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Vol 1. No 2 April 2007

Indo-Caribbean

TIMESTIMES

U.S. pulls the plug onGuyana visitor visasWill Canada be far behind?

Freed Panday upsets TT politicsAleem Ali- kidnapped and killed

Toronto businessman Mo Mohammed has-n’t slept for a week since he heard of the un-believably savage murder of his sister’s sonAleem Ali in Trinidad on March 28.

Mo is furious at the way 15 year oldAleem was dragged into a car kicking andscreaming from in front of the Five RiversSecondary School, and taken to his death inthe Tacarigua forest. His throat had beencut, he had been chopped many times, hisarms and legs had been cut off, his eyes hadbeen gouged out and his body had beenburned almost beyond recognition, saidMo.

“What is happening to Trinidad?” he

asked. “ It is incomprehensible why any-body could do this to a child. What has hedone to deserve this? Even in the animalkingdom we do not have this kind ofthing. This is beyond the animal kingdom.This has to be corrected.”

Ali, a Form Four student of the FiveRivers Junior Secondary School was lastseen alive by his mother Waheeda onMonday March 26. Waheeda, an em-ployee at the canteen at the same schoolher son attended, saw him at about 2.10pm on Monday, when she left to returnhome leaving him to return home later.When he failed to return home, checs were

made but Ali was not found. The body was found on Wednesday after-

noon in bushes at Upper St Michael Road,Tacarigua by forest rangers. It was badlyburnt and bore several chop wounds.

What Mo finds so unbelievable about theincident is that Aleem was reportedly takenin front of the school in mid-afternoon.Three persons pulled him into a car in fullview of many other students and carriedhim away to a gruesome death. It was aplanned operation and not a schoolboyfight. One of the people in the car is re-ported to have been a security guard.( SEE PAGE 3)

THE United States government has effec-tively put an end to Guyanese obtaining vis-itor or tourist visas to travel to America.

New regulations from the U.S. State De-partment say that residents of Guyana ap-plying for non-immigrant or tourists visasneed not bother to bring official documentslike land titles, job letters, invitation docu-ments from relatives overseas and evenbank statements. Too many of those docu-ments are phony, the embassy says.

Guyanese will have to convince the Cana-dian visa officers that they will not remainillegally in the States if they are allowed totravel. It means that visa officers will havetotal discretion on whether to grant or re-fuse the visa application.

It was not easy to get visitor (or holiday)visas before, as Guyana has one of the high-est rates of refusal in the world. Now it willbecome almost impossible to get a visitorvisa to go to the United States.

Guyanese are worried that Canada maytake similar steps to cut off the flow ofGuyanese visitors, since the Canadian ex-perience with visitor visas is similar to thatof the Americans. It’s already quite difficultto get visitor visas to come to Canada,

where there is a huge Guyanese immigrantpopulation of more than 200,000.The Americans feel the visa clampdownwas always in the cards given the level ofofficial corruption, warnings from Wash-ington about the failure of authorities todeal with Guyana's growing brigade of drugbarons, and the desire of so many to leavethis former British colony for so-calledgreener pastures in the United States.

"We simply don't have the time and re-sources to verify what is an authentic doc-ument or what is not," said Susan Tuller, thehead of the U.S. embassy consular sectionin this small South American nation of730,000, which is also home to the head-quarters of the 15-nation Caribbean Com-munity. "Applicants will simply have toimpress consular officers that they shouldbe granted a visa and that is as it should be."

For years, the mission with less then 20U.S. expatriate staffers, supported by localhires, says that it has simply been over-whelmed by the level of corruption in theform of forged documents to support appli-cations for tourist visas.

(CONTINUED ON PAGE 8)

Call it the mother of all comebacks.Against all the odds, veteran politician andformer prime minister Basdeo Panday hasreturned to the bandstand of Trinidad poli-tics. In the process he has completely upsetthe election plans of the two other politicalparties that hinged on him being a dis-graced, convicted criminal.

After the Trinidad and Tobago Court ofAppeal last month threw out Basdeo Pan-day’s 2005 criminal conviction and six yearjail term for failing to declare all his assets,Panday went on a mini rampage.

He boldly walked back into Parliament toclaim his Caroni North seat that had beenhurriedly declared vacant by HouseSpeaker Barry Sinanan even though Pan-day’s conviction had been appealed.Sinanan was helpless to stop him.

When Parliament opened the next time,Sinanan tried to persuade Panday to wait

befoer taking his place, while legal advicewas obtained from the High Court. Pandaysaw a ploy to delay his return and refused.

He declared his intention to take his seatand speak in Parliament, since his convic-tion had been quashed. There was no legalreason to delay his return.

The ruling Poeple’s National Movementsimply didn’t know what to do. The manwho had defeated their party three times ingeneral elections was knocking on the door.Rather than confront Panday or try to re-move hik physically from Parliament, thePNM simply shut down the House of Rep-resentatives and fled to the High Court forprotection. Score another one for Panday.

All the carefully contrived plans of thePNM for the election due this year are upin smoke. Prime Minister Manning wascounting on Panday being disabled in theelection campaign because of his positionas a disgraced “convict politician”. That isprobably gone, since there may not beenough time for Panday’s retrial to be com-pleted this year. Panday is known as themost fearsome vote getter in an electioncampaign, and can prevent Manning doinga cake walk towards a second term in of-fice.

The breakaway Congress of the People isnot happy at Panday’s return either. Theirplan was to scoop away several of the seatsheld by Panday’s United National Congresswhile Panday was politically injured. Thattoo is now looking like a pipe dream. Pan-day is back from the political grave yet an-other time. Love him or hate him, this isthe stuff of legend.

Basdeo Panday is back with a bang

Phagwa Parade inNew YorkPage 11

Ram & Ruby Ram’s RotiShop 1967Page 12

Toronto man protests murder of 15 yr old nephew in Trinidad

Panday:Racist plot tocrush me hasfailedPage 17

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK Indo-Caribbean Times April 2007 Page 2

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ADMISSION $10 per person (Children under 6 Free).For tickets and info call Deo at 416-798-2118, Shanti at 416-588-7827, Terry at 905-799-3494, Johnny at 416-897-1973.

People have beenthrowing hard ques-tions at me since thepublication of twokidnap horror storiesin the first issue ofIndo-Caribbean Times

showed the rape and abuse of In-dian women kidnap victims inTrinidad. What is wrong with thoseIndian men in Trinidad? How couldthey allow kidnappers to abuse ourwomen like that and do nothing?

There are plenty of angry Indo-Caribbeans in Canada (and in theUnited States too) who are as furi-ous at the kidnappers as they are atthe inaction of the Indian populationin Trinidad. Some have told me theycannot sleep in the night when theythink of how those vicious kidnap-pers are ravaging Indian businesspeople and abusing helpless Indianwomen.

The situation they lay out is simpleenough. A plague of kidnappers,who appear to be mostly black, aretargeting business people who aremostly Indian. An average ofaround 200 reported kidnappingshave happened over the last fiveyears, and maybe ten times as manyhave not been reported to the police.Tens of millions of dollars havebeen ripped away from the Indiankidnap victims, over a dozen havebeen killed. Many, if not all, of thewomen are sexually abused, andseveral victims like Vindra Naipaulare missing and believed dead.

The Ministry of National Securityand the Trinidad police have beenpathetically useless in slowing orstopping the kidnapping. Most ofthe Indian population now believesthat the police are involved in thekidnapping racket, and that somemembers of the police are helpingthe kidnappers and getting their cutof the ransoms. The bulk of the non-

Indian communities in Trinidad areindifferent or unsympathetic to theplight of the Indian kidnap victims.Some elements of the black com-munity actually seem to enjoy theravishing of the Indian communityby the kidnappers.

In short, the Indian community inTrinidad has no security from kid-nappers. The forces of law and orderare useless and hopeless. Indians arecowering and hiding like food fishwhile the kidnappers roam free likebarracudas. The Indian men are notdoing a single thing to defend theircommunity from these kidnappingcriminals, not a thing to save theirwomen from these kidnap rapist an-imals. These Indian men, who havebillions of dollars in assets, have noideas and no willpower aimed at de-fending their half a million strongcommunity. Why? Why? Why?What’s wrong with these Indianmen?

I have to tell people right awaythat I don’t know. Maybe 18 yearsaway from Trinidad is too long, sothat I don’t understand Trinidad as Idid in the eighties before I migrated.If any of my readers have a cleareridea why Trinidad men have been sopassive towards kidnapping, pleaseshare it. If anybody has any ideas ongetting the Trinidad men to wake upand act, please share it.

What I can say is that the behav-iour of Trinidad Indian men is un-natural and very scary. They aremembers of a society where they arebeing robbed of their life earnings,when they are being killed and prac-tically driven out of the country.When they see that the securityforces cannot or will not protectthem, they must conclude they haveno security. They have to take theirsecurity in their own hands and fightfor their lives, or they have to flee. Itcomes down to fight or flight.

Trinidad Indian men have chosento do neither, and that is really baf-fling. To my knowledge they are notanalyzing and studying kidnappingeither. They are not developing in-dependent plans and strategies todeal with the kidnapping. Incredibly,they still seem to be hoping the cor-rupt and incompetent Trinidad po-lice will suddenly change its natureand become effective after fiveyears of failure.

I have spoken to several Indo-Trinimen about kidnapping in the lastfew years and I am still baffled.When given the standard “describe,analyze and solve” formula they doa fair job or describing and analyz-ing the kidnapping crisis. They failutterly at the “solve” portion. I sug-gest that since the security positionis critical and the official securityforces have failed, Indians must thendo what is needed to guarantee theirown security in Trinidad. That’swhere meaningful conversationends.

Too many start musing, ”IfBhadase was alive…if the Pooloolboys were alive.. if Dole Chadeewas around..” I am not joking. Theystart calling on dead men to savethem! Or they start suggesting that afew Tamil Tigers from Sri Lanka orIndo-Caribbean marines from theAmerican army might do the trick.They say it will take special people

(that they don’t have available) todefend Indians from kidnappers.They say Indian business peoplewill not cooperate. They say howdangerous it will be, how long it willtake. They will give a dozen reasonswhy nothing can be done and notone reason why anything can bedone, just as the Guyanese Indiansused to do during theBurnham/Hoyte era.

And then they say it’s easy for youto talk when you are living safe inCanada, but you don’t understandwhat’s going on in Trinidad. Obvi-ously these Trinidad men are sleep-ing more comfortably in their bedsthan some of us in Canada, andthat’s really, really scary.

Other than a very few exceptionslike lawyer Anand Ramlogan,Trinidad Indian men seem to be nei-ther pro-active nor reactive when itcomes to kidnapping. They aremostly inactive. And yes, I know it’seasy to be critical when we are sit-ting safe in our non-burglar proofed,unfenced homes in Canada. But wereally cannot be happy at the non-re-sponse of our Indian brothers andsisters to kidnapping. A fire is burn-ing up the drapes in the living roomof Indians in Trinidad and the firebrigade is not answering the phone.They have to put out the fire them-selves or else evacuate the building.Right now.

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Why are Indians not acting on TT kidnapping?

Ram Jagessar

GRAND INDIAN MUSICAL EXTRAVAGANZA Saturday April 14 at 6.30 p.m SharpCHINGUACOUSY SECONDARY SCHOOL

COMMUNITY NEWS Indo-Caribbean Times April 2007 Page 3

Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Mike Colle is coming to the Hindu MuseumofCivilization on Thursday April 12 to announce a $200,000 grant for the Wall of Peaceproject.

The Museum, located on the grounds of the Vishnu Mandir at 8640 Yonge Street, Rich-mond Hill, has decided to create a Wall of Peace to send a message of harmony among allreligions and at the same time stimulate peace consciousness in all nations. The wall hascome about because of ongoing tensions in the world.

It depicts warfare from Alexander the great to the nuclear explosion. Its uniqueness willbe that it will consist of the personalities and symbols of major religion which include:Lord Mahavir of Jainis, Lord Buddha, Lord Jesus Christ, Shri Guru Nanak of Sikhism,The Star of David, The Symbol of Islam, Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, NelsonMandela and a Symbol of Hinduism

Dr.Deepak Chopra is a patron of the Wall of the peace and he will inaugurate the proj-ect on May 27th, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. Mr. Michael Lee-Chin of AIC has donated $100,000to this Wall of Peace.Dr. Budhendra Doobay, president of the Museum, has said “This is the only type of peacestructure in the Western world and we hope it will carry a message of peace and harmonyamongst all religions.

A TRINIDAD PENSION COULDBE YOURS FORTHE ASKINGIf you worked in Trinidad and Tobago and

paid into the National Insurance System (NIS ) before coming to Canada to live,

there may be somemoney coming toyou. .

Retirement ben-efits of up to$24,0000 TT a year(raised from$12,000 effectiveJanuary 1, 2008)are among the five

types of entitlements for former TT work-ers. Consulting group Ramcharitar and As-sociates and Prudential ManagementServices is offering a service to helpTrinidadians resident in Canada to obtainthem.

“If you paid into NIS between 1972 andthe present time, you are entitled to all NISbenefits no matter where you live. It does-n’t matter if you are getting similar benefitsin Canada . This something you paid for,something you have a right to, “ says GobinMaharaj, a Toronto based agent of the con-sulting group.

Retirement payments through NIS kick inafter the person reaches the age of 60, andcurrently range from a minimum for quali-fied people of $200 TT a month upwardsThis amount will soon increase. The actualamount will depend on the number andvalue of NIS payments and the time ofqualification.

Disability benefits can be paid to thosewho are under 60 and unable to work for aliving. Survivor benefits are due for thewidow or widower of a person who hasdied while being qualified for NIS . A sur-vivor can also cash in on a $4,000 funeralgrant, even though the actual funeral couldhave taken place years ago. There are alsoeducation benefits if a qualified person hasdied leaving children still going to school.

Maharaj emphasizes that all of these ben-efits are payable even if the individual isliving in Canada , if the spouse died here, orif the children are going to school inCanada . Place of residence has nothing todo with entitlement to NIS benefits.

Maharaj and the consulting group inTrinidad will handle all the paperwork in-volved in making the claims, includingfinding forgotten NIS numbers, answeringquestions from the NIS and appeals.

Canadian Trinidadians can contact Ma-haraj at 905-673-1541, by e-mail at g.ma-haraj@rogers.com or contact the headoffice directly in Trinidad at Ramcharitar &Associates, 10 Victoria Square East, P.O.Box 236 , Port of Spain , Trinidad W.I., at868-625-4636 or email at ramassoc2003@yahoo.com.

There are reports that Ali often complained he was being, beaten and his money stolenfrom him by other pupils. It is believed that there was a problem with a schoolgirl who haddumped a boy belonging to a gang in favour of Ali, and that the security guard was sup-porting them by harassing Ali. Mo feels there must be some reason beyond the normal toexplain the extreme savagery of the attack on his nephew.About a thousand mourners gathered at the Seecharan Street, Arouca home of Ali last Sat-

urday to pay their last respects to a young boy, who most of them described as very jollyand ambitious. Ali wanted to become a graphic artist and also a mechanic. “Aleem wantedto be just like his grandfather, fixing up cars and customising them,” said a school friend.Stating that family members are trying to cope with the murder, Ali’s uncle Ahazad said

that the family, especially Ali's mother, remain in disbelief. "He was not involved in any-thing illegal and spent most of his time in the mosque or in the pluck shop where he workedon a weekend," Ahazad said.

His body could not have been viewed at the funeral service as it was burnt beyond recog-nition and was placed in a sealed, pearly white coffin. “All I want is justice. What my wifeand I are going through right now, it is just not easy — words can’t really explain,” an emo-tional father, Wazir said.

Ali was buried at the Five Rivers Islamic cemetery following the short service whichwas conducted under Muslim rites. Tyron Ali, the boy’s grandmother said that evil wasstalking the land. She said that her grandson did not deserve to have his life snatched awayfrom him, and she called on members of the public to force the Government and the au-thorities to do something about the crime in the country.LATEST NEWS: An 18-year-old security guard was released from police custody after 3days of questioning, and pAdrienne Duff noticed them three years ago, drifting in a Bramp-ton branch of the Credit River.

GTA Hindus lookingfor a river to placeashes and offerings

A Credit Valley Conservation agencyworker has opened up the issue of how tohandle Hindus making river offerings ofpuja materials and ashes. Landowners liv-ing near Fletcher’s Creek observed clustersof flowers, plastic statues, coconuts – somestill wrapped in plastic – even jewellery andmoney.Together with other conservation agencies,they started talking to Hindu groups whosemembers were making the river offerings.Priests and temple elders promised to helpby urging community members to limittheir offerings to small amounts of flowers.

Devout Hindus hope their cremated re-mains will be dispersed in moving water.The ritual, a symbolic cleansing of thebody, is being quietly practised within aGTA Hindu community of 200,000, as ofthe 2001 census, that is growing rapidly.

"In any discussion of the issue of river of-ferings, we cannot avoid discussing theissue of ash remains," said RoopnauthSharma, president of the Federation ofHindu Temples of Canada and a spiritualleader at Ram Mandir (temple) in Missis-sauga. Hindus hope to find a safe and sanc-tioned place where last rites and otherrituals can be performed freely.

"Right now this is happening in Ontario,"Sharma said. "People are dying and peopleare depositing ashes (in lakes and rivers).We're not sure whether it's against the law."The province's environment ministry saysit has no problem with the practice so longas it is carried out with "dignity, decorumand consideration of other members of thecommunity." Conservation authoritiesargue it is not allowed and is subject to localbylaws.Immersing ashes in a river, somewhere, is

one of the final steps in the elaborate deathritual for a devout Hindu. Sharmand otherspiritual leaders are quietly preparing tolobby for a spot on a river or lake system,that would be designated as a place to makeofferings and scatter ashes.

Gobin Maharaj

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A Wall of Peace forHindu Museum

One view of how the Wall of Peace would look when completed.

An emotional Wazir Ali, father of murdered schoolboy Aleem Ali,along with other relatives carry the sealed, white coffin bearing hisson's remains at his Seecharan Streeet, Arouca home

IInnddoo--CCaarriibbbbeeaann TTiimmeess is pub-lished monthly in Toronto byIndo-Caribbean Times Ltd.EEddiittoorr//PPuubblliisshheerr:: Ram JagessarEEddiittoorriiaall CCoommmmiitttteeee::Reynold Ramdial, Gulcharan Mo-habir, Lloyd Harradan, SandyKissoonsingh, Roop Misir, DeorajNarine, Jiantee Jagessar,KrishnaNankissoorOOfffificcee: 17 Gaiety Drive, Toronto ON Canada M1H 1B9TTeell:: 416-289-3898EE--MMaaiill: ictimes@rogers.com

Opinions given in this newspaperare those of the authors and donot necessarily reflect the viewsof the Indo-Caribbean Times.

We welcome letters, e-mails andcomments on matters relevant toIndo-Caribbeans. All contentmust comply with the require-ments of Canadian law

CONTINUE TO WRITEABOUT CRIMES AGAINST IN-DIANS

Dear Editor,

I must with immense pleasure congratu-late you and your team for putting togethera Newspaper that shows a degree of passionthat must touch the inner core of theTrinidad and Guyanese Indian people.

For too long the other papers have skirtedaround the sufferings of our people in theCaribbean, reluctant to discuss in depth theissues of racism and the targetting of ourmen and womenfolks in particular.

I urge you to continue to be explicit aboutthe rapes of our Indian women and allcrimes against our people on the whole.Those women who have the courage andthe guts to come forward and expose thosenasty and totally repulsive degenerates inour society needs our full support in theirrehabilitation.

Our people over here needs to be shockedto their senses. Perhaps easy living in a rel-atively safe country has betrayed our con-cerns for those brave people back home.Ihope your article shock those of us overhere to the extent that we show our repul-sion to those Government Ministers and Of-ficials who are feted and given the redcarpet treatment whenever they come toCanada. The opportunists and ass lickersare easily identifiable during these visits.Let these officials leave these shores withno doubt whatsoever that their inactivity orinability to tackle the growing menace ofthese criminals cannot be condoned.

We should mobilise our effort and exposethe President of Guyana and the Prime Min-ister of Trinidad and Tobago as people whodisplay a barren thought process when itcomes to tackling crime in their respectivecountry, particularly crimes against the In-dian people.

What is a worrying is the fact that theseare countries with relatively small popula-tion - God help us if the population ofGuyana and Trinidad were like that ofIndia!! Our Leaders talk big in their coun-

tries, make nice speeches, however, theyfail hoplelessly when it comes to action.

In Trinidad it is clear from sentiments ex-pressed in Calypsoes and condoned by theGovernment that our Indian women arelusted after by the black people. This is notracist ranting. These are facts and we musthave courage to express them. Your news-paper has touched upon it. Crimes againstthe Indian people in that island seems to beorganised and orchestrated from some-where at the top. If it was not there wouldhave been wholesale condemnation of therapes on our women from the Prime Minis-ter in particular. What is he or his Ministersdoing? Celebrating Carnival? The agendaagainst our women folks is quite clear.

Our Indian men needs to be vocal. Pan-day, perhaps the only brave Indian man inTrinidad is fierceless, but he seems to bebattling not only the opposition but his ownpeople who have brought these sufferingson themselves. They forgot all the goodthings Panday has done for Trinidad overthe years and brand him dishonest becausehe failed allegedly to make full financialdisclosure to Parliament. Is there one braveTrinidadian who has the guts to challengethe disclosure of the Black Leaders ofTrinidad? It seems in their eyes that Indiansare the dishonest ones. Wake up people inTrinidad. You need a Leader that can looksthe other Leader in the eyes, call his bluffand show him what an inept and unbal-anced leader he is.

The Indian people should for once in theirlives unite behind one leader and get rid ofthe present administration which is pre-dominantly Black, one that does not havethe interest of the Indian people at heart.

By having a strong united Indian Admin-istration again, the attacks on our Indianpeople, particularly our women will cease.The Indians needs to be pushed. Well - theyhave been pushed - get Panday and histeam back in powers and stop for once thischildish squabble amongst yourselves.

SincerelyTaij Seetarram

EVEN though voters are not pleased withthe Government’s handling of UNC leaderBasdeo Panday and Chief Justice SatnarineSharma’s criminal trials, the Nacta pollshows this has not, in any way, seriously af-fected the People’s National Movement’s(PNM) chance of winning the general elec-tion due by year’s end.

The latest findings of the Nacta pollshowed the handling of the Panday andSharma trials created a perception “thatGovernment wants to run the CJ and Basfrom office.” However, the poll predictedthe PNM easily winning this year’s electionwith a possible special majority in the faceof the divided oppositionUnited NationalCongress (UNC). According to the findingsof the poll, conducted two weeks ago, voterapathy and division within the Oppositionwere eroding the base of the UNC, whichwas projected to lose several of the seats itnow holds.

“The PNM is projected to win between27 and 31 seats with the rest ofthe seatsgoing to the UNC,” the poll stated.In fact,the ruling party was projected to win all ofthe marginals and could also pick up St Au-gustine. Although there was dissatisfactionwith the PNM, voters did not view eitherthe UNC or the Congress of the People(COP) as an alternative to the rulingregime.

However, if the Opposition was united,there would be a close contest that couldsee the PNM losing government because amajority of voters were disenchanted withits overall performance, the poll stated. Thesurvey was conducted to determine popu-lar support for the political parties in thecoming election. According to the report,

conducted by Vishnu Bisram, “the peoplewanted a united Opposition under a leaderwhocould attract voters and who would nothesitate in making decisions.”

The only hope for the Opposition was anelectoral alliance led by an individual of in-tegrity who could sway swing voters andnon-committed voters to vote for it, the pollstated. Among names mentioned as leaderswere Stephen Cadiz, Ramesh LawrenceMaharaj, Reggie Dumas and Karl Hudson-Phillips.

”The infighting is driving supporters ofboth COP and UNC away from the pollsand may enable the PNM to pick up seatsthat are considered traditional safe UNC,”the poll stated.

“Many Opposition supporters say they areturned off by the inability of the UNC topursue reforms but are also disappointedwith the make up of the COP.

“Many among the Indian middle and pro-fessional classes who swung towards COPwhen it was launched have become non-voters, although some have returned to theUNC because of the projected weakness ofthe COP.”

Voters, according to the poll, felt for theUNC to improve its chances in the election,it had to overhaul the party and enter intoan accommodation with the rest of the Op-position forces.The survey showed PNM supporters were

united behind their party.”The African mid-dle and professional classes are not movingtowardsDookeran’s COP in significantnumbers to upset the PNM’s re-election-chances,” the poll stated.

Letters

COMMENTARY Indo-Caribbean Times April 2007 Page 4

Guest Opinion: Vishnu BisramNACTA poll predicts easywin for PNM in Trinidadgeneral elections in 2007But united opposition could remove unpopular PNM

By Ram Jagessar

Provincial elections in Ontario are duelater this year, and federal elections couldcome at any time. Politicians are alreadyputting out their hooks to catch our votes.They know that Indo Caribbeans with a

population of over 200,000 in Canadahave well over 120,000 votes to cast.

I think that we must not give away allvotes cheaply. My advice to the politi-cians is that if you want my vote you haveto show me what you are going to do forme and my community. You have to writeit down in your manifesto for all to seeand for me to check later.

You have to do something about this dis-gusting immigration system that is frus-trating my relatives and friends who arewilling to come to Canada. Why is therea secret quota system for places likeGuyana and Trinidad? Why does it takethree years to process an independent ap-plication, and as much as five years forsponsoring a parent? Canadian embassiesin the Caribbean must stop treating ourpeople as if they were all crooks trying todefraud the system. You either want im-migrants like me or you don’t, so make up

your mind and play it straight up.

You have to do something about the amountof poverty and especially child poverty inCanada. It's unacceptable that 20 percentof the people live under the poverty line,and in immigrant communities like ours asmuch as 30% are poor in this rich country.I am not ready to accept that one of fivechildren in Toronto is living in poverty.

You politicians have to tell us what you aregoing to do about affordable housing formillions of people. It is not right that wehave people earning minimum wage whocan never afford to buy a home which cancost an average of a quarter million dollarsin the GTA.

You have to fix the child care crisis in On-tario and several other provinces. It is crim-inal to have people earning minimum wagespend three quarter of their salary on childcare.

You have to tell us what you are going todo about this traffic gridlock that paralyzesmost of the cities where the majority ofCanadians live. Why is it that we have tospend an hour and a half in a car in rushhour moving from downtown Toronto toMississauga or Scarborough? Why don't we

have decent public transportation systemslike in England or Japan?

You'll have to tell us how you are going toslow down the inflation rate and prices thatare moving faster than the increases in oursalaries. This means that our standard ofliving is actually falling backward, and thebuying value of our dollar keeps fallingYou have to show us what you are going todo about the discrimination against visibleminority immigrants groups that is the rootof the slow Progress of such groups inCanada. For example, even though we areclose to 50% in Toronto, visible minoritiesare way behind in employment, salaries,positions and acceptance as compared tothe white Canadian population.

If you want my vote you must show mehow you will speed up the acceptance ofminority cultures and religions in Canada.You must show how you will expand theschool system in Ontario to allow religiousgroups other than the Catholics to operateschools within the Ministry of Education.

And finally, the big one, our environment.The sight of our cities getting dirty and rundown, vagrants and streetpeople every-where is unacceptable. This is not theCanada I came to. I want the old one back.

If you want my vote this election..

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO NEWS Indo-Caribbean Times April 2007 Page 5

Three members of the Jamaat Al Mus-limeen have confessed to their lawyer oftheir role in the kidnapping, murder and dis-memberment of the body of Extra FoodsChief Executive Officer Vindra Naipaul-Coolman in Decem-ber last year.

But a deal to offer the men amnesty in ex-change for fingering the other gang mem-bers has collapsed, and the men have goneinto hiding.

The 51-year-old businesswoman wassnatched outside her Lange Park, Chagua-

nas, home on the night of December 19 lastyear. A report submitted by United King-dom officers based at the Special Anti-Crime Unit of Trinidad and Tobago(SAUTT) revealed that Naipaul-Coolmanwas also shot. Last month the three men met for one hour

with attorney Odai Ramischand at a secretlocation and revealed all the details fromthe time Naipaul-Coolman was snatched tothe disposal of her body.

The men who appeared scared said thattwo members of their organisation whowere also involved in the kidnapping weregiven instructions to execute them at allcosts. One of the men who was tremblingwhile being interviewed by Ramischandsaid he and the two others have been in hid-ing and wanted to give themselves up to thepolice on the condition that they be grantedimmunity and be placed in a safe house.

The men claimed that on the night of De-cember 19, they, along with nine others,were given specific instructions to grabNaipaul-Coolman, take her to a house at LaPuerta Avenue, Diego Martin, and then theransom demand would be paid.

According to the men, the kidnapping wasbotched when one of the kidnappers fired ashot at the vehicle in which Naipaul-Cool-man was seated. The bullet struck her onthe left side of the breast. She was driven toLa Puerta, where she was allowed to speakbriefly to her husband Rennie Coolman.

During her stay at the house in La Puerta,the kidnappers got a doctor to visit Naipaul-Coolman and administer medication to herbut her health started deteriorating. Thedoctor told the kidnappers that the life ofthe kidnap victim was in limbo because herwound had become infected due to dia-betes.

On December 20, Naipaul-Coolman wasraped by one of the men guarding her at thehouse. On Thursday December 21, she suc-cumbed to her gunshot injuries and died.Her abductors panicked and a decision wasmade to dismember the body. According toone of the three men, the body was wrappedin a cloth and taken to Central where it wasdisposed off.

The three men said that following thedeath of Naipaul-Coolman they learned thatinstructions were given to kill them andthey have been in hiding since. They con-

tacted a friend who advised them to go toRamischand so that arrangements could bemade for them to be granted immunity andprotection. Since then, however, the situation has de-

teriorated. Police questioned Ramischandand said they had no confession. The threemen became fearful for their safety andworried that Ramischand would not be al-lowed to make a deal for their immunity.They have disappeared, leaving the Naipaulkidnapping in limbo. Police claim to beworking hard on the case but cannot reportany progress in finding the kidnappers orNaipaul herself after more than threemonths.

COP says no unity with Panday’s UNC

Basdeo Panday's calls for unity amongOpposition political parties have been dis-missed as a public relations gimmick by theUnited National Congress to tarnish theimage of the Congress of People.

Stressing this, COP's chairman Roy Au-gustus said that the Congress was not inter-ested in the formation of a government ofnational unity with the UNC's current lead-ership.

He said the COP was doing what he de-scribed as "everything that we can do legit-imately to achieve victory"against both theOpposition UNC and the ruling People'sNational Movement in the country's nextgeneral elections, constitutionally due thisyear.

"The COP will not be engaged (in unitydiscussions) with the current leadership ofthe UNC.

"Do you think that any sensible personwould accept the (unification of the) Con-gress and the UNC at any level?"asked. Au-gustus at a press conference held after theparty's monthly National Council meetingat the Congress Operations Centre in Gas-ton Court, Lange Park, Chaguanas. He wasjoined by COP's Deputy Political LeaderCarolyn Seepersad-Bachan and party mem-bers Hulsie Bhaggan and Dr Clyde Weath-erhead.

"I think that the UNC is generating thisquestion of unity to show the Congress ofthe People in another light. The idea is nota call for unity but destruction.

FARMERS WILL NOT ABANDON CANE

The Sugar Cane Farmers Co-operative ispredicting that cane farmerswill not aban-don the industry when the Government of-ficially closes itafter the 2007 crop.Theco-operative, headed by a group of formerCaroni (1975) Ltd managers, has sent a pro-posal to the Government to revive the in-dustryto produce mainly bagasse for aFrench paper company.

Ramdeo Ramcharan, president of the co-operative, last week insisted:”Farmers willnot go out of sugar cane.”Giving reasons why cane would always be

attractive to farmers, he said:”Farmers haveall the knowledge about growing cane. Thesoil type of their lands is best suited forcane and they have no larceny prob-lemwith this crop. Further, sugar is the onlyproduce that has a guaranteed market price.If the farmers go into tomatoes, for in-

stance, they will only know theprice whenthey go to the market.”

Ramcharan predicted that farmers would“take their compensation andstill go backinto sugar.” He also said that, “after twoyears of producing sugar cane for bagasse,farmers would see a higher return than whatthey got for sugar. If farmers don’t benefit,we will get out of the business,”

Ramcharan said the co-operative, whichsent its proposal to the Government sinceFebruary 28, was still awaiting feedback.The co-operative wants to produce bagassefor pulp for French paper company Com-pagnie Industrielle de la Matiere Vegetale(CIMV). and also planned to produceethanol from sugarcane.

Manning in full election modePrime Minister Patrick Manning has goneinto full election mode, doing his walka-bouts,spewing announcings left and rightand pledging billions in crowd pleasingprojects. Some of the latest include:

CLAIMS FULL EMPLOYMENT

Unemployment in Trinidad and Tobagonow officially stands at an historic all-timelow of five per cent Prime Minister PatrickManning said at the weekend.

He said this meant his administration hadachieved a goal of fullemployment that hefirst began to pursue in 1995 againsttremendous scepticism.

"The final figures for the fourth quarterare in, the figure is indeed five per cent forthe fourth quarter of 2006 and for the firsttimeTrinidad and Tobago has achieved full em-ployment," Manning said at a ruling Peo-ple's National Movement (PNM) publicmeeting in Chaguanas.

"I know of no other country in theCaribbean that has been able to do that andthere are many outside of the Caribbeanthat hasn't done it at all," he said.

$3 BILLION FOR YOUTH

Some $3 billion will be spent by the Stateon programmes aimed atimproving thelives of young people as part of the war oncrime.

Of that amount, Prime Minster PatrickManning said "$132 million will be spenton providing real opportunities for youth atrisk within ourcommunities."

CONSULTATIONS ON CRIME

Manning announced the start of a series ofpublic consultations on crime later thismonth. Social programmes and other issuesare to be explored during the consultations.

RAPID RAIL SYSTEM COMING

A $7 billion contract to build the Govern-ment’s proposed rapid rail will be awardedby month’s end.

Two consortia remain in the bidding warfor the rapid rail undertaking:the Trinitrainconsortium, led by Bouygues TravauxPublics, and the T-3Group, led by VinciConstruction and Bombardier.

The Government has positioned the rapidrail as one possible cure for transportationills affecting the country.

A rapid rail would hasten the Govern-ment’s plan to decentralise the city of Port-

of-Spain, since a lack of transport optionshad hindered decentralisation.By 2010 the project was expected to be

complete from Curepe to Port-of-Spain andCurepe to Chaguanas. There are plans toextent into Penal and Siparia. In total, therapid rail will cover 72 miles at a cost ofUS$15 million a mile.

NO EXECUTIVE PRESIDENT IN TT

Despite efforts to frame a new constitu-tion that would recognise the post, PrimeMinister Patrick Manning now believes thatthe population is not “sophisticatedenough” to facilitate an executive president.

Manning said T&T had not yet arrived at“the end of the line” that would necessitatethe administration of an executive presi-dent.

NO PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTA-TION

Manning also gave a vote of no confi-dence to the issue of proportional repre-sentation, which he believes could work inthe Opposition party’s favour by givingmore power to the country’s largest ethnicgroup.“The politicians who have the upper handin that matter, and at this time they form theOpposition will find it too attractive aproposition not to use,” he argued.

CJ OWES STATE $1 MILLION

Chief Justice Sat Sharma owes the Stateover $1 million, Attorney General John Je-remie HAS disclosed , as he gave the fig-ures paid to attorneys hired by thegovernment in the case against Sharma.

Sharma was ordered to pay all legal costsincurred by the State in the matter beforethe Privy Council in which Sharma hadbrought an action which sought to preventhim from being arrested on a charge of al-legedly attempting to pervert the course ofjustice in the integrity matter against formerprime minister Basdeo Panday.

While he won in the High Court, Sharmalost in the local Appeal Court and at thePrivy Council.

After the Privy Council's ruling, he sur-rendered and the matter went to theTrinidad High Court, as he was chargedwith the offence.

Last month the charges against the CJ col-lapsed after Chief Magistrate Sherman Mc-Nicholls refused to testify. As McNichollswas expected to be the chief witness againstSharma, the judge threw out the case.Sharma has taken steps to resume his posi-tion as as chief justice, and is being sup-ported by some lawyers in the belief thatthe state should pay his legal costs.

An unexpected result of the failure of thecase against Sharma has been the release offormer prime minister Basdeo Panday oncharges of failing to declare his full assetsto the Integrity Commission.

Panday had been sentenced to a jail termof six years by Chief Magistrate ShermanMcNicholls. The Court found that the deci-sion of McNicholls in the Panday case wastainted by his refusal to testify in theSharma case and dismissed the chargesagainst Panday. A new trial has been or-dered for Panday, but it is not known if orwhen this will take place.

Panday has already said that it would beridiculous to have a new trial in front of amagistrate appointed by Mr McNicholls,who retains his post as chief magistrate.

Muslimeen members confess to killing Vindra Naipaul

Jamaat leader Yasin Abu Bakr has beenaccused of starting kidnapping epidemic

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO Indo-Caribbean Times April 2007 Page 6

drew on the State’s legal apparatus to ha-rass and discomfit actual and potential op-position.” A lot of it backfired, according toGrant.

The list is long. There was the attack onthe Elections and Boundaries Commission.Then the denial of a radio licence to theMaha Sabha, the planting of evidence onSadiq Baksh, charges against Fuad Khanand Finbar Gangar, attacks on protestorslike Inshan Ishmael. If this is theater, Man-ning is the tragic-comical anti-hero doomedto come to a tragic end.

WHY ONLY PANDAY?

Director of Public Prosecutions GeoffreyHenderson is being blamed by the IntegrityCommission for failing to start criminalprosecution of politicians who have brokenthe law.

This was brought to light in a dramatic

twist, in the judicial review case brought byformer Prime Minister Basdeo Pandayagainst the Integrity Commission, for itsfailure to prosecute other public figureswho have breached the Integrity in PublicLife Act. Alkins said, in his review of the commis-

sion’s records, that he discovered that several people had never filed declarations.

They included former parliamentary sec-retary, Ministry of Legal Affairs, AndrewCasimir, who did not file for 1990 and1991. He added that on May 13, 1996, thecommission caused the publication ofCasimir’s name, along with that of Hart Ed-wards (Permanent Secretary,) GideonHanomansingh (former MP) and OccahSeapaul (former Speaker of the House ofRepresentatives), for failing to file their1994 declarations.

On March 26, 2002, Alkins said he causedthe publication of names of Dr Morgan Job(former government minister,) Justice An-thony Carmona, (former acting DPP) andMary Blandin (Permanent Secretary), forfailing to file declarations for the years1998 and 1999. Alkins said on March 29, 2000, the com-

mission wrote to the DPP, informing himthat they had published in the Gazette, thenames Claire Blake (acting chief parlia-mentary counsel), Carol Cuffy-Dowlat,Winston Gibson (chief technical officer)Hamid O’Brien and Hector McClean(Speaker of the House of Representatives)for failing to declare under the 1987 act.

Alkins denied Panday’s claim that he,Panday, and Gangar were singled out forcriminal prosecution while PNM defaulterswere not being pursued.

He pointed to the instances of MinistersFranklin Khan and Eric Williams, who areboth before the court on corruption charges,based on the commission’s recommenda-tions.

Alkins pointed to a number of letters dis-patched to the DPP, listing names of de-

faulters who have failed to declare, in someinstances, for ten years and more.

Ten Years? And none of them charged?Why are we not hearing anything about theFranklin Khan and Eric Williams matters?Or about allegations against Keith Rowley.Something about transferring building ma-terials in Tobago?

TERRORIST AND PEDOPHILES INTHE PNM?

Former PNM St Joseph candidate DrSharon Gopaul-McNicol has cut ties withthe ruling party, saying that she has seenracism in the bowels of the PNM and sawsexual molestation allegations swept underthe carpet.

Gopaul-McNicols was speaking at theCongress of the People rally at TrincityMall car park on 18th March 2007. She saidin the last general elections she saw racismwithin the PNM. "I saw political terrorismas people were blocked from the electionsite because of their race, they were callednames and they were told to go back to Ca-roni," she said. "It broke my heart then andit still does now," she said. She said there

were allegations of sexual molestation ofchildren and she did everything possible butyet there was no change.

Gopaul-McNichols is apparently referringto the PNM’s use of the Muslimeen in thelast election to keep Indians away from thepolls. The PNM has done some terriblethings in its time, but molesting children?How low can they sink?

At the same rally COP deputy chairmanHulsie Bhaggan declared: “…we have the PNM, and Manning is run-ning ok and all the people around him aresitting like mooks, so now we have the Peo-ple’s Network of Mooks.” So Manning, ac-cording to Hulsie, is a mook running amok.

There seems to be merit in this claim.

THE UNC GETS A BOOST

THE Opposition United National Con-gress (UNC) will receive a political boostas a result of the Court of Appeal’s verdictin favour of UNC leader Basdeo Panday,Congress of the People’s (COP) GangaSingh said yesterday.

Singh said: “In the same way that theUNC suffered when Mr. Panday was con-victed, the party will now receive a bounceas a result of the current Court of Appealdecision.

And Dooks welcomed Panday back to theHouse. The Mook was absent. Maybe theysee which way the wind is blowing?

By Lloyd Harradan

BASDEO PANDAY strolled into theHouse of Representatives today... took hisseat... wearing a smug "I told you so" facialexpression, daring the PNM Governmentand Speaker Sinanan to stop him.... Sub-lime theater, performed flawlessly and withconsummate flair, as only BAS could.Speaker Sinanan talked about seeking legaladvice, some heckled, but they were out-shone by the master, Basdeo Panday… thiswas a quintessential PANDAY moment andhe nailed it. An OSCAR performance, nodoubt about that. (CCDSJ)

It is good that the CCDSJ characterizesthis political event as theater. It followedthe quashing of Panday’s conviction by theappeal court, which itself was the culmina-tion of a series of events that can only bedescribed as the theatre of the absurd.

Manning and the PNM, having lost threeelections, are not so sure of themselves.They recognize that one man was responsi-ble for their defeat. And Manning took itupon himself to destroy that man. The man,of course is Basdeo Panday.

The current charges against Panday, forfailing to declare a London bank account,were instigated by Manning. When theChief Magistrate alleged that Justice Sat-narine Sharma had tried to influence him in

the Panday trial, Manning set out to get theChief Justice. Criminal charges were laidagainst the Chief Justice. That matter blewup in Manning’s face when the Chief Mag-istrate refused to attend court to be cross-examined. Now the Panday matter has alsoblown up in his face. Manning should be anembarrassment to his party and country.

Apparently, not in Trinidad and Tobago.In both cases there was political interfer-ence in the administration of justice. Yet thePNM, after the Appeal Court ruling had thegall to claim that ” the judicial system wasset up in such a way that prevented prose-cutions from being politically moti-vated…The PNM applauds and respects thedoctrine of separation of powers, the rule oflaw and principle of due process.”

The doctrine of the Separation of Powerswas never highly regarded in Trinidad andTobago. It was never clear to anyone, least

of all Manning, who is not the brightestbulb in the string, that the Prime Minister isnot the Chief Justice’s boss. The PrimeMinister cannot tell the Chief Justice, “Re-sign or be fired.” He could quietly suggestto the President that the Chief Justice be im-peached. Similarly, the Westminster modeldoes not allow the legislature much controlover the executive. In the case of Trinidad,the legislature has been used as a rubber-stamp. Dookeran has recounted that whenhe tried to raise the Sharma matter in Par-liament the motion was turned down by thespeaker. Such motions are invariably un-successful. The legislature is effectually si-lenced.

SHARMA WANTS HIS JOB BACK

CHIEF JUSTICE Sat Sharma has writtento President George Maxwell Richards stat-ing that he was ready to resume duties, asHead of the Judiciary.

Sources at President’s House also con-firmed that Sharma and President Richardsspoke on the telephone, but there were nodetails of what they spoke about.

This follows the dismissal of a criminalcharge against Sharma after his main ac-cuser, Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicholls refused to give testimony in thecriminal case against him.

On July 31, 2006, acting in accordancewith section 103 of the constitution, Presi-dent Richards relieved Sharma of his postas Chief Justice. This decision was madeafter Sharma wrote to the President indi-cating that he would not be sitting as Pres-ident of the Court of Appeal, but wouldcontinue to carry out his administrative du-ties.

Richards appointed Justice Roger Hamel-Smith to act as Chief Justice. At the timeSharma was removed from office, a warrantwas out for his arrest on a charge of at-tempting to pervert the course of public jus-tice in that he tried to influence the ChiefMagistrate to rule favorably for BasdeoPanday on charges of failing to declare hisLondon bank account to the Integrity Com-mission for the years 1997, 1998, and 1999.

The police, on July 14, 2006, obtained awarrant for Sharma’s arrest, but the ChiefJustice was able to get Madame Justice Ju-dith Jones to grant him a series of injunc-tions blocking the arrest. The Court ofAppeal lifted the injunctions, but Sharmawent to the Judicial Committee of the PrivyCouncil in London.

On November 30, 2006, the Privy Coun-cil dismissed Sharma’s appeal, paving theway for him to be formally charged with theoffence. He surrendered later that day andwas granted $250,000 bail.

The State decided to go the way of a papercommittal preliminary inquiry. After 25statements were tendered into evidence andafter Mc Nicholls went into the witness boxto be cross-examined on March 5, the pros-ecutor Gilbert Peterson SC dropped abombshell that he was discontinuing thecase against Sharma.

The reason given was that Mc Nichollsno longer wanted to give evidence in thecriminal case, opting to testify at impeach-ment proceedings which have not been in-stituted.

We see no reason why Sharma should notfollow Panday’s example and walk backinto his job.

MANNING AS TERMINATOR

According to Lennox Grant, of theTrinidad Guardian, “the Manning PNM

The Suff(e)rage of Trinidad and Tobago

Former minister Dr Morgan JobDid not file declaration, not charged

Former UNC minister Finbar GangarProsecuted along with Basdeo Panday

Chief Magistrate Sherman McNichollsgave Panday the maximum sentence

Prime Minister Patrick ManningAt the centre of the bacchanal

Caribbean migrants at a news conferenceheld on the eve of the annual meeting of theIDB Board of Governors.

"Given present economic and demo-graphic trends in Latin America and theCaribbean, and in industrialized countries,remittances will continue to grow in vol-ume over the next few years to (reach) morethan $100 billion a year by 2010," he said.

For the IDB and the MIF, added Terry,this growth is not a cause for celebrationbecause it reflects the fact that the regioncannot generate sufficient income opportu-nities to prevent millions of people frommigrating.

Nevertheless, he said, remittances willcontinue to flow. They already exceed bothforeign direct investment and overseas aidto Latin America and the Caribbean, help-ing millions of families to escape poverty.

"The challenge for the countries in this re-gion, and for institutions such as the IDBand the MIF, is to find ways so these flowsmay have a greater development impact byoffering migrants and their families moreoptions to get more out of their money,"Terry said.

The IDB and the MIF support pro-grammes are aimed at expanding the eco-nomic impact of remittances byencouraging financial institutions to handlethese flows so that people who send or re-ceive money transfers may build credit his-tories and gain access to services such assavings accounts, insurance, pensions, aswell as business and housing loans.

The MIF will also support a new pro-gramme, launched by the InternationalFund for Agricultural Development, whichwill establish a $10 million facility to fi-nance projects to cut the cost of makingmoney transfers to remote rural areasaround the world.

GUYANA NEWS Indo-Caribbean Times April 2007 Page 7

Many others living in the capital Caracas

Guyana's ambassador toVenezuela, Dr Odeen Ish-mael has stunned the nationwith the news that about80,000 Guyanese are livingin Venezuela's border areas.

Hundreds of Guyaneselive in Caracas and in theother cities but the majority- tens of thousands - live inthe border areas, many ofthem illegally, he said in arecent interview.

The former vice-presidentand foreign affairs ministerof Venezuela had estimatedthat some 80,000 Guyanesewere living mainly in theborder areas of PuertoOrdaz and San Felix, aboutfour to five hours drive outof Caracas .

"We don't know the actualnumbers but a large numberthere is illegal. The numbers fluctuate be-cause some go to Venezuela and some comeback to Guyana periodically," he said, re-ferring to the nomadic nature of the peoplewho lived mainly in the border areas andwho had relatives living on both sides of theborder.

The Guyanese who went to Venezuelawere from different social and economicgroupings than those who migrated toNorth America and other destinations. Theywent to Venezuela looking for jobs includ-ing mining, farming or small-scale com-mercial enterprises.

In the border areas, Ishmael said, theGuyanese "have established some very in-teresting places like Puerto Ordaz and inSan Felix. If you go to those localities youwould think you are in Guyana . All thebusinesses along the streets are owned byGuyanese and the buildings are owned byGuyanese. The market places… would belike going to a market in Guyana with allthe Guyanese products on sale. You'd thinkyou are in Guyana . Guyanese Creolese isspoken."

In spite of the fact that the older Guyanesemaintained their Guyanese identity, "theirchildren identify themselves as Venezue-lans. They don't speak English. They speakthe Spanish Creolese. So they grow up inthat situation adopting the Venezuelan cul-ture, food and dress. The children becomemore Venezuelan. As they grow older theywould begin to identify with their Guyanesebackground."

He felt that the problem of a lack of iden-tity and maintaining their Guyanese her-itage was related to their parents' own socialand economic well-being. In Venezuelamany "parents are working, struggling tomake a life for themselves and their chil-dren, and are hardly ever at home and thiscreates a problem."

Documentation problem

Another problem, he said, was that manychildren born to Guyanese in Venezuela didnot have documentation identifying them asresidents of Venezuela , so they were ille-gal residents. "Children born in Venezuela

are supposed to be Venezuelans accordingto international law, because they are bornthere, but this is not so in the case ofGuyanese children in Venezuela becausethey are not registered - do not have eitherGuyanese or Venezuelan nationalities," hesaid.

The problems arose when the childrenreached school age, he said. Asked how thisissue was being resolved, he said that theGuyana mission in Caracas would ask par-ents to register their children as Guyanesethrough the mission. The problem was thatthey had to retrieve the documented infor-mation from the hospital where they wereborn. This process could be cumbersome.However, once that had been received bythe Guyana mission it was then sent to theRegistrar General in Guyana for approval.

"I would say many, if not most of the par-ents do not contact us on this matter. Theyonly do so when they need passports, andthis generally is when the children are eightto ten years old. At that age, too, many arestill not in schools in the border areas," hesaid.

There are "a few hundreds of Guyaneseliving in Caracas , the majority of whom arenot professionals but are connected to offi-cialdom," and these, he said, did not expe-rience the problem of documentationidentifying their children as Guyanese.

Other problems, he said, were associatedwith living conditions in the city areas.Since the migrant population came from aneconomic class that was not wealthy, theyremained poor living in barrios - slum areas- which were associated with crime. Hesaid, "many Guyanese are caught up inthese because Venezuela has an extremelyhigh incidence of violent crime in whichGuyanese become involved. Most timeswhen Guyanese are arrested it is for drug-related offences."

80,000 Guyanese living(illegally) in Venezuelanear Guyana border

Overseas Guyanese remit $53 billion,equal to half the national budget

Cleaning up the seawall

Overseas Guyanese sent home an amaz-ing $270 million US last year, equivalent to$51.3 billion Guyanese dollars or 49.9% ofGuyana's 2006 national budget of $102.9billion. Each US dollar fetches 190 Guyanadollars at the current rate of exchange.The amount of money sent home privately

by overseas is not known, but it could addup to a few billion more Guyanese dollars.nge rate of $1 US to $190 Guyana, the re-mittances equal $51.3 billion Guyana, or49.9% of the 2006 budget of just under$103 billion Guyana

This was five times as much as the $97million US overseas Trinidadians sent back,which is equivalent to $616 million TT.The Trinidad remittance comes up to 1.7%of the 2006 budget of $35.9 billion.

According to the Inter American Devel-opmnent Bank, Guyana received US$270Min remittances in 2006, part of a whoppingUS$62.3B sent home by migrants fromLatin America and the Caribbean. !s remit-ted from migrants, mostly in North Amer-ica, Europe, and Asia was 14 percent higherthan the amount for 2005.According to the Inter-American Develop-ment Bank's Multilateral Investment Fund(MIF), this figure is expected to rise toabout US$72B in 2007 in remittances toLatin America and the Caribbean.

The remittance to Guyana is lower thanthat sent to the Dominican Republic, whichrecorded $2.6B, while Jamaica receivedUS$1.6B, and Haiti US$1 billion.

Trinidad & Tobago received US$97 mil-lion, and Suriname US$55 million.

According to the IDB, remittances toLatin America and the Caribbean will con-tinue to grow in coming years, and surpass$100 billion a year by 2010.

MIF Manager Donald F. Terry, Saturday,presented the estimate for the money trans-fers made by Latin American and

It’s the famous Guyana seawall as you’venever seen if before- clean. sMaintenancework on the Georgetown seawall from Vlis-sengen Road to Fort Groyne in Kingston bythe Sea Defence Board has already giventhe area a clean, new look but the projectfaces the challenge of keeping the area freefrom vagrants and garbage.

The work, being executed in three con-tracts to the total value of $13.95 millionwith funding from central government, isbeing done by contractors Ignatius Harrisand Lilwattie Rajnauth.

Chief Sea and River Defence OfficerGeorge Howard has said that the threemaintenance contracts were awarded inFebruary and will end on June 30.

Under the maintenance project, the con-tractors would clean the landward and sea-ward sides of the seawall on a daily basis. One of the contractors reported that theworkers have weeded heaps of grass andcleared tons of garbage from the seawallbut the challenge remains because somebusinesses continue to dump what appearsto be industrial waste in areas just cleaned.

Maintenance work on the Georgetownseawall from Vlissengen Road to FortGroyne in Kingston by the Sea Defence

Board has already given the area a clean,new look but the project faces the chal-lenge of keeping the area free from va-grants and garbage.

The work, being executed in three con-tracts to the total value of $13.95 millionwith funding from central government, isbeing done by contractors Ignatius Harrisand Lilwattie Rajnauth.

C h i e fS e aa n dR i v e rD e -f e n c eOfficerGeorge

Howard told Stabroek News that the threemaintenance contracts were awarded inFebruary and will end on June 30.

Under the maintenance project, the con-tractors would clean the landward and sea-ward sides of the seawall on a daily basis.

One of the contractors told the localmedia that the workers have weeded heapsof grass and cleared tons of garbage fromthe seawall but the challenge remains be-cause some businesses continue to dumpwhat appears to be industrial waste inareas just cleaned.

Clearing debris in the Fort Groyne area

GUYANA NEWS Indo-Caribbean Times April 2007 Page 8MASKED MEN AT BLACK BUSH

Three masked bandits, armed with twoguns - one long and one short - and a cut-lass, attacked and robbed a family at Mibi-curi, Black Bush Polder of over $30,000 ingold and silver jewellery around 6.45 pmon a Sunday evening.The bandits entered Hublall Tulsi's kitchen

in the lower flat of the building and strippedhis wife, Pearl Peters of her gold rings, achain and a cellular phone. They alsorobbed Peters' mother of gold and silverrings. The men then made their way into thegrocery store and liquor restaurant whereHublall was conducting business and tookhim into the kitchen. They tied him up andfled further in the village. According to re-ports, no money was taken from the shop.

GAS STATION HIT

Gunmen, in a black Toyota Tacoma stuckup a pump attendant at Azad Takie's GasStation at Hogstye, Corentyne around 2.15pm on a Sunday and escaped with almost$40,000 in cash, gas and phone cards.

The occupants of the vehicle pulled intothe gas station and asked the pump atten-dant, Surendra Nandram to fill up theirtank.

When Nandram approached the driver forpayment, an occupant sitting in the backseat whipped out a gun and pointed it to Na-tram, demanding that he hand over every-thing. The men sped off in the direction ofCorriverton with $20,000 cash, property ofTakie and Natram and $15,000 in GuyanaTelephone and Telegraph Company tele-phone cards.

ROBBER WITH BOGUS MONEY

Baburam Doodnauth, of Canal No.1, WestBank Demerara, a vendor of vegetables wasselling at the La Penitence Market, George-town, from a parked motor canter.

It was raining, and he was negotiating thepurchase of a quantity of agriculture pro-duce when he was robbed.

The robber went into the cab of the vehi-cle and held up Doodnauth and took away$4,000. Persons nearby raised an alarm, anda police patrol responded.

In the chase that ensued, the man was ap-prehended and a search of his person re-vealed six bogus one-thousand-dollarcurrency notes.

REALLY BOLD FACED COPPolice are at a loss to figure out why one

of their colleagues risked his life to go tobed with a woman while her husband laysleeping in the same house.

The risk landed the cop under close arrestafter the woman and her husband allegedthat he had broken into their home at CaneGrove, East Coast Demerara, with intentionto steal. But police found out that the policeConstable who is stationed at the Ma-haicony Police Station and the woman wereindeed having an affair.

Reports are that the woman and her hus-band, an ex-convict, had attended a wed-ding, which was also attended by thepoliceman. Since the husband appeared tobe heavily under the influence of alcohol,the woman took the opportunity to invitethe policeman to her home. While her hus-band was asleep, the police was allowedentry into the house.

When the husband unexpectedly awokeand found the man in the house with hiswife, she raised an alarm and shouted forthief, which alerted several residents. Alongwith the husband, the residents gave chaseand caught up with the policeman and gavehim a sound beating.

US PULLS THE PLUGFROM PAGE 1

But while almost everyone in Guyanaagrees that the decision is understandable,given the ease with which official docu-ments can be bought for a small fee, thelarger story has to do with what was notsaid and what the new ruling means.

For one thing, locals trying to obtain avisa by simply turning up without docu-ments proving who they are stand littlechance of impressing consular officers, whoalready operate on the notion that the ap-plicant would probably "jump ship" and re-main in the U.S. illegally, joining friendsand family in the large diaspora there.

The rate of rejection of Guyanese seekingU.S. tourist visas is astonishingly high andamong the worst on the planet. Embassy of-ficials say some 60 percent of applicants arerejected, a figure topped only by a smallgroup of countries including The Gambiawith 65.5, Ghana with 61.1, and Uzbekistanwith 61 percent.

What's more, a verification exercise doneby federal agencies in the last two years in-dicates that 8.5 percent of those who travelon non-immigrant visas do not return.

"Compared with the rest of the region thatfigure is very high, double in some cases.For example, in the Dominican Republic,Belize and Jamaica, their figure is only fourpercent," says Tuller.

She says that the verification exercise hasshown that people from all classes of soci-ety are in this group, "so we will be goingnow with what a person tells an officer."

Aubrey Norton, a University of Guyanaprofessor and opposition member of parlia-ment, says the announcement speaks vol-umes about the political situation in thecountry and underlines how Washingtonappears to be increasingly viewing the en-tire government and national community ascorrupt.

"The Americans are obviously putting po-litical pressure on government for not deal-ing with the drugs situation in the country,as there have been no indictments of bigdealers in Guyana. Also, it is clear that theyare seeing the entire place as corrupt andthat they hardly trust government or any-thing from government," he said.

Government spokesman Kwame McCoysays that "government has noted the an-nouncement and will comment if and whenit sees fit. We are aware it has implicationsbut we may comment later."

U.S. officials are not unmindful of the factthat one of the biggest visa fraud rackets inState Department history occurred inGuyana in 1999-2000 when an expatriatevice-consul was found selling visas for10,000 dollars each. Federal investigatorsfigured out that he and local co-conspira-tors had sold 700 visas in all before beingcaught in a sting operation and convicted ina Chicago, Illinois court.

The Canadian government also ran intoproblems with fraud and corruption. At theclose of the 1980s, investigators uncovereda visa for sale racket that led to the jailing ofa former embassy employee. Guyanesenow have to travel to neighbouringTrinidad, where the Canadians have movedtheir consular section.

Norton says that it is becoming quiteclear that relations with the U.S. are dete-riorating because of the apparent reluc-tance of authorities to deal with local drugbarons thought to be linked to official-dom.He pointed to the fact that U.S. agentsnabbed three alleged major traffickers inTrinidad in the last two years only becausethey had left the local safe haven.

Mini robbery wave bothers Guyanese POSTMASTER SHOT IN $8 M ROBBERY

Four persons have been taken into cus-tody following the $8.2M robbery in NewAmsterdam during which the Postmasterof the Nigg Post Office was shot.Postmaster Kishore Sewlall, 39, suffered a

gunshot wound to the pelvicarea and wasrushed to the New Amsterdam Hospital. Heunderwent emergency surgery with the aimof removing the bullet, but doctors wereunable to do so.

In the course of their daring robbery, thebandits threw Sewlall and the Postmaster ofthe New Amsterdam Post Office out ofSewlall's car, at the corner of Republic Av-enue and Alexander Street in New Amster-dam. The car has since been recovered atVryheid, West Canje.

The two postmasters had just left the NewAmsterdam Post Office when the incidentoccurred. The bandits, who were waiting atthe head of the street, threw a bicycle in thepath of the car, forcing it to stop. One of thebandits, who carried a gun tried to forceSewlall out of the car, while the other un-armed bandit pulled Munesar out.

Sewlall, a father of two sons aged 13 and14 years old was apparently attempting toresist the bandit when he was shot.

RESTAURANT ROBBERY

Two men, one of whom was armed with agun robbed a Chinese restaurant at Her-stelling, East Bank Demerara (EBD) of anundisclosed sum of money before escapingin a car.

The men robbed the Kei Kong restaurantlocated on the Public Road at Herstelling.About 10.30 am the men entered therestaurant and ordered food and drinks.After it arrived, one of them confronted thecashier and demanded the money she had,which was handed over. In the process shewas struck in the face.

ELDERLY VISITORS ROBBED

An elderly couple who appeared to be vis-itors were choked and robbed on Saturdaynight at the corner of Alexander and RegentStreets by two men who had accompliceslurking nearby.

An eye-witness to the robbery said theCaucasian couple were walking hand-in-hand east along Regent Street and werenearing Alexander when two men con-fronted them from behind.

After they were confronted, the womanfought with her attackers but was eventu-ally overpowered. The witness said the menthen robbed the couple.

THREE GUNMEN HIT BUDDY’STwo men have been held in connection

with the recent robbery at the Buddy's In-ternational office on Brickdam. Three menarmed with guns committed the robberywhile pretending to be customers.

The men walked into the office and saidthey were there to do business before rob-bing Company Secretary Meena Mookramof $40,000, a Taurus .32 pistol and 22rounds of matching ammunition. Securityguard Prince Edwards was relieved of a .32Taurus pistol and 11 rounds of ammunition.Edwards put up a fight and was shot in theleft thigh as a result.

ARMED ROBBERY OF $1.8M

Police said they believe that the two menwho carried out the armed robbery onRonald Ashby had followed him from a citybank. Ashby was robbed of $1,816,000 incash just outside his office at Joseph Polly-dore Street, Lodge. The robbers also re-lieved him of a cheque in the amount of$115,000.Ashby is employed by Frank Quallis. Po-

lice said he had just returned from the bankand was about to enter his office when thesuspects confronted him and robbed him.They escaped in a waiting car that wasparked a short distance away.

PAWNSHOP BANDIT CAPTURED

A bandit who was captured after he and anaccomplice robbed an employee of HarrisEasy Cash Pawn Shop is likely to appear atthe New Amsterdam Magistrate's Court.

The two bandits, one armed with a hand-gun, pounced on the employee,Robin Mo-habir and relieved him of a bag containing$20,000. But Mohabir gave chase and withthe help of a police officer and public-spir-ited citizens captured one of the bandits onAngoy's Avenue and recovered the cash.

ROBBED AT THE STELLING

Armed bandits operating at RosignolStelling robbed three medical students ofUS$500 and other articles and later evadeda police chase in the busy market area atRosignol. The students are attending theGreen Heart Medical University at Tain,Corentyne.Police said in a statement that around 3 am

four men armed with guns robbed the threemedical students of cash and articles at theRosignol Stelling. Six students had returnedto Guyana and were on their way to theGreen Heart Medical University at Tain,Corentyne via minibus when the banditspounced on them. The bus was parked wait-ing to cross with the first ferry when thebandits struck. They then escaped in a wait-ing motorcar.

DAYLIGHT SNATCH AT ROSE HALL

Two armed bandits robbed a woman of aquantity of gold jewellery valued at$100,000 during a daylight attack on Mar-tin Street, Rose Hall Corentyne.

According to reports, Bibi Madramootoowas walking along the street on Sunday af-ternoon when the two men confronted her.They placed a gun to her head and relievedher of five gold bangles and one chain. Therobbers also took $15,000 from her beforefleeing. The matter was reported to the po-lice, but the suspects are yet to be arrested.

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

A man walked into a rum shop in Berbiceand promptly passed out. People rushed totake him up and tried to revive him withoutsuccess. Some said give him water, somesaid give him air. Finally, a woman peeledan orange and tried squeezing the juice intohis mouth. The man woke up spitting,pushed the woman away and said, “ If ahde want orange, ah woulda fall down in demarket.”

LETTERS Indo-Caribbean Times April 2007 Page 9

CONGRATS TO GITA GROUP The editor,

I congratulate you on the first publicationof your newspaper and wish to emphasizethat I was impressed with the variety of in-formation printed. Finally we have a news-paper with news.A friend once commentedthat there are some newspapers in GTA forthose who cannot read for the dominant fea-ture seems to be advertisement and pictures.It is clear that your focus is different sincethe many columns made provision for ac-tion and issues.

I was particularly interested in the articleon page 18 referring to the project “A Gitafor each home”. I hope that one day thepage heading would read PHILOSOPHYand not RELIGION as it pertains to Gitaprinciples, which are universal. We shouldmake one Gita available not just to eachhome but to each person.

I know the lawyer Mr. Ram Sahadeowhen he was actively involved in educationsince 1992 when he initiated a system caus-ing many Guyanese to ADOPT THEIRSCHOOLS. It is most encouraging toknow that he is now taking the lead in an-other area of education that was consis-tently ignored for hundreds of years notonly in the Caribbean but also in India, thebirthplace of Vedic philosophy. Our tem-ples are trying but have not succeeded inthis area as yet.

As a Hindu I can state as a fact that manyHindus knew very little about the basics oftheir religion and fewer yet would do some-thing to propagate it. I must take my hat offto the team that started this noble projectand I wish them success. The task of ask-ing Hindus to arm themselves with the Gitawhen they attend the temple so they can fol-low when the pandit is reading is a noveland challenging one.

The accountant Mr. Gulcharan Mohabirhas the right idea by inserting a supportingline for the project in his advertisement onpage 23. It would be very helpful if othersprofessionals and businesses follow his ex-ample by storing a few hundred Gita ontheir premises and letting the public knowby adding the following to their advertise-ment:

“Bhagwad Gita available on premises”.This should speed up the distribution andthe cost is insignificant compared to thebenefits of spreading Gita gyan.

For myself who have a few years left ofmy material existence I have obtained a fewhundred gitas and will send them home tomy village so the box that usually containedmaterial goods will now include the origi-nal knowledge of my forefathers. I inviteothers to do the same if they really want tomake a difference and experience the feel-ing of sharing a knowledge that is eternal.This is their opportunity to do somethingpositive instead of criticizing those who aretrying but have little knowledge.

Do you have a website so we can read thepaper on line?

Looking forward to your next edition.N. Singh Brampton

Dear Mr Singh,We are at the moment preparing our website where we will post all the main articlesfrom the paper. It will be at www.indo-caribbeantimes.com and should be onlinethis month.Editor

THANKS FROM BOXER RIA RAMNARINE

The Editor,

On behalf of Miss Ria Ramnarine and my-self, I sincerely extend our deepest thanksto you and the Indo Caribbean Times for thefeature publication on Miss Ramnarine.

We appreciate your time and effort that wasplaced into the story and through yournewspaper, we believe that more peoplewill learn of Miss Ramnarine's career andher accomplishments.

Yours sincerely,Mr. Bharrath RamoutarCoach/ Manager - Ria Ramnarine

Far-fetched you say? But look at thelengths the PNM is willing to go in its ‘getPandy/UNC’ mission i.e. the pathetic at-tempt to frame Panday in the courts, not forthe first time. Double - dealing with‘Dooks’ pales by comparison. GillianLucky is on record saying on HCU RadioShakti that their (COP’s) only chance ofwinning the election is by, get this, de

stroying the UNC – not the PNM as onewould have thought. The plot is unravellingeh. But wait, there is more.

There is this other strong rumour that Dookeran is angling to haggle with theUNC. Big favours in exchange for COP’swithdrawals, especially from the marginal

seats, which he will use as bargaining chips.He figures that his handful of support inthose seats could cost the UNC victory – ala Ramesh and Team Unity. A powerful po-sition you say? Others say it is another ex-ample of the wheeling and dealing honest,Mr. Integrity himself, Winston Dookeran.He would do well to factor in the views ofUNC supporters who are not going to justaccept the decisions of the leadership justso. They have matured as they ably demon-strated by their rejection of the impositionof Dookeran as political leader of the UNC,and their support for the COP’s Inshan Ish-mael’s shut-down call against crime andkidnapping.

Throw into that equation ‘before-the-court-on-corruption-charges’ Sadiq Bakshreferring to Basdeo Panday as a convictedfelon, never mind his matter is before theAppeal Court, with a decision, possibly inPanday’s favour, to be handed down today(Tuesday 20th March, 2007). Or the notori-ous ‘bag-man’ of the UNC hey-days, now astaunch COP man, also taunting the onewho gave him political life.

And what do you get? Political brou-ha-ha in sweet TNT.

But a positive note is that beleaguered ex-Chief Justice Sat Sharma has emerged as ashining star in this political madness and isexpected to be completely exonerated andreinstated in the position of Chief Justice.The proverbial David took on the giant andwon the battle in fine style. Never mistakehumility for meekness, a lesson the PNM isnot likely to forget.

POLITICAL ‘BROU-HA- HA’ INSWEET TNT.

The hype was on. The Congress of thePeople (COP) would be bringing out atsunami of supporters at the Trincity Mallcarpark on Sunday 18th March, 2007 at itsmammoth rally. The flags, banners andhandbills dominated the land/skyscape.Surprise speakers were promised on theplatform. A vision of true unity was to beunveiled. And the nation waited with baitedbreath.

The reality? Three thousand supporters atthe rally, a brutal 'come-down’ from the al-leged ten thousand at the party’s launch lastyear. The surprises on the platform wereformer PNM St. Joseph candidate, Dr.Sharon Gopaul-Mc Nicols, which was nosurprise really since this was already hintedat in the media after she accused the PNMof racism against Indians and child mo-lestation; and the former Principal of Pres-entation College-San Fernando, Michael

Samuels, a prime example of the fine youngminds being attracted to the COP. His claimto fame was that his former students, Bas-deo Panday and Patrick Manning, had dis-appointed him. What does that say of himas a teacher?

Of-course the COP is claiming fifteenthousand supporters at the rally, but thatclaim belongs to the same waste bin as De-vant’s Maharaj’s (Maha Sabha ExecutiveMember and Gopio bigman) prediction thatthere would be a monolithic shift of Indi-ans from UNC (United National Congress)

t

COP, and the COP’s claim of close totwenty thousand supporters at their launchlast year in a hall that could barely holdeight thousand people. Eyewitnesses andmedia accounts give the rally figure as threethousand. But political parties and politi-cians do have the right to ‘big-up’ them-selves whatever the reality.

So what really is the reality as the far asthe COP is concerned? Is it the perceptionthat Winston Dookeran as a great betrayer,having deceived the UNC about his com-mitment to that party whilst surreptitiouslyforming his own party? Or is it the verystrong rumour that Winston Dookeran waspromised the Presidency of the country bythe PNM should he destroy the UNC beforethe next general elections via vote splitting?

ENCOUNTER WITH RACISTPIZZA MANAGER/POLICEThe Editor,

Last year on my daughter's 10th birthday,I took her and some of her friends out to apizza place for a meal. We took a table andthe children ordered pizzas, spaghetti andlasagna. When two huge pizzas arrived fortwo small ten year old girls, I was surprisedbut did not make a fuss.

Then the lasagna arrived and the insidewas still frozen. The girls could not eat it. Icalled the white manager and told him thiswas not acceptable, and that we were leav-ing. He started quarrelling with me when Isaid I had ordered food , not garbage. I saidI would pay for the pizzas and spaghetti butnot the cold lasagna. He said he would callthe cops. I told him to go ahead. After 10minutes no cops had arrived, so I left mycard with him and took the children homewhere we ordered pizza from another place.

The birthday party ended and we went tosleep until we were awakened about 2.00a.m by loud knocking on the door. I wentdownstairs and saw a white policewomanand a white policeman at the door.

The policewoman was very hostile andimmediately told me to “get your ass outand pay your bill.” I started to explain whathad happened but she didn't want to hearme. I told her you can't behave so but shesaid very angrily, “Who you think you talk-ing to?”

My wife got scared and said that I shouldpay the bill to avoid trouble. I went over tothe pizza place and paid the bill in full. Ididn't get any discount for the frozenlasagna that we did not eat.

I was not satisfied with this treatment andwent to the police station to make a com-plaint. The sergeant said he didn't have anycomplaint forms. I insisted and he finallyfound a form. When I was filling it out hesaid I could fill it out at home. I said no, Iwould fill it out right there.

When I was finished I handed it to the ser-geant and asked for a receipt or a photocopyas evidence I had filed a complaint. He saidhe didn't have to give me a photocopy! I in-sisted again and he made a photocopy forme.

Next day I e-mailed the pizza companyPizza X and complained about the treat-ment I had received. A lady called back andsaid she would investigate. Two days laterthe pizza company send my a full refund onthe money I had spent and a $50 voucherfor any product at their shop.

After hearing nothing for a week from thepolice I called the police station and wastold they would look into it. Nothing hap-pened for several months, so two weeks agoI send out a fax to the police one morningabout 6.00 a.m. By 7.30 a.m. I got a callfrom the police saying the policewomanwas wrong and she would be writing a let-ter of apology to me. I said I wanted herfired. I didn't want any written apology butwanted her to come to my house and apol-ogize personally. The police said that wasnot possible.

I am not still not satisfied with this situa-tion. I believed the white manager, thewhite policewoman, and the white sergeantbehaved this way because I and my childand her friends are visible minorities.There is no way they would have treatedwhite people so. This is just another exam-ple of the racism I have experienced in thiscountry because of my skin colour and theethnic group I am proud to belong to. Whyit is that the police are over 90% whitewhile visible minorities are nearly 50% ofthe population in Toronto?

Joe Lalla, Toronto

Gillian Lucky

COP leader Winston Dookeran

MORE KIDNAP STORIES Indo-Caribbean Times April 2007 Page 10

waited. Eventually, someone came. Thecrocus bag was loosened and lifted nohigher than above his nose.

He was fed some bread with butter andgiven some water. He tried to engage themen in conversation to see if he could talkhis way out of captivity. He told them hisfather suffered a heart attack after he wassnatched and would die soon and beggedthem to release him. The reply was “well hebetter pay de (expletive) money before hedead or else you goh meet him up dey.”

The men started pulling the crocus bagback down and X asked if he could be al-lowed to void his bowels and his bladder.One of the men slapped him, saying “Youtink dis ah (expletive) hotel or wat?”

They left. He eventually gave in to the callof nature and defecated and urinated in hispants. He would do so for the next threedays.

LIVING IN FILTH

X felt as if his arms were collapsing. Hewas thirsty and longed for some water. Noone came until the following morning whenhe was awakened by a kick and voice say-ing “like yuh (expletive) s... down deplace!”

The bag was removed and X was hand-fed Crix biscuits by his captors. He askedfor some water, but was told that they hadforgotten to bring water. His captors leftwithout allowing him to clean himself up.

X started to feel weak. He became disori-ented, frustrated and depressed. He was de-hydrated and living in his own filth. He lostcount of the days and nights and was fastlosing hope of being rescued or of surviv-ing. Not a religious man, X prayed.

Two days later, two men visited a weak,hungry, and dehydrated X. They beat himbadly “for no reason at all.” The crocus bagwas again raised above his nose and he wasagain hand-fed Crix. While putting Crix inhis mouth, they talked about how manypeople they had murdered.

FLICKER OF HOPE

He finished eating and as the bag wasbeing lowered over his face again, hebegged for some water. His pleas were ig-nored, the bag was tied. He cursed the men,telling them he was dying of thirst andneeded something to drink. They ignoredhim and left.

Later on that day, some men visited X. Hewas slapped and told that his father wantedto speak with him and that he’d better tellhim to pay the ransom. A flicker of hope. Xsaid he was not talking to anyone unless hegot something to drink and was allowed toclean himself up. One of the men said “lookopen yuh mouth and drink this.”

X felt a warm burst of liquid on the bag.It tasted funny, but he couldn’t care less. Itstopped and one of the men laughed andsaid “Like he like de (expletive) p---, boy!”

He realised that he had just been made todrink one of the men’s urine. Truth be told,he would later confess in this interview,he’d somehow known this, but managed toquell the inchoate because his thirst was sodesperate.

Hearing the men say it, though, the hu-miliation rose and he cursed them, tellingthen he would tell his father “to not givethem any (expletive) money.”

The men removed the crocus bag fromX’s head. He saw three men. They lookedlike the Bobo Shanti vendors he’d buy nutsfrom at traffic intersections along the high-

“I sleep with my lights on and I no longereat nuts,” he said quietly. Such was the ex-tent of the damage to him and the everlast-ing fear. Not hatred‚ he quickly added, butfear.

Mr X, the son of a prominent business-man, was snatched by four gun-toting menlate one afternoon. He was put in the mid-dle of the back-seat, sandwiched betweentwo men with guns.

A short drive away from the point of kid-napping, the kidnappers stopped to tie hishands, with cutlass wire, and dragged himto throw him in the trunk of the car. As hestruggled, two of the men beat and kickedright there, one of them rammed his bootinto his back so hard that he buckled andfell inside the car’s trunk. The physical painwas excruciating and intense. To this day,X still suffers from severe back pains.

His abductors took him to an apartmentwhere he spent the night in a daze.

The next morning, X was fed bread andcheese. He was allowed to use the wash-room—with his hands still tied, one of thekidnappers pulled down his pants and briefsfor him.

X asked if his hands could be freed so thathe could clean himself. There was no re-sponse. The same man simply pulled up hisbrief and jeans and escorted him back to theroom where he was being kept.

Two of the men wore masks, the faces ofthe other two were bare of coverings. Acellphone rang and X could hear one of themen taking directions. X heard him curseand raise his voice, asking the caller if hewas certain that this plan would work.

One hour later, his room door was openedand he was greeted by an unforgettablesight: his four abductors were all dressed assoldiers, in full army camouflage uniforms.X was bundled into the trunk of a car.

Forty-five minutes later, the kidnappersand their victim switched vehicles. X wasblindfolded and placed inside “a sort of bar-rel, in the back of what felt like a truck.”There were holes at the top to allow air inso he could breathe but it was a bumpy rideand his hands were cramping.

THIS IS THE SPOT

About three hours later, he was taken outof his container and led along a track, upsome hills into the bush. One of the mencalled out to say they had arrived. X heardhim say that the plan had worked well as“police eh stop we.”

The party of men walked for about anhour until one man said “this is the spot.”X’s hands were untied and he was allowedto urinate. Still blindfolded, he was led intowhat felt like a cave or some dark hole. Hishands were tied behind his back aroundwhat felt like a tree trunk or a rough, broadwooden post.

His blindfold was removed and a crocusbag placed over his head with strings at thebase that were pulled around his neck andtied. The bag stank, but he could breathe.

The men left X in this “cave.” In totaldarkness, he stayed awake all night. Hecould hear the noises of animals and wor-ried that if he fell asleep, he’d be at themercy of snakes. He was afraid of snakes.He eventually fell asleep thinking how wor-ried his mother must be.

When he awoke, he assumed it was day-time. The place was still dark and the cro-cus bag was still on his head.

He could feel his bowels churning, hebadly wanted to use the toilet. He assumedsomeone would come to facilitate this, and

ways.The men slapped, kicked and cuffed him

all over his head until he was barely con-scious.

One of the men held his face in his handsand ordered him to open his mouth. He re-fused, not because he didn’t want to, but be-cause he was delirious and his brain wastaking far too long to process what wassaid. The man pulled down his pants, forcedX’s mouth open and urinated into it. Xgagged. He swallowed.

He was taken to the top of a hill wheretelephone reception was available and hewas allowed to speak to his father. He toldhis father he was fine, even though hisvoice quivered.

The crocus bag was replaced around hishead and he was taken to a spot where themen untied his hands and dashed water onhim. He was not allowed to take his clothesoff but he was able to wash himself.

GUARD CHANGES

Two days later, X was moved to a differ-ent location. He was now held captive in ashack. He was handcuffed, but felt a lot bet-ter as he had a sort of makeshift bed andwas fed bread and butter. New men guardedhim.

There were two of them. They talkedabout his father trusting the police too muchand quarrelled about the fact that they (thepolice) were getting paid even though theywere taking no risks.

The following night, X was awakened andbeaten for snoring. He butted one of themen and was stripped and made to lie onthe floor. His back was used as an ashtray,the men putting out their cigarettes on hisback and buttocks. The men were drinkingalcohol and smoking weed. He laid on thefloor all night, with the men boots restingon his back.

They discussed details of other kidnap-pings and other illegal exploits and also thatthe police had told “de boss” that X’s fatherwas trying to raise the ransom money. X fellasleep on the floor.

These two men stayed with X for the nextthree days. One would sometimes leave tofetch food, weed, alcohol and cigarettes.

One night, the man who remained asguard opened the door to X’s room andslapped him awake. He put a gun to X’shead and forced him to perform oral sex onhim. X thought about biting the man’s penisoff, but felt that the man was so high onmarijuana and intoxicated from the liquorthat he might actually pull the trigger.

Dehumanised and fearing for his life, Xdid as he was told.

NO ESCAPE

X slowly began to accept that there wasno escape and he had to surrender to hiscaptors. He subjected himself and co-oper-ated with them, living only in his mind forhis thoughts was the one thing they couldnot control.

He was released one week later, after anegotiated ransom was paid. His father toldhim that he suspected that the police mighthave been involved with his kidnappers andurged him to forget the entire thing andmove on as he had arranged to send himabroad.

He has never told this story to anyone. Noone will ever understand why, even thoughhe is now hundreds of miles away, he stillsleeps with the lights on and refuses to eatnuts.

SNATCHED BY GUN-TOTING MENAnand Ramlogan’s kidnap horror: Mr X is tortured, sexually abused, made to drink urine

The sister of missing kidnap victim Vin-dra Naipaul-Coolman has left Trinidad withher family, after reported death threats.The toll of months of uncertainty over thewhereabouts of Naipaul-Coolman follow-ing her abduction last year, and fears, fol-lowing death threats reportedly received bySeema Naipaul Ramcharitar and her hus-band Mitra, were said to be behind their de-cision to pack up and leave.

The Ramcharitars lived at Palm Road, Val-sayn north.

Neighbours told a rinidad newspaper thatthe family left three weeks ago, with theirtwo young daughters. Seema was the firstto leave, then a few days later, Mitra.A friend of the Ramcharitars said that Vin-

dra's abduction had deeply affected Seema."She had been crying everyday. She was

very close to her sister (Vindra), and wasdepressed and overwhelmed by the situa-tion."

The family friend also said that the cou-ple did not feel that bringing up theirdaughters "in a society like this would havebeen beneficial to the girls".

Before his sister-in-law Vindra was ab-ducted, Mitra Ramcharitar had reportedlyboasted to his neighbours that he wouldnever leave the country over the high crimerate.

One neighbour related that Ramcharitarhad a strong faith in God, and told him, "Iam not afraid. I walk with God."

However, following Naipaul-Coolman'skidnapping, neighbours said the couple be-came prisoners in their own home.

"They were keeping their doors closed.They even shunned their neighbours in theaftermath of the kidnapping," a neighbourtold the Express.

The neighbour said that Ramcharitar alsoadmitted to him that he had received deaththreats, but was unsure they were genuine.

"He told me that someone threatened tokill the whole family. He didn't know if itwas a hoax," the neighbour said.

Senior police officials could not confirmthe report. However, neighbours said thatRamcharitar had been warned by police toavoid coming out his front yard followingthe alleged threats.Ramcharitar reportedly told his neigbour:

"Because of what happen, I don't want tohave anything to do with this countryagain."

The couple still maintain business inter-ests in the country. They are now living inthe United States, according to the neig-bours.

Their house has reportedly been leased toa petroleum company and remains unoccu-pied.

Vindra’s sisterflees Trinidaddeath threats

Vindra Naipaul is still missing

ACHIEVERS Indo-Caribbean Times April 2007 Page 11

Today Trinidad style roti can be found inmajor supermarkets, in dozens of rotishops, and in restaurants all over Canadaand United States. It is an appreciated andaccepted food by many North Americanswho are not connected to the Caribbean.

But it wasn't always that way. The pio-neers of this multimillion-dollar food in-dustry live right here in Toronto, stilloperating their business with the samename Ram's Roti Shop that they startedwith in the year 1967. In this the 40th an-niversary of that event, Ram and RubyMaharaj deserve to be recognized for theircontribution.

Back in the year 1967 when otherCaribbean people mostly from Trinidadwere preparing to start Caribana forCanada's Centennial, new immigrants Ramand Ruby were thrown into the roti businessby accident. The couple and their five chil-dren had migrated from Trinidad in 1964and were doing well. Ram, a former Texacoworker, had found a job with DuPont Oiland had bought his own house within ayear. Ruby was working part-time in a rotishop called Rotisera, which had beenstarted by three Trinidad teachers.

The teachers were not very good at run-ning a roti shop, and within three monthsthe business collapsed. Ram was called into help, and he assumed the bank loan andlease on the building at 490 Dupont Street.

Ruby ran the shop in the day and Ramhelped out after work. So started the firstpermanent roti shop in Canada and theUnited States.

Toronto's first Caribana took place lessthan three months later, and the organizersplaced a banner in front of Ram's Roti

Shop. When the Caribana celebration tookplace on the Toronto islands Ram and Rubysold over 2000 rotis that day. There was noturning back after that.

In a short while, Ram's Roti Shop becamea kind of community center for West Indi-ans in Toronto. Trinidadians, Guyanese andeven young men from India would comefor a taste of home or a familiar and afford-able meal.

Many of the customers were young bach-elors who could not cook, or who were notallowed to cook Indian food in their rentedrooms or small apartments. In those days,landlords did not look kindly on tenantscooking spicy Indian curries in their build-

Cheddi Jagan, also known as CheddiBerret Jagan (March 22, 1918 – March 6,1997), was the chief minister (1957-1964)and president (1992-1997) of Guyana. Theson of ethnic Indian sugar plantation work-ers, Jaganmanagedto attendQueen ' sC o l l e g ei nGeorge-town. Helater stud-ied at theH o w a r dUniversity Dental School in Washington,D.C., and Northwestern University inChicago before returning home in the early1940s.

Disgusted by conditions in British Guiana,he founded the People's Progressive Partywith Forbes Burnham in 1950. He waselected to the colonial legislative body in1947 and was the controversial leader of theGuyanese government in the late 1950s andearly 1960s.

Jagan won in a colonially administeredelection in 1953, but was removed frompower militarily by Britain which, understrong behind-the-scenes pressure from theUnited States and the CIA, asserted that hehad ties to the Soviet Union. Jagan resignedas British Guiana prime minister after 133days. Britain suspended the constitution andchose an interim government. Jagan'smovements were restricted to Georgetownfrom 1954 to 1957.

Having broken off links with the increas-ingly authoritarian Burnham, who dividedthe country among racial barriers, Jagan

ings. There was an Indian restaurant calledIndia House, but its prices were beyondthe reach of young men working for lowwages.

Instead they would go down to 490Dupont and content themselves with a po-tato roti at $2.50 or a chicken roti at $3.50.

Then, as now, a roti was much more sat-isfying than a hot dog or a hamburger.

Ram would play Indian music records,and he remembers the young Indians lis-tening to Lata Mangeskar and Mukesh andcrying out of nostalgia and loneliness. WestIndians driving up to Toronto from NewYork would make a beeline to Ram's RotiShop, because there was nothing like thiswhere they lived.

Flyers and announcements about com-munity events and music shows would beposted up at the shop. Visiting artistes likethe Tradewinds band, calypsonians andprominent West Indians could be found at490 Dupont soaking up the local news andtrying out a taste of home.

For several years Rams' Roti Shop wasthe only business in town if you wanted totaste a roti in Toronto. Gradually othersopened up, Ali's started selling Trinidadstyle doubles and roti, and the CaribbeanIndian roti industry started to take shape.After many years of patiently persuadingwhite Canadians and other immigrants totry a dhalpouri roti, Ram and Ruby beganto see gradual acceptance from mainstreamCanadians.

The New Yorkers soon realized that theyneeded their own roti shops, and startedputting them up in Queens and other partsof the city. In Canada, roti shops began tospring up in cities outside of Toronto, inMontreal, Vancouver and many otherplaces. Today roti shops can be found inMassachusetts and in Texas and in LosAngeles and other American cities. An In-ternet search for roti shops Canada andUnited States yields over 700 hits. Rotishops can even be found in Europe and theMiddle East.

The thread for this powerfuly growing in-dustry traces back to the doors at 490Dupont Street in Toronto, the year 1967,and Ram and Ruby Maharaj. They are truepioneers who can be found at their shop at130 Westmore in Mississauga still doingwhat they have done for 40 years now,which in Ram's words is, "making sureTrinidad style roti has a place in everyNorth American kitchen."

was active in the government as a labor ac-tivist and leader of the opposition. In 1992,after 28 years in opposition, he was electedpresident in the first free elections since in-dependence. He died in office less than 5

years later.Hispresidential tenurewas characterizedby the revival ofthe union move-ment and a re-com-mitment toeducation and in-frastructure im-p r o v e m e n t .Towards the end ofhis life, he aban-

doned Marxism-Leninism and began tomove his country to a free-market capitalistsystem.

He married Janet (née Rosenberg), a formermember of a communist youth organiza-

tion,i n

1943, and the couple had two children,Nadira and Cheddi Jr. (who in turn pro-duced five grandchildren, Cheddi B. JaganII, Vrinda Jagan, Avasa Jagan, AlexBrancier, Natasha Brancier). Mrs. Jaganfollowed her husband's footsteps and heldthe positions of prime minister and presi-dent in 1997 (succeeded as president byBharrat Jagdeo in 1999). A museum in thecapital, Georgetown, celebrates CheddiJagan's life and work, complete with a repli-cation of his office.

Jagan was also an important political au-thor and speechwriter, and his publicationsinclude Forbidden Freedom: The Story ofBritish Guiana, The West On Trial: MyFight for Guyana's Freedom, TheCaribbean Revolution, and The USA inSouth America, among others.

Ram & Ruby Maharaj:Roti pioneers in Canada

Ram and Ruby Maharaj still going strong

GUYANA HONOURS CHEDDI

He made the ultimate sacrifice to save hisson's life, and will be honoured with amedal for his heroism.

Winnipegger Prakash Mulchand will beposthumously awarded the Canadian Medalof Bravery for his efforts to pull his then-eight- year-old son from a swirling andstrong current after the youngster fell intothe Portage la Prairie spillway during a fish-ing outing in August 2005.

Mulchand, 47, drowned after helping hisson stay afloat until the unconscious boycould be pulled from the water at DeltaBeach north of Portage la Prairie by a manon a personal watercraft.

Prakash's mother was in tears when shelearned of the honour, which was an-nounced earlier by Gov. Gen. MichaelleJean in Ottawa.

"I've started crying. I'm happy, but that'smy son -- he was so young," Sham Mulc-hand, 73, told Sun Media at her Fort Rich-mond home.

"I'm proud of what he did. I'm very emo-tional."

Jean announced Mulchand is the only oneof 13 new recipients of the Medal of Brav-ery to receive the decoration posthumously.His family will be given the medal at a laterceremony.

Roy Mulchand, Prakash's nephew, saidhis uncle -- a supervisor at Motor Coach In-dustries -- could have been called a hero forfar more deeds during his life, on top of hisrescue of his son Nevin.

When his son fell in, Prakash jumped inand yelled for help. The boy grabbed ontohis father, though the pair became separatedby the current. The boy was revived afterbeing brought to shore, but his father couldnot be saved.

"He was a very genuine person -- verymoral and did other things to help peopleout," Roy said. "He would do whatever hecould. He was a friend to everyone. Hestood for morals and education. It waspretty hard to get anything past him. Hedidn't do anything wrong or bad. That's howI see him."

Winnipeg based Guyanese man getsposthoumous Medal of Bravery

The young man 1947

Speaking after the Enmore deaths

Meeting Canadian PM Jean Chretien

INTERNATIONAL Indo-Caribbean Times April 2007 Page 12

NNeeww YYoorrkk PPhhaaggwwaa PPaarraaddee vveerryy HHoollii

New York’s 18th annual Phagwa Parade begins on a closed off Liberty Avenue in Queens Bhawanee Maa Mandir float brings Holi greetings and live chowtaal music

Shree Krishna Mandir is one of the Caribbean Hindu groups taking part The Phagwa Queen of the Trimurthy Bhavan Mandir waves regally from on high

Warming up at the start of the parade Some groups did not have floats but were happy to march and sing Some hot street tassa is always welcome

Always present in the parade are the Arya Samaj Hindus of New York After the parade over 1,000 create a snowstorm of powder in nearby Smokey Park

CONSUMER WATCH Indo-Caribbean Times April 2007 Page 13

To buy or not to buy: the big screen television set

Selling or buying?Trust the business of Real Estate to a RealtorLet me help you meet your Real Estate needs!

Lisa M. MaharajSales Representative

T: 905-277-0771 F: 905-277-0086Direct: 416-458-5683

E-mail: lmaharaj@trebnet.com

50 Burnhamthorpe Road. W. Ste 102(Sussex Centre) Mississauga ON L5B 3C2

BEWARE OF WIRETRANSFER SCAMSConsumers would do well not to fall prey

to a growing number of scams that inducevictims to wire money to con-artists. Theyrange from the good old “you’ve won a lot-tery you never entered, send taxes to getyour loot” to the newest “just deposit thischeque in your account, keep your shareand send me mine.”"It's a disaster when a victim wires money

to a con-artist," said Iowa Attorney Gen-eral Tom Miller. "It usually goes abroad, itcannot be traced, and the money is gone ina flash. Usually it's for a large amount ofmoney, and victims often are older or low-income Iowans. Usually, we can't get theirmoney back and we can't catch the crooks,"he said. "We have to prevent the scam in thefirst place."There are more and more schemes that de-

ceive victims into wiring large sums, andusually abroad," Miller said. "People mayreceive a call or mailing indicating theyhave won a huge lottery or sweepstakesprize and they simply have to wire moneyto pay for so-called taxes or other fees.They may be promised a large loan or creditcard, but first have to pay certain fees orso-called insurance. People may even beapproached in an on-line chat room andasked to send money to help someone getinto the country," he said.

"We think the fastest growing form ofscam now involves counterfeit cashier'schecks and money orders ending up withwire transfers," Miller said. "Victims mayreceive a cashier's check or postal moneyorder for some reason and be asked to de-posit it and wire part of the money, only tolearn the check is counterfeit -- and theyhave to repay the bank. Victims often losethousands of dollars," he said.

By Reynold Ramdial

I would like to relate a recent shopping ex-perience. At the Best Buy store I was aboutto buy a flat screen TV. I talked to the salesperson, compared the picture with otherbrands, looked at the features and so on andof course agreed that the price was right.

I was ready to buy this TV. I was actuallylooking forward to taking it home and set-ting it up in the ideal location and watchsome TV on a Big Screen TV.

We loaded it onto a cart and wheeled itover to the cash register. Now it was timefor the sales person to give me some spe-cial instructions. You see this TV is a highresolution and comes with a box but didn’tcome with any cables so the salesman tookme to the cable section and pointed the va-riety and explained why I should get thisone and not the other.

You see not all cables are made equal.Audio and video buffs will know this andwillingly spend the money to get higherquality sound and video signals. I am nobuff but agreed to get the cables; after all, Iwant better picture and sound. Why else

would I buy this TV? Then it was explainedto me that I would get the high definitions i g n a lfrom thec a b l ecompanyfor a lim-ited timea f t e rwhich ofc o u r s e ,the addi-t i o n a lc o s twould beadded tomy cablebill.

At thispoint, Iw a sstart ingto haves e c o n dthoughtsa b o u tthis purchase but I was still excited aboutthe BIG SCREEN TV so alright, let’s getthe cables and back to the cash register wego adding approximately $100.00 to the al-ready high price of the TV.

Well there was something else that I maywant to consider, that is the mountingbracket. You see, this TV can be mountedon the wall. The salesman and I looked atthe brackets. There was at least 6 varietiesto choose from with prices ranging from

around $75.00 to well over $200.00. I de-cided against the mounting bracket, I could

do this later as it is not essential. And now back to the cash register, I was

ready to take my TV home. Once again, thesalesman being very competent mentionedsomething very important which I admit-tedly didn’t consider up to this point whichis warranty.

We are accustomed to standard warrantiesof about 1 year for purchases such as thisand if needs be, we would take the productto some nearby location where warranty

will be honored, right?...Wrong. The salesman informed me that the war-

ranty is 30 days and if anything goes wrongafter that, I would have to ship this big TVto California. Now I am thinking that I haveto pay the cost of shipping and insurance,go through the logistics to get the properpackaging and have a shipping companypick up, which means I will have to taketime off from work because shipping com-panies usually pick up during regular work-ing hours etc.

My mind was racing and so was myanger. He promptly informed me howeverthat this doesn’t have to be the case and thatI could get 24 hours local warranty service.

This came with a hefty price tag, $250.00.I was mad and decided then that I will notallow myself to get sucked in by this type ofunethical business and that this TV was notfor me. I told the salesman and the managerwho happened to be close by, what Ithought and how I felt knowing that theycould do nothing to change the conditionsof the sale. I did get that look, however,from them and a couple other customers.

Is there a lesson in all of this? I for onehave decided that I will never patronize thatstore again nor will I buy from any other es-tablishment that uses such trickery and un-ethical practices. I advise consumers to usetheir almighty purchasing power to send asstrong a message as possible to thesesharks. I maintain that consumers are ma-nipulated and it is time we realize it and dosomething about it. We have the power tobuy or not.

Big ticket buy can come with hidden costs and poor warranty

COMMUNITY Indo-Caribbean Times April 2007 Page 14ANNOUNCEMENTS

SATYA JYOTI CULTURAL SABHA in-vites you to a Ramayan Yagna with PunditDr Mahin Gosine from New York, run-ning from Thursday April 5 to SundayApril 8. It will be held at the mandir at6731 Columbus Drive, Units 7&8, Missis-sauga from 6.30-9.00 p.m. Thursday toSaturday and 9.30 a.m to 12.00 noon onSunday. Pundit Lakraj Harrypaul will as-sist. Pundit Gosine’s topics include De-ceit and Deception, Keeping PromisesAmidst Adversity, Divine Messenger andSanatan Dharma Gyaan Yoga. For infocall 905-564-6723, 905-790-7729 or e-mail info@satyajyoti.com or go towww.satyajyoti.com

CHESS TOURNAMENT

HORIZON CRICKET CLUB invites allchess players (beginners & professionals)to come and enjoy a day of chess on Sat-urday, April 21, 2007. Visit www.hori-zoncricketclub.com or phone905-794-5423.

INDO CARIBBEAN CULTURAL SO-CIETY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA holdsit annual general meeting and election ofofficers on April 15 at the SoutharmCommunity Centre, William Road, Richmond BC. PresidentNaraine Mohabir and his nine person ex-ecutive are up for re-election. For infocontact Naraine at 603-274-8938.

June 1-3, the ICCCSBC holds a ThreeDay Yagna at the Vedic Cultural Society,Ram Krishna Mandir, 8200 #5 Road,Richmond BC. Pundit Prakash Gossaiwill conduct the yagna.

PEEL ARYA SAMAJ celebrates AryaSamaj Foundation Day on Sunday April.8 at 10.00 am Peel at the Vedic CulturalCentre, 173 Advance Blvd., Unit 50&51Brampton. For info contact Lionel Persaud - President at 905-454-9148 , Jay Brijpaul - Public Relations Of-ficer at 905-840-5369 or Naresh Persaud- Priest at 905-790-1397

SCOTTS AND MENDEZ OVERSEASUNITED & MASTERS SPORTS CLUBpresent a Grand Indian Musical Extrava-ganza on Saturday April 14 at Chingua-cousy Secondary School, 1370 WilliamsParkway, Brampton, starting at 6.30 pm.The show features Toronto’s best insong, music and dance, including singersSharma Ramdular, Ganga Persaud,Bobby Armoogam, Bisram, Raquel Ma-hadeo, Shanti Jackree, Romeena Ali andRandy Mahadeo. Music is by SoundSensations led by Bobby Armoogam, anddancers by Chris Badree School of Danceand Ferryan. Admission is $10 per per-son. For tickets and info call Deo at 416-798-2118, Shanti at 416-588-7827, Terryat 905-799-3494.

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 50 PLUSAND SENIORS ASSOCIATION holds itAnnual General Meeting and Election ofOfficers on Sunday April 29 at the Birk-dale Community Centre, 1299 EllesmereRoad, Scarborough, from 1.30 p.m. Forinfo contact Public Relations OfficerRasheed Sultan Khan at 416-281-5264.

VISHNU MANDIR celebrates HanumanJayanti on Monday April 2 and Ganga

Devi Mandir’s Pt. Damodar is new Hindu Chaplain in Durham

Jayanti on Monday April 23, at the templeat 8640 Yonge Street, Richmond Hill. Forinfo call 905-886-1724 or e-mail at vishnu-mandir@hotmail.com.

DEVI MANDIR marks Hanuman Jayantion April 2, with abhishek and puja from 9-11 am, 108 recitations of the HanumanChalisa from 11 am, and Bhajans from 5-7pm. and discourse from 7 pm– 9 pm. All ac-tivities take place at 2590 Brock Road,Pickering, telephone number 905-686-8534.

BHAGVAD GITA FOR EACH HOME -Bulk distribution centres. The Gita can be available in bulk at the fol-lowing contacts: Donations are expected tofund further copies; any individual or or-ganization wishing to assist in this projectcan contact us.

CANADAToronto, Mississauga, BramptonRamnarineSahadeo 905 671 9233 e-mailramjihindu@rogers.com, Omesh SharmaOmesh@flexomark.com, Chandan Persaud416-754-2382, Gulcharan at 416 481-5777gmohabir@hotmail.com, Ram Jagessar416 289 9088 or ram@eol.ca

Richmond HillOmoPersaud omo@globalspectruminc.com905-886-1724

Winnipeg:Ajodhya Mahadeo 204-661-6643

GUYANASaraswati Vidya Niketan ph. 2760013/14 Swami_aksharananda@hotmail.com

TRINIDADHindu Students Council:hsclink@gmail.com

NALINI MAY GETKIDNEY FROMTRINIDAD

Mississauga auditor Nalini Maharaj cam-paign to get a life saving kidney is showingpromise in Trinidad. Several people haveresponded to advertisements and articles inTrinidad newspapers and offered to help.

Tests for compatibility are being arrangedwith the hope that one of the persons wouldbe a close enough match to donate a kidney.

Nalini and her family are very encouragedby the response in her home countryTrinidad. For the past three years since herkidneys failed she has been trying to get adonor in Canada without success.

After a story appeared in the Indo-Caribbean Times last month but brought noresponses, Nalini decided to widen hersearch. She believes that Trinidad has agreater number of people from her genepool than Canada, and more people whoknow her or her family. Contact her at 905-568-4699 or a puran8@msn.com

BRIJPAL RAMSARAN

He was never able to go toschool, but he worked andsacrificed to educate all hischildren

Brijpal Ramsaran was born on the 7th Feb-ruary, 1926, in Crabwood Creek, a farmingvillage in Berbice, Guyana. His mother diedwhen he was about three years old and hehad an extremely difficult childhood. Hewas not sent to school but to work in therice and saw mills at a very tender age. Hegot married when he was about seventeenyears old; his wife was fifteen. Together,they raised six children, three boys andthree girls : Krishna, Amelia, Shile, Ravin,Jay and Sattie.

Brijpal was a very simple, easy going,humble, kind and generous man – his wifewas the disciplinarian in the family. Heworked very hard on the farm, growingrice, rearing cows, poultry which includedchicken, ducks and turkeys and also sheepand goats. The family was poor but theyhad their own home, enough food andclothes. He and his wife ensured that thebasic needs of their children were met.

In the days when girls were not necessar-ily sent to school and boys were not sent toHigh School, Brijpal made sure that all sixof his children completed High School.Those were the days when you had to payfees for high school and buy all your booksand supplies for both elementary and sec-ondary schools. This was a costly ventureespecially for six children but he realizedthat education was extremely important. Hemade many sacrifices and in the off ricefield season, he often got another job like anight watchman for draglines, or cuttingand drifting logs to earn a bit more so thathis children were not denied an education.He laid the foundations for their futurelives. The legacy for honesty and hard worklives on in his children.

Brijpal was very well known and well re-spected in the village. He had the ability toset sprained ankles or wrists and elbows orsome other joint, for pulling nara - that is atummy ache, and for fixing and bandagingbroken joints; many people came to him.

He never charged a fee and always hadelastoplast at home for bandaging. He wasalso a milkman in the village, deliveringmilk to his customers, riding a bicycle.

He and his wife came to Canada in 1988and they lived with Jay and his family inBrampton. When his wife became ill in1997 he took care of her. She passed awayin 2001. Since then he became very lonely;he missed his wife after fifty eight years ofmarriage. His daughter-in-law Nan, Jay’swife, was more like a daughter. She tookcare of him and was there when he took hislast breath on February 21, 2007. He waseighty one years old. May his soul rest inpeace.

OBITUARY

History was made by Pandit DamodarSharma, the spiritual leader of the DeviMandir when he was sworn in last Sundayas the first ever Hindu Honorary Chaplainfor the Durham Regional Police.

In attendance were the Mayor of Picker-ing Dave Ryan, the Deputy Chief of Police

in the Durham Region Chuck Mercier, In-spector Jim Douglas, Judge David Stone,widely known Toronto lawyer DhamanKissoon, and off course a full congregationof all the supporters and members of theDevi Mandir. Pandit Sharma who lives inPickering, immigrated from India 15 years.He is married and has three children."Today is a very special day not only for theDevi Mandir but the entire Hindu commu-nity in Canada", stated Vishnu Sookar,Chairman of the Devi Mandir.

Damodar in full police uniform

Pundit Damodar in the temple

ADVERTISINGSALES REPThe Indo-Caribbean Timesseeks an experienced media ad-vertising salesperson. Knowl-edge of the Indo-Caribbeanbusiness community in the GTAiwould be considered a majorasset. Access to a vehicle isneeded.

Contact Ram at 416-289-3898or by e-mail at

ictimes@rogers.com

SEND YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSTO THE ICTIMES AT 416-289-3898, EMAIL TOictimes@rogers.com, or mailto 17 Gaiety Drive, TorontoON Canada M11H 1B9

BUSINESS AND FINANCE Indo-Caribbean Times April 2007 Page 15

Hidden away in many a home in Canadaare computers that were bought with highhopes but are now gathering dust. The own-ers don’t know what to do with them andhave given up on the idea of entering thecomputer age.

The reason for this is very simple. Theowners didn't know how to buy a computerthat they could use. Instead of getting acomputer that was set up and ready to run,they just went out and bought a computer.Then they found out that a computer is notlike a radio that you switch on and start toenjoy.

A computer is really a system, with a casecontaining the working motherboard, plusa keyboard, a mouse, a monitor, speakersand a printer that are plugged into the case.But you can't do anything with the com-puter in this condition. You have to buy anoperating system like Microsoft XP and in-

stall it, which is difficult for most computernovices. You have to install the printerusing the supplied CD before it will printanything.

When you get your operating system andprinter properly installed, you think you canstart doing some fun computer things. Youwant to write and print out an assignment,write a letter, send an e-mail, surf the inter-net, do your budget, read the newspapersfrom back home, download some music orbuy a book from amazon.com.

NEED TO BUY SOFTWARE

Stop right there. You can't do those things.You must have a word processing programto write the letter or the assignment, or aspreadsheet program to do your budget.You have to buy something like MicrosoftOffice and install the program.

To get on the internet, you must get an in-ternet provider, and install the internet pro-gram. Sometimes you have to get a modemand install it, or get somebody to do that foryou. You must get an e-mail address beforeyou can send out or receive e-mails.

You have to get an antivirus program andinstall it on your computer to prevent com-puter viruses from damaging your com-puter. You should install a firewall so that

people on the outside cannot control yourcomputer. You should back up your data onCD's or DVD's so that if your computerhard drive dies all your valuable data is notlost.

There is no way you can do all thosethings properly if you are new to comput-ers. You have to pay a computer expert $45an hour to set you up properly, or take achance on asking your 14 year old cousinto help you out.

There is a way to avoid this mess, and thatis to get your computer from a store that of-fers more than over the counter sales. A de-cent computer provider will assemble yourcomputer to your specifications. He will in-stall the monitor, printer, CD or DVDwriter, and modem. He will install yourcomputer programs like Microsoft Office.

WHAT HE WILL DO FOR YOU

In addition, he will get your internet con-nection, and even set up your e-mail. Hewill install your anti-virus program to runautomatically, and load your firewall. Hewill set up system points on your computerso that if your system crashes you can goback to a time when everything was run-ning well. He will make emergency startupdisks so you can restart your computer if itfreezes up. And most important of all, hewill be available if you need help.

Something will go wrong with the com-puter, usually as soon as you get it. A com-puter is an incredibly complex machine andis very easy to upset.

It will freeze up on you for no reason. Pro-grams will tell you they have to shut down,and you will lose your data. You will be un-able to find that valuable file in the folderwhere you are sure you put it.

Your printer wuill stop working and youwill be asked to reinstall the drivers. Youmay find the computer slowing down to acrawl and will get messages you don’t un-derstand. You will be asked whether youwant to install updates to some programyou didn’t know you had. The internet willrefuse to deliver your e-mail for no obviousreason, usually at the most critical time.

Getting your computer set up properly thefirst time will cost you some money, ofcourse. But it is money well spent. Whatyou get is a fully functional computer withall necessary systems installed and tested,all programs and protections in place. Youcan begin to use the computer as soon asyour plug in the pieces and turn on thepower. You enter the computer age withoutheadaches or pain, and can anticipatemonths and years of service in the future.Your computer will definitely not be gath-ering dust in a corner while the computerworld passes you by.

Getting the computerwithout the headache

CINCINNATI – For years, political lead-ers touted rising homeownership rates as asign the ”American Dream” was being ful-filled but more than a million looming fore-closures have called the dream intoquestion.

“We no longer have a problem with loanavailability ... but a lot of our homeownersare one crisis away from losing theirhome,” said Hope Wilson, a housing coun-selor at Working in Neighborhoods, a non-profit trying to boost homeownership ininner-city Cincinnati .

There is no shortage these days of tragicstories of homeowners caught in America 'ssubprime mortgage meltdown, as risky bor-rowing, reckless lending and a slump in thehousing market drives millions into fore-closure.

But while statistics show poor and mi-nority homeowners are bearing the brunt ofthe crisis, the belief that every Americancan or should own their own home remainsso pervasive few politicians admit that itjust might not be true. After stagnating atabout 65 percent for much of the 1960s,'70s and '80s, the U.S. homeownership ratehas risen slowly in the past 15 years tonearly 69 percent – a point of pride for De-mocrats and Republicans alike. But with an estimated 1.5 million home-owners facing foreclosure this year, Con-

gress is now looking at tighter lending stan-dards to protect unwary Americans fromtaking on loans they cannot afford. But it isnot just poor and minority Americans whoare losing their homes – many debt-riddenconsumers simply were unwise in their loanchoices. The suggestion that more regula-tion is needed to protect Americans fromwilling but risky lenders is controversial.

The U.S. subprime mortgage crisis shouldhave only a limited impact on the perform-ance of Canada 's main stock index asstrong demand for commodities shouldcontinue to drive the resource-heavy mar-ket higher, CIBC World Markets has said.

Jeff Rubin, chief economist at World Mar-kets, a unit of Canadian Imperial Bank ofCommerce expects the U.S. subprime melt-down to deepen -- eventually costing morethan $100-billion.

Canada's mortgage market has largely es-caped a similar slowdown, which analystssay is partly due to the fact that Canadianhome prices have not risen to the same ex-tend as U.S. prices, and also because oftighter regulations in Canada's mortgagemarket.Canada's mortgage market haslargely escaped a similar slowdown, whichanalysts say is partly due to the fact thatCanadian home prices have not risen to thesame extend as U.S. prices, and also be-cause of tighter regulations in Canada.

US housing crisis deepens, but Canada safe for now

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NEW ORLEANS - More than half a mil-lion people a year with chest pain are get-ting an unnecessary or premature procedureto unclog their arteries because drugs arejust as effective, suggests a landmark studythat challenges one of the most commonpractices in heartcare.

The stunning re-sults found thatangioplasty didnot save lives orprevent heart at-tacks in non-emergency heartpatients.

An even biggersurprise: Angio-plasty gave onlyslight and tempo-rary relief fromchest pain, themain reason it isdone.

“By five years,there was really no significant difference”in symptoms, said Dr. William Boden ofBuffalo General Hospital in New York.“Few would have expected such results.”

He led the study and gave results at ameeting of the American College of Cardi-ology. They also were published online bythe New England Journal of Medicine andwill be in the April 12 issue.

PROCEDURE IS TOP TREATMENT

Angioplasty remains the top treatment forpeople having a heart attack or hospitalizedwith worsening symptoms. But most an-gioplasties are done on a non-emergencybasis, to relieve chest pain caused byclogged arteries crimping the heart’s bloodsupply.

Those patients now should try drugs first,experts say. If that does not help, they canconsider angioplasty or bypass surgery,which unlike angioplasty, does save lives,prevent heart attacks and give lasting chestpain relief.

In the study, only one-third of the peopletreated with drugs ultimately needed angio-plasty or a bypass.

“You are not putting yourself at risk ofdeath or heart attack if you defer,” and con-sidering the safety worries about heartstents used to keep arteries open after an-gioplasty, it may be wise to wait, said Dr.Steven Nissen, a Cleveland Clinic heartspecialist and president of the College ofCardiology.

WHY DID ANGIOPLASTY NOT HELPMORE?

Helping one artery at a timeIt fixes onlyone blockage at a time whereas drugs affectall the arteries, experts said. Also, the clogstreated with angioplasty are not the reallydangerous kind.

“Even though it goes against intuition, theblockages that are severe that cause chestpain are less likely to be the source of aheart attack than segments in the artery thatare not severely blocked,” said Dr. DavidMaron, a Vanderbilt University cardiologistwho helped lead the new study.

Drugs are better today than they used tobe, and do a surprisingly good job, said Dr.Elizabeth Nabel, director of the NationalHeart, Lung and Blood Institute.

“It may not be as bad as we thought” tosaid.

HEALTH AND WELLNESS Indo-Caribbean Times April 2007 Page 16

leave the artery alone, she said.About 1.2 million angioplasties are done

in the United States each year. Through ablood vessel in the groin, doctors snake atube to a blocked heart artery. A tiny bal-loon is inflated to flatten the clog and a

mesh scaffoldstent is usuallyplaced.“We deliber-ately chose toenroll a sicker,more sympto-matic group” togive angio-plasty a goodchance to proveitself, Bodensaid.

The newstudy shifts theargument fromwhich type ofstent to use towhether to do

the procedure at all.The procedure already has lost some pop-

ularity because of emerging evidence thatpopular drug-coated stents can raise the riskof blood clots months later. The new studyshifts the argument from which type ofstent to use to whether to do the procedureat all.

It involved 2,287 patients throughout theU.S. and Canada who had substantialblockages, typically in two arteries, butwere medically stable. They had an averageof 10 chest pain episodes a week — mod-erately severe.

About 40 percent had a prior heart attackmore than three months previously.“We deliberately chose to enroll a sicker,more symptomatic group” to give angio-plasty a good chance to prove itself, Bodensaid.

All were treated with medicines that im-prove chest pain and heart and artery healthsuch as aspirin, cholesterol-loweringstatins, nitrates, ACE inhibitors, beta-block-ers and calcium channel blockers. All alsowere counseled on healthy lifestyles —diet, exercise and smoking cessation.

Half of the participants also were assignedto get angioplasty.

After an average of 4½ years, the groupshad similar rates of death and heart attack:211 in the angioplasty group and 202 in themedication group — about 19 percent ofeach.

Heart-related hospitalization rates weresimilar, too. Neither treatment proved betterfor any subgroups like smokers, diabetics,or older or sicker people.

At the start of the study, 80 percent hadchest pain. Three years into it, 72 percentof the angioplasty group was free of thissymptom as was 67 percent of the druggroup.

That means you would have to give an-gioplasties to 20 people for every onewhose chest pain was better after threeyears — an unacceptably high ratio, Nissensaid.

After five years, 74 percent of the angio-plasty group and 72 percent of the medica-tion group were free of chest pain - “nosignificant difference,” Boden said.

The study was funded by the U.S. De-partment of Veterans Affairs, the MedicalResearch Council of Canada and a host ofdrug companies. Stent makers refused tohelp pay for the research, said scientists.

appetizers: An order of six steamed porkdumplings has 500 calories, and there’s notmuch difference, about 10 calories perdumpling, if they’re pan-fried.

The group found that not much haschanged since it examined Chinese food 15years ago. That’s not all bad, Liebman said.“We were glad not to find anything differ-ent,” she said. “Some restaurant food hasgotten a lot worse. Companies seem to pileon. Instead of just cheesecake, you get co-

c o n u tchocolatec h i pcheesecakewith a layerof choco-late cake,and lasagnawith meat-balls.”The group

says thereis no safeh a r b o rf r o msodium onthe Chineserestaurantmenu, but

it offers several tips for making a mealhealthier:

Look for dishes that feature vegetables in-stead of meat or noodles. Ask for extrabroccoli, snow peas or other veggies. Steer clear of deep-fried meat, seafood ortofu. Order it stir-fried or braised. Hold the sauce, and eat with a fork or chop-sticks to leave more sauce behind. Avoid salt, which means steering clear ofthe duck sauce, hot mustard, hoisin sauceand soy sauce. Share your meal or take half home for later. Ask for brown rice instead of white rice.

NEW VACCINESTOPS REPEATEDEAR INFECTIONS IN CHILDREN

A vaccine to fight common bacterial dis-eases has produced significant and unex-pected drops in repeat ear infections and theneed for inserted ear tubes in children sinceits U.S. introduction in 2000, researchersreported on Monday.

“This is exciting news for parents whosechildren suffer from frequent and painfulear infections,” said Katherine Poehling, apediatrician at Wake Forest University Bap-tist Medical Center and lead author of thestudy.

The vaccination, given initially at 2, 4 and6 months of age, was designed to combat anumber of pneumococcal infections, in-cluding ear infections that most childrenhave at least once by the time they turn 2years old.

But Poehling said the new research showsthat the vaccine was also preventing repeatinfections, which occur three or four timesa year in up to nearly a third of all children,often requiring the insertion of ear tubes toequalize pressure..

WASHINGTON - The typical Chineserestaurant menu is a sea of nutritional no-nos, a consumer group has found.

A plate of General Tso’s chicken, for ex-ample, is loaded with about 40 percentmore sodium and more than half the calo-ries an average adult needs for an entireday.

The battered, fried chicken dish with veg-etables has 1,300 calories, 3,200 milligramsof sodium and 11 grams of saturated fat.That’s beforethe rice (200calories acup). Andafter the eggrolls (200calories and400 mil-ligrams ofsodium).“I don’t wantto put all theblame onC h i n e s efood,” saidBonnie Lieb-man, nutri-tion directorof the Centerfor Science in the Public Interest, which dida recent report..

“Across the board, American restaurantsneed to cut back on calories and salt, and inthe meantime, people should think of eachmeal as not one, but two, and bring homehalf for tomorrow,” Liebman said.

The average adult needs around 2,000calories a day and 2,300 milligrams of salt,which is about one teaspoon of salt, ac-cording to government guidelines.

Sheila Weiss, director of nutrition policyat the National Restaurant Association, saidthat restaurants around the country were al-ready making efforts to offer customershealthier choices. In particular, Chineserestaurants typically offer plenty of optionsfor customers looking to steer clear of friedfoods and heavy sauces, she noted.

"Restaurants have a responsibility to pro-vide options and they do," said Weiss, but"customers also have a responsibility to un-derstand their own dietary needs and knowhow to make special requests."

ITALIAN AND MEXICAN RESTAURANTS ARE WORSE

In some ways, CSPI's Liebman said, Ital-ian and Mexican restaurants are worse foryour health, because their food is higher insaturated fat, which can increase the risk ofheart disease.

While Chinese restaurant food is bad foryour waistline and blood pressure —sodium contributes to hypertension — itdoes offer vegetable-rich dishes and thekind of fat that’s not bad for the heart.

However — and this is a big however —the veggies aren’t off the hook. A plate ofstir-fried greens has 900 calories and 2,200milligrams of sodium. And eggplant in gar-lic sauce has 1,000 calories and 2,000 mil-ligrams of sodium.

“We were shocked. We assumed the veg-etables were all low in calories,” Liebmansaid.

No safe harborAlso surprising were some

Most angioplasties are unnecessary, study findsProcedure gave only slight temporary pain relief; drugs are just as effective

Is most Chinese restaurant food unhealthy?Menus loaded with sodium, saturated fat and calories — even the veggies

Avoid the sauce and ask for brown rice, say the experts

Panday: racist govt. plot to crush me has failed“They were too greedy, they tried to hang two Indians with the same rope”

BREAKING NEWS Indo-Caribbean Times April 2007 Page 17

ment from the Scarborough Hospital Proj-ect; I was not accused of being dishonest inany way. It is the PNM propaganda that haspainted me as a corrupt person to be usedas a weapon against me and my Party in the elections.

I am told that when the then Chairman ofthe Integrity Commission learned that I hadomitted to declare that account he is re-ported to have said: “Aha! We have the sonof a bitch to hang.” But when similar errors

have been discovered in the declarations ofPNM Ministers and other PNM hacks the Commission would call them in and askthem to make the necessary corrections.But instead of calling me in and advisingme that I was mistaken and ought to makethe necessary correction as they have donewith every PNM Minister and PNM Partyhacks they send the matter to the DPP who promptly laid charges against me andcaused me to be arrested. That’s where theconspiracy started. They refused to treat mein the same way that they treated others,because I was a political opponent.

I was charged in September 2002; the trialof the matter did not begin until the 20March 2006 before Chief Magistrate Sher-man Mc Nichols. The witnesses, one ofwhom was Mr. Lawerence Duprey, Chair-man of the Clico Group of Companies, whohad given a scholarship to the children, con-cluded their evidence on the 24 March andthe matter was adjourned to the 24 April,2006 for decision. What happened betweenthose two dates would make your bloodcrawl and make you wonder whether youare living in a democracy or in Zimbabwe.In order to understand the humongous con-spiracy of the PNM and its agents to per-vert the course of justice and to imprison itsopponents it is necessary to know the his-tory of what went on before.

Sometime in the year 2005 Mc Nicholsbought a piece of land from Home Con-struction Ltd through one of its subsidiariesMillennium Homes Ltd. Both companiesare part of the Clico group. CMMB, a mer-chant bank, of which Andre Monteil is a Di-rector, also belongs to the same group.Andre Monteil is also Treasurer of thePNM; he is also gunning for LawrenceDuprey, whose position he wants.

Some time later Mc Nichols decides heno longer wanted the land and approachedMillennium to re-purchase the land fromhim, but they refused to do so on the groundthat it was the Company policy not to re-purchase lands they had already sold. Thatseems reasonable. Mc Nichols then let it be known to friends that he wanted to sellthese lands. In or about February or earlyMarch 2006 one Anthony Maharaj heardthat Mc Nichols was selling the land and hebecame interested; he called Mc Nichols totalk about it. They agreed on a price of$4,000,000 and a deposit of 10%($400,000) to seal the deal. Maharaj agreesto send Mc Nichols a cheque for $400,000.When by the 27 March Mc Nichols does

not receive the cheque he calls Mr. Maharajto remind him of it. On the 28 March Ma-haraj goes to his bankers, CMMB, and ob-tains a manager’s cheque for $400,000,which he sends to Mc Nichols as down pay-ment deposit for the land; Mc Nichols re-ceives the cheque and promptly deposits itinto his own bank account. A perfectly nor-mal transaction, don’t you think? The bigquestion is: Why then would he return themoney 6 days later saying he was no longerinterested in selling the land when that isnot true. He must have been lying becausehe did in fact sell the land to Millenniumsoon after. Why did he really return the de-posit? And accept $100,000 less for his landfrom Millennium? Who made up the dif-ference?

What you are forgetting is that AndreMonteil is a Director of that Bank (CMMB)in which Maharaj had his money and hefound out that a CMMB’s Manager’scheque for $400,000 was made out to McNichols. He suspects something and callshis friend and fellow political pardner, At-torney General, John Jeremy, and tells himof the cheque. Remember Andre Monteil is the Treasurer of the PNM and John Jeremyis the PNM Attorney General. They musthave thought that they had the perfect sce-nario to deal with political enemies.

Jeremy sends for Mc Nichols. Is thatwhen this sinister plot was hatched to findPanday guilty, send him to jail so he cannotcontest the general elections, and implicatethe Chief Justice, Sat Sharma in theprocess, and so kill two birds with onestone? Further evidence of this will begiven of when we go to court. All that Ihave said so far has been taken out of state-ments given by the parties in the casesagainst Panday and Sharma and othersources. But there is more to come.

Remember the evidence in my case endedon the 24 March and on that day the matterwas adjourned to the 24 April for decision.So they had a month to play with. In lateMarch or early April (that is while the de-cision in my case is pending) Monteil ad-mits he visited the AG, who he says is his friend, and they discuss Mc Nichols’ landdeal. He admits meeting the AG some timelater at which time he calls Fifi sayingsomeone wants to talk to him (Fifi). It turnsout to be the AG asking Fifi to buy back McNichols’ land “as they were in a bind.”What bind? Mc Nichols has already been offered $4 million in a perfectly legal trans-action. Why is the AG pressuring Fifi, theChief Executive of Millennium, to buyback Mc Nichols’ land when it is againsttheir policy to do so? What sort of deal wasmade with Mc Nichols? I don’t know; I canonly guess. What I do know is that thestrangest thing next happens. On 3 AprilMc Nichols goes to his bank and borrowsmoney to return the deposit to Maharaj say-ing he is no longer interested in selling theland. But he is lying because later Millen-nium re-purchases and he agrees to sell thesame land for $3,900,000 … $100,000 lessthan Maharaj had offered him. Why? Up tothis day they cannot explain why McNichols would get a cheque in the normalcourse of business, report it to no one, de-posit it in his account and 6 days later bor-rows money to return the deposit on April 3.What happened in those 6 days betweenMarch 27 and April 3? We know and in duecourse you too will know. Is that when theplot was hatched to finish off Panday andSharma?

It is as clear as daylight that Mc Nichols

Basdeo Panday’s address at a Pub-lic Meeting in the Couva Car Park,Trinidad on Friday, 23 March

I want to thank my supporters, friends andwell-wishers both inside and outside theParty for continuing to have faith in meeven in my darkest hour. To my politicalopponents who believe that their only pathto political success is through my death, jailor political demise, I say: Sorry, not thistime!

This is my first public appear-ance since the Court of Appealquashed the conviction of ChiefMagistrate, Sherman Mc Nichols,and set aside the various sen-tences inflicted on me. I am heretonight because I believe I owe itto my constituents to speak tothem first; to ask them whetherthey want me to carry on orwhether they think the time hascome for me to go.

I have always said that it is you, the peo-ple of Couva North, this blessed con-stituency of blessed people, who gave birthto my Parliamentary life 30 years ago, andwho have sustained me with your blood,your sweat and your tears for 40 long yearsof struggle; it is you and only, you and youalone, who must take that away from me.

That sacred privilege does not belong to the PNM, or to the Speaker, or to theplethora of hypocritical armchair politicianswho puke up their garbage in the mediawith shameless persistence, nor does it be-long to the Corpses whose putrid political carcasses continue to litter the politicallandscape. That sacred privilege belongs toyou the people of Couva North and only toyou. So I start the first day of my new lifeby coming to you, bowing at your feet andseeking your guidance.

When the truth is told in the trial of Bas-deo Panday and Satnarine Sharma it will re-veal the most devious political conspiracyever contrived by a Caribbean Governmentto rid itself of people it regarded as its po-litical enemies, It will unfurl a racist plot touse the perceived legitimacy of the judici-ary to destroy the opposition in order cre-ate a vicious dictatorship and maintain itselfin power forever. It will make Burnhamseem like an amateur and Mugabe like ahigh school bully. You will be shocked tolearn how the PNM has mastered the art ofcombining the power of the Party, the Gov-ernment, the media, certain business exec-utives, the Judiciary, the IntegrityCommission and the Police to mercilesslycrush its opponents.

Everyone knows that the facts surround-ing my arrest and persecution in this matterarose out of a bank account in Londonwhere my children were studying. That ac-count, which contained money obtainedfrom a scholarship for the education of ourchildren was in the name of my wife whooperated that account for the education andbenefit of our children. My name wasadded to that account so that if anythinghappened to Oma the children’s educationwould not be interrupted. I had nothing todo with that account and therefore did notregard myself as beneficial owner of themoney therein; consequently, I did not de-clare it in my statement of assets and liabil-ities to the Integrity Commission.

I want to remind you that I was notcharged for corruption, or of receiving abribe, or of thiefing sand, gravel and ce-

returned the deposit because the AG andMonteil had given him the promise that thecompany would buy back the land fromhim. The question is: in return for what?For burying Panday and Sharma? Is that iswhy Mc Nichols was afraid to be cross-ex-amined? Was he afraid that the lawyerswould force this damaging piece of evi-dence out of him?

There isa n o t h e rpiece ofevidence,which hascome outin the state-ments theyfiled thatp u z z l e sme. TheDPP saysthat on 19April he re-ceived acopy of acheque for

$400,000 and he passes it to the AG. Whichcheque is he talking about? It can’t be thecheque Maharaj had sent to Mc Nichols asthe deposit because Mc Nichols depositedthat cheque into his bank account!

Remember? It had therefore to be thecheque Mc Nichols gave to Maharaj when he returned the deposit. If so, what the hellis the DPP doing with a copy of thatcheque? Who gave it to him and why? Wasit Mc Nichols? And why would he do sucha thing? Was it the evidence the conspira-tors wanted before they would decide notto prosecute Mc Nichols as they had threat-ened? And why did the DPP pass the copyof the cheque to the AG? Isn’t it his func-tion and duty to prosecute? Was he part ofthis whole thing? Now this is the same DPP that has threatened that my retrial will beswift…he forgot to say ‘nasty, brutish andshort’. How come he is not swift with thetrial of PNM chairman, Franklin Khan andPNM Minister Eric Williams, and PNMMinister rowdy Rowley?

What kind of retrial will I get? Who willappoint the Magistrate to try me this time?Chief Magistrate Mc Nichols? And will I betried by a Magistrate who himself/herselfhas illegally failed and/or refused to filetheir own declaration with the IntegrityCommission? Who will pay for my defencefor a second time? Why should any humanbeing be called upon to go through this tor-ment for a second time because a Magis-trate was biased? You see, my sisters andbrothers, we are dealing with very desperatepeople; they will do anything to stay inpower; they want to break the body andspirit of the only man who has led a politi-cal party that has defeated the PNM notonce, not twice, but three times. They camevery close to succeeding this time.

The only reason they failed was becausethey were too greedy; they tried to hang twoIndians with the same rope. If they hadtaken Sharma and myself separately, one byone, they may very well have succeeded.They have failed but that does not meanthat they will not try and try again. I expectthem to come and search my house again;to lay new charges against me; to rig thecourts, to jail me and to persecute me untilI am dead, but I am not afraid because Iknow that Almighty God will not place onmy shoulders a cross heavier than I canbear.(CONTINUED ON PAGE 20)

Basdeo Panday (left) and Patrick ManningSatnarine Sharma

Holi in North America Celebrated with Indo-Caribbean Flavour Does a bath in the Gangeswash away your sins?

At the Kumbh Mela religious festival inAllahabad, India last earlier this year mil-lions of Hindu pilgrims ran into some un-usual protestors- Hindu swamis. Scores ofsaffron-clad swamis from the reformistArya Samaj were telling pilgrims not totake a “holy” dip in the Ganges because itcould not wash away their sins.

Arya Samaj leader Swami Agnivesh saidthat although Hindus had been told for cen-turies that they will be purified of sins by adip in the Ganges, there was no scripturalsupport for such a belief. “When I askedpeople how taking a dip in any river couldabsolve a person of sins, the only answer Igot was that there must be some reason,

otherwise why were so many people at-tending. This kind of blind faith is at theroot of the degeneration, the rot, which hasset into Hindu society today,” he added.

Agnivesh argued that the Hindu scrip-tures emphasize right conduct; speak thetruth and follow the path of righteousnessand did not say a simple bath could cancelout the effects of karma. “At Kumbh Mela,nobody told these simple people about thereal problem of pollution; sewerage and in-dustrial effluent flow into the Ganges, anddead bodies are also thrown into the riverin the belief that it provides direct access toswarga (Heaven).”

The swamis did not appear to have muchimpact on the Hindu pilgrims. “There wereabout 500 of us at the Kumbh Mela and wecould easily have been lynched by thecrowd. Yet nobody said anything. We dis-tributed thousands of leaflets to convey themessage that taking a dip could never everwash away one's sins. The problem is thatnobody really cares; they don't beat you upbut at the same time they don't take muchnotice of you either.”

Swami Agnivesh warned that Indian so-ciety needed to change and inculcate thevalues of doubt and dissent. There must bedebate and society should question the au-thority of religious leaders. He also urgedHindus to look at the social injustice thatemanates from the caste system, from gen-der inequality , trying to build yet anotherRam mandir in Ayodhya to join the 15oth-ers claiming to be Ram's birthplace, and un-derstanding that there could be no personalsalvation unless there is social salvation.

RELIGION Indo-Caribbean Times April 2007 Page 18

By Roop Misir

Large numbers of Indians come to Canadaand the United Stated of America fromGuyana, Trinidad & Tobago, the Indiansubcontinent and elsewhere. A great manyof us celebrate Holi.

Holi as the Indian Spring Festival ofColours

Like other festivals in India, Holi has twofaces – cultural and religious. To many peo-ple, Holi is celebrated as the “Festival ofColours.” It falls on the full moon day inthe month of Phalgun according to the In-dian Calendar. The spring harvest festivalof Holi is observed mainly by Hindus ofnorthern India, though its appeal is univer-sal as others love to join in the fun. Festiv-ities can last from two to five days in Marchevery year, and take many forms, reflectingtradition in different parts of India. Typi-cally, merry makers crowd in towns, citiesand villages. In streets, parks and publicplaces, revellers intermingle and spreadhappiness and joy. Traditionally, bonfiresare lit in public places on the evening be-fore the first day. Then on Holi day, peoplecelebrate with festive vibrancy and wildabandon as they throw coloured powderand water at one other. Traditionalists offerharvested grains and coconuts as oblationto the fire as they rejoice at the bountifulharvest.

Religious Aspects of Holi

Holi evokes similar sentiments in Hindusas Eid in Muslims and Christmas in Chris-tians. In Hindu temples and other places ofcongregation, stories are recounted thatlend a distinct religious flavour. For exam-ple, the story of the boy devotee Prince Pra-halad, who always used to chant God'sname in the palace. Bhakt Prahalad hadLord Vishnu's blessings. His father KingHiranya Kashyap never believed in God,and scolded Prahalad whenever he used tosee him chanting God's name. Prahalad wasalways cool and composed and never be-came angry or afraid. Although given manyforms of punishment by his angry father,Prahalad’s faith in God only increased. Indesperation, King Hiranya Kashyap soughtthe help of Holika, his sister. One of herspecial gifts of power was that she couldnever be burnt by fire. On the orders of herbrother the King, she made Prahalad sit onher lap and then she herself sat on a burningpyre. But the opposite happened. Holikawas reduced to ashes whereas Prahaladcame out unscathed.

This is the reason why Hindus celebrateHoli first by burning the wooden pyre, sym-bolically representing Holika. They also in-terpret the burning of Holika to ashes as thevictory of good over evil. Nowadays, thetrue significance of Holi is extended to in-clude other desired attributes—like friend-ship over enmity, and a person’s trust oversuspicion. The theme of Holi has since be-come one of “Universal brotherhood”. Thisis the key to celebration of the festival ofHoli.

Fun Aspects of Holi Celebrations inMetro Toronto

Holi is also known as “Phagwa.” InToronto, the weather is still cold. But thespirit of Holi lives in the minds as it warmsthe heart. This is immortalized in poetry:

The spring sun warms as it surely thawsThe thinning white blanketing the Earth.As the last snow melts the days get longerHeralding the end of chilling winter’s stay.It’s the month of Phalgun and now it’s HoliThe long awaited Festival of Colour galore

Phagwa is a unifying social force thatbrings together Indians (and Hindus in par-ticular) from diverse social backgrounds.For the faithful, there are numerous dis-courses and rituals to commemorate theseason. It’s a time to rededicate themselvesto the service of God and fellow humans.For those who are eager to have a joyfultime, at long last Holi has finally arrived:“Holi Hai”, “It is Holi” . There are stageshows featuring talented artistes and latestBollywood films and fashions. Family andfriends visit one another, and exchange giftsand pleasantries.

Phagwah Parade in New York City

Indians who went to the Caribbean as in-dentured immigrants in the 19th centuryand early 20th century brought Holi toGuyana, Surinam, and Trinidad & Tobago.This special holiday flourished and gainedthe name “Phagwah.” In Guyana and Suri-nam, Phagwah became important nationalholidays, and employees now get the dayoff from work. Since the 1970s manyGuyanese have emigrated to the UnitedStates, especially to Richmond Hill and Ja-maica in Queens, New York City. Theybrought the “Phagwah” tradition to theirnew home. Every year, the Phagwah paradeis held along Liberty Avenue. This year’sparade was held on March 4. It’s now an es-tablished event as Indians take pride inPhagwah and extend the hand of friendshipto fellow citizens.

Yes, the days of Phagwa are here to makeOutdoors or indoors wherever you may beIn Holi’s uninhibited revelry let’s partakeThe unbridled joy seasoned with delight.Enchanted and exuberant it acts like a tonicRefreshes the body with fun and frolic

Multiculturalism in Action

Apart from economic opportunities, rea-sons why immigrants choose to settle inCanada and the United States are tolerancefor peoples of different cultures. Canada’spolicy of official multiculturalism is evolv-ing into a recognition of the value and ben-efits of our “cultural diversity” and"cultural mosaic". Though the late winterclimate may be harsh, both countries pro-vide suitable backdrop for showcasing ourimmigrant culture of tolerance. Of course,many North Americans are more fascinatedby fun, food and fashion.

Adapt or be Lonely?

Holi is one of the few Indian festivals thatis celebrated publicly and with great gusto.For new immigrants with few friends andno relatives here, life can indeed be lonely.To many of them no doubt, Holi or Eid canbe just another day. But thankfully though,there are dozens of wonderful events inmajor cities across Canada and the UnitedStates of America. As for Holi, plannedevents are held in temples and communitycentres. And best of all, for the most partadmission is free. However, for celebrationswith a modern twist that appeal to theyounger generation, there are numerousconcerts and stage shows featuring localtalent and visiting artistes. Not forgettingIndian food and fashion which have beengaining popularity in recent years. Surely,a festival like Holi must be celebrated withlarge groups of merrymakers. The more themerrier! So why stay home and watch TVwhen you can be part of the festive and thejoyous?

We live in a world beset by mistrust, de-ceit and hate. A world where differentgroups are vying for superiority as they feel“convinced” that only their viewpoint isright . Or that their way is the only way.

As far as the celebration of Holi is con-cerned, social barriers are removed as peo-ple embrace each other in fun and play.

Is the true message of Holi a lesson in so-cial harmony? For other than having a goodtime during Holi (and other festive days),are these lessons useful in promoting socialjustice, racial harmony and mutual respect?

Time will tell!

[Dr. Roop Misir is an Indo-Guyanese Cana-dian Teacher with the Toronto DistrictSchool Board. He can be contacted atroop.misir@gmail.com.]

PAINTER TO WITHDRAWOBSCENE PICTURES OFHINDU GODS

MUMBAI: Noted painter M F Hussain,who was booked by police for allegedlyhurting sentiments of people by paintinggods in nude, on Tuesday apologised andpromised to withdraw from an auction hiscontroversial painting depicting "Bharat-mata" in an obscene manner.

Following persistent protest by HinduJanjagruti Samiti (HJS) and VHP againstHussain displaying the painting on the web-sites and in an exhibition in New Delhi, thepainter on Tuesday said he apologised tothe people for the same and promised towithdraw the auction of the picture.

"The proceeds of the auction are said to beutilised for the victims of Kashmir earth-

quake," HJS said in a release on Tuesday,urging for an immediate, strong actionagainst Hussain.

HJS has also filed a case with Mumbaiand Thane police and appealed to PresidentA P J Abdul Kalam and Prime MinisterManmohan Singh to take action againstsuch "anti-national and perverse attitude ofgreat aritists", Ramesh Shinde said..

Criticized paintings include Naked Lord Hanuman and Goddess Sita Naked Goddess Sita sitting on the tail of Naked Lord Hanuman Lord Hanuman is portrayed naked and withHis genitals pointing towards a woman A bull having sexual intercourse with God-dess Parvati and Lord Shiva watching onthe auspicious day of Shivratri

CORRECTIONIn our last issue we incorrectly said Mus-lims would celebrate Eid in March. Eidwill in fact be celebrated in the fallafterthe fast of Ramadan. The Hamilton groupCICA held own early celebration of Eidon March 17.

Two very “colour-ful” young ladiesshow the results oftaking part in Holicelebrations in theMississauga RamMandir. Large num-bers of CaribbeanHindus attendedthis and otherevents at the DeviMandir, Vedic Cul-tural Centre,Vishnu Mandir,Peel Aryua Samaj,and Satya Jyoti.

YOUTH Indo-Caribbean Times April 2007 Page 19

Scary global warming crisis is upon us todayDeadly heat waves, water and food shortages, stronger tropical storms, disappearance of species predicted in report

It is likely that the artic summer ice wouldmelt during the latter half of this century.

Coastlines as we know them will changesignificantly, for example, the low coast ofGuyana and the Sunderbans of Bengal, thelow lying island countries in the Indianoceans ( Seychelles islands and others),areas in the Philippines, Bangladesh and theIndonesian islands will be inundated. Sen-sitive intertidal ecology of many countrieswill completely disappear. Those countries

that depend on extensive dykes systems tokeep out the seas (Guyana, the Netherlands)will be hit hard with increasing costs to re-pairs and/or to emplace or to replace dykes.

The warmer seas will kill the very fragileand temperature sensitive corals systems inAustralian and the Caribbean Oceans. Thishas been observed already!

Melting of the glacier would reduce freshwater availability and as fresh water inse-curity increases poverty and malnutritionwill increase in Asia, Africa and parts ofSouth America. Fresh water insecurity maylead some countries to declare sources offresh water as "national security assets".This may lead to flexing of military mightto sat-i s f yf r e s hw a t e rn e e d s .W a t e rwill be-c o m ethe newc u r -r e n c yreplac-ing oil!

-it isv e r yl i k e l y(greater than 90% chance!) that there willbe increases in the number and severity ofheatwaves over many parts of the world.We would see much more intense andlonger periods of droughts. This means thatfor those countries, mainly Asia and Africaand parts of South America, there will beuntold human misery.

Should the climate change continue ani-mals and plants will disappear- the ecologywill change: what was once grassland maybecome desert and the rain forest, which isthe lungs of the earth and whose ecology isextremely sensitive and fragile, may irrev-ocably change.

Severe heatwaves can change local windpatterns and this can lead to wind-borne soilerosion, dust storms and tornadoes.

Forest fires in the Amazon and otherforests would rage and the ecology that sup-ported tropical and temperate forests maychange. Flora, fauna and crops will disap-pear. About 2 years ago 2800 sq. km of theAmazon forest was devastated by firewhich was climate change related.

There will be increased evaporation oflakes, rivers and streams and some of therivers and streams will run dry. In Brazil

this is already at their doorstep! Two yearsago Brazilian villages living along riversand streams found themselves staring atdried-out river beds with a large number ofdead fish. The fact that this had happenedin the lush Amazon stunned the world andthe Brazilian government was moved to de-clare a state of emergency over these areas.The dry-out was linked to climate change

and experts predicted that by 2030 there isa 50% chance that this would happen againand by 2100 the chance goes up to 90%!The water level in the mighty Amazon hasdropped by 3 metres (about 10 ft!). Risingsea levels can cause salt water to reverseflow into the Amazon, flora and fish speciesthat cannot withstand the salt water will die.

- there is a greater than 60% chance that,due to climate change, the intensity of trop-ical storms will increase.

These tropical storms batter many coun-tries. Most of these countries are poor. Wehave seen what Katrina has done to the US,now imagine a storm that is 2 times as in-tense. It will be unparallel destruction,many of these countries may not be able torecover for a very long time only to bestruck again.Coast-lines, intertidal zones and mangroveforests will be uprooted andrecovery may not be possible, the ecologywill change.

With the enormous amount of water in theheated atmosphere the storm-caused delugewill be catastrophic. There will be unbe-lievable torrents in the rivers and streamsthat will cause many hardship for humans,animals and crops. Soil erosion will sweepaway the productive layer of earth.

WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE ANDQUICKLY.

It would be nice to think that the abovedescriptions are the ideas for a really fright-ening science fiction novel but it is not! Ifthe IPPC model is reliable and there is nogood reason to believe that it is not, actionmust follow. This is the "knock on the head'the governments of the important industri-alized nations-who are the major green-house gas emitters- were awaiting to gettheir acts together before it is too late. Inmany quarters it is being said that it is al-ready too late and the window for action israpidly closing- there is no time to lose.

Many governments have agreed to cutgreenhouse gas emissions and have insti-tuted programs to do so: harnessing windand solar energy, reducing the consumptionof fossil fuels by making car more fuel ef-ficient by using a combination of fossil andelectrical energy-hybrids autos, makingbuildings green. We are hoping to reduceour carbon footprint with cuts to the totalgreenhouse gas emission.

One would expect that since the lesser de-

THE INTERGOVERNMENTALPANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE(IPPC) REPORT AND WHAT ITSHOULD MEAN TO ME.

The jury in the form of the form of theIPPC sat and deliberated over the vastamount of pertinent data from a host of rel-evant, international authorities on climateand weather and their latest verdict cameout in February 2007.

The IPPC believesthat they are betterthan 90% sure that theclimate changes weare currently experi-encing is caused byhuman activities, thislevel of certainty ismuch higher and nar-rower in range thanIPO’s earlier reportwhich was publishedin 2001.

The Intergovernmental Panel on ClimateChange (IPPC) headed by Dr. RajendraPachauri is an organization set up in 1988by the World Meteorological Organization(WMO) and the United Nations Environ-mental Programme(UNEP). This organiza-tion's role is to assess, using the bestavailable scientific knowledge and models,the risk of human induced climate changes,its potential impact and its options for adap-tation (change/or substitutions) and mitiga-tion (reduction). The IPPC does not carryout any scientific research on its own butuses data that have been published in peer-reviewed journals.

So, what activities the report is alludingto? Well, it is the relentless cutting andburning of the forests, the removal andcombustion of fossil fuel from the bowelsof the earth with their consequent release ofcarbon dioxide gas to the atmosphere overand above the amount that was originallythere.

What is the matter with carbon dioxide?Carbon dioxide from combustion andmethane from rotting vegetation in wet-lands and animal waste products, are green-house gases. They cause the atmosphere toheat up just as in a greenhouse, hence thename. This excess build-up of carbon diox-ide has been going on since the industrialrevolution (1750) but has taken a turn, dra-matically, for the worst in the 20th century-the era of the automobiles and other fossilfuel fed processes.

It has been estimated that there has beena 12.5 % increase in carbon load to the at-mosphere from 1990 to 2005 and IPPC haspredicted that there would be dire conse-quences for the earth and its inhabitants ifthe current trend in carbon dioxide emissionis not reversed and be brought to a stop.

DIRE CONSEQUENCES

If current trends continue the followingwould occur:

- the temperature of the atmosphere wouldrise somewhere between 1.1 - 6.4 degreesCelsius (deg C) by the end of this century.In this regard the IPPC 2001 report pre-dicted a 0.15 - 0.35 Deg C rise to the end of2000, the rise was found to be 0.33 deg C,closer to the upper end!

-with the increase in temperature of theatmosphere it is to be expected thatthe ice at both poles would melt and the sealevels will increase. It is predicted that thesea levels would rise between 28 – 43 cm.

veloped economies (Asia, Africa and SouthAmerica) are the most susceptible to theravages of climate change a good part of thefinancial pie would be spent to shoring upthese economies- to make them climate

proof.But this is not happening. For example,

the unpredictability of the weather has beena big problem to farmers, especially thosein poor countries, whose crops are very de-pendent on rainfall. Thus far, economic aidand technological solutions from the devel-oped countries have not been forthcomingto the level that would make these poorfarmers less susceptible to the capricious-ness of the weather. The brunt of the cli-mate risk will be borne by agricultural andrural development. These are exactly thetypes of development that are acutelyneeded in the poorer countries.

In this regard it has been stated by the ex-ecutive director of the UNEP that "anAfrican child born in 2007 should expect tobe faced with disease and a new level ofdrought by the time he/she is 50 years old".

This is an alarming development for anarea that is already being savaged by dis-ease, drought and chronic food shortagesbrought on by famines. In parts of India andBangladesh the scenario is frighteninglysimilar.

WHAT IT SHOULD MEAN TO ME

Let us not kid ourselves, reversal of thegreenhouse gas emission and climate proof-ing will be hugely expensive and one of themajor players, the USA, is still hedging itsbets.

If you think you are paying heavy taxesnow, wait until the other shoe drops! Al-though the major players will be govern-ments, industry and the scientificcommunity, you the individuals can play avital role by analyzing your use of energyand try to reuse, reduce and recycle so thatyour ecological footprint will be as tiny aspossible. In the individual cases the sum ofthe parts may be greater than the whole!

In our last issue of ICTimes we havegiven you 20 ways to love your planet andleave your bad habits. We will continue toencourage you to do more in future issues.

Imagine for the moment that the predic-tions of the IPPC were to come true, canyou visualize the mass of humanity that willcome kicking and screaming to the doors ofthe "safe" countries. Could they be turnedback? I doubt it!

In the case of climate change "all are in-volved and if little or nothing is done allmay be consumed".

Some information for this article has beenobtained from many internet sites. The im-plications of the IPPC findings is solely theauthor's who has a background in sci-ence/environmental science.

D.R. Narine. PhD

Flooded New Orleans after Katrina

Guyana’s sea wall may come under increasing pressure

The Amazon Riverhas seen water levels drop 10 feet in recent years

ARTS AND LITERATURE Indo-Caribbean Times M arch 2007 Page 20

Dolly nearly get heart attackWhen she hear Big daughter Pearl Hiding and seeing A black man.

Cross she armSame day,Waiting for PearlTo come home.What is this I hearAbout you and this black man?This is why we come Canada?

Pearl fire back same speedI know you would behave soThat is why I didn’t tell youWhy you people have to be so racial?

Dolly can’t help itShe see black manShe see WismarShe see Georgetown riotBlack man killing IndianBlack man raping Indian girl like Pearl

You don’t know What black people do weMake we leave and come here Canada

Pearl say stop right thereDon’t blame RoderickHe born in Canada.He father and motherNot even come from GuyanaBut St Lucia.

Dolly stamp on foot brakesAnd pull up hand brakes too.One inch more on that roadAnd Pearl gone with the black manGrand picknie dream gone too.Dolly itching for grand picknieReally want the Indian oneBut will take half whiteHalf Chinese, half Filipino, anythingMaybe even half black St Lucian.

Dolly say she sorrydidn’t knowNot going toInterfere.

Pearl ent no foolShe watching DollyShe eye hard Like porkknocker diamond.

She don’t know Dolly hopingIf she don’t opposeThat will take the shine off the black man RoderickMore parents opposeMore children want If Dolly pretend to like himMaybe Pearl get to hate him.Four years in collegePlenty time for PearlTo find better fish Than RoderickAnd producebetter qualitygrand picknie.

Dolly nearly getheart attackBy Ram Jagessar

PANDAY: RACIST PLOTCONTINUED FROM PAGE 17

What I have revealed to you today is onlythe tip of the iceberg of corruption, maliceand vindictiveness of the leadership of thePNM. Only half the truth in this sordid af-fair has come out so far. There is muchmore to come and will come as I gothroughout the length and breadth of this country exposing the corruption and crueltyof this fascist PNM regime. You will seehow they are making Mc Nichols the fallguy in this conspiracy to pervert the coursethe course of justice. I feel no sympathy forMc Nichols; he had entered into a transac-tion to sell his land which was above board;he should have been strong enough to standup to them and not allow them to terrorisehim into making false allegations againstthe Chief Justice and wrongfully convict-ing me and sending me to prison so thatthey could win the next elections.

PATRICK MANNING AT THECORE OF THE CONSPIRACY

The stinking core of this conspiracy lies inthe bowels of the PNM under Patrick Man-ning. That is where we have to look. Mycolleagues are calling for an independentinquiry into this sordid affair. An inquiry in-stituted by this corrupt PNM will be a wasteof time; it must be a truly independent in-quiry. As far as I am concerned my firstquestion in Parliament will be how muchmoney was paid to Timothy Cassels, BritishQC, to prosecute me. I hope he has paidtaxes on it and on the house in Tobago.

What is the lesson we must learn fromthese false prosecutions and persecutions?If the PNM can do this to the Chief Justiceof this country and to the former PrimeMinister and Leader of the Opposition,what will it do to you? You are in danger ofbeing oppressed by the most vicious, cor-rupt and malignant government in the West-ern Hemisphere. You cannot condemn your children and your grand children to thiskind of life. Do not bequeath to them a so-ciety in which you yourselves are afraid tolive. To save them from this tragedy wemust stand up and fight; fight for a bettercountry and a better society. To do that youmust take this Government from this vi-cious PNM and return the and return thiscountry to the days of peace and prosperity.To do this we must prepare ourselves forwhat looks like the mother of all battles. Wemust organize and mobilize and inspire ourpeople.

PNM PREPARED TO COMMIT MURDER TO STAY IN POWER

Our first task is to ensure that every bodyentitled to vote is registered with the Elec-tion and Boundries Commission. You mustcheck the list for voter padding by thePNM; they are prepared to commit murderin order to stay in power. Put aside your dif-ferences and divisions and factionalism.

Look upon this as a holy war; a battle toensure that all our peoples shall live inpeace and harmony. We are doing all in ourpower to unite the opposition forces; all thepolitical parties opposed to the PNM arenow talking…except the CorPse. We aretrying to solidify this movement. I cannot tell you how it will work out. For your sakeand for the nation’s sake I do sincerely hopeit will work out.

Let us all join together and make 2007 theyear of the lion; the year of victory.

Thank you and may Almighty God blessyou all.(Basdeo Panday)

Dr Prem Misirbrings a newbook on raceand ethnicity

Prem Misir's book Ethnic Cleavage andClosure in the Caribbean Diaspora: Essayson Race, Ethnicity and Class has now beenpublished by The Edwin Mellen Press ofNew York, Wales (UK), and Canada .

This collection of essays addresses racismas one of the major themes in political com-mentaries in the multiethnic Caribbean andits Diaspora. In this context, several ethnicgroups ply for scarce resources, so the prin-ciples of fairness and equality in resourcedistribution becomes critical to societal sta-bility.

The book advocates an understanding ofinter and intra-ethnic class structure as auseful conceptual tool to address the issuesof ethnic cleavage, racism, and discrimina-tion, using a power-conflict framework thatillustrates that inter and intra-ethnic classstructure emphasizes economic stratifica-tion, caste, internal colonialism, and a di-versity of class-based and Marxist theories. The subject areas are: Ethnic and Immi-grant Studies, Latin America, Iberia ,Caribbean - History, Sociology, Develop-ment Studies.

The book is available through mellen-press.com and regular bookstores, both lo-cally and internationally.

“Dr. Misir has made a most welcome ad-dition to the literature of Caribbean socialscience with his compilation of this book.It deals with enduring and tense issues inCaribbean societies, both in the region it-self and beyond, for the Diasporas are bothwithin and without.

This is the story of Ved Sant, an Indianfrom Port of Spain, Trinidad - a ramshacklecarnival culture which suddenly becomesoil and gas rich.

At an age when he might have been con-templating further education, Ved is forcedto take chargeof the familyb u s i n e s s .Breaking allthe rules abouthow thingsshould bedone, Ved fol-lows his in-s t i n c t i v eimpulses to-wards kind-ness, respect, generosity, creativity, andsees the company surgeforward.

But while success brings very tangible re-wards, it also brings more than its share ofheartache. Ved may be clear-sighted in hispractical vision of the future, but he is un-able to apply the lessons he has learned tohis private life. And intense family pres-sures bind him tight when he needs to befree.

Ved is an attractive man, and very attrac-tive to women. But he cannot keep the onehe really loves.And, as his business flour-ishes, he finds himself sucked into awhirlpool of politics and corruption.

In her first novel, Niala Maharaj takes uson an exhilarating journey into an islandEden, where natural, ebullient innocencehas to struggle to survive under the extremepressures of commercial development. LikeHeaven is a novel which pulsates with life,is rich in character and vibrant with thesounds, smells, colours and texture of theCaribbean.

In an interview Niala explained her inspi-ration to write the book.

“I was in Italy, spending time with anAmerican friend who was married into awealthy Italian family. My friend had mar-ital difficulties and we talked about them alot. To my own surprise, I kept trying to ex-plain her husband's behaviour to her. That'sbecause Italians are very similar to Indiansfrom Trinidad - the same mixture of a mod-ern consciousness with commitment toolder cultural norms involving very strongrelationships with the wider family.

My friend is very much like me - awoman of the modern age who believes herlife is her own to live as she decides. Herhusband's behaviour reminds me of that ofmy brothers, my brothers-in-law, many de-cent men I know from Trinidad. LikeHeaven grew out of these discussions - ofme trying to explain the conflicts within aman caught by the need to fulfil his wife'sdesire for an independent existence in-formed by modern concepts of individualidentity, and his responsibilities to the widerfamily and his heritage.

At the same time, I was reading Mar-guerite Youcenar's 'Memoirs of Hadrian'and was struck by her daring, not just inwriting a novel with a male narrative voice,but in the voice of one of the greatest ofRoman emperors, a man who had the powerto shape the world that existed at that time.All these concerns came together in the

writing of Like Heaven. Its structure isheavily based on Memoirs of Hadrian. Iwanted to write a book about someone whocreates an empire, is a leader and something

“The Croiseee”,the crossroads where peo-ple of all races pass to get to the city centre.I have always been part of the 'melting pot'of modern society, even now, even outsideTrinidad, where my closest friends comefrom a wide variety of backgrounds.

Growing up in urbanTrinidad was indeed liv-ing in a situation wherethe edges of culturalpractice melted intoeach other. It was ahighly dynamic socialsituation, one wherecultural change was tak-ing place daily in frontof your eyes.

As an adult, I workedon a television series, a

cultural magazine programme calledGayelle, in which we showcased all the dif-ferent strands of culture in Trinidad. It wasone of the most fulfilling experiences of mylife.

Well, my family was involved in smallbusiness, so I know that milieu well. I alsoknow from personal experience that build-ing a business doesn't mean you have to beexploitative and grasping. Both my fatherand my brother-in-law were deeply in-volved in the lives of their employees; theiremployees were part of their families. As aresult, my father was spectacularly suc-cessful in business. “

Niala’s book is LikeHeaven.. for a while

SPORTS Indo-Caribbean Times April 2007 Page 21

By Rahul Bhattacharya

When Guyanese remember the first timethey watched Shivnarine Chanderpaul bat,they remember how large the helmet sat onhis little head, how his pads dwarfed hisbody, how inconceivable the idea was thathe might be able to lift the bat let alone ex-ecute a swing.

Watching his 10-year old son Brandon -left-handed like Shiv, fidgety in stance likeShiv, thin and bony like Shiv - batting onthe concrete strip his grandfather hasmarked for practice in the front yard is tothink something similar. A few days ago theboy made 61 in a club game against playerstwice his age. He batted for five hours.

You know where it comes from: Shiv hasdone it for more than a decade. Nothing has

meant more to Shiv than batting, and bat-ting has meant more to few as much as itdoes to Shiv, and when West Indies face SriLanka in Sunday's crucial match, it will beanother homecoming for the finestGuyanese batsman since Clive Lloyd andthe best West Indian batsman of his gener-ation after Brian Lara.

We're in Unity Village, on the lovely EastCoast of Guyana in a backstreet full offlowering front yards and jhandis, flags, thesymbol of Hindu ritual. Mr Chanderpaul'sown house has two small shivlings installedby the practice strip. "Without god, withoutprayer, we are nothing."

Not a minute by foot is the communitycentre where Khemraj Chanderpaul wouldlook after Shiv's cricket, as he does withBrandon's, though nowadays the ride is bySUV to the Gandhi cricket club in George-town, 45 minutes away.

Life was a little harder then. Like his fa-ther, Khemraj went out to sea to fish. Buthis greatest dedication was towards his sonShiv, whose obsession with the gamematched his own. Khemraj is one of thegreat men of Guyanese local cricket. Talkto him at a game, even under-15s, and hewill reply without ever taking his eyes offthe field.

Together the Chanderpauls would roll thepitch at the Unity-Lancaster CommunityCentre and Shiv would bat for hours. Some-times a fellow called Bharrat Jagdeo fromup the road might come around and watch.The fellow is now president of Guyana.When Shiv was nine, a man of 6 feet 4inches from Lancaster village across theroad bowled at him and was impressed bythe boy's defence. The man was ColinCroft.

From the beginning Shiv defended a lotand would cut anything, cut into the groundand in club games cut through gaps be-tween five men in the cordon. It is only

Chanderpaul: The manfrom Unity Village, Guyana

much later that he began playing to leg. Notso Brandon, who is a little more attacking,Khemraj will tell you, a little more rounded,though perhaps not quite as prodigious asShiv was.

The training had to go beyond nets. In thederelict concrete ground floor of the pavil-ion building in the community centreKhemraj would fling a hard cork and rubber'compo' ball at Shiv to sharpen his reflexes.Or he would walk him two minutes to theshore of the muddied Atlantic and, on astrip of wet sand, test him with a sponge'bumper ball'. The ball would rear at his ribsand throat and, being light, swerve in thebreeze. Always Shiv's appetite was formore. "Don't talk cricket," Khemraj wouldtell him, "play cricket."

It is the same advice he gives Brandon,who spends his time between his grandpar-ents, and his mother, Annalee, of mixedwhite and Portugese extraction, who nowruns a beer garden in the same village. Shivhimself lives in Miami with his second wifeAmy.

The couple looked shiny bright at the Pe-gasus hotel in Georgetown last night as theysocialised their way through the lobby.There is now a more urbane confidenceabout Shiv, a great progression from hispalpable diffidence from his early years. Al-ways shy, he entered a team of establishedblack cricketers, a simple teenaged East In-dian from an East Indian village, the firstEast Indian to break through into the WestIndies team for over a decade. It was not amatter of exclusion but of not feeling fullyunderstood.

Already his place in the annals of EastIndian batsmanship is secure, second onlyto Rohan Kanhai and perhaps AlvinKallicharran, both further up the coast inBerbice, the home of Indo-Guyanese

cricket. Like those two predecessors, he isa source of great East Indian pride, and in aland embittered by racial tension, a figureof reconciliation. "Ramotar and Joseph Henry/ Drinking two

rum in Unity", begins the fine Tradewindscalypso, Hooper and Chanderpaul. "Plan-ning the cricket game next day/ Ramotarturn to Joe and say/ We can win it inGuyana/ With Chanderpaul and bigHoopa." On the television in Mr Chanderpaul's liv-

ing room it appears that West Indies havejust slipped to defeat against New Zealand,their second loss in three days. The thought,I'm afraid is inescapable: Unity and Provi-dence must come together if West Indies areto win it in Guyana. Rahul Bhattacharya is the author of Pun-dits from Pakistan: On Tour with India,2003-04

A Guyanese cultural promoter has askedwhy there was so little (just one item) of In-dian culture in the opening ceremony of theCricket World Cup in Jamaica.She even of-fered to help with items marking the EastIndian culture in the Caribbean, but was ig-nored by cricketing officials.

Nanda wrote to the newspapers in Guyanasaying she suspected there would be anissue with Indian cultural presence in theopening ceremony. She wrote to RobertBryan of the Jamaica Cricket Associationon May 14, 2006.

Dear Members of The Board of Directors,The Jamaica Cricket 2007

Greetings.

Your country has the most honorable taskof hosting the Opening Ceremony. In theWorld Cup in South Africa, there werea r t i s t e sand cul-t u r a litems thatreflectedthe ethnicp o p u l a -tion ofS o u t hAfrica.

Therewere In-d i a nd a n c e r sperform-i n galongside the African dancers.

With this thought in mind, I am hopingthat you will also include cultural itemsthat reflect on the diverse cultures of thepeople that make up the West Indies. Iwould like to voluteer to help/assist in put-ting together artistes/cultural items from theEast Indians of the Caribbean.

I am in touch with the various artistes inthe different countries and it will be mygreatest honor to assist in this aspect of theOpening Games.

We have to show the World how diverseyet united a People we are and this is themost splendid opportunity to do so.

With sincere regards,Nanda Sahadeo (Ms)

Mr Bryan promptly replied on May 15:

Hello Nanda Ssahadeo

I would be very interested in pursuing this.Could you indicate a short list of the typesof acts and items you are in a position tobring to the table

RegardsRobert Bryan, Executive DirectorJamaica Cricket 2007 Limited11a-15 Oxford Road, Kingston 5Tel: 876-926-1252Mobile 876-819-4222

Nanda replied:Hello Robert,

Greetings.I thank you for your very prompt reply--

it shows your sincere dedication and com-mittment towards making this World Cup

the best ever--I commend you for this. It iswith this in mind that I too am absolutelycommitted to not only showcasing thecricket--but our wealth--the people of theCaribbean--the warmest, kindest and mostversatile and talented. 1.The Indian drums that are very popular

in Guyana in Trinidad--we have seen thembeing played at cricket matches in thesecounties too. There is the tassa, tadja andtappu drums. We have can them in fusionwith African drums -- each have their ownsound and style but when done together areunique yet distinct. These drums can beused toprovide the beat/rythmn and at thesame time--we can have dancersperforming with them. This item can bedone in a fusion of dance and rhythmn orseperately.2. Dance--there are several styles of tradi-tional Indian dances. I am very happy to tell

you thatt h ed a n c e r sare notonly of In-dian de-scent.3. Chut-ney--thisshould bei n c l u d e das Chut-ney musichas beencreated/in-vented by

our own Caribbean people. In Trinidad--wehave people of both Indian and African de-scent singing chutney. We can have Chut-ney and Soca separately or ChutneySoca---this will be a wonderful means tooof showcasing the unity in diversity in ourCaribbean.

These are just a few ideas--I have grownup in culture/cultural activities in Guyana. Ihave produced and performed in my ownshows.Please allow me to share of my knowledge

and experience so that we can make thisWorld Cup Opening Ceremony--the ab-solutely best ever.Sincerely, Nanda

Mr. Bryan fowarded her letter to one Mar-tin Lewis, manager of the opening cere-mony, asking him to follow up. He neverdid. She e-mailed Martin Lewis directly,but he never replied.

So in June 2006 Nanda wrote the LOC inGuyana suggesting ideas for showcasingAfrican and Indian culture. The LOC askedfor a formal proposal with costs, which shegave in July 2006. “ I gave them a proposal since July 2006and have never heard from them since.Why am I writing this now? Is anyone re-ally interested in promoting our Culture?Your guess is as good as mine.”

Yours truly,Nanda Sahadeo.102 Regent Street.Lacytown.

In the end, the opening ceremony was heldwith an abundance of Jamaican culturalitems, but just one single Indian culturalitem.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul's fatherKhemraj and son Brandon

Guyanese promoter Nanda Sahadeo challengesCricket World Cup officials for an answer

Why so little Indian culturein opening ceremony?

The I-Three and Bob Marley reggae but Indian culture absent

SPORTS

As expected, cricketing minnow Canadabowed out of the Cricket World Cup in thefirst round, after losing all three matches.But they did acquire some experience andgained a little respect after putting up a de-cent fight in two of their games.

The lone Indo-Caribbean on the tea,Guyanese born Sunil Dhaniram, gave agood account of himself with bat and balland probably cemented his place in theteam.

The West Indies story is more compli-cated. Starting up strongly by beating Pak-istan in the opening round, they sailed fairlyeasily through the first round. Chanderpaul,Sarwan and Ramdin served the team rea-sonably well, with Chanders in particularbeing a steadying influence with the bat.

The Super 8 round has been another storyentirely. West Indies won one game andwere badly humbled in their last three. Itwill take some kind of a miracle to see themthrough to the quarter finals. Skipper BrianLara’s hope of being the first home team towin the Worle Cup is running very thin. West Indies is being outplayed in every areaof the game, and they have no one to blame.The other teams are just trying harder andmaking less mistakes. Australia is headingdown the course like a runaway horse andthe host team has nothing like the superteams of Worrell, Kanhai or Sobers to headthem off. Something is rotten in the stateof cricket in the West Indies and it has to becut out.

England make hardwork of vital winagainst CanadaBy Andrew McGlashan

March 18, 2007

/*England* 279 for 6 (Joyce 66, Colling-wood 62*, Dhaniram 3-41) beat*Canada* 228 for 7 (Mulla 58) by 51 runs/

After the disciplinary problems of the pre-vious day England managed to keep theirfocus, dispatching Canada by 51 runs in StLucia, to open their World Cup account. EdJoyce and Paul Collingwood hit sixties asEngland began and ended their battingstrongly before early inroads with the ballput the result beyond doubt.

As against New Zealand the England bat-ting faltered with the loss of three top-orderwickets, this time for eight runs, then therewas a lack of cutting edge from the bowlingattack when the threat of the new ball haddisappeared.

After Liam Plunkett grabbed two in hisfirst spell, Ashif Mulla provided the Eng-land attack with a wake-up call as helaunched 58 off 60 balls in a fifth-wicketstand of 97 with Abdool Samad. The runscame with ease, but after falling to 65 for 4in the 17th over the target was always outof reach, although the lower-order kept theentertainment going. It highlighted the im-portance of the breathing space created bythe 81-run stand between Collingwood andRavi Bopara plus the eight-ball 23 fromPaul Nixon.

Joyce and Michael Vaughan started withEngland's first century opening stand in 27matches, both playing neatly althoughJoyce survived chances on 30 and 46. Thetop order, though, went in familiar fashionand all helped their own demise leaving thecentury count among them at a miserly one.

Vaughan drove to point, Ian Bell top-edgedan attempted slog-sweep and Joyce's re-verse sweep proved his downfall after a re-turn to form. Sunil Dhaniram wasresponsible for the latter two, but his daygot even better with his third victim -Kevin Pietersen caught and bowled after adelivery stopped on a slightly two-pacedsurface.

In 16 balls England had been sent into aposition of needing a partnership to ensuretheir mini-collapse didn't become a moremajor issue. Bopara, Andrew Flintoff's re-placement at No. 6, quickly looked athome and his sharp running and strong on-side play kicked the innings back into life.

Collingwood was his usual self, bidinghis time before unleashing in the closingovers as Canada lost their disciplines.Samad was banned from the attack in hissixth over after bowling two waist-highfull tosses, although England didn't havemuch trouble scoring off them withCollingwood's fifty taking 41 balls. The65-ball stand put England into a comfortzone, then Nixon provided a thumping fin-ish as he reverse-hit the death bowlers overthe ropes. The final ten overs brought 98runs.

Paul Collingwood boosted England'stotal with an unbeaten 62. What Englandneeded now was an incisive bowling dis-play to stamp their superiority overCanada. They started well enough as Plun-kett struck in his opening over beforeBagai slashed to third man. John Davisonhad promoted himself to open and crackedfour boundaries of varying authenticity be-fore carving James Anderson to deepcover, removing the only realistic hope ofCanada getting close.

Bopara continued to impress in his firstWorld Cup match with a delivery thatnipped away to take Ian Billcliff's offs-tump, but Canada refused to back down.With England feeling safe from defeat thefoot came off the gas, allowing Mulla andSamad to find the boundary. Both hit sixesand Mulla was especially strong throughthe leg side until his fun was ended by asmart piece of work from Nixon. Yet, evenwhen Panesar struck in the next over theycouldn't run through the lower order.

Dhaniram completed a solid allround daywhile Desmond Chumney showed hispower as England were forced to bowl outtheir 50 overs. By batting out time, Canadaput up a better show than against Kenyaand managed their highest total in WorldCups. It is something they can take withthem after their tournament concludes, al-though the age of their team is a majorissue.

England will claim they did what wasneeded, but for reasons on and off the fieldthis wasn't a day to inspire confidence.Their final match, a must-win to quality forthe Super Eights, is against Kenya on thesame pitch, which will be even slower andlower. They may not have it all their ownway.

WORLD CUP CRICKET Indo-Caribbean Times April 2007 Page 22

West Indies in crisis modeGEORGETOWN: BRIAN LARA’S WestIndians gave a near capacity crowd here lit-tle to cheer about as the host country suf-fered its third straight loss in the World CupSuper Eights, surrendering to Sri Lanka by113 runs at Providence on Sunday.

In front of nearly 16,000 fans, West In-dies were dismissed for a disappointing 190in 44.3 overs in reply to Sri Lanka’s 303-5,built on Sanath Jayasuriya’s 25th ODI cen-tury.

Only Shivnar-ine Chander-paul with adetermined 76off 110 ballssaved the WestIndies fromtotal humilia-tion.

He andRamnaresh Sar-wan (44) shared

a 92-run fourth wicket partnership but Sar-wan’s dismissal at 134 in the 35th over trig-gered a middle order collapse in which fourwickets fell for 24 runs.

Chanderpaul hit five sixes and just onefour in his innings but apart from Sarwan,none of the other batsmen showed the ap-plication necessary to put up a West Indieschallenge.Desperation has given way to cri-sis for Brian Lara and his West Indies WorldCup squad.

A 113-run loss to Sri Lanka followedheavy defeats to defending champion Aus-tralia and New Zealand, and left the WestIndies needing to win its last three matchesand rely on other results.

“We are in a crisis situation, pertaining tocricket,” Lara said. “We’re in a hole, andwe’ve got to take ourselves out of that hole.“That performance was not up to scratch.We know that.”

Lara said four matches in ten days, in-cluding three in the last six on sandy out-fields, had sapped his squad.

An eight-day rest before matches againsttop-ranked South Africa, Bangladesh andEngland should give the West Indies timeto regroup, he said.“I am an eternal optimist. I still see it. Towin a World Cup takes a lot of skill and alot of luck,” the 37-year-old left-handersaid.“We?ve still got an outside chance, and I’mstill focusing on that.”

Lara said the team and its supporters hadto concentrate on its slim chance of reach-ing the last four.“We have time to improve. We’ve got tostay upbeat,” he said. “I knoweveryone is disappointed around theCaribbean. But we’ve still got a jobto do.There is a little bit of light.”

The West Indies, winners of the first twoWorld Cups and runner-up in the third, arehosting the quadrennial tournament for thefirst time.

To make it back to the semifinals, it needsEngland, Bangladesh, South Africa and Ire-land losing matches.

Lara said he would like the West Indieslast Super 8s match against England to havea semifinal spot resting on it.“There are permutations,” he said. But, “Itstill boils down to us beating South Africa,Bangladesh and England to give ourselvesany chance. Nothing will help if we don?tdo that.”

Canada goes home early 0-3, West Indies failing in Super 8 Canada makes 249against New Zealand*New Zealand* 363 for 5 (Vincent 101,Fleming 66, McCullum 52*) beat*Canada* 249 (Davison 52, Billcliff 52) by114 runs

A thoroughly professional performancefrom New Zealand, has given StephenFleming's side a useful confidence boostahead of the Super Eight stage of the WorldCup, with a convincing 114-run win overCanada in a dead rubber in St Lucia. Themanner of their victory, and the intentshowed from their batsmen, was almostAustralian in its ruthlessness.

One slight area of concern coming intotoday's match was the form of their top-order and, in particular, that of their openerLou Vincent. He answered it emphaticallywith a majestic 101, a match-winning in-nings littered with aggression and boldcounterattacking strokes. Allied with hisbrilliant fielding - at point, mid-on and else-where in the infield during Canada's innings- his class shone through, at a useful timetoo.It was all New Zealand as they motoredpast 350, their highest in World Cups,stamping their authority on the match andsending a warning note to the sides in theSuper Eights.

New Zealand’somentum did not slip,thanks to a breathless last seven overs inwhich Brendon McCullum and Jacob Oramput on 85. McCullum's fearlessness hum-bled an already miserable Canadian attackas he feasted on bowling which lacked di-rection, discipline and courage. Five sixeslater, three of which sailed over midwicket,he brought up the quickest World Cup fiftyfrom an indecently meagre 20 balls. It wasalso the fastest half-century by a NewZealander in one-dayers.

Canada refused to be ignored, though, inthis their final match of the World Cup. Arousing fifty of breathless audacity fromJohn Davison, their captain and onlymatch-winner, lifted the crowd and even,momentarily at least, sunk New Zealand'sshoulders.

Fourteen fearless runs from the openingover got Canada rolling, but it was Tuffey'sopening partner, Michael Mason, whohanded Davison a free behind square fol-lowed by a zinging smite through mid-off.After five overs, Canada had flown to 52without loss. While Davison was on the at-tack his opening partner, Geoff Barnett - nostranger to many of the opposition havingplayed for Central Districts - was no lesspurposeful, if lacking the gift of timingDavison has in abundance.

But the big fish, Davison, fell in the fol-lowing over when he skied Mason straightback to the bowler. His delight rather sug-gested the match was as good as closed, utto their credit Canada didn't just roll over.An adhesive 50 from Ian Billcliff followeda rather sedate 37 from Ashish Bagai beforeJeetan Patel wrapped things up in a hurrywith 3 for 25.

And all this without the tournament's mostpotent fast bowler, Shane Bond, who wastoday rested. New Zealand are looking ingood shape.

Will Luke, Cricinfo

Sunil Dhaniram

Brian Lara

SPORTS Indo-Caribbean Times M arch 2007 Page 23

n Pakistan’s Rana is comprehensively bowled by Wayne Bravo

Celebrating 14 years as the Best in the East

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The Canadian team made a brave effort, but it was not enough against the big fish

ICC Cricket World Cup Highlights

Lasith Malinga- four wickets in four balls

Herschelle Gibbs- hit six sixes in one over

Sjhane Bond- one of the top bowlers in the Cup

Ramnaresh Sarwan

Denesh Ramdin

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