Guyana Chronicle E-paper 2-23-2019

TUESDAY 23rd April, 2019

No.105616

Gov’t directs focus on ‘squatting’

…aims to provide better housing options, support livelihoods

SEE STORY ON PAGE 03 ►

The Kitty Seawall on Easter Monday (Photo by Samuel Maughn)

Mother-of-three killed in Canal accident ––truck driver in custody

Patrons give Bartica Regatta the 'thumbs up' PAGE

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Gov't, UWI pay respects on passing of Sir Alister McIntyre

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday April 23, 2019

Kites galore for Linden children

HUNDREDS of children, from across communities in Region Ten, were recipients of kites to enjoy their Easter holidays. The kites were distributed by Member of Parliament, Jermaine Figueira, under the auspices of Caring for Others (CFO), an Atlanta-based charitable organisation. The kites were distributed in Wismar communities of Wisroc, Block 22, Silvertown and Victory Valley.

The distributions follow a string of other distributions

by CFO as Figueira and other members would have carried out immense charitable works in Linden over the last three years. While taking part in the kite distributions, MP Figueira said that the communities were chosen

Member of Parliament Jermaine Figueira taking part in a massive kite distribution in communities in Linden

because of the realisation that many parents residing there, could not afford to purchase

kites for their children. He believed that every child should equally enjoy the Eas-

ter holidays notwithstanding the circumstances. “It is all in the spirit of giving. Jesus

gave his life for us and as we celebrate this sacred holiday we should use whatever

It was a Blue Lake Easter Monday for Lindeners

LINDENERS are quite an innovative people. For years, the Bayroc Community Centre Ground was deemed the number one kite-flying spot for Lindeners on Easter Monday.

However, this was thwarted as massive construction of the Linden Synthetic Track is on-going at the Ground.

This however, in no way dampened the spirits of the residents of the mining town who decided that their Easter celebrations can be equally enjoyed at the Kara Kara Blue Lake.

Recently, the Kara Kara Blue Lake has been the tourism hot spot for Linden and Lindeners are now flocking the venue to enjoy beach-like experiences on weekends, holidays and other special occasions. In fact, the Kara Kara Blue Lake has become the face of Linden. The lake is nestled neatly between towering white and clay hills thus giving it a quintessential scenery and picturesque view.

On Monday, the Kara Kara Blue Lake was accessorised with scores of kites, flown by children who were assisted by parents and other adults. For many, they just turned up to the venue, to enjoy the Easter lime. Pots of food and other delicacies were transported in by patrons who ate their bellies full, while enjoying the cool Easter Monday breeze, which allowed many kites to fly.

A young Lindener trying to raise his kite

Lindeners enjoying the Easter celebration at the Kara Kara Blue Lake

A Lindener flying his kite very high on a hill at the Kara Kara Blue Lake

Water lovers enjoying a jet ski ride

Pumping soca music added to the partying mood of the patrons.

For beverage sellers, it was about making a few dollars while also enjoying the vibes. The fun day activity also included water sports such as jet skiing, kayaking and boat rowing. Other outdoor games were enjoyed while children enjoyed trampolines and other rides when they were too tired to hold

up their kites.

“I am just enjoying the vibes, the scenery. We have nice weather, we brought our food and all in all it is a good day,” said Patronella, who took her three children to the Blue Lake on Monday.

Keon Best said, “Well the Blue Lake is the hot spot in Linden right now so everybody came here and I had to be where the crowd is, just

enjoying the afternoon.”

In addition to the Blue Lake other kite-flying venues in Linden were the outskirts of Bayroc, the Mackenzie Dyke, the Richmond Hill Mountains, the Mackenzie Sports Club Ground and other open spaces. Lindeners joined other Guyanese who enjoyed popular kite-flying venues country- wide.

resources we have to help the less fortunate and those in need, more than us. We have distributed hundreds of kites and this would not have been possible without the assistance of Miss Eslene Shockley, philanthropist and CEO of Caring for Others and we are grateful for the continuous support of CFO,” he said.

Figueira said that the donation was also a reflection of the caring government he represents. Several government ministers have been donating kites in various communities across Guyana. On Sunday, Minister within the Ministry of Public Health Dr Karen Cummings distributed kites in the Region Ten community of Ituni.

Several hospitalised following chopping incidents in Baramita A NUMBER of chopping incidents in the community of Baramita in the North West District on Saturday have left several persons hospitalised.

Reports are that one of the victims of the incident is 27-year-old Orris Moonsammy, a gold miner of Central Baramita.

He was attacked by two other men and reports are that the incident may have stemmed from a misunderstanding between the two parties which resulted in the two suspects critically wounding the victim with a deep laceration to his back.

He was medivaced to Georgetown for further medical attention and his condition was listed as serious. Police have since arrested the suspects.

On Saturday, too, reports are that a couple was travelling along a trail in the area when they observed a man running along the road with a cutlass in hand. When they stopped to enquire what was happening, they were attacked by the man.

The male victim sustained chop wounds to his hands and shoulders while his partner sustained wounds to her feet and hands.

A resident reported that there were two incidents that day and according to her, they stemmed from misunderstandings by parties who were imbibing.

“The men would drink and then they would fight and resort to violence,” she said.

Police are investigating the incidents and several suspects in the cases are being processed for court.

GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday April 23, 2019

Gov’t directs focus on ‘squatting’

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…aims to provide better housing options, support livelihoods

By Vishani Ragobeer INDIRA (only name given) has been squatting at Plastic City, a settlement of the foreshore of the West Coast of Demerara (WCD) for about 27 years. Her home is tiny and dilapidated and is nestled in the settlement of similar structures, and living there becomes difficultespecially when it rains.

Plastic City is referred to as a ‘zero-tolerance’ area, because it is unsuitable for human occupation. The settlement had been established on reserved sea-defense land, where there are mangroves growing in abundance to protect the western coast of the Demerara River. As such, this area is one which cannot be regularised for occupation. “We tried to talk with them individually, it's just that we didn't go dismantling their structures. You want to work with people,” Director of the Community Development Department at the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), Gladwin Charles related.

Self-settlement, more commonly referred to as squatting, is a situation that has many underlying factors, according to Charles. Persons squat because they cannot afford adequate housing, they squat to continue accessing livelihood opportunities and some even squat for economic gain- where they rent the spaces for small amounts of money. Cognisant of this, he noted that the agency has to be careful how it maneuvers between facilitating “voluntary relocation” or enforcing “forced relocation”.

“I does buy greens and sell at the [Vreed-en-Hoop] market… I been doing that years now,” Indira shared.

As a single-parent of nine children, vending has been her main source of income.

Since Plastic City cannot be regularised, she would have to move away from the area- which is located just next to Vreed-en-Hoop. This would cause some disruption

to the work she engages in because of the lengthened commute. Moreover, three of her nine children attend schools located within the settlement’s environs.

For another resident of Plastic City, Koreshma (only name given), she and her husband also work at the Vreed-en-Hoop market. They live in Plastic City with a two-year-old boy and a fouryear-old girl, and the woman indicated that if she relocated, she would not have a job.

apply for house lots.

“In 2004 when we checked, out of the 166 set, only about 60 had applied,” he shared. Over the years, as the government developed La Parfaite Harmonie into a housing scheme, Charles indicated about another 40 persons living in Plastic City were offered lots again.

“Only about 20 of them accepted these lots; they said Parfaite Harmonie was too far and they were working at the [West Demerara Region-

squatting at the Non-Pareil foreshore.

To work towards reducing squatting, the Community Development Department has been divided into units; there is now a unit dealing with relocation and one with regularisation.

While speaking to the Guyana Chronicle recently, Charles noted that the department and its units would commence work in Sophia.

“That's a large area and we have over 500 persons on Director of the Community Development Department at the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), Gladwin Charles

Indira and her home in Plastic City [Delano Williams photo]

“In relocation, we also have to look at creating livelihood opportunities,” Charles acknowledged, and explained further: “When they go into the new areas, it’s a new environment… they [have to] readjust and do things that can earn them a living in the new environment.”

And because people want to maintain their livelihoods, Charles indicated that when CH&PA offered alternative housing options, many persons declined. In 2001, the CH&PA recorded 166 structures, of varying sizes, in Plastic City. The body met with the Sea Defence Unit and the area was determined unsuitable for regularisation.

As such, the Director noted that persons were advised to

al] hospital and vending at the Vreed-en-Hoop area,” he highlighted.

“It's not like we say you have to go there. We know it's a situation where you want to be regularised or relocated but you're looking for an ideal or close location,” he said.

The self-settlement situation in Plastic City is not an isolated one, however. In the West Demerara region alone, Charles noted that there are small pockets of persons who have self-settled over the years in areas like Crane West, Anna Catherina, Zeelugt and Tushen.

In Georgetown, one major area of self-settlement has been Sophia, and in more recent times, Venezuelan migrants were reportedly found

the reserves or the zero tolerance areas, and they cannot be regularised,” he said.

RELOCATION STUDY As part of its efforts to provide better housing solutions, CH&PA is currently conducting a “Squatter relocation study”, according to Charles.

“We are working on a relocation plan so that when we’re dealing with relocation it can be more successful in terms of putting all the things in place and getting the stakeholders involved,” he explained. “That study will guide us as to how we could deal with squatters on reserves and on zero tolerance areas.”

This study, according to him, should be finished by

mid-year and within the next few months it is expected that the CH&PA would have fact-driven data to guide its interventions.

In Sophia, one resident Mark Wallace indicated that he has been living in Sophia for the past 10 years on a plot of land he called “an island”.

According to Wallace, this plot of land is located beyond the ‘B’ Field dam in Sophia, at a ballfield that was subdivided by the previous administration for persons relocated from a reserve.

Wallace said that while squatting is not an ideal situation, relocation has not met him with much more satisfaction.

Aside from Wallace, other residents in Sophia indicated that in some parts there are no basic utilitiesrunning water and electricity, for example. In some cases, these areas might have poor drainage and roads as well.

“In Sophia, the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) would say that because people are living on the reserves, they can't clean the drains and sea defence- when you have high tide and rains- they would complain about not being able to maintain the place because of the squatters,” Charles shared. Adding that instances like these call for

greater collaboration among the various agencies.

Charles said, “With the unit that we have established, we hope that we can get even more people to understand and work closer with them.”

“Squatting is always a tricky thing, it always needs a collaborative effort,” Chief Sea and River Defence Officer, Kevin Samad shared too.

“That's been a big challengethat collaborative effort.”

Samad however expressed faith in the collaborative efforts, and noted that sometimes, the most that can be done is to “advise people to desist” and “remain vigilant”. About one decade ago, residents who had been occupying the Lamaha Railway Embankment were forced to relocate. “That was about 260 structures,” Charles explained. “We worked with them; the ministry assisted them with even transportation and we monitored them [in the areas they relocated to].”

While he indicated that the CH&PA, and widerMinistry of Communities which has oversight for this body, are aware of the varying factors that contribute to the pervasion of self-settlement, the government must work to remedy this.

“One of the things I would tell people, years ago maybe close to 200 persons relocated to Parfaite Harmonie (from the Lamaha Embankment) and at one time they were saying it's too far,” he said. “But people moved and now we have proper systems in place to monitor these areas, and a lot of persons moved there, and I think they're happy.”

He posited that though it might be a “sacrifice”, persons were living in better housing spaces which they legally own. And educational and medical facilities, inter alia, were developed in that area.

PM on Sri Lanka Bombings PRIME MINISTER Moses Nagamootoo has strongly condemned the recent terrorist massacre in Sri Lanka of almost 300 persons and the injury of more than 500 others.

On Easter Sunday, April 21, 2019, a wave of church bombings across Sri Lanka

killed hundreds of persons with recent reports stating that authorities have arrested 24 people in relation to the acts.

While no group has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks, the terrible occurrence has resulted in a global outpouring of support

to the region and others of the Christian faith.

“The cowardly attacks against Churches on Easter Sunday, and the wanton killing of Christian worshippers, including children and mothers; and the bombing of hotels that claimed the lives of foreign

tourists, speak to a deadly terror insanity against which the world should be united, now,” said Prime Minister Nagamootoo.

“All peace-loving Guyanese, who are today observing Easter as a national holiday, share with shock and sadness the grief and loss of

the people of Sri Lanka, and nationals of other countries, who are victims of those horrible terrorist attacks.

We mourn with the people of Sri Lanka, the relatives of the innocent victims and survivors, and feel their anger and fears.”

It has been reported

that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) are among a number of global agencies which have stepped up to assist in the ongoing investigations.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday April 23, 2019

Sri Lanka imposes emergency, says international network involved in attacks

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka said on Monday it was invoking emergency powers in the aftermath of devastating bomb attacks on hotels and churches, blamed on militants with foreign links, which killed 290 people and wounded nearly 500.

The emergency law, which gives police and the military extensive powers to detain and interrogate suspects without court orders, would go into effect at midnight local time, the president’s office said. Colombo, the seaside capital of the Indian Ocean island, was jittery the day after the horrifying Easter Sunday attacks. Police said 87 bomb detonators were found at the city’s main bus station, while an explosive went off near a church when bomb squad officials were trying to defuse it. Scores were killed in the church on Sunday.

A night curfew went into effect at 8 p.m. There was no claim of responsibility for Sunday’s attacks but suspicion was focusing on Islamist

militants in the Buddhist-majority country.

Investigators said seven suicide bombers took part in the attacks while a government spokesman said an international network was involved. Police had received a tip-off of a possible attack on churches by a little-known domestic Islamist group this month, according to a document seen by Reuters. The intelligence report, dated April 11, said a foreign intelligence agency had warned authorities of possible attacks on churches by the National Thawheed Jama’ut. It was not immediately clear what action, if any, was taken in response to the tip-off.

International anti-terrorism experts said even if a local group had carried out the attacks, it was likely that al Qaeda or Islamic State were involved, given the level of sophistication. Two of the suicide bombers blew themselves up at the Shangri-La Hotel on Colombo’s seafront, said Ariyananda Welianga, an official at the government’s forensic division. The others

People who live near the church that was attacked yesterday, leave their houses as the military try to defuse a suspected van before it exploded in Colombo, Sri Lanka April 22, 2019. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte

targeted three churches and two other hotels.

A fourth hotel and a house in a suburb of the capital Colombo were also hit, but it was not immediately clear how those attacks were carried out. “Still the investigations are going on,” Welianga said. Police said 24 people had been arrested, all of whom were Sri Lankan, but they gave no more details.

Most of the attacks came during Easter services and when hotel guests were sitting down for breakfast buffets.

“Guests who had come for breakfast were lying on the floor, blood all over,” an employee at Kingsbury Hotel told Reuters.

“TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE THING” Cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne said the government believed an international network was involved.

“We don’t think a small organization can do all that.

We are now investigating

international support for them and their other links - how they produced the suicide bombers and bombs like this,” he said. The president, Maithripala Sirisena, said the government would seek foreign help to track overseas links.

U.S. President Donald Trump called Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to pledge U.S. support in bringing the perpetrators to justice, a White House spokesman said. “A terrible, terrible thing. Unthinkable,” Trump later told reporters at a White House event. “We are working with Sri Lanka.”

Pope Francis deplored the attacks and called for universal condemnation of what he said were “terrorist acts, inhuman acts” that could never be justified. Advertisement Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka was at war for decades with ethnic minority Tamil separatists, most of them Hindu, but violence had largely ended since the government

victory in the civil war 10 years ago. The country’s 22 million people include minority Christians, Muslims and Hindus. Most of the dead and wounded were Sri Lankans although government officials said 32 foreigners were killed, including British, U.S., Australian, Turkish, Indian, Chinese, Danish, Dutch and Portuguese nationals.

Denmark’s richest man Anders Holch Povlsen and his wife lost three of their four children in the attacks, a spokesman for his fashion firm said. A British mother and son were killed while eating breakfast at the Shangri-La, British media reported, while five Indian political workers were killed at the same hotel. The U.S. State Department said in a travel advisory “terrorist groups” were plotting possible attacks in Sri Lanka and targets could include tourist spots, transport hubs, shopping malls, hotels, places of worship and airports.

‘CARNAGE’ Traffic was uncharacteristically thin in normally bustling Colombo on Monday.

Soldiers with automatic weapons stood guard outside major hotels and the World Trade Centre in the business district. An Australian survivor, identified only as Sam, told Australia’s 3AW radio the hotel was a scene of “absolute carnage”.

He said he and a travel partner were having breakfast at the Shangri-La when two blasts went off. He said he had seen two men wearing backpacks seconds before the blasts. “There were people screaming and dead bodies all around,” he said. “Kids crying, kids on the ground, I don’t know if they were dead or not, just crazy.” There were similar scenes at two churches in or near Colombo, and a third church in the northeast town of Batticaloa, where worshippers had gathered. Pictures showed bodies on the ground and blood-spattered pews and statues. Dozens were killed in a blast at the Gothic-style St Sebastian church in Katuwapitiya, north of Colombo. Police said they suspected it was a suicide attack.

Questions over why the intelligence report warning was not acted upon could feed into a feud between Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and the president.

Sirisena fired the premier last year and installed opposition strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa in his stead.

Weeks later, he was forced to re-instate Wickremesinghe because of pressure from the Supreme Court but their relationship is still fraught as a presidential election nears.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday April 23, 2019

Government denies being in collusion with armed gangs PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti, Apr 22, CMC – The Haitian government Monday denied allegations made by the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights (RNDDH) that it was in collusion with armed gangs across the country.

In a statement, the Ministry of the Interior and Territorial Communities (MICT) has described the allegation as “dangerous and totally unfounded” saying it was “likely to feed tension and psychosis of fear in the country, as well as to stigmatize State institutions”.

In addition, the Ministry of the Interior said that “outlaw practices are not part of its commitments and are clearly incompatible with its attributions and the line government in general”. The MICT is also urging the population to be cautious in the face of “information that is all too often wrong, with consequences”.

It said it was taking the opportunity to renew its determination “to maintain the safety of the State, to fight against insecurity and to help bring peace and serenity to the com-

munes, communal sections, neighbourhoods and dwellings of the country”.

Earlier, Prime Minister Jean Michel Lapin, who is also President of the Superior Council of the National Police (CSPN), has expressed his “willingness to fight insecurity everywhere” in the French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country. In a statement following an armed attack on the police station of Petite Rivière de l’Artibonite over the last weekend, Lapin said that that similar police deployments will be carried

out in all areas occupied by armed gangs throughout the country.

He said clear instructions have been issued to this effect to the Director General of the National Police of Haiti (PNH) Michel-Ange Gédéon and the authorities concerned to capture all the armed gangs that sow mourning and fear among the people and restore calm and peace to the country. “The State, at the highest level, reaffirms the will of the police to solve this problem of insecurity,’ lapin added.

New date set for referendum on border dispute in Belize

BELMOPAN, Belize, Apr 19, CMC – The Belize government says a referendum will be held on May 8 to allow Belizeans to decide whether or not the country should go to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in a bid to settle its long standing border dispute with Guatemala.

The announcement of the new date comes less than a week after the Dean Barrow administration had piloted the Belize Territorial Dispute Referendum Bill, 2019 in Parliament after the opposition People’s United Party (PUP) had been successful in getting the High Court to grant an injunction preventing the referendum from taking place on April 10.

In an immediate response to the announcement, Opposition Leader John Briceño, said the party would be meeting at the executive level “to make the decision what we are going to do next. “So we are going to be meet early next week and then make an official announcement”. The official statement announcing the new date for the referendum, noted that the Governor General, Colville young, at the request of Prime Minister Barrow issued “a Writ of Referendum for the holding of a referendum on May 8, 2019”.

It said that the question to the electors in the referendum will be “Do you agree that any legal claim of Guatemala against Belize relating to land and insular territories and to any maritime areas pertaining to these territories should be submitted to the International Court of Justice for final settlement and that it determine finally the boundaries of the respective territories and areas of the Parties?” Prime Minister Barrow had told parliamentarians that the new legislation, which was approved by the senate earlier this week, would also allow for the ICJ to determine, finally, the boundaries of the respective territories and areas of Belize and Guatemala.

“This bill is designed to ensure that the people of this country must, the people of country will have their referendum,” he had said then. The government moved to introduce the new legislation after Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin earlier this month granted an injunction to six PUP members after they had asked the High Court to determine the legality of the special agreement signed in 2008 that ended negotiations and opened the way to take the territorial dispute between

Belize and Guatemala to the ICJ. According to Article 5 of the Agreement, “the parties shall accept the decision of the Court as final and binding, and undertake to comply with and implement it in full and in good faith.

In particular, the parties agree that, within three months of the date of the Judgment of the Court, they will agree on the composition and terms of reference of a Bi-national Commission to carry out the demarcation of their boundaries in accordance with the decision of the Court. “ If such agreement is not reached within three months, either party may request the Secretary General of the Organization of American States to appoint the members of the Binational Commission and to prescribe its Terms of Reference, after due consultation with the parties.”

The Court of Appeal said it did not have the jurisdiction to entertain the appeal that the prime minister and others wanted to present to it and therefore refused the application for an urgent hearing of the appeal. “Well obviously the prime minister is not listening to nobody, not listening to the Belizeans that have expressed a lot of concerns about the haste in having the referendum and also to the opposition that we’ve been saying that there is a number of issues that need to be addressed,” Briceño said after the new date for the referendum was announced.

“But obviously he is answering to somebody else or so it would seem, others whom we are unaware of, but the point is that we continue to ask, why the haste? Why don’t we hit the pause button and let us have a discussion and see how we could best serve the country,” he added.

Attorneys for both the government and the opposition are due back in court on April 29 as the Barrow administration seeks to get Chief Justice Benjamin to lift the injunction he had granted to the opposition that effectively prevented the country from holding the earlier referendum on April 10. “As you know the injunction was placed on very specific writs and it enjoined the proposed referendum. In the head notes of the case, the proposed referendum has a date, April tenth, 2019. So what we are saying to the court is that this is not an open ended injunction. “It was meant specific to stop the holding of the April 10 refer-

endum. That is not in question or an issue any longer and we therefore believe that the injunction be discharged. So he will hear us on the matter on the 29 of April,” Senior Counsel Lisa Shoman told reporters. Belize held its referendum last year.

Prime Minister Dean Barrow

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday April 23, 2019

Taking the law into our own hands

IN the last three years or so, since the APNU+AFC coalition was elected, there has been a steady decrease in crime due to a government initiative and the police adopting a more intelligence-led approach to crime fighting.

However, as is the case in territories worldwide, crime will always be present in Guyana. And, as is expected, law-abiding citizens react to crime with disgust, annoyance and anger. In some instances, a crime may be considered so monstrous and evil that the people’s anger simply boils over, or a particular community may be plagued by criminals with such frequency that residents just can’t take any more. In many instances, residents may resort to taking the law into their own hands; they may organise themselves to hunt criminals, and sometimes the criminals may be caught. Or, residents may catch someone in the act of committing a crime. If that happens, citizens may decide to mete out justice for themselves, and suspected criminals may be beaten or even killed. The act of peo-

ple taking the law into their own hands and dispensing justice without legal authority is called vigilantism.

And although many persons may believe that vigilantism is justified, it is, in fact, not only against the law, but also morally and ethically wrong.

One of Guyana’s most infamous acts of vigilantism occurred in May 2013 when 40- year-old Nigel Lowe was tied to a pole and beaten to death by residents. The horrific incident occurred after a series of robberies in ‘A’ Field, Sophia. Residents had allegedly caught Lowe and two other men breaking into a house. The two other men escaped, but Lowe was cornered in an outdoor latrine.

He tried to get away, but the residents surrounded him and started beating him. He ended up in a nearby house, but residents pursued him and continued the assault. The badly injured Lowe was then taken to ‘B’ Field Sophia, where the beating continued.

Finally, Lowe’s lifeless body was tied to a pole and covered with pieces of wood as though residents had intended to burn the body. Some 30 persons were involved in

the attack.

In August 2016, police revealed that 21- year-old Seon Clarke of Old Road, Land of Canaan, East bank Demerara, was killed in Pearl Village on a Saturday night after residents suspected him of being a bandit. A friend of his was severely injured after he, too, was beaten by the group.

In another instance, a suspected bandit was captured by persons in the area after a failed robbery attempt at East Canje. The alleged bandit, who was said to be armed with a knife, entered Chung’s Grocery at Betsy Ground, East Canje in the morning hours in May 2017.

He reportedly attempted to rob the businessplace. However, he was captured, subdued, tied up, and beaten by residents before being taken into custody by police, who responded to the commotion. Those examples are but a small sample of the incidents of vigilantism that take place with unacceptable frequency.

From an emotional point of view, acts of vigilantism are understandable; it is human nature to want jus-

tice. Further, persons have advanced arguments in an attempt to justify the practice. Some of those arguments may appear to be quite convincing. Some defenders have said that if the government does not or cannot protect citizens from crime, the citizens have to protect themselves. Some people say that anyone can dispense justice if the government does not do it. However, such assertions are fundamentally wrong, at least in the context of Guyana.

Firstly, the current APNU+AFC administration, through law enforcement agencies and the courts, is fully capable of enforcing the law, including protecting citizens. In fact, President Granger has emphasised that security is one of the preconditions of the ‘good life’ that government is committed to delivering to all Guyanese.

The president has said, too, that crime will not be tolerated. The fact that crimes are on the decline is ample evidence of this fact. According to the Guyana Police Force, there has been a 19 per cent decrease in serious crimes at the end of January, 2018,

relative to the same period in the preceding year. There was a 13 per cent decrease in robberies, where no instruments were used; a 50 per cent decrease in robbery-under-arms, where instruments other than firearms were used; a 50 per cent decrease in robbery with aggravation; a 50 per cent decrease in larceny from the person; a 24 per cent decrease in rapes; a 52 per cent decrease in burglaries; and a 9 per cent decrease in break-and-enter and larceny.

Secondly, harming or killing a suspect is not justice; it is, instead, just another crime. Justice, the experts tell us, includes due process that is rooted in the law, therefore, summarily punishing someone without due process by law amounts to committing another crime and calling it justice. The adage, ‘two wrongs do not make a right’ is correct.

President David Granger has made his position clear.

His Excellency said, “Not only is [vigilantism] unacceptable, but it can lead to serious problems in society.”

The president elaborated, “We can’t tolerate that. We

accept that citizens have a right to protect their properties and so on, but we expect people to be organised in Community Policing Groups; we can’t tolerate vigilantism, especially when it results in the injury or death of anybody; it can get out of hand.”

While it is understood that persons would naturally be angry with suspects, it must be emphasised that those suspects are just that; they are suspects until they have been convicted in a court of law. Everyone, without exception, is entitled to due process. And no one has the right to deprive another person, under any circumstance, of that process. That being the case, citizens should do the right thing: If a suspect is captured, he or she should be handed over to the police.

The fact that we all want to live in a country where the rule of law is paramount must be kept in mind. And, if we break the law to enforce the law, we would be contributing to the problem instead of helping to solve it.

Guyanese of all religious beliefs, ethnic backgrounds celebrated Easter

Dear Editor

YESTERDAY, Easter Monday, Guyanese of all religious beliefs, ethnic backgrounds, cultural persuasions, and economic strata converged in our country’s open spaces to fly kites, have picnics, eat, drink, converse, and socialise.

Citizens from across Guyana’s diverse spectrum joined the Christian com-

munity to participate in the celebration of Easter — Christianity’s most sacred observance. And, as is the case at other religious and secular celebrations, there was little evidence that we live in a divided society.

While the occasional spat is to be expected — kite strings are bound to become entangled — there were likely little indication that ours is a country otherwise characterised by pervasive ethnic

cleavages that are reinforced and artificially maintained by those who stand to gain from national division. The fact is, Guyana would be a much better place if we could maintain a spirit of oneness, foster an atmosphere of harmonious camaraderie, and cultivate a sense of unity all year round.

Yes, Guyana is a land of many cultures. The first inhabitants of the land — Guyana’s Indigenous Peo-

ples — originally comprised no fewer than twelve distinct peoples, or, as we say, tribes.

At the present time, nine tribes remain. In the last few hundred years, Europeans, Africans, Chinese, East Indians, and other Asians, and, more recently, Cubans, Venezuelans, and Brazilians have been among the many peoples who have settled in Guyana.

Unfortunately, while our diversity should be a source

of strength, it has been instead used by some toxic politicians to divide and separate us, thereby, preventing us from realising our full potential as a single nation with a common destiny.

Guyana’s current Head of State, though, is evidently committed to reversing that undesirable state of affairs.

During his Easter Message on April 20, President David Granger said, “The Easter celebration has become a

manifestation of social cohesion. It is a time when the barriers of class and ethnicity are broken and replaced by the bonds of goodwill. The Easter holiday ? the longest weekend in our country’s calendar ? brings Guyanese together, at home and in the Diaspora, in fun-filled family reunions, kite-flying, picnics, regattas, rodeos and other outdoor activities.

TURN TO PAGE 7

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday April 23, 2019

Political bipartisanship and national inclusion necessary

Dear Editor

THE Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) notes the announcement on Thursday, 18th April by Exxon Mobil of another find, marking the thirteenth on the Stabroek Block.

This find will add to the already expected more than five billion barrels to be produced, yet Guyanese workers have no clear understanding or guideline how they are expected to foremost benefit from these resources that belong to them. Outside of announcements as to profit-sharing between government and the oil companies and sweeping statements the revenue would be directed towards improving social services, citizens/workers have nothing concrete to hold on to.

GTUC is on record call-

ing for the government-prepared Local Content Policy to be reviewed by stakeholders with the aim of having same become more inclusive and finally put into law. In our 5th [of] March, publicly announced nineteen-point proposal, outlining a menu of measures to forge the constitutional political system of inclusionary democracy; we called for this. Letters of our desire were dispatched to President David Granger and Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo. To date, neither Government nor Opposition has made any move to activate this crucial and important aspect of our development that would assure local labour and businesses they stand to gain and be protected.

Evidently, the politicians see the next General and Regional Elections as the

mother of all elections, primarily because oil and gas are expected to flow come 2020. The workers of this country have various political association, a basic right that must be respected, but what they are wary of is that the enjoyment of said right could present a climate where they could be excluded from/discriminated against selling their labour, actively participating and benefitting from the sector.

Already, there are allegations of discriminatory practices in preference of one group over the other by local contractors involved in the sector. Similar charges are made about the public and private sectors. To take the allegations lightly in a racially fractured and polarised society is to prepare to see the intensifying of tension and clashes amongst groups.

This country needs Equal Opportunity Laws as a matter of principle and urgency.

People are already staking claims that they stand a chance to benefit. Where expectations are not met, disgruntlement and its attendant fallouts will follow. Now is the time for a national plan, the facilitating of diverse views on how Guyanese can benefit and must be allowed to participate. GTUC reiterates concern that citizens are being made to feel the national focus is singularly on elections and nothing can happen until after.

External forces and internal threats In the meantime, the sabre rattling between the superpowers– United States of America and Russia- over Venezuela is escalating.

Where Venezuela has already signalled non-partici-

Guyanese of all religious...

FROM PAGE 6

“The Easter celebration reminds us of this country’s geographic and demographic diversity. The Rodeo takes place in the Rupununi savannahs of the south, populated mainly by indigenous people. The Regatta is held at Bartica which is located at the confluence of the great Essequibo, Mazaruni and Cuyuni rivers. Kite-flying across our country is an ancient practice brought here

by Chinese immigrants. Easter celebrates our diversity. . . The Easter celebration allows us to promote greater unity. We must use this sacred festival to reconcile ourselves not only to God, but to one another by fostering a spirit of respect.”

The reality that our diversity should make us stronger is self-evident. On May 5, 2018, the President, speaking at the Indian Arrival Day celebration, noted that Guyana has always been, and will always be a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious country, a fact that should make citizens proud.

President Granger said, “Our diversity is an asset, not a liability. We are proud of the variegated tapestry of ethnicity. We are proud of our shared past as we plan

our common future.”His Excellency added, “Our destinies are intertwined forever in our nation’s future. We must swim together or sink separately.”

The administration’s dedication to national unity and commonality of purpose was evident even before it was elected to office; A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), one half of the APNU+AFC coalition, even embodies that objective in its name. One of the coalition’s first acts after assuming office was to establish a ministry dedicated to healing our social wounds, bridging our cultural gaps, and building a cohesive society — the Ministry of Social Cohesion.

Minister of Social Cohesion, Dr. George Norton, shares the president’s vision.

In April of last year, Minister Norton asserted, “We all are Guyanese; proud and patriotic. I do firmly believe that unity does not necessarily lie in uniformity. Unity is all about variety… We deserve to be exposed to different perspectives and ways of life… We must understand and respect the belief and customs of our fellow brothers and sisters.”

As Guyanese from all

walks of life celebrate Easter together, we should take note of government’s position on the subject of unity. We should also think for ourselves and decide which one is better: strife, quarrelling,

and division, or, on the other hand, unity, togetherness, and brotherhood. We, perhaps, especially our Christian brothers and sisters, should reflect too on the reason for Easter and, perhaps, think

pation in Guyana’s approach to the International Court of Justice to seek peaceful resolution to the border controversy and has been in alliance with Russia to funnel its oil sales, thus evading U.S sanctions, we cannot sit easy.

Particularly so since the U.S now has direct and vested interest in the exploiting of our oil and gas resources.

What is currently evolving in Venezuela, unless we have our defence and protective mechanism in place, can have deleterious impact in Guyana and amongst Guyanese. Further, the world is replete with evidence where superpowers have sown seeds of discord, undermined governments and invaded countries in the name of democracy to commandeer their oil and gas resources. Guyanese must be good stewards of history, not only

in recording and recounting, but also putting systems in place to avoid similar pitfalls. We have to stand as one in the face of our finds and external happenings and not allow ourselves to be the pawn of any in their quest for dominance and proving their might.

GTUC reiterates the importance of this nation achieving a unity of purpose and commitment through the establishing of an inclusionary Local Content and attendant laws.

This nation, as a matter of urgency, must proceed judiciously in addressing matters that are bound to impact our sovereignty, peace and stability, be they internal and/or external.

about what the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:10, “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you

say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.”

Regards Guyana Trades Union Congress

Regards Mark DaCosta

Tuesday 23 April 2019 - 05:00hrs.-06:30hrs.

8

More gov’t services to be accessed Online

MINISTER of Public Telecommunications, Cathy Hughes has said that close to 200 government services will be placed online as her ministry is continuing its work to expand access to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) countrywide.

“My hope is that in every single community; whether you are along the coast, in the city or in rural, hinterland or a poor community, if you as a citizen do not have access to the internet in your home then there is some space that you

could go and get on a computer, free of charge,” she noted in a recent interview with the Guyana Chronicle.

ICT hubs are spaces that have been established in communities so allow residents to have access to internet and computer services. So far, 174 hubs have created across the country over the past three years.

The goal of the ICT hub programme, however, is to have some 426 hubs established across the country within the next few years, because of the unique potential

it has for the decentralisation of services.

“What we want is that by 2020, this ministry is going to be able to say that we have close to 200 government services online,” the Minister said. She explained that it is the intention of the government to move away from having persons, especially in outlying areas, go to physical location in a town to access important services like applying for a Taxpayer’s Invoice Number (TIN) or a licence.

“As a citizen, you could go to a hub and transact your

GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday April 23, 2019

business; apply for your TIN; apply for your passport; apply for your driver’s licence, to the state where instead of having to do two or three visits, you only have to go once to collect the licence or the passport.”

She posited that in so doing, the time spent accessing these services would be significantly reduced and more importantly, citizens would have easier access to these since they would be able to do so from right in their respective communities.

The minister noted also

Minister of Public Telecommunications, Cathy Hughes

that while these hubs will be key in the decentralisation of government services, they also have a myriad of other functions that promote community development.

“You could use it for

business, online learning, telemedicine [and] entrepreneurial activity,” she said.

The drive to put these services online is part of the wider governmental mandate to decentralise services.

Patrons express satisfaction MoPH launches massive vaccination programme countrywide with this year’s Bartica Regatta …but voiced some areas of concern

Onlookers of the boat races at the Bartica Regatta

By Gabriella Chapman IT was a peaceful Easter Monday on the beach for family and friends in the town of Bartica, as the annual Bartica Regatta activities came to a close.

People came out in their numbers with their kites, drink and food baskets to witness the last of the boat races and spend the remainder of the day in a relaxing ambiance. The 2019 regatta committee was praised by patrons, who said that the beach activities were well planned and promoted, as was evident in the turnout at the beach.

“The beach is so packed, I don’t even want to go and take a walk. That alone can tell that this was a good year, because the people came out. It’s always a violence-free zone where we can come out with our children and just enjoy nature and the activ-

ities they have here,” one Bartica mother said.

Persons spoke profusely on the well-constructed Boulevard that was built specially to cater for the regatta activities.

“I’ve been coming to Regatta for a few years, but I missed last year. This is my first year here since they constructed this Boulevard on the beach, and I must say this is really beautiful. I don’t even feel like I’m in Guyana,” one woman from Linden said.

There were attendees from Linden, Berbice, Georgetown, Essequibo, and other regions. There were persons from overseas as well, all of whom expressed much satisfaction with the event.

However, there were some who criticised several aspects of the event, such as the pageant, the races and the tardiness of some of the activities.

The Town Council has, however, committed to working on the minor flaws to make next year a better year.

Deputy Mayor, Arita Embleton told the Guyana Chronicle that this year was a first for her as Deputy Mayor, and it was a learning experience. “Certain areas we definitely have to work on for next year,” she said, adding: “We need to work more on the pageant in terms of organising the girls and so on. And the races, we have to get more organised, because we were here early and the racers weren’t.”

But all in all, this year was fantastic and bigger than last year, she said.

“It is getting bigger as the years go by, because we have been adding activities. And we will be adding more activities to keep making it bigger,” the deputy mayor promised.

–in bid to stem resurgence of measles, polio

THE National Immunisation Programme of the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) will be undertaking a series of vaccination programmes in all of the country’s ten administrative regions.

The exercise is in keeping with celebrations to mark International Vaccination Week in the Americas, which is being observed from April 20 to 27.

According to the MoPH, this year, as Guyana joins in the celebration of immunisation week, the emphasis will be on “coverage that ensures a healthy population that is defenced against the global threats of measles, polio and the myriad of diseases that are prevented by vaccines given free of cost to all Guyanese.”

And in keeping with the regional schedule, today’s

activities will comprise of the launch of Vaccination Week and the hosting of a health fair at Dartmouth and Suddie, in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), while in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), the launch will be held at the Melanie and Industry Health Centres, both of which are located on the East Coast Demerara (ECD). In Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) the Regional Health Services Compound will be the venue for the launching of Vaccination Week and the holding of a rally, while in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice), a Vaccination Week Mop UP will be held at One Mile.

Tomorrow, a Vaccination Week Launch, Walkathon and Vaccine Mop UP will be convened at Wakenaam, in Region

Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara); and in Region Four the launch of Vaccination Week will move to the Mocha Health Centre, on the East Bank Demerara; and the High Dam Health Centre.

On Friday, April 26, the hinterland villages of Phillipai in Region Seven, (Cuyuni-Mazaruni ) and Shulinab, in Region Nine ( Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) will be the focus of the launch of Vaccination Week and Vaccination Week Observances, respectively; and on Monday, April 29, a Vaccination Week Launch and Mop Up will be held at Port Kaituma in Region One (Barima-Waini) and a Vaccination Week launch at Kato, in Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni).

Indian Arrival Monument commissioning rescheduled

THE commissioning of the much-talkedabout Indian Arrival Monument that was built in commemoration of the arrival here in 1838 of the East Indians, will now take place on May 5, at 10:00hrs, according to a public notice issued by the Ministry of the Presidency, Department of Social Cohesion, Culture, Youth and Sport.

The rescheduling of the activity will now coincide with the observance of Indian Arrival Day, normally celebrated as a public holiday on May 5, annually.

According to the notice, the mounted bronze memorial consists of artistic sculpted metalworks depicting the routine everyday life of the immigrants, with each figure carrying something of importance to them, such as a jahaji bhandal (ship bundle) loaded with items of food they’re accustomed to back home in India; spices and herbs; clothing and jewellery; their deities, religious texts and drum; cooking

utensils like the karahi (cooking pan) the tawa (a flat circular piece of metal for cooking roti); grass knives (particularly the scythe); a cutlass; and rice plants.

“The figures,” it says, “are presented in a straightforward realism with the human factor ever present.

“The monument features six bronze statues depicting three men, two women and a child, and was designed by local sculptors, Winslow Craig and Philbert Gajadhar.”

After the initial monument, which was constructed under the previous administration, fell into disrepair, the ministry says, the Indian Government offered to lend financial support to have it restored. The reconstruction process was spearheaded by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MPI).

The Ministry of the Presidency has extended an open invitation to the general public to attend the event.

9

GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday April 23, 2019

Region 4 banking on Great Minds Programme for top NGSA performance through the programme.

Meanwhile, Harvey has stated that there were plans in the making to have the project commence with pupils in Grade 5 instead of Grade 6 to give the learners additional time to fully prepare for the assessment.

Some pupils during the 2019 National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA)

AS the Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Department of Education awaits the results of the 2019 National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA), it is confident that children in the Region will excel better than ever before.

This expected improvement is being attributed to the Great Minds programme which was birthed by the Ministry of Education last year.

The idea was to take the ‘cream of the crop’ of pupils from the 56 primary schools in Region Four for special tutoring for one year from several teachers involved.

Speaking on the project in a release, Regional Education Officer (REdO), Tiffany Harvey, stated that over the years much focus has been placed on pupils in need of remedial work.

However, she noted that pupils known to excel in their academic work within these many years have been overlooked as the perception is shared that they will continue to do well.

“Through the Great Minds, it helped in removing complacency as the students would know that while they are at the top of their respective class or school, there are others who can challenge them, thus forcing them to do better,” Harvey said.

“They would recognise that while they may have it easy at their respective schools, when they are faced with similar students doing equally well or even better than them they would recognise that there is no room for complacency. As such, they must ensure that their performances remain intact.”

The NGSA was written by thousands of pupils countrywide on April 17 and 18, 2019.

The period marked the completion of one year of consistent work with pupils coming from schools in central Georgetown, the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) and the East Bank of Demerara (EBD).

On weekends and during holidays the selected pu-

pils would assemble at the Beterverwagting Primary School and be exposed to several teachers.

The initiative has since been widely accepted and supported by many education officers, even as the children themselves have noted that the programme allowed them to push themselves to achieve even greater success than expected.

REdO Harvey said that they are proud of what they have been able to achieve thus far, challenging the children to push themselves further.

Pupil at the Mon Repos Primary, Videsh Dowulatram, had commented previously that the assessment was the culmination of the years of hard and dedicated work of him and his colleagues.

Meanwhile, Stephanie Datta of Enmore Hope Primary School had said that while she was anxious about the assessment, she was at the same time thankful for the support and assistance given by the teachers

Mother-of-three killed in Canal accident ––truck driver in custody A mother of three was on Easter Sunday struck down and killed by a lorry on the No.1 Canal Public Road, West Bank Demerara while on a family outing.

Reports are that Angelle Barry, 30, and her reputed husband, Jusley Brisport, 36, and their three kids, Akeria Barry, five, and Nefetari and Orias Brisport, both three, were walking along the southern side of the No.1 Canal Public Road when the accident occurred at around 17:30hrs.

According to the police, the driver of the vehicle, motor lorry, GPP 4022, reportedly a 30-year-old Canal No.1 resident, was trying to overtake a motorcar when he knocked both Barry and her reputed husband down.

Following the accident, the badly injured couple was taken to the West Demerara Regional Hospital, where Barry succumbed to her injuries whilst receiving medical attention, while her reputed husband was treated and sent away.

Angelle Barry

The truck driver has since been arrested and subjected to a breathalyzer test, which found that he was over the prescribed alcohol limit.

The REdO said: “We want to ensure that we solidify the programme by giving the students a solid two years instead of the one that was created by the Ministry of Education. However, this is the first year and we are going to review it after the

release of the 2019 results.”

She said that the programme will continue to challenge pupils in the future and will most definitely prove to be a success in the forthcoming NGSA 2019 results.

10

GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday April 23, 2019

130 Rupununi youths receive $6.5M HEYS stimulus grant

ONE hundred and thirty youths from nineteen villages and communities in the Rupununi received a financial boost to their respective businesses established under the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples' Affairs Hinterland Employment Youth Service (HEYS) Programme.

The grant is in the amount of $6.5 million.

The participants were drawn from eleven villages in South Central, Rupununi and eight in the Karasabai district with existing businesses receiving their grants Wednesday and Thursday last.

According to a release from the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, the stimulus grants were presented at the villages of Shulinab and Karasabai.

Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Valerie Garrido-Lowe; Permanent Secretary Alfred King, Coordinator of the HEYS Programme, Junior Williams; Region 9 HEYS Monitor, Rohan Bishop and the respective village Toshaos and senior councillors were present.

Minister Garrido-Lowe, during her engagement with the youths, said she is pleased with the overwhelming response the programme has received from villagers and youths, and she said

Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Valerie Garrido-Lowe (far right) with participants who received their grants.

that she is extremely proud of the success stories seen and heard from across the hinterland.

“You being here is a fact and testimony that HEYS has done something for each and every one of you. The APNU/AFC Government has spent on Hinterland Youths alone, close to two billion dollars of taxpayer’s money on your development,” the minister stated.

According to the minister, this is the reason the youths should capitalise fully on the opportunity which will ensure they receive “the good life promised.”

The minister explained to the youths that in order

for them to see success, “you will pass through bumps and cracks and a lot of things before you achieve your dreams; it makes you a stronger person, a wiser person, better able to cope with life.”

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Alfred King expressed the belief that the “HEYS programme, now after two cohorts, is now considered a programme of choice for young people in almost every indigenous community that we go to and also considered a household name in any part of Guyana.”

King noted too that “when you say HEYS, people can identify with it, and what

it is doing for young people, can identify with the impact the programme is making on the lives of villages and the lives of the young people.

We are proud of it because it provides you with training in good life skills which are a big thing, provide vocational skills training and the entrepreneurship training or business training which are all necessary and critical to improve your lives.”

Angella James, a participant from Sand Creek Village, said she received tremendous support and was economically empowered after joining the HEYS programme after “starting in my yard at home with a little

kitchen garden and now I’m making a small ranch for myself and I am very proud of what I am doing.”

One of the young men joining the programme from Sawariwau Village, Ezra Williams, expressed appreciation for the assistance he received.

Karen Johnson of Tipuri village said that her entire village is thankful for the opportunity the project has provided.

Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Sydney Allicock; Minister Garrido-Lowe, other senior staff in the ministry and the HEYS staff have been travelling to the respective regions where

a fifty thousand dollars grant is given to youths with existing businesses to support their initiatives.

This exercise has been receiving rave reviews since youths are speaking candidly on how the HEYS programme, also referred to as an “irreversible movement” has positively changed the trajectory of their lives.

Meanwhile, the ministry has been evaluating the programme and, from all indications, the success stories are compelling and already villages have been lobbying to have a third cohort.

Renovations to commence shortly at Supply Health Centre FOLLOWING poor construction works conducted on the Supply Health Center to remedy the issue of constant flooding, a $32M worth re-construction project is scheduled to commence within a few weeks, reopening the Center’s services on the East Bank of Demerara (ECD).

Since 2018, an initial attempt was made to rectify the building’s foundation to fix the problem but this proved to be futile as the necessary specifications were not adhered to by contractors.

Now, a new tender is being evaluated by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) and is expected to be awarded within the next two weeks.

The funding for the project comes from the Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Regional Democratic Council (RDC) through the Government.

Regional Executive Officer (REO) Pauline Lucas.

“We’re trusting that sometime in the month of May that project can commence,” said Regional Executive Officer (REO) Pauline Lucas.

She noted that building’s foundation, built years ago, could not be raised and the RDC is well aware of the potential hazards associated with a wet or slippery floor.

“The building of itself

was very low and what we found happening is that whenever there is high tide around that area, somehow or the other, water seeps into the building,” Lucas said.

“When it rains heavily or there is some kind of flooding for some reason, it always seeps into the building and you would find that the floors would be wet ever so often.”

Presently, the services of the health center have been transferred to the upper flat of the Soesdyke Health Center which was not previously occupied.

Meanwhile, other persons are diverting to the Craig Health Center for assistance.

Through funding from the government last year, the RDC went through the process of having the contract awarded TURN TO PAGE 11 ►

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday April 23, 2019

Gov't, UWI pay respects on passing of Sir Alister McIntyre THE government has announced that it is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of former Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary-General, Sir Meredith Alister McIntyre.

The 87-year-old Grenadian died on Saturday in Jamaica.

According to a statement released by the Foreign Affairs ministry, McIntyre rose to be known as one of the pre-eminent academics and intellectuals of the Caribbean, specialising in development and regional integration.

In 1974, he was appointed Secretary-General of CARICOM and thus began a distinguished career in regional and international politics. As an academic, it was noted that Sir Alister gave yeoman service to the University of the West Indies where he lectured before becoming, in 1967, the Director of the Institute of Social and Economic Research.

He also served as an Assistant Professor at both Princeton and Columbia University. In 1988, he was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, a post that he held until his retirement in 1998.

It was noted that Sir Alis-

ter was one of the three-member team of eminent Caribbean scholars that was appointed by CARICOM Heads of Government in 1990 to examine the state of regional integration, and the ensuing report — A Time for Action — in 1991, arguably began a process of regional introspection that resulted in the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas in 2001. This established the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME).

In 1989, he was appointed as the first Good Officer of the United Nations Secretary-General for the Guyana– Venezuela border controversy. He served with distinction until 1999 in efforts to resolve the controversy.

Sir Alister had taken the opportunity of his posting to Georgetown as the CARICOM Secretary-General to acquaint himself with Guyana politics. So, he acquitted himself well in this assignment as Good Officer.

In 1975, the distinguished son of the Caribbean assisted the Government of Guyana in its quest to transform the economy. Along with William Demas, he served as adviser to the Restructuring Committee, which had been mandated to plan that transformation and, in 1977, pro-

Renovations to ... but the contractors did not stick to the specifications which led to complications.

After several rounds of discussions, the contract was terminated following the contractor’s refusal to dismantle both the foundation and a column built.

“He did not want to dismantle the foundation and he said that he can do some remedial works and I said ‘no, we can’t play with the foundation. If you don’t come correct I will not allow it because we’re talking here about children using [the facility] and it would be unfair to the people of this Region’,” Lucas recounted.

The contract was finally terminated in January 2019 with discussions having commenced since late 2018.

Such shoddy work being conducted in the Region has caused the RDC to remind contractors that they must ‘step up to the plate’ and deliver or have their contracts be terminated.

Head of the Regional

FROM PAGE 10

Democratic Council (RDC) Works Committee, Earl Lambert stated last week that it had become common for contractors to bid for several projects within various regions and not being able to complete them on time.

This, he said, is owed primarily to a shortage of workforce or technical equipment.

“We can’t have projects that have been given out and not completed and six months would have passed.

It means that action would have to be taken and you can’t be annoyed with us when those actions would have been taken,” Lambert stressed.

Meanwhile, Lucas has reassured contractors that the delay experienced in the past regarding their payments had been rectified and, therefore, there should be no future excuse for untimely or poor works.

Sir Meredith Alister McIntyre

duced a report edited by the late Haslyn Parris.

In 1980, McIntyre, with a team including renowned Canadian Professor, Gerry Heleiner, produced a report on Guyana’s Economic Recovery Programme. The report set out to explain why such a radical economic programme was required, its key elements and alternative options.

It was noted that Sir Shridat Ramphal was the architect of that national initiative.

“Sir Alister, as Chief Technical Adviser, also teamed up with Sir Shridat to lay the foundations for what was undoubtedly the region’s best

known and most formidable negotiating apparatuses, and a model for other developing countries/regions, the CRNM,” the ministry said.

Before his appointment as UN Good Officer, Sir Alister also served the United Nations system as Director of the Commodities Division of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) as well as Deputy Secretary-General of that body. Furthermore, he later served as Assistant Secretary-General in the Office of the Director General for International Economic Cooperation at the United Nations Headquarters.

The ministry said that his numerous honours include several Honorary Degrees.

Sir Alister was awarded the Order of the Caribbean Community (OCC); the Order of Merit (OM) of the Government of Jamaica, the Cacique Crown of Honour (CCH) of the Government of Guyana, and Knighthood by Her Majesty the Queen of England.

In December 2016, Sir Alister published “The Caribbean and The Wider World: Commentaries on My Life and Career”. The book chronicles his extraordinary life and wide-ranging career in diplomacy, politics and academia. It also outlined perspectives on the development of integration and regionalism in the Caribbean.

“To the Region that nurtured him, in turn, he gave his life in selfless service and dedication, an invaluable contribution to the goal of the integration of its peoples and countries, in which he truly believed,” the ministry said.

“The Government and people of Guyana join the CARICOM fraternity in expressing heartfelt condolences to the family and relatives of Sir Alister, and share the region’s grief at the passing of one of our most illustrious sons,” the ministry stated.

Meanwhile, Vice-Chan-

cellor of The University of the West Indies, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, expressed shock on hearing of the passing of Sir Alister.

“Shocking is the news that our Sir Alister has passed. Larger than life in his long sojourn, it is difficult to embrace the finality of this existential fragility,” the statement said.

It was noted that the people of the Caribbean and the University of the West Indies will not be impoverished by his transition because the phenomenal richness of his contributions to their growth and transformation will continue to yield development dividends deep into the future. “The love and respect we carry in our bosom for him will bloom a thousand blossoms,” he said.

“To him I say, ‘Farewell brother, mentor, friend, and leader. On behalf of your cherished UWI and the regional academy you guided and grew, go well into that bright light’,” Sir Hilary stated.

“To Sir Alister’s dear wife Marjorie, and children Arnold, Andrew, Helga and Nicholas, we offer deepest condolences,” Sir Hilary noted.

Some 60 Region10 youths being trained in Patient Care SOME 60 youths in Region Ten (Upper Demerara-Berbice) are being trained in patient care. Such training will not only improve the quality of care patients receive in the region but will also serve as means out of unemployment.

The patient-care programme is taking place at the Linden Hospital Complex and comes through collaboration among the Chairman’s Office of the Region’s Regional Democratic Council (RDC); the Ministry of Public Health and the hospital.

In a release on Monday, RDC Chairman, Renis Morian, expressed his pleasure that the programme is moving ahead smoothly with increased interest from the participants.

“This certainly will go a long way as we would be able to have patient care

in the various health centres. [It] forms part of the Government’s attempts at improving health care in Guyana. We are working to improve our health centres and health clinics. We are working very aggressively in improving health care in the health centres and if you go around the region you will recognise that there is a vast improvement of health care in Region Ten,” Morian said.

The Regional Chairman declared that he will continue, with the support of his Regional Councillors and other stakeholders, to ensure the RDC does its part to improve the lives of the region’s young people.

He disclosed that soon a number of outlying areas in Region Ten will also be targeted.

Some of these include the communities of Mabura

Region Ten l Chairman of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) Renis Morian

and Riversview in which the RDC is seeking to create avenues for job creation.

Morian expounded that job creation within Region Ten, among young people, is critical.

However, he said that the economic challenges being faced by youths are currently

being addressed by his office with support from a number of agencies and Ministries.

“Therefore, this patient-care training is critically important as when you think about the economic impact of 60 persons being employed it certainly will assist a number of families as they are currently receiving a stipend during the six months training and upon completion they would certainly receive a salary, which means that we have 60 less persons who are unemployed,” he said.

He added, “We remain thankful to the Ministry of Public Health because these 60 individuals are now learning a skill and hopefully have made a positive start to what can be a long-term career for them in the health sector.”

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday April 23, 2019

EASTER SPIRIT ALIVE THIS Easter Monday it was clear that Guyanese across Georgetown have not lost the spirit of family and friendship even as many reflected on the true meaning of the season. Thousands of persons gathered at various locations for a long relaxing day of kite-flying in the sun.

Eager to capture the moments, the Guyana Chronicle’s first stop was at the beautiful Botanical Gardens on Vlissengen Road where hundreds of persons were seen picnicking; kite-flying; bike riding and generally having a good time.

Near the shade of a large tree, the newspaper met up with a group of ecstatic people who had just finished consuming their home-made cook-up meal and were happy to share their thoughts on the season.

“For us, this is a wonderful time because it represents the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and that’s the main reason we’re out here today: to celebrate and have fun,” said Miriam Mohammed on behalf of her friends.

After what they described as a “great meal”, the group’s next plan for the day was to play lots of games together and to relax while they had the chance.

Just a few meters away was a group of church members from Belladrum in Berbice. They came out to enjoy the day at the Botanical Gardens with their close family and friends.

They were busy rocking to relaxing music when the newspaper popped up to speak with one Cordell Batson out of the crew.

“I think Easter is one of the best holidays on the Christian calendar. It is a time where you spend time with your family as you reflect on what Jesus has done for us and all we can do is just celebrate.

The spirit can be compared to none,” he said.

Meanwhile, Keisha Lester who sat with her daughter and husband enjoying a cool popsicle said that it was the second Easter Season that she got the chance to venture out into nature to spend the time with her family.

Similarly, Simon Andrews, who was out with his four young daughters and wife, said that the season is enjoyable because he gets to spend invaluable time with his loved ones.

“We’re always out here every Easter day and we bring our family and friends together. The thing I enjoy the most

Guyanese have come for decades to make use of the strong winds to fly their kites.

Scores of kites dotted the air, singing in unison the song of kites which usually come from a piece of paper or flap called the ‘tongue’ that is pasted at the back of a kite.

There was the smell of hot dogs; fish and chips and Barbecue chicken as many vendors took advantage of the opportunity to increase their sales for the day.

On the beach, a family of four stood readying the kids in the midst to fly their blue and pink kites.

“We’re about to fly our kites; eat some snacks and enjoy the day,” said Dexter Deflorimonte.

“We always come to the seawall.

We love to see all the kites up in the air and everybody getting along with each other. I’m here with my wife and my TURN TO PAGE 13 ►

Miriam Mohammed [in the mix] and her group of friends enjoy the shade of a tree at the Botanical Gardens on Easter Monday (Adrian Narine photos)

The Deflorimonte family enjoys the day on the seawall

Kite-Flying (Adrian Narine photo)

A group of girls from the WIST Ministries International dance to the tune of ‘Now Behold the Lamb’ at the National Park

Scenes from the YMCA Ground in Georgetown

is to have food; have the kids around me because I don’t get to spend so much time with them because of work,” he said.

As the newspaper headed over to its next location, children were seen blowing bubbles; families were sharing food among themselves and many parents were seen teaching their children the

art of kite-flying.

There were even folks from the Hindu and Muslim religion who sat down with their friends and family to enjoy the festive season.

It only took a short while for the newspaper to next arrive at the massive Sea Wall bordering the mighty Atlantic Ocean where

A church group from Belladrum enjoys Easter in the Botanical Gardens

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Easter in the countryside GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday April 23, 2019

A mother attempting to raise a kite for her daughter

The seawall at the Rupert Craig Highway adore with families

THE skies across the countryside on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) was, on Easter Monday, transformed into a kaleidoscope as persons used every possible space to add another kite to the hundreds already swaying in the skies.

The Guyana Chronicle, on Easter Monday, ventured to the villages across the ECD to see how the festive holiday was celebrated in the peaceful villages.

The East Coast seawall was flocked with gleeful children holding tight to FROM PAGE 12

EASTER SPIRIT ....

lovely daughter and son.”

Of course, the day would not be complete without a stop-over at the National Park where the crowds were thick in comparison to other areas.

In addition to the other activities witnessed at the Botanical Gardens and Sea Wall, persons were seen relaxing in hammocks; children were enthralled by bouncy houses and trampolines and most definitely, scores of all types of kites polka-dotted the air.

In the middle of a big field in the Park, persons were captivated by an ongoing performance coming from the WIST Ministries International., a Christian group which specializes in various forms of the performing arts.

At the time the newspaper stopped by, a group of girls dressed in brown and white dresses were demonstrating, through dance, the saving grace of God to the song ‘Now Behold the Lamb’.

WIST’s Founder, Sandia

Ramnarine, explained that it was the sixth year that WIST Ministries had decided to put on the show to remind Guyanese of the real reason for the season.

“What we do is truly art; we try to share with the public the meaning of Easter [which is] not just the picnicking and the kite-flying but also to remind people of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus,” she said.

A group of over 50 youths from various Christian denominations danced, performed dramatic pieces and mimed all with aim of introducing and reintroducing persons to Christ.

As the sun crept down, many families and groups of friends were still seen engaged in light conversations.

It rang true to the perspective that Guyanese relish the season for the joy it brings to share loving moments with families and friends and for the unifying effect is has on turning the minds of many to Christ.

Reema Goolram and her family

A father and his son (Samuel Maughn photos)

A family picnicking at Paradise Village

their balls of twine as their kites soared in the sky above while their parents guided them. Creole food was sold at every corner.

Vehicles lined the roadway blasting their stereo systems with sweet Soca music or chutney tunes.

At the Vigilance seawall,

kites in all colours, sizes, and shapes were in the air with kids guiding them themselves or with the help of their parents.

The atmosphere was peaceful while families displayed togetherness and affection.

A father was seen helping his son raise a kite. The child stood patiently nearby paying attention to his father’s every move.

A woman with her toddler hugging tightly to her leg was seen attempting to get a kite in the air for her other daughter.

The Guyana Chronicle spoke with a lad, who explained that since his school closed for the Easter Holiday he had been flying his kite.

The lad stressed that he made the kite himself and took time into adding his favorite colours along with the perfect tail.

Meanwhile, at Paradise Village, it was evident that families had spent much time in the preparation for the day of activities since coolers filled with beverages of all sorts and tables lined with trays of food were seen.

The family picnicked under trees or on mats as they relaxed while the kids played with their kites and games.

Reema Goolram was seen with her husband and their daughter at the Paradise Village. Goolram explained that she had spent the day with her family and enjoyed the Easter Celebration.

Easter is said to mark the observance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and families in the country used the opportunity to bring the young ones out for kite flying, while they themselves had a merry time.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday April 23, 2019

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday April 23, 2019

Ravi’s Chinese Restaurant: Serving the best Chinese food in Central Rupununi

By Tamica Garnett IF you have ever been to Lethem and asked advice on a nice place to get some food then one person or another is probably going to advise you to check out Ravi’s Chinese Restaurant at the corner of Rupununi Road and Kanuku Drive.

And while there’s nothing special about a Chinese restaurant in the middle of a Guyanese town, what makes this particular eatery stand out is that the kitchen does not have your average Chinese chef. Behind the stove is 34-year-old Rabindra Boodhoo best known in Lethem by the name “Ravi”.

The restaurant is a product of Guyana’s brimming multiculturalism. Despite being Indo-Guyanese Ravi has spent most of his working life as a cook serving up Chinese food. He has worked at various Chinese restaurants across the country, including the well-known Kamboat Restaurant. As unusual as his being an Indo-Guyanese proprietor of a Chinese restaurant, he’s never really felt out of place. And for most of his customers in Lethem at least the food is so good, and he has been there so long that Ravi is just another common

place fixture of their town.

“I think it’s the best Chinese food in Guyana that I’ve ever tasted,” commented Aaliyah Anthony, one of the restaurant’s regulars. “I really didn’t dig nothing that it’s an Indian person cooking it, all I thought was that he must’ve been working at a Chinese restaurant before.”

It was some eight years ago that Ravi first established himself in the Rupununi town. After racking up years of experience cooking he was asked by a friend to work at a restaurant that was being opened in Lethem, and he jumped at the opportunity to enter a new environment.

The first people he told what he was in Lethem for thought he was being funny. Ravi thought nothing of it. “When I left to come to Lethem I come up with a bus, and I tell them boys in the bus I going and open a restaurant, I going and cook ‘chiney’ food and everybody just laugh,” Ravi said, himself laughing at the memory, “but now all of them does only come and eat by me.”

It’s been over 10 years since he first took up the craft of cooking Chinese food, Ravi said, as he explains how he came by this stand out skill. “I used to work in

Police reportedly chased murder victim’s relatives out of station THE relatives of 29-yearold Nicholas called Nick or Peron who was killed along a road in one of the interior locations on Sunday are accusing the police at the Bartica Police Station of ‘roughing them up’, and chasing them out of the police station, when they went, on Sunday, to report the death of the young man.

According to what relatives told this publication in an interview on Monday, the mother of the dead man was inconsolable and she went to the station, but, given her grief-stricken state, she could not find the words to speak and instead ‘broke down’ in tears.

The police on duty at the time reportedly asked her, and the relatives who accompanied her to the station, to leave the building and compound and told them to stand on the roadway.

The relatives also communicated the alleged unprofessional conduct to Min-

ister Simona Broomes who travelled to the location and met with them on Monday morning.

It is alleged that Nick had initially witnessed the stripping of a truck by a few persons and his death could be related to such.

The man who, it is claimed, witnessed the shooting was also reportedly taken away from the location and the police are said to be looking for him. The identification marks of the truck used by the men who carried out the murderous act and abduction were also given to the police who said that they are on the lookout for the said vehicle.

Relatives said that they were also told that Nicholas made a report to the police about the incident but that the report was not recorded in any diary at the station.

Efforts to contact the police commander on the matter proved futile.

Proprietor of Ravi's Chinese Restaurant, Rabindra Boodhoo outside the business (Delano Williams photo)

Parika at one time, I learn in Parika. I had a cousin she marry a ‘chiney’ man and I gone and stay with them and then I learn. I work with he like two years and something, then I go and start work for Kamboat for couple of years and then I went to Enmore and spend a couple of years and then I come to Lethem,” he related.

And it’s not just the food that makes his restaurant so popular. Ravi’s warm, friendly personality just seems to add to the atmosphere of the

eatery. His ever smiling wife works at the counter taking orders and performing the role of waitress and cashier.

Ravi and his wife, Shelly Boodhoo, have pretty much settled into life in Lethem, they already built their home and have one daughter together, and are living out their version of their perfect life. “I don’t have no complaint everything is alright.

I get everything right here, built my house up here and left right here. I enjoy everything up here, no problems

with anybody, with the job [or] with the Chinese food and thing. I get to work with myself,” Ravi noted.

The restaurant’s current location is being rented, so Ravi says his next goal is to get a place of his own for his restaurant. He also currently passing on what he’s learnt to others.

“I renting here for now, I ain’t get my own place yet. I’m working on it, and I have two guys and I does teach them,” he commented.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, April 23, 2019

GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, April 23, 2019

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, April 23, 2019

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, April 23, 2019

FROM BACK PAGE

Guyana cop Four Gold, two Silver and three Bronze at 2019 CARIFTA Games

By Rawle Toney

GUYANA’s 21-member contingent at this year’s CARIFTA Games finished the three-day event with a total of nine medals-- four gold, two silver and three bronze-- when the curtain came down on the 48th edition of the Caribbean’s most prestigious track and field event.

DAY ONE

American Racing Tips Mahoning Valley Race 1 Beau Dan Race 2 Fred’s Country Boy Race 3 Mama Lela Race 4 Angel Falls Race 5 Vertrazzo Race 6 Princess Brooke Race 7 Parade For Me Race 8 Bam What South Africa Racing Tips Vaal 08:20 hrs Destinys Game 08:55 hrs Laconia 09:30 hrs Indy Ice 10:05 hrs Dhabyaan 10:40 hrs Fired Up 11:15 hrs Upskilled English Racing Tips Yarmouth 08:30 hrs Spanish Mane 09:00 hrs Quiet Place 09:35 hrs Kingdom Of Dubai 10:05 hrs Hamlul 10:35 hrs King Of Comedy 11:05 hrs Airwaves 11:35 hrs Wiff Waff Sedgefield 08:40 hrs Hey Bob 09:15 hrs Chasma 09:45 hrs Savannah Moon 10:15 hrs Sporting Press 10:45 hrs Jack Lamb 11:45 hrs Midnight Antics Lingfield 11:55 hrs Artic Sea 12:25 hrs Shyron 12:55 hrs Capofaro 13:25 hrs Probability 13:55 hrs Habub 14:25 hrs Dotted Swiss 14:55 hrs Rich Cummins Irish Racing Tips Fairyhouse 09:10 hrs Lethal Steps 09:40 hrs Global Jackpot 10:10 hrs Camelia De Cotte 10:40 hrs Battling Spirit 11:10 hrs Defi Bleu 11:40 hrs Countister 12:15 hrs Road To Riches 12:45 hrs Wendy Howell

Shaquka Tyrell won the team’s first medal at the 2019 games in the Cayman Islands when she won the Girls U-17, 1500 metres, crossing the line in a time of 4:52.52 to finish behind Jamaicans, Samantha Pryce (4:47.34) and JodyAnn Mitchell (4:49.49).

Claudrice McKoy then ran a personal best in the 1500 metres to win Guyana’s first gold medal of the games, clocking a time of four minutes, 39.46 seconds (4:39.46) which saw her winning the Girls U-20 event ahead of the Jamaican pair of Kelly-Ann Beckford (4:40.49) and Aneisha Lawrence (4:41.19).

Before the curtain came down on the first day’s action, Chantoba Bright won Gold in the Girls U-20 Long Jump, leaping a distance of 6.05 metres to win ahead of Lotavia Browne of Jamaica (5.83 metres) and Martinique’s Fiona Aholu-Futse (5.78 metres). It is Bright’s third consecutive gold medal in the event, having won in 2017 and 2018.

Guyana’s Matthew Gordon looked destined for a spot on the podium in the Boys U-17, 1500 metres, but he was tripped during the dying stages of the race but recovered to finish fifth, running 4:12.77.

Deshana Skeete failed to

make it on to the podium in the Girls U-20, 400 metres, finishing 8th.

Daniel Williams, the world U-18, 400 metres silver medallist, didn’t look his usual self when he competed in the Boys U-20, 400 metres final, where he finished 7th with a time of 48.65 seconds; a far cry from his personal best (46.72 seconds) in the distance.

DAY TWO Meanwhile, Anisha Gibbons, in the first event of Day Two in George Town, won Guyana’s first Gold Medal in the Girls U-17 Javelin at the CARIFTA Games when she topped the field with her throw of 40.34 metres.

Gibbons’ distance was better than Vavica Addison of Barbados (39.70 metres) and Rachel Pascal of the Cayman Islands (35.50 metres).

Bright returned to finish second in the women’s U-20 Triple Jump, (12.63 metres), finishing behind Jamaican, Lotavia Browne, 13.09 metres, but ahead of Suriname’s Monifah Djoe 12.41 metres.

Joanna Archer, who finished fifth in the Women’s U-20, 1500 metres, made up for her disappointment when she ran a superb race in the Women’s 800 metres finals, but narrowly missed out a

top-of-the-podium finish with her time of two minutes, 10.17 seconds, which saw her placing second behind Jasmine Knowles of the Bahamas who won with a time of 2:09.41. Abigail Schaafe of Jamaica was third (2:12.73).

Audriel Austin won Bronze in the Girls U-17, 800 metres, clocking 2:12.69, and crossing the line behind Jamaicans, Kishay Rowe (2:11.97) and JodyAnn Mitchell (2:11.92).

Daniel Williams (21.19 seconds) and Loneil Marks (21.50 seconds) came up short in the Men’s U-20, 200 metres, finishing fifth and sixth place, respectively, in the final.

DAY THREE Matthew Gordon had a bit of redemption for this 1500 metres heartbreak when he stormed home to win Gold in the Boys U-17, 300 metres.

The Berbician ran a smart, tactical race to win with ease, crossing the line with a time of nine minutes, 12.43 seconds (9:12.43) to become the only male athlete to win a medal for Guyana at the games.

Nathan Armstrong of Bermuda was second (9:13.13) and The Bahamas’ Mitchell Curtis was third (9:16.86).

McKoy won her second medal of the games when she ran ten minutes, 37.43 seconds (10:37.43) to claim Bronze in the Women’s 3000 metres Open, finishing behind winner, Isabell Dutranoit of Bermuda (10:21.63) and second place Kelly-Ann Beckford of Jamaica (10:28 13). McKoy won Gold in this event in 2017.

Last year, at the 47th edition of the CARIFTA Games, Guyana ended with nine medals; the most ever for the country at the games.

However, this time around, the four gold medals is a first for the country at the games.

GUYANA MEDAL BREAKDOWN Claudrice McKoy – Gold (Women’s U-20, 1500 metres), Bronze (3000 metres Open) Chantoba Bright – Gold (Women’s U-20 Long Jump) Silver (U-20 Triple Jump) Anisha Gibbons – Gold (Girls U-17 Javelin) Matthew Gordon – Gold (Boys U-17, 3000 metres) Joanna Archer – Silver (Women’s U-20, 800 metres) Audriel Austin – Bronze (Girls U-17, 800 metres) Shaquka Tyrell – Bronze (Girls U-17, 1500 metres) FROM PAGE 23

Former NBA player Jermaine Taylor...

Taylor was traded before the season to the Houston Rockets and assigned to the Developmental League. Taylor played parts of two NBA seasons, with the Rockets and Sacramento Kings. He now plays for the BIG3. Mahler, in 2006, along with his father, Richard Mahler Jr., former Knicks Allan Houston, and the Allan Houston Legacy Foundation, founded the Xperience Outreach, an organisation that brings outreach and mentorship to major sporting events.

The Xperience Outreach offers programmes and mentorships that reinforce positive, healthy values.

As assistant chaplain for the

Rich Mahler III

NBA’s New York Knicks and main chaplain of the Westchester Knicks, the

NBA’s G (minor) League, Rich Mahler III is a spiritual mentor to athletes on and

off the court.

Green Mango Media was founded by overseasbased filmmaker/journalist Amanda Wilson, and is a United Kingdom-based media company with strong ties to Guyana. Their objective is to promote Guyana through healthy partnerships and sustainable projects with the potential to be successful locally, regionally and internationally.

The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), SONY Records, the Equatorial Guinea Government and the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) are listed as some of their clients.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday April 23, 2019

Paceman Hassan surprise pick in Afghanistan World Cup squad MUMBAI (Reuters) - Afghanistan named fast bowler Hamid Hassan, who last played for the side in July 2016, in their 15man squad for the Cricket

World Cup on Mon Hassan, 31, has played 32 one-day internationals for the war-torn nation and was also part of Afghanistan’s maiden appearance at the 50-

over World Cup in Australia and New Zealand four years back.

“Luckily for us, the comeback of senior fast bowler Hamid Hassan is a

good news,” Afghanistan chief selector Dawlat Ahmadzai said in a statement.

“However, we will take into account his form and fitness during upcoming practice matches.”

Earlier this month, Afghanistan replaced long-serving ODI captain Asghar Afghan with Gulbadin Naib as part of wholesale changes to the team’s leadership structure across formats.

Paceman Hamid Hassan While several senior surprise pick in players questioned the timAfghanistan World Cup squad ing of the leadership changes before the May 30-July in the list of bowlers for the 14 World Cup, Afghan kept 50-over format. his place in the squad.

“It has been a six-month The spinners are the preparation process for the biggest strength of Afghan- ICC Cricket World Cup,” istan, touted as the ‘dark Ahmadzai said. “The mishorse’, and they named three sion is to play inspirational specialist world class slow cricket in the tournament; I bowlers in Rashid Khan, know there are strong teams Mohammad Nabi and Mu- but we will do our level best jeeb Ur Rahman. to achieve our goals.

Rashid, 20, is the top“As chief selector, it is ranked bowler in the shortest my duty to select a competTwenty20 format and third itive team. However, there

were some challenges that we needed to handle. We selected the best squad considering factors such as experience, fitness, team balance, current form and conditions.

“We hope to play great cricket without any fear and with a fighting spirit in the tournament.”

Wicketkeeper-batsman Ikram Ali Khil and the pace duo of Karim Janat and Sayed Shirzad were named reserve players for the team, who begin their campaign against Australia on June 1.

Squad: Gulbadin Naib (captain), Mohammad Shahzad (wicketkeeper), Noor Ali Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Asghar Afghan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Aftab Alam, Hamid Hassan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

Celtics move on after sweep of Pacers (REUTERS)-The Boston Celtics completed a fourgame sweep of the Indiana Pacers in the first round of (the Eastern Conference playoffs Sunday afternoon, using key baskets from Marcus Morris and Gordon Hayward to hold on for a 110-106 victory in Indianapolis.

The fourth-seeded Celtics advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals, where they will face the winner of the Milwaukee-Detroit series.

Meanwhile, the loss ended Indiana’s season in the first round of the playoffs for the third consecutive year.

The Pacers, who also were swept by Cleveland in 2017, took the Cavaliers to a Game 7 in the opening round last year.

The fourth quarter featured four ties, the last of which occurred at 82-all when Jayson Tatum made the first of two free throws with 6:45 remaining after a flagrant foul on Cory Joseph.

Warriors 113, Clippers 105 Kevin Durant scored 33 points and visiting Golden State held on to beat Los Angeles in Game 4 of a Western Conference first-round series. After winning both games in Los Angeles, the Warriors own a 3-1 series lead heading to Game 5 on Wednesday night in Oakland, Calif.

Klay Thompson scored 27 of his 32 points in the first half for the Warriors.

Stephen Curry went 3-for14, including 1-for-9 from 3-point range, finishing with 12 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a season-high 25 points for the Clippers.

Raptors 107, Magic 85 Kawhi Leonard scored 34 points — 12 in the third quarter — as visiting Toronto defeated Orlando to take a 3-1 lead in the first-round playoff series. The Raptors can clinch the best-of-seven series Tuesday by winning

Game 5 in Toronto.

Pascal Siakam added 16 points for Toronto, while Norman Powell had 16 points and Serge Ibaka had 13 points and gathered eight rebounds. Kyle Lowry contributed nine points and nine assists.

Aaron Gordon scored 25 points and had seven rebounds for the Magic. Evan Fournier added 19 points, while Nikola Vucevic scored 11 points. Trail Blazers 111, Thunder 98. C.J. McCollum scored 27 points and Damian Lillard added 24 as visiting Portland beat Oklahoma City.

The win gave the Blazers a 3-1 lead in their Western Conference playoff series.

Portland has a chance to finish off the series at home today.

The win snapped an eight-game road playoff losing streak for the Blazers and gave the road teams an 8-0 record over the weekend in the NBA playoffs.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday April 23, 2019

D’Edward wins BCB-sponsored Perry Gossai Memorial title WATCHED by a fair-size crowd, D’Edward Cricket Club lifted the Berbice Cricket Board/ Perry Gossai West Berbice 100-ball title after they defeated a spirited Cotton Tree Die Hard by 31 runs on Sunday last at the Bush Lot ground.

D’Edward took first strike and reached 155-5 before restricting their opponents for 124 in 92 balls. Player of the match, Lakeray Sookra, struck an attacking 61 from 41 balls with seven fours and three sixes.

He received support from

Davindra Lalsa who made a 14ball 28 with two fours and two sixes, and Abdool Subhan who struck an unbeaten 29, while Jaipaul Heeralall hit a 10-ball 19. Pooran Persaud finished with 2-23.

In reply, Cotton Tree were reduced to 21-3, losing Nick Ramsaroop (10), Daniel Harrynarine (07) and Persaud without scoring. Batting at number seven, Marlon Deputron smashed a top-score of 32 that included four boundaries and one six.

Fast bowler Subhan had 3-23 in 4.2 overs for the eventual victors.

Reis wins Global Auto Spares golf tourney

The winning D’Edward Cricket Club

Late goal from Love gives Corinthians Sao Paulo state title

The respective winners strike a pose with the sponsor. From left: Roy Cummings, ‘Max’ Persaud, Clifford Reis, Mrs Ganpat, Mr ‘Curry’ Ganpat, Club President Aleem Hussain, Minister Ronald Bulkan, and Club captain, Chatterpaul Deo.

VETERAN Clifford Reis continued his winning drive to emerge winner in his flight and overall champion of the Global Auto Spares inaugural golf tournament last Saturday at the Lusignan Golf Course.

Noticeably, rookie Eureka Giddings registered her entry in the winners’ row, placing a definite second.

The tournament was played in two flights. Winners in the 0 –14 flight were Aleem Hussain (70/10), and Roy Cummings (74/12). In the 15 – 28 flight, winners were Reis (64/26); Giddings (71/28) and Shanella Webster (74/15).

The grounds were in fine condition, and the new LGC member and owner of Global Auto Spares, Hardeo Ganpat and his wife were on hand to congratulate the winners and express their delight in supporting the Lusignan Golf Club.

Meanwhile, Reis, CEO of Banks DIH, took full advantage of the conditions to

maintain his great performance.

In the special awards area, Minister Ronald Bulkan came out of a long absence to provide an excellent drive and win the Nearest The Pin (some 6ft) prize. Parmanand ‘Max’ Persaud also came to the fore in his unique area of the Longest Drive, being one of the club’s golfers with a huge drive; he recorded a 310 yards drive.

Hussain took away two prizes, obtaining the Best Gross for the day, along with his flight win.

Meanwhile, a packed and exciting series of tournaments are set for the next few weeks at the Lusignan Golf Club, starting with the Assuria Insurance Companies inaugural Open Golf Tournament on Saturday, April 27th at 12:30 p.m., to be followed each weekend by a tournament sponsored by MTV, RRT, Banks DIH, Torginol Paints, Macorp, El Dorado, Kissoons and a grand AMCHAM Open

on June 15th.

In the spirit of generosity and rejoicing of the Easter season, LGC, in partnership with the Shafura Hussain (charitable) Foundation of Albouystown and New Trend Auto’s Rudy Ramalingum, began distributing kites to children in the Albouystown community. President Hussain indicated that some 200 kites would be given over the period, Easter Saturday to Tuesday, to kids in the Albouystown community and at the Lusignan ground during the kite-flying excitement that normally takes place there on Easter Monday and Tuesday.

The public is invited to spectate free of charge at all the tournaments identified. For more information on how you can be a part of these or other activities at the LGC, and get FREE golf lessons to learn the game, or how to become a member, please call 645-0944 or visit our facebook page at lusignangolfclub.

Sao Paulo, Brazil - Corinthians’ Cassio and teammates celebrate with the trophy REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli

SAO PAULO (Reuters) A late goal from Wagner Love gave Corinthians a 2-1 win over Sao Paulo on Sunday, securing their third consecutive state championship in front of a record crowd at the Corinthians arena.

Paulista Championship - Final - Corinthians v Sao Paulo - Arena Corinthians, Sao Paulo, Brazil - April 21, 2019 Corinthians’ Cassio and team mates celebrate with the trophy REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli Danilo Avelar put the home side ahead after 31 minutes with a close-range header after Sornoza’s corner had been headed back across goal.

Antony equalised in first half stoppage time with a low drive from the edge of the box but former

Brazil striker Love sent the 46,903 fans into raptures with a winner two minutes from time.

The win guaranteed the home side a 2-1 aggregate victory after the city rivals drew the first leg 0-0 last Sunday at Sao Paulo’s Morumbi stadium.

It was the first time Corinthians have won the title three times in a row since 1939 and extended Sao Paulo’s winless streak in the tournament to at least 15 years, one of the longest droughts in the club’s history.

Corinthians’ goalkeeper Cassio won his ninth major title for the club, breaking a record held jointly by several other players, a club historian said.

In Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo won their 35th

Carioca state title with a second 2-0 win over Vasco da Gama in consecutive weekends. Willian Arao put Flamengo ahead with a header after 15 minutes and substitute Vitinho doubled their lead shortly before fulltime.

The result, which came after Flamengo won the first leg 2-0 last Sunday, led to the dismissal of Vasco coach Alberto Valentim.

Valentim took over at Vasco in August 2018 after spells at Palmeiras, Botafogo and Egyptian club Pyramids. He is replaced by under-20 coach Marcos Valadares.

Among the other state champions crowned on Sunday were Fortaleza, Recife club Sport, Bahia, Avai and Athletico Paranaense.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday April 23, 2019

Eagles United face Haynes & Lewis Winners Connection in Mayor’s Cup final tonight

By Joe Chapman

AFTER safely negotiating their way to the final, both Eagles United and Haynes and Lewis Winners Connection are to face off for the top prize when the final of the linden Town Week Mayor’s Cup football championship takes place from 21.00hrs tonight (Tuesday) at the Mackenzie Sports Club ground.

While that final game is the main event, the thirdplace playoff game between Net Rockers and Capital FC at 19.00hrs and a warm-up for the National Under-17 squad against a Linden Under -20 Selection from 18.00 hrs will begin the night of action.

Eagles United are the top

tanked side and will retain that tag after this final as Net Rockers, who were ranked second, were knocked out by Winners Connection while Capital FC lost to Eagles in their semi-finals clash.

Eagles from Christianburg are slightly favoured to cart off the honours as their lead players have shown form and they are confident with their preparations.

Following their win over Capital FC, their coach ‘Toto’ Stephens acknowledged that it was a great game but said they were going back to the drawing board before the final.

Eagles coach ‘Toto’ Stephens said he knew that the Capital FC would come hard at his players because of their youthfulness, but

Haynes and Lewis Winners Connection captain, Marmalaque Davidson

his side was prepared for the challenge and knew that in the latter stages of the encounter, his side would have gained the upper hand based on its experience.

Eagles United Colwyn ‘Buck’ Drakes

He was in high praise for the Capital FC side and said they are a side to watch. But he said they are going back to the drawing board for their championship game Eagles United overcame

the youthful challenge of Capital FC by a 3-1 margin while Haynes & Lewis Winners Connection prevailed by a 4-3 penalty kick scoreline over Net Rockers to book their place.

In their semi-final clash, Winners Connection and Net Rockers played to a 1-1 stalemate and extra time failed to produce a winner which resulted in the game being put on the line from the penalty spot and the Winners Connection moved through via the 4-2 scoreline when Shaquille Frank gave them the lead in the 32nd minute only to see it cancelled out four minutes later by a Shane Luckie free-kick in the 36th minute.

Coach of the Haynes & Lewis Winners Connection,

Orrin Trotman said “The game was a bit challenging for us as we had to put in lots of work to come out winners for this game. We have a set of young players and older ones and because of it being a relatively new team, it was not easy in getting them to synchronise well.”

In the second semi-final, Capital FC did play a tactical game and were in the hunt for an upset over the reigning Upper Demerara champions, Eagles United, who had taken the lead early through a Donovan Francis-strike in the 16th minute of play.

However, Capital FC matched their more seasoned rivals with energy and style as they were unafraid to come forward and give it their all.

Pant blasts Capitals top of Third gold for Briana Williams as IPL despite Rahane century Jamaica sweeps sprint relays

Rishabh Pant goes for the one-handed scoop.

(BCCI photo)

AJINKYA Rahane’s magnificent century was in vain as Rishabh Pant blasted Delhi Capitals to a six-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals which put them top of the Indian Premier League.

The Royals had little margin for error in their bid to make the play-offs and Rahane showed he is not feeling sorry for himself after being sacked as captain by scoring a brilliant 105 not out from only 63 balls.

Steve Smith, who was appointed as skipper on Saturday, made 50 from 32 deliveries in the Royals’ total of 191-6 in Jaipur on Monday.

But that was not enough

to deny the Capitals top spot, Pant smashing an unbeaten 78 from just 36 balls after another half-century from the in-form Shikhar Dhawan (54 off 27).

Prithvi Shaw also chipped in with 42 for a Delhi side that moved level on points with Chennai Super Kings, who have a game in hand.

RAHANE SHOWS HIS CLASS WITH HELP FROM ISHANT Rahane silenced his critics in emphatic fashion after enduring a difficult few days.

Sanju Samson was run out without facing a ball following a mix-up with Rahane, who was then dropped

by Ishant Sharma with only 16 to his name.

The classy opener made amends with an outstanding knock, racing to a half-century in only 32 balls and hitting three sixes and 11 fours as he batted through the innings. Smith also played with fluency to score a second successive fifty, but the Royals lost their way after the skipper struck Axar Patel to Chris Morris at long off.

Ben Stokes (8) fell cheaply and there was a third consecutive golden duck for Ashton Turner as the Capitals put the brakes on.Kagiso Rabada (2-37) struck twice in the final over, with Rajasthan failing to post 200 after losing momentum.

Dhawan played the role of chief aggressor in an opening stand of 72 with Shaw to get the Capitals ahead of the required rate.

The dangerous left hander launched Dhawal Kulkarni and Shreyas Gopal for sixes as Delhi got off to a flyer.

Gopal claimed a measure of revenge by getting him stumped, but Pant took centre stage with a match-winning knock hitting the second ball of the last over from Jaydev Unadkat for his fourth six to send the Capitals to the summit.

Jamaica’ Briana Williams claimed her third gold on Sunday at the Carifta Games.

BRIANA Williams claimed her third gold medal on Sunday’s third and final day of the Carifta Games in the Cayman Islands on Sunday when she led off her country to an emphatic win in the 4x100m relays.

Jamaica swept the sprint relays when the U20 Boys team held off a stern challenge from the Bahamas in a thrilling finish.

Williams, who had already claimed u20 sprint double title, blew away the field at the start to hand over well clear. The change was not smooth but Reid un-

leashed her long legs along the backstretch to re-establish the huge lead before handing off to Ackera Nugent who handed off to Kemba Nelson who stormed across the line to stop the clock in 44.25s, a championship record.

Trinidad and Tobago were well back in 45.11 seconds while Barbados were third in 45.52.

The u20 Boys was more keenly contested as the Bahamian team of Ure Mills, Rico Moultrie, Adrian Curry and Joel Johnson pushed Jamaica’s team of Oblique Seville, Vashau Vascianna,

Xavier Nairne, and Ryim Robertson to the line but ran out of real estate.

The winning time was 39.46s with the Bahamas right there in 39.48 for second place.

Barbados picked up the bronze medal with 40.18s Jamaica’s u17 girls took their race in 45.63 over Trinidad and Tobago 45.73 and Bermuda 47.47.

In the boys’ equivalent, Jamaica were easy winners, running away with the race to win in 41.59 over the Bahamas 42.18 and Trinidad and Tobago 42.45s.

23

GUYANA CHRONICLE, Tuesday April 23, 2019

West Indies set to announce World Cup squad tomorrow …Russell, Pollard, Narine: Who will make the Windies 15?

WITH just a day to go before the Tuesday deadline set by the ICC, West Indies remain the only team yet to announce their squad for the upcoming World Cup. ESPNcricinfo understand Cricket West Indies (CWI) will submit the 15man squad to the ICC today, but will announce the squad only tomorrow afternoon in Barbados (1.30 pm local time).

The squad will be picked by the freshly appointed in-

terim selection panel chaired

by Robert Haynes, along with Jimmy Adams (director of cricket) and West Indies’ newly appointed coach Floyd Reifer.

Although Jason Holder will continue to be the captain and Chris Gayle will almost certainly play his fifth World Cup, questions remain over the participation of the country’s other superstars, who have been successful in the last five years in domestic T20 leagues

around the world.

Will Andre Russell, Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, and even Dwayne Bravo, who opted to retire from international cricket last year, find a spot? Will Marlon Samuels, who has recovered from his knee injury, get the opportunity to play his fourth World Cup? The hope comes from a new administration taking charge at CWI. Ricky Skerritt, the newly elected president of CWI, who was

also once the manager of the West Indies team at the turn of the millennium, had said that the selectors will be looking at all available options.

The key questions for the selectors concern the two allrounders that would feature in addition to Holder.

Will it be Russell and Carols Brathwaite? Who will be Gayle’s opening partner, Evin Lewis or John Campbell? Who among Devendra Bishoo, Ashley Nurse and

Abdool steers TT U-19s to regional title

The national women’s under-19 team with their coach and technical staff after winning the regional tournament at the National Cricket Centre, Couva, yesterday. PHOTO BY ANSEL JEBODH

SHANIA Abdool guided TT out of trouble to lead the defending champions to a seven-wicket victory over Windward Islands and claim the Cricket West Indies (CWI) TT Women’s Cricket Association 19 and Under T20 title at the National Cricket Centre in Couva, yesterday.

It was TT’s second youth cricket title in as many days after the TT Under-15 boys team won the CWI Regional Under-15 50-over title, on Saturday.

Windward Islands may have had the psychological edge going into the match after defeating TT in the final round of the preliminary stage on Saturday, but TT showed their mettle when it counted.

Batting first, Windward Islands started briskly in getting to 51/1 in the 11th over with Qiana Joseph and Jephenia Joseph at the wicket. However, when Jephenia was bowled for 21 by Djenaba Joseph, TT

roared back to reduce Windwards to 66/4 in the 14th over.

A 32-run partnership between Qiana and Shawnisha Hector left the match hanging in the balance. TT then snatched four wickets for 19 runs, including the prized wicket of Qiana for a top score of 65, as Windward Islands closed on 117/8 in 20 overs.

Qiana faced 49 deliveries and struck ten fours and one six.

Djenaba was the best bowler for TT, grabbing 3/18 in four overs, Alysha Gomez snatched 3/25 in three overs and April Ramoutar took 2/15 in four overs. Other than Qiana and Jephenia, no other Winadward Islands batter got into double figures.

The TT top order has been scoring heavily throughout the tournament but early wickets reduced the home team to a disappointing 9/3 in the second over. Shunelle Sawh (duck), Gomez (seven) and Reanna Farrow (duck) were all back in the pavilion early

in the chase. Abdool found an able partner in Anjani Goordeen and the pair batted for the rest of the innings, getting TT to 120/3 in 13.2 overs to prevail with a seven-wicket win. Abdool ended on 59 not out off 40 deliveries with ten fours and Goordeen made 25 not out off 36 balls. Zaida James ended with figures of 2/10 in two overs.

Team chemistry would have been crucial to TT’s success as all the players came through the Secondary Schools Cricket League Girls Hardball Programme and most of the team went on the SSCL tour to Canada last year.

S U M M A R I S E D SCORES: Windward Islands 117/8 (Qiana Joseph 65, Jephenia Joseph 21; Djenaba Joseph 3/18, Alysha Gomez 3/25, April Ramoutar 2/15) vs TT 120/3 (13.2 overs) (Shania Abdool 59 not out, Anjani Goordeen 25 not out; Zaida James 2/10).

(Reprinted from Newsday)

Andre Russell

Kieron Pollard

Fabian Allen will be part of the spinners’ group? Who among Keemo Paul, Sheldon Cottrell and Shannon Gabriel will accompany Kemar Roach in the fast bowling group? Will Nicholas Pooran make it as the backup wicketkeeper?

With about 24 hours left for squad to be finalised, ESPNcricinfo has listed the key names Haynes’ selection panel will deliberate on.

Sunil Narine

Former NBA player Jermaine Taylor to host basketball clinic April 25-27 GREEN Mango Media has teamed up with The Xperience Outreach in the United States and the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) to launch its first ‘Youth Hoops Basketball Clinic’ from Thursday April 25, to Saturday April 27.

The three-day allaround skill development clinic will be hosted in Georgetown at the Burnham Court and in Linden by former NBA player, Jermaine Taylor (Houston Rockets and Sacramento Kings) and founder of The Xperience Outreach Rich Mahler. The free clinic is opened to high school students between the ages of 11 and 19 who are already playing basketball.

According to a release from the organisers, Taylor and Mahler will identify players with the potential to make it to the next level and explain the pathway to sports scholarships in the United States and playing in the NBA. Participants will work on footwork, aggressiveness, mentality, and all around offensive skills, including ball handling and shooting. This unique programme will be challeng-

Jermaine Taylor

ing, yet fun for young boys and girls at all skill levels.

“This is an exciting project for us as we focus on promoting skills development in youth basketball through local and international partnerships.

Mahler and Taylor are looking forward to seeing the level of talent we have in Guyana and are ready to work with young and senior players during the trip,” says organiser, Amanda Wilson, founder

of Green Mango Media.

Taylor was a threesport star in high school.

He turned down football scholarships to Florida and South Florida in order to play basketball at Central Florida, where he earned Conference USA Player of the Year honours in 2009.

Later that year, he declared for the NBA Draft and was selected 32nd overall by the Washington Wizards.

CONTINUE ON PAGE 19

Guyana cop Four Gold, two Silver and three Bronze at 2019 CARIFTA Games See Page 19

GOLDEN GIRLS! (L-R) Girl’s U-17 Javelin winner, Anisha Gibbons; Women’s U-20 Long Jump winner, Chantoba Bright and Women’s U-20, 1500 winner, Claudrice McKoy are the only athletes to win Gold at the 2019 CARIFTA Games for Guyana.

Guyana’s Joanna Archer (first from left) on the podium after finishing second in the Women’s 800 metres.

Persaud storms to another Gold medal for Guyana at CARIFTA Aquatic Championships

Aleka Persaud has so far captured two gold and two bronze medals at the CARIFTA games.

ALEKA Persaud registered her second gold medal for Guyana in the 2019 CARIFTA Aquatic Championships, when she swam in the 100M freestyle race last evening at the Barbados Aquatic Centre in Wildey.

To date, the 12-year-old has won all of Guyana’s medals, which includes two gold and two bronze.

In her latest race, Persaud stormed to a time of 1:02.39 in the final of the 11-12 age division 100M freestyle event. She finished ahead of Cayman Islands’ Harper Barrowman, who won a silver medal in a time of 1:03.04. For her dominance, the youngster qualified to swim her third event at the Caribbean and Central American Championships, which is slated for later this year. She had already qualified in the 100M and 50M butterfly.

Also yesterday, Persaud finished fourth in the 200M Individual Medley in a time of 2:42.42. Two of Guyana’s male swimmers, Noel Raekwon and Paul Mahaica, also swam in finals last evening. Raekwon finished seventh in the 13-14 age division of the 200M butterfly with a time of 2:27.40, while Mahaica finished fifth in the 11-12 age division of the same 200M butterfly with a time of 2:39.54. On Saturday evening, Persaud won gold in the 100M butterfly, while on Sunday evening she won a bronze in the 50M butterfly and in the 200M freestyle.

According to head coach/manager of the side, Haresh Bhagwan, all the Guyanese swimmers (six in total) will be in the pool today, which is the last day of the championships.

Guyana’s Agard for Honduras Championship FEMALE AIBA One Star Referee/Judge, Ramona Agard, is preparing to head out to Honduras following an appointment from the Americas Boxing Confederation (AMBC).

Agard, one of a handful of female One Stars in the Caribbean, has been appointed by AMBC president, Osvaldo Bisbal, to officiate in the regional Continental Elite Women Championship to be held from June 4 to June 8 in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

The appointment is the second this year for the seasoned referee/judge who last month attended the National Championship in Haiti. In September 2017, Agard did duties at the South American Youth Championships in Chile.

“I thank God and the president of the Guyana Boxing Association, Steve Ninvalle, for this opportunity,” Agard told this publication, when contacted on the appointment, “I think that other officials in Guyana and the Caribbean can look forward to more of such appointments as Mr. Ninvalle is working hard for the development of boxing across the Caribbean.

Printed and Published by Guyana National Newspapers Limi ted, Lama Avenue, Bel Air Park, Georgetown. Telephone 2 2 6- 3243-9 (General); Editorial: 2 2 7- 5204, 2 2 7- 5216. Fax:2 2 7- 5208

AIBA One Star Referee/Judge, Ramona Agard

I plan to do my best in Honduras which, hopefully, will open the door to my compatriots,” Guyana’s lone female One Star referee stated.

Agard received her One Star credentials after

being successful at an examination in Barbados in December 2016. She is the Chairperson of the GBA Referees/Judges Commission and is scheduled to write for her Two Star badge this year.

TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 2019