Safe to visit
-- tourism authority hits back at travel boycott
`We should not be punished a second time by a travel boycott because our tourism products and industry have not been affected by the flooding’ – Guyana Tourism Authority

THE Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) is moving to counteract the damper crimping the sector from adverse travel advisories the United States and other governments issued in the wake of the devastating floods here last month.

Tourism officials say the advisories to American and other citizens not to visit Guyana after the floods have seriously affected bookings and they are still assessing losses from cancellations.

Last year was a record for tourist arrivals and the sector was poised for further growth this year before the floods hit the capital and dozens of coastal communities forcing the government to declare disaster zones in three regions.

In a statement, also being circulated by the Barbados-based Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), the tourism authority noted that nine heads of state and government along with many diplomats, high profile guests and goodwill ambassadors visited post-flood Guyana over the past seven days.

It pointed out that they have reported no inconvenience as a result of the recent flooding.

“These timely visits during our period of national disaster underscore the fact that it is safe to travel to Guyana and also serve to restore confidence as well as reassure our potential visitors and our Guyanese brothers and sisters abroad that Guyana is a safe, welcoming and hospitable destination to visit,” the GTA said.

It noted that among the visitors were President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil and President Ricardo Lagos Escobar of Chile.

Heads of state and government from Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda and St. Kitts Nevis visited for the official inauguration of the CARICOM Secretariat headquarters in previously flood-affected Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown, the authority pointed out.

HIGH PROFILE VISITS
The GTA recalled that other visitors included former El Salvador President Francisco Flores; Japanese envoy Tatsuo Matsui; former Commonwealth Secretary General, Sir Shridat Ramphal; internationally renowned Guyanese singer Eddy Grant and the Trinidad and Jamaican national cricket teams.

“These distinguished guests visited Guyana despite the travel advisories issued by the U.S. Embassy and by the Canadian and British High Commissions advising their citizens to defer non-essential travel to Guyana.

The high profile visits give testimony and bear witness to the fact that in Guyana, it is business as usual and that anyone could visit,” the GTA said.

The flood waters have receded completely in the areas initially affected but there is some artificial flooding to other communities in the Mahaica and Mahaicony rivers, it noted.

“The situation is under control as relief, rebuilding, recovery and rehabilitation efforts are in progress. The health situation is stable and there are no reports of additional flood related illnesses or deaths,” the authority advised.

It said repeated media images of flood waters have left their impact.

“Anyone who is not familiar with Guyana’s geography has unfortunately been left with the impression and perception that the entire country has been flooded or affected. Tourism has been virtually untouched by the flooding as most if not all of our tourism products are in the hinterland region of Guyana.”

The GTA urged potential visitors to follow in the footsteps of “these heads of state and government and the other distinguished ambassadors who visited and were able to enjoy Guyanese hospitality to the fullest.”

SUPPORT GUYANA
“After experiencing our first natural disaster, the best support and solidarity is for tourists to resume travelling to Guyana. We should not be punished a second time by a travel boycott because our tourism products and industry have not been affected by the flooding,” it declared.

Finance Minister Saisnarine Kowlessar, in his 2005 budget speech Monday, said tourism continues to emerge as a promising new growth area, expanding its contribution to national income, foreign exchange earnings and employment generation.

“The sector enjoyed a very successful year in 2004, with the main highlight being the breaking of the 10-year record for tourist arrivals in Guyana. Nearly 125,000 persons visited last year, while the largest number of cruise ship arrivals and the largest cruise ship ventured to these shores,” he noted.

Kowlessar said the sector will be boosted with the completion of several projects such as the improvements to the main and secondary airports, repairs to the main road from the airport to the city, construction of the Caribbean Community Secretariat and a convention centre, and the building of a multi-purpose stadium in preparation for the hosting of World Cup Cricket in 2007.

Room capacity in the sector will be upgraded and expanded, he said, noting that the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest) will be facilitating eight investors, who will invest $4.6 billion and generate a number of direct and indirect jobs.

The largest investment will be the construction of a new five-star hotel, which will start this year, the minister said.

“Further, now that the institutional framework has been put in place, several new initiatives will be pursued this year, including the funding of permanent tourism representatives in key international markets such as United Kingdom, Germany and North America. To undertake aggressive marketing in these markets, we have increased the provision to the Guyana Tourism Authority by 65 per cent to $51 million,” he announced.

East Coast clean-up to be stepped up
-- President promises
By Renu Raghubir
THE government will hire people to clean flood-hit East Coast Demerara communities because the exercises are moving extremely slowly, President Bharrat Jagdeo promised yesterday.

"Persons will be hired over the next week because cleaning is not moving fast enough and there is a lot of garbage. Central Government will play a major role because there is a lot of work to be done," he assured residents during a visit to Foulis.

Residents want the village to be removed from the management of the Buxton/Foulis Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) and placed under the Enmore/Hope or their own council.

But Mr. Jagdeo said he was not sure whether that could happen immediately.

He, however, promised to examine the possibilities.

Residents said they were neglected by the NDC prior to last month's natural disaster spawned by the heaviest rains in more than 100 years, affecting some 300,000 people in coastal communities.

Among the several complaints were garbage pile-ups, which remain visible in bulk along the coast.

The Foulis residents said cleaners did not come to their village neither did the NDC distribute cleaning detergents to assist them in self help works.

President Jagdeo informed them that hampers containing cleansing items were now being prepared and will be distributed shortly. He said this had been affected by recent shortages.

Expressing appreciation for government food hampers, residents said they are cleaning their immediate surroundings but urgently need the supplies.

One resident complained that persons were dumping garbage and old vehicle parts, blocking drains and kokers (sluices), and the President said the issue was raised at Cabinet recently, followed by a decision to have the names of areas for dumping in individual communities submitted by the NDCs.

"We have to start going after these people because there are penalties and laws in place to deal with this. When they dump they are harming the entire community. We have to use this as an opportunity to do a massive clean-up”, he declared.

“I don't ever expect this much rain again, it was close to 60 inches; three times the amount of pumps that we presently have still could not avoid the flood," Mr. Jagdeo told the crowd.

Residents also complained to him about the unfair distribution of hampers by representatives of private agencies.

"They brought forms and told everybody to full them and when all that is done only a few families get hampers," a resident said.

However, the President said that the government has no say in the distribution process by non governmental organisations (NGOs).

He stressed that the government has not authorised anybody to go house-to-house with forms and reiterated that across the board assistance will be given to everyone, and not specific families.

He pointed out that a flood committee was formed in Foulis to ensure fair distribution of government hampers which proved successful.

"Government made house-to-house delivery and when the meals were being prepared at the road tents we had a similar problem whereby people at the back were not getting food, so that had to stop," he pointed out.

Another complaint was about damaged water mains at Foulis and the President said these would be repaired soon by Guyana Water Inc.

Some residents also cried out about the increase in the cost of feed for livestock animals.

The President directed them to visit acting Minister of Agriculture, Satyadeow Sawh.

Residents complained too that the Foulis community had not been receiving electricity supply and President Jagdeo said power lines will be connected there next month.

Mr Jagdeo heard, too, that the Enmore/Hope Primary school and Enmore Nursery schools are yet to be fumigated after the floods and he expressed disappointment.

He said schools should have been top priority.

"After the schools are fumigated, children should attend. Even if they don't have uniforms they should go in plain clothes and then the headmaster/mistress can probably make a list of those who don't have uniforms and pass it on to the government," he replied after parents said their children's uniforms were destroyed in the floods.

Mr Jagdeo said the losses in schools have been estimated at some $400M.

He also said that the deployment of portable wooden latrines along the East Coast will have to be stopped as the flood waters have receded.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sam Hinds, yesterday visited Cummings Lodge Housing Scheme, east of Georgetown, where he encouraged residents to "pick up the pieces" and move on with their lives, now that the flood waters have receded.

He told them that the electrification programme funded by the government and the Inter-American Development Bank is expected to provide electricity to their community by November.

The Government Information Agency (GINA) said residents expressed pleasure at his visit saying that it showed that the government was concerned about their well-being.

Intruder shot dead
A LICENCED firearm owner shot and killed one of three men who were reportedly attempting to break into his home at Cotton Tree Village, West Coast Berbice early yesterday morning.

Villagers said the householder was awakened by suspicious sounds at his house around 04:00 hrs.

The man armed himself with his shotgun and upon investigating, saw someone on the rear verandah of his house, a section which does not have a connecting stairway, they said.

The householder challenged the intruder but the man failed to respond and then moved in a threatening manner towards him.

He then fired a shot at the intruder through a glass window and the intruder collapsed on the verandah.

The shot man was subsequently identified as Seepersaud, 48, also known as Cuffy or Grumble, of Section A, Cotton Tree, an address not far from the home where he was shot.

Villagers said he was unemployed and often offered his services to neighbours as a general labourer or handyman.

Two other persons who were said to be in the yard at the time fled the scene.

Seepersaud, who was reportedly still conscious after being shot, refused to identify the others who were suspected to be with him in the yard, saying that they would kill him if he called their names, villagers related.

He was taken to the Fort Wellington Hospital where he died while receiving medical attention.

Police are investigating.

`Thunder in Guyana’ airs on PBS TV
-- Janet Jagan’s remarkable life story
Far from being a simple biography of an unconventional woman, THUNDER IN GUAYANA interweaves the threads of family history, one woman’s incredible life story and the complex social and political history of the country…

`THUNDER in Guyana’ by filmmaker Suzanne Wasserman aired on the United States PBS TV network Tuesday evening and was relayed here by WRHM Channel 7.

It is a fascinating account of the life and struggles of former Guyana President Janet Jagan who left the comforts of her native Chicago to, with her husband Cheddi Jagan, lead the struggle for freedom in Guyana.

Despite the immense travails and trials, she has stayed the course through the years and remains today an icon and a beacon in the struggle for political independence and the continuing battle to consolidate democracy in Guyana.

Filmmaker Wasserman grew up fascinated by her glamorous cousin Janet.

At 23, Janet Rosenberg, a beautiful nursing student born and raised in Chicago, fell in love with Cheddi Jagan, a handsome dental student from a country no one in her family had even heard of.

Together, the political power couple became known as the founders of modern Guyana, and in 1997, Janet became the first American-born woman to lead a nation.

In THUNDER IN GUYANA, Wasserman uses interviews, family photos and archival footage to tell the story of her remarkable cousin: a tale of life-long love, political campaigns and struggles to bring progressive policies to an adopted country.

RADICAL POLITICS

Both Janet and Cheddi were involved in radical politics, and when they married in 1943, it was against the strenuous objections of her Jewish and his Hindu parents.

Janet and Cheddi spent the next half-century as Guyana’s political leaders, founding its first modern political party, the multi-racial People’s Progressive Party, in 1950. In Guyana’s historic election of 1953, the first election in its history with universal adult suffrage, Cheddi was elected Chief Minister and Janet the country's first female minister and deputy speaker of Parliament.

They led the first Communist government in the Western hemisphere, creating a firestorm in the press.

Janet and Cheddi governed Guyana for 133 days, until British Prime Minister Winston Churchill deposed them for their Communist beliefs. They both served time in jail and under house arrest. Remaining the most popular leader in the colony, Cheddi Jagan was re-elected and became Guyana’s prime minister in 1961. But this time, the U.S. Kennedy administration intervened, fearful of a Communist presence in its hemisphere, and recommended a covert programme to reduce the Jagans’ popularity.

As seen in the film, the American CIA instigated labour unrest, a vicious misinformation campaign and race riots that left hundreds of Guyanese dead and wounded.

In 1964, under pressure from the United States, Britain created constitutional changes in Guyana which made it impossible for Cheddi to retain power despite his continued popularity.

Yet the Jagans continued to fight for their country, travelling internationally and speaking out on progressive issues.

1992 heralded Guyana’s first free and fair elections in almost three decades, and Cheddi Jagan was sworn in as president.

He passed away in 1997, after which Janet accepted her party’s presidential nomination, and on December 15, 1997, she became president of Guyana, becoming the first woman and first foreign-born candidate to do so.

Far from being a simple biography of an unconventional woman, THUNDER IN GUAYANA interweaves the threads of family history, one woman’s incredible life story and the complex social and political history of the country of Guyana.

Wasserman shot THUNDER IN GUYANA between 1997 and 1999.
Last month, she reported:
This year, Janet Jagan will turn 85. She still lives in Georgetown, Guyana, where she has lived for the past 62 years. She still goes to her party office every day.

Wasserman noted that after they met and fell in love “Janet’s father, my great-uncle Charlie, threatened to shoot Cheddi on sight; my great-grandmother had a stroke.”

She adds:

“Considered the founders of Guyana, Janet and Cheddi Jagan spent the next half century as political leaders of the country. In 1950, they founded the multi-racial People’s Progressive Party, the first modern political party in the colony. In the historic election of 1953, the first election that provided for universal adult suffrage, Cheddi was elected Chief Minister and Janet was elected the country’s first female minister and deputy speaker of parliament.

Janet made international headlines that claimed "Guiana Red Line Laid to Chicago Born Blonde." Called the "Second Eva Peron" and the "Woman in White," another article claimed "Parents Describe Girl as 'Storm Center of Guiana.'" To her own parents, Janet sent a Western Union telegram that read "Cheddi, myself and Party won overwhelming victory."

Murder suspect sets himself on fire
-- mother, son die after drinking poison
A MAN suspected of stabbing another dead after an argument yesterday morning, set himself on fire, police reported.

Police spokesman John Sauers said the suspect was in critical condition at the Skeldon Hospital in Berbice.

He said the man stabbed Roy Fingall, of Swamp Section, Rose Hall, at about 08:40 h in Second Street, Rose Hall.

Fingall died from stab wounds in the chest and abdomen and his suspected assailant set himself on fire afterwards, Sauers said last night.

The police spokesman also reported that a gunman robbed cattle farmer Deo Dhamla of Dukestown, Corriverton, at his home of about $20,000 in cash and almost $1M in jewellery at about 02:30 h yesterday.

Sauers said that Perashini Persaud, 34, who had a medical condition and reportedly drank poison on February 17 last, died at the Skeldon Hospital yesterday.

Her five-year-old son who also drank the poison, died on Monday and post mortems are to be performed on the bodies, he said.

Guyana supports Japan for UN Security Council seat
GUYANA will support Japan and several other countries for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, President Bharrat Jagdeo has announced.

The Government Information Agency (GINA) said he made the announcement Sunday at the commissioning of the New Amsterdam Hospital which was funded by a grant aid from the Japanese Government.

Mr. Jagdeo said Guyana has recognised the role that Japan was playing in today’s world, the agency reported.

Japan funds some 20 per cent of the UN budget and 20 per cent of other official activities in the world, it said.

“Yet in many parts of these representative institutions, Japan does not have a status that is appropriate to its contribution. Which is why in Guyana’s case we decided some time ago, and it has nothing to do with this project -- this project in itself is substantial -- but on a principled basis to support Japan’s candidature as well as the candidature of different countries, India, Brazil, South Africa and Germany, for permanent seats on the UN Security Council,” the President said.

GINA said he emphasised that Guyana did this not because of the US$13M grant aid for the hospital, but “because we feel Japan is playing an important role in the world, especially in regard to peace and development and it is time Japan had the status to go with that contribution.”

At the commissioning of the new Caribbean Community headquarters at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown on Saturday, Special Envoy of Japan Tatsuo Arima, who was visiting, solicited CARICOM’s support for Japan’s candidature.

No floats, but the crowds came out
FAMILY picnics, sporting events and having fun in general was the order of the day in and around Georgetown yesterday in the absence of the annual massive Mashramani Day (republic anniversary) float parade and jump-up in the capital.

The major traditional celebrations were called off in the wake of the country’s worst natural disaster from the heaviest rains in more than 100 years which last month swept through dozens of coastal communities.

However, the traditional flag raising ceremony was held yesterday morning at 07:00 hrs at the Public Buildings. The ceremony included a guard of honour and prayers by representatives of the three main religions.

A day out at places such as the National Park and the Botanical Gardens attracted families in their numbers, as they searched for some place to spend their Mashramani.

In the National Park, the Seventh Day Adventist Church organised a cricket game, with trophies and other prizes such as watches, up for grabs.

The teams which participated were the Ephefesus, Caramel, Ebenezer and the Victoria/Shiloh Adventist churches.

One participant said the cricket competition was normal, since church members don't usually participate in the Mash Day float parade.

The Botanical Gardens on Vlissengen Road, was quite colourful and buzzing with life when the Chronicle visited yesterday afternoon.

Whether persons were looking at the animals in the zoo, taking pictures, enjoying a game of cricket, or just admiring the scenery, it was evident that they were having fun.

As the day wore on, `boom boxes’, the giant music systems that have become a Mash Day fixture, emerged and soca and other music reverberated in parts of the city – albeit a muted reminder of Mash Days past.

Mash Day fetes were also organised in other parts of the coast and at the popular Splashmin's Fun Park on the Soeskdye/Linden Highway where there was a 'Mash Splash'. (SHAWNEL CUDJOE)

More relief for flood-hit rice farmers
GOVERNMENT officials yesterday distributed relief supplies to residents and farmers in the Mahaica and Mahaicony rivers still affected by floods.

The Government Information Agency (GINA) said those handing out food, water and disinfectant supplies were Minister of Public Service, Dr Jennifer Westford and Information Liaison to the President, Robert Persaud.

The supplies were distributed house-to-house in Broken Water Land, Joe Hook, Grass Hook, Big Biaboo, Little Biaboo, Handsome Tree and # 10 Mahaica Creek.

Dr Westford told the agency that the government was focusing on helping persons still affected by the flood.

She said it was even more important to concentrate on food supplies because in these areas the livelihood of the people has been destroyed.

Mr Persaud told GINA the government recognises the need for assistance in several areas in the Mahaica and Mahaicony rivers and will help farmers rebuild and resume their livelihood.

He said several interventions were in place to assist farmers in the areas with agriculture and medical attention.

Residents of Abary, Champagne, Gordon Table to Mora Point, Mora Point to Johanna Creek and Strath Campbell in the Mahaicony Creek also received hampers, the agency said.

The water level in the mainly agricultural district has dropped significantly but farms are still flooded.

Farmers have suffered heavy rice and livestock losses.

World Food Programme wraps up flood relief here
THE United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has wrapped up its emergency food relief mission here in response to last month’s devastating floods in dozens of coastal villages.

Head of the WFP Regional Emergency Response office, Mr. Piero Terranera, flew here last week to check on the agency’s work and met Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary General Edwin Carrington to discuss expanding its outreach in the region.

A WFP press release said he discussed with Carrington the agency’s interest in working with CARICOM to strengthen emergency response operations in the Caribbean.

“WFP would provide support to interested national civil defence organisations in the region (and) would deploy food and a WFP emergency team from a central hub in the Caribbean to render assistance during an emergency situation”, it said.

CARICOM and WFP will work on strengthening links and move forward to coordinate future efforts, the agency said.

WFP said it has assisted more than 3,800 targeted families on the East Coast Demerara since February 4.

It said about 114 metric tonnes of food has been distributed through WFP cooperating partners in Guyana to families whose main or only source of income was disrupted by the recent floods and who will continue to need food.

Terranera also met Chilean President Ricardo Lagos during his state visit here last week.

On behalf of Mr. Pedro Medrano, WFP Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Terranera expressed the agency’s gratitude to the Chilean government for the flight it put on last week to airlift 14 metric tonnes of food from Ecuador.

This enabled WFP to continue relief efforts in the East Coast communities, the agency said.

It said the Chilean president reiterated his government’s interest in strengthening Chile’s cooperation with WFP to continue assisting WFP operations in Latin America and the Caribbean region.

Cuban council team due on visit here today
A TEAM of officials from Havana, Cuba, led by Mayor of the Dievde Octubre municipality, Mr Julian De La Pav, is expected to commence a four-day visit to Georgetown today.

A press release from the Georgetown City Council said the visit is part of an effort to further develop the sister city relationship between the two towns.

International Relations Specialist on Caribbean Affairs of the Provincial Assembly of People's Power of Havana, Ms. Varela Ballester is expected to be in the team.

The delegation will have a series of meetings with officials of the Georgetown Municipality, mayors of the other municipalities in Guyana, senior government functionaries and members of the private sector, with an aim of promoting cultural understanding and economic development.

Georgetown Mayor Hamilton Green said there was a need to stimulate the environment through which communities will creatively learn, work and solve problems together, through cultural, educational, municipal, business, professional and technical exchanges and projects between cities.

"It is with this in mind that Georgetown will focus this year on developing the municipal partnership that exist between Georgetown and its sister cities in other nations," he said in the release.

According to Green, `sister city’ programmes are unique in that they inherently involve three main sectors in a community -- local, government, businesses and a wide variety of citizens of the two cities including civil society and non-profit organisations.

Since the signing of the twinning agreement between Georgetown and Havana in 2001, the release said, the two mayors have been seeking to conduct long-term programmes for mutual benefits.

In the area of technology, the Georgetown Municipality has already benefited through training to its technical staff in computer engineering currently under way in Cuba, he pointed out.

Areas to be explored during this visit include cooperation between national libraries, museums and zoological parks, bilateral cooperation in the tourism sector and trade.

Training of staff and attachment programmes between the municipalities, particularly in the areas of public health and financial management, will also be considered, the council said.

Guyanese in Florida observe Republic anniversary
MORE than 350 Guyanese turned out Saturday night to a black-tie gala in Orlando, Florida to celebrate Guyana’s 35th anniversary as a republic.

The event, held at the historic Ball Room at Church Street was also attended by a number of American elected officials and  Guyana's Ambassador to the United States Bayney Karran and Mrs. Karran.

Guest-of-honour and keynote speaker at the celebration was the internationally acclaimed Guyanese writer, Edward Ricardo Braithwaite, author of 'To Sir, With Love'.

On Sunday, an inter-faith service was held at St. John's Episcopal Church followed by a luncheon.

The celebrations were put on by the Guyanese American Cultural Association of Central Florida.

Commonwealth moves to improve elections management
SENIOR election managers from 38 countries are meeting in New Delhi, India, from today to Saturday to discuss ways of improving the management of elections in Commonwealth countries.

The Chronicle understands that Guyana is being represented by a top official of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

The Conference of Commonwealth Chief Election Officers has been organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat in co-operation with the Election Commission of India.

The Commonwealth Secretariat said some 33 chief election officers are among those participating in the conference, titled ‘Improving the Quality of Election Management’.

It will focus on three areas -- the role and nature of the election management body; the use of technology; and the relationship between election management bodies and political parties.

Somnath Chatterjee, Speaker of the Lok Sabha (Lower House of the Indian Parliament), will open the session today.

T S Krishna Murthy, Chief Election Commissioner of India, and Amitav Banerji, Head of the Commonwealth Secretary-General’s Office, will also address the participants.

The Election Commission of India arranged for participants to be present for voting in state elections near New Delhi yesterday and for vote counting on February 27.

This is the eighth meeting of Commonwealth Chief Election Officers organised by the secretariat in the past 12 years. The last such Commonwealth-wide meeting was held in the United Kingdom in 1998.

The secretariat said these meetings aim to promote best practice in election management.

A report reflecting the main themes of the discussion and the broad conclusions reached will be issued following the conference. 

Scout group observes Republic anniversary
THE early morning heavy rainfall was fortunately replaced by a clear blue sky on Tuesday, which added to the colourful scenery in the front premises of Marian Academy at Carifesta Avenue, Georgetown.

Students, teachers, administrative staff and parents assembled for Republic Day celebrations, which commenced with a flag raising ceremony.

At 08:30 hrs, the Marian Academy Scout Group, comprising venture scouts, scouts, cub scouts and leaders, paraded with their Marching Band through the front gate of the school premises.

After the National Pledge and the National Anthem ceremony, the raising of the flags of Guyana and Marian Academy was performed by members of the Scout Group.

On this day, scouts all over the world also celebrate the birthday of Lord Robert Baden Powel, founder of the Scout Movement.

The Marian Academy Scout Group participated in the Founder’s Day celebrations, which commenced on Sunday in the Church of the Immaculate Conception at Brickdam.

During a parade with various Scout Groups through Georgetown, the Marian Scouts presented their new Marching Band.

This group was established in 1998 and is assisted by leaders and a Support Group.

The Marian Scouts have participated in various school and community activities and were also involved in the Grenada hurricane relief activities in September 2004 and the Guyana flood relief activities last month.

Anniversary salute
TOP Army and Police officers with President Bharrat Jagdeo, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and acting Home Affairs Minister Gail Teixeira, at the flag-raising ceremony yesterday, in the forecourt of Parliament Buildings, for the 35th anniversary of the republic. The observances this year were muted in the wake of the country’s worst natural disaster triggered by the devastating floods in dozens of coastal communities last month. (Cullen Bess-Nelson photo)

Tsunami reveals tensions in India's Nicobar islands
By Simon Denyer
PORT BLAIR, India, (Reuters) - A week after the December tsunami struck India's Nicobar islands, tribal leaders wrote to the territory's lieutenant-governor.

The letter asked for neither food nor shelter, although both were desperately needed. Instead, tribal captains from the central Nicobar islands asked the administration to remove illegal settlers from their lands.

The emotive letter starkly reveals the tensions and insecurities faced by the tribal Nicobarese, beset by a tide of illegal settlement which is threatening to overwhelm them on islands which are supposed to be strictly protected tribal areas.

"We are the victims of being a peace-loving people with a good heart, and advantages were taken by the non-tribal," the letter said. "First they have entered our land illegally, then they have taken away our land, then our peace, then exploitation of the tribal, then cheating the tribal.

"We are not settling down in their land, then why should they settle in our land? We have lost everything, our family, our source of income, coconut trees due to the tidal waves. We again repeat ... appeal to your excellency to please remove these non-tribal from our land."

The Nicobarese are a pig- and coconut-farming people, an Indo-Mongoloid race which has been exposed to the outside world for centuries.

The most developed and prosperous of the tribes on India's remote Andaman and Nicobar islands, many still preserve a traditional way of life in palm-thatched huts, centred on extended families.

TRIBALS OUTNUMBERED AFTER TSUNAMI
Perhaps 5,000 of the 28,000 Nicobarese died when the Dec. 26 tsunami overwhelmed their coastal settlements. Most of the victims came on the island of Katchal where entire villages were wiped out and the whole coastal belt is now under water.

In Katchal, the tsunami has left tribals in the minority. Already they are eyeing higher ground in the centre of the island which more recent immigrants, mostly Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka, now occupy.

The Tamils settled on Katchal with the Indian government's blessing to work on a rubber plantation. Families of Indian ex-servicemen were settled on Great Nicobar island in the 1970s, in a bid to cement the strategically vital islands to India.

But others have settled illegally, many arriving as labourers for government contractors, and then staying on with the connivance of corrupt local officials.

On Car Nicobar, most of the non-tribals who survived the tsunami fled the island in the days that followed. Already tribal chieftains are insisting illegal settlers not be allowed back.

For the government of India, it is a headache and an embarrassment. Many non-tribal people, traumatised by the tsunami's fatal power, would dearly love to turn their back on the sea and be given new homes on the mainland.

They are unlikely to find room.
Lieutenant-General Aditya Singh, spokesman for the relief effort on the islands, say many of the settlers came to do work, as labourers or petty traders, that the tribals were unwilling or unable to do.

"India is a plural society and you can't say in one area there will be only one kind of people," he said. "It's very easy to say we don't want settlers but the fact is the needs of society warrant a mixed population."

Nevertheless, tribal rights advocate Samir Acharya of the Society of Andaman and Nicobar Ecology says the tsunami gives the Nicobarese a new window of opportunity to have their grievances addressed.

"They were being marginalised, and the state was doing whatever it wanted," he said. 'But after this enormous wave of sympathy, the doors of the Planning Commission, of (Congress party leader) Sonia Gandhi, of all the high-ups in Delhi, have opened to them."

The immediate challenge for the Nicobarese is how to rebuild their lives, their economy and especially their homes ahead of April's monsoon.

Wary of yet more settlers, tribal leaders have told the government they want only tools and materials, and will build shelters themselves. With time running out, that may be unrealistic, admits Car Nicobar tribal leader Dr Anwar Musa.

"Some workers will definitely be needed to speed the work up, especially skilled people," he said. "But that should not open the floodgates so everyone can come in.”

WHO tobacco treaty comes into force Sunday
THE World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control enters into force on Sunday, becoming binding international law for its first 40 contracting parties.

The WHO FCTC is the first global public health treaty created under the auspices of WHO designed to save millions of lives now lost to tobacco, the organization said yesterday.

Country parties to the convention will be bound by provisions set out in the treaty. These include:

** comprehensive tobacco advertising bans

** price and tax increases

** health warning labels on tobacco products

** measures to protect people from second-hand tobacco smoke

The final text was adopted unanimously by the World Health Assembly on May 21, 2003.

By November 29, 2004, 40 countries had become contracting parties to the treaty - the trigger which brings it into force 90 days later.

Since then, 17 more countries have ratified, making it one of the most rapidly embraced UN treaties in history, the WHO said.

Pensioners to get 5% increase
(GOVERNMENT INFORMATION AGENCY) -- Old age pension and public assistance have been increased by 5% in respect of 2005, according to Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, Trevor Thomas.

His response followed a Stabroek News article on February 17, 2005. The article was captioned “Deafening Silence on Old Age Pensions” in which an unidentified individual questioned why old age pensions are not being paid the 5% arrears which is due to them for the year 2004.

Thomas said, “I wish to advise that old age pension and public assistance have been increased by five per cent in respect of 2005. The question of arrears in respect of 2004 therefore does not arise.”

Thomas further said, “the ministry would however wish to clear this and any other misunderstanding the public may have in relation to the increase of the old age pension and public assistance.”

The government has increased the budget of the ministry to $1.5 billion. Of that amount, $1.1 billion will be used for old age pension and social assistance.

$784M for UDP programme
FINANCE Minister Saisenarine Kowlessar in his budget presentation Monday announced that the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development’s Urban Development Programme (UDP) will this year receive an allocation of $784M.

This is specifically to complete Phase I and II projects.

Phase One entails repairs to Hadfield, John and Lombard streets in Georgetown, Smythfield and Vryheid Road in New Amsterdam and Jackman, Market and James streets in New Amsterdam.

Phase Two will see the restoration of markets and town halls in Corriverton, New Amsterdam, Wismar and Bush Lot, repairs to roads and drains in Corriverton, Rose Hall, New Amsterdam, Linden and Anna Regina and provision of technical assistance for municipal development and property tax reform.

Kowlessar said that under the Secondary Towns Project, nearly $175 million has been budgeted to commence various infrastructural works in Bartica, Charity, Supenaam and Parika and institutional strengthening to enhance the capacity and capability of the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils in these areas.

The minister said that this year the Georgetown Development Plan will come on stream and the areas targeted for immediate attention are D’Urban Park, the Stabroek Market area and the Georgetown Seawall between Camp Street and the Kitty Pump Station.

Guest editorial
Lingering fears on Haiti's future
THE latest meeting of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community concluded in Suriname last week without an end to the almost year-long impasse over non-recognition of or collective engagement by the community with the United States-installed interim regime in Haiti.

What also remains unchanged since the downfall on February 29, 2004 of the Jean Bertrand Aristide administration, is the environment of political violence, fear, instability and threats to the rule of law in that poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.

Concerns have variously come over human rights abuses and the future of the democratic process from spokespersons of the United Nations, currently engaged in a "peace-keeping" mission in Haiti.

And, also, the Organisation of American States (OAS), which had failed to move decisively on the Haitian governance crisis, as well as CARICOM. The latter has often revealed cracks and ambivalence in its own responses, most recently being at the just-concluded 16th Inter-Sessional Meeting in the Surinamese capital.

Although some in foreign capitals, such as Washington, Ottawa and Paris, have expediently sought to misinterpret CARICOM's post-Aristide position on the lingering governance crisis in Haiti, the reality is that having originally been part of the solution, the Community was suddenly excluded from the process when the U.S. initiated military intervention under United Nations auspices on the morning of February 29, 2004.

In the circumstances, while it is appealing to argue for flexibility on the part of CARICOM in dealing with the interim regime of Prime Minister Gerard Latortue, the truth is that flexibility and reliability in the regime's delivery capacity have not been forthcoming to any significant degree.

It remains a regime for which arresting leading colleagues of ex-President Aristide, among them his former Prime Minster, seems to have greater attraction than in moving seriously to engage in dialogue with representatives of 'Fanmi Lavalas', the party that held power until the February 2004 coup.

Armed rebels, who played a key role among local and foreign anti-Aristide forces, as well as members of the once hated and disbanded army that had served recurring dictators in Port-au-Prince, continue to create violence and spread fear, at times clashing with UN peace-keeping forces under Brazilian leadership.

It was, therefore, not surprising to find in the "Statement on Haiti", issued by CARICOM leaders last week in Paramaribo, concern that "the proliferation of illegally armed groups and their activities constitute a major obstacle to stability".

As they see it, the CARICOM leaders are convinced that disarmament and reintegration must be given "priority attention" to create a security environment conducive to open campaigning for the forthcoming municipal, parliamentary and presidential elections. (Courtesy, Barbados `Daily Nation’)

Demerara sugar, plantation injustice:
Two centuries of suffering in Guyana
The (recently) flooded areas are precisely the same areas of the East Coast where the 1823 slave uprising occurred. It involved some 13,000, mainly Christian, slaves, from 60 plantations…
By Colin Bobb-Semple
(The writer is Senior Lecturer, Inns of Court School of Law, Gray’s Inn, London; Founder Member, Guyana Law Association (UK); Attorney-at-law)

DEMERARA sugar is internationally famous but its history in Guyana is terribly infamous.

There has been a long history of plantation injustice and suffering along the coast of Guyana and the current flood disaster is the latest in a pattern of suffering. The following account consists of a brief summary of the injustice and suffering undergone by the Guyanese people over two centuries from the mid-eighteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries.

The population of Guyana comprises six peoples. The original inhabitants were Amerindians, mainly Caribs and Warraus, said to be warlike people, Arawaks, said to be more friendly, and Akawois.

Europeans, including Dutch, French and British, settled and brought slaves from Africa to work the plantations, which produced mainly cotton, coffee and sugar. The colonies of Berbice and Demerara-Essequibo were permanently taken over by the British in 1803 and in 1820 there were 96,000 slaves toiling to produce 46,000 tons of sugar.

After emancipation of the slaves had been granted in 1834, the British colonists imported Portuguese indentured labourers from Madeira and later Indians and Chinese. The Portuguese were classified by the British as a separate ethnic group from the British and other Europeans.

NOTHING NEW
The recent flooding is nothing new. The exceptionally heavy rainfall, however, has magnified the problem on a large scale. Diseases such as Leptospirosis and dengue have affected some people.

Guyana is unique, in that the plantations were developed on the Atlantic coastal strip which contains very fertile land and is below sea level. The land has always been subject to flooding, and several canals, trenches and dams were built on the estates to control the flow of water.

In many places, the water was almost stagnant and diseases such as smallpox, yellow fever, malaria and cholera, affected the inhabitants. There were also conservancies, or reservoirs, of water behind the plantations. A sea wall was built along the coast as a barrier to the Atlantic Ocean.

There were several uprisings and protests against the unjust treatment of the slaves at the hands of the mainly British and Dutch planters, and this trend continued during apprenticeship and indenture, which were forms of economic bondage. The main uprisings and protests outlined below give an indication of some of our ancestors who laid down their lives for the freedom of the six peoples who have now become “one people, one nation, one destiny”.

THE BERBICE SLAVE UPRISING 1763: CUFFY, AKARA & OTHERS
Wednesday 23rd February 2005, marks the 242nd anniversary of Cuffy’s Berbice Slave Uprising against the Dutch on 23rd February 1763. It also marks the 35th anniversary of Republic Day (23rd February 1970), now celebrated as Mashramani.

Nearly 4,000 slaves were involved in the uprising which started at Magdalenenburg in Canje, Berbice. Cuffy asserted independence by governing a large area of Berbice for about 10 months. Other leaders involved in the uprising were Akara, Atta, Accabre, Cosala and Goussari. This was the first revolution of its kind and had preceded that of Toussaint L’Ouverture in Saint Domingue (Haiti).

The eventual suppression of the uprising was achieved with the assistance of Carib and Akawois agents. The policy of “Divide and Rule” had been applied since that time.

THE DEMERARA SLAVE UPRISING 1823: QUAMINA, JACK & OTHERS
The flooded areas are precisely the same areas of the East Coast where the 1823 slave uprising occurred. It involved some 13,000, mainly Christian, slaves, from 60 plantations, from Thomas Plantation to Mahaica, and was led by Quamina, African born, & Jack Gladstone, his son, of Success Plantation. These large numbers were mobilised secretly, and took the planters by surprise.

Some properties were burnt and several planters were put in stocks and subjected to great humiliation, e.g. having their faces slapped by slave women, but only two were killed, as Quamina and Jack urged Christian restraint. Jack was said to have moved swiftly from plantation to plantation on horseback, rallying the slaves. Conch shells were blown by way of signals.

The uprising commenced in the early moonlit evening of Monday 18th August 1823, but was brutally suppressed by the British militia over two days. Over 200 slaves were massacred at Bachelor’s Adventure. Some were executed in the field. Many were tied to trees and shot. Heads were cut off and placed on poles along the East Coast, as a gruesome deterrent.

Quamina fled to the bush, but was tracked by Amerindian scouts employed by the British militia and shot. His decomposing body was openly displayed hanging in chains on a pole on Success Middle Walk for months. Wasps flew in and out of a hole in his stomach and his open jaws.

Jack was tried by court martial of officers and the Chief Justice, hastily convened a week after the uprising, and he was sentenced to death, but Governor Murray recommended clemency and transportation to Bermuda.

Rev. Smith, who was blamed for fostering the plot and failing to notify the authorities, was tried by court martial of officers and the Chief Justice, and sentenced to death, but died in prison from pneumonia, before a grant of clemency arrived from England, on the recommendation of the court. He became known as "The Demerara Martyr". He was buried very early in the morning in an unmarked grave, and some of the planters hanged his effigy.

KANGAROO COURT
The trials featured duplicitous charges, summary, speedy, justice, hearsay and other inadmissible evidence, including entries in Rev. Smith’s private diary and worst of all, took place before a ‘kangaroo court’ which did not adhere to the rules of civil courts and consisted of several officers who had been involved in the slaughter of slaves on the plantations during the uprising. The court was presided over by Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Arthur Goodman who sat in judgment with 14 other officers of the militia. At least six of the 15 officers hearing the trials, including Lieutenant Colonel Goodman, had been involved in the field of action.

The only lawyer was the Chief Justice, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Wray, who was ordered to join the panel, in an attempt to provide it with some semblance of respectability.

Many slaves were tried and were sentenced to death. Some were granted clemency and were ordered to be transported to Bermuda or New South Wales, Australia. Several were ordered to be punished by flogging, with up to 1,000 lashes administered in some cases. Some died while being flogged.

Following the cases, there was an outcry in England. An impetus was given to the campaign for abolition led by Wilberforce, Buxton, Clarkson, Macauley, Brougham and others. There were petitions denouncing the trial and treatment of Rev. Smith (not so much the slaves) and there were lengthy debates in Parliament, notably a speech by Earl Brougham.

The compensation paid to the planters in Guyana at the time of emancipation was the highest throughout the British slave colonies. John Gladstone was paid an enormous sum which helped to fund his business interests in Liverpool, England.

In 1837, the Colonial Secretary went along with Gladstone’s experiment for Indian labourers to be imported for a maximum period of five years.

THE ESSEQUIBO UPRISING 1834: DAMON & OTHERS
After emancipation, a system of apprenticeship was introduced, in which the planters still attempted to control the former slaves. Approximately 700 workers protested, asserted their freedom and took industrial action. On Saturday 9th August 1834, several striking workers on the plantations in Essequibo, between Richmond and Devonshire Castle, assembled in the Holy Trinity Churchyard at La Belle Alliance.

Damon, a worker from Richmond, referred to as leader of the protest, put up a red flag on a pole to signify their freedom and independence from the plantation owners. No one was attacked and no property was damaged. The governor, Sir James Carmichael Smyth, ordered him to be arrested and on Monday 11th August he was taken to Georgetown, where he was later tried on a charge of rebellion and was found guilty.

Although one of the judges queried the legality of the proceedings, Chief Justice Wray, who was a member of the ‘kangaroo’ court martial in the case of Rev. Smith, declared that the most severe penalty of death was the appropriate penalty for Damon. He was hanged on 13th October 1834, on a special gallows facing what is now Parliament Building. Four others were sentenced to transportation to New South Wales, and 31 to imprisonment and flogging.

The system of apprenticeship ended in 1838, but between 1838 and 1865, over 13,000 liberated and free Africans went to Guyana as labourers. About 12,000 Chinese arrived in that period. Over 31,000 Portuguese arrived between 1835 and 1882, over 40,000 West Indians between 1835 and 1928, and over 230,000 Indians between 1838 and 1917.

THE ENMORE MARTYRS 1948
In the early days of indenture, some labourers were flogged by planters, but that was discontinued following an investigation into various allegations of ill-treatment.

In 1945, a "cut and load" system was introduced in the sugar cane fields. This required cane cutters to load the sugar punts on the canals with the cut cane, but they protested at the onerous nature of the job. Cane cutters went on strike periodically and during a strike in 1948, they requested a change to a "cut and drop" system, whereby other workers would load the cane in the punts, for delivery to the mills. They also demanded better pay and conditions and recognition of their union. Dr Cheddi Jagan supported the strike.

There were some incidents of some striking workers attacking some overseers and strike-breakers at Non Pareil, and there was also some vandalism.

On 16th June 1948, 500-600 persons had assembled outside the sugar factory at Enmore Estate on the East Coast, Demerara. One of the workers was carrying a red flag. They tried to gain entry to the factory but were prevented by locked gates and armed policemen sent from Georgetown. Eventually, some people threw bricks and sticks at the policemen and entered from the rear of the factory.

After the policemen failed in their effort to push the people back, they decided to shoot them. Five men were killed and 14 others wounded. Those killed were Dookhie, Harri, Lallabagee, Pooran and Rambarran. They became known as “The Enmore Martyrs”.

** (The writer acknowledges that information for this account was gleaned from several sources, including: British Parliamentary Papers, containing the records of the trials of Rev. John Smith, Jack Gladstone and others in 1824, Irish University Press

Vere T. Daly: A Short History of The Guyanese People, Macmillan, 1975

Jack Gratus: The Great White Lie: slavery, emancipation and changing racial attitudes, Hutchinson, London, 1973

H. J. M. Hubbard: Race and Guyana – The Anatomy of a Colonial Enterprise, 1969, Daily Chronicle

Dr Odeen Ishmael: The Guyana Story (From Earliest Times to Independence) www.guyana.org

P. G. Marshall, ed.: Cambridge Illustrated History, Cambridge University Press, 1996

Peter Newman: British Guiana – Problems of Cohesion in an Immigrant Society, London, Institute of Race Relations, Oxford University Press, 1964

Cecil Northcott: Slavery’s Martyr: John Smith of Demerara and the emancipation movement 1817-24, London, Epworth Press, 1976

Eric Williams: Capitalism and Slavery, Carlton Books, 1964

Alvin O. Thompson: A Documentary History of SLAVERY in BERBICE 1796-1834, Free Press, Georgetown, Guyana, 2002.

HARD LABOUR: cut sugar canes being transported to the factory.

Alleged ‘trunker’, defendant in Campsite burglaries refused bail
THE man Police arrested at Campsite, in Georgetown, on February 17 has been charged indictably with three burglaries there.

Linden Meusa, who is alleged to have thrice broken and entered the Banks DIH complex, at Camp Street and South Road, was yesterday refused bail and remanded to prison, until March 17, by Magistrate Maxwell Edwards.

The charges against him allege that the booty from his separate hauls at the place was worth more than half a million dollars.

Particulars of one offence said, in the break and enter and larceny between December 4 and 6, 2004, Meusa carted off a debit card machine, a compact disc (CD) player, a tape recorder, two electric fans and a pair of long boots, all valued $367,900.

The second and third counts said Meusa stole whiskey priced at $136,000 between February 4 and 7 and, on February 17, perfumes, chocolate, cigarettes and a gift set with a total value of $62,580.

Police Inspector Kevin Adonis, prosecuting, said the defendant was caught by a security guard, on the last occasion, with some of the merchandise in a bag.

Errol Adams (no address given either) was also denied pre-trial freedom, in the same Court, on charges of simple larceny and malicious damage to property.

The alleged ‘trunker’ (one who steals from unattended motor vehicles) pleaded not guilty to stealing $400,000 from Raphael Mohan and damaging a lock on his car last February 8.

Adonis said the virtual complainant had parked his vehicle with the money he withdrew from Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) inside, on Church Street, in the city.

Mohan went into a store and returned to find the cash missing.

The Prosecutor said fingerprints taken from the vehicle during investigations led Police to Adams, who has to be back in Court tomorrow, February 24.

Contractor charged with $930,000 fraud
PARMANAND Maraj, of Lot 18 Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown, was granted $100,000 bail by Magistrate Maxwell Edwards yesterday, on a fraud charge.

Particulars of the offence said, between December 1, 2004 and January 24, 2005, the defendant, with intent to defraud, obtained $930,000 from Ken Thomas, under the pretext that he was in a position to sell the latter a quantity of asphalt, tar and motor vehicle spares.

Police said Maraj, a contractor, took the money but never delivered the merchandise to Thomas.

The case will be called again on March 9.

‘Salara’ murder accused remanded on Court appearance
POLICE have slapped a murder charge against the man who is alleged to have stabbed another to death over ‘salara’ cakes last week Tuesday.

The accused, Raymond Semple, of Lot 67 Ramhit Road (formerly Public Road), Kitty, Georgetown, appeared before Magistrate Maxwell Edwards yesterday, charged with unlawfully killing Joseph George alias ‘Big Hand’.

Semple was remanded to prison until March 16.

Police said the victim was killed during a scuffle with the prisoner after the former had taken the delicacies from a stall without paying for them.

Unlawful killing of Sharon Sooklall, 17-
Confession statement read in Court
By George Barclay
JUSTICE James Bovell-Drakes has concluded that the confession statement by one accused in the trial of two brothers for the unlawful killing of a schoolgirl was freely and voluntarily made.

The judge arrived at this conclusion after conducting a voir dire (a trial within a trial) to determine the admissibility of the confession statement. The statement was made by Vickram Budram, who with his brother, Vinood Persaud, is accused of the murder of Sharon Sooklall on February 28, 2001at Parika, East Bank Essequibo.

Yesterday, Sergeant Doobay read aloud the statement, which the Prosecution claimed had been witnessed by the mother of the accused and a District Postmaster.

Sergeant Doobay read: "I make this statement of my own free will. I have been told that I need not say anything unless I wish to do so and that whatever I say may be given in evidence.

"Officer, today is Friday. Day before yesterday, Wednesday, around midday time, me go out ah front and me see Sharon under de tree and she ask me for sapodilla. Me tell she we does hide sapodilla under the fat poke tree. Me and she went under de fat poke for de sapodilla. Me go from behind she and push she down. She fell pon she face.

"She start to halla and me took me hand and block she mouth. She bite me pon the third finger pon me left hand. Me took me hand and choke she pon de ground and me cuff she two time in she head and she got unconscious. Then me hold she by she hand and drag she over the west lot den me took off she white flowerish panty and me had sex wid she.

"When me done sex she me took she panty and tie it round she neck foh mek sure that she bin dead. Me meck sure that de girl dead because she know me and me din want she foh talk pon me because me frighten me get lock up by the police.

"Me left Sharon and went to we back dam and bring we shovel. When me meet where Sharon bin dead me cut the shovel stick in half wid me cutlass. Den me dig a hole. Me took off she two finger rings den me put she in de hole and cover she.

"Den me took she shoulder bag and two pair shoes wha bin in de bag and she school books and me carry it and burn it. Me den left and go back ah front. Den me see me buddy Vinood come from the road and he go by the trench and wash he clothes and den me udder bruda Mukesh come out at de front and he ask me foh help he bail up some water pump hose.

"After me done bail up de hose, me and he pick five finger and eat am. And while eating the five finger, he ask me how ah get scrape. After dat me uda bruda Vijay come up. Me tell he that ah bin riding bicycle doing none hand and me fall down. And me tell him me get scrape. Den me give Mukesh de bicycle foh carry home de horse."

The statement further recorded the accused as saying that on the night while a search party was looking for Sharon, he threw Sharon's rings in a trench in front of their house.

The accused also said that all the scatches on his neck and shoulder had been inflicted by Sharon while they were fighting.

According to Prosecution, the victim was last seen alive on the morning of February 28, 2001 when she left her home to attend computer classes at Anna Catherina.

The hearing continues today.

Causing death case…
Previously remanded mini-bus driver granted bail
MINI-BUS driver Dexter Whinfield, who is charged with causing the death of a 10-year old boy by dangerous driving last January 23, has now been granted bail.

The accused, 29, of Lot 149 Sixth and Light Streets, Alberttown, Georgetown, was ordered to post $100,000 surety, last week after being previously remanded to prison since January 26.

Particulars of the offence that caused him to make his second appearance before Magistrate Chandra Sohan, at Whim Court, said Whinfield was at the wheel of BJJ 3485 when the fatal accident occurred along Alness Public Road, another part of Corentyne, Berbice.

Police are alleging that Whinfield drove the vehicle in a manner dangerous to the public while plying the Number 65 (Georgetown to Moleson Creek) route, causing Stanley Henry to be killed.

The next hearing is on March 14.

Sterling example
I JUST finished watching the film, Thunder In Guyana - a very beautiful and honest film. Congratulations to Suzanne Wasserman for giving such an accurate and intelligent portrayal of events in Guyana during its struggles against colonial rule and, later, against dictatorship and racism.

Janet Jagan is, indeed the Mother of Guyana. She is a sterling example of selfless devotion, of dogged determination in a just cause and, above all, a paragon of womanhood, as a mother and a wife.

I was born in Guyana and lived there for the first 26 years of my life.

I now live, ironically, in Janet's home town of Chicago. I was one of the numerous Guyanese who fled the country at its nadir in the mid 80's. It's true that Janet is more Guyanese than most of us.

Once more, my heartfelt congratulations go to Suzanne Wassermann for setting the record straight.
MIKE RAHAMAN

The party capital
I COULD not help noticing the report about Dr `Joey’ Jagan’s registration of another political party in another newspaper.

How many does this make?

These politicians hear Guyanese love a party so they keep forming all these political parties, when the truth is that Guyanese love to party -- they don't care what type of party it is as long as there is liquor, music, the opposite sex and food.

So what I would like to suggest to all these politicians and people in authority, is let’s make Guyana the party capital.

I was looking at their efforts at tourism when I was down there last year.

And for a country that is now trying to enter the tourism market, it is rather expensive if you total airfare to Guyana, accommodation, transportation to various attractions - Kaieteur, Orinduik, Shanklands, Baganara, Arrow Point, Timberhead - to name a few.

It would take a small fortune for a family of four to vacation in Guyana for a week.

Solution - just about every Guyanese like to party or be involved in a party, and we have most of the ingredients for a good party readily available.

So I say we set up a secure area where you can party around the clock, the government will collect their revenue from liquor and licensing, tourists will come to the country for a good party, and in that week of partying be able to squeeze in one or two of the attractions and leave wanting more.

Ever thinking to make things better.
STONS

Tip for Banks DIH
BANKS DIH Limited has an outstanding record of achievement in Guyana since its early beginnings. However, time and time again, Demico House in New Amsterdam has been criticised for its shabby service to Berbicians.

About four or five years ago, I wrote a letter in the letters column complaining of the unfair treatment given to Berbicians as new buildings were being erected in Demico’s Goergetown operations.

A year or two later, New Amsterdam’s “Quik Serv” had a new building. However, problems still persist at this facility.

Here are 15 reasons why patrons of the New Amsterdam branch of Demico House are calling on the top management to take their heads out of the sand and wake up and smell the coffee:

1. One customer was given a meal to be used in the restaurant that had to be eaten in the styro- foam “take-away” style box. After the customer requested to meet the supervisor, he was given a foam plate.

2. The “walk-by” window where someone passing by outside can make his order without entering the restaurant proper is anything but.

3. On numerous occasions, the pastry glass-cases are either plain empty, or scantily stocked with some “brought-forward” pastries.

4.  I witnessed another customer returning a burger saying it had too much salt. The employee then told the customer that the burger is cooked in Georgetown and not Berbice.

5. The “Today’s Specials” board that is put up in the restaurant is indeed being put up but on most days does not have anything written on it. I think it’s just for decoration.

6. The Rotisserie Chicken Oven in front of the restaurant is empty most of the time.

7. Employees are seen “knocking” the glass where the pastries are stored for flies to come out.

8. The staff from the cashiers to the attendants need some customer-friendly skills.

9. The cone that they sell is anything but. It is always soft and runny.

10. On Republic Day, 2005 there was only one person working. The individual had to perform duties of cashier and give out the items cashed for. The kitchen had some staff members.

11. Some members of the kitchen-staff are sometimes seen by yours truly either sitting at the back and conversing or walking around aimlessly. At the same time, the restaurant is jam-packed with patrons waiting tirelessly for their orders.

12. The restaurant’s name “Qik Serv” is an oxymoron or a contradictory phrase for Demico.

13. Their home-delivery service is non- existent. When it was existent it was appalling!

14. There is a big 8 or 9 section menu sign board nicely lit with pictures of some of the dishes that they are supposed to sell. However, more than half of the items on that menu board cannot be ordered by customers simply because those items are non-existent in the restaurant.

15. There is only one cashier working and the restaurant is jam-packed with persons making orders and over three-quarters of the persons in the restaurant are waiting for their orders.
LEON JAMESON SUSERAN

Another health milestone
I COMMEND the administration for its dedication to providing improved health care services to Guyanese.

During 2004, the Ministry of Health recorded tremendous success in its continued effort to promote its health care services.

The newly-commissioned New Amsterdam Hospital is one such milestone. It was completed six months ahead of schedule.

The hospital will continue to provide further quality health care for Regions Five and Six residents.

Since the administration accession to office in 1992, the health services were extended to every community in the country.

Budgetary allocations for the Ministry of Health have also increased over the years. In 2004 the allocations amounted to $6.7Billion.

All stand to benefit from the National Health Plan.
HACKETT

Insufficient to justice
I REFER to the letter from M. Hackett (Guyana Chronicle 2/22/05) captioned `Not in the scriptures.

Hackett has hitherto been dutiful in his role as the instrument for anti-Christian, anti-moral vilification, so he needs to be careful, lest Gibson’s “paternalistic system of dualism” turns against him.

He has finally reached the point where he “politely” condemns the Ethnic Relations Commission in the following words: “The suppression of perceived error can never lead to truth…”

It is a pity that justice, honour and dignity never evoked this feeling before, only now the “spirit of Voltaire”. Even now, however, he fails to see that the “National Library” suggestion was rhetorical, since it is insufficient to justice. But since he concurs, let's take the issue further.

In the light of Hackett’s last comment, we have here a reluctant admission of hypocrisy. He now makes the point that we have made all along … that the Ethnic Relations Commission cannot issue a judgment upon Dr. Kean Gibson without a single independent rationalisation of the academic mischief that she is guilty of.

Gibson’s detractors have offered no scholarship, only innuendo, legalistic gobbledygook and overt deception, each easily illustrated.

The ERC’s “reasoning” was anything but; their Chairman allowed precious little “discussion”, and “free” debate was definitely not present at the “hearings”, nor in the media.

It is this last comment in Hackett’s letter, however, that qualifies and saves the usual inveterate rambling and inaccuracy that typified the letter cited above (we are reminded of his previous whole-page attempt to vilify, accuse, condemn, and crucify Gibson last year).

He failed then; he fails now in this shallow attempt at “broad-mindedness”.

He can only redeem himself by advocating (in the “spirit” of Voltaire) a reversal of the decision, and that the book be returned to all public institutions with copies of dissenting opinions alongside them.

This, I am certain, he cannot do, lest the “system of cultural bias and dualism” mooted by Gibson turns against him.

We should not be distracted by his poetic piece on Voltaire, but, in recognition of Hackett’s usually flawed and biased research, should only point out the obvious: (1) That the statement courteously attributed to Voltaire was in fact penned by his biographer, and is in fact now considered a fundamental part of standard Judeo-Christian ethic in egalitarian democracies while not pandering to liberalism (indeed, it exists nowhere else, as Salman Rushdie and Kean Gibson would be quick to testify).

(2) It is possible, in social systems that recognise that ethic, to pause, reconsider and reverse opinions on issues that are contentious. Hackett is in fact arguing Gibson’s case. You cannot honour an ethic in its breach.

The point is that the “ethic” is larger than the man, and it is academic insanity to justify Voltaire’s numerous indiscretions with a contemporary Judeo-Christian approach regarding scholarship and scientific investigation, especially on this particular issue.

The converse is also true, so a concept of racism outlined by Gibson cannot be answered by attacking her personally, or hiding her book in the reference section of the National Library.

It can be done only through addressing the issues she outlines.

A system of paternalistic dualism, which has been thus far accommodative to her critics, is a poor substitute for the iconoclastic investigation and debate that the Judeo-Christian ethic now consistently facilitates and allows.

Or else the concept becomes a witty saying, and, as Voltaire himself said, “a witty saying proves nothing”. But then, this is expected of someone who distrusted democracy, which he saw as “propagating the idiocy of the masses”.

In the eyes of many, Voltaire was a mocker, nothing less, and nothing more.

In that regard, Hackett and Voltaire are indistinguishable - down to the use of anagrams for the name.

Finally, his grotesque reference to Romans 2:14-15. It is typical of those who read the Bible looking for the flaws that they will never find.

The spiritual essence of these verses is lost to him. They speak of humanity and moral consciousness, issues apparently oblivious to Gibson’s critics, and itself an issue Gibson addressed as part of her condemnation of the extant culture.

No one can plead ignorance before God, not even deists. He judges us all on the moral knowledge we have, since the heavens declare his glory and the firmament shows forth his handiwork, so those who do not have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ have through creation a sense to do right. Those who know the teachings of God’s Word face judgment on that basis. None can plead innocent. All have sinned consciously against what they know to be right.

In the eyes of God, then, right knowledge is not the criterion. Right action is.
ROGER WILLIAMS

Albouystown residents say thanks
RESIDENTS of Albouystown have noted the full page advertisement by Toolsie Persaud Ltd in the newspapers about the Sussex Street Canal and we wish to state the true facts about this matter since we together with thousands of other residents of Georgetown were forced to suffer and live in misery as a result of the failure and neglect in keeping this important canal properly drained.

1. The City Council has failed to do its job over a long period of time and this is the main factor in the flooding in Georgetown, especially with regard to this canal.

2. It has sold the reserve (now we are told of this) and allowed some people to do as they please in this part of the city as if they own the canal, the reserves, the roadway, the koker (sluice) and the council.

3. For years, they have allowed a firm to use the roadways as storage for lumber and a dumping off ground for its products. This continues up to this day.

4. The crisis brought all of this to a head because the City Council’s plan was to drain Georgetown through the Liliendaal rather than through the Sussex Street canal which was built for this purpose. They knew fully well what they had done and the deals they had made with the business people in the area, which prevented the drainage system from working.

5. When it became clear that the canal would have to be drained in order to relieve the misery and suffering of the people of Alboystown and other areas, the business people and the city officials tried to block this work and make lame excuses.

6. During the emergency work carried out by BK Construction Company, no help was rendered to it although officials of a firm, the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor, the Chief Engineer and others were at the site.

Many residents assembled also to encourage the work, but all the officials were uncooperative.

7. We know that access was denied by company officials who claimed that the access required was private property. Dr. Luncheon and Mr. Robeson Benn attempted to secure this but were unsuccessful.

8. It was only the arrival of President Jagdeo that turned things around because he was determined to resolve the matter and he just instructed the police to secure the access and he took charge of things.

9. Then, and only then, did the company and the city officials stop fooling around. The President then gave orders to the police and Mr. Lall, a representative of BK to get on with the job and to do what had to be done to accomplish the task.

10. If it wasn't for the bold leadership of the President we would still be in misery today. President Jagdeo demonstrated firmness and a no-nonsense style in the crisis. He ensured that the job was done in record time to alleviate the suffering of the people.

11. The calamity which City Hall and the businessmen caused by neglect and incompetence over 10 years was rectified in one night as a result of resolute leadership of the President.

12. We are grateful to BK for doing this job expeditiously and at no cost and for promising to do the maintenance free for another six months.

13. Many businessmen are quick to count their losses but they can never count up the cost of the misery and suffering of ordinary people.

14. We thank the President for his intervention and we hope he will further enquire into the true relationship between the officials at City Hall and the businessmen in this area.
Thank you Mr. President.
Thank you BK.
CITIZENS OF ALBOYSTOWN

Digicel Caribbean Cup football…
More double leads Cuba to second victory over T&T
By Adriel Richard
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, (CMC) – Lester More enhanced his reputation as one of the Caribbean’s most lethal strikers, when he hit a double to lead Cuba to a 2-1 victory over eight-time Caribbean champions Trinidad & Tobago in the Digicel Caribbean Cup football finals on Tuesday.

The double was More’s second in as many matches. It takes his tally of goals in the competition to five, one less than he scored in Cuba’s four World Cup qualifiers last year against the Cayman Islands and Costa Rica.

Cuba, who have scored five goals and conceded one in their two matches, now have six points, and have also moved to the top of the four-team table by virtue of goal difference.

Jamaica, the No. 1 team in the CFU, also have six points. They however, have only scored three times and conceded one goal in their two matches and will face the Cubans, the CFU No.3, in the Championship decider today, beginning at 6 p.m. (East Caribbean Time).

Trinidad & Tobago, the CFU No.2, were looking to recover from a 2-1 defeat in their opening match against the Reggae Boyz on Sunday. They played with more purpose and used their superior size difference to stamp some authority on the ever-important midfield battle in the first half.

Striker Cornell Glen, preparing for the new United States Major League Soccer season and his move to the Dallas Burn, gave the Soca Warriors the ascendancy in the 13th minute.

Glen escaped from a cluster of Cuban defenders, dribbled into the box on the right side, and hit a rasping right-footed shot that ricocheted off the upright into the nets and left Cuban netminder Odelin Molina with no chance.

T&T were just beginning to impose themselves upon the Cubans, when More cancelled out Glen’s opening effort 10 minutes later.

Seizing control of a long ball clearance from the T&T defence, an off-balance More spun on a dime, struck the bubbling ball back toward the Soca Warriors’ goal, and caught Duarence Williams off his line.

The T&T ’keeper could only watch helplessly as the ball sailed over his head and into the nets, as the Cubans celebrated.

This seemed to knock the wind right out of T&T’s sails. Though they continued to pressure the Cubans, they could not break down the defence enough to find the back of the nets and had to be satisfied with a 1-1 scoreline at halftime.

Three minutes into the second period, T&T’s hearts sunk further. The skilful Mikael Galindo had time and space on the right side of the T&T half to collect a ball, turn, and thread it through to the left flank, where the sprinting More hit a low, feeble side-footed shot that was enough to elude the scampering Williams.

The Soca Warriors never recovered from this setback, and created fewer and fewer chances as time expired.

T&T, the only CFU side in the final round of CONCACAF qualification for the FIFA World Cup Germany 2006, will have to beat traditional sporting rivals and CFU No.7 Barbados today to earn the third CFU spot in the CONCACAF Gold Cup being staged in July in the United States.

2007 World Cup seedings plan revealed
ENGLAND will be grouped with either Sri Lanka or New Zealand and Kenya in the first round of the 2007 World Cup.

The groups will be confirmed on April 1, and England will play Sri Lanka unless New Zealand are whitewashed in their current series against Australia.

The Kiwis are 2-0 down, with three matches to play.

Australia, England, India and host nation West Indies have been pre-seeded for the World Cup because they will attract the largest travelling support.

"We're a long way away still from the next World Cup, but Sri Lanka and New Zealand are both decent one-day sides," left-arm spinner Ashley Giles told BBC Sport.

“They're both sides that we can beat if we play our best cricket, but there's a lot of cricket to be played and a lot of work to be done before 2007.

“I don't think drawing any side would be a huge disappointment. Even if you draw Australia, you have to play them at some stage if you are going to win."

Reigning World Cup champions Australia are destined to be grouped with South Africa, who cannot improve on their ranking of fifth before April even if they win all three games against Zimbabwe in the series starting this week.

They would slip down the table if they are beaten, but the pre-seedings policy means the World Cup groups would not be affected.

The seedings of the five teams which do not enjoy official one-day international status will be determined by their performances in the ICC Trophy in Ireland in July.

The winner of the competition - and the fifth-placed qualifier - will be rewarded with a berth in Australia's group.

"The LG ICC ODI Championship has proved to be a robust mechanism for rating teams since it was introduced in October 2002," ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed said.

"So it is the obvious base from which to determine the seedings for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007”

WORLD CUP GROUPS IF THEY WERE DRAWN ON FEB 23:

GROUP 1:

Australia (1)

South Africa (5)

ICC Trophy qualifier (1)

ICC Trophy qualifier (5)

GROUP 2:

New Zealand (2)

India (8)

Bangladesh (11)

ICC Trophy qualifier (4)

GROUP 3:

Sri Lanka (3)

England (7)

Kenya (10)

ICC Trophy qualifier (3)

GROUP 4:

Pakistan (4)

West Indies (6)

Zimbabwe (9)

ICC Trophy qualifier (2)

WICB accredits coaches
By Imran Khan
“NO longer are coaches receiving a certificate for attending courses; now they have to attend and also do post-course assignments”. That was the declaration of Chief Cricket Development Officer of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), Dr Michael Seepersaud, last Sunday.

Seepersaud was at the time handing over certificates to a number of newly accredited Level One and Level Two coaches in Berbice. Coaches who have been accredited with the Level Two ranking, some of whom have already received their certificates, include West Indies and Guyana pacer Reon King, West Indies senior team selector Clyde Butts, former West Indies player and coach Roger Harper, Guyana senior team coach Albert Smith and Berbice coach Michael Hyles.

“A cadre of coaches have been totally up-skilled in the latest techniques of teaching and coaching cricket,” Seepersaud said.

Under the new system of WICB coaching accreditation, coaches were issued with ‘accreditation cards’ for the first time, in addition to their certificates. The cards are valid for one year during which time coaches will have to accumulate points to be re-accredited so that they do not remain stagnant.

“The WICB will run up-skilling courses in order for coaches to accumulate points,” Seepersaud explained. He said that the details of the points accumulation process will be announced shortly.

“It took some time in coming, but we are happy that we’ve been able to finally do it,” Seepersaud said of the WICB’s efforts.

The WICB hopes, Seepersaud explained, that the coaches will be more enthusiastic about this new process and will become more vibrant in their respective territories as a result.

Bucknor set for 100th Test match
STEVE Bucknor will become the first umpire to stand in 100 Test matches when he officiates in the second Test between India and Pakistan.

The West Indian will stand alongside Darrell Hair in the Calcutta match starting on March 16.

Bucknor made his debut in the fourth Test between West Indies and India in Kingston, Jamaica in April 1989.

He has also umpired in 131 one-dayers and four consecutive World Cups, taking charge of the final each time.

Bucknor, 58, will become the first recipient of the ICC Golden Bails Award, part of the Umpire Recognition programme.

The programme also includes the Bronze Bails Award (for 100 one-day appearances) and Silver Bails Award (for 200 one-dayers).

Known as 'Slow Death' for his signature deliberation before making a decision, Bucknor's path to the top of his profession has not always been smooth.

He came under heavy fire for a rash of questionable verdicts in Australia in 2003, and claimed to receive death threats on the recent series between South Africa and England. (BBC Sport)

Most Test matches as umpire:

99 – S.A. Bucknor (W.I.)

86 – D.R. Shepherd (Eng.)

73 -- S. Venkataraghavan (Ind.)

66 – H.D. Bird (Eng.)

59 – R.E. Koertzen (S.A.)

58 – D.B. Hair (Aus.)

48 – F. Chester (Eng.)

48 – D.J. Harper (Aus.)

44 – D.L. Orchard (S.A.)

42 – C.S. Elliott (Eng.)

Mashramin table tennis ...
Khan and Franklin to clash in Under-21 final
By Isaiah Chappelle
NATIONAL champion Matthew Khan and number two seed in the Mash table tennis competition, Christopher Franklin, will clash in the 21 years & Under final, tomorrow, at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

In yesterday’s play, Khan beat Edinho Lewis in straight sets 11-9, 11-7, 11-3 then put away Marlon Joseph in the semifinals also in straight sets 11-7, 11-8, 11-9. Joseph had defeated Joel Alleyne in the semifinals.

Franklin had an easier time to reach the final, needing four sets to dispose of Trenace Lowe 11-2, 10-12, 11-7, 12-10, then got a walkover from Michael Waithe in the semifinals. Waithe had earlier battled in all five sets to beat Michael John 6-11, 8-11, 11-1, 11-4, 12-10.

The top two seeds then teamed up in the Men’s Doubles to reach the final. They first beat Darwin Walcott and Alleyne, but had a tougher time to get past Paul Meusa and Waithe, needing all five sets to do so.

Opponents in the final Donald Duff and Gary Pratt first beat Orlando McEwan and Tristan Gaime in straight games then faced a more resilient Godfrey Munroe and Dennis France, needing all five sets to get past them.

Franklin teamed up with Michelle John for the Mixed Doubles, drawing a bye to the semifinals then beating Rhonda Farley and Leslie Gill in straight sets.

France and Lowe also drew a bye to the semifinals and battled in all five sets to beat Khan and Jody Ann Blake.

Blake, however, reached the Women’s Singles final, after beating Michelle John in four sets 11-7, 11-13, 11-8, 12-10. She will meet Lowe who put away Farley in straight sets 11-5, 11-8, 11-7.

The two top ladies teamed up to take the Women’s Doubles title, beating Michelle John and Nasiah Hadman. The third place went to Marlin Mitchell and Farley.

Four other titles were decided – 15 years & Under Boys, 18 years & Under Boys, 18 years & Under Girls and Boys Doubles.

Colwin Leitch beat Darwin Walcott for the 15 Years & Under Boys title and Gerard Miller defeated Ricky Rodrigues for the third place.

In the 18 Years & Under Boys final, Marlon Joseph disposed of Michael John, while Tristan Gaime put away Orlando McEwan in the third place play-off.

In the round robin 18 years & Under Girls affair, Trenace Lowe placed first, Michelle John second and Nasiah Hadman third.

John and Joseph beat McEwan and Gaime for the Boys Doubles, while Alleyne and Walcott took the third place from Anthony Niles and Justin Knights.

In play Tuesday night, former National champion Colin France and Marlon Joseph booked places in the ‘B’ Class final.

France first beat Gaime then Edinho Lewis in the semifinals, while Joseph defeated Kevin Joseph then Michael John.

Lewis, however, reached the ‘C’ Class final, along with Marlon Joseph. Lewis first disposed of Kevin Joseph then Xen Goliah in the semifinals while Joseph put away McEwan then Hewley Griffith in the semifinals.

Doubles finals will be completed today, along with third place off in all remaining categories.

Four Central American teams qualify for CONCACAF Gold Cup
GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, (CMC) – Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama all qualified for the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup after they each gained a berth, with one first round game remaining, in the semifinals of the Copa de Naciones UNCAF (Unión Centroamericana de Fútbol) Telgua at the Estadio Mateo Flores in Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala on Monday.

Honduras, on six points, began the Copa de Naciones UNCAF Telgua Group A play with a 4-0 victory over Belize who finished without a point.

Milton Nunez scored twice, while Wilson Palacios and Wilmer Velasquez each added another for the Catrachos, who will be making their seventh appearance at the CONCACAF Gold Cup, scheduled to run from July 6 to 24.

In another Group A encounter on Monday, two goals by Hernan Rene Sandoval and one each from Juan Carlos Plata and Edwin Roberto Villatoro, led Guatemala to a 4-0 win over Nicaragua.

The home team, who will be making their seventh trip to the Gold Cup, finished with six points while the Nicaraguans failed to register a single point during the competition.

Two teams also advanced from Copa de Naciones UNCAF Group B with one not even stepping onto the field on Monday evening.

Costa Rica got over El Salvador 2-1 in a physical, heated encounter, which saw six bookings and five ejections.

Roy Myrie and Whayne Wilson each scored for Costa Rica, while Dennis Jonathan Alas had the only goal for El Salvador. With the elimination of El Salvador, both Costa Rica and Panama, with three points and who did not play on Monday, advanced to the Copa de Naciones UNCAF semifinals and qualified to the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Costa Rica will be making their seventh participation at the CONCACAF event, while it will be only the second for the Panama and the first since 1993.

First round action in the Copa de Naciones ended yesterday at the Estadio Mateo Flores when Nicaragua faced Belize, Panama took on Costa Rica and Guatemala hosted Honduras.

The semifinals are scheduled for tomorrow in Ciudad de Guatemala, with the UNCAF tournament concluding on Sunday with the third-place match and the final.

Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama will join Cuba and Jamaica who also qualified for the Gold Cup at the Digicel Cup tournament in Barbados on Tuesday.

LABA flood relief tourney bounces off tomorrow
THE Linden Amateur Basketball Association (LABA) has organised a 2004 season-ending ‘Flood Relief’ competition from which proceeds will go to the national relief effort for affected victims of the mid-January floods in Guyana.

The association met and decided on this tournament where clubs will have no monetary rewards or incentives but the Linden Economic Advancement Programme (LEAP) will donate the winner's trophy, according to LABA president Oswald Quamina, who is a senior manager with LEAP.

LABA met on Sunday with twelve affiliated clubs and the decision was accepted that all funds from the tournament go to the national effort at the CDC from gate receipts but clubs will be charged a nominal fee of $500 for entering the competition.

The tournament bounces off tomorrow with two matches. Seventy-Sixers will match skills with Karabow at 18:00 h in the first game and the second game brings together Victory valley Royals and Silver Nets.

On Saturday Scheme Unit play Wismar Pistons in the first game and Amelia's Ward Falcons oppose Blueberry Hill Blazers in the second. Sunday's matches are Alleyne's Retrieve Raiders against the winner of the Sixers/Karabow match and Amelia's Ward Jets meet the winner of the Scheme Unit/Wismar Pistons encounter.

The LABA has written the Mackenzie Sports Club (MSC) owners of the venue where the tournament will be played exclusively, for a waiver of the rental fees to in order to enhance the funds. Efforts are also being made to have the refereeing and table officials give of their services freely.

The tournament will conclude on Sunday, March 6, when LABA will also hold its annual general meeting.

The Eagles Football Club of Wismar, Linden, has donated $50 000 to the Region 10 Disaster Task Force. (Joe Chapman)

No change in CFU’s top-10 rankings
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, (CMC) – There has been no change in the Caribbean Football Union’s top-10 rankings for February, with Jamaica remaining firm as the region’s number one team.

Jamaica, up one place to 46th in the latest FIFA Rankings, are 16 places higher than nearest regional rivals Trinidad and Tobago on the world list. Trinidad and Tobago, the only CFU team still in with a chance of qualifying for the 2006 World Cup Finals in Germany, are ranked 62nd on FIFA’s list, down one place from their January position.

They stay second in the CFU ahead of the Cubans, who have climbed one place up FIFA’s list to 71st, and the Haitians stay fourth, with a FIFA rating of 91st.

St Lucia, who hurdled Barbados and St Kitts and Nevis in recent months to occupy the number five CFU spot, remain in that position, although they have dropped one place on the world list to 118th.

The remainder of the top-10 has St Kitts and Nevis, 119th in the world, in sixth position, followed by Barbados (121st) seventh, St Vincent and the Grenadines (135th) eighth, Grenada (148th) ninth, and Suriname (151st) 10th.

Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz kept fourth spot in CONCACAF, behind Mexico, who are sixth in the world, the USA (11th), and Costa Rica (27th).

And Brazil continued to enjoy a solid rating as the world's number one team, ahead of France, with Argentina third.

The Czech Republic are fourth, followed by Spain.

CFU Rankings – December (world rating in bracket)

1. Jamaica (46)

2. Trinidad & Tobago (62)

3. Cuba (71)

4. Haiti (91)

5. St Lucia (118)

6. St Kitts & Nevis (119)

7. Barbados (121)

8. St Vincent & the Grenadines (135)

9. Grenada (148)

10. Suriname (151)

11. Antigua & Barbuda (153)

12. Bermuda (156)

13. British Virgin Islands (165)

14. Netherlands Antilles (166)

15. Dominica (167)

16. Dominican Republic (171)

17. Cayman Islands (176)

18. Guyana (182)

19. Bahamas (193)

20. Puerto Rico (194)

21. US Virgin Islands (196)

22. Anguilla (197)

23. Aruba (198)

24. Montserrat (202)

25. Turks & Caicos Islands (203)

Bermuda for cricket camp in Trinidad and Tobago
HAMILTON, Bermuda, (CMC) – Bermuda’s national cricket squad, preparing for International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup competition later this year in Ireland, will be travelling to Trinidad and Tobago for a training camp in April.

The Bermuda Cricket Board (BCB) will send a 16-member party to Trinidad and Tobago from April 5 for a 10-day camp that will include practice games.

The squad will also participate in a triangular tournament in Florida in late April with hosts United States of America (USA) and Canada.

Bermuda will contest Group One of the July 1-14 ICC World Cup qualifiers in Belfast along with hosts Ireland, Denmark, Uganda, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the USA.

The top two teams in each of the two groups in Ireland will automatically advance to the 2007 Cricket World Cup (CWC) and five qualifying spots are available from those ICC play-offs for the World Cup two years later in the West Indies.

The third- and fourth-placed teams in either group will vie for fifth to eighth positions and the team placing fifth will grab the final World Cup spot.

Second straight wins put Qatar and Fiji into ICC semi-finals
QATAR and Fiji each booked a place in the semi-finals of the ICC World Cup Qualifying Series Division 2 tournament in Malaysia with victories in their Group B matches against Cayman Islands and Zambia.

Both Qatar and Fiji are into the last four of the tournament that will determine the final qualifying spot for July’s ICC Trophy in Ireland after winning their opening two matches.

Having won the toss and elected to field, Qatar restricted Cayman Islands to 207 runs at the Selangor Turf Club as Omer Taj took 4 for 35. In reply, Qatar captain Azhar Iqbal guided his side to victory, top-scoring with 61 off 83 balls.

After the match, Iqbal expressed his delight that his side had qualified for the semifinals with one match to spare.

“It was a tough match, the Cayman Islands have a very strong team and the hot and humid conditions are a challenge,” said Iqbal.

“We are used to the heat in Qatar but not the humidity. We won the toss and bowled well on a good batting wicket before playing very well to chase down the total. We are confident looking ahead and feel we have a good chance in the rest of our matches.”

Qatar’s final Group B match is against Fiji who also qualified for the semi-finals on Tuesday with a 112-run win over Zambia. The experienced Fijian all-rounder Neil Maxwell was man-of-the-match for the second game in succession.

Group A is wide open with all four teams still capable of progressing to the semi-finals. Papua New Guinea (PNG) are in pole position after a five-wicket victory over Italy left them as the only unbeaten team in the group after two rounds of matches. PNG must still win their remaining match against Kuwait to be certain of making the last four.

Nepal beat Kuwait by five wickets on Tuesday to claim their first points of the tournament and must win again against Italy today to keep their hopes of qualifying for the ICC Trophy alive.

Yesterday was a rest day for the eight teams.

The final group matches today are as follows:

Group A

Italy v Nepal

PNG v Kuwait

Group B

Fiji v Qatar

Cayman v Zambia

India coach Wright hints at exit
JOHN Wright has hinted that the forthcoming home series against Pakistan could be his last as coach of the Indian team.

"My contract ends in May this year and there is always a lot of speculation about what will happen in the future.

"I assume the next contract will be till the 2007 World Cup. I don't think I am ready to commit myself till then," said the former New Zealand captain.

Wright became India's first foreign coach in November 2000. He has been in charge for 49 Tests with a record of 20 wins, 14 defeats and 15 draws.

The highlights were victory in Pakistan last year and a creditable 1-1 draw in Australia on their 2003-04 tour.

In one-day internationals, India have won 66 of the 124 games played since Wright's appointment and lost 52, including the 2003 World Cup final against Australia.

He has yet to discuss his future with the Indian Board of Control.

"My first priority is the Pakistan series, which is very important to all of us. The other things will fall into place," he added.

Wright took the Indian job after spending four seasons as coach of English county side Kent.

He brought in his own overseas backroom team of physio Andrew Leipus - now replaced by John Gloster - and psychologist Sandy Gordon, both from Australia, and South African trainer Gregory Allan King.

Some of his methods did not always find favour.

"I do feel only an Indian can understand the psychology of Indians," former Indian spinner Maninder Singh said in 2003.

"Wright naturally thinks like a Kiwi. Sometimes he is just too nice.” (BBC Sport).

Windies women beat Munroe Road in practice match
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, (CMC) – The West Indies women’s cricket team opened their practice match schedule with a victory over local men’s club team Munroe Road on Tuesday.

As part of their pre-World Cup camp, the West Indies women defeated Munroe Road by four wickets when they successfully chased a target of 82 runs.

But winning captain Stephanie Power was not satisfied with the performance of her side, saying they made an easy target look too difficult.

“We lost too many wickets in making that small score,” Power told CMC Sport.

“After the game, we had a chat with them and told them that we should have made it (the target) in fewer overs and less wickets,” Power added.

Batting first, Munroe Road struggled against the opening bowlers and plunged to 81 all out in 32.4 overs.

Gopaul Nanan top-scored with 23 as Phillipa Thomas led the women’s bowling with three for 19 off six overs, supported by Envis Williams, who captured two for eight off seven overs, and Debbie-Ann Lewis, two for 14 off six overs.

When the West Indies women replied, Juliana Nero top-scored with 20 while Indomatie Goordial (8) and Pamela Lavine (7) helped them to achieve victory at 83 for six off 30.2 overs.

The West Indies women were to play Clarke Road yesterday and wind up their three-match schedule by tackling top school team Charapichaima Senior Comprehensive tomorrow.

The West Indies women, preparing for the March 22 to April 10 World Cup in South Africa, will be in Barbados next week to continue their pre-tournament camp and leave the Caribbean on March 6 for the World Cup in South Africa.

India 'confident' of series deal
THE president of the Indian board has insisted the home series against Pakistan will go ahead despite an ongoing legal wrangle over TV rights.

"We are confident something will be worked out. As soon as we hear from the courts, we will work on a war footing," said Ranbir Singh Mahendra.

Zee TV, who are challenging the board's decision to scrap a £241M right deal, have offered a compromise. They have offered to screen the series as a one-off.

In a letter to the board, they wrote: "ZTL would do this entirely at its risks and costs and without any equity in its favour.

"This shall also be without prejudice to the respective contentions of the parties before the Madras Court."

Zee say they would only require to be paid "mutually agreed" production costs.

The Pakistan Cricket Board, meanwhile, has expressed concern about earlier news reports that the series could be postponed again until the court case is resolved.

Such a move would be "highly disappointing" as fans in both countries are "eagerly awaiting the series", read a PCB statement.

"It would also lead to a severe loss of revenue for both boards and dislocation in logistics for a postponed tour.

"Moreover, a further postponement of the tour would be difficult because Pakistan will be touring the West Indies in early May," the statement continued.

The Pakistan squad is due to arrive in India on Monday to play three Tests and six one-day internationals.

The tour has already been postponed once while the two boards revised the itinerary after Pakistan refused to play a Test in Ahmedabad because of security concerns.

Losing the series would be a massive blow to the prestige of Mahendra, who replaced Jagmohan Dalmiya as BCCI president last September.

But he told the Agence France Presse: "The tour will go ahead as scheduled.

"Yes, there has been a delay on TV rights, but that is because the matter is in court."

Zee was awarded a four-year contract last year but the Board tried to reopen the bidding process after ESPN-Star Sports and Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation challenged the original decision.

ESPN and Indian state broadcaster Doordarshan are also talking to the Board in an attempt to ensure the series goes ahead. (BBC Sport)

Schumacher still suffers self-doubt
BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) - Despite winning seven world titles, Michael Schumacher says he still suffers from self-doubt whenever he sits in a Formula One car.

"Despite my successes I have not lost the doubts about myself. Anything else would be the first step in the wrong direction," the Ferrari driver said in the build-up to the start of the 2005 season on March 6 in Melbourne.

"(I have doubts) whenever I sit in a racing car and at other times too. I think it's part of my make-up," the German told yesterday’s Die Zeit newspaper in an interview.

"I am a great doubter, I question myself all the time although I don't take it too far, I don't tear myself apart with these thoughts. I know when the doubting has to stop."

Schumacher has won the last five drivers' titles with Ferrari, who launch their new car on Friday although they are due to continue with a modified version of their old one until the Spanish Grand Prix in May.

The 36-year-old, now the oldest driver on the Formula One starting grid, said his desire for success remains undimmed.

"I want to win the world championship although I know it will be harder than in any previous year," he said, picking out Renault and McLaren as his team's greatest rivals.

"We have managed to fend off defeats for five years. If we cannot achieve that any more, then so be it.

"I know that our run will end some time and someone will turn up who drives faster than I. I must live with that.”

Real Madrid feel short-changed by 1-0 win
By Simon Baskett
MADRID, Spain (Reuters) - Real Madrid feel that Juventus were lucky to escape from the Bernabeu with just a 1-0 defeat in Tuesday's Champions League tie.

The goal came when Real centre-back Ivan Helguera flicked a glancing header into the far corner after England captain David Beckham had whipped in a free kick from the left just after the half-hour mark.

Raul, Ronaldo and defender Walter Samuel all had opportunities to extend Real's lead, but ultimately the Spaniards had to settle for a slender one-goal advantage ahead of the return leg of the first knockout round in Turin.

"We are a little bit disappointed because we felt that the result didn't do us justice," said Portuguese midfielder Luis Figo. "The good thing, though, was that we didn't let in a goal and that makes us optimistic about our chances when we go there."

For Juventus, who rarely managed to threaten the Real goal, it was a first defeat in this season's Champions League and only the second time they had conceded a goal.

It has been a bad month for Fabio Capello's side, who have frittered away an eight-point advantage at the top of the Serie A and no longer possess the aura of invincibility that allowed them to qualify for the knockout stages with such ease.

Real, in contrast, have been in fine form since Brazilian coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo took charge at the end of last year, putting together a seven-match winning streak in the league before going down 2-0 to Athletic Bilbao last weekend.

SOLID DEFENCE
Part of the reason for the improvement has been their new-found confidence in defence says keeper Iker Casillas.

"The most positive aspect was our performance at the back," he said. "Once more we were very solid at the back and dealt comfortably with the few chances they had. Not conceding any goals at home was very good news.

"We are a little disappointed we didn't score any more ourselves and we didn't make the most of the chances we had, but this is a good result. If we get a goal in Turin they are going to have to score three to get through."

Former Juventus player Zinedine Zidane, who turned in one of his best performances of the season, was also upbeat about his side's chances of making the quarter-finals.

"We played really well and deserved a second goal," he said. "Apart from our defeat in the league at the weekend, the team is playing a lot better. We have started 2005 in good shape and this is the way we have to continue."

The only negative note for Real was a suspected knee ligament injury to right back Michel Salgado, who was forced to leave the field early on after colliding with Pavel Nedved.

Wenger baffled but hopeful
By Kevin Fylan
MUNICH, (Reuters) - Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger was at a loss to explain why his team were so bad in the 3-1 Champions League defeat by Bayern Munich on Tuesday but he was left feeling optimistic after Kolo Toure's late goal.

"This was our worst performance so far in the Champions League," said Wenger after Arsenal had hit back from 3-0 down to give themselves a sliver of hope for the second leg at Highbury on March 9.

"We simply gave away the goals and I'm not satisfied with what we did."

Claudio Pizarro got the first two goals for Bayern and Hasan Salihamidzic made it 3-0 in the 64th minute.

Torsten Frings should have made it 4-0 when he missed a simple chance and Arsenal took advantage to hit back in the 89th minute through central defender Toure, who had been badly at fault for the first goal.

"Of course we are in a very, very negative situation," said Wenger. "I'm very disappointed with the quality of our performance. Bayern's performance was very disciplined. I expect a lot more from my team.

"But of course the goal was very important for us. It's definitely possible for us to do something in two weeks' time.

"It's very hard to find a reason why we performed so badly tonight. I really can't say why at the moment.

"I'm optimistic. I have faith in the quality of my players. It would probably be easier to cry right now.”