Guyana Chronicle E-Paper 24-09-2022

‘Wind back into the sails’

Food Festival kicks off!

It was bon appétit on Main Street Friday evening as the Regional Food Festi val kicked off with a bang. From jerk chicken to piz za, cook-up to curry, Main Street was abuzz with ex quisite cuisine served up

by Guyanese and regional chefs. The event, which forms part of a menu of ac tivities for Cricket Carni val, is scheduled for three days and will culminate on Sunday. When this publi cation visited the area, the

smell of freshly seasoned meats and other well pre pared delicacies filled the atmosphere, tempting pa trons to satisfy their taste buds by shopping for the tasty foods. Among the many cooks was Chief Ex

ecutive Officer (CEO) of A PizzaLL, Shammah Noel, who was hard at work roll ing dough in preparation for a pan of pizza. Noel said he plans to create his tory at the festival today by creating the largest

pizza ever made in Guy ana. This, he said, will be over 16 inches in diameter. The food festival created the perfect after work lime as many were seen dining and having a good time as they were entertained by

musicians on drums and popular saxophonists, Roy Stewart. Wine bars, and craft booths were also on display and the Barbados booth drew the crowd with their variety of sample foods (Carl Croker)

THE Cabinet, under the chairmanship of President, Dr Irfaan Ali, has recently instructed that sweeper/ cleaners at all public schools be immediately offered employment on a full-time contract-gratuity

basis at the public service minimum wage level. According to a release, the Cabinet gave this directive in order for steps to be taken to regularise the manner in which sweeper/ cleaners are employed and

paid at public schools. Sweeper-cleaners have long expressed the desire to also be considered as regular employees at public institutions and receive similar benefits.

“This decision brings to

closure a long outstanding matter which has affected this category of workers in the public school system. Additionally, steps have also been initiated to address other pending anomalies in the salaries

being paid to other categories of employees, including some teachers who are affected by inconsistencies in their pay grades, depending on the year in which they were appointed.

Government has already started working to take stock of this problem with a view to resolving it going forward,” the release said

Food Festival kicks off

WITH Guyana being a melting pot of differ ent cultures and foods, having a Regional Food Festival (A Taste of Cul ture) as part of the event for Cricket Carnival was without a doubt most ideal.

The first-ever Cricket Carnival Food Festival kicked off on Friday with great hype and excitement on Main Street. The at mosphere was uplifted by vibrant colours, music, booths, and the loud laugh ter of schoolchildren and people of all walks of life just strolling and enjoying a relaxing evening with family and friends.

It is was an amazing opportunity for locals as well as tourists to support and indulge in some of the country’s finest signature dishes, as well as some from Caribbean coun tries and neighbours such as Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Brazil and Su riname. Like cricket or

any sport, food also brings people together and this was very evident on Main Street.

One of the beauties of this event is that it is not limited to a specific type of business; that is, the upscale restaurants as well as the small-business own ers and vendors are all part of this Regional Food Festival.

Pepperpot (Guyana’s national dish), labba, dif ferent curries, Chinese fried rice, bar-b-que, roti, finger foods and a variety of other dishes and local snacks such as plantain

chips, chicken foot, and po lourie are available for all to enjoy and bite into, but the dish that has sparked much curiosity and has ev eryone talking is Guyana’s cassava bread pizza. It is a must for patrons to try when visiting Main Street.

Along with the tantalis ing dishes that are up for sale, there are also booths with different alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages as well as booths showcasing local craft. The Guyana Chronicle spoke with a few booth owners and attendees who expressed their delight in the event.

Jenny Thomas, own er of Jenny’s Homestyle Kitchen, is grateful for the opportunity to promote her business at the Regional Food Festival, and is look ing forward to serving up some delicious bar-b-que pork, fries, and soups this weekend.

Ravi Mangar, owner of The Wine Vault, ex plained that his company primarily distributes wine to restaurants, bars, and hotels throughout Guyana. His showroom is located in the Guyana Marriott Hotel. Mangar explained that the first day started off with a hit for the variety of wines and cocktails that they had to offer, along with samples of the same, but it was the Champagne Mojito that pulled a lot of

people towards his booth.

People are familiar with mojitos, Ravi explained, but they added the Cham pagne twist to it, and the public has responded pos itively. He expressed how happy he was to see people from all walks of life with their children and families at the event, along with the international booths as well.

Rastafarian Leon Saul said that he was happy to be a part of the food fair and encouraged more vegetarian businesses to participate.

Litecha Harriram, an attendee who was enjoying her food and beverage with her husband and friends, thanked the Government of Guyana and asked that this event continues at least

once a month so that busi nesses and families can enjoy a relaxing weekend in a safe environment.

Beyonce Roberts, a stu dent from Bishop’s High School, was delighted with all that was happening on Main Street. She explained that she and her friends were enjoying the differ ent foods and recognised that Guyana has a lot of talent based on what she has seen so far. She also mentioned that she would be returning for the final two nights with her parents and family.

With positive feed back from business own ers, vendors, and the gen eral public, the Regional Food Festival appears on track to become an annual event in Guyana.

A pot ready to be served at the expo (Carl Croker photo)

Yes! Taste great! (Carl Croker photo)

A beautiful Friday evening out (Carl Croker photo)

Fisherfolk grant puts ‘wind back into the sails’

WITH plans to purchase new equipment and con duct major repairs to their vessels, fisherfolk from Region Five were in high praises of the govern ment, on Friday, as they received their $150,000 one-off cash grants.

Spearheading the dis tribution exercises at the Mahaica Mahaicony AbaryDevelopment Authority (MMA-ADA) compound which saw over 800 fisher folk uplifting their grants, was Vice-President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, who was joined by Agriculture Min ister, Zulfikar Mustapha and Minister of Local Govern ment and Regional Devel opment, Nigel Dharamlall.

The senior government officials were greeted by many enthusiastic persons, who were eagerly waiting to uplift their grants.

One of those many persons was Reland Rob erts, who told the Guyana Chronicle that the funds will help him conduct much-needed repairs to his boat as well as help him provide for his household.

“We got a lot of things to do, we got children going to school, so the money will come and do good. Some of it going be spending on the boat, the seine and so damage, so I could fix that,” Roberts said.

Meanwhile, Jagdesh Rambat, said that the grant could not come at a better time. Rambat, who has been a fisherman for 38 years, recently sustained an injury which left him unable to ply his trade.

“I was doing some maintenance work on a boat, and I had a power saw in my hand, and it slip out my hand …so I end up with the injury,” the man

explained.

Rambat also noted that fisherfolk most recently have been facing very diffi cult times.

“This is the first time the Government of Guyana really look into fishermen business, and we are very much thankful for it, be cause at the moment we are going through a struggle on the seaside.”

Because of his injury, Rambat noted that the mon ey will come in handy in sustaining his household.

“I will give it to my mistress to help with the household to upkeep the house until I could work again.”

Meanwhile, Esmond

Duke, who was patiently waiting for the distribu tion exercise to commence, shared his plans with this publication.

“I got a lot of plans, I want to buy another fishing boat and put it on the water top,” the excited man said.

WELL APPRECIATED

Duke added that fisher folk have been reeling from the effects of flooding and climate change and the sup port from the government is well appreciated.

“Sometimes you get low catches, sometimes you do not get nothing, some times it’s $7,000 for gas and sometimes you don’t have the gas money and

you barely catch lil bit fish. On the water top, most time you taking blows.”

Also expressing grat itude for the timely assis tance was Sita.

The woman disclosed that most of the men in her family are fisherfolk and they work very hard.

“My husband is a fish erman, my son, my son-inlaw – everybody is a fisher man. They go out 07:00 pm in the night and they come back 05:00 am the next morning and fishing work is very hard, its very tough, my son goes out in the night sometimes they come back with fish, sometimes they don’t come back with any fish.”

With the recent low catches, the money will come in handy in up keep ing the household.

“But this is great initia tive the government doing to help people, it must do some good to families.”

In his address to the gathering, Vice-President Jagdeo said the government is committed to providing Guyanese with support to cushion the effects of the rising cost of living. Sup port has so far been in the form of the COVID-19 cash grants, the flood-relief grant and other measures implemented by the current administration over the past two years.

“So, we’re trying to put

more money into people’s pocket, expand employ ment. So that whilst we’re generating the big plans for the development of the country and creating bet ter jobs, people can have a better life,” Dr Jagdeo said, adding: “We’ve been working with all the interest groups and we know that the fishermen too they face difficulties.”

RIGOROUS VERIFICA

TION

Regarding the fisherfolk grant, Vice-President Jag deo said that while many persons were looking for ward to the rollout of this initiative sooner, a rigorous verification exercise was needed to ensure that only those who are entitled ben efit from the grant.

The government had ini tially estimated that it will be paying the grant to about 5,000 fisherfolk, but after the verification process, this number has topped 6,000.

Vice-President Jagdeo encouraged the fisherfolk to use the funds wisely and invest in other business ventures.

He also advised the beneficiaries to capitalise on the many educational and technical programmes being provided by the gov ernment.

“Our economy is shift ing in a different direction, so we are preparing for that shift,” he said.

“The future depends on you,” he told the gath ering, pointing out that as Guyana continues to advance economically, skilled workers in various sectors will be in high de mand, so fisherfolk should take advantage of those training opportunities.

Vice-President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo and Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha addressing the concerns of fisherfolk at the MMAADA (Delano Williams photo)

Reland Roberts

An injured, Jagdesh Rambat

Esmond Duke

Sita

Canada prepares for ‘historic’ hurricane Fiona

Residents along Canada’s Atlantic Coast have been warned by officials to brace for impact as Hurricane Fiona heads north after pummelling Bermuda.

The Canadian Hurricane Centre warned that Fiona –expected to reach Canada’s shores by Saturday morning –could be “a historic, extreme event”.

Authorities have warned of potential coastal flooding, power outages and dangerous driving conditions.

At least eight people in Fiona’s path through the Ca ribbean have died.

Canadian forecasters said late on Friday that Fiona was packing maximum sus tained winds up to 120 mph

(195km/h), though this is projected to decrease as it makes landfall.

“It’s going to be a bad one,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday. “We encourage everyone to stay safe and to listen to the in structions of local authorities and hang in there for the next 24 hours.”

Tropical storm warnings have been issued for the Atlantic provinces of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Is land, Newfoundland and New Brunswick, as well as in parts of Quebec.

The country’s eastern re gion could receive up to 10in (25cm) of rain, increasing the risk of flash flooding.

In Nova Scotia, shelters

have been prepared in Hali fax and Cape Breton – where the storm is projected to make landfall – for people

to take cover ahead of the storm.

“We have been through these types of events before,

but my fear is, not to this ex tent,” said Amanda McDou gall, mayor of Cape Breton Regional Municipality.

“The impacts are going to be large, real and imme diate.”

Severe hurricanes in Can ada are rare, as storms lose their energy once they hit colder waters in the north and become post-tropical instead. But pressure in the region is predicted to be historically low as Hurricane Fiona hits, making way for a heavier storm.

Nova Scotia was last bat tered by a tropical cyclone in 2003 with Hurricane Juan, a category two storm that killed two people and heav ily damaged structures and vegetation.

Meteorologist Bob Ro bichaud warned on Friday afternoon that Fiona will be bigger than Juan, and stron ger than 2019’s Hurricane Dorian, which also reached the shores of Nova Scotia.

“It is certainly going to be a historic, extreme event for Atlantic Canada.”

Heavy rain and winds lashed Bermuda early on Friday, forcing schools and offices to close, before the hurricane – now a category three storm – headed north.

Fiona had already wreaked havoc on Puerto Rico and the Dominican Re public earlier this week, with many still left without power or running water.

A sick four-month-old infant whose mother was unable to get to the hospi tal due to blocked roads is among up to four casualties in Puerto Rico. A death was also recorded on the French island of Guadeloupe.

Florida also faces a hur ricane threat after a separate tropical cyclone formed in the Caribbean Sea.

Tropical Depression Nine is in its early stages and is moving on a path that could bring it to Flori da next week as Hurricane Hermine, according to the US National Hurricane Center. (BBC)

Workers remove fallen trees from the highway in the northeast of the Dominican Republic after Hurricane Fiona on 21 September

Amazon CO2 surge linked to weak law enforcement

Carbon emissions in the Amazon region in 2019 and 2020 more than dou bled compared to the av erage of the previous eight years, according to a new study.

Deforestation for agri culture and fires were the main drivers of the increase, according to the authors.

The scientists say that a “collapse” in law enforce ment in recent years has encouraged forest clearing.

The research findings have been submitted for publication but have yet to be independently reviewed.

As home to the largest tropical forest on Earth, the Amazon plays a critical role in maintaining the Earth’s climate by storing massive amounts of carbon in trees and soils.

Over the last few de cades the forest has been un der growing pressure as land has been cleared in Brazil and neighbouring countries, primarily for farming.

Last year researchers published data indicating that the eastern part of the forest was being cut down at such a rate that more car bon was being released than absorbed by the trees and

vegetation.

Now the same scientists believe that an explosion of forest clearing in the western part of the Amazon has also turned that region into a source. of carbon emissions

Using small planes, the researchers have collected hundreds of air samples from different parts of the forest over the last ten years.

Their new study shows that in 2019, carbon emis sions increased by 89 per cent compared to the an nual average of emissions between 2010 and 2018. In 2020, the picture was even worse, with an increase of 122 per cent.

While fires played a role, the main factor was the

removal of trees by land clearing, which increased by 75 per cent in 2020.

The researchers link this rise in deforestation to a rap id decline in prosecutions by law enforcement agencies, which saw fines for illegal forest clearances fall by 89 per cent in 2020.

The scientists say that this is down to the policies of President Jair Bolsonaro, who took office in 2019. He has cancelled fines and penalties related to defor estation, and pushed hard for the expansion of agriculture in Brazil.

“We hypothesise that the consequences of the collapse in enforcement led to increases in deforestation,

biomass burning and degra dation producing net carbon losses and enhancing drying and warming of forest re gions,” the new study says.

The researchers say that this rapid increase in emis sions from the forest has also had an impact on the climate around the trees.

“In consequence of this big deforestation, in the wet season of 2020 we saw a decline of 26 per cent in rainfall during January, Feb ruary and March, while the temperature has gone up by 0.6C,” said lead author Dr Luciana Gatti, from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE).

“The emissions come from deforestation and deg radation and also from this climate change promoted by the human destruction of the forest. And this is a very alarming scenario,” she told BBC News.

Environmental cam paigners say that this handsoff approach to prosecuting illegal deforestation has con tinued this year, with over 8,500 sq km lost between August 2021 and July 2022, an area larger than the US state of Delaware.

“The collapse in law

enforcement in the Brazilian Amazon has allowed land grabbers and illegal loggers to continue unchecked with devastating consequences for people, wildlife and the planet,” said Mike Barrett from WWF.

“The Amazon is get ting dangerously close to a crucial tipping point which could see large areas transform from a resilient, moist rainforest into a dry, fire-ravaged, and irrevers ibly degraded state.”

The question of the future of the forest is an important issue in Brazil’s presidential election taking place in early October with the incumbent, Jair Bolson aro, being challenged by

former president Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva.

The outcome could have significant implications for the Amazon, as scientists like Dr Gatti fear it may be reaching a point where it would continually emit more carbon than it absorbs.

She said that action by consumers and governments around the world was also critical to prevent this from happening.

“We need to have an international commitment with countries in interna tional commerce, that they don’t buy the products that result in the destruc tion of nature,” she said. (BBC)

Fires in August in Brazil ere extremely active but researchers say that clearing for farming is having a bigger impact

Good Governance

IN yet another case of damned if you do, damned if you don’t, President, Dr Irfaan Ali’s responses to questions abroad about developments back home continue to draw blankshot responses from an opposition party hell-bent on only opposing for op posing sake.

Similarly, this country’s opposition today insists on carelessly blasting foghorns in plain weather, loudly and knowingly repeating false claims of corruption without a shred of back-up evidence that can stand-up in a court of law.

As such, the fin ger-pointers continue mak ing wild claims without presenting evidence, just as with their outrageous claims while holding on to stolen power, that they were in possession of State ments of Poll (SOPs) con firming the PPP/C – though in opposition – had stolen

the election.

Two years after being forced to climb down from its high-and-mighty argu ments and efforts to hold on to stolen power hijacked by party operatives within the national electoral ma chinery, the SOPs remain clearly invisible, so the PNC-R and its leader have failed to present what they so loudly claimed to have, but obviously never did.

And just as ridiculous is the call for “a credible international investigation” into undocumented claims and allegations only citing similar politically-based allegations already made without empirical or evi dential support, to deflect from the demonstrated ir relevance of the PNC-R as an entity worthy of consid eration as a replacement for the current PPP/C adminis tration.

In two years, this PPP/C administration, under this

President and building on the legacy of this VicePresident – and all previ ous PPP/C administrations since democracy returned to Guyana in 1992 – has shown what continuity means; and what it takes to ensure that the nation’s resources are properly man aged with visible returns that people have been see ing, feeling and appreciat ing since August 2020.

Allegations of corrup tion feature in every society and related claims remain the main preoccupation of opposition parties and in the case of Guyana, those most accused and repeat edly found guilty in the courts of public opinion are usually the first to throw stones from their fine-glass houses.

After all, look who’s talking and pointing fin gers today – APNU and the PNC-R, entities led by people who brazenly stole

the people’s most sacred value – their vote – until forced by regional law and international opposition to the most glaring electoral coup in modern history (even compared by some to Chile in 1973) and worse than any previous allega tion of electoral corruption leveled against the PNC.

Metamorphosis from PNC to PNC-R and APNU only reshaped their leader ship’s approaches to elec toral fraud and no number of wild claims and false allegations of any type of corruption by the PNC-R today can compare with what was witnessed in 2020, when the-then losing ruling party refused to bow to accept the wishes of the electorate and took all of five months to defy calls for it to accept its loss and bow to the will of Guyana’s voters.

No party or government anywhere has been able to

completely root out corrup tion, but people everywhere – including Guyana – can ascertain what’s true and false, not only depend ing on who’s talking, but also on what’s not being said about when they were caught with hands deep in the nation’s cookie jar.

This administration will not take the bait and re spond to the opposition’s frivolous claims and de mands – like calling on the President to fire the Vice-President, just be cause the PNC-R says so.

Those alleging corrup tion know where to take their claims if they can prove their allegations, but until then, their claims will remain just that – unproven and unsubstantiated allega tions by an opposition party that still hasn’t recovered from the hangover of being found guilty in Courts of Caribbean Justice and in ternational law, of stealing

an entire election.

The PNC-R and APNU were shamefully, but jus tifiably, forced by world opinion and global public pressure to vacate Govern ment’s fraudulently-occu pied premises on August 2, 2020, as dictated by the people’s votes in free and fair elections hijacked by a party always unwilling to accept the people’s verdict.

Guyanese will soon again have another chance of reminding the PNC-R that it’s come to the end of its road as a viable political alternative to the PPP -- and particularly to this PPP/C administration, whose re cord is out and open, in plain sight, and continues being commended by Guy anese, at home and abroad, for ensuring the nation’s new wealth is shared in ways that people can actu ally see, feel and enjoy.

This is what good gov ernance looks like!

Blunt but inaccurate

Dear Editor,

FROM linguistics we know that words have no necessary meaning. A word is an empty or float ing signifier. Simply put, the meanings we attach to words are simply out comes of consistent usage. Meanings are stabilised through repetition. The word “Blunt” as used in Kaieteur News full page agitprop comes to mind.

Blunt usually signifies direct, unedited, honest speech, that is, speech (in cluding in written form) that gets to the core of a subject matter. To be blunt is often

associated with strength, this being so because the speaker may knowingly hurt the feelings of the listener, the audience. Kaieteur News and some personalities asso ciated with it have adopted the mantle of speaking for the ‘people’ in ways that are direct and perhaps even courageous.

Yet, the most cursory perusal of the Blunt page re veals that the only bluntness evident are direct misrepre sentations and half-truths.

The contents of KN’s Sep tember 23, 2022, Blunt agit prop demonstrates a wanton disregard for facts, sub stance, or even a modicum of accuracy.

Headlined “One Guyana sloganeering” the frame contains the following wild assertion - “For, as we see it, ‘One Guyana’ cannot de liberately include almost one group of people time and again, and just repeatedly (and clearly purposely [sic] exclude most of another set just as often”. If I may repeat KN’s own poor grammar, “clearly purposely”, the in tent is to impugn President Ali’s signature commitment to a Guyana that is united. The president’s ‘One Guy ana’ is remarkably similar in form to Article 13 of the Constitution, in that it is as pirational, a point well made before by Attorney-General

Anil Nandlall.

The propaganda frame, a.k.a. Blunt, betrays the most elementary aspect of bluntness, that is, the truth that is directly uttered. In fact, the reverse is true when the following is stated - “For all the noise around his slo ganeering- President Ali’s One-Guyana initiative is as dead as his administration’s economic policies.”

There is literally no truth to this vile little claim. The direct truth is that even though growth rates as ex pressed in the expansion of the GDP, or the rise in per capita income may carry some distortions, they do impart statistically reliable

information about the con dition and direction of an economy. Recent reports by reputable sources such as the IMF, World Bank, and the IDB, have all indicated that Guyana is enjoying among the highest growth rates in the world. If that kind of data does not suit you, allow me to quote from the most recent UNDP Human Devel opment Report. The report stated, “Guyana’s HDI value for 2021 is 0.714— which put[s] the country in the High human development category.”

KN’s Blunt page is rather more akin to a blunt instrument that is used to hammer propaganda into

the heads of the “people” on whose behalf it claims to speak. To its credit, the Blunt page is clever, just like the daily photos on the front page of the same newspaper. Repeat a lie often enough and it could become the truth. Per haps. Yet, I can assure you the strategy won’t work in Guyana. Only re cently, Vice President Jag deo proved on Glen Lall’s radio show how quickly months of propaganda can be destroyed. And let us recall, it was done in Real-Time.

Dr. Randy Persaud

This is a matter of simple visual confirmation

Dear Editor,

GUYANESE are amazed and easily im pressed when they visit foreign countries, espe cially the United States of America, Canada, the United Kingdom, Russia, China, India, Australia etc. The first thing they notice is the massive infra structure landscaped with highways, railways, wa terways, bridges, bright lights and skyscrapers. It did not happen overnight and it took many years from the industrial age to the e-age in order to achieve this accomplish ment. Also, blessed with great resources to finance these projects, those coun tries were able to reach commercial success and to provide top class inter national standard service. Their internal political indifferences did not de ter them from working together to advocate and produce mutual interests, beneficial towards their economic development. Last May month, Guyana observed its fifty-sixth independence anniversa ry. Having grown from slavery-ship to inden ture-ship, this country

acquired its freedom from her colonial masters in England, and, with the input of two former Pres idents, Dr. Cheddie Jagan and LFS Burnham, Guy ana gained its indepen dence on 26th May, 1966, followed by a Republic declaration on 23rd Feb ruary 1970. Since the pre and post Golden Arrow head era, the country has undergone tremendous changes under the PNC Party and the PPP Par ty ruler-ship during two different periods. You do not need to light a candle to see what is as bright as daylight.

During the PNC tenure under President LFS Burn ham and Desmond Hoyte, this country was brought to economic bankruptcy both times. In 1964 when Dr. Jagan was ousted from office by a conniving co alition, the GDP was over US$300 per capita. It took the PPP/C Government’s astute leadership to bail out Guyana when it took over the mantle ship with Dr. Cheddie Jagan in 1992 and began the road to recovery. The GDP had then shrunk to US$250. Dr. Jagan was succeeded by Dr. Bharat Jagdeo and Mr. Donald Ra

motar who demitted office in 2015, leaving a nation financially solvent at a GDP of US$499 per capita with a positive balance of over $5billion. This trend had to be administered again in its application in 2020 when the Granger administration lost the general and regional election and they left office and the Treasury in mone tary ruination. During the period 2015-2020, Grang er’s administration racked up an overdraft of almost $100 billion in the Gov ernment deposit accounts at the Bank of Guyana as at May 2020, including a $10 billion increase from the previous month. This was in total contravention of the Fiscal Management and accountability Act and was flagged by the AuditorGeneral in his report.

Having inherited a GDP of US$6,950, the PPP/C administration revamped the economy to a growth rate to US$9,200 per cap ita GDP in its first year in office. The country is once again on firm footing for economic viability with H.E. President Dr. Mo hammed Irfaan Ali at the helm chartering a course to prosperity, anticipating its GDP to be US$9,350 at

the end of 2022 (Trading Economics) and to increase yearly with the oil and gas production industry pio neering at a record-break ing pace in the history of the country. Information in the main stream has been published and peddled in the public domain contin uously. Yet, many do not see eye to eye and want to disfigure the facts in order to reconfigure distortions and feed as propaganda to serve their personal agenda. Mingo’s bedsheet comes into play with his mumbo jumbo figures along with Lowenfield usage of PNC’s math to divide and compile more craftiness and crazi ness. The absurdity of 33 not being the majority of 65 remains a classic global embarrassment for the Co alition.

In its landmark $552 billion budget presented and approved this year by Parliament, approximately $126 billion will be uti lised from the NRF for the first time. A four-fold path to transformation was de clared by the Government. This framework for the future of all Guyanese and Guyana incorporates plac ing specific emphasis on the investment of oil funds

into education, health, de velopment and infrastruc ture. The mid-year 2022 economic report confirmed that the economy grew by some 36.4 per cent and the overall growth is antici pated to be 56 per cent. As promised during election 2020, the PPP/C manifesto unleashed a humongous programme tapered to the needs of Guyana and to re move the poverty line from Guyanese. The numerous, colossal monetary schemes instituted are all well re corded and remembered by the recipients but denied and flaunted by the naysay ers. But this is a ruling Gov ernment, legally elected by the people and globally approved and applauded by the national, regional and international communities.

The PPP/C Government duly and truly cares for the people and has them close to their hearts because they are concerned about the welfare of each and every Guyanese, regardless of race or politics. The ambi tious transformation that is taking place in Guyana leaves visitors and inves tors breathless and in awe, knowing that in only two years in power, the PPP/C Government has strategi

cally metamorphosed the national infrastructure of the country to make it pre sentable as a country vying to be the wealthiest nation per capita in this hemi sphere. Under the leader ship of His Excellency, Dr. Mohammed Irfaan Ali, pru dent management, not be ing thrifty, crafty nor shifty, without prejudice and with pride, working assiduously and generously, assuring equitable distribution, dis regarding individuality and ethnicity, visiting all the communities in all the re gions, working and playing with all Guyanese, all these elements are embraced in order to promote the theme of “One Guyana.”

Scientists who detect ed massive methane leak from Mexico’s Pemex, di rected us to an easy lesson good for all and sundry, from the academia to the ordinary person in the street: “this is a matter of simple visual confir mation.” You do not have to resort to statistics and logistics for affirmation. Ask Granny, she would say, “is true!”

Yours respectfully, Jai Lall

Government’s unblemished track record of creating opportunities for all Guyanese

By Honorable Brigadier (Retired) Mark Phillips Prime Minister of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana

IN recent weeks Guyana has seen a vicious onslaught of claims from certain sec tions of society that have sought to malign the PPP/C Government for discrimi natory policies against Af ro-Guyanese.

Let me be clear. These accusations are baseless and unfounded as our government has demonstrated though our policy framework that our transformational development agenda will be achieved based upon the inclusivity of all Guyanese.

I understand race is an emotive subject for many Guyanese and that is why there are forces seeking to exploit our fears, divide us as a nation and rob us of the opportunities that are flowing as the world’s fastest growing economy.

We in the government will not be distracted by false nar ratives peddled by certain unsavory characters which are evidently designed to generate racial hostility and undermine our transformational agenda which is creating historic op portunities for all Guyanese.

We will continue to con

front the lies, machinations and the diversionary tactics of those who want to see Guyana fail as a modern democratic state.

Most recently, my atten tion was drawn to a letter penned by Nigel Hinds (KN: September 19, 2022) who introduced an absurd concept by alluding to several unsub stantiated claims about the treatment of Afro-Guyanese under the PPP/C Government.

He starts out by explaining that racism is getting worst in Guyana, but offered no evidence to support this ridic ulous claim.

Instead, he fumbles through his missive only to arrive at a conclusion using his cocktail of lies as justification for the APNU + AFC’s bold faced attempt to rig the 2020 regional and general elections.

It is evident that despera

tion has set in for those ped dling their racist agenda be cause how else does a rational person explain a chartered accountant with possible po litical aspirations callously justifying our democracy be ing undermined by cowards.

As a government we are immovable in our position against APNU+AFC and its actors within GECOM to em bark on open banditry against the will of the Guyanese peo ple as they attempted to rig the 2020 elections.

We will continue to sup port all legal means to punish those responsible for bringing shame and disgrace to our democratic processes.

Mr. Hinds is not a lone wolf.

The opposition and their confederates are busy creating mischief and drumming up ra cial strife within our communi

ties. While there are doing so, the PPP/C Government is con structively engaged with Af ro-Guyanese leaders, groups and communities who were neglected and used under the APNU+AFC administration.

These engagements have taken place in southern Georgetown, Mocha/Arcadia, Linden, Buxton, Golden Grove and Melanie Damishana to name a few.

In many cases, residents have confirmed that the PPP/ C’s high-level ministerial vis its to their communities are the first such to be undertaken by any government.

Arising from the visits are working solutions with residents to address commu nity needs such as improved roads, bridges, potable water supply, access to agricultur al lands, and the resolution of long-standing land issues among others.

Contractors from within Afro-Guyanese communities are benefitting directly from the infrastructural develop ment taking place as in the case of Buxton where 25 con tracts were recently awarded to repair bridges in the com munity.

As an Afro-Guyanese my self from the town of Linden I am proud to be part of the PPP/C administration where all Guyanese, inclusive of Afro-Guyanese, have equal access to opportunities and where national policies and programmes are never influ enced by race.

Our policies are non-dis criminatory.

I am honoured that I am part of a government that has reinstated and increased the ‘Because We Care’ cash grant and uniform grant, benefitting thousands of children in com munities all across Guyana.

This programme was stopped by the APNU+AFC.

Benefits are across the board as our government has removed VAT on water and electricity, basic food items

and household necessities, educational and medical sup plies, certain construction materials and most recently on building cement, sheetrock and concrete board.

The application of the freight cost adjustment for the calculation of import taxes, rolling back freight cost to pre-pandemic levels from 1 August 2021 until 31 Decem ber 2022, estimated to save $10 billion for businesses and consumers.

Guyanese are taking ad vantage of the national parttime worker programme which was launched in May 2022 in Regions Two, Three, Five, Six and 10, with over 9,000 persons benefitting thus far.

Our government has pro gressively lowered the Excise Tax on fuel from 50 per cent in February 2021 to 0 per cent in March 2022. This reduction has eased the burden of high fuel prices on households across the country.

We understand that home ownership is near and dear to all Guyanese. This desire is not unique to any particular group.

That is why government is providing the steel for con struction as well as a sling (fif ty-six (56) 60lb. burlap bag) of cement for beneficiaries constructing houses costing $6M and less, while persons constructing houses costing above $6M and up to $25M will receive two slings.

The interest rate for houses costing up to $9M is set to be reduced to 3.8 per cent while there will be no down payment requirement for house and buildings costing $6M or less.

Under our administration we have seen over 16,000 house lots allocated under the flagship ‘Dream Realised’ Housing Drive in Regions Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Nine and 10.

We have reversed land lease fees across all sectors and water charges back to 2014 rates and reversal of Land taxes and drainage and irrigation charges back to 2014.

In just two years in office, over 5,000 Certificates of Titles and Transports were distributed and more than 1,200 affordable housing units were constructed across Re gions Three, Four, Six and 10, with some 300 completed and handed over to low and moderate-income families, and young professionals.

In excess of $15.4B has

been expended to support the expansion of water distribution systems, drilling of new wells, and providing improved level and quality of service, includ ing first-time access to water to more than 35,000 people in over 60 communities.

Over 10,000 new service connections were provided to support the rapid expansion in the government’s massive housing drive and homeown ership programme.

Over 50,000 residents of Georgetown, Region Four and Bartica Region Seven are benefitting from improved service delivery and quality as a direct result of interventions targeting the replacement of old transmission mains.

In Georgetown, work was focused on Vlissengen Road, Newtown Kitty, Mandela Av enue, and Cemetery Road.

Our social programmes are providing a safety net for all vulnerable Guyanese. We have provided a cash grant of $100,000 for each child with a disability regardless of ethnicity.

Some 1,500 persons bene fitted from the Ministry of Hu man Services and Social Se curity’s EyeCare drive which included free eye tests.

We have provided $1M in grants to 30 young persons to support creative ventures in literary arts, film, fashion and music.

Government has recently announced plans to invest $9M to cover studio time costs for the next 12 months at three local studios for musicians to record their music.

New hospitals and im proved healthcare delivery are once again national priorities set to benefit all Guyanese ac cessing public health facilities.

These are just a few of the opportunities and programmes provided by government in the past two years that prove that no Guyanese is being denied access to opportunities from our government.

Mr. Hinds and others ped dling race are in quick sand and are therefore running out of time as more Guyanese come to grips with the decep tive tactics of a few lonely voices.

These voices go cold when confronted with the facts as I have laid out above.

Let us continue to pursue a path that will bring us all together as One Guyana as through our collective efforts we will be able to achieve our fullest potential as a nation.

Optimising water use is key for agri-food systems

A WHOPPING 85 per cent of the increase in global cropland over the last de cade was irrigated land, highlighting the impor tance of greater agricultur al yields to feed the world and also the urgency of efficient use of water, Food and Agriculture Organisa tion Director-General, Qu Dongyu said on Thursday

He was, at the time, speaking to a ministerial-lev el event titled, “Act on Water to Feed the World: Sustain able Water Allocation to Cre ate a Food Secure World for all”, organised by the Neth erlands and Tajikistan, on the sidelines of the 77th UN General Assembly.

Irrigation brings higher yields yet at the same time producing food for a growing population increases pressure on water resources. Numer ous droughts and associated water shortages around the world this year have under scored the importance of finding solutions, Qu noted.

Liesie Schreinemacher, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooper ation of the Netherlands, hosted the event in a bid to explore possibilities and identify ways to improve alignment between water policy, allocation and man

agement under the aegis of food security goals.

As a result, the minister announced $5 million from the Kingdom of Netherlands for FAO’s WaPOR project to support the water action agenda to make food and drinking water available to all ahead of the UN 2023 Water Conference that will be hosted by the Netherlands and Tajikistan.

“Clean and plentiful wa ter is critical for agriculture and for ending hunger, a core FAO mandate,” said the Director-General, speaking live from Washington D.C. He stressed that as agriculture already accounts for more than 70 per cent of glob

al freshwater withdrawals, the sector “must produce more nutritious food with less water, and with less inputs overall, to avoid negative environmental impacts”.

FINDING SOLUTIONS

FAO works with its mem bers and partners to find solutions to improve water use. Among FAO’s projects are modernisation plans for large-scale irrigation schemes to make rain-fed agriculture more resilient and productive, as well as technical work to support sound water policies and investments in infrastruc ture and research.

“Data and monitoring are key for information sharing, effective response and effi

cient planning,” Qu empha sised.

One of FAO’s ongoing

initiative is the WaPOR proj ect in Africa and the Near East, which monitors Water Productivity through Open Access Data. The system uses satellite remote sensing to monitor water use and crop production on a granular scale, providing informa tion that helps policy makers make informed decisions, prepare for drought, and op timise farm outputs.

“WaPOR is a digital pub lic good that can be used in irrigated areas to calculate where water productivity is high or low, allowing target ted action. It shows how big data can benefit smallholder farmers,” the Director-Gen eral said.

He expressed his appre ciation to the Government of the Netherlands for its generous and continuing sup port for the project, which will help expand WaPOR’s geographic coverage and capacity. The additional fund ing will allow for a global expansion of the database as well as the addition of two new partner countries in Asia and Latin America to the current 10 countries in Africa and the Near East.

“We need to do more,” Qu added, stressing the need to ensure that inno vative technology, science, innovation and good prac tices are freely available to farmers everywhere. (FAO)

An irrigated field in Syria (FAO photo)

Cambio dealer robbed after lured by ‘female voice’

SLEUTHS in Berbice are investigating a daring midday multimillion-dol lar robbery committed on a businessman, who was responding to a fi nancial deal made over a telephone call.

According to infor mation reaching Guy ana Chronicle, just after 11:00hrs, on Thursday, the businessman received a call on his mobile phone when the voice, with a feminine tone, asked to purchase US$25,000, the equivalent of G$5M in local currency.

Believing it was a cus tomer, the Cambio dealer

left his premises and pro ceeded as directed, along Strand Public Road, in the vicinity of the Penguin Hotel, where a heavily tinted car stopped along side him.

During his short jour ney to the location, he remained on his mobile phone, and in contact with ‘the customer’, who urged him to join the car.

But as he was about to enter the vehicle, he observed that there was no female inside and becom ing afraid, as he sensed that it was not a genuine deal.

He tried to step back but two males in the back seat pulled him in the vehi cle and punched him about the body before relieving him of the cash. He was then pushed out of the car which drove away.

The injured man re ported the incident to the Central Police Station be fore going to the New Am sterdam Hospital, where he was seen and treated by a medical doctor.

Detectives are review ing CCTV cameras with in the vicinity of the rob bery as police continue their investigation.

Inmates deserve opportunity to be rehabilitated, reintegrated into society says Minister Benn

MINISTER of Home Af fairs, Robeson Benn, on Friday said that inmates deserve equal opportuni ties and facilities to ensure their rehabilitation and proper reintegration into society.

He made this remark while delivering his feature address at the Guyana Pris on Service’s 39th Thanks giving Anniversary Church Service held at the National Cultural Centre (NCC).

This year’s anniversary is being held under the theme, ‘Working towards improving the image of the Guyana Prison Service.’ As part of the celebration, there is an exhibition at the NCC which ends on Sunday.

According to a release from the GPS, Minister Benn noted that every in mate in the custody of cor rectional services should be offered the opportunity to be rehabilitated and reinte grated into society.

“We must make provi sion where those who are in prison must have hope beyond the walls and when leaving the prison. They must be successfully rein tegrated into society,” the Home Affairs Minister said.

He added that the prison system and society must view inmates as people who could have the ability to better themselves and become productive citizens.

As such, he urged the

GPS to place greater effort on the rehabilitation of in mates, and not just keeping them locked away.

The release said that the Home Affairs Minister was adamant that the culture of reform must be revised to move away from traditional and conventional methods and towards more reha bilitative methods, so that inmates are reintegrated and can contribute to society in a meaningful way.

Minister Benn com mended the GPS’ staff for their work and for leading a continued administra tion of cognitive, technical and vocational rehabilita tive programmes, aimed at equipping and preparing offenders for reintegration

into society.

He further pledged that the Ministry of Home Affairs will continue to support the prison pro grammes which contribute to inmates’ personal growth and development.

Also sharing brief re marks was Director of Pris ons Nicklon Elliot, who said that the Prison Service continues to make efforts to consolidate its institutional capacity in order to effec tively deliver better quali ty of service to prisoners, staff, and the public.

Elliot added that the service utilises its “Stra tegic Development Plan” which continues to provide the framework the organ isation uses to reposition

itself from the penal system to that of a correctional facility.

The Prisons Director highlighted that the ad ministration of the GPS is cognisant that the staff plays an important role in the execution of the organ isation’s mandate.

He added that emphasis has also been placed on ensuring that the prison

administration is steadfast in the fulfilment of its man date, relative to the safe custody and the rehabili tation of inmates, as well as the development of the institution.

“As a consequence, greater emphasis has been placed on enhancing the capacity of the staff. The directorate is particularly enthusiastic about the numerous training op

portunities which were provided to 320 staff in the area of Prison Man agement, Human Rights, Management and Lead ership,” he was quoted as saying.

The Prison Head also highlighted the signifi cant infrastructural up grades that were done to enhance the prison sys tem, the release added.

Permanent Secretary, Mae Toussaint Jr. Thomas (third from left), cuts the ribbon to officially open the exhibition. Also pictured are Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn (left), Director of Prisons Nicklon Elliot (left) and other officials (Ministry of Home Affairs photo)

Full-time contracts with gratuity for sweeper/cleaners

THE Cabinet, under the chairmanship of President, Dr Irfaan Ali, has recent ly instructed that sweep er/cleaners at all public schools be immediately of fered employment on a full-time contract-gratuity basis at the public service minimum wage level.

According to a release, the Cabinet gave this di rective in order for steps to be taken to regularise the manner in which sweeper/ cleaners are employed and paid at public schools.

Sweeper-cleaners have long expressed the desire to also be considered as regular employees at public insti tutions and receive similar benefits.

“This decision brings to closure a long outstanding matter which has affected this category of workers in the public school system. Additionally, steps have also been initiated to address other pending anomalies in the sal aries being paid to other cate gories of employees, includ ing some teachers who are affected by inconsistencies in their pay grades, depending on the year in which they were appointed. Government has already started working to take stock of this problem with a view to resolving it go ing forward,” the release said These initiatives, the re lease noted form part of this government’s ongoing efforts to improve the conditions of

employment of public sector workers. In December 2020, central government employ ees received a one-off grant of $25, 000, while in Decem ber 2021, they received an across-the-board seven per cent increase.

“This increase was pro vided for teachers, mem bers of the disciplined ser vices, constitutional office holders, as well as govern ment pensioners. Addition ally, government restored the one-month tax-free bo nus paid to members of the disciplined services, which had been discontinued by the APNU+AFC while they were in office,” the release noted.

M.V. Canawaima resumes operation today

THE M.V. Canawaima will be in operation today, said the management of the Guyana/ Suriname Ferry Service.

“The vessel is scheduled to depart - Suriname at 10:00 hours, (check-in: 07:30 hours to 09:00 hours) and Moleson Creek Terminal Guyana at 10:30 hours (Check-in: 06:30 hours-08:30 hours) – at their respective local times, a release said.

It added that although there is one scheduled crossing daily, the ferry will continue to operate as traffic warrants, and as such, multiple trips may be facilitated if deemed necessary.

“Management apologises for any inconvenience caused by the brief break in service and looks forward for your continued support,” the release noted.

Cabinet gave this directive in order for steps to be taken to regularise the manner in which sweeper/cleaners are employed and paid at public schools

GECOM commissioner rejects allegation that voters’ list unverified

had no complaints. How ever, at the time—as late as last week, when com missioners were making submissions in relation to their preference as to candidate, there were no complaints,” he said.

While it was clear, he said, that opposition commissioners expressed a stated preference to

have Melanie Marshall as the assistant chief elec tions officer, the majority voted to appoint Critch low due to her wealth of knowledge and experi ence at GECOM.

“The justification for that has been set out in a press release issued by the Guyana Elections Commission…. But you

could also see the exter nal influence that they are trying to exert on the elections commis sion,” he stated.

Gunraj was referring to a gathering of persons outside GECOM protest ing the appointment.

“But you can see these bald attempts that they are making to in

timidate the Chairman. Thankfully, the Chair man as she has said publicly, just the other day, makes her deci sions based on the law, and even that is being challenged by commis sioners from the other side,” he noted.

GECOM Commissioner, Sase Gunraj

GUYANA Elections Commission (GECOM) commissioner and At torney-at-Law, Sase Gunraj, on Wednesday, dispelled claims that lists submitted by the A Partnership for Nation al Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Coalition Government were not verified by the elections commission.

The lists, which al leged that the names of dead and migrated per sons were used to vote in the March 2, 2020 Gener al and Regional Elections were submitted during the national recount ex ercise.

In responding to a letter by APNU+AFC Chief Scrutineer, Carol Joseph, sent to Chair man of GECOM, Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh, the PPP/C- nominated commissioner explained that the Chairman at the time had, in fact, sent the lists to both the immigra tion department and the general registry office and received responses.

At the time, the com mission did not have the legal authority to deal with the complaints, as they fell within the do main of Article 163 of the Constitution, giving jurisdiction of the matter to the High Court.

As a consequence, no further actions were tak en with the information.

“Now, as a conse quence of that, and what I have in my hand is a letter under the hand of Carol Smith-Joseph, the chief scrutineer of the APNUAFC, which I have already seen in the public domain, which makes

certain requests as a con sequence of that,” Gunraj stated.

The letter alleged that the entirety of the list sup plied by the APNU+AFC to GECOM was not sent for verification.

However, Gunraj re jected this notion, ex plaining that all that was received was sent by the commission to the rele vant statutory agencies for verification.

“It is clear that what is happening here is that the fear is palpable… the fear on the part of the persons who made that naked attempt to rig those elections; their fear is now palpable. They are trying to cover their bases because their insid ious attempt is now being unravelled and exposed. And they are attempting now to assail this pro cess, and assail what was said,” he relayed.

He asserted, however, that he had received the aforementioned docu ments during his tenure as a GECOM commis sioner.

He also touched on the issue of the appointment of Ms. Beverly Critchlow as the Assistant Chief Elections Officer.

Gunraj noted the al legations made by AP NU+AFC-appointed GECOM commissioner, Vincent Alexander, that the appointment process was a contrived one, de spite it utilising a majori ty vote system.

“That is disingenuous at best. You have a pro cess at the parties— when I say parties, all the com missioners subscribed tofrom start to end, and you

US, Guyana deepen engagement on extradition

A DELEGATION headed by Rob W. MacDonald, tri al attorney, US Department of Justice, Office of Inter national Affairs and includ ing members of the United States Marshall Service, Department of Justice and US Law Enforcement Of ficers, with responsibilities for the Caribbean Region,

met with Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Af fairs, Mohabir Anil Nand lall, S.C. on Tuesday.

According to a release, this engagement is another step of deepening relations between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Guy ana on the important issue of

the administration of criminal justice, with particular focus on extradition from Guy ana to the United States of America and from the United States of America to Guyana. Also attending the meet ing with the Attorney-Gen eral was Solicitor-General, Nigel Hawke.

Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mohabir Anil Nandlall, S.C. (fourth left) and Solicitor-General, Nigel Hawke (left) with members of the US delegation

City businessman, employee in court for fraud

A BUSINESSMAN who was convicted twice for fraud, was back in court on Friday for allegedly com mitting a similar offence while his employee was granted $300, 000 bail for his alleged role in the crime.

Sixty-two-year-old Clay ton Allen, who is the chair man of the Micro Business Developers and Consultancy Company and fifty-nine-yearold Norbert Bailey, appeared before Senior Magistrate, Le ron Daly, at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.

The duo denied that be tween November 2, 2021,

and July 18, 2022, at George town, with intent to defraud they obtained $1.1 million from Lindell Toney by falsely pretending that they were in a position to grant her a $45 million loan.

Police Prosecutor Chris topher Morris strongly ob jected to the duo being re leased on bail citing that there is an ongoing police investigation into the alleged scam which is likely to lead to more charges being laid.

Morris further told the court that Allen was sen tenced to 48 months in 2017 for defrauding another wom

an. The following year he was sentenced to 36 months for a similar crime.

Additionally, Bailey was charged back in 2015 for

forgery and simple larceny.

Allen’s attorney, Dexter Todd, informed the court that he had appealed his client’s conviction and sentencing.

This matter is still ongo ing and Allen is out on bail pending the outcome of his appeal.

Additionally, Todd said that Allen’s business has a mandatory 6 per cent pro cessing fee for loan applica tions which amounted to the $1.1M the victim paid.

The attorney informed the court that Allen’s company was having some minor prob lems since there were some issues with his bank.

The magistrate subse quently remanded Allen to prison and released Bailey on $300,000 bail. The matter is

adjourned until October 14.

According to reports, Al len’s company would lure persons by duping them into believing that it is a legiti mate money-lending institu tion and that in order to bor row money, they would have to pay down a percentage of the amount they wanted.

Upon handing over that down payment, the victims were issued a receipt and asked to return later to com plete the transaction.

However, upon their return, they were given “bounced” cheques.

Businessman Clayton Allen

1,200 more house lots distributed in Region Three

THREE weeks after 200 fam ilies were allocated house lots, the Ministry of Housing and Water returned to Region Three on Friday and distrib uted 1,200 lots under its flag ship ‘Dream Realised’ housing initiative.

The exercise took place at the Uitvlugt/Leonora Develop ment Centre Ground and saw scores of persons in attendance.

The lots that were allocated are located in Meten-Meer-Zorg and Stewartville.

While delivering feature re marks at the opening ceremony for the housing drive, Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal, noted that the activity sig nals the ministry’s second major focus for the region this year.

He said that while there were similar allocation exercises for

the region during the recently concluded International Housing Expo, this can be considered a continuation of same.

“This therefore will serve for us to further reduce the pending applications that were just al luded to,” he said adding that as government works to clear the backlog of applications, there has also been renewed interest from new applicants.

The minister had said earlier this month that Region Three has approximately 14,000 pending land applications.

Minister Croal, in his com ments, emphasised that over the past two years, some 3,265 house lots have been allocated, a figure which far exceeds the just over 400 allocations that were made under the previous administration.

This exercise did not come without its challenges, he said as he mentioned that with the current plans for the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) and competing interest, it was difficult to find land for housing.

However, following consul tations with the relevant stake holders, an additional 1,400 acres of land were identified and this is what made the allocation exercise possible.

The minister noted that this exercise is part the government’s plan to ensure that the backlog of housing applications is cleared.

Meanwhile, Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water, Susan Rodrigues said that the ministry is always excited to reduce its deficit within the housing sector and more specif ically in Region Three which has the second highest demand for housing in the country.

Rodrigues told those gath ered that the ministry welcomes new applications for houses and house lots as they are continu ously in pursuit of the target of distributing some 50,000 house lots during the government’s first term in office.

“We do welcome the new applications and we have all of our housing services here… and we especially like to support our young people to ensure that they realise their dreams,” she said.

To this end, the minister added that while house lots are being allocated, there will also be an aggressive housing con

struction drive which will see hundreds of houses being con structed in the region. She said that the government believes that such a drive is one of the ways to assist in getting persons into their own homes.

“We want you to be able to utilise your house lots in the most productive way possible. We want to help you to get your title. We want to help you to ac cess a mortgage from the banks,” she said.

Subsequently, the two minis ters distributed the lots to those who were present.

On September 2, 2022, some 200 house lots in Stewartville and Meten-Meer-Zorg were distributed during an outreach at the West Demerara Secondary School.

The minister had indicated on that occasion that approx imately $3.4 billion is being expended on infrastructure de velopment at five new housing developments in the region, namely: Cornelia Ida, Anna Catherina, Edinburg, MetenMeer-Zorg, and Stewartville. The works include the installa tion of water supply networks and the construction of access roads, bridges, culverts and drainage networks.

Since taking office, the ministry has distributed over 15, 000 house lots in various parts of the country. Many of the allottees have thanked government for ending their “long” wait.

An allottee chooses her lot number from an envelope Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal is holding (Ministry of Housing and Water photo)

Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water, Susan Rodrigues stands with an allottee as she chooses her lot number (Ministry of Housing and Water photo)

Small businesses to benefit from forum on entering US market

THE Miami, Florida head quartered Guyanese Ameri can Chamber of Commerce (GACC) in conjunction with the World Trade Centre Georgetown, Guyana will host a free forum on Monday, enti tled ‘Effective Strategies for Exporting to the US Market’ in the Glassroom at the Critch low Labour College, Woolford Avenue.

According to a release, the forum will kick off at 14:00 hours and will feature presen tations by a number of key agencies including experts from the US Customs & Border Pro tection (USCBP), the Broward County, Florida Economic De velopment Commission, the US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA), the local Institute for Private Enterprise Development (IPED) and the GACC.

US Ambassador to Guyana Sarah-Ann Lynch, Executive Chairman of Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) Komal Samaroo and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the GACC Eldon

Bremner will address the open ing session of the forum.

Guyana’s Minister of Tour ism, Industry and Commerce, Oneidge Walrond has been in vited to declare open the forum, the release noted.

The hybrid forum is intend ed to provide potential exporters with up-to-date information and relevant advice on how best they could sustainably enter the US market by satisfying the various standards requirements, linking with potential buyers and dis tributors, protecting shipments against possible contamination, accessing finance and stream lining their production to cost effectively and reliably supply ing product to the marketplace, the release noted.

“It is the GACC’s view that

the US remains a key market for Guyanese products and though many of these local producers are micro and small businesses that cannot supply in large vol umes, many of them have unique products which can be offered as prestige and high value products, thus making their efforts prof itable. So for example, rather than making a range of leather products, a small artisan could pursue a contract to supply just leather belts or earrings,” posit ed GACC’s President, Wesley Kirton.

This forum is being held ahead of the annual Florida International Trade Confer ence and Expo (FITCE 2022) to be held October 19-20, at the Broward County Conven tion Center in Ft. Lauderdale.

Chicken smuggler fined

RICHIE Shaw of Lot 22 Mc Doom, East Bank De merara (Padrak Poultry Depot), was on Thursday ordered to pay a fine in the amount of $4,950,000 or face one-year impris onment in default of payment for knowingly concealing uncustomed chicken.

Shaw, according to a release, knowingly con cealed uncustomed chick en contrary to section 218 (c) of the Customs Act, Chapter 82:01. The re lease from the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) also pointed out that the fine imposed is three times the value of the goods seized.

The said defendant, the release noted on that day, removed the smuggled chicken from its original ‘Rockingham’ packages and concealed same in black bags to evade and deceive law enforcement officers by ‘passing same off as local chicken.’

The GRA, however, with the assistance of the experts from the Veteri

nary Public Health Unit of the Ministry of Health, managed to prove the con trary to the court, which led to the said conviction.

In a separate and on going matter, officers at tached to the authority’s Law Enforcement and Investigations Division (LEID), on September 22, 2022, seized in excess of 82 cases of smuggled li quor and over 62 bales of cigarettes from a property at Atlantic Gardens, East Coast Demerara, valued in excess of $20,000,000.

Investigations are ongoing.

“The Revenue Au thority, as it continues with a ‘zero tolerance’ approach against smug gling and other illegal ac tivities, thereby allowing for a ‘level playing field’ for legitimate businesses and the collection of rev enue, once again, encour ages persons involved in such activities to cease and desist therefrom, and bring themselves into compliance with the nation’s tax, trade and border laws,” the release said.

Bed and Breakfast facilities exceed expectation

SOME 48 Bed and Breakfast (B&B) res idences have been ex amined and given the all-clear to host visitors during the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and Cricket

Carnival events. Eesa Bed and Break fast, Deyounge’s res idence, Robin Hardy Court, the Barack Guest House, Roraima Ele gance, Prudential, Mo hammed’s Residence,

Stephens’ House, Luxury Apartments, Mohammed Azeez’s Residence, and the Family Air BNB are some B&B service pro viders.

Director of the Guy ana Tourism Authority

(GTA), Kamrul Baksh told the Department of Public Information (DPI), on Friday, that the residences are adequate ly equipped to facilitate visitors.

He said GTA has

been offering hospitali ty, CPR, sanitation, hy giene, and other perti nent training to support B&B service providers.

Baksh said travellers have deemed the ser vices provided by B&B providers as ‘impressive, fantastic, and of a high standard.’

The B&B services of fer an additional stream of revenue to provid ers. More persons are encouraged to get on board, even as Cricket Carnival events and CPL continue.

Approved providers are published on Sta broek Travel, cricket carnival592.com, GTA’s Facebook page and other platforms.

The programme was implemented to provide alternative accommoda tion for the CPL Cricket Carnival season.

The Tourism, Indus try and Commerce Min istry and the GTA had urged Guyanese to take

advantage of opportu nities to provide B&B services to accommodate visitors in Guyana, with the projected demand for accommodation during the events.

This year’s Cricket Carnival commenced on September 16 and will end on October 2.

The local room avail ability and conference facilities were boosted with the opening of the US$100 million Pegasus Luxury Suites and Cor porate Centre in July.

The 12-storey glass tower provides an addi tional 100 rooms to the current stock, in addition to the seven-storey office complex.

Guyana is hosting major matches of CPL, including the playoffs and finals. A host of activities are also be ing held for the pre mier cricket carnival, drawing visitors from around the world.

The B&B services offer an additional stream of revenue to providers

Inside one of the Bed and Breakfast residences

Run fest expected as Warriors, TKR renew rivalry today

… Support for Warriors big part of home-field advantage

By Clifton Ross

ANOTHER must-win game, but with momentum slowly shifting back into the Guyana Amazon Warriors camp, after clinching backto-back wins to keep their expectations alive, tonight’s skirmish against old nem eses, Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR), keeps stakes high as they set a course for this year’s final.

Shimron Hetmyer and his boys have been rampant ever since returning to Guyana, turn ing Guyana National Stadium at Providence into a high-scoring, batting paradise. Much like their previous tests, the Warriors will

be seeking to come out with guns blazing, especially with the Trinbago side coming off a tough loss against the St. Kitts Patriots.

Both Brandon King and Faf du Plessis, opening batters, utilised the sublime conditions for batting, registering centuries during their first game, but in losing efforts as the Warriors upstaged both batters and their teams, who suffered losses de spite excellent individual per formances,

The result shows the im mense confidence the Amazon Warriors have in their bowling attack. With an all-star spin bowling unit at their dispos al, Gudakesh Motie, Shakib

Al-Hasan, Imran Tahir for the most part have been standouts and will need to further tighten the screws against a solid TKR batting order.

Dashing Afghan 20-yearold opener, Ramanullah Gurbaz put on a display of fearless power-hitting during Thursday night’s high-scoring match. His raw aggression fully comple mented the Warriors best bat ter Shai Hope, who now has half-centuries from both games played at Providence.

Those two, coupled with skipper Hetmyer who seems to be coming into some form, will again be looking for big scores. Ferocious all-rounders Odean Smith and Keemo Paul will also

be key components down the order, making the home team well-suited for easily chasing or putting on a par 170 score tonight.

TKR’s loss pushed them to the last spot while Warriors have jumped up to fifth with seven points, tied with their opponents for this evening. TKR have been struggling with their opening combination, which seems to be their biggest problem, leaving much on the shoulders of Tim Seifert, their leading run-scorer with 208 runs.

Seifert, fresh off a half-cen tury, alongside a struggling Colin Munro and captain Kieron Pollard, can easily go berserk, but given their inconsistencies,

it’s likely that the team could look to bat around the in-form Seifert and provide as much fire-power needed to further ease the New Zealander’s workload.

More is needed from pow er-hitters Nick Pooran and Andre Russell, who have both been stop-starts but could cut loose in a major way should they settle, come this evening.

TKR will be keen on util ising the likes of star left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein, who has been magical, capturing nine wickets to date, pairing him up with the wizard Sunil Narine, leading wicket-taker for TKR, and Ravi Rampaul (11 wickets). They make up a strong, wick et-taking bowling attack which

the Warriors need to be wary of. The home crowd advantage has been great for the local fran chise, who have been playing into the energy of their fans as well as the support from a number of high-profile persons, including His Excellency Presi dent Irfaan Ali, who was among the fans in the stands cheering on the local franchise while greeting the players after their huge win on Thursday.

Former Guyana and West Indies captain, the legendary Sir Clive Lloyd, has also been brought in as mentor and his influence has already paid div idends, ever since the players arrived in Guyana.

Game time is 19:00hrs.

Ronaldo charged by FA over fan's phone incident

MANCHESTER United forward Cristiano Ronaldo has been charged by the Football Association over footage which appeared to show him knocking a phone out of a fan's hand.

A video was shared on social media alongside com ments claiming he smashed the device as he left the pitch after a 1-0 loss at Everton in April.

Ronaldo, 37, later apolo gised on social media. He was cautioned by po lice regarding the incident in

Tearful Federer waves farewell after final match

A tearful Roger Federer waved goodbye to profes sional tennis after teaming up with fellow great Rafa el Nadal on an emotional night at the Laver Cup.

The 41-year-old received a long ovation after walking off court for the final time be fore retiring as a professional.

The Swiss, who won 20 Grand Slam singles titles, is considered one of the best players in tennis history.

"It's been a wonderful day. I'm happy, not sad. It feels great to be here. I'm

happy I made it through," he said.

Federer cried as he hugged Nadal and other play ers, then took acclaim from the 17,500 fans who chanted his name.

Federer and Spain's Nadal - for so long rivals at the top of the men's game - joined forces to play doubles against American pair Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe in the annual team event between Europe and the rest of the world.

Despite Federer not hav ing played competitively for

over a year, the pair pushed Sock and Tiafoe before losing 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 11-9 at the O2 Arena.

It brought the former world number one's 25-year professional career to a close after his 1,750th competitive match across singles and doubles.

"It's been the perfect journey. I'd do it all again," said Federer as tried to hold back tears during his oncourt speech.(BBC Sport)

RACING TIPS

American Racing Tips

Belmont

Race 1 Dream Point

Race 2 Kinetic Sky

Race 3 Evvie Jets

Race 4 Funny Joke

Race 5 Let Her Inspire

Race 6 Global Surprise

Canadian Racing Tips

Woodbine

Race 1 We’ve Had Enough

Race 2 Goldstorm Glory

Race 3 Artful Ballerina

Race 4 Ima Beast

Race 5 Gospel way

Race 6 Anam Cara

August.

"It is alleged that the forward's conduct after the final whistle was improper and/or violent," the FA said in a statement.

Manchester United said they would support Ronaldo in his response to the charge.

The defeat at Everton dealt a blow to United's hopes of qualifying for the Champions League. They went on to finish sixth.

In an Instagram post after the incident, Ronaldo said it was "never easy to deal

with emotions in difficult moments such as the one we are facing".

He added: "Neverthe less, we always have to be respectful, patient and set the example for all the young sters who love the beautiful game.

"I would like to apolo gise for my outburst and, if possible, I would like to in vite this supporter to watch a game at Old Trafford as a sign of fair play and sports manship." (BBC Sport)

Irish Racing Tips

Curragh

08:35 hrs Lakota Seven

09:10 hrs Karakoul

09:45 hrs Distillate

10:20 hrs Bossy Parker

10:55 hrs Dream Today 11:30 hrs Derry Lad 12:05 hrs Mary Salome

South Africa Racing Tips

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08:35 hrs Global Avenue

09:10 hrs Different Face

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10:20 hrs Thefutureisbright 10:53 hrs Charles Dickens

English Racing Tips

Newmarket

08:50 hrs Flying Honours

09:25 hrs Trillium 10:00 hrs Blackbeard 10:40 hrs Lucander 11:15 hrs Mubhijah 11:50 hrs Rose Prick

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Haydock

09:30 hrs Conversationist 09:05 hrs Auditor 09:40 hrs Equality 10:15 hrs Gisburn

10:50 hrs Onslow Gardens 11:25 hrs Self Praise 12:00 hrs Animato

Ronaldo appeared to knock a young fan's phone to the ground as he walked down the tunnel at Goodison Park on April 9 this year

Rohit, Axar help India level T20I series in eight-over shootout

ROHIT Sharma smashed four fours and as many sixes in his unbeaten 20-ball 46 to help India overhaul Australia's 90 for 5 in an eight-over contest in Nagpur. The win meant the series is now level at 1-1 with the final T20I in Hyderabad tomorrow.

A wet patch in the outfield, due to Thursday's rain, delayed the start of the match by two and a half hours. Even when the umpires decided to go ahead, they did so by saying "al though the conditions are not perfect, they are safe to play".

India, bolstered by the return of Jasprit Bumrah, put Australia in after winning the toss. With each bowler allowed up to two overs, they didn't need a sixth bowling option. So they decided to strengthen their batting, bringing in Rishabh Pant for Bhu

vneshwar Kumar.

Aaron Finch's 15-ball 31 and Matthew Wade's unbeaten 20-ball 43 helped the visitors put up a com petitive total despite Axar Patel con ceding only 13 from his two overs. India, however, had the advantage of knowing the target. While Adam Zampa threatened to derail their chase with three quick wickets, Rohit stayed calm to see his side through.

Hardik Pandya, bowling the first over of the innings, found some movement in the air. But as one would expect in a shortened game, Finch paid little attention to the conditions and scooped the second ball over the keeper's head for four.

In the second over, Cameron Green was run-out going for a quick single, before Axar pinged Glenn Maxwell's middle stump with an

arm ball. The left-arm spinner did the same to Tim David in his next over to keep Australia in check, but Finch

managed to hit Yuzvendra Chahal for a straight six in-between.

Finch, though, had no answer to

a searing yorker from Bumrah that flattened his leg stump; in fact, Finch ended up applauding the bowler after the dismissal.

Wade took some time - he was 7 off 7 - before hitting Harshal Patel for two fours in the sixth over. But it was the final over that really lifted Australia as Harshal struggled to get his length right. Wade contributed 18 of the 19 runs scored off the last six balls, pulling two short ones over the leg-side boundary and carving a high full toss over deep cover.

ROHIT PULLS IT OFF FOR INDIA

Chasing 91, Rohit and KL Rahul were quick off the blocks. Rohit pulled Josh Hazlewood for two sixes in the opening over and Rahul

Brook, Duckett star in convincing England win in third T20

HARRY Brook smashed an un beaten 81 from just 35 balls to help England go 2-1 up in the Twenty20 series against Pakistan with a com fortable 63-run win in Karachi.

The Yorkshire batter showed a dazzling array of shots as England posted an imposing 221-3 from their 20 overs - their joint-fifth highest score in T20 cricket.

He was ably supported by Ben Duckett, who added 70 from 42 de liveries in an unbroken fourth-wicket stand worth 139 from 69 balls, while debutant opener Will Jacks hit 40 from 22 balls to get England off to a strong start.

Pakistan struggled early in their reply and were reduced to 28-4 during the power-play, thanks to a blistering opening spell from the returning Mark Wood.

The Durham fast bowler, play ing his first international since March after two rounds of elbow surgery, took 3-24, including skipper Babar Azam, whose unbeaten 110 inspired Pakistan to a remarkable 10-wicket victory in the second T20 on Thursday.

Adil Rashid took 2-32 and Reece Topley ended with 1-22 in his first match of this series as Pakistan could limp to only 158-8, despite a spirited unbeaten half-century from Shan Masood.

The fourth T20 in this sev en-match series takes place tomor row, again in Karachi.

It has been a breakthrough year for Brook, who made his T20 inter national debut against West Indies in January before earning his first Test cap against South Africa earlier

this month.

And with a T20 World Cup rapidly approaching the 23-year-old gave a timely demonstration of his class to press his claims for a spot in the World Cup side.

Coming in at five, his innings contained eight fours and five huge sixes - two of which came from as many balls off Usman Qadir.

The left-hand, right-hand part nership with Duckett appeared to bamboozle Babar, who struggled to set a field to stem the scoring.

Duckett was far stronger square of the wicket, relying almost exclu sively on the sweep or reverse-sweep to score, but still expertly picking out the gaps in the field with eight fours and one six.

Surrey opener Jacks has been touted as an international cricketer

for some time and his steady in nings on his England debut ensured the run-rate barely dropped below 10-an-over despite the early dismiss als of Phil Salt and Dawid Malan.

The returning Wood also gave England cause for optimism, being clocked at 97mph despite his sixmonth injury absence as the short ball repeatedly caused the Pakistan batters problems.

With the likes of Chris Jordan, Ben Stokes, Liam Livingstone and permanent captain Jos Buttler still to return to the side, England suddenly have a flurry of selection problems with the World Cup now less than a month away.

Babar and Mohammad Rizwan were inspired in the second T20 when they spearheaded Pakistan to a record-breaking 10-wicket win, but

they mustered just 16 between them here as a poor power-play effectively ended the hosts' chances.

Babar had already survived a leading edge that Malan could not grasp when on three, but the next over he top-edged a bouncer from Wood straight to Topley on the deep third boundary.

Rizwan then saw his leg stump demolished by a fizzing Topley delivery, before Haider Ali pulled another vicious short delivery from Wood straight to a diving Adil Rashid at square leg.

The short ball proved effective for Sam Curran too as he lured If tikhar Ahmed into playing a looping shot straight to Topley at mid-off to silence a previously vociferous home crowd.

Masood put up some resistance

capped it with a flicked six of his own. In the next over, Rohit hooked Pat Cummins for another six, leaving India needing 62 from six overs.

Zampa pegged them back by picking up three wickets - Rahul and Virat Kohli were bowled, and Suryakumar Yadav was lbw for a first-ball duck. But Rohit found back-to-back fours off Sean Abbott to keep the asking rate under control.

Hardik fell for a run-a-ball 9 but Rohit steered the last ball of the seventh over, bowled by Cummins, behind point to leave India requiring nine from six.

Karthik slogged Daniel Sams behind square leg for six and then pulled a slower short ball between deep midwicket and deep square leg to seal the win. (Cricinfo)

with an unbeaten 65 from 40 balls to strengthen his case for a perma nent place in the Pakistan middle order, but only Khushdil Shah and Mohammad Nawaz also reached double figures.

A flurry of late wickets en sured a timid end to the game com pared to the fireworks witnessed 24 hours previously. (BBC Sport)

Aaron Finch was knocked over by a searing yorker (Getty Images)

Harry Brook has scored 154 in three innings so far this series

England relegated after loss to Italy

ENGLAND suffered the em barrassment of relegation from their UEFA Nations League group after slump ing to defeat against Italy in Milan.

Giacomo Raspadori's stun ning 68th-minute strike broke the deadlock in the San Siro as a game that lacked spark finally came to life after the break, with England's winless streak extend ed to five games - their worst since June 2014.

Raspadori produced instant control and a fierce right-foot finish which gave goalkeeper Nick Pope, in for the injured Jordan Pickford, no chance.

Manager Gareth Southgate kept faith with Harry Maguire despite his struggles at Man chester United, the defender suffering one anxious early moment when West Ham United striker Gianluca Scammaca beat him in the air at the far post, only for a combination of Pope and the woodwork to keep his header out.

England responded at last, Italy keeper Gianluigi Don narumma producing a fine dou ble block from Harry Kane, although the home side had chances of their own in a fre

netic finale.

ENGLAND LACK INSPI RATION AGAIN

Southgate was keen to re focus after their run without a win put them in trouble in their UEFA Nations League group but there was little to get excited about here as the latest goalless show left them 495 minutes without a goal in open play.

Kane threatened Donnarum ma as England tried to react but there were barely any other clear-cut chances, despite the promptings of Phil Foden, apart from a late Jude Bellingham header that he sent over the bar.

Arsenal's Bukayo Saka had been named as England's playerof-the-year before the game and his reward was a role in an un familiar left-wing back position in which he made little impact, perhaps understandably, before he was substituted.

It was hard not to feel sym pathy for the youngster being asked to perform such an unac customed role at this level.

Maguire had few serious alarms but England did not de serve anything from the game and must now raise themselves against Germany at Wembley

on Monday with their UEFA Nations League fate already decided.

And Southgate must surely involve Brentford's Ivan Toney, surprisingly excluded from the match-day squad here. Anything else would make nonsense of his call-up.

This was another disappoint ing night for England which did nothing to lift the spirits after their recent poor run.

SOUTHGATE MUST RAISE CONFIDENCE

England must pull them selves out of this ill-timed slump with only 90 minutes of inter national football left before the World Cup starts in Qatar in November.

Time is running out with the showpiece drawing closer

and England hitting their worst run of form since 2014, making a mockery of their elevated status as one of the World Cup favourites.

Relegation now means they drop out of the elite groups of the UEFA Nations League and could face a potentially harder draw in the next Euros.

England had formed a habit of getting the job done even when not at their best but this has been lost now and the lack of potency, thus leaving an even greater reliance on Kane, is a real concern for Southgate.

He will have hoped to have his World Cup thoughts crys tallised by now but England's current mediocre form is rais ing more questions than an swers. (BBC Sport)

Nearly 2,000 Liverpool fans set to sue UEFA

(REUTERS) - Amateur box ing's world governing body is preparing for a presidential vote in Armenia tomorrow with opponents of Russian incumbent, Umar Kremlev, warning that the sport's Olym pic future beyond 2024 is at stake.

USA Boxing executive di rector Mike McAtee told Re uters the International Boxing Association (IBA), already fro zen out by Olympic organisers, faced an existential threat at the extraordinary congress.

Kremlev, who this month opened a boxing facility in Moscow with Russian president Vladimir Putin, was elected un opposed in Istanbul in May, after Dutch rival Boris van der Vorst was declared ineligible two days before the vote.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled last June that van der Vorst was wrongly prevented from standing.

The agenda for tomorrow in cludes a yes/no vote by national federations on the question 'Do you want to vote for another presidential election or not?'. If yes, it will be Kremlev against van der Vorst.

"It will be the end of IBA if we do not have an election,

considering CAS ruled that we were all wrongfully removed and Boris was wrongfully re moved," McAtee told Reuters by telephone from Yerevan.

"It is my belief that if there is not an election, IBA will be permanently suspended or just removed by the IOC (Interna tional Olympic Committee) McAtee, who is an ally of van der Vorst and was also de clared ineligible in May when he stood for the IBA board, said boxing could not hope to be at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics without a change at the helm.

"The IOC, if you look at their letters, are very clear that

if candidate Kremlev wins, IBA will be removed," he said.

"Without being in the Olym pics it will cut funding for every national federation and impact boxing all the way down to eight-year-old boxers in every country in the world. That’s how important it is to our sport."

SLOW-MOVING RE FORMS

Boxing is not on the initial programme for 2028 and the IOC is managing the Paris 2024 competition

IBA, formerly known as AIBA, was stripped of involve ment in last year's Tokyo Olym pics due to governance, finance, refereeing and ethical issues.

IOC sports director Kit Mc Connell said this month that slow-moving reforms and IBA's financial dependence on Russian energy firm Gazprom were of grave concern.

Amid allegations of dirty tricks, USA Boxing filed a whis tleblower complaint on Sep tember 8 regarding a perceived attempt by an IBA employee to influence tomorrow's vote in Kremlev's favour.

IBA said Kremlev had been cleared of all charges by the Boxing Independent Integrity

Unit.

McAtee said a legal chal lenge could not be ruled out if Kremlev remained in office.

"There are several points that can be contested in court and we are keeping all our op tions open," he said.

The Ukrainian Boxing Fed eration could be a case in point after it said it had been deprived of the right to participate in the congress.

"Why did they allow the registration of individuals that have no relation to the Ukrainian Boxing Federation to take part (in the congress) ... and vote on our behalf?," federation presi dent Kyrylo Shevchenko asked IBA members in a letter.

The document, seen by Reu ters, called for Kremlev to resign immediately or for national federations to vote him out of office.

The IBA does not recog nise Shevchenko but instead considers his predecessor Volo dymyr Prodyvus, an ally of Kremlev who left Ukraine after the Russian invasion and was elected as IBA vice-pres ident in May, as head of the federation.

MORE than 1 700 Liv erpool fans, who claim they were injured or left with psychological trauma at the chaotic Champions League Fi nal, are to sue, UEFA lawyers have said.

European football's governing body is facing group actions over the final against Real Madrid in Paris.

UEFA delayed kickoff by 35 minutes, citing "security issues..

Liverpool law firm Bingham's said clients had spoken of "terrifying scenes" at the Stade de France.

Bingham's has teamed up with global law com pany Pogust Goodhead in a lawsuit for 1 450 clients alleging negligence.

Lawyers said they would sue UEFA for breach of contract in tick et sales and negligence over a duty of care they had towards supporters, who were harmed physi cally and psychologically.

Many Reds support ers spoke of long queues in the hours leading up to the game and a heavy-handed police response to the build-up of fans. (BBC Sport)

CRICKET QUIZ CORNER

(Saturday September 24, 2022)

COMPLIMENTS OF CUMMINGS ELECTRICAL COMPANY LTD -83 Garnett Street, Campbellville, Georgetown (Tel: 225-6158)

Answers to yesterday’s quiz: (1) Akeal Hosein (2) Haydn Walsh (2019)

Today’s Quiz:

(1) Which one of these players have never won the Man of the Tournament Award for the Warriors? Krishmar Santokie, Sunil Narine, Lendl Simmons, Chadwick Walton

(2) The Patriots have played in two CPL finals. When? tomorrow’s

England have gone five games without a win for the first time since 2014

Liverpool fans were left stuck outside the ground and the match was delayed by 35 minutes

Fury says Joshua unwilling to fight him for world title

WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury says fellow Briton An thony Joshua "does not want to fight" him for the world title later this year.

Fury, 34, offered Josh ua the fight despite the 32-year-old failing to re gain the WBA (Super), WBO and IBF belts he lost to Oleksandr Usyk.

Joshua's team said they have "accepted all terms" to the offer.

But Fury said: "I will be fighting on December 3 if Joshua does not sign this contract, which I don't think he will."

He added: "You've had the contract for I don't know how long and ain't signing it. You do not want to fight."

In the same social media post, Fury used

an expletive to describe Ukraine's Usyk, who called for a unification fight with Fury after win ning his rematch with Joshua.

Fury's promoter Frank Warren then said the match "will be made" and Usyk, 35, said in an interview posted on his YouTube page on Thursday that he wants it to be one of his

last three fights before retiring.

"The unification of all the belts is much more im portant than just a fight or another defence," he said.

"I want to outbox Fury and I don't want to work that much just for another defence. There's much more than that and I can achieve it."

Usyk also wants a lu

crative "freak" fight with super-middleweight cham pion Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez before ending his career at Kyiv's Olimpiyskiy Sta dium.

Alvarez claimed a dominant points-win over Gennady Golovkin last weekend to settle their trilogy with a second win for the Mexican, 32, after a controversial draw in his first bout with the Kazakh.

"I can have three more fights at the very most," Usyk added.

"It is most realistic to be in my top form. With Fury, Canelo and a fare well fight at Olimpiyskiy.

"With Canelo he said that he wanted to fight me. It would be a freak fight just for the sake of earning money." (BBC Sport)

Wallace believes Windies T20 World Cup squad short of genuine batters

(REUTERS) Sussex chair Jon Filby said the recommendations pro posed in the England & Wales Cricket Board's (ECB) high-perfor mance review of men's cricket in England were needed for the game but were "unworkable" when looked at through a holistic lens.

The review, which was led by former England captain Andrew Strauss and published on Thurs day, proposed a six-team top County Championship division from 2024, with a 12-team second division split into two conferences vying for one promotion place.

It also advocated for a reduction in champi onship matches per team from 14 to 10.

"Strauss's high perfor

mance review is equal ly unworkable as far as county cricket is con cerned," Filby told the BBC on Thursday.

"When looked at through the lens of high performance it is exactly what the game needs. But we are not only look ing through the lens of high performance. We are looking through a finan cial and commercial lens.

"We are looking through the eyes of our

members who have crick et that they want and we're looking very much through a variety of an gles that is not just high performance."

The proposals, involv ing a major overhaul of the domestic schedule, need the support of at least 12 of the 18 firstclass counties to be im plemented.

Surrey's director of cricket Alec Stewart said reduced game time would

allow cricketers to per form at a higher level.

"Once the energy drops your performance drops so you are trying to maintain the high perfor mance, which is what the review was all about, so it is getting that balance right," Stewart told the BBC on Thursday.

Essex chief executive John Stephenson said the proposed changes would not benefit England's Test side.

"In my opinion re ducing the amount of red-ball cricket is not the way to produce bet ter Test cricketers," Ste phenson told the BBC on Thursday. "Certainly from an Essex point of view, we wouldn't want to see a reduction in the amount of champion ship cricket."

FORMER West Indies opening batter, Philo Wallace, believes the 15-man squad selected for the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia has the issue of being short of genuine batters.

It’s safe to say that the selection announced by the Desmond Haynes-led panel, earlier this week, included quite a few surprises. The list included some players on the fringes of the T20 unit for a while, with the likes of Sheldon Cottrell and Johnson Charles recalled and the inexperienced Yannic Cariah also earning somewhat of a shock selection.

In some ways, Wallace believes the team is similar in composition to the West Indies squad selected for last year's failed World Cup cam paign, which had focused on stacking up pow er-hitters.

“We’re going to Australia on bigger cricket grounds and we are carrying a lot of hitters of the cricket ball. I think when these guys are asked to bat, they are going to find themselves in problems. A lot of them are not even in form,” Wallace told the Mason and Guest radio programme.

The former opener also had questions regard ing how different pieces of the team would fit together.

“If you play Johnson Charles you have four openers on that T20 squad right now. Is he going to keep wicket or is he going to field out. Yannic Cariah is a wildcard, he doesn’t play T20 cricket, and he’s not involved in CPL. If he plays where is he going to fit into the 11?” (Sportsmax)

Opening batter Johnson Charles

Joshua lost the WBA (Super), WBO and IBF belts to Usyk in September 2021 but Fury still holds the WBC title

Sussex chair Jon Filby

Run fest expected as Warriors, TKR renew rivalry today

… Support for Warriors big part of home-field advantage

Tearful Federer waves farewell after final match

World Cup players to get FIFA data analysis App

By Simon Evans

MANCHESTER, En gland (Reuters) - When the World Cup kicks off in Qatar on Nov. 20 fans can expect a flurry of stats and match footage on social media and FIFA is hoping that includes data and content from a new player app.

FIFA said on Friday that all players at the finals will be able to browse their performance data on a pur pose-built app developed by the governing body which allow footballers of all 32 teams access to analysis and information.

The app has been cre ated after feedback from players, through the players union FIFPRO, and the

data will be synched with video of the action to allow quick assessment of key moments.

While such data and metrics are widely avail able to players with the top clubs and national sides, who employ teams of an alysts, the app will ensure squads with fewer resourc es also have access.

The app will make use of input from FIFA's per formance analysts, tracking data and physical perfor mance metrics such as dis tance covered, sprints and positional heat maps.

Players will also be provided with photographs from the matches which they can share on social media along with stats and data.

"This player-centric development is based on direct feedback from the players and is another great example of how FIFA is using technology to the best of its potential by im proving the football expe rience for the key actors on the pitch," said Johannes Holzmueller, FIFA Director of Football Technology & Innovation.

Simon Colosimo, FIF PRO Deputy General Sec retary, said players had asked for better access to their performance data.

"The FIFA Player App is a positive outcome that will activate personal data rights and provide a new resource for players at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar," he said.

Former West Indies captain, Sir Clive Lloyd embracing His Excellency, President Dr Irfaan Ali

The fans have been unstoppable and fully behind their team as they seek to reach this year’s final

Team Europe's Roger Federer waves at fans at the end of his last match after announcing his retirement Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers