By Leonard GildarieI saw a movie a few years back with African-American comedian Chris Rock. Chris wrote the script of “Head of State” and directed the movie which was released in 2003. In it he was pitted against a white American candidate, running for the Presidency. The movie was hilarious,Cheap Jerseys China, speaking of some real social problems facing that North American country.During the memorable presidential debate, Rock who hailed from a simple neighbourhood is heard asking his rich rival about being poor. Rock said that it was impossible to talk about being poor when you have never been poor. I thought that movie was the actor’s most memorable one yet.Six years after that movie was released, Barack Obama became the first black President of the United States. He has been there for six years. At one time, it was difficult to envisage the US boasting of a black president. Now we are talking about Hillary Clinton, a woman, having a real chance.That question from Rock,Cheap NBA Jerseys China, although asked in a movie, has stayed with me over the years.It is difficult to conceptualise poverty without experiencing it.I grew up in a home where although not much was available, we had smiles on our faces and kept our surroundings in immaculate condition. We had no relatives overseas to send us barrels. We had a mortgage on the home. I was attending Queen’s College and my brother, St Rose’s High.People in the ‘80s literally lived from paycheck to paycheck. I recalled walking many days from QC to the car park near the Fire Service at Stabroek. There was not enough money for travel. I am not ashamed to say it.After school,Cheap Jerseys From China, I went straight into work. The family needed it.I can recall too vividly barely having enough clothes. So when it comes to be poor, I can relate to what Rock was asking. You can’t talk about situations and become an expert when you have never experienced it.As I look back to those tough days, I try to tell my little ones how much I detest wastage. I hate to see food thrown away. I teach them about appreciating what you have, especially if it came honestly and through hard work.I hate even more the squandering of opportunities. You have one life to live…give it your best shot. Don’t be an 8 to 4 worker. Push the boundaries.Today, Guyana has a new administration. It is weeks old. There is much debate about a $10,000 cash programme to parents that was introduced by the previous Government.The David Granger administration is insisting it wants to assess the programme, which was given out as a one-time thing last year, to determine how effective it was.Let me make it clear. The vast number of Guyanese will tell the administration that the cash is needed. Who would not take the money? But I also hear accounts of parents taking the money and not spending it on school supplies and other related activities. I can’t obviously say if this is true.Can Guyana afford it? The answer is known by the new Government.What I do know is that Guyana has poverty. You have to visit homes in depressed rural and urban areas and in many hinterland locations to witness people making do with precious little.You have talk to the children who lost a parent and the only one working is barely putting food on the table.We scoff when we hear stories about a single mom making seven children, five of them for different fathers. I ask, what makes us experts to judge? Do we know what kind of pressure would have been on that woman?I have seen kids, as young as seven, who are left fending for themselves for days. They depend on neighbours for assistance or a nearby mango tree.There will be arguments that poverty is all over the world.My colleague at Kaieteur News, Dale Andrews, was telling me recently of visiting a school where his kids are attending and after giving them some money, he saw a little girl who was sitting alone. He asked her why she was not playing. She was waiting on her dad to bring lunch. She was late for school and had no time to eat in the morning. Dale said tears came to his eyes.I have seen photographs taken by my friend, Annette Arjoon-Martins, of Amerindian children paddling daily for miles to get to school. Some of them would be without shoes.Teachers,Cheap Jerseys Store, policemen and security guards in particular are badly underpaid. Yet we wonder why the education system and our English results are the way they are or why crime is the way it is.My wife tells me she is bombarded by students, mostly little ones, who ask her to buy a hot-dog or a cassava ball. Their little eyes look up to you expectantly. It is hard to refuse them. I know for a fact that many students depend on the cookies and milk and juice that are distributed in the nursery schools. They literall

– $1.2M as compensation awarded By Latoya Giles Justice Roxanne George-Wiltshire yesterday sentenced Shawn Sooklall to 15 years’ imprisonment for the gruesome murder of his paramour Tricia Welch, moments after the accused offered a $1.2M compensation to the dead woman’s 11-year-old daughter,NFL Jerseys Wholesale, Jada Welch.Sooklall,Wholesale Jerseys, who had pleaded not guilty to the murder of his 39-year old lover,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, Tricia Welch, in 2006,Wholesale NFL Jerseys China, dramatically changed his plea to guilty of the lesser count manslaughter last month before Justice George-Wiltshire.State Prosecutors Konyo Sandiford and Judith Gildharie-Mursalin presented the case, while Sooklall was presented by defense counsel, Mursalene Bacchus.The Defense Counsel in his address to the court yesterday sought to explain that sections 11 to 13 of the Criminal Law Offenses Act provides for compensation.Bacchus said that the accused was offering a sum of $1.2M to go to the benefit of Welch’s daughter, Jada.The lawyer made it clear that he did not want the act to be seen as “cheque book justice” since the law provides for it.Afterwards, the accused, Shawn Sooklall, made a request to address the court and this was granted by the judge.“Your honour, I’m sorry for what happened….I regret the day until now and I’m asking this court to have mercy on me.”At this point the judge asked Rita Narine, the child’s legal guardian whether she had anything to say, but the woman declined saying she has nothing to do with it.Now it was time for Justice George-Wiltshire to address the court and she proceeded to make a 45-minute address.Justice George-Wiltshire explained that she had to trace the facts of the case,NFL Jerseys China, and look at the evidence which was given by the 11 year old.According to the judge the young child’s evidence was supported by other persons who were called to the witness stand.Several cases were studied when she was considering a possible sentence for Sooklall. She said that the case can be added to the list of growing cases of domestic violence and intimate partner violence.According to the judge a strong message must be sent to the perpetrators that commit violence against women.She further noted that it cannot be accepted and will not be tolerated. She added that his behaviour would not be condoned.The judge said that one must first consider whether it was manslaughter and warranted a custodial sentence.The judge said that a strong starting point is required to reflect public sentiments a strong denunciation that such violence against women are on the increase.A starting point of 25 years was decided upon. The judge went to on to reflect on the post mortem report which stated that Welch had 15 wounds to her body.Eight of the wounds were penetrative and her throat was slashed twice.Justice George-Wiltshire further stated that looking at the conduct of the accused, the mother was killed in the presence of the child.The horrific manner in which Welch was killed would have caused grief and the post offence behaviour demonstrated a callousness on his behalf, since he joined a taxi and left the home as if nothing happened.The judge described the conduct as a critical factor for Sooklall’s sentencing. To add insult to injury the judge described Sooklall’s probation report as unfavourable.The report, according to the judge, stated that Sooklall showed no remorse for his actions, and he even tried to exonerate himself for the killing.Justice George-Wiltshire said that even though his lawyer claimed that Welch had found someone else, one has choices but Sooklall choose to inflict wounds instead of walking away.She further said that given the fact that the starting point was 25 years, she would look at others that could influence a reduction in the sentence.First the judge considered the guilty plea that Sooklall entered. To this she took off two years.Secondly the judge looked at the mitigating factors. This, according to Justice George-Wiltshire, was the reason she suggested compensation to benefit the child, since the probation report was not Sooklall’s defence.The judge did not specify the amount that was awarded to the child. She sought to make it clear that no amount of money can assuage the pain of losing a mother.Further the judge said she had accepted the evidence that was given by Jada Welch that Sooklall was kind to her and her mother.More so, his unblemished record and the fact that he would assist his elderly father on their cattle farm were also taken into consideration.To these factors three years were taken off from the 23, leaving the sentencing at 20 years.Another five years was taken off afte

Government has named a banker as the new Chairman of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), a state entity that regulates the mining sector.According to a release from the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA),Eton Chester, currently a member of the Board of Directors of the GGMC and the Managing Director of Citizens Bank,Wholesale Cheap Jerseys, has been identified to serve as Chairman,Discount NFL Jerseys, following the resignation of Joe Singh, last Saturday.New GGMC Chairman, Eton ChesterThe announcement was made by Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Robert Persaud, in a letter to the GGDMA and key stakeholders.Chester will be replacing Major General (ret.) Joe Singh who over the weekend resigned with immediate effect after GGDMA threatened to boycott Mining Week activities which started Sunday.Hours before Sunday’s commencement of Mining Week, Singh tendered his resignation.The move came amidst increasing pressure by GGDMA, a powerful advocacy group,Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale, which warned that it will not participate in any of the mining activities if Singh remained at the helm of GGMC.GGDMA had recently passed a no confidence vote against Singh,Jerseys Wholesale, a former army chief and environmentalist. Singh is also Chief Executive Officer (ag.) of the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company.In a letter of resignation sent to Minister Persaud, which was released by the former Chairman to the press, Singh emphasised that he did not want to be the reason why GGDMA would not participate in Mining Week activities.“I had not been informed that such a vote had taken place and now that I am aware of this, I would not wish to be the excuse for the Association’s non–participation in the Mining Week 2012 activities,NFL Jerseys China Online, and also an inhibiting factor in the much needed collaboration between the Association and the Commission and with your Ministry.“As a professional who has strived to serve the interests of Guyana and all of its citizens to my utmost ability for over the past forty-eight years of my working life, it is not difficult for me to make this decision to resign from the Membership of the Board of the GGMC and as Chairman,Cheap Jerseys, I respectfully do so with immediate effect.”

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