Guyana Chronicle E-Paper 02-11-2022

10,000 jobs lined up

funds secured for

Charm and adventure

By Shamar Meusa

TOURISM Awareness Month was launched on Tuesday in the mining town of Linden, Region 10 (Up per Demerara-Upper Ber

bice), and will centre the role of all national sectors in promoting and improv ing tourism.

The launch of the official activities as part of Tourism Awareness Month was held

at the Watooka Guesthouse in Linden.

The theme for this year’s Tourism Awareness month, “All Sectors-One Tourism” is a fitting one as it is in line with President Irfaan Ali’s

One Guyana initiative, said Prime Minister Mark Phillips during Tuesday’s launch.

Over the past few years, he noted, the world has begun to notice Guyana. As such, the country must be prepared

for the tourism opportunities that this increased exposure can bring, the Prime Minister said.

Just recently, President Ali expressed during an Al Jazeera interview that rev

enues from oil and gas will be used to build and improve all sectors in Guyana and improve the tourism product to make Guyana a premier eco-tourism destination.

Norton:

calls legitimacy of APNU+AFC gov’t

says APNU+AFC modelled

in Guyana

Delano Williams photo

Norton: APNU+AFC modelled low-income houses expose children to ‘adult activities’

THOUGH the AP NU+AFC Govern ment built and dis tributed a number of low- income houses during its tenure in office, Opposition Leader and leader of the People’s Nation al Congress/Reform (PNC/R), Aubrey Norton on Tuesday labelled these hous es as inadequate for families.

Speaking at his weekly press confer ence, Norton went as far as to suggest that owners of these homes who are parents would expose their children to “adult activities” for living in such units.

Calling the houses which are similar to the ones built under the AFC+APNU Ad

ministration “kitch en[sic] coops,” the Opposition Leader claimed that they are only appropriate for bachelors and single women.

“The very small

houses that I’ve seen… that cannot ac commodate a family, a man, wife and child, without the dangers of mixing children and parents in a small area. You are creating an

environment in which children will be ex posed to adult activi ties, which they should not be exposed to,” Norton claimed.

Questioned on his views of low-income

houses, the Opposi tion Leader said he did not see his comments as insulting to people living in or acquiring such homes.

“There is nothing disparaging about warning families that the government should provide you with a house safe for your children, allow [sic] you to have adult ac tivities outside of your children [sic] ears and presence,” he said.

Under the AP NU+AFC adminis tration, of which the PNCR is the largest party, a number of small one- bedroom housing units were built and handed over to the citizenry, many of whom are party supporters.

In fact, several of the units were promot ed by the APNU+AFC as family units during an Open House Ex hibition at Prospect New Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara, in 2019, and one such house was won by Ayasia LaFleur, a sin gle mother of nine, in a housing lottery that was held during the exhibition.

A sweeper /cleaner who was previously squatting, LaFleur was ecstatic about receiving the house. Former President David Granger re ferred to the housing units as the govern ment providing “for poor people as best it could.”

Opposition Leader and leader of the People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R), Aubrey Norton

Charm and adventure

By Shamar Meusa

TOURISM Awareness Month was launched on Tuesday in the min ing town of Linden, Re gion 10 (Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice), and will centre the role of all national sectors in pro moting and improving tourism.

The launch of the of ficial activities as part of Tourism Awareness Month was held at the Watooka Guesthouse in Linden.

The theme for this year’s Tourism Aware ness month, “All Sec tors-One Tourism” is a fitting one as it is in line with President Irfaan Ali’s One Guyana initiative, said Prime Minister Mark Phillips during Tuesday’s launch.

Over the past few years, he noted, the world has begun to notice Guy ana. As such, the country must be prepared for the tourism opportunities that this increased exposure can bring, the Prime Min ister said.

Just recently, President Ali expressed during an Al Jazeera interview that revenues from oil and gas will be used to build and improve all sectors in Guyana and improve the tourism product to make Guyana a premier eco-tourism destination.

“The revenue stream is there and we will develop all the traditional sec tors, and we see tourism, specifically eco-tourism, as one of the traditional sectors in Guyana, and we will continue to provide the necessary resources to develop that sector,” PM Phillips said.

To this end, he added

that the government has always prioritised tourism and will continue to do so, given its development potential and Guyana’s natural portfolio.

As the country con tinues to attract attention from the wider world, the government has already committed to investing in the people through capac ity-building in hospitality management, quality as surance and other critical areas within the tourism sector.

With the expansion of this sector, the Prime Minister said that for the first half of 2022, Guyana saw an increase of tourists by 103 per cent when compared to the same period last year.

While the pandemic did have some effect on the numbers for the pre vious year, he noted that this year, the numbers are still significant and are even more promising for the second to fourth quar ters of this year.

Additionally, he men tioned that within two years, Guyana has shown up on multiple global top destination lists.

“This is a testament to the fact that the world has begun to notice Guyana more and we must there

fore be prepared for the tourism opportunities that this attention may bring,” Phillips expressed.

Against this back drop, the PM added that Guyanese must consider tourism holistically and find avenues for creating sustainable linkages be tween the tourism sector and other sectors.

Meanwhile, Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Oneidge Wal rond, during her remarks, stated that the launching of Tourism Awareness Month in Linden is signif icant as the government believes that it must take some of the major nation al events and observances outside of the capital city and bring it to the people all across the country.

This, she said, is part of the government’s de liberate thrust for inclu sion and inclusive social and economic develop ment which, she added, all Guyanese have a right to expect.

Minister Walrond add ed that this thrust is part of what One Guyana means to all and indicated that all citizens should feel involved, recognised and appreciated and benefit from Guyana’s resources.

“Our primary objec

tive is how we develop Guyana into the great nation it can be for all of us, and I’m happy that tourism is an excellent tool for that objective,”

the minister said.

Further, she highlight ed that the theme reflects the thinking that if a strong tourism sector is to be built, the involvement

of all sectors is needed. As such, she revealed that the ministry is working closely with other agen cies such as the Ministry of Agriculture to develop agro-tourism tours. Other ministries, like the min istry for sports, are being engaged about partner ships.

“This One Tourism concept also speaks of inclusivity, diversity and forward development,” she added.

Throughout the month of November, a number of activities are expected to be held in all regions across the country.

— awaits visitors to Guyana, the premier eco-tourism destination, as Tourism Month ‘jump starts’

Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips (Delano Williams photo)

Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Oneidge Walrond (Delano Williams photo)

Cancer survivors hail free CT scan as ‘caring’

FOLLOWING last Friday’s an nouncement that the Georgetown Hospital Corporation (GPHC) is now offering free computerised tomog raphy (CT) scans, members of the pub lic have commended the initiative.

The Guyana Chron icle recently spoke to several cancer survi vors who are thankful that they no longer have to pay for their scans.

Sylvia Ann Dias, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in June 2020, said that she was overjoyed when she heard of the availability of free CT scans as she, at first, had paid $60,000 for a CT scan through the Guyana Cancer Insti tute.

Dias shared that be cause of her diagnosis, she is required to have a CT scan every two to four months and said

that the initiative takes worries off of her as she would not have to pay anymore.

Alicia Sugrim, a cancer survivor who was diagnosed in Au gust 2021 with stage three breast cancer said that she was ex tremely happy when she heard the an nouncement, since she has finished treatment but still has to do reg ular checkups. Sugrim explained

that she would have paid about $78,000 for a CT scan through the Guyana Cancer Institute.

Meanwhile, anoth er cancer survivor, Nicola Loo, who was diagnosed with Inva sive Ductal Carcinoma grade two in 2013, praised the initiative as she still needs check ups every year.

She explained that after her fifth year, she did a checkup every

six months, but it now has to be done once a year.

Additionally, Bibi Hassan, Founder and President of the Guy ana Cancer Foundation told this publication that she is very happy because initially, when the “low-income, med ically underserved and underinsured persons” had to pay for CT scans, it was not easy for them.

She said that she

has also been advocat ing for a low-cost ra diation therapy centre for cancer patients.

In a press release, Chief Executive Offi cer (ag), Robbie Ram barran said that the ini tiative came into being following a meeting with the Board of Di rectors on Thursday last. The free scans took effect from No vember 1, 2022.

“The cost of a scan varies and the hospi tal’s management real ized what heavy finan cial strain patients may be burdened with. This will translate to pa tients saving as much as $15,000 to $52,000 for a computerised to mography (CT) scan.

“Also, it will as sist in expediting the treatment and care of the patient. Patients will no longer have to worry about arranging financial transaction in order to foot the bill. So, this move will

eliminate any finan cial difficulty. Man agement is cognisant of the cost of living and do empathise with anyone suffering from any illness,” the re lease said.

Meanwhile, gov ernment had set aside $180 million in Budget 2022 to alleviate the burden of expensive dialysis treatment for persons with chronic kidney disease.

Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, had announced in March that the ini tiative would provide $600,000 annually to patients on dialysis treatment.

He noted that even with several non-governmental organisa tions providing dial ysis to patients and subsidising the cost, it remains a chal lenge, especially for persons receiving dialysis three times per week.

First shipment of Brazilian Green Dwarf Coconuts arrives in Guyana

By Cindy Parkinson

THE first batch of the Brazilian Green Dwarf co conuts landed in Guyana on Monday, paving the way for intensive research which could become a “game changer” for the local co conut industry.

This development was shared by Minister of Agri culture, Zulfikar Mustapha; Country Representative for the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development

Institute (CARDI), Jhaman Kundun and General Manag er of the Hope Estate, Ricky Roopchand, during an exclu sive interview with the Guy ana Chronicle on Tuesday.

With Guyana being a member of the international coconut community, Minis ter Mustapha explained that coconut has become a very lucrative crop around the world.

He said that this latest development has the potential to be a “game changer” for the coconut industry in Guy ana, because of the current trajectory in this non-tradi tional sector.

The minister further ex plained that the Brazilian Green Dwarf coconut is a “three-year, high-breed coco nut” that has the capacity to produce copra, water and oil.

According to him, there is an exciting and renewed interest in the coconut indus try by farmers who had given up on it.

He also expressed his de

light in seeing the number of young people who are getting involved in the agricultural sector.

CARDI officials have

played a major role in this venture and they were very instrumental in organising the trip to the Brazil-based Coconut Seed Nut Farm of Tecnologia Na Produção De Coqueiros (Technology in Coconut Production) (CO HIBRA).

Kundun told the Guyana Chronicle that he is “over joyed” that the CARDI ship ment of the first thousand Brazilian Green Dwarf coco nuts is finally here.

He extended his heartfelt appreciation to the Govern ment of Guyana, the Minister of Agriculture, the Secre tariat, NAREI and the Hope Estate for facilitating and allowing the importation of the coconuts into Guyana, so that they could do research and testing.

He added that they are “excited” that Guyana is getting the opportunity to benefit from “improved ge netic materials, improved production and improved breeds of coconuts.”

He explained that such an initiative would help the industry to further position

itself to satisfy the growing demand for coconuts and its products. “People are becoming more health con scious and are recognising the benefits of coconut water today, and that puts Guyana in the best position to satisfy the high demand for it.”

The CARDI representa tive said the team that visited COHIBRA carefully consid ered a number of factors be fore deciding on this variety.

“It is our responsibility to ensure that we are importing the best and one of the main factors that we considered with the Green Dwarf coco nut is that it is much more re silient to pests and diseases.”

Kundun stated that this is just the “beginning” of such an initiative, which he predicted will grow greatly in the years to come.

Meanwhile, Roopchand said, “Hope Estate whole heartedly welcomes this in tervention because it is a boost for our coconut indus try and we will be a part of the multiplication process in collaboration with NAREI. Our intention is to import more coconuts of this variety from Brazil in the near future as finance becomes available to do so. “

The official launch of the Brazilian Green Dwarf coconut initiation will hap pen at a later date.

Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha

General Manager of the Hope Estate, Ricky Roopchand (left) and Country Representative for the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), Jhaman Kundun, uplifting the Brazilian Green Dwarf coconuts at the airport (Photo courtesy of Ricky Roopchand)

The Brazilian Green Dwarf coconut tree

Nothing is further from the truth

WE are known to be a peaceful and tolerant soci ety. We value our honour and our dignity. We have men and women from all walks of life and from all ethnicities who occupy senior positions both at the executive and the ad ministrative levels of gov ernment. These are people of unquestionable loyalty and commitment to the cause of Guyana and the Guyanese people.

Regrettably, there are some in our midst who seemingly have no mission in life other than to discredit Guyana and, more particu larly, the leadership of the governing PPP/C adminis tration.

These are people who are motivated by a desire to take the country back to a dark and sordid past when there was an absence of democracy, freedom of ex

pression and economic and social progress.

Under the PNC regime, the country was ranked as one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere and Guyana was reduced to a ‘pariah’ state. With the res toration of democratic rule on October 5, 1992 after 28 years of PNC undemocratic and authoritarian rule, the democratic and economic profile of the country has changed.

The country is today ranked among the fast est-growing economies in the world.

Yet there are those who unashamedly have the te merity to level accusations against the PPP/C adminis tration of practising ‘racism’ and ‘discrimination’ in the way the affairs of the coun try are being managed.

Nothing is further from the truth. The PPP/C admin

istration has been extremely even-handed in the manner in which the resources of the country are being adminis tered and, as pointed out by Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, the government remains com mitted to all-inclusive, peo ple-centred development.

The minister called on all Guyanese at home and abroad to beware of known PNC operative, Rickford Burke, whose political and racist agenda is well-known and who appears hellbent on fuelling ethnic division in the country.

As pointed out by Min ister Teixeira, a town hall meeting organized by Burke on October 30 was nothing short of ‘racist propagan da’. She contended that it was unfortunate that a few local officials in the Unit ed States, who rely on the electorate in Brooklyn, gave

attention to him.

According to Minister Teixeira, “it was extraordi nary that any of these local elected leaders would attend such a racist forum orga nized by people who were silently or openly supportive when the APNU+AFC coa lition conspired with senior officials of GECOM repeat edly to delay the 2020 Gen eral and Regional Elections.

This went on for 14 months following their loss of government to a no-confi dence motion on December 18, 2018. President Granger and his Cabinet had the highest number of court rulings in CARICOM on constitutional violations. It should be recorded that the APNU+AFC government conspired with senior offi cials in the Guyana Elec tions Commission to remain in office, although they had lost the elections; fired 7000

sugar workers, majority Indo-Guyanese, 1,972 in digenous/Amerindian Com munity Service Officers, and 2,000 public servants who were majority one ethnic group and/or considered ‘politically incorrect’ by their administration; and discriminated against com munities that did not vote for them during their fiveyear tenure in office.

The APNU+AFC and their political cronies lacked both the credibility and mor al standing to speak on the issue of political and racial discrimination in Guyana. Its past record in govern ment has disqualified it from any claim to truth and le gitimacy on the issue of governance especially as it pertains to allegations of political and racial discrim ination.

And while such forms of political behaviour have

now become embedded in the DNA of the PNC, what is difficult for any rational person to understand is the extent to which such unbridled nonsense has found its way among some individuals of apparent prominence in the political decision-making structures of the United States where significant segments of Guyanese reside.

As pointed out repeat edly by President Ali, there is no place for rac ist elements and those with racist agendas. The PPP/C administration has always embraced a policy of zero-tolerance for racism and race-based politics. Despite the pessi mists in our society and those with racist agendas, the country is moving forward along the path of peace, progress and prosperity.

A simplified case for the gas-to-energy power plant

Dear Editor,

AFTER many months, the peaceful Deepavali cele brations allowed me a chance to glance at one of the daily newspapers in detail. At the bottom of the front page of one of the newspapers was the headline, “New UN Report warns against gas-toenergy-type projects.” This newspaper article piqued my interest, so I took the time to read the entire UN report.

The UN report sought to lecture the Latin American countries on what they should and should not do concerning

their energy-development plans. But history will prove that this same UN conve niently chose not to steer China, India, Europe, Aus tralia and North America for too many decades away from their climate-destructive, energy-development plans. The mainstream environ mentalists have labelled these plans as the primary cause for the current destruction of the environment.

But I want to focus on my homeland and a significant, positive development in the making. From all that I have read, Guyana is trying its best to break free from the

environmentally destructive “Bunker C” power-genera tion systems by switching to natural gas.

No nation could achieve first-world status unless it has a low-cost, reliable and uninterrupted power supply. And why should Guyana not dream of such a status in my lifetime? The facts will clear ly illustrate that our energy network is one of the most expensive and unreliable in the Caribbean.

I want to stand with the ideas put forward by the Hon Vice- President, Dr Jagdeo, who stated, “there is no path to net-zero without using nat

ural gas as a transition fuel.”

It is economically reck less of any nation to leave natural gas in the ground and move straight to renew able energy at a hefty cost. In support of Dr Jagdeo’s suggestions, we must push extremely hard to build the gas-to-energy power plant before the end of 2024. Any delay will cost this nation billions in lost economic potential.

Let me outline my case for the man in the street:

1. With modern tech nology, higher-efficient nat ural gas power plants with

low methane leakage rates have been proven to pro duce half the contribution to global warming compared to fossil fuel plants, such as those that currently exist at GPL. Thus, there is real and measurable potential climate benefits in replacing those low-efficiency “Bunker C” gas-guzzling power plants at GPL with higher-efficiency natural gas plants, such as the one designed to be built at Wales. The bottom line is that our Green House Gas (GHG) emissions will be slashed by almost half if we use natural gas at this time at a negligible cost.

2. In pursuit of His Excellency the President’s ambition to expand and build a more resilient and competi tive economy by 2030, natu ral gas is a more sustainable fit into the energy mix. The academic paper by Professor Xiaochun Zhang et al. (2014) confirms that the economic cost implication to transition the baseload energy of any nation from coal or base fuels such as Bunker C (as we are using in Guyana) would cost half as much if we move to natural gas as a bridging fuel, rather than transition directly

The World Investment Report found record levels of FDI in Asia, Africa, and Latin America in 2021

Dear Editor

I WRITE with reference to Dr Gary Girdhari’s Letter to the Editor published in Stabroek News (October 30, 2022). I hold Dr Girdhari in high re gard and welcome his critical engagement. I will highlight each point made by the writer and offer my response.

Girdhari begins by saying that all contracts are contracts regardless of geographical location. He is correct, but only in a nominal sense, in the same way one can say water is the same everywhere. More injurious than the circularity just noted, is the fact that my point con cerned cultural attitudes

towards contracts, not the form or contents of exist ing contracts. The error is obvious and warrants no further comment.

Dr Girdhari makes two related points about for eign investments. The first is that “thus far, Guyana has not been better because of foreign investments,” and secondly, that “there is no evidence that big oil would favour Guyanese.” With respect to the former, we are told that “Alcan, Bookers, Barama, Omai come to mind readily,” as ‘evidence’ of the failure of foreign investments.

You will note that not a shred of evidence is of fered by the writer for this sweeping claim. Surely, as Guyanese we all know

that Alcan and Bookers brought in significant for eign exchange to Guyana and employed thousands of our citizens. Omai is a more complicated case, and I will have to deal with that in a follow-up article. For now, what I can say from direct contact with senior people in the gold industry (November 1, 2022) is that there is an aggressive exploration pro gramme currently under way with more than two million ounces of proven reserves confirmed. The mining construction phase will see US$ 1B and will employ 1,200 Guyanese. The operating phase will employ 1,000 of our peo ple.

Girdhari’s point that oil

will not favour Guyanese is shocking for the sim ple reason that the 2022 projected growth rate for Guyana by the IMF and other independent sources is between 57 per cent-60 per cent. By contrast, the global growth rate for 2022 according to the IMF is 3.2 per cent and will drop to 2.7 per cent in 2023 (IMF, October 2022). Projected earnings over the next few decades for Guyana top US$157B (Oil Now, July 27, 2022). The oil sector will contribute US$ 1.1B in foreign exchange to Guyana by the end of this year.

While I understand the general concerns expressed by Dr Girdhari, I must also surmise that his fears are

more a matter of 1970s ideology, locked as it were in economic nationalism vis a viz foreign capital, and economic populism on the domestic (fiscal) side of things. The only reasonable inference to be drawn from his arguments is that we should shut out capital inflows and return to some version of import substitution ‘industrialisa tion.’ Numerous countries tried that and failed.

In closing, please allow me to share some relevant data on FDI. “According to the UNCTAD annual report in 2018, the ratio of global FDI stock to GDP increased from 9.58 per cent to 39.24 per cent during 1990–2017. This ratio increased from 9.32

per cent to 43.79 per cent in developed countries and from 12.86 per cent to 32.58 per cent in devel oping ones.” Finally, the World Investment Report found record levels of FDI in Asia, Africa, and Latin America in 2021, total ling US$619B, US$83B, and US$134B respectively (UNCTAD, 2022).

With this kind of FDI dynamic on a global scale, why should Guy ana, a country histori cally starved for sizeable capital inflows, take a back seat? Please explain the rationale, without re sort to ideology or ‘taste.’

Yours sincerely, Dr Randolph Persaud

A simplified case for the gas-to-energy power ...

to total renewables. And why not, when we have almost free natural gas in Guyana in 2022?

3. The facts will reveal that 95 per cent (almost all) of the natural gas from our oil wells is re-injected back into the earth. Would you want that state of affairs to continue with no benefits to the people of Guyana? Or would you prefer some of it to flow to Wales, at a negligible cost to benefit the people of Guyana directly? The Wales-based gas-to-ener

gy power plant will produce electricity at approximately five (5) US cents per kWh. When you bolt on GPL’s transmission, distribution, and administrative costs, the Guyanese public can benefit from a retail electricity cost at some fourteen (14) US cents per kWh. Compare that to the current price of electricity in Guyana; thirty (30) US cents per kWh.

4. It is basic economics; almost free natural gas, read ily available, can leave some 50 per cent of the current

light bill in the pockets of every Guyanese electricity consumer.

5. The gas pipeline proj ect will be funded as part of the developmental cost of the oil project. Thus, the cash flow implication for the national treasury is negligi ble; no loans, no diversion of funds from other sectors to fund it; and most impor tantly, no need to tighten the belts of the working class to support it as was done in 1979 when the workers were told: “do you want hydro or

do you want $14 minimum wages”? They never got the hydro and the $14 minimum wage in 1979. This historical comparison serves as a timely reminder of what a golden opportunity this nation has today in 2022 to build this gas-to-energy power plant; we must not lose it.

The fact remains that nat ural gas is the bridge fuel and is not the “be all and end all” of the energy- transition strat egy of this nation and will not be the only ingredient in our future energy mix. But,

what is sure at this point in time is that the low-efficien cy “Bunker C” gas-guzzling power plants must go, and the faster this happens, the better for the economic transition ambitions of this nation.

Enough said, but I cannot, without a clear conscience, remain silent on an eco nomically and scientifically sound attempt by Dr Jagdeo to provide lower cost and more reliable energy to this nation using a “bridge fuel” called natural gas, which is in abundance in our jurisdiction.

Every patriotic, pro-Guyana, progressive Guyanese must stand up and support the Wales-based gas-to-shore power generation project. I call on all Guyanese to put all of our energies into complet ing it before 2024.

I thank you, Editor, for providing me with the cour tesy of your pages to make these statements.

Yours sincerely, Sasenarine Singh M.Sc. (Finance), ACCA

The Experts have spoken; now for the Detractions

GUYANA and Saint Lu cia have much in common -- from 1964 marking re versals of voters’ verdicts after crucial elections in both British colonies, to the two respective Mothers of All Parties at home, today, both facing no-less-dispir ited criticism from par ties formed through hasty post-election alliances to reverse the democratic ex pressions of the people’s will.

In 1964, the People’s Na tional Congress (PNC) joined the United Force (UF) to prevent the PPP from taking office despite winning the majority of seats.

That same year, the Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP)

was also prevented from tak ing office despite winning the most seats, through a similar post-election alliance (be tween the island’s People’s Progressive Party, the Na tional Labor Movement and two ‘independents’) that cre ated today’s opposition Unit ed Workers Party (UWP).

Guyana’s PPP and Saint Lucia’s SLP would spend long periods in opposition, the SLP returning to office much-earlier (in 1979) after 15 years and the PPP return ing to office after 28 years in opposition, in 1992.

And since both parties ended their nightmare stays in opposition, they have been in and out of office through successive Regime Changes,

their common historical fates again coming to the fore in 2020 and 2021.

In March 2020, the PPP/C alliance, in opposition, won the internationally-observed elections hands-down, freeand-fair, according to the reliable regional and interna tional observer missions – bar none.

But the ruling AP NU-AFC Alliance, in con trol of the national election machinery, claimed the op position stole the poll -- only to eat its words five months later.

The SLP, in opposition, contested the July 26, 2021 General Elections and won hands-down with a 13-4 ma jority, which later grew into a

15-2 parliamentary majority after two victorious ‘indepen dent’ former UWP Cabinet ministers, including a former prime minister, joined the new ‘inclusive’ SLP cabinet.

In its first two years in office, the current PPP/C ad ministration has concentrated on putting Guyana’s Oil & Gas fortunes to work for the majority, always insisting on “putting people first” on the dashboard of national development, posting success numbers and statistics that

list Guyana as the world’s fastest-growing energy-based economy today, with onethird of the new oil extracted in 2021 and 2022 flowing up and out of Guyana’s ocean floors.

The figures and statis tics quoted by the major oil publications and the regional and international economic commissions and financial agencies tell the pure truth about the real progress made on all fronts, thanks to how the current administration is

handling the nation’s newfound oil wealth.

The figures are simply mind-blowing when com pared with neighbouring non-oil producing Caribbean Community (CARICOM) states to its north; and Guy ana is trying to avoid the fatal errors of Trinidad & Tobago and other developing oilbased nations that over-de pended on their petro-dollars, at the expense of all else.

But, as also to be ex

Life of distinguished Indian statesman celebrated

the contribution of Sardar Val labhbhai Patel, in shaping the freedom movement of India and making of free India, the release said.

Patel was instrumental in unifying the post-indepen dence India by ensuring acces sion of hundreds of princely states into one democratic

India. The first Deputy Prime Minister of free India, he was born on October 31, 1875.

Patel is known in history as the builder and consolidator of New India, the release said.

“The pictorial event was attended by the Indian Di aspora, Indian citizens and media personnel, besides

the members of the High Commission. The speak ers, in their remarks, high lighted the commendable role played by Sardar Patel during the freedom struggle from colonial powers and in shaping modern India after Independence,” the release concluded.

THE High Commission of India and the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Cen tre (SVCC), Georgetown, ob served the 147th anniversary of the birth of Sardar Patel by organising floral tributes to him on the morning of

October 31, 2022, at the High Commission.

According to a release, many members of the Indian Diaspora participated in the event, along with the officers and staff of the mission.

In the afternoon, a week long ‘Sardar Patel Photo Ex hibition’ was inaugurated by High Commission of India in Georgetown, Guyana, as part of India@75, “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” at the SVCC to commemorate and showcase

The Experts have...

From page 8

pected, Guyana’s opposition pours cold water on every achievement boasted by the government, or acknowl edged by reputable interna tional agencies; and always finds new arguments to claim this PPP/C administration either isn’t doing that well, selling-out to the oil majors, or not having done (or doing enough) to earn more oil tax revenues.

Same in Saint Lucia, where the UWP still hasn’t fully accepted its humiliating defeat 15 months ago, even though unable to question the results that gave the current SLP administration much more than a two-thirds par liamentary majority.

Not a week has passed in the past year without the Office of Saint Lucia’s Prime Minister issuing Press State ments attesting to the Philip J. Pierre administration’s seriousness about delivering on its promises during the July 2021 election campaign -- and since taking office a month later.

Every meeting of the House of Assembly (par liament) and Senate since August 2021 has featured discussion on Order Paper subjects officially identified as delivering on the ruling party’s election promises.

In most of the wider Caribbean and CARICOM democracies, like opposi

tion parties can always be counted on to ‘oppose for opposing sake’ and making statements on national issues that suggest they were never in office.

But in Guyana and Saint Lucia today, the governments have been delivering on two major fronts their prede cessors didn’t and which citizens, at home and abroad, appreciate: Fixing The Econ omy and Putting People First.

Both parties assumed office (in 2020 and 2021) with economies and most cit izens ravaged by the COVID Pandemic, the Supply Chain crisis and the Ukraine War; and even though Guyana was better able to afford solutions that its small-island neighbours couldn’t, it too faced the same local effects of external problems the Ca ribbean didn’t contribute to, but is paying higher prices for than those responsible.

Halfway through the Philip J. Pierre administra tion’s first year in office, international agencies in the business of measuring na tional economic performance gave the new Saint Lucia government early taps-onthe-shoulder for its economic and financial performance.

But, unwilling to give Jack his Jacket, the opposi tion simply claimed the pres ent government, after a full year, was still only reaping the benefits of its good fiscal management.

The Saint Lucia Prime Minister’s Office, on Mon day, announced that “2022 is poised to end on an encour aging note” for islanders.

It said, “The Econom ic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has indicated that GDP growth for the Ca ribbean region [excluding Guyana] is forecast at 3.1 per cent in 2022.

“But ECLAC has also re vised Saint Lucia’s economic projections for 2022,” with “GDP growth on course to move upwards from 8% to 9.5%.”

ECLAC’s assessments are that Latin America and the Caribbean region will continue to endure unfavor able international conditions in 2023, which could slow economic expansion – except for Guyana.

The release added, “the Philip J. Pierre Administra tion’s strategic fiscal inter ventions and prudent mone tary policies, as evidenced in 2022, are expected to shield Saint Lucia from some of the adverse impacts of inflation ary pressures and volatility affecting international mar kets.”

Like with Guyana, the experts have again spoken loudly about the positive per formance of the Saint Lucia economy.

And now for the detrac tions

Staffers of the High Commission of India (Georgetown) at the photo exhibition

Reckless, ill-informed and irresponsible

By Vishnu Bisram

THE New York based Guy ana Democracy Project (NYGDP) has debunked a charge of racism levelled against the Guyana govern ment by a Brooklyn-based Guyanese group at a po litical rally on October 30 in Flatbush, New York, as ill-informed.

The NYGDP, in a letter, stated that at the Town Hall meeting in Brooklyn, New York State Attorney- General,

Letitia James, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries and others, unjustifiably accused the PPP/C administration of ‘race discrimination’ and other wrong doings.

The NYGDP argued, in letters to both politicians, that their “accusations are unsub stantiated”. It noted also that the government’s Cabinet “reflects the diversity of the country’s population. Not only that, the public service, the police force, the army, the prison service, the teaching

and nursing professions are dominated by Afro-Guya nese”.

How could this racial discrimination happen when these services are more than fairly distributed? the NYG DP asked

The letter added: “As Guyanese, who love our country and who have been following developments in Guyana for decades, we are extremely disappointed that you, in the USA, could make such careless comments, and we are very concerned that they might unwittingly be creating race tension and hatred in Guyana.

“The reality is that Guy ana has seen the greatest progress in its history during the terms of the PPP/C ad ministration. The opposition PNC/R’s historical record is that of electoral rigging and incompetence. They gov erned Guyana for 33 years since 1964, and has very little to show for that period. The most notable rigging by PNCR occurred in the postMarch 2nd, 2020 elections which the former Jamaican PM Bruce Golding described as a most transparent attempt to steal an election. This bla tant attempt was condemned by the US Embassy, all the Western diplomatic missions, the Carter Center, the Com monwealth, the OAS, the Mandela Foundation and 100 countries.”

The NYGDP noted that the PPP/C, on the other hand,

governed for 23 years and brought the country out of bankruptcy and authoritarian ism and a return to democra cy in the 1990s after 28 years of PNC/R dictatorship. Gross Domestic Product (GDP), it said, grew at an annual av erage of five per cent under PPP/C governance.

TRANSFORMATIVE PROJECTS

During the current PPP/C term in office, the govern ment has initiated devel opment and transformative projects in several PNC Af ro-Guyanese strongholds as well as in Amerindian-Guy anese communities.

The NYGDP also said that development reaches every community in Guyana, noting that the government has allocated for example, 11,000 houselots so far and over 50 per cent were giv en to Afro Guyanese even though they account for only 29 per cent of the population.

In addition, the govern ment has awarded 6,000 scholarships at all levels and 39 per cent of those were given to Afro-Guyanese who account for only 29 per cent of the population.

“The current government is doing a remarkable job as attested to by the results of a recent October NACTA Poll which found approval ratings of the President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali at 72 per cent and Prime Minister Mark Phillips at 71 per cent. In contrast, the approval rat ing for the Opposition Lead er, Mr Norton (who is also the PNC/R leader) is 28 per cent. Clearly, the population approves of the performance of the government and disap proves of the performance of the opposition.”

“It is noted that the other political parties and representatives of all the other race groups have not accused the PPP/C govern ment of racial discrimina tion. And the other groups account for 31 per cent of the country’s popula tion, a percentage higher than the Afro-Guyanese population of 29 per cent. Clearly, the charge of racial discrimination in Guyana under the PPP/C admin istration is not borne out.

Attorney-General James and yourself Congressman Jeffries and others must not allow yourselves to be misled by the organisers of the October 30 rally,” the letter concluded.

-- NYGDP debunks claims of racial discrimination in Guyana made at Brooklyn Townhall Meeting

Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (jeffries.house.gov photo)

New York State AttorneyGeneral, Letitia James (nbcnews.com photo)

DHBC files $1B lawsuit over bridge collision

—Canama Trading countersues; claims

THE Demerara Har bour Bridge Corporation (DHBC) has filed a more than $1 billion lawsuit against the Panama-regis tered vessel which slammed into the bridge several weeks ago causing extensive damage and rendering it in operable for over 48 hours.

Canama Trading S De RL, a company registered in Panama which owns the MV Tradewind Passion, has also countersued the DHBC seek ing the immediate release of the oil tanker, which it claims was unlawfully detained by the port authorities.

The DHBC is asking the court to award in excess of $50 million in general dam ages for negligence.

Particulars of the negli gence include the failure to sail the vessel at a safe speed, and failure to report difficul ties being encountered upon approaching the bridge.

In its court documents, the bridge company claims that the vessel failed to use

reasonable care and skill in its operation so that the ship could be veered away from the bridge, thereby avoiding the collision.

The additional $1 billion in damages being request ed covers the labour repairs to the bridge; toll revenues losses due to closure of the bridge; projected work for the replacement of transoms and buoys and other structural works that might be needed.

In its statement of claim, DHBC’s General Manager, Wayne Watson, submitted that on October 8, around 01:00hrs, during a scheduled retraction, the fuel tanker hit the bridge causing some $1 billion in damage; the figure is still being calculated.

Andrew Duke, the shift supervisor on duty at the time, was also injured during the collision.

The vessel which is under charter to GuyOil operates be tween Trinidad and Guyana, has been detained.

Additionally, the DHBC

submitted that the vessel’s captain was negligent by not exercising the relevant inter national safety conventions for safety at sea and applying the applicable speed neces sary in the prevailing circum stances.

“Due to the negligence of the master and crew of the ship, the claimant has suffered and will continue to suffer ex tensive losses,” the document stated.

detention of vessel ‘unlawful’

constitution of the fund from MARAD and DHBC.

The Guyana Chronicle had reported that the Board of Inquiry (BoI) into the cir cumstances of the collision had unearthed evidence of tampering with the ship’s re cord, allegedly by the bridge team of the ship.

The vessel’s Voyage Data Recorder (VDR) hardware was removed, and crew mem bers initially refused to hand over information to members of the BoI.

Meanwhile, in a counter suit, the Panama company is suing the Maritime Admin istration Department (MA RAD), Harbour Master Glas ford Archer, and the DHBC.

The company is seeking a declaration that the MARAD acted ultra vires and without or in excess of jurisdiction or proper authority in the deten tion of the vessel.

It is also seeking a decla ration against MARAD and

DHBC that such prolonged detention of the vessel is “ul tra vires, unlawful, or wrong ful.”

It is also seeking a dec laration that it is entitled to constitute a limitation fund under Section 414 (1) of the Shipping Act by paying or lodging with the court, as se curity, $244,944,006.21 plus interest thereon at the rate of four per cent per annum from October 8 to the date of the

The BoI made 21 recom mendations, including the sus pension of Guyanese contract pilot, 66-year-old Kenneth Cort for at least 24 months. Another proposal was made for the River Pilotage Service to be placed under the MA RAD with immediate effect.

Additionally, the inves tigating body recommended that the staff at the Light house support with moni toring vessels approaching the bridge.

An aerial view of the bridge after the collision

‘We want to see respectable young men in Guyana’

AS a father of five sons, Lloyd Famey, 50, under stands the importance of how the presence of a father or father figure in the life of young men makes all a dif ference, and for that reason, he did not hesitate to be among the men to sign up for the President’s “Men of Mission (MoM): 1000-Man Initiative.”

The initiative was launched last Friday.

Famey, who also has three daughters, wants to see a change in the mindsets, attitudes and behaviours of young men in society and believes that the time for change is now.

Famey, who travelled all the way from Long Creek, Soesdyke-Linden Highway to be at the launch, posits that everyone has a part to play in helping to make the change possible and he believes that by being part of the MoM, he can do his part.

“We as men need to step up. There’s a lot of ill things happening in Guyana, and I think I can make a difference.

The President has started something good and I want to follow, because I think I could do something about it,” he said.

Famey believes that he could make a difference.

“From day one, I always talk to my sons them and try to impart good knowledge to them and help them to be good young men in society. So I want to do that for others now,” Famey expressed.

Similar sentiments were shared by 41-year-old Zaidi Nurse. Nurse is a father of two, a son and a daughter, and sees this initiative as

one that will mean a lot for Guyana.

ACCEPTING RESPONSIBILITY

“It’s something that we’ve needed for a long time now. To get the men togeth er so we can get ourselves together, because we have strayed from ourselves. We have to start standing up

and stop running away from our responsibility. So I want to be a mentor to help guide someone to help them be better at standing up for their responsibility,” Nurse said.

The brainchild of Pres ident, Dr Irfaan Ali, MoM aims to bring together at least 1,000 men from across Guy ana to mentor young men and boys and the unique issues

facing them.

Though the President was initially looking for 1,000 mentors, at Friday’s launch, it was announced that at least 3,000 men had regis tered to be mentors in the programme.

This project is meant to uplift the younger generation

— say men who are part of President Ali’s Men on Mission initiative

A section of the gathering at the Men of Mission launch last Friday

Zaidi Nurse

Senior Superintendent Shivpersaud Bacchus

Appeal Court sets December 7 for case management hearing in election petition case

THE Court of Appeal will, on December 7, 2022, hold a case management confer ence (CMC) during which the timeline for the hearing of A Partnership for Na tional Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC)’s Election Petition 88 of 2020, will be finalised.

The case was filed to challenge the ruling of Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George, S.C., who dismissed the pe tition last year due to seri ous non-compliance with the Constitution of Guyana, electoral law and other in fringements.

The applicants, Claudette Thorne and Heston Bost wick, filed an appeal some 18 months after the CJ handed down her decision.

Among other things, they are contending that the Chief Justice erred in law and mis directed herself when she misapplied the doctrine of strict compliance.

Another claim is that the Chief Justice erred and mis directed herself, when she failed to consider the objec

tive of the petition, in making her decision based on the content of the Affidavit of Service.

Their attorney, Senior Counsel Roysdale Forde had previously filed a motion to have the hearing of the appeal expedited. He had argued that the failure of the Chief Justice to deliver the written decision to the appli cants, resulted in a delay of the documents needed for the notice of appeal.

On Tuesday, Forde in formed the court that he was in possession of the Chief Justice’s ruling and was now able to compile the docu ments needed for the records of appeal.

The court adjourned the case until December 7, when the timeline for the case will be set.

In the notice of appeal, the applicants are challeng ing the Chief Justice’s April 2021 decision to dismiss the petition.

When the matter was filed at the High Court, Thorne and Bostwick, in

their documents, had asked the court to determine the legality of the March 2 elec tions, and the results that led to the declaration and alloca tion of seats in the National Assembly.

They sought an order directing the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Com mission (GECOM), Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh, to declare former President Da vid Granger the winner.

The first petition, Elec tion Petition 99 of 2020, which was filed on behalf of petitioners Monica Thomas and Brennan Nurse was last month thrown out by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ.)

The CCJ ruled that the CoA does not have the juris diction to hear and determine the appeal filed to challenge the dismissal of that petition.

In January 2021, it was dismissed by the Chief Jus tice due to late service, non-service, or improper service.

‘We want to see respectable young men...

facing the country.

of men who face many societal ills, such as drug abuse, domestic violence, gang violence and other violent crimes. This will be achieved by providing them with guidance and counselling, recreational and fitness activities, and creating economic empow erment through temporary employment schemes.

The President also hopes that the programme will take a different angle in addressing the current scourge of domestic vio lence-related homicides

Regional Commander of Divisional Six, Senior Superintendent Shivp ersaud Bacchus, was all smiles when he registered to be part of the initiative. He told the Guyana Chron icle of his high hopes for the programme and will also address crime among young people.

He hopes that the ini tiative will create a ripple effect across generations to ensure that Guyana is truly able to utilise the full potential of its human resource capacity.

“We have to lead and set example for others. Not

for our generation only, but for all the generations to come. As we develop as a nation, both men and women have to work to gether to achieve that com mon goal or objective,” Bacchus commented “We will set the plat form of who to follow, the persons who we mentor can develop successive ly to put themselves in society to achieve, not only academically, but also those who are not so academically inclined can follow other tradi tional trades and can set examples.”

Multimillion-dollar dialysis centre commissioned at Suddie Hospital

— all services are free

WITH the commissioning of a multimillion-dollar dialysis centre at the Suddie Public Hospital, residents of Region Two who are fac ing kidney problems, will no longer have to incur the financial burden of access ing dialysis services outside of the region.

Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony, during his remarks at a simple ceremo ny on Monday, said that the Ministry of Health is elated to have partnered with the 5 G Dialysis Centre to provide the much-needed services to the region.

Rajendra Singh after us ing the dialysis machine for the first time said that he felt great relief.

The Cullen resident said that the free treatment will save him money and time.

Previously, he had to trav el to Georgetown three times per week for treatment. How ever, most times he had to reduce that to once per week because of the high cost.

According to Dr. Antho ny, a doctor and two nurses have already been trained to use the equipment. More persons will be trained in this area, further boosting the region’s capacity to deal with kidney patients.

Dr. Anthony noted that while the government, through his ministry, has been providing resources to help patients living with kid ney issues, more will be done

to educate persons on how to prevent kidney disease and how they can control their diabetes.

He opined that once pa tients control their diabetes,

kidney disease is less likely to develop. He also said that blood tests will be available at the hospital’s laboratory, saving patients travelling time and money.

To date over 300 persons across Guyana are accessing dialysis services.

According to the health minister, the ministry has been working to ensure that dialysis services are avail able across the country. He

pointed out that while the in frastructure is in place, work has to be done to maintain the standards.

In this regard, consul tants from the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO)

Brian Balgobin receives dialysis treatment

Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony (second from left), Regional Chairperson, Vilma De Silva (left) and other officials commission the dialysis centre at the Suddie Public Hospital

Multimillion-dollar dialysis centre...

will be working with each dialysis provider to endure that standards are maintain at every centre.

Meanwhile, the Director of the 5 G Dialysis Centre, Asafo George, in his comments said that dialysis treatment will be given to inpatients and outpatients.

He assured that the centre will be working closely with the Suddie Public Hospital to provide treatment to patients. Similar services are available at Linden in Region 10.

Regional Health Officer, Dr Ranjeev Singh, said that the region needed such services and he is happy that they are now available at Suddie Hospital.

He said that those suffering from kidney problems have been requesting dialysis services for years.

Medical Superintendent, Dr Sheneer Reid, said that so far two patients have accessed dialysis treatment at the centre and there were no reports of complications.

Regional Chairperson Vilma De Silva who was also at the commissioning said that she is very thankful as she had spent the last year advocating for such services.

Accompanying the minister was Chief Medical Officer, Dr Narine Singh and nephrologist at the Georgetown Public Hospital, Dr Haimchand Barran.

2018 murder trial aborted

THE trial pertaining to the murder of Rose mary Rudder, who was allegedly killed by her ex-lover in 2018, was, on Tuesday, aborted by Justice Simone Mor ris-Ramall at the De merara High Court.

The trial com menced on Monday against Lucri Fiffee, who had denied killing Rudder on March 31, 2018, at his Westmin ster, West Bank Demer ara (WBD) home.

The Guyana Chroni cle was made to under stand that, on Tuesday, a juror informed the court that he knew one of the State’s witnesses.

The judge, based on the juror’s disclosure, decided that the trial had to be aborted in the interest of justice.

As a result, Fiffee will face a new trial at

the next sitting of the Demerara Assizes.

Prosecutor Muntaz Ali represented the state, while Fiffee was represented by attor ney-at-law, Dexter Todd.

A post-mortem ex amination revealed that Rudder died as a re sult of compression to the neck compounded

by blunt trauma to the head.

The Guyana Chronicle had previ ously reported that, on the day in ques tion, Fiffee and Rudder were involved in an argument. It is alleged that during the fight, the accused choked the woman to death.

Lucri Fiffee

Norton calls legitimacy of APNU+AFC gov’t into question

said his party will utilise what ever options are available to it to achieve its means of a clean voters’ list.

LEADER of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton, on Tuesday acknowledged that the voters’ list used in the 2015 General and Regional Elections (GREs) had issues, notwithstanding the APNU+AFC party accept ing its success at the elections where that list was used.

Norton, who is also Leader of the People’s National Con gress/Reform (PNC/R) and Chairman of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), was questioned on whether his party had concerns about the voters’ list in 2015 when it won government.

Norton, pressed by jour nalists during his weekly press conference as opposition leader, admitted that his party did have concerns, but claimed that the coalition tried to correct the issues with the voters’ list after 2019.

By this time, the coalition government had already lost the no-confidence vote in the National Assembly in December 2018.

Given his staunch advo cacy for the voters’ list to be “cleansed,” Norton was also tak en to task by members of the me dia on why his party did nothing to address concerns of the voters’ list during the APNU+AFC’s tenure in administration from 2015 - 2020, despite the party holding two Local Government Elections (LGEs) with the same list.

“The issue here is not what we did and what we did not do.

The issue here is that the list is bloated,” Norton deflected.

The PNC/R, similar to the APNU+AFC coalition of which it is a majority member, has re fused to indicate if it will partic ipate in the March 2023 LGEs.

10,000 jobs lined up as funds secured for Berbice-based oil refineries

FUNDS have been secured to build a number of modular oil refineries in Berbice, according to a statement from Delta Energy & Petroleum Co (DEPCO).

The company’s statement reads: “We are now pleased to announce that financing for this project has been obtained. We have signed a Commercial Contract with the Spanish Association of Manufacturers of Capital Goods (SERCOBE) for the financing of four modular refineries.

“The refining capacity of each refinery is 60,000 bpd [barrels per day] for a total output of 240,000 bpd.

“With the cooperation of the various governmental agen cies, DEPCO intends to proceed with all deliberate speed to get these refineries constructed and operational, commencing in the first quarter of 2023.

“We are happy that His Excellency the President Irfaan Ali has pledged to supply the local refineries with crude that it obtains as oil profits. DEPCO would procure the crude at prevailing market prices.

“There is a tremendous demand in the region for refined products and DEPCO intends to meet and supply that demand for both Guyana and the wider Caribbean basin.

“Needless to say, the refined fuel would be much cheaper because of reduced transportation cost. Cheaper cost of fuel relates to cheaper energy that would boost the manufacturing sector.

“Downstream projects such as the manufacturing of as phalt, fertilizer etc., would become a reality. This would be a boost to the construction of roads and would be a benefit to the agricultural sector.

“A significant number of jobs will be created, approxi mately 3,000 would be directly employed in the day-to-day operation and maintenance of the refinery. The peripheral commercial activities should create an additional 7,000 jobs.

“DEPCO anticipates due to the present global demand for refined products, that all government related agencies would act to accelerate and so reduce the processing time of the necessary documents and licences.

“Construction of DEPCO’s four refineries on the back of ExxonMobil’s discoveries further positions Guyana to become a refining powerhouse and growing economic tiger in the region for the foreseeable future.

“DEPCO’s President Romeo Cipriani hails from Berbice. He is a US-registered Professional Engineer (P.E.) with 40+ years of experience in the oil and gas, nuclear power sectors, with specific emphasis on petroleum refining.”

Instead, the parties’ leaders have deflected to the voters’ list at every opportunity.

With Nominations Day for LGEs 2023 set for mid-Decem ber, time is running against the coalition of parties which are yet to determine their participation.

Asked how a delay on the decision to contest the local polls will affect his party’s strategy, Norton said the public can wait and see.

The opposition leader went

on to strangely say that even if his party does make the neces sary submissions of its symbol and List of Candidates, both due by mid-December, this does not mean they will contest the polls.

Norton was also questioned about the lack of progress being made in his pursuit of making changes to the voters list, despite his party hinging its participa tion on the achievement of this pursuit.

The opposition leader boldly

Asked to clarify what was meant by “options,” Norton responded: “I’ve answered this question 1000 times; we con tinue to protest for it, engage the diplomatic community, civil society.

“Whatever options we have available to us, we will use them when we think they should be used. For now, we are carrying the right strug gle. Let them keep guessing,” Norton said.

— claims Voters’ List had ‘problems’ in 2015 — hints at use of ‘options’ to achieve ‘clean’ Voters’ List

PNC/R Leader Aubrey Norton

IDB engages media workers of the Americas ahead of COP27

By Cindy Parkinson

CLIMATE change is the single biggest health threat facing humanity worldwide.

Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) are at great risk due to climate change. The region’s econ

omies and households are impacted by changes in sea level, temperature, rainfall patterns and the frequency and severity of extreme weather events.

In late October, the In ter-American Develop ment Bank (IDB) held a workshop for journalists

via virtual platform, Zoom on “Climate Change: Con cepts and Narratives.”

Tailored to English and Spanish-speaking journal ists, the IDB programme was focused on adding a programmatic lens to already-existing coverage of climate change in the

Americas.

The event was coordi nated by Michelle Soto, editor of the weekly pub lication, Ojo al Clima, in Costa Rica, and Graham Watkins, Chief of the IDB Climate Change Division.

Recognising that in a region vulnerable to the effects of climate change, the workshop organisers shared best practices for media workers to develop persuasive narratives to educate the public and raise awareness of the is sues relating to climate change.

Kayla Young, a jour nalist from the Cayman Islands who represent ed the Caribbean at the workshop, explained that, “the Caribbean is the most vulnerable region in the world to climate change, yet there is limited aware ness within the region and around the world.”

In a survey with some 2,600 respondents, it was noted by the young jour nalist that 60 per cent of them believe that climate change is linked entirely or mostly to human activities, while 34 per cent believe that it is caused equal ly by human and natural changes.

Poor public under standing of the dispropor tionate health effects of climate change on certain populations has led to lim ited public awareness of the potential impacts on

water, and food safety and security.

The Caribbean’s popu lation is more likely to ob tain “a moderate amount” of their information about climate change from the news, according to Ms. Young. She also pointed out that the news is not necessarily the most reli able source of information.

Young emphasised that there is insufficient cover age of climate change as well as insufficient data within the Americas. “Lat in America and the Carib bean have been ‘lumping’ with little insight on the Caribbean or Small Island [Developing] States who find it difficult to get data from the government—if the data exists at all.

“Every island is unique and we may not know where to find the data and what to do with it once we have it,” said Young. Spe cial emphasis was also placed on the tested meth ods for covering countries and civil society, as well as a focus on fulfilling climate change-related agreements at the national level.

Last November, Presi dent, Dr. Irfaan Ali partic ipated in the 26th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP26), where he said in part, “our planet is ailing.

“Human activity con tinues to pollute our land and contaminate our wa

terways while heat-trap ping greenhouse gases warm the planet. Global temperatures are fast ap proaching a doomsday scenario. Our planet, in turn, is revolting.

“Rising sea levels and extreme weather events are among its most re bellious eruptions. For climate vulnerable states, particularly small island developing and low-lying coastal states, the adverse effects of climate change are inflicting debt, destruc tion, pain and even worse, are threatening our very existence.”

His Excellency went on to say that “climate-vul nerable states can be viewed through this lens, which emphasizes our vul nerabilities, but we can also be viewed through another lens, one which highlights our ambitions.

“Small Island Devel oping States [SIDS] and low-lying coastal states are not lacking in ambi tion. Many of us are al ready punching above our weight in response to the climate crisis.”

COP 27 will be held in the Egyptian city of Sharm El-Sheikh from November 6–18, 2022, and will be attended by heads of state, ministers, mayors, environmental activists, civil society rep resentatives and multilateral organisations.

Illustration of Climate Change (Photo credit: earth.com)

Sixth edition of Fitness Expo set for Sunday at CASH

GUYANA Fitness Games is set to host its 6th Fitness Expo at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) this Sunday.

A press release from the organisers states that spectators can look forward to seeing approximately 50 athletes from Guyana and Suriname participate in three

action-packed, physically challenging events, to attain the title of 'Fittest' in the categories of Rx Teams male and female and Scaled Indi viduals male and female.

'Rx' means doing the movements as prescribed, and if a weight is designated, you're doing the workout with the specific weight.

'Scaled' means modifying the movement or modifying the weight if there is a designated weight for the workout.

The Rx teams will be performing quite a few new synchronised movements such as double barbell over head lunges, heavy tandem deadlifts, and partner wall balls. These are in addition

Aussies' World Cup in limbo...

for a huge six on his way to a 25-ball fifty.

He rubbed salt into the wound by smashing Rashid for back-to-back sixes in 14th over as he went past Virat Kohli to the top of the run-scorers list in the World Cup's Super 12 stage.

Stokes got the crucial breakthrough for England with Williamson's support

ing act coming to an end on 40 off 40 balls, ending a 91run third-wicket partnership between him and Phillips Needing more than 13 runs an over for the last four, the wickets kept tum bling at the other end and when Phillips picked out substitute fielder Chris Jor dan at long-on off Sam Cur ran (2-26) with 15 balls

(From back page)

remaining, the game was effectively over and with it perhaps Australia's hopes of defending their World Cup crown.

Chris Woakes (2-33) and Curran closed out the match with 40 needed from the final two overs with New Zealand falling 21 runs short on 6-159. (Cricket.com.au)

Djokovic beats Maxime... (From page 30)

In contrast to Draper, Evans has been a late bloom er in terms of professional success, having reached a career-high ranking inside the world's 25 and earning his first ATP title since turn ing 30.

Finally winning a match at the Paris indoors eventone of the ATP Tour's nine Masters 1000 events and which always attracts a high quality field - was another notable first.

Evans started strongly by

breaking his opponent's serve in the third game, drawing more errors by Nakashima from the baseline on his way to sealing the set.

Nakashima fought back in the second set which fol lowed the same pattern as the first, this time in the world number 50's favour, when he broke in the third and ninth games.

Moving forward to the net and showing his variety helped Evans take control of the deciding set. He broke

11:46 hrs Shesadabbler 12:16 hrs Wots The Wifi Code

for a 3-2 lead and saw off a break point at 4-3, but was unable to convert either of his two match points in the next game.

Having lost some tight three-set matches recently, Evans ensured it would not happen again as he served out victory in an impressive all-round performance.

Evans and Draper joined British number one Cameron Norrie, who is seeded 12th, in the second round. (BBC Sport)

15:30 hrs Dark Island 16:00 hrs Rooful

Irish Racing Tips

to several other synchronised movements.

The organisers also noted that many of the scaled ath letes are new to the sport and while they will be performing the scaled movements, the movements are still very challenging. Some of these movements include heavy front squats, overhead squats, kettlebell box step-overs, and overhead lunges.

The three fitness events the athletes will be required to complete will be a form

of high-intensity interval training. These are strength and conditioning workouts that are made up of functional movement performed at a high-intensity level.

There will be games for spectators who would like to participate in a few fitness challenges and win prizes.

“If you love sports, you're a fitness enthusiast, or are interested in getting into fit ness then come out with your family and friends on Sunday at the Cliff Ander

son Sports Hall and support these athletes as you get to enjoy the excitement of the competition.”

The sponsors are Lucoza de, Icool Water, GTT, Guy oil, TechPro, Trophy Stall, Star Party Rentals, Liquid Energy, St Joseph Mercy Hospital, and Genesis Fitness Gym. Admission is $1 000, and tickets are available at Genesis Fitness Gym.

Fitness Expo starts promptly at 13:00hrs on Sunday.

South Africa Racing Tips

Greyville 08:10 hrs Master Of Law

08:50 hrs Fashionigma

09:25 hrs Rodriguez

10:00 hrs Ralph The Rascal

10:35 hrs Royal Kitty

English Racing Tips Nottingham 08:46 hrs Mistressofillu sion 09:10 hrs Hosanna

Power 09:46 hrs Chesspiece

10:16 hrs Cash 10:46 hrs Oleg

11:16 hrs Dream Com poser

Chepstow 08:52 hrs Dynamite Gray 09:52 hrs Pembroke

10:22 hrs Knowwsley Road

10:52 hrs Datsalrightgino 11:22 hrs Camembert

Electric 11:52 hrs Benandgone 12:25 hrs Isaac Des Obeaux

Kempton 12:20 hrs Evolicatt

12:55 hrs Dancing God dess

13:30 hrs Regal Fanfare 14:00 hrs Naxos

14:30 hrs Queenlet 15:00 hrs Strike Red

Dundalk 10:00 hrs Bucky Larson 10:30 hrs Instrumental 11:00 hrs Queen Maedbh 11:30 hrs Shadowed

12:00 hrs Jaafel

12:30 hrs Company

Keeping 13:00 hrs Riccardi Medici 13:40 hrs Dragon Roll

American Racing Tips

Finger Lakes Race 1 Macho Miah

Race 2 Lohengrin Two

Race 3 The Institute Race 4 Queens Dancer

Race 5 Uno

Race 6 Fire King Race 7 Smart Broad

… Athletes from Guyana, Suriname battle for supremacy for the title of Fittest

World Cup 2022 Opening Ceremony to take place on November 20

THE Qatar 2022 World Cup Opening Ceremony will take place on Sunday, November 20.

The ceremony is expect ed to start at 15:00hrsGMT (16:00hrs local time), ahead of the opening match be tween Qatar and Ecuador, which kicks off at 16:00hrs GMT.

The ceremony had origi nally been scheduled to take place the next day, but was brought forward along with the opening match.

The change means that the tradition of the first game featuring either the hosts or the defending champions continues.

The ceremony will be

held at the 60 000-seater Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, which is 35km north of Doha.

The stadium was one of seven stadiums built for the tournament and opened in November 2021. It hosted the opening match of the 2021 Arab Cup between Qatar and Bahrain

The Al Bayt Stadium

will host six group games, a Round-of-16 clash and a semi-final at the 2022 World Cup.

No details have been an nounced for the ceremony, but it is likely to involve musical performances and a visual display.

At the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the opening cere mony featured former Bra zilian striker Ronaldo, the tournament's official mascot Zabikava and a child mascot, who carried out the ceremo nial first kick of the compe tition.

This was followed by speeches from Russian Pres ident Vladimir Putin and FIFA president Gianni In fantino.

English singer Robbie Williams then took centre stage with renditions of Let Me Entertain You, Feel, An gels, and Rock DJ alongside Russian Soprano Aida Gar ifullina. Williams sparked controversy by giving the middle finger towards the end of the performance.

DO WE KNOW WHO WILL BE PERFORMING?

FIFA is yet to announce a lineup, but there have been rumours about which artistes will be involved.

Nora Fatehi, a Canadian actress who is best known for her work in the Indian film industry, is expected to sing the official song of the tournament, Light The Sky.

Reports have suggested that hip-hop artistes Black Eyed Peas, K-Pop stars BTS and Colombian singer Sha kira could all be taking to the stage.

Shakira has experience of performing at the opening ceremony of a World Cup, having sung Waka Waka, which was the official song of the 2010 World Cup, in South Africa 12 years ago.

There have also been ru mours that English pop star Dua Lipa could be perform ing, as well as American rapper Lil Baby and Nigerian singer Kiss Daniel.

The opening match will be broadcast live on BBC. The opening ceremony is ex pected to be shown before it.

All of the tournament's fixtures will be shown live on BBC or ITV.

Ottley, Hosein shine as Red Force brush aside CCC

TAROUBA, Trinidad,(C MC) – Reigning champions Trinidad and Tobago Red Force made light work of Combined Campuses and Colleges, in a successful start to the defence of their Super50 Cup title here Monday.

Asked to chase a meagre 120 in the day/night affair at the Brian Lara Stadium, Red Force cantered to their target in the 28th over with left-handed opener Kjorn Ot tley steering the innings with an unbeaten 65 from 79 balls.

West Indies white-ball star Akeal Hosein had earlier picked up four for 38 to help send CCC tumbling to 119 all out in the 34th over, after the hosts opted to bowl first.

Hosein was supported by outstanding spells from West Indies seamer Jayden Seales

(2-1) and off-spinner Sunil Narine (2-21), both of whom finished with two wickets apiece.

Jonathan Drakes topscored with 38 from 40 deliveries with half-dozen fours batting at number four while number seven Mat thew Forde also crunched

half-dozen fours in stroking 37 from 45 balls.

However, partnerships proved hard to come by and CCC were languishing at 43 for four at the end of the 14th over, Drakes anchoring the best stand of the innings with 23 for the fifth wicket with Odain McCatty (6).

In reply, the 32-year-old Ottley counted eight fours as he put on 32 for the first wicket with West Indies Test wicketkeeper (17) and 70 for the second wicket with former captain Jason Mo hammad who made 23.

There was a brief stum ble when Mohammed and Darren Bravo (2) perished in the space of 20 balls with nine runs added but there was never any doubt over the result, as Red Force easily completed victory.

The World Cup opening ceremony will take place at Al Bayt Stadium (AFP)

Kjorn Ottley… top-scored with 65 not out

Gold Trip with Mark Zahra aboard wins Australia's biggest race

GOLD Trip won Austra lia's famous Melbourne Cup as favourite Deau ville Legend finished fourth. Emissary was sec ond and High Emocean fought back from last to claim third at Fleming ton.

suspension, described the win as "a miracle".

Deauville Legend was fourth, while the other Brit ish runner Without A Fight was 13th.

Zahra missed the ride on last year's winner Ver ry Elleegant because of a

drinking my way out of it. (My wife) was saying, 'Don't drink too much'. I said, 'What do you want me to do? My horse just won the Melbourne Cup.'

"It could have been my ride. Redemption Day to day. For today to come, it

a son of Newmarket trainer, James Eustace.

"I can't believe it and I'm a bit overcome. It's a dream come true and the pinnacle of our sport to win this race," he said.

Tens of thousands of people braved the rain and cold as top weight Gold Trip made the decisive move with 300 metres re maining.

It was the first time since 2019 that the Mel bourne Cup took place at full ticketing capacity. At tendance was restricted for the previous two races because of COVID rules.

Known as "the race that stops a nation", the Mel bourne Cup is worth A$8M (£4.5M) but also attracts demonstrations over the welfare of animals.

This year police said they were investigating after a person poured 100 litres of an "unknown sub stance" resembling oil on the track before the race.

The track was deemed safe after some remedial work, while a person de scribing themselves as a "problem gambler" later claimed responsibility.

(BBC Sport)

Victory was the first in the race for Australian jockey Mark Zahra and trainers Ciaron Maher and David Eustace.

Zahra, unable to com pete last year because of

COVID-19 breach that led to a three-month ban.

"This time last year I was in Byron Bay and I was getting told off for drinking too much," said Zahra.

"I felt terrible and I was

is just unbelievable.

"Mum used to give me the day off as a kid to watch this race so it's ab solutely surreal to win it."

Joint-trainer Eustace, who was born in Britain, is

Jadeja back in the mix for Bangladesh tour

LEFT-handed all-round er Ravindra Jadeja, who missed the T20 World Cup due to a knee injury, has been included in both the ODI and Test squads for India's tour of Bangladesh in December. The selection panel named an extended squad of 17 for the Ban gladesh ODIs considering that the New Zealand tour will be ending on Novem ber 30 and the Bangladesh series starts on December 4, which allows only a small window for travel and rest.

Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul will return for the Bangladesh series, with the former back as captain for both the ODI and Test legs. Uttar Pradesh's left-arm pacer Yash Dayal, who is part of the ODI squad, has earned his maiden India call-up.

India ODI squad for Ban gladesh tour: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Rajat

Patidar, Shreyas Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, W Sun dar, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Deepak Chahar, Yash Dayal

India Test squad for Ban gladesh tour: Rohit Shar ma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Ya dav, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav.

Meanwhile, Jasprit Bumrah continues his re covery from a back injury and has not been consid ered for the tour.India's tour of Bangladesh starts with the ODI leg, with the three matches to be played on December 4, 7 and 10 in Dhaka. The first Test will be played from December 14-18 in Chattogram and the teams will return to Dhaka for the second Test which will be held from December 22-26. The Test matches are part of the ICC Test Championship. (Cricbuzz)

Gold Trip had won only one race before the Melbourne Cup but was runner-up in the Caulfield Cup last month

India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja

RHT Canje CC lift Romario Shepherd/BCB Under-13 championship

Hasaranga outshines Rashid, Mujeeb as Sri Lanka stay alive

STAR spinner Wanindu Hasaranga was superb yet again as Sri Lanka stayed in contention for an unlike ly berth in the ICC Men's World Cup semi-finals with a comprehensive six-wicket triumph over Afghanistan in Brisbane yesterday.

Hasaranga was the lead ing wicket-taker at last year's T20 World Cup and the Sri Lanka all-rounder is on track to match those efforts follow ing an impressive three-wick et haul and Player-of-theMatch performance at The Gabba.

Hasaranga claimed the key wicket of Usman Ghani (27) early and then returned at the death to pick up the scalps of fellow spinners Rashid Khan (9) and Mujeeb Ur Rahman (1) as Afghani stan could muster just 144-8 from their 20 overs.

clean-bowled Pathum Nis sanka for 10 early in Sri Lan ka's reply with a delivery that had to be seen to be believed.

yesterday's match, after get ting a late call-up for injured opener Hazratullah Zazai, but the veteran batter won't want to see a replay of his comical dismissal.

Naib had moved on nice ly to 12 and was just starting to feel at ease at the crease when disaster struck in the 18th over as he attempted to sneak a second run and dropped his bat mid-pitch when sent back by skipper Mohammad Nabi.

The Afghanistan veter an tried in vain to recover safely - even attempting an eye-catching roll towards the crease - but was caught short much to the delight of the Sri Lanka players.

THE Rose Hall Canje Community Centre Crick et Club last Sunday de feated defending champi ons Rose Hall Town Poo nai Pharmacy by 15 runs to emerge as champions, for the first time, of the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB)/Romario Shepherd Under-13 tournament.

Playing in front of a sizable crowd of parents and cricket fans at the Area H Ground, the visiting team successfully defended their total of 65 to lift their first-ever youth title.

The BCB is the only county board that organises competitions for Under-13 players. The tournament was sponsored by West Indies all-rounder Romario Shepherd.

Rose Hall Canje Cricket Club won the toss and elect ed to bat first on a beautiful day to play cricket, blessed with sunshine.

They scored 65 all out off 23.2 overs; Rich ard Ramdeholl scored 13, Tyrese McPherson 9 and extras scored 26 runs. Bowl ing for Rose Hall Town Poonai Pharmacy, Dinesh Singh grabbed 5 wickets for 4 runs off 3 overs while he was supported by Balraj Narine who grabbed 2 for 15 off 5 overs.

Rose Hall Town Poonai, in reply, were bundled out for 50 off 20.4 overs with captain Tameshwar Deonan dan (16) being the only bat ter to reach double figures.

Richard Ramdeholl grabbed 5 for 5 off 4.1

CRICKET QUIZ CORNER

(Wednesday November 2, 2022)

COMPLIMENTS OF CUMMINGS ELECTRICAL COMPANY LTD

83 Garnett Street, Campbellville, Georgetown (Tel: 225-6158)

Answers to yesterday’s quiz:

(1) Ajantha Mendis-15 wickets (SL)

(2) Ajantha Mendis-6/8 (SL vs ZIM, Hambantota)

Today’s Quiz:

(1) Which wicketkeeper effected most dismissals in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2012?

(2) What was the highest partnership in the 2012 tournament for any wicket?

Answers in tomorrow’s issue

overs which included a hattrick. He was supported by Aarush Hemraj 4 for 6 off 4 overs.

Chairman of the BCB Competitions Committee, Leslie Solomon, congrat ulated Rose Hall Canje on their historic achievement and urged them to remain focused.

Speaking directly to the youths, he urged them to always strive for excellence and reassured them that the board under the leadership of Hilbert Foster would continue to invest into their career and future.

He also disclosed that the BCB for 2022 has suc cessfully completed tourna ments at the Under-13, Un der-15 and Under-17 levels and is currently working on the Under-19 tournament.

BCB secretary Angela Haniff expressed thanks to West Indies all-rounder Romario Shepherd and his wife for their sponsorship of the tournament.

She noted that it is very pleasing to the BCB when players invest in the game that made them household names and assist the board to continue the rich legacy of Berbice cricket.

Both teams received trophy and cash prize while Richard Ramdeholl carried home the Playerof-the-Finals award.

Ghani and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (28) had given Af ghanistan a strong start by putting on 42 for the opening wicket, until Hasaranga's timely intervention following the batting Powerplay.

Hasaranga finished with match-winning figures of 3-13 and even chipped in with an excellent catch in the outfield to help dismiss the dangerous Najibullah Zadran (18).

Mujeeb produced a mo ment of brilliance when he

Mujeeb (2-24) got his usual drift in towards the pads, before the ball spun away from the bat and slammed into the top of offstump to leave Nissanka stunned and give Afghanistan some hope.

The Afghanistan leggie bowled well to finish with figures of 2-24, but even star tweaker Rashid (2-31) copped some stick as Dhan anjaya de Silva (66*) crafted a brilliant half-century to guide Sri Lanka home.

Gulbadin Naib would have been on a high entering

The victory sees Sri Lan ka stay in contention for an unlikely semi-final berth, although they will need ev erything to go right for them if they are to finish in the top two in Group 1.

Dasun Shanaka's side rise to third in the Group 1 stand ings and will need to defeat England on Saturday - and have other results go their way - to have any chance of sneaking in.

Afghanistan's frustrat ing tournament is over, with Friday's clash against hosts Australia now their final chance to earn a vic tory at the T20 World Cup. (ICC Media)

Djokovic beats Maxime Cressy in two sets

NOVAK Djokovic got his Paris Masters title defence under way with a straightset victory against Ameri can Maxime Cressy.

The former world number one, who got a bye into the second round, beat Cressy 7-6, (7-1) 6-4 as he started his bid for a record-extend ing seventh title.

It is a 17th straight win for Serbia's 21-time Grand Slam champion, 35.

Earlier, Britain's Dan Ev ans and Jack Draper claimed wins to reach the last 32 in Paris-Bercy.

Djokovic dominated the tie-break in the opening set before seizing the only break of the match to go 5-4 up in the second and served out for his 11th win in a row at the Paris Masters.

Cressy, who produced 36 winners to Djokovic's 19, was let down by 22 unforced errors compared to the sixth seed's five.

Djokovic will face Swit zerland's Marc-Andrea Huesler or Russian Karen Khachnov in the next round.

"It was very intense, just a lot of pressure," Djokovic said.

"When you play someone that serves this well - first and second serve - you don't have much room to relax and maybe play a 'softer' few games.

"A break came at the right time, perfect time actu ally. I was very pleased with the way I held my serve; didn't face a break point."

Elsewhere, British num ber two Evans won for the first time in his career at the Paris Masters as he aims to finish his ATP season on a high.

Evans, 32, won 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 against 21-year-old American Brandon Nakashi ma to reach the second round of the final regular event in the men's season.

The world number 27 will play Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas next.

Fast-rising Draper, 20, joined Evans in the last 32 with a 6-3, 6-4 win over France's Arthur Rinderknech. Draper has moved into the world's top 50 on the back of an impressive break through year, showing why he is considered as one of the sport's most promising talents.

The left-hander, who has qualified for the upcoming NextGen ATP finals for the season's best players aged under 21 years, once again demonstrated his ability and confidence with a comfort able win over French number one Rinderknech on his Paris debut.

Draper will play Amer ican Frances Tiafoe, who reached the US Open semi-fi nals in September, in the second round.

The winning Rose Hall Canje team pose with wife of Romario Shepherd and BCB executives

Wanindu Hasaranga finished with match-winning figures of 3-13

Paris Masters:

Chase all-round fireworks propel Pride to easy win

ST JOHN’S, Antigua, (CMC) – Roston Chase warmed up for his immi nent return to Test cricket with an unbeaten half-cen tury as Barbados Pride made a winning start to their Super50 Cup cam paign by brushing aside minnows West Indies Academy by six wickets.

In pursuit of a modest 214 at Coolidge Cricket Ground here Tuesday, Pride overhauled their target at the start of the 45th over, with Chase ending on 86 not out from 81 deliveries which included nine fours and four sixes.

Rookie right-hander Zachary McCaskie added a handsome 71 from 93 deliveries at the top of the order, as Pride coasted to the points.

Keagan Simmons had

earlier top-scored with 64 from 81 balls while Kevin Wickham lashed 52 from 57 deliveries but West Indies Academy faltered to be dis missed for 213 at the start of the 47th over.

At 171 for three in the 36th over, the Academy side appeared well poised for a total in excess of 275 but they suffered a collapse and lost their last seven wickets for 42 runs in quick time.

Chase was again at the centre of Pride’s enterprise, removing both Simmons and Wickham to end with three for 31 from his 10 overs while new-ball pacer Ramon Simmonds claimed four for 39 and fellow fast bowler Roshon Primus, three for 27.

Simmonds handed Pride the perfect start when he bowled Kirk McKenzie for

four in the sixth over but Simmons patched up the innings in two half-centu ry stands, first posting 77 for the second wicket with Teddy Bishop (45) and then added a further 71 for the third wicket with Wickham.

Simmons counted five fours and Wickham, three fours and two sixes before Chase accounted for both in successive overs. And when Kevlon Anderson was caught and bowled by Chase for two in the 36th over, his dismissal triggered a slide which saw five wickets tum ble for 12 runs, before cap tain Nyeem Young struck 23 at the end.

In reply, Pride were blessed with a sound start as McCaskie put on 68 for the first wicket with Test captain Kraigg Brathwaite (22) to keep the Academy

side without early success. McCaskie, 25, with only a handful of List A matches to his name, struck nine fours and a six to provide the early momentum un til Brathwaite needlessly charged down the wicket for a non-existent single and was run out at the non-strik er’s end in the 16th over.

Veteran left-handed Jonathan Carter dragged on a drive at fast bowler Joshua James at the end of the 18th to fall without scoring but Chase steadied the run chase, combining with McCaskie in a 44run, third wicket stand, adding a further 52 for the fourth wicket with cap tain Shai Hope (14) before posting 43 in an unbroken fifth wicket partnership with Nicholas Kirton (16 not out).

Ramnauth Region Two Development Youth Cricket League denied permission

THE successful Devon Ramnauth Region Two Development Youth Crick et League was denied per mission by the Essequibo Cricket Board (ECB) on Monday to host its second edition and the league’s founder, former Guyana and Essequibo Youth play er, Devon Ramnauth, feels it’s due to ‘cricket politics’.

The Canada-based cricket enthusiast started the league with the aim of building Essequibo cricket from the youth level up. The league, although hampered by the weather and restricted due to COVID-19, was able to do just that, when it was played in 2021. It unearthed new talent and offered hope for cricket development in the Cinderella County.

In a letter sent to Ramn auth on Monday by the pres ident of the ECB, Deleep Singh, it was stated that his

request for formal approval from the board had been denied.

Mr Singh stated that the request was “thoroughly vetted” during the board’s executive meeting on Sun day, October 30.

“… your request was unanimously denied due to the fact that ECB is gov erned by the ICC code of conduct, as such, we cannot apportion cricket admin istration in the County of Essequibo to no (sic) private organisation.”

Ramnauth, however, feels there is an ulterior mo tive for the decision. He is of the opinion that the new ECB administration has an issue with the old admin istrations and the head or ganiser of his league, Trevis Simon, and his committee on the ground.

“Imagine, I’m not ask ing the ECB for anything

else but an approval for much-needed Youth Cricket Development in our Region and the County of Essequibo … I’m calling on both the ECB and the GCB to address this matter officially because

the ICC will surely hear about this.”

Ramnauth added that for far too long cricket in Esse quibo has been a political game and the youths, who should be the focus of all

attention, have suffered.

“I envisioned and planned this league for many years. I took my own money (and a few sponsors), time and effort to make it a suc cess with the help of a few

people, who had cricket and the youth at heart.”

He noted that even the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Mr Charles Ramson, had applauded the first edition of the league and it was well received across the region.

VICTIMISATION

Ramnauth can go ahead and host the league without the approval of the ECB, but he is afraid that it will affect the players’ future.

“I do not want innocent youths (200+) to be victim ised because of me. Imagine 200-plus youths being de prived of an opportunity that was proven successful….

“As for the past players in the new ECB, step up and say something official ly. I’m disappointed. To the youths in Region Two, I’m sorry, but I see where this is going.”

A number of young Essequibo players, including those on the coast, were able to benefit from the league

Roston Chase hit an unbeaten 86 from 81 balls

AUSTRALIA'S path to the T20 World Cup semi-finals is now hanging by a thread after En gland held off New Zealand by 20 runs in an enthralling contest at the Gabba.

Glenn Phillips again threatened to single-handedly haul New Zea land to their total and help keep Australia's destiny in their own hands with a brilliant 62 from 36 balls but England's bowlers held their nerve late.

The reigning world champions now sit third in Group 1 and will need a thumping win over Af ghanistan in their final Super 12 group stage match in Adelaide on Friday to boost their net-run-rate

(NRR) with the three sides locked on the same number of points.But Australia's inferior NRR of -0.304 compared to England (+0.547) and New Zealand (+2.233) means the World Cup hosts are effectively relying on those sides losing their final matches against Sri Lanka and Ireland respectively.

New Zealand didn't do them selves any favours, dropping En gland captain Jos Buttler twice in his 100th T20 international on his way to a game-high score of 73 from 47 balls.

Opening partner Alex Hales did the early pace setting after Buttler won the toss and elected to bat first, smashing veteran Tim South

ee for 15 from the fifth over of the innings as England scored 48 runs without loss in the Powerplay.

Hales brought up his first half-century of the tournament with four off Mitchell Santner just after the halfway mark of the in nings but was out the next ball for 52 (40) as he ran past a delivery attempting a heave into the leg side and was out stumped.

Buttler, who was earlier dropped by Kane Williamson off Santner (1-25) with replays con firming the ball had hit the ground after bobbling from the Black Caps skipper's hands, was put down again in the 13th over as Daryl Mitchell grassed a sharp chance

on the deep square-leg boundary.

Buttler immediately made the Kiwis pay by smashing back-toback fours to finish the Lockie Ferguson (2-45) over as 14 came from it Moeen Ali's promotion to No.3 didn't pay off as he was out for five, but his skipper kept England's momentum going with consecu tive boundaries and a six off the dangerous Trent Boult as the New Zealand left-armer conceded 40 from his four overs.

Liam Livingstone chipped in with a quick-fire 20 as Harry Brook and Sam Curran both hit sixes at the death to push England's total to 179-6 from their 20 overs.

New Zealand's chase started poorly as a classic grab from But tler down the leg side removed Devon Conway in the second over while the dangerous Finn Allen (16) picked out Ben Stokes in the deep.

Phillips, fresh off a rapid centu ry against Sri Lanka in Sydney on Saturday, was then dropped on 15 as Moeen spilled a soda from the blade of the right-hander at point as he attempted to whack Adil Rashid over his head.

It was the moment that seemed to free Phillips up as he went bal listic, launching a 152kph thunder bolt from Mark Wood casually over long on

Aussies' World Cup in limbo as England hold off Kiwis Sixth edition of Fitness Expo set for Sunday at

Athletes from Guyana, Suriname

supremacy for

title

Some 50 athletes from Guyana and Suriname are expected to participate

England captain Jos Buttler top-scored after winning the toss and batting (AFP)

Glenn Phillips continued his sensational form to keep New Zealand in the game (Getty)