Guyana Chronicle E-Paper 09-10-2022

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By Tamica Garnett

both sides of the Demerara River are affected in one way or another, but the Govern ment of Guyana

instituted several interim measures to accommodate alternative means of transportation for commuters. One such mea sure is 24-hour watewr taxi services between the Georgetown and Vreed-En-Hoop stellings.

Baby with rare neural defect gets new lease on life

–– following life-saving surgery at GPHC

WHEN Altia Atkinson, a 34-year-old housewife, from Reliance, Region Two, found out that she was pregnant earlier this year, she and her husband Satesh Persaud, a 41-year-old carpenter, were elated.

Already a mother of five healthy children, Altia antici pated an uncomplicated preg nancy and delivery.

Altia sought prenatal care at her community health centre, and her ultrasounds appeared normal and showed no cause for concern.

It was not until she was admitted for the delivery of her sixth baby that her ultrasound showed some irregularity, but physicians at the Suddie Hos pital were unable to determine if the mass/growth they were detecting was growing on Alita or her unborn child.

Following a caesarean sec tion (C-section), Shailah Ariya Persaud was born on September 19, 2022, at the Suddie Hospital and was immediately referred to the Georgetown Public Hos pital Corporation (GPHC) on account of a malformation that presented as a second head.

Just a few days old, Shailah

was reviewed by Chief Neuro surgeon, Dr. Amarnauth Dukhi, who quickly diagnosed her with a neural tube defect. After MRI scans of the brain and cervical spine were done, Dr. Dukhi confirmed a rare Cranio-Cer vical Junction malformation, a combination of the neural tube defects of the brain and spine as one, a Myelomeningo

cele-encephalocele occurring at the back of the head where the brain joins the spinal cord.

While neural tube defects are quite a common birth de fect, they usually occur on the head or the spine separately – in fact, the occurrence of enceph alocele and myelomeningocele together as one defect in the same patient is rarely described

in medical literature. In these uncommon cases the neural tube defect presents as sac-like protrusions on the brain and spine and are caused by the failure of the neural tube to close completely during foetal development, which may be attributed to several internal and external factors, mainly lacking the use of folic acid during pregnancy.

The management of en cephalocele and myelomenin gocele is often associated with numerous challenges including blood loss, cardio-respiratory disturbances and hypothermia. Surgical intervention is critical to prevent hemodynamic fluc tuations and excessive pressure

on the sac which may result in premature rupture and eventual death.

On September 30, Dr. Dukhi led a multi-disciplinary team at GPHC to separate this large malformation and repair the defect at the junction where brain and spinal cord are joined.

This tedious and com plicated medical interven tion for Shailah commenced firstly with the placement of VP shunt for the developing hydrocephalus that was also diagnosed. The large malfor mation/mass, the size of the normal head, was then care fully separated from the head and upper cervical spine. This was followed by the recon

struction of the cranio-spinal junction’s defect to prevent the leakage of cerebrospinal fluid and allow for normal development of brain and spi nal structures. After the more than six-hour procedure, Dr. Dukhi and team deemed it a successful one.

Following seven days of neonatal post- operative care, little Shailah was discharged into her mother’s arm with out any obvious neurological deficits and is expected to lead normal childhood.

Close monitoring will be done to determine any diffi culty in the child’s develop mental curve. (Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation)

Chief Neurosurgeon, Dr. Amarnauth Dukhi, and his surgical team

Little Shailah Persaud before surgery

All teams mobilised

By Tamica Garnett

AUTHORITIES estimate that repairs to the De merara Harbour Bridge (DHB) could take between 72 and 96 hours, with all necessary stakeholders collaborating and working around-the-clock to return the bridge to functionality, after a vessel crashed into the important piece of in frastructure early Satur day morning.

With the bridge inoper able, several persons from both sides of the Demer ara River are affected in one way or another, but the Government of Guyana has instituted several interim measures to accommodate alternative means of trans portation for commuters. One such measure is 24hour water taxi services be tween the Georgetown and Vreed-En-Hoop stellings.

The Maritime Admin istration (MARAD) is also deliberating on the creation of a port for water taxis to travel between the DHB and La Grange, West Bank De merara (WBD) and another between Wales, also on the West Bank, and a location on the East Bank of Demer ara (EBD).

Barges are also being considered for the trans portation of vehicles across the river. Parking spaces are being made available at the Providence National Stadium for anyone from the West Demerara whose vehicle is stuck on the EBD.

At an emergency press conference at the DHB Headquarters on Saturday afternoon, Minister of Public Works Bishop Juan Edghill said that the ministry and all

of its various departments and agencies are working at top pace to fix the bridge.

According to Minister Edghill, the bridge, as a result of the collision, sus tained the worst level of damages recorded to date.

“We are working very hard to see if we can get this done by Monday night, but that is being optimistic. The damages the bridge suffered is to a magnitude that we have never seen. All the stakeholders are at work. It may be 72 hours; it may be 96 hours. We hope we don’t have to go beyond that,” the minister said.

Edghill was joined at the press conference by Minister within the Ministry of Public Works Deodat Indar; Minis ter of Home Affairs Robeson Benn; DHB General Man ager Wayne Watson; and MARAD Director-General Stephen Thomas among oth er key officials.

The senior Public Works Minister said that various members of the private sec tor have already been mobil ised to begin manufacturing and providing the various components that are needed to repair the bridge.

“We want to assure the public that the Government of Guyana is doing every thing humanly possible. We are sparing no resources; we are taking no shortcuts, but we want to deliver to you a service that so many people depend upon daily, and that is the usage of the bridge,” Minister Edghill affirmed.

Some of the necessary equipment for the repairs are expected to be delivered as early as today.

“We need to get a pon toon replaced that is badly

damaged, and is taking in water. We need to get posts; we need to get other gears and mechanical parts to ensure the re-tractor can adequately work. So, several members of the private sec tor are engaged in the man ufacturing and fabrication.

“We expect that as of tomorrow [Sunday], some of these components will be delivered. We have the assurance that we will get some of the end posts by tomorrow, and we should have the pontoon delivered tomorrow at 10:100 am,” the minister related.

FULL INVESTIGATION

Minister Edghill relat ed that a Board of Inquiry ( BoI) has been commis sioned to investigate all the

details surrounding what transpired in the accident.

At approximately 02:00hrs, the MV Tradewind Passion, a ship consigned by GuyOil to transport fuel, which also carries a Pana manian flag, crashed into the bridge with its side.

The ship, which was supposed to drive in a southern direction to pass through the opening of the bridge, instead drove in a south-easterly direction and hit Spans Nine and Ten with its front and rear.

This resulted in the two spans of the bridge shift ing some 45 degrees out of alignment. The ship was the fifth vessel to pass through the bridge for the morning.

The collision sent sever al DHB workers, who were on the bridge at the time,

Guyanese destined for JFK ‘busted’ with cocaine in curry

OFFICERS of the Customs Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU) on Friday uncovered a quan tity of cocaine concealed in two bowls of curry, following a search of a passenger at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA).

According to a release from CANU, 36- year-old Loaknauth Persaud, who was scheduled to fly on Jet Blue Airways Flight B61966 to the John .F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport, was intercepted by officers who searched his suitcase and

found a white substance sus pected to be cocaine.

The suspect of Pari ka ‘Backdam’ was arrest ed and escorted to CANU Headquarters, where the sub stance was tested and con firmed to be cocaine weighing 6.28 kg (approximately 13.8 pounds), with a street value of US$31,0000 (approximately G$6.3 million).

Further investigations led to the arrest of Manzil Ali called John Ali, 43 years of Section C, “D” Field So phia.

literally running for their lives. One staff, Andrew Duke, who was commu nicating with the vessel via radio up until the point of collision, sustained a fractured leg, and has been hospitalised.

“The whole span started to crumble. We felt fear; we ran for our lives. It’s a big ship, and we all knew the kind of impact this thing would cause. We had people [on the bridge] conduct ing welding on the bridge, repairing deck plates, and everybody see it coming towards us,” said Ahmad Khan, a DHB Mechanical Maintenance Engineer who was among those on the bridge at the time of the accident.

Khan, who has been working with the DHB for the past 13 years, said:

“I’ve never experienced anything like this; it was a very traumatizing expe rience. On to now I can’t close my eye to get a rest.”

According to Minister Edghill, Duke, the injured staffer, was communicating with the vessel for some time prior to the collision, and had continuously in dicated to the pilot that it was approaching the bridge at a wrong angle. Minis ter Edghill did not say if the vessel’s crew had been responding to Duke, but affirmed that those matters will be recorded during the BoI.

Asked about the state of the pilot of the vessel, Edghill confirmed that the

man, who is Guyanese, was handed over to the police for alcohol and drug test ing. However, the results of those tests came back negative. The pilot has since been handed back to MA RAD, and is being moni tored.

It is unsure how many other persons were on the vessel at the time. But, ac cording Thomas, the pilot might never be able to pilot a vessel in Guyana again.

“The pilot has been in stantly suspended from pi loting any further vessels. That move will most likely be permanent,” Thomas said.

According to the MA RAD official, the pilot was one with decades of experi ence, further throwing mys tery on what went wrong with the vessel that led it to crash into the floating bridge.

The ship has since been allowed to offload its fuel cargo, but will remained docked on the southern side of the DHB, and will not be allowed to cross through the bridge until further notice.

“We made a decision that even though the ship damaged the bridge, it brought fuel, and we don’t want a second crisis. So, while we’re dealing with all of this, we have given permission for it to dis charge the cargo to Guy Oil, because we know how important fuel is to the country, and we’re dealing with the ship separately,” Minister Edghill said.

––

Demerara Harbour Bridge damaged by vessel; BoI commissioned to investigate incident

taxi services available from Georgetown to Vreed-en-Hoop; new ports being considered

The MV Tradewind Passion (green and red) docked, and offloading fuel (Adrian Narine Photo)

Repair works ongoing at the Demerara Harbour Bridge (Adrian Narine photos)

GDF officer off to India as part of ITEC programme

CORPORAL Trevon Jef fers of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) is the latest of his colleagues to travel to India for a course that is part of the India Tech nical and Economic Co operation (ITEC) training programme for friendly foreign countries in the defence sector.

According to a press re lease from the High Commis sion of India, Corporal Jeffers

secured one of 38 spots of fered to Guyana this year by the Government of India.

He will spend the next two months completing the N.C.Os Transport Superviso ry Course (NTSC) at the ACS Centre and College.

Corporal Jeffers is no stranger to training pro grammes, as he has complet ed numerous courses with the GDF.

The officer recently had the opportunity of meeting the High Commissioner of India to Guyana, Dr. KJ Sri nivasa.

During their interaction, the High Commissioner con gratulated and advised Jeffers

to make the best of this op portunity and help promote India-Guyana defence col laboration.

The officer, in turn, ex pressed his eagerness to be part of the programme and thanked the High Commis sioner and the Government of India for the opportunity.

The Government of In dia continues to strengthen its bond with Guyana by offering several scholarships in various areas, including military, medical, technical, and cultural training.

This is the first time that Guyana has access to these military training programmes and, to date, many GDF officers have completed their training and returned to Guyana. Under ITEC Programme, the Government of India covers all expenses related to this training.

Corporal Trevon Jeffers shares a light moment with High Commissioner of India to Guyana, Dr KJ Srinivasa (centre) and another official

Youman Nabi Messages The Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana

In the name of Allah (SWT), The Infinitely Merciful, The Infinitely Compassionate

O Allah, bless our be loved Muhammad (SAS), the light of lights, the secret of secrets, the an tidote for depression and the key to the door of ease... O Allah, bless our master Muhammad (SAS) in every drop of rain that has fallen from Your heavens to Your earth from the day You created the world to the Day of Resurrection and every day a thousand times and upon his family the pure ones, grant as much as the bounties of Allah (SWT) and His blessings.

Assalaamu-Alaikum WA-Rahmatullaahi Wa Barakaatuh.

May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah (SWT) be with you all.

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam and hu manity, on this auspicious occasion of observing the birth and life of our beloved Prophet Mu hammad (SAS), I extend greetings to you on behalf of the Central Islamic Organization of Guyana. I pray that Allah (SWT) will increase our love for the final Messenger to Humanity, Prophet Mu

hammad (SAS). May Al lah (SWT) bless us and accept all our devotion and service. Ameen.

More than 1400 years ago, Allah bestowed great mercy upon humanity by sending the final Prophet Muhammad with the final message of the Qur’an and to guide humanity with his exemplary con duct.

The Prophet worked for a living, got married, had a family, and endured hardships. Through it all, the Prophet (SAS) set the example of how to live in a manner that is pleasing to Allah (SWT). The Prophet (SAS) was humble, loyal, honest, patient , considerate, compassionate, and mer ciful.

The Prophet’s (SAS) character was of such high moral excellence that even his enemies testified to it, and he was known among his people as Al-Ameen -The Trust worthy. Allah (SWT) con firmed:

And verily, you (Mu hammad) are of the high est standard of character (Quran 68:4)

Stories abound about Prophet Muhammad’s (SAS) patience, loyalty, and compassion to all

around him. He (SAS) was consistently kind and considerate to his family, his followers, his foes, and to every living crea ture, including animals and trees. The Prophet

low man? If we aren’t, we should understand that our adherence to his tradition is lacking. Let us reflect on his message:

“Wealth, social posi tion and racial superiority

the Prophet: O you who believe! Send blessings on Him and salute Him (SAS) with a worthy salu tation. “

ample depicted to us by our Beloved and final Messenger, Muhammad (SAS).

(SAS) reminded us:

“... verily, Allah is kind (gentle) and He loves kindness (gentle ness) and confers upon kindness which he does not confer upon severity and does not confer upon anything else like it [kind ness/gentleness]” - Sahih Muslim

The occasion of cel ebrating the birth and life of our Master and Guide, our Beloved Prophet Mu hammad (SAS) should be used to strengthen our will to follow his exam ple. Are we emulating him by trying to be kind and merciful to our fel

do not give special status to anyone; all of you are equal in the eyes of God.

It is only the path of right eousness which makes you a distinguished hu man being.”

We should remem ber that our love for the Prophet (SAS) will be a means of our being with Him (SAS) In-Sha-Allah, (God Willing). Let us spend these days in in creased prayers upon the Prophet (SAS), as Allah (SWT) commanded us in the Holy Quran Chapter 33: Verse 56

“Allah and His an gels send blessings on

This is a unique com mand from Allah (SWT), in which He commands us to perform an act that He and His Angels are performing. Whenever we send blessings on our Beloved Prophet (SAS), Allah (SWT), His An gels, and His Messen ger (SAS) send blessings on this person. Such a person’s sins are expi ated, his good deeds are increased and purified, his status elevated, his wealth increases, poverty is removed, and the sup plicant attains proximity and closeness to the Mes senger of Allah (SAS) on the day of resurrection. The Messenger of Allah will testify on the Day of Judgment for such a per son and His intercession will be granted for him.

Our perpetual love for Prophet Muhammad (SAS) is the framework by which every Muslim lives his life; and what a beautiful life we will have if we pattern ourselves by the most beautiful ex

I ask Allah (SWT) to bless all of you and let us collectively praise our Beloved Prophet Muham mad (SAS):

O Allah, bless our Master Muhammad, who opened what was closed and sealed what was before. He makes the truth victorious and he is the guide to Your Straight Path. And bless his Household as it befits his immense stature and splendor.

Oh Allah! Bestow Your Mercy and Bless ings upon Muhammad whenever he is remem bered, and bestow Your Mercy and Blessings upon Muhammad when ever he is not remem bered.

Wa-Alaikumus-Sa laam WA Rahmatullaahi WA Barakaatuh.

May the Peace and Blessing of the Most Merciful be upon each and everyone.

Al-Hajj Shahabu deen Ahmad President, CIOG

Celebrating our teachers

GUYANA recently observed World Teachers Day.

The day was observed by UNESCO on October 5 under the theme, “The Transformation of Education begins with Teachers,” to honour teachers for the con tributions they are making in terms of nur turing our children and young people to become better and well-rounded citizens.

It is not without some significance that October 5 also marks the return of democ racy to Guyana after nearly three decades of PNC dictatorial rule. The relationship between democracy and human develop ment cannot be overemphasised.

To say that our teachers have been making a contribution in terms of impart ing the right attitudes, values and skills among our children will be an understate ment. There is an old African saying that no society can advance beyond the level of its teachers. There is a whole lot of truth in this saying and our teachers, like edu cators all over the world, must be given credit for the role they are playing not only in terms of human resource development, but also in terms of nation-building as a whole.

As most educators will know, teach ing is much more than a profession, it is a vocation or calling that brings with it a number of intrinsic joys. Among these is the joy of knowing that as a teacher you

have made a contribution to the intel lectual, cognitive and emotional growth and development of children placed un der your charge. It is a job that requires lots of patience, understanding and love for children. In that regard, teachers are role-models or what sociologists refer to as reference groups, which children seek to emulate or pattern their lives after.

Without a doubt, the teaching and learning environment has improved significantly, thanks to greater emphasis placed on the education sector by the PPP/C administration. The days of leaking school buildings and inadequate supply of books and teaching materials are now over, and our children are, today, learning in a much more child-friendly and condu cive environment.

This is not to suggest that all challeng es to the education-delivery system are completely eliminated. Despite significant progress in terms of teacher training and conditions of work, many teachers still continue to leave the profession in search of “greener pastures.” The situation is fur ther compounded by weak representation from unions, which seem more concerned with feathering their own political nests rather than seeking to work collaborative ly with the administration to advance the cause of teachers.

The PPP/C administration, for its part,

has been doing everything possible to fur ther enhance the working and living condi tions of teachers.

President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, in his remarks to commemorate International Teachers’ Day, commended teachers for their hard work and dedication to molding the minds of the future leaders of Guyana. According to President Ali, the transformation of the education system rests heavily on teachers being equipped and capable of meeting the growing aspi ration of the education system.

The PPP/C administration has been providing a number of incentives to our teachers to attract and maintain persons in the profession and to advance their pro fessional careers. Over 2,000 teachers are currently undergoing training in a variety of programmes under the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) scholar ship initiative and hundreds more are cur rently undergoing teacher-training at the pre-and in-service levels. The intention is to have a situation in which all teachers in the public education system will be fully trained professionally.

Consistent with that objective, the budgetary allocation to the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) has been in creased substantially to over $500 million, to build capacity to enable the college to intensify teacher-training through physical and online methods.

Moreover, as noted by President Ali, the paltry stipends that were paid to trainee-teachers in past years have been increased substantially.

“One important development over the last two years is also a situation in the past where trainee-teachers were given a stipend of $11,000. That system has been removed...trainee teachers are placed on the payroll itself... what they have seen is a movement from $11,000 to $80,000 per month” the President said.

Additionally, teachers upon gradua tion, are now in receipt of current salaries and not based on the previous year’s salary as was the case hitherto. These initiatives are consistent with a govern ment that truly cares for the welfare and well-being of our teachers and, by exten sion, the administration’s commitment to an improved quality of education delivery.

These are substantial increases in the employment of teachers, especially those who are now joining the profession. In deed, there has never been a better time to join the teaching profession.

The PPP/C administration must be commended for putting education on the front-burner and, more important ly, the nation’s teachers whose contri bution to the intellectual and cultural growth and development of Guyana are indeed worthy of celebration.

33 years were fixed with PNC’s fantasies, frailties and fallacies

Dear Editor,

GUYANESE are still reel ing from the aftermath of the CPL, with the Tal lawahs as the CPL 2022 champions. Guyana’s in ability to win the covet ed cup for the 10th time proved to be quite a dis appointment, especially playing in front the home crowd. Nevertheless, the week started with the hang over from the super concert and the flamboyant Carni val Cricket Parade.

This

2022 while concluding Indig enous Heritage Month Prime Minister, Brigadier ( ret ’ d ) Mark Phillips ; for mer Health Minister Dr Les lie Ramsammy , and Sharir Chan, President of the Guy ana Cancer Society, kicked off Breast Cancer Awareness Month by leading a ‘Walk athon’ from the west side of the Demerara to the Vreed en Hoop Stelling The theme for World Maritime Day 2022 did not go unnoticed by Guyana, “New Technologies For Greener shipping.”

being: “The Transformation of Education Begins with Teachers.” PPP’s Philomena “ Fireball ” Sahoye Shurry has passed on at the age of 90 One of American country music’s biggest stars, Loretta Lynn, passed away at the age of 90 Gas and diesel prices were slashed by the govern ment Mahatma Gandhi ’ s 153rd birth anniversary was observed at a ceremony in the Promenade Gardens

US$12 million for a skills de velopment and employability project in Guyana The gov ernment slashed gas price by 20 per cent and diesel by 15 per cent No Guyanese will be in the West Indies squad for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup in Australia

com

World Teacher ’ s Day was observed , the theme

While an IDB forum was informed that the PPP/C gov ernment has increased hous ing allocation by 300 per cent, the CDB has approved

As the weekend sobers, do spend some quiet mo ments pondering the rele vance of the Muslims’ delib erations this Sunday and the clips, comments and corre spondence capturing news , views and interviews:

1) Chief Executive Offi cer of CJIA, Ramesh Ghir,

said : “ This is the highest number [ visitors ] ever re corded in September I be lieve the enthusiasm behind the Cricket Carnival activities is responsible for these num bers we are seeing.” Thanks to the PPP/C government’s negotiation, the CPL semi fi nals and final games will be played in Guyana for three years Some 31,500 passen gers arrived in the month of September, a 90 per cent in crease over the corresponding period last year.

2) Trinidad’s Opposition Leader, Kamla Persaud-Bis sessar, said, “This budget is

a vicious frontal attack on the poor and working classes. It also reeks of fascism. Its wicked policies are designed to benefit the PNM and up per-class at the expense of the poor and working class.”

When the PNC took power in 2015, the first thing they did was to give themselves a 50 per cent increase in salary! On the contrary, the PPP/C passed the biggest bud get in 2021 to benefit the working-class people with billions of dollars

33 years were fixed...

tax cuts!

3) Agriculture Minis ter Zulfikar Mustapha, said: “The process is moving for ward, and, hopefully, we can receive some payments from Panama.” The PNC had inked a corrupt contract to supply rice to Panama and failed to receive payments. Now the PPP/C government has to approach the new Pan amanian government in order to secure the $1.9 billion payment due to the farmers.

4) Pope Francis said: “My appeal goes above all to the President of the Russian Federation, begging him to stop this spiral of violence and death, even out of love for his own people.” The Pope is of the view that the crisis is risking a nuclear es calation with uncontrollable global consequences.

5) Minister of Public Works, Bishop Edghill, said: “So, this afternoon [Satur day] as we launch ‘Ferry Pass,’ it is making a dif ference in the lives of tens of thousands who use this ferry.” The PPP/C govern ment is concerned about the welfare of the people and increasing their standard of living with the help of tech nology.

6) US Assistant Secretary Brian Nichols said: “We are not judging countries based on where they fall on the political spectrum, but rather their commitment to democracy, the rule of law and human rights.” No wonder the US Government had to sanction the PNC and their families when they were usurping democracy in Guyana during the attempted rigging of the 2020 General and Regional Elections.

7) Minister of Parliamen tary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira, said: “So, for me, the proof is in the pud ding.” Norton remains the spoke in the wheel, trying to thwart every attempt by the government at inclusivity.

8) Dr Randy Persaud wrote: “Language games are of maximum utility to the APNU+AFC and the self-described ‘civil society’ groups in Guyana. This is so because language games work through manipulation of facts, of evidence, of truth.” Burnham’s PNC was known to have established a notorious Ministry of Na tional Mobilization respon

sible for the funding of party operations and utilizing the state machinery for its propa ganda agenda. The depth of dishonesty, lies, distortions, tongue-twisters and diaboli cal mysticism and mysteries remain unfathomable, unsur mountable and unbelievable!

9) President, Dr Irfaan Ali, said: “Agriculture is and will remain a mainstay of our economy.” Indeed, the sector already accounts for almost a quarter of the country’s nonoil Gross Domestic Product. The “Dutch Disease” will be quarantined at Guyana’s border.

10) Minister Mustapha said: “Since assuming of fice in August 2020, our government has invested approximately $95 billion in the sector, and we are committed to significantly increasing both public and private investments in the coming years.” The PPP/C government remains in sup port and in solidarity with employers and employees to enhance, increase and propel the production and sale of agricultural produce.

11) The defender wrote: “We are often silent for those who have spoken out for us.” Goodbye, Dr Rodney, Father Darke, Kowsila, Enmore Martyrs, Devonshire Castle Martyrs….Your sacrifices were not in vain.

12) The fixer wrote: “I believe the APNU+AFC is far more likely to implement these and other fixes than the PPP.” Some 33 years were fixed with fantasies, frailties and fallacies by the PNC. It was the PPP/C government who had to unfix a blud geoned economy. Continuing after 23 years, the PPP/C again has the title of “Mr. Fixer.”

13) West Ruimveldt Head Teacher Nikole Lewis said: “They [the children] are coming early, they are lining up and they are waiting to get their breakfast.” The PPP/C government is investing $267 million in the breakfast pro gramme this year and is part of the $2 billion national feeding programme.

14) Uncle Freddy wrote: “It is time for humans to judge people by ideas rather than race.” The PNC’s ideas were always adjudged by their employment policy. The words of Volda Lawrence, former Minister of Public

Health and Chairperson of the PNC, resonate loud and clear and cannot be forgot ten: “The only friends I got is PNC, so the only people I gon give wuk to is PNC and right now I looking for a doctor who can talk Spanish or Portuguese and ah want one that is PNC.”

15) Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gas ton Browne, told the 77th Session of the UN General Assembly, “… in as much as global warming is universal, its damaging effects are not the same, the burden falls mostly on the poor in small developing nations, such as mine.” The concerned PPP/C government is contributing towards the preservation and sustainability of the global ecosystem via the imple mentation of its LCDS 2030 programme.

16) Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat told a workshop coordinat ed by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Guianas, “... but what I can assure you is that we’re working towards min imizing, and at some point in time in the near future, stop [ sic] the use of mercury.” The PPP/C government is paying attention to sustain able mining, the phasing out of the usage of mercury and finding a safe alternative that is not costly.

17) Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh, reported: “The recourse to the ethnic bogey man, the baseless statement being made about discrim ination are reflective of the fact that the APNU+ AFC has no sensible response to the comprehensive agenda that is being implemented by President Ali’s PPP/C gov ernment.” The PNC can, in no way, provide any credit able criticism of the PPP/C’s inclusive policies, as well as an alternative policy position on any issue.

18) President Ali told the UN General Assembly: “The world’s nations can be assured that Guyana shall remain true to those peaceful processes and deny every effort to depart from them.” Many countries have thrown their weight in support for Guyana in its border con troversy with Venezuela, in cluding the US, CARICOM and the Commonwealth.

19) Executive Director of the NRDDB, Ivor Marslow,

said: “We would like to thank the Canadian High Commis sion for their support through this project.” Canada will assist the North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB) to preserve tradi tional Indigenous knowledge through the empowerment of Indigenous women leaders within their communities.

20) Carlos Melo, a po litical scientist at the Insper Business School, said: “Lu la’s second-round victory

33 years were fixed...

is now less likely. Bolson aro will arrive with a lot of strength for re-elec tion.” Brazil’s presiden tial election is heading for a run-off second-round vote on October 30.

21) US President Joe Biden warned: “If gas sta tion companies try to use this storm to raise prices, I am going to ask officials to look into whether or not price gouging is going on.” Meanwhile, President Ali slashed gas and diesel pric es by 20 per cent and 15 per cent respectively. Will these savings trickle down to the man in the street?

22) Snr Counsel Doug las Mendes said: “My learned friend [Forde] is blaming everybody except the appellants themselves.” Remember the lopsided oil contract signed by the PNC and now they are shifting the burden onto the shoulders of the PPP/C to correct their mistakes?

23) President Ali an nounced: “We’re looking at the launch of an Ex pression of Interest for a 30,000-barrel refinery.” The PPP/C government wants to establish a small oil refinery which can make a big difference for energy security in the event of any disaster that may prevent the supply of gas or kerosene.

24) Dr Singh was harsh with the NIS, noting: “When you get to 60, you think you want to hear any excuse about somebody can’t find a file?” NIS has a long-standing obligation to serve them [pensioners] in a particular manner, driven by the high ideals of public service.

25) Dr Leslie Ram sammy paid a glowing tribute to the late PPP stalwart, “Fireball” Philo: “Philomena Sahoye-Shury stood tall, unbowed and untamed. She was a war rior for the working-class people for almost 80 years of her life. While some of us have lost a cherished comrade, our country has lost a woman of genuine worth, a genuine Guyanese heroine.” She passed away a few days shy of her 92nd birth anniversary.

26) With an eye on the ball and a step ahead of

the game, President Ali revealed: “We are also working in the next few weeks to design an annual programme to position Guyana as a premier des tination for entertainment and sports tourism in the Region.” His vision is to modify horse- and car-rac ing for international partic ipation and for Guyana to become a venue for World Boxing Council events.

27) Prime Minister Phillips observed: “Guy ana’s relations with Chi na are being realigned to conform to our evolving development thrust.” He made the statement on the occasion of the 73rd anni versary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

28) Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, S.C., re marked, “… our govern ment considers the admin istration of justice central to our country and an im portant factor in the demo cratic, economic and social equation of our country.”

The PPP/C has one of the most aggressive legislative agendas in recent times and is moving apace with the construction of a central courthouse in Demerara with a full-service consoli dated facility for criminal, probate, Family Court, Land Court and Court of Appeal matters, complete with registries and support staff.

29) President Ali told the county’s teachers: “On this very important day –World Teachers’ Day, I want to assure our teachers that your time will come, that we’re working hard to give you the best envi ronment that you can work in…” The PPP/C govern ment is ensuring that teach ers are given the necessary tools, including clerical support, day-care centres, remuneration and opportu nities for advancement, to be nimble and flexible, so that they can functionally operate. The former PNC administration failed to satisfy the needs of the teachers. All they were concerned about was to get their dirty fingers in the cookie jars. Now they want the current government to grant endless demands!

30) Education Minister Priya Manickchand said: “Happy Teachers’ Day to the nation’s dedicated teachers,” noting: “Togeth er, we will do what you wanted to do when you first signed up to teach.”

The Education Minister is the teachers’ biggest, most committed advocate.

During the last administra tion it was the PNC who allowed teachers a minimal five per cent salary increase but gave themselves 50 per cent and rubbed salt in the wound by saying that they have no apology to offer. Now out of office, they are demanding $100K salary increase. What hypocrisy!

The PNC is forgetting that their union affiliates want the government to negoti ate with the union and not to declare pronouncements publicly without consul tation!

31) A 45-year-old US Marine Colonel, Nicole Mann, said: “Anytime we are able to do something that is a first, or wasn’t done in the past, it’s so important….” Nicole is the first Native American woman in space.

32) President Ali an nounced: “I am pleased, this evening, to announce the payment of an addition al one-off grant of $28,000 to be paid to each and ev ery single old-age pension er before the end of 2022.”

The PPP/C government recognises the services of the seniors to this country and wants to show their ap preciation in a $1.8 Billion relief pay out.

33) First Lady Arya Ali said “[I] believe that these individuals (persons with disabilities) must be provided with the resourc es, opportunities, knowl edge and skills needed to increase their capacity to determine their own future and fully partici pate in community life.”

In keeping with the United Nation’s resolution, the First Lady is ensuring that inclusivity incorporates the disabled ones also.

Renatha Marshall is smiling as the new CAL Country Manager. Resi dents at Lethem are smil ing with the launching of the Hearts Technical

Package. Centenarians are smiling with the launching of the government’s new ‘Century Club.’ Region Two residents are smil ing with the opening of a second location for the Express Int. Business Pro cess Outsourcing (BPO), creating hundreds of jobs.

The Den Amstel Pro gressive Fellowship Farm ers’ group is smiling with the handing over of two tillers from Agriculture Minister Mustapha. A 14-year- old, Saskie Wil lie, is smiling after being crowned Region Six Teen Queen. Parika speedboat operators are smiling with the donation of life vests from the Maritime Admin istration Dep’t.

Sweden’s Svante Paa bo is smiling with his Nobel Prize in Physiol ogy or Medicine for his work on human evolution.

Scientists Alain Aspect, John Clauser and Anton Zeilinger are smiling after winning the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics for their advances in quantum me chanics. French author An nie Ernaux is smiling with her 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature, having written on personal memory and social inequality.

Some 294 private Re gion Three cane farmers are smiling with their one-off $150,000 grant, amounting to $44 million. And 150 small fisherfolk are smiling with a $9.6 million safety equipment, received from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The Guyana Cancer Foundation is smiling af ter receiving sponsor ship from the First Lady for 50 free mammograms. Some 11 more homes are smiling as they have been adopted through the First Lady’s initiative for her “Adopt- An- Orphanage” initiative. It’s a good thing last week’ s revellers did not see Marilyn Monroe’s advice:

“A smile is the best thing a girl can wear.” Otherwise, who knows what!

Youman Nabi Messages

People’s Progressive Party: Youman Nabi represents peace, love, and brotherhood

On the occasion of Youman Nabi, the People’s Progres sive Party (PPP) takes this opportunity to extend best wishes to all Guyanese, par ticularly the Muslim com munities here in Guyana and across the diaspora.

Youman Nabi is very dear to our Muslim brothers and sisters, as both the birth and death anniversaries of Islam’s Holy Prophet, Mohammad, are observed. Its significance offers many pertinent lessons in humility, contentment, respect, and love among man kind.

In reflecting on the life and teachings of the Holy Prophet, there are also uni versal lessons for forgive ness and tolerance. Our Party firmly believes that the mes sages from these lessons offer

much guidance and if heeded by all, could aid in the re alisation of peace, love, and brotherhood across the world.

Our national festivals and holidays continue to be that vital conduit of togeth

erness, tolerance, and the forging of unity as we work collectively towards achiev ing the national motto of one people with a common destiny. Once again, best wishes to all!

People’s National Congress/Reform

Today, we witness another Youman Nabi in our beauti ful country Guyana. It is a time when we reflect on the birth of the last Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (Peace be upon Him). Islam teaches that the prophets who came before Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) like Adam, Abraham, Moses and Jesus, Prophet Muhammed, are believed to have been sent by God to spread the teachings of monotheism – which is the belief that there is only one God. The record of the world shows that Muhammed, since his birth in 570 CE, lived and promulgated excellence in character and the best treat ment towards women, among other traits.

Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) was seen as the per sonification of righteousness, which became the way of life

that mankind resort to in solv ing many of society’s present problems. In fact, the Prophet’s life is being used as a way of life for all Muslims and even non-Muslims. His teachings are referred to as a guide to uniting the world in love and harmony. It is noteworthy that Prophet Muhammad died in the year 632, but he spent his entire adult life teaching and practising brotherhood and unity, kindness and forgiveness.

It is against that backdrop that today, in Guyana, it is most

appropriate that we reflect on the life of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) in resolv ing our issues.

In Guyana, as we strive to become One People, One Nation and One Destiny, we are blessed to enjoy a high level of religious freedom and tolerance. And so, today, here again on this special day of Youman Nabi, another perfect opportunity presents itself for us to remind ourselves as a country that there is hope and that we can make the effort to treat our people with respect and dignity. Let us use life of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) as an inspiration for change so that we can be united as a people living in harmony.

We wish all Guyanese at home and in the diaspora, es pecially our Muslim brothers and sisters, a Happy Youman Nabi 2022.

GECOM must hold Local Government Elections as scheduled

Dear Editor,

OVER the past few months , the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) advanced sev eral transparent and com mendable election prepa ration and related initia tives.

These were aimed at ob taining an updated and cred ible list of electors to ensure the satisfactory conduct of overdue Local Government Elections ( LGEs ). Aside from the inclusive and fully attended participation by scrutineers from key polit ical parties , the PNC led APNU+AFC Coalition has reacted true to form by con tinuing to cast shallow criti cisms of the preliminary list of electors

A highly successful con tinuous registration exer cise was conducted between March 7, 2022, and May 29, 2022, from all of GECOM’s Permanent Registration Of fices across the 10 Adminis trative Regions of Guyana The very successful process

realised over 70,000 trans actions, thereby producing a very good Register of Reg istrants.

The elections commis sion reported that 28,149 were new registrants be tween the ages of 14 and 17, while 21,130 were new registrants above the age of 18 years old Addition ally, 4,629 persons applied for transfers; 6,526 persons changed or corrected their information; 7,667 applied for replacement identifica tion cards and 1,940 regis trants retook their ID photos

The continuous registra tion was followed by a peri od of claims and objections that was further extended at the behest of the PNC led APNU + AFC During this period, a mere 18 objections were recorded The trans actions were slow paced , and this is strongly linked to the thorough work that was done during the former cycle It is factual that the PNC is historically known for throwing up a list with hundreds of false claims

In this respect , however , the thoroughness demanded the support of their usual fictitious claims with the necessary supporting docu mentation Further, their par ticipating scrutineers were able to confirm that the old system of just putting up unsubstantiated names is a waste of time GECOM is now fully prepared and ready to hold Local Govern ment Elections Hence, all the talk of a “bloated” list is only old talk

It is public knowledge that PNC and Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton lead the cries about the list being bloated, based on the inclu sion of dead persons , and the claims and objections exercise presents the oppor tunity for them to ensure the appropriate screening Many of their questions have been answered and the ‘nay say ers’ have had the opportunity to object to the names that are on the list that should be removed

Based on the list put up by GECOM around the

country, it is observed that the names of many persons who died are already re moved, presumably, due to the coordination between the General Registration Office and GECOM

Aside from the forego ing, one naturally recalls the events and flagrant attempts at thievery that took place following the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elec tions Those never forgotten five months which were facilitated by some contam inated GECOM staff must never be allowed to take place again There is a dire need for confirming fuller transparency in staff- selec tion approaches at these lev els and in defining responsi bilities concerning GECOM functions The brutal lessons of procedural abuse have thought this nation that all ambiguous and open ended discretion of interpretations regarding the procedure , must be clearer and ensure that we have free and fair elections in Guyana

Because the PNC con

tinues the demonstration of immunity to less than a transparent approach to rig elections, their support base behaved as if it was a norm in the efforts to stymie the process for five long months to interfere with the elections The situation, therefore, justifies a genuine need for us to strengthen legislation by ensuring clar ity and supporting stronger penalties to act as a deterrent to all ‘ riggers ’ knowingly concerned in breaches

Further , GECOM must be fully prepared to conduct a robust regulation exercise during and post the casting of votes process to realise the activation of transparent and free and fair mecha nisms that will produce the earliest announcements of the results The recruitment and placement of election day staff must be transparent and carefully appointed; the electoral process must be very clear in the Represen tation of the People’s Act Further, the regulations must be very clear and specific

to ensure that the processes are resistant to attempts at uncanny manipulations

The opposition was very active during the continuous registration exercise , and they were more active during the claims and objections process They even called for an extension of the C&O exercise

It is good to know that they did not have any neg ative comments about the process Now that GECOM has completed a successful continuous registration and claims and objections ex ercise, it is clear that Local Government Elections are to be held very soon Let us , therefore , respect and support the very positive approaches that GECOM has shown.

Local Government Elections must be held as scheduled by GECOM and will strengthen our democ racy at the grassroot level and unite our people.

Yours respectfully, Neil Kumar

Not so bound: Indo-Caribbean transnationalism

I SHARE with you some dynamics of Indo-Carib bean transnationalism, an event that has gone practically unnoticed in academics.

There is no solid study on the transnational mi gration of Indo-Caribbean people. Transnational mi gration is defined here as individuals involved in a regular migration between two or more places.

They do not live per manently in one place but may live six months of the year in one place and six months of the year in another place.

We do know that In dians continue to migrate from the Caribbean to Eu rope and North America and within the Caribbean and have engaged in return and transnational migra tion on a regular basis. We do not know the num bers that are involved in these migrations. A rough estimate would suggest that no more than five per cent, that is, no less than 50,000 of the one million Indo-Caribbeans living in Europe and North Amer ica and Caribbean have been active in transnation alism.

To clarify, return mi gration does not mean short visits and vacations, but rather the movement back to the former home land to live at least for three to five years or per manently.

Why would Indo-Ca ribbean people want to return to the Caribbean? Some Indo-Caribbean people return home be cause they have achieved some level of economic, educational, and material success that would give them a satisfactory life style in their native home land. They have acquired enough finances to buy a parcel of land on which to build a house or start a business or not work at all. Others return because they are disappointed with their overseas experience. They have had a hard time trying to integrate with the host society and see no real reason to remain. Still, some return home because of visa controls that do not allow them to stay beyond the authorised

period of time.

These are mainly stu dents and business people. Some individuals return simply because of the ag ing process, as they would like to retire in their home land, particularly if they have property, investment, or family there. Older sib lings are sometimes ob ligated to return home to take care of aging parents.

The love of home, strong nationalistic feel ings, as well as the avoid ance of long and harsh winters may also stimulate return migration. Even conflicts within families abroad may lead to return migration. Indo-Caribbe an people also re-migrate because of conditions in their homeland. If the po litical, social, economic, and medical conditions improve, then there is like lihood of them returning home.

Return and transna tional migration have had a profound impact on In do-Caribbean communi ties in Guyana, Trinidad, and Suriname. The posi tive aspect is that returning Indo-Caribbean people in troduce new skills, ideas, and techniques, as well as capital, which are much needed for growth and development.

Returning Indo-Carib bean people have a posi tive demonstration effect, which the local population tries to emulate: for exam ple, in their office demean or and computer skills. These returnees are im portant sources of invest ment as their remittances have led to unprecedented levels of infrastructural development. These re turnees are inadvertent innovators or facilitators of change.

Another positive side of transnationalism is the formation of an In do-Caribbean diaspora, the scattering of discrete and distinct subcultur al communities. These micro communities have contributed significantly to Guyana, Trinidad, and Suriname by way of re mittances, which are not recorded by ethnicity.

The negative aspect of return and transnational migration is that their ex

pectations are not always met. Returnees are not well paid and are placed in jobs that do not make use of their overseas training. They are also not placed in important leadership positions to make signifi cant changes. The return ees are also maladjusted to the traditional ways of thinking because of the long time spent away from their homeland. This is particularly true of de portees.

The sending countries like Guyana, Trinidad, and Suriname continue to experience a brain drain, that is, the loss of skilled and educated personnel such as doctors, lawyers, nurses, teachers, and tech nicians.

Outward migration from these countries has reduced human capital, which in turn stymied growth and development. The social cost has also been incalculable. In do- Caribbean migrants generally leave their fam ilies behind, including children, who often lose their main source of sup port.

The responsibility is then shifted onto relatives who generally have limit ed resources themselves to cope. The years of separa tion translate into children who grow up ignorant of the contours of their par ents’ faces.

The transnational movement of Indo-Ca ribbean people and Guyanese will contin ue, producing positive and negative dynam ics. However, Guyana is poised to be the most at tractive place to migrate to because of growth

and development, mean ing Guyana will be an importer rather than exporter of people (lo marsh.roopnarine@ jsums.edu).

What the Attorney General said

ON Tuesday, Attorney General and Legal Af fairs Minister, Anil Nand lall, said that he has not heard a single intelligent argument advanced by the Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton.

He went a little further by saying that all Norton and the members of the Opposition do is continue to spin the mantra of racism, discrimination, and now apartheid.

The Attorney General added that if one takes those things away from Norton’s opposition, then they would be quiet because, “…they have nothing to say in terms of an alternative govern ment policy…an alterna tive economic strategy... an alternative social policy… no advice, no guidance, no alternative plan for the de velopment of this country other than race.”

Minister Nandlall then went on to say according to opposition politicians: “… the PNC only speaks about

one race to them; no other race exists.”

Again, he made the point that according to this narra tive, there is no other ethnic grouping of ethnic people in Guyana.

He said: “I don’t ex ist. Amerindians don’t ex ist. Portuguese don’t exist. Whites don’t exist. Chinese don’t exist. Only Afro-Guy anese, that’s all that they speak about…because ev ery time these guys speak at any other policy of this government directed to any other ethnic group other than Afro-Guyanese, the policy is racist. Any other ethnic grouping benefits from anything [from the PPP Government] it’s racist. These guys are demented. It is a form of mental aber ration”.

Nandlall is hitting the nail right on the head. First ly, Norton appears to have comfort in the direction that he is leading the PNC and steering the coalition.

As of late, they are

seemingly practising murky and tricky ethnic politics, which they used in the late 90s and early 2000s to get the public riled up so that the stage is set for a con frontation.

If one were to look at all Norton’s speeches, press conferences, and messages given to various public and other events, one would think that the ruling PPP/C Government is allegedly racist, discriminatory, and it practises partisan politics.

Then, one would think that the PPP/C Government is being unresponsive to the point of agitating a conflict.

It is only when one is confronted with the stark reality of a set of modern policies and programmes that are rooted in the One Guyana ideology then one realises that Norton is pol iticking and playing the ethnic politics.

This is so, especially when one listens to the PPP/C Government’s out reaches and interventions

in specific Afro-Guyanese communities like Mocha, Buxton, and Albouystown.

Norton is choosing to willfully ignore the facts and statistics in these com munities and insists that there is some form of al leged ethnic discrimination afoot, so he achieves rele vance and starts using his ethnic whip to get support in the upcoming Local Gov ernment Elections.

Secondly, the PNC+AP NU+AFC has indeed lost its way and gone back to being considered a “Black people or an Afro-Guyanese party.”

Afro-Guyanese are the only group of people that they appear concerned about. They see everyone and everything along the racial or ethnic lens, so their arguments, though not backed by facts, will always be ethnic in nature.

For example, it takes extra pride in the emancipa tion celebrations but does

not appear to show the same zeal and zest for the arrival day activities. This is why, in part, the politicians would seek to pull the wool over the eyes of the public.

Thirdly, the party has no qualms about appearing as a Black and ethnic party. They are not concerned about the public perception and how they are looking.

The cosmetics that used to shield the PNC+AP NU+AFC have faded away and the true look of the par ty is shining as clear as day.

A classic example of this rebirth of the party’s ethnic doctrine can be found at the party’s observance of its 65th anniversary. Also, PNC/R staff only had the Afro-Guyanese staff lined up and no ethnic diversity.

Some would obviously have a problem with the party announcing publicly the Black staff would get “breakfast in the newly re furbished canteen,” but that

is an observation for another column or dialogue.

And who could forget, the incident with Geeta Chand-Edmond who is also Indian and a very vocal member of the APNU+AFC party in parliament?

Finally, it will take more effort to convince Afro-Guyanese that they are being singled out or dis criminated against because of the colour of their skin. They are not willing to be bought or sold as a group of intelligent and independent thinkers.

Until, Norton let com mon sense prevail, facts, statistics and evidence, and the truth will always make light work of his arguments.

So, Norton could huff and puff all he wants, no one is listening and not the people they appear to be representing and using as their scapegoat in the eth nic and political warfare for State power.

Prioritising your mental health

WORLD Mental Health Day will be celebrated on Monday, October 10 by the World Health Organ isation (WHO) with the tagline: “Make mental health and wellbeing for all a global priority.”

However, the challenge in making mental health a global priority is how to merge the time consuming mental assessment with a routine medical check-up at the primary care physi cian level.

Oftentimes the mental wellbeing of man, woman or child goes unnoticed since a mental health check is only done after friends, family and colleagues co erced a visit to the prima ry care physician having made their layman’s ob servations. In very rare cases the affected person directly seek out a psychi atrist, mostly because of self-denial or unawareness of his or her mental status. Usually, patients are ac companied by a relative.

The family doctor has the choice to handle some situations, consult a clin ical psychologist if one is available, or refer chal lenging cases to a psy chiatrist in both public and private systems. Re ferrals from pediatricians and gynecologists are also encouraged to improve otherwise lost possibilities. You must, therefore, ask for these services in order to give it priority.

A diagnosis is made only after ruling out any medical issues hence a physical examination and a thyroid function test are done. The patient’s history, including a genetic history and personal disclosure on relationship status such as martial, occupational and family, is recorded before proceeding on the mental health screening. Basic questionnaires online are available for easy access but are not a substitute for a doctor’s interview. These results must be forwarded to a mental health profes sional for evaluations and medical interpretation.

Patient confidentiality

is key for building trust and following-up on treat ment.

These mental health conditions are not moni tored by routine biochem istry labs like cholesterol, kidney and liver function tests. Neither is there a visual measuring apparatus like the sphygmomanom eter or the glucometer so you cannot self-assess your progress based on readings from a machine.

Mental illnesses have signs which vary in severi ty from mild and occasion al episodes of mood dis orders to life threatening scenarios, which can result in the tragic loss of a life by one who once enjoyed perfect physiologic health with optimally functioning organs.

Red flags for the men tally unhealthy are ex cessive worrying or fear, extreme sadness, signifi cant personality changes, changes in eating hab its and sleeping patterns, dramatic mood swings, frustration, irritability, an ger, fatigue and or lack of energy, confused thinking, inability to concentrate, feelings of guilt or worth lessness and withdrawal from routine activities, relationships, work, school and life.

The alarm bells should most definitely go off if someone mentions suicidal ideation in the most casual by the way comment. This shows that this option is being considered and assis tance should be rendered.

In Guyana mental ill ness should definitely be a high priority since it is visible in substance related disorders which have be come culturally acceptable habits such as smoking, alcoholism, coffee addic tion and binging. Since it is taboo to seek out pro fessional help, many per sons self-medicate with cigarettes, alcohol, coffee and food as a mechanism to address their inner feel ings. Sometimes referred pains or unrelated ailments such as digestive problems without any etiology are

indicators for mental ill ness.

A 2018 Pan Ameri can Health Organisation (PAHO) study in Guyana showed that more men suf fer from self-harm and sui cide, alcohol use disorders, depressive and headache disorders than women. From a Department of Public Information release in August 2022 it was es timated that 15 to 20 per cent of the Guyanese pop ulation suffer from mental illness from about 150 categories of disorders.

Hence, vigorous nation al moves were launched in collaboration with PAHO to formulate new strategies to address mental health, which includes enhancing accessibility to trained and certified resources. So the number of psychiatrists in country has been increased from two to 14 and there is a plan to incorporate men tal health into the primary healthcare, using telemed icine for remote locations.

The common mental health disorders are:

* Bipolar disorder such as depression, manic –de pressive and mania (mood disorders)

* Anxiety disorders (phobia, panic)

* Obsessive-compul sive (hoarding, hair pull ing)

* Neurodevelopment disorder (attention deficit hyperactivity disorderADHD, autism and learn ing disorders)

* Eating disorder (bing ing, anorexic)

* Substance-related and addictive disorder (abuse of alcohol, tobacco, caf feine, gambling)

* Trauma and Stress or related (post-traumatic stress disorder-PTSD and acute stress disorder)

Other mental health disorders are:

* Dissociative Disorder (dissociative identity, dis sociative amnesia)

* Neurocognitive dis order (Alzheimer, delirium and traumatic brain injury)

* Personality disorder (anti-social personality and narcissism)

* Paraphillic disorders

(sexual sadism disorder, pedophilic disorder)

In mild circumstances, a general practitioner may give medication; in more complex cases, they may properly send patients to a psychiatrist; or they may collaborate with a psychol ogist to do talk therapy. Treatment options include talk therapy (psychothera py) with or without med ication, medication only, yoga, meditation, and case management in addition to complementary and alter native therapies, self-help groups, and peer support. The electroconvulsive treatment is another op tion.

It is very important to set up your support net work. Apart from the handful of available ex perts in field, the psychi atrists and psychologists, other members of the treat ment and care group can provide support such as the nurse, pharmacist and social worker.

Medications can be a game changer for those who are challenged to live a normal productive life which is not fixable with just talk therapy, exercise and meditation. The key is accurate diagnosis and dosing regimens to rectify the chemical imbalances in the brain. Always ask about what side effects to anticipate and follow up immediately if experienc ing any unbearable side effects so as not to discon tinue treatment. Knowing what to do if you miss a dose or when and how to stop the medication, are questions to ask.

Some of the non-med ication contributions to mental wellness are eating foods to support a healthy gut such as reducing pro cessed and sugary foods, eliminating food intoler ances, using a high fiber diet, fruits, vegetables and other whole foods. Exer cise and physical activities you enjoy should be regu larly scheduled.

Quality and length of sleep and sleep hygiene

(scheduled bedtime, nonuse of electronics just be fore bedtime, activating dark mode and rest and relaxation) are key to getting mentally healthy. Social connectivity with friends and family en hances your emotional and physical well-being.

Developing a routine of healthy habits and setting work boundaries are gradual life changing processes to regain your power. Medi tation or mindfulness along with positive affirmations

are two self-disciplinary ac tivities that will add to your mental strength.

For further discussion, con tact the pharmacist of Medicine Express Pharmacy located at 223 Camp Street, between La maha and New Market Streets.

If you have any queries, comments or further infor mation on the above topic kindly forward them to medicine.express@gmail. com or send them to 223 Camp Street, N/burg. Tel #225-5142.

IMF Report calls Guyana’s growth prospects ‘better than ever’

RECENTLY, the Internation al Monetary Fund (IMF), an independent financial agency of the United Nations that in cludes 190 countries, published their 2022 Article IV Consulta tion report on Guyana. These reports are done regularly by the organization, and offer a comprehensive insight into a country’s economy’s financial prospects.

This kind of analysis is crit ical to understanding whether Guyana’s rapidly increasing oil production is leading to econom ic transformation, and whether or not the economy remains healthy and diverse across mul tiple sectors.

Guyana’s oil-and-gas sector has already contributed signifi cantly to the economy through increased revenues, and oil sector gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow more than 100 per cent this year, with

roughly 30 per cent average growth continuing for most of the decade, according to the re port. But diversification in other non-oil sectors, and government investment in innovative policies will be a key element for driving sustainable growth. In the report, the IMF high lighted the success of Guyana’s diversification efforts. Accord ing to the IMF, over the next five years, Guyana will continue to see significant growth in its nonoil economy, with non-oil sec tors accounting for 32 per cent to 40 per cent of total GDP, from 2022 through 2027. The report added that non-oil GDP growth is expected to average five per cent per year, while inflation is set to ease, thanks to more stable projected international food and fuel prices. The IMF also noted that oil is providing a “substan tial buffer” during a difficult global economic climate.

This year , the country’s sugar and rice industries started to recover after a series of floods hampered those industries. Sugar and rice cultivation, alone, are projected to grow by almost 12 per cent and 25 per cent respectively, according to the government’s projections. These investments will go a long way in encouraging investments in regional agriculture to reduce the regional food-import bill by 2025. This level of investment and development in Guyana is an important indicator of the government proactively working to avoid the resource curse and Dutch Disease early in its oilproducing history.

Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh recently pointed to plans by the administration to usher in diversification and transfor mation.

“Our government has laid out a masterplan for the rapid

development and transformation of Guyana. More importantly, we have demonstrated the capac ity and commitment to working assiduously to make this vision a reality, so that benefits can re dound to citizens in the shortest possible time,” Dr. Singh said.

The government has priori tised legislation, like the Local Content Act 2021, that advances the country’s framework for managing the oil-and-gas sec tor, while prioritising Guyanese companies and workforce de velopment. The IMF report not ed that “capacity development needs are large, and they need to be prioritised carefully”, before it commended the government’s efforts on human capital devel opment, including technical and vocational education.

The IMF specifically cited public investments in infra structure as a key factor sup porting development needs, and

complimented the government for its 2022 budget, and taking strong steps to reduce deficits, using oil revenues. Another example is the G$74.4 billion allocation for education in the 2022 budget that represents a 22 per cent increase over 2021, and while significant, is just a fraction of the expected Natural Resource Fund deposits. Even in healthcare, the G$73.2 billion allocation for this year’s budget is a 36 per cent increase over 2021, with the potential for even greater investments in the years to come. The government is utilising oil revenues to bolster these other sectors as a coor dinated initiative to avoid the resource curse.

President Irfaan Ali, in a Financial Times article in May discussing Guyana’s efforts to avoid the oil curse, shared his vision for a transformed Guyana.

He said: “We are investing

in healthcare and education to fulfil the needs of Guyanese ; we’re investing in healthcare and education as important foreign currency earners of the future.”

“Guyana can become a health and education hub for South America, for the Carib bean, and the huge diaspora that resides in North America,” Dr. Ali said.

Thanks to the oil revenues flowing into Guyana, economic growth is nearing 60 per cent for 2022. The exponential growth in both the oil and non-oil sectors is a product of both good fortunes in oil and deliberate effort by the government to develop the economy.

It is also a testament to the effectiveness of early action on Guyana’s part to learn from other countries’ examples and undertake the right initiatives and investments to avoid the resource curse.

Guyanese, Shawn Shewram, cops five prizes at ‘Hugh Wooding’

–– Reon Miller is Best Graduating Guyanese Legal Aid Student

The Guyana Chronicle understands that Shewram secured the Book Specialists Prize – Second Outstanding Year Two Student; the Guy ana Government Prize – Best

Performance by a Student of Guyana, and the Cameron and Shepherd Prize – Best Performance in Civil Proce dure & Practice I and Civil Procedure & Practice II by a

The law student also copped the H Aubrey Fraser Memorial Prize- Best Per formance in Ethics, Rights and Obligations of the Legal Profession, and the Course Director’s Prize in Probate Practice & Procedure - Best Performance in Probate Practice & Procedure.

Shewram is no stranger to excellent academic per formances, as he, a former student of St. Rose’s High School, topped Guyana at the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) in 2017, and gained the 10th spot nationally at the Caribbean Secondary Ed ucation Certificate (CSEC) Examinations in 2015.

Shewram was also the recipient of the CXC Award for the Most Outstanding Business Studies Candidate in the region and he was the first-ever recipient of the ACCA – CXC Award for outstanding performance in Accounting.

As he forges ahead with the hope of achieving greater academic awards, the young scholar will be in the company of other local students who are aiming for the best result at the regional institution.

Another Guyanese law student, Reon Miller, also had much to celebrate after being awarded the Miles Greeves Fitzpatrick S. C. Prize for being the best graduating Guyanese stu dent in legal aid.

GUYANESE, Shawn She wram, has secured five prizes at the Hugh Wood

ing Law School for the academic year 2021/2022, according to information

from the Guyana Juris diction Committee - Hugh Wooding Law School. Guyanese.

Shawn Shewram

Reon Miller

Local Cuban-trained internal medicine specialist returns to serve

CLAVIS FRASER-TAP

PIN, who secured her MD in Cuba in 2013, has com pleted her post-graduate studies in Internal Med icine at the University of Medical Sciences of Matan zas, Cuba, and is back in Guyana to serve.

Fraser-Tappin hails from West Coast Berbice. She first went to Cuba in 2006 and studied at the University of Medical Sciences of Havana, where she obtained her MD.

Having served in multiple capacities at New Amster dam Hospital, Port Mourant Hospital, Skeldon District Hospital, and Fort Welling ton Hospital between 2013 and 2019, she was award ed a Government of Guy ana scholarship to pursue post-graduate studies in Cuba.

The newly graduated In ternal Medicine Specialist is an aspiring Rheumatologist and has already commenced post-graduate studies online at the University of South Wales in the United King dom. She emphasised the necessity for such a speciality in Guyana.

Tappin-Fraser explained that Rheumatology is a

sub-speciality in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics that deals with diseases affect ing joints and soft tissues, autoimmune diseases and heritable connective tissue disorders. Some common rheumatology conditions are lupus, rheumatoid arthri tis, gout, osteoporosis, and chronic back pain.

During her medical pro gramme in Cuba, Dr Tap pin-Fraser also secured two

additional International Cer tificates for her participa tion in the Internal Medicine Global Summit in Mexico in September 2021 and the Cardiovascular Disease Con gress in Columbia in Novem ber 2021.

Additionally, she at tended multiple Certifi cation Courses, including the National Hypertension Congress in Santiago in November 2019.

Lifting airport COVID-19 requirements to boost all sectors – R3PSInc Head

GUYANA will now progress even more rapidly with the Government’s lifting of the COVID-19 vaccine require ment for entry, as the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) experienced an in crease of 90 per cent in pas senger arrivals, for September 2022, when compared to Sep tember 2021.

This is according to the Head of Region Three Private Sector Inc. (R3PSInc), Halim Khan, who noted that the airport pro cessed 31,050 arriving interna tional passengers last month.

The decision to lift the COVID vaccine requirement for entry into Guyana took effect on October 7, 2022.

In an interview with this publication, Khan said over 70 per cent of the population had been vaccinated. As the country heads toward herd immunity, there is a major reduction in severe illness and deaths due to the coronavirus

“Because of the COVID crisis, many countries have been synonymous with border clo sures and strict travel restrictions over the past two years and this has resulted in the destruction of many businesses and economies, thankfully most of the population are now vaccinated as Govern ment aims to develop the country

rapidly,” the businessman said.

He explained that the new measures would support the re covery of all sectors, especially tourism, as the number of jobs increases, contributing to the so cial and economic development of the country.

“Travel and tourism were among the worst-hit sectors during the pandemic,” he noted.

“It is not just economies that suf fer but people’s livelihoods and social wellbeing. Behind every job in travel and tourism, they say, is a face, a story, a family and sometimes a whole commu nity’s livelihood.”

Khan said people can con tinue to do their part to protect themselves and others and re duce the spread of COVID-19 by getting vaccinated and boosted, using high-quality and well-fit ted masks where appropriate , self-isolating if they have symp toms and self-testing if they can.

The COVID-19 pandemic, Khan emphasised, triggered the most severe recession in nearly a century and caused enormous damage to people’s health, jobs and well-being. As restrictions begin to ease “let’s take the path of recovery by supporting people and businesses to help adapt to a post-COVID world, as Guyana continues to progress.”

Meanwhile, the businessman

said that, despite the burden of external shocks and domestic challenges, Guyana continues to maintain its position as a global leader in economic growth with a massive economy expansion in the first half of 2022.

“The 2022 Mid-Year Report recorded an overall real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 36.4 per cent with the non-oil economy growing by 8.3 per cent.

This is as a result of Gov ernment’s policy and President Irfaan Ali’s foresight ,” he added.

(R3PSInc) Head, Halim Khan

Dr. Tappin-Fraser (centre) is seen with Guyana’s Ambassador to Cuba, Halim Majeed (left), and Mr. Quincy Younge, First Secretary at the Guyana Mis sion in Havana

–– former West Indies cricketer, Daren Ganga says

Guyana won overall by hosting CPL playoffs, finals

–– acknowledges the role of the events in fostering unity and advancing 'One Guyana'

By Cindy Parkinson GUYANA did not win the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2022 cup, but the country certainly won over all by hosting the playoffs

and finals, former West Indies cricketer and cricket commentator, Daren Gan ga, has said.

“Guyana has won overall just by hosting the playoffs and the finals, which is a

testimony to the Government and the people of Guyana investing in a product that’s going to bring plenty of value from an economic standpoint, a social standpoint, and a psychological standpoint

since cricket is a part of our psyche as a Caribbean people,” Ganga said during an exclusive interview with the Sunday Chronicle at the Lazeez Fusion Restaurant, owned by renowned former West Indies player, Ramna resh Sarwan.

Guyana, in addition to hosting seven group games, three knockout matches and the Hero CPL final, ran, for the first time, Cricket Carni val which featured a number of events and activities.

“Our commitment to se curing the rights to the CPL finals was part of our strategy for inclusive development. We had our sights set not only on the primary revenue streams associated with the cricket itself, but also on capturing wider benefits that such an event could bring to a broad cross section of ordi nary people in many sectors. Indeed, this was the primary motivation for the twinning of cricket with carnival,” Minister of Tourism, Indus try and Commerce, Oneidge Walrond said.

Ganga, in reflecting on his Guyana experience, said “Warrior Nation” shone brightly from the onset, not ing: “The welcome that we all receive at the end of the preliminary stage, through to the playoff and the finals, was nothing short of excep tional.”

He expressed his amaze ment at seeing the National Stadium in such a “pristine” condition, having experi enced it first-hand in the past.

“From the pitch’s quality to the conditions of the stands and around the ground, it has

been the best I’ve seen it in a long time,” Ganga said.

The former top-order batsman went on to praise the people and the Gov ernment of Guyana for the support and investment that was shown throughout the tournament; this, he said, was “refreshing” to see.

“I’ve actually seen with my own eyes the unity and coming together of the Guyanese people under the One-Guyana tagline to host such a magnificent event, and I was also impressed to see that the Guyanese people went out and supported the CPL finals in large numbers regardless of the Amazon Warriors ( the home team) not being a part of it. That shows how well invested the people are in the CPL,” Ganga related.

He particularly com mended President, Dr. Ir faan Ali, of Guyana and the government for creating an environment for great cricket and celebration.

He said with all assur ance: “President Ali has the heart and soul of the Guya nese people within, and he’s a breath of fresh air in terms of leadership, not only in Guyana but in the entire Ca ribbean nation. He does not focus on the development of Guyana alone, but his vision is for a better Caribbean col lectively.

“Guyana itself, too, has so much to offer, not just in terms of sports tourism but in terms of eco-tourism as well. The sky is not even the limit for Guyana when it comes to the beauty that this country has to offer; it has the biodiversity, the people, the warmth, and the blend of cul tures and the overall humility of the Guyanese people.”

Ganga also acknowl edged that Guyana is pro gressing at a rapid rate compared with the past few years, and this, on a lighter scale, is evidenced by the energy and atmosphere around the country.

MANY SPECIAL MOMENTS

According to the former cricketer, there were many special moments in Guyana both on and off the field, but the two that stood out for him were the way in

which the Guyana Amazon Warriors embraced and thrived on the support of the home crowd to claw their way up the points table by winning four con secutive games.

The other moment that stood out for him was a trip to ArrowPoint Nature Resort.

“The experience will stay with me forever,” he said, adding that it was a moment of relaxation and tranquility for him and his work col leagues.

Ganga thanked the Guy anese people for being so gracious and welcoming, and reminded everyone that CPL is not only a sport, but also an activity that fosters togeth erness across the Caribbean.

“We are human beings who are invested and pas sionate about our cricket, but at the end of the day, do not let that restrict us from living as one Caribbean,” the former cricketer said.

MISCONCEPTIONS

Ganga also took the op portunity to address some misconceptions about his relationship with Guyana, noting: “Some of my best friends are former Guy anese and or West Indies players, and some of the best moments in my career are with them, so I will like to clear the air about me not liking Guyanese or Guyanese players.

“I love Guyana and the Guyanese people, and I al ways enjoy coming and vis iting this country. As a young player, I wanted to play and do well against the best, and at that time, looking back at the years that we’ve competed against Guyana, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Carl Hooper, and Reon King, Guyana had a formidable team, and we wanted to match our skills against such a great team, so we competed.”

The former cricketer went a step further to express his desire for Guyana to have its “crowning moment,” which is duly deserved.

“I really would like to see the Warriors lift a Hero CPL title, and I’m hoping that I’m there to call that moment and to celebrate with all Guyanese when that happens,” Ganga re lated.

Daren Ganga

Wolves say Portugal forward Pedro

Neto out of World Cup with ankle injury

Wolves say Portugal for ward Pedro Neto will miss the 2022 World Cup as he requires an ankle operation.The 22-yearold suffered the injury in their 2-0 defeat by West Ham on Saturday, 1 Oc tober, when he was sub stituted after 24 minutes.

The Premier League club said that Neto strained his lateral ligaments.

"Following further evaluation and a specialist opinion this week, it is planned for him to undergo surgery," the club added.

"This means that, un fortunately, he will not be fit for the upcoming World Cup."

Neto has made three ap pearances for Portugal and,

while he was in their squad for recent Nations League games against the Czech Republic and Spain, he did not play in either.

The World Cup will take place from 20 No vember to 18 December in Qatar.

Wanderers are with out a manager following Sunday's sacking of Bruno Lage and Neto's absence further diminishes their already-depleted attacking options.

Under-18 and under-21 bosses Steve Davis and James Collins will take charge of the team this weekend and David said: "He's had so much bad luck already with previous injuries.

"We're all devastated

Pedro Neto (left) has made nine appearances for Wolves this season

from him as a group. He's got good support around him so we will look af ter him and make sure he comes back stronger."

Raul Jimenez and Hwang Hee-chan are both sidelined with groin prob lems while summer signing Sasa Kalajdzic suffered a

potentially season-ending knee injury on his debut.

Recent free-transfer signing Diego Costa and Goncalo Guedes, without a goal in eight games since a £27.5m summer move from Valencia, are their only recognised fit senior strikers.(BBC Sport)

CRICKET QUIZ CORNER

(Sunday October 09, 2022)

COMPLIMENTS OF CUMMINGS ELECTRICAL COMPANY LTD83 Garnett Street, Campbellville, Georgetown (Tel: 225-6158)

Answers to yesterday’s quiz:

(1) Mahela Jayawardene (SL)-1016 runs (31 matches)

(2) Brendon McCullum-123 (NZ vs BANG, Pallekele, 2012)

Today’s Quiz:

(1) Who has claimed most wickets in ICC T20 World Cup cricket to date?

(2) What are the best bowling figures in a single ICC T20 World Cup match to date?

Answers in tomorrow’s issue

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Scots can surprise at T20 World Cup

SCOTLAND performed admirably, reaching the Super 12 stage of last year’s ICC

Men’s T20 World Cup and should not be underestimated at this year’s event

v Zimbabwe (October 21) Bellerive Oval, Hobart Key Match

v West Indies (October 17)

- Scotland surprised many by winning all three of their firstround matches at last year's event and their best chance of replicating that might come if they can win their tournament opener against the West Indies.

teresting to see and the 35-yearold may even be required to roll his arm over himself and deliver some of his more than handy medium pacers too.

"The squad has a blend of youth and experience alongside locally based players and Coun ty representatives," Scotland coach Shane Burger said last month.

Munsey, Calum MacLeod and Berrington to provide the bulk of the runs, while spin duo Mark Watt and Hamza Tahir will be needed to keep opposition batters from scoring too heavily.

and should not be underesti mated.

Best finish at tournament Su per 12 stage (2021)

The Scots were undefeated during the first round at the 2021 event and progressed to the Super 12 stage with plenty of confidence on the back of three straight wins. Despite some good patches at times, they couldn't replicate that form against stronger oppo nents as they failed to register a victory during the Super 12 stage.

Results in the last 10 games (Most recent first): L L L L

L L L W W W

Fixtures v West Indies (October 17), Bellerive Oval, Hobart v Ireland (October 19), Bel lerive Oval, Hobart

The Caribbean side will be expected to triumph in this clash and the Scots will try and use their underdog title to their advantage and strike quickly. If Scotland can cause an upset against the West Indies then they may be able to build on that momentum during their remaining first-round clashes.

Key player

Richie Berrington - With former skipper Kyle Coetzer retired from the format, Ber rington takes the captaincy reins and will be expected to provide plenty of leadership for the Eu ropean side. Berrington showed his class with two half-centuries and a total of 177 runs at last year's event and he will be look ing to score heavily once again.

Just how Berrington rotates his bowling line-up will be in

"The balance of the team and chemistry is crucial to con tributing to performances at the World Cup.

"We believe we have a good mix of the above and have selected players that are in form and can perform under pressure."

SCOTLAND'S T20 WORLD CUP JOURNEY Summary

With Scotland having played just two T20Is since last year's T20 World Cup, it's tough to get a read on exactly how they will fare in this edition. While Berrington's side are the lowest ranked of the four teams in their group, there is still enough talent in their line-up to cause an upset.

The batting line-up will be reliant on the likes of George

Kiwis rue costly Babar drop as Pakistan win T20 clash

PAKISTAN captain Babar Azam struck an unbeaten 79 from 53 balls and shared a 61run partnership with Shadab Khan in a six-wicket win over New Zealand in the Twenty20 tri-series.

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson made the unusual decision to bat first after win ning the toss and the Black Caps managed only 147-8 in their 20 overs, stalled by tight bowling from Haris Rauf and Mohammad Wasim.

The New Zealanders then had to bowl as spring tempera tures dropped to single figures and the outfield at Hagley Oval became damp and dewy.

They could do little to ar rest Babar and Shadab as the ball became wet and slippery.

New Zealand might have had some hope when topranked T20 batter Mohammad Rizwan fell lbw to Tim Southee for 4 in the fifth over, leaving Pakistan on 1-36.

The Black Caps paid a heavy price for a straightfor ward dropped catch by Glenn Phillips at point off Tim South ee's bowling when Azam was on 27.

Babar Azam struck an unbeaten 79 from 53 balls

And the partnership be tween Babar and Shadab, which came as the cold settled in, shut New Zealand out of the game.

Shadab batted higher in the order than usual and struck two fours and two sixes in a 22-ball innings of 34.

Babar reached his half-cen tury from 33 balls and was able to control Pakistan's run chase, leading his team to victory with 10 balls remaining.

"Me and Shadab decided that I was going all the way and he would take the chances," Babar said.

"When we settled down and

assessed the wicket I decided I was going to play to the end and managed to do that.

"Definitely, we have a plan to send Shadab up to charge the bowlers, to utilise his skills."

Pakistan won the opening match of the tri-series by 21 runs over Bangladesh. New Zealand will play Bangladesh today.

The series is the last build-up for the teams ahead of the T20 World Cup which begins on October 16. (Crick et.com.au)

Keeping opposition teams from posting large totals could be a worry for the Scots, given they gave up scores in excess of 200 to New Zealand in both T20Is they have played so far this year.

But Scotland have surprised in big tournaments in the past

Squad Richie Berrington (c), George Munsey, Michael Leask, Bradley Wheal, Chris Sole, Chris Greaves, Safyaan Sharif, Josh Davey, Matthew Cross, Calum MacLeod, Hamza Tahir, Mark Watt, Brandon McMullen, Michael Jones, Craig Wallace. (ICC Media)

Verstappen on the verge of title success with Suzuka pole

SUZUKA — (Reuters)- Max Verstappen put himself on course to wrap up a second successive Formula One title in the Japanese Grand Prix by edging Ferrari ri val Charles Leclerc to pole position in qualifying at the Suzuka circuit on Saturday.

The 25-year-old hustled his Honda-powered Red Bull around the popular figure-ofeight layout in one minute, 29.304 seconds, beating Le clerc by only 0.010 seconds.

Carlos Sainz was 0.057 seconds off the pace in the other Ferrari in third. Lance Stroll of Montreal driving for Aston Martin will start the race Sunday in 19th position on the grid.

Verstappen came under investigation for dangerous driving after appearing to swerve into the path of McLar en’s Lando Norris, but was let off with a reprimand.

Norris was forced to drive off the track and onto the grass to avoid contact and said he expected Verstappen to be penalized.

But replays showed the tail of the Red Bull stepping out, with stewards noting Ver stappen had temporarily lost control of his car on cold tire

It was incredible to drive here again, of course, very happy to be on pole, but just super happy to be back here,” said Verstappen, after taking the 18th pole of his career and the fifth this season.

Sunday, he added, “will be interesting with the weather, I’m quite confident we have a good car.”

Verstappen leads Leclerc by 104 points in the overall standings and needs to score eight more than the Mone

gasque to wrap up proceedings on Sunday.

That means he will be champion if he wins with the fastest lap ahead of Leclerc.

But with rain affecting Friday’s practice session and threatening to hit again todayy, the race could be far from straightforward.

but won only thrice.

“Let’s wait and see the conditions, should be a fun race,” he added.

Verstappen’s Red Bull team mate, Sergio Perez, was fourth ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon. Mercedes have enjoyed an unbeaten run at Suzuka stretching back to 2014, but

Max Verstappen will become F1 world champion for the second time if he wins today’s race and takes the point for fastest lap

Leclerc or Sainz could de liver Ferrari their first Suzuka win since Michael Schumach er’s 2004 triumph.

Verstappen had been fa vourite for pole heading into the session after having set the fastest time in Saturday’s final practice.

But Leclerc seemed on the verge of causing a last-gasp upset on his final flying lap even as Verstappen, on pro visional pole, did not appear to be improving on his earlier benchmark.

In the end it was not quite enough, with Verstappen’s first flier good enough for pole.

“I lost the tires in the last sector, so lost some time,” said Leclerc, who has started from pole nine times this season,

that streak looks set to come to an end with Lewis Hamil ton, the team’s highest-placed driver, in sixth.

Fernando Alonso was seventh ahead of Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate George Russell.Sebastian Vettel, driv ing around Suzuka for the last time as he prepares to retire at the end of the year, was an ec static ninth for Aston Martin. Norris rounded out the top 10.

Home hope Yuki Tsuno da, racing a Formula One car in front of his fans at Su zuka for the first time, was 13th.Today’s race at Suzuka will be the first since 2019, with the Japanese Grand Prix absent from the calen dar for the last two years because the COVID-19 pan demic.

Scotland captain Richie Berrington

Man City move top as Chelsea, Newcastle continue to rise

By Richard Martin

MANCHESTER, England

(Reuters) – Manchester City continued their impe rious home form to ease to a 4-0 win over Southamp ton and move top of the Premier League as Chelsea and Newcastle United also enjoyed comfortable victo ries to show their top-four ambitions.

City, who had trounced Manchester United 6-3 last week, barely had to break stride against Southamp ton, with Joao Cancelo, Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez netting before Erling Haa land struck the fourth goal to stretch his scoring streak

to 10 straight matches in all competitions.

City have won all five of their Premier League games

at the Etihad Stadium, scor ing 24 goals in the process.

The victory took champi ons City top of the table with

Belle Vue whip Lochan Stars, McGill Superstars gain walkover

23 points after nine matches and cranked up the pressure on early title rivals Arsenal, who host Liverpool today with the chance to reclaim the lead.

Chelsea continued to show signs of improvement under coach Graham Potter as they strolled to a 3-0 win at home to Wolves, who are without a manager after sack ing Bruno Lage last week.

Former Chelsea forward Diego Costa made his first start for the visitors but Pot ter’s side were dominant and secured a third consec utive win in all competitions thanks to goals from Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic and Armando Broja, moving

up to fourth in the table on 16 points.

Newcastle climbed up to fifth with an emphatic 5-1 home victory over Brentford, one year and one day after the completion of their Saudi Arabia-backed takeover.

Bruno Guimaraes, a 40-million-pound arrival from Olympique Lyonnais and one of the club’s big gest signings since the take over, scored in each half on a memorable afternoon for the club, who were languishing in the relegation zone when the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) acquired the club from previous owner Mike Ashley for a reported £300M ($333M).

Bournemouth came from behind to beat Leicester City 2-1, scoring two goals in the space of five second-half minutes to inflict a fifth consecutive away defeat on Brendan Rodgers’ side.

Patson Daka gave Leices ter the lead in the 10th minute but Philip Billing and Ryan Christie scored in the sec ond half to continue Bour nemouth’s superb record under interim manager Gary O’Neil, who has won two games and drawn three since succeeding Scott Parker.

The result put renewed pressure on Leicester coach Rodgers, whose side are 19th in the table with only four points.

Buttler 100% fit to make return against Australia

ENGLAND captain Jos But tler says he is "100% fit" to re turn after almost two months out with a calf injury.

By John Ramsingh

RECENT favourable weath er has permitted the resump tion of the inaugural Gobin Persaud Memorial Twenty20 Tournament for teams along the West Bank of Demerara.

Last Sunday the action resumed with two round-one matches at two venues. At Bellevue Sports Club ground, the hosts beat Lochan Stars by 94 runs while McGill Super Star Sports Club had an easy day at the office, winning by walkover after New Windsor Sports Club failed to show up at Canal Number Two Sports Club ground.

In the match of the day, Bellevue won the toss and opt

ed to bat. After their allocation of 20 overs, they reached a whopping 231 for 7. The total was built around an entertain ing knock of 63 not out (4x4; 6x6) from vice-captain Dyal Rajpat while Lucian Sam with a blistering 28 not out (2x4; 2x6); Ryan Seecharran with 26 (3x4; 1x6) and Colin Boucher with a quick-fire 25 (3x4; 1x6) all chipped in. Lochan Stars bowlers were untidy in leaking 35 extras but it was Avesh Chan and Navendra Persaud with two wickets each that showed the most fight. Luen David, Anthony Daniels and Johna than Samaroo bagged one wicket each.

In their turn at the crease, the visitors folded for 137 in 16.3 overs with only Neil Jo seph 34 (4x4, 2x6) and Avesh Chan 26 (3x6) offering any resistance with the bat. With the ball, captain Randy Ram rup had impressive figures of 4-13 in his 4 overs while Kel vin Singh, Vishan Gannie and Dyal Rajpat supported with 1 wicket each.

The inaugural tournament which began with 12 teams in May of this year was sus pended due to rain with only four matches possible. With

all round-one matches now completed, the remaining six teams will continue the battle for supremacy today.

At Canal Number Two ground from 09:00hrs, Inde pendence Sports Club will take on All Youths Sports Club, followed by Canal Number Two Sports Club and Sawpit Sports Club clashing from 13:00hrs. At Bellevue ground at 13:00hrs Bellevue Sports Club will face McGill Superstar Sports Club.

The tournament is organ ised in memory of Gobin Per saud who died on May 6, 2021 at the age of 85 years old. Per saud was one of the founder members of Cultural Cricket Club and was the captain and later the president of the club, located at Canal Number Two Polder, West Bank Demerara.

Off the field, Persaud was a former Headmaster at En deavour and Commons Prima ry School, former secretary of Vidya Daan Mandir and over all a very prominent member of Canal Number Two Polder.

The tournament is spon sored by Star Sports, ND&S Furniture Store, SP General Construction and Triple C Brokerage and Banks DIH Limited.

Buttler will lead England in the first of three Twenty20 internationals against Australia today as they finalise their World Cup preparations.

The 32-year-old has not played since The Hundred, and sat out all of England's 4-3 series win in Pakistan.

"The fitness is good," But tler told BBC Sport. "I'm feeling great and excited to play cricket again."

England meet the T20 World Cup hosts and defending cham pions in Perth today (09:10hrs BST) before two matches in Canberra on Wednesday and Friday.

They then have one more warm-up match with Pakistanunlikely to be a full international - in Brisbane on October 17, be fore their World Cup campaign begins against Afghanistan in Perth on October 22.

Though Buttler is fit, En gland still have concerns over batter Liam Livingstone, who has also been out since The Hundred with an ankle injury and could miss the start of the tournament.

"He is still a little way off at the minute so he's building back," Buttler said. "Hopefully he'll get back to full fitness be fore the start of the World Cup."

Livingstone is one of three players to have joined up with England since the Pakistan tour, alongside pace bowler Chris Jor dan and all-rounder Ben Stokes. Test captain Stokes is set to

play his first T20 international since March 2021, likely batting at number four.

"Ben is someone we want to try to give as much opportunity to impact the game as possible," Buttler said.

"We want to get him up the order as high as we can, give him as much responsibility as possible and allow him to play his way to get the best out of him."

Buttler's return at the top of the order means England will have to make a choice between Phil Salt and Alex Hales, who opened together in all but one of the matches in Pakistan.

"They are both fantastic options, with different styles," said Buttler. I'll have a good chat with the coach (Matthew Mott) and decide who is the best option."

Australia have rotated their squad, having only completed a 2-0 series win over West Indies on the opposite side of the coun try in Brisbane on Friday.

Mitchell Starc, Josh Ha

zlewood, Pat Cummins, Glenn Maxwell and Adam Zampa have all been rested.

Batter Tim David made 42 from 20 balls in Friday's victory in his fifth match for Australia.

David, 26, had played 14 previous internationals for Sin gapore, the country of his birth, and built his reputation through a string of impressive perfor mances in franchise tournaments across the globe.

"Now he's in our team and our set-up, it's a godsend," said opener David Warner.

"He's an incredible player. He has some serious power, so it boosts our middle order, and to come out and play like that and with his height as well, and strength, it suits us, that's for sure."

England's most recent T20 meeting with Australia came in the group stage of last year's World Cup, when England dom inated in an eight-wicket win.

But whereas England were knocked out in the semi-finals, Australia went on to lift the trophy with victory over New Zealand in the final.

"It was a lightbulb moment for the team that we needed to change the way we were play ing," said Australia wicketkeep er Matthew Wade.

"In the World Cup game they demolished us and it changed the way we went about playing T20 cricket from that point onwards.

"They have been the benchmark in T20 for a long time and it will be good to test ourselves."

England captain Jos Buttler '100% fit' to make return today

Manchester City’s Erling Braut Haaland

their

goal

Southampton’s Gavin Bazunu

Harry, Khan, Hopkinson emerge victorious after GSSF’s Practical Shooting Match

THE Guyana Sport Shoot ing Foundation (GSSF) last Sunday, 2nd October, 2022, successfully hosted a Practical Pistol match sponsored by Orinduik Development Inc.

Local practical shoot ers gathered at the Camp Stephenson’s GDF Timehri shooting range to take part in an exciting Practical Pis tol match which comprised five challenging but fun stages. The match was con ducted by Match Director Mr David Dharry who de clared it open.

Shooters participated in 3 divisions, namely Limit ed, Production and Open. Each division had its unique requirements and restric tions, as prescribed by the USPSA (United States Prac tical Shooting Association). Since each division has its own regulations, the shoot ers do not directly compete with each other across divi sions. As such, prizes were awarded for 1st to 3rd place in each division.

As is customary with a GSSF event, strict adher ence to firearm safety was followed.

The afternoon match commenced with Stage 1

called ‘Vex & Goin’ Home’. The course designer, Ryan McKinnon made this a fun and challenging start to the afternoon where shooters were required to stand in the start box, holding a cricket bat in strong hand and a suitcase in weak hand.

Upon start signal, the shooters had to engage the 10 classic, 2 no-shoots and 5 plates from within fault lines. This particular stage challenged shooters' strate gic abilities with multiple possible routes to com plete the course of fire in a safe manner. The second stage entitled ‘Watch Steel’ proved to be another fun and challenging one, once

again designed by Mr McK innon which caused shoot ers to audibly amend the name of the stage as they engaged 2 classics, 8 plates and 10 poppers.

‘No Fancy Thing’ stage, which was designed by Rajiv Latchana, was a fun quick-fire stage which in volved the shooters engag ing 3 classics, 1 no-shoot and 1 pooper from within close range.

The fourth stage, ‘Paper Poppers’ required shooters to start, standing in box and in a surrender position (wrists above shoulders), handgun loaded and hol stered and upon start signal, they either engage array 1

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin to stand for re-election in 2023

(REUTERS) - Aleksander

Ceferin will stand for a third term as president of UEFA when it holds its congress in Portugal next year, European soccer’s governing body said yes terday.

The news came as UEFA met its member associations yesterday in Frankfurt where the future of the men’s and women’s European Champi onships and their respective qualifiers was discussed.

“UEFA president Alek sander Ceferin took the op portunity to personally thank all 55 associations for their letters of support for the next elections received in recent weeks, confirming officially that he will run for another mandate at the upcoming

UEFA Congress in Portugal in 2023,” UEFA said.

Ceferin was elected UEFA’s seventh president in 2016 to replace Michel Platini, who was banned from soccer administration in 2015 for ethics violations and forced to quit UEFA in 2016 after losing his appeal

against his ban.

Ceferin, a Slovenian law yer, was re-elected unop posed for a four-year term in 2019.

The 54-year-old faced his biggest challenge in April 2021 when some of Europe’s top clubs attempted to form a European Super League. The competition was a direct threat to UEFA’s continental club competition, the Cham pions League, and Ceferin called on fans, soccer fed erations and governments to oppose the “disgraceful, self-serving proposal”.

He also led UEFA’s charge in opposing world soccer governing body FI FA’s plans to hold a World Cup every two years in stead of every four.

(paper targets) array 2 (steel targets). A mandatory re load was required whenever changing arrays.

The final and fifth stage “Take ‘em down” tested their ability to shoot from behind cover as barrels were set up at two distances and caused shooters to run to two positions and secure a stable position before en gaging the targets.

Scores were prompt ly computed because of the use of electronic scor ing methods by way of a

special application called Practiscore, under the ef ficient eye of designated Stats Officer for the day, Dr. Pravesh Harry. Match results were announced as follows:

The GSSF would like to extend its sincerest grat itude to Mr Brian Backer and the Board of Directors of Orinduik Development Inc. for the kind sponsor ship and support of the Foundation’s activities and events for the 5th consecu tive year.

The Board of Direc tors wishes to commend the Match Director, Range Master, Stats Officer, Range Officers and the shooters for ensuring an efficient event.

Special thanks also go to the Guyana Defence Force, Chief of Staff Brigadier Godfrey Bess, Commis sioner of Police Clifton Hicken, Deputy Com missioner of Operations,. Ravindranauth Budhram, OC Mr Lowenfield, the ranks of TSU and the Guy

ana Police Force, the Media and GSSF members for their support in promoting practical shooting locally.

Thanks also to Mr Rajiv Latchana and the Man agement of Aquafina for coming on board as the Water sponsor for the event.

Thanks also to Mr Harold Hopkinson for the use of his personal props, steel plates, poppers and targets stands for some of the stages.

Limited Division:

1st Place – Pravesh Harry (336.2081 points)

2nd Place – Ryan McKin non (336.1181 points)

3rd Place – Vidushi Per saud-McKinnon (187.8222 points)

Production Division:

1st Place – Lancelot Khan (360.0525 points)

2nd Place – David Dharry (344.0743 points)

3rd Place – Imam Baksh (306.9399 points)

Open Division:

1st Place – Harold Hop kinson (375.0000 points)

2nd Place Lindsay Baird (113.1263 points).

West Indies to tour South Africa in February, March 2023

ST JOHN'S: West Indies

Men will travel to South Africa for an all-format tour which will feature two Tests, three One-Day Internationals and three T20 Internationals.

The two-match Test Se ries will commence at Su perSport Park in Centurion on February 28 and end March 4 followed by the second Test at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg from March 8 to 12. This series will be the final round of matches in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC).

The three-match ODI Series will take place at Buffalo Park Cricket Stadi um in East London (March 16 and 18) before the series wraps up at JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom (March 21). The three KFC T20Is will take the teams back to SuperSport Park (March 25 and 26) and conclude at the Wanderers (March 28).

West Indies last tour

West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite

of South Africa was an all format series from Decem ber 2014 to January 2015.

During that series, Kraigg Brathwaite made a break through Test century at the St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth.

In the T20Is, West Indies had a famous win, when they made 236-6 at the Wan derers. The series also fea tured a historic century by AB de Villiers – which came off just 31 balls.

FULL TOUR SCHED ULE

February 21-24: vs South Africa Invitational XI at Willowmoore Park, Benoni

February 28 to March 4: 1st Test at SuperSport Park, Centurion

March 8-12: 2nd Test at Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg

March 16: 1st ODI at Buffalo Park, East London (day/night)

March 18: 2nd ODI at Buffalo Park, East London (day/night)

March 21: 3rd ODI at JB Marks Oval, Potchef stroom

March 25: 1st T20Is at SuperSport Park, Cen turion

March 26: 2nd T20I at SuperSport Park, Cen turion

March 28: 3rd T20I at Wanderers Stadium, Jo hannesburg (night) (CWI)

Prizewinners and participants of Orinduik Development Inc.’s 2022 sponsored GSSF Practical Shooting Match

president

Naseeb CC emerge as 2022 SCA Elite champions

By Frederick Halley

NASEEB Cricket Club (NCC) defied the odds to emerge winners of the Elite Division when the Scar borough Cricket Associ ation (SCA) 2022 season climaxed at the Ashtonbee Number 1 ground last Sun day.

Having already de throned defending cham pions Ambassadors Sports Club in the semi-final at the

sixes in 51 off 85 balls. By the time Hanslod was dis missed in the 44th over, NCC only needed eight runs for a richly deserved victory. Hiten Patel was VPCC best bowler with two for 56 off his 10 overs.

Earlier, VPCC, who elected to take first strike on a typical Autumn day, were indebted to Gazenfar Syed who stood out like a beacon with a dazzling 137 off 133 balls, an innings decorated

century and three half-cen turies, crowned a fine allround season, bagging 25 wickets at 16.36 runs each to finish third in the bowling department.

Caribbean Stars’ Akeel Mohammed registered the most runs (535) from 14 matches, including a century and three fifties, averaging 143.43. Siddarth Patel of VPCC occupied the second spot with 529 from a mere six matches, scoring a cen

saw VPCC’s Jaimin Vyas

top with 33 wickets from 13 matches at 11.70 runs each.

Shuaib Zaid of Ambassadors was second with 30, also from 13, at 14.93 and his teammate Amerish Deoraj

23 wickets from 15 at 17.43.

In an invited comment, SCA president, Guya nese-born Shiv Persaud, extended congratulations to the eight participat ing teams while praising

the efforts of Naseeb CC who upstaged pre-tourna ment favourites, defending champions Ambassadors and last year’s runners-up VPCC.

same venue the previous weekend, NCC proved supe rior to Victoria Park Cricket Club (VPCC) in the fiercely contested final. The victory also meant they achieved the feat in their first year in the Elite Division, after being promoted from the Premier Division which they won in 2021.

Led by a fine century by Imtiyaz Hanslod, whose 105 from 86 balls was laced with seven fours and six sixes and supporting knocks of 51 and 42 respectively from Yasin Patel and Varish Shaikh, NCC made light work of VPCC’s 262 all out in 48.2 overs, reaching 263 for four in 44.4 overs in the 50-over affair..

Hanslod, who entered the fray with NCC on 96 for three in the 17th over, shared a brilliant fourth-wicket stand of 159 with Patel who counted two fours and two

with 12 fours and two sixes. Syed, who batted at num ber three, shared in two use ful partnerships during his solid knock. He added 60 for the third wicket with Dh ruv Patel (18) and a further 88 for the fifth wicket with Jaival Metha who contrib uted 39 with two fours and two sixes.

Varish Shaikh (three for 53) and Salim Patel (two for 60) were VPCC’s top bowl ers while the respective Most Valuable Players (MVPs) were Hanslod and Syed.

NCC finished fourth in the points standing, tallying 90 points, the same as thirdplaced VPCC. Ambassadors topped with 100 points, edg ing Caribbean Stars on net run rate after the latter also ended the season with 100.

Meanwhile, Hanslod who finished fourth in the batting aggregate with 521 runs (average 116.40), with one

tury and three fifties and averaging 179.32. Another Caribbean Stars batter, Mario Belcon, ended in the third position with 521 runs from seven matches, smashing a century and six half-centu ries and averaging 127.70.

The bowling department

The victorious Naseeb CC players with SCA executives, secretary Eon Gunraj (extreme left) and grounds coordinator Calvin Alexander (extreme right)

GCB hails President Dr. Irfaan Ali for his visionary leadership

Cricket Carnival as a trailblazer for the Caribbean

THE Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) com mends His Excellency Dr Irfaan Ali and the Government of Guyana for the historic Cricket Carnival event held in Guyana which coincided with the hosting of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), 2022.

The historic feature was conceptualised successfully to merge cricket and sports tour ism thereby stimulating much interest among cricket enthusiasts from local, regional, and international levels.

Under the leadership of President Dr Irfaan Ali, the Government of Guyana through its Min istry of Tourism will be driving the promotion of sports as a complementary tourist attraction to Guyana’s s wildlife, natural marvels, and other outstanding landscapes.

The Guyana leg of the CPL began with a double-header on September 21, 2022, when Barbados Royals defeated St Kitts & Nevis Patriots in the morning match, and the Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW) upstaged Jamaica Tallawahs in the evening encounter.

That win signalled a turn in fortunes for the host team and evidentially contributed to the heightened interest shown throughout the Guyana leg of the tournament.

The hype of Cricket Carnival activities blended effectively with a high number of ecstatic tourists throughout the hosting of the Guyana leg of the CPL.

The massive crowds at all CPL matches in Guyana, especially the second qualifier match between Jamaica Tallawahs and the host team Guyana, served to rekindle memories of past, high spectator support for cricket.

tion must be commended for affording thousands of schoolchildren an opportunity to witness and be a part of the exciting CPL matches, most of which recorded sold-out crowds. Arguably, the children enjoyed the exposure and will easily fit into the GCB’s planned countrywide coaching programme for schools.

Consequently, the level of spectator support is vital to the growth and sustainability of the game, in that it represents the quality and value of the game to its followers and provides children with an opportunity to observe and analyse the compet itive approaches of teams and individual players.

This stimulates significant interest among our future cricketers and adds value to the objectives and aims of cricket organisations.

President of the GCB, Bissoondyal Singh, was high in praise for His Excellency President Dr Irfaan Ali and his Government for their significant effort in rolling out the cricket carnival plan.

Singh remarked that the executives of the GCB and affiliate boards believe that this concept has borne fruit and should remain a core component of cricket development and promotion in Guyana.

Cricket is a career option for both males and females, and with the lucrative opportunities offered these days, we are of the view that the game should be marketed to facilitate support for local spectators and visitors to our country during the period when professional matches are being conducted.

The cricket carnival initiative is a sig nificant way to promote sports tourism, and we highly commend President Irfaan Ali and Government for a job well done. We are all proud of you.”

Campbell slapped with 4-year ban over refusal to submit blood sample

JAMAICA and West Indies opener John Camp bell has been banned for four years by the Jamai ca Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) after fail ing to provide a blood sample to doping control officers in April 2022.

In an 18-page ruling, Campbell who was charged with evading, refusing or failing to submit to sample collection, a three-member independent panel, found that the player was intentional in his actions.

John Campbell played in 20 Test matches for the West Indies

"The panel is persuaded to a comfortable degree of satisfaction that the athlete committed an an ti-doping rule violation, namely a breach of JADCO rule 2.3. The panel does not find, on the evidence presented, that the athlete's anti-doping violation was not intentional.

"In the circumstances of this case, the athlete is ineligible for a period of four years."

The ban takes effect retroactively in May 2022.

The 29-year-old left-handed batter has played 20 Tests for the West Indies since he debuted in January 2019 against England.

In those Tests, he scored 888 runs at an av erage of 26.11 and included three half-centuries.

His last Test was against Bangladesh in June 2022. (SportMax)

Additionally, the Government of Guyana through its Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and Ministry of Educa

President Dr. Irfaan Ali