Policeman shot dead in Buxton
A YOUNG Policeman was shot dead in Buxton late yesterday afternoon, bringing to 10 the number of law enforcement officers killed in the crime wave that began with the February 23 escape from the Georgetown Prison of five dangerous criminals.

An official source said Constable Feroze Bashir, about 21 years old, of Melanie Damishana, East Coast Demerara, was shot as he was talking to his young expectant `child mother' on Sideline Dam, Buxton, also on the East Coast.

Bashir was reportedly off duty and was in civilian clothes sitting on a motorcycle when the shooting took place, the official said.

The Policeman and his `child mother', about 16 years old, were talking when a man went up to them and said something to him.

Bashir responded to the man who then whipped out a gun from under his shirt and shot the young Policeman, the official said.

Bashir fell to the road and the attacker shot him again.

The wounded cop was rushed by the girl's father in a vehicle to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The shooting took place at about 18:05 hrs, the official said.

The killing followed the slaying in Buxton Saturday of Deputy Head of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU), Vibert Inniss, who was gunned down in what appeared to be a planned hit. His body was riddled with bullet wounds.

Reports said that shortly before 06:00 hrs, Inniss, in his mid-forties, was proceeding west along the Buxton Public Road in his motorcar PHH 6436 when he stopped in the vicinity of Company Road to purchase newspapers from a vendor. This was something he reportedly did regularly.

Unconfirmed reports said that a female who was with him in the car got out to get the newspaper while he waited for her to return.

As Inniss sat waiting in the parked car, a white motor vehicle, licence plate unknown, drove up from behind.

Police said a man emerged from the car and opened fire on the senior CANU official who was shot several times.

Inniss was the ninth law enforcement officer to have been gunned down in cold blood following the February 23 jailbreak.

On April 2, Police Superintendent Leon Fraser was brutally gunned down at Yarowkabra on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway as he and others mounted a search for armed and dangerous criminals.

Saturday's killing also came just two weeks after a presumptuous shootout by bandits, wounding three Policemen in an Impact patrol vehicle just outside the Brickdam Police Station and the Ministry of Home Affairs in Georgetown on August 12. Those ranks have since been discharged from hospital.

Other Policemen slain in the six-month crime rampage were Detective Sergeant Harry Kooseram who was shot and killed on April 15, while on his way to work at Vigilance Police Station; Constable Sherwin Alleyne, one of a group of cops ambushed at Coldingen, East Coast Demerara on May 25; Constable Andy Atwell, also executed as he stood at the entrance to the compound of the Alberttown Police Station on May 30; Constable Rawle Thomas of the Target Special Squad, shot while on duty in the vicinity of the Wismar Police Station on June 14, died on June 16; Corporal Adrian London - a member of the Brickdam Anti-Crime Squad - killed by a hail of bullets while on Joseph Pollydore Street, Lodge on July 11 last; Constables Ramphal and Outar Kissoon of Rose Hall, Corentyne who were shot dead when bandits staged a two-and-a-half hour siege and shootout on July 21, forcing another Policeman and a businessman into the lockups at the Police outpost.

Several other Policemen have also been wounded in the upsurge of crime.

Several business people have been killed too by the bandits who have also been targeting security guards.

Andrew Douglas, one of the five escapees, was found shot dead in an abandoned hijacked car Monday morning on a road at Farm, East Bank Demerara.

Key meeting on local law school today
THE possibility of bringing to fruition the Government's intention to establish a local law school will be further explored and discussed today at a meeting between Attorney General, Mr. Doodnauth Singh, and several groups.

Head of the Presidential Secretariat and Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon had earlier this month indicated that the Government of Guyana has the will and financial capability to set up a local law school in time for the 2003/2004 academic year.

Currently, the University of Guyana only offers the first phase of a full law programme with Guyanese having to complete studies at the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad in order to practise locally.

The agreement with the Caribbean Council of Legal Education, however, only allows the admission of 25 Guyanese to Hugh Wooding, presenting a dilemma for any extra number of graduates from the University of Guyana.

At present, 15 graduates face the situation of not being admitted to Hugh Wooding because of the limited admission.

At a Cabinet weekly statutory meeting earlier this month, Luncheon said the administration gave further consideration to the creation of a law school, as it would complete the range of educational requirements to make graduates "Bar eligible".

He said a concept paper was distributed and discussed widely at Cabinet and the proposal was deemed acceptable.

According to Luncheon, "there may very well be legal instruments and some element of diplomacy" that will be needed to provide for the creation of the Guyana Law School and its output of eligible legal practitioners.

He said that "those who are tasked with the curriculum delivery at the university have responded favourably" to the Government's proposal.

Singh yesterday told the Chronicle that the 'concept paper' circulated will provide the basis for the discussions at today's meeting, which he described as being very important. (MARK RAMOTAR)

Ferazana does Essequibo proud with nine CXC grade ones
By Rajendra Prabhulall
FERAZANA Mohamed of Anna Regina Multilateral School has done the county of Essequibo proud by gaining passes in 10 subjects at this year's CXC examinations, with nine Grade Ones and obtaining six distinctions.

According to a release from the Anna Regina Multilateral School, Ferazana gained passes in Physics, English A, Mathematics, Social Studies, Geography, Agricultural Science, Chemistry, Biology, English B and Spanish, earning distinctions in the first six.

Speaking to the Chronicle at her home in Reliance, Ferazana in a jubilant mood, said she expected to do well, especially in Geography and Social Studies, and recalled that she started studying Spanish in the second term in Fifth Form, yet gaining a Grade One.

Asked about her secret to success, she said she put a lot of effort into her studies and always listened attentively to her teachers during classes.

Her advice to other students is to "let it come from within, decide what you want in life and implement it." She, however, said that her little secret might be to study seconds before the examinations, because that is what she did.

According to Ferazana, studying by yourself and prayers go together. "Prayer is essential in anything a person does", she added.

From Monday, Ferazana will be attending the University of Guyana to pursue a degree in Geography or Civil Engineering.

Her eldest sister, Shamshuad, also topped Region Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam) some three years ago, gaining passes in nine subjects. She is currently attending the University of Guyana and was of great help to Ferazana in her studies.

Ferazana's hobbies include reading, sports, especially badminton, surfing the Internet, music and debating. She expressed gratitude to all her teachers and Headmaster Parmeshwar Lall for her success.

Ferazana's mother, Mrs. Azeema Mohamed said she is very proud of her daughter's success. According to the happy mother, her performance in school was always of a high standard and consistent with A grade passes.

Mrs. Mohamed said she knew her daughter would have done well because she studied for long hours at nights.

Meanwhile, the release from the school stated that 184 students wrote the examinations and 162 gained passes in three or more subjects, representing 87% passes. Some 114 students obtained Grade One passes.

Speaking to the Chronicle, senior teacher, Mrs. Judy Lall said the school has done well again, recalling that last year's top CXC performer, David Gooray with passes in 10 subjects, also attended the institution.

Lall also reported that three students, Chaitre Singh, Sophia Belle and Bhavanie Singh gained passes in nine subjects, while Darshini Sookdeo gained passes in 10 subjects, including two Grade Ones.

Two other students, Tagwattie Mohabeer and Sherietta Doodnauth gained seven Grade Ones, while Sasha Layne, Abdool Ghani and Marvin Samaroo got six Grade Ones.

Lovell completes premier U.S. Army course
GUYANA Defence Force (GDF) Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Lovell has successfully completed the one-year Command and General Staff Officers Course (CGSOC) held at the Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, United States.

The course was from June 2001 to May 2002 and since his return to Guyana, Lovell has taken up the appointment of Commanding Officer of the GDF Training Corps, an Army release said.

According to the GDF, more than 1,200 officers from the U.S. Army, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard attended the course, along with 91 International Officers from 79 countries, including the Caribbean Community countries of Barbados, Belize, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.

The CGSOC is the U.S. Army's premier course for mid-level officers and it exposes its graduates to the planning processes and structures at the strategic and operational levels of war that lay the foundation for military operations.

Graduates are empowered to interpret and translate broad strategic national objectives into clear, integrated and synchronised operational plans and tasks.

Established in 1881, a number of famous generals have graduated from the College including Dwight Eisenhower, who was the 34th U.S. President; Omar Bradley, George Patton and more recently, U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powel.

The release noted that Lovell, the fourth GDF officer to complete this course, had the distinction of being nominated for the Eisenhower Award, which is granted to the best graduating International Officer. However, the award was eventually won by an Australian.

In his course evaluation, Lovell's instructors praised his "exceptional academic performance" and "his broad-ranging intellect and depth of knowledge on military, political and economic issues, and his simply sterling command of the English Language, both written and spoken".

The internationally recognised staff course was of a graduate level and this enabled Lovell, who has a Bachelor's degree in Public Communication from the University of Guyana, to transfer credits to the Webster University and successfully complete a Master's degree in Human Resource Development.

It was "a no mean feat to achieve while simultaneously undergoing the exacting Staff course", the GDF release added.

President restates two-pronged policy for Guyana's first people
Preserving their culture; integrating Amerindians into mainstream society
By Abigail Butler
PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo has restated his Government's intention to pursue a policy that will allow for the preservation of the Amerindian culture while further integrating the indigenous people into mainstream society.

"...Amerindians can become doctors, teachers, Policemen, nurses and so on. But at the same time, we will be providing opportunities for the preservation of their culture," the President told a gathering of Amerindian representatives Monday at the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre, High Street, Georgetown.

The Amerindians are in the capital to participate in a two-week training seminar for the revision of the Amerindian Act.

There will also be lectures and discussions on recent experiences on the subjects of indigenous rights and relevant international laws.
An explanation of the existing Amerindian Act and the recent recommendations for change, along with the production of a simple guide of the Act in plain English, will be conducted at the workshop.

Noting that Amerindian affairs is a very important item on the Government's agenda, the President said that his administration is putting a lot of effort into Amerindian development. He said, too, that the Government is allocating a lot of resources into the present exercise.

President Jagdeo pointed out that Guyana has a multi-ethnic society and that the only way the country can move forward is if all the ethnic groups in Guyana are comfortable, are not discriminated against, and are treated as equals.

He said the Constitution is one with many safeguard mechanisms so that if people feel they are being 'disadvantaged' because of ethnicity or any other factor, they can go to the Constitution to get redress.

The President said that in some areas it is still very difficult to do this and that the Government is still trying to forge a new type of relationship at the political level in this country.

He suggested that the key thing that should guide the participants' actions is their commitment to see the people of this country move forward. He noted that the involvement of younger people in politics could make a difference since the young people will be able to relate to each other without bringing past baggage to the fore.

President Jagdeo stated that the issue of Amerindian rights is very important and that the Government has to make sure people feel comfortable with the Amerindian Act. He expressed the hope that in the present exercise, participants will talk and listen to the ordinary people across the country.

He said people within communities must have their voices heard.

Hopefully, President Jagdeo said, the seminar will give a clearer view of what the people want, and he promised the full support of the administration throughout the exercise.

Two held on East Coast by Police patrol
TWO 19-year-old men are in Police custody following their arrest on Sunday by members of an alert mobile Police patrol at Courbane Park, Annandale, East Coast Demerara.

The men were found with a .38 special revolver and one live round of ammunition.

The men, who were on bicycles, were nabbed by the patrol at about 22:00 hrs after they were seen acting suspiciously, Police said in a release.

They are from Friendship, Buxton and Linden.

Another man, who robbed a 17-year-old student of a compact disc (CD) valued at $3,000, is in Police custody after he was apprehended and handed over to the Police by public spirited citizens.

Police said the man robbed the youth at knifepoint while in a mini-bus at Lusignan, East Coast Demerara at about 11:30 hrs Sunday.

The suspect and another man reportedly joined the mini-bus at Main and Lamaha Streets, Georgetown en route to the East Coast. When the bus stopped at Annandale, the two men committed the robbery and attempted to escape.

They were pursued by the driver of the bus and some passengers. One man was held, while his accomplice managed to escape.

And about 00:15 hrs Saturday, the driver of a motorcar and other persons were taking a man, whom they arrested for break-and-enter and larceny, to the East La Penitence Police Station.

As the group approached the gate of the Police Station, the suspect jumped out of the car and ran ahead of the men into the station compound, where he raised an alarm that the men had hijacked him, Police said.

The Police, on seeing the men approaching through the small gate leading to the station compound, discharged a round in the air. No one was injured.

Police said enquiries are continuing.

Commonwealth envoy to meet President for further talks
- holds talks with PNC/R
SIR Paul Reeves, Special Envoy of Commonwealth Secretary General, Mr. Don McKinnon, appointed to Guyana to help facilitate the resumption of talks between the two major political parties and promote national unity, is to hold further talks with President Bharrat Jagdeo, an official said yesterday.

The envoy met the President Monday, the official confirmed.

He yesterday met Opposition Leader, Mr. Desmond Hoyte and several top officials of his People's National Congress Reform (PNC/R) at the party's Congress Place headquarters.

Hoyte told a news conference yesterday that during the meeting, the PNC/R team briefed Sir Paul on the political, economic and other national issues such as the security situation, the crime wave, the "ineffectual" Police Force, the functions of Parliament, and why the economy is in shambles.

"...We got the impression he was on a learning mission", Hoyte said.

He said there seemed to be no specific mandate, but that Sir Paul's involvement may be in a very broad way, and likely to be long-term.

He added: "With all these problems afflicting this country, ultimately, the problems of Guyana must be solved by Guyanese...We cannot be unmindful of the role of civil society."

The other members of Hoyte's team at the meeting were Mr. Robert Corbin, Ms. Clarissa Riehl, Mr. Deryck Bernard, Mr. Oscar Clarke, Dr. Faith Harding, Mr. Lance Carberry and Mr. Jerome Khan.

A Commonwealth Secretariat release Monday said McKinnon was in Guyana in early July and met President Jagdeo and Hoyte.

He has since remained in touch with them and has followed recent developments in the country and both have welcomed Reeves' appointment, the release said.

The release reported McKinnon as saying, "I continue to be concerned over the situation in Guyana and Commonwealth good offices have always been on offer.

"I am pleased that Sir Paul will be able to apply his considerable experience to help restore political dialogue and promote national reconciliation in Guyana."

Reeves has had a distinguished career. A former Primate and Archbishop of New Zealand, he was Governor General of New Zealand from 1985 to 1990. In 1994, he was Deputy Leader of the Commonwealth Observer Group to the South African elections, and in 1996 he led the Commonwealth Observer Group to the Ghana elections.

From 1995-1997, he chaired the Fiji Constitutional Review Commission.

Reeves is being assisted by two senior officials of the Commonwealth Secretariat, Mrs. Judith Pestaina and Mr. Kosi Latu.

President Jagdeo and Hoyte started talks in April last year, but Hoyte suspended the dialogue in March, 2002 over differences on implementation of agreements reached.

The Government has said progress has been made in implementing agreements and civil society, including religious and business groups, and western embassies based here have called for resumption of the dialogue.

McKinnon was here last month for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of Government summit.

Inniss death probe:
CANU officer was recently in Jamaica on drugs case
DEPUTY Head of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU), Vibert Inniss, who was brutally slain in a planned hit operation Saturday morning, recently returned from Jamaica in the continuing probe into the huge marijuana bust here earlier this year, sources said yesterday.

At the time of his death, Inniss was working on the major drugs probe he had been spearheading - the discovery, in May this year, of 1,871 kilogrammes of compressed cannabis sativa (marijuana) the equivalent of 4,116 pounds.

Sources yesterday told the Chronicle that Inniss was so intent on making a breakthrough in the investigations that he had travelled to Jamaica, from where the container had originated.

There is some speculation that it may have been his perceived persistence in finding out who was the person/s behind the drugs shipment that led to his execution, the sources said.

The drugs shipment, which was found behind a false wall in a container, would have fetched a street value of more than $60M.

The container had arrived in the country on May 1 from Jamaica with a consignment of plastic bags and other goods for Wholesale Depot at Eccles, East Bank Demerara.

When the discovery was made, the container was about to be loaded on to a Seafreight Line vessel `HENRICH-J' at John Fernandes Shipping wharf, to be shipped to Miami.

During the initial stages of the investigations several persons were pulled in for questioning by CANU, and a source close to the probe had said considerable inroads were being made, as the investigators sought to find out whether the marijuana came into the country from Jamaica or was packed here.

Inniss was gunned down by four persons who were apparently trailing him in a white car, as he made a routine stop to buy newspapers from a vendor in Buxton, East Coast Demerara, around 06:00 hrs on Saturday.

His assailants, one of whom was dreadlocked, left their car, pumped a volley of shots into his body, killing him on the spot and then escaped.

A female companion with Inniss at the time reportedly escaped with minor injuries.

Police were yesterday continuing investigations into the killing.

Cops were also probing the discovery on Monday of the dead body of wanted fugitive Andrew Douglas on a dam at Farm, East Bank Demerara.

The investigation into Douglas' death is to determine whether he was killed during a shootout in the vicinity of Dury Lane, Campbellville, Georgetown and his fugitive colleagues dumped his body in a hijacked car there, or that on realising that he was seriously wounded, they took him there and "finished him" off, before escaping.

Douglas, one of the five notorious February 23 prison escapees, had before his death on Monday, managed to elude an intensive manhunt spearheaded by the Police Force and the Army for a little more than six months.

In May, dressed in Army camouflage clothes and holding an AK-47 rifle, Douglas declared himself a "freedom fighter" among other things in a video tape which was broadcast on some TV stations.

The car in which his bullet-ridden body wrapped in a white bed sheet was found, bore a false licence number plate PEE 2929, but was in fact motor car PHH 6034 which was stolen on August 18 from a private citizen on Barr Street, Kitty, Georgetown, Police said.

Participate in Costa Rica business forum
-- local business firms urged
`If the rest of the English-speaking Caribbean is not careful, it could be left out of the burgeoning intra-ACS trade' - Mr. Luis Alberto Noreiga
By Chamanlall Naipaul
TRADE Director of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), Mr. Luis Alberto Noreiga, is here lobbying local business enterprises to participate in the 3rd Business Forum to be hosted by the ACS in San Jose, Costa Rica, on September 24-25 this year.

At a press briefing at the Guyana Manufacturers Association (GMA) office at the Sophia Exhibition Centre, Georgetown on Monday, he said the business forum will provide a good opportunity for business executives from the Greater Caribbean region to explore and establish new business ties and trade links with each other.

He said that the two previous business fora held in Magarita Island, Venezuela, and Mexico in 2000 and 2001, respectively, were successful, with hundreds of businessmen from the region participating.

"Hundreds of business people from the ACS member countries, and public sector officials flocked to Margarita Island in October 2000 and a similar number attended the 2001 edition in Mexico. Business people view this annual event, not only as an opportunity to have their voices heard by regional policy makers, but also as an excellent occasion to meet potential clients and suppliers", Noreiga said.

Responding to the contention that Spanish-speaking members of the ACS seem to show a greater interest in the business forum because of a language barrier on the part of the English-speaking countries, he said that in today's world language should not be a hindrance to trade ties. He noted that English is spoken by most of the business executives of the Spanish-speaking territories.

"If the rest of the English-speaking Caribbean is not careful, it could be left out of the burgeoning intra-ACS trade. Already 166 business executives of 117 companies have signed up to attend the 2002 edition of the Greater Caribbean Business Forum and the number is expected to rise in the following weeks", he cautioned.

Noreiga also called for greater speed and aggressiveness in charting business and trade links.

The idea behind the forum is to boost inter-governmental trade agreements by ensuring that the private sector actively participates and takes advantage of them, he said.

It is because of this that the ACS also began the Trade Promotion Organisations forum, which coincides with the business forum. The purpose of the latter is to foster institutional cooperation as a platform for developing more business for companies within the ACS membership, Noreiga said.

GMA Executive Member, Mr. Dexter Cummings, who shared the press briefing, said what is taking place now in the business sector is a preparation for the challenges ahead in the next few years. He said the forging of strategic alignments is essential for the protection of business, and felt that the needs of the manufacturing structure can be served through a strong regional private sector.

"The GMA fervently believes that while we seek to promote the interests of our membership through advocacy and other methods - the pending appointment of a Membership Services Officer being testimony of this thrust - our manufacturing structure can also be served in the medium term and longer term through a strong regional private sector deliberately organised and prepared to face the challenges of a global economy," Cummings asserted.

He added: "Hence, the GMA has strategically aligned itself with the Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce (CAIC), and sister manufacturing associations of Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, Barbados and St. Lucia. We believe that a main pillar of this integration process is the promotion of trade fairs and business fora.

"Locally, we are active participants in GUYEXPO, both on the planning committee and as exhibitors. Within the region, we have been collaborating with the CAIC, the Caribbean Business Enterprise and Event Caribbean to promote Biz Tech scheduled for October 9-10 in Trinidad & Tobago."

The ACS is an organisation formed about eight years ago to promote consultation, cooperation and concerted action in trade, transport, sustainable tourism and natural disasters.

Member states are Antigua and Barbuda, The Bhamas, Barbados, Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago and Venezuela.

There are five Associate Members - Aruba, France on behalf of French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and the Netherlands Antilles.

Ramsammy to launch probe into New Amsterdam death
HEALTH Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy will launch a formal investigation into the July 30 death of a New Amsterdam citizen.

The woman reportedly died due to a 30-minute delay in health care delivery at the New Amsterdam Hospital.

The minister received the complaint last Saturday from Land Court Judge, Mr. John. O. Persaud while attending a meeting at the boardroom of the Berbice Chamber of Commerce and Development Association.

The complainant expressed deep hurt over the unavailability of medical help for 30 minutes at the New Amsterdam Hospital, which he said caused the death of his wife who had suffered an asthmatic attack.

The Health Minister, while expressing sympathy, described the New Amsterdam Hospital as the worst administered health institution in the country.

"There is a definite breakdown in health care delivery in Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne). The system should work so that a person of any status could get adequate care," Ramsammy stressed.

He noted that health care, along with its supervision, is a regional responsibility, and expressed disappointment that Berbicians did not support him in having a better administered facility.

He said while a Medic is important, the Accident and Emergency Unit of the hospital must be manned around the clock by doctors.

And while acknowledging the problem of staff shortage and not so good salaries, the minister said doctors within the Public Service have a responsibility to serve the people efficiently.

Poor Caribbean projection at World Summit on Sustainable Development
The Summit is more than about the environment...issues like poverty is a major concern, and the WSSD has become a more integral part of wider development co-operation.
By Prof Bishnodat Persaud
I WRITE to express concern at the paucity of attention being given to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in the Caribbean.

It is not that I feel that earth shattering decisions will descend from Johannesburg on September 4. Beyond the great direct importance of the issues before the WSSD, it is part of a wider promising process of the renewal of international development co-operation, in which the Caribbean has very strong interests.

It is a process, however, which is far from receiving the attention it deserves in the region.

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat has made efforts to assist regional preparations for the WSSD and a high level meeting was held in Georgetown in July. At the wider Latin America and Caribbean level, preparatory discussions have led to the emergence of joint submission to the preparatory process -- the Latin America and Caribbean Initiative.

But both at the national and regional levels, there have been little public discussion and awareness of the issues and little pressure on, and interest by, governments to adopt relevant and refined positions. This is reflected by a low regional projection at the Summit, especially in terms of well developed positions to further regional interests.

The WSSD, unlike the Earth Summit, of which it is a 10th anniversary follow-up, is more than about the environment. The evolution has led to a greater appreciation of the need to integrate environment and development.

Thus issues like poverty is a major concern, and the WSSD has become a more integral part of wider development co-operation.

In recent times, several international meetings coinciding with the millennium change, have brought about a more positive attitude to development co-operation.

The Doha WTO Ministerial Meeting has agreed to move to a New Round on international trade negotiations, which will give priority to the concerns of developing countries. A UN Millennium Conference has agreed development goals, centring on the halving of abject poverty by 2015.

A Global Fund has been set up to assist the fight against HIV/AIDS. African countries have taken the initiative to set up the New African Partnership for

African Development (NEPAD) which has had a good reception, and last, but not least, the UN Monterrey Conference on Financing Development has received firm commitments to increase aid, notably and substantially by the EU and the U.S.

Both the CRNM (Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery) and the CARICOM Secretariat have given much attention to the new Trade Round but in other important initiatives such as the Monterrey Outcome, in terms of representation of interests, the Caribbean was almost 'not there' and developed no concerted negotiating stance, even though important issues affecting our interests such as the revival of aid, indebtedness, the international financial institutions and investment flows were all actively discussed.

New York missions alerted governments on the negotiating issues, but feedback from capitals were often non-existent. This of course did not affect the attraction of being at Monterrey, but this presence was, in the main, too late to influence pre-negotiated texts.

Almost the same neglect took place in the pre-negotiations for the WSSD, and it was left to others, e.g. the leadership of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), to press the case for small island states and secure a Section in the Implementation Plan, which has already been agreed in the pre-negotiation.

Yet the Caribbean has vital and separate interests in the whole renewed process of international development co-operation, which is largely being neglected.

Poverty and unemployment remain disproportionate in the region, which largely comprises middle-income countries. Poverty is of great interest to us in international discussions, since as middle-income countries, we are deemed suitable for graduation from preferential trade and aid arrangements and are being prematurely graduated.

Aid has been declining at a time when many countries in the region are facing severe adjustment problems arising from the erosion and demise of preferential trading arrangements on which they historically greatly depended.

Strategic assistance programmes in areas like education and training are crucial for the positive adjustment measures required to restructure our economies and put them in an internationally competitive new economy basis.

The increase in international assistance committed at Monterrey offers us a window of opportunity for relaunching our case for adjustment assistance and securing our fair share.

Instead of just a Stabilisation Fund, we should be thinking of an Adjustment and Stabilisation Fund with major support from our main trading partners who are keen for us to move away from preferences.

At the WTO, we need to continue the uphill task of securing special and differential treatment for small states in order to ensure transitional periods to take on new obligations which would not exacerbate our already serious adjustment problems.

At the WSSD, we have also keen interests in improving management of our fragile coastal zones, increased financing and improved insurance arrangements for natural disaster management, firmer precautionary measures in areas like climate change, better forestry and watershed protection and securing favourable benefit-sharing in the utilisation of our biodiversity and traditional knowledge in this area.

For our small states, the environmental issue is not just about protection.

It is also about preserving valuable natural capital, inherent in the natural beauty and attraction of our countries, and an investment in our future, and not least through the environmental services, we export in tourism.

Our leaders will return from the WSSD with the usual hype of achievements, but by being inactive in the preparatory process, what they can secure has already been greatly circumscribed.

** Prof Bishnodat Persaud served as Professor of Sustainable Development at the University of the West Indies after holding the position of Director of Economic Affairs at the Commonwealth Secretariat.

However, the difficulty has been to transform that consciousness into beneficial actions to reduce the plight of those mired in poverty, as has been adumbrated in the various declarations on sustainable development.

Has the plight of the poverty stricken been reduced since Rio? Certainly not.

In fact the situation has worsened, with the gap between the rich and the poor widening and the standard of living of the world's poor plummetting continuously.

It has been observed by many leaders that most of these fora on sustainability have been mere "talk shops" and have never really emerged with any tangible improvement in the lives of the ordinary people.

Forests have continued to shrink, arid zones are turning to desert, water is increasingly in short supply and species are becoming extinct at a rate unprecedented since the disappearance of the dinosaurs. And man is contributing to a change in the climate that could worsen all these problems and severely affect the quality of human life.

The political leadership and will to act to reverse these life-threatening trends seem to be lacking and that's why the situation continues to deteriorate.

Ms. Sue Williams in a UNESCO publication `Sources' aptly observes: "The need to act has been clearly and urgently demonstrated. True, there is some impressive mobilisation happening at grassroots level, and even in the corporate world."

She pertinently asks: "But where is the political leadership so necessary to bring about the big changes that are needed to turn the situation around?"

She adds that negotiations on how to cut greenhouse emissions and offset global warming "clearly demonstrate the paralysis of the world's political machines."

One of the ironies in the present situation is that the biggest producer of greenhouse gases - the United States - has refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change, which calls for industrial nations to cut greenhouse emissions by about 5% by 2012.

It is against such a background that the current World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa, is being held and already there have been speculations that its outcome would not result in any tangible benefits for the world's poorest people.

However, the UN is optimistic and says that it would focus on the pertinent issues.

The WSSD will focus on steps to improve people's lives by ensuring access to clean water, sanitation, electricity and other services to reduce poverty, while preserving the environment.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is supporting these priorities and forging partnerships at the summit that can produce significant progress towards the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), especially halving the rate of severe poverty by 2015. .

"Since the poor suffer most from the degradation of their land, air, water and biological resources, we must address these critical links between poverty, environment and energy that will make or break our efforts to achieve sustainable development and the MDGs," UNDP Administrator, Mr. Mark Mallock Brown observed, adding, "The leaders of the world must come up with an agreement at the summit that shows their citizens, particularly the poor, that they are truly committed to helping provide prosperity to all the world's people while protecting the planet for future generations."

Despite the negative speculations it is hoped that the outcome of the summit will bring tangible results, so that there will be some relief and optimism for the poor.

If it turns out to be another `talk shop', that will mean further demoralisation and deteriorating living standards for the world's poor.

Shonette Mellisa Dubisette, 21, of West Ruimveldt Housing Scheme, Georgetown, is charged with unlawfully killing Michael McBean, also 21, of 524 East Ruimveldt on Monday, August 19, 2002.

In making his application for the pre-trial liberty of Dubisette before Magistrate Cecil Sullivan, Defence Counsel Mr. Vic Puran, said that the case was surrounded by "special circumstances". He explained that Dubissette, a final year Accounts student of the University of Guyana, has to write supplemental examinations in another three days if she is to graduate in November this year.

Mr. Puran continued that on Monday, August 19, after the accused realised that McBean was hurt, she took him to the hospital. The lawyer added that when McBean was pronounced dead by doctors at Prashad's Hospital, Dubissette turned herself into the custody of the Police.

And since then, he said, she has been cooperating fully with the Police.

Puran said that the relatives of the deceased were extremely sympathetic towards the accused, and, in spite of their loss, have been showing her support by visiting her at the East La Penitence lock-ups and attending Court.

The lawyer argued that Dubissette has already been in custody for five days and there is no reason for the Court to further punish her by refusing her bail.

Puran argued, "She has been charged with manslaughter. The State has already given her a measure of mercy." In addition, he said, the university student has never had any brush with the law.

Police Prosecutor Inspector Gordon Peters said he had no objection to Counsel's application for bail.

The university student allegedly stabbed her boyfriend during an altercation at his South Ruimveldt home.

Dubissette is to return to Court on September 26.

Killing of West Demerara grandmother-in-law
Jury hears murder accused was found tied up
By George Barclay
A MIXED jury trying Christopher Noel for the murder of his grandmother-in-law yesterday heard that investigating Police had found the accused and his wife tied up and gagged in a room not far from where the body of 'Mamas' was found with a slit throat.

Noel, represented by Mr. Darshan Ramdhani, is facing a retrial for unlawfully killing his grandmother-in-law, Hardai Mahangoo, called 'Mamas' on June 13, 1997.

Noel has pleaded not guilty and is saying that he was attacked by two armed robbers, who beat and tied up him and his wife on the day in question.

According to the Police, the accused had told them, "I was lying tied up on the floor, when I heard Mamas shout, 'Ow meh God, you all don't kill me, I know you all'".

But Police Corporal Godfrey Clarke, one of the Police personnel, who testified that he had removed the crepe bandages from around the feet, hands and neck of the accused that day, also said that he was still in the process of investigating the crime, when a high ranking officer instructed him to take both the accused and his wife to the Police Station.

On the resumption of the trial yesterday, Senior Superintendent of Police Lynette Carter testified that Corporal Clarke had visited the scene earlier that day. According to her, when she arrived at the scene, she saw the accused sitting on a bed and the wife lying on the floor covered with a sheet with one of her feet tied to the leg of the bed.

Supt. Carter added, "I untied the wife, who told me that two men had invaded the home and had beaten and tied them up."

In answer to Defence Counsel Ramdhani, the witness said, "I did not give anyone instructions that day to arrest the accused because I had no reason to arrest him."

The next witness, Corporal Godfrey Clarke, recalled that on June 13, 1997, he was stationed at Leonora Police Station, when someone reported that there was a murder at Seafield, Leonora, West Coast, Demerara. He said he left for the scene and went into the hall of the home, where he saw the deceased lying on her back on the floor in what appeared to be a pool of blood.

Upon checking the body, he said he observed a wound on the throat. Cpl. Clarke said that he entered a second room, where he observed accused Noel and his wife. Both of them were lying on the floor near to the bed.

He added, "I noticed that the accused's hands and feet were tied behind his back with crepe bandage. Also, a piece of the bandage was tied around his neck and attached to the bed."

One of the feet of the wife was also tied to the bed, the witness said.

Telling about a conversation he had had with the accused, he added, "Accused told me that two men went into the house and robbed them and tied them up. I untied the accused. I was the first Police to arrive on the scene.

"After I had untied the accused, I was going to untie his wife, when she told me that she does not have on any clothing. There was a sheet, which was thrown over her. I went out of the bedroom with the accused and the wife was still lying on the floor."

The witness added that shortly afterwards, Police Officer Carter went into the house and he told her about the wife of the accused. The Police officer went into the room and released the wife by removing the bandage.

Cpl. Clarke said that neither the accused nor his wife said anything to him about how the deceased met her death or whether they knew when she had died.

The witness said that the accused and his wife were taken by him to the Police Station later that day.

Asked why he took them to the station, he added, "I took them there as a result of instructions. But I cannot remember who gave me those instructions, but it was one of the senior ranks."

In answer to Ramdhani under cross-examination, witness said that after removing the bandage from the accused that day, he observed that there was a swelling on Noel's forehead. He could not recall seeing other injuries.

He also told Ramdhani that he had seen about four pieces of multi-coloured rope lying on the floor near to the wife.

Mr. Yohhahnseh Cave is prosecuting. The hearing continues.

The essence of democracy is the freedom of choice
IT WOULD appear that after nearly three decades of undemocratic, minority rule under the previous PNC regime, there are some people who are finding it difficult to come to terms with the norms of democracy and a free and open society.

The essence of democracy is the freedom of choice. This is true of politics as it is in economics and in the management of social life. Freedom to choose a government of one's choice is now regarded as a fundamental and basic human right. Yet, this right was denied the people of Guyana for the greater part of the country's post-colonial history, thanks to the People's National Congress.

The fact that the PPP/Civic has demonstrated a capacity to win elections under a free, multi-party system of competitive politics cannot, in my view, diminish the significance nor importance of that democracy. Democracy must be considered sacrosanct and inviolate. It is the very antithesis of dictatorship and authoritarian rule. Without democracy, the oxygen flow of a social organism is severely affected, which in turn can result in serious aberrations in the entire body-politic.

One only has to reflect on the economic and social decline which afflicted this once prosperous country of ours when the PNC stole political power in the 1968-1992 period. The economy was wrecked almost beyond recognition. This reality was manifested in the low exchange of the Guyana dollar relative to the United States dollar. By the time the PNC was voted out of office in October 1992, the Guyana dollar was by far the weakest in the Anglo-phone Caribbean, a testimony to the mismanagement of the economy under the previous PNC regime.

I am willing to concede that democracy is not the panacea for all the ills of a society. It is however, a necessary condition for social and economic progress to occur. There is evidence that the majority of countries with low human development indices are those that lack freedom and openness. Put in a different way, there is a close correlation between democracy and development, as our own experience has so amply demonstrated.

There are those who attempt to challenge this fundamental principle by making references to "bad practices" which incidentally are not uncommon elements in the development matrix such as "bad governance", " corruption", "extra-judicial killings" among others. These are certainly aberrations or dysfunctions in the way a society is administered, but they certainly cannot be strong enough arguments to question the validity of democratic model in the exercise of political power.

This is why one has to be careful not to put the blame for our current impasse on the failure of democracy as enshrined in the Constitution of Guyana. The recent amendments to the Constitution have further deepened the democratic character of our society by allowing for greater geographic representation at the highest policy making level, which is at the level of the National Assembly. The tenure in office of the President is now limited to two terms and there is now provision for much greater involvement at the parliamentary level with the establishment of parliamentary sub-committees and sectoral committees.

True enough, our democracy is not ideal, especially in the context of our historical and cultural peculiarities, but without doubt it is a significant advance from the 1985 Constitution which for the most part was rich in rhetoric and devoid of justiciable rights. Further amendments will no doubt take place in the course of time but it is my belief that the existing constitutional framework, if acted upon and pursued with earnest can provide the basis for a much more participatory and inclusive society.
Steve Persaud

Naked lust for power
POWER-SHARING, inclusiveness or adjusted governance will not help Guyana until and unless you have an adjusted PNC.

This party has and continues to demonstrate a naked lust for power at all costs and is prepared to destroy the country if they have to do so.

Their own members and supporters continue to suffer as a result of their misguided policies but they do not care. The PNC has indulged in a number of attempts at cosmetic change as they are aware of their very bad image.

For the 1997 elections they told us they were a 'new' PNC but when they lost their true image was again bared for all to see. For the 2001 elections they contested with the Reform component which sad to say now seems to be abandoning them.

On the programme " The big question is ?" on Sunday Mr. Ramsaroop of the Reform said that some of them have become "inactive" and indicated that he himself was shortly to do so.

Their decision to become inactive seems to have been as a result of the behaviour and policies of their former senior partner the PNC following the 2001 elections.

The host of the programme, Mr. M. F. Khan in the discussion said among other things that the PNC party seems to prefer to sit in Regent street instead of sitting at the table and also that only two members of the Central executive are Indians, all the rest are Afro- Guyanese, so to all intents and purposes the party is definitely an Afro-Guyanese party.

Many people will regret that several of the former Reform members have or will become inactive as they were made up of many who had a more positive outlook on the future of the country.

What is the next mask that the PNC will wear?
Bibi Ally

PNC already included
"Inclusive governance", whatever that means, seems to be the hot topic around. How such a mechanism will work, what it will be in reality, is left to be seen. I get the feeling that the PNC/R, based on recent statements, is not sure what it wants with regard to inclusive governance. My longstanding opinion about the PNC/R is that they want to be back in power and will do whatever it takes to accomplish that. The present paradigm of inclusive governance as being bantered around seems to suggest that it is a sharing of political power, among political parties. Shouldn't inclusive governance/power sharing mean that the populace of Guyana feels included in the running of the country? We need to broaden the scope and move away from the fixation with the PPP/PNC political party dichotomy?

The call for inclusive governance arose out of the present crime spree. If we respond to criminals killing Indians around the country and burning their property by including members of the PNC in the government, then I believe we'll be giving in to violence as a means of attaining political power. I believe that such a move will set a precedent - what you can't win at the ballot box you can have by burning and beating and looting and appealing to racial insecurity. It makes a mockery of the whole election process and of democratic governments. It is not the way to go. In addition, the PNC/R is already "included" in the present government - the PNC/R apparatus the government inherited in 1992 is alive and well in the public service, army, police and judiciary and any attempt being made by the government to balance these institutions is quickly condemned as racist.

So what exactly would "inclusive governance" mean? Were the government to give up some of the ministerial portfolios to PNC/R members, in addition to the fifty or so appointments it has already made to state boards, can it then go ahead and correct the historical racial discrimination against Indians pervasive in the police, army, public service and judiciary? Can it then go ahead and ensure that Indian culture is taken out of the "other" status and truly becomes part of Guyanese culture? Can it go ahead and ensure that education is free for all, including remote Indian villages still waiting for running water, electricity and paved roads? Can it then address the fact that Hindu and Muslim school children have no assembly for them and become captives to the recitation of the Lord's Prayer? Can we as a nation then revisit the Afro-centric/Anglo-centric nature of the dominant culture and ensure that it becomes truly "inclusive". For those of us pondering power-sharing and inclusive governance, these are things to think about. And while we're thinking, let us ensure that whatever mechanism is agreed to, that it also holds if and when the PNC becomes the ruling party.
Rohan Sooklall

PNC and criminal activities
IT IS unfortunate that the latter part of my afternoon last Saturday (August 17, 2002) was betrayed when I listened to Dr. H. Lutchman's comments during his feature address at the opening of the 6th Biennial Delegates Congress of the clerical and Commercial Workers' Union (CCWU).

He chastised the PPP for its comments on the PNC's expression about a national dialogue on the crime situation. It was intellectually dishonest for Mr. Lutchman to chastise the PPP for that Party's comment without fully blaming the PNC.

The PNC in making its hypocritical suggestions on the crime situation cursed up the PPP. Didn't the PNC say "...the American authorities for example are well aware of the pervasive corruption and criminality present in the PPP regime....", another PNC mimicry, "...we all suffer as a result of PPP/C incompetence and lawlessness...". Oh God, Mr. Lutchman was hoodwinking those foreigners at the Conference opening Session, for all fair-minded Guyanese are aware of the PNC's overt and covert connivance in the perpetuation of criminal activities.
Ashley Edwards

Systems must be sacrosanct and observed by all
I COULDN'T believe my ears when I heard Vincent Alexander, Vice-Chairman of the demon? Party, the PNC say that a government can be legitimate even if not elected and another can be illegitimate even if elected.

This was on Bibi Naraine's Programme Time Out last night {25/08/02}. The other guest was Vic Puran introduced as an Independent.

What Alexander was telling us in plain simple language is that if his party was elected to office{ which would be the first time ever}, they would again have no compunctions about rigging elections which they did to remain in office from 1968 to 1992 after the short-lived coalition came apart between them and the United Force which had facilitated their getting into office in 1964.

This raises another grave concern and that is about the integrity and sustainability of the Constitutional Reforms which took place under the PPP/Civic. Should the PNC become the government will they observe the reforms which they called for and any others which take place.

Remember it is the PNC who have been making all the trouble about reforming the Constitution, which is the very one which they crafted and introduced and with which they had no complaints while they remained in office through rigged elections keeping the PPP { the angel? Party}out.

The PNC has not been known to keep to agreements and we have to make sure that constitutional changes or any others in our procedures and system of governance must be sacrosanct and observed by all.
John Da Silva

Lukewarm over Government's effort
Stabroek News editorial of 26th August,2002 captioned " Country needs action not talk festival" seeks to berate the administration for their holding of a national consultation on dealing with the present unprecedented upsurge of violent crimes.

I remember that recently the Stabroek News was almost hysterical when the PNC had called for a national consensus on crime but seems to have been very lukewarm over the Government's efforts to deal with this unusual crime situation and when the PPP had called on all organizations, groups {including religious} and individuals to join with it in public meetings, marches and rallies against the present crime situation in the country.

Now the government has decided to go ahead with a national consultation which is open to all, in addition to all the other measures and initiatives in place or in the process of being implemented, it seems that Stabroek News, some would say expectedly, has a big problem with this.

I am quite sure that all law-abiding citizens welcome an opportunity to take part in a national consensus which allows them the opportunity to voice their own particular concerns and to be heard and which would no doubt elicit perhaps greater cooperation and support from the general public and have an improved interaction between them and the police and other law-enforcement agencies.

It seems to me that Stabroek News and some others are not concerned so much on what is being done but who is doing it. Their editorials either accuse the government of doing nothing or of sloth or of "racing ahead of themselves."
Robin McKay

Towards a better quality of life for all
THERE can be no doubt that all the efforts of the PNC, latterly with their Reform component has been to put the progress and development of the country on "pause."

Since 1992 with the election of the PPP/Civic to office with free and fair elections, it became obvious to all especially the PNC that the PPP/Civic were on the right track and that the economy and infrastructure of the country were being rebuilt at a faster rate than they may have expected.

Our creditability and credit worthiness were being restored and it seems to me and perhaps many others that the PNC became alarmed as they wanted no success story for Guyana under the PPP/Civic.

So they started a campaign to destabilize the country, create racial disharmony and conflict, mitigate the accomplishments so far so that the government could not continue with the mostly smooth rebuilding of the infrastructure and reach into the future to fully develop our rich potential.

The PNC developed and increased their campaign to create a climate of disaffection in the minds of a section of their supporters and incite them to the violence which resulted.

In spite of all their efforts, however, and of the harm and hurt which resulted to certain sections of the population, the government and the country continue to make reasonable progress, although not at the rate possible with the obstruction of the PNC.

Members and supporters of the PNC must let their voices be heard and persuade their leaders to play a more responsible role to accelerate the development of a better quality of life that is possible for all.
Alana Rambarran

Solozano (79 not out) leads T&T to victory
TRINIDAD and Tobago, led by an unbeaten half-century from opener Brenda Solozano, kept their hopes for championship honours alive in the West Indies Women's Cricket Federation's round-robin tournament with a 46-run victory over Guyana yesterday at the Police Sports Club ground, Eve Leary.

Solozano faced the first and last delivery of the innings as Trinidad reached 210 for eight from their quota of 50 overs. Skipper Stephanie Power then gave up her wicket-keeping apparel to claim three wickets for 11 runs as Guyana slumped to 164 in 42.2 overs.

Guyana's loss was their second in a row after they went down to Grenada by 110 runs at Blairmont on Sunday. This means they finish the round-robin competition with three wins and the same amount of losses, since they drew the bye in today's final round. Trinidad however recorded their second successive win after narrowly losing to St Lucia and must beat Grenada today and hope unpredictable St Vincent beat St Lucia if they are to dethrone the defending champions.

The locals' cause was not helped by four run-outs, the most damaging being the one to break a fourth-wicket stand of 55 in 12 overs between topscorer Tracy Glasgow (29) and Annabelle Lewis (26). The pair had kept Guyana in contention with some intelligent running between the wickets, ably assisted by a healthy helping of extras thrown in by the Trinidad bowlers. The chief culprit was left-arm medium-pacer Erica George who conceded 18 runs in the 26th over - including nine wides and two no-balls.

However, a misjudgement in coming for a second run to third man cost Glasgow her wicket and it was downhill for the Guyanese thereafter. Lewis, who faced 35 balls, and skipper Abina Parker (1) were both run-out by Nelly Williams who also struck earlier to send back opener Indomatie Goordial for six.

Power bowled Darlen Gale (1), trapped Deowantie Persaud (3) leg-before-wicket then bowled Michelle Fitzalbert (8) to end the innings and match. Solozano also held a return catch to dismiss Onika Wallerson for one.

Before Glasgow and Lewis got together, Candacy Adkins had set the stage for a serious challenge to the Trinidad total with a 47-ball 27, which ended when she was bowled by left-arm spinner Felicia Cummings.

Earlier, Solozano struck three boundaries from 144 deliveries as she provided the backbone for what turned out to be the winning Trinidadian total. She was associated in several solid partnership, the most productive being 59 in 10 overs for the sixth wicket with Envis Williams who struck two fours from 29 deliveries before being brilliantly caught by Glasgow at short extra-cover off Goordial.

Solozano also added 45 for the fifth wicket with pint-sized Jade Chadee (15), and 45 for the third with Shane Da Silva (14).

Guyana had an impressive start, restricting the Trinidadians to 12 runs from seven overs and also claiming the wicket of Nita Naipaulsingh bowled by Fitzalbert for a duck. Erica George (8) was then bowled by Goordial before Solozano and Da Silva came together to repair the damage then the latter was run-out by Lewis.

Nelly Williams (2) was also bowled by Parker before another recovery - in the form of the fifth-wicket stand between Chadee and Solozano - took place for the Trinidadians. Towards the end, Fitzalbert returned to capture the wickets of Power, bowled for 11, and Shelly Felix, leg-before without scoring.

Fitzalbert ended with three for 37 while Goordial claimed two for 23.

TRINIDAD innings

B. Solozano not out 79

N. Naipaulsingh b Fitzalbert 0

E. George b Goordial 8

S. Da Silva run-out 14

N. Williams b Parker 2

J. Chadee run-out 15

E. Williams c Glasgow b Goordial 29

S. Power b Fitzalbert 11

S. Felix lbw b Fitzalbert 0

F. Cummings not out 1

Extras: (b-3, lb-9, nb-3, w-36) 51

Total: (for 8 wickets off 50 overs) 210

Wickets Fell At: 4, 22, 67, 72, 117, 176, 205, 205.

Bowling: Fitzalbert 10-2-37-3 (nb-1, w-14), Goordial 10-2-23-2 (w-2), Parker 10-0-49-1 (w-10), Lewis 10-2-28-0 (nb-1, w-5), Franklin 2.5-0-13-0 (nb-1, w-1), Wallerson 5-0-26-0 (w-3), Gayle 2.1-0-12-0 (w-1).

GUYANA innings

I. Goordial run-out 6

F. Franklin c Power (wkp.) b E. Williams 10

C. Adkins b Cummings 27

T. Glasgow run-out 29

A. Lewis run-out 26

A. Parker run-out 1

D. Gale b Power 1

O. Wallerson c & b Solozano 1

I. Henry not out 6

D. Persaud lbw b Power 3

M. Fitzalbert b Power 8

Extras: (b-5, lb-4, nb-3, w-34) 46

Total: (all out in 42.2 overs) 164

Wickets Fell At: 24, 48, 67, 132, 138, 140, 141, 143, 154.

Bowling: E. Williams 6-1-7-1 (w-1), N. Williams 2-0-10-0 (w-8), Felix 10-0-44-0 (w-6), Cummings 10-3-22-1 (w-2), Noel 3-0-11-0, George 2-0-23-0 (nb-3, w-10), Solozano 5-0-27-1 (w-4), Power 4.2-1-11-3 (w-3).

GFF introduces new Brazilian Technical Director
… Klass warns not to expect ‘instant coffee’ results
By Joe Chapman
PRESIDENT of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Colin Klass yesterday introduced the new Technical Director for football in Guyana, Brazilian Neider Carvalho Dos Santos, who arrived here last Sunday, to the media but warned not to expect any "instant coffee" results in Guyana's immediate performance.

The GFF through its president and new Public Relations Consultant, Robert Sam, at the Ocean View International Hotel's Convention Centre, yesterday made Dos Santos meet with the media at a special briefing.

They also took time out to acknowledge the passing of Bertram Hamilton who was vice-president of the Upper Demerara Football Sub-Association and a member of the GFF Council and Kester Alves who was the GFF's Public Relations Consultant.

Dos Santos is here on a provisional one-year contract, which could mature into a four-year programme based on discussions, which will take place after one year, between himself and the GFF.

Klass said the first year would be basically a period of assessment, after which a plan will be put together by the Technical Director, for the way forward for football in Guyana.

The GFF president said the government's involvement is, so far as the Ministry of Youth Culture and Sport is concerned, its blessing and for the releasing of a visa prior to the Brazilian's arrival here for his stint.

Klass said he expected that on a progressive basis "we will see football in Guyana turning around" as any other high expectations just would not be possible. He said the sky would be the limit once everyone gave full cooperation to the Technical Director who is aware of the Caribbean way of life.

With this in mind, Klass said Dos Santos has come to take up the challenges here and will be willing to spend considerable time in making his stay here a very successful one.

Dos Santos, the third such technical football person to have held the important post in recent times, has served as assistant technical director to the senior national team of the Cayman Islands and also had stints as head coach for the Cayman Islands Under-20 team and a technical director to one club there; while prior to that he was Technical Director to a club side in the Middle East.

Klass, in his introductory remarks, said having spoken about a Technical Director it has now been realised.

The Technical Director is to work with a technical department, which will start with two persons and will be like an on-and-off board arrangements depending on costs over a period. The GFF boss pointed out football has been going through various changes over the past decade and many of these changes were reflected, as far as the media and a number of other persons were concerned, in bad administration.

Klass said, "We have been able to assess it and break it down primarily to a lack of technical development, tactical development in our football. And I think this has been the determining factor".

Klass agreed that migration has had an impact on football' s development process .He remarked that the 1987 absconding of nearly all the senior national players in the United States is still being felt in football in Guyana.

He said, "We have not fully overcome the 1987 exodus, so there is an entire new structural development and we think that as a result of what happened in 1987 - not only loss of players but loss of technicians - we had to arrive at some position whereby we would need to have help".

The president of the local governing football body made it clear that the technical director was not here to displace anybody but to improve and assist in the development of the game and called on all for the cooperation of coaches, administrators and all related with the game as this is necessary.

ICC wants swift end to Champions Trophy row
LONDON, England (Reuters) - The International Cricket Council (ICC) has asked individual boards for a swift conclusion to negotiations with players over next month's ICC Champions Trophy, which has been hit by a sponsorship row.

Malcolm Speed, the ICC's chief executive, wants boards to confirm by Friday that players have signed the contracts and that they will be sending their best team to the event in Sri Lanka.

``Over recent days, Australia and England have reached agreement with their players,'' Speed said in a statement yesterday.

``There is progress being made in other countries where boards are yet to finalise their agreements with their players which is very encouraging.

``It is now important that countries conclude their negotiations ahead of the Executive Board meeting in Dubai on Saturday.

``Countries have previously given written undertakings to the ICC that they will obtain the agreement of their players to the Player Terms.

``The ICC Executive Board will be looking to each board to confirm that it has met this obligation at its meeting on Saturday.''

The row has centred on ICC demands that players taking part in the tournament agree not to represent firms clashing with official event sponsors.

The measure, backed by national cricket boards, was drafted to stop the rival firms from launching ‘ambush marketing’ campaigns.

Players, however, argued that the contract clause infringed their commercial rights and would conflict with existing sponsorships.

England was one of several sides threatening to boycott the event before its players agreed to sign contracts for the event last Saturday.

India remains one team still to be persuaded to sign the deal. The country's top players, such as Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, can make millions of dollars from personal endorsements.

The Champions Trophy, played every two years, is the only limited-overs tournament outside the World Cup, which involves all 10 Test-playing nations.

The ICC signed a $550 million sponsorship, broadcasting and marketing deal with the Global Cricket Corporation, to run until 2007.

Williams stars in SVG’s win over Dominica
CORDELLA Williams snapped up five wickets as St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) recorded an easy eight-wicket over winless Dominica in a sixth round match of the West Indies Women's Cricket Federation's round-robin tournament yesterday at the Everest ground, Camp Road.

Williams' haul, which cost her 22 runs from 8.3 overs, condemned Dominica to 82 all out in 45.3 overs after they were asked to take first strike. Wicketkeeper Julianna Nero then contributed an unbeaten 38 as St Vincent replied with 83 for two in 34.4 overs.

Williams scythed through the Dominican lower-order as Dominica slumped from 35 for one after a second-wicket stand of 27 between Sheron Gregoire and Theresa Dupieny. The latter was removed by Williams, who also captured the wickets of Annette John (0), Jen Dinnard (8), skipper Kurrall Vidal (0) and June Jno Baptiste (10). Cordel Jack also supported with the wickets of Ezra George (4) and Shanita Graham (0), to end with figures of two for 13 from 10 overs.

St Vincent lost Daphne Miller (9) and skipper Genielle Greaves (2) at 23 and 40, but Nero was a steadying influence as she faced 100 deliveries and struck one boundary in an unbroken third-wicket stand of 43 with Beverly Glasgow, who was unbeaten on 10.

The final round of the competition takes place today and St Vincent play St Lucia at DCC while Dominica tackle Jamaica at Police.

DOMINICA innings

S. Gregoire c Hoyte b Greaves 16

M. Frank lbw b P. Charles 1

T. Dupieny lbw Williams 3

D. Francis run-out 10

Z. George lbw b Jack 4

S. Graham b Jack 0

A. John lbw Williams 0

J. Dinnard c Nero (wkp.) b C. Williams 8

K. Vidal lbw b C. Williams 0

J. Jno Baptiste b C. Williams 10

A. Titre not out 0

Extras: (b-3, lb-2, w-25) 30

Total: (all out in 45.3 overs) 82

Wickets Fell At: 8, 35, 38, 48, 49, 50, 50, 52, 61.

Bowling: P. Charles 6-1-11-1 (w-5), Hoyte 10-3-10-0 (w-2), Greaves 10-2-18-1 (w-5), Jack 10-4-13-2 (w-2), Williams 8.3-0-22-5 (w-9), Fraser 1-0-3-0 (w-2).

ST VINCENT innings

D. Miller c & b Gregoire 9

J. Nero not out 38

G. Greaves stp. Vidal b Titre 2

B. Glasgow not out 10

Extras: (b-1, lb-2, nb-2, w-19) 24

Total: (for 2 wickets off 34.4 overs) 83

Wickets Fell At: 23, 40,

Bowling: Gregoire 10-1-25-1 (w-2), Jno Baptiste 10-2-13-0 (nb-1, w-2), Titre 2-0-9-1 (w-7), Francis 7-2-10-0 (nb-1), Frank 3-1-11-0 (w-5), Dinnard 2.4-0-10-0 (w-3).

Arsenal run riot with 5-2 victory over West Brom
LONDON, England (Reuters) - English Double winners Arsenal moved to the top of the premier league for the first time this season with a comfortable 5-2 victory over West Bromwich Albion at Highbury yesterday.

The home side went three up inside 23 minutes with goals from Ashley Cole, Lauren and Sylvain Wiltord. Scott Dobie pulled one back for the visitors six minutes after halftime before Wiltord added his second of the night. West Brom striker Jason Roberts made it 4-2 but French 19-year-old striker Jeremie Aliadiere completed the scoring with his first goal for Arsenal in the last minute.

Arsenal have seven points from their three opening games of the campaign, and lead the table on goal difference from north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, who beat Charlton Athletic 1-0 in the other premier league game yesterday.

Wales international Simon Davies scored Spurs' winner after eight minutes at The Valley.

BCCI fears isolation over contract row
By N.Ananthanarayanan
NEW DELHI, India (Reuters) - India's cricket board could be isolated in the ICC over the refusal of its top players to sign the world body's endorsement contract for next month's Champions Trophy, a senior official said yesterday.

``We will be left alone (on the sponsorship row),'' Niranjan Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), told Reuters by phone from Bombay.

Leading India players are against signing the contract because of an ‘ambush marketing’ clause which prevents them endorsing products of rival companies to the official sponsors 30 days either side of ICC events.

The row, initially backed by their counterparts from many leading Test countries, had threatened a major player boycott of the September 12-29 event in Colombo, but such fears have receded after most boards, including Australia and England, resolved the issue.

Shah will attend an International Cricket Council (ICC) executive board meeting in Dubai on Saturday, where the issue is expected to figure prominently.

The BCCI has been unable to reach a solution mainly because leading lights like Sachin Tendulkar and skipper Sourav Ganguly, who have several personal endorsements, have argued they could lose out financially if they signed up.

Shah said the BCCI can raise the issue with the ICC for future events but the players -- currently preparing for a series-deciding fourth Test in England -- will first have to sign up for the Champions Trophy.

``They have to sign first. That will give us a lot of time,'' he said. The next major ICC event is the 2003 World Cup in South Africa starting in February.

Shah said India's case has been considerably weakened and it may not receive much support from other boards. ``The maximum we may be able to do is express a vote of dissent.

``But like any democratic set up, the majority opinion will prevail in the ICC.

``Every board is interested in the money it will receive (from ICC). The problem is their players will hardly be hurt,'' he said.

The ICC has justified the clause in its contract, having sold the rights for its events until 2007 for $550 million.

Shah said the ICC has also set a Friday deadline for naming the Indian squad for the Champions Trophy.

The board was going ahead with the selection of a second string from among 25 unnamed probables shortlisted last week and all but one had signed the contract, he said.

Leeds victory hailed as India's finest Test win overseas
NEW DELHI, India (Reuters) - India's series-levelling victory over England at Headingley is being hailed as the country's finest Test win overseas.

India won the third Test in Leeds on Monday by an innings and 46 runs, their biggest victory margin abroad, and now have a chance of winning a series outside south Asia for the first time in 16 years in the fourth and final Test at the Oval which starts next week.

``It was perhaps India's best Test win abroad,'' former Test off-spinner Erapalli Prasanna said from Bangalore yesterday.

``The win was more significant because the players had been under tremendous pressure due to the contracts row with the International Cricket Council (ICC) and their own national board. But they put that behind them and came out on top.''

Sachin Tendulkar, captain Sourav Ganguly and others could miss next month's ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka for refusing to sign a contract barring players from endorsing products of rival companies of the official sponsors of the tournament.

``Indian August at Headingley'' was the front-page headline in The Hindustan Times daily while The Statesman lead headline read: ``Sourav's boys break foreign jinx in style.''

Ganguly was praised for his 128 in India's first innings 628 for eight declared and for his astute captaincy.

``Since taking over the leadership of the side in 2000, Ganguly has recorded four overseas wins -- twice as many as what was achieved in the previous decade,'' wrote former England captain Tony Greig in The Indian Express.

``The celebrations and eulogies will continue as India enjoy one of the high points of their cricketing history,'' he added.

All the leading newspapers splashed front-page pictures of the Indian team celebrating their win.

Praise was heaped on leg-spinner Anil Kumble, who claimed seven wickets in the match, and Tendulkar, who surpassed Australian Don Bradman's total of 29 Test centuries thanks to a handsome innings of 193.

But man-of-the-match Rahul Dravid, who batted with tenacity in tough first-day conditions to hit 148, received the bulk of the accolades.

``Dravid dented England's hopes on the first day and set the pattern that was never reversed for the next five days. He was a picture of concentration,'' wrote Greig.

Rattled Hussain resorts to mind games
By Tony Lawrence
LEEDS, England, (Reuters) - India, by crushing England in the third Test, have left Nasser Hussain's side rattled to the core.

The skipper did not say it but his concern was there, hanging heavily between the lines.

Keen not to sift through the Headingley wreckage for long, Hussain threw things forward to the deciding Test at The Oval.

``India will be under pressure,'' he suggested optimistically, after his side had been annihilated by an innings and 46 runs. ``They will be desperate to win. They have to make history in that last game. I'm sure they'll have some butterflies.''

As mind games go, this was pretty weak fare.

Sourav Ganguly, looking to lead India to their first series win outside the sub-continent since 1986, seemed almost amused by the butterfly threat.

``We're under pressure to win away and we are under pressure to win at home,'' he said with a smile. ``Pressure is good.''

Ganguly's India are also good - almost perfect at the moment, in fact, according to Hussain.

The front-line batting, regarded by many as the most powerful in world cricket, had fired at last in saving the second Test at Trent Bridge, the scorecard emphatically reading; ``Rahul Dravid 115, Sachin Tendulkar 92, Sourav Ganguly 99.''

HIGHEST TOTAL
Headingley was even more impressive -- ``Rahul Dravid 148, Sachin Tendulkar 193, Sourav Ganguly 128'' -- as India amassed 628 for eight, their highest total ever in enemy territory, on their way to levelling the series.

The bowlers, though, have been as instrumental in turning the team's fortunes around. Anil Kumble led the way with seven wickets in the third Test, his spinning sidekick Harbhajan Singh contributing four. The seamers also chipped in at key points, with fast bowler Zaheer Khan approaching 90 mph, while all-rounder Sanjay Bangar had a fine game with bat and ball.

After Lord's, Ganguly wore the frown. Now it is Hussain's turn to grapple with mounting problems.

There had been an upsurge in home confidence after the opening game, which England won by 170 runs.

Matthew Hoggard, standing in for the injured Darren Gough as the main man, was exemplary in taking seven wickets.

Andrew Flintoff offered useful support and debutant Simon Jones was frighteningly quick on a wicket perfect for batting. Hoggard, supported by the towering Steve Harmison, was almost as good in the first innings at Trent Bridge.

OFF THE RADAR
Since then, though, the bowlers have sprayed off the radar, despite traditionally helpful English conditions so suited to swing. Even the Indian batsmen admitted they could not believe they had scored more than 600 at Headingley.

Hussain will spend the next 10 days huddled with his bowlers as they seek a solution.

``The ball was swinging around, we haven't got our length right,'' he lamented on Monday. ``When they tried to go full they got floaty and bowled leg side.''

Hoggard, with 11 wickets at just over 22 runs apiece in the first three innings of the series, has taken just two more at 105 each. Flintoff, meanwhile, has taken one for 95 and one for 68 before succumbing to a groin injury.

Perhaps, suggested England's captain, they had not managed to compensate after performing so well on flatter wickets on their most recent tours.

Or perhaps Ganguly and Co. have now got his measure.

More worrying still for England, The Oval will be perfectly suited to India's world-class spinners. If they managed 11 between them in swinging conditions, what will they make of Surrey's high-bouncing home ground, where the wickets are tailored for their overseas player Saqlain Mushtaq?

Hussain was right in suggesting that England, having beaten Sri Lanka earlier in their summer with a string of major scores, were due a fall.

``Something like this was always going to happen,'' he said. ``India are a fine, fine side. They were going to click at some stage and they clicked here.

``Whatever we do first up at The Oval will be the key. We have got to dent their confidence.''

He is right. But it will take more than butterflies to achieve it.

All sports must look for organised crime -- IOC
By Adrian Warner
LAUSANNE, Switzerland, (Reuters) - IOC vice-president Thomas Bach called on all Olympic sports yesterday to search their ranks for any evidence of organised crime after a huge figure skating scandal at this year's Salt Lake City Olympics.

Bach made the call at the first International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting since an alleged mob figure was arrested in Italy last month charged with trying to fix the skating at the Salt Lake Games in February.

``This may hopefully be an individual case restricted to one event and one sport,'' he told a meeting between the IOC's ruling executive board and the heads of the Olympic winter sports federations.

``But we would be well advised to be very vigilant and see what happens in each of the sports. The IOC appreciates the contributions of everybody.''

The IOC board was due to meet the presidents of the summer sports federations in Lausanne later yesterday on the first day of a three-day series of meetings.

Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov has been charged by U.S. prosecutors with trying to fix the pairs and ice dancing at February's Games. Last week a U.S. grand jury indicted the Russian, which paves the way for the U.S. to seek his extradition from Italy.

The IOC has not ruled out changing the Games' results.

Germany's former Olympic fencer Bach said he had no evidence that organised crime was playing a major role in the Olympics.

But he told Reuters after the meeting: ``I just think we cannot close our eyes. I have not even a hint but in this kind of problem, it's much better to avoid than to solve it. It (the call) applies to both winter and summer sports.''

PROACTIVE
U.S. prosecutors allege that Uzbek-born Tokhtakhounov, 53, organised a scheme to rig voting by judges to ensure victory for Russia's Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze in the pairs, and by French duo Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat in ice dancing. Sikharulidze and Berezhnaya won the Pairs event. But a public outcry over what North American commentators said was a flawed programme prompted the IOC to award duplicate gold medals to Canadians David Pelletier and Jamie Sale.

French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne later said she had been pressured by the French figure-skating president to vote for the Russians and both officials have since been banned for three years for misconduct.

The charges allege that Tokhtakhounov, who previously lived in France, carried out the scheme to generate goodwill with the French authorities to get an extension to his French visa.

Bach said sport needed to be proactive in any fight against crime.

``The sports can look into their judging -- whether there are people around who have no direct links to the sport or to the judges,'' he said.

``They can listen even more carefully to complaints. (But) We are a sports body. We are not the police. We need the cooperation of the police and from governments in order to provide us with all the necessary information.''

IOC president Jacques Rogge has put a full debate on the skating debacle back until the end of the board meeting on Thursday.

Rogge told the winter chiefs that the IOC did not have enough facts on the case to take any decisions for now. But the IOC was working together with the Italian and U.S. authorities to learn more about the affair.

``Manipulation and corruption are plainly unacceptable,'' he said.

Scandals have plagued the Salt Lake Games for the last four years. The city was at the centre of an IOC bribery scandal in 1998 and 1999, which led to 10 IOC members being forced to leave the organisation for breaking rules on accepting gifts from Salt Lake City when it was bidding for the Games in the mid-1990s.

Grenada set up intriguing clash with T&T
… Whip Jamaica by 55 runs
GRENADA set the stage for an intriguing clash with Trinidad and Tobago in today’s final round of the West Indies Women’s Federation round-robin cricket tournament when they brushed aside Jamaica by 55 runs at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) ground, Bourda yesterday.

Led by an attacking half-century from burly opener Ann Rose Peters and a four-wicket haul from leg-spinner Afy Fletcher, the Grenadians registered their third win in the tournament after showing inconsistent form earlier.

Batting first in excellent conditions, the Grenadians rattled up a match-winning 224 all out in 43.3 overs and restricted the Jamaicans to 169 all out in 46.5 overs.

Six-footer Peters and Marilyn Nelson gave the Grenadians a fine start of 108 in 19.3 overs before they departed within two runs of each other, veteran Vivalyn Latty-Scott earning the breakthrough when she had Nelson lbw for 30. Nelson’s knock included five fours off 53 balls in 87 minutes.

Lewis, who was stumped off the spin of Trisha Broomfield, lashed nine fours and a huge six in her 58 that came off 65 balls in 89 minutes.

Broomfield also got rid of Susan Redhead (six) at 117 as Jamaica tried desperately to get back into the game but were thwarted in their efforts through a 50-run fourth-wicket partnership between skipper Debbiann Lewis (29) and Carolyn Alexander (20). Lewis struck three fours off 31 balls in 36 minutes while Alexander hit a four off 32 balls in 48 minutes.

Two other batters, Nevilyn Toussaint (14 not out) and Janile James (13) reached double figures while extras tallied 36 before the innings closed with the Grenadians still having a further 6.3 overs remaining.

Latty-Scott finished with three for 44 from her 10 overs, Kadeth Kidd two for 30 from six and Broomfield two for 56 from 10.

Broomfield and Rita Scott gave the Jamaicans a positive start with the latter playing two savage square cuts before she was adjudged lbw to Alexander with the score on 28 in the sixth over.

Skipper Jacqueline Robinson and Broomfield kept Jamaica in the game with a 54-run second wicket partnership in 14 overs but once Broomfield was trapped lbw by Nelson for 38, the Jamaican innings went into a steady decline. Broomfield struck three fours off 59 balls in 79 minutes.

Robinson eventually went for 19, stumped by James off leg-spinner Fletcher who also accounted for Sandra Clarke (20), Latty-Scott (0) and Kidd (three).

Alexander joined the fray, trapping Kerry Ann Martin lbw for 13 and shattering the stumps of Jody Ann Ho-Sue (two) while Lydia Edgar ended the innings when she bowled Chadene Nation for a duck.

Alexander supported Fletcher with three for 41 in 10 overs while Nelson took two for 19, also from 10.

With Guyana going down to Trinidad and Tobago yesterday, interest is at fever pitch for today’s encounter between the Trinidadians and Grenada at the Everest Cricket Club ground.

Grenada will be hoping to beat the Trinidadians to end as runners-up to St Lucia who will need to defeat St Vincent & the Grenadines at DCC to retain the round-robin crown.

Should St Lucia lose to the Vincentians and Trinidad and Tobago beat Grenada, the Trinidadians will emerge winners and St Lucia second.

It should be recalled that St Lucia gained only one point when their match with Jamaica was abandoned as a no-contest at the Uitvlugt Community Centre ground when rain intervened. (Frederick Halley)

GRENADA innings

A. R. Peters stp. Clarke b Broomfield 58

M. Nelson lbw Latty-Scott 30

S. Redhead lbw Broomfield 6

D. Lewis c Taylor b Nation 29

C. Alexander run-out 20

Edgar c Nathan b Latty-Scott 9

M. Toussaint not out 14

D. John b Latty-Scott 13

J. James b Kidd 1

A. Peters b Kidd 5

A. Fletcher run-out 3

Extras: (nb-4, w-32) 36

Total: (all out, 43.3 overs) 224

Fall of wickets: 108, 110, 117, 167, 179, 182, 203, 209, 219.

Bowling: Robinson 8.3-2-29-0 (w-3, nb-1), Kidd 6-0-30-2 (w-3), Broomfield 10-0-56-2 (w-6, nb-1), Taylor 4-0-24-0 (w-10), Latty-Scott 10-1-44-3 (w-4), Nation 5-0-41-1 (w-6, nb-2).

JAMAICA innings

T. Broomfield lbw Nelson 38

R. Scott lbw Alexander 10

J. Robinson stp. James 19

S. Clarke c Lewis b Fletcher 20

H. Nathan lbw Nelson 8

V. Latty-Scott c wkp. Jones b Fletcher 0

K. Kidd stp. James b Fletcher 3

J. Ho-Sue b Alexander 2

C. Nation b Edgar 0

S. Taylor not out 8

Extras: (b-2, lb-5, w-38, nb-3) 48

Total: (all out, 46.5 overs) 169

Fall of wickets: 28, 82, 107, 120, 137, 138, 143, 153, 154.

Bowling: Lewis 7-1-19-0 (w-5, nb-1)- Peters 5-0-23-0 (w-7), Alexander 10-0-41-3 (w-10), Edgar 4.5-0-18-1 (w-5, nb-1), Nelson 10-2-19-2 (w-4), Fletcher 10-1-42-4 (w-7, nb-1).

India's golden chance
By Oliver Brett BBC Sport Online
TEST series wins away from home have become serious collectors' items for Indian cricket fans.

On a sporting scale, they rank right up there with penalties awarded to opposition sides at Manchester United and Ian Thorpe being beaten in a swimming race.

Almost exactly a year ago, however, India began the final Test in Colombo with the series against Sri Lanka level at 1-1.

They won the toss, batted and suffered as Muttiah Muralitharan destroyed their batting in the first innings. The result was a heavy win for the home side.

On September 5, Sourav Ganguly's men will travel to the AMP Oval in south London to face an England team struggling to put things right.

England are suffering a collective loss of form and a catalogue of daily injury bulletins which has reached the realms of farce.

India, by contrast, whose selectors have often been vilified in recent months, have finally got the balance of their side right.

Every single player contributed to the memorable win at Headingley, bar the fledgling wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel.

The only two batsmen who failed to get 50s, Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman, poached eight catches between them, and all their specialist bowlers got wickets in both innings.

A year ago - when Sri Lanka smashed 610 for six declared against an Indian side that looked moderate in comparison to the present one - Anil Kumble and Sachin Tendulkar were not in the side.

Although Rahul Dravid richly deserved his man-of-the-match award at Headingley, Kumble and Tendulkar played at the very peak of their talents in Leeds.

And England know that it will be hard to stop either of them having a big match at the Oval. The last time India won a series outside Asia was in 1986.

On that occasion, the series was won at Headingley, when Dilip Vengsarkar, Roger Binny and Maninder Singh forged an impressive win in just over three days.

It was thought that the tour that preceded the current one - when they travelled to the Caribbean to take on an out-of-form West Indies side - represented their best chance in a long while of winning away from home.

But on that occasion they peaked too early. A narrow win early on in Trinidad was followed by a crushing defeat in Barbados when their batting was all at sea. Two matches later, the series boiled down to a decider at Sabina Park, Jamaica.

The West Indies began the match as favourites and Merv Dillon was too fearsome for the Indian top order as the series ended 2-1 to the home side.

Ganguly will surely have many nightmares if his team once again fail to jump through the final hoop in an overseas Test series.

Despite the remarkable home series win against Australia 16 months ago Ganguly will never be fully acknowledged by the fickle fans in India until he wins a series away from home.

The first time an Indian Test squad toured with Ganguly as captain was in November 2000, when Bangladesh, in their inaugural Test, gave the visitors a scare before going down tamely.

Since then, Ganguly has presided over a 1-1 draw in Zimbabwe, a 2-1 defeat in Sri Lanka, a 2-0 whitewash in South Africa and the 2-1 loss in the Caribbean already mentioned.

At home, things have not been so bad -- Ganguly has won all four series when he has captained in front of his own fans.

And with Dravid, Tendulkar and Kumble all in top form, now could be the ideal opportunity to get one over his old foe Nasser Hussain.