Guyana Chronicle E-paper 09-05-2018

WEDNESDAY 5th September, 2018

Temps fan out No.105388

... as more schools reopen amid widening strike

... Harmon: ‘No one benefits from arguing in the street’

... Ministry says contingency plan working 09/14&15 PAGES

Saudis, Chinese investors eye sugar industry 24 PAGE

62 contestants i––n LGE34 race 13 individual PAGE

candidates throw hats in the ring

Despite a shortage of teachers it was business as usual at Uitvlugt Secondary School (Delano Williams photo)

Scott apologises to teachers

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, September 5, 2018

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, September 5, 2018

CLE needs more info on curriculum of proposed law school …full report on project for discussion Friday

By Svetlana Marshall

A SUB-COMMITTEE of the Council of Legal Education (CLE) has asked the Government of Guyana and its Joint Venture Partners – Law School of the Americas (LCA) and the University College of the Caribbean (UCC), to provide additional information on the feasibility study for the proposed Joseph Oscar Fitzclarence (JOF) Haynes Law School here.

Once provided, Chairman of the Council of Legal Education Reginald Armour said a full report on the proposed law school will be presented to the full council on Friday at the Guyana Marriott but he made it clear that approval will be not be granted at that stage.

“A sub-committee of the council has been looking at it, has made recommendations which will go before the council for the council’s determination on Friday September 7, 2018,” Armour said. He said during the meeting, the CLE sub-committee, which he chairs, sought a number of clarifications on areas identified within the feasibility study and business plan. Though the Attorney General was not available at the time to offer a comment on the meeting, the CLE Chairman said he (the AG) committed to addressing the areas of concern.

“We are awaiting that clarification and once we get that, we will put a full report for the council to consider on Friday to determine a way further,” Armour told this newspaper.

of the Americas – told the Guyana Chronicle that the CLE sub-committee sought additional information on the quality assurance and curriculum of the proposed JOF Haynes Law School.

“They wanted a little more detail on the quality assurance of the law school and the framework around that quality assurance which is acceptable. They also needed a little more detail on the curriculum that is going to be offered, which is also a reasonable request, and they wanted further clarification on the joint venture model, with the Government of Guyana, that would be used for the JOF Haynes Law School,” Wynter explained.

While Armour indicated that the Attorney General has committed to providing the needed information,

approval for us to start to look at establishing the law school while we are trying to meet all the requirements of the CLE,” Wynter said.

Nonetheless, the LCA Chairman said what is clear is that Guyana needs a law school.

“For years the students of Guyana and other parts of the Caribbean have been disenfranchised, one because of cost, and two because of the allocation into the Norman Manley or the three existing law schools, and so because of the space availability of the three existing law schools, we have Caribbean nationals who are struggling to continue their legal education,” explained noting that JOF Haynes Law School will help to meet the demands.

“What we have found is that there are students who

Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Basil Williams a development likely to transform its economic, infrastructural and social landscape. “Interesting-

Chairman of the Council of Legal Education Reginald Armour

Chairman of Law School of the Americas (LCA) Courtney Wynter

The CLE Chairman met with Guyana’s Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Basil Williams and officials from the Law School of the Americas and the University College of the Caribbean including the LCA Chairman Courtney Wynter at the AG’s Carmichael Street office on Wednesday. Shortly after exiting the meeting, the CLE Chairman, in responding to a series of questions posed by the Guyana Chronicle, confirmed that copies of the feasibility study and business plan for the JOF Haynes Law School were handed over to Council by Minister Williams on July 4, 2018.

ly Guyana is on the cusp of development given its pending transformation, and what we are seeing is the need in the future for Guyana to take control of its own destiny in terms of the occupation of law…as a country develops, a country cannot develop without a proper legal representation, and so all we are trying to do is anticipate the future of Guyana as well as anticipation of the growth in Jamaica, and to have a legal profession that is robust, and ready for the transformation both in Guyana and Jamaica and the rest of the Caribbean,” he posited.

Asked to offer clarification on whether Guyana

An artist's impression of the JOF Haynes Law School He, however, decline to disclose the areas for which clarification were sought, noting that the matter must be first ventilated fully at the level of the council.

“All I can say, it is not a question of a blueprint on Friday being signed off by the council. It will take some time to be examined and to be decided on,” the CLE Chairman stated.

Wynter – the Chairman of the Law School

Wynter said it is not likely LCA would be able to provide the required information by Friday when the CLE will meet. “I don’t think we might be able to provide the details by Friday, but we are hoping that the Council will look at the overall feasibility study and business plan and provide some provisional or tentative date for us to provide that information and possibly some conditional

have graduated with a LLB from different institutions including, institutions in Jamaica, Belize and other CARICOM countries that have not been able to continue their legal education,” he added.

Endorsing a statement made by the Attorney General on Monday, Wynter said it is important for the country to have a law school as it develops into an oil producing nation –

was given permission by the CLE to construct its own law school, Armour, in response, said: “the council under its treaty is established to establish, maintain and equip law schools. The Government of Guyana is free to proceed to build a law school but the council does not yet have sufficient detail to approve the law school. We are looking at that, we are hoping that that can be accomplished in the near future.”

Article 1 Paragraph 3 (B) of the Agreement establishing the CLE, empowers it to establish, equip and maintain Law Schools – one in Jamaica, one in Trinidad and Tobago and in other territories as the Council may from time to time determine, for the purpose of providing postgraduate professional legal training.

The Attorney General has long maintained that approval to build the law school here was granted.

Excerpts from the CLE minutes dating as far back as 2002 suggest that approval was granted, and that the matter was actively discussed. The JOF Haynes Law School when constructed will be located at the University of Guyana (UG).

The state-of-the-art law school is expected to cost US$6M, and with the Guyana Government already securing the land, its private partners are in line to finance the project.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Chaos grips Senate hearing on Trump Supreme Court pick Kavanaugh WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chaos engulfed the U.S. Senate confirmation hearing for Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court pick, as Democrats on Tuesday complained bitterly about Republicans withholding documents about the nominee’s past White House service and shouting protesters were arrested in droves.

More than seven hours went by during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing before Kavanaugh, the conservative federal appeals court judge Trump selected for a lifetime job on the top U.S. judicial body, got to deliver his opening statement.

Kavanaugh, nominated by a president who has often criticized the federal judiciary, told the senators that “a judge must be independent, not swayed by public pressure. Our independent judiciary is the crown jewel of our constitutional republic.”

With Democratic sena-

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tors repeatedly interrupting the committee’s Republican chairman Chuck Grassley at the outset of the hearing, the session quickly became a ruckus. U.S. Capitol police said 61 protesters were removed from the room and charged with disorderly conduct, along with nine more outside the hearing.

Democrats decried the withholding of the documents and sought to have the proceedings adjourned, as Grassley struggled to maintain order.

“This is the first confirmation for a Supreme Court justice I’ve seen, basically, according to mob rule,” Republican Senator John Cornyn said, a characterization Democrats rejected.

“What we’ve heard is the noise of democracy,” Democratic Senator Dick Durbin said.

Protesters, mostly women, took turns yelling as senators spoke, shouting, “This is a travesty of justice,” “Our democracy is broken” and

Republicans have said Democrats have more than enough documents to assess Kavanaugh’s record, including his 12 years of judicial opinions as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Brett Kavanaugh

“Vote no on Kavanaugh.”

Demonstrators voiced concern about what they saw as the threat posed by Kavanaugh to abortion rights, healthcare access and gun control.

Democratic Senator Cory Booker appealed to Grassley’s “sense of decency and integrity” and said the withholding of the documents by Republicans and the White House left lawmakers unable to properly vet Kavanaugh.

“We cannot possibly move forward. We have not had an opportunity to have a meaningful hearing,” Democratic Senator Kamala Harris said.

Grassley deemed the Democrats’ request to halt the hearing “out of order” and accused them of obstruction. Republicans hold a slim Senate majority and can confirm Kavanaugh if they stay united. There were no signs of Republican defections.

Trump blasted the Democrats on Twitter, saying the hearing was “truly a display of how mean, angry and de-

spicable the other side is” and accusing them of “looking to inflict pain and embarrassment” on Kavanaugh.

If confirmed, Kavanaugh, 53, is expected to move the court - which already had a conservative majority - further to the right. Senate Democratic leaders have vowed a fierce fight to try to block his confirmation. Democrats signaled they would press Kavanaugh on abortion, gun rights and presidential power when they get to question him starting on Wednesday in a hearing due to run through Friday.

Democrats have demanded in vain to see documents relating Kavanaugh’s time as staff secretary to Republican former President George W. Bush from 2003 to 2006.

That job involved managing paper flow from advisers to Bush. Republicans also have released some, but not all, documents concerning Kavanaugh’s two prior years as a lawyer in Bush’s White House Counsel’s Office.

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‘LAST LINE OF DEFENSE’ Kavanaugh sat, fingers intertwined, quietly staring ahead at committee members as protesters in the audience screamed while being dragged out of the room. He occasionally jotted notes on paper.

When he finally got to speak, Kavanaugh called the Supreme Court “the last line of defense for the separation of powers (in the U.S. government), and the rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution.”

“The Supreme Court must never be viewed as a partisan institution,” added Kavanaugh, who also paid tribute to his family and the justice he is nominated to replace, the retiring Anthony Kennedy.

Republican Orrin Hatch accused Democratic senators of political opportunism, noting, “We have folks who want to run for president,” though he did not mention any by name. There has been speculation Booker and Harris might consider 2020 presidential runs.

Hatch grew visibly irritated as protesters interrupted him. “I think we ought to have this loudmouth removed,” Hatch said.

As the hearing paused for a lunch break, Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter who was killed in the Parkland, Florida high school mass shooting in February, tried to talk to Kavanaugh but the nominee turned away. Video of the encounter was shared widely on social media.

“I guess he did not want

to deal with the reality of gun violence,” Guttenberg wrote on Twitter afterward.

White House spokesman Raj Shah said security intervened before Kavanaugh could shake Guttenberg’s hand.

The Democratic frustrations that boiled over on Tuesday had been simmering for more than two years.

Democrats have accused Senate Republican leaders of stealing a Supreme Court seat by refusing to consider Democratic former President Barack Obama’s nominee to the high court Merrick Garland in 2016, allowing Trump to fill a Supreme Court vacancy instead.

Republicans also last year reduced the margin for advancing Supreme Court nominations from 60 votes in the 100-seat Senate to a simple majority in order to force through the confirmation of Trump’s first high court nominee Neil Gorsuch.

The Senate is likely to vote on confirmation by the end of September. The court begins its next term in October. The hearing gave Democrats a platform to make their case against Kavanaugh ahead of November’s congressional elections in which they are seeking to seize control of Congress from Republicans.

Liberals are concerned Kavanaugh could provide a decisive fifth vote on the nine-justice court to overturn or weaken the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion nationwide.

Kavanaugh is likely to be questioned about his views on investigating sitting presidents and Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and possible collusion between Moscow and Trump’s campaign.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Typhoon kills at least nine in Japan TOKYO (Reuters) - A powerful typhoon killed at least nine people in western Japan, and an airport company started to transfer some 3,000 stranded passengers by boats, public broadcaster NHK said on Wednesday, and more than a million homes were without power.

Jebi, or “swallow” in Korean, was briefly a su-

per typhoon and is the most powerful storm to hit Japan in 25 years. It follows heavy rains, landslides, floods and record-breaking heat that killed hundreds of people this summer.

About 3,000 tourists stayed overnight at Kansai Airport in the heavily populated south-central area of Japan’s main island, Honshu.

Television footage showing people lining up to buy food and drinks at a convenience store in the airport.

Airport officials began transferring the stranded passengers to nearby Kobe Airport by high-speed boats on Wednesday morning, according to NHK. It could take several days to a week to reopen Kansai

Airport depending on the damage, the Yomiuri newspaper quoted an unidentified person in the airline industry as saying.

More than one million households were without power in Osaka and its surrounding areas at 07:30h on Wednesday (2230 GMT Tuesday), and a number of flights and some trains were

canceled, according to the trade ministry and public broadcaster NHK. Japan’s JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy Corp shut at least one of the refining units at its 135,000 barrelsper-day Sakai refinery in Osaka in western Japan due to typhoon damage to a part of the cooling tower, the trade ministry said.

T&T private sector calls for level-headedness, constructive dialogue on Petrotrin issue PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce has urged the Government and the union representing workers at stateowned Petrotrin to adopt a level-headed approach and work together to chart the way forward, following the announcement of the planned closure of the oil company’s refinery.

And it has described the call of the Oilfield Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) President, Ancel Roget, for workers across the country to stay away from their jobs on Friday as a “retrograde step”, warning that it may only “undermine the economy and

ultimately harm the very persons it is intended to help”.

“The possible fallout could very well serve to intensify already trying times for all who share the burden, including the more vulnerable among us,” said the country’s largest private sector group.

The OWTU and other trade unions are planning a shutdown of the country to protest the closure at the refinery at Pointea-Pierre, which will leave over 2,000 people without jobs. Approximately 1, 700 permanent workers will be affected in the refining and marketing division of the company, while in exploration and production, employment levels are to be reduced

by 900.

But the Chamber of Commerce said that at a time when the country is grappling with challenging economic conditions, the rhetoric from the union, inciting citizens to mobilize, can only be described as irresponsible.

“It is also our understanding that such action is contrary to the Industrial Relations Act. Instead of calls for disruptive activity, the T&T Chamber is of the view that there needs to be a commitment to do whatever it takes to restore our national competitiveness and growth,” it said.

“The country has been aware of the situation with Petrotrin for several years. We now stand at a crossroads where we can neither sustain the massive debt nor the ongoing losses of the refinery operations. It is a time for forward looking approaches; the world is changing and we need to place greater emphasis on where we need to be for a sustainable economy.”

The Chamber said it subscribes fully to the ideals of constructive dialogue as established through the National Tripartite Advisory Council (NTAC).

Anything less, it said, would be counter-productive to securing a better future for all of those who live and work in the twin-island

republic.

Meantime, the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA) said that while it stands in solidarity with all unions negotiating for safe working conditions, fair wages and the best interests of their workers, and it is empathetic to the Petrotrin workers who are facing job loss, it does not support the nationwide shutdown proposed by the unions.

It said in a statement that such action would adversely affect the interests of the majority of the nation’s citizens.

The TTMA pointed out that Trinidad and Tobago is ranked 83rd in the competitiveness index and 102nd in the rating of ‘ease of doing business’, adding that productivity in Trinidad and Tobago’s industrial sectors declined by eight per cent during fiscal 2015/2016, a steep decline from the 1.4 per cent decline recorded in fiscal 2014/2015.

It therefore contended that any call which may decrease productivity even further will only serve to discourage investment and negatively affect the livelihood of a great number of citizens many of whom are struggling to keep afloat in a challenged economy at this time.

“The TTMA asks employees to consider the impact their ac-

tions would have on businesses small, medium and large which are in varied ways having difficulty in keeping their doors open at this time and many of whom are struggling to maintain their complement of employees from month to month,” TTMA President Christopher Alcazar said.

“Our climate for investment is crippled by actions such as these and with an already abysmal productivity index, it is important to look at our collective concerns in the context of our current economic landscape.

While we acknowledge that there are many factors which contribute to the low levels of productivity in our nation, poor work ethic in the national labour force has been cited in international benchmarking as the number one problematic factor for doing business in this country for yet another year.

“Whether we like it or not, Trinidad and Tobago does not exist in a vacuum, but we compete every day on a global scale. While there may be need for dialogue or ventilating of concerns between unions and the government, we must be cognisant of the entire picture for the greater good of the survival of business and the ultimate sustainability of employment levels that affect all citizens,” he added.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Public transportation THERE have been loud calls for government to increase or enact regulations to bring order to some chaotic sections of society and improve safety conditions for citizens. Most recently, those suggestions have focused on the operations of public transportation systems.

While those proposals have merit, regulations and their stringent enforcement will not solve all the problems; citizens also have a major part to play. The fact is though, when one observes how most people behave as they go about their business, one wonders if they have any concern at all for their own

safety and well-being.

It is important that Guyanese consider all sides of the issues, including the responsibilities of individuals.

Government alone cannot ensure order if citizens do not cooperate. Therefore, the responsibility for making sure that discipline prevails rests with all persons, not just law-enforcement bodies.

In fact, arguably, citizens may have the larger responsibility.

That fact can be readily demonstrated if we examine how people behave in well-regulated aspects of life. For example, on May 9, 2002, the Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic Act was

amended by the National Assembly, making the wearing of seatbelts mandatory.

It is therefore an offence to not wear a seatbelt while in the front seat of a vehicle.

However, we all know what happens: most persons do not wear seatbelts, instead, they put them on if they see police officers on the road, and remove them when the police can no longer see them.

If one were to question those people who break the law by not wearing seatbelts, they would readily admit that they not only know about the law, they also know that seatbelts can save their lives.

Evidently, they are breaking

the law even when doing so endangers their own safety.

Another example may be found on the water-taxis (speedboats). On virtually every trip, at least one passenger has to be forcefully admonished by the operators to put on a life-vest and strap it in place. Again, passengers are well aware that use of a life-vest is required by law. They also know that in the event of a mishap, that life-vest may be the only thing that may prevent them from drowning. Yet, contrary to the dictates of common sense, they just prefer not to wear the life-vest. How does one explain this strange, self-defeating behaviour, and

how does one fix it, if it is at all fixable?

The law mandates lights be on bicycles at night, but, few people comply. Some cyclists even ride without brakes.

As for mini-buses, passengers are aware that overloading is against the law, but nevertheless, violate their own comfort and safety; most people “shift down” to accommodate an extra passenger without a squeak of protest, thereby facilitating lawlessness. Obviously, even when laws are in place for the protection of citizens, those same citizens assist in breaking them, usually to their own detriment. Therefore, the absence of laws or regulations is not the only problem; our society has deeper issues.

As Guyanese, we should examine ourselves; why

do we behave the way we do? Perhaps, we need to change our habits, even our culture. Maybe, we need to transform the way we perceive the world, think, and behave. Certainly, we should increase our awareness of our own power, as individuals and groups, and come to the realisation that we exert pressure on each other to conform to certain norms, and, we should consciously ensure that those “norms” are of the law-abiding, positive types instead of the lawless, negative kind. As individuals, we all have people who care about us; we have loved ones whose lives will be impacted if we are injured, or worse. Perhaps, we need to think of them more often and internalise the fact that our welfare is our responsibility.

The St Andrew’s bi-centennial celebrations Dear Editor LAST Sunday, after the event held at the Pan African Gardens, Merriman Mall, one citizen contended that except for the President, and perhaps, the prime minister, our top officials and administrators seem to have little understanding about (i) Our independence struggles (1763 – 1966) (ii) The political ravages of the Cold War and (iii) The impact of the Bretton Woods Financial Institutions on Guyana and small states. Some bemoaned the fact that because of this lack of knowledge, there is not good guidance.

For that reason, I write about the St Andrew’s bi-centennial celebrations. Happily, with my wife and family members, we shared in the celebration. St Andrew’s is the oldest church built in the city; it opened its doors for public worship on 27th September, 1818.

The present moderator, Rev Maureen Massia, is doing a commendable job and deserves our highest commendation and support. Rev

Massiah is the second Guyanese to hold this exalted ecumenical office and the first Lady in the Region to be Head of the church body.

During the prayer breakfast, we had presented a history of the Scots Church in Guyana – we need to congratulate those who made the effort.

However, it struck me that the ancestors who caused massive change in this and other religious bodies in Guyana seem to have been ignored or forgotten. It is important to know all of our past in order to anchor our actions today on the reality of our journey and so give us the intellectual and spiritual vigour to craft a glorious, godly future for the benefit of succeeding generations.

Responsible citizens should never be afraid to deal with all aspects of our past. In the Holy Bible, it is written, “And you will know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” John 8:32. When St Andrew’s opened its doors for public worship, our slave ancestors were not considered ‘people.’ In fact, a sign stating ‘Negroes and Dogs not allowed’ was erected at the entrance of the church.

We must know these things so that we can celebrate with gusto, acknowledging those who travelled the rocky but righteous road to freedom, paving the way to a place where all of our people can share in the satisfaction of freedom, particularly freedom of worship.

Shortly after independence, we dismantled the inherited colonial position where society was characterised by the institutionalised system of High and Low Churches. We earned the displeasure of those who believed that man-designated church status mattered and must not be tampered with.

We must honour all those who traversed that rocky road to see us where we are today, when a lady who may be the descendant of an African slave can proudly and rightly mount the pulpit at St Andrew’s, where earlier her ilk could not even enter the building.

Five years after 1818, Lord Bathurst, the Secretary of State in Britain, put to the British House of Commons, measures to make less harsh the conditions of African slaves in British Guiana and

elsewhere. The local plantocracy resisted this humanitarian initiative. British slave owners were hostile and refused to take measures to ease the inhuman conditions on the plantations.

The ‘Court of Policy’ of Demerara and Essequibo was adamant. African slaves do not deserve good treatment. In the forefront of this resistance was Lieutenant Governor of Demerara, John Murray, he himself was the owner of slaves in Berbice.

For that reason, one of the last acts of the Late President, L.F.S. Burnham, OE, SC, was to have Murray Street renamed Quamina Street during Emancipation Month, August, 1985. Of interest, is this note in Murray’s Journal of October 21, 1822; - “Oh, that the Colony should be governed by a man who sets his face against the moral and religious improvement of the Negro slaves.”

Quamina Gladstone was a Deacon at the Bethel Chapel, Le Ressouvenir, East Coast Demerara. He was tutored

by Rev John Smith, a young English Missionary, who became known as the Demerara Martyr.

John Smith was tried and convicted, accused of supporting the 1823 Slave Uprising. He was condemned to death after a brief court martial. Only 34 years old, he died of tuberculosis, being held in a damp, unhealthy cell. It is interesting to note the date that Smith arrived in Demerara, being sent by the London Missionary Society.

He arrived in 1817, on the same date that we celebrate our republic anniversary and the same date of the 1763 revolt, that is, February 23.

It was therefore, in order that at that prayer breakfast, Pastor Justice Oslen Small, representing the church established in honour of John Smith was asked to offer a prayer. (Smith’s Congregational Church).

Quamina was the son of John Gladstone, an African slave. Quamina was the leader of slaves who had learnt that London had passed laws to give them some degree of freedom, but the planters were ignoring this ‘new Law.’ Quamina only wanted confirmation of what he had heard from the authorities in Georgetown. The church, as indeed all Guyana joined as

we celebrated the 1823 uprising on August 18.

Fellow citizens, today let us with pride, honour our ancestors who rose up, English Missionaries, such as John Smith and Abolitionist, the likes of William Wilberforce.

These distinguished persons navigated the troubled waters which laid the foundation for our freedom and independence. A freedom enjoyed by all irrespective of race, age, colour or creed.

As we gaze upon the environment today and think about the actors of the 1800s, it may be instructive to repeat the words of two great Americans, one white, one black.

In chronological order:-(a) Abraham Lincoln, 16th US President (1809 – 1865) said “To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men”(b) Martin Luther King, Jr (1929 -1968) observed “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”Good luck to the Presbyterians, Christians and all God-fearing people.

Hamilton Green Elder

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Double-murder convict gets 17 years on two separate wounding charges

ON Tuesday morning the wounded victims of the 2010 Charlestown cutlass wielding rampage, were given justice as the accused was served with a total of 17 years that will run concurrently with the current sentence he is serving.

William Lyte, 49, stood unrepresented before Justice Brassington Reynolds and pleaded guilty of the charge for which he was being tried.

He admitted to having a psychiatric condition due to an injury he had received to the head and that subsequently he lost his mind and committed two

murders and attempted to commit two.

Lyte had murdered Cedric Blackman, a distant relative whom he had lived with and Ann Chan-A-Koon, a resident who was going to Blackman’s rescue. The accused also unlawfully and maliciously wounded Radesh Persaud and Sean De Souza, who were out on the street in front of the home, with intent to kill them.

Lyte who is currently serving a 47-year sentence for the two murders was slapped with 17 years by Justice Reynolds for the two attempted murders. However, the judge ordered that

the last sentence run concurrently with the jail term he is currently serving.

Lyte expressed to Justice Reynolds that for the past month he has been able to take the medication he uses.

The judge subsequently instructed that the convict be given his treatment since it is not safe for him or anyone around him.

Particulars of the offences stated that on the morning of October 26, 2010 at 58 Howes and Russel Streets, Charlestown, Lyte ran berserk and attacked the victims. He then surrendered to Police.

William Lyte being escorted by police officer

GAWU against sale of sugar lands Dear Editor, THE September 02 Guyana Times reports that President David Granger, at his press conference on August 31, said in relation to lands taken out of sugar would be “…first subjected to the jurisdiction of a State Land Sales Commission…” The President went on to say that “[t] he idea is that we wouldn’t sell off the family jewels, we’ll make sure that the lands that are being taken out of sugar are placed to the benefit of the people of Guyana as a whole.” Further, the Guyana Times quotes the President to say “…the State Land Sales Commission is going to… make a profit from the disposal of those lands which may not be going back into sugar.”

The President’s announce-

ment, to say the least, is a marked departure regarding lands that were and are being used by the sugar industry. On this score, we recall the administration’s spokespersons and advertisements seeking investors for the estates identified for divestment had informed that lands would have been leased. Now the President, without any justification being advanced, is saying, seemingly, that lands could very well be sold off. Neither did the President, as far as we saw, provide any elaboration on the State Land Sales Commission, save and except that the NICIL-SPU would be involved and would resolve demands for lands by investors.

The sugar industry, as the nation well knows occupies large plots of prime lands, plots undoubtedly that would attract

speculative interest. Moreover, while the President is saying we “…wouldn’t sell off the family jewels…” in the next breath he is saying the government is desirous of making “…a profit from the disposal of those lands…”. The two (2) statements stand in stark contradiction of one another. Moreover, the sale of those valuable and prime lands to investors, whether they be local or foreign, is a move that Guyana and Guyanese now and in the future would regret.

The world has provided several examples of instances where land holdings have been sold off and the implications it has had for the citizens of such countries where those practices were pursued.

Countries and people have lived through instances where lands sold for one purpose were used for other purposes or resold for

significant profits, while locals remain landless.

The sale of those lands would be, in our view, the most unpatriotic decision ever taken by a government in our more than half a century as an independent nation. We recall former President Hugh Desmond Hoyte outrightly refusing to sell sugar lands when he gave thought to the sale of the sugar industry in the latter 1980s.

Our country’s people have lived under the wretched system of colonialism and their sustained struggles brought our country’s freedom. We need not return to those days.

Regards Seepaul Narine General-Secretary GAWU

Destruction of museum in Brazil has lessons for Guyana.

Dear Editor THE recent destruction of the National Museum in Brazil has many lessons for us in Guyana.

From reports, the historical repository suffered from successive governments’ financial neglect, making it vulnerable and a “tragedy foretold.” We would do well to take the lessons from this tragedy, for when an edifice of this sort is destroyed, part of a nation is destroyed and rising from the ashes like a phoenix might not be easy for generations to come.

Regards Shamshun Mohamed

The name Clement Edwards Nathaniel Nichols was omitted Dear Editor,

MY attention was drawn to an article in the Monday, September 3, 2018 edition of the Guyana Chronicle, headlined: ‘Bringing joy through music -- celebrating 160 years of the Guyana Police Force Band’s legacy.’

As I perused the article, I searched over and over again for any mention of the name Clement Edwards Nathaniel Nichols and what had transpired during his tenure as Bandmaster of the British Guiana Police Force Military Band.

Alas! I was deeply disappointed, to the extent that I felt a profound sense of sadness. I found that a huge gap in the historical review, from Henwood to Small as Bandmasters of the B.G. Police Force Military Band and without any mention whatsoever about Clement Nichols. Nichols, along with other outstanding musicians, had travelled to England as a

member of the 40-piece band in 1924 to play at concerts as part of the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley under the direction of Capt A.W. Fawcett. This was musical diplomacy at work in the early days.

On returning to British Guiana, and following the departure of Fawcett and the passing of Vincent deAbreu, the first Guyanese bandmaster, Edward Oscar Fredrick Rogers assumed leadership of the band. The baton was later passed to Barney Small. Throughout this entire period, Clement E. N. Nichols remained steadfast, while many others had either retired or had left the band.

Nichols trained many junior ranks who eventually assumed prominent roles in the Guyana Police Force Band. To his credit, Clement Nichols composed several beautiful pieces such as: ‘Dear Demerara,’ ‘ Good Lusignan,’ ‘ Scotland in West Demerara.’ ‘ Berbice on Parade’ and ‘Wake up Demerara.’

Furthermore, what I found missing, was absolutely no reference to the following interesting section captured in John Campbell’s ‘History of Policing in Guyana’: “Later, the Police Drum and Fife Band was formed in 1925. Its instruments were originally purchased out of private funds, while 50 pounds was voted for its annual upkeep. Members of the band, on many occasions, entertained guests of the Governor at Government House Drawing Room Concerts. The instrumentalists usually performed on fife,drum,violin and ukelele.”

Editor, I belief that when persons write or speak in order to do a historical review/assessment of an institution such as the Guyana Police Force and its various branches, they should refrain from embellishing, revising or omitting certain historical facts and names of outstanding officers who made formidable contributions to the development of music in

Guyana and the Guyana Police Force Band in their early stages.

Clement Edwards Nathaniel Nichols was my grandfather from my mother’s side. He was born on June 15,1896. He was the son of William and Isabela Nichols. He grew up in South Cummingsburg, Georgetown.

Clement Nichols was a tall, heavily built handsome black man. Like so many policemen he developed a huge tummy later on in life. As a young boy growing up in Georgetown, I saw him perform in the band on many occasions at the ‘Bandstand’ in the Botanical Gardens. He was a well trained musician, a great composer and conductor dedicated to the musical branch of the Guyana Police Force. His music lives on.

Regards Clement Rohee

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Harmon, Jagdeo talk up sugar reform –– but differ on way forward

By Navendra Seoraj

MINISTER of State Joseph Harmon has defended the government’s push to reform the ailing sugar industry, contending that despite challenges, the administration has a clear vision on returning the industry to a sound footing.

Speaking at a Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) and UNIFOR conference titled “Sugar too big to fail” held at the Grand Coastal Hotel on Tuesday, the minister of state said that the government’s plan was crafted after discussions with stakeholders and a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the industry.

The theme of the conference was exploited by the speakers, particularly President of GAWU Komal Chand and Leader of the Opposition Bharrat Jagdeo, both of whom contended that government’s actions were not the best.

Harmon, however, defended the government’s position, noting that after the APNU/AFC Government was elected to office in 2015, it found that GuySuCo had a debt of $82 billon.

“These realities [that] we met led to us deciding that we will have to take a closer look at the national institution and the largest employer in Guyana… we also agreed that there had to be careful consideration and

policy, to ensure the survival of the industry and its return to viability,” said the minister of state, who added that the most prudent action at that time was to conduct a CoI into the sugar industry.

The CoI which lasted for a month recommended that the corporation be privatised within three years; that there should be a serious evaluation of diversification options which would allay reliance on sugar for revenues; the amalgamation of the Wales and Uitvlugt estates and the assignment of workers to the Uitvlugt factory which was operating at 50 per cent among other things.

The findings of the CoI were shared with GAWU and other stakeholders who contributed to the formulation of a plan of action.

“The plan was aggressively interrogated by the Cabinet and the document was sent out… it became the basis of the government’s position,” said Harmon, adding that the report was circulated to unions and the political opposition.

The minister contended that there were consultations at every stage of the process and decisions taken were transparent.

“Whatever shape or form, there must consultations because it is the bedrock of what we do….

If we are to advance operation we must put the issues on the table… we cannot

await conferences or put our issues in letters to the editor,” said the minister of state.

BEST INTEREST The government, he said, has been forthcoming with their decisions regarding the industry and will continue to work in the best interest of the sugar industry.

Harmon said the government does not take the industry lightly and intends on ensuring it has a clear vision on the future.

“We need a more compact sugar industry… so far there is distinct clarity on the way the government is dealing with the industry,” said the minister.

Opposition Leader Bharat Jagdeo, however, contended that the restructuring of the industry was not properly thought out.

Although he said the opposition is not opposed to reform, he said that decisions should be based on studies, particularly a social impact and economic studies.

“The restructuring should be based on theoretical and not political basis,” said Jagdeo, reiterating that the restructuring of the industry should be grounded on the basis of studies.

GAWU also believes that in recent times some persons have sought to downplay its importance and to confine its role merely within the ambit

Minister of State Joseph Harmon (right) and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo share a light moment during the conference (Adrian Narine photo) of profit and loss.

“Today, the hopes nur- not daunt us, but, indeed, “On the other hand, the tured from such talk as ‘sugar impel us to more determined GAWU contends that we can- will never die’ or ‘we will activities. We of the GAWU not ignore the widely known fix sugar’ heard boisterously pledge to continue to reprefact that any examination of during the 2015 elections sent the workers’ cause, to the industry cannot be con- campaign, have been dashed. bring greater attention to the fined to such a narrow out- It is most upsetting that this workers plight and to press look. Sugar has transcended approach had been taken, for effective support and solmere finance and has become especially, recognising that it idarity for their cause.” a social institution in our was not necessary in the first GAWU is clear, he said, society. Some have argued place and that there were very adding that it wants the inthat this should not be the good and real possibilities to dustry to succeed as a large case but the reality is that its overcome the difficulties in number of Guyanese depend importance stretches beyond the sugar industry,” said the on its operations. Success a black-and-white notion of GAWU president. must involve a collaboraprofitability,” said Chand.

History and future gen- tive and comprehensive aperations of Guyanese will proach.

DISCOMFORT condemn harshly those who Chan said there is no He believes that many of advanced, approved and im- singular magic bullet but the workers, who have been plemented the plans which hard work, commitment, placed on the breadline, re- affected so many ordinary knowledgeable personnel main unable to find steady people. and, of course, a motivated jobs and, in some cases, any “The times, though dif- workforce, to return the job at all. ficult and distressing, must industry to a firm footing.

Co-gen plants can spark GuySuCo revival - SPU head IN order to become viable on the global market, Guyana’s sugar industry must be transformed into a sustainable one through self-sufficient byproducts; modernised factories and improved management styles.

This is according to Head of the Special Purpose Unit (SPU), Colvin Heath-London who made the comments on Tuesday at a one-day conference hosted by the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU).

The conference was held at the Grand Coastal Hotel and was themed, ‘Sugar too big to fail’. It was attended

by Minister of State Joseph Harmon; Leader of the Opposition Bharrat Jagdeo; GAWU President Komal Chand and other specialists within the agriculture sector.

In the next 18 months, the SPU will be working to complete the implementation of two co-generation plants for cleaner and cheaper energy

provision.

In his presentation on ‘Restoring GuySuCo to Viability’ Heath-London discussed this initiative along with other measures that must be taken to propel the sector. He stated that for decades GuySuCo has produced raw products and molasses but, with the pending oil and other associated industries, the sugarcane industry must become sustainable.

The SPU head added that this does not mean that the sugarcane industry must be done away with but rather that it must be made viable again by treating the sector like a business. While in the past raw sugar was the major byproduct of the sugar industry, Heath-London said that there now exists many possibilities for the electricity, through co-generation to emerge as the most profitable byproduct.

“Guyana is at it’s the dawn of the oil and gas sector and some have articulated that natural gas would reduce our energy cost across the nation. This is true but we are caught up in a global era

of a push and quest for clean energy which is now heavily intensified globally. We must recognise that the cane sugar industry has been producing and using green energy for the most part of centuries. It must also be recognised that it is cheaper to produce electricity from co-generation than natural gas,” he said.

High electricity cost His remarks came even as he reminded that Guyana currently has one of the highest electricity cost in the region while biomass energy in the sugar industry can produce prices that rival that of natural gas.

The SPU is now working towards implementing two co-generation plants at the Albion and Uitvlugt estates and to also equip the factories to produce plantation wide and secondary packaging equipment.

“We, the SPU and NICIL, are working with Guysusco to formulate the necessary committees to implement these projects along with our stakeholders. Guysusco has successfully completed fea-

sibility studies in both areas and GuySusCo is working assiduously with the SPU to try to implement these projects as quickly as possible.”

When the opposition leader queried whether the plan for the two co-generators was “wishful thinking” or was approved by the board of GuySuCo and the ministry of agriculture, Heath-London responded: “GuySuCo, presently, is without an active board… in the very near future there should be another board.

But the SPU cannot wait on whether there is a board at GuySuCo or not. When I took this job, there was a board, there was a white paper and there was a three-year plan… what we did as technocrats along with Price Waterhouse is to look at that plan and to try and derive a strategy that would help the industry in the short term to be sustainable.”

The plan, he added, was approved by the previous board and, as such, the government and the SPU has fast tracked the process to the point where they can begin

the necessary process towards the eventual implementation stage. He recommend that the pubic pay attention to the lessons learnt at the co-generation plant at Skeldon where they no longer only use gas for electricity generation but wood and residue from the timber industry.

He also stated that organisations must be willing to change old practices and procedures with the use of digital technology; factories must be modernised; facilities must be used to acquire further revenues and the industry must move towards the manufacturing of cane related products.

“The culture of the sugar industry and our support services and management has to be changed. Sugar has been managed [in the past] in a top down, highly autocratic manner masked in traditions and a culture that in these modern times cannot result in success.

This primeval structure has to be changed and a flatter, more nimble structure has to be embraced where high-level decision making and problem

solving at all levels must be and can be made at real-time at the individual estates,” Heath-London said.

Meanwhile, the SPU Head who has worked in sugar industries in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, as future plans are being made, urged retrenched sugar workers to remain strong as issues in the sector are being ironed out.

“We’re working assiduously… to reducing and cushioning the pain of sugar workers through economic and social outreaches. We, the SPU, are presently working at inputs in land distribution for sugar workers that want to be farmers and sugar workers that want to get into other sub-industries,” he said. He added that in the first crop, the Rose Hall contributed significantly with an excess of 30,000 tons of cane sent to Albion.

This aiding in the employment of over 500 workers at Rose Hall while several private sector entities are seeking to assist ex-sugar workers at Wales.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, September 5, 2018

‘No one benefits from arguing in the street’ … Harmon says gov’t will continue to engage GTU AMIDST strike action by the teachers across the country, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon has said that teachers will only be satisfied if the Guyana Teachers Union agrees to engage the Government.

“No one benefits from arguing in the street…we will continue to engage the union to find a common ground and have the teachers in the classrooms,” said the minister in an invited comment on Tuesday.

He believes that the teachers belong in the classroom so Government will work to ensure that they (the teachers) return. The industrial action comes after the parties failed to arrive at a consensus primarily on the government’s proposed $700M to facilitate salary increases and $200 million to address de-bunching for 2018.

GTU believes that the proposed figure from the government would not be sustainable or acceptable, since it would amount to an increase by GY$5,000 per teacher for one year. The union instead proposed an across-the-board increase in salary of 40 per cent for 2016 and incremental increases of five per cent in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, respectively, to be granted to all categories of teachers and teacher educators. Although the GTU and the government engaged

in follow-up deliberations on the matter, the union had refused to budge from its proposal. Lyte, however, contended that 40 per cent is not the union’s final decision and they, instead, would be willing to negotiate downwards.

Veteran Trade Unionist,

Veteran Trade Unionist, Lincoln Lewis Lincoln Lewis said the only way to resolve the issue is to continue the collective bargaining process. “The best thing to do is go to arbitration and have it resolved…When an arbitration happens the agreement will be final and binding; based on what the panel decides that is what you will get,” he said.

President David Granger has said his government is actively searching for alternative sources of finance to

meet the needs of teachers.

He had also warned against industrial action, stating that there is no need for such extreme measure.

In responding to a series of questions on the issue, President Granger gave his word that the Social Protection Ministry is working with the Ministry of Finance to determine whether additional funds can be secured. “The Ministry of Social Protection, which has responsibility for labour and industrial relations, is in touch with the Ministry of Finance to see whether additional funds could be found from other heads of government expenditure in order to move closer to the goal of providing sufficient funds to the teachers,” the President told reporters at a news conference on Friday at the Ministry of the Presidency.

Hinting that finances may very well have to come from funds allocated to other ministries for various developmental projects and initiatives, President Granger said such was the case when monies had to be secured to pay sugar workers their severance earlier this year.

In January, the government had cut ministerial budgets in an effort to pay thousands of sugar workers their severance pay. During the initial stages of negotiations with the GTU, the government, through the Education Min-

Minister of State Joseph Harmon istry, proposed $700M to facilitate salary increases, and $200M to address de-bunching for 2018. But the GTU rejected the offer, and instead counter-proposed an acrossthe-board increase in salary of 40 per cent for 2016 and incremental increases of five per cent in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, respectively, to be granted to all categories of teachers and teacher educators.

Reiterating that his government has been continuously trying to meet the needs of teachers, President Granger said it was following deliberations at the level of Cabinet on the report submitted by a HighLevel Task Force that the initial sum of $700M was proposed as an increase in salary for teachers.

Robbery with violence duo for trial on Monday MARISCO George and John Caesar on Tuesday stood before Justice Sandil Kissoon to face trial on three charges related to an alleged robbery with violence.

On the first count, it was alleged that on July 4th 2009 in the county of Demerara, the duo caused grievous bodily harm on Dhanwantee Phulchand with intent to murder her. The duo on a second count is alleged to have wounded Phulchand on the same date with intent to cause grievous bodily harm or to maim, disfigure or disable her. The third charge alluded to the robbery with vio-

lence, where it is alleged that the duo on the aforementioned day, robbed Phulchand of $572,000 in cash, one shirt and a lady’s purse and committed violence on her at the time of, immediately before or immediately after the robbery.

Both accused were unrepresented and explained that they were only notified of the court date the day before, as such they were unable to source legal representation in that short time span.

State Prosecutor Abigail Gibbs, however, admitted that Caesar was notified late but not George, since officers would have made several

attempts to find her but were unable to.

This led the State to make an application to revoke George’s bail as it is the belief that she is running from the court. Her bail being revoked will ensure that she shows up for trial and does not waste the court’s time, the prosecutor added.

Justice Kissoon accepted the prosecution’s application and revoked George’s bail and remanded her to prison.

And in fairness to the accused, the judge adjourned the trial to September 10th to allow them time to retain counsel.

President attending crucial CSME meeting in B’dos

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PRESIDENT David Granger is leading a delegation including Vice-President and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge, to the Ninth Meeting of the Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) in St Michael, Barbados. The meeting opens today.

Matters to be discussed include a stakeholder’s perspective and recommendations for an effective CSME, which will President David Granger include the Protocol on Contingent Rights, Simplified Administrative Procedures for Movement of Persons, Procedures on the Refusal of Entry of CARICOM Nationals, and the Entitlement of Haitian Nationals to an Automatic Stay of Six Months upon arrival in CARICOM member states.

Further, the meeting will take into consideration macro-economic support measures, specific key considerations for CSME effectiveness and also address non-compliance. On his expectations of the outcome of the meeting, Minister Greenidge expressed that, “Hopefully, the member states have been able to move forward and will come to a conclusion on a number of outstanding critical issues.” He further outlined movement of persons as one of importance.

This meeting was preceded by The Sixth Special Meeting of the Council for Finance and Planning, which was held on Tuesday.

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Convicted wife killer sentenced for wounding victim’s relatives

DWAYNE Jordan, 46, who had killed his reputed wife Claudeene Rampersaud and then viciously attacked her relatives, was jailed for 30 years on two counts of inflicting grievous bodily harm charges.

He had already been sentenced to 30 years for the killing of his reputed wife. The sentence was handed down on Tuesday in the High Court by Justice Brassington Reynolds. The indictment read by State Prosecutor Tiffany Lyken stated that the accused on June 14 2007, caused grievous bodily harm to Shellon Payne and her husband, Ryan Lewis, with intent to maim, disfigure or disable them both. The two were charged as separate counts.

The state summarised the facts of the matter to the court, which stated that the accused and his wife were at his aunt’s house where they once lived during which he murdered his wife. His wife’s sister and brother-in-law were approaching the house to rescue the deceased and were brutally attacked by the accused.

Dwayne then pleaded guilty to the charges and begged for mercy, stating that he does not want to waste the court’s time. He is currently serving a reduced sentence of 30 years for the murder of his wife and Justice Reynolds handed another 30 years, 15 for each of the counts presented on Tuesday.

This sentence will run concurrently with Jordan’s first indictment.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, September 5, 2018

GTT fires 12 over financial irregularities THE Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company has sacked 12 staff members, including managers, for alleged financial irregularities at the entity.

In a statement GTT said during a routine internal review of financial procedures it documented suspicious activities which warranted further investigation. Consequently, reorganisation of staff resources was required to ensure and maintain integrity and smooth operations, the release added.

As part of this process, 12 staffers were terminated, the company said in a

release. “GTT would like to assure the public that no adverse impact to any customer was realized and the review and findings bode well for the customers and are necessary for the evolution of organization.”

“We constantly review systems, procedures and resources to maintain an organization that operates at the highest standard of transparency and integrity. This means that our actions must align with a strong value system and high ethical benchmarks as we strive to make GTT the best place to work in Guyana by 2020,” Justin Nedd – CEO of GTT

Justin Nedd,Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GTT), (Delano Williams photo) noted.

In August 2018, Nedd announced that the company has taken steps to get international quality

management systems certification as the company pivots to be much more customer-oriented and quality-focused.

Biker dies after struck down by drunk driver on Essequibo Coast POLICE are investigating the death of a 32-year-old man who was struck down by ‘an intoxicated and alleged’ speeding driver of a pickup on Monday afternoon on the Fairfield Public Road, Essequibo Coast.

Dead is Kevon Tacourdeen, 32, of Lot 9 Dryshore, Essequibo Coast. According to the police, about 17:30hrs on Monday, Tacourdeen was proceeding east along the northern carriageway of the road on motorcycle CH 4278 when motor pick-up GEE 1179 driven by a 34-year-old resident of Vilvoorden,

Essequibo Coast who was proceeding, north along the western lane.

The pick-up, which was proceeding reportedly at a very fast rate of speed, collided with the motorcyclist whilst negotiating a left bend.

Tacourdeen, who was rushed to the Suddie Hospital in an unconscious state, was pronounced dead on arrival and the motorist who sustained injuries about his body after his vehicle toppled multiple times, is warded at the said institution in a stable condition.

The pick-up involved in the accident

GNNL awards bursaries

The Guyana National Newspapers Limited (GNNL) on Tuesday awarded busaries to the children of staff members for their excellent academic achievements.

In this Samuel Maughn photo General Manager, Sherod Duncan (extreme left) and Administrative Manager, Donna Todd, right share a moment with the awardees.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, September 5, 2018

There will always be more ants than elephants

THE world’s population currently stands at 7.6 Billion. In 2018, Oxfam reported that one per cent of the world’s population is rich and they control 82 per cent of global wealth.

These percentiles are stark reminders that the masses, the downtrodden and the ‘have nots’ will always outnumber the wealthy and powerful.

They have driven history from time immemorial and for this very reason, those of us who enjoy the consideration of not being in any the above-mentioned category, should never ignore the power of the people at the bottom.

There is a famous quote that has become the standard description for the lack of regard for the ‘have nots’: ‘let them eat cake.’ ‘Let them eat cake’, the French translation of

‘Qu’ils mangent de la brioche’ first appeared in book six of Jean Jacques Rousseau’s ‘Confessions’ published in 1782. It is popularly attributed to Marie Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI, during the French Revolution. It is often argued that the Princess never made this statement, but it remains a widely used phrase that encompasses the lack of empathy for the realities of the downtrodden. The ever presence of the impecunious is felt in different circumstances and reinforces the point of them always being more than the ‘haves.’ Any leader who is indifferent to the plight of those who struggle to make ends meet, shall have a very short stay on the throne.

In his book, ‘Power of the Poor’, the Peruvian priest, Gustavo Gutierrez argues, “But the poor per-

son does not exist as an inescapable fact of destiny.

His or her existence is not politically neutral, and it is not ethically innocent.

The poor are a by-product of the system in which we live and for which we are responsible. They are marginalised by our social and cultural worlds.

“They are the oppressed, exploited proletariat, robbed of the fruit of their labour and despoiled of their humanity. Hence the poverty of the poor is not a call to generous relief action, but a demand that we go and build a different social order.” Alluding to the inescapable creation of society, the revered priest hints at the importance of the forgotten people.

Anyone who tries political leadership and ignores the inevitability of the masses will have their political legs

Sophia woman shot while standing on roadway A SOPHIA woman was shot in her leg by one of two men who attacked her on Tuesday morning in the community.

Police said they are investigating the circumstances surrounding the shooting of Stacey Ann Robinson, 39, of Lot 315 ‘B’ Field Sophia, Greater Georgetown, at around 09:10hrs today at Sophia.

Thus far, the investigation has revealed that

the victim was standing at the junction of ‘B’ Field Sophia, when two identifiable males approached her and immediately after, one whipped out a handgun and discharged a round which struck her in the right leg;

the suspects then quickly fled the scene. The victim received medical attention at the Georgetown Public Hospital and was discharged.

The suspects are being sought by police.

gone before they can walk.

This is an almost eternal fact of life.

The powerful is always the few who would use the majority of the people from time to time at their own whims and fancies.

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'No' was a bad word in my home

NO was met with the lash, erased from our vocabulary, beaten out of our backs, till we became well-behaved kids who obediently nodded yes to everything, when he climbed on top of me every part of my body wanted to reject it but I couldn’t say no to save my life, when I tried to scream all that escaped me was silence, I hear no pounding her fist on the roof of my mouth, begging to let her out, but I had not put up the exit sign, never built the emergency staircase, there was no trapdoor for no to escape from, I want to ask all the parents and guardians a question, what use was obedience then when there were hands that were not mine inside me.

How can I verbalize consent as an adult if I was never taught to as a child.”

The above piece was taken from my new favourite novel, ‘The Sun and Her Flowers’ written by Rupi Kaur.

Rape, a four-letter word that makes every victim tremble by the sound of it.

One in six women has been a victim of an attempted or completed rape. Therefore, between me, my mother, my two grandmothers and any of my two aunts, any one of us may have or will encounter an attempted or completed rape. Rape is a type of sexual assault that usually involves sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without that person’s consent. The stereotypical idea of a rapist (someone who commits rape) is a man in dark clothing, a mask or hoodie over his head, walking behind a woman in a dark

alleyway. NO! A rapist can be anyone, from any gender, age, with any type of clothing, at any place and time. What is devastating the most is that most rapists are known to the victims. Family, friends and even spouses/partners. Yes, that’s right, marital or spousal rape is not a myth. No matter what the case may be, you have a right to say NO and your NO is not invalid towards another person’s lust. Our bodies are temples, our bodies are ours. Any person who violates your body without your consent, violates the law as well. The fact that sex is still stigmatised in Guyana and around the world makes it harder for victims to speak out.

Somehow, people will look past the fact that you were forced against your own will and still think, ‘you had sex’ or ‘you committed infidelity or adultery.’ Victim-blaming and slut-shaming victims is getting pretty old, I’ll tell you that. We look to blame everything else, except the rapist.

A victim’s clothes do not speak, their past does not speak, their location does not speak, and nothing else rather than the verbal consent of a person should give you the right to have sex with them.

Here is Tonya Charles, explaining her view on this topic: “Rape is an illicit sexual activity carried out forcibly on someone, either male or female, against their will; on someone who is not yet at the age of consent; someone under the influence of alcohol that cannot make rational decisions and someone who is incapable of giving consent due to mental illnesses. Rape is oftentimes overlooked

GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, September 5, 2018

when it happens to a man. If a woman is raped, a lot of effort goes into bringing her justice. Whereas, in the case of a male (specifically those above the age of 13), the situation isn’t seen as one that serious because “men can’t get raped.”

I have focused my writing mainly on consent. The number of times you’ve read the word NO in this piece perhaps equals the same number of time victims screamed it, over and over again, yet they were still raped. In their minds, they probably believed the rapist did not speak their language.

Somehow, the word NO to them lost its meaning after the rape. After the act is reported, I find it offensive when people say, ‘your rapist.’ They do not own you.

You are in control of your body, of your future.

It is very important that we all understand that the word NO is ours and it is important that those with thoughts of committing rape understand that it is extremely wrong and unlawful to force a sexual act upon someone against their will, against their consent.

Let us make it easy for victims to speak out, especially men. Let us not find excuses

for rapists and let us make our country safer, for our children and their children.

The law is with us, but oftentimes the law enforcers are not. I hope, they as well, understand the seriousness of this topic. It is important for you, the victims to speak out, so that the cycle of that rapist ends with you and you prevent someone else from being raped. It is also important to note that having sexual intercourse with a child (under the age of 16) is considered statutory rape and is against the law in Guyana.

You are not a tease, a toy and it is not your fault.

We should teach our children, especially boys, to accept the word no, instead of teaching our girls to dress in robes. No matter who you are, a sex worker, male or female, old or young -- NO means NO. If you by chance have been raped, been an attempted victim, know of someone who is a victim or even if you are having thoughts of raping someone or already did so, you should contact a teacher,nurse,police officer and any other state worker; they will refer your case to the relevant authorities (child protection officer).

GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, September 5, 2018

62 contestants in LGE race –– 34 individual candidates throw hats in the ring

By Svetlana Marshall

A TOTAL of 62 symbols were submitted to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) by political parties, voluntary groups and individuals seeking to contest the 2018 Local Government Elections (LGE).

GECOM’s Public Relations Officer Yolanda Ward, on Tuesday, told the Guyana Chronicle that of the lot, seven of the symbols came from political parties while 21 symbols were submitted by voluntary groups and 34 from individual candidates.

According to Ward, the commission is processing the symbols to ensure that they conform to the established guidelines. The secretariat has been in contact with potential candidates be it individuals, groups or parties, whose symbols or applications may require adjusting.

Once the symbols are completed, processed and approved, Ward committed GECOM to releasing the names of the political parties, voluntary groups and individuals whose symbols were pre-approved ahead of Nomination Day – September 21, 2018.

While the Guyana Chronicle is uncertain of the names of all seven political parties that submitted symbols, it is clear that the three major political parties – the A Part-

nership for National Unity (APNU), the Alliance for Change (AFC) and the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) have submitted their symbols for prequalification.

Nomination Day without the pre-approved symbol will be deemed defective and the defaulting political party, voluntary group or individual candidate will be

The Youth for Local Government symbol which was among the emblems submitted by political parties, voluntary groups and individuals hoping to contest the 2018 Local Government Elections (LGE) Youth for Local Government Elections, a civil group, also submitted a symbol having signaled its interest to contest the Local Government Elections for a second time.

Any list of candidates submitted by any political party, voluntary group or individual candidate on

deemed ineligible to contest the elections.

GECOM has long explained that political parties or groups must contest all seats for the Proportional Representation component and must submit a list of candidates with 10 additional names, apart from the total number of councillors for the

municipality or Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC).

In addition, only the names of candidates qualified to be councillors equal to the number of constituency seats which it intends to contest in the LGEs must be submitted, while the name of an independent candidate can only be submitted for the seat he or she is contesting. GECOM outlined, too, that each list of candidates must be submitted on the prescribed form indicating name, address, ID number and occupation of each candidate and the names of candidates should be one below the other with surnames in alphabetical order.

The signature mark of each nominator must be stated together with the name and the ID card number and each list of candidates must be accompanied by a declaration on the prescribed form, from each candidate contesting the election.

Local Government Elections (LGE) will be held on Monday, November 12. At the March 2016 LGE, approximately 507,633 persons were registered to vote for representatives of three political parties, 17 voluntary groups and 63 individual candidates in a mixed system of Proportional Representation and First Past the Post.

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MoPH to lease some medical equipment instead of buying COME 2019 the Ministry of Public Health will be looking to lease medical equipment to help alleviate some of the many challenges the ministry is facing in ensuring it has the necessary equipment at health facilities across the country.

The issues facing Guyana’s public health system in having modernised medical equipment are multifaceted, and the industry has been hard pressed to come up with a solution.

Minister of Health, Volda Lawrence, says that that as of 2019 the government will be looking to lease medical equipment. Speaking to a gathering on Monday the minister explained that a lack of the necessary personnel, coupled with outdated and unstandardised equipment has been making it increasingly difficult for the ministry to maintain the current equipment that it has.

“It’s an every single day task that we have to ensure that we equip all health facilities. We’re having challenges, serious challenges with that,” the Minister conveyed. “Over the many years while we were training many doctors we did not train bio-technicians, so we have a dilemma in that, and we have been trying our best to ensure that we train as many persons as we can. But we can only do so much with what we have.

Many of the equipment we have need replacing, many of them are outdated, you cannot walk into a store and find parts for them, and because we don’t have standardisation in the type of equipment that we have across the country, that is causing another problem.

They go here they will find one type of equipment, and then they go there the other equipment is another brand.”

However the minister believes that moving to the option of leasing will relieve many of these difficulties, particularly the need to train the necessary personnel and finding parts for the available equipment. “In 2019, we have a new policy now in the ministry to go towards leasing the equipment. We feel that with that we will be able to not only have adequate equipment and dated equipment, but it will take away from the staff of the ministry the need to find a biomedical technician when it’s broken, to source the parts for us to have those machines working so we wouldn’t have to deal with all of that if we lease,” Lawrence related.

Adding that “if we lease then it will be the company that will be responsible for all of that.

So we are thinking ahead of how we can address this issue because it’s not just a one institution issue it’s across Guyana”.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Volunteer teachers fan out in Linden …as more schools reopen amid strike action

By Vanessa Braithwaite AS more Linden teachers took to the streets in protest action on Tuesday, more school doors were opened even as the Region 10 Department of Education dispatched more Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) trainees to the various schools across the township.

More volunteers and retirees also joined the team and were dispatched to secondary schools, including Mackenzie High School (MHS). Trainee teachers were well dressed Tuesday morning, to be transported to the various schools, as sub-

Teacher of MHS Douglas Gittens

stitutes for the hundreds of teachers who for the second day, clad in white t-shirts, marched the streets of Mackenzie in a lively picketing

Jonella Brown

Louis Simon

action, before assembling at LICHAS, where they were addressed by General-Secretary of the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) Coretta Mc Donald.

Some schools, such as the Amelia’s Ward Primary School, had up to six substitute teachers; three trainees and three volunteers. Other schools where substitute teachers were dispatched include: Regma Primary School, Mackenzie High School, Mackenzie Primary

after anxiously awaiting the commencement of the new school term. Brown is calling on the government to remedy the situation since her sons are in Grade Four and are preparing for the National Grade Four Assessment.

“My sons have their exams coming up and they should be in school preparing for it, but they are still home and all the time they are asking, mommy when are we going to school,” Brown related.

She expressed her position on the matter and said she believes the teachers are not being unreasonable in their demands.

Another parent, Louis Simon, said the strike is unfortunate. He said the teachers have a right to strike since they are the ones educat-

the President, will find some way to resolve the issue amicably. Gittens said he does agree that teachers deserve a raise in salary but what is demanded by the GTU, will cripple the economy. “I feel teachers do deserve a raise in salary, but some of the things they are looking for, are not possible at this point; we have to look at things like balance of trade in a country.

[An] increase like this would cripple an economy; this is not something that is fair to a still fairly new government, we have to be patient. I still think we need to show them a lot of patience, we went through 23 years of hardship, for the 17 years, the most I would have received is when APNU+AFC took over; it has always been 5% increase.

Linden teachers participating in strike action on Tuesday

School, Watooka Nursery School, West Watooka Nursery School, Coomacka Primary School, One Mile Primary School and the St Aiden’s Primary School. Most of the volunteers were placed at secondary schools. One volunteer even joined the three teachers at the Kwakwani Secondary School, where two teachers turned up for duty. The nursery and primary schools in Ituni were both closed, as well as the nursery schools in Kwakwani. Three teachers however, reported for duty at the Kwakwani Primary School.

PARENTS AND CHILDREN AFFECTED TOO Joining the hundreds of teachers, were also scores of parents and other residents who too are urging the government to meet the teachers’ demands. Parents also expressed their frustration over the situation. One parent, Janella Brown, told the Guyana Chronicle that her twin boys are very upset that after two months of vacation, they cannot turn out to school,

ing his children. “If you don’t treat them well, how do you expect them to treat our children? I believe that we should stand behind the teachers with this one,” he said. When asked whether he believes funds are available to meet the demands, Louis responded in the affirmative and said that the issue lies in the government being afraid of the chain effect that would come from meeting the teachers’ demands, since all public servants would want same. “What they need to find is some middle ground where they can now balance the whole entire public system,” he noted. He said teachers should be more appreciated, given better working conditions and should be given recognition when they work hard and achieve success at NGSA and CSEC. NOT IN SUPPORT One of the brave teachers, Douglas Gittens of Mackenzie High School, who is turning up to duty and not in support of the strike, said that he believes that soon the government, as promised by

I have gotten 8% in the first year, with a one-off payment of $50, 000 that has never been seen in this country.

Right now it is not possible and that is why I am not in the strike action,” Gittens said.

WE WILL STAY IN THE STREETS Meanwhile, McDonald urged the teachers to stay in the streets until they are paid properly. She also asked them to keep the faith and remain unified in strike action, since they are not paving the way for themselves, but for the trainee teachers as well.

She said the 40% is just a proposal which is negotiable and GTU is willing to talk around it. McDonald reminded the teachers that they cannot take care and selflessness to the banks to pay their mortgages and to the supermarkets and so the issue remains a breadand-butter one, that they will fight for. The teachers pledged to continue the protest action, for the rest of the week.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Ministry says contingency plan working …as more teachers reportedly go on strike

These students of Anna Regina Multilateral reported for classes but found no teacher around

The Ministry of Education’s contingency plan for the teachers’ strike has begun to take shape with a greater roll out of temporary tutors in the public education system on Tuesday.

A top official at the ministry said that Tuesday’s roll out shows greater coordination and most of the schools where teachers have been absenting themselves temporary teachers have been dispatched. “So I can say today (Tuesday) we have been greater improvements in the system.

However, simultaneously reports are that more teachers have joined the industrial action as several schools reported an increase in the number teachers being absent.

A number of schools on the West Bank and West Coast of Demerara conveyed that while they saw the full complement of teachers on Monday, on Tuesday the staff numbers were starting to thin. More than half the teachers were missing at some schools, while others barely had any. “[Monday] we had full staff but today some are striking, 18 teachers out of 29 are on strike. It was a little confusing at first but when parents heard, they’ve been collecting their children,” reported Leonora Primary’s head teacher (HM) Ingrid Jacobus-Li. Some of the schools reported receiving substitutes but only a few. At Patentia Primary on the West Bank several substitute teachers were being assigned classes, while a few parents were also on hand assisting with fixing up the classroom and supervising the few pupils as they waited for a teacher to be assigned to the class.

“Yes there’s a Ms. Prince, a substitute teacher, assigned to my child’s class. On [Monday] they fixed them [the students] in the class but they did not do anything,” the parent disclosed, requesting to remain anonymous.

The parent was not in support of the teachers striking.

“They didn’t get it for 23 years so why they want it in three years. I think they are unfair with that amount that they want, when they want that what will happen to the nurses, and the other public servants? I think they deserve a little more, but not so much, something less and cater for the other public servants.”

Over at Uitvlugt, Leonora and Vreed-en-Hoop Secondary Schools approximately half of the teachers were missing on Tuesday, substitute teachers were still to be assigned to these schools. “It’s tough but we’re trying,” said Fay Gittens HM of Leonora Secondary, where 22 of the 44 teachers are out on strike. Three substitute teachers were sent to that school. “It’s taken effect on teachers who have to take on additional responsibilities.

We’re a secondary school so we have subject teachers, but now the subject teacher has to work like a class teacher, taking an entire class and teaching everything.”

At Vreed-en-Hoop teachers continued their protest outside of the Region Three Department of Education Office. GTU second Vice president, Julian Cambridge, said the numbers out on Tuesday indeed reflected a corresponding increase from the numbers that were out on Monday.

He averaged that on Monday there were some 200 teachers in the protest, while the numbers, accord-

ing to him, were closer to 300 on Tuesday. At the Cornelia Ida Primary School on the West Coast and West Demerara Secondary on the West Bank most of the teachers at these schools were still turning out for work. Both schools reported an almost full complement of teachers.

Teachers managing Meanwhile, on the East Coast of Demerara (EDC), several schools there also experienced a lower turn out but most head teachers were managing fairly well with the situation.

At the Plaisance Primary school, out of 197 students who enrolled for the term there were 82 pupils present while, out of a staff of 14 teachers, there were seven present along with 2 volunteers. The Guyana Chronicle was informed that although it is not the ideal situation, the attending children were divided among the teachers as the administration believes that it is better not to deprive children of an education.

On the previous day, however, there were 105 students who attended classes. A similar drop in numbers was experienced at St. Paul’s Primary where there was less than 50 per cent of pupils and teachers present, a number lower than the previous day. Nonetheless, those who turned out made the best of the situation by working in the classrooms.

At the La Bonne Intention (LBI) Nursery, Primary and Secondary schools, the turnout was also lower but not significantly as the teachers relayed that they were managing well. At LBI Primary teachers reported that is business as usual with 100 per cent of teachers present and 62.8 per cent of students showing up. At the nursery school there were sufficient teachers as regular staff showed up for work although there was a drop in the number of children.

Information coming from the nearby Secondary School stated that the turnout was good.

In Region Two reports are that more teachers joined the nationwide strike for an increase in salaries. Many teachers opted to stay at homes while children who showed up at Huist Dieren, Riverstown and Aurora primary schools had to return home in disappointment.

Reports are that the headteacher at Huist Dieren Primary School lodged the school keys at the Depart-

ment of Education while teachers at Aurora, Abram Zuil, Cotton Field, Anna Regina Multilateral and Charity secondary schools opted to stay home.

Approximately 15 teachers from Aurora Secondary and the majority from Anna Regina Multilateral stayed home. Only administrative staff and cleaners reported for work at the majority of

morning was chaotic as hundreds of students reported for classes but teachers appeared to be nowhere in sight. The children were left unsupervised and shortly after, parents arrived at the school to take their children home but the guards told them that they received orders from the Department of Education to close the gates.

GTU representative Sare-

reported that some of the teachers who had worked on Monday joined the strike but did not quantify the resultant increase.

They said though that their contingency plan enabled them to keep all the schools in the Region open amidst a greater turnout of pupils than on Monday when the strike started.

“More pupils and students

Teachers on the West side of Demerara continued their protest action on Tuesday outside the Region’s Department of Education office (Delano Williams photo)

the secondary, primary and nursery schools in the region.

Teachers who stayed home said that they support the strike and will be joining the protest today at Cotton Field in front of the Department of Education.

The situation at Anna Regina Multilateral this

ena Seemangal said teachers at the majority of primary schools in the south choose to stay home. Several attempts made to contact Regional Education Officer Nicola Matthews proved futile.

In Region Five (Mahaica/ Berbice), Education officials

in Region Five attended school on Tuesday and we were able to keep them in school, supervise them adequately and keep them gainfully occupied,” an official said. Unlike Monday there was no picketing by striking teachers in Region Five.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, September 5, 2018

AG asks court to strike out contempt proceedings over review order ATTORNEY General and Legal Affairs Minister, Basil Williams, has asked the High Court to strike out the ‘contempt’ proceedings, which were initiated by Anil Nandlall over the Judicial Review Act commencement order, on the basis that the Act is now in effect in keeping with instructions of the Chief Justice (ag), Roxane George-Wiltshire.

In the Notice of Application, seen by the Guyana Chronicle, the Attorney General– the Respondent in the matter – is applying for an order to strike out the proceedings on the basis that it is an abuse of the court’s process. In laying his grounds for the application, the Attorney General stated that on May 28, 2018, the Chief Justice (ag) heard a Fixed Date Application, and ordered that the Order to enforce the Judicial Review Act, be signed no later than July 31, 2018. He noted that at no point in time was he physically present.

On June 13, 2018, a Notice of Appeal was filed and signed by the Solicitor General Kim Kyte-Thomas, Deputy Solicitor General Deborah Kumar and Principal Legal Adviser Oneka Archer-Caulder in the Court of Appeal, thereby appealing the judgment of Chief Justice (ag) George-Wiltshire.

Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams

He further outlined that on July 17, 2018 at the Court of Appeal, the Deputy Solicitor General filed an interim Stay of Execution of the Judgment and Orders of the Chief Justice (ag) as delivered on May 28, 2018, as well as a Stay of Execution of the Judgment and Orders.

The matter was called on July 30, 2018, and with the Applicant’s undertaking an Interim Stay of the Court’s Order pending the determination of the summons was granted.

“The order to operationalise the Judicial Review Act

by July 31, 2018 was only brought to the attention of the Respondent by the law officers of the State just be-

Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George-Wiltshire

fore the decision of the Honourable Justice Rafiq Kkan, S.C, which was rendered on the 9th day of August, 2018,” the Attorney General said in his application. The Legal Affairs Minister explained that upon learning of the pending decision of Justice Khan, he immediately directed that an application for an urgent hearing of the appeal be filed. That application was filed on August 8, 2018.

It was noted that the Summons for the grant of the stay of execution of the Order made by the Chief Justice (ag) was determined and decided by Justice Khan at the Court of Appeal on August 9. “Notwithstanding that personal service of the Order made by the Honourable Madam Chief Justice

(ag) Roxane George S.C. was never effected on the Respondent, the Honourable Minister in furtherance of the exercise of his discretion and responsibility under Section 1 of the Judicial Review Act, had given instructions for the preparation of an Order to operationalise the Judicial Review Act,” the Attorney General explained.

The Ministerial Order for the operationalisation of the Judicial Review Act was signed on August 15, 2018 and published in the Official Gazette (Extraordinary) on August 16, 2018, the Legal Affairs Minister pointed out, noting that he was at the time seeking to comply with the Order made by the Chief Justice (ag). “The existence of the Interim Stay was never brought to the attention of the Respondent or the Chief Parliamentary Counsel which resulted in Ministerial Order No. 28 of 2018 dated the 15th day of August, 2018

Former Attorney General and People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Executive Anil Nandlall

and published in the Official Gazette (Extraordinary) on the 16th day of August, 2018 being brought into effect after July 31, 2018,” Minister Williams further explained.

He made it that the Order was revoked.

A new Ministerial Order signed by him was published in the Official Gazette (Extraordinary) on August 27, 2018, in an effort to “diligently” comply with Chief Justice (ag) George-Wiltshire’s order, this time, in keeping with the appointed date – July 31, 2018.

“During July and August 2018 the Respondent (AG) was facilitating nationwide anti-corruption sensitisation campaigns throughout Guyana; conducting anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AMLCFT) sensitisation seminars, and campaigned countrywide in view of the

PNC/R Congress to be held from the 17th to the 19th day of August in Georgetown and as such there is no proof that the Honourable Minister was evading personal service as falsely claimed by the applicant [Nandlal],” Minister Williams stated.

He added too that Nandlall’s claim of service of the Order on the staff of the Ministry of Legal Affairs and the Attorney General’s Chambers does not in law or fact amount to personal service of the Order on him.

The Attorney General argued that without effecting a personal service of the Order made by the Chief Justice (ag) on him, Nandlall on August 20, 2018 instituted contempt proceedings by way of a Fixed Date Application with supporting Affidavit despite having full knowledge of the actions taken by him (as the AG) to issue the commencement order.

“It is trite law that the Court lacks jurisdiction to proceed to hear an application for contempt for breach of a court order where ex facie there is no evidence of personal service of the Order on the Respondent,” Minister Williams argued, contending that Nandlall’s application amounts to a flagrant abuse and misuse of the processes of the court. The Attorney General, Williams, will make the application to the Court on September 14, 2018 at 09:00hrs before Justice Navindra Singh in the High Court.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, September 5, 2018

CH&PA commences construction of housing units in Amelia’s Ward THE first phase of the construction of 60 housing units in Phase Three, Amelia’s Ward has commenced, with 15 houses currently being constructed.

The project saw over 80 Lindeners being employed by four contractors who are also Lindeners, one of them being Michael Bonds Construction. Minister responsible for housing, Valerie Patterson- Yearwood, said that the tendering process of the second phase of another 15 units will be done in a week’s time. Construction commenced after access roads, electricity and water supply were made available in the area. Thirty of the 60 units will be flat concrete houses which will cost $5.3M and the other 30 will be concrete houses on stilts and will cost $6.3M. $100,000 of those respective costs will go towards payment for the land.

As each house is com-

pleted, the owner will be able to move in. Thirty four Lindeners have since prequalified for the units. Priority was given to youths and government workers. Two of these are Registered Nurse Abigail Thompson and Mechanical Engineer attached to the Regional Democratic Council, Nigel Newton.

They were given letters to the respective commercial banks to obtain funding.

Thompson in July told the media that she is a mother of two and had applied eight months prior to pre-qualifying. “Don’t give up, apply once you reach the age and you might be selected. It makes me feel honoured to be selected today, to own my own home soon,” she said, as she encouraged other youths to do the same.

In 2019, CH&PA will be commencing similar construction in the Wisroc Scheme. The process of having the lands trans-

ferred from the Wisroc Housing Corporation via the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission to the CH&PA is underway Yearwood has related to residents that the move to construct housing units, rather than to just distribute house lots was birthed from country-wide consultations and the demands for turnkey homes were made. Approximately 8,500 individuals expressed their preference for housing units located in already developed schemes.

The first set of houses built at Perseverance, EBD by CH&PA are all sold out.

The CH&PA has invested millions of dollars into constructing housing units across Guyana.

Several other communities nationwide are expected to benefit from CH&PA housing units, while core houses will be built to be distributed free of cost to impoverished families.

Construction of 15 out of 60 housing units happening in Phase Three, Amelia’s Ward

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Three for advanced health studies abroad

IN an effort to enhance the skills of three local medical doctors, the government has delivered on its promise to ensure that they do so abroad.

The three doctors at reference are Dr Rhyan Henry, who will be pursuing

GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, September 5, 2018

a Master’s Degree in Public Health in Israel; Dr Adoniyah Benjamin, who would be doing his Master’s in Global Public Health in the UK; and Dr Gregory Harris, who would be pursuing a Master’s in Healthcare Policy and RHO Dr Quincy Jones (second left), with, from left: Drs Rhyan Henry, Adoniyah Benjamin and Gregory Harris

An evidently happy Jano Wickham, left, with Dr Quincy Jones and Michelline Fraser-Adams

Management in the UK. According to Regional Health Officer (RHO) Dr Quincy Jones, the three doctors are attached to healthcare facilities in Region Four, and that two other staff members within the Health Department will also be furthering their studies shortly, one in Environmental Studies at the University of Guyana, and the other in Public Health.

He said that he is deeply excited by the fact that these three doctors were able to secure scholarships to pursue “critically important” areas of study within the medical profession, and reminded all in attendance that his policy continues to be one whereby he would like to see every staff member being able to pursue higher learning and/or training, noting that it is a commitment

that he made at the start of the year.

“I am someone who firmly believes in the holistic professional development of those under my charge,” Dr Jones said, adding: “And it is my responsibility to ensure that avenues and opportunities are created so that my team can be enhanced with improved and enhanced skills and knowledge.”

It was also disclosed that a member of the Environmental Health Department, Michelline Fraser-Adams, will be pursuing a degree in Environmental Studies at the University of Guyana, starting this academic year, while Jano Wickham will be pursuing the Ministry of Public Health’s Medex programme as well.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Fire devastates Sophia family

The fire completely destroyed the home of the Sophia family A FAMILY of six is now homeless after a mentally-ill relative reportedly burnt their Section ‘D’ Sophia home down late Tuesday afternoon.

The suspected arsonist, identified as Orlando Williams, was later taken into custody at the Turkeyen Police Station. When the Guyana Chronicle arrived

at the scene the inferno was already contained by fire fighters from the Guyana Fire Service.

The fire started at about 16:00hrs and quickly gutted the wood and concrete structure.

An occupant of the home, Maria Charles, explained that she was a few houses away when she

was alerted about the fire from persons in the village. Charles, who is the mother of an eight-monthold baby, alleged that the home was purposely set alight by her older brother, Williams, who is reportedly mentally unstable.

Charles explained that the family lost everything and was unable to save

The Charles’ family in distress any valuables from the home. They are still counting their losses. “His head is not right… he said it’s his father house and he burnt it,” said the distraught woman, adding that that her brother had threatened to kill his other sister, who was also living at the home with her daughter. However, due

to the constant threats the sibling moved out from the family home.

“His head ain’t right, you never know what he can do,” Charles lamented as she added that at the time of the fire only Williams was home. Coming home to the devastating news was another sibling, Fizal Charles who was

left with only the clothes on his back since he was away at work for the day. “ Everything burn… we ain’t manage to save anything,” the man explained as the family sat at another relative’s home seeking shelter as they are left without any money, clothes or documents.

Seven homeless after Woodley Park fire

SEVEN persons who were left homeless after a fire of unknown origin destroyed their home at Woodley Park, West Coast Berbice last week Tuesday, are appealing to the public for help to get back to some degree of normalcy.

Vedish Balram of Back Street, Woodley Park, a village also known as #11, had reported that around 18:00hrs on Tuesday August 28th last, himself his wife, Anita and their five children were at the home of a relative some distance away when he saw his home in flames. The man said he was the only adult male in the vicinity at the time

and he made frantic efforts to put out the blaze. He said that at one point he fell and injured his head but eventually had to let the fire have its way. The family was unable to save anything.

Apart from furniture, other items destroyed included rations for the month; new school uniforms and school kits for the children. Vedish, who is self-employed, said that the fire has left his family destitute and he would be grateful for any form of relief.

Persons desirous of offering assistance can contact Vedish on cell number 6179922.

Vedish, his wife and four of their five children

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, September 5, 2018

China-Africa cooperation fundamental for Africa’s success: UN chief

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that China-Africa cooperation is fundamental for Africa’s success. Speaking at a joint interview with Chinese correspondents one day before his trip to Beijing for the summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), Guterres said: “I am a true believer that the success of the world in development and peace depends on Africa’s success, and China’s cooperation with Africa is fundamental for Africa’s success.”

The UN chief said the success of African development is largely the success of global development. He said that China’s cooperation with Africa is not only aimed at economic cooperation but also is an import-

ant pathway to improve global development patterns, global governance and the healthy development of economic globalization.

“The world is one, the planet is one, we are living in an integrated time, everything is interlocked,” Guterres said.

At such a highly integrated time, the world needs to strengthen connectivity through investment in ports, roads, railways and telecommunications, many of which are associated with the Belt and Road Initiative, he added. The FOCAC Beijing summit, scheduled for Sept. 3-4, ran under the theme: “China and Africa: toward an even stronger community with a shared future through win-win cooperation.”

Guterres said China’s cooperation with

Africa, which is a win-win based model, “is in line with the Agenda 2063 of Africa and 2030 agenda for sustainable development agreed by all UN member countries.” China-Africa cooperation is central to SouthSouth cooperation, which is more and more important in today’s world, he added.

Guterres said Africa could benefit from the remarkable success of China’s decades of economic reform. China has become a fundamental pillar for the multilateral world, he said. As a founding member of the United Nations and a permanent member of the Security Council, China is playing an important role to make the UN essential for world peace and development, he added. (Xinhua)

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

Belt and Road adds new momentum to China-Africa cooperation

THE 480 km railway linking Kenya’s largest port city Mombasa to capital Nairobi is a key infrastructure project that will push forward the East Africa nation’s modernization drive.)

From the Horn of Africa all the way south to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, is an extensive stretch of thousands of kilometers of the West Indian Ocean coastline. Historically, the famous Chinese navigator Zheng He during the Ming Dynasty, had led trade envoys and reportedly reached the eastern and southern Africa coastal region four times, sowing the initial seeds for China-Africa friendship, and carving out an ancient maritime silk road trade route.

More than 600 years have passed since those first voyages. This region now boasts some of Africa’s fastest growing economies, which seek to boost regional integration with better infrastructure through cooperation under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.

The China-Africa cooperative projects such as the electrified railway connecting landlocked Ethiopia with Djibouti, the Mombasa-Nairobi standard gauge railway in Kenya, the Maputo Cross-sea Bridge in Mozambique and various industrial zones established in recent years, have been a reflection of the successful cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative.

A DREAM COME TRUE Proposed by China in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, which aims at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes of the Silk Road.

An open and inclusive platform for economic cooperation between nations and governments, the initiative has helped change people’s lives.

Tesfay, 38, used to be a taxi driver in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa with an income that could barely support his family.

“Actually, I have always had this dream of owning a house in Addis Ababa,” he said.

Yet compared with the average salary of a local employee, the housing price is simply too high for him to realize his dream.

A train runs from the new Mombasa Terminus on Mombasa-Nairobi Railway.

Because of his driving skill and extensive knowledge of the city, he was employed six years ago by the China Railway Group (CREC), one of the contractors of the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway.

“Tesfay was just the kind of guy we needed when we first arrived in Addis Ababa years ago, when streets in the city barely had names and houses did not have doorplate numbers. He was a walking map of the city,” said Yuan Qiang, an expert with CREC No.2 Group at the project for operation and maintenance.

With help from the project and his Chinese colleagues, Tesfay finally managed to buy his dream house in the city with a down payment four years ago. “The price of the house has now even gone up quite a lot, which equals to many years of my salary,” said Tesfay.

Examples of African workers benefitting from various projects under the Belt and Road Initiative abound. The Nairobi-Mombasa railway project has created nearly 50,000 jobs for locals, and trained more than 5,000 technicians since construction began in late 2014.

The Maputo Cross-Sea Bridge, due to be launched soon, has also created over 20,000 jobs for the locals, both full-time and part-time, since the project commenced in June 2014, data from the China Road and Bridge Corporation showed.

TRENDY TOPIC IN AFRICA As the Belt and Road Initiative seeks to promote connectivity among nations, more African countries are eager to know

how they could benefit from it as they strive to promote regional integration through upgrading roads, ports, railways and telecommunication networks. In June, officials, scholars, and think tanks gathered in Kenya for a case study of the Nairobi-Mombasa railway, a pioneer project of the Belt and Road Initiative in East Africa.

James Macharia, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Transport, said the project is a model for cooperation with China in infrastructure development and socio-economic transformation. Describing the project a game changer, Macharia said that the extension of the modern railway project toward the border with Uganda will stimulate trade and industrialization along its corridor.

Gerishon Ikiara, an international economics lecturer at the University of Nairobi, said that the China-proposed initiative and the BRICS Development Bank have enriched cooperation among countries and regions, and have been important engines for global economic growth. The Maritime Silk Road connects east Africa with Asia and Europe, and the extension of standard gauge railways in east Africa will greatly improve the region’s transport and reduce trade costs, he said.

Chinese Ambassador to South Africa Lin Songtian said earlier that Africa is an important destination for the Belt and Road Initiative. “The construction of the projects under the initiative will bring unprecedented new opportunities for China-Africa cooperation,” he said.

NEW MOMENTUM FOR TIES This year marks the fifth anniversary since the Belt and Road Initiative was first put forward in 2013.

Over the years, after some nations in East Africa have taken their first steps to boost domestic development under the initiative, countries in West Africa, including Nigeria, Mauritania, and Cote d’Ivoire have expressed interest in joining in the Belt and Road construction.

Nigeria’s newspaper Leadership published a full-page article last month, which urged Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy and most populous country, to take a stand and make itself a key player to attract this initiative to its shores. “In Nigeria, China is doing quite well. The Abuja-Kaduna railway, the Abuja light rail from the city center to airport, among other projects, are all in spirit of the Belt and Road,” the article said.

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa said earlier this year that Zimbabwe will fully participate in the initiative for the benefit of its economy. “The Belt and Road Initiative is indeed a vision for the future,” Mnangagwa said. Tanzania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Augustine Mahiga told Xinhua that the philosophy of the Belt and Road Initiative is to open economic opportunities, to give the countries worldwide better access to resources, technology, and to have closer connectivity.

“That is the essence of the connectivity of the world economy. If you want another word for Belt and Road, it is user-friendly globalization of the economy,” he added.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Immigration officer charged with forgery

AN immigration officer on Tuesday appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan, charged with three counts of conspiracy to commit a felony.

It is alleged that on April 1st, 2018 at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) Timehri, East Bank Demerara, Jonathan Rausch conspired with a person or persons unknown to commit a felony; that is to say he forged the Border Management System (BMS) with intent to defraud the public, purporting to show that Juan, Carlos and Perez along with two others entered Guyana on March 27, 2018, knowing same to be forged.

The 24-year-old man who resides at Garnett Street,Newtown, Kitty, denied the charges that were read to him by the chief magistrate. He was represented by Attorney Adrian Thompson, who made application for reasonable bail. Police prosecutor Gordon Mansfield had no objection to bail, but asked that conditions be attached.

According to the facts of the case, on the day in question around 15:00hrs, a Beech jet bearing registration numbers N119tc land-

ed at the CJIA from Aruba for an emergency fuel stop and subsequently departed with Carlos and Perez without any documentation.

An investigation was launched and the names of the persons mentioned in the charge appeared on the Border Management System (BMS) as arriving passengers aboard flight COPAL which had arrived at the CJIA on March 27, 2018. Upon further investigation, it was revealed that the names were not featured on the manifest or any embarkation card in favour of the persons. Checks of the BMS further revealed that the accused, who was an immigration rank on duty at the time, entered the names into the BMS to show that the persons had arrived in Guyana on March 27, 2018.

The accused was contacted, questioned and subsequently told of the allegations and cautioned.

The accused was placed on $150,000 bail on condition that he lodge his passport and report to the Criminal Investigation Department headquarters every Friday.

The matter was adjourned to September 17, 2018.

Man gets seven years for killing patron at fish shop A MAN was on Tuesday jailed for killing another during a fight back in 2016 outside of the White Castle Fish Shop on Hadfield Street.

The sentence was handed down by Justice Sandil Kissoon at the High Court. The indictment read out to the court

by State Prosecutor Abigail Gibbs, stated that on April 30, 2016, Mark Anthony Barclay unlawfully killed Gordon Ross. As such, he was facing trial for manslaughter. Gibbs further shared that on the night of the incident, both the accused and the deceased were at the White Castle Fish Shop. While there, the accused was entertaining himself and a crowd with his dancing.

This for some reason annoyed the deceased, who as a result started beating Barclay with a belt, then

Sandy goes on trial for allegedly murdering girlfriend FORMER Guyana Defence Force Captain, Orwain Sandy was on Tuesday committed to stand trial at the High Court for the murder of his reputed wife, Reona Payne.

Sandy allegedly shot and killed the woman back in March this year. The preliminary inquiry (PI) into the matter came to an end at the Georgetown Magistrates' Court when Principal Magistrate, Judy Latchman found sufficient evidence for Sandy to be tried at the High Court before a judge and jury.

During the PI evidence was led by Police Prosecutor, Corporal Shawn Gonsalves and Sandy was represented by attorney James Bond. At the end of the case, Bond congratulated Magistrate Latchman for the speedy hearing which enabled them to complete the PI. Sandy remained composed and did not show any emotion while in the

21

DEAD: Reona Payne

Former Guyana Defence Force captain Orwain Sandy

courtroom.

Sandy, who served as Special Assistant to the Chief-of-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force, will remain on remand. According to reports, Sandy, after allegedly committing the act, surrendered to police at the Ruimveldt Police Sta-

tion on Saturday, March 31. A post-mortem report revealed that Payne died from 14 gunshot wounds to her body–13 to her chest and one to the head.

The police had confirmed that Sandy used his service firearm during the shooting.

proceeded to stab him in his hand with a knife.

Subsequently, the two were engaged in a scuffle during which the accused picked up the knife of the deceased and dealt him five stab wounds. The deceased was then taken to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

The accused accepted the facts presented by the state and pleaded guilty to the charge. He was represented by Attorney-at-law, Brandon DeSantos, who shared that Barclay is 39

years of age and takes care of his mother.

After the case was presented and the accused pleaded guilty to the charge, Justice Kissoon started the sentence at a base of 25 years before deducting years for various things, including the fact that it was not the first time Ross had attacked Barclay and the post- mortem had revealed that his death was caused by a single wound to his leg.

After handing down the sentence, Justice Kissoon

Mark Barclay ordered that Barclay be taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital within the next 48 hours to seek medical attention after the convict had complained ab ou t in jur ies to h is mouth.

Relatives present in court broke down in tears as the sentence was handed down.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Scott apologises to teachers for insensitive comment

MINISTER within the Ministry of Social Protection, Keith Scott, who has responsibility for labour, has apologised for branding teachers as “selfish and uncaring” days before they embarked on a countrywide strike for better salaries.

Scott had made the remarks on August 31, 2018 at the bursary awards ceremony of the Guyana Public Service Co-operative Credit Union (GPSCCU).

He was subsequently met with a backlash not only from teachers, but from the public, other groups and trade unions after the matter was reported in the Sunday Stabroek.

“I would like to offer my

sincerest apologies to the teachers of Guyana. I regret making such an inflammatory and hurtful statement. I have always and will always hold the teachers of our nation in the highest regard.

“It was never my intention to be disrespectful of, or to downplay the legitimate industrial actions taken by the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) on behalf of its membership and teachers generally. I humbly and sincerely apologise,” Scott stated in a release.

Scott had joined the deliberations when the GTU sent a formal letter to the Ministries of Education and Social Protection about a planned countrywide strike.

He had then encouraged

the union to embrace the option of cordial discussions, although he had then found the strike to be “premature and to be an absolute breach of faith” as discussions between the involved parties were still in progress.

“Throughout the meeting and more so, towards the end thereof, you expressed a willingness to continue dialogue and at no time indicated that your union was contemplating industrial action, which as you are aware, ought to be [in] conformity with an established grievance procedure,” Scott had stated in correspondence to the union.

The strike, nonetheless, began on August 27 and since then several meetings

have been held with the the union attending, the Ministries of Education and Social Protection and other labour officials.

After the talks between the parties failed, the matter was expected to be taken to conciliation.

However, the GTU has since remained adamant in its intention to move to the arbitration phase, insisting that the conciliation process has been compromised.

The GTU has contended that Scott, along with the Chief Labour Officer (CLO) Charles Ogle and other labour officials,had all represented the Education Ministry at previous negotiation meetings.

On Monday, Education

Minister Nicolette Henry responded to the stalled negotiations as a result of the union’s decision.

“Due process is required and when going through these procedures, we don’t have an opportunity to cherry pick which stage we go through. We have to go through stage by stage and exhaust each stage before we arrive at the other stage.

That is the procedure by which we’re guided.”

It is unknown when the parties are set to meet again, but Henry has since stated that given the urgency and importance of the matter, it is expected that those involved will soon facilitate the resumption of dialogue.

Junior Minister of Social Protection, Keith Scott

AG to soon advise Cabinet on US$5M owed by Hong Kong Golden Telecom – says arbitration high possibility ATTORNEY General and Legal Affairs Minister, Basil Williams said he will soon advise Cabinet on the agreement between the Government of Guyana and Hong Kong Golden Telecom Company (HKGT), with respect to the outstanding US$5M for the 20 per cent Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) shares it bought.

At a press conference on Monday, the attorney general said a legal team from his Chambers is examining the agreement. “We will make a decision sooner or later, and I think soonest in relation to advising Cabinet whether we should go to arbitration and whatever action we should take.”

Minister Williams said that from all indications the Government would be inclined to arbitration.

HKGT owes the government holding company, the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) the US$5M. Guyana has been demanding that HKGT pays interests on the US$5M debt.

Much mystery had surrounded the outstanding money, which at one time was described as missing. NICIL had maintained that it was not in receipt of the outstanding US$5M from the sale of the government shares in GTT, and was expected to employ the method of arbitration to recover those funds. More than a year ago, a company in the United Kingdom was identified to help NICIL in the process of arbitration. In 2012, the former PPP/C Government made a decision to sell its shares in GTT for US$30M. A payment of US$25M was made, with the balance expected to be paid within two years.

Approximately six years have passed, and the US$5M is yet to be paid.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, September 5, 2018

AG awaiting word from legal team

–– on Dookie court ruling ATTORNEY-General and Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams is awaiting a report from the legal team that represented his chamber in the case brought against the state by former Head of the Special Weap-

ons and Tactics (SWAT) unit, Motie Dookie.

A few days ago, High Court judge Justice Fidela Corbin-Lincoln overturned the decision in favour of Dookie.

Last May, Minister of

Citizenship Winston Felix, who at the time was performing the duties of Minister of Public Security, instructed then Commissioner of Police Paul Williams to have Deputy Superintendent of Police Motie Dookie, proceed on leave in the public’s interest after he was found with large

Mocha man in court for raping minor

A MOCHA-Arcadia, East Bank Demerara resident was on Tuesday arraigned before Chief Magistrate, Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court on a charge of allegedly raping a minor.

Jegede Hodge, 47 was not required to plead to the indictable charge which read that during the month of September, 2017, at his Mocha home, he engaged in sexual penetration of a minor.

The matter was heard in camera and Hodge was released on $300,000 bail. The accused was ordered to keep 50ft away from the teen and the matter has been adjourned until September 13.

According to reports during the month of September 2017, the girl was at the defendant’s home along with other relatives. It is alleged that during that time, while the child was left in the care of the accused he would force

Jegede Hodge her to have sexual intercourse with him.

The child reported the matter to her relatives who filed a complaint with the police.

amounts of smuggled whisky last December.

At the time the decision was taken, both Commissioner of Police (ag) David Ramnarine and substantive Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan were on travel duties together in Arizona.

But Dookie challenged the decision of the minister and his superior in the Guyana Police Force on the basis that it was “unconstitutional” and “whimsical.”

Weighing in on the issue on Monday, the attorney gen-

eral said Justice Corbin-Lincoln’s decision raises an important issue.

“What is the state to do when there is no commission whether, public, teaching or police; in this case [it] is police,” he reasoned.

“So, a senior rank who comes under the jurisdiction of the Police Service Commission commits some egregious act; is the state and the government to be without remedy in treating with this person, because there is no Police Service Commission?”

The attorney general is maintaining that the state invoked the doctrine of necessity when it sent Dookie on leave in the absence of a Police Service Commission (PSC).

A PSC has since been reconstituted under the chairmanship of retired Assistant Commissioner of Police, Paul Slowe.

Minister Williams said when the report on the case is received, his chamber will make a decision on the way forward.

24

GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Saudis, Chinese investors eye sugar industry

By Navendra Seoraj INVESTORS from China and Saudi Arabia are among several others who have expressed interest in investing in the local sugar industry, which is being transformed through diversification and privatisation.

Over the years, the sugar

SPU Head Colvin Heath-London industry has declined and in an effort to return it to viability, the government was forced to retrench workers as part of wider reform.

The National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), through its Special Purpose Unit (SPU) took control of the Skeldon, Rose Hall, Enmore and Wales estates when government decided to close operations early this year.

Since January 2018, the SPU was tasked with having the estates valuated and ready for sale, but Finance Minister Winston Jordan believes that in order to add to the process of selling the estates, or at least attracting a buyer(s), the two estates should be reopened.

“Initially, in the first round there were approximately 70 investors. In the second round, which is still ongoing for a fixed proposal, we have in the region of 20, but this process will be open until the end of this month, so let’s see what happens and what the numbers will be at the end of the month,” said Head of the SPU, Colvin Heath-London in an invited comment on Tuesday.

In addition to the investors from China and Saudi Arabia, there were expressions of interest from inves-

tors in India, South Africa, Australia and Latin America.

Based on the expressions of interest the SPU received, they observed that most stakeholders want to produce sugar-related products at the closed estates, except for Wales, which is on the West Bank of Demerara (WBD).

Investors also have an interest in having diversified crops and products at the estates, said Heath-London, adding that they want to do agro-processing at some estates, particularly Skeldon, Rose Hall and Enmore.

Heath-London expects that there will be more proposals, since the SPU has advertisements out for “fixed and firm” proposals from investors who have an interest in the industry.

At the end of the advertising period, he said the fixed proposals will be evaluated and recommendations will be made to the necessary board and the Cabinet on which investors should be selected.

“We hope that by February of next year we should have our first investor/ developer running one of the estates and all the other estates hopefully in the next near, distant future will be operational in some form,” said the SPU head, adding that in the interim they are trying to maintain the estates, so that persons who invest in them would have something to work with.

According to a Guyana Chronicle report, Minister of State Joseph Harmon had said that the administration is working to ensure that the sector remains viable and that the livelihoods of sugar workers are protected.

Minister Harmon said government since assuming office, has been faced with the task of making tough decisions with regard to the future of the sugar industry.

According to him, every decision that the government has made with regard to the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) has been done, taking into consideration the interests of the sugar workers and the nation.

He had noted that the way the sugar industry was previously managed resulted in severe haemorrhaging of resources, and as such, decisions had to be taken.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, September 5, 2018

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Confident Barbados team ready for battle with Guyana tomorrow

By Rawle Toney

BARBADOS national men’s football team arrived at the Eugene F. Correia International Airport yesterday ‘oozing’ with confidence, ahead of their CONCACAF Nations League qualifier against Guyana, tomorrow, at the National Track and Field Centre, Leonora, from

19:00hrs.

Three years ago (2015) was the last time Barbados faced Guyana when the game ended in a 2-2 draw, in an international friendly.

However, this time around, according to Rashad Jules, things are different and the stakes are higher, since the CONCACAF Nations League will also serve as a qualifier for next year’s CONCACAF

Gold Cup. Jules told reporters that while he’s ignorant of the Golden Jaguars’ team composition, the last time the two countries met the result was favourable, but this time around, with a lot at stakes, his side is looking to leave the shores of the ‘Mighty Kaieteur’ with three points.

Asked about the opus of his team, Jules, who

plays with Old Road FC in Antigua and Barbuda, noted, “We have a pretty young squad and we did everything we needed to do to prepare for the tournament and this game (against Guyana). Our team is a mixture of youth and experience, some local and overseas (players).”

March 6, 1999 (19 years ago) marked the last time Barbados defeated

Guyana (2-0), in Bridgetown during the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Caribbean Cup. Following tomorrow’s game against the Golden Jaguars, Barbados will face El Salvador on October 13, U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) on November 18, and will wrapup their Nations League qualifier on March 24, 2019 against Nicaragua.

Head coach Johnson says the players are hungry for success … reiterates call for public support

By Rawle Toney MICHAEL Johnson, the

recently-installed head coach of Guyana’s senior men’s national football team, is happy with the level of commitment shown by members of the ‘Golden Jaguars’ ahead of their campaign in the CONCACAF Nations League’s opening clash against Barbados tomorrow.

Guyana will play Barbados at the National Track and Field Centre, Leonora, in their attempt to qualify for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. The Golden Jaguars has never featured at the confederation’s marquee tournament, but Johnson believes that with the consistent desire and hunger for success being shown by the players selected, Guyana will be among the 16-team tourna-

ment, set for the USA next year.

“The players are hungry and are adapting to what we’re asking, giving us 110%,” Johnson told Chronicle Sport at the team’s practice session yesterday at Leonora.

“The mood among the players is one that they want success, the mood is one that they want to create history, the mood is one that they have a real appetite to work hard and give 110% to this,” Johnson said.

Johnson, 45, a former national player for Jamaica, winning 13 caps for the ‘Reggae Boyz’, reiterated his call for public support, with the former Derby County defender adding “I think it’s vital that everybody sees what

these players are trying to do for Guyana. We’re trying to change direction, because, there’s no getting away from the fact that things have been very disappointing over the last few years. There’s a target that we had set, that we want to achieve and we want the public to come out and give support to this group of players.”

The CONCACAF Nations League is the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football’s (CONCACF) new centralised men’s national team competition for national team football in the confederation.

The CONCACAF Nations League begins this month with a one-off qualifying phase, while the group

phase, consisting of threetiered leagues will kick off in 2019, ending with a final to crown the Nations League champions.

The competition will also serve to unify the qualifying path for the region’s national teams to the newly-expanded Gold Cup which has moved from 12, to 16 teams.

With matches being played on the FIFA dates between September 2018 and March 2019, Guyana, after their clash with Barbados on September 6, will then travel to Turks and Caicos for a meeting between the two countries on October 13, followed by an encounter against French Guiana on November 20, before hosting Belize in March, 2019.

Ming helps Pabst to USF ... for the first half of the season falling far down the order in points but at the halfway point with some changes, we started to make a charge back up the point standings to a top-5 finish,” the Guyanese added.

He continued, “I’m happy to be able to have another solid result for a second year in a row but missed out 3rd in the championship by only 9 points. So that is a tough one for me.”

He drove from 12th to sixth in the final race, finishing behind team mates Lucas Khol, Exclusive Autosport’s Igor Fraga, Pelfrey’s Julian Van der Watt, Pabst’s Rasmus Lindh and Cape Motorsports Kyle Kirkwood.

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Continued from back page

In the individual championships, Ming finished fifth behind winner Kirkwood, Lindh, Khol and Fraga.

He picked up the award for the best pass of the season “I am so grateful to my sponsors Apan and Mps who made this possible,” he continued, “hopefully we can work hard in the offseason and make a stronger comeback next year to the road to Indy and pick up some wins.”

Ming says he has not decided on what the 2019 season holds for him yet, as the 2018 season has just ended; but promised his fans that there would be more news in the coming days.

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BCB Magic Moments 20/20 Tournament

No.48 Challengers advance to final, Skeldon and No.72 All Stars reach semi-finals

THE final of the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) Magic Moments 20/20 Tournament for teams in the Upper Corentyne area will be played on Sunday (September 9) at the Cut and Load ground.

The No.48 Challengers have advanced to the final after defeating No.64 Fighting Star in the first semi-final. No.72 All Stars and Skeldon Community Centre advanced to the other semi-final after defeating Cut and Load Cricket Club and Scottsburg United Cricket Club respectively in the quarter-finals.

The semi-final will be played at 09:30hrs, with the winners going on to play No.48 Challengers in the final on the same day.

Playing at the No.73 ground, Scottsburg United Cricket Club were dismissed for 108 off their allotted 20 overs with Rajendra Sooknandan and Alex Burnett top-scoring with 15 each, while extras contributed a healthy 30 runs.

Kelvin Maynard with 3 for 8 and Junior Blair 2 for 16 were the pick of the Skeldon bowlers.

Skeldon reached 109 for 4 from just 10.4 overs as George Davis 20 not out and Edward Julian 19 not out batted well. Rayman Lowenfield 2 for 17 and Adrian Jeffrey 2 for 22 also bowled well but in a losing cause for Scottsburg United.

Meanwhile, No.48 Challengers held their nerves to defeat arch rivals No.64 Fight-

ing Marines by 15 runs. Challengers made 111 all out in 19.2 overs with Munesh Lalu 27, Devin Baldeo 18 being the principal scorers. Devindra Budhoo 3 for 14 and Leonard Sandy 2 for 28 bowled well for No.64.

a close four-run victory.

No.72 made 100 all out in 19.2 overs with Trishan Ramdass 11, Mahendra Bhoj 17 and Sanjay Deschan 22 being the main scorers. Abdullah Ajib 4 for 16, Ramesh Persaud 2 for 7 and Imram

President of the BCB, Hilbert Foster, is urging all cricket fans in the Upper Corentyne area to turn out at the popular Cut and Load ground in the No.72 Village. The final would be the first of four to be organised by the BCB under

MADRID, Spain (Reuters) Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has accepted a one-year prison sentence as part of a deal to settle a Spanish tax evasion case, El Mundo newspaper reported on Tuesday, although he is unlikely to actually serve any jail time.

Man United manager Jose Mourinho

Spanish law states that a sentence of under two years for a first offence can be served on probation.

Mourinho’s representatives were not immediately available for comment. Manchester United and the Spanish tax agency both declined to comment.

Spanish prosecutors filed a claim against Mourinho last year on two counts of tax

No. 72 All Stars cricket team

In response No.64, fought to the end before they were dismissed for 96 with two overs remaining. Leonard Sandy 26 and Devindra Budhoo 16 batted well but excellent bowling by Balram Samaroo 3 for 11, Jaipaul Baijnauth 3 for 4 and Samie Dharoop 3 for 32 led No.48 Challengers to the final.

Earlier in the day, No.72 All Stars broke the hearts of the supporters of the home team, Cut and Load, to register

Khan 2 for 17 were the best bowlers for the home team.

Cut and Load in response, were bowled out for 96 with one of the allotted 20 overs still to be bowled. Ramesh Persaud top-scored with 18, while Ramesh Joseph contributed 16.

The bowlers responsible for No.72 All Stars’ victory were Wayne Garrett 2 for 26, Pradeep Gobin 3 for 13, Taleshwar Baichand 2 for 17 and Trishan Ramdass 2 for 15.

the popular Magic Moments brand. The Upper Corentyne final will be followed by finals for Second Division teams in the Lower Corentyne, New Amsterdam/Canje and West Berbice.

The BCB in 2018 has committed itself to organising 22 cricket tournaments at the Under-15, Under-17, Under-19, Under-21, Female, Second Division, Inter-Zone, Secondary School and First Division levels.

Federer knocked out by world number 55 Aussie John Millman ROGER Federer has been knocked out of the US Open in the fourth round by world number 55 John Millman.

The 37-year-old Swiss had prioritised winning a sixth title at Flushing Meadows but was beaten 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(9-7), 7-6, (7-3) in three hours 35 minutes.

It is the first time Federer has lost to a player ranked outside of the top 50 at the US Open.

Australian Millman will play two-time champion Novak Djokovic in his first Grand Slam quarter-final today.

Millman, 29, is the only unseeded player left in the last eight of the men’s draw.

“I’m probably in a little bit of disbelief,” said Millman.

“I have so much respect for Roger and everything he’s done for the game. He’s been a hero of mine.”

Mourinho accepts one year sentence in Spanish tax case: El Mundo

Second seed Federer, bidding for a record-extending 21st Grand Slam, missed set points in the second and third sets before capitulating in the fourth-set tie-break.

Millman had never beaten a top-10 player before but suddenly found himself with five match points against arguably the greatest male player of all-time.

After Federer rallied to save two of them, Millman completed victory at almost

01:00hrs local time, in a humid New York when the outof-sorts Swiss lumped a forehand long.

It was Federer’s first defeat in 41 matches at the US Open against a player ranked outside the top 50.

Federer, usually so calm and collected, was flustered throughout most of the match as he complained about crowd noise and became unusually vocal during some tense moments.

Roger Federer won the US Open title five times in a row between 2004 and 2008.

“It was very hot and one of those nights where I felt I couldn’t get air,” he said.

“I just struggled in the conditions and it was one of the first times it has happened to me.

“You just keep sweating and losing energy. At some point I was just happy the match was over.”

Warning signs were clear for Federer.

After not dropping a set in his opening three matches, Federer looked on his way to another controlled victory when he eased to the opener in 33 minutes.

However, the warning signs were clear from the start of the second set.

Federer’s reliable serve has been the bedrock of his game over the years but an uncharacteristically erratic display allowed Millman to fight back and earn a memorable win.

fraud dating back to when he coached Real Madrid.

Mourinho left Real Madrid in 2013 to manage English club Chelsea for a second spell before signing with United in 2016.

Spanish tax authorities had said the Portuguese manager owed 3.3 million euros. Prosecutors said he had failed to declare revenues from his image rights in his Spanish income tax declarations from 2011 and 2012, “with the aim of obtaining illicit profits”.

They said Mourinho had already settled a previous claim relating to his Spanish taxes after a 2014 inquiry, which resulted in a penalty of 1.15 million euros. But tax authorities later found that some of the information presented in that settlement was incorrect, the prosecutors said.

The Mourinho settlement comes amid a lengthening list of tax fraud cases involving soccer stars in Spain.

In June, former Real Madrid player Cristiano Ronaldo reached a similar deal with the Spanish tax authorities to serve two years in prison and pay a 18.8 million euro fine in a tax evasion case.

England keep batting line-up for final Test

Keaton Jennings (left) and Alastair Cook

ENGLAND have kept faith with the same batsmen for the final Test against India, in what will be Alastair Cook’s last international game.

Cook, 33, who holds the record for the most England Test runs with 12 254, announced his retirement from international cricket on Monday.

James Vince, drafted into the last squad as backup for Jonny Bairstow, has been released back to Hampshire.

England have already won the series and lead 3-1 after their Southampton win.

Opening batsman Keaton Jennings remains in the squad despite only scoring 130 runs in the series, at an average of 18.57, while Cook has only scored 109 runs, averaging 15.57.

Ollie Pope will play for Surrey in the first two days of their County Championship Division One match against Essex at Chelmsford and will join the rest of the Test squad tomorrow morning.

England will have to decide who bats at number three

after captain Joe Root batted there in the first innings of the fourth Test, before Moeen Ali took that position for the second innings.

It also remains to be seen who will keep wicket, with Jos Buttler having stepped into the role in Southampton because Jonny Bairstow was struggling with a fractured finger.

Chris Woakes is included after missing the last Test with tightness in his quad.

England won the opening Test by 31 runs at Edgbaston and then moved into a 2-0 lead with a victory by an innings and 159 runs at Lord’s.

India took the third Test by a 203-run margin before England clinched the series with a 60-run win at Southampton.

England squad: Joe Root (Yorkshire, captain), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), James Anderson (Lancashire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Alastair Cook (Essex), Sam Curran (Surrey), Keaton Jennings (Lancashire), Ollie Pope (Surrey), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Ben Stokes (Durham), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire).

(BBC Sport)

Defending US Open champion Stephens sent packing by Sevastova

By Frank Pingue

NEW YORK, USA (Reuters) - Defending U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens was dumped out in the quarter-finals after losing 6-2, 6-3 to Latvian 19th seed Anastasija Sevastova in sweltering conditions on Tuesday.

The third-seeded American lacked the swagger she showed through the opening four rounds and wilted in the sun-baked conditions at Flushing Meadows against Sevastova, who became the first Latvian woman to reach the semi-finals of the U.S. Open.

Next up for the 28-yearold is the winner of the evening match between six-time champion Serena Williams and Czech eighth seed Karolina Pliskova.

Sevastova, who avenged last year’s quarter-final loss to Stephens in New York to reach her first Grand Slam semi, converted five of her eight break points and saved seven of the nine against her on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court.

By failing to step up her game for the key points, Stephens allowed the match to get away from her quickly and despite a late fightback was in no shape to pull off a comeback. “ To d a y I j u s t r e a l l y

couldn’t get anything to connect. Even when I did have my break opportunities, I just wasn’t playing the points well at all,” Stephens, who beat Sevastova during a U.S. Open tune-up in Montreal last

ing above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32.2°C), and the tournament’s extreme heat policy in effect for a second consecutive day, Sevastova broke an error-prone Stephens to go 3-1 ahead and never looked back.

month, told reporters.

“Mentally, physically, I just wasn’t connecting. It just was a really tough day.

The heat doesn’t make it any more fun.”

With temperatures hover-

ple of that.

“He wasn’t a big talker on or off the field but when he said something it was important, and that was the way he played.”

Cook led England to two home Ashes series wins over Clarke’s Australia but also suf-

Former England captain Alastair Cook

Cook, who will retire after this week’s fifth Test against India, is the sixth highest scorer in five-day cricket with 12 254 runs, including 32 centuries.

“Alastair was a gentleman and a great ambassador for the game of cricket,” Clarke told News Corp Australia.

“I’ve always believed it’s not what you say, it’s what you do and he’s a great exam-

Kildonan, Chesney and Courtland advance to next round

THE Berbice Cricket Board’s (BCB) historic Raffik Construction 100ball cricket tournament for teams in the Lower Corentyne area has restarted after a lengthy delay due to the weather.

Kildonan Cricket Club, Chesney and Courtland have advanced to the next round of matches in the knockout tournament after registering victories over Belvedere United, Jai Hind and Fyrish respectively.

The match between Albion and Tamarind Root was postponed due to Albion’s participation in the BCB Under-19 semifinals.

Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia (left) greets Sloane Stephens of the United States (right) after a quarter-final match on day nine of the 2018 U.S. Open tennis tournament, at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

(Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports)

Stephens, who was visibly struggling under the sauna-like conditions, simply had no answer for the steady stream of drop shots sent her way by Sevastova, who later said she was not

‘Gentleman’ Cook deserves more credit for his achievements, says Clarke (REUTERS) - Former Australian captain Michael Clarke has described Alastair Cook as one of the game’s true gentlemen after the record-breaking England opener decided to end his 12-year international career.

trying to take advantage of the conditions.

“I saw that she was struggling. I was struggling also a little bit, but I didn’t show it that much. But I don’t play dropshots when I see the play-

BCB/Raffik’s Construction 100 Balls Tournament

fered a 5-0 defeat Down Under in 2013-14.

The 33-year-old lefthander was often criticised for his captaincy style, and his batting form, a level of scrutiny that Clarke said was unwarranted.

“He was a fighter and he batted in what I believe is the toughest position in our game, opening the batting,” Clarke

added.

“He found a way to score runs in all conditions and that’s a sign of a great player, that he can adapt and find a way to be successful all around the world. He probably hasn’t received the credit he has deserved for being such a good player.”

Cook’s finest hour came during the 2010-11 Ashes series when he scored 766 runs to help England win their first series in Australia for 24 years.

Former Australia fast bowler Peter Siddle said Cook’s ability to adapt to different conditions was admired even by the opposition’s dressing-room.

“It could be incredibly frustrating trying to bowl at him when he was playing at his best — and he was amazing during that series,” Siddle told the Times.

“He would take the same approach if he was under pressure or if he had been dominating our bowlers.

Even from the opposition’s dressing room, that was something you had to admire.”

er struggling or bending over, no,” Sevastova told reporters.

“I just play them instinctively, and that’s how they work, or don’t work sometimes.”

Sevastova, who retired from tennis in 2013 due to injuries before returning in 2015, nearly let Stephens into the match in the second set as the American twice pulled back on serve at 2-1 and again at 4-3, but the fightback proved short-lived.

Serving for the match, the Latvian raced out to triple match point and although Stephens saved two of them, Sevastova sealed the win when the 25-year-old American pushed a backhand into the net.

Jamal Cort hit an attacking 62 with seven sixes and three fours.

At Fyrish ground, Courtland, spearheaded by an attacking 62 from Jamal Cort (7x6, 3x4) reached 173 for 9 from their 100 balls. Seon Crandon scored 39, as Imran Ally 2 for 38 and R. Ramcharran 3 for 17 bowled well for the home team.

Fyrish, in reply, did well to reach 155 all out in 19 overs, to lose by 18 runs. Y. Chinapen 38, J.

Ali 32 and Reaz Khan 32 were the principal scorers.

Eon Gibson 2 for 20, J. Johnson 2 for 2 were the best bowlers for the winning Courtland team.

At the Chesney ground, 2008 Stanford 20/20 star Imran Khan rolled back the years to spearhead the home team to an easy 28run victory over neighbours Jai Hind Cricket Club. Khan struck a composed 50 and together with S. Latchana 62 not out led Chesney to 157 for 6 from their allotted 100 balls.

Adrian Singh, a former Guyana Under-15 captain took 2 for 19 from three overs while R. Mangali claimed 2 for 18 from three overs. Jai Hind, in response, was bowled out for 129 in 15.3 overs despite Mangali returning with the bat to top-score with 46. Medium pacer Khan took 4 for 19 and veteran Narine Deonarine 2 for 21 to lead Chesney to the semi-finals.

At Hampshire ground, Kildonan defeated Belvedere United by three wickets. Belvedere United scored 126 for 6 from their allotted 100 balls while Kildonan reached 130 for 7 from 18.1 overs to advance.

Kildonan will now play Rose Hall Town Bakewell with the winners going on to play Courtland in the semi-finals. Chesney would play the winners of the Albion and Tamarind Root match.

The tournament is being organised by the BCB as part of its effort to promote cricket at the grassroots level in the Lower Corentyne area.

Sixteen teams started the tournament, which is being sponsored by popular contractor Mohamed Raffik of Williamsburg, Rose Hall Town, Corentyne.

Unbeaten Jamaica joined by T&T, Cuba in Women’s Championship

KINGSTON, Jamaica (CMC) – Trinidad and Tobago crushed Bermuda 3-0 in their final game of the Caribbean Zone of CONCACAF Women’s Championship Qualifying here Sunday, to join unbeaten Jamaica in the CONCACAF Women’s Championship next month.

Kennya Cordner netted twice in the second half – in the 57th minute and then three minutes from time – to cap off a dominant T&T display, which had seen them lead 1-0 through Kayla Taylor’s 12th minute strike.

The victory was T&T’s third win in four matches, with their only defeat coming in a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of the powerful Jamaicans.

Meanwhile, Jamaica brought an emphatic end to a successful campaign when they slammed Cuba 6-1, with Khadija Shaw scoring twice

Kennya Cordner scored twice for T&T.

in the first half and Chinyelu Asher netting once in each half.

Maria Isabeel Perez Torres added a consolation goal for Cuba in second half stoppage.

Jamaica finished on a perfect 12 points and a whopping 23 goals, while conceding just two.

Despite the heavy defeat, Cuba finished third with six points, to secure the final berth at the tournament scheduled for October 4-17 in the United States.

Jamaica, T&T and Cuba will join Costa Rica and Panama who qualified from the Central American zone, while United States, Canada and Mexico qualified automatically.

33

GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Cycling on high but $$$ worries for TTCF THE issue of fund­ing still re­mains the ma­jor challenge for the T&T Cycling Federation (TTCF) de­spite many record-breaking performances in the sport in­ter­na­ tion­al­ly and locally, Public Relations Offi­cer Roxanne Ramnath has said.

Coming on the heels of a gold medal for the T&T sprint team of Njisane Phillip, Nicholas Paul and Keron Bram­ble, as well as bronze and silver medals for Paul at the Kilo metre Time Trial and Match Sprint events at the Pan American Elite Track Championship and Caribbean Championship in Mexico on the week­end, the riders have al­s o earned valuable UCI points that qualified them to contest the UCI World Cups which will get go­ing lat­er this year and will run in­to next year.

From the World Cups, much needed points will also be given to riders to qualify for the World Cham­ pi­o nship, the last major qualifier for the Olympic Games.

Ramnath told Guardian Media Sports all these tournaments will be critical to the country’s major goal of qualifying cyclists for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

“The country is on a high right now with the achievements of the riders and we are

hoping to maintain this for the World Cups and World Championship, but money remains our biggest setback. We are hoping to secure a sponsor for the sport right now,” Ramnath explained.

spon­sor for the sport ahead of the Olympics but re­quests to cor­po­rate T&T have so far come up emp­ty-hand­ed. She promised, how­ev­er, they will not quit as of­fi­cials are now con­fi­dent of Olympic qual­i­

shown con­tin­ued dominance, particular­ly in the sprints at the Pan Am Championships.

“In addi­tion to medals won, our cyclists have also broken records, such as Phillip in the sprint in

East Coast Cricket Committee/Bargain Supermarket T20

Enmore and Enterprise chalk up victories WHEN action continued in the East Coast Cricket Committee/Bargain Supermarket T20 competition, the latest victors were Enmore and Enterprise A. At the Enmore ground, the home side faced Golden Grove; won the toss and elected to bat first, scoring 163 for 9 from their allotted 20 overs.

A proud moment for Alexi Costa, right, as she stands on the podium and receives the Caribbean Championship bronze medal when she represented T&T in the Scratch Race event in spite of a serious crash at the finish at the Elite Pan Am Championships in Mexico on Thursday last.

The cycling federa­tion, being led by Robert Farier is set to have a crucial meeting of the executives at the weekend at which time members will decide on the way forward for the sport financially and otherwise.

Ramnath said they have been at­tempt­ing to se­cure a

fi­ca­tion for many cy­clists and al­so po­ten­tial medals and tro­ phies as well.

The TT cyclists have ex­ ceed­ed all ex­pec­ta­tions in­ter­ na­tion­al­ly claim­ing a bagful of precious medals at the recent Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Colombia last month, and have

Mexico, and have shown true de­ter­mi­na­tion to ex­cel such as Paul who came back from a ma­jor crash in the match sprint to claim silver.

So there are high hopes of qualification to the Olympics as well as medals,” Ramnath explained. (Reprinted form Trinidad Guardian)

THIRD ANNUAL LIMACOL FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT

Pouderoyen, Police record wins on second night

TWO contrasting matches filled day two of the Third annual Limacol football tournament on Monday evening at the Ministry of Education ground.

In the first game of the evening, Pouderoyen beat Beacon 2-1 to get their tournament off to a fine start.

Esan Nelson in the 38th minute opened the scoring for the West Demerara-based side before Quessey Alleyne sent them two up in the 48th minute.

Kimba Bratwait (63rd) managed to redeem the Beacon side and there was a whiff of a comeback in the air. Sadly, for the Georgetown side, time elapsed.

In the second game, there was a tense battle between a much-improved Northern Rangers side and their Police opponents.

In the end, Police prevailed via a 1-0 margin but it was not without its fair share of close calls and battles.

Chances were there for both teams to score but in the end, it was Police who were able to make the arrest.

Matches continue on Friday from 18:00hrs with Camptown taking on Georgetown Football Club and Santos playing Grove Hi Tech in the second feature of the night.

A Beacon attacker gets ready to fire a shot in their match against Pouderoyen.

Kamesh Yadram of Enterprise

Brian Sattaur topscored with 48, while Amir Khan and Chris Surat supported with 37 and 27 respectively. O. Gardener and Richie Woolford grabbed two wickets each for Golden Grove.

I n r e p l y, G o l d en Grove managed to muster only 44 all out, with Amir Khan ripping through the wickets grabbing 4 for 12. He was ably supported by Rudolph Singh who took 2 for 6 from 4 overs to ensure Enmore won by 119 runs.

In the second match at the same venue, Better Hope clashed with Enterprise. Better Hope won the toss and chose to bat first, posting 56 all out with R. Singh and Clive Rampersaud scoring 15 each.

Kamesh Yadram and Pradesh Ballkishun were the wicket-takers for Enterprise who grabbed 4 for 10 and 2 for 7 respectively. In reply, Enterprise chalked up 57 for 4 with Kamesh Yadram

top-scoring with 16 to see Enterprise win by 6 wickets.

Meanwhile over at Ogle Community Centre ground, Lusignan faced Paradise. Lusignan won the toss. and elected to bat, first posting 112 for 9 from their 16 overs due to rain; Kumar Bishundyal top-scored with 27 and was well supported by Tameshwar Motiram who scored 24.

Jermine Martin grabbed 3 for 21 while W. Ramsamy took 2 for 16, In reply, Paradise put up a strong fight but ran out of overs only managing 93 for 8 from 16 overs with Q. Douglas top-scoring with 24.

Jason Heyliger took 3 for 28 and Kumar Bishundyal took 2 for 14.

Lusignan won the match by 19 runs.

Match 2: Lusignan B vs Ogle At the same venue, Lusignan B took on home side Ogle, won the toss and elected to bat first, posting 117 for 9 with Marvin Persaud scoring 28 and Azad Mohamed 24, Andrew Samaroo and Andrew Gomes grabbed two wickets each.

In reply, Ogle reached 107 for 8 with Andrew Samaroo top-scoring 31 and A. Sinclair 21. Navin Persaud and Imran Khan both took two wickets each.

Lusignan won by 10 run.

All matches will continue next weekend (Sunday September 16) at the Lusignan Community Centre ground where Lusignan A will face Enterprise A and Lusignan B will take on Enmore. Better Hope will take on Strathavon at Strathavon ground at 13:00hrs. There will be well-stocked bars at all venues.

34

GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Former skipper Sammy to promote Women’s T20 World Cup ST JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC) – Discarded former West Indies captain Darren Sammy will feature prominently in promoting the upcoming Women’s Twenty20 World Cup, after joining the Windies Ambassador Programme.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) said yesterday the 34-year-old would use his star appeal to create awareness in the buildup to the ICC event, scheduled for November 9-24 in Guyana, St Lucia and Antigua.

CWI’s Ambassadors Programme involves using current and past players in the promotion of cricket events and related commercial activities.

“It is an honour and a huge pleasure to join the team for the ICC Women’s World T20,” said Sammy, who led West Indies to two T20 World Cup titles.

“This is going to be a great event for our region and for our women, who have for generations helped to build our communities …

in St Lucia and across the West Indies. In doing so, they have made an outstanding contribution to our cricket.”

He added: “This tournament will also go a long way to boost women’s cricket. The sport is on the rise and we want to see it grow even more

when the tournament comes to our doorsteps.

“As a proud son of the soil, I just want to play my part in this wonderful campaign called #WatchThis as we prepare to host the cricketing world.”

Sammy presided over the Darren Sammy believes the ICC Women’s World T20 will be a major boost to women’s cricket.

Windies capture of the 2016 T20 World Cup in India but was sacked four months later without playing another game for the regional side.

Since then, the former Test and one-day captain has focused his energies on the lucrative global domestic T20 circuit. He is currently representing St Lucia Stars in the ongoing Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

The St Lucian is expected to make several public appearances on behalf of the Women’s T20 World Cup and is expected to be present on match days to greet fans and players.

West Indies Women are defending champions in the upcoming tournament and will face England, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Group A of the preliminary round.

Group B will comprise 2016 losing finalists Australia along with India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Ireland.

Windies Women to clash with South Africa at Kensington Oval BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – Kensington Oval here will play host to the West Indies’ next outing in the ICC Women’s Championship, beginning later this month.

West Indies take on South Africa in the first One-Day International on September 16 before following up with matches on September 19 and 22.

The three ODIs are part of a tour which will see West Indies clash with South Africa in a fivematch Twenty20 International series at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad from September 24 to October 6.

West Indies currently lie fifth on six points in the eight-team Championship standings, after sweeping Sri Lanka 3-0 in the Caribbean last October then going down by a similar margin away to

West Indies Women set to face South Africa at Kensington Oval.

New Zealand last March.

South Africa are one from bottom on four points.

The series against South Africa is one of two home series for the Windies before

they defend their title in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup from November 9 to 24 in Guyana, St Lucia and Antigua, with India also expected to arrive in early October.

A West Indies squad has been in training in recent months and players were expected to resume camp last weekend following a break.

Guyana set to host 2020 South American Under-23 Games - AAG president … hopeful for 2021 CARIFTA Games also

By Tamica Garnett GUYANA has been confirmed to host the South A m e r i c a n U n d e r- 2 3 Games in 2020 and the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) is optimistic that the country will also be confirmed to host the 2021 CARIFTA Games when the decision is officially determined next year at the 2019 CARIFTA Congress.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Chronicle Sport, AAG president Aubrey Hutson established that Guyana is scheduled to host the 2020 South American Under-23 Games after it was decided upon at the South American Athletics Confederation (CONSUDATLE) congress held last July.

AAG president Aubrey Hutson

Aside from bidding for the South American Under-23 Games, in April of this year the AAG had proposed to host the 2020 CARIFTA Games. However, that bid was won by Bermuda.

Nonetheless, Guyana was favourably received at the congress and, according to Hutson, the general consensus was that Guyana indeed needs to be given a turn to host the event, so it was resolved that Guyana should get 2021.

“As a result of not getting the Games in 2020, the CARIFTA Congress decided that Guyan a should be supported and encouraged to host in 2021. All of the countries would have agreed that it’s time that they come to Guyana so they’re willing to give it to us in 2021.

All that is needed is the government’s support and it will be here,” Hutson disclosed.

Acknowledging the kind of support needed to carry off events of this magnitude, Hutson said that the AAG is wasting no time in rolling out its plan. Last Saturday the Association held its coaches congress, where the coaches were informed of what’s to come and varying committees are being put

together.

“The theme at the conference with the coaches was: How do we create more development in our traditional events while reintroducing the non-traditional events! So we had a few coaches who were given the responsibility of preparing the two teams for the 2020 and 2021.

“Also we had coach Lyndon Wilson who will be looking at developing pole vault in Guyana, that we must at least compete at the event in 2020,” Hutson explained.

A number of camps to gather and train the athletes are also in the works. “ We w o u l d ’ v e e a rmarked in terms of numbers the amount of athletes that we should train in each discipline, and early next year start to run our camps.

We’re looking at camps with over 200 athletes that we have to prepare for these two championships.

“We’re looking at the age to ensure that when we get there they are at the age required; we’re working from age 13 coming up to age 20 because in another 2 years they will be 22 to fall in the Under-23 category,” Hutson said.

This will not be the first time that Guyana will be hosting an international event of this magnitude.

Guyana had its first run when it hosted the South American Junior Championships in 2017, given the opportunity to with just a few months to prepare after the-then original host Bolivia pulled out.

That event was deemed a success with the largest audience at the National Track and Field Centre.

Hutson says seeing more international events come to Guyana has always been his plan for taking athletics to the next level.

“What my focus was over the past years was developing the product of athletics. I did not want to go out there and market a product that was not great, and now that I think we’ve reached the place where we have good athletes, we can host good meets,” Hutson said.

“When we go around the Caribbean to other competitions we know that what we do in Guyana is almost on par with what they do. What we need to focus on right now is getting our athletes to be more competitive. We don’t want to host these championships in Guyana and all the medals go to another country. We want to be able to get first.”

GUYANA CHRONICLE Wednesday, September 5, 2018

35

We’re here to win!

Confident Barbados team ready for battle with Guyana tomorrow See Page 30

The Barbados National Football team, upon their arrival at the Eugene F. Correia International Airport.

(Rawle Toney photo)

Head coach Johnson says the players are hungry for success

… reiterates call for public support

Golden Jaguars head coach Michael Johnson (second from right) during Guyana’s practice session at the National Track and Field Centre.

(Rawle Toney photo)

See page 31

Ming helps Pabst to USF 2000 team championship

By Stephan Sookram OVERSEAS-based Guyanese Calvin Ming concluded his Cooper Tyres Mazda USF2000 season by helping his Pabst Team win the overall team title for the season.

Speaking exclusive-

ly to Chronicle Sport at the conclusion of the series last weekend in Portland Oregon, the Guyanese summed up his roller-coaster season.

Ming said, “We were able to clinch the team championship for the second time in a row for the

Pabst team and that is an amazing feeling, being able to win it in the final round since everyone worked so hard this season.”

“The season had its ups and downs. We struggled

Calvin Ming collects his cheque for the slickest pass of the USF2000 series 2018.

Turn to page 30

Guyana set to host 2020 South American Under-23 Games - AAG president Printed and Published by Guyana National Newspapers Limi ted, Lama Avenue, Bel Air Park, Georgetown. Telephone 2 2 6- 3243-9 (General); Editorial: 2 2 7- 5204, 2 2 7- 5216. Fax:2 2 7- 5208

See Page 34 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2018