Guyana Chronicle E-Paper 29-08-2021

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29th August, 2021

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No.106468

Linden to get $550M infrastructure boost _68 projects in the pipeline to create over 300 jobs

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Over the past few months, a large amount of money was invested into developing programmes and bringing opportunities to the people of Linden.

As it is, $150 million is being plugged into improving housing infrastructure within the region (Ministry of Housing and Water photo)

65.3 million 19 barrels of oil expected from Tanager-1 well PAGE

China donates GWI’s bank $51M in medical account reduced by $1.8B in 12 equipment to 11 Guyana five years PAGE

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SUNDAY CHRONICLE, AUGUST 29, 2021

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SUNDAY CHRONICLE, AUGUST 29, 2021

Linden to get $550M infrastructure boost _ 68 projects in the pipeline to create over 300 jobs

Regional Executive Officer of Region 10, Dwight John

CRITICAL infrastructure in Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice), will soon be upgraded and rehabilitated, as the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) rolls out a $550 million infrastructure project over the next few months.

The project, which forms part of the region’s overall

2021 Infrastructure Budget, encompasses work across five areas: health, education, public works, agriculture and administration, according to the Regional Executive Officer (REO) of Region 10, Dwight John.

The REO, in an interview with the Guyana Chronicle on Monday, said that there

are 68 projects in the pipeline and those will create over 300 jobs for persons from the region.

Specifically, of the budgeted sum, some $53 million was allocated for the rehabilitation of the Amelia’s Ward Primary School. There are also plans to repair and maintain several primary and nursery schools along the Berbice and Demerara Rivers.

Additionally, there are provisions for the rehabilitation of the Wisroc Nursery School, the construction of a nursery school at Hururu, the establishment of a health workers’ and teachers’ quarters at Muritaro, and the construction of a health centre at Blue Berry Hill.

John said too that contracts have been awarded for the upgrading of seven roads and the central drainage system at McKenzie. There are also plans to extend the agriculture office in the region to accommodate more employees and offer more services.

Early this month, Public Works Minister, Juan Edghill, was quoted as saying that additional upgrades would be undertaken on highways, main roads and miscellaneous roads countrywide.

In Region Six, Minister Edghill had cut the ceremonial ribbon for the spanking new $108.1 million road which serves as the first phase for the construction of the main road from Everton to Mara, East Bank Berbice.

Edghill recently announced too that another $60 million has been secured to start rehabilitation works at another section of the road.

Additionally, roads were reopened at Short Man Street and John Lewis Street in Angoy’s Avenue, New Amsterdam and Post Office Road, Vryman’s Erven, New Amsterdam. These projects were contracted to various companies and cost $63.9 million altogether.

Prior to that, some $250 million were spent to con-

struct and upgrade 14 roads along the West Coast of Demerara, Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), specifically in the communities of Uitvlugt, Tuschen, Zeelugt, Hydronie and Parika.

Added to that, some $543.6 million has been invested to upgrade several roads along the East Coast Demerara (ECD) corridor.

Information released by the government show that a total of 27 roads valued at $458.6 million were built in the Better Hope/La Bonne Intention Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) area alone, while another $88 million was spent to repair roads in the area governed by the Plaisance/Industry NDC. In addition to providing improved road facilities, the ongoing works have also added to the creation of thousands of jobs, bringing the Dr. Irfaan Ali-led administration closer to delivering on its promise to create at least 50,000 jobs within the

next five years.

During this year alone, the government has plans to expend some $172.4 billion, or 45 per cent of its $383.1 billion budget on education, public infrastructure and healthcare.

Of this sum, $58.2 billion worth of planned expenditure on public infrastructure is the second largest component of the government’s fiscal programme.

On the capital side, the budget for infrastructure is $32.9 billion, or 32 per cent of the total allocation for 2021. The country’s aggregate capital provision for this year is $103 billion.

Further, the government’s total budget for road programmes is $23.7 billion, $7.9 billion of which will go specifically towards the development of community roads. Of the budgeted sum, $2.1 billion has been set aside for hinterland roads, and the rehabilitation of a number of hinterland airstrips.

600 Region 10 farmers get flood-relief cash grant _ $75M to be distributed in the region

SOME 600 farmers in Region 10, who were affected by the unprecedented flooding, benefitted on Saturday from the government’s flood-relief grant.

Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill, led the exercise at the Kwakwani Recreational Centre and Hururu Primary School.

Farmers came out in their numbers and received the cash under the agriculture support programme, for them to restart production.

According to the Department of Public Information (DPI), the recipients said though the money does not compensate for all the losses suffered, it will go a far way in helping them to restart production.

Avril Walker said: “I just want to say thanks to the government for the cash grant, the first $25,000, all the hamper that we are still receiving and I just want to say thanks so much for this money so that I could start back my lil farming, because I lost a lot and this mean a lot to me and I just glad to say to the government and the cabinet members, all the staff work-

ing and doing ground work, I just want to say thanks and congratulations for that.”

Allison Vanlewin of Hururu, who collected $50,000, said the money will assist her to restart her business.

“It brought a little bit of happiness because my kitchen garden that I had di flood out and I decided to move because the flood it actually come till at the bottom of the house and everything just went away and I decide to just go away…Thank you very much for looking out for us and I hope you continue to do the same and God will continue to bless you richly,” she said.

Meanwhile, Tricia Stephens, who is also a cash crop farmer, said she will use the money to buy fertilisers and seeds and return to farming the land.

“This grant means a lot for me because it will help me build back my farm, my father’s farm. So, I very grateful and thankful for the grant that I collected today,” she said.

Another beneficiary, Joy Federicks said: “I’m

so grateful for this grant because all the hard work that I have done and I’ve put in to my small kitchen garden, it has been washed away from the flood. So, thank you for this. Hope it will help me to develop a better one.”

Minister Edghill said the money, which was disbursed, is meant to be invested to restart production.

“We want you to get back to work. We want you to keep the wheels of production turning. It’s our way of saying to you, we know you’ve been knocked down but knock down is not knock out.

“Knock down means you had a temporary misfortune.

But we want you to get up back, bounce back, get out there to your farms, your gardens, get your chickens going again. Keep the wheels of production going because as a government” [sic], he said.

Minister Edghill related that this is the fulfillment of yet another promise of the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) government to provide further support to flood-affected persons.

He said the government will continue to fulfil promises made, as it values integrity.

“Don’t take it for granted. We could have said we don’t have money. We could have said the budget can’t accommodate it because those are excuses, you’re accustomed hearing over the last five years. The big word that they used to use: “we don’t have fiscal space” whenever they don’t want to do something.

“We are a people-centred and people oriented.

You know what that means, we look after the people. In our National Budget, just over 30 per cent of all of the allocations in our budget goes towards social services to ensure people, vulnerable groups, the elderly, the disabled, women, single parents, pure water supply, ensuring adequate supply for health and education.

“All of that is to ensure that Guyana’s number one resource, not the oil offshore in our EEZ, or the forest that you reap or the gold that you mine, our number one resource-- the people,” Minister Edghill said.

He related that the money must be properly invested

to restart agricultural production in the region at the level it was prior to the flooding.

At the end of this twoday exercise, some $75 million will be distributed under

the agriculture grant in Region 10.

The government has set aside over $7 billion to support farmers who suffered losses from the recent flooding. (DPI)

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SUNDAY CHRONICLE, AUGUST 29, 2021

This pandemic is at the crossroads; we can control where it goes

By Dr Zulfikar Bux Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, Vanderbilt Medical Center THE new wave from the delta variant is shaking the world and it may have reached our shores. I will not be surprised if we soon get hit with another wave that causes a surge in infections. However, we do have a decent vaccination rate and there is a good chance that we can ride the next wave if we increase our vaccine uptake in the next few weeks. The pandemic has shifted its focus to the unvaccinated and these are the persons that are mostly dying and getting serious infections. I still feel that we can shape the path of this virus by making wise choices. Today, I will share my thoughts on trajectory of this virus which depends so much on our choices.

The incoming wave affecting the unvaccinated mostly I would have previ-

ously shared data which clearly shows that the unvaccinated are the ones that are being hospitalised and are dying from COVID-19.

There are some persons that are even begging to be vaccinated while they are going through the devastating effects of the infection.

Unfortunately, one cannot be vaccinated while one is actively infected and persons should not think that they will choose to get vaccinated when they get infected and be protected.

COVID-19 vaccines only work to prevent infections or serious forms of infections and are of no benefit if given to someone when he/ she gets infected. Unfortunately, there are still more persons that are unvaccinated than vaccinated. The virus which is now even more infectious, therefore still has a large population at its disposal to infect and cause unnecessary deaths and hospitalisations.

Children may become a target group

We are seeing a rise in infections and hospitalisations in children recently and this may be related to the newer strains affecting children more than previous ones. Unfortunately, children are not vaccinated as yet and may become prime suspects for the virus as this pandemic evolves. Our hope is that children will still fare better than adults given their robust immune response from their recent childhood vaccination for other diseases. This somehow seems to help them to respond more efficiently and effectively when exposed to COVID-19. However, this virus will elude some and the risk of causing devastating effects in some children is real. Until children are vaccinated against COVID-19, they will remain a high-risk group and the best way for us all to protect them in the meantime, is to maximize adult vaccinations so that there aren’t adults who can spread the infection to children.

The paths that this virus can take in 2021 It is simple, once countries can up their vaccination rate and get above 80% vaccination coverage before the year is out, they should be able to exit the pandemic. However, this is

heavily dependent on vaccine resistant strains of the virus not forming. There is a decent chance of this happening given the high numbers of unvaccinated persons. If vaccine resistant strains do form, it can potentially send the world into another phase of the pandemic until scientists can make sufficient vaccines to combat them.

However, when viruses mutate, they tend to become less deadly and I’m optimistic that this virus will weaken with time and be less deadly. This will either lead to a situation where it becomes seasonal and act similar to the flu or it is slowly wiped out as sufficient persons get vaccinated worldwide.

In the meantime, we will have to ride this wave and

hope that there are smaller spurts of infections in unvaccinated populations that are not sufficient to cause systemic collapse.

What can you do to prepare for a new wave?

I touched on this in last week’s article; the best way to prepare yourself is to practise the following measures: * Get vaccinated ASAP * Ensure your immune system is primed and as healthy as it can be * Practise the 4Ds as much as possible * Consult with your doctor to initiate treatment EARLY if you do get infected Every time I look at the number of vaccinated persons, I am baffled why there are so many that choose to avoid vaccina-

THE COVID-19 death toll continues on an upward trajectory as Guyana registered its latest death, an 81-year-old male from Region Three ((Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), on Friday last, taking the death toll to 610 since the virus was first detected in the country in March 2020.

In addition to the death toll, the number of new cases of persons who tested positive for the virus continues to increase as well with an additional 180 from some 2,004 tests conducted within the 24-hour period.

Dr Zulfikar Bux tion against COVID-19.

We are finally at a phase in the pandemic where we can shape our own destiny but yet we are allowing this opportunity to slowly slip from our grasp. Time waits for no one and this virus is similar in nature.

Do not get left behind, get vaccinated and defeat COVID-19 before it defeats you!

COVID-19 death toll continues to climb, 180 new cases recorded

With the new confirmed cases, the country’s overall number of confirmed cases stands at 25,147 from some 26,091 tests conducted up to Friday last. The bulk of new cases were recorded in Region Four (Demerara – Mahaica) which saw 109 people testing positive.

Region Three recorded 39 new cases; Region Two (Pomeroon-Supernaam) recorded 10; Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), seven new cases; Region Five (Mahaica – Berbice), five new cases; Region Eight (Potaro – Sipuruni), two new cases while Regions Nine (Upper Takutu – Upper Essequibo) and 10

(Upper Demerara – Berbice) recorded one new case, each.

At the end of Friday last, 28 persons were in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Infectious Diseases Hospital -- six more within a 24-hour period -; 104 are in institutional isolation, 1,576 are in home isolation and there were nine persons in institutional quarantine.

All Guyanese are reminded to observe the protocols of the COVID-19 emergency measures, which are in effect until August 31, 2021.

If anyone is displaying any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19, or need any additional information, kindly contact the COVID-19 Hotline 231-1166, 226-7480 or 624-6674 immediately or visit us at www.health. gov.gy.

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SUNDAY CHRONICLE, AUGUST 29, 2021

Putting humanity first: NGO continues to serve Guyana

By Richard Bhainie

Humanity First Guyana Inc. is a non-governmental (NGO) organisation which has been serving the Guyanese people since 2018. Their motto, ‘serving humanity’ is an accurate description of their mandate as they consistently provide services through a number of activities such as medical outreaches, and cooked meals for the under-privileged.

During an interview with the Sunday Chronicle, Country Director, Jameel Mohamed, who is visiting from Maryland, United States of America (USA) and locally-based Chairman, Maqsood Ahmed Mansoor, discussed some of the activities the organisation has been conducting, as well as future plans.

Humanity First Guyana is part of a larger organisatio -- Humanity First International-- a charity established in the United Kingdom in 1995 to promote and safeguard human life and dignity.

They are now registered in 60 countries and is currently serving in more than 90 countries with a global network of 3,500 volunteers and 400 medical staff.

The organisation’s mandate is to provide immediate disaster relief while developing and nurturing long term projects dedicated to healthcare, education, clean water, vocational training and the care of orphans, in the countries they operate in.

For context, the organisation has been running a programme called ‘Water

For Life’ in 19 countries across Asia, Africa and Central America as they believe access to clean water is a right, and not a privilege. Additionally, as part of their ‘Global Health’ programme, they have constructed eight hospitals and are running hundreds of clinics and medical camps worldwide.

The charity first worked in Guyana in 2005 to provide disaster relief after the floods which displaced over 300,000 residents on the coastal plain. Through the Humanity First USA chapter, they were able to provide over US$10,000 in medication to Guyana, along with volunteer doctors.

During the period of flooding, Humanity First USA also worked with the Guyana Embassy in the US to supply three containers of food and medicine, along with US$700,000 in supplies.

They were able to serve more than 4,500 patients and distributed some 8,300 meals as part of their flood-relief efforts.

In 2018, Humanity First USA acquired a property in Guyana and converted it into Humanity First Guyana’s country office; that property is located at Lot 198 Oronoque Street, Queenstown, Georgetown and has served as a training facility for the NGO where vocational training in languages, information technology and several other skills are offered.

Since its establishment locally, over 100 Guyanese from all walks of life have enlisted to

Volunteers from Humanity First Guyana during a recent medical outreach in Linden

volunteer their time in service of humanity; some professionals such as doctors have also enlisted to provide their services. Humanity First Guyana has been conducting English as a second language classes for foreigners, especially Venezuelan and Cuban migrants. They have been distributing meals to the under-privileged, and conducting medical outreaches countrywide.

While Mohamed is in Guyana, he will be apart of various engagements to further develop the NGO and its activities.

For the next month, there are a number of activities planned, namely, the distribution of 170 food hampers in six locations across Guyana, and will

provide 60 children and 100 senior citizens with fresh meals in collaboration with two police stations.

They wrapped up a four-day summer camp on Thursday last which saw some 30 children benefitting from arts and crafts training, as well as sports participation and learning Spanish as a foreign language. In July last, the organisation conducted a medical drive in Linden, Region 10, which saw some 30 patients being diagnosed by a doctor and prescribed medication, while an additional 30 benefitted from blood pressure and blood sugar testing services. Medication, clothes, shoes, and books were also distributed.

The organisation is planning a medical outreach to be held in Linden on September 1, 2021 as well as a medical outreach in Low Wood Village, Region Four, on September 5, 2021.

Cooked meals and food hampers will also be distributed at these events.

They are also rapidly working to acquire equipment to establish an information technology lab

at their office so youths may be able to benefit from necessary training in computer studies and, so far, they have acquired a few computers.

The services provided are free of cost and the organisation funds its activities strictly by donations.

Persons are encouraged to donate and to volunteer; they can contact Mansoor on telephone numbers 226-7634 or 657-7070.

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SUNDAY CHRONICLE, AUGUST 29, 2021

CITY HALL AND PETTY POLITICS

THE Mayor and Georgetown City Councillors are doing the Capital City a grave injustice by involving its citizenry and employees in a petty political game.

The issue of whom the council wants to function as the acting Town Clerk is trivial considering the impact it will have on the services and employees of the forever cash-strapped council. The APNU+AFC-controlled Council has made it clear that they will resist anyone seen as an imposition for the post of Town Clerk.

Further, they are resorting to legal proceedings before the courts. If that is not enough, the council appointed a person to perform the functions

of the Town Clerk while Candace Nelson was chosen for the task by the Local Government Commission.

The council is engaged in sinister and worrying political actions that include non-recognition and persecution of Ms. Nelson.

Further, the Central Government is watching the game before it gets involved in the confusion at the council. What is disheartening is that the employees are suffering immense inconvenience from these opposition games at the council. They do not know what to listen to and who has the rightful authority over the administration. Further, the employees’ salaries for the month

are in jeopardy because the bank, like the employees, is not too sure who it should be taking direction from in the extant case.

This development seems like the opposition APNU+AFC Coalition is interfering with City Hall through the political office of Mayor Ubraj Narine, who is a willing participant in causing much consternation in the process. The APNU+AFC-appointed Mayor does not seem to understand that he is a servant to the people of Georgetown and not his political bosses in the opposition. He wants to engage the administration and Central Government in a useless struggle for political

gain.

Arguably, another perspective is that no one will benefit from this charade engulfing the City Council.

Citizens’ and employees’ lives are not going to improve tremendously by this game. They are certainly more things for which the council’s energies could better serve the people. After all, the council should focus on getting its rates and taxes up and looking at the solid waste crisis in Georgetown.

The Mayor and Georgetown Councillors would want to address the Restoration Fund of City Hall and the ongoing problem of corruption in its financial records.

City Hall must clean up

its act, firstly, and allow the Town Clerk to do the job until the court rules on her appointment. Does the APNU+AFC Coalition want to obstruct another acting Town Clerk? After all, they have been through with the episodes of Carol Sooba, Yonette Pluck, Buleah Williams, and the infamous Royston King. Haven’t they learned how to co-operate while they are protesting at the court or seeking redress?

Nelson’s appointment can only be quashed by the Local Government Commission and no other authority. She seems to have the support of the government, so it is hard to move her.

The public is not inter-

ested in a council that does not know when to restrain itself politically. The employees and citizenry of Georgetown want fewer politics and better co-operation between the State and the council.

The council must divorce the politics of suspicion of the government. It is a fact that the City Council has had a problem with its handling of the three M’s – money, management, and manpower. Central Government is not engineering the confusion in the council, but the problem is the struggles for power by the PNC/APNU+AFC Coalition that is affecting it.

Hetmyer played like ‘the boss’ we know him to be

Dear Editor,

THE confident Guyana Amazon warriors Skipper Nicholas Pooran humiliated the defending Caribbean Premier League Champions with an impressive win in the 2021 opening of the Hero Caribbean League title chase. Guyana’s champion batsman, Shmiron Hetmyer, scored a solid, masterful half century to demonstrate his maturity and readiness for a successful CPL 2021 tournament. However, it was the wise move by the skipper to promote Odean

Smith as the ‘pinch ‘hitter at number three that put Kieron Pollard’s bowlers to the sword. Smith blasted 24 runs off a mere 15 deliveries. The middle-order batting was a little slow and the two Pakistani veterans, Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez, will have to bat differently in the batting order. The skipper is a powerful hitter of the ball and a competent batsman.

Hence, it is imperative that he bat higher in the order.

The Warriors should not be bothered about losing early wickets. They must look at getting close to two

Dear Editor, GUYANESE renters and homeowner landlords in America have been severely affected financially by COVID-19. The COVID-19 rent moratorium has emboldened renters or tenants of all ethnicities not to pay rents. A significant number of Guyanese are affected. Some of those rent defaulters are Guyanese although the rate of Guyanese defaulters is lower than those among other ethnic communities. The default in Queens and Bronx-based Guyanese is lower than Brooklyn-based Guyanese. Many Guyanese homeowners are struggling to make ends meet and pay the mortgage while ten-

ants who lost jobs can’t afford to pay rent; some who have been re-hired have not been paying or are behind in rent. Guyanese homeowners could lose their homes when COVID-19 is brought under control and normality returns. The situation is reminiscent of what happened in 2008/09 when there was a real estate meltdown in value with home price collapse and homeowners lost value in their home of over $100K per property. Foreclosure was widespread impacting on Guyanese also.

Tens of thousands of Guyanese are homeowners in Queens, Bronx, and Brooklyn. One of three to four Guyanese families in Queens and virtually all of

hundred runs when batting first. Brandon King looks like the favourite opener and he will have to go after the bowling from the first over, while the upper and middle-order look solid and dependable. The lower order is certainly aggressive and even with Ashmead Nedd at number 10 the Warriors will war to the end.

The bowling attack is certainly capable and will live up to a winning expectation. However, the three quick bowlers must be utilised cleverly. Against really attacking openers it will be

better to bowl the two bowlers that can bowl an immaculate line and length. Hence, Naveen-ul-Haq could open and then bowl in the middle.

Odean smith and Romario Sheperd seems capable to bowl to a plan field placing.

The spinners will certainly be looking up at the veteran, Imran Tahir, who will continue to be a trump card.

The GAW must be more serious with their fielding.

The fielding must send a message to the opposing batsmen that the risk is greater and batsmen must be vulnerable to the fielding.

The second match in the first day double header was interesting. However, it was Guyanese Sherfane Rutherford who hit a solid half-century and clever batting by St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots captain, Dwayne Bravo, that pulled them out of danger with a solid century partnership. Barbados Royals powerful batsmen were unable to get runs in the opening match and they will do better later in the tournament.

The coaches and team leaders must look at the high amount of ‘dot’ balls. There

are far too many ‘dot’ balls and the more experience batsmen are expected to rotate the batting and take quick singles. This ninth edition of the CPL must produce very early in the tournament quality batsmen and bowlers. Shimron Hetmyer is certainly leading the way and expectations are high that he will continue to score runs consistently and heavily.

grouped under African Americans. Based on my impromptu conversations and interviews with many of them in NY, one in three Guyanese homeowners is owed rent of between $1,500 and $3,500 monthly going back to April 2020. Therefore, the amount of money Guyanese landlords are owed is enormous – between $24K to $48K for every third homeowner for the last 16 months. The total is tens of millions of American dollars owed to Guyanese-American landlords.

Millions of renters and

landlords, among them tens of thousands Guyanese Americans including undocumented, lost their jobs since last year April.

Renters were (have been) unable to pay rents and landlords their mortgage. The government issued moratoriums on rental and mortgage payments at the start of the pandemic last year April that expired last March and was renewed till end of September. Landlords challenged the moratorium in court and won including at the final appeal at the Supreme Court.

Landlords are owed an estimated US$40B. The government allocated some $45B last year and earlier this year to help renters. But only some $5.5B

was actually distributed to or claimed by renters. Several billions more have been included in a new budget for renters.

Yours sincerely, Neil Kumar

Guyanese-American landlords and renters suffer amidst COVID-19 them in Long Island is a homeowner; the home ownership rate is lower in Brooklyn and Bronx, but higher in various parts of Queens, Long Island, upstate New York, Staten Island, New Jersey, Florida, Georgia, Texas, Minnesota, Boston, and other parts of America. An estimated 100K Guyanese are homeowners in the US, among the highest homeownership rate of all ethnic groups except Indians and Asians. For census purpose, Indo-Guyanese are categorised as Indian-Americans while Afro-Guyanese are

Many Guyanese homeowners I interviewed in Queens and the border of Brooklyn and Bronx say one in two tenants are behind in rent. Some are owed rents since last year April – up to 16 months. The money is avail-

able from government to pay landlords but it is not getting to them. Renters have to file an application and sign it with the money going directly to the landlord. Several renters, for varied reasons, are unwilling to file the application. Some renters are illegal and don’t want to create a file (CONTINUED ON PAGE 7)

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SUNDAY CHRONICLE, AUGUST 29, 2021

GTU and GPSU think they can use a national calamity to score political points

Dear Editor,

I was praying and fasting for God to save the people of Guyana from the virus.

God appeared to me and said he will grant me one wish. I asked the Lord if he can build a bridge between Guyana and Hawaii, that I always wanted to go to Hawaii. The Lord said, “do you know that’s a very hard thing you are asking me to do?” I said, “OK, Lord, how about if you can cause all our unvaccinated nurses, teachers, and others in Guyana, to understand that we are in an international state of emergency and that the vaccinations save lives, not kill people, and that they should take the vaccinations so our country can move

forward.” The Lord replied, “that bridge to Hawaii, do you want one lane or two lanes?”

Our Guyanese people are very difficult to deal with.

Can you imagine a doctor in the protest line and 50 hospital workers not vaccinated, and they want to go into the hospital, although the government had laid out the new rules? Can you imagine the GTU and GPSU think they can use a national calamity to score political points, and GTU threatening to sue? It’s time for teachers to form a new union and public workers too, if unions are going to play politics with our health

and safety. Since the unions care so much, they should pay for the weekly tests if they don’t want members to take the vaccine.

The unvaccinated should know there are many bloggers who are angry at their intransigence. The “Captain” said, “Protests must be meaningful. They should be protesting the worst oil contract that the APNU Government signed with Exxon.” Muhammad Raoof said, “Yes, protest ‘Fu’ spread more and more of the virus.”

Fuad Rahaman said, “It’s a terrible act of political desperation to risk

the health of your own supporters with a deadly virus just to score political points.

Even a reckless leader like Donald Trump is encouraging his predominantly White supporters to get vaccinated.

However, we have Black political leaders, oppose to the gov’t here, recklessly putting Black people in harm’s way.?

Misleading their supporters for five months after the elections about their fraudulent claim to victory failed.

If that wasn’t bad enough, now they are at it again misleading their supporters on a public health matter that can have tragic consequences for themselves and others…”

Guyanese-American landlords...

(FROM PAGE 6)

with the government applying for public assistance although undocumented is eligible for rental and food assistance.

Some renters in default simply don’t care because landlords can’t proceed to evict them until after September. And they

know the process will take a minimum six months to evict them. So they will get another six months of free rent. Even if evicted and ordered to pay back rent, there is virtually no way to enforce court rulings. Some landlords rent illegal apartments like basements, attics, rooms,

and large apartments that have been divided up into multiple apartments or sub-units. Guyanese engage in these actions to increase rental income to meet mortgage payments that could be up to US$4,000 monthly.

Many renters of illegal apartments have refused to pay or

move; landlords are helpless and suffer huge losses. Countless Guyanese told me they were owed rent for both legal and illegal apartments or rooms.

Courts don’t enforce back rents on illegal apartments. Renters tend to know the rules and avoid paying rents. Landlords

Jim Cruise said, “I wished my PNC party would come hard and stop this nonsense. We are looking sillier as the days go by. We are looking plain foolish... say, is there any hope for us in 2025????”??

Here is a headline for our teachers, “New York City, The Country’s Largest School System, Mandates Teacher Vaccinations.” And one for our nurses, “There’s no way to find a bed: Oklahoma hospitals are running out of room amid COVID-19 surge.” And to all the unvaccinated, here is a just released report, “As Adult ICU Patients Hit Record Highs of illegal apartments or rooms are helpless in evicting tenants, many of who tend to live for free for six to 12 months before being evicted.

Many Guyanese landlords are in jeopardy of losing their home when the situation normalises. And some said they would shun the rental business.

for the Pandemic, New Report Shows Unvaccinated People Are More Than 15 Times More Likely to Die From COVID-19 Compared to Vaccinated People.”

Nation, be your brother’s keeper. Encourage everyone to get the vaccine so our country can move forward.

Teachers, you mould the nation. Nurses, you are our first line of defence. Stop playing these games that you don’t have enough information on the vaccines! Ministers, please release data on numbers of unvaccinated teachers and nurses.

Yours sincerely, Dr. Jerry Jailall

This could impact on availability of rental apartments.

Already, many Guyanese are saying that after they get their default tenants out, they will not rent. Meanwhile, pressure is on renters to apply for government assistance to pay landlords.

Yours truly, Vishnu Bisram

Retired cop dies in Buck Hall accident

AN accident at Number 36 KM Road, Buck Hall, on Thursday last, claimed the life of 56-year-old Gordon Mansfield, a retired Assistant Superintendent of the Guyana Police Force and of Diamond Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara.

According to Police Headquarters, Mansfield was, at the time, travelling in a motor pick-up bearing registration number, PVV 8623, owned by Aurora Gold Mines Inc and was being driven by one Michael Rose, 36, of Wismar, Linden.

Police reported that the vehicle left Aurora Gold Mining Camp for Buck Hall, and while proceeding east in the process of descending a hill, the driver lost control and flipped several times before driving off the road and ending up on the southern parapet.

As a result, the driver, Mansfield and two other occupants-- Daniel

expressed sadness at this death. He described Mansfield as a very friendly and well-mannered individual who got along well with his peers, superiors and subordinates.

Gordon Mansfield

Powell, 24, of South Ruimveldt, Georgetown and Sherwin Grimes, 53, of Linden -- received injuries about their bodies.

They were all picked up by public-spirited persons and transported to the Gold Field Health Centre where Mansfield died while receiving treatment.

The others were treated and transferred via aircraft to the Woodlands Hospital, Georgetown where Grimes was admitted as a patient and the

others were treated and discharged.

ASP Mansfield was seconded to the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in 2014 and 2016 as a Police Prosecutor under the Early Case Assessment Programme (ECAP) prosecuting police matters in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court 1 and 3.

Former ECAP Police Prosecutor, Deputy Superintendent Vishnu Hunt, who worked with Mansfield at these Chambers,

After leaving these Chambers, ASP Mansfield returned to the Brickdam Police Station to serve in the Court Superintendent’s Office and later worked in the Court

Superintendent’s Office in Region 3, West Coast Demerara.

ASP Mansfield proceeded on pre-retirement leave on September 15, 2020.

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Challenges of effective language integration in the Caribbean

LAST week, in this space, I provided a historical and contemporary analysis of standard and non-standard Caribbean languages regarding how they were introduced, formed, and evolved. The result is that the Caribbean has a rich diversity of languages. This week, I will examine the pros and cons of standard and non-standard languages of the Caribbean.

It is common knowledge that standard languages – English, Spanish, French, and Dutch – have occupied a prominent place and position in the domain of verbal and written communication in the Caribbean. Standard languages are used in education, commerce, and the civil service. It is not possible

to have a decent high school education without being exposed to a standard language. The school system demands that students be versed in at least one standard language to graduate, or to even demonstrate some sign of progress, namely, that they have attended a school in which a standard language is preferred. In Guyana, when asked where you went to school, the preferable answer is, “I attended Queen’s College or Bishops”, indicating that speaking and writing proper English is the norm in these schools.

Similarly, and as in the case of Guyana, Standard English is used in the criminal justice, political, and economic system. In the media, on television, radio and

in print, English is the preferred language, although some local programmes with non-standard English have been on the rise for the past two decades. Nevertheless, English predominates in programmes that are aired especially from the United States. However, the knowledge and use of standard languages in the Caribbean is not a setback, despite their colonial underpinnings, but a progressive one. Having a good command of any standard language will move you beyond the confines and concentric boundaries of being mono-lingual in ever globalised and shrinking world. You will not be left behind as an individual or citizen of any nation because a good command

of any standard language sharpens awareness, fosters interdependence and understanding, strengthens skills and expands opportunities.

Despite the positives of having a good command of any standard language, however, there are drawbacks.

At the core of Caribbean communication is what one scholar calls a “cancer of insularity.” There is little communication, for example, between the Spanish and English-speaking Caribbean, rendering a poor understanding of the basic dynamics of the Caribbean from one region to the next, especially among the younger generation.

I will state firmly that a few Guyanese know of the similarity between Cheddi

Jagan and Juan Bosch of the Dominican Republic and vice versa. There have been, however, in the recent past some efforts to bridge the language insularity in the education system. Spanish, for example, is offered more regularly in schools. These efforts have unfortunately only scratched the surface in terms of producing expected results. The practice of standard language insularity across the Caribbean remains a stumbling block to effective integration among nations that share a common history of colonisation, slavery, indenture, dependency, invasion, glory, and so on.

If the standard languages of the Caribbean have been suffering from insularity, then the Creole languages are not far behind, albeit in their own unique form and fashion. I am referring to the marginalisation and stigmatisation of the Creole languages. Creole languages are often excluded from the education curriculum, although there have been some heated debates to include them at the university level. In the criminal justice system, court proceedings are not conducted in Creole languages even when everyone in the courtroom understands a particular Creole language, for example, Pidgin in Guyana.

While there might be cases where standard languages are translated into Creole languages, this practice is not consistent. The result is that the defender, without a lawyer, who does not have a good command of the standard language to hear his case might very well be a victim of communication rather than breaking the law.

Equally unsettling is that Creole languages are often stigmatised. The individual who speaks Creole outside

his inner circle is seen as inferior and undeveloped by others who do not regard Creole language as a proper way of speaking. Interestingly, too, if someone speaks the English language in a Creole setting, he may be stigmatised for sounding like an “English Duck”, quacking a twang in the wrong place.

Both situations lead to a lack of confidence and avoidance from the speaker. Furthermore, in some university settings, it is believed that the Creole languages impede the attainment of proficiency in a standard language, meaning that the students mix-up the two languages, resulting in ambiguous verbal and written communication skills.

There are some positives of the Creole languages, however. Politicians have realised that a closer relationship with their supporters require them not only to speak in the language of their supporters during the campaign season but more regularly. It has also dawned upon nation-states that Creole languages represent a positive symbol of culture and identity. Some Caribbean islands have taken a step forward to have Creole be recognised alongside standard language as a national language such as Creole in Haiti and Papiamentu in the Netherlands Antilles. What is also remarkable is that artists have been using Creole as a form of expression, and writers (Edward Brathwaite, V.S. Naipaul), poets (Martin Carter, Dereck Walcott), singers (Sparrow, Chalkdust) and storyteller (Paul KeenDouglas), come to my mind. (lomarsh.roopnarine@jsums. edu).

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Guyana pushes onward with diversified energy THE diversification of energy sources is a key component of economic growth for developing countries. Cheap and reliable electricity, in particular, drives local and foreign direct investment and also lowers the cost of living for residents.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) shares a similar view, stating that electricity is critical in developing countries

to help pull residents out of poverty. While many developing countries, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean, still rely heavily on imported heavy fuel oil and biomass for energy, many governments are pushing for more environmentally friendly and sustainable options. Gas as well as renewable sources, including hydro, solar, wind, and geothermal, are already gaining momentum

in the region and Guyana is no different.

The current government has committed to reducing the cost of electricity by half before the next elections. During a recent press conference, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo reiterated that this would help Guyana “build conditions for a progressive prosperous non-oil economy so that when the oil disappears, we still have a booming economy with

Grove woman intercepts bandits after robbery

The Audi Q5, driven by the victim, which braced the vehicle that was being driven by the bandits A F O R T Y- F O U R year-old woman of Golden Grove, East Bank Demerara courageously trailed three male bandits and intercepted them by slamming her Audi Q5 into their vehicle on Friday, immediately after they robbed her in front her house.

According to a police report, at approximately 14:45 hours on Friday, the victim returned home after visiting a bank located at Diamond, East Bank Demerara, when she noticed a silver Toyota 212 motorcar bearing registration number PNN 6481 at the back of her vehicle while she was entering her yard.

Two males, one armed with a black handgun, then exited the car, approached the victim and demanded

money from her. As she attempted to resist, one of the men discharged a round in her direction and they then snatched a brown envelope containing US$1,500 and GYD$290,000, a red iPhone XR and a multi-coloured bag containing a quantity of documents.

The suspects then rejoined their vehicle, in which the driver was waiting and attempted to escape, however, the victim followed the escape car and managed to brace the car with her vehicle into a nearby drain causing one of the men to receive injuries while the other two escaped on foot.

Police were immediately summoned to the scene and managed to recover the sto-

len articles. In addition, several other items were found in the escape vehicle including a gold iPhone SE, and a Samsung Galaxy phone.

Police reported that subsequent to examining the vehicle, it was observed that registration number PTT 7930 was engraved on the front, back and four door windows, while HC 7472 was seen under the number plate.

The suspect, who received injuries, was apprehended with the help of public-spirited citizens and handed over to the police.

He was transported to the Diamond Diagnostic Hospital to seek medical attention and investigations in the matter are ongoing.

jobs for all our people.”

Making cheaper electricity a priority now should give Guyanese and international investors the opportunity to explore new businesses that can diversify the economy.

Guyana is on its way to diversifying its energy mix to produce more affordable and reliable electricity. Progress on the gas to energy project as well as the recent government announcement to move forward with the Amaila Falls hydropower project are promising new developments. These two projects should increase supply and provide more efficient, reliable, and cleaner power, which will likely benefit sectors that rely heavily on electricity.

Guyana relies on heavy fuel oil to produce electricity, which is expensive, inefficient, and less climate friendly. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), switching to gas and

reducing electricity rates could lower basic living costs for Guyanese by over 5 percent per month on average. With diversification into gas and hydro, as well as other projects that will further expand energy sources, Guyana is creating the enabling environment to attract even more private capital across its portfolio of burgeoning economic sectors.

These projects will likely pave the way for new industries that further support job growth and prosperity. As the gas-to-energy project comes online this will present even more opportunities for Guyanese, including new jobs that pay higher wages and more opportunities in other spin off industries like domestic production of propane and heating fuel. Additionally, from this cheaper and more reliable source, Guyana can consider energy intensive

industries like chemicals and construction materials manufacturing.

While these new opportunities are all positive, none of this would be possible without Guyana’s rapidly growing oil and gas sector.

Oil revenues could allow the government to invest in multi-million-dollar energy projects that can likely change the county’s future forever and drive massive socio-economic development.

The Natural Resources Fund (NRF) currently holds about US$450 million that can be used to support infrastructure development and social programmes. By capitalizing on its oil and gas resources now, Guyana can also utilise its windfall to fund low carbon ambitions, developing green industries and jobs while protecting itself from the harsh realities of climate change.

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SUNDAY CHRONICLE, AUGUST 29, 2021

Spotting the opportunistic politics

IN the past two months, Guyana’s Opposition has gone through a political metamorphosis.

This metamorphosis is visible in the behaviour patterns of the APNU+AFC Coalition.

It is a pattern that sees their politicians engaged actively in opportunistic and emotional politics.

They are using the senseless politics of hate, race, vindictiveness, and spite to get the political mileage and gratification they need to make them feel they are an effective opposition.

Look at the vaccination campaign, for instance.

Government is busy getting stricter with its policies and regulations that deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Apart from the safety guidelines of mask-wearing and social distancing, persons must have a vaccine shot or COVID-19 PCR test.

Abiding by this is the only way anybody can access the government services via its various departments. Businesses followed suit because the private interests do not want to undergo another phased lockdown because of COVID-19.

Enter the Opposition APNU+AFC. While many of their supporters, mostly

in Regions Four and 10 were still resistant to vaccination, the Opposition politicians capitalised on their fear. Politicians went to those same groups telling them they were there to stand with them in solidarity against the government.

These politicians claimed concern about protecting their right to choose for themselves, and the government has the wrong approach. Skillfully, they agitated the people to protest against the vaccination campaign to make sure they are safe. They then told those people at different times during the pro-

test emotional things like the PPP Government was discriminating and inheritably racist towards AfroGuyanese supporters of the APNU+AFC Coalition, some teachers, nurses, and public servants.

The APNU+AFC politicians knew what they were doing. They exploited the opportunity and played with the sensitive issue of the people’s health. Newcomer, Coretta Mc Donald allowed her union to be a vehicle for the APNU+AFC Coalition for political gain. The GPSU and GTUC watched complicitly too in evoking fears about rights and vaccination amongst workers.

Now turn your attention to the march held by the Opposition-affiliated group in the US. APNU+AFC politicians saw the political opportunity to make false claims against the government and PPP and went at it.

Now, many people who were part of the so-called fight have hung up their gloves, bowed out, and retreated because they learned what the politicians were up to is of no good. The US Congressman, Hakeem Jeffries,is now facing a backlash.

The APNU+AFC Opposition should never be trusted. They lost their earlier

allegations with the general vaccination campaign and suffered a pivotal defeat.

They lost the election in which they tried to cheat.

They failed miserably to hold their respective leadership races and congress of the parties then opportunistically blames the pandemic.

Its charges against the PPP Government of corruption are running cold and becoming political deadweight to the Coalition. Their plan to get together people on the streets is not working, and they are not saying anything that makes sense to the international community.

Just note the Coalition is dying and desperate to stay relevant under the leadership of David Granger and Joseph Harmon. These two political novices are not showing any signs of giving up this game that is threatening the livelihoods of the people they purportedly represent. In Region Four, the political opportunism is boiling over between the APNU/PNC Regional Chairman, Daniel Seeram, and his AFC councillors who are going to table a no-confidence motion yet again against him. They are exposing the mismanagement occurring in the region

and fight for power.

They are not showing they care for the people.

Normal people are seen just as political collateral damage for the ultimate prize of getting the APNU+AFC’s sticky hands on the oil money, and Guyana again.

Guyanese who are rightthinking and law-abiding citizens must reject these opportunistic political appeals. They must chase them out when they come to you telling you something which you know doesn’t make sense. After all, they didn’t do it while they were in office. Why are they going so hard now?

The APNU+AFC Opposition must know that people want genuine leadership and responsible politics that is not personal but objective and formative. They want their representative to be a voice of sober, factual, and persuasive arguments in the National Assembly. The Opposition must sort itself out because it is in a leadership vacuum. The irresponsible, reckless, and superficial politics of the Opposition does not augar well for Guyana.

It is a grave injustice to the populists. The year is 2021.

The political strategies used in 1998 will not do!

Pfizer vaccination drive at MovieTowne parking lot today TO make the Pfizer BioNTech vaccines more accessible, the Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, will be hosting a COVID-19 vaccination drive for adolescents on Sunday, August 29, 2021.

The vaccination drive which will be at the MovieTowne parking lot, East Coast Demerara (ECD) will run from 09:00h to 16:00h where adolescents from 12 to 17 years old will receive their first dose of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine which has now been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Laudably, KFC Guyana

and ANSA McAL Limited have pitched in to provide one Kids Meal and a Smalta drink for each adolescent who receives his/her first jab. Notably, the vaccination drive is not restricted to adolescents in school. In addition, persons are required to be accompanied by a parent/guardian and bring along their birth certificate or another document indicating proof of age.

Further, over the next week, the ministries will begin rolling out vaccination drives at schools in Regions Four, Five and Six for students who have received consent from their parents or guardians to receive the

jab. This will be phase one of the vaccination drive? and ?additional vaccination sites and dates for those exercises will be announced soon.

With schools slated to reopen in September, the Ministry of Education is encouraging parents to get their children vaccinated against COVID-19.

Guyana received its first shipment of Pfizer vaccines earlier this week as a donation from the United States of America. While vaccination will not be mandatory, they are urging parents to consider the benefits that this vaccine will provide to their children and grant consent.

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China donates $ 51M in medical equipment to Guyana

THE Charge d’ Affaires of the People’s Republic of China’s Embassy, Chen Xilai, on Tuesday last, donated $19M in Viral Acid Nucleic Extraction Kits from the Government of China to Ministry of Health to assist Guyana to significantly improve polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test capacity of COVID-19.

The 16th Chinese Medical Brigade in Guyana, on the same day, donated medical equipment to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) to improve Guyana medical level and carry out better medical services.

Additionally, the Chinese Medical Brigade also donated another batch of medical equipment to the Linden Hospital Complex (LHC) on August 13, 2021.The total value of the two batches of medical supplies, sponsored by the National Health Commission of China, exceeded $32M. The donated materials included laparoscopic surgery kit and other surgical instruments, orthopedic instruments, obstetrics and gynecology instruments, visual laryngoscope, ultrasonic emulsification operation equipment package,

_ PCR COVID testing capacity boosted

Charge d’ Affaires of the People’s Republic of China’s Embassy, Chen Xilai (fourth left) with Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony (fifth right), at the handing over ceremony of the medical equipment

computer infusion pumps, infant incubator, neonatal jaundice treatment tank, electronic traction rehabilitation instruments, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), among other medical supplies.

The donated medical devices will enrich and update the methods and means of treating patients and saving lives in the Chinese Medical Centres of GPHC and LHC, laparoscopic surgery centre,

eye centre, trauma centre, anesthesia visualization technology centre set up at the GPHC, while centre for laparoscopic surgery set up at the LHC, so as to provide much better health protection for Guyanese patients.

Xilai said, at the donation ceremony, that “Chinese government is taking care of the life of every person. Our goal is always that we should not let any country or any person

to lag behind in fighting against COVID-19 or in the process of nation-

al development. When COVID-19 broke out in March 2020, China immediately extended our help within our capacity to Guyana.

“We have been donating much-needed materials and equipment to Guyana, and also the vaccines. We hope that, through such kind of donation and cooperation, we can stand solidarity and successfully prevent the COVID-19 to be harmful to the people.”

Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, expressed the gratitude of the Government of Guyana to China for the kind donation.

“We were able to benefit from automated extract that allowed us to expedite how fast we can do the best in PCR test,” said Dr. Anthony.

The minister acknowledged the work of

Chinese Medical Brigade during their stint in Guyana over nearly one year.

China was one of the first countries that came forward to offer Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other types of equipment in the area of medicine, since the pandemic started.

“We expect that the relationship will continue to grow; we’ll all get out of pandemic together once we have that kind of solidarity,” Dr. Anthony said.

Since 1993, Jiangsu Province of China has dispatched 16 batches of 231 members to Guyana to carry out medical work, treating nearly 1.3 million patients, rescuing more than 30,000 critically ill patients and performing more than 70,000 surgeries.

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GWI’s bank account reduced by $1.8B in five years _ company owes GPL $7B, says Minister Rodrigues

WHEN the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) assumed office in August 2020, it found that the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) was in a financial crisis, according to the Minister

within the Ministry of Housing and Water, Susan Rodrigues.

During an interview on Kaieteur Radio, the minister said pointedly that GWI was in a bankrupt state. She explained that

because the agency had not received a subvention over the last five years, it owed the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) in excess of $7 billion.

Added to that, the agency’s bank balance had been reduced by some $1.8 billion since the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) went into government.

Moreover, Minister Rodrigues said that from August 2015 to August 2020, the operational costs for GWI had increased by $1.1 billion. This, she said, remained the situation even though the then government instituted two separate tariff increases. “…one in October 2018 and October 2019,” the junior minister posited. She explained that the increases were acti-

vated in such a manner that many persons did not realise that it resulted in an overall increase of 100 per cent.

“I don’t know if people realised that,” Rodrigues added. She highlighted that outside of the decline in the company’s bank balances and its overall increase in spending, GWI also failed to settle its outstanding debts with suppliers.

More specifically, Minister Rodrigues said that GWI owed its suppliers in excess of $800 million, with at least 80 per cent of that figure being long overdue.

“So, the company was in serious financial crisis, and then of course, you had the corruption,” Rodrigues said, as she pointed to the scandal that surrounded the sole-source purchase of the SeaQuest,

Minister within the ministry of Housing and Water, Susan Rodrigues

a water chemical which was being purchased at a cost of $1.8 billion over a four-year period; this was valued at almost US$9 million.

The product was being acquired via a “middleman” from a United States company called Aqua Smart Incorporated. It is a trademarked combination of chemicals used to reduce or separate the iron content from the water as part of the purification process.

“They have a middle company doing the procurement and then mixing, batching the product and transporting it to all Regions. So, a middle man was there sourcing (the product) from Aqua Smart and this was sole sourcing,” the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GWI, Shaik Baksh told reporters in June.

He had indicated then that a forensic audit was underway, owing to suspicion of mismanagement of the entity’s finances by the previous David Granger-led administration.

At a press conference, Baksh had accused his predecessor, Dr. Richard Van West-Charles of approving a series of “reckless” spending executed by the company. He went further to highlight an overpayment of approximately $87.9 million to a

contractor for the Vlissengen road pipe project, as well as overpayments to SeaQuest within the fouryear period.

Baksh also pointed to the construction of a $40 million facility in Region Five, (Mahaica-Berbice) which was still in need of additional $19 million to be completed. In addition to infrastructure, the PPP/C government also detected overspending in relation to staff parties which had an accumulated cost of $80 million in 2018 and 2019. Baksh had also flagged issues relating to overseas travels.

“The internal auditors found that there has been double charging in the batching, mixing in transportation; huge sums of money are involved here.

There were also fictitious charges inserted in transportation invoices which made us dismiss the employee left in charge of this,” Baksh previously related.

He added, “There’s also questionable delivery of goods, double charging, fictitious charging and contract splitting, which is prohibited under the National Procurement Act and GWI standard rules.”

As it is, all of the aforementioned allegations are being investigated by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).

It was related that prior to August 2, 2020, the Guyana Water Incorporated owed its suppliers in excess of $800 million

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SUNDAY CHRONICLE, AUGUST 29, 2021

Agriculture sector attracting foreign investors

By Naomi Parris GUYANA’S agriculture sector has been receiving significant recognition as foreign individuals and companies from around the world continue to express an interest in investing here.

This is according to GO-Invest, Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Peter Ramsaroop.

According to Dr Ramsaroop, several foreign and international companies have signalled their interest in Guyana’s agriculture, tourism, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and, oil and gas sectors.

He noted that such was revealed at the recently held Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) where Guyana was the shining star with agriculture being the front burner for investments.

“We had a lot of players come in that are diversifying in agriculture, in other technologies and BPO discussions happened at the OTC conference, so all sectors were fairly represented,” Ramsaroop said.

GO-Invest CEO, Dr. Peter Ramsaroop

Additionally, he noted that the recent visit by the LR Group, an Israeli company which has signalled interest in establishing the Caribbean region’s most advanced dairy farm in Guyana to produce more than four million liters of milk is one of the many investors interested in the country’s agriculture sector.

Guyana is the centre of attention for many investors, he said.

“Every week there are hundreds of companies

that process a conversation through our office, sometimes three private jets fly into Guyana to have discussions. Billionaires from around the world coming into our office to discuss the future of operations in our country,” he said, adding: “They are looking at many sectors; they specialise in agriculture, in green house farming, weather conditions and organic farming. There is a lot of new technology that is out there and they are very interested in the agriculture sector on a whole.”

With the exciting buzz, Dr. Ramsaroop assured the local investment agency will be pushing to ensure that all local companies get a piece of the proverbial pie.

FULL SHOT “We want to make sure that our local businesses get full shot of anything and a lot of technologies transfers need to happen with some of the larger companies and our private sector has a lead to really work with these companies and their operations.”

In Januray of this year, an

investment team from Dubai, one of the wealthiest cities in the world, visited to discuss a wide range of opportunities, particularly those in the agricultural sector.

While other sectors were discussed, it was reported that individual members of the eight-member delegation were interested in the agricultural sector, which accounts for one-third of Guyana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Investors, who were part of the initial eight-member team, had also signalled a strong interest in investing in sugar and livestock. Following this, a second team visited from Dubai and toured all of the sugar estates across the country. The team comprised of mainly experts, who had a specific task of analysing the operations and viability of these estates.

According to information from Go-Invest, applications were received for investments across all platforms and sectors of Guyana’s economy. A business-friendly climate, supplemented by

the anticipated economic ascension is being credited for the attraction of those expressions of interest.

The aggregate investments are expected to create 9,386 direct jobs when the projects are fully completed.

There will also be spin-off benefits which will reach suppliers, cottage industries, individuals and other sections of the economy.

LARGE-SCALE INVESTMENTS Recently, President, Dr Irfaan Ali, said that Guyana was interested in encouraging large-scale investments in food production for export, particularly to CARICOM. Speaking to about 150 potential US investors, he said that the development of the sector and the country’s extensive tracts of productive land was a priority of government and that it will actively encourage foreign investment in agricultural diversification.

Ali had told participants in a webinar organised by the US Department of Commerce that the country was

seeking “mega investments” in agriculture to produce rice, sugar, corn, soya, coconut, spices, and fruits and vegetables, as well as in agro-processing, agrochemicals, the livestock sector, and aquaculture.

President Ali further noted that Guyana has export potential within CARICOM and with the right investments the country has the potential to replace the 90 per cent of poultry products worth US$25M that the regional body’s member states presently import.

“Guyana has the potential of satisfying all of CARICOM’s food requirement for poultry products, eggs, beef, aquaculture; we have the land, we have the freshwater but what we don’t have is the investment. What we don’t have are the largescale megafarms that would allow us to produce, that would allow us to facilitate the type of growth that will help us to enter this natural market in CARICOM”, the Head-of-State said.

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Gov’t committed to rebuilding mining sector amid pandemic, flooding

AS Guyana celebrates Mining Week 2021 under the theme ‘Managing Change and Crisis Resilience in Mining’, Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, has reiterated the government’s plan to rebuild the lucrative sector.

The minister was delivering the feature address at an awards ceremony hosted at the Pegasus Hotel on Friday last.

“Mining Week 2021 has provided an opportunity to reboot/reset against the adversities of the past year while reflecting on the better aspects of last year positively. The gov-

ernment, through the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), has demonstrated, through concessionary arrangements for equipment, materials and fuel that there will be tangible support for this important sector.”

The Natural Resources Minister issued a call for stakeholders to appreciate that mining is evolving and changes in the sector are inevitable due to the changing environment. Climate change, the Low Carbon Development Strategy and green themes, Minister Bharrat noted, cannot be ignored.

Addressing mercury use and improved recovery for

Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, and GGMC officials pose with the 2021 Mining Week awardees gold were highlighted as important to the rebuilding process.

“Moreover, better accountability within the sector has to be a response to expectations at the local and international levels where leakages in the sector are viewed under the lens of Anti-Money Laundering/ Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (AML/CFATF) and where the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) is a supervisory authority.

“Guyana has to address AML/CFATF risks to maintain its international credibility and compliance with international policy and regulations to remain competitive,” the minister noted.

Meanwhile, GGMC C o m m i s s i o n e r, N e w e l l Dennison highlighted the

importance of depending on science, technology and engineering in the mining sector, especially in these extraordinary times.

He explained that, “unfortunately, and unexpectedly, Guyana had to grapple with the worst floods on a sustained basis that had been ever recalled. This situation had brought into focus more than ever the vulnerability of Guyana to climate-sensitive events…

“My earlier refrain, therefore, is again relevant in that we should not resist the solutions, technology and engineering that can balance between mining impacts and the environment.”

Even as Guyana becomes a major oil and gas state, the GGMC Commissioner reminded that, for decades,

the mining sector, more than others, has been supporting the economy.

“That self-sufficiency in itself in basic constructure and infrastructure materials through mining of aggregates continues to be strategic as Guyana experiences unprecedented growth,” he said.

The Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association announced, earlier this year, that Guyana raked in some US$808,587,118 in export earnings from gold for 2020. The sector produced 485,552 ounces of gold during the year, which the GGMC attributed to small and mediumscale miners. Notably, some 200,000 Guyanese are benefitting either directly or indirectly from Guyana’s mining sector. (DPI)

Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, presenting an award to a representative of S.A.B Mining

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Immunity and its boosters

THE immune system is our defence apparatus to target any perceived intruder be it viruses, bacteria, fungi or parasites (referred to as pathogens) or any other foreign body via our “army of soldiers”. It engages the blood and lymphatic system, particularly white blood cells (leukocytes), proteins, tissues and organs (such as the thymus, spleen and bone marrow).

Like in combat, various tactics are employed at different levels of attack.

Depending on the stage of engagement, various strategic mechanisms deploy certain rank of soldiers. Leukocytes are subdivided into phagocytes and lymphocytes which perform functions as

patrol and fighter respectively. Lymphocytes which are produced in the bone marrow (B lymphocytes) work in a hand in glove manner along with those produced in the thymus (T lymphocytes), where B lymphocytes recognise the invader or an antigen (a recognisable part of the pathogen) and signal to the T lymphocytes by producing a specific protein or an antibody.

This triggers a sequential immune response where the fighter T cells send out cytotoxic factors to alert the others. In rare cases, over-production of cytokines can cause a cytokine storm which is the precursor inflammatory process prior to the attack of the invading

pathogen. In severe cases the immune cells recruited to the site of attack can destroy the organ.

In rare cases the fighter T cells may misinterpret its own cell protein as an intruder and launch a fight back response as seen in cases of autoimmune diseases.

Innate immunity is the first response to devour any invading pathogen in a non-specific manner whilst acquired immunity is the “learnt” lock and key mechanism to deal with the specific pathogen or its changing (variant forms) of the antigen preventing reinfection. This explains why most people get chickenpox only once. continued on page 20

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SUNDAY CHRONICLE, AUGUST 29, 2021

65.3 million barrels of oil expected from Tanager-1 well GUYANA is expected to extract another 65.3 million barrels of oil from its Tanager-1, one of the deepest wells ever to be drilled offshore Guyana, according to a report compiled by a consultancy group named Netherland, Sewell & Associates Incorporated.

Sections of the report, released by OilNOW, indicated that the projected quantity was arrived at based on a “best estimate”. It further categorised the extractions in three, based on the possible oil volumes of only crude oil. That is, low estimate, at 17.7 million barrels, best estimate at 65.3 million barrels, and high estimate at 131.0 million barrels.

The report, as outlined

by OilNOW, indicated that these extractions are not expected to produce commercial volumes of gas. “The contingent resources shown in the report were estimated using deterministic methods,” the report said.

It further explained that “once all contingencies have been successfully addressed, the approximate probability

that the quantities of contingent resources actually recovered will equal or exceed the estimated amounts is generally inferred to be 90 per cent for the low estimate, 50 per cent for the best estimate, and 10 per cent for the high estimate.”

The estimates of contingent resources included in the report were not adjusted for development risk, OilNOW related. It was last November that ExxonMobil discovered “heavy oil” at its over US$100 million Tanager-1 well, located in the Kaieteur Block.

As defined by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), heavy oil is a type of crude oil characterised by an asphaltic, dense, viscous nature (similar to molasses), and its asphaltene (very large molecules incorporating roughly 90 per cent of the sulphur and metals in the oil) content.

Ta n a g e r- 1 e x p l o r a tion well, the first to have been drilled in the Kaieteur Block, is also the deepest well drilled in the GuyanaSuriname Basin to date. It

was spudded on August 11, 2020, using the Stena Carron drillship, and reached a total depth of 7,633 metres in recent days.

The Kaieteur block is adjacent to the Stabroek Block which has delivered 22 substantial oil discoveries since 2015, with reported discovered recoverable resources of more than nine billion oil-equivalent barrels to date.

Previously, the Tanager-1 as a standalone development was considered to be non-commercial. More specifically, Ratio Guyana Limited, which has a 25 per cent interest in the Kaieteur Block, conducted a preliminary evaluation which said that the “fluid samples from the Maastrichtian reservoir indicates heavier oil than is reported from the Liza Phase I.” On Saturday, Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, told the Sunday Chronicle that it is possible for the Tanager-1 extractions to be used to the government’s landmark Gas-toShore project, which will see the construction and

Although oil from the Tanager-1 well is not of commercial quality, it could possibly be converted to energy once the government’s gas-to-shore project is up and running

operation of a pipeline from the Liza Phase 1 and Liza Phase 2 Floating, Production, Storage, and Offloading (FPSO) vessels to an onshore natural gas liquid (NGL) and natural gas processing (NGP) plant.

The pipeline is intended to transport up to approximately 50 million standard cubic feet per day (MSCFD) of dry gas to the NGL Plant.

The gas-to-power process will see the plant lowering the pressure of the gas, dehydrating the gas, sepa-

rating out propane, butane and pentanes+, and treating the gas to the specification to be received by a planned power plant.”

The $900 million gasto-shore project will be established at Wales, West Bank Demerara, and is likely to create in excess of 600 employment opportunities.

Once established, the power plant will be owned and operated by the Government of Guyana until alternative ownership options are considered.

The gas-to-shore project forms a major part of the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) government’s plan to reduce the cost of energy by at least 50 per cent through an energy mix, which includes the conversion of natural gas from ExxonMobil’s offshore operations to electricity. It is expected to run for a period of 25 years, and projected to save the country approximately US$150 million on power generation annually.

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SUNDAY CHRONICLE, AUGUST 29, 2021

Immunity and its boosters...

from page 17 Similarly, it explains why data from clinical trials using convalescent plasma (component of blood with antibodies from recovered COVID-19 patients) showed that hospitalised ICU patients experienced shorter duration with less severity in the early stages of infection.

The FDA had given emergency authorisation for convalescent plasma therapy in the early days of COVID-19, prior to the release of vaccines. However, the results required further investigations before an overall pronouncement could have been made since it was later seen that reinfection was possible with emerging variants.

Apart from fighting invading organisms, the immune system recognises and neutralises harmful substances from the environ-

ment such as pollution and radiation and also directly fight off those irregular structural changes seen in cancer patients that obstruct normal functioning of the body.

SO HOW TO BOOST OUR DEFENCE MECHANISMS? The recipe for a healthy immune system is lifestyle changes to include proper nutrition (correct proportions of complex carbs, protein, good fats, fruits and water), stress reduction, positive emotion and adequate sleep (6-8 hours), daily exercise (at least 20 minutes of cardio) and booster supplements with vitamins, minerals and some herbal ingredients. However, no one is100 per cent full proof from attacks, especially from the Corona virus.

It is a well-established fact that the best of immune responses is no match for

COVID-19; hence, vaccination intervention. Vaccines prime your immune system in a healthy way to fight off infections before they take control of your body.

Vitamins A, C and E are well known for their anti-oxidant properties. Free radicals present in our bodies from various sources such as ultra violet radiation, cigarette smoke, excessive alcohol intake, pesticides, some foods especially fried foods, normal metabolic processes, breakdown of some medications and x-rays bombard good healthy cells causing cell death if these free radicals are not nullified. So these anti-oxidants vitamins also found in foods such as citrus (limes, lemons, oranges, strawberries, cherries), bell peppers, broccoli, garlic, ginger, spinach, almond nuts, sunflower seeds, turmer-

ic and green tea boost the fight and accelerate recovery. There are also herbal anti-oxidants in some supplement preparations such as rose-hips with vitamin C. Tablets (oral, chewable or effervescent) and syrups are the most convenient and cost-effective way to get your body’s daily requirement of vitamins.

Vitamin D, an essential vitamin for a healthy immune system freely sourced from sunlight and supplements, especially for the shut-ins, is required in the recommended daily value. In 2019, a randomised control study with 11,321 participants concluded that those with adequate vitamin D levels had a lowered risk of respiratory infections.

Those patients with Hepatitis C and HIV who are

on anti-viral treatments also responded better when they supplemented with Vitamin D. Preliminary studies suggest that infected COVID -19 patients experienced accelerated healing effect and delays in inflammation on the respiratory system with Vitamin D consumption. So much so that they sought to do further studies on the prevention and healing of such patients.

Zinc is a mineral which aids in protecting the tissue barriers, immune cell development and communication.

Patients who had pneumonia were linked to a deficiency of zinc. Cancer patients are advised to boost their immune system with antioxidants like vitamins C, D, and Zinc, especially after bouts of chemotherapy and radiation.

Beta- carotene and alpha lipoic acid are two (2) pow-

erful anti-oxidants found in supplements as well as in foods (carrots, pumpkin, papaya) and enhances vision especially in patients with age-related macular degeneration.

Elderberry is available in gummies from the natural berries and is another potent anti-oxidant which neutralises free radicals.

For further advice consult the pharmacist at Medicine Express PHARMACY located at 223 Camp Street, between Lamaha and New Market Streets. If you have any queries, comments or further information on the above topic kindly forward them to medicine.express@ gmail.com or send them to 223 Camp Street, N/burg.

Tel #225-5142.

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Local tourism sector remains resilient during pandemic – GTA Director

Director GTA, Carla James-Vantull

DIRECTOR of the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), Carla James-Vantull, says the agency has been making strides in returning the local tourism industry to normalcy.

Among those steps is promoting the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination campaign. During a recent interview with DPI, James-Vantull said the worldwide vaccination programme is being used to help restart the tourism industry and that Guyana is no different.

“We urge people to educate yourself about the vaccine, get vaccinated so that we could accomplish that 80 per cent vaccination of our population so that we could achieve herd immunity and that’s really what’s gonna reopen tourism.”

She said there has been some indication that the sector is recovering.

“Year to date, January to March we have, we are still declined by 58.8 per cent for the same time last year, but March for the very first time we have reported an increase of 4.2 per cent and that really speaks that tourism and travel are coming back slowly,” James-Vantull said.

She noted that Guyana’s tourism product continues to place the country at an advantage during the pandemic.

“The reason I say that, is Guyana is truly a safe place to travel; our tours are designed with small group sizes, open spaces, small lodges so you really don’t have mass tourism where large gatherings are an issue, so we are really well-positioned on that front.”

Despite the setbacks, the GTA has been able to keep businesses engaged by developing customised tour packages for those who are engaged in local tourism.

“Since the reopening of our travel industry, the domestic travellers and diaspora travellers are really the ones that have been helping to sustain businesses and really just book tours and enjoy it.”

It was found that the expatriate community makes up

a large portion of the local clientele; that group is looking for shorter trips like weekend or day trips.

“Expats have families and the time that they have is really for day tours or weekend tours, they don’t go out and travel for a week or two weeks long, the way our core leisure travellers travel; so because of that we say we need to redesign tours and experiences to focus on those travellers’ profile so that we can develop products, really quickly so that there are things for them to do, there are places to go with them or their families.”

The GTA director noted that those tourists also want to have experiential tours, getting involved in activities to enhance the experience.

James-Vantull believes that the resilience of Guyana’s tourism product is to the credit of the operators themselves.

“I think the fact that 90 per cent of our business were able to still remain in business speaks to the resilience of the Industry, I think 90 per cent of the businesses in tourism are owned by Guyanese living in Guyana, and the work that they have put in, the systems that they have put in to really stay in business I think really speak to their resilience.

“Our tourism sector in Guyana is very resilient and I think we have been able to see that by how they were able to cope during this time of the pandemic. Our borders were shut down since March 18th which basically meant that they could not operate at least for eight to nine months until we would have worked on a reopening plan,” she added.

The work continues and James-Vantull said this will only help to strengthen Guyana’s tourism product. The protocols that were developed by the GTA for the reopening of the industry were based on recommendations, from the World Health Organization, World Tourism Organization, CARPHA and the Adventure Travel and Tourism Association of the United States.

In addition, they “really provided that technical support to them to operate at a higher standard, looking at all parts of the operation helping them reopen safely as well and working with the COVID-19 taskforce to set up a system to allow tourism to reopen I think was a really big plus for us that we were able to make that happen,”

James-Vantull said.

The travel industry began a gradual conditional reopening in late November 2020 and currently more than 60 lodges are reopened.

The GTA is also doing a visitor survey to note the positives and negatives of the local establishments.

“That’s really to assess, have people travelled from December to now, what were their experiences like.

They want them to assess

the safety protocols they have observed while on tour and that’s really to provide feedback to the tour companies to the establishments, to say hey travellers at your place this is the feedback, you’re doing great or this is an area that you still need to improve on.”

The GTA director highlighted that there is still a lot of work to be done with hotels and some other tour operators. While there is a

formula that can be used for businesses to reopen, a lot of them have not gone through the process. She said the

agency will still be working with those businesses to raise their standards of operation.

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Over 1,000 people benefit countrywide _

OVER 1,000 pairs of spectacles have been distributed to residents all across Guyana under the brand-new spectacles programme by the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security which subject minister, Dr. Vindhya Persaud, has been taking to various communities recently.

The new initiative complements that which is offered at the Ministry’s Difficult Circumstances Unit, where persons show up to

from ‘Human Services’ community eye care outreach

benefit from a facility that allows them to pay a minimal amount or nothing at all towards the cost of their new spectacles.

“With the community outreaches, though, you get to help so many more than the few that would come to the ministry because we are actually taking the spectacles to them in their communities,” Minister Persaud has observed.

Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr. Vindhya Persaud helps this Baramita resident with his new pair of spectacles during her outreach there lately

Having found in December 2020 that persons who benefitted from services under the ministry’s Difficult Circumstances Unit – under which the spectacles programme falls - were mainly from Regions Three, Four and 10, Minister Persaud was determined to make the services accessible to more people.

The minister began her countrywide efforts to take the spectacles programme to regions all across Guyana with support from several eye care entities. With the first roll out being on February 19, 2021 at Albion, the programme has been taken to all the regions except for Region Five which will be covered in September.

“When an elderly person tells me that they are seeing clearly for the first time, or people say they have never been able to afford spectacles and it prevents them from functioning optimally and now they can actually participate more fulsomely - it really warms my heart and the entire team feels very humbled to be able to provide this service. I am looking at expansion of this in the future,” Minister Persaud expressed.

Technical Officer attached to the ministry and Head of the Difficult Circumstances Unit, Mahendra Budhram shared that the ministry has partnered with several eye care centres to allow for those in need to receive free eye testing and spectacles.

The eye care companies providing support in this effort would charge the ministry a fixed price for a pair of spectacles irrespective of how much more expensive the cost for the glasses are.

“For some elderly ones, this is the first time that

they’ve received a pair of spectacles in their life. So, we’ve been seeing how this programme has been improving the quality of life for so many people,” Budhram expressed. He added that the eye tests conducted by the ministry also assist residents to pick up on other underlying issues that they may need to be treated for.

Many persons, especially in the hinterland regions, have been making good use of this provision by the ministry and have been showing up at Minister Persaud’s outreaches to be able to benefit. As Budhram observed, this type of intervention would have been the first for those in remote locations across Guyana.

Several of the beneficiaries have expressed thanks for the initiative, noting that though they were badly in need of spectacles for a long time, they could not afford to obtain a pair privately.

They’ve also relayed to the ministry how receiving the spectacles serves practical purposes for them in helping them become more effective with their small businesses and at their place of work.

Revision Optical, Miracle Care Vision, Courts Optical, Modern Optical, Optical Works, Miracle Optical, Mings Optical and Optique Vision are the entities supporting the ministry on this initiative. However, persons with a quotation from another agency would also not be refused help from the ministry.

According to Budhram, approximately 1,000 pairs of spectacles were distributed during Minister Persaud’s outreaches so far, and another 200 to persons who visited the Difficult Circumstances Unit.

The ministry helps to purchase spectacles for persons who are over 65 years old, for children, those who are unemployed, are single parents or are vulnerable members of society.

“Persons can come with a quotation (at the ministry) and based on their situation, we would either pay part or cover the entire cost for the spectacles.

We approach it on a caseby-case basis,” Budhram explained.

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SUNDAY CHRONICLE, August 29, 2021

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SUNDAY CHRONICLE, August 29, 2021

Lewis, Thomas power Patriots to second CPL win BASSETERRE, St Kitts, (CMC) – Openers Evin Lewis and Devon Thomas lashed contrasting fifties in a century stand as St Kitts and Nevis Patriots romped to their second straight win with an eight-wicket thrashing of Guyana Amazon Warriors here Saturday.

Chasing 148 at Warner Park, the hosts raced to their target with seven balls remaining, to remain unbeaten while dealing Amazon Warriors their first defeat.

The left-handed Lewis hammered 62 from 39 balls with four fours and five sixes while Thomas stroked a measured unbeaten 55 from 54 deliveries with seven fours and a six, the pair posting 113 to erase any doubt over the result.

“I’m very happy. It was a great team effort. We know Guyana are one of the better teams in the tournament so it’s not easy going to bowl first,” said Patriots captain Dwayne Bravo.

“The sun is hot and I

have to give credit to my entire bowling group. To restrict a very experienced batting lineup to [146] – we’ll take that any day.

“To Devon Thomas and Evin Lewis, chasing small totals on a tricky ground tends to be tricky but the way these guys batted, they literally batted Guyana out of the game so well done to [them].”

Choosing to bat, Amazon Warriors stumbled their way to 146 for eight, with opener Chandrapaul Hemraj

top-scoring with 39 from 30 balls and Mohammad Hafeez getting 38 from 31 deliveries.

Left-arm pacer Dominic Drakes snatched three for 26 from his four overs, reducing the innings to 34 for three in the seventh over before the left-handed Hemraj put on 33 for the fourth wicket with Shimron Hetmyer (4).

When Hemraj holed out to long off leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed (2-33) in the 12th over, Hafeez struck

a couple of fours and sixes and captain Nicholas Pooran, three sixes in a 10-ball 23 to rally the lower order.

“We definitely fell short with the bat [by] 15, 20 runs,” Pooran explained.

“It was a bit tricky this morning. We got the toss wrong. We thought the wicket was dry and spin a little bit more at the back end but we were definitely a couple runs short.”

Lewis and Thomas then gathered 42 runs in the first

power-play to put Patriots on top, with Lewis scoring 30 during this stage before galloping to his half-century off 35 balls with the first of two sixes in the 13th over off fast bowler Nial Smith.

Thomas, meanwhile, started slowly, his first 11 runs requiring 24 deliveries but accelerated to reach his landmark off another 28 balls by hammering 21-year-old seamer Naveen-ul-Haq to the ropes at square leg at the end of the 18th over.

Match officials successfully complete FIFA Member Association refereeing course THE Guyana Football Federation (GFF) wrapped up its annual FIFA Member Association Refereeing Course on Friday, with 17 match officials receiving certificates of attendance for the country’s first in-person FIFA football development programme since 2019.

The course, which updates referees on the latest changes to the Laws of the Game and provides elite guidance for officiating matches, was led by FIFA Referee Development Officer Javier Santos, FIFA Referee Instructor Peter

Prendergast and FIFA Fitness Instructor Alan Brown, as well as GFF Referee Instructors Ingram Johnson and Sherwin Moore.

GFF president Wayne Forde congratulated the group for completing the top-level training course, as the Federation accelerates its plans for the safe and structured return of play in the coming months once permission is granted by the authorities.

“I’ve received only positive feedback from our Head of Refereeing Dion Inniss about your performance this week,” Forde

told participants. “We are extremely proud of the dedication of this group of match officials, which is now well equipped to ensure the return to competitions will be well managed on the field of play.”

With just three female participants in the course group, including FIFA Referee Maurees Skeete, Forde called on the GFF’s regional associations and football community to seek out and encourage more women to sign up to train as match officials.

“We have so much planned for women’s foot-

Sir Alex Ferguson key to Cristiano Ronaldo’s...

(From page 30)

“The ‘tifosi bianconeri’ always respected me and I tried to thank that respect by fighting for them in every game, every season, every competition. In the end, we can all look back and realize that we achieved great things, not all that we wanted, but still, we wrote a pretty beautiful story together.

“I will always be one of you. You are now part of my history, as I feel that I’m part of yours. Italy, Juve, Turin, tifosi bianconeri, you’ll always be in my heart.”

United players took to social media to welcome

Ronaldo back to the club he joined in 2003 and where he spent six successful seasons.

Ronaldo’s Portugal team-mate Fernandes tweeted: “‘Agent Bruno’?” alongside emojis of a briefcase and a face with tears of joy before adding a cartoon of what appeared to be Fernandes as a youngster watching Ronaldo alongside the caption “Never stop dreaming…”.

United’s summer signing Jadon Sancho and fellow England internationals Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard were among a host of current United players to tweet about Ronaldo.

Roy Keane, who was United captain when the club first signed Ronaldo, wrote on Instagram: “Welcome back Cristiano”, while Edwin van der Sar posted on his account: “How are you feeling @manchesterunited fans? Always dreamt but never expected that it would happen! Welcome back in Manchester @cristiano”.

Gary Neville, another former team-mate, told Sky Sports: “It’s fantastic news. What they’ve done is bolster the squad with a proven goalscorer, a club legend. He will score goals and give them brilliant moment. (PA Sport)

ball in the coming months and years, and we really want to see more female referees as part of that evolution,” he said. “I would like to personally encourage more women to join us on this journey as we develop football for all.”

Inniss, who also serves on the GFF Executive Committee, urged all the participants to maintain the levels of peak performance, decision-making and fitness they

had achieved during five days of intensive theoretical and practical sessions at the GFF National Training Centre in Providence, East Bank Demerara.

“Many times after these courses, you are highly motivated and at your peak, and then after a few weeks and months later, you can get demotivated and be back to where you were, my hope is that – this time around –

that is not the case,” he said.

The FIFA course is the second refereeing program that the GFF has organised for its match officials this month, following on from a three-day seminar led by Guyanese-born Dianne Ferreira-James, a CONCACAF Elite Assessor and Head of Refereeing for the Bahamas Football Association. (GFF release)

Thompson-Herah wins Paris Diamond League...

(From back page)

behind fellow Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce's time of 10.60 - the third fastest time of all time. Fraser-Pryce did not compete in Paris because of fatigue.

Asher-Smith, back in action after the hamstring injury that ended her Olympics, clocked 11.06 in third, while fellow Briton Daryll Neita,

who made the Olympic final in Tokyo, ran 11.12.

Elsewhere, Olympic champion Armand Duplantis won the pole vault with a clearance of 6.01m.

Fred Kerley, the 100m silver medallist in Tokyo, beat fellow American Kenny Bednarek in the men's 200m.

Morocco's Olympic

3,000m steeplechase champion Soufiane El Bakkali - the first non-Kenyan since 1980 to win Olympic gold in the event - fell at the first hurdle and needed treatment trackside.

Benjamin Kigen won the race with a world-leading time of 8:07.1. (BBC Sport)

Joe Root 'proud' to set... (From page 29) Root is four matches behind Alastair Cook's record of leading England in 59 Tests and said he would "not put a time limit" on how long he will stay in the job.

"As long as I'm enjoying it, as long as I feel like the right person to take this team forward, that will be my focus," he said.

"As long as I feel like I'm the right man for it in my own mind, I'm more than happy to keep doing what we are."

England's huge win at Headingley, wrapped up before lunch on the fourth day, came after they suffered a devastating final-day loss in the second Test at Lord's.

They have levelled the five-match series at 1-1, with the fourth Test at The Oval beginning on Thursday.

"It was a very clinical performance," said Root.

"We're sat here now at 1-1, with a big smiley dressing room and two big games ahead of us.”(BBC Sport)

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SUNDAY CHRONICLE, August 29, 2021

Chelsea stand firm to take point from Liverpool after James sees red CHELSEA put on a defensive masterclass as Thomas Tuchel’s men dug deep to secure a 1-1 draw at Liverpool after Reece James was sent off during an explosive end to the first half.

Kai Havertz headed Chelsea into the lead during a captivating opening period that ended dramatically as the video assistant referee advised Anthony Taylor to check the pitchside monitor.

The referee sent off James for handball and Mohamed Salah scored from the resulting penalty, but Liverpool could not eke out a second-half winner as Chelsea channelled their anger into a superb defensive display.

All eyes were on Anfield as the Premier League title hopefuls went toe-to-toe on Saturday evening having started the campaign with two top-flight wins apiece without conceding.

Few could have foreseen the Blues coming away with anything after what looked to be a game-changing decision

at the end of the opening period.

But veteran Thiago Silva’s half-time introduction proved inspired as Chelsea sustained wave after wave of Liverpool attack without conceding again as Tuchel frustrated compatriot Jurgen Klopp.

The atmosphere was crackling from the outset at Anfield, although the Liverpool boss will be disappointed that some ignored his plea not to chant a homophobic song aimed at Chelsea.

The Reds started on the front foot and exciting teenager Harvey Elliott tried his luck before Jordan Henderson failed to connect cleanly with an excellent Trent Alexander-Arnold ball.

Poor decision-making was preventing well-drilled Chelsea creating clear-cut chances at the other end, but they superbly capitalised on some lacklustre defending from a set-piece.

James swung over a corner from the left and Havertz

was able to all too easily flick a fine looping header beyond Alisson Becker in front of the Kop in the 22nd minute.

Chelsea’s goal came from their first shot on target and they could have easily made things worse for the hosts.

Virgil van Dijk blocked Romelu Lukaku after N’Golo Kante started a Blues break, before Mason Mount struck across the face of goal as team-mates Havertz and Lukaku screamed to be played in.

Diogo Jota replaced Roberto Firmino before an entertaining first half came to a chaotic conclusion.

A corner from the returning Andy Robertson caused havoc, with Joel Matip seeing a header come back off the bar before James blocked Mane and Jota attempts on the line.

Liverpool players and fans alike screamed for handball when the Chelsea fullback blocked Mane’s attempt and Taylor was advised by the VAR to check the inci-

Mohamed Salah fires home Liverpool’s equaliser from the penalty spot (Mike Egerton/PA)

dent.

The referee pointed to the spot and sent off James after going to the pitchside monitor, enraging Chelsea’s players Salah kept his cool among the storm to slam home the penalty, with tempers again fraying after the equaliser.

Chelsea continued to make their grievances known as the players went off for a

Udana, Pollard lead TKR to victory over Barbados Royals DEFENDING champions Trinbago Knight Riders got their 2021 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) campaign up and running on Friday night with a six-wicket victory over the Barbados Royals.

Barbados Royals won the toss and opted to bat first but the decision didn’t go their way as an excellent Trinbago bowling display, led by pacer Isuru Udana’s 5/21, restricted them to 122 all out.

(Scores: Trinbago Knight Riders 125/4 (Pollard 58*, Ramdin 29*; Udana 5/21, Rampaul 2/13) beat Barbados Royals 122 (Khan 30, Phillips 24; Amir 3/21, Thomas 1/14) by six wickets..

In reply Trinbago initially made hard work of the chase before the experienced duo of Kieron Pollard and Denesh Ramdin saw them home with ease.

The Royals had got off to a steady start reaching 37 runs at the end of the Pow-

erPlay for the sole loss of Johnson Charles.

However they could not build on the foundation as Udana’s double strike removed Jason Holder and Glenn Phillips in quick succession.

A counter-attacking 30 runs from Azam Khan briefly threatened to help Barbados set an imposing target but Udana’s re-entry into the attack led to the dismissal of both Khan and Thisara Perera to complete the first five wicket haul of the 2021 Hero CPL. The remaining Royals wickets fell like dominoes to leave them on 122 all out.

Trinbago stuttered in their chase of the target losing three wickets in the PowerPlay as Mohammed Amir started his spell with laser like accuracy and Oshane Thomas followed that up by getting Tim Seifert to topedge a rising delivery to deep square leg.

At 38/4 the Knight Rid-

break from which Havertz and a seemingly injured Kante did not return, as Silva and Mateo Kovacic were introduced to shore things up.

It was a wise move given Liverpool re-emerged with the bit between their teeth.

Jota glanced a header over from a sublime Salah cross with the outside of his boot before Edouard Mendy stopped a 30-yard strike from Van Dijk.

Henderson bent agonisingly wide from distance and Mendy pushed a low Fabinho strike past the post, with Chelsea’s goalkeeper also keeping out a Robertson snapshot from the resulting corne It was one-way traffic but Chelsea managed to finally offer Lukaku some attacking backup in the 64th minute, with the striker’s shot blocked by Matip at the end of a good move.

The majority of the visitors’ energy was going into keeping firm at the back, where the wily Silva was expertly marshalling the backline.

Salah mishit a shot that dribbled straight into Mendy’s grasp and Alexander-Arnold stung the Senegal international’s palms towards the end of the match, with Kovacic having a halfchance at the other end.

Jota headed over as Liverpool pushed until the death, but there was to be no winner. (PA Sport)

Former NZ all-rounder Chris Cairns paralysed after stroke during surgery

Chris Cairns played 62 Tests, 215 one-day internationals and two Twenty20 internationals for New Zealand.

Isuru Udana of Trinbago Knight Riders celebrates (Photo by Randy Brooks – CPL T20/Getty Images)

ers were in a perilous situation, but captain Pollard took on the responsibility to take the drama out of the chase with a brilliantly constructed 58 runs from 30 balls.

Along with the experienced Denesh Ramdin the pair put on an 87-run partnership from 57 balls to see Trinbago home comfortably. (CPL)

FORMER New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns has been left paralysed after suffering a stroke during a heart operation, his family has confirmed.

Cairns needed emergency surgery at a Sydney hospital earlier this month and was briefly on life support.

In a statement, his family said he will now begin a "significant rehabili tation process" at a specialist spinal hospital in Australia.

They added the 51-year-old faces "a long road to recovery."

Considered one of the best all-rounders of his generation, Cairns played 62 Tests, 215 one-day internationals and two Twenty20 internationals for New Zealand between 1989 and 2006 before becoming a television pundit.

His father Lance also represented New Zealand between 1974 and 1988.

(BBC Sport)

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SUNDAY CHRONICLE, August 29, 2021

Robinson takes 5-65 to seal huge Headingley win over India to level series ENGLAND broke India's resistance to surge to victory by an innings and 76 runs in the third Test at Headingley and level the series at 1-1.

Ollie Robinson expertly utilised the second new ball on the fourth morning to claim 5-65 and hasten India to 278 all out.

After India had threatened to make things difficult for England by moving to 215-2 on day three, Robinson removed both overnight batsmen.

Cheteshwar Pujara was lbw not playing a stroke for 91 before Virat Kohli, who had already overturned being given out caught behind, edged to first slip for 55.

It was the beginning of India losing their last eight wickets for 63 runs - at one stage they lost three for two - as the game was over 15 minutes before lunch.

It gave Joe Root an England record 27th Test win as captain, in front of his home crowd.

The fourth Test at The Oval begins on Thursday, with the series concluding at Old Trafford from 10 September.

Series poised after England fightback This result leaves the series tantalisingly poised, not only in the scoreline, but because of how the fortunes of these sides have been reversed.

England were largely saved by the rain in the drawn first Test at Trent Bridge, then suffered a devastating final-day defeat in the second game at Lord's.

Yet here they hustled India out for 78 after losing the toss and piled up 432 to move towards what was

Ollie Robinson walks back in style after his five-for and England's win.

their first win in eight Tests.

And although India hinted towards mounting another famous Headingley comeback on Friday, it was always fanciful - no side has overturned such a large first-innings deficit to win a Test.

All of England's selection decisions were correct.

Haseeb Hameed and Dawid Malan made runs, while Craig Overton impressed with the ball. The hosts may also have Mark Wood and Chris Woakes available for The Oval.

For the first time in this series, the problems belong to India.

Robinson roars on Headingley return Sussex seamer Robinson is playing only his fourth Test, but has become a key component of the England attack despite the controversy over offensive historical tweets that dogged his debut in June.

He has history at Headingley, too. He played 10 games for Yorkshire in 2013 and 2014, only to be sacked for a "number of unprofes-

sional actions", which he put down to missing being at home in Kent.

Here, on his return as an international bowler, Robinson was superb in his use of the crucial new ball, delighting a boisterous crowd that was aware of the importance of the opening hour.

Pujara's judgement failed him in the fourth over of the day when he left a hooping inswinger that was shown to be hitting off stump.

England thought they had the vital wicket of Kohli when he was given out off James Anderson - the India captain even started to walk off - only for the review to show he had clipped his pad with his bat.

Still, Robinson, with bounce and seam movement, had him fence to Root, then the frenetic Rishabh Pant steered to third slip. Robinson completed his second Test five-for when Ishant Sharma was caught behind.

In between, Anderson took the edge of Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali bowled

Mohammed Shami, and Overton took the final two wickets to end with 3-47.

They've come back doubly strong' - what they said England captain Joe Root on TMS: "To bounce back in the fashion we have done is the most impressive thing. The bowling on the first day was amazing, then the way the openers played and the substantial partnerships we had.

"India played exceptionally well yesterday and made it hard work for us, but those wickets were a product of the hard work we put in yesterday. We were good at squeezing the control of the game."

England bowler James Anderson on Sky Sports: "We're missing quite a few bowlers which shows what

depth we do have. We're missing the likes of Broad, Archer and Woakes - guys who have done fantastic job for us over the last few years - so to have guys come in and keep performing shows the depth we have."

India captain Virat Kohli on TMS: "We were always up against it from the first innings, not enough runs on the board and it's very difficult to get back into the game.

Their consistency with the ball this morning put us under a lot of pressure.

Robinson has bowled a lot in England and swings the ball both ways, so in these conditions he was a real find for them. (BBC Sport)

SCOREBOARD

INDIA 1st innings 78 England 1st innings Rory Burns b Mohammed Shami 61 Haseeb Hameed b Ravindra Jadeja 68 Dawid Malan c Rishabh Pant b Mohammed Siraj 70 Joe Root b Jasprit Bumrah 121 Jonny Bairstow c Virat Kohli b Mohammed Shami 29 Jos Buttler c Ishant Sharma b Mohammed Shami 7 Moeen Ali c (Sub) b Ravindra Jadeja 8 Sam Curran c (Sub) b Mohammed Siraj 15 Craig Overton lbw Mohammed Shami 32 Ollie Robinson b Jasprit Bumrah 0 James Anderson Not Out 0 Extras 8b 4lb 8nb 0pen 1w 21 Total (132.2 overs) 432 all out Fall of Wickets : 1-135 Burns, 2-159 Hameed, 3-298 Malan, 4-350 Bairstow, 5-360 Buttler, 6-383 Root, 7-383 Ali, 8-418 Curran, 9-431 Overton, 10-432 Robinson Bowling: Ishant Sharma 22 - 0 - 92 - 0 (1w 4nb), Jasprit Bumrah 27.2 - 10 - 59 - 2 (3nb), Mohammed Shami 28 - 8 - 95 - 4, Mohammed Siraj 23 - 3 - 86 - 2 (1nb), Ravindra Jadeja 32 - 8 - 88 - 2 .

INDIA 2nd innings Rohit Sharma lbw Ollie Robinson 59 Lokesh Rahul c Jonny Bairstow b Craig Overton 8 Cheteshwar Pujara lbw Ollie Robinson 91 Virat Kohli c Joe Root b Ollie Robinson 55 Ajinkya Rahane c Jos Buttler b James Anderson 10 Rishabh Pant c Craig Overton b Ollie Robinson 1 Ravindra Jadeja c Jos Buttler b Craig Overton 30 Mohammed Shami b Moeen Ali 6 Ishant Sharma c Jos Buttler b Ollie Robinson 2 Jasprit Bumrah Not Out 1 Mohammed Siraj c Jonny Bairstow b Craig Overton 0 Extras 4b 4lb 5nb 0pen 2w 15 Total (99.3 overs) 278 all out Fall of Wickets : 1-34 Rahul, 2-116 Sharma, 3-215 Pujara, 4-237 Kohli, 5-239 Rahane, 6-239 Pant, 7-254 Shami, 8-257 Sharma, 9-278 Jadeja, 10-278 Siraj Bowling : James Anderson 26 - 11 - 63 - 1, Ollie Robinson 26 - 6 - 65 - 5 (1w 5nb).

Craig Overton 18.3 - 6 - 47 - 3. Sam Curran 9 - 1 - 40 - 0, Moeen Ali 14 - 1 - 40 - 1 .

Joe Root 'proud' to set captaincy wins record JOE Root said he was "proud" to set a new record for the number of Test wins as England captain, and paid tribute to the players that helped him do it.

England's innings defeat of India in the third Test on his home ground of Headingley was Root's 27th as skipper, going past the 26 of Michael Vaughan.

"You don't do that on your own as a captain," said Root.

"You're the one making the decisions, but they are the ones putting in big performances."

Root, 30, took charge in 2017 and has led England in 55 Tests.

His mentor Vaughan captained in 51 matches between

2003 and 2008, though suffered only 11 losses, to Root's 20.

The Yorkshire duo also both played their club cricket at Sheffield Collegiate.

"I'm proud to have gone past Michael," said Root.

"I'm living my boyhood dream. Captaining England is something I dreamt of doing when I was really small."

England captain Joe Root has led his country to victory for the 27th time in 55 games

Whereas Vaughan famously led England to their 2005 Ashes success, Root's two series against Australia have resulted in a 4-0 away defeat in 2017-18 and a 2-2 draw at home in 2019.

He is set to lead England in their bid to regain the urn down under this winter.

"Joe is tough," Vaughan told BBC Sport. "He might

have that lovely smile, but inside there's a lot of steel.

"The only feather that is left for Joe to put in his cap is that little urn.

"I've said from day one, he's done everything the same as me. Same club, same county at Yorkshire. He's nicked everything from me bar my wife!"

(Turn to page 27)

30

SUNDAY CHRONICLE, August 29, 2021

Facilities in Kwakwani set for upgrades after Sport Ministry, NSC visit OFFICIALS from the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and the National Sports Commission (NSC) conducted an assessment of several recreational and sport facilities in Kwakwani on Wednesday last with a view of ensuring there are upgrades.

The officials visited the football field, the basketball court, Kwakwani Recreational Centre, State House, Club House and swimming pools.

Minister Kwame McCoy, who is acting as the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport due to the substantive Minister, Charles Ramson Jr being overseas, noted that the assessment of the facilities will determine what works are needed for inclusion in the Recreational and Ground Enhancement Programme.

“So that we could prepare this community to be able to bring its best potential to the fore and be able to produce the best athletes and sports personalities, like we want to do in every other community across this country and you

Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport (ag), Kwame McCoy

Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Kashif Muhammed

have seen us invest already in many communities across Guyana,” Minister McCoy stated.

The minister noted that the 2021 budget, which caters for initiatives like synthetic tracts, mini stadiums and other initiatives, gives sportsmen and women a better chance to succeed.

Director of Sport, Steve Ninvalle, noted that since the ministry has been given responsibility for the clubhouse and the State House,

the assessment will determine which facilities need to be addressed in the 2022 budget.

Ann Gordon, a resident of Kwakwani said there are many youths in the community who stand to benefit from the upgrade of these facilities.

“It would be very beneficial to the young people, especially through sports in the area because Kwakwani has been producing top quality level of sportsmen and

Officials from the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport inspects one of the pools

sportswomen for a number of years now, and one of the things that we definitely need is infrastructure, things improved, because we can’t be going back or be stagnated.

We need to go forward,” the resident said.

The Sports Commission Chairman Kashif Muhammed expressed similar views, noting that the ministry is in support of improving the community.

“Kwakwani is one of the places that we really wanted to visit because they have

produced real top-class athletes throughout the years.

The basketball court - they are the champions with basketball at the school level and they continue to produce really, really outstanding players,” he highlighted.

Following the assessment, he pointed out that some of the facilities are in relatively good condition.

“Some of the buildings are in excellent condition.

The football field, like most other fields in the country, after the rains everything

needs some work and we are getting an opportunity to see and assess everything that has to be done, with the football field, with the swimming pools and with the basketball court. We will take it back get to the drawing boards and do stuff.”

The upgrade of sport and other facilities is in keeping with the PPP/C Government’s commitment to advance sport development in the country, through the necessary investments.

Sir Alex Ferguson key to Cristiano Ronaldo’s return – Rio Ferdinand United announced shortly before 5pm on Friday they had secured a deal with Juventus for the Portugal star that was subject to the agreement of personal terms, a medical and a visa.

It capped a remarkable turn of events after reports just hours earlier had suggested the 36-year-old fivetime world player of the year was poised to sign for rivals

Manchester City.

United said in their announcement: “Everyone at the club looks forward to welcoming Cristiano back to Manchester.”

The PA news agency understands United will pay 15million euros (£12.85million) plus eight million euros (£6.85m) in potential addons.

Ronaldo scored 118 goals in 292 appearances

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for United between 2003 and 2009 before leaving Old Trafford for Real Madrid, where his successes included four Champions League triumphs.

Former United manager Ferguson signed Ronaldo from Sporting Lisbon as an 18-year-old and Rio Ferdinand suggested he played a key role in the Portuguese star returning to Old Trafford.

“Cristiano and Sir Alex Ferguson have got a bond,” ex-United defender Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel when revealing he and Ronaldo had been in close contact as the move back to the Premier League neared on Thursday.

“Very few players get to have that in their career with a manager. Sir Alex played a massive part.

“There was no way Cristiano was coming to Man United without speaking to Sir Alex. Simple as that.”

For their part, United had not been looking to

Cristiano Ronaldo, left, and Sir Alex Ferguson

sign Ronaldo but seized the opportunity when it became clear he wanted to leave Juve.

That a move would be happening was all but confirmed on Friday morning when coach Massimiliano Allegri revealed Ronaldo had asked to leave Juve.

At this point City appeared the front-runners, but news conferences held

by Guardiola and United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

early afternoon changed the picture.

While Guardiola poured cold water on the speculation, Solskjaer invited Ronaldo to sign for United.

Perhaps dropping heavy hints something was afoot, the Norwegian said Ronaldo “knows that we’re here” and added midfielder Bruno Fernandes had been speaking to his compatrio It emerged soon after that United were in dis-

cussions with Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes and City confirmed they had ended interest.

“I didn’t think Cristiano was going to turn out leaving Juventus,” Solskjaer said.

“We’ve always had a good communication – I know Bruno has been talking to him as well. He knows what we feel about him and if he was ever going to move away from Juventus, he knows that we’re here.

“He’s such a tremendous human being as well, so let’s see what happens with Cristiano. Everyone who has played with him, I think, has a soft spot for him Ronaldo posted a farewell message to Juventus on Instagram, writing: “Today I depart from an amazing club, the biggest in Italy and surely one of the biggest in all of Europe. I gave my heart and soul for Juventus and I’ll always love the city of Turin until my final days.

(Turn to page 27)

31

SUNDAY CHRONICLE, August 29, 2021

Reifer’s all-round display leads Barbados Royals to their first win BARBADOS Royals got their first win of the 2021 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) with a comfortable 15 run victory over the Jamaica Tallawahs on Saturday.

The Royals won the toss and opted to bat first and Glenn Phillips ensured that they put a competitive total on the board with an unbeaten 56 from 46 balls.

In reply the Tallawahs chase was over before it really began as they lost four wickets in the PowerPlay and as a result never kept pace with the run rate.

(Scores: Barbados Royals 161/5 (Phillips 56*, Reifer 31*; Reifer 3/25, Perera 2/17) beat Jamaica

Tallawahs 146/9(Brooks 47, Braithwaite 29*; Permaul 2/15, Powell 1/21) by 15 runs The Royals opted to make a change to their opening pair – with Shai Hope partnering Johnson Charles and it appeared to work with them putting on 32 run partnership from 20 balls.

However, once Hope was dismissed it sparked a flurry of wickets that left Barbados teetering at 48/3 at the end of PowerPlay. It should have been even worse but Haider Ali dropped Glenn Phillips when he was on 2 runs.

Phillips punished that drop in the back end of the

Barbados innings hitting a half century with 56 runs from 46 balls and he was ably assisted by Raymon Reifer in a brisk partnership of 79 runs.

161 always looked like 15 runs too many and the Tallawahs got their chase off to the worst possible start losing four wickets inside the PowerPlay.

Some good bowling and electric fielding by Hayden Walsh Jr had the Tallawahs on the back foot throughout.

Carlos Braithwaite and Shamarh Brooks threatened to bring them back into the game with a 66-run partnership but a double strike from Reifer got rid of Braithwaite and Andre

Barbados Royals celebrate their first win over the Jamaica Tallawahs. (CPL /T20 Getty Images)

Russell in the same over.

Despite some late blows from Miguel Pre-

torius that made the last few overs interesting there was always too much for

the Tallawahs to do once Russell had departed.

(CPL)

Kohli says team 'hurting' after losing third Test but does not see defeat as 'a negative' INDIA captain Virat Kohli says his team are "hurting" after losing the third Test against England, but does not see the defeat as "a negative".

England levelled the fiveTest series with a thumping innings and 76-run victory on day four at Headingley.

After winning the toss and batting first, India were all out for 78, before England posted 438 in reply.

"When you've played for so long at this level you understand these things happen in cricket," Kohli said.

He told BBC Test Match Special: "We didn't have enough runs on the board and when you give too much away with the ball it's very difficult to get back into the game.

'Hurt propels you to correct the mistakes' Kohli praised his team's fightback in their second innings which helped India end day three on 215-2, but the tourists lost their remaining eight wickets for 68 runs in Saturday's morning session.

"We did not give up yesterday, we gave ourselves a chance to make something out of this game and tried to at least make them bat again," he said.

"But their consistency with the ball this morning

put us under a lot of pressure and they bowled a lot of good balls."

After the rain-affected first Test at Trent Bridge was drawn, England suffered a crushing final-day defeat at Lord's in the second Test.

"Winning at Lord's doesn't guarantee you'll win every game and after a loss it doesn't guarantee you'll have a collapse every game," Kohli added.

"The guys in the dressing-room are disappointed and hurt and the word 'hurt' is very important because it propels you to correct the mistakes."

'People on the outside lose patience too quickly' Kohli - who scored 55 in the second innings - also drew positives from the individual performance of Cheteshwar Pujara.

The under-pressure batsman had amassed only 71 in his previous five innings against England this summer, but hit a fluent 91 and shared a 99-run partnership with Kohli.

"People on the outside lose patience too quickly, but guys who have been in the group for so many years and done the job for you day in day you, you need to be patient with them," Kohli said.

"If you push them against the wall too much then you're really putting unnecessary pressure on them - when Pujara comes good, it makes

us feel very good as a team."

Kohli expects his team to "come out with more intensity" for the fourth Test which begins at The Oval on

Thursday.

"When India comes to England it's always going to be a blockbuster," he said.

"You can expect a lot of

exciting cricket to come in this series and we're definitely not going to take this defeat as a negative. (BBC Sport)

Patriots opener Evin Lewis goes big in his top score of 62. (CPL T20/Getty Images)

Lewis, Thomas 27 power Patriots to second CPL win

Thompson-Herah wins Paris Diamond League 100m but misses out on world record

Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah set a meet record time of 10.72 seconds.

PAGE

OLYMPIC champion Elaine Thompson-Herah set a meet record time of 10.72 seconds to win the 100m at the Paris Diamond League but Florence Griffith-Joyner's 1988 world record still eludes her.

Jamaica's Thompson-Herah was hoping to challenge the 33-year-old mark after running the second fastest 100m of all time last weekend in 10.54.

"The world record is a short-term goal," said Thompson-Herah.

Compatriot Shericka Jackson was second and GB's Dina Asher-Smith third.

"I am a double Olympic champion, I'm delighted with my performance," said Thompson-Herah, who won the 100m/200m double in Tokyo after doing the same at the Rio Games in 2016.

"I have never been this fast. I'm very happy with what I've accomplished in 2021."

She also clocked 10.64 in Lausanne on Thursday TURN TO PAGE 27 ►

Match officials successfully complete FIFA Member Association refereeing course 27 PAGE

Match officials show their certificates of attendance at the closing ceremony.

Robinson takes 5-65 to seal huge Headingley win over India to level series Printed and Published by Guyana National Newspapers Limi ted, Lama Avenue, Bel Air Park, Georgetown. Telephone 2 2 6- 3243-9 (General); Editorial: 2 2 7- 5204, 2 2 7- 5216. Fax:2 2 7- 5208

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SUNDAY, AUGUST 29, 2021