Issuu

FRIDAY 23rdJuly, 2021

' No.106430

Four expectant mothers hospitalised with COVID-19

‘You have to get tough sometimes’

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_President says about

possibility of stricter measures against unvaccinated persons

_reaffirms that all avenues being explored for sourcing of vaccines

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113 employed at Rose Hall Estate _

See Stories on pages

02 | 08 | 14

East Canje abuzz with optimism as recruiting exercise commences _ Contracts inked for cane-transport punts for Rose Hall Estate

Staffers of GuySuCo examine documents presented to them by this young man during the recruitment exercise at the Rose Hall Estate on Thursday

Next budget to cater for enhancement of Linden parents think long-term Johnson and Johnson ‘single-dose’ – plan using ‘Because We Care’ grant to nationwide drainage capacity 05 facilitate children’s online learning 11 vaccine to be received in August 09 PAGE

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, July 23, 2021

113 employed at Rose Hall Estate

_recruitment drive saw over 200 applications By Nafeeza Yahya SOME 113 persons from 220 applications received have been recruited at an employment drive held at the Rose Hall Estate on Thursday, geared towards the reopening of that estate for the second crop in October 2022. The 113 employed include 11 females. Persons between ages 18-59 were eligible for employment. They made their way to the site from as early as 06:30hrs to be registered and among the applicants were retrenched workers, first-timers seeking employment and the unemployed, seeking a stable job. Human Resource Director (ag), Vemen Walters said by Monday a number of persons will commence work. He highlighted that 463 persons are currently employed at the Rose Hall Estate, but by the end of 2021, 880 persons will be employed based on the work that needs

to be done for the reopening. He further noted that overall, 1844 persons are required when the estate becomes fully operational. As such, by October 2022, the estate will hire another 1381 persons. CANNOT WAIT “We can’t wait until October 2022 to employ those persons, so we have decided that we have to embark on this massive employment drive. We are employing severed persons and new persons, skilled persons, unskilled, general labourers; any category of course, we will need to have persons with the requisite skills set in the factory and other technical areas,” he said. While skilled persons will be assets for the factory and other technical areas, Walter said they are committed to train and develop persons to enhance their abilities. “We know for a fact we will not have what we really want, so what we have to do

GuySuCo’s Chief Executive Officer Sasenarine Singh addressing persons at the recruitment drive at the Rose Hall Estate

is train these people and that is why we will employ them as a porter/cleaner. However,

we are going to train them, we are going to develop them to make them craftsmen, to make them fitter-machinist, to make them welders, electricians. We are going to utilise our training centre at Port Mourant to facilitate these trainings. We have been providing to other companies so why is it we cannot provide training to our own people. So we are not too bothered about the skills set. Yes, we would like to have trained people coming into the system, but the reality is that we don’t have them, we will have to train and develop them and we will be putting a programme in place to facilitate those types of training and to have Rose

Hall equipped with the necessary skills set to ensure a very successful reopening in October of 2022,” Walters said. WILL BE TRANSFERRED He further explained that even though harvesting will commence until October 2022, harvesters who are employed will be engaged in harvesting operations at the Albion Estate and will be transferred to the Rose Hall when harvesting commences. Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Sasenarine Singh, stressed that a job is dignity and the government is committed to bringing dignity to the

lives of people. He noted the objective of the exercise is to commence building human capacity to facilitate the reopening of the Rose Hall Estate, to create employment in communities and ignite the local economy. “GuySuCo is committed to bringing economic energy to the Canje, New Amsterdam, the Lower Corentyne area; this Rose Hall Estate is committed to bringing economic energy. This is our corporate social responsibility but more importantly, this is us sending the clear signal that the work plan that we have in place is working, is being implemented and we are working towards delivering on an objective that was set to us by our shareholders, which is to reopen the Rose Hall Estate as the first of the three sugar estates to be brought back to life. GuySuCo is open for business and is working hard towards restarting in the second crop of 2022,” he said. Meanwhile, Rose Hall Estate Manager (ag), Balraj Dhanraj said the employment drive can be described as a one-stop shop and that the reopening is going full steam ahead. The reopening, he noted, will bring hope to the community. “The people that [sic] are working here are giving hope to this community and when that hope is realised, you will see a rejuvenated community, flourishing business, people will have more spending power and the standards of life will be improved,” Dhanraj said.

Persons awaiting their turn to be registered

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, July 23, 2021

‘You have to get tough sometimes’ _ President says about possibility of stricter measures against unvaccinated persons _reaffirms that all avenues being explored for sourcing of vaccines

By Navendra Seoraj PROTECTING the lives of every Guyanese, no matter the cost, remains the mandate of the Government of Guyana in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, President Dr. Irfaan Ali said while exuding the same tenacity when speaking about the possibility of stricter measures against unvaccinated persons. “... this is a pandemic; this is not a joke, and you have to get tough sometimes,” President Ali said in response to questions from the media on the side-lines of an event at State House on Thursday. With over 21,733 infections, and more than 515 deaths since the detection of COVID-19 here in March last year, the government has intensified efforts to immunise persons against the deadly malady. Based on the latest information from the Ministry of Health, some 244,365 persons, or 50.2 per cent of the country’s adult population, have taken the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 129,361 persons, or 26.6 per cent of the adult population, have been fully vaccinated. The overarching goal of the government’s intense vaccination drive is to immunise enough persons so that the country could achieve herd immunity, and practically overcome the pandemic. But with there still being a long way to go, President Ali believes that measures instituted to combat the disease need to be balanced so that no one is placed at risk. To further emphasise his point, the Head of State said: “If my friend here has the vaccine, and I understand different people have different positions, but if my friend took this vaccine to protect himself and his family, and Nazima [hypothetically speaking] decides she is not taking a vaccine, what gives her the right to put my friend at risk?” He went on to say: “So, whatever measure we bring in place has to be a measure that balances that equation,

President Dr. Irfaan Ali

so that the responsible act he [the hypothetical friend] made by taking the vaccine is not subjected to the Nazima’s irresponsibility.” On the topic of stricter

reporting to work. Further, the PSC has urged that the government makes it mandatory for all medical and security personnel in frontline contact

COVID-19 negative test from its customers in order for them to receive service,” the PSC advised. Referring to the proposals from the PSC, President Ali said: “At some point, in order to protect the people, you may see us raise the level for social places like restaurants from 40 per cent to 60 per cent, but we add another tier and say that in order to be in there, you have to be vaccinated. “So, if you want to go to Palm Court, you want to go to the movies, you want to go to these places, then you have to be vaccinated. If you are not vaccinated, then you will have to wait a bit.” The measures being considered are not unique to Guyana, as the global private sector is also keen on employing stricter measures against unvaccinated persons. In some cases, international businesses have made it mandatory for unvaccinated persons, at their own cost, to produce a negative

A nurse at the National Infectious Diseases Hospital at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown, preparing to administer a dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to a local healthcare worker

measures against unvaccinated persons, the Private Sector Commission (PSC) has already recommended that its member companies stipulate that their employees who refuse to be vaccinated provide evidence of a “medically-current COVID-19 negative test” from infection before

with other persons to either be vaccinated or provide evidence of a medically-current COVID-19 negative test. “… and that all places providing hospitality and entertainment services, including restaurants, require evidence of either vaccination or a medically-current

polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. FIND A BALANCE “So, these are all different models that the world is looking at in grappling with a situation, but we have to find the balance,” President Ali related. Locally, while mandato-

ry vaccination is still being contemplated on a national level, the Chief-of-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Brigadier Godfrey Bess and President Ali defended a decision to order the compulsory vaccination of soldiers. Speaking on the sidelines of the same forum on Thursday, Brigadier Bess said: “We have a responsibility to ensure that our soldiers are fit to defend this country at all costs. There is a saying in GDF and our soldiers know that once you join the Guyana Defence Force, it is service first. Our bodies belong to the State of Guyana.” Since the order was issued, 70 per cent of the soldiers and 100 per cent of several units have been vaccinated against COVID-19. As it is now, three COVID-19 vaccines are available to Guyanese, and those are: Oxford-AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, and Sputnik V. In responding to a question on the price attached to the Sputnik V vaccine sourced through the United Arab Emirates (UAE), President Ali said: “My only focus, and the focus of the government, is the protection of the lives of the people of Guyana. And I’ve made it clear from Day One, that I’m going after the vaccines; that we are going after the vaccines. There is no price when it comes to the life of the people of this country; we tried every single source. “We tried every single manufacturer; we tried every single embassy, ambassador, country, state, to get the vaccine. And the only thing that matters to me is that we were able to get it. And I know, I know that it has helped us tremendously in the fight against COVID-19.” The President further affirmed that despite the challenges, every effort is being made to source vaccines. “Some came in last week… we’re hoping very soon another set will be coming, and then it will be coming in batches after that,” the Head of State

related. YOUNGER GENERATION Specific to the younger generation, President Ali reiterated that once Guyana gets the Pfizer vaccine, it will be going to children. In May, U.S. President Joe Biden announced that he will share 80 million vaccines with the rest of the world. Last month, he disclosed that of the first 25 million tranches of doses to be sent overseas, seven million of those will go to Latin America and the Caribbean. The White House had stated that the initial 25 million doses will be shipped from existing federal stockpiles of Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson and Johnson vaccines. A research from a 2000plus sample size in 2020 had shown that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is 100 per cent effective in preventing the COVID-19 virus in children ages 12 through 15. In late 2020, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allowed emergency use of the vaccine from age 16. This year, the vaccine was given to children in the US from ages 12 to 15. Should Guyana receive those vaccines soon, it would be a major boost, especially in the country’s efforts to reopen schools and reignite the education system. “The medium to long term impact of COVID-19 will be felt after you have an assessment of the impact on the education system. Many countries are already getting frightening reports in terms of the impact. “I’ve been travelling around this country. And I know I’ve seen children who ought to have been in school, they’re out of the system. So, we have to get back to school,” President Ali related. To this end, the President said that teachers and parents need to be vaccinated so that the conditions could be created for the physical return to school.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, July 23, 2021

Italy brings in COVID certificate amid spike in infections

Italy is introducing a mandatory COVID vaccination certificate from August 6, the latest country in Europe to announce such a scheme. The move will allow those aged 12 and over who have received at least one jab to access a range of venues, including indoor restaurants, cinemas and gyms. However, after disagreements within the governing coalition, the pass will not be

needed for transport. The virus is surging again in Italy, driven by the Delta variant. The number of new cases doubled over the past week, with more than 5,000 infections reported on Thursday. About half of Italians are now fully vaccinated - but the summer holiday season is dissuading some to turn up for their appointments, says the BBC’s Mark Lowen, in

Rome. Italy has confirmed more than 4.3 million infections since the start of the outbreak, with nearly 128,000 COVID-related deaths. Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi has condemned right-wing politicians who have discouraged young people from being jabbed. He said it was as “a call for people to die”. (BBC)

Many popular websites fell offline on Thursday in a widespread global outage of service. Visitors attempting to reach some sites received

DNS errors, meaning their requests could not reach the websites. Affected services included Airbnb, UPS, HSBC bank, British Airways and the Play-

Station network used for online games. One popular DNS provider, Akamai, reported “an emerging issue” with its Edge DNS service. It has now tweeted that the issue has been fixed and “the service is resuming normal operations”. Internet outage monitoring platform DownDetector had reported thousands of problems from its users across dozens of platforms. Previously it said the issue had been a “partial outage” and some users reported being able to access some compro-

About half of Italians are now fully vaccinated - but many are missing their appointments because of the summer holiday season (BBC photo)

Major websites hit by global outage

mised services in different regions. As some websites began to appear again for users in Europe and the US, others in Asian nations continued to report problems. DNS - short for Domain Name System - turns the human-readable web addresses we use, such as bbc.com, into addresses that point to a computer server somewhere online. Disruptions often mean that a web browser cannot find the content it is looking for. Other affected services reported by DownDetector included Banks such as Bar-

clays, Lloyds, TSB, and Halifax; gaming services including Steam, Call of Duty, and EA; and streaming services on Channel 4 and ITV. It is the second such widespread outage in two months. In June, cloud computing provider Fastly had an interrupted service which took down a large number of high-profile websites around the world, including many international newspapers and government websites. In that case, it later emerged that a settings change by one customer had inadvertently affected the entire infrastructure. (BBC)

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, July 23, 2021

Next budget to cater for enhancement of nationwide drainage capacity _ President Ali says, as ECLAC called in to complete flood assessment

By Navendra Seoraj CONSIDERING the devastating effects of nationwide flooding caused by intense rainfall, President, Dr. Irfaan Ali has said that the next budget will cater for the enhancement of the nation’s drainage capacity. For just about four weeks, between May and June, the country experienced extreme weather conditions which resulted in flooding, that was more devastating in some communities than others. Based on a preliminary assessment, a total of 28,228 households were affected by flooding, some with water entering their homes, domestic animals and livestock in distress, or farmlands inundated. And although floodwaters have receded significantly, some communities are still reeling from the effects of the natural disaster. When asked about the severity of the floods on the side-lines of an event at State House, on Friday, President Ali said: “Well, I think that

the scale of the flood has just been enormous. In terms of the damage to the crops the damage to livelihood the damage to the household. I think just the magnitude and scale in terms of economic loss and financial loss has been enormous.” The precise impact of the natural disaster will be covered by the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) in its ongoing Detailed Damage Sector Assessment (DDSA) on flooding in Guyana. The DDSA covers assessments and analysis across seven sectors, namely health, water and sanitation, infrastructure and housing, agriculture, social services, and shelter and mining in Regions Two, Five, Six, Seven and 10. “You know, we almost completed our assessment, and we are trying to get ECLAC [The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean] to do provide some final help,” President Ali related. Although the assessment

is incomplete, the Head of State was certain that, in moving forward, a plan must be drafted for better drainage, nationwide. To this end, President Ali said: “So, a big part of moving forward and we’ll see this reflected in the next budget and going forward, is for us to come up with the right vehicle, to come up with a plan in creating this opportunity for more, for better drainage, for protection in the future also.” In the early stages of the floods, to mitigate the impact of the disaster, local authorities installed new pumps and drainage tubes; dredged canals and excavated clogged channels; deployed equipment countrywide to conduct emergency clearing of drains and canals, and repaired breaches and damaged infrastructure. The need remains, however, to examine the entire drainage system to identify which areas across the coast would be critical in providing additional output capacity, President Ali said.

Flashback: President, Dr, Irfaan Ali; Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar and other officials listening to the concerns of a Mahaicony Creek resident

An example of the benefits of additional output capacity is Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), where the Hope Canal was pivotal in draining the land and averting a disaster in the region. “What that has shown us is that there is now a critical need for many more of these

canals across the coastland, and this is what the communities themselves are calling for,” President Ali related. While the terrain does not allow for a similar approach to be adopted in hinterland regions, the Head of State said that other measures will be implemented to mitigate

the impacts of flooding in those areas. Among the possible measures is the implementation of guidelines and regulations for the amount of weight a truck could carry. This option was proposed by stakeholders in the mining sector.

Sandals Foundation continues fight against period poverty The Women’s Centre in St Ann was the latest recipient of a sizeable donation of feminine hygiene supplies, courtesy of the Sandals Foundation and the Pack for a Purpose programme. Regional public relations manager for Sandals in Ocho Rios, Lyndsay Isaacs, recently presented the items to Vilma Moncrieffe, the institution’s centre manager. The donation consisted of sanitary towels, tampons, panty liners, bras, sandals, toothbrushes, toothpaste and hand sanitisers and was made following an appeal by the Sandals Foundation for holidaymakers to Sandals resorts to bring these items to help vulnerable women in the Caribbean. This is in an effort to help alleviate period poverty, which sees many young women across the Caribbean having difficulty accessing and offsetting the

cost of these products which they need. According to Heidi Clarke, executive director of the Sandals Foundation, guests who donate to this worthy cause are helping the women in a massive way. “By bringing one or two packs of sanitary towels or tampons with them and signing up to the Pack for a Purpose programme, Sandals guests can do their bit to help women who are living difficult lives. What’s more, they weigh next to nothing, so guests don’t need to worry about exceeding their luggage weight allowance,” said Clarke. In accepting the donations, Moncrieffe expressed her gratitude and shared that, “she will be paying it forward”. Moncrieffe added: “I will be sharing these with some of the other centres in this region. Women everywhere can benefit

from this initiative”. The Sandals Foundation has declared that it has no plans to slow down anytime soon, and as more guests donate, the team will continue

its philanthropic exploits with the hope that period poverty will be drastically reduced and eventually eradicated. (Jamaica Observer)

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, July 23, 2021

The Return of Sugar AGRICULTURE has long been regarded as the ‘backbone’ of the economy. We are blessed with rich and fertile lands, which over the decades have been used to provide us not only with food, but also as an important source of foreign exchange. Sugar, and to a lesser extent rice, have been the main contributors to our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over the years, even though it is true to say that agriculture’s share as a percentage of our GDP has been on the decline within recent years. A significant part of that decline can be attributed to the misguided, and some may argue, vindictive policies of the previous AP-

NU+AFC administration, which closed down four of the seven grinding sugar estates, including the Skeldon Estate on which billions of dollars were spent by the PPP/C administration to modernise. A completely new factory was constructed and hundreds of new lands were earmarked for preparation to provide canes to the new and modern sugar factory. To say that the decision by the APNU+AFC to close down the sugar estates was short-sighted is to put it mildly. The economic and social fallout emanating from the closure of the estates was enormous, as thousands of people were instantaneously thrown in the

breadline. Billions of dollars in machinery, tools and other capital items were allowed to rot, amounting to losses in the billions. Why a government would choose to close down grinding sugar estates is a matter that sociologists and development practitioners would find difficult to find answers to, especially when seen against the background of an environment of high levels of unemployment and an agro-based economy which over the decades has been a major source of our foreign exchange earnings. Sugar, in its better days, was the source of employment for over 16,000 workers and apart from foreign exchange earnings, was also a provid-

er of community healthcare, drainage and irrigation services and a host of other welfare services. Under the APNU+AFC administration, the once thriving industry has been allowed to decay and with it the lives and fortunes of the several thousands of workers and their families who depended on the industry for a living. All of that, thankfully is about to change. Three of the four closed factories are soon to become fully operational and recruitment of staff has already commenced. Already, close to 700 persons have gained employment on the estates as the Guyana government redoubles efforts to revamp the once-shuttered

sugar estates and bring them back to profitability. This is indeed music to the ears of all Guyanese, but more so to sugar workers who once again can see light at the end of what, under the previous APNU+AFC regime, was seen as a long, dark tunnel. The intention of the management of the Guyana Sugar Company (GuySuCo) is not simply that of job creation, but to also return the industry as a viable economic entity through a well-coordinated and prudent management regime encompassing both the public and private sectors. The Rose Hall Sugar Estate is expected to be the first of the three estates to be reopened and is expected to com-

mence operations next year. The management of GuySuCo has already commenced a robust recruitment exercise for the various categories of field and factory workers to boost the existing workforce. These are indeed forward-looking interventions by the c u r re n t a d m i n istration which will restore some backbone to the once ailing sugar industry and for that matter to the economy as a whole. The need for economic diversification cannot be overemphasised, especially at this time when the economy is experiencing some rebalancing to cater for the impact of the emerging oil and gas economy.

Government must ensure it gets value for money spent on roads project

Dear Editor,

I HAVE to commend the government and engineers at the Ministry of Public Works for the good job being done on our roadways. I am a diligent reader

and supporter of anything that seeks to improve our way of living in Guyana, once it is legal. So recently, I found out that the Ministry of Public Works and its Special Project Unit was undertaking $99.5 million in road maintenance in the

Capital City. And this explains much of the work that I see ongoing in various parts of the Capital City. Mr Editor these works are good and would, as I understand it, serve to remedy defects developed during the rainy season.

I hope we will restore the safety, serviceability, structural capacity and appearance of the roads by undertaking this project. Notably also is the fact that Central Government is once again picking up the slack as the Georgetown Mayor and City

Council is responsible for the maintenance of these roads. It is a shame that the Georgetown M&CC cannot get its act together. Guyana seems to be on the cusp of development. This government must make sure it gets value for

money spent on the roads project. I am glad and quite frankly happy that these changes are taking place. Yours respectfully, Attiya Baksh

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, July 23, 2021

‘To _ have healthy food, we need a healthy environment’ FAO Director-General tells G20

THE Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), QU Dongyu, has called on G20 Environment Ministers to step up joint efforts, increase investment and work more closely with FAO for game-changing impacts on the planet. Qu made the call at the G20 Ministerial Meeting on the Environment, which discussed solutions for nature and sustainability -- from combating climate change to building sustainable cities. “Today, humanity faces a triple planetary crisis of biodiversity loss, climate crisis and the impact of the pandemic,” said the Director-General. “To have healthy food, we need a healthy environment,” stressed Qu in view of the global challenge of having to meet a growing demand for food and other agricultural products whilst reducing greenhouse gas

emissions as well as to conserve biodiversity, sustainably manage natural resources, including water, and protect and restore ecosystems. Qu made a strong case for increasing water use efficiency and fostering sustainable water management to address water scarcity and improve water and food quality. The lives of over a billion people are severely constrained by water scarcity or shortages; almost a billion hectares of rain-fed cropland and pastureland are severely affected by recurring drought; and over 60 per cent of irrigated cropland is under high to very high water stress. These water-related challenges could be addressed, argued Qu, with the help of digital innovation, more effective governance mechanisms, and investments. The FAO Director-General also emphasised the need for stepping up biodiversity-friendly approaches,

including more investments in related actions. “Current levels of investment are highly insufficient,” said the FAO Director-General, who added: “Yet, if we could fully fund the goal to restore degraded land, the target of halting deforestation could be achieved by 2030.” The benefits of these would be significant. For example, reversing deforestation will help mitigate against climate change and reduce the risk of future zoonotic spill-overs. Reversing biodiversity loss and land degradation can reap $1.4 trillion per year. NEED TO REPURPOSE “We need to repurpose agricultural subsidies with harmful effects on our climate and biodiversity. We need to invest in the longterm Research & Development to create the innovation and technologies required for producing more with less emissions and within our

environmental boundaries,” urged Qu. Agricultural sectors offer key solutions to the biodiversity and climate crises. To support these solutions, Qu also called for an enabling environment -- including institutions, policies and financial backing for the small-scale producers, family farmers, and Indigenous peoples, who are the true in-situ custodians of natural resources. The recently launched UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, led by the FAO and the UN Environment Programme, provided an “excellent opportunity to mobilise our collective efforts”, noted Qu. He emphasised that FAO’s work was guided by the need to transform agrifood systems, making them more efficient, resilient, inclusive and sustainable -- all with the aim of achieving FAO’s “four betters”: Better Production, Better Nutrition, a Better Environment and a Better Life, leaving no one

Dear Editor,

and/or pet if they leave. In fact, a 2020 U.S. Department of Justice study found in interviews with men who have killed their wives, that either threats of separation by their partner or actual separations were most often the precipitating events that lead to murder. And a 2014 study published in the American Journal of Public Health found 20 per cent of homicide victims were not the domestic violence victims themselves, but family members, friends, neighbours, persons who intervened, law enforcement responders, or bystanders. What about the kids? Many survivors are not sure that leaving would be the best for their children. Concerns may include: Will my partner win custody of the children? How will I support my kids without my partner’s income? I want my children to have two parents. Isolation: Victims are often isolated from friends and families, either by abusers or because they feel “ashamed” of the abuse and try to hide signs of it from the outside world. The isolation contributes to a sense that there is no one to turn. C y c l e o f Vi o lence: Most abusive partners

exhibit a behavioral pattern that has been described as a cycle of violence. The cycle of violence has three phases: the honeymoon phase (when everything in the relationship seems lovely), tension building, and violent incident. Many abusive partners become remorseful after inflicting violence and promise that they will change (beginning the honeymoon phase again). Besides, during non-violent phases, the abuser may fulfill the victim’s dream of romantic love. Often, the victim may rationalise that the abuser is basically good until something bad happens and the abuser has to “let off steam.” This cycle makes it difficult to break free from an abusive partner. Hope for change: Many victims wait for “someday”. They are waiting for the person they fell in love with to return. Most abuse begins slowly and escalates over time. The relationship is not violent all of the time; there may be good days, so the victim waits for the next “good” abuse-free time. As well victims may rationalise that their abusers’ behaviour is caused by stress, alcohol, problems at work, unemployment, or other factors.

A life of abuse: Victims who grow up in abusive homes may believe that violence is a normal part of a relationship. Many victims are also survivors of childhood sexual abuse and feel worthless. Their abusive partners tend to reinforce this low self-esteem and make the victims feel unlovable. Victims are often told no one else would want them. In fact, the psychological damage on victims of abuse is immense and may result in victims having trouble making decisions, feeling dependent on their abusive partners, suffering from depression, or using drugs/alcohol for coping. Lack of Resources: Because abuse is about control, many victims have limited access to resources. They may not have their own source of income due to financial abuse, or may not have access to alternate housing, cash or bank accounts. They may fear that by leaving the abuser they — including children — will become homeless, have to rely on others or be unable to find jobs and childcare, especially since some may not have any marketable skills, credentials and/or work experience. Institutional Respons-

A RECENT newspaper commentary once again raised the issue of why victims stay in abusive relationships. Even though the information is so easily available these days via many platforms, still far too many seek to blame the victim out of a mistaken belief that a victim can walk away at will from an abusive relationship. On average, female victims leave and return to relationships seven times because an abuser often apologises and promises to change after a victim leaves. The victim returns believing the apologies are sincere. In some instances, leaving the abuser isn’t a goal for victims who have invested in their relationships and don’t want the relationships to end; they just want the abuse to end. Other reasons for not leaving include: Leaving can be dangerous: Many people experiencing intimate partner violence fear that their abusive partners’ actions will become more violent and even lethal if they attempt to leave. Abusers may kill them or hurt their children, family members

QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General, at the G20 Environment Ministerial Meeting (FAO photo)

FAO FOR NATURE The planet is losing biodiversity at an alarming rate, and FAO is calling for urgent action to reverse this trend. Putting in action what it recommends, FAO is mainstreaming and scaling up biodiversity-friendly approaches and actions -- from developing policies, facilitating dialogues to implementing projects and supporting countries doing the same -- across the food and agricultural sectors. FAO, with its members

and partners, is contributing to the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework to be adopted at the next UN Biodiversity Conference that supports the sustainable use, conservation, and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems. As part of the efforts of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, FAO will focus on restoring ecosystems to enhance food security, transform agri-food systems, address climate change and preserve biodiversity. (FAO)

es: Police officers do not consistently provide support to survivors. They may treat violence as a “man and wife story,” instead of a crime where one person is attacking another. As well some dismiss or downplay the abuse, side with the abuser, or do not take the victims’ account of the abuse seriously. Very often, victims have told The Caribbean Voice, ‘police a waste time, dem na do nuthin’. Occasionally, we have also been told that when victims go to police station to report abuse, they are laughed at and ridiculed. And, despite the issuing of a restraining order, there is little to prevent a released abusive partner from returning and repeating the assault. Cultural beliefs and practices often play a role in preventing a victim from leaving — religious beliefs, prescribed gender roles and the cultural importance of marriage may prompt the victim to stay. Such beliefs include that women’s identities and feelings of self-worth are contingent upon getting and keeping a man. Guilt: Often victims are worried about the effect their leaving will have on the abuser — “It will ruin his

life”. Or they fear the effect it will have on their family — “It will destroy their reputation”. They may feel responsible for taking care of their abusive partners, feel guilty about admitting the relationship is not working or feel they, in some way, deserve the abuse. Emotional dependence: The cycle of abuse and control often leads victims to feel emotionally dependent. They may be afraid to be on their own, fear what others will say, or feel they cannot take care of themselves. The bottom line is that we need to stop blaming survivors for staying and start supporting them to enable them to leave. By understanding the many barriers that stand in the way of a victim leaving an abusive relationship – be it psychological, emotional, financial or physical threats – we can begin to support and empower them to make the best decisions for themselves while holding abusers solely accountable for their behavior. Yours sincerely, Annan Boodram, The Caribbean Voice

behind.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, July 23, 2021

East Canje abuzz with optimism _ as recruiting exercise commences for Rose Hall Estate

By Nafeeza Yahya THE community of East Canje, East Berbice-Corentyne, which was rendered a ghost town with the closure of the Rose Hall Estate in 2017 by the APNU+AFC administration, is now abuzz with optimism and promise of a brighter future. On Thursday, the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) commenced their recruitment drive to fill their roster for the 2022 re-opening. The exercise was held at the Rose Hall Estate compound on Thursday and commenced at 07:30 hrs and upon conclusion at 16:15 hrs, 113 persons had gained employment. Speaking with the

Guyana Chronicle, several persons, many of whom were former workers of the estate said they are now eagerly counting down the days until they can return to work and get steady incomes to support their families. Rajpaul Jaggai, 48, of Overwinning Village was among over 1181 employees whose services were severed due to the closure of the estate by the APNU+AFC Coalition Government. He said finding a stable job over the past years has been very difficult; he feels his dream is becoming a reality. Jaggai, who is a father of two, is temporarily employed by a private entity but he is

Rajpaul Jaggai

hopeful he can be among the staff at the Rose Hall Estate once more. “It was bitter-sweet for me when I was retrenched. I took a while before I found a proper job. I had to resort to anything I could find to get an income. I even did grass-cutting. From what I see here today it’s

Akesh Rambarran

promising and I am happy to be here today, because I know with GuySuCo, me and my family future is secured,” he said. Akesh Rambarran, 22, of Cumberland, East Canje and a father of one who has been working in the construction industry like Jaggai, is looking for job stability and has applied to work in the planting gang. “I have seen what others were able to achieve while they worked with GuySuCo but since the estate close down, things hard and me barely getting work but now I really glad it

Rudolph Fawcett

going to open back cause I have a chance to make a proper future for my family if I get through with the job,” he said. Rudolph Fawcett, a former cane harvester, said he saw the call for re-employment and decided to apply and is hoping he is considered. “It means well for me because I am not working and to feel that safe with job security is great. I haven’t had that feeling since I left GuySuCo and it caused me to be worried all the time, but if I can get in again I will have peace of mind and be a happy man,” he said.

Hirmati Devi Indrapal, 50, of Reliance Settlement, East Canje has never been employed in her life but has for the past few years been seeking steady employment but was unsuccessful. She related that the her situation has gotten from bad to worse and she is in need of a job in order to meet her needs and sees the opportunity at GuySuCo as the option for her. “I am now 50 and looking to get into the work field, I heard and seen stories of GuySuCo and I believe that is my best option; it doesn’t matter what job, cleaning or anything I gonna take it cause I look all over for work and nobody is hiring cause this time too hard. If I get this work, I know me and many others will make Canje better that what it was before because the estate is what keeps this place alive,” she said.

Sexual offender begs _ God to intercede but lands 18-year sentence instead

FORTY-eight-year-old Wazir Potter was on Thursday sentenced to serve 18 years imprisonment for sodomizing a 12-year-old boy in 2018. Potter, of Garden of Eden, East Bank Demerara, was sentenced by Justice Brassington Reynolds at the Sexual Offences Court of the Demerara High Court. Last month, Potter was convicted by a jury which found him guilty of engaging in sexual penetration with a child who was, at the time, August 8, 2018, under the age of consent. The State was represented by prosecutors, Sarah Martin and Nafeeza Baig, while Potter’s attorney was Teriq

Wazir Potter

Mohammed. Potter, in his defence, told the court that the victim’s story was fabricated, and, in an unsworn statement in court, he said, “I done no wrong; and if I do it, let God come down and cripple me right

here.” According to the evidence at hand, on the day in question, the victim was standing on a bridge located through a track at Garden of Eden, when he was allegedly grabbed from behind by Potter. Potter reportedly covered the young boy’s mouth to prevent him from calling for help, and carried him into his house, where he reportedly raped him for about 20 to 30 minutes. After committing the heinous crime, he reportedly told the lad that he would kill him if he catches him traversing through the track again. Potter was arrested after the child’s family made a report to the police.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, July 23, 2021

Four expectant mothers hospitalised _ pregnant women encouraged to get vaccinated with COVID-19 FOUR pregnant patients at the Obstetric Ward of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) have been diagnosed with the deadly coronavirus, and are currently being treated accordingly. This was confirmed by Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, who explained that the virus was detected after the women were made to undergo a routine check-up, which, due to the pandemic, has now evolved to include the COVID-19 test. “So, mothers would come in and we [would] administer the COVID test just to make sure. And sometimes we find that mothers who are ready to give birth also tested positive, so, we have to take precautions to make sure and also to reduce spread among the nursing staff and other patients within the wards,” Dr. Anthony said in his July 22 COVID-19 update. He told the government’s

Department of Public Information that after testing positive for COVID-19, the women were removed from the hospital’s general ward and taken into isolation. Asked specifically whether a pregnant and/or breastfeeding person can take the locally available COVID-19 vaccines, Minister Anthony responded in the positive. He said definitively that mothers, expectant or breastfeeding, would not be affected if they take any of the COVID-19 vaccines. “The advice has been that during pregnancy you can take the vaccine; however, it is better if those persons who have any doubt, to consult with their obstetrician to just make sure that they have that discussion. And I’m sure the obstetrician would be able to clarify or clear any doubts that they may have. Similarly, mothers who are breastfeeding can continue to do so, it is safe to do it. We encourage pregnant

Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony

women to get their vaccines. We encourage mothers who are breastfeeding to get their vaccines, there is no adverse outcome,” Dr. Anthony insisted. He indicated that given the number of births taking place annually, it is important for expectant mothers to safeguard themselves against the virus. According to the minister, approximately 12,000 to 14,000 births take place

Johnson and Johnson ‘single-dose’ vaccine to be received in August

COME next month, August 2021, Guyana will be expecting a quantity of the single-dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine being manufactured by the United States. This acquisition is being pursued by way of an agreement made with the African Union through the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), said Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony. “We have already paid the African Union to store some Johnson and Johnson vaccine so those would be coming in August,” Dr. Anthony said on Thursday, during his daily COVID-19 update with the Department of Public Information. It was announced in May that the government would be making a down payment of approximately $7.5 million to the African Union, for 150,000 doses of the vaccine; once they are received, the Johnson and Johnson jabs would be the only single-dose vaccine that Guyana has been able to purchase. As it is, the country’s robust vaccination programme has comprised of AstraZeneca, China’s Sinopharm and Russia’s Sputnik V vaccines, all of which require a booster shot, before being administered with the vaccine.

Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony

Dr. Anthony had previously related that once the vaccine arrives, its use would most likely be directed to persons residing in the hinterland regions of Guyana, since many of those communities are more difficult to reach. It was explained then that when health workers are going into those areas, they have to remove the vaccines from its regional storage facilities, then travel for miles into remote villages to ensure that the vaccines are administered. This tedious exercise would then have to repeat

itself a few weeks later, once the second doses of the vaccines are due. Since the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) took office in August 2021, it has embarked on an aggressive vaccination effort, which has so far seen 244, 365 persons receiving their first jabs of the COVID-19 vaccines; this accounts for some 50.2 per cent of Guyana’s entire adult population. As it is, some 129, 361 persons have been fully immunised with both doses of the vaccines; this represents 26.6 per cent of the country’s adult population. Dr. Anthony in his update said that Guyana currently has available, both doses of the AstraZeneca and the Sinopharm vaccines; however, it is awaiting the arrival of another shipment of the second doses of the Sputnik V. Notwithstanding this, the first jabs of the same vaccines continue to be administered. “Once we get those, we will roll it out, but we expect that once we get it, we would be able to have a continuous supply,” Dr. Anthony posited. Even amid the challenges, Guyana has one of the most robust COVID-19 vaccination programmes in the region.

each year, with at least 8,000 occurring at GPHC alone. The minister also gave a breakdown of the COVID-19 hospitalisation, which accounts for 74 persons countrywide. Of that figure, 53 of the patients are confined to the Infectious Diseases Hospital, while 15 are being treated in the Intensive Care Unit, including one child. The others are isolated at regional hospitals throughout the country. As it is, Dr. Anthony related that some 244,365 persons or 50.2 per cent of the country’s adult population

have taken their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 129,361 persons or 26.6 per cent of the adult population have been fully vaccinated with both ‘jabs’. In addition to encouraging the vaccination of pregnant persons, the Government of Guyana has been working to secure the Pfizer vaccine, so that Guyanese children can also become immunised against the deadly virus that continues to devastate the entire world, already taking millions of lives, and destabilising many sectors.

Minister Anthony has insisted that it is safe for pregnant women to take the COVID-19 vaccines

‘Education is power’

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, July 23, 2021

Minister McCoy tells Region 10 parents

PUBLIC Affairs Minister, Kwame McCoy, has identified education as a critical element in personal and national development as he joined his Cabinet colleagues in distributing the ‘Because We Care’ cash grant in Region 10. “Education is power, don’t we all know that. Education can move mountains; education is the way to the future; education is the thing to unlock the potential of our children and the future and take us as a country forward swiftly so,” he said during his address to parents at the Mackenzie High School. He added that “the more we educate our children, the “better their chances of being successful”. The minister noted that despite the COVID pandemic, the government has been

able to fulfil its manifesto promise as it recognises the importance of education and what it means for the country. The pandemic has also posed challenges for education delivery, to which the government has responded by adopting several measures to minimise learning losses. These include the use of online platforms, printed worksheets and an extended Guyana Learning Channel. Minister McCoy said the Government intends to expedite its Information Communication Technology (ICT) programme to ensure every community across the country has Internet connectivity. “We promise you we will work hard, day in day out, to make sure that we can find solutions to make sure of that. We find ways to make sure that first and foremost,

we have a good understanding of the needs of the people as we do believe we have, but notwithstanding that we have to continue to interact with people.” The minister encouraged the parents and guardians to

them to get vaccinated to help achieve herd immunity in the country so that progress is not hindered. Several Lindeners praised the government for the programme. Ines Spear, a beneficiary,

Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Public Affairs, Kwame McCoy

A section of the gathering on Thursday (DPI photo)

use the monies in the interest of their children and urged

said she “thinks that this is something good that the

government is doing as it will help out with the parents and the children because the crisis that is going on in Guyana, it is very hard. So, I hope that the government continue this for the children.” Parvati Mohabeer, a mother of two, according to the Department of Public Information (DPI) said she was “thankful because this

is a great help as there are so much things I have to do for my children.” Initially launched in 2014, the “Because We Care” programme seeks to support parents with children in the public school system. Some $3.2 billion is being utilised this year to benefit 172,000 learners. (DPI)

Oil and gas training centre targeting locals commissioned A NEW oil and gas training centre, which is expected to create new opportunities for locals, was commissioned by Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat and Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat

Indar on Thursday. The centre, located in Middle Street, Georgetown is an initiative of the Guyana Oil and Gas Energy Chamber (GOGEC), a private sector umbrella organisation formed in 2017 to advance local participation

in Guyana’s oil sector. Minister Bharrat said the centre is needed as government and the private sector cooperate to carve out opportunities for local businesses and workers, where possible. “Let me congratulate

Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar; GOGEC Vice-President, Luanna Persaud; Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat; and GOGEC President, Manniram Prashad at the launch on Thursday (DPI photo)

GOGEC, [President] Mr. Manniram Prashad, his executive members and membership of GOGEC on the opening or the establishing of a training centre,” Minister Bharrat said. Minister Indar wished the chamber well, encouraging it to expand its operations. “Just as the country will grow, and new private sector participants enter into Guyana, the umbrella organisation for oil and gas will grow,” the Department of Public Information (DPI) quoted him as saying. The minister also encouraged the chamber and the wider private sector to conduct their own oil industry needs assessments, to

determine where gaps exist for locals to fill. Senior Petroleum Coordinator at the Ministry of Natural Resources, Bobby Gossai Jr. delivered an extensive presentation on the government’s work and vision for local content. He said the driver of local content has to be the private sector. On the government’s end, Gossai said the local content policy is being finalised, and that legislation is also being crafted. “But those are just two key instruments which will drive the process. We are also working on an implementation plan for local content. We are working on the monitoring and evaluation framework to ensure

that systems like this that we have here, where companies are coming in to the country and they are working, [that] they are also contributing towards the growth of the economy,” he said. Prashad said the GOGEC’s membership has already exceeded 60. He said the government has done well to involve GOGEC in numerous engagements to keep it abreast with developments in the industry. He advocated for more representation for the chamber in the future. Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Office for Investment, Dr. Peter Ramsaroop, also attended the launch.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, July 23, 2021

Linden parents think long-term –plan using ‘Because We Care’ grant to facilitate children’s online learning WITH the government injecting over 200M into Linden through the “Because We Care” cash grant initiative, many parents plan on utilising the monies wisely, in their children’s best interest. Amanda Boodram, who resides in Linden, one of the many communities in Region Ten (Upper Demerara-Berbice), told this publication that she will be collecting the cash grant for her four school-aged children, and will be utilizing it to provide internet access to the entire household. She noted that one of the biggest needs her children have presently is access to the Internet, since schools have moved to Online learning. The ‘Because We Care’ grant is valued at $15,000 this year, and the School Uniform and Supplies Grant is valued at $4,000, giving a total of $19,000 for each child in the public-school system. “I have four children in school; two at secondary who are 16 and 14. I feel happy, because I gon’ put some more with it and bring in their own Internet, because we don’t have our own Internet, and it would help them study more better,” Boodram said, adding: “No; I’m not working, but my husband working, and my two sons. The grant strictly going to Internet and light, because I got to get light. I gon’ shop for them later, but I want the Internet and the light now.” Another Lindener, Desna Joseph, who is a single-mother of four children, aged 15, 10, eight, and five, noted that the grant comes at a particularly difficult time, and would enable her to take care of a portion of the expenses she has for the children’s new school year. She noted that she lost her job at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, and since then has taken up vending homemade plantain chips to provide for her family. “I haven’t started any school shopping; I’m currently not working, and it’s been difficult not having a job. But I still gotta do everything to take care of my children, so sometimes I does get through with a little selling,” Joseph said. “I does do plantain chips and sell; and that’s how I’ve been paying my bills. But this initiative came in handy, because at least now I get a little support, so my expenses cut down a little bit. So I’m glad for that,” she added. Joseph collected a total of

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand interacting with parents at the ‘Because We Care’ distribution exercise at the Christiansburg-Wismar Secondary School on Thursday (Ministry of Education photos)

Linden resident, Amanda Boodram at the ‘Because We Care’ distribution exercise at the Christiansburg-Wismar Secondary School

$76,000 from the cash grant initiative for her four schoolaged children. Another resident, Wesley Daniels noted that he will be utilising the funds he received from the cash grant and adding to it to purchase the necessary textbooks for his children while school remains Online. He noted that, as a parent, he believes that this type of initiative can greatly assist any parent with schoolaged children, as their needs were already vast prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and with school moving to Online brought more needs. “All parents know that children’s needs are many, and with the pandemic and children having different needs like ‘Tablets’, computers and Internet access and all that, it’s more costly, especially on parents who aren’t working,” Daniels said. ‘COME IN HANDY’ “I was fortunate enough to still have a job, and I can say still this grant would come in handy for me; that

Mother of four, Desna Joseph

Wesley Daniels, father of three

money I would save I could use it to pay for another device or something else that they would need in the future,” the father of three added. Minister of Education Priya Manickchand reiterated the government’s trust in parents to assess the needs of their children, and utilise the monies from the grant to ensure that those needs are met. “Anything you do with this money is a good expenditure,” Minister Manickchand said. The foregoing statements were made by the minister at the ‘Because We Care’ distribution exercise at the Christiansburg- Wismar Secondary School in response to criticism in some quarters over the government’s decision to provide the grants in direct cash payments instead of the usual vouchers. Businessman Zakir Ally, in a Letter to the Editor in the July 22, 2021 edition of one of the local dailies stated that the “Business community wanted vouchers given to schoolchildren instead of cash.” In the letter, Ally states, “The business community

that deals solely in school items is not happy with the decision by the government in distributing cash for students. The Government

had said they would give $15,000 in cash and $4,000 in vouchers, but gave only cash. Vouchers force parents to buy school materials that would go 99% towards the students.” Minister Manickchand noted that government believes that each individual should have the opportunity to choose what their child’s immediate needs are, and should be able to utilise the cash grants for that purpose. “The parents of Guyana that I know spend their last on their children; you saving up for something that you want. Money gone towards the textbook; we sacrifice for our children,” said the Education Minister. She noted that the government endorses and supports any purchase that will benefit the children, whether directly for school items or for items that would enable them to have a better quality of life. She noted that these items could range from school uniforms to textbooks, or even a television set to allow their children access to the recently-relaunched Guyana Learning Channel. REOPENING OF SCHOOLS The Education Minister highlighted the government’s willingness to have schools reopened to face-to-face learning in the new school year to mitigate the learning loss recorded in the school system. She noted that the

ministry’s recently concluded mock examinations for children expected to sit the 2021 ‘Common Entrance’ examinations have shown that performance has dropped somewhat. She pleaded with parents in the region to ensure that they consider taking any of the three COVID-19 vaccines presently being administered by the government, noting that the only way to safely reopen schools is to ensure that the spread of the virus is minimised. International studies have shown that the longer students stay away from physical schooling, the more previously learned information is lost and forgotten. “ I f y o u d o n ’t t a k e this vaccine, I can’t open schools, and if we don’t open schools, your children will suffer,” Minister Manickchand reasoned. “All these dreams we had of what they will be when they grow up will be affected; it is one of the realities of the times we’re living in. You are their only shield.” Government is currently working to procure COVID-19 vaccines that would be used to vaccinate children ages 12-17. Minister Manickchand reminded parents that they must take all necessary precautions to protect their children and themselves from the deadly effects of the COVID-19 virus.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, July 23, 2021

Vaccine inequity undermining global economic recovery _ according to data release from UNDP, WHO and University of Oxford

COVID-19 vaccine inequity will have a lasting and profound impact on socio-economic recovery in low and lower-middle income countries without urgent action to boost supply and assure equitable access for every country, including through dose sharing. This is according to new data released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the University of Oxford. According to a joint release, acceleration in scaling up manufacturing and sharing enough vaccine doses with low-income countries could have added $38 billion to their GDP forecast for 2021

if they had similar vaccination rates as high-income countries. “At a time when richer countries have paid trillions in stimulus to prop up flagging economies, now is the moment to ensure vaccine doses are shared quickly, all barriers to increasing vaccine manufacturing are removed and financing support is secured so vaccines are distributed equitably and a truly global economic recovery can take place. “A high price per COVID-19 dose relative to other vaccines and delivery costs - including for the health workforce surge could put a huge strain on fragile health systems and

undermine routine immunisation and essential health services and could cause alarming spikes in measles, pneumonia and diarrhoea. There is also a clear risk in terms of foregone opportunities for the expansion of other immunisation services, for example the safe and effective rollout of HPV vaccines. Lower income countries need timely access to sustainably priced vaccines and timely financial support,” the release noted. These insights come from the Global Dashboard for COVID-19 Vaccine Equity, a joint initiative from UNDP, WHO and the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government,

which combines the latest information on COVID-19 vaccination with the most recent socio-economic data to illustrate why accelerating vaccine equity is not only critical to saving lives but also to driving a faster and fairer recovery from the pandemic with benefits for all. “In some low and middle-income countries, less than one per cent of the population is vaccinated - this is contributing to a two-track recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic,” said UNDP Administrator, Achim Steiner. SWIFT, COLLECTIVE ACTION “It’s time for swift, collective action. This new Vaccine Equity Dashboard will provide policymakers and international organisations with unique insights to accelerate the global delivery of vaccines and mitigate the devastating socio-economic impacts of the pandemic.” According to the new dashboard, which builds on data from multiple entities including IMF, World Bank, UNICEF and Gavi, and analysis on per capita GDP growth rates from the World Economic Outlook, richer countries are projected to vaccinate quicker and

recover economically quicker from COVID-19, while poorer countries have not even been able to vaccinate their health workers and most at-risk population and may not achieve pre-COVID-19 levels of growth until 2024. Meanwhile, Delta and other variants are driving some countries to reinstate strict public health social measures. This is further worsening the social, economic and health impact, especially for the most vulnerable and marginalised people. Vaccine inequity threatens all countries and risks reversing hard won progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, the release said. BIGGEST OBSTACLE “Vaccine inequity is the world’s biggest obstacle to ending this pandemic and recovering from COVID-19,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organisation. He added: “Economically, epidemiologically and morally, it is in all countries’ best interest to use the latest available data to make lifesaving vaccines available to all.” Designed to empower policy makers and development partners to take urgent action to reduce vaccine inequity, the Global Dashboard breaks down the impact of accessibility and affordability against a target for countries to vaccinate their at-risk pop-

ulations first to reduce mortality and protect the health system and then move on to vaccinating larger shares of the population to reduce disease burden and re-open socio-economic activity. The dashboard is facilitated by the Global Action Plan for Healthy Lives and Well-being for All (SDG3 GAP), which aims to improve collaboration across the multilateral system to support an equitable and resilient recovery from the pandemic and drive progress towards the health-related SDGs. “Closing the vaccine gap is required to put this pandemic behind us. The dashboard can help scale up and accelerate global delivery of vaccines by providing accurate, up-to-date information on not just how many vaccines have been given, but also the policies and mechanisms through which we get them into arms,” said Dr. Thomas Hale, Associate Professor of Global Public Policy, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford. The dashboard will be updated in real-time as new data becomes available, filling a critical gap to help guide the international community’s understanding of what can be done to achieve vaccine equity. Users are able and encouraged to download all data sets in full from the website.

Herstelling man cops 18-year sentence

_after convincing judge it was manslaughter THREE years after the lifeless body of 32-year-old Lowtie Atwaroo, called ‘Mona’, was pulled from a trench at Herstelling, East Bank Demerara (EBD), her reputed husband was on Thursday sentenced to 18 years imprisonment after confessing to killing her. Daniel Watson, 41, formerly of Herstelling Housing Scheme, EBD, was indicted before Justice Sandil Kissoon at the Demerara High Court for murder. Watson, however, opted to plead guilty to manslaughter, having admitted that on May 21, 2018 at Herstelling New Scheme, he unlawfully killed Atwaroo. Justice Kissoon, in arriving at his decision, considered the

Daniel Watson

background of the case and the plea of mitigation, while also placing weight on the need to deter other like-minded individuals from committing similar crimes. The accused was represented by attorney-at-law Teriq Mohammed, while the State was represented by prosecutors Taneisha Saygon and Lisa Cave.

According to reports, Watson and Atwaroo had lived as a couple for a number of years at Herstelling, but prior to the incident were separated for about two months, allegedly because of Watson’s abusive behaviour. After moving in with her father, Atwaroo decided one day to go spend some time with Watson, but in would immediately regret doing so, as shortly thereafter, persons in the neighbourhood heard her crying out for help, and when they rushed to the scene, they saw Watson holding her down in a trench. In the confusion, he reportedly made good his escape, while Atwaroo’s lifeless body was pulled from the trench. Watson was later apprehended at his home.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, July 23, 2021

UG launches Bachelor of Science mental health nursing programme

THE University of Guyana’s College of Medical Sciences (CMS), on Tuesday, launched its Bachelor of Science Mental Health Nursing Programme aimed at furthering research and boosting the human resources capacity of Guyana and other countries in the region to frontally tackle mental health and other related issues affecting persons. The programme was conceptualised and is being implemented out of UG’s desire to raise awareness and find solutions to the various mental health issues confronting Guyana and the Caribbean Region, a release from UG said. The programme was made possible with support from the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) through Dr. William Adu-Krow, former PAHO/WHO Representative in Guyana, St Joseph University and the Ministry of Health. The programme, which adds to the suite of new programmes being introduced by the university for the new academic year, was launched virtually under the theme; “Maximising the Role of Psychiatric Patient Care Practitioners”. Among those making presentations at the ceremony were Professor Paloma Mohamed Martin, Vice-Chancellor, Xi, University of Guyana; Dr. Emanuel Cummings, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academic Engagement, University of Guyana; Afesha Leacock-Marshall, lecturer, School of Nursing; Dr. Util Thomas, Director, Mental Health Unit, Ministry of Health; Annette Welch, Registered Nurse, Psychiatric Hospital, New Amsterdam and special guest speakers Professor Christopher Wagstaff, Lecturer, Mental Health Nursing, University of Birmingham. Professor Mohamed-Martin in her remarks noted that given the huge impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on citizens, one of the issues that must be considered is the kind of neurological effects of having been infected with the virus and any other effects that might be associated with what is called lung COVID. She added that it is also important to consider the behavioural and cognitive effects of children and persons being isolated out of the social context for such a long time. “One of the things I am personally and particularly concerned about is, of course, the loss of socialisation amongst children and in the classroom setting especially for small children and pre-teens, the loss of teachers’ control of the classroom in a virtual setting and how that’s going to play out when students and teachers actually get back together in the face-toface setting,” the Vice Chancellor explained. MUST LEAD THE WAY Professor Mohamed Martin highlighted that there will be

a lot of effects and things that have never seen before that will have an impact on mental health and wellness, and the University of Guyana must lead the way in terms of researching, analysing and finding solutions on the way forward. “The university would want to be in the forefront of not only in helping to create practitioners to support efforts and helping to solve these problems but also be at the forefront of research.” According to the Vice-Chancellor, one of the most important initiatives, the university has taken is in the area of policy design and implementation. She noted in the last two years, UG has created two new policies – one has to do with mental health issues to guide on how to treat students and staff who display signs of mental health problems and illnesses. Dr. Emanuel Cummings, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academic Engagement, who has been instrumental in the development of the Mental Health Nursing programme, in his remarks noted: “As a university, we consider mental health as an important aspect, long before COVID, COVID has added more issues to the needs of mental health. But as a society, there are lots of issues; substance abuse, domestic violence and all those things where there is a need for counselling in our society, where we don’t have enough doctors.” Additionally, Dr. Cummings posited that nurses have always been the majority of healthcare workers and the new programme by itself will create an opportunity even as the government thinks in terms of reducing institutionalised treatment for persons that need this kind of service. He added that his wish is to see a mental health nurse located in each one of the primary healthcare facilities across the country. “This programme is indeed a prize; it’s a gift that the university is giving to this country. This country needs mental health nursing to complement with the training we started in psychiatry

not so long ago. And to make the whole aspect of attending to mental health more, not only affordable, but accessible to the vulnerable population,” said Dr. Cummings. Dr. Noel Holder, a representative of the Guyana School of Nursing, provided a brief background that led to the development of the programme and recognised those who contributed to helping it come to fruition. He provided statistics that supported the necessity of such a programme at the university level. “It is a pleasure to be a part of this historic launch of the Bachelors of Science Degree in Mental Health Nursing. We have gone through this process

for several years. Today, we have a document that we are ready to launch, a document that went through the policy committee and the academic board and they would have all given it their blessings. We hope that as we initiate this conversation that it will foster human interest in addressing mental health issues in the spaces in Guyana.” Professor Christopher Wagstaff, Lecturer, Mental Health Nursing, University of Birmingham, has years of experience in addressing mental health-related issues and has been supporting UG with the development of the programme. He explained that there are different ways in which mental illness can be managed.

POOR REACTION “We have a huge population that has a really poor reaction to the COVID crisis and we see a lot more eating disorders, anxiety disorders, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, self-harm, in response to being locked and having a lack of social contact for the past 18 months. Hopefully, we can generate the services to give these young people the support they need,” said Professor Wagstaff. Dr. Util Thomas, Director, Mental Health Unit, Ministry of Health provided an update on behalf of the Ministry of Health as it relates to where Guyana is in its efforts to minimise mental health stigma and neglect. He

noted that the Mental Health Unit that was launched in 2016 has been effective in tackling several issues surrounding mental health care in Guyana and has several strategic plans in place to further expand the work being done. Present at the launch also was fourth-year BSc Nursing student and Psychiatric Nurse at the National Psychiatric Hospital, Annette Welch, who expressed her excitement for the programme, noting that she has been waiting in anticipation for the course because it will provide her with the tools needed to effectively support patients with whom she interacts. Afesha Leacock-Marshall, lecturer, School of Nursing in her remarks, explained that the Mental Health Psychiatric Nursing Programme is a twoyear post-RN programme. The programme consists of theory and practice, and it also has a research component. Persons enrolled in the programme will be required to choose electives in the areas of psychology, business and languages. Applications are currently open and persons could use the following link to complete the application process: https://turkeyenonline.uog. edu.gy/srms/student/prospective/ application/login.php Dr. Cecil Boston, Dean, College of Medical Sciences, chaired the programme and expressed gratitude to all the presenters and encouraged those interested to sign up for the programme which begins in October 2021.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, July 23, 2021

Contracts inked for cane-transport punts for Rose Hall Estate _ as gov’t moves forward with planned reopening

THE government has made clear its intention to move forward with the planned reopening of the Rose Hall Estate and the overall resuscitation of Guyana’s sugar industry. On Thursday, the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) signed four contracts for the supply and delivery of assorted materials for fabrication of cane-transport punts or barges with David Persaud Investments Ltd and Gafsons Industries Ltd totalling $284,157,050. Following the closure of the Rose Hall Estate by the previous administration in 2017, approximately 120 of the cane-transport punts that belonged to that estate were transferred to the Albion Estate. The punts that remained at the estate were not maintained, and as such, have deteriorated to the point that they cannot be salvaged. To commence grinding operations in 2022, the Rose Hall Estate will require 450

Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha

Chief Executive Officer of National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), Fredrick Flatts, and a contractor signing one of the contracts

new cane-punts to accommodate its daily expected output. GuySuCo routinely budgets for the replacement of aged cane transport punts, at a rate of 10 per cent per annum, given that each new punt has an expected useful life expectancy of 10 years. Similarly, the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) signed a contract with VR Construction Inc. for the sum of $84,561,100 for the supply of a pontoon barge. Additionally, the drainage authority

also signed a contract with Guyana Tractor & Equipment (Guytrac) totalling $60,000,000 for the supply of two long-reach hydraulic excavators. With the acquisition of these pieces of equipment which will be operated in the Pomeroon River, Region Two, the NDIA will now be better equipped to execute drainage works required in swampy peggas soil, which

creek or purchase water. The CEO explained that the water source for Bartica is the Mazaruni River and this water is treated at the Bartica Water Treatment Plant and supplied to customers. However, the Five Miles community being at such an elevated level makes it difficult for the plant to serve the area. Distribution pipelines have already been laid in the community and upon completion of the remaining works, residents will be required to apply for individual service connections. The provision of water to the Five Miles community forms part of an overall plan to ensure that all residents throughout Guyana have access to an adequate water supply. Meanwhile, the team also ventured to various water sources within and surrounding the Five Miles area. The utility company’s

CEO explained that GWI is examining the feasibility of utilising alternative water sources to not only serve the Five Miles area, but Bartica as a whole. There is one main water source that is being examined and Baksh stressed that GWI wants to ensure that the source will be able to provide a sustainable water supply. He expressed hope that the project will be a success. If proven feasible, he said, the company can commence work next year, the release noted. Two representatives of the Hydrometeorological services of the Ministry of Agriculture were also present to submerge measuring instruments to ascertain the water levels from now until the end of 2021. Further, the CEO explained that this plan takes into consideration 25 years of population growth in Bartica.

under normal conditions is difficult to operate an excavator without the risk of the machine sinking. These machines will also be used to assist the NDIA with executing a blocked drainage programme within the Pomeroon area. Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, said that the contracts being signed were critical to advance the government’s efforts to develop

Guyana’s agriculture sector. “These contracts that are being signed today are critical. Close to $430 million in contracts are being signed for critical works in two critical entities. The NDIA, over the last three months, has been under a lot of strain in terms of getting our country back to normalcy following the onset of the May-June rainy period which resulted in flooding in many parts of the country. Furthermore, the President would’ve committed to the people of Pomeroon to deliver a pontoon with excavators so that we can constantly desilt the mouth of the river. We know that that area is prone to flooding especially when we have heavy rainfall or high tides. We are therefore making the necessary investments to mitigate flooding in those areas,” Minister Mustapha said. “As it pertains to GuySuCo, I’ve said many times that the government made a commitment to the people of this

country that we will reopen some of the closed sugar estates so that we can create employment and contribute to the country’s GDP and the economy as a whole. Those of you who were awarded contracts for the supply of various materials for GuySuCo must understand that those activities are critical to the timely reopening of that estate. People are looking forward for us to deliver and you will have to play your part. For this year $22.6 billion was allocated to the agriculture sector. This is a large investment and I am hoping that at the end of this year everyone will be satisfied and we will be able to deliver and complete our work programme for the year,” Minister Mustapha said. Minister Mustapha also reminded contractors that the ministry has no intention of extending contract deadlines, adding that substandard work will not be accepted.

Five Miles may soon receive potable water

CLOSE to 100 households in the community of Five Miles, Bartica, Region Seven may soon benefit from access to potable water after five years as Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) advances the drilling of a new well in the community. GWI’s Chief Executive Officer, Shaik Baksh, and a technical team visited the region on Tuesday, where they observed the drilling of the new well by the company’s in-house drilling team. The utility company is expecting to ascertain the productivity of the well within the next month, a release said. The well drilling is based on the company’s strategic plan and a recent commitment made by Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal, to ensure that potable water is provided to the community within the shortest possible time. Currently, residents depend on the rain, a nearby

GWI’s CEO, Shaik Baksh and team observe the well drilling at Five Miles

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, July 23, 2021

Hashim Alli For 39 years, the Miss India USA pageant has been an incredible platform to showcase the beauty, talents and poise of Indian-origin women and girls living in the United States. In addition to the list of delightful contestants, the pageant also attracts a line-up of reputable judges from all across the world. This year, for the first time, the name of a Guyanese has been included on that prestigious list; he is none other than the effervescent, Hashim Ali – a local performer and the holder of the Miss India Guyana Franchise. Ali, a young father of

– the first Guyanese to judge USA’s Miss India pageant

one, said that he felt wonderfully privileged to have been asked to serve and share his expertise with the notably diverse panel, featuring a host of big names in the pageantry world of Florida, Los Angeles and Washington, USA, as well as St. Maarten. The panel included, as its Chief Judge, the iconic Diana Hayden, a gifted actress and the third Indian woman to win the Miss World Pageant (1997). This year, the pageant was hosted at the Royal Albert Palace in New Jersey over the weekend. It comprised three unique categories – Miss India, Mrs. India and

Miss Teen India USA. The dazzling affair attracted a total of 61 glamourous participants drawn from 30 States across the US. According to Ali, the contestants were not only stunning, but their stories were impactful, and they all boasted of vibrant, charismatic personalities that captivated the audience’s attention from the onset. “Even with such richness and expertise on the panel, it was surely not an easy job as [the] 61 delegates took to the stage and mastered the art of pageantry in four rounds,” Ali dished. Amid all the glitz and glamour, the contestants also

brought to the stage, a range of exquisite talents, and a rich bank of undeniable intelligence. At the end of it all, Vaidehi Dongre, born in India and raised in America, was crowned Miss India USA 2021. Shortly after winning the coveted crown, the 2 5 - y e a r- o l d University of Michi g a n grad-

uate took to Instagram to express how honoured she was to represent Indian immigrants living in the US. “This journey has been a whirlwind

but at the root of it, I have always strived to be a role model for young girls, celebrate my rich South Asian heritage and leave a lasting positive impact on my community,” the young beaut y Continued

on page 17

Hashim Ali poses with one of the runners-up for the Miss India USA Competition

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, July 23, 2021

Hashim Alli... From page 16

said. She also paid a heart-warming tribute to her parents. “Aai and Baba, the values you inculcated in me and Vineet at such a young age have given me strength in times of hardship and light in times of darkness. Making sure that I learned the roots of where I come from: Marathi, Hindi, reading & writing, mythology, culture, food, love, spirituality, all whilst living in the US was no easy feat, thank you,” Dongre wrote. Meanwhile, 20-year-old Arshi Lalani, who dazzled everyone with her performance and confidence, was declared the First Run-

ner-Up; reports are that she is currently battling a brain tumour. Nonetheless, the talented 17-year-old Navya Paingol, also from Michigan, captured the Miss Teen India USA title, while Swahty Ashok from Connecticut was adjudged Mrs India USA. The winners of all three categories will receive complimentary tickets to travel to Mumbai, India as contestants of the 2021 Miss India Worldwide pageant slated for later in the year. At that final leg of the pageant, Dongre, Ashok and Paingol will go headto-head with the winners of the Miss India Guyana pageant, which is slated for September.

The three Miss India USA winners

Guyana’s Hashim Ali, holder of the Miss India Guyana franchise, joins the contestants and his colleague judges on stage

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, July 23, 2021

THE REVIEWS ARE IN!

Brunching at Parc Rayne Apparently, the genius who invented brunch was an English writer named Guy Beringer, who suggested the coining of a “new meal” that is served between breakfast and lunch, starting off with teas, coffees and light goodies, before moving on the heavier lunch fixtures as

a means of curing “the ol’ Sunday morning hangover.” Brilliant, right? We think so too, that’s why we have been scouting for the hottest brunch spots in and around Georgetown. Recently, we came across the delight that is Sunday Brunch at Parc Rayne, pop-

ularly known as the ‘RentA-Tent’ place at Rahaman’s Park, East Bank Demerara. Not only is this a beautiful, elegant and inexpensive spot, but they also have some of the most courteous employees who serve up a variety of delicious food as part of the establishment’s

weekly fluctuating menu. Of all the brunch spots we know, they have the widest variety of food; it is almost like an ‘all-you-caneat’ buffet!’ – perhaps the perfect way for patrons to eat and drink their money’s worth. And take it from us, the food matches the ambiance. Well, in most cases, because to be honest, we didn’t quite like their jerked chicken the last time we were there, but

we were definitely impressed by their scrumptious baigan choka with paratha roti. So much so that we’re hoping that they would add it to their list of fixed dishes which already comprise of mouth-watering Pepperpot and fluffy omelettes. Added to that, their menu of tinkling drinks, including their signature mimosas, just keeps us going back. Safe to say, they have earned our metaphorical seal of approval.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Please be advised that our reviews of all pieces, places and things are done independently, and without the input of the owners, authors and/or creators. If you have suggestions of pieces, places and things that you, our readers would want us to review, please call 625-3257, and we’d be happy to oblige.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, July 23, 2021

Guyana’s ‘Talent Search’ finds 10 winners In a pleasant twist, the Guyana Talent Search has found not one, not two, not even three, but 10 winners! Yes, we were surprised too, but we are definitely excited for it. The competition, hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, has seen all ten finalists being adjudged winners; they include Roberto Teekah, Kaysheena Bindiya Singh, Cassie Adams, Curtela Lewis, Joel Dudnath, Logan Marley, Levi Simpson, Nia Allen, Sonia Singh, Quanisha Patterson and Darius Austin. The Buzz on Thursday,

form for him to explore his individualistic talent as a pannist. It also enabled him to become more comfortable and confident playing on his own, as against retaining his most familiar post as a member of the aforementioned orchestra. “Playing in a group is largely dependent of how one applies his or herself,” Austin related. E v e n t h o u g h A u s t i n ’s charms made his performances seem effortless and easy, he told the Buzz that every stage appearance required much hard work. “I came into this competition with one aim, and that

caught up with the lone steelpan player in the competition, Darius Austin who told of his experience throughout the event and how he felt, having been named a winner of the competition. “It was beyond joy; it is beyond happiness. It was like I put in all the hard work and it finally paid off. I cannot find words to describe my feelings,” an ecstatic Austin told the Buzz. He noted that now that the competition is over, his aim is to work hard and gain recognition for his skill, countrywide. He recalled the tremendous support that he would have received from his family and a few of his friends, throughout the life of the competition. Austin, a valued member of the Parkside Steel Orchestra, explained that the competition provided a much-needed plat-

The talented Darius Austin was to show everyone that pan can hold a vibe in any genre of music,” a contented Austin said. He believes that through the competition, he would have been able to accomplish his goal “with the highest marks.” Another soulful winner of the competition was Sonia Singh, a young, vibrant vocalist who has undoubtedly managed to capture the audience’s attention and win the judges’ hearts. “I have gained a lot of experience [from the competition]; I have learnt a lot of things from it, like in terms of the singing, how to actually keep my vocals going and all those things,” Singh said. She explained that even though stage fright is quite common among many performers, it was not a fear she faced. “When I entered the competition be-

The singing Sonia Singh

The ten deserving winners of Guyana Talent Search

cause I had experience from other competitions,” she related. Singh said that she was overjoyed to have been named one of the winners of the competition. “It made me feel amazing,” she added. The government-sponsored competition seemed to have also provided much motivation for Singh to move on to more reputable stages such as the one that accommodates the annual Chutney Monarch Competition, which has been an undeniable springboard for many of the biggest names in the local music industry. We at the Buzz believe that all the winners of the Guyana Talent Search were most deserving, and we look forward to seeing them all rise to fame far beyond this land of many waters.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, July 23, 2021

Providence ready to ... FROM BACK PAGE

The last First-Class fixture was March 2020 between Guyana and Barbados after which the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to activities. All 300 chairs in the Presidential Box had upholstery redone; the dressing room in the players’ pavilion, CWI office in the main pavilion, press box area and the venue operations centre are among the areas that got rehab works in a “short space of time. Built in 2006 for the 2007 50-over World Cup, the stadium has a capacity of approximately 15 000 Meanwhile, head curator, Wazim Habib, indicated to News Room that if there is favourable weather over the next two weeks it

will have a significant impact on the quality of pitches on offer for the three

Assistant Manager at Guyana National Stadium, Providence, Mahinder Ghanshim (Photo: News Room)

Twenty20 Internationals between West Indies and Pakistan.

“Since we re-laid the main pitches (in 2016) on the main square, the scores have improved a lot and we are looking at 170-180, which is a good score on this track,” he added. The head curator emphasised preparation is important and has fast-tracked such works, but “it is all about the weather now”, he said. Additionally, the Government of Guyana is yet to announce what decision they have made as regards a percentage of fully-vaccinated fans into the stadium for the three matches. Apart from Barbados, all the other host countries, on ongoing home schedule for West Indies, allowed a percentage of fully-vaccinated patrons into the venues.

Tour doubts after member... FROM BACK PAGE

staff,” Grave said. “This decision was taken after the toss at Kensington Oval once the result was known and confirmed by the Ministry of Health officials. “The established COVID-19 protocols stipulate that all members of both

teams and match officials and all the TV crew will return immediately to the team hotel and will be re-tested later today.” He added: “In the meantime, everyone will have to remain in isolation in their rooms until those PCR tests results are confirmed. “We’ll make a further decision when the match

South Africa Racing Tips

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13:45 hrs My Laureate 14:45 hrs Rock Chant 15:15 hrs El C Wells English Racing Tips Ascot 08:20 hrs Zestful 08:55 hrs Ehraz 09:30 hrs Speedo Boy 10:00 hrs Indigo Girl 10:35 hrs Lost Eden 11:10 hrs Tis Marvellous 11:40 hrs Havagomecca Newmarket 12:22 hrs Libby Ami 12:52 hrs Serenity 13;22 hrs Fall Of Rome 13:52 hrs Wishaah 14:22 hrs Aurifferous 14:52 hrs Model Actress 15:22 hrs Bhubezi York 13:00 hrs De Jame Paso 13:30 hrs Citron Major 14:00 hrs Silky Wilkie 14:30 hrs Alpine Star 15:00 hrs Scottish Summit 15:30 hrs Sir Titus

can be replayed at a later date once all the test results are back in, which will hopefully be by tomorrow morning.” Teams arrived here last weekend following a five-match Twenty20 series which was successfully staged at the Darren Sammy National Stadium in St Lucia. They travelled on the same charter flight from St Lucia but have been staying on different floors of the team hotel here. Tuesday’s first ODI came off uneventfully with Australia thrashing the hosts by 133 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. A decision was taken prior to the start of the series that matches would be played behind closed doors, especially with the small island experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases. Only last week, health officials tightened COVID measures, including the re-implementation of a 22:00hrs to 05:00hrs curfew, to mitigate the spread of the virus. As of Wednesday, there were 173 persons in isolation, with 4 319 cases recorded since the start of the pandemic last year, along with 48 deaths. The third ODI was scheduled to be played tomorrow.

Bowlers, Naim star in comfortable Bangladesh win

BANGLADESH made a trifecta of winning their 100th match in all three formats after beating Zimbabwe by eight wickets in the first T20I. Their pace bowlers took eight wickets to engineer a batting collapse, before Mohammad Naim and Soumya Sarkar put together the team’s first-ever century opening stand in the format. Zimbabwe paid the price once again for fielding errors and conceding too many extras, but mainly lost out due to a batting collapse. They slipped from 91 for 2 to be bowled out for 152, at least 40 short of what they looked set to get. Naim’s 66 not out - his second T20I fifty - was a mature effort, in which he not only played the role of the aggressor upfront but also finished the game off. The match was sealed when he slapped a boundary over mid-off in the penultimate over. He had Nurul Hasan at the other end when victory was achieved. Naim’s three fours off Richard Ngarava in the fourth over fuelled Bangladesh’s innings. Sarkar joined in the fun by then whacking two big sixes, eventually getting to a half-century off 45 balls.

Mohammad Naim hit an unbeaten 66 for Bangladesh.

He fell soon after as Regis Chakabva’s back flick. after collecting a throw from the deep. caught Sarkar short of the crease as he tried to complete a second run. Zimbabwe could have had Naim on 49, but for Sikandar Raza’s misjudgment when he stopped a throw from the deep, with Naim well short of the crease behind him. Zimbabwe eventually effected a run-out when Blessing Muzarabani scored a direct hit from short third man to dismiss Mahmudullah, but it was all too late. Earlier, Nurul Hasan played a critical role in bringing Bangladesh back into the game after Regis Chakabva took off like a bullet train, hitting a 22-

ball 43. He drove, pulled, scooped and nurdled runs during the course of a second-wicket stand worth 64 with Wessley Madhevere. Just when Zimbabwe looked set, Madhevere lobbed a simple return catch to Shakib in the ninth over. But Zimbabwe started to decelerate when Hasan’s throw towards the non-striker’s end ran-out the rampant Chakabva in the eleventh over. Raza fell later in the same over, caught behind off Shoriful Islam to turn a wobble into a full-blown collapse. After a little recovery, Zimbabwe lost their last four wickets in 11 balls. After Mohammad Saifuddin bowled Luke Jongwe, substitute Shamim Hossain ran hard to his left at long-on to take a brilliant catch to leave batter Ryan Burl stunned. Apart from Islam, Rahman struck some late blows to ensure Bangladesh finished well short of what they would have aimed for. They also didn’t utilise one full over of their innings. Eventually their collapse 8 for 61 in 13 overs - cost them an opportunity to take a lead in the series. (Cricinfo)

South Africa beat Ireland again to clinch T20 series IRELAND lost the second T20 international to South Africa by 42 runs in Belfast to give the tourists an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. South Africa’s David Miller hit an unbeaten 75 runs to help the tourists out of early trouble before their spinners then restricted Ireland to secure a 42-run victory in Belfast. Miller was in belligerent form, scoring off 44 balls, to lift South Africa to 159-7 after they won the toss and elected to bat. Ireland were bowled out for 117 in reply, as spinners Tabraiz Shamsi and Bjorn Fortuin took three wickets each. South Africa lost two wickets in the first four balls of the innings and were in trouble at 58-5 but Miller led a fightback, taking full

David Miller hit an unbeaten 75 for South Africa.

advantage of being dropped on 19 runs to see them to a respectable score. He hit four sixes in the final over. Ireland failed to gain any traction in their reply and were strangled by the spinners with Shamsi underlining his ranking as the top T20 international bowler with 3-14 off four overs.

Fortuin took 3-16 while Shane Getkate top-scored for the Irish with 24 before they were bowled out with three balls to spare. South Africa won the first T20 international in Dublin on Monday by 33 runs. The last game of the series is also in Belfast tomorow.

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, July 23, 2021

The Hundred opener breaks TV and crowd records THOUSANDS of ticket sales for the 100-ball competition have seen The Hundred off to a successful start. A terrestrial audience of 1.6 million watched the opening game of The Hundred, making it the most watched women’s cricket match ever televised on the BBC. Oval Invincibles beat Manchester Originals at the Kia Oval on Wednesday. In a game streamed live

180 000 times on iPlayer, Invincibles’ captain Dane van Niekerk hit 56 not out, sealing victory with two balls remaining. The Originals had set the hosts a target of 136 to win. Broadcast simultaneously on BBC Two and Sky Sports, the peak combined viewing figures of 1.95 million meant the game broke UK viewing records for women’s cricket - surpassing the peak audience of 1.24 million who watched

last week’s England v India T20. More than 3.8M people watched at least three minutes of the game across all channels and nearly 35% of the audience was female. The crowd of 7 395 in attendance at the Oval also broke the modern-day record for a domestic women’s match. They saw the Invincibles lose four early wickets in their run chase, with the home side 36-4 before van Thousands of ticket sales for the 100-ball competition have seen The Hundred off to a successful start.

OLYMPICS SOCCER

France, Argentina suffer shock defeats, Brazil win TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) - France’s Olympic men’s soccer campaign got off to a dreadful start when they were thrashed 4-1 by Mexico while Argentina suffered a shock 2-0 loss to Australia as the group stage kicked off yesterday. Brazil striker Richarlison scored the first hat-trick of the men’s tournament as the defending champions held off a late rally from Germany in a 4-2 win at Yokohama’s International Stadium. Hosts Japan made a winning start courtesy of a late strike from midfielder Takefusa Kubo in a 1-0 victory over South Africa, who were dealing with COVID-19 cases on the eve of the Group A match. It was a day to forget for Sylvain Ripoll’s France who collapsed in the second half when Alexis Vega, Sebastian Cordova, Uriel Antuna and Erick Aguirre netted for Mexico at the Tokyo Stadium. France, chasing a first Olympic medal since winning gold in 1984, now face a daunting task to qualify from Group A ahead of games against South Africa and hosts Japan. “The first thing we now have to do is digest this disappointment,” Ripoll said. “We only have two days. There’s no time to waste.” In their first Olympic campaign since Beijing 2008, Australia took a surprise lead against twice gold medallists Argentina inside 14 minutes when winger Lachlan Wales scored from close range. Argentina’s problems

Niekerk and Marizanne Kapp put on a partnership of 73. The Hundred’s managing director, Sanjay Patel, said the new format’s debut was “a thrilling match” with “a

brilliant atmosphere inside the crowd with lots of families and children”. “The Hundred is all about throwing cricket’s doors open for everyone, and the response to last

night’s game has been remarkable. We know this is only the first game and there is a still a lot of hard work ahead,” he added. (BBC Sport)

Vihari, Jadeja get batting time; India tour game ends in draw

Brazil striker Richarlison scored thr first hat-trick of the men’s tournament.

were compounded late in the first half when left back Francisco Ortega was sent off after two quick-fire yellow cards. The South American side never quite recovered from the setback, as substitute Marco Tilio added a second for the Olyroos in the 80th minute to seal a memorable win. SPAIN STUTTER Spain, the last European men’s team to claim gold in 1992, also stuttered in their opening match as they dominated possession but created few opportunities in a goalless stalemate with Egypt in Sapporo. Along with Euro 2020 young player of tournament, Pedri, Spain had five other players who featured in the senior team’s run to the semi-finals this month. They came closest to scoring when Dani Ceballos hit the post before the Real Madrid playmaker joined Barcelona full back Oscar

Mingueza on the sidelines due to injuries. “We are going to have to wait to see how both players evolve and how their injuries evolve,” Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said. “It doesn’t look good, if truth be told.” Elsewhere in Group D, Franck Kessie scored the winner to earn Ivory Coast a 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia in a heated game in Yokohama, the sides committing 27 fouls between them. The African nation were reduced to 10 men when substitute Aboubacar Doumbia was shown a straight red for his involvement in a scuffle. In Group B, Burnley striker Chris Wood fired a late goal to help New Zealand beat South Korea 1-0 in Kashima - earning the Kiwis their first win in Olympic men’s soccer. Making their first soccer appearance since the 1964 Tokyo Games, Romania beat Honduras 1-0 thanks to an Elvin Oliva own goal.

RAVINDRA Jadeja made bowling - 22 overs - and on the day capped off decent his second fifty of the game took two wickets. Agarwal returns for the match, with and Cheteshwar Pujara was out caught by Wash- at least starts and time in the batted as an opener on ington Sundar while trying middle in both innings. Jadethe final day’s play, which to get to his fifty by lofting ja aggregated the highest runs ended early after the teams Carson over his head. Sun- for the Indians in the game. agreed to call off the final dar was the lone Indian for All of the Indians’ fast hour. The Indians bowled the fielding side, with Avesh bowlers got a bowl in the 15.5 overs without taking a Khan ruled out through second innings but were wicket after declaring just injury. conservative with their efPujara then dabbed one forts as a long series awaits before tea. The day began with straight to backward short leg them. Jasprit Bumrah and Mayank Agarwal opening trying to keep an off-break Thakur took the new ball, alongside Pujara, with the In- down, before Hanuma Vihari and Mohammed Siraj and dians 91 ahead. The openers added 87 together in a breezy partnership during which the County Select XI rarely tested them; the bowling was generally on the shorter side and both batters brought out some of their signature strokes. (Scores: Indians 311 (Rahul 111, Jadeja 75; Miles 4-45) and 192 for 3 decl. (Jadeja 51, Agarwal 47, Vihari 43*; Carson 2-64) drew with County Select XI 220 (Hameed 112; Yadav 3-22, Siraj 2-32) and 31 for 0 (Libby 17*, Hameed 13*). Agarwal was open to up- Ravindra Jadeja ended the tour game with fifties percuts and ramps over slips, in both innings. (AFP/Getty Images) while Pujara hit a string of back-foot punches through the covers in his usual mea- and Jadeja put on 84 for the Umesh Yadav bowled a sured manner. In the opening third wicket. Vihari was un- few overs between them in hour, and by the end of the beaten on 43 and a promoted a passage where openers stand, they scored at more Shardul Thakur made 6 off Jake Libby and first-inthan four an over against 10 balls before the declara- nings centurion Haseeb tion. Rohit Sharma and KL Hameed were largely unbland seam bowling. Off-spinner Jack Car- Rahul did not bat. troubled. (Cricinfo) All four frontline batters son did the bulk of the

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, July 23, 2021

Milwaukee Bucks beat Phoenix Suns to win first NBA title in 50 years

GIANNIS Antetokounmpo scored 50 points as Milwaukee Bucks claimed their first NBA title in 50 years with a 105-98 victory over Phoenix Suns. The Bucks’ 4-2 series win was sealed in front of a 17 000 crowd as 65 000 celebrated outside the Fiserv Forum. They are only the fifth team to win the best-ofseven finals series after losing their first two matches. “I’m happy I was able to do it with this team for Milwaukee,” said Antetokounmpo. Suns were seeking a first NBA crown in their 53-year history, having Milwaukee Bucks celebrate also lost NBA Finals series by collecting a regular seain 1976 and 1993. However, they were un- son MVP, NBA Finals MVP able to contain Antetokoun- and NBA defensive playermpo, who became only the of-the-year awards. “I want to thank Milwauseventh player to register 50 kee for believing in me. I points in a Finals game. It was also the third want to thank my team-mates game in the series in which for playing hard with me,” the 26-year-old has man- Antetokounmpo said. Bucks coach Mike aged at least 40 points 10 Budenholzer described the rebounds. Antetokounmpo match- Greek forward as “a special es the feat of Michael Jor- human being”. “I’ve learned so much dan and Hakeem Olajuwon

should be.” Tom Cogdall, a 63-yearold retired Army officer who lives in Milwaukee, added: “I remember 1971. This was 50 years, we needed it. PHOENIX FALL SHORT

with their NBA trophy on Tuesday night.

from him. He’s a special leader,” he said. “These players are champions every day. They’ve embraced getting better every day.” Budenholzer was only four years old when NBA legends Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson led Bucks to their only previous NBA title in 1971, when some of the current players’ parents

had not been born. MILWAUKEE CELEBRATE Unlike the 2020 NBA Finals which were played without fans, Bucks’ win kicked off a wild party inside the arena and on the streets of Milwaukee. More than 10% of the city’s population crowded together in the Deer District outside Fiserv Forum, with

some fans waiting in line for five hours before the game to ensure they would have seats. Isaiah Tyler, a 43-yearold painter who was born and raised in the city, said: “This is history. I grew up here and have gone to a lot of lousy games - so this is the pay-off.” “Milwaukee is a very segregated city, so to see us all together, all races, for one cause, this is how the world

Winning their first two games at home had appeared to tip the series towards Suns, who last appeared in a Finals when Charles Barkley was playing for them. However, four consecutive defeats brought the finals to an unfortunate and upsetting conclusion. “I haven’t felt a hurt like this in my life,” Suns guard Devin Booker said. “This isn’t something you want to feel.” A clearly emotional Suns coach Monty Williams added: “It’s hard to process right now. It’s hard. That’s all. “I’ve never dealt with this kind of hurt as a head coach. There’s just a pain that goes with your season being over; but I’ve never dealt with this. I know this is going to hurt for a while.” (BBC Sport)

Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony director sacked over 1998 Holocaust joke

TOKYO 2020 opening ceremony director Kentaro Kobayashi has been sacked after footage of him making light of the Holocaust emerged. On the eve of the Games being formally opened in Japan’s capital, the man behind the ceremony admitted he had made comments in 1998 that were “trying to get people’s attention shallowly because I couldn’t make people laugh as I expected”. Kobayashi was a comedian at the time and his comments came in a skit. He said yesterday, according to the Yomiuri newspaper: “I understand that my stupid choice of words at that time was wrong, and I regret it. I apologise to those who feel uncomfortable. I am sorry.” The International Olympic Committee (IOC) con-

A photo of Kentaro Kobayashi is held up in 2019 by Tokyo 2020 organisers.

firmed his dismissal, stating: “Tokyo 2020 Olympic opening ceremony creative team member Kentaro Kobayashi was dismissed from his post after a joke he had made in the past about a painful

historical event was brought to light. Following this, the Tokyo 2020 organising committee relieved Mr Kobayashi of his role as a member of the team. “In the short time remain-

ing before the opening ceremony, we offer our deepest apologies for any offence and anguish this matter may have caused to the many people involved in the Olympic Games, as well as to the citi-

zens of Japan and the world.” The Nazi-led Holocaust saw around six million Jews murdered during the Second World War. His dismissal raises questions about how the ceremony will now go ahead. It was already set to proceed in front of a near-empty stadium, with fans being barred from attending Olympic events in Tokyo due to COVID-19 concerns. Seiko Hashimoto, president of the organising committee, told a news conference: “How we’re going to handle the ceremony is currently being discussed.” Asked whether the resignation could overshadow the Olympics, Hashimoto said: “Because of COVID, society united. How are we going to bring solidarity to society? We have to review the message to deliver to the world.

“Yes, we are facing a lot of challenges right now. Maybe that’s the reason why these negative incidents will impact the messages we want to deliver to the world. The value of Tokyo 2020 is still exciting and we want to send our messages to the world.” Speaking before the damaging footage emerged, IOC president Thomas Bach said the opening ceremony would be “a moment of joy and relief, joy in particular for the athletes”. He said the relief would come “because the road to this opening ceremony was not the easiest one”. Bach added: “There is a saying that if you feel this kind of relief, there are stones falling from your heart, so if you hear some stones falling then maybe they are coming from my heart.”

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, July 23, 2021

Guyana’s last Olympic boxer ‘Big John’ Douglas reflects on 1996 Olympics … Lindener backs Keevin Allicock for medal contention

By Rawle Toney JOHN Douglas, the last boxer to represent Guyana at the Olympics, and Guyana’s flag-bearer at the 1996 Games, only started boxing after watching Dillon Carew and Andrew ‘Six Heads’ Lewis compete at the 1992 Games. Douglas hails from Linden and is not known for giving interviews, but was happy to open up with Chronicle Sport, about his journey from BlueBerry Hill, Wismar, Linden, all the way to Atlanta. “I’m a proud Lindener!” Douglas said. “In 1992, I was watching the Olympics. I didn’t know who those guys were at the time, and I just felt like I could be there. I always loved boxing actually. But after watching them in 1992, I said to myself, I am going to the next Olympics,” a cheerful Douglas noted, while pointing out that he started working out at a gym in Linden. Fast forward, Douglas, along with former World Champion Wayne ‘Big Truck’ Braithwaite, current coach of Keevin Allicock Sebert Blake, and Cassius Mathews attended the Olympic Box-Off tournament in Argentina with coach Lennox Daniels. Douglas left the tournament in Argentina as the winner of the light heavyweight division and was the only Guyanese boxer to advance to the 1996 Olympics from the event. “Later on I met ‘Six Heads’ and Carew. We became friends and they ended up supporting me, you know … ‘Six Heads’ was even my training partner at one time; we used

I was upset. In the second round, he connected with a left hook. Next thing you know, the referee waved off the fight. Man, I was very upset.” Stipe Drews went on to beat legendary Italian boxer, Silvio Branco, to win the World Boxing Association (WBA) Light Heavyweight World Title. Douglas turned pro in 1997 and lost to ‘Big Truck’ Braithwaite in his debut at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall. He left for the USA the same year, pointing out that “I migrated to further my career. There was no money in boxing in Guyana. At the time, any time you wanted to make it in boxing, you had to John Douglas was Guyana’s flag-bearer at 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. leave Guyana.” “I returned like two to spar,” Douglas reflected. While in Atlanta, Douglas fought Croatian Stipe times since then and that’s about it. But you know, I’m Drews. “It was a frustrating fight. Imagine, I knock him watching Keevin Allicock. I’ve been following him. Good down in the first round. The referee didn’t give him boxer and I know he will win a medal. He’s positive, and an eight-count. He just told him to get up. After that, I know he will win,” Douglas said when asked about Keevin Allicock.

Allicock opens Olympic medal quest against Alexy De La Cruz By Rawle Toney IT will be redemption for Guyana’s Keevin Allicock when he faces Alexy De La Cruz of the Dominican Republic in the Round-of-32 in the Men’s Featherweight division, on Saturday July 24 – the opening day for competition at the 32nd Olympiad in Tokyo, Japan.In 2019, at the Pan Am Games qualifiers in Nicaragua, Keevin Allicock was disqualified after his quarter-final bout resulted in a loss by walkover. Allicock had defeated Trinidadian Anthony Joseph and Otoniel Ortiz of the United States Virgin Islands; both by unanimous decision and was slated to fight De La Cruz in the quarter-finals. Keevin Allicock (photo compliments: Newsroom) However, the Commonwealth Allicock, who was scheduled to box out of the red corner, Youth Games Silver medallist was prevented by Technical Delegate (Fight Supervisor) Raphael entered the ring one hour after being cleared by the ITO, but Vega who claimed that the Guyanese was wearing an inap- was then challenged by the Technical Delegate and later given one minute to change the red and black vest. propriate coloured vest. A determined Allicock managed to change but upon his Vega deemed the colour of Allicock’s vest inappropriate even though the International Technical Officer (ITO) and return to the ring lost by walkover. The Guyana camp in Nicaragua immediately filed a protest but was unsuccessful referee found nothing wrong with the garment. in getting the ruling overturned.

However, Allicock, following a successful appeal later by president of the Guyana Boxing Association, Steve Ninvalle, was given a place at the Pan Am Games in Peru. Even at the Pan Am Games, Allicock was again at the centre of another controversial decision, when the judges awarded his opposition, Lucas Fernández of Uruguay the fight, even with the uproar from the crowd in attendance and the commentators of the fight, who thought that Albouystown youth was the clear winner. But as fate would have it, De La Cruz and Allicock ended up at the same camp in Russia and the two held a combative sparring session.

CRICKET QUIZ CORNER CRICKET QUIZ CORNER (Friday July 23, 2021) CUMMINGS ELECTRICAL COMPANY LTD-83 Garnett Street, Georgetown (Tel: 225-6158) Answers to yesterday’s quiz: (1) Desmond Haynes (65 ODIs) (2) Javed Miandad & Wasim Akram (64 ODIs) Today’s Quiz: (1) Which WI has scored most ODI runs versus PAK to date? (2) Which PAK player has made most ODI runs against the WI to date? Answers in tomorrow’s issue

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, July 23, 2021

GFF part ways with Golden Jaguars head coach Marcio Maximo THE Executive Committee of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) announced yesterday that they have reached a mutual and amicable agreement with Golden Jaguars head coach Marcio Maximo: his current contract as Head Coach of the Guyana Senior Men’s National Team will not be renewed when it comes to an end on August 31. The agreement comes in light of the fact that, following the CONCACAF Gold Cup and FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Golden Jaguars will not take part in competitive football until May 2022, when the CONCACAF Nations League resumes. This period, the GFF said, will allow the Executive Committee to reflect on and align the senior men’s national programme with its strategic objectives. “We are grateful for the hard work, experience, energy and commitment that Coach Maximo brought to

Brazilian Marcio Maximo was appointed Golden Jaguars head coach in 2019.

the programme over the last two years, especially his commendable efforts in developing Guyana-based players and introducing promising young talent such as Omari Glasgow and Nicholai Andrews early to the professional culture of international football,” said GFF president Wayne Forde. “We cannot escape the fact that results did not ma-

terialise as we would have wanted this year, but there have been many positives during his time in charge – including a memorable draw away to Jamaica and some big wins during the CONCACAF Nations League,” Forde said. “Coach Maximo’s relentless focus on renewing the squad and building a professional national team structure in Guyana has laid solid

foundations for the future growth of the programme. On behalf of Guyana and our football fraternity, we thank him for his service and wish him all the very best for what comes next.” The GFF will announce its decision regarding a new head coach for the Golden Jaguars in the coming weeks. Former member of Brazil’s U-20 and U-17 coaching staff, Maximo

took up the post in 2019 following Golden Jaguars’ historic first appearance at the CONCACAF Gold Cup, and oversaw a total of 12 international matches, including competitive and friendly fixtures in the CONCACAF Nations League B, FIFA World Cup qualifiers and CONCACAF Gold Cup. During that time, Guyana won five, drew one and lost six international games. “I am very grateful and proud to work here … I am very happy with what we did – of course, always you want more,” Maximo said in an exclusive interview with the GFF’s media channel, GFFNOW. “I’ve enjoyed it, but I’m professional – the cycle is finished and you should move on,” the former Livingston FC (Scotland) and Tanzania coach said. “My cycle as head coach of the Golden Jaguars is finished, but the cycle continues. We did the foundation here, now they

should work on this continuously because Golden Jaguars have a brilliant future. There is no other way for Guyana: You should renew the team and you should continue in this way.” “We jumped nine places in the FIFA ranking since we arrived, we renewed the team – if you continue like that you will jump more and soon Guyana, in one or two years, can play equal conditions with the best teams in the Caribbean, with a younger team, and can produce a lot of players to export and import players at a good level.” This year, Golden Jaguars were unable to progress to the second round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification process and were also knocked out at the preliminary round stage of the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup, meaning that the senior men’s national programme fell short of key performance targets set by the GFF.

Edghill, Fowler to be Guyana’s flagbearers at Olympics Opening Ceremony By Rawle Toney GUYANA’S Chef de Mission at the Tokyo Olympics, Garfield Wiltshire, announced that table tennis player Chelsea Edghill and swimmer Andrew Fowler will be the two Flag Bearers at today’s opening of the 32nd Olympiad in Tokyo, Japan. National Olympic Committees were tasked with selecting one male and one female athlete to be their Flag Bearer, as part of a rule change made by the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last March. According to the IOC, the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will be the first gender-balanced Olympic Games in history with 48.8 per cent women’s participation. Speaking with Chronicle Sport from the Athletes Vil-

lage in Tokyo, Edghill said she’s “really happy to be the flag-bearer for Guyana, especially at the Olympic Games and I’m excited to carry the flag and share my Guyanese prize with the world. I think it’s unique with COVID and all, but an experience nonetheless and I’m happy to carry the flag at such an important stage.” Edghill will be in action tomorrow in the Women’s Singles event, and will face Fiji’s Sally Yee. Fowler, on the other hand, will dive into the pool on July 27, in Heat 2 of the men’s 100 metres freestyle. Meanwhile, 15-year-old Aleka Persaud, the country’s youngest ever Olympian, will be in the pool on Friday July 30 in the women’s 50 metres freestyle. Keevin Allicock, like Edghill, is set to face Alexy De la Cruz on Saturday, in

match one of the men’s featherweight division. Jasmine Abrams and

Emanuel Archibald will take to the starting blocks in the women’s and men’s

100 metres on Friday, July 30, while Aliyah Abrams will make her second ap-

pearance at the Olympics in the women’s 400 metres on Tuesday, August 3.

Andrew Fowler Chelsea Edghill

SEE STORY PAGE 27

Edghill, Fowler to be Guyana’s flagbearers at Olympics Opening Ceremony A concerned-looking West Indies captain Kieron Pollard (right) is deep in discussion with senior all-rounder Jason Holder, following the abandonment of the second ODI here yesterday.

Tour doubts after member of WI support staff tests positive BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – Australia’s OneDay International series against West Indies was thrown into doubt here yesterday after a member of the home side’s support staff tested positive for COVID-19, forcing the suspension of the second ODI at Kensington Oval. The toss was spun in an-

ticipation of a 14:30hrs (Eastern Caribbean time) start but a subsequent delay led to the eventual announcement of a positive COVID-19 case among the non-playing West Indies staff. Cricket West Indies (CWI) chief executive, Johnny Grave, confirmed the development in a statement, saying both teams - officials

and television crews - had returned to their hotels to undergo isolation, and would have been retested later yesterday. “The second ODI has been postponed due to a positive COVID-19 test result that was confirmed today (of) a non-playing member of the West Indies SEE PAGE 23

Restoration was done to the players’ pavilion. (Photo: News Room)

Providence ready to host Windies/Pakistan T20Is

GUYANA National Stadium, Providence, is set to be at its peak to host the three Twenty20 Internationals between West Indies and Pakistan on July 31, August 1 and 3. According to the Assistant Manager, Mahinder Ghanshim, in an interview with local online agency The News Room, on Tuesday, the facility is at 90% ready to host the international fixtures. “Right now, maintenance is 90%

finished. We are running all the facilities as we are currently getting the replay screen up. We got the CCTV up and running and we are putting some fine touches around the buildings,” Ghanshim explained. Since August 6, 2019, when West Indies played India in a T20I, the national stadium has not hosted international SEE PAGE 23 cricket.

GFF part ways with Golden Jaguars head coach Marcio Maximo See Story on Page 27 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

Friday, July 23, 2021