Guyana Chronicle E-Paper 22 05 2020

FRIDAY 22nd May, 2020

' No.106007

'He who asserts must prove' ...GECOM chair urges parties to produce evidence of voting irregularities

SEE PAGE 02

…coalition says have proof …chair rebukes Sase Gunraj for misrepresenting her

Chair of GECOM, Justice (Ret'd) Claudette Singh

‘Agriculture

sector sturdy’

PAGE

12

…Gov’t says no fallout from COVID-19 pandemic

60 active cases of COVID-19 in institutional isolation 03 PAGE

…out of 127 confirmed cases, 57 recovered thus far

Cops break up ECD house party …several arrested, to be placed before the courts

PAGE

16

'He who asserts must prove'

2

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, May 22, 2020

...GECOM chair urges parties to produce evidence of voting irregularities

By Svetlana Marshall CHAIR of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice (Ret'd) Claudette Singh, on Thursday, said the body is yet to make a decision on how it will treat with complaints of irregularities at the March 2 polls, although insisting that “he who asserts must prove.”

Justice Singh made the comments in a statement issued by her office. Justice Singh said while issues surrounding the Observation Reports are engaging the attention of the Commission; no decision has been made.

“In fact, although there was discussion, no decision was taken in this regard at the level of the Commission,” the GECOM Chair clarified.

She added: “While I continue to monitor the trends based on the allegations in the Observation Reports, I am of the view that he who asserts must prove.”

Justice Singh assured that when there are considerable deliberations and decisions at the Commission in relation to claims of anomalies, the outcome would be officially communicated to the political parties and other stakeholders, particularly the press.

Coalition says have proof

…coalition says have proof

…chair rebukes Sase Gunraj for misrepresenting her Meanwhile, the APNU-AFC coalition, at the outset of the recount, had announced that, in an organised manner, it will be highlighting, to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), evidence of persons who would have voted at the recent regional and general elections but who are known to be deceased or have migrated.

This method includes death certificates and the migration records of these individuals —- documents which would serve as hard proof to the Commission which has requested same.

For these persons in question, especially those alive, the Commission has asked that the party utilises the individual’s ballot serial number instead of their names.

Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, representing the APNU/ AFC had told reporters at the recount venue: “We have a team in the background providing all the serial numbers to our agents before the boxes are open so that we can give them as much information as possible…we have death certificates, we have migration records, we have very reliable information.”

GUNRAJ CHIDED The GECOM chairman also, on Thursday, chided Commissioner Sase Gunraj for speaking on her behalf when he had no authority to do so. “I am perturbed by an article published online via websites and social media

Chair of GECOM, Justice (Ret'd) Claudette Singh

Elections Commissioner Sase Gunraj

platforms as well as in the today’s (Thursday) edition of the Kaieteur News under the caption, ‘Justice Singh doesn't think it's GECOM's role to probe claims of anomalies - Commissioner Sase Gunraj,’” Justice Singh said in statement.

On Wednesday, while engaging the press on the ongoing National Recount at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Commissioner

Gunraj said that the Observation Reports, and their contents, are irrelevant to the end result of process - a position he attributed to the GECOM Chair - as he complained about the number of objections and claims of electoral fraud being made at the workstations by the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC).

He then said: “The chairman said while the Observation Reports may or may not be considered at some time what is important arising out of this is the numbers, and I agree with her,” the Elections Commissioner told reporters but Justice Singh made it clear that Gunraj is not authorised to speak on her behalf.

Justice Singh’s statement sparked an immediate response and apology from Commissioner Gunraj. “Indeed, I am not authorised to speak for or on behalf of

the Chairman. On the issue under review, I unwittingly erred. For that I apologise,” Gunraj said in a Facebook post on Thursday.

Since the commencement of the National Recount on May 6, the APNU+AFC has filed a number of objections based on allegations that migrants and persons who are now deceased are marked on the Official List of Electors as having voted - much to the dissatisfaction of Gunraj and the People's Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C). Though the ruling coalition has provided death certificates and other records to support its claims at the level of the workstations, Gunraj has repeatedly said that no such evidence was produced even as he maintained that the contents of the Observation Reports are matters for the Courts.

The official order, gazetted on May 4, provides for observations including anomalies and irregularities

to be included in the Observation Reports. Commissioner Vincent Alexander has repeatedly said that many of the irregularities are grave and the Commission will deliberate on them during the course of the recount.

Another Elections Commissioner, Desmond Trotman, echoed similar sentiments in a previous interview, explaining that, based on his understanding, the GECOM Secretariat, upon completion of the recount, will summarise the observations recorded throughout the exercise and submit a report to the commission. Unlike Gunraj, Trotman said anomalies with merit ought to be investigated.

“The commission will have to investigate these allegations before the process ends because this process is not merely about a recount.

It is intended also to find out if the elections itself were credible, and so you have to take all of those factors into consideration to make a determination about credibility,” Trotman told reporters.

However, while clarifying that while the commission has not decided on how it will treat with the Observation Reports, Trotman made it known that he will lobby for allegations with merit to be investigated.

“If it is that you are talking about credibility, if you want to ascertain if the elections were credible, once you have information supported by proof that something went on, that shouldn’t have taken place, you have to look at it,” he submitted.

3

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, May 22, 2020

60 active cases of COVID-19 in institutional isolation …out of 127 confirmed cases, 57 recovered thus far MORE Guyanese continue to win the battle against the deadly Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), with the latest statistics showing that ten more persons have recovered and were medically cleared by local health authorities.

The latest recoveries are a good sign for Guyana, especially since the number of cases have been increasing consistently over the past few months. Of the 127 cases recorded so far, 57 have recovered; ten persons have died; three persons are battling for their lives in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU); and there are 60 active cases in institutional isolation.

Director of Primary Health Care Services, Dr. Ertenisa Hamilton, in a virtual COVID-19 update, said 1,329 persons have been tested so far, with 1,202 of those persons being negative.

While a large number of persons tested negative for the disease, there continues to be concern over the amount of positive cases, especially regarding the fact that over 80 per cent of those cases are men. In giving a breakdown of the cases, Dr. Hamilton said, 73 persons are men and 54 are women. Also, of the ten persons who have died, eight are men.

Men’s Health Coordinator, Dr. Dennis Bassier

Men’s Health Coordinator, Dr. Dennis Bassier, in giving his take on the situation said: “It is the general understanding that men have poor health-seeking behavior; this is further emphasized by the current situation...But wait, the plot thickens… lots of males that have been positively diagnosed, are not single. As a result of this, their partners and children have to be tested due to them being exposed.”

Reducing the transmission of the disease is not “rocket science,” and, according to Dr. Bassier, there is no shame in wearing a face-mask, practising social distancing or even sanitising your hands.

Director of Primary Health Care Services, Dr. Ertenisa Hamilton

He said there will be no loss of pride, but there could be loss of health and/or life for persons and their loved ones, if they fail to adhere to control measures.

Dr. Bassier said the Men’s Health Unit of the Ministry of Public Health has not been idle during this time. Instead, the unit has been monitoring the situation and has been noticing that persons continue to gather at bars and shops during the day, in order to compensate for what would be missed after curfew hours.

“Through the hotline of the ‘Health Emergency Operations Centre’, it has emerged that men think COVID-19 is not in their area or because

our number of positive cases and deaths is low, that it is under control,” said the doctor.

In light of this occurrence, he pleads with men to think about their families, communities and the entire population. Persons were encouraged to practise social distancing and other preventative measures.

“Because, if it is that you don’t like the way COVID-19 has the country right now, please know that you are prolonging this period every time you don’t practise the preventative measures, and the only one you have to blame is yourself,” Dr. Bassier warned.

Dr. Hamilton also pleaded with persons to stop behaving

recklessly and instead follow the control measures and guidelines in place, in order to not just safeguard their families, but also themselves and the entire population.

Health authorities continue to work towards strengthening the healthcare system to respond to COVID-19 on a long-term basis, and the potential and existing activities are part of the plan to have a comprehensive COVID-19 health network, whereby patients across the country’s 10 administrative regions will be able to access these services.

Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) remains the epicentre of the disease, and there are a number of communities outside of Georgetown which have recorded cases.

Among communities on the East Coast Demerara (ECD) where cases have been recorded are: Atlantic Gardens, Friendship, Golden Grove, Good Hope, Lusignan, Plaisance, and Strathspey.

Among communities on the East Bank Demerara (EBD) where there were cases are: Diamond, Grove, Land of Canaan, Providence, and Timehri.

Residents of the Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), were, however, advised to be watchful and careful as Brazil has now become the country with the third-highest number confirmed coronavirus infections in the world, after registering

a total of more than 250,000 cases. “You remain extremely vulnerable and therefore every resident must be prepared to be his brother’s keeper in order to ensure the safety of everyone,” said Dr. Hamilton.

She said the Ministry is also very concerned with the increased cases seen in Regions One (Barima-Waini) and Seven (CuyuniMazaruni). As of Thursday, Region One had two confirmed cases in two of their sub districts. And, Region Seven has a total of seven cases.

Measures can be continuously implemented, but it is up to the individuals, that is the average Guyanese, to adhere to those measures and think seriously about flattening the curve (reducing the spread). The disease remains a serious issue, not just in Guyana, but globally.

And, according to global statistics, there are over 4.7 million cases of COVID-19, with over 318,000 deaths.

And with no approved treatment or cure, there is no assurance that persons will survive after contracting the disease. In the absence of approved medications, governments and authorities across the world have employed a number of preventive measures to contain the spread of the disease.

National Recount…

88 boxes cleared on Day 16 WITH many of the teething problems addressed and the addition of two workstations taking the total number to 12, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Secretariat is making significant strides at it recounts the votes cast at the General and Regional Elections last March.

On Thursday, Day 16, the secretariat processed a total of 88 ballot boxes from Regions Three, Four, Five, Six and Seven. Overall, 877 boxes have been processed from a total of 2,339. This means that 1,462 remain to be processed.

In providing the details of Thursday’s recount exercise at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, (ACCC), GECOM’s Public Relations Officer (PRO) Yolanda Ward disclosed that of the 88 ballot boxes processed on Thursday, 25 were from Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara); 19 from Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica); 17 from Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice); 18 from Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), and nine (9) from Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).

Prior to Tuesday, the number of ballot boxes processed on a daily basis fluctuated between the late 40s and early mid-50s; however, since the addition of two workstations, the

numbers jumped to 76 and now 88.

The elections commission, chaired

by Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh, is now looking to further increase the workstations to 14; however, it is awaiting clearance from the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF) to add two more stations.

Meanwhile, once a ballot box is completely processed at the level of the workstation, a Statement of Recount (SoR) is generated, and according to Ward, for the general elections, 844 SoRs have been tabulated. For the regional elections, 820 SoRs have been tabulated.

Thus far, all boxes from Region One (Barima-Waini) and Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) have been counted. There was a total of 99 ballot boxes from Region One, and 135 from Region Two. Based on the votes recounted for Region One, the A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) secured 3,909 votes in the general elections, while the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP) raked in 170, PPP/C 8002, People’s Republic Party 24 and the United Republican Party, six – a total number of 12,111 valid votes cast. According to statistics coming out of GECOM’s Tabulation Centre at the ACCC, there were 328 rejected ballots and 41

A Summary of Statements of Recount tabulated as of Thursday, May 21, 2020

spoilt ballots.

In the regional elections, the APNU+AFC raked in 3,843 votes while LJP secured 144, the PPP/C, 7, 996 and the URP 77. There was a total of 12, 060 valid votes cast by a total of 12, 440 persons who had presented themselves on March 2 to vote in Region One. Meanwhile in Region Two, the APNU+AFC secured 7,340 votes in the general elections, while the

PPP/C raked in 18,785 votes. A New and United Guyana (ANUG) received 85 votes while Change Guyana (CG) got 151, LJP 121; PRP, 57; The Citizenship Initiative (TCI) 18 and URP, 64. In total, there were 26,621 valid votes cast.

For the regional elections, the APNU+AFC received 7,290 votes, while its primary contender – the PPP/C – secured 18, 755. The smaller parties, Change Guyana

(CG) raked in 216 votes while LJP secured 135 and URP, 95.

There was a total of 26,491 valid voters in the regional elections for Region Two. The GECOM Secretariat, in accordance with the gazetted Order, will move to recount votes from Regions Eight, Nine and 10 upon completion of the other regions.

4

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, May 22, 2020

Open Skies Treaty: US to withdraw from arms control deal (BBC) The US has announced it will withdraw from a major accord that permits unarmed aerial surveillance flights over dozens of participating countries.

The Open Skies Treaty came into force in 2002 and is designed to boost confidence and assure against attacks.

But senior US officials said the country was withdrawing due to repeated Russian violations of its terms.

US President Donald Trump later said there was a “very good chance we’ll reach a new agreement” with Russia.

“I think we have a very good relationship with Russia, but Russia didn’t adhere to the treaty,” Mr Trump said on Thursday, adding: “Until they adhere we will pull out.”

The US will formally withdraw from the accord in six months, officials said.

“During the course of this review it has become abundantly clear that it is no longer in America’s interests to remain a party to the Open Skies Treaty,” one official told Reuters news agency.

Some 35 nations are party to the treaty, including Rus-

sia, Canada and the UK. How has Russia responded?

Russia’s Foreign Ministry insisted that it had not violated the treaty and that a US withdrawal would be “very regrettable”, adding that the Trump administration was working to “derail all agreements on arms control”.

“We reject any attempts to justify a way out of this fundamental agreement,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told Russia’s state-owned RIA Novosti news agency.

“Nothing prevents continuing the discussions over the technical issues, which the US is misrepresenting as violations by Russia,” he added.

He said that any withdrawal would affect the interests of all of the treaty’s participants, who are also members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato).

A development to trouble US allies In abandoning the Open Skies Treaty, the Trump Administration is not just renouncing an arms control agreement that was seen as

Friday, May 22, 2020 –– 04:30hrs & 14:30hrs

The treaty permits unarmed surveillance flights over 35 participating countries

essential for transparency during the Cold War years, but he is also ditching an agreement that many experts believe still retains huge benefits for the US. The fact it comes at a time when the whole structure of arms control is collapsing and a new era of great power competition beckons is doubly troubling.

The Open Skies Treaty came into force in January 2002 and some 34 countries have ratified the agreement. It allows for unarmed short-notice reconnaissance flights by specially equipped aircraft, over the entire territory of another country to collect data on troop deployments, military facilities and so on.

There have been some

problems in recent years and the US contends - with some justification - that Russia has been preventing access to certain areas. But critics of the Trump administration’s antipathy towards arms control say this is a reason for fixing the treaty, not abandoning it.

Mr Trump seems to be holding out at least a chance that the US could stick with Open Skies, but that is clearly going to depend upon talks with Moscow.

The Russian Foreign ministry says that a US withdrawal will affect the interests of all the participants. While the US can clearly use satellites for its intelligence gathering on Russia, Mr Trump’s decision will cause tensions with Washington’s European allies, few of whom have such satellite access.

Earlier this year, US Defence Secretary Mark Esper

accused Russia of violating the treaty by banning flights over the city of Kaliningrad and other areas near Georgia.

“I have a lot of concerns about the treaty as it stands now,” he said at the time.

“This is important to many of our Nato allies, that they have the means to conduct the overflights.”

It marks the latest effort

by President Donald Trump’s administration to withdraw the US from a major global treaty.

Last year, it pulled out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) with Russia.

The INF was signed by the US and the USSR in 1987, and banned the vast majority of nuclear and non-nuclear missiles with short and medium ranges.

Germany: Ex-SS guard tells Stutthof murder trial ‘I want to forget’ (BBC) A 93-year-old former Nazi SS guard has told a German court that he “wants to forget” his time at Stutthof death camp and has denied guilt for the crimes committed there.

“I want to forget and not go over that again,” Bruno Dey said when asked if he had told his grandchildren about it.

He is charged with assisting in the murder of 5,230 people at the camp near Gdansk (Danzig) in occupied Poland.

He allegedly assisted the “deceitful, cruel murder” of

Jews in the Holocaust.

According to the indictment, those murders took place between August 1944 and April 1945.

“I didn’t contribute anything to it, other than standing guard. But I was forced to do it, it was an order,” he told the Hamburg court on Wednesday.

He is being tried in a juvenile court because he was aged about 17 at the time.

At the trial in January a historian testified that Mr Dey was sent to the camp initially as a Wehrmacht soldier and

did not join the SS until September 1944. So, it is argued, he could have asked for a transfer to another unit before becoming part of the SS mass murder machine.

It is expected to be one of the last trials of alleged Nazi war criminals, as both survivors and perpetrators are now very old, and in some cases their memories are failing.

A defence lawyer for Bruno Dey, Stefan Waterkamp, has requested that a psychiatrist examine the defendant’s mental recall.

In line with current coronavirus hygiene rules, Bruno Dey and those present in court wore face masks.

Mr Dey, who went on trial in October, gave the court details of his SS service.

He said that shortly before the war ended he helped to guard Stutthof prisoners taken on a boat across the Baltic to Neustadt in Holstein, DPA news agency reports.

As British troops closed in, the SS herded the surviving prisoners into the harbour area and Mr Dey later fled the scene.

Last year he acknowledged knowing of the Stutthof gas chambers and admitted seeing “emaciated figures,

people who had suffered”.

In December a 91-year-old survivor, Abraham Koryski, testified from Israel. He was aged 16 when sent to Stutthof in 1944.

He said “we were constantly beaten, while at work too” and repeatedly, he said, the SS staged sadistic “shows” in front of the inmates. On one occasion, a son was forced to beat his father to death.

Several war crimes investigations were reopened by the German authorities after a landmark 2011 ruling against former Sobibor camp guard John Demjanjuk, who was given a jail term as an accessory to mass murder but died pending an appeal. Previously, courts had required evidence of former SS guards’ direct involvement in atrocities.

In 2016 investigators found SS clothing with Mr Dey’s name, along with his signature in the Stutthof archives.

In that year Oskar Gröning, known as the bookkeeper of Auschwitz, was given a four-year prison sentence for being accessory to the murder of 300,000 Jews, without evidence of involvement in a specific killing. Gröning died in 2018 while his conviction was being appealed.

Stutthof was officially designated a concentration camp in 1942. It was the first such camp built outside German borders in the war and the last to be liberated, by the Soviet army on 9 May 1945.

More than 65,000 people are thought to have died in the camp. Guards began using gas chambers there in June 1944.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, May 22, 2020

5

6

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, May 22, 2020

Promotion of social cohesion

THE construction of the Cummingsburg Accord gave birth to the coalition of six parties that contested two national elections in Guyana.

Multi-ethnic in composition, there was no surprise that this coalition — the A Partnership For National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC), made national unity one of its main election campaign platforms. It is a coveted goal that resonated with all right-thinking Guyanese, especially those who would have lived through the racial strife of the early 1960s, and witnessed what it did in terms of damaging what was once good neighbourly

relations and the psyche of this country.

As an accomplished student of history, the narrowness of the 2015 coalition victory would not have missed President David Granger’s analytical appraisal in terms of what it meant for Guyana. It explained why he continues to demonstrate, up to this day, a willingness to work with the political opposition, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), towards establishing a mechanism to work towards national unity. His sincerity to such an end was underlined by his formation of a Ministry of Social Cohesion. Such a development was indeed

welcomed and a necessary step in seeking to advance such a seminal concept to its desired end, because of its all-importance to what could accrue for the socio-economic potential of Guyana.

Such an important proposal ought not to have been held hostage as any form of condition for participation in such a critical endeavour, as the quest for national unity, especially by an opposition party whose role in finding solutions for national unity, is equally important.

The importance of social cohesion cannot be over emphasised. According to the United Nations, “Fostering social cohesion is about striving for greater

inclusiveness, more civic participation and creating opportunities for upward mobility…Social capital refers to trust between people and in institutions and the sense of belonging to a society.” Though we understand the inherent challenges in the concept of national cohesion, it is still a desired goal, a missing element and an absolute necessity for a country that is ethnically divided. The realisation of this sad fact of our national life that has continued to bedevil the untapped potential of this country, from generation to generation, should be enough of a reason for national conversations to commence in earnest.

We argue, unapologetically, that the promotion of this ideal will lend to a better understanding of each of us; commence the breaking down of disdain, suspicion, and mistrust; an acceptance that as Guyanese our destinies are all intertwined, and that working together, we can move Guyana to greater heights as never before. If we are saying that those goals cannot be achieved, then we are admitting failure even before we have started.

We are saying to ourselves that we lack the will to pursue the single most important political landmark that continues to elude us all as Guyanese.

The bottom line to this

admission of self-defeat is that we will be constantly in fear of each other and bequeath a divided nation to our heirs. There are those who, for narrow and selfish ends such as political power and dominance, continue to trample upon this important national quest for social cohesion and to trivialise its necessity for the future well-being of Guyana and its people.

These are unpatriotic Guyanese, who are patently selfish. But they must understand that for each day of not joining in the quest for national unity, is a day less for the final prosperity and peace of this nation.

The oil wealth we crave would never materialise to Guyana’s benefit so long as we remain as divided as we are

Dear Editor,

I HAVE differed from much of the commentary and analysis of the current political impasse in Guyana which have tended to confine the issue to a problem electoral democracy. I believe that that is a narrow and inadequate reading of the situation. My fear is that if there is a narrow or what I refer to as a minimalist diagnosis of the problem, then there would logically be a narrow solution. I think that at the heart of the problem is a convergence of multiple factors.

First, there is the issue of electoral democracy whereby the country continues to struggle with the problem of credible elections which are acceptable to all parties. This is an old problem that dates back to 1961. Both of the major parties have accused the other of electoral rigging. There is enough evidence that given our ethnic geography both parties have benefitted from tampering with the process in areas where their support base predominates. The ongoing recount seems to be supporting this thesis. Of note is that the party that is in opposition more often than not has been able to pin the label on the ruling party. This was so in 1961 when the PNC was able to “prove” that the PPP had rigged that election.

The tables turned on the PNC from 1968 to 1985 when the PPP

and others were able to paint the then ruling PNC as chronic riggers. With the change in government in 1992, the tide swung the other way as the PNC became more vocal with charges of rigging by the PPP. Finally, in 2015 and 2020 the PPP has been louder in its charges of rigging by the PNC. Former President, Donald Ramotar, on a recent program in which I participated, revealed that he still believes that the 2015 elections were rigged in favor of the APNU+AFC and called for an investigation of that election.

I have recounted the above to correct the narrative that is being promoted that electoral rigging is a one-sided phenomenon. It is not. And to give the younger generation the impression that it is only one party that has been accused of rigging elections is a blatant falsification of history.

True, one party has been more successful in pinning the tag on the other one. But that does not erase the fact that both parties have been accused of the infraction. What appears to be unfolding before us in 2020 is that for the first time both parties are bent on simultaneously exposing the fraud of the other.

The second factor at paly is the underlying ethnic problem which both parties know exists but for obvious reasons, they downplay.

All elections since adult suffrage, beginning in 1953, have been sites of ethnic contestation. This is not unique

to Guyana; it is the case in all ethnically-divided societies. In Guyana winning control of the government is the ultimate prize because it gives the party the power to distribute economic and cultural resources. And each ethnic group has more confidence in their ethnic party to steer resources to their group. Now for the first time, the outcome of an election would give the winning party control of enormous economic wealth.

I come to the third factor—the external factor. Unfortunately, from 1953 to the present external forces, in particular the USA and Britain, have always exerted tremendous influence on Guyana’s domestic affairs. It is partly due to Guyana’s status as a small dependent country, partly due to the Guyanese political leaders inability to work out their differences on their own and partly because for a long time, Guyana presented a threat to the ideological interests of the Western countries. Now in 2020, the primary interest of the West in Guyana is its newly-found oil wealth. All other interests are in the service of that primary interests. Thanks to our own Walter Rodney, Clive Thomas, and other dependency theorists we know that the wealth of rich countries is directly linked to the exploitation of the wealth of smaller, weaker countries.

I am on record as saying that the ABCE countries have openly chosen a side in the current standoff—they

have taken the PPP’s side. Speaking on a Globespan 24/7 program on Monday May 18, Anil Nandlall boosted that the PPP has all the diplomatic community including CARICOM on its side. It is no idle boast.

Of course, no country will say openly it is backing a party in another country. They always shelter their support under some noble principle like democracy. This is what is happening now in Guyana, but it is not new.

In the PPP-PNC conflict of the early 1960s, the USA and Britain openly sided with the PNC. The saw the PPP then as a threat to Western democracy. For two decades they supported the PNC authoritarian regime—the very authoritarianism that they are now threatening to sanction the PNC for. And during that, period the PPP cursed the West left, right and centre for interference in Guyanese affairs in order to keep the PPP out of power. It is the irony of ironies to hear the Caribbean’s foremost ant-imperialist party calling for Western sanctions in Guyana. I wonder whether the Cheddi and Janet Jagan are turning in their graves.

In 1992 the West switched their support away from the PNC towards the PPP. The Cold War had ended, and Guyana was less of a threat to their interests and of little concern to their overall global calculations.

So, through the Carter Center they pursued more of a mediatory role.

But now with the coming of oil, all that has changed. Guyana is once again central to Western interests.

And once again the West has overtly taken a side.

I pen the above not to curse out the Western countries. There is no benefit in doing that. In international relations all countries seek to maximise their interests. But the big countries have the strength and power to do so. That is just the way it is. What is of concern for me is this. I think the Western countries are making a mistake in so overtly showing their hands. They have dealt with Guyana long enough to know that our problem is not one of simply democratic deficit—it is essentially an ethnic conflict. And it is always dangerous for outsiders to immerse themselves in one side of a domestic conflict.

I still think that the West could pursue their economic and political interests while serving as a mediator. And my waring to the PPP which is inviting sanctions on Guyana is that so long as they cannot sit down with the PNC and look for common solutions, we would never be truly independent. And the oil wealth that each side craves would never materialise to Guyana’s benefit so long as we remain as divided as we are.

Regards, David Hinds

7

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, May 22, 2020

Why all of the local and international forces are currently aligned one side and only the APNU+AFC in solitude?

Dear Editor, In a letter authored by David Hinds, he accused the western powers to “have openly chosen a side in the current standoff- they have taken the PPP’s side”. He graciously cites me as an authority for his supposition. “Speaking on a Globespan 24/7programme, on Monday, May 18, Anil Nandlall boasted that the PPP has all the Diplomatic Community, including CARICOM, on its side,” he, poignantly, wrote.

While I am humbled by the reference, I am impelled to posit that Mr. Hinds yanked that singular assertion of mine from a one-hour live-streamed discourse, without any reference, whatsoever, to the conversational context in which it was proffered, but situates it, conveniently, in support of a hypothesis which he narrates. In the result, he attributes to my statement, a purport which I never intended.

In that discussion, immediately prior to the statement to which Hinds made reference, I said words to the effect: “this is not a fight of the PPP or a fight for the PPP. This is a fight for democracy, a fight for righteousness, a fight for the rule of law, a fight for the future of Guyana. In this fight, all of the opposition parties, every major local organisation, including, the private sector, the religious organisations, the labour movement, the diplomatic community and the governments that they represent, CARICOM, the Commonwealth and the OAS, are all on the same side.”

So Mr. Hinds, when I said subsequently on the program that....“they are all on the side with (not on) the PPP”, it is the aforesaid to which I was referring.

In the circumstances, to hijack that lone contention of mine from the conversational cradle in which it was birthed to aid your postulation that the western powers are in collusion with the PPP, is as misconceived as the postulation itself.

Mr. Hinds, at the risk of being presumptuous, perhaps a more beneficial use of your academic energy would be to analytically examine how and why, in the current electoral impasse, all of the local and international forces engaged, including, the political parties, are currently aligned one side and only the APNU+AFC , in solitude, is on the other side.

Yours faithfully, Mohabir Anil Nandlall Attorney-at- law

All of us who care about fairness owe Guyana that debt

Dear Editor,

Mr. Anil Nandlall has taken issue with my observation that he has said that the representatives of the ABCE countries are on the side of the PPP in its battle with the APNU+AFC Coalition over the March 2 election.

(Stabroek News May 21, 2020). The former Attorney General was at the time speaking on an online TV programme hosted by Globespan 24/7 on May 18, 2020. He has accused me of taking his words out of context and misquoting him.

He quotes himself as saying this: “this is not a fight of the PPP or a fight for the PPP. This is a fight for democracy, a fight for righteousness, a fight for the rule of law, a fight for the future of Guyana. In this fight, all of the opposition

parties, every major local organisation, including, the private sector, the religious organisations, the labour movement, the diplomatic community and the governments that they represent, CARICOM, the Commonwealth and the OAS, are all on the same side.”

I think I know something about context and so I was very sure that I had not committed that error.

I also was almost sure that Mr. Nandlall quotation of what he said was inaccurate.

However, I went back to the program to see if Mr. Nandlall was correct. And to my surprise, I was spot on. Mr. Nandlall was waxing lyric about all the forces that were supporting the PPP or as he put it is “on their side.” And worse I found that he had misquoted himself. Having been caught, he sought to rearrange his words to give another im-

pression.

I therefore reproduce here verbatim his remarks in response to a statement that the PPP must not share the corn when they are declared the winner. Here is Mr. Anil Nandlall, in his own words,-judge for yourselves and readers can go to the program and listen for themselves to determine whose version of Nandlall’s comments is accurate. Here goes.

“Let me assure you that this fight is not only a PPP fight. And it is not a fight for the PPP either. I want to make that clear. This is a fight for democracy. This is a fight for righteousness.

This is a fight for human rights. This is a fight for the future of Guyana. The PPP is simply a fighter in the fight.

And we are pleased, pleased is putting it mildly.

We are elated by the support

Time for constitutional reform towards an inclusive form of democratic governance Dear Editor

mentioned this fundamental prerequisite. Indeed, this was The articles on the Guy- the original premise under ana elections that have which FFE was negotiated, been published recently only to be ditched when one in the Jamaican press are or the other of the parties was not very helpful. They elected. give the impression that The PPP reneged on commitment to democra- this understanding for the cy in Guyana is not only 23 years they were in powin question, but is sim- er. And so too the APNU ply a matter of winner + AFC when they were takes all (WTA). Even if in power for the last five that winner scrapes in years. WTA was never with a one-seat majority. intended to be a permanent WTA has been, under form of democratic goverboth parties, and indeed nance in Guyana. It will not for the past 70 years of be acceptable either to the acrimony and stagnation, Afro-Guyanese people or to an unworkable, ineffec- the Indo-Guyanese people— tive form of governance whichever party rightly wins in Guyana, and would be the election. It can only be a more so now when new- recipe for continued ineffecly-found huge petroleum tive governance, at best, or wealth is at stake. Seven decades of racial strife, eventually for the outbreak leaving Guyana, a country of violence.

Many countries , all of immense human and over the world, where there natural resources, among are deeprooted, irreconthe poorest of the poor in cilable divisions - usualour hemisphere, cannot ly religious, tribal, racial be ignored. More than flag-waving slogans of so — have found it necessary “democracy” are essential. to devise forms of inclusive Indeed, even the Car- democratic governance that ter Center, who first bro- accommodate their partickered free and fair elec- ular circumstances . And tions (FFE) in Guyana, the International Commurecognised in their election nity, notwithstanding the monitoring Statement that lofty pronouncements and not only must irregularities implicit threats of reprebe corrected, but that the sentatives of the US, UK parties should now return and some Caribbean Comto constitutional reform, munity governments, has that is, towards negotiat- understood this, and in some ing a more inclusive form instances have assisted such of democratic governance. societies in devising those None of the contributors in inclusive democratic structhe Jamaican press articles tures (and in a few extreme have recognised or even instances have even gone

so far as to legitimise partitions). For example, national unity governments, of various kinds, have been put in place, to name but a few countries, in Ireland, Croatia, Israel, Kenya, Lebanon, Nepal, Palestine, Sri Lanka, and most recently Afghanistan.

In the present context of Guyana, this mean that an honest determination of the results of the election should proceed concurrently with a time-bound commitment to the negotiation of constitutional reform towards an inclusive form of democratic governance — whichever party should honestly win the election. True, there is no fool- proof system of effective, harmonious governance, but after 70 years of stagnating dysfunction, something else deserves to be tried. National governance is of course much more difficult work than one-party rule, and more reliant on quality of leadership, but there are several working models. To proceed with business as usual, paying lip service to so-called “democracy”, would be an invitation to disaster.

Regards, Havelock Brewster CCH (former Ambassador of Guyana to the European Union, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands)

we have gotten the smaller political parties representing every class and ethnic grouping across the divide.

We are very motivated by the organisations that have lent us their support and that have lent their support to the struggle. We have on our side all the major religious organizations, we have the Private Sector . We have largest united labour movement on our side, we have the farmers.

We have Guyana on our side. And then if you look at the international community. We have All the major ambassadors representing the powerful countries in the world., we have them on our side.

We have CARICOM on our side. We have the Commonwealth on our side.

We have the OAS on our side. We have all the stakeholder group that have an interest in Guyana. Not one

of them has stood on the side of the APNU+ AFC. Not one.” (End of quote) Mr. Nandlall ended his letter by advising me to use my academic energies to explore why none of the forces he listed is not on the coalition’s side, all of the local and international forces engaged, including, the political parties, are currently aligned on one side and only the APNU+AFC, in solitude, is on the other side.” Even this statement gives away Mr. Nandlall’s real message.

But let me assure him that I have already taken up his advice and would over time undertake that analysis. All of us who care about fairness owe Guyana that debt.

Regards, David Hinds

Dr. Imhoff must be supported

Dear Editor,

The fact that medical officer Dr. Helen Imhoff has had to ventilate her emotional hurt and otherwise via your media, concerning her experience of an alleged assault by Commissioner Robeson Benn, has to be primarily because she feels done in, given the fact that she seems to stand alone, after being the recipient of such alleged crudity.

One can/should appreciate her agony, felt in her account as to how such a beastly encounter would have affected her; and how she has managed to cope with the psychological aftermath, as she continued to execute her professional mandate of helping to safeguard lives, inclusive of that of Commissioner Benn, which he definitely cannot appreciate, if one were refer to comments made on the perceived pace of the recount process, almost two weeks ago.

This is a clear act of bullyism, disturbingly exacted on a female, by a very senior member of a key constitutional organ.

I am certain, that such a cave man attitude, is not part of the personal deportment that would be expected of any member of any similar bodies. But here again, and without any

hint of prejudice, Benn is affiliated to a political outfit in which bullyism is its interfacing culture, for its known sin qua non. There are numerous examples of this display over time, by the PPP/C that needs no repeat here. It is its staple.

What if the Government Medical Officer (GMO) had been a male, and in a reflex action, had responded to Benn? Would we not have been hearing the entire Freedom House rooftops coming off, shouting assault and disrespect to the holder of a constitutional office?

Given the well-known, devious proclivity for spin by the PPP/C, only Benn’s story would have been aired to suit.

The fact that Dr. Imhoff has resigned, should signal how she feels about Benn’s totally inappropriate and unfair action, allegedly committed, during the course of her professional duties. This brings the issue to the question as what support has been given her by her subject ministry? The fact that Minister of Social Services, Madame Amna Ally has questioned the absence of police action, begs the question as to whether Dr. Imhoff herself, has since reported the incident, or whether the two ministries have taken the responsibility in doing so?

TURN TO PAGE

08

8

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, May 22, 2020

Flight to St Maarten next week

…several stranded persons of the island booked to travel A 45-year-old Guyanese man, George Mars, who lives in St. Maarten, has been stuck in Guyana since midMarch, but will be reunited with his family next week, as the Government approved several chartered flights to leave and come to Guyana.

Mars told the Guyana Chronicle that he came to Guyana on March 14, to work on an apartment project he is doing here. His stay was only scheduled to be one week, but it was during that time the decision was made to close off the airports, and he got stuck here in excess of two months.

Leaving his wife and three sons ages 13, 8 and 4 in St. Maarten, the man said he usually travels on business as

he has his own construction and welding company, but doesn’t stay away so long from his wife and young children. However, Mars said his two-month stay here was not all dejection, because Guyana is his home too. He said he got to travel and see many places that he would not have gotten to see if his stay was not as long.

Additionally, he has a 26-year-old son and a grandson here, and the downtime afforded him the opportunity to spend time with them, surrounded by other family and friends who are happy to help him in this time of need.

“But it is time to go back to St. Maarten because my money is finished”, he said, and he

George Mars, his wife and two of his young children in St Maarten

has his business to continue running and his family over there who needs him, and maintenance.

As such, he is looking

to return to them in the new week with a private chartered flight that was organised by the Consulate of St. Maarten and approved by the government

of Guyana.

He said that thus far, seven persons are confirmed for the flight but they are looking for at least three more persons to fill the plane. Each passenger, Mars said, is responsible for paying for himself/herself, just like a regular flight, and the ticket amounts to about US$800. But if more persons come on board, the price will amount to less.

If you are in Guyana, but you live in St. Maarten, or if you know anyone who does, and will like to return in the new week, you can make contact with Mars on +592 608 7586 who will provide you with the information on how to book.

On Monday it was announced that the government of Guyana has approved the controlled re-entry of over 100

Guyanese to their homeland from countries such as Trinidad and Tobago, St. Vincent, St. Maarten and Cuba. This was one of the main decisions of the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF) made during its weekly statutory virtual meeting on Monday.

Approval for re-entry has been given for a total of 70 Guyanese cruise ship workers attached to Royal Caribbean to return by air; 19 Guyanese students of the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad; 10 Guyanese in St Maarten and four Guyanese in St. Vincent to return via SVG Air. Additionally, the application for returning of trade unionist Komal Chand’s body and his wife from Cuba has been approved.

TURN TO PAGE

9

The recount is not the end, it is only the beginning of a torturous trek Dear Editor, After 50 years, can the PPP and the PNC be relied on to solve the constitutional and electoral problems they have created and sustained?

These two parties have been at the forefront of every constitutional and electoral law, legislation, and administration since 1964 when, as British Guiana's principal representatives they agreed to arrangements devised by the British Government, who had grown impatient with their intransigence.

They have both had significant terms in government, yet neither party has seen it fit to lead non-partisan national efforts to address problems about which they were vehement when in the opposition. In fact, they have either foisted or perpetuated constitutional reforms that allow a maximum leader to consolidate the power of the central government at the expense of: accountability to constituents, independence of elected officials, neutrality of the public service, and

impartial appointments to statutory bodies established to protect and preserve the public interests.

Election fraud is the usual trope for either parties when they are not-the-winner-takeall in elections. The use of dead and migrated voters on padded registration lists has been a clarion call since the first post-independence election in 1968. Compromised election day officiating is always cited to explain individuals voting multiple times, votes discarded or rejected, and extra marked ballots in the box. Inaccurate counting and tallying of the votes, whether at polling stations, and regional or central locations have also been claimed in every election.

Election petitions have often been requested, most have not been granted, and none has led to a recount. In fact, it is only when there was significant international pressure (pre 1992 and post 1997) that there has been some superficial modification of the electoral system and the constitution. In order to explore the stories of padded lists, election outcomes, the

relationship between voting age population, the numbers of voters listed and voter turnout over the period 1953 to 2015 were charted. The Caribbean Elections website (www.caribbeanelections.com/) provided voter information and Guyana's population census (statisticsguyana.gov.gy/ census/) provided the closest approximation of the voting age population (i.e. the 15+ age groups, since the data on the voting age, 18 years and older population is not readily available). Note: non-residents not included in these census data.

There were two periods when the voters' list grew to exceed the number of Guyanese residents in the voting age group. The first period was (circa 1968 to 1980) during the PNC’s initial years in government. The second period (circa 1992 to 2006) during the PPP’s initial years in government.

Rumor, supported by some evidence, has it that dead and overseas voters padded the list when the PNC handily won the post-independence elections (www.youtube.com/ watch?v=eyyROGJOjLI).

Dr. Imhoff must be ...

One hopes that that it is not the same old resume of law enforcement, indeed as reported that the police is in receipt of such a report, but hesitant to act, because of who the alleged assailant is. From a laymen’s point, there are two charges that can be exacted against Benn: The first for obstruction of professional duties/ assault. We cannot speak of

protecting our womenfolk, and be selective of whom must be held accountable, when such incidents, as the one involving Dr. Imhoff occur.

The fact that Commissioner Benn is prepared to describe her accusations as ‘’ridiculous’’, says as much for the way that he perceives women.

Lastly, it was not

mentioned in the Guyana Chronicle’s account of her trauma. Dr. Imhoff must not be made to feel disillusioned. The fact that she has resigned, perhaps signals such a feeling. She must be supported by all the agencies concerned.

Regards, Carla Mendonca

Now similar rumors of dead and overseas voting, have been surfacing (www.youtube.com/ watch?v=S_ANBYkb-vg) since the PPP assumed office.

Voter turnout rose and fell in-step with the rise and fall of the voters' list over most of the 50 years, except, in two periods: 1980 to 1992 and post 2006. The lower levels of voter turnout occurred during the declining years of the PNC (in the 1980s) and the PPP (in the 2000s) governments. What makes the current allegations about a padded voting list most intriguing, is the incumbent (a PNC led Coalition) government's claim that the major opposition party (PPP) had the dead and non-residents voting in 2020.

The current recount of the 2020 ballots provides an excellent opportunity to test the election day and tabulation frauds allegations. There are assertions being made, some supported by evidence (or access to evidence) that there was malfeasance committed in polling places, many unreported on election day. Compiling verified cases of falsified,

miscast, mis-allocated votes could provide evidence of malfeasance and provide some measure of the scale and impact of these activities on the final count. More importantly, it could be used to determine if election day security measures were adequate or in need of significant improvement. What is obvious is that both the PPP and the PNC are well versed in these types of malfeasance.

This brings us back to the opening question: can these two parties be trusted to fix problems which they have been instrumental in creating and perpetuating over the past 50 years? Take for example, GECOM, this supposed autonomous agency responsible for preparing and managing the elections, has seven commissioners appointed either by the leader of the PPP (Opposition) and/or the leader of the PNC (Government). Another example, Parliament, which is supposed to support GECOM financially and impartially, is also under the control of the PNC or the PPP, who manage small coalition parties’ through party lists. Then there is the

interim leadership in the High Courts resulting from the two parties’ intransigence. These two parties have so entrenched themselves, one is left to muse, ruefully, about what would be required to bring about the changes Guyana so desperately needs.

Beyond the immediate concerns of COVID-19 and the massive economic crisis in the country, Guyanese must also commit to dealing with the long term political crisis that has blighted the country for 50 years. I would suggest neither the PPP or PNC, alone or together, is capable of holding Guyanese from falling into the yawning chasm that awaits. The recount is not the end, it is only the beginning of a torturous trek. Young nationalists with un-impugned reputations will have to stay strong and lead the way, if Guyanese are to endure, survive, and embrace the promise it has long been denied.

Regards, Rory Fraser

Label me as you wish, Adam Dear Editor,

I am saddened to see that Adam Harris, someone I considered a friend and regarded with respect, now writing for the Chronicle, has abandoned all pretense as a professional journalist to become a paid mouthpiece of the PNC’s grab for fraudulent political power.

He attacks me, the Private Sector and anyone else who defends the right of our people to a free and credible elections as “aligned to the PPP”.

I witnessed the Mingo fraud first hand, twice, along with every international and local observer present. I have also seen the published SOPs of the elections showing that

the PPP/C has clearly won the elections. The recount has already established the Mingo fraud.

Label me as you wish, Adam, it will not change the facts, will not change the electoral result and it will not make you right.

Yours sincerely, Kit Nascimento

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, May 22, 2020

OP-ED

A legal assessment of the impact of brexit on UK-CARICOM relations

By Tara Leevy INTRODUCTION BUSINESSES will benefit from a series of trade continuity agreements signed between the UK and CARICOM countries, which trade continuity agreements will maintain current arrangements with countries in the Caribbean post Brexit.

The benefit of those trade continuity agreements is that they eliminate tariffs on all goods imported from CARIFORUM states into the UK, whilst Caribbean states will gradually continue to cut import tariffs on most of the region’s imports from the UK. Trade agreements with Britain are of the utmost importance for CARICOM states. Based on current trade flows, exporters of bananas and other fruits and nuts could save over £14 million a year in tariff charges that would apply if the post Brexit agreements were not in place, while exporters of sugarcane and other sugar products could save more than £20 million.

The post-Brexit agreements also cover the services sector, including tourism, which will benefit Britons who spend £900 million a year during some 900,000 visits to the Caribbean. This article looks at the competence of the UK to conclude trade agreements pre- and post-Brexit and speaks to the future of UK-CARICOM trade agreements post-Brexit.

PRE-BREXIT ERA In the pre-Brexit era, many aspects of the UK’s external relations were conducted partly or wholly through the European Union (EU).

As a result, the UK could

not decide the level of tariffs to levy on imports as these were set at a uniform level for the EU as a whole under the EU’s customs union.

The respective legal powers of the European Community (EC) (as it then was) and the Member States were ruled upon by the European Court of Justice in Opinion 1/94 Re the Uruguay Round Agreements [1994] ECR 1-5267. The Court rejected a contention by the European Commission that the EC had across-the-board competence to conclude the WTO Agreements on its own.

The court held that although the core provisions of the WTO Agreements relating to trade in goods fell within the EC’s exclusive competence under the common commercial policy, other areas covered by the WTO Agreements relating to services (parts of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)) and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) were outside the EC”s competence or were areas where the EC’s competence was shared with the Member States. In the above-mentioned case, as regards the General Agreement on Trade in Goods (GATT), the Court said: “…. the Community has sole competence pursuant to Article 113 of the EC Treaty to conclude an external agreement of a general nature, that is to say, encompassing all types of goods, even where those goods include [the European Coal and Steel Community] (ECSC) products.” As regards the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), the court found that the Commission did not have exclusive power FROM PAGE

Flight to St Maarten...

An application from CARICOM was also approved for a team of officials, based in Guyana, to travel to Suriname to observe the Surinamese election scheduled for May 25, 2020 and return to Guyana thereafter.

Despite the given consent, the NCTF noted that the approvals are subject to satisfaction of the requirements of the Ministry of Public Health and other relevant ministries and agencies and the cost of return being borne by the applicants.

Pointing to the specifics, the task force said that results

to conclude GATS Agreements. The court said: “……the modes of supply of services referred to

by GATS as “consumption abroad”, “commercial presence” and the “presence of natural persons” are not covered by the common commercial policy.”

With respect to the Agreement on the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), the Court found that TRIPS did not fall within the scope of the EU’s commercial policy and, therefore, was not within the scope of competence of the EU. The European Commission tried to argue that it had exclusive competence as regards TRIPS, because intellectual property was closely linked to international trade. The Court found that even though there was a link between intellectual property and international trade, intellectual property did not relate specifically to international trade and was, therefore, not covered under the EU’s common commercial policy.

The upshot of his “mixed competence” scenario was that vis-à-vis other parties, the EC/EU were responsible for compliance with and entitled to the benefit of certain aspects of the WTO Agreements while the UK individually remain responsible for and entitled to the benefit of the remaining aspects. However, the boundary between EC/EU and Member State competences did not remain stationary.

A further shifting took place under the Lisbon Treaty. The ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon had several important implications for decision-making in EU external trade and investment policy.

8

of COVID-19 tests (PCR with results in English Language) must be provided 48 hours in advance of an individual’s arrival. If pre-tests are not available, prior written consent must be provided by each arriving passenger for quarantine, if deemed necessary by the Ministry of Public Health.

Meanwhile, an application from Caribbean Princess cruise line for 63 Guyanese crew members to return via sea was not approved, given the risks involved with seaport entry.

Despite the above-discussed Opinion 1/94 Re the Uruguay Round Agreements [1994] ECR 1-5267, for many years there had been a debate about whether all trade in services and trade related aspects of intellectual property rights should come under exclusive EC competence.

Article 207 of the Treaty of the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) did away with many years of debate on the subject and brought services, TRIPS and foreign direct investment into exclusive EU competence. This was carried over into the Treaty of Lisbon. Exclusive competence meant that the legal basis for the adoption of agreements would be a qualified majority vote in the General Affairs and External Relations Council not unanimity. It also meant that the consent of the European Parliament by a simple majority of Members of the European Parliament would replace ratification by national parliaments for these policy areas.

BREXIT ERA The UK left the European Union on 31 January 2020, after which time it has entered a transition period which will last until at least 31 December 2020.

As regards the status of the CARIFORUM-UK Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), the UK has decided to “roll over” this agreement. This “rolled over” EPA will take effect after the end of the transition period.

The basis for the roll over is the UK Trade Bill, introduced in November 2017, which provides for continuity in UK Trade Agreement. As priority, the government is seeking to secure the continuity of the effects of existing

EU free trade agreements and other preferential trading arrangements.

The Trade Bill will enable arrangements with third countries that the UK is currently party to as a EU Member state to be replicated in UK-third country agreements when the UK leaves the European Union.

In the transition period, the UK will be able to take steps to prepare and establish new international arrangements of its own. However, such agreements can only enter into force or start applying during the transition period if explicitly authorised by the EU. After the transition period, the EU will cease to have any competence in respect of the UK’s trade or other external relations and the UK will assume all rights and responsibilities under WTO Agreements. In accordance with WTO rules, the UK will now be able to decide what tariffs to levy on products from non-UK countries.

The Belize Government has said that trade with the United Kingdom will continue to be governed by the EPA that was signed between the CARIFORUM countries and the European Union in 2008, allowing for the two regions to invest in and trade with each other as well as provide predictable EU market access for these countries.

“During the transition period, Belize’s trade with the UK, which is the largest market for Belize’s export of sugar and bananas, will continue to be governed by the Cariforum-EU Economic Partnership Agreement” the Government stated.

The Saint Lucia Government said: “The Cariforum-UK EPA

is designed to ensure that these exports will continue to receive preferential treatment in the British market, post Brexit. It also replicates commitments on development co-operation to support implementation and use of the agreement”.

The Government stated further that during the transition period, St Lucia, together with the rest of the signatory Cariforum States would continue to undertake the required work that will address issues relating to institutional, administrative and business practices which may have implications for Cariforum-UK trade once the Cariforum-UK EPA is in operation from January 2021.

In conclusion, the signing of the Brexit Treaty has placed Caribbean countries on no worse a footing, as regards trade relations with the UK. In “The EPA, BREXIT and defending the status quo” the author argues that “it is hard to see how the [Caribbean] region could obtain in the immediate future anything more comprehensive than equivalence to the [existing] EPA.” Although in theory, the UK may seek, post Brexit, to conclude new agreements with Caribbean countries that impose tariffs on Caribbean goods, it is anticipated that the Brexit Treaty will strengthen the long-standing relationship between the Caribbean region and the United Kingdom.

(Tara Leevy, LLB (Hons), LEC, LLM, LLM is a Commonwealth Caribbean attorney, currently based in the United Kingdom and a contributor to the SRC Trading Thoughts Column. Learn more about the SRC at www.shridathramphalcentre.com.)

Vending along the East Bank Corridor

By Dillon Goring

OF recent, there has been quite a new phenomenon that has been taking place along the East Bank Public Road.

The number of roadside stalls between Bagotstown and Friendship has been increased. Items on display include Plantain, eddo, cassava, pine and watermelon.

Guyanese and visitors, on the their way to Georgetown, or heading to Timehri, need not think of going far to get the latest deals on these and more items, on sale at the various vendors who are strategically located for their convenience.

Vendors, during an interview with

this publication, said that they are able to sustain and maintain their families, particularly during this time, with the income garnered from the reduced sales.

One vendor remarked that, though it is not much, it is still enough to maintain their families.

Back in 2018, according to reports, food vendors enjoyed increased patronage in the city of Georgetown and elsewhere in the country due to certain economic developments which kept workers extremely busy and caused them to eat their major daily meals away from their homes.

Vendors enjoyed a quick turnover and some confessed that the business was indeed a viable one, with very little external expenditures attached. At the

9

same time, customers felt a sense of familiarity with the meals offered and the fact that they, at times, could have dictated the ‘combinations’ that were offered, and, on special occasions, the serving sizes. It appeared to have been a win-win situation.

It has been observed that many of these places, because they are at street corners or in the middle of streets, do not have washroom facilities. The ‘stop, purchase and go’ trend is therefore practised.

Street vendors generally understand what is required of them and many comply. The trade is seen as a social and economic benefit for all those who participate.

10

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, May 22, 2020

11

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, May 22, 2020

‘They were fearful, now they’re volunteering their service’ --Nursing consultant says of the 500+ nurses trained in COVID-19 management

By Navendra Seoraj NURSES account for 50 per cent of the healthcare workers in Guyana, making them an integral partner in the fight against the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), which cannot be contained or managed unless frontline workers are well equipped with the requisite knowledge and tools.

The need for capacity building started last December when the first case of COVID-19 was detected in Wuhan, China, but the real work here began on March 11, 2020, when Guyana recorded its first case of the deadly disease. The woman, 52-year-old Ratna Baboolall, had, mere days before she died, returned to Guyana from the United States.

Since then, the number of recorded cases and deaths have risen to 125 and 10 respectively.

And while the local figures, coupled with the global figures are frightening, the real fear is knowing that there is no known treatment or cure for COVID-19. And it’s a fear that not just exists among the average Guyanese, but also at the level of frontline workers; people like the doctors and nurses who

treat and manage patients on a daily basis.

“When the disease reached Guyana, the nurses were fearful, and some even decided not to work and instead just stay home,” said Nursing Consultant, Mandy La Fleur during an exclusive interview with the Guyana Chronicle.

La Fleur, who works with the Ministry of Public Health, was seconded to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) to aid in alleviating the existing fear and building the capacity of nurses to manage COVID-19.

The nursing consultant, who has over 30 years of experience in the field of nursing, “hit the ground running” and immediately organised training sessions, which focused on the management of COVID-19.

THE BIGGEST FEAR The biggest fear most nurses had was of contracting the disease, and this was causing them to stay away from work or refusing to work directly with the hospital’s COVID-19 unit. This was a situation which needed immediate correction, said La Fleur, noting that her training sessions began with sensitising nurses about the mode of

GPHC Nursing Consultant, Ms. Mandy La Fleur

transmission.

“Once they understood it is a respiratory condition, and that unless their hands are contaminated and they don’t wear their PPE and decontaminate properly, they could get it, they started becoming less fearful, because it was just a matter of being cautious and following the established guidelines,” LaFleur said.

“The fear is relieved…we have seen this from the training, which also allowed us to understand the emotional state of our nurses because we got to hear about the anxiety and fear, which existed in their minds...there has definitely been a behavioural

change,” she added.

Training sessions were not just extended to nurses attached to the COVID-19 Unit, but also to nurses who work in the Maternity Cardiac and Dialysis Units and other sections of the hospital.

While education is one form of motivation, the hospital administration also considered the physical protection and monetary compensation of nurses.

“We have a package for them; we provided housing for those persons working in the COVID-19 ICU, because they work four hours, and then they decontaminate after, go to the housing facility and back to the hospital...

Food is also provided,” La Fleur said.

INCENTIVES Nurses are also afforded a risk allowance, as financial security is important, and they also get access to transportation to and from home.

Transportation is available to all health personnel who work for GPHC. “We try to give them whatever they need, and with the training and package, we are actually seeing a decrease in absenteeism, because they understand the system…we have had nurses who came

and just put down their names to work with COVID cases,” LaFleur said, adding: “With what I am seeing, I believe we are getting to where we want to be; we are building capacity, boosting morale, and doing everything that can be done during this time.”

Nurses attached to other medical institutions have also benefitted from similar training sessions and packages organised by the public health ministry. So far, over 500 nurses have been trained, and plans are afoot to train even more as Guyana continues to wages its relentless battle against this silent killer of a disease.

According to Ms. LaFleur, all senior nurses across the country have been trained, and others will soon be afforded the same opportunity.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) had declared 2020 to be the “Year of the Nurse and Midwife” in celebration of Florence Nightingale, who would have turned 200 this year, had she still been alive. Across the globe, many organisations, professional associations, healthcare systems and other entities were poised to affirm this theme, and celebrate the

many roles and contributions of nurses in advancing the health and welfare of people in every nation, but it was interrupted by COVID-19.

According to the WHO, it was completely unexpected that this would also be the year of an international health crisis; a pandemic that has now touched every level of society. Today, the entire world is grappling with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. And nurses are frontline in this environment.

On March 10, 2020, with some 180,000 cases and 4,000 deaths worldwide, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. This clarion call sent a message that everyone has a role in actively preventing further spread of the virus and seeking ways to protect those most at risk. This type of call to action is not new to nursing.

Throughout history, the nursing profession has played major roles in stepping into times of crisis and providing care and innovation that has saved lives and reduced suffering. This brutal COVID-19 situation will be no different, the WHO said.

New app assisting COVID-19 affected persons to access help A NEW initiative by a group of local software developers, who are volunteering their time and skills, is now helping many Guyanese who are affected by the COVID-19 (Coronavirus 2019) pandemic to access help.

The new app, CARE. GY, was produced by the very group that created the Ministry of Public Health’s Covid-19 app that seeks to help that agency manage its hotline information.

The new app, according to lead developer, Julius Simon, is divided into three sections: one for people to indicate that they or someone who needs help, another for donations, and the third for those who distribute to record which communities they are going to and how much they

plan to distribute.

“Our team would really like to involve everyone who’s helping with relief efforts,” Simon told the Chronicle on Thursday, adding, “The same night we launched the MOPH app, my former Head of Department at GRA, Sese Jones, mentioned this idea to me and indicated that we should work on it since we have a platform in production already.”

According to Simon, aid is being provided by organisations which are already on the ground providing help; they are now able to get information about which areas have critically vulnerable persons.

The data being collected via the new app is also going to be shared with the Civil Defence Commission (CDC)

Lead Developer Julius Simon

and other agencies which are providing aid across the country.

The donors are not listed and any donations made are only visible to the organisations to which the donation was made. “Once a donation

is made, they’re notified and then communicated with the donor to facilitate collection of the donation. We also only share publicly summarized information about communities,” Simon explained. Only the donors who are registered can see individual requests.

The app is able to benefit those in vulnerable communities by connecting them to individuals willing to help, companies, and relief coordinators. “Because we’re collecting specific information about their needs, those who are willing to donate can see what to focus on and make a contribution to the relief effort,” Simon noted.

In less than a week since the app was made publicly available, it has had over 8,000 visitors and collected data from 80 households.

“We have spoken to donors who have reached out on social media, and they’ve made suggestions on how we can improve the donation section of the app. We’re working on that currently,” Simon said.

The new app is different from the COVID Response app, in that it will likely be around after the pandemic and will expand into providing support for mental health and domestic abuse.

As for the previously launched app, over 400 registrations were made during the first 12 hours of its launch. It provides data management and analytics for the MOPH so that the health authority can effectively and efficiently organize the information it receives from hotlines, as well as from hospitals.

Suspected cases are au-

tomatically flagged and prioritized for follow up on the app, which also includes a self-screening tool that can be used by the general public. The application further allows for individuals who have been directed to remain isolated, to provide daily updates on their and their family’s health condition.

By means of the app, it is possible for the general public to be in receipt of accurate, timely and relevant reports on COVID cases locally. It can also be used as a source of accurate information about the disease.

The team of developers hails from various tech companies in Guyana, and comprises Anton Kwang, Diante Callender, Troy Munroe, Shemar Moore, and Ryan Goliah.

12

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, May 22, 2020

‘Agriculture sector sturdy’ …Gov’t says no fallout from COVID-19 pandemic …pushes subsistence farming to boost self-sufficiency

By Lisa Hamilton GUYANA’s agriculture sector has not been negatively impacted in a major way from the fallout of the COVID-19 Pandemic and the sector continues to grow, Minister of Agriculture, Noel Holder said.

He hopes that when CARICOM countries reopen their borders, the vision of a self-reliant and self-sufficient Region can gain new perspective and be realised. Since the virus made its way into the Region, countries have been forced to close their ports to non-essential travel, cutting off international business, trade and tourism to some extent.

For Guyana, Minister Holder said that the country is still selling its rice to 34 countries inclusive of the Caribbean and

parts of Latin America.

“Rice is doing very well, rice has no problems; we haven’t had any market losses as such,” he told this newspaper on Thursday. “France has closed down its ports for a while, but that might be opening up.”

THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX In general, he said that farming in Guyana --- both crops and livestock --- has not been adversely affected, and things are largely moving smoothly even with the recent commencement of the May/June rainy season. “At this point in time the farming community is not hurting,” Minister Holder said. “At this point in time there is no panic agriculture-wise. We are more concerned about the consumer

often. However, the Ministry of Agriculture is pleased to notice that despite the challenges, many Guyanese have found innovative ways to sell their produce. “What we’re noticing is that with the lockdown, people have been been going to farmers, purchasing at the farm gate and bringing it into communities to sell. While the markets are not functioning as they should, people are privately doing this. Getting their little canter truck…and selling almost on a house-to-house ba-

After a verification process, registered persons will be given assistance in the form of vouchers to acquire seeds, small garden tools, irrigation material and other planting material needed, to either establish, or improve an established kitchen garden, redeemable at local or administrative regional suppliers.

Closing date for registration is June 6, 2020.

Minister Holder said that the programme also caters to persons with no land for small-

countries have tremendously reduced. In many areas they have some localize surpluses of food, food that would normally go to the restaurants and hotels,” he explained.

CARICOM is actively examining re-opening international borders among Member States, as a means to lend support during the coronavirus pandemic. Holder said that much is going to change internationally as a result of the pandemic which may open

Minister of Agriculture, Noel Holder

side rather than the famers at this point in time.”

Due to the fear of contracting COVID-19 and several emergency measures in place, fewer persons have been visiting the big markets and less

A man watering his small-scale farm

sis and that is something we’re very pleased about,” he said.

In some communities, one can see these trucks driving through each street with bullhorn megaphones announcing the produce and other items they have for sale. While farmers have not been significantly negatively impacted, the Ministry hopes to turn the attention to providing nutritional balance to families. Recently, the Rural Affairs Secretariat of the Ministry of Agriculture launched its COVID-19 Relief Kitchen Garden Initiative.

KITCHEN GARDEN The initiative is part of the Ministry’s Rural Entrepreneurial Agricultural Project (REAP) and is aimed at encouraging persons to start their own kitchen gardens, according to Minister within the Ministry of Agriculture with responsibility for Rural Affairs, Valerie Adams-Yearwood. Interested persons can uplift an application form from the security of the Ministry’s head office on Regent Street, their Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) Offices or regional agricultural officers.

scale crop growing and to persons with backyard land but no means to begin growing their own food. The only means by which the Ministry of Agriculture has been affected thus far is the absence of a national budget which, to some extent, prohibits the commencement of some planned projects. As the country’s 2020 electoral process nears an end, there is hope for positive change.

SELF-SUFFICIENCY ATTAINABLE Turning his attention to the Region, Holder said that he is aware of the challenges such as the loss of tourism; this is more so affecting Guyana’s CARICOM neighbours. He said that most of them remain food secure, currently, because the demand is no longer there for excess food consumption due to tourism. “While normally the Region imports around 80 per cent of its food from outside the individual countries, what’s happening now, because of the COVID lockdown and the lockdown of the airports and sea ports, tourism is not on. There is a complete stop in tourism, so the food needs of these individual

up opportunities for greater self-reliance within CARICOM. This is also in keeping with the vision of CARICOM Chair-- Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley-- and many others. Holder said that its realization has been long overdue.

“There might be new opportunities being created when countries open up again, certainly for Guyana and agriculture. I know that the current Chair of CARICOM, Mia Mottley, is [advocating] for Caribbean self-sufficiency as far as agriculture is concerned; so I think we could get good support there and Guyana has always been pushing that way.

Guyana is the lead country for agriculture in CARICOM,” he pointed out.

Meanwhile, leaving words of advice to those in the agriculture sector, he said: “Try to continue increasing productivity; try to be as efficient as possible and gear yourself up for increased production and potential exports to countries in the Caribbean, certainly when the COVID situation changes.”

13

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, May 22, 2020

Lindener turning COVID-time into crop-time

THE novel coronavirus has challenged many persons.

Millennials especially have had difficulty coping with limited social choices. Some though have been very ingenious in how they spend their time and have been reaping dividends.

A good example is that of Lindener Karima Sandiford-Clarke, who is using the time at home to turn her favourite pastime – kitchen gardening - into a business initiative. “This COVID period has worked out to an advantage. I can spend more time in the garden because, at first, it would just be on weekends. Being at home allows me to spend most of my mornings when the place is cool and the sun is down, in the garden,” she revealed.

Sandiford-Clarke told

DPI that since secondary school she developed a “real love for agriculture. When I came home, I would always have a small portion of land that I dedicated to growing vegetables.” Since then she has been involved in subsistence farming but with her responsibilities as a mother, wife and having a full-time job, the garden had to, sometimes, take a back seat. However, with more time on her hands now, she can tend her crops, pruning, transplanting, nurturing and treating pest, before reaping the day’s produce. One of her new year’s resolutions was to spend more time in the garden, and less at the vegetable stand weekly. “I would spend up to $3000 and more per week and they would spoil quickly. I was aware of

Lindener Karima Clarke

where our food was coming from and instead wanted to use more of what I grew,” Sandiford-Clarke related.

Today, she not only compliments her family’s meals with food from the kitchen garden, but now earns from the traditional and

Unique pear tomatoes produced

by Karima Sandiford-Clarke

non-traditional cash crops and citrus fruits grown. Sandiford-Clarke said persons travel from all over to purchase her crops, seeds, seedlings and seek her technical advice. Witnessing how her gardening initiative has impacted others satisfies Sandiford-Clarke and encourages her to invest more effort in her business.

Knowing that she has found many positives from agriculture and spending her time constructively during this time, she is encouraging others to do the same. “You have to have that inner drive and motivation to want to do this.

Just get up and do it for yourself. It might be challenging but it gets easier,” she advised. (DPI)

Female taxi driver’s murder still unsolved ONE year after the death of female taxi driver, Indira Bipat, whose body was found in a clump of bushes at Lust-en-Rust, West Bank Demerara, the police are yet to make an arrest.

Senior Police Detective, on Thursday, told the Guyana

Chronicle that Bipat’s murder investigation was still open and was on-going.

Bipat, 47, who died as a result of strangulation, compounded by blunt trauma to the head, on May 19, 2019, was said to be seen leaving her home, after she received

Indira Bipat

Guyanese now 53% of ExxonMobil workforce

THE number of Guyanese employed by the US oil giant, ExxonMobil Guyana, has increased to 2200 over the past few months. They represent 53 per cent of the total workforce employed with the company.

Appearing on the 94.1 FM Jumpstart Morning show on Wednesday, ExxonMobil’s Senior Director of Public and Government Affairs, Deedra Moe, noted that in addition to this, ExxonMobil has spent $7 Billion on local suppliers in the first quarter of 2020.

The company has been focusing on Guyana’s local content policy that is now in place. According to Moe, there has been no real impact on the company’s supply chain with local companies despite being in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“For local content, the great thing about the first quarter is that the local content policy that the government has and that we worked for, the focus has been continuing on workforce development and supplier development and that work continues,” Moe said.

However, there are likely to be adjustments moving forward as the company will have to address the long-term impact of the pandemic. The operations of the ExxonMobil company have continued

ExxonMobil’s Senior Director of Public and Government Affairs, Deedra Moe

non-stop. Production has been ongoing and shipments have also been ongoing. Moe disclosed that one of the biggest difficulties being faced is bringing international workers for drilling operations.

“The largest challenge that we have had is the ability to bring international workers in the country and that has impacted our ability to continue some of our drilling operations, but that challenge, we have had to work with establishing processes and working with the travel restrictions in place.”

Meantime, ExxonMobil Guyana’s President, Rod Henson, has been promoted to Vice President, Wells, for ExxonMobil in Houston, with responsibility for all drilling activities around the world. According to a release issued on Wednesday,

President, ExxonMobil Guyana, Rod Henson

Henson will leave Guyana to take up his new post and will be replaced by Alistair Routledge, current president and general manager for ExxonMobil Qatar Limited.

“Alistair is very well suited to take our work in Guyana to the next level given his years of experience heading up ExxonMobil’s operations in Qatar,” the release stated.

Since his appointment in 2017, Henson oversaw several important operational milestones, including the production of Guyana’s first oil in December 2019. “This has been the best and most rewarding job I have ever had,” said Henson, “Guyana is a great country with amazing people, and I was privileged to have an awesome team that made my time here truly rewarding.”

a phone call.

The Toyota Axio motorcar, PXX 4114, with which she plied her trade and she had purchased just six months prior to the incident, is still missing Her son, had told this newspaper that his mother

left home saying she was going out for about an hour or so, but never returned.

He told the Guyana Chronicle that, while he could not say what might have led to her demise, he had the presence of mind to report her missing at the

Vreed-en-Hoop and La Grange Police Station, after she did not return home after work.

The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GTT) Company has handed over Bipat’s telephone records to the police.

14

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, May 22, 2020

Three weeks on…

‘Agouti’ et al to be charged with manslaughter –– for causing death of family of four during Berbice River mishap

DIRECTOR of Public Prosecution (DPP), Ms. Shalimar Ali Hack, has advised that the five men responsible for the death of a family of four during a boating accident on the upper Berbice River in late March be should be charged jointly with manslaughter.

The five defendants, Carl Williams, called ‘Agouti’, 51, of Adelphi Settlement,

East Canje, Berbice; Kevin Archer, known as ‘Carl’, ‘Buckman, or ‘Davo’, of Maria Emrita Village, Berbice River; Ramnarine Punwasie, 23, of Palmyra Village, East Canje; his brother, Netram Punwasie, known as ‘Ajin’, 38, also of Palmyra Village, East Canje; and Marvin Kissoon, called ‘Coolie Boy’, 39, of Sheet Anchor, East Canje; were initially charged for trafficking in narcotics,

and granted bail after pleading not guilty to that particular offence, and were to have returned to court on June 10.

The offence at reference was that they had in their possession 33 kilograms of cannabis sativa for the purpose of trafficking when they were arrested on the night of Wednesday, April 28, at Edinburgh Village, on the East Bank Berbice.

The ruling comes almost

three weeks after the 75HP speedboat in which they were travelling ran into a much smaller and less powerful vessel travelling in the opposite direction, causing the death of the latter’s four passengers, among them a father and son.

Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent Jairam Ramlakhan, confirmed late Wednesday that four members of the quintet have been arrested, while the fifth had been on remand for other pending matters. This time around, they are expected to appear at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court before Chief Magistrate Ann Mc-

Ramnarine Punwasie Lennan, who will read the charge to them, before the case is transferred to Linden Magistrate’s Court, which adjudicates matters which occurred in the Kwakwani Magisterial District.

Those who died during the mishap were: Romario

Marvin Kissoon Denheart, 24, of Lot 41 Stanleytown, New Amsterdam; his dad, Godfrey Denheart, known as ‘Freeman’, 50, of Heatburn Village, East Bank Berbice; Julian Mackenzie, 56; and Kidman Lindie, 50, both of Sand Hills, Berbice River.

GDF rank dies from injuries sustained in accident Netram Punwasie

Carl Williams

Kevin Archer

POLICE are currently investigating the fatal accident at Vlissengen Road, Georgetown, which claimed the life of a 24-year-old Guyana Defence Force (GDF) rank, on Thursday.

Dead is Private Kwasi Rodriguez, of Albouystown, who served at the Jaguar Company of the 1 Infantry Battalion. Rodriguez enlisted in the Force in 2017.

The Guyana Chronicle was informed that, around

10:10 hours, on Thursday, Rodriguez was on his motor cycle riding at a fast rate.

He however collided with a motor car at the corner of Vlissengen Road and Eping Avenue.

He was picked up in an unconscious state and rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, where he died, while receiving treatment.

The Chief of Staff, officers and soldiers extend sincere condolences to the soldier’s relatives.

Kwasi Rodriguez

Iwokrama and EMC call for renewed action to conserve biodiversity and protect ecosystems … in joint message on International Day for Biodiversity ON the occasion of International Day for Biodiversity, May 22, the Iwokrama International Centre (IIC) and Environmental Management Consultants (EMC) join the rest of the world in recognising the critical role of biodiversity in maintaining ecological balance in our natural systems.

The United Nations has identified the theme this year as “Our solutions are in Nature.”

There is a renewed call for mankind to re-examine its relationship with the natural world as efforts continue globally to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, the message read. “There is growing recognition of the dependence on ecosystems for health, water, food, medicines, shelter, energy, and the need for urgent action to address conservation of biodiversity and to increase the resilience of nations and communities in the wake of accelerating impacts from climate change,” the two entities said.

“IIC and EMC recognise the role Guyana has played in providing global leadership and valuable lessons on sustainable forest management, biodiversity conservation and payment for forest climate services through the work of the Iwokrama Centre and initiatives such as the REDD+ Partnership between Guyana and the Kingdom of Norway. IIC and EMC urge continued national and international action to sustainably manage forests to ensure their integrity, to secure livelihoods and protect biodiversity,” the joint message said.

IIC and EMC also announced the es-

tablishment of a mechanism of cooperation between the two entities which will see joint efforts in the areas of biodiversity conservation, sustainable forest management, research, environmental education and awareness, and the advancement of initiatives to support a low carbon economy.

According to Iwokrama CEO, Dane Gobin, “the establishment of the partnership with EMC, a premier environmental service provider in Guyana, would allow access to knowledge, expertise and experience in areas such as environmental and natural resources management, biodiversity conservation and climate change.

EMC is a strong advocate for low carbon development and many EMC team members have been involved in national and international initiatives on biodiversity conservation, climate change, forest climate services and REDD+.”

EMC’S Managing Director Shyam Nokta said, “The world is on a trajectory to catastrophic climate change. We have to take urgent action to protect our natural systems and biodiversity and to secure the future for humanity.

Iwokrama has established a solid reputation as an international centre for sustainable forest management and biodiversity conservation and has played a leading role in cutting edge research on biodiversity in Guyana.

EMC is keen to formalise its relationship with Iwokrama to work together at the national and international level to advance action on biodiversity conservation, sustainable use of forests and climate change.”

15

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, May 22, 2020

Strong challenge for Bouterse

…as Surinamese vote to elect new government next Monday PARAMARIBO, Suriname, May 20, CMC – A four-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Election Observer Mission has arrived here ahead of next Monday’s general election in which voters will elect a new government in the Dutch-speaking country.

Supervisor of Elections of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dora James, is heading the mission that will meet with the electoral officials, leaders of political parties and other stakeholders and will monitor the electoral process including the opening of the poll, the voting process, the closing of the poll and the counting of the ballots.

“For CARICOM, election observation serves as a platform to support existing democratic traditions within the Caribbean Community as part of its wider policy of supporting democracy and good governance,” the Guyana-based CARICOM Secretariat said in a statement.

President Desi Bouterse is leading his ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) into Monday’s general election. In the 2015 poll, the party won 27 of the 51 seats and 80 per cent of the votes cast. But political observers say the 74-year-old Bouterse, faces a daunting re-election battle. They note that apart from the effect the coronavirus (COVID19) has had on the CARICOM country’s economy, a scandal at the central bank has shaken confidence in the financial system.

Further, Bouterse has appealed a 20-year jail term imposed by a Court here last November 2019 following the December 1982 murders of 15 political opponents.

Seventeen parties have registered to run against the NDP, but unlike 2015 when some of the opposition parties formed coalitions, this is not the case this time around. “The tribal electorate also seems to suggest that on election day, traditional voting behaviour patterns may stay the course and work in Bouterse’s NDP’s favour,” said one political analyst, adding that with no coalition ahead of the voting “that would give the NDP an advantage, because the NDP is the largest political party”.

Of the 17 opposition parties, the main challengers have been identified as the Progressive Reform Party (VHP) the National Party of Suriname (NPS), Brotherhood and Unity in Politics

the protective measures that will apply in the polling stations have been announced.

OKB chairman Jennifer van Dijk-Silos told a news conference it is necessary for voters to know that they can vote in a safe environment.

She wants also the voters list, which contains 383,000 names to be properly scru-

President Desi Bouterse

(BEP), and Pertjajah Luhur.

The political observers note that each of these parties has some core ethnic group to which they can appeal.

For example, the VHP has a strong following in the Indo-Surinamese community, while the National Party, which formed the base when President Ronald Venetiaan served as head of state from 1991 to 1996 and then 2000 to 2010.

But it won only two seats in 2015, when the V7 coalition of six parties led by former justice minister Chandrikapersad Santokhi secured 17 seats. Five of the other seats had gone to the Alternative Combination, while the remaining two seats went to the Party for Democracy and Development in Unity (DOE) and Progressive Worker and Farmers Union (PALU).

The VHP has put out a reconstruction plan aimed at reforming the country’s health care system, the government’s management of the country’s natural resources, and strengthening the rule of law.

Voter turnout, trust in leadership, capacity to resolve economic issues and the management of the potential energy revenue, are among the main factors being debated here ahead of the polls. The government’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic has presented an opportunity for it to make resources available to persons in need with very little accountability. “The poverty alleviation seen through social programmes makes it possible for strategic outreach programmes to influence undecided voters,” one analyst said.

The independent Voting Bureau (OKB) is urging voters to cast ballots on Monday amid fears that some may want to stay away because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The authorities are expected to announce the measures that will guide voting on Monday to prevent or minimise the risk of possible contamination. So far, only

tinised adding that she was pleased observer teams from the Organization of American States (OAS) will be here for the polls. The OAS team is due on Thursday on a charter flight from Washington and will be placed in quarantine for two days.

Interior Minister Mike Noersalim said that the inter-

national observers will have access to all polling stations and other locations related to the elections. In addition to OAS and CARICOM, the United States, Brazil, Venezuela and France will have observers through their embassies in Paramaribo.

India and Indonesia have also asked to be ac-

credited, but the European Union, the Carter Center and the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, which were also invited, have cancelled. The estimated 623 polling stations will open at 7:00 am (local time) and will close 12 hours later.

16

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, May 22, 2020

Cops break-up ECD house party …several arrested to be placed before the courts

RANKS of the Guyana Police Force, on Wednesday evening, arrested several persons in a house at Golden Grove on the East Coast of Demerara for failing to adhere to the Covid-19 Emergency Measures.

Around 19:30hrs, the police received information of an active birthday party in the area. Ranks quickly responded and broke up the party. The persons were arrested and escorted to the police station.

According to the Covid-19 emergency measures, social activities including private parties, are restricted until June 3. Persons who fail to comply commit an offence under Section 152 of the Public Health Ordinance.

Recently, several villages on the East Coast were listed as hotspots inclusive of Golden Grove. The other communities are Atlantic Gardens, Friendship, Golden Grove, Good

Hope, Lusignan, Plaisance, and Strathsphey. Among communities on the East Bank of Demerara (EBD) where there were cases are: Diamond; Grove, Land of Canaan, Providence, and Timehri.

Just recently, in an effort to improve the response to the pandemic, the Public Health Ministry had launched its mobile unit at the East La Penitence Health Centre, as well as at the community COVID-19 facilities of Region Four at Herstelling, on the EBD, and at Paradise, on the ECD. In recent weeks, police have been arresting and placing, before the courts, persons who break the curfew.

Only last week this newspaper reported that 40 Lindeners were arrested and charged for breaking the 18:00 hours to 06:00 hours curfew, as ranks of Region Ten’s Police Division continue to be proactive in enforcing the mandatory reg-

ulation. Many of these curfew breakers were caught as a result of roadblocks, community patrols and responding to calls reporting persons breaking social-distancing regulations for entertainment purposes.

Speaking to DPI, Prosecutor Vernette Pindar, had explained that the arrest campaign commenced on May 8 and since then, 40 persons have been arrested and placed before the Linden Magistrate’s Court through virtual hearings.

They were fined.

Pindar underscored that failure to pay the fines will result in persons being remanded to prison for up to three months. Those who refused to show up for court were charged in absentia. The prosecutor also disclosed that reports have been made of persons hosting house parties and other social gatherings indoors after curfew hours.

She warned that the police will

continue to respond to reports of these breaches and that the roadblocks and community patrols will be ongoing.

Roadblocks are usually established at the Bamia Police Outpost, in Amelia’s Ward, the Wismar-Mackenzie Bridge and key sections in Wismar.

Pindar reiterated the call for residents to adhere to the advisories implemented by the Public Health Ministry. “If you do not need to be on the road, stay at home. Stay sanitised because when we have to answer these reports, we are putting ourselves at risk.”

Commander of Region 10, Hugh Winter, echoed Pindar’s call for compliance with the curfew and other regulations, reminding that the region has the second-largest amount of COVID-19 cases. Linden has recorded nine cases thus far with one death and one recovery.

CORENTYNE Additionally, in Corentyne, 22 persons, including a number of Venezuelans, were charged on May 6 for breaching the nationwide curfew in Corentyne. Those charged hail from different communities along the Corentyne Coast as well as from the Mahogany Hotel and Sports bar in Corriverton, East Berbice, Corentyne. According to information received, the police were informed of a party being held at the popular Corentyne Hotel and Sports bar on Tuesday evening when several Venezuelan women were present. The police went to the scene and cautioned the individuals of the offence and subsequently made the arrest.

A senior police source in the Division told the Guyana Chronicle that they have been trying to sensitise the population in Region Six, that they should adhere to the restrictions and avoid being prosecut-

ed. Among the measures used from Number 51 Village to Crabwood Creek were public announcements encouraging persons to adhere to the curfew and avoid congested areas, officers going to popular places where persons are conducting business to ensure they maintain the social distance as well as patrolling the areas. However, despite the efforts of the police and the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils and municipalities in Region Six, many persons still seek clever methods to breach the restrictions. The arrests and prosecutions were meant to be a last resort. In light of the growing number of positive cases of the coronavirus in Guyana and sensitisation campaigns, the police have been enforcing the law hoping others will adhere.

M&CC continues street sanitisation exercise

Mayor of Georgetown, Pandit Ubraj Narine and members of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council and the Georgetown Rotary Club in discussion before the sanitsation of the Bourda Market

SANITISATION exercises are ongoing throughout several major public spaces within the Capital City to stop further transmission of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

A collaboration between

the Georgetown Mayor and City Council, the Georgetown Rotary Club and Farm Supplies Limited, saw the Bourda Market and its environs receiving a thorough bacterial washdown.

Orange Walk, the Mer-

riman’s Mall, Robb and Alexander Streets are also areas which benefitted from the cleansing initiative, last evening. City Mayor, Ubraj Narine, told the DPI that he is grateful for the ongoing support from several stakeholders

The sanitisation of the outskirts of Bourda Market

and welcomes additional aid.

“We are doing what we are mandated to do. This virus can destroy anyone it gets hold of. We are willing to sanitise the entire city, but we cannot do it alone,” he said.

The Mayor explained

that as resources become available the municipality will undertake other similar exercises to stop the spread of the virus. “We will be sanitising the Stabroek Market and its environs later this evening,” he disclosed.

President of the Georgetown Rotary Club, Peter Peroune, emphasised his organisation’s readiness to support the M&CC in similar projects. The cleaning supplies were donated by Farm Supplies Limited.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, May 22, 2020

17

18

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, May 22, 2020

Raising awareness through art

By Marissa V. Foster

J

AMAL Durant is a 22-year-old final year business management that hails from the mining town of Linden.

He describes himself as a “people person”. Hence, during this difficult time of social distancing in Guyana, he finds it tough to cope.

Jamal enjoys being a young entrepreneur, playing basketball and of course; he relishes art and is eager to find a way to turn his artwork into a business.

He lives by three simple rules and virtues: “hustle, respect and loyalty”. When he was younger, he was once awarded a trophy for his art but he never took heed to the skills he possessed. In the Third Form, his art teacher wanted him to pursue the arts but Durant was too focused on his business career. Currently, he has to find creative ways to mix both business and art, together. He sets his eyes on becoming one of the greatest artists to have ever lived in Guyana while at the same time managing a solid financial foundation to show young artists you can actually make a living from art. He aspires to allow his art to pay the bills one day.

Jamal was drawing for most of his life, just for leisure or to pass the time.

He would always prefer to draw or look at nature. He expressed, “I see beauty in the small things rather than video games or sports. I am the type of person who can see every detail in your skin; the type that will compliment you for the unique

A realistic self-portrait (Source: Jamal Durant)

Jamal Durant holding up his iconic artwork (Source: Jamal Durant)

Picture drawn by Jamal Durant; of himself watching over the Stabroek Market observing social distancing and the COVID-19 pandemic in Guyana (Source: Jamal Durant)

patterns in your eyes.” Recently, Jamal has created a piece that took the internet by a storm. It is a piece he drew that depicts himself overlooking the Stabroek Market while staying indoors, with the urge in his eyes to step outside. This piece is purely subjective to the viewers because Durant believes that art is subjective so one may see social distancing while others see quarantining.

He explained that “I,

which everyone knows and the ‘caution tapes’ to stay away; wires and cones that indicates danger. Grass is also growing wild because it showcases that it’s been quite a while since anyone has been outside.”

This artistic ‘Lindener’ believes his art serves as a form of enlightenment for others. He is proud of himself, for he has developed a mind-blowing skill despite life’s challenges.

Jamal would not have been

the artist would like the viewers to see that both social distancing and quarantining can be extremely important to ourselves and the people around us. The piece shows tears form my eyes crying for a better tomorrow while inside.” He further went on to explain that: “It shows my pain for Guyanese, our country and how it affects us all. I tried to display the outside as dangerous with the use of an empty Stabroek Market

the creative mastermind he is without the support of “his people”. He describes the feeling of being “awesome” through which he can now be financially stable through his work. “I am asking everyone that will view this, ‘how can young artists like myself make money?’. They should be afforded the opportunity like every other career choice to become successful and benefit from their creativity and hard work

through art. Throughout this life-changing journey, of finally being recognised for his memorable piece of social distancing and COVID-19 in Guyana, he remains humbled. So much so, he’d like to give gratitude to his father, his grandmother and his mother.

The environment they paved for him truly helped to mould him into the gifted man he is today.

19

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, May 22, 2020

Fashion as a source of inspiration

America’s Next Top Model Naima Mora is the face of Designer Andrea Wilson in Hong Kong, Asia in 2019. There she met with distributors, manufacturGuyanese Designer Andrea Wilson on lockdown in the Islander Wave Collection by Guyanese designer ers and retailers.

Andrea Wilson who lives in the British Virgin Islands. her apartment in Tortola, British Virgin Islands.

GUYANESE fashion designer Andrea Wilson was thrilled to travel home to Guyana for Easter. It had been two years since the British Virgin Islands resident last visited the land of her birth. In February, she had accepted an invitation to show her Islander Wave Resort Collection at the Strut Le Labyrinth Fashion Show and Cocktail organised

by Traits Model Management in Guyana.

The outdoor event was fixed for Saturday, April 4 at the 106-year-old Everest Cricket Club in Georgetown. But on March 11, just two months after the coronavirus was first identified in Wuhan City, China, Guyana recorded its first virus-related death, a 52-year-old woman who had travelled from New York to Guyana. Then on March 25, two persons tested positive in the British Virgin Islands.

Global statistics were worrying by April 2, with more than a million people testing positive for the coronavirus and 55,503 deaths. Ports of entry and schools were closed, millions of people quarantined at home and social distancing and hand sanitisation regulations were imposed worldwide.

In Guyana, the fashion show was postponed and Andrea’s ticket placed on hold.

“One moment, I was planning my trip to Guyana and looking forward to seeing my older son Stephan, who moved to Guyana to write CSEC [Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate] examinations. I was also excited to see my collection rock that runway and to enjoy some real cook-from-your-heart Guyanese food. But in a few shorts weeks, I was on 24hour lockdown in my apartment in Hannah’s

Estate on Tortola,” Andrea shared via video chat from her apartment.

From April 2 to 16, the island territory with a population of around 30,000, including hundreds of Guyanese, was on 24-hour curfew.

Only essential workers, including nurses and police officers on duty, were allowed to move freely across the territory. Businesses were closed.

The scenic Caribbean destination known for its pristine beaches, yachting events, cruise ships and private luxury islands, including Necker Island owned by Sir Richard Branson, was on lockdown.

“We had a few days to stock up on food.

People bought crazy amounts of water, toilet paper and canned food. So the day I was scheduled to travel to Guyana, I spent hours in the supermarket and bank lines preparing for lockdown for two weeks.”

Then came adjusting to life in quarantine, from scheduled online classes for her five-yearold son Alexandre to working with clients and finding the time to design her new clothing line. Andrea works as a graphic artist for Jahphix Designs, a local company specialising in multi-media branding projects.

2019 was an incredible year for her company Absolutely Unique. The Islander Swim and The Islander Wave Collections were hits with the beach crowd and travel enthusiasts in the Caribbean and abroad. Some of her significant achievements were retaining America’s Next Top Model Naima Mora as the face of her brands for a third consecutive year and travelling to Hong Kong with emerging designers

after being featured at the prestigious Orange County Fashion Week in Los Angeles, the year before. She had a chance to meet with major manufacturers, distributors and retailers.

Additionally, The Islander’s collections were launched on the global market in the much sought-after Flying Solo in Soho, New York.

“I had a terrific 2019, definitely more ups than downs. My trip to Hong Kong reinforced my love of all things Caribbean. Brand ‘Caribbean’ is absolutely unique. We have a clear voice where fashion is concerned,” she said.

Fashionistas in Los Angeles loved the bold and sassy swimwear and elegant beach wraps.

She was asked to represent the Caribbean at an exposition in Hong Kong.

“It was because my collections were well received at Orange County Fashion Week that I was invited to travel to Asia in 2019, right after returning from Trinidad where I attended the RISE Women Conference organised by Cristal Lee in collaboration with United States embassy. In Hong Kong, I saw what having the right network and work ethic can do for up and coming brands,”she said. “You have got to stand out to be noticed. I am on lockdown at the moment, but I am looking at the glass as half full. I have more time to really think about the direction I will take my third collection. I mean, who would have thought in January that masks would be trending right now and that established brands such as Louis Vuitton would be creating them. It’s happening, and designers are now thinking about ensuring their next collections are relevant to the times.

As a designer, you have got to evolve

with the times.”

RECOVERY “I have been impacted financially these last few months.

My collections are swimsuits and resort wear. Everyone is home at the moment,” she laughed. “But I am in agreement with the closures. We cannot do business as usual during a global pandemic with millions of people infected and hundreds of thousands dying from coronavirus. Just like after the financial recession of 2008, Zika and SARS, the world will bounce back. We just have to be patient and careful, and put safety first,” Andrea stressed.

She has spent the last month thinking about her next fashion move.

“Before the pandemic, I was working on a resort wear line. But after spending weeks in quarantine, I have decided to launch my activewear collection. We are all going to want to feel sexy and bold after all these months at home watching movies and eating, especially those can’t-put-you-down snacks and treats.

The collection will be colourful, functional and affordable. I’m inspired by so many stories people have shared about their post-COVID-19 plans,” Andrea said. “In most cases, persons just want to enjoy being outside together, or finally taking that hiking or camping trip. I am going to ensure those couples or friends are comfortably fitted. At the moment, I am having fun designing every piece of my first activewear collection.

When all this is over, my vacation to Guyana will happen.”

Models in the Islander Wave Collection by British Virgin Islands-based Guyanese designer Andrea Wilson.

20

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, May 22, 2020

Virtual workshops for décor enthusiasts W

One of the many paintings Innovign Arts created for the Ministry of Social Protection Mashramani truck for this year’s celebration

ITH many now at home due to the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, keeping active can be a challenge thus the wellknown events décor company, Innovign Art has been offering virtual décor workshops teaching the fundamental techniques in creating giant paper flowers and other decorative pieces.

Travell Blackman owner

Travell Blackman owner of Innovign Arts during one of his virtual workshops of the business noted that because of the current pandemic, they have experienced a minor set back.

“Because of the COVID-19 everything is on hold, our contracts have been postponed or cancelled until further notice nevertheless, Innovign art is making the best of the situation and is offering virtual workshops,” he stated.

Blackman a graduate of the E. R. Burrowes School of Art noted that he has always had an eye for the arts, espe-

curring clients is the Ministry of Social Protection. The company did the décor for the ministry’s staff party and decorated its building for the Republic celebrations in February. Innovign Art was also responsible for the decorations on the High Court along with several of the Mashramani bands for the annual road march and parade.

The two-hour workshop costs $4,000 and includes a registration fee. The workshops will see Blackman

A giant paper flower created by one of Blackman’s students cially décor. He added that he saw a lacking in the area of decorative designing in Guyana and such kick-started his business. “I am an artist, I studied painting and textile designs at the E. R. Burrowes School of Art, and I am also I computer scientist I have a degree in computer science,” he said.

He noted that he is proud of his staff and business of all that they have achieved over the years since the business has managed to execute several events before the outbreak of the coronavirus.

Among Innovign’s reoc-

teaching those who wish to attend the fundamental techniques in creating giant paper flowers. However, Blackman stated that the workshop would not be like the usual Zoom meetings.

Instead, a hired videographer who will ensure upclose visuals and audio at various times during the session so persons will be able to interact with the instructor to clarify and ask questions if needed.

Innovign has hosted physical workshops in Berbice, Bartica, Essequibo See page 21

21

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, May 22, 2020

Virtual workshops ...

From page 20

Coast and Linden and across the Caribbean regions.

The entrepreneur noted that the workshops have managed to see persons from St. Kitts, Bar-

bados, Jamaica and other far fetched areas, he added that thousands have since benefitted from the workshops, some even going on to start their own dĂŠcor businesses.

Blackman added that the business is hoping to expand and offer additional services in social media and management, videography and photography but owing to

the current coronavirus pandemic, said has been put on hold.

The business has been hosting workshops since 2015, offering more than one session a month. The last one was held in No-

vember, after which there was a hiatus. Blackman told The Buzz that the previous workshops covered balloon art and flower arrangements, but since the balloon art requires an electric balloon pump, the

focus is just paper flowers for now.

Interested persons can register and pay by going to: https://bit. ly/34TIpks or contact Blackman by telephone on 641-4032.

22

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday May 22, 2020

23

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday May 22, 2020

Breaking a hoodoo...

FROM PAGE 25

always a good combination for us.

I always felt we were in the game.

Richardson: We didn’t know a hell of a lot about him. He reminded me of Richard Hadlee, in terms of his consistency and being able to make subtle adjustments depending on the bounce in the wicket. His height was an asset as well. We realised he was a force to be reckoned with, and he went on to be one of the greatest of all-time.

Adams: From the very first Test, McGrath set a marker out that he was as good as anyone in the business at the time. He’d ask questions every ball and mentally you’d be tired, because you’d have to make a decision every ball.

Murray: It doesn’t matter what batsman you are, if you keep bowling that in-between length where you don’t know whether to come forward or go back, you will get any batsman out – no matter how good he is

Reiffel: McGrath bowled really well and the bounce in the pitch really suited him. He gained confidence from that game and his career went off from there. We were lucky as well, we had Shane Warne in that attack who really controlled things, even if he didn’t get wickets. He was a luxury – even though we were inexperienced in the pace bowling, we had Warne who could always control the game from his end.

That was vital for us.

Taylor: I remember Glenn bowling to Courtney Walsh and I actually left first slip at one stage to tell Glenn he’s actually allowed to pitch one up to try and get him out. He must have bowled four or five short balls in a row at Courtney Walsh.

Adams: A couple of wickets fall and you think, ‘We’re not going anywhere. For some reason we haven’t turned up for this Test match’. You keep fighting but it’s as if you’re saying to yourself, ‘We’re really going to have to think about what we do here because this one is gone’.

Left only 39 to chase, Australia consigned the Windies to their first defeat inside three days in 30 years.

Taylor: The winning run was an extra. I was facing and it was a no-ball. I remember grabbing a couple of stumps and racing off the field as the crowd came running onto the ground. A bloke tried to grab the stumps off me and he got a bit of a whack in the shin with my bat – I won that battle.

Blewett: We went out on a boat that night and by that stage Carl Rackemann had come over from Queensland’s first Sheffield Shield win ever against my (South Australian) team unfortunately. I remember him getting there halfway through the Test and he was basically in party mode for the rest of the tour really. We had a bloody great time after every Test match whether we won or lost. That was the great thing about the Australian team, we always had a beer afterwards and had good chats – that was part of the culture.

Julian: It dawned on us that we could have six days off. It was open slather. Everything was laid on. We had a great time. I don’t think Carl Rackemann left the bar. It really brought it together as a squad to win the first Test in Barbados. We were all pinching ourselves.

Waugh: We were a little bit surprised by how easily we did it in that first Test match, to be honest. It all happened really quickly and we kind of thought, ‘Did that really happen?’ (Extracted from Cricket.com. au)

24

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday May 22, 2020

COVID costs Man United £28M thus far

(BBC) - Manchester United say the coronavirus pandemic has cost them an initial £28M - and expect the final figure to be far higher.

United revealed their third-quarter results to March 31 yesterday.

Chief financial officer Cliff Baty said they are set to hand back £20M in TV revenue to broadcasters even if the Premier League season is completed.

United lost an additional £8M over the final three weeks of March, when they had three matches postponed.

A total of 11 United matches have been postponed because of the pandemic.

Speaking in a conference call after the latest financial results were released, Baty explained that Premier League television broadcasters would get £20M back from the club

because of changes in dates and kick-off times resulting from the pandemic.

With games called off - including matches in the Europa League and FA Cup - Baty said that sponsorship revenues had “contracted”, and that retail sales had been “impacted” with the club store at Old Trafford still closed.

He added that match-day revenues were “significantly impacted”, with an acceptance games being played behind closed doors for the foreseeable future.

Postponement of Tottenham game ‘cost £4M’.

United have refused to put a figure on what the anticipated overall financial cost of the pandemic will be ultimately - but executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward said the major burden would fall in the

Manchester United were fifth in the Premier League when play was halted because of the coronavirus pandemic.

current quarter, which runs to June 30.

“Our third-quarter results reflect a partial impact that the pandemic

has had on the club but the greater impact will be in the current quarter and likely beyond,” said Woodward.

Revenues for the quarter fell by 18.7% to £123.7M. The club’s debt rose by £124.4M to £429.1M. Baty said the postponement of the Premier League trip to Tottenham on March 15 cost United £4M alone.

“These are unprecedented times and we must recognise that this crisis will not disappear overnight,” said Woodward.

“However, our club is built on a solid foundation. We remain firmly optimistic about the longterm prospects for the club once we have worked our way through what is undoubtedly one of the most extraordinary and testing periods in the 142-year history of Manchester United.”

Promotion, relegation of English football remain if seasons curtailed (BBC) - CLUBS will still be promoted and relegated from the three divisions of the English Football League if seasons are ended amid the coronavirus crisis.

Play-offs will also be played, but with no more than four teams.

The EFL has confirmed that 51% of Championship, League One and League Two clubs need to agree for the campaign in each division to be curtailed.

This could pave the way for the League One season to be cancelled, with teams currently split over a resolution.

Talks last week stalled after at least six clubs in the third tier, including Sunderland, Portsmouth and Ipswich Town, said they wanted to

continue the season.

And BBC Radio Solent understands that Portsmouth will back continuing the season when clubs are asked to vote on the issue.

With only 23 teams now in that division, following Bury’s expulsion by the EFL, any vote is certain to be decisive either way.

If the season is brought to an early conclusion, using the unweighted points-per-game system proposed by the EFL, eighth-placed Wycombe Wanderers would move into the play-offs at the expense of Peterborough United - another of the sides determined to carry on playing.

The new regulations still have to be voted on by all 71 EFL clubs before they can be

CRICKET QUIZ CORNER (FRIDAY MAY 22, 2020)

COMPLIMENTS OF XTRA ENERGY DRINK - STABROEK BAZAAR (Tel: 683-9500) &CUMMINGS ELECTRICAL COMPANY LTD-83 Garnett Street, Campbellville, Georgetown (Tel: 225-6158) Answers to yesterday’s quiz (1)

Andrew Flintoff-5/19 (St. Lucia, 2009) Joel Garner-5/38, Lord’s, 1979)

(2)

Today’s Quiz: (1)

What is the highest individual ODI score made by an England player against the WI to date?

(2) What An(2) What is the highest score made by a WI player in an ODI against England to date?

Answers in tomorrow’s issue

implemented.

While League One could follow League Two in being curtailed, the Championship is hoping to resume in June alongside the Premier League.

Players are set to return to training on Monday but with strict protocols.

What’s the impact on League Two? Clubs voted to end the League Two campaign immediately on May 15, also proposing that no team should be relegated to the National League.

Luton were promoted as League One champions last season.

However, with the EFL including relegation in its framework for curtailing a season early, Stevenage would go down from League Two as it stands.

Swindon, Crewe and Plymouth would be automatically promoted to League One. “In the event a division-

al decision is made to curtail the 2019-20 season, the EFL board is recommending that the League adopts the original framework with the amendments as identified, as there is a strong desire to remain as faithful as possible to the regulations and ensure there is consistency in the approach adopted across the

EFL in all divisions,” EFL chairman Rick Parry said.

“The board has always acknowledged that a single solution to satisfy all clubs would always be hard to find, but we are at the point now where strong, definitive action is needed for the good of the League and its members.”

German Dynamo Dresden return two positive for COVID-19 (BBC) - GERMAN second-tier side Dynamo Dresden have returned two more positive tests for coronavirus.

The Bundesliga 2 club put their entire squad and coaching staff into isolation for two weeks on May 9 after two players tested positive.

Another player and the partner of a member of the coaching staff have also now tested positive for COVID-19.

They will be placed under further quarantine, but the team will still resume training tomorrow.

“The Dresden Health Department acted absolutely

Dresden won their last match before the league’s shutdown - a 2-1 victory over Erzgebirge Aue on March 8.

responsibly and correctly by quarantining our team at home, because it enabled us to break an infection chain within our team at an early stage,” said Dresden’s team doctor team Onays Al-Sadi.

The Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 both restarted on Saturday, May 16 - the first major European league to resume after the coronavirus shutdown - but Dynamo Dresden did not play because their players were isolating.

When they can return to action, only about 300 people - including players, staff and officials - will be inside or around the stadiums on match-days.

25

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday May 22, 2020

Breaking a hoodoo:

‘95 Windies tour oral history, Pt 1 (On the 25th anniversary of Australia lifting the Frank Worrell Trophy in 1995, we begin a three-part feature on how one dynasty ended and another began, as told by those who played in it) THE 1990s proved to be a decade of immense change. The Cold War ended, the internet era began, and an emboldened Australian cricket team arrived in the Caribbean in March 1995 intent on ending the game’s most iconic dynasty.

A collection of a little more than a dozen independent Caribbean nations had banded together to rule the sport for the best part of two decades.

The West Indies had not only gone undefeated for 29 Test series across 15 years stretching back to 1980, but they had played the game with enthralling aggression and a charm that won them fans across the globe.

Even as Allan Border shepherded a young Australian team from a low ebb in the mid-1980s to World Cup glory in 1987 and instituted a hold over England that lasted 16 years, his sides could not have overcome the mighty West Indians.

Despite possessing a renewed vigour and a handful of budding generational talents – the-then household names of Warne, Waugh (x2), Taylor and Healy – the Aussies lost series in 1991 (in the Caribbean) and 1992-93 (at home) by 2-1 scorelines.

A one-run loss in Adelaide in the penultimate match of the latter campaign, which remains Test cricket’s closest winning margin, left an agonising scar.

“It had become a bit of a hoodoo,” Mark Taylor, Border’s successor as captain, told cricket.com.au. “To be considered somewhere near the best, we had to beat the West Indies.”

But the Windies’ aura was increasingly becoming a façade, showing cracks that would grow larger in the ensuing years - many of which have since become gaping chasms.

Captain Richie Richardson returned for the ‘95 campaign after a nearly year-long break to battle chronic fatigue syndrome, to find a bowling attack that had become increasingly dependent on the legendary duo of Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh.

Brian Lara had emerged as a global star having, in the space of three months a year earlier, set new records for the highest Test score (375 against England in Antigua) and the highest first-class score (501 not out for Warwickshire against Durham).

Yet the failure to replace batsmen of the ilk of Viv Richards, Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes (who missed the ‘95 Test series against Australia due to a dispute with the West Indies’ board) meant Richardson’s men were becoming over-reliant on Lara’s runs.

Still, after Australia were beaten in all but one of the five ODIs that preceded the four-Test series and lost two of their key fast bowlers to injury before the main event was underway, the visitors knew they would not prise the Windies’ crown away easily.

First Test, Kensington Oval, Barbados, March 31 – April 2, 1995 West Indies XI: Stuart Williams, Sherwin Campbell, Brian Lara, Carl

Hooper, Richie Richardson (c), Jimmy Adams, Junior Murray (wkp.), Winston Benjamin, Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, Kenny Benjamin Australia XI: Mark Taylor (c), Michael Slater, David Boon, Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh, Greg Blewett, Ian Healy (wkp.), Brendan Julian, Paul Reiffel, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath Jimmy Adams (West Indies batsman): Along with everyone who was looking on, we knew this was an unofficial world championship. Both teams had been getting good results up to that point. We hadn’t lost a series for a while, we’d just come out on top in a series in Australia a few years before in 1992-93.

The team that came out on top would be looked upon as the best Test team in the world.

Steve Waugh (Australia batsman): They were beatable for the first time in a long time. Having said that, the last couple of series before that we had thought that as well and they’d found a way, like all champion sides do. But it was just a feel that the time was right and it was time for change. They were still a formidable side with a couple of great bowlers and a couple of world-class batsmen.

Ian Healy (Australia wicketkeeper): It was a champion team we had been losing to, like everyone else in world cricket. But they no longer held champion status in our minds.

Mark Taylor (Australia captain): We did a couple of things a bit differently. In our training sessions, we took the back nets down at one stage and let the bowlers bowl bouncers. We openly discussed short-pitched fast bowling because we knew it had become a major part of thisseries. In previous series against the West Indies there had been almost an unwritten rule that you didn’t talk about it. Everyone was talking about it behind the scenes but no-one in the team was openly discussing it.

I made a point during a team meeting that we were going to discuss it openly.

We all knew we were going to cop it. If we weren’t going to discuss it openly, we may as well not be here.

Waugh: When I first used to play against the West Indies, there was almost a feeling that they could bounce us and intimidate us as much they wanted to, and we were a bit timid in our responses.

It was just time for us to say, ‘Enough is enough and we’re not going to cop it anymore – we’re going to give it back to you and give it back with an extra 10 per cent’. There was a conscious effort to ruffle their feathers, and particularly with short-pitched bowling because we had copped it for a long time.

Taylor: Glenn McGrath was instrumental in that. Particularly at that stage of his career, Glenn was not a great batsman. So there was no doubt he was going to be targeted back with bouncers, but it didn’t seem to worry him. It wasn’t just about intimidatory bowling. It was about squaring the ledger and if we were going to cop it, we may as well dish it out as well.

Brendon Julian (Australia fast bowler): I got called up before the first Test match, because Damien Fleming had done his shoulder. I flew from Perth to Guyana – it was probably the longest trip I’ve ever done in my life. It must have taken me 50 hours. I got in at about one

o’clock in the morning to the hotel then I had to get up six hours later and play a three-day match against Guyana ‘Tubby’ (Taylor) said I needed to play at least one game before the Test.

We lost the toss and I opened the bowling in about 40-degree heat and 90 per cent humidity. I was down on the boundary dry retching because there was a sewerage canal surrounding the ground. I thought I was going to pass out.

I remember Mark Waugh looking at me from second slip, going, ‘You okay mate?’ Then during that match, Craig McDermott rolled his ankle running home.

Taylor: Fancy going running with me! It was the end of a Guyana leadup game – we weren’t playing in the game, so we went after play. We set off just jogging along, but he (McDermott) wanted to go a bit quicker than I, which was certainly understandable.

When I finally caught up to him there was a gathering of people at the end of this seawall and he was in agony, his ankle had already blown up. I then had to sprint to the Pegasus Hotel to grab (physiotherapist) Errol Alcott. We knew straightaway that was going to be the end of Craig’s series because he was in a bad way.

Julian: So I was playing! There was no-one else. We had no other options.

‘Mocca’ (Carl Rackemann), McDermott’s replacement, didn’t get in until halfway through the first Test.

Paul Reiffel (Australia fast bowler): I didn’t think I would play much of a part. I’d been dropped 12 months earlier and I spent a year trying to get back in.

We (Reiffel, McGrath and Julian) were all trying to establish ourselves and all three of us were so happy to get the opportunity.

Richie Richardson (West Indies captain): I was eager to reestablish myself as captain and a leading batsman in the world. I had been suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome since about 1992. I took a few months off, I changed my diet and I was feeling good again. What we didn’t realise was that Australia were on a serious mission. Even though we believed we were favourites, the departure of Craig McDermott – who was their leading bowler at the time – I believe that inspired the team to dig a bit deeper.

Australia had never won in Barbados and their make-shift bowling attack, none of whom had played more than a dozen Tests, were thrust into the spotlight immediately as Richie Richardson won the toss and batted first. When the hosts slumped to 3-6 inside the first few minutes of the match and Lara and Carl Hooper launched a ferocious rearguard, the tone was set for a high-octane series.

Waugh: At 3-6, it was all just falling our way. It was almost as if it wasn’t real to start with. When we took those wickets, we thought, ‘These guys are vulnerable, we have a chance to really beat them in this series’. The first hour of that Test match was pretty crucial in the outcome of the series because it was reinforced that we had a real chance if we played some good cricket.

Julian: One of the big things for me was seeing Richie Richardson walk out with a helmet on. I couldn’t believe it. This guy was one of my heroes, I’d watched him and Viv Richards, Gordon

Greenidge (bat without helmet). That to me was an endorsement that he probably wasn’t on top of his game. Not that I felt more confident, but it meant I wasn’t overawed.

Richardson: I realised I was coming to the end of my career. I had (previously) tried the helmet in the nets and fielding at bat-pad, and I just couldn’t cope with it. It was very uncomfortable and I had decided I would take my chances and trust my reflexes. But when I realised I was coming to the end of my career, I started thinking it would be really unfortunate if I got hit. So I wore it even though it was very, very uncomfortable.

I never got used to it.

Reiffel: The ground was full and those grounds had such a unique atmosphere. It had been buzzing then the crowd just went really quiet. They’d never seen this happen – or at least not for a long while.

Junior Murray (West Indies wicketkeeper): It was always a good wicket to bowl on first in those days, with a bit of moisture which you could exploit. Once we lost 3-6 on that first morning, Lara brought us back into the game. Brian was our prized possession, our main batter. If he went early, the rest of the batsmen had to compensate.

Reiffel: It wasn’t easy bowling to guys like Lara on those small grounds.

He was one of the world’s best. And Carl had this running battle with Warnie; Carl just wanted to hit him all the time. It was electrifying on that first morning.

Winston Benjamin (West Indies fast bowler): Tactically we were not as sound as we were before. These guys saw that Brian was on the go, so they thought, ‘We have to match him’. I don’t think they understood their roles at particular times as batters. It doesn’t have to be shot for shot with Brian. You can just hit the ball around and give him the support he needs, and in the meantime you’re setting yourself up for a big innings as well. But … all the pressure would fall back on Brian Waugh: I dived to my right, juggled the ball, fell down and when I hit the ground, it was my belief that the ball bounced off my wrist, which was on the ground at that point, and (the ball) bounced up. In a lot of ways it probably looked like it hit the ground. I asked a few of the players around me, ‘What were your thoughts?’ and they said, ‘It looked okay to me’ and I went with that.

Taylor: Steve was quite confident he hung onto it. I was blindsided because we had three slips in place and I had to look through Shane Warne and Mark Waugh.

He juggled it and then he also fell away from us a little bit as well. We couldn’t really see what transpired.

Julian: There were no big screens around the ground then. Lara just looked at Steve Waugh and he said, ‘Yep it’s out – it rolled up my arm and I caught it’.

Lara was happy to go. There was no big controversy when it happened.

Greg Blewett (Australia batsman): Looking at the replays afterwards, I think the ball did hit the ground. That’s what I thought anyway. But when the ball gets underneath you, sometimes you don’t necessarily know. It caused a fair bit of angst. (Waugh) almost fell on it and came

up with the ball in his hands. But I don’t think there was any stage (on the field) where anyone thought he didn’t catch it.

Waugh: I didn’t find out until after play that it had been an issue. We played the whole day, no problems, and then came off the field and the word was going around that it was seen by some in the commentary box as not being out.

Julian: I had four wickets and I remember looking at Tubby and saying, ‘I’m never going to get a five-for again.

You’ve got to give me the ball’. He looked at me and said, ‘No mate, we’ve got to win the Test’. So he gave the ball to ‘Pidgey’ (McGrath) and Warnie to clean up the tail. I always rib him about that when I see him. My one chance to get a five-for in a Test and he denied it Taylor: That first day in Barbados and that first Test match really changed the momentum of that whole tour, from a 4-1 loss in the one-dayers. All of a sudden, we believed we could win and I think people who were watching and reporting on the game started to believe that also.

The West Indies had been bowled out for 195 on day one and although Taylor and Steve Waugh grafted half-centuries in reply the following day, Australia lost their fifth wicket while still trailing by a run.

Healy: Some days I go in and I’m no chance and others they might feed a shot of mine, whether that’s the cut shot or flick off the legs, they might get a bit too straight and it feels easy. It was one of those days. It was quite good fun, which was quite unusual when you’re playing these blokes. And then when you’re ahead, your mind moves from your own batting to winning the match. I got myself into that zone, where it wasn’t all about me; it was about how many we could scrape here to have a great chance of winning Julian: Heals said, ‘We’ve got to take them on. We can’t just nick and nudge them’ - which is what we did. I always liked batting in the West Indies.

Barbados was quick and bouncy with a quick outfield. Once you got a few shots away, it was great. But they had Walsh, Ambrose as well as Kenny Benjamin and Winston Benjamin – those two guys bowled quickly as well.

Benjamin: When you score 195 in the first innings of a Test match, unless your bowlers really come up trumps, you’re going to be behind the eight ball.

Ian Healy’s innings was the turning point. We let it slip. We were even (when he came in) and I reckon tactically we didn’t know what to do. We were found wanting.

Healy (74 not out) and Julian (31) ensured Australia’s lead stood at 151 as stumps approached on day two. With only the dogged Jimmy Adams (39 not out from 121 balls) able to offer an extended second-innings resistance, Glenn McGrath got the prized scalp of Lara and surged to the first of his 29 career Test five-wicket hauls.

Taylor: Glenn was very much like Ambrose was to all of us left-handers. He naturally pitched it on about leg stump, made it hard to score and nipped it away from you. He made life very difficult to score and to stay in. McGrath to Lara was

CONTINUED ON PAGE 23

26

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday May 22, 2020

Bermuda’s Eve signs permanent deal at Spennymoor (CMC) – BERMUDA goalkeeper Dale Eve has signed a permanent deal at English National League North club Spennymoor Town after joining the County Durham outfit until the end of the season in February.

The 25-year-old, 6ft 4in Eve, who starred during Bermuda’s run in the CONCACAF Gold Cup and Nations League last year, made a lasting impression, despite playing in only one league match for Spennymoor Town – a convincing 4-0 win over Hereford.

Eve also impressed in the Durham Challenge Cup. “I’m pleased to re-sign with the Moors,” Eve, whose terms were undisclosed, told the club’s official website.

“For me, playing football isn’t just a job. I look at all the time and energy I’m going to put in at a club and I want to feel comfort-

Dale Eve.

able about where I sign. The Spennymoor family did that for me. I felt like it was an

environment that I could really grow and showcase my potential.”

“The manager (Jason Ainsley) as well as the team have welcomed me and made

me feel like a part of the family. I’m looking forward to what next season will bring

for us,” he added Eve began the 2019-20 season at Bermuda club Robin Hood before returning to England to relaunch a professional career that had previous stops at Derby County, Stoke City and Forest Green Rovers.

“Dale was exceptional when he came into training and had to be patient to get his first league start,” Ainsley said.

“He is a very big presence in and around his 18-yard box and showed in the Hereford game that he has all the attributes and qualities to play a lot higher.

“We are delighted that he has signed for us despite competition from other clubs.”

Spennymoor Town were in sixth place in the league when the season was abandoned because of the global Coronavirus pandemic.

Yearly lockdown would be good for planet, says Tsitsipas (REUTERS) - The coronavirus pandemic has stalled young Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas’s burgeoning career but he remains philosophical about the current tennis shutdown.

The world number six would have been preparing for the French Open that was originally scheduled to start this weekend but was postponed to September.

While he is missing life on Tour, Tsitsipas believes the lockdown has given the planet a breath.

“I actually think they should put

us in lockdown once a year - it’s good for nature, it’s good for our planet,” Tsitsipas said in an Instagram Live conversation for ‘At Home With Babsi’ on Eurosport’s Instagram page.

“I think it will be environmentally very beneficial. Life is such a hustle, and you never get the time to spend with your family and connect with them.

“Now it’s an opportunity to do so. It takes me back to when I was a young kid and I didn’t travel so much then.”

With professional tennis unlikely to return before early August, at the earliest, Tsitsipas says the hardest thing has been training without an end goal.

“I practise every day, of course I don’t put 100% in but at the same time I’m planning on gradually getting better,” the 21-year-old said.

“It’s a process, it’s tricky - you have so much time in front of you and you don’t know when things are going to get back to normal.

Right now, I am taking it easy, I’m not pushing myself to the limit and

I’m not resting.

“There is a good contrast in-between the two.”

It was at last year’s French Open that Tsitsipas was tipped to make his Grand Slam breakthrough but lost out in an epic battle with former champion Stan Wawrinka in the last 16.

Tsitsipas said that defeat still plays on his mind.

“I felt heartbroken. It was difficult one to get over and I felt I was really close,” he said.

Tsitsipas admired American

great Pete Sampras, who also had Greek parentage.

“Pete Sampras was one of my idols. My dad used to watch all of his matches and he was a big fan,” he said.

“I got to meet him at Indian Wells a few years ago which was an astonishing experience. His game style was unique, amazing serve and volley game and he also has a Greek heritage of course.

“He was a great athlete and the guy I believe revolutionised the one-handed backhand.”

WI legend Lloyd wants screening for former players hoping to mentor (SPORTSMAX) - Legendary West Indies captain Clive Lloyd agrees in principle with former players stepping in to provide mentorship for the new generation but has called for a careful screening process to get the best outcome from

the experience.

The 75-year-old Lloyd has been respected for generations not just for his cricketing ability but steady and inspiring leadership, which saw the West Indies lift backto-back ICC World Cup titles in 1975 and 1979.

With the team currently a long way from those heady days of success, several former players have pointed to the issue of mentorship as a missing element in the current team’s success and have been quick to offer their assistance to rectify the prob-

lem. Not so fast, says Lloyd.

“We have to find out how strong they are in certain departments. You can’t just say this guy is going to be this when he isn’t suited for that role. You have to find out what strengths he or she has,” Lloyd told the Mason

and Guest Radio programme.

“I’m talking about players that have done extremely well, have been through the mill and can pass the knowledge on,” he added.

“Not every great player can be a teacher but there

are certain aspects and things that they are strong at, and that is what we have to search for, so that when we have a player coming through and they get to Test level they are not learning on the job they have already qualified.”

27

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday May 22, 2020

BCCI looking at T20 World Cup window for IPL

(CMC) – The Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) believes it can capitalise on the window which could open, if the International Cricket Council (ICC) cancels the Twenty20 World Cup later this year.

The T20 World Cup is scheduled to take place from October 18 to November 15 in Australia but BCCI apex council member, Anshuman Gaekwad, said yesterday he did not believe the showpiece would come off as planned

due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I have my doubts that the T20 World Cup will be held this year,” said the former India Test batsman said.

“About IPL, we cannot think of just now. It will depend on Indian conditions and the window is only during this T20 WC which is October-November.

“If the World Cup gets cancelled or postponed, only then IPL can happen but then

also it depends on what the conditions are in India.”

The BCCI has postponed the lucrative IPL indefinitely following the coronavirus outbreak which forced the government here to enforce a strict countrywide lockdown.

Already, India have confirmed 107 000 cases and 3 300 deaths to be the 11th worst-hit country globally.

However, government have begun to slowly ease the seven-week lockdown earlier

this week with the resumption of some services but while stadiums and sports facilities were allowed to open, gatherings of any kind have been prohibited.

Gaekwad warned that even when cricket returned, it would take on a different complexion because of the new social-distancing measures.

“Cricket is not going to be the same, the approach would be different,” Gaekwad

explained.

“There will be no crowd in the stadiums. Cricketers are not used to playing in empty stadiums. It will be one very difficult aspect of playing a new type of cricket.

“It may take another two months or four months or more to resume cricket. It is not theory that you can read and write. You have to perform so nothing is going to be easy.”

Several West Indies stars

are expected to headline the 13th edition of the IPL with the likes of veterans Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard, along with superstar Andre Russell some of the major drawing cards.

A plethora of young Windies stars like Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Keemo Paul, Sheldon Cottrell, Fabian Allen and Oshane Thomas are also set to feature.

Tokyo Games to be scrapped if not ready for 2021 (REUTERS) - INTERNATIONAL Olympic Committee (IOC) chief Thomas Bach says the Tokyo Games would have to be scrapped if the event cannot be held next year due to the COVID-19 crisis.

In March, the IOC and Japanese government took the unprecedented decision to delay the Games, which had been due to start in July, for a year due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

However, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said the multisports event cannot take place in 2021 unless the

IOC president Thomas Bach at a press conference in Lausanne on March 23, 2020 called for the Tokyo Olympics to be postponed over the coronavirus pandemic, as Canada pulled out of the Games and Japan’s prime minister admitted a delay could be “inevitable”.

(Photo by Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)

virus is contained and Bach said he understood his position.

The novel coronavirus has infected more than 17 100 people in Japan, causing 797 deaths.

“Quite frankly, I have some understanding for this, because you can’t forever employ 3 000 or 5 000 people in an Organising Committee,” Bach told the BBC. “You can’t every year change the entire sports schedule worldwide of all the major federations.

You can’t have the athletes being in uncertainty.”

Bach said the IOC was

committed to holding the Games next year though it had to be prepared for various scenarios including quarantining athletes.

“What could this mean for the life in an Olympic Village?” he said.

“All these different scenarios are under consideration and this is why I’m saying it’s a mammoth task, because there are so many different options that it’s not easy to address them (now).

“When we have a clear view on how the world will look on July 23, 2021, then (we will) take the appropriate decisions.”

Uthappa wants ban on overseas players lifted (BBC) - THE Indian cricket board should lift its ban on players competing in overseas Twenty20 tournaments, says former India batsman Robin Uthappa.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) bars its men’s players from joining franchise leagues other than the Indian Premier League (IPL).

“Please let us go, honest to God,” Uthappa, who won the World T20 in 2007, told the BBC’s Doosra podcast.

“It does hurt when we’re not allowed to go and play.”

The BCCI rules mean Indian players cannot take part in lucrative competitions such as Australia’s Big Bash League (BBL) or the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) while no Indians have yet been signed for the new Hundred competition in the UK. However, female players Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur have played in the Women’s Big Bash in Australia and the Super League in England.

“It would be so nice if we could go and play at least a couple of others because as a student of the game you want to learn and grow as much as you can,” said 34-year-old Uthappa, who has played in all 12 seasons of the IPL since it was launched in 2008.

Earlier this month, India batsman Suresh Raina said the BCCI should change its rules on overseas T20 competitions.

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly took over as president of the BCCI in October, and Uthappa is hoping the board will now be open to change.

“Ganguly is a very progressive thinking human being, someone who has always looked to take India to the next level. He actually laid the foundation for where India cricket is now,” said Uthappa.

“We’re hoping that he will look at this at some point.”

This season’s IPL, due to run from March 29 until May 24, was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Uthappa played 46 one-day-internationals and 13 Twenty20s for India but has not featured since 2015.

Several West Indies stars are down to compete in the IPL.

BCCI looking at T20 World Cup window for IPL See story on page 27

Glenn McGrath took on the role of strike bowler in the series. (Getty)

WI legend Lloyd wants screening for former players hoping to PAGE mentor 26

Clive Lloyd speaks to the media during an ICC Cricket Committee press conference at Lord’s .

See story on page 25

Breaking a hoodoo: ‘95 Windies tour oral history, Pt 1

Mark Taylor with the Frank Worrell Trophy.

(Getty)

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

McGrath was player of the match in the first Test. (Getty)

FRIDAY, MAY 22, 2020