powell had predicted a fast race due to Oslo's good track and decent conditions. (Eurosport)

Windies A-team tour of Zimbabwe in doubt
… WIPA refuses to give approval
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – The West Indies ‘A’ team’s tour of Zimbabwe was thrown into doubt yesterday after the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) said it would not agree to the proposed move.

In a release, the players union said it had informed the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) that it could not agree to the tour because of concerns over players’ safety.

WIPA reminded earlier this week that under the Memorandum of Understanding between the two parties, a tour could not go ahead unless there was agreement.

“WIPA is indeed sensitive to the obvious disappointment players selected (especially those who may have been chosen for the first time) would feel at the cancellation of the tour,” Dinanath Ramnarine, WIPA’s president and chief executive, said.

“However, we want to assure the Board that we will give every consideration to a similar tour in more favourable circumstances.”

WIPA said they reached their decision “following intensive discussions with various stakeholders and likely selectees who have unanimously expressed deep concern about players’ safety and the continuing volatile situation existing in that country.”

“While we at WIPA acknowledge the importance of the development of cricket, we are, nevertheless, firmly of the view that the safety of players in an unsettled environment is of paramount importance,” the release continued.

The WICB had told CMC Sports earlier this week they had decided to proceed with the tour of Zimbabwe next month, after getting the backing from Caricom Heads of Government. They were, however, awaiting an agreement from WIPA.

“We did not get the response from the Caribbean Heads of Government until Wednesday afternoon of last week,” the WICB’s Bruce Aanensen told CMC Sports.

“I immediately on receipt of that when we agreed that we could go ahead with the tour in so far as the Heads of Government were concerned, we sent out a proposal to WIPA, the terms and conditions of the tour and I am waiting on a response from WIPA at the moment to proceed with announcing the team for the tour.”

A 14-man squad, to be led by middle order batsman Sylvester Joseph, has already been picked to leave the Caribbean on June 30 for the one-month tour, which includes three four-day and two limited overs matches.

Nadal suffers shock defeat at Queen's
By Pritha Sarkar
LONDON, England (Reuters) - World number two Rafael Nadal led an exodus of seeds at Queen's Club yesterday when swirling winds threw Wimbledon preparations off course for several players.

Third seed Fernando Gonzalez, number four Novak Djokovic and fifth seed Ivan Ljubicic also lost, with French players doing most of the damage.

Andy Roddick, however, survived and will be favourite to claim his fourth title here in five years after overcoming dank conditions to reach the semi-finals with a 6-4, 7-6 win over Croatian wildcard Marin Cilic.

Top seed Nadal was undone 7-5, 7-6 thanks to the superior court coverage of an inspired French opponent ranked 106th in the world.

Nicolas Mahut earlier accounted for Ljubicic in a rain-delayed third-round match before handing out similar treatment to the French Open champion.

Slipping and sliding behind the baseline, Nadal squandered break point opportunities at 5-5 in the second set. Mahut then took the tiebreak 7-0, falling to his knees as he sealed a famous win.

MAHUT JOY
"It's the best day in my tennis life," said Mahut, the 2000 junior champion at Wimbledon.

"I beat Ljubicic this morning and Rafa now. To beat two top-10 players in the same day is amazing," he told reporters.

Nadal said: "I didn't play very well."

Arnaud Clement completed a good day for France, winning back-to-back matches to set up a semi with his friend Mahut.

Serbian fourth seed Djokovic, a semi-finalist at Roland Garros, went down 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 to Clement.

The 14th-seeded Frenchman was back on court less than four hours later to fell towering Croatian Ivo Karlovic 7-5, 6-4.

Third seed Gonzalez looked to be heading towards a showdown with Roddick until he succumbed 6-3, 6-7, 6-4 to Dmitry Tursunov in a match twice interrupted by showers.

Struggling to control Tursunov's powerful groundstrokes, the 26-year-old Chilean smashed his racquet to a mangled wreck when the Russian rallied from 4-2 down to level 4-4 in the decider.

Gonzalez was given a code violation and surrendered his title prospects two games later.

Roddick rallied from 4-2 down in the second set to end the promising run of Cilic.

"It was a little bit sloppy at times. If I'm going to get through two matches to win this tournament, I'm going to have to play better than that," said the American second seed.

Durham upbeat after their big day is washed out
By Richard Sydenham
DURHAM, England (Reuters) - Durham County Cricket Club were philosophical despite the first day of England's fourth Test against West Indies -- the biggest match they have staged -- being washed out yesterday.

The 15 600 sell-out was the third England Test match at Durham and the first against a major cricket nation after Zimbabwe and Bangladesh played Tests there in 2003 and 2005 respectively.

Rain, which scuppered the two practice days, prevented any play on the first day at the Chester-le-Street ground in the northeast of England.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) will refund all spectators and their losses of 640 000 pounds ($1.26 million) will be met by an insurance scheme.

"It's bad luck for us and is not great news financially but it's not dramatic either," Durham chief executive David Harker told Reuters.

"The biggest loss of ticket sales is covered by the ECB, while our corporate punters turned up and still had a few drinks but we will probably have to offer them an (incentive) deal for the future.

"We will lose some revenue from around the ground (catering and merchandise) because people haven't turned up. The bigger loss is losing the opportunity to stage this event, our biggest Test match yet. But there's nothing we can do about the great British weather.”

National junior ruggers in warm-up game today
GUYANA’S National U-19 rugby squad, due to contest the NAWIRA Junior U-20 World Championship Trophy Qualifier in the Cayman Islands next month (July 7-15), will take on a select senior team in a practice session at the National Park rugby ground today at 16:00 h.

The junior team will shortly be selected and is scheduled to leave Guyana for the Cayman Islands on July 6.

Making the trip though is no easy task and president of the Guyana Rugby Football Union, Noel Adonis, stated through a release that finding the funds to take part in the junior qualifier in addition to participating in the Caribbean Men’s and 15s championships, in Cayman in August, is an enormous challenge.

The winner of the NAWIRA Qualifier will go on to the World Championship Trophy U-20 tournament next year. The International Rugby Board (IRB) has introduced this tournament to replace what was formally the Rugby World Cup U-19 Championship. It will be the first time that a West Indies team will represent the Region at the World tournament.

Guyana are favourites to win the tournament having been U-18 West Indies champions for three years from 2002 to 2005. The country is currently ranked second to Jamaica, who won the tournament hosted in Guyana last year.

Four Guyanese for T&T National Track and Field competition
MIDDLE distance runner Alika Morgan is one of four athletes currently in Trinidad for the Trinidad and Tobago National Junior Track and Field Championships billed for this weekend.

Sprinters Leota Bobb and Carwyn Collins, along with Kiev Chesney who will run the 800m and the 1500m, are also vying for medals.

President of the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) Claude Blackmore said that the competition is not an invitational, but that the athletes were allowed to compete due to a special arrangement between the two athletic bodies of the countries.

Net Rockers win twice in opening Under-15 action
By Joe Chapman
AFTER squeezing past Hi Stars 1-0 in the lone opening game, Net Rockers made it two in a row when they defeated Silvertown All Stars 5-2 last Saturday when the sides met in the Upper Demerara Football Association (UDFA)-organised and Guyana Football Association (GFA)-sponsored, Under-15 football competition being played in Linden.

Playing at the Silvertown All Stars ground last Saturday, Net Rockers’ victory came through goals by Clarence Higgins who opened the scoring in the sixth minute with Delon Young increasing it in the 19th minute before Glenneth Castang scored twice in the 41st and 42nd minutes while Neshawn Hazel got the other for the Rockers in the 60th minute.

The two strikes for Silvertown All Stars were by Tramaine Jacobs in the 15th and Domain Abrams in the 27th minute.

Over at the Bayrock Community Centre ground Silver Shattas edged Hi Stars who lost for the second time 3-2 with goals coming from Terry Halley in the third minute with Moridan Bowen getting the double in the 17th and 54th minutes.

Hi Stars’ two goals were from conversions by Silvan Perez in the 52nd and Donovan Lowden in the 55th minutes.

On Sunday at the Bayrock ground Winners Connection beat Blueberry Hill United 1-0 after the lone goal of the game was scored by Randy Headley in the 17th minute.

At the Christianburg ground Eagles United defeated Vasco 2-1 with the goals for the winners coming from Jermaine Batson in the 55th and Leonard Simmons in the 58th as they came from behind after Duane Thomas had put the Connection side ahead in the 41st minute of play.

This competition has attracted some 14 teams in the Upper Demerara region.

Meanwhile, the competition continues today with three matches at different venues. At the Bayrock ground Milerock play Ballweavers in one game while the other brings together Winners Connection against Silvertown All Stars.

Over at the Amelia’s Ward Primary School ground the Young Men of Central Amelia’s Ward (YMCA) oppose Silver Shattas.

Tomorrow, Regal United take on Vasco at the Bayrock ground with Hi Stars meeting Blueberry Hill in the other game. Flamingo clash with Eagles United at the Christianburg ground.

FIFA say 2 500-metre altitude limit still in place
ASUNCION, (Reuters) - FIFA said yesterday that its recently imposed ban on playing international matches at more than 2 500 metres above sea level remained in effect and had not been lifted.

On Thursday, Bolivian doctor Ivo Eterovic, a member of the South American Football Confederation (CSF) medical committee told reporters after a committee meeting that FIFA had agreed to lift the ban, saying matches could be played at 2 800 metres but not higher than 3 000 metres.

However, a FIFA spokesman denied yesterday that any such decision had been taken.

"The only body that can change the ruling is the executive committee who imposed it in the first place and the executive committee do not meet again until June 27 so the ruling remains in place," the spokesman told Reuters.

FIFA surprised the South American nations by announcing the 2 500-metre limit on May 27.

The decision caused an outcry in some of the Andean nations, where the matter has become a major political issue.

Bolivia president Evo Morales has led the campaign to have the ruling overturned and on Tuesday took part in a kickabout with some of his aides on a mountain at nearly 6 000 metres above sea level.

The CSF's executive committee was due to meet yesterday to discuss the issue.

Earlier this year, Brazilian club Flamengo issued a furious protest after playing a South American Libertadores Cup match at nearly 4 000 metres above sea level against Real Potosi in Bolivia.

Potosi directors rejected the protest and said they did not want to play in Rio de Janeiro because of the "the heat and the mosquitoes".

Brazil's first defeat in a World Cup qualifier was away to Bolivia in La Paz in 1993.

If matches were allowed at 3 000 metres they could be played in Quito and Bogota, the capitals of Ecuador and Colombia respectively. However, it would still mean that La Paz in Bolivia, situated at 3 600 metres, was out of bounds.

James vows to return stronger from Spurs sweep
By Steve Ginsburg
CLEVELAND, Ohio (Reuters) - Just minutes after getting swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA finals, LeBron James vowed to return next year as a better player.

The muscle-bound Cleveland Cavaliers forward averaged 22 points, seven rebounds and seven assists but admitted he did not perform up to his advanced billing.

"If I don't play well, our team is not going to have a good chance to win," he told reporters.

"I've got a lot of things to work on to get better for next year."

The 22-year-old James shot poorly all series, committed 23 turnovers and failed to have the breakout game many had anticipated.

He shot only 35 percent from the floor, 20 percent from three-point range, and had only three dunks in the four games.

In Thursday's title-clinching 83-82 Spurs victory, James missed 20 of his 30 shots.

Cavaliers coach Mike Brown credited San Antonio's pressure defence for keeping James in check.

"They did a nice job blitzing him at times, keeping two on him, and then at other times they just dropped him," he said.

"The changing defences throughout the course of the game were something that we as a team didn't adjust to very well.

"But he had some great looks and they didn't go in, and not just his jump shots. He had a few lay-ups almost every game that normally go in, but for some reason they didn't."

Spurs centre Tim Duncan, a four-time NBA champion, credited defensive ace Bruce Bowen for shutting James down.

"It was Bruce Bowen sitting down on him for 40-odd minutes every night," he said.

"It was our guys’ understanding that he wasn't able to do it himself. But it just starts with Bruce.

"He did an awesome job of standing in front of that guy and making life tough for him."

James, who grew up just outside of Cleveland, shouldered much of the blame for the Cavaliers' disappointing first appearance in the NBA finals.

"I have to be much better on and off the court, and that will carry our team to higher levels," he said. "It starts with me first and then it will trickle down to everybody else.”

Premier League probe targets 17 transfers
By Trevor Huggins
LONDON, England (Reuters) - A Premier League inquiry into alleged transfer irregularities has found that 17 transfers, including the moves of Didier Drogba and Petr Cech to Chelsea, cannot be cleared, the league said yesterday.

The transfers involve five clubs -- Chelsea, Portsmouth, Middlesbrough, Bolton Wanderers and Newcastle United, while the inquiry questions the roles of more than a dozen agents and advisers, notably top Israeli agent Pinhas Zahavi.

A league statement said the inquiry found Zahavi "has failed to cooperate fully" and recommended that FIFA, world soccer's governing body "launch their own inquiry into the conduct of Mr Zahavi based on the evidence obtained."

The probe, started in March 2006 by former London police chief John Stevens, looked into 362 moves completed between January 1, 2004 and the end of January last year.

Though clubs had fully cooperated and there was no evidence of irregular payments, known as "bungs", the outstanding issues with Zahavi and fellow agent Barry Silkman meant five deals they were involved with could not be cleared.

They covered Chelsea's signings of Ivorian striker Drogba and Czech goalkeeper Cech, Zambia striker Collins Mbesuma's move to Portsmouth and the Middlesbrough moves of Brazilian midfielder Fabio Rochemback and Nigeria striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni.

Another Chelsea transfer, which brought Ghana midfielder Michael Essien to the club, has not been cleared because of unanswered questions over another agent and an adviser involved in that deal.

The report also said it had concerns about the involvement of Craig Allardyce, the son of then Bolton Wanderers manager Sam, when he acted as an agent in the club's signing of Ali Al-Habsi, Tal Ben Haim and Blessing Kaku.

It also highlighted the "conflict of interest" involving son Craig, his father Sam and the northwest club.

NEWCASTLE AGENTS
Newcastle were brought into the inquiry due to a lack of cooperation by agents involved in the signings of Turkish midfielder Emre Belozoglu, French defender Jean Alain Boumsong and French midfielder Amady Faye.

The inquiry also found Newcastle's former manager Graeme Souness had provided information which contained inconsistencies.

One of the 17 transfers was not identified, so as not to prejudice an inquiry "by another regulatory authority".

The report also recommended inquiries should be continued into the registering of a race horse by an agent, Willie McKay, in the name of Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp.

"Harry Redknapp has confirmed that this could well have happened though it was a very unsuccessful horse that resulted in no material gain or reward for him," the report said.

The Premier League said yesterday: "All outstanding matters, together with full and relevant documentation, will now be passed to the FA and FIFA, who have the required powers to investigate further and consider the next appropriate steps.”

Samuels’ controversial letter was leaked -- WICB
By Keith Holder
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – A controversial letter written by West Indies middle order batsman Marlon Samuels to team manager Mike Findlay on what he says has been discrimination suffered at practice sessions during the current tour of England was leaked to a regional website.

That is the view of West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) chief executive officer, Bruce Aanensen, in response to questions from CMC Sport on the issue after the letter appeared on the independent website, Caribbeancricket.com last weekend.

”I can shed the light that the letter was leaked to the media. The letter was written to the tour manager by Marlon Samuels. It was copied to the president of the board (Ken Gordon) who at the time was in the United States and it was also copied to Mr (Dinanath) Ramnarine (president and CEO) at WIPA,” Aanensen said.

“The (WICB) president never saw the letter until maybe two days after it was sent. Mike Findlay received the letter and he told me he discussed it with no one.

“When it appeared in the media he asked Marlon if he gave a copy of it to the media. Marlon said he did no such thing. So I have no idea how that letter got in the media if the persons concerned did not give a copy of it to the media,” Aanensen asserted.

Jamaican Samuels was a late replacement in the team after appointed captain Ramnaresh Sarwan was ruled out of the rest of the tour following an injury to his right shoulder while chasing a ball to the boundary on the opening day of the second Test at Headlingley, Leeds, on May 25.

In the letter, the outspoken Samuels accused West Indies' former coach Bennett King, and his replacement, fellow Australian David Moore, of not giving him sufficient time in the nets generally to acclimatise.

"At our first net session since I arrived in England I was told by coach David Moore to start the fielding session, then I was asked to bowl in the nets which I happily did," Samuels wrote.

However, I was not given an opportunity to bat until after all the other batsmen and bowlers (had) batted.

"At this time the net bowlers were very tired and unable to bowl properly and you would understand that, since I only recently arrived, it is important for me to get an equal chance to acclimatise and prepare myself for the Test match if given the opportunity."

Samuels did not play in the third Test at Old Trafford in Manchester and was also ignored for the fourth and final Test at Chester-le-Street, starting yesterday.

West Indies have already lost the series after they were beaten in the second and third Tests. The first match at Lord’s was drawn after a rain-hit last day.

Spurs sweep Cavs to capture third NBA title in five years
By Steve Ginsburg
CLEVELAND, Ohio (Reuters) - The San Antonio Spurs edged out the Cleveland Cavaliers 83-82 on Thursday to capture their third NBA championship in five years with a 4-0 finals series sweep.

With the score tied at 66-66 and four minutes on the clock, San Antonio went on a decisive 8-0 run that was capped by Fabricio Oberto's basket from underneath with 2:01 remaining.

San Antonio shooting guard Manu Ginobili hit all six of his free throws in the final 24 seconds including two with 1.9 seconds left that gave the Spurs an 83-79 lead.

A 25-foot, three-pointer by Cleveland guard Damon Jones at the buzzer provided the final margin but by that time, the pro-Cleveland crowd of 21 000 was silently leaving the arena.

"They made runs, we never panicked," Spurs centre Tim Duncan told reporters after being held to just 12 points on 4-of-15 shooting.

"It shows a lot of the experience, the poise that we've built over the years. I think we just outlasted them."

Ginobili scored 27 points and Tony Parker, selected the finals MVP, added 24 to lead the Spurs to their fourth title in 11 years.

Parker hit 10-of-14 shots on a variety of jumpers and drives to the basket over and around the Cavaliers' big men.

The 25-year-old averaged 24.5 points over the four games and shot 57 percent from the field.

JAMES STRUGGLED
"It's great, just unbelievable," the Frenchman said about being named MVP. I'm speechless.

"When I look at that trophy I'm going to wake up tomorrow and it's still going to be a dream.

"European basketball is improving every year. You've got Dirk Nowitzki (of Dallas) the (league) MVP for the first time and now the MVP finals. There's going to be more. I'm on the list now."

Cleveland forward LeBron James shot only 10-of-30 in scoring 24 points.

For the series, James shot only 35 percent, including just 4-of-20 from three-point range.

"If I don't play well, our team is not going to have a good chance to win," James said.

"I've got a lot of things to work on to get better for next year."

San Antonio appeared well in control with an eight-point advantage after three quarters, but Cleveland scored the first 11 points of the final period to take a 63-60 lead with under seven minutes left.

"We had our opportunities, the crowd was great, gave us the extra energy that we needed," Cleveland coach Mike Brown said.

"We just could never get over the hump."

Ginobili, an Argentine of Italian descent, scored 13 in the final period, repeatedly thwarting Cleveland's comeback bid.

"He did what he's done so many times, in Olympic games, in European (Euroleague) championships and in NBA championships," said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.

"He's just an ultimate competitor.”

Durham upbeat after their big day is washed out
By Richard Sydenham
DURHAM, England (Reuters) - Durham County Cricket Club were philosophical despite the first day of England's fourth Test against West Indies -- the biggest match they have staged -- being washed out yesterday.

The 15 600 sell-out was the third England Test match at Durham and the first against a major cricket nation after Zimbabwe and Bangladesh played Tests there in 2003 and 2005 respectively.

Rain, which scuppered the two practice days, prevented any play on the first day at the Chester-le-Street ground in the northeast of England.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) will refund all spectators and their losses of 640 000 pounds ($1.26 million) will be met by an insurance scheme.

"It's bad luck for us and is not great news financially but it's not dramatic either," Durham chief executive David Harker told Reuters.

"The biggest loss of ticket sales is covered by the ECB, while our corporate punters turned up and still had a few drinks but we will probably have to offer them an (incentive) deal for the future.

"We will lose some revenue from around the ground (catering and merchandise) because people haven't turned up. The bigger loss is losing the opportunity to stage this event, our biggest Test match yet. But there's nothing we can do about the great British weather.”

Nadal suffers shock defeat at Queen's
By Pritha Sarkar
LONDON, England (Reuters) - World number two Rafael Nadal led an exodus of seeds at Queen's Club yesterday when swirling winds threw Wimbledon preparations off course for several players.

Third seed Fernando Gonzalez, number four Novak Djokovic and fifth seed Ivan Ljubicic also lost, with French players doing most of the damage.

Andy Roddick, however, survived and will be favourite to claim his fourth title here in five years after overcoming dank conditions to reach the semi-finals with a 6-4, 7-6 win over Croatian wildcard Marin Cilic.

Top seed Nadal was undone 7-5, 7-6 thanks to the superior court coverage of an inspired French opponent ranked 106th in the world.

Nicolas Mahut earlier accounted for Ljubicic in a rain-delayed third-round match before handing out similar treatment to the French Open champion.

Slipping and sliding behind the baseline, Nadal squandered break point opportunities at 5-5 in the second set. Mahut then took the tiebreak 7-0, falling to his knees as he sealed a famous win.

MAHUT JOY
"It's the best day in my tennis life," said Mahut, the 2000 junior champion at Wimbledon.

"I beat Ljubicic this morning and Rafa now. To beat two top-10 players in the same day is amazing," he told reporters.

Nadal said: "I didn't play very well."

Arnaud Clement completed a good day for France, winning back-to-back matches to set up a semi with his friend Mahut.

Serbian fourth seed Djokovic, a semi-finalist at Roland Garros, went down 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 to Clement.

The 14th-seeded Frenchman was back on court less than four hours later to fell towering Croatian Ivo Karlovic 7-5, 6-4.

Third seed Gonzalez looked to be heading towards a showdown with Roddick until he succumbed 6-3, 6-7, 6-4 to Dmitry Tursunov in a match twice interrupted by showers.

Struggling to control Tursunov's powerful groundstrokes, the 26-year-old Chilean smashed his racquet to a mangled wreck when the Russian rallied from 4-2 down to level 4-4 in the decider.

Gonzalez was given a code violation and surrendered his title prospects two games later.

Roddick rallied from 4-2 down in the second set to end the promising run of Cilic.

"It was a little bit sloppy at times. If I'm going to get through two matches to win this tournament, I'm going to have to play better than that," said the American second seed.

Solanki to lead England Lions against West Indies
VIKRAM Solanki will lead England's A team in next Thursday's one-day match against West Indies at Worcester.

Now known as England Lions, the 12-man squad features 10 players with England caps including James Anderson, Paul Nixon and Stuart Broad.

Nottinghamshire batsman Will Jefferson and Gloucestershire's Alex Gidman are the two uncapped players in the squad.

Players from teams in the Friends Provident Trophy semi-finals were not considered for the 50-over contest.

Solanki, who will be playing on his home ground, is joined by fellow Worcestershire players Gareth Batty and Kabir Ali in the squad. And they will be coached by David Parsons and Kevin Shine.

Chairman of selectors David Graveney said: "The selectors will be closely monitoring performances by the Lions."

ECB commercial director John Perera called England Lions "an exciting new brand".

Their matches against India later in the summer will be televised live across Asia.

Perera added: "We are delighted to have secured live broadcast coverage of the team's fixtures later this summer and a further announcement about the team's winter tour plans will be made in due course

England Lions: Vikram Solanki (Worcestershire, captain), Kabir Ali (Worcestershire), James Anderson (Lancashire), Gareth Batty (Worcestershire), Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Leicestershire), Alex Gidman (Gloucestershire), Will Jefferson (Nottinghamshire), Ed Joyce (Middlesex), Paul Nixon (Leicestershire, wkp.), Owais Shah (Middlesex), Michael Yardy (Sussex). (BBC Sport)