Guyana chronicle e paper 09 02 2017

Qurbani celebrated with prayers and charity Page 17

Uree shot dead SATURDAY,SEPTEMBER 2, 2017

No. 105023

Price: $80

(VAT Inclusive)

…Lindeners shocked escapees were their neighbours

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The 9mm pistol, ammunition and other items found at the shack where wanted men Uree Varswyck and Rondell ‘Smallie’ Durant were hiding out

Man kills niece for gold earrings

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Marriott seeks Trans Guyana casino operator cleared to resume …management says hotel future rests with Gov’t, oil boom

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shuttle service

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 2, 2017

Trans Guyana cleared to resume shuttle service …other airlines must resubmit manuals THE majority of local flight operators will have to resubmit their operation manuals if they wish to have the aviation authority’s shuttle ban lifted.

Trans Guyana could have the shuttle ban lifted as early as this afternoon, following a demonstration of the operational procedures involving their hinterland shuttle flights. Trans Guyana was the only operator whose manual came up to par with the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority’s (GCAA) requirements.

GCAA Director-General, Lieutenant Colonel (retired) Egbert Field, explained to the Guyana Chronicle Friday that the authority received the manuals of all local operators on Thursday and immediately commenced inspection of their operational procedures.

He said Trans Guyana’s manual was found to be “very acceptable” and the authority was able to sign off on the document. As part of the approval process, Field said Trans Guyana would also be required to demonstrate what is stated on the manual and that will be done today.

“With that, Trans Guyana’s ban could be lifted by this afternoon.”

Field noted however, that other local operators will have to resubmit their

manuals with the necessary “corrections” highlighted by the authority. He said that the authority understands the hardship being faced by operators as a result of the temporary ban placed on shuttle services, but maintained GCAA’ s commitment to address all issues that may have contributed to the mishaps and accidents that have recently claimed the lives of two pilots. That is why there are mandatory requirements and local operators will have to put these in place before the shuttle ban can be lifted, Field insisted.

On Wednesday, Field announced that all shuttle operations have been suspended following the last three plane crashes in the hinterland which claimed the lives of two pilots. He said the suspension is a result of a preliminary analysis of the accidents, which indicate that the common thread was the shuttle operations. “As a result of the accidents and the authority’s preliminary analysis, the authority has now taken the decision to suspend all operations until the documented procedures and policies for shuttle operations are submitted, reviewed and approved by the inspectors of this authority,” Field said, adding that he could not say when the suspension will be lifted.

Field noted that while shuttle operations are important to the development of the local aviation industry, they come at a risk, as they are completely different from regular passenger flights. He said, too, that while aircraft operators, with whom he had earlier in the day met, were not pleased with his decision, they were nonetheless committed to submitting their manuals and other documentation pertaining to policies and procedures to the GCAA soonest, so that the ban could be lifted.

Field said that once the documentation has been submitted, the authority will then cross-reference them with those of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), after which each operation will be subjected to a physical inspection by the entity’s inspectors.

Last Sunday, rescue teams were dispatched to a location some two miles north of Mahdia in search of the Air Services Limited (ASL) Cessna 206 aircraft flown by Khan, after it had failed to land in Mahdia.

Khan was laid to rest on Wednesday. On July 25, Roraima Airways pilot, Colin Martin, died when his Britten-Norman Islander aircraft crashed on landing at Eteringbang, in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni). Two

GCAA’s Director-General Lieutenant Colonel (retired) Egbert Field

weeks later, a Britten Norman Islander captained by Dominic Waddel also went down in the Eteringbang area, but luckily, the pilot was able to escape with minor injuries.

However, the move by the GCAA did not find favour with Managing-Director of Roraima Airways, Captain Gerry Gouveia. Gouveia on his Facebook page said that the move is nothing more than an emotional reaction to the accidents which occurred. “This is a knee-jerk reaction. We have not done any real analysis to come to

this conclusion,” he stated, while noting that “Shuttles do not cause accidents. The pilots still have to obey and observe the same rules of flying, same technical operations of the plane, same respect for safety altitudes.”

Gouveia believes that attention needs to be paid to increasing operational control and oversight; monitoring of pilots’ duty times; accelerating the implementation of the ADSB SYSTEM all across Guyana; establishing a proper search-and-rescue system equipped with a heavy-lift

helicopter; improving the national weather-reporting system, the conditions of the hinterland runways and establishing security systems for the runways; organising more national aviation management safety seminars dealing specifically with the rudiments of flying in Guyana’s jungle; establishing procedures for stabilising flights and completing the GPS approaches that were started years ago for every runway here.

According to him, shuttle operations were birthed as a result of Guyana’s vast land space and the fact that the major commercial centre is located in Georgetown. “In the past, to transport supplies to the hinterland communities, the planes were loaded at Ogle and flown one hour into the hinterland then return empty to Ogle and start again. The cost of transporting supplies like that was expensive and slow, very slow.” Gouveia said that with the expansion of the road network across the country and the rapid development happening in the mining and forestry sectors, “new and improved logistics were developed.”

He said, though the Eugene F. Correia International Airport remains the main hub for all domestic carriers, additional bases were established at specific points in the hinterland just below the mountains.

Granger signs Tobacco Bill into law

By Svetlana Marshall PRESIDENT David Granger has assented to the Tobacco Control Bill 2017, but it will take another nine to 12 months before the Act takes effect, banning smoking in public spaces and the sale of single cigarettes among other measures aimed at safeguarding non-smokers from the harmful effects of tobacco.

On August 22, 2017, President Granger assented to the Tobacco Control Bill which was passed in the National Assembly on July 27, 2017. The Tobacco Control Act provides for the adoption and implementation of tobacco-control policies in accordance with the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

Additionally, it will serve as the legal regulator for administration, in-

spection and enforcement, while providing legislative protection from exposure to second- hand smoke by eliminating public-smoking.

Head of the Public Health Ministry’s Public Relations and Health Promotion Unit, Terrence Esseboom, when contacted on Friday told the Guyana Chronicle that the Tobacco Control Act will not be implemented immediately, allowing for nine to 12 months of public awareness.

He explained that cigarette vendors will be educated on key elements of the bill, in addition to officials from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, restaurant and hotel owners, and owners of other public entities. It was noted that the Tobacco Control Campaign, which will commence soon, forms part of a wider programme tackling key issues surrounding Non-Communicable Diseases, Maternal and Child Health and Tobacco Cessation.

Section 16, Part V of the Tobacco Control Act – Protection from Exposure

to Second-Hand Smoke – allows for the banning of smoking in indoor workplaces and public transportation.

Additionally, Section 16, Sub-section 2, states that persons shall not smoke in outdoor places that are within five metres from a window, doorway or any indoor public place or indoor workplace. Smoking is also prohibited on the premises of and within five metres from the outside boundaries of any health care, educational or childcare facility. Notably, when it takes effect, the Act will ban smoking in public places including, but not limited to, any public transport stop, bus stand or bus park, any park, playground or amusement park, any stadium, arena or other kind of sport or performance space. Persons will also be banned from smoking in restaurants and bar or any area where food and drinks are being sold. “Any person who smokes in any place where smoking is prohibited commits an offence and is liable on summary convic-

tion to a fine of $10, 000 for the first offence, and $20, 000 for any second or subsequent offence,” Sub-section 3 states.

Meanwhile, Part VI of the Act addresses the issues of advertising, promotion and sponsorship. According to Section 19, “All advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products and electronic delivery systems are prohibited.”

It was stated that the prohibition includes any tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship that promote or are likely to promote the tobacco industry, directly or indirectly.

PAHO/WHO National Consultant, Attorney-at-Law Kesaundra Alves had explained that the comprehensive ban of all tobacco advertising promotions and sponsorship is in keeping with Article 13 of the FCTC, noting that it was critical to block all loopholes the local tobacco industry may want to use to its advantage.

“The tobacco epidemic is one that is not spread by

infection but by promotion and advertisement. Tobacco Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship (TAPS) glamorises tobacco use by associating the use of tobacco products with positive social and personal images,” Alves posited.

According to her, stamping out all forms of TAPS is the only way to eliminate the tobacco epidemic.

Part VIII of the Act not only bans the sale of tobacco products to minors, but also the sale of single cigarettes no less than 20 cigarettes per pack and 20g of smokeless tobacco products per pack.

“Single stick sales make it easier for children to buy tobacco products; and also prevents consumers’ access to health warnings,” Alves explained.

Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence, in defending the Tobacco Control Bill in the National Assembly, had pointed out that the tobacco epidemic remains one of the greatest public health threats of the 21st century claiming the lives

of 7 million people annually.

Six million of those deaths are a direct result of tobacco consumption, while about 900,000 are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.

Minister Lawrence said what manufacturers do not disclose is the fact that there are more than 4000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, of which 250 are known to be harmful and more than 50 are known to cause cancer.

“There is no safe level of exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke,” she declared.

Tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke are not only a leading cause of death, disease and disability, but also of impoverishment, the Public Health Minister told the House, while arguing that tobacco users who become sick, disabled or die prematurely deprive their families of income, deplete the country of its labour force, and increase the cost of public health care, hindering general economic development.

Uree shot dead GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 2, 2017

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…Lindeners shocked escapees were their neighbours

By Vanessa Braithwaite

CAMP Street Prison escapee and murder accused, Uree Varswyck, was early Friday morning shot dead during an exchange of gunfire with the police in Linden, while his partner in crime another escapee, Rondell ’Smallie’ Williams, escaped.

The community of Central Amelia’s Ward in Linden was plunged into a state of shock and fear when the lawmen engaged the criminals in their neighbourhood.

Varswyck and Williams were among the four prisoners still on the run who escaped from the Camp Street and Lusignan Prisons.

Acting Police Commissioner David Ramnarine confirmed that a Joint Services intelligence-led operation was conducted in Linden Thursday evening which resulted in Varswyck being mortally wounded. According to the police, around 23:45hrs Varswyck and Mark Royden Durant aka “Smallie” were seen together in the Central Amelia’s Ward area.

The duo opened fire on the joint Services who returned fire, which resulted in Varswyck, who was dressed in a military vest and boots, being fatally wounded.

A 9mm pistol and 40 live rounds along with a backpack and cloth bag were found near his body. The bag contained toiletries, medical supplies and a gas mask. A relentless pursuit aimed at the capture of Durant continues.

Acting Commissioner Ramnarine expressed thanks to residents who provided the information to the Guyana Police Force.

Varswyck was shot in a yard in Central Amelia’s Ward where he and Durant were allegedly hiding out.

The one-bedroom shack is located 10 lots away from the Amelia’s Ward outpost and while the immediate lots are empty and the area is relatively bushy, the house is in clear sight of the station. The police have since taken into custody the owner of the house, 52-year-old Linden Orin Gordon known as ‘Priest,’ who is currently assisting with investigations.

When the Guyana Chronicle visited the house, the gate

was padlocked, but bloodstains could still be seen at the corner of the yard where Varswyck was shot.

NO CLUE Neighbours, many of whom were in shock about what occurred, said that they had no idea that the prison escapees were hiding out there and that ‘Priest’ is a well-known and respected neighbour. One neighbour said that she saw Durant there about a week ago, but didn’t take it for anything since the yard is known for the presence of many Rastafarians smoking marijuana. “Yes, I used to see him in the yard, I didn’t really watch them pictures to put a face, but is after when I hear the commotion then I realise, during this same week I saw him, the one that living there and rasta man use to deh up there smoking and use to shake you off,” the neighbour revealed.

She added that her family is a bit fearful right now, because Durant is still on the run and police are checking regularly in the unfinished house next door to her for him. “Yes I am feeling a bit scared, because it is sheer bush round we,” she added.

Another neighbour said that she did not suspect anything and was only awakened by the gun- shots during Thursday night. “Last night I was in my bed sleeping and I hear the thing, but me in know gunshot from squibs and is this morning I know…I know “Priest,” he is well known, he does hail up everybody,” the woman related.

FULLY SUPPORTED Whether with the help of “Priest” and the other individual who is in police custody, the escapees were fully supported and had everything they needed from food, toiletries, medication and weapons. The police retrieved from the house a 9mm pistol with 40 live rounds, bags of pastries, beverages, medication, a tear gas mask, ropes, army clothing and toiletries among other items. While the police investigations are ongoing, the Guyana Chronicle was reliably informed that the escapees were being aided by several persons.

Only Wednesday, resident of Linden Teon Alleyne was charged and remanded to prison by Magistrate Clive Nurse for harbouring the two escapees between the 19th

The house where the prison escapees were hiding out in Central Amelia’s Ward

A section of the yard where prison escapee Uree Varswyck was shot and killed

The escapees had stocked up on snacks and Guinness

Some of the items found in the shack where the escapees were hiding out

and 23rd July.

On August 9th, two live grenades were found, in the ceiling of an abandoned house in West Watooka and according to ‘E’ Division Commander Fazil Karimbaskh, the instruments were found as a result of operation “clean sweep,” an operation initiated by the joint services to capture the prison escapees. According to reliable information, the police received intelligence that the escapees were hiding out in Linden for weeks, but finally closed in on them Thursday night. For some time, it was the belief that they were hiding out in the Victory Valley area and the Wisroc area, the community where another prison escapee Kendall Skeete was caught, police sources have said.

Founder of the Linden Rastafarian Theocracy and Priest Ras Fyah Lion Boanerg, told this publication that “Priest,” Linden Orin Gordon is not part of the popular Nyahbinghi Tabernacle in Wisroc and would like this to be known, since the police have been of recent raiding their community in search of the escapees.

“Up to two Sundays ago, the whole squad was there, police and soldier we woke up in a curfew and the Commander Karimbaksh apologised that it was due to the wanted men…he [“Priest”] is not part of our organisation, because they came on the ground about four five times, but they never found nothing there,” he said.

POLICE PRESENCE Up to late last night there was a heavy police presence in the Linden community as well as on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway, as efforts are ongoing to capture ‘Smallie” who is still believed to be in Linden and moving on foot and alone after narrowly escaping the police. The Soesdyke/ Linden Highway can be accessed easily from the bushes where the duo was hiding out. Meanwhile, Varswyck’s body is at the Wismar Hospital Mortuary awaiting identification by family members. Varswyck had been arraigned for murder, while Durant was sentenced to death for the Bartica Massacre.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 2, 2017

Caribbean braces for passage of Hurricane Irma Hurricane Irma was inches itsway towards the Leeward Islands on Friday night as Caribbean governments urged citizens not to take the storm lightly and prepare sufficiently for its passage.

Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne in a radio and television broadcast said that the National Meteorological Service (NMS) has advised that there is more than a 50 per cent probability that Hurricane Irma will affect Antigua and Barbuda. irma2“Its rain bands or its tailwinds may make life a little difficult for us, even if the eye passes north of our Leeward Islands on Monday or Tuesday, September 4th or 5th, “Browne said, adding that he had already “taken several precautionary steps to avert harmful after-effects on our country”.

In St. Lucia, the National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO) urged residents and visitors alike “to closely monitor the progress of this storm and to listen to advisories from the official authorities. “The public is also strongly encouraged to take the necessary steps to be prepared for any severe weather which may be experienced as a result of this tropical cyclone.”

Dominica, where the state-owned DBS radio was hosting a simulcast involving several of the radio stations on the island, disaster preparedness officials said that Irma is expected “somewhere in the central and/ or northern portion of the island chain late Tuesday into Wednesday next week. This includes Dominica. “‘Irma’ is expected to strengthen to a major hurricane at that time making it an extremely

dangerous Atlantic hurricane. The impacts could be catastrophic. The hurricane is about six days away from the islands and uncertainties in projection exist.

“Nonetheless, all residents are warned to complete all preparations and continue to closely monitor the progress of ‘Irma, the Office of Disaster Management (ODM) said. In its 5.00 pm (local time) bulletin, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said the stormw as about 1, 495 miles east of the Leeward Islands and had winds of 120 miles per hour (mph). It said while there are no coastal watches or warnings in effect at present “interests in the northern Leeward Islands should monitor the progress of this system.

The NHC said Hurricane Irma is moving toward the

west near 13 mph and a turn toward the west-southwest is expected on Saturday. “Maximum sustained winds are near 120 mph with higher gusts. Irma is a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Fluctuations in strength, up or down, are possible during the next few days, but Irma is expected to remain a powerful hurricane through the weekend,” the NHC added. In his statement, Prime Minister Browne said he had asked the Minister of Health to mobilize the Central Board of Health (CBH) and the National Solid Waste Management Authority to clean the major drains, and to remove any debris that could block the flow of floodwater that may fall during the passage of Irma.

He said instruction had also been given to the head

of the Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force (ABDF) to co-ordinate closely with the National Office of Disaster Services (NODS). “Together, they will firm-up their contingency plans to help those who may fall into distress should Irma have ill-effects on our state. The Royal Antigua and Barbuda Police Force is also to be placed in a state of readiness, following a meeting with the Commissioner of Police.”

He said he had also asked the Minister with responsibility for public utilities to dispatch teams of workers immediately to prune trees that overhang power lines, and to clear those shrubs and bushes that could impair recovery should Irma’s winds disrupt electricity.

“I have asked the ABDF to coordinate with APUA to provide any additional manpower that

may be required to perform the additional tasks, over the next 72 hours,” he said, adding that he had mobilized EC$500,000 (One EC dollar =US$0.37 cents) to meet the additional operating costs and to pay overtime which this contingency plan may cost.

“I take this opportunity to ask the able-bodied adults and homeowners across the country to take all necessary actions to safeguard their own properties, and to secure their valuables.

The passage of a hurricane is not a matter to be taken lightly, although we ought not panic. “Please, however, do all that is necessary to ensure that our families’ lives, properties and valuable possessions are not placed in any danger because of negligence or failure to heed the warnings,” Browne added. (CMC)

CCJ rules Barbadian woman has right to inherit from late partner The Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) Friday ruled that a Barbadian woman should be considered the spouse of her late

partner as well as having the right to inherit from him on his death.

The CCJ, the island’s highest court, said that Mrs Katrina

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Smith should be considered the spouse of her late partner, Albert Michael Selby and that under Barbados’ Succession Act, the definition of spouse, “is a single woman who has cohabited for the statutory period of five years immediately preceding the death of her cohabitant partner (and) has the right to inherit from him on his death”.

The matter, which was filed at the CCJ in March, centred on the interpretation of Act which states that reference to a ‘spouse’ includes “a single woman who was living together with a single man as his wife

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for a period of not less than five years immediately preceding the date of his death”.

The CCJ examined the legislative regime that existed prior to the Act and noted that prior to its enactment, the law excluded the survivor of a cohabitational relationship from benefiting on the death of the partner who had not left a will.

Smith and Selby had been living together since 2002 until his death in 2008. Sealy had no children, was predeceased by his parents, and survived by his siblings including the respondent, Albert Anthony Sealy.

The Court concluded that the

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natural and ordinary meaning of the words in the Act, and a review of the Act together with its social and historical context, is that a single woman who has cohabited for the statutory period of five years immediately preceding the death of her cohabitant partner has the right to inherit from him on his death, provided he is a single man.

In making its decision, the CCJ set aside the earlier decision of the Barbados Court of Appeal and all orders for costs from the courts below. The Court declared that Katrina Smith was the spouse of the deceased and ordered Anthony Selby to pay costs in the sum of BD$20,000 (One Barbados dollar=US$0.50 cents).

Meanwhile, the CCJ has express concern over what it

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said appears to be the practice in Barbados for matters to be stayed pending the outcome of interlocutory appeals without a formal court order. The Court dissuaded the use of this practice except in circumstances where it was necessary after a full consideration of the relevant factors. It noted that that the nine years that elapsed since the death of Selby was inconsistent with the overriding objective to resolve disputes justly and expeditiously. The CCJ ruled that such delay inevitably caused distress as no one had been appointed to administer Selby’s estate and as a result it sought to give a ruling as expeditiously as possible taking into consideration the matter having been filed in March this year.

(CMC)

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 2, 2017

Kenya election...

Kenyatta blasts court after vote annulled KENYAN President Uhuru Kenyatta has branded judges in the country’s Supreme Court “crooks” after they annulled his win in presidential elections.

He earlier called for calm and said he would respect the ruling but struck a more combative note at a Nairobi rally.

The court cited irregularities in last month’s election and ordered a new one within 60 days. The poll had raised fears of major violence similar to that following a disputed vote in 2007.

Although the unrest in this year’s vote was not as serious as in 2007, days of sporadic protests left at least 28 people dead. Kenya’s election commission had declared Mr Kenyatta the winner by a margin of 1.4

million votes but the result was immediately challenged in court by his nearest rival, opposition leader Raila Odinga.

In a ruling on Friday, Chief Justice David Maraga said the 8 August election had not been conducted in accordance with the constitution, declaring it “in-

RESCUERS searched painstakingly through flooded neighborhoods across southeastern Texas on Friday for people stranded

by Hurricane Harvey’s deluge as Houston’s mayor warned residents of the city’s west side that their homes may not dry out for weeks.

The storm, one of the costliest to hit the United States, has displaced more than 1 million people, with 50 feared dead from flooding that paralyzed Houston, swelled river levels to record highs and knocked out the drinking water supply in Beaumont, Texas, a city of 120,000 people.

Though the sun was out in Houston on Friday and water levels down in many areas, Mayor Sylvester Turner called for voluntary evacuations on the city’s west side. He said already-flooded neighborhoods there may be in greater danger as the Army Corps of Engineers continues to release water into the adjacent Buffalo Bayou to prevent dam and levee failures. About 80 miles (130 km) to the east, the Neches River, which flows into Beaumont and nearby Port Arthur, was forecast to crest on Friday.

“There still remain areas that are deadly dangerous,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott told reporters. “The Neches River continues to rise. It is about 7 feet (2.1 meters) above the record and it will continue to remain at or be near that high for about the next week.

This flooding poses an ongoing threat.”

Rescue officials were still working to determine the scope of flooding, said Rodney Smith, deputy chief of the Cedar Hill, Texas, Fire Department. The storm’s impacts played out in ways large and small, a full week after Hurricane Harvey slammed into the Texas coast Friday night as a Category 4 storm. At the Hollywood Community Cemetery in Orange, floodwaters had caused three coffins to pop out of their concrete

vaults. One belonged to Dewey Mosby, who died in 2003 at the age of 82. “He won’t stay put,” said Ron Kendall, 63, who helps maintain the cemetery and said he knew Mosby well in life. Kendall had helped direct Mosby’s coffin back to its resting place after the 2008 floods from Hurricane Ike and again during floods in 2016.

“Everybody knows where Mr. Mosby goes now because he always comes up,” Kendall said.

valid, null and void”. The ruling did not attribute any blame to President Kenyatta’s party or campaign. Mr Odinga, who was

in the courtroom, smiled and pumped his fist in the air as the ruling was read out. Thousands of his supporters took to the streets in celebration. Mr Odin-

ga, 72, said the ruling marked “a historic day for the people of Kenya and by extension for the people of the continent of Africa”.

It is believed to be the first time in Africa that a legal challenge brought by the opposition against a presidential poll result has been successful. Mr Odinga called the electoral commission “rotten” and called for its members to resign and face prosecution.

“It is clear that the real election results were never shared with Kenyans. Someone must take responsibility,” he said.

“We won the elections and we are going to win them again.”

In a televised address, President Kenyatta said that it was “important to respect the rule of law even if you disagree with

the Supreme Court ruling”. He called for calm, saying: “Your neighbour will still be your neighbour, regardless of what has happened. My primary message today to every single Kenyan is peace. Let us be people of peace.” But he was struck a different tone later at a rally of supporters in a market in Nairobi.

He referred to Justice Maraga and his fellow judges as wakora (crooks in Swahili), saying they had “decided to cancel the election”. He warned the chief justice that as the poll had been annulled he was now the president again, not president-elect. “Do you understand me? Maraga should know that he is now dealing with the serving president,” Mr Kenyatta, 55, said. “We are keeping a close

eye on them. But let us deal with the election first. We are not afraid.”

Following the election, international monitors from the EU, the African Union and the US had said there was no major fraud and urged Mr Odinga to concede. On Friday, Marietje Schaake, the head of the EU Observer Mission, said the Supreme Court ruling represented “a historic day for Kenya and we have always said that people who feel aggrieved should seek the path of the courts”.

She said monitors had at the time pointed to irregularities and encouraged the Kenyan authorities to deal with them.

Ms Schaake said monitors were awaiting the full details of Friday’s ruling. (BBC)

morning, according to motorists group AAA. Supply concerns prompted the U.S. Energy Department to authorize the release of up to 4.5 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Several East Coast refineries have run out of gasoline, raising fears that travelers will face fuel shortages during the three-day holiday. In major Texas cities including Dallas, there were long lines at gas stations. Abbott said

the state was taking steps to ensure adequate supplies, adding, “Don’t worry. We will not run out of gasoline.”

Harvey came on the 12th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which killed about 1,800 around New Orleans. Then-U.S. President George W. Bush’s administration was roundly criticized for its botched early response to the storm. Signaling that he did not want to be seen as repeating those

mistakes, President Donald Trump plans a second visit to the region on Saturday.

“The people of Texas and Louisiana were hit very hard by a historic flood and their response taught us all a lesson, a very, very powerful lesson,” Trump said. “There was an outbreak of compassion only ... and it really inspired us as a nation.” Some 440,000 Texans have already applied for federal

financial disaster assistance, and some $79 million has been approved so far, Abbott said. Lawmakers will replenish a federal disaster relief fund to keep aid flowing, but full assistance will come from Congress in installments, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said.

Moody’s Analytics estimated the economic cost from Harvey for southeastern Texas at $51 billion to $75 billion. (Reuters)

President Kenyatta told supporters he was not afraid of fighting another election

Search goes on for Harvey survivors, new evacuations in Houston

BURNING CHEMICALS At chemical maker Arkema SA, a fire started on Thursday in a truck storing chemicals at a flooded plant east of Houston had burned itself out by Friday. But more blasts were likely in eight other trucks storing the same chemicals..

Aerial images broadcast by NBC showed thick black smoke rising from the plant. Meanwhile a new storm, Irma, had strengthened on Friday into a Category 3 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale. It remained hundreds of miles from land but was forecast to possibly hit Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Haiti by the middle of next week. Harvey was the most powerful hurricane to hit Texas in half a century, and went on to dump unprecedented amounts of rain and leave devastation across more than 300 miles (480 km) of the state’s coast.

A list of the dead put out by Harris County officials painted a grim picture of the storm’s brutality, describing bodies found floating face down in floodwaters, lying in ditches or across fences.

Many were unidentified. The storm shut about a fourth of U.S. refinery capacity, much of which is clustered along the Gulf Coast, and caused gasoline prices to spike to a two-year high ahead of the long Labor Day holiday weekend. The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has risen 17 cents since the storm hit, hitting $2.519 as of Friday

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Editorial Fixing the electricity system

FOR far too long, Guyanese have had to contend with electricity service that is less than desirable and some may argue, not without some justification, getting from bad to worse. According to the United Nations, education, healthcare, fresh water sources, sanitation and energy are considered essential services. Such services are deemed vital to man’s wholesome existence and are measures by which development in society is graded based on access, reliability, affordability, and quality.

In this Information Age and consumer-oriented consumptive pattern, electricity plays a vital role. From the

charging of a cell phone, of which many people have more than one, to reliance on internet and computers for business, entertainment, information and education, the supply of electricity is essential. In the consumer-oriented society, appliances, perishable items, cool refreshment and ice need electricity. In short, electricity has become second-nature to man. Its absence or interruption becomes a disruption of the way things ought to be and therefore an irritant, even for those possessing a generator or alternative supply.

Water-- seen as the twin service of energy/electricity-- is being improved not only in quality but accessi-

bility to communities that never had, whereas electricity supply is still problematic.

There are areas where supply is at times interrupted for days, as in the instance of the Essequibo Coast recently.

Friday residents in Demerara awoke to blackout, which lasted for hours.

In the 21st century it can no longer be considered acceptable that excuses are being made for poor service or that people must be accepting of it. There comes a time when enough is enough and the poor service citizens continue to receive has to be addressed as matter of national priority. What the society needs beyond the Public Utilities Commission where complaints are laid

is serious national conversations on the performance and quality of our energy supply, not merely to ridicule, though deserving, but to help GPL to improve its performance.

As a state-owned institution it is being managed by a Board which sets the policy. Citizens are not without understanding that reliable electricity comes at a cost to the GPL, which should make it even more pressing to get to properly diagnosing the problem and fixing it. Tinkering will not realise solution other than having government continuing to throw money behind the company which may also include borrowing. At the same time it cannot be

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 2, 2017

ignored even as supply is substandard the Power Producers and Distributors Inc. (PPDI) that produces power for GPL, pegs its profit to be in excess of US$2 million by 2019.

It may also be worthy to look at the feasibility and practicality of having GPL remaining in its present form as a distributor of electricity. It may be feasible to examine the company’s strength and where it can better serve the public, and have it concentrate its resources in that regard. For instance,

it may be worthwhile doing a cost-benefit analysis of the contracted PPDI that is involved in power generation to determine whether it has the capacity to deliver enough and reliable energy for distribution as GPL works in tandem with the nation’s housing development programme.

Electricity is an essential service and citizens have had it to their throats living with its supply being unreliable, unplanned, unscheduled and suffering extended periods of interruption.

Guyana will lose out again Dear Editor,

2017“…Based on that report, the IMF predicts that Guyana will earn $380M a year, in the first couple years…” Minister of Natural Resources, Raphel Trotman (Kaieteur News August 24, 2017) Editor, please be reminded that Guyana will receive 2% of what our oil will be sold for. So if Guyana is receiving say $400M a year, Exxon is receiving 98 times that amount, or $40 Billion, a year.

The very sad thing about Guyana is that we have never had

good governance. Or maybe I should say it another way. The successive governments that we have had have severely crippled Guyana. And what compounds the frustration of objective Guyanese, is that only when a political ideologue is in the opposition, they agree with that statement. Guyanese have this very blighted approach to our development that we can only speak truth to power when it is not “our part” that is “running things.”

Over the past 50 years, we sat as a divided nation and literally watched as our

political leaders decimated our country; especially using the self-inflicted racial divide. There is no way the PNC could have sat at the helm for 28 years and retard the progress of Guyana, if PNC supporters did not allow it. And conversely, there is no way that the PPP could have sat at the helm and raped our country for 23 years if their supporters did not allow it.

Now we have come to full circle and the possibility of the dreaded past being repeated is hovering like an eliminated drone over this nation. Again, there seems to be no

room for any dissenting or objective voice.

It is as if one cannot support a particular party and at the very time hold that party accountable. Guyana is so stuck in a developmental morass that there seems to be zero correlation between politics and patriotism.

Guyana’s resources are being daily depleted. There resources are not renewable. Yet there seems to be such ambivalence on the part of all the governments to be forthright with the populace. It is as if these politicians know that they could do to the Guyanese what no other leaders,

in democratic countries, could do to their people.

Imagine that ExxonMobil will make 98% more than the $380M crumbs that they will throw Guyana’s way and we don’t know how many years they will do that for.

Every year we get $400M, Exxon will get $40 Billion. And yet the Guyanese people do not have any idea of how much Exxon plans to invest in Guyana’s oil. Neither do we know how long the contract is for. So we don’t know how much Guyana will make as it relates to how much Exxon will make. And

our current politicians, like the previous one they ousted, think that we don’t deserve any better.

S o w e a re a t a point where Guyana is likely to lose out on yet another deal; another transaction where the country can be raped. Like Skeldon! Like the Marriott! Like the Berbice Bridge! Like bad bauxite deals!

And like all those previous investments, where the Guyanese people were again left in the dark. When will the eyepass end?

Regards VISHNU BANDHU

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 2, 2017

We Muslims simply must not stay quiet Dear Editor,

ON this day, the 9th of Dhul Hijjah, the final month in the Islamic calendar and the day before Eid ul Adha, the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) delivered his final sermon to his followers. In it, he specifically admonished everyone who listened that all people come from one place, that women are partners, not chattel; that regardless of

our ethnicities, we are all equal with no claim of superiority over anyone else.

He stressed that we must do no harm, but try to do as many good deeds as we can. Perhaps it is convenient to forget that he felt it necessary in his last words to single out and remind Arabs that they have no authority over any other kind of a Muslim. He clearly understood his people. Today as we pray for forgiveness

and mercy, we remember all those who are suffering and devastated by loss, the destruction of their homes, lives and family...from Houston to Yemen to Syria to Haiti to those traumatised by violence, oppression, war and terror.

Most of all, Muslims must collectively and individually decry the indecent excesses of the Kingdom of Saud’s degenerate, reactionary monarchy. For too

long, they have trampled the rights of Muslims, rights that the Prophet himself never denied his followers.

Yet, the descendants of one family have encouraged, funded and supported the indoctrination of generations of young Islamic scholars, who have been taught a corrosive, ethnocentric version of Islam, one that strays far from the compassionate mercifulness encouraged by the Prophet.

This cannot continue, we Muslims simply must not stay quiet when before our eyes, the spoiled, arrogant heir to the keys of our most holy places, continues to live an obscenely extravagant life, thoughtlessly squandering the wealth of the Ummah on expensive baubles and vanity wars that have shattered the lives of those already living in unbearable squalor, too poor to matter to their

self-anointed royal neighbours. As Eid is celebrated throughout the world, we should all try to reflect on the love, forgiveness, empathy sacrifice and mercy of our Creator. And most of all, how we Muslims can be better people, neighbours, friends, citizens... and humans.

of managing the affairs of the city, have opted to just reward themselves instead.

How could they choose to use ratepayers’ money to fly first class frequently around the world to many exotic and distant locations taking along administrative staff with them, instead of using that money to pay the garbage contractors instead?

How could they be allowed to use ratepayers’ taxes to lend themselves money to purchase vehicles etc interest-free instead of going to the commercial banks? How could they be allowed use the Council’s welders to secure their homes with wrought iron on Council’s time which ratepayers have to pay for, instead of engaging private

ironmongers? How could those with multiple homes use a private guard service that the Council paid for to secure their multiple homes instead of hiring their own security?

Why does the Council have to purchase cutting-edge cellular telephones and pay exorbitant telephone bills for these

municipal officials including for overseas calls? Why does the Council have to provide chauffeurs, bodyguards, static security at their residences, personal assistants for these persons, whilst the ordinary municipal worker cannot receive his or her salary on time? When the books of the Council are finally

audited one day, the ‘Fantastic Four’ and their cronies at the Georgetown municipality will make the Enron Scandal, the Freddie Mac Scandal, the Lehman Brothers Scandal, and the Bernie Madoff Scandal all look like child’s play.

Regards SCHEHERAZADE ISHOOF KHAN

Alleged abuse of privilege at City Hall Dear Editor,

The Georgetown municipality is a classic case of some ‘Big Ones’ rewarding themselves with a Cadillac lifestyle in the donkey cart economy of the Council.

It is unconscionable that some senior functionaries at City Hall, who are entrusted with the privilege

Regards ANU BIHARI

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‘Live up to the standards of QC’ - President charges new students PRESIDENT David Granger on Thursday charged incoming first formers of the Queen’s College (QC) Secondary School to live up to the standards, morals and values of the institution for the good of Guyana.

The Head of State, who was speaking at the school’s orientation session, also said that it is his vision that every region will be able to boast of a school of excellence like Queen’s College as Government works to improve the quality of education across the country.

President Granger, who is a member of the QC alumni, urged the new students to make the best of their journey at the 172-year-old institution, noting that the school’s values, morals, culture and expectations of conduct can help to mould them into productive citizens, who can contribute to the growth and development of the country.

“Today is the first day of the rest of your lives. Entering QC is a transformative experience. You are entering a college with 172 years of history and QC has much to be proud of. In this college, we build character; in this

President David Granger shows off the school’s ‘Colours’, which is given to past and present students for exceptional performance

college we build moral duty, you understand the need for integrity. Guyana has a lot to be thankful for to the persons, who passed through this school because it helped to build character,” he said.

The Head of State said that every school can offer the same values as Queen’s College once their administrations commit to upholding the same tenets of respect, good conduct, culture and values.

Even as he continues to push for greater access to quality education throughout the country, President Granger said that it is his wish for Guyana that every region can boast such a standard bearing educational institute, which can produce the human resources needed to propel Guyana into prosperity.

“Your journey through this college will better prepare to take possession of this land through the culture that

is inculcated here, through your own conduct, through the character that will be moulded… I hope we can have a school of excellence in every school. As a parent, as a President, I would hope to have an institution that is comparable to Queen’s College in every region. What a wonderful country Guyana would be,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ms. Jackie Benn, Head Mistress of the College, in her brief remarks, said that the President’s visit is welcomed and appreciated as it demonstrates his commitment to making Guyana an education nation. “It shows that he cares about education and the development of young people. It also reflects his pride and love for his alma mater and, for that, we are committed to maintaining the standard of excellence,” she said.

Mr. Alfred Granger, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the College, also made brief remarks, noting that the President is an example of what Queen’s College represents and therefore, it serves as motivation for the incoming students to see what they can achieve through their journey at the institution. (Ministry of the Presidency)

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 2, 2017

Two die in Cummings Lodge accident AN ex-policeman met an untimely death following an accident on the Cummings Lodge Railway Embankment, East Coast Demerara, Friday morning.

Dead are 38-year-old Malcolm Ross called “Shabba,” a security guard attached to the GEB Security Service and Jewel Pestran, 19, of Bel Air Street, Albouystown.

Reports are that Ross was riding east on a motorcycle, bearing registration CE 9653 along the roadway with Pestran in tow, when he collided with a Sunset Taxi Service, Toyota Spacio motor car, which was travelling in the

opposite direction around 02:30hrs on Friday morning.

The duo was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) where Ross was pronounced dead on arrival.

According to police, Pestran, the pillion rider, succumbed to her injuries while receiving treatment around 05:00hrs Friday morning.

The driver of the motor car, bearing registration HC 4097, was found to be above the prescribed alcohol limit and he was taken into custody.

Police are investigating the accident.

Malcolm Ross

President David Granger with this year’s batch of first-form students in the Queen’s College Auditorium on Friday

‘A’ Division cops distribute school supplies COMMANDER ‘A’ Division, Assistant Commissioner Marlon Chapman and other ranks on Thursday distributed school supplies in several Georgetown communities.

Also in attendance were Superintendent Phillip Azore, Community Relations Officer of ‘A’ Division and Assistant Superintendent Sonia Herbert.

The distribution started in Tiger Bay, Leopold Street, then to Broad Street before moving to Albouystown.

Commander Chapman having a conversation with some of the youths before distributing school supplies

School bags complete with books, pencils and other school paraphernalia were some of the items distributed to the children, whose faces lit up with smiles and excitement.

The children of Agricola and other communities within ‘A’ Division also benefitted from the outreach.

According to the commander, good police-community relations are critical for crime prevention and for officers’ safety

Duo in custody for possession of cannabis, ammo POLICE conducting a routine stop-and-search operation on Bamai Public Road, Linden, Thursday afternoon found a quantity of cannabis packaged in small-sized ziplock bags and six live 12-gauge cartridges.

Reports indicate that during the stopping and searching of a public transport vehicle, a 42year-old logger of Alliance Road, Timehri, East Bank

Demerara (EBD), was found in possession of six live 12-gauge cartridges.

Another passenger, a 21-year-old of First Street, Covent Garden, EBD, was found in possession of a quantity of cannabis packaged in small-sized ziplock bags.

Police said they were both charged and are expected to appear at the Linden Magistrates Court on Monday

The items seized by police

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 2, 2017

Man kills niece for gold earrings

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By Michel Outridge A FATHER is mourning the loss of his 18-monthold daughter who was reportedly murdered by her 20-year-old uncle in North Sophia, Greater Georgetown, early Friday morning.

Police in a release said the unemployed suspect from ‘A’ Field Sophia is in police custody for the alleged murder of Ronasha Pilgrim of Lot 98 North Sophia.

The incident reportedly occurred between 03:30 hrs and 04:00hrs on Friday morning at the Sophia home where the child lived.

Police said the child, along with her brothers, ages 10 and 12, was left in the house by her father, a security guard, who went to work.

The suspect allegedly broke a window, gaining entry into the house where he tried to relieve the child of her earrings.

But in trying to do so, the child started to scream and the man tossed her through a window into the swamped yard.

He then hurried away from the area, but not before placing a pile of wood on top of the child, who was submerged in 18 inches of water and slush.

When the child was discovered by her father shortly after, she was in a motionless state and was transported to the Georgetown Public Hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival.

Her body is at Lyken’s Funeral Home awaiting a post-mortem.

Father of the child, Ron Pilgrim, told Guyana Chronicle that he left home for work around 19:30 hrs on Thursday, leaving his three children secure in their Lot 98 North Sophia home.

The 35-year-old man said when he left home, one of his sons and his daughter were asleep while his other son was watching television.

Pilgrim, who is a security guard attached to Cevon’s Waste Management depot in Stevedore Housing Scheme where he works only at nights, said around 03:30hrs he received a call from a neighbour who asked him to return home urgently.

Pilgrim said he enquired from the neighbour what the

The house where the Pilgrims live (Adrian Narine photo)

DEAD: Ronasha Pilgrim

problem was and was told that his daughter was reportedly buried in his yard by his brother and his sons were in the house.

SHALLOW GRAVE On hearing the news, Pilgrim said he flagged down a taxi and rushed home where his sons told him what happened. He went to the spot where his daughter was buried and pulled her out.

Pilgrim said his sons told him that the suspect broke into the house by removing a few louvres. On entering, he held onto one of the boys and attempted to choke him but the lad fought him off.

He then went to the child who was sleeping at the time and yanked off her gold earrings, causing her to wake up screaming.

The suspect, who is a drug addict and a convicted thief, and who was only recently released from prison for larceny, on seeing the reaction of the child, tossed her through the window he had broken to enter the house.

After the child fell into the flooded yard, the suspect came out of the house, went into the yard, dug a shallow grave with his hands, threw the child in and covered her

body with piles of wood.

“My brother don’t come here to my house and I am baffled as to why he came here in the dead of the night to do such a thing to my daughter,” Pilgrim lamented.

His brother lives in a shack on a government reserve in ‘A’ Field, Sophia and Pilgrim said he never wanted him at his home because he is a person with “sticky fingers”.

Even though Pilgrim’s sons saw what their uncle did, they could do nothing as they were afraid and fled to the neighbour’s house.

Pilgrim, a single parent, said his daughter’s mother lives in Guyhoc Park, Georgtown and he would take her there on weekends.

“I don’t know what could have caused my own brother to come to my house and do such a thing, but I know he does ‘smoke’ and he don’t work,” the man said.

Neighbours told Guyana Chronicle that Pilgrim and his children had moved into the unregularised squatting area some years ago.

North Sophia is without potable water supply and proper roads. Residents also suffer from garbage pollution and with poor drainage, the area is vulnerable to constant flooding.

Distraught father Ron Pilgrim points to the window through which his daughter was tossed out by his brother (Adrian Narine photo)

Ron Pilgrim shows the spot where his daughter was buried (Adrian Narine photo)

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 2, 2017

Marriott seeks casino operator …management says hotel future rests with gov’t, oil boom

By Alva Solomon IN two weeks’ time the Guyana Marriott Hotel will be advertising for expressions of interest for its entertainment complex and for the leasing of its casino, even as the entity’s executives are working to improve its current 81st ranking of the 366 hotels operating under the brand in the Region.

Hewley Nelson, Chairman of the board of directors of Atlantic Hotels Inc, told the Guyana Chronicle in a recent interview that they have advertised locally, regionally and internationally for the leasing of the casino.

He said the successful lessee will be required to complete, outfit and operate the casino.

Meanwhile, management said that business at the hotel is picking up and that while they are banking on the country’s expected oil boom, its executives have noted that the future of the country’s largest hotel rests in the hands of the government. The hotel is owned by Atlantic Hotels Inc, a company incorporated by the previous government and it is managed by the international brand. During an interview on Thursday, Edu-

ardo Reple, general manager of the hotel noted that Guyana is a “business” location and the hotel receives much of its patronage from government entities, the foreign embassies , the oil sector and the local community.

He said the hotel is working with three local institutions, adding that there are interns who work there thrice annually. He said interns came recently from the Board of Industrial Training and nine were hired by the hotel to function in its operations. Reple said four other persons who were on staff from the USAID’s, SKYE-Project were also hired by the hotel.

In addition, persons from the Carnegie School of Home Economics have been hired to work on the hotel’s team. “We are not here to have expats, we are here to develop the locals,” Reple said.

Reple noted that the post of finance manager will be filled in the coming days by a Guyanese female.

He said since the hotel’s opening, it has promoted potential talent within its staff. He said one such person is the hotel’s senior sales manager, who took up the position after it became vacant.

As regards occupancy,

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Atlantic Hotel Inc Hewley Nelson

Reple said that the rate has picked up this year. “We didn’t expect that we were going to ramp up as we are performing,“ he said, adding that the there is a lot of movement in the country’s developing oil sector. This, he noted, has caught the attention of the hotel’s plans for the future. The hotel is ranked 81st of 366 hotels in the Region and that ranking is based on customer satisfaction. Reple said that the firm is working to carry the ranking further up to 40 by 2020.

He said that last year there was a 50% occupancy rate and this year the rate has climbed to 65%. He explained that there are moments when there is high demand, noting that there are times when rooms are available at high rates and at low rates, depending on business at the time.

Reple described the Guyanese market as a “last-minute“ market. He explained that the company was concerned about its occupancy for July this year, noting that the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) cricket tournament was held in July 2016 and as such, the hotel was expecting the tournament to be held in July this year. However, the tournament fixtures for Guyana were shifted to August 2017.

He noted however, that there was a record-breaking

74% occupancy rate at the hotel in July, noting that it was a last-minute response from customers. “It is because the economy of the country is booming, the oil industry, and this benefits our industry and I think even in the long run, it will benefit the competition”, Reple said. “I see a very positive future, not only for giving the community an option, a place to go a place that is different, it is trending,” he said of the hotel. He said that there are many Guyanese who live overseas and on return, would visit the hotel with expectations of receiving the same service as the other Marriott-branded hotels around the world.

MARRIOTT’S FUTURE As regards the future of the Marriott in Guyana, Nelson noted that the project was never intended to be a stand-alone project. He said that a feasibility study which was undertaken cited that, for it to be viable, the hotel’s entertainment complex and casino would have to provide the requisite support.

He said that 40% of the income of the complex should have been from the casino and the entertainment centre, however, with the change of government the plans to establish the latter changed. In response to questions on the divestment of the hotel, Nelson said

General Manager of the Guyana Marriott Hotel Eduardo Reple

that the government has to decide on such a move.

He said the management would have to ensure that the hotel is as “saleable as possible” if the government so decides to divest the entity, noting that government would want to make back its money if it makes such a move.

As regards questions pertaining to a contractual sum owed the contractor, Nelson said that it is likely that the hotel’s management and the contractor would go to arbitration. He explained that there were defects with the project, noting that the management of the hotel has instituted legal proceedings to have the seven to 10 persons working with the contractor who are “squatting” on the premises, to be evicted. Nelson said that the quality of the work in some regards was not up to standard and according to him, the defects amounted to in excess of US$4M. On the issue of the contractor’s statement that the defined period for such claims has passed, Nelson said that there have been recurrent defects such as the quality of equipment supplied by the contractor, including the hotel’s filtration system and elevators.

Nelson added that all projections have been exceeded in this regard. He said that there are 175 persons working at the hotel and in addition it has contributed to the economy. Figures including G$265M in value

added tax (VAT) this year, PAYE G$118 (2016) and $26M (2017) were quoted.

In terms of the hotel’s operating income, the firm has been making approximately G$50M monthly and sums from this figure are used to maintain the property. He said that several international companies have already booked the Marriott for business events later this year, including for a Canadian mining expo, as well as other business missions. “Whether you like it or not, Guyana needs a Marriott,“Nelson noted, adding that if the evolving oil industry is taken into account, the Marriott receives the bulk of its business from large companies such as Exxon Mobil.

Reple said that the expectations of those companies are to stay at an internationally-branded hotel with such standards and qualities of accommodation. “Today, Marriott is the biggest hotel chain in the world; has the biggest distribution in loyalty programme; has the biggest reservation channel in the world,”Reple said, adding that whoever made the decision to bring Marriott to Guyana, did so with a purpose of finding reliable partners to support the venture. As the country develops, it will need additional hotels, Reple added, noting that the oil sector will bring a lot of business to the country’s hotel industry.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 2, 2017

Land Col…

Witness claims ancestral lands were taken away WITNESS Richard Waddell has claimed that lands left by his ancestors were taken away when he appeared before the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into ancestral lands and other land-related matters on Thursday.

Waddell of Lot 15 Farm, East Bank Essequibo told the Commission that he is a pensioner and is talking about lands at Farm, in which parts were coveted by the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) and his aunt-in-law’s plot at Ruby.

These lands at East Bank Essequibo, he said were awarded through the court to someone, who is not family member.

According to Waddell, his aunt-in-law Anita Rodney, who is deceased, inherited a property from her grandmother and lived on the plot for 90 years before she passed away.

The pensioner told the Commission that the plot in question is Lot 17 Ruby, in

which one plot was divided into two, in which one Nazeer Mohamed, called “Ashok,” was awarded prescriptive rights following a court ruling.

He related that after his aunt-in-law died two years ago he learnt through an elderly uncle that Mohamed has a title for the land left behind by his ancestors.

Waddell views the move as an injustice since the land in question was handed down by his foreparents. A structure on the land is still standing.

The witness said that the same Mohamed has been going around the entire village of Naamryck, East Bank Essequibo seeking unregistered lands and got prescriptive rights.

He is asking that the court order be overturned and the land returned to his family, since it is ancestral land.

Waddell told the Commission that he is unaware that this might be a difficult task since he would like the

land to be held by his family because Ruby is historically a black village.

Waddell said strangers moved in and occupied the lands,which his aunt and another relative inherited through their ancestors, who have long died.

The second ancestral lands issue he raised at the Commission was the backlands for which he has a title and which are located at Farm, East Bank Essequibo. The lands,he said, were bought by his ancestors but have now been taken by the NDC. The land is reported to be under the control by the NDC due to drainage works being undertaken to widen a drain into a trench.

DESCENDANT Waddell said Farm is ancestral lands bought by 26 ex-slaves and he is a descendant of those slaves.

The issue with the village is that there is a plan of the said village, which does not correspond with the village

Insel Air eyes return after bankruptcy protection GUYANA could be on the list of established destinations that Antilles Airline, Insel Air, wants to return its flight services to now that bankruptcy protection has been granted to the financially-strapped Dutch carrier.

Reports out of Curaçao is that Insel has received protection from the bankruptcy court in that country, and from its creditors’, permission to extend its repayment period. The bankruptcy court voted to defer Insel’s required payments, allowing the airline breathing space to re-establish its financial footing.

Insel had found itself in a bit of a pickle earlier this year when Aruban courts declared the airline bankrupt.

Apart from technical and safety issues that arose due to the lack of funds for fleet maintenance, it was said too that a large amount of the airline’s funds was tied up in ailing Venezuela, where the company also operated.

In a public missive on August 25, Insel said that

it was “very pleased” with the decision of the Bankruptcy Court of Curacao to extend the suspension of payment granted in March.

“The Management Board of Insel Air International is very appreciative of the vote of confidence shown by the positive response of the many creditors that accepted the proposal for the extension of the moratorium.”

Insel said it sees the extension as an opportunity to improve benefits to its commercial partners while ensuring the future operations of the airline. In conversation with Suriname’s De Ware Tijd news site, Insel’s executive member, Edward Heerenveen said that neighbouring Suriname would be among the first destinations the company will return to, given their Dutch-speaking connections. He said apart from Curaçao, focus is currently being placed on Aruba, Bonaire and St. Maarten, “We want to return to Suriname first, where we have not only done good business but also because of the strong ties

between us as Dutch speaking countries.”

Roraima Airways is Insel’s Guyana handler. The company’s Chief Executive Officer, Captain Gerald Gouveia, said Friday that discussions are taking place within Insel for their return to Guyana. “They are looking at coming back, they want to come back, but they are organizing things first. There has already been discussions,” the CEO said.

Roraima Airways had teamed up with the Dutch carrier since 2014 to ultimately offer Guyanese connections to some 27 destinations, including some South American countries, Miami, U.S. and The Dominican Republic. Insel said that the company’s management will continue to work out its financial issues in pursuit of a strategic plan to return their service to normalcy. Insel said “We have proven that they(we) can stand on our own again and this is why we are restoring our confidence,” with the possibility of continued expansion.

as it is now.

He related that it is not right and he cannot recover the original plan which was aged, but the current plan was done by Surveyor E.E Whyte.

Waddell told the Commission that in the plan of the village he has, there are some lands missing and that is cause for concern since they cannot utilise their backlands for farming as they did years ago.

As such, he is requesting a re-allocation of backlands which can be developed for farming and pointed out to the Commission that the village was the provider of ground provisions and long mangoes.

Responding to questions

from the commissioners, Waddell said he and his relatives lost lands due to drainage works undertaken by the NDC and his aunt-inlaw’s land was taken away while she was still living on it and given to Mohamed.

He said when surveys are done on lands; it either gives or takes away lands and several rods of land were taken from him.

He said the original plan was done by E.E Whyte in 1887 but came out in 1888 and persons who lost lands have transports to show ownership.

The next CoI hearing will be in October.

The exercise is spearheaded by Chairman Reverend George Chuck-A-Sang and commissioners, Berlinda

Persaud, Professor Rudolph James, David James, Paulette Henry, Lennox Caleb, and Carol Khan-James.

The first round of the public hearings started in August 21. During that segment, the CoI heard matters relating to ancestral lands and other land issues.

President David Granger had in March of this year established a CoI under the Commission of Inquiry Act, to examine and make recommendations to resolve all issues, and uncertainties surrounding the claims of Amerindian land titling, the individual, joint or communal ownership of lands acquired by freed Africans and any matters relating to land titling in Guyana.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 2, 2017

‘Nations’ receives prestigious education award

SCHOOL of the Nations exemplary performance in the field of education, nationally and internationally, has led to it receiving the prestigious 2017 Caribbean Award for Education The award was bestowed

by Kuarlal Rampersad, the Executive Chairman of the Society of Maintenance and Reliability Professional Trinidad Chapter.

The school’s director, Dr. Brian O’Toole, in a statement said Rampersad made reference to ‘Nations’ stellar performance, as he pointed to Saskia Twahir, who outperformed 13,000 students at the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) to be the nation’s top student for 2017.

“Recent IGCSE and AL results from the 220 persons at ‘Nations’ taking Cambridge International Examinations saw 100 passes in a wide number of classes and 35 students achieving an A or B+ average,” the director pointed out.

He noted that the educational institution has been working for the past six years with 530 students in Guyana on the Australian Institute of Business MBA programme, and to date, 268 of them have already received their MBAs while others are near completion.

“Not only have they passed the MBA but they have achieved the top results from the 17 AIB centres throughout the world.

In addition, 28 of the final projects are presently being considered for publication in international journals,” Dr. O’Toole added.

‘Nations’ also has a long-standing partnership

with the Association of Business Executives (ABE) in the UK. With 850 students pursuing the various programmes offered by ABE, ‘Nations’ is now the fifth largest ABE centre out of the 232 ABE centres around the world.

‘Nations’ also has the highest number of top paper awards from all the ABE centres in the Caribbean for the 2016 examinations.

Currently, more than 150 persons at ‘Nations’ are pursuing the pre-law programme from the University of Cambridge or the LLB programme from the University of London.

Gabriella Edwards, a ‘Nations’ LLB student, received the Oxford University Press Prize for achieving the best results in the world in the University of London Year One LLB Examinations.

SPECIAL EDUCATION Dr. O’Toole said too that Rampersad, in his remarks, also alluded to the work ‘Nations’ is doing in the area of special education.

A team of three teachers from the primary department recently returned from an intensive training in special needs education at Learning Rx in Denver, USA. They have now developed an innovative special needs programme at ‘Nations’ which is open to members of the public.

Mention was also made of the multi-faceted plans that are now on stream at ‘Nations’.

“A new MBA partnership has been formed with the

University of Bedfordshire (UK) whereby specialisations will be offered in marketing, human resource development, hospital management and oil and gas management.

‘Nations’ is also now consulting with the National Accreditation Council of Guyana about introducing 16 masters programmes in the areas of law, public health, international development, social work, journalism, psychology, art and environmental management,” the director explained.

Additionally, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed with Cambridge International Examinations to offer the International Certificate in Educational Leadership in partnership with the Ministry of Education to train educational leaders throughout Guyana.

‘Nations’ recently acquired the Registered Educational Provider status from PMI and will begin teaching the PMP and CAPM qualifications from October.

The ACCA programme is to be re-introduced as well as OSHA courses on Safety and Health.

In response to the oil discoveries in Guyana, ‘Nations’ has formed a partnership with IHRDC in Boston (USA) and a number of Trinidad companies and individuals to develop a five-year technical training programme in the areas of electrical, mechanical and process technology at Nations School of Technology. ‘Nations’ is in the process of building a state-of-the-art workshop to facilitate this training.

But Rampersad, Dr.

School of the Nations Director, Dr. Brian O’Toole

O’Toole said, was keen in pointing out that the institution’s development is not only in the areas of education, business, law and technology, but also in the performing arts.

PERFORMING ARTS A formal partnership has been agreed with Nancy Campbell Collegiate Institute (NCCI) in Canada, which will see resource persons from NCCI coming to ‘Nations’ to promote the performing arts in drama, dance, art and music, he explained.

Another aspect of this is that ‘Nations’ is now embarking on monthly gathering of artists to reflect on their practice and to chart a way forward.

“A TV studio has been established at ‘Nations’ which is now fully equipped.

‘Nations’ has also secured the services of Azikiwe ‘Ziggy’ Denheart, a gifted professional videographer of Infinity Productions, on a part-time basis, to nurture the skills of the students in this exciting medium,” the director noted.

He added: “With the success of the Guyana Robotics team, with our own Ryan Benschop from ‘Nations’ as captain, ‘Nations’ plans to develop a robotics club at the school. At a time when many investors are looking to move their money out of the country, the directors at ‘Nations’ are now investing in a 27-classroom,

three-storey expansion at their Georgetown Campus.

A new canteen and conference centre is in the process of being built,” Rampersad was quoted as saying.

Rampersad noted that a key aspect of the award was service to the community.

“This is a distinct feature of the work of ‘Nations’.

For the past eight years Nations has worked with 100 children and youth from the neighbouring Tiger Bay community whereby the children come into ‘Nations’ three afternoons per week for help with literacy and numeracy and for computer training, art, music and dance classes,” Dr. O’Toole said.

Additionally, the institution was also awarded based on the diversity of its work. The institution’s research arm, Nations Research Institute (NURI) has already undertaken major research projects for UNICEF, UNDP, ILO, IDB, and DFiD. Currently, it has five major consultancies under consideration for the CSSP, YIPOG and the CFYR programmes in the areas of youth development.

According to Dr. O’Toole, the award is the fruit of 20 years of efforts on the part of a large group of persons who have united together to translate the quote from the Baha’i Writings that guides the work of ‘Nations’: “Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable vale, education alone can cause it to reveal its treasures and enable mankind to benefit therefrom.”

Bartica teen gets scholarship to pursue agricultural science EIGHTEEN-year-old Ashley Cox of Four Miles Housing Scheme, Bartica, will today leave for the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA) to pursue her life’s goal of becoming an agriculturalist, thanks to the Bartica Mayor and Town Council.

On Thursday, the Council granted Cox a full scholarship to complete her Diploma in Agricultural Science. “I am thankful,” the 18-year-old told the Guyana Chronicle on Friday, noting that the scholarship will relieve her mother of “a great deal of stress.” Cox was alluding to the finances her mother would have had to acquire in order for her to attend the tertiary institution.

“It will help a lot and I

know she will make Bartica proud,” her mother added.

Cox successfully completed CSEC at the Anna Regina Secondary School, achieving a double award in Agricultural Science.

Bartica’s Mayor Gifford Marshall told the Guyana Chronicle that Bartica over the past year has seen a steady flow of infrastructural development, but said similar attention must be given to education.

“We are often mindful of the famous quote, ‘why build these cities glorious, if man unbuilded goes? In vain we build the world, unless the builder also grows.’”

Marshall said as a consequence and as a meaningful response to the town’s unsatisfactory performance

Mayor of Bartica Gifford Marshall presenting Ashley Cox with her scholarship in the presence of the Deputy Mayor Kamal Persaud and Town Clerk Phebe Wallerson, among others.

at the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) and the Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate (CSEC), the Bartica Mayor and Town

Council has implemented a number of initiatives including a scholarship programme to assist the children of Bartica.

“The municipality of Bartica has committed to offering scholarships to 10 youths for [the] new academic year.

We will not wait for a tertia-

ry institution to come to us [Bartica], we will send our youths for a tertiary education,” he posited.

Meanwhile, Town Clerk Phebe Wallerson said Cox received the first of 10 scholarships to be awarded to Barticians. Currently, the council is assessing two other applications within the system, but said there is room for other residents to apply for scholarships to various educational institutions.

Cox’s scholarship is for a period of two years and is valued at $260, 000. The scholarships, Wallerson noted, are being funded by the Council of Bartica, but said it is opening up the initiative to receive financial support from the business community.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 2, 2017

Qurbani celebrated with piety, prayers and charity

By Rabindra Rooplall

GUYANESE the length and breadth of Guyana on Friday observed Eid-ul-Adha, commonly called Qurbani or Udhiyah, with traditional prayers followed by the sacrificing of animals.

At mosques, Muslims gathered to sacrifice and share the meat of animals with the needy and less fortunate during Eid-ul-Adha celebrations.

The day commenced with a brief service and prayers led by various imams and muftis.

In Georgetown, at the Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (CIOG), there was a flurry of activities. It was the same at mosques on the West Coast of Demerara.

Imam Haleem Khan said the practice of Qurbani can be traced back to Prophet Ibrahim, who dreamt that Allah had ordered him to sacrifice the thing he loved the most

Members of the Kitty Masjid preparing beef parcels for distribution (Rabindra Rooplall Photo)

which, in this case, was his son Ismaeel(ISHMAEL). Ibrahim agreed to follow God’s command and was preparing to perform the sacrifice as an act of faith, However, Khan said Allah intervened and told Ibrahim

that he should sacrifice a lamb instead, as he had proven his faith. From that day onward, every Eid-ul-Adha, Muslims around the world would kill animals to commemorate Ibrahim’s intended sacrifice and to remind themselves of

Meat being chopped and parcelled off at CIOG

self-abnegation (self-denial or self-sacrifice) in the way of Allah.

The imam said Muslim scholars said that the philosophy behind ‘Udhiya’ is that it is a demonstration of submission to Allah, complete obedience

to Allah’s will and command and the willingness to sacrifice everything for his pleasure.

“Ibrahim demonstrated this spirit of submission and sacrifice in the best possible manner. When confronted with the challenge of love and allegiance, he chose to submit unconditionally to Allah and suppressed personal desire and love (for his family and child),” the Meten-Meer-Zorg Imam said.

Don Rahim, a Kitty Masjid member, said “it is not the meat, nor the blood that reaches Allah; it is your devotion that reaches Him.” Rahim added that a true Muslim is one who submits himself/herself completely to the Lord and is willing to follow Allah’s commands completely and obediently.

It is this strength of heart, purity in faith and willing obedience that the Lord desires.

“We are, as Muslims,

blessed with countless opportunities to serve our fellow inhabitants of the world. But this involves sacrifice – sacrifice of our time, energies and resources motivated by a desire to bring people together and work with them in the pursuit of creating a society that is built on the ideals of respect, understanding and goodwill,” Rahim explained.

He added: “Promoting justice and peace are responsibilities that rest on the shoulders of all those who are heirs to the Abrahamic tradition and as one such community, let us, as Muslims, be foremost in this struggle.”

Later in the day, Muslims used the opportunity to visit family and friends and to give gifts and money.

Additionally, some believers set aside certain amounts of money to prepare food and to buy clothes for those who are in need.

Meten-Meer-Zorg East Masjid during the observance of Qurbani

100 Linden students get school bags, shoes THE United States Embassy Thomas Boykin, The Hu- working relationship with the here through its Humanitar- manitarian Assistance Pro- mayor’s office. Boykin also ian Assistance Programme gramme Coordinator from the elaborated on how important (HAP), and the Linden Mayor and Town Council hosted U.S. Embassy stated that he education is, stating, “Educaa back-to-school drive in is thankful for having a good tion is really important to you, Linden on Friday, providing school bags and shoes to those in need.

One hundred children from across Linden, Region 10, benefited from the initiative which was held at the Egbert Benjamin Hall. The event targeted schoolchildren who were in need. The recipients were given school bags which were donated by the U.S. Embassy and school shoes donated by Guyana Medical Relief.

According to Linden’s Deputy Mayor, Waneka Arrindell, 100 children were chosen across Linden through the process of each constituency representative from the council, who identified 12 children that are in need from within their community. “This is my first interaction with the project and it’s wonderful, the shoes and the bags are of quality that the children will be able to use and will not be destroyed Five of the schoolchildren who benefited from the backto-school drive early,” stated Arrindell.

it’s a start to your future and becoming a successful adult.”

The guardians of the children who benefited from Friday’s event expressed sincere gratitude to the Linden Mayor and Town Council and the U.S. Embassy for what they have done. “I am

grateful for the gesture that the American Embassy has shown towards the people in Linden, because of economic strain. I am from the Old England area and we are very grateful for this, because it has been beneficial to the children,” remarked Ruby

Bacca, a guardian of three children who benefited from the event. According to Boykin, the event was the first for this academic year, however, they are attempting to support as many back-toschool initiatives as they can throughout Guyana.

Representatives from the U.S. Embassy and the Linden Mayor and Town Council with one of the beneficiaries

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University of Guyana to establish School of Energy and Mines

By Frederick Halley THE University of Guyana is working on the establishment on a School of Energy and Mines aimed at bringing benefits not just to the oil-and-gas sector, but also the existing gold-mining sector, the ailing bauxite industry and other mineral-related sectors.

Responding to a question posed at last Friday’s stakeholder engagement session with the University of Guyana alumni and the Guyanese diaspora at the Centennial College Event Centre, Scarborough, Toronto, Canada, Dr Barbara Reynolds, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Planning and International Engagement, pointed out that “one of the things we need to figure out is how to export our mineral wealth in a more comprehensive manner, even as we figure out how to deal with the likely increase and demand for ancillary services in the oiland-gas sector, recognising that it has a trajectory and staying ahead of that curve in terms of the kinds of specialised engineering that we want to develop.”

Dr Reynolds, who was accompanied by Registrar Dr Nigel Gravesande, pointed out that the University of Guyana is also working on retooling its geological engineering programme to offer an undergraduate degree in mining engineering and is looking for expertise in and out of Guyana in this area.

Plans are also afoot to establish a Business Development Unit to go after contracts and grants and to also bring business to the campus, working in conjunction with the public and private sectors. Explaining that the university recently started merchandising on a small scale, Dr Reynolds said this will be further expanded, so visitors will have the opportunity to purchase items as gifts when on vacation or other business in Guyana.

Dr Reynolds described the alumni engagement as “a good move,” but emphasised that

partnerships need to be reciprocal. “We are not just going to beg. As a point of pride, we must have something to offer the other partner and one of the things we will do is to host students who come on exchange programmes.

According to Dr Reynolds, the University of Guyana still has some archaic decision-making processes, one of them being that there must be two council members present for interviews and appointments, “so you could imagine what that means in getting people on board.”

The deputy vice-chancellor also opined that Guyanese do not see university education as an investment, “so almost everyone wants to pay their tuition fees by cash, no one wants to take a loan, but it’s unsustainable.

“It has become such a culture that we don’t even have a bookstore that sells text books, so that has to change and in order to change that we have to use

Deputy Vice-Chancellor Dr Barbara Reynolds during her presentation.

Dr Reynolds presents a gift to Consul-General (acting) Candida Daniels. At centre is chairperson Tameshwar Lilmohan

e-books, we have to be able to buy books. We have to have the capacity to negotiate, we have to have the capacity to plan ahead, but we also have to change the culture where a student will be willing to borrow to finance his or her education and be able to pay back. That does not currently exist.”

Dr Reynolds lamented the

fact that the University of Guyana does not have an Information Technology (IT) Infrastructure that includes safety and security issues, pointing out that “we have several overburdened and outdated systems – electrical, sewage, water and drainage. These are fundamental things, but they cost money.”

On a positive note, the depu-

ty vice-chancellor disclosed that discussions are ongoing with government to acquire a loan through the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) for the construction of a new library, while the government has already provided a loan to build a new health sciences facility. “We are also in discussion with Movie Towne out of Trinidad and Tobago to develop a solar farm in order to supplement our energy.”

Dr Reynolds boasted that the university recently launched the School of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation and also hosted a conference of the Guyanese diaspora, which is critical “since we want to engage with the diaspora.”

“We don’t necessarily want to say to people that you must come home. I am a proud ‘comebackie’ after spending 30 years outside of Guyana. It’s not necessary that everyone can come home, but we definitely need to engage with people of Guyanese origin or their off-spring who are doing wonderful things in North America and elsewhere to engage and share some of those resources with the University of Guyana.

Dr Reynolds also pointed to start commencement of a series on Law and Society and “for the first time in many years, we were able to fill the Walter Rodney Chair.”

Touching on the needs of the university, the vice-chancellor said, it needs people who will help in building the pension fund which is a mere $20 000 per month, upped from $3 000 by Vice- Chancellor Professor Ivelaw Griffith, people who are willing to invest [in] food services, people in IT, even those who are willing to come and do short courses.

The evening’s programme was coordinated by the Guyana Consulate in Toronto with Consular General (acting) Candida Daniels giving the welcoming remarks, while the chairperson was Tameshwar Lilmohan.

Some of the participants pose with Dr Reynolds and Registrar Dr Nigel Gravesande.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 2, 2017

Police investigate collapse of MTV broadcast tower

The damaged dish, property of Multi Technology Vision Inc

THE Multi Technology Vision Inc (MTV) Channel 14/65 will be off air until further notice, following the collapse of the television station’s broadcast tower early Friday morning.

Reports indicate that the television station’s Eccles, East Bank Demerara facility was allegedly sabotaged and the incident has resulted in severe damage to its broadcast equipment and building.

Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the collapse. The TV station is requesting its advertisers, producers and viewers to remain steadfast as they recover from the collapse.

“Unfortunately, all programmes, advertisements and great entertainment including MTV’s News Update and death announcements etc will not be aired until further notice. The TV station is asking its advertisers, producers and viewers to remain steadfast as they seek to address this issue,” MTV noted in a press statement.

The statement added: “Advertisers and producers are also asked to make contact with our accounts and marketing departments, or visit our office from Monday, September 4, 2017, during working hours to address their accounts.”

A police investigator leaves the scene with a heavy-duty nipper found on the scene as remains of parts of the towers are seen in the background

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 2, 2017

Ol Skool Ballers humiliate Sparta Boss with 3-0 win … Gold is Money, Tiger Bay, Leopold Street suffer similar fate DESPITE their love-hate relationship with the fans, those that turned out on Thursday night watched in disbelief as the once mighty Sparta Boss crashed to an embarrassing 3-0 defeat to Ol Skool Ballers as play in the inaugural Guinness Cage/Three Peat Promotions Indoor Championship continued, at the National Gymnasium.

Marking the start of the Group stage, Ol Skool Ballers, led by a hat-trick of goals from

Joel McGarrell, who netted in the 6th, 19th and 20th minutes, not only taught the former bosses a crushing lesson, but left them perilously close to exiting the championship.

With the loss, Sparta Boss will now have to win both of their remaining games to guarantee advancing.

Recent winners of the ‘Keep Your Five Alive’ competition West Front Road ‘Gold is Money’ also made life difficult for themselves after succumbing 1-0 to Mocha in a bruising encounter.

Another ‘big’ team to suffer loss was Leopold Street who went down 4-3 to giant killers MBK All Stars in one of the most exciting clashes of the night.

North Ruimveldt, Albouystown ‘A’, Future Stars, Back Circle and Hustlers continued their merry run with impressive wins over their respective opponents.

With no play scheduled for tonight, due to the Machel Montano concert, all attention will be turned to Tuesday night, when the second round of action in the Group stage is set to be played at the same venue.

Those games will be crucial for several teams as they attempt to position themselves for the impending knockout

phase.

Over $800 000 in cash prizes and trophies will be up for grabs with the winners set to receive $400 000 and the championship trophy, while second-, third- and fourthplaced finishers will take home $200 000, $100 000 and $50 000 along with trophies respectively.

Among the other sponsors on board are: Star Party Rentals, Faye Joseph, Claude Geddes Recreational Sports Club, National Sports Commission, Windjammer International Hotel & Cuisine, Woodpecker Trophies & Sport, Y.K Investments & Pawn Shop, Henry Chase, Jai Signs, Trophy Stall of Bourda Market and John Fernandes Ltd. Fixtures - September 5 Hustlers vs Mocha 19:00hrs Pike Street vs Albouystown-A - 19:30hrs North Ruimveldt vs Ol Skool Ballers - 20:00hrs Gold is Money vs Tiger Bay - 20:30hrs MBK All-Stars vs Champion Boys - 21:00hrs Future Stars vs Showstoppers - 21:30hrs Back Circle vs Leopold Street - 22:00hrs Sparta vs Albouystown-B - 22:30hrs

Germany move closer to World Cup qualification MATS Hummels scored a late winner as Germany beat the Czech Republic to boost their - and Northern Ireland’s chances of reaching the World Cup. The Germans, who have won all seven games, are five points above Northern Ireland with three games to go in Group C.

they beat Norway, and Michael O’Neill’s side do not win.

Norway beat Azerbaijan 2-0, but both sides are effectively eliminated, sitting nine points behind NI and with much worse goal differences.

Slovakia beat Slovenia 1-0 to keep the pressure on England in Group F, and maintain their four-point lead over third-

Germany have only ever lost two World Cup qualifiers

Timo Werner scored an early opener from Mesut Ozil’s pass, but Vladimir Darida equalised with a long-range effort.

Hummels headed home in the 88th minute to win the game.

As a result of that goal, Northern Ireland - who won 3-0 in San Marino - only need to draw against the Czechs on Monday to seal second place.

Of the nine group runners-up, the eight teams with the best records will enter the play-offs.

Defending champions Germany can qualify for Russia if

placed Scotland. The Slovaks will go top of the group if they beat England on Monday.

England beat Malta 4-0 to remain top, while Scotland won 3-0 in Lithuania.

In Group E, leaders Poland suffered a shocking 4-0 defeat in Denmark, with Christian Eriksen scoring one goal and assisting in the other three.

They are now only three points above Montenegro, who won 3-0 in Kazakhstan, and the Danes. Romania beat Armenia 1-0 in the group’s other game. (BBCSport)

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 2, 2017

GUYANA FOOTBALL FEDERATION INC. (GFF)

Extra Time

TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT FOR REFEREES IN FOCUS

APPROXIMATELY 30 referees from across Guyana benefited from the recently-held Guyana Football Federation (GFF) / FIFA Refereeing Assistance Programme (RAP) held from the 23rd – 26th August, 2017.

This is a critical and an annual programme which seeks to build capacity among referees relative to understanding the revised Laws of the Game and their interpretation as well as other technical areas of importance to the

effectiveness of referees.

In brief remarks at the opening ceremony, President Wayne Forde expressed support for the programme and the referees: “I’m happy that we are making these investments with the support of FIFA…the road ahead of us is much brighter than the road behind us. I’m asking that you to do everything within your power to absorb as much as possible, use every opportunity in the coming weeks, months and years ahead to impart the

information/knowledge to those you’ll have to shepherd into the profession.” He also made a special call to have more female referees added to the pool of referees.

FIFA’s Regional Development Officer / Technical Instructor and one of the facilitators, Peter Prendergast, in acknowledging the national referees who have participated in CONCACAF and other international engagements – CONCACAF U15 championship, CFU Club Championship and CONCACAF

Targeted Advanced Referee Programme (TARP) – said excellence was demonstrated.

He cautioned: “What’s important to follow up on that is the same attitude and that we learn from the experiences seen outside and bring these back to the country. You have the talent, you have the ability and you are, by yourselves, individuals that must recognize the importance of personal development to make the whole group stronger.”

The RAP was the ninth of its kind for Guyana and uti-

lized both theory and practical sessions. The other facilitator was Allan Morgan Browne, FIFA Fitness Instructor and was complemented by Lindley Langhorne, Member Association’s Physical Fitness Instructor. The programme concluded with a fitness test.

The programme follows other initiatives conducted by the GFF for referees’ development including Beginners’ courses, the appointment of Referees Development Officers (RDOs), quarterly fitness tests and

other capacity building programmes. Further, in April, Head of the GFF’s Refereeing Department, Stanley Lancaster was confirmed as a CONCACAF Referee Assessor following training in Dallas. He performed his first official duty as Referee Assessor on August 15 in Panama during the CONCACAF Scotiabank League (Chorrillo FC vs Santos FC) followed by games held in Puerto Rico during the CONCACAF Women’s U17.

BELOW ARE SOME IMAGES OF THE RAP INCLUDING THE FITNESS TEST:

PRODUCED BY THE GUYANA FOOTBALL FEDERATION INC. (GFF) AND DESIGNED BY THE GUYANA CHRONICLE

For further Information or should you have questions/comments , please contact: General Secretary Guyana Football Federation (GFF) 17 Dadanawa Street, Section “K” Campbelville, Georgetown TEL: +1 592 227 8758 ext. 102 FAX: +1 592 225 2096

e-mail: gff@networksgy.com WEBSITE: www.gffonline.com FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/GuyanaFootballFederationInc INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/guyana_football_federation_inc/ SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/guyana-football-federation-inc LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/company/guyana-football-federation-inc TWITTER: @GFF_Inc_

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 2, 2017

By Jonathan Agnew, BBC cricket correspondent WHAT a truly remarkable Test match we witnessed at Headingley!

West Indies - against all odds - completed a fourth-innings run-chase by scoring 322-5 to beat England and level the three-match series at 1-1.

It was a very flawed Test match in that I cannot recall ever seeing a side win after dropping seven catches, but I don’t want to take anything away from Jason Holder’s side.

The way they batted on the final day - and indeed performed over the majority of this Test - was against everyone’s expectations.

When I arrived at Headingley on the final day, there was drizzle in the air, it was overcast and James Anderson was three wickets from taking 500 in Tests.

It appeared to be all set in England’s favour - especially when you also consider West Indies lost 19 wickets in just one day in the previous Test at Edgbaston.

Unfortunately for England, however, Alastair Cook

dropped Kraigg Brathwaite on four and that set the tone for what was to follow on an absorbing final day.

cricketers who have never been in this situation before - England, remember, hadn’t lost a Test to West Indies in this

consistency.

They have a talented group of young players and, in Stuart Law, a very good coach. They

West Indies’ Shai Hope celebrates their win against England on Day 5 of the second Test.

We knew Brathwaite, who went on to make 95, was a good player and would dig in, but the way the likes of Shai Hope - who made centuries in both innings, Roston Chase (30) and Jermaine Blackwood (41) remained composed was incredible.

These are inexperienced

country since 2000.

The whole team played their part in an amazing turnaround in fortunes. Shannon Gabriel, for example, was a fantastic addition to the bowling attack with his extra pace.

It is a significant moment for West Indies cricket and I hope it can lead to some sort of

need to use this as a springboard for bigger and better things.

NO CRITICISM OF ENGLAND’S DECLARATION What I won’t accept is that England’s declaration on day four - when they led by 321

runs with two second-wickets in hand - was anything other than the right decision.

England play positive cricket and it was a positive declaration. They gave themselves a chance of winning the Test.

Unfortunately for Joe Root and his team, West Indies played better than they on the final day.

Their defeat could have been worse, though. As I mentioned earlier, West Indies dropped seven catches during the course of this match.

There are still question marks over their number three position. I think Tom Westley has been found out, and both Mark Stoneman and Dawid Malan missed out on opportunities to post a big score.

Both made half-centuries in the second innings and showed some good application at times, but questions will be asked once again if they fail in the third Test at Lord’s.

I suspect England’s batting order will be discussed right up until the first ball of this winter’s Ashes series is bowled at Brisbane on November 23.

England are facing such a

significant challenge in Australia, they have to get the right players in.

WELL DONE TO THE UMPIRES Finally, I want to commend the umpires for letting the game finish in conditions where natural light had been overtaken by the floodlights.

It was the right decision and bad light was not the reason England lost.

There was no danger to the batsmen and it ensured we saw a result.

It is worth pointing out it is unlikely the teams would have been playing in such light on day two, for example. Had they gone off for bad light earlier in the Test then that would have effectively taken the decision out of the umpires’ control.

They have to be fair and consistent over the five days so the fact there had been no issues with the light on the previous four days helped West Indies.

It ensured we will go to a decider at Lord’s for the final Test of the summer. It should be a fantastic spectacle at the Home of Cricket next week.

Shapovalov rises with Kvitova returns to big stage with polished performance win over Edmund NEW YORK, USA (Reuters) - Denis Shapovalov’s U.S. Open star continued to rise yesterday as the Canadian teenager moved into the fourth round of the year’s final grand slam when Briton Kyle Edmund retired with injury trailing 3-6, 6-, 6-3, 1-0.

The charismatic 18-year-old has had Flushing Meadows buzzing and while his win over the wounded Edmund did not light up Arthur Ashe Stadium court, it did provide another glimpse of the talent former world number one Mats Wilander has described as a combination of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Shapovalov, whose march into the third round included a shock upset of

eighth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, got the match off to a stuttering start as the 42nd-ranked Edmund grabbed the early break to charge in front 3-0 on way to taking the opening set.

But it was to be Shapovalov showing the initiative in a scrappy second set, breaking to go 3-1 then levelling the contest.

In the third Edmund began so show signs of distress, calling on the trainer several times during changeovers to work on his upper back as Shapovalov broke him to lead 4-3 and again to take the set.

Edmund bravely attempted to continue but after dropping the opening game of the fourth set waved the white flag by walking to the net and shaking hands.

NEW YORK, USA (Reuters) - Petra Kvitova was back on the U.S. Open’s big stage yesterday and delivered a sizzling performance by blowing past 18th-seed Caroline Garcia 6-0, 6-4 to reach the fourth round at Flushing Meadows.

Kvitova, playing in just her eighth tournament since missing five months of action after being stabbed in the hand last December, finished off the Frenchwoman within 73 minutes in Arthur Ashe Stadium, closing out the contest in style with a fine ace.

“It means a lot, I really appreciate it that this time I could play again on the big stages,” said Kvitova. “After everything that I have been through, it is a very happy moment for me.”

The match had looked a

tricky one for Kvitova having split their four previous career meetings, with Garcia taking the last two. However, the 13th-seeded Czech was in complete control from the start, never surrendering a break point the entire match.

late last year.

After a scrappy 7-5, 7-5 win over former world number one Jelena Jankovic of Serbia in her opener on Monday, Kvitova has played very much like a grand slam champion, crushing another

Petra Kvitova

It has been slow but steady progress for the double Wimbledon champion, after sustaining what looked to be career-threatening injuries when she was attacked by an intruder in her home

Frenchwoman Alize Cornet 6-1, 6-2. ”It’s much easier to come back and play, definitely, compared to first tournaments after my comeback, “she said. “It’s much easier

for me to feel more normal than before.

“I do feel much better and closer to my top level.

I think that I really played great today as well.

“I‘m still not there, for sure. I think my hand is still not 100 percent ready, so I do feel hopefully that I have space to improve.”

K v i t o v a ’s d e f e a t o f Garcia was greeted with loud applause, particularly from her box where her team wore blue t-shirts with ‘COURAGE’, ‘BELIEVE’ and a Czech phrase meaning ‘come on’ written brightly across the front.

“When I was coming back we had this kind of idea to show something on the t-shirt,” Kvitova explained. “We were just trying to show what we need to comeback after such a tough time.”

30

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 2, 2017

Venus sails into U.S. Rooney charged with Open fourth round

drink-driving offence

(REUTERS) - Former England captain Wayne Rooney has been charged with a drink-driving offence, Cheshire police said in a statement yesterday.

Rooney, 31, has been released on bail and is due to appear at Stockport Magistrates’ Court on September 18.

The Everton forward has been charged with driving while over the prescribed alcohol limit.

“The man was arrested shortly after 02:00hrs. today, Friday September 1, after officers stopped a black VW

Beetle on Altrincham Road, Wilmslow,” Cheshire police said.

Rooney announced last month he was retiring from national team duty, ending a 14-year stint in which he became the country’s top scorer with 53 goals.

In July, Rooney returned to Everton, his boyhood club, after 13 years with Manchester United. He has scored twice so far this season for the Merseyside team.

Everton did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the incident.

Venus Williams

Wayne Rooney

Nadal overpowers Daniel at U.S. Open (REUTERS) - World number one Rafael Nadal came from behind to dispatch underdog Taro Daniel of Japan 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in front of a sold-out crowd at the U.S. Open on Thursday.

Despite playing a marathon five-setter the day before, 121st ranked Daniel looked the fresher of the pair at the outset of the match, breaking Nadal to take a 5-4 advantage when the Spaniard dumped a forehand into the net.

He eventually won the set and appeared poised to deliver a massive upset.

But Nadal soon found the accuracy that had eluded him in the first set and his booming serve proved too much for the exhausted 24-year-old, who is now 0-6 against top 20 opponents in his career.

“All the matches are difficult, especially here where everyone wants to play his best,” Nadal said in an oncourt interview at the Arthur Ashe Stadium after the win.

“It’s true that I didn’t play very well tonight but it’s also true that I‘m through to the next round.”

Nadal is now one step closer to a potential semi-finals match against third seed Roger Federer, who won his second consecutive five-set match earlier on Thursday.

“I am here to improve every day. I believe I can do it much better and I really feel I am going to do it much better,” Nadal said.

Next up for the 31-yearold is a third round match against aggressive Argentinian Leonardo Mayer.

Rafael Nadal

Taylor propels Storm into Super League final HOVE, England (CMC) – West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor turned in a match-winning performance to power Western Storm to the final of the Women’s Super League T20 tournament here yesterday.

The victory means Taylor’s team qualified for the final where they will face the Southern Vipers – who have Hayley Matthews in their line-up – later in the day.

Taylor, the world-leading all-rounder in this format, made 37 not out off 45 balls with two fours as the Storm scored 101 for seven off 18.5

overs to beat Surrey Stars by three wickets at the Sussex County Ground.

“With everyone being a bit nervous I tried to keep a steady head and anchor the innings,” Taylor said. “In the final we have to be positive and take everything from this win into the final.”

Set 101 to win, she played patiently and added a crucial fifth-wicket stand of 44 with Georgia Hennessy, who made 21 off 27 balls.

Taylor, who led the Windies to the ICC World T20 title last year, was the backbone of the innings after the Storm slipped to 17 for four

… Cilic loses to Schwartzman

in the fourth over.

She also added a crucial 24 for the sixth wicket with Anya Schubsole who made 12, including a six.

Earlier in the innings,

Taylor finished with excellent figures of one for 17 runs off her four overs of off-spin to help restrict the strong Surrey batting order.

Windies Women captain Stafanie Taylor

NEW YORK, USA (Reuters) - Venus Williams continued her U.S. Open campaign when the American beat Greek Maria Sakkari 6-3, 6-4 yesterday to advance to the fourth round.

Roared on by the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd Williams, who won her two titles at Flushing Meadows in 2000 and 2001, overcame serve problems to set up a meeting with gritty Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro.

The 37-tear-old managed the only break in the opening set to take control of the match.

After a couple of exchanges of breaks in the second, Williams stole her opponent’s serve again to close it out on the first match point when Sakkari’s forehand sailed long. ”I’m playing at home, I’ve got a lot to accomplish here, and I’m happy to get the win,” she said.

Speaking about her fourthround opponent, she said: “She plays a similar game to my opponent today. She’s feisty. I know I have to come out, play

well, have you all (the crowd) behind me and get a win.”

Meanwhile, former champion Marin Cilic suffered a surprise third-round loss to Argentina’s world number 33 Diego Schwartzman at the US Open.

Fifth seed Cilic lost 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-4 as Schwartzman reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time.

Cilic, 28, who claimed the US Open title in 2014, is the fourth top-10 seed to exit the competition.

Alexander Zverev, Grigor Dimitrov and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga all went out in the second round.

Schwartzman, 25, broke his opponent nine times, including four times in the third set, to ensure there are no former title-winners in the bottom half of the draw and guarantee there will be a first-time US Open finalist.

Spanish 12th seed Pablo Carreno Busta beat Nicolas Mahut of France 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 to also progress, reaching the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the first time.

12:20 hrs Bedouin

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Beverley 09:05r hrs Akvavera 09:40 hrs Van Velde 10:15 hrs Take Cover 10:50 hrs Sandra’s Secret 11:25 hrs Tallinski 12:00 hrs Mudaarab 12:35 hrs Proud Archi 13:05 hrs Little Choosey Irish Racing Tips Navan 08:45 hrs Powersville 09:20 hrs Intelligence Cross 09:55 hrs Enjoy Life 10:30 hrs India Rain 11:05 hrs High Expectations 11:40 hrs Goldrush 12:15 hrs Ar Eagla Na Heagla 12:45 hrs Mearu American Racing Tips Saratoga Race 1 Driven by Thunder Race 2 Voting Control Race 3 Bluegrass Jamboree Race 4 Turbo Street Race 5 Funtastic Race 6 Lionite Race 7 Gift Box Race 8 Thirstforthecup Race 9 Bricks and Mortar

31

GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, September 2, 2017

Smith’s hundred powers Tridents to victory A SECOND century of the season for Dwayne Smith set up a crucial 29-run victory for the Barbados Tridents against St Lucia Stars in Match 27 of the 2017 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) on Thursday night. The victory keeps the Tridents in the hunt for a final spot and ensures the Stars end their season without a win.

After winning the toss the Tridents promoted Nicholas Pooran to open the batting for only the third time in his T20 career and he justified their decision in an explosive 20-ball 36.

While Dwayne Smith struggled for fluency early on Pooran displayed his pow-

er and timing as he struck two sixes and four fours.

When he was dismissed with two balls remaining in the Powerplay - duped by a well-disguised slower ball from Obed McCoy - he had scored more than 80% of the Tridents’ runs.

In the six overs after the Powerplay the Tridents began to lose their way.

First Kane Williamson was brilliantly stumped by Andre Fletcher down the leg side off the bowling of Rahkeem Cornwall and then Kieron Pollard mis-timed a rank short ball from Cornwall in the twelfth over to leave the Tridents 83 for 3 after 11.3 overs.

Having struggled for tim-

ing in the Powerplay, Smith then begun to find his range, striking his first six in the 12th over and another a few balls later before taking 22 off a Shane Watson over to really get the innings moving.

Smith lost his partner, Eoin Morgan, but continued unabated scoring boundaries on both sides of the ground, pulling well off the back foot and driving with typical aplomb off the front foot.

The Stars have struggled to restrict run-scoring in the death overs this season and their weakness was once again exposed as Smith punished some wayward lines. 28 runs came from the 18th and 19th overs before

a 42-minute stoppage due to a floodlight failure which delayed the bowling of the last over.

When they eventually returned Watson struggled to bowl the right length and Christopher Barnwell and Smith took 22 from the over, with Smith reaching his century with consecutive sixes.

Watson finished with figures of 0 for 55 from just three overs and the Tridents with 195 for 5 – the equal highest total at Kensington Oval.

The Stars innings started in frenetic fashion when Andre Fletcher hit a six and a four in the opening over before mis-timing a short ball from Ravi Rampaul to Eoin Morgan in the deep.

Watson briefly threatened to get going, scoring 22 before pulling a Wahab Riaz short ball to mid-wicket. Three Cornwall boundaries helped the Stars to 54 for 2 after six overs.

The relaxing of the field restrictions did nothing to slow Cornwall who cleared the ropes three times in the two overs after the Powerplay and moved to his fifty in the 11th over, off just 26 balls. Johnson Charles struggled for fluency and timing and scored just 13 off 20.

Cornwall was having no such troubles however and continued to find the boundary regularly enough to keep the run rate in check. He should have been dismissed

in the 9th over when he picked out Barnwell at long off who dropped the catch.

With five overs remaining and 59 required Cornwall begun to show signs of tiring, complicating the Stars strategy. Running between the wickets ceased to be an option and after the equation had been reduced to 48 off 16 balls Cornwall decided to retire, allowing Darren Sammy to come in.

Two balls later Marlon Samuels picked out Pollard on the boundary. In the face of a spiralling run rate and some tight death bowling the Stars were unable to stay with the Tridents and eventually fell short by 29 runs. (CPLT20)

Jaguars Franchise Pacquiao withdraws from November fight with Horn League bowls off today

By Rajiv Bisnauth THE second edition of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Jaguars Franchise League three-day tournament is set to bowl off today with four matches playing simultaneously countrywide.

In those matches, powerhouse Georgetown will face East Bank at Lusignan Community Centre ground, East Coast will tackle West Demerara at Wales Community Centre ground, West Berbice versus Upper Corentyne at Bush Lot and Lower Corentyne will clash with Essequibo at Albion ground.

All matches are expected to start at 09:30hrs.

Colin Stuart

The Jaguars three-day League replaces the Senior Inter-County tournament and features over 100 of our local cricketers.

Meanwhile, in an invited comment, head coach of the Georgetown team, Colin Stuart, is of the view that while the League is of tremendous benefit to the game locally, it

also provides opportunities where more players will be exposed to a professional set-up.

The 43-year-old added, “From this League we will be able to produce more players who are not contracted players.”

Stuart, who played six Tests and five ODI’s for the West Indies, pointed out that the League will also create competitiveness among the players.

The League will be streamlined to feed into the Cricket West Indies Professional Cricket League Four-day competition and the Regional Super50.

(THE Sports Xchange) - Manny Pacquiao has pulled out of his proposed November rematch with Jeff Horn for the WBO welterweight title because of government duties.

Pacquiao, a senator in the Philippines, is unavailable for the proposed November 12 bout due to the conflict, the Australian promoters of the fight announced yesterday.

Horn upset Pacquiao for the WBO welterweight title in a unanimous 12-round decision in Brisbane, Australia, on July 2.

“On behalf of the Philippines government, he (Pacquiao) will be part of a delegation that will visit

China in the middle of his proposed preparation period for the fight,” said Dean

The proposed rematch in Brisbane had been confirmed by both camps on

Manny Pacquiao

Lonergan, who is Horn’s promoter. “Pacquiao is committed to fighting again in 2018 and a rematch with Jeff Horn for the WBO world welterweight title.”

August 21. The fight was expected to be held at the same outdoor stadium in Brisbane where a hometown crowd of 51 000 saw Horn, a former school

teacher, stun Pacquiao for the WBO welterweight belt.

The 38-year-old Pacquiao said after the fight that he wanted a rematch.

He disagreed with the judges’ decision and asked the World Boxing Organisation for a review, but the WBO later endorsed the 29-year-old Horn as the winner.

J e s s e Va r g a s , a n American contender and former world title-holder, could possibly take Pacquiao’s place for a fight later this year against Horn, the promoters said.

Pacquiao beat Vargas in a unanimous decision last November in Las Vegas.

Jamaica's Red Stripe Premier League postponed THE 2017/2018 season of the Red Stripe Premier League has been postponed, the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) announced Thursday.

The season was set to begin on Thursday, August 31, 2017, at 18:00hrs.

In a statement released Thursday afternoon, the JFF said unresolved issues, that include outstanding payments due to a member club and referees as well as breaches of the agreement between itself and the Premier League Clubs Association (PLCA), are responsible for the postponement.

“The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) on August

30 wrote to the Chairman of the Premier League Clubs Association (PLCA), the Hon. Edward Seaga, indicating that the 2017-18 staging of the Red Stripe Premier League ‘will be postponed’,” the JFF said in its statement.

“In its letter, the JFF listed a series of administrative failings on the part of the PLCA, which need urgent remedy before the new season can begin. Amongst the issues listed was the failure of the PLCA to deliver grants to Montego Bay United Football Club equal to the grants received by every other team that participated in the 2016-2017 staging

of the Red Stripe Premier League.”

The JFF also noted that it had been advised that the sum of $4,060,482.20 is owed to referees, assistant referees and referee assessors for unpaid salaries for the 2016-17 staging of the Red Stripe Premier League.

The JFF also listed a series of breaches on the part of the PLCA in respect of the agreement between the JFF and the PLCA; which is the contractual foundation of the establishment of the Professional Football Association of Jamaica, organiser of the Red Stripe Premier League.

The president of the JFF has had discussions with

the title sponsor’s representatives in respect of the contents of the letter, the JFF said in its statement.

The statement did not indicate when the new season would begin.

Meanwhile, title sponsors Red Stripe and the

PLCA said the JFF has mandated this postponement in an effort to resolve internal issues.

A new date will be announced as soon as the JFF indicates its readiness to proceed, the two entities said. (Sportsmax)

CRICKET QUIZ CORNER (Saturday September 02, 2017) COMPLIMENTS OF THE TROPHY STALL-Bourda Market & The City Mall (Tel: 225-9230) & CUMMINGS ELECTRICAL COMPANY LTD-83 Garnett Street, Campbellville, Georgetown (Tel: 225-6158) Answers to yesterday’s quiz: Ronsford Beaton (Knight Riders) Shadab Khan (Knight Riders) Today’s Quiz: When and where did the Warriors play their 50th Hero CPL game?

How many times the Tallawahs and Knight Riders have contested CPL games against each other?

ANSWERS IN TOMORROW’S ISSUE

Jaguars Franchise League bowls off today See Page 31

Skipper Holder, Brathwaite lavish praise on remarkable Hope

LEEDS, England (CMC) – Shai Hope’s astonishing batting at Headingley during the second Test has drawn unreserved praise from West Indies captain Jason Holder and vice-captain Kraigg Brathwaite.

Holder and Brathwaite were teammates of Hope at age-group levels in Barbados and also played first-class cricket together for Barbados Pride team, and they watched him emerge into one of the Caribbean’s leading young players.

The 23-year-old Hope announced himself on the world stage with two astounding knocks of 147

and 118 not out to secure one the greatest comeback in sports this century as West Indies stunned England by five wickets on the final day on Tuesday.

“We were underdogs and to come here and perform this way to level the series is truly amazing, and credit must go to this man here, Shai Hope,” Holder said after the victory.

“What a performance – peaking at the right time – to put the team on your shoulders and take us to victory. Truly something memorable, truly something to cherish.”

He added: “The team is

already looking forward to the decider at Lord’s. For many of us it’s a childhood dream to play a Test match at Lord’s and to come into Lord’s with a chance of winning the series.

“Remember the first press conference we had people asking what our chances are. I gave us the same chances that England probably gave themselves to win the series and that’s what we set out to do.

“It doesn’t always happen that way but the main thing for us is to keep progressing as a side and I think we’re showing that.”

Hope shared a record

partnership of 246 with Brathwaite in the first innings and another century stand in the second innings.

Brathwaite helped to set up the victory with 134 in the first innings and 95 in the second innings.

Last year when the Windies beat Pakistan in Sharjah, Brathwaite was again at the helm, with scores of 146 not out and 62 not out.

“Shai played really, really well. What was truly remarkable was the fact that he made his first Test century and then converted again in the second innings. We always knew he had it in him to do well at

Jason Holder

See page 31

Smith’s hundred powers Tridents to victory

Kraigg Brathwaite Test level and he proved it in this match,” Brathwaite said.

“We batted well together, we always bat well together, we understand each other and we offer support to each other. What was special about this match was the fact that we got runs, and we were able to help the team to victory.

“It was a special match for us as a team. The bowlers were magnificent and as batsmen we had to make sure that the hard work paid off. We are very focused and want to win at Lord’s and take the series.

We know it can be done.”

Hope became the first batsman to score two centuries in a first-class match at Headingley – coming in the 534th first-class match at the venue and 76th Test match.

He became the third West Indian to achieve the feat of twin tons in a Test in England – the others being the legendary George Headley at Lord’s in 1939, and Gordon Greenidge at Old Trafford in 1976.

The chase was also the highest by the Windies in England since the memorable nine-wicket win at Lord’s in 1984 and the victory the first in England since 2000.

Ol’ Skool Ballers humiliate Sparta Boss with 3-0 win See page 27

Dwayne Smith celebrates his second century of the tournament. (Getty Images)

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Part of the action between Sparta Boss and Ol’ Skool on Thursday evening SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2017