Brampton man pleads guilty to manslaughter

A 20-year-old Brampton man pleaded guilty today to manslaughter in the June 22, 2008 stabbing death of another young man.

Naipaul Basdeoram will be sentenced on Sept. 15 in a Brampton courtroom by Justice Bruce Durno.

Basdeoram was to be tried for second-degree murder in the death of Tamar Seale, 19.

By pleading guilty, he avoided the possibility of a life prison sentence should he have been convicted as charged.

He's been in custody since his arrest.

Seale was stabbed in his heart during a struggle with Basdeoram and his sister in their apartment at Sir Lou Dr. In Brampton, court heard today in an agreed statement of facts read into the record by Peel Crown prosecutor Andrea Esson.

Moments before he was fatally stabbed, Seale knocked Basdeoram's sister Robinha to the floor after he barged into their apartment with two females, Esson said.

It was alleged that Seale came to the apartment with the two young women about 11:30 p.m. He was uninvited, Esson said.

Apparently Seale had been in the apartment the day before. Basdeoram didn't know him but he came with Basdeoram's friends and they spent the night playing video games, watching TV and smoking pot and drinking booze.

Basdeoram had the apartment to himself because his mother was away vacationing in Guyana, court heard.

Seale left the apartment the next morning but intended to return only to be told over the phone by Basdeoram that he wasn't welcomed, Esson said.

There was a brief argument when he returned to retrieve his belongings, Esson said.

"Mr Seale was insulted that he had been told to leave when others continued to stay," Esson said.

Upon sentencing, Basdeoram will have his DNA taken and placed in the national databank. He will also be subject to a weapons ban.

Around 30 Guyanese found in Tunapuna tenement to be deported

Close to 30 Guyanese residing in Trinidad illegally were on Wednesday rounded-up and have been given deadlines by which they must leave that country.

The move comes in the midst of heightened debate on a new immigration policy announced by the David Thompson administration in Barbados, which has since been marred by complaints of raids and unjust treatment being meted out to Guyanese in particular. The policy is intended to target undocumented Caricom nationals, spurring concerns about the profiling of nationals from these countries.

However, according to reports out of Trinidad, the illegal Guyanese who were rounded-up in that country have received fair treatment. Individual cases have been determined and deadlines granted accordingly.

Guyana’s Honorary Consul to Trinidad and Tobago Ernie Ross confirmed the activity. On investigating, Consular Officer Denise Deano learnt that the police had swooped down at a tenement yard in Tunapuna where the group was discovered.

Speaking to this newspaper from her St Clair, Port of Spain office yesterday, Deano said the police had gone to the Tunapuna tenement on Wednesday to investigate an unrelated matter and found a large number of Guyanese there. She related that the Guyanese were all discovered to be in T&T illegally, having overstayed their time, but each of them was granted due consideration.

She reportedly said that no one rule was applied to the individuals. Many, she said, were either married to Trinidadians or have children born on the island. Some have been given time to collect their salaries and then return home.

Deano said after the discovery of the group of illegal Guyanese, the consulate was contacted and representation was made for each person.

“So they have time to sort out their stuff, but all of them will have to leave. Those married to Trinidadians and with children born here will have to then re-enter and make the appropriate application upon re-entry,” she explained.

Pregnant women among the group have been granted enough time by the authorities to give birth, look into documentation for their babies and then return home.

Deano said many asked for and were granted time to collect salaries from their places of employ and soon after, are to return home.

She stressed that the T&T immigration authorities did not conduct a raid, but added that the police would not come across undocumented immigrants and just leave them.

However, she said, the Guyanese were thankful for the understanding showed by the immigration department, especially since none of them was detained. Questioned on whether there seemed to be a heightened interest in illegal immigrants since the Barbados issue, Deano said this was not the case.

South African businessman plugging cheaper road technology

Says polymer has proven its worth, can cut costs by up to 30%

Guyana is among several Caribbean countries being targeted for the application of new, less expensive road building technology which, according to the South African owner of the company that created the breakthrough, can significantly reduce road construction costs to developing countries.

Pieter Princeloo, Managing Director of the Johannesburg-based firm Romix, that created the technology, a Polymer-based adhesive that binds soils to create durable road foundations, reportedly said that apart from the durability of the Polymer-based roads, the technology circumvents the need for expensive excavation work and the importation of high-cost construction materials to create firm sub-surfaces.

“The technology allows us to complete road construction several times quicker than the conventional roads. Additionally, and as a rule of thumb, our costs are usually around 60 to 70 per cent of the cost of traditional roads. We are working with low grade material so we do not have to import a great deal of material into the layer works of the road. We are creating a single layer of road with the available materials instead of importing high cost materials. That is where the biggest savings accrue.”

The South African businessman said that Romix was seeking to bring “a unique, 21st century technology into a developing environment and to prove to the authorities in Guyana that it is a sustainable way to create infrastructure quickly.” He said that apart from its affordability, the quality of the Polymer technology equals, even surpasses   traditional road structures. “It is a simple process and we do not need to resort to specially graded material.  We can improve marginal materials to make them become usable. We can also build a strong road in a single layer that will conform to conventional specifications,” Princeloo added.

“One of our primary aims is to take this technology to developing countries where road construction accounts for a significant share of public expenditure.  The need for infrastructure in these countries is much greater than it is in the developed world. We guarantee speed of building, reliability and affordability, he added.

Brazilian firm for $130M overhaul of GDF flagship 

Over the next four months, the army flagship GDFS Essequibo will have major repairs done to its main and auxiliary engines by a Brazilian naval engineering firm.

Army Chief of Staff, Commodore Gary Best and MAUNTEST  Director Luis De Carvalho e Silva inked the $130M contract yesterday which is being funded by the Guyana Government.

Best told reporters that the firm is collaborating with the Coast Guard engineers and so the repairs will be done in Guyana. He explained that while the army did not need  to go to open tender to select the company to do the repairs, a number of overseas companies were contacted.

The GDFS Essequibo was purchased in the United Kingdom and so that was the army’s first area of contact. However that country had stopped the manufacture of such ships many years ago and so a firm to take on the repairs was not available. Efforts were also made further afield but the Brazilian firm seemed to be the best bet since it also owned ships of the same make. Best said this is why he was confident that the company would be able to do the overhaul.

Following the repairs the ship’s engine will have about five more years, with about 18,000 working hours. The repaired vessel will enhance maritime security and will help the army maintain maritime integrity with Guyana’s neighbours. While the vessel is being repaired, the GDF will continue its onshore monitoring of the borders and will bridge the gap by using aircraft for border surveillance.

Venezuela concerned about mounting PetroCaribe tab

Venezuela is concerned about the mounting tab of Caribbean countries under the PetroCaribe initiative, Prime Minister Bruce Golding has said.

He told reporters the matter was raised during the recently held Sixth PetroCaribe Summit in St. Kitts.

It was back in 2005, that 12 Caribbean Community (CARICOM) states, along with Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, signed on to the oil deal with Venezuela that allows them to pay about 40 per cent  of costs up front and the remainder through a 25-year financing agreement at one per cent interest.

“When they do a trajectory over the next five-six years, their calculation is that by the year 2015 what Caribbean countries owe to Venezuela under PetroCaribe will amount to 35 per cent of their external debt and Venezuela is expressing some concern as to whether Caribbean countries are going to be able to withstand that sort of debt burden,” Golding said.

The agreement was touted as a sweet deal in the context of domestic budgetary constraints and inflationary fuel prices.

Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia and Suriname are the other signatories to the accord.

Barbados and oil producing Trinidad were the only independent CARICOM states that did not take advantage of Caracas’ offer.

Doppler Tower nears completion

The $550M Doppler Radar Tower being built at the CJIA, Timehri is expected to be completed within another two weeks and should be in full use by year end.

According to a press release from the Government Information Agency (GINA), the EU/Government of Guyana-funded project will put Guyana on par with other countries in the region in providing weather alerts.

The release said Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud reported that a German team will be visiting the site to test the system for a period of six weeks. The team will be available to give feedback as staff members are undergoing training to man the facility.

Persaud noted that the utilization of radar technology is significant for Guyana and said he hoped that by the end of the year persons will have the ability to track the weather as it unfolds.

The minister said the facility will be modified to be used for educational purposes for students, farmers and other interested persons in an effort to foster a greater appreciation of the venture. Guyana had been targeted by the Caribbean Meteorologi-cal Organization in its drive to improve and expand its services, GINA said.

Meanwhile, Chief Hydrometerological Officer Bhaleka Seulall said the tower will monitor and provide weather alert warnings and will put Guyana on par with Barbados, Belize, Trinidad and Tobago and French Guiana.

This will enable a radar network to be established and allow full coverage up to Miami while overlapping with other radars in the region. Forecasts will also be made available online.