Guyana chronicle e paper 04 06 2018

FRIDAY 6th April, 2018

No.105236

Islamic Bank in US$900M aid package for Guyana

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Soldiers injured during paratroop 09 training Power without skills spells disaster 10 PAGE

PM back home after successful surgery PAGE

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–– psychologist looks at army captain after shooting death of wife

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo and his wife Mrs. Sita Nagamootoo disembarking the plane at Cheddi Jagan International Airport (DPI photo)

President to lead delegation to Commonwealth Summit 11

Guyana wants ICJ to order Venezuela off Ankoko

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… seeks protection for foreign company

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, April 6, 2018

PM back home after successful surgery

PRIME MINISTER Moses Nagamootoo on Thursday resumed duty following a successful bypass surgery in the United States in February.

The Prime Minister along with his wife, Sita Nagamootoo and their daughter, Maria Nagamootoo, were welcomed home Thursday morning at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA). Following his arrival, the Prime Minister was welcomed by his cabinet colleagues, including President David Granger at a prayer-breakfast on the lawns of his residence.

The Prime Minister has since resumed duty. Minister

of State Joseph Harmon told reporters Thursday during a post-Cabinet press briefing that the Prime Minister was kept abreast of developments while he was abroad. “That is Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and the Prime Minister was kept abreast with what is happening in the country while away. The world is a global village, now that you can be any part of the world and still electronically be in touch with your office and be able to make decisions,” said Harmon.

There are, however, some administrative matters related to the Prime Minister’s office that he will be briefed on subsequently, Harmon

President David Granger and Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo at the ceremony (DPI photos)

Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman giving brief remarks at Prime Minister Nagamootoo’s thanksgiving ceremony

stated. Meanwhile, at the prayer-breakfast, the Prime Minister and his family were joined by President David Granger, several ministers of government and well-wishers. According to the Department of Public Information (DPI) the aim was to warmly welcome home the Prime Minister who returned after weeks of recuperating from his surgery.

The prayer-breakfast was hosted at the PM’s See page 8

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo having a brief conversation with Minister of Social Protection Amna Ally (DPI Photo)

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo being greeted by Ministers of Government and Members of Parliament

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, April 6, 2018

Islamic Bank in US$900M aid package for Guyana

GUYANA is in line to receive US$900M from the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) to facilitate a threeyear programme targeting key development areas in the country, including economic infrastructure, rural development, human development and trade and competitiveness, Finance Minister Winston Jordan has said.

In his address to the 43rd Annual Meeting of the Islamic Development Bank Group in Tunisia, Jordan explained that the IsDB fielded a programming mission in December 2017 where a work programme spanning three years–2018-2020–was formalised. He said approximately US $900M has been set aside to provide financing and technical assistance in key development areas such as economic infrastructure, rural development, human development and trade and competitiveness.

“It is quite evident that our joint efforts can go a long way in bringing about socio-economic stability and prosperity in Guyana, which can redound to the benefit of the Latin American and Caribbean Region. Guyana remains hopeful for its future and grateful for the Bank’s support,” Minister Jordan said.

While taking stock of the progress made by the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) Government since taking office in May, 2015, the Finance Minister spoke of the assistance that is already being provided by the

Minister of Finance Winston Jordan at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Islamic Development Bank.

IsDB. “Agriculture continues to be a major contributor to growth and expansion in our economy. In this regard, the Government has leveraged the inter-locking capacity of the Bank, and is currently in an advanced stage of designing a Reverse-Linkage Project with the Malaysia Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI), which will assist in updating Guyana’s expertise and technology in rice production,” the Finance Minister pointed out.

According to him, the project will support the introduction of innovative rice varieties that are more resilient and also will significantly increase rice yields per acre.

Minister Jordan said with the IsDB’s continued support as a financing mechanism and provider of technical

expertise, Guyana is optimistic about the growth of its non-traditional agricultural sector that is in line to benefit from new technologies and supporting infrastructure.

“These efforts will not only ensure national food security, but, also, substantially transform the cost structure and competitiveness of our agriculture sector,” he posited.

In the area of education, the Finance Minister noted that the Guyana Government in partnership with the IsDB has developed a project that will embrace the Inquiry Based Science and Mathematics Education (IBSME) approach at both the primary and secondary levels.

“This project will embrace the Inquiry Based Science and Mathematics Education (IBSME) approach. It will

also make use of UNESCO’s Global Micro-Science Experiments programme and supporting mathematics kits and will lead to the integration of mathematics through science lessons,” he explained, while adding that it will also raise the level of scientific and mathematical literacy among teachers and students and simultaneously support a learner-centered environment.

In 2017, the minimum standards for elderly residential care facilities were completed and enacted in Guyana, the Minister further reported.

He noted that concurrently, the Government approached the Bank for its support and assistance to design a project which will modernise and upgrade the facilities of the Palms Geriatric facility. That project is expected to procure

equipment and furniture. It will also result in the provision of enhanced medical care.

Meanwhile, in reporting on other aspects of Guyana’s development, Minister Jordan noted that the Government is forging ahead with a number of key strategic approaches for the economic well-being of the country.

These include strengthening national planning; building a robust oil and gas industry; consolidating the macroeconomic fundamentals; fostering economic diversification; strengthening private sector capacity and its involvement in national development; diversification of the agricultural sector; investing in human and social development; development of climate resilient infrastructure; and

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pursuing equitable growth in a green development agenda.

He also informed the leaders on Guyana’s Green State Development Strategy, explaining that it will ensure sustainable growth with equity that redounds to the economic well-being of every citizen. “It could become, quite possibly, a model for other like- minded economies,” he posited.

The strategy is being fashioned through a collaborative and consultative process.

“It will allow our people an opportunity to shape the scope and scale of our development priorities, given our existing and future resource flows,’ he explained, while adding that “My Government will continue to assess the economic tides and employ timely policy measures to correct imbalances and mitigate negative effects that could stymie growth. In this regard, we aim to strengthen our analytical capability to determine the macroeconomic effects of various policies and interventions employed to grow our economy.”

Additionally, Guyana has recently adopted a Public-Private Partnership (P3) Framework that provides a structured platform for local and external private sectors to meaningfully engage with Government to achieve economic development.

President of the IsDB, Dr. Bandar Hajjar; Governors, Alternate Governors and members of delegation were among those present at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Islamic Development Bank.

Gov’t to back GPL systems upgrade GOVERNMENT intends to ensure that whatever is needed by the Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) to supply citizens with reliable electricity will be provided.

GPL on Wednesday disclosed through its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Albert Gordon that it is in need of US$150M to fix the power company. Gordon’s statements came amid constant power outages across the country. The CEO said while the company is working to

provide reliable service to the people of Guyana, that process is not without its challenges.

As such, he explained that it requires some US$110M to address firstly, the system deficiencies and another US$40M to fix the generators at the power company.

Gordon at a meet-and-greet event held at the Pegasus Hotel said the system failure is as a result of the existing system configuration. However, Minister of State Joseph Harmon on Thursday told reporters at

a post-cabinet press briefing held at the Ministry of the Presidency that, while Cabinet has not been briefed about the financial needs of the power company to remedy the issues it faces, government is inclined to do what it takes to ensure that citizens benefit from reliable power supply.

“It is not a matter that has actually come to cabinet as yet for cabinet to make a deliberation on it, but certainly whatever is necessary to be done to ensure that our

citizens have a continuous reliable supply of energy for domestic use and industrial use, that is the direction in which the government is going,” Harmon assured.

He told reporters that Government is examining various forms of energy to ensure that the country has a reliable supply of same. “So what GPL is doing now is putting out a futuristic position which says this is what we would need, not just to fix the situation but to prepare and to give you a

certain level of power that is assured, sustainable and that you can basically plan your lives around it,” said the Minister of State.

Meanwhile, the GPL’s CEO explained Wednesday that the configuration of the power lines which connect to homes are connected directly to GPL’s generators and this should not be. He noted that the power is first generated, then there is an increased voltage to power lines, then the power is sent to a sub-sta-

tion and the voltage is then reduced and distributed to homes. Additionally, Gordon disclosed that a number of lines leave the Kingston power station and if a tree falls on the lines, the entire system shuts down.

Moreover, there is not a lot of redundancy to provide back-up power. Because of this, if a line goes down or is taken out of the system for maintenance, there would be a power outage.

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Mabaruma teen dies

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, April 6, 2018

- pilots refuse to air-dash him to city

MEDICAL personnel at the Mabaruma Regional Hospital watched in despair last Friday as a terminally ill teen drew his last after pilots of a local airline refused to air-dash him to Georgetown.

According to reports, 17-year-old Chris Williams of Port Kaituma, North West District was hospitalised at the institution there around March 26, but was later transferred to Mabaruma after his condition worsened.

The teenager, who suffered from an undisclosed chronic disease, was reportedly rushed to the hospital by his parents when his condition became serious.

Reports are that the doctors at Mabaruma felt

that owing to the condition in which the lad was in, he would be better off at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

“Due to shortage of supplemental oxygen and the severity of his condition, he was scheduled to be transferred to the GPHC on March 28,” a medical personnel at the Mabaruma Hospital told the Guyana Chronicle on Thursday.

Reports are that a medivac (medical evacuation) process was initiated on the said March 28, two days before he died, but because of a change of schedule, it was difficult to source another flight, despite their best efforts, to bring him down to the city on the same day.

“We were told that the coordinator of medivac flights said that the pilots were refusing to fly the patient due to concerns about their personnel health,” a Ministry

of Public Health official said.

Reports out of Mabaruma are that the nurses and doctors there tried desperately to save the young man’s life, but be-

An aerial view of the Mabaruma Regional Hospital (at centre)

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cause of the lack of oxygen, they couldn’t.

“Health staff at Mabaruma were forced to watch the patient’s condition deteriorate,” medical personnel in the area

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noted. Williams would eventually suffer an atelectasis, what in medical terms means a collapse, and passed away on Friday According to a medical source at the Mabaruma Hospital, the young man was totally dependent on oxygen, which they were out of at the time, and hence the urgency to have him brought to the city.

Some medical personnel at Mabaruma are reportedly still traumatised about what transpired, particularly the lack of humanity shown by those involved in getting him to the city.

“We are supposed to be seeking betterment for all persons in our care,” one noted.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, April 6, 2018

New ICT hub opened in Leguan -Minister Hughes urges residents to use it to better themselves

THE island of Leguan in the Essequibo River is the latest rural community to be included in the Ministry of Public Telecommunications’ drive to ensure that Guyanese have access to free internet through Information Communication and Technology (ICT) hubs.

installed in a room at the Leguan Community Centre. The beneficiaries from Leguan joined thousands of other Guyanese who now have free access to internet and a computer through 110 ICT hubs that were established around the country.

“We recognise in today’s world access to the in-

fices and even community centres across the country to give the citizens free internet access”, said Minister of Public Telecommunications, Catherine Hughes at the launch of the hub at the community centre on Wednesday.

Hughes said the ministry’s aim is based on Pres-

Minister of Public Telecommunications, Catherine Hughes flanked by students of the Leguan Secondary school who escorted her to the event (Navendra Seoraj photo)

Residents of the community, especially children, were excited to utilise the 15 computers that were

ternet can help all members of the community …we have developed ICT hubs at regional offices, post of-

Students of the Leguan Secondary school do the ceremonial ribbon-cutting to officially open the hub as the minister (centre) and other officials of the ministry and NDMA look on (Navendra Seoraj photo)

ident David Granger’s vision of ensuring that every citizen has access to free internet.

The ministry through the National Data Management Authority (NDMA) has been working to make the President’s vision a reality, she said, adding that once installed, the hubs will allow persons to develop and educate themselves through information and technology.

“For instance, students writing the grade six exams, those doing SBAs, research and even homework would be able to do so at the ICT hubs in their communities,” said the minister.

In addition, Hughes pointed out that owners of small businesses, craftsmen/

A section of the ICT hub (Navendra Seoraj photo)

women and even farmers could use the hubs to market their products/produce and even find new local and even international markets.

The possibilities would be endless because persons would be able to connect with friends, families and even business associates through social media apps and so forth.

Residents of Leguan had already noted the possibilities and were excited to use the devices. Youth, Culture and Sports Officer of Leguan, Harry Gobin, expressed his gratitude to the ministry and promised that residents will care the equipment and utilise them properly.

Like the residents of Leguan, other communities have welcomed the initiative, said the minister adding that they have been implementing hubs at a fast rate.

“The beauty is that we are committed to putting it all across Guyana but it could not be done without cooperation from the residents and regional officers in the various communities,” she said.

Other ministries have also been key stakeholders, said Hughes, noting that the

Ministry of Education has been involved in mapping out the areas of training related to the ICT hubs and the Ministry of Communities has been asked to subsidise the cost of electricity for the hubs.

Director of the NDMA, Phillip Walcott also said they will soon start an aggressive training programme because

in addition to having the devices and services, persons need the knowledge.

“We have got all the people in training… we have already gathered trainers, so we are working on that. We will also get assistance from the ministry to train persons at a higher level,” he explained.

Minister Hughes assists an elderly man to browse the internet and find what he is looking for (Navendra Seoraj photo)

Editorial

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, April 6, 2018

Save lives: Be a blood donor

WESTERN medicine has had many achievements to its credit. One of the most important of such achievements is the system of blood transfusions and its ancillaries such as method of receiving the blood, grouping and storing it. From the time William Harvey discovered the circulatory system of the body in 1628, doctors have been experimenting with improvements in the system of blood transfusion.

It was only at the time of World War II that blood transfusion, as we know it, became a common medical procedure.

Before the blood transfusion procedure came into common use, thousands of people died from loss of blood in surgical operations, in childbirth, from war wounds, accidents, anaemia and other conditions where there is loss or need for blood.

By the middle of the last century, blood transfusion units were established in all the major hospitals, health care institutions and even on

ambulances. Blood banks were established to collect, differentiate the blood types and store it. The blood banks ensure that the blood they are collecting is safe from infections; they would then place the blood in different groups since it is only blood of a patient’s type that could be transfused to that patient, and they store the blood using different methods.

Each year, hundreds of thousands of lives are saved by blood transfusions and the number of patients needing blood transfusions has been increasing faster than the supply of blood available.

In Guyana, though citizens are well-acquainted with the value of the blood transfusion procedure and are prepared to use it, the culture of blood donation has not, so far, been fully absorbed by the population.

Almost all the blood held by the blood bank is acquired from voluntary donations.

Accordingly, it is necessary that the number of donors must keep increasing if lives are to be saved.

A number of groundless

myths surrounding blood donation has been the main factor which has inhibited more donors from coming forward. Among the most pervasive of these myths are the following: That if one donates a pint of blood, one would be forever with that blood deficit. This myth is completely groundless, since the body regenerates new blood in eight weeks and the new blood is healthier than the old blood donated. Blood donation, therefore, never results in a net loss of blood.

Another myth is that blood donation weakens the body. This is not possible, since before blood is received from a donor, that donor is ascertained to be strong and able to donate.

Many sportsmen and women whose bodies have to be fitter and stronger than most people, have been blood donors. Another myth or fear is that the blood bank may be receiving blood from persons with infectious diseases which negates the raison d’etre of the blood transfusion procedure. This fear is entirely groundless since be-

fore a donation is accepted, the donor has to go through a number of tests and answer searching questions about his or her health. Also a special AIDS test is carried out.

The blood received by the blood bank is therefore very healthy and life-giving.

The absurdity of these and other myths could be exposed by education. At the Teachers Training College and at the primary and secondary schools, full information on the donation, storage and transfusion of blood should be part of the curriculum. The electronic media as well as the print media in their health columns could carry regular information on blood donation and transfusion. Questions from the public on blood donation and transfusion should be encouraged and answered.

Several institutions and schools have become regular donors to the blood bank. One of the earliest of such schools is the Saraswati Vidya Niketan (SVN) headed by Swami Aksharanand at Cornelia Ida. SVN pupils mobilise their relatives,

friends and community to participate and at speech day, the most successful pupil is mentioned and presented with a trophy. They donate twice per year to the blood bank and in one year, they had donated one-tenth of the blood bank’s holdings. The Saraswati Vidya Niketan school’s method could be adopted as a national model.

The National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) or the blood bank has recently acquired an apheresis machine. This machine is an advancement in the blood transfusion service and doctors will be able to easier treat and with greater speed patients requiring blood. The machine separates the blood

into its components--the red cells, the plasma and the platelets--and these could be transfused to meet a patient’s particular need. A blood donation may thus be able to save several lives.

The legislation affecting blood transfusion and the various ancillary activities connected with it such as blood donation and storage need to be modernised and updated and the current British and American legislation could be used as models. Having early comprehensive legislation in respect of blood transfusion would be a notable achievement for the Ministry of Public Health. Give blood and save lives!

President warmly welcomed at Bath Settlement Dear Editor,

that the President will be visiting Bath Settlement to distribute FIRSTLY, allow me on behalf kites, they also decided to do of the residents of Region Five same merely an hour before to say a big “thank you” to HE the actual event with the PresiPresident David Granger for dent. Well, the PPP was shocked once again visiting our region. also at their low turnout for the It was a very good visit, espe- plastic kites distribution. cially in an area\village that is Let me say this for the readsaid to be a stronghold of the ers’ benefit. When I heard that opposition. the PPP would be distributing On Saturday, March 31st, kites on the said day and just an 2018, President Granger made a hour before the President’s prolandmark visit to this region to gramme, my spirit became weak, have his kite-distribution during knowing the PPP. I said to some the Easter holidays. The place or of my colleagues that the PPP village for the kite-distribution will warn the parents not to send was Bath Settlement and we all their children to the President’s know that the opposition PPP kite-distribution programme. has been claiming this village But another shocker came as their stronghold. It was a before the President landed in scene that many did not see the community playground; for decades, especially seeing scores of children started to rush a helicopter circling over the under the tent to sit with their village and landing in its play- plastic kites that were given by ground. Many rushed to their the PPP. Some of the children verandas to video and take pic- dumped the plastic kites when tures, while many rushed out of they saw the board frame kites, their homes to wave and be part while some put it away under the of welcoming the President. chairs to have another kite from Let me say this was a shock- the President. It was an amazing er to the PPP. Because, after scene. they heard a few days before As the President entered the

venue, the residents and children of Bath Settlement started to jump and shout with joy on seeing His Excellency. It was more breathtaking when the President joined the hundreds of children dancing to the rhythms of the tassa drums. It was very mind-blowing.

As I looked around, the residents of Bath Settlement started to rush to have a glimpse of the President, while one of the residents’ whispered next to me to another “how come Bharrat just seh the man won’t come here and people come out”.

The children and residents of Bath Settlement along Region 5 at large wholeheartedly welcomed President David Granger in their village. It was a true sign of social cohesion.

The President handed out over five hundred (500) kites to the children and the rush was still on long after the distribution concluded. The kites were well received by the children and their parents. As the President was heading back to the helicopter, residents and children rushed to the playfield to wave

goodbye and see the President off. The chopper was high up and they continued waving and shouting for joy.

Thank you, Mr. President, for visiting and bringing joy to the faces of the many children and residents of Bath Settlement and surrounding areas during the Easter season. I will also like to thank the Hon. Amna Ally for always showing her love and being there for the people of her birth region, Region 5. Thank you, Minister.

Mr. Editor, it’s sad to see the length the opposition and its leader would go to gain political mileage. Why am I saying this?

When the PPP decided to go an hour before to distribute kites in the same area, they went there with the intention to tell their supporters that they nor their children must support the government event. It is sad when the leader of the PPP can turn a kite-distribution event into a political event. The PPP and its leader told the residents that Guyana belongs to the PPP and its supporters and they must regain it soon. Well, after I heard

that, I knew Bharrat and the PPP are fast asleep and having daydreams.

At no time during the President’s address to the children and residents did he ever make a political statement. The President did what he had to do which was to bring joy to the people of Bath Settlement. I know that the PPP is now trembling with fear as to what has happened in Bath Settlement that day. I know that they will now feel the heat as they are opposing what the people are demanding, and that is social cohesion through national unity.

The people need to understand as to why Bharrat Jagdeo was attacking the President’s kite-distributing so much the very nigh on television? He was upset that he hadn’t that turnout at his event in an area that he claimed to be his. But I must let the PPP know that time has changed and the people of Bath Settlement understand what they went through for 23 years under the PPP. In those years, the PPP couldn’t have turned the squatting area over the line into

a housing area, but now Jagdeo is saying to them it will happen when the PPP win at the upcoming 2020 polls.

Well, it should be “If” the PPP win and we all know that it won’t happen. So the PPP and its leadership need to stop lying to the people. That area was the same area that the PPP went before 2015 elections and took the poles to have electricity in the area, but told the squatters that can only be after the 2015 elections when they cast their votes for the party.

How shameful. To compare the opposition leader and the President’s visit the same day in an area that [is] said to be dominant PPP support base. I will and many will do same to say this to the PPP-- “SHAME ON YOU”.

Thank you Mr. President for the visit and looking forward to seeing you in the near future.

Regards Abel Seetaram Regional Councillor Region 5

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, April 6, 2018

Letters should not be just pointless outbursts Dear Editor,

WRITING a letter that thousands may read should be composed with a sense of responsibility. I have viewed letters from Craig Sylvester, Nigel Hinds and Harry B and cannot help but ponder whether the intention is to be frivolous and appeal to social frustrations and political petulance, or are these writers politically ambitious and really have no substance to actually make sensible contributions to their own profiles, much less to inform readers on the topics they assume to address.

Nigel Hinds, I am told, is promised the PPP’s Prime Minister of the future and he does match the last Sam Hinds in respect to staying to the PPP’s shallow promotional script.

Craig Sylvester is described as the party leader of DNC, and he also fits into a PPP infiltrating method of creating sudden Political commentators with parties. Sudden because both of the latter mentioned were invisible in the era under the PPP which the World Bank described as a ‘crisis of governance’ in 2003, and Sam Hinds recently confirmed in alluding to ‘The Counter Force’ in reference to the PPP-Roger Khan marriage of shared criminal financial interests.

Now let’s embrace national issues in Guyana. The APNU-AFC have sound policies; they have in 2-1/2 years reshaped the physical environment of Georgetown, and have reformed the Ministry of Public Health with a cadre of nurses that can limit the death toll from that period that a Doctor told me ‘you could die from a nail stick here with those people Ramsammy have employed. Education requires a resurrection, and I’m confident they’re aware and working at it. The world changes, regardless of our politics.

British Guiana to Guyana has never been a first world country. We were a colony and were always plagued by housing, health and employment woes.

At independence, the roads to McKenzie and to Rosignol were sand roads, and they became highways after 1966, under the PNC government.

In Georgetown from the 1900’s, the main single employer was the ‘Waterfront’. That never changed until modernisation of merchant marine shipping terminated those jobs in the early 80’s; arson at GRB in 1977 began that process though the methods were unconnected.

The dilemma of employment in Guyana is complex, driven by forces we are not in control of. When the schools started giving children assignments that required internet research, many homes did not have computers, and money had to be scraped for Internet cafes. Government can no longer employ all our graduates, not within the economy we have and will have, with computers biting into the human work force, and inadequate training in diverse areas, but they can build a platform for niche industries, and it’s an uphill task to revolutionise its own bureaucracy and public service to meet those challenges.

The USA now has 30 million home-run businesses--technology permits that; the modes of employment have changed.

We have a large amount of barely literate young citizens, products of the troubled times, when inner city unemployed and village young men were recruited as body guards, assassins and thugs of the criminal-politically connected ‘Big Man dem’.

Most of the critics today were silent then; the ‘Big Man dem’ have dumped them, thus, our gun toting crime wave. The PPP implemented a system of ‘No child left behind’ that resulted in a multitude of young

people passing through the school system with no skills and lacking in literacy. Our main technical workforce, during the ethnic and political cleansing of the PPP to facilitate shifting of hundreds of millions towards favourite, fled our shores, including teachers, left for the Caribbean, Suriname, Venezuela, Brazil, African countries and the first world. Their remittances sustained this country. Those countries are not economically the same today, remittances have dried up, people are back home in a global economic crunch.

This is where we’re at. Any letter writer can write a list of hypercritical directives as Sylvester Craig did in Kaieteur, April, 2, as a formula to take Guyana towards ‘Utopia’, but in the real world we have to work with what we have. I suggest that letter writers with political ambitions read our History from at least post-emancipation to remove your perceptions from the asinine-curve and commit a letter of consequence to posterity.

On March 20, 2018 Kaieteur News, a letter writer named Harry B of Ontario, Canada, possibly a pseudonym, compared Guyana’s political management to that of Tanzania, referring to Guyana in administrative proportion as ‘The Rich and Useless’. Well, Tanzania is a country of over 33 million, with a National Assembly of 324 seats, in a country divided into 31 regions, of 99 districts peopled by 114 councils governed

by Tribal, Islamic and British Common law, that preside over 11 ethnic groups, including the island nation of Zanzibar. Its cabinet might be smaller than Guyana’s but its paid administrative structure doubles the CARICOM group, including Haiti and Cuba, exposing the true intent of this foolish letter.

Finally, readers must understand that there are no oil

Ministry of Education responds to concerns about Hope Secondary School Dear Editor,

THE Ministry of Education (MoE) has noted with concern a letter in the Kaieteur Newspaper on March 21 ,2018 titled “Parents of Students of Hope Secondary School Need Hope”.

In that letter, the writer lists several issues affecting the East Coast of Demerara learning institution. The MoE, as a responsible body with a mandate to serve this nation, feels it is our obligation to respond to the contents of that missive.

Firstly, the writer posited the view that the teachers display a lack of dedication and consequently the school is apparently flouting educational Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s).

While the writer did not indicate what procedures were not being adhered to, the MoE upon learning about these allegations, dispatched two Senior Education Officers to investigate these

claims.

Note Mr. Editor, the MoE said claims, so all the issues will be addressed in an itemized manner. So let’s return to the alleged lack of dedication by the teachers; the officers found that there were some issues with curriculum delivery by a few teachers. Those teachers were spoken to in the presence of their Heads of Department. Additionally, teachers’ lesson plans are being continuously monitored and the students’ work books were checked and will continue to be checked randomly to ensure the curriculum is being followed. So, it is safe to say that the foregoing issue is not a representation of all teachers because there are many hard-working teachers at the Hope Secondary School who continue to play their part in molding and preparing the nation’s future leaders.

The letter writer also said that there are numerous fights,

owing to the students being idle and that these fights would happen during instructional (teaching) time. The MoE’s investigation has found that this is not true. As a matter of fact, the school’s authority provided evidence to the contrary.

The issue of dog’s fecal matter in classrooms happened more than a year ago and this was due to some classrooms not being locked at the end of the school day. This situation has long been corrected and students are now learning in a healthy child-friendly environment. The MoE takes seriously its responsibility to educate this nation and we will always welcome constructive criticisms, since these are important if any progressive institution is to continue to effectively serve the people it is intended to.

Regards Ministry of Education

experts in Guyana. There’s reference to Trinidad; Trinidad was oil effective in 1913, they became Independent in 1962. Nigeria had a petroleum industry in 1956, they became Independent in 1960. To use these countries in 2018 without clarifying these facts is implying that we’re referring to current history. The first oil well was drilled in Pennsylvania, USA in 1859. That they had time to hone their hoodwinking

skills is obvious. The objective here is that we will benefit to restructure our economy, that there is room for further negotiations towards infrastructural development and to the contract, and most of all that we will bring some closure to this tormenting border issue with Venezuela, enabling us to explore other areas of our natural wealth. A geologist that has participated in oil negotiations over the past weekend illustrated their

methods of bargaining--psychological and tactical. All of these daily critics would have been chewed up. Our national ignorance of the Oil Industry is allowing a political propaganda campaign of half truths to invade our consciousness.

It must cease; we must identify the truths, understand the fictions and unmask and publicise their true intentions.

Regards Barrington Braithwaite

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, April 6, 2018

Jordan submits end City students receiving of year statement counselling after ecstasy probe to Cabinet

FINANCE Minister Winston Jordan on Tuesday submitted to Cabinet an end of year outcome statement for 2017.

The macro fiscal numbers contained in the 2018 national budget were reflective of data up to October 2017 and included projections for November and December 2017. Thursday, Minister of State Joseph Harmon told reporters that given the commitment made in the National Assembly to provide a final end of year statement that would provide the actual numbers for the entire 2017, the report will be laid in the National Assembly shortly.

“It was pointed out that the final numbers included in the report will be the subject of intense scrutiny during the upcoming IMF Article 4 Consultation slated for April 2018,” the Minister of State reported.

Harmon said too that the report highlighted statistical data in the following areas: the production of main commodities by sector--sugar, rice, bauxite, gold and forestry. The annual growth rate by sector: agriculture, fishing and forestry, mining and quarrying, manufacturing, electricity and water construction and service industries.

It also provided details of prices, the fiscal sector and debt management, Harmon said, as he noted that Cabinet approved the report and directed that it be presented to the National Assembly.

THE Ministry of Education has employed a rigorous programme to counsel students who were recently busted as part of a gang that was using the date-rape drug, ecstasy, in schools in Georgetown.

A 25-year-old man was recently charged for supplying the city students with the drug. The Alberttown businessman was charged for allegedly selling ecstasy to an under-aged boy and also for possession of the drug.

Dorel John appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan and was released on $170,000 bail after denying the two charges back in February. Particulars of the first charge stated that John, between December 1, 2017 and January 31, 2018 at Middle Road, La Penitence, Georgetown, sold ecstasy to

PM back home ...

an under-aged child.

It is also alleged that on February 12, 2018, at Lot 141 Alberttown, John had two grams of ecstasy in his possession. According to reports, the child was held with the drug and when the matter was reported, a raid was conducted at John’s home and ecstasy was found in his bedroom.

Additionally, the ministry said that following revelation of the students’ behaviour, an investigation was conducted during which 11 students from one city school were questioned by officers of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit in the presence of their parents, while one student from another city school was questioned in the presence of a parent.

The ministry said the

investigation found that the narcotic that was being purchased and consumed by the students was confirmed to be ecstasy. Following the investigation, the Ministry of Education also organised several educational sessions with the teachers, parents and students involved. These sessions were attended by representatives from CANU, the Guyana Police Force Narcotics Branch and the Guyana Prison Service.

Based on CANU’s interaction with the students, parents and the representatives of the Ministry of Education, the following were recommended: The students should be given counselling and they should also be monitored and have limited access to mobile phones and social

media until they have recovered from this incident.

According to the ministry, parents are now reporting to the school monthly to give an account of the child’s progress and behavioral changes at home. This can be compared to the child’s behaviour at school which can help to detect if he or she is still in the habit of consuming a narcotic drug.

Students also formed a group in the affected schools that can help to educate other students about the dangers of drug use, the ministry has said.

Notwithstanding the recommendations made, the Ministry of Education said it administered the necessary disciplinary actions in accordance with its policies regarding drug use in the school system.

From page 2

residence, and all present expressed pleasure at the PM’s return and recommitted to ensuring that his health and well-being are a top priority for the government. Minister of Social Protection Amna Ally said, “Prime Minister, I want to say to you that you have to take it one day at a time, we love you, we treasure you and we want to have you for a

long, long time.”

Similarly, Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan noted that the Prime Minister’s expertise and sharing of experiences were greatly missed while he was away. “The advantages of having you in our midst and the fact of having your remarks at Cabinet, Parliament, the AFC meetings and security meetings among others.”

Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan giving brief remarks at Prime Minister Nagamootoo’s thanksgiving ceremony

Meanwhile, in his remarks, Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman said “we look forward to your presence in the house and we say to your wife and family ‘thank you’ for taking care of him, thank you for bringing him home to us and we will not fail you. We have a duty to take care of him and we will not let you down and we will not fail you, Sir.” Prayers were offered up for the PM and family by Reverend John O. Smith, Shaykh Moenul Hack, and Pandit Chateram Pooran.

Also in attendance at the prayer-breakfast was First Lady Mrs. Sandra Granger, and family and friends of the Prime Minister.

In February, a routine medical examination done here revealed that the Prime Minister had some cardiac issues and had to undergo the heart bypass surgery at a medical institution in the U.S. Following the successful surgery, he remained in the U.S. at his family’s residence during his recovery process.

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo in high spirits at the thanksgiving ceremony for his return home

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo being greeted by Ministers of Government and Members of Parliament

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, April 6, 2018

Guyana wants ICJ to order Venezuela off Ankoko

9

… seeks protection for foreign company

GUYANA has called on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to order Venezuela to immediately withdraw from and cease occupation of the eastern half of Ankoko Island and every other area recognised as its sovereign territory in accordance with the 1899 Arbitral Award and the 1905 Agreement.

One week after filing its application to the ICJ Vice-President and Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge on Wednesday met with United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres at the UN headquarters in New York.

Venezuela National Army occupied the Guyana side of the Ankoko Island in the Cuyuni River which is the western border between the two states; five months after independence, in October 1966 and has remained in illegal occupation ever since. The island is used as a military garrison to harass miners and to engage in occasional acts of provocation against the Guyana Defence Force’s (GDF) border detachment at Eteringbang on the opposite bank of the river.

The eastern half of Ankoko Island situated at the confluence of the Cuyuni and Wenamu rivers, which forms part of the boundary between Guyana and Venezuela, was taken over by the Venezuelan Army in 1966. The Venezuelans constructed a military base, an airstrip and a post office and brought in civilian settlers.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued by the ICJ on Wednesday, the court said Guyana also called on the court to have Venezuela “refrain from threatening or using force against any person and/or company licensed by Guyana or engage in economic or commercial activity in Guyanese territory as determined by the 1899 Award and 1905 Agreement, or in any maritime areas appurtenant to such territory over which Guyana has sovereignty or exercises sovereign rights, and shall not interfere with any Guyanese or Guyanese-authorised activities

in those areas”.

Additionally, Guyana’s application noted that Venezuela is internationally responsible for violations of Guyana’s sovereignty and sovereign rights, and for all injuries suffered by Guyana as a consequence. The application also requests the ICJ to declare that the 1899 Award is valid and binding upon Guyana and Venezuela, and the boundary established by that Award and the 1905 Agreement is valid and binding upon Guyana and Venezuela.

“Guyana enjoys full sovereignty over the territory between the Essequibo River and the boundary established by the 1899 Award and the 1905 Agreement, and Venezuela enjoys full sovereignty over the territory west of that boundary; Guyana and Venezuela are under an obligation to fully respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in accordance with the boundary established by the 1899 Award and the 1905 Agreement,” Guyana’s application states.

“On March 29, Guyana filed an application against Venezuela with the ICJ, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. In its application, Guyana requests the Court “to confirm the legal validity and binding effect of the Award Regarding the Boundary between the Colony of British Guiana and the United States of Venezuela, of October 3, 1899 (hereinafter the ‘1899 Award’)”.

Guyana also stated that the 1899 Award was “a full, perfect, and final settlement” of all questions relating to determining the boundary line between the colony of British Guiana and Venezuela. It is Guyana’s position that between November 1900 and June 1904, a joint Anglo-Venezuelan Boundary Commission “identified, demarcated and permanently fixed the boundary established by the Award” before the signing of a Joint Declaration by the Commissioners on Jan-

Soldiers injured during paratroop training

TWO soldiers are hospitalised after suffering injuries during a routine paratrooping exercise at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport on Thursday.

In a release GDF said at 08:15hrs Thursday two soldiers from the 31 Special Forces Squadron were injured when their parachutes became entangled during a routine paratroop training exercise con-

ducted at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.

The soldiers were referred to the Georgetown Public Hospital where they are in stable condition and are being evaluated to determine whether any serious injuries were sustained.

Their families have since been contacted.

A CLERK at the Child Care and Protection Agency (CCPA) has found herself in some ‘hot water’ after an estimated 8 pounds of marijuana was found in her possession.

Reports are that the find occurred on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, this newspaper was informed that supervisors at the CCPA became curious that something was amiss after the

scent of the illicit substance permeated the office.

An employee then found the substance and placed it in another room and reports are that the clerk went around asking for the bag and claimed ownership.

The matter was referred to the Ministry of Social Protection’s office on Lamaha Street. It is unclear if the police were called in.

Child Care clerk found with marijuana

Secretary-General António Guterres (right) meets with Carl Greenidge, Vice-President and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guyana. uary 10, 1905 (referred to by Guyana as the “1905 Agreement”).

Guyana stated that in 1962, for the first time, Venezuela contested the Award as “arbitrary” and “null and void”. This, according to Guyana, led to the signing of the Agreement to resolve the controversy between Venezuela and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland over the frontier between Venezuela and British Guiana at Geneva on February 17, 1966 (the Geneva Agreement), which “provided for recourse to a series of dispute settlement mechanisms to finally resolve the controversy”.

Additionally, Guyana submits that the Geneva Agreement authorised the United Nations Secretary-General to decide which appropriate dispute resolution mechanism to adopt for the peaceful settlement of the dispute, in accordance with Article 33 of the United Nations Charter. On January 30, 2018, UN Secretary-General António Guterres deter-

mined that the Good Offices Process had failed to achieve a peaceful settlement of the controversy. Guterres took a formal and binding decision, under Article IV, paragraph 2 of the Agreement, to choose a different means of settlement under Article 33 of the Charter.

In identical letters to both Parties, the UN Secretary-General communicated the terms of his decision that, pursuant to the authority vested in him by the Geneva Agreement, the controversy shall be settled by recourse to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Guyana’s application to the ICJ has been filed pursuant to the Secretary-General’s decision. The full text of Guyana’s application is available on the ICJ website.

The ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.

It was established by the United Nations Charter in June 1945 and began its activities in April 1946. The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands).

Burglars flee with undergarments during break-in at NA Market THIRTY-three-year-old Tabitha Benjamin, a vendor at the New Amsterdam Market, reportedly lost $231,906 worth in undergarments, footwear and beverages after her stall was broken into sometime after she closed it on Wednesday.

The distraught woman told Guyana Chronicle that this is the second time she has experienced losses since moving to the location two years ago. Previously, she had occupied a stall in Pitt Street, the main shopping area in the township, but had to remove after the place was sold.

According to her, it was just before 08:00hrs that she showed up at her business place to ply her trade. “I opened the counter door and then moved to open the eastern door. It was after opening that door that I noticed that a board was removed from the northern wall,” the woman related.

She said the northern wall is adjacent to the Municipal Council’s fence, but, beyond that, there is a sea of overgrown bushes. It is believed that the thief gained

entry from the back of the stall and removed a piece of wood from the wall, before pushing his/ her hand into the shop and removing the articles which were in a bag. Thereafter, the individual/s jumped the fence, leaving behind mannequins and empty beverage bottles. Benjamin noted that while she was supported by the Municipal Constabulary ranks, who assisted her by searching for the perpetrators, the same cannot be said about the ranks at Central Police Station.

“I went to Central Police Station. I got a tip of where some of the items were.

The police say there is no vehicle. The other day they got several vehicles and now they are saying there is none,” she lamented.

Further, this newspaper was told that there are insufficient ranks manning the New Amsterdam Market.

Moreso, with the opening of the Esplanade Park, ranks are now sent at that location, leaving fewer ranks at a location where much revenue are garnered.

Investigations are continuing.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, April 6, 2018

Power without skills spells disaster –– psychologist looks at GDF captain after shooting death of wife

By Rabindra Rooplall

PSYCHOLOGIST Wil Campbell is appealing to the Joint Services to provide psychosocial support to its members, pointing out that domestic violence results from social learning and poor problem-solving skills.

He shared this view in the aftermath of the murder of travel agent Reona Payne, a mother of three, by her reputed husband, former army Captain Orwain Sandy.

Sandy, who served as the Special Assistant to the Chief-of-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), on Saturday last emptied his gun on his reputed wife in First Street, Alexander Village, Georgetown.

After committing the act, he surrendered to police at the Ruimveldt Police Station.

“I am appealing for the Joint Services, in particular, to provide psychosocial support in a systematic way, make it a matter of policy to provide strengthened systematic support for their personnel. When you train people and give them all this power and they have unresolved issues: that’s a recipe for disaster and I suspect that is why we have so many issues coming out of the Joint Services,” the psychologist said.

He explained that military people and people in power in general, including men in the household, do not understand the purpose of power and they misuse it.

Power, he said, should be channeled towards resolving issues.

Campbell said a resolution to violence against women and children, needs to start with people learning to apply power and understanding that power only equips an individual to perform a function and not to control others.

Emphasising that social, psychological, problem-solving and conflict resolution skills are needed, the psychologist said women are raised to think they are sub-

forcement. I think we need to strengthen legislations so that someone does not have to testify against an abuser.

If a neighbour witnesses an abuse and is willing to give evidence then that case should not be thrown out because the victim does not want to testify.

“I also feel that if a victim reports violence they should not be allowed to withdraw that report, and

Psychologist Wil Campbell servient and have to be willing participants in patriarchy.

He explained that many women believe that they cannot survive without a man, or if they are left alone they are no good enough for anyone else.

“The entrapment and trapped feeling that they can’t leave because they can’t go back home, or make it on their own and that people won’t believe them are challenges faced by women.

“I think the legal system is also a contributor, both at the legislative and en-

there must be some way that the perpetrator can be prosecuted whether or not the victim wants to prosecute or not,” Campbell said.

LEARNED BEHAVIOUR The psychologist explained that boys learn from watching their fathers beating their mothers (and vice versa) or from their parents beating them, that violence is an acceptable (or at least useful) means of getting others to comply.

Campbell noted that girls

learn via the same means, that it is normal for the more powerful party to inflict violence; hence, being a victim is normalised.

In some cases, he said the perpetrators of domestic violence were not raised in violent situations. However, because they never learned how to deal with emotionally challenging situations or interpersonal conflict, they become frustrated and resort to violence.

Further, he asserted that violence against women is a manifestation of unequal power relation between male and female, leading to discrimination against the women by men and the prevention of the full-advancement of women.

The psychologist underscored that the intentional use of physical force, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or a group or community, either results in, or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, mal-development or deprivation.

He said violence against women is a global issue as many women are neglected and trapped within cultural framework, molded by a patriarchal system.

As a result, violence against women is viewed as a normal phenomenon in the light of male attitudes, he added.

In a study done by Help and Shelter, it was noted that in Guyana, jealousy is a common theme in domestic violence scenarios, with women often being portrayed as devious and sexually pro-

Interdicted GDF Captain Orwain Sandy and Reona Payne in happier times miscuous.

Shelters study underscored.

Although reliable nationMeanwhile, a US report al statistics are not readily on human rights practices available, the study noted for 2015, has highlighted that it is well accepted that the shortcomings in GuyGuyanese women continue ana, describing the domestic to be subject to widespread violence situation here as violence that prevents them widespread. from enjoying other constitu“Domestic violence and tionally-ensured rights. violence against women, “The landscape has not including spousal abuse, was changed much since then. widespread. The law proThis does not mean that sig- hibits domestic violence and nificant work is not on-going allows victims to seek prompt at the national and communi- protection, occupation, or ty levels, or that the efforts of tenancy orders from a magdedicated activists and social istrate,” the US Department workers are not making a dif- of State report highlighted. ference in the lives of many Survivors, frequently, women,” the study noted. were unwilling to press “We are still struggling charges due to a lack of conto address the fundamental fidence in obtaining a remedy question of how to effect through the courts. Some the kind of societal change preferred to reach a pecunineeded to eliminate domes- ary settlement out of court, tic violence in Guyana. This it added. type of change can only occur According to the US through collaboration across State Department, there sectors, government, civic were reports of police acand donor organisations, and cepting bribes from perpewith the sustained political trators and other reports will necessary to implement of magistrates applying a long-term and coherent inadequate sentences after plan of action,” the Help and conviction.

Police seek legal advice on Linden murder suspect POLICE are seeking legal advice on how to proceed against the alleged prime suspect who was apprehended recently in the vicinity of Carmichael Street, Georgetown, for the murder of Linden businessman Romel Edison Gomes.

Gomes was murdered on March 12, 2018.

The alleged suspect, 35-year-old John Caesar, a chef of East Ruimveldt Housing Scheme, Georgetown, according to the police was positively identified by a neighbour of the now dead man.

Police received information about the suspect and detectives had been monitoring his where-

abouts.

On the day of Gomes’ murder, Caesar was reportedly one of two persons seen at the home of the deceased. In fact, the 32-yearold businessman was heard arguing with Caesar and another man prior to his death.

It was reported that during the argument, a loud

explosion was heard and the visitors fled the scene in Gomes’ motor car – PVV 2057 – which was parked in front of his shop.

Gomes bloodied body was found with his hands bound in front of him and a bandana tied around his mouth. He was found with a suspected gunshot injury to his right temple, a small

laceration on top of his head and another lacerated wound to the neck.

A post-mortem examination later revealed his cause of death as gunshot wound to the head.

His car was recovered intact at One Mile, Wismar, Linden the day after the murder was committed.

Dead: Romel Edison Gomes

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, April 6, 2018

President to lead delegation to Commonwealth Summit

PRESIDENT David Granger will be attending the 25th meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations, to be held in the London from April 16 to 20, 2018.

Minister of State Joseph Harmon told reporters that the President, who would be joined by Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge, Director General Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Audrey Waddle and Guyana’s High Commissioner to London, Hamley Case, will emphasise Guyana’s role in and contribution to the green agenda of the Commonwealth.

Themed “Towards a Common Future”, the four-day summit is geared

towards orienting the commonwealth to a more proactive and relevant global role with regard to increasing international turbulence and unease.

In keeping with the summit’s theme, four specific areas will be of primary discourse; Prosperity - Boosting intra-commonwealth trade and investment; Security - increasing cooperation, response to security challenges including global terrorism, organised crime and cyber-attacks, Fairness promoting democracy, fundamental freedoms and good governance across the Commonwealth, and Sustainabilitybuilding resilience of small and vulnerable states to deal with the effects of climate change and other crises.

Minister Harmon reminded that 2019 will mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Iwokrama reserve. Moreover, Guyana recently dedicated approximately 700,000 hectares of the protected area of Konashen Protected Area, home of the Wai Wai people, in the South Rupununi, to the Queens Commonwealth Canopy.

“Guyana will therefore use the opportunity of the heads of government meeting to continue its leadership role in the establishment of the green agenda of the Commonwealth and we do so as we seek to establish a green economy and green state as our model of development,” the Minister of State added.

President David Granger

Gov't wary of ‘fake news’ about border troubles … says a lot being done to protect citizens at frontline communities

GOVERNMENT will not act upon hearsay as it relates to matters concerning the Guyana-Venezuela border and that a lot is being done to protect citizens living in ‘frontline communities’, Minister of State Joseph Harmon told reporters Thursday.

He said while the administration is concerned about what transpires at its borders, it is important that residents of border communities who provide information must have evidence to corroborate their stories.

Recent reports of Venezuelan military operations near the border have been unproven and according to Minister Harmon very often residents call their family and friends about issues happening in their communities but fail to report same to the disciplined forces.

“We cannot as a nation approach the international agencies, we cannot approach the United Nations (UN) with hearsay, and we have to have credible information upon which we can file these reports, upon which we can dispatch Note Verbales, that is, things that are occurring that affect the security of our borders and citizens,” said Minister Harmon.

He said it is critical that “credible information” is forthcoming in “an era of fake news.” He said Guyana will not put itself in a position where it takes false information unknowingly to the UN. “We have to have credible reports - and verifiable reports about things occurring on our border and I trust that all the citizens of this country who see this broadcast would understand the importance of having credible information upon which we can file these reports to the UN. That is our line of defence and it is something we have to take seriously,” he stressed.

He noted that oftentimes when investigations are done, the reports are found to be wanting. “Time is spent verifying the accuracy of reports which sometimes take you down a trail that doesn’t pan out and it is taking up state resources to verify a lot of these matters,” he said, quietly adding that “anything which occurs on our borders is a matter of concern to us. We cannot have activities which threaten the territorial integrity of Guyana to go unreported.”

As such, Harmon called for there to be corroboration of information presented in reports to the disciplined

forces and ultimately the government.

Meanwhile, Harmon said, several measures have been taken by his administration to ensure that persons who live and work in the communities near the Guyana-Venezuela border are assured of safety. “I will not go into all of the things they (disciplined forces) are doing but certainly patrolling is a routine activity for the forces,” he stated.

Additionally, it has been noted that there are persons who have personal grievances that make reports to the security forces. This is something the minister said people must desist from doing.

“When these reports come, you have to make a careful analysis of the information before you actually act on intelligence in which the forces can be deployed,” he said while assuring that there is a sufficiency of resources. The challenge however, is the lack of communication with the disciplined forces. “We have to ensure that the information that is provided is passed to them (disciplined forces) quickly that they can respond,” the minister stated while noting that the disciplined forces are on the ground and have

resources at their disposal to respond quickly to reports.

“We have to get the reports to them as quickly as possible so they can respond,” he stated. Additionally, Minister Harmon has assured that “a high level impact” is taking place along the border. He said the matter is being dealt with at the National Security Committee and in fact, Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan and members of the Parliamentary Oversight Committee recently visited Region One. The Committee’s visit follows several visits by President David Granger after reports of armed gangs in the Cuyuni River harassing Guyanese miners.

“Cabinet noted that the Guyana Defence Force and the Guyana Police Force have mounted high-level, ranking visits to the area in an approach which includes citizens, the Guyana Gold and Diamond Mining Association (GGDMA), the Ministry of Natural Resources’ corps of wardens, in an attempt to collectively address the security situation.”

The oversight committee which comprises persons from government as well as opposition and personnel

from the National Assembly visited the area; spoke to persons, policemen and residents to give them the assurance that what is taking place there is being addressed. Harmon assured that President Granger’s policy on frontier villages (Kaikan, Cuyuni-Mazaruni (Region Seven), and Whitewater and Baramita in Region One), as well as specific actions, is being enforced.

The president, in the Frontline Village Policy, outlined his 10-point improvement plan for frontier villages which aim at ensuring access to public services in the areas of citizenship, registration and immigration, education, human safety, information communication technology, national defence, public health, public infrastructure, social cohesion and social protection.

Last week Guyana submitted its application to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) requesting the court to confirm the legal validity and binding effect of the 1899 Arbitral Award regarding the boundary between Guyana and Venezuela.

On January 30, 2018, UN Secretary-General António Guterres deter-

Minister of State Joseph Harmon mined that the Good Offices Process between the two countries had failed to achieve a peaceful settlement of the controversy.

Guterres took a formal and binding decision, under Article IV, paragraph 2 of the Agreement, to choose a different means of settlement under Article 33 of the Charter.

In identical letters to both parties, the UN Secretary-General communicated the terms of his decision that, pursuant to the authority vested in him by the Geneva Agreement, the controversy shall be settled by recourse to the ICJ.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, April 6, 2018

Accountability and leadership cited as critical to strong education system

Dr Brian O’Toole makes a point during the forum.

DIRECTOR of the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD), Ms. Jennifer Cumberbatch, believes strong accountability and excellent leadership are consistent practices, internationally recognised and practised for top-performing education systems.

According to a release from the Ministry of Education, Cumberbatch made the point during the Caribbean Conference on Educational Leadership which opened on Thursday at the School of the Nations in Georgetown. The two-day conference is being sponsored by the Ministry of Education and the British High Commission.

According to Cumberbatch, the Guyanese exceptional academics, artists, sportsmen and women that have been produced are products of the excellent education system “that we need to get back to.”

Further, she noted that moving forward, it is imperative that principals and teachers are given the training and support to run efficient result-oriented schools whose students achieve previously inconceivable feats under their leadership.

“To get to this stage, “Data collection” is important because we need educational information on how

our schools are functioning to be more informed when making policies that drive the education system towards Quality Education for All… Unquestionably, heads and principals are responsible for the creation of a school’s culture. The empowerment through knowledge of all heads and principals through conferences like this will only build confidence, give support and guidance in creating the school culture that is nurturing and productive, producing students that reach their full potential.”

Cumberbatch , who represented Minister of Education , Nicolette Henry at the forum , noted that Guyana has a number of exceptional schools that have recently achieved outstanding results against all of the odds. She added that this is so because their future-focused principals, head teachers, teachers and parents have worked together and grasped the opportunities offered by the ministry, to make a clean break from past practices and embrace the new guidelines on how schools should be run to increase attendance and improve academic achievements of their students.

According to the Education Ministry, the common theme which evolved in the many presentations made at the opening ceremony was

British High Commissioner to Guyana , Greg Quin addresses the gathering.

Director of the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD), Jennifer Cumberbatch, as she addressed the gathering.

Nations, Dr. Brian O’Toole said that the conference is a product of meetings held with the Minister of Education and the Chief Education Officer, Marcel Hutson. Following these engagements, the Regional Education Officers (REdO) were consulted.

In providing an overview of the forum, he said that specific focus is being placed on providing assistance and support to teachers within Region One, North West District. The facilitators of the

Participants at the conference on Thursday.

that educators need to work to transform the education sector into one that is second

to none.

At Thursday’s opening, Director of the School of the

conference are 30 teachers drawn from various parts of

the globe including, England, Canada and Australia.

Further, he said that during this year’s conference, the Nations University will be launching its Professional Development Qualification in Educational Leadership programme which is being offered by the Cambridge University, one of the school’s many partners.

Ms. Lucila Marquez, Representative of the Cambridge University, said that the Educational Leadership programme aims at offering support to teachers and leaders to be better educators. She said that the programme will teach educators how to develop a life-long passion for learning within their students.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Dr. Paloma Mohamed during her remarks told the educators that teaching is the most rewarding thing to do in life.

Being an educator herself, Dr. Mohamed encouraged the teachers, head teachers and REdOs that they need to become transformational leaders to have the greatest impact in their profession.

British High Commissioner to Guyana, Greg Quin encouraged the educators to take advantage of the opportunity being offered so that Guyana can take its education system to higher levels.

GDF to get two skyvans GCCI elects new Executive Management Committee THE Guyana Defence Force (GDF) is likely to receive two additional planes to add to its fleet and Minister of State, Joseph Harmon said that the government is interested in acquiring Skyvans and is in the process of inspecting them.

“I know that we are looking to acquire Skyvans and we are in the process of inspecting them,” Harmon told the Guyana Chronicle on Thursday. Since the equipment is still being inspected, the Minister said no date has been given yet as to when the craft would be available to the military.

The government has, however, given its commitment to strengthen the country’s border regions and boost their abilities by providing

the requisite equipment.

This newspaper was told that the army itself continues to express interest in building its fleet by accessing helicopters also. While Minister Harmon said he could only speak to the Skyvans, GDF sources confirmed that talks have surfaced about the possible acquisition of at least two helicopters outside of fixed-wing aircraft.

The Short SC.7 Skyvan is a British 19-seat twin-turboprop aircraft. The high wing, twin-engine carrier has always been pegged as an ideal craft for Guyana given its STOL-- Short Takeoff and Landing abilities --which will suit the country’s short interior airstrips. The GDF had been operating two helicopters--the GDF One and GDF

Two--while problems would be experienced occasionally with its Bell 412 helicopter. The GDF’s fleet had also included another 1960s British-made Skyvan with several years of operation.

A “corroding” Chinese Harbin Y-12 and a single-engine Cessna 206 seized during a drug raid was also in the mix. Last year, the army had requested funding for the acquisition of additional rotor wing aircraft, models with capabilities said to be significantly advanced, as compared to the Bell 206 helicopters on the army’s roster. The GDF has been fortunate, however, in receiving several pieces of equipment from the Chinese and other foreign associates.

Members of the GCCI Executive Management Committee

FOLLOWING the election of a new Council of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce & Industry (GCCI) for the year 2018/2019 on Thursday, March 29, 2018, the Council, which consists of 21 members, held its first Statutory Meeting on Thursday, April 5, 2018 to elect from its body a new Executive Management Committee (EMC) for the year 2018/2019.

The new EMC is composed of a President, Deodat Indar; Senior Vice-President , Nicholas Deygoo; Junior Vice-President, Timothy Tucker; Secretary , Kester Hutson and Treasurer, Shanti Persaud.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, April 6, 2018

Hope Children’s Home goes ‘green’

13

–– with help of Farfan & Mendes, Rotary Int’l

FOUR children from the Hope Children’s Home at Enmore recently paid a courtesy call on Managing Director of Farfan & Mendes, Mr. Andrew Mendes to personally thank him for what he has done for the institution.

They did so by way of a letter, thanking him and the company by extension for providing the Home with a 3.1 kW solar-powered system to help it generate its own elec-

tricity whenever the need arises.

The Hope Children’s Home, which is located on the East Coast, provides a shelter for more than 40 children.

The solar-generation project was funded in part by the International Committee of the Rotary Club of Chestnut Hill in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,USA, with additional contributions from Dr. Rebecca Anwar and Farfan & Mendes Limited.

Man remanded for ex-girlfriend’s death On Wednesday, 39-year-old Lucri Fiffee of 1109 West Minister, West Demerara, was remanded to prison for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Rosemary Rudder which took place on Good Friday evening.

The man who had turned himself into the police after the incident, was not required to plead to the indictable charge when it was read to him by Magistrate Rochelle Liverpool at the Leonora Magistrate’s Court. The matter was transferred to the Wales Magistrate’s Court where the man would make his next court appearance on June 14, 2018.

A post-mortem performed on the remains of the woman suggested that she died as a result of a compression to the neck compounded by blunt trauma to the head. On the night in question, the woman reportedly trailed the man to West Minister where he was heading to the home of another woman with whom he shared a relationship. He and

Rudder ended their relationship sometime ago.

However, while trailing the man, the woman got lost and eventually called Fiffee and related to him that she was trailing him but got lost in the village. The man then went out to get the woman to safety and he took her at his home where she encountered the other female and as such, Fiffee and Rudder ended up fighting. It was during the fight when the woman was choked and died. He immediately went to the police station where he made a report about the matter and the police later visited his home where the found the motionless body of the woman.

Fiffee, who operates a minibus, was subsequently informed that the woman was dead and he was detained as the police conducted their investigation and are also awaiting the result of a post-mortem for the woman.

Pay up or face the consequences –– GNBA warns defaulting broadcasters

BROADCASTERS indebted to the Guyana National Broadcasting Agency (GNBA) are being cautioned that if by the end of the business day today they have not fulfilled their contractual agreement, they will lose their licences.

The warning comes from Chairman of the GNBA, Leslie Sobers, who says that a number of broadcasters, primarily those in radio, have not followed through with agreements made at the beginning of the year.

Back in January, the Agency met with broadcasters for radio, television and cable explaining that their outstanding arrears would be settled in a manner which would give them additional time to pay off their debts.

The final decision was that broadcasters would pay 50 per cent of the monies owing to the GNBA by the end of March, then, pay the remaining percentage over a period of months.

However, it is now April and Sobers says that many have not complied, and

as such, the agency is fully prepared to move ahead with the consequences of such actions.

In the new week, a list will be compiled and published in the media of all broadcasters in compliance with the aforementioned contract, and only those on the list will receive licences to broadcast in 2018.

Those not on the list can expect to have their service discontinued or face the full brunt of the law, in accordance with the National Broadcast Act 2011 and its 2017 Amendment.

According to the Act, any person who carries on a broadcasting service at the licenced location after the licence granted to him has been suspended, cancelled or expired commits an offence.

That person is liable to a fine of $2M and imprisonment for one year, along with the forfeiting of all machinery and equipment used, or which can be used, for broadcasting.

The deadline for making good on payment is today, Friday, April 6, 2018.

With the children from left are: Rotary International’s Dr. Rebecca Anwar and Farfan & Mendes’ Mr. Andrew Mendes and Ms. June Mendes

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, April 6, 2018

Linden Hospital to get drugs from GPHC … following protest action by nurses over shortages

By Vanessa Braithwaite THE Linden Hospital Complex (LHC) will now obtain its supply of medical drugs from the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) as a temporary measure to address issues of shortages which led to protest action by nurses.

Nurses attached to LHC

on Thursday downed tools as a means of protesting the shortage of drugs and other medical supplies that is preventing them from effectively carrying out their work.

About 50 nurses at approximately 09:00hrs assembled in the Out-Patient Department (OPD) and refused to work until the management of the hospital put

an amicable and tangible solution on the table. The nurses, many of them members of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), were supported by the Industrial Relations Officer of Region 10 Maurice Butters who was present.

In a statement the Public Health Ministry said it is currently addressing the issue at the LHC. The minis-

try explained that on March 6, 18 and 21, the LHC ordered medical supplies from the Materials Management Unit. On March 6, they received 16 out of the 24 items requested; and on March 18, they received 91 items out of the 174 requested.

“It is usual for the LHC to purchase drugs and medical supplies whenever there is a shortage but as a result of poor forecasting the medical institution has already spent all the money allotted for the first quarter of this year,” the ministry said.

It added: “The Ministry of Public Health has begun to put necessary measures in place to correct this anomaly. Currently, the ministry is in the process of clearing some containers of some key medical supplies. The management of the LHC was never notified of the intended ‘sit-in’ by the Guyana Public Service Union or its Linden representative.”

One nurse who opted to remain anonymous said that the situation is more than a yearlong one and while management may be trying their best to correct same, it is she and her colleagues who have to face the public and receive criticism for not being able to provide the needed service.

“Is we have to face the patients and this is the only way that this can be solved because year come and year go and is the same thing,” the nurse lamented.

Speaking on behalf of

the group, Butters said that the nurses have voiced their disapproval on the way things are going especially the timely requisition of drugs and supplies, some of which are available in the hospital’s bond.

“It is a sad situation; yesterday I was at a pharmacy making a purchase and a young lady with two children presented to them a prescription from the hospital for drugs for the children. She had to get two bottles but when she heard the price, she could have only bought one. I think the hospital is there to ease the poorer set of people who can’t afford, the pensioners who cannot afford to buy medication which is costing them between 5-10 thousand dollars, so I am hoping that we can have some positive response from the ministry because the management is blaming the ministry,” Butters told the media.

The Industrial Relations Officer said that the nurses have been trying their best to cope with the situation for quite some time and working beyond the call of duty and it has reached the stage where they cannot continue.

Chief Executive Officer of the Hospital, Dr. Mohammed Riyasat, immediately met with the nurses after hearing about the sit-in and explained to them that management is aware of the situation and it has been addressed at the bi-monthly section heads meeting and

that management is pursuing all possible avenues to have the situation rectified.

Public Relations Officer (PRO) Toshanna Allicock said that subsequently, management held a teleconference with Minister Lawrence and Director of Regional Health Services, Dr Kay Shako, and a decision was made to have LHC temporarily acquire drugs from the GPHC until a permanent solution is decided.

The first set of these drugs - critical drugs and medical and surgical supplies - were transported to Linden from GPHC on Thursday afternoon.

When quizzed on what is the cause for the shortage, Allicock said that some of the drugs are not available for purchase and some are not available countrywide.

“One of the issues that we are having is the timely release of funds from Ministry of Finance (MoF) to purchase the drugs like critical drugs so what happens is though we will get drugs from the MMU, we are also allotted a certain amoint of money to purchase critical drugs and we are having that hiccup,” Allicock said.

She further explained that the MoF is now requiring critical information before releasing funds and the process in now lengthier.

The management of the hospital will be meeting with the staff on Friday to update them on the issue.

Ex-GDF officer to appear in court today –– to answer charges for shooting death of live-in partner

FORMER Guyana Defence Force (GDF) officer, Captain Orwain Sandy is expected to be placed before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court today for the murder of his live-in girlfriend whom he allegedly shot to death last Saturday following a heated argument.

Sandy, who served as Special Assistant to the Army’s Chief-of-Staff, emp-

tied his service weapon on Reona Payne in the vicinity of First Street, Alexander Village, Georgetown.

After committing the act, he surrendered to police at the Ruimveldt Police Station.

The police have confirmed that Sandy used his service revolver during the shooting. Police sources also related that the soldier had, on one occasion,

lodged his firearm at the police station during a domestic dispute.

The Chief-of-Staff has ordered the Force’s Inspector-General to set up a Board of Inquiry to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.

And the GDF has sought to assure the public that Sandy’s action does not reflect the behaviour of other soldiers.

High-level team for OAS conference GUYANA will participate in the 8th Summit of the Americas of the Organisation of American States (OAS) to be held on April 13 and 14 in Lima, Peru, Minister of State Joseph Harmon has announced.

The summit, themed “Democratic Governance against Corruption”, will be

aimed at coordinating concrete action among member states in the fight against corruption that hinders sustainable development and which is a trans-national threat across the western hemisphere.

Harmon said Guyana’s participation will reiterate the government’s continued com-

mitment to fight corruption at the national and regional levels.

Guyana’s delegation will include Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge, Ambassador Dr Riyad Insanally, Guyana’s Ambassador to the OAS and Guyana’s Ambassador to CARICOM Charlene Phoenix.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, April 6, 2018

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‘STEAM crucial to Guyana’s future’ – Minister Nicolette Henry

EDUCATION Minister Nicolette Henry has said that the inclusion of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) in schools is cru-

cial for the development of the country’s future innovators and entrepreneurs.

Henry made these remarks on Wednesday, at the launching of the biennial

National STEAM Fair hosted at the St. Joseph High School under the theme: ‘STEAM: Paving the way for a green and sustainable society’.

There, a total of 148 projects within 23 categories were displayed by primary, secondary and tertiary level

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, April 6, 2018

Minister of Education, Nicolette Henry declares the National Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) Fair open at the St. Joseph High School on Wednesday schools from 11 districts around Georgetown.

The students were tasked with identifying a problem in their school, community or in the country with a view to addressing it with an inventive idea.

Delivering the feature remarks, Henry pointed out that the adoption of the Arts into the mix of activities was a necessary step, which would ensure the inclusion of all skill sets and talents among the country’s children.

“The movement of STEM to STEAM by adding arts to the technical creativity is the foundation for advancement in all fields,” she said, later adding: “Through such activities, we offer to A student of Diamond Secon our students and teachers Carbo-ink’ (Photos by Delan the opportunity to showcase, disseminate, and share which showcased Guyana’s knowledge related to sci- agricultural and medicinal ence, arts, and technology.” potential, artistic works such Meanwhile scores of as sculptures and woodwork, projects lined the school’s as well as, artificial intelcompound and hallways, ligence creations such as depicting creative inven- interactive mini-robots.

The Minister took time tions by the students to help out to visit many of the to protect the environment, booths, as the children make life easier and generknowledgably explained the ate and save energy. ideas behind their projects There were also projects

Motorcyclist cr collision in Ro A SECURITY attached to GuySuCo is currently in a critical state at the Georgetown Public Hospital following a collision on Monday night.

While details are sketchy, the man identified as Hector Gobin called ‘Echo’ of Williamsburg was on his way to work on his motorcycle when it collided with a motor canter sometime between 21:30hrs and 22:00hrs, opposite the Demerara Bank in Rose Hall Town.

He was picked up by public-spirited citizens in an unconscious state and taken to the nearby Port Mourant Hospital and then transferred via ambulance to New Amsterdam Hospital and subsequently to the Georgetown Public Hospital due to the injuries he suffered.

According to the wife and mother of their two

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, April 6, 2018

Members of STEAM Guyana showcase a mini interactive robot

ndary School depicts in her project ‘The Revolution of no Williams) and how they would serve to help the country.

In addition, participating in the 2018 STEAM Fair were the Guyana Police Force (GPF), the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), the University of Guyana (UG) and STEM Guyana.

Attending the fair were: Assistant Chief Education Officers (ACEOs), Owen

Pollard and June Ann Gonsalves, as well as a number of parents and teachers who supported the students.

The national fair, which is set to conclude its three-day run today, goes hand in hand with the Ministry’s aim of increased promotion of Science and Technology in schools.

ritical following ose Hall Town children, Stephanie Gobin, her husband suffered severe injuries to his head which resulted in a fractured skull, internal bleeding and a cut to his abdomen among bruises about his body. She told Guyana Chronicle she received a call sometime after 22:00hrs stating her husband was in an accident and was at the Port Mourant Hospital.

“After I got the call I rushed to the hospital and when I saw him I nearly fainted. He was covered in blood and was not moving. He was missing some teeth and they had to transfer him over to New Amsterdam.

When he reached and the doctors examined him they said he had serious head injuries so they decided to send him to Georgetown”

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These secondary school students explain how to prevent water pollution during mining through their model

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, April 6, 2018

Ease up on the blackouts –– Region Two residents urge GPL

RESIDENTS of Region Two are calling on the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Company to end the spate of blackouts the region has been experiencing.

The inadequate supply of power by GPL has left many businesses and residents in a state of discomfort.

Businesspersons continue to vent their frustrations over the situation as they are often forced to use standby generators.

Residents are clueless as to why the

region has been experiencing severe power outages, and according to information received, the region has three rented generator sets which are intended to end the frequent power outages.

In an earlier release issued by the company’s public relations officer (PRO), it was revealed that the power outages occurred as a result of fuel-related issues.

It is not clear if this matter has been resolved.

New GPL Chief Executive Officer Albert Gordon on Wednesday said the company requires US$150M to address urgent shortcomings in the operating systems of the entity.

“We need to do some major reconfigurations,” Gordon said, during a meetand-greet session with the media at the Pegasus Hotel in Kingston.

He said while the company is working to provide service with its existing resources, it would require a sum of US$110M to first address system deficiencies and another

US$40M to fix the generators at the power company.

He said during his first two days here in Guyana earlier this year, the system shut down twice and according to him, he has identified the major challenge facing him, which is “keeping the lights on”.

He said that there are different contributors to the system failing, including the configuration of the existing system infrastructure.

“Right now there are serious deficiencies in the system that we need to address,” he said.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, April 6, 2018

A success with children and families 2018’s Kids Fest 592

The contestants of Miss Kids Fest 2018 (Photos courtesy of Natalya Thomas and AOne Events)

KIDS Fest 592 was held this past Sunday, April 1, in the their parents but their extended families as well. She related Promenade Gardens. The event, which is in its second that she saw many children enjoying the activities with their year, was by all accounts a resounding success with at- parents. “I think that was what made my heart most happy,” tendees. Families benefitted from the bonding experiences she said. She was also really happy to note the intelligence of facilitated by Kids Fest’s activities. the participants in the pageant, particularly the younger ones Natalya Thomas, Director of AOne Events which host- who were also bold and confident. ed Kids Fest 592 and the Miss Kids Fest Pageant, told this Thomas related that the responses she received from publication that the event turned out to be even greater than attendees after the event were a testament to its success. she had expected. She noted that there were over a thousand Parents noted that the event made the children who atattendees at the event. The activities at this year’s Kids Fest tended very happy. One parent said that they look forward 592 included a puppet show, a tea party featuring characters to future events organised by Thomas and AOne Events. from Alice in Wonderland, a bouncy castle and trampolines, Multiple persons urged her to keep up the good work and games, and an egg hunt. to continue to host the event in the future. “[It] was a good In addition to the Alice in Wonderland characters – Alice, experience and I think it’s a wonderful idea to have an the Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts – Mickey and Minnie event of that nature around this time,” one attendee noted Mouse, Dora and a Minion also made an appearance, posing while another summed up the event by saying, “Kids Fest for photographs and interacting with the children.

592 was the bomb!”

A definite highlight of the event was the Miss Kids Fest pageant which saw young ladies competing in various segments in the four to six, seven to 11 and 12 to 15 age categories. The participants who were judged Most Photogenic were Malika Ramnaught in Junior, Tonola Robinson in Middle and Katianna Ross in the Senior category. Each of the three young ladies won a photo shoot compliments of Eclipse Digital Photo. The winner in the four to six category was Jaquesha Richmond with Latisha Walker winning in the seven to 11 and Tyre Collins in the 12 to 14 age category.

One of the main goals of Kids Fest 592, as Thomas noted, is to provide an environment for families to spend time together and Alice in Wonderland characters bond. Especially important is providing space with a little one dressed as Alice (Photo by BeastEnt) where children can spend time with, not only

A contestant with Miss Guyana World 2017 Vena Mookram

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, April 6, 2018

EXTRA-JUDICIAL EXECUTIONS A shortcut to national anarchy-tried and proven WE ARE essentially a nation that prefers to shift social concerns from a personal responsibility to a quick psycho-religious clarification of Angels and Demons; void of the diverse shades of reality that life is actually composed of. Extra-judicial killing is one area we have stepped away from having a deep social opinion about. If you are reading this article then you are engaging the subject and will soon recognise that it concerns a broader look at contributing factors that we ignore. This is not a new social phenomenon, but that it existed before, it was easy to have it escalate over the last 20 years.

This is an administrative period of sanity in this country and sanity demands a fixing of the insane. There are emotionally justified reasons that people want people who violate their lives through criminal invasions physically hurt or dead. But this is the part that the media resonates, with declarations of the individual’s past, to justify the murder of that accused individual, that sometimes mask the truth that he may have died for the secrets known of those accepted as respectable. Thus, we must understand that there are wider consequences that that approach conceals. For the small groups who have been paying attention to the casual approach to the dismissal of human life in Guyana, other matters have come to the fore.

Politics, ethnicity and the recent nouveau rich business upsurge, to which some 400-700 persons are of interest to international law enforcement also exist, are striving, and some have the promoted status as stakeholders of the national wellbeing. Their names are submitted to infiltrate the uphill task of the current administration in bringing Guyana from the state the World Bank described in 2003 as, “Guyana suffering a ‘crisis of governance’”, and we know what was happening back then.

The amazing contradicting presumption was in February last when Anil Nandlall declared in the media that the “Main objective of the crime spree Commission of Inquiry is to link the PPP/C gov't with criminality”. This offers an insight into the barren landscape that exists for a consciousness of this person. What about mothers who still do not know where their sons’ remains are? The PPP was involved. Wasn’t Leslie Ramsammy the government minister who was the go-between with Roger Khan for the PPP/C government?

Did Ramsammy not purchase sensitive equipment and hand it over to the drug dealer, which the Defence Force seized?

Did the delusional Roger Khan not declare to the world that he was fighting crime for the PPP/C government of Guyana?

The COI on the troubled era is to bring closure and demonstrate that justice is still absolutely relevant to this country.

Human life in that period had become cheap. Many of

the killings during that era and today are privately funded, with the then government declaring a platform for money laundering, drug trafficking, the execution of public servants that did not give-in to bribes against their professional judgement. Cite ‘Alicia Foster’ and the young GGMC employee, paints a horrific scene of that period and the creatures of that era are still among us. The COI into the assassination plot against the president has been the most revealing ‘inquiry’ so far at completion. It exposed the condensed legal framework and the police support for Guyana’s blood-soaked criminal business community. It revealed how criminalised the Police Force had become. If the reader has knowledge of the players involved in that COI, both the accuser, the accused and their lawyers, then it would be much easier to understand why the atmosphere of police involvement or connection with extra-judicial killings today, should not be allowed to exist.

The wards of Georgetown have been populated by low-income families for the past 100 years, traumatised and pushed into evolving survival mechanisms of street cleverness and hustle. They have sold stolen jewellery to reputable jewellery establishments; have worked as enforcers for shady businessmen who have relied on their street savvy to get not so legal things done, from burning properties to murder, and are the prime subjects for prison and, of late, extra-judicial execution.

If you commit crimes then you should pay. But crime in Guyana has both political, economic and racial connotations. For example, some years ago a businessman with ‘phantom’ political-entitlement connections went to a source (this source was a former policeman) who took them into Albouystown to recruit a crew to murder a woman, who he thought stood in the way of him obtaining a property. The elderly woman was murdered, the suspects arrested and eventually sent to prison for a long time, but it was not so for the provider of the weapons or the recruiter who is the intellectual author of the act. Because of a highly compromised police situation, they were not even charged, even with circumstantial evidence. Then there is the damage done to policemen. Ex-policemen are responsible for a significant volume of paid murders including beheadings.

Others have dwindled into shells of themselves. I knew the policeman who shot George Butcher (a criminal from South Georgetown) and left him in a wheelchair on the streets for the rest of his life. I was working at GRB when he and a squad also shot a resident of Laing Avenue who was not dead when they stopped at German and ate while this young man bled to death. I came to know that policemen through phases of hostile communication over time, then in the 90s I saw him at a hospital.

He was in a wheelchair and was trying to tell me something. He had suffered a stroke. I think he was crying because the condition inhibited his speech, though he was trying hard.

His relatives or friends took him away, he passed away some months later.

Bad people exist, so do mental cases. A young man does not join the police force to be conditioned as a murderer of a bad record, but non-threatening suspects and a fool of the streets should be guided by justice to wrestle with his demons. The Police culture of entitled citizens will impair judgement. Had the two policemen killed by an obviously insane Deryck Kanhai on Middle Street in 2013, practised standard engagement procedures instead of rendering entitled-money man privilege to him, they would still be alive today. Their deaths rest with those who taught them ‘this law is fo dis one, and that law is fo dem.’

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, April 6, 2018

NDC gears up to stage Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”

MEET THE TEAM THIS year, the National Drama Company (NDC) of Guyana continues its annual tradition of staging a play that is currently on the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Literature syllabus by reaching back through the centuries and pulling William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” through time to showcase a raucous, magical, unprecedented version of the play that will undoubtedly contain all of the strong hallmarks of theatre that the NDC has become known for. “The Tempest” is being directed by NDC members, Keron Bruce and Esther Hamer. Bruce and Hamer, past students of the National School of Theatre Arts and Drama, both copped the Best Student in Directing Prize upon graduation from the school in 2013 and 2014, respectively, which only showcases the fact that they are both more than competent when it comes to directing and that the NDC’s production of “The Tempest” is indeed an event to look forward to. Shakespeare’s plays are not staged as readily as they should be in Guyana, so this does represent a rare treat, and after speaking with both directors, one does get the impression that this particular incarnation of the play will have enough spectacle to keep even the most skeptical theatre critic hooked on the story in “The Tempest.”

STRENGTHS Wisely, the directors are also playing to their strengths to ensure the success of the play. For example, Bruce has built a name for himself in Guyana, particularly because of his work in videography and photography, and a decision was made to employ these technical skills into the production by projecting on to the stage some elements of the play (including the shipwreck scene) that would serve to enhance the production through this use of technology. The use of modern technology (videos, projections, etc.) is a still relatively new technique in Guyanese theatre, and the NDC continues to establish itself as a group that is intent on remaining current in terms of theatre practices.

Hamer has built a reputation as being one of the best costume designers and dancers in modern Guyanese theatre, having designed and choreographed for almost all of the NDC’s productions. For this production, she is working alongside her husband, Jonathan Hamer, and company member, Le Tisha Da Silva, in order to produce on a mass scale all of the costumes that are supposed to reflect everything from sailors and noblemen to spirits and monsters. For “The Tempest”, she has also included a number of musical and dance sequences, which is another element that local audiences should enjoy since well-incorporated musical numbers in a play is a rare treat in Guyana. Choreography for the production is being done by company member, Melinda Primo-Solomon, assisted

by Hamer.

SHAKESPEARE’S THE TEMPEST The plot of “The Tempest” is intricate and mainly concerns the sorcerer, Prospero, and his daughter, Miranda, who live on a

lonely island, where fate gives Prospero, the chance to restore himself and his daughter to the positions they were removed from when they were banished to the island. Also involved in the plot are Prospero’s brother, Antonio, Alonso – King of Naples, his son – Ferdinand, Caliban the monster, Ariel, a spirit who serves Prospero, and several others. The cast of the play is large, and this was one of the reasons for the NDC reaching out beyond its company members in order to fulfil the quota for the number of actors that were needed for this

Directors, Esther Hamer and Keron Bruce

many popular actors with years and years of experience also lined up to star in “The Tempest.” In the lead role of Prospero, there is Mark Luke-Edwards, while Nirmala Narine plays his daughter, Miranda, with Sonia Yarde as Ceres and Nathaya Whaul as Juno.

Director Bruce has pointed out that the NDC is “the most creative and dynamic theatre group in Guyana” at the moment and that the production of “The Tempest” is a stepping stone in rekindling the fire of theatre within the Guyanese viewing public, an ongoing theme in the NDC’s mandate, and one that the company works to fulfil with each new production. He also says that the play is going to be an experience on stage that is different from other viewing experiences that one can have in Guyana. He also notes production. “The Tempest” promises to be a play with one of the largest casts ever hosted in an NDC production.

THE CAST On casting all of the roles in the play, the directors said they sought out actors who were available and willing to put in all the necessary work that was required to ensure that the best possible version of the play was performed. In some cases, they also took into consideration some of their actors’ natural leanings. A good example of this is seen in Lorraine Baptiste who plays Ariel, the spirit. She was chosen for the role not only because of her acting skills but also because she happened to be one of the best dancers in the NDC. Another example the directors also highlighted was Clinton Duncan who exudes an aristocratic aura and, therefore, was cast as Sebastian, a nobleman. Apart from Baptiste and Duncan, the play also stars many other young talents who have been making their presence felt in the theatre scene over the last few years and are representative of the New Wave of Guyanese theatre, such as Onix Duncan as Caliban, Nicholas Singh as Ferdinand, Kevin Kellman as Antonio, Christophe Greaves as Alonzo, Andrew Belle as Adrian, Charles Adrain as Gonzalo, Kimberly Samuels as Iris, Akbar Singh as Trinculo, and others. Additionally, there are

that ticket prices are affordable so as to be able to accommodate as many people as possible.

Hamer points out that Shakespeare is not only for the upper class, as some people may believe, and that Shakespeare wrote his plays for everyone, and that the NDC’s staging of it complements this idea. Hamer says that the production is “for the youngest child” and “for the oldest adult.” Hamer also notes that Guyanese people should give other types of plays, besides the popular farcical plays, a chance and highlights how “The Tempest” represents the NDC’s attempt to bring other kinds of theatre to the local audience. The directors also noted that their production would not be possible without the support of local businesses such as Giftland, GBTI, Tropical Rhythms, Dinah’s Embroidery and Royal Castle, and they have stated that more can be done in theatre and the arts as a whole if more patronage comes forth from the business community.

While the production does cater to students who are studying the play at CSEC – with special matinee showings for schoolchildren on the 17th, 18th, 19th April, there are also three night shows for the Guyanese public on the 13th, 14th, and 15th April. The directors are keen on encouraging parents to come out with their children and to share in an educational event that will be ultimately beneficial to students at the CSEC level, and to engage with the directors and cast at the end of each performance in the question and answer segment. All performances of “The Tempest” will be held at the National Cultural Centre.

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‘Superman’ Lewis stars on Day One of Commonwealth Games COLIN ‘Superman’ Lewis was Guyana’s only shining light on the opening day of the Commonwealth Games, at Gold Coast, Australia since the other first-day acts failed to advance in their respective disciplines.

Lewis fought St Lucian Nathan Ferrari and it was the third meeting between the two, with Lewis, the Caribbean champion, winning the first two fights in the first round via knockouts.

However, yesterday, Lewis didn’t get the same results as the previous bouts but settled for out-boxing his St Lucian counterpart, winning every round, except the fourth in their light welterweight contest.

Lewis will face Sinethemba Blom of South Africa on Sunday in his quest to join the likes of Wesley Christmas (bronze), Winfield Braithwaite (gold) and C. Atherly (bronze) as the only fighters to each win a medal in the sport for Guyana at the Commonwealth Games.

Meanwhile, swimmer Andrew Fowler, despite posting a personal best, did not make it to the next round in the Men’s 50 metres butterfly.

Fowler bettered his entry time (28.19 secs) for the event when he posted 27.23 secs to finish third in his heat, but it wasn’t good enough to send him through.

Over in table tennis, players Trenace Lowe, Priscilla Greaves, Christopher Franklin, Natalie Cummings, Shemar Britton, Nigel Bryan and Joel Alleyne lost their Men’s and Women’s matches 3-0 to England.

Today, the men will play Ghana and the women match skills with Vanuatu.

In squash, Sunil Seth had defeated Barbados’ Shawn Simpson 3-1, but fell in straight games (3-1) to Australia’s Rex Hedrick which put him out of medal contention.

Mary Fung-A-Fat, Jason Khalil and Taylor Fernandes all suffered 3-0 defeats against their respective opposition, and will now play in the Plate tournament which starts today.

Khalil will play Jules Snagg from St Vincent and the Grenadines while Fernandes and Fung-A-Fat secured a bye to the quarter-final stage of the plate tournament. (Rawle Toney) Continued from back page “She’s a phenomenal swimmer and she really nailed the swim, which I was hoping she would, and I was just holding on to her.”

Duffy said she was surprised, however, that there was a gap of one minute by the time the bike race leg had been completed.

“When the gap got to about a minute (on the bike), we said that’s great, let’s keep it steady from here, no crazy surges because we’ve got a nice lead and we’ve still got to run,” she said.

“Then towards the end of the bike I said, ‘Well done!

Let’s go, game on’.”

Duffy said she was excited about returning home in a few weeks to celebrate with family and friends when she races in the ITU World Triathlon Bermuda on April 28.

Duffy lands first ...

“The Games come around once every four years, they’re quite elusive and hard to get. It was definitely a lot of pressure and expectation put upon me. I’m glad I could execute a normal race for myself.”

Duffy went stroke for stroke with Learmonth in the ocean swim and pedal for pedal in the bike race over the first two legs, but she produced the third-quickest time over the five-kilometre run leg to put distance between herself and the Englishwoman to clinch the gold.

“We’ve raced together so much we have a common understanding,” she said of Learmonth. “I know she’ll pull through when she can and she knows I’ll pull through when I can.

Continued from FIBA AmeriCup 2021 ... back page The two qualified Caribbean teams will join the South American and Central American Pre-Qualifier champions along with the four-eliminated round one FIBA Basketball World Cup Qualifier – Americas teams.

The FIBA Women’s Caribbean Cup will qualify three teams for the FIBA Women’s Centrobasket Championship later this summer.

The preliminary phase for the FIBA Women’s Caribbean Cup begins on June 17 and concludes on June 19, with the first- and second-placed teams from each group advancing to the semi-finals and finals. The FIBA Women’s Caribbean Cup final phase will begin on June 20 and conclude on June 21.

The preliminary phase for the FIBA AmeriCup 2021 Ca-

ribbean Pre-Qualifier begins on June 24 and concludes on June 28.

Teams placing third through fifth from each group will play in the Classification phase, while the first- and second-placed teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals and finals.

The FIBA AmeriCup 2021 Caribbean Pre- Qualifier Classification and Final phases will begin on June 28 and conclude on June 30.

Tip-off begins at 16:30hrs each day for the FIBA Women’s Caribbean Cup and 14:15hrs each day for the FIBA AmeriCup 2021 Caribbean Pre-Qualifier at the Anthony Nesty Sports Hall.

A closing and awards ceremony will follow both finals.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, April 6, 2018

27

69 days to go …

Andrés Escobar’s deadly own goal DESPITE what cynics blessed with the gift of twenstay in, advising Escobar it would probably ty-twenty hindsight might have you believe, Pele’s sugbe best if they lie low. His manager shared gestion that Colombia would at least make the s e m i - f i Herrera’s concerns and told his player to nals of USA 94 wasn’t a crazy shot in the dark. be careful.

Those would come later, six of them; bullets fired in a According to eye-witness reports, Escobar Medellín nightclub car park during a row that oc- curred in showed his face to the wrong people. Upon arthe early hours of July 2, 1994. riving at Medellín’s El Indio Bar with friends, They would ring around the world, render- i n g m i l the footballer enjoyed a few drinks and was lions incredulous that the captain of Colombia had been happily talking to fellow revellers when a murdered, shot six times in the back, apparently as revenge few people began insulting him, sarcastically for his contribution to his own team’s elimina- tion from cheering his error against the USA. a World Cup that was not yet over. It seemed that for no Escobar left the premises, but the fourcrime more heinous than accidentally scoring strong group hurling abuse followed him, an own goal during a football match, Andrés Escobar had been gunned down in cold blood. Colombia captain Andrés Escobar lies on the ground after scoring an own goal at USA 94. continued their tirade and loudly labelled him a ‘faggot’. Upset, Escobar drove his El Caballero del Futbol, the gentleman of The following month, he was shot dead. (Photograph: Romeo Gacad/AFP/Getty Images) car across the car park in order to reason football, was a quiet, disciplined and much-loved with his detractors, insisting his own goal leader of a golden generation of Colombian A SQUAD PARALYSED BY FEAR footballers who travelled to USA 94 having conceded only two had been “an honest mistake”.

A frightened shadow of the fur coat-wearing maverick who goals in qualifying. Pele wasn’t delusional: they were genuine An already tense situation escalated and at least one gun later pitched up at Newcastle United, Faustino Asprilla rememcontenders. was produced and fired. Six bullets tore through the flesh In a final qualifier against Argentina which their hosts bered everyone at the meeting being “really tense”, paralysed by and bone of Escobar’s back as he sat at the wheel of his car. fear and with nobody saying a word. needed to win to ensure qualification, Colombia won 5-0 in Despite, or perhaps because of their terror, Colombia An ambulance was called, but it was too late. Less than 30 Buenos Aires, earning a standing ovation from shocked home threw the kitchen sink at the USA from the start. In the 22nd minutes later, Andrés Escobar was declared dead. fans whose team were eventually forced to creep through the minute, the psychological floodgates opened.

In the wake of the shooting, which was and remains back door courtesy of a play-off win over Australia. In 26 At full stretch in an effort to cut out a low, curling John widely assumed to be a revenge slaying perpetrated by matches leading up to USA 94, Colombia lost just once.

Harkes cross into the penalty area from the inside left, Escobar gangsters who had shipped heavy losses betting on Comade contact with the ball and sent it rolling past the hopelessly lombia at the World Cup, two people gave the licence THE OTHER ESCOBAR plate number of one of the vehicles in which the group Socially, it was also a time of terrible devastation and responsible for the murder made their escape. misery for Colombia. Medellín was in a state of emergency following the murder of Pablo Escobar, a namesake but no It was registered to the Gallón brothers, Pedro and Juan, relation to Andrés and head of the multi-billion dollar Medellín drug traffickers who had left Pablo Escobar’s Medellín cartel drug cartel. to join the Pepes. According to Jhon Jairo Velásquez Vásquez, Despite his status as bloodthirsty gang lord, Escobar an enforcer for Pablo Escobar currently in prison for 300 murwas beloved of his country’s many poor, for whom he ders, immediately after the shooting, the Gallóns approached provided employment and housing. He also built football Carlos Castano and paid him $3M to buy off the prosecutor’s pitches, lots of them, on which many of the stars who office and get them to focus their investigation on one of their qualified so effortlessly for USA 94 honed their skills as bodyguards who had been present at the scene. young boys.

Whether or not he actually pulled the trigger remains Escobar also owned the Medellín football team Atlético unknown, but Humberto Castro Muñoz confessed to Nacional, where the sale of tickets for cash and decidedly creative book-keeping when it came to player transfers enabled Escobar’s murder and was later sentenced to 43 years him to launder hundreds of millions of dollars. in prison, only to be released for good behaviour after The wages paid encouraged Colombia’s finest players serving just 11. to remain at home, enabling Nacional to become South Weeping fans threw flowers in the path of the hearse as it American club champions by winning the 1989 Copa Andrés Escobar and Pablo Escobar passed with a police escort, while at the cemetery Colombia Libertadores. wrong-footed Córdoba and into his own goal. flags were waved by many of the 15 000 present to see EscoTheir team featured Andrés Escobar in its line-up, among Following a few seconds of quiet reflection as he lay flat bar’s coffin lowered into the ground. other home-based internationals who went go on to qualify for on his back with his head in his hands contemplating the first Twenty years on, Andrés Escobar remains known around USA 94 with such distinction. own goal of his professional career, the stony-faced Escobar Responsible for the murder of assorted judges, politi- rose to his feet, glanced to his right and walked slowly towards the world as the tragic Colombian footballer who was cians, over 500 policemen, at least one referee and thou- the half-way line. If he was mulling over the seriousness of the brutally “killed for scoring an own goal”. It’s a rather sands of rival cartel members who displeased him, Pablo possible consequences, he hid it fairly well. simplistic conclusion which his former manager Escobar had surrendered himself to Colombian authorities He was certainly well-liked by his team-mates, who consid- feels does events of the in the early 1990s, having first avoided attempts to extra- ered him blameless. The jig was all but up for Colombia: Earnie time little justice. dite him to the USA. Stewart doubled the USA’s lead with a 52nd minute tap-in and Life doesn’t end Holed up in Catedral Prison on the outskirts of Medellín, that’s how it stayed until the final minute, when Valencia scored here, wrote Escobar which became his own personal fiefdom, he had been prom- his second consolation goal of the tournament. in what turned out ised a reduced sentence if he agreed to cease trafficking drugs.

In the final round of group games, Colombia beat SwitzerThere he was visited by members of the Colombia foot- land 2-0 at the Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, but the USA’s to be his valedictory ball team, who would travel there in secret for kickabouts defeat at the hands of Romania meant their fate was sealed. address to the people on the pitch Escobar had ordered to be built as a condition Escobar was devastated by Colombia’s World Cup exit and of Colombia. Instead, of his surrender. his very public contribution to it, a contribution he never watched it ended somewhere Having escaped from prison and gone on the run after on television. else just a few days hearing the authorities were planning to move him to a stricter later - violently and regime, on December 2 1993, one day after his 44th birthday, senselessly in the KILLED BY FOOTBALL OR SOCIETY? Pablo Escobar was murdered.

Escobar decided to go out with friends for the first seedy confines of Following the death of Pablo Escobar, the infant son of the Colombia defender Luis ‘Chonto’ Herrera had been time since his return from the World Cup and called a Medellín night Chonto Herrera to invite him along. Herrera told him to club car park. kidnapped and subsequently returned in Medellín.

28

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, April 6, 2018

Campbell sisters power Australia Huge blow for Delhi Dardevils as Rabada ruled out of IPL to swimming world record

By Greg Stutchbury GOLD COAST, Australia (Reuters) - Cate Campbell powered Australia to a world record in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games yesterday, demonstrating that her year off to recover mentally from a disappointing Rio Olympics had worked wonders.

Campbell anchored the Australian quartet, which also included her sister Bronte, Shayna Jack and Emma McKeon, to clock three minutes 30.05 seconds and beat their previous record of 3:30.65 from the Rio Olympics.

Canada finished second, with England third.

It was a satisfying return for Campbell, who had been a hot favourite to win gold in both the 50m and 100m freestyle at the Rio Games, but finished outside the medals in both.

Calling her 100m freestyle loss “the greatest choke in Olympic history”, she stepped away from competition in 2017 to refresh, and returned at the Australian nationals last month.

“To come back from a year off and to be part of something where you’re the best in the world is a pretty special moment,” she told reporters.

“I’m going to make sure

I stop and take a couple of breaths to take in how special this moment is because not many people get to experience it.

“This is the stuff of dreams and to have that in reality is something I’d never take for granted again.”

with Olympic 100m champion Penny Oleksiak swimming the third leg before handing over to Taylor Ruck, fresh from winning the 200m freestyle gold.

While Canada’s Alexia Zevnik had given her team a flying start, Bron-

with the decibels as the 10,000-strong crowd willed her to the world record then produced a flying final leg of 51.00 secs.

“It’s the first time I think I’ve heard the crowd while I’m swimming,” she added.

“I could hear them roaring as

Kagiso Rabada is the latest big name to drop out of the IPL.

Gold medallists Shayna Jack, Bronte Campbell, Emma McKeon and Cate Campbell of Australia celebrate on the podium. (REUTERS/David Gray)

The Australians, who had won the title at the last six Games, were facing arguably their biggest threat in a Commonwealth final since they were beaten by England at the Victoria Games in 1994.

The Canadians had a strong back end to their team

te Campbell took over the race for the host nation then McKeon, who had already swum two individual races, got them within sight of the world record as she destroyed Oleksiak by 1.34 secs on the third leg.

Cate Campbell, whose tempo seemed to increase

I was coming down the last 25m.

“I thought, ‘someone must be doing something special here’ and I thought we were being caught, but it was we breaking the world record.

“I think that was really incredible.”

UEFA charge Liverpool after objects thrown at Man City bus (REUTERS) - UEFA opened disciplinary proceedings against Liverpool yesterday, a day after fans threw objects at Manchester City’s team bus ahead of their Champions League quarter-final first leg at Anfield.

Liverpool have been charged by European soccer’s governing body with setting off fireworks, throwing objects, acts of damage and crowd disturbances and the case will be dealt with by UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body on May 31.

Liverpool fans organised a “coach welcome” for both teams, lining a side street where the team buses were known to be arriving at the ground.

Merseyside Police, who confirmed two officers were injured in the incident, announced the route the team buses would take to the stadium before the match.

Liverpool fans set off red flares and sang their club’s songs before the City coach arrived and beer cans and at least one bottle were thrown at the bus. Liverpool apolo-

gised to Manchester City for the incident.

The crowd trouble outside the stadium marred Liverpool’s comprehensive 3-0 victory over their Premier League rivals.

City’s coach providers sent another bus to take the visitors home as the one they had arrived in had been damaged.

Earlier yesterday, Merseyside Police issued an

appeal for footage of the incident on their official Twitter account, asking any supporters who may have filmed the trouble to send their videos to a dedicated email address.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (Reuters) - The world’s top-ranked Test bowler Kagiso Rabada has been ruled out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) after being diagnosed with a lower back stress reaction, Cricket South Africa said yesterday.

Rabada was due to play for the Delhi Daredevils in this year’s IPL Twenty20 competition, but is now in a race to be fit for South Africa’s two-Test tour of Sri Lanka in mid-July.

“Kagiso has been diagnosed with a lower back stress reaction which will rule him out of cricket action for up to three months,” South Africa team manager Moham-

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Liverpool fans set off flares and throw missiles at the Manchester City team bus outside the stadium before the Champions League Quarter Final First Leg match in Liverpool, Wednesday. (Action Images pic via Reuters)

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med Moosajee said in a statement.

“He will need a month’s break from all physical activity before commencing with a rehabilitation programme to get him ready for the series against Sri Lanka in July.”

Rabada was the leading wicket-taker in South Africa’s recent 3-1 home Test series win over Australia with 23 at an average of 19.26.

He is the latest big name to drop out of the IPL this year, after Australians Steve Smith and David Warner were barred following their involvement in the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa, while their compatriot Mitchell Starc has pulled out with injury.

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29

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, April 6, 2018

Criticism of Australia team culture out of proportion - Ponting THE ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town is being seen as much more than just that.

Australia’s team culture has come under the scanner, with suggestions that such a fall was inevitable in a win-at-allcosts side.

Outgoing Australia coach Darren Lehmann even said New Zealand might be a good example to follow for on-field behaviour and Cricket Australia ordered an independent review into the team culture.

However, former Australia captain and possible candidate for the role of coach, Ricky Ponting, believes the talk about the team culture is out of proportion.

Ponting, currently in India as head coach of IPL franchise Delhi Daredevils, addressed the issue for the first time at a press conference yesterday.

Ponting expressed shock at the events in Cape Town, and said the reaction from Cricket Australia was befitting. However, he didn’t necessarily feel the team culture had deteriorated drastically.

“The cultural issue for

me is really an interesting thing because if we wind the clock back to just a couple of months, when Australia won the Ashes like they did, there was no talk about cultural problems or issues whatsoever,” Ponting said.

“I honestly feel on this occasion the cultural stuff that’s been spoken about has probably been blown out of proportion to a certain degree.”

Ponting, however, did not play down what a big disappointment the ball-tampering incident was for him and the rest of Australia.

“As a past player and past captain, I was quite shocked to see what actually took place out on the field,” he said. “The pleasing thing for me is that now it seems the issue is starting to come to an end. We hear this morning that David Warner also accepted his sanction.

It means all three guys have accepted the sanctions before them.”

Ponting said the country was jolted by what they saw.

“Look, when I was back at home a week and a half ago, if you think it was big news over here, it was astronomical how

lian player to play that way.

I think the reaction back in Australia was as big as it was because the Australian public

Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Allan Border and Steve Waugh with the World Cup trophy. (Getty Images)

big the issue was in Australia, and rightly so,” he said.

“As Australians, we like to play the game hard; we like to play the game fair.

Our fans expect the Austra-

felt the Australian players had not played the game in a fair way.

“It seems like it’s coming to an end’ it’s a good thing for the game’s sake, it’s a good

Warner follows Aussie teammates, accepts sanction MELBOURNE, Australia (Reuters) - Australia’s David Warner has joined former captain Steve Smith and batsman Cameron Bancroft in accepting sanctions imposed on him by his cricket board for his role in last month’s ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.

imposed on me,” Warner said on his verified Twitter account yesterday.

“I am truly sorry for my actions and will now do everything I can to be a better person, teammate and role model.”

Smith and Bancroft confirmed on Wednesday that they had accepted the CA

Australia’s David Warner

Smith and Warner were slapped with 12-month bans, while Bancroft, who was caught using a piece of sandpaper on the ball in the third Test in Cape Town, was suspended for nine months following the scandal which rocked cricket in Australia.

“I have today let Cricket Australia know that I fully accept the sanctions

sanctions. The trio had until yesterday to appeal their bans.

Smith and his deputy Warner were stripped of their leadership positions for their role in the March 24 incident and are set to lose substantial earnings after sponsors dropped them and they were banned from this year’s

thing for the players’ sake as well, that they can try and get away from it all now.

As hard as that’s going to

Indian Premier League.

Smith and Bancroft were also barred from holding leadership positions within the Australian team for two years, while Warner will never be able to hold such a position again.

The trio returned to Australia at the end of last week and all three gave emotional news conferences in which they accepted full responsibility for their actions.

CA yesterday confirmed no hearings would be required after the trio accepted the charges and sanctions.

“These are significant penalties for professional cricketers. They were not imposed lightly,” CA CEO James Sutherland said in a statement.

“We know the players will return to playing the game they love, and in doing so, we hope they rebuild their careers and regain the trust of fans.”

The scandal prompted Darren Lehmann, who was cleared of any wrongdoing by the CA, to step down as Australia coach after the final Test against South Africa.

be for them, it’s also a good thing for cricket in Australia as well. Now that the Test series is over, the guys have got a few weeks to get away from it all and then start

rebuilding what has sort of collapsed for them over the last couple of weeks.”

When asked how he would have reacted to the incident if he had been in a position to act, Ponting said it would be unfair for him to say, but did acknowledge that Cricket Australia’s sanctions were pretty much necessary.

“There’s a very big picture there for the world game’s sake, and Cricket Australia, I think, have reacted to what the world game pretty much demanded,” he said. “The world game and the Australian public demanded that these players were dealt with and treated in a certain way.

“Now a 12-month ban would appear to be a very severe ban. If you go back to what the ICC sanction was: one-game ban for Smith and nothing for the other two.

You can understand the gap is vast between what the ICC deemed fair (and what CA handed out). I wouldn’t comment on what I would have done. It would be unfair.”

(ESPN Cricinfo)

‘Pretty confident’ with Narine’s bowling action - Katich Sunil Narine in his bowling stride (Randy Brooks - CPL T20/Getty Image)

SIMON Katich, the Kolkata Knight Riders assistant coach, is confident that Sunil Narine has put behind him the issues he recently had with his bowling action.

Narine was reported for a suspect action during the PSL last month, and while he was able to continue playing that tournament because he was only reported once, he will come into the IPL with a lot of eyes on him, given his long history of trouble with his action.

Speaking to the media yesterday, Katich said Narine had put plenty of work into his action since the PSL, and was in good shape to start in Knight Riders’ season-opener against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday.

“Obviously there were some issues recently in the

PSL where he was playing for Lahore (Qalandars), but he’s since gone back to Trinidad and Tobago and spent a lot of time with (spin-bowling consultant) Carl Crowe, working on his action,” Katich said.

“Carl is his coach. The last few years he’s been working with him since he first got reported. He’s done a lot of hard work there, we’re pretty confident with where he’s at with the action at the moment, so hopefully we’ll see him back out there on Sunday.”

Narine was one of Knight Riders’ standout players last season, not just with the ball.

He played a key role as a pinch-hitter at the top of the order as well, ending the season with 224 runs at a strike rate of 172.30. Katich didn’t rule out the possibility of Na-

rine batting up the order this season as well.

“Last year, initially, he didn’t open - we had Gautam Gambhir and Chris Lynn who opened, but then after game 2, when Chris Lynn hurt his shoulder, we had to rejig the team balance-wise,” Katich said.

“We felt that Sunil opening was going to give us an advantage with the balance of our team and also free him up to play a role at the top of the order, of which he did a very, very good job.

“He’s primarily one of our main spinners, if not our number one spinner, but given the balance of our team, you never know where he’s going to bat. It all depends on what we feel the best combination is.”

(ESPN Cricinfo)

30

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, April 6, 2018

Ninvalle, Sahadeo lead GTTA 18-man Binnie, Walters advance squad in pre-cadet preparation to the third round … Meagan Best, Mary Fung-A-Fat beaten

Qualifier selectee Krystian Sahadeo

By Tamica Garnett CARIBBEAN Cadet champion Kaysan Ninvalle and 2017 ITTF Caribbean World Hopes qualifier selectee Krystian Sahadeo will lead a squad of 18 players, selected by the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) in preparation for the 2018 Caribbean Pre-Cadet Table Tennis Championships scheduled for this July in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

According to a press release from the Association, the squad is being put together to better fortify Guyana’s chances and effectively plan Guyana’s participation and representation.

Ninvalle and Sahadeo are in the Boys’ 13-and-un-

der category which also includes Jonathan van Lange.

The Girls’ 13-and-under category includes Nkechi McCrae, 2016 Caribbean bronze medallist Thuraia Thomas, Tatyanna Mohamed and Roseanna Sanders.

The Boys’ 11 years-andunder category includes the talented Dhanesh Persaud, Colin Wong on the Boys’ side where they are joined by Malachi Moore, Ebo McNeil, Chase Outar, Jonathan Cox, Alexander DeAbreu.

The Girls’ 11-and-under category includes new and emerging talents - Jasmine Bilingi, Akera Watson, Quanna Torrington, and Samara Sukhai.

The Caribbean Pre-Cadet Table Tennis is a signature tournament on the GTTA cal-

Caribbean Cadet champion Kaysan Ninvalle

endar of activities since it forms the incubator and debut for development of young regional table tennis players.

The best 2 Caribbean 13 years-and-under and 11 yearsand-under boys and girls from the Championships will be selected to participate in the Latin American World Hopes training programme and competition set for later this year.

This would allow the players, if selected, to benefit from international training and exposure, and if further selected as part of the Latin Hopes team, the players will be given training exposure and equipment as an induction to the ITTF development programme, ITTF Hopes programme; and the ITTF Rough Diamond with the Future in Mind.

Kaysan Ninvalle secured selection for Hopes training camp in 2016, where he won bronze in the Latin America qualification and training event. Krstian Sahadeo also received qualification when he emerged second at the ITTF Hopes Caribbean training and qualification event in Jamaica last year. However, he was unable to attend the event due to visa constraints with Paraguay.

The GTTA has commenced the implementation of its national table tennis for schools programme which is part of its plan to synchronise with the ITTF Hopes programmes.

The executive committee will be meeting with the parents, coaches and stakeholders to map out its plans for the teams’ engagement at the championships.

DCC, TSC clash in Toucan Distributors/GCA U-15 final today FOLLOWING contrasting victories on Wednesday, the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) and Transport Sports Club (TSC) will face off in the highly anticipated final of the Toucan Distributors/ Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) U-15 competition.

In their semi-final encounter against Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) at home, DCC won the toss and sent them in to bat.

Off the allotted 50 overs, the visitors managed 179 for seven as their captain Rivaldo Phillips led the way with the bat compiling a mature knock of 56 which included four fours and a six.

Phillips also had his

side’s highest partnership of 74 for the third wicket with Ariyan Persaud who made a tidy 37 with three fours.

They were backed up by all-rounder Thaddeus Lovell who scored a quickfire 33 with four fours to end unbeaten.

The cream of the bowlers comprised seamer Mark Sharma who had 3-16 from seven overs and off-spinners Romeo Deonarain and Inderjit Nanan who had respective figures of 2-21 and 2-28.

DCC, chasing the target, had GCC on the back foot with a 93-run partnership between Nanan and Jaden Campbell, which

laid the platform for success.

Nanan made 44 in which he stroked four fours while Campbell made 33 with three fours. Gustavo Hutson held the back end of the innings together after GCC’s Joash Charles had them wobbling with his figures of 3-38. Hutson stroked an unbeaten 27 to see DCC home at 180-8 with just two overs remaining.

Meanwhile, over at the Muslim Youth Organisation (MYO) ground, TSC inflicted a heavy 94-run defeat on Bel Air RUBiS. After winning the toss and electing to bat, TSC were dismissed for 198 in 44 overs. Chad Shivrattan

was TSC’s top scorer with 56, decorated with five fours and a six. He was backed up by Jonathan Adams who hit three fours in his knock of 31.

Mahendra Singh took 4-20 for Bel Air RUBiS; his side was then skittled out for 104 in just 28.5 overs.

Leading the way with the ball for the victorious TSC side was Alvin Mohabir with 4-20 while Mervyn Permaul (2-13) and Joshua Blackman (2-20) were his able deputies.

The final of the Toucan Distributors/GCA U-15 competition will be played at DCC ground in Queenstown. (Michelangelo Jacobus)

Guyana’s Mary Fung-A-Fat

GOLD COAST, Australia (CMC) – Chris Binnie and Lewis Walters were the only two Caribbean players – either male or female – to survive the opening day of the Commonwealth Games.

The Jamaican duo came through the first two rounds of the competition with relative ease to reach the third round today. A host of Caribbean stars, including regional women’s champion Meagan Best of Barbados and highly-regarded Mary Fung-A-Fat of Guyana fell by the wayside at the Oxenford Studios.

Binnie, the reigning Caribbean men’s champion, needed just 20 minutes to dispose of Jason Doyle of St Vincent & the Grenadines 11-5, 11-6, 11-8 in the opening round.

But Binnie had to dig deep to overcome from two games down against Sourav Ghosal of India before winning 5-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9, 12-10 in just over an hour in the second round.

World number 65 Binnie will now face world number 40 Joel Makin of Wales in the third round today.

Meantime, compatriot Walters, ranked 260th in the world, delivered an early upset, when he prevailed over world number 55 Peter Creed 11-7, 7-11, 11-6, 11-9 in the opening round.

He followed up with a straight games victory over lowly-ranked Daniel Zammat-Lewis of Malta in straight sets 11-7, 11-9, 11-4 in half-hour.

Walters will need to display such giant-killing skills today, when he faces world number 11 Cameron Pilley of Australia in the third round.

On the women’s side, Fung-A-Fat, the highest-ranked Caribbean women’s player in the draw, slid to defeat in straight sets 11-5, 11-2, 11-4 in 15 minutes against world number 33 Samantha Cornett of Canada.

At the same time, Best managed a little more time on the court before she too, fell in straight sets 11-5, 11-1, 11-8 against world number 10 Alison Waters of England.

31

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, April 6, 2018

Barbados retain Under-15 Regional King of Drags 2 set for April 22 title with victory over Guyana KINGSTON, Jamaica (CMC) – Barbados retained the Regional Under-15 title on Wednesday, after an impressive 98 from Mavendra Dindyal failed to inspire Guyana and they lost by four wickets in the deciding match.

Chasing 207 for victory, the Barbadians reached their target with 14 balls remaining at the Kensington Oval in the final round of matches.

It is the fifth Regional Under-15 title for Barbados and first time ever they have won back-to-back titles, following their success last year on home soil.

Jaden Leacock, later named Most Valuable Player, hit the top score of 47 and shared successive half-century stands at the top of the order with fellow opener Jacob Bethell, who retired ill on 20, and Nimar Bolden with 42 to put the Barbadians on track for victory.

After the obligatory wobble in the middle of the innings, Barbados got things back on course and Tariq O’Neale, not out on 14, formalised the result for his team, who completed the tournament with four wins out of their five games. They

King of the Strip 2 is set for April 22 at the South Dakota Circuit. (GTRidez photo)

Members of the Barbados Under-15 team and support staff pose for a photo following their capture of the Regional Under-15 title.

lost only to regional sporting arch-rivals Trinidad & Tobago in the opening round, for a total of 26.2 points, 1.7 more than the Guyanese.

Earlier, Dindyal was the rock upon which Guyana built their total 206 for nine in 50 overs, after they chose to bat in the top-of-thetable decider.

After they suffered the loss of opener Mahendra Gopilall for a duck, Dindyal put the Guyanese batting on his back and anchored two half-century stands to lead

the charge.

He dominated a second-wicket stand of 57 with Shamar Yearwood and gave the innings backbone when he put on 89 for the fourth wicket with Jonathan Rampersaud, but Guyana, who also won four out of their five games, kept losing wickets at critical stages to undermine their bid to set an impregnable total.

In the other matches: Windward Islands finished in fourth position, even though they toppled third-placed hosts Jamaica

by five wickets at Sabina Park, and a similar fate befell Leeward Islands, as they finished at the bottom of the table, although they edged Trinidad & Tobago by five runs at Melbourne Oval.

FINAL POINTS STANDINGS 1. Barbados 26.2 points 2. Guyana 24.5 3. Jamaica 13.2 4. Windward Islands 12.6 5. Trinidad & Tobago 12.4 6. Leeward Islands 7.7

DRAG-RACING action returns to the South Dakota Circuit on April 22 for the second instalment of the King of the Strip meet.

Following a premature end to the first event earlier this year, the Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club (GMR&SC) has planned round two in keeping with their calendar of events.

GMR&SC president Rameez Mohamed contended that while round one did not get to feature several of the faster cars, round two is expected to be a firecracker.

“Round two will feature at least four cars from Suriname coming to compete in the lower brackets. They have confirmed that much so far but we don’t have those names yet.”

“Additionally, there are a few new ideas that we are toying with for this meet as well but I can’t say too much on that at the moment until our committee meeting later this week,” he added.

However, we are encouraging all our competitors and fans to come out and witness a good day of drag-racing action. Surely they won’t regret it.”

The event has already attracted title sponsors in Mohamed’s Enterprise, JAPARTS, Tropical Shipping and STAG Beer. (Stephan Sookram)

‘Superman’ Lewis stars on Day One of Commonwealth Games

Swimmer Andrew Fowler despite a PB, didn’t advance in the Men’s 50 metres butterfly Guyana’s Colin ‘Superman’ Lewis being announced with the winner of his light welterweight contest with Nathan Ferrari at the Commonwealth Games.

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Guyana’s Colin ‘Superman’ Lewis (right) connects to Nathan Ferrari of St Lucia, during their Light Welterweight encounter at the Commonwealth Games.

Duffy lands first medal of Commonwealth Games

Flora Duffy won gold for Bermuda in the triathlon. (#GC2018 photo)

QUEENSLAND, Australia (CMC) – Bermuda’s Flora Duffy powered away in the final run leg to win the women’s triathlon on the opening morning of competition at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

The world No.1 women’s triathlete entered the contest as the raging hot favourite and lived up to her billing, beating England’s Jessica Learmonth and Canadian Joanna Brown for the gold medal.

The 30-year-old Duffy, a two-time world champion,

hadn’t won a medal in two previous trips to a Commonwealth Games or her three starts at an Olympics – and she was determined to put things right this time.

“It’s pretty cool, it’s going to take a while to soak in … a huge relief,” said Duffy, the second Bermudian to win a Commonwealth gold and first of any colour by a woman from the island.

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FIBA AmeriCup 2021 Caribbean Pre-Qualifier, Women’s Caribbean Cup schedules confirmed Jada Mohan is expected to be one of the pillars on Guyana’s female team.

IN anticipation of the FIBA AmeriCup 2021 Caribbean Pre-Qualifier and the FIBA Women’s Caribbean Cup, set to take place in Paramaribo, Suriname in June, the Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) has announced the schedules for the preliminary

and final phases.

The FIBA AmeriCup 2021 Caribbean Pre- Qualifier will qualify two teams for the FIBA AmeriCup 2021 Qualifiers beginning in September.

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Star wins India media rights for $945 million MUMBAI, India (Reuters) - Star India bagged the global television and digital rights for cricket in India for the next five years yesterday with a $945M (£672.93M) bid to complete their stranglehold on the coverage of the game in its commercial home.

“Star India bags BCCI India International and Domestic media rights for INR 6138.1 crore for the next five years,” the Indian cricket board (BCCI) tweeted at the end of the three-day e-bidding, a first in cricket.

The highest bid fell short of the billion-dollar mark but means the broadcasters will pay $9.24M for every international match in the 2018-2023 period.

Six companies, including Facebook and Google, initially entered the fray to bid for 102 matches in India.

Following scrutiny, Star India Private Ltd, Reliance Industries Limited, and Sony Pictures Networks India Private Limited were found eligible to submit online financial bids.

Star India struck cricket’s biggest television deal in September to secure Indian Premier League’s (IPL) global media rights for $2.52B, which consolidated BCCI’s position as the richest board in the world.

FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 2018