caribbean star #37 vol.4

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Vol.4 #37

TWELVE police officers were granted a total of $2,520,000 bail by a Sangre Grande magistrate before whom they appeared to answer charges arising out of an alleged incident in which a man was burnt with hot

water while in police custody. See Page 6

See Page 39See 1 See Page 4

TRINIDAD

President Donald Ramotar (second from right) leading his team to City Hall yesterday.

URLING, CLIVE JAGAN AMONG NEW CANDIDATES BUT PPP/C BANKS ON FAMILY TIESAlongside the children of party stalwarts, businessman Clinton Urling, dental surgeon Dr Clive Jagan, and the Chief Executive Officer of GuySuCo Rajendra Singh are among the new additions on the PPP/C lists of candidates for the upcoming general elections.

GUYANA

See Page 37 GUYANA

GUYANA

I INTEND TO IMPROVE THE LOT OF GUYANESE …OR ELSE I DON’T WANT TO BE PRESIDENT, SAYS DONALD RAMOTAR

MAN CHARGED

OVER POST OFFICE

HEIST, G-3 RIFLE

RECOVERED

WICB reschedules Australia Tests

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Embassy releases US$300,000 for elections monitoring

The United States Embassy has re-leased more than US$300,000 for the election monitoring programs

of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Electoral Assistance Bu-reau (EAB).

The United States embassy has re-leased more than US$300,000 for elec-tions monitoring ahead of the May 11 polls.

According to the embassy yester-day, the resources will assist in ef-forts to ensure fair, free, and credi-ble elections in Guyana on May 11th. “Both the OAS and EAB have a proven track record of successful election mon-itoring missions and are widely respect-ed. The U.S. Government is pleased to support the two organizations in bring-ing their credible and critical analysis

to Guyana’s 2015 electoral process.” The embassy said that the US continues to advocate globally for the expansion and strengthening of democratic governance. “Regular free and fair elections are criti-cal in this regard. The Guyana Elections Commission has established a strong track record of ensuring free, fair, and credible elections for the people of Guy-ana, and we have full faith and confidence in its ability to do so once again in 2015. It is our hope that international and domes-tic observation will increase public and stakeholder confidence in the electoral process, culminating in all political par-ties’ acceptance of the ultimate results.” The US said it remains committed to en-gagement with all stakeholders to help ensure a free, fair, credible, and peaceful electoral process.

Man charged over post office heist, G-3 rifle recovered

INTELLIGENCE information has led the Criminal Investigations Depart-ment to the recovery of a service

G-3 rifle and matching rounds which were snatched from a police constable last week Wednesday during the Regent Street Post Office heist.Police investiga-tors who spoke with the Guyana Chroni-cle said that after receiving information, they went to East La Penitence where the weapon was found in a trench.

The minibus which the bandits hijacked The minibus which the bandits hijackedCrime Chief Leslie James confirmed

this information when contacted. He said the force is now happy that the weapon is no longer in the hands of criminals, even as the investigations into the $42M Post Office heist continue.

James, when asked if the police were able to lift any fingerprints from the weapon, responded by saying that up to late yesterday afternoon that was not done. He said, however, that despite the weapon was found in a trench that was filled with water, they should still be able to lift prints from it.

The weapon was found in the same area where the bandits reportedly dumped the police constable and the driver of the

Guyana Post Office Corporation vehi-cle after they held them at gunpoint and hijacked the minibus containing money for pensions and other public assistance funds.

Meanwhile, yesterday Stravo Evans, 31, who has dual addresses had his bail request refused and he was remand-ed to prison by Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry when he appeared before her charged with armed rob-bery at the Regent Street Post Office in Georgetown.

The court was told that Evans was the person with the gun on Wednesday last when he and others pounced on the post office minibus and hijacked it with the driver and policeman following which they relieved them of the G-3 Rifle and 20 rounds of ammunition which valued $688,000 property of the Guyana Police Force $42,522,000 cash property of the Guyana Post Office Corporation.

The man was also charged with robbing the minibus driver of the vehicle which was valued $3.5 million which was also the property of the Post Office. The court was told that the men were able to escape the area in a waiting fielder motorcar.

By Leroy Smith


Call 347-759-3934 OR 347-661-9930


$2.5M BAIL FOR 12 COPSBy DARCEL CHOY

TWELVE police officers were granted a total of $2,520,000 bail by a Sangre Grande magistrate before whom they appeared to answer charges arising out of an alleged incident in which a man was burnt with hot wa-ter while in police custody.

The 12 officers made their way into the courthouse under the protection of an

unusually large number of their colleagues — some armed with machineguns — while a large, angry crowd of onlookers looked on. Many in the crowd demand-ed that the accused officers be made to walk out of the court in handcuffs like normal accused persons.

“Let them walk out!” was the chant which was picked up by

some in the crowd who gath-ered outside the courthouse waiting to get a glimpse of the 12 accused officers who were charged in connection with the alleged burning of then prison-er, Andre Lewis, with hot water at the Sangre Grande Police sta-tion in late February.

Those who gathered outside the court expressed their anger over what they believed to be special treatment for the 12 ac-cused officers as opposed to the

usual treatment when handling civilians charged with crimes.

When the officers were leav-ing the court, two heavily tinted vehicles drove to the back of the courthouse to collect the ac-cused 12 — an act not normally accorded to civilians who face the courts on criminal charges.

Some persons who were wait-ing under a tent outside the courthouse for their matters to be called or for court matters of their loved ones to be called, shouted, “shame!” as heavily armed officers surrounded the vans as they drove out.

One man noted that when he was arrested and charged, he was not allowed to be tak-en out of the court in a heavily tinted vehicle. “That not fair at all, why should they get special treatment? Because they are officers,” the man asked. Earli-er in the courtroom, an unusu-al amount of officers gathered, looking on at the proceedings. The 12 officers appeared before Magistrate Alexander Prince in the Second Court in two groups to answer charges. Nine of the 12 officers appeared first and included SRP Constable Giselle

Skeete, Ag Insp Kenneth Ramp-ersad, Ag Cpl Allan Khan, PC Anil Mootoo, PC Keron Nanan, PC Joel Boodoosingh, PC Ryan Williams, PC Ashki Charles and PC Marvin Mendoza. Prince read out the charge to each of the officers individually. Prince then called a family member of each officer who stood their bail to come forward. The nine offi-cers were granted $250,000 bail each with special conditions.

These conditions included that they (the accused officer) shall not communicate direct-ly with the virtual complainant (Andre Lewis) and they shall not go within100 metres of the virtual complainant or his home. Lewis was not present in court.

Appearing later were Sgt Glen Elder, PC Ravi Doon and Sgt Nicholas Vialva. Elder and Doon were charged with perverting the course of justice, also on Feb-ruary 24. These two were each granted $250,000 bail with the same conditions given to the first batch of nine accused officers.

Vialva was charged with fail-ing to act pursuant to a report of a serious crime being committed on the said date. This was a sum-

mary offence and when asked to plead, Vialva said he was not guilty. He was granted $20,000 bail with a surety.

The charges facing the 12 of-ficers stemmed from an alleged incident in which Lewis of Cor-onation Road, Upper Sangre Grande, was detained under sus-picion of being involved in crim-inal activities. He was detained on February 24 at the Sangre Grande Police Station.

It is was further alleged that Lewis refused to cooperate and was stripped naked with a bowl of water which was heated in a microwave oven being thrown on his stomach and groin. Lew-is subsequently made a report at the same station where he was beaten and burned while in custody. He was taken to the Sangre Grande District Hospital where he was treated for first and second degree burns. The 12 accused officers were rep-resented by attorneys Patrick Godson-Phillip, Keith Jadoo and Sade Lee Duprey. The officers’ matters were adjourned to May 5. It has been reported that the virtual complainant is in protec-tive custody.


The Concepts of Hinduism!Jai Sita Ram, my name is Vidan Pa-ras and I am a humble devotee of the Shaanti Bhavan Mandir. I am appreciative of the opportunity given to me today to write this ar-ticle. Hinduism is one of the most sublime religion of the world, in which the world is slow to recog-nize its teachings and the positive effects it has in the development of people in all walks of life. It is not easy to define Hinduism, for it is much more than a religion, it is a way of life. Hindus believe in a universal soul or God that takes on many forms that Hindus wor-ship as Gods and Goddesses, in their own representation but yet there is only one God.

Hinduism is also known as the eternal religion or “Sa-natan Dharma”. The word

‘dharma’ connotes “that which supports the universe” and effec-tively means any path of spiritual discipline which leads to God. It is said that, “Hindu Dharma, can be compared to a fruit tree, with its roots representing the Vedas (the sacred scriptures) and Vedantas (the oneness of existence, the di-vinity of the soul, and the harmony of religions), the thick trunk sym-bolizing the spiritual experienc-es of numerous sages, gurus and saints, its branches representing various theological traditions, and the fruit itself, in different shapes and sizes, symbolizing us, the dev-otees. Another phenomenon that the tree demonstrates well is how life continues uninterrupted even after what appears to be the end, by blossoming into a new plant

reminding us that life is a cycle of birth and death (reincarnation) until final liberation (moksha).

Hinduism brings to us many prin-ciples and a vast area of knowl-edge to elevate ourselves, but the two areas I will try to focus on are, the shad-vikaars, which teaches about the five evils that governs the world and unfortunately is present in each and every one of us, and the gunas, which when un-derstood will guide us to a happy and prosperous life.

Shad-Vikaars (Kaam, Krodh, Lobh, Moha, Ahankaar & Matsar).

Kaam, refers to lust and is one of the greatest evils that tempts people away from God. It makes an individual weak-willed and unreli-able. Krodha, is anger and needs to be controlled. A person over-come by ‘krodh’ loses his balance of mind and becomes incapable of thinking. ‘Krodha’ takes a per-

son away from God as hatred has no place in any religious practice. Lobha, is greed, a strong desire to possess what rightfully belongs to others. It makes an individual selfish and self-centered. It takes a person away from his religious and social duties. Moha, refers to the strong attachment that an individual has to worldly posses-sions and relationships. It blurs the perspective of a human being and makes him narrow minded. It deviates a person from his mor-al duties and responsibilities and leads him towards a path of sin. Ahankaar, means false pride due to one’s possessions, material wealth, intelligence or power. It gives an individual a feeling that he is superior to others and can lead to jealousy, feelings of enmity and restlessness amongst people. Matsar, means jealousy, a dead-ly weapon which makes mankind harbor ill feelings towards others because of material wealth or pos-sessions.

The Hindu scriptures teaches some virtues to combat these six evils that are destroying man-kind. Wisdom (gyan), should only be used by hearing good, think-ing good and seeing good in ev-erything we do. Truthful Living (saat), means living according to the way God intended. Justice (niaon), means freedom and equal opportunities for all and respect for the rights of others. Temper-ance (santokh), means self-con-trol which has to be developed through meditation and prayers. An individual has to banish all evil thoughts from his mind by con-stantly repeating Gods name and reciting prayers. Patience (dhi-raj), implies a high level of toler-ance and empathy for others. It re-quires control over ones ego and willingness to overlook another’s weakness or mistakes. A person should be strong-willed, but kind hearted. Courage (himmat), brav-ery showing all absence of fear. Humility (namarta), is a deliber-ate denial of pleasure at one’s own praise and admiration. It means

underplaying ones’ own strengths and respecting the abilities of oth-ers. Finally, contentment (sabar), refraining from worldly fears and submitting oneself to the will of God. Be satisfied with what you have and don’t be jealous of oth-ers. Attaining these qualities would do justice to this human body and would serve the true purpose in which it was intended.

Gunas:According to the Bhagavad

Gita, nature consists of three pri-mal qualities, which are the main power of cosmic intelligence that determine our spiritual growth. These are called “gunas” in San-skrit, meaning “what binds” be-cause wrongly understood they keep us in bondage to the external world. They are Sattva, Rajas and Tamas.

Sattva: is the quality of intelli-gence, virtue and goodness that creates harmony, balance and sta-bility. It provides happiness and contentment of a lasting nature, with the force of love that unites all things together. Rajas: is the quality of change, activity, and tur-bulence. It introduces a situation that upsets an existing balance. Tamas: is the quality of dullness and darkness. It brings about igno-rance and delusion in the mind and promotes insensitivity, sleep and loss of awareness. It is the princi-ple consciousness to become un-clear. As we live our lives, let us all strive for Sattvic qualities.

Hinduism is such a wide spread topic that just a mere article would not do justice, but in essence it teaches mankind that a pious, truthful and righteous life is what this world need in order to have a better quality of life. Our scrip-tures draws parallel to our every-day life over and over again, re-minding us to use this human body according to the laws governed by God. In essence, Hinduism teaches us as individuals how to navigate through life positively so that we can benefit by the ascending spir-itual force to gain final emancipa-tion and avoiding the cycle of birth and death. Thank you for reading my article and hope it will be of some enlightenment. Jai ho!


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Home Affairs Ministry reports impounding 264 animals last month

THE Ministry of Home Af-fairs (MoHA) yesterday reported that a total of

264 animals — comprising 36 horses, 81 cows, 107 goats, and 40 sheep — were caught and impounded at the police pounds in “A”, “B”, “C” and “D” police divisions during the month of March 2015. The figure, how-ever, represents 35 animals less than what had been impounded during the previous month.

MoHA added that the Georgetown Unit accounted

for 46 cows, 73 goats and 25 sheep; while the Berbice Unit accounted for 36 horses, 35 cows, 34 goats and 15 sheep.

The Ministry continues its appeal to all cattle owners to ensure that their animals are properly controlled during their grazing period, there-by ensuring their safety from being involved in accidents that can result in their deaths, damages to vehicles, and inju-ries to persons using the main roadways.

Man charged over $42m heist outside Bourda Post Office

A trader accused of robbing the Guyana Post Office Corporation (GPOC) of $42M in broad daylight last Thursday

was yesterday remanded to prison after he faced multiple charges.

Stravo Evans, 31, of Lot 169 Middle Road, Georgetown stood accused of six charges when he appeared before Magistrate Fabayo Azore at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court 5.

It is alleged that on April 1 at Regent Street, Georgetown, Evans, who is a father of one, robbed Andre July of one G3 rifle and twen-ty-one rounds of 7.62 x 51 ammunition be-longing to the Guyana Police Force. He is also accused of robbing him of $42, 522,000, property of the GPOC.

Minibus driver in fatal Water St accident remanded

It is also alleged that on the same day, the accused being together with others and armed with a gun robbed Darwin Hinds of one pit-bull minibus, PSS 6641 valued $3, 400, 270, belonging to the GPOC. Further, it is alleged that Evans on the day of the robbery, wrong-fully restrained July and Hinds. And lastly, it is alleged, that the accused abducted the duo. He was not required to plead to the indictable charges.

The police case stated that on the day in question, around 7:45 hours, Hinds went to the Bourda Post Office in the pit-bull minibus and as he stopped, five men approached them, one of whom was armed with a gun. The men then pushed Hinds and the policeman out of the bus after which one of the suspects drove away in the said vehicle to Cemetery Road. The facts further stated that after the bus was driven away to Cemetery Road, another car drove up alongside and the accused and others removed the money and other items before making good their escape.

A gun was recovered along with a quantity of ammunition.

The prosecution objected to bail based on the seriousness and prevalence of the offenc-es and the fact that a firearm was used.

During the proceedings, the quiet of the courtroom was disturbed by the ringing of a cell phone. It was later found that it was the defendant’s phone. It was taken away by a policeman after which the defendant accused the law enforcer of tampering with the phone which continued to ring. The policeman ex-plained that he was just trying to turn the phone off.

The defendant is represented by attorney Peter Hugh who arrived almost at the end of the proceedings yesterday.

The matter will be called again on Monday before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Be-harry.

Meanwhile, acting on intelligence yesterday morning, police ranks pulled a G3 rifle from a trench in East La Penitence. It is believed that this was the rifle that was stolen during the heist.

Police in a press release said that the rifle along with 20 rounds were recovered around 0910 hours.

Meanwhile, Crime Chief Leslie James told Stabroek News yesterday that the driver of the post office van has been released on bail while the police rank is on open arrest. The duo were arrested shortly after they turned up at the Brickdam Police Station to report the robbery. The gunmen who used the van as their getaway vehicle disembarked along Cemetery Road leaving the driver and the po-liceman inside.

James said that although one person has been charged the matter is still under inves-tigation.


RACE TO POLLS – Nomination Day over, D-Day aheadWednesday April 8, 2015 was

Nomination Day, which means that the big race has officially

kick-started between the various political parties jostling for power in Guyana.

Amid fanfare and frenzied support from thousands of ecstatic supporters, the governing People’s Progressive Par-ty/Civic (PPP/C) yesterday submitted what it described as “a winning list” of candidates on the party’s slate at both the General and Regional Elections billed for May 11.

The Opposition alliance, under a united coalition platform of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC), also stormed into the elec-tions race yesterday, presenting its nom-inations to contest the 2015 polls as the main challenger to the incumbent PPP/C.

And of course, there were ‘the usual suspects’ of small parties, a few of which are even labelled as ‘paper parties’ that pop-up around this period known as the ‘silly season’. They add ‘color’ to the whole affair, running in a race they obvi-ously can’t win, and even while some may say they are somewhat of a ‘nuisance’ to the electoral process, they serve as time-ly reminders that our country’s democra-cy is at work and is on firm footing.

It is apt to note that elections season in this country has, in the past, been more characterized by campaigns built

on the politics of mudslinging than the politics of progress. As much as poli-tics is made out to be a popularity con-test, that is not the case. The whole premise of a democratic political sys-tem may be summed up as follows: It is a system which credits the majority of people within a particular society with the collective opinion, informa-tion and intuition to decide on whom among them they want to govern the social environment in which they exist, giving them the right to either reaffirm

their decision or change their minds periodically.

This key democratic element of so-cio-political flux means that those who are contesting the political leadership of a country must actually work hard to ei-ther retain or gain that leadership. There is no perpetually upheld status quo in which the will and concerns of the peo-ple become insubstantial in contrast to the whims and luxuries of an entrenched ruling class. A natural part of any contest is deconstruction of your opponent, even

in a non-contact sport like long distance running, for example, you try to break your rival down by asserting your supe-rior athleticism the first chance you get.

Of course, we expect our politicians to point out each other’s sins of omis-sion and commission in the carrying out of their expected duties; that is par for the course in any political contest. But the contest of politics is not only about showing the deficiencies of your oppo-nent, but also the reasons why you are better suited for the job that you both are contesting.

Mudslinging is the easiest and cheap-est alternative in democratic politics – you throw as much dirt on your opponent as possible while hoping that the scum he or she throws back at you doesn’t stick.

As in many democracies around the world, at elections time, many politicians fail to realize that what they are contest-ing is in fact the privilege to serve the people of their country, a privilege af-forded them by the electors. The ballot box is seen more as a gateway to power and riches than what it really is, a recep-tacle for the mass investment of trust and responsibility.

While anyone would agree that you can’t separate politics from the people practicing it, what the people in politics are supposed to be representative of are the issues facing their constituencies.

‘LISTS IN’: President Donald Ramotar presenting the PPP/C lists to Chief Elections Officer Mr. Keith Lowenfield yesterday (Adrian Narine photo)

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Jagdeo agrees to be on PPP/C List of Candidates - at insistence of Party and supporters

“I WILL be part of the race. I am support-ing the People’s Progressive Party. I will put every bit of energy and strength that I have in my body to make sure that (Donald) Ra-motar remains the President of our country, and Elisabeth Harper becomes the Prime Minister.” This was the contention of for-mer President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, at his last public appearance, the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Kitty Rally. And he made good on his promise by acceding to requests of his Party and supporters to be on the PPP/C’s list of candidates, which was submitted to Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Mr Keith Lowenfield yesterday.

He however insists that he is not in favour of a return to the National Assembly.

“I maintain my position that I will not go into Parliament. I did not want to go on the list, but the Party and many of our support-ers encouraged me to have my name on the list, because the thinking was that me not being on the list sent a signal that I was in some way distancing myself from the Party. I thought that this was important so I acceded

to their request,” he told the Guyana Chron-icle yesterday in an interview.

Prior to agreeing to the insistence of his Party and PPP/C supporters, the former president had indicated that his name will not be on the list of candidates.

“I will not be on the list… I have no inten-tion of going into Parliament,” he had said, adding that he had not been included on the 2011 list. “It was not my original decision to be on the list of candidates, but Party and membership convinced me to be part of the list of candidates,” Dr Jagdeo said. Speculations have been rife regarding the future role Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo in managing the affairs of this nation, but his position re-mains an emphatic ‘no’ when it comes to re-sumption of public office in a political capac-ity. Incumbent President Donald Ramotar recently announced that his predecessor, a former Finance Minister, had been appoint-ed Chairman of the impending National Economic Council; and Dr. Jagdeo made it clear yesterday that he would serve in that capacity because he believes he has “some skills” he could leverage to support the new Government.

Dr Jagdeo yesterday made it clear that his position on holding a constitutional office has not changed.

“I remain fully engaged in the struggle of the PPP and I will support the party,” Dr Jag-deo emphasized. (Vanessa Narine)

Dr Bharrat Jagdeo during his last public appearance, which was the PPP/C’s Kitty Rally

Man, 21, remanded for dismembered bodyAfter one week in police

custody, 21-year-old Imran Ramsaywack

made his first court appear-ance yesterday, to answer a charge of murder result-ing from the brutal death of 45-year-old Samantha Ben-jamin.

Imran Ramsaywack being escorted after his court ap-pearance yesterday.

Ramsaywack, who was un-represented by an attorney, appeared be-fore Magistrate Zamena Ali-Seepaul at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court and was promptly remanded to prison.

Smiling throughout the brief hearing, the accused appeared relieved to be let out from the cold concrete of the Cove and John lock-ups, where two other suspects in the woman’s murder remain.

Samantha Benjamin was killed in a house at Middle Walk, Buxton, on March 25, last, and her body was dismembered and sub-sequently dumped into the Atlantic Ocean. It was discovered the following morning, sparking outrage in the village which had not seen such brutality since the days of the crime wave a decade ago.

Ramsaywack, who hails from Adelphi Village, Canje, Berbice, was detained on March 31, after relatives of the dead wom-an began making inquiries into her disap-pearance.

Two other accomplices, Ritchie Roseman and Zacha-riah Alexander were arrest-ed over the Easter weekend, while a fourth man who was also implicated, was arrested yesterday.

Relatives of the dead wom-an had waited patiently at the Cove and John police station compound throughout the morning and a part of the af-ternoon for the men to be

marched before the court. However, the Di-rector of Public Prosecutions took time to carefully peruse the file before advising that the suspect be charged, although everyone was expecting three persons to be charged. By then, the Magistrate at Cove and John had left the bench, so there was a mad rush to catch the sitting Magistrate at Spar-endaam.

In the Sparendaam magistrate’s court, Ramsaywack was not required to plead and the prosecutor Inspector Hattie An-thony, requested that he be remanded. Before he was taken away, Ramsaywack begged the Magistrate to allow him to spend his remand time at the New Amster-dam Prison, a request that was promptly denied.

I am not in a position to make that de-cision,” the Magistrate told Ramsaywack. She then transferred the matter to the Vigi-lance Magistrate’s Court for May 4.


Urling, Clive Jagan among new candidates but PPP/C banks on family ties

Alongside the children of party stalwarts, businessman Clin-ton Urling, dental surgeon Dr

Clive Jagan, and the Chief Executive Officer of GuySuCo Rajendra Singh are among the new additions on the PPP/C lists of candidates for the up-coming general elections.

And despite saying that he wouldn’t be a candidate, former president Bharrat Jagdeo has also been included among the 93 names on the National Top-Up list as is outgoing Prime Min-ister Samuel Hinds. Jagdeo, at a press briefing at Freedom House, on March 28, had said, “… I will not be on the ticket. I will not be on the list because I am not interested in going into par-liament.”

The former president has reiterated numerous times since reappearing on the public stage that he was not inter-ested in any constitutional posts and was satisfied that the incumbent could win the elections with its current list.

Also on the list are former AFC executive Sixtus Edwards and for-mer APNU MP Africo Selman, who have recently voiced support for the incumbent, while notably absent are two current ministers of government: Agriculture Minister Dr Leslie Ram-sammy and Human Services Minis-ter Jennifer Webster. (Ramsammy recently underwent additional treat-

ment for a heart condition in the Unit-ed States and has been recovering. Luncheon had previously stated that Ramsammy was unlikely to continue in his capacity, although the minister subsequently stated that he was still prepared to serve.)

Additionally, Labour Minister Nan-da Gopaul and Housing Minister Irfaan Ali are only listed on the geographical list for regions 2 and 3, respectively. Both of those regions have historically been PPP/C strongholds at elections.

Urling, who had telegraphed his en-try into active politics after resigning from the nonpartisan NGO he found-ed, Blue CAPS, had said he had been approached by the two major political forces and was weighing the pros and cons.

Another businessman, Peter Ram-saroop, who endorsed the PPP/C at the last elections after previous associations with both the People’s National Congress Reform and the Al-liance For Change, has also been field-ed as a candidate this time around.

In addition to past second gener-ation entries, such as Shyam Nokta, the PPP/C’s National Top-Up list in-cludes Alexei Ramotar, son of Pres-ident Donald Ramotar; Tsitsi Thank Mya-Mia Luncheon, who is the daughter of Head of the Presiden-tial Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon;

Rima Rohee, who is daughter of the party’s General Secretary Clement Rohee; Colleen Teixeira-Khan, the daughter of Presidential Advisor and the government’s Chief Whip Gail Teixeira; Rabindranauth Chan-darpal, the son of late party stalwart Navin Chandarpal and long serv-ing member Indra Chandarpal; and Charles Ramson Jnr, son of the for-mer Attorney General.

GuySuCo’s Singh, who used to be the Chairman of the Board of Direc-tors, was made CEO of the struggling corporation by President Ramotar last year. However, mismanagement criti-cisms still persist at the corporation.

The other head of a state-owned corporation who has endorsed the PPP/C by appearing is Badrie Per-saud, the Managing Director of Guy-Oil.

The head of the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) Mahender Sharma, who is son of former Justice For All Party leader CN Sharma, is another new addition to the PPP/C list.

Speaking to reporters just before he presented the lists, President Ra-motar said the PPP/C would be inten-sifying its campaign, which he was ad-amant would be a positive one aimed at regaining a majority in the National Assembly.

“I feel pretty good today. Now that

nomination day is here, I feel every-thing is going to be more open to the Guyanese people. They would have a chance to examine our list of candi-dates. They would have a chance very soon [to see] our manifesto,” he told reporters.

He also said he is confident that his party has the best manifesto and the best lists.

Ramotar further claimed that the PPP/C has been making a great effort to create the social and physical in-frastructure to take Guyana to “high-er places.” Despite the fact that his government has been “frustrated in these last three years,” he said, in an obvious reference to it not having the majority in the National Assembly, the country’s economy is still the fastest growing in the Caribbean.

Asked what he would want to say to a still undecided voter, Ramotar said they should read the excerpt of the party’s manifesto and see that they are not promising the “pie in the sky, but our promises are realistic, our pro-gramme is realistic, we are identifying sources of financing and therefore I think the country will have a great fu-ture with the PPP/Civic in power.”

After presenting the lists, the party released a statement calling its candi-dates representative of “people from different parts of Guyana, different

professions and occupations, women and gender, youth and experience, ethnicity and religion.”

“We are encouraged that so many people came forward to be a part of the Lists of the PPP/C. While not ev-eryone could have had their names placed on the Lists, many more will be playing leading roles in other ways as the PPP/C enters this election with great confidence of returning to of-fice. At the same time, we extend con-gratulations to all citizens who have come forward and made themselves available as candidates,” it added.

PPP/C supporters gathered in front of Freedom House—where buses lined the street after bringing supporters for the walk to City Hall—and com-menced the walk down Robb Street, turning on to Camp Street and making their way to City Hall.

Ramotar, flanked by current gov-ernment ministers including Hinds and Prime Ministerial Candid-ate Elis-abeth Harper, led the procession. As the crowd made their way to City Hall, Ramotar, Harper, Hinds and others sang and danced along the way.

The crowd then waited patiently for Ramotar and Deputy List Rep-resentative Ganga Persaud to hand over the list to Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield for verification at City Hall.

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PITBULL KILLS GRANNYBloody attack on 84-year-old woman

at Maraval homeAn 84-year-old great grandmother was yesterday mauled to death by a family pitbull.Lillian Bunsee had never ventured close to the dogs as she had been attacked in the past, but yesterday morning one of the dogs escaped from its kennel and again attacked her, this time killing her.

Neighbours said the dog was one of approximately ten which were bred and being given aggression training in preparation for sale by two of the woman’s relatives.

Never once did the resi-dents hear Bunsee scream for help but only noticed she was being attacked as they walked along the road-way close to her home on La Seiva Road, Maraval.Police said it was shortly af-ter 9 a.m. that the residents saw the woman on the ground with the dog tear-ing away at her body. They tried throwing boulders at the animal in an attempt to stop it but their efforts were unsuccessful, said officers.

Investigators said several police officers who were on patrol nearby went to the scene after receiving a report and was only able to have the dog stop biting the woman after opening fire on the animal, shooting it six times.

Residents in the area said the officers had no other option but to kill the dog. The other dogs were all locked away in their ken-nels, they said.“After the first two shots the dog was still biting the woman, like the shots did nothing to it. The police had to shoot it four more times before it stopped,” said one man.

The resident, who asked that his name not be pub-lished, said regardless of the type, he was always op-posed to people giving ag-gression training to dogs within their own household which is shared with other family members. He said he was also knowl-

edgeable when it came to the training of dogs and disagreed with the deci-sion of the dog’s owner to carry out the training at the house.

“Aggression training within your own environment and training of dogs within your own household where you have ageable people or fam-ily members in your house

is a no no. Aggression is not the type of training to do within that environment. High potency dog food and aggression training in the home environment is cre-ating a time bomb and it is just a matter of time before tragedy strikes,” he said.

Detectives from the Port of Spain Criminal Investiga-tions Department (CID) led by ASP Ajith Persad went to the scene and de-tained the man who owned the dog.

Up to yesterday evening he was in custody at the CID office along St Vincent Street, Port of Spain. Of-ficers said they would be consulting with Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard SC to deter-mine what charges could be laid against the man.The other owner was not arrested as he did not live on the premises where the

incident occurred.

Dr Azizul Rahaman of Jones Animal Clinic exam-ined the dog and confirmed it was one of the danger-ous dogs referred to in the Dog Control Bill which was passed in Parliament last month but is yet to be pro-claimed, police said.Rahaman removed some of the animals and locked

them away at the clinic yes-terday evening. He told the Express the dogs were be-ing temporarily kept at the animal hospital until the other owner makes a deci-sion “on what he is going to do with them”.

“It was not for any legal rea-son or anything. Relatives and so on would be going to the house to give their condolences and what have you, so we are just keeping the dogs for a little while,” he said.

The other owner said resi-dents no longer wanted the dogs in the area, so he may have to “put them to sleep”.Contacted via phone yes-terday, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan said the Dog Control Bill was passed on the last day of the parliamentary session in order to prevent it from being “lapsed”.With the passing of the bill,

Ramlogan said there was an undertaking within the Parliament that he would accommodate cer-tain amendments based on suggestions from Inde-pendent Senators and also from members of the Op-position.The Independent Senators had already forwarded their suggestions to him, but he was still awaiting the Opposition’s before the Act is proclaimed by Presi-dent Anthony Carmona.

“This bill is clearly needed. I would like those per-sons who argue that there should be no legislation to control these dangerous dogs, I would like them to pay a visit to the relatives of victims to explain their position and to offer some condolence. I am calling upon them to go pay them a visit and to offer them some compensation,” said Ramlogan.

Section 19 of the Dog Control Act:

19. (1) Where a class A dog injures a person, without reasonable cause whether in a public place or on private premises, the owner or keeper of the dog commits an offence and is liable on summary convic-tion to a fine of $100,000 and to imprisonment for five years.

(2) Where a class A dog kills a person or causes the death of a person, with-out reasonable cause, the owner or keeper of the dog commits an offence and is liable on summary convic-tion to a fine of $200,000 and to imprisonment for ten years.

CLASS A dogs are identi-fied in the Bill as:

1. Pitbull Terrier or any dog bred from the Pitbull Terrier.

2. Fila Brasileiro or any dog bred from the Fila Brasileiro.

3. Japanese Tosa or any dog bred from the Japa-nese Tosa.

FAMILY PHOTO: 84-year-old Lillian Bunsee who was mauled to death by a pitbull yesterday in her own

home.

Political spite caused closure of local airline

A former head of the now-defunct state-owned Guy-ana Airways Corporation has blamed government officials for the current aviation woes gripping the country.

Former GAC General Manager, Fazal Khan is adamant that political spite rather than financial or operational problems forced the closure of the airline back in the late nineties, and it is one of the ma-jor reasons G u y a n e s e are paying e x or b i t a nt prices to travel up North.The former aviation of-ficial is con-vinced that Guyana’s current state of affairs is one that could have been avoided, with the continuance of the “prosperous and devel-oping” state-owned car-rier being preserved and prized for its functioning and importance to Guya-nese travelers.

“They didn’t know they were making a mistake because they do not un-derstand aviation,” Khan told Kaieteur News. “They were totally clueless and had they known it was a mistake, they would have never done it, but by the time they realized, it was already too late,” he said in a recent interview at his Queenstown residence.

Khan believes that he was “pushed aside” as head of the GAC for express-ing his reservations about one political appointment. According to Khan, he realized that the lack of forward-thinking man-agement would destroy the GAC and he there-fore gave the then powers some eight months to re-consider their position of removing him.

But he said that “reconsid-eration never occurred; the airline was eventually sold and within less than a year the airline was in total cha-os,” Khan charged.

He said that prior to this, the state-owned entity had been making strides.

“We had about 80 percent of the market shares in

the country, while receiv-ing not a cent from the gov-ernment. Not even when we requested to borrow only half a million dol-lars from the government after running into debt that we could not avoid, did they give it.”

Khan continued that de-spite huge expenditures, GAC was making, “three, four and five million dol-lars pre-tax yearly. We had very good junior and senior staff. People were sent for university educa-tion in marketing, aviation management and diploma courses.” He boasted that as far as he is aware Guy-ana Airways was the first regional airline to offer free headphones and alcohol on board the aircraft.

He continued that Guy-ana Airways grew to fly five flights to New York, and three times to Toron-to, weekly, while trips in-creased during peak sum-mer seasons with North American Airlines having to be chartered to aid the influx of travelers. GAC was able to increase its feet of planes under his stew-ardship.

Khan said for the first time in the country’s history there were local pilots who were captains on jets.

“The first choice for pas-sengers was

...contnue on page 8

Former GAC GM Fazal Khan

15Caribbean Star Newspaper July 11 - 18, 2014

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Constable Christopher Madeira, who had been on suspension from the Trinidad and Tobago Police Ser-vice (TTPS), died after he ingested a quantity of weedicide on Tuesday.

His picture had been posted on the tele-vision programme “Beyond the Tape” co hosted by Inspector Roger Alexander.

The post carried the words “The first member of the protective services to grace the ‘Wall of Shame” is Christopher Madeira. If you see Madeira, do not ap-proach or confront him since he is con-sidered armed and extremely danger-ous…instead call ANY police station, 623-0362/ 4968 or send an e-mail to [email protected] if you have information that could help the po-lice capture this fugitive from the law”. Under his photograph, it stat-ed he was wanted for two charges of misbehaving in public office, and failure to appear in court.

The charges alleged that he and an-other police officer, Corporal Len-nox John, knowingly and wilfully handed over a loaded firearm and a bullet-proof vest belonging to the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service.

Madeira, who was last stationed at the Scarborough Police Station in Tobago, was also charged sep-arately with handing over a load-ed pistol and a bullet-proof vest.

He was released on TT$150,000 (One TT dollar = US$0.16 cents) bail, or-dered to surrender his passport to the court and report to the Scarbor-ough Police Station twice weekly.

Pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov, who performed the autopsy Tuesday, said that he found approximately 200 cubic centimetres of the substance in his stomach, which amounted to approximately a regular-sized glass.

“The major problem is that there is no antidote. So it doesn’t matter if someone drinks one teaspoon or a bottle. The re-sult is the same,” the pathologist added.

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, Wednesday July 9, 2014, CMC – A police officer com-mitted suicide hours after a photo of his appeared on a television programme

hosted by a senior po-lice officer that he was a fugitive from the law.

Wanted Trinidad police officer commits suicide after being placed on ‘Wall of Shame’

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President mingles with thousands on Easter Monday - touched by unity displayed by Guyanese

THOUSANDS of Guyanese stretch-ing from Number 63 Village, Coren-tyne, Region 6, to Meten-Meer-

Zorg on the West Coast of Demerara, Region 3, were given the opportunity to interact with President Donald Ramotar yesterday, as he visited several hubs across the country which are used to fa-cilitate the symbolic kite flying.As part of his Easter Monday activities, the Pres-ident started at the Number 63 Beach where he met with families who had gath-ered at the popular site to be a part of the celebration.

While mingling and catching up on the excitement at the beach, the President also took time out to take photographs with eager families.

President Ramotar also assisted in giv-ing out prizes for the Ministry of Tour-ism’s Kite flying competition.

The Head of State then made his way to the Lusignan Golf Course on the East Coast of Demerara, where he met with persons there who were also a part of the kite flying exercise.

After his brief stop at that location, the President made his way to the Joe Viei-ra Park on the West Bank of Demerara, where again he met and interacted with patrons at that location.

Persons who were gathered there were elated to see the President, as many of them opted to have their photographs taken with the Head of State.

Shortly after that stop, the President then made his way to Meten-Meer-Zorg on the West Coast of Demerara, where he continued his interactive session with happy kite flyers.

Meanwhile in summing up his Easter Day activities, the President said he rel-ished the opportunity to have rubbed shoulders with so many Guyanese of all walks of life in one day.

Speaking from what he experienced at every visit, the Head of State said he got a firsthand look at why the United Nations had stated that Guyanese are some of the happiest people.

President Ramotar said he was touched by the unity shown by the thousands who

had gathered at every location he visited, noting that this year’s celebration was in-deed special.

Given the fact it is on the eve of Na-tional and Regional elections, President Ramotar said in keeping with the season, all Guyanese should look forward to a bright future.

He added that under his administra-

tion, Guyana has achieved a lot, and it would be beneficial to all Guyanese for Guyana to keep soaring to higher heights with the aim of providing a better quality of life for citizens. (GINA)

President Donald Ramotar, and Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority Indranauth Haralsingh presenting a woman with a prize for winning in the Tourism Ministry’s Kite flying competition

President Donald Ramotar taking time out to for a photograph with a family at the Number 63 Beach annual Easter Monday kite flying event


ISLAM Peace / submission to the will of our creator.

Connect with your creatorAbdullah bin Umar (Radhiyallaho

anho) narrates that he heard the Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasal-

lam) saying:“Islam is founded on five pillars: bear-

ing witness that there is no god but Al-lah, and Muhammad (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) is His servant and apostle; es-tablishment of salaat; paying of Zakaat; performance of Hajj; and fasting in Ra-madhaan.”

The Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasal-lam) has compared Islam to a canopy resting on five supports. The Kali-mah is the central support and the other four pillars of Islam are, so to say, the remain-ing four supports, one at each corner of the canopy. Without the central support, the canopy cannot possibly stand, and if any one of the corner supports is missing a collapse will result in the defective cor-ner. Now, let us judge for ourselves how far we have kept up the canopy of Islam. Is there really any pillar that is being held in its proper place?

The five pillars of Islam mentioned in this Hadith signify the most essential duties of a Muslim. Although a Muslim cannot do without any one of them, yet Salaat in Islam occupies a position next only to Imaan. Abdullah bin Mas’ood (Radhiyallaho anho) says:

“Once, I inquired of the Holy Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam), which act (of man) was the dearest to Allah. The Prophet replied, ‘Salaat’. I then inquired which act came next (in order of merit) and the Prophet replied, ‘Kindness to parents’. I again asked what was next and he answered ‘Striving for Islaam’.”

Mulla Ali Qari (Rahmatullah alaih) has quoted this Hadith in support of the be-lief that Salaat is the most important re-ligious duty after Imaan. This is further corroborated by a hadith, in which the Holy Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) is reported to have said:

“Salaat is the best of all that has been ordained by Allah.”

Abu Zar (Radhiyallaho anho) narrates that once the Holy Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) came out of his house. It was autumn and the leaves were falling off the trees. He caught hold of a branch of a tree and its leaves began to drop in large number.

At this he remarked, ‘0, Abu Zar! (Radhiyallaho anho) when a Muslim of-fers his Salaat to please Allah, his sins are shed away from him just as these leaves are falling off this tree.”

In autumn, usually, the leaves of the trees fall in large numbers, so much so that on some trees not a single leaf is left behind. The same is the effect of Salaat performed with sincerity and devotion. All the sins of the person offering Salaat are wiped off.

It should, however, be remembered that according to the verdict of the theo-logians, it is only the saghaa’ir (minor sins) that are forgiven by the perfor-mance of Salaat and other services.

The kabaa’ir (major sins) are not par-doned without repentance. We should, therefore, in addition to saying salaat, be particular about doing taubah (repen-tance) and istighfaar (seeking forgive-ness). Allah may, however, pardon, by His bountiful Grace, even the kabaa’ir of any person because of his salaat.

Abu Uthman (Radhiyallaho anho) says: “I was once sitting under a tree with Sal-maan (Radhiyallaho anho). He caught hold of a dry branch of the tree and shook it till all its leaves fell off. He then said to me, “0, Abu Uthman! (Radhiyalla-ho anho) Will you not ask me why I am doing this?” “Do tell me,” I entreated. He said, “The Apostle of Allah had done ex-actly like this before me, while I was with him under a tree.

He caught a dry branch of it and shook it, till all its leaves fell off”. At this he said: 0, Salmaan! (Radhiyallaho anho) will you not ask me why I am doing this?’ I replied: ‘Do tell me why you are doing this?’ He remarked: “Verily when a Muslim takes wudhu properly and then observes his Salaat five times a day, his sins fall off just as these leaves have fallen off. He then recited the following verse of the Holy Qur’an:

“Establish Salaat at the two ends of the day, and at the approaches of the night. Verily, good deeds annul ill deeds. This is a reminder for the mindful. (XI: 114)”

The behaviour of Salmaan (Radhiyalla-ho anho) in the above Hadith displays the profound love which the Sahaabah had for the Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasal-lam). They would often cherish the sweet memories of the time when the Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) was living among them. They would, while quoting him, enact exactly what they had seen him doing at a particular moment.

It is really very difficult to cover all the traditions of the Holy Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam), which deal with the im-portance of Salaat and which declare for-giveness for those who guard it. As had

already been said before, the theologians restrict this declaration of forgiveness to saghaa’ir (minor sins) only, but in the text of the Hadith there is no such restriction. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, it does not really become a Muslim to commit any of the kabaa’ir (major sins). If perchance any such sins are commit-ted by him, he cannot rest in peace (due to inherent fear of Allah in him) until he washes them with his tears of repentance in crying before Allah. Secondly, the per-son who performs his Salaat with sincer-ity and thoroughness is very likely to do istighfaar quite a number of times daily. Look for instance at the closing prayer of Salaat itself, viz:

“0, My Lord! I have wronged my soul a great wrong, and none forgives sins ex-cept you alone. Then forgive me and have mercy on me. Verily, you are the Forgiv-ing, the Merciful.

In the above Hadith, mention is made of wudhu to be done properly. We should, therefore, be sure of the regulations about wudhu and try to observe all of these. For example, take the case of mi-swaak. It is sunnat of wudhu, but is very often neglected. It is said in a Hadith that the Salaat offered after doing miswaak (Brushing the teeth) is seventy times su-perior to the Salaat without miswaak. In another Hadith, use of miswaak has been enjoined very strongly, and the following benefits are attributed to it:—

“It cleanses and sweetens the mouth and checks its bad smell.”

“It is a cause of Allah’s pleasure and a blow to the Devil.”

“Allah and his angels love the person doing miswaak.” “It strengthens the gums and improves eye-sight.”

“It is a purge against bile and phlegm.”To crown all, “It is a Sunnah i.e. the

practice of our beloved Prophet (Sallal-laho alaihe wasallam).”

As many as seventy virtues of the mi-swaak (Brushing the teeth) have been enumerated by the theologians. It is said that a person in the habit of miswaak dies with the Kalimah on his lips. The rewards of taking wudhu properly are very many. It is mentioned in Ahadith that the parts of body washed in wudhu shall glitter on the Day of Judgment and, by this (dis-tinction), the Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) will at once recognize his fol-lowers.

Jaabir (Radhiyallaho anho) narrates that he heard the Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) saying:

“The likeness of five time’s daily Sa-laat is as the likeness of a deep brook running in front of the door of a person who bathes therein five times a day.”

Running water is generally free from dirt, and the deeper it runs the clean-er and purer it is. A bath in such water surely removes dirt from the body and makes it clean. Salaat offered with due regard for its essentials likewise cleans-es the soul of all sins. There are several Ahadith of the same meaning, though with slight variations in expression, nar-rated by different companions of the Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam). Abu Sa’eed Khudri (Radhiyallaho anho] narrates that he heard the Prophet (Sal-lallaho alaihe wasallam) saying:

‘Each of the five Salaat expiates the sins committed since the Salaat preced-ing it. To explain, let us take the case of a person working in a factory. His job is such that his body gets covered with dust. But there are five streams of run-ning water in between the factory and his house and, on his return from the job, he takes a bath in each stream. The effect of five time’s daily Salaat is quite similar. Any sins of omission and com-mission between two Salaat are forgiven on account of ‘Istighfaar (seeking for-giveness) and Taubah (Repentance) in each Salaat.’

The Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasal-lam) through such parables, aims at im-pressing that salaah has the wonderful power of removing the sins. If we fail to avail of Allah’s mercy, surely we our-selves are the losers.

To err is human. We are likely to com-mit innumerable acts of displeasing Al-lah and deserve thereby. His wrath and punishment, but look how relenting our dear Allah is! He has most graciously shown us the way to earn His mercy and forgiveness. It is a great pity if we do not avail of this great favor. Our Allah is al-ways eager to show us His mercy on very small grounds. It is said in a Hadith, that if a person goes to bed with the inten-tion of getting up for Ta-hajjud and per-chance does not wake up, he receives the full reward for Tahajjud, although he has been enjoying his sleep at the time of Tahajjud. How boundless is the grace of Allah and what a tremendous loss and deprivation if we do not receive bless-ings from such a Giver.

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Amery supporters storm PNM meeting: 'We are hurting'Claiming there was “dictatorship” in

the Diego Martin Central constitu-ency executive, scores of angry Peo-

ple’s National Movement (PNM) members forced a scheduled meeting of the execu-tive to be shifted to a different venue yes-terday.

The meeting had been called to weigh fresh candidate options to go before the PNM screening committee in the wake of the rejection last week of incumbent MP Amery Browne.

But the constituents, reportedly upset at Browne’s general election snub by the Di-

ego Martin executive, reportedly disrupted the meeting at the Diamond Vale Commu-nity Centre, forcing the executive to move to a new venue due to the uncomfortable situation in which they were put.

Sources told the T&T Guardian that Browne, who got no votes from the Diego Martin executive during the screening pro-cess, was neither aware of the meeting nor was he invited to it.

But a vocal group of supporters said they got word of the meeting via a text message and felt it was necessary to attend.

The mainly female group which assem-bled outside the community centre said they were initially told it was a constituen-cy meeting and felt they should attend to voice their anger over Browne’s rejection but they said when they entered the facility they were told that it was not a constituen-cy meeting but a meeting of the executive.

Not wanting any confrontation or bac-chanal, Irene Hinds, vice chair of the con-stituency and PNM operations officer, and others left for the nearby office of Diamond Vale councillor Gail La Touche, where they conducted the meeting.

Constituency member Emerita Sambra-no said they were supporting Browne be-cause he remained a “very hard working MP.”

Another party supporter shouted: “We are hurting.”

Later the group shouted: “Dictators!”Another upset member, Joy Belfon, said

it was “unfair” for the executive to control the process in the manner it did. She said the constituency was not only two or three people, adding the “dictatorship” must not be allowed to continue.

“The dictatorship has to stop,” she de-manded as others all applauded.

She insisted: “What goes around will come back around 500 million times with a different force.”

She stressed there was “dictatorship in the constituency.”

“Why must one set of people dictate who represents us in Diego Martin Central?” an-other supporter shouted.

The executive meeting ended shortly be-fore 8 pm.

Chairman of the constituency Osborne Charles offered “no comment” as he de-parted.

ut Hinds said: “We had an executive meeting to decide where we go from here.”

She said what was discussed at the meeting was private and the chairmen and secretaries of all party groups in the Diego Martin constituency would be told of their decision tomorrow.

The constituency was given until Mon-day to find a new candidate.

No commentContacted last night, Browne declined

comment.However, Browne said last week that

although he respected the decision of the screening committee he intended to run again and hoped “that ultimately the best decision will be made.”

“My life has been one of service to the less-fortunate since long before I entered politics and my commitment and sense of duty to my constituents and to the people of Trinidad and Tobago remain as strong and binding today as ever before,” he said. He did say, however, that he was still very committed to the party.

“Diego Martin Central remains critical to the fortunes of the People’s National Movement in this coming election and I am committed to playing a role in ensuring our success,” he added.

Also contacted last night, PNM general secretary Ashton Ford said the executive meeting was called because the members had a limited time to do its work. It was giv-en until Monday to find a new candidate to be screened for the seat, he added.


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Small parties ready for their big rivals - Theocracy Party leader ‘rolling-up’ his sleeves to deal with APNU-AFC Alliance

NOT daunted by the great fanfare staged by the People’s Progres-sive Party/Civic (PPP/C) and

the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC), the leaders of several small parties strode into historic City Hall to fancy their chances at the May 11 polls.After leav-ing the horse shoe table inside the City Chambers, the majority of them spoke glowingly about their chances of doing well at the elections, going alone.

But at last minute, the Godism Party, also known as the Small Man’s Libera-tion Party and the Organisation For the Victory of the People Party, threw their

support behind the APNU/AFC Alliance.Dressed in a gray suit with a flat white

cap, Noah Yahshuarun, who looks more like a man from the Middle East, told the Guyana Chronicle that the Godism party has decided not to contest the election and intends to join the Alliance.

According to him, the party has since sent a letter to the Alliance, expressing a desire to join it, and is awaiting a posi-tive response.

He also indicated that Guyana Elec-tions Commission (GECOM) has been notified.

Yahshuarun said his Godism party will be pushing the Alliance and the Govern-

ment to become more “Godly” and pass laws in Parliament that are reflective of the holy scriptures.

He said there is need for love to end the fighting in Parliament and out of Parlia-ment, ensure national unity, and solve the many social issues in the country.

The Godism leader, whose party sym-bol is the Holy Tabernacle, also said there is need for greater accountability from holders of public offices.

Leader of the Organisation For the Vic-tory of the People Party Gerald Pereira said his part will only be contesting Re-gion 4, but will be giving its support to the Alliance.

On a ballot paper, a voter casts a re-gional and national vote.

Pereira explained that his supporters will be putting an ‘X’ next to the Organi-sation For the Victory of the People Par-ty for a regional vote, and the other ‘X’ for the Alliance for the national vote.

He said his party has been doing some groundwork, and based on feedback, it has made a decision to support the Al-liance.

Pereira said if successful in obtaining a seat in the Regional Democratic Coun-cil (RDC), his party will put “a whole lot of pressure” on Central Government to speed up infrastructural projects.

The pressure, he said, will start in the boardroom and could end up in the streets, in the form of street protests.

LONE DEMONSTRATORBefore City Hall opened its doors for

the candidates of the various political parties to present their documents to GECOM to be checked, and given the go-ahead to contest the May 11 elections, there was some action on Regent Street and Avenue of the Republic by a lone demonstrator.

Bedecked in a colourful outfit, the demonstrator beat his chest and shout-ed, “The country is we own”, “All of you are my children”, “Go to work and work hard”.

He then tried to remove posters of President Donald Ramotar and Prime Ministerial Candidate Elisabeth Harper on the palls at the Recent Street entrance of City Hall.

He shouted, and even rolled on the road, before moving close to a Police barricade, and jammed knuckles with an officer, much to the amusement of by-standers.

Leader of The United Force (TUF), Ma-rissa Nadir, was the first of the political parties to present documents to GECOM, and she did so without any hiccups.

She said the rejuvenated TUF boasts of members of a wide cross-section of so-ciety.

These, she said, includes lawyers, doctors, businessmen, carpenters and housewives, but not househusbands.

According to Nadir, the TUF has been receiving overwhelming support from the hinterland regions, its traditional base, saying that the “party is here, and here to stay”.

“You can expect great things from the TUF, not only in this election but in the elections to come. We are young people; we have the drive; and we know what the electorate wants. We are fighting for job security, good security and efficient gov-ernment services,” she said.

ROLLING-UP OF SLEEVESHealing the Nation Theocracy Party

(HNTP) Leader Alfred Parks had some glitches in his documents, but said he will get it rectified because he intends to ‘roll-up his sleeves’ and begin campaigning at ‘full- throttle’.

Parks was short on his promise to de-liver a 300-strong contingent of ‘bald


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heads’, those with hair and dread-locks Rastas yesterday.

But nevertheless, he described the Nomination Day as a “bright” and “beau-tiful day”, noting that he is ready to un-leash the “truth”.

This is what the Theocracy Party is all about, he said, as he hopes to nibble away at the APNU+AFC support base in Re-gion 4, after the Alliance failed to accept them into their fold.

The HNTP is contesting only in Region 4, where it is hoping a win at least a seat, to better champion its dream to legalise marijuana in Guyana.

United Republican Party (URP) Leader Vishnu Bandhu, whose party’s symbol is a cow’s head, also had some issues with his documents. He promised to get it fixed,

as he is ready to go to the May 11 polls.Bandhu said he will be contesting all

the regions, except Region 2, where he said the PPP/C supporters were not too accepting of him.

The URP Leader, who was accompa-nied by a dozen supporters into City Hall, said his party knows what they are about, who they are, and what they want.

GOOD VALUESHe said the URP is focused on building

a stronger and more supportive educa-tion system, providing more support for farmers and instilling good moral values in the citizenry.

Dressed in a gray suit, Bandhu said his chances of doing well at the elections are good, because the people have lost inter-est in the PPP/C, AFC and the APNU.

National Independence Party Leader Sappier Hussain, who has been in the habit of resurfacing close to elections, took a hard swipe at Government’s han-dling of crime in the country.

He said crime-fighting in Guyana is woefully poor, and should he obtained two seats in Parliament, he will put a helicopter each in Demerara, Essequibo and Berbice to enable faster response to crime and emergency.

But aside from this, Hussain, who is an Attorney-at-Law, said he will institute land reforms, revamp the cattle indus-try and bring the Amaila Falls Project on stream.

At close to 18:00 hours, the clos-ing time for Nomination Day, leader of the Independent Party Mark Benschop

emerged, presenting his requisite papers to GECOM.

He said the Independence Party is about change, and it will focus on deliv-ering change. Benschop said as a servant of the people, he wants a few seats in Parliament, and when he gets them, he will move to ban duty-free concession for parliamentarians.

This move, he said, will save the Gov-ernment some $400 million, which he said can be spent on more important things that will benefit the people.

The small parties contesting the May 11 elections are being seen by sections of the electorate as termites, rearing and ready to eat away at the support base of the big parties.

By Tajeram Mohabir

GECOM’s Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield makes a point to United Republican Party Leader Vishnu Bandhu

TUF Leader Marissa Nadir handing over her documents to GECOM’s Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield


My name is Shaw Ryan Khan. I am the son of Shaw M. Khan and Camille Zeena Khan and I am the grandson

of Haji Ali Akbar Khan and Azeezan Khan from Canegrove, Guyana ,as well as Harry Singh and Lillian Ganpati Singh from In-dustry, Guyana. My respect to my parents and my grandparents always.

Within the week, a fan of mine from the very beginning called me and asked me something that I was not prepared for anyone to ask of me! She told me that she is a fan of my writing, she loves my articles, she looks forward to each and every article I write, and she says she is my number one fan. But I’m not too sure about that last part. More specifically, I’m not too sure if my mom and dad will agree with that last part, considering they are both fighting to be my number one fan! Anyway, this person eventually asked me this question; “why do you write?”

When she asked me that question, she made me realize that I did not really know why AT THAT MOMENT. I have been writ-ing what my mind tells me to write and until that moment, until that 15 minute phone call, I never knew why I wrote. I promised her, and I do not make promises I don’t keep, that I would “look within me” to find that answer.

I remember the first time I wrote a speech and spoke that same speech in front of a crowd. It was about 10 or so years ago, if my memory serves me right. One of Imams for a masjid requested I pre-pare a speech about anything I wanted. It was his attempt to strengthen the youths influence on society. When I heard this, I was completely scared but I knew that it was an experience I could not refuse. For the next few days, I prepared to deliver a speech on faith and its impact on our lives (yes, I was 9 years old researching about faith. It wasn’t my best and most well-writ-ten speech but It served its purpose!) Af-ter I wrote the speech, I spent the next few days practicing in front of my mirror. The day finally came and I thought I was pre-pared. My parents and I went to the masjid and instead of me sitting with my mom in the crowd while my father went to sit with the speakers on the “read-men table”, I joined him at the table. I was surprised, happy, and uncomfortable that I could not sit next to mom. The time came for my fa-ther to speak, which he did so comfortably and like it was instinctive. While he was speaking, an older gentleman told me “go home and play with your toys kid, no one wants to listen to some little child talk”. I won’t lie, it discouraged me but It also made me want to show him what this little kid could do. As my turn came up, I walked to the mic and delivered my speech. At the end of my speech, the crowd started to clap. It was from that moment in time that I realized that talking and writing was instilled in me in such a way that I love do-ing it. I write not because I want to make money, and not because someone is forc-ing me to do so. I write because I love it. I love to write so that people can read or listen and in turn, learn something about life from this young kid who is still learning about life himself!

With that being said, my topic this week will be about one simple yet so complex

topic, words.“Who do you think you are?” My read-

ers, you don’t know how many times someone has said that to me, questioning my reason for being the way I am. Some question my way of being in a negative way, claiming I’m doing things (in this case, writing) for some materialistic benefit. While others question my way of being so that they can be able to understand who I am. This in turn, makes them realize that I am writing because I love to write and not because I want some monetary gain.

Who are you? From your soul comes the motivating desires and attitudes that are your core and your reason for being. The rest comes from your mind, which is your information bank. In your mind lies the ability to learn, to remember, and to acted based on what you know and, of course, on your creativity and imagination. Near-ly everything we do, independent of our bodies, we do with our thoughts. Thoughts are silent and can only be communicated through words and actions. Though we rely on our senses for messages about the world around us, we also rely on words to describe the information we are getting from our senses. In the end, we have only words to express who we are to the world. In this way, words become a key ingredient in shaping our lives and giving us hope and courage to continue.

Since words are used to communicate the sacred, the profane, and everything in between, they can be smooth, powerful allies, and they can be sharp swords. Let me give you an example: In the song, Main Jahaan Rahoon, Javed Akhtar is given the task to create a song with such emotion and feelings that when ANYONE hears it, no matter if you know what the translation is , you will feel the song in your heart. “Main jahaan rahoon main kahin bhi hoon,teri yaad saaath hai”; “Wherever I live, wherev-er I am, your memory is with me.”

Mayur Puri was given the same task of creating a song with such love and feeling. Let me show you what he has succeeded in doing; “Chhoo liya tune lab se aankhon ko, Mannatein poori tumse hi, Tu mile ja-haan, mera jahaan hai wahan, Raunakein saari tumse hi, Piya o re piya, piya re piya re piya. I encourage each and every one of my readers to listen to this song and the one mentioned above. Here is a glimpse of the translation; “you touched my eyes with your lips, all my wishes are fulfilled with you only. Where you meet me, my world is there only, all the radiance is from you only. Beloved, O my beloved, beloved o beloved o beloved...”

Loves songs were invented by marrying the magic of words to the magic of music. What sentimental heart can resist an arrow of words and music from Cupid’s bow? Be honest viewers, when you listen to such love songs like the two I mentioned above, don’t you want to fall in love again? Haha.

We’ve all heard that the pen can be mightier than the sword. Words can also be dull and fall on deaf ears. Unless we use them carefully and communicate clearly, words are of little value. Many of our dif-ficulties in human relations are caused by improper or inadequate communication. When communication is unclear, we can fail to get our ideas across to other peo-

ple or we can fail to hear what others are saying to us. Usually, misunderstandings result.

In childhood, we learned “sticks and stones can break your bones, but words can never harm you.” I’m not sure they got that right. Bones and physical injuries can mend but the harm done by words can have a deep and lasting impact. Just ask an attorney about libel or defamation and the damage to a person’s reputation that can be done by words. In the digital, in-ternet-connected world, images, too, can do a great deal of harm. When a Danish newspaper published an irreverent car-toon depicting the Prophet Mohammad as a terrorist, the Muslim world erupted in deadly and destructive riots. Is it nec-essary to draw such disrespectful images or use hateful language to underscore the freedom to express oneself?

When was the last time you got bent out of shape over words spoken carelessly to you? Angry words directed at you can hurt more and longer than a door slammed in your face. And have you ever been in a sit-uation where you chose pointed words like an archer chooses arrows and sent them flying, knowing they would wound another person? It’s easy to do. Next time you are tempted to fling outrageous words at an-other human being, remember how it feels. Then you will understand that our words can come back to haunt and hurt us, and often they do more damage to us person-ally than they do to anyone else. Thanks to our very gracious police commissioner, officers of the law are taking classes to show them the effects of the carelessness for another human being. Before these classes, people who were arrested would complain that the handcuffs are too tight and were hurting them. In turn, the cops would laugh and ignore it. It is not until this class that they realized their mistakes. The cops would experience the treatment of being handcuffed too tightly. They would yell and scream to loosen the cuffs but the teachers would ignore them. It is not until they felt the experience that they realized their mistake. My readers, let us not wait for us to experience what it feels like to be harmed with words. Rather, let us treat and talk to others like we wish to be treat-ed and to be talked to.

Sugar dissolved in water cannot be retrieved, just as words, once spoken, cannot be taken back. Adding words of apology may ease the pain caused by re-gretted words, but they can’t erase it. Just as words spoken carelessly cause hurt, so do words that go unspoken. I have years of experience in saying the wrong things at the wrong time and not saying the right things at the right time. Having realized the importance of words in my life, I now make a conscious effort to be more open and sharing and to communicate accurate-ly. I take the time to transmit my thoughts precisely. This adds value and meaning to my life and to the lives of others.

If you love someone, tell them and share the experience- whenever the thought crosses your mind.

While I choose words carefully, there are some words I choose to avoid, if pos-sible. Among them are minus words like “if only, as in “if only I had,” or “but,” as in “but

I don’t know if I can.” “If only” are words of regret like “could have” and “should have.” You didn’t, so move on. “But” is a word of contradiction and limitation, a deception and an excuse. Eliminating these words and concepts from your vocabulary will enable you to communicate more directly and truthfully.

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I never use the word “try”. I believe try is a non-word that prevents you from achieving your goal. There is no action in try so you never succeed. In the movie The Empire Strikes Back, Yoda says, “do, or do not. There is no try.” Truer words were never spoken. Remove try from your vocabulary today and see how much more you accomplish.

I also believe that the word “laughter” speaks volumes. Laughter is the natural expression of a happy state of mind. It’s a sure sign of a healthy disposition, and its good medicine, too. Seven days without a hearty laugh makes one weak. Be very careful about what words you use. Re-member, we have only words to express who we are to the world.

Choose your words carefully. If they are the right words at the right time, use them. If upon inspection, they appear to be bruised, rotten, or otherwise spoiled, don’t use them at all.

Before I end my article, I just want to say this; may God continue to bless each and every one of you and I wish for you to achieve peace and serenity in your lives!

Lastly my readers, in your journey through life, I hope you heed my ad-vice. I want nothing except peace and serenity. And remember this; “You can change your world by changing your words… Remember, death and life are in the power of the tongue.”

God bless you all and see you in two weeks!

(Like my articles? Want to give me feedback? Do you have a topic suggestion for my next article? Let me know! Add me via Facebook @ Facebook.com/ryankhan0721 or give me a call @ 646-269-8227 or 718-849-1006)

Voice Of The Youth


LESSONS FROM THE CROSSWhen Jesus hung on the cruel Roman Cross, He uttered seven “words” that reverberate through history to speak to Christians in our walk with Him. One wonders how He could submit to such hu-miliation and agony without re-sistance like all other crucifixion victims. Even on the Cross, in se-vere pain and agony, Jesus spoke words of love and hope before giving up the ghost.

“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34

Other victims would be swearing and cursing as strong, rugged soldiers pinned them down and fastened them to the cross with spikes. His body was already mutilated from the flog-ging. The first thing they heard was a word of forgiveness. Just recently, I heard the family of a shooting victim say they forgave the offender(s). It is not easy to forgive others when they hurt you or take something precious from you. Most of the time, offenses are unintentional, but sometimes they may be intended to cause pain. With-out forgiveness, you can have your offender live in your mind and control your life? Forgiveness frees us from the control of the offender. Learn to forgive and let it go. Then, you can live out your dreams. We can forgive when we realize the magnitude of debt we were forgiven by God.

“Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:43

Jesus could have been taken up with His own suffering. This turns our attention inwards and we do not see the suffering of people around us. Instead, Jesus reached out to the needs of his fellow sufferer who cried out to Him. Of the three crosses on Golgotha, one victim railed on Him to use miraculous power to take them down from the crosses. The other victim rebuked that first one saying they deserved their punishment, but recognized Jesus did nothing wrong.

He turned to Christ and begged Him to remember him in His kingdom. Je-sus lovingly comforted him with these wonderful words, “Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise.” Let us not live in self-pity. We can reach out to someone in spite of our condition and bring God’s love and comfort to them.

“Woman, behold thy son!” John 19:26

“When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.” John 19:26-27. Mary, overwhelmed by grief, must have wondered about her own future in a society where women were second class without a male covering. Jesus was mindful for her, even on the Cross. He committed her care into the hands of John. We must not feel our suffering exempts us from caring for our own. Honor and care for parents. Take your responsi-bility to care for your family.

“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46

The pain was intense. He felt all alone. We know that kind of feeling. It is okay to ask God what is going on. Mary questioned the angel Ga-briel how she can have a child when she was not yet married. The old saint Job had many questions for God in his time of suffering. God understands

how we feel and He is patient with us. His love remains the same. Let God work with you through your pain and you will see He is making something good out of you. Testing times should make us better not bitter. Someone said, “When the train goes through the dark tunnel, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off the train. You sit still and trust the engineer.”

“I thirst.” John 19:28“After this, Jesus knowing that all

things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.” The Judean heat combined with the loss of blood intensified the agony he felt. In that moment, Jesus acknowledged what many today re-fuse to acknowledge. We are human. God understands that. Confessing our needs can shake our pride, but humil-ity is the only way to approach God for help. We can ask His forgiveness for our sins. We can tell Him our in-nermost feelings and find comfort and strength. When we make our needs known, people around us can give a helping hand. Maybe today it’s your turn to receive someone’s help; to-morrow you may be in a position to bless someone else.

“It is finished.” John 19:30This does not say He knew it was

time to breathe His last breath. It says the work of redemption was complete. The price of man’s sins was fully paid by His suffering. You can get the pic-ture right if you know the Tabernacle had many furniture, such as altars and tables, but no chair. The Priest’s work was never finished. Jesus completed the work of Atonement once for all and sat down at the right hand of the Father. Nothing can be added to His complete work. We are not saved by what we do or give, but we are saved by grace through faith in Him.

“Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” Luke 23:46

It was not a prayer of defeat or res-ignation. His relationship with the Fa-ther was so intimate that He trusted Him with every outcome. Here, Jesus trusted the Father to safely receive His spirit. We must live in that kind of loving relationship with the Heavenly Father so that we can trust Him with our outcomes. We have health issues, financial difficulties, relationship conflicts, burdens on our hearts that no one else knows. You can trust God with all of it. Learn to surrender every heartache, every challenge and every situation to Him. Anything given to God will never have adverse results. He is good and His mercy endures for-ever. He knows how to work all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Would you surrender to Him?

The life of our Savior, His death and Resurrection accomplished our re-demption. At the same time, He left us important lessons to follow in our daily lives. As we walk in obedience, we will reflect His image of love to our world. We are to be an influence to the world for Him.

Take your family to church this weekend.

Pastor Haniff BacchusCalvary Assembly

of God102-07 Rockaway Blvd, Ozone Park, NY 11417

Tel. 718-659-4500www.calvaryozone.org


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FIND HONG’s KILLERThe murder of Chinese businessman, Hi

Hong Huang, on Tuesday in Curepe is generating widespread fear among the

Chinese community in Trinidad and Tobago, and has also triggered a round of diplomatic talks scheduled for today between resident Chinese Ambassador Xingyan Huang, and Min-ister of National Security, Brigadier General Carl Alfonso.

Ambassador Xingyan is going into the dis-cussions with the Minister further to his initial reaction yesterday to the murder: “Find the killer, and bring the killer to justice as soon as possible, for the murder of Hong Huang.”

Hong, 35, was fatally shot on Tuesday out-side his businessplace, Happiness Supermar-ket, off the Southern Main Road, Curepe, as he was entering his premises from a panel van he had just parked with a large sum of money in

a box. CCTV cameras showed Hong being wres-

tled violently to the ground by a man who approached him from the pavement and who was seeking to grab the box. As Hong and his attacker wrestled on the ground, another man approached and loud explosions were heard. The two men were then seen escaping with the box containing an undisclosed sum of cash as Hong stumbled toward the building. He was assisted by an employee of the supermarket and taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sci-ences Complex (EWMSC), Mt Hope where he succumbed to his injuries. An autopsy revealed yesterday that the businessman died as a result of a single bullet to the chest.

In a statement issued yesterday Ambassador Xingyan, disclosed he would meet with Alfonso today over the local crime situation.

Alfonso, who was at the sitting of the Parlia-ment to discuss the Police Regulation Amend-ment Bill, confirmed he will meet today with the Chinese Ambassador to discuss this most recent murder of a Chinese national in Trinidad and Tobago.

“With me will be a member of the Police Ser-vice as well, to be able to give him any updates as to what is happening as far as investigations go,” Alfonso told Newsday.

Alfonso expressed regret at the recent kill-ing, saying, “I have concerns, about the killing of anybody, including a Chinese national. I’ll speak with the Ambassador. I want to hear what he has to say, and how best we can deal with it. I’m just as saddened as the Ambassador is. I want to offer my condolences to the family on behalf of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago.”

Ambassador Xingyan’s statement also not-ed the Embassy has the responsibility and obligation of ensuring the Chinese nationals’ legitimate rights and interests, including their

safety, are being properly protected. The statement revealed that since Tuesday’s

murder of the Chinese businessman, the Em-bassy has been receiving calls from Chinese nationals living in TT about their concerns over crime in the country.

The statement read, “Around 2,000 Chinese nationals are living in TT. Since Tuesday, the Embassy has received phone calls from Chi-nese communities, Chinese companies and many local friends. They all said they were very frightened, saddened and concerned, and hoped that justice could be done as soon as possible.” The statement indicated that when the Ambassador heard the news of the murder, he was very shocked, and immediately visited the family of the victim.

He expressed his high concern to “pertinent authorities of TT”, requesting the TT Govern-ment to find and bring the killer to justice.

The Embassy noted the murder occurred in broad daylight which added heavy clouds about the current safety of all the other Chi-nese nationals.

It added that the safety of Chinese nationals has been under threat recently in some areas, where cases of stealing and robbery often oc-curred, and went on to warn Chinese nationals living in Trinidad and Tobago of “safety haz-ards.”

Hong was the fifth Chinese national to lose his life to crime in Trinidad and Tobago.

Last year, at a press conference Ambassador Xingyan mentioned that several Chinese na-tionals had been robbed in recent years, often at gunpoint, while four were murdered in 2012.

On January 14, 2012, 22-year-old Yu Quan Ue was stabbed to death at a restaurant in Chaguanas. On July 12 of the same year Wu Xiuhua 60, and her husband Jianhua Yang, 60 were shot in a restaurant in Cunupia. Xiuhua died on the scene while her husband, Yang, succumbed the following day to his injuries while at the EWMSC. Later that year in Oc-tober, Chang Xiao Feng, 33, was shot dead in Barataria. No arrests have been made in any of these murders. Reactions by relatives outside the Forensic Science Centre, St James yester-day underscored the concern of the Chinese community over the rate of police detection, especially when it comes to murder cases.

“The entire Chinese community is very dis-turbed and taken aback by this latest incident,” said Abrahim Ali, former president of the San Juan Business Association. He added that they reflect on the past murders of Chinese nation-als for which no one has been arrested.

He added, “They are hoping with the amount of information and evidence in this murder, that something happens,” said Ali, a friend of the deceased for ten years.

The proprietor of a chain of supermarkets, Hong had been a resident of Barataria years before he had opened his first supermarket. He was described as a humble, polite and easygo-ing person who assisted the less fortunate in his area on a daily basis.

Hong left behind a wife and three children. According to Ali, the family is in shambles after learning of the man’s murder.

“His wife is totally distraught and very shak-en-up” said Ali.

Although there had been no arrests up to press time, police have retrieved the CCTV footage of the incident and, according to ho-micide officials, enquiries are being conducted.

In his television programme yesterday, In-spector Roger Alexander suggested to the two bandits that they turn themselves in since tele-vision cameras had exposed their faces to the elements.

“We are not begging,” Alexander said,“We are giving you an opportunity to come and come quick.”

He cautioned business persons about the steps they take to secure money.

“Now there were some mistakes made and we do not want the same to be done across the board,” Alexander continued. “You have large sums of money, yet you choose to move around with it, money in box here, money in box there and then you are carrying it in one location to count the money.”

Yesterday, the grocery where the murder occurred was opened for business. However, according to employees, there was a significant drop in the number of customers.


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In retirement, guarantees matter

A recent study revealed that 70% of Americans plan to con-tinue working once they’re “retired”.1 Why do so many ex-pect to postpone a typical, leisure-filled retirement? One theory points to the decline of pensions and the need to replace the income stream that used to come – guaran-teed – from a past-employer. Today, nearly half of all Amer-ican workers are not covered by a pension plan2 and only 11% of Fortune 100 firms offer a traditional defined benefit.3

With private pensions becoming more rare, guarantees in

retirement may be far and few between, but it doesn’t make them any less import-ant.

For starters, guarantees might make you happier. Research suggests that re-tirees get more satisfaction from each dollar of Social Security and pension income than they do from any other source of income.4 That’s be-cause you’re more likely to be confident spending mon-ey when you know another check is right around the cor-ner.

Guarantees can also help you be a more confident in-vestor through market ups and downs. Guarantees can

be the guardrails you need to stay the course when in-vesting, knowing that you have some protection built into your portfolio. And, with Americans living lon-ger than ever before, guar-antees in your overall re-tirement plan may help you make sure your money lasts as long as you do.

Just like no two retirements are alike, not all guarantees are alike, so it’s important to understand the options avail-able to you and to identify what, in your own retirement, you want to guarantee.

1. StreetAuthority.com, “15 Reasons the U.S. Retirement Crisis Is Even Worse Than You Think”, Nov 2012

2. Towers Watson, 2012. 3. AARP.org, “Boomers Report No Sav-

ings At All”, Feb 20114. “What Makes a Successful Retire-

ment?” Research Magazine. Feb 2014

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2015 poll a likely eight-party contest

THE proverbial bell has been sound-ed for the homestretch leading up to the May 11 General and Regional

Elections; and out of the 11 parties that initially expressed interest in contesting these elections, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has counted eight political contenders in the running.

By all accounts and historical underpin-nings, the two major political contenders are the incumbent People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) and the coalesced A Partnership for National Unity and the Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC).

The other parties submitting their Na-tional Top-up List, Geographical Constit-uencies List, and Regional Democratic Council Lists included: The United Force (TUF); the Healing The Nation Theocra-cy Party (HTNT); the United Republican Party (URP); the Independent Party (IP); the Organisation for the Victory of the People (OVP); and the National Indepen-dence Party (NIP).

The Guyana Small Man Party, Guyana National Congress and the Liberation Party did not make the 6:00pm deadline to enter a bid for the national leadership posts that are up for grabs.

Last time around, on October 27, 2011, some 32 parties had expressed their in-tention to make a bid, with only seven making their submissions to the Guyana Elections Commission’s (GECOM) Chief Elections Officer (CEO).

PPP/C, APNU, AFC, TUF, as well as the

East Berbice Development Association (EBDA), Fundamental Structure Group (FSG) and Horizon and Star were the parties that submitted their lists of can-didates. The latter three have not been heard from since.

WINNING LISTDuring yesterday’s Nomination Day,

TUF was the first party to make its pre-sentation, then the atmosphere became filled with a tangible enthusiasm as the leadership and members of the PPP/C made their way up the refurbished stairs of City Hall, with hundreds of supporters who rallied around the party’s leadership lining Regent Street.

His Excellency President Donald Ra-motar, incumbent President and current PPP/C Presidential Candidate, said in an

invited comment: “It is a winning list.”He added, “Nominations Day is here…

everything will be now much more open to the Guyanese, they will have a chance to examine our list of candidates…very important is that the public has these materials in front of them.

“We are confident that the PPP/C has the best manifesto and the best list. Promises have been made out there all the time, but we have been making great efforts at creating the social and physi-cal infrastructure to take our country to higher places.”

The President said the aim of the PPP/C is to win a majority in the National Assembly, as this would allow the Party to advance programmes, policies and leg-islation to improve the lives of all Guya-nese.

“When I get the majority this time, we will grow…we will provide a much better quality of life for the Guyanese people. We are not promising to buy the sky. Our promises are realistic…we’re identifying sources of finances; the country will have a great future with the PPP/C in govern-ment,” President Ramotar posited.

The PPP/C Prime Ministerial Candi-date, Mrs Elisabeth Harper, echoed simi-lar sentiments: “It is an inclusive list,” she told the Chronicle.

Having followed the PPP/C Presiden-tial and Prime Ministerial candidates and other party members from Freedom House, the enthused procession made its way back to the party’s headquarters for a rally.

Hundreds have been included on the PPP/C list of candidates in respect to its National Top-up List, Geographical Con-stituencies List, and Regional Democratic Council Lists, which included dozens of new faces.

APNU+AFCNew faces were also noted in the large

contingent from the APNU+AFC Alli-ance, which marched from the Square of the Revolution to City Hall.

Presidential Candidate for this (AP-NU+AFC) Alliance, Brigadier (rtd) Da-vid Granger, boasted confidently about supporters included on the APNU+AFC list of candidates. “We have committed ourselves to competence and balance…We have a list that is going to move this country forward,” he stressed.

After that alliance had submitted its lists, the APNU+AFC procession moved onto Parade Ground for a Unity Rally, where Granger’s running mate, Moses

Nagamootoo, touted the success of the coalition.

He said the Nomination Day milestone is evidence of the fact that there will be ‘no divorce’ between APNU and AFC.

The political alliance between the two parties was inked on February 14 and de-tailed in the historic Cummingsburg Ac-cord. Going into the coalition negotiation with APNU, the AFC controlled 21 per cent of the combined Opposition seats in Parliament, but came out with a guaran-tee of 40 per cent of the Cabinet and at least 12 parliamentary seats, should they succeed at the May 11, 2015 General and Regional polls.

APNU held 79 per cent of the Oppo-sition seats in the House going into the negotiation.

GECOM’S WORKGECOM’s Chairman Dr Steve Suru-

jbally, in an invited comment, noted that GECOM’s Chief Elections Officer Mr Keith Lowenfield and his team are an “ex-act” group who are committed to “ensur-ing that all the ‘t’s are crossed and the ‘i’s are dotted”.

“Positive,” he declared, when asked for his view of the day’s proceedings.

Dr Surujbally said there was a notable level of camaraderie among political con-tenders at yesterday’s Nomination Day event.

Looking forward, he said, “My swan-song has always been: (a) that everyone accepts the results and (b) that there is peace.”

The Chronicle was also informed by a senior GECOM official that the lists are expected to be completely vetted by Thursday. “Once the lists have been checked, GECOM will be able to say who qualifies to contest, and we will publish those lists. We will be good to go.”

In accordance with the electoral system of Proportional Representation, in order to qualify for a seat in the National As-sembly, contesting parties must contest a minimum of six (6) of the Geographi-cal Constituencies — totalling at least 13 seats — for eligibility to contest and submit Geographical Constituencies Lists and National Top-up Lists. This arrange-ment will provide for qualified contesting parties to submit, on Nomination Day, two separate Lists of Candidates.

Any political party can contest the election of members of any of the 10 Re-gional Democratic Councils. For this pur-pose, a List of Candidates must be sub-mitted on Nomination Day.

By Vanessa Narine‘We are confident that the PPP/C has

the best manifesto and the best list. Promises have been made out there all the time, but we have been making great efforts of creating the social and physi-cal infrastructure to take our country to higher places’ – President Donald Ra-motar

‘We have committed ourselves to com-petence and balance…We have a list that is going to move this country forward” – Brigadier (rtd) David Granger

‘My swansong has always been: (a) that everyone accepts the results and (b) that there is peace’ – GECOM Chairman Dr Steve Surujbally


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World News Highlights

BEIJING - OPEC’s strategy of holding output steady is not working and the group’s mem-bers should discuss production levels before its next meeting in June, Iran’s oil minister said, a sign of the pain lower prices are causing OPEC’s less wealthy pro-ducers.

ADEN - Iran’s leader on Thurs-day condemned the military in-tervention by its main regional rival Saudi Arabia in Yemen as genocide, sharply escalating Teh-ran’s rhetoric against the two-week-old campaign of air strikes.

WASHINGTON - An Ameri-can man has been charged with trying to provide support for the Islamic State militant group, the U.S Justice Department said on Thursday.

NEW DELHI - India has blocked foreign funding to the local branch of Greenpeace and restricted some activities, a government statement said on Thursday, with New Delhi accusing the environmental group of misusing funds.

WASHINGTON - The United States said on Wednesday it was troubled by reported at-tacks on civil society protest-ers in Panama for the Summit of the Americas after two Re-publican lawmakers blamed the violence on Castro supporters.

DAMASCUS - A Palestinian official said on Thursday he sup-ported a Syrian army offensive to regain control of the war-bat-tered Yarmouk camp on the out-skirts of Damascus that has fallen into the hands of Islamic State.

PARIS - Tens of thousands

took to the streets in towns and cities across France on Thursday in union-led pro-tests against public spending cuts that closed down the Eiffel Tower to tourists and coincide with strikes by air traffic con-trollers and state radio workers.

Iranian Supreme Leader Aya-tollah Ali Khamenei on Thurs-day demanded that all sanc-tions on Iran be lifted at the same time as any final agree-ment with world powers on curbing Tehran’s nuclear pro-gram is concluded.

PARIS - France said Irani-an Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s comments on Thursday demanding the im-mediate lifting of all sanctions demonstrated there was still a lot of work to do before reach-ing a final agreement on Iran’s

disputed nuclear program.WASHINGTON - U.S. pro-

gressive groups rallied on Thursday to persuade Demo-cratic senators not to support a bill giving Congress a vote on a nuclear deal with Iran, echoing the White House’s insistence that the measure could blow up delicate negotiations.

MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghan-istan - Militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons stormed a court in Afghanistan’s northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif on Thursday, killing the district police chief and two other officers, authori-ties said. | Video

DUBAI - Iran has summoned Saudi Arabia’s charge d’affaires in Tehran after a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition wag-ing air strikes in Yemen said Iran had been training Yemen’s

Houthi fighters, IRNA news agency said on Thursday.

MILAN - A man on trial for bankruptcy shot dead a judge, a lawyer and a co-defendant in the Palace of Justice in central Milan on Thursday, emergency services said. | Video

KABUL - The Afghan cab-inet’s latest choice for de-fense minister dropped out on Wednesday, just two days after being nominated for the job, underlining tensions between the president and rival parties within the national unity gov-ernment.

BEIJING - China on Thurs-day sketched out plans for the islands it is creating in the dis-puted South China Sea, saying they would be used for military defense as well as to provide ci-vilian services that would bene-fit other countries.

Fortify Your Knowledge About VitaminsContributed by Renita Nal, RPH, Hollis Prescription Center

According to the Food & Drug Ad-ministration (FDA) vitamins are es-sential nutrients that contribute to

a healthy life. Although most people get all the vitamins they need from the foods they eat, millions of people worldwide take sup-plemental vitamins as part of their health regimen.

Why Buy Vitamins?There are many good reasons to con-

sider taking vitamin supplements, such as over-the-counter multivitamins. According to the American Academy of Family Phy-sicians (AAFP), a doctor may recommend that you take them:• for certain health problems• if you eat a vegetarian or vegan diet• if you are pregnant or breastfeeding

Vitamin FactsYour body uses vitamins for a variety

of biological processes, including growth, digestion, and nerve function. There are 13 vitamins that the body absolutely needs: vi-tamins A, C, D, E, K, and the B vitamins (thi-amine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, biotin, vitamin B-6, vitamin B-12 and fo-late). AAFP cites two categories of vitamins.

• Water-soluble vitamins are easily ab-sorbed by the body, which doesn’t store large amounts. The kidneys remove those vitamins that are not needed.

• Fat-soluble vitamins are absorbed into the body with the use of bile acids, which are fluids used to absorb fat. The body stores these for use as needed.

Practice Safety with Dietary Supple-ments

When it comes to purchasing dietary supplements, Vasilios Frankos, Ph.D., Di-rector of FDA’s Division of Dietary Sup-plement Programs, offers this advice: «Be savvy!»

Today’s dietary supplements are not only vitamins and minerals. «They also in-clude other less familiar substances such

as herbals, botanicals, amino acids, and enzymes,» Frankos says. «Check with your health care providers before combining or substituting them with other foods or med-icines.» Frankos adds, «Do not self-diagnose any health condition. Work with your health care providers to determine how best to achieve optimal health.»

Consider the following tips before buy-ing a dietary supplement:• Think twice about chasing the latest

headline. Sound health advice is general-ly based on research over time, not a sin-gle study touted by the media. Be wary of results claiming a «quick fix» that departs from scientific research and established dietary guidance.

• More may not be better. Some products can be harmful when consumed in high amounts, for a long time, or in combina-tion with certain other substances.

• Learn to spot false claims. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Examples of false claims on product labels include:• Quick and effective «cure-all»• Can treat or cure disease• «Totally safe,» «all natural,» and has «definitely no side effects»Other red flags include claims about

limited availability, offers of «no-risk, mon-ey-back guarantees,» and requirements for advance payment.

«Also ask yourself, «Is the product worth the money?’» Frankos advises. «Resist the pressure to buy a product or treatment on the spot. Some supplement products may be expensive or may not provide the benefit you expect. For example, excessive amounts of water-soluble vitamins, like vi-tamins C and B, are not used by the body and are eliminated in the urine.»

Special Nutrient NeedsAccording to the Dietary Guidelines for

Americans, many people consume more calories than they need without taking in recommended amounts of a number of nu-trients. The Guidelines warn that there are

numerous nutrients—including vitamins—for which low dietary intake may be a cause of concern. These nutrients are:• calcium, potassium, fiber, magnesium,

and vitamins A (as carotenoids), C, and E (for adults)

• calcium, potassium, fiber, magnesium, and vitamin E (for children and adoles-cents)

• vitamin B-12, iron, folic acid, and vita-mins E and D (for specific population groups).Regarding the use of vitamin supple-

ments, the Dietary guidelines include the following:

Consume a variety of nutrient-dense foods and beverages within and among the basic food groups. At the same time, choose foods that limit the intake of saturated and trans fats, cholesterol, added sugars, salt, and alcohol.

Meet recommended nutrient intakes within energy needs by adopting a bal-anced eating pattern, such as one of those recommended in the USDA Food Guide or the National Institute of Health’s Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan.1. If you’re over age 50, consume vitamin

B-12 in its crystalline form, which is found in fortified foods or supplements.

2. If you’re a woman of childbearing age who may become pregnant, eat foods high in heme-iron and/or consume iron-rich plant foods or iron-fortified foods with an iron-absorption enhancer, such as foods high in vitamin C.

3. If you’re a woman of childbearing age who may become pregnant or is in the first trimester of pregnancy, consume adequate synthetic folic acid daily (from fortified foods or supplements) in addition to food forms of folate from a varied diet.

4. If you are an older adult, have dark skin, or are exposed to insufficient ul-traviolet band radiation (such as sun-light), consume extra vitamin D from vitamin D-fortified foods and/or supple-ments.

How Vitamins are RegulatedVitamin products are regulated by FDA

as «Dietary Supplements.» The law defines dietary supplements, in part, as products taken by mouth that contain a «dietary in-gredient» intended to supplement the diet.

Listed in the «dietary ingredient» cate-gory are not only vitamins, but minerals, botanicals products, amino acids, and sub-stances such as enzymes, microbial probi-otics, and metabolites. Dietary supplements can also be extracts or concentrates, and may be found in many forms. The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 requires that all such products be la-beled as dietary supplements.

In June 2007, FDA established dietary supplement «current Good Manufacturing Practice» (cGMP) regulations requiring that manufacturers evaluate their products through testing identity, purity, strength, and composition.

Risks of Overdoing ItAs is the case with all dietary supple-

ments, the decision to use supplemental vitamins should not be taken lightly, says Vasilios Frankos, Ph.D., Director of FDA’s Division of Dietary Supplement Programs.

«Vitamins are not dangerous unless you get too much of them,» he says. «More is not necessarily better with supplements, especially if you take fat-soluble vitamins.” For some vitamins and minerals, the Na-tional Academy of Sciences has established upper limits of intake (ULs) that it recom-mends not be exceeded during any given day. (For more information, visit www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=6432#toc

Also, the AAFP lists the following side effects that are sometimes associated with taking too much of a vitamin.

• Fat-soluble Vitamins• A (retinol, retinal, retinoic acid): Nausea,

vomiting, headache, dizziness, blurred vision, clumsiness, birth defects, liver problems, possible risk of osteoporosis. You may be at greater risk of these

effects if you drink high amounts of alcohol or you have liver problems, high cholesterol levels or don’t get enough protein.

• D (calciferol): Nausea, vomiting, poor appetite, constipation, weakness, weight loss, confusion, heart rhythm problems, deposits of calcium and phosphate in soft tissues.

• If you take blood thinners, talk to your doctor before taking vitamin E or vitamin K pills.

• Water-soluble Vitamins• B-3 (niacin): flushing, redness of the

skin, upset stomach.• B-6 (pyridoxine, pyridoxal, and

pyridoxamine): Nerve damage to the limbs, which may cause numbness, trouble walking, and pain.

• C (ascorbic acid): Upset stomach, kid-ney stones, increased iron absorption.

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HanumanjiSita Ram everyone. My name is Kelly

Heeralall and I am a proud member of the Naujavaan Mandalee Youth

Group of the Shaanti Bhavan Mandir. Hanuman Jayanti was celebrated on

April 4. This is the day to worship the lord who devoted his entire life to Lord Rama. Hanuman is known to be the most popular devata in our culture. That is for many reasons. The character of Hanu-man teaches us of the unlimited power that lies unused within each one of us. Hanuman directed all his energies to-wards the worship of Lord Rama, and his undying devotion made him such that he became free from all physical fatigue. Ha-numan’s only desire was to go on serving Rama. Hanuman perfectly exemplifies ‘Dasyabhava’ devotion — one of the nine types of devotions that bond the master and the servant. His greatness lies in his complete merger with his Lord which also formed the base of his genial qualities. This Hanuman Jayanti we should all be-come like Hanuman. He is one of the Hin-du gods we should look up to. He shows us that when we really want to achieve something you need to go for it. You can’t sit around and think.

Hanuman went a far way to look for mother Sita. That took a lot of determi-nation and strength. Today in the world there is too much chaos - murders, sui-cide, planning attacks etc. We didn’t come into the world to do this. Our world is collapsing right in front of our eyes. We came to fulfill god’s work. That doesn’t mean only praying and doing puja. Doing god’s work comes in many forms. One form is seva, which means helping others without asking anything in return. Ha-numan demonstrates this action. When Lakshmana was in trouble, Hanuman brought the entire mountain to save his life yet he never seeks anything in return. We shouldn’t only think about ourselves and the wealth we have. Hanuman who possesses all the strengths and power only used it when others were in trouble. Today we have people in the world who use their power to hurt others. Hanuman Jayanti will be the perfect time to destroy all the bad qualities we have within us. Let’s try to make this Hanuman Jayan-ti more pure. Hanuman is the mentor in our lives. He has all pure qualities. Let’s try to be like him. Let us be determined, have a pure mind, and have the strength

to concur anything. This Hanuman Jayan-ti, prayers will help to bring him closer to us. As Gandhi says “We must become the change we want to see”. If we really want to see change in the world, we must first change ourselves to be better. With prayers and positive actions we can stop all the negativity in the world. Remem-ber hanuman Jayanti is not only on one specific day, it is every day. Every day we should try to grow closer to Hanuman and try to be more like him.

We face many challenges every day. Life will not be completed without chal-lenges. Challenges will make us more determined and give us more strength to fulfill our tasks. God doesn’t look at what you have. He only looks for a pure heart and mind. As I said, you don’t need to give him the most precious thing to seek his love. There are many other ways to seek his blessings and love. Giving a smile to others and helping others. Hanuman faced many challenges in his life. He was naughty but his mentor was Surya who helped him became strong and deter-mined. We all need great mentors. Great mentors and gurus will guide and teach us to be righteous.

COPS CLEAR COPSReport urges Williams to

reprimand police for total po-licing exercise but..

The police investigation into the March 23 “day of total po-licing”, which caused nation-wide traffic jams and outrage, has found the events of that day were not linked to pro-tracted wage negotiations and officers involved committed no criminal act.

One of the recommenda-tions contained in a report of the findings, however, is that acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams call all divi-sional and station commanders and remind them of their du-ties, as well as reprimand them for the day of exercises.

On the morning of Monday, March 23, police officers set up multiple road blocks along high-ways and major roads, resulting in massive traffic jams, flight de-lays, school disruptions and the loss of millions of dollars by the business community.

Inspectors, assistant su-perintendents and superin-tendents were subsequently stripped of their power to initi-ate road block exercises.

At the police’s weekly news briefing yesterday, Williams re-vealed a report on the incident identified certain “disciplinary breaches” with respect to the commands given by the heads of divisions and stations.

He said Assistant Commis-sioner Vincel Edwards submitted the report to him on Tuesday, but it will not be made public.

Six divisions were identified in the report, Williams noted.

“The investigator has re-ported prima facie there is the issue of disciplinary breach,

and he has identified the di-visional commanders in the various areas for which the road exercises were conducted and some of the station com-manders who may be subject to issues around discipline,” Williams pointed out.

Asked if the report touched on the link between the “day of policing” and wage negotia-tions, Williams said there was no evidence to support that connection.

As to what disciplinary mea-sures can be taken against the officers involved, Williams said: “As the head of the organisa-tion I cannot pronounce on a matter like this unless the mat-ter is investigated consistent with the Police Service regula-tions. The regulations has laid out a whole list of procedures to be followed in pursuing mat-ters of discipline.

“Following the laid-out reg-ulatory proce dure the ultimate authority for imposing sanc-tions is that of the CoP, and that is where I sit, at the end of the process,” he stated.

Williams said the report has also identified “some revealing facts and gaps” with regard to police procedures.

He said the Police Service will be moving swiftly to im-prove its policies, procedures and systems to ensure there is no recurrence of the events of March 23.

“The gap had to do with the implementation at the lowest level. That is the gap we have to effectively bridge to ensure that whatever you communi-cate from the level of the ex-ecutive goes straight through the organisation in the form to

be implemented and executed consistent with whatever is your projected mandate,” Wil-liams said.

“We want to give the pub-lic the clear assurance that it’s never the intention of the Police Service to disrupt the smooth flow of traffic or dis-rupt the operations within the country,” he said.

Although describing the “day of total policing” as a bril-liant concept which has been effective in reducing the num-ber of serious crimes over the past year, Williams admitted the results of the event did not “turn out to be brilliant”.

“Day of total policing”will not be abandonedWilliams said the “day of

total policing” was carried out throughout 2014 and has been carried out in divisions, sections, branches without dis-ruptions.

“It’s not something that was introduced as fresh and new on that particular day (March 23),” he said.

“Total policing day has been carried out in 2015 on many other days other than that Monday, and we did not have the disruptions. So total polic-ing day is not abandoned,” he said.

He added: “We are truly realising a level of reduction, and it is that reduction that we would not be backing off from by changing our strategies and initiatives. We will be revisiting and improving our strategies and initiatives. We have real-ised a 27.8 per cent reduction in serious crimes in 2015 com-pared to the same period last year.”


(March 21-April 19)Monday and Tuesday are ‘watch-ing the paint dry’ days: slow, meditative, odd. Lift your gaze

from your navel as necessary, but don’t expect to be shaken out of this state until Wednesday. The start of the week, in a way, is like the slowly ticking buildup to a roller coaster’s highest drop, and Wednesday is the exhilarating beginning of a three-day-long rush. You’re in the front car of the coaster, but each turn still surprises you. This weekend, the ride might change, but you never actually slow down. Your friends and your career figure strongly.

ARIES(April 20-May 20)Things couldn’t be richer than they are on Monday and Tuesday. When did your life become a soap opera?

And who would’ve thought you’d be traipsing around in a Groucho Marx disguise? The passion and in-trigue deflate a bit by Wednesday -- thank goodness -- but it still takes some effort to be philosophical about everything afoot. Thursday and Friday, don’t be too righteous (why insist that you’re correct when you’re merely pretty sure?) and avoid any tantalizing risks. Saturday and Sunday, getting out of town may be in the stars. Brilliant idea.

TAURUS(May 21-June 20)Like a miner walking into a tun-nel with a headlamp on, you keep coming across fascinating, glittering

things. When you let yourself fully explore something you’re interested in, you also discover a lot about yourself. A partner joins arms with you on Wednesday and sticks by your side through Thursday and Friday -- not that sticking by your side is hard, what with all the fun you’re having. But, gosh, it’s more fun with company. This weekend, after such a socially copa-cetic week, your interactions with other people are awkward. Encourage your friends to be honest about what’s bugging them.

GEMINI

(June 21-July 22)The ups and downs on Monday and Tuesday are enough to make

your stomach feel funny. The challenge, in spite of what you’re feeling, is to remain alert to the details, especially in regard to legal documents, which are hard to change. Wednesday through Friday offer you, gloriously, plenty of time to relax, while ambient music plays in the background. Though that won’t solve the conundrums you’re facing, it will certainly make contemplating life’s complexities more enjoy-able. Saturday and Sunday, if you don’t feel like going out, don’t.

CANCER(July 23-Aug. 22)What’s apparent to everyone, what’s happening on the surface, doesn’t

exactly add up on Monday and Tuesday. Because you have reason to suspect something weird is afoot, either in your family life or your work life, you’re on guard. By Wednesday, though, the weirdness sorts itself out or (even better) becomes irrelevant, and the part of your brain that was focused on warding things off concen-trates instead on drawing someone close (possibly a romantic interest). Oh, happy day! The romance theme persists through Friday. Your weekend is about helping others.

LEO(Aug. 23-Sept. 22)The secret to becoming brilliant in a certain field is never to be

embarrassed about what a dork the subject turns you into. Monday and Tuesday, devote your mind to what you love. If that’s quantum physics, by all means, wear your quantum physics nerdiness proudly. Talk about nothing else. If only you could give over the whole week to what you care about! A family obligation gets in the way of that on Wednesday, and a host of re-sponsibilities frustratingly distracts you on Thursday and Friday. But this weekend? This weekend can be quantum physics all day, if that’s what you want.

VIRGO

LIBRA(Sept. 23-Oct. 22)You’re constantly reaching into your pocket on Monday, in a way

that makes you nervous. Where is all of your money going? Can the leak in this dam be plugged? Yes, it can, and on Tuesday, you set about doing just that. A finger plugging the hole isn’t going to cut it. It’s time to consider anew what you value. Wednesday through Friday is a wonderful, happy pe-riod -- you’ve found a way to express yourself, and it’s liberating. But this weekend, you’re beset by a case of bluesy nostalgia. Try to avoid your more domineering acquaintances.

(Oct. 23-Nov. 21)You feel, on Monday and Tuesday, like a baby chick just breaking out of an egg. You’re at the edge of a

whole new world. The exact nature of this rebirth is unclear, but it’s safe to say that it produces a vertig-inous feeling in you on Wednesday. Though you’re not rudderless, this odd sensation makes you feel as if you’re wandering aimlessly. Then, on Thursday and Friday, you’re especially susceptible to other people’s crazy ideas. You begin to sort out what it all means this weekend. Make plans, and then take steps toward implementing them.

SCORPIO SAGITTARIUS(Nov. 22-Dec. 21)Your dreams are a major preoccu-pation on Monday and Tuesday, but rather than thinking of them as a

distraction from the narrative of your life, imagine them to be enriching, valuable and instructive. An extreme-ly active subconscious is in the stars for you, as is the desire to be alone. That works out beautifully, because Wednesday through Friday, you’re the polar opposite of alone: You have to hold your hands above your head because so many people are crowding around you. On Saturday and Sunday, strive to let your creative impulses take priority.

PISCES(Dec. 22-Jan. 19)Not only are you on good terms with all of your friends, you’re in

a good position professionally and financially. From where you stand, you can see a great future ahead of you. Monday and Tuesday are good days to make ma-jor decisions. Then comes Wednesday, which is the beginning of full-tilt madness. Your mind is racing, and discipline, which is absolutely necessary, doesn’t come easily. Expect this to last until Friday. The weekend returns you to that ‘standing on a hilltop’ mood. You’ll have the stamina and drive to achieve what you want.

(Jan. 20-Feb. 18)You’re in first gear all day Monday and well into Tuesday. A connec-

tion to your deeper self is slowing you down, mostly because it’s making you feel a bit vulnerable, although there’s no reason why it should. It might be helpful to do something socially useful. Wednesday through Fri-day, the anxiety drops away, and what you’re left with is a beautiful sense of your own talents and goals. Plus, it just so happens that you’re in a crowd of people who would be happy to discuss these things with you. This weekend, however, it’s back to first gear. That’s totally normal.

AQUARIUS(Feb. 19-March 20) Rather than swim into dark waters where sharks could be lurking be-yond your field of vision, how about

opting for the kiddie pool on Monday and Tuesday? Stick to what you know. This whole week requires your attention and focus -- Wednesday through Friday, a difference of opinion is not the end of the world, it’s just an opportunity to articulate your way of looking at something. However, this weekend is easy. A friend does a favor for you that you barely have to ask for, which demonstrates both their virtues and yours.

CAPRICORN

The weekly horoscopes are updated on every week to gives you an in-depth insight into your family, your love life, any career opportunities, friends and money issues.WEEKLY HOROSCOPE

It’s how you rIse from a fall that truly defInes you as a person — Vp premIer


Entertainment NewsTaylor Swift & Calvin Harris:

Her Texts That Made Him Melt

Taylor obviously has a way with words — come on, we can ALL re-late to her song lyrics — and she’s

started using that skill in her love life! In fact, after first connecting with her new man, Calvin Harris, in Feb. 2015, she managed to really woo him via text mes-sage, a new report claims.

Let’s hope Taylor Swift, 25, isn’t using up all her best songwriting material in ro-mantic messages to her boyfriend, Calvin Harris, 31. Even though their relationship is new, work has already kept Taylor and Calvin apart, but she’s managed to keep things steamy with the help of flirty and well-worded texts!

Calvin Harris & Taylor Swift Text Mes-sages: Her Words Made Him Melt

Despite meeting more than once over the years, Taylor and Calvin didn’t truly connect until the BRIT Awards in Feb-ruary, where they were first spotted in-dulging in some major PDA. And while they’ve been seen getting cozy together on several occasions since, they’ve also managed to keep things interesting while apart.

“She’s very charismatic on her phone. She texts him a lot,” Us Weekly reports of the “Style” singer.

Considering Taylor has won fans over for years thanks to witty, relatable song lyrics, it’s no surprise that she’s been able to win Calvin over with her words, too!

Taylor Swift & Calvin Harris: Stressing About Being Apart As Love Heats Up

Hopefully Taylor will be able to keep up her charming ways over text, because in less than a month, her 1989 World Tour begins, and she’ll likely be seeing a lot

less of Calvin.“Taylor’s already stressing about how

hard it’s going to be to spend so much time away from Calvin when she goes on tour,” a source told HollywoodLife.com EXCLUSIVELY. “He’s super busy with his own gigs, but she’s trying to lock him down for when he’s going to come see her.”

Busy schedules have been a problem for Taylor in past relationships — so here’s to hoping she can make it work this time!

What do you think, HollywoodLifers? Will Taylor be able to keep Calvin inter-ested with her texts once she goes on tour this summer?

Ayushmann Khurrana turns ambassador for charity cause

Actor Ayushmann Khurrana has turned ambassador for the second edition of Wings For Life World

Run, a charity event to support those with spinal cord injuries.

On May 3, thousands of runners will participate in a unique run that will take place, simultaneously, across six conti-nents, and 35 countries.

In India, the run will kick off at 4:30 pm local time in Gurgaon. It is being organ-ised under the aegis of Government of Haryana and the Haryana Olympics As-sociation.

"Participating in the world run is a great opportunity for everyone around the globe to come together for one pur-pose, running for those who can't. This is for an excellent cause and I'm thrilled to be associated with Wings For Life. I'm also looking forward to running myself," Ayushmann said.

"I have my own back story as I was flat-footed in my childhood and it used

to be difficult for me to run. I had to get treatment and wear certain kind of shoes for that," the actor said.

Wings for Life is a non-profit research foundation established in 2004 which supports and finances research and clin-ical trials across the world aimed at heal-ing the injured spinal cord.

Abhishek Bachchan begins shooting for 'Hera Phera 3'

Actor Abhishek Bachchan has be-gun shooting for the third install-ment of hit comedy franchise Hera

Pheri today.Abhishek, 36, took to Twitter to share

the news with his fans. "Hera Pheri shoot day 1. Here we go... #GoForIt, [sic]" the Guru actor tweeted.

The film, a follow-up to Hera Pheri and Phir Hera Pheri, will not see Akshay Ku-mar, who will be replaced by John Abra-ham.

John, Abhishek and veteran comedian Kader Khan are the new additions in the franchise. The other two actors, Paresh Rawal and Sunil Shetty are reprising their famous characters in Hera Pheri 3. The movie will be directed by Neeraj Vohra, who also helmed the second installment.

This is the third time Abhishek and John are working together, after Dhoom and Dostana, where they pretended to be gay lovers.

The movie is scheduled to release on December 18.

Tom Cruise hasn't seen daughter Suri in over a year

Tom Cruise, who was earlier "count-ing hours" to meet his and former partner Katie Holmes' 8-year-old

daughter Suri, while shooting for 'Mission Impossible 5' in London, has reportedly not met her, despite being on a 2-week break from his "busy" schedule.

Sources claimed that the 52-year-old actor's rep's statement that Cruise has seen his daughter plenty, but on the down low to shield her from cameras, is not true, adding that he's just not been a part of her life, TMZ.com reported.

It has been rumoured that Cruise has been avoiding Holmes and Suri after they were declared 'Suppressive persons' (SPs) in Scientology, but the Church said that that is not true.

Mariah Carey teams up with rumoured beau Brett Ratner for 'Christmas-themed' movie

Mariah Carey is set to star in an upcoming, untitled movie cen-tered around Christmas, based

on a theme related to music and her ru-moured boyfriend Brett Ratner is co-pro-ducing the project.

The 45-year old actress, who had her-self pitched the exciting idea to her friend Ratner, will be playing a "major role" in the film that will also include Carey's clas-sic holiday songs along with music from other artists, E! Online reported.

The plot of the project has not yet been revealed but it is known that it will be re-

lated to Christmas and portray how the power of music transports a person back in time, to their truest and most authentic feelings.


Technology in the wrong hands can overwhelm human

Scarlett Johansson, who was last seen in sci-fi flick Lucy, is all too aware about the dangers of tech-

nology running amok. In a recent interview to the media, Jo-

hansson, who will next be seen in Aveng-ers: Age of Ultron, reportedly said, "Since Captain America: The Winter Soldier, we've started to contemplate the reality of the future of technology or even just the technology that we're dealing with right now."

"The idea is that technology in the wrong hands can totally overwhelm hu-manity in a sense and overtake us. It's not

that this film goes too far down the sci-fi realm but it definitely asks the question of whether or not the human race knows what's right for it. Do we know how to govern ourselves? Are we capable of continuing to thrive or do we need to be governed by something else? Something that sees a better way or a fairer way or a more sustainable way for us. That's what we're looking at in this film and I don't think it's that far off. Maybe I'm just like a conspiracy theorist but I think certainly we're probably unaware of the decisions that are being made for us by greater powers that be."

Salman Khan booked for assault and robbery

While Salman Khan is still em-broiled in the ongoing case of black buck poaching and hit-

and-run, the actor has now got himself entangled in a new controversy. Appar-ently, an activist named Ravindra Dwivedi has accused the superstar of robbing him off his documents and also abusing him.

According to Dwivedi, when he board-ed the Jet Airways, Mumbai-Delhi flight on November 4, 2014, Salman Khan used his bodyguards to intimidate him. He further accused the superstar of ver-bally abusing him and also claimed that he even snatched away some important documents that had the information on the death of BJP Leader Gopinath Munde. Also, Dwivedi maintained that he ap-proached the Airport authorities to file a complaint against Salman Khan's be-havior and alleged that they too did not co-operate with him. Hence, he decided to move to the court against the actor's behavior.

However, after tracking down the de-velopments over three months, the And-heri Metropolitan magistrate not only ordered an investigation into the matter and asked the police officials who failed to register the complaint, to register an

FIR under section 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (Intention-al insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation) and 392 (Punishment for robbery) and even ordered the Airport officials to register the complaint at the earliest.

Shahid Kapoor to marry Mira Rajput in Bali?BollywoodLife has some scoop on

the Haider actor’s much talked about wedding and it’s something

that shouldn’t be missed!The whole wide world knows by now

that Shahid Kapoor is soon going to marry Delhi-based girl Mira Rajput by the end of this year. But what many of you might not know is that the couple are planning a destination wedding for themselves. BollywoodLife has EXCLU-SIVELY learnt that the wedding nuptials of Shahid and Mira are going to take place in the beautiful island of Bali.

“It is going to be a destination wedding for Shahid and Mira. Discussions in the families are on and most probably it’s going to be Bali where the couple will exchange the vows,” a source EXCLU-SIVELY revealed to BollywoodLife.

And with so much scrutiny around their marriage, Shahid and Mira and

their families want it to be a low key af-fair. “It’s not going to be a grand affair. Only relatives and their close friends will be invited for the wedding,” adds the source.

Incidentally, Shahid recently finished shooting for Shandaar, which is also revolves around the concept of desti-nation weddings. The film also stars Alia Bhatt as the female lead.

Several reports stated that the wed-ding, which was going to take place in December has been preponed to June. “Those reports might be false. Because according to the banter going on in their friends circle, December is going to be the month of their shaadi,” the source further says.

Well, that’s all the scoop I have on Shahid-Mira wedding for now. Keep watching this space for all the latest goss on this marriage.


Kiran Rao goes gaga over Aamir's look in 'Dangal'

Kiran Rao has already seen some of the look tests of her husband,

actor Aamir Khan for the up-coming biopic Dangal and she is floored.

The filmmaker, who mo-tivated Aamir to turn vegan for his character in the film, is now looking forward to the film which she calls special.

"I liked it (Aamir's look in Dangal) very much. He is not fully there yet but whatever look tests we have seen so far he is looking very good," Kiran told reporters here

during the special screen-ing of Shonali Bose's film Margarita With A Straw that she hosted along with Aamir.

"This story is very spe-cial and also his charac-ter. It is something new for him," she added.

Dangal is said to be based on the life of wres-tler Mahavir Phogat and Aamir is really working hard on his physique to get into the character.

The film will go on the floors soon.

Well-settled' LiLo expresses desire to date businessman

Lindsay Lohan down with Chikun-gunyaLindsay Lohan accused of pho-toshopping imagesLindsay Lohan

flashes skin in unbuttoned jumpsuitLind-say Lohan won't date anyone from show businessLindsay Lohan battles Chikun-gunya virus while on vacation

Lindsay Lohan has revealed that after focusing on her career for so long she now wishes to date a businessman.

The 'Mean Girls' actress said in an in-terview that in her recent years she was so focused on her career that she didn't really thought of dating someone, but now she wants a man not in show busi-ness, E! Online reported.

The 28-year-old actress also added that for now she enjoys being single and experiencing everything about single-hood.

Shah Rukh Khan’s son AbRam makes his debut on the small

screen

Indian Premiere League season 8 start-ed with boring pomp and show. Nei-ther Hrithik Roshan, Shahid Kapoor

nor Anushka Sharma could spice up the opening ceremony. But it seems some-one is compensating for their lackluster performances with his cuteness and this awesome video straight from Eden Gar-dens is a proof of that. It is AbRam who is adding all the sparkle to the tournament.

Shah Rukh Khan may have skipped the opening ceremony, but he was there at the Eden Gardens to support his team Kolkata Knight Riders’ first match against Mumbai Indians this season. All the while he had baby AbRam tucked neatly around him. But guess Shah Rukh decided to give his little son some room for exploration and this video came into being.

AbRam is seen having a great time playing with water bottles with atten-dants running helter-skelter to rein him in. This definitely is the cutest video of the kid ever. He charmed one and all and was talked about more than KKR’s 7 wicket win over Mumbai Indians and even Shah Rukh Khan! Well, when you have a charmer of a father, you cannot help but enchant one and all.


Caribbean Connections

Talks between Obama and CARICOM leaders to focus on energy and security

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Tuesday April 7, 2015, CMC – Energy and secu-rity will dominate the discussions

between Caribbean Community (CAR-ICOM) leaders and United States Presi-dent Barack Obama during their summit here on Thursday, the senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Ricardo Zu-niga said Tuesday.

Speaking at a White House media brief-ing, Zuniga described plans for the meet-ing as a practical agenda to continue work already started.

“With the CARICOM leaders we are going to speak about some issues that we dealt with to a significant degree al-ready, including security and cooperation through the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative,” he said, adding that the fol-lowing the meeting earlier this year with US Vice President Joe Biden, “energy se-curity and our shared efforts to promote a more diverse, cleaner and more sus-tainable energy future for the Caribbean will be discussed”.

Obama, who is travelling to Panama for the Summit of the Americas over the weekend, will meet with CARICOM lead-ers at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI).

The prime ministers of Barbados, Dominica and Trinidad and Tobago will address the summit on the topics Com-petitiveness/Prosperity, Renewable En-ergy and Security respectively.

US Deputy National Security Advi-sor for Strategic Communications, Ben Rhodes said concerns raised by region-al leaders about the continued absence of Cuba from previous Summits of the Americas had influenced the US’ decision to improve diplomatic relations with Ha-vana.

Rhodes said improved US-Cuba rela-tions should reduce impediments to bet-ter engaging the hemisphere. Cuba will attend its first Summit of the Americas in Panama.

“Frankly it made no sense that the Unit-ed States consistently made the decision to isolate ourselves from the rest of the Americas because we were clinging to a policy that wasn’t working.

“Some of the critics of our approach said if we just stuck it out for a few more years, the sanctions would achieve their desired effects, but that is not we saw …. And part of the reason why, is that we were not joined in imposing those sanc-tions by any other country, because no other country agreed with our approach,” Rhodes said.

During his bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, Jamaica’s debt will be among matters to be dis-cussed.

Obama will become the first US presi-dent to visit Jamaica since 1982 and Zuni-ga said “we’ll have an opportunity to speak with Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller about our strong support for Jamaica’s work to deal with debt crisis, a fiscal cri-sis…..and its strong performance in work-ing with the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and others to address that.

Following his summit with region-al leaders, President Obama will have a town hall meeting with young leaders from across the Caribbean.

“This is similar to the types of events you see him do in South-East Asia and Africa where he will be able to focus on our commitment to partner with the youths of the region.

“Then there will be a wreath laying ceremony and then we will depart from Kingston that night,” Rhodes added.

Newly elected St. Kitts-Nevis Prime Minister Dr. Timothy Harris, who will be attending his first regional summit since his election last February, said he was looking forward to the meeting as it will give the region a further boost in its rela-tionship with the United States.

“This is an important summit. Presi-dent Obama by coming to us is signal-ling the continuing interest of the USA in constructive engagement in the Caribbe-an. The areas which seem most profitable relate to security, renewable energy and the competitiveness of the region. We look forward to more concrete outcomes and deliverables,” he added.

Regional leaders will meet in caucus on Wednesday prior to the summit with President Obama.

Grenada media worker drowns attempting to save daughter’s life

ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada, Tuesday April 7, 2015, CMC – The technical director of the Government Infor-

mation Service (GIS) Hildebrand James drowned on Sunday night as he attempt-ed to save his daughter and a friend at the Guallas Beach in the parish of St David.

“We are mourning the loss of Hildeb-rand James, our technical director and longstanding member of the Government Information Service family. Hill drowned at sea…in what sources describe as a he-roic act, trying to save some persons who were in difficulty,” Parliamentary Secre-tary for Information in the Office of the Prime Minister, Winston Garraway, wrote on the social network, Facebook.

A statement issued by the GIS noted that “Hildebrand’s work at Government Information Service has transcended governments, and he was a valuable member of the team, rising through the ranks over the years”.

GIS director Rawle Titus said “our op-erations here at GIS will never be the same. Our most profound sympathy goes out to his family and friends. We stand

with you during this very difficult time and we will do what we can here to hon-our his memory”.

James was also a musician and song-writer and played with the local group, Rhydum Mix.

“We’ve lost a brother but your spirit will live on….we going to remember all the good times, we will keep your mem-ory alive,” the band members wrote on their Facebook site.

James, 45, is survived by his wife and three children.

The Technical Director Of The Government Information Service (Gis) Hildebrand James Drowned On Sunday Night.

Obama Clean-up angerVendors furious about their stalls being demolished

PREPARATIONS for this week's vis-it of US President Barack Obama have triggered anger among street

vendors in sections of the capital city as their stalls have been destroyed.

"We understand that they have to be fixing up areas where Obama will be trav-elling, but what they are doing to us is unfair," said 67-year-old Claudette Reid who sells crabs at National Heroes Circle.

"Is more than 40 years I have been sell-ing right here so. Is through this selling I was able to send all of my children to school. Imagine, the Queen come here and them never remove wi, the Prince

also come and we were allowed to stay, so why now?" said the distraught woman.

She was supported by several other angry vendors who said they, too, were affected by the demolition that was car-ried out Sunday night.

Obama, who is scheduled to arrive in the island Wednesday, is to lay a wreath at the Cenotaph in National Heroes Park on Thursday evening, his final assignment before departing for Panama to attend the Seventh Summit of the Americas.

In Rae Town, vendors expressed anger at the demolition.

"Just a day ago (Sunday) we were con-

Vendors who ply their trade at National Heroes Circle pick up what is left of their stalls destroyed by authorities Sunday night. (PHOTO: BRYAN CUMMINGS)


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CARIBBEAN360JANUARY 26, 201517211Judges hitting wooden gavel in courtroomR

Six dead in Haiti following heavy rains and severe floodingPORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti,

Tuesday April 7, 2015, CMC – At least six peo-

ple have died and several thou-sand homes flooded as Haiti’s rainy season continues to bring suffering on the people of this French-speaking Carib-bean Community (CARICOM) country.

The Directorate of Civil Pro-tection and Interior Ministry said the rains have also result-ed in 245 families being relo-cated and 8,379 homes being flooded as a result of overflow-ing rivers in recent days.

Three of the deaths occurred in Cite Soleil, a district of Port-au-Prince and three others in Delmas, and Carrefour.

Interior Minister Ariel Henry said the district of Grand Anse

in the south is also worrisome because it has been raining since March 30. Resulting in more than 390 homes being flooded with 16 being totally destroyed,.

“We have taken steps to mobilize resources to help the affected populations,” Henry said, urging people residing in vulnerable areas to be vigilant to prevent other human and material losses.

The rains come at a time when Haiti is still dealing with the outbreak of Cholera that has resulted in 8,000 deaths and 750,000 cases since 2010.

Since December last year, 86 people are reported to have died from the disease which thrives in water.

Two dead in suspected murder suicide on cruise

ship in Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Sunday April 5, 2015, CMC – Investigations are being conducted into a suspected

case of murder suicide after an unidenti-fied couple was found dead on Thursday in the cabin of a cruise ship – Holland America.

In a statement, Holland America said the cleaning staff discovered the middle aged couple, from Cleveland, Ohio, in their cabin at 11:30am (local) time after the MS Ryndam stopped here during a 14 day southern Caribbean cruise that stat-ed in Tampa, Florida on March 29.

According to Holland America, the “cabin was immediately secured” and that authorities, including the FBI had been notified.

The MS Ryndam was scheduled to de-part here for the US Virgin Islands on the day the tragedy occurred.

tacted and told that we should remove the stalls until after the Obama visit," said one vendor, who asked not to be named out of fear that she would be pressured for talking to the media.

Another vendor, Alice Waugh, told the Jamaica Observer: "We don't know what to do; after so many years selling here all we got was a warning on Sunday that we must move or else. Just a day after the warning wi come see wi stalls flat."

Over at the Harbour View roundabout, one area which was once occupied by vendors was also empty.

"We were all told to pack up and go," said one vendor who identified herself as Sandra.

The clean-up operation was questioned in light of the fact that US and Jamai-can Government officials have said that Obama would be airlifted by helicopter from the Norman Manley International Airport to Up Park Camp from where he would travel by road to his hotel in New Kingston.

Yesterday, Town Clerk Robert Hill, when asked about the operations, said the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation was not responsible for all the works now taking place in the Corporate Area.

"The KSAC has been carrying out op-erations to remove vendors from the streets for some time now, so this is nothing new," said Hill.

"The KSAC is carrying out some of these operations, but we are not alone; there are other agencies also carrying out work to renovate the roadways and some sidewalks, so we cannot speak about all of the ongoing projects," Hill said.

In this file photo visa applicants wait to be processed at the United States Embassy in Kingston.


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United States President Barack Obama

US deports Trinidad national convicted of weapons violations

LAFAYETTE, United States, Sunday April 5, 2015, CMC – The

United States Immigration and Customs Enforce-ment’s (ICE) agency says a Trinidad and Tobago man who served nearly 10 years in US federal prison for illegally obtaining ma-chine guns and silencers in Florida has been deported to his native land.

ICE said that Clive L. Small, 80, was “removed from the United States” Wednesday.

He had been convicted in US District Court for the Southern District of Florida in August 2005 of conspiracy to possess ma-chine guns and firearm si-lencers, and possession of machine guns and firearm silencers.

ICE said Small was taken into immigration custody in February following his release from federal pris-on.

It said Small was previ-ously deported from the United States in 1998 as ordered by an immigra-tion judge but was paroled back into the country in 2004 to face the federal weapons charges.

“US Immigration and Customs Enforcement will continue to focus its removal resources on vi-olent criminals and other high-priority aliens who

pose the greatest threat to our communities,” said ERO New Orleans Field Office Director David Ri-vera.

ICE said since October 1, 2009, more than 720 foreign fugitives have been deported from the United States and re-turned to their countries to face serious crimes, in-cluding kidnapping, rape and murder.

Salim Bacchus freed on charge of murdering cop-after witness changes story

A Corentyne man, who was on trial in the High Court in Berbice for the murder of policeman Jirbahan Dianand is a free man

as the prosecution closed its case for the lack of evidence after its star witness changed his story.

The star witness was then dramatically arrest-ed by police on the ground that he committed perjury in the lower court

Salim Bacchus was set free hours after his trial started before Justice Franklyn Holder and a jury. State prosecutor attorney at law Natasha Backer closed her case following the changing story from key witness Aszim Shivgobin. Defence counsel Mark Waldron then made a no-case submission. The no- case submission was upheld by the Jus-tice Holder; after which the forewoman returned with a formal verdict of not guilty.

Shivgobin, 18 years old, of No. 76 Housing Scheme, who is also the nephew of Salim Bac-chus, was the first of thirteen witnesses called by the prosecution to give evidence.

The High Court trial heard that Shivgobin had told the lower court that he and his broth-er Azam and uncle Salim met officer Dianand at a restaurant opposite the National Insurance Scheme Corriverton branch. He also admitted to telling the magistrate that his uncle Salim had told Azam that he had $2.3 million dollars to pay the police. He further answered in the affirmative when it was suggested to him by the prosecution that he, his brother Azam and uncle Salim went to Moleson Creek to pay the officer the money. Shivgobin accepted the further suggestion put forward by the state that he had indeed told the magistrate that his uncle Salim went to the now deceased policeman in his motor car and he heard two shots after.

Aszim, who was 15 years old at the time, when

asked what date he had given the evidence said he could not recall. He was shown the original deposition and accepted that he had given the evidence on the 6th of December 2012; the day the preliminary inquiry began.

After clarifying that the witness would recall what was his testimony in the Springlands magis-trate’s court, State Prosecutor Backer quizzed the witness on if he was aware that the story he had given three years ago was different to the one given yesterday in court. He accepted that it was a different story.

When put to him by the prosecution that both stories could not be true and the one given yes-terday was the fable, Shivgobin boldly said “I was forced to tell that story because Sergeant John-son and Corporal Caesar tell me to say that Uncle Salim shoot the policeman and they gone charge me for murder, and I gone go to jail for the rest of my life… I came here today [yesterday] to speak the truth nobody force me to do so” he declared.

Under cross-examination, he maintained that he was forced by police to testify that his “uncle Salim killed the policeman”. He also stated during cross-examination, when he told the police he could not do it, they threatened to “charge him with murder and he would have to spend the rest of his life in prison”.

After Shivgobin finished testifying he took a seat in the audiences. As he exited the court room, he was arrested by police but not without resistance.

On September 14, 2012, Dianand was discov-ered dead in his car, at Jackson Creek, Corentyne, which was parked on a lonely road two miles from Moleson Creek. He had been shot twice. He sus-tained one wound to his forehead and the other below his left ear.


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I intend to improve the lot of Guyanese …or else I don’t want to be President, says Donald Ramotar

PRESIDENT Donald Ramotar last evening told Alexander Village res-idents, “I do not want to be Presi-

dent if I cannot do things to uplift the welfare of my people.”Speaking to the very large crowd that gathered at Third and Cross Streets in the village, he said over the last three years the Opposition had stifled development in the country. “Some $89B was cut from the budget in very important areas that were allocated to be spent to improve the welfare of the people. They set out to deliberately dam-age Guyana,” he said.

He continued to list benefits to be had from the Amaila Falls Hydro Project, and declared that this project was vital for the rapid growth of our economy and further development of Guyana. He said that with the return of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government, the hydro project would be high on the ad-ministration’s agenda.

The Head of State noted that in all as-pects of this project, “We will create new jobs. we will not be a Third World coun-try that is short of investments, where we will have cheap labour; but we will be able to attract the high-end investments because we will have a highly educated population (that is) capable of handling sophisticated equipment.”

President Ramotar noted that one ma-jor project that seeks to improve further the lifestyle of Guyanese through the de-velopment of the Tourism Sector is the expansion of the Cheddi Jagan Interna-tional Airport.

“In the 2013 budget the Opposition voted for the new airport and we started to build; and in 2014 they voted against

giving the money for airport expansion”, he noted. The President also spoke at length on the consequences the country will face because of the non-passage of the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Bill; he explained that the only people set to benefit from the non-passage of the bill were the criminals who are friends of the Opposition.

“The international community can blacklist your financial institutions. It is not accidental that they voted against the AML Bill because they have long standing relationship with criminals. These people do not care for development they only seek power. I do not want to be President if I cannot do things to uplift the welfare of my people,” he said.

President Ramotar noted that this is why “we have been investing in our peo-ple! We are the only country in the Re-gion where more than 30% of our budget goes to the social sector — to education, health, housing and water.”

President Ramotar highlighted all the achievements of the education sector, noting the recent $10,000 per child pro-gramme and the ongoing hot meals pro-gramme. He also noted the free textbook and exercise book distribution and the school uniform vouchers. These pro-grammes, he said, were all implemented to assist parents in having their children remain in school so that Guyana’s popu-lation would be an educated one.

He reassured farmers too that, under this Government, they will continue to benefit from a higher quality of life. “Not only will we continue to provide the so-cial services for you and your children, but for the sugar industry as well — the

industry that has been responsible for having all our people here. We will ensure the survival of this industry, and, over the next five years, we will invest a minimum of $20B for its survival.”

President Ramotar also disclosed plans for the rice industry. He noted: “We have not forgotten you, but have been fight-ing for you all along. We will continue to search for higher paying markets for our rice; we will work to create a system of price support to ensure our farmers have a more predictable and better standard of living,” he said.

He also spoke on the critical impor-tance and absolute imperative of the Specialty Hospital, and how vital it is for the Guyanese people.

The President noted too that “very soon I will be visiting the rig on our shores and Guyana will very soon be an oil and gas producing country. We are preparing our people for this by providing them with access to technical education.”

“We in the PPP/C have been stand-ing by you all these years, Stand by the PPP/C, and stand by me and let’s return the PPP/C to a majority Government,” President Ramotar urged his supporters.

By Rebecca Ganesh

President Ramotar in conversation last evening with villagers

Police looking at ‘persons of interest’ in death of schoolgirl Alicia Ali

Police on the East Coast are looking at some “persons of interest” as they continue their probe into the

death of schoolgirl Alicia Ali whose nude body was found on the seawall near Tur-keyen on March 25.

According to police sources, investiga-tors had questioned the girl’s relatives as well as a male friend but since then noth-ing new has happened. One source noted though that investigators have some per-sons they are looking at.

Stabroek News was unable to make contact with the teen’s relatives yester-day.

Circumstances surrounding the discov-ery of the girl’s body remain hazy, since the garments she was wearing at the time she went missing were not found, while her body bore visible marks of violence.

A post-mortem examination revealed that she died as a result of asphyxia due to drowning, compounded by a compres-sion injury to the neck and blunt trauma to the head.

The Campbellville Secondary student went missing after she was sent on an errand to a nearby shop at about 7 pm. Her mother then raised an alarm and was joined by friends who went in search of her. They came up empty handed.

Police later found a suicide note al-legedly written by the teen and addressed to her mother. Police officials have indi-cated that they have not ruled out sui-cide from the investigation although they were looking in the direction of a murder.

Alicia Ali

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Alex Rodriguez receives loud ovation in Yankee Stadium return

NEW YORK -- Alex Rodriguez re-ceived the loudest ovation of any Yankeesplayer during Open-

ing Day introductions as the fans pre-dominately cheered him in his return to Yankee Stadium, mostly drowning out the boos.

After missing all of 2014 because of his drug suspension, Rodriguez batted seventh in the lineup as New York’s des-ignated hitter Monday. He went 1-for-2 with a walk and, besides the loud ova-tions, was welcomed back with signs and chants during the Yankees’ 6-1 loss to the Blue Jays.

“I have to admit, it definitely felt good,” said Rodriguez, who last played in a reg-ular-season game in September 2013. “That’s for sure. I have a lot of love for the city of New York, especially our fans.

“But let’s make it clear -- the fans don’t owe me anything. I’ve said all along during spring training, the part of feeling like a rookie is I have to earn their cheers and their respect.”

Rodriguez, 39, called this Opening Day “probably the most special” one he has had ever experienced. His mother was in attendance.

“This is a special day for my family,” Rodriguez said. “It is a special day for my mother. I’m especially happy for her. I know she had some tears probably going into the day. Moms are moms.”

When Rodriguez stepped to the plate for the first time to lead off the bottom of the third inning, he received a thun-derous ovation, with many of the fans standing. There was a small group of fans who gave an “A-Rod” chant. He ended up

walking, becoming the Yankees’ first bas-erunner of the game.

During the top of the first, Yankee Stadium’s “Bleacher Creatures” includ-ed Rodriguez in their roll call. Normally, the fans located in right field only call out the Yankees’ fielders, chanting their names until each player acknowledges the crowd, and the DH usually is not in-cluded.

After the fans chanted his name, Rodri-guez tipped his cap from the top step of the dugout.

“I love our Bleacher Creatures,” Rodri-guez said. “I thought it was a pretty neat experience.”

In the left-field stands, a group of fans had letters that spelled out “#FORG1V3,” which has become a hashtag among Yan-

kees fans on Twitter after Derek Jeter’s “RE2PECT” dominated last year.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi has indi-cated he will use Rodriguez sparingly in the field this season. Girardi said he was not surprised by the reaction to Rodri-guez on Monday.

“I think we live in a forgiving society overall,” Girardi said. “We live in a society that gives people second and third chanc-es, fourth, fifth. I’ve seen it with some of the players when I was here early, who had a lot of chances and came back.”

Rodriguez last appeared in a regu-lar-season game on Sept. 25, 2013, during the appeal of his suspension. He only played a total of 44 games that sea-son. The three-time MVP had not played on Opening Day since 2012.

Rodriguez’s history with Yankees fans has been up and down; even when he was winning MVPs, he would hear boos when he did not come through.

Rodriguez completed spring training free of controversy and injuries. He hit enough -- .267 with three homers and four RBIs in 45 at-bats -- that Girardi singled Rodriguez out for how good he looked.

Rodriguez has three years and $61 million remaining on his contract with the Yankees. If he hits six more homers, he will tie Willie Mays for fourth place on the all-time list, which could be worth another $6 million. The Yankees have vowed to fight the bonus, as they plan to argue that it is worthless because of Rodriguez’s drug history.

Alex Rodriguez appeared in an Opening Day game Monday for the first time since 2012.

KKR begin title defense with win at homeKolkata Knight Riders 170 for 3

(Gambhir 57, Suryakumar 46, Pandey 40) beat Mumbai Indians 168 for 3 (Rohit 98*, Anderson 55*) by 7 wickets

We will be reminded time and again via highlights reel how the IPL is the breeding ground for

the best fielding in the known universe, but what will not be mentioned is that on the opening night of its eighth edition seven catches were dropped. Kolkata Knight Riders let three slip, Mumbai Indi-ans outdid them, and fittingly the defend-ing champions got their campaign off to a victorious start.

Morne Morkel was the one outstanding player on a night of otherwise unremark-able cricket, bowling four overs in one go for 18 runs and two wickets. That start from Morkel meant Mumbai were stifled for more than half of their innings, and despite the 88 they scored in the last six overs they were about 20 light. Helped by

the sloppy fielding and ineffective bowl-ing, Knight Riders were efficient in the chase with Gautam Gambhir scoring a fif-ty, and Manish Pandey and Suryakumar Yadav chipping in with forties.

Knight Riders, especially at home, have relied on their superior bowling if not necessarily to take wickets but at least to restrict sides and force them into making mistakes. Rohit Sharma, who scored 98 not out, was fluent right from the start, but Knight Riders were all over the rest of the top order. This was Rohit’s 10th fifty-plus score in an IPL defeat, the most by any batsman. Aaron Finch top-edged Morkel to put a brake on the runs. Aditya Tare chipped Shakib Al Hasan straight to long-off, neither looking to keep the ball down nor looking to hit a six. This wouldn’t be Tare’s last mistake on the night.

Tare’s wicket in the fifth over was a cue for Gambhir to go all out looking for wick-ets. Morkel bowled the sixth over with slips in place for Ambati Rayudu. Two

balls in, Rayudu obliged, edging a short-of-a-length delivery straight to first slip. The wicket-maiden made it 37 for 3 af-ter six. This is usually time when Knight Riders drive the nail in. They went to the returning Sunil Narine. He might not have looked as effective as he did with his old action, but this might be too early to pass judgement on that. His four overs still conceded only 28, playing an important part in keeping Mumbai down to 80 for 3 after at the end of the 14th over.

In the 15th over Rohit opened up, pun-ishing some gentle length bowling from Umesh Yadav. Anderson had already been dropped at deep midwicket by An-dre Russell. Rohit would soon be let off by wicketkeeper Robin Uthappa. In all the two batsmen would add a total of 60 runs since being dropped, but that was about to be overshadowed in the chase. If Mumbai carried any momentum from their finish, they lost it immediately with Tare dropping Gambhir for 1.

Uthappa was dropped too, but Ander-son made sure he didn’t cost Mumbai much. When Anderson next dropped somebody, it proved costlier. With Pand-ey chipping Harbhajan Singh down long-off, Anderson misjudged, rain in too far, and managed to get just one hand to it. Knight Riders were 74 for 1 in nine overs, this was the time when Mumbai would have hoped to sneak back in, but they kept letting it slip.

Gambhir kept hurting Mumbai, pun-ishing every error with the ball, of which there were quite a few with bowlers oth-er than Lasith Malinga and Vinay Kumar failing to stretch the batsmen. By the time Gambhir was dropped next, a tough chance off his own bowling by Harbha-jan, the ricochet took him to a four that brought up his fifty. They needed just 57 off 40 now, and if there were any nerves Suryakumar settled them with some clean flicks off the pads, two of them went all the way for six.


WICB reschedules Australia Tests

The West Indies Cricket Board has announced changes to the dates for the two-Test series between West Indies and Australia, with the

matches being advanced by two days.The first Test will now start on June 3 in Domini-

ca, while the second Test will be played from June 11 at Sabina Park in Jamaica. The three-day tour game, originally scheduled to begin on May 30 at North Sound, will now be played from May 27 to 29.

“We are fully aware that there are a number of fans planning to travel around and to the Caribbe-an for the Australia tour, and we want to explain to them that the change was absolutely necessary, due to a number of logistical challenges beyond our control,” WICB Manager, Cricket Operations Ro-land Holder said. The tour match and the two Tests between West Indies and Australia have been advanced by two days

IPL hopes to cure World Cup hangoverWithin ten days

after the World

Cup final, the IPL is

here. But one fac-

tor that will draw

Indian crowds in is

that after Austra-

lia and New Zea-

land, cricket is now

closer to the fans

Kolkata is under the spell of Kalboi-shaskhi jhor (thunder showers). But within 24 hours from now this grey,

besieged city will erupt in joyful techni-color as the eighth season of IPL starts at Eden Gardens with defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders playing Mumbai Indians. Seventy-thousand fans are like-ly to fill the majestic ground not just to watch the cricket, but also to sing and dance at a party to be hosted by Knight Riders owner and in-house DJ Shah Rukh Khan.

But in contrast to the past, the hype this time has been restrained, eclipsed by the build-up for the elections for the Kol-kata Municipal Corporation, which take place next week. Take a walk or a drive across Kolkata and you will see more fac-es of local politicians staring and reaching out from cut-outs hanging across the city than cricketers. Add to the fact that the IPL is being played so close to the World Cup and it might be heading to a damp squib. But IPL has faced bigger challeng-es before.

One factor that will draw crowds in is cricket is now close to the fans. The World Cup was played far away in Australia and New Zealand. A lot of those match-win-ners are now in the IPL. It would be a

great opportunity to watch the heroes in person.

But it is the stories and feats that will build the excitement. Will there be an al-most famous story that Sanjay Bangar’s Kings XI Punjab scripted by finishing run-ners-up last season? Riveting moments like Corey Anderson smashing Rajasthan Royals’ fast bowlers to capture an insur-mountable asking rate which forced the usually stoic Rahul Dravid to throw his cap in disgust as Mumbai Indians made the playoffs.

The new season has its own attrac-tions: Ricky Ponting enters the coaching arena for the first time as the head coach of Mumbai Indians. Would his team be the no-holds-barred outfits he led wear-ing the baggy green? Can Virat Kohli, back after a dominant season in the Test series in Australia in his first stint as In-dia’s captain, finally inspire Royal Chal-lengers Bangalore to their first IPL title? How many and what kind of records can Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Glenn Max-

well, Brendon McCullum break in a tour-nament that favours batting?

Theatre is a huge part of IPL’s fabric. One of the most controversial moments of IPL history was witnessed when a verbal tussle between Royal Challeng-ers’ Mitchell Starc and Mumbai’s Kieron Pollard virtually came close to physical blows. Starc threw the ball at Pollard who responded by flinging the bat in the di-rection of his opponent.

Even at the World Cup, sledging was one of the biggest talking points and the IPL is bound to witness more. As report-ed last week players want to sort the is-sue among themselves as far as possible without being suffocated by the match officials.

But would the new BCCI administration allow such leniency? Jagmohan Dalmiya, the BCCI president, even when he was the interim BCCI chief two years back when the corruption scandal broke, has always favored austerity. In his second stint as the BCCI head, Dalmiya wants to

get the focus back on cricket. His administration reportedly did not

want to spend too much on hiring very expensive A-list entertainers for the opening ceremony and instead set a re-stricted budget for the occasion. Proba-bly Dalmiya understands the real enter-tainment remains in the tournament. It is a place where both cricket and Bollywood come together.

Even the skeptic taxi driver is getting curious. He wants to know the big buys of this year’s auction. Who bought and dropped whom? How many matches are Kolkata playing at home in April?

Despite the weariness, the cart pull-er, the taxiwallah, the man on the street knows the IPL is here. The skies are clear. They know their team is the de-fending champion. Soon the addas and-kattas and local trains will be raging with debates about matches from around the country. The IPL might start on a muted note but the volume is only going to get louder by the day.

The IPL might start on a muted note but the volume is only going to get louder by the day © BCCI


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Let’s not jump to conclusions with Tanaka

Masahiro Tanaka’s elbow is like a car with a transmission that slips, and eventually the prob-

lem will need to be fixed. His partially torn ligament is not going to heal on its own, and presumably, the issue will eventually manifest, either with a more gradual tear or a full tear. Maybe that will happen in his next start, maybe it’ll be later the summer, maybe next year, maybe in five years. Nobody knows.

Tanaka had a four-inning outing and a loss against the Blue Jays on Monday, raising natural questions about his stuff and his velocity, and about whether his elbow is shot and the Yankees ought to

surrender to medical reality and schedule a surgery. But based on the pitch data, the answers aren’t necessarily clear yet.

The esteemed Jeff Sullivan was one of many who wrote about Tanaka’s per-ceived lack of trust in his fastball Mon-day, about how his hard-stuff percent-age dropped from 47 percent in 2014 to 35 percent Monday, counting his use of fastballs (32.9 percent) and cut fastballs (2.4 percent).

However, in his 18 starts prior to his injury last year, Tanaka had starts in which he threw a percentage of fast-balls right in that range, according to Fangraphs.

Muhammad Ali hasn’t made Mayweather-Pacquaio pick

Muhammad Ali wants to set the record straight: He has not picked Floyd Mayweather or

Manny Pacquiao, who are scheduled to meet in one of the biggest fights in box-ing history on May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

“It was reported that Muhammad Ali picked a favorite in the upcoming May-weather-Pacquiao fight on May 2. Mu-hammad Ali would like to wish both Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao well in their upcoming fight,” Ali family spokes-man Bob Gunnell said in a statement giv-en to ESPN.com on Thursday.

“Muhammad never offered to anyone his prediction, and information that was published earlier this week and picked up by other media is either a misquote or someone else’s personal opinion. The stories saying that Muhammad Ali has chosen a favorite in the fight are false.”

Earlier this week, TMZ quoted Rashe-da Ali, one of the heavyweight great’s daughters, as saying, “My dad is Team Pacquiao all the way!”

The quote was picked up by various media outlets and reported as being a quote from Ali, not his daughter, who claimed to have been misquoted.

“Muhammad has the utmost respect for both fighters, who will undoubtedly give boxing fans an incredible match,” Gun-nell said. “He believes the significance of this fight will rival other historic matches. Muhammad Ali will join the rest of the world on May 2 to watch this matchup.”

On Tuesday, Ali sought to set the re-cord straight on his Twitter feed.

Many view Mayweather-Pacquiao as the biggest fight in boxing since Ali’s first legendary fight for the heavyweight championship against Joe Frazier on March 8, 1971.

Trainer: Manny Pacquiao motivated by Floyd Mayweather’s past issues

Manny Pacquiao’s trainer says his boxer is especially motivated to beat Floyd Mayweather because

of Mayweather’s history of domestic vio-lence.

Freddie Roach, right, says Manny Pac-quiao’s “killer instinct is going to come back a lot faster” against Floyd Mayweath-er. hris Hyde/Getty Images

“Manny is really against domestic vio-lence,” Freddie Roach told USA Today on Tuesday. “It is a big issue maybe in the Philippines for him and being a congress-man he can control some of that stuff. That is a big plus for me that Manny does not like the guy, I think the killer instinct is going to come back a lot faster.”

Pacquiao and Mayweather are sched-uled to fight on May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Mayweather has a checkered past that

includes multiple brushes with the law. He was incarcerated in Las Vegas for two months in 2012 for a misdemeanor do-mestic battery case, in which Mayweath-er engaged in a hair-pulling, arm-twist-ing attack on his former girlfriend, Josie Harris, while two of their three children watched.

“It is really hard to say these things in public, but I know (Mayweather) is a bad guy,” Roach told USA Today.

“(I see the fight as) good against evil, yes. I have even thought about bringing a couple of the metro cops from Vegas in to tell Manny how many times (Mayweather) has been arrested and how bad of a guy he is, but I decided I can’t go that far. He already doesn’t like him; I think we are OK.

“For the first time in my life with Manny Pacquiao, this is the first fighter he hasn’t liked. I can tell.”

Vaughan, Stewart interested in England role

The England and Wales Cricket Board announced the new position on Wednesday as Paul Downton lost his

job as their managing director of cricket, with his current post also scrapped.

Vaughan, England’s 2005 Ashes-win-ning captain, was immediately linked with the new role, with the recently-installed ECB chief executive Tom Harrison eager to have Downton’s successor concentrate solely on cricket performance rather than administration.

This has led to the names of several for-mer England captains being touted for the job, with Vaughan and Stewart, currently Surrey’s director of cricket, both being mentioned.

But were Vaughan to take up the job he would have to put on hold his successful career as a media pundit and in his column for Thursday’s Daily Telegraph he said he would need to know more about the ECB’s intentions.

“It will take honesty and unity to make a change. In (incoming ECB chairman) Colin Graves and Tom Harrison we have a chance to change English cricket and ad-mit our problems,” Vaughan wrote.

“Let us finally do it. Stop looking at what your own county needs and ask what is best for English cricket moving forward and what is right for the England team to sustain a proper period of success.

“For the first time since retiring six years ago I am open to a conversation with the ECB. I am passionate about English crick-et. I love the game and I always want En-gland to move forward and be successful.

“I have a vision for the game and I think I will be one of many ex-players who will be more than willing to talk to the ECB to see what exactly the role is and how much in-fluence it will wield over the future struc-ture of our game.

“The brief has to be wider and more powerful than Paul’s to have any real im-pact on England.”

- Passionate -Stewart echoed Vaughan’s comments

by saying Thursday that he needed to know the job specification.

“The first question is what does the job entail? What is the job description?” said Stewart.

“I’ve always been passionate about En-gland and English cricket and if the ECB want to speak to me of course I’ll speak to them,” the former wicketkeeper-batsman added.

“It would certainly be a job, if it’s the right job, where you’d be silly not to listen to them.

“That’s not just me, that’s anybody with-in the game who feels they could make a difference at the top level.”

Former England wicketkeeper Down-ton’s 15 months at the ECB saw him play a key role in the highly controversial deci-sion to axe star batsman Kevin Pietersen from the national set-up after England’s 2013/14 Ashes whitewash in Australia.

Downton’s watch also coincided with England’s woeful performance in the re-cent World Cup in Australia and New Zea-land, where the team exited before the knockout phase.

This led to renewed criticism of En-gland coach Peter Moores, controversially brought back for a second stint in charge of the national side with Downton hailing him as the “coach of his generation”.

With Downton having gone, the spot-light is now on national selector James Whitaker ahead of England’s Test series in the West Indies, which starts in Antigua next week.

Graves’ comments that Pietersen could force his way back into the England set-up through sheer weight of county runs were seen as undermining Downton’s position.

Now South Africa-born Pietersen is preparing to take Graves at his word after re-signing with Surrey for the upcoming English county season.


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