Guyana Chronicle E-Paper 27-09-2022

Trade between Guyana, US tops US$1.4B

TRADE between Guyana and the United States of America (US) amounted to US$1.4 billion in the first half of 2022, accord ing to US Ambassador Sarah-Ann Lynch.

“We are certainly com

mitted to improving prosperity here in Guy ana and a big part of that is the bilateral trade and partnerships. The United States is proud to be Guyana’s largest bilateral trading part

ner with bilateral trade eclipsing $1.4 billion US in the first half of this year alone,” Ambassador Lynch said during her address at a forum on effective strategies for exporting to the US, on Monday.

According to the US De partment of State, US policy toward Guyana seeks to develop robust and sustainable demo cratic institutions, laws, and political practic

es; support economic growth and develop ment; promote an active, organised, and empow ered civil society, and promote stability and security.

story on

Guyana re-defining tourism with inclusive, community focus

Tourism, Industry and Com merce Minister, Oneidge Wal rond said the government is supportive of tourism develop ment efforts in every single re gion of Guyana. She noted the support of hundreds of small business owners from all sec tions of society, as some of the ways in which the government illustrates its inclusion.

“I think it is incumbent upon

me, especially in the face of persistent accusations levelled at us, to pause for a moment to speak a bit about our ap proach to inclusion. With re spect to social and economic development, for us, inclusion means that the services that we deliver and the programmes we implement must benefit all Guyanese. And this means all Guyanese regardless of

who they are, where they live, their ethnic origin, their po litical persuasion or any other characteristic by which any one may seek to classify and compartmentalise us. I should emphasise that our commit ment to inclusion is manifested in our programmes in every sector. In education, in health, in agriculture, in tourism and all others.”

Guyana re-defining tourism with inclusive, community focus

IN the interest of en suring its wider eco nomic and social impact, subject minister Oneidge Walrond has stressed the need for re-defining tourism with an inclusive com munity focus in mind.

The minister con veyed the foregoing sentiments as she de livered remarks at a reception hosted by US Ambassador Sarah-Ann Lynch on Monday in celebration of World Tourism Day.

World Tourism Day is celebrated across the globe on 27 September.

This year, the event is being celebrated under the theme, “Re-think ing Tourism”, which, according to Minister Walrond, offers a frame

work for the reorienting of the future of tourism, particularly with inclu sivity in mind.

“It is incumbent upon me to pause for a moment to speak a bit about our approach to inclusion; what it means, generally, and what it means in the context of tourism in particular,” she said.

The minister pointed to the government’s sup port of tourism develop ment efforts in every single region of Guyana, and support of hundreds of small business own ers from all sections of society as some of the ways in which it illus trates its inclusivity.

“I think it is incum bent upon me, especial ly in the face of persis tent accusations leveled at us, to pause for a moment to speak a bit about our approach to inclusion. With respect to social and economic development, for us, inclusion means that the services that we deliver and the programmes we implement must benefit all Guyanese. And this means all Guyanese, regardless of who they

are, where they live, their ethnic origin, their political persuasion or any other characteris tic by which anyone may seek to classify and compartmentalise us,” Minister Walrond said, adding:

“I should emphasise that our commitment to inclusion is manifested in our programmes in every sector: In educa tion, in health, in agri culture, in tourism and all others. With respect to tourism, I wish to give you some insight into how our commit ment to inclusion oper ates by making refer ence to our current host ing of the Caribbean Premier League. I think this actually serves as a very good example of how our approach to social and economic development places us on the cutting edge of Re-thinking Tourism as regards inclusion.”

The Government was instrumental in pur suing and supporting Guyana’s bid to host the finals of the much celebrated CPL, in addi tion to hosting a number of other matches being played by the national team, the Guyana Ama zon Warriors.

“Pursuing this op portunity required cour age and vision, for when we did so, the potential benefits were not ap parent to most people. We, however, had our eyes firmly on the fun damentals of the situa tion. Our commitment to securing the rights to the CPL finals was part of our strategy for inclusive development,” Minister Walrond said.

UNITED IN SUPPORT

Over the past few

weeks, Guyanese have continuously flocked the National Stadium, well decked out in their Amazon Warriors out fits and other parapher nalia as the country united in support behind the team.

“We had our sights set not only on the pri mary revenue streams associated with the cricket itself,” she said, “but also on capturing wider benefits that such an event could bring to a broad cross-section of ordinary people in many sectors. Indeed, this was the primary motiva tion for the twinning of cricket with Carnival!”

According to Minis ter Walrond, thousands of Guyanese are able to derive significant ben efit from the staging of this tournament.

“They are able to benefit as a direct re sult of our commitment to inclusion. It is that commitment that drove us to design the overall architecture of CPL and Cricket Carnival, with its attached signature events over a two-week period,” the minister said.

BUSINESS

The hosting of the CPL ensures opportu nities for meaningful participation by small, medium and microen terprises right down to the individual sole proprietor.

Aside from inclusiv ity, Minister Walrond underscored the coun try’s direction towards community-based-andled tourism initiatives, and the re-thinking of tourism as a focus on communities and rural development.

The country con

-Tourism, Industry and Commerce Minister Oneidge Walrond

Tourism, Industry and Commerce Minister, Oneidge Walrond interacts with US Ambassador Sarah-Ann Lynch (DPI photo)

Trade between Guyana, US tops US$1.4B

- in first half of 2022, Ambassador Lynch says advises Guyanese to focus on building export competitiveness

By Cassandra Khan

TRADE between Guy ana and the United States of America (US) amounted to US$1.4 bil lion in the first half of 2022, according to US Ambassador Sarah-Ann Lynch.

“We are certainly com mitted to improving pros perity here in Guyana and a big part of that is the bilateral trade and partner ships. The United States is proud to be Guyana’s largest bilateral trading partner with bilateral trade eclipsing $1.4 billion US in the first half of this year alone,” Ambassador Lynch said during her ad dress at a forum on effec tive strategies for export ing to the US, on Monday.

According to the US Department of State, US policy toward Guyana seeks to develop robust and sustainable demo cratic institutions, laws, and political practices; support economic growth and development; promote an active, organised, and empowered civil society,

and promote stability and security.

In the area of bilat eral trade, according to the Bank of Guyana, Guyana exported $1.7 billion to the US in 2021, contribut ing 39 per cent to Guy ana’s exports by country. Guyana’s imports from the United States amounted to $565 million in 2021, or 12 per cent of Guyana’s imports.

Guyana’s major ex ports to the United States in 2021 continued to be non-monetary gold, fish and shellfish, baux ite, lumber and wood, apparel, and household goods, while the major imports were iron and steel, machinery, food stuff, animal feed, petro leum products, chemicals, computers and computer accessories, passenger ve hicles, telecommunication equipment, and pharma ceuticals.

Ambassador Lunch said trade between the two nations will continue to grow, especially since Guyana’s economy is on an upward trajectory.

At the forum organised

by the Guyanese American Chamber of Commerce (GACC), she advised lo cals to position themselves in order to become suc cessful exporters.

“Whether you are American, Guyanese, or Guyanese-American, my advice remains the same, do your research, have a plan, and develop strong local partners and strong relationships in your target market,

“For example, if you are seeking to export ag ricultural products, trans portation networks, cold storage and streamlined approval processes will be very key,” she said.

Ambassador Lynch re lated that getting products approved for export, es pecially to the US, could be a lengthy and difficult process, which is why re search, a plan and partner ships are important.

“Export competitive ness is important for Guy ana’s economy because it can help to diversify this economy and grow the non-oil sector which is very important to avoid what is known as the oil

curse,” US Ambassador said.

She added: “Guyana could make a lasting im pression on the world right now with so many op portunities available to all of you. I would say now is the time to invest in yourself, in your com pany, in your innovative skills and develop your people and your product. Keep in mind that the US market is very large and very protective of intellec tual property rights… this makes it a highly valuable market to target but you need to take the time to understand how to enter the US market.”

Ambassador Lynch related that the process could be a bit simpler if local find partners in the US to help navigate the environment, conduct market research and en sure that the company meets the relevant legal requirements.

As it is now, informa tion is available online and persons could also access help by visiting the US embassy.

“Don’t forget to re

search the requirements for various approvals and certifications on the Guya nese side as well. Develop your plan, including who your first buyer will be and what your distribution network will look like,”

Ambassador Lynch said.

The US Ambassador said that the US embassy has a “small but strong economic and commercial team” which offers market insights or advice.

“We continue to col laborate with the Guya nese and American Private sectors offering extensive entrepreneurship training

as well as mentorship and connecting folks to poten tial partners,” she said.

Director of Business at the Ministry of Tour ism, Industry and Com merce, John Edghill, speaking on behalf of the Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Oneidge Walrond, relat ed that the time to invest is now, especially since Guyana’s real Gross Do mestic Product (GDP) has grown by 36 per cent in the first half of 2022 and is projected to grow 56 per cent overall for this year.

Guyana re-defining tourism with inclusive...

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tinues to look towards tourism as one of the sectors in which stra tegic focus is being placed for the diversifi cation of economy.

The minister noted that particularly in the case of tourism in In digenous communities, facilities and activities are aimed at being fully integrated into the way of life of the commu nity, enabling visitors to receive authentic expe riences of what it means to live in a sustainable manner.

According to the minister, particular care is taken in these settings to ensure that the tourism product be ing offered is in line with the values of the communities, and does

not disturb community well-being.

The minister stressed that other preservation trends include digital and contactless pro cessing along the entire spectrum of the tourist experience, rural devel opment through tour ism, growth of domestic tourism, and promotion of alternative destina tions within a particular jurisdiction to avoid overcrowding.

“Our interventions throughout the pan demic have, in varying degrees, been broad ly reflective of these trends,” she said, adding: “For example, the stay-at-home-and roam promotion of outdoor experiences, development of tour ism products in every

region, digital. This year’s theme urges us to critically evaluate our concept of and

approach to tourism in light of the COV ID-19 pandemic. The pandemic experience

constituted a powerful enabler and driver of change, and it is this driving force that

is behind the call for “Re-thinking Tour ism”.

United States Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch

A section of the gathering at the reception hosted by the US Ambassador on Monday to celebrate World Tourism Day (DPI photo)

Systemic changes needed to revolutionise agriculture in the region

- President Ali

PRESIDENT Dr. Irfaan Ali said that systemic changes are necessary if Guyana and the rest of the Carib bean Region are going to be food secure.

He told a Science Sum mit of the United Nations General Assembly, via zoom on Monday, that for far too long there has been a passive approach to food security, which has amplified the prob lem at the regional level.

President Dr. Irfaan Ali

The Head of State, who was the keynote speaker at the food security forum, pro

posed an overhauling of the regional agriculture system to not only make it less labori ous but to encourage women and youth into the workforce.

Enhanced technological use, he pointed out, would be imperative to develop the new system.

“How do we ensure that more women are leading farms, using science and technology as aids? We cannot build an agricul tural system or a production system that does not have the future in mind. What we have now is a lot of young people not going into agriculture. The question is: Why? Because we still promote agriculture in the traditional way.”

To change the system, President Ali noted that gov ernments need to make larg er investments, remove the red tape hampering the flow, use individual strengths for the collective good, and enhance private sector part nerships.

PARTNERSHIP AND WILLINGNESS

“If the Caribbean believes

that we can do this singularly, we’re fooling ourselves. This requires partnership, and a willingness of all stakehold ers to work in a cohesive manner, utilising each other’s competitive advantage and pushing each other’s com petitive advantage to the benefit of the region. That is what we’re doing.”

The President also spoke of the land available in Guy ana and Suriname, the tech nological know-how of Ro raima, Brazil, and the unique advantages of several Carib bean islands. Overall, he ex plained that the region should be investing at least 7.5 per cent of their national budg ets in agriculture and food production in the short-term for there to be a possibility of achieving a 25 per cent reduction in food importation by 2025.

He also highlighted gen eral cooperation and coun try-to-country partnerships, especially between Guyana and Barbados.

The urgency in food se curity, the President stated, is not only a CARICOM

concern, but a global issue. Reference was made to the hindering factors, including the pandemic, which have skyrocketed the global food import bill to its staggering US$1.8tn projection.

He said that as of June 2022, the number of acute food-insecure persons has increased to 345 million in 82 countries, and out of that amount, some 2.8 million, or nearly 40 per cent of the population in the Englishspeaking Caribbean are food insecure.

SHORT AND LONGTERM RESPONSES

He emphasised that at all levels, there needs to be short and long-term responses to boost food production and nutrition, improved food security, reduce risk, and the strengthening of the food systems.

“The global, regional, and national food systems,” President Ali said, “must become more responsive to the needs of the popula tion. The system has to be responsive to the needs of the population to give them

healthy and affordable diets, inclusive of food sustainable sustenance, and enforce good livelihood for all, especially small economies.”

The President said that food security was the main issue at the UN General As sembly this year, which dem onstrated its urgency.

“Did we actually realise what took place in the UN? For the first time, the macro issues for food security, cli mate change, and everything else fell under the umbrella of food security. Every single address at the UN; every sin gle side event had the issue of food security.”

With the spotlight on food security, President Ali said that it is now time for Small Island Developing States and Low-Lying Coastal Countries to push funding agencies, and to work with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the UN to become food-secure.

“If we can’t do it now, then we will be in serious problems in the long-term,” he said. (Office of the Presi dent)

Restoration of fishing wharfs, landing sites to commence soon

Additionally, in June of this year, President Ali, during a public meeting at Windsor Forest, on the West Coast of Demerara, announced that fisherfolk will be the beneficiar ies of a one-off grant of $150,000.

President Ali noted that after the government did a complete assessment of its revenue streams and finances, it determined that the $150,000 grant will be issued to the fish erfolk.

Today is not a national holiday

GIVEN the possible traffic congestion and other activi ties surrounding the Cricket Carnival, the Private Sec tor Commission (PSC), on Monday, issued a statement calling on the Government to declare Tuesday a Na tional Holiday.

However, Home Affairs Minister, Robeson Benn, who is responsible for making the declaration, said the Govern ment was never officially approached by the PSC about the matter.

The Guyana Amazon Warriors are slated to play against the Barbados Roy als at 10:00hrs while St Lucia Kings will be playing against the Jamaica Tall awahs at 19:00hrs.

WITH the distribution of the $150,000 one-off fisherfolk cash grant un derway, the Ministry of Agriculture has moved ahead to issue bids for the rehabilitation of 72 landing sites and several fishing wharfs.

In an invited comment with the Guyana Chroni cle on Monday, Agricul ture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha said that some $300M has been billed for the rehabilitation works.

“We are looking at some of the wharfs and all the landing sites; we are trying to upgrade in terms of putting proper steps and other things like

lights and sheds. Also, we will be doing some works at the Meadow Bank Wharf, Rosignol, and some other wharfs around the country where these fisherfolk are ply ing their trade,” Minister Mustapha said.

Earlier this year, Presi dent Dr. Irfan Ali, along with Minister Mustapha, visited the Meadow Bank Wharf to listen to the con cerns of fisherfolk there.

During the meeting, fisherfolk bemoaned their working conditions. Sub sequently, assessments were made, and 72 land ing sites were identified for rehabilitation works.

“We are announcing an initiative for every single person identified; we are going to help you with a one-off grant of $150,000. This is an im mediate step that we are taking to assist you, in ad dition to all that we’re do ing to expand the indus try,” President Ali said.

The President noted that the grant for the fisherfolk ties in with the government’s com mitment to increase support for the agri culture community, as Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean strive to increase production of food commodities, in keeping with the ‘Vision 25 by 25’ target.

Home Affairs Minister, Robeson Benn

Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha

Unlocking Potential

GUYANA will soon in crease its education ex penditure to 20 per cent of the national budget and six per cent of Gross Domes tic Product (GDP). Why?

Because, as President, Dr Irfaan Ali told colleague Heads-of-State and Gov ernment in New York re cently, education is “a core element of Guyana’s social transformation” aimed at “unlocking the potential of students to realise their as piration”, while enhancing skills for national develop ment.

Selected to chair the ‘Transforming Education Summit Leaders Roundtable Discussion’ – part of the 77th United Nations General As sembly (UNGA) – President Ali informed fellow leaders that Guyana commits to “an

inclusive education system that leaves no one behind...” by “narrowing access and attainment gaps” and “en suring every school-aged child is entitled to a sound education.”

Thus far in 2022, his administration has allocated $74.4 billion for education, including more grants for child students, laptops for teachers, expansion of the National School Feeding Programme and the cost of 4,500 GOAL scholarships.

Government is also intro ducing more in-person tutor ing, reforming the national curriculum, extending the use of information and com munication technology (ICT) in education, increasing ac cess to digital and non-digital educational resources and increasing distance educa

tion, while also investing in other interventions to address the disruption to physical schooling caused by COVID over a 20-month period.

COVID-19 school dis ruptions were also answered with remote learning and provision of digital and nondigital learning resources.

The Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) – after one year online – has fa cilitated enrollment of over 2,500 first-year students –five times higher than usual. Online courses at the CPCE have also allowed hinterland teachers to enroll for courses without having to leave their homes.

The World Bank rec ommended that there be a “rethink” of education strat egies to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development

Goal (SDG) Number Four by 2030 – and President Ali said, “It must include strate gies to reduce inequalities and foster inclusion, cur riculum reform, focusing on foundational skills, cultural response, technological inte gration, and development of a comprehensive integrated education management infor mation system, monitoring and evaluation and financ ing.”

In the context of alloca tion of necessary resources, any historical review will show that since 1992, PPP/ Civic administrations have done more to ensure re sources go the farthest and reach the most teachers and students, country-wide – and not excluding Amerindian areas or communities con sidered non-supportive of the

government.

From as far back in the 1990s – when Dr Dale Bis nauth was Education Minis ter and Hydar Ally served as Permanent Secretary – chal lenges were overcome with whatever limited resources were available and which were used to take teaching and learning to communities near and far.

Between 1992 and the current watch of Educa tion Minister, Priya Manick chand, successive PPP/C-ap pointed education ministers have guided the filtration of knowledge like rivers awash, according to the general prin ciples of equity of outreach and opportunity, no matter the challenges.

The holistic approaches employed by succeeding PPP/C administrations in

the past three decades have moved mountains to bring education opportunities to Guyanese everywhere, up and down the 10 regions and the Berbice, Demerara and Essequibo counties and rivers – and those efforts continue to yield fruits to this day.

Government is also investing in teachers and the President promises that by the end of the decade, schools will be staffed by fully-trained teachers.

Today, the PPP/C also makes no bones about its commitment to providing free tertiary education by 2025 – and that’s another goal President Ali and the current administration are simply determined to achieve, come what may.

Fans should focus on cricket and not past bad feelings

Dear Editor,

ALTHOUGH fans were left in awe as Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW) bowled out their Barbados opponents for 125 inside 17 overs, they continued to talk about the game against Trinidad.

Fans came out on what was a sold-out stadium and had ex pected a close encounter with Barbados, which has been at the top of the table in points in this year’s CPL. They readied themselves for an exciting encounter, but were disappoint ed that Barbados performed poorly, losing wickets steadily, and putting up a total that was not very competitive, although it did try to defend itself and started off well, restricting GAW to a relatively low score within the power play, with Guyana losing two early wick ets. Instead of focusing on the Barbados match, many contin ued to talk about the encounter with Trinidad. It turned out to be an easy encounter against Barbados, and as such there was not much to talk about in

terms of players’ or team per formance. So they went back to the Trinidad match.

Barbados’ score and scor ing rate were not great for a 20/20 format. And Guyana’s response was not significantly better. But the GAW would have adjusted the batting, de ciding not to take major risks to achieve a low total for victory inside the 20 overs. Guyana had already qualified for the playoffs, and was Number Two in the points table, and therefore no need to take risks, lose a match and earn the wrath of fans. Guyana has not won a championship in ten seasons; it looks to make history next week.

The two sides meet again on Tuesday morning in the playoffs. Jamaica and St. Lucia will then meet in the second game on Tuesday evening. The two top teams from the Quali fyers will clash on Friday in the final. After the final, West Indies and players of other teams head for Australia for the World Cup that commences

on OCT. 16. Some players of other nations have already left for the trip Down Under.

The Guyana team’s perfor mance last Wednesday, Thurs day, Saturday, and Sunday (in the bowling) were spectacular. The reactions to the GAW victories went viral on social media, particularly against Trinidad, with fans loving the effort.

As I travelled on the coast, Guyanese have been marveling at the victory, while ‘Trinis’ are smarting over their humiliating loss. Guyanese kept rubbing it in to the ‘Trin is’. One taxi driver said: “I prefer to lose to Barbados or Jamaica but not to Trinidad. Dem people ah insult abee.” It is reminiscent of Brian Lara’s comment of a defeat West Indies suffered at the hands of a weak Zimbabwe team in a World Cup encounter, when Lara said he didn’t mind losing to an African team, rather than to say a White team (mean ing Australia, England, New Zealand). Ethnic or race na

tionalism even pervades sports or cricket in the Caribbean. (South Africa at the time was also a White team, but it is not known whether Lara would not have seen it as such. What was his feeling losing to say India or Pakistan or Sri Lanka? We don’t know. But Lara has been employed by an Indian TV sta tion as an IPL cricket analyst, and is not expected to be criti cal of India as a team.)

The reaction or view of the Guyanese taxi driver aptly describes a feeling of many (certainly not all) Guyanese towards ‘Trinis’. The sentiment is harsh and strong, and also comes with a lot of ignorance of why and how ‘Trinis’ in the past looked down on (most) Guyanese. Those of us who lived or studied or worked in Trinidad know better. As many Guyanese would attest, ‘Trinis’ never looked down on those of us with academic and economic achievements when we visited Trinidad, or studied or worked there. I travelled all over Trinidad

and Tobago during my polling activities on both islands, and know virtually every village in Central and South Trinidad. I was never ill-treated. Only once did someone, an “Afro Trini”, in Mayaro tell me to “go back to Guyana and go and cut cane”. That kind of preju dice is not prevalent, as most Guyanese who visit Trinidad would attest. I met countless Guyanese at all kinds of events in Trinidad; from Chatney to weddings, to anniversaries, to Ramayanas, Pujas, Koran Shariefs, hardly any described bitter experience. Yes, ‘Trinis’ expressed sentiments of dis trust of Guyanese because of bad encounters of selling fake gold and some criminal activi ties, but it is not widespread, and that feeling does not apply to professionals. Some ‘Trinis’ also conned Guyanese. So sen timents towards each other go both ways, and, regrettably, are carried over into cricket.

Like everywhere else, Guyanese were treated less than citizens with full rights.

Many ‘Trinis’, like citizens in other countries including the US, UK, and Canada did develop and still have a feeling that Guyanese have made life difficult for them, taking away jobs and opportunities when all that enterprising Guyanese did was to avail themselves of golden opportunities. Guya nese migrants outperformed locals or indigents. The feel ing of distrust for Guyanese in any society is understandable. Several were and are involved in all kinds of unsavory ac tivities in Trinidad; they largely tend to behave themselves in the US, Canada, and the UK, where the laws are very strict, and violators are punished for offences. But we must also recognise that almost every Guyanese abroad is hardwork ing and praised for their work ethics and talent; they are an enterprising people who have done extremely well every where they settled overseas.

Guyanese must now move on in their thinking about the

CPL and cricket are beyond the boundary

Dear Editor,

PRESIDENT Ali’s point that the CPL is more than about cricket has meaning at several levels. The President also implied that cricket is much more than about the game played on the field.

In his highly-regarded Be yond a Boundary, the Trini dadian author CLR James narrated the deep interpenetra tion of cricket, class, culture, economics, and perhaps above all, the damning imbrication of the sport with race, colour, and colonialism. More than any thing else, James used his liter ary genius to describe how the

on-field game caricatured what was happening in the wider society. To boot, the intraregional camaraderie formed on the field was reproduced in the anti-colonial struggles for national independence.

Cricket, then, has, for some time now, been recog nised for its transformative potential. It is in this sense that President Ali’s observation warrants further attention.

The CPL is making a major contribution to regionalism. In this case, regionalism should be understood as going beyond governance or governments. Rather, cricket is providing the

opportunity for the peoples of the Caribbean to again renew their sense of sharing a com mon history, while also facing a common set of challenges in a world system dominated by Great Powers.

If cricket is inspiring a stronger sense of construc tive cultural nationalism, it is also seeping into matters of security and democracy in the region. Security has dif ferent dimensions. Only a few months ago, Guyana hosted the Agriculture Investment Forum and Expo. This major development was followed up by corresponding events

in Barbados and Trinidad. President Ali led the Guyanese delegation to both engage ments. Caribbean leaders are committed to food security, and are aiming to cut the re gion’s food-import bill by 25 per cent by 2025.

In the narrower sense of se curity, Caribbean countries are steadfast in their support for Guyana’s territorial sovereign ty. And, more recently, Guyana signed the necessary protocol to join CARICOM’s Regional Security System (RSS).

The solidarities found in cricket across the region can also be found in the defence of

democracy among Caribbean leaders. The case of Guyana during March-August 2020 comes to mind. Attempts by elements in GECOM to con duct election fraud during the national and regional elections in this country were met with massive resistance throughout the Caribbean. Leaders such as Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley displayed maximum Caribbean spirit in the defence of free and fair elections.

The CPL will soon con clude, and there will be only one winner of the trophy for 2022. Yet, the impact of the tournament will go well be

yond the trophy holder, or beyond the wickets. Friend ships have been renewed; new friendships have been formed. The territorial space we know as the Caribbean will be closer in cultural terms. And then, well beyond cricket, there will be long-term contributions to our security, and to the defence of democratic values.

Cricket and democracy have something important in com mon: They are both based on clearly defined rules and regulations.

Yours sincerely, Dr. Randy Persaud

Office of the President

Fans should focus on cricket and not past bad...

FROM PAGE 6

defeat of Trinidad, and how they were treated during their visits to the island several dec ades ago by immigration and custom agents and politicians.

Trinidad was not the only country to rough up Guyanese

at the airport; it happened eve rywhere, with treatment worst in Barbados but less so in St. Kitts and St. Lucia. Except for one minor incident in Grenada and two incidents in Trinidad, I was accorded respect on arrival in hundreds of trips to all of

the islands, travelling with my Guyanese passport. And I will be heading there again in a few days for a political survey.

I didn’t hear boos when Guyana took on Barbados Sunday night, and didn’t see the frenzied reaction like

what happened Saturday night against Trinidad. Was it be cause Barbados’ PMs (the late Owen Arthur and present Mia Mottley) helped save de mocracy in 2020? Of course, Sunday night’s score was also not formidable to overtake, and

perhaps the reason for reduced jingoism.

A repeat encounter be tween Guyana and Barbados is on Tuesday night; fans should focus on cricket and not past bad feelings based on ill-treatment in the is

lands. The feeling in the sta dium and around the country in the remaining encounters should be on performance in the game; not immigration or past jealousies.

Yours truly, Vishnu Bisram

The North-South UN Debate in Century 21

By Earl Bousquet

THE 77th Anniversary of the United Nations (UN) came and went as the world faces the most insecurity since World War II-- and once again, the quiet voices of the South were drowned by thunderous roars of Northern lions pursuing a gilded prey at the UN’s annual General Assem bly in New York.

This year, the August world body again served as a borderless hunting ground where all other pursuits are rendered ir relevant -- until the prey is cornered, or rendered harmless by the hunters.

Nations of the South represent the absolute ma jority among the UN’s 193 member-states, but the North always sets the global body’s agenda.

This year, the focus

was on pursuing one goal – punishing one memberstate for another -- while every continuing and/or worsening global malady (from COVID-19 and Cli mate Change to the inter national Food and Energy crises) was assigned a lower order of priority.

Every leader from the South spoke of perilous times from the catastroph ic turmoil their nations face from the effects of

Part 1: Dialoguing with the Deaf and Dumb Stay humble

international economic sanctions.

African and Asian na tions cried loudly about the global grain crisis that saw millions face more hunger and starvation, while the recent agree ment facilitating ship ments out of Ukraine saw Europe benefit first.

Caribbean and South American leaders also registered their concerns over the speed of arrival

of new externally-gen erated economic crises vis-à-vis their ability to solve them.

Small Island Devel oping States (SIDS) are still paying the highest prices for accelerated Cli mate Change they contrib ute the lowest to, while drowning in wait for rich nations to start delivering on their promises -- 13 years ago -- to provide one billion US dollars an

nually towards Climate Financing.

Instead, the biggest contributors have opted to monetize the imple mentation of cures, leav ing small and defenseless nations reaping more and more of the economic, social and political whirl winds spun by the accu mulated and accelerated effects of today’s worsen ing Climate Changes.

By Orin Gordon

THE Guyana Amazon Warriors didn’t need to win their Caribbean Premier League game against TKR last Sat urday, but every greenblooded Warriors fan wanted them to send T&T home. A friend in Georgetown messaged me – eliminating TKR was more important than getting to the finals.

Much as I enjoyed us beating our fiercest rivals, I don’t agree with him. And I want to see GAW supporters being gracious in victory. Minister of Sports Charles Ramson struck the right note at the end of his pitchside interview with CPL com mentator Darren Ganga… it was competition, not war, he essentially said. We’re good friends and neighbours, however hard we go at each other on the field.

Roger Federer, one of tennis’ most accomplished players ever, played his last game last week. One of his biggest rivals, Ra fael Nadal, bawled his eyes out at Fed’s final appearance. We should all channel the spirit of Federer and Nadal.

My plea for grace doesn’t stand a chance of being heeded. There’s too much spice in the Guy ana-Trinidad relationship. It’s been 10 years of hurt for Warriors fans. Losing in five finals. Watching

TKR win the trophy four times. Watching TKR fans glory in Warriors’ defeats, even when TKR wasn’t playing.

In the 2019 final be tween GAW and Barba dos Tridents, every Trini I know became Bajan for the day. And the dish had loud pepper. A year earlier Dwayne Bravo, TKR’s captain at the time, had tried to manufacture moti vation for his troops over an incident in which two apparently drunk Guya nese women trampled on a T&T flag. It was a stretch to suggest that the Guyanese public con doned it, but Bravo ran with it.

Again, that cuts both ways. There’s a section of Shimron Hetmyer’s fanbase on Facebook that thinks the reason he isn’t West Indies captain and scoring a mountain of runs in all formats, is be cause he was held back by Kieron Pollard. They have an irrational dislike of Polly that is matched only by their disdain for Phil Simmons, the coach.

A Warriors fan told a momentarily shocked Naomi Cowan, one of CPL’s pitchside inter viewers, that, by winning the tournament, Hetty would show the selectors that he was the Wind ies rightful captain, and they’d take the job away from Pooran.

Off the field, you can’t swing an arm in a Guyana

hotel lobby without ac cidentally hitting a Trini, in town for the black gol drush. Many Guyanese express bemusement at Trinidadians flocking to Georgetown, after dec ades of Guyana passports becoming red flags for Pi arco immigration officers. There’s an edge. Always has been.

GAW support in Guy ana has been spectacular. It was a good move by the government to lock in the next three finals there. As Tourism Minis ter Oneidge Walrond told the watching Caribbean audience during another pitchside interview, Guy ana has big plans to build on the buzz and the vis ibility.

Most of the GAW fans are giving loud love to their team from a place of sporting passion and fer vor, but others – like the man who wants Pooran replaced tomorrow –should learn to glory in their team’s successes and leave the jingoism out of it. Sport has a way of coming back to bite you in the derrière. Ask Bayern Munich fans in Barcelona in 1999. Or Milan fans in Istanbul in 2005. Or West Indies fans watching the 1983 world cup final.

This GAW fan will have a shot of El Dorado – neat – win or lose, when the whole thing’s over. Not a moment before. In some ways they’ve

already won. GAW play Barbados in the first semi today. LeBron James, one of the greatest basket ball players in history, was getting a mouthful from Cameron Payne of the Phoenix Suns, as the Suns were in the process of knocking James’ Lak ers off their perch. “Stay humble”, James coun selled him.

Phoenix would go on the fall short in their pur suit of the NBA title that year and the next, even when they had the best regular season record. Expect, anticipate, con tinue being the 12th man; but stay humble, Warriors fans.

Looking past this tour nament, I’d like to see CPL organisers widen their commentators and reporters pool. Bring in a new Caribbean voice or two. One of the regulars – lacking insight, talka tive, and lacking feel for well-timed silences that aid the pictures – is easily replaced.

There’s a tonne of broadcasting talent in oth er Caribbean islands be sides your favoured one. Shop around. More Mali Richards, please. And you don’t need to go to India to recruit pitchside report ers. Local content should be a thing in cricket cov erage. However, if you lay a finger on naturalised West Indian Danny Mor rison, we’re coming after you.

On the plus side, I ap plaud bringing in more women commentators – although one addition exacerbated the problem of a certain geographical bias.

One immediate change I’m hoping for is that eve ryone ditches the chicken curry/curry chicken jokes and memes. A CPL pitch side interviewer dropped the question on Walrond, and she sweetly replied that either way, we’re eating chicken. I wish that she had simply rolled her eyes. I would have.

The jokes/memes were funny at the five-thou sandth time of telling, and that was four years ago. When the little kid jok ingly struck us a mildly painful blow, we laughed because it amused him.

By the dozenth time he did it, we’re telling his mom to come and get him.

To misquote tennis chair umpires… new jokes, please. And person ally, I’ve got indigestion from too much chicken curry.

Orin is T&T-based media consultant at or ingordon.com.

Never mind higher food and energy prices also affecting Northern nations as they transi tion from inflation to recession, or the per ilous effects of recent unprecedented weather patterns that ran rivers dry, flooded cities and burned forests and com munities alike, the richer nations affected still have enough financial reserves to continue to contribute billions to building and strengthening war ma chines.

Leaders from the South complained last week of being long short-changed through changes of yardsticks for measurement of na tional growth rates that kicked countries needing assistance upstairs into brackets disqualifying them from receiving in ternational aid – includ ing UN assistance.

Most of the UN’s member states – in the South -- are still waiting COVID-19 assistance promised more than two years ago by the North, while their dreams of achieving climate resil ience drown between an nual UN Conference of Parties (COP) climate summits.

The UN was meant to be a global common wealth of nations with equal standing, but some members have always been more equal than others.

The global entity was born in 1945 around the need for maintain ing peace and promoting

Orin Gordon

Part 1: Dialoguing with the Deaf and...

FROM PAGE 8

common development after World War II, but its 77th Session heard drum beats of war like never before in the 21st Century.

The UN undoubtedly continues to contribute significantly to world de velopment, its agencies assisting nations needing help.

But over recent years, the UN has also regret fully become less effective in ending or preventing wars – and the collective voice of the majority is still more easily drowned by the bellicose shrills of a more powerful and richer minority.

At a time when the world’s richest one per cent grew richer during and after COVID-19 and the three richest men on Planet Earth keep taking turns to cop and cap the title, the poorest 90% are still very much worth less than the top 10%.

But some Northern na

tions are clearly going heads over heels to com mit billions to fund ongo ing and start new wars, even at the cost of risking lives of entire populations.

The most-heavi ly-armed UN member states are increasing their already-high military budgets with offensive weapons in the name of self-defence, feeding an always-hungry global war machine only interested in selling bombs and bullets, warships and war planes.

Together, Northern na tions have pledged over US $48 billion to keep the world’s latest war going, which none see any way of winning soon – with disposable income that can go a very long way to significantly help most (if not all) the world’s poor est nations.

The Group of 77, the 55 African Union (AU) and 14 Caribbean Com munity (CARICOM) na tions and countless Small

Island Developing States (SIDS) can each and all benefit much-more from the scores of billions be ing spent on armaments to keep global arms manu facturers in business.

The punishment men tality has been allowed to overcome the UN’s over whelming need to urgently address the worsening needs of small nations suf fering from membership inequality, while richer nations decide their own issues get global priority.

The UN used to be a place where small na tions used to count on their numbers to push for progress, until initiatives like that for the New In ternational Information and Communication Or der, pursued by UNESCO under Senegalese Director General Amadou M’Bow led to his forced removal in 1987 (after being twice handsomely elected) by those powerful membernations his proposals an

noyed most.

Same with all similar initiatives to better the South that depended on the support of the North, once deemed economi cally harmful or politi cally unacceptable.

Truly, one month ahead of the UN’s actual birthday on October 24,

the UNGA in 2022 turned out to be, in the eyes of many, another dialogue between a quiet and help less South and a dumband-deaf North.

It doesn’t have to and will not remain so for ever, but there’s no clear sign that the unequal distributions of power at

the top levels of the UN will change, for better or worse.

Dialogue with parties unwilling to talk or listen notwithstanding, this is not the end for CARI COM and other develop ing nations.

Far from it.

Ex-GDF rank freed of rape

FORMER Guyana Defence Force (GDF) soldier, Win ston Haynes, called ‘Car los’, who was on trial for allegedly raping a woman in 2017, on Tuesday, left the courtroom a free man after Justice Simone Mor ris-Ramlall upheld a nocase submission made by

his attorney.

Haynes appeared before the Sexual Offences Court in the Demerara High Court for allegedly raping a 21-yearold woman in January 2017 at Army Base Camp Ste phenson, Timehri, East Bank Demerara. He had pleaded not guilty to the charge.

His attorney, Ravindra Mohabir, made a no-case submission and called for the indictment to be dismissed on the grounds of insufficient evidence.

The judge later upheld the submission and said that the state had failed to establish a case against Haynes. She

then ordered the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty.

Haynes calmly exited the courtroom after being told he was “free to go.”

It is alleged that the young woman was taken to the GDF base in an army vehicle and then escorted to a room where she was assaulted. The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had recommended that only Haynes be charged, even though two other ranks were also implicated.

Following the alleged

incident, a Board of Inquiry was set up to determine the facts of the allegations and “whether the crime was com mitted.”

At the conclusion of the inquiry, the three ranks were dismissed. According to the findings and recom mendations of the inquiry, the ranks were found to be not only in contravention of the Security Standing Or ders but also a number of other Standing Operating Procedures of the Force.

FREED: Winston Haynes

Queenstown turns 181

ing prey to political gim micks aiming to cause divi sion and racism.

“We must beware of ac tions that are aimed at di viding us as a people and as a nation. We must dis miss those who set out to fan the flames of racism. We’ve seen what those actions have caused in other countries. En tire villages and tribes were slaughtered because of those actions. We must emulate the attitudes and actions of our foreparents who worked to ensure these villages were de veloped to benefit and uplift our people,” he added.

Minister Mustapha also took the opportunity to re mind villagers of the many interventions implemented by the Government over the last two years.

are constantly working to improve critical infrastruc ture such as pumps, sluices, farm-to-market roads, and dams all while working to improve and deliver better health care and access to af fordable housing,” he noted.

The minister informed villagers that several ini tiatives will soon come on stream following commit

since been advertised and will soon be awarded so that Queenstown can have three new regulators. The Chair man also mentioned a trench that needs to be cleaned. I will ask the NDIA to work on having that trench and any other trench that is blocked cleaned. We will also give the maintenance contract to the village so that the beneficiar

Villagers are set to partic ipate in a number of activities during the week as part of the anniversary observances.

Queenstown’s first village council was established in 1847 after villagers applied for and were granted village status.

Pull quote:

“We must beware of actions that are aimed at

Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha

SUNDAY, villagers from Queenstown on the Esse quibo Coast hosted a me morial and thanksgiving ceremony to mark the vil lage’s 181st anniversary.

During the ceremony, Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, while represent ing, President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, told villagers that the cer emony highlights the value of the efforts and the rich legacy left by the founding fathers of the village and all those who fought for freedom many years ago.

“I wish to commend the members of the Queenstown Development Association for holding the Inter-Religious Memorial Thanksgiving ser vice to honour the 181st anni

versary of the founding of the village of Queenstown. Such events are important in help ing to keep alive the memory, hard work, and sacrifices of those who committed their efforts to the founding of this village. The fact that we can have this memorial thanksgiving service today – 181 years after, speaks to the value of their efforts and the rich legacy they left us. We must also commend the descendants, the successive committees, and villages for keeping that legacy alive. It speaks to the importance of continuity and to the need for enlightenment for generations over time,” the minister said.

The minister also cau tioned villagers against fall

“When we took office in August 2020, we immedi ately began work to reverse some of the harsh measures that were placed on the backs of our citizens. We removed the VAT on agriculture equip ment and supplies, medical supplies, water, and electric ity, and reversed the increas es in land rentals and D&I charges. For our school-aged children, we re-introduced and increased the ‘Because We Care’ grant where every child who attends school, public and private, received $30,000 this year. This will increase to $50,000 per child by 2025. Thousands of schol arships were also awarded to our citizens. We also re cently restarted the school feeding programme and we

ments made by the Head of State and Vice-President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo during their ministerial outreaches in the region earlier this year.

“Our Government re mains committed to working with every community and every Guyanese to build a ‘One Guyana’. The Chairman in his address had some ques tions so I want to respond and let you know where we are with some of the commit ments made not so long ago. You raised the issue about the regulators. The BIDs have

ies can do those works. The Ministry of Agriculture is committed to working with every villager to develop agriculture. As a government, when we make commitments and promises, we deliver on them because we know the impact these initiatives will have on the lives of our citi zens,” he said.

Minister Mustapha also participated in a wreath-lay ing exercise at a monument that was constructed 100 years after the village was granted village status.

dividing us as a people and as a nation. We must dis miss those who set out to fan the flames of racism. We’ve seen what those ac tions have caused in other countries. Entire villages and tribes were slaughtered because of those actions. We must emulate the at titudes and actions of our foreparents who worked to ensure these villages were developed to benefit and uplift our people,” Agri culture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha.

Aspiring surgeon is Victoria Primary’s top NGSA performer

By Naomi Parris

WITH big plans for his future, Jevon Hunter was sure he would be successful in his National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA).

The 11-year-old Victorian emerged as the top pupil of his community’s primary school and secured a spot at the St. Joseph High School. The aspiring surgeon, in a re cent interview with the Guy ana Chronicle, shared that, while he was nervous about writing the examination, he was confident in himself and his abilities.

“I was very nervous but when I wrote it, I felt re lieved,” a young Hunter said.

A lover of science, who is intrigued by anatomy, Hunter hopes to one day become a surgeon; hence, he intends to study hard when he starts secondary school.

He noted that while sci ence is not the first pick for many, it is fun for him and is perhaps his curiosity of want ing to know that draws him to the subject.

“Science is a pretty fun subject once you get to know it… I want to become a doc tor, a surgeon actually, be

cause I really like medicine.”

While Hunter considers himself brilliant and having a photographic memory, he noted that preparing for the examinations was no easy task. He was not alone during this process.

The tremendous support he received from his parents, siblings and teachers, he said was what really led to his success.

“My sister she helped me with my projects and so, my mother, she helped me get my books as well as my father. My teachers, they helped me to study more and they motivated me. And I want to give thanks to my lesson teacher as well.”

Meanwhile, an over whelmingly proud parent, Nicola Wood, said she was certain her son would do well in his examinations.

Wood, who is the mother

to two other children, said herself and husband worked hard to ensure that their chil dren were given the opportu nities they were not able to have while growing up.

Wood is a vendor while her husband is a farmer.

“I’m a vendor at La Peni tence Market and my hus band, he does work on the farm and I does sell; I’m not cursing the selling work because it put my children through school, but I always said they have to do bet ter. I am proud of Jevon. I am proud of all of my chil dren,” the woman said with a gleaming smile on her face.

Praising her son, Wood described young Hunter as a brilliant lad, who loves to read.

“Jevon knows his books, he like to read; one time he will play games but what I like about Jevon you don’t

have tell go and pick up his book, he will go and pick up his book, you don’t have to go and tell him go and do homework, he will go and do his work.”

The woman also spoke of her two other children, who she is equally proud of.

“My big son he is going

to town school, he studied at UG [University of Guy ana] and he’s pharmacist and he come good too and my daughter she came to this same school and she brilliant, right now she going TI [Technical Institu tion].”

A section of those in attendence at the Thanksgiving exercise

Jevon Hunter and his mother, Nicola Wood

Jevon Hunter, an aspiring surgeon is the top NGSA performer at the Victoria Primary School

Man, friend get life in prison for killing Sophia teacher

By Clestine Juan

SIX years after school teacher, Simone Hackett, was brutally murdered, the father of her son, Cle vaughn Hamilton called ‘Quarters’, and his friend Ranchal Singh, were, on Monday, sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 35 years for their roles in the gruesome crime.

Earlier this month, Ham ilton and Singh appeared be fore Justice Sandil Kissoon at the Demerara High Court for the capital offence of murder.

The men opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter and admit ted that, between April 16 and 19, 2016, at Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara, they unlawfully killed Hack ett of ‘C’ Field, Sophia.

Attorney Alaira MurphyGoodman represented Ham ilton, while Singh was repre sented by Latchmie Rahamat. Prosecutor Muntaz Ali pre sented the State’s case.

During the sentencing hearing on Monday, Hack ett’s family provided the court with an impact state ment which was presented by her stepmother, Mala Mohabir-Hackett.

The woman said that even though six years have passed, the family still re members the “cruel way” in

which their loved one was brutally killed by the two men.

“Simone was a joy to be around. She was full of life and energy, and we loved being around her. She had the brightest, biggest smile. She had this unbelievable strength that would get her through anything and no matter what we were facing she always found a way to encourage us and support us. She was a pillar for us,” the woman said as tears rolled down her cheeks.

The grieving mother told the court that her stepdaugh ter’s goal in life was to pro vide for her son and give him the life that she never had.

“She lived for him; he was the centre of her world. She would do anything for

her son. Whatever she had, it was his too. Her son has her bold spirit, her smile, her laughter, and her big heart,” she told the court.

The woman said that the family was still trying to cope and shield her 9-yearold grandson from the hurt and trauma.

“As he grows older, the stories we have tried to shield him from are becoming more real and he understands now what happened to her, why she is no longer here and who took her from him. He knows what happened and he is deeply affected by it.

“The scars are there. This child did not deserve this. He has so many questions and he has no desire to build a relationship with his father,” the elderly woman said.

Against this backdrop, she asked the court to im pose the maximum penalty on the two men, especially Hamilton who had “robbed his own son of a life with his mother.”

Meanwhile, Hamilton told the court, “I wish to turn back the hands of time,” as he begged for a second chance so that he can be a better father to his children.

In his sentencing re marks, Justice Kissoon told the court that the duo’s ac tions on that day demon strated scant regard for the sanctity of life.

The judge spoke of “the prevalence and unprecedent ed wave of violence against women by men which rages on unchecked and rampant.” He said that society demands a sufficiently severe penalty to bring a screeching halt to such a “depraved” criminal conduct.

The next aggravating fac tor the judge considered was the level of “immeasurable cruelty” that the victim en dured at the hands of the two men, leaving a young child to grow without the guidance and comfort of a mother.

He was keen to point out that the mitigating aspects cannot take away from the gravity of the offence com mitted and no credit will be given to them for their plea.

“The accused are the architects, and the execution ers of this bastard, cruel and brutal murder, which they conceived, conceptualised, and carried out…,” he said.

In arriving at an appropri ate sentence, Justice Kissoon considered the aggravating and mitigating factors.

“The prevalence and fre quency of this offense and crimes of this nature, unupdated in our society, is of great concern to the judici ary, and to this court. One of the fundamental principles of sentencing is that the safety, security and wellbeing of all citizens and in

Police issue wanted bulletin for Bess in relation to extortion allegations

THE Guyana Police Force (GPF) has issued a wanted bulletin for Dorwin Bess in connection with a reported case of extortion involv ing two reporters.

According to the official bul letin, Bess is wanted for question ing in relation to the publication of defamatory libel in order to extort money.

It was reported that journalist, Gary Eleazar, who is under arrest in relation to an extortion case, reportedly told investigators, on Sunday, that he was contacted by Bess, who told him that a business man was evading taxes on imported vehicles and he subsequently wrote an article on the matter.

The said article, Eleazar re portedly told investors, was then

sent to Bess, who is a business man, who reportedly then sent it to a US-based social media commentator, who added sev eral paragraphs before it was then posted on the Guyana News Network (GNN) Facebook page and website.

“Notably, he also said that he had access to the GNN website for over a year and was given the website’s password and username by Rickford Burke to manage the website; he subsequently uploaded about five articles to the site,” a release claimed.

The release also alleged that Eleazar claimed that he sent five articles targetting an individual and companies to Bess and Burke, who would then post the said articles

to the GNN website and Facebook page.

In particular, he alleged that Bess had told him that the arti cle in question was to threaten the businessman because of $ 100.000.000 that he had lost while they were in business. Burke in another section of the media has denied any association with the controversial post and online en tity in question.

This publication on Sunday reported that Eleazar and an other reporter, Alex Wayne, were arrested and are in police custody for allegedly extorting $1 million from a businessman to remove an offensive post published by the Guyana News Network, a ‘slanderous’ online entity.

particular, women, mothers, spouses, daughters are the paramount overriding con sideration at all times,” the judge said.

As such, Justice Kissoon added that the violence per petrated by the accused must be condemned in the strong est possible way. He then

from UG Access Road.

The court heard that Hackett was taken further down the said road, and was killed in the backseat of the vehicle by Hamilton. She was then dumped in a nearby trench by the pair.

The men fled the area and later travelled to Mahdia.

imposed the life sentence.

Hamilton and Singh will become eligible for parole after serving 35 years in prison.

The mother of one was reported missing by relatives on April 17, 2016, after she failed to return home after going to collect a package.

According to reports, during the evening of April 16, 2016, Singh and Ham ilton, picked up the woman

Hackett’s body was discov ered by two boys on their way to school and was posi tively identified by relatives.

The report of the postmortem performed on Hack ett indicated that she died as a result of incised wounds to the neck.

Singh was detained af ter his bloodstained vehicle was found. Hamilton was later arrested and con fessed to the crime.

DEAD: Simone Hackett

Jailed: Clevaughn Hamilton called ‘Quarters’ Jailed: Ranchal Singh

16-35 population most affected by mental health issues

- psychologist says, encourages persons to explore various coping mechanisms

By Cindy Parkinson

THERE is increasing evi dence of persons from the ages of 16-35 years old being the section of the popula tion most affected by men tal health issues, Ministry of Health psychologist, Dr. Mark Constantine, has said.

In a recent interview with the Guyana Chronicle, he said the prevailing situation

health, and even their relation ships with other people.

There is significant evi dence of many persons strug gling, on a daily basis, with excessive stress and/or dis tress.

Dr. Constantine said one of the greatest challenges in tackling this scourge is the known reality that Guyanese cannot or, in many cases, do not know how to cope with

unmanageable or uncontrol lable for the individual. It is not something that happens overnight, but rather creeps up on you over a period of time, with one situation leading to another, causing the individual to become overwhelmed and, in many cases, developing anxiety, depression, and sui cide, among other things.”

Challenges are inevitable and so is stress, so, accord ing to the psychologist, per sons have to develop a strong frame of mind to successfully overcome those issues.

“We need to stop enabling people and start empowering them instead. There is a big difference between both,” Dr. Constantine said, noting that there are many signs and symptoms of mental health disorders that are too numer ous to mention, but persons should be equipped with the knowledge to recognise the common issues and address them properly.

Anxiety, panic attacks, uncontrollable anger and ag gression towards loved ones for minor issues are just a few.

the Ministry of Health and other agencies have done and continue to do a lot of work to address mental health issues in Guyana.

Dr. Constantine advised persons who need help for

themselves, a loved one, or anyone affected by mental health issues, to visit or call the Ministry of Health’s Men tal Health Unit or the George town Public Hospital Cor poration’s (GPHC’s) Mental Health Department.

He urged all Guyanese, especially young people, to make full use of the ser vices that are offered by the Ministry of Health and the Government of Guyana.

warrants more attention on various coping mechanisms to deal with mental health issues, especially stress.

Dr. Constantine, a clinical psychologist and pro-guidance counsellor, said that mental health refers to a person’s mental, emotional, and social well-being. Mental health dis orders affect the way people think, feel and act towards themselves and others.

Considering the impact such disorders could have on one’s health and, by extension, life, he said it is important for persons to pay attention to their mental health at every stage of their lives.

“We should all recognise that there are a number of factors that contribute to the breakdown of a person’s men tal health. Whether that be relationship issues, economics (lack of money), health-related issues, poor working environ ment, low self-esteem, among other things,” Dr. Constantine said.

Prime among issues that affect a person’s mental health is stress. Stress, the psycholo gist said, while being ignored or underestimated many times, is actually a serious issue that not only affects a person’s be haviour, but also their overall

pressure. This, he related, is more common among young people, who tend to fall prey to substance abuse and exces sive drinking while attempting to cope with stress.

The psychologist said some persons also tend to experiment with various sub stances out of curiosity and do not realise how quickly they become dependent on them and, sadly, addicted as well.

Dr. Constantine encour aged persons to look outside of dangerous practices and explore healthy and safe ways of coping with stress. He rec ommended that persons eat healthily, do simple exercises, complete tasks and take some time to relax.

Many, if not all persons wish to live a stress-free life, but according to Dr. Constan tine, this is not possible.

STRESS IS INEVITABLE

“Stress is necessary to the human body,” he said, adding: “it is a motivator, and it is be cause of stress that we, as hu man beings, are able to go to work and do what we do every day so that we can achieve and accomplish things.”

Dr. Constantine went on to say: “However, stress be comes a problem when the stress level rises and becomes

In Guyana, there is still somewhat of a stigma at tached to mental health dis orders, as persons are quick to label victims as “mad” or crazy.”

The stigma attached to mental health disorders, ac cording to Dr. Constantine, is so great that some people refuse to go to the places where they could acquire help and treatment for their condition(s).

“Seeking professional help or even talking with someone you can trust is the first step in the right direction. Trying to fight certain feel ings or emotions on your own can sometimes lead to more harm than good, and we, as a nation, need to recognise that times have changed. We are a developing country, and hu man beings are very complex to understand, and as such, we should support each other instead of condemning,” he said.

Stigma could significantly affect the lives of people with mental health problems in many different ways, dimin ishing their self-esteem and robbing them of their social life.

Even with this being the case, there is no doubt that

Ministry of Health, Dr. Mark Constantine

All four teams confident as Hero CPL approaches crunch time

By Clifton Ross

JUST four teams remain in the hunt for this year's Hero CPL title and the respective captains have said their charges are rar ing to go as they approach crunch time.

Kyle Mayers, the Barba

dos Royals skipper; Shim ron Hetmyer of the Guyana Amazon Warriors; Faf du Plessis of St. Lucia Kings and Rovman Powell of the Jamaica Tallawahs, were all confident during Monday's media briefing held at the new Pegasus Hotel.

The captains, with much to shoulder at this stage, all seemed to be in high spirits after each fran chise had its own unique journey to reach the qual ifiers.

Mayers said the Royals, who have been impeccable this season, having main tained the number one spot, are still confident despite their loss to Guyana on Sunday.

The opener, who had been in terrific form earlier in the tournament, said the Royals "really wanted to win to get some momen tum", referring to Sunday's loss which helped the War riors keep their hopes alive,

more importantly gaining tons of confidence.

On the other hand, a confident Hetmyer said the Warriors are not getting too ahead of themselves, rather they have been stay ing focused on their tasks, playing every match like the final, stressing that the key was and will be to take it one game at a time.

Guyana will be keen on taking as much as they can from Sunday's game, after crushing the Royals in a dominant display. So far, the Warriors have been keen on chasing or setting a big target, thanks to their in-form trio of Rahmanul lah Gurbaz, Shai Hope and Shakib Al-Hasan.

Hetmyer himself seems to be itching towards a big score, while all-round ers Odean Smith, Keemo Paul and Romario Shepherd have all been performing well when given the oppor tunity.

Faf du Plessis, the lone centurion among the four captains, credited Provi dence for being a worldclass venue for batting. "It's four strong teams and the wicket is playing well, so I think that sets up a nice quarter and semi-finals.”

The South African, who eased his way to a second CPL ton, the only play er with two in the tour nament's history, further believed that batting will continue to play a big role going forward, hinting at the possible return of open er Johnson Charles.

Speaking on his team's run and their upcoming agenda, Powell believes that the Tallawahs' expe rience and tribulations this season have shaped them into a serious title con tender.

"It's been an up and down season, but our guys played well in patches and we're looking forward to the final. Now it's the busi ness end of the competition and we have to bring our ‘A’ game."

Today's tale of the tape will see the four top duk ing it out, starting with the Royals facing off against the Amazon Warriors in the first Qualifier which bowls off from 10:00hrs.

The St. Lucia Kings then wrap up proceedings under lights against the Tallawahs from 19:00hrs in the Eliminator round

Thereafter, the winner of the first match will secure a spot in Friday night's final while the loser faces the winner of the Eliminator, during Wednesday's round which bowls off from 19:00hrs.

The hard-hitting bats man admitted that his team suffered an "up and down" run this year, but credits his players' continued efforts which all led up to their current position.

Kuldeep hat-trick, Shaw 48-ball...

133 for 5 with Raj Bawa removing Tom Bruce.

Joe Carter, who has been excellent all through this

English Racing Tips

Ayr

08:14 hrs Poet’s Dawn 08:44 hrs United Approach 09:19 hrs Water Of Leith

09:54 hrs Jumo The Gun

10:29 hrs Blowing Wind 11:04 hrs On The River 11:39 hrs Aussie War rior 12:10 hrs Scottish Dancer Sedgefield 08:35 hrs Metigue 09:10 hrs Nefyn Point 09:45 hrs Legionar

10:20 hrs Master Mal achy

10:55 hrs Zamond 11:30 hrs Thirsty Weather

tour, kept fighting. He struck one four and three sixes in his 72 off 80 balls but found little support from the other end.

Southwell Go As You Please

09:26 hrs Kinondo Kwetu

10:01 hrs Dindin

10:36 hrs Seaborough 11:11 hrs Bannister 11:46 hrs Red Happy 12:16 hrs The Questioner

Irish Racing Tips Cork

08:25 hrs Maggie Megrath 09:00 hrs Mymo mentintime 09:35 hrs Pretty Smart 10:10 hrs Accom plished 10:45 hrs Emporio 11:20 hrs Band Width 11:55 hrs Dark deserthighway 12:25 hrs Miracles In May

South Africa Racing Tips

Turffontein 08:25 hrs Silk Garden

He added 57 runs for the sixth wicket with Sean Solia, but once Carter fell to Rahul Chahar in the 42nd

09:00 hrs Clap Of Thunder 09:35 hrs Crimson

Princess 10:10 hrs Tuscan

Winter 10:45 hrs Chyavana

American Racing Tips

Finger Lakes

Race1 Marshal Dillon

Race 2 This Cat Can

Fly

Race 3 Dancers For Token

Race 4 Waitwait donttellme

Race 5 Lemonade Lady

Race 6 Red Fortress

Race 7 Uncle Vic

Canadian Racing Tips

Fort Erie

Race 1 Patio Party

Race 2 Formentor

Race 3 Party Or No

Race 4 Samuel H

Race 5 Action Point

Race 6 Bahamian Dude

(From page 21)

over, New Zealand A folded quickly. Kuldeep claimed a hat-trick, removing New Zealand A's last three batters - Logan van Beek caught by Shaw, Joe Walker caught behind by Sanju Samson and Jacob Duffy out lbw - to wrap up the innings on 219.

Already behind in the game, New Zealand A suf fered even further as Shaw came out swinging. The opener smashed 11 fours and three sixes during his knock, adding 82 runs for the first wicket with Ruturaj Gaikwad, and 49 more for the second wicket with Rajat Patidar.

India A did lose their way a bit in the middle, slipping from 131 for 1 to 134 for 4 with Patidar, Shaw, and Tilak Varma falling in the space of nine balls. However, Samson and Dhawan took the hosts forward with a 46-run stand before Shardul Thakur's 24ball 25 not out provided the finishing touches.

The third and final game of the series will take place at the same venue today.

Croatia, Netherlands into Nations League semi-finals

Shami, Hooda unlikely for South Africa series; Iyer may come in

MOHAMMED Shami's return to the Indian T20 International side is set to be further delayed.

Cricbuzz learns that the pacer has not fully recov ered from the Covid infec tion that kept him out of the just-concluded series against Australia. Shami could then also miss the three T20I series against South Africa starting on Wednesday. And so could Deepak Hooda, who is currently down with a back injury and wasn't available for the Sunday's decider in Hyderabad.

For the record, Shami has not travelled to Thiruvanan thapuram, the venue for the first game where the Indian team reached on Monday evening. Umesh Yadav, who was announced as a replace ment for Shami, has travelled with the team, an indication that he will be part of the three-match South Africa series too.

The South African team is already in the Kerala city since Sunday.

against England.

LONDON, United King dom (AFP) — Croatia and the Netherlands booked their places in the last four of the Nations League as holders France needed a favour to avoid relegation from the top tier on Sun day.

Les Bleus lost 0-2 in Denmark to finish with just one win from their six group games, but Croatia's 3-1 win at Austria saved the world champions from the drop.

Didier Deschamps will be hoping to have a number of key men back from injury by the time France's defence of the World Cup begins against Australia on November 22.

"It was a young French team, which for the most part does not yet have experience of the highest level," said Deschamps.

"Tonight is a dose of real ity and what will be waiting for us in two months."

France will also come up against the Danes in the group stage in Qatar and the Euro 2020 semi-finalists showed they are more than capable of causing more trouble in two months' time.

Both goals came before half-time as Kasper Dol berg stretched to turn home Mikkel Damsgaard's cross before Andreas Skov Olsen volleyed in from the edge of the area.

France were without Hugo Lloris, Jules Kounde, N'Golo Kante, Paul Pog ba, Ousmane Dembele, and Karim Benzema through injury.

But the star trio of An toine Griezmann, Olivier Giroud and Kylian Mbappe failed to find a way back into the game for France.

Denmark's win meant Croatia needed to get all three points in Austria to top the group.

Luka Modric got the 2018 World Cup finalists off to a flying start, but they were quickly pegged back by Christoph Baumgartner's header.

Two goals in three sec ond-half minutes proved decisive as Marko Livaja and Dejan Lovren headed in at the far post.

"Austria made our lives very hard, but in the end, the win was deserved," said

Modric. "I am very happy that we are in the top four."

The Netherlands made sure of top spot in Group A4 with a 1-0 win over Belgium thanks to Virgil van Dijk's header 17 minutes from time.

The Dutch just needed to avoid defeat by a three-goal margin after winning 4-1 in Brussels earlier in the group.

A Belgian revival never looked likely. Van Dijk set tled the game when he was left completely unmarked to head in a corner inside the six-yard box.

In the same group, Wales were relegated after losing 1-0 at home to Poland.

Karol Swiderski scored the only goal in Cardiff from Robert Lewandowski's cush ioned through ball.

Turkey were already guaranteed promotion from League C, but were still em barrassed by a 2-1 defeat to the Faroe Islands.

The Faroes led 2-0 through Viljormur David sen and Joan Edmundsson before Serdar Gurler's late consolation for the side ranked 83 places higher in Fifa's world rankings.

It's understood that there is still no decision on wheth er Shami will be able to travel with the Indian side to Australia for the World Cup. "There is no medical update about the time that will take for him to be fully fit but currently it does not look good," a source in the know said. Shami is among four standbys for the World Cup. Shami has not played a T20I after the last World Cup in UAE. His last international was in July, an away ODI

Hooda, meanwhile, has injured his back and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has said he was not available for selec tion for the third T20I against Australia in Hyderabad on Sunday. The BCCI statement on Sunday read: "Deepak Hooda wasn't available for selection for this game owing to a back injury."

It has now turned out that Hooda's injury could be needing attention of the medical staff at the National Cricket Academy. He has also not travelled to Thiru vananthapuram and Shreyas Iyer, who was announced as a standby for the series, could come in as Hooda's replacement.

There is, however, no immediate information if

there will be changes to the World Cup squad. The in dication at this stage is that all the selected players will be able to travel. The Indian team will leave for Australia on October 6 after the South Africa series ends in Indore on October 4.

The World Cup starts on October 16 but India's first game is on October 23.

India squad for South Africa T20Is: Rohit Shar ma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rish abh Pant (wicket-keep er), Dinesh Karthik (wick et-keeper), R. Ashwin, Yuz vendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Jas prit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav and Shreyas Iyer (likely). (Cricbuzz)

Kuldeep hat-trick, Shaw 48-ball 77 dominate as India A claim series

KULDEEP Yadav's four-wicket burst, which in cluded a hat-trick, backed up by Prithvi Shaw's 48ball 77 headlined India A's comfortable four-wicket win over New Zealand A in the second unofficial ODI in Chennai. With this win, In dia A took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

(Scores:India A 222 for 6 (Shaw 77, van Beek 3-46) beat New Zealand A 219 (Carter 72, Ravindra 61, Kuldeep 4-51, Dhawan 2-16, Chahar 2-50) by four wick ets)

Batting first, the visi tors lost Chad Bowes in the sixth over to Umran Malik. Dane Cleaver fell soon after, but Rachin Ravindra held

fort with a 65-ball 61. Rishi Dhawan then got into the act sending back Ravindra and captain Robert O'Donnell in

the space of three balls as New Zealand A slipped to 106 for 4 that soon became

Croatia midfielder Luka Modric (right) shoots to score the opening goal during the UEFA Nations League (A) Group 1 football match versus Austria in Vienna, Austria, on Sunday. (Photo: AFP)

India pacer Mohammed Shami

Prithvi Shaw smoked 77 off 48 balls (PTI)

Fury says Joshua fight is off as no contract signed

World record holder Kosgei out of London Marathon

KENYA’s women's mara thon world record holder Brigid Kosgei has with drawn from Sunday's London Marathon due to injury.

Kosgei, 28, says an inju ry in her right hamstring has affected her ability to train over the past month.

The two-time winner in London was fourth in last year's race after taking silver at the Tokyo Olympics.

"I would like to prepare to be in top condition," she said. "We've decided it's best I withdraw and get further treatment on my injuries."

Kosgei, who won the London Marathon in 2019 and 2020, set the women's world record of two hours 14 minutes four seconds at the 2019 Chicago Marathon. She won this year's Tokyo Marathon in 2:16:02 - the fourth-fastest time in his tory.

The women's field in Sunday's London Mara thon still features several world-class athletes, includ

ing Kosgei's compatriot and last year's winner Joyciline Jepkosgei, 29, and Ethio pia's Yalemzerf Yehualaw, 23, who set the fastest debut time for a marathon and holds the world record in the 10km road race.

The field in the men's elite race is headed by Ethi opia's Sisay Lemma, who won last year, and Britain's

Mo Farah.

Sunday's elite races and the mass participation event will be covered live on the BBC from 08:30 BST - across BBC One and BBC Two, as well as the Red Button and iPlay er. There will also be full coverage and text updates on the BBC Sport website and app.

Mali players fight each other at Basketball World Cup

(Reuters)-WBC world heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury, has called off his proposed 'Battle of Britain' bout with Anthony Joshua, saying his compa triot had not signed the contract before Monday's deadline.

Fury had challenged Joshua earlier this month, saying he would come out of retirement to defend his title

in December, a challenge Joshua accepted.

Joshua's 258 Manage ment and promoter Match room Boxing had said that they had "accepted all terms presented to us by Fury's team" but agreed to halt all communication due to the death of Queen Elizabeth.

"It's official, D-Day has come and gone," Fury said on Instagram on Mon

day. "No contract has been signed. It's officially over for Joshua. He's now out in the cold... Forget about it.

"I always knew it. Re gardless of what... you say now, I don't really care. Good luck with your career and your life. End of."

Joshua, 32, suffered a second straight loss to Ukraine's WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO champion Oleksan dr Usyk in a title rematch in Saudi Arabia last month and said he wanted to return to the ring before the end of the year.

When Fury challenged Joshua the champion also said he would select another opponent if his fellow Brit on was not interested in the bout.

Usyk said after the fight in Jeddah that he was only interested in fighting Fury but media reports have said he will not fight again this year in order to rest and spend time with his family.

AFTER Mali lost 81-68 to Serbia on Monday to register their fourth straight defeat at the Women's Basketball World Cup, their fans might have thought their campaign could not get any worse.

Yet that would have been to reckon without the team having to make their way through the media area, just minutes after their elimination from the competition.

As they loitered on the edge of the mixed zone, where reporters interview players, one member of the Mali team un expectedly launched an assault on another.

The incident was caught on camera by Serbian television as they conducted an interview with one of their players fol lowing the victory in Sydney, Australia.

Serbia's Sasa Cado looked visibly shocked, swiftly taking a step back, as she set eyes upon the scene in front of her, with Salimatou Kourouma throwing at least three punches at Kamite Elisabeth Dabou.

Her team-mates swiftly interjected to break up the fight, which came a day before Mali finished their Group B campaign with a match against

Canada.

The tournament has been hugely frustrating for the Ma lians, who are one of two sides at the 12-team finals to have yet to win a game, following previous losses against Japan, hosts Australia and France.

Mali are only playing in the tournament after African cham pions Nigeria, who beat their fellow West Africans in last year's Women's Afrobasket, were withdrawn from the tour nament by their government owing to issues in Nigerian

basketball.

Malian basketball has also faced considerable challenges in recent times, with a report in 2021 outlining 'decades' of sexual abuse in the country's women's game.

The report was com missioned by basketball's governing body Fiba, which cleared its president - Malian Hamane Niang - of neglecting the abuse while he led the Malian basketball federa tion between 1999 and 2007. (BBC Sport)

Tyson Fury (left) and Anthony Joshua

Brigid Kosgei won the women's elite race at the London Marathon in 2019 and 2020

Malian players fought among themselves in front of the media at the Women's Basketball World Cup

CWI names three 'Teams of the Tournament' from recent youth championships

CRICKET West Indies (CWI), on Monday, named three “Rising Stars Team of the Tournament” from the recent Rising Stars Under-19, Under-17 and Under-15 Champion ships.

The Leeward Islands won the Rising Stars Un der-19 Championship pre sented by Winlott which was played in St Vincent.

The Windward Islands won the Rising Stars Un der-17 Championship held in Trinidad, while Barbados captured the Rising Stars Under-15 Championship which was hosted by the Grenada Cricket Board.

Six players feature on both the Under-17 and Un der-19 teams of the tourna ment. These are left-handed allrounder Nathan Edwards who led the Leewards to the Rising Stars Under-19 Championship title; open ers Rampertab Ramnath and Stephan Pascal; as well as batters Jordan Johnson;

Joshua Dorne, and Maven dra Dindyal.

Jordan and Edward were members of the West In dies Rising Stars U-19 team which played in the ICC Men’s U-19 World Cup, hosted in the Caribbean by CWI earlier this year.

Other members of that West Indies World Cup squad, batter Ackeem Au guste; allrounder Johann Layne; wicket-keeper Car lon Bowen-Tuckett; fast bowler Isaiah Thorne and off-spinner Onaje Amory were also named in the Ris ing Stars Under-19 Cham pionship team of the tour nament.

Vice- President of CWI, Dr Kishore Shallow, con gratulated the players on their selection and also spoke of the importance of investment in the Rising Stars championships as part of CWI’s Future Stars crick et development programme across the region.

“On behalf of CWI, I

want to congratulate all the players who have been named in the three Rising Stars Teams of the Tourna

ment," Dr Shallow said.

"This is a project we have implemented to add an additional incentive to the

MCC reminds non-strikers to remain in the crease

THE Deepti Sharma act at Lord's on Saturday may have sparked off angry reac tions in England but Maryle bone Cricket Club (MCC), the custodians of both laws and spirit of the game, said the umpires properly officiat ed the ODI between England and India women's teams.

"Whilst yesterday was in deed an unusual end to an exciting match, it was properly officiated and should not be considered as anything more," the MCC, which owns the Lord's ground, told through a statement.

Current and former En gland players fiercely con tested the spirit of Deepti's decision to run out Charlotte Dean for backing up too much during her delivery stride, which handed India a thrilling 16-run win and 3-0 sweep of the ODI series.

"Mankad is in the rules, but I hope it's not a go-to tac tic. You surely don't train all your lives to win a game using that tactic. And I know batters should train to stay behind the line but it stinks seeing a game won like that. Yesterday was a bloody good game too (sic)," Michael Vaughan said about the dismissal that the ICC has

categorised as run out. Other English cricketers and pundits like Nasser Hussain, Sam Bill ings, Stuart Broad and James Anderson were equally critical of the dismissal.

The MCC, however, re minded the batters of their duties. "MCC's message to non-strikers continues to be to remain in their ground un til they have seen the ball leave the bowler's hand. Then dismissals, such as the one seen yesterday, cannot hap pen." The MCC message, the spokesman also acknowl edged, is that the debate is two-fold and not only about the bowler's act.

"Cricket is a broad church

and the spirit by which it is played is no different. As custodians of the Spirit of Cricket, MCC appreciates its application is interpreted differently across the globe. Respectful debate is healthy and should continue, as where one person sees the bowler as breaching the Spirit in such examples, another will point at the non-striker gaining an unfair advantage by leaving their ground early."

The spokesman further said, "MCC this year an nounced amendments to the Laws of Cricket to move being run out at the non-striker's end, from Law 41 Unfair Play, to Law 38 Run Out. This change

will formally come into effect from 1 October 2022.

This was done to clarify this matter and to place an onus on batters to ensure that they do not leave the crease at the non-striker's end, prior to a bowler releasing the ball. The Law is clear, as it needs to be for all umpires to be able to easily interpret throughout all levels of the game and at all moments in the game."

After the dismissal, the Dean was seen in tears as the last wicket pair had added 35 runs and had taken England's total from 118 from nine to 153 before the batter was run out. England were chasing 170.

India's skipper Harman preet Kaur defended her bowler in the post-match interview. "It was part of the game, I don't think we have done anything new. It is an ICC rule and you always take those chances. I feel it shows your awareness. You are aware of what the batters are doing. I will back my player because she has not done anything that is not part of the rule. At the end of the day, a win is a win and you just need to enjoy." (Cricbuzz)

players’ pursuit of excel lence and to help grow their self-confidence. It rewards the leading performers who have emerged from what were three high-quality tour naments.

“At CWI, we have strengthened the develop ment of young players, and we have increased invest ment in related programmes. This year we welcomed the return of age-group red-ball and white-ball tournaments as part of our very busy Summer of Cricket.”

The Rising Stars age group Championships play a crucial role in the growth and development of the next generation of West Indian cricketers. The Champion ships are a key component in the system for identifying the West Indies U19 Men’s and Women’s teams. This provides the best opportuni ty to thrive and develop fur ther with the goal of feeding into the West Indies Senior Men’s and Women’s teams.

Rising Stars Teams of the Tournament:

Rising Stars Under-15: Darrius Batoosingh, Navin Boodwah, Shem Sargeant, Kemar Dixon, Brendan Boodoo, Matthew Mill er, Pajay Nelson, Ako bi Crichlow-Byer, Arif Khan, R’Jai Gittens, Arun Gainda; 12th man: Jorden Charles

Rising Stars Under-17: Stephan Pascal, Ramp ertab Ramnath, Jordan Johnson, Joshua Dorne, Orlando James, Nathan Sealy, Divonie Joseph, Mi cah McKenzie, Nathan Ed ward, Solomon Bascombe, Jatario Prescod; 12th man: Mavendra Dindyal

Rising Stars Under-19: Stephan Pascal, Ramp ertab Ramnath, Jordan Johnson, Ackeem Auguste, Joshua Dorne, Tarrique Edward, Nathan Edward, Carlon Bowen-Tuckett, Onaje Amory, Johann Layne, Isai Thorne; 12th man: Mavendra Dindyal

Holder urges Windies teammates to not get complacent ahead of T20 World Cup first round

BARBADIAN all-rounder, Jason Holder, has warned his West Indian teammates against complacency in the qualifying round for the ICC T20 World Cup sched uled to commence October 15 in Australia.

The Windies, who won the tournament in 2012 and 2016, will face Scotland, Zim babwe and Ireland in Group B, with the top two teams advancing to the Super 12.

"We've got a task to up hold in terms of qualifying for the main round," Holder said.

"More or less, we have to focus on the qualifier. Ireland, Scotland and Zimbabwe by no means are pushovers. We've got to take it as seriously as we possibly can and just make sure we get into the next phase of the tournament."

Holder, entering his third T20 World Cup, believes there are positives to playing in the qualifiers for the region al side.

"I think it's good in a way that we're playing the qualifi ers," he said.

"West Indies teams of the past have proved that we get better as we go along.

To have the warm-up phase of the tournament and then to go into the actual group stage after qualification, I think it's going to be to our betterment in the sense we get more cricket. The talent we have got - depth in terms of resources and batting and bowling - we've always been pretty athletic in the field, so I'm looking forward to that challenge."

The team will be looking to rebound from an abysmal 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE where they got just one win in five matches, failing to advance from the Super 12. (Sportsmax)

Nathan Edward batting for Leeward Islands at Arnos Vale during the Rising Stars Under-19 Championship presented by Winlott

Deepti Sharma appeals after running out Charlie Dean © Getty

Barbadian and West Indies all-rounder, Jason Holder

All four teams confident as Hero CPL approaches crunch time

GFF installs IMC in Region One

THE Wayne Fordeled Guyana Football Federation(GFF) on Saturday last in stalled a select In terim Management Committee(IMC) to charter the course for the realisation of a Region One Foot ball Association.

The 11-member Barima-Waini FA's IMC will be headed by Knester Castello (Chairman) and in cludes 1st and 2nd Vice Chairman, Re natto Srikumar and Ormelindie Gildarie respectively. Monique Emmanuel will serve as Secretary and Ingrid Harris-Chap pelle as Treasurer, while the Assistant Secretary/Treasurer is Celestine Maria Chacon. Five Committe Members were also appointed: Sherlon Rodrigues, Ralph Williams, Terrance Ash, Carlos Henry and Kimste Castello.

Each member of the IMC has received a letter of appointment from the GFF and according to Chairman Castello "This is a huge achievement for us as a Region. The level of comittment shown by the GFF is great for the game and for us as a new body. We know that the work will not be easy, but as a body we are committed to

work towards our Association becoming the next GFF full member".

Castello, a former player, stated that the Region is blessed with loads of talent ed players and highlighted national Lady Jags, Annalisa Vincent who hails from Moruca, one of the 3 sub-regions that make up Region One. The other two are Martarkai and Mabaruma.

The mandate for the IMC during their governance of the sport is to estab lish a Constitution for the Association and guide clubs into becoming organ ised and structured with a Constitution as well as provide organised competi tions and educational training for match co-ordinators, coaches and referees.

USA thrash South Korea 145-69 to set World Cup record

United States are seeking their 11th World Cup title

UNITED States set a new record for the highest score in the history of the Wom en's Basketball World Cup when they thrashed South Korea 145-69.

Eight of the defending champions' 12 players reached double figures in Sydney, with Brionna Jones scoring 24 points and adding one assist.

A'ja Wilson netted 20 points and Brean na Stewart added 18.

Brazil previously held the record for their 143-50 victory against Malaysia in the 1990 group stage.

"It involves all of us," Wilson said. "Because we now have a complete team, it feels a lot better as well and we're starting to mesh, we're starting to click.

"But this is huge, I don't think I've ever been a part of a team that can score the basketball like this crazy and put up 145 points."

The US, who shot 66% from the field, have already qualified for the quarter-fi nals of the tournament after winning all four of their group-stage games. (BBC Sport)

Captains on a quest! - From left: Barbados Royals, Kyle Mayers; Guyana Amazon Warriors, Shimron Hetmyer; St. Lucia Kings, Faf Du Plessis and Jamaica Tallawahs, Rovman Powell (Delano Williams photo)

Chairman Knester Castello (left) and committee member, Ralph Williams, holding their letters of appointment