Guyana Chronicle E-paper 07-17-2018

TUESDAY 17th July, 2018

No.105338

President David Granger embraces one of the many toshaos who attended a gala reception held at State House Monday evening (Ministry of the Presidency photo) page 03

...President rejects NTC

claims of unfilled promises page 09 page 03

‌Toshaos urged to work together, shun divisive forces

page 02

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, July 17, 2018

‘Beware of the wolves’ …Toshaos urged to work together, shun divisive forces

By Lisa Hamilton TOP leaders of the Indigenous community were on Monday told to ‘beware of wolves in sheep clothing’ and that in order for them to achieve any sort of development they would have to work together.

This charge was given by Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Valerie Garrido-Lowe when she addressed the gath-

ering at the opening of the 12th Annual National Toshaos Council (NTC) Conference being held at the Arthur Chung Convention Center.

To an audience of some 212 delegates from indigenous communities in each region of the country Garrido-Lowe reminded that in order to achieve transformation in villages Councilors must work together.

“In order to achieve any sort of development in your

Hundreds of representatives of indigenous communities across Guyana attended the 12th Annual National Toshaos Council (NTC) Conference hosted at the Arthur Chung Convention Center on Monday

Outgoing NTC Chairman Joel Fredericks (Adrian Narine photo)

villages you will have to work together. You have to give yourself a chance to work together and do not sow the seeds of division and discontent. If this was your main reason for being on the council then you’re in the wrong place,” she said.

Garrido-Lowe also re-

Minister within the Ministery of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Valerie Garrido-Lowe (Adrian Narine photo)

minded the leaders, as the elections season approaches, to safeguard themselves from those with self-serving motives. “Toshaos and councilors, beware of the wolves in sheep clothing who pretend at this time to care for you and to have your best interest at heart. But while they were in office for 23 years and had the opportunity to show that care, they failed miserably to do so.” Opposition Members

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A group of youths perform the popular dances of the indigenous culture (Adrian Narine photo)

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No broken promises

GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, July 17, 2018

...President, PM reject NTC claims of unfilled promises …say issues raised are all work in progress

President David Granger addressing the conference

By Lisa Hamilton BOTH the President and Prime Minister have rejected claims by outgoing Chairman of the National Toshaos Council (NTC) Joel Fredericks that government had broken its promises to the first peoples, explaining that many of the issues raised are work in progress.

At the opening of the week-long12th Annual NTC Conference at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre on Monday, Fredericks gave a list of requests by the NTC which he said are yet to materialise. One, which the outgoing chair referred to as an unfilled promise, was for a plot of land which was promised by the government for the construction of a NTC Secretariat.

However, President David Granger told reporters: “I don’t know of any promise that has been broken, they asked for a plot of land, I went there and I turned the sod myself and it is being processed.”

“The Bena Hill Institute and the issuance of lands to the NTC to establish its Secretariat, this land is being processed with a lease being granted in the interim as the transport is to be handed over, ultimately, thereby giving the NTC land security,” Minister of Indigenous Peoples Affairs, Sydney Allicock added.

“Things and time change, even climate changes, and there will be opportunities and instead of casting this gloom and doom situation, I would like to say to the incoming Toshaos and the NTC, that you have an opportunity for further discussion where land for your secretariat is concerned.”

As he was departing the conference centre, President Granger addressed the media’s questions on the comments made by Fredericks, stating that in the past he had encouraged the establishment of an Indigenous Peoples Authority for the implementation of such plans but this was not regarded to by those in authority. “The NTC has certain responsibilities and the Government’s job is to help the NTC to fulfill those responsibilities. I’m not blaming anybody. I came here two years ago and proposed the establishment of an Indigenous Peoples Authority [because] the important thing is planning and implementation,” he said Among the other requests the NTC outgoing chairman said were unfulfilled, included the establishment of a Lands Commission in respect to Amerindian land rights; Constitutional Reform and the revision of the Amerindian Act (2006).

However, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo clarified that the issues highlighted by Fredericks are “works in progress” which ought not to be completed haphazardly, but meticulously for the long-term benefit of citizens.

“I’m not aware of these broken promises. Those are matters that are works in progress. For example, we’re dealing with constitutional reform. The outgoing chairman mentioned constitutional reform but we know that constitutional reform is a process, it’s in the National Assembly, so what do you do? You jump the head of the National Assembly and do something in constitutional reform? The bill is there in a bi-partisan select committee of the house,” he said.

LAND TITLING Meanwhile, on the matter of land titling, Nagamootoo said: “This is a matter that has been ongoing. Consultation has been taking place there are various levels of consultations taking place and there are, in fact, some titles that are already near perfection to be handed out. I think the chairman anticipated that,” Mr Nagamootoo said.

He said that soon there will be 15 titles to be handed out and there seems to suggest there may be a timing that was involved in that.”

The Prime Minister explained further that during a recent trip to Mexico he was impressed by the country’s database on its land utilization, which indicated the type of land, what is below and above it and aided in investments by clearly highlighting what soil is capable of producing.

He said that these strategies align with the Government’s aim of creating a land inventory for the ultimate benefit of indigenous communities and other citizens. “I think that one has to take things within a context, that it is not an attempt to deprive indigenous peoples

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo clears up remarks made during the conference on the Government’s assistance to the indigenous community (Adrian Narine photo)

of communal lands but it is part and parcel of a national effort to do a land inventory so that we can have better utilisation of that land resources,” he said.

“For the future, the President has said very clearly that this is not about short term, this is about long term, at a period when we

were looking at the strategic and the beneficial use of other resources. So, I don’t see this as a question of making or breaking promises, I see this as a process, I see this as working in collaboration with various agencies and levels of government to produce a better life for our people.”

The opening ceremony of the NTC conference was attended by over 200 leaders of indigenous communities across the 10 Regions of Guyana, and the assemblage is set to continue in the week’s discussions on matters relating to the welfare of Guyana’s first people.

Senior citizen found guilty of raping child, 10 AFTER several hours of deliberations, a mixed 12-member jury on Monday afternoon returned with two counts of guilty verdict for Abdool Jamil, 66, in the Demerara High Court before Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry in the Sexual Offences Court.

The foreman told the court that on the 1st count the verdict was unanimous while on the 2nd count, it was in the proportion of 10-2.

After the announcement, the accused, when asked if he had anything to say, shook his head with outstretched hands before he was led away to jail.

His attorney, however, made an application to the judge for a probation report to be prepared and his request was granted.

Abdool will return to

the Sexual Offences Court for his probation report and sentencing on August 13, 2018 at 1:30pm. According to the state, on the 1st count on May 30, 2014 in the county of Demerara, the accused engaged in sexual penetration of a girl child under age 16.

On the 2nd count, on June 2, 2014, the accused engaged in sexual penetration of a girl child under age 16.

The incidents happened when the child was only 10 years old.

The state said the mother of the victim left home for Linden to attend the funeral of her step father and instructed her child to do chores after which she should go to a relative’s home to stay until she returned home.

The child did as she was told and was then

Abdool Jamil

taken away by the accused to his house where he went into the bedroom where the child was sleeping.

He raped her on two separate occasions but on the second, the child ran to the home of a relative and reported what had transpired.

The state was represented by Lisa Cave and Orinthia Schmidt.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday July 17, 2018

Trump sides with Russia against FBI US President Donald Trump has defended Russia over claims of interference in the 2016 presidential election.

After face-to-face talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Mr Trump contradicted US intelligence agencies and said there had been no reason for Russia to meddle in the vote.

Mr Putin reiterated that Russia had never interfered in US affairs.

The two men held nearly two hours of closed-door talks in the Finnish capital Helsinki on Monday.

At a news conference after the summit, President Trump was asked if he believed his own intelligence agencies or the Russian president when it came to the allegations of meddling in the elections.

"President Putin says it's not Russia; I don't see any reason why it would be," he replied.

US intelligence agencies concluded in 2016 that Russia was behind an effort to tip the scale of the US election against Hillary Clinton, with a state-authorised campaign of cyber attacks and fake news stories planted on social media.

In a strongly-worded statement, US House Speaker Paul Ryan said Mr Trump "must appreciate that Russia is not our ally".

"There is no moral equivalence between the United States and Russia, which remains hostile to our most basic values and ideals," he said, adding that there was "no question" Moscow had interfered in the 2016 election.

Senior Republican Senator John McCain said it was a "disgraceful performance" by a US president.

"No prior president has ever abased himself more abjectly before a tyrant," Mr McCain said in a statement.

Another senior Republican, Senator Lindsey Graham, who is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, tweeted that it was a "missed opportunity... to firmly hold Russia accountable for 2016 meddling".

In a series of tweets, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Mr Trump's actions had "strengthened our adversaries while weakening our defences and those of our allies".

The US Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats, also issued a statement saying that the intelligence

community had been clear about Russia's "ongoing, pervasive attempts" to undermine US democracy.

Mr Trump responded by tweeting that he had "great confidence in my intelligence people," adding: "I also recognise that in order to build a brighter future, we cannot exclusively focus on the past; as the world's two largest nuclear powers, we must get along."

Vice-President Mike Pence, in a speech at the US

Department of Commerce, defended the summit and praised President Trump.

Some US politicians had called for the summit to be cancelled after 12 Russian military intelligence agents were indicted last week, accused of hacking the presidential campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

Speaking on Monday, President Putin offered to allow US investigators to visit Russia to question the

officers.

He made it clear that, in return, Russia would want similar access to people in the US it suspects of criminal activity.

Mr Putin described the Helsinki meeting as "candid and useful", while Mr Trump said there had been "deeply productive dialogue".

Mr Trump said US-Russia relations had "never been worse" than before they met, but that had now changed. (BBC)

US reopens Emmett Till murder case THE US government has reopened an investigation into the 1955 murder of a black 14-year-old boy whose death galvanised the civil rights movement.

A Department of Justice (DOJ) report states the agency had received "new information" about the Emmett Till case, but offered no further details.

Till was murdered in Mississippi after a white woman accused him of making lewd remarks, and touching her.

A recent book quoted the woman as admitting she lied in her testimony.

The DOJ investigation

was announced to lawmakers on 26 March, but has come to light this week after a report by the Associated Press.

It is unclear what new information prompted the government to reopen the case, but a book published last year, ‘The Blood of Emmett Till’ by Timothy B Tyson, had said Carolyn Donham, the white woman who testified against Till, admitted she lied about the teenager's actions in 1955 during a 2008 interview.

"Nothing that boy did could ever justify what happened to him," Mr Tyson's book quotes Donham, now in

her 80s, as saying.

In a letter to a US lawmaker last year, Acting Assistant Attorney-General T E Wheeler II had said that the DOJ was "assessing whether the newly revealed statement could warrant additional investigation," the Clarion Ledger reported.

Last April, the Ledger reported that Till's relatives had urged Attorney-General Jeff Sessions to reopen the case.

Till's cousin, Deborah Watts said she had not known about the reopened investigation until Wednesday, the AP reported.

She said the news was "wonderful", but did not want to say anything further to jeopardise the investigation.

The Till case had been closed in 2007 after authorities reported all suspects were dead.

The 2018 report on Emmett Till is the seventh submitted to Congress, according to the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act of 2007.

The Act requires the attorney-general to conduct an annual study of unsolved civil rights crimes, and report any findings to Congress. In 2016, the Act was extended for an additional 10 years.

The DOJ report says that Congress "has stressed" its desire for the department to "continue its efforts to bring justice, wherever possible, to unsolved civil rights cases".

(BBC)

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday July 17, 2018

‘Time you reinvent yourselves’

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– become more proactive, President urges NTC

By Ariana Gordon THE annual National Toshaos Council (NTC) Conference should aim to establish itself as a vehicle for ensuring improved public services to the indigenous peoples,President David Granger said on Monday at the opening ceremony of the 12th annual NTC Conference at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.

“It is about planning and implementation; it must erect institutions to ensure accessible, affordable and appropriate public services in all indigenous communities.

It is about the future,” the President told village leaders.

He said the NTC should aim at improving people’s quality of life by assisting their communities to develop village improvement plans which promote access to public services. President Granger, who was accompanied by First Lady Sandra Granger, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, his wife Seeta Nagamootoo and several government officials, reminded the gathering of Toshaos from across the country that the NTC is neither decorative nor apolitical.

“It is not an ornamental body, nor a political party,” he declared. “It is a vital executive organ with clearly defined objectives for ensuring the progress of indigenous communities.

“The NTC must establish appropriate administration, operation and organisation structures to foster cooperation between the national and regional governments, and village councils and district councils, and to ensure implementation of its decisions.”

The President reminded his audience that the establishment of a National Indigenous Peoples’ Authority (NIPA) is aimed at ensuring the implementation of decisions emerging from the annual Toshaos conferences. NIPA was proposed at the 10th NTC Conference back in August 2016.

The NIPA, he said, was envisaged as an executive agency that was empowered with the financial, technical

and managerial expertise to ensure the implementation of the Council’s decisions. It was intended to design plans to solve the development problems confronting indigenous communities, including obstacles to the delivery of quality public services, he said.

And, with reference to his past statement that there is need “to battle against the four horsemen of the Guyanese Apocalypse: Poverty, ignorance, disease and crime,” President Granger said: “I recognised that no single village could fight this battle alone, or without a battle plan. I called also for the establishment of village improvement plans (VIPs).

“These calls recognise that public services must be generated at the local level.”

Having said that, he made it clear that the NTC should have as its objective the improvment of people’s quality of life by assisting their communities to develop village improvement plans which promote access to public services.

He reminded those present that the majority of the indigenous population still lives in the hinterland, which occupies about 75 per cent of the country’s land space, and that the smallness in size and wide dispersal of villages present challenges to the delivery of public services.

Low population density, for example, he said, increases the cost of delivering public services.

“Village improvement plans, therefore, must pay attention to every aspect of community life in order to ensure that public services are easily and equitably delivered,” President Granger stated, while noting that this can only materialise through the process of engaging, applying and practising ideas.

LEARNT A LOT Since taking office in May 2015, the President said, he has visited some 36 indigenous communities and has learned a lot from meeting people and observing their communities. “This experience has guided the provision of improved public services as a means of narrowing the inequality between the hinterland the coastland.”

Those visits, he said, demonstrated the need for multi-agency collaboration and coordination to achieve the best possible results, as he referenced 12-yearold Anasie Fredericks of Tapakuma Lake Primary School, who wrote the National Grade Six Assessment examination this year and secured a place at the Bishops’ High School.

Her family’s contemplation of her attending the Anna Regina Multilateral School, he said, would in fact see her utilising the services of the new bus service provided to the Tapakuma village neighbourhood to transport children to schools on the Essequibo Coast.

The bus at reference, he said, is one of 27 supplied under the 3Bs initiative, providing free public transportation to schoolchildren.

“It is quietly facilitating educational opportunities for Indigenous Peoples; a small example of the positive impact of public services on the lives of citizens,” President Granger said.

Additionally, the establishment of the Regional Public Broadcasting Service reaching Aishalton, Bartica, Lethem, Mabaruma, Mahdia and Orealla, he said, is intended to provide information and to promote national integration.

“Public services are integral also to ‘frontier village’ security along the nearly 800 km frontier with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,” the president said, adding that there are several “interesting models” available for the provision of public services in rural and hinterland communities.

“They could be brought together in central spaces so that residents can have easy access to them,” he said.

“This suggests that villages should be more carefully planned to facilitate the delivery of services rather than being allowed to spring up in a haphazard manner.”

As such, the development of VIPs should create a blueprint for improving the delivery of public services in indigenous communities. The VIPs must address, as a priority, four major categories of public services, the first,

being the improvement of access, attendance and achievement in public education.

Village councils, he said, should ensure that every child attends and graduates from school in order to benefit from the opportunities which education unlocks.

Secondly, employment should not be limited to the everyday village life, as opportunities should be opened for your people to be educated as accountants, attorneys, businesspersons, doctors, engineers and managers among other professional occupations.

“Every child should be given the opportunity to be best that she or he could be,” he stressed, while noting that job-creation, especially through programmes which foster self-employment and entrepreneurship, should be emphasized.

Agro-processing, eco-tourism and value-added manufacturing, he opined, can be developed to generate incomes to boost the village economies.

In the third instance,

President Granger said, the quality of human life is linked to the quality of the environment. As such, environmental resilience against the threats of droughts, floods and land degradation, reckless disposal of solid waste, pollution of waterways and the cold-blooded exploitation of wildlife must be built.

Improved health services must be provided to residents of each village or community. Moreover, he declared that every community needs reliable and renewable energy. This, the President said, will help to establish reservoirs and wells and power agro-processing enterprises, households, health centres, schools and community facilities.

“Plans for the delivery of public services – particularly those related to education, economic services, energy, water, human health and the environment – will certainly yield improvements in villagers’ quality of life,” he said.

In this vein, he told the country’s Toshaos that all

plans must aim at ensuring more sustainable and secure livelihoods, boosting human wellbeing, creating increased opportunities and reducing the inequalities between the coastland and hinterland communities.

VILLAGE ECONOMIES Meanwhile, President Granger noted that nearly 75 per cent of Guyanese of African, Amerindian and East Indian descent still live in non-urban or village communities. He reminded that the country’s economy is still heavily reliant on the production of commodities from the said villages.

As such, the head-of-state made it clear that Central Government cannot be unconcerned about the viability of village economies and the vitality of village life.

“Most Guyanese have their roots in villages, and share a common vision of bucolic rural life,” he said, adding: Turn to page 18 ►

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday July 17, 2018

Migration and Haiti WHILE Guyanese have perhaps had their eyes focused more closely on persons occasionally making their way across the border from crisis-hit Venezuela, there is another regional crisis that highlights the question of migration.

Conditions are so consistently poor in Haiti that perhaps we have become desensitised to the poverty and lack of substantial progress in our fellow CARICOM country. The sad state of Haiti has been vividly depicted in the riots over the past week or so, as steep rises in the cost of fuel brought on by IMF specifications, have unleashed vast public fury at general living conditions. Images of

riots featured looting, burntout cars, and endless streams of angry people in the streets.

To see a fellow Caribbean country in the throes of such havoc is deeply sad. As might be expected, Haiti's Prime Minister has been forced to resign in light of the ceaseless chaos. The fuel hike has been postponed for now, but that has not made the path forward for Haiti, both in the short and long run, any clearer. After all, there still is the small matter of the vast sum loaned to the Haitian government by the IMF, which will come with restrictions on government spending of one form or another, despite the riots and change of government.

How, then, can Guyana help? Barbados has introduced visa-free travel to Haitians, a kind gesture in the wake of the threats to disengage with CARICOM's institutions that preceded their last election, but by no means enough to really help the Haitian people. Given the severe lack of resources on the island one could argue that what Haiti really needs is migration, giving poor people without much opportunity a chance to start over.

Perhaps, as Guyana grows there can be increased migration from Haiti to our hinterland regions.

This would not only be of great humanitarian value, it would help develop those

areas of the country that Guyanese seldom frequent, which, given our country's vast size, are themselves vast. After a long history of migration out of Guyana, it still remains hard to see people flocking here, like an illusion or mirage, but one imagines that Haitians would really value a fresh start, if we could give it to them.

Migration, however, is always controversial as it creates great social anxiety.

One needs only look at the character of politics in the United States and Europe to see that it is an issue to be handled with the utmost care and caution. Even further, however, migration from

Appeal to race hinders unity, national development Dear Editor, REFERENCE is made to an article captioned, “Politicians must move away from race-bait campaigning-Ramsaroop”, as published in KN: 15.7.18.

If my memory serves as guide, I do recall Peter Ramsaroop declaring his support for the Peoples Progressive Party/C in the run up to the 2015 elections. If he still is a member/ supporter of this political outfit, then I consider his statements very forthright, if not brave, given that party’s intolerance for self-criticisms.

In fact, his current statement about the appeal to race has to be pointed unequivocally in the direction of this party. In fact, this is traditional of a party for whom “race’’ continues to be its seminal card, since it is used to whip up fears, prejudices, and hate, with the aim of keeping its support base in line.

It is interesting as a strategy, in the sense that the party has always been assured of the weight of numbers being on their side, until, of course, that came to an end at the historic May 2015 elections.

The fact that they have continuously resorted to the narrow, insular, parochial, and dangerous call to race, suggests a political movement that was, and still is not sure of its ability to compete squarely on the issues of the day, including what it could genuinely do for the socio-economic development of Guyana and its six peoples. For any political party, competing for executive office in a country that is beset by the problems of ethnicity and race, as Guyana, and genuinely wants to find solution to the latter ought to be a major priority. And if truth be told, this critical effort has only been paid lip service by successive PPP/C administrations.

For this party, “race” has been its shameless platform from which it has been attempting frantically to re-launch its comeback to government. In fact, every call from the coalition government to the PPP/C opposition to join in initiatives for a unified Guyana has been pointedly ignored and shoved aside. One only has to examine the wholly egregious campaign that party leader Bharrat Jagdeo, Donald Ramotar et al, carried out against the David Granger–led

administration, as they desperately sought to absolve themselves of their role in the collapse of a once proud sugar industry. One can add their flavour to the state bringing action to those PPP/C former senior government officials for acts of malfeasance against the State, to understand the PPP/C’s belief in a destructive appeal that has only served to deepen the racial divide in this country.

Even if any race in this country no longer “has majority”, as Ramsaroop has illustrated, the PPP/C will always find refuge in such an emotive appeal. It is/has been their only way of political longevity, and will continue to be, until it drowns in its own poisoned abyss. If Mr. Peter Ramsaroop feels so strongly about what he has stated publicly, and if he is still a member of this party, he should pointedly advise its hierarchy, that race-bait campaigns represent a mind-set that is dangerous for country, its unity, peace, and efforts for prosperity.

Regards, Earl Hamilton

Haiti is particularly tricky due to the relatively low level of education of the poor, cultural differences and language barrier. It would no doubt be difficult to integrate Haitians among the general Guyanese population.

Sadly, what exacerbates this is that one could ask whether allowing migration would even meaningfully impact general conditions in Haiti, as the population of that country alone is almost double that of every other country in CARICOM combined. At around 11 million people, even extensive migration would be a drop in the bucket, good for the migrants themselves but not enough to turn Haiti around.

These types of questions will surely continue as Guyana grows more wealthy, but a thought that perhaps we have missed is that Haitians have another option.

French Guiana, so close and so much easier for migrants to integrate into, is also sparsely populated, with a vast hinterland region that migrants could develop.

Given Haiti's original woes at the hands of the French, perhaps the most appropriate restitution would be to allow that French territory to take a few million migrants in. It would be a big sacrifice from the French, to be sure, but an even bigger, truly heroic, humanitarian decision.

Could one man’s trash be another man’s treasure?

Dear Editor, IT IS evident by now that if I am walking and notice a box with books on the roadside to be thrown away, I will make the time and see how best I can save any that is of interest.

A while back I stumbled on a novel among other items to be thrown away and it was the name 'THE SILENT WITNESS' which caught my attention. The novel is actually authored by the late 'SIR LIONEL LUCKHOO' and 'AMERICAN DR.JOHN R.THOMPSON PH.D.' Just a reminder that the late Sir. L. Luckhoo was twice knighted (2 degrees of Knighthood) by Queen Elizabeth, he is the only person to be Ambassador for two nations simultaneously (Guyana and Barbados) and for 14 years or more, he was named as the world's most successful advocate via Guinness Books of Records.

November 7, 1978 was the date he accepted Jesus and his life revolutionised. It was by a dinner invitation at a hotel where two of God's chosen vessels, Americans

Glen Norwood and Newman Peyton-Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International), spoke and they were actually told to visit Guyana by the late Catholic Bishop Pantin.

Turning the cover, I almost fell through the floor to notice in red ink, the reading "Personal Copy of Lionel Luckhoo' and the bottom also reads,' This, my personal copy replaces the copy posted but not read.'

Who could have being the recipient of such a special copy autographed by the late Sir L. Luckhoo?

Was the recipient only going to read the novel, or unless it was autographed or with the handwriting of the late Sir. L. Luckhoo?

I am almost certain the recipient was never a President (dead or living) of Guyana. I am wondering if perhaps there is a historian or family member who can verify the signature/ handwriting as provided for evidence.

Regards, T. Pemberton

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday July 17, 2018

President should order review of Broomes’ incident Dear Editor, HON. SIMONA Broomes, Minister within Guyana’s Ministry of Natural Resources, is from my home town of Bartica. I'm fond of her. She is a grassroots politician who relates to the people.

Her audacious work to end human trafficking in Guyana's hinterland and other initiatives on women's rights and empowerment is stellar. Her advocacy for workers' rights and uncompromising demand for employers' adherence to labour laws and regulations are worthy of commendation.

Prior to becoming minister, and as minister, Ms. Broomes stood on the hustings and in parliament and demanded accountability from the opposition PPP, for its stewardship while in government from 1992 to 2015. She is absolutely right.

Some PPP ministers were lawless, corrupt and racist.

They disgraced our nation and have not been held to account to date.

Accountability in government is the foundation of a democratic society and the foremost principle of good governance. Ministers are elected leaders who took an oath to uphold the law. This sacred obligation is irrevocable. Conformity to that oath, the law, highest standards of ethics and exemplary conduct, are not discretionary choices. These cardinal tenets of ministerial and public responsibility are a covenant with the public, who places its trust in them by exercising the franchise in their favour at elections. This is why only citizens of quality who are deemed to be qualified, as well as “fit and proper,” are selected for such high office.

Ordinary citizens, especially our youth, admire and emulate these high office holders because their conduct and lifestyle earn much veneration. Deviation from these values, therefore, constitutes abuse of the powers of the office and violates the ministerial oath and public trust.

Minister Broomes has acknowledged to a media publication her involvement in an incident in New Thriving Restaurant parking lot at Providence, East Bank Demerara. Allegedly, upon arrival at the restaurant, her driver pulled up in what the business proprietor alleged is a no parking zone. Without authorisation, he removed the barricades or signs and attempted to drive into the restricted area. Video footage shows a security guard approached and stopped the

vehicle and then replaced the signs or barricades. As a second guard arrived, the driver again exited the vehicle, confronted the guards and removed the signs a second time. Subsequently, Minister Broomes exited her vehicle, tossed the sign to the ground.

A confrontation between the minister and security guards ensued. During this time her driver drove in the direction of the guards, forced them out of the path of the vehicle and proceeded into the restricted area. The minister acknowledged to the media publication that the guards advised her that the area was a no parking zone. She claimed that she identified herself as a government minister but that the guards were belligerent. Ms. Broomes also alleged to police that a guard threatened her or pointed his weapon at her.

The guards denied threatening the minister or her driver and alleged that the driver brandished a weapon.

The soundless, surveillance video ends when the parties moved outside of the range of security cameras.

What happened thereafter is unverifiable by the video that was released to the public.

The said footage does not show a gun being pointed at the minister or the driver brandishing a firearm. This does not prove that either alleged act did not occur. A number of eyewitnesses were present who will be able to corroborate the guards or minister’s account. Although their words are inaudible, nothing in the video footage shows the guards' comportment to be inappropriate.

Nonetheless, the Police arrested the security guards.

Only the parties know what words were exchanged. If indeed the guards verbally threatened to shoot and/or pointed a gun at the minister that action creates an aggravated circumstance that is potentially a criminal act that may warranted their arrest.

Again, video footage from the scene which was made available by management, does not appear to support a threat with a gun on either side, and does not establish a prima facie case for the guards’ arrest.

The Guyana Police Force (GPF) appears to be equally culpable in this disgraceful episode. Given the obvious inconsistencies and in the interest of total transparency, it is imperative for the Police to explain what evidence provided probable caused for the guards’ arrest and who gave such instructions. The Force’s credibility will be compromised if it allows the

outrageous and injudicious comments from Crime Chief Paul Williams to contend.

No security guard or minister of government is above the law. However, like all other customers, the minister is entitled to professional treatment as well as a safe and secure environment while conducting business on the premises. She is not entitled to special treatment at the facility; unless the proprietors, exercising discretion, so offer or instruct.

Therefore, without commenting on the veracity of the minister’s claim to have been threatened, her knocking down of the signs and general conduct undoubtedly disorderly, lawless, reprehensible and unacceptable from a government minister. Her actions brought the government and entire cabinet into disrepute. President David Granger should not remain silent on this matter. Minister Broomes serves at his pleasure. He should request a full review of the incident

and, based on the findings, repudiate her conduct if the facts and circumstances so warrant.

We must hold ministers of government to the highest standards of ethics. If the minister was threatened she should have politely called the police and let them address the matter. Engaging in a brawl with security guards is unbecoming and beneath the dignity of a minister.

We've come to expect such lawlessness from the PPP. The APNU+AFC coalition government has committed itself to good governance and thus should not tolerate such behaviour.

The minister made an obvious mistake and exercised bad judgment. She should apologise to the public, meet with the guards for an honest conversation to clear up this misunderstanding, and move on.

She will earn the respect and admiration of the nation for doing so. On the other hand, calls for her to

resign are equally deplorable. Did she endanger the republic? NO! Moreover, it is laughable and ironic that Stabroek News has been leading the attack and lecturing the minister about ethics and moral conduct.

This same entity remained silent or tolerated corruption, racism, "gangsterism" and utter lawlessness from PPP government ministers.

Its hypocrisy is suffocating.

The editors should spare us their sanctimonious, false moral pontifications until such time when they can be fair and balanced.

Regards, Rickford Burke President Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID)

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Floodwaters continue to recede in Kwakwani …Region 10 disaster risk management committee without funds

LAST September, the Regional Democratic Council of Region 10, established a Disaster Risk Management Committee, with the aim of mitigating the risks associated with impromptu disasters, as well as, to provide the necessary aid in the eventuality of a flood-related disaster; much of which occurred in Region 10 last year. With the occurrence of the Kwakwani flood, the committee however was not able to play its role in lending assistance in any way to the flood-affected residents.

Regional Chairman Renis Morian said that the reason for its inability to provide needed assistance is the lack of funding. While the members and all systems have been put in place along with a command centre, the committee remains null and void at present with no money to put its mission into action.

The various stakeholders that are part of the committee include the electricity companies; Guyana Water Incorporated; regional representatives for central, local and neighbourhood government; Bosai Minerals Incorporative; the Guyana

Police Force and Fire Service; Social Services and Linden Chamber of Commerce Education and Health.

These are further broken up into sub committees; namely: Agriculture and Sustainable Livelihood; Fire, Security and Electricity; Women, Education and Social Services and Communication and Health.

Morian said that he is hoping that next year, as the 2019 May/June rains approaches, this may not be the case. “We are hoping that in next year’s budget there is funding, but there is no funding right now. We are putting it in the Plan of Action for Regional Development (PARD) and we are going to put that in our budget in 2019.

Officials on Monday aired their concerns over the RDC not being able to play an integral role in bringing assistance to the residents, while referencing the committee’s inability to fulfill its mission. “I am totally fed up of the rhetoric, it is like everything in this place is a talk show, talk, talk, talk and no action,” an official said under anonymity. Regional representatives, including

Regional Vice Chairman Elroy Adolph, were however, part of the task force led by the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) that visited Kwakwani last Friday, to assess the situation.

WATER CONTINUES TO RECEDE Meanwhile, reports coming out of Kwakwani on Monday indicated that the water level continues to recede. It has reportedly receded some 7-8 inches. The CDC is expected to transport millions of dollars in food and cleaning supplies to the residents. This will aid in boosting food security which was significantly threatened with the farms being completely inundated. The cleaning agents will also assist as the flooding posed environmental health issues. The communities that are directly affected: Waterfront, Lamp Island, Aroaima and Ginger Island, are located in proximity to the Upper Berbice River that borders Kwakwani. Approximately 300 households have been affected by the flooding which started some two weeks ago.

‘Beware of the... of Parliament, Nigel Dharamlall and Pauline Sukhai were in the audience at the time.

“The majority of us are still in awful poverty, despite that we live and are surrounded by richness and beauty and this is what the coalition Government is addressing,” Minister Garrido-Lowe posited.

With 2019 being designated the Year of Indigenous Languages by the United Nations (UN), the Ministry in collaboration with other partners, has begun crafting a strategy for the revival of the country’s first languages through creative means.

To this cause Garrido-Lowe said: “We have to preserve such culture by passing the knowledge and skills down to our young ones. The onus is on us, the leaders; to ensure that we do not lose our traditions…this strategy will be rolled out

soon and is aimed at having the involvement of every indigenous community in Guyana. Your Government will ensure that an allocation is represented in the 2019 budget in order to carry back these activities.”

She listed some of the accomplishments for the past three years towards reducing the gap of inequality between the coastland and the hinterland such as establishment of 5 radio stations in Mabaruma, Mahdia, Orealla, Lethem and Aishalton.

Other assistance to the hinterland Garrido-Lowe noted were the provision of 566 Government scholarships; 1332 assisted small businesses; 200M in heritage grants; 93M towards preserving indigenous heritage and10M each for the resuscitation of the coffee industry in Santa Rosa, the cassava flour business in Quibana and jewelry

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and craft businesses at Monkey Mountain.

She also pointed to new Information and Communications Technology (ICT) hubs in the regions; improved water quality and supply and increased provision of medical staff.

93 HOUSES Speaking to the future, Minister Garrido-Lowe said that there are 93 houses earmarked for Region 1 (Barima Waini), 224 houses for Region 9 (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) and 22 for Region 7 (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).

She also forecasted the $20M rehabilitation of the maternity ward at the Indigenous hostel, improved road conditions and the construction of a new dorm in the hinterland by September to accommodate some 120 tertiary students.

In her speech, the minis-

GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Jordan warns against tax evasion …says the crime is a stain, blight on Guyanese MINISTER of Finance Winston Jordan said tax avoidance and tax evasion must no longer be celebrated, but must be seen for what they are--a stain and blight that rob the government of revenue and retards development in Guyana.

Jordan made the comments on Monday at the launch of a new container scanner site at the GNIC compound, Lombard Street, Georgetown. He said his personal mandate to the staff of GRA is for them to ensure that the tax base is broadened so that everyone pays their fair share and it is not left to the marginal few, both in business and the citizens combined, to bear the weight of the country’s revenue collection,” Minister Jordan said.

He said that the tax amnesty announced in this year’s budget has seen active participation and the amnesty ends on September 30. Minister Jordan said the staff of GRA is critical to the success of the reforms while charging them to adopt a proactive approach to their work and become more engaged and less susceptible to unscrupulous practices.

“The commissioner general has my full support in doing what it takes to make the agency worthy of the support and trust of taxpayers,” he said. He said the tax agency is heading ter recognised the presence of the 14 female toshaos and councilors elected who were present at the conference commending them on their strength and wisdom.

She also recognised the outstanding performance of the outgoing NTC Council and NTC outgoing Chairman Joel Fredericks even as she urged the new executives to perform even better than their predecessors.

“The chairman and his team along with all the other toshaos have been very vocal about issues that have been affecting them. To the NTC Executives, I salute your efforts and contributions to the indigenous peoples’ development. I urge that the next elected executives continue to build on the work started, learn from the mistakes and build on the strength,” she said.

BUILD ON THE PAST In his remarks to the gathering, Fredericks made similar comments as he called on the new members of the Ex-

in a new direction and that tax reform and tax administration “which for far too long was held in abyss, as you know as soon as I came on board I was acutely aware of the shortcomings of the GRA, so it didn’t take me too long to start a massive drive to clean up that institution with a view of not only increasing tax collection but to also improve equity, efficiency of collection, allocation of resources, all which will benefit the taxpayer and Guyanese.”

Minister Jordan said that tax reform administration is needed more than ever when the economy is emerging from periods of challenges, particularly as it relates to sugar and emerging economic sectors

to oil and tourism. Since 2015, Minister Jordan said several new and amended pieces of legislation have been passed to remove disparities and to simplify the tax system, reduce rates in income, corporate tax and VAT while eliminating a multiplicity of tax that generate little or no income. “The system for filing taxes have become easier with the introduction of electronic filing; the use of technology is critical to the revenue collection process and will no doubt improve efficiency of time and reduce opportunities to engage in corrupt practices,” he said.

He said with the coming of the first oil in the first quarter of 2020, the work of the GRA will expand greatly as government seeks to ensure and safeguard oil revenues.

The finance minister added that the GRA will soon be boosting an oil and gas unit staffed with professionals who will receive the highest training and best practices in the sector.

By 2020, the economy is projected to grow by at least 20 per cent and beyond it is expected to grow by leaps and bounds and this will come with new challenges, new laws and regulations while better implementation and enforcement will become even more pronounced, according to the minister.

ecutive Council to preserve, respect and build on their past rather than demolishing altogether.

“As young and new leaders it is important to know of the work that was done before you in your respective offices. The outgoing toshaos would have done a great deal for your communities… [however] most of the new toshaos, as we are already hearing, are starting to break what the outgoing Council did. But, remember, it takes more energy and resources to break and build than to build on what was left,” he advised.

The outgoing NTC chairman said that as the Government continues to work in the best interest of indigenous people, there are still outstanding commitments that the communities hope will be addressed in the near future.

These listed by Fredericks include the establishment of a Lands Commission in respect Amerindian land rights; the revision of the Amerindian Act (2006) and Constitutional reform. Fred-

ericks remained optimistic that the Government would remain devoted to the vision it laid out for its indigenous people upon taking office in 2015.

“We still believe in people and their ability to do good and I will never stop believing in that. As leaders, sometimes we make mistakes, but it is time for us all to learn from our mistakes and move on,” he said, later adding: “We have a great future in this country, we have a great vision for this country and we need to be serious with our nation.”

In the same manner, he urged the NTC’s incoming leaders to remember their principles and obligation to represent the people who elected them into office. The meetings of the NTC are mandated by the 2006 Amerindian Act for the discussions of issues of concern and other matters in relation to the collective development of indigenous peoples’.

Minister of Finance Winston Jordan

GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Container scanning site operationalised at GNIC

ILLEGAL items in containers will now be intercepted as the mobile X-ray imaging scanner will now be in full operation after a container scanner site was launched on Monday at Lombard Street Georgetown.

In attendance were Minister of Finance Winston Jordan, Commissioner General of GRA Godfrey Statia, CEO of Guyana National Industrial Company (GNIC) Clinton Williams, representatives from the Chinese embassy and special invitees.

Minister Jordon said the scanner will be able to detect illegal exports while meeting international obligations and deter illegal trade activities.

He asked handlers and persons in charge of the equipment to treat it with care and the attention it deserves as Guyana looks forward to develop its export potential in the international arena.

Noting that it’s a Public Private Partnership between GRA and GNIC, Minister Jordan said that government recently launched its framework for such partnerships which is an attempt to draw in foreign, local and private sector investments with government in boosting infrastructure and sustainable businesses.

“The partnership was important to get this facility going…it has come a far way from what was endured in the national park (where the scanner previously operated) and with much care the

The mobile X-ray imaging scanner with a new fixed container scanner in operation at the new Lombard Street Georgetown facility. (Samuel Maughn photo)

facility can last a long time.

We would like to see many more of these partnerships come to fruition,” he said.

He explained that government does not have all the money and Guyana’s needs are tremendous and more public private partnerships are needed to push the developmental drive.

“We don’t have all the answers as a government, the private sector doesn’t have all the answers, the private sector has strengths and the government has strengths and I believe we can marry those strengths and at the end of the day we can have a fruitful relationship,” he explained.

The mobile x-ray imaging scanner with a new fixed container scanner was procured through grant-aid from China. Adding that it is a testimony of the collaboration between the Government and the People’s Republic of China since

establishing a relationship in 1972, Minister Jordan said the bond has withstood the test of time “and it is equipment like these that give us hope that our relationship will continue to endure and flourish.”

Returning from a trip to China recently, the Finance Minister said he was shown technologies in the latest spheres of life and more tangible gesture by China are needed in Guyana as it develops to its full potential.

Williams for his part said the need for efficient and effective security for ports and harbours are now a necessity. Commissioner General of GRA Godfrey Statia said in the advent of oil and with the absence of port authority new wharves will have to be equipped with a scanner and the old established ones must take the necessary steps to procure scanning equipment since the utilisation of the national park is

Overseas-based man drowns in Demerara River AN overseas-based Guyanese man met a tragic end on Sunday afternoon while jet-sledding in the Demerara River near Coverden, East Bank Demerara (EBD).

Dead is Ravindra Bufhraj, called ‘Rick’, who was staying temporarily in Prashad Nagar, Georgetown.

Reports are that Bufhraj and several others, including his wife and daughter, planned a

family outing to Santa Mission, on the Demerara River, after arriving in Guyana recently.

The group reportedly set off upriver early Sunday from Jettoo’s wharf at Coverden, and returned around 17:00hrs. And with some time still left on their hands, Bufhraj and one Stefan Gagie, a 29-year-old computer technician, got on a jet ski and went for a ride on the river.

Gajie would later tell the police that Bufhraj, who was apparently at the helm, lost control of the machine and they both fell into the river.

Many persons reportedly rushed to their aid but they were only able to save Gajie, as Bufhraj was nowhere to be seen.

Gajie was treated at the Diamond Hospital and sent away, but the search is still on for Bufraj’s body.

not an option anymore.

GRA will scan not only

imports but also merchandise destined for foreign jurisdictions which meet the criteria for trading with some of Guyana’s major partners. One such is the Unites States which requires universal scanning of all containers entering that jurisdiction.

GRA became somewhat limited in this capacity after the stationary scanner at the GNSC Lombard St location became inoperable in 2014 and the mobile x-ray imaging scanner acquired in 2014 also experienced some operational challenges during 2016.

9

The acquisition of container scanners compliments the efforts by the GRA to reduce trade transaction costs and time, improve international competitiveness and promote international maritime security and safety. In pursuit of these objectives and the estimated projected increase in container traffic, the GRA has been having ongoing discussions with wharf owners and other stakeholders in investing in such equipment so that container scanning will form part of their routine operations.

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Ithaca residents subdue man who chopped a fellow villager A thirty-year-old man of Ithaca, West Bank Berbice who is said to be a drug addict was subdued and disarmed by fellow residents after he had attacked and wounded a villager.

The incident occurred around 22:00hours on Sunday night and the assailant who was identified as Lambert Ali as well as his victim have been receiving medical

attention at the New Amsterdam Hospital while the West Berbice Police are investigating the incident.

The assailant, it was said, lives alone. He was also said to be a known user of narcotics after which he would become violent and abusive and would be seen patrolling the streets with a cutlass.

Reports stated that Ali had chased another resident of the

village while armed with a cutlass earlier in the day around 4:00PM. This resident who managed to escape injury made a report at the Blairmont Police Station immediately after but the Police there, it was said, had failed to respond to the complaint.

Reports stated that around 10:00PM some men were liming at a night

spot in Ithaca when one of them went into the bushes to ease his bladder.

It was then they said that the assailant armed with two knives and a cutlass emerged from the bushes pounced on the man and chopped him on his arm.

The man shouted an alarm and the others at the liming spot hurriedly took up evasive positions to avoid being injured by the cutlass and knife wielding man.

It was shortly after that that a few male villagers warned the assailant to put down his weapons and he refused.

They then attacked, subdued and disarmed him. The disarmed man received a number of wounds in the process which caused him to have to be taken for medical treatment.

One resident said that had the Police at Blairmont responded to the earlier report, the incident later in the evening might have been avoided.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Upper Mazaruni farmer a knife which he allegedly to stab the 23-year-old killed in fight used to his abdomen, resulting in ONE day after being stabbed by an 18-year-old male of Amakokopai Village, Upper Mazaruni River, a 23-yearold farmer succumbed Monday to his injuries.

Dead is Hernan Leman of Amakokopai Village, Upper Mazaruni River. Reports are that the deceased was engaged in a scuffle with the suspect, Terlly Federicks, about 16:00hrs on Sunday at Amakokopai Village.

The fight allegedly stemmed from an altercation between Fredericks and Leman’s younger brother, Ron Leman, which occurred earlier.

Fredericks was armed with

severe injuries.

As a result, the victim’s younger brother picked up the said knife and dealt the suspect a stab to his back.

Federicks and Hernan Leman were both rushed to the Kamarang Regional Hospital where they were examined by a doctor on duty and admitted in critical conditions.

While they were waiting to be transported to the Georgetown Public Hospital for further medical treatment, at about 9:15hrs on Monday, Hernan Leman succumbed to his injuries.

Ron Leman has been taken into police custody as the investigation continues.

Grandparents, uncle arrested in Anna Catherina murder POLICE are investigating the murder of a Sixth Street, Anna Catherina, West Coast Demerara man who was discovered with marks of violence around his neck at his home on Monday morning.

Dead is Jason Rejendra Lall Hira.

Police said the man was killed between 01:30hrs and 05:30hrs Monday. Investigators discovered marks of violence around the deceased’s neck and an autopsy conducted on Monday morning

revealed that he died from compression injuries to the neck.

Three persons have been taken into custody including the grand-parents and an uncle of the victim.

According to the police investigations the grandfather of Hira informed that the man, who was an alcoholic, went home about 01:30hrs on Monday intoxicated. Around 05:30hrs he was discovered seated motionless on an inside toilet.

Investigations are ongoing.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Sharma ‘annoyed’

by SOCU’s performance with forensic audits

MINISTER within the Ministry of Finance, Jaipaul Sharma has expressed his disappointment in the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU)’s inability to make any prosecutions despite the findings of the forensic audits.

Forensic audits were conducted on several Government agencies and entities including the National Communications Network, One Laptop Per Family Project, Guyana Office for Investment, Environmental Protection Agency, E-Governance Unit, Scrap Metal Unit, New Guyana Marketing Corporation, National Insurance Scheme, Passport Office, Guyana Gold Board, Cheddi Jagan International Airport, and Guyana Oil Company among others.

“I am annoyed that there is no prosecution; I did the audit so I know what it contains,” said Sharma during his debate on the National Payments System in the National Assembly on Thursday.

The minister even went on to question whether or not the Guyana Police Force (GPF) is doing its job because there are a lot of issues before the court.

He said: “I don’t know what it is, is it that SOCU ain’t doing their work or is the legislation too weak?”

While the auditors who

Found guilty of assaulting girl, 14 A TWENTY-seven-year old gym instructor was on Monday found guilty of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and was sentenced to four years in jail by Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman.

Michael Sampson of Delhi Street, Prashad Nagar was charged for sexually assaulting the child at his home on February 19, 2018.

The defendant was rep-

Michael Sampson

resented by attorney-at-law Bernard DaSilva and the matter was prosecuted by Police Corporal Shawn Gonsalves.

According to reports, the teen was at Sampson’s home visiting with her relatives when it is alleged that Sampson touched her inappropriately.

The child told her mother and the defendant was arrested and charged for the offence.

Cops say Venezuelan miner had ganja in haversack

Minister within the Ministry of Finance, Jaipaul Sharma (Adrian Narine photo)

conducted the audit did not have the authority to go into any account or make arrests, Sharma believes that the information they gathered was sufficient and persons should have been prosecuted.

It was reported that at least two joint charges have been filed against several former managers and former directors of the Guyana Rice Development Board for failing to enter information in a ledger.

Also, months after SOCU had completed its ‘Pradoville 2’ investigation the unit was able to institute charges against former Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni

Singh; and former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of National Industrial and Commercial Investment Limited (NICIL) Winston Brassington.

The two were jointly slapped with three charges of misconduct in public office as these relate to three plots of state land.

As it is now, SOCU provides reinforcement to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Act, in that it aids efforts to ensure that money acquired through illicit activities is not being placed in officialdom.

A VENEZUELAN miner who was allegedly caught by police at Kaikan Village, Cuyuni River with over two pounds of cannabis stashed in his haversack, was on Monday remanded by the Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan for drug trafficking.

Franklin Gonsalves, 29, denied that on July 9, 2018 at Kaikan Village he had 1000 grams of cannabis in his possession for the purpose of trafficking. He pleaded to the charge with the aid of an interpreter.

Police Prosecutor In-

spector Gordon Mansfield strongly opposed Gonsalves being granted his pretrial liberty on the grounds that the accused posed a flight risk.

According to the police facts, the defendant was searched and the drug was found in a bowl he had hidden in his haversack.

After listening to the prosecution’s objection, the Chief Magistrate refused Gonsalves bail and remanded him to prison. The matter was transferred to the Kamarang Magistrate’s Court for September 17.

Franklin Gonsalves

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, July 17, 2018

23 years 7 months for 2015 ‘Tiger Bay’ killing

By Michel Outridge CHRISTOPHER Stanley was sentenced to 23 years and seven months imprisonment for the 2015 ‘Tiger Bay’ killing of 44-yearold Owen Browne after he pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter.

The sentence was handed down in the Demerara High Court by Justice Sandil Kissoon who started at a base of 25 years but made some deductions as well as added 10

years for aggravating factors.

The judge deducted one third for the guilty plea and two years and 11 months for his constitutional entitlement (time served) as such, arriving at a total of 23 years and 7 months imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the period of his sentence.

Justice Kissoon said that in an effort to temper justice with mercy he considered that the accused was only 19 when the incident took place and it was indeed a tragedy but the

court could not turn a blind eye to the fact that Owen Browne brutally lost his life.

The judge stated that Browne’s life was snuffed out by 21 stab wounds inflicted by the accused and the court recognised that the deceased had defensive wounds on his body.

According to the state, the accused Christopher Stanley on August 29, 2015 in the county of Demerara murdered Owen Browne called ‘Rastaman’.

After the indictment was

presented the accused pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter.

The court however, accepted his guilty plea on Monday morning.

In presenting the facts, state prosecutor Mandel Moore told the court that on August 29, 2015 at Lot 910 Rose Mary Lane, South Cummingsburg called ‘Tiger Bay’ the accused was seen stabbing the deceased Owen Browne several times after which he fled the scene.

He was however, later apprehended.

Moore related that a post mortem examination revealed that the deceased had 21 stab wounds to the body and the cause of death was given as shock and haemorrhage due to multiple incised wounds.

The prosecutor added that at the time of the incident the accused was the only one armed with a weapon.

The accused in response to the facts presented by the State said: “He go fuh trouble me and I loose it.”

Meanwhile, in his plea of

Christopher Stanley

mitigation, defence attorney Maxwell McKay said the accused was deemed a model prisoner who had no priors and did not waste the courts’ time by his early plea.

He stated that his client was remorseful and intended to utilise the training activities offered in jail to become a skilled individual and also a better person.

The accused was only 19 years old when the incident happened and he was a neighbour to the deceased.

Stanley, 22, dropped out

of school in form two and is semi-literate.

He however, when asked if he had anything to say before the court pass sentencing, Stanley apologised to the relatives of the deceased who was present in court on Monday.

In response, State prosecutor Mandel Moore told the court that the deceased received 21 stab wounds and a weapon was used to inflict the wounds and by his doing he had no other intention than to kill the deceased.

Sister of the deceased, Urtence Browne, after the sentencing on Monday told reporters that she was pleased with the sentence and had harboured ill feelings towards the accused but today she forgave him for what he did and she felt relieved that justice was served.

On the other hand, mother of the accused was observed crying before and after the sentencing and was in brief conversation with relatives of the deceased since they are all from the same community.

Security guard remanded for having gun in car trunk A SECURITY guard was yesterday remanded to prison for possession of a gun and ammunition.

The charge alleged that on July 13, 2018 at Oronoque Street, Queenstown, Trevor Heyliger had a 1.45mm pistol without being a licenced firearm holder at the time.

It was also alleged that on the same day Heyliger had in his possession ammunition without being a licenced holder for such.

The 48- year-old man who resides at ‘B’ Field, Sophia denied the charges

that were read out to him in court.

Attorney James Bond who represented the man told the court that the firearm was found in a vehicle and his client was the only person who had access to the vehicle. He also made application for a reasonable bail to be granted to his client.

The police prosecutor objected to bail based on the seriousness of the offence and the penalty it attracts.

According to facts presented in court on July 13, 2018 police ranks received information that caused

them to intercept motor car PPP 229 at Oronoque Street, Queenstown. At the time of the interception the defendant was the driver of the vehicle, the only occupant inside the vehicle. A search was carried out where the defendant produced his licence for the .32 revolver but police ranks found a .45mm pistol which was concealed in a black plastic bag in the trunk of the defendant’s car.

Bail was refused by Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman and Heyliger was remanded to prison until July 30, 2018.

Two youths charged for rape, another to face prosecution APPEARING before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan on Monday were two teenagers who are charged for allegedly raping an 11-year-old girl.

Eighteen-year-old Caozuyag Menuy and his 15-year-old co-accused were not required to plead to the indictable charge which alleged that between October 1 and October 31, 2017 at Soesdyke, East Bank Demerara, they engaged in sexual activity with a child under the age of 16.

They were represented by attorney-at-law Paul Fung-a-Fatt, who made an application for bail. They were released on $70,000 bail each and the matter was adjourned until July 27.

The Guyana Chronicle understands that a 13-year-old boy is also expected to be charged soon for the same offence. According to reports the girl was held against her will by the three boys at a location on the East Bank Demerara during the month of October, 2017.

Caozuyag Menuy

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Multi-agency coordinating PPP fails to show racial bias committee to address at GECOM …proposes new format for employment Venezuelan migration

Stakeholders meeting to coordinate migration of Venezuelans

Minister of Citizenship, Winston Felix meeting with committee members

MINISTER of Citizenship, Mr. Winston Felix on Monday convened a multi-agency meeting at the Department of Citizenship, aimed at coordinating a response to the migration of Venezuelans into Guyana primarily through Barima-Waini (Region One) and CuyuniMazaruni (Region Seven).

The multi-agency committee includes the Guyana Police Force, the Ministries of Communities, Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Social Protection, Public Health and Citizenship and the Civil Defence Commission (CDC).

In an invited comment at the conclusion of the meeting,

Minister Felix said that the Ministry of Citizenship will assist the Venezuelans who arrive and to the best of its abilities and resources, make every effort to provide assistance.

“This meeting is the coordinated effort to give structure to the Government’s response to the arrival of Venezuelans in Guyana. This was an inter-agency meeting and we all discussed our various roles and how those roles will complement the other. I can say for sure that during the course of this week, we will be reinforcing the Immigration Department in Region One to deal with

the arrival of Venezuelans into Guyana,” he said.

Minister Felix said that while the Ministries are still trying to finalise the number of Venezuelans, there are approximately 150 at White Water Village, Region One for which the CDC has flown in supplies.

“There is a health post in White Water where the Ministry of Public Health has personnel dealing with vaccinations as they come into the country and so on and the CDC has sent in supplies including cots, pillows, tarpaulins, blankets and food supplies,” the Minister noted.

Businessmen detained after assaulting cop TWO businessmen were detained after allegedly obstructing police ranks from carrying out their duties on Sunday night on Battery Road, Kingston, Georgetown.

Investigations revealed that two police ranks were responding to a report of simple larceny in the Kingston area when they stopped an ATV without registration plates. And, while engaging the driver, three men, two of whom are in custody approached and obstructed the ranks from performing their du-

ties. They allegedly behaved in a very hostile manner towards the ranks who were forced to summon for assistance.

Reports are that during the face-off, the driver of the ATV drove away and one of the suspects assaulted one of the ranks and violently kicked and damaged one of the rear lights of a police vehicle. The other suspect allegedly pointed a gun at the ranks and subsequently discharged several rounds into the air before fleeing the scene in a motor car, driven by the shooter.

The motor car with the two suspects was shortly after intercepted and a search was conducted. The driver who was reportedly found with .32 pistol along with five rounds in his possession, is said to have produced a license which gives him permission to carry the said weapon. He however, fled the scene in his vehicle minus the weapon. The police who promptly detained the other man retrieved two spent shells from the scene.

About 08:00hrs on Monday morning, the licensed firearm holder turned himself in to police officers at the Brickdam Police Station.

THE People’s Progressive Party (PPP)-appointed GECOM Commissioners on Monday failed to prove that the commission was favouring Afro-Guyanese for employment, and even conceded that there was nothing to suggest that the electoral body erred in its employment practices with respect to the issue of race.

The commissioners: Robeson Benn, Bibi Shadick and Sase Gunraj appeared before the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) as investigation into claims of ethnic bias at the electoral body commenced. The PPP trio had contended recently that 90 per cent of GECOM’s workforce is made up of Afro Guyanese, but later said that it was the management of GECOM that is dominated by Afro-Guyanese. In a letter to the ERC Chairman Reverend Oswald Smith, the PPP-appointed GECOM Commissioners had called for an investigation to be launched into the employment practices at the Elections Commission, and the decision of the GECOM Chairman Justice (ret’d) James Patterson, to use his casting vote to appoint Roxanne Myers to the post of Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO) over Vishnu Persaud – the former DCEO.

NEW FORMAT However, in making their case before the ERC on Monday, the PPP-appointed GECOM Commissioners proposed that a new format be used when employing persons at the Elections Commission to create an ethnic balance.

The Guyana Chronicle, however, understands that Benn and his colleagues fell short of providing substantial evidence to prove their case.

Based on the information and arguments put forward by the PPP-appointed Commissioners, it is believed that there is nothing to suggest that GECOM erred in its employment practices with respect to the issue of race.

At a media brunch at the Georgetown Club on Saturday, which was hosted by the ERC under the theme “Promoting Harmony and Good Relations,” the chairman said that based on the statements and evidence provided, a determination will be made on whether legal or any other assistance would be required. At a later date, the GECOM’s Chairman, Justice (ret’d) James Patterson would also be called before the ERC. The GECOM matter is the first major complaint to be investigated by the ERC

since its reconstitution in February, 2018. The request for an investigation was made pursuant to Article 212D (a), (d) and (p) of the Constitution of Guyana, which allows the ERC to “ a) provide equality of opportunity between persons of different ethnic groups and to promote harmony and good relations between such persons; d) foster a sense of security among all ethnic groups by encouraging and promoting the understanding, acceptance and tolerance of diversity in all aspects of national life and promoting full participation by all ethnic groups in the social, economic, cultural and political life of the people; and, p) investigate on its own accord or on request from the National Assembly or any other body any issues affecting ethnic relations.

Reverend Smith told reporters that even before the ERC got its feet wet; it was faced with the Mae’s Schools incident, however, the Commission was pleased that the matter was resolved by the aggrieved parties.

The mother of a nineyear-old boy, with the backing of the Indigenous community, had picketed the school after he was reportedly evicted for wearing a traditional indigenous wear for the school’s Culture Day. Though delayed, the school issued an apology to the child and his parents.

Reverend Smith said the majority of the complaints filed before the ERC was labour related and as such would have to be investigated by the relevant authorities.

Reminding reporters that the ERC has 24 functions, the Chairman pointed out that one of the commission’s mandate is to “promote the elimination of all forms of discrimination on the basis of ethnicity.”

As such, it discourages and prohibits persons, institutions, political parties and associations from indulging in, advocating or promoting discrimination or discriminatory practices on the ground of ethnicity. He made it clear that the ERC is not a fire fighting machine. “Firefighters have to respond to every alarm, false or otherwise and the trouble that is, when they are attending to a false alarm, the real thing might be going in another direction,” he posited.

Presently, the ERC is implementing procedures to restore vital staff complement which was depleted over the past seven years due to the absence of a commission.

It was noted that when the ERC was reconstituted, the

Commissioners found 14 of the 34 staff it had, and as such there is a great push to fill the vacancies.

Reverend Smith said already the ERC has advertised for eight positions, and in the not so distant future another 10 positions would be advertised. Interviews for the eight positions were conducted on Friday, and it is hoped that at next week’s statutory meeting, approval would be granted.

Presently the ERC has no legal arm – a department which is critical to its operation. There are also the Legal and Financial Units that need to be staffed. Vice Chairman of the ERC, Norman McLean added that the ERC has received a number of applications for various positions, and already five appointments have been made.

Meanwhile, Reverend Smith used the platform to extend a hand of partnership to the media but to urge responsible journalism.

President of the Guyana Press Association (GPA) Nazima Raghubir said, the GPA is cognizant of the role of the ERC in fostering a sense of security among all ethnic groups by encouraging and promoting the understanding, acceptance and tolerance of diversity.

“The GPA no doubt feels that the commission has a major role to play in a multi ethnic, multi- cultural and multi religious society. Active constitutional commissions are heathy for growing democracies and with Guyana still a fairly young independent nation, still finding herself, there is a role for everyone,” Raghubir stated.

The GPA President used the platform to call on the ERC to hold politicians accountable.

“The media over the years have been held to different standards than others, and rightfully so in some instances, we have been asked to sign media codes for elections and our coverage of issues have been examined closely and criticised over the years. But I would like to recommend that politicians be held to high and higher standards. The media may not report a statement from a political platform that can be deemed harmful, but in age of the internet and access to social media, there is a need for politicians to hold accountable for their statements,” she explained.

During the brunch, media operatives were provided with the opportunity to interact with the ERC Commissioners and staff.

‘Preserving our Past, P

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- “As indigenous peoples, we must remember that our heritage is founded on the principles of strong community. This has been the basis for our survival in the past and will ensure same for the future. We have to preserve such culture by passing the knowledge and skills down to our young ones. The onus is on us, the leaders, to ensure that we do not lose our traditions.” - Hon. Minister Valerie Garrido-Lowe, Minister within the Ministry, Ministry of Indigenous Peoples Affairs

GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Protecting our Future’ GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, July 17, 2018

NATIONAL TOSHAOS COUNCIL CONFERENCE 2018

"Villagers’ quality of life is dependent on the quality of public services provided to them. Those services, including communications, education, information, sanitation, social protection and other amenities and utilities, are necessary to satisfy peoples’ basic needs, enhance their economic opportunities, promote social integration and reduce inequality. Villages, if they are to be viable, should ensure that these services are accessible, affordable and appropriate. Public services should be enjoyed by all regardless of place of residence. They should be delivered at all three levels of government, national, regional and neighbourhood or village."

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday July 17, 2018

‘Toshaos who cannot account for village assets to face the law’ - Allicock

STRESSING that the National Toshaos Council (NTC) is one of Guyana’s vital democratic institutions, Minister of Indigenous People’s Affairs, Sydney Allicock on Monday sounded a clear warning to Toshaos and village leaders who fail to account for village assets.

Speaking at the 12th annual NTC Conference, themed “Preserving our past, protecting our future”, Allicock made it clear that accountability is the cornerstone of democracy.

“Attempts to use this institution by anyone for the furtherance of any selfish, narrow or personal or partisan objective must be rejected. Our leaders on the executive level must know we will not condone positions taken arbitrarily on matters which are critical to our lives and well-being,” he said.

Additionally, the minister, who hails from the village of Surama, Region 9 said, “Toshaos who cannot give account for village assets will face the law.” He told the gathering of leaders that over time Toshaos have used village assets for

Allicock: Minister of Indigenous People’s Affairs, Sydney Allicock addresses Toshaos at the 12th Annual NTC Conference being held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.

(Adrian Narine photo)

their personal gain and have failed to account for millions of dollars belonging to their respective communities.

“I must say we have not gone to take anybody to court for mismanagement of village funds but I would like to signal to the Toshaos that…who have property at their homes and cannot give

account for the funds they were given responsibility for, you would be called to answer. We still have a few persons who do not want to hand over keys…you did not go into that position on your own, people put you there,” Allicock stated.

Such disregard for the assets of communities must

stop or those guilty will face the full brunt of the law. He called on the newly elected village leaders to get their books in order, “because if you don’t you will face the law.”

Meanwhile, Allicock has recommended that in the amended Amerindian Act, there be the inclusion of pro-

visions which speaks to the recalling of elected leaders at both the village and NTC executive levels.

“I believe that we must have a system of recall to protect us from the bite of our own ants,” the Minister declared. He reminded leaders that they were elected by residents of their communities and respect must be shown towards them.

Pointing to the recently concluded village elections, the Indigenous People’s Affairs Minister said their election to office is by virtue of their hard work.

“It is testimony to the voters’ wish to move away from the way things have been for some time, to a more progressive developmental agenda. Our people are moving away from listening to the divisive political messages of despair and placing their focus and energies on their developmental needs. Our people are more and more every day demonstrating their trust, appreciation and admiration for a government which is listening to them and demonstrating its commitment to delivering to them the public goods and services

they are entitled to as citizens of Guyana,” Allicock stated.

Meanwhile, he called on village leaders to focus on the development of their communities, to build on what currently exists so that in time, residents can benefit from modernity. He reminded that every indigenous person has a voice and that voice must be sounded.

He urged leaders to be positive instead of listening to the gloom and doom situation painted by those “who have selfish desires.” “We must elect persons who place a high premium on accountability…after three years I am happy to say we are more respectful, we allow persons to share their ideas, discuss them so we can plan.”

Allicock called on the indigenous leaders to seek to restore respect and integrity. “No longer will there be allegations of unlawful, indecent and embarrassing behaviour,” he stated.

The NTC conference will conclude on Friday.

Toshaos to access Passport and Birth Registration forms at NTC …Minister Felix intervenes following complaints by indigenous leaders EVEN as they attend the Annual Conference of the National Toshaos’ Council (NTC), Indigenous Leaders would be able to access passport application and birth registration services at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, starting from today.

On Monday, some of the more than 200 indigenous leaders attending the conference complained of the difficulties in accessing critical services offered by the Central Immigration Passport Office and the General Registrar’s Office (GRO), as they engaged Minister of Citizenship Winston Felix.

Chairman of the Aranaputa Valley Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) in the North Rupununi (Region Nine), Adon Jacobus, said he is cognisant of the steps being taken by the Department of Citizenship to decentralise the services offered by the GRO and the Central Immigration Passport

Office. While those services have not yet trickled down to many Amerindian villages, particularly those in far flung areas, Jacobus told Minister Felix that the indigenous leaders would be more than willing to capitalise on those services while attending the conference in Georgetown.

In response, Minister Felix said: “I will not allow this opportunity to go.” At that very moment, he committed to have staff from the GRO and Passport Office dispatched to the Conference Centre by midday today.

Though that intervention is a temporary one, Minister told the indigenous leaders that his department has already secured plots of land in Bartica, Region Seven, and in Lethem, Region Nine, for the construction of passport offices. He noted that the documents for the plots of land are being processed.

Minister Felix also expressed the hope of providing passport services in Anna Regina

Toshao of Yupukari Village, Russian Dorrick (Photos by Adrian Narine)

Minister of Citizenship Winston Felix

and Mahdia, in the not-sodistant future.

Residents of Linden and surrounding communities in Region 10 will soon benefit from a $30M Passport and Immigration Office as the Department of Citizenship moves to decentralise critical services. The office is currently under construction.

Similarly, a $57.5M Passport and Immigration Office

which is under construction in New Amsterdam, is due to be completed soon, according to the minister of citizenship.

Minister Felix also used the platform to encourage parents to have the birth of their children registered as early as possible, noting that ‘Late Registration’ should be avoided. He explained that while there is a system for late registration it is a tedious

process.

“Late Registration carries several requirements because you are registering that child outside of the institution where the birth took place, and therefore you need to satisfy with proof that the child was born to a particular parent, at a particular time and place,” he explained.

On the basis that many persons in indigenous communities opt for late registration, Minister Felix said the Department of Citizenship has embarked on a sensitisation campaign to inform persons of the importance of early registration. It was noted that in some regions, registration officials have been dispatched to aid in the

process.

Russian Dorrick, Toshao of Yupukari Village, and its satellite villages – Quatata, Fly Hill and Kaicumbay, in Region 9, complained that since 2015, 56 indigenous persons from Yupukari and the neighouring villages have been without birth certificates, although the relevant documents were submitted.

Minister Felix, who was supported by the Deputy Registrar-General Louis Crawford, has committed to having the GRO look into the matter.

GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday July 17, 2018

Senegal jails teachers over exam fraud A TEACHER in Senegal has been given a five-year prison sentence and another has been fined $32,000 (£24,300) for selling exam papers.

French, English, history and geography baccalaureate tests had to be scrapped last year after the question sheets were circulated on social media and WhatsApp. Several other teachers and dozens of pupils have also been punished.

Their sentences range from two-month suspended terms to two years in jail.

The headmaster of Lycée de Kahone in Senegal's capital city, Dakar, admitted selling exam papers, but said he was not motivated by the money.

"I wanted to help someone vulnerable who was struggling to get their baccalaureate," Mamadou Djibril Dia is quoted by news site La Vie Senegalaise as telling Dakar's Correctional Court.

"She asked me to help her, because she had already failed twice... If I had wanted to make money, I would have sold the tests to wealthier people," he added.

In addition to his fiveyear prison sentence, Dia was fined 500,000 CFA francs ($886; £676).

Teachers from at least two secondary schools have also been sentenced for "criminal conspiracy, fraud and fraudulently obtaining undue material benefits".

The heaviest of these was a fine of $32,000 and a twoyear prison sentence handed to French teacher, Abdoulaye Ndour of Lycée Yalla Suren.

Senegalese news site, Le Soleil says the court heard evidence that Ndour had placed $12,000 of proceeds from exam paper sales in his bank account.

A total of 32 pupils received suspended sentences for their involvement, ranging from six months to two years in jail.

"We were shocked by the magnitude of the fraud," said Saourou Sène, of Senegal's national union of middle and secondary school teachers (SAEMS).

"This verdict should serve as a lesson to anyone who might be tempted to sabotage or scuttle the baccalaureate in Senegal."

T&T bans importation of crab meat, live crabs from Venezuela PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The Fisheries Division has been ordered to discontinue issuing permits for the importation of processed crab meat and live crab from Venezuela.

This came from Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat following reports that the US Food and Drug Administration has found a bacteria in fresh crab meat from the South American country that can cause cholera.

Rambharat told CNC3 News that the crab meat referred to by the FDA is processed and packaged, and the Ministry of Trade has stopped issuing licenses for the importation of the product.

According to Rambharat,

there is an ongoing illicit trade between Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago in live crabs.

He said his ministry has always cautioned consumers about the health risk associated with consuming seafood and meat illegally imported into the twin-island republic.

He said consumers should purchase their seafood, including live crabs, from vendors with whom they are familiar.

Last week, the FDA reported that in the United States, 12 cases were reported, up to Thursday, of people sickened by the bacteria, Vibrio parahaemolyticus.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday July 17, 2018 From page 5 ►

‘Time you reinvent ...

“Time does not stand still, however, and villages must continuously modernise their amenities and utilities in order to enhance the quality of life of their residents. Long-term, not year-to-year, plans must be made and their implementation must be continuous, not episodic, to achieve the objective of modernity.”

President Granger said the hosting of NTC conferences provide an opportunity for such plans to be executed, as it allows for Indigenous leaders to review the progress made in the development of villages, renew their commitment to improve the lives and livelihoods of the people, and to repair or remodel their village plans for future years.

He said, too, that the villagers’ quality of life is a measure of progress made by the leaders, and an indicator of the steps needed to achieve the objectives of village improvement.

“Villagers’ quality of life is dependent on the quality of public services provided to them; villages, if they are to be viable, should ensure that these services are accessible, affordable and appropriate,” said the President.

“Public services should be enjoyed by all regard-

less of place of residence.

They should be delivered at all three levels of government – national, regional and neighbourhood or village,” he added, while reminding leaders that The Amerindian Act 2006 empowers Village Councils headed by Toshaos and the National Toshaos’ Council, to promote access to and the delivery of public services.

The President pointed to Sections 13 and 14 of the Act, which charge village councils with responsibility for the planning and development of indigenous villages and for making rules to govern the supply and use of water, the construction and maintenance of roads, bridges, ditches, fences and for the provision of sanitation and order.

Section 41 of the said legislation entrusts the National Toshaos’ Council with preparing strategies and plans for reducing poverty, improving access to health and education and for the “protection, conservation and sustainable management of village lands and natural resources.” This year’s NTC conference is themed, “Preserving our past, protecting our future.”

J’ca to get tough on firearm licensing

– wants psychologists to assess applicants first

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Firearm Licensing Authority (FLA), Shane Dalling, says the organisation is currently holding discussions with two psychologists to assess applicants of firearm licences.

Dalling said this is part of the vetting process for persons who are applying for firearm licences.

In addition, the CEO said a literacy test will be introduced for new applicants.

“We believe persons should be able to read and write in order to be given such an awesome responsibility of owning and carrying a licensed firearm,” he emphasised.

Dalling said his management team believes these two steps will help with better selecting persons who are capable and responsible to keep firearms.

The CEO pointed out that some of the methods of assessment currently being

used will still be utilised, such as the tracking of the approved amount of ammunition being sent to dealers.

“For years, we have been tracking the usage of ammunition across the country. We take the issue of firearm licensing very seriously, and the accountability measures that have been put in place have made a lot of persons uncomfortable, but we will not resile from doing what we need to do,” Dalling said.

“Our scope of checks that we are carrying out now will go very deep into the individual’s character before a licence is issued. All persons who have licences are being re-evaluated to ensure that they are still fit and proper to hold those firearms,” he added.

The CEO informed that, in addition, there has been an increase in security checks and surveillance of licensed firearm holders, the amount of lost and stolen firearms and the revocation of licences.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, July 17, 2018

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, July 17, 2018

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, July 17, 2018

France’s World Cup...

FROM PAGE 23

The Paris metro system got into the celebratory mood, announcing the names of a number of stations were being briefly changed to honour the players and coach, Didier Deschamps.

Notre-Dame des Champs station was relabelled “Notre Didier Deschamps”, and Victor Hugo was switched to “Victor Hugo Lloris” after the captain and goalkeeper.

On Monday morning, the after-effects of Sunday night’s frenetic revelry were still visible. A number of smashed windows, an overturned car and graffiti scrawled here and there, including the phrase “Liberte, Egalite, Mbappe”, a reference to the national motto “Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite”.

On Twitter, Brazilian legend Pele paid tribute to the exploits of Mbappe, France’s 19-year-old superstar, saying that if the teenager kept equalling his goal-scoring records, Pele might have to strap his boots back on.

Mbappe replied to the tweet in English saying “The

king will always remain the king”, quickly gaining 15,000 retweets.

The team is scheduled to arrive back in France at around 1430 GMT, before a parade down the Champs Elysees and a formal victory reception with Macron at the Elysee Palace.

And it is not just the capital that has been consumed by football fever.

From Nice and Marseille in the south to Lille in the north, Nantes in the west and scores of towns and cities in between, TV stations were full of images of red, white and blue clad fans singing and dancing in France’s streets and squares.

Bath 09:10 hrs Surrey Blaze 09:40 hrs North Korea 10:10 hrs Archimedes 10:40 hrs Show Stealer 11:10 hrs Rebel Streak 11:40 hrs Desert Cross South Africa Racing Tips Durbanville 08:15 hrs Hither Green 08:50 hrs Brandenburg 09:25 hrs Palo Alto 09:55 hrs Red Eight 10:35 hrs Passion Peach 11;10 hrs After Glow Irish Racing Tips Killarney 13:00 hrs Cardini 13:30 hrs Dream Ascot 14:00 hrs Arthurian Flame 14:30 hrs Stamp Of Authority 15:00 hrs Ballyoisin 15:30 hrs Fintara 16:00 hrs Robin Des vForet American Racing Tips Finger Lakes Race 1 Patterson Hill Race 2 Holy Week Race 3 Satin Frost Race 4 Stone Supplier Race 5 Melodramatic Miss Race 6 That Makes Sense Race 7 First Tomoe Race 8 Persian Poet English Racing Tips Beverley 09:00 hrs Diamonique 09:30 hrs Arnold 10:00 hrs Funkadelic 10:30 hrs Altra Vita 11:00 hrs Mywayistheonlyway 11:30 hrs Tight Lines 12:00 hrs Johni Boxit 12:30 hrs Island Song Chelmsford City 09:20 hrs Sacred Path 09:50 hrs Blame Culture 10:20 hrs Shanghai Grace 10:50 hrs Mad Endeavour 11:20 hrs Fakhoor 11:50 hrs Fastar 12:20 hrs Plentyinthetanksir

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Mbappe’s France have quality to emulate Pele’s boys from Brazil

By Mark Gleeson

MOSCOW (Reuters) - When teenager Kylian Mbappe netted France’s fourth goal in the World Cup final, thoughts turned to the possibility that the French could go on to emulate the dominant Brazilian teams led by their great striker Pele.

The 19-year-old Mbappe became only the second teenager after Pele to score in a World Cup final as a talent-laden French side overcame resilient Croatia 4-2 to win the sport’s top prize for the second time, 20 years after their first triumph.

Pele did it at the age of 17 in 1958, sparking a period of dominance as Brazil won three World Cups in a 12-year period culminating in a one-sided final victory over Italy in 1970.

While there are growing comparisons between Mbappe and Pele, the Parisian still has a long way to go to even come close to matching the achievements of the great Brazilian.

B u t t h e p re c o c i o u s

France’s Kylian Mbappe celebrates with the trophy after winning the World Cup REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

Mbappe could be one of the pillars of a French team with the potential to dominate the world game in the way Pele and his team mates did from the late 50s through to 1970.

Alongside Antoine Griezmann, voted man of the match in Sunday’s final in Moscow, in attack, with Paul Pogba in the midfield engine room and the powerful Samuel Umtiti and Raphael Varane in defence, France have a firm foundation to build on.

Their World Cup squad had an average age of just over 26 and they have an abundance of world-class players but the way the team negotiated the tournament with intelligence and fortitude gives even greater cause for optimism for the future.

France were efficient, calculating, clever and in command in most of their matches without showing a huge amount of entertaining flair.

In all seven games they played in Russia they had an average of 48 percent possession, doing the hard work off the ball.

Tactically they were able to adapt throughout the tournament and show flexibility — the hallmark of a successful squad.

Their chances of continuing on a winning path are also increased by the fact coach Didier Deschamps, very popular with his players, is staying in the job for at least two more years.

He has a contract until the end of the 2020 European Championship but with such enormous potential to build on he will surely be tempted to extend his reign.

“Today there were imperfections, we did not do everything right but we had those mental and psychological qualities which were decisive for this World Cup,” Deschamps said after the final.

With such qualities, there is legitimate cause to believe there will be more glory-filled days for French football.

Dull Tour de France unlikely to open up in the Alps

By Julien Pretot ANNECY, France (Reuters) - If Tour de France organisers wanted the soccer World Cup to end before the race started to heat up, then it is mission accomplished.

No clear favourite has emerged from the opening block of racing as all the top riders, with the exception of Richie Porte, are still in contention on the first rest day before gruelling stages in the Alps.

The differences between the main challengers were essentially made in the team time trial in the second stage.

World champion Peter Sagan is firmly on course to win a record-equalling sixth green jersey for the points classification after winning two stages, just like sprinters Dylan Groenewegen and Fernando Gaviria.

There were crashes, scares, misfortunes and setbacks but defending champion Chris Froome, who suffered two minor crashes,

Chris Froome

still has no idea who his main challenger is with 12 days of racing left.

It could be his Sky team mate Geraint Thomas, who is the best-placed of the GC (general classification) riders after safely going through the first nine stages, including the much-feared cobbles-peppered route on Sunday, which was fatal to Porte’s hopes.

The Australian fractured his collarbone in an early crash and abandoned the race for the second year in a row.

“We’re still here to try and win the race, whatever way that is. I think it’s fan-

tastic for us to have those options. Obviously Geraint is in the perfect place now, we should see him going in to yellow over the next couple of days,” Briton Froome told reporters on Monday.

“But I’m still very much in the game. I think it’s great for us to have those options to be able to play when it comes down to it, especially looking at rivals that have two or three options within their teams. A team like Movistar, for example, has two or three leaders.”

Movistar have three options in Alejandro Valverde, Nairo Quintana and Mikel Landa, but their conservative tactics are likely to do little to open up the race.

Thomas is second overall, 43 seconds behind Greg van Avermaet, but the Belgian will surrender the yellow jersey on Tuesday, when the Tour hits the Alps with an intimidating 10th stage from Annecy to Le Grand Bornand that features four demanding climbs.

Froome is 59 seconds further back and 2014

champion Vincenzo Nibali trails the Briton by six seconds.

There will be two more stages in the Alps with a summit finish at the iconic Alpe d’Huez, but fireworks should not be expected as the top guns are likely to hold fire, waiting for the finale in the Pyrenees.

Twice podium finisher Romain Bardet, hoping to become the first Frenchman to win the Tour since Bernard Hinault in 1985, has suffered from bad luck with four ill-timed punctures, including three in Sunday’s stage to Roubaix.

He has, however, limited the damage, unlike last year’s runner-up Rigoberto Uran, who lost 1:28 on Sunday after crashing. Bardet has already lost two team mates in crashes and his attacking options will be limited.

“There are still a lot of contenders in the game, I think the race will be very tight in the Alps,” said Bardet who lags 50 seconds behind Froome.

France’s World Cup winners given heroes’ welcome in Paris FROM BACK PAGE

Paul Pogba

By Luke Baker PARIS (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of ecstatic French fans celebrated the return of their World Cup winning football team on Monday, jumping and chanting “We Are The Champions” as their bus paraded down the Champs Elysees before a special presidential reception.

“Les Bleus”, a dynamic, young team that won an open, fast-paced final 4-2 with Croatia in Moscow, appeared at the Elysee palace, where they burst into a spontaneous rendition of the “La Marseillaise” national anthem with President Emmanuel Macron and his wife.

“Thank you for having made us proud,” Macron told the players in the presidential palace’s gardens. “Never forget where you come from: all the clubs across France that trained you.”

French media spent the day lauding the team’s accomplishments.

More than 300,000 people filled the Champs Elysees, the area around the Arc de Triomphe and the Place de la Concorde on Sunday night, partying into the early hours, singing the Marseillaise, setting off firecrackers and blaring horns until the sun rose.

“We had so much fun last night, the city was full of joy, so much celebration,” a woman dressed in red, white and blue who had made her way out to Charles de Gaulle airport told BFM TV. “All we want is a wave from the players.”

Newspapers hailed a second World Cup for France, after their first victory on home soil in 1998.

“History Made” declared sports daily L’Equipe. Photos of superstars Kylian Mbappe, Antoine

Griezmann and Paul Pogba, as well as shots of the team holding aloft and kissing the trophy in the pouring rain, dominated coverage.

The victory has helped foster a sense of national unity, with commentators playing up the fact the squad, the second-youngest in the competition, includes many with central and north African heritage, even if all but two were born in France.

France has suffered years of tension and self-examination since a series of attacks by Islamist gunmen during 2015 that left more than 140 dead, including 89 killed in the Bataclan theatre in Paris. In some small way, the World Cup has helped lift the nation as it remains wary of the threat.

When France won its first World Cup 20 years ago, with Zinedine Zidane its talisman and playmaker, the team was referred to as “Black-BlancBeur” (Black-White-Arab), a positive reference to its diverse ethnic make-up.

But some were keen to put that phrase to one side, seeing in it a sense of separateness, even if it was meant positively.

“We’re not in 1998,” said Mounir Mahjoubi, the secretary of state for digital affairs, whose parents emigrated from Morocco.

“We’re not still celebrating ‘Black-Blanc-Beur’, we’re celebrating brotherhood,” he said of the current team.

METRO STATIONS For Macron, who became president last year at the age of 39, leading his political movement to victory against the odds, the success is also likely to have positive repercussions after a slump in the polls amid a host of economic reforms.

CONTINUE ON PAGE 22

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Sri Lanka captain and coach banned for two Tests, four ODIs (REUTERS) - Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal, coach Chandika Hathurusinghe and manager Asanka Gurusinha have been banned for four one-dayers and two tests for acting against the spirit of the

game, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Monday.

The trio admitted breaching the ICC’s code of conduct, which relates to “conduct that is contrary to the spirit of the game”, after

their team refused to take the field on the third day of the second test against West Indies at St Lucia last month.

Match officials had accused the team of altering the condition of the ball. The visitors eventually resumed

play under protest.

The ban means the trio will miss the ongoing home two-Test series against South Africa and the first four ODIs of the five-match series starting on July 29.

They were already suspended from the opening test against South Africa which Sri Lanka won by 278 runs inside three days.

“During the hearing, however, it was mutually agreed that, since the minimum sanction for a Level 3 offence was suspension from

two Tests, the three will not participate in the Galle Test and Colombo Test,” the ICC said in a statement.

Six demerit points have been added to the records of all three men, bringing Chandimal’s tally to 10, having received four over the original ball-tampering offence.

If Chandimal collects two further demerit points within a 24-month period, he will be suspended for a further three tests or six ODIs. Sri Lanka face South Africa in the second Test in Colombo starting on Friday.

Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal

Serena returns to top 30 in world rankings ( R E U T E R S ) - S e re n a Williams returned to the world’s top 30 in the WTA rankings released on Monday after finishing as Wimbledon runner-up.

The 36-year-old American climbed 153 places to 28th despite losing Saturday’s final at the All England Club to German Angelique Kerber, Williams’s fourth tournament since giving birth to her daughter 10 months ago.

Kerber, who won her third Grand Slam title, moved up six places to world number four, with French Open winner Simona Halep of Romania retaining the top ranking despite her third-round exit at

Serena Williams returns to the world’s top 30 in WTA rankings.

Wimbledon.

In the men’s rankings, Novak Djokovic’s fourth Wimbledon crown propelled him back to 10th in the world after falling outside the top 20 for the first time since 2006.

South Africa’s Kevin Anderson moved up three places to a career-high fifth after reaching the Wimbledon final for the first time in his career.

Spaniard Rafael Nadal remained at the top of the rankings and increased his lead over number two Roger Federer, whose Wimbledon title defence was ended

by Anderson in a marathon quarter-final.

Fakhar ton inspires another big Pakistan ODI win FAKHAR Zaman’s unbeaten century lifted Pakistan to another comfortable ODI win over Zimbabwe, this time by nine wickets in Bulawayo on Monday.

Pakistan were rampant in the opening match of the series, bowling out the hosts for 107 after posting in excess of 300, and Zimbabwe were not a great deal better for their decision to bat first this time around.

Half-centuries for captain Hamilton Masakadza (59) and Peter Moor (50) at least contributed to a more respectable tally, but Pakistan chased down 194 all out with consummate ease.

Opener Fakhar (117 not out) proved the star turn, Imam-ul-Haq’s run out for 44 the only wicket to fall as victory was secured with 14 overs remaining.

Usman Khan (4-36) took little time to get the ball rolling and removed Brian Chari for a solitary run, before Chamu Chibhabha (7) departed shortly afterwards as Sarfraz Ahmed caught both openers.

Although Masakadza belatedly had the runs ticking over for Zimbabwe, Hasan Ali (3-32) got in on the act as Pakistan sped through the middle order.

It appeared as though

the hosts would at least see out their innings with Moor chipping away, but a late collapse saw him depart shortly after Wellington Masakadza’s run out.

A second run out, of Tendai Chatara in the final over, ended Zimbabwe’s time with the bat and allowed Fakhar to come to the crease. The 28-year-old smashed 16 fours and continued to push Pakistan on after Imam departed, bringing up a second ODI hundred off 109 balls.

Babar Azam (29) also ended the match unbeaten, but another poor Zimbabwe showing was capped as Donald Tiripano’s wide saw Pakistan over the line.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Ronaldo targets Champions League glory at new club Juventus TURIN, Italy (Reuters) Juventus’s record signing Cristiano Ronaldo has said his move from Real Madrid was a “well thought out decision” as the Portugal forward aims to help his new club win their first Champions League title in more than two decades.

Ronaldo, who joined the Italian champions last week on a four-year contract for 100 million euros (88.53 million pounds)added that he did not want to stay in his comfort zone after winning three straight European Cups with Real.

The 33-year-old left Los Blancos as their all-time top scorer with 451 goals in all competitions and won two La Liga titles and four Champions League trophies over nine years.

“I’m a person who likes

to think about the present,” he told a news conference on Monday. “I’m still very young and I always liked the challenges, from Sporting, to Manchester (United), to Real (Madrid) and now Juventus.

“It was a well thought-out decision. It is the best club in Italy. It has an outstanding manager (Massimiliano Allegri) and coaches so it was not a difficult decision to take.”

“I am very ambitious and I like new challenges. I hope everything will go very well.

Luck always helps but you have to look for it.”

Ronaldo said he was grateful for the opportunity to represent Juventus, admitting players of his age usually settle for a move to less competitive leagues in Qatar or China.

“Usually players think

Cristiano Ronaldo arrives at the Juventus’ medical center in Turin, Italy July 16, 2018. REUTERS/Massimo Pinca

their careers are over when they are 33. But I don’t feel that at all,” he said, adding that this showed he was “different from the others”. “(Juve) is a big club and usually players of my age go to Qatar or to China, with all due respect, so coming to

such an important and great club at this stage in my career makes me very happy.”

Ronaldo said one of the factors in joining Juve was the standing ovation given to him by the Turin club’s fans on his last visit, when he scored an astonishing

Tickets for WI/Bangladesh ODIs on sale

Cricket fans turned up early yesterday at the GCB office to buy their tickets for the two ODI’s.

TICKETS for the first two One Day Internationals (ODI) between West Indies and Bangladesh slated for the Guyana National Stadium, Providence went on sale yesterday at the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) office at Bourda.

The games are scheduled for

July 22 and 25, when, for the first time ever, a day/night ODI match will be hosted here on July 25.

According to a release from the GCB, ticket prices are as follows: Red Stand $5,000, Green Stand $5,000, Orange Stand $3,000 and Grass Mound $2,000.

Children under 12 years will get

a free ticket if accompanied by an adult who buys a ticket.

Senior citizens--60 years and over—will get a free ticket with the presentation of their National ID Cards at the box office (while stocks last). Car passes cost $1,000.

Bangladesh last toured the Caribbean in August/September 2014, on an identical tour.

The hosts had swept the Tests and ODIs before the lone T20 was abandoned due to rain.

Bangladesh are currently ranked seventh by the ICC on the ODI charts, ahead of Sri Lanka and the West Indies.

International cricket was last played at Providence back in April 2017, when the Windies lost the three-match ODI series 2-1 to Pakistan.

Second cancer surgery for New Zealand great Hadlee WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand bowling great Richard Hadlee is to undergo another operation after tests showed a secondary cancer was found in his liver, his wife said on Monday.

The 67-year-old Hadlee had surgery last month for bowel cancer. [nL4N1TE6BV] “This week, Richard will undergo further surgery after secondary cancer was discovered in his liver,” his wife Dianne said in a statement issued by New Zealand Cricket. “Medical advice is that it’s still at a very early stage

Richard Hadlee

and is operable.

“Once he has recovered from the operation, Richard will undergo further chemotherapy treatment.”

Hadlee, who is considered one of the finest fast bowlers of all time having retired in 1990 with 431 test wickets, had the first surgery after a routine checkup discovered the tumour.

He was the first player to take 400 test wickets and held the record for most wickets until India’s Kapil Dev surpassed it in 1994.

overhead kick for Real in the Champions League quarter-finals.

“It was a really stunning moment for me,” he added. “Being welcomed this way is so rewarding. It increases your motivation to start a new adventure.”

The signing of the fivetimes world player of the year and Champions League top scorer for the last six seasons is a major coup for Juve, who have lifted the Serie A title for the last seven seasons but have not won Europe’s top prize since 1996.

“We are going to fight not only for the Champions League but for the Serie A title,” said Ronaldo. “We know competition will be tough but we must stay concentrated.

“I hope I can help Juventus win it (the Champions League). They couldn’t

win (last year) because even when you get to the final nothing is written. I hope I can be the lucky star of this club but we will see what happens.”

Ronaldo scored twice when Real beat Juventus 4-1 in the 2017 Champions League final in between triumphs over Atletico Madrid and Liverpool in Europe’s elite club competition.

The Portugal captain took his goalscoring form to the World Cup in Russia and netted four times, but failed to lead the European champions beyond the last-16 stage.

Ronaldo said he would start training with Juve on July 30 and hoped to feature in the opening match of their title defence in August. The fixtures will be announced later this month.

Persaud leads Reliance Hustlers triumph with destructive spell OFF-spinner Pavindralall Persaud’s impressive figures of 5-7 from 3 overs led Reliance Hustlers into the quarter-finals in the South Essequibo T20 Invitational tournament played on Sunday at the Reliance ground in Essequibo.

Under favourable weather conditions after a prolonged spell of rain, Reliance Hustlers, after winning the toss, inserted Bush Lot Trend Setters to take first strike. They started explosively with the openers hitting a few early boundaries against the pacers.

However, Persaud’s introduction in the 5th over completely reversed the fortunes of the visitors who were clueless to the wily off-spinner’s prodigious turn and guile.

They folded rapidly for 65 in 12 overs. Only Daniel Bholo (15) and Keith Blackman (12) reached double figures. In reply, Reliance Hustlers quickly reached their target with former national under 17 batsman, Rovendra Parasram, registering an unbeaten 33 (3x4 and 2x6) to seal a convincing 9 wicket win.

Reliance Hustlers will now join defending champions Imam Bacchus X1, Walton Hall, New Opportunity Corps and Rising Stars in the next round. Meanwhile, at the same ground in an earlier encounter, Invaders Masters defeated Reliance Sports Club by 61 runs in a friendly over 40yrs 15

Off-spinner Pavindralall Persaud returned excellent figures of 5 for 7 from 3 overs.

overs affair.

After winning the toss, Invaders Masters posted 133-4 from their allotted overs with former national T20 all-rounder Ramesh Narine hammering a blistering 78, studded with 8x4 and 4x6, while Linden Daniels supported with 22 (3x4). Off-Spinner Cecil Shivambar 2-28 and Dhaniram 2-31 were the successful bowlers.

In response, Reliance Sports Club, despite an attacking 32 (4x4 and 2x6) from Basil Persaud, never posed a serious threat at achieving the target.

They eventually perished for 72 in 14 overs to lose by 61 runs.

Medium pacer Richie Bishop with 3-17 and Ramesh Narine 2-12 created the demise of the host. (Elroy Stephney)

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Barbados successfully defend Caribbean junior squash title

BARBADOS triumphed over their Caribbean rivals to successfully defend their title at the Caribbean Junior Squash Championships that concluded at the Liguanea Club in Kingston, Jamaica last Saturday.

Meanwhile, the host country that harboured aspirations of finishing in the top three, finished sixth.

Having upset perennial winners Guyana last year on Guyana’s home ground, Barbados came to the competition to prove that 2017 was not a fluke. With three agegroup champions in the lineup, their girls’ team proved to be as dominant defeating Guyana 4-1.

Under-17 champion Meagan Best dismissed Madison Fernandes 11-2, 11-1, 11-0; Under 19 Champion, Amanda Haywood trounced Rebecca Low 11-3, 11-2, 11-4, Jada Smith-Padmore beat Kirsten Gomes

11-7, 5-11, 11-6, 11-2 and Under 15 Champion, Sumiraa Suleman prevailed 9-11, 11-7, 11-5, 10-12, 11-8 in a gripping five-game battle against Abosaide Cadogan.

However, Rebekah Nichols’ 5-11, 8-11, 11-8, 2-11 loss to Georgiana Fernandes meant that the boys’ team final would decide the overall winner. Predictably, Caribbean Under 17 Champion, Khamal Cumberbatch and Under 19 Champion, Josiah Griffith delivered wins for Barbados with the former beating Rithew Saywack 11-3, 11-3, 11-6 and the latter taking down Alexander Cheeks 11-2, 11-3, 11-8.

Then Chemar Burnham lost 7-11, 5-11, 5-11 to Daniel Islam and that put Barbados fate squarely in the hands of young Aidan Parris who faced off with Michael Alphonso who had beaten him to in the finals to take the

Under 13 title.

On this occasion Parris exacted revenge, keeping his head amidst the deafening cheers from rival supporters to post a 7-11, 14-12, 11-8, 11-7 win and make it two in a row for Barbados.

In their final matchup of the team competition, the Jamaican girls rallied to end a challenging week with a win over Bermuda.

All Jamaica Under 17 Girls Champion, Mia Mahfood put Jamaica in the lead when she held off Charlotte Toogood 11-8, 11-8, 11-6; and then Mira Handa followed on with an 11-8, 11-8, 11-6 win over Hailey Moss.

Bermuda pulled one back when Mia Lake lost 6-11, 4-11, 9-11 to Abigail Brewer and then Jamaica fielded new regional Under 13 Girls Champion, Savannah Thomson and that settled the

Barbados showed that last year’s win was no fluke repeating as Caribbean Junior Champions at the Liguanea Club in Kingston

matter. Thomson beat Celia Robinson 11-2, 11-3, 11-2 to take the win for Jamaica and the girls finished 5th overall.

The Jamaican boys put up a fight but did not prevail against Cayman. Team captain Jonathan Walker and the

dependable Karan Dhiman both delivered wins with Walker beating Isaiah Robinson, 11-6, 12-10, 11-7 and Dhiman posting an 11-5, 117, 11-3 win over Pierce Terry.

H o w e v e r, B r a d y Holmes lost 9-11, 8-11, 8-11

to Brodey McComb, Tobias Levy was beaten 2-11, 2-11, 6-11 by Jace Jervis and Kyle Haddad suffered a 4-11, 2-11, 0-11 defeat to David Pitcairn and Jamaica ended up in sixth place.

(SportsMax)

Beaton out of CPL 2018 Windies A keep Surrey honest

Ronsford Beaton

CRICKET QUIZ CORNER (Tuesday July 17, 2018) COMPLIMENTS OF THE TROPHY STALL Bourda Market & The City Mall (Tel: 225-9230) & Cummings Electrical Company Ltd. 83 Garnett Street, Campbellville, Georgetown (Tel: 225-6158) Answers to yesterday’s quiz: (1) Lance Gibbs - 309 wickets (79 Tests) (2) Shiv Chanderpaul - 11,867 runs (164 Tests) Today’s Quiz: (1) When did Bourda host a Test match for the first time?

(2) When did Bourda host a Test match for the final time?

Answer in tomorrow's issue

THE Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) have announced that USA fast bowler Ali Khan will be joining their squad for the 2018 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) which will run from 8 August to 16 September.

Khan will replace Ronsford Beaton in the squad as he continues remedial work on his bowling action.

Ali Khan has played at the Hero CPL before, representing the Guyana Amazon Warriors at the 2016 tournament, claiming the wicket of Kumar Sangakkara with his first delivery. He was first selected for the USA team in 2016 and has become a regular for his national team since.

Khan will also be returning to play for his new team in the USA when TKR take on Jamaica Tallawahs at Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida on Sunday 19 August.

Speaking of Ali Khan joining the squad, Venky Mysore, Director of TKR, said: “Ali Khan has shown that he is a rapidly improving bowler of real potential and we are excited about him joining TKR for the 2018 tournament. We are sure he will be a real asset.”

despite Borthwick century

LONDON, (CMC) – Scott Borthwick struck an exciting hundred but West Indies A’s seamers still managed to contain Surrey, on the opening day of their four-day contest at the Oval here Monday.

The left-hander, who played a single Test for England four years ago, finished on 153 not out as the hosts reached 309 for eight in their first innings.

Ryan Patel struck 47 while wicketkeeper Adam Rouse chipped in with 36, but the remainder of the Surrey batting failed to capitalise.

The fast bowling trio of Sherman Lewis (2-44), Chemar Holder (2-44) and Raymon Reifer (2-46) proved steady, making strikes at key stages of the innings to limit Surrey.

West Indies A had the better of the early exchanges in the morning session as the new-ball pair of Lewis and Holder caused openers Arun Harinath (10) and Test batsman Mark Stoneman (1) problems.

Lewis eventually claimed the left-handed

Scott Borthwick

Stoneman in the third over, to a diving catch in the cordon by John Campbell before Harinath, dropped off Holder a couple of overs earlier, was taken at midon by Oshane Smith off first-change pacer Romario Shepherd.

However, Borthwick and Patel combined in a 131run, third wicket partnership which repaired the damage.

Borthwick faced 232 balls and batted all day, hitting 20 fours and a six while the 20-year-old Patel stroked eight fours in an 82-ball knock which lasted eight minutes shy of 2-1/2 hours.

When Patel was bowled

missing a pull at Holder, Surrey slumped somewhat, losing three wickets for 20 runs as 20-year-old Will Jacks was removed by Reifer and captain Tom Curran fell to a catch at the wicket off Holder without scoring to the second ball he faced.

Borthwick, however, remained solid and found an ally in Rouse, with whom he added a crucial 93 runs for the sixth wicket.

The stand was broken by part-time off-spinner John Campbell in this third over and Rouse’s wicket triggered another slide where Surrey lost another three wickets for 30 runs at the end.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Argentine referee was wrong to award France a World Cup final penalty-Hasley FORMER Premier League and FIFA referee Mark Halsey has told Yahoo Sport that Argentine referee Nestor Pitana made the wrong decision when he handed France a controversial penalty in Sunday’s World Cup final against Croatia in Moscow.

After reviewing VAR, Pitana handed France a controversial penalty after Croatia’s Ivan Perisic was adjudged to have handled the ball in the box, yet Halsey suggests the referee should not have been advised to review his initial decision by VAR officials.

Law 12 of the International Football Association Board states that handling the ball involves a deliberate act of a player making contact with the ball with the hand or arm.

The following must be

considered: the movement of the hand towards the ball (not the ball towards the hand) the distance between the opponent and the ball (unexpected ball) the position of the hand does not necessarily mean that there is an offence Halsey believes those guidelines were not followed

by Pitana, as he offered Yahoo his verdict on the big decision in Sunday’s final.

“I was perplexed by the penalty decision on a number of levels because VAR should only be used for a clear and obvious error by the on-field officials,” begins Halsey.

“Handling the ball involved a deliberate act of a player making contact with the ball with the hand or arm and that was not the

Argentinian referee Nestor Pitana relied on VAR in order to award a penalty for France. (Getty Images)

case in this incident with Perisic.

“You could see he was

not sure about the decision.

He reviewed it and then went back to the screen for another

look before giving the penalty, so there was uncertainty there and in the end he has made the wrong decision.

“I am pleased that France scored a couple more goals after that as that decision did not look quite so significant, but it was still a key moment in the game and Pitana’s decision made a mockery of the VAR system that worked very well for matter of fact at this World Cup.” Halsey went on to question whether a decision made

by Pitana when he took charge of Mexico’s game against Sweden in the group stages of the World Cup may have had an impact on his decision to penalise Perisic for a handball in the final.

“There was an incident with Javier Hernandez possibly handling the ball in

the box during the game against Sweden and this same referee decided not to give the penalty after a VAR review,” adds Halsey.

“I wonder whether he was told in his debrief with FIFA that he should have awarded a penalty on that occasion and it may have been playing on his mind when he reviewed the Perisic handball.

“It was a real shame to have an incident like that in the final because many will now overlook the hugely positive impact of VAR are matter of fact decisions over the course of what was a wonderful World Cup tournament.

“VAR will be hugely beneficial for the game moving forward, but we need to improve training and education for those using the technology.” (Yahoo Sport)

Holder believes he’s beginning to Russell, Gayle, selected for realise full potential after 34 Tests Bangladesh ODI and T20 series

Jason Holder believes he is beginning to reach his full potential as a Test cricketer

KINGSTON, Jamaican, (CMC)- It may have taken 30 Test matches, but West Indies captain Jason Holder believes he is finally beginning to reach his full potential.

The 26-year-old who m a d e h i s Te s t d e b u t 4 years ago, finished with career-best figures of 11 for 103, to help lead his side to victory in the second Test at Sabina Park over Bangladesh and a 2-0 series win, which helped the Windies climb to eighth in the ICC Test rankings.

The haul, the best by a West Indies captain on Caribbean soil, took his tally to 16 wickets in the two-Test series and earned him both the Man-of-the-

Match and Man-of-theSeries awards.

Holder, who has played 34 Test matches, told reporters he felt he was now reaching his peak.

“I just think it’s coming together now for me. I’m 30-odd matches into my Test career and I’ve always remembered Clive Lloyd saying that he learned to play Test cricket after three years and that it took him three years to understand the Test game.

“It’s good to see that the selectors have given this group some confidence in terms of sticking with them and I guess I am now getting into my own in terms of my cricket at the international level. I felt the skill level

was always there, it was just a matter of putting it together and quite frankly, I think the surface really helped me in terms of my movement and conditions were in my favour pretty much in terms of this home series,” Holder said.

The Windies captain said one of his main goals was to be fully recognized as a genuine all-rounder in the West Indies team.

This he said would see him being promoted from his current position as a number eight or number nine batsman up to number six in the batting order.

“I would really say things are coming together for me with both bat and ball, although I would still like to be a little more consistent in terms of getting a few more scores, but batting down at number eight and nine it’s quite difficult to post a healthy score unless I’m batting with the last recognised batsman. “…My ultimate goal is to be in the all-rounder’s position and be seen as a genuine all-rounder. Hopefully, with my performances the selectors will see and push me up,” Holder said.

...Hetmyer, Paul and Bishoo also included.

ANDRE Russell and Chris Gayle have been selected to bolster the Windies squad to face Bangladesh team in the first three One Day Internationals that are the start of the regional team’s build-up to the 2019 ICC World Cup. The first match is scheduled for Guyana’s Providence Stadium on July 22.

“This is the start of our prep for 2019 CWC,” said head coach Stuart Law, “opportunities for players to stake a claim to be included in the squad. Great to have Dre Russ back as well. His explosive power and energy will breathe life into an already motivated squad.”

Chairman of Selectors Courtney Browne echoed Law’s sentiments especially as it relates to giving players the opportunity to stake claim to be in the side when the two-time world championships begin their campaign for what has been an elusive title.

“As we continue to prepare, there are only 16 ODIs leading up to the tournament.

The panel will focus on giving opportunities from time to

Stuart Law has welcomed the return of Andre Russell for the three-match ODI series against Bangladesh

time to players that we believe can add value to the ODI team,” Browne said.

“Kemar Roach will be rested for the upcoming series as we continue to manage players’ workload. With the Super50 Championship set for October this year, we will also have an opportunity for regional players to perform heavily and place themselves in line to be considered for selection.

The panel wishes Jason and his team every success in the upcoming series

against Bangladesh.”

Jason Holder, the man of the series in the just-concluded two-Test series, will lead the team that will also be comprised of Devendra Bishoo, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Evin Lewis, Jason Mohammed, Ashley Nurse, Keemo Paul, Kieran Powell, Rovman Powell and Andre Russell.

Following the opening match of the series at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence the second match will be played at the same venue on July 25.

The action then shifts to St. Kitts and Nevis where the third ODI has been scheduled to be played at Warner Park on Saturday, July 28.

The ODI series will be followed by a three-match T20i series, the first of which will be played at Warner Park on July 31.

The second and third T20 internationals will be played at the Central Broward Regional Park on August 4 and 5. Those matches are scheduled to begin at 8:00 pm.

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France’s World Cup winners given heroes’ welcome in Paris French President Emmanuel Macron poses with the World Cup champion players.(REUTERS)

Russell, Disconnection Crew crowned Gayle, selected Bartica Champions for Bangladesh ODI and T20 series 27 Bartica Zone ‘Guinness Greatest of the Streets’

PAGE

The Disconnection Crew receives their trophy after defeating Goal-Raiders 1-0 in the final.

NEW champions, Disconnection Crew were crowned after they defeated Goal-Raiders in the final of the Bartica Zone of the Guinness ‘Greatest of the Streets’ competition while Almanac Kings defeated BLB in the third place playoff.

Disconnection Crew had Elcio Oliveira to thank as he scored the solitary goal of the game; a beauty in the sixth minute.

Oliveira’s goal was cre-

ated by Clint Kellman who passed from the right side.

He placed a first time finish perfectly through the legs of the final defender into the roof of the net to spark celebrations from his teammates and supporters.

However, that would be the only goal of the game as Goal-Raiders found it difficult to penetrate the Disconnection Crew’s back line.

After regulation time failed to separate Almanac

Kings and BLB Squad at 2-2, penalty kicks were needed and the Kings held their nerves to run out 2-1 winners from the spot.

Earlier in normal time, Ricardo Perreira struck twice in the sixth and 14 th minutes to put the Kings ahead, but Jade Huggins equalized with a Guinness Goal (worth two) in the closing minutes to send the game to extra time.

En route to the finals, Disconnection Crew had

beaten BLB Squad 1-0 while Goal-Raiders were victorious over Almanac Kings from the penalty spot after drawing 2-2 in normal time.

Disconnection Crew will head to Demerara for the national playoffs which are set to be staged on July 27 and August 1, at the Pouderoyen Tarmac and Haslington Market Square respectively, while the final will be played on August 4, at the National Stadium, Providence.

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Andre Russell

Argentine referee was wrong to award France a World Cup final penalty-Hasley

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TUESDAY, JULY 17, 2018