Tel: 416-289-3898 ictimes@rogers.comVol 2. No 4 April 2008

Indo-Caribbean

T IME ST IME SAs food prices jump across the board

Food looters shock Trinidad

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Rising food prices and shortages of basic food products inTrinidad have caused rationing of items like flour, and the

new crime of foodnapping or food robberies by armed gangs.Three robberies of food trucks has caused the National Flour

Mills to request police protection for food transport vehicles. Lastweek Tuesday a gunman and two accomplices in a car inter-cepted a food delivery truck heading to Glencoe, assaulted thedriver and delivery man before looting the food. Reports are that14 cases of foodstuff-including mayonnaise, peas, ketchup,mauby and peanut butter-were taken at gunpoint, along with aten-kilogramme sack of flour that belonged to one of the men.The bandits took the foodstuff, valued at $977, while threaten-

ing to find and kill the men if they reported the matter to the po-lice. Two other food robberies happened in Port of Spain the week

before. Bandits took things into their own hands, attacking andlooting two vehicles transporting flour, milk and juice along theBeetham Highway.Van driver Ian Hitlal was stuck in five o’clock rush hour traf-

fic on the Beetham Highway with a load of flour when he wasambushed by a large group of men. Hitlal was beaten and

dragged out of the vehicle, and the looters made off with most ofthe 185 bags of flour on the van. The bandits were not concernedwith the fact that hundreds of witnesses were sitting in vehicles inthe traffic jam along the highway.Police were called out and they arrested several of the looters

and recovered some of the food. But they had to go right outagain soon afterwards, as another vehicle on the Beetham High-way was looted of its load of milk and orange juice.The incidents have highlighted the country’s food crisis, with

prices for flour based foods like roti and doubles rising sharplyin recent weeks. The popular doubles are now selling at $4, andthere are reports that the humble pholourie are selling at two for$1, and roti going for as much as $15. Like most Caribbean countries, Trinidad has felt the relentless

pinch of rising food prices during the last few months, at the sametime as local food production continues to languish. Trinidad im-ports much of its food, including flour, oil, soyabeans, animalfeed, milk products, and even vegetables and root crops.Grocery bills for a family of four can be as high as $2,000 TT

per month, making it difficult for lower income people to survive. More shortages and high prices are predicted for later this year.

Community activist Mani Singh is callingon Caribbean people in Canada to join the

New Democratic Party’s campaign to stopchanges in the immigration system proposedby the ruling federal Conservative party.

Speaking at a recent NDP fundraiser inBrampton attended by NDP leader Jack Lay-ton, Mani warned,”If this law passes we couldsee drastic changes with family reunions anytime the Immigration Minister feels like it. Shecould decide to focus on immigrants with ahigh level of education and skills at the ex-pense of family reunion with our siblings, chil-dren, or parents and grandparents. Where is thehuman side to policies like this?”

Mani, a former NDP candidate in Bramp-ton during the last federal election, receivedstrong support from Jack Layton, who warnedthe new law would give the Immigration Min-ister arbitrary power, and not discretionarypower. “Many people came to Canada to get away

from arbitrary power. The Minister could saywe are not going to take any more family re-unification. This bill is against the family, andwe are going to fight these changes in the Par-liament. We need fair and just immigrationlaws for all our communities,” said Layton.MP Olivia Chow is leading a nationwide

mobilisation plan to fight the new changes.

Mani Singh urges fight vs plannedimmigration rules

On air caller threatened to kill Guyana’s president

Jadgeo shuts down TV stationGuyana’s President Bharrat Jagdeo has ordered CNS Channel

Six off the air for four months over an on-air licence in-fringement in which a woman being interviewed threatened tokill the president.The unfiltered telephone call on February came four days afterthe Bartica massacre, and three weeks after the Lusignan slaugh-ter, when fear and tensions were running high. . , fear gripped allparts of the country and members of the public were no doubtgiven to extravagant postulates and declarations. The offendingcaller, an elderly woman, said in part “…look at these killingsand nobody can’t give account about these people’s lives andJagdeo going to take a high risk job by going and tell people tocalm down; he’s going to bury the dead bodies. If anything isgoing to happen to my family. I am going to kill Jagdeo”.The segment was rebroadcast three times on CNS Channel

Six. In a letter addressed to C.N. Sharma, Jagdeo said he foundSharma’s explanations unsatisfactory as to why the offendingbroadcasts was played four times on CNS Channel 6, even afterSharma recognised that the content of the programme infringed

the conditions of his licence.Jagdeo is the sole authority vested with power to decide whether

a licensee has breached the terms and conditions of their licence,and he has the power to suspend or cancel the Licence. “Underno circumstances can the Minister allow a Licensee to use the air-waves, without sanction, to advocate the killing of any citizen,moreso a Head of State and Government”, the release added.CNS has been taken off the air before for several weeks when

the station superimposed of an image of President Jagdeo danc-ing on scenes of the immense flooding from 2005. Sharma said the move to close him down was, “a sad one that

will hurt the 35 people working here” and decalred that the cam-paign against him had deepened. He and his affected staff willtake to the streets in protest and will continue “until the Presidentrealizes his mistake.”“They want me to run, pack up and go away but it ain’t happen-ing today or tomorrow. I will fight this and the people of Guyanawill fight this,”, he said.. Several media and political groups havecondemned the closure of the television station..

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South Asians nowbiggest visible minority

By Roop Misir, PhD

Data from the recent census suggest thatimmigrants are coming to Canada in

record numbers. An article in the Globe andMail indicates that the number of visibleminorities has reached five million. Thisrepresents 16.2 per cent of Canada’s totalpopulation (data released April 02 2008).Now for the first time ever, South Asiansform Canada's largest visible minoritygroup, surpassing citizens of Chinese ori-gin. Included among South Asians are Indo-Caribbean peoples.“Visible minority” is the term to describe

persons who are not of the majority race ina given population. In March 2007, the UNCommittee on the Elimination of RacialDiscrimination described this term as racist,since it singles out a specific group. Despitethis, Canadians have grown accustomed toits use. To us, “visible minorities” refers to“persons (other than Aboriginals) who arenon-Caucasian in race or non-white incolor”. Statistics Canada uses it as a demo-graphic category to reflect our country'smulticulturalism. Visible minorities are des-ignated as a protected group under theCanadian Employment Equity Act. In Canada, the term “South Asian” refers

to any person whose ethnicity is associatedwith the southern part of Asia, or one whoself-identifies with the South Asian visibleminority group. This definition encom-passes people from a great diversity of eth-nic backgrounds-Afghanistan, Bangladeshi,Bengali, Goan, Gujarati, Hindu, Ismaili,Kashmiri, Nepali, Pakistani, Punjabi, Sikh,Sinhalese, Sri Lankan and Tamil ancestry.South Asians may have been born inCanada, on the Indian sub-continent, aswell as in Africa, Great Britain, theCaribbean (Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago), orelsewhere. The growth in the visible minority popu-

lation was driven largely by immigration(as opposed to natural birth). Between 2001and 2006, it soared 26.2 per cent, five timesfaster than the 5.4 per cent increase for thepopulation as a whole. South Asians arenow Canada's largest visible minority.lionpeople—a 38% increase. The next largestvisible minority group comprises Canadi-ans who self-identified as Chinese in-creased 18.2% to 1.2 million.Indo-Guyanese arrivals showed a 4.2%,and Trinidad & Tobago (2.5%).Over the past 25 years Canada's visible

minority population has grown steadily. In1981, the estimated 1.1 million represented4.7 per cent of Canada's total population.Today, this figure stands at five million. Ifcurrent immigration trends continue, visi-ble minorities will account for about one-fifth of Canada's population by 2017.

(CONTINUED ON PAGED 20)

What’s the drop out rate for Indo-Caribbeanstudents?Toronto school board trustee John Matlowdoesn’t have school dropout figures forIndo-Caribbean students, but his stats forsome other immigrant groups should giveus thought.Josh wants to improve the performance

of six groups who are failing in school at analarming rate. The Portuguese speaking stu-dents have a drop out rate of 42.5%, Span-ish speaking students follow closely at39.1%, Somali students at 36.7%, Persianstudents at 30.7%, Arabic speaking studentsat 27.8% and Vietnamese students at24.6%. The Toronto District School Board says

40 per cent of Caribbean-born students dropout, and 32 per cent from East Africa. Fig-ures are not kept for Indo-Caribbeans

Young Muslims debate media andyouth violenceDaniya Muhammadi took home the firstprize in the primary category and RehanKhan topped the secondary school categorywhen the North American Muslim Federa-tion (NAMF) held their the seventh annualNAMF speech competition and Fundrais-ing dinner last week.The topic this year was: 'Is the media the

primary cause of youth violence in Cana-dian society?', and nine enthusiastic speak-ers were in the finals vying for the three topprizes: laptops, Psps and Mp3 players. Thejudges described the competition as “tight”,with each participant doing their very bestto win one of the popular prizes. The pres-entation showed individuality, sincerity,careful research, and distinct points of view. The caliber of presentations was excellent

and every speaker deserved to win. Thejudges were Mr. Nadeem Memon, a PhDcandidate at OISIE/UFT, who teaches atCentennial College; Mr. Omar Zia, whoholds a Masters in Education and teaches inthe Peel District School System and Mr.Mark Persaud a lawyer and communityleader. In attendance was the honorable Minis-

ter of Labor of Ontario, Mr. Brad Duguid.He applauded the efforts of the ‘nervouslyseated’ students and emphasized the valueof competitive challenges, like this one, asit marks a bright future for Canadians, anissue he is dearly committed to.

Petition seeks help for Guyaneserefugee claimants in Canada

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MP Gurbax Malhi (with turban) receives the 500 plus signature petition seeking helpfor Guyanese refugee claimants from Mrs Kawale Ojah (left), Surendra Singh andAhmad Khan. Malhi will be presenting the petition to the Canadian Parliament .

U.S. admiral saysCaribbean posesterror threat A top American military officer is warningthat the Caribbean poses a possible terroristthreat to the United States . Admiral JamesStavridis, head of the U.S. Southern Com-mand, says the region has the potential tohost terrorist bases.Stavridis noted that conditions in the re-

gion present fertile ground to breed insur-gency."The conditions in parts of the region -

easily skirted borders, black marketeconomies, corruption, poverty, establishedillicit trafficking routes - all could providemanoeuvring room for any form of terror-ism to exploit, to include Islamic radicalgroups," he said.The admiral made reference to the al-

leged involvement of a Trinidadian andthree Guyanese nationals in an alleged plotto bomb the gas lines leading to John F.Kennedy International Airport in NewYork. He said, "the leading suspects' roots in

the Caribbean raise the specter of Islamicterrorist activity gaining traction.""We believe members, facilitators, and

sympathizers of Islamic terrorist organiza-tions are indeed present in our hemisphere,"Admiral Stavridis added. CIA reports have named the Jamat al-

Muslimeen of Trinidad and Tobago and itsleader, Imam Yaseen Abu-Bakr, as possiblesuspects in plotting insurgency directedagainst the United States and U.S. interests.

The Muslimeen staged an attemptedarmed coup in Trinidad in 1990, with theintention of setting up an Islamic state in thetwin island republic.

A petition asking for humanitarian con-sideration for failed Guyaneserefugee claimants is steadily picking upsupport in the GTA. Last week representatives of the petition

group presented over 500 signatures toBrampton MP Gurbax Malhi for submis-sion to the Canadian Parliament. More signatures are being added to the

petition, which says that in view of the mas-sacres in Guyana and the weak securityconditions, the Canadian governmentshould review all cases of unsuccessfulGuyanese refugee claimants, stop all re-movals to Guyana and allow the applicantsto remain on humanitarian and compas-sionate grounds.

At present refugee claimants are sent-back to Guyana, which the group feels isputting them back in a country where theirsafety is not guaranteed.Parliament requires signatures on paper

with full addresses, and those who wish tosupport the petition should call 905-671-9233. The petition can be located atwww.ipetitions.com/petition/guyanese-needhelp.

Meanshile another petition seeking tohave the United Nations create a Commis-sion to assist in revamping the justice andsecurity system in Guyana has picked up o836 signatures. A message fron Message from the peti-

tion author Sharir Chan and other con-cerned Guyanese thanks the signers andsaidthe petition was submitted to the Officeof the President on around March 15th,2008.

IInnddoo--CCaarriibbbbeeaann TTiimmeess ispublished monthly in Toronto by Indo-Caribbean Times Ltd.

EEddiittoorr//PPuubblliisshheerr:: Ram Jagessar

EEddiittoorriiaall CCoommmmiitttteeee::Reynold Ramdial, Gulcharan Mo-habir, Lloyd Harradan, SandyKissoonsingh, Roop Misir, DeorajNarine, Jiantee Jagessar,KrishnaNankissoor, Rudy Lochan

OOfffificcee: 17 Gaiety Drive, Toronto ON Canada M1H 1B9

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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 in Canada andabroad, and also those at home inthe Caribbean. All content mustcomply with the requirements ofCanadian law.

A copy of this newspaper isposted on the internet in as a pdffile immediately after publication,and the entire contents can beread online by anyone with acomputer and an internet con-nection.Past and current issues of the IC-Times can be found at http://www.esnips.com/web/Indo-CaribbeanTimes

Readers are also invited to look atthe website www.indocaribbeanheritage.comwhich contains abundant infor-mation on Indo-Caribbeans inCanada and our Caribbean her-itage and history.

COMMENTARY Indo-Caribbean Times APRIL 2008 Page 4From the editor’s desk

Marking the first century in Canada

Ram Jagessar

COMMENTARYRudy Lochan’s keynote speaker commentsat the One Love Guyana Benefit Day heldin Mississauga., Ontario on March 29.

Today’s event was triggered by the re-cent massacres in Guyana. These hor-

rific acts of terrorism shocked us all, but itmoved Leon and Patrick to do somethingabout it and hence this event here today.The goal of this event is to raise funds forthe relatives of the victims of the Lusignanand Bartica slaughter and bring awarenessto the situation in Guyana.Friends, the history of racial hatred and

animosity in Guyana goes back a long timewith its origin rooted in the politics and eco-nomics. Of course the British policy wasto divide and rule. Our turmoil of racial ha-tred really crystallized with the formationof the PPP in the late 40’s. Burnham andJagan were both founders of the party tocreate a common front against the British.

Burnham then broke away from the PPP tostart the PNC. That’s where the philoso-phy of “making the country ungovernable”was really conceived. Hoyte was only liv-ing out the dream of Burnham when heechoed this phrase in the 90s.I was a child living in Georgetown in

May of 1964 when the Wismar massacretook place. An entire village of 1600 peace-ful Indians was decimated at Wismar. Menwere slaughtered, women and girls wereraped in public view, babies and young chil-dren were ripped apart. It was two daysafter the slaughter that the British sent twoboats to evacuate the remainder of the in-habitants. They were dumped at the wharfin Georgetown like animals where theyslept on the bare concrete floors for daysuntil they found shelter. This barbarism ofracist genocide was engineered and exe-cuted by the PNC.The International Commission of Jurists

(ICJ) recommendations which the PNCgovernment agreed to implement is theracial balance of Guyanese armed forces.They also stated that this will prevent anyfurther "ethnic cleansing" of other commu-nities. This recommendation was never im-plemented by the PNC or by the PPP. The pains of Wismar still reverberates

until today in the lives of those who expe-rienced it, their relatives and friends andthose who have a sense of justice and com-passion. I was five years old and rememberthat the legendary singer Tilak moved nextdoor to us at 43 Station Street Kitty after hisWismar. He died after a few months. Wis-mar was not only an act of butchery and

Ayear like this onewill only comearound for Indo-

Caribbeans in Canada in theyear 3008. This year wemark the first century of thesettlement of Indo-Caribbeans in this country.

For the small number of the 200,000 oddIndo-Caribbeans who don’t know, let merepeat the old story.

.One hundred years ago, when ourCaribbean homelands were still colonies,when Indians were still being brought fromIndia as “bound coolies” to work on thesugar estates, one young man decided tocome to Canada.He was young Kenneth Mahabir from

San Fernando in Trinidad, a bright 19 yearold graduate of Naparima College lookingfor new horizons. His connections with thePresbyterian Church turned him on to Dal-housie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia,and in 1908 young Kenneth sailed over topursue a course to become a medical doc-tor. The day he came to Canada is really ourIndo-Caribbean Arrival Day.That was just 11 years after the first In-

dians from India visited Canada in 1897,and began the march of South Asians toCanada.

Kenneth completed his medical degreeand remained in Halifax for the rest of hislife. He even served in the army medicalcorps in World War 1 and saw action in Eu-rope. He even saved the life of an Arabsheik during the war. Back in Canada, heserved his patients and reared horses, a re-spectable occupation for a gentleman at thetime. He is the first Indo-Caribbean whomwe know of as an immigrant to this country,

and his life is well known.Less well known is the identity and life

of M.E Santoo, a native of Guyana (thenknown as Demerara) who by sheer coinci-dence also came as an immigrant to Canada in 1908. He passed through Halifax onhis way to Montreal as an immigrant. Wethink he may well have been an Indian orborn in Demerara as the child of an Indianimmigrant.Wouldn’t it be a marvellous accident of

fate if he were in fact an Indo-Caribbean,giving us Guyanese and Trinidadian co-pi-oneers in the same year?From such small beginnings have sprung

our now large and growing Indo-Caribbeancommunity in Canada. 1908 is by any countour birth date in this country, and like anybirthday well worth celebrating.

Few others came during the 59 yearsheading up to 1967, when the Liberal gov-ernment of the day opened up Canada’sdoors to immigrants from all over theworld. Before that people like us were de-liberately excluded from Canada or kept outby legislation and regulations.

Since the sixties of the last century, ournumbers have steadily grown by migrationand birth. Indo-Caribbeans have settled inall provinces, but the majority gravitated tothe Greater Toronto Area and Montreal. Thelargest number came from Guyana andTrinidad, but over the years small groupshave been coming from over 12 Caribbeancountries. They include Martinique andGuadeloupe, Suriname and even FrenchGuyana, Jamaica, Belize and a surprisingamount of second migrants from Britain,the United States, the Middle East andevery region you can think of. Not many ofthose who end in Canada ever return to theCaribbean or move on to other countries,

except for some fleeing the cold in Floridaand warm southern regions of the UnitedStates. For most of us, Canada is a finaldestination, just as it was for the jahajis forwell over a hundred years in the Caribbean.Today we have rough figures of 200,000

Indo-Caribbeans in Canada, with about125,000 with roots in Guyana, over 50,000with links to Trinidad, and smaller numbersfor at least 10 other Caribbean nations.

Generally it is true that we have donewell in this country. We have been a lawabiding, hard working people who havelargely maintained our culture and heritagewhile making serious contributions toCanada. We have much to be proud of, and little

to be ashamed of when we look at ourrecord in Canada.That is what we must mention when we

celebrate our first centenary in 1908. Justas the jahajis came to work in the Caribbeanbut stayed to build many nations, so havewe stayed to help build Canada. Most of uscame here voluntarily, at the invitation ofthe Canadian government. We can say withpride that we are Canadians, and with equalpride say that we are Indo-Caribbeans. OurIndian and Caribbean heritages can fit wellwith the Canadian heritage we are develop-ing here. Most of us know by now that ourinitial ideas of staying for a while in Canadaand returning to the Caribbean will not becarried through.So I ask our many Indo-Caribbean read-

ers to plan to do something to mark our cen-tenary this year, not just in May whenSouth Asian Heritage Month comes around.Each organization, each family, each indi-vidual should make it a point. It’s our re-sponsibility to have our birthday parties.Happy Centenary to all.

barbarism against Indians. It is a crimeagainst humanity and shame on the politi-cians for allowing it to go unpunished.Both the PNC and PPP and failed to bringthe criminals to justice.When the PNC negotiated Guyana’s In-

dependence Day in 1966, which day do youthink they proposed as Independence Day?Yes, that is right! May 26, the day of theWismar massacre. The PNC wanted to en-sure that every year that they celebrated In-dependence Indians must cringe and quiverin pain and shame at the memory of Wis-mar. How this date was accepted as inde-pendence day is beyond me. Anyone witha sense of civility should mark May 26 as anational day of shame and mourning. Thereis nothing for me or anyone of us to cele-brate on May 26.The race politics of the PNC has not

helped the Africans, the Indians or anyGuyanese. As a boy growing up in GuyanaI heard Burnham saying, “comrades, theAfricans work hard to mine the gold in theinterior. Who do you see wearing the gold?Who does the gold really belong to?” Hewas sending a clear message to the Africansthat it was OK to choke and rob Indians.

In April 2001, I went home with rela-tives for vacation. On driving back fromMahaica we were stopped and told to turnback because they were beating up Indiansin Buxton. We returned to Mahaica wherewe waited it out for two days before goingto Georgetown. Do you really think thatwas remembered as a vacation for us? Itwas a horror experience. I have not takenmy family back since.

The real big disappointment and mostfrightening is the reaction of the leadershipin Guyana. This includes the present Gov-ernment and the opposition. The govern-ment is like a deer frozen in its track by thelights for an oncoming truck unable to reactto the problem, just waiting to be run over.The government is mumbling and fumblingwith no real plan on how to manage this en-demic problem.The opposition on the other hand appears

to be the source of the terrorist activity. Itis no secret that Buxton is a nest for theseterrorist criminal elements. On the night ofthe Lusignan slaughter, it is said that oppo-sition leaders visited Buxton. It is beyondme why the opposition followers wouldwant to be led by a man who promotes andencourages terrorism and murder. Thereare indications that the terrorist criminalsare ex-army defectors with close links tothe opposition party. The Governmentknows this and sits there twiddling itsthumbs while innocent Indian babies,women and men are butchered in bed. It’sunable to protect its citizens and maintainlaw and order. I was talking to a PPPdiehard in on Toronto and his rationale oncrime in Guyana is that “boy, you know inJamaica, already 300 people get murderedso we not doing bad because crime is allover the place.” What a loser mentality!He is not comparing Guyana to the moreprogressive countries of the world but to theworst. With that kind of mentality progressis nowhere in sight.

(CONTINUED ON PAGE 18)

Disappointing reaction of gov’t, opposition in Guyana crisis

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO NEWS Indo-Caribbean Times APRIL 2008 Page 5

Trincity Mall is car thief heaven

Cuban technical farm experts are ex-pected in Trinidad on April 28, to start

up the long awaited mega-farm in TuckerValley . The rest of the Cuban team will bein the country by May 5. Government officials said the establish-

ment of the Tucker Valley large farm alongwith mega-farms on other sites throughoutthe country would not place small andmedium farm operators in jeopardy. Smalland medium farmers would be contractedto provide crops that are in demand and ap-proved by the Trinidad and Tobago AgriBusiness Association. Government is moving ahead to estab-

lish large 100 acre farms on 13 sites toboost local food production, with some ex-pected to begin operations in NovemberCorn, sweet potatoes, beef, fish and citrusfruits are some of the foods that would beproduced by the large farms.

More $ for new passports to help foreign nationalsTrinidad’s cabinet has allocated an addi-tional $9.5 million for equipment and per-sonnel to expand the machine readablepassport application and distribution systemto include specific Trinidad and Tobagodiplomatic missions abroad. Many peopleseeking to acquire new passports are liningup from as early 3 a.m. outside the Immi-gration Division headquarters in Port ofSpain to apply for them. Nationals livingoverseas were unable to apply for the newpassports abroad.

Water taxis, railwayscoming on fast

Sandra Harry

The family of 41-year-old mother of fourSandra Harry is looking to the courts to findjustice in her death, which they blame on abotched Caesarian section operation dur-ing childbirth. Sandra died on March 6 atthe Eric Williams Medical Sciences Com-plex in Mt Hope, five days after giving birthto a healthy daughter.Sandra died from a massive internal in-

fection, caused by faeces and urine leakinginto her abdomen because of a ruptured gut.The official cause of death was massiveperitonitis, hemoperitoneum caused by thelower segment C-section. Husband Bridgelal Harry said at the fu-

neral “I want answers...I want justice.”Pastor Selwyn Jagdeo said people werenow renaming the infamous medical com-plex from Mt Hope to Mt Hopeless. Thefamily believes Sandra's internal organswere accidentally punctured during theCaesarean section.

Court cases collapsingat increased ratesThirty five people accused of murder havewalked free since 2006, mainly becausewitnesses refused to testify or life on thewitness stand. Several matters have alsohad to be thrown as witnesses are too afraidto testify, especially in gang-related mur-ders. Magistrates, lawyers, police, prisonofficers, top public servants, and civilians,have also been guilty of failing to cooper-ate with the courts.Since the start of 2006, at least 33 major

cases, including murder, attempted murder,shooting at the police, drug trafficking andarson matters in both the High Court andMagistrate's Court, have collapsed becauseof witnesses' refusal to testify, police foundto have lied and witnesses changing theirevidence. Police have also been accused byjudicial officers of interfering with thestatement of witnesses, lying, and relyingon unreliable testimony.

Members of the United States Army,Navy and Marines are busy working

on building a school and clinic at the StMary’s Children’s Home. The officers havebeen in T&T for the last month, working onthe two projects at Tacarigua. They will alsobe building another school at the PrincessElizabeth Centre, Woodbrook. All expenseswould be borne by the United States gov-ernment. The projects are expected to becompleted by mid-June.The projects, estimated at US$150,000,

were a partnership between the T&T De-fence Force and the US military, known asthe Partnership of the Americas Engage-ment Team.A ship with construction capabilities will

be docking at Port-of-Spain in October, tofix the bathrooms and prepare a playgroundat the All in One Child Development Cen-tre in Laventille. At the Cyril Ross Home inTunapuna, the partnership will be fixing aflooding problem plaguing the home andalso rewiring it.Also, the dormitory at theSt Jude’s Home for Girls would be reno-vated—new ceilings, floors and rewiringwould be done.

Ready to build aluminium smelter Construction of the first aluminium smelterplant in T&T will "start very shortly." PrimeMinister Patrick Manning said equipmentto begin construction is on its way fromChina . Recently Aluntrint chief executiveofficer Phillip Julien said first phase of con-struction of the plant was scheduled to startthis month and that between 1,000 and1,500 skilled Chinese workers were beingbrought to the country to work on the pilingrequired for the plant. Manning also an-nounced that construction of a new port,east of Sea Lots, will begin at the end of2008.

NIS pensions rise andlinked to cost of livingGovernment has been able to increase theretirement benefits of the National Insur-ance system with little increase to the con-tribution, says Minister of Finance KarenNunez-Teshiera. An actuarial consultant reviewed the per-formance of the system at the end of 2005,and predicted that by 2055 the number ofretirement pensioners would be 46 per centhigher than projected". An increase in theminimum levels of retirement pension wasrecommended, and the board decided to in-crease the retirement pension from $1,000to $2,000, and that NIS benefits would beindexed to the cost of living.

Marines buildingorphanage school

Cuban expertscoming to startmega-farmsCar thieves have stolen 113 cars in the

first 11 weeks of this year from theTrincity Mall carpark. Glen Hackett, Assis-tant Superintendent of the Stolen VehiclesSquad, has said that of the 366 vehiclesstolen from January 1 to March 14, a full30 percent or 113 vehicles were taken fromTrincity Mall. The thieves’ favourite carswere the Nissan B11 and B12, along withthe Mazda 323. He said the vehicles whichare no longer manufactured are stolen fortheir scarce parts. Trincity Mall, arguably the country's largestmall, makes up part of the Home Construc-tion Limited's premier malls, along withLong Circular Mall and the Valpark Shop-ping Complex. For the same period, the twoother malls combined only accounted for atotal of three stolen cars. Trincity Mall hasno Closed Circuit Television (CCTVs), in-sufficient patrols and no exit and entrycheck points.

Bullets in bucketsPolice have found 200 rounds of am-

munition hidden in buckets in the bushes inTableland, after a police search in RobertVillage . They are believed to belong to awanted 31-year-old fugitive, said to be thebiggest arms dealer in Trinidad and TobagoEarly last month almost 2000 bullets werefound in Lopinot.

Soldiers caught stealingTwo soldiers were caught stealing from acar being kept at the West End Police Sta-tion, Diego Martin. The two suspects, ages22 and 27, of the Teteron Battalion, workedin joint patrols with the police. Investiga-tors said the soldiers were found with anMP3 player which had been inside a car in-volved in a vehicular accident. An officerspotted them trying to pry open the door ofanother car

Police suspected ofstealing ganja, gunThree police officers assigned to a high-profile unit in the Port-of-Spain Divisionare the subjects of a police probe after 12kilos of high-grade compressed marijuanaand a gun disappeared from a crime sceneafter a shoot-out between lawmen and sus-pected drug dealers.

Five Ghanians heldFive Ghanian nationals were arrested at aWarren Street, St Augustine house during ajoint police/army patrols.They were handedover to officers of the Immigration Depart-ment and may face deportation..

Land for sale in Florida$49, 000 US

For two side by side lots each 80'x125' Zoned for singe family residence, paved road

Address: 1114 Ramiro Street, Leisure Lakes Section 18, Lots 3 & 4 Block 534, Lake Placid 33852

Contact: Joey Seukumar joe2se@yahoo.com

Family believe botchedoperation killed Sandra

Four used fast ferries have been bought at acost of US$12.6 million (TT$ 85 million)for the water taxi service. They will be usedin the interim while government looks atbuying four new vessels. They will proba-bly be used them for services such as thePort of Spain-to-Chaguaramas route, andSan Fernando-to-Point Fortin route.Also in the transport world, government

has committed US $32190 million to starta Rapid Rail Transit System, with a furtherUS$42 million to come for the secondphase. Cost of the whole project is US$1.2billion (TT$7 billion). The first segment ofthe rail project from Port of Spain to StJoseph and to Chaguanas, could be opera-tional within three years. Other segmentsinclude a Diego Martin-to-Port of Spainroute, Port of Spain to Arima, Arima to San-gre Grande and Curepe to San Fernando.

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO Indo-Caribbean Times APRIL 2008 Page 6

they endured and overcame all the hard-ships, and through their discipline and hardwork, they ‘saved’ the local sugar industrywhich might have collapsed if it had con-tinued to depend on scarce and unreliablelabour from the Creoles. In a wider sense,they also ‘saved’ the whole agrarian econ-omy of Trinidad. Their ‘innate’ love of theland, their culturally determined propensityfor landownership and agriculture, createda sturdy independent small farming class,growing canes, rice, and a whole range offood crops, as well as raising livestock formilk and meat. Indians made a tremendouscontribution to Trinidad’s economic devel-opment in these ways. Moreover, theyachieved their successes in agriculture (andbusiness) on their own: the idea that all In-dians received free grants of land after theirindentures were up was firmly (and cor-rectly) rejected. As the Maha Sabha statedin 1998: ‘It is not government grants orState patronage which sustained …theHindu community’.

Sat Maharaj

Hindu labour helped build the wealth ofTrinidad and Tobago but Hindus do

not have a equal share in the prosperity ofthe country, Sat Maharaj, secretary generalof the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha, hassaid."You must belong to a certain ethnic and

religious group before you get equity andequality," Maharaj declared as he addressedthe start of the recent children's Phagwa fes-tival.Calling for a cultural committee to be set

up to ensure "equality" in the handing out ofmoney, Maharaj said T&T's strength wasnot in the "depth of the oil wells but in thediversity of the people".He also noted that this year's celebrations

marked the first time in the history of host-ing the festival that the Maha Sabha gotfunding before the event itself. He said acheque for $200,000 was received from theMinistry of Culture on Friday. This is the28th such festival hosted by the MahaSabha."My only gratitude is that we get it yes-

terday (Friday). But what is $200,000 op-posed to $60 million for other festivals.$200,000 is only a pittance. Our forefatherstoiled and developed this land. But we donot enjoy equity," Maharaj said.Over 60 school and cultural groups took

part in the festival, performing religioussongs and dances, and spraying abheer, tomark the beginning of Spring.

Did the jahajisget land grants?

By Dr. Bridget Brereton(From a lecture at the National Museum ,Port of Spain on February 27, 2008)

From The Afrocentric Narrarive:“After the abolition of slavery in the 1830s,the Afrocentric narrative focuses on thestruggles and sufferings of the emancipatedpeople and their descendants. The ex-slavesreceived no land or other forms of compen-sation—their owners received a large sumof money from Britain as compensation forloss of property—and the local authoritiesdid all they could to stop them from pur-chasing state-owned lands. An importantaspect of the narrative is the idea that all theIndians received free grants of land on theexpiry of their indentures, allowing them tobecome landowners while the Africanswere given no grants and prevented wher-ever possible from buying plots with theirsavings. (This is only partially true: the ex-indentureds received free grants of land foronly a few years, 1869-80, and most of thelands obtained by the Indians were pur-chased by them).

From the Indocentric narrative:Despite the sufferings of the indentureds,

No equity for Hindussays Sat Maharaj It will take just $10 billion to endTrinidad’s water woes and deliver

"water for all" by 2012.Public Utilities Minister Mustapha Abdul-Hamid made this brave promise as he un-veiled a Water Master Plan, aimed atproviding a 24- hour/7-day a week supplyto "at least 60 per cent" of the households inTrinidad and Tobago, and designed to en-sure that no one would have less than threedays of water per week.The plan would involve six major initia-

tives. The first is the "aggressive imple-mentation" of a universal metering "pay forwhat you use" system.The second plank would be the establish-

ment of five new large desalination plantsand the expansion of the existing desalina-tion plant, he said. This would entail theconstruction of 20-million-gallon-a-day fa-cilities in Port Fortin, Chaguaramas and inOrtoire/Mayaro, the establishment of a 25to 40-million- gallon-a-day facility in PointLisas and a five-million-gallon-a-day facil-ity in Tobago. At the same time, the capac-ity of the current Point Lisas DesalinationPlant would be increased from 25 milliongallons to 40 million gallons a day.The third pillar of the plan would be the

construction of a new national water trans-mission and distribution pipeline network.Abdul-Hamid noted that the poor state ofthe pipeline network allowed 40 per cent ofwater be to lost via leaks, illegal connec-tions and inefficient use.The fourth plank, he said, would be the

construction of a new dam in Moruga, witha storage capacity of five billion gallonsand a production of 25 million gallons perday.The fifth pillar of the plan would be the

expansion of the Arena Dam from a storagecapacity of 10 billion gallons to 14 billionsgallons, and an increase in production ofwater from 75 million gallons a day to 95million gallons a day.The sixth and final prop of the plan will

focus on supplying the industrial sector.This will be addressed by completing theBeetham Water Re-use project, whichwould purify effluent produced by theBeetham Wastewater Treatment Plant.These six initiatives would increase the

country's water production from 222 mil-lion gallons a day to 407 million gallons aday, he said. He added that it would providethe country with a supply system that wouldhave the capability to withstand drought for"at least" three consecutive years, thereby"ensuring water security".He said the preparation of the plan, "the

first revolutionary step to address the vari-ous problems", was on schedule and is now"more than 50 per cent complete".

Trinidad ismajor cocainetrafficking hubA vast amount of the cocaine traffickedthrough Trinidad and Tobago arrives oncommercial and sailing vessels at the na-tion's sea ports, in addition to small fishingboats, says a United States government re-port.This is one of the startling findings con-

tained in the United States Department ofState International Narcotics Control Strat-egy Report 2008.The report, however, noted that despite

the increase in illegal drug traffickingthrough this country - the quantity of drugs

transiting Trinidad and Tobago does nothave a significant effect on the US .Nonetheless, the report said "strengthen-

ing border protection by automating themethod to include container scanning", isone of the initiatives the Government ofTrinidad and Tobago ." Trinidad and Tobago is a transhipment

country for the movement of cocaine andheroin from Colombia to the US , Canadaand Europe . As a result of Venezuela 's re-cent lack of cooperation with the US , therehas been an increase in the transhipment ofcocaine and heroin from Colombia, throughVenezuela ," the report said."The majority of the cocaine that arrives

on Trinidad is via commercial vessels, sail-ing vessels and small fishing vessels, inamounts upwards of several thousand-kilo-gramme quantities."

Change method of in-vestigating police in TTAn internal affairs unit for law enforcementhas been recommended by the UnitedStates Department of State as a key weaponin this country's war on drugs.The recommendation was contained in

the State Department's International Nar-cotics Control Strategy Report 2008 re-leased this month.In addition, to making the recommenda-

tion, the report also said that at the requestof the Trinidad and Tobago Government theUS government has "polygraphed policeand mid-and high-level officials selectedfor training or entering elite units to ensurethat reputable and reliable personnel arechosen".At present, the Police Complaints Au-

thority is the agency which handles com-plaints against police officers and the StateDepartment is recommending a unit simi-lar to that in the police departments acrossthe United States .Those units are comprised of police offi-

cers and operate as completely separate en-tities. They investigate all police shootingsand police officers suspected of being in-volved in criminal activity.

NIB pays out$1billion in 2007The National Insurance Board (NIB) has re-vealed that 131,718 beneficiaries of the Na-tional Insurance System (NIS) receivedover $1 billion in benefits in the 2007 fi-nancial year.The number of insured persons was over

500,000 persons and $1.5 billion was col-lected in contributions during the last year.NIB chairman Calder Hart says in the in thecompany’s 2007 annual report that the NIBachieved a strong financial performancelast year with a 7.23 percent return on itsinvestment portfolio and a growth in theNational Insurance Fund to $14.3 billion.Hart said the NIB upped certain benefits

including increase in the minimum monthlyretirement pension from $1,500 to $2,000,minimum retirement grant of $2,000, min-imum widows and widowers pension of$400 per month and increasing the mater-nity grants from $2,000 to $2,500.Hart also said the NIB plans to extend

coverage to self-employed personswho ac-count for 19 percent of the workforce. Henoted these persons have not enjoyed socialinsurance coverage since the inception ofthe NIS in 1972, though they have the samerisks as regular workers.

Water for all in five years & $5 billion

Is Carnival dyingBy Stalin Neehall

Each year we see Carnival moving fur-ther and further from its original state. Isthis movement evolution or devolution? One only has to go back to the days of

George Bailey, Harold Saldenah, Irvin McWilliams to appreciate the craftsmanshipand pride that these bandleaders took in theportrayals in their respective bands. Eventhe steelbands were as authentic as theycould be.The question is “What has gone wrong

with the designers?” Maybe I should ask“Are there any designers?”

Each year we hear bandleaders com-plaining about the cost of materials goingup, and each year the costumes are skimpierand skimpier. Of course we are told that iswhat the people want.You see basically the same thing year

after year in the Kings and Queens Compe-tition. Calypso is a dying art form, killed bySoca, Power Soca, Groovy Soca and the ris-ing Chutney. The only saving grace is thatthe young calypsonians give some fantasticrenditions at their competitions, but theytoo will eventually bow to Soca, with all theattending jump and wave, get on bad, mashup the place and wine down low.

Carnival fetes are now reduced to aWoodstock type of party where dancing hasbeen replaced by waving, jumping, puttingyour hand in the air, and screaming whengiven the cue by the performer.The steelbands now are reduced to play-

ing at the Panorama competition, where thebig money is, of course. Gone are the dayswhen each steelband went into Port ofSpain with a solid repertoire which in-cluded calypsos of the day, pop songs andclassical pieces for the bomb competition.Another troubling aspect of the carnival

is the “all inclusive” factor. In the bigbands, almost every section is “all inclusive” or should I say all exclusive as it effec-tively excludes many persons who wouldlike to be on the road carnival days in cos-tume. No longer do the grassroots play anintegral part in the festival.The big question is, “What can we do to

save the Carnival?” I have been sayingsome years now that all competition shouldbe stopped for a couple of years.

Local gov’t electionscoming this yearLocal Government elections will be heldbefore October 12, Prime Minister PatrickManning has said.. Although the electionsare constitutionally due on July 12, theTrinidad and Tobago Constitution allowsfor a three-month grace period without thematter being debated in Parliament. Thethree-month grace period expires on Octo-ber 12.

Accomodation in localpolls possible: COPAn accommodation with the UNC Allianceis an option on the Congress of the People’s(COP’s) table for local government elec-tions.“It has been raised at meetings but we

have made no decision,” political leader ofthe COP Winston Dookeran said this week.He added that an accommodation was

also an option for national election but theparty voted against it.“We will maintain the integrity of the

party, offer the country a real alternativeand will not compromise our position,”Dookeran said.

Manning: TT now in troubled timesPrime Minister Patrick Manning says thepeople of Trinidad and Tobago are now liv-ing in a "very troubled time." He was speaking one day after PresidentGeorge Maxwell Richards warned thiscountry not to become a failed state andurged that more attention be paid to the na-tion's children who comprise the "genera-tions that have to solve the problems thathave been created." "At this very troubled time in the lives of

the people of Trinidad and Tobago, wherea view has been expressed that we are con-cerned about our young people might notall be going in the direction we wish themto go, we believe that the intervention thatis being made today is indeed very timelyand appropriate," Manning said.

Gangs fightingover state projectsNational Security Minister Martin Josephsays "it is very possible" criminal gangsidentified by the Government as the sourceof the nation's escalating homicide rate maybe fighting over State-funded social pro-grammes.Although Joseph did not identify any spe-

cific social programme, on February 22,Justice Anthony Carmona in a judgment ina criminal case, said that while the Unem-ployment Employment Relief (URP) doesserve a social purpose, there is rank crimi-nality in its bowels which needs to be ad-dressed by the authorities. Critics of theURP, including members of the Opposition,have long claimed it has been infiltrated bycriminal elements.Several URP employees have been killed

in gang warfare in the last few years, andthere are persistent reports of “ghostgangs” being used to enrich criminals.

Panday thrown out of ParliamentTRINIDAD AND TOBAGO Indo-Caribbean Times APRIL 2008 Page 7

Be prepared to pay much more for bread,cakes, pastries, roti and doubles.

Flour prices have gone up from April 1,the National Flour Mills has confirmed, insome instances by nearly 40 per cent. Most of the increases are likely to be

passed on to customers, several bakers said.Roti shop owners who sold a chicken roti

for $15 said the price could move up to $18while plain buss-up-shut is likely to gofrom $25 to $30. A loaf of bread costing$6.90 today could rise to $10 and a hopsbread that cost 70 cents will go up to at least$1.Market experts were also looking at dou-

bles, the cost of which went up from $3 to$4 recently. The popular fast-food is likelyto move to $5 once the price increases be-come effective. There are reports thatpholourie is already selling at two for $1.Bakers, roti makers and doubles vendors

said that they will have no choice but topass on the increased prices to their cus-tomers.

Police corruptionclouds public faith in complaints vs cops

Corruption in the Police Service hascaused the public to have very little

faith in any proper investigation of com-plaints against police officers, according toa United States Department of State's Coun-try Reports on Human Rights Practices for2007. And while the US report also says there

are no politically motivated killings or dis-appearances and no political prisoners inTrinidad and Tobago, it noted there were"problems in some areas" such as "policekillings, prison conditions and abuse ofprisoners in police custody". It also said less than 10 per cent of en-

quiries into alleged police killings of civil-ians have been completed in the last 10years. Under the section entitled Trinidad and

Tobago, the report highlighted ongoingconcerns about corruption within the 7,000-member strong Police Service. "Police corruption continued to be a prob-lem, with some officials suggesting therewere officers who participated in corruptand illegal activities," the human rights re-port said. The report said Police Service Commis-

sion restrictions limited the division's abil-ity to dismiss police officers, and this hashad a very serious impact on how the pub-lic perceives the complaints. "The public had little confidence in the

police complaints process because the au-thority had no power to investigate com-plaints, and because those investigatingcomplaints against the police were them-selves police officers," the report said. However, report said that police killingswere among areas of concern. "The Government or its agents did not com-mit any politically motivated killings; how-ever, 29 persons died during the year whilein police custody or at the hands of law en-forcement authorities," the report said. "Authorities investigated or opened in-quests into all such killings, but only six percent of inquiries into police killings of civil-ians have been completed since 1999. Incases where charges were brought, 50 percent of the officers were acquitted."

Seebaran is fifth“kidnap for ransom” victimA La Horquetta businessman was releasedin Sangre Grande just 19 hours after beingsnatched from his La Horquetta home.Car rental owner 22-year-old Dave See-

baran who was abducted from his homearound 8.30 p.m on Wednesday walked intothe Arima Police Station around 3.30 p.m.the next day.A $100,000 ransom demand was made

for his safe return but police said this wasnot paid.Police said Seebaran, who is listed as the

country's fifth kidnap victim for the year,also refused a medical examination. Reports of kidnapping for ransom have

been down in Trinidad this year, but the rea-sons for this are not fully known. Somelocal commentators believe that it could bedue to moves by kidnappers to collect pro-tection fees or “coward tax” from wealthybusiness people rather than actual kidnap-ping.

Flour prices maysend doubles to$5, roti to $18Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday has

been suspended from Parliament forthe remainder of the session, which can ex-tend until December 16, 2008, Panday was suspended for defying the

Speaker, who ruled that Panday was usinghis government issued laptop without get-ting the permission of the speaker. At thetime Panday said he was not sure if hewould need his laptop until he heard pre-sentations from the government, and hecould not say if he would need permissionto use it. Police failed to remove Mr Pan-day from the House that day, but on a latersession he was barred from entering Parlia-ment. The Opposition is protesting the ac-tion and boycotting the House.

Equality Act to be implemented at lastEight years after the United National Con-gress-piloted Equal Opportunity Act waspassed in the Parliament, the Peoples' Na-tional Movement Government has agreedto implement the legislation.It means that for the first time complaints

of discrimination in the public and privatesectors in this multiracial, multi-religioussociety would be dealt with, not in a politi-cal atmosphere, but there would now be anobjective, judicial environment-the EqualOpportunities Commission and Tribunal-toadjudicate on such matters.

Flour prices up 30%,chicken hits $10 a lbNational Flour Mills has raised its prices

for flour suddenly, to the surprise of gro-ceries. Xtra Foods CEO Joanne Le Gall re-ported when her staff went to collect anorder of flour at NFM in Port-of-Spain, theywere flabbergasted that the prices of 10kgand 2 kg packs of flour had gone up be-tween 25 to 30 percent. Similarly, an official from the manage-

ment team at Food Giant Supermarket,Barataria, said there was a marked increasein flour prices when compared to whenthey last received stock. He said NFM isnow selling a 10-kg pack of Ibis all-purposeflour for $50, an increase of $10. Otherflour brands and products such as 2 kgpacks and 45 kg of Lotus Bakers Flour arenow being sold at $10.30 and $222 respec-tively which according to the source was asignificant increase. As a result the groceryhas already raised their prices. In light of NFM’s price increase, con-

sumers are worried about the imminentprice increase of other food items such asrice and chicken. When asked about anymove to raise rice prices, employees atsome supermarkets said their prices had notchanged. Poultry owners on George Street,Port-of-Spain, also said their prices havenot been raised, but one manager said an in-crease may be inevitable. Following the lastincrease a few months ago, chicken is beingsold at $10 per pound.

Panday losescase in PrivyCouncilAlready wounded by the possibility of heartsurgery for his ailing wife, Oma, and sad-dled with the indignity of being suspendedfrom Parliament, Opposition Leader Bas-deo Panday suffered a third body blow yes-terday after the Privy Council threw out hisappeal.The leader of the United National Con-

gress-Alliance, who turns 75 next month,will now have to try and convince a localmagistrate why he should not face a newtrial on charges of failing to declare a Lon-don bank account to the Integrity Commis-sion for three consecutive years, while heheld office as prime minister-on the basisof his fear of imprisonment, his deteriorat-ing health and his increasing legal bill ofclose to $1 million.Panday is scheduled to appear before Sen-ior Magistrate Ejenny Espinet on April 15,when a date for his retrial is expected to befixed. The same magistrate has also refusedto step down, on the basis of apparent bias,as the sitting magistrate in the corruptioncase against Panday, his wife, former gov-ernment minister Carlos John and busi-nessman Ishwar Galbaransingh.

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IN THE

INDO-CARIBBEAN

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Basdeo Panday

There are millions of acres of virtuallyuntouched rainforest, a range of ecosystemswith a diverse flora and fauna species esti-mated to be in excess of 200 mammals, 800reptiles and amphibians, 6,500 plants andmore than 815 species of birds."According to USAID, Guyana has all the

necessary components of a great eco-tourism destination, but lacks the interna-tional recognition. In 2006, USAID partnered the Guyana

Tourism Authority (GTA), tour operatorWilderness Explorers, the Guyana AmazonTropical Birds Society, and local tourismsuppliers to launch the Birding Tourismprogramme..Among the birding enthusiasts that travelto Guyana the Cock-of-the-Rock was themost sought after bird in Guyana . One suchvisitor, who was in Guyana with the ClipperAdventurer cruise ship had said, “To see theCock-of-the-Rock at any time during thetrip would be the climax of my vacation.”

Good prices for riceInvestment opportunities abound in the ricesector given the high prices for the producton the world market and the potential ben-efits outweighing the risks, says one ricemiller and exporter. Dr Peter de Groot, CEO-Production of

Fairfield Rice Inc, said the profit marginsbeing offered by rice were unmatched inany other sector. He said that farmers couldmake as much as almost double the moneythat they invested, and a bag of paddy couldeasily reach a high of $4,000 per bag beforethe end of the crop in a few weeks time.Such returns, he said, were encouraging

to investors, even though there were riskssuch as the unpredictable weather, high fuelprices and the high cost of fertilisers. Theshortage of rice had increased the competi-tion among the farmers for the supply ofpaddy, and this too was sending up prices."It's a seller's market," he explained. "Therice farmers are in control now."Over the past weeks since the Christmas

holidays, the price of rice has doubled. Thispast week saw rice prices still at an all-timehigh, approaching or in some cases sur-passing $400 per gallon for white rice, and$600 for brown rice.

Roger SimonAlmost eight weeks after the gruesome

slaying of 12 persons at Bartica, a 44-year-old resident of the community has appearedat the Georgetown Magistrate’s Courtcharged with the murders.Roger Simon of 25 Fifth Avenue Bartica,

a miner and father of nine, was not requiredto plead to the 12 indictable counts of mur-der. A preliminary inquiry will be con-ducted to determine whether there wassufficient evidence to commit him to standtrial in the High Court.Simon stood in court with his head low-

ered and his eyes red, struggling to controlhis emotions. He wore a Bob Marley t-shirtwith the quote: “Just can’t live that nega-tive way…Make way for the positive way”

Fake police hijack fishermenTwo men who allegedly posed as police-

men to hijack a fishing boat then used it torob unsuspecting fishermen are facing seri-ous charges from the real police. The menare from the Number 65 and Number 68Villages, Corentyne, Berbice, and wereidentified as part of a gang of pirates thatwent on a two-day rampage last month,robbing about 15 vessels.On March 8 a Georgetown fishing boat

encountered problems and was moored atNumber 65 Village for repairs. While there,five men who allegedly identified them-selves as policemen requested that the mentake them to sea as there was urgent policework to be done.However, the “policemen”turned out to be pirates as they reportedlyheld the men captive and used the boat toattack 15 other unsuspecting fishing boats.The boats were robbed of millions of dol-lars in fish and fish glue. On March 4 and 6, several other boats

were also hijacked. Almost 50 boats andover $30 million were estimated to havebeen lost last year due to piracy.

Fishermen missing since February 13The fate of three three Guyanese fisher-

men is still unknown after they left on aroutine fishing trip nearly three months ago.Mahadeo Ramdeo, Ramnarine Jagmohanand Jason Marshall left aboard the vesselfrom the PSI wharf at Mc Doom, East BankDemerara on January 23, last, and werescheduled to return on February 13 last.The crew was last heard from on February9, via radio transmission. An extensivesearch has failed to locate the men.

It took 14 years for Oscar Green, 72, to se-cure judgement in the High Court for in-juries he sustained when his car was struckby another on the East Coast DemeraraHighway . But the case has been appealedand the elderly pensioner may not live tocollect the $20 million judgement awardedThe backlog can be found in every aspect

of judicial proceedings. The 2006 annualreport on the operations of the court statedthat in that year there were 1,114 applica-tions for probate and letters of administra-tion in the three countries, adding to abacklog of 242 in Georgetown and 247 inBerbice. All told there were 1,836 such ap-plications. The courts only heard 1,266.More than 500 were left pending.The situation was no different in matters

pertaining to the Land Court where thereare petitions for prescriptive rights. InGeorgetown , 481 applications filed forprescriptive rights, 275 in Berbice, sevenin Suddie. Backlog of 451 in Berbice.Total matters to be heard 1,214, but only339 were completed in Georgetown and366 in Berbice, leaving a backlog of 508petitions. Similar problems exist with land registra-tion (180 backlog cases), full court crimi-nal appeals ( 9 of 45 heard), Guyana Courtof Appeal (52 appeals not heard), (17,000cases not heard at the end of 2006) Magis-trates’ Courts. In Georgetown , for exam-ple, there were some 12,000 cases pendingat the start of 2006. A further 14,000 caseswere made in 2006. Nearly 9,000 matterswere completed that year leaving an evengreater backlog of some 17,000 at the endof the year, New Amsterdam magisterialdistrict and Whim (25,112 backlog cases atthe end of 2006).

Buxton man killed A Buxton Sideline Dam man has beenkilled in what the Joint Services said wasan exchange of gunfire.Tyrone Pollard, 46,of Lot 81 Buxton Sideline Dam, died afterreceiving a gunshot wound to the upperright side of his back. The police said thatranks of the Joint Services had been con-ducting a cordon and search operation on ahouse at Webster Avenue, South Buxton,when Tyrone Pollard ran out of the build-ing as they approached."Tyrone Pollard managed to reach the

Buxton Sideline Dam at which point hepulled out a firearm and discharged roundsat the Joint Services ranks that were in pur-suit. He then jumped into and crossed theSideline Canal over to the Eastville Damfrom where he again opened fire on theranks. The ranks returned fire during whichhe was fatally shot," the statement said.He was wanted for questioning in the

2005 killings of policeman Somdat Ra-moutar and civilian Chandrika Persaud atBrusche Dam Railway Embankment, Bux-ton, and the murder of Army Corporal IvorWilliams who was shot and killed during aconfrontation between the Joint Servicesand a group of armed gunmen in Buxton onJanuary 23, 2008.

GUYANA NEWS Indo-Caribbean Times APRIL 2008 Page 8

Court systemcollapsing

Bartica minercharged formassacre deaths

The high gold price on the internationalmarket has pumped vigour into the

mining sector and driving export earningspast sugar's for last year as a result of newinvestments and financing for small andmedium scale miners.With gold toppoing US$1,000 an ounce

recently, Secretary of the Guyana Gold andDiamond Miners Association (GGDMA)Edward Shields said that many people wereeither getting into gold mining or gettingback into it after a lull.There have been record declarations forthe first three months of this year, he said,adding that he was assured that this was be-cause of the price being paid.

Shields, whose association representstens of large and small miners, said that be-cause of the boom in prices and in produc-tion, miners were finding it easier to accessfinancing to purchase the necessary equip-ment. For last year, total investment in the min-

ing sector was estimated at US$100 mil-lion, with in excess of 12,000 small claimsand 4,000 medium-scale permits issued.The declared production of gold in 2007was 246,199 ounces with a total productionvalue of $62 billion. The average exportprice for Guyana 's gold in 2007 rose toUS$659.23 an ounce, an increase in 16.6per cent over 2006.

Major progress in battle vs TBGuyana has made major strides it its fightagainst tuberculosis as the National TB pro-gramme continues its aim of reducing theincidence and prevalence of the disease inGuyana, so that it no longer poses a publichealth threat.

Manager, National TB Control Pro-gramme at the Georgetown Chest Clinic,Dr Jeetendra Mohanlall says Guyana isachieving its goal of decreasing the sever-ity and death rates caused by tuberculosisin the Guyanese population.He attributes this success to a large extentto the Directly Observed Treatment, ShortCourse (DOTS) programme which is noweffectively reaching patients in all ten ad-ministrative regions of the country. Guyananow has a complement of 45 dedicatedDOTS outreach workers in the regions whoare contributing to controlling the diseasein Guyana .The programme has increased its diag-

nostic and treatment capacity tremendously.Four-drug therapy treatment for TB patientswith the DOTS approach continues. Mean-while, BCG vaccination is ongoing withnewborn babies to help prevent tuberculosisin the early years.Over 95% BCG coverageis achieved annually.

‘Birding’ fast becoming asuccess story in Guyana

With tremendous support from the UnitedStates Agency for International Develop-ment (USAID), the much talked about bird-ing programme in Guyana is proving to bea success.During last year February, ‘Bird watch’,

one of the premier bird watching maga-zines, published an article on Guyana thatsaid, “With such a wealth of birds, com-bined with an unrivalled spirit of both ad-venture and hospitality, it seems very soonthat Guyana is destined…to become welland truly established as a first-class birdingdestination.

High prices has gold sector booming

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No phantom gangsGuyana’s Home Affairs Minister ClementRohee says there is no credible informationthat there has been any re-emerging of thephantom gangs in Guyana.

Such gangs are said to have executedscores of criminals a few years ago, al-legedly under the direction of a governmentminister. After the Lusignan massacres ear-lier this year several protesters openlycalled for the return of the death squads,and for Gajraj Singh and Roger Khan , twoindividuals believed to have been leaders. Minister Rohee criticized a recent report

in the local newspaper Stabroek Newswhich asked whether the 'phantom' deathsquad had come out of retirement, and saidthe paper should present such informationto the police.The article in question had pointed to the

recent killings of Marcyn King, sister ofwanted man Rondell Rawlins and GeorgeBarton and similarities with killings duringthe period when the dead squads werethought to be in business. The StabroekNews editor says police have failed to prop-erly investigate dozens of execution-stylekillings since 2002 and the government ap-peared unwilling to take the necessary stepsto reverse this.

GUYANA NEWS Indo-Caribbean Times APRIL 2008 Page 9

American pulls out in May. The Ministeralso refuted claims that Travel Span willalso be permanently discontinuing its serv-ices to Guyana .He said that the airline hassuspended services temporarily, and willrecommence operations on June 23 for thesummer peak season.

Baliram says food prices inRegion 2 rising too highA letter writer from Region 2 says foodprices are getting out of control.

Baliram Persaud, in a letter to theStabroek News, said , “A dramatic increasein the price of local commodities in Region#2 which stretches from Pomeroon to Su-penaam is making it hard for the residentsto cope with the escalation in the cost of liv-ing. Rice prices were upped again at my buy-

ing place from $440 to $480 per gallon withbrown rice being more expensive. The fur-ther increase was said to have resulted froma higher price being paid to farmers now fortheir paddy as compared to the last crop.

Plucked chicken has jumped to an alltime high price for as much as $340 perpound at some places while a similar quan-tity in pork has moved up to $300. Live ducks and creole fowls are fetching

as much as $450 and $300 respectively perpound. Mutton and Venison are being soldat $600 a pound while a crab is $50 and oneHassar $100. A parcel of 4 hot peppers is$100, 5 limes $200 with the price of fruits,plantains, eddoes cassava and sweet pota-toes also mounting. Even eddoe leaf calaloothat was being given away in the past isnow being sold at $100 for a handful parcel. The pressure is too much to handle but lifemust go on somehow or the other.

Sections of East Coast Demerara floodedUnusually heavy spring tide waves

pounded the sea defense and over-topped the seawall in East Coast Demerara,causing two nights of flooding and damp-ening the holiday spirit in theMontrose/Vryheid’s Lust area.Although there were isolated reports of

flooding in some parts of the Essequibo andCorentyne coastlands, the three East CoastDemerara villages, including Better Hope,were the hardest hit.Residents recalled hearing the pounding

waves, which in some cases sent water ashigh as 15 feet into the air after the wavesslammed into the seawalls. Other residentswho lived as far as a mile away from theseawall claimed that they were awakenedby the sound of the raging sea. Another res-ident of Vryheid’s Lust North, MunniramMoses Singh, who said that he had been liv-ing in the village for more than 30 years,said he had never experienced such an oc-currence. According to Singh, the area hadin the past experienced high tides but not tothis extent. “All these years I living here and never

see something like this wave I see. It tallerthan me…like de world coming to an end,”the pensioner said.What was strange was the fact that only

the seawall at Montrose experienced suchfury. While the northern section of the EastCoast Demerara Public Road was flooded,the southern area remained virtually unaf-fected.

Charlestown man killed in drive byGunmen executed a Charlestown man atLaing Avenue in what appeared to be awell-planned drive-by attack. Dead isGeorge Barton called 'Burlin', 48, of 34Howes Street , Charlestown. Barton'steenage daughter Anika Barton, who waswith him at the time of the attack, sustaineda gunshot wound to her right leg. She wasrushed to the Georgetown Public Hospitalwhere she was receiving treatment up topress time. She recalled that while she andher father were walking, four men in awhite car pulled up and called out his name.One of them, she said, then shouted, "shoothim."

Moving NISpension age to 65just a proposalHead of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS)Dr Roger Luncheon said that the consider-ation to move the eligibility age for Na-tional Insurance Scheme (NIS) pensionsfrom 60 to 65 is "simply a recommendationby the NIS reform committee."

Speaking at his weekly post-Cabinetpress briefing, the cabinet Secretary notedthe concerns of citizens over the past fewweeks about the proposal."Some citizens have, over the past few

weeks, been expressing concern about thismove and have stated that they do not agreewith it as some pensioners may not evenlive to see the age.”He said that from Cabinet, where the pro-

posals are at present, they will be taken toParliament in the form of legislation.Reaction to the 65 year limit for NIS pen-

sions has been mostly negative throughoutGuyana.

Families of slain soldiersget $1m cheques

Cheques totaling $1 million each werehanded over by Chief-of-Staff of theGuyana Defence Force, Commodore GaryBest, to family members of two soldierswho were slain in the line of duty in 2004and 2008 respectively.In 2004, Lance Corporal Shemton Dod-

son was shot and killed while on an opera-tion in Buxton, East Coast Demerara. Hewas survived by two children, a ten-year-old son and a daughter aged nine. Both mi-nors were recipients of $300,000 each,which was put into Fixed Deposit accountsat the Bank of Nova Scotia and would onlybe accessible after the children would haveattained the age of eighteen.And Corporal Ivor Williams was killed in

late January this year when the army vehi-cle in which he was travelling came underattack on the Buxton railway embankment.In addition to other benefits, his motherOret Pitman received $100,000, which wasdonated by the GDF Corporals' Club.

No takers for $50m reward for FinemanIn the heat of the bloody crimes that flaredup here recently, police placed a $50M re-ward for information leading to the arrestof the country's most wanted man, RondellRawlins, but more than six weeks laterthere has been no serious response to theoffer. A senior detective at the Criminal Inves-

tigation Department said that there had notbeen any significant report or informationon Rawlins' whereabouts al-though he saidthat persons had called in with informationwhich led them nowhere. The $50M rewardis the highest the force has ever offered forone man.The Stabroek News randomly interviewedfive persons asking them if they knewwhere Rawlins was whether they would tellthe police and if the $50M reward is entic-ing enough. One man said that he would nottell the police anything and the $50M re-ward had not jumped out at him. "You can-not depend on the police to conceal youridentity if you give such information andthere is no witness protection programmein this country," the man declared.A minibus driver plying the Kitty/ Camp-

bellville route said, "The minute you tell thepolice where 'Fineman' is the next five min-utes the police would tell `Fineman' whotold them," he said.A security guard told Stabroek News that

'selling out' `Fineman' is like signing yourdeath warrant. The man said that the policecould not be trusted and it would be a graverisk to engage in such a deal with them.

Nalini needs a kidney to liveAn ailing 36-year-old woman is pleadingwith the general public to offer her a sec-ond chance to lead a normal life. Thewoman, Nalini Shivram, is appealing toanyone for assistance.Shivram, of 65 MonRepos, East Coast Demerara, currently ex-ists on costly dialysis treatment because ofher failing kidneys.She was diagnosed with kidney failure a

few years ago but was of the view that hercondition did not warrant medical atten-tion.The East Coast Demerara resident saidshe assumed she was in fairly good healthbut, in 2005, she began experiencing painsand was admitted to hospital.The womansaid that late last year, she became very illafter her condition worsened.Doctors later revealed to Shivram that

she needed a donor for a kidney transplantin India .She pointed out that the procedureis estimated to cost at least US$36,000. ButI don’t have that kind of money. My hus-band has volunteered to be my donor but Ido not work and the little money I have isbeing spent on dialysis,” Shivramlamented. Shivram explained she is forced to have

two treatments per week with each costing$36,000.She added that on weekends, pa-tients are required to pay an additional$10,000. The same additional charge is ap-plied if they are tardy. Former First Lady,Varshnie Singh, of Kids First Fund, haspledged to provide Shivram withUS$1,000.Meanwhile, an account#0110030591 has been opened at GuyanaBank for Trade and Industry

Delta to fly to the USAAfter commencing operations here, DeltaAirlines, one of the largest airlines in theworld, will be doing four direct flights perweek from the US to Guyana . Minister ofTourism, Industry and Commerce, Manni-ram Prashad, confirmed this at a press con-ference on Wednesday. The Minister alsonoted that the airline will be coming onboard in time for the peak season. He as-sured that Delta will be here before North

I

We extend sincere condolences for all the victims of the Lusignan and Bartica massacres, and to their families.

I hope and pray that those cowardly criminals who committed the massacres will be caught and severely punished, and that there is no recurrence of thesehorrible incidents.

The lives of all those victims will remain forever in the memory of all Guyanese athome and abroad, and all others who understand their sacrifice.

Gulcharan Mohabir CGA. FCCA, B.Soc.Sc2608 Islington Avenue,

Toronto, Ontario M9V 2X3647-430-3612

In Memory of the Guyana Massacre Victims

you.For example, a family member or

friend, member of a non-governmental orreligious organization.Using an authorized representative en-

sures that your immigration representativemeets the standards of the organization towhich they belong. If you are not satisfiedwith an authorized representative, you canfile a complaint with their regulatorybody.Regulatory bodies impose a code of pro-

fessional conduct on their members to pro-tect public interest. They also have rules fordisciplining their members and compensat-ing clients.Members of the public should be fore-

warned to deal with only an authorized rep-resentative.Authorized Immigration Representatives

who are members of a regulatory body areissued membership cards with a photographof the representative. Verify that the repre-sentative is authorized. You can check onthe regulatory body’s website to see if thatperson is a member of good standing withthe regulatory body.Advertisements in the newspapers and on

the Internet does not mean that the person isan authorized representative. Many peopleare being ripped off of their hard earnedcash daily by “ghost immigration consult-ants” and “ lawyers”. Ask for referencesand do some background checks on the im-migration representative before hiring himor her.

Balwant Persaud is a Certified ImmigrationConsultant and a Member of The CanadianSociety of Immigration Consultants. Foranswers to your problems on this forum,send all enquiries tobalwantpersaud@yahoo.ca

BUSINESS Indo-Caribbean Times APRIL 2008 Page 10

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by the lender.The payment ranges from a flat fee to a

percentage of the value of the mortgage.Borrowers, however, may have to pay feesif their broker is arranging a high-risk mort-gage.Lenders see brokers as vehicles that bring

them more business, said Mark Webb, asenior director with CIMBL. Lenders onlypay a broker if they accept a mortgage. Thatlets them boost their mortgage volumewithout having to build more branches, hesaid.Over the past five years, a broker's role

has evolved beyond that of rate-chaser,Lochan said. The growing complexity ofmortgage products has added a financial ad-visory dimension to a broker's job, he said.These days, more than ever, it's essential toget a handle on a client's financial situation,from credit history to employment, to pres-ent them with appropriate mortgage op-tions."One of the things people in the industry

are saying is that if you're just going to sellrates, you're going to have a problem,"Webb said. "With all the competition, youcan go to more than one person who willgive you a good rate."Since 2002, brokers have increased their

market penetration among first-time buyersto 32 per cent from 22 per cent, CMHCsaid.But they're losing ground among those

renewing a mortgage. Broker usage by re-newers has fallen to six per cent from 11 percent in 2002. Renewers, according toCIMBL research, show a high degree ofloyalty to their current lender.For front-linebrokers like Lochan, this requires ongoingprofessional development to add value totheir service.It means harder work to retain clients andtrigger word of mouth that draws new busi-ness."You have to focus long term. If youlook out for customers and they're happy,then they'll refer friends and family."

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An Immigration Representative is some-one who is appointed by a person to coductbusiness on their behalf with Citizenshipand Immigration Canada (CIC), the Immi-gration and Refugee Board (IRB) and theCanada Border Services Agency (CBSA).You are not obliged to hire a representa-

tive for immigration matters. The Govern-ment of Canada treats everyone equally,whether they use the services of a repre-sentative or not. If you choose to hire a rep-resentative, your application will not begiven special attention nor can you expectfaster processing or a more favourable out-come.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada(CIC) realizes that the use of a representa-tive to assist in completing your immigra-tion application is a personal choice. TheGovernment of Canada does not recom-mend or endorse any individual representa-tive.In accordance with the Immigration and

Refugee Protection Regulations, CIC onlyrecognizes representatives who are mem-bers of1. A Canadian Provincial or territorial lawsociety2. The Canadian Society of ImmigrationConsultants (CSIC) or3. The Chambre des notaries du QuebecNo other representative may charge a fee

in relation to an application or proceeding,be it inland or overseas.Applications to CIC submitted by other

representatives who charge a fee will notbe processed and will be returned to theapplicant.Therefore, only an authorized

representative can charge a fee to a client.A person or organization that does not

charge a fee for the service may represent

Immigration Representatives Misinformation about therole of the mortgage brokerRudy Lochan has handled some tough

challenges during his years as a mort-gage broker. The mortgage consultants athis brokerage Anava Financing in Torontohave been sniffing out the lowest mortgagerates at times when rates have jumpedaround like yo-yos.Rudy has been helping first-time buyers

navigate the intricacies of prepayment andpenalties, and liningd up lenders for thekind of high-risk clients that traditionallenders would have shunned."The mortgage broker is understood but

it's definitely not at the level it should be,"Lochan said. "There's still a lot of misin-formation out there."Research shows that a large number of

consumers turn to brokers to find the bestmortgage deal but that large chunks of thepopulation still don't understand the rolebrokers’ play. About 26 per cent of mort-gages in Canada are arranged through mort-gage brokers, according to the CanadianInstitute of Mortgage Brokers and Lenders.That's up from about 14 per cent in 1999.Consumer attitudes towards mortgage

brokers have improved since 2001, CanadaMortgage and Housing Corp. said in an-other study released last month. Fifty-oneper cent of consumers say brokers offer avaluable service when arranging a mort-gage, up from 37 per cent in 2001.But lots of consumers remain in a state of

semi-darkness when it comes to brokers."Consumers are still uncertain about

whom brokers really work for, with 32 percent of the view they work for lenders and36 per cent thinking they work on behalf ofconsumers," CIMBL said.Mortgage brokers function as middlemen

between home buyer and lender. Theymatch borrowers with bankers by identify-ing mortgages that best suit the needs oftheir consumer clients. Brokers appeal tomany buyers because of their track recordat arranging mortgages at rates lower thanthose posted by the banks and they are paid

By Ijaz Hosein

The credit score also referred to as the“FICO score” or the “Beacon score” is amathematical formulae created by FairIsaac and Company.The credit score is used by most compa-

nies to decide if the applicant is a goodcredit risk or not. Equifax and Trans Unionwill crunch numbers from the credit reportand spit out a number somewhere between300 and 900.A low score indicates a bad risk, scores of

700 plus puts the applicant in the lendersgood books. This is where we all want to beas it means that borrowing money may costless.

Scores are calculated by weight andpoints given to each of five factors.

Payment History 35% weight 315 pointsBankruptcy, late payments, past due ac-counts and wage attachments, collections,judgements

Amounts Owed 30% weight 270 pointsAmount owed on accounts, proportion ofbalance to total credit limit

Length of Credit History 15% 135 ptsTime since accounts opened, time since

account activity

New Credit 10% weight 90 pointsNumber of recent inquiries, number of re-cently opened accounts

Types of Credit 10% weight 90 pointsNumber of various types of accounts (creditcards, retail cards, mortgage etc.)

Here’s how you can improve your creditscore:

Order a copy of your credit report, reviewit carefully and correct any significant er-rors.Always pay bills on time.

If you have questionable credit history youshould open a few new accounts, use them

responsibly and pay them off on time.Don’t open accounts that you do not in-

tend to use. Having 5 or 6 of the same typeof credit card (Visa for example) does notwork in your favour.Note that having a credit card or instal-

ment loan can help boost your score, aslong as you don’t have too high a balance.Keep balance low in relation to availablecredit. If the credit limit is $10000, keepingthe balance below $2500 (or 25% of thelimit) will improve the score. Balancesabove 75% of the limit will decrease thescore. Going over the limit has a strongnegative effect.Pay off credit card debt instead of mov-

ing it around to lower rate cards. Movingbalances to other credit cards (called a “bal-ance transfer” ) and closing out the old ac-count can hurt your score.Remember that your aim is to achieve a

high credit score through the responsibleuse of credit.

Ijaz Hosein is a Financial Advisor withBoosterLink Financial Inc and can bereached at 647-401-1608

How credit scoring can affect your financial health

Indo-Caribbean Times APRIL 2008 Page 11

Indo-Caribbean Times APRIL 2008 Page 12

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The Persads were serving complimen-tary carrot cake and hot chaiat their

Scarborough based Curry & Roti Restau-rant during the last week of March, andwith good reason. This year the restaurantcelebrates 35 years as the pioneerCaribbean restaurant in the East, with athird generation stepping in since it wasfounded in 1973.Unlike most other roti shops in Toronto,

the Curry and Roti Restaurant in Scarbor-ough has a web site and an e-mail address.That is how they get customer feedback likethis from the Mirfields from distant Sud-bury.:“Hi! I was down to Toronto on April 2,

and stopped at your store to order 5 roties togo!! They were delicious!! I had taken mydaughter and a friend to the David Bowieconcert the night before, didn't have muchtime to organize the roti pick-up as weheaded back north to Sudbury. Your hus-band did an amazing job, since just as we

Curry & Roti Restaurant celebrates milestone of 35 years of service

arrived to order; he also had 8 people wait-ing to order their lunch. Thank-you forprompt service in spite of the rush; weloved the food, and will continue to stop inwhen we get to Toronto. Next time (if weare organized!!!!) we will order ahead oftime. Please feel free to use our email tosupport your customer service. Regards,the Mirfields, Sudbury.”Cathy, visiting from Sydney, Nova Sco-

tia, was also quite as enthusiastic.“Just toadd to your compliments. I think your rotiis the best. We used to live in Don Millsand frequented your store often. We alsoattended cricket tournaments with friendsand enjoyed your roti during the eveningcelebrations. I just returned for a visit toToronto and had the pleasure of enjoyingyour chicken roti once again. It was asgood as I remember nine years ago. Thanks Cathy Targett, Sydney, Nova Sco-tia.”(CONTINUED ON PAGE 11)

This Indian dancer was one of several artistes who came out to perform for the“One Love Guyana Family day” held on March 29 at Centre in Mississauga toraise funds for children of the Guyana massacre victims. The show was broad-cast live on the internet at www.baselineradio.net.

Charming young ladies show the faces of the Indo-Jamaican community at the annual tRoti Fesival held in Kingston, Jamaica recently. The roti and festival were a hit.

Indo-Caribbean Times APRIL 2008 Page 13

Toronto Arya Samaj held its annual Phagwah concert on March 29 with grand showfeaturing songs, dances, music and drama.Here is a scene from the play highlighting in-tergenerational issues that afflict many families. From left to right are Richard Umadas(friend), Tara Umadas (daughter) and Almel Murugun (mother).The play was directedby Leila Tikaram and was a big hit at the show. The Sur Sangeet Ork provided musicalentertainment.Next month the Samaj hosts a special Centenary Celebration of the arrival of Indo-

Caribbeans in Canada, which took place in 1908 with the coming to Canada of Trinidadborn student Kenneth Mahabir and Guyanese clerk M.E. Santoo. The event will featurea special exhibition focusing on Indo-Caribbeans in Canada and the heritage theybrought from the Caribbean and replanted in this new country.

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Well known devotional singer and musician Sonny Moonilal (second from right) cele-brated his 60th birthday with a traditional havan and satsangh at the Peel Arya Samajtemple with family and friends recently. Afterwards he flew off to Hawaii on a trip paidfor my close family from Toronto.

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Take out roti made to orderOpen daily 11 am - 9 pm

Family owned and operatedGreat Caribbean Food

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1770 Albion Road, Rexdale416-746-4472

Ram’s Roti Shop

Ram and Ruby Maharaj, proprietors

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COMMUNITY NEWS Indo-Caribbean Times APRIL 2008 Page 15

Kamla’s Fashions Inc.Kamla’s Fashions Inc.Wholesale Garment Manufacturer

1510 Birchmont RoadUnits 106 & 107

Scarborough, Ontario M1P 2G6Phone: (416) 913-2379 Fax: (416) 752-1105

e-mail: KamlasFashion@gmail.com

We accept orders from schools, clubs and organizations

Massive clearance sale continues in the factory outlet (same location)

Fill your barrels to send back home

Youth T-Shirts and Tank Tops - $2.00 eachAdult Golf Shirts $5.00

Ladies Leggings and Capri Pants $3.00Children’s Clothing from $2.00 each

Adult Tee-Shirts in a variety of sizes and colours - $2.00Wide range of Winter Clothing on Sale

Scrap for cleaning - $5.00 a bag

Wide variety of transfers/screen prints – Babies, Children, Humour, Christmas, topical, geographical/Souvenir from 50 cents.

Anup Jalota Live atDevi Mandir April 11DEVI MANDIR presents Anup Jalota Livein Concert Friday April 11 at 7 pm at themandir on 2590 Brock Road, Pickering.Anup is accompanied by Tony Ramasar ontabla, Devin Latchmana on dholak andBasheer on bul-bul tarang.Admission isfree. For info call 905=686-8534 or 416-897-8005.

EMPIRE BANQUET HALLS presents aMother's Day Dinner and Dance, on Satur-day May 10, from 7.30 pm at 246 Brock-port Drive, Toronto (Highway 27 andHighway 409). Treat your mother to alovely evening of dining and dancing – shedeserves it! Enjoy a delicious buffet dinner,live entertainment and dancing all nightlong. Roses will be presented to all moth-ers. $30 admission. For info call 416-679-9403.

TORONTO ARYA SAMAJ holds its An-nual General Meeting on Sunday April 20at 12.30 p.m. at #4345 * 14th Avenue.Markham, (at Kennedy Road,Markham).for info contact secretary DaveRamoutar at 416-663-4037

TORONTO ARYA SAMAJ’s annualSouth Asian Heritage Month Program takesplace on Saturday May 31 starting at 5 p.m.It features an exhibition focusing on the100th anniversary of the arrival of Indo-Caribbeans in Canada. and a cultural/stageprogram celebrating the Indo-Caribbeanculture and heriage. Admission is free.Venus is the Vedic Cultural Centre at #4345* 14th Avenue. Markham, (at KennedyRoad, Markham). For info contact Dave at416-663-4037 or 905-475-5778.

TRI DEOTA MANDIR invites you to aRamayan Yagna to be held at the Caledo-nia Community Recreation Hall, 110Lotherton Pathway, Toronto, from FridayApril 18 to Sunday April 20. Friday andSaturday sessions begin at 6 pm and Sun-day from 9.30 am to 1.00 pm. Officiatingpriest is Pandit Balchand Persaud. For infocontact Pt Balchand at 416-665-7902 orGaneshwar Persaud at 416-766-0022.

TRIVENI SANGAM KIRTAN GROUPpresents Randy and Ramona Mahadeo inConcert on Saturday April 26, at the Elm-bank Community Centre, 10 RampartRoad, Etobicoke (Martindale Road south ofFinch). Artistes include Shanti Jackree anddancrd by Baby Sarah, and tassa by SylvanBharath Tassa Group. Tickets are $10. Forinfo or tickets call Rawle Bissoon at 416-821-7608 or Sheila Mahadeo at 416-745-5727.

COMMUNITY ACTION MEETINGto say NO to Harper’s immigration amend-ments! and NO TO BILL C-50!Wednesday April 23, 2008, 6:00 to 8:00at St. Stephen's Community House (260Augusta Avenue). Recently the Harper Conservative gov-

ernment tried to sneak changes to the Im-migration and Refugee Protection Act(IRPA) through the House of Commons viaC-50 (the budget implementation act).These sweeping changes will give enor-mous powers to the Minister to decidewhich categories of immigration applica-tions will be processed, and which wouldbe ignored or discarded. It will also limitseveral kinds of applicants based on hu-manitarian and compassionate grounds thatCanadian sponsors can use to bring theirrelatives into Canada, and gives the Minis-ter extraordinary powers to deny visas tothose who meet all the immigration crite-ria.Join us on April 23 to learn about the

legal and political ramifications of Bill C-50 from leading community researchers andimmigration lawyers and help us build aneffective and coordinated educational andpolitical campaign against these regressivechanges to IRPA.For more information please contact: co-

ordinator@statusnow.or or visit www.sta-tusnow.org

NAPARIMA ALUMNI ASSOCIATIONOF CANADA celebrates its 30th an-niversary with a Dinner and Dance at theHoliday Inn Select, Brampton on May 24.Tickets at $60 for members and $65 for nonmembers are available from Merle at 905-844-1254 or Norma at 416-283-0675. Aspecial hotel room rate of $95 is availablefor persons attending the function. The As-sociation holds its Annual General Meetingon Saturday May 31, at 1.30 pm at theMontessori Teacher Training Centre, 1050McNicoll Avenue, Scarborough.

THE TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 50PLUS AND SENIORS Association ofCanada will hold their monthly meeting atBirkdale Community Center on Sunday 27April, 2008 at 1.30pm.. For more informa-tion please call 416-281-5264.

CALYPSO HISTORIANGeorge Maharaj launches Volume 2 of his History of Ca-lypso in Toronto on Sunday May. 4th, atthe L'Amoreaux Community Center,Toronto at 4 pm. Cost of the book is $20and copies are available at the launch.Thisnew volume is 181 pages long with over 25vintage photos and includes the contribu-tion to calypso of Indo-Trinidadians, Chi-nese and Syrians, calypsoes on cricket andprofiles of over 1,000 calypsonians. Forinfo go to www.rootsofcalypso.com or call905-621-6157.

INDO-CANADIAN NETWORKINGCOUNCIL OF HAMILTON AND SUR-ROUNDINGS invites all to a Gala Dinnerand Concert of Indian Music and Dance incelebration of South Asian Heritage Month, at the Hamilton Convention Centre, onMay 3, from 5-11 pm. Tickets are $55 perperson. Entertainment includes the SteelBandits steel orchestra, musician AshtarRoy Allen, Bharatnatyam dances and more.For info call Mohan Ragbir at 905-648-5122 or Kamal Shankerdass at 905-627-9420.

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, BramptonRamnarine Sahadeo 905 671 9233 e-mailramjihindu@rogers.com, Omesh SharmaOmesh@flexomark.com, Chandan Persaud at 416-754-2382, Gulcharan at416 481-5777 gmohabir@hotmail.com,Ram Jagessar at 416 289 9088 orram@eol.ca

RICHMOND HILLOmo Persaud at omo@globalspectru-minc.com 905-886-1724

Winnipeg:Ajodhya Mahadeo 204-661-6643

British ColumbiaChameli Seegobin 604-945-9510, e-mailaddress maylee34@hotmail.com, andNaraine Mohabir at 604-274-8938

GUYANA: Saraswati Vidya Niketan ph.2760013/14

Indo-Caribbean Times APRIL 2008 Page 16

Television host Kenty Khan fromToronto gave his unsolicited praise that,“The fare at Curry and Roti Restaurant isboth healthy and delicious. I can certainlyattest to that”. That’s music to the ears of the proud

owners of Mac and Rozanne Persaud andtheir children Jonathan & Simone. Theyfeel it’s the result of a full 35 years of ex-perience as aCaribbean restaurant in East-ern Toronto that they’ve establishedthemselves and expanded their client basewell into mainstream Canada. Curry and Roti has also been positioning

itself as a healthier choice for roti, doubles,and other mostly Guyanese and Trinidadiancuisine on their menu. For promoting ahealthier lifestyle and striving to exceed rexpectations, it has been recognized with“Awards of Excellence & Healthy Eating”from the City of Toronto EATSMART Pro-gram each year since 1995.

Rozanne’s uncle, Kunj Persaud pio-neered The Curry & Roti Restaurant in1973 by offering the favourites from theCaribbean islands and Indian delicacies likeroti and curry in particular. The two newgenerations pride themselves on carryingon the original plan of offering a healthierchoice in eating. It's won them severalawards and a dedicated clientele from manygroups in Toronto as well as the Caribbeancommunity,' They've done it by offering meats thatare not frozen, ordered fresh from thebutcher, trimmed of excess fat and cookedfresh the same day. Their curries have noadditional oils added and any residual fat isskimmed away. They avoid the salty,greasy or excessively sugary foods that areso dangerous to body health. And they takepains to bring out the delectable flavour thatis such an attraction of Caribbean foods.

Immigration bill could change Canadachange the rules at will."I'm very concerned," he said. "These

changes are far more serious than peoplehave been led to believe."The federal Liberals, in combination with

any other opposition party, could defeat theproposed amendments to the Immigrationand Refugee Protection Act. But such avote would trigger an election because thechanges are embedded in Flaherty's budgetimplementation bill. Moreover, the Liberals' own record on

this issue is nothing to boast about. It wastheir ham-handed attempt to bring in strin-gent new entry criteria in 2002 that causedmost of the backlog.What is sorely needed – and not likely to

happen – is a thorough debate.Perhaps Finley has no intention of curry-

ing favour with ethnic voters, catering tothe demands of business or keeping outpeople from certain regions. But if this billbecomes law, there will be nothing to stopher.

Mac,who is the main cook, delivers theclassic white roti, but also offers 100% or-ganic whole grain roti as well, with everysingle single nutrient from the whole grain- bran, endosperm and germ – being usedto supply all the vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and fibre that are present in thewhole grain. Their roti is low in saturatedand no trans fat and is a source of fibre thatare all components of healthy eating thatmay reduce the risk of heart disease; greatfor reducing blood sugar levels and keep-ing a trim waistline. There are no preserva-tives or the dreaded MSG, emphasizesRozanne.

She continues to explain, “Now morethan ever; people are taking control of theirlives. Whether it is through their diet, nu-trition or exercise, people have begun topay attention. Health issues such as obe-sity, heart disease, cancer, stress and addic-tion affect us every day. People are seekingalternative solutions to their particularhealth needs.”Some years ago their oldest daughter

started a catering option that has caught onwell, as more people avoid the task of cook-ing large meals at home in favour of or-dering out. The restaurant has put out thewelcome mat for seniors, and invites themto interact with other seniors Monday toWednesday between 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm,with a 15% discount on purchases.Their invitation says it all. You are in-

vited to “ Live Well, Love Lots, LaughOften” when you visit them at their land-mark site at 1732 Lawrence Avenue East,(North east corner of Victoria Park) Scar-borough, Ontario, telephone number 416-757-6635. Their website atwww.curryandroti.com gives a detailed listof their offerings and their program.

Brampton trials show plans forCanadian terror bombings

Curry & Roti celebrates 35 years(From Page 11)

By Carol Goar

It is possible that Immigration MinisterDiane Finley wants more power to do ex-actly what she says: clean up her depart-ment's enormous backlog of unprocessedapplications.It is also possible that she is equipping

herself to transform Canada's overloadedimmigration system into a lean, business-friendly recruitment tool.

Both interpretations fit the availablefacts. The determining factor will be howthe minister uses her expanded mandate.Legal experts are still parsing the changes

to the Immigration and Refugee ProtectionAct, introduced on March 14. But the pre-liminary consensus is that they are muchmore significant than Canadians have beentold.Under the new legislation, the immigra-

tion minister would have the authority to:Limit the number of immigration appli-

cations Canada accepts.Deny admission to applicants already ap-

proved by immigration officers.Block the entry of would-be immigrants

"by category or otherwise."These measures, backed by a $22 million

funding boost in last month's budget, wouldcertainly allow the government to whittledown its pile of 900,000 unprocessed im-migration applications. If visa offices cut off new applications,

the staff could tackle the six-year accumu-lation of paperwork in their files. If the min-ister instructed them, as a first priority, todiscard all applications from individualswho have died, immigrated elsewhere ordecided against coming to Canada, the pilewould shrink appreciably.But if clearing the backlog is Finley's ob-

jective, why does she need the power to barcertain types of immigrants? Why does sheseek the authority to reject applicants whohave already met Canada's admission crite-ria? Why doesn't she just give managers ofvisa offices in countries such as China,India and the Philippines the discretion toclose the intake pipe when their workloadsbecome unmanageable?The sweeping nature of the changes pro-

posed in Bill C-50 suggests something big-ger than housecleaning is afoot.Finance Minister Jim Flaherty called it

"modernizing the immigration system" inhis Feb. 26 budget. He said the governmentwants a "just-in-time competitive immigra-tion system, which will quickly processskilled immigrants who can make an im-mediate contribution to the economy."

The fastest way to get there is to cen-tralize control in the minister's office.That is what Bill C-50 would do. If Fin-

ley wanted to block the inflow of relativessponsored by family members in Canada,she could do it. If she wanted to exclude im-migrants from certain countries, she coulddo it. If she wanted to propel foreign work-ers needed by a government-friendly em-ployer to the front of the queue, she coulddo that, too."This fundamentally changes our immi-

gration policy," said Lorne Waldman, alawyer who has practised in the field formore than 30 years. "The minister couldissue an instruction overriding all of the ex-isting criteria."What this means, Waldman said, is that

Canada would no longer be an immigrant-welcoming country. It would be a richWestern power that shops for high-valueimmigrants. Federal officials would nolonger use objective standards to determinewhether an individual qualifies for a visa.The minister would be able to set and

The "shocking and sensational" innerworkings of an alleged homegrown

Canadian terror cell were unveiled in aBrampton court – and included the plottingof an attack "much greater" in scale than theLondon 2005 bombings that killed 52 peo-ple. In a document made public for the first

time, the Crown painted a broad picture ofthe expected evidence in the trial of a youthwho pleaded not guilty to belonging to aterrorist group. The trial opened recently.

According to the allegations, the so-called Toronto 18 were attempting to securea safe house to store weapons and practisemilitary drills, and embarking on a missionto destroy the West – one they should bewilling to die for.Details of the alleged plot, which also in-

cluded storming Parliament Hill and be-heading politicians, emerged in a factumfiled by the Crown that described the caseagainst the accused as "shocking and sen-sational."The document contains transcripts of

wiretaps and videotapes that include oneconversation in which one of the accusedspeaks of the group's ambitions. "They're probably expecting what hap-pened in London or something," he said. "...Some bombing in a subway kills 10 peopleand everybody gets deported. We're notdoing that. ... So our thing it's, it's much,much greater on a scale ... you do it onceand you make sure they can never recover

again."The accused were among 18 adults andyouths arrested in a massive police sweepin 2006 for allegedly belonging to an AlQaeda inspired cell. Charges against threeyouths have been stayed. Of the adults, 10remain in jail and four are out on bail. Oneof the youths has a Trinidad connection, asthe son of a Trinidad born doctor now livingin Canada.Some of that expected evidence includes:

Videos of terrorist indoctrination, inwhich the accused are exhorted to wagebattle in the new empire of "Rome" inNorth America, "whether we get arrested,whether we get killed."Wiretap surveillance in which they dis-

cuss their desire to "establish the religion ofAllah and to get rid of the oppressors" andthe need for funds to finance their goals ofbuilding a "team" to "go make an attack." The construction of a "radio frequency

remote-control detonator" that needed to beimproved because its range was nine me-tres.

Allegations the accused attended twotraining camps. One was a 12-day campnear the town of Washago, Ont., where theypractised military-style exercises in cam-ouflage gear and undertook firearms train-ing with a 9-mm firearm. The second was atwo-day camp at the Rockwood Conserva-tion Area, where they donned camouflageclothing and made a propaganda-stylevideo of their military drills.According to the Crown, the alleged ter-

rorists first popped onto the radar of policein August 2005, when two of the adultswere stopped at the Canada-U.S. border ina rented vehicle while attempting to smug-gle firearms and ammunition into the coun-try. Po homed in on a few individuals andcontacted Mubin Shaikh to act as a policeagent.Shaikh, a well-known member of the

city's Muslim community, was told to at-tend a banquet hall on Nov. 27 and makecontact with two of the adults. It was therethat Shaikh met the youth now on trial.Topics of discussions between Shaikh andthe adults included the worldwide oppres-sion of Muslims and the Canadian SecurityIntelligence Service. A few days later,Shaikh and an adult drove to a park, wherehe laid out his plans to attack various tar-gets, including the Parliament buildings. Hesaid he needed to assemble a group andplanned to organize an outdoor trainingcamp. Because Shaikh had military experi-ence, he agreed to be an instructor at the so-called camp.

In late December, 13 men and youthsdrove to a rural wooded area about 150kilometres north of the city, where they par-ticipated in military marches, obstaclecourse runs and firearms training. Shaikhused a 9-mm gun brought by an adult toteach the others basic gun safety. The prosecution alleges the true nature

of the camp was revealed by an adult in aseries of lectures he delivered to the group– lectures that were videotaped and subse-quently found by police when they exe-cuted a covert search warrant at the homeof another adult in May 2006.In the video, the man is seated in the dark

under what appears to be a tent. He ad-dresses the group passionately, explaining:"Our mission's greater, whether we get ar-rested, whether we get killed. ... Rome hasto be defeated. And we have to be the onesthat do it."

Sugar supply to Caricom downThe Guyana Sugar Corporation (Guysuco)has reduced its supply of sugar to Caricomby 80,000 tonnes over 2004 levels and in-creased supply to the European Union,Chief Executive Nick Jackson said.He said this was because of reduced pro-

duction, mainly owing to inclementweather.In response to queries Guyana’s sugar ex-ports, Jackson said Guyana has given upexporting raw sugar to Suriname, Barbados,Grenada and St Lucia this year.

RELIGION Indo-Caribbean Times APRIL 2008 Page 17of Bharat-Desh and where ever it fell, cre-ated 51.

SHAKTI-PITHAS.When Lord Shiva saw Shatee is no more

on His solder, he became quiet and sat indeep meditation. The mother of the uni-verse (Shatee) is residing in 51 Shakti-Pi-thas in different forms. One of the parts ofShatee’s body fell in Vrindavan. ShateeDevi is residing there as Katyayanee. InVrindavan Katyayannee Shakti-Pith, thosewho pray to Devi-mata, she blesses themfor Bhakti(Devotion). In CHANDI,katyayanee Devi blessed King Surath forhappiness and Samadhi Vaishya for mukti,moksha (liberation). Indian mothers pray toKatyayanee Devi to find honest boys (Son-in-law) for their daughters. KatyayaneeDevi showers her choicest blessings to herdevotees. Katyayanee: Katyaynaee is sonamed because of her stay at the hermitageof sage Katyayan for the purpose ofpenance. She is sometimes also said to bethe daughter of sage Katyayan. She also is shown astride a lion and has

three eyes and four arms. In one hand sheholds a lotus and in another a weapon. Thethird and fourth hands show defending andgranting gestures.

KALRATRIKalratri is the seventh form of Devi

Durga. In Rig-Vedas (10th Mandal) God(Paramatma, Parabrahma) is said as Ratri(dark-night). The Divine mother of the uni-verse is the Shakti (strength of the dark-night) of Ratri. At night animal kingdom(Jeeb-Jagat) take break from work andsleep and all the tiredness is removed. Atthe time of Maha-pralay (universal destruc-tion) the world takes shelter on the lap ofthe Divine mother. The night of annihila-tion is the dark night (Maharatri). Kal-Ratriis darker than Maharatri. In Maharatri thewhole universe is destroyed, but BhagawanVishnu is awake. At the time of Kal-Ratri(the darkest night) Bhagawan Vishnusleeps. Kal-Ratri is the Yogo-Nidra of Bha-gawan Vishnu. In CHANDI, Lord Brahmaprayed to Yogo-Nidra Devi to awaken upBhagawan Vishnu. This Yogo-Nidra isMaha-Kalika or KALRATRI. At the end ofthe day we all take rest and in the morningwe all awake up. At night on whose lap wesleep, she is Kalratri, she is Yogo-Nidra,and she is the divine mother of the universe.KALRATRI is depicted as having black

skin with bountiful hair, four arms andastride a donkey. In one hand she holds acleaver and in another a burning torch. Withthe other two hands she forms gestures ofgranting and defending. She represents theenemy of darkness and ignorance.

MAHA-GOUREEIt is said that when Parvati, consort of

Lord Shiva, became dark while observingpenance, Lord Shiva jokingly addressedHer Kalo-meye (dark girl), being conceitedshe sat in severe penance. By severepenance, she gave her dark colour to herhusband Lord Shiva and she became thefairest complexion and thus she came to beknown as Maha-Gouree (Gouree meansfairest).Maha-Gouree depicted as the fairest of

the nine Durgas and is often dressed inwhite or green. She emanates peace andcompassion and is shown with three eyesand as riding a bull. She also has four arms,one of which carries a tambourine and an-other trident. The other two forms are in de-fending and granting gestures.

(CONTINUED ON PAGE 20)

By Swami Dibyananda

Sage Markendeya asked Lord Brahma toexplain to him the NINE SECRET

FORMS OF GODDESS DURGA whichhas not yet been explained to any one. Thesecret forms of Goddess Durga are knownas ‘NAVA DURGA’ (Nine forms of DeviDurga). In CHANDI (Devi-kavaj), theverses are:

Prathamam Shailaputreeti DwiteeyamBrahmacharini /Triteeyam Chandaghanteti KusmandetiChatoorthakam //(3)Panchamam Skandamateti ShasthamKatyayanee TathaSaptamam Kalaratreeti MahagoureetiChastamam // (4)Navamam Siddhidatree Cha NavadurgahPrakeertitah //

SHAILA-PUTREE‘Shaila-putree’ is the first secret form of

NAVA DURGA. SHAILA means moun-tain and Putree means daughter. Giriraj, theMountain King Himalaya did strivepenance to get Goddess Durga (the divinemother of the universe) as His daughter. Ac-cording to SKANDHA PURAN, a Yajnawas performed in the presence of all theGods and Rishies. When Prajapati Dakshaappeared there, all the Gods and the Rishiesstood up and paid him salutation, only thetriumvirate Gods: Lord Brahma, Vishnuand Mahesh (Shiva) did not pay him re-spect. (Lord Brahma is the creator, LordVishnu is the sustainer and Lord Mahesh(Shiva) the destroyer). Prajapati Dakshathought Lord Brahma should not pay me re-spect as he is my father, also he is the cre-ator and Lord Vishnu is lord of three worldsand he is sustainer. But Lord Shiva shouldpay me respect as he got married to mydaughter, Shatee. He is my son-in-law. Whydidn’t he pay respect to me? He becamevery angry and felt criticized. Prajapati Daksha returned to His king-

dom and organized a Yajna; he invitedeveryone in the three worlds including allthe Gods, Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnuand all the Rishes except Lord Shiva andhis consort Shatee. When Shatee heard, herfather - Prajapati Daksha is performing aYajna, she wanted to go, but Lord Shivatold Shatee, it does not require an invitationto go to your father’s house, but remember,your father organized this Yajna to criticizeme. That’s why you should not go. Never-theless, Shatee, Lord Shiva’s consort wentto her father’s house. No one spoke to her,even her father. He along with others startedto criticize her husband (Lord Shiva). Onlyher mother Prasuti spoke to her. Shateecould not bear her husband’s criticism andimmediately left her mortal coil through‘yoga’ (she died). Upon hearing, LordShiva sent Virbhadra to destroy the yajna.Lord Shiva then came and took Shatee’sdead body on His shoulder and with angerstarted to dance as if he will destroy theWorld. Lord Vishnu, realizing it would bevery difficult to save the world from LordShiva’s anger; with His Sudarshan Chakracut Shatee’s body into 51 parts. Whereverthey fell became SHAKTI PITHAS (Devi-Tirtha).When lord Shiva realized Shateewas no longer on His shoulder, he becamequiet and sat in deep meditation. The demons (asuras) were always fight-

ing with the Gods; and were occupying theHeaven over and over. All the Gods went toLord Brahma and asked for advise. He ad-vised them, ‘by the union of Lord Shiva and

NAVA-DURGA

Nava Durga (Nine Forms of Goddess Durga)giver of knowledge, blissand serenity.

KUSHMANDAThe forth form of God-

dess Durga is Kushmanda.Ushma means tap (heat).The name of ugly heat isKushmanda. In this mortalworld there are Adhib-houtich (Elemental), Adhi-doubick (providential) andAdhyatmik (spiritual) thetritap (three kinds of heat-ing). Bhagawan Srikrishnadrank the Davanal (confla-gration) of Braja (Vrinda-

van) to save His devotees. Bhagwan ShivShankar drank the Halahal (Poison) whichcame out during the churning of MilkyOcean by Devatas and the Asuran. The Di-vine mother Durga is called KUSH-MANDA. Those who take Refuge ofDivine mother Durga, she drinks theirKushmanda, the ugly heating – cause of de-struction. She is very kind to her children,she is the savior and always protects herchildren. The Goddess Durga, Kushmanda is de-

picted as emanating a cosmic aura and isdepicted as having eight hands, seven ofwhich carry weapons while the eighth car-ries a rosary.

SKANDAMATADeva-Senapati (Commander in Chief of

Gods) is Kumar Kartick, he is known asSKANDHA. Goddess Durga took birth asthe daughter of Giriraj Himalaya andMenoka Devi, she was named Parvati.When Parvati was young, Kamdev (Cupid)appeared before Lord Shiva in order tobreak his austere penance, by the request ofthe Gods. Kamdev was reduced to ashes bythe flame of anger of Lord Shiva. Parvatirealized it required austere penance withoutwhich she cannot be dear to Lord Shiva.Parvati, started austere penance, her motherMenoka Devi requested her over and overnot to do it, but she did not listen. She is theShakti, she is the consort of Lord Shiva,how can she stay without Lord Shiva? Atthe beginning stage of penance she was eat-ing leaves from the trees but after a whileshe stopped eating the leaves also. Lord Shiva has been in deep meditation

for Shakti (Parvati) and Parvati is in deepmeditation for Lord Shiva. The stonehearted Lord Shiva melted by stead fastprayer of Parvati. Lord Shiva got marriedto Parvati. By their union Kumar Kartickwas born. He was the Commander in chief(Deva-Senapati) Skandha who defeated thedemons. Devi Parvati becomes SKANDAMATA. We are proud of Skandha as he isthe son of Lord Shiva and Devi Parvati.Parvati is proud of her heroic son Skandhaand she is Skandhamata.

The goddess is shown as having fourhands, two of which carry lotuses while twoare in defending and granting gestures. Sheis shown sitting on a lion with her sonSkanda in her lap.

KATYAYANEEKATYAYANEE is the sixth form of God-

dess Durga. Shatee left her mortal coil,Lord Shiva took the dead body of Shatee onHis solder and with anger started dancingas if he will destroy the Universe. LordVishnu realizing it would be very difficultto save the Universe from His anger, withHis Sudarsan Chakra cut the dead body in51 parts and were thrown in different parts

Durga ason willbe bornwho willd e f e a tt h edemons’.All theG o d st h e nwent toGoddessD u r g aand re-questedher toa p p e a ron theearth again as the consort of Lord Shiva. Inorder to fulfill the desires of the Gods shewas born as the daughter of Giriraj Himalayand Menoka Devi, Shaila-Putree. As daughter (putree) of Giriraj, the Hi-malaya Mountains (Shaila), Parvati orHemvati represents the first of the nineDurgas (Nava-Durga). She is depicted asholding a trident and a lotus in each of hertwo hands and is shown mounted on a bull.

BRAHMACHARINEE (Female ascetic)Goddess Durga was born as the daugh-

ter of Giriraj Himalay and Menoka Devi(Shila-Putree) to fulfill the desires of thegods and also to reunite with her husband,LORD SHIVA. She was named Parvati. Brahmacharinee the name indicates thephase of Parvati's life when she was in-dulging in severe austerities to appeaseLord Shiva into marrying her. She hadpledged that she would remain unmarried(Brahmacharinee) till Lord Shiva gives hisconsent to marrying Parvati.

She is shown as holding a water pot(Kumbha) in one hand and a rosary in theother. She is considered as the symbol ofknowledge and wisdom. Rudrakhsa (rosarybeads) is her form of favorite ornamenta-tion.

CHANDA-GHANTAWhen the demons (asuras) occupied the

Heaven, all the Gods assembled and startedto pray to the Divine Mother of the Uni-verse to appear and save them from thedemons. Goddess Durga appeared as Ma-halakshmi from the union powers of all theGods to kill Mahishashur. All the Gods pre-sented weapons to her. Indra the King ofHeaven presented her Chanda-Ghanta(Ringing bell). Those who are proceedingtowards the path of righteousness, towardsthe path of spirituality, can hear the NAD-BRAHMA, the spiritual sound. GoddessDurga shows them spiritual light (JyotiDarshan). The spiritual scholars say, thesound of the bell is the combined sound ofall the musical instruments. Those whopassed their life with desires, by hearingthe sound of the bell they are scared andthink Yaamraj, the death is coming to themriding on a buffalo and the bell is hangingon the neck of the buffalo. But those whoare the devotee of mother and always en-gage in the path of righteousness can hearthe Chanda-Ghanta (Nad-brahme) and al-ways feel the presence of divine motherDurga and enjoy their spiritual life.

As Chanda-ghanta, the goddess is de-picted as having golden skin and with amoon-crescent near her forehead. She isshown as having three eyes and ten hands,eight of which carry weapons and two ofwhich form gestures of giving boons andstopping harms. She is shown as sitting ona tiger. She is usually associated with the

One image of the Divine Mother Durga

WORLD NEWS Indo-Caribbean Times APRIL 2008 Page 18

Trinidad-born Sgt Dayne DarrenDhanoolal, of Brooklyn, New York,

was killed in Baghdad on March 31.Dhanoolal, 26, originally from Acono

Road, Belle View, Maracas, St Joseph, mi-grated to the United States in 1997 when hewas 15 years old. He was due home fromIraq in three weeks’ time, when he died.Dhanoolal was wounded when an im-

provised explosive device detonated nearhis vehicle.He was the son of Monica Mary Brown,

who now lives in Killeen, Texas, andSylvon Dhanoolal, of Acono Road, BelleView, Maracas, St Joseph. Dhanoolal is the4,012th American soldier to die in the warin Iraq.His sister Natalie Dhanoolal said the US

Department of Defence yesterday an-nounced the death of a soldier who wassupporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. It wasDhanoolal’s second tour in Iraq.Natalie said he was assigned to the Sec-

ond Battalion, 69th Armour Regiment,Third Brigade Combat Team, Third In-fantry Division, Fort Benning, Georgia.He attended New Dorp High School in

Staten Island and went on to Brooklyn Col-lege to start his higher education studies.Natalie said Dhanoolal decided not to

continue with his studies and then joinedthe Army in 2002.Dhanoolal was the only son of his parents.He had three sisters, Karlene Fenton, JilleneFenton, also a soldier in the US Army, andNatalie.Natalie said her sister Jillene was on her

fourth tour in Iraq and rushed home to at-tend to the funeral arrangements. He is believed to be the first Trinidad

born casualty in the Iraq war that has alsoseen thousands of US soldiers wounded. US Hindus win a

battle on textbooksCalifornia Parents for the Equalization ofEducational Materials (CAPEEM) scored amajor victory when Judge Frank C. Dam-rell, Jr. of the United States District Court ofthe Eastern District of California rejectedthe defendants' motion to dismissCAPEEM's lawsuit to correct inaccuraciesin sixth grade history textbooks.CAPEEM's complaint contends that the

process to adopt the textbooks discrimi-nated against Hindus and that the textbooksindulge in indoctrination of Abrahamic re-ligions while using disparaging languageagainst Hinduism.

American Hindus have been waging acampaign in several states about the wayschool textbooks portray Hinduism as anidol worshipping, animal worshipping andcaste ridden, backward religion, ignoringthe views of the Hindus themselves.

Trinidad born Sgt Dhanoolalkilled in Iraq, casualty # 4012

Disappointing reaction of gov’t, opposition in Guyana crisis(From Page 4)The solution is clear. The problem is racialand the problem is fixable. Three thingsmust be done:The armed forces must be racially bal-

anced now. Commission after commissionhas recommended this. The PPP continuesto make excuses about Indians not wantingto join the army and police. We all knowthis is not true. Balram Singh Rai made ithappen in 1961. This was thwarted in its in-fancy. Why can’t it happen now? Reasonis simple. Without a balanced force boththe Indians and Africans are suffering.The country needs to be structured under

a federal system of administration. Thiswill allow for Africans and Indians to havecontrol of areas where they are in a major-ity. No race can then complain about notbeing able to make progress because of theother.

And thirdly, justice must be served.Crimes cannot go unpunished. Especiallyhate crimes. The Jews will dig out the lastliving fascist who remotely assisted in theholocaust from the bowels of the earth evenif he is 90 yrs old and bring him to justice.We have to pursue and enforce justice witha passion.Friends history has shown that both the

PPP and PNC have failed Guyana. It isclear that leadership does not exist in

Guyana. But history is on our side becausehistory has proven and demonstrated thatall the great revolutions were born outsideof those countries. Vladimir Ilich Lenininitiated the Russian revolution from Ger-many; Fidel Castro launched the Cubanrevolution from Mexico when he attackedmoncada. The Ayotola brought his powerchange when he returned form France. Friends, the future leadership of Guyana

is here in Toronto and New York. You arethe future leaders of Guyana.Concerning this ‘One Love” dream. I

like it but it is yet to be achieved. I don’tfeel any love when five year kids are mur-dered in bed like dogs with their bowelspouring out of them. How can there be lovewithout justice and respect? Love does nothappen by magic.The road to love is long and requires sac-

rifice and commitment. It is a noble goal!I commend these two gents, Leon andPatrick for taking the initiative. Let’s nametoday’s event “Call for Action & Justice”.That mean Love has arrived!

Thank You! God Bless!

Rudy Lochan

Finance and the Public Service MinisterAudley Shaw told The Gleaner this

week that the Chinese national airline, AirChina, has had initial talks with the Gov-ernment with a view to operate Air Jamaica.Prime Minister Bruce Golding, in his first

radio call-in programme on January 30, toldlisteners that Air Jamaica was costing thecountry too much to maintain. He said theGovernment had plans to remove it fromthe national budget.Air Jamaica has racked up significant

losses, costing the country more thanUS$100 million (J$7 billion) to maintainannually.

Ex Belize PM Musato step downFormer Prime Minister Said Musa hashinted that it was time for him to step downas political leader of the People's UnitedParty (PUP), which crashed to a heavy elec-toral defeat in February 7 general elections.

The Opposition United DemocraticParty's (UDP), led by 56-year-old attorney-at-law Dean Barrow, scored a resounding25-6 victory in the election crushing the as-pirations of the PUP which was seeking anunprecedented third successive term in gov-ernment.Musa, 63, said he accepted the will of the

people and saw the electoral result as evi-dence of the country's strong democraticsystems at work.The UDP's victory ended its stint in the

political wilderness since 1998.Musa said defeat was no stranger to the

PUP and that the party would rebound.He said the party will conduct an inter-

nal assessment of its performance at thepolls and will reach out to former membersto restore it to its position as the party ofchoice for Belizeans."Election is over, no bitterness, no re-

criminations; let us move on, confident thatwe can all make life better for everyonewhen we work in unity with malice towardsnone and in a spirit of Belizean solidarity,"he added.

Chinese may take over Air JamaicaCarib heads told ofworld food crisisAt their recent conference in the Bahamas ,the director general of the United Nations(UN) Food and Agricultural Organisation(FAO) Jacques Diouf alarmed heads ofgovernment of the Caribbean Community(Caricom) with the warning that the worldis on the brink of a serious food shortage.Recalling the moment at a press confer-

ence on March 14 in the Ministry of Fi-nance tower, Eric Williams FinancialComplex, Independence Square , Port-of-Spain, Trade and Industry Minister DrKeith Rowley said, "He gave the data, hegave the figures with respect to the signifi-cant reduction in the availability of foodaround the world. And he told Caricom heads that he had

come to the meeting to impress upon themthis grave situation, to let them know theymust do everything possible within theirborders to produce whatever they can be-cause the prognosis is that food on theworld market would become more andmore in short supply and automatically be-come more and more expensive."Rowley said Diouf also warned that in

the future there would come instanceswhere, even if the money was available,"the stocks would not be available for pur-chase."Rowley said there are already concerns

over the availability of rice, which mightbecome the first food item in short supplyto citizens of T&T.He said Guyana is a major supplier of

rice to T&T, but some local importers try-ing to place advance orders with theirGuyanese suppliers had received written re-sponses indicating that Guyana would notbe able to supply as expected. "

World food crisisis upon us nowThe long predicted food crisis has finallyhit the world like a tsunami, with rice short-ages and high prices causing pains in Asia.Prices have almost doubled on internationalmarkets in the last three months and createdmajor problems in countries where rice isthe staple diet.

In Pakistan troops have been sent toguard trucks carrying wheat and flour.There have been protests in Indonesia oversoubeaan shortages. China has put pricecontrols on cooking oil, grain, meat, milkand eggs.

Food riots have broken out in Guinea,Mauritania, Mexico, Senegal, Uzbekistan,and Yemen. Rice exporters have cut theirshipments abroad to meet local needs, andthis has driven up world prices.Vietrname is cutting rice exports by 25%

this year. India has banned the export of allbut the expensive basmati rice. Egypt isbanning rice exports for six months, andCambodia is not allowing private busi-nesses to sell rice abroad.

There are several reasons for the foodcrisis. Countries like India and China aremore prosperous and demand is greater.Drought and bad weather have cut produc-tion. Some rice farmers have turned to othercrops that bring more money. In Vietnam aplant disease has affected rice yields. Gov-ernments that used to hold large reserves ofrice have been drawing down on stockswhile rice consumption grew faster thanproduction in the last decade. are turning tocash crops.

Biofuel worsens food crisisInfluencing the food crisis is the move inNorth America and Europe to biofuel in aneffort to ease global warming and reducereliance on imported energy.A surge in demand for biofuel has re-

sulted in a sharp decline in agricultural landplanted for food crops. About 16% of U.S.agricultural land formerly planted with soy-beans and wheat is now growing corn forbiofuel.For the first time in history, there is a

clear link between the price of fuel and theprice of food. As a result the supply ofgrains like wheat and soya has been declin-ing and prices have been rising ominously.

INDIANS IN THE CARIBBEAN Indo-Caribbean Times APRIL 2008 Page 19

Rural Developments on Sugar Estates in Jamaica (Part 2) By Ruby Samlalsingh

(A paper presented to the Conference onSocial Development organized by the Fed-eral Government of the West Indies in Portof Spain, Trinidad on March 1959.)

Contined from the March issue

Others have arranged courses lasting sixto eight weeks on local government andhave invited some persons knowledgeableon the subject to conduct them. Under theguidance of the Welfare Officer, the mem-bers take charge of the proceedings, planthe programme, introduce the speaker andkeep records. All this is good training if andwhen the areas are taken into the Local Au-thority, and if they are not it will still begood training in leadership and will help tobreak the old tradition of dependence onmanagement for everything. It has not been easy to get the people to

form Tenants' Associations. And some ofthem are still very hesitant because they arevery suspicious of innovations and areafraid that it is a first step towards the LocalAuthority, under which for the first time intheir lives they will be called upon to payrates and taxes.If through the Tenants' Associations we

could instil into the residents a feeling ofbelonging and foster a social consciousnessso that they will take pride in their housingarea, and develop a sense of responsibilityfor what happens in it, we shall haveachieved something of lasting value.

Educational and Recreational Opportunities

Members of the Educational Councilswhich function through the community cen-tres decide what is needed to try to meetthe educational needs in two ways. Theyarrange a series of popular lectures by well-known people on subjects of general in-terest, such as health, sanitation,co-operation, etc., to which the whole com-munity is invited , and they enlist the helpof teachers and other people with specialskills and knowledge who undertake toconduct regular classes for those who wishto study such things as arithmetic, book-keeping, English, economics, etc. Theseare, of course, limited by the number ofvoluntary helpers available in the vicinity.One more ambitious council sponsoredclasses is to enable under-privileged boysto study for the G.C.E. To date it is not pos-sible to report any passes, but it shows thatthe people are beginning gradually to real-ize that by their own efforts they can sup-plement Government and other services tosatisfy their own needs.

In a country such as British Guiana,where 50 per cent of the population is undertwenty, and where the opportunities for ed-ucation beyond the primary level are sofew, membership in youth clubs and organ-isations of one kind or another is very im-portant for every boy and girl leavingschool. These clubs can provide a continu-ing education of an informal nature whichcan help to fill the void caused by the lim-ited amount of formal education availablefor most of the young people. There are nu-merous youth clubs, boys' clubs, scouttroops, handicraft classes, improvement as-sociations, discussion groups, cricketclubs, volley ball clubs, athletic clubs, tabletennis clubs, dramatic clubs, etc., function-ing in each of the community centres. Each

meets the needs of some of the youth, andconstant supervision by the Welfare Officerendeavours to ensure that their affairs areconducted according to democratic proce-dure and each member gets an opportunityof developing his leadership ability and ex-pressing his views. There is often a dangerof putting programme before people, andsometimes when groups programmes donot go successfully, or they seem to achievenothing specific, we and the members be-come discouraged. Yet the time and effortdevoted by our officers is not wasted be-cause the development of human personal-ity is an end in itself, and the opportunitieswhich participation in group activities giveto the individual for achieving status andsignificance in his relationship with otherpeople, is an important part of our work.Two film shows arc provided monthly hy

the companies and these are supplementedby documentaries from the British Council,the U.S.I.S. and the Government Informa-tion Services.

On each estate, libraries of about 700books are provided by the company and asmall sum is granted annually by theLabour Welfare Fund Committee for sup-plementing and repairing the books. Fiftypercent of all the books are for juvenilesand this section of the libraries has, for ob-vious reasons, been most popular. A recent survey re-vealed that in the group under eighteen, oneperson in five is unable to read, whereas inthe group eighteen to forty-five, as many asone in two is illiterate. Cricket gear and all other sports equip-

ment are replaced by the groups themselvesand all functions and projects of the com-munity centres are financed by membershipsubscriptions and by funds raised. If anygroup wishes to learn a skill or craft whichthe .Welfare Officer is not qualified to teachand for which voluntary help is not avail-able, the centre and the group are responsi-ble for paying the fees and buying the rawmaterial. In many cases the collection of member-

ship fees is very difficult, partly for the rea-son that most organisations everywherefind it difficult to collect fees, and partly be-cause there is still the lurking feeling thatthat the estate management should provideeverything free. But Estate We1fare Offi-cers arc advised to be very firm on thispoint. Fees are nominal and constitute animportant discipline. The raising of fundspresents no difficulties, as dances, sports,fairs, raffles, and all the traditional and ac-cepted methods of doing so well supported,if for no other reason than that there are nosocial activities in which everyone can par-ticipate except those sponsored by theCommunity Centre Councils.Extensive use has been made of the com-

petitive spirit in promoting dramatic activ-ity on sugar estates. For a while, very littleprogress was made in this field until westarted an inter-estate Drama Festival fouryears ago. The first fcstiva1 was folJowcdup by drama training courses, and sincethen the standard and interest in theatrecontinues to increase. Last year, from ourfifteen estates there were forty-three entries.Some of the preliminaries ran for two suc-cessive evenings, and in several placeslargc numbers had to be turned away. Play-reading and play-producing are now regularfeatures of community centres and girls'clubs programmes. One remark able aspectof the Drama Festival has been the betterunderstanding and friendships it has forgedbetween workers and management.

home, except for the necessary excursionsto the market or, if she is a working woman,to the field. Indian women are still verymuch under the control of their husbands.The influence of the pundits is important.There is a great fear of what they call"Western culture" but which they cannotverbalise. It is the fear of losing those habitsand attitudes to life which are the productsof Indian culture. It is symbolised in the re-ligion, diet, family life, respect for elders,and in the celebration of their religious andother festivals. Naturally, it is no part of ourorganisation to destroy what is good in In-dian culture, but to foster and encourage allthat is best in the culture of the six raceswhich comprise the peoples of Guiana andto foster and promoten the Guianasation ofall the elements. But among the illiterateand semi-literate masses who have lived inignorance and poverty for so long, there isa tendency to confuse education andprogress with "Western culture". These factors are important and their im-

plications must be faced. In promoting andinfluencing social change, we have to becareful not to cut across the traditional be-liefs and institutions of the people, and es-pecially not to undermine the influence oftheir religious leaders. Any form of educa-tion which might have a disintegrating orupsetting effect upon the people must becarefully eschewed, and efforts must bemade to conserve all sound elements tbatconstitute the fabric of social life. Our offi-cers are therefore advised to work with andthrough the existing groups and to use theinfluence of the local leaders in formingnew ones. It is still rather early to assess achieve-

ment nnd progress, but the indications arethat people are slowly awakening to thepossibility of social and economic progressbrought about by their own action. Once itis realised that they can create change, theywill no longer be afraid of it, because theyknow that they can also to some extent con-trol and influence it.

One very noticeable change that hastaken place over the past four years is therousing of the social conscience of variouslocal religious and other groups. Many ofthem have risen from long sleep and are try-ing to institute programmes that will meetthe needs of their members.

Social change is a slow process andchanging people's attitudes takes time andpatience. I cannot, therefore, hope to pre-cipitate people into a project for social ame-lioration and expect it to be successfulovernight, but so long as the general trend istowards progress there is hope for the fu-ture.

This English edition of the Community De-velopment Bulletin is produced by theClearing House with assistance both fromthe Commission for Technical Co-operationin Africa South of the Sahara to whom it ismade available as part of an extension ofservices to Member Governments of theCommission, and from Unesco tostrengthen the international coverage of theBulletin.

Work with Women and Girls Great importance is placed on our work

among the women and girls becausewomen are traditionally the preservers andtransmitters of culture through the family.The psychologists tell us that the earlyyears of a child's life are the most impor-tant. The educationd and well informedmother will provide a better home and havegreater knowledge and understanding of theproblems and needs of childhood. There isno appreciation of the neccesity and valueof play for young children, and one is sur-prised at the heavy tasks and and responsi-bilities of quite young children of four orfive. Jobs such as fetching water, lifting andcaring for baby brothers and sisters occu-pies the hours before and after school. Thephysical care and feeding of babies is still ahit-and-miss affair, and though the strongbabies survive, the weak child does notstand a chance. The obvious lack of under-standing by parents of the needs and atti-tudes of adolescent children make for muchunrest and unhappiness in family life. With the gradually improving conditions

of work and wages on the estates, less anclless married women will need to go out towork. It is also part of the long-term policyof the companies not to employ femalelabour in field work. In order to help to ben-efit to the fullest from the new leisure andthe better economic status so that there willbe a corresponding improve ment in thestandard of living, we have planned a pro-gramme for better living which includesclasses in cookery, nutrition, home im-provement, mothercraft, hygiene, dress-making and various handicrafts. Instructionin these subjects is undertaken by theWoman Welfare Officer with, the aid ofvolunteers skilled in various crafts.Through the use of films, posters, demon-strations, exhibitions, and other visual aids,learning is made easy and attractive. Wheretoo great reluctance to come to the centresis evident, our programme has to be takeninto the homes, and in each housing schemethe officer conducts c1asses in the home ofone of the residents. Encouragement is given to the playing of

games. Indoor games such as draughts,checkers, snakes and ladders, cards andtable tennis, are very popular. Outdoorgames such as volley ball and rounders aregaining in popularity and in a few placesinter-estate competitions have beenarranged and played. There is a strong prej-udice, however, among East Indians of girlsplaying such games in public and this ofcourse has to be recognised. It is breakingdown slowly, but we must not appear toforce the change. Recognition of the habitsand beliefs of the people are important if weare to enlist their support and participationin our programme. In order to keep up the interest of the

members as well as the community as awhole, a series of special "Weeks" andevents are arranged, and prac tically everymonth there is some special feature. Par-ents' Day, Child-CareWeek, Home andFamily Week, Exhibitions, Conferences,Picnics, Outings and Drama Festivals aresome of the main features.

Traditional Values and Social Change

Work with women is confronted withmany difficulties, the chief of which is thetraditional practice which keeps post-schoolgirls carefully guarded at home and olderwomen bound by the four walls of their

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Indo-Caribbean Times APRIL 2008 Page 20

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Traditionally, the vast majority of visibleminority (nearly 96 per cent) resides in met-ropolitan areas, mainly in Toronto, Vancou-ver and Montreal. In recent year however,other cities like Abbotsford BC, and Cal-gary AB are also attracting large numbers.

Competing for Immigrants For most countries, it is established that avibrant economy requires a large popula-tion. Like Canada, other developed coun-tries also experience similar declines intheir natural population growth, and theywish to maintain their already high stan-dards of living. The fear is that their eco-nomic prosperity will be compromisedunless they have a large resident populationto produce goods and services for domesticuse and also for overseas markets. Thus, thecampaign is on to attract skilled immi-grants.

Immigrants as “Enrichment”As far as the European Union (EU) is con-cerned, opinion polls suggest that citizensbelieve immigrants make a meaningful con-tribution to the economy and society.Speaking at a conference in Lisbon re-cently, EU Justice Commissioner FrancoFrattini informed his audience that Euro-pean governments should regard immigra-tion not a threat but as an “enrichment". Hepointed out that while the US was getting55% of all skilled migrants, Europe wasable to attract a mere 5%. He noted thatskills shortages were already noticeable in anumber of sectors, and that this trend wasnot going to improve any time soon. Hethen called for an overhaul of the immigra-tion system to attract more skilled immi-grants.

Ways Canada Attracts Immigrants

The following can be considered the dreamof every qualified prospective immigrant.Are peoples from the Caribbean takingnote?

Reduced Application Fee

A Permanent Residence fee of $975 perperson was imposed in 1995. This was laterreduced to $490. Of course, many peopleargue that the fee should be eliminated al-together.

Trained Student Ambassadors

Foreign students on visa can study and

On the larger question of immigration toCanada, can a Temporary Foreign WorkerProgram be part of the solution? No doubt,some of them may choose to become im-migrants in due course; but many appar-ently prefer to be migrant workers. Underthis arrangement, they can live in theirhome countries, and choose to work for partof the year in Canada. If this seems likehaving the best of both worlds, then perhapsit is. However, large numbers of temporaryworkers tend to highlight the need to pub-lishing information on the specific cate-gories of skilled immigrants needed inCanada. This is to ensure that those whocome here have meaningful jobs, and arenot part of a greater problem.

And what about “illegal” workers? Are theygoing to play a greater role in the Canadianeconomy in the years ahead? Will they ac-quire legal immigration status at some timein the future?

Implications for Canada

The number of visible minorities in Canadahas cracked the five million mark for thefirst time in history. Over the years, manypeople from Guyana and Trinidad & To-bago came as immigrants to settle here.Canada is demonstrating to the world thatwhen faced with a declining birth rate, anenlightened immigration policy can meetpopulation targets and skills requirementsto facilitate continued economic prosperity.In this respect, Canada may be emulatingwhat South Asian countries have done formillennia. For example India offered homefor peoples from all over the world. Whilea great many came as marauders, plunder-ers and conquerors, collectively their pres-ence did have positive outcomes. Today, asIndia and other South Asian countries re-claim their rightful place on the worldstage, Canada is also demonstrating that byattracting people from diverse backgroundsto our shores, that the peoples of the worldcan be one family.

[Dr. Roop Misir is an Indo-CanadianTeacher with the Toronto District SchoolBoard. Please send your comments toroop.misir@gmail.com.]

Nine forms of Durga(From page 17)SIDDHIDATREESIDDHIDATREE is the ninth and final formof Goddess Durga. Siddhidatri means thegiver of siddhis (magical or spiritual powersfor the control of self, others and the forces ofnature). In RAMAYAN, (Kirtibasi) in Lanka-Kand, Bhagawan Ramchandra performedDurga-puja to kill Ravan; Devi Durga ap-peared and blessed him. In MAHABHARAT,before the battle of Kurukshetra, BhagawanKrishna told Arjuna to pray to (Durga-stv)Goddess Durga for the victory. GoddessDurga appeared as the ‘giver of Siddhis’ bythe pray of Arjun and blessed him, ‘very soonyou will be victorious’. It is said in ‘Devipuran’ that the Supreme

God, Lord Shiva received all of these powersby propitiating the Maha Shakti. The Goddessis sometimes shown atop a lion and some-times atop a lotus. She is shown as havingfour arms, which hold a club, a conch shelland a lotus. The fourth hand forms a gestureof granting. Siddhidatree is considered to bethe most powerful of all the nine forms ofDurga.Durga is said to be extraordinarilybeautiful; she does not use her beauty for se-duction, but rather entrapment. She enticesher victims and then defeats them. She rides alion, and it appears whenever her strengths areneeded. Her role is not that of creator, butrather that of a maintainer: she maintains cos-mic order by defeating demons that plague theuniverse. Goddess Durga is not only a pow-erful force for cosmic order but also a protec-tor of her devotees. She listens to her devoteesand attends to their needs. The Devi Mahatmya describes her as a per-

sonal savior who will save her devotees fromforest fires, wild animals, robbers, imprison-ment, execution and battle. Goddess Durgakeeps up the play of the divine universal Godthrough the three attributes of Nature, namely,Satva (equilibrium and serenity), Rajas (dy-namism and kinesis) and Tamas (ignoranceand inertia). Knowledge, peace, lust, anger,greed, egoism and pride, all are her forms.Maha Saraswati is Her Sattviki Shakti orpower of equilibrium. Maha Lakshmi is HerRajasik Shakti or power of activity. And MahaKali is Her Tamsik Shakti, the power of de-struction. All these are feminine forms. Theanimal world (Jeev-Jagat; Yogi, Bhogi, Tyagi,Sadhak, Bhakta, Grihi, Tapswee), Yogis,sanyasi’s, devotees, non-devotees, even thetriumvirate Gods: Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnuand Lord Shiva are doing penance to receiveSiddhis by the grace of Siddhidatree-GoddessDurga-the Divine Mother.

work concurrently if they choose to do so.Upon graduation, they can apply for immi-grant status. However, even if some chooseto return to their home countries, their workexperience and fond memories will makethem ambassadors of Canadian businessesand technology. In this way the rest of theworld can get a better picture of the won-derful country of Canada—a vast land richin culture and valuable resources (lumber,minerals, petroleum). Only recently, PrimeMinister Steven Harper described Canadaas an “energy superpower”; but equally im-portant is the manufacturing sector (aero-space, automobiles, high technology,shipbuilding). Indeed Canada’s cuttingedge technology makes it more than a justan agricultural country (producing wheat,canola, dairy and meat). This latter distinc-tion has earned the Canadian PrairieProvinces the reputation as being the “breadbasket of the world”. So foreign studentstrained at Canadian universities and col-leges are in the best position to advertiseour country to the outside world, making itmore attractive to prospective immigrants.

Secular Education System

The type of broad-based education avail-able in Canada is the envy of the world.And even if new immigrants fail to findtheir dram jobs upon arrival, at least theycan take comfort that their children aregoing to get the best type of education. Herestudents are taught tolerance and open-mindedness in non-segregated schools.They learn modern ways of looking at oldproblems. In the process, they develop mu-tual respect and embrace technological in-novation. And living in multiculturalCanada gives them to appreciate the bigcultural picture. It makes them better citi-zens of the world—one where eventuallythe question of one’s race, belief system andethnicity is less important than their contri-bution to society.

Temporary Workers

In 2005, there were there were some 95,000temporary workers to cover a wide range ofjobs. Many found employment in the agri-culture sector, and in the booming housingsector. But since then, economic activityhas temporarily slowed.

South Asians now Canada’s biggest visible minority (From Page 3)

SPORTS Indo-Caribbean Times APRIL 2008 Page 22

CHESS, DRAUGHT ANDCHESS, DRAUGHT ANDDOMINO TOURNAMENTSDOMINO TOURNAMENTS

Players of all skill levels (beginners to advanced) areinvited to participate. Tournaments held every month during the winter.

See schedule at www.horizoncricketclub.com or phone905-794-5423. Also, adult and kids CHESS LESSONS(beginners to advance). Learn to play the world’s best board game.

Registration information at www.horizoncricketclub.com

Chanderpaul one ofWisden’s top fivecricketersWisden's Five Cricketers of the Year in-

clude two West Indian Test players-one cur-rent, one former. Shivnarine Chanderpaulreceived cricket's oldest accolade after sus-taining his side's batting almost single-handed during the tour of England in 2007

Chanders sweeps awards

The excellence of Shivnarine Chanderpaulin 2007 earned him a clean sweep of indi-vidual awards. But it was his former team-mate Jimmy Adams who defined theevening at the West Indies Players Associ-ation (WIPA) awards and dinner Sundayevening at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Ajudges' panel headed by Clive Lloyd, an-other former WI captain, voted theGuyanese left-hander as the InternationalCricketer of the Year, 2007, the One-day In-ternational Cricketer of the Year and TestCricketer of the Year. Those accolades wereearned after a year in which Chanderpaulaveraged 111.60 in Tests and 76.64 inODIs.

Jack Warner savesTT football againThe fortunes of T&T football are on the riseagain, according to Jack Warner, SpecialAdviser to the T&T Football Federation, ata reception to honour the youthful T&Tfootballers who held a strong Jamaica XI toa 2-2 draw in Jamaica. Warner, often described as the godfather

of T&T football, has saved the T&T Foot-ball Federation further financial embarrass-ment once again. Facing another crisis withregards to the payment of staff and players,Warner came to the rescue of the federationby paying salaries owed to the players andstaff since December. “Football is living by the grace of God

since the Government has failed to deliver,”stated the Fifa Vice President. “I have hadto mortgage a property to keep the gamealive.” “Under no condition, they (the Govern-

ment) will frustrate the federation. Theyhave discriminated against football, basket-ball and boxing. We are being held to ran-som.” “As long as there is a breath of life in my

body, the fortunes of football will not godown,” he said. ,

CRICKETCricket:Windies win a test, one day seriesThe West Indies won a Test match this

week. And they won two out of threeone day internationals against the SriLankans to complete a series sweep athome that has been long in coming. Muchof it was due to Guyanese star batsmanShivnarine Chanderpaul, especially the firstone day international where he scored thefinal 10 winning runs off the last two balls.Ecstatic cricket fans at the Queen's ParkOval's have not seen anything like this for along, long time.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul

Fans were singing hymns of praise andwords of thanks rang out of the Sir LearieConstantine Stand last week when DevonSmith spanked Muttiah Muralitharan to theextra cover boundary to complete a six-wicket win over Sri Lanka.Witnessing the event were some young-

sters who would never have seen the WestIndies win a Test here. The last success forthe home side at the Oval was against Zim-babwe--eight years and fives matches ago.Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine made

gave them new memories with a 157 runspartnership for the fourth wicket to wrestthe game away from the Sri Lankans.Windies shared the two match series andavoided an embarassing whitewash athome.After handing the West Indies a win over

Sri Lanka in the first limited overs match atthe Queen’s Park Oval last Thursday, Shiv-narine Chanderpaul did it again on Satur-day when he pulled the team out of a trickysituation and on to victory in the secondDigicel limited overs international. West In-dies has now won the series with an un-beatable two victories out of three.

TT’s world boxingchamp Giselle sportseight world titles

Female super welterweight championJisselle Salandy (16-0, 6 KOs) retained

her WBC/WBA/IWBF/WIBA world titlesand added the WIBF/GBU belts of KarolinaLukasik (9-1, 1 KO) with a controversialten round unanimous decision at the JeanPierre Complex in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad& Tobago. Scores were 97-94 on all cardsfor the hometown favorite.

After narrowly winning her toughestbout, Salandy (16-0) now has among hereight titles the WBA, WBC, WIBA, WIBF,IWBF, and GBU junior-middleweightcrowns. Lukasik of Poland was sufferingher first defeat in ten matches.

Ministry pumps $3.5minto pro boxingThe Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairscontributed $496,500 to the world title fightbetween Poland 's Karolina Lukasik andTrinidad and Tobago 's Jizelle Salandy,which took place at the Centre of Excel-lence, Macoya.Sports Minister Gary Hunt said that his

Ministry's most recent contribution hasbrought the Government's funding of pro-fessional boxing to TT$3.5 million, puttingT&T second, only to Thailand, in terms ofits funding of the sport on a professionallevel. Salandy is the country’s second women’s

world boxing champion, with the first beingyoung Ria Ramnarine. Ria is currentlytraining to resume her boxing career after aperiod of financial difficulty caused by lackof sponsorship funds and training facilities.

Horizon Club dayof chess is May 3The Horizon Cricket Club is inviting allchess all chess players, beginners to grand-masters, rated or unrated to come and enjoya day of chess at their 2008 Ontario Recre-ational Chess Champtionship.It takes place on Saturday May

03 at Island Grove Restaurant (905-913-1200).4525 Ebenezer Rd, Brampton (OffThe Gore Road, North of Hwy 7 (QueenSt), starting at 1:00 pm SHARP. Registra-tion is from 12:30 pm. The club canarrange hotel accommodation for playerscoming from out of town.Type of Tournament: 5 Rounds Swiss. 15

minutes per player, followed by playoff.Rules will be explained on tournament day.Sections: Three sections.

(1) Ratings of below 1500 (Advanced Sec-tion)(2) Ratings of 1500 to 2400 (Chess MasterSection)(3) Ratings of above 2400 (GrandmasterSection)Unrated players can choose to register in

either the Advanced or Chess Master sec-tions. Registration fee: is only $20 perplayer, and dinner is included.There are lots of trophies at stake and achance to compete for the Grand Title of:2008 Ontario Recreational Chess Cham-pion. Players must bring a chess set and achess clock. Pre-Registration: Please pre-reg-

ister ASAP by phone (905) 794-5423 or byemail to lall4@rogers.com. To pre-register,simply provide your name, phone number,email address and desired section, plus thenames and sections of any players accom-panying you. For more information: Fred Lall. Phone:

905-794-5423. Email: lall4@rogers.comwww.horizoncricketclub.com

On March 5, two of the adults met with aman named Talib, hoping he would helpthem generate funds to purchase militaryassault rifles and other weapons, which oneof them had already paid a down payment.As they attempted to recruit Talib, one manexpressed their desire to establish "the reli-gion of Allah," adding "we're not just abunch of young guys." The other spoke ofthe "global fight."Meanwhile, a second, more advanced

training camp was in the works and tookplace at Rockwood May 20-22, police al-lege. A number of the accused attended, aswell a man named Shal Syed, who later vol-untarily met with investigators and offereda statement about an adult's comments andthe group's activities.Syed said an adult said the purpose of the

camp was to "train" and to prepare forjihad. Again, an adult led a discussion circleinside a tent discussing so-called militarystrategies. One of the men asked Syed if hecould teach others how to use firearms andgrenades and whether he had access to suchweapons. He also promised to show Syedrecorded lectures given by Osama binLaden. On June 2, about 400 police officers con-

ducted a series of arrests that garnered in-ternational headlines. On that day 17 menand youths were arrested. An 18th suspectwas arrested two months later.

He goes on to say, "We already started strik-ing cause you know what, this training isstriking at them."On Feb. 4, 2006, Shaikh and an adult werejoined by two others as they drove toOpasatika, a rural town near Timminswhere they had hoped to set up a safe housewhere they could practise drills and storeweapons. On the way back to Toronto they discussedOperation Badr, a plot to storm ParliamentHill, take politicians hostage and demandthe removal of Canadian troops fromAfghanistan and the release of Muslim pris-oners in federal institutions, police allege.If their demands weren't met, they'd "killeverybody," said an adult, who also re-minded the others that the prime ministerwasn't "Paul Loser" or "Paul Martin" – asthey suggested – but was in fact "the otherguy, Harper."After their return, an adult reported he hadbuilt the "first radio frequency remote-con-trol detonator," but pointed out it only hada range of 30 feet (nine metres), "which isnot good." In response, another manpointed out "30 feet away? So you have toget blown up? Might as well sit in the car."He explained that if they could get the det-onator to work from 300 metres, "then we'lldo it." He then said that when the bombwent off on Front St., innocent peoplewould be killed, which would be "too badfor them," according to the Crown's factum.

Brampton terror trials (From Page 16)

Indo-Caribbean Times APRIL 2008 Page 23

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