Guyana Chronicle E-paper 01-24-2019

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, January 24, 2019

THURSDAY 24th JANUARY, 2019

No.105527

U.S. recognises Venezuela opposition leader as president

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‘Voters’ list compromised’

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Gov't resigning a recipe for anarchy –AG tells court in confidence vote case –– CJ to rule on Jan. 31

SEE STORY ON PAGE 9

…PNCR accuses PPP of manipulation

Suspect in McDoom killing nabbed at hospital

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Young Jael Clarke of Arthurville Primary, Wakenaam, Region Three, performing a dramatic piece titled “2020- Oil in all its glory” at the region’s Mashramani Competition held at the National Track and Field Centre, Leonora, West Coast Demerara on Wednesday

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, January 24, 2019

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, January 24, 2019

‘Voters’ list compromised’ …PNCR accuses PPP of manipulation …Harmon: GECOM responsibility is to provide clean list

By Lisa Hamilton THE two largest parties of the coalition government believe that the current voters’ list is “compromised” and would be a grave injustice to Guyanese should the country move forward with it to elections.

The parties said the list consists of thousands of dead persons and does not include many now eligible to vote.

Commissioners of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) are expected to meet today to discuss when new General and Regional Elections can be held. The Guyana Chronicle invited party heads to weigh in on the matter.

“I believe that the list is compromised. This is not only a list that we have to take off dead people or people who are removed from the community, this is a list where the PPP used their returning officers, in the villages where people are proPPP, to move people from one area to the next during local government elections and therefore we consider the list compromised,” People's National Congress/Reform (PNC/R) General Secretary Amna Ally said in an invited comment on Wednesday.

These are issues, she added, that the coalition parties have noticed in past and even the most recent elections.

Ally said in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), persons were moved by certain political affiliates from the neighbouring town of Bonfim in Brazil to Let-

hem with the aim of having them vote as residents.

vote, as the opposition believes that the pre-planned

A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) General-Secretary Joseph Harmon

She noted that this is only one example and similar illegalities have occurred in places such as Coomacka; Hosororo; Wainaina and Mabaruma.

“You have problems where people are being transferred into Mabaruma to vote at Mabaruma, so the list is compromised,” she maintained, adding: “A host of people who would have attained the age would be disqualified if the old list is used.”

GECOM’s Secretariat in 2018 had budgeted $3B for house-to-house registration in 2019 in keeping with its policy of conducting such every seven years.

However, this matter has become one of much contention since the no-confidence

exercise is merely a delaying tactic of the government to avoid holding elections within 90 days. Although courts are yet to decide on the validity of the no-confidence vote, the opposition is pushing for elections to be held before April 30, 2019, which is when the current voters' list becomes invalid.

However, Alliance For Change (AFC) Chairman Khemraj Ramjattan, at a press conference last week cautioned that while the opposition has its own motives for the April deadline, such an important exercise cannot be conducted haphazardly.

“At this stage, we are of the view that there should be house-to-house registration as we allocated monies for,” Ramjattan said.

“We’re not like Canada and the developed western

We’re not going to cleanse the list of all the people that

Alliance For Change (AFC) Chairman Khemraj Ramjattan

democracy where when a no-confidence is had you immediately can go into elections. There are lots of 15-year-olds then that will now become 18-year-olds that will have to be put on the list. There are a lot of dead people on that list.”

He questioned the opposition’s intentions, highlighting that simply forging ahead for the sake of political reasons would not be fair to Guyanese or the democratic process. “GECOM had indicated that every seven years it is going to do a house-tohouse registration and the PPP agreed. That is why they said yes to that $3B to do a house-to-house. So are we going to retract on that? Then we’re going to disenfranchise a number of people who have now become 18-year-olds?

have died? It is important that a lot of this be understood and that we’re not just running in with a list that is defective and the first thing when you win the election as the coalition they’ll say is, ‘this thing was rigged’,” he said.

SANITISATION A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) General-Secretary Joseph Harmon also weighed in on the matter on Wednesday. While the PPP had previously called for a sanitisation of the list through the General Registrar’s Office (GRO), when questioned on the difference between such and house-tohouse registration, Harmon noted that not much exists.

“House-to-house [registration] also sanitises. So

when you’re talking about sanitisation of a list, you’re basically speaking about making that list ready for an election,” Harmon said, adding: “If you’re talking about sanitisation, you’re actually also acknowledging that the list is not perfect.”

Speaking further, he said that before any electors’ list is produced, there are certain activities which are duly conducted and to ensure there is a just end result. “There’s a whole process that leads to the production of a list of electors for an election and that process requires registration; it requires claims and objections and all of these issues are dealt with in this process,” he said.

However, Harmon reminded that despite the reservations of various parties, it is ultimately the elections commission that has the responsibility for providing a clean list. He said: “GECOM has to make the authoritative statement on the matter. GECOM is the custodian of the list and GECOM is the entity that will be responsible for ensuring that we have a clean list, so it is important that we understand that GECOM is the institution that has responsibility for a voters’ list and so political parties may have issues on the list, but it is GECOM that is the organisation, the institution that has to deal with the voters’ list.”

One month imprisonment for cannabis smuggler A 33-year-old woman will be spending the next few weeks on remand after attempting to smuggle cannabis into the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court (GMC) lockup for an inmate.

Sarah Chance of Kaneville, East Bank Demerara, a mother of three, made her appearance before Principal Magistrate Faith McGusty on Wednesday, January 23, 2019, for intro-

ducing narcotics at the court lockup.

The charge read that, on January 21, 2019, at the GMC, she ‘introduced’ 23 grammes of cannabis into the court lockup.

“I tried to help out somebody by dropping a pair of boots… I was set up” the unrepresented woman told the court in her defence.

The woman told the

magistrate that, a few months earlier, she was before the court and was in the police outpost where she lent an inmate her phone to make a call. The inmate and she began conversing and that led to further communication, via cellphone, between herself and the inmate while the latter was in prison.

Chance said that the inmate called her one day and asked her to meet with

his friend in Georgetown to collect $10,000 and purchase a jersey and some other items for him.

However, while in Georgetown, the inmate called her back and asked her to take a taxi and venture into Albouystown to pick up a pair of boots for him so that he could attend his trial hearing.

Chance stressed that she picked up the boots and took

it to the court without checking the item and did not have knowledge that drugs were inside.

Prosecutor Annalisa Brummel argued that Chance and the inmate were known to each other for over three months and he had asked Chance to deliver the boots to him at the court with the illicit substance inside.

Brummel noted that while Chance was at the

court and told by the officers that the boots had to be searched, she began acting in a suspicious manner.

The footwear was searched and the cannabis was found compressed into the sole of the boots.

The magistrate ruled in favour of the prosecution’s objection and remanded the mother of three to prison until February 19, 2019.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, January 24, 2019

Juan Guaidó: US backs opposition leader as Venezuela president (BBC) US President Donald Trump has said he recognises Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó as interim president.

It came minutes after the 35-year-old declared himself as acting leader in Caracas on Wednesday.

Tens of thousands of Venezuelans are taking to the streets in protest against President Nicolás Maduro.

Mr Maduro was sworn in for a second term earlier this month, after a poll considered a sham by much of the international community.

In response to Mr Trump’s recognition of the opposition leader, Mr Maduro gave all US diplomatic staff in Venezuela 72 hours to leave the country.

Venezuela has been in economic freefall for a number of years under his leadership.

Hyperinflation and key shortages, including of food, has forced millions out of the country.

What’s the latest?

Speaking in Caracas, Mr Guaidó told a cheering crowd that the protests

would continue “until Venezuela is liberated”.

“I swear to formally assume the national executive powers as acting president,” he said, while raising his right hand.

He has promised to lead a transition government and hold free elections.

Some counter-demonstrations are also being held in support of Mr Maduro.

Earlier on Wednesday

Mr Guaidó declared himself leader at a mass opposition rally

Footage from Wednesday’s protests showed demonstrators facing off against National Guard security forces, tear gas being dispersed and vehicles on fire.

Mr Guaidó, who is head of the country’s National Assembly, has called on the armed forces - who have so far backed Mr Maduro - to disobey the government.

activist groups said that at least four people, including a 16-year-old, had been killed overnight ahead of the protests.

What did Mr Trump say?

In a statement, Mr Trump described Mr Maduro’s leadership as “illegitimate” and said the country’s congress, led by Mr Guaidó, was the only “legitimate branch of government” in the country.

“The people of Venezuela have courageously spoken out against Maduro and his regime and demanded freedom and the rule of law,” his statement said.

The statement also said the US would hold Mr Maduro’s regime “directly responsible” for any threats to the safety of the Venezuelan people.

In the announcement, he also urged other nations to follow suit. So far, five South American countries have done so, although Mexico has shown its support for Mr Maduro.

The Organization of American States (OAS), the pan-Americas organisation in which Venezuela does not participate, has also recognised Mr Guaidó as leader.

“Our congratulations to @jguaido as acting President of #Venezuela. You have all our recognition to launch the return of democracy to the country,” Secretary General Luis Almagro said in a tweet.

Venezuela withdrew from the organisation, which aims to aid cooperation across the continent, in 2017 - accusing it of meddling in his country’s internal affairs.

Who is Juan Guaidó?

Mr Guaidó was a relatively unknown figure until he became president of Venezuela’s opposition-controlled parliament earlier this month.

Upon taking up the role, he immediately challenged Mr Maduro’s government and said he had a constitutional right to assume the presidency until fresh elections were held.

He became politically active as a student in Caracas, leading protests against the late socialist leader Hugo Chavez who hand-picked Mr Maduro as his preferred successor.

Mr Guaidó, who is an industrial engineer by trade, was reportedly offered a job in Mexico after graduating but decided to stay in Venezuela to organise political change.

His appointment as National Assembly leader has energised Venezuela’s opposition, which has been

fragmented in recent years.

Why are people protesting?

Mr Maduro, who took office in 2013 after the death of Hugo Chavez, has been condemned at home and abroad for alleged human rights abuses and for his handling of the economy.

There have been widespread reports of shortages of items like medicine and food throughout Venezuela and an estimated three million people have fled the country.

Mr Maduro’s re-election in May 2018 was labelled as illegitimate at home and abroad - amid opposition absences from the ballot and reports of vote-rigging in his favour.

Wednesday’s demonstrations come just two days after 27 National Guard soldiers were reported to have revolted against the government at a guard post in the capital, Caracas.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, January 24, 2019

Congo’s Kabila says he is ‘without regret’ ahead of power handover

FILE PHOTO: Democratic Republic of Congo’s President Joseph Kabila speaks during a Reuters interview at the Palais de la Nation in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, December 9, 2018.

(REUTERS/Benoit Nyemba/File Photo)

KINSHASA (Reuters) Democratic Republic of Congo’s outgoing President Joseph Kabila said he would hand over power on Thursday “without regret” and called on Congolese to support his successor, Felix Tshisekedi.

Kabila has governed the vast central African country since succeeding his assassinated father in 2001 at the age of 29, in the midst of a re-

Russia takes wraps off new missile to try to save U.S. nuclear pact

MOSCOW (Reuters) Russia showed foreign military attaches on Wednesday a new cruise missile that the United States says breaches a landmark arms control pact, billing it as an exercise in transparency it hoped would persuade Washington to stay in the treaty.

Washington has threatened to pull out of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), alleging that the new Russian missile, the Novator 9M729 (called SSC-8 by NATO), violates the pact, which bans either side from stationing short and intermediate-range, land-based missiles in Europe.

Russia denies that. It says the missile’s range puts it outside the treaty and has accused the United States of inventing a false pretext to exit a treaty it wants to leave anyway so as to develop new missiles.

The Russian lobbying effort comes as the clock ticks down toward Feb. 2,

the date when Washington has said it will begin the process of pulling out of the pact unless Russia verifiably destroys the new missile system altogether, something it has refused to do.

Russia displayed the new missile system at a military theme park outside Moscow to foreign military attaches and journalists. A senior defense ministry official explained the weapon’s characteristics in detail as a soldier highlighted different parts with a laser pointer.

The missile has a maximum range of 480 kilometers (298 miles), which meant it was fully compliant with the INF treaty, Lieutenant-General Mikhail Matveyevsky, head of Russia’s Missile Troops and Artillery, said.

The United States had previously rejected a Russian offer to look at the contested missile, in what is known as a ‘static display’, because it said such an exercise would not allow it to verify the true range of its

warheads.

The Russian Defence Ministry said diplomats from the United States, Britain, France and Germany had been invited to attend the static display, but declined to attend.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told a news briefing before the display that the United States had made clear through diplomatic channels that its decision to exit the pact was final and that it was not open to dialogue.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova later said that Russia had suggested the two nations hold talks on the issue on the sidelines of a meeting of the P5 nuclear powers in Beijing later this month, but had not received “a concrete reply”.

She said Russia remained open to talks anyway. Western diplomats have played down the chances of the two countries resolving their differences at that meeting if it takes place.

gional war that led to millions of deaths.

His refusal to quit power when his final term officially expired in 2016 led to deadly protests, but he finally agreed last year to step down following an election meant to lead to Congo’s first democratic transfer of power in 59 years of independence.

The Dec. 30 poll produced an unexpected winner in opposition leader Tshisekedi. Its credibility has been heavily questioned with the runner-up saying he actually won a landslide victory and accusing Kabila and Tshisekedi of a stich-up.

Kabila’s and Tshisekedi’s camps deny there was a deal or that results were rigged.

“Respectful of the constitution, I am going to hand over power tomorrow, without regret,” said Kabila, wearing a black suit and tie and sporting his trademark salt-and-pepper beard, in pre-recorded remarks broadcast on national television.

“I invite you to massively support (Tshisekedi) as you have supported me,” he said.

He credited himself with accomplishments including reunifying the country and curtailing inflation.

Still, his successor will assume power in one of the world’s least developed countries, despite its copious output of copper, cobalt and other lucrative minerals.

Tshisekedi, son of the late opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, is due to take power on Thursday in a ceremony at the presidential palace around mid-day. Many Congolese question whether he will be able to act independently, both because of question marks about a possible deal and the substantial influence Kabila’s ruling coalition is set to retain.

“The United States welcomes the Congolese Constitutional Court’s certification of Felix Tshisekedi as the next President,” State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said.

“We are committed to working with the new DRC government ... We encourage the government to include a broad representation of Congo’s political stakeholders and to address reports of electoral irregularities.”

Neighbors Angola and Congo Republic also congratulated him.

Angolan President Joao Lourenco wished Tshisekedi “success in carrying out

the noble and difficult task entrusted to him by the Congolese people”. Angola is a longtime Kinshasa ally but relations were strained during a two-year delay in the election.

The statements came despite major flaws in the poll noted by domestic monitors, including outright vote tampering. Congo’s Catholic Church, which deployed 40,000 election observers, found that runner-up Martin Fayulu actually won in a landslide.

Congolese sources in contact with senior officials told Reuters that Fayulu, also an opposition leader, had won decisively, but top officials instructed the electoral commission to award the vote to Tshisekedi, seen as more open to compromise with Kabila and his allies.

The African Union, which last week expressed “serious doubts” about the credibility of the results, said on Tuesday it would work with Tshisekedi’s government but declined to congratulate him, as did the European Union.

Several other African governments have congratulated Tshisekedi, including South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and Egypt.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, January 24, 2019

A vision for education development

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o ensure development, a country must necessarily invest in programmes that will bear fruit in the future; educating the nations next generation is one key undertaking within that category.

However, simply, haphazardly dumping resources into educational programmes, as the previous PPP regime had done, will not work, instead, a methodical approach is required. A visionary leadership must accurately evaluate current shortcomings, correctly identify trends, properly predict future conditions, and implement a comprehensive agenda that is designed to guarantee continuous progress in a fast-evolving world.

Fortunately, since May 2015, Guyana coalition government under the visionary leadership of President David Granger, has conceptualised and implemented a disciplined and meticulously well-organised system of educating Guyana’s next generation. This is particularly noteworthy as the APNU+AFC government had inherited a country in which the young residents of the various regions have widely varying educational needs; generally inadequate or inappropriate facilities; diverse living conditions, cultures, languages, customs, and other factors. As such, the Granger administration had to quickly and accurately assess the varied requirements, and implement programmes tailored to the requirements of mostly dissimilar communities.

This was no easy task, since even within any particular community, students will necessarily have different aptitudes, interests, and abilities. And, in the interest of Guyana, all of those must be optimally used.

In assessing Guyana’s children’s educational requirements, President Granger did not sit in an office and do guesswork; he went into the field and met the people, he spoke to parents, and he observed conditions on the ground.

The result was a tailored educational agenda that the Ministry of Education was tasked with effecting.

Results speak for themselves.

The 5Bs initiative was launched by President Granger after a His Excellency visited the Pomeroon in July 2015.

During his interactions with residents, the president learned that there was often a high cost of transportation for children to get to and from school; many families could not afford it.

Additionally, because of widespread, extreme poverty, many parents could not afford to purchase books for their children.

Even more saddening; many children stayed home because their families could not afford proper meals. The president decided to take action by introducing the programme to distribute the 5Bs – which stand for boats, buses, bicycles, breakfast and books – directly to households and communities across Guyana, beginning in Pomeroon-Supenaam.

As a result, the riverine communities within that region were among the first to benefit from the initiative with the delivery of three boats that transport children to and from school along the Pomeroon River.

The programme has since expanded to include all of Guyana’s regions. To date, more than 1,400 bicycles, 10 boats, and 30 busses have been handed over to students and communities across Guyana. The Breakfast and books aspects of the programme have also been introduced in numerous schools.

The Ministry of Education reports that the programme has been a phenomenal success, as all of the communities which have benefited so far, have shown a notable increase in school attendance.

The president recognises too, that technical or vocational education is essential for national progress. The skilled citizens required to build a prosperous nation are not limited to doctors and lawyers. International expert-agencies agree.

According to the World Bank’s 2019 World Development Report on the future of work, “Flexibility between general and vocational [or technical] education, particularly in higher education, is imperative to enable workers to compete in changing labour markets where technology plays an increasingly important role.” The importance of technical and vocational educational training (TVET) is recognised too by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In fact TVET is one of the three subsectors of UNESCO, the other two being literacy and higher education.

Guyana’s government understands the importance of having skilled craftsmen and women, and TVET is an integral part of the administration’s educational focus. TVET is a major aspect of Guyana’s Education Sector Plan (ESP), in which government has invested $214 billion. The plan’s objective is the improvement of the quality of education by placing greater emphasis on accountability through continuous monitoring of results throughout the plan’s active

Irfaan Ali under a cloud Dear Editor,

I

AM compelled to write this letter as citizens of this dear land of ours and I want to join in lending my voice with the thousands in Guyana, especially those in Berbice at this point in time as our country is being put to a test for real leadership quality.

It is sad to see what our country is coming to within the PPP party, whose leadership only have their eyes and frame of mind set on the oil sector. The PPP party has sold out Guyana in its 23 years, or we could say in the years of Bharrat Jagdeo’s leadership. But let’s focus on the caption above, because lots of young people and not only young people, but everyone except the PPP leadership is asking themselves some very serious questions when it comes to leadership roles and models in leading Guyana.

Many young and qualified ones are now telling themselves that Guyana is moving into a country of uncertainty, especially when a political party can put as their candidate a man that is surrounded by several controversies. The PPP has nothing to offer this country, except to select an alleged fraudster; a man who is said faked his qualifications through fake degrees; a man who illegally removed several files from his office after his party lost the 2015 elections; a man who used to chase the citizens of this land out of his office when he was the minister of housing and water; a man that is before the courts on some 19 fraud charges for allegedly trying to swindle the Guyanese

people and country at large in the Pradoville 2 land sale. A man who hires his cronies to be the head of various agencies within the said ministry.

I am very concerned at the moment, as to several issues with which we are faced today. I am very concerned and it must be noted that we all have trust in the legal system of this country.

But I am also asking as to what influence will this presidential candidate have on the legal system and what will be the implications? Will the court of law allow this man who is before them for fraud to be influenced by his position of presidential candidate and make the wrong decision just because he was selected to lead a political party?.

It must also be asked, whether it was a deliberate move by the PPP to put this alleged fraudster as presidential candidate, so as to influence the courts in making the wrong decision or for the DPP to drop all 19 fraud charges against him?. I hope and pray that the judicial system won’t allow this fake presidential candidate thing\matter to have an influence in making the right decision, because we saw it at the starting of the matter when this former minister was given self-bail.

It must be noted also that when a brother or sister is implicated in a small fraud matter, the courts place that person on thousands of dollars bail. Here a former minister is allegedly implicated in fraud to a tune of almost $174M and was set to walk free. This man is also reportedly implicated at the moment in his qualifications. It is alleged that this PPP presidential

period.

Government’s investment is already showing positive results. For example, in November of last year, 123 students graduated from the New Amsterdam Technical Institute (NATI).This development follows the graduation of 144 students who received their diplomas from the Essequibo Technical Institute earlier that month. Those persons along with others who have completed their technical education, have rightfully earned our respect and are to be congratulated.

Those graduates are now qualified in the areas of data operations, office administration, electrical instillation, commerce, welding, engine repair, furniture manufacturing, agricultural machinery, metal machining, electronics, masonry, plumbing, bricklaying, and carpentry, among other skills.

Visionary leadership has identified other needs as well.

As the rest of the world refocuses its developmental agendas to meet the new challenges which the information and technology age will bring, Guyana too must do the same.

With that in mind, government, in collaboration with local and overseas-based Guyanese has thrown its efforts behind one of the most visionary programmes ever conceived: the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) initiative.

The STEM initiative encourages elementary and middle school students to pursue computer science, particularly computer programming, by introducing them to code logic.

As the STEM programme continues to grow, expand, and diversify; there are now practical training programmes for physics, chemistry, integrated science and information technology among others. With a core focus on developing practical programming, robotics, and scientific skills, the programme is preparing our youth, in all Guyana’s regions, to lead Guyana into the new technological era.

The need for visionary leadership in the education sector would be obvious to all intelligent Guyanese.

Therefore, we should not take the risk of putting the future wellbeing of our children into the hands of unproven people of dubious qualification. We already have a leader whose vision is being made into reality; the administration’s record in fewer than four years speaks for itself. President Granger’s vision of an educated nation must be allowed to progress to full fruition.

candidate has several FAKE DEGREES and FAKE CERTIFICATES which he and the leader of the opposition party are boasting about. I find it shameful for a man who wants to be the leader of this nation to be allegedly involved in forgery, especially his academic qualifications. This is the said man that after almost three years in government could have built a multimillion-dollar pool house and alleged again to have underpaid GuySuCo for the land on which he built it.

How can we as Guyanese allow a man that is embroiled in all these allegations to be a leader? We understand that the matter is before the courts and he is innocent until proven guilty with all fairness; but it is a matter of concern for a nation with all the allegations he has before him. We all know that this PPP presidential candidate was chosen as another rubber stamp to the Guyanese nation. He was chosen because he will be used as a puppet for the former President as what he had done to Donald Ramotar. Many are saying that this move to have this man as the PPP’s presidential candidate is being highly influenced by Bharrat Jagdeo.

Many are also of the view that Bharrat Jagdeo ensures that he puts a man whom he can order; and who goes by the orders given to him; and by putting this man as the presidential candidate is a third term for Bharrat, because the presidential candidate will be a mere YES MAN and RUBBER STAMP. Guyanese, we need to open our eyes and see beyond race, because that is what the PPP is using as tactics, RACE. I call on all right-thinking Guyanese to reject this alleged fraudster and fake qualifications PPP presidential candidate.

Regards.

Jaipaul Seenarine

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, January 24, 2019

The death of two beautiful children and the attempted politicisation by Ramsammy Dear Editor,

I

DO not know the facts of what transpired, but what I do know is that two beautiful children, three-year-old Roshnie Seegobin and Corwin Edwards are now dead.

A third beautiful angel, six-year-old Sherezer Mendonca, is fighting for her life in the Intensive Care Unit. Mr. Editor, my heart bleeds for their parents; no parent should ever have to bury his/her child; no parent ever anticipates burying his/ her child. The GPHC has problems, serious problems. These problems are not new. I have been saying this for years. The PPP had 23 years to address them, but turned a blind eye and instead politicized the GPHC and the wider health service. I read Dr. Leslie Ramsammy’s letters in both the Kaieteur News and Stabroek News, chastising the government as if this is new.

I suggest they both be balanced for a change and publish my opposing but more rational letter. Anyway, this is disingenuous of Dr. Ramsammy and is another desperate attempt to score cheap political points off this tragedy and many other issues affecting the healthcare system. Reading Dr. Ramsammy’s missive, one would get the impression that under the PPP, the GPHC was world class, comparable to the Mayo Clinic in America. It was of such high standards that all ministers under the PPP utilised the local health service. Jagdeo’s medical jet sat idly at the CJIA since he too utilised the local health service for his diarrhoea -- among other ailments. Dr. Ramsammy abandoned paying his health insurance in America, since it became redundant in view of the first-class health services in Guyana which he also utilised.

What Dr. Ramsammy is in effect suggesting is that the coalition government, in three and a half years, destroyed PPP’s good work. Are you serious Dr. Ramsammy? Clearly you are having severe hiccups. Go have a sip of water.

I will repeat: this problem is not new and the PPP should shoulder most of the blame for their inaction, politicisation and corruption of the health service over 23 years. This government is not blame-free, but it will take more than four years to reverse 23 years of mismanagement. I would humbly suggest they heed my many suggestions of focusing on the simple and leaving the complex until the health service is fully prepared and ready for the complex.

‘Speckled birds’ on both sides of the House Dear Editor,

‘SPECKLED birds’ on both sides of the House. And the False Prophet would have us believe that it is ‘hypocritical’ to strive to punish the ‘speckled bird’ who voted against this group’s list and who used his sworn foreign allegiance to grease his escape.

How hypocritical and typical is that for the False Prophet!

But the False Prophet is not alone. Freddie, tragically gave his soul to Charrandass and trusted “in the staff of this broken reed’ (Is. 36:6). Consequently, Freddie cannot ‘uncouple’ Charrandass from the other APNU+AFC ‘speckled birds.’ Inadvertently, Freddie repeats the opposition’s goose-gander theory. (KN 1/8/19, p.10). Charrandass, to put it plainly, actively used his sworn allegiance to Canada to obtain physical diplomatic Canadian support for his escape plan, thus resurrecting and reaffirming his sworn allegiance to Canada. The pictorial and written evidence affirms. See: “Charrandass requested, received Canadian Gov’t. protection to airport.” (KN 1/6/19, pp.9, 56); “ ‘Clear breach of security’.” GC 1/12/19, p. 3; “Canadian diplomat faces recall.” GC 1/12/19, p.9; “Foreign Ministry writes Canadian High Commission on ‘protocol breaches’ over Charrandass Persaud,” SN 1/12/19, p. 11; “Airport breach…Canadian envoy summoned for second meeting.” GC 1/12/19, p. 3; “Gov’t summons Canadian envoy on airport protocol breach.”

GC 1/10/19, p. 2; “Ogle Airport ordered to cease issuing protocol passes.” KN 1/8/19, p.7.

In the process, Charrandass asserted his Canadian allegiance to be functionally superior, more desirable, an esteemably prized ‘crutch’ over his sworn bogus allegiance to Guyana. How emasculating for Guyana? How unconstitutional? How odiously in violation of Art. 155(1) of The Constitution of Guyana!

But contrary to Charrandass, the other APNU+AFC ‘speckled birds’ remained loyal to Guyana and did Guyana no disservice; and no corrupt transaction on this issue. Charrandass did, inviting punishment.

The greater ‘tragedy’ dear Freddie, is not in what Charrandass did to Guyana, but what Charrandass did to you. More later.

Regards P. Williams

Rather than his desperate attempts at scoring cheap political points, Dr. Ramsammy should have suggested what he would have done differently if he were at the helm. Frankly, I don’t think he knows, judging from the many unanswered disasters in the health service under his watch. Clearly, he would have been better off remaining in a darkened lab looking at bacteria.

Anyway, don’t despair folks, someone young enough to be his son but clearly more qualified and competent than him will show him what he should have written. Sit back and take notes, failed former minister of health.

An adverse drug reaction apparently occurred. The name of the drug is being kept a secret. The reason this drug is being kept a secret is unknown, but clearly illogical. The name of all drug-adverse reactions should be immediately made public.

That is international standards and it is there for a good reason.

To inform other hospitals to avoid the drug until such time as the reason behind the adverse reaction is identified. Keeping the name of the drug a secret, especially when two children have died, can lead to the death of others at other institutions that were not forewarned.

Just think of it like this: a Boeing 747 develops engine problems in Afghanistan and crashed, killing 300 passengers. Would that be kept a secret? NO. It will be disseminated worldwide and likely all Boeing 747s would be grounded until investigators have established that the problem is not intrinsic to all Boeing 747s. Only last week in Guyana, all Cessna planes were grounded because of engine concerns. The same principle applies in medicine. Get it Dr. Ramsammy? Rise above politics and think like a doctor who is a specialist worth his salt. You might have scored points if you had done what I did and suggest how the PPP would have gone about it. Suggesting that the minister of public health turn up and give a speech is at best ridiculous. The problems need solutions and not speeches. Anyway, continue taking notes.

Then the GPHC is investigating the deaths. That’s commendable, but not enough. The government should also have an independent body investigating serious adverse drug reactions, serious adverse reactions on medical devices, defective medicines and fake medicines and devices. As a matter of fact, this independent body should have been set up during the PPP’s 23

years of managing the health service. Why this never happened Dr. Ramsammy, the doctor of bacteria with all the “solutions”?

The data collected should be reported to the companies producing the medicines and the devices with a view to the company disseminating the information worldwide. In the UK, we have the electronic yellow card scheme of reporting such clinical incidents, which are investigated and disseminated by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The manufacturer or a medical specialist may also investigate the problem, depending on how serious it is, then report to MHRA. I am sure there are similar processes in America, but Dr. Ramsammy would not know that since he is not a medical doctor. Continuing my distance education for Dr. Ramsammy, definitely all deaths apparently due to drugs or medical devices would be investigated by the MHRA. An investigation is not to apportion blame, but to learn from mistakes which will be disseminated with a view to inform future practice and reduce the risk of it happening again.

Got it Dr. Ramsammy? Trying to politicise tragedies and score cheap points have backfired. Your limitations have shown up.

You were better off standing up and accepting responsibility for 23 years of the PPP’s failed policies in the health service. Now you have taken notes you should go stand in a corner and face the wall. Leave criticism of the health service for those who know what they are about, those without blood on their hands; but most importantly those who genuinely want to see better and are not using the health service as a political football. And yes, you will receive your certificate in the post.

Finally, for the two angels that are now sleeping, RIP. To their parents, no one can feel your pains. We can only sympathise. Do not let your children’s deaths be in vain. Start a charity in their names. Start a campaign. Do something in their names. Doing that may help in the healing process, which may be indefinite. For the little angel in intensive care, I pray you have a speedy and a complete recovery.

Regards Dr. Mark Devonish MBBS MSc MRCP(UK) FRCP(Edin) Consultant, Acute Medicine Nottingham University Hospital UK

Today, after all these years, men are saying Guyana shall rise Dear Editor,

W

E are still in the New Year mood, so let me extend best wishes to you and your excellent staff of journalists a challenging and rewarding New Year 2019.

You may wonder why I use the terms challenging and rewarding; nevertheless, I need to point out a dreaded and feared aspect of the reality of challenges that lies ahead of this young republic, in the hope of forging ahead with its given agenda within the new demographic of political life.

This past weekend I had the distinct privilege to sit in a forum, among some of the brightest and noblest of citizens of this republic. The Moray House hosted the launching of a new political party, the ANUG. I sat and keenly listened to the presentations of all the speakers at the head table. At a certain time the chairperson entertained questions from the floor. I stood up, and declared to one and all that the presenters in their presentation covered only three basic demographics of political life: physical, mental and social, with the exclusion of the spiritual life of politics, which is the acknowledgement of God. There is a precious lesson to be learned from one of, if not, the greatest nation in the 21st century up to this present time in the history of the world’s nations. The Stabroek News edition of Saturday, January 19, 2019, spoke of ‘Learning from Whitehall and Washington’. Editor, I moved a vote of yes confidence to this editorial for bringing to this nation, the knowledge of reminding ourselves of the presence of an unseen God in the affairs of nations. I want to establish to this entire nation that there are fingers that are writing on the walls of the nation’s heart: a divine message that speaks of judgment that is coming!

In the Holy Bible – the most sacred of all religious writings and revered among born-again believers in Christ Jesus, whose birth anniversary we have just celebrated. There is, in the Old Testament, a definitive and moving story of a Kingdom that changed hands. Daniel chapter 5:5 reads thus: “In the same hour

came forth fingers of a man’s hands and wrote over against the candle sticks upon the plasters of the walls of the Kings’ Palace, and the King saw the part of the hand that wrote.” Read it for yourself!

Henceforth, I hereby declare by divine decree that this nation shall live and not die deaths of or, through poverty, by which many naysayers and cynics have imposed their will upon Guyana, whereby their bewitching ways have negatively affected the mental psyche of feeble minds. I stand as a living testimony of the inspiration of God who reveals to his servants – the prophets do things too marvellous and glorious to the unbelieving hearts.

Just under 30 years ago, I was ushered into a forum in the heart of London: the Hammersmith Town Hall of distinguished and prominent Guyanese living in London, declaring what was revealed to me 10 years prior to my being in London, concerning the political progress and economic prosperity that will overtake this nation Guyana.

At the end of my talk, these intelligent, but doubtful Guyanese accosted me, and asked why do I speak so good of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, nothing good can come out of Guyana for the next 100 years?

Today, after all these years, men are saying Guyana shall rise!

Editor, permit me to allude to the launch at the Moray House,, because on Sunday 27th January, 201, a Learning Centre (school of life) will be launched at the same location, (all are invited), whereby, I will expound on the four areas of challenges within human and political life: Physical, Mental, Social and Spiritual. Remember readers, the fingers that hold the pen are mightier and stronger than the hands that hold the sword.

Thank you! A blessed New Year to all Guyana! I sincerely pray for this new political party ANUG, that they will fulfill their purpose and not blow steam.

Regards Apostle Vanrick Beresford

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, January 24, 2019

300 jobs expected with Craig shore base

CONSOLIDATED Supply Management (CSM) and Danco Logistical Contractors Incorporated have announced the merging of their resources to create Guyana’s third shore base operation at Craig, East Bank Demerara.

The two companies will provide logistics services to the oil and gas sector.

Once construction is completed, some 300 skilled and unskilled permanent jobs will be created.

The company will utilise over 10 acres of land at Craig to create a shore base operation. Construction has already commenced and should be completed between mid-2019 to the first quarter of 2020.

CEO De Losada said that the two companies have been working on the project over the past year; they have been trying to bring their expertise and services into the Guyana market for the oil industry,

From left: Danny Ramnarain, President of Danco; Alberto De Losada, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CSM; and Eusi Anderson of Director Rogue Seven Incorporated, during the signing of the agreement at the Princess Ramada Hotel (DPI photo)

and establish a world-class international operation for oil and gas operators interested in developing local resources.

He explained that the logistics services will be the movement of equipment and materials that are required

for taking to offshore operations. These include pipes, chemicals, cement and other equipment for drilling.

De Losada added that the company has been in talks with a number of local operators, who have responded positively and are eager for the company to start its groundwork.

According to Ramnarain, this merger offers a great opportunity for Danco to not only tap into the oil and gas industry, but also to provide jobs for Guyanese. He said that his company will be providing the local know-how and labour to the operation.

Anderson said Rogue Seven Incorporated is currently in discussion with the Guyana National Shipping Corporation (GNSC) to enter into a partnership to utilise some acreage of their available land on the wharf front as the logistics base.

“The operation is in Craig; the hope is to move and transport supplies from that mail facility to the port at GNSC on Lombard Street, a distance of six miles…The

people of Craig will have to provide some type of service to the 300 persons that will be employed and this is the type of permanent rural revival that we are looking for in this activity.”

In terms of compliance, Anderson said the Environmental Protection Agency is providing guidance to the companies as they seek to start up. The companies are also fully compliant with the local content policy of the Government of Guyana and international best practices.

CSM is situated in the United Kingdom, while Danco Logistical Contractors Inc is a company incorporated in Guyana and is located at Buzz Bee Dam, Craig, EBD. CSM has experts in logistic base operations to support exploration and production projects.

(DPI)

Duo freed on ammunition charge

New council must do some stocktaking Dear Editor, EVEN as a State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) has been set up in Guyana to work to recover purportedly stolen assets, the need has become more evident for the setting up of a Municipal Assets Recovery Agency (MARA) to pursue assets recovery and financial investigations into the Georgetown municipality.

From what has come out at the Commission of Inquiry that was established by the Local Government Commission, and which clearly is merely the tip of the iceberg, it has become pellucid that there is need for the formation of such a unit -- even if temporarily -- staffed with a team of skilled persons in the basic elements of the recovery of assets, of how to investigate the theft of the municipality’s and city’s assets, of how to trace these stolen assets and monies, some of which it is clear have been put into forms that are not easily identifiable; and some of which have been leaked overseas into foreign bank accounts and transferred to other people.

Citizens of Georgetown were aware

even before the hosting of the CoI, that corruption was at the top of the scale at their municipality, but they also feel strongly that it is a disease that must not be allowed to fester, if we are to see any betterment in our capital city.

With the administrative head of that organisation being cited for gross misconduct, abuse of office, recklessness, dishonesty, conspiracy, and misappropriation of funds; and with other senior and key municipal officers being cited for dereliction of duty, incompetence, and conspiracy, it is unbelievable that months have passed since the handing over of the report, and the police have not yet been called in, and worse, these individuals have been left unimpeded at their desks to hide and destroy evidence, to intimidate witnesses and continue to carry out their incompetence, conspiracy and dereliction of duty at will. Only in this country could such slackness obtain. When they are finally sent on administrative leave or removed from their posts, all would have been lost at the council.

One would have thought that one of the first things the new council would

have done after taking office if they are serious about restoring and advancing the fortunes of Georgetown, would have been to create an assets register, identifying and securing what municipal assets are left after the plundering that was done over the years, and then they would have sought to go after and retrieve all the municipal reserves and lands that have been disposed of improperly, equipment practically given away to friends, and materials and supplies acquired, but cannot be accounted for like the scenario at the Kitty Market.

It is totally unacceptable for the new council to just take the filthy baton from the last council and run off without a stocktaking exercise. The new council needs to expose corruption at every level in the municipality, punish the perpetrators and drive out the culture of corruption there.

Regards Deodarie Putulall

Freed:

TWO men were on Wednesday freed from an ammunition possession charge by Magistrate Crystal Lambert at the Bartica Magistrate’ Court, due to the lack of evidence to establish a prima facie case.

Sherwin Christian, 29, and Hayland Handy, 41, were on trial for having 49 rounds of .38 ammunition in their possession on July 18, 2018, at 70 Km Police Outpost, Essequibo, without being the holder of a firearm licence. The men were out on $150,000 bail each Handy’s attorney, Siand

Freed:

Dhurjon, had made a nocase submission on the grounds that the prosecution failed to prove its case and had no evidence linking his client.

Magistrate Lambert agreed that no prima facie case had been established against Handy and Christian.

According to reports, Christian was a taxi driver and operated the motorcar in which the ammunition was found.

However, when the car was searched, Handy was a passenger. Both men denied ownership of the ammunition.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, January 24, 2019

Gov’t resigning a recipe for anarchy ––AG tells court in confidence vote case ––CJ to rule on Jan. 31

By Svetlana Marshall ARTICLES 106 (6) and 106(7) of the Constitution of Guyana ought to be interpreted together; to do the contrary, would be a recipe for anarchy, Attorney General Basil Williams told Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire in the High Court as he rebutted arguments by Attorney-at-Law Kamal Ramkarran that Cabinet must resign.

can enter error with his narrow approach of statutory interpretation to our Constitution,” the Attorney General told the Chief Justice.

Williams, in laying the foundation for his arguments, pointed out that in the 1980 Constitution, the framers omitted the confidence motion clause, however, the clause in the 2000 Constitution made what he described as a “hasty reappearance.” According to him, Article 106 of the Constitution, which provides

in some geographic location, rioting; what would happen?”

December 21, 2018, to arrive at the majority in the House.

Among the cases cited by the Attorney General was that of Kilman Kilman v Speaker of Parliament of the Republic of Vanuatu [2011] VUCA 15; Civil Appeal 09 of 2011 (13 May, 2011), and that of the

Christopher Ram greeting the Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr. Barton Scotland in the presence of Attorney-at-Law Kamal Ramkarran at the High Court when the matter was first called. (Adrian Narine photo)

Attorney General Basil Williams greeting two government supporters in the corridor of the High Court shortly before entering the courtroom on Wednesday. (Delano Williams’ Photo )

Attorney-at-Law Anil Nandlall (Adrian Narine photo)

Ramkarran, on behalf of his client Christopher Ram, has asked the High Court to declare that the No-Confidence Motion against the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) Government was validly passed in the National Assembly on December 21, 2018, and as a consequence, the Cabinet must resign and the government should take up the role of a caretaker government. But his arguments in support of the declarations being sought were all debunked by the Attorney General when the first of three constitutional cases were heard on Wednesday. The Chief Justice will hand down her ruling in the matter on Thursday, January 31, 2019, at 13:30hrs.

Williams, who appeared on Wednesday in association with attorneys Maxwell Edwards and Mayo Robertson, along with State Solicitor Ayanna McAlmont, pointed out what he called the loopholes in Ramkarran’s arguments.

Williams, in his opening arguments, said Ramkarran, in arguing the case of his client, Christopher Ram, has depended heavily on statutory interpretation. This, he said, has led Ramkarran, and by extension his client, to construe the Constitution in a narrow and legalistic way when it should be interpreted broadly and purposively as to give effect to the spirit of the provisions.

“I believe that the applicant, Mr. Christopher Ram,

that “the Cabinet including the President shall resign if the government is defeated by the vote of a majority of all the elected members of the National Assembly on a vote of confidence,” was not well thought out.

He submitted to the Court that had the Applicant examined Article 106 (6) and Article 106 (7) together, he would have recognised Cabinet and government are used interchangeably. Article 106 (7) of the Constitution says “notwithstanding its defeat, the government shall remain in office and shall hold elections in three months, or such longer period as the National Assembly, by resolution supported by not less than two-thirds of the votes of all the elected members of the National Assembly determine, and shall resign after the President takes the oath of office following the election.”

RECIPE FOR ANARCHY Williams argued that the submissions made by Ramkarran that the Cabinet must resign while the government remains in office, with each minister or ministry answering to their own is like a “recipe for anarchy.” “We have 16 Cabinet ministers. We have ministers within certain ministries. We have a host of ministers…how are they going to coordinate? Would they mind read each other?”

Williams questioned.

He further questioned, “if you have a national emergency, if there is public disorder

9

Maintaining that there could be no distinction between Cabinet and government, he said the government must continue to govern the country without any limitation. He rubbished the notion of a caretaker government on the basis that such is not catered for by the Constitution.

MAJORITY Turning his attention to the issue of majority in the National Assembly, the Attorney General sought to draw a distinction between a simple majority and an absolute majority. He put to the Court that the Applicant did not consider the differences despite the grave consequences and implications of a successful vote of No-Confidence Motion.

He submitted that Article 168 (1) specifies that a simple majority is the majority of members present and voting, while Article 106 (6) requires a higher than simple or an absolute majority, that is, all elected members of the National Assembly. He cited Article 164 (1) as a case in point.

That article states that “….a Bill for an Act of Parliament to alter this Constitution shall not be passed by the National Assembly unless it is supported at the final voting in the Assembly by the votes of a majority of all the elected members of the Assembly.”

The Attorney General said the requirement as stipulated in Article 164 is more difficult than the passage of ordinary legislation which only requires a simple majority.

Williams argued that the 33 did not constitute a majority, as such, the motion could not have been validly carried. He put to the court the time-honoured method of half plus one is what should have been used in the National Assembly on

case of UK Prime Minister Theresa May who won the confidence vote regarding her leadership. He put to the court that in the case of an uneven number, it is rounded up. When the UK’s 315 total is divided, it arrives at 157.5 members. This figure was rounded off to158 as what represents half of the total number of members while an extra vote [159] would represent a majority.

The Attorney General submitted to the Court that the hallow time principle of half plus one and rounding up the fraction is accepted worldwide.

RESIGNATION Meanwhile, with his client seated in the court’s chamber among other interested parties, Ramkarran argued that the provisions of Article 106 of the Constitution, which were put into motion on December 21, 2018, are clear and unambiguous, and as such, the Cabinet, which is separate and apart from government, should resign. The Cabinet, comprising the President, prime minister, vice presidents and other ministers, aids and advises the President and controls the government, Ramkarran told the High Court while contending that its resignation would not lead to chaos in the country.

“There is no chaos because the government remains in office. The President remains the President and the ministers remain ministers of government,” he said while noting that in the absence of the Cabinet, the government will operate with limited powers as a caretaker government.

According to him, government, upon the resignation of Cabinet, would only engage in “essential functions” but such would not include presenting bills to the National

Assembly for consideration and passage or the signing of major contracts. Questioned by the Chief Justice on what constitutes “essential functions,” Ramkarran, while speaking hypothetically, said government defending Guyana if Venezuela were to invade or providing finance to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) for the holding of elections, but he maintained that it would not be business as usual.

Holding fast to his position that the Cabinet must resign on the passage of a vote of No-Confidence, Ramkarran turned the Court’s attention to Section 39 of the Interpretation and General Clauses Act. He said while the Constitution does not say when the Cabinet should resign, Section 39 provides that “in any written law where no time is prescribed or allowed within which anything shall be done, such thing shall be done with all convenient speed…”

Addressing the issue of majority in the 65-Member National Assembly, Ramkarran said it is clear that 33 constitute a majority in the Parliament of Guyana and not 34 as proposed by the Attorney General. “Thirty-three is greater than 32. It is a number that is [more]than half,” he posited while adding that on the night of December 21, the “yes” votes exceeded the “no” votes.” Meanwhile, on the issue of dual citizenship, another issue which is being argued in the case, Ramkarran told the Chief Justice that a person who is elected to be a member of the National Assembly, whether qualified to be elected or not, is a member until such membership is set aside by the Court.

Anil Nandlall, who had earlier indicated to the Court that his client, Leader of the Opposition Bharrat Jagdeo, wish not to respond to the case brought by Ram because he is in support, opted to speak on Wednesday.

Like Ramkarran, he maintained that Cabinet is independent to government, and is required to resign upon a vote of no-confidence while

the government remains in office. “Cabinet is simply the executive nucleus of the Government of Guyana, it is not the Government of Guyana,” Nandlall argued as he added his voice to the debates. He said Article 106 (6) of the Constitution requires one component to resign.

DUAL CITIZENSHIP For his part, attorney Robertson addressed the issue of dual citizenship. Charrandass Persaud, before being expelled by the Alliance for Change (AFC) and recalled from Parliament, had used his vote to bring down his own government by supporting the Opposition-sponsored No-Confidence Motion, but the Attorney General and team are arguing that Persaud’s vote was invalid because he breached the Constitution by having dual citizenship while being a Member of Parliament.

He argued that Persaud’s illegal vote could not possibly find refuge in the provisions of Article 165 (2). That Article provides that “The Assembly may act notwithstanding any vacancy in its membership (including any vacancy not filled when the Assembly first meets after the commencement of this Constitution or any dissolution of Parliament) and the presence or participation of any person not entitled to be present at or to participate in the proceedings of the assembly shall not invalidate those proceedings.”

Robertson put to the Court that while the proceeding in the National Assembly was a valid one, with regards to the laying of the motion and the debates which followed, the tabulation of the votes was not reflective of the true situation, as Persaud could not vote because he held dual citizenship, contrary to the constitutional provisions. He argued that Persaud voted in the National Assembly when he knew he was in violation of the Constitution. Such illegality, Robertson argued, must not be condoned.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, January 24, 2019

Competition Commission hosts sensitisation session THE Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission (CCAC) in collaboration with the Guyana Press Association (GPA) hosted a lecture on the Competition and Fair Trading Act (CFTA) and the Consumer Affairs Act (CAA).

The lecture, held at the Moray House on Tuesday, saw in attendance mostly media operatives and was aimed at equipping them with the requisite knowledge in educating the public on the two Acts.

GPA president Nazima Raghubir said the informative lecture series is the brainchild of the late Terrence ‘Terry’ Holder who started it many moons ago.

Raghubir, in noting the importance of the forum, said many times things are done and the media is not informed and the information-sharing session goes a far way in correcting this information gap.

During the lecture, CCAC director Dawn Cush highlighted the role and importance of the Acts and their implications for businesses and consumers.

Giving a brief history on the two pieces of legislation, Cush explained that

Guyana’s competition regime was founded due to Guyana’s commitment under CARICOM, regarding competition policy and law, enactment and enforcement,

Competition Commission, later renamed ‘Competition Consumer Affairs Commission’. With the passing of the Consumer Affairs Act in 2011, the CCAC became

es in Guyana plays a significant role in the development of Guyana’s economy.

“Competition puts businesses under constant pressure to offer the best possible

Director of Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission, Dawn Cush

A section of the attendees at the lecture on the Competition & Fair Trading Act and the Consumer Affairs Act

which are captured in chapter eight of the revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.

This commitment gave birth to the Competition and Fair Trading Act in 2006 which later established a

fully operational in that same year and since then has had the responsibility of executing both Acts.

Shedding light on the CFTA, she pointed out that competition among business-

range of goods and services at the best possible prices because if they don't, consumers have the choice to buy elsewhere,” she said.

However, CFTA includes a whole host of rules gov-

erning market players. It comprises policies that seek to ensure a level playing field in which small and medium-sized enterprises can enter and remain profitable in any sector.

Some of the rules are intended to protect consumers; these rules fall under the CAA. However, in order for consumers to get representation from CCAC, they must be in possession of the receipt as proof of purchase.

Cush urged that consumers demand receipts so that

they can be assisted in enforcing this policy on businesses.

She pointed out that the Commission has started issuing businesses with compliance certificates and non-compliant businesses with notices.

It was also underscored that the Commission provides certain services aimed at assisting businesses and the public at large to better understand the Acts. These include hourly workshops, day-long seminars and tailored publications.

Police Public Relations Department receives expert training THE Guyana Police Force’s Public Relations Department is among the first to undergo training as part of the Force’s reform process.

On Tuesday, January 22, 2019, ranks of the department took part in a workshop in Media Relations and Communications Skills, which was facilitated by two high-ranking Media Relations and Communications Specialists from the United Kingdom.

Dr. Joan Boyd and Ms. Susan Corbett travelled to Guyana and met with the Force’s Top Brass and, shortly after, began working with the Public Relations Officer (PRO) and his team in an effort to advance their capabilities in the disciplines of communication and public relations, as well as to highlight necessary departmental upgrades which would coincide with best practices of modern policing.

The training consisted of the fundamentals of reporting as well as guidelines for effective communication, aimed at internal and external audiences. The ranks also received sound advice from Senior Crime Journalist,

Mr. Rabindra Rooplall of the Guyana Chronicle.

Dr. Boyd and Ms. Corbett who are here through the auspices of the British High Commission, have worked as journalists in Northern Ireland and have also worked, very closely, with the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

They are reputable Media Consultants spanning the areas of Public Relations, Communications, Crisis Communications, Journalism, Media Relations, Corporate Communications and Social Media.

The program concluded on Wednesday, January 23, 2019, at the Officers’ Training Centre where the Force’s Communication Relations Officers, as well as the divisional correspondents from all policing divisions and also two representatives from the Guyana Prison Service, experienced a similar type of training in communication skills.

In October 2018, Commissioner James promised a reformed police force by March 2019. This was corroborated by His Excellency

The officers and specialists from the United Kingdom

President David Granger earlier in January 2019, at the opening of the Annual Officers’ Confer-

ence. The President reiterated the need for an incorruptible, professional and unbiased police

force. Twenty-seven ranks, inclusive of two prison officers, were in attendance.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, January 24, 2019

Region Three students catch Mash fever

By Vishani Ragobeer CHILDREN from primary schools across Region Three brought out their vibrant personalities and talents as the national schools Mashramani activities continued on Wednesday.

The sun shone down

On the lighter side of things, some of the children even took a jab at recent events in the country, particularly the countrywide teachers’ protests. As the children clamoured for teachers to be paid more, it was evident that the teachers had their hands in cleverly crafting the

with the upbeat versions of classical local songs such as Small Days and the devotional ones -- seemed to be crowd favourites. But it was the dramatic poems in the eight-10 years category that really got the crowd going.

Jaden Williams from the Windsor Forest Primary beChildren from the La Grange Primary School dancing to the Song of Victory

Mashramani 2019 under the theme, “Celebrate 49 with victory in Mind – Rediscovering El-Dorado.” Nursery schoolchildren kick-started the celebrations while the pri-

ni Competition and District Education Officer, Caroline Daniels, said the competition has so far been a lively affair.

The competition aims to promote the art and create a

we have about 58 entries from various schools,” she shared.

For the first time, the children did jump rope freestyles as part of the physical display

The Malgre Tout Primary School children presented their ‘Malgre Tout Trolls’

brightly on the National Track and Field Centre at Leonora, creating a wonderful atmosphere for the bright, young talents to take centre

lyrics. The dramatic poem performed by a young child from Zeelugt Primary, “Dem had to fix de money right,” showed just that.

rated the Guyanese norm of “mindin people business,” but also used his platform to highlight the horrors of speeding on the roadway. On

A capacity crowd at the Leonora Track and Field Centre

mary school pupils followed.

On Thursday, the secondary school students are expected to bring the heat as they put their talent on display.

Coordinator of the Regional Children’s Mashrama-

well-balanced education for children.

“We commenced [on Tuesday] with the nursery competition. We had 46 entries then and today at the primary schools competition,

segment, according to the coordinator.

“This year we saw a lot of entries in this category and we are really fighting to enhance the arts,” Daniels said.

Police confirm officer being probed for rape …file being prepared for legal advice

“Dem had to fix de money right,” performed by a young participant of Zeelugt Primary School

stage.

Akeelah Patterson bravely began the day’s activities with her Dramatic Poem, “My Guyana El Dorado.” As patriotic as she was, many of her other colleagues followed suit, dressed in the colours of the Golden Arrowhead.

Goed Fortuin Primary School students showing that traditional play is still ‘De ting ah de day’

By the time the first few segments of the competition were finished, the stands were filled to capacity, with hundreds of frisky but enthusiastic children screaming for the representatives of their schools.

The group dances -- both

the other hand, Jael Clarke, a student of the Arthurville Primary from the island of Wakenaam, highlighted that oil production in 2020 beckons.

The Department of Education in Region Three commenced activities celebrating

THE Guyana Police Force on Wednesday confirmed that one of its officers is being investigated for rape and that the file is being prepared to be sent for legal advice.

On Monday, information surfaced that the officer was accused of rape by a teen relative of his who was left in his care sometime over the weekend. According to what the Guyana Chronicle was told, the police officer made advanc-

es to the young girl while her mother was out with another friend. It is unclear what acts were committed but upon the return of the child’s mother and the friend, the incident of what took place between the teen and the police officer was recounted to one of the female adults and the police were informed.

The officer in question was contacted and had the allegation put to him which he denied. Con-

tacted on Wednesday, Director of Child Care Services, Ann Greene, said that her agency was still investigating the matter. Greene said that the department was preparing to conduct the forensic investigation which includes the recording of the statement of the victim that she does not have to repeat herself or the ordeal at any point during the continuation of the investigation.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, January 24, 2019

AFC to decide on prime ministerial candidate CHAIRMAN of the Alliance For Change (AFC) Khemraj Ramjattan has announced that the party will decide on its prime ministerial candidate for the next elections at the upcoming National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting.

The meeting is scheduled to be held on January 26, 2019, where the full national executive of the party will be in attendance.

It will be expanded to include the party’s municipal and regional councillors,

regional and district officials and representatives of the diaspora.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Ramjattan said it is already expected that regional and general elections will be a main topic at the NEC. “I understand that’s one of the big issues. Constitutionally, it is due every two years and we had the last one in 2017, 17th of January and so we are due. Of course, we couldn’t hold it within that timeline because -- and

please appreciate that -- so many things happened that December month that kind of caused it to roll over. But, it is my view that we should have it earliest as possible and within the first quarter of 2019; and I think a date and a venue will be fixed,” he said.

The Cummingsburg Accord, signed on February 14, 2015, cemented the current coalition between A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the AFC and how they select both prime ministerial and presidential

AFC Chairman Khemraj Ramjattan

candidates.

Asked whether the elected leader will be the prime ministerial candidate for the next elections, Ramjattan said: “I rather suspect that lots of issues are going to be raised there.”

He added: “Many members will have that as a big issue. I don’t know what decisions will be taken, but definitely the election of our office bearers; a leader; general-secretary; chairman; vice chair; treasurer and so on will all be done there.”

Since the victory of the coalition government in 2015, AFC-affiliated Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo has remained in the said position, working in collaboration with President David Granger of the PNC/R. Ramjattan has faith in due process and noted that while he cannot foresee the results of the next party elections, measures will be put in place very soon for the decision to be made.

CH&PA calls for urgent return of housing applications

THE Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) is urging persons who would have uplifted applications from the Adequate Housing and Urban Accessibility Programme, to return same on or before February 1st, 2019.

In a press briefing on Wednesday, Deputy Director of Community Development, Donnel Bess-Bascom said that one of the concerns they have had with the programme is that while persons have been uplifting the application forms in great numbers, there has been a slow return rate of the applications.

To address this, she said the CH&PA has taken an approach to get the applications closer to the communities and over the past

week, has held a total of five outreach activities.

This, she said, has resulted in an increase in the applications being issued and an increase in the return rate.

“We would have seen a total of 413 applications coming in directly from those outreaches and 65 per cent return rate, which has brought us up to a total number of 1770 applications issued and 503 returned,” Bascom said.

She said that they are pleased to see the improvement in the return rate of applications, but are urging more persons to pursue this aggressively and have their documentations up to date.

This programme was launched in October of last year and is specifically for persons living on or be-

low the poverty line (a total household income of $75,000 or less) within sections of Regions Four and Three.

The boundary covers La Bonne Intention (LBI) on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD), and Georgetown to Great Diamond on the East Bank of Demerara (EBD) and La Parfaite Harmonie on the West Bank of Demerara (WBD). The programme is being implemented by the Ministry of Communities through the CH&PA with funding from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Bess-Bascom explained that the Adequate Housing and Urban Accessibility Programme has three components – Affordable and Sustainable Housing; Consoli-

dation of existing Housing Schemes; and Support and Institutional Strengthening.

Addressing the adequate and affordable housing component, she said that it has a value of 10 million US dollars and it speaks to the implementation of core home support and the home improvement subsidy.

CH&PA will be issuing 250 core homes and disbursing 2000 home improvement subsidies under the programme.

She also highlighted that the return rate for the subsidy is 40 per cent greater than that of the core homes. However, they have a major challenge with ownership documents of the applicant.

“One of the requirements of the programme is that you present ownership documents in the form of a title or transport where it exists.

Once there is an agreement of sale, that can also be considered. The ownership

document is critical in becoming eligible to participate. You must be the owner of the property and you must be living there,” Bess-Bascom stressed.

She said they have also made available applications at all the local democratic organs within the project boundary so as to have the application and return process move at a faster rate.

Godfrey Phillips died from stab wound -- post-mortem report

THE post-mortem report done on the body of Godfrey Phillips, who was killed after attempting to intervene and bring peace during a domestic altercation between a woman and her reputed husband, has confirmed that the man died from a stab wound to his abdomen.

Phillips, a father of four, was stabbed and killed on January 20, 2019, one house away from his 3028 ‘D’ Field Sophia, Greater Georgetown home.

The post-mortem was done on Wednesday, January 23, 2019, by Doctor Nehaul Singh, at Georgetown Public Hospital Mortuary and the cause of death was given as a stab wound to abdomen.

The body was identified

by Subrena Phillips (wife of the deceased) and Joycelyn Scott (sister of the deceased).

The body was handed over to relatives for burial.

The police had reported that Wednesday, January 23, 2019 about 11:45hrs, Phillips, who operated a shop at

Godfrey Phillips

his residence, was closing the business when he became aware that the suspect and his reputed wife were having an argument.

According to the police, Phillips intervened and the suspect of Pike Street, Sophia, became enraged, whipped out a knife and allegedly stabbed him (Phillips).

Phillips was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital

in an unconscious state and was pronounced dead on arrival.

Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle the day after the incident, Subrena Phillips said that she was at home when she received the news that her husband was killed. She added that her children informed her that her husband was, at the time, attempting to make peace when the incident took place.

The Guyana Chronicle was told that the dead man was going to shower when he heard the commotion between the two and pleaded with the aggressor to “relax.”

The man reportedly turned to him (Phillips) and immediately whipped out a knife and stabbed him.

The suspect fled the scene on a bicycle, while the victim was picked up and rushed to the hospital. The suspect was later captured in the village by police officers. The police identified the suspect as a resident of Pike Street, Kitty and he is expected to be charged with the capital offence.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, January 24, 2019

UG introduces BSc in Food Science AS Guyana’s economy continues to evolve, the University of Guyana (UG) is taking steps to keep abreast with the changes and is introducing programmes to equip persons for the job market.

The latest course to be added to the institution’s curriculum is a Bachelor of Science Degree (BSc) in Food Science.

Acquiring a degree in Food Science presents endless job opportunities, head of the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Science, Samantha Joseph told a symposium to launch the new programme at the Turkeyen Campus on Wednesday.

Joseph said job opportunities in the field of Food Science are not limited to the Caribbean but are also available internationally.

“This degree is so multifaceted, you can have employment within the food industry, you can have employment in academia, you

Head of UG Department of Chemistry, Samantha Joseph

can have employment in research institutions, you can have employment at institutions where you have the processing of raw materials, it is endless,” Joseph said.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Karen Gordon-Campbell noted that the introduction of the programme is timely and headed in the right direction.

“This degree would provide qualified personnel who can build capacity in health, agriculture, the environmental sector and assist the Ministry of Public Health,

how healthy they are, Dr. Gordon-Campbell called for qualified persons to be deployed countrywide.

UG Vice-Chancellor (VC), Professor Ivelaw Griffith, noted the programme will address the issue of food security.

“It is a challenge that universities also have to contend with and help on the instructional side. Courses that you might teach, not only degree programmes and we

will be offering, through the Institute of Food and Nutrition Security, short courses.

Everybody does not need a whole degree, some people need a one-week course on a particular aspect that is pertaining to your realm of engagement, some people may need a month or a two-month course. We will be looking at a range of offerings on the instructional side to enable us as university with enabling the society to contend with

this problem” the vice-chancellor underscored.

The introduction of the BSc in Food Science is one of several new courses being offered by the university to meet the demands of Guyana’s evolving economy.

Some of the other programmes include an associate and master’s degree in petroleum engineering and a bachelor of arts programme in youth and community development. (DPI)

and Guyana on the whole, in reaching the sustainable development goals two and three, ending poverty and hunger.”

Dr. Gordon-Campbell called on various stakeholders to begin preparing their strategies to absorb and deploy the wealth of skills that will be unleashed in the next four years. However, she also cautioned that in these preparations the most vulnerable population must not be forgotten. Emphasising the fact that a person’s environment should not determine

A section of the gathering at the launch of the degree programme (DPI photo)

Teens remanded for armed robbery

Joseph Macy

PRINCIPAL Magistrate Faith McGusty on Wednesday at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, remanded to prison two teenagers who were charged for armed robbery.

Kevin Thomas, 19, of South Sophia and Joseph Macy, 18, of Agricola, East Bank Demerara, pleaded not guilty to the joint charge.

Thomas is employed as a ma-

Kevin Thomas

son while Macy is a vendor.

The charges read that on January 20, 2019, at Regent Street, the duo, while being armed with a knife, robbed Rishi Matura of a cellphone, a watch and cash, valued at $14,000.

Police Prosecutor Annalisa Brummel opposed the release of the teenagers on bail since they were known to the victim.

Matura, who was in court, explained that he knew the accused from seeing them regularly at the Plaisance Guinness bar, located on the East Coast Demerara.

Magistrate McGusty, based upon the prosecutor’s objection, remanded the duo to prison until February 13, 2019.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, January 24, 2019

Trotman hears miners’ concerns

MINING claims in new towns across the country were a concern for persons who got an opportunity to discuss their problems with Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman and other officials during a public day on Wednesday.

Many persons who felt that their claims would be taken away, had an opportunity to have their fears allayed after having a discourse with the minister and chairman of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), Stanley Ming.

“Miners feel that their claims are being taken away, so we have to find ways to resolve those issues with other ministries,” said Min-

ister Trotman in an invited comment.

Most of the focus will be placed on Mahdia, which

was officially given township status last year.

Persons lining up to meet with officials of the ministry on Wednesday (Delano Williams photo)

According to Trotman, the ministry would grant extensions for payments for forestry matters; but for mining matters, persons may bring applications for land, but do not receive timely responses, so there are some issues with that.

He believes that public meetings are important, because it allows ministers to interact with persons and hear their concerns and recommendations to improve the work of the ministry.

Trotman said the ministry would usually meet with persons who are based in the hinterland, but they cannot neglect the persons in Georgetown.

Despite criticisms from

Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman

members of the opposition that the public day is a gimmick, the minister said it was not the first public day and those events are usually routine practice.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, January 24, 2019

Irfaan Ali selling dreams –– minister of business

NEWLY elected People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) presidential candidate Irfaan Ali may have to revise the big promises and economic projections he made at a recent meeting with party supporters at Leonora, West Coast Demerara.

According to Alliance For Change (AFC) executive and Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin, Ali’s claims of US$500M in investments within the first year of his party’s re-election may very well be nothing to brag about.

At the party’s meeting last Saturday, Ali, who was the main speaker, made a few remarkable statements.

“We already have a plan and programme that will see more than US$500M invested in Guyana from year one under the next People’s Progressive Party/Civic government. We did this before without oil and gas and we’ll do it even better in the next government on a much larger scale, with the arrival of oil and gas,” he told the public meeting.

At an AFC meeting on Wednesday, Gaskin factchecked the statements made by the PPP presidential candidate.

“For the current year, GO-Invest alone is projecting to facilitate investments valued at US$300-$400M and these projections do not include investments in the mining or in the petroleum sectors, or in the retail and commercial sectors which don’t benefit from investment incentives,” the business minister pointed out.

He added: “So this plan or programme that Mr. Ali is promoting, is not unusually ambitious and he may wish to revise his figures upwards if he is seeking to compete with the coalition government on its track record on investment.”

SUDDEN SWITCH When Ali assured his supporters that oil benefits would be realised within “year one” of the PPP in office, he appeared to have contradicted claims made

by PPP General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo.

“Even the oil companies, because they talk to me, they don’t have such a rosy

picture of the fortunes of Guyana changing drastically, dramatically in the timeframe that we think it will happen.

It will happen, but it will happen not from 2020 to 2025; those will be rough years for us… There is a timeline to all of these things, it’s not going to happen immediately,” Jagdeo stressed at a public

AFC executive and Business Minister Dominic Gaskin

PPP/C presidential candidate Irfaan Ali

setting in December 2018, according to the Guyana Times.

Meanwhile, the online news agency ‘Inewsguyana’ in the same year had headlined: “Oil and Gas sector: Jagdeo says, Govt ‘selling dreams’ to Guyanese on benefits.”

Recalling these occurrences, Gaskin said: “It is also interesting to note that Mr. Ali seems to been banking on the arrival of oil and gas, as he put it, and we know that his party leader Mr. Jagdeo has accused the government -- when our government spoke about oil and gas and the plans for the sector -- of ‘selling dreams’.

And, I think he [Jagdeo] is reported to have stated that the benefits of oil and gas will not be seen until 2025.

So it is notable that Mr. Ali is now promoting, all of a sudden, the benefits of this new and exciting sector.”

Sticking to what the party has always affirmed, the minister said the benefits of oil and gas are already being seen in terms of investment, revenues and job-creation which will increase exponentially over the next two years.

WHAT’S YOUR PLAN? In his celebration of being elected presidential candidate, Ali also addressed the issue of job-creation.

“… in the next PPP/Civic government we’ll be creating more than 50,000 new jobs all across this country,” which he defended would be created through means such as Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

To this, Gaskin responded: “He should also explain to the Guyanese people whether these 50,000 new jobs are for Guyanese people, or whether they are for some other group to whom he may be beholden.”

Gaskin said the coalition government is best placed to manage Guyana’s petroleum revenues and to ensure that Guyanese businesses are the main beneficiaries of these revenues.

“The AFC is not amused by the implications inherent in the following statement made by Mr. Ali: ‘We did this before without oil and gas and we’ll do it even better in the next government on a much larger scale, with the arrival of oil and gas’. The party is of the view that the PPP/C should not be given the opportunity to do what it did before on a much larger-scale,” Gaskin said.

He added: “It should also be noted that Mr. Ali has, from year one, repeatedly accused the current government of mismanaging the economy and he has conjured up all sorts of data to support his case. His analyses in most cases have been flawed and self-serving; and it would be interesting to hear from him what are the specific economic policies that he plans to pursue in the unlikely event of his party winning an election.”

The minister’s call for Ali to speak on his “specific economic policies” comes

at the time when the party leader is being accused of academic fraud.

It is alleged that he used a fake transcript to pursue a master’s degree programme at an Indian university and was not the holder of a first degree prior to this undertaking.

However, this pales in comparison to present matters such as the cases before the court, where he has been accused of defrauding the State of some $174M in his role in the notorious Pradoville land-sale scandal.

Grassroots supporters of the PPP/C were outraged on

January 19, 2019, moments after it was confirmed that the 38-year-old Ali was elected as the party’s presidential candidate.

Despite the outcry among supporters, PPP/C party leaders continue to throw their support behind their pick.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, January 24, 2019

Suspect in McDoom killing nabbed at hospital …was run over by car of now deceased

POLICE might be a step closer to finding the second suspect in Tuesday evening’s killing of 34-year-old Kelvin Walters who was shot in the mouth by one of two men who rode up on a motorcycle next to him as he and his family were driving along the McDoom Public Road, East Bank Demerara.

Devon Williams, one of the suspects, was caught by

the police after he checked into an emergency room at a private city hospital. A particular posture, which is standard at health facilities across the country, allowed for the apprehension of the man and his subsequent detention. He was badly injured on Tuesday night after Walters ran his car over the motorcycle that he, (Williams) and his accomplice were on when they blocked his path.

The police are now seeking to ascertain the real motive behind the shooting of the man who succumbed to his injuries at the Georgetown Public Hospital where he was rushed after being shot. According to reports, Walters might have been key to an ongoing matter which spoke to a grenade attack on the Kaieteur News some two years back. In that incident, the grenade failed to explode.

Deceased: Kelvin Walters

Kelvin Walters car stuck at the median after the shooting

The gunmen’s motorcycle

Media reports indicated that Williams is said to be a relative of one of the men who are before the court for the attack. Walters, on the other hand, who was reportedly in a house when the plot was hatched and instruction passed for the tossing of the grenade, was identified as a key witness for the state in the matter. On Wednesday when the Guyana Chronicle visited the home of the dead man’s parents, his father indicated that he heard of the incident last Tuesday night after it went viral on social media. The man said that his son made a large withdrawal from a city bank on Tuesday because his car instalments were due and the money was to cover that expense. He could not say if, at the time of his son’s shooting, he still had the money in his possession or had already made the payment to the dealer. Further, on the issue of his son being a state witness in the grenade attack case, the man said that he was not aware that his son was part of any ongoing matter, more so to

be sitting in as a state witness in any matter. Several other persons, who are said to be associated with the family, stated that they were only aware that the 34-year-old was employed as a security guard and was only made aware that he had registered his vehicle in a taxi service also.

The dead man’s reputed wife, Roxanne Henry, 44, and their five-year-old daughter were in the vehicle when the attack took place. Henry suffered a broken leg while the child escaped unhurt. The family was heading to their Parfaite Harmonie home, according to a relative who spoke with the Guyana Chronicle. After Walters was shot, he drove his car into the motorcycle and then slammed into the median after losing consciousness. Meanwhile, over at the Providence Police Station where the vehicle was lodged, the car could be seen with damage to its right side.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, January 24, 2019

Work begins on Bartica Magistrate’s Court WORK on a $173M magistrate’s court which will benefit residents of Bartica and surrounding villages is expected to be completed

by November of this year.

Regional Chairman Gordon Bradford told the Guyana Chronicle that the house of justice represents major progress for the region.

“Having our own court, we will be afforded the opportunity to have court every day and not have persons travelling up and down to get their matters heard. We will no longer have to travel out of our region for justice; persons wouldn’t have to go till to Essequibo to uplift bail money; all of that will be done right here and that is a great boost for the community,” Bradford said.

Time and money are the essence of life, he said, and noted that ready access to a court in Bartica will be saving the residents, both time and money.

Bradford also believes that persons charged by po-

lice will be on neutral ground and have fairness in their trials, since their cases would not be heard at the police station.

The L-shaped complex is expected to house a magistrate’s court, magistrate chambers, lawyers’ rooms, court registry, offices and living quarters.

The Guyana Chronicle, on a visit to the site, observed that progress was being made on the project.

A site supervisor said currently 13 workers from M&P Investments are working on the project, but as work progresses, more workers will be employed.

The supervisor also said that the closure of the sandpit in the municipality has slowed down the pace of the project.

“The remaining sand we have left on the site is being kept for block work and we are waiting for the sandpit to open back to continue…. If it doesn’t open up soon, we would have to bring sand from

Man on $100,000 bail for fraudulent conversion PRINCIPAL Magistrate Faith McGusty on Wednesday at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, placed a 30-yearold man on $100,000 bail.

Joseph Garraway of Hadfield Street, Lodge, denied that during the month of June 2015, at Oronoque street, Georgetown, while being solely entrusted by Clairmont Cummings with a quantity of Mercedes Benz car parts valued at $1.17M, to sell and return the proceeds, he fraudulently converted the proceeds to his own use and benefit.

Attorney-at-law George Thomas, who represented Garraway, made an application for bail on the grounds that a third party was involved in the transaction and the third party was supposed to hand over the money to Cummings but failed to do so.

Prosecutor Annalisa

Joseph Garraway

Brummel strongly opposed Garraway being released on bail, citing the large amount of money involved.

Magistrate McGusty overruled Brummel’s objection and released Garraway on $100,000 bail. The matter was adjourned until February 13, 2019.

Georgetown and this might cause the project to be completed a little later than November,” the supervisor said.

He noted that the region is committed to seeing the project to completion.

The next big project in Bartica is the construction of a passport and immigration office.

Work in progress on the Bartica Magistrate’s Court

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, January 24, 2019

Clamp down on illegal, unregulated pesticides

By Navendra Seoraj IMPORTERS who are caught with illegal and unregulated pesticides will have to face the penalties which include legal charges.

The Pesticides and Toxic Chemical Control Board (PTCCB) intends on enforcing the law which allows the board to pursue legal charges against persons who import illegal and unregulated pesticides.

“Last year was a good

year in terms of enforcement work and in terms of addressing illegalities in the agriculture sector… some of the things in terms of what is the next step for this year is pursuing what is provided for in the Constitution,” said PTCCB Registrar, Trecia David, during an exclusive interview with the Guyana Chronicle on Monday.

The board had its first court case on Tuesday but intends on pursuing more legal options when dealing with delinquents.

“There needs to be a stronger message to limit the smuggling of illegal pesticides… once we confiscate it, they suffer losses but some go back and do the same thing, so we want to let the law be used as a deterrent to this,” said David, adding that Guyana racks up a hefty cost to dispose of illegal and unregulated pesticides which are seized.

The legal charges against persons will be used as a “polluter pay” principle, said Senior PTCCB inspector, Senior PTCCB Inspector, Suresh Amichand and Registrar Trecia David (Delano Williams photo)

Suresh Amichand.

Disposal of confiscated items should not be a burden to the State and Amichand believes that the delinquents should be paying for the disposal.

Despite employing various measures to deal with the smuggling of illegal pesticides, Amichand said the

authority would always encounter the problem because of Guyana’s porous borders.

In order to improve vigilance at the borders, the PTCCB has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) to effectively manage the ports.

“In terms of what is seized, we just do not want to do it in the context of blocking business because we could always have the pesticides registered, once they are tested and proven not to be harmful,” said David.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, January 24, 2019

Anderson’s late burst pulls Windies back …after Hope, Chase and Hetmyer hit half-centuries

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – West Indies lost four wickets in the last 38 minutes of the opening day, to squander precious momentum and gift England the early advantage in the first Wisden Trophy Test here yesterday.

Half-centuries from

Shai Hope, Shimron Hetmyer and Roston Chase had propelled the hosts to 240 for four inside the final hour but four wickets tumbled for 24 runs to leave them tottering on 264 for eight at the close at Kensington Oval.

Marquee seamer James Anderson triggered the late collapse, taking three of the wickets to fall with the second new ball, as England clawed their way back into the contest after finding life difficult early on.

The slide started when Chase, after facing 118 balls in 145 minutes and striking five fours and a six, edged one from Anderson that left him and was caught at first slip by Joe Root – one of three catches on the day for the England skipper.

Wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich perished in Anderson’s next over without scoring, top-edging a gentle catch to Jos Buttler at second slip after finding himself in a tangle, after attempting to bail out of a pull at a shortish delivery.

Captain Jason Holder (5) spent eight balls at the crease before tamely tapping a return catch back to Anderson and seamer Ben Stokes claimed the day’s final wicket to signal the close, when he got

Kemar Roach to glove a lifter to Root at first slip without scoring.

L e f t - h a n d e d stroke-maker Shimron Hetmyer hits out during his unbeaten 56 on the opening day of the first Test against England.

Anderson finished with four for 33 while Stokes ended with three for 47.

Hetmyer, who played with his typical flair and assurance to end unbeaten on 56, will carry West Indies’ hopes into the second day of the contest.

The Windies had earlier made a strong start to the affair after winning the toss and batting, as debutant John Campbell, with 44, and Kraigg Brathwaite, 40, put on 53 for the first wicket.

Showing little signs of nerves, the 25-year-old Campbell counted eight fours off 53 deliveries in 74 minutes at the crease.

He got off the mark with a boundary when he steered left-arm seamer Sam Curran through gully and then steadily grew in confidence.

He looked set for a fifty when he missed a sweep at off-spinner Moeen Ali and was lbw, 40 minutes before lunch.

Brathwaite and Hope, who fashioned a classy top score of 57, then took West

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Indies to lunch on 89 for one before extending their second-wicket stand to 73.

The right-handed Brathwaite, searching for form after lean recent tours of India and Bangladesh, emerged from a sluggish start to up the tempo in the second hour, stroking Moeen to the cover boundary before clearing the longon boundary a few balls later in the same over.

Unbeaten on 31 at the interval, he added just nine before wafting at one from Stokes, just over an hour after the resumption, and edging a straightforward catch to Root at first slip at 126 for three.

He faced 130 balls in a shade over three hours and counted three fours and a six.

Ten balls later in Stokes’ next over, new batsman Darren Bravo missed a fulllength delivery and was lbw for two, in his first taste of Test cricket in 27 months, but two partnerships then helped West Indies rebuild.

First, Hope and Chase, who made 54, put on 46 for the fourth wicket which saw West Indies to 132 for three at the tea interval – taken 25 minutes early due to a sharp shower.

Hope, unbeaten on 42 at tea, reached his fifth Test

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half-century half-hour after the resumption but perished half-hour later, inside-edging a wide ball from Anderson to wicketkeeper Ben Foakes at 174 for four.

Chase then found an ally in the exciting Hetmyer who played with his usual authority in helping to add a further 66 for the fifth wicket.

Hetmyer smashed five fours and a couple of straight sixes in an innings so far, lasting 60 balls and 101 minutes.

Dropped at cover on three off Anderson, he raised his fifth half-century in his 11th Test at run-a-ball

pace, with a cover-driven boundary off the same bowler.

Chase, meanwhile, unbeaten on two at tea, started slowly but then blossomed nicely, his first boundary coming after 33 balls when he carved Curran to the cover boundary.

He took a liking to Moeen, twice drilling him to the extra cover boundary in one over before clearing the ropes at long-on a few overs later.

His downfall in the third over with the second new ball, however, led to the Windies late slide as England hit back strongly.

SCOREBOARD

WEST INDIES 1st innings K. Brathwaite c Root b Stokes 40 J. Campbell lbw b Moeen Ali 44 S. Hope c wkp. Foakes b Anderson 57 D. Bravo lbw b Stokes 2 R. Chase c Root b Anderson 54 S. Hetmyer not out 56 S. Dowrich c Buttler b Anderson 0 J. Holder c & b Anderson 5 K. Roach c Root b Stokes 0 Extras: (lb-5, nb-1) 6 Total: (8 wkts, 89.2 overs) 264 Fall of wickets: 1-53, 2-126, 3-128, 4-174, 5-240, 6-250, 7-261, 8-264.

Bowling: Anderson 24-12-33-4, Curran 12-3-54-0, Stokes 19.2-2-47-3, Moeen Ali 12-1-59-1, Rashid 17-1-56-0, Root 5-0-10-0.

ENGLAND: J. Root, Moeen Ali, J. Anderson, J. Bairstow, S. Broad, R. Burns, J. Buttler, S Curran, +B Foakes, K. Jennings, B. Stokes.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, January 24, 2019

Bowlers, Dhawan secure India’s comprehensive win in Napier NAPIER (Reuters) - India bowlers laid the foundation before Shikhar Dhawan anchored a straightforward chase to secure the tourists a comprehensive eight-wicket victory over New Zealand in the first one day international in Napier yesterday.

Opener Dhawan made 75 not out and his 91-run stand with skipper Virat Kohli helped India overwhelm the revised 156-run target with 14.1 overs to spare - the Duckworth-Lewis method employed after the setting sun stopped play for a while.

On a high. having just won Test and ODI series over in Australia, India looked determined to extend their domination across the Tasman Sea as they dismissed their hosts for 157 in 38 overs.

Paceman Mohammed Shami and wrist-spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal shared nine wickets among them as New Zealand failed to post a competitive total with only Kane Williamson (64) offering some resistance with the bat.

“150-odd on that kind of wicket was quite an easy total to chase down and it all boiled down to the effort of the bowlers,” Kohli said.

“The pitch got slower in the second half of the innings but in the first half the spinners cramped the batsmen really well, and got those crucial breakthroughs in the middle overs for us.”

Chasing 158 to win, India got off to a steady start before Doug Bracewell dismissed Rohit Sharma (11) to end the 41run opening stand.

Kohli joined Dhawan in the middle before play came to a halt in extraordinary circumstances as the rays from the setting sun were beaming right into the eyes of the batsmen.

India were set a revised target of 156 from 49 overs when play resumed and the tourists made steady progress with Dhawan and Kohli cruising in the middle.

Kohli, then on 37, was adjudged lbw to Tim Southee but the India captain reviewed it and got the decision overturned after snickometer

suggested a faint edge.

Lockie Ferguson eventually dismissed him for 45, a day after the India captain swept the annual International Cricket Council (ICC) awards.

Earlier, Williamson was left to rue his decision to bat in the first ODI of the five-match series at Napier’s McLean Park.

Paceman Shami (3-19)

made early inroads, dismissing Martin Guptill and Colin Munro in successive overs, bolstering his claim for a place in India’s World Cup squad later this year.

Williamson and Ross Taylor (24) embarked on rebuilding the innings but Yadav (4-39) and Chahal (2-43) had other ideas.

Wi l l i a m s o n h i t s e v e n boundaries in his fluent 64 but wickets kept tumbling at the

other end as the spinners struck at regular intervals.

At 107-5 at the mid-innings mark, the hosts’ hopes of lasting their full quota of 50 overs rested on Williamson batting through the innings but the Kiwi skipper perished at long-on, playing a premeditated shot against Yadav.

The teams move to Mount Maunganui for the second match on Saturday.

SCOREBOARD

NEW ZEALAND innings Martin Guptill b Mohammed Shami

5 Colin Munro b Mohammed Shami

8 Kane Williamson c Vijay Shankar b Kuldeep Yadav 64 Ross Taylor c & b Yuzvendra Chahal

24 Tom Latham c & b Yuzvendra Chahal

11 Henry Nicholls c Kuldeep Yadav b Kedar Jadhav 12 Mitchell Santner lbw Mohammed Shami 14 Doug Bracewell b Kuldeep Yadav

7 Tim Southee not out

9 Lockie Ferguson stp. MS Dhoni b Kuldeep Yadav

0 Trent Boult c Rohit Sharma b Kuldeep Yadav

1 Extras: (w-2)

2 Total: (all out, 38.0 overs)

157 Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-18, 3-52, 4-76, 5-107, 6-133, 7-146, 8-146, 9-148.

Bowling: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 5-0-20-0, Mohammed Shami 6-2-19-3 (w-1), Vijay Shankar 4-0-19-0, Yuzvendra Chahal 100-43-2 (w-1), Kuldeep Yadav 10-1-39-4, Kedar Jadhav 3-0-17-1.

Skipper Kane Williamson persevered, on a pitch that wasn’t exactly as flat as everyone thought, making 64 off 81 balls, but he fell to Kuldeep Yadav, who then polished off the New Zealand tail. (Getty Images)

INDIA innings Rohit Sharma c Martin Guptill b Doug Bracewell 11 Shikhar Dhawan not out

75 Virat Kohli c Tom Latham b Lockie Ferguson

45 Ambati Rayudu not out

13 Extras: (lb-5, w-7) 12 Total: (two wkts, 34.5 overs)

156 Fall of wickets: 1-41, 2-132.

Bowling: Trent Boult 6-1-19-0, Tim Southee 6.5-0-36-0, Lockie Ferguson 8-0-41-1 (w-3), Doug Bracewell 7-0-23-1 (w-2), Mitchell Santner 7-0-32-0 (w-2)

Kohli rested for final two New Zealand ODIs, T20 series (REUTERS) - Indian captain Virat Kohli will be rested for the fourth and fifth one-day international matches against New Zealand as well as the subsequent Twen-

ty20 international series, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) said yesterday.

The BCCI is keen to manage Kohli’s workload in the build-up to the World Cup in England and

BCB launches Spready’s second division tournament THE Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) has secured the spon-

sorship from Spready’s Snackette for the hosting of the 100 balls second division tournament for teams in the Lower Corentyne area.

The tournament, which bowled off last Sunday, will be played on a knock-out basis with the final scheduled for the historic Port Mourant ground.

Courtland, Fyrish Road, Fyrish, Chesney, Kilcoy, Toopoo, Tamarind Root, Belvedere United, Jai Hinds, Albion Open, Port Mourant, Rose Hall Town Tigers, Tain Block 4, Whim Nationals, Nigg Intruders, Kildonan and Ramnarine Memorial are the teams billed to compete against each other.

Meanwhile, chief executive officer of the business entity, Manoj Singh, in brief remarks stated that he was delighted to be associated with the BCB again, as he was very impressed with the improvements over the last year. Sports, he stated, was the best avenue to keep youths off the road and his business was committed to fulfilling its corporate duties.

Matches are expected to start at 13:00hrs and teams are reminded that once they give walkovers, they would be banned for the rest of 2019 along with their players. Captains would also forfeit their rights to the toss if they are not present at the venues by 12:45hrs.

All players must be attired in white uniforms as the BCB seeks to lift the standard on the field of play.

Meanwhile, president of BCB, Hilbert Foster, disclosed that in 2019, the board will organise two new tournaments at the Under-23 and Intermediate levels.

Wales, with India set to continue their preparation for the tournament with a limited-overs home series against Australia starting February 24.

“Considering (Kohli’s) workload in the last few months, the team management and senior selection committee is of the view that it would be ideal for him to get adequate rest ahead of the home series against Australia,” the board said in a statement.

Kohli has been in stellar

Indian captain Virat Kohli

form, scoring 282 runs in the recent Test series in Australia to help India end a 71-year wait for a series victory Down Under.

He extended his purple patch in the subsequent ODI series, finishing with 153 runs at an average of 51 in three matches, including a match-winning century at the Adelaide Oval.

The 30-year-old finished as top scorer in both Tests and ODIs with 11 centuries across the

formats, and earlier this week won the International Cricket Council’s cricketer, Test and ODI player-ofthe-year awards.

Rohit Sharma, who led India to the Asia Cup title in September last year, has been named stand-in captain and selectors are not planning on calling up a replacement for Kohli.

India lead the fivematch ODI series against the Kiwis 1-0 after an eight-wicket win in Napier yesterday.

Anna Regina ‘B’ advance to Ramballi/Mahadeo Inter-Secondary School final

A FINE half-century from Ronaldo Baharally propelled Anna Regina Secondary ‘B’ to an 18-run win against Cotton Field Secondary and secured for them a place in the Ramballi/Mahadeo Inter-Secondary School final.

Playing last Saturday at the Reliance ground; Anna Regina Secondary ‘B’ batted first and amassed 159 all-out in 26 overs.

Their total was largely due to an impressive 62 (8x4. 2x6) from Baharally who paced his innings nicely. He was supported by Simon St Hill

with 23 (4x4) and Avinash Persaud 20 (2x4). Off-Spinner Abdul Nadir claimed 3-32 from 6 overs while Elias Smith bagged 2-23 (6) bowling medium pace.

In response, Cotton Field Secondary began positively with the openers sharing a 35run opening stand. However, with their dismissals, wickets began to fall regularly.

A flourishing 55-run partnership for the 6th wicket between Victor Jones 28 (3x4) and Abdul Nadir 22 (2x4) kept the team in the hunt. When they departed, Nicoli Smith

with 20 (2x4) kept the score board ticking.

He was the last man out, with Cotton Field Secondary ending on 141 in 27 overs.

Ronaldo Baharally capped off an excellent all-round performance by taking 3-19 (6) along with Avic Ramdial 2-14 (4) and Arian Doodnauth 2-17 (6).

Anna Regina Secondary ‘B’ will now await the winner between Aurora and Anna Regina Secondary ‘A’ to be contested on Saturday at the Affiance Number 1 ground.

(Report by Elroy Stephney)

Ronaldo Baharally

29

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, January 24, 2019

Plucky Pliskova stuns Serena with epic Australian Open fightback

By Ian Ransom

MELBOURNE, Australia (Reuters) - Serena Williams squandered four match points and blew a 5-1 lead in the deciding set as seventh seed Karolina Pliskova produced a fightback for the ages to claim a 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 quarter-final win over the American great at the Australian Open yesterday.

Williams, chasing a milestone 24th Grand Slam triumph, also saved two match points in the last game but netted on the third as the big-serving Czech shocked a packed Rod Laver Arena with her remarkable rally from the brink of defeat.

The American’s hopes of matching Margaret Court’s all-time record of Grand Slam singles titles, and claiming a first since becoming a mother in 2017, were denied once more, after she also lost in finals at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year.

While disappointed, the 37-year-old was philosophical in defeat and pledged to regroup for another tilt at the French Open.

“It’s definitely not easy for me. From day one, I expect to go out and, quite frankly, to win,” the seven-time champion in Melbourne told reporters.

“That hasn’t happened.

But I do like my attitude ...

I’ve only been playing 10 months, but I expect to win, and if I don’t, it’s disappointing.

“I rather think of it that way and know that it’s going to happen sooner or later than making an excuse for myself.

I don’t like making excuses.”

The brave Pliskova advanced to meet Naomi Osaka in the last four, denying Williams a chance to avenge her controversial U.S. Open final defeat to the Japanese fourth seed.

“Normally I’m having a lot of comebacks, but maybe from a set down or a break down, so nothing like this. I think it’s the best comeback ever so far in my life,” an elated Pliskova told reporters after qualifying for her first Melbourne semi-final.

“This time I really believed, like, (she’s) still a player, I know she’s the greatest ever, but I don’t want to put her somewhere where I would not have a chance to beat her.”

BATTLE FOR TOP RANKING Pliskova avenged her quarter-final loss to Williams at last year’s U.S. Open and now holds an enviable 2-1 Grand Slam record against the American, having beaten her in the 2016 semi-finals at Flushing Meadows.

The 26-year-old former world number one, chasing

Karolina Pliskova celebrates her victory over Serena Williams in Melbourne.

her maiden Grand Slam title, is the second Czech into the semi-finals after double Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova thrashed home favourite Ashleigh Barty on Tuesday to book a match with Danielle Collins.

Locked in a three-way battle with Osaka and Kvitova to take the world number one spot from Simona Halep, Pliskova will emerge as the top-ranked woman if she claims the title.

Williams, seeded 16th as she continues her return from maternity leave, rolled her ankle when serving for the match at 5-1.

She promptly double-faulted after missing a passing shot on her first

match point and was broken after dumping a backhand into the net.

Pliskova held on grimly, saving three more match points when serving to stay alive at 5-4, before breaking Williams to love and charging to 40-0 in the final game.

Williams saved two of the match points, the second with a courageous backhand winner, but Pliskova held firm to add another highlight to a tournament laden with upsets.

The American said her ankle was not a factor in defeat, and credited Pliskova for playing “unbelievably” on match points.

“She literally played her best tennis ever on those shots,” she said.

Hopes fade for football star Sala as rescuers suspend search ...Guy Faulconbridge, Richard Lough

LONDON/PARIS, (Reuters) - Rescuers said there was almost no chance of Premier League football player Emiliano Sala being found alive, after a recording emerged of a fearful voice message he apparently sent from his stricken plane before it disappeared over the English Channel.

Rescue teams reviewed satellite imagery and mobile phone data while four aircraft scoured seas off the island of Alderney, where unidentified debris had been spotted. However, they suspended their search yesterday evening after finding no trace of the missing plane after nine hours of hunting.

Cardiff City’s new signing and the aircraft’s pilot, named yesterday as Briton David Ibbotson, had been missing since Monday night and rescuers said chances of finding either of them alive were almost vanishingly slim.

Police said a decision on whether to resume the search would be taken early today.

“We’re up there looking for stuff that we don’t expect to find,” John Fitzgerald, chief of-

ficer of the Channel Islands Air Search told Reuters. “If there was anything on the surface I think we would have found it on the first night because the weather conditions were really good.”

Cardiff City’s new singing Emiliano Sala

The 28-year-old Argentina-born forward was en route from Nantes in western France to make his debut for Premier League side Cardiff City.

In a chilling voice message sent to friends which Argentina’s Clarin newspaper said was authenticated by Sala’s father,

the player expressed concerns about the single-engine Piper Malibu aircraft he was flying in.

“I’m in the plane and it looks like it’s going to fall apart,” he said. “Dad, I’m really scared.”

Britain’s Air Accident Investigations Branch said it had opened an investigation into the disappearance of the U.S. registered aircraft.

Air traffic controllers had guided searchers along the path it took before it disappeared from radar screens at a little more than 2 000 feet (600 metres), Fitzgerald said.

“R.I.P. BRO” Sala joined struggling Cardiff from FC Nantes last week for a club record fee of about 17 million euros ($19 million), having scored 12 goals for the French club this season.

Both clubs were fearing the worst.

Cardiff City fans laid tributes outside their stadium to a player they barely knew but had built high hopes around.

“Sala a Bluebird. R.I.P. Bro. Big Love,” read one, in reference to the team’s nickname.

In Nantes, supporters laid rows of yellow flowers and held

club scarves aloft in the city centre late on Tuesday.

Police on Tuesday said the chance of finding survivors was slim and the prospect appeared bleaker a day later, with the water temperature in the Channel barely 10 degrees centigrade (50 degrees fahrenheit).

“There’s no chance. You’d have to be really, really fit to survive even four or five hours in the water,” Fitzgerald said.

Fears grow for missing plane which was carrying Cardiff City’s Sala He said the pilot had filed a ‘VFR’ flight plan, which requires aircraft to avoid bad weather, have sight of the ground and stay out of certain air corridors.

The plane had been cruising at 5 000 feet (1,525 m) when the pilot requested to descend to a lower altitude on passing Guernsey. It lost radar contact at 2 300 feet, Guernsey police said.

British media yesterday cited Cardiff chairman Mehmet Dalman as saying the club had not organised Sala’s travel plans. “He declined and made his own arrangements,” Mehmet was quoted as saying.

Osaka reaches Melbourne semis for first time

Japan’s Naomi Osaka acknowledges the crowd after winning her match against Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina.

(REUTERS/Aly Song)

By Sudipto Ganguly

MELBOURNE, Australia (Reuters) - U.S. Open champion Naomi Osaka managed to keep a lid on her simmering temper and powered to a 6-4, 6-1 win over Elina Svitolina yesterday to book a spot in the Australian Open semi-finals for the first time.

The 21-year-old, who will play Karolina Pliskova for a place in the final, committed a string of unforced errors but still proved too strong for the sixth-seeded Ukrainian.

Osaka wrapped up the win in one hour 12 minutes to become the first Japanese woman to reach the last four at Melbourne Park since Kimiko Date in 1994.

Osaka’s first Grand Slam triumph at the U.S. Open last year was overshadowed by a row between Serena Williams and umpire Carlos Ramos but there will be no rematch of that match at Melbourne Park.

Williams, a 23-time major winner, squandered four match points and blew a 5-1 lead in the decider to fall to seventh seed Pliskova 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in the last quarter-final of the women’s draw.

“I have played her (Pliskova) a couple times already.

She’s really tough to play,” said Osaka. “I can barely read her serve, so it’s very difficult for me.

“I see now that she doesn’t hit too many unforced errors, which is a little bit dangerous.”

Osaka said Pliskova always seemed to stay calm on court, something she struggles with.

“For me, today, I had one goal - it was to try as hard as I can and not get angry. I didn’t do that well in the past two rounds, but I played well today,” she added.

INCONSISTENT FIRST SET Osaka’s power was on full display against WTA Finals champion Svitolina, with the Japanese thumping 31 winners to her opponent’s 11. But she was also sloppy at times, committing 25 unforced errors, nine more than Svitolina.

“Everyone knows my backhand was a little bit inconsistent in the first set,” Osaka said. “I think I was making too many unforced errors on the serve.

“So in the second set I just tried to play more and see if she’s gonna hit winners or not.”

Ukrainian Svitolina, 24, kept her errors in check to get two service breaks back and stay in the opening set at 4-5.

Osaka blew three set point opportunities on Svitolina’s next serve with three embarrassing errors, berating herself with angry slaps on the thigh.

However, the Japanese gathered herself and hit a crisp backhand to set up a fourth chance, and converted it when Svitolina thumped a return into the net.

Svitolina took a medical timeout in the second set for neck and shoulder problems with Osaka up 3-0 but she was broken again after returning to the court.

“I felt pain from the beginning of the tournament here and there. It was going and coming back,” Svitolina said.

“Unfortunately today was a little bit worse than I expected.

“It’s normal to have some tension during the Grand Slam and it happens, but unfortunately I couldn’t handle it today.”

Fourth seed Osaka served her eighth ace then converted her first match point with an overhead winner to seal the win.

30

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, January 24, 2019

Yadram, Mangal punished for bad behaviour

… EBSC to issue public apology

The executive and committee members of the Enmore Community Centre Cricket Club

Several changes on ECCCC executives

FOLLOWING its average success last year, the Enmore Community Centre Cricket Club made several changes to its executive committee when the body held its Annual General Meeting and elections last Sunday.

Bheemraj Ramkelawan was elected Chairman of the ECCCC ahead of Tajnauth Jadunauth and Anil Persaud. Suresh Jainarine and Tahal Ganesh were elected to serve as club secretary and treasurer respectively while Anil Persaud will serve as assistant secretary/treasurer.

The other persons elected were Ramkelawan - club

Egypt’s Ismaily thrown out of Champions League over crowd trouble CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian club Ismaily have been disqualified from the African Champions League after fans forced the abandonment of Friday’s home fixture against Club Africain, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) said on Wednesday.

Ismaily fans threw stones and water bottles at match officials and the Tunisian club’s players, forcing Cameroon referee Neant Alioum to order the teams into the changing rooms in stoppage time with the visitors leading 2-1.

CAF expelled Ismaily from this season’s competition, having disqualified Algerian side Entente Sportive de Setif after similar scenes in a match against Mamelodi Sundowns in 2016.

Ismaily’s results in Group C have been annulled, leaving Algerians CS Constantine top with six points from two games.

Club African and DR Congo side TP Mazembe now have no points from one game. TP Mazembe had beaten Ismaily 2-0.

Egypt were named as hosts of the 2019 African Nations Cup earlier this month despite a number of incidents involving unruly fans in recent years that forced local officials to limit the number of spectators at domestic fixtures to 5,000.

CRICKET QUIZ CORNER (Thursday, January 24, 2019)

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) (1) (2)

ANSWERS TO YESTERDAY’S QUIZ: Percy Chapman & Robert Karl Nunes (Lord’s, 1928) Freddie Calthorpe & Teddy Hoads (Barbados, 1930)

(1)

(2)

TODAY’S QUIZ: Who is the first Englishman to score a Test century against the WI? Who is the first WI to register a Test century against England?

ANSWERS IN TOMORROW’S ISSUE

captain, Rudolph Singh and Yuvraj Dyal – (vice-captains), Ramdeo Ramkissoon, Kenon Ramascindo and Chaitram Ramlall - committee members.

Ramkelawan thanked the members for their confidence in electing him and pledged that the newly elected body will continue the hard work in delivering its mandate to the community.

He also thanked outgoing Chairman, Tajnauth Jadunauth, for his service and inspirational leadership over the years, which was the catalyst for the club’s success after its resuscitation in 2013.

NATIONAL and West Indies Under-19 batsman Bhaskar Yadram, along with Enterprise A captain Rohan Mangal, is in hot water with the East Coast Cricket Committee following unbecoming behaviour during the presentation ceremony at the conclusion of the SPR Enterprise 40 overs tournament last December.

Both Yadram, one of the country’s promising young batsmen, and Mangal had allegedly acted in an unmannerly way, resulting in a disciplinary hearing from the committee.

B a s e d o n t h e re c ommendation from the disciplinary committee, Yadram is suspended for four ECCC-organised games while Mangal was suspended for three matches.

The bans will take effect after the Enterprise Busta

Bhaskar Yadram

Sports Club (EBSC) issues a public apology towards the sponsor and the ECCC. The disciplinary committee made it clear that Enterprise A will only participate in further ECCC tournaments once the EBSC issue a public apology.

Windies can hurt England on up-and-down surface - Roston Chase

ROSTON Chase has warned England could face a tough challenge in the fourth innings of the Barbados Test on an “unpredictable” surface.

While Chase admitted West Indies were not especially happy about their score at the end of day one, he believes England could struggle against his side’s pace attack on a pitch that may “bounce or keep low”.

Chase had helped West Indies to 240 for 4 with less than an hour of play remaining. But the second new ball, and an inspired spell from James Anderson, saw West Indies lose four wickets for 24 runs in the final 38 deliveries of the day with Anderson claiming three for four runs in 14 balls at one stage.

Underlining the sense that West Indies had failed to take advantage of a strong platform was the fact that Chase, who made 54, was one of five men in West Indies’ top six to reach 40 with none of them so far progressing beyond 57.

Shimron Heymyer will resume unbeaten on 56 on day two, however, and provides hope of West Indies reaching 300.

“We lost crucial wickets at the end,” Chase said.

“We were looking better when only four wickets were down, but we lost

those wickets at the end.

Would we have been happy with that score at the start of the day? Probably not.

“But Anderson is a quality bowler. He has 500-odd wickets and he bowled a brilliant spell.

You have to give credit to him: he bowled tremendously.

that dismissal - with the ball appearing to spit and rear off a previously sedate surface - suggested this pitch could become ever more problematic for batsmen in the latter stages of the game.

And with West Indies fielding four quick bowlers, Chase was confident they could exploit such a surface.

bounce or keep low.

“I think if the variable bounce comes into play it will be harder to play fast bowling than spin because it’s harder to adjust with quicker bowling.”

Adding a certain amount of insult to injury, Chase also said he “wasn’t really surprised”

Roston Chase drives through the covers (Getty Images)

“Hopefully Hetmyer can take on the mantle and see if we can push on to get a good enough score. He has a heavy IPL contract and he’s showing why.”

The final ball of the day also may have given West Indies some encouragement.

While it saw Kemar Roach dismissed, the manner of

“The wicket has been doing a bit, especially at the end, so we’ll see how it plays on the other days,” Chase said. “The first day is always slow at the Kensington Oval but it quickens up on days two and three. Days four and five are unpredictable and I can’t say if the ball will

by Stuart Broad’s omission from the England side. “He wasn’t really playing in the last series, so I thought he was probably out of form a bit,” Chase said. “I thought they would give the youngster Curran the nod and so it happened.”

(ESPN Cricinfo).

31

GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday, January 24, 2019

Endurance set to open GMR&SC Calendar in February … Drag racing; AGM also set for next month

Rameez Mohamed has indicated that he is running for re-election as president of GMR&SC in the upcoming AGM.

By Stephan Sookram FEBRUARY will be a busy month for motor racing with the announcement of several events.

The month opens up with the Endurance race set for February 3, Annual General Meeting and the first round of Drag racing.

Apart from that, the second round of the Caribbean Junior Karting Academy Trophy (CJKAT) takes place on February 2 and 3 in Barbados.

ENDURANCE ROUND 1 Undisputed champion team Ramchand’s Wreckers will be back in action early in the month as they seek to defend their title.

on February 8 at the club’s Thomas Street office.

While no official slates have been submitted thus far, current president Rameez Mohamed indicated to Chronicle Sport that he and his committee will be seeking re-election.

He was quoted as saying, ‘We,, the committee, will go for one more year.”

Under the current committee, infrastructure at the South Dakota circuit has increased exponentially, with the construction of a new drag strip which will increase the strip length to international length.

There has also been the extension of the pit area to accommodate more participants during International events.

In addition to that, an ambitious attempt at re-designing the South Dakota circuit was undertaken shortly before the end of 2018 and is expected to be completed and fully usable

FLASHBACK! Adrian Fernandes (left) and Team Ramchand Wreckers owner Anand Ramchand during the 2018 prize-giving ceremony (GTRidez photo)

The team of Anand Ramchand and the 2018 overall and endurance champion Adrian Fernandes will be surely be looking at picking up backto-back titles and will want a strong opening-week performance in the number 211 Toyota Levin.

Fernandes scored a perfect 75 points from three endurance outings last year.

Romeo Singh picked up the 2018 unlimited class champion driver with 43 points while there was a three-way tie for the 2018 1601-2000cc class between the teams of Roshan Ali and Shan Seejattan, Mohamed Ali and Rameez Mohamed and Syed Hassan with 25.

Seejattan and Ali were given the trophy, however, having done the most laps while the 0-1500cc went to Haniff Mohamed and Raymond Seebarran.

AGM The club has confirmed via official notice that the Annual General Meeting and election of office-bearers will take place

by mid-2019.

Added to that is an increase of membership for members in the club.

QUARTER-MILE ACTION Immediately after the AGM, fans can begin gearing up for the ¼ mile action that is the Drag racing.

While the club has not officially considered a name for the event, it is the first of three that will be held here, with an aim to preparing Guyana for the international version later in the year.

2018 champions were Pankraj Ramdeo with 249 points who won the 15-second class, Rayon Brijpal with 179 points who won the 14-second class and the 13-second class winner was Narindradutt Mangar with 218 points.

Romeo Singh with 184 points snagged the 12-second class with Chet Singh taking the 11-second class with 147 points and Damion Singh the 10-second class (310) points.

The nine-second class was won by Raj Panday while the unlimited class was picked up

by team Mohamed’s Enterprise.

It is likely that the club will also trial the new drag strip in an attempt to gain feedback from the drivers for later meets.

FLASHBACK! Team Mohamed’s Enterprise Nissan GTR Goliath takes on Andy Bissessar’s Rail car out of Trinidad. (GTRidez photo)

day 1 - First Windies, England Test at Kensington Oval

Anderson’s late burst pulls Windies back Page

27

…after Hope, Chase and Hetmyer hit half-centuries

James Anderson took four wickets to cap England’s fightback. (Getty Images)

Left-handed stroke-maker Shimron Hetmyer hits out during his unbeaten 56 on the opening day of the first Test against England at Kensington Oval. (CWI photo)

Shai Hope, England’s nemesis at Headingley in 2017, made a fine start.

(Getty Images)

Kennard’s Phagwah horse race meet will go ahead as planned

By Rajiv Bisnauth THE annual Phagwah horse meet, organised by the Kennard’s Memorial Turf Club, will go ahead as planned, this is according to Justice Cecil Kennard, the honorary president of the turf club.

The one-day event is billed for March 24 at the club’s track at Bush Lot Farm, Corentyne, Berbice.

However, Chronicle Sport was reliable informed that the Jumbo Jet Thoroughbred Committee has planned their Triple Crown horseracing scheduled with the second race meet set for the same day but Kennard informed Chronicle Sport late yesterday that the club will not change any of its plans.

“Look we have this event for 40 years now, and we will not back off. The Phagwah race meet is a traditional event forever so we will go ahead as planned. We don’t have a problem with the Jumbo Jet Thoroughbred Committee first and last race meets but we do have a problem with the second date because it’s the same day with the Phagwah race meet,” Kennard said.

Kennard pointed out that the provisional programme has already released where six races are on the cards with over $3M in cash, trophies and other incentives at stake.

The feature event is for horses classified G1 and Lower over seven furlongs for a winner’s purse of $300 000.

The three-year-old Guyana-bred event will

see the winner take home $240 000 and trophy in the six-furlong event.

The JK class seven-furlong race has a pole position reward of $180 000 and trophy.

The race for L class Open animals carries a winning purse of $140 000 over five furlongs.

There is a race for L class non-winners which will give the winner $120,000 and trophy over five furlongs.

There is also a five-furlong event for L class non-earners in which animals will compete for a top purse of $100 000 and trophy.

Interested persons can contact Niketa Ross 662-4668, Justice Kennard 623-7609 or any member of the KMTC executive for more information.

Justice Cecil Kennard

Windies can hurt England on up-and-down surface - Roston Chase »

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Thursday, january 24, 2019