Dear Editor,

For some time I have been trying unsuccessfully to reconnect with some of the people I have worked with in my career as a playwright/ director and producer of plays back home in Guyana. I do not know if most are in Guyana or have migrated like I have done.

A few of my ex-theatre folk that I would dearly like to reconnect with are: Mr. Neville Williams, Ms. Anne Wilburg, Ms. Lorna Davson, Mr. Sheik Sadeek, Ms. Lorna Fausett, Mr. Burnell Pilgrim and Ms. Lavern Farley. In short I would love to reconnect with the people with whom I worked. My email address follows: haroldbantu@aol.com.

Yours faithfully,

Harold A Bascom

Little Desean Noel is in desperate need of an operation for a brain tumour which has almost rendered him immobile and is affecting his eyesight.

The child, who is just shy of his third birthday, urgently needs US$15,000 to have the surgery done at the Community Hospital, Cocorite, Trinidad. Because of the urgency, Dr Richard Spam who saw the child at the Davis Memorial Hospital and agreed to do it, has set April 6 for the operation. He said the sum of money is all-inclusive and the child and his mother would just have to get tickets and accommodation for the mother.

However, because the child's parents, Althiea Sampson and Richard Noel, who reside at 139 First Field Caneville, Grove, East Bank Demerara, have no way of raising that sum of money they are appealing to the public for assistance.

Desean is now a patient at the Georgetown Public Hospital. He was admitted last Thursday as his condition has deteriorated and he is in constant pain.

His mother said the boy is her only child and he was "normal" until early last month when he began to suffer from headaches and was vomiting everything he ate. He also had a high fever and was rushed to the hospital where he remained for 19 days.

During that time an MRI scan of the brain was ordered and this was done at St Joseph Mercy Hospital on March 3, revealing a large left frontal tumour that extended into the third ventricle resulting in obstructive hydrocephalus.

"He requires urgent treatment which will involve a section of the tumour. It is likely that once the tumour is cleared he will not require ventriculo-peritoneal shunt. I have advised the parents of the proposed treatment and the urgency," Dr Spam wrote in a letter he gave to the parents.

The mother said that late last year the child had developed an abscess at the back of his head but this was treated by the hospital and they never suspected there was a much larger problem.

Desean is now lying in the hospital bed and according to his mother he is unable to focus on anyone or anything because of the constant pain he is in. The parents have approached the Ministry of Health and First Lady Varshnie Jagdeo's Kids First Fund organisation and now await word on what help would be made available. But time is running out and even though they have set up a bank account they have only managed to raise a little over $200,000 which is a far cry from the US$15,000 they require to save the child's life.

The account is at the New Building Society (NBS) and its number is: D15453. Relatives of the child could be contacted on 643-2654 and 646-0262.

The four men for whom the police issued wanted bulletins on Wednesday in connection with illegal items found during recent raids have, through their lawyers, declined "any invitation to go to any police station."

They have also challenged the police's authority to issue a bulletin for them for questioning and are demanding the withdrawal of the bulletin and an apology.

The lawyers said their clients have no confidence in the police force and that they are fearful that the force would violate their legal rights.

In a letter to Commissioner of Police, Winston Felix, which was also sent to this newspaper, Attorneys-at-law Vic Puran and Glen Hanoman, said they were retained by Paul Rodrigues, Roger Khan, Gerald Pereira and Ricardo Rodrigues.

The lawyers said it had come to their clients' attention that the force, "purported to issue a wanted bulletin for questioning in relation to them.

"It seems that it has escaped your notice that the Guyana Police Force has no power to issue a wanted bulletin for questioning," the letter to the commissioner said.

Stabroek News attempted to get a comment from Commissioner Felix but was unsuccessful.

However, a legal expert told this newspaper that the police can issue bulletins for persons who they wish to contact or have an interest in.

In the bulletin, the police said the men were wanted for questioning in connection with investigations into the discovery of guns, ammunition, drugs and other illegal items during a search on March 19.

The joint services conducted massive raids in Georgetown and in its environs over the weekend of March 18 and 19, in an attempt to recover the 33 AK 47s that disappeared from Camp Ayanganna. A number of businesses and buildings connected to businessman Khan had been searched.

The police release listed the wanted men as Paul Rodrigues, an ex-policeman whose address was given as 29 Dadanawa Street, Section 'K' Campbellville; Ricardo Rodrigues, of Bel Air Springs; Shaeed Khan also known as Roger Khan of 133 Rotunda Place D'Aguiar's Park, Houston and Gerald Pereira of 86 Lamaha Springs, Georgetown.

The letter from the lawyers said that they have instructed their clients to demand, "…and we hereby do, that you immediately withdraw the purported wanted bulletin, tender an apology and limit your actions to the confines of the law."

The letter continued: "Please be advised that our clients decline any invitation to go to any police station. We are instructed to inform you that our clients have no confidence in you or the Guyana Police Force under your command…"

The lawyers said that should the force have sufficient evidence to charge the men with any offence then the force should do so and they (the lawyers) would ensure that their clients appear in court.

Among the places searched by the police during the raids were Blue Iguana; the Reef Club; a five-storey building in Station Street, Kitty (an unfinished structure where three floors are being occupied); the Dream Works office in Garnett Street; the Master's Touch Carpeting business at Second Street, Bel Air Village; Khan's home at 133 Rotunda Place, D'Aguiar's Park, Houston; Avalanche Club; and Buddy's Night Club. Additionally, a search team was deployed to Kaow Island in the Essequibo River.

During the searches a number of items were seized including seven handguns, two pellet guns, two pistol magazines with three live 9mm rounds, four heavily tinted vehicles, including an F 150 bullet-proof pick-up, seven hand-held radios, three mobile three mobile telephones, 41 small containers with cocaine and one Guyana passport. Also found were; a quantity of live and blank ammunition, four AK-47 magazines, a quantity of ammunition were seized, a quantity of police uniforms was discovered, a motor vehicle of interest to the security forces, a quantity of military uniforms.

The brutal murder of six-year-old Sean Luke plunged an entire village into a state of grief and anger.

Little Sean was an inquisitive, playful child who never had a sad face. He would run to everyone he met, even strangers, hugging them and asking for them to join him in a game of football. It was this friendly nature that may have led to his gruesome death, relatives said.

Residents recalled that hours before he went missing, Sean was seen playing football with a group of teenagers outside his home. Two of those boys have since been held for committing the heinous crime.

Up to last night, the teenagers, who recently moved into the village, were being questioned by Homicide detectives. Investigators said charges were expected to be laid against the 14-year-olds soon.

Residents believed Sean was lured into the canefield by his attackers after they took him to a neighbourhood parlour and bought him a pack of juice and a snack.

They then walked him through a bushy track and into the canefield, where someone removed his clothing and plunged a cane stalk into the body of the naked boy, puncturing his lungs and damaging other organs.

He suffered a slow, agonising death, an autopsy found.

Sean, who was born in the United States, was buried yesterday, two days after his already decomposing body was discovered in the canefield, 200 feet from his home at Orange Valley, Couva.

Relatives, teachers, classmates, residents, politicians and even the school's security guard cried openly for Sean, who was described as an "angel sent by God".

Relatives of the boys who are accused of murdering Sean did not attend the funeral. Their houses, located on the same street where Sean lived, remained locked yesterday. When the casket bearing Sean's body arrived at his home around 11 a.m., his mother, Pauline Lum Fai, screamed for her child.

"Please don't take my baby from me. Don't leave me, Sean. I can't live without you. You are my life, Sean," she cried.

Lum Fai pounded the casket and shouted: "Why did they do this to my baby? Why these little children do this to my son?"

A basket with flowers was placed on the sealed casket along with his favourite teddy bear and his pet turtle.

Sean's father, Daniel Luke, wailed as he looked at the framed photograph of his son which was placed on the casket.

Pupils of the Waterloo Hindu School, (where Sean was in second year) teachers and the principal also attended the funeral. His class teacher, Vera Salick, cried uncontrollably throughout the service.

Pundit Dave Rampersad, who officiated, lashed out at the authorities for failing to protect the youths.

"Let this be an awakening for our leaders, politicians, parents and teachers to perform their duty, which is to protect our innocent children. It is time for them to take up the mantle and guide our children to the right path. Criminals don't fall from the sky, they come from homes. Where are the parents? Stop corrupting your children's minds with television and negativity. It is easy to have a child, but the challenge is really how to be a parent," he said.

Satnarine Maharaj, secretary general of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha, said teachers throughout the country was saddened by the news of Sean's death.

"This was such a heinous crime, that even the Gods were shedding tears. The principal and teachers at the Waterloo Hindu School are all traumatised by this," he said.

Principal Nandran Maharaj described Sean's murder as a "devilish deed".

"Our nation is in deep crisis, we have lost our way and can no longer determine what is right from wrong," he said.

Family friend Vidya Harripersad, who delivered the eulogy, said Sean always had a pleasant face and was always smiling.

"He would always tell his mother how much he loved her and when she didn't tell him he would remind her to say she loved him too," she said.

Harripersad said Sean loved anything with wheels and when asked what he wanted to be when he grew up he always answered: "I want to fix the engines of aeroplanes and spaceships."

As it was being removed, Lum Fai clutched the casket and screamed.

"Please don't go, Sean, please don't go, I love you Sean. I will always love you."

Sean was buried at the Waterloo Public Cemetery.

The Cricket World Cup (CWC) Local Organising Committee (LOC) is hoping to become an agent of Cricket Hospitality 2007 to sell cricket hospitality packages, which would include tickets to see the Super Eight matches along with foods and drinks.

Chief Executive Officer of the CWC LOC, Karan Singh told Stabroek News in an interview last week that "some time during the first or second week in April they [Cricket Hospitality 2007] are likely to come on board and we, the LOC, are being given the opportunity to become a hospitality agent."

Cricket Hospitality 2007, is the official hospitality partner of the ICC CWC West Indies 2007 Inc.

Singh explained that in the hospitality packages there would be limited numbers of seats, which would be allocated in a total of eight boxes. There would be 12 seats to a box. In addition to the boxes, he said, "seats would be available within the stadium where you can buy, not only seats as part of the package, but food and drinks and when lunch is served you may dine with a couple of prominent cricketers in the same area." He said music and television screens showing highlights of Guyana would also be available.

Caterers

Singh said there would be several categories of caterers. "Even the average nut man and the vendor who sells phoulouri could register as a vendor," he said.

He said there would be a regional catering advisor who would look at all the catering services in terms of meeting certain criteria. The LOC would guide the advisor in terms of the selection of people who would be involved in the catering. There would be lots of food booths in the stadium including mobile and fixed ones. "We are trying to minimize people having to leave the stadium to go out to find food."

However, he said, Pepsi, a corporate sponsor, would be the dominating beverage of the tournament along with its affiliates such as KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) and Pizza Hut. Pepsi is a major sponsor and can have no major competition because the beverage giant has paid millions of dollars for the rights.

But Singh said, "The local cuisine, such as curry, cook-up rice and pepperpot among others, would definitely not be compromised. In the catering industry we are hoping that all involved in catering would recognise the opportunity to showcase Guyanese cuisine."

Contracts for services would be dealt with through certain regional initiatives, which are being driven by CWC through a central procurement programme. This means that goods and services would be bought or leased and acquired through a particular agency depending on the permanent or temporary nature of what is required.

Contractors

Noting that mega events need some facilities that would be temporary such as television screens, and tents, Singh said the CWC has proposed to the nine LOCs in the host venues to use the services of GL Events of France. This was done through a bidding process. The CWC WI Inc is in the process of completing negotiations to bring on board GL Events, which has shown a keen interest in working with the nine host venues to provide management support for the overlay. GL Events provided the overlay for the last Super Bowl held in the USA.

It is expected that GL Events would bring stocks worth millions of dollars to the region for the event through lease arrangements so that the region would not incur unnecessary expenses through purchases.

But Singh said there are opportunities for local contractors and for sub-contractors. For instance, he said, GL Events would not bring tents to Guyana if tents were available here. Therefore, companies that could provide tents and mobile latrines could be sub-contracted to GL Events.

Some countries like Jamaica, Barbados and Antigua, which would be hosting the opening and closing ceremonies and the semi-finals and which would require additional seating accommodation are expected to benefit from GL Events.

In addition to GL Events, Singh said, the ICC CWC is now looking at an English company with much experience in security through a bidding process to deal with issues of security. Once this company would have signed on to working with the ICC CWC, it is expected that it would transfer training to the nine host venues by training of trainers in areas specific to hosting a mega event. (Miranda La Rose)

Police yesterday issued a wanted bulletin for businessman Roger Khan and three others for questioning in connection with investigations into the discovery of guns, ammunition, drugs and other illegal items during a search on March 19.

The joint services conducted massive raids in George-town and in its environs over the weekend of March 18 and 19, in an attempt to recover the 33 AK 47s that disappeared from Camp Ayan-ganna. A number of businesses and buildings connected to businessman Khan had been searched.

The police release yesterday listed the wanted men as Paul Rodrigues, an ex-policeman whose address was given as 29 Dadanawa Street, Section 'K' Campbellville; Ricardo Rodrigues, of Bel Air Springs; Shaeed Khan also known as Roger Khan of 133 Rotunda Place D'Aguiar's Park, Houston and Gerald Pereira of 86 Lamaha Springs, Georgetown.

Following the raids the police had seized a number of illegal items from several locations and arrested a number of persons several of whom have already been placed before the courts. They had also issued a wanted bulletin for four men last Monday: Royston Peniston was arrested and placed before the courts, and Fredroy Willabus and Lloyd Roberts, who turned themselves in on Monday with their lawyers. Another man, Sheldon Chase, is yet to be arrested.

"Consequent upon a recent operation in Georgetown and its environs, the under-mentioned persons are wanted for questioning in connection with investigations into the discovery of firearms, ammunition, drugs and other illegal items found during a search on Sunday 19th March 2006," the brief release from the police said yesterday.

Attorney-at-law Glen Hanoman had told Stabroek News on Sunday that Pereira's home was searched early Sunday morning. Stabroek News understands that the man's wife was a policewoman and they have a home in the joint service's scheme at Lamaha Springs.

During last weekend's raids and the one before, two of Khan's reputed wives were arrested and a number of men associated with him were also hauled in for questioning.

Khan, through his lawyer Hanoman, had said the police and the army had "ulterior motives" for targeting his businesses and associates.

Meanwhile, Paul Rodrigues had been charged in 2004 following the discovery of a cache of arms and ammunition at the Master's Touch Carpeting location in Bel Air. He was charged along with Rawle Gulliver and Dennis Osbourne, but the case was subsequently dismissed.

A release from the police last Monday had listed the business places searched as the Blue Iguana located at Fifth and Light Streets, Alberttown; the Reef Club at 60 Station Street, Kitty; a five-storey building in Station Street, Kitty (an unfinished structure where three floors are being occupied); the Dream Works office in Garnett Street; the Master's Touch Carpeting business at Second Street, Bel Air Village; and a house at 133 Rotunda Place, D'Aguiar's Park, Houston. Additionally, a search team was deployed to Kaow Island in the Essequibo River.

During the searches a number of items were seized including seven handguns, two pellet guns, two pistol magazines with three live 9mm rounds, four heavily tinted vehicles, including an F 150 bullet-proof pick-up, seven hand-held radios, three mobile telephones, 41 small containers with cocaine and one Guyana passport. The release did not indicate at which places the items were found.

Searches were also conducted at houses in North-East La Penitence, 239 Pike Street, Kitty and 19 Bel Air Promenade, Prashad Nagar. In North East La Penitence and a quantity of live and blank ammunition, four AK-47 magazines and two cleaning kits were seized.

During the search at Pike Street two revolvers, one pistol and a quantity of ammunition were seized. It was at the house in Prashad Nagar that a quantity of police uniforms was discovered.

Cordon and searches were also conducted at Buddy's Night Club on Sheriff Street, where a motor vehicle of interest to the security forces was seized; the Avalanche Night Club in Sheriff Street; a house at 'U' Grove Housing Scheme, EBD where a quantity of military uniforms was seized; Lot 106 Ixora Avenue, Eccles, EBD, where a quantity of ammunition was discovered.

International Women's Day was celebrated earlier this month under the theme 'Women in Decision Making'. The underlying message of all the symposia, seminars and discussions organized to celebrate the day was that while Guyanese women have made some strides in this all-important arena, by and large, our presence in the halls of power and decision making, given the many conventions our government has signed and ratified, remains unacceptably low. Part of the reason for this is that women's contribution in almost every aspect of the development process is often half-heartedly documented, sometimes by women themselves, hence their achievements remain unheard and compared to men, poorly remunerated. One of the many areas where the silence continues to be quite deafening is in our contribution in the sugar industry which after nearly two centuries to some extent still remains the lifeblood of our country. This article is intended to make a contribution to filling that lacuna.

The sugar industry in Guiana really began to take off in the first decades of the 19th century after its final acquisition by Britain. England planters who had begun investing in the sugar industry during the latter part of the 18th century now poured more financial and human resources into the newly acquired colonies. This increased investment in the industry coincided with Britain's decision to bring an end to the trade in African slaves. This created a problem for the acquisition of fresh supplies of slaves in general and female slaves, always in short supply, in particular. Recent research on women has indicated that women's direct participation in the sugar industry was influenced by the need for labour which depended on the availability of slaves on the world market. Shepherd and Beckles (2000) further posited that "at times of labour shortage, particularly towards the end of the slave trade, when young male slaves were not easily purchased, women were used in increasing proportions as field labourers rather than as household workers." They also stated that "at times of severe labour shortage, slave women were employed more often than males in field labour while in times of adequate supply women were employed in equal numbers to males in field labour."

The gender bias in the writing of history in the past has severely underestimated the role and contribution of women to the sugar industry and gives the impression that the work of sugar production was only men's work. Lucille Mair summarized the reality of the situation thus: "without intending to do so, the system of slavery in many essentials organised men's and women's lives in a way which gave them a common cause. Slavery in many essentials made men and women roughly equal in the eyes of the master. Legally, they had identical status as chattels, as objects which could be owned. They were seen not as men or women, but as objects which could be owned, not so much as men or women but as units of labour. Their jobs on the plantation were distributed not according to sex, but according to age and health … in fact as long as women were young and fit, they were recruited into the same work force as men and shared more or less the same labour."

During the period of indenture, women continued to participate just as actively in the sugar industry. Immigrant women were also in short supply but unlike chattel slave women they did have a few choices. They tended to work in the less backbreaking tasks in the field and factory like weeding and manuring of the canes. No doubt in the writing the story of the sugar industry, the overwhelmingly male writers, influenced by the perceptions of the role of women and what was accepted as suitable occupations for women, deliberately downplayed and understated the contribution of women in those areas that were regarded as men's rather than women's work. In fact we are made aware of women's continued involvement in the industry up to the middle of the 20th century because of their active participation in protest against the deplorable working conditions. Walter Rodney (1981) showed that sometimes disturbances on the estate began in the female-dominated weeding gang and cited the example of Salamea who urged the 'coolies' to fight.

Our knowledge that women of African descent continued to work on the sugar estates comes from the testimony of Dorothy Rice during the enquiry into the 1905 Ruimveldt riots. She was a member of the delegation of workers' representatives and testified about her meagre weekly earnings from cutting cane. Women fieldworkers participated in the unrest on the sugar estates in 1924 and joined with Creole and Indian men to walk to Georgetown from the East Bank Demerara to see Hubert Critchlow.

The Venn Commission Report of 1948 was one of the few occasions when women were openly recognised as an integral part of the estate labour force. It was called after the 1946 "Enmore Incident" to enquire into the condition of the sugar industry in British Guiana. According to Ashton Chase (1964), this commission paid special attention to the situation of women in the sugar industry. It stated that during 1939, 1946 and 1949, women made up 30.6%, 30.1% and 27.8% respectively of the total labour force in the sugar industry. It commented on the harshness of some of the tasks women were called upon to perform in order to subsidise their husbands' meagre earnings. It recommended, among other things, that crèches be provided on each estate and tasks in the field be arranged so as to permit women to return home to prepare meals and look after their children, and also that women and girls should as soon as possible be prevented by ordinance from working in water. Except for the crèches, the recommendations were quite impracticable given, in case of the first, the distance of the fields from the homes of the women and in the second, the very nature of some of the tasks they had to perform, made it well nigh impossible for them not to work in water some of the time.

It is not without irony, however, that women who became best known for their involvement in the sugar industry, did not actually work there in any capacity but came to be recognized for their attempts to organise the sugar workers in the trade union movement which took off after the labour unrest of the 1930s and the recommendations of the Moyne Commission. In this regard, three women come to mind immediately viz Mrs Janet Jagan, Jane Philips Gay and Philomena Sahoye-Shury. Dissatisfaction with the quality of representation given to sugar workers by the MPCA led to the establishment of the Guiana Industrial Workers Union with J.P. Latchmansingh as president and Jane Philips Gay as general secretary. She served in this position with considerable energy and enthusiasm until the split of the People's Progressive Party into the Jagan and Burnham factions. She joined the Burnham (later People's National Congress) faction.

A feature that has characterized the evolution of political parties in the Caribbean is the close linkages many had with trade unions. In the case of the three women earlier mentioned, they used the skills and experience they gained as trade unionists to advance their status in politics. Mrs Jagan certainly honed the skills she was to use in her political career from her involvement in trade union activity. The establishment in 1946 of the Political Affairs Committee which later became the PPP coincided with the Enmore protest which resulted in the death of five sugar workers. Dr and Mrs Jagan were very vocal in their representation of the workers. Mrs Jagan headed the funeral cortege of the martyred workers and continues to play a lead role in commemorating their death anniversary. She also later asked that a pension be given to their families. Sahoye-Shury became involved in the sugar industry in the 1960s with the newly formed Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union. She was general secretary of the union for several years. Indeed it was her aggressiveness in championing their demands for increased wages and her being in the forefront of the union's challenge of the MPCA for the right to represent the sugar workers that she earned the sobriquet "fireball."

Despite the scant recognition in the writings on sugar, women have always made a significant contribution to the survival and development of the industry though not at the decision-making level. This continued to be the case in the post independence/post nationalization period. While quantitatively women's participation has not increased significantly in the millennium, qualitatively it certainly has. In this critical juncture of the reconstruction of the industry, a woman holds the important portfolio of Director of Marketing of GUYSUCO. However, that achievement and the contribution of women in the industry since independence will be the subject of a future article.

A forum to discuss strategies to fight crime yesterday concluded that Guyana was on the brink of capitulating to the deteriorating crime situation and recommended that the US government should do more than just produce reports of the narco trade in Guyana, and should help restrict its own drug market.

The issues of justice and equity and the need for government to get on the platform with the opposition and condemn crime were also addressed. The forum, organised by the opposition parliamentary parties was held at City Hall and was well attended with several members of the diplomatic corps, non-governmental organizations and other political parties participating. Notably absent was the ruling PPP/C and members of government.

The country has seen a bloody start to this year with some 40 murders already recorded. Armed robberies have also soared and a tense security situation has developed ever since eight people were slaughtered on the East Bank last month. PNCR member, Deryck Bernard who presented a summary of the discussions announced that within two weeks, a document would be drafted on what was discussed and the recommendations made. He said this would be made available to the public.

There were two main presenters: Christopher Ram, Principal Partner of Ram& Mc Rae accounting firm and Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Guyana, Dr, Michael Scott.

The forum agreed that crime was a serious problem, with many feeling that the authorities should be more proactive in dealing with the issues. The forum recognized that economic issues and development were part of the crime problem and there were suggestions that there must be a strategy to disarm the many criminal gangs.

The Guyana Police Force recently made a call for all gangs to surrender, stating that it would pursue them relentlessly. The forum agreed that there were too many guns on the streets and both the presenters and commentators felt that the political issue of national reconciliation could not be left the opposition alone.

Citizens spoke of the need for better governance, with emphasis being placed on the functioning of the courts and the public service. There were also calls for greater transparency within government and a no-nonsense approach to corruption. However many persons felt that corruption was endemic especially in government and among several public officials and private individuals. The forum stressed that the general breakdown in moral standards in society contributed to the crime problem and there was an appeal for young people to cultivate better attitudes. Education, training and job creation were mentioned as some of the things, which could help stop crime.

The forum also agreed that the morale and functioning of the police force must be improved and there were calls for the immediate implementation of the recommendations made by the Disciplined Forces Commission two years ago. As means of stopping crime, there were also calls for NGOs and other faith-based organization to get onboard and become more involved in formalizing programmes to help the vulnerable groups.

The functioning of the judiciary came under the microscope, but it was felt that citizens should not assume that judiciary was incompetent and corrupt and there was nothing, which could be done about it. All agreed it was both incorrect and impractical to talk about solutions to problems of crime, unless the twin issues of justice and equity were addressed.

Many persons felt that crime could not be addressed outside the issue of governance and as such, there was urgent need for good governance. There were calls for a re-awakening of political initiatives and reconciliation.

Bernard said several of the proposals could be implemented shortly if there was the political will and determination of the citizens.

"It is not enough for the opposition alone to be taking part in programmes like these but government should get onboard," Bernard commented.

Chairperson of the programme, Debra Backer of the PNCR said that all of the political parties were invited as well as the government.

On the issue of narcotics, the forum agreed that consuming countries must play a bigger role in helping countries like Guyana fight the scourge. It was noted that the matter of controlling the narco trade in Guyana had to be a matter for consuming countries like the US both in terms of their own domestic agendas in controlling crime and markets for drugs.

In his presentation Ram said that the events of the past three years in Guyana, beginning with the jailbreak, the escapees finding a home in Buxton and the recent blocking of the main section of the East Bank highway during the massacre which killed eight people have involved terror, death and destruction on a scale that has shocked whole sections for their brazenness, brutality and impunity. "Amidst all of this, perhaps preparing the script for ultimate Guyanese tragedy, we debate whether a minister of government with responsibility for security is right to turn to a known murderer and to phantom killers to arrest a deteriorating crime situation." Ram spoke about criminals who rob, terrorise and kill members of a different ethnic group and who make innocent children into child soldiers being called freedom fighters as well as the bugging and broadcasting of a telephone conversation allegedly between Police Commissioner, Winston Felix and PNCR member Basil Williams.

Among other things, Ram said, the prevalence of the use of lethal weapons in the commission of crimes and the inability of the police to recover such guns suggest that the time has come for an amnesty for all guns surrendered with the possibility of a financial reward to those which prove not to have been used in crime.

Dr Scott, in his presentation, said there would be no security without development and visa versa.

"The provision of the basic public goods of law and order is the only way the kind of security can be established in which people can concentrate their minds on development." According to Dr Scott, organised crime has taken on a significant dimension in Guyana. He noted that the criminal enterprise has become very professional and has threatened to undermine legitimate powers. He noted that authorities need to get tough on all forms of crime as well as its causes. He called for the decriminalisation of every institution of the state. Scott suggested that a more coordinated approach by all NGOs, church groups and the wider society would go a far way in helping to reduce crime. He subscribed to the mounting of campaigns, the signing of anti-crime pledges, crime watch in communities and the creation of better policing rather than vigilantes.

Scott also said that good and effective governance; respect for the rule of law and government's recognition of the role civil society can play in crime fight would all help.

The forum was held under the theme 'Unity for security - stand up against crime and violence'.

(Nigel Williams)

Although not a surprise, as much of the information was already in the public domain, the US State Department's report on the drug trade in Guyana nevertheless because of its comprehensiveness and detail profoundly shocked the Guyanese society. One had heard the stories and hoped that they were exaggerated. Now, the chilling facts had to be faced. Drugs and the drug trade are corrupting Guyanese society on a dangerous scale while poor coordination among the government agencies, a weak judiciary and graft continue to clog law enforcement efforts.

The Head of the Presidential Secretariat has insisted that it is government's concerns that have allowed the State Department to provide the assessment, a position which attracts the rejoinder that the State Department with its agencies and resources could have produced the assessment with or without the agreement and cooperation of government. The HPS said that the report will be studied and that at some suitable time a more detailed response would be provided. There seems a determination to maintain a low key approach, as if the very viability of Guyana and its functioning as a democratic state were not at stake.

The major Opposition party, the People's National Congress has for its part called on the government to answer the glaring revelations documented in the report which the party says it has been publicly proclaiming for several years.

To focus attention steadily on the terrifying aspects of the drug trade there is need to locate the situation in its regional and global context. In this connection in its report issued thirteen years ago the West Indian Commission chaired by Sir Shridath Ramphal asserted:

"Nothing poses greater threats to civil society in Caricom countries than the drug problem and nothing exemplifies the powerlessness of regional governments more.... It is a many layered danger. At base is the human destruction implicit in drug addiction but implicit also is the corruption of individuals and systems by the sheer enormity of the inducements of the illegal drug trade in relatively poor societies. On top of all this lie the implications for governance itself... The damage to the people, the economies, the system of government - to democratic society itself - from the drug problem is as great a menace as any dictator's repression.. Caricom countries are threatened today by an onslaught from illegal drugs as crushing as any military incursion."

There is nothing low key about the above quoted assessment written thirteen years ago at a time when the problems were less pervasive than they are now.

A critical aspect of the impact on Caricom is that they are all small states, some of them virtually mini-states, with few budgetary and personnel resources. Geographically the islands are endowed with coves which are easy to penetrate and in the case of Belize, Guyana and Suriname there are borders which cannot be policed by small forces. Moreover their inherited colonial economies are now being eroded (bananas and sugar) which will gravely worsen already high unemployment levels, leaving discontents which it is too easy to exploit. At the same time no significant assistance is being offered for alternative development. Moreover the high level of westernisation has inculcated cadillac life styles and standards and aspirations which cannot be met by bicycle economies.

It is a situation of discontents and dissent, including political dissent, which is tailor made for exploitation by drug lords.

It should also be emphasised that the difference in size dictates a qualitative difference in community impact. If a gang feud in New York or Los Angeles leads to a massacre it is seen as a bad case but life goes on just the same. In the case of a small state with the killing of eight persons, as happened here at Agricola, the wider community, irrespective of ethnicity, feels insecure, imperilled and frightened.

With little resources, with their states in debt and economies in transition, the leaders of Caribbean states are embedded in the hemispheric global situation.

The global trade in drugs is equalled only by the arms trade, that other immensely lucrative industry dealing in death and conflict. The drug trade is estimated at 300 billion a year. The US market for drugs was estimated some years ago at 100 billion, about half of which (cocaine) transits the Caribbean. The rest, mainly heroin, comes from the Far East, importantly Afghanistan where "poppy" cultivation had been eradicated by the Taliban using draconian methods. Now under the supervision of war lords the poppy cultivation is flourishing again, as is the tender plant of democracy. It is estimated that the US consume 60% of the world's illicit drugs, far out of proportion to its 4.45% of the world's population. The other major market is increasingly the European Union. From time to time the US authorities issue statistics which seek to show that the situation is being brought under control. But such statistics are viewed with scepticism in the US Congress and media and generally as drugs continue to be easily available in any US city. Most of the 1.6 million drug related arrests in the US are for possession rather than trafficking or use in the USA. The US budget for control at 6 billion is considered woefully inadequate. A recent article on the US war on drugs (SN March 9) concluded that the US is yet to develop a strategy that works.

Without that vast lucrative drug market it is certain the production of cocaine would greatly diminish, certainly the transit trade through the Caribbean would wither away. One must therefore consider that the US bears a high moral if not legal responsibility for the flourishing of the drug trade.

The US responsibility extends still further. Professor Trevor Munroe, the distinguished Professor of Politics at UWI, Mona has pointed out that in the wake of the 9/ll events the US virtually abandoned the policing of the Caribbean transit routes. Munroe quotes a report from Caribbean Trends as follows: "Some three quarters of the US Coast Guard cutters, helicopters and other assets and a large part of the personnel that was used to search the scene - especially the Caribbean area - were reassigned to protect warships, nuclear power plants and oil tankers in American ports, to escort cruise ships and other terrorism related tasks. About half of the Coast Guard's special agents who usually investigated drug cases were shifted to commercial jets as marshals."

In short the Caribbean sea is now an "open" sea for the transit of drugs.

The Guyana Government has invited the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to establish a presence here. The US in turn has made proposals and, it is reported, is eager for a positive response. The establishment of the DEA office could be a major advance. It has also been disclosed that the US has made available about US $1 million in grants for several purposes including refitting the Coast Guard's flagship, support for police counter - narcotic efforts, and appropriate training courses for the GDF and civilians. The US has also indicated its readiness to assist in revamping CANU. Such assistance is of high value but it also must be seen as very small scale given the magnitude of the problem.

What has Caricom done on its own? It has sought to internationalise the issue and thereby to secure international assistance. Prime Minister PJ Patterson of Jamaica and Prime Minister ANR Robinson of Trinidad and Tobago took the matter to the UN As a result, the UN General Assembly adopted a Resolution in 1990 for a Global Programme of Action against illicit drugs, but that decision fell short of the original intention calling for the establishment of a Multilateral Force. Within Caricom itself a number of mechanisms and measures have been established. They include the Caribbean Drug Control Coordination Mechanism (1997), the Regional Coordination Mechanism (1998) and the Caribbean Drug Information Network (2001). However, in practice it appears that their work and that of other related bodies have been hampered by a lack of funds. It is also to the point that the drug problem with its regional and international dimensions and the need for speed in decision making point inevitably to the need for a supranational authority, a necessity which Caricom leaders as in other areas of action are unwilling to face. The above is no more than a sketch of a problem of immense dimensions, a problem which needs to be kept on the front burner for continuous national discussion, policy formulation and implementation.

In Guyana, certainly in Georgetown, one has the feeling of cowering before an oncoming tsunami. The words of the great poet come readily to mind. Martin Carter was writing about a fundamental aspect of the human condition but his words respond to the national feeling: "All are involved, All are consumed".

BUGGERED until dead, the body of little Sean Luke was found in a canefield near his home at Orange Valley, Couva, yesterday.

The six-year-old, a United States citizen, would have felt no fear, smiling and laughing with the predator until he was stripped of his clothing and killed in a most agonising way.

Pathologist Dr Eastlyn Mc Donald Burris found during a preliminary examination yesterday that the killer inserted a sugarcane stalk into the boy's rectum, and pushed it until it reached the child's throat.

His intestines were ruptured and other organs damaged.

He died from internal bleeding.

Further tests were ordered.

His family was yesterday battling an unfathomable grief over his agonising death and anger over what they described as the "criminal" lack of response by police officers who failed to help them find the infant in the crucial first hours.

It was left up to residents to search the canefields around the home, and only after the discovery of Sean's underwear and short pants, did the police intervene with a searchlight-equipped helicopter and dogs.

Sean's naked corpse was found at around 6.45 a.m. yesterday.

He was lying on his side, one hand cupping the right side of the face.

His chest appeared battered and his face was decomposing.

Sean is the third boy to be buggered and killed.

In May 1998, 11-year-old Akiel Chambers was found at the bottom of a swimming pool in a Maraval home.

He had been buggered before his death.

Last February, 12-year-old Dane Andrews was found dead in a pond near his home, also buggered.

The cases were never solved.

Exactly when Sean, a pupil of the Orange Valley Hindu School, was last seen alive is unsure.

However, his mother, Pauline Lum Fai, 43, said she became concerned when he could not be found at around 3 p.m.

She showed the Daily Express the room where she slept with her "angel" son at their Henry St, Orange Valley, home and his favourite pet turtle named Duffy.

Sunday, she said, was like any other day.

"He helped me cook. He brought the seasoning. He grind it up. Did his little chores. He stayed with me until 12 (noon)."

She said the two took a nap but when she awoke, he was not there.

"I tell myself I going to take a shower and get him to do some studies. I couldn't find him. Everybody knows who he goes by, I went there. Nobody saw Sean. My search lasted until half past seven."

Lum Fai said she went to the police station and was told to wait as the Anti Kidnapping Unit would be there in 20 minutes.

"They didn't come. I could not wait. I wanted to find my son. I waited until 12 (midnight) going on 1 (a.m.). I was angry and scared."

Lum Fai said she decided to check the home of her son's father in Aripo after the police declined to help her.

"He (the father) said no. And that was it! We came back home, searched all night with torch lights. No police yet!"

On Monday, Lum Fai went to the US Embassy "because I wanted to let them know about their citizen. Only then did things start happening (and) the police called me".

Lum Fai said that even up to Monday evening, a police officer at the Couva station told her "we are wasting the AKS time. We will have to pay for that because this is not serious".

An intensive police search began on Monday night when a search party led by a neighbour, Nehemiah Ramdhanie, found Sean's clothing.

A tracker dog did not find Sean that night, but two dogs brought yesterday made the discovery, not 200 feet from the family's home.

Lum Fai said her village had never known such crime, and children were free to roam the village without fear. She said her child could easily have been led away.

"He was friendly and he was brave and sweet. He would talk to anyone. If a stranger came up, he would talk away like they were best friends."

Lum Fai said she wanted the killer found because "I want to look into the face of the person who did this to my son and who had the heart to do this".

Sean's brother, Daniel Lum Fai, said the AKS visited the family at the police station but said they had another case to deal with.

Police are investigating reports that a security guard working near the Orange Valley fishing depot, was seen playing with a boy matching Sean's description on Sunday evening, and dropping him off in a vehicle at around 6 p.m.

Inspector Fitzgerald George and a team of homicide investigators visited the home yesterday.

Skills, infrastructure and legislation were among the key issues raised at a national workshop yesterday, the prelude to an effective Informa-tion and Communications Technology (ICT) strategy for Guyana.

The ICT workshop saw the main conference hall of the Guyana International Conven-tion Centre at Liliendaal filled to capacity. The high cost of bandwidth in Guyana, unreliable IT services and affordable electricity, and lack of IT infrastructure were some of the challenges raised among five groups brainstorming themes for the ICT strategy for Guyana.

The themes considered were human capacity, content and applications, infrastructure, legislative regulatory regime and management of the ICT sector and ICT enterprise development.

Among those present at the workshop were President Bharrat Jagdeo who stayed until the end; Prime Minister Samuel Hinds who was also at the end to hear the groups' presentations; Chairman of the Public Utilities Commis-sion (PUC), Prem Persaud; United States Ambassador to Guyana Roland Bullen; Public Service Minister Jennifer Westford; Minister of Labour, Dale Bisnauth; Minister of Health, Leslie Ramsammy; Minister of Foreign Trade, Clement Rohee; Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Manzoor Nadir, and Policy Coordinator of Guyana's Poverty Reduction Strategy Programme (PRSP), Coby Frimpong.

Vijay Datodin, who facilitated the group addressing content and applications, told those present that the content for the ICT strategy should be community driven and that content generation should be acted upon now and not wait on the ideal of universal access.

United Nations Develop-ment Programme (UNDP) consultant, Gonzalo Armayo, his presentation, highlighted the importance of information and not too much attachment to the instruments delivering it. "Information is the basic aspect we should consider."

The group addressing infrastructure said the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GT&T) monopoly on communications in Guyana was "the single largest hindrance" to an effective ICT strategy. It incurred high cost and provided limited capacity. "The monopoly should be address-ed by government now," Brian Young, facilitator of the infrastructure group said.

He said that GT&T's bandwidth price was some 22 times the average world market price. Young said the group felt the PUC should regulate bandwidth price just as it regulated cell phone rates.

The group also highlighted the need for clean (stable) and affordable power. It proposed duty-free ICT equipment like Uninterrupted Power Suppliers commonly called UPS.

For an effective national ICT strategy, the infrastructure group suggested a national networking of local agencies, businesses and institutions with GT&T always there as a player under the present circumstances. Sharing of infrastructure was another strategy suggested where if a company had a service in Lethem for example, another company could share the infrastructure if it needed to use it.

The group also proposed ICT parks where the necessary infrastructure including clean power, internet connectivity, and redundancy (back-up communication provision) would be in place, only for companies like banks for example which had IT systems in every location to plug in and use.

Armayo defined IT as, "just tools" that could be used for a varied set of goods, applications, and to distribute and exchange information.

Pointing out the importance of these tools, Armayo said they could be used to destroy gaps between societies giving the opportunity for quick development.

Providing the framework for the pursuing of an ICT strategy, he said it is a the basic human right for persons to have access to information such as the constitution of Guyana, the resolution of the UN World Summit on Information Society, and the National Development Strategy, Armayo said.

He said ICT helps in managing, processing, and providing basic services like education and health. It also improves the capacity to monitor and report progress.

The group brainstorming human capacity looked at an affective scheme to retain skilled persons. Facilitator Grace McCalmon noted that many University of Guyana students who graduated in computer science were looking to further their studies and indicated that higher training could be provided here.

While Guyana might not be fully ready for an ICT industry, the strategy must lead to that, McCalmon said and the private sector has a role to play here.

In developing human capacity the group proposed the development of information packages like CDs or multi media (audio/video) tailored to meet the needs. The group also proposed local scholarships bringing ICT professionals here.

For effective management of human capacity, McCalmon pointed to the need for key performance indicators like all-ICT enabled schools, teachers trained in ICT delivery and ultimately computer literate persons in every region in Guyana. "We have a situation," McCalmon said, "where teachers are outdone by students."

Teni Housty presented the proposals of the legislative group. He said any legislative regime must provide an enabling environment and not necessarily one that may work in a developed country, but not relevant to Guyana.

Any legislative framework must not be static. It must take a holistic approach taking into account that ICT cuts across various other sectors. It must also harmonise and be related to other Caricom countries. "We do not operate in a vacuum," Housty said.

Housty said any legislative regime should not be tied to any particular technology. "It must be technologically neutral. So that if the method changed..."

Recognition of electronic documents, ISP liability, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) involving things like domain names (names of internet sites), cyber crime, and privacy and protection of data would be some of the issues surrounding a regulatory structure.

He said legislation should also provide scope for self regulation, where all stakeholders took responsibility for the sector.

The group also proposed setting up a national ICT authority with a mandate for coordinating, managing and developing the sector. This authority would need to be multi-ministerial and multi-disciplinary and have autonomy.

The group addressing enterprise development said there were opportunities for development of the ICT sector in Guyana regarding overseas companies outsourcing their work here. These include a foreseen shortage of IT labour in India, the major outsourcing market, by some 500,000 by 2010.

Guyana's strengths in this area include the fact that is an English-speaking country, low wages, the time zone being mostly same as that of the west, a compatible culture, and it being a hurricane- and earthquake-free zone unlike some other Caribbean countries.

Some weaknesses cited by the group included flooding, "unstable crime and personal safety situation" and "a barely-functioning judicial system."

Noting the potential of the ICT sector for outsourcing, private businessman, Rajendra Persaud told the gathering that it could employ some 10,000 Guyanese generating some US$100M making it second only to the sugar industry. Outsourcing is a US$141B global market.

Persaud's call centre in Berbice employs 170 and has the capability for 265 persons. In India, Persaud said, outsourcing grew at 25% annually and contributed 4.1% of the country's GDP.

Results will be put on a public forum where participants could continue to contribute.

Coordinator of the ICT strategy and Information Liaison to Jagdeo, Robert Persaud, told this newspaper that a draft will soon be made with a subsequent launching of the strategy.

The challenge Jagdeo said was for the participants to craft a technically sound ICT strategy which was also user friendly. "All Guyanese must be able to pick up the strategy and see themselves in that strategy."

At 20, Janel Chase should have been looking forward to how her life would unfold. Instead, she is a depressed mother of two whose reputed husband recently walked out on her leaving her with no means of supporting herself and children.

Some days it is a struggle to find a few spoons of sugar to make tea for her two- and one-year-old children.

She lives with her 81-year-old grandmother and according to her they help to take care of each other and the children. Their home is located in Cemetery Road, Mocha, East Bank Demerara, and although it is in "good condition" it does not have any electricity or running water.

And apart from the difficulty of surviving and providing for her two toddlers, the young mother is also epileptic. She was forced to leave school early because of the condition.

She said she sometimes knows when to expect an attack but at other times it happens suddenly, like one she experienced a little less than two years ago.

She said she was returning from the shop after making a purchase for her grandmother when suddenly she blacked out. She later learnt she fell flat on her face on the road and had to be taken home by public-spirited citizens. When she came to, Chase was in her bed and two of her front teeth were missing, knocked out when she fell on the road.

Even though her boyfriend, who was living with her at the time, stuck around after this incident and she bore him another child, Chase feels that her missing front teeth caused him to leave.

"I think is because me ent get no front teeth and he must be see some other girl more flashy than me and gone with she," the young woman said.

She told Stabroek News that he walked out earlier this year. She said he made a living by weeding for people during the day, while at night he operated a karaoke machine at a popular business spot in Mocha. But many days he gave her just $300. One day, she said, she told him that the money could do nothing for the children. "He just turn and say, Janel me ent able with this. This relationship between me and you over. He ask me for his clothes and I give he it and he gone," she said.

"I don't know, honestly I don't know where that boy is."

Chase said she attempted several times to make contact with her daughter's father's relatives to get assistance for little Marian and Mario but they were not willing to help and on a few occasions she has had the phone hung up on her.

Chase is very conscious about her missing teeth, which are only noticeable when she speaks. She is small in stature and underweight, but the young woman said she really cannot take care of herself. She said many days when there is not enough food for the entire family she leaves herself without to ensure that her children and grandmother eat because of their ages. And this is not healthy, because, according to the young woman, whenever she is not eating properly she is more likely to have an epileptic fit.

Chase grew up with her grandmother. Her father lives overseas but she does not know him, while her mother is married and living in the same village. Chase said since she grew up with her grandmother she is not close to her mother. According to Chase, she left school in form four on the advice of the headmistress because of her condition.

At her grandmother's age there is not much she can do, but Chase said the woman still has a small kitchen garden which she maintains.

"She would go and sit down and weed and plant and when dem things get ripe deh does come in handy fo we. I don't really know how really we surviving," the young mother said.

Chase's story is not unique as there are many women her age who are in the same position or even worse but her existence is indeed sad. She survives through the benevolence of those living around her. She does not mind that her reputed husband has left, but wishes he would contribute to the children's upkeep. "Is better he go if he want another woman, I don't want he to be with me and other woman because with all dem things out there, I don't want to dead and leave me children," she said.

Chase would not openly beg for assistance, but would welcome anything offered to her. Because of her condition and lack of education it is difficult for her to find any employment and even if she does she has the added problem of finding someone to take care of the children since they are sometimes too much.

She sees the road ahead as long and difficult.

Discussions began yesterday on the draft of a revised election plan but by the end of it the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) was no closer to definite word on if it could meet the August 4 deadline while the contesting parties remained at odds over the possible implications.

Scores of protesters carrying placards descended on GECOM's Kingston Headquarters yesterday afternoon, while inside, members of the commission met to discuss the draft, which puts Election Day more than a month behind the constitutional deadline. Opposition Leader Robert Corbin yesterday wrote to President Bharrat Jagdeo warning that the country may be on the verge of a constitutional crisis.

Reliable sources informed last evening that the draft revision is to be the subject of a review today by technical officers from the GECOM Secretariat and a Joint International Technical Assessor (JITA) in order to correct a number of anomalies that feature in the document and to look at whether an accepted deadline can be had. Following today's technical review, a special commission meeting is planned for tomorrow to resume discussions on the revised plan and production of a Preliminary Voters' List (PVL). Already the commission has taken the decision to begin preparation of the list, involving, among other things, the removal of the names of dead registrants. But there is yet to be a resolution on the actual production of the list, which is another activity beset by GECOM's failure to reach a resolution on verification of the 2001 Official List of Electors (OLE). Picketers outside the commission yesterday were calling for verification.

So far, the ruling PPP has rejected verification and the suggestion of a post-August 4 election. Stabroek News also understands that the three PPP-nominated commissioners, Dr Keshav "Bud" Mangal, Mahmoud Shah and Moen McDoom, have officially written to GECOM to make it clear that they would not be inclined to any "manoeuvres" that would delay elections past the deadline.

At the same time, the joint opposition parties, PNCR, GAP-WPA and ROAR, continue to complain over the absence of a number of key items in the draft plan, including its failure to account for verification of the 2001 OLE. The plan also caters for Claims and Objections simultaneous with the EOJ electronic fingerprint analysis. The commission has still not made a final determination on these two items.

These discrepancies were among the reasons that prompted PNCR leader Corbin to write to President Jagdeo yesterday. He drew attention to the abandonment of critical plans without any reference to stakeholders, including the parliamentary opposition.

He added that the last correspondence from GECOM Chairman Dr Steve Surujbally, dated February 14, 2006, had stated categorically that GECOM had decided to pursue verification, although one aspect was still unresolved. He said no other information was available from GECOM since. As regards the PPP's position on verification, Corbin said it was worrying, particularly in view of what he described as the "understandings arrived at in good faith" before the passage of Continuous Registration Bill last year. According to him, discussions between the PPP, the PNCR and GECOM resulted in the amendment to the Bill that allowed GECOM to undertake a verification of the 2001 OLE. (The PPP has, however, pointed out that this is a discretionary proviso and as a result GECOM is not bound by law to do verification.) Corbin said the breach of good faith amounted to a breach of the MOU signed between GECOM, the government and the donor community, which emphasised stakeholder confidence as essential to transparent elections. He said careful evaluation of all that has transpired would suggest a serious misrepresentation on the part of the GECOM chairman to the parliamentary opposition parties, "a situation that cannot be countenanced in our responsibility to create a secure and healthy environment for holding elections."

Meanwhile, Corbin also raised his concern over meetings that were held at the Office of the President on Monday between GECOM officials, members of the donor community and President Jagdeo. The meeting was convened as a result of concerns generated by the draft of the revised election plan.

However, Corbin claimed that reports out of the meeting were disturbing as they suggested that the President was, under no circumstances, prepared to accept elections past the constitutional deadline. This and other alleged statements made by the President led Corbin to warn about the exercise of undue influence on commissioners and staff. He said, "In these circumstances we hope that good sense will prevail and that the interest of the nation will supersede partisan political considerations."

Indeed, he added, there was no doubt that there is urgent need for GECOM to take all stakeholders into its confidence and discuss its difficulties. "These difficulties must be viewed in the context of many unresolved issues that attend several concerns of the parliamentary opposition parties which have so far stated their intention to contest the next elections," he said, while adding that the country may be on the verge of a constitutional crisis. "I can assure you that the parliamentary opposition parties stand ready to be involved in any meaningful discussions aimed at resolving all outstanding issues and directed to accomplishing this objective that all our people desire and that our donor partners have expressed..." He said.

Parliament is due to be prorogued in the first week of May, while the government's term in office ends after August 4. As a result, were GECOM to need an extension for the holding of the elections, it would have to so inform before the life of the Parliament ends as there is no precedent for recalling the house after it has been dissolved. An extension, however, would involve having a two-thirds House majority. The opposition, so far, is on record as supporting a brief extension though it is likely that the conduct of a verification of the OLE would be a term of any such agreement as well as a number of other conditions.

Guyanese singing legend Sol Raye is back in the Royal Marsden Hospital in London and the prognosis for him does not appear to be good.

He was rushed back in nine days ago, two weeks after being released from his previous stay. He had returned home to West London and had even played a concert in Derby in the British Midlands. His manager said that may have been a mistake. Sol Raye has been fighting prostrate cancer for several years, and it has since spread to his stomach. He had to have a major operation last year.

Raye, a Guyanese icon, sings beautifully and has entertained audiences on both sides of the Atlantic for nearly four decades. He not only looks like Nat 'King' Cole, he also sings like him. Sol Raye (Real name Deryck Marshall Corbin) is the eldest brother of PNC Leader Robert Corbin and emigrated to the UK four decades ago.

He is a respected figure in the UK Diaspora making regular appearances at shows like the flood relief concert in February 2005. This February he was hospitialised and unable to either perform or to collect his well deserved Guyana High Commission (UK) Award.

His new album, called 'Sol Raye Restrospective' is due to be released later this year on his own record label, Target. (John Mair)

A group of armed men opened fire twice on policemen during an operation in Buxton yesterday morning and at the end of the confrontation one gunman was killed, a law enforcer injured and police recovered a M15 rifle, ammo, a bow and six arrows and medical supplies.

The dead gunman has been identified as Ryan Beckles also known as Ryan Harris, of Vigilance Squatting Area, East Coast Demerara. He was identified by his mother, Jocelyn Beckles, after lunch yesterday at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) mortuary.

A police release also identified the man as 'Reverend' and said he was wanted for questioning in connection with a number of reports of murder and robbery under arms.

According to the police release, at around 5:20 am at Punt Dam, ranks came under heavy and sustained gunfire from a group of armed men using tracer rounds to which the police returned fire as they continued their advance.

It was during this exchange of gunfire, the police said, Beckles was found dead. "He was dressed in all over black, giving a police-like appearance, and had one M15 rifle strapped to his back along with a black pouch which contained 331 rounds of matching 5.56mm ammunition and 16 rounds 7.62 x 39 calibre ammunition," the release said.

The release further said that after the armed confrontation, a large group of women from Friendship and Vigilance Squatting area came out and began to behave in a hostile and antagonistic manner towards the police. They also shouted in their attempts to alert the gunmen to the police presence and also pointed out where the ranks were located. The gunmen then opened fire again on the ranks resulting in a police corporal being shot in his left hip. The police returned fire and it is believed that another of the gunmen was shot as indications supporting this were seen.

The injured policeman was admitted to a private hospital and is in a stable condition.

According to the release during the operation the police searched a total of twenty-five houses. It said that the ranks also found a quantity of medical supplies that included antibiotics, bandages, gauze, dressings and foot powder as well as six arrows, one bow, four spears, one green flak jacket, one pair of camouflage pants, one green army type bag, one camouflage hammock, one sheet and one camouflage jersey.

The Guyana Police Force also issued a warning to all armed groups. "The Guyana Police Force is calling on all armed groups to surrender their arms and drugs as the police will relentlessly seek them out in its quest to maintain law and order".

When Stabroek News visited the area hours after the shooting, villagers were mum on the incident while the area was unusually quiet.

Beckles's mother told Stabroek News that the last time she saw him was three weeks ago since he had moved out from the home.

He is the second of five children and his mother said early yesterday morning she heard gunshots and her youngest son informed her that police were in the area. She said she did not pay the law enforcement officers any attention but instead prepared herself, children and grandchildren for church. On her way to church she said she was told that her son might have been killed but continued on her way to the Lord's house where she was again told that her son might have been shot. It was only after Stabroek News visited the woman's home that she decided to verify if it was indeed her son who was killed.

She said she was not told much about her son's death only that he was standing on a bridge when he was hit. She said from what she saw when she viewed the body her son was shot behind the head. The woman would not say much about her son's life only to say he was not living her way and she lamented that she didn't know how she was going to bury him since she is very poor.

Stabroek News understands that Beckles was found in a trench with his hand sticking out. Reports indicated that after the police came under fire from the gunmen they cordoned off the area and the gunmen started to flee. Beckles reportedly in his attempt to escape took the wrong direction and was shot.

The appearance of the armed group reinforces recent reports that gunmen had been seen in Buxton in recent weeks and during the funeral of talkshow host Ronald Waddell. The finding of black police-like clothing may also be important as recent attacks such as the one at Agricola/Eccles in which eight people died featured gunmen in black clothing. The police have said that some of the shells retrieved in Agricola/Eccles matched those from guns used by Buxton-based gunmen. They had also said that tracer rounds were used in the Agricola attack as in yesterday's.