Guyana Chronicle E-Paper 18-11-2022

More money in pockets of public servants

- with eight per cent retroactive, across-the-board salary increase

- adjusted salary scales for various categories of workers to be announced next week, President Ali says

AS part of its continued efforts to acknowledge the commitment and dedica tion of public sector work ers, the government has approved an eight per cent

retroactive salary increase for public servants, teach ers, members of the disci plined services, constitu tional office holders and government pensioners.

In a virtual address on Thursday evening, Presi dent, Dr Irfaan Ali said the increase will be granted ret roactively to January 1, 2022.

He related that work will

start immediately to ensure that the increase is processed and paid to eligible employ ees together with their De cember salaries.

FULL STORY ON PAGE 3

US EXIM Bank ready to assist Guyanese businesses Guyana to respond today to Venezuela’s preliminary objections in border case

SEE PAGE 9

TODAY, Guyana will present arguments to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest court in the world, on the prelimi nary objections that were raised by Ven ezuela in the border controversy case.

FULL STORY ON PAGE 11

No more ‘fronting’

- Minister Bharrat says rigid systems to be established to prevent foreign companies from dodging Local Content Act

By Clestine Juan

THE Government of Guyana will be putting new systems in place to block companies from using Guyanese conveni ently in order to obtain a 51 per cent stake to mere ly satisfy the provisions of the Local Content Act.

This was according to Minister of Natural Re sources, Vickram Bharrat, during his remarks at the Private Sector Commis sion (PSC)’s Local Content Forum, which was held at Pegasus Suites and Corpo rate Centre, Kingston, on Thursday.

He was at the time

commenting on the recent court case in which Act ing Chief Justice Roxane George, S.C., ordered the Local Content Secretariat (LCS) to issue a localcontent certificate to a Trinidadian-owned com pany, Ramps Logistics Guyana.

The company, which

was incorporated in 2013 in Guyana, is parented by RAMPS Logistics Limited out of Trinidad and Toba go. Some 51 per cent of the local company was sold to Trinidadian business man, Deepak Lall, who has Guyanese parentage.

FULL STORY ON PAGE 2

No more ‘fronting’

By Clestine Juan

THE Government of Guyana will be putting new systems in place to block companies from using Guyanese conveni ently in order to obtain a 51 per cent stake to merely satisfy the provisions of the Local Con

tent Act.

This was according to Minister of Natural Re sources, Vickram Bharrat, during his remarks at the Private Sector Commis sion (PSC)’s Local Con tent Forum, which was held at Pegasus Suites and Corporate Centre, King ston, on Thursday.

He was at the time commenting on the recent court case in which Act ing Chief Justice Roxane George, S.C., ordered the Local Content Secretariat (LCS) to issue a localcontent certificate to a Trinidadian-owned com pany, Ramps Logistics Guyana.

The company, which was incorporated in 2013 in Guyana, is parented by RAMPS Logistics Lim ited out of Trinidad and Tobago. Some 51 per cent of the local company was sold to Trinidadian busi nessman, Deepak Lall, who has Guyanese par entage.

The Guyana Chronicle understands that Lall has never represented Ramps Logistics publicly at any of its press conferences, and Trinidadian Shaun Rampersad, remains the face of the company.

It was reported too that the sale of majority shares of the logistics company came after Guyana’s Par liament enacted its up dated local content rules, which are set to protect the interest of Guyanese and Guyanese companies in the growing local oiland-gas sector.

Minister Bharrat re lated that there are “strong concerns” about the eligi bility of such companies’ application for local-con tent certification.

“The Local Content Legislation was designed to ensure that it brings benefits to Guyana and to Guyanese businesses. There are only 40 ser vices in schedule one, which is fair enough. And we’re saying leave those 40 services for Guyanese businesses… we are not even unfair…” the minis ter said.

The first schedule of the Act carves out 40 dif ferent services for Guya nese participation via the supply of goods and the provision of services

According to the leg islation, companies must procure from Guyanese companies, 90 per cent of office space rental and accommodation services; 90 per cent janitorial ser vices, laundry and cater ing services; 95 per cent pest-control services; 100

per cent local insurance services; 75 per cent local supply of food, and 90 per cent local accounting services.

“If you look at those 40 services, not all are 100 per cent, some are 25 per cent or 30 per cent, 50 per and 60 per cent. So, there is still an opportunity for foreign companies there too. So, we haven’t locked any foreign company out of Guyana.

“Some of them might run around crying, running to the courts saying that the government is unfair. We are not unfair. Anyone who knows the oil-andgas sector knows hundreds or thousands of services that are necessary to ser vice the oil-and-gas sec tor…And we only identify 40 and say reserve this for Guyanese,” Minister Bharrat said.

He added that the gov ernment is “serious” about this initiative to stop the “fronting” and “renting” of citizens.

This phenomenon –commonly referred to as ‘fronting’ or ‘rent-a-cit izen’ – has the potential to reduce the amount of value which accrues to Guyana and runs counter to the spirit and intent of the LCA.

WE ARE SERIOUS

“We are serious about people now trying to ac quire Guyanese passports just because of some line of family members down the line. People who are not even born in Guyana.

“Because it is only fair that us [Guyanese] who

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Minister Bharrat says rigid systems to be established to prevent foreign companies from dodging Local Content Act

Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat

More money in pockets of public servants

- adjusted salary scales for various categories of workers to be announced next week, President Ali says

AS part of its continued efforts to acknowledge the commitment and dedication of public sec tor workers, the govern ment has approved an eight per cent retroac tive salary increase for public servants, teach ers, members of the dis ciplined services, consti tutional office holders and government pen sioners.

In a virtual address on Thursday evening, Presi dent, Dr Irfaan Ali said the increase will be granted retroactively to January 1, 2022.

He related that work will start immediately to ensure that the increase is processed and paid to eli gible employees together with their December sala ries.

“The commitment by my government comes against the backdrop of

the several other meas ures we have implemented since assuming office, all with the aim of improv ing disposable incomes to public sector employees and Guyanese at large,” Dr Ali said.

Those measures in clude, among other things, the payment of a seven per cent across-the-board increase in 2021, the res toration of the one-month, tax-free, year-end bonuses to the disciplined services totalling more than $1 billion per annum, and an increase of about 40 per cent in the monthly oldage pension from $20,500 to $28,000, providing a total pension payout of more than $21 billion to senior citizens.

Additionally, there was an increase of 55 per cent in public assistance payments from $9,000 to $14,000 monthly, provid

ing a total of more than $3 billion in annual income support to beneficiaries of the programme, restora tion of the cash grants to the parents of school-aged children, increasing the amount provided for each child to $30,000 and ex tending the programme to children attending private schools.

“In total, this provides $6 billion of direct cash transfers to the parents of 200,000 schoolchildren and an increase in the minimum wage for pri vate sector employees by 36 per cent to $60,147, in keeping with the recom mendations of the tripar tite committee,” President Ali related.

He added: “Needless to say, these and other simi lar measures augmented the many other steps taken by our government to re move the punitive taxes

that had been imposed by APNU+AFC on electric ity, water, medical and educational supplies, basic household necessities, and basic construction materi als.”

Even in the reported absence of provisions to drive development, the coalition reportedly sought to restrict individual growth by imposing heavy taxes on the citizenry.

Aside from address ing the heavy taxation, President Ali said that his government remains mindful of the extraordi nary shocks experienced this year concerning the cost of living, especially arising from importation factors.

“It would be recalled that we implemented a number of measures to mitigate the effects of these imported shocks. These include removal of

the excise tax on fuel, cap ping the freight charges used in calculating import taxes, providing fertiliser and other support to farm ers to boost food produc tion, and direct cash trans fers to especially vulner able communities,” the Head of State said.

To add to the exist ing provisions, he has in structed that options be identified for adjustments to the salaries paid to sev eral specific categories of public sector employees in phases.

“These include, in the first phase, ranks of the

police force, the prison service, and fire service. Additionally, a similar exercise is currently being conducted and recom mendations being made in relation to specific catego ries of employees in our public healthcare system, including nurses, interns, doctors, and other health care professionals,” Dr Ali said.

He related that con cerning adjustments to the salary scales, he plans to make a more detailed announcement during the course of next week.

Guyana is prepared for any future pandemic

HEALTH Minister Dr Frank Anthony during the COVID-19 Update on Thursday, highlight ed that the multitude of strategies Guyana has implemented to combat the COVID-19 pandem ic will help the country prepare for future pan demics.

These include strengthening the labora tory systems, preparing better diagnostics, train ing people, strengthening surveillance, decentralis ing laboratory training, and effective response systems.

The Health Minister said that people need to be mindful and take pre cautions against COV ID-19.

He said the ministry formed a unit that can conduct rapid response. Within the unit, there are epidemiologists, public health specialists, and infectious disease spe cialists.

“So, whatever pre sents itself, we have this team that can go out, look at symptoms, look at signs, look at the epide miology and then decide how to respond,” Dr An thony said.

He related that the virus that causes COV ID-19, SARS-COV 2, has many variants and subvariants and it’s continu ously mutating; “based on the sub-variants, we will see different types of clinical presentation.”

The Health Minister highlighted that Guy ana is also connected to the International Health Regulatory System. He said if Guyana detects anything new, the coun try is obligated to report it, “likewise, if anything is happening around the world, that is also re ported to us.”

Additionally, Guyana has been working with several multilateral in stitutions as it relates to pandemic preparedness.

Dr Anthony high lighted that Guyana has had discussions with the Pan American Health Organisation and World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO) about strengthening existing

systems and developing plans for future pan demic preparedness. In the Americas, he related that Guyana is one of the countries that is a part of the Pandem ic Fund. The Pandemic Fund was established by the World Bank to assist countries with access to funds to be able to better prepare for

future pandemics. The board has some $1.4 bil lion to help countries in this regard.

“Locally, we have also formed, and depend ing on the illness, we also formed multidis ciplinary teams. So, if there’s somebody that is sick, we can have peo ple from different spe cialities that will be able

to come together to work in the interest of that pa tient. So, there are lots of things that have been put in place. For future pan demics, we would be a little better prepared,” the Health Minister related.

Over the last 24 hours, 21 new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded and four people are in the hospital. Cur rently, the ministry is tracking 68 cases across the country.

Dr. Anthony pointed out: “We are seeing an increase in cases and an increase in hospi talisation. So, people ought to be very care ful, and when possible, they should use their masks.” (DPI)

- with eight per cent retroactive, across-the-board salary increase

President, Dr Irfaan Ali

Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony

Caribbean Export, India Exim Bank launch new study on bilateral trade

THE Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export), the region’s foremost invest ment and trade promo tion agency, has launched a brand-new publication in collaboration with the Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank India).

The publication, entitled “Enhancing India CARI FORUM Economic Rela tions and Prospects for Co operation”, which explores trade opportunities between Caribbean countries and India, was introduced to more than 400 attendees present at the Caribbean In vestment Forum in Trinidad and Tobago.

Caribbean Export is committed to facilitat ing growth of the region

al private sector through economic development and integration program ming. The agency partnered with Exim Bank India to produce this study to un lock the investm ent and export opportunities for en trepreneurs on both sides.

The study expands on the key features of IndiaCARIFORUM economic relations, and explores the mutual benefits to be de rived from trade. Notably, it states that “India has potential to expand ex ports in product categories

such as mineral fuels and oils, electronics, transport vehicles, cereals, optical instruments, meat and ed ible meat offal, and animal or vegetable fats and oils etc…”

Speaking at the Carib bean Investment Forum via video link, Mr. N Ramesh, Deputy Managing Direc tor of India Exim Bank, opened Day Two of the Caribbean Investment Fo rum with a speech centered on the publication’s areas of significance.

Mr. Ramesh drew the

audience’s attention to the fact that “for the ExportImport Bank of India, the Latin America and Carib bean (LAC) region has always been a region of focus to promote and sup port two-way trade and investment”, and that trade between India and the Car ibbean region had seen robust growth, “from a meagre level of US$ 52.4 million in 2001, India and Caribbean trade was re corded at US$ 1.7 billion in 2021.”

He went on to share

that “As a partner institu tion to promote economic development in LAC, India Exim Bank has set in place various activities and pro grams, which contribute to sharing India’s develop ment experience through capacity building and skill transfer, trade, and infra structure development.”

Caribbean Export’s Deputy Executive Direc tor, Leo Naut presented the publication to High Commission of India in Trinidad and Tobago’s Chargé d’Àffaires Mr. Raju Sharma at the event. Naut expressed the view that the joint research report was an important contribution to not only serve as a valuable

reference for policymakers and academia, but also for businesses to discover new opportunities for trade.

The Caribbean’s invest ment opportunities were stra tegically spotlighted at the Caribbean Investment Forum, namely: AgTech, digital busi ness including e- commerce, innovation, and technology; Green economy transition, and transport and logistics.

In collaboration with Caribbean Export, the new study is part of India Exim Bank’s Working Paper Series which serves to enrich the knowledge of Indian exporters to im prove India’s competitive ness overall. (CARICOM Today)

Linden ‘info’ fair, town hall session set for today

THE 10 Forward Civic Group in Linden, Region 10, will be hosting an in formation fair and town hall session today.

According to a press re lease, the ‘info’ fair will fea ture exhibitions from several ministries and their agencies

on citizens’ empowerment initiatives that could be of direct benefit to residents of Linden and the wider region.

Exhibitors will be drawn from Labour, Agriculture, Housing, Public Service, Human Services, Youth, Sports and Culture, and

Tourism, among other Min istries.

The highlight of the event will be a town hall session with the AttorneyGeneral’s Chambers to ad dress the legislative frame work for hemp cultivation in Region 10.

The Ministry of Agri culture will also engage upper-level students, busi ness persons, farmers and other interested residents on opportunities in agriculture, particularly in hemp cul tivation, and value-added production.

The town hall will also feature an open day ses sion with Minister of Public Works Bishop Juan Edghill, who holds political respon sibility for the region. This session will seek to address some of the issues residents are facing that require direct

intervention from the gov ernment.

The day’s events, which will be held at the Egbert Benjamin Centre, on Re public Avenue, Mackenzie, will commence with the town hall engagement at 10:00 hrs.

Republicans win US House majority, setting stage for divided government

REPUBLICANS were projected to win a ma jority in the US House of Representatives on Wednesday, setting the stage for two years of divided government as President Joe Biden’s Democratic Party held control of the Senate.

The victory gives Republicans the pow er to rein in Biden’s agenda, as well as to launch potentially polit ically-damaging probes of his administration and family, though it falls far short of the “red wave” the party had hoped for.

The final call came after more than a week of ballot counting, when Edison Research projected Republicans

had won the 218 seats, which they needed to control the House. Re publican victory in Cal ifornia’s 27 th Congres sional District took the party over the line.

The party’s current House Leader, Kevin McCarthy may have a challenging road ahead, as he will need his res tive caucus to hold to gether on critical votes, including funding the government and mil itary at a time when former President Donald Trump has launched an other run for the White House.

“Americans are ready for a new direction, and House Republicans are ready to deliver,” Mc

No more...

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stayed, who worked, who toiled, who sacrificed to develop this country that we should benefit first and not people who were born elsewhere, but today they come to reclaim their Guyanese citizenship just for benefits,” Minister Bharrat lamented.

He said while the gov ernment has its reserva tions on the issue, it is, however, committed to respecting the rule of law and issuing the certificate to the company, given the ruling by the CJ.

“... There are concerns by the government that people cannot show up or fall [from] the sky or ap pear after 70-80 years or whatever the case is and say “Oh, I’m Guyanese to

the bone. It can’t work like that,” Bharrat said.

He highlighted too that companies have taken ad vantage of the legislation by “fronting” and Guya nese businesses are getting the short end of the stick.

Against this backdrop, Minster Bharrat said that the government expects companies to act in good faith and not to “resurrect”

Carthy said on Twitter.

The loss takes away some of Biden’s pow er in Washington, but on Wednesday he con gratulated McCarthy, and said he would work across the aisle to deliv er results.

“The American peo ple want us to get things done for them,” Biden said in a statement.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement, House Dem ocrats “will continue to play a leading role in supporting President Biden’s agenda, with strong leverage over a scant Republican ma jority.”

Democrats have been buoyed by voters’ re

persons who have Guya nese parentage to apply for Guyanese passports.

“We expected some amount of professional ism, we expected maturity, and we expected that com panies would have acted in good faith. And obviously, they didn’t.

“There are hundreds of Guyanese businesses

pudiation of a string of far-right Republican candidates, most of them allies of Trump, including Mehmet Oz and Doug Mastriano in

owned by born-and-bred Guyanese, who have the ability and resources and capacity to partner with any international com pany, but we saw what played out,” he said.

Minister Bharrat fur ther related that the gov ernment will be putting systems in place to ensure that such matters are dealt

Pennsylvania’s Senate and governor’s races respectively, and Blake Masters in Arizona’s Senate contest.

Even though the

with as they arise.

“We can’t have peo ple holding a Guyanese passport but never pay a dollar tax in the country to develop it where it is today, but want to ben efit from it today. It is unfair, it’s hurtful,” he added.

The minister said that

expected “red wave” of House Republicans never reached shore, conservatives are stick ing to their agenda. (Reuters)

the government intends to hold a series of meet ings with a number of stakeholders to ensure that systems are put in place to avoid instances such as this, since the Local Content Legisla tion was not designed for foreign companies to take advantage of it.

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaking to reporters after he was nominated by fellow Republicans to be their leader or the Speaker of the House if they take control in the next Congress, following House Republican leadership elections at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., November 15, 2022 (REUTERS/Michael A. McCoy)

Honouring Their Contributions

ON the eve of Inter national Men’s Day, it is important to note that the primary objective is to honour men’s contributions to society, communi ty, family, marriage, childcare, and the en vironment.

Succinctly, this falls in line with President, Dr Mohammed Irfaan Ali’s Men on Mission (MoM) – a 1000-Man initiative, which will bring together men from across Guyana in a bid to address frontal ly, the challenges faced by men and boys and redirect them to their rightful place in society.

President Ali de clared: “We [men] are the root cause of many problems in society. It is now our time to be the root of the solu tion. To be the root of positivity, to be the root that makes a difference.

To be a root that builds a support system. Men on Mission will be the foundation to remove violence against wom en and children. This is not the responsibil ity of women, it is a responsibility for us to work with each oth er. We must make the change. We must drive the change. We must lead the movement of

response. We must lead the movement of dig nity. We must lead the movement of pride.”

The aforementioned represents the other ob jective of International Men’s Day, which in cludes: positive male role models; men’s health and well-being; improving gender rela tions and promoting gender equality, and creating a safer, better world where people can be safe and grow to reach their full po tential.

With this in mind, International Men’s Day aims to inspire more men to build bet

ter social connections.

Under the 2022 theme, “Making time for old mates. Mak ing time to make new mates,” International Men’s Day celebrates positive male role mod els and raises aware ness of men’s issues which are often over looked.

International Men’s Day is an opportunity for people everywhere of goodwill to appreci ate and celebrate the men in their lives, and the contributions they make to society for the greater good of all.

Every year, Inter national Men’s Day is

used to raise awareness about the health prob lems encountered by men every day, includ ing the growing number of suicides.

Globally, there are 107 baby boys being birthed for every 100 baby girls and one of the most significant aims of International Men’s Day is to pro m ote gender equality and improve gender relations. This is not only for men, but for women too.

The day also ad dresses the various health issues and dis crimination that men undergo, and encour

ages people from every country to unite and work as a united world.

Millions of men re frain from sharing their mental state and end up suffering, so this day makes sure people are made aware of the per petuating issue.

International Men’s Day has the potential to become the global medium to heal our world and to give hope to the depressed, faith to the lonely, comfort to the broken-hearted, tran scend barriers, elimi nate stereotypes and create a more caring humanity.

New model PSA demonstrates the political will of the government

Dear Editor,

THE positive pro gress that the newly announced model Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) rep resents for Guyana cannot be understat ed. Whilst preserving the sanctity of existing deals – which brought investor interest when Guyana was still high risk – the new agree

ment provides the government the op portuni ty to ask for more revenues and higher royalties going forward.

The original contract was struck at a time when decades of ex ploration had turned up no results, leaving the territory in a precarious position with over 40 failed wells and waning

interest. Now, because of the initial risk taken, the government is in a strong position with sought-after blocks.

Further, this new model contract shows the political will of the government to think long-term. While some argue that the new PSA still insufficiently rep resents Guyanese, there must be a balance be

tween calculable risk and payoff potential in this industry.

The underwhelming offshore oil-lease auc tion in Suriname last year showed the impor tance of maintaining in terest in an open bidding process for developing oil-producing countries. Suriname had bids on just three of its eight available blocks. Simi

larly, Brazil’s oil-lease auction failures over the past two years have been attributed to con tract terms that caused companies to shy away.

The terms that Suri name’s and Brazil’s governments offered were more generous to the country in theory, but they failed to inspire bids at auction and so they will likely never

translate to real rev enue. The terms these countries presented did not offer enough secu rity to offset the risks that companies consider when placing multibil lion-dollar bets.

That is a lesson that critics of the govern ment might be wise to consider.

Yours respectfully, Gregory Lynch

What to expect from ASEAN, China-US and G-20 Summits?

Part 2: The Xi-Biden Factor

INTERNATIONAL main stream media coverage of the historic November 14, 2022 bilateral summit between the China and US Presidents ahead of the G-20 meeting in Bali was quite different from what the Chinese press reported back home, each side offering very different perspectives of the same event.

The Xi-Biden powerparley took place alongside the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASE AN) Summit in Cambodia and the G-20 meeting in Bali -- and while the CoP 27 Summit was also taking place in Egypt.

Almost everything re ported by the global TV broadcasters about the XiBiden summit was based on speculation about whether Biden could “influence China to influence Russia” in Ukraine, “when Beijing will drop its harmful Zero COVID policy,” whether “an emboldened Xi” would “budge or blink on Taiwan,” or whether “the friendship between the two leaders” would allow them to better and quicker iron out old and new global problems.

On the other hand, the Chinese media in Bali were less saucy in their coverage as they stressed inform ing 1.3 billion Chinese of exactly what their President said, instead of seasoned and salted versions based more on wishes than what was actually said.

For example, China Daily correspondent Xu Wei, in Bali, reported that President Xi “underlined the joint responsibility” between him and President Biden “in anchoring the future direc tion of bilateral relations and bringing ties on an upward track.”

Xi told Biden he looked forward “to working to gether with you, in bringing China-US relations back to

a track of healthy and stable development, ushering more benefits to our two nations and the world.”

The China leader said the current state of ChinaUS ties “does not fit into the fundamental interests of the two nations and their people, nor does it meet the expec tations of the international community.”

He said “statesmen should think about and make clear the direction of devel opment of their own nations, as well as ways of getting along with other nations and the world,” because of “the common expectation of the international community for Beijing and Washington to properly handle their rela tions.”

President Xi said he and his US counterpart “should take history as a mirror and let it guide the future” and that as leaders of two major countries, they “need to chart the right course and find the right direction for bilateral ties and elevate the relationship.”

He also noted that al though he and President Biden have remained in communication via videoconferences, phone calls and letters, “none of them can really substitute face-to-face exchanges.”

President Xi said, “In this time and age, great changes are unfolding in ways like never before, as humanity is confronted with unprecedented challenges and the world has come to a crossroads.

“Where to go from here,” he added, “is a ques tion not just on the two leaders’ minds,” but also of leaders of all countries, so, “China and the US need to work with all countries to bring more hope to world peace, greater confidence in global stability and stronger impetus to common devel opment.”

The China leader was

reported by China Daily to have had “a candid and in-depth exchange of views with his US counterpart on issues of strategic impor tance in China-US relations and on major global and regional issues.”

Xi also looked forward to working with President Biden, “to bring China-US relations back to the track of healthy and stable growth, to the benefit of the two countries and the whole world.”

He underlined, however, that “The Taiwan question is at the very core of China’s core interests, the bedrock of the political foundation of China-US relations -- and the first red line that must not be crossed in China-US relations.”

President Xi also made it clear that “observing the basic norms of international relations and the three Chi na-US joint communiques is the most important guardrail and safety net for China-US relations.”

“The so-called ‘Democ racy versus Authoritarian ism’ narrative,” he added, “is not the defining feature of today’s world and still less does it represent the trend of the times.”

President Xi told Presi dent Biden: “Freedom, De mocracy and Human Rights are the common pursuit of humanity and also the unwavering pursuit of the Communist Party of China.”

He explained that, “just as the United States has American-style democracy, China has Chinese-style democracy” and “both fit their respective national conditions…”

“The whole-process

people’s democracy prac tised in China,” he pointed out, “is based on the coun try’s reality, history and cul ture, and it reflects people’s will.”

“We take great pride in it,” President Xi said, add ing that “No country has a perfect democratic system” and “there is always a need for development and im provement.”

“The specific differenc es between the two sides can be worked out through discussion, but only on the precondition of equality,” he added.

President Xi noted that “China and the United States are two major coun

tries with different histories, cultures, social systems and development paths,” and that “there have been and will continue to be dif ferences between the two countries.”

But he insisted that “such differences should not become an obstacle to growing China-US rela tions.”

This was reported in China through the nation’s most-read daily newspaper and its extended platforms -- clear and clean reporting of what President Xi said before and during his frank exchange with his US coun terpart, while the traditional international media houses

concentrated on interpreting body language and reading between invisible lines to highlight possible implica tions of what was not said.

President Biden’s ad dress was also reported likewise, Chinese citizens being better informed about what was actually said by both leaders by their media, than the rest of the world was offered by the interna tional press.

For example, the New York Times headline on November 15 was: At G-20 Summit, Xi and Biden of fer rival versions for solv ing global issues. You’d swear it was about a dif ferent meeting altogether.

Two persons living with disabilities secure employment at GUYOIL

THE Guyana Oil Com pany Limited (GUYOIL) has collaborated with the National Commission on Disability (NCD) to gain fully employ two persons living with disabilities (PWDs), on the basis of equal employment op portunity.

According to a press release from the company, this was also done in con sonance with the Preven tion of Discrimination Act of 1997 (cap 99.08) and Persons with Disabilities Act 2010.

The company also shares President Dr. Irfaan Ali’s vision of the govern ment’s commitment to find ing sustainable solutions to the plight of PWDs, with

emphasis on empowering those persons economically and socially by enhancing their skills.

The most recent effort was the brainchild of the Chairman of GUYOIL, Paul Cheong, who, in cooperation with the manage ment of GUYOIL has now permanently employed Pe ter Fraser as a maintenance or handyman and Ashshell Benn as a clerical staff.

Additionally, Uttamku mar Isurdeen was awarded a one-off gift from GUY OIL and medical supplies as part of GUYOIL’s Cor porate Social Responsibil ity Programme.

The company said it understands the difficulties persons living with disabili

ties are faced with daily, and has taken on the charge of leading by example, by providing gainful employ ment to the two persons so they may live full and productive lives while si multaneously adding value back to their community.

“We sincerely advo cate that corporate Guyana replicates this initiative as it is the stepping stone in a charting course for the benefit of all Guyanese,” GUYOIL said.

The company has ef fectively fulfilled its man date in delivering “Ex cellence in Service” to all stakeholders by its pursuit to represent di versity and equality in the workplace.

Fire that destroyed Berbice church was deliberately set, GFS says

THE St. Patrick Angli can Church at Rose Hall, East Canje, Berbice was on Thursday destroyed by an early-morning fire which is suspected to have been set by vagrants.

The Guyana Fire Ser vice (GFS), in a press re lease, said its officers re sponded to a report of a fire at the location at 04:34 hours.

On arrival, firefighters

found a one-storey wood en and concrete building, which is owned by the An glican Diocese of Guyana, engulfed in flames. The building was destroyed as a result of the fire.

“There was no electric ity or activity in the build ing for several months, and it was reported that vagrants would frequent the building, which had about three break-ins over

the past five years. Due to the burn pattern, it is suspected that the fire was deliberately set,” the re lease said.

Two water tenders from the New Amsterdam Fire Station and one Land Rov er from the GuySuCo Es tate at Rose Hall responded and were able to extinguish the fire.

Police are currently investigating the matter.

The St. Patrick Anglican Church, which was destroyed by fire (Guyana Fire Service photo)

GUYOIL Chairman, Paul Cheong (far left); General Manager (ag) of GUYOIL Molly Hassan (far right), newly employed staff Ashshell Benn, Peter Fraser, and the recipient of a gift, Uttamkumar Isurdeen and senior staff of Guyoil (Back)

US EXIM Bank ready to assist Guyanese businesses

THE Government of Guyana in collaboration with the US EXIM Bank held a roundtable discus sion at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre to address access to financing and US EXIM Bank products for the pri vate sector.

This initiative fol lows the signing of a Memorandum of Un derstanding (MoU) be tween the government and the bank during President, Dr Irfaan Ali’s visit to Washing ton back in July.

Delivering his re marks at the engage ment on Thursday, President Ali related the government’s com mitment to elevating the private sector and emphasised that they should make the most of the opportunity by thinking outside the box.

“The role of the government is to do exactly this… we are to open the doors and create an environment in which the local pri vate sector can grow and prosper, and that is exactly what is being created here, an oppor tunity for you to reach out to EXIM at a very high level and for you to participate and part ner with EXIM and US companies… in the direction in which the economy would want to go,” the Head of State said.

Addressing the multitude of American and Guyanese busi ness owners, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Fi nance, Dr Ashni Singh highlighted Guyana’s transformative trajec tory and pointed to the expectations of more US partnerships to ad vance Guyana’s devel opment.

“Guyana is open to business to the world… this is literally the most incredibly transformative and ex citing time in Guy ana’s history. There are a few countries if any, that would’ve gone through as rapidly and as steeply as Guyana is currently undergoing. We would like to see more US companies present in Guyana and playing a part in that transformation,” Dr Singh said.

Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Guy ana, Sarah-Ann Lynch noted that the US is Guyana’s main com mercial partner.

She also promot ed US businesses as beneficial partners for Guyanese, pointing out that the largest US trade delegation in his tory is currently in the country.

Lynch encouraged businesses to maxim ise the opportunities.

“As Guyana’s larg est trading partners, US companies want

to make deals. As one of the fastest- grow ing economies in the world, the Guyanese want to make deals,” she said.

The main purpose of the engagement was to explain how the export credit agency works and how Guya nese businesses could benefit from their fi nancial assistance.

Meanwhile, Acting Senior Vice-President of the Office of Small Business at the US EXIM Bank, Tamara Maxwell, spent a great deal of her presenta tion highlighting the bank’s services and its role as regards Guya nese businesses seek ing to expand their partnerships to the US.

She also announced that special emphasis will be placed on Guy ana at the US EXIM Bank.

“We need to cre ate a Guyana team at EXIM Bank simply because we saw all of the opportunities and we met with a lot of businesses, so we are going to create a team who are only go ing to handle Guyana authorizations appli cations so that you’re

not waiting for any one to call you back… and they’re committed to making sure that the transactions com

ing from Guyana are not missed,” Maxwell said.

Early next year, US EXIM Bank

Chairman, Reta Jo Lewis is expected to visit to create further partnerships with Guyana. (DPI)

President, Dr. Irfaan Ali

Acting Senior Vice-President, Office of Small Business at the US EXIM Bank, Tamara Maxwell makes her presentation

Gov’t to revert to 2016 boundaries for LGEs

Bill tabled in parliament to get more councillors, local leadership

THE People’s Progres sive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government is moving to the National Assembly to have all the boundaries of local authority areas and communities revert to what they were in 2016

before being changed by the former APNU+AFC Government.

This will give more citi zens the opportunity to get local leadership because the areas will also have more councillors, with the

corrected and extended boundaries creating a great er representation.

Local Government and Regional Development Minister Nigel Dharam lall, said the paper was already presented to the House on November 7. He said that it is on the order paper as subsidiary legisla tive amendments to local authority boundaries.

“In 2018, the APNU+AFC changed many of the local councils (Neighbourhood Demo cratic Councils) reducing constituencies and forcing people into constituencies where they [APNU+AFC] had the majority … [ger rymandered the boundary lines]. So, what we have basically done, is to revert all those constituencies that were changed in 2018 back to the 2016 [election] boundaries lines,” he con firmed.

He further stated that these necessary actions must occur if local govern ment organs and areas are to continue functioning smoothly.

“In Region One, where Mabaruma is concerned we have extended that bound ary to include the residents of Wauna because they have basically been living without local government representation. It is impor tant to bring them into the local government system so that they are part of the local authority area and they can benefit from the investments through lo cal government,” Minister Dharamlall said.

He related: “In Region Three there are villages which are not part of a local authority area, and we have decided to include them because they also require services that are usually provided by the Neighbour hood Democratic Councils (NDCs).”

Moreover, in Region Five, additional communi ties are being streamlined for representation, where there are non-existent. The minister, however, pointed out that “it is not a massive amount of people, but what we want is to reach every single person in terms of our development agenda.”

In Region Six, the leg

islation is being amended to create two NDCs which will improve representa tion.

“We have done con sultation across these spe cific areas and everyone is happy to revert firstly to the 2016 boundaries, and in the area that is being extended [citizens] are happy be included [where they will now receive representa tion],” Minister Dharamlall said.

The changes, the min ister said, will maintain the number of NDCs which is 70, with no modifica tion in terms of contesting boundaries and it is the opposite of the action of disenfranchisement un dertaken by the previous administration.

“Again in 2018, the APNU+AFC divided one NDC into two in Esse quibo. Now we are merging those NDCs back into one because of the population size, so that they can ben efit again from investment through local government and this was done in con sultation with the residents of the area” Dharamlall said.

Further, these changes will enable the government to provide even greater levels of support to every NDC.

“Every year since Presi dent Ali has taken office we have provided greater support to our Neighbour hood Democratic Councils as well as the municipali ties, and we have done so through direct transfers to these local authorities’ ar eas and we have also done so through indirect support as well as greater invest ment,” Dharamlall related.

He highlighted that “for example, in Georgetown, the government is spend ing nearly $800 million to restore City Hall.”

The PPP/C Govern ment continues to im prove the entire road net work across the country as well as the drainage network, including in vestments, upgrades, and repairs to all the out fall pumps and sluices through the Agriculture, Public Works, and Local Government ministries. (DPI)

Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall

Guyana to respond to Venezuela’s preliminary objections in border case today

TODAY, Guyana will pre sent arguments to the In ternational Court of Jus tice (ICJ),the highest court in the world, on the prelim inary objections that were raised by Venezuela in the border controversy case.

On Thursday, Executive Vice-President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez opened the first round of oral arguments at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, and called upon the ICJ judges to dismiss the case filed by Guyana.

Claiming that it has ter ritorial rights over the Es sequibo region, Venezuela raised the Monetary Gold Principle, and contended that the ICJ is not competent to settle disputes between the two countries, unless her country agrees to exercise jurisdiction regarding the Arbitral Award of October 3, 1899 (Guyana v. Venezuela).

Guyana will present its first round of oral arguments today, Friday. The country, in its legal documents, has asked the Court to confirm

that the border was estab lished by the 1899 Arbitra tion Process involving Ven ezuela and the then-colony of British Guiana.

Guyana will be repre sented at the hearings by Attorney-General and Min ister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, S.C.; Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira; Agent of Guyana, Carl Gree nidge; Co-Agent and Perma nent Secretary in the Min istry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, Ambassador Elisabeth Harp

er; Director of the Frontiers Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Inter national Co-operation, Don nette Streete; and Adviser to the Leader of the Opposition on Frontier Matters, Ambas sador Ronald Austin.

Guyana’s legal team is being headed by Co-Agent and Counsel, Sir Shridath Ramphal, and includes mem ber of the Bars of the United States Supreme Court and the District of Columbia, Paul S. Reichler; Profes sor Emeritus of the Univer sity Paris Nanterre, former Chairman of the Interna tional Law Commission and member of the Institu t de Droit International, Alain Pellet; Professor of Inter national Law at University College, London, Philippe Sands; Professor of Inter national Law and Senior Fellow at Massey College, University of Toronto, and member of the Bar of New York, the Law Society of Ontario and the Permanent Court of Arbitration, Payam Akhavan; Professor Ordi naire, Université Catholique de Louvain and member of the Institut de Droit Inter national, Foley Hoag, LLP and the Bar of Brussels, Pierre d’Argent; member of the Bars of the District of Columbia, the State of New York, England and Wales, and the Law Society of Ontario, Christina L. Be

harry; Barrister from Matrix Chambers, London, Edward Craven; member of the Bar of the State of New York, Juan Pablo Hugues Arthur; and member of the Bar of the District of Columbia, Isabella F. Uria.

Guyana had moved to the ICJ with its case in March 2018, challenging the non-participating Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela over its disagreement on the legal validity and binding effect of the 1899 Award.

Venezuela had main tained that the ICJ was with out jurisdiction to hear the case, and had refused to participate in the court pro ceedings.

In a December 18, 2020, 12-4 majority ruling, the ICJ upheld that it has jurisdic tion to entertain Guyana’s contention concerning the validity of the 1899 Award about the frontier between British Guiana and Ven ezuela, and the related ques tion of the definitive settle ment of the land boundary.

The ICJ pointed out, too, that both Guyana and Venezuela had agreed to the 1966 Geneva Agreement, which showed that both par ties had accepted the pos sibility of the controversy being resolved by means of judicial settlement.

After a case manage ment meeting, the ICJ had set time limits for Guyana

and Venezuela to file writ ten pleadings on the merits of the case.

Guyana met its March 8, 2022 deadline to submit its Memorial on the merits of its case to the Court. Venezuela, on the other hand, submitted preliminary objections.

As a result, the ICJ al lowed for such an objection to be lodged and considered by the Court, and, as a con sequence, the proceedings on the merits of the case were suspended until it rules on the preliminary objec tions.

Guyana maintains that a judicial settlement of the matter is the only recourse remaining, as it has ex hausted all other measures.

As recently as October 4, the United States govern ment reaffirmed the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award, and solidified its support for a “peaceful resolution” of the Guyana-Venezuela bor der controversy through the proper court, if there is any deviation from that Award.

Guyana seeks to ob tain a final and binding judgement that the 1899 Arbitral Award, which established the location of the land boundary be tween the two countries, remains valid, and that the Essequibo region be longs to Guyana, and not Venezuela.

Members of the Guyana delegation at court on Thursday (UN Photo/ICJ-CIJ/Wendy van Bree)

The Members of the Court at the opening of the hearings (UN Photo/ICJ-CIJ/Wendy van Bree)

Legislation coming for data centres

- President Ali says

PRESIDENT Dr. Irfaan Ali on Wednesday an nounced that the government intends to work on creating legislation which will ensure Guyana is ready to have data centres.

A data centre is defined as a structure; a specific area inside a structure, or a collection of structures used to house computer systems and related equipment such as telecommunications and storage systems.

Addressing a trade del egation from the UK, Presi dent Ali said Guyana has been aggressively pursuing

the establishment of call centres, and will also pursue the establishment of data centres locally.

For data centres, the President said that it is part of the technology platform that the government is seek ing to venture into, and as such, legislation is going to be passed for it.

“I told the AG (Attor ney-General) that before the end of this year, we must have legislation in the Parliament for data centres,” the President said.

The delegation was told that Guyana, by having leg

islation in place, would cre ate opportunities for busi nesses in this field.

He said: “Guyana having its own data centre legisla tion; that’s a massive busi ness opportunity.”

Further, the Head of State said that once power and energy are reliable, such an investment would be jus tified, as data centres cannot exist in an environment where there isn’t reliable electricity.

In Guyana’s context, “energy security”, as said previously by President Ali, will be driven by an energy

mix that will see solar, wind, ‘hydro’ and natural gas be ing utilised to make this nation the energy capital of the region.

The integration of those energy sources will provide Guyana with 400 megawatts of newly-installed power. At the moment, the na tional grid is providing 120 megawatts of electricity, an amount which is equal to the consumer demand of 117120 megawatts of power.

Based on what the Presi dent has outlined, the poten tial “world-class” energy mix will not just increase

Guyana’s energy capacity, but will also significantly reduce the cost of electricity for households and busi nesses.

The overarching aim

of the People’s Progres sive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government is to reduce the overall cost of energy by 50 per cent through this energy mix.

President Dr. Irfaan Ali

India takes over G-20 presidency

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi of India took over In dia’s G-20 presidency at the G-20 Summit currently be ing held in Bali, Indonesia.

According to a press statement from the Indian High Commission, effective December 1, 2022, India’s presidency for 2023 will see it chairing over 200 meetings that aim to secure global eco nomic growth and prosperity. The G-20 members represent more than 80 per cent of the world’s GDP, 70 per cent of international trade and 60 per cent of the world’s population.

Expressing happiness over India’s assumption of the G-20 presidency, Prime Minister Modi stated that In dia’s G-20 presidency will be inclusive, ambitious, decisive and action-oriented and noted that India is taking charge at a time when the world is grappling with geo-political tensions, economic slowdown and rising food and energy prices.

Modi said: “[This was a] proud occasion for every Indian and India would or ganise G-20 meetings in different cities and states of India, where the guest countries would experience India’s amazing diversity, in clusive traditions and cultural richness.”

He wished for all member countries to participate in making the G-20 a catalyst for global change when India -- “the mother of democracy” -- would host these meet ings. Prime Minister Modi also stated that India would work to realise all aspects of India’s vision of “One Earth, One Family, One Future” (Vasudhev Kutumbkam).

The 18th G-20 Heads of States and Governments Summit will take place on 9-10 September 2023 in New Delhi. The summit will be a culmination of all the G-20 process and meetings held throughout the year among ministers, senior officials and civil societies.

The G-20 consists of two parallel tracks: the Fi nance Track (led by Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the member countries) and the Sherpa Track – personal emissaries of the leaders).

The Sherpa oversees ne gotiations over the course of the year, discussing the agenda and items for the summit and coordinating the substantive work of the G-20.

In addition, there are 10 engagement groups which bring together civil socie ties, parliamentarians, thinktanks, women, youth, labour, businesses and researcher of the G-20 countries. Former Foreign Secretary of India, Harshvardhan V Shringla, has been nominated as In dia’s Chief G-20 Coordi nator, while Former NITI Aayog Chairman Amitabh Kant will be India’s G-20 Sherpa.

India’s stated purpose of its presidency is to find global solutions for the wellbeing of the world and to find consensus on challenges, including a slowing global economy, debt crisis impact ing 70 countries, poverty, post-pandemic recovery and the existential climate crises.

Through its leadership position, India wants to steer the G-20 opportunities pro viding adequate finance to the global push keeping in line with climate justice. A second key agenda would be reforms of institutions such as the World Bank, the IMF and the WTO. The aim is to make them more attuned to the needs and aspirations of developing economies.

Prime Minister Modi, while elaborating that India maintains close relations with developed countries very well on the one hand and at the same time understand ing the views of developing countries, pointed out that the world was “looking with hope” towards collective leadership, whether it is G-7, G-20, G-77 or the UNGA.

In such a situation India’s presidency of G-20 assumes a new significance.

Furthering India’s vision and the common objective

of doing the whole world together for a better future, Prime Minister Modi gave examples of “One Sun, One Earth, One Grid” which has

been India’s clarion call for a revolution in renewable energy (International Solar Alliance) born out of this call), and the global health

campaign of “One Earth, One Health).

Brazil will take over the presidency from India late next year.

- PM Modi commits to making international financial institutions more attuned to needs of developing nations

Three more companies attain

‘Made in Guyana’ certification

THE Guyana Nation al Bureau of Stand ards (GNBS) has cer tified three additional companies under its “Made in Guyana” Certification Mark Programme.

The companies, namely Denmor Gar ments Manufacturing, Guyana Thermoplastics Limited (Toolsie Per saud Group of Compa nies) and Prestige Man ufacturing & Bottling Enterprise were certi fied to use the Made in Guyana Standards Mark on their locally manufactured products.

Denmor Garments Manufacturing was certified to use the mark on its safety gar ments/personal protec tive equipment (PPE), which it supplies to local and international companies in many sectors, including oil and gas.

During the certifica tion ceremony hosted at the GNBS confer ence room, at the So phia Exhibition Centre

recently, Director and Company Secretary of Denmor Garments Manufacturing, Upasna Mudliar, said: “Manu facturing a safety wear and being able to bring it to a standard sets [sic] the company apart from all others.”

She related that those garments are manufactured accord ing to the styles and colours requested by companies.

The company, which has been in operation for more than two dec ades, was lauded by President of the Guy ana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA), Rafeek Khan and Business Coach of Action INVEST Carib bean Inc., Keon Smith for seeking to meet quality requirements.

Head of the GNBS Certification Services Department, Andrea Mendonca, urged the company to maintain the requirements of the programme, noting that the woman-led busi

ness is the first in the garments industry to be certified.

The second com pany to attain certifica tion was the Guyana Thermoplastic Lim ited (Toolsie Persaud Group of Companies),

Manager and staff of Prestige Manufacturing and Bottling Enterprise with members of the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association, Guyana Office for Investment and Region Three Chamber of Commerce

Three more companies attain...

FROM PAGE 15

which was certified on Tuesday to use the Made in Guyana Standards Mark on its PVC Pipes and PVC Conduits. This is the first Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) pipes manufacturer certi fied to use the Made in Guyana Standards Mark.

At a simple cer emony hosted at the company’s Provi dence, East Bank Demerara location, Director of Guyana Thermoplastic Lim ited (Toolsie Persaud Group of Companies), Vinod Persaud, pride fully said: “As a com pany, we have always been focused on qual ity and we are delight ed to join other local manufacturing com panies that have been recognised and certi fied to use the Made in Guyana Standards mark...”

He added that his company looks for ward to continued work with the GNBS team to implement and improve stand ards.

Finally, on Wednesday, Novem ber 16, 2022, Pres tige Manufacturing & Bottling Enterprise was granted approval to use the Made in Guyana Standards Mark on its hot sauce, mustard oil, mixed essence, almond es sence, cake colouring, mango achar, lime achar, tamarind achar, green seasoning, mir acle seasoning, cassa va cassareep, Chinese sauce, bilimbi achar and koraila in lime.

During the certi fication ceremony, manager of the com pany, Annie Rooplall said: “We have been focused on utilising mostly local fruits and vegetables that are available during the seasons, and being Made in Guyana cer tified will ensure the quality and taste of our products are rec ognised and secured in markets regionally and internationally, while we continue to push the “buy local” campaign for authen tic Guyanese prod ucts.”

The Made in Guy ana Certificate was handed over by Men donca and GNBS Technical Officer, Keon Rankin to the Manager of Prestige Manufacturing and Bottling Enterprise, Annie Rooplall and staff, Nancy Ireland, respectively.

The event was at tended by Khan, who lauded the company for its strides, and the GNBS for its fantastic work in promoting the Made in Guyana Brand.

The GNBS has encouraged more businesses to sign up to be a part of the Made in Guyana Certification Mark Programme to give their products that competitive advan tage in the local and international mar kets. Application forms could be ac cessed at https://gnb sgy.org/certification/ made-in-guyana-cer tification

Directors of Denmor Garments Manufacturing Inc., Upasna Mudlier, Serojiniee Mudlier-Persaud, Fatma Mudlier and Nandanie Mudlier

Big boost for tourism

- with launch of six new experiential products

By Shari Simon

THE Ministry of Tour ism, Industry and Commerce and the Guyana Tourism Au thority (GTA) unveiled six new experiential tourism products on Wednesday aimed at promoting sustainable

Sewcharran, Founder of Wanderlust Adven tures GY, said that three unique and fun prod ucts were introduced in keeping with the mean ing of the tour compa ny’s name, Wanderlust, which speaks to a per son’s inherent desire to travel.

and affordable experi ences across destina tion Guyana, and con tributing to economic advancement.

As part of the calen dar of activities in obser vance of Tourism Aware ness Month 2022, which is being celebrated under the theme, “All Sec tors, One Tourism,” the product launch held at the Promenade Gardens (Georgetown) shed light on the major transfor mation occurring in the tourism sector to spot light Guyana’s spectacu lar grandeur and the cul turally diverse people, cuisines and attractions to local and international tourists.

Additionally, the col laborative efforts be tween the Guyana Tour ism Authority (GTA) and private sector tour ism stakeholders, were also highlighted during the launch.

During her address at the launch, Roselyn

Sewcharran related that the first tour, Rain forest Escape, creates an immersive experience in nature to allow persons the luxury of escaping the hustle and bustle of the city, to go on “a jour ney of self-discovery.”

Also serving as a source of relaxation and rejuvenation with ac tivities such as yoga and meditation, sip and paint and hiking, the Rainfor est Escape tour is perfect for persons to become attuned to their minds, bodies and souls, while experiencing the best of nature.

Secondly, the Farmto-Table tour in collab oration with Gobin’s Farm and Kitchen at Parika, Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), creates the opportunity for people to enjoy farming and natu ral outdoor adventures, and a seamless flow of other agriculture-based activities.

Wanderlust Adventures GY in collaboration with Gobin’s Farm and Kitchen launched three new tourism products on Wednesday

Kamrul Baksh, Director at the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA)

Big boost...

Those activities are also meant to create awareness of the im portance of farming to communities and the environment, Sewchar ran highlighted.

“Understanding the value of farming not only produces growth of food but [also] growth of community,” she said, adding: “We are here to advance and improve agri-tourism, educating persons on food security, and attracting tourists.”

As regards advanc ing sustainability, Sew charran believes the fo cus on planting local produce while enjoy ing nature’s wonders is critical to developing agricultural tourism in Region Three and, by extension, Guyana.

Speaking at the launch, Vilas Gobin of Gobin’s Farm and Kitch en, said that tourists could visit the expan sive farm for a wonder ful stay to connect with nature and agriculture, since it boasts a variety of tree and plant species.

For persons seeking to experience the ul timate nightlife in the streets of Georgetown, Sewcharran put forward that the third tour, called GT Bar Crawl, which offers a series of safe, exciting and entertaining bar-hopping activities to several night clubs, bars and popular hangout spots.

Christopher Chin, owner of Trail Masters Tour, said that there are currently several pre mier tourism packages developed by the com pany, which highlight the country’s tourism and hospitality land scape in a way that at tracts tourists.

One of the three sig nature tours launched by the tour operator is the Lake Capoey Expedition that provides tourists with a fun-filled travel experience to Lake Ca poey, which is consid ered to be one of the largest lakes in Guyana.

In addition, tourists will get to fuel their ad venturous spirit and ap preciate nature’s beauty

through a tour of Yar rowkabra and its envi rons. This tour experi ence includes a range of recreational activities such as birdwatching, fishing, swimming and hiking.

The Tri-Island Expe rience boasts an amaz ing boat tour along the mighty Essequibo River to engage in island hop ping from Hogg Island to Wakenaam Island then to Leguan Island.

Director of the Guy ana Tourism Authority, Kamrul Baksh, said the tourism products and itineraries are designed and developed through a partnership between the GTA and tour operators.

SURPASSING TARGETS

This, he said, has helped the organisation to surpass the initial tar get for the year and thus far, a total of 13 new tourism products have been introduced in 2022.

As a result, the aim to diversify tourism expe riences in Guyana has reached newer heights heading into 2023.

“It is wonderful to have the cooperation and willingness from the private sector to develop these tours. Guyana is poised to welcome new visitors and to attract new markets and this is exactly what we need, new experiences for persons to explore this beautiful destination,” Baksh said, noting: “The development of these six experiences give per sons the opportunity to travel and experience this beautiful country.”

Baksh emphasised that the GTA intends to continue its collabo ration with tourism stakeholders and pri vate sector partners to introduce new ex periences to the Guya nese marketplace. He indicated that there are several plans un folding to enhance the product- development capacity and to sup port tour operators in ensuring the provision of world-class tourism services.

Trail Masters Adventure Tours launched three new tourism products on Wednesday

‘More than worthy’

LOCAL singer, songwriter and content producer, Simeon Browne has released a song which reminds women that they are deserving of endless praise and admiration for all that they do.

The single, “More Than Worthy”, is now the official theme song for the Women Em powerment Programme which is

hosted on EdYou FM.

The 30-year-old recently spoke to the BUZZ, and was clearly excited about his latest masterpiece, which has been getting a lot of positive reviews.

He explained that the song is a tribute to all women, partic ularly those he knows and those he came into contact with over the years.

Simeon explained that the song highlights some of the things people sometimes forget about women.

“So that is essentially what it is, an expression, a tribute honouring women the world over,” he said.

The process of creating the song took quite some time. He recalled that he began work

— Simeon Browne pays tribute to women in new song

Having it featured as the theme for such a programme is an honour for him.

“A show like the Women Empowerment Programme on EdYou FM presents feminism in its true and intended sense and I couldn’t be prouder to obviously have one of my songs be the theme for that,” he added.

Simeon, who also sits be hind the scenes on the EdYou Fm platform, stated that the experience has been a great one as he has been able to witness the type of empowerment the show creates.

ing on the song around 16:00 hours and concluded the process around 03:00 hours the follow ing day.

The singer described the process as one that “meant the world” to him.

“There was never really a break… I never stopped until it was finished, but I think it went smoothly because of the intention, the energy and just the goodwill for that kind of content and what it represented,” he said.

Speaking specifically about the line in the song that says: “More than worthy of moulding a nation,” Browne explained that this extends beyond just education.

He said that while wom en play an integral role in the education system, the words embrace the teaching of morals, values and life skills and the kinds of things that women do

tirelessly without complaint.

Additionally, he mentioned that he believes that the words also represent the true essence of feminism.

Meanwhile, he revealed to the Buzz that there is more to come as he is presently working on several projects.

The single is already on Spotify and YouTube.

President Ali meets local designers on possible collaboration

“Discussions

It

PRESIDENT, Dr Irfaan Ali, on Wednesday met with a group of local designers at the Office of the President on Shiv Chanderpaul Drive.

surrounded a collaboration between the Government of Guyana and designers all across the country,

including those from indigenous communities, on events such as Mashramani and Cricket Carni val,” a post on the president’s official Facebook page said.

added that the President was praised by the designers for facilitating the meeting and for the many ideas he proffered.

The Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Oneidge Walrond; the Min ister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr, and the Director of Projects at the Office of the President, Marcia Nadir-Sharma, were also at the meeting.

President Ali (centre) with the designers after the meeting. Also pictured in this Office of the President photo are Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Oneidge Walrond (sixth from left) and Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr (sixth from right)

Simeon Browne (Photos courtesy of Simeon Browne)

The album’s cover

Celebrating men!

— first ever HOVO Awards ceremony billed for tomorrow at Theatre Guild

IT’s going to be a night to celebrate the men who may not be very popular, but are performing exceptionally well in their respective occupations, and mak ing a difference in the lives of many.

The HOVO (Heart of the Virtuous One) Awards ceremony was conceptu alised by media person ality, Treveynie Persaud, who will host the first ceremony this Saturday at the Theatre Guild, in col laboration with SpotLight Newsroom.

The event will see 20 men in law, medicine, media, construction and other fields being hon oured.

Persaud and his busi ness partners feel that it’s time to host an award ceremony specifically for men who are working hard, but are not being recognised.

“Mostly people in politics are recognised. This award is strictly for persons who are apoliti cal within civil society,” Public Relations Officer Wayne Lyttle told the Buzz earlier this week.

Further to the award, there will be an ongoing commitment to support and empower men, espe cially the young men who may need help to walk the right path.

According to Lyttle, the award ceremony will be an annual affair.

“There are many men out there who are not recognised for their work. Majority of the time, per sons who are recognised are persons in a political group, or are anti-gov ernment, and they get the most recognition and coverage by media rather than the average man who is doing extremely well in their field,” he added.

He said he intends to plan similar events to honour women.

At tomorrow’s cer emony, the men will be afforded an opportunity to speak about the challeng

es and trials they have had to endure.

Video clips depicting various aspects of their lives will be shown to the expected 300 invitees.

Lyttle opined that not enough is being done to promote the healthy life styles that men in the var ious sectors demonstrate daily.

“We place a lot of em phasis on the negativity that surrounds our men, even though many men equally mothered their children, and have proven to make fine leaders in society,” he pointed out.

Songs and dances will be included in the programme.

Public Relations Officer Wayne Lyttle

Co-founder of HOVO Awards, Treveynie Persaud

Five vie for Reggae Grammy

THE nominations for the 65th Grammy Awards were announced on Tuesday in Los Angeles, California.

The nominees for Best Reggae Album are Third Time’s The Charm, by Pro toje; The Kalling, by Kabaka Pyramid; Scorcha, by Sean Paul; Gifted, by Koffee; and Com Fly Wid Mi, by Shaggy.

This is the first nomina tion for Kabaka Pyramid, who expressed his apprecia tion at the acknowledgement.

“Right now it feel like a win wi win already. That’s just how it feel how mi happy inna miself. It’s just a joy; wi just think about all the years, blood sweat and tears wi put inna di music. Mi haffi big up Protoje as well. Is a joy to be nominated with him,” Kaba ka told the Jamaica Observer.

The ‘singjay’ shared that hard work went into creating the 15-track set, which was

home, recording by Gong. A whole heap a work, but joyful work. Definitely loved the process, and definitely haffi give thanks,” he added.

The Kalling was released on September 30 via Ghet to Youths International and Bebble Rock Music. It de buted at Number 13 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart.

Gifted is the first fulllength release from Koffee, and her second nomination for Best Reggae Album. She won the award in 2020 for her EP, Rapture.

Gifted debuted at Num ber Two on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart in April, and is currently at Number Eight. It was re leased in March by Prom ised Land Recordings/Co lumbia Records. (Jamaica Observer)

Koffee ‘brews’ with Sam Smith

GRAMMY-winning Reggae artiste, Kof fee, has earned another high-profile collaboration. She is featured on British soul singer Sam Smith’s forthcoming album, Gloria, sched uled for release on Jan uary 27.

Gloria was recorded between Jamaica, Lon don, and Los Angeles.

Koffee collaborates with Smith and Canadian singer, Jessie Reyez on the track titled, Gimme.

Tammi Chang is Koffee’s manager. She explained how the col laboration with Smith came about.

“It came about nat urally and organically; they are both fans of each other, so they re ally connected. They met at a festival in Lon don, and thought making music together would be a great experience,” Chang told the Jamaica Observer.

Chang said the ‘col lab’ gives Koffee a wider audience.

“This type of oppor tunity can do wonders, such as a wider reach, increase in value, and open doors for future collaborations of this nature,” she said.

In the past, Koffee has collaborated with the likes of British rapper, J Hus, American R&B

On November 15, Koffee’s debut album, Gifted, was nominated in the Best Reggae Album category of the 65th An nual Grammy Awards.

Gifted, released in March, debuted at Num ber Two on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart. It currently occupies the eighth position.

In a previous inter view, Koffee shared that she has grown musically since her 2019 EP, Rap ture.

“I have loosened up a bit, and I think I am expressing myself a little bit more freely, and I’m also getting a little bit

more personal,” Koffee said.

“I feel like a lot of passion went into creat ing this album. Myself and my band, we did some serious work to make it as natural as possible, and also as in spiring as possible,” she continued.

Koffee is currently overseas, preparing to hit the road on British pop singer, Harry Styles’ Love On Tour of South America.

“This tour is exciting, and its direct support to Harry Styles in South America [Mexico, Co lumbia, Peru, Chile, Ar gentina, Brazil]. We will be starting mid-Novem ber, and going into early December,” said Chang.

Smith, a multiaward-winning artiste, shot to fame in 2012 af ter a guest feature on the song, Latch, a Number 11 UK chart hit by Dis closure. He later released three solo albums, In the Lonely Hour (12 mil lion in sales globally), The Thrill of It All (1.4 million worldwide), and Love Goes On (certified platinum in the United States, and gold in the UK, Australia and New Zealand).

Among his hit songs are Stay With Me, Dancing With a Stranger, Money on My Mind, La La La (with Naughty Boy), and I’m Not the Only One. (Jamaica Observ er)

Mariah Carey is officially not the ‘Queen of Christmas’

The American star’s application was denied after her company did not respond to another singer’s opposition.

The trademark would have given her the legal right to stop others from using the title on music and merchandise.

Carey also failed in attempts to trademark the abbre viation, “QOC”, and “Princess Christmas”.

The star has become synonymous with the festive period since the release of her 1994 track, All I Want for Christmas Is You.

Carey’s company, Lotion LLC, applied for the yuletide trademark last year, leading to another singer, Elizabeth Chan, putting in a legal challenge in August, in an attempt to block her from obtaining the registration.

‘MONETISE CHRISTMAS’

Chan, dubbed “Queen of Christmas” by The New Yorker in 2018, for having put out original festive records every year for a decade, criticised Carey for attempting to monetise Christmas.

“I feel very strongly that no one person should hold onto anything around Christmas or monopolise it in the way that Mariah seeks to in perpetuity,” said Chan in an interview with Variety in August.

“That’s just not the right thing to do. Christmas is for everyone. It’s meant to be shared; it’s not meant to be owned,” she said.

Chan went on to say that Carey had been “trying to trademark this in every imaginable way”, from music, clothing and alcohol, to “masks, dog collars; it’s all over the map”.

“If you knit a ‘Queen of Christmas’ sweater, you should be able to sell it on Etsy to somebody else, so they can buy it for their grandma,” she went on. “It’s crazy; it would have that breadth of registration.”

Carey’s company did not respond to Chan’s opposi tion in time, so the trademark was not granted, meaning knitters around the world can continue without fear of breaching Christmas copyright.

The BBC has asked Carey’s team for a comment.

Another singer, Darlene Love, previously took to Facebook to say she had been “Queen of Christmas” since before Carey rose to fame.

Love is known for her Christmas classic, Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) and covers of hits such as Winter Wonderland and White Christmas.

Earlier this month, it transpired that Carey was no longer being sued for copyright infringement over her own Christmas hit, after country singer Andy Stone dropped his legal action.

The songwriter, who performs under the name Vince Vance with the band Vince Vance and the Valiants, sued the popstar in June, claiming he co-wrote a song with the same name five years earlier.

He told a court he would dismiss the case, but legally he could still refile it.

Christmas came early for Carey last week, when Netflix treated her to a special early screening of Series Five of The Crown at her home as a reward for being the show’s “ultimate super-fan”. (BBC)

produced by Damian “Junior Gong” Marley.

“Serious work; whole

heap a work. Late nights, ear ly mornings, mixing sessions, writing sessions, recording at

singer, John Legend, Hip Hop artiste, Gunna, and Canadian singer, Daniel Ceasar.

MARIAH Carey’s application to trademark the moniker, “Queen of Christmas”, has been denied by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

The five nominated for Best Reggae Album (Jamaica Observer photo)

Koffee performing at Reggae Sumfes (Jamaica Observer file photo)

Mariah Carey (GETTY IMAGES)

Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar and Adele dominate Grammy Award nominations

BEYONCÉ and Adele are the stars to beat at the 2023 Grammy Awards, and will go head-to-head for all the major prizes.

Both artistes have been nominated for Album of the Year, Adele for her sump tuous fourth album, 30, and Beyoncé for her dancefloor opus, Renaissance.

Adele’s single, Easy On Me, and Beyoncé’s Break My Soul are each up for Song and Record of the Year.

British stars Harry Styles and Coldplay are also in the running for Best Album, alongside Swedish pop icons, Abba.

The quartet has received their first-ever Album of the Year nomination for last year’s Voyage, which saw them emerge from a 39-year hibernation.

The nominations were announced on November 15, and Beyoncé leads the pack with nine overall, including nods in the Dance and R&B categories.

She is now tied with her husband, Jay-Z as the most-nominated artiste in Grammy history, with a total of 88, overtaking Sir Paul McCartney and Quincy Jones.

However, the star has not won a prize in any of the three biggest categories (Album, Record and Song of the Year) since Single Ladies was named Song of the Year in 2010.

But if she collects four (or more) awards next Feb ruary, she will beat conductor Sir George Solti’s all-time record of 31 Grammys.

Kendrick Lamar is this year’s second biggest nomi

nee, with eight nods for his fourth album, Mr. Morale, and the Big Steppers, a pen sive rumination on the state of the world and his own moral failings, and the free style The Heart Part 5.

Adele and country star Brandi Carli are tied in third place, with seven nomina tions each.

Taylor Swift has received multiple nominations for her epic re-recording of 2012’s All Too Well, but her latest album, Midnights, was re leased too late for inclusion in the 2023 field.

And Puerto Rican rapper and singer Bad Bunny has made history by landing the first-ever Album of the Year nomination for a Spanish language album.

His record, Un Verano Sin Ti (A Summer Without You), dominated the US Bill board charts this summer, racking up 13 weeks at Num ber One.

British artistes have had a particularly strong year. Along with Adele, Harry Styles has nominations for Album of the Year (Harry’s House), as well as Record and Song of the Year (As It Was).

Ozzy Osbourne picks up

several nominations in the rock categories for his solo record, Patient Number 9, while the Isle of Wight duo, Wet Leg, get a nod for Best New Act.

Drake and The Weeknd, who would have been like ly frontrunners in the main categories, withdrew their latest albums from consid eration. Both artistes have long maintained, with some justification, that the Gram mys sideline black artistes to genre-based categories.

Drake and The Weeknd, who would have been like ly frontrunners in the main categories, withdrew their latest albums from consid eration. Both artistes have long maintained, with some justification, that the Gram mys sideline black artistes to genre-based categories.

Bruno Mars and Ander son .Paak, whose side proj ect Silk Sonic also declined to submit their album. Rather than criticise the voters, however, Mars said it “would be crazy to ask for anything more” after winning song and record of the year for Leave The Door Open at this year’s ceremony. (BBC)

Singer Roberta Flack can no longer sing after ALS diagnosis

GRAMMY-winning musician Roberta Flack, whose hits include “Killing Me Softly with His Song”, has been diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, and can no longer sing, her repre sentatives said on Novem ber 14.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive dis ease, “has made it impossi ble to sing and not easy to speak”, a statement from her publicists said. “But it will take a lot more than ALS to silence this icon.”

A documentary about

Flack’s life is set to debut at a film festival in New York next week. It will air on PBS Television in the United States in January. Flack, 85, is also releas ing a children’s book in January.

ALS breaks down nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that make

muscles work, leading to progressive paralysis and death.

Flack had several Number One hits in the 1970s, and produced 20 studio albums. She won four Grammys, and was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020.

The singer was also the first artiste to win two consecutive Record of the Year trophies in 1973 for, “First Time I Ever Saw Your Face”, and in 1974 for, “Killing Me Softly with His Song”. (Reuters)

Adele (left) and Beyoncé (GETTY IMAGES)

Roberta Flack

School ‘Nationals’ returns November 27 ...

produce well-rounded students.

“We believe that significant investments were injected by the Government of Guyana through the Ministry of Education for the de velopment of sports in schools. So, this is a big thing on the agenda because our national strategic plan speaks clearly to the promotion of sports because what we intend to do is to build the whole manspeak to the body, the soul, and the spirit.”

Dr Hutson further called on students to be supportive of their peers during the competition. He also commended the work of the National Management Committee for its dedication to ensuring the event is hosted.

Also delivering remarks was Banks DIH Communications Man ager, Mr Troy Peters. The company has been the championships’ biggest supporter over the years. Mr Peters expressed appreciation for being part of the event. He noted that the company remains committed to supporting the development of Guyana’s youth through education and sport.

Present at the event were members of the Management Committee, the Deputy Director of Sport, Ms Melissa Dow-Rich ardson, along with students and teachers from schools in Region Three.

RACING TIPS

English Racing Tips

Ascot

08:20 hrs Crambo

08:55 hrs Solo

09:30 hrs Master Chewy

10:05 hrs Flegmatik

10:40 hrs Cat Tiger

11:15 hrs Get Back Get Back

11:50 hrs The Questioner

Chepstow

08:35 hrs Amadorio 09:10 hrs Firestream 09:45 hrs Credo

10:20 hrs Oman

10:55 hrs Marta Des Mottes

11:30 hrs Iberio

12:00 hrs Go West

Kempton

12:10 hrs Silastar

12:40 hrs Downtown Dubai

13:15 hrs Rainbow Sky

13:45 hrs Glittering Heights

14:15 hrs Bonkersinabundance

14:45 hrs Burena

15:15 hrs Gloucestershire

15:45 hrs Noble Order

16:15 hrs Ower Starlight

Irish Racing Tips

Dundalk

13:00 hrs Zentopia

13:30 hrs Emotivo

14:00 hrs Scipio's Defence

14:30 hrs Miss Abby Jools

15:00 hrs Marsa

15:30 hrs Teddy Boy

16:00 hrs Je T'ai Porte

16:30 hrs Tullypole Annie

American Racing Tips

Aqueduct

Race 1 Conversing

Race 2 Prince Of Pharoahs

Race 3 Sharp Sensation Race 4 Hatch

Race 5 Sweetest Princess Race 6 Ensemble

Race 7 Chucka Moon

Race 8 Ghost Giant

Race 9 Norman Queen

Canadian Racing Tips

Woodbine

Race 1 Adelaide Court

Race 2 Glorious Tribute

Race 3 Last Dawn Race 4 Enjoy The Music Race 5 Guant Teddy Race 6 Where Is Essa

South Africa Rscing Tips Turffontein

08:50 hrs Mia Fiore 09:25 hrs Nunchkin

10:00 hrs Mini Coop

10:35 hrs Tanganga

11:10 hrs Flashy Apache

11:45 hrs Reny

12:20 hrs Bless My Stars

12:55 hrs Crimson Princess 13:30 hrs Forever Mine

President of Guyana Teachers’ Union, Mark Lyte

Ecuador can handle pressure of playing hosts Qatar first, says Mena

(REUTERS) - Ecuador will have to overcome some opening-night nerves when they play hosts Qatar in the first match of the World Cup on Sunday, but forward Angel Mena is confident they can handle the pres sure of the occasion.

Ecuador finished fourth in South American qual ifying behind Brazil, Ar gentina and Uruguay to reach the World Cup finals for only the fourth time after missing out on Russia 2018 and Mena backed the team to give their best in Qatar.

"One of the keys will be the conviction we have to face this match," Mena, whose side also take on the Netherlands and Senegal in Group A, told reporters.

"We shouldn't change

anything that we have shown during the qualifi ers; we've become a solid team offensively.

"We're focused on do ing our best, we can han dle the demands of this type of match. We're obvi ously anxious because it's the first game, but we're

aware of what we are play ing for."

Catch the 2022 FIFA World Cup on SuperSport in 13 languages. Press ‘Options’ on your remote for languages available in your region.

Midfielder Carlos Gruezo said Qatar were

likely to feel more pres sure in front of their home fans. "We need to do things well and not think so much about them," he added.

Ecuador's forwards have failed to fire in re cent warm-up games, with the team scoring only two goals in six matches, but Mena said that had not dented their confidence.

"It's obvious we haven't scored goals in the last few games, but we have a lot of optimism and confi dence in the players who are here," the 34-year-old added.

"We're convinced that it will be a great World Cup and that everyone will fulfil their ex pectations ... We're very convinced there are go ing to be a lot of goals."

Brathwaite, Brooks. Holder strike fifties on day one of first tour match

Delhi in line to host a Test after five years during Australia tour in 2023

DELHI will host a Test match after more than five years when Australia travel to India for a four-match series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy early next year, in February-March, PTI reported on Wednes day. It added that the other Tests are likely to be held in Ahmedabad, Dharamsala and one of Chennai, Nagpur and Hyderabad.

"Delhi is likely to host the second of the four Test matches as of now," PTI quoted an unnamed BCCI official as saying. "The dates will be out as and when the Tours and Fixtures committee hold its meeting. Dharamsala, which hosted its first and only Test almost six years back, against Australia in March, 2017, will probably host the third Test."

Chennai or Nagpur or Hyderabad is likely to host the first Test, and Ahmedabad the last one. One of the Tests is expected to be a day-nighter. The BCCI has so far hosted three day-night Tests, played with a pink ball: against Bangladesh in Kolkata in 2019, against England in Ahmedabad in 2021, and against Sri Lanka in Benga luru earlier this year.

The last Test played in Delhi was in December 2017, against Sri Lanka.

These will be the last fixtures for both Australia and India before the ICC World Test Championship final, to be played at The Oval in London in June next year. Australia are currently at the top of the table, with 70 percentage points, followed by South Africa (60), Sri Lanka (53.33) and then India (52.08).

WTC final scenarios

WEST Indies openers

Kraigg Brathwaite and Shamarh Brooks both made half-centuries in a total of 297-5 on day one of their tour match against a combined NSW and ACT XI.

The duo added 133 with captain Brathwaite (75 off 114 balls) and Brooks (56 off 116) getting on top of a young attack at Canber ra's EPC Solar Park, which included recent Australian

Left-arm orthodox spin ner Riley Ayre (3-70) made inroads to have the tourists 207-5 before all-rounder Jason Holder (50 n.o.) and Jermaine Blackwood (42 n.o.) took their side safely to the close of play.

The West Indies have two tour matches before the NRMA Test series against Australia begins in Perth on November 30 and will

be keen to give their batters some valuable time at the crease before taking on the Aussies’ vaunted pace attack.

Brathwaite, Holder and Blackwood are mainstays of the West Indies side and their early tour success will be a boost to the visitors' confidence

Brathwaite is the most experienced of the West Indies batters and is 13th on the all-time Test list for his

country with 4 893 runs at an average of 34.45.

The 34-year-old Brooks did not make his Test debut until the age of 30 and has been in and out of the team in his short 11-Test career that includes a maiden cen tury against Afghanistan in 2019.

Brooks is yet to open in a Test match for West Indies where he has batted at No.3 or in the middle order. (AAP)

Australia have as many as nine Tests to go in this cycle, the most among all teams. Five of those are at home, across two series - two against West Indies and three against South Africa.

If Australia win all five at home and lose all four to India, they will drop to 63.16 and India will leapfrog them if they win all six of their remaining Tests (two away in Bangladesh). If Australia get a 6-3 win-loss record in those nine matches, their percentage will improve to 68.42, which should put them in a strong position to qualify.

India should fancy their chances of moving up the table in their last two series of this cycle. If India score a perfect six on six, their percentage will jump up to 68.06, which will be more than Australia's score even if they win their five home Tests. (Cricinfo).

Ecuador's Angel Mena celebrates scoring their first goal v Brazil June 27, 2021 with teammates (REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli)

U19 representatives Liam Doddrell and Jack Nisbet

From left: Kraigg Brathwaite, Jason Holder and Shamarh Brooks hit half-centuries for West Indies in their first practice match

The series will be the last for both sides before the WTC final • (Getty Images)

Australia win Adelaide

ODI, Malan ton for England in vain

(REUTERS) - Australia’s top order fired in unison to secure a six-wicket win over England with Dawid Malan’s career-best 134 for the tour ists in vain in the first one-day international yesterday.

The home side’s victory against the ODI and T20 world champions, which came with 19 balls to spare, marked the beginning of Pat Cummins’ tenure as Australia’s one-day captain succeeding Aaron Finch, who quit the format in September.

Four days after winning the T20 World Cup in Melbourne, England slumped to 66-4 in the 14th over as Australia’s pace attack, led by Cummins (3-62), breathed fire with the new ball, vindicating their decision to field.

Phil Salt perished in the slips, Jason Roy and Sam Bill ings were bowled through the gate while James Vince depart ed caught behind. Malan count

Senegal

Ivan Toney not picked for England on 'footballing grounds' - FA chief

er-attacked in the middle overs, hitting four sixes - two of them off the bowling of Cumminsand 12 fours before holing out in the deep in the 46th over.

David Willey’s unbeaten 34 was the next-highest score by an England batter as the tourists went on to post a decent 287-9 at the Adelaide Oval.

A 147-run opening stand between David Warner (86) and Travis Head (69) effectively laid the platform for Austra lia’s comprehensive victory. Chris Jordan broke the stand by taking the wicket of Head while Willey dismissed Warner and Marnus Labuschagne in his successive overs but Steve Smith, who made 80 not out, stayed put and sealed victory, hitting Malan for a six.

The teams move to Syd ney for the second ODI to morrow to be followed by the third and final match in Melbourne next Tuesday.

Sadio Mane ruled out of World Cup with leg injury

SENEGAL forward Sadio Mane has been ruled out of the World Cup as he requires surgery on a knee injury he sustained playing for Bayern Munich.

On Tuesday, Senegal's football federation said Mane, 30, would miss their "first games" at the tourna ment.

But a further MRI scan was completed yestersday that showed surgical inter vention is needed.

Mane was forced off during Bayern's Bundesliga win over Werder Bremen on November 8.

Senegal start their World Cup campaign against the Netherlands on Monday. The West Africans are in Group A with games against hosts Qatar (November 25) and Ecuador (November 29) to follow.

Two-time African Foot baller-of-the-Year Mane is Senegal's talisman, having scored the winning penalty when the Teranga Lions be came continental champions for the first time in February, defeating Egypt in a shootout in the Africa Cup of Nations final.

Within two months Mane had repeated the feat, netting the decisive spotkick as Senegal beat Egypt - in a game that again pitted him against then Liverpool team-mate Mohamed Salah - on penalties in a play-off to qualify for Qatar. (BBC Sport)

Enterprise, St Pius...

From page 36

against North George town in the third-place playoff. Similarly, the positional 5-16 section will also be staged.

The winners of the tournament will receive the championship trophy, gold medals, and a pair of uniforms. Each player will also be presented with an electronic tablet.

The runners-up will collect a trophy, silver medals, and six balls, while the third-place finishers will pocket a trophy and four balls and the fourth-place side will walk away with a trophy.

BRENTFORD striker Ivan Toney was not selected for England's World Cup squad on "footballing grounds", says the Football Association chief execu tive Mark Bullingham.

The 26-year-old has been charged by the Football Association with 232 alleged breaches of betting rules.

Toney has scored 10 Premier League goals this season and had been tipped for a place in the England squad.

"He was absolutely available for selection," Bull ingham said.

"He was not chosen on footballing grounds," he told BBC sports editor Dan Roan.

England defender Kieran Trippier was banned for 10 weeks by the FA in December 2020 for giving out infor mation for others to bet on his transfer from Tottenham to Atletico Madrid.

Asked if this was a problem within the English game, Bullingham said: "I think our rules are very clear and we have had a small number of cases.

"Obviously, we will look to enforce the rules when they are broken.(BBC Sport).

QUIZ CORNER

Today ’s Quiz

Answers in tomorrow ’s issue

Dawid Malan constructed a brilliant century (Getty Images)

Steven Smith drives off the back foot during his unbeaten 80 • (Getty Images)

Surgery will be scheduled for Sadio Mane soon

Brentford striker Ivan Toney

New Zealand and India attempt to put World Cup misery behind them in three-match series

NEW ZEALAND and In dia will attempt to put the disappointment of failing to win the T20 World Cup behind them when they start a three-match T20i series today.

England hammered India by 10 wickets at the semi-fi nal stage before beating Pa kistan at the MCG on Sunday to lift the trophy for a second time.

The Black Caps missed out once again when they lost to Pakistan in the semi-final, having been runners-up to Australia in Dubai last year.

India will be without cap tain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul for three matches against New Zea land in the shortest format, as the experienced trio have been given a post-World Cup rest.

Hardik Pandya will skip per the tourists, with VVS Laxman filling in as head coach as Rahul Dravid is also absent.

Laxman wants to see the India players express them selves in a series that gets un der way at Westpac Stadium

He said: "It is important to be flexible. I think in T20 cricket, you are required to express yourself and that is when you will be successful.

I think T20 cricket has shown us over the years that the more amount of multi-dimen sional players you have, the better for the team.

"You have bowlers who can bat, and batters who can bowl, and that is the way forward. That has already been proven in T20 cricket, the more number of bowlers who can bat will add depth to the team and it allows a lot of freedom for the batters to

express themselves.

"That is the need for the format and I am sure more and more teams will try to get that into their selection process and identify players who are multi-dimensional players."

New Zealand have won their past four multi-game bilateral T20I series and will attempt to extend that to five for the first time, with India being the last team to beat them in a series with a 3-0 success a year ago.

No Boult to strike for Black Caps

Trent Boult was not in

cluded in the New Zealand squad after a request to be released from his central con tract was accepted in August.

They still possess a strong attack in his absence, with Tim Southee and Lockie Ferguson set to be unleashed and Adam Milne back in the fold along with Blair Tickner

Experienced opener Mar tin Guptill was overlooked once again, with Finn Allen keeping his spot at the top of the order.

India need Pant back to his explosive best

Rishabh Pant only played twice in the World Cup, mak ing three against Zimbabwe before falling for only nine in the crushing semi-final loss at the hands of England.

Dinesh Karthik had been preferred to Pant, but the ex perienced wicketkeeper-bat ter is not in the squad to face New Zealand.

Pant is only 30 runs short of becoming 11th player to score 1,000 runs for India in men’s T20Is and India will need him to explode into life. (Sports max).

DCB Under-15 Tournament bowls off today

THE Demerara Cricket Board (DCB) will be host ing its Under-15 Inter-As sociation tournament ear lier than expected.

This tournament com mences today, November 18, and is expected to con clude on Friday, November 25, 2022 at a venue across Demerara.

“(The) reason for an early start this year is be cause of the preparation plans the DCB has in store for their county teams for the 2023 season. After this tournament is concluded the DCB selectors will be selecting a squad to com mence training which will lead right into the GCB Un der-15 Inter-County 2023,” the DCB said in a release.

The teams in this tour

nament are listed below:

The East Coast team reads: Mickel Sharma (Captain), Munesh Outar, Gopaul Ramcharran, Ravin Persaud, Udesh Jaikaran, Kyle Gibson (Vice-cap tain), Eric Phillips, Navin Narine, Ruel Dindyal, Narindra Isurdeen, Amit Shiwadansa, Adrian Kis soon, Nicholas Simon and Devendra Ramkarran. Re serves are Alvin Ramper saud, Deshon Stephens, Jayden Khargu and Hemant Prasad. Coach Latchman Yadram and manager Rich ard Albert.

The East Bank Team reads: Roupie Rajaram (Captain), Dilshan LAtch man, Alex Persaud, Alex Singh, Dinesh Sheumber, Navindra Singh, Ganesh

Appanah, Devendra Mo hamed, Keshan Singh, Tunil Suraj, Mahindra Bankay, John Springer, jeremiah Downer and Kristan Brown. Reserves are Jaden Benjamin and Jordan Benjamin. Coach Daniel Barker and Manager Fazal Ishak.

The Upper Demerara Team reads: Dishon Ashby, Jonathan Hall, Joseph Hall, Rapheal Tappin, Tristan Pe ter’s, Christophe Hayman, Taefarie Fredricks, Joshu Dash, Selwyn Smith, Keon Phillips, Carlos Clark, Co rey Charles, Vikram Per saud and Shaukel Fiedtkou.

The Georgetown Team reads: Emmanuel Lewis (Captain), Darwin Larose (Vice-captain), Reyaz Latif, Lomar Seecharran, Bran

don Henry, Trilok Nanan, Ravin Singh, Julian Craig, Kadeem, Anel Haimnarine, Joshua Charles, Sameer Bhola, Samuel Barkoye and Shane Sivbarran. Re serves are Yusuf Hack, Fazal Samad, Thierry Da vis, Ravindra Singh and Vikash Roopnarine. Coach Quasen Nedd and Manager Shaun Massiah.

The West Demerara Cricket Association Un der-15 team will be an nounced later.

In the first round match es, East Coast will face off with Upper Demerara, while West Demerara will battle against East Bank.

The venues are yet to be confirmed.

All matches will start at 09:00h daily.

Man Utd must terminate forward's contract, says Gary Neville

GARY Neville has said Manchester United "know they have to terminate" Cristiano Ronaldo's con tract.In an interview with TalkTV, the Portugal forward said he had no respect for manager Erik ten Tag and felt "betrayed" by the club.

Ronaldo also criticised on the club's owners and his former United team-mates Neville and Wayne Rooney.

Supporters have been critical of the striker, with some believing he is ruining his legacy at Old Trafford.

"He wouldn't have done this interview if he wanted a way back. He knew it would bring the headlines it has and be the end of his Manchester United career," Neville told Sky Sports.

"I'm wondering what Manchester United are doing because the reality of it is they know they have to ter minate Cristiano's contract or they basically open up a precedent so any player can criticise them in the future.

"I agree with some of the things Cristiano has said, and many Manchester United fans will agree with many things Cristiano has said, but the reality is if you're an employee within a business and say those things your employment has to terminate, and Manchester United have to do that in the next few days."

Neville argued the club are also partially respon sible for the way the relationship with Ronaldo has deteriorated.

"They could have come together a couple of weeks ago and navigated a pathway through what could have potentially been choppy seas to the shore but it's not happened. They've both basically backed themselves into a corner," he added.(BBC Sport)

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson(left) and India’s Hardik Pandya

Cristiano Ronaldo criticised Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag in a TalkTV interview

Primus outshines Pooran but Red Force march into Super50 Cup final

NORTH SOUND, Antigua (CMC) – A sensational hundred from Roshon Prim us upstaged Nicholas Pooran’s and rattled Trinidad and Toba go Red Force, but the reigning champions held their nerve to beat Barbados Pride by 10 runs and surge into tomorrow’s final of the Super50 Cup.

Chasing a daunting 313 after captain Pooran lashed his maiden re gional one-day hundred of 112 in the first day/ night semi-final here Wednesday, Pride ap peared to be out of the contest when they slumped to 146 for six in the 30th over, speed ster Shannon Gabriel ripping through the in nings to finish with four for 43.

However, Primus en tered at number seven to unveil a quite astonish ing unbeaten 130 from 79 balls which helped Pride claw their way back into the run chase and place Red Force un der enormous pressure.

At the start of the final over, Pride needed 17 runs with Primus on strike and while the heavyset right-hander pulled the first deliv ery from Gabriel to the mid-wicket boundary, he could muster only two runs from the next five deliveries.

“(I’m) pretty gutted right now that I couldn’t bring the guys over the line. In Bajan terms, I brought the guys to the sea and I let them drown,” said a dejected Primus.

The 27-year-old blasted 10 fours and nine giant sixes – hefty blows on both sides of

the ground – to post his maiden List A hundred in his 25th match.

Crucially, he put on an absolutely invaluable 93 for the seventh wick et with Akeem Jordan, who struck 33 from 43 balls, before adding a further 63 in an unbro ken ninth-wicket stand with Camarie Boyce (13 not out).

“After watching Pooran’s innings, all I was thinking was I could do the same so I just went out with my mind clear and said I was going to play a special innings for my team,” Primus contin ued.

“In the latter part of the innings, all I was saying was I need a 20-run over and then it should be smooth sail ing from there.”

Veteran left-hander Jonathan Carter chipped in with 45 from 74 balls while Nicholas Kirton struck a breezy 35 from 31 balls and captain

Shai Hope, 24, but none of them carried on, leav ing Primus to salvage the innings.

“Primus stole the show tonight. Credit goes to him – that was a fabulous innings,” Pooran said.

“The only way we were going to lose this game was if someone played a special innings and that was definitely a special innings. Primus took his chances and played really well.”

Pooran had ear lier produced special fireworks of his own, striking five fours and eight sixes in an 82-ball knock which pulled Red Force out of trouble and carried them to a tour nament-high 312 for six off their 50 overs.

Left-handers Amir Jangoo with 81 from 114 balls and Darren Bravo, with 54 from 65 balls, weighed in with half-centuries before Akeal Hosein arrived late on to belt a 20-ball

42 which included three fours and three sixes, as he posted a whirlwind 53 off 26 balls for the sixth wicket with Ter rance Hinds (nine not out).

Sent in, Red Force were reeling at two for two in the third over when seamer Jordan (2-31) removed Kjorn Ottley (1) to a catch at the wicket and then hit Jason Mohammed in front with the very next ball.

However Jangoo, who struck half-dozen fours and a six, put on 92 for the third wicket with Bravo who counted seven fours and a six, before adding 147 for the fourth wicket with Pooran.

Pooran raised triple figures off 77 balls with a tickle to fine leg for four in the 45th over before joining Jangoo in holding out in the deep off seamer Shamar Springer (4-64).

In reply, Pride too were in early trouble at 13 for two in the fourth over, Gabriel getting Zachary McCaskie (1) to nick to first slip be fore shattering Kyle Hope’s stumps for four.

Carter then put on 32 for the third with Shai and 63 for the fourth with Kirton but he was one of three wickets to fall for 38 runs – slap ping Gabriel to deep point – leaving Pride with an uphill battle.

Primus’s arrival re ignited the run chase, his first fifty coming from 36 balls and his second needing only 25, reaching his hun dred with a four to third man off Hinds in the 47th before taking Pride close.

Infantino to serve another fouryear term as FIFA president

DOHA: (Reuters) - FIFA president Gianni Infantino will serve another four-year term at the helm of world soccer’s governing body af ter emerging as the only candidate for the next election in March.

Infantino, who has received widespread back ing from confederations and national associations, was the only name submitted by the Wednesday deadline, FIFA said yesterday.

Infantino, 52, has campaigned hard over the last month, seeking individual endorsements from national associations, and significantly solidified his position.

He will be re-elected at the FIFA congress in Rwanda in March for a third term.

Infantino won the FIFA presidency in 2016 on an initial three-year term, replacing Sepp Blatter, and was re-elected in 2019.

He thanked more than 200 members associa tions who FIFA said had offered him their backing for another term as president.

"I would like simply, because again it’s the first time I speak publicly today, to put on record my big thanks for the over 200 member associations of FIFA, all the six confederations who have sup ported me," Infantino said in a statement.

“I feel humbled and honoured to be able to serve the global football community for the next four years."

Infantino rose swiftly from his post as UEFA general secretary to one of the most powerful po sitions in world sport.

The Swiss official beat Asian Football Confed eration president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain in the final round of that 2016 election after Jordan’s Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein and Frenchman Jerome Champagne had been eliminated.

But he owed his candidacy to the fact that Europe’s preferred candidate, his former boss and UEFA president Michel Platini, was banned from football along with Blatter for ethics violations. Both men denied wrongdoing and were acquitted of fraud charges by a Swiss court this year.

Infantino was then re-elected unopposed, having won a second term at FIFA’s Paris Con gress in 2019.

Roshon Primus goes on the attack during his unbeaten 130 in Wednesday’s semi-final

Nicholas Pooran lashed his maiden regional one-day hundred of 112

Gianni Infantino will be re-elected at the FIFA Congress in Rwanda in March for a third term

One Guyana President’s Cup football Grove/Diamond, West Ruimveldt/Albouystown

draw first blood in Region Four

THE Region Four (De merara-Mahaica) leg of the One Guyana Presi dent’s Cup inter-ward foot ball tournament got off to a scintillating start on Wednesday evening at the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) ground.

A double-header was on the cards that saw Grove/ Samatta Point/Diamond, and West Ruimveldt/Al bouystown prove themselves worthy of advancing to the next round following respec tive victories.

Grove/Samatta Point/ Diamond, comprising play ers from the mentioned East Bank Demerara (EBD) com munities, snatched victory from the jaws of defeat after they found themselves trail ing 1-0 from the ninth to 72nd minute of their match against Sophia.

Sophia took the early lead when Tevin Browne expertly chipped the goal keeper.

Although the East Bank outfit looked more composed in the second segment, their advances were often thwart ed. Eventually, it was Dev on Padmore who found the equaliser for Grove/Samatta Point/Diamond.

In a bid to avoid the game being decided from kicks from the penalty mark, both sides upped the ante, but it was the more experienced

East Bank team that pre vailed under pressure.

It was the 76th minute of the encounter when Sophia, by way of a foul in the box, gave their opponents a pen alty-kick opportunity. Lloyd Matthews made no mistake, pushing the score to 2-1 in Grove/Samatta Point/Dia mond’s favour.

The small but vibrant crowd at the GFC ground stuck around for the second fixture which turned out to be a one-goal thriller.

As West Ruimveldt/Al bouystown faced off with Golden Grove/Melanie; there were near misses galore, as both sides struggled to finish.

The East Coast of De merara (ECD)-based outfit did well to hold off West Ruimveldt’s continuous ad vances in the first half. How ever, similar to the first game of the night, experience came to the fore in the second half when West Ruimveldt’s Col in Nelson broke the ice in the 56th minute.

Further pursuits of a goal proved futile for both sides, as the Georgetown team took the narrow 1-0 victory.

The One Guyana Pres ident’s Cup is a collabo rative effort between the Government of Guyana (GoG), Guyana Football Federation (GFF) and Ka shif and Shanghai Organ isation.

Part of the action between Melanie and West Ruimveldt at the GFC ground

Former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner loses appeal against extradition from Trinidad

(REUTERS) - Former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner can be extradited from his homeland of Trinidad to the United States to face corrup tion charges, a London court said yesterday.

Warner’s lawyers argued that his extradition was unlawful but London’s Privy Council, the highest Court of Appeal for many Commonwealth coun

tries, unanimously dismissed his appeal.

Suspicion and rumours have surrounded the 2010 votes by FIFA’s executive to hand the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 edition to Qatar.

In 2020 a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) indictment said bribes were paid to soccer officials to secure their votes for hosting rights.

The DOJ alleged that then FIFA vice-president Warner was paid $5M through various shell companies to vote for Russia to host the 2018 World Cup.

His role as president of CONCACAF, which organises soccer in North and Central America and the Caribbean, gave him enormous influence as a powerbroker for former FIFA chief Sepp Blatter.

A former member of the FIFA Executive Committee and former CONCACAF president, Warner, was suspended by FIFA in 2011 and in 2015, charged by the U.S. with wire fraud, racke teering and money-laundering.

FIFA banned him from all soccer-related activity for life in 2015. The 79-year-old has always denied any wrong doing.

School ‘Nationals’ returns November 27 – December 2

Enterprise, St Pius ready to lock horns for COURTS Pee Wee title

THERE is calm in the camps of both Enterprise Primary and St Pius Pri mary as they prepare to face each other in the final of the COURTS Pee Wee tomorrow at the Minis try of Education ground, Carifesta Avenue, from 15:00hrs.

This will be St Pius’s fourth appearance in the final, as they possess a re cord of two wins and a loss.

On the other hand, this is Enterprise’s second appear ance in the championship match, as they are yet to be

crowned winner.

St Pius manager, Me lissa Rodrigues, stated that the tournament has been a great experience for an emerging coach, adding that the objective of the players “is to come out and play and have fun. That is what I tell my boys”.

On the other hand, Fa bio Kowlessar, captain of Enterprise, declared that the team is focused on winning the school’s first title.

Meanwhile, North Georgetown will face off

THE 60th edition of the Na tional Cycling, Swimming and Track and Field Champi onships was yesterday after noon launched at the National Track and Field Centre, Le onora, West Coast Demerara.

The event is being hosted by the Ministry of Education and the Guyana Teachers' Union (from November 27, 2022, to December 2, 2022.

Both organisations are ex tremely excited to be doing this after two years of absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Providing an overview of the upcoming event, president of the Guyana Teachers’ Union, Mr Mark Lyte stated that over the course of six days, the na tion’s best student-athletes and teachers from the 15 districts will compete for medals and

bragging rights in swimming at the National Aquatic Centre, cycling at the National Park and athletics at the National Track and Field Centre at Leonora.

On Monday, November 28, 2022, the National Park and the National Aquatic Centre will be packed with cyclists and swim mers as they compete while all roads will lead to the National Track and Field Center from November 29, 2022, to Decem ber 2, 2022, for the athletics leg of the championships.

Delivering brief remarks at the launch earlier yesterday afternoon, Chief Education Of ficer, Dr Marcel Hutson, stated that the Ministry of Education has prioritised sports develop ment in the education system. He explained that sports form part of the ministry’s agenda to

Infantino to serve another four-year term as FIFA president

… Suspicion and rumours have surrounded the 2010 votes by FIFA’s executive to hand the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 edition to Qatar

FILE PHOTO: Former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner talks to the media outside the Hall of Justice in the capital Port-ofSpain, Trinidad, on March 18, 2016. (Photo Credit: REUTERS)

Students and teachers and officials who attended the launching of the 60th National Cycling, Swimming and Track and Field Championships

Chief Education Officer, Dr Marcel Hutson

Omari Moses of St Pius Primary (left) and Fabio Kowlessar of Enterprise Primary hold the trophy they will be vying for tomorrow