Guyana Chronicle E-Paper 23-11-2022

‘Lengthy allegations and rhetoric with no substance’

By Clestine Juan

AGENT for Guyana, Carl Greenidge, on Tuesday told the International Court of

Justice (ICJ) that Venezu ela is using its preliminary objections as a delay tactic because it does not want the court to determine the

merits of Guyana’s claims.

This was part of Greenidge’s submission during the second round of oral arguments in the border

— Greenidge says Venezuela’s objections in border case ‘a delay tactic’

controversy case, which con cluded at the ‘World Court’ in The Hague, Netherlands, on Tuesday.

The court will soon issue

a judgement on Venezuela’s preliminary objections.

Greenidge during the court hearing said that Ven ezuela's arguments in support

of its preliminary objections have been nothing more than lengthy allegations and rheto ric, which were short on sub stance. (Full story on Page 3)

— President Ali bemoans irresponsible garbage-dumping in waterways

NBS first financial institution with MMG for mortgage payment

— embraces President Ali’s vision of modernization, digitization

THE New Building Society (NBS) Limited has received

commendation for being Guy ana’s first financial institution to utilize the digital payment option, Mobile Money Guy ana (MMG), for mortgage payments.

“… [W]hen our President speaks about transformation of our country, [and] the modern ization of our country, that trans formation and modernization to which we aspire is not only about new bridges, new high ways, new roads, new hotels, new restaurants, new businesses, [and] new industry.

“That modernization and transformation are also about modernizing and transforming the way we do business and the way we interact with each oth er,” Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibil ity for finance, Dr Ashni Singh said at the initiative’s launch on Tuesday.

“[T]he uses of this digital technology is very much a part of the modern way of doing business,” Dr Singh said, ac cording to a finance ministry statement.

The new payment option, a partnership with telecommunica tions giant, GTT, was launched

at the Society’s Camp and North Road, Georgetown headquarters.

“I want queues to be a thing of the past. Guyanese people must not have to join a line to do routine transactions. That’s part of this modern Guyana that President Ali aspires to,” Dr. Singh said, while expressing hope that other institutions will do the same.

E-commerce business trans actions are encouraged among the private sector, the Senior

Minister noted.

Acknowledging that the COVID-19 pandemic forced the world, including Guyana, to make full use of online meth ods for daily activities, Senior Minister Singh said there is no denying the true value of digital solutions.

Dr Singh further under scored the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) govern ment’s passion and drive for a modern Guyana, adding that

this was part of the reason the telecommunications sector was liberalized as one of the gov ernment’s first acts in office in 2020.

MMG General Manager Bobita Ram said there are more than 820 MMG agents across Guyana.

Pointing out that NBS is the first financial institution to implement MMG, Ram noted

(seventh from right) Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for finance, Dr Ashni Singh; (to his left) MMG General Manager Bobita Ram; (sixth from left) NBS Chairman, Dr Nanda Gopaul, flanked by staff from MMG and NBS (GTT photo)

A section of the gathering at Tuesday’s launch (GTT photo)

‘Lengthy allegations and rhetoric with no substance’

— Greenidge says Venezuela’s objections in border case ‘a delay tactic’

By Clestine Juan

AGENT for Guyana, Carl Greenidge, on Tuesday told the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that Venezuela is using its preliminary objec tions as a delay tactic because it does not want the court to determine the merits of Guy ana’s claims.

This was part of Greenidge’s submission during the second round of oral arguments in the border controversy case, which concluded at the ‘World Court’ in The Hague, Netherlands, on Tuesday.

The court will soon issue a judgement on Venezuela’s pre liminary objections.

Greenidge during the court hearing said that Venezuela’s arguments in support of its preliminary objections, have been nothing more than lengthy allegations and rhetoric, which were short on substance.

He submitted that Venezuela is sincerely concerned that the judgment on those claims will involve a determination of the rights and obligations of the United Kingdom.

“Is it because Venezuela rec ognises that the legal and factual merits of Guyana’s claims are overwhelming and that a hearing on the merits of those claims will yield only one possible out come?” Greenidge questioned.

He added that on Monday, the agent for Venezuela emphat ically proclaimed to the ICJ that the Spanish-speaking country had established the truth about “historic wrongs “committed against it by the 1899 Award.

“He [Venezuela’s agent] declared that, and I quote, ‘We come to the International Court of Justice to tell such a historical truth.’ In the same breath, he also stressed Venezuela’s firm commitment to international law. However, despite these impassioned proclamations, Venezuela remains strangely re luctant for the merits of its ver sion of the truth to be exposed to independent scrutiny and determination, in accordance with international law by the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. As Guyana has

shown, Venezuela’s position is contradicted by the historical record, including its enthusiastic and decades-long embrace,” Greenidge said.

He submitted that the award and the boundary which estab lished Venezuela’s narrative, which began shortly before Guyana’s independence in 1966, ignores these fundamen tal contradictions and constantly evolves to fit the country’s mer itless contentions.

Greenidge added that Ven ezuela even claimed that it had been “dispossessed of territory” by the arbitral award.

“Against this backdrop, one cannot escape the conclusion that it is a desire to continue perpetuating a falsehood, rather than a desire to expose and vin dicate the truth that underlies Venezuela’s hostility to the court hearing Guyana’s claims.

“Instead of proceeding to determine the merits of Guy ana’s claims, Venezuela urges the court to decline to exercise jurisdiction, so that the dispute between the parties could in stead be resolved through a pro cess of negotiation,” the agent for Guyana said.

UNSUCCESSFUL EFFORTS

He pointed out that by mak ing that argument, Venezuela once again invites the ICJ to create a “perpetual deadlock” and the indefinite continuation of a controversy, which has “blighted” relations for the en tirety of Guyana’s existence as a sovereign state.

“This is not a situation where there’s even the slightest glimmer of possibility that the long-standing dispute between the parties could be resolved through negotiations. There is a simple and fundamental reason for this. As demonstrated, Guy ana and Venezuela hold entirely intractable opposing positions regarding the validity of the 1899 Award.

“Guyana maintains that the 1899 Award and the boundary which is established are valid.

Venezuela maintains the op posite. These positions have been entrenched since Guyana’s emergence as a sovereign state

some 56 years ago. All previous efforts to resolve the controver sy through mediation or nego tiation have failed,” Greenidge submitted.

To this end, he explained that these efforts included a four-year mixed commission and an intensive 27-year Good Offices Process involving no fewer than four successive Sec retaries-General, including a fi nal year of enhanced mediation.

The present Good Offices Process has been conducted since 1990. Venezuela is con tending that the Arbitral Award of October 3, 1899, demarcating the border between Guyana (British Guiana at the time) and Venezuela is null and void. Consequently, it continues to lay claim to two-thirds of Guyana’s territory.

However, he said after more than half a century of unsuc cessful attempts to resolve the dispute through mediation and negotiation processes in which Guyana engaged “wholeheart edly,” the United Nations Secre tary-General, Antonio Guterres, concluded that significant prog ress has not been made towards arriving at a full agreement for solution of the controversy.

According to Greenidge, it was for this reason that the Sec retary-General chose the ICJ as the “only hope” of a resolution of the controversy, which lies in

the binding and final determi nation of Guyana’s claims by this court.

“It is for this reason that Guyana brought those claims before the court in 2018. And it is for this reason that Guyana once again affirms its complete faith and confidence that the court will proceed to adjudicate those claims independently, im partially and in accordance with international law,” he advanced to the court.

In closing Guyana’s oral pleadings, Greenidge asked the court to reject Venezuela’s preliminary objections as “in admissible.”

Meanwhile, Professor Or dinaire, Université Catholique de Louvain and member of the Institut de Droit International, Foley Hoag, LLP and the Bar of Brussels, Pierre d’Argent, in his submissions earlier in the day, called on the court to dis miss Venezuela’s claim which is aimed at stalling Guyana’s substantive application.

“.... in challenging the ad missibility of the permanent objections, Guyana is simply saying that there are serious pro cedural reasons why the court should not examine their merits saying that Venezuela’s objec tion,” Professor d’Argent said.

UK HAS NO INTEREST

Another member of Guy ana’s legal team, Professor

NBS first financial institution...

the payment option has suc cessfully been used for sale of Caribbean Premier League (CPL) tickets, for gas station transactions, and, most recent ly, for the digital toll at the Demerara Harbour Bridge.

Since Government as sumed office in 2020, the NBS has disbursed more than

2,000 new mortgages across the country to the tune of $9 billion.

As part of Budget 2021 measures, approval was grant ed to the financial institution to increase its mortgage ceiling to $15 million, which was an increase from $12 million.

“This amount was fur

ther increased to $20 million in September last. Effective from September as well, NBS slashed its interest rate to sup port government’s housing drive with the interest rate for loans from $1 million to $4 million reduced to 3.50 per cent from 4 per cent.

Additionally, interest rates

From page 2

for loans above $4 million but not exceeding $9 million were reduced from 5.95 per cent to 3.75 per cent.

Finally, interest rate of 5.70 per cent, instead of the previous 5.95 per cent, were applied to loans which are above $9 million but not more than $20 million.

Philippe Sands, KC, addressed the legal standard under the monetary gold argument and the fact that the UK is not an indispensable third party to the proceedings.

Venezuela had contended that the country is the “sole indisputable inheritor” of the Essequibo region and the Mon etary Gold Principle.

Although Venezuela had claimed that the ICJ did not have jurisdiction to hear the substantive case, the country made a U-turn following the court’s December 2020 ruling on its jurisdiction to hear the case. Venezuela on that occasion contended that Guyana has no

standing in the matter.

Venezuela argued that the United Kingdom is the proper party, since the territory was “given” to Guyana by the Brit ish.

“The court heard not a sin gle word about the wrongful conduct of the arbitrators. And now the case was entirely about the wrongful conduct of the United Kingdom,” he added.

According to Sands, if the arbitral award was set aside by the ICJ, Venezuela would be able to claim reparations from the UK for “exploiting territory” that belonged to the country.

He said this was Venezuela’s “desperate attempt to manufac ture some sort of legal interest in the United Kingdom.”

“But this new argument changes nothing in the first place. As we’ve made clear, the court is not required to rule in a legal sense on the United King dom’s conduct at all. It is only required to rule on the conduct of the arbitrators in issuing its judgment on the validity of the 1899 Award,” Professor Sands said.

He added that Venezuela has admitted repeatedly that the UK has no legal interest in the boundary between Guyana and Venezuela.

As a consequence, Profes sor Sands said that Venezuela should admit that the ICJ is entirely free to exercise its jurisdiction to hear the case.

The delegation and legal team representing Guyana at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) after the final round of arguments in the border controversy case with Venezuela

Indonesia earthquake: Search for survivors as death toll soars

(BBC) - Rescuers in In donesia are working through a second night to try to find survivors trapped following an earthquake in West Java.

Officials put the death toll at 268, many of them chil dren, with 151 still missing and more than 1,000 injured.

Damaged roads and the vast size of the affected area are making it difficult to lo cate and help victims.

Aprizal Mulyadi was at school when the quake hit, and was trapped after “the room collapsed.”

The 14-year-old said his “legs were buried under the rubble,” but he was pulled to safety by his friend Zulfikar, who later died after himself becoming trapped.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency said that

22,000 houses had been dam aged, and that more than 58,000 people had taken shelter in several locations in the region.

The 5.6 magnitude quake struck a mountainous re gion on Monday, causing landslides that buried entire villages near the West Java town of Cianjur.

Victims were crushed or trapped after walls and roofs caved in. “It all happened so fast,” Aprizal told AFP news agency.

A representative of the National Search and Rescue Agency also confirmed that many of the dead were young people.

“Most of the casualties are children because at 1pm, they were still at school,” said Henri Alfiandi.

The earthquake, which struck at a shallow depth of 10km (six miles), was followed by dozens of after shocks which caused more damage as poorly built homes collapsed.

In the village of Cibere um, a family was trying to retrieve the body of their el

dest son - a 28-year-old man who had been crushed when the other levels of the home fell on him.

Rescuers struggled to sift the rubble.

“We have to dig through the concrete of the second floor that crushed the victim. But we have seen the body,”

a military official, Sergeant Payakun told the BBC.

Cucu, a 48-year-old res ident, told the Reuters news agency that she survived after being crushed beneath a child.

“Two of my kids sur vived, I dug them up ... Two others I brought here, and one is still missing,” she said through tears.

“Many bodies are lying in the hospital grounds, it’s very crowded,” said her relative, Hesti.

In one area, victims held cardboard signs asking for food and shelter.

President Joko Widodo visited the remote disaster zone on Tuesday where he was pictured with responders.

“My instruction is to pri oritise evacuating victims that are still trapped under

rubble,” he said.

Hundreds of police and other rescuers are taking part in the rescue effort. Mr Joko wi pledged compensation to affected communities.

Save the Children said that at least 80 schools had been damaged.

“Children are terrified and we need to get food, water and shelter to them and ensure they’re not at risk of separation from parents and caregivers,” a spokesperson said.

Earthquakes are common in Indonesia, which sits on the “ring of fire” area of tec tonic activity in the Pacific.

The country has a his tory of devastating tremors and tsunamis, with more than 2,000 people killed in a 2018 earthquake on the island of Sulawesi.

Twins born from embryos frozen 30 years ago

were stored around -128C (-200F) in liquid nitrogen on 22 April 1992.

It is believed to be a new record for the longest-frozen

a

live birth. They

Rachel Ridgeway, a mother of four from Ore gon, gave birth to the twins on 31 October. The father, Philip Ridgeway, said it was

The earthquake and subsequent aftershocks brought down many buildings (BBC photo)

(BBC) - Twin babies have been born in the US state of Tennessee from embryos frozen more than 30 years ago.

embryos ever to result in

successful

Norton wants Guyanese to ‘suck salt’

By Cindy Parkinson

IF Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton has his way, Guyana would take a steep plunge into econom ic ruin. Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister Kwame McCoy has rubbished Norton’s unfounded ramblings re garding Guyana’s devel opment transformation and the oil-and- gas sector.

“Surely, if Guyana were to heed the advice or con template the little-league leadership of Aubrey Nor ton and his third-grade ad visers, this country would most assuredly fall prey and dinner to not only the ‘Dutch Disease,’ but also the PNC’s rice flour and breadfruit scorn all over again,” Minister McCoy said in a pointed letter to the editor.

The minister challenged Norton’s arguments which suggest that the President, Dr Irfaan Ali-led People’s Progressive Party/Civ ic (PPP/C) administration should abandon “its sound national transformation agenda… [and] halt its ex ponential build-out of the

traditional sectors which the Granger administration utterly degutted and tragi cally ruined.”

Minister McCoy pointed to Norton’s flawed reason ing that the government should stop infrastructur al works such as the con struction of new highways, which are also opening up new lands for housing and enterprise.

“Norton wants President Ali to not prioritise a fully rehabilitated highway for the people of Linden, nor the Pan-American Highway to South America that will potentially transform that town into a thriving city.

“He thinks Lindeners do not deserve an industrial estate, nor 1,000 turn-key homes within the first term in office of the government, or the hundreds of millions of dollars in road rehabilita tions currently underway,” Minister McCoy reasoned.

He further underscored the importance of citizens in South Georgetown, Bel ladrum, Buxton and New Amsterdam having access to jobs, proper sanitation, and recreational facilities which are all part of the

– Minister McCoy

achieve constant, exponen tial, and sustainable growth for both its people and its sector webs concomitantly,” the minister stressed.

Turning attention to painting the image of what the political opposition would do if still in gov ernment, Mr McCoy said: “The hopes of its citizens to benefit from free university education by 2025 would be dashed against the exor bitant fees the APNU+AFC introduced and planned to keep increasing;

“Because he would see no merit in bringing gas to shore and building hy droelectric plants to halve people’s electricity bills; no refinery; no new hospitals or water treatment plants or modern ‘smart’ schools; no modern sports facilities or new city for that matter; and he certainly would give no cash grants to our children.

government’s current thrust for the development of com munities across Guyana.

“It is a task of virtual impossibility for Norton to begin to comprehend the very basics of how a coun

try that wants to leapfrog from the outer bands of per petual poverty to the upper echelons of wealth for all its citizens must prudently and strategically manage its development agenda to

“The government would spend $60B of oil reve nue in one-off payments of $300,000 to each house hold annually, and condemn them to continue suffering in blackouts, falling waist deep into potholes, receiv ing only a chest-sounding and a prescription at every hospital and clinic, drinking faecal coliform from their taps, and receiving edu cation on slates under the flickers of flambeaux.

“Our sea defences would crumble, our wa ter conservancies would continue washing out the farmers; our loggers and miners would keep paying taxes to use bad roads; our Amerindian brothers and sisters would get no titles for their lands or funds for their development; and our youths would have no forum, resources nor hope to contribute to de cision making,” Minister McCoy added, hinting to all the initiatives currently advanced under the President Ali-led PPP/C government.

Minister within the office of the Prime Minister, Kwame McCoy

A Genuine Interest

GUYANESE artistes, from time immemorial, have taken a back seat to regional and international entertainers who have headlined almost every local show, while the local boys and girls are rele gated to opening acts that arguably have minimal impacts on their careers and motivation.

There is no doubt that the performances of in ternational and regional artistes are appreciated, enjoyed and anticipated, but it becomes a funda mental problem when lo cal artistes don’t enjoy the same comfort of having a platform upon which they could grow and advance to new levels of their careers.

Very few Guyanese ar tistes have the privilege of saying that they were able to make it to the peak of their careers, where their

music is on every radio station, their schedules are booked for shows at home and abroad, and their talent brings in incomes that could sustain a comfortable lifestyle.

The successes of per sons like Saint Jhn, Eddy Grant, Natural Black, Sol Raye, Terry Gajraj, and a few others, for instance, are due to the resources of foreign countries on which they were able to capitalise.

So, for Jackie Jaxx, Poo nam Singh, Drew Thoven, cKush, Vicadi Singh, Tony Cuttz, and the many other existing and upcoming ar tistes to benefit adequately from their talents, there needs to be a solid foun dation which encompass es investments, legislative adjustments and a greater appreciation for culture.

Thankfully for those

persons, President, Dr Ir faan Ali and his People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) administration have demonstrated a keen and genuine interest in tak ing the entertainment indus try to new heights.

Through targeted and innovative initiatives such as the use of its hosting of the play-off matches and final of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) to introduce Cricket Carnival, the government has been creating a platform for ar tistes and entertainers to market themselves, gain exposure, earn more and be encouraged to consistently produce quality content.

One of the many aspects of the Cricket Carnival ac tivities, the One Guyana Concert, particularly served as a springboard for local artistes who had the oppor

tunity to perform in front of a massive crowd of locals and foreigners at the Na tional Stadium.

In a move to supplement the motivation those en tertainers drew from those ecstatic activities, President Ali announced, on Monday, that the government will double the earnings the artistes made from partic ipating in the One Guyana Concert.

“We had 89 local ar tistes on the One Guyana stage; 89 local artistes. The cost of the production was borne completely by the government; we brought in the corporate sponsors to get them to sponsor tickets. Every single cent in reve nue -- $6.9 million -- went to those 89 artistes, ranging from between $100,000 to $300,000, as promised,” Dr Ali said, noting that the

government will provide the equivalent of $6.9 mil lion.

This follows an an nouncement in June this year that the government would be expending $9 million on studio time for Guyanese artistes to record their music. The plan was to cover studio time costs for the 12 months at three local studios, in order to allow musicians to record their music at no charge to themselves.

There are also plans to construct state-owned studios to afford local mu sicians the space to explore their craft in a more magni fied way.

At State House on Mon day, President Ali said: “I want to say to you that we continue to be your partner in your own development; in the development of our

culture, the development of your talents, and the pro motion of “One Guyana” as a destination that is not only diverse, by people and culture, but is rich in talent, and ready to explode on the international stage.

“I wanted to tell you today how very proud I am of Guyanese talent; our talent might still be raw and fresh in many ways, but we never, and will never lack the capacity and capability to make it on any stage. And I intend to invest in the talent that we have, to make it regional and global.”

There is no doubt that the country’s entertain ment industry has a far way to go, but what is evident though is that there is a genuine interest in advancing development across all areas of enter tainment.

The AFC is beyond salvaging

Dear Editor,

THE Alliance For Change (AFC) will never change, and its current course of action to boycott the March 13 Local Govern ment Elections (LGE) has confirmed its “dead meat” status. The Party is deathly afraid of what the LGE results will reveal, since it will be unable to hide be hind the APNU.

In the 2018 LGE, the AFC was greatly embar rassed when they could have only mustered four per cent of the votes, whilst its es tranged partner collected 34 per cent. The PPP/C won by a landslide, with 61 per cent

of the votes. What number of votes would the AFC expect in 2023 is anyone’s guess, since they continued to tarnish their already bad reputation when they sup ported the PNC’s attempts to interfere with the March 2, 2020 General Elections.

The Guyanese people have seen enough to under stand that the AFC was never about Guyana, and they had been totally consumed by the PNC; completely sub servient. Now that they have been thrown into the deep to fend for themselves, the final extermination is at hand.

On November 13, 2022, the AFC confirmed that it will boycott the 2023 LGE

because the list is “bloated” (a term which is gaining popularity by the Opposi tion), “illegitimate” and “a source of electoral fraud”. Why is there deafening si lence in the AFC camp on the 2020 rigging attempts?

First and foremost, the AFC needs to denounce the 2020 rigging attempt. These state ments by the AFC will never gain traction; they need to come clean.

The AFC did not get four per cent votes in the 2018 LGE because of a “bloated list,” “voter impersonation,” “duplication” and the dead voting for the PPP/C. They got severe licks because of what they had promised in

2015, and what they had delivered from then to 2020. Many who voted for the AFC in 2015 went back home.

The same is true for the APNU. They received 34 per cent of the votes because that was what their die-hard supporters could deliver, and those that were disgruntled remained home. Further more, the 2018 LGE was the harbinger of the decimation of the coalition and was the catalyst for the no confi dence motion in December the same year. The prognosis is that this upcoming 2023 LGE will be worse for both the AFC and the APNU.

The year-end “break up”

is quite expected. The AFC has nothing to offer the coa lition. The AFC will attempt damage control. But this salvaging strategy will not work. The AFC is “dead meat” and its fall echoed tremendously in every nook and cranny, to the extent that “all the king’s horses and all the king’s men” cannot put it together again.

The people will always remember that every un constitutional act, every so cio-economic destabilisation strategy, every act to erode the standard of living of the people, every corrupt practice and every attempt to interfere with the 2020 General Elections were all

fully supported by the Alli ance For Change. Will the AFC admit that it has failed the people? Will it put itself at the mercy of Guyanese and beg for forgiveness? This would be the defining moment which Guyanese will be waiting for. But alas! It will never come!

The AFC would be wise to heed the advice of the great Martin Luther King who once said: “Forgive ness does not mean ignor ing what has been done or putting a false label on an evil act.”

Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf

Part 3: Undermining Developing Nations

INTERNATIONAL events this past week saw the Asia-Pacific, Associ ation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), G-20, US-China, and COP-27 Summits open and close, all five global events starting and ending be fore the FIFA World Cup tournament in Qatar.

This all happened while votes were still being counted in the US midterm elections, as voters voted in elections in Malaysia and Nepal, while Kazakhstan announced a snap elec tion – and New Zealand announced it will consider whether to reduce the vot ing age from 18 to 16.

As would be expect ed, the situation between Ukraine and Russia was treated as the top topic at all the summits as G-7 and G-20 leaders pressed Asian and Pacific nations to come to common ground on the way forward.

The Asia-Pacific Eco nomic Community (APEC) and Association of South East Asian Nations (ASE AN) summits ended on quiet notes regarding the crucial economic and social issues facing the Asia-Pa cific region.

APEC Finance minis ters met in Thailand for two days (November 16-17)

ahead of the November 19-20 Summit, but end ed up having the region’s economic agenda hijacked by the Ukraine situation, resulting in disagreement on the wording of a final statement. Most Asia-Pacif ic ministers objected to the inclusion of ‘political lan guage’ in the communique.

As a result, it was left to the host minister to issue a statement.

According to Japan’s Nikkei Asia newspaper on Monday, Thai Finance Minister Arkhom Termpit tayapaisith said: “Uneven recoveries between and within economies, particu larly disruptions in invest ment, tourism and services, may result in widening global inequality”.

“Varying views were expressed on the height ened macroeconomic chal lenges, including energy and food prices volatility, which are consequential of the prevailing situation,” the Thai finance minister added.

After the Bali meeting, the next stop was the COP27 environment and climate change summit in Sharm El Shaik where, again, the richest nations played yet another round of hardball on the issue of agreeing to fund a ‘Loss and Damage’

APNU fails to show at GECOM meeting it requested

A MEETING with the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) on Tuesday which the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) had requested was not held after the party’s repre sentatives failed to show, according to GECOM Commissioner Sase Gunraj.

In an editorial earlier this month, this newspaper wrote: “Non-participation has been a fundamental theme of the political opposition’s new tactic which has consistently forced especially younger voters away from the opposition coalition of parties….”

Similar was seen during the national stake holders’ meeting on the amendments to the elec toral laws which saw representatives of the failing coalition walking out during the questions and answers segment.

scheme to help small island and developing states that have been ravaged by Cli mate Change over the past three decades.

The world’s major pol luters have agreed to help nations devastated by cli mate change to recover through the yet-to-be-deter mined ‘Loss and Damage Fund’. They’ve, however, refused to agree to limit fossil fuel emissions.

As things stand today, the rich nations are more likely to plead ‘guilty with explanation’ by citing the inflation and recession woes being faced in the US

and Europe and the 2022 experiences that have seen the world face and feel the worst in climate and envi ronment disasters.

But in the midst of it all, the world’s population reached eight billion on

November 15—up from seven billion in 2011.

The emphasis of the coverage by the tradi tional mainstream inter national media contin ued to undermine and understate the impacts

of the growing world eco nomic and climate crises on developing countries, by casting dark shadows over the developing na tions hosting the econom ic and climate summits.

Why is the burden on developing countries to do less?

two fundamental flaws that cancel out its initial worth.

I WRITE with reference to a letter to President Ir faan Ali published in the Stabroek News (Novem ber 13, 2022) under the title, “We are calling for a gov’t energy policy that guarantees a fair deal for Guyana and the planet.”

The letter was signed by 45 persons (G45), many of whom claim Guyanese citizenship but do not live here.

While the concerns and recommendations to the President are of great in terest, the letter contains

First and foremost is the recommendation that Guyana assume the role of carbon sink ‘in chief’, to facilitate “fossil economies [that] desperately need this service.”

Simply put, the G45 wants the same fossil econ omies that have contributed the most to climate change to be given a chance to con tribute even more, while asking a developing coun try to absorb their mess.

In effect what the G45 is suggesting is that the Guyanese who live here,

as against the ones who live in fossil-fuel economies recommended for protec tion, accept a neo-colonial model by relegating itself to a natural resource sup plier with no value-added benefits.

Editor, I note with grave concern that many in the G45 group are enjoying all the benefits of the fossil-fu el economies they live in, while recommending we supply the environmen tal wherewithal for their comfort.

Rather than focus only on the supply side of things, therefore, I urge the

G45 to focus on the popu lations that contribute the most to GHG. About half of the signatories to the letter to the President live in high-consumption fossil economies.

They are the ones who must adjust their lifestyles to meet the various goals set out in the global climate change agenda. A cursory look at the relevant data on the consumption side points to the real source of GHG emissions.

For electricity con sumption, there is a vast divide between the devel oped and developing world. Millions of people in the latter still live in the dark.

Vehicle ownership is a good indicator of who is doing the polluting. For ty-three countries have more than 500 cars per

1000 persons, of which 37 are from North America and Europe. Natural gas consumption shows the same staggering disparities between what the wealthy nations burn up versus con sumption in the developing world.

Fossil-fuel subsidies are a major indirect contributor to GHG. Public money (subsidies) going to fossil fuels could instead go to social spending, health and development, clean energy, energy access for the poor, or other areas important to the public.

In October of this year

President Biden released 15 million barrels of oil in order to lower gasoline prices and deal with in flation. Lowering the gas price is a guaranteed means of increasing emissions, but

when citizens in wealthy countries with huge re serves need a break, they get it.

Given all the above, I call on the signatories to the letter to President Ali to go to the governments where they reside and ask them to stop drilling, stop subsidizing, and stop pres suring developing countries to assume the role of raw materials providers in the age of ideas-based value.

Further, the activists should go tell their fellow consumers in the devel oped world to ease up on their debilitating con sumption practices. Dias pora browbeating must come to an end.

Sincerely, Dr Randolph Persaud

Twins born from embryos...

From page 4

“mind-boggling.”

Lydia Ann and Timothy Ronald Ridgeway likely set a new record, according to the National Embryo Donation Center (NEDC), a private faith-based organisation that says it has helped birth more than 1,200 infants from do nated embryos.

NEDC’s previous re cord-holder, Molly Gibson, was born in 2020 from an embryo that had been frozen for nearly 27 years.

“The decision... to adopt these embryos should reas sure patients who wonder if anyone would be willing to adopt the embryos that they created 5, 10, 20 years ago,” said Dr John David Gordon, who performed the embryo transfer. “That answer is a resounding yes!”

The twin embryos had been created for an anony mous married couple using IVF. The man was in his 50s and reportedly relied on a 34-year-old egg donor.

They were kept in stor age at a fertility lab on the US west coast until 2007 when the couple donated them to the NEDC in Knox ville, Tennessee for another couple to use them instead.

Embryologists at the NEDC’s partner clinic Southeastern Fertility then performed the thaw and transfer to the uterus earlier this year.

In a statement, the NEDC said it hoped the news would “encourage others to experi ence the blessings of embryo adoption for themselves”.

It is the first child the

Ridgeways - who have four other children between the ages of one and eight - have had via IVF or donors.

“I was five years old when God gave life to Lyd ia and Timothy, and he’s been preserving that life ever since,” Philip Ridgeway told CNN from the family’s home.

“In a sense, they’re our oldest children, even though they’re our smallest chil dren.”

“There is something mind-boggling about it,” he added.

Lydia Ann and Timothy Ronald Ridgeway were born on 31 October 2022 (Photo credit: NATIONAL EMBRYO DONATION CENTER)

Dear Editor

Region 8 men urged to take on responsibilities

— as Men on Mission movement grows

THE men of Region Eight were urged to be at the forefront, setting the pace to combat toxic masculinity and foster sustainable solu tions for issues that plague men and boys.

The call was made by Natural Resourc es Minister Vickram Bharrat, as he delivered a charge to the ‘Men on Mission’ participants in Region Eight on Satur day.

The Men on Mission initiative, conceived by President, Dr Irfaan Ali, is designed to foster sustainable partnerships among Guyana’s men to frontally address the challenges faced by men and boys. It will pro mote training and men torship, consultations, and economic opportu nities.

Minister Bharrat stressed that to properly address the issue, we must first recognize and identify the challenges faced by men and boys.

Moreover, he noted that it is time for men to step forward and de sist from the reinforce ment of principles of toxic masculinity, urg ing them to normalize

seeking help in times of torment.

The Natural Resourc es Minister pressed that this breakdown in so ciety requires commit ment and persistent ef forts to alleviate. He stressed that this initia tive is a step forward in the right direction towards fostering an improved, healthy so ciety for the future gen eration.

The minister said, “We must accept that there is a breakdown in society, mainly because of the men not living up to their responsibilities.

“We have to take that responsibility, and we have to accept that there is a problem. If we don’t accept it, it means that we are going in the wrong direction.”

Minister Bharrat also emphasized the importance of imple menting mentorship programmes[AL1] to guide young men to pursue paths conducive to development.

“This country needs every single person, re gardless of any differ ences that exist among us. We are Guyanese, and this is our home. That is why the Presi dent is focusing on the One Guyana initiative.

“In order for us to move our country for ward, the One Guyana initiative is important. That is the only way we can build a country that will be good for every one,” he said.

Additionally, Min ister Bharrat assisted in the unveiling of a new “I Love Mahdia” sign, in keeping with government’s commit ment to boost tourism and foster economic development in the region.

All pumps, sluices activated to drain city following heavy rainfall

— President Ali bemoans irresponsible garbage dumping in waterways

CITIZENS moving through Georgetown at midday on Tuesday were drenched and somewhat inconvenienced after heavy rainfall inundated the capital city, prompt ing quick action from central government to activate all pumps and sluices.

In a Facebook post showing the Princes Street pump constrained by shredded rice bags, Presi dent, Dr Irfaan Ali called on citizens to desist from irresponsible dumping of garbage in the waterways.

In a subsequent post, the President confirmed the status of the city’s drainage equipment not ing that Main and Qua mina Streets were drained through the Church Street sluice; Hardina, Princes, Halley and Durban Streets through the Princes Street sluice and Robb, Camp, Regent and Croal Streets through the Commerce Street sluice.

The President noted further that the commu nities of Kitty, Campbell ville, Subryanville, Bel-Air Park, and Sophia were drained through the Kit ty and Liliendaal pumps, while East, North and South Ruimveldt were

drained through the Lil iendaal pump and Rui mveldt north and south sluices.

Added to that, Queen stown and Alberttown were drained through the Cowan Street sluice and Kitty pump, while Al bouystown and North-East La Penitence were served by the Sussex Street sluice.

The North Ruimveldt sluice drained water from Alexander Village and West Ruimveldt.

“Floodwaters in North and South Ruim veldt receded quickly as a direct result of the desilt ing of the alleyways initi ated by the government,” President Ali noted.

Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat (DPI photo)

Image of the Princes Street pump end affected by garbage (President Ali photo)

Draining a large volume of water into the Demerara River (DPI photo)

Norton admits wrongdoing in

APNU treatment of public servants

OPPOSITION

LEADER and A Partnership for Na tional Unity (APNU) Chairman Aubrey Norton has admit ted during his week ly press conference on Tuesday that his party made mis takes while it was in government as it relates to salary increases for public servants.

During their time

in government the A Partnership for Na tional Unity (APNU), which governed in coalition with the Al liance For Change (AFC), had amassed a dismal record of relations with trade unions, including the Guyana Public Ser vice Union (GPSU), Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU), Guy ana Agricultural and General Work

ers Union (GAWU), and Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GBGWU).

“We’re saying it’s a mistake that has been made,” Norton said on how salary increases for public servants were han dled.

Norton believes that Guyanese must forgive his par ty. “The Guyanese public must believe

us because we are acknowledging a change in the situ ation. I don’t see it as hypocrisy, I see it as acknowledging an error and moving on,” Norton said.

In 2017 the GPSU led by union President Patrick Yarde, had come out saying that it felt “betrayed” by the then APNU+AFC government’s disre gard for the collective

bargaining process.

Again in 2018 the union had called out the coalition govern ment as being “disre spectful.”

The APNU+AFC, during its time in of fice, also often found itself running afoul in negotiations with the GTU. In 2018, teachers went on a mass strike action after feeling disre spected by the then

government. The then Minister with responsibility for Labour, Keith Scott was on record referring to the teachers as “uncar ing” and “selfish,” despite his position as mediator between the teachers’ union and the Ministry of Education. Though he later apologized the damage had al ready been done.

APNU prepared to cut AFC loose

— ‘We won’t beg anyone to stay,’ says Norton

DAILY revelations from respective press confer ences of the A Partner ship for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) under score how deeply fractured the relationship between the two sides is.

During his weekly press conference on Tuesday, APNU Chairman and Oppo sition Leader Aubrey Norton boldly announced that his party does not intend “to beg anyone to stay in the coalition.”

“We all have to live with what the reality is. If they decide to go their way, so be it,” Norton said.

Last Friday, Leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Khemraj Ramjattan confirmed that his party will be parting ways with the A Partnership for Nation al Unity (APNU), thereby putting “the final nail in the coffin” for the coalition.

The announcement comes ahead of the De cember 31 end of the Cum mingsburg Accord, the agreement which governs the coalescing of the two individual parties.

However, Norton shared that while the AFC felt cer tain enough of its upcoming exit to make an announce ment to the press, it has not officially notified the APNU of the imminent exit.

“The AFC has not com municated to us this de cision. We read what was being said in the press and we know today. I saw in the press that the leader of the AFC said that he will engage me at some stage. I will wait for that engagement; we will

make the decision on the issue if it comes to fruition,” Norton said.

Asked if the APNU would take steps to recall the AFC parliamentarians when the split becomes effective, Norton would only say that the APNU would consider all its options.

“I don’t know what the options are at this time. The options will be dependent at the announcement at the time and the situation at the time this announcement [appears] in the press. They haven’t said anything to the APNU as yet,” Norton said.

According to the Cum mingsburg Accord, the AFC got 30 per cent of the seats secured by the coalition in the National Assembly based on a new 70:30 ratio agreed upon.

The formula will also guide the allocation of seats at the level of the Region al Democratic Councils (RDCs). This marked a re duced allocation for the AFC from the 60:40 allocations that was agreed upon in the

initial agreement between the two sides.

The AFC continued to lose support, and there have been reports of a reduction in membership, as many be lieve that the party has lost its voice and its way.

The AFC has been re duced to begging the Peo ple’s National Congress (PNC), the main party in the coalition, to honour agree ments at the local govern ment level to have AFC candidates in top positions.

The latest such exam ple is in Linden, where the PNC has rejected the AFC’s candidate to fill the post of Vice-Chairman of Region 10.

This, however, is just the tip of the iceberg as regards the issues facing the coalition, as Ramjattan confirmed on Friday that the relationship has had its fair share of problems.

Chairperson of the AFC, Cathy Hughes, said that only about three months ago in a formal meeting, a number of the problems and issues on which the parties did not agree were discussed.

In August 2020, the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) had left the APNU, citing several violations of the principles govern ing coalition politics by the People’s National Congress/ Reform (PNC/R), the largest party in the APNU.

The WPA accused the PNCR of imposing de cisions on the rest of the APNU members. In Sep tember 2020, another key member- the Justice For All Party (JFAP) -- also left the coalition.

Opposition Leader and Chairman of APNU, Aubrey Norton

Increased city security brings Christmas shopping relief

By Cindy Parkinson

THE Guyana Police Force (GPF) has in creased its foot and mobile patrols across the country as part of efforts to ensure that citizens are safe while conduct ing their business and shopping during the Christmas season.

The Guyana Chronicle recently visited parts of Georgetown and spoke to several persons, all of whom said they are grate ful that the police have beefed up security.

Police ranks and booths were observed at strategic locations around Georgetown, at the Gift land Mall, Movie Towne and the University of Guyana, and along the lower section of the East Coast corridor.

Wayne Pereira, manag er of Innovations America, expressed his gratitude to the Government of Guy ana and police force for looking out for the busi ness community as well as for the customers during this season, which is the busiest time of the year.

“We are now getting into the Christmas season; business is picking up and we have a store that offers a one-stop shopping experience. There are a variety of items that can be found under one roof and the added security on the streets makes it even better,” he told this pub lication.

He said that based on his observations, the ranks are doing a good job to se cure the streets of George town.

“They are all over, not only in Georgetown but all around Guyana. I drive all over and you can see them operating in a smooth manner. Some of them are directing traffic while others are helping shoppers and making sure that the people feel safer as they move around and that is something good. It’s always a good feeling to see the police presence in any community; the owners and customers feel safer and that’s always a good thing for us,” he said.

Pereira noted that In novations America and its sister companies always try to “keep up” with their social responsibilities by giving back to the peo ple of Guyana through their annual toy drives and donations to the less fortunate and charitable organisations, because it is “the right thing to do.”

Meanwhile, Clinton Alphonso of Mining Secu rity Inc. and Innovations America, is giving back to the hard-working ranks by supplying them with refreshments and provid ing access to washroom facilities.

“We are setting the trend and we are hoping that others can follow. At the end of the day, we are all human beings. They

are doing a very good job for everyone and we are being supportive and appreciative of them for all that they do. It is our hope that others can fol low in our footsteps and to remember that little gestures go a long way for someone.”

Mona Ramlall, own er of the George Sook hoo New Store on Regent Street said, “So far, we are feeling safe because the police officers are all over the streets patrolling and they even come into the stores to make sure that everything is going well. My customers are happy with them being around, as long as they see the police around. They seem more relaxed and walk around with more ease. We are thankful for them.”

Florence (the only name given), a vendor, expressed her appreciation for the ranks being very vigilant and courteous towards the people and vendors.

Toya James, an ear ly Christmas shopper, said, “It’s the first time I feel like I don’t have to hold onto my purse tight. Everywhere you turn, there is a policeman and I think we need to have this all the time and not just for the Christmas season. The President is doing a good job with cleaning up the place and putting the police on the streets.”

Police ranks at the corner of Regent and Albert Streets

A rank directs traffic despite the heavy rainfall

Exxon continues sponsorship for second International Energy Conference and Expo

the traditional non-oil sectors.”

Minister Bharrat further explained that the event is “not just about showcasing Guy ana as an oil-producing country, but showcas ing Guyana as an in vestment destination, a

land that offers many opportunities across all sectors.”

The Conference and Expo will be held at the Guyana Marriott Hotel in Georgetown.

The registration portal can be found on the conference website,

www.guyanaenergy.gy. Pre-registration is now open for sponsors, ex hibitors, in-person at tendees, virtual attend ees, workshop partic ipants, and members of the media, all being done online, the release said.

THE International En ergy Conference and Expo Guyana 2023 (IECEG 2023) on Tues day announced that ExxonMobil Guyana will be the premier sponsor of the event’s second edition, which is slated for February 14-17, 2023.

“The event’s theme, ‘Harnessing Energy for Development,’ aligns with our commitment to sustainably produce energy and products to meet society’s needs in a manner that protects people, the environment and communities where we operate,” President of ExxonMobil Guyana, Alistair Routledge, was quoted as saying in a press release.

Routledge add ed: “Guyana is a thought-leader on low-carbon develop ment with an ambi tious strategy to secure growth and prosperity for current and future generations. These cre dentials, I believe, put Guyana in the driver’s seat on energy issues regionally if not global ly, and the International Energy Conference is an ideal platform to learn of developments and engage in the debate.

ExxonMobil Guyana is proud to be associated with this event and is

excited to be part of the transformational journey taking place in Guyana.”

According to the press release, the confer ence, which is expected to assemble policymak ers, academics, industry professionals and entre preneurs from around the world, will again see the participation of Heads of State and Government, and global energy thought-lead ers, most notably Pro fessor Jeffrey D Sachs, world-renowned eco nomics professor, best selling author, innova tive educator, and global leader in sustainable de velopment.

In acknowledging the sponsorship from ExxonMobil Guyana, Kurt Baboolall, Chief Executive Officer of the International Energy Conference and Expo Guyana said, “We are grateful for the sponsors and exhibitors who are committing resources to supporting the con ference and driving the energy conversation.”

According to the re lease, he added, “Exx onMobil, as is demon strated in Guyana, is an unparalleled leader in energy development today and remains com mitted to meeting cur rent and future needs for development. The rapid

development of energy resources being under taken by ExxonMobil Guyana has positioned Guyana in the middle of the current global dis cussions.”

At full capacity, the conference will feature 35 sponsors, 300 exhib itors, and 1,200 dele gates. Over 60 per cent of all places have been taken and the remaining openings have become extremely competitive to secure, the release added.

Meanwhile, Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, who was present for the an nouncement, signalled government’s continued support of the Confer ence and Expo saying that, “The government welcomes the Interna tional Energy Confer ence and Expo 2023, this is the second energy expo in Guyana show casing the opportunities and what Guyana has to offer to the world. Guyana of course is one of the newest oil-pro ducing countries in the Latin America and Ca ribbean region, and we have been moving at an unprecedented rate in developing our oil- andgas sector and at the same time we have been incentivizing and work ing towards developing

From left to right: President of EEPGL, Allistair Routledge; Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat; CEO of the IECEG, Kurt Baboolall; and Communications Director of the IECEG, Alex Graham (IECEG photo)

‘Bring the evidence of voter fraud’

ATTORNEY-GEN

ERAL Anil Nandlall, S.C., on Tuesday challenged associates of the A Partnership for National Unity + Alli ance For Change (AP NU+AFC) to show the public one case of vot er impersonation to support claims made.

Directed to com mentator Sher wood Lowe and AP NU+AFC’s represen tative at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Vincent Al exander, the AG rub bished the men’s com ments as recycled and misleading.

In a published letter on November 19, Alex ander made a number of allegations regard ing voter imperson ation, and claimed that contrary to statements made by the Attorney General, the coalition’s

evidence that voter fraud took place shows that safeguards were not properly in place.

The AG respond ed that Alexander was twisting words to fit a narrative.

On the point of bio metrics, Nandlall ques tioned where Alexander drew the conclusion that he is “fiercely op posed” to biometrics.

“Any able read er would confirm that I wrote not a line in my exchange with Mr Alexander on biomet rics of any type. I am therefore at [a] loss in understanding from whence Mr Alexander discerned my ‘fierce opposition’ to the same.

“Mr Alexander well knows that biometrics is a new injection in this discourse, which requires separate treat ment as it is outside the scope of this de bate,” the AG said in his response letter on Tuesday.

AG Nandlall noted, instead, that the topic of biometrics is new to the conversation and needs to be discussed separately in a different conversation.

“I believe that I have comprehensively ad dressed and conclusive ly settled the germane issue of controversy in this exchange, that is, that persons whose names are lawfully on the list cannot be con sidered ‘bloat’” the AG added.

BACKGROUND

As it relates to the National Registration (Amendment) Bill,

some of the highlight ed amendments which were addressed at the recently concluded public consultations included the periodic removal of dead per sons from the voter’s list, along with fixed timings for continuous registration.

According to the amendment in Section Six of this Act, the reg istration of all persons who are qualified to be electors and persons in Guyana of the age of 14 years and over will be done at offices es tablished by GECOM and will be done for a continuous period.

The amendment said that every year the registration of persons who, on June 30 are qualified to be elec tors shall be continuous from January to May.

Additionally, every year registration of per sons who on December 31 are qualified to be electors and all other persons of the age of 14 years and over shall be continuous from July to November.

The cycle will be paused for claims and objections which lasts one month. Once that cycle is completed and the data is sanitised, it then goes to become part of the National List of Registrants.

As it relates to the removal of deceased persons from the vot ers’ list, it was noted previously and repeat edly that new sections were added as part of the amendments.

This section will see the registrar general, upon the request of the commission, send to the commissioner once every month a list of all persons 14 years and over, whose deaths have been registered in the preceding month.

Further, it added that the registration of any person under this Act whose name is on the list of dead persons sent by the registrar general to the commissioner shall be cancelled.

The commissioner will then prepare a list from this central regis ter for every division comprising names of persons registered in the division that is on the list of dead persons sent by the registrar general, certify the list and have it forwarded to the registration offi cer of that division.

Subsequently, when due process is followed as prescribed in the Act, once the commissioner is satisfied that the person is dead, the cancellation of their registration shall be directed.

— AG tells Alexander, Lowe

GECOM Commissioner Vincent Alexander

Minister Mustapha inspects city pumps, sluices following heavy rainfall

FOLLOWING approxi mately four inches of rain fall and the anticipated high-intensity rainfall in the coming days, Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha and a team of National Drainage and Ir rigation Authority (NDIA) officials, on Tuesday in spected drainage pumps

and sluices in the city.

According to the De partment of Public Infor mation (DPI), the NDIA has assigned three engineers to monitor all pumps and sluices on a 24-hour basis. They will be responsible for ensuring that they are opened on time to minimise any possibility of flooding in

Georgetown and surrounding areas.

Further, the Princes Street pump was rendered inoperable after it came into contact with a piece of wood.

“The NDIA is in the pro cess of extracting the pump to effect repairs and will work around the clock to en sure that it becomes operable

in the shortest possible time. This, however, could have a severe impact on the effec tiveness with which water is drained from the land, partic ularly in light of anticipated high-intensity rainfall in the coming days,” the DPI said.

As a result of the situ ation at Princes Street, the NDIA is urging citizens to

desist from wantonly dump ing garbage and other refuse in waterways and in the vicinity of pumps, as such actions could have cata strophic consequences for communities.

The DPI noted that a few days ago, President, Dr Irfaan Ali, on his Facebook page posted images of large

amounts of debris, including metals, vehicle tyres, plastic barrels and other trash which were removed from the Kitty Pump Station during the recent national clean-up ex ercise.

Citizens are being urged to exercise precau tion during this rainy pe riod.

A pump in operation on Tuesday (DPI photo)

Minister Mustapha (centre) inspects a sluice in the city (DPI photo)

This sluice drains floodwater from the Kingston area. Most of the city was flooded on Tuesday afternoon following hours of heavy rainfall (Delano Williams photo)

These unlucky drivers ended up in the drain alongside this flooded street (Delano Williams photo)

A flooded street in the city (Delano Williams photo)

$28.7M primary school commissioned at Swan

AS the Ministry of Edu cation continues its efforts to make schooling acces sible across the country, a new primary school was on Tuesday commissioned at Swan on the Soesdyke-Lin den Highway.

According to a press re lease issued by the ministry, construction of the $28.7

million school will ensure that pupils living in Swan no longer have to travel to Yar rowkabra and Kuru Kururu to receive an education.

“The building and com missioning of Swan Primary School signify the commit ment of the Ministry of Ed ucation and by extension the Government of Guyana in

working towards fulfilling the promises to build, expand and improve educational facilities across Guyana and to reduce inequities,” the release said.

There are presently 106 pupils enrolled at the pri mary school along with six teachers.

The school was commis sioned by the Minister of Ed

ucation, Priya Manickchand and Minister of Local Gov ernment and Regional De velopment, Nigel Dharamlall.

In her feature address, Minister Manickchand stated that the commissioning is a promise fulfilled.

She explained that after assuming office, she along with Minister Dharamlall and Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal, visited the community and one of the issues raised was the absence of a primary school in the community, the press release said.

She added that the minis try is committed to providing equal and equitable education opportunities for students across Guyana.

“Our commitment to you

is that as a government, we will not only put the money into infrastructure, but we also must make sure we’re monitoring to get results from your children. If you get Yarrowkabra Secondary you must be able to go there and get Grade Ones, Twos and Threes. That is our aim and our commitment to you,” she was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, in his re marks Minister Dharamlall noted that the commissioning of the school is part of the government’s plan to ensure that all communities are de veloped.

“So, this is how our gov ernment is working; making sure that all communities are developed properly, with schools, health facilities with

all of the amenities, utili ties, and now you also have the internet at your primary school,” he was quoted as saying in the press release.

Acting Regional Educa tion Officer, Stembiso Grant said in 2022, investments were made to ensure equity and equality in education and she promised that 2023 would be no different.

The press release said that village chairman Fenton Ragunath thanked the gov ernment for its commitment to community development.

Also present at the com missioning were the Region al Chairman for Region Four, Daniel Seeram, teach ers and pupils of the prima ry school, and parents.

A new primary school at Swan was commissioned on Tuesday

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, and Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall, unveil a plaque at the newly commissioned school (Ministry of Education photos)

NGSA announced for May 3, 4 next year

PARENTS will have more time to work alongside pupils in preparation for the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) 2023 as dates for the assessment have been announced.

Education Minister Priya Manickchand in a live video on Tuesday confirmed the dates, noting that the inten tion is not to do away with the NGSA.

Minister Manickchand noted that 2019 was the last “normal” year for NGSA.

“In 2020, 2021, 2022, we have had changes in both the timing as well as the curric ulum that was used and we want to resume some level of normalcy for 2023,” the education minister noted.

Commenting on the structure of the assessment, Minister Manickchand said it will be based on the Grade 5 curriculum, and then a con solidated curriculum.

She cautioned, however, that concepts from Grades 3 and 4 are also tested. “The children who will be taking the exam next year in 2023 came out of school in Grade 3 and we are very conscious of that,” Minister Manick chand noted further.

Acknowledging that it would be difficult to bridge all of the learning loss caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,

the education minister said the officials of her ministry have studied the circum stances thoroughly before arriving at a decision.

Guyana’s top education official noted that an early announcement of the dates allows for families to prop erly plan their holidays “and not be guessing and waiting on us at the ministry.”

“Results are going to be ready by July 11,2023,” she said.

Previously, Minister Manickchand noted that the NGSA would not be removed from Guyana’s school sys tem. “We are not ending NGSA; I want us to be very clear about that.

“Barbados, Trinidad and a couple of other countries explored ending their pri mary exit examination, but it’s not happening, and that’s because it’s hard to do, for a variety of reasons.

“The exit exams measure a whole set of other things in addition to placement. So, I didn’t speak about ending it,” Minister Manickchand clarified some time ago.

On July 6 and 7 this year, almost 16,250 learners from across Guyana under went this assessment. This is a significant rise from the 13,822 students who took the exam in 2021.

Education Minister Priya Manickchand on Tuesday with pupils of the newly-built Swan Primary School (Education Ministry photo)

Health officials to improve monitoring of diseases

THE way informa tion is collected from patients on infectious and chronic non-com municable diseases in Guyana will see im provements, according to Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony, who was speaking at the opening ceremony of the National Health Surveillance Sympo sium at the Pegasus Corporate Suites, Kingston on Tuesday.

The symposium is being hosted in part nership with the Pan American Health Or ganisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/ WHO).

“The surveillance system needs to be ro bust for data collection to capture data on both infectious and chronic non-communicable dis eases.

“When we think about diabetes, for ex ample, we’re working with estimates, but we have people who come to us at clinics for treat ment, but we don’t have a very strong and robust system of collecting that information and aggregating it so that we know exactly how we’re prepared to treat it,” Minister Anthony said during his remarks at the opening ceremony.

According to a state ment from the health ministry, the symposium allows regional repre sentatives and staff of the health surveillance departments from across the country to meet this week to discuss new approaches and strat egies that will benefit the surveillance system under the One-Health initiative.

Dr Anthony under scored the importance of widespread testing and compiling of that data with the aim of identify ing and monitoring the way in which disease outbreaks spread.

The Health Minister reminded of govern ment’s major partner

ship with Mount Sinai Health System through support from HESS cor poration on developing and integrating plans which will benefit the country’s healthcare system.

“Very soon, a pa tient’s electronic med ical record system will be implemented which will see patients pre senting smart cards to healthcare providers that will have all their medi cal records,” Dr Antho ny highlighted.

The health ministry is also hopeful the ini tiative will also allow accurate and timely in formation on diseases and how it’s spread to be shared with health authorities.

This system will also be complemented by a Health Inflammatix Department which will analyse data and provide accurate information on the spread of diseases.

Among those present at the sym posium were PAHO/ WHO Representative in Guyana, Dr Luis Codina; Chief Medi cal Officer, Dr Narine Singh; Director of the Surveillance Unit, Sa sha Walrond; Director of Disease Control, Dr Lachime Lall; Di rector of Disability and Rehabilitation Services, Dr Ariane Mangar; Director of Primary Health Care Services, Dr Ertenesia Hamilton; and other staff from the regional surveillance depart ments

Health professionals gathered at the Pegasus Corporate Suites on Tuesday (Ministry of Health photo)

Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony, addresses the gathering (Ministry of Health photo)

Commonwealth SG backs loss-and-damage initiative for SIDS

(CMC) — Commonwealth Secretary-General Patrick Scotland says while she is pleased that at least this year, for the first time, loss and damage had been placed on the agenda of the United Na tions Climate Change Confer ence (COP 29), it is “a critical issue that demands our urgent action, particularly for small and other vulnerable countries that are facing the impacts of climate change as we speak.”

She told the Caribbean Me dia Corporation (CMC) that even as the COP27 ends here later on Friday, “concurrently in the Caribbean, communities are struggling to cope with the tail end of the Atlantic hurricane season.

“Within the past week or two Belize was struck by Hur ricane Lisa, which has caused widespread damage, while heavy rains and terrible flooding are affecting St Lucia and my own country of birth, Dominica, where at least one person has died.”

She told CMC that due to their small size, geographic

make-up and location, level of development and limited capac ity, these vulnerable countries tend to suffer the most as a result of climate change, including having to deal with the rising frequency and intensity of ex treme weather.

“This is the lived reality in the Caribbean and yet, globally, they contribute negligibly to the problem — small island developing states contribute less than one per cent to global greenhouse gas emissions which cause climate change.

“The Commonwealth’s stance on loss and damage is clear. In June 2022 leaders of our 56 member countries met in Kigali, Rwanda, and in their communiqué they reiterated the urgency of scaling up action and support — including finance, technology transfer and capacity building — to address loss and damage in developing countries.

“They called on developed countries, international partners as well as NGOs and private sources, to provide enhanced and additional support to deal with loss and damage. I am therefore

pleased that at least this year, for the first time, loss and damage is on the official agenda of these talks,” she added.

Caribbean countries are at the forefront in advocating for the establishment of a fund to deal with loss and damage resulting from climate change, and Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne is call ing for oil and gas giants to pay for damage from climate change through a global carbon tax on their profits.

He told COP 27 that these giant, “profligate producers

of fossil fuels have benefited from extortionate profits at the expense of human civilisation”, adding “while they are profiting, the planet is burning”.

Scotland was cautious in her response when asked whether she was confident that such an initiative will bear fruit, given that it is not the first time de veloped countries have spoken about the need to help small island developing states (SIDS) deal with the impact of climate change and whether she expects the COP27 to achieve anything meaningful, as some are already

labelling it another talk shop.

“Climate negotiations have always been challenging, and this year it is no different. Fi nancing and loss and damage, in particular, are contentious areas but the fact that loss and damage have finally made it on the agen da this year is progress — and so are the discussions around catalysing technical assistance to deal with loss and damage.

“We also recognise that some countries are stepping forward with concrete pledges — Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, New Zealand and Scotland have all pledged pro vide funding to help address loss and damage.

“However, others need to follow suit, and all need to ramp up commitments and ambition to support those who have already experienced the harmful effects of climate change.”

The Commonwealth sec retary general said, disappoint ingly, developed countries have continued to fall short of their promise to jointly pro vide US$100 billion annually to address the adaptation and

mitigation needs of developing countries, which was pledged more than a decade ago.

“In this regard Common wealth leaders have called on developed country parties to fully deliver on this US$100-bil lion goal urgently and through to 2025,” she said, telling CMC the Commonwealth Secretariat is doing its part to improve access to international funds that are currently available, through the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub.

Scotland said that this ini tiative has already mobilised at least US$53 million to date for climate action in small and other vulnerable states.

“I am hopeful that COP27 will deliver concrete outcomes. Every step forward is prog ress, but we need to accelerate action because climate change impacts will continue and even worsen if we remain on the current trajectory. Climate change will not wait for us to catch up — we must act now,” the Commonwealth secretary general told CMC.

Trio remanded over $5M cannabis ‘bust’

THREE men were, on Tuesday, remanded to pris on for allegedly trafficking $5 million worth of canna bis at Springlands Public Road, Corentyne, Berbice.

Stuart Hamer, a 64-yearold taxi driver of Number 77 Village Housing Scheme; Jeremiah Smith, 18, and Da mion Hinds, 42, appeared be fore Magistrate Alex Moore at the Mibicuri Magistrate’s Court.

The trio denied having 40 kilogrammes of cannabis on November 17.

Magistrate Moore re manded the men to prison until January 17, 2023, for report at the Springlands Magistrate’s Court.

According to a release from the Customs Anti-Nar cotics Unit (CANU), on the day in question, ranks were conducting an operation on the Springlands Public Road when they observed a “sus picious” silver-grey vehicle parked on the said road.

Several individuals with in the vicinity were ques tioned, but no one claimed ownership or identified the driver of the said vehicle.

A subsequent search of the vehicle revealed several parcels of suspected cannabis in two salt bags. The vehicle and the narcotics were es corted to CANU’s Office at Skeldon, Corentyne, Berbice.

The next day, Ham er went to the Springlands Police Station and claimed ownership of the vehicle.

He reportedly also stated that he was hired by the other two accused to transport the narcotics to Corentyne.

As a result, ranks from the Springlands Police Sta tion arrested Smith and Hinds, who were then hand ed over to CANU ranks.

The suspected cannabis was weighed and tested in the presence of the three men. It tested positive for cannabis and weighed a to tal of 40 kilogrammes with a street value of approxi mately $5 million.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland (Photo retrieved from Jamaica Observer)

Saudi Arabia shock Messi's Argentina...

traditionally massive and raucous following matched by the thousands of Saudis who had come over the bor der to cheer on their team.

"Our team fulfils our dreams!" and "Where is Mes si? We beat him!", the greenclad Saudis chanted over and over in the Lusail Stadium, on their feet and greeting every clearance - including one headed off the goal line - with a deafening roar.

MESSI'S DREAM IN DOUBT

Both teams have Mexico and Poland to come, with Argentina needing an im mediate reaction if Messi is to have a realistic chance of matching Diego Maradona's immortality in his homeland by bringing home the World Cup.

The result revived old question marks over Argen tina's defence and broke their amazing 36-match undefeat ed run. That stopped them from matching the previous international record of 37 games unbeaten held by Italy.

It also marred Messi's achievement on Tuesday of becoming the first Argen tinian to score in four World Cups on his 20th appear ance in the tournament. Only Maradona has played more games for Argentina at the World Cup, 21 in all.

"This hurts a lot. We were dreaming of starting the World Cup with a win," said Messi's strike partner Martinez. "But it's happened and now we have to train and think forward.

"We lost this game be cause of our own mistakes, most of all in the second half. There are details that make a difference and we need to correct our mistakes."

It had all looked so differ ent at the start when the ma rauding Messi nearly scored in the opening seconds, cele brated joyfully after sending Saudi goalkeeper Moham med Al-Owais the wrong way with his penalty, then had another goal disallowed.

For the Saudis, the result buried their dismal history at the start of tournaments, including a 5-0 thrashing by hosts Russia in 2018 and an 8-0 pummelling by Germany in 2002.

Their feat against the twice World Cup-winners and current South American champions was all the more remarkable given the depar ture of their influential cap tain and midfielder Salman Al Faraj just after halftime, clutching a hamstring.

Midfielder Abdulelah Al-Malki said the Saudis were fired up like never before by their coach Herve Renard.

"Renard made us cry with the motivation before the match and stoked us up during halftime," he said, affectionately calling the Frenchman "crazy".

Argentina's last defeat was by Brazil in the semi-fi nals of the Copa America in July 2019. They are ranked third, 48 places above Saudi Arabia, by world football's governing body FIFA.

Argentina's last defeat in their opening match at a World Cup was against Cameroon in 1990. In po tentially a good omen for Messi and his team mates, they still made it to the final then.

The Saudis could hard ly contain themselves after their giant-killing act, fall ing to the floor in prayers and tears before running to celebrate with their fans as the Argentinians trudged off downcast, their supporters shaking heads in silence.

IGG 2022 launches tomorrow at Guyana National Stadium

...French Guiana arrives; Over 400 athletes to compete

LAST held in 2017 in Su riname, student athletes in the three Guianas are set to rekindle healthy rival ry from Friday morning when the 2022 edition of the always highly antici pated Inter Guiana Games (IGG) commences. The competition will be formal ly launched at the Guyana National Stadium, Provi dence, from 19:00hrs to morrow.

Over 400 athletes from the three nations, both males and females will be vying for supremacy in Track and Field, Badminton, Cycling (male only), Volleyball, Lawn Tennis, Football (fe male only), Table Tennis, Swimming, and Basketball

between Friday and Sunday at multiple venues in Regions Three and Four.

Expected to grace this auspicious occasion is Min ister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr., Director of Sport Steve Nin valle, and Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Kashif Mohammad, among others.

Suriname’s Minister of Regional Development and Sport, Ms. Garcia Emmanuel, their Director of Sport Mr. Gordon Tjouw Ngie Touw, and other high ranking offi cials are also going to be part of the opening and will also be taking in the action at the various game venues Ninvalle welcomed the

French Guiana contingent to Guyana upon their arriv al yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon. He posited that, “On behalf of the Hon. Min ister of Culture, Youth and Sport Charles Ramson, I wish to welcome the French Guiana team to our shores. Their presence in Guyana underlines how important they view the development of mutual understanding and solidarity amongst peoples of the Guianas.”

Head of the French Gui ana delegation is Territorial Councillor, Mirta Tani, who spoke on arrival expressing delight at being back for the IGG.

“We haven’t had the IGG in five years, and this is an

Female coaches to benefit from CONCACAF Level C course

THE Guyana Football Federation (GFF) will, this week, conduct the inaugural female only CONCACAF Level C coaching course for 24 aspiring female coaches from nine regional asso ciations across Guyana.

This groundbreaking course, which represents the GFF’s continued invest ment in Women’s football, will be delivered through the Federation’s Coach Ed ucation Department from November 24-29 at the GFF National Training Centre, Providence, East Bank Demerara.Theoreti cal and practical sessions will be conducted by GFF acting Technical Director, Bryan Joseph, and Coach Linsworth Gilbert, under the guidance and oversight of CONCACAF’s Tech nical Expert and Coach Developer, Anton Corneal.

Guyana is the fifth country in the CONCA

CAF region to conduct the female only Level C coach ing course, which aims to provide over 300 women across the region with the opportunity to initiate their pathway into coaching.

Joseph noted: “The vision of President Forde is to raise the standard of

India win T20 series...

Phillips smashed 54 and Conway made 59 but New Zealand lost the plot in the last five overs, losing their last eight wickets for a mere 30 runs.

Mohammed Siraj was the pick of the Indian bowlers claiming 4-17, while fellow seamer Singh returned 4-37.

Southee, who had claimed a hat-trick in the previous

important championship for the young athletes of the Guianas. So, we welcoming the return and we are happy to be in Guyana.”

She added that despite having the smallest con tingent of the three partic ipating countries, French Guiana athletes are more than ready to give their all and make their presence felt in basketball and track and field.

(From page 38)

match, dismissed Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer with successive deliveries and In dia slumped to 4-60 in the seventh over.

Pandya, however, looked in great form and smashed 30 not out off 18 balls before rain intervened.

India rested regular cap tain Rohit Sharma and batters Virat Kohli and KL Rahul for

Women football across Guyana by investing heav ily in the education and certification of our female coaches. This course is just the beginning of the long-term support and investment the GFF tech nical department plans to make in our dedicated female coaches.”

He added, “The knowl edge and experience these coaches will gain from this course will have a tremendously positive impact on the quality of players they will go on to develop in the coming years, which will con tribute vastly to the im provement of our national teams.”

Participants will be former and current national players, club and school coaches and community coaches. The course starts at 08:00hrs and ends at 17:00hrs daily.

the series.

After the opening match in Wellington was washed out without a ball being bowled, India prevailed by 65 runs in the second match at Mount Maunganui, which proved decisive in the end.

The teams will now clash in a three-match one-day series starting in Auckland on Friday.

Guyana’s (DOS) Steve Ninvalle and Suriname’s Minister of Sport, Garcia Emanuel

GFF acting Technical Director Bryan Joseph

Head, Warner consign England to record ODI defeat

DAVID Warner may just have found his opening partner for next year's 50over World Cup, with Tra vis Head peeling off his third ODI century in what is becoming a formidable opening partnership for Australia.

The left-handed duo com bined for a huge 269-run partnership – the biggest ever ODI stand at the MCG – as they propelled Australia to a thumping 221-run victory at the MCG on Tuesday night to sweep No.1 ranked England

in the three-match Dettol series.

The margin was En gland’s biggest ever defeat in the 50-over format, sur passing a 219-run loss to Sri Lanka in Colombo in 2018.

Warner and Head have hit 795 runs at a phenomenal average of 113.57 in their seven innings at the top of Australia's one-day line-up, with the South Australian now firmly in the box seat to be Aaron Finch's long-term replacement following the former captain’s ODI retire

ment in September.

Their opening stand was the highest the highest part nership for any wicket in an ODI at the MCG, surpassing Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting's 225 in 2002.

Remarkably it wasn't even their best opening part nership, falling 15 runs short of the 284 they put on against Pakistan in Adelaide in Jan uary 2017.

It led Australia to a mam moth 5-355 from 48 overs; the highest total of all-time in the format at the venue

despite two overs being lost to rain, and it proved far too many for a weary England to reel in.

Head rode his luck early; dropped on four at slip by Liam Dawson after chasing a wide delivery from David Willey in the second over before overturning an lbw decision on review that was given out in the next over from Chris Woakes.

The 28-year-old, who had to pass a late fitness test to take his place in the XI and didn't take the field later in the evening, is known for his strength square of the wicket but showcased his ability down the ground with several powerful drives and a glorious six over mid-on off Willey.

He went to fifty with a ferocious straight drive off Sam Curran that floored War ner at the non-strikers' end and wasn't perturbed by a 30-minute rain delay half way through the 20th over, slapping the left-armer for a boundary and Dawson for a huge six in the first two overs following the resumption

He brought up his sec ond international century at the MCG off just 91 balls, cradling his bat to the dress ing rooms as he celebrated reaching triple figures for the first time since becoming a father to daughter Milla in September, which was the reason he missed Australia's previous ODI series against Zimbabwe and New Zealand in Far North Queensland.

Head was eventually out in the 39th over, three balls after Warner also fell to Olly Stone for 106 (102), but not before registering his best ODI knock of 152 from 130 balls with 16 fours and four sixes.

Warner played sec ond-fiddle to his junior part ner for the majority of their record-breaking stand apart from a brief assault on Stone (4-85) that yielded three boundaries in an over, with the right-arm quick England's most successful and expen sive bowler for the day.

The veteran opener reached his 19th one-day international century and first in any format for Aus tralia since January 2020 in 97 deliveries before holing out to deep mid-wicket five balls later.

The innings took Warner past 6000 international runs in the 50-over format from 139 innings, the 10th and fastest Australia men's batter to reach the milestone ahead of Matthew Hayden (154 innings).

England suffered an early blow with batter Phil Salt concussed while diving un successfully in ninth over to try and prevent one of Warner's 10 boundaries and was eventually subbed out for Moeen Ali during the rain delay, who had initially been rested from the contest along side leg-spinner Adil Rashid

Another brief 20-minute rain delay at 6pm reduced Australia's innings to 48

overs, with Mitch Marsh (30 off 16), Steve Smith (21 off 16) and Alex Carey (12no off six) pushing England's target to a record chase of 364 from 48 overs following the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern adjustment.

England, who secured their second T20 World Cup crown just nine days ago, could perhaps be forgiven for having their minds elsewhere with the tourists booked on a flight home early tomorrow morning.

Their pursuit never re ally got going, and despite Mitchell Starc being rested, Australia's new ball pairing of Pat Cummins (2-25) and Josh Hazlewood (1-21) sliced through the visitors' top-order to leave them 3-66 and re quiring more than 10 an over for the final 30.

Jason Roy, given a life line with the injury to Jon ny Bairstow after being dumped from England's World Cup squad, missed out for the third match in a row, with his play and miss percentage of 47 in his 48ball 33 the highest ever in an ODI innings of 20 balls or more

A double-wicket over to star leg-spinner Adam Zam pa (4-31), who took his tally to 11 wickets for the series (the most by an Australian in a home bilateral series), iced the contest as England lost 4-6 in 17 deliveries to crash to 142 all out in the 32nd over.

Sean Abbott also added two wickets in his return to the national side in place of Ashton Agar who travelled to Canberra following Sat urday's second ODI to rep resent the Prime Minister's XI against the West Indies

The 3-0 result is just Australia's second ODI whitewash of England in a multi-game bilateral series, with both nations now turning their atten tion to the red-ball format with Australia to start the Test summer against the Windies in Perth next Wednesday, with England travelling to Pakistan for a three-match series in De cember. (Cricket.com.au)

A record ODI stand at the MCG from Travis Head (right) and David Warner has propelled Australia to a 3-0 series win over England, who suffered their worst ever one-day loss

Denmark and Tunisia play to goalless draw

DENMARK were held to a draw by Tunisia in their World Cup opener in a raucous atmosphere at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan.

Despite fielding many Premier League regulars, the much-fancied Danes were given a tough workout in Group D.

Christian Eriksen, ap pearing for Denmark having suffered a cardiac arrest in their opening game of Euro 2020 only last summer, was mostly well shackled, al though he did draw a fine save from Aymen Dahmen in the second half.

Both sides had goals ruled out for offside, while Denmark's Andreas Corne lius somehow missed from a yard.

There was 95th-min ute drama when referee Cesar Ramos checked the pitchside monitor over a po tential Denmark penalty for handball, only to stick with his original decision.

One of the pre-tourna ment favourites, Denmark will need to find some form if they are to qualify from a tricky-looking group.

At Euro 2020, Denmark rode a crest of emotion to the semi-finals and confi dence was high going into this tournament in Qatar, with nine wins out of 10 in World Cup qualifying.

However, Tunisia were unfazed by reputation and, perhaps inspired by Saudi Arabia's stunning win over Argentina and a vociferous crowd acclaiming every tackle, they made it uncom fortable for the Danes.

Denmark almost got away with a disjointed dis play when the video as

sistant referee suggested a penalty check after the ball had hit Yassine Merriah's arm - but the referee decided his on-pitch call had been correct.

Indeed, Ramos was showing great consistency, having earlier deemed that a similar incident at the other end against Andreas Christensen was not a pen alty either.

At Euro 2020, Denmark thrived on the tag of under dogs. Badged as favourites here, this was a difficult 90 minutes and they will need to go through the gears to progress in this tournament.

With holders France up next on Saturday (16:00 GMT kick-off), it will only get harder for Kasper Hju lmund's side. (BBC Sport)

Rose Hall Bakewell advance to Lower Corentyne quarter finals

DESPITE weather and the unplayable conditions across several grounds, the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) started its 2022 BCB/ Dave West Indian Imports 40 overs second division tournament.

The tournament involves the hosting of five different sub division tournaments which would each provide a champion. The five inter-zone champions would then go on to play for the overall Berbice championship.

The five zones are West Berbice, Lower Corentyne, Upper Corentyne, New Am sterdam/Canje and Berbice River. The tournament is been played with close to eighty teams, the most for any tournament in Guyana.

Outstanding performers from the first two rounds of the tournament included na tional youth players Jonathan Rampersaud, who scored an impressive 93 against Belvedere United, and Adri an Hetmyer who grabbed a five-wicket haul on his sec ond division debut.

Rose Hall Town Bakewell defeated Belvedere United by 83 runs at Area H Ground.

Batting first RHT Bakewell scored 208 for 7 off 35 overs with National Under 19 all- rounder Jona than Rampersaud scoring 93, Romesh Bharat 43 and Ryan Kissoonlall 18. Bowling for

Belvedere United; E. Williams- 5 for 24 off 7 overs including a hat-trick, he was supported by K. Ka maladin who grabbed 1 for 31 off 6 overs.

In reply Belvedere United was bowled out for 125 in 26.3 overs with Eon Vela dium scoring 44, Reon Mal com 24 and R. Dillion 18. Bowling for RHT Bakewell; Matthew Pottaya took 3 for 30 off 4.3 overs, Collis Butts 2 for 15 off 7 overs, Jeremey Sandia 2 for 24 off 5 overs and Tyreece Sealey 2 for 27 off 6 overs.

University of Guyana Elites triumphed over Kil donan by 167 runs at Chesney Ground.

UG Elites batting first scored 242 all out in 35 overs; G. Ramnarine blast ing 81, Eon Nunes 15 was the principal scorer. Bowl ing for Kildonan; R. Seelall took 2 for 45 off 8 overs and

C. Mckenzie 2 for 32 off 7 overs.

In reply Kildonan was bowled out 75 in 10.4 overs with C. McPherson 19, the only batsman to reach dou ble figures. Bowling for UG Elites, Vivik Harripersaud grabbed 5 for 30 off 5 overs and Collis Greene 4 for 34 off 5.4 overs, the fast-bowling pair dismantled the Kildonan batting lineup.

Rose Hall Canje ‘A’ trounced Rose Hall Canje President X1 by 10 wickets at Rose Hall Canje Community Centre.

RH Canje President X1 taking first strike only man aged 70 before they were bowled out in 15.3 overs. Feedee Daniels 15 the only batsman to reach double fig ures. Bowling for Rose Hall Canje ‘A’; Guyana Under 15 all-rounder Adrian Hetmyer grabbed 5 for 15 off 3 overs and Enrique Mickle 2 for 9 off 2 overs.

In reply- Rose Hall Canje ‘A’ raced to 70 without loss off 6 overs. Avishkar Persaud scored 43.

Cotton Tree defeated Bath Sports club by 6 wick ets at Cotton Tree Ground.\ Batting first after winning the toss Bath was bowled out for 117 in 23 overs. A. Anan dram scored 29, H. Singh 20 and S. Sugrim 18. Bowling for Cotton Tree; Fawaz Gaf foor grabbed 4 for 22 from 7

overs, Waqar Hassan 4 for 32 from 7 overs.

In reply Cotton Tree reached 120 for 6 in 16 overs with Nick Ramsaroop 53, Daniel Harrynarine 35.

Ramnarine Memorial beat Kildonan by 3 wickets at Kildonan.

Host Kildonan taking first strike was bowled out for 145 in 21 overs. C. McKenzie scored 28 and S. Seelall 15. Bowling for Ramnarine Me morial; R. Latcha grabbed 5 for 23 off 5 overs and T. Leitch 2 for 16 off 2 overs.

In reply Ramnarine Me morial scored 147 for 7 in 26 overs with J. Holder 35, Collis Gray 23 and R. Gray 17 not out. Bowling for Kil donan; S. Seelall grabbed 3 for 30 off 4 overs.

Cotton Tree brushed Achievers by 61 runs at Cot ton Tree Ground.

Cotton Tree won the toss and elected to bat first scored 257 for 9 from 40 overs. Roshan Gaffoor 71, Pooran Persaud 68 not out and Fawaz Gaffoor 40.

Bowling for Achievers; Omari Arthur 2 for 35 from 6 overs, Arthley Bailey 2 for 39 from 8 overs. Achievers was bowled out for 196 in 32.4 overs with Arthur Bailey 80, Gladwyn Johnson 30 and Raffel Estraido 25. Bowling for Cotton Tree; Waqar Has san 4 for 24 from 7.4 overs and Nashad Gaffoor 2 for 54

from 8 overs.

Rose Hall Town Bakewell defeated Tamarind Root C.C by 20 runs at Area H. Rose Hall Town Bakewell 104 all out in 35.3 overs; Nyron Hicks 23, Romesh Bharat 16 and Ryan Algu 14. Bowling for Tamarind Root; Kelly Dagraj grabbed 3 for 16 off 7 overs, Sewnauth Joseph 2 for 19 off 4 overs.

Tamarind Root in reply 84 all out in 26.2 overs with D. Rangasammy scoring 19, Avinash Looknauth 16 were the principal scorers.

Bowling for Rose Hall Town Bakewell; Tyreece Sealey 3 for 10 off 5.2 overs with 2 maidens, Matthew Pottaya- 3 for 10 off 4 overs with 2 maidens and Jonathan Rampersaud 2 for 12 off 8 overs with 4 maidens.

Blairmont Blazers beat D’ Edward by 5 wickets at D’ Edwards Ground.

D’ Edward was bundled out for 93 in 27.2 overs; K. Bissondial 37 and Keith Milne 21. Bowling for Blair mont Blazers; Parmanand Ramdhan grabbed 4 for 26, Nigel Deodat 3 for 20 and Zameer Nazeer 2 for 19. Blairmont Blazers in reply 94 for 5 off 14 overs with Nigel Deodat 24, Parmanand Ramdhan 22 not out and Zameer Nazeer 20. Bowling for D’ Edward; R. Moore and N. Rampersaud took 2 wickets each

Port Mourant bettered Tain/ Block 4 by 7 wickets at Port Mourant Community Centre.

Tain/ Block 4 scored 60 all out off 15 overs. M. Man gal 30. Bowling for Port Mourant; Joshua Ramsammy took 4 for 27 off 7 overs, T. Narchany 2 for 2 off 3 overs. In reply Port Mourant reached 61 for 3 off 10 overs with P. Tiluram 25.

Whim outfought Univer sity of Guyana Elites by 4 wickets.

UG Elites scored 128 all out in 35 overs; Dave Ramgolam 28, Fardeen Khan 25 Chandrashakar Mangal 17. Bowling for Whim. K. Deonarine took 6 for 36 off 8 overs and T. Harrinarine 2 for 28 off 8 overs. Whim reached 129 for 6 in 28 overs; Jai Tika scored 36, T.Harinarine 24, K.Deonarine 14. Bowling for UG Elites; Fardeen Khan 4 for 17 off 7 overs.

Guymine trashed Ed inbrugh by 189 runs at Guymine. Guymine scored a mammoth 300 all out in 33.2 overs; Glendon De Cunha 92, Marlon Shepard 36. Bowl ing for Edinburgh George Degese grabbed 4 for 44. In reply Edinburgh were bowled out for 111.

Port Mourant defeated Sandreef C.C by 170 runs at Port Mourant. Port Mou rant scored 257 all out in 39.2 overs.

Andreas Cornelius had one of Denmark's nine shots on goal, but hit the post from a yard out (Photo: Getty Images)

BCB/Dave West Indian Imports 40 overs tournament

National Under 19 all-rounder Jonathan Rampersaud scored 93 for RH Bakewell

Chicago Bulls end Boston Celtics' nine-game winning streak

'Time to seek a new challenge'

CRISTIANO Ronaldo says it was "the right time to seek a new challenge" af ter Manchester United announced he was to leave Old Trafford with immedi ate effect.

Ronaldo caused a storm last week in an exclusive interview with Piers Mor gan, in which he said he felt "betrayed" by senior figures at the club and spoke of hav ing no "respect" for manager Erik ten Hag.

United responded by saying they had "initiated appropriate steps" following the interview, and on Tues day revealed the club and

Ronaldo had gone separate ways "by mutual agree ment".

Following the news, Ronaldo released a state ment of his own, saying: "Following conversations with Manchester United we have mutually agreed to end our contract early.

"I love Manchester United and I love the fans, that will never ever change. However, it feels like the right time for me to seek a new challenge.

"I wish the team every success for the remainder of the season and for the future." (Sportsmax)

Late charge fails to save Windies Under-19 from defeat

MUMBAI, India, (CMC) – Seamers Djenaba Joseph and Ashmini Munisar trig gered a late collapse but New Zealand Under-19 Women held on to edge West Indies Under-19 Women by a single wicket with two balls to spare here Tuesday.

THE Boston Celtics' ninegame winning streak was ended by a 121-107 defeat at the hands of the Chicago Bulls.

DeMar DeRozan scored 28 points and Zach LaVine 22 at the United Center in Chicago as the Bulls ended a

four-game losing run.

The Celtics' Jayson Tatum scored 28 points - he also had 11 rebounds and seven assists - and Jaylen Brown 25.

The Celtics remain top of the Eastern Conference with

a 14-3 record, while the Bulls are 11th.

The depleted Golden State Warriors fell to a re sounding 128-83 defeat at the hands of the New Orleans Pelicans.

Brandon Ingram scored a season-high 34 points against a Warriors side who rested Stephen Curry, Klay Thomp son, Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins in New Orleans.

In Wisconsin Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 37 points despite struggling at the free-throw line as the Milwaukee Bucks overcame the Portland Trail Blazers 119-111.

The Cleveland Cav aliers beat the Atlanta Hawks 114-102 to record a third successive victo ry, while there were also Monday night wins for the Los Angeles Clippers, Minnesota Timberwolves,

Defending a paltry 116 for nine off their 20 overs, the game appeared to be get ting away from the Carib bean side after a few early strikes, with New Zealand reaching 81 for five in the 14th over in the opening Twenty20 International at the Dr Dy Patil Sports Acad emy.

But captain Munisar (221) struck a crucial blow when she had top-scor er Izzy Gaze caught and bowled for 44 from 40 de liveries, sparking a slide which saw four wickets tumble for eight runs in the space of 17 deliveries,

Captain Ashmini Munisar grabbed 2-21

Joseph (2-15) providing key support.

Tottering on 89 for nine in the 17th, New Zealand looked on their way out of the contest until being rescued by Ashtuti Kumar, who struck 21 not out off 16

deliveries with three fours, in a 28-run last wicket stand with Bree Illing (12 not out).

Left-arm seamer Jan nillea Glasgow had earlier claimed two for 29, hurting New Zealand early on as the innings slumped to 16 for three in the fourth over before recovering.

Sent in, West Indies were lifted by Munisar who top-scored with 33 from 34 deliveries with half-dozen fours and Naijanni Cumber batch, who made 26 from 23 balls with five fours.

With the innings in trou ble at 21 for three, Cum berbatch put on 27 for the fourth wicket with Trishan Holder (5) before Munisar propped up the lower order in a 37-run, eighth wicket partnership with Lena Scott (12 not out).

Pacer Amie Hucker finished with two for 27, claiming Munisar’s wicket in the final over.

India win T20 series against NZ after rain-hit tie

(REUTERS) A depleted India have won their T20 series against New Zealand 1-0 after the rain-hit third match between the sides ended in a tie in Napier.

Chasing 161 for victory on Tuesday, India were 4-75 after nine overs when rain forced the players off the ground at McLean Park.

Even after the rain relent ed, play could not resume be cause of the wet outfield, and

India’s total turned out to be the par score under the Duck worth-Lewis-Stern method.

"We would have liked to win this game, but that is how it is," India captain Hardik Pandya said post-match.

"We don't mind getting a trophy and going back with a win.

New Zealand were with out regular skipper Kane Williamson who missed the match with a medical appoint

ment leaving veteran Tim Southee to lead the side.

Opting to bat, New Zea land rode half-centuries from Devon Conway and Glenn Phillips to post 160 before being all out with two balls to go.

Arshdeep Singh removed Finn Allen in the second over to deal an early blow and then took a catch to dismiss Mark Chapman.

DeMar DeRozan (left) top-scored for the Chicago Bulls with 28 points

Ronaldo releases statement after Man Utd exit

Former Manchester United player Cristiano Ronaldo

Mohamed’s Enterprises supports Archery Guyana

England’s Knight & Winfield-Hill back for West Indies white-ball tour

ENGLAND captain Heath er Knight will return for December's white-ball t our of the West Indies, while opener Lauren Win field-Hill is also back in the Twenty20 squad.

Winfield-Hill has not played for England since March, but is recalled after strong domestic performanc es.

Knight returns to lead the side after having hip surgery.

All-rounder Nat Sciver also comes back after taking a break from cricket during the summer.

England play three oneday internationals and five T20s against West Indies, their first outing under new coach Jon Lewis.

Fast bowler Katherine Brunt, 37, is included in the T20 squad but will miss the ODIs as England continue to manage her workload.

top of the order in the shorter format, having played 40 T20s for England.

Cross, Alice Davidson-Rich ards, Freya Davies, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, So phie Ecclestone, Amy Jones (wk), Freya Kemp, Emma Lamb, Nat Sciver, Danni Wyatt.

T20 squad

Heather Knight (capt), Lauren Bell, Katherine Brunt, Alice Capsey, Freya Davies, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Freya Kemp, Nat Sciver, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Issy Wong, Danni Wyatt.

Tour schedule

Sunday, 4 December: First ODI - Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground, Antigua (18:00 GMT)

TEAM Mohamed has yet again widened its Philan thropic ideals in the sport ing arena beyond motor racing, boxing and football in Guyana by embracing Archery.

November 18, 2022, marked the historic moment when Azruddin Mohamed became an official sponsor of Archery Guyana Inc., the governing body for Archery

in Guyana with an annual sponsorship commitment of $400,000 as Team Mohamed seeks to assist in promot ing the sport of Archery in Guyana.

Archery Guyana re ceived the first sum of $100,000 to assist with the hosting of the 2022 National Archery Championships and entered into a sponsorship agreement whereby Mo

hamed’s Enterprises will support Archery Guyana on a quarterly basis to the tune of $100,000.

This first installment is expected to go towards procuring targets to be used at the upcoming 2022 National Outdoor Cham pionships to be held at the Sophia Exhibition Centre on December 3rd and 4th, 2022.

Opener Tammy Beau mont, who was dropped from England's T20 side for the Commonwealth Games, has only been selected for the ODIs.

England will be boost ed by Knight's return after their summer ended with a fourth-place finish in the Commonwealths and a 3-0 series defeat by India, where they were evidently lacking the experience of Knight and senior players like Brunt and Sciver.

Northern Diamonds' Winfield-Hill also provides experience and solidity at the

The opener's recall re flects the increasing profes sionalism of the women's domestic game, having shone for Oval Invincibles in The Hundred before topping the averages in the Rachael Hey hoe Flint Trophy to regain her place in the England set-up.

The tour is likely to be the only competitive cricket that both England and West Indies play before the T20 World Cup, which takes place in South Africa in Feb ruary 2023.

England squads for West Indies white-ball series

ODI squad

Heather Knight (capt), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Alice Capsey, Kate

Tuesday, 6 December: Second ODI - Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground, Antigua (18:00)

Friday, 9 December: Third ODI - Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground, Antigua (18:00)

Sunday, 11 December: First IT20 - Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground, Antigua (22:00)

Wednesday, 14 December: Second IT20 - Kensington Oval, Barbados (22:00) Saturday, 17 December: Third IT20 - Kensington Oval, Barbados (22:00) Sunday, 18 December: Fourth IT20 - Kensington Oval, Barbados (22:00) Thursday, 22 December: Fifth IT20 - Kensington Oval, Barbados (22:00).

Pink-ball contest ‘hugely important’ for Windies ‘prep’, says Simmons

CANBERRA, Australia, (CMC) – Head coach Phil Simmons has described the four-day game against the Australian Prime Minis ter’s XI starting here today as “hugely important”, stressing it will allow West Indies to reacquaint them selves with the challenges of the pink ball.

The touring Caribbe an side will face Australia under lights in the second and final Test in Adelaide –their first pink-ball Test in four years – and Simmons expects the day/night tour

match at Manuka Oval to provide vital preparation.

“[It will be important in] just getting accustomed to the pink ball. I think it is a little bit of a difference [to the red ball],” explained Simmons, ahead of the game scheduled to start at 2 pm (11 pm, Tuesday, Eastern Caribbean time).

“Some of the guys have played a pink ball Test or two but most of the guys haven’t so it’s just about getting accustomed to it.

“And it’s a good thing we have this game so we

can get accustomed to what it (pink ball) is going to do at different periods at different periods of day and night and just prepare ourselves for Adelaide.”

He added: “That’s the things you have to look at; make sure we are bowling the right lengths with the ball. It’s going to be different to the red ball. It’s just get ting accustomed to it.”

The game will be West Indies’ last tour match be fore they take on the power ful hosts in the opening Test in Perth starting November

30.

Last week, West Indies endured a strong challenge in their opening tour match – a three-day affair at Phillip Oval against a Combined New South Wales and Aus tralian Capital Territory XI.

While they gathered 424 for nine declared against the largely inexperienced side, their bowlers found wickets hard to come by as the hosts piled up 424 for six declared, with 24-year-old Blake Mac donald (177 not out) and 22-year-old Oliver Davies (115) – neither of whom possess first class experience – hitting centuries.

Simmons, who leaves the West Indies job at the end of the series, said his side’s performance in the match would be an indication of their readiness.

“I think it is hugely im portant how we bowl and how we sharpen up as bats men, it’s going to tell a lot about how we go into the Test match in Perth, so it is hugely important,” Simmons said.

“We have been success ful at Perth over the years. The carry and the pace of the pitch and batters being able to play shots freely.

“I think (here) will be a little bit different, but hopefully it won’t be too much different here to Ad elaide.”

Mr. Azruddin Mohamed (at centre) hands over sponsorship cheque to Mrs. Vidushi Persaud-McKinnon, Secretary-General of Archery Guyana (at right). At left is Mr. Nicholas Hing, head-coach of Archery Guyana

Heather Knight has not played for England since July because of a hip injury

Head coach Phil Simmons

IGG 2022 launches tomorrow at Guyana National Stadium

...French Guiana arrives; Over 400 athletes to compete

By Andrew Cawthorne and Shady Amir

LUSAIL, Qatar (Reuters) - Unheralded Saudi Arabia notched one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history on Tuesday with a 2-1 win over Lionel Messi's Argen tina thanks to a scintillating second half

comeback.

On his fifth and final quest for the only major trophy to elude him, the 35-year-old Messi scored a 10th minute penalty in a dom inant first half display where he and Lautaro Martinez also had three goals disallowed for offside.

Saudi Arabia shock Messi's Argentina With comeback victory

But Saudi Arabia, the second-lowest ranked team in the tournament after Ghana, threw caution to the wind at the start of the second half, charging at Argentina's defence in front of a frenzied 88,012 crowd.

First, Saleh Al-Shehri squeezed in a low shot in the 48th minute. Then, to the disbelief of even the Saudi fans, Salem Al-Dawsari curled in a scorching strike from the edge of the penalty area in the 53rd minute to leave Argentina and Messi looking utterly shellshocked in the Group C opener.

Despite plenty of possession after that, Argentina could not penetrate the Green Falcons, who were competing in their sixth World Cup but had never previously won an opening game.

The entire game was played in an extraor dinary atmosphere at the Lusail Stadium, with Argentina's

French Guiana's track and field contingent

Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Group C - Argentina v Saudi Arabia - Lusail Stadium, Lusail, Qatar - November 22, 2022

Saudi Arabia's Salem Al-Dawsari celebrates scoring their second goal with teammates REUTERS/ Marko DjuricaReuters

Argentina’s forward Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring his team’s first goal during the Qatar 2022 World Cup Group C football match between Argentina and Saudi Arabia at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, north of Doha on November 22, 2022 (Photo by ODD ANDERSEN/AFP via Getty Images)