Guyana Chronicle E-Paper 21-06-2022

TUESDAY 21st JUNE, 2022

No. 106760

Vices in VICE News documentary

-news entity came with pre-determined agenda to smear Guyana-China relations, says Chinese Ambassador -reiterates all business transactions done by Chinese companies in Guyana are above board SEE PAGE 3

TO US! These two young ladies enjoying the atmosphere at the Heliconia Restaurant and Lounge during the launch of Season 14 of Guyana Restaurant Week there on Monday evening (Carl Croker photo)

Trade between Guyana, China tops US$710M

SEE PAGE

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Doctors 14 miraculously revive teen mother with no heartbeat SEE PAGE

Improved water supply for 4,000 Region Seven residents SEE PAGE

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Trade between Guyana, China tops US$710M

By Tamica Garnett

China’s Ambassador to Guyana, Guo Haiyan speaking during the exhibition on Monday (Carl Croker photo)

TRADE between Guyana and China has grown by 213 per cent over the past five years, reaching US$710 million in 2021, China’s Ambassador to Guyana, Guo Haiyan said on Monday.

Ambassador Guo was at the time speaking at the launch of an Online photo exhibition at the Chinese Embassy in Georgetown to celebrate the 50th anniversary of China-Guyana relations.

“In recent years, trade between Guyana and China has grown steadily.

According to data from China Customs Authority, bilateral trade exceeded US$500 million for the first time in 2020, and reached US$710 million in 2021. Moreover, with the rapid development of Guyana’s oil-and-gas industry, the trade between China and Guyana grew by 213 per cent in the last five years, with an average annual growth rate of over 42.5 per cent,” the Chinese ambassador said.

China and Guyana established relations when representatives from both sides signed a joint communique in London on June 27, 1972.

“The establishment of relations between China

and Guyana opened a new chapter of Caribbean relations, because Guyana is the first country in the English-speaking Caribbean to establish diplomatic relations with China,” said Ambassador Guo. Over the past 50 years, the ambassador noted, the two countries enjoyed cooperation under five broad areas. These are political relations, economic cooperation, healthcare, human resource and capacity building and people-to-people relations.

Under political relations, there have been interactions between leaders of the two countries at different times, including across changes in administration, while under economic cooperation, China has assisted Guyana with a number of infrastructural projects, including the construction of the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.

Under healthcare, Guyana has benefited from being the first Caribbean country to receive COVID-19 vaccines donated by the Chinese Government, while the Chinese Medical Brigade has been coming to Guyana since 1993, following the establishment of a Medical Cooperation Agreement between the

two countries on May 26, 1993.

In the area of capacity building, the Chinese Government has offered a number of scholarships and training courses to Guyanese at leading universities in China.

“There is a bright future for China-Guyana Relations. There are favourable conditions in three common [categories]: Philosophies, goals and interests,” said Ambassador Guo. She also said that the two countries have much in common in their aspirations towards ‘green’ development, being people-centred and in sustainable development.

The launch of the Online photo exhibition, which features 82 photographs, captures moments in relations between the two countries. It is the latest event to celebrate 50 years of friendship between the two countries.

The launch of the exhibition is expected to be followed by a Chinese Film festival which opens on Wednesday at MovieTowne Cinema.

The movies include the science fantasy film, ‘Wandering Earth’, and will continue with the films, ‘Nice View’, ‘Vanguard’, ‘Hi Mom’ and ‘White Snake’.

VICE news came with pre-determined agenda 3

GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, June 21, 2022

- to smear Guyana-China relations, says Chinese Ambassador - reiterates all business transactions done by Chinese companies in Guyana are above board

By Tamica Garnett CHINA’S Ambassador to Guyana, Guo Haiyan, on Monday dismissed a documentary by US media house VICE News as malicious, with the intent to smear Guyana-China relations and reiterated that all business transactions done

by Chinese companies in Guyana are above board.

Ambassador Haiyan shared her comments on the controversial documentary during a ceremony at the Chinese Embassy in Georgetown on Monday.

VICE News had touted the documentary as an ex-

posé on corrupt practices

by Chinese companies in Guyana, but the publication failed miserably to show any proof of corrupt practices. Instead, it was laced with unsubstantiated claims made by anonymous persons, which VICE news claimed are Chinese businesspersons in Guyana.

“I didn’t see any corrupt practices,” said Ambassador Haiyan as she responded to questions from reporters. .

“Yesterday [Sunday] we saw the video come out. This so-called journalist, undercover journalist, that [sic] came with a predetermined agenda.

The purpose is clear. One

of their purpose [sic] was to smear the Chinese companies here and attack the China-Guyana cooperation. Yesterday we saw the video and it’s quite clear that it was edited with a malicious purpose,” Ambassador Haiyan said.

According to the ambassador, all Chinese companies in Guyana understand the need to be above board in their interactions, so as to maintain the continued good relations between Guyana and China.

“The Chinese Government and Embassy is [sic] always requiring, and we believe, that Chinese companies here in Guy-

ana they’re doing business following the local laws, international practices and market rules.

And they participated in the projects through open and fair competition,” Ambassador Haiyan affirmed.

She added: “Since they came to Guyana, they need to abide by the local laws. If there’s any violations then the Guyanese Government will take action.”

The documentary entitled “Guyana For Sale”

by VICE News journalist, Isobel Yeung, includes an interview with Vice-President, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo earlier this year, where she questioned him about

collecting bribes.

However, the piece which was aired, failed to provide any evidence linking Dr Jagdeo to collecting bribes.

Prior to its release, the Vice-President had posted the entire sitdown interview he gave to the VICE News team.

During the interview, he said he would meet with persons who are interested in investing in Guyana, but has never been offered a bribe or accepted any.

In the VICE News piece released on Sunday, Dr Jagdeo can be heard saying: “No, no, no! I’m not getting involved with business! My thing is that

I’m in government, so I assist from the government side.”

In the piece, after a sit-down with the VicePresident, Chinese businessman Su Zhi Rhong was purportedly heard making the claim to an undercover member of the VICE News team that he accepts bribes for the Vice-President.

Following the release of the VICE News documentary, Dr Jagdeo, on Sunday, told several sections of the media that he will be taking legal action again Su, who is his tenant, for the slanderous claims he [Su] has made against him.

Season 14 of Guyana Restaurant Week launched - 25 businesses set to participate in the 10-day culinary showcase

SEASON 14 of one of the most exciting times in the culinary world, Guyana Restaurant Week (GRW), was on Monday launched under the theme, “Eat, Explore, Repeat,” and so far, 25 local restaurants have signed up to participate.

From June 24 to July 03, 2022, “foodies” will have the chance to indulge in the masterpieces created by chefs across the country as the massive event returns in full.

During the 10-day exercise, participating restaurants will offer special menus paired with wines, which is perfect for pulling in new customers while keeping the

regulars coming back for more.

The participating restaurants include: Aagman Indian Restaurant, Bistro Cafe Bar, Cafe Bellvana, Heliconia Restaurant and Lounge, Java Coffee Bar Bistro, Jaxx International Grill, Kiesha’s Crab Shack, Mango Walk Restaurant and Lounge, Marriott Hotel, New Thriving Restaurant, OMG! and RS53 RestoBar Lounge.

Director (ag) of the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), Kamrul Baksh, at the launch which took place at the Heliconia Restaurant and Lounge, noted that this season is expected to continue building on the success of TURN TO PAGE 4

Director (ag) of the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), Kamrul Baksh, speaks at the launch of Guyana Restaurant Week (GRW) season 14

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Season 14 of Guyana Restaurant Week...

Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) committee member, Melanie Mc Turk

FROM PAGE 3 the previous seasons. He noted that the menu prepared by the participating restaurants will surely achieve their goals of satisfying their current customers, while inviting new customers to become avid supporters of their restaurants.

According to Baksh, this season will see the key focus being placed on local produce. He noted that in keeping with CARICOM’s agenda, led by President Ali, to reduce the region’s food-import bill by 25 per cent by 2025, participating restaurants were challenged to incorporate more locally grown foods into their GRW season 14 menus.

“We’ve had several chefs; local chefs of course utilise their local ingredients, and that’s something I want to stress. If there’s one takeaway this afternoon is that we should be utilising lots of local ingredients and support to the local market,” he stated.

Further, Baksh noted that this season of Guyana Restaurant Week is pivotal, as it will allow restaurant owners and the GTA the opportunity to access the readiness of these businesses for the Cricket Carnival, which is set for September 16 to October 2, 2022.

He stated that the country is anticipating an influx of foreigners and this restaurant week will allow the restaurant owners the opportunity to build on what systems they have in place currently and improve, restruc-

ture and re-implement new systems that could help them take advantage of the massive tourism event.

“We’ll be posting several activities, massive games, and CPL from September 16 to October 2. So, you know, we have mystery shoppers; GTA will have persons who will be visiting us around, gauging the level of service that you provide to the public, you know, with a view of improvement and I want to stress this, because, you know, reports will be submitted to the owners, you know, from feedback from the public. I want to urge you to take those suggestions on board, to improve your service delivery,” Baksh noted.

Meanwhile, speaking about the tremendous support the massive culinary event has had over the years, Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) committee member Melanie Mc Turk, stated that this season has seen the largest number of participants since the event was founded in 2015 when just 11 restaurants participated.

She noted that this is a major tourism event for Guyana, stating: “Restaurant week allows us to showcase the talents of our local chefs that allows us to put a spotlight on Guyanese flavours and Guyanese produce and it has become something that “foodies” all across Guyana and the Caribbean look forward to indulging in and experiencing what is a uniquely Guyanese dining experience.”

June 18, 2022

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Indian-built ferry ‘fit for purpose,’ will be ‘life-changing’ for North West residents - Minister Edghill says

Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill, speaking at the media briefing

By Jared Liddell MINISTER of Public Works, Juan Edghill, has noted that the Indianbuilt MV Ma Lisha vessel, which is expected to ply the Georgetown to North West District route is “fit for purpose” as it was designed with specifications that would greatly aid in cutting down the transit

necessary and life-changing for the people of the North West District.

“This boat is designed to leave Georgetown, get out into the Atlantic and it must get into the North West region at Morawhanna, Kumaka, and Port Kaituma.

So, it has to be built with specifications to deal with conditions in those areas,” he stated.

Minister Edghill add-

The Public Works Minister noted that upon completion, the vessel would be able to transport 294 persons inclusive of 18 crew members; 14 Sedan-type vehicles, and two trucks simultaneously. This, he highlighted, represented a massive change from the current vessels that operate in the transit route, which has the capacity to carry just two vehicles.

He also noted that the

The recently launched MV Ma Lisha

time by half.

The Public Works Minister during a media briefing on Monday noted that the vessel which is just about 70 per cent complete is also being built with specifications that are best suited for the specific type of terrain that it would have to travel through regularly.

He noted that government sees the investment as

ed that while there were concerns about the appearance of the vessel during its launch in Kolkata, India, recently, it still has to undergo several changes, upgrades, and inclusions before it is ready to depart for Guyana.

He said that it is on schedule for an October 2022 completion date, after which the massive vessel would make the approximately 60-day journey.

boat will have the capacity to also carry 10, 10 by 10 containers.

The Public Works Minister stated that this new vessel is set to have a major impact on the business community in Region One, as it will allow for not just faster transport time of their products and produce, but will also see a significant reduction in transport costs.

He said that as part of the government’s plans to retrofit the vessel to the needs of the people of the region, a cold room will also be added to it.

This cold room, according to Edghill, could be used by all produce transporters to keep their produce fresh for the duration of the trip. He noted that these added benefits could boost agricultural production within the region.

“With a vessel that is able to bring out at a faster rate product, people will go back to farming; people don’t want to plant their plantains and pumpkins and its rotting on a wharf because there is no boat to bring it. We can go back into the planting of the ginger and all those things we used to see… and of course, this fits directly into Presi-

A miniature replica of the vessel

dent Ali’s plan as the leading light in terms of agriculture in CARICOM by reducing our import bill,” he added.

Minister Edghill said that the government has put systems in place to ensure the proper use of the vessel. He disclosed that government plans to send two 10-person teams to India in a matter of months to help prepare them for the proper use of the vessel, as well as proper maintenance practices.

These persons include the captains and the mechanical and engineering teams that

will be responsible for the upkeep of the multimilliondollar investment.

The minister also disclosed that the four stellings to which the boat will provide transport, will undergo facelifts to ensure that they can facilitate the “roll-on, roll-off” system that will be used.

He reminded that while the boat will utilise this system, the option for sideboarding will also be available to ensure that there will be no difficulty getting vehicles on or off the vessel at any time.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, June 21, 2022

VICE Media

AN Internet search on VICE Media would expose a flurry of reports following media investigations, including by the New York Times, into sexual violence allegations in 2017, at VICE, targeting the leadership which had created a “boys club” at the peril of women staff; something the company later apologised for. The company’s co-founder and then CEO, Shane Smith, transitioned to Executive Chairman of VICE Media’s Board of Directors, and a woman CEO was hired.

While that issue is not the essence of this editorial, as far as exploring VICE Media’s foundation and integrity is concerned, the question of “diversity”, internally, impacts the quality of stories presented externally.

In early February, ViceP r e s i d e n t , D r. B h a r r a t Jagdeo was interviewed by a VICE News reporter, who made several allegations about the VP’s involvement

in Guyana’s public procurement process. VICE News is VICE Media’s current affairs channel. All of claims against the VP were unfounded, and attempted to paint the VP as culpable in corrupt preferential practices. VP Jagdeo, maintaining his transparency from the inception, released the full one-hour, 39 minutes, and 16 seconds interview with the international reporter. Unsurprisingly, the VICE News final product reduced that sizeable 99-minute interview to a mere 15 minutes, with the Vice-President’s contribution reduced to a soundbite.

Even before the publication of the 15-minute final product, titled, “Guyana For Sale”, Dr. Jagdeo questioned not only the anti-China agenda of VICE News, but also the anti-blackness that emerges from global indices that report, annually, on global corruption, which consistently cast countries with non-white national

leaders as more corrupt.

VICE News is no stranger to propping up this system.

A 2020 CNN Business report titled, “VICE distances itself, again, from cofounder who started Proud Boys”, reported the effort

by VICE Media to distance itself from its co-founder, Gavin McInnes. McInnes, according to CNN, also founded the Proud Boys, “a far-right group whose ideology has been labeled ‘misogynistic, islamophobic, transphobic, and antiimmigration’ by the AntiDefamation League.”

“Officially, the group describes themselves as being organised around the belief that ‘West Is The Best’ – what they call Western Chauvinism – and reject the label of White supremacists and alt-right,” CNN Business reported. VICE Media’s pro-west, anti-China reporting has been clear, and must also be seen as the philosophical underpinning of the reports against China’s Belt

and Road Initiative, a point raised by VP Jagdeo on at least one occasion during his press conference.

The media house, despite public statements, has not drifted far from the vision of its co-founder. VICE’s co-founder, McInnes, was quoted in a 2003 New York Times article as saying: “I love being white, and I think it’s something to be very proud of… I don’t want our culture diluted. We need to close the borders now, and let everyone assimilate to a Western, white, Englishspeaking way of life.”

When CNN Business reached out to McInnes about VICE’s attempt to distance itself from his comments in 2020, the VICE co-founder responded: “I created that brand, and defined the content, from its inception to when I left in 2008. My pithy irreverence still haunts it like Banquo’s ghost.”

Turning attention to the VICE News report, which

failed to link the VP to collecting bribes, VP Jagdeo maintained, throughout the soundbites, that he is not an active part of these processes, as he is in government.

Lobbyists swindling potential investors by posing as legitimate interlocutors is a concern raised at least twice by the VP during his press conferences. The Guyana Chronicle reported on June 1 that a man accused of being a fraudulent lobbyist was arrested after claiming to be able to use his connections with the government to get preferential treatment for companies.

The VP said then: “A few months ago, I had cause to have someone arrested here in this building [Office of the President]. Someone who met me in the [International Energy Conference and Expo], took a picture with me [and then] went to a number of people and collected money from them. He said he had a close relation with me; I’ve never seen him

in my life…

“This is going on; it has become almost like an industry now, where people [are] claiming they are representing companies, and I don’t know what they are representing to these people… If any of these companies believe that meeting government officials would give them improved chances when the bids are evaluated, they are wasting their money and their time.”

The VICE News report was intended to cast aspersions, and create distrust among Guyanese, by leaving a myriad of open-ended, unanswered questions in a brazen, failed attempt to discredit Guyana’s leadership. It must be seen as an attempt to bully Guyana into severing ties with global partners that do not fall within the approved list of the puppet masters at international media houses like VICE News.

Every Guyanese should reject this.

Deliberate attempt to paint Guyana as a backwater nation Dear Editor, THE now much-talkedabout 15-minute video, which can only be described as an attempted takedown of Guyana by Vice News, is riddled with lies. But for the purpose of this letter, I wish to deal with the subject of the Amaila Falls Hydro Project.

Editor, I have now seen both the 15-minute piece and the full video of the interview with the VicePresident, Bharrat Jagdeo by the Vice News reporter that was almost two hours long.

In the full interview, when the issue of the Amaila Falls

Hydro Project came up, the reporter was told about the project, in-depth.

Jagdeo, in the February 2022 interview, said: “Amaila was developed through a subsidiary of Blackstone. They went out to public tender. This was when I was President. They selected a number of people, the Chinese company to build the hydro. Then I left office. It continued. The last government stopped the project. When they came into office, Norway was putting in $100M into the project. The project had been approved at the IDB Board – the Inter-American Development

Bank Board. Then we urged, because the last government was saying there was corruption, so we asked the last government to Norway to do an assessment. You can check the assessment done

by Norway. Norway said this is the best project to decarbonise the energy sector, the hydro project. So we made it clear in opposition that there is no way we can achieve our emission targets globally if we don’t go with hydro as part of the baseload. So when we got back in office, we retendered the project.

We retendered the project.

Now by that time this company that won the bid, in an

open process, they won the bid – the lowest-price financing – they had acquired from Blackstone, historically, the material, all the drawing etc. So I suspect that is what helped them to put in a better bid. But this was the lowest of the evaluated bids.” The Vice News reporter, demonstrating ignorance of the tender procedures in Guyana, was also told clearly that there was no closed process with the Amaila Falls Hydro project.

Still in the 15-minute video, the Vice News reporter, on the subject of the Amaila Falls Hydro project, said: “Even now, in this very,

very remote area. You can see the Chinese influence.

This is where they’re building a massive hydroelectric power plant to the Chinese state-backed corporation has just won the bid to pick up that project and that deal is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. And what we’ve heard is that the only reason they won that project is because of a very sizeable bribe.”

The basics of journalism and reporting are ignored and replaced by a barefaced lie.

There is no sugar coating of this. It was a lie in the face of facts and in the face of a detailed explanation on the

history and current position of the Amaila Falls Hydro Project.

Still, despite the lies, I cannot help but notice those who would jump on the bandwagon just for the sake of having company in their criticisms of the current government. People have a right to criticise yes, but with facts, not lies and not at the expense of our country. We should not allow these foreign personalities to succeed in painting our nation as a backwater country with lies.

Yours sincerely, Thomas Cole

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Vice News attempted hatchet job only succeeded to prove Jagdeo’s hands are clean

Dear Editor, VICE News narrative over the years has been simple – developing countries and their leaders are corrupt.

Corruption is truly a sore on development, but corruption is not an invention of, nor is it only rampant in developing countries. But VICE News specialises in the narrative that persons from developing countries are pawns of richer nations, big multi-national corporations and investors (both local and international) because our people are innately corrupt. While VicePresident, Bharat Jagdeo was a primary target for the VICE News hatchet job that was broadcasted on Showtime recently, there are three other sub-plots of the show mischievously entitled ‘Guyana for Sale’. First, the intention is to taint the PPP government as corrupt.

Second, the larger narrative is to present developing countries as corrupt.

Third, there is the general anti-China obsession of organisations such as VICE News. In this particular case, the VICE News ‘exposé’ entitled ‘Guyana for Sale’ simply exposed their ugly motivations. It was a hatchet job that was brazen and clumsy.

They not only took hearsay and tried prosecuting a

man who has dedicated his entire life to working for Guyana and the Guyanese people, they tried to entrap him. Having persons posing as investors who tried to bribe the Vice-President is a crime and VICE News shamelessly and unsuccessfully walked that path. The Vice-President totally resisted an aggressive bribery effort by fake investors set up by VICE News.

With their unsuccessful ruse, they were forced to rely entirely on hearsay. The main person who VICE News presented as an informant himself said that Jagdeo’s hands are clean. VICE News and their local sycophants have decided, since the hearsay was weak, since their fake investors failed to bribe the VP, they will interpret his words to give some authenticity to their fake narrative.

They presented hearsay, false claims that Vice-President Bharat Jagdeo would change laws and the Constitution in order to facilitate investors who bribed him, as fact. VICE News never considered for a moment that those claims were the kind of words uttered by conmen.

Any credible investigative journalist or organisation would have sought corroboration by trying to identify at least one example of a law that was changed to accommodate any investor. The fact

is that VICE News could not identify which constitutional amendment was made to enable and empower a particular investor. A genuine exposé would have tried, no matter how remotely, to link one or more legislative action that the Vice- President tried to change in order to help an investor. There is a reason no such evidence was presented – there was none.

VICE News claimed that their informant had paper work for many projects and that must be evidence of corruption. If this was a court of law, the whole thing would be thrown out immediately.

Many persons have all sorts of paper work related to various projects. The media have paper work related to various projects all the time. The fact is that VICE News knew for sure that it had a non-story, but persisted to present a story based solely on hearsay and their own fake narrative that developing countries’ leaders are corrupt.

The modus operandi of conmen and opportunistic persons of dropping names and arranging meetings for fees that they would normally represent as fees to enable them to “buy” off important decision- makers is as old as history and prevalent everywhere, not just developing countries, but everywhere.

VICE News focus is using

this reality to bring disrepute to developing countries. In this case, Guyana is being used as an example of what happens in developing countries. There can be no doubt that the experienced VICE News crew knew very well that Su, their main informant, has represented himself as what he is not – that is a “bag” man for Guyanese senior officials. It is the reason they planted a fake investor to trap VP Jagdeo.

What they, in fact, proved is that Jagdeo refused any hint of any kind of bribe and made it clear that his job is to facilitate any investor and any investment that is in the interest of the country. What was clear is that VICE News exposed a con man, nothing else. What is very true is that VICE News proved to the Guyanese people that the PPP General-Secretary and the Vice-President of Guyana has clean hands, as Su himself on camera confessed.

The much-anticipated VICE News show mischievously titled ‘Guyana for Sale’ turned out to be nothing but affirmation that Guyana is not for sale, not under the Irfaan Ali-led PPP Government and that Dr Jagdeo is not part of any group giving away Guyana for personal benefits. Importantly, VICE News target, Dr. Jagdeo, Guyana’s Vice President,

came out of the scrutiny to have “clean hands”. VICE News tried their best hatchet job, but essentially their piece turned out to be nothing but an admission that their digging, even with the most obnoxious use of hearsay and entrapment, unearthed nothing to even flimsily link corruption to Bharat Jagdeo and the PPP Government. This is the reason why VICE News had to cut their hoped-for hour-long show, to a meager 16-minute. They came to bury Dr Jagdeo; they ended with dirt in the face. It was sheer nothingness. It was shameful that they even aired their nothingness.

VICE News’ hatchet job insulted the Guyanese people and, on a larger scale, tried indicting developing countries under the general VICE News narrative that we are a developing country and, therefore, our leaders must be corrupt. VICE News has essentially built a reputation pushing the narrative that developing countries leaders are all corrupt. The hatchet job on Dr Jagdeo they had hoped to accomplish was part of the narrative that developing countries leaders simply cannot help themselves, that, as long as there is an opportunity, they will be tempted into corruption with ease. They failed because they picked a man who has served his coun-

try for decades with distinction and has undergone the most intense scrutiny, without any evidence that he has been bribed by anyone. In fact, in this most recent attempt, VICE News affirmed that Dr Bharrat Jagdeo’s hands are clean. The PNC/APNU/AFC tired for five years, using all the machineries of the State and could not have found an iota of evidence to indict Dr Jagdeo. Now, VICE News has joined the long list of those who have failed in linking DR Jagdeo to any corruption.

The VP’s most ardent critics confess that the VICE News exposé proved nothing, but they, holding on to a straw like a drowning man, still believe that the Vice-President has some answers to provide. They tested him, they posed as imposter businessmen and investors to Bharat Jagdeo.

They entrapped Su and exposed him, but because Dr Jagdeo is not part of those who will sell Guyana, they could not entrap him.

In the end, they had hearsays, many of which can be thrown into the garbage heap. That they could not cite any instance of corruption demonstrates unequivocally that VICE News tried a hatchet job and ended up with dirt in their faces.

Yours sincerely, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy

Dear Editor, WHY were several false claims not verified by Vice News before it was presented in the production by that outfit?

In the recording of Mr Su’s meeting with Vice-President Jagdeo, Stabroek News reported a few interesting things: 1. Jagdeo, when asked about his understanding of

the meeting between Mr Su and his associate, Mr Chand, said: “No, No, No. I’m not getting involved in business.

You will get the support. Mr Su is my friend….I can assist from the government side.

That’s it.”

2. At this point, Su insisted to Mr Chan, in Mandarin, that he will deal with any money matters.

3. When Mr Chand

pressed Su, again in Mandarin, Su said: “I’ll give him the money with you.”

4. But as soon as the meeting with Jagdeo ended, Mr Su, switched tunes, and said: “His [Jagdeo’s] hands are very clean…. he will never admit he’s involved in this.”

In Guyana, any person on the street in the same situation would realise they are

being made a fool, so why didn’t Mr Chan? Nothing about bribes or the payment of money was talked about in English. When it came to discussing payment, Mr Su switched to Mandarin.

Why didn’t Vice News recognise that Mr. Su was lying? Or did they not care?

Vice News published claims that Chinese-owned firms have confirmed that

they were victims of Mr Su’s scam. Why was this evidence ignored?

It is interesting too that Su claimed to have stakes in the oil sector, according to the foreign reporter. Vice News’ Isobel Yeung said: “Mr Su is a long-time Guyana resident; he’s one of the country’s biggest land holders in timber and

mining with stakes and oil as well.” But China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) is the only Chinese-owned organisation involved in the sector, having a share in the Stabroek Block with its partners Hess and Exxon. Why wasn’t this fact considered?

Yours sincerely, Erin Northe

Why was this overlooked by Vice News?

$440M in upgrades; 4,000 residents to benefit

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, June 21, 2022

- as government moves to improve water supply in Region Seven

SOME 4,000 residents from communities in the Middle and Lower Mazaruni of Region Seven are set to benefit from improved water supply through a $440M programme to implement new and expanded existing water systems.

The works are part of the government’s programme to improve and increase access to water, both on the coastland and hinterland.

“In the hinterland, we are working towards 100 per cent access by 2025. It involves drilling the wells, putting in distribution networks, overhead storage and putting in solar energy power systems to pump the water up. So it is a complete system that we are building in these villages,” said Guyana Water Inc (GWI) Chief Executive Officer, Shaik Baksh.

In the Lower Mazaruni, a new water system is being built at Itaballi in partnership with mining com-

pany ETK. This project is expected to provide more than 90 per cent coverage in the community this year. The mining company will be working to drill the well and assist with putting down the new distribution network.

Itaballi has an existing well and network, but limited capacity as it provides coverage to around 50 per cent of the community.

New wells and new water systems are proposed for Batavia, Dagg Point and Westerbeck, where existing pumps and systems are dilapidated and out of operations. In these areas, residents access water from the river and rainwater harvesting.

The wells and water system in Batavia and Dagg Point are scheduled to be completed by 2023, while the system in Westerbeck is scheduled for completion by 2024.

Also in the Lower Mazaruni, the drilling of a new well, along with

the installation of photovoltaic systems, storage and distribution networks and service are proposed for Karrau and Kartabo.

In Kartabo, the existing well and network cover approximately 50 per cent of the population while in Karrau, it is just over 50 per cent coverage.

In Middle Mazaruni, upgrades are scheduled for Isseneru, Tasserene and Kangaruma, given that there is no existing water system in the first two communities while the latter has an existing system that provides water from the river to the community but improvement is needed, in addition to the putting down of a well.

CONTRACTS AWARDED Contracts have already been awarded for the completion of new systems in Isseneru and Tasserene and these are expected to be completed over the next four months.

In Kangaruma, GWI

is partnering with the Regional Democratic Council to improve the existing system by July 30, 2022, while a new well will be drilled by 2025.

These planned upgrades in Region Seven are in addition to the over $30 million already expended

by GWI in Bartica to pump water and install storage to provide water to the Five Miles Housing Scheme.

“We have the set up already at Four Miles to pump water to Five Miles, we are working on that currently to ensure that the Five Miles Housing Scheme gets a supply of potable water so there’s an upgrade there too,” Baksh explained.

Baksh explained that the company is not only focusing on improving water supply to existing communities, but is already planning on how it will supply water to the new housing scheme in Bartica that was recently announced by President, Dr Irfaan Ali.

GWI CEO Shaik Baksh

The new scheme will have 500 homes and 120 acres of land has been earmarked for the project.

GWI, he said, has identified a new source of water and it is being tested to assess its viability.

“We’ve located a source of water, below Five Miles, but we’re testing it now to see if it’s adequate. We’re testing it for the last six months with hydromet, to ensure that it is a sustainable source and to get that water to the Five Miles

scheme as well as to the new scheme that the President recently announced.

So GWI is working on that to ensure that there is adequate supply of water from this new source, for those areas. This is in addition to what we are doing now,” Baksh related.

Meanwhile, upgrades to water facilities are also scheduled for Region 10.

There, a new water system is also scheduled to be built by 2024 in Falmouth.

Murder accused acquitted after court finds he acted in self-defence

AFTER spending the last five years on rem a n d f o r m u r d e r, Marlon Garrett was on Monday freed of the capital offence after the court agreed with his attorney that he’d acted in self-defence, and was wrongfully charged.

High Court Judge Sandil Kissoon ruled in favour of a motion moved by Garrett’s attorney, Ravindra Mohabir, to have the indictment quashed.

In May, Garrett was indicted for murder, but opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter.

He admitted that on September 11, 2016, at Robb and Bourda Streets, he unlawfully killed an unidentified man.

At the start of Monday’s scheduled proba-

FREED: Marlon Garrett

tion and sentencing hearing, Garrett informed the court that he was changing his plea, and was now denying that he had committed the offence.

Mohabir, during his motion for dismissal, told

the court that Garrett, who was 17 at the time, had acted in self-defence against the victim to defend his mother’s stall.

Mohabir submitted that self-defence is not a criminal offence.

Taking all the aforementioned into consideration, Mohabir said that the committal proceeding at the Magistrates’ Court was flawed, having regard to the lack of evidence for murder or manslaughter.

Justice Kissoon agreed that Garrett “ought not to have been placed before this or any other court”, since the indictment cannot stand when taking the self-defence circumstances into consideration.

While deeming the case an infringement of justice, Justice Kissoon said that the indictment was “a travesty”.

“It is another of several cases within recent times that highlight the shortcomings of the prosecutorial arm,” the judge said.

Among other things, the judge said that the injustice meted out to

Garrett breached the protection of his right to personal liberty, as enshrined in the Constitution of Guyana.

“Frequently, persons are left to languish in our penal institutions, in the worst conditions possible, when there is simply no evidence of criminal conduct against them, and no decision is forthcoming to terminate those proceedings, which do not attract the grant of the bail,” he said.

Justice Kissoon squashed the murder indictment and the committal order against Garrett, on the grounds of “evidential insufficiency”.

“A great injustice has been done to you, Sir. I cannot undo what has been done; I could only attempt to expedite your release from prison,” the judge said to Garrett, as he apologised on behalf

of the court.

The State was represented by Prosecutors Taneisha Saygon, Abigail Gibbs, and Mohammed Ali. According to reports, Garrett was at his mother’s stall at the Bourda Market when he was attacked by the vagrant.

Garrett then, reportedly, whipped out a knife and stabbed the man once to the lower region of his abdomen.

The victim was pronounced dead at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), and Garrett was later arrested and charged.

While the deceased is still to be identified by relatives to the police, persons in the market identified him as 34-year-old Omesh Chetram, formerly of Unity, East Coast Demerara.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Greater co-operation needed to increase regional self-sufficiency for medical products — Pan American Health Organisation

PAN AMERICAN Health Organisation (PAHO) Director, Carissa F. Etienne, has called on countries to work together to raise manufacturing capacity and decrease the regional dependence on imports for medicines, vaccines, and other key health products as a major lesson from COVID-19.

“We are learning that, as a region, we must collectively embark on a sustainable and collaborative, rather than competitive, pathway to self-sufficiency,” the director told member states at the opening of the 170th Session of PAHO’s Executive Committee.

Dr. Etienne cited PAHO’s Revolving Fund for Vaccines, as an “exceptional expression of Pan-American solidarity for public health”. Established in 1979, the fund has enabled countries in the region, regardless of economic status, to access quality and safe vaccines at a single price. Since the start of COVAX in 2021, it has delivered over 142 million vaccines to

countries in the Americas.

The PAHO Director also called on countries to increase long-term investment in public health, both financial and human capital, to ensure universal health and improve the resilience of systems against future health threats.

“This pandemic has harshly exposed the deeply rooted fault lines of inequity and inequitable access to health that exist in our region,” Dr. Etienne said.

Continued under-investment will hamper the “more agile, consolidated, and efficient response to the next pandemic which we so earnestly desire”.

The 170th Session of PAHO’s Executive Committee takes place from 20-24 June. Discussions include the organisation’s budget, as well as policies to strengthen pandemic preparedness and most pressing health issues

in the region.

PAHO’s governing bodies comprise the Pan American Sanitary Conference, the highest governing authority which meets every five years to determine general policies; the Directing Council, which meets annually in years when the conference does not meet; and the Executive Committee, which meets twice a year and acts as a working party of the conference or council.

This year, a one-day forum will be convened after the closure of the Executive Committee, where PAHO director and candidates will have the opportunity to present their vision for the organisation to member states, participating states and associate members.

The election of the PAHO Director will take place during the 30th Pan American Sanitary Conference in September 26-30, 2022. The elected person will take office on February 1, 2023 and serve for an initial term of five years.

(PAHO)

Gold and Diamond Miners Association mourns Donald Gouveia’s death THE Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) said it was profoundly saddened by the death of miner and dredge owner, Donald Gouveia called “Danny” on Monday, June 13, 2022.

Gouveia died while he was working in a pit at Micobie Backdam, Region Eight.

The association, in underscoring the importance of safety, expressed deep condolences to the family of the late Gouveia.

“We recognise that the mining sector is a high risk, hazardous industry, and thus urge our miners to follow good occupation health and safety practices. The GGDMA, over the years, always appealed to our members and the general mining community to

Donald Gouveia

adhere to, and implement, good safety practices.

The role of proper and sound planning in ensuring better productivity and safety should be well recognised. Based on the results of various commissions of enquiry into mining incidents, we believe that many of the incidents that resulted in fatalities could have been avoided with better plan-

ning,” the release said.

GGDMA is urging the adaptation of practices and technology that not only increases productivity but also the safety and health of workers.

It emphasises that miners must pay particular attention to operating standards and safety procedures in all phases of mining.

“We call upon our members and miners to take all necessary precaution to ensure safety standards are followed.

The GGDMA is committed to working with the GGMC, Ministry of Labour and the miners to reduce accidents in the mining sector.

We therefore appeal to all miners to recognise the fundamental importance of implementing good safety practices,” the release concluded.

Blending healthy with tasty

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— Green Bowl on a mission to change misconception about nutritious meals

By Naomi Parris LEVERAGING the rich agricultural patrimony of Guyana, a new restaurant, Green Bowl, will be aiming to promote healthy eating among the population with nutritious substitutes for traditional fast foods.

Owner of the new establishment, Natasha Rambaran, a Guyanese to the bone and a lover of rice, has created a menu which incorporates a mixture of

traditional dishes and healthy and wholesome ingredients.

A self-proclaimed “foodie,” Rambaran told this newspaper that her growing business located along the Kitty Public Road aims to promote and change the outlook of what the meaning of eating healthy is in Guyana.

“I have had a love for food since I was a child, I would say that I am a ‘foodie’ and that is where it came about. I wanted to sell healthier food in Guyana

because I didn’t think there isn’t another option like Green Bowl currently. You can find healthy food indeed, but not the variety of healthy delicious food that we offer,” Rambaran said during a recent interview with the Guyana Chronicle.

She related that her goal is to provide a healthier lunch option in place of the traditional fast foods such as burgers, fries and fried rice.

Green Bowl meals are pre-

Natasha Rambaran, the founder of Green Bowl

pared with fresh and wholesome vegetables and other ingredients sourced from farms across Guyana. Meals are prepared using methods such as grilling, baking and sautéing.

“Lots of the food is what I eat; it is what my family eats.

We try to do lots of sautéing, baking and grilling. As you can see, lots of my food are sautéed or grilled and this is just playing on the healthy version as well,” Rambaran said.

HOW THE GREEN BOWL MENU WAS BUILT Like many small businesses, Green Bowl was birthed amidst the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. While being confined to her home with her immediate family for their safety and health, Rambaran began experimenting in the kitchen with fresh and organic ingredients.

She said: “You know, we started doing these healthier salads and I didn’t just do them for my immediate family at home, I did it for a little bit of extended family and so everybody loved it

and I would always get compliments about my food, and people would tell me you need to sell your food and that kind of thing.”

After receiving excellent feedback from family and friends whom she shared her meals with, Rambaran thought, why not open a restaurant and share her delicious creations with the whole of Guyana.

She officially opened the doors to her business in April of this year, offering a plethora of meal choices and even allowing customers to build their own personal “green bowls.”

Along with her green bowls, Rambaran also offers a euphoric blend of local fruits in a sugar free smoothie curated to boost one’s immune system and one’s psychical and mental health.

While the menu might seem a little fancy for the old-fashioned person who would prefer the traditional “rice and stew or curries,” it does not stray from the foods Guyanese know and love.

“There is the rice and quinoa bowl; I know that Guyanese love rice, Caribbean people in general … our lunch food is generally rice, we love to eat rice. What the quinoa does, it is gluten free, it is a healthier option and it makes you feel like you’re eating rice and then I have other options, that is the brown rice that is low glycaemic, so it releases glucose over a period of time and not all into your blood stream at one time, so it is healthier. It is good for diabetics and it is good for anybody that [sic] wants to eat healthier,” she said.

Rambaran added: “So, that

is how I built my menu for my salads and my green bowls. I know the Guyanese love rice, so I wanted to offer them that option; I wanted to offer them the healthy version of it. The toppings and all these things that we offer they all pair very well with them.”

CHANGING THE MISCONCEPTION OF HEALTHY EATING Usually, when most Guyanese think of healthy eating, they think of food that is not pleasing to the taste buds. So, Green Bowl is on a mission to change this misconception.

“There is this misconception that when you hear healthy, you think it doesn’t taste good and when you hear salad, you think it is a “limpy” piece of carrot and sad piece of lettuce. Our salads are complex and they are filling, there are not going to be lettuce, tomato, cucumber,” Rambaran said.

While the menu consists of many salads, it also includes all the wholesome ingredients such as chicken, fish, rice and many other favourites.

Green Bowl’s meals could also be built to satisfy any customer’s needs, catering for meat lovers and vegetarians.

Rambaran said: “What we are trying to do is sell the food that we know people are going to love, that is going to taste good and is also going to be good for your body. It’s going to make you feel good after you eat it.”

A few of the enticing meals to try at Green Bowl

GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Bodies of miners recovered after Father’s Day boat collision

RELATIVES of Devor Naughton and Sherwin Adolphus of Hackney Pomeroon, Region Two, breathed a sigh of relief when the bodies of the men were recovered Monday morning.

Naughton, 29, and Adolphus, 18, both of Hackney, Pomeroon, went missing Sunday afternoon after a boat collision around 17:00 hours in the Pomeroon River.

Naughton was a father of two while Adolphus was a father of one. According to relatives, both men were feared drowned after the boat they were in collided with a fisherman’s boat. The fisherman’s boat was moored at the time.

N a u g h t o n ’s m o t h e r,

Devor Naughton

Suzette Naughton said she heard that a “coconut husk” got wrapped around the propeller of the boat and Naughton lost control, causing the boat to collide with the fisherman’s boat.

Naughton and Adolphus soon after disappeared in the river.

“They were doing everything together. The two cousins were very close. We can’t imagine what happened but we are glad we found the bodies after countless searches,” the tearful mother related.

The relatives of the men, on hearing about the incident, immediately launched a search for them.

The police were also informed. The bodies were recovered and taken to the Charity Oscar Joseph Hospital where they were pronounced dead. They are awaiting post-mortem.

Both men were described as hard-working fathers.

Man nabbed with loaded gun, raw gold at Supenaam Stelling

A CUMMINGS Lodge, East Coast Demerara resident is currently in police custody after he was allegedly found with a loaded, unlicensed gun, and raw gold wrapped in duct tape at the Supenaam Stelling, in Region Two, on Sunday.

According to the police, ranks on vehicle patrol were at the speedboat landing at the stelling, at about 04:10hrs, when they observed the 41-year-old suspect acting in a “suspicious manner” while carrying a black haversack.

The suspect was searched, but nothing was found on him. However, an unlicensed, black 9MM

The gun, ammunition and raw gold that were seized by the police at Supenaam on Sunday

Luger pistol, with six live matching rounds and 16 ounces, four pennyweights of raw gold wrapped in duct tape were reportedly found

inside his haversack.

He was arrested, and is currently in police custody, assisting with the investigation.

Digicel supports World Yoga Day activities

Balaji Vinjimoor, Head of Business Solutions – Digicel Guyana, hands over a quantity of t-shirts to Dr. J. Srinivasa, High Commissioner of India to Guyana, for International Day of Yoga activities hosted by the Indian Cultural Centre (Digicel photo)

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New book on Walter Rodney 42 years after his assassination

By Chaitram Aklu ON the morning of June 14, 1980, four cars and a hearse pulled up at the Thomas Street entrance of the Georgetown Public Hospital morgue in a lightning-quick, military-style operation.

The gates flew open and the hearse backed up. A body (in a body bag) was thrown in and the hearse and cars sped away. Directing the operation were two senior government ministers who had exited their vehicles -one from a dark green car and the other from a lightcoloured car.

I had no idea what I had witnessed until I went to the newsstand at the north-western corner of Parliament Buildings where I regularly picked up a copy of the weekly Catholic Standard newspaper. The female seller whispered, “Rodney was murdered last night.”

I went into the Stabroek Market just across from the car park to get my Dayclean ‘paper’ published by the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) and asked the seller if what I had heard was true. He reached into a drawer, took out a narrow strip of folded paper and spread it on the counter. It read “Walter Rodney was assassinated last night.”

Word spread quickly across the country and across the world. Condemnation was universal.

Within an hour, individuals with reams of paper flyers were distributing them free to the public. A pink one showed a likeness of Walter Rodney nailed to a cross and a few people kneeling at his feet. It was captioned: Catholic Church worships St Marx.”

The internationally known Marxist historian and radical was assassinated about 8:30 pm, June 13th by an agent of the governing PNC party who tricked him with a time bomb, which Rodney believed to be a walkie talkie. His brother, who was injured in the blast, survived to tell the story. He named army sergeant Gregory Smith as the assassin.

The recently published book (March 2022): A Revolutionary for Our Time –The Walter Rodney Story by Leo

Zeilig, published by Haymarket Books, the book provides a most detailed chronology of Rodney’s life and works. The book traces Rodney’s short (38 years) life from growing up in a working-class family, his education and work in the Caribbean, Britain, Tanzania, United States, Canada, Germany and back to Guyana where he was assassinated. Zeilig’s extensive research is presented in 14 chapters and is evidenced by the 37 pages of bibliography and footnotes – almost every paragraph on each page is footnoted. In addition there is an abundance of direct quotes.

Rodney won a government scholarship to attend the top high school in Guyana. He then completed a degree in history at the University of the West Indies, Kingston Jamaica campus before moving on to the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, where he completed his Ph.D, specialising in African History.

Zeilig has done a remarkable job in researching and organising the text into one detailed book that provides the greatest insight into the life and work of Walter Rodney from primary sources -- The Walter Rodney Papers, which are housed at Atlanta University Center of the Robert W Woodruff Library.

PUBLIC SPEAKING Rodney believed that one must learn, understand one’s history, and organise before taking action. In London, he frequented Hyde Park corner in the summer where he practised public speaking to perfect his verbal communication skills.

Rodney believed that in order to change history, “We must read and understand the history that has been silenced by academics and establishment historians.”

W.E.B Dubois, the American Marxist historian had already “revealed the shortcomings of the popular and scholarly consensus of the Reconstruction era” in the United States. According to Gerald Horne, who reviewed Du Bois’ book: The Making of Black Reconstruction (Ed. 2021), noted the book “was

GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, June 21, 2022

the first extended effort to shine Marxism’s sweeping floodlight on the tortured history of his homeland. -- it offered a solid foundation for the emergence of like-minded scholars from Eric Williams to Philip S. Foner and Walter

History of the Upper Guinea Coast, 1545–1800” in 1966.

He immediately took an 18-month teaching position at the University of Dar-esSalaam (DAR) in Tanzania.

He believed in President Julius Nyrere’s Ujamaa development

Rodney” (The Nation May 16-23, 2022). Du Bois was persecuted by the US Federal Government, which indicted him as a foreign agent, tampered with his mail, and intimidated his friends and supporters to silence him. His passport was revoked. Unlike Rodney, Du Bois chose to exile himself in Kenya where he died in 1963.

While studying in Jamaica and London, Rodney could not confine himself to the university campus. In Jamaica, he visited rural communities to learn about the struggles of the working class. According to Zeilig, in London he was able “to survive the bourgeoisie trapeze – delivering a work of serious, radical, and respectable scholarship to pass his exam, but also managing to say things that were groundbreaking.” This is Rodney’s genius. He successfully defended his Ph.D thesis: “A

policy to transform Tanzania through socialism and engaged himself fully – both on and off campus -- in teaching and organising.

UNWAVERING His commitment to Tanzania’s development was unwavering. So committed he was in supporting the development policy that he asked for a pay cut (in solidarity with locals) when economic conditions deteriorated there. Always leading by example, he supported agricultural development by actually participating in the growing of crops. Zeilig writes, “He grounded with students and radical politics.” He spoke on campus and outside of the university. But he ran afoul of Nyrere’s government when he observed that it was deviating from true socialism and disagreed with the direction in which the country was heading and was almost banned. Later, he was to be

disappointed that Nyrere was basically playing a game to keep himself in power, and was not serious in transforming the lives of Tanzanians. It turned out Rodney was right.

In 1968 after his DAR contract ended, Rodney, fully committed to socialism and his family (he had gotten married in England and now had three children), returned to Jamaica to work. According to Zeilig, he did not fit into the elite and started going off campus to depressed areas such as Trench Town and speaking with and learning from the Rastafarian community – bringing his expertise as a historian and radical to these communities.

This was also during the Black Power Movement.

Rodney did not introduce Black Power to the Caribbean, but he used his knowledge “to elaborate the complex historical layers to its development.”

He spoke, Zeilig writes, “not as an act of flamboyance or self-regard, but as a way of connecting the gaping absences of official accounts of independence.” He taught the true meaning of black power, emphasising that “when repression escalates, so does stagnation and poverty for the poor.” He disagreed with Stokely Carmichael, who visited Guyana and the Caribbean in 1970, that Indians should not be included in the Black Power Movement – calling Carmichael’s position ‘unhelpful.’ Rodney saw people as a class rather than as a race – the poor working-class people.

Rodney grounded with Kingston’s unemployed numbering about 150 000, which accounted for one quarter of the capital’s population, one third of which “were involved in much of the city’s alreadynotorious economy based on petty crime, theft, prostitution, and trade in marijuana,” Zeilig writes.

Zeilig wrote that Rodney saw possibility in the “racial expression” of the Rastafarians, a role they could play in freeing the region from foreign control.” Zeilig quotes from author Horace Mitchell’s Rasta and Resistance (1985) that Rodney was “fully aware of the negative

influences of the movement, but he was sure that if the positive attributes could be harnessed ----- the Rastafarian movement could be part of the dynamic regeneration of the working people in the search for complete freedom.”

He engaged in regular group meetings with them. As a result, Rodney was trailed by the security forces and after just nine months was banned from re-entering Jamaica in October 1968 while on a trip to Canada to attend an academic conference. However, it was from those meetings (groundings) with the poor and suffering, that he produced the still widely read book: Groundings with my Brothers (1969).

Rodney returned to DAR where he undertook to redraft the country’s High School Curriculum. He was writing, lecturing, researching and travelling. By then his international travel were also being monitored. Once on a visiting professor’svisa to the United States, his travel documents were seized.

But returning to Tanzania confirmed the direction in which Nyrere and The Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) were heading.

Rodney and CLR James the Trinidad-born historian, Marxist and leading figure in the Pan-African movement withdrew from the 6th PAN-AFRICAN CONGRESS of June 1974 when it was revealed that Nyrere was inviting anti-democratic leaders from Africa and the Caribbean to attend and speak. They feared that would have turned the congress into a political spectacle. Zeilig writes, “Guyanese President Forbes Burnham had already extracted a promise from Nyrere that he would not allow the congress to become a platform for anti-Burnham protests.” Robert Hill, Congress collaborator is quoted by Zeilig: “Tanzania and TANU wanted to turn the 6th PANAFRICAN CONGRESS into a state-led jamboree of postindependence leaders, bullies, and murderers.” Tanzania’s Peoples President and Ujamaa as the means of transforming the economy were being questioned. (to be continued)

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Doctors at Suddie Hospital miraculously revive teen mother with no heartbeat

- hours after she’d undergone emergency C-section

Obstetrician and gynecologist at the Suddie Public Hospital, Dr. Abel Caesar

IN what is being described as a miracle, a team of medical professionals at the Suddie Public Hospital in Region Two were able to revive a teen mother

who went into cardiac arrest last month, several hours after undergoing an emergency C-section.

Karishma Mangal, 18, of Charity Squatting

Area, had no heartbeat for about 15 minutes, but rigorous CPR and medication ensured that she had a chance at survival.

The efforts of the members of the medical team were not in vain, as, today, Karishma is alive and well, and enjoying her baby boy and motherhood.

Mangal was admitted to the Charity Oscar Joseph Hospital on May 10, but was later that day transferred to the Suddie Public Hospital, after she began experiencing eclamptic seizures.

Eclampsia is a pregnancy-related seizure activity that is caused by severe pre-eclampsia, and happens in one out of 30,000 pregnant women. During the seizure, there is a restriction of oxygen.

When Mangal was rushed to the Suddie Hospital, obstetricians

Karishma Mangal and her mother, Angela Tobin

there were unaware of how far along she was, which prompted them to immediately perform an ultra-sound. They would later learn that she was 33 weeks pregnant.

Given her condition, the doctors had no choice but to perform an emergency C-section to ensure that Mangal’s baby was safely delivered. He weighed 2.4 kilograms at birth.

All was going well with the teen and her n e w b o r n . H o w e v e r, about four hours after the C-section delivery, she fell unconscious.

Doctors rushed her into the operating theatre and ordered a “code blue”, which means that all medical practitioners were required to put their efforts into that one case to save that patient.

A team, which included doctors, nurses and an anesthesiologist, joined forces and began working on Mangal, who, by then, was in cardiac arrest and had no heartbeat.

After about 15 minutes of CPR, there was a heartbeat once again.

Obstetrician and gynecologist of the Suddie Public Hospital, Dr. Abel Caesar, who played an integral role in the case, informed his colleagues at the

Karishma Mangal and her baby boy

Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) about Mangal’s condition. Mangal was later air-dashed to the GPHC for further medical attention.

Today, Mangal is doing well, and her mother, Angela Tobin, is showering praises on the management and staff of the Suddie Public Hospital. Tobin said that if it wasn’t for the doctors there, her daughter would have been dead.

She used the opportunity to thank the mem-

bers of the team for their efforts.

Meanwhile, the hospital’s Medical Superintendent, Dr. Sheneer Reid said the case is a rare one, and that she is happy that Mangal survived the ordeal.

She also commended the efforts of Dr. Caesar and the team from the maternity department. Constant follow-ups are being done with Mangal and to date, she has not shown any signs of complications.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Minister Todd tells Geneva trade meeting of challenges to small economies

FOREIGN Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Hugh Todd recently led a delegation to the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva, Switzerland, where he highlighted the imbalances in WTO agreements which affect small, vulnerable economies.

The MC12 meeting, which was chaired by Timur Suleimenov, Kazakhstan’s Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, was held from June 12 to 16.

Minister Todd, who presented as the Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM) spokesperson on WTO matters, said “many

developing countries, including small, vulnerable economies (SVEs), continue to have concerns about certain imbalances in the WTO Agreements.

“They value the rulesbased multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core,” Minister Todd was quoted in a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) statement, adding: “As small economies, we in CARICOM assign great importance to our ability to participate in deliberations and decision-making in the WTO on matters that affect not only our interests, but the entire membership.

“We recognize that without this rules-based system, the most powerful economies would

dominate, and weaker economies would be the most disadvantaged.”

Turning his attention to agriculture, the MoFA release continued, Minister Todd recognised this as “one of the most important aspects of the WTO work programme.”

The release quoted Minister Todd, adding: “Unfortunately, apart from the decision made in Nairobi on the elimination of export subsidies, there has been little to show since the Agreement on Agriculture was approved.”

Minister Todd also highlighted the need for meaningful, special and differential treatment in all future agreements and the plight of SVEs and

‘Suspicious’ duo nabbed with 3.4 grams of ‘ganja’ at Vergenoegen A CONSTRUCTION worker and a 17-yearold boy were on Sunday arrested by the police at Vergenoegen, East Bank Essequibo, after they were reportedly caught with a small quantity of cannabis.

According to the police, the 25-year-old man of Tuschen New Housing Scheme, East Bank Essequibo, and the teen, a labourer who resides at Vergenoegen, are currently assisting with the investigation.

It is alleged that on the day in question, at about 13:30 hrs, police, acting on “information received”, went to Vergenoegen and made contact with the two, who were both standing at a corner in the company of others, and acting in “a suspicious manner”.

“A police rank exited the patrol vehicle, approached and identified himself to one of the suspects as a policeman dressed in plain clothing,

The cannabis and ‘joint’ found by the police on Sunday at Vergenoegen

and requested to carry out a search on his person, and he permitted the rank to do so.

While executing the search, the police found in the suspect’s left hand one transparent Ziploc plastic bag containing a quantity of leaves, seeds, and stems suspected to be cannabis,” the police said in a release.

The police were also

granted permission by the 17-year-old suspect to search him, and in the process, the ranks found a rolled cannabis ‘joint’ in his pocket.

They were both told of the offence, cau tioned, arrested, and escorted to the Leonora Police Station, where, when weighed, the cannabis amounted to 3.4 grams.

mostly Net Food Importing Developing Countries.

The delegation to the MC12 in Geneva included MoFA’s Foreign Trade Director (ag), Bevon McDonald; Trade Adviser, Paul Kalekyez; Chargé d’Affaires a.i., Kerlene Wills; and Second Secretary of Guyana’s Geneva Mission, Colin Luckie.

“MC12 focused primarily on thematic discussions, which included agriculture, the draft agreement on fisheries subsidies, response to pandemic, trade and food security, and the reform of the WTO,” the release said.

Foreign Minister Hugh Todd in Geneva, Switzerland

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, June 21, 2022

GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, June 21, 2022

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, June 21, 2022

President Ali pledges Government’s continued support for football …in meeting with GFF boss

PRESIDENT Dr. Irfaan Ali yesterday met with president of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Wayne Forde, where assurances were made of his Government’s continued support for the development of football in Guyana.

According to a release from the Office of the President, Dr. Ali and Forde also discussed the Federation’s

needs regarding the Golden Jaguars’ participation in the ongoing Nations League campaign, as well as general football matters, including infrastructure to support the sport.

During the meeting, which was held at State House, Forde also spoke about greater support for the development of youth football.

As it relates to infrastructural development, Forde told President Ali of the immediate upgrades that are needed at the National Track and Field Centre.

The Golden Jaguars, since the inception of the venue in 2015, have been using the Leonora facility as its home base for International matches in FIFA and CONCACAF competitions.

The venue has been placed under the microscope

by FIFA recently, where its state and the quality of its lights saw Guyana only playing in the afternoon during the CONCACAF Nations League.

As it stands, the football pitch at the National Track and Field Centre is the only facility that can accommodate football matches in the

West Demerara region.

Meanwhile, Forde said he and President Ali discussed the hosting of a President’s Cup Football tournament during their meeting.

The GFF President said a commitment was made to President Ali “to get together with a technical team to create a format, and launch the tournament sometime this year”.

`I will still sleep sound at night’ – Yassin — GOA president unbothered by his ineligibility to seek another term

By Rawle Toney PRESIDENT of the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA), Kalam Juman-Yassin, is prepared to ride off into the sunset a proud man, after serving 26 years at the helm of one of the most important sports institutions in Guyana.

Yassin, who was bidding for another term in office, had his hopes shattered when the GOA hosted a Special General Meeting for the ratification of its new constitution.

Apart from the implementation of a maximum of three

consecutive four-year terms for the president of the GOA, the association’s new constitution, based on a recommendation from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has a clause that disallows anyone seeking to serve on the GOA’s Executive Committee from doing so if he/she is older than 70 years.

The GOA’s general council, on June 16, after much deliberation, voted 29 – 13 to include the 70-year age limit for Executive Committee members; something Yassin has since accepted, but not without making his grievance

known.

In an exclusive sit-down with NCN Sports in the wake of the GOA’s General Council decision which will see his 26-year reign coming to an end, the former Chief Magistrate said, “While I still have some doubts about the authenticity of the members that voted, is that they had been political interference, aided and abetted [sic]. This is what I’ve been told by persons who have been approached.”

Yassin accused Director of Sport, Steve Ninvalle of “aiding and abetting,” stat-

Warriors celebrate NBA championship with SanItFrancisco parade THE Golden State Warriors marked the culmination of “Whether you say it out celebrated their NBA championship with a parade through the streets of San Francisco on Monday.

A 103-90 success over the Boston Celtics at TD Garden in Game 6 of the NBA Finals last Thursday clinched a 4-2 win for the Warriors, who lifted the Larry O’Brien Trophy for the first time since 2018.

a stunning recovery from Golden State, who lost Kevin Durant in free agency following the 2019 Finals loss to the Toronto Raptors and had the worst record in the league in the following season, with Klay Thompson missing the first of two straight years due to ACL damage and Stephen Curry playing just five games of the truncated campaign.

The Warriors lost a play-in game against the Memphis Grizzlies in 2020-21 but beat them en route to a fourth championship in eight years this season.

Curry, who was named Finals MVP for the first time in his decorated career, explained why he was so emotional after the latest success as he addressed fans who gathered to celebrate in the streets.

loud or you internalise it, you carry the journey with you,” said Curry.

“To know what we’ve all been through, what my brother [Thompson] went through over almost three years, what we went through as a team to try to re-tool, regroup, rejuvenate what we had, and just taking snapshots of the last three years, all that came out when the final horn sounded.

“It wasn’t just the work we put in last week, a month ago, it’s the work we started when we changed buildings and trying to carry that championship DNA with us. But that emotion was everything, just letting it out and letting you know that we’re back. What are they gonna say now?”(Yahoo Sport).

ing that he was “wearing a different hat and not as president of the Guyana Boxing Association.”

“There have been telephone calls, there were meetings and they were called to the office and urged to support the change. That is my great disappointment. But at the end of the day, the meeting voted for the change and I accepted it and we move on from there,” Yassin said.

However, despite his serious claims and concerns, Yassin said he is bound by the General Council’s decision, adding “I accept it, I don’t

have a problem. I will still sleep very sound at night.”

Yassin, 75, is Guyana’s longest-serving sports administrator, having been elected as GOA president in 1996.

But in recent times, he has been out of favour with his Executive Committee, which led to an article being published in Chronicle Sport recently about the fallout on several issues related to the important sports institution, one of which was Yassin’s disapproval of the IOC-recommended age limit requirement.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Dravid relishes challenge of facing ‘different’ England with ‘series on the line’

…India coach says England were “a little bit on the back foot” last year but are “playing really good cricket” right now

A Test match to be played nearly a year after its original date, the series on the line, two different-looking squads with new captains and coaches and World Test Championship points to be grabbed: India head coach Rahul Dravid is looking forward to all of it.

The last Test of the fivematch series - which India currently lead 2-1 - that abruptly came to a halt last year at Old Trafford will now be played at Edgbaston starting July 1. Given the changes in the two line-ups and England’s recent 2-0 series win against Test champions New Zealand - with one match left yet - Dravid said the dynamics of the series won’t be the same.

“In terms of the Test match, it is obviously going to be exciting,” Dravid said on Sunday in Bengaluru. “For us it is a one-off Test match, but it’s WTC points. It’s a

India head coach Rahul Dravid

series on the line for the guys who played a part in it [last year], and they are very keen to try and win that series and do well. So looking forward to that.

“It is always lovely a Test match in England; the crowds are going to be fantastic. You expect really good crowds in England when you play Test cricket there. And England is playing really well at the moment. I mean they are playing really good cricket.

“It’s probably a bit different to when we were there last year when England was probably a little bit on the back foot. But they have played couple of good games [against New Zealand], and we have got a pretty good squad as well. Hopefully it will be a good match. [I] love watching Test cricket, love playing it, love coaching it.

Looking forward to it.”

The India squad - barring those who featured in the

T20Is against South Africa, and Dravid himself - arrived in England last week, and will play a four-day warmup in Leicestershire starting Thursday.

Compared to last year, when Ravi Shastri was coach, Virat Kohli was captain and Ajinkya Rahane was vice-captain, Dravid is the new coach now, Rohit Sharma the new captain, and KL Rahul the vice-captain, although there are question marks around his fitness for the Test.

England, too, have a new management in captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum, and are fresh from beating New Zealand, the highlight of which was their audacious five-wicket win at Trent Bridge where they chased down 299 at nearly six an over on the last day.(ESPN Cricinfo)

Mbappe accuses French federation boss of ignoring racist abuse

PARIS, France (AFP) — France international Kylian Mbappe on Sunday accused the president of the French Football Federation (FFF) of ignoring racist abuse after his penalty miss at Euro 2020.

The Paris Saint-Germain star’s decisive spot kick against Switzerland was saved in the last-16 shootout, resulting in the world champions exiting the tournament.

The 23-year-old was vilified on social media by furious fans, and even considered quitting the national team as a result.

In an interview with a Sunday newspaper, FFF President Noel Le Graet spoke of the lack of support Mbappe had felt after the Euro elimination but failed to mention the racist absue he had received, to the annoyance of the France striker.

Le Graet said “he

France striker Kylian Mbappe

[Mbappe] considered that the federation had not defended him after his missed penalty and the criticism on social media networks”.

“We saw each other for five minutes in my office,” continued Le Graet, adding the striker “no longer wanted to play in the French team — which he obviously did not think”.

On Sunday Mbappe responded on Twitter, regretting that Le Graet had

not taken into account the “racism” of which had been a victim.

“Yes, finally I explained to him [Le Graet] above all that it was in relation to racism, and NOT to the penalty,” Mbappe said.

“But he considered that there had been no racism.”

Le Graet later told French radio there was “no problem” between himself and Mbappe.

“I agree with him. I understood everything and there is no problem with Kylian. I have always had a deep attachment to him.”

Le Graet had spoken last year about how the striker had “taken a knock” after the penalty miss.

“He came to the federation. He had taken a bit of a knock. The elimination had affected him, especially the articles and the comments,” Le Graet told AFP. “My role was to show him affection, to tell him that

the federation was counting on him to bounce back. It’s not a defeat that can change a career.”

As for the racist insults, “Maybe it affected him”, continued Le Graet, “but it was settled very, very quickly. The proof: he is competitive at a very, very high level.”

Le Graet had already come under fire last September after declaring that racism in football “does not exist or hardly exists”.

A few months before, the Paris prosecutor’s office announced it was investigating racist messages towards certain French international players after the Euros.

On Saturday Fifa published a report pointing to the increase in the number of insults against footballers on social media.

According to this study, 38 per cent of them were racist in nature.

Carlos Brathwaite accused of ‘reckless’ fielding after penaltyruns decision

CARLOS Brathwaite, the Birmingham Bears captain, was accused of “reckless” behaviour during his side’s seven-wicket defeat against Derbyshire in the Vitality Blast on Sunday, after being hit with five penalty runs for throwing the ball at the opposition batter, Wayne Madsen.

The incident occurred in the 13th over of Derbyshire’s chase at Edgbaston, when Madsen attempted to take a run, but turned back quickly as Brathwaite picked up the ball in his follow-through.

The Bears’ captain instinctively threw the ball to break the stumps but instead hit Madsen’s bat handle, with the ball deflecting away for an overthrow.

Brathwaite raised his hand straightaway to apologise to Madsen, indicating it was not intentional. His opponent, however, was unimpressed, immediately gesticulating towards the square-leg umpire, Ben Debenham, before being called through for the run.

Brathwaite, meanwhile, was seen complaining to the standing umpire, Steve O’Shaughnessy, that his shy had been a reaction to Madsen stepping out of his crease initially, but after a consultation between the two umpires, he was overruled.

Brathwaite was ultimately penalised for a Level 2 offence under the MCC Laws pertaining to ‘Unfair Play’, and Derbyshire, on 111 for 1 at the time of the incident, were awarded five extra runs in a 160-run chase that they eventually completed with 11 balls to spare.

The wording of Law 42.3.1 deals with incidents of “throwing the ball at a player, umpire or another person in an inappropriate and dangerous manner”, although the same rule is not part of the playing conditions in international cricket and other franchise T20 tournaments such as the IPL. In international cricket, a similar action would earn the bowler a demerit point along with a potential monetary penalty. In the

Carlos Brathwaite’s shy at Wayne Madsen led to a penalty-runs decision (Getty Images)

IPL, a player would be handed a monetary penalty along with a code of conduct warning. However, the Blast and the PSL have adopted the MCC ruling and so Brathwaite and his team had to grin and bear the penalty “The umpires deemed Carlos Brathwaite’s throw reckless and that is what it was,” Madsen told the ECB Reporters Network afterwards. “I was in my crease and he didn’t even look.

I know it’s a competitive game but if that had hit me on the back of the head, like the umpires said, there is real trouble. Because I was back in my crease before he had even released the ball, it was a bit reckless.”

It has been an eventful Blast for Brathwaite.

On Friday, he picked up a three-wicket haul to help Birmingham defend the highest total in Blast history, against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge. And it was also against Notts that Brathwaite decided to retire out during the teams’ first meeting in a rain-reduced match earlier in the month.

Recognising that Notts had decided to bowl legs pinner Calvin Harrison in the final over of a match that had been reduced to eight overs, Brathwaite called for the in-form Sam Hain, a decision that ultimately had no bearing on his team’s one-run win, but which Notts’ coach Peter Moores told ESPNcricinfo was “selfless”.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, June 21, 2022

FIFA, World Athletics review transgender rules after swimming’s change

MANCHESTER: (Reuters)World football’s governing body, FIFA, and World Athletics said, on Monday, that they are reviewing their transgender eligibility policies, after swimming passed new rules that restrict transgender participation in women’s events.

On Sunday, swimming’s world governing body, FINA, voted to restrict the participation of transgender athletes in elite women’s competitions and create a working group to establish an ‘open’ category for them in some events as part of its new policy.

The new policy states that male-to-female transgender swimmers (transgender women) are eligible to compete in women’s competitions only if “they can establish to FINA’s comfortable satisfaction that they have not experienced any part of male puberty beyond Tanner Stage 2 (of puberty) or before age 12, whichever is later”.

A spokesperson for FIFA told Reuters it was in a consultation process over a new policy.

World Athletics president, Sebastian Coe

“FIFA is currently reviewing its gender eligibility regulations in consultation with expert stakeholders,” said the spokesperson.

“Due to the ongoing nature of the process, FIFA is not in a position to comment on specifics of proposed amendments to the existing regulations,” the spokesperson added.

Sebastian Coe, president of World Athletics, told the BBC that the organisation’s council would discuss their regulations at the end of the year.

Coe praised FINA for tak-

ing the decision, which has been criticised by trans rights advocates.

“We see an international federation asserting its primacy in setting rules, regulations and policies that are in the best interest of its sport,” he told the BBC. “This is as it should be.

We have always believed that biology trumps gender and we will continue to review our regulations in line with this.

We will follow the science.

“We continue to study, research and contribute to the

growing body of evidence that testosterone is a key determinant in performance, and have scheduled a discussion on our regulations with our council at the end of the year,” he added.

FIFA said it was taking guidance from medical, legal, scientific, performance and human rights experts and also the position of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

“Should FIFA be asked to verify the eligibility of a player before the new regulations will be in place, any such case will be dealt with on a case-bycase basis, taking into account FIFA’s clear commitment to respect human rights,” the spokesperson said.

Last year, the IOC issued a ‘framework’ on the issue, leaving eligibility decisions up to individual sports bodies, but adding that “until evidence determines otherwise, athletes should not be deemed to have an unfair or disproportionate competitive advantage due to their sex variations, physical appearance and/or transgender status”.

London wins Linden Town Week cycling classic

HAVING not been able to run-off the annual Linden CYCLING Classic, staged during the Linden Town Week period, the Bauxite Flyers Cycling Club finally got its promotion done last Sunday at the Mackenzie Circuit, where veteran cyclist Nigel London captured the top honours in the ten-lap event.

In the main event, staged along with other races for the day, London out-rode his rivals to win from former National Champion Orville Hinds, who copped second place ahead of Delroy Hinds, with another veteran, Garfield Lorrimer coming fourth, followed by Denzil Huntley, who took fifth from Ryan Austin, who ended in the sixth position.

Savannah Hyles came in first among the juveniles, as Shaphone Douglas won the Boys BMX, with Karen DeSouza taking second position.

Despite being unable to host all the planned races for the day, it was satisfying for the promoters, who thanked the sponsors for the events, namely: Guyana Breweries, using their Ginseng brand; Aurora Gold Mines (AGM); and Professional Keyshop.

The Linden Bauxite Flyers Cycling Club intends to team up with the Linden Riverfront Festival Committee to stage another promotion for Linden cyclists, this time under the name, the Riverfront Festival Sprints, on July 3. (Joe Chapman)

Roach targeting 300 Test-wicket club after equalling Holding’s 249

ST JOHN’S, Antigua, (CMC) – Fast bowler Kemar Roach has taken aim at 300 wickets after crediting “blood sweat and tears’ for the achievement of equalling the legendary Michael Holding on 249 wickets, during the opening Test against Bangladesh which finished Sunday.

The 33-year-old, who was adjudged Man-of-the-Match for his seven-wicket haul in the contest at the Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium, said he anticipated continuing at international level for a few years yet, giving him enough time to reach the cherished landmark.

Courtney Walsh (519), Sir Curtly Ambrose (405), Malcolm Marshall (376) and Lance Gibbs (309) are the only West Indies bowlers to have passed 300 wickets. “[I want to reach] 300 Test wickets. I have 249 now but I still have two to three more years in me,” Roach said.

“I am proud because of how I started. Obviously I came into the team under very difficult conditions and then

obviously to build a career and get amongst the greats, is always a good feeling.

“I am always one for stats.

I love my stats. I always look at my stats – every night. Even if I’m not playing, I still look at my stats so it’s good to be among the greats. It’s good to be up there with all the fantastic people in West Indies cricket.”

Roach overtook the peerless Sir Gary Sobers (235) during the England series last March and now lies joint sixth on the all-time West Indies list next to Holding.

His next target before the 300 club will be Joel Garner who is fifth on the all-time list with 259 wickets.

Roach is the only active West Indies player with more than 200 Test wickets, the next best being Shannon Gabriel with 161.

On last Saturday’s third day of the opening Test, Roach picked up his tenth five-wicket haul in Tests and now averages 26 from a 72-match career.

“It’s been commitment and

West Indies seamer Kemar Roach wants to become the fifth West Indies bowler to have passed 300 Test wickets

hard work and I’ve had to improve on my skill. I lost pace due to injury so I had to improve on my skill,” he said.

“It’s been a lot of hard work, a lot of consistent bowling obviously to get where you want to be in your career. It’s been blood, sweat and tears – blood, sweat and tears – and it’s

actually good to go out there and see the results.”

Roach has taken 127 wickets at an average of 23 from 35 Tests over the last 5-½ years, leaving him among the elite in the world.

However, during that period West Indies have also struggled, winning only 15 of 44 matches, to remain in the bottom half of the International Cricket Council rankings.

Roach said a laser-like focus on his role had kept his motivation high during what had been a difficult period for the Caribbean side.

“You have to focus on your role – that’s me,” Roach explained.

“Obviously I would’ve loved to have won more games but my role is to be the leading bowler, obviously go out there and show fight and put the team in a position to win.

“That’s what I focus on: I just go out there, perform for the team, do whatever the skipper asks, do whatever the team ask, and keep coming [in].”

Linden Town Week cycling classic winner, veteran cyclist Nigel London receives his prize from Jeffrey Yearwood of Bauxite Flyers Cycling Club

CRICKET QUIZ CORNER (Tuesday June 21, 2022)

COMPLIMENTS OF CUMMINGS ELECTRICAL COMPANY LTD -83 Garnett Street, Campbellville, Georgetown (Tel: 225-6158) Answers to yesterday’s quiz: (1) 137 ODIs (2) WI 71 (PAK 63; TIES 3) Today’s Quiz: (1) How many WI have now played Test cricket against Bangladesh?

(2) How many times the WI & BANG have now contested Test cricket against each other?

Answers in tomorrow’s issue

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Slingerz FC hammer #1 All-Stars 12 – 0

— Pouderoyen, Uitvlugt and Den Amstel record contrasting wins

Slingerz strike force! (L-R) Ricardo Halley, Jamal Perreira, Matrim Martin, Deon Alfred, Samuel Garnett and Leo Lovell

SLINGERZ Football Club vowed to return to their dominant ways in the West Demerara Football Association (WDFA), and #1 AllStars had a front-row seat to the club’s quest to make good on its promise.

The former Elite League Champions, making a return to the sport after a six-year hiatus, picked up its second

consecutive win, following a 12 – 0 thrashing of #1 AllStars in the final game on Sunday.

Four matches were played at the National Track and Field Centre at Leonora, in the ongoing STAG WDFA League.

Following the side’s 3 – 0 win over Uitvlugt in their first game back to the WDFA

league, several players who were part of the Golden Jaguars Nations League campaign made their appearance, and further added more arsenal to Coach Vurlon Mills’ line-up.

At halftime, the 2013 and 2014 former WDFA League winners were up 6 – 0; a lead which doubled by the end of the 90.

Deon Alfred took his tally to seven goals in two matches, with the five he scored on Sunday.

Alfred netted in the 11th, 21st, 51st, 61st, and 78th minutes in the lopsided onslaught

by Slingerz FC. National youth player Matrim Martin found the net twice (48’, 58’), while Ricardo Halley (38, 48’) also

Pouderoyen Football Club scorers Dometri Osborne and Kiode King

scored a double.

Leo Lovell, who was impressive for Guyana in the CONCACAF Nations League, rocked the net in the 28th minute. The other goals came from Jamal Perreira (5’) and Samuel Garnett (65’).

Meanwhile, Kiode King (23’) and Dometri Osborne (36’) scored in the first half to help guide Pouderoyen

to a comfortable 2 – 1 win over Eagles FC. Neshawn Liva scored the lone goal for Eagles FC in the 64th minute.

Uitvlugt Football club bounced back from their defeat by Slingerz FC to score a 10 – 1 over Wales Football Club, while Den Amstel earned a 10 – 1 victory over Bell West Football Club.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, June 21, 2022

President Ali pledges Government’s continued support for football

`I will still sleep sound at night’ – Yassin — GOA president unbothered by his ineligibility to seek another term Story on page 24

Story on page 24

President of the GOA – Kalam Juman-Yassin

Warriors celebrate NBA championship with San Francisco parade Story on page 24

President Dr. Irfan Ali (L) greeting GFF president, Wayne Forde, ahead of their meeting at State House

Stephen Curry celebrates with his trophies during the Golden State Warriors Victory Parade on Monday in San Francisco

on FIFA, World Athletics review transgender rules after swimming’s change Story page 26 Printed and Published by Guyana National Newspapers Limited, Lama Avenue, Bel Air Park, Georgetown. Telephone 226-3243-9 (General); Editorial: 227-5204, 227-5216. Fax:227-5208

TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 2022