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11th July, 2021

No.106418

Seventh oil lift could earn Guyana US$75M SEE PAGE 03

–– highest ever returns since trade of commodity started locally

Portfolio review wrap up: CDB President, Dr. Hyginus ‘Gene’ Leon and his delegation, team from the Ministry of Finance, along with other Government Ministers, after wrapping up the portfolio review meeting earlier on Saturday at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown (Shaconeil Burnette photo)

Roll out of$3.2B education cash grant begins next week 14 PAGE

Lowenfield’s 13 argument lacks ‘logic and common sense’ – says AG PAGE

Police called in to investigate undelivered 12 $72.2M motionscales PAGE

Caring for 8-year-old with haemophilia is full-time job for mom of 2 07 PAGE

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SUNDAY CHRONICLE July 11, 2021

SUNDAY CHRONICLE July 11, 2021

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Seventh oil lift could earn Guyana US$75M ―highest ever returns since trade of commodity started locally

By Navendra Seoraj WITH oil prices on the rise globally, Guyana could see the returns from its burgeoning petroleum sector growing, starting with earnings from the sale of its seventh oil lift, which could rake in around US$75 million.

The country’s seventh oil lift was safely and successfully completed by operator, ExxonMobil, aboard the Liza Destiny Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel offshore Guyana last weekend. This is according to Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, in his response to

garnered since the nation started trading this commodity.

Having earned over US$60 million from the sale of its sixth oil lift, and received US$13.9 million in royalties in the first quarter of this year, Guyana has in its Natural Resource Fund (NRF) over US$344 million.

Specifically, according to the Bank of Guyana, the nation ended June with US$344,161,633 in its NRF at the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank. Revenue garnered from the sale of the seventh oil lift could push Guyana’s total earnings to close to US$420 million. It was in early March that Guyana

Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat

A pictorial representation of ExxonMobil’s operations offshore Guyana, in the various blocks (ExxonMobil’s photo)

questions from the Sunday Chronicle.

Lifts of about one million barrels of oil are done every eight to nine days.

And, with Brent crude oil, the index Guyana uses to sell its crude, at more than US$75 a barrel, Guyana could easily clear US$75 million, the highest amount

also benefitted directly from its petroleum sector, receiving US$61,090,968 (approximately G$13 billion) from the sale of the nation’s fifth oil lift.

The fifth lift was sold to New York-based Hess Corp, which, in turn, vended the local crude to HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd (HMEL), a joint

venture between State-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp. and Indian steel tycoon, LN Mittal. HMEL reportedly operates the 226,000 barrels per day ‘Bathinda’ refinery in the northern state of Punjab.

Prior sales of local crude, particularly the first three, went to a trading arm of Shell on a dated ‘Brent’ ba-

sis. Guyana sold its first one million barrels of crude on February 19, 2020, raking in nearly US$55 million.

In its second million-barrel sale, the country received US$35 million, and another US$46 million as proceeds from the sale of its third million-barrel of crude, and US$49.3 million from its fourth oil lift.

It was reported in May that the country’s total revenue is expected to increase by 17 per cent, with earnings in the petroleum sector alone reaching well over US$500 million by the end of this year.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), in its Caribbean Quarterly Bulletin, which was released in May, stated that with Brent crude oil at more than US$60 a barrel, and the expectation of oil production increasing by 46.7 per cent in 2021, the government’s oil revenues could significantly increase this year.

Over the medium-term, according to the IDB, oil production is expected to continue driving GDP growth, with oil exports growing by an annual average of 48.5 per cent over 2020–2023, contributing to average annual GDP, and Government revenue growth rates of 17.1 and 6.7 per cent, respectively, from 2021 to 2026.

The prospects are even brighter, given that ExxonMobil, on June 10, announced their 20th oil discovery in Guyana, and increased the estimate of recoverable petroleum resources. Additionally, ExxonMobil updated its devel-

opment plans of having five oil- production projects by 2026 to six projects by 2027, which they feel could potentially grow to ten production projects in the future.

ExxonMobil’s first offshore Guyana project at the Stabroek Block, Liza Phase One, began producing in late 2019, well ahead of the industry’s average for development time. Liza Phase Two remains on track to begin producing oil by early 2022.

Liza Phase Two will produce up to 220,000 barrels of oil per day at peak rates, using the Liza Unity FPSO. Late last year, the oil giant, following an agreement with the Government of Guyana, decided to proceed with the Payara field development offshore Guyana.

Payara is ExxonMobil’s third project in the Stabroek Block, and is expected to produce up to 220,000 barrels of oil per day, after start-up in 2024, using the FPSO vessel. The US$9 billion development will target an estimated resource base of about 600 million oil-equivalent barrels.

According to Westmount Energy, Guyana, with its positive prospects, and vast potential, remains one of the few areas of “blue-chip” interest in high-impact exploration. Investopedia defines blue-chip stocks as secure investments, because they pay out dividends, as well as consistently and steadily grow over time.

Progress in the petroleum sector will be supplemented by advancements in other sectors; this is reflected in the projections for the country’s non-oil economy, which is expected to rebound by 6.1 per cent in 2021, based on the assumption of a phased re-opening of the economy, with services and construction growing by five and nine per cent, respectively.

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SUNDAY CHRONICLE July 11, 2021

California and Nevada brace for record-breaking temperatures (BBC) - Extreme heat is building in the western United States, with forecasts of record-breaking temperatures in the states of California and Nevada.

It comes just weeks after another dangerous heatwave hit North America, and the region has experienced the hottest June on record. California’s Death Valley on Friday recorded a high of 54.4C (130F), with similar heat expected this weekend.

Millions of people in the US are under warnings of excessive heat. The National Weather Service has advised those affected to drink plenty of water and stay in air-conditioned buildings.

The temperature in Death Valley on Friday matched one recorded in August 2020 - which some argue is the highest temperature ever re-

liably recorded on Earth. A temperature of 56.7C (134F) was recorded in 1913, but this is contested by climate experts. Firefighters battling the many wildfires in the region say the air is so dry that much of the water dropped by aircraft to quell the flames evaporates before it reaches the ground.

In the north of Nevada, near the border with California, people were evacuated from their homes as wildfires triggered by lightning strikes tore through parts of the Sierra Nevada Forest region.

Forecasters say Las Vegas’s record of 47.2C (116F) could also be passed.

In Oregon, more evacuation orders were issued when a wildfire fanned by strong winds in the Fremont-Winema National Forest grew from nearly 26 sq miles (67 sq km)

on Thursday to nearly 61 sq miles on Friday. The fire was threatening power cables that send electricity to California.

Power grid operators in California have urged customers

to conserve electricity by reducing their use of appliances and to keep thermostats higher during the evening when solar energy is diminished or no longer available.

In Idaho, Governor Brad Little declared a wildfire emergency and mobilised the state’s National Guard to help fight fires also sparked by lightning. Canada is also

A cooling centre was set up at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland to help people affected by the heatwave

bracing for extreme heat, though it is not expected to approach the temperatures seen at the end of last month when the village Lytton in British Columbia reached 49.6C (121F), breaking the country’s highest recorded temperature.

The heatwave saw spikes in sudden deaths and increases in hospital visits for heat-related illnesses. Experts say that climate change is expected to increase the frequency of extreme weather events, such as heatwaves.

But linking any single event to global warming is complicated.

A study by climate researchers said the heat that scorched western Canada and the US at the end of June was “virtually impossible” without climate change.

Bangladesh arrests factory owner after deadly fire (BBC) - Police in Bangladesh have arrested the owner of a factory where at least 52 people died in a fire late on Thursday. Abul Hashem, the owner of Hashem Foods, and four of his sons were among eight people detained on Saturday. Police say they all face

murder charges.

Authorities said many of those who died were trapped inside the building because a main exit was locked. Children were among the victims and a separate inquiry into the use of child labour has been launched.

Bangladesh labour minister

Monnujan Sufian told AFP news agency that she had been to a hospital and spoken to survivors as young as 14.

“If child labour is proved, we will take action against the owner and the inspectors,” she said. Hashem Foods is a unit of the multinational Sajeeb Group of which Mr Hashem is chairman and managing director. Also arrested on Saturday was the group’s chief executive officer, Shahan Shah Azad, and other senior officials, the Dhaka Tribune reported.

Prior to his arrest, Mr Hashem told Bangladeshi media that “workers’ carelessness” such as a discarded cigarette could have started the fire. The blaze broke out on Thursday night on the ground floor of the six-storey factory in Rupganj, an industrial town near the capital, Dhaka.

Emergency crews said most of the victims had been trapped on the third floor.

Fire official Abdullah Al Arefin said each floor was accessible by two stairways which some workers couldn’t reach because the blaze had cut them off. He said some people managed to escape to the roof via the stairs and were rescued, but others could not because a door leading to the roof was locked.

He said many of those trapped had jumped from windows to escape the flames.

The fire, fuelled by chemicals and plastics stored inside the building, burned for nearly 24 hours before it was put out.

More than 50 people were injured and worried families have been gathering at hospitals to look for their missing loved ones.

Laizu Begum said her 11-year-old nephew was among those unaccounted for. “We heard the door of the floor where my nephew worked was padlocked. Then we realised, after seeing how big the fire was, that he is probably dead,” she said.

Worried father Chandu Mia was at the hospital with a photograph of his 15-year-old daughter. “I am not sure if she is alive,” he said. Survivors and families told AFP that child workers at the factory were being paid 20 taka ($0.24; £0.17) per hour.

Bilal Hossain said he had been to the hospital morgue to claim the remains of his 14-yearold daughter Mitu Akter. “I sent my baby girl to die. How will I tell her mother?,” he said, adding that the factory even owed his daughter back wages.

Bangladesh is no stranger to deadly fires and disasters involving high-rise buildings and government critics say safety standards are still lax.

S a f e t y re f o r m s w e re promised after the Rana Plaza disaster in 2013 when a nine-storey building collapsed killing more than 1,100 people. At least 70 people also died in 2019 when fire ripped through apartments in Dhaka where chemicals were illegally stored.

SUNDAY CHRONICLE July 11, 2021

Haitian President’s widow speaks for the first time

(BBC) - The injured widow of Haiti’s president has described the moment assassins “riddled” her husband with bullets after bursting into their home in the middle of the night.

Martine Moïse said the attack happened so quickly, her husband Jovenel was unable to “say a single word”.

President Moïse was killed on 7 July, allegedly by 28 foreign mercenaries. Mrs Moïse was also injured in the attack, and was flown to Miami for treatment.

On Saturday, she posted a voice message to her Twitter page vowing to continue his work. A number of people have confirmed it is the president’s wife.

“In the blink of an eye, the mercenaries entered my house and riddled my husband with bullets,” Mrs Moïse says in the recording, describing the moment the attackers killed her husband.

“This act has no name because you have to be a limitless criminal to assassinate a president like Jovenel Moïse, without even giving him the chance to say a single word,” she continued.

She suggested her husband was targeted because for political reasons - in particular, mentioning a referendum on changes to the constitution which could have given the president more power. The unnamed people, she said, “want to assassinate the president’s dream”.

“I am crying, it is true, but we cannot let the country lose its way,” she added.

“We cannot let the blood of President Jovenel Moïse, my husband, our president whom we love so much and who loved us in return, flow in vain.” Mr Moïse, 53, had been president of Haiti, the poorest nation in the Americas, since 2017. His time in office was rocky as he faced accusations of corruption and there were widespread demonstrations in the capital and other cities earlier this year.

Parliamentary elections should have been held in

October 2019 but disputes have delayed them, meaning Mr Moïse had been ruling by decree. He had planned to hold a referendum on the proposed constitutional changes this September.

In February this year, on the day the opposition wanted him to leave office, Mr Moïse said an attempt to kill him and overthrow the government had been foiled. It is still unclear who organised Wednesday’s attack and with what motive. A number of questions remain unanswered, including how the alleged assassins were able to enter the property. Mr Moïse’s bodyguards are due to be questioned next week.

One prominent opposition figure has openly expressed scepticism over the current version of events.

Former Haitian senator Steven Benoit told local station Magik9 radio on Friday it was “not Colombians who killed him”, but did not provide evidence to back up his claims.

Haitian police have said the majority of the mercenaries was Colombian, while two were joint US nationals.

Seventeen of the group were detained in the capital Portau-Prince after a gun battle.

Three suspects were killed by police, and eight others are still being sought.

Colombia’s government has pledged to assist Haiti

with its investigation efforts.

Colombian police director, Gen Jorge Luis Vargas, said 17 former Colombian soldiers were thought to be involved. The US state department, meanwhile, said it could not confirm if any of its citizens had been detained.

citizen, named as Joseph Vincent, had said they were there as translators for the mercenaries. “The mission was to arrest President Jovenel Moïse... and not to kill him,” Judge Clément Noël told Le Nouvelliste.

The constitution says the National Assembly should

2019 did not take place - and Mr Moïse had been ruling by decree amid widespread protests.

Amendments to the constitution - not accepted by everyone - suggest the prime minister should be the next one to take over. But Haiti has both an interim prime

sworn in.

Both are claiming to be in charge. On Friday, a group of political parties signed a resolution proclaiming a new president - Joseph Lambert - with Mr Henry acting as his PM. The situation is doing little to resolve the political

Martine Moïse said her tears would “never dry” following her husband Jovenel’s assassination (pictured in 2017)

However, US and Canadian media are reporting that one of the dual citizens arrested, James Solages, 35, is from Florida and was a former bodyguard at the Canadian embassy in Haiti.

An investigating judge told local media that Mr Solages and the other US

choose another president.

But disputes meant that elections scheduled for October

minister, Claude Joseph, and a new appointee, Ariel Henry, who has yet to be

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and economic instability that has long plagued the nation.

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SUNDAY CHRONICLE July 11, 2021

Diversionary Tactics

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EADER of the Opposition, Joseph Harmon, has lodged with the Clerk of the National Assembly two No-Confidence Motions against Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony and Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn. According to a statement from the opposition leader, the APNU+AFC Coalition, in filing the motions, ‘is acting on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of Guyanese who have lost confidence in the performance of the two ministers.’

Exactly on whose behalf Mr. Harmon is speaking remains at best, unclear. What is certain is that the opposition leader could not be speaking for the ‘hundreds of thousands of Guyanese’ who showed up at the polls on March 2, 2020 and voted his party out power, a reality which the opposition seems unable to come to terms with. That is tantamount to a vote of no-confidence in the performance of the APNU+AFC

administration, which had failed to deliver on its promises to the people of Guyana during its term in office.

Interestingly, the text of the motions is at best skeletal, and as observed by President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, it is nothing short of political drama. In criticising the motions, President Ali noted that the one-line document lacked effort and as a consequence has lost its meaningfulness. ‘It is just a political drama and it has no thinking or structure or work behind it, the President said.

Indeed, the filing of the motions gives the government an opportunity to once again tell the Guyanese public what the government inherited in these two sectors and what has happened since. It is not that such reassurance is necessary, as the vast majority of the Guyanese people have already formed an unfavourable opinion on the dismal performance of the APNU+AFC during its period in power.

Meanwhile, the Speaker of the

House is still to decide if the motions properly qualify, based on the Standing Orders. Regardless of how the Speaker rules, it will set the stage for renewed focus on the several policy interventions made by the current PPP/C administration in the areas of crime prevention and health care delivery, especially in this COVID-19 environment.

And in a related development, there are indications that the PPP\C Government is considering the filing of a no-confidence motion of its own, calling for the immediate resignation of Harmon from the post of opposition leader. According to media reports, the motion is likely to be filed with the Clerk of the National Assembly on the ground of a loss of confidence in Harmon’s ability to serve in his role as an opposition leader in a credible and responsible manner. He is accused of ‘consistently and repeatedly misinforming the public and the National Assembly that the APNU+AFC coalition

won the 2020 General and Regional Elections.’

This, according to the government, amounts to a case of an undermining of democracy in the country. It should be recalled that Harmon recently made false and damaging statements regarding the procurement and efficacy of the COVID-19 Sputnik V vaccines.

It is clear that the move by Harmon to move the two no-confidence motions is motivated by a desire to divert public attention from its own inadequacies as an opposition party and from the continuing fissures within its own leadership structure and, for that matter, its membership as a whole. As such, it can only be seen as an attempt to score cheap political points and to salvage its faltering image.

The government has already indicated that it stands ready to defend the performance of its two ministers and its stewardship since its re-election to office.

Guyanese will not get the short end of the stick W Dear Editor,

HILE we often think of economic growth as good news, it can also happen too rapidly. In light of this, I refer to an article: “Gov’t working to ‘tame’ investment interests,” published in the July 4th, 2021 edition of the Guyana Chronicle, in which His Excellency Dr. Irfaan Ali pointed out “the importance of strategising outside investments coming to Guyana.”

He reasoned that, “…when you are managing an economy like this, you have to be mindful of the consequences of overheating; you have to be mindful of the consequences of having the investments itself creating shortages.” At this juncture, I wish to com-

mend His Excellency Dr. Irfaan Ali for asserting to this reality and to highlight what is currently occurring in Guyana.

Over the last few months, we have seen raw material shortages escalate, resulting in excessive price increases for every conceivable commodity. This is especially true for construction materials, where we have seen steel prices rise, wood prices rise, nail prices rise, cement prices rise, and, most significantly, the troubling surge in food prices has also become quite worrisome. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the costs locally and exacerbated prices from foreign goods and materials, as well as shipping costs, which have quadrupled in certain cases.

Worse, we all know that if things settle down, these industrialists, businesspeople,

importers, and others who were granted pricing power will be reluctant to return to normal pricing.

However, I am relieved to note President Ali’s words when he ascertains that the, “investment interests are being thoroughly examined by Vice-President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo,” and that, “the Cabinet has taken a conscious decision to expend local funds to kick-start key projects that are important for Guyana’s development.”

In light of the foregoing, I, Hajji Dr. Roshan Khan, am confident that this time around, Guyanese will not get the short end of the stick. I am certain and patient that our policies pertaining to foreign investors into our country would favour the lives of the common Guyanese. In fact, I am certain that our foresighted government would not act

as hastily as the previous one did when they signed away our oil resources without providing Guyana and Guyanese with the same benefits that Suriname provided to its citizens. The APNU+AFC truly sent us to hell.

We presently lack adequate insurance for oil spills, such that a single spill can wipe away the little bit of money we earn for every third shipment of oil. As a result of this, I believe the government should take severe action.

I urge His Excellency Dr. Irfaan Ali and Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo to work steadfastly on this with Guyana first in mind!

We need investors, but we need investors with a conscious where it will be a win-win situation for all of us.

Sincerely, Hajji Dr. Roshan Khan Snr.

SUNDAY CHRONICLE July 11, 2021

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Caring for eight-year-old with haemophilia is full-time job for mom of two

EIGHT-YEAR-OLD Aditya Ramlogan calmly put on his sandals and all seemed well until he stood and it was observed that not only did he walk with a slight limp, but he also walked on his toes. The young aspiring doctor has been diagnosed with haemophilia and his mobile disability is just one of the many fallouts from the condition.

His mom, Savita Ramlogan, had never heard of haemophilia until he was diagnosed, but she knew something was wrong a few months after he was born. She observed that her baby was having what she described as “black and blue marks” about his body, but it was only after he was hospitalised at eight months to have a surgery done on an abscess that she found out the reason.

Today, she is worried for Aditya and cries with him when he is in excruciating pain, but her worry is now two-fold as her one-year-old son, Kushal, while not diagnosed with haemophilia,, has been exhibiting signs of the condition. Her full-time job now is carefully watching both of her children in an effort to ensure that they do not injure themselves, as the condition makes an individual injury prone.

“It is not easy. Sometimes I have to run around when the baby sleeping to make sure I finish the work in time, because I don’t want to leave he alone and when

we use to like go to the play park and so with Aditya, he would become upset because he could not play like how the other children were playing,” she said.

Haemophilia is an inherited bleeding disorder in which the blood does not clot properly. This causes spontaneous bleeding, and/ or prolonged bleeding after an injury or surgery. People with haemophilia have low levels of specific clotting factors, which are proteins in the blood that help it to clot. Persons with low levels of Factor V111 (Factor 8) have Haemophilia A, and those with low levels of Factor 1X have Haemophilia B. Haemophilia is quite rare; about one in 10,000 people is born with it. The World Federation of Haemophilia Annual Global Survey surmised that with Guyana’s population of approximately 755,000 persons, an average of 52 persons could be living with and suffering from haemophilia.

The Guyana Haemophilia Society (GHS) is extremely concerned that to date there are only 15 confirmed cases in Guyana.

HAEMOPHILIA ‘A’ SEVERE Aditya has severe haemophilia, which has resulted in him suffering from frequent injuries, including once to his ankle when he fell off a child’s scooter at the age of three.

In Grade One, a bench

fell on his foot just around his ankle and the swelling eventually formed an abscess. He was admitted to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) and the bone specialist later informed his mom that because his foot was resting in one position on the bed for an extended time, it needed to be placed in a cast -- an orthopaedic device that supports broken, fractured or injured bones and joints in the ankles and feet. The foot was in a cast for a while and when it was taken off, Aditya was walking on his toes. His mother was told that the only way to fix this was for the bone to be repositioned, which meant another cast. But because of his condition, she did not want to take the risk of him returning to theatre.

He now walks on his toes on both feet. The instep of his left foot, which was cast, is stiff and painful whenever he attempts to walk normally, thus it is easier for him to walk on his toes.

Ramlogan shared that sometimes her son would be laid up in bed for a month at a time whenever there is swelling to one of his joints.

“He used to miss school a lot before COVID-19, but he is still an A student because I work with him a lot,” she said.

Ramlogan recalled that when he was eight months old one side of his buttocks started to swell and a visit to the doctor resulted in the diagnosis of an abscess, for

which a surgery was performed at a private hospital.

“I remember the night after the surgery he was in recovery and when I wake up the whole sheet was blood and they called back the doctor and he eventually said he have to go back in the theatre to check it out,” Four days after the surgery he was transferred to the GPH and it was there he was diagnosed with haemophilia.

“I never heard it before and I think it was something he would grow out of it. I thought it was not serious.

I thought it could be treated. But is when I take my phone and I Google it, then I understand and I start to cry because for me, is like this can’t come back and it is like somebody born without an ear or a finger or something. That is how I see it,” she said, tears streaming down her face at this point.

Ramlogan was told that Aditya’s Factor V111 (eight) was missing, which meant that he had a severe form of the condition.

At the age of three he jumped from a bench and one of his knees started to swell. They were later told that the jump caused a shock resulting in the swelling, which lasted for one month.

Ramlogan said sometimes his mouth would bleed and when it is excessive she takes him to the GPH. FACEBOOK R a m l o g a n ’s w o r l d changed when she read

Savita Ramlogan and her son Aditya

about the GHS on Facebook and contacted the society.

She learnt more about her son’s condition and has received tremendous support.

Her second pregnancy was not planned and Ramlogan said while she hoped it was not a boy, she never considered the option of aborting her child.

Kushal was about eight months old when the first black and blue mark was observed and Ramlogan said she was brokenhearted.

“I started to take extra care because I didn’t want him to go through what Aditya went through…,” she said.

Kushal, who will be two shortly, has not yet been diagnosed, but his mother is certain that he has haemophilia.

“I just thank God for the Guyana Haemophilia

Society and the WFH, that I getting the medication for him [from],” she said.

The Factor V111 injection is donated by the WFH through the GHS and Ramlogan stores it in her refrigerator and administers it herself.

She called on the Guyana Government to do more for people living with haemophilia, especially in providing the needed injection which, should they have to purchase on their own, would be very expensive.

Additionally, even if they have the money they would be unable to access the injection on their own.

This is the first in a series of four articles produced by the Guyana Haemophilia Society (GHS) to bring awareness of the existence of the condition in Guyana.

The APNU+AFC’s latest attack on CARICOM Heads of State Dear Editor, THE Opposition APNU+AFC is using the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse to attack the Heads of CARICOM. This is evident from Member of Parliament Sherod Duncan’s rant during his Wednesday, July 7th, 2021

Facebook live programme, which is also aired live on the official page of the APNU+AFC coalition.

Duncan referred to the leaders of the CARICOM countries as “gangsters,” “hustlers” and “hypocrites,” during his vitriolic attack.

WPA Executive and coalition activist David Hinds

adopted a similar posture on his live appearance on another APNU+AFC Facebook programme. He, however, posited that Indo-Guyanese support for CARICOM has always been low, and with the Indo-Guyanese PPP/C Government being in power, the country’s support for CARICOM is at its lowest.

Further, he blames the CARICOM heads for this because of their “entanglement” in Guyana’s March 2nd, 2020 elections.

In my view what Hinds is doing is faulting CARICOM for not supporting the APNU+AFC’s attempt to remain in office through fraud, in defiance of the will of the

Guyanese electorate – he is basically chastising the CARICOM heads for not aligning with “one of their own.”

Duncan’s attack on CARICOM is along the same vein, except that he is masking it with contrived annoyance at the assassination of President Moïse.

No matter how they

mask it, what is clear to all is that this is a concerted attack on the CARICOM Heads by the APNU+AFC in reprisal for their refusal to be influenced by their injections of race during the rigging attempt last year.

Yours truly, Erin Northe

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SUNDAY CHRONICLE JULy 11, 2021

Politics & Society Forum One cannot escape where one’s navel string is buried I AM composing this column in the backdam of Village No. 72 in Upper Corentyne, Berbice under a shady tree not too far from a piece of land my family owns.

From where I am sitting, I can see Skeldon Estate as well as a profusion of greenery, notably, acres of rice and sugarcane fields.

There is some wildlife, including a few alligators sunbathing on the banks of the canals.

They are harmless, and that is, if you do not mess with their space. There are some people tending their fields while some are fishing with cast nets. The place is serene.

I have not visited this place for some time, and so, naturally, emotions are flowing like water from the canals into the Corentyne River onto the Atlantic Ocean. I spent a lot of time here helping my parents in rice fields, and when I reached a workable age, I joined my fellow villagers and worked for daily wages planting, harvesting, porting, and drying rice paddy. It was hard work made lighter by humour and magnificent sunshine.

I can say that the people who developed these rice fields about one hundred years ago would recognise them if they returned. Little has changed. Life here is routine. These backdam fields come to life seasonally, planting in the rainy period during the first months and harvesting in dry season in the latter months of the year. These activities have placed an indelible imprint on my mind. I was hoping to recapture some past activities and memories.

Unfortunately, many of whom I have shared my rice field upbringing with, have long gone

into another world or out-migrated.

I wonder what would have happened to me had I stayed in my village, and not out-migrate to the United States. What my life would have been? I saw many who lived and died in these lands and never got beyond the fundamentals of life. I saw how the fortunate exploited the unfortunate in ways that would invoke tears from most stoic minds, publicly.

I ask myself, would I have been cabined and camped in the dungeons of rice field life like the unfortunates? I say maybe! I also question whether it was all bad in my village, and I think obviously not. Then why do I criticise a place that has shaped, molded, and even fed me? I do not know. This is what uprootedness does to the mind. It creates ambiguity, ambivalence, and awkwardness. Yet, in some chambers of Guyanese psychology, it is understood that one cannot escape where one’s navel string is buried. In my experience that would mean a place in my parents’ backyard, and by extension, the plantation yard of my indentured ancestors.

I wonder, too, if I am dragging the chains of my ancestors’ sin, indenture. As I look around and see the vast agricultural land, my father, who died suddenly in Syracuse, New York in 2004, comes to my mind. He did not own any of the land I am staring at, except for two acres, which he used to feed his family.

He was a sugarcane cutter. I am proud of him. He was a decent man, but he never read to me because he did not know how to read.

When I mention this, not regularly, to my

American colleagues, they would become extremely quiet thinking, I suspect, what has motivated me so much so that I am sharing a seat with them around the academic table. I receive somewhat similar signals and sentiments when I am in Guyana, although with less intensity.

I am waiting for the twilight to emerge before leaving these backdams. What a delight it is. The scenery changes quickly. The sunshine fades and I feel like I am walking away from an oasis of peace.

Different sounds emerge. The birds are chirping. The toads are croaking. The wind buzzes stronger. My Shirt Jac balloons in the back and my shirt collar rattles like snakes in the razor grass. Out of nowhere I hear a

Professor Lomarsh Roopnarine

voice saying to me, my son, you are at home, you are safe, come nestle in a place that has shaped you. You can now allow yourself to feel the flow of energy of these backdams in your own body, and do come back, for we are waiting for you. My mind flashes back to the poem “The Prisoner of Chillon” by Lord Byron.

My hair is grey, but not with years, Nor grew it white In a single night, As men’s have grown from sudden fears: My limbs are bow’d, though not with toil, But rusted with a vile repose, For they have been a dungeon’s spoil, And mine has been the fate of those (lomarsh.roopnarine@jsums.edu)

No-confidence and trickery

BY MICHAEL YOUNGE

ON Tuesday, we saw Opposition Leader, Joseph Harmon, filing motions of no-confidence against two senior ministers of the Irfaan Ali-government.

The motions, he related, had to do with how the Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony and the Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn, dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic and the health sector, and the crime and security sector. In both cases, Harmon alleged mismanagement of monies, incompetence in dealing with the various threats in the sectors, and lack of oversight of the sectors in general.

Harmon, accompanied by the usual opposition parliamentarians, strutted up the stairs of Parliament to the Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Issacs, and submitted his motions. And within a day, the government struck back, indicating that it will by filing a no-confidence motion against the Opposition Leader for allegedly misleading the House and the public on the COVID-19 vaccines.

The government said that Harmon was responsible for the current level of vaccine hesitancy in several areas of the country and should resign from the post immediately.

This saga is a political drama unfolding before our eyes as the no-confidence motion filed by the Opposition Leader will fail to get approval. The government already has enough support in the numbers to defeat it unless he could convince two of its members to vote against it.

Secondly, Harmon is not intelligent when he chose the time to file these motions of no-confidence against the ministers. He has

filed them right in the middle of the global pandemic while Guyana is still staving off the effects of COVID-19.

Thirdly, this motion will give the public the impression that Guyana is in a bind and things are escalating to crisis proportions. Harmon did not think that Hamilton Green would let the ‘cat out of the bag, in the way he did.

The public now knows that the PNC Congress, slated for October, is just around when these motions would be heard and debated according to the parliamentary agenda.

Therefore, he wants, or in this case, needs the attention. The PNC leadership contest is heating up, and Harmon is just not liked by the members inside the bosoms of the party. He is hanging by a thread. His leader, David Granger, is being challenged by Volda Lawrence and others. So, he wants to score cheap political points by raising the ants against the PPP. His reputation in politics cannot save him.

Fourthly, the motion that will be filed by the government, if it is allowed, will mark the end of Harmon’s political ambitions to be President or command the rank of the opposition in Parliament. Again, it is the government that has the majority to pass it. Whether or not Harmon will give up the title is not clear.

The government will annihilate and humiliate Harmon if they debate any no-confidence motion.

Finally, Harmon and his advisers should know that these no-confidence motions are untimely and absurd. It will backfire and will not play in their interest at the PNC upcoming Congress.

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SUNDAY CHRONICLE JULy 11, 2021

Understanding Energy

Offshore drilling remains risky despite Stabroek Block success

SINCE its first successful well in 2015, ExxonMobil Guyana has announced at least 20 significant discoveries and started producing oil on a regular basis.

Most recently, the country received its seventh oil lift in just the last 18 months from the Stabroek Block’s Liza Phase 1 project. Recent finds like those at Uaru-2 and Longtail-3 in the Stabroek Block are likely to push Guyana’s estimated reserves past 9 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

But while this is all positive news for Guyana, it is important to understand just how unusual the situation in the Stabroek Block currently is, especially in the high-risk world of deepwater exploration. Despite the success in the Stabroek Block the broader Guyana Basin is still largely a frontier region.

Non-commercial finds occur when the oil discovered will likely cost more to develop and produce than it is worth. Guyana has experienced a 90 percent success rate in economically viable wells in the Stabroek Block,

but that good fortune is exceedingly rare. There were more than 40 unsuccessful wells before Guyana’s first commercial find in 2015 at Liza 1.

This is far from normal in the global oil industry where commercial offshore drilling is notoriously risky.

Analysts at Westwood Energy found that the overall frontier exploration success rate hovered at just 6 percent from 2014-2019, with just nine new commercial developments from 154 wells.

Even in the North Sea, a historically oil rich region, only 23 percent of wells have yielded commercial finds over the last five years. Westwood also found similar rates of success offshore across most of the regions it studied, with success rates rarely remaining above 30 percent in the longer term even for longstanding oil producers.

That makes the Stabroek Block’s five year run all the more exceptional.

That has sadly not been the case for other blocks in Guyana, including the Kaieteur, Canje, Orinduik

and Demerara blocks. ExxonMobil, the operator of the Kaieteur and Canje blocks, has yet to make a commercial discovery there despite three wells drilled to date.

In just the last few months, we learned that ExxonMobil drilled non-commercial wells at Tanager-1 in the Kaieteur Block and at Bulletwood-1 Jabillo-1 in the Canje Block.

Tullow and Eco-Atlantic have announced that drilling efforts will continue in the Orinduik block into 2023, but the companies have not yet announced a clear development path forward despite extensive investment and exploration. Although they made discoveries Jethro and Joe wells, the commercial prospects for both finds are undetermined. Tullow and Repsol made an additional find at the Carapa-1 site on the Kanuku block, but its commercial prospects are also undetermined at this point.

Suriname drilling has also had mixed results. After three significant discoveries

by Apache and its partners in Block 58 near the maritime

border with Guyana, subsequent large-scale commercial discoveries have been elusive other than a discovery by ExxonMobil and Malaysia’s Petronas on Block 52 last December.

While the news has been disappointing so far, exploration companies incentivised by Guyana’s contract terms and stability continue to drill wells in the hope that one of these blocks will prove as lucrative as the Stabroek Block. GCX Energy plans to drill two exploration wells this year on its Corentyne and Demerara blocks, while Tullow and its partners in the Orinduik block told Offshore Magazine last month that they are assessing drilling targets with an expected resumption of drilling in 2022. For its part, ExxonMobil has six drill ships operating off the coast and planned a record 15 wells for 2021.

Companies take on huge risk each time they drill a new well, especially those in deepwater areas, commonly defined as depths greater than 300 metres. Researchers at

Louisiana State University estimated in January that an average deepwater well in an offshore area like Newfoundland costs around US$90 million to explore and drill.

One advantage of production sharing agreements like Guyana’s is that they shift some of these financial risks associated with exploration and development to companies instead of the government. Under some contract structures like national oil companies or service contracts, the government of a country must put up money to invest in oil exploration and development. If no oil is found during the exploration phase, this money is lost. Even if oil is found, it can be several years before production begins and the investment in development begins to pay off. But in Guyana’s case, if oil is not discovered and produced on the block, the government owes nothing no matter how much was spent on exploration.

Even in the case of a successful commercial find where companies can re-

cover costs, the government never carries financial debts to an oil company.

Royalty and profit-sharing arrangements like Guyana’s also help insulate countries from price drops since the government receives both a percentage of revenues (the royalty) and an equal share of production revenues after cost recovery, which is capped at 75 percent of revenues on the Stabroek Block.

As exploration continues offshore, Guyana is fully insulated from the financial risks associated with non-commercial wells but will still share in the profits if oil is found.

That’s crucial since large areas of Guyana’s offshore territory carry significant risks and commercial projects haven’t been confirmed yet from the existing discoveries.

While Guyana has been fortunate with Stabroek Block discoveries so far, performance elsewhere in Guyana’s offshore territory shows the challenges and costs that come with deepwater drilling.

Fire destroys Rasville house, several homeless A FIRE of unknown origin destroyed the upper flat of a family home at Lot 46 Rasville, Georgetown, on Saturday, leaving about seven people homeless.

One of the occupants, Collonda Howe, told the Sunday Chronicle that she and her family are now left with thousands of dollars in losses. Howe said that while her siblings were able to save a minuscule number of items, she was unable to save any of the valuables from her home which was located on the bottom flat of the two-storey concrete structure.

Due to swift action by the Guyana Fire Service, the building sustained damage only to the interior walls, the ceiling and the floor separating the two-storey house; the exterior of the building was saved from complete

Collonda Howes along with her son, Jason Adams, at the scene of the fire devastation. hear the phone ringing, when Howe, a vendor, indicat- I picked up the phone my ed that the building is owned brother tell me everything by her late mother; she and on fire, nothing ain’t save.” her siblings reside there and Howe emphasised that decided to divide the build- this is an especially devasing by making it into six tating loss as she had worked living quarters. tirelessly to help with refurHowe recalled how she bishing of the house. was alerted to the fire.

“My home I do piece “I deh at the market and I piece, I does sell at the mar-

The Rasville home after the fire on Saturday ket, I does do [pedicure] sometimes and plus I does make a cold medicine to sell on Sundays; all of that to build my home and now all that gone down the drain, all the ingredients, everything that I used to use for business gone and business

is not like before, business hard,” Howe told the Sunday Chronicle.

Howe, her son and five other people live on the top floor of the building; she noted that her son and nephew were at home when the fire started and her nephew was

the one who alerted others about the fire.

Howe is unaware of how the fire started but according to information reaching the family, it erupted in the top flat. The Fire Service is investigating to ascertain the cause.

10

Six of 152 COVID-19 victims took only their first vaccine

IN the months of April, May and June there were a total of 152 COVID-19 deaths recorded in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the National Infectious Diseases Hospital at Liliendaal, Georgetown but none of those patients were fully vaccinated and only six patients received their first COVID-19 ‘jab’.

This is according to information provided by the Head of Internal Medicine at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), Dr. Mahendra Carpen, during a recent edition of the ‘Your Doctor and COVID’ television programme.

Providing figures on the number of COVID-19 deaths of people who were being treated in the ICU, Dr. Carpen said that there were 11 such deaths in January, 14 in February, 24 in March, 37 in April, 59 in May and 56 in June.

“We see in the local context, greater than 95 per cent of the persons dying were not vaccinated,” Dr. Carpen stated.

It is important to note that all three of the COVID-19 vaccines used locally - the AstraZeneca, the Sinopharm and the Sputnik V - are administered in two doses. Two weeks after receiving the second dose, an individual is considered fully

MINISTER of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, says the New Amsterdam Hospital will be outfitted with a laparoscopic suite for the conduct of minimally invasive surgeries.

This announcement comes on the heels of the first laparoscopic common bile duct surgery conducted recently at the hospital.

“For New Amsterdam

we have a lot of talented surgeons and this is just one example of what they can do. They don’t have the full suite of instruments that is necessary to perform these complex types of surgeries. So, the Government of Guyana has taken a decision that we are going to build a complete laparoscopic suite at the New Amsterdam Hospital. This will allow

SUNDAY CHRONICLE JULy 11, 2021

immunised.

Guyana’s COVID-19 vaccination rollout commenced on February 11, 2021 with doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine; the second dose of this vaccine was initially expected to be given some four weeks after the first. Following updated guidelines, however, the Ministry of Health later extended this dosing schedule to 12 weeks (or three months).

At the beginning of March, Guyana also received a donation of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines, produced by China. This vaccine is also administered in two doses and the second dose

is given between 21 to 28 days after the first.

With the introduction of the Sinopharm vaccines, it meant that by April, the first set of individuals could become fully immunised against the SARS-CoV-2. In subsequent weeks, more and more people could also become fully immunised.

But, in April, none of the 37 COVID-19 deaths recorded in the ICU were recorded among individuals who received their vaccines. In May, of the 59 people who died at that hospital, only two of them were vaccinated; those two individuals only received their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Meanwhile, in June, where there were 56 COVID-19 deaths recorded in the hospital’s ICU only another two individuals who passed away were vaccinated but they too had only received the first dose of the Sputnik V vaccines.

Commenting on these figures, Dr. Carpen said, “It is a dramatic number, it is too large to ignore and think that this is a coincidence.”

As such, he posited, “There are definitely benefits to the vaccines.”

On numerous occasions, the Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, has emphasised that no fully vaccinated individual has died after testing positive for COVID-19.

During one of his daily COVID-19 updates in June, he explained that vaccinated individuals may become infected with the coronavirus but those individuals would not experience the more severe, or life-threatening symptoms since they are protected by the vaccines.

the hospital now to have the capability of doing very complex laparoscopic surgeries,” Dr. Anthony said.

The surgery requires a small incision on the body with laparoscopic instruments. Recovery time for this type of surgery is less than other invasive surgeries, since the wound is

The New Amsterdam Hospital smaller. spend less time in hospital.

“They have seen less They are able to heal quickly infections with these types and get back to work fast.” of surgeries. So, this is also The theatres at the New a good thing. So, complica- Amsterdam Hospital are tions from the surgery are also being refurbished. In far less. So, we think this addition, there will be new is the way to go because recovery rooms and spaces people will spend less time for patients by the end of in hospital, they’ll get very the year. complicated surgeries but The upgrade of the

hospital will also be complemented by the construction of an Infectious Diseases Unit there. On Wednesday last, a $41 million contract was signed by Navin and Sons Construction Company to build the facility that will better care for COVID-19 patients. (DPI)

Head of Internal Medicine at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), Dr. Mahendra Carpen

NA hospital to get laparoscopic suite

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SUNDAY CHRONICLE JULy 11, 2021

Dilip Kumar: Unmatched and unforgettable

By Neaz Subhan

WEDNESDAY last, India and the world lost the iconic and phenomenal thespian of cinema, Dilip Kumar. From his first film, “Jwar Bhata”, in 1944 to his last, “Qila”, in 1998, he gave fifty-four years of his life to on-screen entertainment and for which fans are eternally grateful. Those works will remain a reservoir for comfort and entertainment.

Born Mohammed Yusuf Khan on December 11, 1922, his dedication to acting and the inspiration he provided to many, including megastars like Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra and Shah Rukh Khan, will probably remain unsurpassed for a long time to come.

While his death may not have come as a shock given the fragility of his life at ninety-eight years, it was nevertheless painful for his loyal fans across the globe and of course, his loving and beautiful wife, the actress, Saira Banu.

The younger generation of Bollywood movie fans may not have been as fortunate as their parents or grandparents in terms of authentically experiencing the fruits of labour of Dilip’s craftsmanship in acting, which was laced with unscripted nuances and subtleties. He was a director’s dream to work with and is credited for introducing method acting to cinema.

That distinguished him from the others.

He was compared to another embracer of method acting technique, Hollywood’s Marlon Brando. A New York Times article stated that Dilip claimed to have used the technique first. Despite both now in

the great beyond, I believe the debate over from whom that technique originated, will live on.

That quality epitomised Dilip and was very evident in the way he approached his work; from learning to play the sitar for a song sequence in the movie “Kohinoor” to running around the studio compound so that he could enter the set at the point of exhaustion for his death scene in the movie “Gunga Jamuna”.

He claimed he was an actor who evolved a method and Amitabh Bachchan in an interview sometime ago pointed out that whenever the history of Indian cinema would be written, it would always have before Dilip Kumar and after Dilip Kumar. From that, Bachchan is very clear that Dilip is the benchmark of Indian cinema.

That in itself speaks of the immense talent Dilip possessed and the reverence other superstars have for him. Those who worked with him and those who would have seen his films, would not dispute.

Here in Guyana, as a boy growing up, the elders often spoke passionately and with adulation for stars at that time and Dilip’s name seemed the reflexive first. There were others of that era including the formidable Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand. As good as they were, Dilip was unmatched; he was the major household name for many years during my childhood.

At that time, cinema was generally the main form of entertainment and the many related conversations were natural. Those were the days when posters of Bollywood stars and movies were the preferred choice for wall decoration for many. That

removed any doubt of admiration and was the manifestation of that prevailing passion, almost an obsession.

Many of his films were relatable to the masses and many may not have only seen themselves through him, but may have been empowered by the trials and triumphs of the beloved protagonist he effortlessly portrayed.

Handsome and a gifted natural actor, over time, Dilip earned the title as the “Tragedy King”, having acted in a number of serious films. With the proclivity of immersing himself into the characters he played, such tragic and depressing but award-winning roles took a toll on him and he suffered briefly from depression.

His doctor advised he do lighthearted roles.

That, not only demonstrated his range as an actor and the unfortunate effect of the tragic roles, but served to exemplify his commitment to the art form and, in many ways, his penchant for method acting.

His entry into the film industry seemed destined despite not necessarily harbouring a desire for such. According to the New York Times, Dilip wanted to play cricket or soccer professionally. However, the family’s financial situation forced him to look for work elsewhere. Through a chance encounter, a former teacher introduced him to then popular India actress, Devika Rani, who asked if he would consider becoming an actor.

With a dire need of work, any work, he was confused but the money persuaded. Rani advised that it would be better if he took a Hindu screen name

The late Dilip Kumar

to obscure his Muslim background since it would help his career. That was the beginning of the unforgettable megastar, Dilip Kumar. He won eight Filmfare awards for Best Actor from nineteen nominations. That’s the most wins for that award by an actor and which was equalled by Shah Rukh Khan many years later.

As someone in the performing arts and with a ceaseless passion, I learnt from Dilip Kumar especially from his performance in the 1951 film “Deedar” which I had the privilege and challenge to adapt for a stage play. There are millions around the world who would have been inspired and benefitted from his craft.

He was arguably the greatest actor out of India and his films are invaluable sources of learning in addition to their theatrical values.

His name will always be foremost during any discussion on Indian cinema and has been indelibly etched in history.

Like me, many actors are grateful that he graced the screen for it’s difficult to imagine cinema without his priceless contributions and the lessons imparted.

Some of his unforgettable performances are in “Mela” (1948), “Andaz” (1949), “Aan” (1952),“Daag” (1952), “Devdas” (1955), “NayaDaur” (1957), “Yahudi” (1958), “Madhumati” (1958), Paigham (1959), “Mughale-Azam” (1960), which is deemed the highest grossing film in India when adjusted for inflation, “Kranti” (1981) and “Shakti” (1982) with Amitabh Bachchan.

Woman, 20, busted with ‘ganja’ at Bartica stelling A TWENTY-year-old woman has been arrested after police caught her at the Bartica Stelling on Saturday with a large quantity of cannabis, which she reportedly purchased for her uncle.

According to the police, ranks acted on information received and went to the Bartica Stelling at around 12:40hrs and arrested the suspect. She was escorted to the Bartica Po-

lice Station, where a search was conducted on an orange handbag she was carrying.

In that bag was where the police reportedly found the leaves, seeds and stems of what was suspected to be ‘cannabis’ wrapped in transparent plastic, and concealed in a multi-coloured blanket.

When weighed in her presence, the items amounted to 892 grams.

The suspected marijuana found by the police

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SUNDAY CHRONICLE JULy 11, 2021

Police called in to investigate undelivered $72.2M motion scales

THE Guyana Police Force (GPF) has been called in to conduct a thorough investigation relating to the purchase of three motion scales which were paid for some four years ago but were never delivered to the Ministry of Public Works and, by extension, the Government of Guyana.

Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar, has confirmed that the findings of a forensic audit done earlier in the year have been handed over to the police for further action.

The audit had found that the former A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) government purchased the equipment from a Jamaica-based company headed by one of its associates, Alston Stewart.

Stewart is the same Jamaican national who was instrumental in cementing the coalition of the APNU+AFC, leading up to the 2015 General and Regional Elections. In January, the questionable purchase had engaged the attention of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) having been flagged in the Auditor General’s Report for 2016.

At that meeting, Vladim Persaud, the relatively new Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public

Infrastructure, now renamed the Ministry of Public Works, said that the scales were purchased from a company named NevPro Realization Limited.

He explained that two of the scales were shipped to Guyana and have remained in a storage bond at a local wharf. Four years have passed and the scales are yet to be delivered to the Government of Guyana.

Persaud had informed the PAC that several attempts were made to contact the supplier, but authorities under the new People’s Progressive Par-

ty/Civic (PPP/C) government hadn’t much success in locating the company.

“It seems as though they have come off the face of the earth. We can’t find any information of the company,” Persaud informed a January 2021 sitting of the PAC. The PAC, in its inquiries then, heard that the contract was signed by former Permanent Secretary, Balraj Balram, and that it contained no dates, bore no witness signatures, nor displayed the verification number from the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB).

Even more glaring was the fact that the contract was signed even before Cabinet had approved the purchase. Balram, upon being questioned by the PAC, was unable to provide answers on the undertaking, defending that it had been five years since the contract was signed, and that he could not remember.

The 2016 audit report also indicated that “a performance bond was not presented for audit examination”.

It also stated that as of September 2017, the scales, which had a 90-day delivery period attached to

A stop and search exercise by ranks of the Sparendaam Station district, on Friday, led to the arrest of a 25-year-old man who was busted with a quantity of cannabis and cocaine.

According to a po-

lice report, the suspect, of First Street, Better Hope, East Coast Demerara, was searched around 19:10 hrs but nothing was found on his person. However, a subsequent search was carried out next to where he was seated at the roadside.

Ranks reportedly found a transparent plastic bag containing a whitish rocklike substance suspected to be cocaine and a black plastic bag containing a quantity of leaves, seeds and stems suspected to be cannabis.

The suspect reportedly denied ownership of the illicit items and was arrested.

The items were weighed and amounted to 80 grammes of cannabis and 10 grammes of cocaine.

He remains in custody pending charges.

Guyana has been expecting the delivery of three motion scales for more than four years (Michelli.com photo)

Better Hope man busted with ganja, cocaine

it, had still not been delivered. This remains the case in July 2021.

The purchase of the devices was made under the ministry’s equipment/tools line item. The contract provided for an advance payment of 50 per cent of the contract sum within 30 days of signing of the contract and the balance on delivery,” the report specified. However, it was reported that as at December 31, 2016, the contract sum was paid in full.

The Auditor General’s report also pointed to the lack of any evidence that an addendum to the contract was ever prepared.

In its official response to the Audit Office, the ministry, then led by David Patterson, said that the observations were all correct and that the ministry was working to remedy the situation.

Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira, had referred to the situation as being unacceptable, expressing dissatisfaction that no disciplinary actions were taken against those responsible for the botched purchase.

“There has been no calling in of anybody to investigate, [not] even the police. There has been no lawyer’s letter… I can’t understand a Ministry being so indulgent,” she had said.

Minister Teixeira had

also reasoned that the then National Procurement and Tender Administration Board could not have awarded the contract without the no-objection from the then David Granger Cabinet.

Added to that, media reports from 2018 indicate that the then Ministry of Public Infrastructure paid $10 million in value-added tax to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) for the two scales; however, the cheque was rejected as the GRA had just adopted the new integrated customs management system, ASCUDA World.

The three motion scales were sourced to be placed in sections of the country where there were roads prone to damage by overweight vehicles. Minister Indar has insisted that those found culpable of mismanaging government monies will be held accountable.

So far, Patterson, the former minister under whose tenure the scales were purchased, is facing multiple criminal charges in relation to mismanagement of state finances. He is also being investigated as part of a gift-giving scandal in which he and his colleague minister, Annette Ferguson, benefited from millions of dollars’ worth of gifts given to them by the agencies under their purview.

The marijuana and cocaine found by the police

SUNDAY CHRONICLE July 11, 2021

13

Lowenfield’s argument lacks ‘logic and common sense’ – says AG –– Reaffirms that GECOM constitutionally required to hire/dismiss staff

THE Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), established by the Constitution of Guyana, is mandated to hire and/or dismiss staff in executing its responsibility for the efficient functioning of the Secretariat of the Commission.

These were the sentiments shared by Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, S.C., as he pronounced on the application filed by Chief Elections Officer (CEO) of GECOM, Keith Lowenfield, on Tuesday last, seeking an Order preventing two of the government-nominated GECOM Commissioners from participating in the discussion of the motion tabled for his immediate dismissal.

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C)-nominated GECOM Commissioners, Sase Gunraj and Bibi Shadick, had tabled a motion dated June 1, 2021, seeking the “immediate dismissal” of Lowenfield, in which they cited a gamut of reasons pertaining to breach of functions, duties, responsibilities and obligations.

In making his argument, Nandlall cited Article 161(A) (1) of the Constitution which states “the Elections Commission shall be responsible for the efficient functioning of the Secretariat of the Commission, which shall comprise the Officers and Employees of the Commission and for the appointment of all the staff to the offices thereof… and shall have the power to remove and to exercise disciplinary control over such staff.”

Lowenfield, in his application, has asked the High Court for a declaration that he is entitled to the protection of the rules of natural justice and the right to a fair hearing and determination of the motion; and a declaration that the government-nominated commissioners cannot properly participate, hear and determine their own complaint against him, amongst others.

Against this backdrop, Nandlall opined that the argument purported by Lowenfield lacks “logic and common sense” as “it inheres in both logic and common sense that in whom is vested the power to hire, concomitantly, enjoys the power to fire.”

The Attorney-General explicitly contended that “no rational mind” can dispute GECOM’s legal power and authority to dismiss any

Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, S.C. member of the Secretariat noted that like every other staff; he reasoned that “it Commission or entity, whose must be elementary knowl- constituent members repreedge, even to lay men, that sent different and competing “disciplinary control” nec- interests, decisions are made essarily includes a power of by votes and in this regard, dismissal.”

GECOM is no different.

He outlined that like evNandlall said that anyery other Commission that one who has even a “mere is an establishment of the fleeting familiarity” as reConstitution, GECOM “shall gards to how the business not be subject to the direction of an entity, whose decior control of any other person sions are made by votes, or authority.” functions, would know “In the autonomous dis- that the decision-making charge of its powers and process is initiated by the functional responsibilities, proffering of a motion, GECOM is empowered to which is normally secondmake rules, to regulate the ed and then debated and, procedure of the Commis- upon conclusion, a vote sion and until such rules are is taken, with the decision made, the Commission shall emanating therefrom being regulate its own procedure,” usually expressed in a resNandlall wrote on his Face- olution. book, on Saturday.

“It is a fact of public “This characteristic in- notoriety that in the exercise dependence is guaranteed by of its freedom to regulate its Article 226 (2) of the Consti- own procedure enshrined tution in language expressed in Article 232 (4) (above), in such clarity that it brokers GECOM has resolved to use no ambiguity,” Nandlall said. this universally utilized proArticle 226 (2) states that cess in treating with the issue an “officer may be removed of the removal of three of its from office only for inability employees,” Nandlall said. to discharge the functions “In this procedural maof his offices, whether aris- trix, the contention that the ing from infirmity of body movers and supporters of or mind or any other cause these motions cannot parwhatsoever or for misbe- ticipate in the debate or vote haviour.” on these motions borders on Nandlall highlighted that such absurdity reminiscent of GECOM has never made any the proposition that 33 is not rules to regulate its procedure a majority of 65,” he added. in the manner contemplatFurther, Nandlall has ed by the constitution and expressed that “to invoke therefore the Commission the sacrosanct jurispruremains free to regulate its dential concept of ‘natural own procedure. justice’ into such a proceIn demonstrating the syn- dural prototype is simply ergy of the law in relation to denigrate these hallowed to his argument, Nandlall principles.”

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SUNDAY CHRONICLE July 11, 2021

Roll out of $3.2B education cash grant begins next week DISBURSEMENT of the government’s ‘Because We Care’ cash grant will commence from next Thursday, July 15, 2021, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Education on Saturday.

“The Because We Care Grant is valued at $15,000 this year and the School Uniform and Supplies Grant is valued at $4,000, giving a total of $19,000 for each child in the public education system,” the press release indicated.

It explained that approximately 172,000 students have been earmarked as beneficiaries of the programme, bringing the overall cost to $3.2 billion which will go directly towards children and families across Guyana.

Unlike last year, the School Uniform and Supplies Grant will not be given in the form of a voucher, but rather, in cash.

“The schedule for distribution will be posted on the Ministry of Education’s Facebook page, the ministry’s website and in the Sunday, July 11, 2021 and later editions of the daily newspapers,” the ministry said.

It indicated too that the parents or guardians of children in the public school system from nursery to secondary level are to visit the respective schools on the scheduled date to uplift the grant. “If a parent or guardian fails to uplift the grant on the scheduled date, they will be allowed to do so at a later date at the Department of Education for that region or education district,” the statement assured.

This later date, according to the ministry, will be announced at the appropriate time, but will be after the entire exercise has concluded. To this end, parents are encouraged to make every effort to uplift the cash on the scheduled dates.

Parents or guardians are asked to walk with a valid form of identification when going to uplift the grant. The acceptable forms of identification are the National Identification Card, Driver’s Licence or Passport.

Persons who do not pos-

Education Minister Priya Manickchand sess any of these documents can still uplift the grant, but their relationship with the child must be confirmed by a senior official in the community or the school’s headteacher.

The Ministry of Education said that it aims to serve each child before September 2021, when the new school term begins.

“This initiative of the Government of Guyana is to provide assistance to families so that they can provide the necessary resources to their children, so that they cannot only remain in school, but to also excel in their studies,” the ministry said.

It further committed to increasing the ‘Because We Care’ cash grant incrementally each year until it reaches $50,000. The School Uniform and Supplies Grant was increased last year from $2000 to $4000.

“We encourage all parents and guardians to uplift the grants and use it in the best interest of their children as we work together to give those who will be the leaders of tomorrow the opportunity to be the best that they can be,” the ministry concluded.

The “Because We Care” grant was initiated by the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) government prior to demitting office in 2015.

The programme then, saw the issuance of $10,000 See page 17

SUNDAY CHRONICLE JULy 11, 2021

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SUNDAY CHRONICLE July 11, 2021

Roll out of $3.2B education cash grant ...

From page 14

per child in the public school system.

The programme was implemented with the aim of providing support to parents with schoolage children and increasing their disposable incomes, with a view to increasing school enrolment and attendance rates across the country.

When the A Partnership for National Unity

+ Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) assumed office in 2015, the party discontinued the grant.

During the lead-up to the March 2 elections, the PPP/C had promised to reinstate the programme.

This has since been delivered by Education Minister Priya Manickchand and the Irfaan Ali-led government.

As part of the cash grant, each child in the public education system will benefit from a total of $19,000

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SUNDAY CHRONICLE July 11, 2021

Concessional financing a necessity for Small Island Developing States –– amid glaring vulnerabilities, Dr Singh tells UN high-level political forum

WITH the vulnerabilities of Small Island Developing States (SIDs) being evident now more than ever, the need for concessional financing cannot be overemphasised, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh,

has said.

Dr. Singh advocated strongly for SIDs to be granted access to concessional financing during his address to the United Nations (UN)’s 2021 high-level political forum, held virtually under the title: “The multi-dimensional vulnerability index (MVI)

and SIDs.” Concessional financing is considered loans that are extended on terms substantially more generous than market rates.

In pursuit of this necessity, Minister Singh informed participants of the need for the question of “scale needs”

to be addressed after the first hurdle of access to concessional financing is crossed.

“The question of scale does need to be addressed because the reality is that adequate levels of concessional resources and adequate levels of development financing have not been mobilised to

address the development challenges we face as a global community and the development challenges that SIDS, in particular, face,” Dr. Singh reasoned.

The Senior Minister with responsibility for Finance, while continuing to highlight the unique multi-dimensional vulnerabilities faced by SIDS, alluded to the decades of research done under the auspices of the Commonwealth Secretariat in defining the peculiar vulnerabilities of small states.

He related that rigorous articulation of these vulnerabilities needed to be moved to the point of a universallyaccepted multi-dimensional index to form a basis on which access to concessional financing is granted.

“We have to recognise the oneness …the interconnectedness of our world and this has been reiterated amply by the onset of COVID-19 which has reminded us that events on one side of the world affect us on the other side of the world, and so the reality is that the eradication of poverty, globally, is a global objective that we share and it is in everybody’s interest…the entire global community needs to ensure its achievement,” Dr. Singh posited.

While elaborating even more on the effects of COVID-19 on SIDS, as

Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh well as other recent disasters which those countries face, Minister Singh added: “There is clearly a strong and immediate recommitment to multilateralism and the shared objectives that we embrace as a global community.”

He concluded that there is need for accelerated action on climate change, urgent action to harness the benefits of the ‘blue economy’ and the acknowledgement of the global community that long-standing developmental financing commitments (some dating all the way back to the 1970s) need to be delivered.

“We might think that we cannot afford to deliver on these commitments. I would say quite the opposite.

We really, as a global community, cannot afford not to deliver on these commitments if we recognize the oneness, the interconnectedness and the intertwined nature of our nations in the global community,” Dr. Singh reiterated.

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SUNDAY CHRONICLE July 11, 2021

Rosignol’s Faraz Ally may be great at doing hair and nails

–– but he is no stereotype

By Rehana Ahamad JUST as women in Guyana and all across the world are shattering barriers relating to gender stereotypes, Faraz Ally is making his subtle contributions to ensure that men, too, are not placed in boxes and prevented from entering a certain line of work.

For more than a decade, the 30-year-old man has been leading by example, working in his wife’s salon located at Rosignol, West Coast Berbice.

“After my wife start doing the business, and I used to come and wait for her and stuff after work, I find that I could do certain things that she was doing. So we decide that she could train me, and instead of getting a worker, I could be working with her,” Faraz explained during an interview with the Sunday Chronicle.

The then 20-year-old would later quit his job at a reputable rice mill in Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara, to take up the task of learning how to paint nails and do facials, as well as wash, treat and style women’s hair.

“I find myself that when I start helping, she does certain things, and I eventually get to really like what I was doing,” Faraz recalled.

Although excited to delve into a new field of work, Faraz’s debut at his wife’s salon was not at all smooth sailing. As projected, his new portfolio attracted a host of unnecessary attention, which ultimately led to some patrons

Faraz Ally is meticulous when it comes to giving haircuts questioning his sexuality and gender identity.

“At first people would come up to me and say, ‘I want ask you a personal question’. And they would ask me things like, ‘You is a gay?’” the young man recalled.

However, grounded firmly in his identity and sexual preference, Faraz said he allowed the questions and the generalisations to continue, while he remained focused on perfecting a new-found craft.

The young man related that with the support of his wife, Bibi, he was able to maintain his composure and remain respectful in his responses to the many, many inquiries.

“Eventually, everybody know that she [Bibi] is my wife and suh, so nobody never really come back with that

Faraz and his wife, Bibi, hard at work!

question,” Faraz related.

He said that once the surprise of seeing a ‘straight’, married man working at a salon wore off, patrons allowed him to do his work without interrogation. After work, before work, and during their “spare time” at the salon, Faraz’s wife would teach him all that she knew about salon work.

“I train him for five years, and then I said, ‘Now you can go; you can go and be perfect,’” Bibi related.

With the training wheels off, Faraz is now able to handle all aspects of the salon on his own. Over the years, he has even been able to develop some techniques of his own.

“I do everything now: I do hair, I do nails, pedicures, facials, everything I do; I is an all-rounder actually, in the salon,” he boasted.

Soon enough, Faraz’s presence at the salon would garner some amount of popularity, and eventually, he would have a long list of his own clients; women who only wanted him to do their hair, nails and facials.

“People would recommend me, so it have some girls would now come directly to me. It get some girls that would come, and they don’t want anybody else do anything for them; just me,” a smiling Faraz said. He indicated that although he loves styling hair, he is far better at doing nails.

Although working as a hair and nail technician for more than a decade, Faraz said he is always intrigued by new and emerging techniques, which keep him fascinated with his work at the salon. “Every day you learn

something new; is not one thing that you keep doing all the time. Every day is something new you learn. I get to learn things that I never know about; different types of hair, how to treat hair loss and all sorts of things,” Faraz said.

Moreover, the young man said that being able to run a successful business in partnership with his wife has brought him much joy over the years, and he plans to continue for a very long time.

FLIRTS AND A GLIMPSE OF THE FEMALE MIND Faraz also pointed to the understanding nature of his wife, who supports him even in the most peculiar of situations.

Oftentimes, such “situations” arise when unfamiliar clients take the liberty of openly flirting with Faraz while he works, typically

oblivious to the fact that his wife not only exists, but is frequently present at the salon.

Notwithstanding this, the couple said that they could not be any happier in their relationship.

“It’s business, so it doesn’t really affect us. Both of us have this understanding that you have to be nice to customers, and be nice to people, but at the end of the day, we know that is both ah we going home together, and coming back to work in the morning… Together!” Faraz told the Sunday Chronicle.

Further, Faraz is thankful that his current job has allowed him to be exposed to something other than a patriarchal mindset.

Because salons are to women what barbershops are to men, a safe space to vent, Faraz’s job has ultimately made him a better, more considerate man.

“Just from the conversa-

tions that the women would have; they don’t have to know you, so they would come and feel comfortable and just start talking about their problems,” Faraz related.

He said that oftentimes, the women would complain about the men in their lives, and how they have been hurt, and in many cases, abused.

“Dey got a lot of things that I gain from them when they come and sit and start talk their story. All things they sit and talk about; is things that I would listen and think about and learn, and take into consideration,” Faraz said, adding: “That is how I gain experience, too, that all women are not the same.”

Both Faraz and his wife plan to continue investing in their business, and their craft, which allows them to serve the women of Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), and even further afield.

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SUNDAY CHRONICLE July 11, 2021

Commerce Min. tackling youth unemployment –– providing finance to young entrepreneurs

–– making access to loans easier

By Richard Bhainie COGNISANT of the unemployment rate among the youth population, the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce has embarked upon a path to promote entrepreneurship in this section of society by providing access to financing for the development of small businesses.

Director of Business and Entrepreneur Development attached to the Ministry of

Tourism, Industry and Commerce, John Edghill, during an interview with the Sunday Chronicle, pronounced on a gamut of measures the ministry is currently facilitating to implement and support entrepreneurship.

“The reason why the ministry is pushing entrepreneurship is because we actually realise that there is an issue with unemployment with young people. In Guyana, I think the rate is actually 30 per cent; and that’s

higher than our actual rate of the population, which is around 13 per cent, if I’m not mistaken,” he said.

According to Edghill, the ministry recognises that when most young people depart the school system, they do so without, at least, adequate financing at their disposal, which stymies investment. It is against this backdrop that the Small Business Bureau is using a grant programme to provide up to $500,000 to young

entrepreneurs; no strings attached, for business development.

“What the government has through the Small Business Bureau is a grant programme where you can access up to half-a-million dollars; which is quite substantive, if you would just like to have as start-up, or if you would just like some injection into your business,” Edghill said.

Businesses desirous of accessing the grant must submit a comprehensive business plan, demonstrating what particular service the business will provide, the competition within the business industry, and the opportunities conducive to developing the business and industry.

“That grant programme is obviously government’s commitment to you; and that is not money that you need to repay on. So, that is no interest; no repay period.

That is just government’s commitment to say, ‘We trust your business enough to generate some economic impact; we want you to be able to nurture and grow your business,’” he said.

‘LEGIT’ AND COMPLIANT The ministry, however, requires the business to be legitimate and compliant with all requisite procedures.

It must be compliant with the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), and must be registered at the Commercial Registry.

“The reason for that, naturally, if government is giving you half-a-million dollars, then government must ensure the fund is revolving. The only way the fund can revolve is if a business starts up, is able to grow, and then is able to pay taxes, which will be used to serve other such ventures,” Edghill said.

“That is why that particular caveat is there; it is not intended to cause any undue burden on a business owner, but it is intended so that other business owners can benefit, because we don’t just want a one-year programme of giving grants,” he added.

Edghill explained that

Director of Business and Entrepreneur Development at the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, John Edghill the grant has been ongoing for at least eight years, and has been fully financed by the government. He highlighted that under the previous administration, some $100 million was allocated to the fund, however, for the first full year of the new government, some $250 million was allocated to support and expand it, thereby allowing it to support more businesses.

Edghill explained that the feedback to the initiative has been “overwhelming”, as there is a high demand by businesses to access the grant.

He disclosed that the ministry is on path to reach its target of providing access to funding for 700 businesses, and is even expected to surpass their target for the year.

Coupled with the grant initiative to help businesses evolve, the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce has also provided training for small businesses in the area of developing business plans.

Edghill highlighted that so far, in Linden, Region Ten (Upper Demerara – Berbice) alone, over 200 entrepreneurs were involved in the business plan training; over 50 per cent were managed by young persons, and some 30 businesses from that region have received grants for the year.

This is a significant increase from 2020, when only four grants were disbursed.

MAJOR PLANS Edghill further disclosed that major plans are in the pipeline to expand access to financing provided by the ministry.

One such initiative is the Security Transaction Framework Project, which seeks to get commercial banks and

agencies to widely accept movable property as collateral for the granting of loans for small businesses.

“We know usually when you go to commercial banks and you’re seeking a loan, you have to get collateral, and that collateral is usually immovable property in the form of land and building,” Edghill said.

He highlighted that the project has already significantly benefitted young persons in China, Chile, and several parts of Latin America.

A Movable Property Bill is currently being drafted by the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce to formalise the use of movable property, such as equipment, machinery and vehicles as collateral for loans.

“Let’s say you’re doing agro-processing, and you have grinders that you use to convert fruits into manufactured product, that would be able to be used as collateral for your loan,” Edghill said.

He highlighted that the ministry is currently conducting a national state of entrepreneurship survey, assessing persons who dropped out of school in the Fourth or Sixth Form levels, in the hope of understanding their intentions, ambitions and where they currently are in terms of conducting business.

“We ask them some detailed questions; not difficult, but detailed enough to see whether they are aware of the process of setting up a business; whether the risk of startup is too high, all with the intention to be able to particularly craft programmes to target young entrepreneurs,” Edghill said.

SUNDAY CHRONICLE July 11, 2021

CARICOM considers ‘carve out’ ahead of global minimum corporate tax

A TOTAL of 130 countries backed the 15 per cent minimum global corporate tax rate proposed by United States (US) President Joseph Biden but Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Gaston Browne, said that this could result in challenges for Caribbean economies if no special provisions are made.

Browne, the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda who is serving his sixmonth tenure as Chairman of CARICOM, expressed his concerns over this tax rate during a recent press conference, held at the end of the 42nd regular meeting of the conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM. “In essence, we are very concerned of the potential impact of this proposed global corporate minimum tax on our revenue and the impact on the development of our people,” the CARICOM Chairman emphasised.

Though he stated that the Heads of Government would have an “urgent meet-

ing” on the matter before the end of July, he indicated that CARICOM was already considering some special “carve out” or some “compensatory mechanism” if countries move ahead with the proposal.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) - the organisation guiding the negotiations on this minimum tax, - said that this minimum tax rate would generate $150 billion in additional tax revenue each year.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that this imposition of this tax rate is part of a wider overhaul of the rules for taxing multinational companies. With the backing of these 130 countries, those governments will now seek to pass laws ensuring that the companies headquartered in their countries pay the 15 per cent minimum tax in each country they operate. This is expected to reduce opportunities for tax avoidance.

Importantly, however, there are countries in the Caribbean - such as the Ba-

hamas, the British Virgin Islands and Barbados - which are considered ‘tax havens’ due to their lower corporate income tax rates. This has attracted foreign direct investment and has allowed for these economies to garner revenues.

“The reality is that many of our countries, we have low-tax offshore sectors and the introduction of a 15 per cent (global minimum corporate tax) will result in a significant reduction of revenues and that in itself could undermine the development of respective countries and respective peoples,” Prime Minister Browne explained.

Already, it has been reported that several Caribbean countries, including The Bahamas, Jamaica, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and the British Virgin Islands are among 130 jurisdictions that have agreed to the outline of a two-pillar plan to overhaul the global tax system.

Barbados and St Vincent and the Grenadines are two of nine countries which did not come into agreement,

Minibus driver dies after crashing into Apex Academy THIRTY-six-year-old David Michael Dindial, of Lot 17 Goed Fortuin, West Bank Demerara (WBD), died in the wee hours of Saturday after he lost control of his minibus and crashed into Apex Academy at Montrose, East Coast Demerara.

According to a police report, Dindial was speeding in motor van, GTT 9815, on the southern side of the Montrose Public Road when he lost control and slammed into the fence of the school, around 02:30hrs.

As a result of the impact, Dindial reportedly pitched out of the vehicle; a doctor pronounced him dead at the scene. The body was taken to the Lyken Funeral Home awaiting an autopsy.

As a result of the accident, the company’s retractable sliding gate is damaged, the front fence is damaged and there is damage to the front post, west of the building.

The damaged vehicle being removed from the scene of the accident

however. Guyana was not listed on the document as a member of the OECD/G20 inclusive framework for this plan.

With some countries within the CARICOM expressing their support for this minimum tax rate, while others oppose it, Prime Minister Browne related, “We believe that, perhaps, the coordination on this issue may not have been the best but if this is allowed to go unchallenged and we do not advocate for a certain carve out for Caribbean countries or CARICOM countries then

we could see a significant displacement in the region.”

He also said that no formal, legal commitments have been given as yet and as such, CARICOM members can still work to devise strategies to mitigate any potential risk or they can be advised to hold on further commitments.

“The idea is not to be contentious but to hold high-level dialogue with the policy makers in the G7 and the G20 to make sure our interests are protected,” he said.

The Prime Minister also emphasised that CAR-

21

Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne ICOM is not “opposed, necessarily” to the global tax regime initiative but emphasised the need to protect Caribbean economies at the same time.

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SUNDAY CHRONICLE July 11, 2021

Policeman, sister robbed of Two stabbed by neighbour motorcycle in South Ruimveldt during argument in Lethem

POLICE are on the hunt for two men who robbed a 23-year-old policeman and his 14-year-old sister at gunpoint, on Friday night, of an XR motorcycle CK 2404 valued at $435,000.

Police Headquarters revealed that the armed robbery occurred at around 19:30hrs in South Ruimveldt, Georgetown.

It is alleged that the cop and his 14-year-old sister - the pillion rider - were heading north along Spurwing Drive, South Ruimveldt, when the two suspects rode up

behind them.

The pillion rider perpetrator pulled out a handgun from the waist of his pants, pointed it at the victims and demanded them to stop while discharging three rounds in the air.

The victim complied and his motorcycle was taken away by the perpetrator who then mounted it and rode away in the company of his accomplice.

The matter was reported to the police and investigations are underway.

A 19-year-old man was arrested after an argument led to a stabbing on Saturday at T??abatinga, Lethem, Central Rupununi, Region Nine.

The incident occurred around 01:25hrs. According to a police report, the suspect, who is a neighbour and friend, and the victims - 23-year-old Paul Constance and Timothy James - were at their home roasting chicken and fish with other family members.

Constance and the suspect were?? reportedly

imbibing when an argument ensued. Police said the suspect allegedly got annoyed and pushed Constance to the ground, causing James to start arguing with the suspect.

Police said the suspect pulled out a brown-handled knife from the waist of his pants and stabbed James to his right-side forehead. It is further alleged that while Constance was trying to get on his feet, the suspect turned his attention on him and stabbed him several times about the body.

A report was made to the police and both victims were taken to the Lethem Regional Hospital; Constance was admitted as a patient in a stable condition while James was treated and sent away.

The suspect was arrested and claimed that he was assaulted by James with a cutlass. As such, he was also taken to the hospital where he was treated and discharged and then placed into police custody.

Investigations are ongoing.?

102-year-old woman among 3 more COVID deaths

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SUNDAY CHRONICLE July 11, 2021

-90 new cases in 24 hours

A 102-year-old woman is among three COVID-19 deaths reported by the Ministry of Health, taking the total number of deaths from the pandemic to 492, with 16 of those deaths recorded during this month so far.

On Saturday, the Ministry of Health reported that the latest fatalities are: a 60-year-old man from Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), who died on July 8; a 67-year-old man from Region Four (Demerara- Mahaica), who died on July 9 and the 102-year-old woman, also from Region Four, who died on July 8 as well.

The ministry said that the patients were admitted with COVID-19 like symptoms, but died while receiving care

at a medical institution. Samples were reportedly taken at the time of admission and those subsequently returned positive.

In addition to these three deaths, the ministry’s daily COVID-19 dashboard indicates that another 90 people became infected with the virus after 1,469 tests were conducted. This means that there have been 20,924 infections recorded since March, 2020.

These cases were recorded in Region One (10 cases), Region Two (12 cases), Region Three (eight cases), Region Four (29 cases), Region Five (five cases), Region Six (six cases), Region Nine (eight cases) and Region 10 (12 cases).

Meanwhile, there are 12 patients in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU),

85 people in institutional isolation, 1,337 are in home isolation and 15 in institutional quarantine.

All Guyanese are urged to observe the protocols of the COVID-19 emergency

measures, which emphasise the need for correct and consistent use of face masks when leaving home, the importance of maintaining the six-foot physical distance from others, and the

need for good hand hygiene to help curb the spread of COVID-19.

If anyone you know is displaying any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19, or needs

any additional information, kindly contact the COVID-19 Hotline 2311166, 226-7480 or 624-6674 immediately or visit the Ministry of Health at www. health.gov.gy.

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16-member Guyanese delegation to attend Tokyo Olympic Games … Garfield Wiltshire named Chef de-Mission of Team Guyana

SEVEN athletes, five coaches and four officials will form Guyana’s delegation to the Olympic Games in Tokyo from July 23 to August 8.

The contingent comprises mainly regular faces in national colours, with the newest addition being COVID-19 Liaison Officer/Physiotherapist, Angelica Holder.

Treasurer of the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) Garfield Wiltshire has been designed Chef-de-Mission of Team Guyana and four-time Olympian Aliann Pompey will travel as the Athlete Representative at the Games.

In May, Wiltshire indicated that the National Olympic appointees who will attend the Olympics are now mandated to have a COVID-19 Officer, and in consultation with the Guyana Physiotherapy Association they have identified Angelica Holder to perform the dual role.

Speaking during a press conference at GOA’s headquarters in Liliendaal, Holder said, “Everyone travelling to Tokyo will be undergoing daily testing, twice a day. I would have to report on the current status of everyone - coaches, officials and athletes - including myself, on whether negative or positive results have been submitted.”

She added, “I would also have to make arrangements with Tokyo if we have any persons testing positive, to get them isolated or get them to the hospital if symptoms are present. Luckily, I’m also a physiotherapist who worked in the COVID-19 unit so I can also handle any severe respiratory distress.”

As part of the COVID-19 measures implemented by Games’ organisers, Holder revealed all members of a delegation are required to download two Apps

– Ocha and Cocoa.

The Ocha App is basically a health reporting App they will use to report their status every day and when they arrive in Tokyo, they will have to download the Cocoa App that everyone in the Olympic Village will be using via Bluetooth.”

The Cocoa App will record positive COVID-19 cases within the Olympic Village and notify persons who have been in close proximity to immediately isolate.

Two members of the swimming delegation, swimmer, Aleka Persaud and coach Shyka Gonsalves will depart Guyana today, to meet Andrew Fowler for a camp in Tokyo from July 13 to 19.

Other members of the delegation will leave at various times in the week, to arrive for the opening ceremony on July 23.

Wiltshire indicated that the team has to be tested 96 and 72 fours before arrival into

Barty emulates idol ...

ists gone head-to-head in the women’s championship match. But for the first set only one showed up.

WORST NIGHTMARE Eighth seed Pliskova, whose previous Grand Slam final ended in defeat at the U.S. Open in 2016, suffered every player’s worst nightmare as she froze solid.

Her feet seemed stuck in clay, her arms in a straight jacket and her mind in a fog as Barty helped herself to the first 14 points of the match with clinical precision.

It felt like a slow motion train crash and the 15 000 Centre Court crowd did not know whether to watch or turn their faces away out of respect for the suffering Czech.

When she got on the scoreboard thanks to a Barty error, a huge cheer broke the tension and Pliskova smiled awkwardly.

A double fault left her 0-4 down though and it was hard to see how she would win a game, let alone the title.

With Barty rampant, it looked as though she might not require much more than the 23 minutes it took Suzanne Lenglen to defeat Molla Mallory in 1922, the shortest final on record.

But gradually the 29-year-old Pliskova de-frosted and she broke Barty’s serve to love to win her first game, only to surrender serve for the third time in the match.

En route to the final, she had been broken only four times and served 54 aces.

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Tokyo and they thanked Eureka Medical Labs for providing the two Tests free of charge to the eight members in Guyana.

Guyana’s Delegation: Garfield Wiltshire (Chef-de-Mission), Angelica Holder (COVID Liaison Officer/Physiotherapist), Deion Nurse (Secretary-General), Aliann Pompey (Athlete Representative), Julian Edmonds (Athletics manager/ coach), Denzel Abrams (Athletics coach), Idi Lewis (Table Tennis coach), Sebert Blake (Boxing coach), Shyka Gonsalves (Swimming coach), Aliyah Abrams (athlete) Women’s 400m, Jasmine Abrams (athlete) Women’s 100m, Emanuel Archibald (athlete) Men’s 100m, Chelsea Edghill (athlete) Women’s Table Tennis, Keevin Allicock (athlete) 52-57kg Boxing, Aleka Persaud (athlete) 50m Freestyle and Andrew Fowler (athlete) 100m Freestyle.

FROM BACK PAGE

Barty got bogged down in the mediocrity and she lost consecutive games before sealing a bizarre opener in 28 minutes.

When Pliskova’s gremlins returned with two double-faults to drop serve early in the second set, the title loomed for Barty.

But the Queenslander began to tighten up and incredibly, after what had gone before, she found herself serving to stay in the second set at 4-5 as Pliskova’s power game began to click.

Pliksova’s fragility returned though and she surrendered serve from 40-0 at 5-5 to give Barty the chance to serve for the title, 10 years after winning the girl’s singles.

A succession of nervy, forehand errors handed Pliskova a lifeline however, to take the set into a tiebreak.

Lady Luck seemed to be smiling on Pliskova as she got a cruel netcord at 4-2 to drag Barty out of position before the Czech belted away a smash to huge cheers from the crowd.

Barty then double-faulted to send the final into a deciding set for the first time since 2012.

After surviving a nervy opening, Barty was gifted a break when Pliskova netted the simplest of volleys.

Pliskova hung on gamely at 2-5 to make Barty serve for the title, which on an afternoon of shredded nerves was never going to be a foregone conclusion.

Barty slammed a forehand volley into the net at 30-30 with an open court gaping. But she shrugged that off to save the break point and bring up match point with an ace.

One was all she needed as her dream became a reality.

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SUNDAY, July 11, 2021 COMPLIMENTS OF XTRA ENERGY DRINK – STABROEK BAZAAR (Tel: 683-9500) & CUMMINGS ELECTRICAL COMPANY LTD – 83 Garnett street, Campbellville, Georgetown (Tel: 225-6158) (1) (2) (1)

(2)

ANSWERS TO YESTERDAY’S:

Chris Gayle-317 (ARG, 2005) Hashim Amla-208 (Centurion, 2014)

TODAY’S QUIZ:

Which WI bowler has captured most Test wickets against SA to date?

Which SA player has claimed most Test wickets against the WI to date?

ANSWERS IN TOMORROW’S ISSUE

28

SUNDAY CHRONICLE July 11, 2021

Zimbabwe lose rampant Taylor as Bangladesh smell victory on final day BANGLADESH scented victory in their Test against Zimbabwe, having got rid of a rampant Brendan Taylor late on the fourth day, to take command of the game.

The Zimbabwe captain smacked a 73-ball 92, keeping the visiting side on the back foot for much of the evening session. Eventually, the home side went to stumps at 140 for 3, still 337 runs adrift of the 477-run target Bangladesh had set them.

Scores: Zimbabwe 276 and 140 for 3 (Taylor 92, Myers 18*) trail Bangladesh 468 and 284 for 1 decl.

(Shanto 117*, Shadman 115*) by 337 runs.

Ta y l o r r i d i c u l o u s ly dominated the 95-run second-wicket stand with Takudzwanashe Kaitano, who contributed just two runs. He then struck 16 fours, plenty of them in the range between cover to right behind the bowler, with a few struck through the leg-side.

Bangladesh had set up the target after Shadman Islam and Nazmul Islam Shanto added 196 runs, Bangladesh’s highest second-wicket stand against Zimbabwe breaking the 121 between Javed Omar and Habibul Bashar from 2001.

Shanto made 117 off 118 with five fours and six sixes while Shadman struck nine fours in his 115 off 196 balls.

Shanto hit the most sixes in an innings in Zimbabwe.

The home side lost Milton Shumba before the tea break, when substitute Yasir Ali caught him at second slip off Taskin Ahmed. Yasir, who was fielding in place of the injured Mushfiqur Rahim, has now taken six catches without playing a Test yet.

Taylor got into action almost immediately, cracking Taskin for two fours through the leg-side, before launching Shakib Al Hasan over mid-off with the full flow of the bat.

struck two sixes before Kaitano’s dismissal, the second of which was a nice clean straight hit.

Shadman added 88 runs for the opening stand with Saif Hassan. The pair kept things quiet in the first hour with Saif ’s hammer over the covers being their only aggressive shot. Shadman played couple of nice cover drives, but once Shanto came to the crease, business picked up.

Saif meanwhile made 43 off 95 balls with six fours, getting out when Myers caught him at gully off Richard Ngarava.

But that was the only wicket Zimbabwe took in the innings as Shadman and Shanto raced off. Shadman reached his century first, off 180 balls, an innings long time coming after he made his debut against West Indies in 2018.

Shanto wasn’t too far behind, hitting Roy Kaia for five sixes, mostly straight down the ground and one through wide long-off. Two sixes in the same over got him from 85 to 97, before he took a single and ran for two more to get to his century off 109 balls.

Shanto’s sixth six - pulled off Shumba - was when Mominul Haque called back the two batters.

Zimbabwe’s bowlers didn’t have a great time, having conceded the most

count off his 39th ball, taking a single off Ebadat Hossain to fine leg. Taylor continued unabated at the other end, hitting the fast bowler for three more fours in his next two overs.

E b a d a t , h o w e v e r, dropped a catch that was reminiscent of Joe Denly’s drop in Sri Lanka last year. As Kaitano top-edged Miraz, the ball looped over Ebadat who didn’t have to move, but it slipped through his reverse cup,

Shadman Islam scored his maiden Test hundred yesterday (Getty Images)

Then came two Taylor specials, the first a punch off his toes through the covers, before going low, still creaming it through the covers. He ended the over with a ramp over the slips. Two more fours in the following over, off Mehidy Hasan Miraz, took Taylor to his fifty off 33 balls.

When Taylor reached 57, Kaitano finally opened his ac-

much to everyone’s shock.

Miraz however got the job done; getting Taylor caught and bowled almost against the run of play, the batsman falling eight runs short of a hundred.

Kaitano fell a little while later, lbw to Shakib as he played back to an arm ball.

He faced 102 balls, hitting one four, in a stonewalling display. Dion Meyers

runs in taking one wicket in a Test innings.

Their four-pronged pace attack bowled steadily at best, but since they

were mostly waiting for Bangladesh’s declaration, Taylor employed Shumba and Kaia for 25.4 overs, going for 151 runs. (Cricinfo)

BANGLADESH 1st innings 468 Zimbabwe 1st innings Milton Shumba lbw Shakib Al Hasan

41 Takudzwanashe Kaitano c Liton Das b Mehidy Hasan 87 Brendan Taylor c (Sub) b Mehidy Hasan

81 Dion Myers c Mehidy Hasan b Shakib Al Hasan 27 Timycen Maruma lbw Shakib Al Hasan

0 Roy Kaia c Liton Das b Taskin Ahmed

0 Regis Chakabva not out

31 Donald Tiripano lbw Mehidy Hasan

2 Victor Nyauchi b Mehidy Hasan

0 Blessing Muzarabani b Mehidy Hasan

2 Richard Ngarava c Nazmul Hossain Shanto b Shakib Al Hasan 0 EXTRAS: (b-2, lb-3)

5 TOTAL: (all out, 111.5 overs)

276 Fall of wickets: 1-61, 2-176, 3-225, 4-228, 5-229, 6-261, 7-263, 8-263, 9-269.

Bowling: Taskin Ahmed 24-10-46- 1, Ebadot Hossain 21-858-0, Shakib Al Hasan 34.5-10-82-4, Mehidy Hasan 31-5-82-5.

BANGLADESH 2nd innings Shadman Islam not out

115 Saif Hassan c Dion Myers b Richard Ngarava

43 Nazmul Hossain Shanto not out

117 EXTRAS: (b-1, nb-3, w-5)

9 TOTAL: (one wkt decl., 67.4 overs)

284 Fall of wickets: 1-88 Hassan Bowling: Blessing Muzarabani 12-4-27-0 (w-2), Richard Ngarava 9-0-36-1 (nb-2), Donald Tiripano 11--2-33-0 (w-2, nb-1), Victor Nyauchi 10-1-36-0 (w-1), Milton Shumba 12.4-0-67-0, Roy Kaia 13-2-84-0.

ZIMBABWE 2nd innings Milton Shumba c (sub.) b Taskin Ahmed 11 Takudzwanashe Kaitano lbw Shakib Al Hasan

7 Brendan Taylor c & b Mehidy Hasan

92 Dion Myers not out 18 Donald Tiripano not out

7 EXTRAS: (b-1, lb-4)

5 TOTAL: (three wkts, 40.0 overs)

140 Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-110, 3-132.

Bowling : Shakib Al Hasan 12-4-23 -1, Mehidy Hasan 14-2-451, Taskin Ahmed 7-0-39-1.

Why Afghanistan might qualify directly to ODI World Cup 2023 and South Africa won’t IF the World Test Championship has allowed for more context to the Test series, the ICC ODI Super League has done so for ODI bilateral series.

The system which was introduced and put into place in 2020 is a pathway to the World Cup 2023. Some of the teams will qualify directly for the big event in India in 2023. However, the path to achieving that for South Africa seems a little bumpy.

At this point, if you take a look at the ODI Super League table, South Africa are ranked 13th (last) with nine points from three matches. To further understand what it means for the Proteas, we have to first address how the ODI Super League actually works. It starts with 32 nations engaging in several cricket series and tournaments in order to become one of the 10 teams at the 2023 World Cup. The 32 teams have been divided into three leagues – Super League, League 2, and Challenge League. From

the Super League, top seven teams plus hosts, India will directly qualify for the World Cup. The rest of the five teams will go to the ICC World Cup qualifier to find a spot in the World Cup. The 13 teams consist of all 12 Test-playing nations along with The Netherlands, who won the ICC World Cricket League Championship (2015-17) to qualify for this cycle of the Super League.

Interestingly, the 13th ranked team at the end of the Super League will also be relegated to League 2. Talking about the format and points systems, each of the teams will play a total of 24 ODIs in the Super League. They will engage in four away ODI series (three matches each) and four home ODI series (three matches each). Every win gives a team 10 points with a loss meaning zero points while a tie or draw means five points.

The thing with South Africa is their scheduling. They lost 2-1 to Pakistan at home.

Zealand, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, and West Indies.

They would have fancied winning all these series except for the one against New Zealand maybe. Instead, they will have their work cut out against teams like India, Australia, and to an extent

On top of that, they reduced their points to 9 from 10, due to a slow over-rate. The four opponents that they won’t play during the cycle have yielded more points for them than the matches which they will play.

South Africa will not play series against New

even Bangladesh.

On the other hand, we have Afghanistan, who have started their league with a 3-0 win against Ireland. They will not be playing against England, New Zealand, South Africa, and West Indies. Instead, their next round series

are against Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, and The Netherlands, all of these three series are matches where they would fancy themselves.

They still have to play against Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Australia.

(CricTracker)

Rank

Team

Matches

Won

Lost

Tied

No result

Points

NRR

Penalty Overs

1

England

13

7

5

0

1

75

0.863

2

Bangladesh

9

5

4

0

0

50

0.013

3

Australia

6

4

2

0

0

40

0.347

4

Pakistan

7

4

3

0

0

40

-0.107

5

New Zealand

3

3

0

0

0

30

2.352

–

6

Afghanistan

3

3

0

0

0

30

0.527

–

7

West Indies

6

3

3

0

0

30

-0.876

–

8

India

6

3

3

0

0

29

-0.252

1

9

Netherlands

3

2

1

0

0

20

-0.049

10

Ireland

9

2

7

0

0

20

-0.614

–

11

Sri Lanka

9

1

7

0

1

13

-0.5

2

12

Zimbabwe

3

1

2

0

0

10

-0.741

–

13

South Africa

3

1

2

0

0

9

-0.08

1

–

SUNDAY CHRONICLE July 11, 2021

Suns beat Bucks in game two, leads 2-0 in NBA Finals

Wimbledon final

Djokovic faces Berrettini hurdle in his leap towards history

By Sudipto Ganguly

Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo (right) returned from a knee injury to score 20 points in his first game of the NBA Finals

GIANNIS Antetokounmpo scored a game-high 42 points but his Milwaukee Bucks trail 0-2 in the NBA Finals after losing 118-108 to Phoenix Suns.

Antetokounmpo, the NBA’s most valuable player of the past two seasons, has overcome a knee injury to play in the finals and added 12 rebounds.

Devin Booker led Phoenix, scoring 31 points, while Mikal Bridges posted 27 and Chris Paul scored 23.

Milwaukee host game three of the best-of-seven series at 01:00 BST tomorrow.

Suns coach Monty Williams was quick to praise Booker for his contribution over the opening two games.

“Devin wants to prove to everybody he’s one of the

best players in the league,” Williams said. “Not just from a stats perspective. He wants to prove it by winning and being competitive.

“He wants to separate himself from everyone else, to show that he can lead a team to win, and he’s getting the chance to do it on the big stage.”

Suns are looking to win the title for the first time in their 53-year history and Booker says there is still a long way to go.

“It’s a 0-0 mindset for us going into game three,” the 24-year-old said. “We’re locked in but we understand that’s a really good team over there.

“We know it gets rowdy in Milwaukee but I think we’re ready for it.” (BBC Sport)

Mollema wins stage 14 as Pogacar retains yellow jersey BAUKE Mollema claimed a fine solo victory on stage 14 of the Tour de France as Guillaume Martin moved up to second overall behind Tadej Pogacar.

Dutchman Mollema broke clear of the rest of the breakaway with 42km of the 183.7km to Quillan left. and won his second Tour stage by over a minute.

French rider Martin came home in a chasing group to move up seven places in the general classification.

Pogacar finished in a reduced peloton and leads by just over four minutes.

Mark Cavendish completed the stage well within the time limit alongside four of his Deceuninck-Quick-Step team-mates, over 25 minutes behind Mollema.

The Dutchman is over 30 minutes adrift in the general classification race this year but took advantage of indecision among his breakaway colleagues as he descended

from the penultimate climb of the day on the Cote de Galinagues.

Once he had ridden clear of his 13 former companions - with an attack that bore similarities to his triumph on stage 15 into Le Puy-enVelay in 2017 - he was able

to pace himself perfectly to the finish.

“It’s amazing to win a stage again,” said Mollema “I was feeling good so I thought, ‘Let’s go from far out’. I had the confidence I could ride alone and keep going for a long time.”

To d a y ’ s 1 9 1 . 3 k m route from Ceret to Andorre-La-Vieille sees the race leave France for the only time in this edition as it reaches the highest point on this year’s route, at over 2,400m on the Port d’Envalira. (BBC Sport)

Bauke Mollema’s only other stage win at the Tour de France came in 2017

29

(REUTERS) - The 6-foot-5 frame of Matteo Berrettini will be standing in the way of Novak Djokovic’s relentless pursuit of hoarding as many tennis milestones as possible when the two meet in a Wimbledon final where both men will be eyeing the record books.A win against Berrettini at the All England Club will not only see the 34-year-old draw level with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s record men’s haul of 20 major titles, it will also mean he would have completed the third leg towards achieving the Golden Slam.

No man has even won the four slams and an Olympic gold in the same year.

“It would mean everything,” said world number one Djokovic, who is chasing a sixth title at the spiritual home of grasscourt tennis. “That’s why I’m here. That’s why I’m playing.

Serbian Novak Djokovic

“I imagined myself being in a position to fight for another Grand Slam trophy prior to coming to London.

I put myself in a very good position.”

Having already won the Australian Open and Roland Garros titles in 2021, Djokovic has won 20 successive matches at the majors and is now gunning to wipe out the opposition in the Wimbledon final, the Tokyo Olympics and the U.S. Open in order to complete the Golden Slam.

Since the start of 2020, the only time the Serbian has failed to reach a Grand Slam final was when he was defaulted in the fourth round of last year’s U.S. Open for accidentally hitting a line judge with a ball.

While Djokovic is almost a permanent fixture in recent finals, it will be the first appearance in the championship round at a major for Berrettini.

The 25-year-old, who hails from Rome, will be bidding to become the first Italian to win a singles title at Wimbledon.

Djokovic has won both

of their previous meetings but they have never met on grass.

Since losing his opening set of the championships to Britain’s Jack Draper, Djokovic has captured 18 successive sets but he will face an opponent high on confidence.

REAL PUNCH Berrettini’s run to the title round has been almost as impressive as Djokovic’s.

He became the first player to win the Wimbledon warmup event at Queen’s on his debut appearance, since Boris Becker in 1985 and remains on course to match the German’s feat of completing the Queen’s Club-Wimbledon double in the same year.

The 25-year-old Italian, with the physique of a heavyweight boxer, packs a real punch with his massive forehand and 220 kmph serves.

Djokovic is well aware of the threat posed by his opponent, who is bidding to become the first Italian man to win a Grand Slam title since Adriano Panatta triumphed at Roland Garros in 1976.

“Anything is possible in the final,” he said. “Obviously experience is on my side. But Berrettini has been winning a lot of matches on grass courts this year, winning Queen’s.

“He’s in great form. He’s serving big, playing big. So it’s going to be a very tough match I think for both of us.

But I’m looking forward to a great battle.”

But Djokovic’s game is as much about shot-making as it is about his impregnable defence and mental strength as his semi-final opponent Denis Shapovalov found out on Friday.

Shapovalov thought Berrettini could have a real chance.

“I think with the serve that he has, if he can manage to sneak out a break here or there, win a couple tiebreaks, I think it’s going to be really tough for Novak to break him,” the Canadian said.

Djokovic accepted that the Centre Court crowd will probably be backing underdog and first-time finalist Berrettini today - and that is something that will not faze the steely-eyed Serbian.

“Hopefully people can also recognise the importance of this match for me, the history that is on the line,” he said. “Yeah, I’m prepared for anything really that is going to happen in terms of the crowd support on Sunday,” he said.

“I’ve had many different experiences throughout my career. I just need to focus on myself and what I need to do.”

30

SUNDAY CHRONICLE July 11, 2021

From the lowest of lows, England, Italy reach final summit (REUTERS) - For all the differences in style and approach, there is a remarkable symmetry to the journeys taken by England and Italy towards today’s Euro 2020 final.

Both nations found themselves at historic low points with fans despairing at their decline and then discovered men who could bring change and quickly lead them on a path to success.

For England, that nadir was elimination from Euro 2016 in the last 16 at the hands of Iceland while Italy’s despair came two years later when the four-time world champions failed to even qualify for the World Cup in Russia.

Gareth Southgate was not the man chosen to lead England’s revival. The FA had selected Sam Allardyce for that role but when his reign was cut short by ill-judged comments to a hidden camera, the Under-21 coach was given the job.

Southgate was able to draw on an exciting young generation of talent emerg-

ing from the Under-21 team and from the academies of Premier League clubs but his most significant decision was to change the culture around the England team.

He was able to make an England call-up something players looked forward to rather than, as was too often the case in the past, a chore to be feared or avoided.

Southgate reset the often adversarial relationship with the media and also found a tone in his own communications which found the perfect sweet spot between positivity and realism.

With the pressure off, England reached the last four at the 2018 World Cup and then, with more talent integrated into the squad, they methodically progressed through Euro 2020, paying little attention to the constant reminders of failures past.

Still, players in the squad who experienced the bitterness of failure and its fallout know where they have come from.

“If I think about the last Euros, when we got

knocked out by Iceland, that still haunts me and I’d say that’s the lowest moment of my career by far,” said right back Kyle Walker.

“But we’re a lot more mature now. A lot of us have played in more big games, we’ve won more and we can

Italy coach Roberto Mancini (L) and England’s Gareth Southgate (R) (Photo: Twitter/@EURO2020)

manage games better,” he added.

Roberto Mancini had a different history to confront after Italy’s dismal qualifying campaign for Russia under Gian Piero Ventura ended with the humiliation

England seal ODI series with 52-run win over Pakistan

LONDON, England (Reuters) - England’s second-string side beat Pakistan by 52 runs in the second one-day international at Lord’s yesterday to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

Chasing 248 for victory in a match reduced to 47 oversa-side after rain delayed the start, Pakistan were bowled out for 195 in 41 overs after all five England bowlers picked up wickets.

Pakistan failed to build partnerships and lost wickets at regular intervals, with their top four batsmen combining for only 35 runs.

England’s Saqib Mahmood - who picked up four wickets in the first ODI - was the pick of the bowlers once again and he had Pakistan skipper Babar Azam trapped leg-before and Mohammad Rizwan caught behind, while Lewis Gregory finished with 3-44.

Saud Shakeel was the lone warrior for Pakistan offering resistance with his maiden ODI fifty (56) while fast bowler Hasan Ali also scored a quick-fire 31 - which included 22 runs in one over

- before he holed out to Craig Overton in the deep.

Earlier, Pakistan won the toss and elected to bowl first as Ali took full advantage of the overcast conditions to claim his fourth five-for in ODIs (551) to earn a spot on the Lord’s ODI honours board.

Salt scored his maiden ODI half-century in 41 balls while Vince reached his fifty in 36 balls before they were bowled by Shakeel and Shadab Khan, respectively.

Ali dismissed captain Ben Stokes (22), John Simpson (17) and Overton - England’s

England players celebrate after beating Pakistan in the second ODI at Lord’s

England had a horror start when Dawid Malan and Zak Crawley, who hit fifties in the first ODI, were both dismissed for ducks but opener Phil Salt (60) and James Vince (56) steadied the ship with a flurry of boundaries in their 97-run partnership.

of a playoff loss to Sweden.

Like Southgate, Mancini turned to youth, but his biggest impact has been on the style of football produced by the Azzurri.

Italy use a 4-3-3 formation, with two playmakers in midfield, usually Jorginho and Marco Verratti, sup-

third batsman out for a duck in quick succession but Gregory (40) and Brydon Carse (31) frustrated the tourists with a 69-run stand to post a competitive total.

England won the first ODI by nine wickets. The third ODI will be played on Tuesday at Edgbaston.

porting two wingers who like to cut inside and full backs pushing forward to offer width.

There has been a greater emphasis on aggressive pressing and the result has been one of the most enjoy-

able Italian teams to watch in years.

But Mancini’s revolution did not undermine the fundamentals and he was wise to keep the experience of Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci at the back, who maintain Italy’s traditional defensive strength.

While England have only once previously reached the final of a major tournament, also on home soil back in 1966, this will be Italy’s 10th major final and Mancini instilled in his team a belief that they could quickly rise back to the top.

“At the beginning, when he told us to have in our minds the idea of winning the Euro, we thought he was crazy,” says Chiellini “Instead, during these years he has created a team which is now on the brink of doing that. And as he has repeated to us after every match, ‘one centimetre at a time’, and now there is only the last centimetre left”.

The past record certainly favours Italy, who have never lost against

England in four meetings at a major tournament and have been defeated once in eight competitive games with England.

But, set against that, a 60 000 overwhelmingly pro-England crowd awaits at Wembley, which in this tournament has become a hostile venue for visiting teams and is an environment Southgate’s team relish playing in.

There may be little to choose between the two starting lineups but England have stronger options from the bench as Chiellini noted.

“Their substitutes could all be in the starting eleven of a team that wins this competition. Players like (Jack) Grealish, (Jadon) Sancho, (Marcus) Rashford, (Dominic) Calvert-Lewin, (Phil) Foden were all on the bench but they’re top players, including (Jordan) Henderson – Liverpool captain.

“It will be a great match. Neither team will be afraid but both will have a lot of respect for each other.”

in Los Angeles.

Neither man has fought since Fury’s victory in Las Vegas.

contest.

Fury is unbeaten in his 31 fights, while Wilder has just one defeat in 44 outings.

Fury-Wilder bout postponed following COVID-19 case in Briton’s camp

THE trilogy fight between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas on July 24 has been postponed after the Briton tested positive for coronavirus.

A source close to Fury told BBC Sport the WBC world heavyweight champion was deeply frustrated by the situation.

Fury tested positive on Thursday and after discussions with medical experts the fight was called off - it is likely to be rescheduled for October.

Wilder’s manager Shelly Finkel said: “Deontay is disappointed.”

The WBC has confirmed the postponement, while an official announcement from the promoters Top Rank was expected later on Friday.

Fury beat Wilder to become WBC champion in February 2020 - 14 months after the pair shared a thrilling draw

Tyson Fury (left) and Deontay Wilder

After a third fight fell through several times because of complications around the COVID-19 pandemic, Fury sought to move on and face fellow Briton Anthony Joshua, who holds the other three significant titles at heavyweight.

But an arbitration hearing ruled Wilder had contractual grounds for a third

BBC boxing correspondent Mike Costello said the delay “also jeopardises the chances of Fury taking on Anthony Joshua later this year in a unification showdown”.

He added: “Joshua’s team have been negotiating with the Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk about a possible contest in September.”

(BBC Sport)

SUNDAY CHRONICLE July 11, 2021

31

Williams, Gajnabi fifties fail to prevent heavy defeat to Pakistan NORTH SOUND, Antigua, (CMC) – Half-centuries by opener Rashada Williams and Shabika Gajnabi went in vain as West Indies Women ‘A’ slipped to a heavy nine-wicket defeat to Pakistan Women ‘A’ in the opening one-dayer here Saturday.

Sent in at the Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium, West Indies Women ‘A’ rattled up 179 for eight off their 50 overs, with Williams

top-scoring with 70 and Gajnabi getting 56.

Rameen Shamim (228), Anam Amin (2-29) and Maham Tariq (2-34) all finished with two wickets each.

In reply, Player-of-theMatch Javeria Khan hammered an unbeaten 86 off 100 deliveries while Nahida Khan struck 58 off 85 balls, the pair posting 135 for the first wicket to erase any doubt over the result.

Caption Shabika Gajnabi scored 56

Javeria counted ten fours and a six while Nahida belted seven fours before becoming the only victim of the innings in the 28th over.

However, Javeria then inspired a 46-run, unbroken second wicket stand with Kaynat Hafeez (10 not out), to see the visitors home.

Williams had earlier proved the cornerstone of the home side’s innings, hitting half-dozen sixes in a 113-ball

knock to bail her side out.

When they lost captain Reniece Boyce for one in the second over with three runs on the board, Williams put on 46 for the second wicket with Mandy Mangru (13) before adding a further 79 for the fourth wicket with Gajnabi.

Williams fell in the 41st over but Gajnabi, who also hit half-dozen fours off 94 balls, held the lower order together as wickets clattered around her.

WBA strips and suspends Pascal

Jean Pascal has been suspended by the WBA for six months

THE World Boxing Association (WBA) withdrew the light heavyweight champion status from Jean Pascal after he tested positive for banned substances and suspended him for six months.

Pascal was supposed to defend his title on June 6 against Badou Jack, who was ranked number nine at the time. However, on May 14, during testing conducted by the WBA Clean Boxing Programme through VADA, Pascal tested positive for epitrenbolone, drostanolone, and drostabolone metabolite.

Pascal and his team were informed of the situation and given the opportunity to open the ‘B’ test, as established on the WBA rules.

As stated in WBA rule C.45, no boxer who has tested positive for a banned substance can be ranked, retain a title or participate in a WBA-sanctioned fight within six months of the test.

For that reason, the title held by Pascal is now vacant and the fighter is subject to random testing, at his own expense, during 2021 and under the direction of the WBA Medical Committee and the WBA Championships Committee.

Any interested party may request a reconsideration of this decision under the WBA Rules. (Fightnews)

Hsieh wins third Wimbledon doubles title, this time with Mertens LONDON (Reuters) - Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei claimed her third Wimbledon doubles title with a third different partner as she and Elise Mertens hung on to claim victory in a marathon final against Russian duo Veronika Kudermetova and Elena Vesnina on Saturday.

The Taiwanese-Belgian duo saved match points on the way to claiming a 3-6 7-5 9-7 win on Centre Court.

It was the second successive Wimbledon doubles crown for Hsieh who joined forces with recently-retired Barbora Strycova to win the title in 2019.

She also won the title in 2013 with Peng Shuai.

This time it was Mer-

tens, the newly-installed No.1 ranked women’s doubles player, who she teamed up with to great effect.

Unseeded Kudermetova and Vesnina had two match points at 5-4 in the second set, the second one producing an incredible rally that Hsieh eventually won with a volley.

As the third set went on and on, the 35-year-old Hsieh then finished off a gripping contest with a backhand winner.

“That felt like seven hours,” Mertens said of the two-and-a-half hour battle on a packed Centre Court.

“There were nerves but we managed it well in the end. “We are very happy that we could close it out.”

Angelica Holder has been appointed COVID-19 Liaison Officer/Physiotherapist for Team Guyana at the Tokyo Olympic Games (Photo: Avenash Ramzan)

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Part of Guyana’s delegation to this Olympics, from left: Garfield Wiltshire (Chef-de-Mission), Julian Edmonds (Athletics manager/coach), Idi Lewis (Table Tennis manager/coach) and 100m athlete Emanuel Archibald

16-member Guyanese delegation to attend Tokyo Olympic Games … Garfield Wiltshire named Chef de-Mission of Team Guyana

By Martyn Herman

Australia’s Ashleigh Barty holds the trophy after winning her final match against Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain. (REUTERS/Toby Melville)

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LONDON, England (Reuters) - Ash Barty joined an illustrious list of Australian names etched on Wimbledon silverware as she beat Karolina Pliskova in a nerve-shredding final to become the first woman from Down Under to win the singles title for 41 years yesterday.

The 25-year-old world number one looked on course for an embarrassingly easy triumph as Pliskova suffered one of the worst starts ever seen in a Wimbledon final, but eventually needed her best to claim a 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3 victory.

After Pliskova struck a backhand into the net following one hour 55 minutes of see-sawing action, Barty sank to her knees in realisation of fulfilling a childhood dream.

With tears running down her cheeks she then climbed into the stands towards her

team, a tradition started by compatriot Pat Cash when he won the men’s singles in 1987.

When she returned to the lush grass, she spoke of her joy of emulating her idol Evonne Goolagong who won the first of her two Wimbledon titles 50 years ago, before adding her second in 1980. Since when no Australian woman had won the singles.

Barty, like Goolagong, takes great pride in her indigenous heritage and has worn a scalloped-edged retro outfit in honour of the Australian trailblazer.

“I said just keep fighting,” Barty, whose participation at Wimbledon had been in doubt after she withdrew from the French Open last month with a hip injury, said on court after receiving the Venus Rosewater Dish from the Duchess of Cambridge.

“Kaja (Karolina) brought out the very best of me today. It took me a long time

to verbalise that I wanted to win this incredible tournament ... being able to live out my dream right now is better then I ever could have imagined.

“I didn’t sleep a lot last night as I was thinking of all the what ifs, but I felt at home out on the court.

‘I HOPE I MADE EVONNE PROUD’ Barty won her maiden Grand Slam at the 2019 French Open but joining the likes of Goolagong, Margaret Court, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson and John Newcombe as a Wimbledon champion cements her name amongst Australian sporting greats.

“So happy for you, our dreams come true, what a fight,” four-time Wimbledon champion Laver said on Twitter.

Not since 1977 had two first-time Wimbledon finalTURN TO PAGE 27

From the lowest of lows, England, Italy reach final summit

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SUNDAY CHRONICLE, JULY 11, 2021